The following few days after their bout with Sabertooth was marked by the normal weather change that indicated a new season was on the way. Meteorologists were reporting breezy days and the cooler temperatures, men and women were retiring their short shorts and tank tops for pants and t-shirts, some actually wearing long sleeved sweaters to keep the breezes from causing shivers and colds. The girls of the Xavier Institute were no different, especially Jean and Sasha who were dressed in jeans and long-sleeved shirts. Sasha and Jean were driving to get a bite down in the Theater District of New York city, but were now sitting in traffic due it being the weekend. They had just came from the Upper West Side where they attended a Biological Science Convention, so Jean could get a feel for what she would be getting into if she chose to study genetics in college. Through the beeping and the meaningless honking, Sasha carefully described her research with psionic mutants and how their powers are biologically chosen. The neuropsychiatrist knew that Jean was obviously uncomfortable when she mentioned experimentation on fellow mutants, but Sasha reassured her that all of her patients were there on their own freedom and completely had a hand in tests and experiments. She compared her work to how psychologists today worked with their patients and watched how their behavior worked or if they could do memory tasks. The most invasive procedure is a saliva sample of their DNA for her partners in genetics to study and tear the DNA genome to pieces.

"Would you work on other mutants too?" Jean asked.

Sasha combed her fingers through her thick curls and allowed them to bounce back into place behind her, "I have limited knowledge in the human genome; however, I do love to help my bud's in the genetics department whenever I have nothing to do."

"And you wouldn't have to do any invasive procedures on them?"

"Well," Sasha shook her head from side to side as if she was trying to piece together a nice way of revealing their jobs on mutants. "It depends on who gives you your paycheck."

Jean nodded, "some places get away with illegal human testing."

"Bingo."

"That's so sickening." The red-head shook her head in disgust. "How do places get away with that?"

"It's all a bunch of loopholes and exploitations in terms of laws you must abide by that is completely dependent on the state, province, or country you are in. I don't know how it exactly is in the state, but in Canada, mutant experimentation is allowed because mutants are not considered humans. They consider it to be like an epidemic that we need to find out about." Sasha obviously looked troubled.

"So a lab could get away with doing anything to mutants all in the name of research?"

"Yep. That's why I vowed that if my staff goes too far with my patients, I would resign that day with sabotaging their experiment. What is funny is that vow came before I even came to terms that I was a mutant." The older mutant looked to Jean with a smile on her face to reassure her that there were some people out there in the sciences that were decent people.

She could tell that Jean was second guessing herself a bit in terms of her future career paths.

"Jean, don't let the ignorant ones bring you down. There are still some scientists out there who believe that we are all humans and deserve to be treated as such."

The red-headed mutant looked at Sasha and saw that the woman was obviously agitated when she had to discuss the dark side of the people who employed scientists like her. She reached out and placed her hand on Sasha's shoulder, a silent connection forming when Sasha looked over and smiled to her. The silence was soon broken when Sasha belted out a stream of obscenities at a woman in a minivan trying to change lanes in front of her in all of this traffic. Jean could not help but laugh as Sasha fit right in with the New Yorker stereotype as she flung her middle finger up in the air and made sure that she was seen by the soccer mom.

After about an hour of horns honking, Sasha's fired up temper, and stalled cars, the two had broke through traffic and arrived at a small sushi bar with amazing atmosphere and a little Japanese man who treated the art of sushi as his life. Sasha had been to this place a few times before when she would travel to New York City, so this time would be no different. The tab was on her and the two girls were going to have so much seafood and rice that they were going to be swimming in it. The conversations between the two girls was mostly gossip and Jean telling how much she knew about the X-men that she felt comfortable telling. As she told the older woman about her teammates, she had in the back of her mind Mystique's voice rambling about what she had seen under Apocalypse. Jean still kept a smile on her face and continued to talk about the students to give Sasha more insight on who she was messing with.

"Wait," Sasha held up her hand and shifted her head to see past Jean's body to a table in the back corner of the small restaurant. "I think I see somebody to join us."

Her green eyes zoomed in to a muscular male with black hair cut in a flat top wearing a white 'I heart NY' shirt, jeans, and tennis shoes. The table was covered in plates with all different types of sushi that he was engulfing down as if he was a living garbage disposal. Sasha licked her lips and twirled a lock of her loose curls around her thin index finger, her reaction causing Jean to turn around and take a look at her friend's prey.

"Oh Sasha, you need to get out of here!" Jean whispered.

Sasha leaned in close, "think I should go talk to him?"

Jean shook her head and covered her face with her hand, "I don't believe this but you can do what you-…" She was interrupted by the sound of a chair scooting across the floor and the tapping of heels on the ground. Jean looked up and over to see Sasha going boy crazy and using her touch of grace and charm to bring somebody else to their party.

Sasha had a bounce to her step, her hips sashaying from side to side in her skin-tight black jeans that would make any man drool for mercy. Her black platform heels made her legs look longer than a river and the baggy long sleeved shirt left the imagination to wander to places that would make a person melt. She was the queen of sex appeal and if she wanted it, she was going to get it.

"Hey there," her voice was cool once she came to his table, allowing her long violet hair to fall over her shoulder.

The man stopped eating and looked up to her with his big blue eyes, rice around his lips. He was speechless for a few seconds as he tried to swallow the copious amounts of rice and fish in a big gulp.

"Allo, miss." He had a thick Russian accent to his voice.

Foreigner. She liked that.

Sasha smiled, "mind if I have a seat?"

He shook his head and sat up, "no miss, please sit if you like!"

