Page 82 of The Not So Super Hero

I t was too much. Bailey sat by Zane’s bedside.

Learning of Antoine’s death should have been relieving.

But seeing Zane in that hospital bed, accompanied by the consistent talk on social media of continued chaos, didn’t sit well.

The cure existed. Mutants took it either voluntarily or forced by those who got their dirty hands on it.

Rebirth may have lost their leaders, but judging by the ongoing attacks, others simply took their place.

None seemed to have the same plans as Antoine, but they were active, nonetheless.

Bailey wondered when everything would end, if it ever really would end. How the hell were he and Zane meant to go on if it didn’t?

He gripped Zane’s hand tighter. The machines beeped, a sound he heard too much recently.

He had been there so much lately that he was forgetting what it was like not to be in a hospital.

Though Zane was on the men, he hadn’t woken up yet.

After what Bailey heard from Nate of what happened, he suspected Zane had given into his lazy urges and took a much needed rest.

Why did he keep getting stabbed? Bailey would develop stomach ulcers at this rate.

Bailey hoped Zane would wake up soon. Bailey missed him.

They hadn’t seen each other in months. Now that Bailey had Zane’s hand in his, they still hadn’t spoken.

He hadn’t heard Zane’s voice. That was maddening.

Made it hard to sleep. From time to time, Nate and Natalia visited with food.

Bailey perked up a smidge, but it was hard to be anything less than exhausted.

“What are the plans after this?” Nate asked during one of their visits. Bailey leaned back in his chair, having taken a nap, and woken up to overhear Nate speaking with his sister.

“Rebirth isn’t backing down even with Antoine gone, but are they safe to go back? Go back to school, work, their normal lives?” Natalia questioned.

“With Antoine gone, Rebirth will probably focus on another agenda, but we can’t know for certain,” Chris replied.

“But is that the real problem?” Nate asked. “Now that everyone knows what Zane’s capable of, will he have the opportunity to go?”

Yet another question that no one had an answer to. Even if they did, there wasn’t time to respond. Zane’s eyes opened.

Turning his head to the side, he found Bailey peering wide-eyed at him. Dark bags stained his pale skin and his hair had become a knotted mess. Zane felt Bailey’s warm touch. His grip tightened. Zane’s sore throat blocked any words he attempted to form before he grumbled, “Hey.”

“Hey,” Bailey repeated, all but throwing himself forward. Zane tensed at the pain in his back and side. That didn’t matter, though. He wrapped his arm around Bailey, relieved to finally feel him.

Bailey buried his face into the crock of Zane’s neck.

Zane clutched him tighter. Tears dripped on his shoulder.

No words were exchanged. They weren’t needed.

Just feeling Bailey’s grip around him was enough to know exactly what he wanted to say.

They pulled away, only to lean in for a kiss.

Zane twisted his hands into Bailey’s hair.

He would have happily remained in a lip lock, but Bailey’s weight was getting to him. And he was starving.

With a gentle nudge, Zane pushed away. “I’m still sore,” he said.

“Oh, sorry.” Bailey leaned back. “Your wounds aren’t reopened, are they?”

“No. Even if they were, it’d have been worth it. I’ve been wanting a kiss since the moment I left you.”

Bailey blushed, then the hospital door opened. A doctor and nurse entered, followed by Chris and the twins. Bailey gave Zane some space while the doctor and nurse gave him a look over. Chris wrapped his arm around Bailey’s shoulder, patting the boy’s side with a smile.

“No worries, kiddo. You two will have time to catch up later.” Chris winked.

“Yeah, catch up, that’s what they’ll be doing,” Nate teased, elbowing Bailey lightly.

“What?” Bailey muttered. “He’s still injured.”

“Implying that the moment he’s able, you’re going to jump him like a rabid dog?” Natalia cut in. She smirked over her brother’s shoulder. If she were closer, Bailey would smack her for that comment. Instead, he smacked Nate for it.

“What the hell? She said it!” Nate whined.

“You’re closer,” Bailey grunted.

“This is bullshit.”

Once the doctor left, Zane was quickly surrounded.

Nate and Natalia came in for hugs. Chris nearly strangled Zane with his.

While it’s obvious he wanted to ask what had been happening, everyone avoided saying anything.

They wanted to enjoy the peace, take in the moment they all needed to breathe normally again.

Even Bailey acted more like himself, smiling brightly.

