[A/N]: This is an extra-long one cause I just wanna be done with this!
Jay's eyes opened to the smell of fresh pizza and the sound of people moving around with urgency in their steps.
He blinked, trying to process where the hell he was. This wasn't Bobby's truck. This wasn't his bed. This was... the Queen's safehouse? The inner circle was bustling around like it was any other morning. Maria setting plates on the table, Linda arranging napkins, Tom pouring coffee. And Max was pulling a fresh pizza out of the oven.
The last thing Jay remembered was sobbing like a broken twelve-year-old in Bobby's truck, clutching Domino's quarter while the old vet drove through the night. Then... nothing. Just exhaustion hitting him like a freight train.
"Well, well," Maria said, noticing he was awake. "Look who decided to rejoin the land of the living."
Jay tried to sit up, and every muscle in his body screamed in protest. The enhancement, the emotional breakdown, the cosmic ray exposure. It had all finally caught up with him after the adrenaline and heartbreak wore off.
"How long was I out?"
"Well, it's the morning after," Bobby called from the kitchen, not looking up from whatever he was doing. "You passed out harder than a rookie on his first patrol."
Maria approached with that maternal look that made Jay feel simultaneously comforted and guilty. "Why don't you freshen up and come eat with us? You look like you came from the set of a zombie movie."
Jay moved like a zombie through his morning routine. Shower, teeth, throwing on clean clothes that someone had thoughtfully laid out. Domino's absence pressed at the edges of his mind, the ghost of her hug still lingering on his shoulders, but he shoved it down. When he shuffled back to the main room, he dropped into a chair between Max and Linda without a word. Tom sat directly across from him, and nobody said anything as they passed around pizza slices and toast like this was totally normal.
It took Jay three bites before his brain finally processed what he was eating.
"We're having pizza for breakfast," he said, and then he started laughing.
It wasn't happy laughter. It was the kind of brittle, slightly unhinged laughter that comes when everything's gone sideways. The laughter turned into something else pretty quickly, tears mixing with the giggles in a way that probably looked terrifying.
Everything hit at once. Domino walking away. Rogue's hatred. Ben's betrayed look even as he flexed human fingers. Sue calling him family in past tense.
"Hey, hey," Linda said softly, rubbing his back. "It's okay. Just let it out."
Max patted his head like he was a traumatized golden retriever. "We got you, Doc. You're safe here."
Jay finished his food through the sniffling, mumbled something about needing air, and stepped out of the warehouse.
The morning was crisp and clear, New York sprawling out like it always did, indifferent to personal crisis. Jay breathed it in, trying to reset his system.
When he came back inside, Bobby was leaning against the table with a cup of coffee, watching him with those knowing eyes.
"Why'd you bring me here?" Jay asked.
Bobby's mouth quirked up in that sardonic way. "Well, kid, seeing as you're now the infamous Power Broker and half the government probably wants to have words with you, figured we needed somewhere safe to crash."
Jay winced. Right. That was going to be a problem.
But then Bobby's expression softened just a fraction. "Also figured you needed to be around people who give a damn about you, instead of wallowing alone like some emo teen."
The reference to their earlier conversation about found family hit Jay right in the chest. He managed a weak smirk. "What is it with this lazy writing? Every time I have an emotional crisis, someone shows up with exactly the right words."
"Life's weird like that," Bobby shrugged.
When they settled back around the table, Tom leaned forward with that direct way of his. "So, what's the plan, Doc?"
Jay stared at his half-eaten pizza slice. "I... don't have one. For now, anyway. I can't seem to focus on anything past getting through the next five minutes."
Concerned looks passed around the table. Max frowned. "That's not like you, Jay. You always have three backup plans and a contingency."
"Relax, kid," Bobby said, settling into a chair with his coffee. "Do what you always do. Step by step. One thing at a time."
Jay nodded slowly. Right. Baby steps. He could handle baby steps.
"Okay," he said, taking a breath. "First step figure out what I actually got from that enhancement nightmare. I mean, mutant growth hormone, super soldier serum, and cosmic radiation ought to give me something good, right?"
He closed his eyes and sank into his mental landscape, the place where his powers existed and interacted.
The change took his breath away.
What used to be a sterile white void was now the most spectacular starry sky he'd ever seen. Like someone had taken the Hubble telescope's greatest hits and made them into wallpaper. Stars wheeled overhead in impossible colors, nebulae painted the darkness in shades of blue and gold, and everything pulsed with quiet life.
At the center of it all stood his powers, but they looked different now.
His theft ability was still there, grey-foggy and imposing, but more regal somehow. More refined. The sea-blue eyes that had been a part of Sage's power now looked actively intelligent, like they were seeing something deeper than surface.
Tommy's healing power was still pure green, still radiant, but there was a vitality to it now that made it seem more like a well of life force.
And Claire's danger sense, originally a bland mix of yellow and blue, had evolved. Sage's analytical mind had merged with it completely, the colors blending into something that looked like liquid gold.
