Chapter Text
” NO MATTER HOW ALONE
YOU FEEL ,
YOU’LL NEVER BE TRULY ALONE . “
loneliness .
<3
Henry Hart: quick-witted, sarcastic, dumb, lovable, etc..
Just one look upon the boy would make you believe as though he lived a perfect life. Of course his life wasn’t actually perfect; that would be impossible. Even for a boy like Henry. but nobody could ever ask what his life is actually like living, even his “best friends” - Charlotte Page and Jasper Dunlop - the both of them just assuming everything about him, almost as if they knew each and every detail. But they never ask what actually goes on inside of the boy's mind.
questioning if befriending the two was a mistake quite a few times.
though, for unknown reasons, Henry always feels a pit of guilt swell inside of him for even just entertaining the idea of leaving Jasper. Never feeling this same way towards Charlotte.
his heart shattering into a million pieces every time he’d imagine the look on his bestest friend’s face. Always feeling more like himself around Jasper, like he doesn’t have to conceal who he really is.
Everybody and everything gravitates towards Henry Hart, each and every day he’s surrounded by a large crowd of people, it confuses him quite a bit. Why would people want to be around him? He's not special; just an ordinary boy. Well, besides his job. But nobody knows anything about it, all that they know is that he works at ‘Junk n stuff’.
If they all knew his actual job, ten times more people would swarm him.
Though not everyone in his life is so great.
examples such as: Mitch Bilsky, every criminal he and Captain Man fight, Jake Hart, Kris Hart, and Piper Hart.
Each of them being a major part of his life in one way or another. All of them are important parts to Henry's life, just for different reasons, such as Mitch Bilsky: the school bully. He seems as though the only one who hates the boy, tormenting him more than anybody else, finding the activity to bully king Henry Hart enjoyable. Though everybody seemingly loves him, nobody helps. All just standing there in horror witnessing the excruciating pain he experiences each day, even if someone did attempt to stop Mitch they would get bullied themselves, terrified of this outcome making others do nothing.
It seemed like everyone loved Henry; but he didn't believe them. No one defended or helped him when he needed it the most, Ray being the closest to doing so, but only when he's Captain man. Ray only thought of him as an asset, he does, he has to. The times when he beeped him were for emergencies. It was never to hangout or talk, just for emergencies. Which the boy didn’t blame his boss for, why would anybody want to hangout with him anyways?
Never understanding the excitement others have towards him.
Even though it's obvious that Ray doesn’t care for Henry, he still considers him as a second father, acting like a father figure towards him and Charlotte. But for unknown reasons he acts much more like a father towards Henry than Charlotte, maybe he can sense the need for a father from him, never outwardly saying so specifically.
Henry would never tell his boss that he considers him to be a father figure in his life, the only one he has. Not wanting to ruin the relationship that they have with each other. Even if Ray didn’t care for him; still not wanting him to leave the boy alone. Having been abandoned ever since a young age, abandonment issues surfacing over him. Ray was the only adult that was actively in his life without ever saying or thinking of the idea of leaving him alone, not like Henry knew of that.
Walking into Junk ‘n Stuff, there being no reason as to why, typically he only goes to work when Ray beeps him. But today he just felt like being there. It's the only place where he feels completely safe, even if there are many reasons as to why it shouldn’t.
It was only six in the morning. Ray and Schwoz most likely weren’t awake yet, the both of them being known for oversleeping a lot. Ever since they got married Schwoz started developing some of Ray's quirks: oversleeping, being lazy, never showering, and most prominently, being idiotic. Charlotte and Schwoz are the smart ones out of the group of them, and they need smart people to find and capture criminals, so this new development is quite unpleasant.
Though neither Ray or Schwoz showering is also horrendous.
At first every time Henry would go down the elevator he would scream the entire way down until he arrived in the Man cave, but now he's gotten used to the elevator, finding it amusing that Charlotte still screams. Ray questions how he got accustomed to it so quickly, saying that it took him years to get used to it, always complaining to Schwoz to fix it. Now he tells his husband that he should make it even worse than it already is. Wanting both of the teenagers to scream because of it, finding it amusing when they do. But more wanting to hear Henry scream of terror from the elevator. His bragging has started to annoy Ray.
Arriving in the Man cave, taking note that nothing has been moved since last night. He and Ray had to stay up late to research a bunch of criminals that may have broken into someone's house; staying up till about four in the morning. So Henry didn’t blame his boss if he slept longer than usual, not like either of them did the difficult stuff, that was Shwoz and Charlotte's job.
Sitting on the couch, having to move an extra computer that's now dead. There were about three computers on the couch by itself. The rest were scattered all around the Man cave. Ray didn’t understand the concept of just making a new tab, having to get a completely new computer each time he wanted to search about a different person.
Then he tries to convince him and Charlotte that he isn’t old and that he knows how to use technology.
Silence fills the room. The only thing being heard is the quiet breathing of the brown eyed boy, everything else seemingly stopping in place. It was like everything was stuck in the same position that it was in last, Henry being the new addition to this collection. Not planning on moving any time soon, just wanting to lounge around on the couch all day. It's not like he had to go anywhere today, it was sunday and there's typically no crimes that happen today. Unless it was a special day.
