#charlottepage

[alisondepartedbear]

Just Breathe

Everything is not what it seems in Swellview, a kidnapper is running amok while Henry faces some challenging trials in his life. The boy most overcome what is inside to deal with major life changes.

Part One / Part Two / Part Three / Part Four

Can be found on wattpad and fanfiction.net, usernames in tumblr bio

^^^^^^^^^

Chapter Five

The police station smelled like burnt coffee and mildew rotted paper. Just from walking in here, my nose started to run. Inside a questioning room, Elena and her parents were crying over each other, thankful for more days together. Watching them made my heart swell and want to call my sister, I couldn't imagine thinking you'd never see someone again because of some monster human.

Outside the room stood Captain Man, Officer Bladell, and myself arguing.

"I found her. Therefore I take her statement." Captain Man's voice booms in the hallway.

Officer Bladell laughs sarcastically, jutting out his hip to rest on the wall. "Well Captain Underpants, you have no say so here. This is my house."

"Actually-" I begin before Bladell cuts me off.

He waves his hand in my face. "Cool it, kid. Convo for grown ups."

I'm not sure if I've ever wanted to hit a man so intensely before. Balling my hands into fits I put them behind back and squeeze my nails into the palm. Someone walks by and a whiff of mildew comes in causing me to sniffle so no snot fell from my nose.

"Aw, little baby boy, gonna cry."

"I'm gonna hit you, man!" I scream pulling my fist back.

"Hey, hey," Captain Man grabs my waist while I try to grab Officer Bladell's hair.

"Wow, Kid Danger, what's going?" Detective Shapiro shows up with his Skyscraper cup. How much coffee does he drink?

"This chub won't let us take Elena Gilbert's statement even though we have the authority to."

"You don't, you child!" Officer Bladell's cheeks turn a ruddy red.

"They do, actually." Detective Shapiro says taking a sip. "Just two weeks ago Captain Man graduated from the police academy. He is much apart of the force as you are, Bladell. Now let him do his job."

Officer Bladell's fists tighten and he huffs out an angry breath before stomping out the back alley door of the precinct. A brief silence falls over us before the detective clears his throat.

"Well," He taps his foot. "Shall we?"

Captain Man asks Elena's parents to leave the room while I sit at the table across from her. She gives me a wiry smile and plays with her fingers. "Do you need water or a snack?" I ask unsure what to say to her.

She shakes her head and folds her hands.

Captain Man comes to sit next to me before clicking a pen open. He flips his little notepad open and smiles up at Elena. "Elena, will be needing to go through your schedule on the day you were abducted. Now if you begin to feel uncomfortable at anytime, tell us and we'll stop."

Elena's blond hair slides off her shoulder as she nods. "I understand."

Elena starts explaining her day. She had woken up around 7:30 to the sound of her mother making breakfast in the kitchen. After eating, she walked to the nearest bus stop to get a ride to school.

"Everything seemed normal," She shrugs running her finger around her pointer fingernail. "That evening my parents and I went to Junk'n'Stuf to strictly browse. My mom told me we couldn't get anything since we had to pay rent this week. But I saw a mini porcelain ballerina and begged her to get it for me. When she said no, I screamed in her face and walked out."

Elena leans forward on her elbow and uses her hand to cover her eyes as she looks down. "I got so mad and I kept running. But when I turned on Salvatore there was a van, a black van. Of course, I'm not stupid...I didn't want to walk anywhere near it so I crossed the street. Then I heard a voice call for me. They knew my name. I stopped but I didn't get to turn around." She places a hand on the back of her head. "I think he hit me, or injected me with something because everything went black."

I hand a tissue to her when I see a tear drop to the table. The room stays quiet for a few moments and then the AC turns on. Elena leans back in her chair and looks up towards the vent letting it hit her face. Her cheeks were red.

"Are you ready to continue?" Captain asks putting a gloved hand on her's.

She nods licking her lips and taking a breath. "When I came to, it was dark and green."

"Green?"

She nods again. "There was a green glow that came from a pool. It looked just like jello with the bubbles inside and steam always rose from it. Its what he put in us."

"H-he put things inside you?" I couldn't control my voice.

"Just whatever that was," With every word, she never waivers. "I noticed tubes in both my nostrils, the green goo running through them. There was such a disgusting burn in my throat. I tried to move my body but nothing happened until I flung my arm backwards hitting flimsy rubber. I could feel something move in my ear which I just think were more tubes. Then I saw the boy. He was hooked up like me. Big, metal handles were clamped around his waist. I tried to see if I was like that but my head wouldn't move. His head though...it just hung there. I called after him but he never moved."

Elena takes a moment before continuing. "I was there for a long time before he came in."

"Who do you believe this he was?"

"The man who kidnapped me,"

"Can you explain him? Features? The way he walked?"

She thinks about it, tilting her head side to side. "He wore dark jeans and regular tshirts but always wore a Nixon mask."

"Richard Nixon?"

She nods. "He was always so cocky. Talking how clueless the police are, how they couldn't follow a clue even if it was right next to them." Her fingers tap on the metal table. "He took something from us, something blue. Almost like the green goo. It was collected in beakers that he drank from." Elena shudders.

Captain Man wrote profusely in his notepad so I took the next question. "How did you escape?

A smile forms on Elena. She shakes her head. "He made me to take showers twice a day. He'd walk to the facility with me and stand outside the door. I kept the water running and waited until I heard him walk away. He's stupid. I simply walked out, and found the stairs. At the top, there was a metal latch door that opened up. I crawled through it to find myself in the woods. So I started running, running so fast." She takes a deep breath and wipes a tear away. "I didn't know I could go that fast. I heard the latch open and him scream for me. Saying I'd die out there alone. But then the door slammed shut and I heard a car start. But I didn't see any road near the opening so I think it was hidden or camouflaged. I ran until I saw a sign splitting the wood between Neighborville and Swellview. I figure that I was close to the park so I just continued. Then I saw your uniforms and knew I was saved."

Captain Man nods, doting and crossing his letters. He looks back up and smiles at Elena. "Did you notice anything special while you were walking through the dungeon?"

Elena nods. "He had a police uniform on the floor near the entrance. A real uniform, not some costume. I think he's on the force." She whispers.

"So did she say anything good?" Detective Shapiro asks. He was sitting at his desk with his feet propped on it, swirling his Skyscraper cup around.

"That and then some," Captain Man says sitting opposite of him. He goes on to explain the situation. When he got to the blue goo part, Detective Shapiro gags on his coffee.

"What in the world would he drink from them?"

"Your guess is as good as ours." I shrug. "We'll know more about that when we speak to our scientist." Hopefully, Schwoz would have some answers.

"The last thing she said is that she found a real police uniform. She believes it's a man on the force."

Detective Shapiro nods. "That's makes sense, since she requested to only speak to female officers." He runs a hand through his curly hair. "I'll have a background done on all the officers. See if any are fishy enough to be suspects."

"From what we gathered, this man likes his authority and almost hates the force. Maybe look for someone who isn't on a higher rank, someone who is a big talker, but not much bulk behind it." Captain Man suggests.

Detective Shapiro nods, writing something down in his notepad. "I'll put someone I really trust on this. If you can, keep this part of the down. We don't want anyone to be suspicious and run."

"Of course,"

"Schwoz!" Ray yells when he steps off the elevator.

"He's not here." Charlotte says from the computer. "He went out with a friend, won't be back until tomorrow."

"Damn it," Ray whispers before retreating back to his room, probably to brood.

"So," She says turning to me. "What happened at the precinct?"

I shake my head. "It's just messed up, Charlotte. Elena thinks he's a police man."

"Of course," Charlotte huffs a breath out. "You can't freakin' trust cops. I hate that for her. She'll never feel safe around one again probably."

"Yeah," I walk closer to the moniter and peer at the screen. "What are you doing?"

She spins around and starts to scroll through listings. "I'm looking at records of unmarked black vans. There's not much to go on but I feel bad for not doing anything. There's not much for me to do here."

I lean down and put an arm around her shoulders. "You're doing great just thinking of this. You're very useful, Char."

"Thank you," She smiles.

I pull into the driveway and immediately slam on the breaks. A silver Mazda sat in my parking space, Mom's car. Before leaving the car, I take a couple of centering breaths, something Charlotte told me to start doing. When I open the door, I hear something fall. Peering behind the door, I see three suitcases. Then I hear my mother's voice from upstairs. A door slams and she comes down the stairs, leaning on the rail heavily. She almost trips on the last step. When she sees me, her eyes flare.

She points a bony finger at me. "Did you know about this?"

Dad walks down the stairs. I look at him. "Know about what?"

"Your father is kicking me out!" She takes a swig out of her water bottle, but even from where I'm standing I can smell that it's not water. "He claims I'm cheating on him and that I drink too much."

"Mom-"

"Kris, I know about the motel room in town you keep. Why else would you need something like that if you weren't cheating?"

Mom stares at him for a moment, caught in a lie. Her cheeks flush to a pink color. "Well, I'm taking the kids with me!" She screams. "You'll never see them again."

Dad shakes his head. "No, they will stay here. If they want you to, you can visit them here."

Mom races over and pushes him. "What do you mean if they want me to? You can't keep them from me!" She hits his chest.

"Stop this," He grabs her wrists. "Hitting me is not going to make me change my mind."

"You're an ass!" She screams fighting against his grip. "Let go of me!"

He does and she stumbles in to the suitcases.

"Let's ask them then." She says cockily. "Let's see who they'd rather stay with, Jake. Piper!"

"This isn't a discussion."

"Piper, get your ass down here!"

Piper comes around the door arch slowly. "What's going on?" She asks timidly. She comes to stand next to me.

"Your dad is kicking me out, baby." Mom puts on her nurturing voice. "And we need to figure out where you and Henry will stay. Now don't you wanna stay with momma?"

Piper's eyebrows raise and she looks at Dad. "Really?" She takes another look at Mom.

"Who do you want to live with?!" Mom asks Piper pointedly. Her eyes never met Piper's due to them crossing and closing. "Who do you love more?"

"Kris, do not ask her that!" Dad raises his voice, which he never does to Mom. He puts his hand out to Piper. "You don't have to answer that."

"She's a big girl, Jake. She can speak!" Mom swings her arms motion to her daughter.

I step between Mom and Piper. "Mom, I-"

"Dad," Piper whispers.

"What?" Venom almost leaks from her mouth and her brown eyes almost look red. She takes a step towards Piper, stepping on her untied shoelace. "What?!"

"I'm-" Piper's terrified eyes find mine. I put my hand on her shoulder.

"We're staying with Dad." I say lowly.

"You little-" Mom steps out with her hand drawn back. Before I can move Piper out of the way, her mouth forms an 'o' and she falls, tripping on her shoelaces.

Dad rushes to her, grabbing underneath her arms. "Kris, are-"

Mom pushes him away. "Get off!" Her voice began to be rough and scratchy. Her fire eyes flare at Piper and me.

For a moment the scene reminds of Charlotte and me. I had done the same thing. I pushed her away. Forcing myself to stay on track, I try to remind myself I'm not my mother.

I take a hesitant step to Mom. "This-It doesn't mean we don't love you. But you need to get better." I reach a shaking hand out.

She smacks me away. "You're ungrateful!" She pushes herself up using the coffee table. She sways while yelling. "Who do you think you are? I pick out your clothes! I gave you life! Who do you think picked the best school in the county? Me! I chose the house! I gave you what you have!"

Piper scoffs. Her hands in white knuckled fists. "That doesn't matter when you're a shit parent! You could give me forty PearPhones but it wouldn't matter because...You're. Not. Here. You think you know your husband and children. You don't!"

"Sweetheart," Dad's voice is very small.

Big tears swim down Piper's face. "Did you know I got second place in the science fair? Did you know Henry got straight As? Dad's here! Dad shows us he cares."

Before anything else can be said, Mom starts to cry. A heavy cry I've seen many times. Its the cry when drunks are faced with too many truths. Her shoulders begin to shake and snot comes out of her nose. She's looking at Piper and me. I know she's expecting Piper to apologize. When she doesn't she starts crying harder and looks at me. But I've grown such a disdain and disconnect from my Mother that I can't feel for her tears.

Dad steps forward and sits beside her. He quietly pats her back.

I take Piper's hand and walk out the front door. Without speaking we get into my car. Slowly I back out onto the street.

"I'm not sorry for what I said." Piper says.

"You shouldn't be. She needed to hear something real from us."

After that Piper and I drove around Swellview, talking about school and everything but Mom. She told me about a boy she was starting to like and how she thinks he likes her too. I embarrassingly tried to give her the talk but she wasn't having any of it. She plugged her ears and yelled "la la la" until I laughed and changed the subject.

"Hey, your phone's vibrating." Piper says handing me it, she'd been switching songs. "Charlotte's calling."

I grab the phone and put the device to my ear. "Hey, what's up?"

"Ray wants you here now. There's been another kidnapping. The guy got two young kids this time."

Trying to remain as calm as I could, I said goodbye and hung up the phone. My heart raced and sweat began to bead up on my forehead. How young are they?

"Piper, you mind waiting in Junk'n'Stuf while I go talk to Ray?"

She shrugs. "It's cool. I just hope Jasper doesn't try to talk to me."