Jay reached out with his enhanced awareness, testing the limits of what he could do now.
'Holy shit.'
He could hold ten powers simultaneously now, including his base modifications. His body was enhanced across the board. Muscles, bones, and senses all operating at peak efficiency. His mind, boosted by Sage's analytical capabilities, was processing information like a supercomputer with perfect memory recall.
But the really impressive upgrades were in his active abilities. His theft power could now make small tweaks to other people's abilities, just like what he did to Ben and Hank, though it couldn't fundamentally change their nature.
His null field had an upgrade to allow those he wants to have active power without losing range.
And his healing aura... Jay grinned as he sensed its limits. He could heal everything from nerve damage to missing limbs now, and the range was dramatically increased. He was basically a walking medical miracle.
When he opened his eyes back in the real world, he was smiling for the first time since last night's debacle.
"Well?" Linda asked, sitting across from him now, chin propped on her hands. "What's the verdict, Doc?"
The others leaned in, waiting for his answer.
"The benefits of the enhancement were more than I would have guessed," he said, flexing his fingers experimentally. "Way more."
"That's the first real smile we've seen from you all morning, Doc," Maria observed.
Tom nodded. "So, what now?"
Jay looked around the table at these people and made a heavy decision.
"Now I go and tick off my lists."
Four hours later, Jay walked out of the Queen's safehouse looking like a completely different person. The rumpled zombie-movie look Maria had so generously pointed out was gone, replaced by one of his backup three-piece suits. Charcoal grey with pinstripes, crisp white shirt, burgundy tie that brought out his eyes.
He looked sharp. Professional. Like someone who had his shit together.
Hilarious, since he absolutely didn't.
The suit felt wrong, too formal for someone who'd been sobbing in an alley a day ago. But when you're about to torch more bridges, appearances matter.
The argument with his inner circle still echoed in his head from that morning.
"This is insane," Maria had said when he'd announced his decision. "Associating with you isn't dangerous..."
"It is now," Jay had cut her off. "Doom's broadcast made sure of that. Anyone connected to me becomes a target."
"So we fight back," Max had argued, pacing like a caged tiger. "We stick together..."
"No." Jay's voice had carried finality. "On the surface, we're separate. That's how it has to be."
Linda had tried the emotional angle. "Jay, honey, you don't have to face this alone..."
"Actually, I do." He'd softened his tone then, hating himself for hurting them. "Look, I'm not cutting you off permanently. But publicly? We can't be seen together. Not until this blows over."
Tom had been the one to finally get it. "You're protecting us the only way you know how."
"Smart man."
The argument had dragged on for another hour, but Jay wore them down eventually. They'd agreed to surface separation with heavy hearts and promises to stay in touch through encrypted channels.
Now, walking away from the only family he had left, the suit felt like armor he didn't deserve.
"You sure about this, Doc?" Bobby asked as they headed for the tunnel entrance. The old vet had insisted on tagging along, despite Jay's protests that this was something he needed to handle solo.
"If I'm starting over, I need to settle accounts first."
Bobby snorted. "Fancy way of saying you're gonna make more people hate you."
"Probably. But they deserve the truth."
The descent into Morlock territory felt like time travel. Steam pipes hissed their greeting, converted subway platforms stretched in every direction. But something was off. Usually, when Jay visited as "The Power Broker," there was tension. Mutants who'd learned to be wary of outsiders, even friendly ones.
Today, everyone was acting normal. Kids playing in corridors. Adults chatting over meals. Nobody staring or whispering or watching him with that careful wariness he'd grown used to.
Confusing as hell.
"Something's wrong," Jay muttered as they walked through the community center. "After Doom's broadcast yesterday, everyone in New York should be looking at me like I'm carrying plague."
"Maybe they don't watch the news down here?"
Before Jay could respond, Callisto emerged from the shadows with that predatory grace, hair catching the flickering overhead light, eyes fixed on him with knowing amusement.
"Surprised they're not freaking out?" she asked, reading his face perfectly. "Most of them aren't connected enough to the surface to have seen the circus. And those who do know that Power Broker and Jay the Doctor are the same person..." She shrugged. "Their opinions got managed."
"Managed?" Jay's enhanced hearing caught the implications. "Callisto, what did you..."
"Beautiful Dreamer paid me a visit after the broadcast," she said, gesturing deeper into the tunnels. "Turns out our resident telepath has opinions about narrative control."
Beautiful Dreamer appeared beside them. Pale, dark-haired, eyes like deep water. Always one of the more optimistic Morlocks, but now there was steel in her gaze.
"Jay's been nothing but good for our people," she said with absolute conviction. "When I realized what Doom's words could do to our community, the panic, the fear, I made a choice. Those who knew connected Power Broker to Jay the Doctor... I adjusted their attitudes. Just those specific connections. To keep things quiet while you sort your mess."
Jay stared, processing. "Why? After knowing the truth?"
