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Chapter Text

“Hey Hen?”

“Hmm?”

“Are you glad we met or is it just me?”

Smiling, the young blond reached over to gently entwine his fingers with his boyfriend’s, his head resting against the man’s shoulder. They were currently curled up on the younger boy’s bed, Henry laying on Drex’s shoulder and his arm wrapped around the young sidekick’s ribs.

Henry nuzzled his nose deeper into Drex’s neck, placing kisses gently along his jawline, his breath heavy against the other blond’s skin.

“Yeah, I’m glad we met,” he responded, tilting his head up to meet Drex’s baby-blue eyes, marveling at just how much love pooled out from those blue orbs.

As they settled back into comfortable silence, Drex raked a hand gently through Henry’s soft, freshly cut hair, his gaze watching the night sky slowly lighten up before turning a bright pink. Soon, he’d have to leave, just like every other morning that found him there, nestled in his lover’s arms.

Henry’s breathing deepened, evening out, and the man tilted his head to look down at the young boy, taking in his peaceful face and his calm breathing. Good, he’d finally fallen asleep.

Drex turned his body so that he could see the alarm clock beside him, the time reading 5:45 in the morning. Knowing that he had less than half an hour left, the man returned his attention to his sleeping boyfriend and gently slid his hand over Henry’s side, rubbing him soothingly.

He didn’t want to leave; he hated going before his boyfriend could give him a proper goodbye. He knew, though, that the boy’s parents always popped in to wake him up around 6:30 am and they weren’t quite yet ready to know that the boy was gay, let alone dating a notorious bad guy.

Untangling himself from Henry’s body, he pulled himself out and up, his gaze wandering down Henry’s frame. He had grown quite a bit, puberty taking its toll, and was now very tall. He only came to Drex’s shoulder but he’d grown enough to overtake Ray. His body had definitely toned up as well, a thin, yet muscular build only making him that more attractive.

In a burst of excitement, Henry had even got his hair cut, using a hairstyle called the Ivy League Cut. Sure, Drex had liked his hair the way it was before, fluffy and longer, but the hairstyle had given a sexy look to the boy, making him that much more attractive.

Smiling, Drex reached down to ruffle the longer flop of bangs that covered the boy’s eyes, and tugged the blankets up to his shoulders, tucking him in.