^^^^^^^^

Please comment if you’d like to be apart of a tag list!

taglist: @violetride @craploadofandoms @junknstu1f (i tag you since you liked the story so much!) @sasunarushiita

[cherrychenry]

guyz i would love to make some pride icons with henry danger cast but idk who and what flag so guyzzzz do you have any special ideas??

here are some photos of our favorite danger girls aka supportive queens cuz i need attention

[henrydangerismymiddlename]

Y’all remember the “Oh my god, CONFLICT” kid with the baseball bat from Drex and Henry’s playground fight? That kid was golden.

[adorkable-blackgirl]

@mychenrymadness okay so I’ve been needing AND I MEAN NEEDING to rewatch the series finale of Henry Danger for some reason. So I’m watching it now instead of taking my dumbass to bed after working a 12 hour shift. And I need confirmation did I hear Charlotte scream “Hennrryy!!!” as Jasper carried her out of an exploding man cave? I rewatched that scene 3 times back to back and I swear that’s what I heard!!!! Please someone give me confirmation that I’m not crazy. @rielequeen @kiddangers @bitchmilsky ....anyone please

[angelamoores]

Friends Don’t Get Crushes

this is the first part in the Friends Don’t series which is just my follow on from I Dream of Danger. im worried I overhyped this, it’s only short coz it’s the first part, but tagging everyone who said they’d be interested: @mychenrymadness @chenoahchantel @up-the-tube @ginger--binger @starry-nightschool @bizackmartin @cactus-con @charlottepage thank you guys!

It had been an entire week since Kid Danger had rescued Charlotte from the lion enclosure, yet she still avoided any one on one contact with Henry like the was contagious. When he and Ray returned from a crime, there would be something in the backroom that ‘urgently required her attention.’ If he got near, she took a step backwards. And considering their usual proximity to each other, it raised a few eyebrows.

Henry, however, had taken the only approach he knew: humor. Whenever a conversation with her seemed different to how it should be between two friends, he laughed or pulled weird faces in an attempt to break the tension. It never worked. Ever. In fact, it made Charlotte feel like any feelings he might have for her were all in her head. 

And despite them both assuring themselves that their newfound inability to be normal around each other had gone unnoticed by their co workers, it had had the opposite effect. Schwoz and Ray spent their evenings speculating what exactly had managed to create palpable tension between the two friends, but came up empty every time. Because Charlotte and Henry were friends. And friends don’t have crushes on each other.

As if their friendship wasn’t in a rough enough spot as it stood, word had soon gotten around that Charlotte was the newest in the line of people whose lives Kid Danger had saved. This, was the widespread news that had transformed school into her own personal hell.

“Was he cute?” “Did he smell good?” “Did he kiss you?” “Did you want him to?” 

Charlotte wasn’t sure what was worse; that she was being asked these questions about her best friend, or that her answers were no longer the ones they should have been. She could barely focus on classes anymore, instead her mind replayed the events from the week before, and the months before that. Her brain was desperately trying to trace back to one moment where her feelings had changed, one specific moment she could accuse her hormonal teenage mind of overthinking and fucking up her thoughts. It would be so much easier if this were just some simple problem she could solve. But there wasn’t any one occasion where Henry had swept her off her feet and put hearts in her eyes. Instead there were hundreds of little things, the kind of soft touches and heart felt exchanges that plagued her dreams every night. 

“We need to talk.” Charlotte was startled, wondering for a moment if her fear had managed to manifest in words. But when she looked up, the eyes that met hers belonged to a different male best friend. 

“About what, Jasper?” She asked loftily, trying to pretend that she hadn’t just been so consumed in her own thoughts that she hadn’t noticed the bell to signal the end of school and the room emptying around her.

“I know about the dreams.” Those five words were enough for Charlotte to grab her bag- and Jasper- and drag them both to the supply closet. It was as if the entire universe was out to expose her innermost thoughts and feelings; she didn’t need anymore people overhearing. 

Usually after school they would wait for Henry before all walking to work together, but today he was in detention for a reason she didn’t know, on account of the fact it had been forever since they last spoke, at least properly.

“Did Henry tell you?” She questioned, resting her weight on the wall with her hands in her hair, not at all pleased that soon everyone would know she had been having damsel in distress type fantasies about her best friend. If only her subconscious was less of a romantic.

“You told Henry?” Jasper sounded surprised. So, clearly he hadn’t been filled in about exactly what had gone down at the zoo. The only other person that knew was Piper. But Piper would never tell Jasper her secrets, she didn’t even know who she was really talking about. That meant- 

“The chameleon ring!” She exclaimed, the pieces of the puzzle beginning to fit together in her head. She had remembered Jasper mentioning something about needing to get revenge on Piper for a prank she pulled and it made sense that he’d use that to do it. Only that meant that Jasper was still under the impression that the dreams Charlotte had been having were about him. 

She didn’t want Jasper to find out the way she was feeling about Henry, the reality of the effect this could have on the future of their trio suddenly hitting her. But was also unfair to let him continue living under the misguided impression that she was in love with him. So she swallowed her pride and explained that the only reason she had lied in the first place was because she couldn’t bring herself to tell Piper, her only female friend, that she had developed a crush on her brother.

“Thank God! I thought I was gonna have to let you down gently,” Jasper breathed out in relief. Relief? Was the idea of dating her really that bad?

This hurt was clearly evident on her face, as he felt the need to add: “incase you haven’t noticed, I’m really more into boys.”

That had been a big deal for Jasper to admit out loud. There were no “I knew it”s exchanged, Charlotte not wanting to undermine the courage the admission had taken. He looked more vulnerable than she’d ever seen him when she wrapped her arms around him as tight as they’d allow her to, muttering into his chest how proud of him she was.  They remained like this for a quiet moment longer, allowing all the new information to sink in. 

Detention had let out early -due to Ms. Shappen having a ‘hot date’ that evening- and you could imagine how it looked to Henry when he saw his two best friends emerge from the janitor’s closet with their arms around each other’s shoulders. He wasn’t quite sure why the emotion that consumed him, as he watched from his locker, was of all things, jealousy. It wasn’t the kind he was used to, it wasn’t a fear of missing out on hanging out with his friends, it was a fear that his own dream, a revelation of sorts, had come too late.

Jasper could read Henry’s face like a book and he couldn’t help but laugh to himself over the idiocy of his two favourite people. Figuring now was as good a time as any to come out to his other best friend, he double checked the hallway was empty before saying two of the hardest, yet most relieving words to say out loud. “I’m gay.” 

“Bro,” Henry burst out, the word laced with affection as he strode towards him, engulfing him in a hug. The word meant more to Jasper than he was able to say, it was all he could do to not cry at the feeling of a weight being lifted off of his shoulders. 

It was Charlotte who suggested they stop to get ice cream before heading over to Junk N’ Stuff that afternoon. The three of them left the high school with their arms wrapped around each other and even with Jasper between them, it was the closest she and Henry had been all week. She pushed the thought from her mind. She had all the time in the world to obsess over her future with Henry, today was about Jasper. 

[sunsetcurve]

we’ll come together (state of the art)

Summary: Before, she'd gotten so caught up in all of it—trying to stop Captain Man from erasing her memories, then trying to get his back—that she hadn't really had time to process this. And now she does. And it's making her head hurt.

Because, well. Henry is Kid Danger.

Fandom: Henry Danger

Relationships: Henry Hart & Piper Hart

Word Count: 1,640

A/N: it took every ounce of willpower i had not to title this “Hart to Hart”. 

(actual title is from one of my favorite songs by my favorite band ever, kids in the dark by all time low). 

anyway, here it is, the “piper and henry have a talk” fic that i really just needed to get out of my system. this was really fun to write, but keep in mind that my general motto when writing hd fics (and fic in general, really), is “fuck canon i do what i want” so this is really cheesy and somewhat ooc. it’s fine. sort of. i had a good time, and that’s what we’re here for, right?

Dedications: i’m gonna tag some of the wonderful people here, but no pressure to read it at all! @rorythevambire @up-the-tube @ciara-knightly @cactus-con @mychenrymadness @charlottepage @henryhearts @bijerbear @taylorswiftrulestheworld @just-a-j-reallly

if you want to be tagged/untagged in the future just let me know! enjoy :)

* * * 

When it's over, the Man Cave is quiet.

This is a strange, sharp contrast to the chaos that Piper had fallen into before, but now Captain Man's—Ray's—memories are back, and he's sleeping off the side effects in his room, and Henry, Charlotte, and Jasper are upstairs in the store and Schwoz is...somewhere. He went off with a vague explanation, and he's sort of a strange man so Piper's not really sure she wants to ask questions.

(Come to think of it, she's pretty sure she's seen him before—the German 'neighbor' who came to Henry's birthday party, the 'plumber' who came to fix their sink—she thinks she's even seen him around at the high school. Which makes a lot more sense now, but is still mildly unsettling.)

Piper tugs the headband out of her hair and fiddles with the bow in her hands. She's probably ruined her hair, and really the outfit isn't complete without the accessory but she can't really bring herself to care. She needs something to do with her hands, and her mind is running in circles that are way too fast to be satisfied by scrolling mindlessly through Instagram right now. There's too much to think about.

Before, she'd gotten so caught up in all of it—trying to stop Captain Man from erasing her memories, then trying to get his back—that she hadn't really had time to process this. And now she does. And it's making her head hurt.

Because, well. Henry is Kid Danger.

And if she really thinks about it, it's not that hard to reconcile the two. They've got the same hair, the same smile, the same stupid sense of humor—the same bravery that Piper pretends she doesn't see. And, if she really thinks about it, there's a part of her that's known for a while. Since he broke his arm, maybe. Or even before then.

But she never wanted to believe it. The difficulty comes when she tries to put Henry in that position in her mind. She's seen Kid Danger fight off villain after villain, take punches and be shot at and thrown into walls and god knows what else that wasn't broadcasted on TV, and she's always known that there was a teenager behind that mask but realizing it's been her brother this whole time is something entirely different. Something that's hard for her to wrap her head around.

She wonders how many times he'd snuck out and come back in the dead of the night without any of them noticing, wonders how many injuries he'd hidden just to pretend things were normal. She wonders why she and her family never even asked about his disappearances. She wonders, briefly, how many times Henry has almost died without them knowing anything about it, and then stops that train of thought before it goes too far.

That's not something she wants to consider.

Piper rubs at her eyes with the heels of her palms.

Then, the elevator dings, and she makes a show of putting her headband back into place and trying to look like she's just re-adjusting her hair and not her entire view of the world. Henry steps out, and there's still glitter in his hair and on his cheeks—the bubblegum-ploy Ray had come up with had been less than successful. He looks at Piper, sitting on the steps near the elevator, and tilts his head curiously as he takes a seat next to her.

"So I'm guessing you were never actually the playground pooper?" she says first, because she's not really sure what else to say.

Henry laughs, sounding a little relieved, like he was expecting something else. "Nope. I swear on my life I have never pooped on a playground. Or broken my arm doing it."

"That's kind of a shame," she hums. "It was really good blackmail material." This gets him to attempt at bumping her in the ribs with his elbow, but she dodges before he can and sticks her tongue out at him. "It was also a pretty shitty excuse, y'know," she adds.

He scoffs incredulously. "Uh, first of all, it was Jasper's idea, and also, you fell for it," he retorts, defensive.

Piper sort of glances at her feet, then, furrowing her brow just a little. "Yeah, but I shouldn't have." She shakes her head. "I should've figured it out a long time ago."

"I was worried you would," he says after a moment, and scoots closer to her. "All the disappearances, right?"

"Yeah, and your terrible lies, like...the 'makeup excuse'? You can't do a decent wing to save your life."

Henry scoffs at that but doesn't argue, and then it's quiet for a beat and Piper tries to figure out how to say what she wants to. She's not good at this part; she's honest and bold and unwavering with her words, always, but this is different. This is trying to voice the mixture of pride and worry and frustration and fear that's been sitting in her chest for the last few hours.

She takes a breath. "And," she starts, without really knowing where she's going, and she sees Henry look up out of the corner of her eye but doesn't meet his gaze, "I should've known that your stupid junk store was just a ploy."

He opens his mouth to respond, but she keeps going; it's hard to stop now that she's started. "And I should've known that your boss was way too intrusive for it to be normal, and I should've known your watch was suspicious. And you never let anyone near your bubblegum, I should've figured out that there was something weird about that a long time ago, and I should've—" her breath catches, and then her voice quivers a little and she hates it, "—and I should've known you'd be the only teenager dumb enough to risk your life every single day—"

"Piper," Henry says, and puts his hand on her shoulder. "Hey, Piper, it's okay—"

"Don't say that!" She stands up, trying not to have a full-blown meltdown, because those are reserved for Jana Tetrazzini and Wi-Fi crashes, but then again, she decides, this outscales both of those things by miles. Her hands are shaking. "What if you had died? What if someone had—and we wouldn't even have known, and don't—" she says when his mouth opens, "don't try and tell me that you were fine; I've seen the news, I've seen you fight villains, I've seen people shoot at you with-with actual guns and you're not like Ray, you're not indestructible—"

"I know that, okay?" And Henry's standing now, too, and his voice is sharp—not angry, really, but frustrated, and maybe just tired. Piper deflates a little.

"I know," he says again. "But, Piper...Ray needs me. Swellview needs me. Someone has to do this, and...it just happened to be me, okay? This is my job now." He pauses, and then his lips quirk upward into a small smile. "I might not have the 'great power', but I still have the—"

"If you finish that sentence, I will hit you," Piper warns, and he shuts his mouth.

