Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Ray was a 34-year-old guy who had gotten 'lucky'. When he was 8, his father had taken him to work with him, and while goofing off like any normal 8-year-old would, he had slipped into one of his Dad's machines and become indestructible. That day changed everything for him. His father pulled him out of school the second that he could and decided the next best action was to put Ray through gruelling super hero training. Ray hated every second, and in turn, ended up hating his father. The day Ray turned 18, he left home and moved into an apartment. He drank and partied hard, but it was also where he made his first-ever friend, Schwoz. Schwoz pulled Ray out of his habits and talked him into doing something better with his life. That's how Captain Man was born.

Ray wasn’t keen on having another sidekick, not after the first one turned out to be a not-so-great guy. Ray was getting older, even though he would never admit it; he was having a hard time keeping up, and finally decided to take another chance. He gave himself one promise: he wouldn’t get close this time, just coworkers and crime fighters.
Ray expected an adult to come through his elevator that afternoon, or at least someone the legal age to work. What he hadn’t expected was to see a 14-year-old blonde-haired kid walk through the door. Ray had no idea how to conduct a job interview, which was pretty clear as he rambled off random questions, only a few of them actually related to the job.

"What's your name, kid?”

“Henry”

Other than the question about why he wanted to work, the rest were more questions to see if he would get along with the kid. Though he did pick up on the slight stammer about the exact reasons he wanted money. I mean, this was a 14-year-old kid after all, why would he need money? His parents should be giving him everything he needed, right?

“Can I trust you?”

“Yes”

“Can you keep a secret?”

“Yeah?”

“So I can trust you to keep a secret?”

“Yes,” Henry seemed to be getting more confused by the second, so instead of leaving the poor kid in the dark any longer, he decided to show him.

“ I’m going to blow a bubble… Then I’m going to blow your mind.”

Henry has his mouth open like there were 100 questions on the tip of his tongue that he needed to get out. Before he could do so, Ray had gone from his normal clothing to his Captain Man uniform. Henry’s eyes were big, and his mouth was just about hitting the floor. The expression on his face almost made Ray burst into laughter.

“You're-you’re Captain Man!”

“That's right, Henry and I want you to be my sidekick.”

Just then, the elevator opened, and an 'old woman' came out asking if this was the ladies’ room. Captain Man quickly said no and that she needed to get back in the elevator.

“Ok, we’ll let me just call my nephew to come get me,” the lady stated

“And I will just turn around and look at something,” Captain Man added. He didn’t know what to expect from Henry; he was young, and he didn’t expect him to have any fighting skills. Boy, was he in for a surprise. Henry had recognized a tattoo on the 'lady's' neck that he had seen on his way down and used his surroundings and his body weight to get the grandma back into the elevator. Ray had to admit it was impressive for a kid so young; he had a good eye and was pretty decent at fighting. With some extra training, he was sure he could be a fantastic sidekick.

“Alright, Borise, you can come out.” Ray’s face just read, “Wow, Impressive”.

“Wait, you know that guy?!”

Ray chuckled, “Yup, he works for me.”

“The kid did good,” Borise added.

Ray had to agree that the boy had done well. He looked at Henry and explained to him that he had a good eye and some decent instincts, and with a little extra training, he would make a wonderful sidekick. Henry seemed to beam at the praise like it wasn’t something he heard often, like he had never been told that he was good at something.

“Alright, now we need to find you a good uniform.” Henry nodded in agreement, and they started the process of finding the perfect one. In all honesty, Ray already knew the one they were going to use and had even pre-made the gum for it, but he did get a good amount of enjoyment watching Henry try on ridiculous outfits that not only looked awful but wouldn’t have been convenient either.  Finally, Henry tried on the final outfit, and it looked pretty good; it had a similar look to Captain Man's uniform but had a middle part that almost looked like a bulletproof vest that had silver in it.

“Now that one looks good.” A statement Henry seemed to agree with.

“But it takes forever to put on,” Henry said, clearly not wanting to go through the grueling process every time he needed to go on a mission.

“Well, that's why we have these.” Ray handed him a tube of gum that was a mix of red and blue, and they simmered slightly. “When you blow a bubble, you will change out of your normal clothes and into your uniform and vice versa if you are already in your uniform.” Henry simply nodded in understanding.
“Now one last thing, well actually two more things, but obviously you can’t tell anyone that you're my sidekick, or that I’m Captain Man, or that this is where the Man Cave is located. It puts you, me, and anyone else close to you at a big risk. Understand?”

“Ya, that makes a lot of sense.” Henry agreed, though he seemed a little disappointed that he couldn’t tell anyone that he had just become Captain Man's sidekick.

“Alright, and finally put your right hand over your left lung and your left hand in the air, repeat after me,” Ray instructed, and Henry followed.

“I, Henry Heart,” Ray started, and Henry repeated, "Pledge to be an amazing sidekick to Captain Man and never ever, ever, ever tell anyone that I am his secret sidekick,” Henry repeated, but had missed one ever that Ray was quick to point out. With one final ever, Ray simply said, “It is done.”

Just as they were finishing, the alarm went off, quickly pulling both of them from what they were doing. Ray quickly slammed a button on the table, and one of the six monitors showed a man that Ray called Gootch; he had been a friend of Ray’s who helped him stay on top of all the emergencies that happened in Swellview. Gootch quickly filled them in that someone was sabotaging the bridge that ran over the Jandy River.

“The bridge is down?!” Ray yelled

“Affirmative,” Gootch said

Ray turned to Henry and said, “That means yes.”

Henry sarcastically said, “Yeah, I got that.”

Ray turned back to the monitor and asked, “Situation?”

Gootch replied, “Cars in the water, lives in danger.” he kept it short and straight to the point.

“Understood, this must be phase two of the toddler's plan,” Ray was more mumbling to himself more than anything else. “Let’s ride.” Ray was already making his way to the tubes when he noticed that Henry had stopped about halfway there.

“Wait, we're going together like right now?!”

“Yes, now get under your tube.” Henry looked sceptical but placed himself next to Ray in the spot where he assumed the other tube or whatever Ray was talking about would be. Once he was in the right spot, Ray asked, “Ready?”

“Ready for what?” Henry asked, he was beyond confused at this point. Ray simply hit his belt buckle, which made the tube come down, and said, “Up the tube.” Ray had hoped that the kid would simply follow what he did, but it seemed the kid was too confused to have picked up on anything he had done. Henry was making every confused, shocked, and flabbergasted noise that a kid could come up with.

Ray sighed and said, “Just hit your belt buckle.” Henry did as instructed, and once the tube came down, it seemed he had at least picked up on what Ray had said that made him able to travel up the tube. Henry did scream as he went up the tube, which Ray really couldn’t blame him for, I mean, it is definitely jarring at first. He decided they would take the Man Van to the bridge. It wasn't anything fancy like his car was, but it was able to hold extra supplies in the back. Things like rope and medical supplies.

