Chapter Summaries

Professor X confronted President George Bush with evidence that military conspirators had plotted to assassinate him and used Mutants as a pretext. Bush canceled his anti-Mutant address, promised to halt hostile actions, and proposed elevating the Office of Mutant Affairs, while Professor X directed him toward Hank McCoy as a channel for cooperation.

• Professor X brought the X-Men into the White House, froze the staff, and presented George Bush with documents about the assassination plot and experiments at Alkali Lake.
• George Bush read the evidence, realized he had narrowly escaped a coup, and claimed William Stryker had acted without his knowledge.
• Bush canceled his planned address, agreed to reverse his decision against Mutants, and proposed raising Mutant Affairs to department level.
• Professor X said the X-Men did not know Stryker's accomplices and suggested investigating everyone named in the Presidential Succession Act, prompting Bush to avoid pursuing the matter further.
• Bush offered to establish direct communication with the X-Men, but Professor X recommended that he work through Hank McCoy and the Department of Mutant Affairs.

Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters reopened, and the Mutant children returned after Katharine Hepburn and Henry had sheltered them. Meanwhile, the U.S. government quietly erased William Stryker's legacy and contained the coup fallout, while Henry noticed the Ten Rings had not appeared in the Iraq War.

• The Mutant children returned to Xavier's School, and Professor X visited Katharine Hepburn and Henry to thank them for taking the students in.
• Professor X avoided questioning Henry about the Boar Man after his previous attempt to enter Henry's mind had burned him.
• The Bush faction kept the near-coup and threat of war against Mutants out of public view while William Stryker's death allowed the military to disband his loyalists and seal his files.
• George Bush used Stryker's downfall to warn potential accomplices in the coup plan, and officials surrendered benefits to settle the political turmoil.
• Henry enjoyed the calm after Stryker's removal and noted that the Ten Rings had not taken part in the Iraq War, where the Anglo-American coalition captured Saddam Hussein.

Katharine Hepburn celebrated her ninety-sixth birthday in Manhattan, inviting family, old friends, and Henry’s new neighbors. As preparations got underway, Henry learned Tony Stark might attend, though no one expected him to keep the commitment.

• Katharine Hepburn held her birthday celebration on East 49th Street and invited Gilgamesh, Thena, Gwen Stacy, and Cathy Webb.
• Henry hired Wesley Washington’s catering team, and Wesley arrived in person with better ingredients than originally booked.
• Wesley told Henry that Tony Stark had canceled a Malibu banquet to support the birthday event at Katharine Hepburn’s request.
• Henry joked that Tony might pursue one of the Hepburn women, recalling the family rule against helping relatives meet men from the Stark family.
• Henry informed Katharine Hepburn that Tony might attend, but they did not take the possibility seriously because Tony was notorious for standing people up.

At Katharine Hepburn’s birthday banquet, Henry discussed his approach to healthy eating and explained why he trusted vitamins more than many modern supplements. He left the elderly guests with cautious advice and promised them copies of a gentle, healthy diet plan.

• Lauren Bacall greeted Katharine Hepburn on her birthday and asked how she stayed so energetic.
• Hepburn credited her healthy routine and Henry’s attentive care, while Bacall tried to recruit Henry by offering him double pay.
• Henry offered Bacall a healthy diet plan and argued that older vitamin tablets were cheap and nutrient-rich, while modern supplements could be diluted for profit.
• Henry warned Bacall not to stop chronic-illness medications without a doctor’s instructions and advised caution with ordinary supplements.
• Other elderly guests asked Henry about health and longevity, and he answered cautiously and promised copies of his diet plan.

Henry attended Katharine Hepburn’s birthday party, avoided Tony Stark and the Hepburn family’s older guests, and sat with Cassie Webb. As he wondered about Cassie’s past, he recalled that she might be connected to Madame Web.

• Tony Stark mocked Henry’s criticism of pharmaceutical companies, and Henry answered calmly while Stark mingled with the Hepburn family beside Katharine Hepburn.
• Henry avoided Gwen and Skye’s conversation and found Gilgamesh and Thena entertaining children with stories of their ancient adventures.
• Henry brought Cassie Webb champagne and food, then chatted with her about the party and the cat mug she had given Katharine Hepburn.
• Henry considered Cassie’s people-pleasing nature and wondered whether she was the Madame Web he remembered.

Henry and Cathy Webb bonded over rescue work before Tony Stark interrupted and embarrassed himself with her. Tony then asked Henry about Abstergo Industries, whose broad business empire Henry already knew well.

• Henry and Cathy Webb talked at length about emergency rescue work and their experiences after the September 11 attacks.
• Tony Stark sat down and introduced himself to Cathy, who asked him to stop his advances and then hurried away for a drink.
• Henry mocked Tony for driving Cathy off, and Tony downed champagne brought by Happy Hogan.
• Tony asked Henry whether he knew Abstergo Industries, and Henry described the company’s history and far-reaching businesses.
• Henry explained that he had researched companies while trading stocks with the Hepburn Family.

