The Scott and Jean Archives
Iceman arrives at the mansion with newcomers Cecilia and Marrow, only to find it stripped bare of furniture. The X-Men, Storm, Wolverine, cannonball, Cyclops and Phoenix, return shortly after, with Cyclops a casualty after their recent Operation: Zero Tolerance encounter.
With the medical facility gone, Jean is at a loss at how to get the bomb out of her husband, Scott. Cecilia, a former doctor until the hospital released her because her mutation manifested during an operation, steps up to take charge. Jean gives Cecilia a quick telepathic relay of what happened to them. After they had been captured by Bastion, Bastion had a bomb implanted in Scott in the case should they escape, which they did.
Scott futilely tries to dissuade them from their rescue plans, but Jean is convinced that Cecilia would be able to save him. Cecilia immediately orders Cannonball to go get any medical supplies he can find and Storm to boil water. Wolverine offers to be her “pocket surgeon”.
Outside, Storm and Marrow have a confrontation. Storm came short of killing Marrow once, and while Storm thought that Marrow came back for revenge, Marrow merely took on Iceman’s offer to escape the danger of New York city. They plan to settle their feud after Scott is out of immediate danger.
Meanwhile, the bomb inside of Scott is growing as Jean tries to telekinetically “keep the nanotechs apart” while putting Scott on “mental anesthetic” at the same time. Cannonball returns with medical supplies as does Storm with the water. Wolverine sterilises his claws while Jean puts Scott “to sleep”.
While the surgery progresses, Juggernaut comes knocking at the door with an attorney. Storm answers the door, to be presented with a court document stating that with Charles Xavier gone, his financial assets are frozen until Juggernaut is made “administrator” of the funds. Storm takes the document and leaves Juggernaut and his attorney out in the pouring rain.
Cannonball is in a room trying to grind pills into power for an antibiotic bath. Marrow offers him one of her bones to act as a “bigger pestle”.
The Juggernaut barges into the house, only to find it completely empty with nothing for him to raid. As Storm tries to hold him off from distracting Scott’s surgery, reinforcements arrive in the form of Joseph, Rogue, Beast, Maggot and Trish Tilby. They start fighting as the Juggernaut starts agitating them. Maggot’s pets make quick work driving the Juggernaut away.
While Cecilia examines and tries to figure out how to extract it, Jean gives her a quick summary about nanotechnology from what she remembers about them. However, the strain is taking a toll on Jean as she struggles to keep Scott anesthetised as well as the nanotech from coming together. Beast comes over to aid Cecilia, as does Joseph taking over from Jean. Wolverine starts blaming Trish for the anti-mutant hysteria and Bastion’s operations resulting in Scott’s situation. This upsets Trish and drives her away, which in turn angers Beast.
Cecilia tries to separate the two men just as Cannonball arrives with the antibiotic bath. Marrow offers a couple of her bones to act as tools to dislodge the bomb. One of Maggot’s pets takes care of the bomb by consuming it.
Nightfalls and everyone retires to leave Scott to rest and deal with their personal issues. But when it came down to the wire, they still pulled together like a team.
Previous: Uncanny X-Men (Vol 2) #350 | Next: X-Men (Vol 2) #71