Page 42 of The Not So Super Hero

All eyes turned to Nate and Natalia, both standing outside the room. The temperature of said room dropped at least fifteen degrees the moment Zane laid eyes on them. Bailey was wondering if they all should just leave, because this tension had to be bad for a patient.

“If you’re going to be annoying, then leave,” Zane ordered.

Natalia walked over to Chris. He was already up and had his arms open for a hug that she happily gave.

Nate did the same, glaring at Zane until he got to Chris, where he gave a warm smile and enveloped Chris in a tight embrace.

Neither of them bothered Zane with a response, which seemed to irk him even more.

“It’s great to see you two,” Chris said, patting the both of them on the shoulders with a smile.

“You saw us two weeks ago for dinner.” Natalia laughed.

“Two weeks is too long.”

“You invited them to dinner?” Zane huffed. It seemed he didn’t like sharing Chris because he gave the twins another heated glare.

“Zane has agreed to train with you two once he’s healed up.”

Nate snorted. “Really? How did you…” Nate stopped upon seeing Bailey. He waved, which seemed to help answer Nate’s question. “Oh, the boy...friend.”

“W-What?” Bailey sputtered.

“Don’t worry, we’ll train you up so you can protect your friend .” Natalia sent Zane a wink that had him practically tearing his hair out.

“Is there a reason you stopped by other than to annoy me?” Zane asked, dropping his hands to his side with a tired sigh. He looked exhausted, both mentally and physically.

Bailey actually felt for him and reached for his hand. He was a bit surprised Zane didn’t knock it away, but was also happy. Zane actually squeezed his hand in return, immediately putting a soft smile on Bailey’s face. Natalia elbowed Nate for chuckling, though neither brought it up.

“We wanted to talk about the attack. Was it Law?” Natalia asked.

Hesitating, Zane eventually answered with a quiet, “Yeah, along with a few others.”

“Neither of which we need to worry about,” Chris added on.

He leaned over to whisper into Natalia’s ear that Khalia was dead while Oz was taken into custody. Natalia nodded, which confused Bailey because he didn’t understand why he couldn’t hear what they spoke of. He didn’t have the time to ask about it, though.

“We had a pleasant run in with Leona the other day ourselves,” Nate mentioned, the name immediately sparking Bailey’s memory.

While Nate complained about the battle, Bailey asked himself how he knew that name.

It hit him pretty hard, the boys’ eyes growing wide upon realizing a woman named Leona had come into his work and…

She knew his name.

Bailey figured she had seen him before, but Darcie was right to point it out. Leona had never come into the cafe before. Bailey’s reaction didn’t go unnoticed. Chris’ brow furrowed, then he asked, “Bailey, is something wrong?”

All eyes were on Bailey when he slowly returned to the present.

He hummed, wondering if it was better to keep it a secret.

However, when Zane’s hand tightened around his and he saw the angered stare.

Bailey knew that somehow Zane had caught on.

Perhaps it was the shivering in his hand or the expression he wore or something entirely different, but Zane knew. His eyes practically screamed it.

“A woman called Leona came into my work yesterday. She knew my name,” Bailey admitted. “I didn’t think anything of it, not like it’s the same Leona, right?”

“Creepy green eyes like a snake?” Natalia asked, frowning at the nod that Bailey gave.

The room darkened. Bailey shifted his attention to Zane. He found the man’s eyes slowly growing black. They shined like gems even in the shadows. The items in the room shook. Zane asked in a hushed voice. “What did she do?”

“Nothing,” Bailey answered. Zane’s heart rate had skyrocketed, the machine blaring loudly to call for the nurses. “She ordered a coffee and left. That was it.”

That was enough to settle Zane down so everyone could breathe easy again.

He returned to normal, as did the state of the room.

They all got a scolding from a nurse who claimed they couldn’t be agitating a patient so much.

Chris apologized, but they were told if it happened again they’d have to leave because Zane needed rest.

Once the nurse was gone, Nate spoke up. “They’re moving faster than we thought. Natalia and I should go get his things.”

“Huh?” Bailey looked frantically at the twins and Chris. “Get my things? Why?”

“If Leona showed up at his work, it was for a reason whether to piss Zane off or take Bailey. We can’t let him go back to his dorm or school. His presence will jeopardize the safety of everyone there,” Natalia said to Chris like she was asking for his permission.

