Max_Striker
patreon
Chapter 40: Making Amends
🕑 Added 2025-08-16 06:53:20 +0000 UTCThe elevator ride to the Fantastic Four's floor felt longer than usual. Jay shifted the weight of the oversized tote bag on his shoulder, checking his watch for the third time in two minutes. The bag was heavy enough that a normal person would've struggled with it, but that wasn't what made his stomach twist.
It was what he'd done to Ben. The memory of storming out of Alicia's apartment still made him cringe. The look on Ben's face when Jay had basically told him he didn't matter—that helping him was just a side effect.
The elevator dinged, and Jay stepped into the familiar living space of the Fantastic Four. Afternoon sunlight streamed through the floor-to-ceiling windows, making everything feel warm and inviting.
"Jay!" Susan's voice carried genuine happiness as she looked up from architectural plans spread across the coffee table. "Perfect timing. Reed's been muttering about the procedure all morning, and Johnny's driving everyone crazy with his new racing game."
She glanced at the massive bag he was carrying, smirked, and in an over-exaggerated expression said. "WHAT’S IN THE BOX!?”
Jay couldn't help but laugh at the poor imitation. "Why don't you call everyone?”
Susan's curiosity was practically radiating off her. "Reed! Johnny! Ben! Jay's here, and he's brought... something!"
The response was immediate. Reed appeared first, emerging from his workshop with that distracted look he got when he was deep in a problem. Johnny swooped down from upstairs, literally landing that he did just to show off.
Ben came last, and Jay's heart sank a little. The big guy's usual warm greeting was replaced with a polite nod, his eyes not quite meeting Jay's. The tension from their last encounter hung between them like a wall.
"Hey there, Jay," Reed said, his natural curiosity already fixated on the bag. "Susan mentioned you brought something?"
"Before I get to that," Jay said, setting the bag down carefully, "I want to thank you all. Really, thank you."
The sudden sincerity in his tone made everyone go quiet.
"The past few months have been... intense," Jay continued. "And through all of it, you've had my back. That means more to me than you know."
Susan's eyes got that soft look. Reed was nodding slowly.
Ben's expression softened just a fraction, though he still didn't meet Jay's eyes directly.
"Aw man, Doc," Johnny said, but his usual cockiness was tempered with something warmer. "You're gonna make me all emotional. Next thing you know, I'll be crying at commercials like Sue."
"I do not cry at commercials," Susan protested with mock indignation.
"The one with the puppy and the soldier coming home—"
"That was one time!"
"Don't push it, Human Torch," Jay shot back, but he was smiling. "Besides, I brought presents."
That got everyone's attention. Jay opened the tote bag and started pulling out carefully wrapped packages.
"Ben," he said, extending a flat, rectangular package toward the rocky man. "This one's for you."
Ben looked surprised, hesitating for a moment before accepting it. When he unwrapped it, his entire body went still.
Inside was a baseball in a custom display case, but this wasn't just any ball. The leather was aged to perfection, and the signature across the sweet spot was unmistakably authentic.
"Holy shit," Ben breathed, his Brooklyn accent thick with emotion. "That's..."
"Babe Ruth. Game-winning hit from the 1932 World Series. The called shot game," Jay confirmed, watching as Ben's massive fingers traced the edge of the case like he was handling a religious artifact.
"Jay, dis is... how da hell did you even find somethin' like dis?" Ben's accent was getting thicker as emotion overwhelmed his usual careful diction.
"Let's just say I have connections who owe me favors," Jay said simply. "And I know what baseball means to you."
Johnny was practically vibrating with excitement. "Holy crap, that's actually Babe Ruth! Do you know what something like that's worth? That's like... that's museum-quality stuff right there!"
Jay turned to Johnny, extending another package. "Speaking of museum-quality..."
Johnny tore into it with typical enthusiasm, then stopped dead.
"No fucking way. No. Fucking. Way." Johnny's voice cracked slightly, all his usual bravado evaporating.
"Language," Susan said automatically, but she was craning her neck to see.
Johnny held up a racing jersey with trembling hands—red and white, with the distinctive Marlboro sponsorship logos and a signature across the chest.
