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The morning sun filtered through Jay's apartment windows as he stood in his small kitchen, methodically preparing chai. The familiar ritual—crushing cardamom pods, measuring out black tea leaves, timing the milk just right—helped center his thoughts after everything that had happened.
Behind him, Bobby sat slumped at the kitchen table like a man who'd stared into the abyss and found it staring back.
"You want some chai?" Jay asked without turning around, stirring the fragrant mixture as it came to a gentle boil.
"How?" Bobby's voice was hoarse from a sleepless night. "How can you be so calm about all this? If even half the stuff you told me is gonna happen..."
Jay shrugged, pouring the steaming tea through a strainer into two mugs. "You get used to it."
"Used to it?" Bobby's laugh was bitter. "Kid, you basically told me the world's gonna end like six different ways. I'm never gonna sleep peacefully again."
"Why d'you think I drink so much chai?" Jay replied, offering Bobby a mug.
"Bobby, this is strictly between us. I only told you after you got Mental protections." Jay finished his tea and stood up. "Get some sleep. I've got somewhere to be."
"Where are you going?"
Jay grabbed his leather jacket from the back of his chair. "To X-mension."
The familiar purr of the Datsun 240Z's engine was almost therapeutic as Jay drove through Westchester's tree-lined streets. The mansion's grounds looked the same as always—perfectly manicured lawns, ancient oak trees, and not a hint of the chaos that had erupted there just weeks ago courtesy of Moon Knight.
The drive had given him time to think, but thinking only made the knot in his stomach tighten. Every time he visited the X-Mansion, it felt like walking into a powder keg—too many powerful personalities, too many conflicting agendas, and too many secrets that could explode if handled wrong.
Kurt Wagner was waiting at the front steps, his blue skin and pointed ears immediately recognizable. "Guten Tag, Jay," he said with his characteristic warm smile. "Ze Professor, he is expecting you."
"Thanks, Kurt." Jay fell into step beside the teleporter as they walked through the mansion's halls. "Everybody home today?"
"Ja, everyone is here. Ze Professor, he thought it vould be... how do you say... prudent... to have ze full discussion."
Jay chuckled. "Hope third time's the charm and I don't have to run away like the last two times."
Kurt's laugh was genuine. "Perhaps zis time, ve keep ze telepathic probes to ze minimum, ja?"
Jay nodded, then hesitated as they approached the office doors. The weight of what he was about to face—a room full of the world's most powerful mutants wanting answers he wasn't sure he was ready to give—settled on his shoulders like a lead blanket. "Kurt, you ever feel like you're walking into a lion's den?"
"Every time I teleport into Cerebro vhen Storm is angry," Kurt replied with a grin. "But ze lions, they are usually reasonable once you explain yourself, nein?"
Xavier's office looked different with a full complement of X-Men arranged in a semicircle facing the guest chairs. Jay took a moment to catalog the assembled heroes—Scott and Jean sitting close together, Logan leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, Storm elegant in her chair, Beast adjusting his glasses, Kitty half-phased through the arm of her seat, and Rogue curled up in the corner along with Bobby Drake, Warren, and Jubilee.
"Hope you don't mind if I sit," Jay said, dropping into the chair directly facing them all. "This looks like it's gonna be a long conversation."
Kitty and Rogue chuckled at his casual tone, while the others maintained their serious expressions. Xavier rolled forward slightly in his wheelchair.
"Jay, I am profoundly relieved to ascertain that you have maintained your physical well-being subsequent to the regrettable incident in Central Park," the Professor said, his measured cadence carrying the weight of genuine concern and academic precision. "Your selfless intervention on behalf of the Castle family—administering healing under direct hostile fire—demonstrated courage of the most extraordinary caliber."
"Thanks," Jay replied, accepting the praise but clearly wanting to move things along. "But perhaps we might address the substantive matter at hand? I suspect this convocation serves purposes beyond a mere wellness assessment."
"The young man speaks with wisdom, Charles."
Jay turned in his chair, his danger sense remaining completely quiet as Erik Lehnsherr—Magneto—entered the room with Mystique at his side. The lack of any threat response from his abilities meant that it wasn't an ambush for now.
What surprised him more was the complete lack of animosity between Magneto and the X-Men. No tensed muscles, no hands moving toward weapons, just the resigned wariness of people who'd had this argument before.
