About five minutes down the road, Logan was asleep again. Jean just rolled her eyes. At least she got him outside and in the car without a fuss. They were driving a big SUV, so all their luggage was far in the back, allowing Logan to recline his seat to the fullest. She turned up the radio, even singing along (horribly) to try and keep Logan awake so she'd have someone to talk to. Eventually, however, she resigned herself to the fact that she'd be driving into the city pretty much alone.

When Jean pulled into the parking garage of the hotel, Logan finally woke up.

"I hate these things." he grumbled, half to himself.

Jean had made the reservation for two nights, long enough to visit both the potential X-Men in New York. She had planned on visiting one person a day.

Logan carried their things up to the room while Jean finished checking in. She had reserved a two-bedroom suite, but somehow there was a mix-up and they had been given the bridal suite. Logan is probably happy about this, thought Jean, as she took the elevator up to their room. There's going to be one bed, and he's going to want to share it. That thought made her stomach flutter. Part of her wanted to cuddle up with Logan under the sheets, but another part of her screamed that she wasn't ready for that yet.

She finally reached the room, swiped her key and went in. Logan was sprawled on the couch, watching tv and drinking a beer.

"Well, make yourself at home…" said Jean, smiling.

"Think I already did." he said without turning from the tv. Jean went around behind him. He was watching a hockey game. Somehow, she wasn't surprised.

"Notice anything strange about the room?" Jean asked.

"Nope."

"There's only one bed."

"Mm-hmm."

"They messed up and gave us a bridal suite instead of a two-bedroom suite."

"How 'bout that."

Jean made an inarticulate noise of exasperation, and decided to give up. He was still upset that she dragged him out of bed, apparently. Well, it was his fault for not paying attention to our conversation yesterday, she thought. What right does he have to be angry with me?

Jean went off into the bedroom to think and to review the files of the mutants they'd been assigned. It was a pretty standard room; king-sized bed covered with an ugly floral-print blanket, two end-tables with boring white lamps, a desk and a dresser. Logan had already put all his stuff away, but her suitcase was just sitting on the bed. She moved it to the floor by the dresser, then dug through her briefcase (which she had carried with her) to find the dossier on their first candidate. His name was Jean-Paul Beaubier, late of Canada. Twenty-two, single, living in SoHo. His mutant ability was super speed.

Jean was interrupted by Logan knocking on the open door's frame. She noticed the tv was turned off.

"Yes?" She looked up at him from where she sat on the bed. She couldn't read his expression, and didn't want to read his mind, not only because he could feel when she did it, but also she didn't like to be intrusive towards people she cared about.

"You can have the bed, I'll take the couch." Logan said, his voice soft. Jean knew that wasn't what he really wanted. She also suddenly realized why he had been short with her at first. He might have thought, before she told him otherwise, that she had booked a room with only one bed on purpose.

"It's ok," said Jean, in an off-handed way. "I don't think you should suffer for the hotel's mistake. It's a king-sized bed; there's enough room for both of us. Unless you'd rather sleep on the couch?" she said with a smile.

She called Jean-Paul that afternoon to see if he would meet with them. He seemed hesitant, but finally agreed to meet them in a little restaurant down the street from his apartment.

Jean and Logan got there ten minutes early. They were seated and ordered drinks before Jean-Paul got there. It was a nice little place, decorated with posters from old movies and with film memorabilia. The items on the menu were also Hollywood themed. Jean was so busy taking in the place that she failed to notice Jean-Paul until he was at their table.

"Hello." he said. "Dr. Grey?" His voice held a pleasing French-Canadian accent. He was average height, with white-blonde hair and bright blue eyes. His skin was slightly tanner than one would expect from a person with his coloring, but he was still very handsome.

"Please, call me Jean. This is my associate, Logan." Logan gave a brief jerk of his head. "He doesn't talk often, and when he does it's usually offensive. Don't mind him too much." Jean smiled, and was relieved when Jean-Paul smiled back.

"It's alright, I'm used to his type." said Jean-Paul as he sat down across the booth from them.

The waiter came over and everyone ordered their food. After they handed back the menus and the waiter left, they began.

"Jean-Paul," Jean began, "Have you ever heard of Charles Xavier?" He nodded, so she continued. "He runs a school not too far from here for mutant children. We take them in if they have no where else to go, or just function as a boarding school for students who would rather learn in a judgment-free environment. We teach mutant children and young adults how to live with their gifts, while still being educated and well-rounded individuals." She paused.

"So what does this have to do with me?" asked Jean-Paul. "I'm a little too old to attend your school, and I'm not qualified to be a teacher." Jean smiled a professional smile and went on.

"I'm sure you are also well aware of the dangers posed by mutants who are less interested in cooperation than destruction and subjugation of non-mutants. You've heard of Magneto and his Brotherhood?"

"What mutant hasn't?" he responded. "What with the Liberty Island capture, then Alcatraz, it'd be a miracle if anyone didn't know who he was. I thought he was dead though?"

"No, he is very much alive. He was defeated on Alcatraz using the cure." she said. "But the cure, as we have recently discovered, is only temporary." Jean-Paul looked shocked, his face draining of color.

"But, I've had friends who took it! Their powers went away, they look normal again! You're telling me-" he stopped when he realized how loud he was being, because several other patrons were staring at the trio. "You're telling me that they will turn back into mutants again?" he whispered. Jean solemnly nodded her head.

"So what is this meeting really about?" Jean-Paul asked, now that he had recovered his composure.

"Professor Xavier also runs a team of adult mutants. We try and head off disasters like Liberty Island and Alcatraz. In fact, we were present at both of those incidents. We need help now that we know Magneto is going to return. We're certain that he is going to redouble his efforts to overthrow human-kind. It's up to us to stop him, because average humans don't stand a chance. We would like you to join us."

Jean-Paul stared fixedly at the table. Just then, their food came. They ate mostly in silence, but eventually Jean-Paul piped up again.

"So what do you call yourselves?"

"We're the X-Men." Jean responded. Jean-Paul nodded.

"I'll have to get back to you."