He even slipped on the floor to face plant on the floor.

Their good ol’ klutz. Zane howled with laughter until his entire body ached.

He resorted to a snort and chuckle mix. Nate stated how impressed he was that Bailey survived this entire ordeal, which everyone agreed with.

Bailey would have complained, except he, too, was impressed and slightly confused.

Did he have an on and off switch for his bad luck that he didn’t know about? Because it sort of seemed like it!

Everything felt normal. It felt right. Bailey finally felt like he was no longer teetering along the edge of a cliff about to fall.

There was a hope that things could go back to what they once were.

In a sense. Maybe, once Zane was healed up, the two could return to their lives.

Bailey could see his family and friends again.

He would go back to school. Zane would be the ever so lazy janitor.

It was what he desperately wanted, the life he missed.

However, later that evening, after the twins and Chris left, Zane brought up an option that Bailey hadn’t been considering.

“Would it bother you if I said I don’t plan to go back?” Zane asked.

Bailey sat on the bed beside Zane. The grip Zane had around his waist tightened.

“What do you mean?” Bailey asked.

“I mean, after everything that has happened, would it bother you if I chose to be a hero, or whatever?” Zane still didn’t like the word, but it was what people called them. After some consideration, he thought maybe that wouldn’t be so bad.

Bailey, however, was very confused. Sure, when they first met, he wondered why Zane wasn’t one of the heroes he saw on TV. He was clearly a powerful mutant, so why work as a janitor? But after he got to know him, Bailey realized being a hero wasn’t on Zane’s To Do list.

“Why do you want to be?” Bailey inquired. “Is it because it’s what other people expect of you, or is it because you want to do it?”

“I always wanted to be,” Zane admitted, which was shocking to Bailey even if, after all he learned, he kind of saw that. “But I was too scared to do it, thinking of myself as the villain, fearing my own powers but…”

Zane looked at the TV. They had the news on that continued covering Rebirth’s attacks.

A picture of Zane came up in his hero mask with the hero name Fear written clear as day across the bottom of the picture.

There had been a mixture of feelings, some thanking Fear for what he did while others continued questioning who he was and where he came from.

However, when Bailey looked at Zane, expecting to see discomfort or annoyance.

Instead, he caught a smile. A smile that confused him until Zane looked back at him and said, “I’m not scared anymore. ”

Bailey smiled too. He couldn’t lie and say that Zane continuing to be a hero didn’t scare him. There were a lot of things that could go wrong. He imagined hospitals would be like a second home to him, but if it was what Zane wanted, if it made him happy, then so be it.

“You’re not getting rid of me, if that’s what you’re asking,” Bailey said. “We’re stuck together like glue.”

“What kind of glue? Because that purple or blue stick glue from school was always pretty shit at holding things together.”

Bailey rolled his eyes. Leave it to Zane to ruin the moment.

Zane leaned over to press a kiss to Bailey’s cheek, and he made the moment better all in the same second.

Then Zane buried his face into Bailey’s shoulder.

There was probably a lot more to be said, a whole discussion on what exactly Zane planned to do, but they were going to save it for another time.

There were more important things to discuss.

“Where are we gonna go on our date?” Bailey asked. “I was thinking, like, the aquarium or an amusement park.”

“An amusement park? You realize I’ve been stabbed. Multiple times,” Zane replied.

“You heal in like two days!” Bailey exclaimed, laughing when Zane pinched his side for it. “Oh, or we could go back to that arcade? That was fun!”

“If you wish to be beaten that badly, we can go again.”

Bailey glared at Zane for that. He sat his chin on Bailey’s shoulder, pretending not to notice the glare.

“Fine, not the arcade,” Bailey huffed.

“You’re the boss.”

Bailey felt that was almost an insult. He pointed accusingly at Zane. “Just because you’re hurt doesn’t mean I’m not keeping track of how much you annoy me. I will annoy you for each time after you’re healed up.”

Zane hummed.

“I’m serious.”

He hummed again. Well, wasn’t he being a brilliant conversationalist today?

Bailey would complain, but feeling Zane’s lips press against his neck made his mind turn to goo.

His entire body broke out with goosebumps when Zane’s hair tickled his skin.

The sound of his soft breathing filled the room, telling Bailey that Zane had fallen asleep.

Even with all the rest he already had, he was exhausted.

So was Bailey. For the first time in a while, he fell asleep with ease too.