Page 70 of The Not So Super Hero

Z ane remained awake long into the night.

He rested in bed, eyes glued on the ceiling and hands gripping the bed sheets.

Across the room, Bailey slept. Zane wished to join him, but his mind was on high alert.

Everything intensified; the noise of the hospital from every floor and corner.

Without headphones and distractions, and after a long day of reliving the past, he struggled to drown out the noise. So he averted his attention to Bailey.

Seeing him without his glasses was always strange, though no less adorable.

Zane smiled, focusing on Bailey’s soft breaths.

The natural inhale and exhale drowned out the world.

Though when he caught sight of Bailey’s cast, he bit his lip.

He hated Antoine. He hated those bastards.

He hated that something much worse could have happened.

What happened to the days when all he had to worry about was getting to work on time?

What happened to the days when he could sleep soundly through the night or watch TV and not worry about every sound outside his door?

He wanted all that back, the mediocre life he strived for before except with maybe one addition.

Zane looked away from Bailey upon realizing his own thoughts.

His heart skipped at the prospect of a normal life with Bailey.

Waking up together. Eating breakfast together.

Taking a walk downtown and buying groceries and cleaning the house, everything seemed wonderful.

Better than anything he could imagine. Hell, they could go on a date.

But what would Bailey want to do? Go out to eat?

See a movie? That’s cliche, but Zane liked cliche.

Sadly, neither had the time to even discuss such things with all the chaos going on.

He sighed. He really wanted the mediocre life back.

But knowing what had to be done to get it made his spine tingle.

Antoine would not give up. Rebirth would be back.

They would come for him. They would hurt Bailey to do it.

Nothing could ever be normal with Rebirth around, which meant he had to do what he had always been running away from.

He had to face Antoine. He had to face his past. He had to move on and get rid of Rebirth for good. But he wasn’t sure he could do it.

Even after speaking with Bailey, the guilt over Isaiah’s death remained. Zane clenched his hand until his nails bit into his palm.

“Trouble sleeping?”

Zane found Bailey’s tired green eyes staring at him through the dark of the room. The only light came from the TV that remained on, even after he had fallen asleep.

“A bit,” Zane replied.

“What’s wrong?” Bailey yawned, rubbing at his eyes.

“Just thinking.”

“About?”

“Everything?”

Bailey chuckled, reaching up to ruffle his hair before dropping his hand back to the bed. His gaze locked with Zane’s, the warmth of his eyes almost coaxing him to sleep. Funny, he had been struggling for so long, but a single look from Bailey made him comfortable enough to sleep? He had it bad.

“Do you wanna talk about it?” Bailey asked with his eyes slowly opening and closing like he was battling to stay awake. He probably was. It was a little past four in the morning.

“No, you’re tired. Get some rest.”

Bailey pursed his lips. “Not ‘till you do.”

Zane rolled his eyes, looking away from Bailey’s pouty lips to stare at the ceiling. “The only way this all stops is if I stop Rebirth—"

“We,” Bailey interrupted, causing Zane to give him a curious gaze. “The only way this all stops is if we stop Rebirth. You have a family, remember? We’re all in this together.”

Regardless of his exhaustion, he smiled brighter than any star reminding Zane of when they first met and how the boy saw the best side of things, no matter what. He wished his body could move so he could pounce him, but alas, he was stuck in bed.

“When I can move I’m going to jump you,” Zane stated so matter-of-factly that it made Bailey’s eyes widen. His cheeks burst with colors. Seemed that woke him up real quick.

“H-Huh?” he sputtered.

“Give me a couple of days. They aren’t going to let you sleep in the same room as me.”

“Uh, I, that,” Bailey threw the covers over his head. “Go to sleep.”

Zane smirked. Bailey’s blush lit up a room. Snickering, he watched Bailey relax and fall asleep beneath the sheets. His soft breathing filled the room, followed by the blanket rolling down to his neck after the movement of his arms. He was asleep, leaving Zane to think once more.

“The only way this all stops is if we stop Rebirth. You have a family, remember? We’re all in this together.”