On the way there, they had decided on a name for Henry since he obviously couldn’t be called by his real name, and the press would want something to call him. After much back and forth, they had decided on Kid Danger. It wasn’t some crazy cool nickname or anything, but it was on theme considering he called himself Captain Man. It was also the only name Henry didn’t absolutely hate. The kid was starting to grow on Ray already, even though he would never admit that. The kid reminded him of himself when he was younger, before his dad pulled him out of school, that is. Henry seemed to have the same playful and sarcastic personality as Ray. It was clear they would make a wonderful team.

They then proceeded to spend the whole afternoon jumping in the water and dragging people out. By the end of it, Ray was drained, and he knew that Henry had to be simply exhausted. Ray was used to this after all, Henry was not, so instead of making Henry deal with all the press and doing the paperwork for the police reports, he decided it was best for him to go home and get some rest. This was his least favorite part, and he wouldn’t have minded Henry's sarcastic remarks to help this feel like the time was going faster. In the same breath, he didn’t want to wear Henry out so much that he decided to quit on his first day. Ray had to admit that having the help was amazing, and he forgot how nice it was to have an extra set of hands. He just hoped this time things didn't go sour.
Once Ray had gone back to the Man Cave, he immediately got to work on figuring out the Toddlers' plan and how destroying the bridge had anything to do with it. He also got some dinner, took a nap, and got some ukulele lessons. Ray did things like that when he was stressed; he would find something to distract his mind from work. Those things usually consisted of girls. It wasn't hard for Ray to get a woman to fall in love with him; he was good-looking after all, and he was Captain Man. He never committed to one, though he tended to jump from woman to woman, scared of actually letting someone underneath the walls he had put up over the years.

Later that day, Ray had called Henry, he had found some vital information that he needed to share with the kid. When Henry arrived, Ray was wearing a bright orange button-up that had white flowers all over it and a Lei (one of those flower necklaces). He was sitting on the couch with his feet propped up. Henry came bursting out of the elevator and asked him what was going on and why he needed him. Ray took the Lei off his neck and put it on the kid, totally throwing Henry off as he was starting to explain what was going on.

“The toddler used the destruction of the Jady Bridge yesterday as a distraction so he could start phase 3 without me noticing.” Ray started to explain, but he was quickly cut off as Henry asked,

“What's Phase 3?”

“Well, it's the phase that comes after 2 and before 4 if there is a phase 4 and if not, phase 3 is the final phase,” Ray quickly explained, figuring that answered the kids' question.

Henry had, in fact, not gotten the answer he was looking for, so he decided to ask the question differently. “What happens in phase 3?” Henry clarified.

Ray explained that while they were saving people the other night, the toddler's men had stolen 5,000 packages of diapers and are going to fill the diapers with radioactive zenite particles.
“Do you want to see what happens when a baby pees into a diaper that has been filled with radioactive zenite particles?” Ray wasn’t asking, and even after Henry had said no, he showed him anyway. Ray could hear Henry mumble a “why does he even ask?” as Ray moved towards the monitors. Ray pulled up a video and hit play, both boys watched as a normal baby turned into a green monster baby that kept repeatedly saying kill everyone.

“Monster babies?”

“That’s right, Henry, unless we stop the toddler. Are you with me?”

“Well, Yeah.”

“Good, meet me here tonight at 7:00.”

“Wait, 7:00 tonight, I can’t do tonight, my friend Jasper is having his birthday party.”

Ray hadn't even considered the fact that Henry would have other things going on since he spent all his time either screwing around or waiting for something cool to happen. He didn’t have a life as Ray Manchester; he didn't leave the Mancave other than to grab dinner or fight crime. He tried to convince the kid that this was far more important than some party he was going to, but the kid wasn’t budging. He even tried guilt tripping; he wasn’t exactly proud of it, but he really could have used the help. All of his efforts were in vain because, in the end, Henry still decided that the birthday party was more important.

Safe to say that taking care of the toddler hadn’t gone exactly as hoped, he had gotten outnumbered and hit on the head pretty hard. When he woke up, he was in some sort of baby holding thing, he didn’t really know. His only hope was that Henry would see the news and come to his aid, but as the time ticked by, he was getting less hopeful. Ray was getting annoyed and nauseous at this point, but just as he was losing all hope, he caught movement just outside of the toddler's Playroom. It was Henry he had come to save him after all.
Ray knew that Henry was scouting out the best way to go about this, so his main goal was just to keep the toddler distracted until Henry could come up with a plan. What Henry did next surprised Ray, and he was just as surprised when it worked. Henry had decided that the best course of action was to play an ice cream truck sound he must have had on his phone. After the toddler and all of his goons had left to find an ice cream truck that didn’t exist, Henry came out of the shadows.

“Captain Man!”

“Henry!”

“It’s Kid Danger”
A small smile crept onto Ray’s face. Henry had dropped everything the moment he had found out Ray was in trouble. He really would make a wonderful sidekick.

“How do I get you out of there?”

“I’m not sure I’ve never been trapped in a baby bouncer before.” Ray scanned the room, hoping to find anything that would get him out of this ridiculous thing. His eyes landed on a lever in the far corner of the room, and he decided that was his best chance. “Try that lever over there!” Henry rushed over to the lever and just about had his hand over it before the toddler burst back into the room.

“There was no ice cream truck!” the toddler grumbled. “Who tricked me? And who's that boy at my lever?”

“That’s my sidekick Kid Danger,” Ray said proudly.

“I didn’t know you had a sidekick. I want a sidekick!” The toddler screamed, he had started throwing a mini tantrum, he was stomping his feet and flailing his arms like a kid who didn’t get the toy they wanted at the store. The whole thing had caused Henry to drop his hand back to his side, but Ray was more than ready to get out of this ridiculous thing.

“Hey Kid Danger, why don’t you go ahead and pull that lever!” Ray had hoped he would drop nicely out of the baby bouncer he was trapped in, but unfortunately for him and his stomach, the lever only caused him to swing to the other side of the room. He did get a chance to plow his body into some of the goons, at least leaving a little less work for Kid Danger.

“Squish the boy!” The toddler yelled he had just about had enough of this new sidekick.

Henry quickly went to work dogging the goons. Ray helped him by being an extra set of eyes, telling Henry when someone was coming up behind him. He also decided, since he wasn’t getting out of this thing anytime soon, he could at least use his body weight to swing himself within range of some of the goons and give them a good kick.

Henry had managed to get the remote out of the toddler's hands and was now pressing buttons in the hope of releasing his boss. It wasn’t working; instead, he was being thrown across the room. Ray finally managed to get himself on top of a stack of boxed dippers that allowed Henry to finally steady him enough that he wasn’t swinging everywhere. All of the goons had been taken out, and the only person left was the toddler himself.

“You guys think you're so clever. Well, take a look at my bang bottle!” The Toddler said proudly.
Henry and Ray both shared sceptical looks. They were both less than impressed with the large plastic baby bottle that the toddler was holding up. It did have a green substance inside of it that was glowing and swirling, a mix of dark and radioactive green. That was quickly clarified by the toddler to be ‘Explody Juice’, though both of them doubted that was what any normal person would have called the substance in the bottle. The Toddler twisted the cap on the bottle, causing the green liquid to go a bright red, and the top of the bottle was now blinking.