She's never seen him look this serious about anything, though. It's strange to her, that she could've missed a part of her brother that's so big, and now that she knows it feels like the mask couldn't change a thing. There's a voice in the back of her mind that wants to tell Henry to put his suit up for good, walk away while he's still living and breathing and okay (because maybe she'll never admit it, but her love for Kid Danger is significantly outweighed by her love for Henry Hart), but the rest of her knows that it wouldn't matter either way. He'd still be the same; brave and reckless and stupid, and her brother.

And she's trying to decide if she hates him for it.

"You're such an idiot," she says finally, and hugs him. She feels his laugh more than she hears it, and his chin comes to rest on top of her head and she's sort of trying not to cry, especially because she thinks her makeup looks good today and Henry's wearing something that isn't a flannel for once and she really doesn't want to ruin it.

"So...are we cool now?" he asks hopefully, after a moment passes, and she shakes her head against his chest.

"Nope. No way. We are so far from cool, Henry."

She doesn't let go, though.

Neither does he, and they just stay like that, and she can't remember the last time they've hugged like this and she would never say it out loud but she missed it. When they finally pull apart, he grins at her and tousles her hair like he used to do when they were kids.

"Come on," he says then, and steps up the low stairs. "I want to show you something." There's a familiar glimmer in his eye, the same look he gets when they sneak out to watch R-rated horror movies or pull pranks on their parents together, and she lifts an eyebrow.

"Show me what?"

He gestures for her to join him. "Just, trust me." His voice is tinged with fondness, and she scoffs as he continues, "It's like, a rite of passage."

Piper hesitates a moment longer before going to stand next to him. Henry glances at the ceiling, and then positions himself on the floor, and then tugs Piper close to him. She tenses, but wraps her arms around him. "Um. What are we doing?"

"You'll see," he says, and then looks up again. He clicks something on his watch, and a glass tube descends around them, and Piper yelps. Henry laughs. "You're gonna love this part. Ready?"

"For what?"

"Just hold on tight," he grins, and then, "Up the tube!"

[writing-excuses]

Now I have to go through all of my hd posts and change #charlottebolton to #charlottepage.

[alisondepartedbear]

Just Breathe

Everything is not what it seems in Swellview, a kidnapper is running amok while Henry faces some challenging trials in his life. The boy most overcome what is inside to deal with major life changes.

Part One / Part Two / Part Three

~~~~~

Chapter Four

"Good morning, this is Cheryl Gomez with Channel Six News." says the very attractive newscaster as she does every morning. I've had a huge crush on her since I was twelve. Every time I've been interviewed by her, being Kid Danger, I blush insanely under the mask and always have the biggest toothy smile.

"At 3:30 this morning, Elena Gilbert was reported missing. She was last seen crossing the street from Melbourne to Salvatore. She's five feet tall, dark brown hair-"

Piper gasps beside me when the photo of the girl appears on screen.

"She's in my grade! She's in my 3rd block!" Piper yells.

Oh my god.

"I saw her on Friday. She walked into the store." I whisper remembering her and her family.

"That would've been the day she went missing," She says. "You know, since it takes at least 24 hours to report a person."

A chill runs through my body at the possibility of her parents, Jasper, and me being the last people to see her. I have to go talk to Ray before school. Picking up my phone for the time I see its only seven. Ray couldn't possibly be awake but this was serious.

"Uh, Piper, I gotta go swing by work." I get up and grab my keys from the console table by the door.

"What do you mean? You're my ride!"

I spin back to her and tap my foot, putting my hands on my hips. "Piper,"

She rolls her eyes and looks to her phone. "Fine, I'll get a friend to take me."

"Thank you," I bow to her before walking out.

When I pull onto Thames street, I notice a cop car outside Junk'n'Stuff. I pull in behind them and park. Walking into the store, I see Ray, a cop, and an unknown man standing at the counter.

"Hey, kid," Ray says trying to conceal a confused face.

"Hey, what goes on?" I ask. My heart starts to speed up as I near the policeman. I always have this gut feeling that they know who Ray and I are.

Both men were dressed in the classic blue slacks and button up. Their badges shine from the lights in the room, almost blinding me. A man with thick framed black glasses and an Afro smiles at me.

"I'm Detective Shapiro," His voice was smooth and soft; trusting. "How are ya this morning?"

"Henry Hart, and I'm fine. What about yourself?" I can almost see the physical cringe when he clasps his hand onto my sweat soaked one. He shakes quickly before taking his hand back and wiping it on his shirt.

"Oh, just dandy. Do you know Ray or are you just a customer?"

"He's my second-in-command." Ray says with a smile that makes me beam. I get giddy when someone brags about me. It's like a dog wagging its tail; I almost always sit up and smile. "My left hand man,"

"Oh, that's great! Ray and I go way back, went to high school together."

I glance at his partner and know he's annoyed. This guy had a five o'clock shadow and tired eyes. He kept switching his gaze from his partner and the security monitors. He looked how I felt...dead. After my family's pity party yesterday, I couldn't help but create my own in my bedroom until late in the night. Standing here under the bright lights were making objects beat and pulse, I can't imagine what it'll be like at school.

"Oh, really," I force out. "Ray doesn't talk much about high school."

"There's a reason for it." I hear Ray say under his breath.

I look at him. He has his back turned to us doing what seems to be searching in a box. "Hey, Ray, can I help?"

"Yeah, do you know where the security tapes are from yesterday? For inside and outside."

I nod and walk behind the counter to get them.

"I can't believe you still use tapes. You're probably the only guy in town." said the unnamed partner.

Ray scoffs like he knows something magical about using tapes. "Well I guess we just like doing it the original way." He leans on the glass. "So have you guys got leads on the girl yet? Heard she was headed towards a bookstore on Salvatore,"

"There's not much to say." Detective Shapiro says shrugging. I turn back to them and set the four tapes on the counter. He picks them up. "But these tapes will sure help." He tapes them a few times with his fingers.

"Well, just hit me up if anything else is needed."

Detective Shapiro winks. "Of course, of course, let's go Parker." The silent cop follows after the Detective. That wink didn't help my nerves.

"Do you think they know who we are?" I ask Ray when the door shuts.

"No," He immediately says. Ray turns to me now, looking up and down. "You look a wreck. Why are you here?"

"For Elena! I just saw on the news. We gotta do something. This is the second kidnapping-"

"I know, and I got it. I'm just thinking." Ray makes his way to the back. I follow him.

"What are you thinking?"

Ray stops at the elevator and turns back. "Fine, I don't have any thoughts. But I did make an extra copy of those surveillance tapes." He says with a wicked smile.

"Good! We can go-"

"Nope," He grabs hold of my arm before I make it passed him. "You're going to school."

"I need-"

"I'll watch the tapes with Schwoz and make highlights. There's probably nothing on them. They said she was on Salvatore Street anyway."

"Ray, ple-"

"No, get out." Ray points to the front door sternly, eyebrows raised high.

I make it to school but not into the building. Something has me rooted to the seat. Glancing up at the school, I see our security man walking the perimeter, making sure no one was leaving cigarette butts in the parking lot, and that no kids were out smoking weed, skipping class, or having a panic attack.

A gasp runs through my chest with a sharp pain that makes me clench the skin above my heart. Closing my eyes, I try to breathe through my nose and out my mouth, but each release is gasps of air. My eyes squeeze shut and I lean forward. Without a thought, I recline the seat and lay back to curl into myself. Dad's words run through my head from last night, wondering how long he knew. The tears from last night return too. They fall harder when the images of Elena pops in my mind. Wishing I could go back and tell her parents to watch her all night. Last night I found the name of the boy that was kidnapped. Trevor Millton. He's only 11. I wonder how scared they are. How fast their hearts of beating from fear. If they're being feed. Trevor's been gone for almost five days. The body can't go without water for long.

I lay curled up and crying for a while, letting my mind slip into circle thoughts. Thinking about the kids dying, and about how I want to die. I wish it were cold enough to freeze me. I wouldn't need to deal with this if I were a ghost I think. But now, right here, my eyes burn and hurt. They feel tired from all the crying from the past twelve hours. Blindly, I reach in the back floorboard for a water bottle. After finding two, I take the cold bottles and press them on my eyelids. Some shuddering breaths come out from the sudden cold but I give in to the numbness it brings and sleep.

*knockknockknock*

...

...

*knockknockknock*

I peek with an eye over my shoulder to see Charlotte with a pinched face. Huffing a huge breath as I flip over, I raise the seat. When I open the door a warm breeze whips through almost shutting it again, Charlotte grabs a hold to open it wider.

"What are you doing?" She doesn't miss a beat.

"Taking a nap," The sun have risen a bit and I squint my eyes at her with a little smile. "What are you doing?"

"Checking if you're dead," She crosses her arms and leans against the door. "Officer Poke saw you and rather than yell at you, called for me to."

I snicker before letting my smile fall, remembering why I was taking nap. Charlotte sits on the concrete in front me. She wore jeans and a yellow shirt marked with little white sharks. Her hair was up showing off her dangling diamond flower earrings. I raise my finger to my ear and flip the lobe.

"Cute,"

She smiles and puts her hand to her ear too. I don't know if it's the heat outside but I could've sworn her cheeks looked tinted just then. "Thank you,"

I wave my hand at her, trying to be nonchalant. My fingers play with the frayed strings on the cut in my jeans. Another breeze comes through.

"What's going on?" She taps my shoes with her's.

I look down at her as I curl into my knees. "My-" I shield my eyes from her with my hand. "Things aren't great."

"I know, Henry. But I really believe that you and Ray-"

"Besides the obvious," I raise my voice. She's wrong. She's wrong.

Not wanting to get irritated, I close my eyes and try to control my breathing. Then the smell of orange blossoms come and I open my eyes again. Now Charlotte's standing in front of me, leaning against the door frame. Just a lot closer than before. Her doll eyes search over my face.

"What else is wrong?"

"My family," I could only manage a whisper. I didn't think she heard me until she reached with her hand and grabbed mine.

Squeezing my hand, she whispered back. "Do you want to talk about it?"

I shake my head. She steps back and lets go of my hand. Whipping my head up, not ready to let go, I see her with her arms a little open. "Hug me then,"

Stepping out of the car, my legs feel wobbly. She grabs my waist and pulls me close. I put my arms around her and lay my head against hers. My chest swells and I can't breathe again. I gasp and she starts to rub her hand on my back. With all my muscles I want to relax and let her comfort me, but a shake runs through my body and I let my head fall to her shoulder. My fingers grip her shoulders while I try to steady myself.

"Charlotte," I gasp out.

Charlotte holds me tighter, bringing me down further. "I know, I'm sorry." She repeats a few times. "I wish it wasn't like this."

A few minutes pass before I know I can look her in the eyes again. I pull away and sit back in the car. She looks down at me with soft smile and squeezes my shoulder.

"Please, talk to me when you're ready, even if it's super late. Okay?"

I nod.

"Alright," She steps back. "I'm telling Ms. Polly in the office that you need ten more minutes and then you'll be in. You cannot miss school. Ray will have you're head."

I nod returning the smile. "Thank you,"

She nods too before turning to leave.

That afternoon Charlotte, Jasper, and I went straight to Junk'n'Stuff. Jasper took his post upstairs while Charlotte and I headed down to Ray and Schwoz.

"We watched almost seventeen hours of footage, and found nothing." Schwoz says popping a cheese puff in his mouth. He looked very tired while he rested his head on the table with the couch.

Charlotte puts her hands on her hips. "You guys suck." She walks to Ray who was sitting at the computer.

"We have nothing to work off of!" Ray stands to pace about the front of the room. Charlotte takes her usual seat at the computer. "If we had all those security tapes the police do, we'd be golden."

"Well you don't." Charlotte logs into the computer and begins pulling up websites and programs.

"Little girl, we won't be friends if you keep talking like that." Schwoz snaps his fingers at her.

"Are we friends?" She asks putting an emphasis on the first word.

Schwoz scoffs in annoyance. I laugh at them as I sit next to him. When I steal a few cheese puffs, he pats my hand away. "So how was school?" He asks as he does everyday like the dad he is.

"Lame," I tell him shoving the puffs in my mouth, grabbing more.

"He's just saying that because he lost at HORSE twice." Charlotte doesn't even look back as she sasses.

"Why do you gotta tell him?" I whine. Ray passes me for a third time while pacing. "Why don't you ask your detective friend for help again? He seemed nice."

"Shapiro?" Ray scoffs. "No, he won't help. Too loyal to the force," He mocks.

"I'm not. Charlotte, you think you can get into police records?" I ask.

The phone on the desk rings. Charlotte picks up without answering me or the phone. She just sits and listens.

Ray walks up to stand behind her chair. "What are you doing?" He whispers.

She holds a finger up signaling him to be quiet. Silently, she writes a couple things on a piece of paper with her fluffy blue pen. Before too long, Charlotte puts the phone down.

"I got cop information." She says holding the paper as if it was gold. "There's a lead."

Ray snatches the paper from her to read. He smiles at Charlotte. "Good job. She found out about a tip. The person said there'd be another kidnapping at Swellview Park."

"How'd you do that?"

"There's a cop at the precinct that I pay to give me tips, as long as when he calls me I stay silent. He said there's a chance the line is recorded." She shrugs. I smile at her with pride. As always, she's three steps ahead of the rest of us.

"How much you pay him?" I ask.

"100 or 200 depending on the case,"

"That's smart," Ray nods then he whips his head to her. "Whose money are you using?"

"Yours," She says with a smile. "You don't pay me that kind of money to use my own."

"I know that's why I asked! You can't-"

"Shouldn't we go to the park?" I ask stepping in. "See if they need help,"

Ray gives up on yelling at Charlotte to grab his bubblegum. I do the same. We head to the tubes to leave.

"Wait, you need to be sneaky. He said they were planning to set up around the perimeter and put decoys in. So look for a big van or something they'd be in." Charlotte warns.

"What are you doing here?" The officer asks looking us up and down. He stood in the doorway of an unmarked black van parked near the back exit of Swellview Park. Two other cops are stuffed in behind him sitting at monitors.

"We figured you'd need the help and all." Captain Man says with a forced smile.

"Look, Captain Man," He leans against the door frame. "We don't need your help or your kid's. So go on back to the Bat Cave."

This happens a lot. We try to help and the police turn us away. They typically don't like us coming in and saving the day. Lately people have been gossiping about the police force and the hundreds of unsolved cases they set aside. Yesterday I even heard people saying Captain Man and Kid Danger were faster than the ambulances and the emergency teams. An elderly lady said we were the true heroes since we didn't get paid by the public. People in Bordertown and Neighborville were even chatting about wanting their very own Captain Man and Kid Danger.

Captain Man balls his fist before pointing a finger at the man. "Alright, loser-"

"Captain Man, how nice of you to join us?" Detective Shapiro says stepping out of an SUV. The car quickly speeds off after he shuts the door.

"Detective," He crosses his arms over his chest, looking up at the officer and smirking. "Just seeing how we could be of service,"

Detective Shapiro takes a sip from a Skyscraper Coffee cup. He smiles. "Of course, the more to help the better." He looks up at the van. "Evening, Officer Bladell,"

"Did you call him here?"

"No," Detective Shapiro pushes his glasses up his nose. "But we need the help if we want those kids back. You want those kids back, right, Officer?"

Officer Bladell says something under his breath as he backs into the van. Detective Shapiro hoists himself on the steps before turning back to us.

"How about you patrol the east side of the park near the woods? Also, if possible try to remain unseen. We don't want to tip this guy off."

Twenty minutes later, we're sitting in the woods. I found a fallen tree and took a space. We were at the edge of the woods and park, just barely hidden by low branches and leaves. For a moment I curse our red and blue suits for being so obnoxious and bright. I poke at the colorful fabric. To be honest, I don't think anything will happen tonight. The police department get tips like this all the time. But something must be different about this one. I wish Charlotte could get the written report instead of just word of mouth. We need a description of the voice. Was it a man, woman, or a child? Did they sound scared or cocky? Could they trace the call? Or was-

"Do you hear that?" Captain Man asks looking over his shoulder into the deep wood. I look with him.

Peering in the darkness, I see the over grown trees that have tangle together, vines, and even rope from old tire swings. I stare for a minute. "No, I don't hear anything."

Captain Man turns fully now to look into the woods too. I can see him really straining to mark out any noises that were animal, human, or vehicle.

"Hello," It was a far off echo. The voice was so faint I thought I made it up.

And then there's a wisp of white and I hear an echo of the word. I stand up, facing the direction. "I hear it now."

Captain Man begins marching to it and I follow him. I see another wave of white and start to move fasting.

"Hello," echoes around.

"Hello," I call back.

Branches break and another "hello" surfaces."

"Stay where you are," Captain Man calls. "Let's go, kid."

We run towards the noise and color. Thorns scratch my face and catch on my suit, I'm pretty sure ripping it harshly. My stomach feels bloated and large as I make it to a small meadow clearing. What was I expecting? I look around the area in excitement and terror. Then I notice a girl standing in a white gown near a black tree. Almost like ghost.

"Captain Man," She screams. The dark haired girl runs the remaining feet to crash into Captain Man. "Thank you. Thank you. I'm so cold! I've been running for hours."

"Shh," Captain Man hugs the girl back. "It's alright. You're safe with us."

She looks up to meet my eyes and smiles. "I knew you'd be the two to find me."

My mouth falls open and a lump forms in my throat. I force out words. "Elena Gilbert?"

Her smile doesn't falter. "Yes,"

Chapter Five

