[A/N]: Alright, next goal's 200 Power Stones 🌌 let's hit it fast!
Also, our comment rank's lagging behind, so drop your thoughts, reactions, theories, or whatever stood out. I read them all, and they help a ton. Let's make some noise!
The infant took his first breath.
And screamed.
The sound was shrill, angry, and absolutely healthy.
"Congratulations! It's a boy! Mazel tov!"
Jean burst into tears, reaching out desperately for her child.
Scott was crying too.
And poor Kitty, who had just regained consciousness, just to see Jay suddenly pull a baby directly out of her friend's belly with his bare hands, went so pale she fainted again.
Just then, the temporary copy of Kitty's power faded from Jay's arsenal.
Jay handed the baby to Hank, who immediately began running diagnostics. Sue moved in, cleaning and wrapping the infant in specialized blankets.
The baby continued to cry. But it was the healthy cry of a child angry about being displaced.
When Sue moved to cut the umbilical cord and found none, she could only stare at Jay.
He'd already severed and healed it during the extraction.
"Everything looks perfect," Hank announced. "Apgar scores are excellent. 10 out of 10 across the board. He's healthy, strong, and very, very telepathic." The last part was said with careful emphasis as Jay maintained his null field around the infant.
Sue gently placed the baby in Jean's arms.
Jean cradled Nathan against her chest. "Hello, my beautiful boy," she whispered. "I'm your mom. I've been waiting so long to meet you."
She pressed a kiss to his tiny forehead, breathing in his scent. That unique newborn smell mixed with something indefinably different, something that whispered of power yet to come.
Scott wrapped his arms around both of them. "He's perfect, Jean. Look at him. He's absolutely perfect."
"Have you decided on a name?" Jay asked.
Scott and Jean exchanged a look. Scott nodded, unable to speak.
Jean kissed her baby's forehead, whispering softly, "Nathan. Nathan Summers."
Jay's eyes widened slightly.
Sue wiped her own eyes, one hand moving instinctively to her own pregnant belly.
Then the explosion echoed from outside.
The distinctive sound of repulsor weapons and energy blasts shattered the peaceful moment. Screams and shouts followed, along with Storm's commanding voice calling down lightning.
Scott's entire body went rigid. "I need to..."
"You need to stay here," Jay interrupted firmly. "Your wife and son are vulnerable right now. Jean's still recovering, and god forbid someone takes advantage of her postpartum vulnerability. I need to maintain constant focus on suppressing Nathan's telepathic broadcasts. The others can handle whatever's out there."
"But..."
"Scott." Jay's voice carried steel. "Your team is out there. Storm, Wolverine, Ben Grimm, Johnny Storm, plus trained X-Men students. They don't need you micromanaging their fight. Your son needs you to be here for his first moments."
The words hit Scott hard.
His jaw worked as he warred between his instincts as a field leader and his responsibilities as a new father.
Jean's hand found his. "He's right. Stay with us."
Outside, the battle raged.
The X-Mansion grounds had transformed into a warzone. Armored vehicles surrounded the property, disgorging soldiers in distinctive white and red uniforms.
U-Men.
John Sublime's fanatic followers who believed they could steal mutant powers through surgical enhancement.
"Targets identified!" one U-Man shouted into his comm. "Caucasian Female with red hair, her telepathic signature's off the charts! Priority one capture!"
Storm floated above them, her eyes pure white as lightning gathered in the darkening sky.
"You dare attack this sanctuary? You dare threaten an innocent child and his mother?"
Thunder crashed.
Bolts of pure electricity rained down, striking vehicles and sending U-Men scrambling for cover.
Johnny Storm spiraled through the air, leaving trails of flame. "Hey Storm! Great Storm! Let's make it rain... fire!"
Fireballs pelted the invading forces, igniting fuel tanks and melting weapons.
But more vehicles kept coming.
On the ground, Wolverine met the first wave with his claws extended. "About damn time something interesting happened around here!"
