Jean steps away from the regular team in X-Men #94, but she hasn't stopped caring about the people inside it.

Jean steps away from the regular team in X-Men #94, but she hasn't stopped caring about the people inside it. She is present when Xavier leaves in #97 and spending time with Scott in #98. Those connections matter before any grand turning point. She has a life beyond the mansion and relationships that keep bringing her back into its orbit. The Sentinels don't respect a distinction between an active member and a woman trying to have an evening out. Jean is captured alongside Wolverine and Banshee, and her powers become part of the effort to survive Lang's operation. At the end of #100, the escape presents a problem that winning the fight hasn't solved. The shuttle must pass through deadly radiation, and somebody has to remain at the controls. Jean learns the piloting knowledge she needs from Corbeau and uses her telekinesis to try to protect the cockpit. Scott wants to stop her. She removes his ability to interfere and sends the others into shelter. The scene gives her the decision, including the terrible knowledge attached to it. She understands that taking the controls may kill her, and she acts before the others can convert their love for her into another delay. Everybody has made it this far; she is determined to get them home. Stopping this era at the flight preserves the force of that choice. Phoenix belongs to the next chapter. Here, Jean is Marvel Girl, a person who had tried to step back from the team and has now taken on the one job nobody else can safely do. The new X-Men's survival depends on someone who wasn't on the regular field roster. Their family ties are already wider than the list of people reporting for practice.