Oh wow. This is so unexpected. It's crazy how *human* you made her. She has the tiniest inklings of guilt, and yet, she is still so much that same woman who brutally told Sue that she valued her work over her family.

Your characterization of Mary Storm surpasses what was revealed in the comics, and through her perspective, you defined who Franklin is as well. Her distaste at Franklin crying says so much about who Mary is, who Franklin is, why she was capable of sacrificing her loved ones, and why her children turned out to be who they are under Franklin's care. She's a cold woman, and maybe she always was, but her subtle second-guessing of herself hints that a very small, easily dismissed part of her might regret it.

Amazing. You've truly turned her into a real person with this blase little introspection.