Make You Feel My Love
~Book III~

Disclaimer: I do not own the Avengers nor do I own the plot of Age of Ultron. All rights go to Marvel.
All I do own are my own characters and their stories.

~Chapter 35~
Xavier's School

Alcohol had never really had much of an effect on her. One time, when she was still with Artur's crew, she had gotten a bit tipsy and said some stupid things, though it had never been more than that. However, the night after her visit at her father's, she had let herself loose. Why and with what money? She did not know. All she knew was that she had somehow ended up on a table and done some things she would never had done had she been at least slightly sober.

It had been a crazy night and she feared to open her eyes. With those blurry memories circling around in her mind, she was sure she had the worst hangover in the world. Though there were unanswered questions that she needed answers for and the only way to do so was to wake up from her drowsy sleep and come up with them. Questions such as why she had done as she did and where she was now?

The first question was easy to answer; she was torn. A part of her, a strong part of her, wanted to leave her newly found life and new family behind to ignore her fears and not have to deal with those. It was a stupid defense mechanism of her mind working hardly to keep her from having to deal with anything she feared, she knew that, though it felt good to leave her fears undealt with.

The other part of her wanted to stay, to run back to the Avengers HQ, grab Steve and get everything back together again.

Steve…

"He's not here, bub."

Maria's eyes snapped open. Her second question was answered rather quickly then. She found herself in a moving vehicle, the back of her seat leaned back so she could easily rest. It was a two-seater van which looked rather filthy from the inside. It was obvious it had been used a lot. It raised multiple new questions, though she ignored those for the time being as her eyes burned and hurt from the light they were met with. She hissed, feeling oddly much like a cat as she did so, at the light and closed her eyes again; moaning and covering her face with her arms.

"Yeah," chuckled the voice. "I can't imagine you're feeling too swell."

Her eyes snapped open again and she turned to her left to see a man sitting behind the wheel. Much to her relief, the man was no stranger. Well, he was, but she had met him before. It had been during the night that Tony had forced Maria to go out with him to a bar and Thor had showed up. The man who had been either flirting with her or who had tried to simply be kind, was the man now sitting behind the steering wheel, abducting her.

"Excuse me," she said, oddly calm and now ignoring the pain in her eyes and head as she sat upright. "But, where are you taking me?"

The man glanced at her before chuckling, the disgusting smoke coming from the old-fashioned cigar in his mouth causing her to gag – though she was sure that it had something to do with the alcohol she had consumed the night before too.

"You know, I thought people who had healing abilities such as yourself couldn't get drunk," said the man – Logan, Maria remembered he had called himself. "I know of a few who can't."

"Good for you. Now, can I get out?" asked Maria, beginning to pull on the handle of the cardoor, though finding it locked which only worried her more.

"Did he not say anything?" asked Logan, glancing at her again.

"Who?"

"The Professor."

"About what?"

"I'm taking you to see him," said Logan casually, continuing to puff on his cigar while turning into a small, gravel road seemingly leading into the forest. "Which is a good thing too 'cause you need someone to tell you to stop doing this," said Logan, shaking his head at her. "My first impression of you was that you didn't party."

"I don't," she said, leaning back again on the chair as she deduced the man was harmless enough. "But I suppose things have been a bit shit lately so I thought I'd try out what everyone does on the TV when their lives suck."

Logan chuckled at her words. "Did you like it?"

"No… Especially not the morning after. It's worse than my life is," said Maria only earning a scoff from Logan.

"No worse than mine, I assure you," he said.

"Believe me, it is."

"You wanna bet?"

She looked over at him, his gaze staying on the road and his serious face not twitching at all. It was obvious to Maria that he had been through a lot, perhaps even more than she had been through, and she suddenly felt a little bad about everything she had been feeling lately. Sure, she had her reasons to feel bad, there was nothing wrong with feeling bad about oneself from time to time too. It is even unhealthy not to let one feel sorry for oneself – it is when it goes overboard that it gets unhealthy and plain out annoying for anyone in the person's vicinity. Maria could only hope that she herself was not annoying to anyone in her vicinity – not that there were many people around her.

"You ever been dead?"

The question was odd, Maria knew this. But Logan did not react. He simply took in a deep breath before replying: "That's a complicated question. You mind clarifying 'dead'?"

She smiled. There was a strange sort of reassurance in the fact that Logan understood her. Of course Steve might as well, seeing as he had been in ice for 70 years. Though Steve was never dead… Then again, had she been? Technically, if her body was healing, she was alive. And she honestly did not know when her heart began to beat again. And if she was aware of her surroundings, then certainly her brain must still have been active?

"I mean dead in the way that the people around you plan your funeral," said Maria. "But you yourself might not be… dead."

Logan glanced at her before letting out an impressed whistle; "Alright, how about we don't bet? I don't like losing."

Maria sighed, sitting upright and moving her seat so it was supporting her back again. The road the vehicle was driving on began to turn a bit rough and both Logan and Maria were now swaying back and forth in their seats.

"That particular scenery might not have happened to me… But I do know one thing," he said, glancing once more at her. "Running away from the only thing that is good in your life, is not the way to deal with it."

