Mending the Broken (Trigger Warning)

Tea. How sweet. This was what Delilah liked about Sean and what enabled her to form a fragile trust in him. Sean was professional and never had pushed her to trust him or take his advice. He respected her privacy and seemed to understand the trouble which plagued her in the presence of men. Of course, being a homosexual made it a lot easier to deal with the man seeing how she was of no sexual interest to him. This was the biggest part of her paranoia and fear of men. This one small act of offering tea, of having it ready and waiting for her meant more than perhaps Sean had intended it to mean.

Delilah graciously took the offered cup of tea and held it safely in both hands like some sort of security blanket. Having the door closed behind her did cause the hair on the back of her neck to stand up a bit, but she closed her eyes and counted to ten as she had been taught since her arrival at Hammel and tried to conquer her fear instead of letting it conquer her. She was safe and she knew it, but old fears and habits died hard and after these sessions with Sean they would die forever. Delilah sipped her tea before opening her eyes and taking a seat across from Sean's desk. "Thanks," she muttered with a half nervous smile, still holding the tea mug with both hands and close to her lips. The tea tasted of chamomile, a tea Delilah was particularly fond. Sean was doing everything he could to relax her and Delilah appreciated the effort.

Nodding, Delilah set her mug to the side and pulled the consent form Sean had given her from her back pocket. She had looked it over thoroughly enough and signed it in agreement. No matter what would happen here, Delilah would not hold Sean responsible.....Maybe. She shakily handed Sean the form, but held onto it tightly to get his attention as he would reach out to take it. "I'm ready for this Sean, but I want to know something first. Are you really ready to go poking around in my memories? There isn't any sunshine or rainbows in there, I can assure you. My childhood was a nightmare and the other things I've done in my life might not sit well with your stomach," she said, readying Sean a bit for the trouble he was about to find in that shadowy wasteland of her mind.

Delilah knew that no matter what Sean saw in there, concerning her less than legal activities, he was bound by a strict code of ethics and law. What a patient shared with her doctor was between them and no one else. "Your one of the few people I genuinely like in this world doctor and I don't want to lose that. I know your a good man and I'm afraid that after what you see in here," she said, tapping her temple with her free hand, "That you'll lock yourself away from me. I know I'm not a good person but for whatever reason, its still the life I chose based on the options I was given."

Anyone who knew Delilah, really knew here that was, would find her calm demeanor around Sean odd. Being around men always made her uncomfortable and she very rarely treated one with any amount of respect, but Sean was different. It wasn't his sexual orientation which some might assume that made Delilah calm around him, instead it was his willingness to help her. Delilah deserved no forgiveness from anyone she had wronged, including Sean, but yet he still reached out to help her in her time of need. Sean was a good person and he treated others with compassion and sympathy, real compassion, not the pity kind. The willingness to rid Delilah of her past memories of her father and the horror he wrought upon her is really what garnished the respect Delilah gave Sean. He could have turned her away instantly or even turned her over to the proper authorities which no doubt would love to have their hands on her. This is what Delilah sought in her life from.....well...a man. She never had a father and while the term "father figure" wasn't the proper one, it was the closest one to describe her feelings toward Sean. Don't misunderstand, she wasn't looking for guidance but just compassion.

Delilah offered a small smile to Sean as he spoke. Trusting him wasn't easy, even though Sean had never wronged her, but still, even the smallest amount of trust from Delilah was amazing. "If more people were like you Sean, there wouldn't be people like me running around," she offered in return to his words. "I really do appreciate this, I know its like asking you to hand me the moon. No matter what happens, I won't forget what you're doing for me today. I'll pay you back for this, I promise," she added, clearing her throat as she tried to ready herself.

Delilah offered her hands to Sean, not sure if he really needed any sort of physical contact to help mentally steady himself or not. Really, the contact was more for Delilah. She put forth the strong face and bad attitude, but behind that mask, she was frightened. She never had stopped being that scared little girl from West Virginia. Delilah had learned to hide the fear over the years, but she knew Sean knew better than to take her at face value. She had opened up to him like no other in her time at Hammel those years ago and still found it easier to talk to him than anyone else in her life. "You ready to step through the looking glass?," she asked him, closing her eyes, feeling the urge to cry creeping up on her. "Do I need to think about anything or time in particular or just let you jump on in?," she asked, taking a deep long breath.

Sean was a true master of both his profession and his meta ability. Delilah had come across telepaths and others who possessed mental meta ability, but those were novices when compared to Sean. Just like his physical touch, his mental touch was soft and easy. Having his hands withing hers, Delilah drew a deep breath, moved by the touching of flesh upon flesh. Sean was one she truly trusted, even though she had given him ample reason to betray her. However, he had always been professional and while he might harbor feelings of disgust for Delilah he would handle her honestly. Sean would be making a better woman out of Delilah and perhaps this was payment enough. To stop some sociopath from wreaking havoc upon normal society would be a crowning jewel in his lists of achievements.

Slowed breathing filled the quietness of the room and anticipation crept through Delilah's body. She was pleased that she would not have to recall her horrible memories and even more pleased that when this was all over, she wouldn't ever fear her past again. Then again, things could go horribly wrong and she could end up a vegetable, but either way, at least the fear would be gone.

Delilah tried to think about happier times, although those were far and few between. She remembered playing on the playground at school when she was about five or six and then the times spent sewing with her mother or just standing beside her while she cooked in the kitchen. She moved on to other memories, her arrival at Hammel and the attention she received from the staff. Her fondest memory of Hammel was of course Sean, the man who she still trusted and looked to for support. He had shown her so much kindness and had really tried to help her move past her tortured memories without success, but at least he was really trying. Even now, he was making a new memory, one she hoped she would remember but probably not. How Sean would explain all this when it was over was totally up to him. More than likely, Sean would leave her memory of coming to him for help in tact.