Three U-Men tried to flank him. Their weapons were modified to handle mutants.
Wolverine took a dart to the shoulder.
He grinned savagely.
"That all you got?"
He ripped the dart out and threw it back, impaling one U-Man through the chest. The other two died before they could scream, adamantium claws painting the grass red.
Ben Grimm, now in his Thing form, grabbed a U-Man by the armor and used him as a club. "It's clobberin' time! Classic, never gets old!"
Kurt bamfed in and out of existence, his teleportation creating confusion. Each time he appeared, another U-Man went down.
Jubilee's plasma bursts exploded in bright flashes, blinding enemies and detonating equipment. "Woo! This is way better than algebra class!"
"Focus, Jubilation!" Storm called down. "This is not a game!"
But despite their best efforts, the sheer number of attackers was overwhelming.
Vehicles continued to arrive. Some U-Men were getting dangerously close to the mansion itself.
Then the sky darkened further.
A massive wave of metal rose from the ground. Cars, weapons, armor, even the iron in the blood of every U-Man soldier.
It all responded to a single commanding presence.
Magneto descended from above, Mystique held securely in his arms.
His face was carved from fury.
"You dare," Magneto's voice carried across the battlefield, "threaten a newborn mutant child?"
With a gesture, every vehicle simultaneously crumpled like tin cans. Weapons twisted into useless sculptures. U-Men armor contracted, restraining its wearers.
The battle ended in seconds.
Wolverine looked up at the Master of Magnetism. "What're you doing here, bub?"
Magneto landed gracefully, setting Mystique down. "Xavier contacted me when he learned of threats against Jean's child. I've spent months searching for Sublime and Sinister without success. So I decided the best approach was to catch them red-handed when they inevitably made their move."
Then he moved to painfully interrogate them to get their master's locations.
Reed Richards emerged from the mansion. "That's... you can't just torture prisoners! We're at a school!"
"Stay silent, human." Magneto's voice cut like a whip. "You defend them? They came here to steal a newborn baby! They were chanting about harvesting genetic material for their twisted experiments!"
His hands clenched.
Several U-Men's armor pieces tightened, breaking numerous bones.
"Should I defend their humanity when they show none themselves?"
Reed opened his mouth to argue, but Ben pulled him back. "Not our circus, not our monkeys! Stretch."
A telepathic pulse washed over everyone.
Xavier's mental voice carried both relief and grim satisfaction.
Erik, cease this. There's no need for further violence. I've scanned their minds and found what we needed.
Inside the medical wing, the telepathic battle had been just as intense.
Xavier had felt them immediately.
Three separate telepathic entities trying to infiltrate the mansion. Probing for weaknesses. Searching for the source of that powerful new psychic presence.
The first was amateurish. Likely a mercenary telepath hired for the job.
Xavier swatted it away.
The second was more skilled. It tried to slip through Cerebro's detection by mimicking Xavier's own psychic signature.
Clever, but not clever enough.
Xavier isolated and locked them out, creating a mental maze they'd spend hours trying to escape.
The third... the third was concerning.
Old, powerful and patient.
The entity probed the mansion's defenses with careful precision. It didn't push but gently tested, looking for any crack in Xavier's mental fortress.
Xavier recognized the signature.
The arrogance. The clinical detachment. The sheer alien nature of the consciousness.
'Sinister,' Xavier thought with grim satisfaction. 'Finally, I've found you.'
He didn't try to capture or confront.
Instead, he did something far more subtle.
He allowed Sinister's probe to touch something. A false memory, carefully constructed, showing Jay successfully delivering the baby but the child tragically stillborn due to complications from the Phoenix fragment.
The probe withdrew immediately.
And Xavier smiled grimly.
Let Sinister think his prize had slipped away. It would buy them time.
Kurt teleported into the medical wing, slightly out of breath. "Professor! Ve have contained several infiltrators. Jubilee and I stopped them before they could reach this level."