~~~~~

Please comment if you’d like to be apart of a taglist.

taglist: @craploadofandoms @violetride

[adorkable-blackgirl]

🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨 Spoilers 🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨

I think I’m done watching Henry Danger live. I may get caught up before the series finale.....

or not. This episode was supposed to be Charlotte-Centered and somehow Ray, Henry, AND Jasper still had more scenes than her. They couldn’t even give my girl 1 day, where for 15 minutes she could be the center of attention and be with a guy. Lord knows Henry, Jasper, Ray and evening Piper got their crush. This is getting old. I refuse to watch in live action another Bonnie Bennett fiasco. Y’all enjoy these last few episodes because I can’t do it anymore. Not that anyone asked me or cares but this is my truth and I’m tiredt. I’m also removing myself from the tags bc I 100% over it.

End of rant. I’m not even wasting my breathe on this anymore

[alisondepartedbear]

Just Breathe

Everything is not what it seems in Swellview, a kidnapper is running amok while Henry faces some challenging trials in his life. The boy most overcome what is inside to deal with major life changes.

Also can be found on Wattpad and Fanfiction.net 

Part One 

Part Two

~~~

Chapter Three

I run around the side of Junk'n'Stuff to the sidewalk. With just the help of street lamps, I can see someone small walking a few feet away. My heart thumps hard against my chest. Is she even willing to talk to me?

"Charlotte," My voice cracks, and I see tears spring into my eyes. "Charlotte, please, wait."

She stops walking and turns around. Her arms are crossed, and I can see fresh tears on her face. I dig my fingernails in my palm deep. Ashamed I made her cry, I let my head drop.

"I'm sorry, Charlotte. I...I didn't want to hurt you. My..." There's no real excuse for putting my hands on her. "There's stuff inside that I..." I shake my head and run a hand over my face, that when I realize it's wet. Great, Henry, you emotional loser. "I don't want you to be afraid of me, Char. I'm sorry I pushed you."

I look up and watch her take a couple steps to me. Her eyes shine like pretty lights under the lamps.

"You didn't scare me, Henry." Her hands wring together for a moment before she lets them fall by her side. "I'm just worried about you."

"I know," I whisper, falling to the sidewalk. I scoot to sit on the edge.

"And I wish you'd let me help," She joins me on the curb.

I glance at her. She's close, so close her orange blossom shampoo finds it's way up my nose. You'd never know this without being up in her business, but Charlotte's eyes hold the most precious shade of amber in them. Flecks of the colors shoot from the iris, falling into a dark brown that reminds me of old movies and rainy Sundays. Suddenly I feel dizzy. A shaking breath escapes me, "I don't understand how you can help, Char. It's too much for me. So why wouldn't it be too much for you? Does that make me stupid-"

"Stop," She reaches her hand out to put on my shoulder but stops.

My stomach drops knowing she'll never touch me again without wondering if I'll push her away. Without a second thought, I grab her hand with both of mine. "Please, you don't have to second guess yourself around me. I don't want this to change us."

Charlotte's hand tightens around mine. "Henry," She says in the softest tone I've heard from her, almost like pretty bells. Wait-

"What are you guys doing?" Jasper asks.

Whipping my head back, I see him standing in the doorway of Junk'n'Stuf. He has a goofy smile on his face. I think he knows.

"We were just talking." Charlotte stands, pulling me with her. "Has Ray gotten back yet?" She asks walking past him into the store.

I dust my pants off, trying to ignore Jasper's questioning eyes. When I look up I see his eyes haven't left me.

"No, but he left a message downstairs."

"I'll go see what he wants then." Charlotte moves and dodges her way through to the back.

Jasper watches her leave as he makes his way back to the register. When we hear the elevator 'ding', his eyebrows raise into his hair and his mouth forms an 'o'.

"No," I point a finger at him, running to the counter. "Shut your mouth!"

"You were kissing her!" His goofy smile hasn't left his face.

"No!" My god, I'm dealing with a child. "We were legit talking."

"While sitting all cutesy on the sidewalk, oh, please!" He smacks his hand down on the counter. "You have all the material, and you do nothing!"

He wasn't wrong. My cheeks heat up. "She's not going to like me like that." I say poking the lucky cat on display

A hint of a voice tells me "Of course, she likes you, look at you!" while a monster yells "Why would she like a stupid, ugly boy?" See why would she be with me if I can't even decide what I think of myself. People always talk about how you have to love yourself before someone else can. Or maybe its love yourself so no one has to?

"Is this what its like for the side character in the movies?" Jasper gives an exaggerated sigh and lays over the counter top. "Just watching two lovers not love each other,"

"You're making me uncomfortable, man." I let out a nervous laugh. The heat from my cheeks moves to the back of neck, I reach up and scratch the area.

Jasper rolls his eyes, pushing himself to his feet. Before he can speak and embarrass me again, the store's door opens bringing in a girl and what seemed to be her parents. I recognize the girl as being Elena Gilbert, an eighth grader from school. Maybe one of Piper's friends. Elena and her family didn't have much time to themselves before Jasper pounced, talking about all the deals Ray had recently added and the new shipment of crazy, cool items. With the wild man distracted, I duck away to the elevator.

Piper and I sit in our living room quietly. When school let out today, I called Ray and said I'd be in late due to a family emergency. Of course, he asked about my mother in a suggestive way which made me cringe and honestly angry. Maybe if he knew what kind of person she is, he'd stop. We've been sitting here in silence due to Piper's inability to keep a conversation. Not to say she wasn't thinking. I could practically hear the gears grinding in her brain. Like me, she's probably worrying about how to tell Dad. In honesty, I'm not sure if I want him to come home. We'll just ruin his day.

From the corner of my eye, I see Piper's leg bouncing up and down. No doubt she's scared too.

"We don't have to do this today." I nudge Piper's shaking leg with mine.

She looks up from a place on the floor she'd been staring at to meet my gaze. Her smile doesn't reach her eyes but there's a clear effort. "Dad deserves to know. It's just weird..." Piper's eyes drift off again. Her fingers tap along on her knee caps. "I can't believe Mom would do that to him. I just...love Dad and would never want to hurt him and to think-" A squeak cuts off her voice and she covers her mouth. She looks at me with watery eyes.

"Piper, I-" But what do I say? "Come here,"

I open my arms and she falls on to me. Piper emits cries I've never heard from her before. Her small hands curl around the front of my shirt pulling me closer to her. Protectively, I tighten my arms. Closing my eyes, I sit my head on top of her's and I'm hit with the realization that my little sister is just fourteen years old. Her worries should consist of cute boys or girls, silly TV shows, and late nights with friends. She shouldn't be worried about our mother's infidelities. I don't want her to worry about this. Red, fury boils in the pit of my stomach. Mom shouldn't be making us worry like this. She's the adult.

The knob on the front door begins to jiggle before swinging open. "Oh, hey, Hen, didn't know you'd be home today," Dad walks in past us to the kitchen, setting his lunch box on the counter. He turns around with a smile that falls when he see his daughter. "Piper, what's wrong?" He asks like a father should. He strides to the couch and sits with us.

Piper pushes off me and sniffles. I hand her a few tissues from the coffee table. "Dad, we gotta talk." She says in a raspy voice.

Dad pulls a confused, pinched face. "Henry,"

Piper looks to me too. All wet, big puppy eyes from both of them. Why do I need to be the one to say something? Why is it me? Suddenly it feels as if there's a full staff working their way through my chest and stomach. My heartbeat thuds in my ears, and I almost believe I can see my eyes beating as well. I grab the couch cushion for comfort and support.

"Dad, we...we wanted to wait until we were sure. But now there's a lot of evidence. And..." Why didn't the words come out?

You're. Wife. Is. Cheating. On. You.

The words don't come out because I don't want it to be true.

"She's cheating on you." Piper blurts.

"Piper," I hiss.

"You weren't doing anything!" Her red face yells at me. Angry tears slide down her cheeks.

"What?" Dad's face was emotionless.

I close my eyes and flex my fingers on the cushion. "Mom's cheating on you. We've heard phone calls where she's talking to unknown men in really gross ways. She's always out drinking. She comes home drunk! She's never here!" I bit my lip before I say something I regret. When I look at Dad though, I wish I hadn't said anything.

Dad sits back from us and falls against the couch. His hand runs through his thinning hair and red starts to creep onto his cheeks. He takes a few meditative breaths before speaking. "Kids, I..." He wipes his hands on his pants and I can see dark spots from where he's sweating. Closing his eyes, he begins nodding his head. "I've had a feeling she was doing this."

Piper moves to be beside him and lays her head on his shoulder. "I'm sorry."

"No, Piper, I'm sorry." He puts his arm around her. His eyes turn to me. "I'm sorry for not doing something sooner. I knew what was going on but...I didn't want to see it. Believe it."

I watch as the storm builds behind his grey eyes and a few tears slip out. Before I know it my vision is blurry. Dad holds out his hand and I grab on to it. Before I can really think, I realize I don't remember the last time I held my Dad's hand and I break. Fat tears fall down my face as I heave out breaths that won't come fast enough.

"Henry,"

I crawl across the couch and cuddle up to my Dad. Something I haven't done since I was twelve. My eyes close and I let myself cry. Soon I feel wet dripping on my hair. I hear my Dad sniffle and I feel more tears drop.

"I'm sorry I haven't done anything about her drinking." He says. "I foolishly thought it was going to go away."

A while later I'm laying in bed with dried tears all over my face. My head hurts and my eyes are swollen. Blinking hurts. I think about my Mom, Dad, Piper, Charlotte and Jasper. I think about the Kid Danger job. I've always said 'the Kid Danger' because sometimes he really doesn't feel like me. But that's the point. Its not me but someone better. Someone that wouldn't push his friends.

Charlotte's shocked, betrayed face rumbles in my brain. I roll over and press my face into the pillow to will the image away. But it stays. Her falling, her walking away. Her tears when I found her. I pinch my eyes shut, forcing tears out. A gasp mixed with a sob escapes me. My body begins to shake and sweat beads up on my neck and forehead. I don't want to be my mother. I don't want to be my mother.

I. Don't. Want. To. Be. My. Mother.

Part Four

