Sean Cassidy has spent enough time looking for the X-Men that being part of a team again carries a practical satisfaction. There are finally people to coordinate with, responsib…

Sean Cassidy has spent enough time looking for the X-Men that being part of a team again carries a practical satisfaction. There are finally people to coordinate with, responsibilities to share and something resembling a base, even if the building above it is still in ruins. His response to the attack in Uncanny #270 shows what he contributes. With Storm trapped outside, Banshee takes charge below ground, has Stevie Hunter contact X-Factor and finds another route to the surface. He carries Cable out through the lake while Cannonball brings Forge. The rescue comes too late to prevent the kidnappings, but Sean keeps the remaining group moving. He continues that work through the crossover. X-Factor #60 places him among those preparing the rescue equipment, and #61 sends him into the attack alongside Archangel and Cannonball. His long experience does not protect him from Hodge, but it gives the combined force another capable adult who can take responsibility without making every decision a contest for command. Back at the school in #273, Sean operates the Danger Room while Archangel trains Cannonball. It is a modest assignment compared with the battle in Genosha, and precisely the kind of work a functioning team needs. Training, supervision and keeping the machinery of the household moving all require somebody’s attention. His holographic reunion with Moira adds a personal complication. He is happy to hear from her, yet her appearance and manner strike him as unfamiliar. The discomfort is present without providing him with an answer. Banshee therefore arrives in this lineup with obligations in more than one direction. He can help the X-Men establish a routine while remaining concerned about someone elsewhere. The shared uniform does not make those ties disappear; it gives him colleagues alongside whom to carry them.