Ray’s first and only concern was the kids' safety. He had promised himself that he wouldn’t get attached, but this wasn’t him caring, right? It was just the simple fact that his sidekick would be no use to him dead, and he was indestructible, so the explosion couldn’t hurt him. “Get out of here!”

“I’m not leaving without you!” Henry argued

How Ray had found such a stubborn kid, he wasn’t sure. Most people Henry’s age would have run for the door before even being told. He was also sure that any kid Henry’s age wouldn’t have shown up to save him in the first place. His efforts to get his stubborn sidekick to leave turned out to be pointless in the end anyway, as the toddler closed and locked any possible ways out. That’s when Ray had an Idea, the toddler had placed himself in the perfect spot to be directly knocked into a ball pit that was in the back part of the room. Ray turned and planted his feet and yelled, “Push me.”
Henry did as he was instructed immediately and sent Ray flying into the toddler, successfully knocking him into the ball pit. As Ray swung back from knocking the toddler over, Henry grabbed his arm to pull him back onto the boxes.

“No, no, help me get me out of here!!” the toddler yelled, not happy to be in a ball pit that Ray could only imagine smelled like feet and pee.

Ray and Henry shared a smirk on their faces as they watched the toddler sink into what seemed to be an endless pool of balls. Their excitement was short-lived as, without the screaming of the toddler, the sound of the bang bottle they had both forgotten about was now ringing out. Henry jumped down from the boxes to grab the bottle and asked, “What should we do with it?”

“We give the baby his bottle.”

Henry threw the bottle into the pit in hopes that its endlessness would at least lessen the explosion. Ray called for the kid and wrapped him in a tight protective hug. The ball pit had helped the explosion, but it still did a decent amount of damage to the room and had blackened the whole back of Ray's suit. There was also a good amount of soot in their hair.

“Nice work, Kid Danger, you got skills.” Ray complemented, and again, that face of pure joy, like he had never heard those words, was plastered across his face. Ray made a note to complement the kid more often. I mean, he was pretty amazing after all, and the kid was going to need confidence in himself if he was going to continue to be Ray’s sidekick. He couldn't have the kid second-guessing himself. Besides, he had always promised himself that if he took someone under his wing, he would do a better job than his dad did. He could do that without caring too much about the kid, right?

Ray hadn’t expected his night to end the way it did. He was hoping to go home to get some food and relax for the rest of the night, but instead, he was now on the way to Jasper's house for his birthday party. Henry had pleaded with him to come as a way to make up for being so late, and Ray, no matter how hard he tried, just couldn’t say no. So he spent his afternoon being asked loads of questions and being hit over the head with a baseball bat. Not exactly his picture of a perfect night, but Henry was more than grateful for it, so in the end, he decided it was worth it.

Chapter Text

It had been just over a week since Ray hired Henry to be his sidekick, and at this point, he was growing tired of having to text or call him every time he needed something. It wasn't that it didn't work or anything, but he wanted something that felt, you know, cool. So he pulled out one of Schwoz's old inventions and planned to give it to Henry when he came to work that afternoon. It was a watch that allowed Ray to call Henry, but not just any regular call. No, this was far cooler. He could appear in hologram form on the watch, which had no practical use and made things more complicated for Henry, as he couldn't answer the watch anywhere, unlike with a phone call.

Ray had the whole thing set up. He placed a small cart in the middle of the room that had the watch in it and a little sign that said

Hey Henry,

Put this Watch on
Your Wrist

-CM

He decided it would be far more entertaining if he waited in the next room over when Henry arrived, so that when Henry came, he could call him on his brand-new watch and show off just how cool it was. So when Henry came to work that afternoon, that's precisely what he did. Henry completely missed the sign for a solid minute and was shouting for Ray before the watch in the center of the room caught his eye. He read the note and picked up the watch, not failing to add a sarcastic comment about the wrist being the only reasonable place you would put a watch. Henry checked out the watch and noticed that the top looked like it could be flipped up, so he did exactly that. When a hologram of Ray appeared in front of him, he just about had a heart attack.

"Hey Henry!" Ray greeted him, and he was more than amused by the kid's face, a mix of surprise and amazement.

"Ray?"

"Yup, I'm hovering over your wrist in hologram form." Ray made sure to swing his arms and make his voice sound like a ghost for extra effect.

Henry decided the next best course of action was to see just how real the mini Ray standing in front of him was, so he brought up two fingers to the hologram and poked Ray's eyes. Ray, of course, played along and put his hand over his eyes and yelled, "AH, you poked my eye out!"

"I'm Sorry!" Henry was quick to say he hadn't expected it to actually work, but when Ray quickly added "Nah, I'm just kidding," Henry didn't feel nearly as bad.

"You can't hurt a hologram or Captain Man," Ray assured. Additionally, deciding it was best to add a little dance. That had the exact effect he was going for as a simile came onto Henry's lips. Ray decided he was done talking through the hologram and came up behind Henry, making sure to add a peek a boo as he tapped him on the shoulder. Henry just about jumped out of his skin when Ray had come up behind him and made sure to have it written all over his face that it was not cool to scare the daylights out of people like that.

"This is how I will contact you from now on. It's called a wiz watch." Ray told Henry casually. He had forgotten entirely about the other watch that he had 'left' on the floor. In reality, he had gotten mad at it, thrown it at the floor, and accidentally set it to self-destruct right before Henry had come down from the elevator.  It was now beeping rather quickly, and before either of them had a chance to say anything, it blew up. He wasn't exactly proud of what happened next. Ray turned and hugged Henry like a child would their mother when something scary happened. Henry had also done the same thing, but he had an excuse: he was a kid and something scary had happened, not that Ray was his dad or anything, but it made sense.

Once both of them had decided that they wouldn't be blown into smithereens, they broke apart and cleared their throats. Ray decided this was a perfect time to change the subject. Though he couldn't help but feel a warm sensation in his heart, Henry had clung to him like a child needing their mom, or in this case, their dad. For now, though, he pushed the feeling down and moved on.

"I see you're wearing pajama pants."

"Well, yeah, it's midnight and I was studying for this big test I have tomorrow."

"What's the test about?"

"Portarican history."

"Ah, Puerto Rico, the land of…" In all honesty, Ray had no idea he was pulled out of school at the age of 8 and had only been taught the basics by his father.

"Portiraicans." Henry was clearly surprised that Ray hadn't known the answer. Just as Ray was about to defend himself, the emergency alarm went off and pulled them both out of the conversation, saving Ray the embarrassment of having to justify why he didn't know something that was probably common knowledge for the rest of the world.

Gooch filled them in, letting them know that a robbery was taking place at the local antique shop called Glass From The Past. Ray turned to Henry and pulled out his gum tube.

"Ready?"

"Let's blow bubbles and fight crime."

Ok, Ray had to admit he was really starting to like this kid. They both fist bumped then and ran under the tubes, ready for whatever was in store. It was safe to say that the ordeal hadn't gone exactly as Ray had hoped; this was becoming a trend he didn't like. Things had started off fine, but Henry had quickly gotten his head stuck in a motorcycle helmet that completely blocked his vision and made him less than helpful during the fight. Ray also wasn't having the best luck, partly because he was trying not to hit Henry, or be hit by Henry, who, though blind, was still swinging at the air. And also partially because he was, or at least in the beginning, had tried to not destroy every glass bottle in the place. Unfortunately, by the time the fight was over, not a single bottle had survived the fight, much to the store owner's dismay. So, after taking the helmet off, Henry and assuring him that he was most definitely the one who had taken out the robber, he offered to at least help clean up the mess they had made.