~~~

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[alisondepartedbear]

Just Breathe

Everything is not what it seems in Swellview, a kidnapper is running amok while Henry faces some challenging trials in his life. The boy most overcome what is inside to deal with major life changes.

~~~~

Part 1

Chapter Two

Ray and I were getting snacks when Charlotte called about a burglary in progress. Completely ready for action, Ray drops everything and runs to the car. He had to come back and pull me out. Time seemed to fly by as Ray drove wordlessly. I knew he was glancing at me, but I was concentrating on not vomiting from the swirling street lights dancing on the windows.

"So," My hands clench the red fabric of my pants. I think I'm stress sweating. "What's the game plan?"

Ray raises an eyebrow at me suspiciously. "What we usually do,"

"Right, right," I nod. My god I want to throw myself from the car. Closing my eyes I do a brain search of all the fight moves I've ever learned but I couldn't even come up with how to jump.

Charlotte's voice suddenly comes across the radio causing me to jump out of my seat. "Are you guys almost there?"

"No, but Kid almost pooped his pants just now." Ray laughs while turning right at the traffic light. I punch his shoulder making him laugh harder.

Charlotte's laugh runs through the car's speakers sending a shiver down my spine. I grip on to the door handle and try to ground myself.

"Well just hurry up so we can go home. I'm tired."

"Okay, over and out, Little Deer." I say loud enough so she could hear me.

"That is not my code name!" Charlotte leaves the channel with a click.

I smile and turn the radio down. Around the time we installed the radio, Ray and Shwoz said we needed code names. They argued about which one would get the name Daddy. Ultimately, no one got it since we decided the name was a bit much.

Ray ended up with Koala. Shwoz is Caliente. Charlotte gave Jasper the name Hobbit. Jasper said I am Bigoof; honestly, no idea where he got that. Then I code named Charlotte Little Deer. She opposed greatly, saying the name was demeaning to her height, and work inappropriate. Thankfully, the guys insisted she keep it.

"Oh, there he is!" Ray parallel parks adjacent to an apartment building and gets out. I close my eyes and take a few deep breaths before following.

Slowly, I shut the door, scoping out if this robber had nearby help. The street was free of traffic; there's just a few parked cars. I jog to catch up with Ray. "No one's around, I think."

Ray stops walking and puts an arm out to stop me. I look up at him but he's staring at the blue and white apartment building. A man, about Ray's height, in dark clothing was making his way up the building's fire escape. Is this guy hitting multiple places?

"He went in on the fourth floor, left corner apartment from the front." I say watching it happen, thankful for the moon and streetlights.

Ray looks at me and smiles. "Good, kid. Now you take the elevator, and I'll take the fire escape. Make sure he doesn't leave the apartment, and keep any residents safe."

I nod reluctantly, holding out a fist. "Let's go,"

He bumps my fist then takes off to the side of the building.

Going into the lobby, the desk clerk gasps, and hits the desk. "Kid Danger, what are you doing here?"

"A criminal scaled your building and is currently stealing stuff. Please, try to let the residents know this place is on lock down until further notice." My words were rushed since I was terrified of forgetting them.

The guy seems frazzled but he does as told. I always love it when people are cooperative. Hurriedly I get to the closest elevator and press '4'.

I pace the little box, pulling at my hair, and pretending I knew what I'm doing. The doors open and close once before I get the courage to step out. From the hallway, I can hear screaming from apartment 413. Busting through the door, I see a lady in a blue robe trying her best to cover herself and screaming. She lets out an exhausted sigh of relief when she sees me.

"Oh, Kid Danger," She runs over and points down the apartment's hall. "Captain Man ran him back there."

"Okay, thanks." I nod and go to leave.

She grabs my arm. "My kids are back there."

Her wide teary eyes make me stop and grab her hand. "I understand. Please, go into the hallway for your safety."

I see it in her eyes when she glances to the hallway that she doesn't want to leave. But she does. As soon as the front door shuts, I hear Ray yell and some furniture breaking. Based on the noises, he and the robber are in the master bedroom. Searching for the kids, I open every door in the hall until I find two crying little girls huddled in the corner of the bathroom.

"Hey, hey, it's okay." I whisper crouching next to them.

The younger of the two wails and throws herself on to me in a hug. "Kid Danger, there's a bad man in the house."

I pat her back and try to sooth her. "Sweetie, it's okay. Let's get out of here, okay?" I stand up with her in my arms. Holding my hand out, I look towards the older kid. "Come on,"

"Where's my mom?" She stood her ground but her voice was shaking.

"In the hallway," I explain. "Now when we walk through I need you to be very quiet, no matter what you hear. Okay?"

I make sure both of the girls understand before we leave the room. In the living room, a big bang runs through the apartment. The little girl in my arms squeaks while basically cutting off my breathing. When I open the door, the mom cries, and the older girl runs to hug her legs. I hand off the little one, feeling good that I could get them away from everything. I turn to go back into the apartment but I'm pulled away.

"Where's my son, Brady?" The mother's eyes are wide and fiery now.

"Huh?" My chest sinks to my knees.

"Did you not see him?!" She starts walking towards the door.

"No, no, I can't let you go in." Putting my hand on her shoulder, I pull her towards the elevators. My god, there's another kid. I didn't see another kid! "Please, just wait here."

A few tears escape her eyes as she holds on tight to her youngest. "Please, he's my baby."

I can feel my face getting hot and my hands getting sweaty. Willing myself to be strong, I suck back tears for the mother and go back in. Without a second thought I head to the master bedroom and open the door.

"Come on, man, this is all for some jewelry and a watch?" Ray stood with his back to me. His hands were up in a surrendering pose. He glances back when I close the door.

The robber was standing near the open window with the young boy, no more than twelve, in a headlock. "I'm not stupid." The man laughs.

"No one called you stupid." Ray takes a tentative step forward. He holds his hand out. "Now, hand me the child."

The little boy is crying terribly. "Captain-"

The man tights his arm around the kid's neck. "Shut up!"

"What are we supposed to do?" I whisper to Ray.

He doesn't say anything. His wide eyes are on the boy. "Man, please, he's just a kid."

"Precisely," He says with a smile. With a simple shove, he pushes the boy out of the window.

"No!" I run, reaching for the man. He jumps out before a hand lands on him.

Looking out the window, I don't see any blood or mutilated bodies. Instead I see the boy and the man on top of a white van. "Captain Man, they're getting away!"

He looks out the window to just to see the van take off. "How does that happen?!" He yells turning around to pace the room.

"There must of been a plush top to the vehicle."

"It was a rhetorical question, Kid!" Ray storms out of the room.

I follow him to the elevator. Angry fumes are sparking off Ray as we walk in to the lobby. The mother and her children come up to us. Ray carefully tells her what happens. As he does, I go to the clerk and ask him to phone the police. I hear the mother begin to cry hysterically. Soon the police arrive to take over the scene. When we walk outside a small group of fans scream, asking for Ray to sign papers and talk to them. Typically, he'll stop by but he pushes pass to the car. Inside the compact space, my chest feels tight. The boy's crying face replaying in my head. I let it fall in my hands as I try to control myself. My eyes close.

"What are we supposed to do?" I couldn't bring myself to look at Ray.

"Leave it to the police," The car roars to life and we leave the scene.

I laugh bitterly. "What? That's basically asking a baby to help! My god!"

"Don't you think I know that?!" The car swerves to the left.

I jump at his voice and curl in towards my legs. My hands start to shake. "Ray, it's my fault."

"No, kid," Ray takes a big breath. "It's nobody's fault except for that messed up guy's."

I shake my head. "No, no," I hear the car turn off.

"Henry, I know it's difficult seeing that. I hate we can't do more for the boy."

I feel him put a hand on my back and pat. My head pounds as I try to force my breathing to be normal, I can't show Ray this, not now. A cough breaks through my lips and I shake.

"Hey," Ray puts his hand on my chest and pushes me up. "Breathe, kid, you're safe."

I shake my head as I gasp for breath. "Ray-"

"Shh, concentrate on you for a second."

My eyes shift to his, I want to punch myself when I see the concern and fear. Henry, why does it have to be about you? A freakin' kid just got kidnapped and you're having a panic attack. You should be helping! I push against the seat and breathe through my nose, letting my shoulders fall. After a couple times repeating that I loose the tension I had in my legs.

"Are you okay?" His voice is soft like he is talking to one of the victims of a crime.

"I'm fine. You can stop touching me." I move closer to the door.

Ray sits back in his seat. I can feel his eyes on me. "Henry, if you need to talk about something you can talk to me,"

"I don't have anything to talk about to you." I say through gritted teeth.

"I said if,"

I wonder what the police are doing for the kid. Are they any closer to bringing him home? Usually kidnapped children are dead within the first twenty four hours. I glance at the clock, it's been twenty hours. My breath lodges in my throat and a couple tears come to my eyes.

"Hey, will you call Mom? Ask her if she's eating dinner with us." Piper hops in to the kitchen.

I wipe my eyes and start chopping the vegetables again. "Okay, then you mess with the noodles."

Piper complies and takes the noodles from the stove to the sink. I grab my phone and flip it around to phone Mom. A few rings later she picks up but doesn't say anything.

"Mom," My phone is squeezed between my ear and shoulder while I try to continue to chop. "Mom, when are you getting home?"

Mom doesn't say anything again. I hear muffled voices and rock music. Keeping the phone on, I distribute onions, potatoes, peas, and carrots in to the boiling pot of broth. Piper is still standing near the sink.

"Piper, bring the noodles. Mom, are you coming for dinner?" I yell into the phone.

"No, not tonight, sweetheart." She giggles, and says, "Oh, stop."

I grimace and end the call. "So," I toss the phone on the counter. "To no one's surprise, Mom's not showing for dinner. Now give me the noodles."

I keep an eye on the boiling broth, reaching backward. When I hear drops of water, I turn to look back. The sink was over flowing and Piper was staring out the window.

"Piper!"

"What?"

Before she can look back, I reach over her and turn the faucet off. I unclog the drain as well.

"I'm sorry-Sorry, I'll clean that." She grabs a towel and starts to soak up the water. Her hand moves fast around the floor.

"Piper," I say trying to get her attention. My voice falls without a response. Taking a deep breath, I bend down in front of her. "What's got you frazzled?"

Piper huffs and plants herself back on to her calves. "Do you think Mom and Dad are getting a divorce?"

I raise my eyebrows. "Wh...What made you think that?"

"I heard Mom on the phone talking real flirty with someone that wasn't Dad." Piper twists her hands together. "Should I tell Dad? I don't want him to be blindsided."

Picking the noodles up from the sink, I race back and forth trying to come up with what to do. No doubt Dad should know. It was just difficult to adjust to the thought of my Mom as a cheater. I hand off the spoon to Piper to let her spoon the noodles in.

I lean on the island. "We should talk to Dad."

Piper nods. "Whenever I'm on the phone with her, she seems so distant. I don't remember the last time she had dinner with us."

Come to think of it, I didn't either. My mind racks through memories of Mom. I shake my head, steadily getting angrier. "The food tastes just as good when she's here. We...we don't need her around."

"You don't mean that." Piper shakes her head and walks away to get Dad from the backyard.

"I do." My voice is quiet. I'm pretty sure she doesn't hear as she leaves the house.

Alone my breathing begins to pick up and get heavy. My Mom's a lying cheater. I lie to my whole family. Am I actually as mean and bad as her?

After dinner, I had to get out of the house. The air inside it feels dirty and hot. Needing to shake whatever I'm feeling off, I walk instead of driving to Junk'N'Stuff. I'm angry at myself, my mom, and that stupid psycho. Flashes of the kid falling through the window split my brain in half as I try to keep myself steady. But that's what I've been trying to do all day. I didn't go to school because I couldn't stand the thought of sitting in the classroom knowing what I saw.

When I get to the Man Cave I see Charlotte sitting on the couch flipping through a magazine. She smiles when she sees me. Her presence lifts something inside away and I wish I had gone to school today.

"Hey, missed you at school today," She says.

I sit beside her and relax against the cushions, blushing slightly. "Yeah, did anything exciting happen?"

"As if," She shrugs, looking at me all over, and sighs. "How are you?"

"I'm okay." I look down at my hands and twiddle my thumbs. It's quiet for a while before she speaks again.

"How are you feeling about last night?"

I suck in a breath and squeeze my hands together. How do I feel? Terrible, stupid, guilty.

"It's not your fault." She whispers to me.

I bolt up and walk away from the couch. Shaking my head I want to scream at her, and tell her she wasn't there, that she doesn't know. I wrap my arms around myself and puff out some breaths.

"Henry, it's okay. Turn around," Her hand lands on my shoulder.

I push it off and walk further away. "Stop treating me like a baby, Charlotte!"

"I'm not treating you like a baby, Henry. I'm simply caring about you. I would hope that if you saw Jasper or me falling the way you are right now you would do something." Her voice is steady and even. The clicks of her boots come closer.

I run my hand through my hair and keep my back to her. The buzzing in my head wouldn't stop, I couldn't even bring one thought to the surface. Holding my head in my hands, I say, "Leave me alone, Charlotte. I don't want to talk."

"Henry, pl-"

I spin around and try to push my anger into every word. "Don't you get I don't want you around. Go!"

Charlotte bites her bottom lip and grabs my hand. My instinct is to grab her other hand and ask what to do, but I want her to know she isn't entitled to everything, every feeling in my life. I shove Charlotte and her hand away. An empty feeling sinks low in my abdomen when she falls. A moment passes and she looks up at me completely shocked. I believe she's going to let me have it when she opens her mouth but she stands and walks to the elevator. Before I can say a word, she's gone.

Holy shit, I keep screwing everything up! I reach up and smack myself in the head, shocking myself at doing so. Charlotte's not going to talk to me again. She's going to release I'm a monster like my Mom and leave. I can't believe I tried to hurt her. Without even waiting a moment more, I dash to the tubes.

Part Three

Please, tell me what you think! Thank you for reading. Have a nice day!