"Eric," Xavier said with a slight sigh. "I thought we agreed to discuss this privately first."
"Did we?" Magneto settled into another chair, his presence somehow making the already crowded room feel even smaller. "Because from where I sit, observing the grand chessboard of mutant-human relations, this young man's actions have accelerated all our carefully laid timelines considerably. History teaches us that exposure without preparation leads to persecution, and persecution..." His voice carried the weight of lived trauma. "Well. We have seen where that path leads."
Jay looked between them, then burst out laughing. "Oh, this is rich. What is this, a parent-teacher meeting? You're gonna lecture me about going public?"
Scott's jaw tightened visibly, his hands clenching into fists. "Jay—" he started, his voice strained with barely controlled emotion.
"No, let me guess how this goes. You're worried about the narrative, right? About mutants being in the spotlight again?" Jay's voice took on a mocking edge. "Tell me, Erik, how exactly do you think the narrative got so bad in the first place?"
Scott's face flushed red, his breathing becoming more rapid. Magneto's eyes narrowed dangerously, but Jay pressed on.
"The Cuban Missile Crisis—when you tried to start World War Three. The 1973 White House incident where you literally attacked the President on live television. Oh, and the Cairo incident that came to bite me in the ass a few weeks ago when Moon Knight showed up looking for payback. And let's not forget 1992, when aliens came for Jean and she seemingly exploded and came back that really helped with the whole 'mutants are dangerous' thing, didn't it?"
The room had gone deadly quiet. Even Logan was standing straighter, his attention focused entirely on Jay's words.
"These are the precedents you've set," Jay continued, his metaphorical aura flaring with indignation. "Decades of fear, violence, and chaos. And you have the face to show up here and lecture me about protecting the narrative?"
"Now see here—" Erik began, his own temper rising.
"No, you see here. I saved a family. I healed homeless people. I showed the world that mutants can be healers instead of just destroyers. If that's what breaks your carefully maintained status quo, then maybe your status quo was already broken."
The argument might have escalated further, but Xavier's voice cut through the tension with practiced authority.
"We also wanted to discuss the Power Broker," he said, steering the conversation back on track. "Their abilities appear remarkably similar to yours—the power to suppress mutant abilities."
Erik and Mystique exchanged glances. "We know nothing of this Power Broker," Raven said, her voice carrying curiosity rather than concern.
Charles quickly explained what they'd learned about the mysterious figure who'd taken control of Morlocks with a similar yet much powerful ability than Jay's. Erik's expression grew increasingly dark as the implications became clear.
"You're both threats to our entire species," Erik said finally, metallic objects around the room beginning to vibrate with his rising emotions. "In the wrong hands, either of you could be used as a weapon against all mutants."
Metal bands from various sources—chair frames, lamp bases, even the steel in Jay's jacket zipper—suddenly snaked through the air to bind him in place. Jay didn't resist, letting Magneto demonstrate his point.
'Classic Magneto move,' Jay thought as the metal wrapped around him. 'Next, he'll give a speech about mutantkind's destiny.'
"Eric, you're making assumptions—" Xavier started.
"Am I? This boy appears from nowhere with unprecedented abilities, and suddenly, there's another person with similar powers operating in the same city? The timing is—"
"The timin' is coincidental," a Southern voice interrupted.
Everyone turned to stare as Rogue stood up from her corner, walked over to where Magneto sat, and calmly placed her bare hand on his cheek.
The metal restraints around Jay clattered to the floor as Erik's concentration shattered, his eyes rolling back as Rogue absorbed his powers and memories. After a few seconds, she released him and stepped back, leaving the master of magnetism swaying in his chair.
"Jay gave Hank an' me hope that we could be normal again," she said simply, her accent thick with emotion. "He's a good guy, not a villain like you, who's only ever been draggin' our reputation down."
Jay stared at her in shock, clearly, he had downplayed the impact he had had on Rogue.
Standing up and taking her bare hand in his. "Thanks, Rogue," he said softly as if perfectly natural.
"I've healed the Power Broker and his people on numerous occasions," Jay continued, addressing the room while still holding Rogue's hand. "He shared some information with me as payment. And while the application of our powers might seem similar, the nature is completely different."
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