More than half a year since the Welldrinkers had attacked and destroyed the mansion, the Mansionites were still on a path to healing and rebuilding. Yes, the mansion existed again, but it didn't look the same and all the memories and possessions stored in the place could never be rebuilt.

Even though the X-Men and their allies - both mutant, mystic, adapted, and vanilla human - had triumphed, they'd still been laid low before the entire world. Their image and feeling of strength and security had been shattered. Some of the residents and students had left, never to return.

A lot of things had happened that day, and in the following days. For some, there was no time to process the trauma after trauma heaped upon them. As Elizabeth led the firefighter and mystic Rex through the hallway to Gemma's office, she couldn't help reflect on some of it aloud.

"I can't believe it's been eight months since that day," she said as they walked.

There was a brief, almost awkward pause before a gruff voice responded.

"It...does seem surreal," Rex said after clearing his throat.

Liz glanced at the man with a slightly quirked eyebrow. Stiff indeed. Liz didn't know the man super well, but Hercules spoke highly of "Rex of the Inferno." He never described the man as particularly...flexible though, and it showed. The man seemed on edge as he walked the halls and looked at bit surprised to be spoken to. Or maybe he just wasn't comfortable with a group therapy session.

"That's an understatement," she said with a faint smile that quickly became tainted with thoughts of that day. The things that they'd done. The things that she'd done.

Liz knocked on the counselor's office door. "Hey Gemma," she called. "Rex and I are here."

If there was anything that Maya dreaded more than therapy, it was group therapy. And yet, Gemma seemed to think it would help, so here she was. True to her promise to Becca, Mirror had been visiting the counselor for the past few months. Dealing with the destruction of the Mansion, the craziness around rebuilding, the losses and goodbyes, was only compounded by the ongoing man hunt for the mystic who had hurt Iris. That had brought a whole lot of sh*t to the surface, about Mirror's relationship to her own powers, as well as to the mystics in her family. Therapy was sorely needed. Some days, it didn't feel like it was doing any good.

Maya gave Liz a tired smile as she showed up at the office door. The man - Rex? - was familiar from the battle. Just his presence was a jolt again, bringing back memories. Maya sighed. "Let's do this."

The office door opened, and Gemma gave everyone gathered outside a friendly smile.

"Please, come on in." She opened the door wider, ushering them in. The office had been cleared up to leave space in the middle, but there was no stereotypical circle of chairs; there was the usual couch, an armchair, Gemma's own office chair, a bean bag, and some other seating options scattered around the place. "Take a seat, wherever you like. Tea, coffee, cookies over here on the table. Let me know if you'd like anything else. How are you all doing?"

To be honest, Rex didn't recognize the woman that approached him and Elizabeth. He understood that she had been present during the conflict (that was the purpose of this session afterall) but she didn't stick out. So few people did, and usually for the wrong reasons. It was a warzone he'd walked into and he'd known only five of the defenders.

He didn't regret it. He only regretted he couldn't have done more.

He gave the woman a stiff nod and then followed both women into the room as they were invited in.

After a brief look of mistrust at the bean bag chair, Rex beelined toward the armchair. He liked his seating to have character and discipline, not festering scoliosis and a total lack of conviction. "This is fine," he said politely, nodding at the small display of refreshments. In truth, it was more than he was used to at his AA meetings, which he suspected this would be close too. He was no stranger to seeing a therapist - he'd been seeing one for a couple of years now - but he'd even recommended Rex try this when Rex had mentioned it. Rex didn't know what to expect. He just felt very...out of place.

Liz returned Maya's smile, the joy of seeing her friend tempered by the weight of what they'd been through and were here for. It was sobering.

Elizabeth felt Gemma approach just moments before the woman opened the door, as the nullification aura washed over the animal psychic, isolating her mind from the ever-present bioweb around her. "Oh," she breathed faintly and caught herself as she nearly tripped. No matter how many times she interacted with Gemma, it was still like dunking her head in ice water to have her power cut off like that. The sheer silence in her head was almost painfully loud and overwhelming.

And then she recovered and a friendly smile was plastered to her face as she filtered into the office, heading straight toward the table with the snacks. "You are a Godsend," Liz said to the counselor as she poured herself some tea, dumped several spponfuls of sugar into it, and piled a couple of cookies on a napkin before making her way to one side of the couch. On her own without any animals to help her sort her thoughts and feelings, Liz knew she was going to need a lot of sugar.

"I'm hanging in there," Liz said, a nervous chuckle escaping. "Sometimes I think I'm just going to explode." Then Liz immediately winced as visions of he mansion doing just that flashed to the forefront of her mind. "...so to speak."

Maya made a beeline for the snacks and coffee before sinking into a bean bag. She was glad Liz was here. It was easier to be here with a friend. Not that she had anything against the man who joined them. She sighed, shrugging.

"Feeling like I'm parenting a traumatized toddler." she summed it up; the circles under her eyes spoke of the rest. She looked at Rex (?) with an apologetic half smile. "I'm sorry. I remember you but... my brain is mush."

Gemma took a seat too, holding a mug of tea. It was always less awkward when people were holding on to drinks and snacks. She took in the three people that showed up. Liz was generally open about how she felt; Mirror had been struggling. Rex was a bit of a newcomer. A mystic. This was going to be interesting.

"Well, this is the first time we are doing this, so... let's start with some ground rules." she gave them a warm smile. "This is a safe space. Whatever people share here, doesn't leave the room. There are a lot of emotions about whath happened. I ask you all to listen to each other, and be kind." Not that she suspected any of them wouldn't be. But it needed to be said.

