In a world that hates and fears them, the X-men are a team brought together by Tony Stark and Charles Xavier to fight for peace and equality between humans and mutants. After having recently fought back at a court hearing in Washington, DC to prevent them from being forced to work under the government, the X-men have faced one of their toughest enemies yet in the recruitment of their newest member, Ororo Munroe.

The X-men have recently battled the Shadow King – a mysterious telepathic who goes from body to body – in the flooding streets of Cairo, Egypt, where he was attempting to get Ororo to destroy the city by using her powers of weather manipulation. In addition to recruiting Ororo, Hank "Beast" McCoy and Warren "Angel" Worthington III have learned that they have gotten a promotion to operate Stark Pharmaceuticals to create mutant-friendly medications and sell them on the market. Another addition brought in is Doctor Cecilia Reyes, who is recruited to act as a mentor for Jean Grey.

Issue 25: New Developments

Stark Pharmaceuticals – Warren's Office

The week after the recruitment of Ororo Munroe – Storm – was a week Hank McCoy and Warren Worthington III knew would be a big transition. After having gotten promoted to be CEO and executive director of Stark Pharmaceuticals, the two mutants knew that their work at Tony Stark's pharmaceutical company was vital.

The way Tony was describing it to the two of them, he explained that he'd wanted to use Stark Pharmaceuticals to manufacture and distribute medications that would be safe for mutants to use. Regular medications like Levora, Prozac, diphenhydramine, Zoloft and Bupropion worked well for regular human beings. But with mutants, the symptoms that came along with them had grave side-effects.

Mutants who used medications like Prozac were faced with symptoms of stomach pains, intense headaches, and undo strain on the heart and liver. It was a huge part of why Professor Xavier had refused to put Scott and Jean on psychoactive drugs like that, because he knew it would make things worse for the two. The last thing anyone in the tower wanted was to see Scott and Jean get sick from taking medications that didn't respond well to their body chemistry. Plus, the two were making such great progress with their mental recovery, no one saw the point in putting them on medications.

Now, Tony was entrusting Warren and Hank to be the ones in charge of making sure that those medications were specially created specifically for mutants. Warren, under the knowledge that mutants had different genetics than humans and unique body chemistries, understood how important this was. In fact, he was more than happy to actually be a CEO of a company and have something to fall back on. But, that didn't mean he was not still grieving over Candy's death.

Candy's death still weighed heavily on his heart, but, he knew that Candy would want him to do this. She'd want him to take over a company and use it for the greater good. Now, Warren and Hank had the opportunity to do just that.

After having met with the board of directors, Warren and Hank got to work on various projects, making sure that basic allergy medications were modified first. With it being allergy season and pollen filling up the air, Warren could already feel his own nose starting to stuff and his own eyes starting to water. That was why he was planning on keeping his office windows shut during the spring and summer. The less pollen he breathed in, the better for him.

Warren sat there at his desk, currently on a phone call with his father and mother. While he still held onto a lot of bitterness towards his dad, he also knew that Scott and Jean no longer had a mother or a father, and that they were pushing for Warren to somehow make up with his parents. The least he could do was try and make things better between he and his parents, if not for anyone else, but for Scott and Jean.

"So, CEO of Tony Stark's Pharmaceutical business . . . color me impressed," Warren's mother, Katherine Worthington, said.

"Thanks, Mom." Warren smiled slightly as he said that. To finally get to hear from his mother that he did well at something meant a lot. "I mean, I am only in my first week here and already, I'm hard at work. Though it's not easy; I have to let go of someone by the end of the month.

"And I hate the idea of people in this company being out of work, but, I'm feeling like Michael Scott here. It's the question of how do you fire somebody and still remain friends with them. No, no, scratch that. That was stupid. I'm not that absurd and eccentric. Leave that to Tony. After all he's the one that keeps saying everyone at X-Corporation, we're all friends."

"Well, nobody said taking over a company would be easy Warren. So what is your first objective?" his father asked.