“Love you, kid. I’ll see you tonight,” he murmured, pressing a gentle kiss against Henry’s forehead before sneaking out for the day.

~~~

As soon as his mother came in to wake him up, Henry’s day was horrible. From checking on the wasp nest that seemed to keep coming back and getting stung by a million angry wasps to slipping on the floor to the kitchen because of Piper suddenly ‘deciding’ to do some house cleaning before school, it was just one incident after another. At school, a kid opened the locker below his, thwacking his shins efficiently and hard, leaving him howling in pain while gripping his legs.

Mitch decided today was a good day for him to get one up on the boy and, by lunch, he had been given two different wedgies and a noogie with a threat to give him a swirly laying on his shoulders.

“Wow, Henry. You look horrible,” Charlotte commented as the two moved through the lunch line, gathering their trays.

“Today has been a bunch of crap, that’s for sure,” the boy grunted before scowling as the lunch lady plopped a scoop full of potatoes on his plate. The mushy white food slopped over the side, spilling itself on his brand new sweatshirt.

“Yeah, looks like it.”

They moved to their regular spots, Jasper already waiting for them with the contents of his brown paper bag layed out. As Henry stepped up to the table, something under his foot slid out, pulling him down with it, and he found himself sprawled out on his back, his lunch all over him.

“Dude, are you okay?” Jasper cried as he and Charlotte both crowded around him, helping him sit up while supporting his back.

“Yeah, ‘m fine. What the hell did I slip on?” the boy asked as he began to rub at the back of his head, trying to soothe the thudding of his newly injured skull.

Jasper reached out, grabbing a crumpled up object just a couple inches away, and inspected it for a moment before handing it over to his best friend. As Henry gazed at the object, it clicked in his brain that the crumpled brown cardboard used to be a milk carton. With that realization, he became faintly aware of the seat of his pants, an uncomfortable wetness soaking through his jeans.

“You slipped on milk,” Jasper commented, unhelpfully, and the blond glared up at him, a frustrated and agitated blend written in his angry eyes.

“I can see that. Thank you,” he snapped before grabbing a hold of the lip of the table, pulling himself up so that he was standing. Gops of mashed potatoes and gravy slid down his shirt, dropping to the floor, and he sighed, knowing that he probably wouldn’t be allowed another lunch.

“You know what? I’m going to head to work. I can’t deal with anymore of this. I’ll see you guys there.”

His friends exchanged concerned glances as he left the cafeteria, his face flushed with embarrassment and anger.

Chapter Text

“Come on, Henry. You have to keep practicing if you want to get good at fighting. You may not always have your hypermotility to keep you safe from attacks.”

Henry stared up at his mentor, unamused, as he absently rubbed the fluffy white towel through his wet, blond locks, attempting to dry them off after his quick shower.

“Can’t. Hurt myself in the shower,” was his simple reply and the brunette looked down at the boy scrutinizingly, his gaze flickering from the boy’s face to where his foot rested on the lip of the couch, Schwoz flitting around it to tend to the already swelling appendage.

“How’d you say you hurt yourself again?” the man asked and Henry let out a groan, rolling his eyes as he slumped backwards, and pulled the towel over his face.

“You left a bar of soap on the floor in the shower. I didn’t see it and stepped on it. I slipped and fell and you came in to me cussing at you. You helped me dry off and change and then you carried me down to this couch so Schwoz could check me over. Sound familiar?”

Ray scratched his chin slightly, listening to his sidekick’s explanation, and shook his head.

“Nope. Doesn’t sound familiar at all. Are you sure that happened?”

“Yes, Ray,” Henry responded, exaggerated beyond belief at the man’s response.

“Hold still, Henry. Almost done,” Schwoz murmured and Henry pulled himself up so that he could see what the little man was doing.

With expertise, the man had his throbbing ankle wrapped, a large cold pack wrapped around his foot. A pillow was slipped underneath and, based on the treatment, Henry raised an eyebrow at the man.

“Let me guess. Another sprained ankle?”

“Yeah. You got lucky, Henry. It could’ve been a lot worse.”

“Henry, come train with me!” Ray begged, bouncing around excitedly and the boy let out a groan, casting a glance at Schwoz to see what he thought of the idea. The little man simply shrugged as he turned back to one of his machines, pulling out tools to work on it.

“Fine, Ray. Fine. I’ll come train with you.”

Henry slid off the couch, placing the cold pack on the table, and hobbled over to the training mat his boss had slid out onto the floor, waiting for Ray to get into position.

The man swung a heavy fist and Henry shot down, easily ducking underneath. Another punch was thrown and Henry again dodged, this time landing a punch to Ray’s ribs. Ray staggered back before throwing a sharp, sudden kick at him. He caught the man’s muscular leg, his hands gripping his ankle, and he twisted his foot, throwing him off guard. He shoved him forward, using Ray’s leg as leverage, and Ray toppled to the mat.

“What?” Ray started, standing up and turning to face the boy, his blue eyes searching Henry’s brown eyes carefully.

“Where did you learn that move? It almost looked like one of Drex’s.”

Henry’s eyes grew wide at his mistake, his gaze nervously flickering up to Ray’s face before glancing at Schwoz. The scientist stood in shock, his mouth gaping wide open, as he stared at the blond sidekick as if he was a ghost.

“Henry, where did you learn that move?”

Ray moved up closer, his hands coming up to grip the boy’s shoulders tightly. The elevator let out a ding, signaling that Jasper and Charlotte were here, and Henry tried to turn so that he could greet his friends but his mentor stopped him, his grip tightening to an almost painful vice on his shoulders.

“Henry.”

Defeated, Henry sighed, his head dropping and his gaze falling to his feet.

“How long have you been working with Drex?”

“We aren’t working together,” Henry answered, his gaze flickering up to Ray’s face, trying to read the cloudy emotions that flew past his face. “We’re dating.”

Ray’s hands jerked back, as if he had touched something extremely hot, and Henry felt his face turn bright red, knowing that he couldn’t turn back now.

“A year ago, I went on a solo mission. Remember? The robber knocked me unconscious with a crowbar. Well, Drex found me and rescued me before the robber could pull off my mask. He’s the one who wrapped up my head and my ankle. He told me that he could start giving me tips on how to keep myself safe on the field. So, he started coming over to my house in the middle of the night to train.

A-after a while, he made me confront how I felt about him and I and I-I realized that I liked him. A lot. So, he asked me if we could be boyfriends. I said yes. Look, Ray, I know you’re upset but-”

“You’re fired.”

The words, though spoken softly, shot through the boy’s heart like a bullet and he froze, his gaze watching his boss move away from him, anger etched in every feature of his body.

“You have to give Schwoz your gum, your whiz watch, and anything else you carry on you. Right now. And don’t ever come back.”

“Ray-” Henry started but the man waved him off, stalking up the stairs and through the sprocket. The boy tilted his head to the side, taking in the shocked and hurt expressions on his friends’ faces, and clenched his fists tightly. Yanking out the gum and tugging off his whiz watch, he slapped both down on the table in front of Schwoz, the man staring at him with a look of disbelief and disappointment.

He pulled out his laser as well, setting it more carefully onto the tray before limping to the elevator, scooping up his backpack in the process. He hit the button to take him up and refused to look back until after the door had fully closed behind him.

Chapter Text

“Shh, baby. It’s going to be okay.”

Nothing was going to be okay. Cradling his boyfriend gently, Drex felt the anger boiling hot in his veins as he glared at an old poster Henry had up in his room of Captain Man.

“H-h-he fired me because w-w-w-we’re together,” Henry whimpered against the man’s chest, tears streaming down his cheeks at the thought of what he had just lost. On top of everything, his ankle ached horribly from walking home, the pounding causing the pain to explode every couple seconds.

Drex picked Henry up in his arms, moving around so that he could lay the boy down on his bed, and checked his ankle, noting the swelling that hadn’t been there when he first arrived.

“Henry, how bad is the pain?” he asked softly and the blond boy sniffled, sitting up slightly so that he could look at his lover. He brushed his hand across his nose, wiping away the tears that had slipped down, and tilted his head in confusion.

“It hurts a lot. Why?”

“Did anyone bring you home or did you have to walk home on a sprained ankle?”

“I had to walk home. Even Char and Jasp were disgusted. Oh Drex, what am I going to do?”

Drex listened as Henry buried his face into one of his many pillows, sobs shaking his shoulders, and clenched his fists, his teeth clenched as he fumed over what had turned out to be the worst day of his boyfriend’s life.

“Listen, Henry, first, I’m going to take care of your ankle. You were in no condition to go walking all the way from Ray’s junk store to home. The swelling has gotten really bad. Then, we’ll cuddle and talk for a bit and, after you’ve fallen asleep, I’m going to give that dick a piece of my mind.”

Henry’s eyes widened and he frantically began to shake his head, words falling out of his mouth in a jumbled up mess.

“He, no, I, you, no! You can’t go to the Man Cave! Please, just stay with me. I don’t want you to leave. Just stay with me.”

Drex’s shoulders slumped down and he nodded, his gaze resting on Henry’s tear-streaked face, his heart aching for the boy. Even when he had been betrayed by his so-called friends, he still cared for them and didn’t want harm to fall on any of them. He was too good for Ray, Charlotte, Jasper, or even Schwoz. Way too good for them.

Gently and carefully, he rewrapped Henry’s ankle before sneaking down to the freezer to grab a bag of ice for the boy. After making back up to his room and locking the door behind them, he placed the ice on his foot and climbed into the bed, pulling the blond boy closer to him, his arms wrapped gently around the smaller boy’s body.

Henry continued to cry into his arms and Drex simply rubbed soothing, loving circles into his shoulder, waiting as the sobs dried up into deep breaths, signaling that he had fallen asleep.

Slowly, Drex pulled himself out from under Henry and pulled his blankets up, covering him and tucking him in. He stopped, crouching down to be face-to-face with the blond boy, he reached up and gently wiped away a stray tear that slid down his boyfriend’s cheek, his heart aching for the boy.

“One day, you’ll be even greater than Captain Man. You’ll bring a new version of what it looks like to be a hero. You’ll bring so much good to Swellview, Henry. You’ll make it perfect here. I know it’s hard now. I see you suffering. But I know you’ll come out stronger on the other side,” he whispered gently before moving to the couch on the platform by the window, sitting down so that he could look outside and stare at the moon shining high in the sky.

“Do you see him, Ray? Do you even think about him? He’s hurting and it’s all your fault. One day, I’ll teach you a lesson that you deserve. I’ll teach you such a painful lesson that you’ll never forget it.”