“Good morning!”
Ray greeted, walking down from his dearest sprocket, it being where he and Schwoz slept. Though it was as if he hadn’t seen the very obvious body of his sidekick on the couch, it seemed like he had just said aloud what he was thinking. Not knowing that someone was in fact there as well. This was a typical thing for Ray, he doesn’t think before he says anything, it surprised the rest of them how he hadn’t gotten everybody to hate him yet.
“Good morning.”
Henry greeted back, knowing that Ray would notice him sooner or later. The reply to his greeting frightened the older man, not expecting a reply, not even knowing that the boy was there in the first place. Swiftly turning his head towards where he heard the voice; the sluggish body of the teenage boy capturing his attention. He was never here so early, especially on a weekend. And wasn’t he tired? They stayed up till four in the morning, young people need more sleep than adults.
“Kid?! Why are you here?”
Ray questioned. Already standing right in front of the boy, waving his arms around like a mad man. Seeing the dark eye-bags under Henry's eyes. He noticed the way how the young boy always looked like he was about to pass out from sleep deprivation, but somehow looking as if he never sleeps. Sometimes Ray questioned his sidekick's health. The way it seemed like he doesn’t sleep, never seeing him eat, barely talking (unless talked to first), and just in general all his behaviors are concerning. Ray had noticed these behaviors ever since he had hired the teenage boy, but over time they all became much more noticeable and prominent.
Looking up to the man, staring deeply into his eyes, studying the way he had a slight look of concern. His boss hadn’t ever looked this way towards him before, it actually frightened him a bit. People don’t look at him that way.
“I don’t know. Just wanted to come here.”
Henry replied after some uncomfortably long minutes, neither he or Ray had moved an inch since Ray had questioned why he was here. The both of them didn’t know what to say or do, this never happened between the two, always being able to bounce off one another with a new thing to say. They act like they’ve known each other for decades. Sometimes it seems like they are the same people just in different bodies, just one being an adult man and one being a teenager.
“Are you okay kid? You’re never here unless I tell you to come, especially at six in the morning.”
Shaking his head in the motion of yes; though his body language seemed as if his body didn’t agree. It looked like it took every cell in Henry's boney body just to slightly move his head, which could just be a result of not sleeping or not having eaten yet.
Nobody notices the way he always either says: “I’m not hungry.” or, “I’ve already eaten.” they all just brush the words off as if what he was saying wasn’t important. And the people who do question it get a long lecture by Henry himself on why it wasn’t important and that they shouldn’t worry about him.
Ray noticed the deteriorating mental health of his sidekick almost immediately, it seemed as if only he saw how hollow and disheveled the boy looked, but he also sees the way Jasper looked at him. The older man notices how the curly haired boy always looked at Henry with the most care, love, and hope, he had ever seen someone look at another person.
“Anyways, why are you up? This is early for you.”
Ray acted as if Henry had just punched him in the face. Not understanding how his beloved sidekick could ever say something so unbelievable such as that, he always wakes up at an early time. Two in the afternoon is very early. For at least him and Schwoz, which is a new development for his husband.
“How dare you say that to me! After all I've done for you, and this is how you repay me!”
He replied dramatically, putting his hands over his heart, acting like an arrow had just shot him. Though instead of Ray getting pierced through the heart, the words pierced through Henry's already decaying heart. They reminded him of what he's told each day by the people who are supposed to be his caregivers. Having to hide how intimidated he suddenly became from his boss; nobody needs to know how he feels towards that set of words. It was childish to get frightened by just a few words.
Ever since he was a young boy he had developed a fear of certain words and sentences, always finding it difficult to hear them. It didn’t matter who said them, all that mattered is if they were said towards him.
”S-sorry..”
Failing miserably at an attempt to not stutter. Whenever he is intimidated by someone's presence, talking to them becomes quite difficult to do, but that weirdly enough doesn’t happen while he's Kid Danger. Maybe it's the comfort of knowing that the criminal doesn’t know his identity or who he actually is at all, or it's that he gets to act like a completely different person while in costume.
Kid Danger is: confident, strong-willed, determined, strong, important.
Henry isn’t any of those things.
In fact, he's the complete opposite. There is no ounce of determination or confidence in him, never stepping out of what everyone else thinks is normal. Staying inside of the confined bubble that has been established to him ever since he was a young boy. Everybody thought of him as a perfect teenager that could do no wrong, expecting him to be that way at least. Never once having thought of what Henry thinks about it.
It frightened the boy to even think of being a failure to others. Always having high expectations put upon him in school, people, life. Though nobody appreciates the effort he puts into everything and everyone around him. The only time someone says the words, “thank you” to him is when he and Ray defeat another criminal, but it isn’t towards him; it's Kid Danger. All his friends remind the disheveled teenager that he is Kid Danger, that the people of Swellview do care and appreciate him.
But again, it's for Kid Danger. Not him.
“I’m not actually mad kid, you have no reason to be sorry,”
“I know.”