“It’s good to be aware of that. Continue to keep track of those times when you do slip, either outbursts or disassociation, and do try to eat better. Your body needs its fuel.”

Dr. Darnall sounded a lot like my mom, talking about the fuel of the body.

He told me, “See if the days of accidental or impulsive power use or especially bad disconnects from whatever is going on correlate to days you’re not sleeping enough or times you haven’t eaten recently. I do want to talk about that involuntary power use in a minute.”

“So do I.”

“It’s a good first update. I like how you’re already assessing your own data from tracking your emotional state.”

“That’s the plan, right? Training me to be my own therapist.”

“Yes. That’s a good quick assessment of the homework. If you’re up for it, I’d like to keep our appointment for the one-week mark, you can keep taking notes and keeping track, and we’ll focus on it more then, with some deeper discussion.”

“Sure. No complaints.”

“Any questions before we move on? Thoughts from your last session?”

“No questions. No thoughts.”

“Okay. Then let’s talk about today. Why did you call?”

“Well,” I said. I removed my jacket from my lap, moving it onto the bench beside me, just so I could shift position to something more comfortable. “One of the most powerful and dangerous people on Earth wants to meet to talk. She was a villain and tyrant who took over a whole Earth.”

“You said you were nervous. She’s why?”

“She has apparently recruited my sister,” I answered him.

Even just saying it, it was taking the respect I’d accumulated for this very powerful, very scary woman and tainting it. It took a big feeling and made it also one of the most negative feelings possible.

“Someone toxic who was gone from your life is now back.”

“Somewhere nearby. We may end up talking. Um. But the timing is godawful.”

“It absolutely is.”

“Some B-list nutjobs just came after a kid. That would never fly, before Gold Morning. They put our lawyer in the hospital. We haven’t caught up with them yet, despite me spending a few hours last night on the hunt, but the consensus seems to be that it’s stupid, petty people seeing us putting our faces out there and wanting to ride the wave of attention. I had a kind-of aunt who died for pretty similar feeling reasons, and remembering that’s really bothering me. And then my sister gets thrown into the mix? She’s the one thing I can’t handle. I can’t deal with thinking about her on a good day. Now I have to face her on a bad one?”

“Do you have to face her? What happens if you sit this one out?”