Bailey was right. Zane knew that, and maybe he always did, but didn’t have the guts to admit it. He always felt he didn’t deserve the love of a family, but now…

Sighing, he rubbed his heavy eyes. Sleep had finally come, and he fell asleep to the comforting sound of Bailey’s breath.

The days that followed were mostly of rest. With the increased attack, Chris had a lot of work.

Bailey and Zane heard of it on the news.

More and more members of Rebirth appeared around the globe.

They kidnapped mutants and killed those who dared to fight back.

The Mutant Reform Society was on the move as well, pulling their usual propaganda that all the chaos was proof that mutants were no good for society.

The news was nothing but trouble, and it was why Bailey shut it off.

“I was watching that,” Zane huffed after he had taken the remote.

“You don’t need to be,” said Bailey.

“Considering that Rebirth wants to kill us, yes, I do.”

“It’s not good to watch all the time,” Bailey argued, using his crutches to move back to his bed. It was a pain, but he would have to get used to it for the time being. “Besides, we can’t do anything about it from here.”

He sat on the edge of the bed, keeping the remote right next to him.

Zane rolled his eyes but didn’t argue against that, although he wouldn’t be there much longer.

Once he was healed up, they had to go to another safe house, except Zane had yet to bring up his decision to Bailey, which he wasn’t sure the boy would like.

Unlike Bailey, who was going to have to put up with his injuries far longer than Zane, he was almost healed enough to leave.

Leave as in join Natalia and Nate in their search for Antoine, which was the conclusion he had come to after days and nights of contemplating.

It was the only thing that could be done, even if he hated the idea of leaving Bailey behind to do it.

It wasn’t as if Zane felt Bailey wouldn’t understand.

In fact, he was certain Bailey would agree.

That made it worse. Bailey would say that okay, then be alone for who knew how long.

Antoine wouldn’t be found in a day or a week or even a month.

The likelihood of stopping Rebirth quickly was slim to none.

That meant Bailey would be on his own. Zane hated that, hated it more because it was his fault Bailey was in this mess.

How could Zane leave him? What if Bailey was unhappy on his own?

What if Rebirth got to him while Zane was away?

He sure as hell couldn’t tag along. When Zane discussed it with Chris, all he got was a “ that is a decision the two of you have to make , which Zane agreed with.

However, he had hoped Chris could give him some words of wisdom that were more clear or had a better answer.

Zane sighed for what felt like the millionth time that day.

Bailey noticed it too, his brow furrowed with worry.

Zane had been a little off the last few days, not that Bailey blamed him.

He wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows either, but it felt like Zane wanted to talk.

He wasn’t sure what about or if he was meant to ask.

After so much sighing and obvious frustration, he brought it up.

“Is something wrong?” Bailey asked.

“No, why?”

“You’ve been sighing all day.”

“I sigh every day.”

Bailey rolled his eyes and would have gotten up to join Zane on his bed, but he beat him to it.

Bailey was completely jealous that Zane could already get out of bed, and also worried.

He said once he did he would jump Bailey, but that hadn’t happened yet.

Not to say that was the main thing on Bailey’s mind.

It was just one of many and—oh, what the hell.

He gave up. Of course he was thinking about it.

They had gone through a lot and he needed some physical contact.

Zane sloughed to the bed, landing next to Bailey with a soft grunt. Bailey smiled when their arms brushed. Zane grabbed his hand, interlocking their hands.

“I feel like you’re holding your breath,” Bailey explained. “It feels like you want to talk, but you won’t.”

Zane’s lack of reply further proved his point. The two sat in silence, neither looking away. Zane would open his mouth, then shut, then open, then sigh. When he finally spoke, Bailey’s heart sank. “I’m not joining you at the next safe house.”

“What?” Bailey asked.

“You said it yourself. The only way this all stops is if we stop Rebirth. Once I’m healed, I’ll meet up with Nate and Natalia. We’ll stop Rebirth for good this time.”

The grip on Zane’s hand tightened.

“So, you’re leaving?” he inquired, although he already knew the answer. Zane nodded. He averted his eyes, hoping to hide the fear coursing through him. “Oh, I…I understand.”

Zane flinched.

“It’s not like I would be much help against anyone in Rebirth. It’s probably best that I go to the safe house on my own,” Bailey mumbled.