"My main goal is to get some mutant-friendly allergy medicine distributed immediately. I'm not leaving the windows open how the hell can anyone breathe out there?" Warren asked. "After that, well, Hank's thinking about starting to distribute those drugs to the mutant-friendly clinics and hospitals. Those places need those drugs more than anything. What can they give to mutants who have severe injuries that need to be taken care of? An Advil and that's it? Then who ends up suffering as a result? More than anything, Dr. Cecelia Reyes is more than happy to be out of Claremont Regional Hospital and working in X-Corporation as Hank's lab assistant."

"Well, you seem to have a clear understanding of what it is that you are looking to accomplish. Who knows? Maybe Worthington Pharmaceuticals could merge with X-Corporation," Katherine said to her son a hint of pride in her tone.

"One day at a time, Mom," Warren said. "But, my main concern is the fact that most mutants do not have health insurance because they are not able to get it. And with Senator Kelly winning people over in the polls, let's say that that is concerning for me."

"We can understand that," said his father.

"It's going to take me a while before I fully forgive you for working with him to try and get a mutant cure distributed. But, what I am focused on right now is making sure that these new drugs are handled responsibly so we don't have to risk them getting into the hands of the corrupt like Cameron Hodge or Obadiah Stane again. After what happened on Genosha four months ago, let's just say I'm still swallowing that pill down," Warren said.

"I am determined to make sure that that doesn't happen here. And I can say that we've got quite the list of employees who work here that I'm sure Worthington Pharmaceuticals would be envious of. Between Helen Cho and her son Amadeus, and Dr. Bruce Banner, we've got employees here that could be considered geniuses. Now, duty calls. I need to check on how my scientists are doing with the new allergy medications. I will talk later," he continued to say.

"Bye, son," said Katherine as she hung up.

Warren got up from his desk and preceded to head down to the research labs. Stark Pharmaceuticals being owned by Tony Stark, the company had all of the latest and greatest technology and equipment money could buy. It was enough that would make Worthington Pharmaceuticals envious. In fact, their chief researcher just happened to be Dr. Bruce Banner, who had just been hired a month previously. Walking into Banner's lab, Warren knocked on the door.

"Dr. Banner, are we seeing progress being made with the allergy medication?" asked Warren.

"Yes, we are in fact seeing some results that we're very pleased about, but, we won't know until it is tested. It's not like you can animal-test this stuff," said Banner.

"Of course, but, you do know that if we bring in mutants to test this medication out on, that it will be with their consent. We do not want to repeat the Genosha adventure by forcing mutants to do it against their will," Warren said, wanting to make it very clear.

"Absolutely, Mr. Worthington; you know that none of these employees will go against you or your policies," said Banner.

"Good, then we understand that Dr. McCoy and I will get the respect from our employees that we deserve to have." Warren nodded. "That's what I like to see and hear. We want to make sure that this stuff is safe before putting it on the market. But, we're going to have to give it to all the mutant-friendly hospitals and clinics at least in New York, because you know that those places are free and they'll make sure that even mutants who are not covered get that medication.

"God forbid there's a sick mutant child who needs care; regular hospitals won't provide any of that. But, we also need to worry about the fact that employees from Stane and Hodge are starting to rebel by going outside these hospitals and clinics to cause a riot. We all know that those were not organized by anyone in the government. But, who's to say that even protests that are organized cannot go corrupt? Don't say that's not a possibility, because it is."

"I'm very aware of that, Mr. Worthington," Bruce said, nodding.

Warren nodded. "Okay, well, McCoy and I have a meeting with the board of directors. They want to see what progress is being made over here, and I think at the rate we're going throughout this week that they will be pleased. Good work as always, Dr. Banner."

As he walked out of Banner's lab to make his way down to the board room, Warren internally smiled. He was just glad to see that already in his first week, progress was being made at Stark Pharmaceuticals and that they were one step closer to making things better for mutants everywhere.

X-Corporation Tower – Medical Laboratory

Many could consider becoming a doctor or a nurse to be part of achieving the "American dream." But, for mutants like Dr. Cecilia Reyes, she found that earning that title proved to be harder than she at first thought.

Being a first-generation Puerto Rican-American woman from the Bronx, Cecilia knew that she'd have to work harder to prove herself to her peers. But, she never thought that she'd have to add the word 'mutant' to the list of reasons as to why she needed to prove she was worthy of a job in the medical field.