~~~

Henry stirred in his bed to the sound of knocking on his door. He sat up, groaning, and his mom called through the door.

“Henry, honey. Are you up? You need to get ready for school.”

“I’m up, mom,” he called back as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes, as well as the sleepers that always tended to stick around after he had cried.

He heard her footsteps walk down the hallway and his gaze flickered to the window, half-expecting it to be open from Drex leaving. Instead, it was shut and locked, a sign that his boyfriend had not left and was still around. His eyes swept the room, landing on a black mass on his couch, and he smirked, climbing out of bed rather ungracefully. He hobbled over to the platform and reached up, his hand coming to rest on Drex’s shoulder.

“Drex, you need to wake up. You fell asleep here,” he grunted, shaking his lover’s shoulder gently, and the older man let out a moan as he rolled over on the couch, his eyes blinking open sleepily.

“Hey baby,” Drex cooed softly and the boy blushed, a smile pulling at his lips. “How’d you sleep?”

“It was kind of lonely, to be honest. If you’re going to fall asleep, I wish you’d fall asleep in bed with me.”

Drex rolled off of the couch, landing lightly, and slid off the platform with ease, sweeping Henry up into his arms.

“How are you feeling this morning?” he asked gently and the boy sighed, his eyes glistening as if he were holding in the tears.

“Shh, baby. Everything is going to be alright, okay? I promise, this will all work itself out. One way or another, it’ll work out, okay?”

Henry nodded slowly, a tear sliding down his face, and Drex leaned in, capturing the boy’s lips in a sweet kiss, nothing more, full of love and promises for the future. His blond boy returned the kiss, wrapping his arms around the man’s neck, and he returned the action by wrapping his arms around the boy’s back, holding him in the embrace and just allowing him the love that he needed at that moment.

Chapter Text

Henry limped through the school halls, his ankle still pretty sore and tender despite the pampering Drex had provided for him. His eyes moved left and right, seeking out two familiar faces, but didn’t see them, leaving him slightly disappointed and lonely.

Opening his locker, he pushed his extra books into the small space and zipped his backpack up, slinging it over his shoulder. Closing his locker door, he leaned against the metal lockers and waited for the bell to ring, knowing that the longer he avoided his first hour class, the less time he’d have to sit through the lecture, knowing that Charlotte and Jasper were right behind him.

Eventually, he spotted his two best friends entering the school, huddled together and talking as they walked.

“Hey guys,” he greeted them hesitantly but the two completely ignored him, walking right past him, and Henry dropped his shoulders as he watched them walk by. Jasper threw a quick glance back at the boy and he saw a slight flash of pity rush through his best friend’s gaze before Charlotte pulled him back to their conversation, leaving the blond boy behind.

School flashed by rather normally aside from the fact that his best friends wouldn’t talk to him or even sit with him at lunch. He wasted time by doodling on paper and working on schoolwork, something that hadn’t ever concerned him before.

After school let out, he headed down the pathway to the highway, planning on just walking around for a bit. Instead, a familiar man sat in a slick-looking car, a giant smile plastered on his face.

“Drex?” he hissed, his eyes shifting around warily in case anyone else saw him, and the man motioned for him to get in. He did as was asked and slid into the seat, clicking his seatbelt on.

“Let’s go get some nacho balls. I’m starving,” Drex grunted, bringing a bright grin onto his boyfriend’s face, and they pulled out of the parking lot. As they drove past the school entrance, Henry peeked out and caught his best friends staring at him, their eyes wide and mouths dropped open in shock at seeing him get in a car so willingly with Drex.

“So, how was school, Hen?” Drex asked softly and the boy slumped back against the seat, raising his aching foot up to rest it on the dash of the car.

“Sucked. Charlotte and Jasper are totally ignoring me now. And they’re the only people who really talked to me in the first place. I had no one to talk to. Hell, they didn’t even sit with me at lunch.”

He picked at the sleeve of his button up plaid shirt, his eyes watering a little at the betrayal of the two people he thought cared about him the most.

Drex let out a slow breath, his hands tightening around the steering wheel, and Henry caught the notion, his hand coming up to lay on top of the hand closest to him.

“Drex, it’s okay. I’m alright. I promise,” he murmured softly, and the man’s hands loosened slightly, his baby blue eyes not leaving the road.

“Do you have homework? I can help you with it while we eat,” his boyfriend offered and Henry smirked at the sweetness of the ex-villain, his gaze lighting up at the notion of ‘help’.

“I’d like that. But, this type of homework requires our clothes to be off,” he responded, teasingly, and Drex whipped his head around, his eyes twinkling with excitement.

Henry’s hand dropped from his hand and slid down his thigh, reaching down to touch the bulge of his pants.

“Stop it, you flirt,” Drex grunted, taking one hand off the wheel to slap at his hand. “I’m driving right now. Save it for when we get to my place.”

Henry wiggled his eyebrows at the blond man and his boyfriend let out a sigh, hitting his turning signal.

“I thought we were going to get nacho balls?” the sixteen year old questioned, raising his eyebrows at the last minute turn, and Drex shrugged, his gaze once again fastened on the road.

“Plans changed. You’re going to get a different type of balls.”