"But I have school in the morning, and I have to finish studying for the test I have," Henry whined. But Ray quickly told him that not all parts of being a superhero were fun, and since he most definitely helped make the mess, he needed to help clean it up.

The next night, Ray had called on Henry, but after 30 minutes of waiting for him, he had decided to take care of the emergency on his own. He ended the whole endeavor in the sewer and was less than thrilled, so he decided to see what on earth had kept Henry. Ray climbed through Henry's window, and what he saw surprised him. Henry was half on the floor, half on his bed, still wearing the clothes Ray assumed he had worn to school that day. He was completely asleep, snoring and all. Ray wanted to be upset; he wanted to yell at the kid for not coming to his aid when he needed him, but the kid was clearly worn out, and he wanted to be better than his father after all. So instead, he decided to wake him up and tell him to change and get some rest.

Henry apologized about a hundred times before Ray even got a word in. Ray said it was no big deal and that Henry clearly needed rest. The words, however, went in one ear and out the other. Henry had a gloomy expression on his face, and Ray suspected it had to do with more than just falling asleep on Ray. Ray asked Henry what was up, and at first, it seemed like Henry wasn't going to tell him, but finally, after some pushing, the kid admitted that he had fallen asleep in class and failed the big test he had mentioned to Ray the night before. Guilt settled in Ray's stomach; he had been the reason Henry had fallen asleep after all. Before he could say anything, Henry asked if he had any way that he could zap all the information he needed right into his head before he had his make-up test tomorrow.  Ray thought about it for a second before he remembered that he did, in fact, have the perfect thing. Ray told Henry to meet him in the Man Cave that morning before his big make-up test. Henry had a puzzled expression, but before he could ask any questions, Ray told him to trust him, but for now, he needed to get some sleep. Henry nodded and told Ray good night.

The next morning, Ray had the machine all set up like promised. When Henry came down the elevator, he still looked sleepy but at least awake enough to not fall asleep right where he was standing. Ray had him sit in a chair and placed bands that went over his arms and around the middle of his torso. When Henry had given him a look that said 'what on earth are you doing', Ray explained that Henry was probably going to wiggle and move once he turned on the machine. If he happened to knock it off his head, that would not end well. This definitely didn't seem to fill Henry with any hope, but he wasn't arguing, so Ray continued. He handed things off to Gootch because Ray was out of his field.  Gootch began by scanning his brain to retrieve the necessary information for proper calibration of the machine.

Gootch explained that the machine was called H.R.Z., and it would let Henry learn everything he needed to know in just 30 seconds. Henry was ecstatic, but he was quick to ask if it would hurt, to which Ray didn't really give him a straight answer. He placed the machine on Henry's head and asked him if he was ready. When Henry gave him a thumbs up, he nodded toward Gootch. He had to admit watching Henry flail and scream made him want to rip it off his head, but it was too late for that now. Once it was over, Henry seemed fine, and Ray asked him a question about Puerto Rico, and Henry nailed it. It turned out it wasn't all good, because when Henry tried to speak a normal sentence, he mixed up the words, then screamed a high-pitched scream that sounded like it came straight out of a little girl's mouth. Ray had completely forgotten about the side effects and explained that he would have trouble with sentences and would scream like a little girl for about 3 days. Henry was clearly trying to yell at Ray, but he couldn't get the words out, and his sentence was being interrupted by the scream of a little girl. Ray shouldn't have laughed, but he couldn't help it. He was practically rolling on the floor, definitely not helping Henry's mood.

Ray then remembered it would be pointless if Henry didn't get to school on time, so he got himself together and told Henry to do his best on the test. He also asked him to shoot him a text if he passed. He wanted to ensure that all his efforts wouldn't be in vain. Yup, that was the only reason he definitely didn't care how Henry was doing in school, even if he developed the habit of asking Henry if he had tests coming up and offering to help him study.

Chapter Text

Ray was impressed. Henry had skill when he hired him, but with the extra training they have been doing, he was getting good. Although today during training, he seemed distracted. He was letting Ray get more punches than usual; he just seemed to be in his head too much. So, Ray called a timeout and decided to get to the root of whatever Henry had on his mind. Ray walked over to the snack machine, grabbed waters, and set them on the round table in the center of the room, and invited Henry to sit.

Ray could tell just how tense Henry was.

"You wanna tell me what's got you so distracted?" It wasn't an accusation; it was a genuine question. Ray wanted to know what was going on so he could help.

Henry didn't answer right away and instead shifted in his seat, clearly wanting to be anywhere but here answering Ray's questions.

"Promise you won't be mad?" There was fear in Henry's eyes, something that truly startled Ray. Had he made Henry fear him, or had something or someone else caused Henry to be this scared?

"I promise," Ray said it as sincerely as he could make it, hoping the kid would trust what he was saying.

"Charlotte found out.. You know about me being Kid Danger and all." The words came out of Henry's mouth in a whisper. The kid seemed to be waiting for Ray to yell to freak out, and if Ray was being honest with himself, he was kinda freaking out. He had warned Henry just how dangerous it would be if someone discovered his identity.

Ray took a deep breath and gathered his thoughts, thinking about the best way to handle this. Then Ray had an idea: if this friend of Henry's had figured it out all on her own, she was most likely a smart cookie, and he needed someone like that around. After all, he didn't have Schowz anymore. He also remembered something about Charlotte loving science and being the reasonable one out of the trio.

"Is this friend of yours good with technology?" The question clearly surprised Henry.

"Uh, yeah, she's really good with that kind of stuff, why?"

"We could use someone like that around, don't you think? She would be a wonderful help during emergencies." Henry's eyes lit up like he had just won the jackpot.  "I used to have a friend who kept up with all the technical stuff in the Man Cave, but he left a while ago, and I'm way out of my league with this stuff. Plus, you said she keeps you and Jasper in check, and I think we both know we could use a voice of reason in this place."
Henry practically leapt out of his seat and into Ray's arms, saying "thank you" over and over again. Ray just chuckled and said, "No problem, kid."

Yes, while all the things he said to Henry were true, the main reason he had said to bring her onto the team was because he knew Henry needed someone to cover his butt when he was out of uniform. Someone who can lie for him and have his back. It was settled that Charlotte would join the team.

Once Henry was done thanking Ray, he called Charlotte and asked her to meet him in Junk and Stuff. Ray and Henry waited for Charlotte, bickering about what flavor of chips was better. Luckily, she arrived before things got too heated. Ray introduced himself and led them both to the elevator that went down to the man cave. Of course, both of them screamed as they basically free dived downwards. Sure, it wasn't exactly a fun ride down to the Man Cave, but that was kinda the point; he had changed the setting for the elevator and hoped that anyone who accidentally stumbled into it would be too disoriented by the time they got to the Man Cave to realize where they were. For the most part, it did just that.