"James Hunt. This is from his championship year," Johnny whispered, then looked up at Jay with something approaching awe. "Dude, this is... this is the actual jersey. From 1976. From the season where he beat Lauda after the crash at Nürburgring."
"Figured you'd appreciate having something from a driver who was as recklessly talented as you are," Jay said, enjoying the way Johnny's eyes went wide at the compliment buried in the insult.
"Reckless? I prefer 'artistically aggressive,'" Johnny shot back, but he was clutching the jersey like it might disappear. "Jay, this must have cost..."
"Don't worry about what it costs," Jay interrupted gently.
Susan was next. Jay handed her an envelope instead of a package, and she opened it with curiosity written all over her face. As she read, her expression shifted from confusion to wonder and joy.
"Jay..." she said softly.
"What is it, Sue?" Reed asked, moving closer to read over her shoulder.
"It's a certificate," Susan said, her voice thick with emotion. "I'm now the lifetime sponsor of a polar bear mother and her two cubs at the Central Park Zoo. And I get to name them."
"Polar bears are endangered," Jay said quietly. "But these two cubs have a real chance because of programs like this. Seemed like something you'd want to be part of."
Susan did start tearing up then, and made Reed immediately move to put an arm around her.
"That leaves you, Reed," Jay said, pulling out the final item.
It was just a simple hard drive, unremarkable in every way. Reed accepted it with the same reverence Ben had shown the baseball.
"What's on it?" Reed asked.
"Before you do anything," Jay said seriously, "scan that thing for malware. Run it through every security protocol you have, then open it in an isolated system."
Reed's eyebrows shot up. "That's... oddly specific."
"Just humor me."
Reed disappeared into his lab for about ten minutes. When he came back, his expression was somewhere between impressed and concerned.
"Jay, this thing is absolutely riddled with sophisticated malware. Some of the most advanced stuff I've ever seen. Where did you get this?"
Jay muttered under his breath, "This is so Fury."
"What was that?" Susan asked.
"Nothing," Jay said innocently. "Were you able to clean it?"
"Of course I was able to clean it, but that's not the—" Reed stopped mid-sentence as he actually looked at the contents of the drive. His face went completely blank, then shifted through confusion, disbelief, and finally something approaching scientific euphoria.
"Jay," he said very quietly, "what exactly am I looking at here?"
"Howard Stark's complete research archive," Jay replied casually. "Plus all of Dr. Abraham Erskine's project notes on the super-soldier serum."
Reed actually staggered. Johnny caught his arm, looking concerned.
"Reed? You okay?"
"This is..." Reed's voice cracked slightly. "This is decades of work. Revolutionary work. Some of these theories were thought to be lost forever."
Jay reached into his jacket and pulled out a small vial filled with dark red liquid. He held it up to the light, watching it catch the afternoon sun.
Reed's expression immediately shifted to suspicious. "Please tell me you didn't buy that off some black market dealer again."
"Nothing like that," Jay said. "This was obtained directly through SHIELD, in exchange for services rendered to a very important figure."
Johnny snorted. "What kind of services? And how important was the person to give up all this? Like, what, Captain America himself?"
Jay's face remained completely neutral. He didn't confirm, didn't deny, just stayed perfectly still.
The silence stretched until Reed's analytical mind caught up. "Wait. If this is what I think it is, and you're saying SHIELD gave it to you directly..."
"I can neither confirm nor deny the specifics of my arrangement with Director Fury," Jay said in a tone that was clearly mimicking official government speak.
"Holy shit," Johnny whispered. "That's actually—"
"Steve Rogers' blood," Reed finished, his voice filled with scientific reverence. "But that's impossible. His body was never recovered."
Jay just shrugged. "Like I said, can't confirm or deny."
Reed was already moving, his mind clearly racing through the implications. "Do you understand what this means? Combined with Erskine's notes, this could accelerate the enhancement procedure while ensuring a greatly reduced margin of error. The level of analysis we can do, the safety protocols we can establish..."
"That was the idea," Jay said quietly.