Henry’s face turned a deep crimson as he caught onto what Drex was hinting at, his face burning with the blush that only got deeper as he took in the sight of his boyfriend’s now fully erected bulge in his pants, knowing exactly what they were headed to do.

~~~

Henry stirred to the familiar touch of fingers brushing against his forehead, rubbing at the crease that seemed to be etched deeply in his head. His eyes flickered open, met with the beautiful blue that had become his lifeline and whole world.

“Hey baby,” the familiar, soft voice cooed, making him smile slightly.

“Hey yourself,” he murmured, stretching slightly in the bed, trying to rid himself of the sleep that clung to his bones and joints.

“Your mom will be coming to wake you up soon, right? Maybe you should put something on?”

Henry tilted his head to check his phone, sitting on its charger, and shook his head.

“Nah. Today’s Saturday. She won’t be waking me up unless she needs me to watch Piper.”

As if on cue, his mother knocked on his door, calling his name softly.

“Yeah mom?”

“Your father and I are going on a trip to the grocery store. Can you keep an eye on your sister, please?”

Groaning, Henry rolled out of bed and quickly shrugged on some boxers and his sweatpants, searching around for a shirt to wear.

“Henry?”

“Yeah, mom. I can do that. Have fun. Oh, and while you’re there, can you get some more yogurt cups? Piper ate the last one.”

“Absolutely! We’ll be back around four. I’ll get everything you need to make your chili balls!”

“Okay,” Henry called back and he heard his mother walk away, allowing him a chance to whisper-yell at Drex.

“You need to go before they come knocking on the door again. Or worse. Piper could come knocking on the door.”

Drex slid out of bed, stretching his limbs in front of the boy, and Henry’s brown gaze slid up and down his lover’s body, taking in the beauty and perfection that he called his boyfriend.

“Like what you see?” the blond man asked, smirking teasingly at the boy, and Henry smirked back, placing a hand on his hip toyingly.

“Of course I do. Or else I wouldn’t let you bang me all the time.”

Drex snorted at that as he grabbed his clothes off the floor, slipping on the articles of clothing one-by-one.

“HENRY!”

“Oh shit!” Henry cried, running up to brace himself against the door. “Hurry up and leave!” he hissed and the man moved to the window, giving the boy a wink before throwing it open. As he stepped out onto the tree nearby, he blew the boy a kiss and began his climb down the large plant.

“HENRY, OPEN THIS DOOR!” Piper screeched and Henry cracked the door open, blinking at his fuming sister.

“What’s wrong, Piper?” he asked innocently and his sister crossed her eyes at him, glaring so hard it could kill if she wanted it to.

“Your smelly friend is here. So is Charlotte, which I’m alright with. But JASPER? Why do you have such weird friends?”

Chapter Text

Henry pressed his back against his door, keeping it locked despite his friends’ urges, his hands pressing against the sides of his head as he tried his best to ignore them.

“Henry, please. Open up. We just want to talk.”

His eyes snapped open and he wrenched the door open, glaring into the familiar brown eyes of the girl in front of the door.

“Oh, like all those times I tried to talk to you at school. Two whole fucking weeks, you both ignored me and avoided me. Two. Weeks. And now you want to talk? Go fuck yourselves.”

He slammed the door shut again, locking it, and moved to his bed, sitting down on the edge as tears began to burn in his eyes again. No. He wasn’t going to cry over this. It was all so stupid.

The sound of footsteps on his platform caught his attention, forcing him to look up, and Jasper gave him an awkward wave before moving to his door, unlocking it and opening it for Charlotte. They both moved to stand in the center of his room, Charlotte crossing her arms and Jasper fidgeting nervously with his shirt.

“I think I need a shower,” the boy growled, standing up and moving to head through the door. Charlotte beat him to it, shutting the door in place and leaning against it, and Henry’s gaze flickered to the window.

“Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t just throw myself out of that window right now. Why should I listen to either of you?”

“Well, for starters, you're not indestructible. You could really hurt yourself by throwing yourself out of that window. Besides, you wouldn’t really be proving anything by doing that either.”

“It’d get me away from you, wouldn’t it?” Henry retorted, crossing his arms now, and the girl huffed, rolling her eyes.

“Listen, we just want to talk. Okay? Just hear us out and then we’ll leave.”

“Fine,” Henry groaned in response, flopping down on his bed dramatically, and Charlotte let out a huff, obviously annoyed with how he was acting. Good.

“Hen, we think you should break up with Drex.”

“What?” Henry snapped up, his mouth dropping open in shock at what they were saying.

“Listen. Drex could be just using you. He could be manipulating you into telling him things, things that he could use against Ray, or any of us. Besides, Ray told us that if you broke up with him and came back to apologize, he’d let you be Kid Danger again. Doesn’t that sound great?”

Henry glared at Charlotte, anger rushing through his veins, and he pointed to the door.

“Get out.”

“Hen, look-”

“No. You look. You’ve said your peace. Now let me say mine.”

Charlotte glanced at Jasper, sharing a look between them, before she nodded. They moved to the bed, sitting down on the edge of it to show that they were willing to listen to whatever he had to say.

“Drex is the best thing to have ever happened to me. Way better than being Kid Danger. He’s my best friend, my protector, and my lover. He’s taken care of more injuries than any of you even knew about. Things that Ray overlooked, he caught and took care of. When I got fired, he came here immediately and just stayed with me until I calmed down. When you both decided you were too good to be my friends anymore, he helped me through the pain and taught me how to just accept it and go on. He’s saved my life and my heart. I’m not going to just break up with him because Ray wants me to. I’m not doing that. Ray’s messed with my life enough as it is. Why should he be able to take something I love so much away?”

Tears began to burn at the corners of his eyes, threatening to spill, and Jasper was the first to move, pulling Henry into a tight hug.

“I’m sorry, Hen. I didn’t mean to leave you like that. Ray bugged me because he wanted to know if you were telling Drex anything that he shouldn't know. If I had talked to you at school, even just to exchange words, he would’ve known. I couldn't betray you like that.”

Henry sniffled, burying his face into his best friend’s shoulder, and Charlotte wrapped her arms around the two boys, resting her head against Henry’s shoulder.

“I didn’t know what to think about you and Drex, Henry. I still don’t. But, what I did was wrong. I wanted to avoid you. I wanted to pretend that none of this had happened. And I’m sorry. Just promise me that things won’t get out of hand. If you can promise that, then I promise that I’ll do my best to be supportive.”

Henry pulled out of the embraces of his best friends, wiping his eyes and nose off with the bottom of his shirt, and gave the two of them a watery grin.

“I promise. Drex and I, we’re legitimate. He’s not using me. He’s not manipulating me. He loves me and I love him.”

The dark skinned girl nodded, a small smile gracing her features, and she took his hand, squeezing it lightly.

“Then I promise too. We’ll go to Junk ‘N Stuff and see if we can talk some sense into Ray. Maybe he can be reasoned with.”

Henry snorted at that, shaking his head with disbelief.

“I’ll believe it when I see it. Ray won’t change. He hates Drex and he’ll do anything to get him thrown back in prison. After all, he did manage to pull that trick over on him at the bakery.”

The kids giggled at the memory of Ray wandering around the Man Cave with the trap on his head. Thankfully, Schwabbit and Kooschtello knew how to help Ray’s predicament and it didn’t take too long for him to be freed.

“Listen Hen, like I said, we’ll go and try to talk some sense into Ray. In the meantime, just be careful. Okay?”

Henry nodded, giving his friends one last squeeze before they left.

Chapter Text

“I wonder if Ray’ll ever come around,” Henry murmured, walking through the dark park with his boyfriend. To avoid the gazes of wandering people, they decided to have a date at the park around midnight, a time when normal people were sleeping.

“You talking about your friends talking to him?” Drex guessed and the boy nodded, his hand slipping easily into his boyfriend’s.

The blond man patted his hand gently as they continued to stroll around, enjoying the sereneness of the night sky, the silence giving them plenty of privacy to enjoy just being with each other.

“Listen, Henry, tonight is all about you and me. No more worrying about your friends or Ray. That’ll be there tomorrow.”

“I know,” the boy sighed as he leaned his head against his boyfriend’s arm, snuggling closer to him, and Drex led them to a bench, sitting down so that he could wrap his arm around Henry’s shoulder.

“It sure is beautiful tonight,” the boy hummed, his gaze stuck to the starry night sky above them. Drex hummed in response, his eyes taking in every detail of his boyfriend’s face, not wanting to miss anything on the young boy’s face.

“Hen, I love you,” he breathed and Henry turned his head, giving him a bashful smile before snuggling even closer to Drex.

“I love you too, Drex,” he murmured, curling up against his side, and the two sat in a comfortable silence, just happy to be out and about together.

“Help!”

Henry perked at the cry of distress, sounding just a ways off of where they were. He yanked out his spare bubble gum tube, throwing a quick glance at his lover, and the man shrugged, watching with curiosity as the boy stood and popped a ball in his mouth.

“HELP!”

Henry blew the bubble quickly, his regular plaid shirt and denim jeans becoming replaced with his Kid Danger costume. As the transformation completed, he leaned down to brush his lips against Drex’s, giving him a cheeky smile.

“I’ll be right back. Try not to get into any mischief. We’re still on a date, after all.”

Drex saluted to the boy and leaned back against the metal bench, his gaze following Henry’s ass as he rushed away. Man, he needed Henry to get in that suit more often.

Henry rushed quickly through the bushes and trees, running into a clearing where an old woman huddled in the corner, still begging for help.

“Ma’am? Ma’am, are you okay?” Henry asked as he came near her, placing a hand against her shoulder.

“I certainly am, young man. Thank you,” the woman cooed, pulling him down into a hasy embrace, his face mashed up against her itchy gray hair. Wait a minute. His whole body froze as he realized that her hair had slipped from her head, now squished in between his face and her neck, and before he could react, something sharp pricked his neck.

His whole world tilted in and out of focus as he stumbled backwards away from the woman, his hand pressed against his neck tightly, and he watched with rapidly unfocusing brown eyes as the woman stripped off her body, revealing a rather large bald man in an adult-sized baby sleeper.

“What the-” was all he could manage before he collapsed fully to the ground, unconscious.