Once Charlotte got her bearings, he showed her around and explained just what her job would be. She was going to be responsible for filtering the emergencies and giving Ray and Henry the ones that the police couldn't handle. She was also going to be accountable for ensuring Henry always had a reasonable lie ready when needed. Ray then pulled Charlotte to the side and made her promise something.

"Promise me you'll always have Henry's back when I can't." Ray's voice sounded a lot more desperate than he wanted it to, but he needed to make sure that he could trust her to keep him safe no matter what.

"I've always had his back, that's not going to suddenly change now." Her voice was confident, and she reassured Ray that no matter what, she would have Henry's back.

"Thank you."

"No, thank you for caring about him." Now that threw Ray off, one he didn't care, did he? And two, why did she say it like he was the only adult to ever care about Henry? Surely his parents cared, right? But before he could ask exactly what she meant by that, she walked off and started talking to Henry about something that was happening at school the next day, and Ray was left with his thoughts. 

Chapter Text

Ray loved receiving medals; he took great pride in being recognized for his achievements. This probably had something to do with the outright neglect he had received from his parents, and the ego buster that was his dad made him feel like he would never be good enough. Standing here on stage, about to win another award for being a hero of Swelview, was terrific and made him finally feel like he might be able to make his dad proud. He was just kidding himself; it didn't matter what he did; it would never be enough for his father. Henry must have noticed that Ray was lost in his thoughts because he nudged him to let him know that the major had finished his part of the speech, and it was now his turn.

Henry was absolutely beaming at him, and honestly, that meant more than any of the medals that he could have ever received. He wasn't sure why that face made him feel so joyful, but it did. At first, he had told himself he wouldn't get attached, not after the last time, but six months later, he just couldn't stop himself. He cared about the kid more than he probably would ever be willing to admit. And the fact that the kid looked up to him just put icing on the cake

Henry and Ray received their medals and their one coupon for a cup of frozen yogurt. Henry had asked if they could each have a coupon, but the vice mayor quickly dismissed the idea, saying they would have to share. Ray got up to the stage and made a quick thank you for the medals and yogurt that they would share, then turned things over to his sidekick. Unfortunately, Henry was cut off, and the people were dismissed before he could even finish his first sentence.

"Really, they're blowing me off?" Henry was clearly agitated, and rightfully so. Ray knew that, and he also knew just how hard Henry worked, both in and out of uniform.

"There was probably a time limit." Ray tried to reassure Henry, but it seemed to fall on deaf ears. They spent the next 30 minutes taking pictures and signing papers for the people of Swellview. Luckily, the citizens seemed more grateful for Henry than the mayor had. Just as many people were asking to take pictures with Henry or get something signed as Captain Man. Ray was more than thankful for this; Henry deserves recognition for the work he put in.

Henry informed Ray that their ride was ready, but before they could leave, Jasper, one of Henry's friends, asked him to sign an action figure for him. Ray agreed and asked Jasper to bring it to him, and he would be more than happy to sign it. Instead, Jasper threw it across the small room, hitting Ray right in the mouth. Ray quickly let everyone know he was okay, but before he got a chance to sign anything, Henry grabbed him by the shoulder and spun him around.

Henry brought his finger up to Ray's lip as he pulled away, and he said blood.

"Why do you have a bloody thumb?" Ray's words were laced with concern, but Henry simply shook his head and said, "I don't have a bloody thumb, you have a bloody lip from that toy hitting you in the face."

"But that's impossible," Ray argued, but as his hand touched his lips, he realized he did in fact have a bloody lip, and the more he thought about it, he realized his lip also still stung. "I'm not okay!" Ray practically shouted, and he grabbed Henry by the shoulders, shaking him.

Henry was quick to shush him, not wanting anyone to know that Ray had suddenly been hurt. That would only make both their lives 10 times harder.

This was one of the worst days Ray had ever had, and that was saying a lot, considering all his dad's training hadn't been exactly easy on the body. However, at least he was indestructible, and the pain was temporary. Today, he wasn't having such luck. He had been poked, prodded, punched, and most recently had his hand scorched. It's safe to say he was getting irritated.

"We should check his butt!" Henry yelled.

Okay, that's it. Ray had enough. "We are not checking my butt! You have done enough. I think it's pretty clear that I'm not indestructible anymore."

"Hey"

"What"

"This frozen yogurt is pretty good." Henry teased. Ray was really regretting giving him that yogurt. Henry had thrown a huge fit about having to share, so Ray gave in and was going to let him eat the whole thing. Not anymore.

"Hey, half of that is mine!"

"But you said I could have the whole thing," Henry whined.

"Yeah, well, you just suggested I get shot in the butt, so no more yogurt for you," Ray said as he ripped the yogurt out of Henry's hands and started eating it for himself. Just then, Charlotte called them, saying she might have an idea of what happened.

"Here, look at this footage from the award ceremony yesterday." Charlotte then played the video in slow motion, pointing out a part of the video where a lady walks by Ray and sprays him with something.

"But perfume wouldn't make you lose your powers," Henry stated, clearly confused about how what he was seeing was related in any way to Ray losing his powers.

That's when it clicked for Ray, "True, but the tears of the jolly beetle could."

"Jolly what?" Charlotte asked.

"See if you can find a picture online," Ray instructed her. As she did, he filled them in. "They are one of the rarest and happiest bugs on earth. See when they cry, their tears contain an enzyme that breaks down molecular density. Molecular density is what makes me indestructible." Ray finished, and at least some of his dad's hours of training were coming in handy.

"Okay, so that lady's perfume bottle would have to be full of the tears of Jolly beetles," Charlotte added.

"Right, and since they are so rare, they would have to have been imported. Charlotte, look and see if there have been any reports of a large shipment of Jolly beetles being imported, and get as much information as you can about where they were delivered."

"On it!" Charlotte immediately began digging through any available shipment reports.

Later that day, they had gotten a call about a tiger roaming the streets. It had broken out of a nearby zoo and was now chasing people all over the streets. Ray decided that the best course of action was to add as much protection as possible; he was no longer indestructible after all, and he had enough pain for one day. Henry had clearly grown impatient waiting for him, and when he walked down the stairs, he gave a look that said, 'You have to be kidding me.'

"Don't give me that face, I can be hurt now. I mean, look, I got stung by a bee and now there's this big bump and it's all swollen."

"Well, did you provoke the bee?"

"Yes, I flirted with the bee's girlfriend, no, it was a total unprovoked act of violence!"

"Can we just go?" Henry pleaded. He was getting really tired of Ray's whining at this point.

"Why don't you just go without me. I'm no use without my powers."

Henry didn't feel like arguing a point he had been arguing all day. Ray was still a great fighter with or without his powers, but clearly, his boss was not having any of it, so he just shook his head and went to deal with the tiger on his own.

Ray did feel bad about sending Henry off on his own, after all, he never had powers. But that only made him slump further into his bed. Maybe he wasn't worth being Captain Man; maybe his dad had been right all along. He was nothing, and he never would be.