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[angelamoores]

Happy Halloween, Kid Danger

A/N: the idea for this one shot came from this post, the music video for High School by UMI and my chenry starved brain. I went from hating this to being lowkey happy with how it came out, despite the fact it was rushed so I could post it before halloween. a special thanks to @adorkable-blackgirl & @lesbian-so-what for their costume ideas for jasper and to @neshatriumphs for actually making me wanna write this.

tags: @mychenrymadness @chenoahchantel @oof-musicals @kiddangers @an-anxious-gay-mess @ciara-knightly @rorythevambire @up-the-tube @henry-p-fart @cactus-con @charlottepage lmk if you wanna be added/removed

“You can’t wear that costume, Henry!” 

“Why? I think it’s funny!”

“You seriously wanna blow your cover all for some joke, which no one will even get unless they figure it out?” 

“I mean, kinda.”

It wasn’t unusual for Ray and Henry to be arguing with each other when she entered the Man Cave, but Charlotte had to admit that the subject of this particular fight had piqued her interest. Henry was dressed as Kid Danger, but rather than his usual uniform, he was wearing the knock off version you could buy from a costume store.

“What’s going on?” She asked, dumping her bags on the steps by the tubes before making her way to the round couch.

“Henry wants to dress up as Kid Danger to that Halloween party you guys are going to,” Ray reported in the manner of one parent telling another about what their child had done now.

“I just think it would be funny,” Henry repeated, opening and closing his pant pocket, which on this version was sealed with velcro. 

“That’s not a good enough reason,” Ray told him, to which his sidekick just shrugged. 

The Halloween party was at some kid in their year’s house. The three friends hadn’t exactly had the time to expand their social circle at school in recent years, which was why they had all been looking forward to it for weeks. Really they were just lucky he’d invited the entire senior class, or they’d be stuck at work like the years before. 

“What the hell am I supposed to do with this costume, then?” Henry conceded, going for his gum to change out of it before realising it wasn’t the real suit. “Halloween’s in two days and I don’t have another outfit.”

Charlotte was in a similar predicament, having gotten an email to say her Valkyrie costume wouldn’t arrive until the second of November. What use was a Halloween costume then? That was when she had the idea.

“I’ll wear it,” she volunteered, walking up to Henry, sizing herself up against him. She didn’t have time to design and make herself a completely new costume in two days, but she had time to take in one already made so it fit her.

“Yeah?” Henry smirked as she began to measure his arm. He couldn’t deny that he liked the idea of her in it, he had been too jealous to appreciate her as Kid Danger before, but now that they were older… He snapped himself out of it. “Then what will I wear?” 

“Go as Captain Man,” Schwoz suggested, having entered the room through the secret door unnoticed. Henry looked to Ray to see if this was far enough from the truth that he’d allow it.

“Fine! Fine!” Ray exclaimed, bored of the conversation. “Just don’t be too upset when you don’t look as good in the outfit as I do.”

They figured that the best way to get hold of the costume on such short notice was to have Ray transform and change out of the suit. The two of them weren’t so far off in height these days, so all Charlotte had to do is make it slimmer and look a little less real. It wouldn’t be a problem, she loved designing.

“I know, technically, it’s not a couple’s costume, but we are going matching this year,” Henry pointed out with a nervous smile. He was modelling the almost complete Captain Man outfit in his living room, whilst Charlotte made some finishing touches. The party was soon and they were all meeting there to get ready any minute now.

“Are you asking me out, Hart?” She questioned, looking up at him through a crappier version of his mask. He hadn’t stopped staring at her since she put the costume on, he really liked seeing her as a hero. He was beginning to seriously consider if seeing her in it everyday was a good enough reason to quit his job. 

“If I was, would you say yes?” She removed the last pin before standing up to face him, meeting his lips with hers as a response. 

“Now that’s disturbing to look at,” Jasper called out, letting himself in without knocking -as usual- his date, Lucas, on his tail. The pair were dressed as Bill and Ted from Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure, partly because it was the first movie they watched together, partly because Lucas refused to go as salt and pepper shakers.

Jasper wasn’t exactly surprised to see his two best friends kissing. If anything he was more amazed he hadn’t walked in on it before.

Henry and Charlotte broke up the kiss and looked briefly offended, before remembering who they were dressed as. 

“Yeah okay, fair enough.” Henry agreed, shuddering. “Let’s just get going.”

Lucas drove them there, being the only one with both a license and a car. This meant that Jasper had the aux. And much to the dismay of everyone else in the car, he declined to play anything other than Calling All the Monsters on repeat. 

In the back seat, Henry and Charlotte sat beside each other with their fingers interlaced. It had been a long time since either of them had attended a party for reasons other than espionage and so both were more than a little nervous to hang out with their peers uninterrupted. Charlotte in particular couldn’t stop her mind for relaying all the many ways the night could go wrong, though most of the proposed scenarios did come straight out of movies. 

Henry saw the familiar look of worry on her face and couldn’t help but smile at the familiarity. 

“Cheer up, Char, it’s gonna be great. Don’t go tarnishing Kid Danger’s fun-loving reputation, it took me years to cultivate,” he whispered, leaning across to peck the side of her head. 

“Cheeseball,” she retorted, acting as if she wasn’t now grinning from ear to ear. 

Maybe it was the fact that they were both dressed as superheroes, or maybe it was just that they were together, but they walked into the party with a newfound confidence.  It felt like forever since they saw their classmates outside of school. As a matter of fact, it felt like forever since they were just regular, irresponsible teenagers. Well, not too irresponsible.

“Thanks, but I’m not drinking, I got work tomorrow. Y’know, fighting crime, saving the world and such,” Henry said upon being offered a beer, doing his best Ray impression with his hands on his hips.

Charlotte caught herself about to tell him off for giving away his secret before remembering his costume. She could tell this was good for him, a night where he could be himself, to an extent. He boasted to others about crimes he’d fought, perhaps with a little more detail than he should know, not that many people were sober enough to notice. 

Seeing how fun it looked to be in character, she then decided to take advantage of the situation and do her best Henry impression. She bugged him loudly about wanting to fly the Mancopter, made jokes about how all the girls loved him and answered almost everything with ‘feels gooddd.’ If they knew Henry better, maybe the other seniors would question why her impression of Kid Danger was so similar to him, but they didn’t. And that made it fun. Overall, despite herself, Charlotte had to admit they were having a pretty great time. That was until-

“COPS!” No one was sure who yelled it, they just dropped their cups and stampeded to the nearest exit. 

Charlotte had been talking to Chloe at the time and had no idea where any of her friends were, but she felt herself being dragged with the flow before she had the chance to look.

Soon everyone was running down the street, away from the party and into the night. Henry, Jasper and Lucas were all together when he spotted Charlotte up ahead of them. 

“I’ll see you later,” Henry yelled before speeding up into a sprint to catch up with her. 

She felt a hand grab hers as they ran and her fear melted into excitement. For once they were young, running from the cops instead of doing their job for them. He guided her into an alley where they pressed their backs against the wall, finally able to catch their breath.

“Stank Street, huh?” Charlotte laughed once she’d stop panting enough to register where they were. The familiar stench of one of the places the tubes came up wafted up her nose, but in the moment she didn’t mind much.

“What? Not romantic enough for a first date?” He teased, nudging his shoulder against hers. She shook her head and let it rest against him, so he leaned his head on top of hers.

They sat like that for a while longer in the night air, Henry’s arms wrapped around Charlotte when he felt she was cold. They could be down in the Man Cave in seconds, yet neither felt ready to end the night just yet. 

“Happy Halloween, Kid Danger,” Henry whispered, breaking the silence.

“Happy Halloween, Captain Man.”

[angelamoores]

Friends Don’t Kiss

this is the second part in the Friends Don’t series and it’s almost double the length of part 1 oops. tagging: @mychenrymadness @chenoahchantel @up-the-tube @ginger--binger @ciara-knightly @rorythevambire @cactus-con @charlottepage let me know if you want to be added/removed

In the days that followed, Charlotte and Henry spoke more and ‘acted less weird’ on Jasper’s request. However, things were still off between them, neither of them willing to make the first leap in fear that their feelings wouldn’t be reciprocated. When Jasper asked what the worst that could happen was, either of them would reply with some variation of ‘I don’t want to ruin our friendship and make things awkward’, failing to see the irony in the fact that it was precisely what was already happening. 

It was just a normal Wednesday in the Hart household. Henry’s parents were both out and his sister was off somewhere with some girls she didn’t really like, leaving him and his friends in the living room doing homework after work. He and Charlotte were perched on opposing ends of the couch whilst Jasper had opted for the purple armchair near the mantlepiece. 

If asked he would deny it, but a part of him had chosen to let them sit near each other, hoping it might lead to them at least acknowledging each other outside of courtesy. It wasn’t like the idea of his two best friends dating each other didn’t scare him. He didn’t love the thought of them leaving him out, or having to pick up the pieces if it all came tumbling down. But right now, anything seemed better than the overwhelming silence between them. 

His thoughts were interrupted by the vibrations of a cell phone which he soon realised came from his back pocket. He lifted it to see the call was from his grandma and knew then what was about to happen. He spoke to her, answering when appropriate in a script he’d learned over time, as he begun to round up his stuff into his backpack. 

Henry had been struggling with his English assignment and hadn't noticed the phone call at first. But he caught a glance at Jasper’s face, and recognised the words that would come out of his mouth before he said them. 

“I gotta go, my grandma fell and she can’t get up.”

They both gave a knowing nod in response, but it wasn’t until moments after he’d left that they realised they were now alone. It wasn’t really that big of a deal. At least it shouldn’t have been. They were friends, this was definitely not the first time it had just been the two of them alone in Henry’s house. Why were they acting so weird, dammit?

Three minutes passed and still nothing but silence. ‘This getting ridiculous!’ Charlotte thought to herself. Slowly, she let herself look up from the AP biology homework she had finished a while ago and had just been pretending to read over. At the other end of the couch, Henry was sat with one leg tucked up, the hood of his grey hoodie pulled up past his ears, but not so high she couldn’t see his face. She took this opportunity to study him. The way whatever had had a hold on his hair in the beginning of the day had been defeated by the passage of time, allowing loose blond curls to flop onto his tanned skin. The all too familiar expression of frustration on his brow, the one he made when the words just weren’t registering.

Henry had been young when he was diagnosed with dyslexia, it had been obvious to everyone but him. Reading, writing and spelling never came naturally to him.  Sure, he had never excelled academically, but there were plenty of other things he was good at. Not that this was overly reassuring when he had a paper due the next day. 

Maybe the familiarity of the situation made it simple. Or maybe Charlotte’s need to help her best friend was stronger than any little crush could ever be. Either way, it was easy for her to shuffle to his end of the couch and place a hand on his shoulder. “Here, Hen. You dictate, I’ll write.”

They spent hours on the sofa, Henry either dangling upside down, sideways or practically any other option other than just sitting like normal person whilst Charlotte wrote out his words for his assignment. At some point, he had received a text to say that his parents had decided to stay at his grandparents’ over night. At some point, they had both passed out in his living room.

It was almost 1am when a noise woke Henry up. His house had been broken into enough times to leave him paranoid, so he was relieved to see it was only his notepad that Charlotte had nudged off the cushion in her sleep. He tried to keep still, realising that her head was in his lap, leaving her laid out across the entire couch. 

He grabbed his phone from beside him as quietly as he could muster, scrolling through the hourly “I’m still alive, Henry, calm your tits” texts from Piper that he insisted she send him whenever she was staying out overnight. His parents might have been naïve enough to believe her when she said she was sleeping over at a friend’s house - hell after five years they hadn’t even noticed he was a superhero- but he knew she was really at parties or galas or whatever the hell else her celebrity status got her invited to. There was nothing to say she was home, though, meaning they still had the house to themselves.

He put his phone back down and turned his attention back to his best friend. He knew it was weird to watch her sleep and he swore he was going to stop after a second. She just looked so peaceful. It wasn’t really until then that he realised how much stress and worry her usual expression carried. If the last couple years of crime fighting had been hard on him, the constant fear that every time she watched him and Ray go up the tubes it might be the last was tearing her apart on the inside. It was no business for kids, though they hardly felt like kids anymore.

“Whatcha thinking about?” She asked raspily as she awakened, still dazed from sleep.

Not wanting to get into what had left him so deep in thought at this hour, Henry let a lazy grin creep across his lips as he glanced down at her lovingly. “Just Nacho Ball.” 

Charlotte rolled her eyes and elbowed him lightly in the side. “Believe it or not, I just had a rather elaborate dream about their jalapeño poppers.” That had by no means been the only notable thing from her dreams last night, but her stubborn unwillingness to make things weird again pushed that thought aside.

He let out an airy laugh, throwing his head back against the cushions. Sometimes, he thought that Schwoz had secretly hooked up their brains to think alike; though if he had, Henry would probably have made some better life decisions. 

But whilst they were on the topic of food, he realised neither of them had eaten since lunch. And no one was home to stop them them from getting fast food in the middle of the night.