~~~

“Henry?”

Drex searched through the small clearing, looking for any sign of his blond haired boy, his gaze raking over the area for any tracks or hints. He had followed the boy’s footprints when he failed to return after ten minutes, not because he didn’t trust him but because he missed him.

“Henry, where are you?” he whisper-called, sweeping his baby blue eyes over the grass once again. Something shiny caught his attention, pulling him over to the bushes nearby, and he plucked out the silver autoinjector, the vial empty but still wet, and panic swept through him. Had someone taken Henry? Why would anyone do that?

He shoved the injector in his pocket and his eyes landed on the footprints in the mulch. One man and one boy. But, where was the woman calling for help? Finding no evidence of there even being a problem, he concluded that a trap had been set for his lover and now, he was with them.

“Schwoz’ll have an idea on how to get him back. I have to get Henry help.”

He turned on his heels and made his way out of the park and to the store he had always glared at as he walked by. The door was locked, a CLOSED sign sitting against the screen, and he contemplated what to do. Henry needed his help.

Gritting his teeth, he smashed in the glass door and made his way to the back, finding the elevator that Henry always talked about. He stepped inside, pushing the bottom floor number, and almost had a heart attack as the elevator shot down at a rapid speed.

It stopped just as suddenly as it had started and the door opened, revealing the Man Cave to Drex. Ray sat hunched over a desk in front of a bunch of monitors, obviously sleeping, and Drex stepped out into the lair, his gaze resting on the form resting on the desk.

“Ray!” he yelled and the man jerked upright, startled by the loud sound, his chair swiveling around quickly.

“Drex! How’d you find this place? How’d you… Henry.”

Drex nodded slowly and held his hands up, showing that he meant no harm to the hero.

“Get out,” the man ordered angrily as he stood up, making his way to his ex sidekick.

“You aren’t welcome here and neither is Henry.”

“Ray, it's about Henry. I think- I think he’s in danger.”

Chapter Text

Ray stopped moving, his eyes narrowing in distrust at the man opposite of him, and tapped a button on the watch on his wrist.

A second later, Schwoz lumbered into the Man Cave from a random opening, rubbing sleep out of his eyes.

“You called, Ray?” he mumbled, stifling a yawn, before letting out a squeak as he caught sight of Ray’s ex sidekick.

“Hey Schwoz. Long time no see,” Drex greeted the little man cooly, his gaze still locked on Ray’s.

“You have five seconds to tell me why you’re here or else I’ll have Schwoz blast into next century,” the brunette growled darkly and the man let out a slow sigh, reminding himself that this was all for his love.

“Henry and I were on a date. He heard someone crying for help so he blew one of his bubbles and ran off to help. I waited ten minutes for him to come back but he never did so I went after him. I followed his tracks and found this-” he held up the autoinjector- “and figured something was wrong. I kept looking around and found his footprints along with a man sized footprint. No sign of a woman anywhere. He-I- I think someone kidnapped him and I don’t have any idea where to start. I figured if anyone could help him, it was you and Schwoz. Or else, I wouldn’t be here. Please. I love him, Ray. If anything ever happened to him, I-I-I don’t know what I’d do.”

He hated that his voice broke several times during his long winded explanation, hated how pitiful and sad he sounded, how weak he sounded. He had to get Henry back, though. He had to.

He stared pleadingly at Ray, the man’s stiff stance remaining cold and unmoving, and Schwoz broke the silent stare off by coming to Drex’s side and taking the injector from him.

He moved to a nearby work table, setting it down so that he could examine it and Drex trailed after him, watching the man work. He pulled the contraption apart, swiping the vial with a sterile q tip to examine the substance. As he did his thing, Drex’s gace flickered back to Ray, only to find him now searching through the nearby security footage, looking for the blond haired brown eyed boy.

“Where’d you say you were?” he grunted and Drex moved over to stand beside him, watching the monitors closely.

“Swellview Park. We were near the golf course.”