“No, no, I can’t leave. I have work and school. Where am I meant to go? Don’t I get a say in this?” Bailey huffed.

Nate scowled, placing his hand on his hip before asking, “Is there anything else for you to say? What’s more important to you? Work and school or your life?”

Nate had a point, but it bothered Bailey nonetheless.

“It sucks. However, Leona or anyone in Rebirth will come for you in order to get to Zane.” Nate pointed accusingly at the man who had grown silent.

He refused to look at Bailey, instead facing the opposite direction with a solemn expression.

“The safest place to be is with Zane at the training facility. There’s armed forces and other mutants. ”

“What about my family? I can’t up and disappear...I...” Bailey didn’t have the words. Everything came out jumbled and confused. To make matters worse, Zane dragged his hand from Bailey’s grasp, sitting it atop his lap. He felt empty and cold after, more lost than he ever had before.

It was happening too fast. One second Zane had woken up, and it seemed like things would be ok, and the next Bailey was being lugged off to some training facility away from his friends and family. It was a lot and no one could blame Bailey for being so shocked by it.

“We’ll contact your family.” Chris moved around the bed to kneel at Bailey’s side.

“I know this is sudden, but sadly, the situation doesn’t give us the time we need to process everything.

Please trust us, Bailey. Your family will be safe and once this all blows over, you’ll go back to a normal life. ”

The question Bailey wanted to ask most slipped out the moment he thought of it. “How long will that take?”

No one responded. Bailey only hoped that the mess would pass by in a flash. Suddenly, he understood how Zane felt, that desire for normalcy, for the mediocre life, because Bailey already wanted his back.

Bailey left the hospital with Nate to retrieve his belongings from the dorm.

Chris said it would give Zane time to calm down since Nate naturally pissed him off.

While they were gone, Chris planned to call Bailey’s parents and determine his safety.

He claimed it was best if even Bailey didn’t know where they were at. The fewer people who knew, the better.

Zane didn’t utter a word when Bailey left, either.

He had hoped for some encouragement. Maybe Zane would reassure him that things would be ok.

Honestly, if he continued holding Bailey’s hand, that would have been more than enough.

Sadly, none of that happened, and it left Bailey feeling utterly defeated.

“Why so glum?” Nate asked from the driver’s seat. He got a confused eyebrow raise from Bailey, whose expression practically asked how the hell Nate didn’t know the answer to that. “Ah, right, I guess you would be sad, but you’re a Mutant Studies major, right?”

Bailey nodded, then wondered how the hell Nate knew that. He didn’t have the chance to ask, though.

“You’ll be at a training facility with heroes that have some of the highest levels in the country. Screw school. You’re getting in the field experience.”

That was kind of true, although it didn’t excite Bailey as much as it would have had it been under different circumstances. He thanked Nate for trying, but didn’t get out of the slump he was in.

“Hey, in all seriousness, once Zane actually starts applying himself, you’ll be back to a normal life in no time,” Nate added.

“What makes you say that?” Bailey asked, since Nate didn’t seem that fond of Zane and that almost sounded like a compliment.

“Chris told you about Raiffel Academy, right?”

“A bit.”

“Natalia and I were there with Zane,” Nate admitted.

His somewhat cheerful demeanor dissipated.

“Battle simulations are a great way to learn your abilities. When you’re backed into a corner, your powers amplify tenfold just like normal people do.

The adrenaline, y’know. Zane was powerful even when he wasn’t scared, even when he had nothing to lose, so imagine just how strong he’ll be when he finally has something to lose. ”

Nate glanced at Bailey from the corner of his eye, taking in the wide-eyed expression the boy wore.

His heart may have skipped a beat, but it was a mixture of flattery and sorrow.

The idea that Zane felt forced to do something he didn’t want to do made Bailey sick.

However, knowing Zane will go through it to protect them both was equally heartwarming.

Nate mentioned battle simulations, though, implying that they went through such treatment at the academy. Not to mention Chris claimed they had a rivalry and went up against each other a lot. Did he mean that happened at Raiffel Academy?

“Did you ever have to fight against Zane?” Bailey inquired. He hoped to learn the truth about Zane from him, but Bailey felt some questions he could ask others, the ones that were a little less personal.

Nate scowled. “Yeah.”

“Did you beat him?”

No answer.

“You never beat him, did you?” Bailey smiled at the glare Nate sent him from the corner of his eye. “What about Natalia?”