A/N: After doing "The World United" I wanted to do something that focused on Hank and Carly. As anyone whose ever read any of my stories knows, I always thought that Carly was an underrated character and I was really disappointed to find out that she only ever existed in a single episode of the animated series. I thought it woudl be fun to see her viewed through the First Class lens.

October 10, 1972

"Here you are."

Carly took a deep breath. Next to her Penny, her guide dog, nudged her with her nose. She reached out and scratched her ears. She wanted to stay in the cab for another few minutes. The train ride to Jasper, Rhode Island from Boston had been several hours long. The taxi ride from the train station had taken an hour as well, and Carly felt as though she had been put through a wringer.

She had never travelled outside of Boston before. Carly had been born, gone to school, and worked in her home city. It had been loud there, with different noises echoing and beating on her eardrums. She had gotten used to that background buzz, and now that it was gone she felt disoriented as well as tired.

Carly sighed and dug into her purse.

"How much do I owe you?" she asked.

"Twenty bucks."

She peeled out the notes, each one of them folded in the corner. Carly wished that they printed braille on the bank notes so she didn't have to fold them. She had been born blind, so at first she had needed her father's help folding the bills and figuring out what was what. Now that that was no longer an option she had taken to drawing out only certain types of bills from banks and then folding them.

Carly handed them to the taxi cab driver.

"Keep the change," she said.

She put her purse back into her suitcase. She closed it and grabbed it with one hand. With the other she took Penny's lead. Carly tightened her grip on her suitcase. It was depressing how everything she'd needed to bring with her could fit into one suitcase, and it wasn't even a big one. Carly had even included Penny's rain jacket for bad weather.

She got out of the cab and closed the doors. Penny pulled her forward and Carly heard the cab leave. She knew that she was at the clinic, but she hesitated. Carly knew that she should go up to the door and enter, or at least knock, but she still felt uncertain. She had come a great ways and gone through a great deal on only a few words.

When she had first heard about the study from a friend it had all seemed too good to be true. She'd made tentative inquiries and found out that, yes, a study was being conducted in Rhode Island to try and give the blind their sight back. It was still in its early stages and Carly had been quick to seize on the opportunity and volunteer.

That had been over a year ago and Carly had waited with bated breath to see if they could move onto the human testing stage. When they had contacted her she had been quick to quit her job and take the first train out. She had felt uncomfortable quitting, but the process was going to take around three months and she knew that they couldn't hold her secretarial position for that long. She could find another job.

It had been hard to leave her family and job behind, but at twenty-four years old Carly wanted to see the world around her. She had gotten used to her lack of vision, but the opportunity to see called out to her and drew her in a way that she couldn't describe. Her father had been worried about her moving so far away, he'd been worried for a great many reasons, but she knew that she could handle it.

Carly took a deep breath and began moving forward. She had only taken a few steps when she heard the door open.

"Carly Crocker?"

She stopped and cocked her head.

"Dr. Baulson?" she asked.

She heard someone laugh.

"That would be me," he said, "You can call me Paul though. Everyone else does."

Carly didn't answer, still feeling uncertain.

"You're here early," Dr. Baulson said, "We weren't expecting you for another hour or so."

"The train ride took less time than I thought," she said.

It had still taken too long though.

"Well, we're glad to have you," he said, "Here, let me take your bag."

Carly handed it to him, once again feeling embarrassed by how small her suitcase was. Dr. Baulson didn't comment on it though.

"Thank you," she said.

"No problem."

She heard the door open again.

"I'll give you a tour," he said.

Carly nodded. She could feel wooden floorboards beneath her feet, and she could hear Penny's claws scrabbling on them. It hadn't been muddy outside, so she was confident that Penny wasn't making a mess. She didn't want to make a bad impression on her first day at the clinic.

Dr. Baulson continued chatting about the different rooms, but there didn't seem to be many people there. Carly had hoped it would be that way. She had arranged it so that she would arrive on a Sunday when it wouldn't be very busy. She had anticipated that she was going to be tired from the train ride, and she didn't feel up to doing to meeting too many people after all of that.

As it was the number of rooms Dr. Baulson was telling her about was confusing enough. Carly wanted to tell him to slow down, but she couldn't find the words. She knew that she should be paying more attention, but she couldn't quite figure it all out. New places were always slightly confusing.

It helped that the clinic she was staying at was a small one though. As she understood it it served a tight-knit community in Jasper, Rhode Island. The nearest full-fledged hospital was five hours away in Providence, and the clinic was privately owned and had been operating for four years.

Dr. Baulson was one of the owners. She hadn't seen hide nor hair of the other one yet, since Dr Baulson had been the one that she had talked to about becoming part of the project.

"This is the elevator."