The man was exuberant about life; she could tell in his voice and feel it from his very presence. Sasha propped her head up on her hand, watching him clumsily use chopsticks to shovel rice in his mouth. He was like a big cute teddy bear that was oblivious to the world around him.

"I see you're a tourist."

He stopped eating, "da, how you know?"

She pointed to her own torso, "New Yorkers never wear those shirts, but don't fret, I'm not from here either."

The man perked up, "Really! Where is your homeland?"

"Canada."

"Not American, ah? It feel nice that I'm not alone in not being American, da? We share something!" He held out his large hand to her in a handshake, "I'm Piotr, you?"

She took his hand, watching as her hand disappeared in his fingers and shook gently. "Sasha."

He let go of her hand and nodded to her, "it's beautiful name to fit with beautiful face."

Sasha relished in his compliments with a smile, blush, and a few bats if her eye lashes. "Thank you Piotr, I must say you have a handsome name as well. You never said where you were from; however, I can assume from your accent…Eastern European? Slavic?"

"Da, from Mother Russia. Chilly there around this time, feels nice to be able to wear t-shirt and not seem as oddball." Piotr spoke, wiping his mouth of the rice.

Sasha's eyes widened, "you're tolerant to cold?"

"Hate coats," he sat up proudly and began to bang on his chest. "Very thick skin, it useful where I'm from."

"I have a friend I'm here with, could she join us? We can sit here so you can continue your feast."

Piotr nodded his head and watched as Sasha called over Jean and waved the red-head over to join the two. Jean looked over her shoulder and shook her head in amazement that a woman almost thirty years old with a doctorate in Neuroscience could be such a boy-chaser. It was like she was worse than Kitty and Kitty was only sixteen years old! Jean stood up from their table and moved towards the table in the back. As she got closer to the table she almost had a heart attack now that she had a better view of the man.

"Colossus?"

Piotr's eyes widened, "you are X-men I worked with, da? I am sorry, I do not remember your name, mine is Piotr now that we are not trying to kill each other." He held out his hand for her to shake it.

Jean took his hand and shook it gently, "it's Jean. Jean Grey. What are you doing here? Where is Magneto?"

He shrugged his shoulders and shook his head, a dismal look on his face. "After Apocalypse, I had X-men take me back to Russia to see if he returned my sister to me. She not was not there, so I came to America to find her."

Jean pulled up a chair at the table and sat down beside Sasha, the doctor looking confused at the entire situation.

"You two know each other?" Sasha asked, plucking a sushi roll from one of Piotr's plates.

"It was out battle with Apocalypse; Mr. McCoy probably told you about it. We worked with Piotr him to stop him. After the battle, I was exhausted and I needed my rest. I didn't know we had dropped you off in Russia." Jean rubbed her forehead, trying to see if she could remember anything after Apocalypse; however, it was all a blur.

Piotr scratched his head, "you slept for long time. I have never ever seen person sleep so long."

Jean chuckled, "Did Magneto have something to do with your sister?"

The larger man's face became solemn as he thought about his own flesh and blood taken away from him in an act of bribery.

"Da, he-…he took my sister, Illyana, from me so I would work for him. Magneto said that if I lent him my strength, he would give me my sister. But, no, no, after Apocalypse, he disappeared and left me without my Illyana!"

His fist slammed on the table causing the girls to jump. Sasha reached out and rested her hand on Piotr's, comforting him. The large man looked down at her hand upon his and followed the arm to Sasha's caring eyes staring at him. A small smile formed on his lips as he put his hand on top of hers.

"We can help you find her, Piotr. I promise that the X-men will do everything we can to bring your sister back to us." Jean spoke, her voice full of the loving care that she always had when speaking to somebody.

Piotr shook his head and lowered it, avoiding any eye contact with the girls. He was afraid that he would be betrayed again, and be back, once again, at square one. He was about to decline their offer until he felt Sasha's hand slip in between his fingers and her pinky wrap around his own. His eyes widened and turned to the violet haired mutant with a smirk on her face and a twinkle in eye.

"We're not going to throw you under the bus, Piotr; that's dirty and we don't work like that." Sasha squeezed his pinky finger tighter, his eyes filling with a hope.

Piotr had to hold back his tears, but he was cheerful that he did not feel as if he had to be forced into tagging along with a group that might betray him. The girls seemed genuine, and he had been trotting around New York City for months with no leads from anybody. The large Russian nodded as if it was his way of accepting their offer and that he would finally get the help that he deserved.

"Da, da, thank you, girls. Thank you for help. All I want is to find Illyana, thank you for helping me get through this; however, I can't leave with you now."

Sasha perked up in confusion, "why not?"

Piotr stood up from the table and threw some money on it as well as a tip. "I have some leads, and I want to go at this one alone. I will find you girls again."

He took his leave from the sushi restaurant, leaving the girls to themselves. Sasha watched as he left the place, her eyes on his backside. She could not help but do a soft wolf whistle to herself before turning back to the table once he was out of the place.

"He's a cutie pie."

Jean looked partially disturbed due to the fact Sabertooth had attacked them Colossus was by himself, and Magneto was nowhere to be found. Sasha's voice broke her out of her world of speculations.

"What's up?"

Jean shook her head, "one of our old combats has essentially gone rogue. I didn't piece it together when Sabertooth attacked you, but now that we saw him…I'm not sure."

Sasha leaned in close, "think we should tell Charles?"

The red head nodded and stood up from the table, "c'mon. If the Professor does not know about this, we should tell him. Maybe do some searching on your new crush's sister?"

Sasha scoffed and stood up beside her, "I'm too old for crushes. I have flings and he would be a fun ride." She flung her hair over her shoulder before she lead the two out of the restaurant.