Ray nodded and clicked a couple of the buttons, pulling up particular footage of the area Drex had described. As the footage backed up, Henry appeared on screen, in his famous Kid Danger costume, and Ray muttered in surprise.

“What’s that?” Drex asked and the man repeated himself, a little more loudly.

“I thought I took his gum away from him. Schwoz, didn’t Henry leave his gum here?”

“Yes, he did. I watched him set his gum down.”

“He keeps a spare hidden in his room,” Drex explained, his gaze tracing over the frozen image of his lover, a look of concern on the boy’s face. He was approaching someone hiding in the corner of the screen, his hand outstretched as if he were going to touch the person.

Ray hit play and the two watched in horror as a man swept Henry up into a hug, his wig coming off in the process, and pressed the autoinjector into his neck, administering the vial's contents into him.

Henry staggered back, clutching his neck, as he watched in surprise, the woman shedding the rest of his clothing. Henry collapsed to the ground, his head lolling upon impact, and his eyes shut as he stilled, no longer moving.

The man toddled up to him, kicking his foot lightly, before motioning to someone behind the screen. A short, dwarfish man appeared, walking up and leaning down to ruffle Henry’s blond locks, his face twisted in a wicked smirk. Ray paused the screen, leaning forward on his elbows in thought, and Drex continued to stare at his lover, lying on the grass unconscious.

“Why would Toddler take Henry?” Ray murmured, deep in thought, and he stood, moving to stand beside Schwoz.

“Do you know what was in the vial?”

“Yes, I do. Nothing to worry about aside from him being kidnapped. It was just a dose of sedatives. No toxins, no poison. Nothing like that.”

Drex let out a sigh of relief and stepped back, allowing the two to converse and try to figure out where the blond boy had been taken.

The monitors flashed as a loud alarm sounded, startling the three, and they moved to look at the screen.

“A video call from Toddler himself. No surprise there,” Ray growled as he popped out his gum and chewed it. He popped the bubble, turning into his Captain Man personna, and Schwoz hit the accept button.

“Well, well, well,” Toddler growled out, appearing on screen. “If it isn’t Captain Man himself.”

The dwarfish man’s eyes raked over the group, freezing at the sight of Drex, and he lost composure for a second, panic written on his face.

“Drex… What are you doing with Captain Man? Don’t tell me that you’ve switched to the good side,” he gasped out, his voice tight and strangled.

Drex didn’t respond, instead opting to continue glaring at the bastard who kidnapped his boyfriend.

“I suppose you’re wondering where your dear Kid Danger is, Captain Man,” the short man started, picking up where he had been, and Ray clenched his hands into fists.

“If you lay one hand on my sidekick,” he growled, pointing a finger threateningly at the screen.

“You’ll do what? Blast your monitor?”

“No,” Ray retorted, sounding more like a child than an adult, and Schwoz rolled his eyes in annoyance. “We blast-proofed the screens.”

Toddler smirked before moving the camera, pointing it towards a boy strapped to a chair, a gag wrapped tightly around his jaw. He was still unconscious, his head leaned forward and down, and Toddler moved to the chair, kicking his leg hard.

The boy jumped with a cry, his head snapping up and his eyes wild with panic.

“Say hello, Kid Danger,” Toddler teased as Henry’s eyes locked onto the screen, his gaze flitting from Schwoz to Ray, and then to Drex’s. He was scared; it was written all over his body posture and his eyes. He tried to say something but the gag kept him from making anything other than grunting and groaning noises.

“Oh, that’s right. You can’t talk. Sorry. It’s more for your good than anyone else’s or else I’d remove it.”

Toddler moved the camera off of Henry’s face, turning it back to him, and smirked playfully at the trio.

“What do you want, Toddler? Why’d you kidnap Kid Danger?”

The man grinned even bigger at the questions, doing a happy little dance.

“I’m glad you asked. I want you to leave Swellview forever, Captain Man. Once you’re gone, this city will become the villains’ new playtoy and we will rule once again. You have twenty four hours to leave or else your puny little boy toy will get it.”

The villain hung up and Ray took out his gun, blasting the screen in anger. Drex ducked as the blast shot back, landing square against the brunette’s chest and throwing him back on the floor.

“Right,” he wheezed out as he struggled back to his feet. “Blast proof.”

Chapter Text

Henry glared at the dwarf man in front of him, sauntering around with a rattle in his hands, shaking it at the boy as if it would amuse him in any way.

“Kid Danger, don’t look at me like that. It’s nothing personal. I just hate both you and Captain Man. That’s all,” the man taunted, puckering his lip as if he was pouting.

The blond boy clenched his teeth tightly around the cloth gagging his mouth, wishing so bad to retort something sarcastic.

The man continued to dance around, humming to himself, and Henry tilted his head back, trying to take in his surroundings. Seeing nothing out of the ordinary, he turned his thoughts to the only open door in the building, watching in surprise as it opened, revealing a large bald man in a sleeper.

“What is it?” Toddler spat and the man whispered in his ear, holding out an extremely long capped needle.

“Already? Wow! You guys work so fast! Yay!”

Toddler spun over to Henry, holding the needle in front of his face, and uncapped it, flicking it to rid it of the air bubbles.

With the brute’s help, he wrestled Henry's blue shirt and silver vest up, revealing the smooth skin of his abs.

“Don’t worry, Kid Danger. It’ll hurt for only a little while. Or maybe longer. I don’t really know. It’s only in the testing phase.”

Henry closed his eyes tight, his body tensing, as the needle slid deep into his lower abdomen. The pain was excruciating on so many levels and the boy couldn’t help but thrash around and scream, tears burning his eyes before slipping down his face. He watched through slit eyes as the villain slowly emptied the needle into him, the pale pink fluid disappearing in a matter of moments. Then, he yanked the needle out and Henry stifled a whimper.

“You were such a good boy,” Toddler cooed before pressing a bandaid against the puckering pink spot, faces of puppies printed on the top of the bandaid.

“I’d offer you a popsicle but I’m pretty sure we’re all out of those. How about a kiss to make it all better?”

The boy’s eyes widened and, before he could resist, Toddler had his gag down and was pressing his lips against the boy’s soft, plump ones.

“There,” he murmured as he pulled back. “All better.”

The gag was slipped back in between his teeth and his top was dropped down, covering his pale stomach once again.

He doubled over as the pain in his body only intensified, a burning pain that told him that something was extremely wrong with him. His belly burned with an intense fire, his muscles contracting painfully tight, and Toddler only stood by, watching with a look of intrigued curiosity.