Reed paused in his excited pacing, running a hand through his hair as another thought occurred to him. "Oh, and Jay—Dr. McCoy called this morning. Apparently, there was some kind of incident last night involving the underground mutant community. He didn't go into details over the phone, but he sounded... rattled. Said he'd still be working on the procedure but remotely from the mansion for security reasons."
Jay's eyebrows raised slightly, his enhanced mental processing immediately cataloging potential complications. "Is he still planning to assist with the procedure?"
"Absolutely," Reed confirmed with emphasis. "He was very clear about that. Said whatever happened, whatever political complications arose, he wouldn't miss this. Should be here on the scheduled date, ready to proceed."
The celebration was interrupted when Ben cleared his throat. Everyone turned to look at him, and Jay felt his stomach drop at the serious expression on the rocky face.
"Jay," Ben said quietly, "can I talk to you for a minute? Private?"
This was it. The moment Ben told him exactly what he thought of Jay's behaviour at Alicia's place. Jay nodded, following Ben to the far corner of the living space, near the windows.
"I owe you an apology," Ben said quietly.
Jay blinked. That was not what he'd expected.
"Ben, no. I'm the one who—"
"Let me finish," Ben interrupted, his Brooklyn accent thicker than usual. "What you said at Alicia's, about da procedure being for you, not for me? You were right."
"I was being cruel," Jay said immediately. "I was lashing out because—"
"Because you were scared," Ben said simply. "And because you thought I was puttin' pressure on you that you didn't need. Thing is, kid, I was."
Jay stared at him.
"I've been so focused on da idea of being normal again that I wasn't thinkin' about what it was costin' you," Ben continued, his accent getting thicker as emotion made him less careful about his speech. "Dat ain't fair. Your life, your choices. I had no right to make you feel guilty about it."
"Ben..." Jay's voice was rough.
Jay felt something tight in his chest start to loosen. "I was still an ass."
"Yeah, you were," Ben agreed with characteristic Brooklyn bluntness. "But we all got our moments. Question is, we good?"
"We're good," Jay said, meaning it. "But I want to make it up to you anyway."
Ben raised an eyebrow similar to watching Johnny's pranks. "Oh yeah? How's dat?"
Jay pulled out his phone and showed Ben the screen. It displayed a confirmation number and an itinerary.
"Tonight, you're gonna go get Alicia and get dressed up nice."
"Jay, what did you—"
"A car's picking you both up at seven," Jay continued with the satisfaction of someone executing a perfectly planned surprise. "Dinner at Daniel, which I'm told serves food so good it makes people weep tears of joy. Then a private box at the Met for La Bohème—and before you say anything about not understanding opera, Alicia will explain everything, and you'll love watching her love it."
Ben stared at the phone screen like it might bite him.
"After that, a carriage ride through Central Park, because apparently that's romantic and not just touristy nonsense when you're with the right person," Jay said quietly. "The whole thing's paid for, including tips. All you have to do is show up and have a good time with the woman who loves you exactly as you are."
Ben's voice was very quiet, his Brooklyn accent softening with emotion. "Kid, dis must have cost a fortune."
"I can afford it," Jay said simply. "And you deserve it. Both of you do."
For a moment, Jay thought Ben might brush him off. Instead, the big guy pulled him into a hug that probably would have cracked ribs on a normal person.
"Thank you," Ben said roughly, his voice thick with gratitude. "For everything."
"Don't mention it," Jay replied, patting Ben's rocky shoulder. "Just promise me you'll have fun."
"With Alicia? How could I not?"
As they rejoined the group, Jay felt lighter. The gifts had been received exactly as he'd hoped—with genuine joy and surprise. More importantly, things with Ben were back on track, the tension that had been eating at him finally resolved.
"So," Susan said as Jay picked up his now-empty tote bag, "where are you off to now?"
"Got a meeting," Jay replied casually. "Some business to take care of."
Reed looked up from where he was still marveling over the research files, his mind already racing through theoretical applications. "Nothing dangerous, I hope?"
Jay grinned. "With me? When is it ever dangerous?"
The collective groan from all four of them made him laugh as he headed for the elevator, their voices mixing in the kind of good-natured complaint that only came from people who genuinely cared about each other.
Twenty minutes later, Jay was heading toward Queens, his mind already shifting to the next task of the day.