After a while, the forest the two had been driving through came to an end. How far away they were, Maria was not sure of. She did not know when Logan had picked her up due to her awful blackouts. She wondered briefly what awkward things she had done in his presence which she did not remember and cringed slightly before she was met with the beautiful sight of the place Logan had been taking her to.

It was a large mansion surrounded by acres of beautiful gardens and fields. The gates taking them towards the mansion had a sign on it with the words; "Xavier's school for gifted young people". She smiled, recognizing the name of the school before mentally slapping herself.

Professor Xavier. The wheelchair. How could I have been so thick? He had even told her that someone would come to pick her up after everything was over…

It was obvious to her now who had been trying to contact her – and also why. Albeit Maria might not be that much of a youngster anymore, she sure was a mutant which the words 'gifted youngsters' referred to. Her mind wondered to thoughts of how different her life could have been had she been taken into the school instead of taken in by Artur… Being a mutant meant naturally knowing about Professor Xavier and the many good deeds he had done for mutants almost all over the world. Of course not only the mutants knew of him but also others, though it was usually not such a positive perspective that they had on Xavier, nor any other mutant for that matter.

The car came to an abrupt halt and Logan exited. Seeing as her door was still locked, Maria could only wait and watch as Logan rounded the car, opening her door for her.

"Why'd you lock the door anyway?" asked Maria as she exited the car, hugging her stomach as she felt it doing multiple flips, almost seeming to try to protest to her doing anything at all. Or perhaps it was protesting against her stupid behavior. Either way, it was unpleasant.

"You were acting odd. Trying to get out of the car while shouting something about a Batmobile. So, I locked the door," he explained in a monotone voice, seeming unfazed by her crazy behavior.

Though she was not unfazed by it and cringed as Logan turned away from her to lead her towards the front porch. She followed him, the pebbles under her boots making a satisfying crunching noise as she did. The entire mansion looked old and fancy, green trees and bushes surrounding the porch and multiple branches of ivy were climbing the stone walls of the mansion. She briefly wished to live there so she could uncover secret rooms of the mansion, though she soon found out that it might not be worth it as she would have to clean the place as well. And she did not doubt there were a lot of rooms to keep clean.

Logan casually opened the door and led her inside – which was even prettier than the outside had been. Wide staircases spireled up towards a porch leading to different parts of the house and in the middle of the entrance hall, a large carpet lay sprawled on the wooden floor right underneath of the largest chandelier she had ever seen. It's light beamed down on her, the glass decorations dangling slightly as loud footsteps ran around on the floor above. For a mansion, the place was quite lively. She could hear footsteps and laughter echoing from far away hallways and she could simply feel the liveliness of the place. Well, it was a school after all. There would be something wrong if there weren't any students.

Logan led her towards the stairs which they climbed easily, and then she was led down a long corridor. The doors in said corridor were all open and from time to time she managed to peak inside and catch a glimpse of either a child or two talking, or a teenager or two. As they reached the end of the corridor, Logan stopped and knocked on a particular door. As they waited for an answer, Maria turned back to look down the corridor they had walked through, and noticed that, from each door, two or more heads were peaking out to stare at her and Logan. In a way, it looked rather comical to see all those young faces peeking out, trying their best to not be conspicuous (though failing). However, Maria felt a bit self-conscious about the situation, seeing as she was sporting the worst hangover ever, which was not a very good example for either of those youngsters.

"Don't worry about that, they've seen Logan in worse conditions." The familiar voice startled Maria, making her look back towards the door she and Logan were standing in front of. It had opened without her noticing and the Professor was there, looking at her with a kind smile on his face. "Come on inside, we have a lot to discuss. Uh, Logan, I think Jean was looking for you."

"Right," said Logan, glancing at you once before leaving down the corridor, silently scolding the kids and telling them to mind their own business.

Maria followed the Professor inside, finding it a bit odd to finally meet him in real life though also finding it quite comforting as she could finally ask him all the questions she had. Beginning with exactly who he was and why wanted to contact her.

"That's a rather easy question to answer," he said, making Maria stare at him in confusion.

He wheeled over to his desk, gesturing towards a chair in front of it so she could seat down. Slowly, she did, all the while staring at him.

"Are you a mind-reader too?" she asked, in a joking fashion.

"Yes."

Her smile faded into a wondrous expression; "Oh."

"As you already know, I'm Professor Charles Xavier and this is my school. I help those gifted young people who are in need of help to control their powers or even learn about them. All the while also giving them an education so they can survive out there on their own, living alongside with everyone else," he said, still holding that faint, kind smile on his lips. "It's been open for quite some time now and during the years I've helped many mutants to find their powers and their place in society… Though I've failed as well. Failed terribly…"

"Why are you telling me all this?" she asked softly, not wanting to be rude, but also feeling eager to know the answer to why he wanted to talk to her.

"Because one of those people that I have failed terribly with, is your father."

Maria leaned back in her chair, already feeling bubbles of hatred appearing inside of her as her father was brought back into her memory.