When she had gone to medical school, everyone had looked at her as though they hadn't taken her seriously whatsoever. Needing to hide her mutation of projecting force fields made it harder. Finally, when she'd gotten her first job, it had been at Claremont Regional Hospital, because that was one of the few hospitals in New York that were mutant-friendly and hired mutants willingly. It was there where she had met Charles Xavier when he'd started going to her for cancer treatments. Ever since then, Charles and Tony had helped her with her career. Tony had even given generous donations to the hospital where she had worked.

Now, Cecilia felt even more blessed, since Tony Stark had hired her to work as Hank McCoy's lab assistant while Hank worked at Stark Pharmaceuticals. Doing medical research was all Cecilia had ever wanted to do for most of her career. She knew that any little thing she could do for Hank would be worth it. That was considering that he and Warren were going to be at work from the minute the sun rose, and that they were not going to be coming home until the sun went down. If she could add anymore to her list of things to feel grateful for, she could also add mentoring Jean Grey to that list.

The fact that Jean Grey aspired to be a doctor made both Cecilia and Hank more than happy to train her in the medical field. Jean and Scott having gotten their GED, that meant they could apply to go to college next fall. Jean was looking at Colombia, specifically at their pre-med programs. Jean knew that that meant she'd be in school for a total of six or seven years, but, she was more than ready.

"So, Jean, are you sure you're ready to go to school for something like this? I mean, you'll be in school for six to seven years," pointed out Cecilia as she organized the medical cabinets.

"I'm fully prepared. I mean, my mother was. She, from what I remember, had been in medical school, married to my dad at age twenty-three, and by the time she was twenty-four, she was pregnant with my oldest brother. I don't know how that woman put herself through med school raising my oldest brother, and my oldest sister," Jean said.

"I give them a lot of credit, though. Because, between me, and my identical twin sister, we were pieces of work for the two of them to deal with; it was a family of eight. No, it wasn't a family. It was a tribe. I just want this for me. This is what I want in life. For these past years of my life up until age seventeen, I'd spent those days curled in a ball by myself bawling my eyes out because I didn't have any family around me. I need something to fall back on, because I want to feel successful," she continued to say.

"Yeah I know exactly where it is that you're coming from, Jean, I really do," said Dr. Reyes. "You want to feel as though you have something for you because you want to prove to people that just because you're a mutant, and a female, that doesn't mean you are less capable than others. You don't want to have lean back on Professor Xavier to give you everything. I was one of the only Puerto Rican females in my class in medical school; it was important for me to prove that I was competent of doing my job as a med student."

"Exactly," Jean said. "At least now, with the Brotherhood and Cameron Hodge and Obadiah Stane arrested, we won't have to worry about too much. What had happened at that hospital those months ago, to me is pettiness. That's like high school drama, as far as I'm concerned, even though I've never been to high school. But, Bobby has, and from what he says, it's like that every day," Jean said.

Jean proceeded to go and take stock of what they had in the cabinets. Most would think because Jean had spent so many years locked away in a mental hospital that she'd be squeamish about things like medicine. That was far from the case. In fact, Jean only found herself all the more fascinated by it and it made her want to be like her mother even more.

"You're exactly right Jean. I mean these are grown men and women doing this. As far as I know, that's bullshit compared to what you and Scott had to go through, what Ororo had to go through. You kids are probably brighter than most adults, and you're probably more mature than most adults," Dr. Reyes noted.

"I feel almost as though it's too calm, and I'm waiting for the next disaster to come," Jean said with a chuckle. "I mean, we had to deal with Storm in Egypt. But, I'm waiting for some other horrendous thing to happen that's going to force us to go into full uniform again."

"Well, knowing the life you live now, you won't have to wait long."

"But I'm actually enjoying the peace now. I don't want it to ever stop." Jean grinned.

"Don't we all?" Cecilia asked. "But unfortunately, life can be like Murphy's Law. Anything can go wrong so you might as well stay prepared for that."

"Anyway, I've gotta get ready for a Danger Room session with Logan and Ms. Danvers tonight before dinner. After that we've got the night off. I'm just hoping that Warren and Hank aren't going to be late or else Logan will kick their asses in," Jean said.

"Well good luck; we'll presume this tomorrow," Dr. Reyes replied as Jean exited the medical quarters.

Up next: Night Off