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The sound of approaching sirens mixed with the excited chatter of news crews who'd caught wind of superheroes in action reached Jay. Within minutes, reporters were flooding the scene like sharks smelling blood, cameras rolling, microphones thrust forward like weapons.
But they weren't swarming Johnny Storm or Ben Grimm. They were rushing straight toward Jay.
"Sir! Over here!" Some blonde reporter from Channel 7 pushed to the front of the pack. "Is it true you've just healed three nearly dead gunshot victims? Are you the mysterious healer who's been treating the homeless throughout the city?"
Jay's mouth went dry. His Unmasked drawback was finally coming due as the inevitable moment when his secret identity would become public knowledge, just like XYZ had warned him. He could feel the weight of dozens of eyes and camera lenses zooming in on his face.
He thought about running, about deflecting, about maintaining the careful anonymity he'd built. But as his gaze swept across the scene, and decided to turn this into an opportunity.
"Yeah," he said, his voice carrying clear across the sudden hush that fell over the crowd. "That's me. I'm the Doctor."
The reaction was immediate and overwhelming. Camera flashes went off like strobes, reporters shouted questions over each other, and Jay could practically feel his life changing in real-time.
"Doctor, what's your real name?"
"How long have you had these abilities?"
"Are you with the Fantastic Four?"
"Is it true you can bring people back from the dead?"
Jay held up his hands, waiting for the noise to die down to a manageable roar. When he spoke, his voice was steady despite the chaos churning in his chest.
"My name's Jay, just Jay," he said. "I've been helping people in this city for months now, usually from the shadows. I'm not working for any particular team or organization. I....I just try to help where I can."
"Mr. Jay," the Channel 7 reporter pressed, "How did you get your powers? Are you a mutant?"
Jay glanced at Domino, who was watching from the sidelines with an unreadable expression on her pale face.
"We are," Jay said simply, not bothering to correct the assumption about where his powers came from. "But that doesn't have anything with us helping people. We help people because it's the right thing to do. Because everyone deserves a chance to go home to their families at the end of the day."
His gaze found Frank Castle, who was still holding his children like they might disappear if he let go. "Because every life matters, whether the cameras are rolling or not."
"Doctor Jay," called a reporter from CNN, "what do you say to people who might be afraid of mutants living among them?"
Jay was quiet for a long moment, considering his words carefully. When he spoke, his voice carried conviction.
"I'd say we've always been among you," he began, then paused as another reporter shouted a question.
"But Doctor, how do we know you're not dangerous?" interrupted someone from Fox News.
Jay's expression hardened slightly. "Look, I get it. Change is scary. When I was a kid, people were terrified of computers taking over the world- now you can't live without your phones."
"That's different though, isn't it?" the CNN reporter pressed. "Those were tools, not people with potentially dangerous abilities."
"Is it?" Jay stepped closer to the microphones. "Right now, while we're having this conversation, Storm is helping meteorologists track weather patterns. Beast is working with scientists on medical breakthroughs. Nightcrawler is teleporting medical supplies to disaster zones faster than any helicopter."
A reporter from the back shouted, "But what about the dangerous ones? The ones who hurt people?"
Jay's voice grew more pointed. "Here's what gets me, you cheer for Reed Richards when he stretches his way out of danger. You love Tony Stark flying around in his metal suit. You practically worship Steve Rogers, and he got his powers from a government experiment."
"Those are heroes, though," the Fox reporter interrupted. "They chose to use their abilities responsibly."
"And what about the kid born with the ability to heal?" Jay shot back. "Suddenly, that's terrifying? Same powers, different origin story. One's a hero, one's a menace. Tell me that makes sense."
The crowd had gone quieter, hanging on his words. "We're not the future coming to replace you—we're the present, trying to help you. We're your kids, your neighbors, dealing with something extraordinary."
"So what's your message to America?" the CNN reporter asked.
Jay's voice dropped, becoming more intimate. "The real question isn't whether you should be afraid of us. It's whether you're ready to stop punishing people for how they got their gifts instead of what they do with them."
Susan Storm materialized beside him, her force fields still shimmering faintly in the afternoon light. "I think that's enough questions for today," she said with authority that made even veteran reporters take a step back. "Our friend needs medical attention, and these civilians need space to process what they've been through."
The Fantastic Four formed a protective circle around Jay and Domino as they made their way to the Fantasticar. Jay's legs felt like overcooked pasta, his healing tapped out, but somehow he made it to the vehicle without face-planting in front of the cameras.
"Cozy," Domino observed dryly as she squeezed into the passenger compartment. With all five of them trying to fit, space was at a premium, and she ended up settling onto Jay's lap casually. "Nothing like a little intimacy after completely blowin' your secret identity."
"Hey now," Johnny called from where he was flying alongside the vehicle, his flame form flickering with juvenile amusement, "don't go getting too comfortable in there, Doc. Some of us remember when you were experimenting with that southern belle from the X-Men. What was her name again... Rogue?"
The silence in the Fantasticar became thick enough to cut with a knife. Jay felt Domino go very still in his lap, her weight shifting as she processed this little nugget of information. Susan's disapproving glare could've flash-frozen the Hudson River, while Reed's shoulders tensed as he focused intensely on piloting.
Jay's stomach dropped. The exhaustion from healing three people was nothing compared to the sick feeling of watching Domino's face go carefully blank.
"Johnny," Susan said in a voice that could've made polar bears shiver, "maybe you should focus on flying and leave the commentary to people who actually have social skills."
"Rogue, huh?" Domino's voice was carefully neutral, but Jay could feel the tension radiating through her body. "That's... interesting. The untouchable X-girl. Must've been quite the challenge."
Jay closed his eyes, feeling like he was defusing a bomb made of hurt feelings and poor timing. "Dom, it ain't—"
"What?" Johnny's voice carried genuine confusion mixed with his usual smart-ass glee. "I'm just sayin', our boy Jay here's got quite the romantic resume. First, the girl who literally can't touch anyone, now the luck-powered—"
Reed's elastic arm stretched impossibly far out the window, his hand connecting with the back of Johnny's flaming head in a satisfying smack that sent the younger Storm tumbling through the air before he recovered his flight pattern.
"Ow! Reed! That actually hurt!"
"Good," Reed replied mildly, retracting his arm like a rubber band snapping back. "Maybe it'll encourage better decision-making in the future."
But Frank Castle's family was alive. Maria would tuck her kids into bed tonight instead of being zipped into body bags. That had to count for something.
"So," Domino said conversationally, settling more comfortably in his lap as they headed toward the Baxter Building, "was this the kind of normal date you had in mind?"
Jay laughed despite everything, the sound raw but genuine. "Shouldn't have said those 'famous last words'?"
Behind them, Johnny's voice carried on the wind, "I still don't understand what I said wrong!"
Reed's elastic arm stretched out for another disciplinary smack.
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