“Does it hurt, Kid Danger?” he cooed, as if talking to a child who had just gotten a vaccination. “Does it hurt a lot?”

Henry’s face conveyed the pain he felt, tears still strolling down his pale cheeks, his breathing labored and painful. His gaze stared at the villain, a glaze over those usually bright chocolate orbs, and he let out a soft whimper, trying to release some of the tension inside of him.

‘Hurry up and find me, Drex,’ he pleaded mentally as his stomach muscles began to tighten again. ‘I need you.’

~~~

Drex hovered uncertainly between the small group, not knowing how to help any of them. At the same time, he wasn’t sure they even wanted his help in tracking down his boyfriend.

“I think I have something,” a dark skinned girl announced and Drex trotted over to where she sat, working at the monitors. Ray and Schwoz joined them while a boy hung behind, the same one Drex had threatened over a year ago.

“I traced the call to an old, abandoned Babies ‘R U store on the other end of Swellview. I think that’s where they’re keeping Henry.”

“I got this,” Ray stated calmly as he pulled out his gum, blowing another bubble.

“I’m going with you,” Drex responded as he grabbed up his leather jacket, pulling it on and shrugging his arms through.

“No, you aren’t. You’re staying here where Charlotte and Schwoz can keep an eye on you.”

“No, I’m not. Henry needs me. I’m going with you.”

“Henry’s my sidekick! He needs me, not you,” Ray snapped and the blond man clenched his fists tightly by his side, his jaw setting as a look of annoyance flashed through his blue eyes.

“No, he’s not. You fired him, remember? And even if he was, he’s my boyfriend. Boyfriends trump sidekicks every time. He needs me and I’m not staying around here when I have an idea of where he is. You can’t stop me, Ray. You’ve tried before, remember?”

Ray groaned, stalking around as he tried to come up with a solution to the problem and the girl, Charlotte spoke up.

“Ray, just let him go. He could be your backup if that’s how you want it. Just let him go with you. I’ve seen it myself. He really does love Henry. So, you might as well.”

The brunette stared at the girl, a look of disbelief causing his mouth to drop open in shock.

“What? It’s the only way for you both to get what you want. Now, go! Who knows what Toddler is doing to Henry!”

Left with no room for argument, Ray directed Drex to the spot that Henry usually stood in before slapping his button. Both tubes popped down and he looked up, shouting out a quick “Up the tube!”. They shot up, disappearing from view, and Charlotte slumped against the desk, her gaze wandering over to where Schwoz was, pulling out a cot and some equipment in case Henry needed more than just rescuing.

“Hold on, Henry. Help Is coming. Just hold out for them to get there.”

Chapter Text

Drex stared up at the falling-down sign attached to the old store, windows shattered and the store obviously having been looted quite a bit.

“Are you sure he’s here, Charlotte?” Ray whispered into his watch, the hologram of the girl glaring back at him, her hands on her hips.

“I’m positive. Why?”

“Well, I’m not seeing any signs of life.”

“Have you been inside?”

“Well…”

“No, we haven’t,” Drex interjected into the conversation, earning a glare from the brunette man beside him.

“Look, you can sit here and chat up Charlotte all you want. I’m going in to rescue Henry. Then, I’m going to take him home and never let him out of my sight again and you can’t say otherwise.”

He didn’t wait for the hero to respond, instead taking full charge and sneaking into the store, whisper-calling his boyfriend’s name every couple of seconds. Hearing noise in the farthest room in the building, he snuck up to the door and peeked in. Henry was strapped to a chair, just like he had last seen him, his face pale and teeth clenched in pain.

“Look, Kid, I just want to know if it hurts. Why do you have to make things so difficult? It’s not that hard to nod or shake your head.”

The Toddler appeared around one corner of the room, circling around the blond boy, his hands on his hips as he waited for him to respond in any way. Instead, Henry let out a groan, his head dropping down, and he swung a leg, kicking the Toddler in the knee. The villain howled out in pain, bouncing around while clutching his knee, and his goons grabbed Henry’s head, pulling it up sharply by his hair.

“Why you big meanie!” the Toddler snapped, landing a hard punch square to the boy’s nose, causing him to groan out and Drex glared at the scene in front of him.

“Enough!” he roared, slamming into the room, and everyone froze, Henry’s head whipping around to look at him.

“Mmph!” he cried, a look of relief taking over the previous look of pain.

“I’m here, Kid. And I’m never leaving you again,” he growled, bouncing on the balls of his feet, his fists up and ready to deliver punches.

“Where’s Captain Man? Did he leave town like I demanded?” the Toddler questioned quickly and he opened his mouth, about to answer, when a hand rested on his shoulder.

“Actually, quite the opposite. I’m here to rescue my sidekick. And you, Toddler, and your goons are going back to prison!”

The Toddler let out a yell of anger and the goons charged, Ray taking both of them on quite easily. Toddler snuck out of the room, taking his chance to slip away, and Drex hurried to the boy’s side, tugging the gag out of his mouth.

Henry opened his mouth wide, stretching it, and licked his lips that had begun to chap over, a sigh of relief escaping his lips.

“So, you and Ray?” he asked, leaving the question unfinished, his eyebrow raising in curiosity, and his boyfriend shook his head slowly as he worked at cutting the ropes around the boy’s wrists.

“Same goal. Nothing more, nothing less. I didn’t know who else to turn to. I couldn’t lose you.”

As soon as the ropes were cut off, Henry leaned down and grabbed Drex’s face, dragging him up slightly so that their lips could meet.

“Umm, hello. Could use a little assistance,” Ray shouted, still wrestling with the two men, and Drex patted Henry’s cheek as he pulled away.

“Stay here. I’ll be right back.”

Henry rubbed his sore abdomen gently as he watched Drex and Ray fight, easily taking down the goons as soon as they teamed up and fought together. As soon as the men slumped to the ground, unconscious, they both rushed back to Henry, looking him over for any bad injuries. Other than his obviously broken nose, they found nothing and decided that he would be alright.

“I’ll call back to the Man Cave. You got Henry?” Ray asked and Drex nodded, scooping the boy easily up in his arms. Henry let out a squeak in response before cuddling closer to his boyfriend’s warm body, careful of his pounding nose.

Drex carried him out to the waiting Man van, Ray already sitting in the driver’s seat speaking to someone through his whiz watch. His boyfriend slid into the back of the van, sitting down in one of the chairs while holding him close.

“I’m sorry our date was ruined,” Henry murmured softly and Drex brushed it off, cupping the boy’s sore cheeks gently.

“It’s okay. We can make up for it later.”

