Xavier greeted Steve and Bucky just inside, smiling at them.

"Good morning," he said. "Come in."

"Thank you," Steve murmured, glancing around with open curiosity. He'd never been out to the mansion before, but he'd heard about it from Tony.

Bucky just looked around as he followed Steve inside. The place was buzzing with activity, although most of the people around were actually kids. None of them looked older than maybe sixteen or seventeen.

"Interesting place," he murmured.

"Yeah," Steve murmured.

"It's not a school day, but many of the students here do attend classes," the Professor told them as he wheeled slowly down the hallway, giving them time to follow.

"Can't imagine some of 'em can even leave," Bucky muttered, glancing at a couple of students with more physical mutations.

"They can, if they wish," Xavier said, glancing back at him. "Usually, Logan will go along with them, especially the younger ones. This is a safe place, so many of them don't wish to leave, either."

"Logan?" Bucky repeated. He was quiet for a second. "Hearda him. Wouldn't wanna tangle with that."

Xavier smiled. "A wise decision," he agreed. "Ah, here we are." He knocked on the open door to the classroom to let the girls know he was coming in before wheeling inside. "I believe you're already acquainted with Mavin."

Steve nodded. "Ma'am," he said, dipping his head briefly to Mavin.

Mavin looked up when the door opened.

"Captain," she greeted. "Sergeant."

Bucky just nodded once, glancing from her to the other woman in the room and then back at Steve.

"And who's that?" Steve looked at Lucy.

"She's a trusted comrade of mine," Xavier said. "With unique gifts that I believe will be helpful in our endeavors."

Steve nodded after a moment, and Lucy relaxed.

"What can she do?" Bucky asked. 'Unique gifts' could cover a hell of a lot of things, and most of them could be bad.

"'She' can read emotions," Lucy answered for herself, puffing up a bit. "I'm an empath."

Xavier hid his smile at that.

Bucky blinked at that.

"Didn't realize that was a thing," he murmured, glancing away again.

"Most people don't," Lucy allowed after a moment, shrugging.

"You were at the hearing," Steve blurted, and then went a bit pink.

Lucy nodded. "Yeah. My name's Lucy, by the way. But yeah, I was at the hearing." She glanced at Bucky and away again. She'd never had a chance to tell him what she'd done that day, after all.

"Her talents will be beneficial," Xavier said. He waited patiently for the two to settle down, and for Bucky to be ready to start the session.

It did take a couple of minutes for Bucky to finally take a breath and then look at Xavier.

"So what's supposed to happen now?" he asked. "You, what, get into my head and start sweeping shit out?"

"Something like that, but it won't be so easy," Xavier warned him. "It will take time to find the programming. This won't be an instantaneous process, nor will it be easy. But we will continue to work on it until the programming is all gone."

"Good luck," Bucky muttered. Even he had no idea how deeply the programming went. There was no telling if they'd be able to reach it all.

Xavier smiled a little. "Come sit," he said, motioning to a chair. "Try to relax." He glanced at Lucy as Bucky settled himself in.

Lucy nodded a little. Yes, she'd keep close attention on Bucky, just in case anything happened.

Bucky hesitated for just a moment, and then did as he was told. There was something unsettling about letting someone poke around in his head, but it wasn't as if Xavier could really make things worse.

Mavin just settled into her seat, occasionally making notes on her notepad but for the most part just being the 'official' presence.

Xavier started poking around. It took him a bit of time to find the programming, and he was gentle at first, testing. He didn't want to hurt Bucky, after all. Just remove the programming.

Bucky tried his best not to fight the intrusion. His hand clenched and he ground his teeth as he made himself sit there passively. He did not like having anyone in his head, not after everything.

Lucy hesitated, torn. On the one hand, she didn't have permission to mess with his emotions. On the other, she could make him feel better about this whole thing. She made a bit of a face.

Xavier only spent a few minutes this time, essentially finding what he needed for now before he opened his eyes and leaned back again.

Mavin nudged her sister gently. She didn't have to be an empath to know what Lucy was feeling at the moment.

Bucky opened his eyes as well when he felt the intrusion vanish.

"That can't be it," he said.

"No," Xavier agreed. "I believe I can get rid of the programming, given time." He paused for a moment. "However, your tension will do neither of us any good." He glanced back at Lucy.

Lucy steadied herself a bit and spoke up. "I could actually help with that, if you want."

"Oh yeah?" Bucky asked. It was just shy of a challenge. The whole situation had him not feeling like himself, even though he wasn't entirely sure what it was like to feel like himself anymore.

"I could help smooth the edges over, help you keep calm."

Steve's eyes narrowed at that.