1965
Westchester, New York.

"Are you sure you should even be doing this, Ree? They could be dangerous." Howard said as Mary proceeded to climb out of the car with Jarvis as the driver. She had contacted a man, a Professor, who resided in Westchester to further her own doctoral education. The man was a brilliant Professor who earned his title dutifully and worked hard to achieve it. But what happened after th Cuban Missile Crisis had revealed a lot to the world not just about this one man, but about an entire world unknown to mankind.

Mutants were real.

Mary had been curious about the genetic mutations that happen to the human body but that they would go as far as to alter the human body and gift them incredible abilities was something she wanted to understand to the best of her ability.

"I trust the Professor, Howard." Mary replies simply. "I'm here out of my own curiosity and fascination. It's your choice to be afraid or not. I choose to not be afraid of the unknown." She adds as she steps out of the car as Jarvis opened her door. She nods in thanks towards the butler and when she looks up at the mansion that is now being transitioned into an institute, she is fascinated.

"But you'll ring in case something happens?" Howard pries, he wants to keep his friend safe. This was one of the first outings she had chosen to undertake since the loss and kidnapping of Becca. It had been fifteen years since that fateful day and she still had not recovered in the slightest.

But she wanted to do this, for herself but also to get herself out there in the world again. The loss of Becca crippled her, and she was trapped within the darkness for ten years, never seeing the light of day really since then. She was a shell of who she was before all the loss she had suffered.

"I will, Howard. I promise." Mary says with a small smile as the man she has come to know and love as her older brother. A brother who was trying to fill the void of the one she lost. "I can do this."

Howard smiles as he grabs her hand through the rolled down window, "I know you can do it. You can do anything you put your mind to." He reassures the woman he loves like a sister as she squeezes his hand. "But still ring me."

Mary chuckles softly, nodding, "Alright." She states then looks up at the mansion again, taking it all in as a man in a wheelchair comes out of the front doors. She waves at Howard as he and Jarvis drive off then turns to greet the man in front of her.

She opens her mouth to speak but the man in the wheelchair speaks before she can, "Doctor Barnes. A pleasure." The man states with a British accent, his smile is warm and inviting. It's welcoming. He extends his hand as Mary still stands in front of him befuddled. He chuckles and dips his head in embarrassment briefly, "Apologies, I'm Professor Charles Xavier." He introduces himself.

Mary breaks into a small smile and shakes the professor's hand in greeting, "It's nice to meet you." She says and Charles moves his wheelchair and motions for Mary to follow him.

"We've talked over the phone but i'd like to hear from you in person as to why you're here." Charles says as he leads the two of them around the grounds of the mansion. "I hope that's alright."

Mary nods, "More than alright." She says in response and the professor nods. "I read the files about the Cuban Missile Crisis that no one wanted leaked and released. The files about you and a few others involved. I'm curious about all of it." She tells Charles as best she can with a faint smile as she takes in the scenery around the mansion. It was breathtaking. The lush green trees and flowers surrounding the area as well. It made her feel relaxed.

"Curious about me, you mean?" Charles inquires.

"More or less." Mary replies.

"Please, it's in the open now for the world to witness. Call me what i am, i won't take offense." The professor states and shocks Mary in the process. She wanted to be as courteous as possible towards the Professor. Mutants were scorned everywhere they went. Some looked like Charles, human. But others had more permanent changes to their bodies. Changes that made them outcasts.

"Mutants. That's what you are, am i right?" Mary asks hesitantly and Charles stops his wheelchair, looking at the Doctor.

"You are." Charles responds bluntly. "Each of us have a unique gift, some are similar but all vary depending on the person." He explains, then looks at Mary more intently and places his index and middle finger to his temple. "I'm what you call a telepath, Doctor Barnes." He says in Mary's mind and the woman jumps in shock from the sudden voice in her head that wasn't her own.

Mary breathes heavily, looking around then her hazel eyes land on Charles. "You.. just spoke in my mind." She stammers as she still tries to regain her breath and slow her heart rate.

"I did, it's one of the many talents I possess due to my gift of telepathy." The professor states. "I also can do other things within that ability."

Mary smiles softly, "Fascinating." She says as she inhales and exhales a bit more controlled than before. "There's so many opportunities for your ability alone in the medical fields." She rambles and then stops and turns to look at the professor.

"You're one of the few people i have had the pleasure of meeting that isn't scared." Charles says with a slight smile of amusement. "I'd prefer to hear from you why as to looking into your mind for the answers. I feel as if that is an invasion of privacy."

Mary nods and moves to sit down on a stone bench to talk more with Charles as she stares off into the trees around them. "I'm not scared because i'm not what you call a normal person anymore. Crazy and impossible things becoming reality are my life."