"Erik Dalton came to us when he was very little back in the 80s. His parents were religious and slightly superstitious and had thought he was possessed by the Devil as he could move things with his mind. He had only been five years old when they had started performing exorcisms on him… Those days kept haunting him no matter what I tried to do."

"You save him then?" asked Maria.

"Yes. I thought that bringing him to a new home and a place where his powers were accepted would help him grow. And it did, for a while. He met your mother through this school," said Xavier with a smile. "She was a math teacher here, mutant friendly and driven to help the children here get a good life amongst everyday people as well. He had just finished school and returned to give some lectures for the children, to inspire them to do good in school. If I recall correctly, he had started working for SHIELD."

"Yes, that's what he told everyone," said Maria.

"No, that's what he did," said Xavier. "And you know that because Erik has told you this. Erik has told you his story about Hydra figuring him out and wanting to use his powers. And if they could not get his, they would use yours."

Maria looked down at her hands; "Yes, he told me that."

"Then you know he joined Hydra to keep you safe," said Xavier. "What happened to him after he joined, that's all on me."

"What do you mean?"

"He fell for their logics. For their views and opinions. He fell for them, because I introduced him to that way of thinking. Mutants being strong, powerful and the next step of mankind's evolution. I know," he said, obviously having heard her thoughts; "what a macabre way of thinking. But I never meant it in that way. I meant that mutants were natural and not something others should fear. That in a hundred years, or even thousands of years, mankind would be different; like us. But it does not mean that mankind should be eradicated."

"Are you telling me that this is what my father wants?" asked Maria.

"I'm telling you that Hydra wants mankind to be like them. And Hydra is different and want to improve mankind. They are making super soldiers, or trying at least, a stronger mankind. Your father agrees with that," said Xavier, his eyes lowering to his lap. "And I'm afraid I might have brought him onto that path."

"I don't think so. I think he was bad on the inside already," said Maria before smiling softly; "And I think neither of us should have to feel like we are responsible for his actions."

Xavier returned the smile before opening a drawer on his desk. "He used to be really good at what he did. And when he left, he left some things behind. I kept them. For you."

Maria stood up at the sight of what Xavier pulled out from the drawer. It was a pair of folded clothing, clearly Erik's old uniform. They were a dark shade of blue, close to a violet shade. It reminded her of her own uniform, which was stored somewhere. A beautiful, silver belt came along with the uniform. Though it was not the belt nor was it the uniform that had made her stand up in awe. It was the sword resting on top of the uniform. It's handle was decorated with two, glowing rubies the same shade as the uniform and as she reached out her hands towards the handle, they lighted up ever so briefly, seeming to show that something flickered alive.

"It's a beautiful artifact," said Xavier as she grabbed the handle, unsheathing it and holding it upright in front of her. It's blade shimmered in the sunlight bouncing off of it from the window. "Found by a friend of mine a very, very long time ago. Erik found it down in the basement when he was younger. Luckily for him, the blade accepted him, otherwise he would have been dead by now."

"Accepted?" asked Maria.

"It's an artifact from, most likely, another world. Look at the side of the blade," said Xavier, gesturing towards the sword.

Maria turned the sword in her hands, indeed seeing vague words sprawled on the side of the blade. Though they were words written in a language she did not understand. It's letters were beautiful, though, and did not bother her at all.

"No one has managed to figure out what they mean. Mostly because it is hard to hold it. Only those it accepts can hold the sword in their hands. Other have tried, but were poisoned the moment they touched the handle," said Xavier. "Seeing as you are still standing, I am assuming it accepted you as it accepted your father."

"You're giving it to me?"

"On one condition," nodded Xavier. "You go back to do what you love and what you are good at. Go back to saving people and keeping world a better place. Go back to the Avengers."

"You know," said Maria, placing the sword back into its holster, though keeping it in her hand. "I've heard this place has a group of its own as well."

Xavier smiled, "Yes. Though I have a feeling you have deeper connections with the Avengers."

"What about… Everything."

"You died," said Xavier. "I was there, remember?"

She nodded her head, indeed remembering when Xavier came to her a few days after she had been placed in the morgue. He had talked to her, encouraged her and told her that help would come. That she was not forgotten by those she loved the most. And indeed, three days later, Steve and Matt arrived and she woke up again.

"But it is your gift. You heal. You defeat death. Why do you think the tabloid's name Mater Mortis stuck?"

She glanced back down at the sword, the gems on the handle glowing ever so briefly again as she did so. A soft smile creeped onto her lips, fully flowering into a happy smile after a while. She met the eyes of Xavier who smiled happily at her as well.

"Very well," she said. "I'll go back."

This was the last chapter I'll post for this very story. Next part will be up either next week or the week after that. But I will let you know, probably with a little teaser for the upcoming story!

Thoughts and feedback is much appreciated and this will also be the last time you guys can comment anything you want to see in the next story :) I'll also begin to re-write and fix some plot-holes that I know appeared here and there in all three stories, but that won't affect any of the plot that you have followed so far. Thanks for all the support, guys, it means a lot to me :)