James Lake Jr., but prefers to go by Jim. Trollhunter. Open cape.

Jessica Yamada looked at the teen sitting on the other side of the desk. He looked awkward, nervous, none of the focus he'd demonstrated against both Leviathan and Lung present.

"So, um…" he looked around, rubbed one of his horns, noticed it, then put his hand down, covering the four fingered hand with his other hand. "How do we do this? I mean, Mom wanted me to go see a Sh—doctor, but then the Eternal Night hit and we had to help the trolls get to New Jersey and… well, now we're here."

A slight sensitivity about his body, Jessica thought. Probably because he didn't know her and this was a meeting with a psychologist.

Most teens tended to worry about those, which called out all kinds of insecurities.

"Well, for the most part, we talk, Jim." Jessica smiled at Jim. "Especially since evidently you and Claire are trying out your own hand at being counselors."

"Ho-what?"

"Vista and Probability." They both knew who they were, but cape names were as much courtesy as an actual secret identity and Jessica wouldn't use them until they had given her permission to tell Jim.

It was a matter of respect.

"Oh, that was Claire, but they're both really good, well Vista's parents need—wait, no I shouldn't talk about that because—can we start again?"

"You haven't said anything I don't know," Jessica said. "But you have helped them."

"Well, we're lucky," Jim said. "No trigger." He shrugged. "I mean, I got the Amulet, and it was pretty scary finding out that I was expected to die, but I didn't, you know, get it because something horrible happened to me. Claire learned her powers, so we're both…" the teen frowned. "I… Less… It's not like our powers keep reminding us of bad things. So we're just lucky."

"And yet you managed to defeat Lung, the Butcher, Coil, and stood off Leviathan."

Jim tensed. "I didn't do much to help against Leviathan."

"Why?"

"There were almost 10,000 people on the road. About 6,000 made it to the Bay and that was only because of Claire." His hands tensed. "I keep visiting the kids and they don't seem to realize that I fucked up."

"How?" Jessica tilted her head. "Leviathan has smashed entire nations."

"I could have…" Jim paused, got up, walked back and forth before he sat back down. "I could have moved faster, or maybe told Rune to just take a few and then go, or…"

Jessica waited, but nothing else was said. She shook her head.

"Jim, I think you're not saying anything else, because there was nothing else to do and you know it. Four thousand people died on that road, hundreds of thousands elsewhere, but 6,000 came to the Bay—and if Claire was the one who opened the portal, you were the one who organized the evacuation. Without you, all those thousands would have still died—and there would be 6,000 more added to their total."

"I just…" he shook his head. "All those kids who lost their families. I mean, dad walked out, but I had Mom all my life and…" He fell silent, looking away.

"And those children have their lives because of you and the rest of the heroes who fought that day," Jessica said. "Jim, I don't just work with parahumans. I also have worked with police, firefighters, doctors, and many of them would understand you. As humans, we often see where we failed, instead of where we succeeded. In your case, it's made worse because you've had so few chances to rest. From what your father told me, you and Claire have been pretty much going full speed ever since you gained your abilities."

"Yeah…" Jim shrugged. "Sometimes I wish I could just sleep for a week, but then Uber and Leet show up."

"Which is another issue—you're working more than most of the Wards because of your mentorship with the Protectorate."

Jim laughed. "Well, Director Piggot said that at least if I'm with the Protectorate, I'm not dragging everyone else with me to murder Kaiser."

Jessica smiled. "I doubt she's worried about that." In fact, as much as Director Piggot praised anyone, she praised Jim and Claire.

But I wonder if you just told me why… Many capes came across as arrogant. But in truth, it was because they were desperate. Jessica had never had a single parahuman describe their trigger event as a victory. It was always, on some level, an admission of utter, hopeless, failure, and that marked them, either in trying to rise above it or surrendering to it.

Jim and Claire didn't have that single, burning moment in their life to color everything that came after. It also didn't hurt that from all information, they were brave and kind—knightly had been used more than once by others to describe Jim and Claire.

"I doubt she's worried about that, but how are you doing with the Wards?"

"Oh good," Jim said. "We hang out, and you know, most of them don't mind. Kid Win's working on his tech, since he figured out his specialty, and Clockblocker—well, you know him. He's just really happy because Amelia got permission to test one of her healing pods on his dad."

"Most of them?"

"Um…" Jim frowned. "Vista… she sort of wants to try and come out with us, especially after that thing with the Teeth."

"You don't think she should?"

"No." Jim frowned. "She's… Look, you know about her home, right?"

"Yes."

"Fighting… it's simple. I mean, she wants to be a hero, don't get me wrong, but it's something she can do and she knows how to do."

"And you think she'd…"

"Claire thinks that if she did get to spend as much time with us and in the field as she wants, she'd never go back home."

"I've heard her parents are trying to get better."

"Not fast enough," Jim muttered. "Vista asked us to eat with them and…" he glared at the wall. "It was like every other fucking word out of their mouths was trying to get her to pick a side—oops, um, sorry about that."

"Jim, I've interviewed people just this shy of being Birdcage bound. Trust me, swearing doesn't worry me. After all, I've talked to people about Merlin."

"Oh yeah, you'd hear a lot." Jim grinned. "But Claire's sort of worried about Vista and Probability—they remind her of Enrique."

"Her little brother, who was replaced by the Changer?" Jessica asked.

"Yeah, Claire's Mom was always busy, so Claire was practically her other Mom."

"He was a lucky child."

"Yeah, he was," Jim said. "But, um, if you talk to Claire, she really misses him, so maybe, ah, let her talk about it first."

"Of course." Jessica leaned back. "Unfortunately, I can't simply shut down the world and Director Piggot would do terrible things if I told her to let you sleep for a week, but… I wonder if maybe you have something you'd like to do. You enjoy cooking, right?"

"Yeah, how'd—oh, you talked to Clockblocker."

"He had good things to say about your homework night snacks, yes, but Arcadia has a culinary club. Why don't you join…"

"I mean, I could but it seems kinda, you know, minor compared to Claire's acting and the patrols and—"

"And I've heard the same words from many professionals seeing me for burnout. Jim, you're going to be a hero for decades. This isn't a sprint, it's a marathon."

"Yeah, heh, you're right," Jim said, looking at the ceiling. "I suppose I could, I mean it meets once a week… It'd probably make Youth Guard happy."

"From my interview with them, Mr. Lake, the only that could make Youth Guard Happy would be a permanent case of laryngitis striking Merlin. According to Ms. Days, he's a 'horrible' influence on Amelia."

"He probably is," Jim said. "But she actually seems to be in a better place now."

"Well, I'll see—I'm going to be meeting Amelia later this week. But try out for the culinary club." Jessica said.

"You know, that'd be kind of neat," Jim said. "Normal. I think I will!" he stood up, visibly brightening. "Thanks!"

"Thank you," Jessica said, noticing that Jim didn't seem to notice he held out his four-fingered hand for her to shake.

"Oh, um," Jim said as he left. "Amelia can get… really snarky, especially now that she's working with Merlin."

"I'll be careful," Jessica said. "But thank you for the warning, Jim."