"Doctor Barnes, you're the younger sister of Captain Rogers, Captain America, as he's known by the public. Am i correct?" Charles asks, Mary could feel his eyes on her not even for the reason that he could read her mind if he chose to. But because of her life story. It was known throughout America and other parts of the world at this point. Even talks of being taught in history classes throughout the nation. The heroic adventures of Captain America and his Howling Commandos.

"Mary, please. It's still hard to hear that last name despite it being mine now." She says softly. The ache in her chest left by her husband, her beloved Sarge, was still fresh in her mind and soul. And the loss of Becca made it only that more painful to endure. "But to answer your question, yes. My brother is, was, Steve Rogers." She corrects herself.

"It must be excruciatingly painful to endure the loss as you have." Charles says, "Being telepathic also has given me the ability to feel one's emotions as they feel it. To see their memories." He explains his abilities further to try and attempt to help the woman before him.

Mary looks over at him, "I lost James, and then I lose Steve in the same breath it seemed." She says softly.

"But it's more than that." Charles mutters, he didn't want to pry, and he had no intention of doing so but being a telepath meant sometimes unwillingly and unknowingly diving into someone's memories. Speaking to Mary through her mind and his opened that gateway.

"Do you often console people?" She asks softly and curiously, a weak and pitiful laugh escapes her lips as her emotions and turmoil consumes her. "Being a telepath, you could be a good counselor." Mary offers and Charles smiles softly with a slight tilt of his head. His takes her hand into his which causes her to falter in her breathing.

"I've helped people with trauma, yes. My friend Erik being one of them." Charles responds, "Would you like my assistance? I understand it's deeply personal for you to expose your mind, thoughts and memories. And if you decline, i will not pry."

Mary breathes out shakily as she looks at Charles, "My daughter. I lost her too. Everyone i love, everyone i care for will pass on and i'll still be here."

"What do you mean, Mary?" Charles asks curiously. He hadn't pried into her mind and he wouldn't without her permission. The mention that she had a daughter shocked him but he would only ask about her with her permission.

"I'm immortal." She says bluntly and it takes Charles aback.

He's stunned, words fail him for a few moments before he recovers his composure and holds her hand tighter, "How? Are you like us mutants?" He asks.

"No, it was a serum injected to me by Johann Schmidt the day i lost my brother." She replies, "So while everyone i love ages, i'm left alone." She whispers as tears cloud her eyes.

"A cruel burden to bear." Charles says, "To love so deeply as you do only to be forced to watch those you care about most pass on." He explains, her emotions were so strong they had started to overtake him and he could feel his eyes watering as hers did as well.

"I've already had to witness my husband die, my brother die and my daughter be taken from me. How much more am i supposed to take? I can't do it anymore." Mary cries out as Charles then accesses her mind in her deepest sorrow. The anguish, the crippling loss. The pain of losing those closest to you. It's all consuming, and even he doesn't know how she stands up in the morning. The fight she seems to have within her.

"You're angry." Charles says, coming to a conclusion within the memories and emotions he feels and witnesses. The happiness she had from her beloved and her brother. And then it all being ripped away from her instantly like a snap of the fingers.

"Damn right i'm angry." Mary snaps, but not at Charles, at the life she has been forced to live through. "I'm so angry and i can't take it."

The professor nods, "You have every right to be angry. The pain you feel is something i've only felt once." He says. "You need an outlet for your anger and pain to find the balance within yourself to stand." Charles tells her and Mary looks up at him with a confused expression.

"Outlet?" She asks as she wipes her eyes with a handkerchief from her small handbag she had brought with her. "How can you help me do that?"

"By finding a way for you to release the pain you've had built up inside of you for two decades." Charles explains. "If you're alright with this, i'd like you to stay here in the mansion for however long it takes you to fight through the worst of it."

Mary hesitates, she stares at the professor, "You want to help me?"

"I do, because i feel that i can help in a way that would benefit the both of us."

"How so?"

"You want to learn about mutants, and i want to help you overcome your pain." Charles says and releases her hand, "You need this."

Mary eyes Charles with a look she hadn't used since Becca was five and running around Howard's mansion in her bath towel. "Don't read my mind." She quips.

Charles chuckles softly, raising his hands in defense, "Apologies, but you know i'm right." He states, "And i believe you'd like one of my friends and colleagues who lives here as well."

"Oh?"

"Hank McCoy. He would be extremely fascinated by your genetic makeup." Charles says with a small smile as Mary stands from where she was seated. "What do you say?" He asks her as he extends his hand once more.

Mary hesitates. She knew it was something crazy for her to be even considering doing this, she had only met Professor Xavier today and now he was offering for her to live in the mansion for however long she needed to recover, or at least begin, to recover from her trauma and loss she had suffered for two decades. The pent up anger she felt towards Germany and Schmidt. The anger she felt towards those she had lost. The anger she felt towards Hydra and the people that took her daughter away from her.

Charles was right, she needed this.

"Okay."