~~~

Henry was fast asleep by the time they got back to the Man Cave, the sedatives still burning strong through his system. Schwoz had claimed it a good thing, explaining that he could easily reset the boy’s broken nose without causing him pain because of the sedative.

To prove his point, he did just that, easily popping Henry’s nose back into place. With the help of the people around, they got Henry in an upright position, a towel wrapped around his shirt to keep the blood from worsening the blood stains already shining prominently on his costume.

Schwoz brought over some ice packs and, after wrapping them up in a towel to keep from burning his skin, placed it against his nose, letting Drex take over in holding it there.

“I don’t see any major injuries or toxins in his blood. Are you sure you heard the Toodler right, Drex?” the short man asked after the man had relayed everything he had heard.

“I’m certain. He kept asking Henry if it hurt, whatever ‘it’ was. I don’t know if he was coherent enough or not but he didn’t really react to the question. All he did was groan and then he kicked Tod’s knee and the bastard punched him. That’s how he got his nose broken.”

Schwoz nodded, listening intently to the blond man’s words as if trying to piece together what the dwarf had done to the kid lying in the upright positioned bed. His gaze flickered to the screen, his eyes squinting hard to see if he could find anything wrong, but all the tests came back normal, as well as the scan of his body.

“Well, whatever it was, it’s gone now. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with Henry. He’ll be just fine.”

Drex nodded from where he sat by Henry’s side, his hands wrapped tightly around the boy’s limp one. He pulled his hand up, planting a kiss on the pale knuckles of his boyfriend, his gaze flickering over to watch Henry’s face.

“He’ll wake up soon, right Schwoz?” Drex asked anxiously and the little man nodded back, turning to fully face the ex-villain.

“Yes. The sedatives are almost gone from his body now. I’d give him maybe ten to twenty minutes and then he’ll be up and about like nothing happened. I give you my word.”

Chapter Text

Henry stirred to the sound of voices, water logged and unintelligible. His stomach ached still, though the pain wasn’t as bad as it had been, and his nose felt like someone had hit it repeatedly with a brick. But. He was alive. And that was all that mattered to him at the moment.

“He’s waking up. Henry, baby, can you hear me?”

Drex?

Henry’s eyes struggled to open, his eyelids still heavy with sleep, and a hand reached up to gently stroke the side of his face, calming his efforts at doing anything other than just laying there.

“Take your time, Hen. You were whammied pretty bad. I’m not going anywhere.”

“Drex,” the boy responded, his voice barely above a whisper, and his hand was squeezed gently.

“Hey baby. I’m right here.”

Finally, Henry gathered enough strength to peel his eyelids open, his chocolate brown eyes instantly locking onto his boyfriend’s baby blue eyes. A smile slipped on his face and he let out a soft sigh, happy to be with the man again.

With Drex’s help, he sat up, swinging his legs over the side of the cot he had been resting on, and he looked around the Man Cave, his movements slow and rather drowsy moving. Charlotte and Jasper stood right behind Drex, relief sprawled over their faces, and Schwoz was scurrying in from the secret door by the auto snacker.

“Henry! I’m glad to see you awake! How are you feeling?” the cheerful man asked, stepping right into the boy’s personal bubble as he began to poke and prod him, checking once more for any serious damage. Better to be safe than sorry.

“Fine, I feel fine. Where’s Ray?”

“I’m right here, kid,” a voice called from behind him and the boy jumped before turning around, his gaze landing on his former boss. The brunette man was carrying Caitlin, the puppy he had adopted a while back. He rubbed his hands through her long locks, his gaze locked on Henry, and the boy felt his cheeks heat up, a blush appearing on his face.

“Look, Ray. I’m really sorry that you were dragg-”

Ray cut off the apology by putting Caitlin down and wrapping the boy up into a tight bear hug, holding onto him like he was the older man’s only lifeline.

“Kid, you have no idea how worried I’ve been. When I saw you on that screen, I thought I was really going to lose you. Don’t you ever do that to me again!”

Henry blushed even harder now, running a hand through his dirty-blond hair, and lowered his gaze, a question on the back of his mind.

“Go ahead, Henry. Ask him,” Drex encouraged the boy, sensing the question he wanted to ask, and Henry straightened up, knowing that now was a better time than any.

“Ray, I wanted to ask if I could have my old job back. I’m not breaking up with Drex. I’m not leaving him. It’s not our fault that we fell in love but we did and I can’t leave him like that. It’d kill me. I miss being your sidekick, though. I miss going on the field with you and fighting and having fun with you. You were like the father I never knew I needed. Please don’t force me to choose between my heart and the job I loved so much.”

Ray leaned back, crossing his arms, and studied the boy, checking to see if he was being legitimate or not. Deciding that he was, the brunette slid his hand into one of his sweatpant pockets, tugging out a long clear tube, glowing red and blue balls resting inside of the tube. He tossed it to Henry and grinned at him, nodding his head.

“I’ve missed you so much, kid. I want you back. I need you back. My only condition is that you don’t go acting reckless with Drex. I know, he may seem like he’s changed and everything but I still don’t trust him. And I don’t like things I can’t trust. Just make sure you take care of yourself and be careful. I’m not saving your butt if you and Drex break up. I’m staying out of that drama.”

Henry grinned up at his mentor and friend, his face lighting up as he held up the tube in his hands.

“Deal.”

~~~

After that night, things began to return to a different kind of normal. Drex continued to come over every night but now, he also came to the Man Cave, teaching Henry new moves with Ray watching, making sure everything they were doing was safe. After all, Henry wasn’t indestructible.

Almost a month after the whole ordeal, Henry began to throw up. He was constantly finding himself hunched over a toilet or a trash can, heaving up everything he had consumed in the past twenty-four hours.

That’s where he found himself yet again at five in the morning. Leaning over the trash can, Henry threw up again, his stomach aching from all the puking he’d been doing. A hand pressed against the small of his back, rubbing circles against the tight, tensed skin, and another hand slid up to brush against his forehead, gentle and careful as to not hurt him.

“Henry, you’ve been throwing up for the past four days. I really think you should have Schwoz check you out.”

Henry lifted his head up so that he could look at his lover, his face tight with concern and worry.

“No, no. I’ll be alright. Just gotta get back to bed and sleep it off. I promise, Drex. I’ll be alright soon. Everything will be just fine.”