"'Cause it's you," she said firmly. "Dr. Jay, who saved Leech, gave us hope, showed us we didn't have to live like animals in the dark."
The weight of her trust hit him hard.
"I need everyone gathered," Jay said quietly. "Community center. All of them."
"Jay..." Callisto started.
"All of them. They deserve to know who they're really harboring."
Twenty minutes later, the community center buzzed with confused energy. Morlocks filtered in from every tunnel. Families, loners, survivors, and the thriving alike. Leech sat front row, looking healthier than Jay had ever seen him, pale skin now flushed with normal circulation.
Jay stood at the makeshift podium, hands shaking as he looked out at faces that still held trust.
"Anyone here know who I am?" His voice carried clearly through the chamber.
Confused murmurs. A few tentative hands.
"You're a teacher," called Erg, whose bioelectric aura made him glow faintly. "Dr. Jay."
"A healer," said a young woman with lizard-like scales.
Jay closed his eyes, feeling the weight of deception settle on his shoulders one last time. When he opened them, his null field expanded outward thirty feet.
The effect was immediate. Powers that had been active went dormant. Physical mutations began receding. The room filled with gasps of recognition and understanding.
They'd felt this exact sensation before, in this exact place, from this exact distance.
"Power Broker," whispered Erg, recognizing the field's signature even as it suppressed her abilities.
Jay nodded, the motion feeling like lifting a mountain. "I'm Power Broker. I came here to face you properly with no masks. You deserved better than deception."
Silence. He could see the moment each Morlock connected the dots, understanding flooding their faces with betrayal, confusion, anger, and hurt.
"You've come far since I first found you down here," he continued, voice steady despite the chaos in his chest. "You built something beautiful. A real community. A real family. Keep your heads high. The world up there's changing, and you're leading that change whether they know it or not."
Silence stretched.
Then Leech stood up. "Are you leaving?"
The question hit harder than any accusation. "For a while. I have to. Being around me right now... it's dangerous."
"But you'll come back?" Too much understanding in those young eyes.
Jay's throat tightened. "I don't know, Leech. Honestly don't know."
Callisto stepped forward, mismatched eyes blazing. "You son of a bitch," she snarled, getting right in his face despite the null field suppressing her reflexes. "You took away Leech's powers without explaining yourself. Without asking. Without giving us any choice!"
"I did what was best for the kid..."
"You decided what was best! Just like you decided to manipulate us. Just like you decided to lie for weeks!"
Jay met her anger head-on. "I exposed Masque's abuse. Gave your people a way to look normal, integrate with the surface. Brought medical supplies, resources, hope..."
"All while using us as your cover story!"
"Yes." The word fell like a stone. "I used you. Lied to you. Manipulated the situation for my own ends. But look at what I gave you instead."
Beautiful Dreamer stepped forward, face pale but determined. "The money from Emma Frost arrives soon. Enough to establish a legitimate community space above ground for real integration."
"And you'll have it without me complicating things," Jay added. "Clean money, clean connections, clean future. No terrorist associations dragging you down."
The crowd processed everything in silence. Finally, Sunder raised his massive hand. "Power Broker... Jay... same person helped Sunder's friends. Brought medicine when Morlocks were sick and dying. Fought the bad people who hurt us."
His words hung in the air.
"Sunder doesn't understand why names matter so much. Jay did good things. That's what Sunder remembers."
Other voices joined in, quiet at first, then gaining strength. Stories of medical care, protection, someone who'd treated them like human beings when the rest of the world saw freaks and monsters.
"You idiots," Callisto said finally, but without real venom. She turned back to Jay. "This is your goodbye speech, isn't it?"
"Yeah. It is."
The farewells were awkward and painful and somehow perfect. Handshakes, hugs, silent nods from those still processing. Leech hugged his legs tight enough to bruise, whispering "thank you for making me normal" so quietly only Jay's enhanced hearing caught it.
Walking back through the tunnels with Bobby, Jay felt lighter and heavier simultaneously. Another bridge burned, but this time by choice, on his terms.
"You know," Bobby said as they climbed toward street level, "for a master planner, you sure like making things complicated."
Jay managed a weak laugh. "Occupational hazard."
At surface level, Jay checked his phone for the first time since the enhancement. Seventeen missed calls from Coulson, twenty-three texts, enough voicemails to fill a novel. The SHIELD agent had been trying to reach him since Doom's broadcast went live.
Jay scrolled to Coulson's contact and dialed.
"Jay?" Coulson answered before the first ring finished. "Jesus Christ, where have you been? I've been calling for..."
"I need to meet with Fury. As soon as possible."
"Jay, listen, about the broadcast..."
"Coulson." Enough authority in the name to cut through the rambling. "Set up the meeting. I'll explain everything then."
Pause. "How soon can you be in Staten Island?"
Jay looked up at the clear New York sky. "Two hours."
Time to face the music. Again.
[A/N]: I write across multiple fandoms. Support my writing and get early access to 45+ chapters, exclusive content, and bonus material at my P@treon - Max_Striker.