Two days had gone by, and Ray was still mopping like a little kid. Currently, he was lying across the couch, shoving chips into his mouth as he wrestled with his thoughts. Maybe he would just give up on the whole superhero thing. Just then, Henry came down the tube. He had just about had enough of Ray at this point and was tired of doing everything on his own, which he made pretty clear as he walked over to the couch, complaining about how he had to pull an old lady out of a swamp all by himself. He made sure to emphasize those last three words, trying to get the point across to Ray.

Just then, Charlotte came down the elevator and said she had found something. She explained that the Jolly beetles only eat one kind of fish flakes and that a large shipment had been delivered to a warehouse in Swelview.

"Alright, let's go." Henry tugged on Ray's sweatshirt, clearly desperate to get him to come along.

"I can't, what if I get hurt?"

"What if you get hurt?! Ray, I have gone on countless dangerous missions with you and never thought twice. I don't have powers, but it's alright. You want to sit here all day and do nothing. That's fine, I'll go stop whoever did this." Henry snapped; it was cold and harsh, something Ray had never heard from Henry before. He was disappointed in him, and that stung worse than any bee.

Ray let those words sink in. Henry was right; he was always right. He was being foolish, and he had let Henry down, the one person who had been by his side. So Ray got up, pulled out his gum tube; powers or not, he was going to stop whoever had done this.

Henry had gotten himself captured by two of Dr. Minyak's goons.

"Let's teach the boy a lesson." Dr. Minyak taunted.

Ray then dropped from the ceiling and said, "Why don't you teach me?"

Henry's face lit up, "Captain Man!"

Dr. Minyak then sent one of his goons after Ray, and all the fear came boiling back up in Ray's stomach, but this time, he didn't run; he stood his ground. Because, along with everything else, Henry got right, he was also right about Ray being a good fighter. It didn't take long before Ray had the goon on the ground, so he shifted his focus; he needed Henry's help.

"Hey Kid Danger"

"Yeah"

"Count your toes." Henry quickly understood and ducked, allowing Ray to pick up a mug and chuck it at the goon's head, causing him to release Henry. Then Ray turned to Dr. Minyak, who, realizing he was fighting a losing battle, knocked the beetles to the ground. As a last resort, he released a special gas to kill the beetles.
"Hurry, we have to get the beetles!"

"But they're getting away, shouldn't we chase them? Henry wasn't asking more, trying to point out the obvious, but it became clear that Ray wasn't moving. He just sighed and began helping Ray collect the beetles.

Once they were back at the Man Cave, they set the beetles back up in their tubes and, to reverse the effect of the tears, needed to get the beetles to release an enzyme. This time, instead of the beetles needing to be sad, they needed to be happy. The team decided the best way to do this was to put a comedy on TV. Ray and Henry were just as engrossed as the beetles, and they were laughing together.

Charlotte smiled at the two; they truly made a fantastic team.

Then they sprayed the man with the fluid that the beetles released.

"Did you get your power back?" Henry asked

"One way to find out."

Ray could have simply gotten hit over the head with a bat or several other things that didn't result in him taking a chance of meeting an early grave. Still, no, he decided the best way to check if he had his power back was to be shot with a beam that would kill him if he was, in fact, still just a normal person. He didn't have anything to live for without his powers, did he? This had clearly worried Henry in more ways than one, but if the kid wanted to say something, he was sure staying quiet, and so was Charlotte, and that was a rare thing.

With one final warning, Gootch fired the gun, and all sat in silence as Ray hit the floor, scared that he might never get up. Just as everyone had started to accept the fact that he was, in fact, never getting off the floor, he slowly stood up.

"I'm okay!"

Henry moved first, as he ran to Ray and leapt into his arms. Charlotte followed soon after, and that's when it hit Ray: powers or not, he did have something to live for. 

Chapter Text

It had been a slow couple of weeks for Ray and Henry; there had been no major crimes, just minor, petty things they did to help ease the police workload. This had given Ray time to think; he kept replaying the words Charlotte said in his head. He had decided to ask her about it a couple of days ago, but she had simply told him it wasn’t her story to tell. Ray wanted to ask Henry desperately, but he didn’t want the kid to feel forced to talk about it if he wasn’t ready. He hoped that over time, Henry would be willing to speak to him about it, but for now, he was just left with his thoughts.

When Charlotte and Henry arrived, he was sitting at the counter of Junk & Stuff, talking to Gootch, who was showing him his trash machine. Ray was more than happy when the kids said they needed to speak to him about something. Gootche’s machine was making the store smell, and he would take any excuse to get out of there.

Ray stood perfectly still in the middle of the elevator as the two kids beside him screamed and flailed around. Ray would have assumed that by now, they would have gotten used to the elevator. It had been almost seven months since Henry had started working for him, and a month for Charlotte; they took the elevator every day. It seemed he was wrong, and he just smiled as he stepped over the two kids who were lying at the bottom of the elevator.

“So what did you guys need to talk to me about?”

“Well, there’s this new weird kid named Ortho in our school, and he keeps asking all these weird questions.” Henry started to explain as he pulled himself off the floor, trying to get his bearings.

“Ya and he’s got this physico look in his eyes,” Charlotte added, and Henry nodded in agreement.

“Got a pic?” Ray asked, wanting to see this kid for himself. Charlotte and Henry thought about it for a moment before remembering that Jasper was spending most of the day with the kid and probably had a picture on his Twitflash.

“Then I say we look at Jasper’s Twitflash,” Ray said, like he was in a detective movie, causing Henry and Charlotte to give him a weird face. Henry scrolled through Jasper’s Twitflash on one of the main screens in the Man Cave until he came across a picture of Ortho.

“There, that’s him!” Henry announced.

“Definitely a kid,” Ray stated.

“Yeah, a kid up to no good.” Henry and Charlotte said.

“Oh, cut him some slack. He’s the new kid; he’s probably just a little awkward. Let’s not make mumps out of marshmallows.

“Did we mention the part where he threatened you?” Henry asked. Okay, now that sent every hair on Ray’s neck straight up.

“What did that little marsh mump say?” Ray had gotten out of the chair he was sitting in.

“That his father was going to take care of you,” Henry answered.

Father… Something about that boy seemed familiar. Then it clicked that the hair looked just like Drill Finger, and Ortho was an odd name for a kid, but it would be right on theme for him. “Have you ever heard of a dentist named Drill Finger?” Ray asked, but when he was met by the blank expressions of the two kids standing in front of him, he knew the answer and started to explain. “He’s a dentist or was a dentist who goes by Drill Finger. He kidnapped the mayor a couple of years ago and removed all his teeth. I captured and took him to jail, but he was released 3 weeks ago.” Ray pulled up a picture to show the kids. Drill Finger had the same curly hair as Ortho, but much more couldn’t be said because he wears a purple mask over his face.

“I knew it, I knew it, I knew that kid was no good!” Charlotte yelled clearly, happy to have felt like she helped out.

“Yeah, but did you know it?” Henry teased.

“I did.”

Their back and forth brought Ray out of his thoughts for a second. He loved seeing both of them get along so well and was glad he had decided to bring Charlotte on the team. Henry was noticeably more comfortable with her around and more confident, which made Ray smile. We all need a friend like that.

“I’m going to need a way into your school. Ah, maybe as a substitute teacher!” Ray was thinking out loud.

