Connor was used to being invisible. It had happened all throughout childhood, throughout uni. He could sit right beside someone in class for the entire year, and they would have no idea who he was if he actually came up to them on campus. It was something he had become used to.
The ARC wasn't any different. Sure, they knew his name. They spoke to him. But most of the time, he seemed to just be under the filter. He would actually watch as they looked around the room, eyes passing over him like he wasn't even there.
So, he wasn't surprised when he got left behind. Hurt, yes. Surprised, no.
It had been a long day, two anomalies opening at one time. He had gone with Cutter and half of the army men, while Abby and Stephen had gone with the other half. Connor could tell by the brief look that passed over Cutter's face that he wasn't happy with the arrangement.
It wasn't hard to find the creature- it was certainly nothing small- but Connor had been in the way as it charged toward them. He hadn't even known what was happening before the brief blinding pain, then darkness.
He woke up not long after, blinking frantically to stop the black spots from swimming in front of his eyes, and listened to Cutter talk about getting the… whatever it was back through the anomaly. But he hadn't moved, content just to lie on the ground. He had a sneaking suspicion that if he moved, he wouldn't like the results. That dull throbbing might turn into something even more painful if he did. Not to mention, my the way his ankle felt, he wouldn't make it long standing.
He was pretty sure he should be worried that he couldn't remember the name of the creature. It was definitely something he should know…
So Connor had remained on the ground, listening to the sounds of the men fighting/chasing the creature back through the anomaly - then nothing. He must have fallen asleep, or blacked out, but the next thing he noticed was the silence. Connor forced his eyes open and slowly moved his head to the side, only to see nothing.
At all.
Not anomaly, no soldiers, no Cutter.
Just nothing.
That had been two hours ago, and in that two hours Connor had been able to realize three things.
They had completely forgot about him.
His phone had been broken when he was hit.
His ankle was definitely broken. And he was pretty sure he had a concussion.
He had barely managed to get over to the closest tree before the black dots completely took over his vision. He had pressed his back against the trunk of the tree and leaned his head back. He wasn't going anywhere – he just hoped someone realized he was gone soon.
He had been fighting to keep his eyes open, knowing if he did have a concussion, sleeping wasn't something he should be doing.
He wasn't surprised that he had been left. He had been forgotten or ignored enough for him to be used to it - but he had thought someone would have noticed by now. That maybe Cutter had noticed the silence on the drive back to the ARC. Or Abby had noticed when she and Stephen came back that he wasn't there, following her around.
He had thought… well, he thought that maybe he was making friends with his co-workers. He had hoped he was. Maybe that was asking to much.
"Connor!"