The alarm went off at 7:15am. Jean woke to find that Logan was already out in the living room ordering breakfast. Jean eavesdropped a little, with the help of her telepathy. He was ordering for her too; French toast, her favorite. Did he know it was my favorite?

She got out of bed and went to take a quick shower. By the time she was out and dressed (she had taken clothes with her into the bathroom) the food had arrived. Logan set it up again on the table.

"French toast, thank you Logan!" she pretended to be surprised. On her way to the table she switched on the tv and turned it to the news. Logan twitched, but quickly relaxed.

"I still can't get used to the fact that ya do stuff like that with yer head." She just smiled at him and sat down at the table.

"I remembered you liked this." He gestured with his fork at the food. She nodded, because she had already started wolfing it down.

After breakfast, Jean dug out the file on their next candidate. She was a well-off businesswoman/socialite named Emma Frost, and she was a telepath. Oh great, thought Jean, she's going to think she's too good for our motley crew. Jean made Logan call her.

She was surprisingly direct, and set up their meeting at her place at noon. When they got off the phone (Jean had set it on speaker so she could hear Emma too) Jean made a face at Logan.

"I don't like her already. I don't know why…"

Emma's building was ritzy. In fact, Jean was starting to worry whether they would let Logan in. She looked acceptable in her black business suit, but Logan was in faded jeans, a gray t-shirt and his leather jacket.

The uniformed doorman greeted them courteously, however, and directed them inside to the elevator. Emma had her own button, meaning she had an entire floor to herself. Jean was jealous. Her own family had been upper-middle class when she was growing up, but this was upper-upper class. The elevator was bigger than her room at the mansion, and better decorated.

They finally reached her floor and were startled to find Emma standing there waiting for them when the elevator doors opened. She was above average height for a woman, about the same as Jean at 5'10". Her long blonde hair was styled into perfect waves, and her makeup was understated and flawless. She wore a white business skirt suit, the skirt a little too short for Jean's own taste. She held her hand out to Jean first.

"Welcome. You must be Dr. Grey. I'm Emma Frost."

"Hello Ms. Frost, this is my associate Logan. You spoke with him on the phone." Emma turned disapproving blue eyes at Logan, but nodded at him.

"If you would both follow me?" Emma walked down to the end of the hallway, opening one side of a set of double doors leading to a large office set on the corner of the building. The outside walls were all window, affording a generous view of the New York skyline. The styling of the room was rich, but not over the top. The walls and carpet were white, as were the chairs set in front of her desk. The inside walls held a couple of paintings that Jean recognized as being very expensive original pieces. Logan and Jean each took a seat, and Emma sat behind her desk, facing them.

"I know why you've come to speak with me." she began. "You would like me to join Charles Xavier's little mutant crime fighting group. What I have to ask you in return is: What would it gain me? Not counting risk of injury or being ostracized by my social contacts." Emma looked back and forth between Jean and Logan, waiting for an answer. Jean didn't know what to say. Logan was getting distracted by the generous amount of cleavage that Emma's suit jacket purposely failed to conceal.

"Well," Jean began, "I believe that banding together against those who would be terrorists is good for everybody. We, as powerful mutants, have a responsibility to protect the rest of mankind from tyranny." Jean thought that this was an excellent reason, but Emma evidently didn't.

"For all I care, regular humans can rot. If they aren't advanced enough to keep up with homo-sapiens-superior, than they will become extinct. As for our fellow mutants, it will be as it has always been throughout history. A powerful leader will take charge, commanding the obedience of those who are lesser. It is the way of business, nature, politics…everything." She stood up. "If that was all, you haven't convinced me that it is in my best interest."

"I'm sorry you feel that way." Jean finally managed. "You would have made a valuable addition to our team."

"No doubt I would have. I'll see you out."

Jean was torn. On the one hand, another telepath would have been extremely useful, but on the other hand, she was glad that Emma had declined. Not only was she rude, but Jean had the feeling that she wouldn't be reliable in a pinch. Logan didn't much care for her either.

On the way back to their hotel room, Jean and Logan stopped at a deli to pick up some quick lunch. The tv behind the counter was set to the news, and Jean was listening with half an ear until something she heard got her complete attention.

"Yes, the infamous Brotherhood of Mutants is back. This group's leader, Erik Lensherr (who insists on being called "Magneto") was sighted yesterday in Australia. Several confirmed accounts say he was with other members of the Brotherhood including St. John Allerdyce, or "Pyro", Cain Marko or "Juggernaut", James Maddrox or "Multiple Man" and another mutant known only by the name "Mastermind". Also, one other account told of two additional mutants who were with Magneto. A white haired young man who moved with super speed and a dark-haired young woman dressed in red. These accounts match the descriptions of Lensherr's estranged children, Pietro and Wanda Maximoff…"

Jean was shocked. Magneto's power had fully returned already? They had told her that Hank gave Magneto four times the regular dose of the cure! Jean knew that Magneto was powerful, he was a class four mutant, but surely he couldn't overcome four times the normal dosage in the same amount of time it took Rogue's mutation to break through a regular dose.

And he hadn't spoken to the twins, Pietro and Wanda, since they were children! Jean only met them once, back when Charles and Erik were still friends. Erik didn't like to see them. They reminded him of his former weakness: falling in love with their mother, who was just a human.

As soon as they got back to the room, Jean called Xavier. He knew all about it, and assumed that Magneto had only made up with his children because he needed the manpower. Both sides, it seemed, were preparing for battle once more.