“Well, we can’t just wait for one of our teachers to get sick,” Charlotte informed them.

“Hmm, I’ll have to think of a plan.” While Ray was doing this, he brought his hand up to his chin and stroked it as he thought. It was just a habit he had, but one he had never noticed, until he looked at the two kids standing across from him and realized they were copying him. It made him smile. These kids had given him a real reason to keep going, and they would never realize just how much they meant to him.

Ray had a plan, perhaps questionable in terms of morals, but it was a plan nonetheless. He decided to use Gootches’ nephew, who had chicken pox, to make one of Henry’s teachers sick. Then he could come in as a substitute teacher and keep an eye on that Ortho kid. Things went perfectly to plan, and by the next day, he was a substitute teacher. It hadn’t been as complicated as he thought. He didn’t have a high school degree, let alone a college one, but that didn’t matter to the principal; he just needed someone to watch the bratty kids. Just like that, Ray was in.

Ray ‘Taught the class’ and decided the best way to figure anything out about Ortho’s dad was to have him come in, so he made the next day a ‘Bring Your Dad to School’ day. The next day, all the kids had come with their fathers, except for Henry.

“Hey kid, where’s your dad?” Ray asked. In the grand scheme of things, it didn’t matter that Henry’s dad hadn’t shown up, but it still rubbed Ray the wrong way.

“He couldn’t make it; he had some big project at work”, Henry mumbled. His face was gloomy, and he was staring at his feet as he said it.

Ray had a feeling this wasn’t the first time something like this had happened. What father made work more critical than his kid? Ray just couldn’t wrap his head around it; he may not have known Henry long, but he was a fantastic kid. He then made a decision, but he would have to discuss it with Henry later. He might have had more time to think about it, but the bell rang, and that means it was time to start class. He gave Henry a sympathetic smile and took roll call.

Ray decided his best move was to secretly hit Ortho’s dad with a laser and then take him to the Man Cave. Okay, so it wasn’t his most thought-out plan ever. Ray hit Ortho’s father with a laser, but Ortho had quickly gotten up and accused Ray of having done something. This led Henry to step in and hit Ortho with a laser. There were now two passed-out people on the floor of the classroom.

“Let’s take them to the nurse.” Charlotte urged.

So Charlotte and Henry dragged Ortho, and Ray dragged his father. Surprise, surprise. They did not, in fact, go to the nurse and instead took them to the Man Cave, where they tied them up and waited for them to wake up. They had only started a very cringy interrogation when Gootch interrupted.

“What I’m dealing with, Drill Finger?” Ray asked. He didn’t like being interrupted.

“No, you’re not. Drill Finger was just spotted in Nebraska pouring sugar into the local water supply.” Gootch informed them.

“Situation?” Henry asked, a habit he had picked up from Ray. Once Gootch filled them in, Henry asked, “What now?”

“Nothing, we protect Swellview, Nebraska, is out of our league”, Ray answered. He was not about to start being a hero for the whole world; that would be way too much.

“Okay, wait, that means that the two people we have tied up are in fact not Drill Finger and his son.” Charlotte realized. Bringing everyone back to the problem at hand.

“Nope, just two normal people, thank you very much!” Ortho said clearly, pretty annoyed that he was being tied up for no reason.

“Okay, but why did you ask about our school’s water supply, and the security cameras, and why did you say you were going to take care of Captain Man?” Henry listed off questions like an auctioneer.

“My uncle sells water supplies. I was caught on camera in my old school picking my nose. My dad is building a retirement home here and in Swellview and was hoping to take care of Captain Man when he got older”, Ortho explained.

“To thank him for being such a great superhero.” Ortho’s dad finished, but the words were laced with sarcasm. Making Ray and the kids cringe, they had really messed up this time, hadn’t they?

Ray pulled the two kids aside. “Okay, so we messed up big. Now what?”

“I am not going to jail for you two!” Charlotte said.

“Well, we can’t let them go the way they are now; they have seen Charlotte, and it won’t take them long to figure out that Henry is Kid Danger”, Ray stated.

“So, what exactly do we do?” Henry asked, not seeing an easy way out of this one.

“We’ll have to knock them out again, drop them off far away from the Man Cave, then wipe their memories so they won’t remember anything”, Ray answered.

When they got back to the Man Cave, it was well after 12:00pm, but Ray had one more thing he wanted to say to Henry before he left, so once Charlotte left, he pulled Henry to the side.

“Hey, if your dad is ever busy again and you need someone to fill in, I’m a pretty available guy.” Ray had hoped Henry wouldn’t take this the wrong way; he wasn’t trying to replace his dad or anything, but the kid deserved to have someone cheering him on. By the way, Henry was beaming at him; it seemed he had said the right thing after all.

“Thanks, Ray, that means a lot.” Henry then hugged him. Ray didn’t know what it was about Henry, but he would be there as much as Henry needed him to be without a second thought. 

Chapter Text

Henry had been off for about a week now. He was clearly exhausted, and he was staying late at the Man Cave, clearly trying to avoid home. Ray had told himself he wouldn’t push; he would let Henry come to him, but clearly something had changed, and he couldn’t stand seeing Henry like this. So on patrol one afternoon, Ray asked him. “Hey, you’ve been avoiding home like the plague. Not that I mind having you at the Man Cave or anything. I just want to make sure everything is alright.” Ray didn’t really expect to answer, so when he just sighed and started talking, Ray was caught a little off guard.

“My parents are getting divorced and I’m going to have to live with my dad.”

Ray took a second to process that. A million questions started running through his head, but he took a deep breath and asked the one that was bothering him the most. “You don’t seem to be happy about that. What about your mom? Can’t you live with her?” The next part didn’t seem to be as easy for Henry to answer.

“She’s taking Piper, but she won’t take me.” Henry’s voice was cracking as he said it.

Ray’s mouth was open, but no words were coming out. He was too taken aback to speak immediately. Whose mother wouldn’t want their own son? Ray wanted to ask how on earth his mother thought this was okay, how she could just leave her son when he clearly didn’t want to live with his father. “I’m so sorry, Henry,” Ray said instead.

At this point, they had returned to Junk & Stuff. Ray had opened the door, but Henry was just standing in front of it.

“I should go home. It’s late.” Henry said, but there was a hint of hope, like he wanted Ray to ask him to stay, to invite him inside.

“Why don’t you stay the night?” Ray didn’t know if this was the best move, but he did know Henry didn’t really want to go home.

“Are you sure I don’t want to be invading or anything?”

“Henry, you are never invading.” Ray watched as a small smile crept onto Henry’s lips. It wasn’t the joyful kid he had seen in the past, but it was a start. They both made their way down to the Man Cave and changed out of their uniforms. Henry had decided to go shower, so while Ray waited on him, he decided to get some food ready. He made some tacos for both of them, set them on the table, and sat down. He decided to talk to Henry more once he had eaten.

Henry came out of the shower and sat down. He had some sweatpants that he had kept here for late nights and a t-shirt that was, in fact, not his. It took Ray a second before he realized Henry had put one of his shirts on.

Ray chuckled. “You know I’m pretty sure that shirt isn’t yours,” he teased.