Henry told Tony Stark that Abstergo Industries was a secretive organization with deep roots and warned him about its powerful security team. Tony revealed that Abstergo had approached Stark Industries through Ezekiel Sims, a notorious intermediary, and warned Henry to avoid Sims.

• Henry described Abstergo Industries’ rumored origins in the surviving Templars and its modern interests in DNA research and video games.
• Henry warned Tony that Abstergo’s security team was on the level of Blackwater, while Tony rejected the idea of hiring military bodyguards.
• Tony criticized the military’s command structure and explained why he distrusted it.
• Tony warned Henry that Ezekiel Sims had returned to New York and was a dangerous, underhanded investor.
• Tony revealed that Sims was Abstergo’s intermediary for a proposed share exchange with Stark Industries, which Tony suspected concealed a hidden cost.

Henry rescued Skye from a group of armed teenagers who had cornered him in an alley and discovered that a classmate had lured Skye out for money. Henry questioned the classmate and Andy, the alleged recruiter, and left Andy awake in the mud as he demanded answers.

• Henry followed an alert from Skye’s tracker and found Skye surrounded by teenagers in an alley.
• When a boy threatened Henry with a gun for calling 911, Henry crushed the boy’s hand, withstood the group’s gunfire, and knocked down the others.
• Skye told Henry that her classmate had followed her and brought the gang to block her path.
• Henry questioned the frightened classmate, who said someone had offered him twenty dollars to identify and bring out Skye.
• The classmate named Andy as the person who recruited him, and Henry woke Andy and began questioning him.

Henry interrogated one of the men hired to capture Skye, but Spider-Man intervened and mistook Henry for the attacker. After Skye corrected him, Spider-Man freed Henry and faced the question of what to do about the injured thugs.

• Henry pressed the Black man for details and learned that a French-looking man in his fifties had ordered Skye’s capture and arranged a delivery location.
• Spider-Man webbed Henry and pulled him onto a fire escape while checking whether the Black man was safe.
• Skye told Spider-Man that the thugs had bullied her and that Henry had come to help.
• Spider-Man questioned Henry about the injured men, then lowered him and broke the webbing apart.
• Spider-Man wondered whether they should call ambulances for the unconscious thugs, while Henry pointed out the cost of American emergency care.

Henry rescued Skye from a group of men, while Spider-Man called an ambulance and misunderstood Henry’s role as her guardian. Back home, Skye and Gwen smothered Kitty with affection as Gwen complained that animals avoided her.

• Henry dragged Skye out of the alley after knocking down the men who had tried to catch her.
• Skye accused Henry of stalking her, but he explained to Spider-Man that he was her guardian.
• Spider-Man called an ambulance using Henry’s phone and returned it before Henry took Skye home.
• Henry and Skye found Gwen hugging Kitty, and Skye joined her in cuddling the cat.
• Gwen told Henry that animals at the lab, pet shops, and shelters all hid from her, leaving Kitty as the only animal that welcomed her.

Henry went to a New York Harbor container yard to stake out the exchange point connected to Skye’s attempted abduction. He watched all night, but nobody appeared.

• Gwen Stacy visited Skye and helped her with schoolwork and programming while Henry prepared to go out.
• Skye tried to come with Henry, but he refused and left after making excuses to Kate and the girls.
• Henry traveled to the container yard where the kidnappers had been instructed to bring their captive.
• Henry deployed Sparrow Spy Drones to watch the exchange point and the surrounding area while he considered who might be behind the abduction.
• Henry waited through the night, but no one came to the container yard.

Henry received a spring banquet invitation from Rachel Lambert Mellon and Hubert de Givenchy, who hoped to lift Rachel’s spirits with an art appreciation gathering at Oak Spring Farm. After hearing the details, Henry considered his past dealings with the Mellon family and weighed whether to attend.

• Henry considered investigating Hell’s Kitchen and Harlem for clues about the people trying to capture Skye.
• Henry drove Skye to school and then received a visit from the Mellon family’s butler.
• The butler delivered an invitation for an art appreciation banquet hosted by Rachel Lambert Mellon and Hubert de Givenchy.
• Henry asked about the banquet and learned guests could bring antiques or artworks to share, with companions allowed if arranged in advance.
• Henry recalled his past meetings with the Mellons and the ways Old Money families had treated him, then considered whether to accept the invitation.

Henry accepted the Mellon family's invitation to a spring banquet at Oak Spring Farm and asked Katharine Hepburn to accompany him. He sent his reply with the butler, leaving Katharine delighted about the visit.

• Henry considered his friendship with Givenchy and agreed to attend the spring banquet at Oak Spring Farm.
• Henry invited Katharine Hepburn to come with him, and she questioned whether he really meant to take her.
• The Mellon family butler said Mrs. Mellon admired Katharine's restored and colorized films, and Katharine agreed to attend with Henry.
• Henry wrote a formal acceptance and gave it to the butler to take back to the Mellon family.
• Katharine asked whether Henry would invite Gwen or Cathy, and Henry explained that an art gathering would not suit them.

Henry and Katharine Hepburn traveled to Oak Spring Farm in Virginia for a banquet hosted by the Mellon family. They arrived to find the estate still carefully tended, where Hubert de Givenchy waited to welcome them.

