Reality Check

Left Behind

Drift Away (by NateWantsToBattle)

"You keep on turning pages for people who don't care. People who don't care about you . . ."

___

iii. autophobia; the fear of abandonment

Moonlight shone down on the street below as Orion waited from the shadows of the alleyway, keeping a watchful eye on the large building across the street, which had a thick cloud of fog around it. Thunder rumbled somewhere in the distance; luckily it wasn't raining. He and Bethany had flattened themselves against the wall, her dressed as Twilight Girl and him as Kid Twilight.

According to his watch, it was only a few minutes away from midnight, which wasn't much of a problem but last time he checked they'd been waiting since 11:00, when they arrived here. He felt like his senses were getting duller the longer he sat there, his patience wearing thin. His body felt stiff from sitting in the same position. Noises sounded far away, all except for the occasional car that would zoom past.

Doc Twilight had gone ahead to sneak past the supervillians on his own, and was supposed to send Bethany and Orion a signal once it was clear for them to follow. Orion respected Doc's plan greatly — he really did — but he hated that he and Bethany had to wait for so long . . . and not just because he was concerned about Doc Twilight.

Orion's current concern was how long he'd have to be alone with Bethany. She could be admirably brave sometimes, but usually she was just annoying. She never listened to Orion. Bethany was lucky that it was dark out, because her red hair would instantly make her stand out to anyone that noticed them — and that would get them both caught. Yes, Doc's hair might've been red also, but he was more experienced at sneaking around.

Orion had to hide his growing impatience but he could tell that neither of them could wait for too much longer. Not that they had a choice. They would have to wait for as long as it took for Doc to send them a signal, which was already taking long enough. Being the superhero's sidekick sometimes meant having to wait around for long periods of time.

But they'd been waiting for so long that he was getting worried. Why was Doc taking so long? He considered leaving Bethany behind and going ahead to find Doc himself. It would definitely move things along quicker, but Orion knew that he couldn't do that. His job was to wait for Doc's signal, so that's what he would do.

He glanced over at Bethany, who kept casting nervous glances over at the large building that her father had entered. She was shifting from foot to foot, clearly anxious about her father. She probably looked more ready than Orion to jump in after Doc Twilight, which was another reason that he'd have to stay here for now.

If she ran in there without even having a plan, like she usually did when her father was in trouble, she would only throw them into danger. Orion had to watch her, to keep her from doing something reckless. The only thing worse than Doc getting into danger was Bethany also getting into danger, and Orion would rather not have to save both of them if this whole thing turned out to be a mess.

All of the sudden, a small flash of light caught Orion's eye, and he quickly jabbed Bethany's side as a small sense of relief swelled in his chest. "There's the signal."

"Where?" Bethany whispered. Orion pointed it out to her, and as soon as her eyes landed on it, her whole face lit up. "Great, let's go."

As she started running down the alleyway, Orion noticed for the first time that there was a weird foggy feeling in his head. Almost like he hadn't fully woken up yet. He tried shaking it off. The worst possible thing for a superhero to do was get distracted or unfocused, and Orion wasn't about to let himself do that. He always gave one-hundred percent to every fight, so he couldn't afford to slack off now.