Carly nodded as she heard the faint ding of the elevator descending. She kept one hand on the wall, trying to memorize the texture. After a moment she took her hand off the wall, satisfied. She would be able to find the elevators again if she ever needed it. The texture got somewhat more granular next to it than it was in the surrounding hallways.

The elevator dinged again. Penny dragged her forward and she walked inside. Carly leaned on the elevator wall. It surprised her that they even had an elevator, but she supposed that it had been something that the clinic had splashed out on as a luxury; even some hospitals didn't have elevators.

It made sense though. A lot of heavy equipment had probably had to be transported up and down the different levels, and she knew that it would be easier on her than taking the stairs. She reached out and traced one of the buttons. Her fingers caught on the braille lettering on the side of the buttons. She couldn't help but smile. They had been ready for her.

"What floor are we going to Dr. Baulson?" she asked.

"And I said that you can call me Paul," Dr. Baulson said, "We're going to be around each other for quite some time."

She could almost hear his smile. Carly smiled back and shifted her feet, unsure of what she should do next. Next to her she heard Penny sit down. Her dog was smart, and she was obviously expecting the conversation to go on for quite some time, or at least long enough for a rest. Carly didn't blame her.

She wasn't sure what to do with his declaration. Carly didn't know how she felt about calling her new doctor by his first name. She had been raised in a conservative household, and she'd only talked to him over the phone twice, once during her interview and once when she had been accepted.

Still, she wasn't going to push it.

"Alright then," Carly said, smiling despite her nerves, "What floor are we going to Paul?"

"We're on our way to the third floor," Paul said, "We've set up an area for you during your time here."

Carly nodded and the elevator doors opened. Penny pulled her forward, following Paul. He knocked on a door and unlocked it.

"Your room should be right here," he said, "This place used to be an apartment complex, so there's a small kitchen and a bathroom attached to it. We got groceries for it so you'd have what you needed on your first night."

She smiled.

"Thank you," she said, "That really helps."

He jiggled the keys. Carly held her hand out and he dropped them onto it.

"There you are," he said, "That's the only pair of keys. We want you to have your privacy."

Carly raised her eyebrows. The list of procedures didn't sound like there would be that much privacy involved. They were going to have to keep a close eye on her to make sure that there were no complications with the procedure. Paul understood and she heard him shuffle his feet.

"As much as possible," he corrected, "We really do appreciate you coming out here."

"I'm excited about being here," Carly said.

"I'm glad to hear that," Paul said, "We'll get started on the treatments sometime next week."

"Next week?" Carly asked.

She hoped she didn't sound too impatient. She'd been hoping for something that day.

"There are just a few preliminary procedures before we get started," he said.

Carly nodded.

"Do you have any questions?" he asked.

She paused, chewing on her lip once.

"Paul," Carly said, "I was just wondering when I was going to meet my other doctor?"

She heard Paul cough. Carly raised her eyebrows.

"Well," Paul said, clearing his throat, "we did go over the waiver on the phone."

Carly thought back to the document that she'd had to sign. It had been printed in braille, and then Paul had gone over it with her over the phone to make sure that she understood it. Her father had read it as well, right after she had. There was no chance of her forgetting about it. It had caused her too much trouble.

"Yes," she said.

"That's good," Paul said, "There have been…incidents, in the past."
Carly raised her eyebrows.

"Incidents," she said.

"With staff," he said, "And…patients."

"I signed it," Carly said, "although I can't see the reasoning."

She heard Paul shift his feet.

"I'm glad you feel that way," he said, "I really do."

"Is it really a legal requirement that I have to sign that just because one of my doctors will be a mutant?" Carly asked.

It was something that she had been wondering for a while.

"Unfortunately yes," Paul said.

Next to her Penny began making a small gurgling noise in her throat, not quite a growl but not quite a whimper. Carly frowned and knelt down to scratch her ears.

"Oh, I'm sorry."

The voice was soft and apologetic. Carly stopped scratching Penny's ears and got up.

"I guess that answers that question," Paul said.

"Sorry?" Carly asked.

Paul laughed.

"This is Carly Crocker," Paul said, talking to the unknown man.

"I thought so," he said.

Carly put both of her hands in front of her, holding Penny's lead and waiting.

"Carly," Paul said, "This is your other doctor, Hank McCoy."

Carly held out her hand, smiling. She paused when he didn't take it. Carly lowered it, remembering the waiver. Perhaps he didn't like being touched.

"I'm pleased to meet you Dr. McCoy," she said.

"You can call me Hank," Hank said.

"I'm getting a lot of that," Carly said.

Hank laughed for a moment, a strange rumbling sound. Penny gargled again and Carly shifted her lead.

"Well, I'm pleased to meet you as well Ms. Crocker," he said.

"Carly," Carly said.

The day had been strange enough already without her getting a shot at deciding what titles would be used.

"If I'm calling you by your first names, then you're calling me by mine," she said.

"Of course," Hank said, "Carly."