"Well done, Kurt." Xavier's spoken voice carried satisfaction. "I too had to defend against several telepathic attacks. Most were probing and curious. But a few..." He paused. "A few had darker intentions."
After hours had passed.
Kitty woke up confused but fine. Jean held Nathan close, her eyes never leaving his tiny face as she memorized every detail. The way his nose scrunched when he yawned. The perfect shell of his ears. The surprising strength of his grip.
Jean fed him under Sue's guidance while Scott hovered protectively.
The mansion gradually returned to order as the captured U-Men were secured and authorities were contacted.
Jay maintained his null field the entire time.
Sweat plastered his hair to his forehead.
Finally, as evening approached, Hank placed a specialized monitoring device on Nathan's tiny wrist. "This will alert us immediately if his psychic output begins to spike. Combined with the dampening field I've installed in the nursery, he should be safe."
Jay slowly, carefully, reduced his null field.
Nathan stirred in Jean's arms but didn't broadcast his consciousness across half of New York.
The precautions held.
"Thank God," Jay muttered. "Hank, follow the protocols we discussed. Keep monitoring him for any power spikes. Call me immediately if anything changes."
"Of course." Hank adjusted his glasses. "This has been... educational."
Jay turned to Scott and Jean. "Congratulations to the new parents. Get some rest while you can. Trust me, you won't be getting much sleep for the next few months."
Jean looked up at him. "Jay... I don't know how to thank you. You saved us. Both of us. Despite how we... how I..."
"Just doing my job." Jay smiled, though exhaustion lined his face. "Besides, what kind of doctor would I be if I didn't help someone when they need me?"
Scott stood, extending his hand.
When Jay took it, Scott surprisingly pulled him into a fierce hug.
"Thank you. For everything."
Jay returned the embrace awkwardly. "Yeah, well. Don't make it weird, Summers."
As he turned to leave, Rogue stepped forward, opening her mouth to say something.
But Jay's phone buzzed.
Domino's text read: [Mercs are getting drunk without you. Oh no, Wade's doing karaoke. Send help!]
Jay grinned.
Before Rogue could speak, blue energy rippled around him.
"Gotta go. Dom's waiting on me."
Then he vanished.
The assembled heroes stood in the suddenly quiet medical wing. Some laughed. Others just shook their heads.
But as Jean looked down at her sleeping son, at Nathan Summers who would one day grow to become one of the world's most powerful mutants, she whispered a quiet thanks to the man who'd made it all possible.
In the end, that's what mattered most.
Instead of materializing at the nameless bar where Domino waited, Jay found himself standing on an unfamiliar rooftop.
The night air was crisp. The city lights twinkled below.
Confused at this unfamiliarity, he prepared for combat. Light daggers formed in his hand.
His danger sense tingled. But not with the sharp edge of immediate threat.
More like the gentle warning of an approaching thunderstorm.
Then a voice came from behind. One he knew all too well.
"Young Jay, just what the hell did you do?"
Jay, recognizing the voice, smiled.
But just as he turned, his mortal enemy appeared.
The rolled newspaper.
It struck his head.
Jay, unable to dodge even after all this practice, complained, "I didn't do anything, teacher. I just delivered a baby, and you smack me? This is unfair."
The Ancient One's eye twitched. "Then would you explain why I suddenly had to stop nearly a dozen or so time-traveling attempts with my Time Stone?"
Jay, shocked, tilted his head.
Then his smile turned sheepish as understanding dawned.
"I can't help it. Cable was just born, of course, this was gonna happen. Time travel and alternate timeline sons and daughters are the Scott and Jean couple's bread and butter across the multiverse."
The Ancient One, in an irritated voice, said, "Then you should have at least warned me! After all, it was because of you that my future sight doesn't work anymore."
Multiple newspaper rolls appeared and surrounded him from all angles.
As Jay continued to ask for mercy, he made a mental note to make both Scott and Cable even in his grudgebook.
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