“Hey, isn’t there that twenty-four hour Nacho Ball a couple blocks away?” 

Charlotte nodded, before realising what exactly he was suggesting. “Hen,” she whined, everything that could- and probably would- go wrong already playing through her head.

“Char,” he mimicked, accompanied by pouty lips and puppy dog eyes.

“It could be dangerous.”

“I’m Kid Danger for god’s sake! Plus you have that laser Ray makes you carry in case of an extreme emergency, which won’t happen. Stop overthinking this.”

“Well,” she said, stalling as she was running out of arguments, wondering why exactly she was even fighting it, “it’s cold.”

“You can borrow that one hoodie of mine that you like.”

And with that she sat up from his lap and ran upstairs to his room. Henry shook his head with a smile, moving to put on some sneakers. Charlotte took her assumed position as The Sensible One very seriously, but she was still just a teenager with a rebellious streak and a appetite for adventure like any other.

“You coming, Kid Dork?” She questioned from his front door, somehow downstairs again without him noticing. He only laughed, grabbing his keys from the mantle before following her out into the night.

…

If it had been late when they left, it was an ungodly hour in which they returned. They walked hand in hand down the sidewalk, for safety of course, having a petty debate over what was truly the best breakfast cereal of all time. Henry had been making a pretty heated argument in favor of Cinnamon Toast Crunch when they reached his front porch. At some point it had rained a little, so both had their hoods up, though each had a few curls peaking out the front.

Charlotte had wound up with her back against the door, Henry facing her, standing a little too close. He had finished his point, but she was too caught up in the moment to counter it. There was nothing on her mind other than the way he was looking down at her, the glint in his eyes and the hint of a smile on his lips. She felt as if he was only getting closer, it took her moment to realise that he was. And suddenly she really didn’t hate the thought of it.

“Henry?” 

At the sound of his name, he pulled away so fast that Piper had to place a hand on his shoulder to steady him. Charlotte almost hit her head on the door at the realisation they weren’t quite alone in the night.

“Yes. It is me. Your brother. Henry,” he clarified, scratching the back of his head, as if everyone present wasn’t already aware of all the information he had given. Under slightly different circumstances, Charlotte might’ve laughed.

“I know who you are, dummy. You look surprised I’m back, did you not get my texts?” Piper asked, also a little shellshocked about the sight she’d walked in on. He could tell by her outfit that she’d been at a party, probably with some socialite she’d met online. He didn’t remember getting any texts about her return, though come to think of it he hadn’t even glanced at his phone once the entire time they’d been out. There hadn’t been a need.

He shook his head in response before unlocking the door and heading inside, pretending he desperately needed to use the bathroom. 

“Hang back a sec, Char,” Piper requested, dumping the gift bag she’d received from the party on the ground beside her. 

Charlotte swallowed hard, but obeyed. She hadn’t really talked about her feelings out loud properly before. Jasper- bless his heart- had tried his best, but at the end of the day he was still just a boy. This was different.

“So those dreams you mentioned, they were about-?”

“Your brother.” She filled in slowly, fiddling with the sleeve of Henry’s hoodie.

“Huh.” It was all Piper could seem to manage for the moment, taking a seat on the step of her porch. Charlotte sat down beside her and they both stared out into the night.

Piper knew she had no right to be mad. Charlotte had always been Henry’s friend first. It didn’t matter that she hadn’t been told the truth at first, she could understand why. Really she was just surprised she hadn’t seen it before, the way her brother’s face lit up at the mention of her name, the way they both looked at each other, the sheer amount of time they spent together. 

The thought of her with Henry would take some adjusting to, but it was already written, it had been destined to happen. Right from the start. Mainly, she was happy. Piper had no shortage of friends, but Charlotte would always be her favorite. And now, she would probably be around even more.

“Henry better not mess this up, because I really love you,” she spoke finally, her words decisive.

Charlotte smiled in relief, terrified that she might’ve just lost her only female friend. She engulfed her in a hug, returning the sentiment.  

“But Piper?” She pulled away and turned to face her younger friend. “We’re just friends, dreams are weird,” Charlotte insisted, reusing Henry’s words from the week before. 

Piper shook her head in exasperation. She may have been younger but she was hardly the clueless one in this conversation. “Friends don’t kiss.” Her friend was about to remind her that they hadn’t in fact kissed, but she acted like she hadn’t noticed. “But don’t worry, I won’t say anything.”

“Girl code?”

“Girl code. Now get inside, it’s like 4 in the morning and we all have school tomorrow."

[angelamoores]

Friends Definitely Don’t Ask Each Other Out

A/N: this one was tough for me to write, and I still don’t love the final product but a special thanks to @rorythevambire and @mychenrymadness for their help talking me out of my funk so I could finish this. I set out to make this a lot less angsty but I was listening to kinda sad music so it turned out like this

Word Count: 2,409

anyway, tagging @kiddangers @ciara-knightly @chenoahchantel @up-the-tube @ginger--binger @cactus-con @charlottepage lmk if you wanna be added/removed

School the day after their midnight escapades to Nacho Ball was a disaster. Not because anything crazy happened, more because Charlotte and Henry could not stop falling asleep. Everywhere. In class, stood up in the hallway, in the janitor’s closet, even on random patches of floor. It had gotten to the point that they both ended up in detention, but to no one’s surprise, they both fell asleep in that too. 

Their extreme tiredness, however, was their only reference to the night before. Neither of them knew how to address their almost kiss, so they just didn’t. Although in actual fact, on the way to work was the only time since then they’d both been conscious enough to discuss it. Not that either of them were ready to bring it up in front of Jasper. 

Instead, they let him take over the conversation, listening to him talking about his crush on the new guy in their class. Every now and then, one of them would catch the other staring at them and they’d share a look, a smile. For a minute, Charlotte let herself picture Henry as not just a best friend, but as a boyfriend. 

Sure, he hadn’t always been the best boyfriend to other girls in the past, but he wasn’t fourteen anymore. He had matured a lot in the last few years, especially due to his job, and it had been a long time since he’d had one of those overly dramatic relationships kids have as an eighth grader before understanding it was never love anyway. Charlotte had never taken part in this experience, deciding to sit out the whole dating thing until she was old enough to have real feelings. And she was beginning to realise that time was now.

These secret glances and heart eyes followed them down into the Man Cave. Only they really weren’t that secret. It was to Jasper. He was so occupied by the text the new boy Lucas had just sent him that he wouldn’t notice if his own hair was on fire. As far as he was concerned, as long as they were talking, all was good. However, Henry and Charlotte were given away by the fact that Ray had eyes. 

He hadn’t seen the two of them this in tune since they were kids. They walked in tune with each other, said the same things at the same time and got flustered every time there was silence, looking at each other’s faces a little too much. It was when Ray saw Henry perched on the back of the round couch, with Charlotte sat below gazing up at him, that he intervened.

“Kid, c’mon. We’re gonna go take the Mancopter out on patrol,” he announced, after deciding this would get less push back from Charlotte than if he tried to fake an emergency somewhere. 

They hadn’t done it in a while, so Henry widened his eyes in concern, trying to figure out if something was wrong. Ray just shook his head with a smile. Henry rolled his eyes, but got up all the same.

When they reached the helicopter, Henry approached the driver’s seat, but was stopped by Ray’s hand on his shoulder. On the way there alone, his sidekick had zoned out approximately four times. And despite being indestructible, he didn’t particularly feel like crash landing that day. 

They didn’t really speak much during take off, despite wearing headsets so the noise from the propellers wouldn’t be an issue. Henry was off in his head, thinking about Charlotte yet again. Things were different now, though he could still turn back. It wasn’t easy as it had been before, with Bianca and Chloe and the other girls he had asked out. His friendship was on the line, and he honestly didn’t know what he’d be without it.

Charlotte called him to make sure he got to work on time every Saturday, she helped him with his homework in a way no one else had ever been able to. She held him when he cried and made sure he slept and drank and basically kept him alive. It wasn’t fair on her, the way he relied on her, the way all the men in her life had grown to depend on her. But she’d let him. And though she complained, she never made him feel like a burden; even when he knew he had been. Henry couldn’t quite pinpoint exactly when. But somewhere along the line, she’d become his favorite person on the whole planet.

And it wasn’t just what she did for him. It was the way she lit up when she was telling him something new and smart she’d learned that day. The way her nose scrunched up when she was concentrating. The faux-innocent smile she’d give him after stealing his food or saying something sarcastic. The nights he’d wake up shaking at the thought of something happening to her because of him, how his heart picked up when he heard her scream for help. 

“I’m scared, Ray.” Henry broke the silence. They’d been circling Swellview for a while now, thinking to themselves.

“What of?” His boss responded. Henry turned to give him a look, he was well aware he hadn’t actually been discreet. Ray sighed. “I know you’re scared to ask Charlotte out, but why?”

Henry let out a breath and leaned back into his seat.

“In case something happens and our friendship is ruined. I don’t think I could do all this without her.” His voice was hesitant, but Ray nodded, letting him know it was okay to go on. “And if- if I did y’know, date her, it puts her in danger. If anyone found out she was dating Kid Danger, she’d be a target. I can’t have people taking out their hatred of me on her, I just can’t.”

Ray thought for a moment, trying to come up with something to say to reassure him. He wasn’t stupid, he knew this life was a hard one, especially for a kid. It was a lonely one too at times. It didn’t matter how many people knew their secret, there were somethings you could only understand by going out there everyday, running after villains and criminals and doing whatever other work the police didn’t feel like doing that day. It was because of this that they shared a bond no one else had. And despite their differences from time to time, it would never go away. 

That was why it was so important to him that Henry wasn’t alone. Settling down had never really worked for him; however it was clear his accomplice was different. Ray had been selfish these last couple of years, yet maybe if he could be of help now, maybe things could change. He could be better.

“Charlotte is a smart girl. If she likes you as much as I think she does, she’s already well aware of what dating a superhero would bring. It’s her decision to make, kid, she’s never liked you telling her what to do.”

As much as he wanted to argue, Henry knew that he was right. Every time he’d tried to protect her from something, she’d just try do it more. It didn’t make him fear for her safety any less. 

“And as for that stuff about your friendship,” Ray continued, regardless of Henry’s continued inner turmoil, “you two have been in each other’s lives far too much for any fight to ever change that. Don’t let fear of breaking up keep you from getting together, it’s hardly like either of you are exactly in the friendship stage anymore anyway.”

Henry nodded, finally allowing himself to actually see this working out. Maybe he had gotten so used to all the good things in his life being able to be taken away at any given moment that he had stopped letting himself want them anymore. It hurt less. But sometimes it took losing things to realise what you’d had in the first place, at least that was how he had felt about his powers.

“Thanks, Ray. That was surprisingly helpful.” Ray feigned hurt, but really he had amazed even himself. It had been too long since the last time he was the adult in their serious conversations. When Henry had become mature enough to handle things himself, everyone who was supposed to be responsible in his life had just stepped back and let him handle everything. 

They didn’t speak much as they landed and walked back down to the Man Cave. Henry has far too concerned with planning out how the fuck he was gonna ask out his best friend. Ray was right about them being past friends now though, because friends definitely don’t ask each other out. 

It had to be big, right? But Charlotte hated stupid extravagance, especially in public. But if he was too casual about it she’d be offended. He knew it had to be perfect, but that was about all he knew.

His thoughts were soon interrupted, when he was greeted by yelling as the tubes came up around them.

“Where the fuck have you guys been?!” Charlotte yelled, dropping her phone from her ear, which he could now see was calling him. Ray opened his mouth to reply but never got the chance. “Some crazy guy came into the store claiming someone gave us something of his to sell and threatened to blow the place apart if we didn’t give it back. Schwoz and Jasper have him trapped upstairs, but they could probably use some help.” 

Ray headed straight for the elevator, drawing a blaster from his belt. Henry moved to follow, but he stopped him.

“Kid, maybe you should stay down here,” Ray muttered, gesturing subtly to Charlotte who was now shaking, on the verge of tears.

Henry nodded, mumbling a ‘good luck’ before slowly approaching his friend. As soon as Ray was gone, she whipped her head around to face him again as if she wasn’t crying. He didn’t get any closer, both remaining on opposite sides of the room.

“Why weren’t you answering your fucking phone?” She asked, trying her damnedest to keep her voice steady. To project anger over her fear.

Because of the events of the night before, he hadn’t had time to charge his phone and it had died earlier that day. However, he couldn’t blame for any of this on her the slightest, so all he said was “it’s dead.” 

A couple of seconds passed in heavy silence before either were willing to say anything. “What happened?”

“I was bored, so I volunteered to do Jasper’s shift upstairs. It was fine until this guy came in, bitching and screaming about how we had something valuable that belonged to him,” She recounted, getting louder and louder with each word until she was shouting again, it was easier to be mad at him. “He told me he had a bomb in his bag and I laughed. I laughed, Henry, and I told him ‘good luck with that’, I’m gonna call Captain Man and Kid Danger.”

“Char-” he started, but she ignored him and kept yelling. 