“Sorry, mine was stained. I wanted something clean. I can put mine back on if you want.”

“No, no, that’s okay. I don’t mind really.” Henry simply nodded in response but seemed happy that Ray hadn’t made him take it off.

Once Henry was done eating, Ray decided it was now or never. “So why don’t you want to move in with your father? You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.” Ray added the last part just in case, but he was really hoping that Henry would open up to him even just a little bit.

“My dad never really liked me and always says I got in the way of him getting to his dreams. That if he never had me, he would be so much further in life.” Henry was starting to tear up as he talked, but he kept going. “He’s never cared. When mom’s not around, he yells and screams at me. He’s even hit me a couple of times. He ‘forgets’ to make dinner or get groceries, meaning that a lot of times I have to make dinner, and there is usually only enough for Piper, so I go to bed hungry.” Henry was now crying, not hard, but tears were streaming down his face.

Ray got up, sat beside Henry, and pulled him into a hug. Henry started crying harder now, “I just don’t understand what I did wrong,” Henry said in between sobs. It hurt Ray to think someone could hurt a kid as wonderful as Henry and make him feel like he had done something to deserve it.

“Henry, listen to me carefully, you didn’t do anything wrong, okay?” Henry simply nodded. He couldn’t get words out anymore; he was crying too hard. Ray just held him; he wasn’t sure what else he could do at the moment. Then he made a decision: Henry would never have to live with his dad again; he was going to make sure of that. He also knew that Henry’s mom wasn’t the best option either, and that only left one person: himself. He was going to talk to Henry’s dad and get him to give up custody to him. 

Chapter Text

When Charlotte walked in the next morning, she smiled. Henry and Ray were lying across the couch. Henry had his head on Ray’s shoulder, and his arm thrown over his torso, and it looked like he was wearing one of Ray’s shirts. It was a Saturday, and as far as she knew, they had nothing going on, so she decided to let them get some sleep. She made herself some pancakes and sat down at the table. Henry started to wake up. First, the smell of pancakes filled his nose, and his stomach growled, but clearly he wasn’t ready to get up just yet, as he simply got himself into a more comfortable position on Ray. All Henry’s wiggling was waking up Ray, too. He grumbled in his sleep, something about it being too early in the morning, and he just wanted 5 more minutes.

Ray opened his eyes; he didn’t exactly remember falling asleep; he had spent most of the night trying to find the best way to approach Henry’s dad. As the fog cleared, he realized Henry was lying on top of him. He smiled and gently tapped him on the shoulder, telling him it was time to get up. Henry grumbled but sat up anyway. He reached across the table and grabbed Charlotte’s plate of pancakes and started eating them.

“Hey, I made those for me, not you!” Charlotte grumbled, but she didn’t take them back. She just walked over to the snack machine and grabbed some more. Making sure to also grab some for Ray, knowing he would be just as willing to steal her plate of food. Ray thanked her for the pancakes and started stuffing his face. Charlotte sighed. The two of them had just gotten up, and the first thing they did was stuff their face. Once she was done eating, she got up and headed upstairs to open Junk & Stuff for the day. She was glad Henry had found Ray. He deserved someone better than his parents, someone who actually cared about him.

Once everyone had changed and showered, Ray told Henry he had to go talk to someone. He made some excuse about it being personal when Henry asked to come with. He felt bad for lying to the kid, but he hoped he could make up for it when he could tell Henry he didn’t have to live with his dad after all. He had to go to the police station to pick up the paperwork first. He didn’t realize just how easy it was for someone to take custody in the middle of a divorce as long as the parent was willing. All he had to do was get his dad to sign the paperwork and file it with the police department. After that, he just had to wait for it to be processed and for everything to be legally switched over, and they were in the clear.

Ray had played many different versions of how this talk would go in his head, but what he hadn’t expected was for Henry’s dad to basically say, “Yeah, whatever,” and sign the papers right there, which gave Ray custody. He was happy things went smoothly, of course, but honestly, it bothered Ray just how much Henry’s father didn’t give a shit like his son was nothing. At least he had good news to bring Henry when he got back.

Henry was pacing back and forth through the Man Cave. Had he told Ray too much? Did Ray think he was weak now and was looking for a new sidekick? Henry didn’t want to believe it, and the logical side of his brain was telling him that Ray would never do something like that. However, at the same time, Henry was accustomed to people letting him down, especially adults. His own parents hated him. Why would some random guy he had known for less than a year care? Why would anyone care? He was just some weak kid who couldn’t do anything right. At least that’s what his dad had told him for years. Parents are always right, or so he had been told.

Ray got back with papers in hand. He sat Henry down and told him he had some news. By Henry’s face, he could tell the kid was thinking the worst. “I promise it’s nothing bad, it’s actually some good news, so maybe turn that frown upside down?” Henry just gave him a sad smile, but there was some hope in it, so Ray continued. “I had a talk with your father and got custody of you.” Henry just stared at Ray, as if he had told him aliens were real.

“Wait, are you serious? You actually got custody?” Henry asked. His words were filled with worry, like he was waiting for all the good news to be ripped away from him.

“Yes, Henry, you’ll never have to see him again. I promise.” Henry practically jumped into Ray’s arms. He was crying again, but this time, not because he was upset and his world was falling apart; this time, for the first time in a long time, he was crying tears of joy.

Ray knew it would be a long road. He had no idea what he was doing, and he definitely didn’t have a 5-star dad to look up to. Still, he did know one thing: he was going to do everything he could to make Henry’s life 100 times better than it had been.

“Wait, doesn’t that make you my dad?”

Ray froze, technically, but he didn’t want the kid to wait; no, he didn’t want his kid to feel like he had to call him ‘dad’ or anything. “In a legal sense, yes, but you don’t have to call me dad or anything if you don’t want to.”

Henry simply smiled. Ray looked like a deer caught in head lights, trying to decide its next move, but unsure where to go. “ I don’t know, dad has a nice ring to it.” Ray simply beamed at him. “Whatever you are comfortable with, kid, is good for me.” Henry could tell Ray was trying to downplay just how much that meant to him. he simply chuckled. “Thanks, Dad, for everything. Thanks for caring.”

“Of course, kid, but you never have to thank me for that. I’ll always look out for you.”  Ray was tearing up, but he tried and failed to hide it from Henry.

The rest of the day was a pretty boring one, but Ray didn’t mind. He was in his own world, thinking about how on earth he had gotten so lucky. He was also thinking about how much needed to be done. They would need to turn the guest room into Henry’s room. They would need to retrieve at least some of his belongings from his house, and he would have to visit the police department to ensure everything was in order. So, there were no loose ends his dad could go back on. He didn’t mind one bit, at least not when it came to Henry. He still wasn’t sure how the kid had won his heart over so easily, but he had done it, and now Ray was in deep. He also knew that they were going to have to tell Jasper about Henry’s secret. It was going to get hard quickly for Henry to make up excuses about why he was ‘practically’ living at his job.

That was all tomorrow’s problem for today. he just enjoyed the fact that, for once in weeks, Henry had a big goofy smile on his face as he explained to Charlotte that he was moving into the Man Cave.