• Henry dressed in his handmade suit and traveled with Katharine Hepburn to the airport.
• The Mellon family arranged VIP flights and a Rolls-Royce pickup for Henry and Katharine Hepburn.
• Henry and Katharine Hepburn drove from Washington Dulles International Airport to Oak Spring Farm, and Henry remembered visiting the area ten years earlier.
• Henry and Katharine Hepburn toured Oak Spring Farm’s layered gardens and saw how Rachel Lambert had arranged its flowers and plants.
• Hubert de Givenchy welcomed Henry and Katharine Hepburn at the entrance to the estate.

Henry arrived at Rachel Lambert Mellon’s home with Katharine Hepburn and Givenchy for Rachel’s art exhibition and banquet, bringing her a gift. Rachel invited Henry and Katharine to stay for several days so she could spend more time with Katharine.

• Givenchy welcomed Katharine Hepburn and Henry, then explained that Rachel’s informal exhibition had been spread across several days to accommodate the artists.
• Henry mentioned that he had brought Rachel a gift, and Rachel joined the group and asked to see it.
• Rachel greeted Henry and invited him to call her Rachel as she eagerly asked about his gift.
• Henry explained that the gift was large and that he and Katharine had booked a hotel in Washington.
• Rachel offered Henry and Katharine guest rooms and asked them to stay for several days, and Henry accepted.

Henry presented Rachel Lambert with a crystal device that projected three-dimensional images of her and Paul Mellon at different ages, moving her to tears. The chapter ended with Katharine Hepburn teasing that she had received no gift like it, leaving Henry scrambling for a response.

• Henry revealed a cloudy, cracked crystal and explained that it needed a special base and light.
• Henry set the crystal on its rotating lamp base, causing images of Rachel Lambert and Paul Mellon to appear above it.
• Givenchy asked how Henry made the projections, but Henry said the method was a trade secret.
• Rachel Lambert cried as she watched the images, and Katharine Hepburn teased Henry about not receiving a gift like it.
• Henry looked to Givenchy for help, but Givenchy ignored him and examined a blank canvas.

After Mrs. Mellon cried over Henry’s photographs, she embraced his Murky Crystal as an artwork and installed it in her garden exhibition. As Mrs. Mellon and Katharine Hepburn shared memories of their late loves, Henry was led away to view the other exhibits and reflected on the disturbing paintings he had hidden in his Undersea Laboratory.

• Mrs. Mellon cried over Henry’s photographs, then ordered the servants to display his Murky Crystal in the garden.
• Mrs. Mellon placed the Murky Crystal at the center of the Spring Corridor and warned the servants not to disturb the cracks inside it.
• Mrs. Mellon and Katharine Hepburn shared memories of Paul Mellon and Spencer Tracy while admiring the crystal’s projection.
• Givenchy pulled Henry away from the women, and the two men discussed the garden’s carefully selected artworks.
• Henry thought about the disturbing paintings he had hidden in the Undersea Laboratory and considered rigging their destruction to his pacemaker.

Henry Brown attended the Mellon family’s garden banquet, where he observed the guests and the young artists seeking the family’s support. He met Ezekiel Sims, the CEO of a venture capital firm.

• Henry admired the garden’s nighttime lighting and saw that his crystal projection looked especially vivid after dark.
• Henry sampled the Mellon family’s food and observed how retired elders, active business leaders, and young creators interacted at the banquet.
• Henry reflected that he had made his crystal piece to please an old lady, despite other creators’ contemptuous looks and assumptions about his motives.
• Ezekiel Sims introduced himself to Henry as the CEO of Sims Future Venture Capital, and they shook hands.

Henry met Ezekiel Sims at the banquet and rejected his offers to fund his work or hire him as a special researcher for Abstergo Industries. He remained suspicious that Sims was connected to Skye’s kidnapping, though he did not confirm it before ending their conversation.

• Henry recognized Ezekiel Sims as the name Tony Stark had warned him to watch for and approached him cautiously.
• Ezekiel Sims said he had been watching Henry and offered to invest in his exhibit, but Henry insisted he did not want money.
• Ezekiel Sims offered Henry a special researcher position at Abstergo Industries, including protection and the freedom to propose research projects.
• Henry thanked Ezekiel Sims but declined the job and turned away, leaving his suspicions about Sims unresolved.

Henry avoided Ezekiel Sims’s pressure from Abstergo and joined Mrs. Mellon and Katharine Hepburn to present the Projection Crystal to the assembled Old Money. His fanciful story about how he made it entertained the guests while making clear that the crystal was a one-of-a-kind work he would not reproduce.

• Ezekiel Sims prepared to pressure Henry Brown further, but Mrs. Mellon called Henry over to show the Projection Crystal.
• Henry left Ezekiel and told the guests an absurd story about discovering the crystal’s projections during a power outage.
• Mrs. Mellon questioned a hole in Henry’s story, prompting laughter from the guests.
• Givenchy joked that people would ask Henry to make more crystals, and Henry said the work was unique and would not become a mass-produced souvenir.
• Rachel Lambert was pleased to own something unique, while Katharine Hepburn joined the Old Money in teasing Henry.