“I called you right in front of him and you didn’t pick up. I called Ray, no answer. I called you again, but this time when it went to voicemail the guy was the one laughing. He was insane, making stuff up to scare me, I know that now. He didn’t know just how cruel he was being when he told me with such certainty that you weren’t coming, when he implied that he had done something to make sure of it. And I couldn’t reach you, to confirm if you were okay, or even alive.” She spoke the last three words differently, with more emotion behind each letter. 

There was so much he wanted to say. He wanted to do all the right things to make her feel better, but the words weren’t coming. He just froze. 

“What the hell were you two even doing up there, Henry? And don’t lie to me.” She was sick of the tip toeing around their feelings, of taking things so slow they were barely moving. She had thought that she had lost him today. None of the little things she had been worrying about going wrong could be as bad as that. 

“We were talking. About you.” She folded her arms and raised her eyebrows. “I LIKE YOU, OKAY, CHARLOTTE?” For some reason, he was the one yelling now. It was out there, no take backs.

“YEAH? WELL MAYBE I LIKE YOU TOO, HENRY.” 

They both strode forwards across the room, crashing their lips together. Or rather their noses. Charlotte knew she had to tilt her head, but she had angled her head a little too far to the right, bumping her nose against his. Henry put a hand on her chin, connecting their lips properly, though they were both still giggling against each other. It was less awkward after they were able to stop pretending they were characters in a romance novel. It was sweet and new and so much better than she imagined. Because this was the real Henry, not her knight in shining armor, but her best friend.

“So, is kissing me as good as in your dreams?” He asked, pulling away with a shit-eating grin and smiling eyes.

She didn’t exactly have much to compare it to. If someone had told her a few years ago that her first kiss would be with Henry Hart she would have laughed in their face. Huh.

“It’s even better, doofus,” she beamed as if the smile was permanently tattooed to her face. She’s had the shittiest day she’d had in a long while, but none of that seemed to matter right now.

“So,” he started scratching the back of his head, only now realising he was still in his Kid Danger suit, “how about a date?”

“Friday?”

“Yeah, I’ll pick you up at 6,” he replied, trying to be smooth.

“We both have work that evening so I won’t be at home anyway and you don’t have a car, Hen.”

“Fine, you’ll drive us both out from work at 6?”

“It’s a date.” The words felt foreign coming from her mouth, yet she felt a new wave of excitement. It was crazy really, they hung out together, just the two of them, all the time. But this was on a whole new playing field. She leaned back in to kiss him again when-

“IT’S A DATE?” Jasper screamed.

---

hi! if for whatever reason you’ve stumbled upon this after November 2020, you get the bonus content of the beginning of part 4 I never finished! enjoy! :

“What’s a date?” Charlotte replied too fast, she’d always been a terrible liar. Henry tried to hide his laughter by burying his head in the back of her hair, his arms around her shoulders not exactly selling her denial.

Jasper was far from the most observant person, but it didn’t take a genius to read the room. He’d literally walked in on them about to kiss. He gave her a look, holding eye contact until she cracked.

“Fine! We are going on a date, but I don’t want everyone to know just yet,” she admitted. 

Henry scrunched his nose behind her. “Ray, kinda knows,” he confessed, stepping out from behind her and into her eye line. 

She sighed. “That’s what you two were doing in the mancopter.”

“At least Piper doesn’t know,” Henry offered.

“Well…” she trailed off.

“Okay, is there anyone who doesn’t know about us?” He asked, only partially annoyed. It was kinda sweet that neither of them had been able to shut up about one another.

“What about you guys?” Schwoz questioned, reentering the room with the memory wiper that he had just used on the crazy guy upstairs.

“Oh, just that they’re going on a date,” Jasper replied with a smile, a full five seconds before he slapped his hand over his mouth. 

“Seriously, Jasper,” Charlotte groaned, wishing that any of this surprised her. Honestly, it was a miracle that they had managed to keep their identities a secret.

“You have to admit it’s kinda funny,” Henry laughed. It would’ve been nice to try out the whole dating thing and get settled in their relationship before it was announced to the world, but in the chaos they already lived in, what was a little more.

Jasper wasn’t quite sure how to feel now that he saw the two of them beside each other. He’d had a week to get used to the idea of them dating, but it felt different now that it was less hypothetical. He made the decision there and then that he was going to be happy for them. They had enough going on in their lives than to have to worry about him. He would say something if they left him out too often, not that he thought that was likely to happen. It was still gonna be the three of them against the world, at least that’s what he told himself.

It was getting late and after the day they had and the lack of sleep the night before, they were all pretty ready to go home. The tubes came up closer to his and Charlotte’s houses than Junk n’ Stuff, so Henry made his way over to them, chewing a bubble to turn back into his own clothes as he walked. 

By the time he’d changed and was on the launch pad, he looked out to where Charlotte was stood in front of him looking mildly annoyed. Wondering why she wasn’t stood at the other tube he glanced across to see Jasper stood there waiting, completely oblivious. He smiled, he’d been waiting for an opportunity to do this for a while.

“Char, c’mere,” he mumbled, opening his arms. She obliged, doing a little walk run over to him. Once she was close enough, he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her against him and she looked at him the same way she had when they first kissed.

“Up the tube.”

…

Piper groaned, perched on the end of Henry’s bed as he tried on a ninth outfit. 

“She’s seen you sick and dying, you could literally wear anything!” she yelled to where he was changing in the closet, but he ignored her. It didn’t matter that he’d known Charlotte forever, tonight was their first date and he had to look perfect. He opened the door revealed his latest pairing of clothes that didn’t match. “Not that, though.”

She sighed, finally giving in as walked into his wardrobe. It took her approximately eleven seconds to pick out a top, belt, pants and jacket before wordlessly setting them out on the bed in front of him.

“I hate you, how’d you do that?” 

“I follow Charlotte on Pinterest, she has a board called ‘Outfits That Would Look Good On Henry’, it really wasn’t that hard,” she laughed. 

Henry would ask why she had neglected to tell him about it up until that point if he didn’t already know. He tried to look mad, but he couldn’t fight a smile. He really needed to see that board.

spoiler alert they were then going to try go to a restaurant in a car Charlotte built herself but it breaks down and she tries to fix it whilst he sits on the bonnet and orders food to the car and they sit there and watch the stars together it was gonna be cute but know life happens :/

[sunsetcurve]

and it’s right before your eyes

summary: she zooms in, snaps a picture, and then it’s done. it’s over, she has exactly what she needs, exactly what she’s been looking for for months now. henry hart is kid danger, and she’s the first person with real, tangible proof. / or, in which charlotte and henry have been rivals from the start, and charlotte knows she’s right about this.

fandoms: henry danger

relationships: henry hart & charlotte page-bolton

word count: 1,293

a/n: so i know i’ve been posting a lot about a random character who wants to expose henry as kd and it was a joke at first, but then i had this idea. and it kind of started off as like, a mini post of headcanons but then it turned into actual writing and surpassed 1k words so i thought what the hell, i haven’t written an official fic (that isn’t in chat format) in a while. so here’s this, all rambled out at once and barely edited and un-beta’d. i hope you enjoy.

dedications: please don’t feel any pressure to read this! but i’m just gonna tag @ciara-knightly @bizackmartin @mychenrymadness @just-a-j-reallly @charlottepage @cactus-con @up-the-tube @bijerbear and @taylorswiftrulestheworld 

* * *

here’s the thing: henry and charlotte aren’t best friends.

far from it, actually. maybe hate is a strong word, in charlotte’s mind (although henry is all-too-quick to use it), but they’ve been at odds since they were kids. really, it’s hard for either of them to pinpoint when it started. maybe it was in the first grade, when henry broke charlotte’s magenta crayon and insisted he wasn’t the culprit. maybe second, when they had to share a cubby together, which led to constant bickering. maybe fourth, when charlotte ratted him out for playing on his nintendo ds in class. but at some point, they started hating each other. and they’re not really sure why they still do now—that’s just the way it’s always been.

they compete over everything—student council positions, academics, sports, even stupid, trivial things like instagram followers. and to be honest, charlotte doesn’t like being that egotistical person she becomes whenever she’s trying to one-up him, but she can’t help it. he’s so prideful and careless and arrogant and it’s infuriating. 

and when kid danger shows up, she’s the only person who isn’t fooled. somehow, she knows its him; maybe it’s the height, or the haircut, but she knows. and she confronts him, and he denies it vehemently, but charlotte knows better than to fall for it. there’s clues everywhere, and she prides herself on being smart—so of course she picks up on the little things that no one else seems to notice.

like how henry’s always late to class. how he’ll always miss school right around the time that kid danger shows up. how he’s always so eager to get to work, how he has to step away from his friends before taking calls, how his watch always beeps and he acts like the world is ending. 

“i know that it’s you,” she says, and the smirk on his face is so smug that charlotte half wishes she believed in solving issues with violence just so she could wipe it off of his face. 

“prove it,” he replies.

and she tries. she hangs around the stupid junk store he works at more often than any normal person. she watches his every move like a goddamn hawk. she listens to his phone conversations more closely than she’d like to admit. she talks to loose-lipped jasper, who’s henry’s best friend and someone she’s been close to ever since they started sharing fashion advice and physics notes, but either he’s really good at playing dumb or henry really hasn’t told him yet—and is better at keeping secrets than she would’ve expected.

but she knows. it has to be him—and she isn’t going to stop until she gets her proof. she’s not even sure why it means so much to her; maybe it’s a mixture of pride and stubbornness but she knows she’s not wrong and she needs the evidence. 

and then—of all places—she’s at burger castle.

three masked men bust through the door, and there’s shouting and screaming and gunshots fired at the ceiling, and everyone’s ducking under the tables. and captain man’s out of town for the weekend; the news had spread like wildfire through swellview, so maybe that’s why the robbers choose now to do it (but a fucking burger castle? seriously?)

and then kid danger saunters through the door. he’s all witty comebacks and an overall air of carelessness, but there’s a note of relief mixed in with the annoyance in charlotte’s chest. he takes them down fast, but it’s a messy fight—he somehow ends up with ketchup covering his hands, so he strips off his gloves.

and that’s when charlotte sees it. there’s a birthmark on the side of kid danger’s wrist, and maybe she doesn’t like henry hart but she knows him, maybe too well and at least well enough to know that he has the same one in the same place. she zooms in, snaps a picture, and then it’s done. it’s over, she has exactly what she needs, exactly what she’s been looking for for months now. henry hart is kid danger, and she’s the first person with real, tangible proof.

then, she looks over at him. he’s kneeling in front of a crying girl who can’t be more than six, with his hands on her shoulders and a gentle smile on his masked face. he says something that charlotte can’t hear, and the girl giggles, and for a moment, she doesn’t see the pride and arrogance that always seems to surround henry. she just sees a hero.

then he turns, and his eyes lock on hers, and maybe he knows her as well as she knows him because he takes one look at the phone in her hands and the look on her face and the expression drops from his. charlotte half runs out the door, and then she makes a decision.

“charlotte!” he catches up to her, and tugs her behind the building and away from the news vans that have just pulled up. his eyes are so wide with panic that she thinks she can hear his heart racing. 

“henry,” she says, and he looks, for the first time that day despite staring down the barrel of a gun only a few minutes ago, afraid.

“you have proof, don’t you?” it’s not really a question. he tugs a hand through his hair and swallows as she nods mutely .

“please,” he says, and of all the ways she’d pictured this moment going this was never one of them. “i know we’re not...friends, i know we’ve never been friends but i can’t—this could put everyone i care about in danger.” he sounds so desperate. “and i’m sorry i’ve been a jerk to you for so long, it was so stupid, i don’t even know why i ever did any of that stuff to you but now i’m asking you, charlotte, please don’t tell anyone. i can’t let this get out, that would mean that it’s all over and i—”

“henry,” she cuts in, and when he glances up at her his eyes are rimmed in red. “i deleted the video.”

“you what?”

charlotte bites her lip, shifting on her feet—and she’s not usually one to get nervous or awkward but henry looks like he’s about to cry and she’s just doing her best to explain herself. “you’re right; we’ve never been friends. but you—you saved a lot of people today. you’ve been saving a lot of people since you started doing this, and i’m not gonna take that away because of some petty grudge that,” and she laughs a little despite herself, “i can’t even remember the reason for. so, you don’t have to worry about it anymore. i won’t say anything.”

the look on his face is so intensely relieved that it’s almost endearing. “thank you,” he says, voice a little breathless, and she nods at him, smiling softly.

“it’s the least i could do, kid danger,” she replies, and as a smile slowly eases on his face she adds, “besides, maybe now i can help you. some of your tech needs a major upgrade.”

he laughs, a clear, warm sounds that lights up his whole face, and she thinks fleetingly about how much time they could’ve spent sharing those smiles instead of arguing. “let’s not get ahead of ourselves, yeah?” he jokes, and she punches his shoulder and thinks that this is something that she could definitely get used to. 

[sunsetcurve]

aaaand here we go with the latest chapter of tgsa!!! despite saying the next update would come soon it’s been a long ass time since i updated this fic but i loved writing this chapter so i hope you guys enjoy! this one’s a little less humor/fluff and more plot stuff (but hopefully still funny)
no-pressure tagging: @sunbeameyes @ciara-knightly @up-the-tube @cactus-con @mychenrymadness @taylorswiftrulestheworld @bijerbear @im-only-here-for-chase @charlottepage