"This is a process... probably multiple meetings. I don't promise we will fix anything. This is a place to share, to vent, whatever you feel like you need. As we go on, hopefully you will find things that you need that will help. Does that sound alright?"

Everyone had their own chair and their own choice of snacks now. Liz buried a wince at Maya's summation with a bite of chocolate chip cookie. At the same time she realized she was starting to tap one foot so she halted that.

Maybe this whole emotion-processing thing wasn't going to be a good idea without her emotional-support animals. She was alone on the couch, but at the moment, despite being surrounded by friends and an acquaintance, she felt so lonely, not even able to sense the background static from burrowing beetles or dust mites. She blinked twice and bit into the cookie again, curling her legs up underneath her as she did so in order to prevent them from jittering about.

"That sounds good to me," Liz nodded. It also sounded like a date with Hercules and that caused a smile to briefly appear.

Rex began nodding as the woman apologized. "I understand, I have two children myself," he said, feeling her exhaustion. "I am Rex Vidales. And you are?" he asked. He knew Liz and while he hadn't met Gemma before, he at least knew he'd be meeting her that day. Likewise, he was sure she had his name. Well she did now, anyways.

The exchange was enough that Rex could relax a smidgen, firmly tamping down the emotions that tried roiling up when parenthood was mentioned and instead focusing solely on what was at hand.

As Gemma explained the foundation, Rex found himself nodding again. It was just like the AA sessions. Support-focused. Not so much therapy. "Yes," Rex agreed.

>>"I understand, I have two children myself. I am Rex Vidales. And you are?

Maya offered Rex a warmer smile. Another parent. One that had showed up to help save the Mansion... or at least the people who lived in it. Good people, in Maya's book, everyone who fought on their side. "Maya Grey-Morris. People know me as Mirror. Or Gawain.... Gender shifter." She waved a hand. Gemma's aura was currently canceling powers in the room, but that didn't worry Maya much. She could tell Liz was adjusting, though.

"Yes... sounds good." She nodded. She was curious how this would all go.

Gemma nodded, settling down. Everyone was on the same page. Tired, and probably still carrying a lot from the battle. She had those moments too, having seen Jorge fight. She would never get used to that.

Gemma had a notepad to take notes on, but for now she set it aside.

"Alright... We will see how much structure we need, but... just to start things off. If you think of the fight, eight months ago... what is the first thing you think of?"

Elizabeth winced a bit as she realized that she hadn't introduced Rex to everyone, or had even considered that he likely wouldn't know anyone else there, or they him. It seemed he and Maya took care of that quickly enough though. For once, Liz wasn't in control of the things around her and she didn't need to be, not here in this room.

Whether she liked it or not. She still wasn't sure herself.

But they were there to figure things out. Liz didn't bother to really parse her thoughts and feelings, she just started talking.

"It's all a blur," Liz said. "Too many things too quickly. And I was in so many heads. More than I've ever done before. Just...all mashed together and...yeah."

She had controlled flocks and swarms and hordes of bugs, birds, and beasts that day, sweeping back and forth over the grounds, trying to be everywhere and doing everything and....and... "Failing."

"Well met," Rex said after Maya introduced herself. Rex waved a hand at himself belatedly. "Mystic." It was weird tacking that on to an introduction, but he guessed it was relevant. The session was in part about mutant-mystic dynamics and, well, if there was to be any animosity about that, better for it to emerge now and not after emotional vulnerability had commenced. Rex would almost prefer animosity over emotional vulnerability.

He redirected his attention to Mrs. Cervantes as she began the session. This at least was familiar to him, even if the people and the place were not. He started pulling his thoughts together, but Liz got there first.

It sounded too quick, to him, much like a story a person had told themselves rather than an accurate truth. He didn't know the woman well enough to mention that though, nor was it his place. There was a pause after she finished speaking and Rex spoke into the void.

"It scares me," he said stoically. "The powers the Welldrinkers unleashed, that they commanded, and the powers that we retaliated with." He couldn't help but glance at Elizabeth again. He'd seen her assault on the aerial forces of the Welldrinkers. He'd also seen a behemoth of water arise, a man becoming a winged lion beast and slaying a man, right after that man had laid waste to the former incarnation of this school. They were things from the book of Revelation, or as it was in Spanish, Apocalipsis.

Apocalypse.

Well, that was a loaded question. Maya buried her face in her mug, letting the others speak first. Not that she needed to think, she knew what the answer was.

>>"It's all a blur. Too many things too quickly. And I was in so many heads. More than I've ever done before. Just...all mashed together and...yeah... Failing."

Failing. She felt the same, but now that Liz said it, Maya found she couldn't see a single thing Liz had failed at.

>>"It scares me. The powers the Welldrinkers unleashed, that they commanded, and the powers that we retaliated with."

She could relate to that too. The powers the Welldrinkers had were formidable. The powers they used... on Becca, on Kalos, on Iris, were still the stuff of Mirror's nightmares. She nodded. Rex was a mystic. And he was still scared.

And then Gemma looked at her, and Maya shrank.

"It's the first time I ever killed someone." She said quietly. Technically, people had reminded her - she hated that - she hadn't. She just placed a person in a mirror and let Carrick smash it. But it was a dumb technicality.

Gemma listened, noting the answers. They all had a lot to talk about, or at least a lot to process. Probably things they were reluctant to name. But they all answered, and they answered truthfully, as much as she could tell. Which was a huge step in the right direction.

Gemma nodded.

"I know this is... all of this is a lot. Let's take it one at a time... see if talking together like this can add something to the discussion." She looked at Liz, who had spoken first. There was no use trying to weigh which issue was more serious or deeper than the other.

"You said you think of failure... can you tell us what that failure is?... And maybe Rex and Maya can share what that makes them think of as well."