The good doctor's movements through her mind was barely felt causing the occasional twitch of Delilah's face here and there. Just what he was seeing at the moment was a worry. Sean had no doubt seen horrible things in his time here at Hammel and he could handle the demons in Delilah's head.

Meanwhile in Delilah's mind Sean was about to run into the creeping lurking fear. The image of an old two story wood house set deep in the mountains with a ram-shackled old truck in the driveway would be the first real image of Delilah's past seen. Inside the house, the mood wasn't much better than the outside. It was dark and gloomy, sort of cold as Delilah remembered her old home. A piss poor fire flickered in the fireplace, providing little heat or light. The sound of shouting echoed from upstairs outside a small wood door with the name of Delilah painted on it surrounded by fading flowers. A large man holding a whiskey bottle beat upon the door, behind him a small woman holding her left eye crawled away from him, shaking in fear. This was Delilah's mother and just another memory in a string of many. This was Sean's first memory to erase and the opening to darker ones ahead.

On Delilah's side of the memories, she was floating here and there, purposely avoiding the darker side. She remember the horses her neighbors had and how when she was able to sneak away from her father how she would ride them for hours on end. She often daydreamed of just mounting one and riding off through the mountains never to come back, but she knew she could nor never would be able to do that. The mountains were cold and unforgiving and without proper gear it was easy to get lost and starve to death, especially for a young girl with no hunting skills. Now however, in her adulthood, Delilah could survive just about anywhere you dropped her. If only her abilities surfaced sooner rather than later, what type of person would she be today?

Back to Sean's dark trek through the void of violence and betrayal things were not going to be getting any prettier. The reoccurring memories of the beatings and neglect and then the darker nastier things set in, the nightmare which was her father. How could a man do that to his own flesh and blood, how he could hurt the very thing which looked to him for protection and provision? The memories, no, the nightmares of him forcing himself upon her over and over again, night after night. Sometimes while her mother was out shopping, others while she lay on the floor from a massive drunken beating. Delilah's father was a monster, but the monster he created was far worse.

This dark side of Delilah rested somewhere in Delilah's mind right now as the passive side of her seemed to be the dominant figure as she remembered happier moments. If this would pose a problem for Sean, only time would tell and if so, would the good doctor be able to handle the violence.

Sean wasn't a threatening man, in fact he had this feeling of peace and safety about him. Even those uncomfortable in society as Delilah found reassurance in Sean, which was no small thing to say. However, underneath all that compassion and calm setting rested a very powerful meta-human. Sean's power, when used in a more darker setting could rob individuals of their minds in a heartbeat. To be able to step into the mind of another and just take any memory he wished and stuff it away forever was a scary thought to anyone and had all those anti meta groups out there knew the real power of Sean, no doubt he would six feet in the ground long ago. However, Sean had chosen to take the higher road in life somewhere in his youth and Delilah was thankful for that now.

Part of Delilah hated having Sean witness firsthand the atrocities inflicted upon her in her youth. She felt she was tainting him in some way, but Sean had reassured her long ago that he was the one who had chose to undertake such a practice. He was one of the truly great men in the world and a dying bread at that. Part of Delilah's mind wondered if in the end, Sean could maintain his boy scout life or if it would one day turn on him and consume him as it did to all heroes.

The memory of her mother's screams were always there in her mind, but now, with the intervention of Sean, there was one less in Delilah's ears. The feeling was subtle and one Delilah took the slightest notice of, but soon forgot about as her mind drifted about her own thoughts. However, as Delilah's more subdued mind wandered about, her darker violent side silently stalked the memories Sean was mucking about in, taking stock of her mental existence. This side of Delilah was not really a separate entity, but one sort of born out of necessity. She wasn't a separate part of Delilah, but just another. A side each person had, it was her violent side, the side which emerged in times of anger or in times of desperation when ones life was on the line. The fight part of our "fight or flight" response. This side was formless as any thought, but in the mind, things worked a bit differently than real life. Here, the formless personality could take form as Delilah saw herself when this manner took over.

Taking form from a seemingly nothingness, this dark Delilah emerged behind Sean and watched him face that monster she had once called father. That creature was wretched in dark Delilah's sight and made her clench her fists in anger. It was this side of Delilah's feelings and personality which had took main control of her body the night when Delilah finally fought back against the monster. No animosity toward Sean was felt of directed, all hate was solely upon the father. The man was staking Delilah like some drunken piece of filth. His hair stringy and his clothes much like his skin was covered in soot from the coal mines where he had worked. The smell of alcohol permeated the air as Delilah had remembered the smell of the man who abused her. The stench of his breath and the torridness of his body. His blood shot eyes and reddened nose and the missing teeth from years of fighting and poor personal care for himself.

The monster took no notice of either Sean's mental figure standing there or the manifestation of Delilah's angered self. The time had finally come when the monster would be bound and slain and while this meant the binding of Delilah's angry self, it was a worthy sacrifice. Part of who Delilah was in life was because of this moment and every decision she had mad since going it on her on was based on these memories and who she was going to be when all these memories were locked away and forgotten was still a mystery. This fact had worried Delilah some in the days before coming to Sean with this task, but the outcome had to be better than the person she was currently. Hopefully once all this was said and done, Delilah could have the life she had always wanted in her youth.

"Put that wretched monster in that tiny little box and lock him away for good," the darker mental version of Delilah said from behind the avatar of Sean. "I don't care what it makes us in the end. Even being a vegetable is better than reliving all of this day in a day out!" she spat with hatred as her chest heaved and her eyes locked on the horrible seen playing out once again as it had forever.