Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Blood dripped onto the bathroom counter as Henry quicky cleaned up his mess, a new cut had been added to his left arm, it wasn't deep as the others, just enough to release the pressure of his emotions. This whole week had been total shit, from his parents deciding to take off and didn't say when they would return to having to help Piper with her project and making sure she was keeping up with her homework, it didn't help the water and light bill hadn't been paid and he had to pay for supplies for Piper school project.

He had to use all his savings from his job to pay it himself. He hoped she got a good grade with all he had to buy her.

He quicky bandaged his arm and threw on one of his red flamel shirts and opened the door just in time to find Piper hand raised about to knock on the door, a grumpy look on her face, " you take too long in the bathroom " she said pushing pass him, Henry rolled his eyes and made his way downstairs, he quicky made their lunches which was just bologna sandwiches and an orange, he needed to go grocery shopping soon.

He heard Piper coming down the stairs with her pink backpack, just then his watch went off and henry sighed and pinched his nose, He answered, and ray face popped up, " we have an emergency at the Swellview bridge, it's on fire " Ray said, " all right, I'll be there as soon as I can " he said moving to the back door to avoid Piper, " oh hey by the way is you hot mom there " Ray asked with a silly expression his face making henry cut the call short.

He didn't know what Ray saw in his mother, maybe just a pretty face, He wonder how the man would feel if he knew the real her. A sour woman who didn't want children but treated them like property and married to a man she did not love.

A woman who drank her happiness away.

There Father was a work acholic and made good money but wasted it away on booze and gambling, that was the only reason their mother stuck around was for the money. 

He turned and went back inside to find Piper looking at the lunches in disgust, " bologna again" she growled. " it's all we have until next grocery trip " he told her. " where's mom and dad" she asked stuffing the sandwich back in the pink lunch bag.

" I don't know, it's going to be us for a while " he told her as he shifted through the papers on the kitchen table and pulled out what looked like last night homework, " here, and here is your study guide, you have that history test today, " he said turning to her. Piper grumbled but took it. " I got it" she said putting it in her bookbag, " so when are mom and dad coming back" she asked curios. " I don't know, you don't need to worry about it, just go to school and ace that test" he said leading her towards the front door.

Unlike him Piper was a lot more sheltered from their parents, he kept it that way as much as he could, the worst they have done was neglect, he was the one who kept up with her schoolwork, making sure she was fed and in bed by nine, the one who tended to her wounds when she got hurt riding her bike, the one who had to put his foot down when she wanted to stay out late with her friends and tried to limit her screen time.

Key word tries.

They made their way down the street, " alright you go on ahead, I need to handle something " He told her once they were closer to the school and he could see a group of her friends not far, Piper was busy looking down at her phone to notice as Henry quickly disappeared another direction headed towards the bridge.

He made it to the bridge in what he thought was record time, he hid behind a tree and pulled out the colorful bubblegum and blew a bubble, transforming into his alter ego, kid Danger, he Took a second to reel in his emotions and then ran towards the danger.

When he found captain man, he was surrounded by news reporters and a growing crowd, Henry looked around and could see the fire was put out and it seemed Ray had it handled by himself. The bridge was destroyed and there was a villain he didn't recognize tied up by Ray feet while the man boasted. 

' Well, it seemed he didn't need me after all' he thought changing back into his normal self and hoping to at least make it to the end of his first period, and he still needed to go grocery shopping.

Henry sighed as he walked out of the elevator and into the man cave, he had just gotten done running delivery for his other job he had, he had to have another job since ray didn't really pay him a lot, not enough to pay the bills at least, it would be good enough for a carefree teenager.

But he wasn't one. He meant it on the first day when he told ray why he was looking for a job before he accepted the position to be his sidekick, he was in it for the money, he needed to take care of Piper and himself when their parents were off on a bender or just not there.

It was a miracle they still had the house.

He had thought Ray would pay him more when he took on the responsibility of his sidekick, at the time it seemed awesome, to meet his superhero and get a chance to help people and make money. It didn't work that way, he ended up having to get a second job to make up for the first, and sometimes he did odd jobs such as going on grocery runs for some of the elderly neighbors or cutting someone's lawn.

His second job, he worked for a man named Jason who worked in the delivery service, Henry made runs for him when he had the time, the man paid decent and he got good tips, and the hours were durable for him and his other job as Kid Danger.

Henry was broken out of his thoughts when he heard a voice, he looked up to see Ray and Charlotte standing by the monitors. Ray was looking at him and had an angry expression on his face, Henry frowned, certain he had missed whatever the man had said. " uh I didn't hear ya" he said focusing on the two, charlotte was scanning through the screens searching for active crime.

" I asked, where were you?! you never showed up, I had to take care of that crook by myself " he shouted as Henry nodded and bit his lip, shit he forgot about that, " I did get there, but by then you had already caught him, I didn't see the point of me sticking around " he shrugged.

plus, if he had showed up and took the attention of the press of Ray, he would never hear the end of it from the self-centered man.

" That isn't the point, you were late " He said, " you were late when I needed my side kick, " he ranted, " so where were you that was so important...huh" Ray said getting worked up as Henry bit his lip, his arms ached in need of a blade, it had been since this morning. Ray seemed to forget he had a life, school and jobs, that he had to drop everything at a second notice.

It had been what he signed up for two years ago, he hadn't realized how much stress it would put on him, and it was then his parents hadn't been too bad and were at least able to keep up the household more often, but now they completely ditched and left him to raise Piper.

" So" Ray was still waiting for an answer, he wanted to so badly to tell him the truth, to tell him problems but he couldn't, He had tried before, to tell him what his mother was really like, but he had waved him off, said that a woman that beautiful couldn't be so foul. The man had never really listened to him when it counted so he didn't bother. He only had two more years until he was a legal adult and be able to move out and take Piper with him. 

" Nowhere, I got held up in class" he lied as Charlotte shot him a suspicious look, but he ignored it, Ray continued to rant, but he ignored it, He had forgotten to go grocery shopping, shit.

Chapter Text

Black Boots hit the pavement as a shadow figure walked over the recently burned bridge, the figure pulled out a cigarette and lit it watching workers raced to repair the bridge. Sea green eyes narrowed as he looked at the damage, he spotted a piece of red cloth that looked to come off of a red leather jacket " I found you " he smirked teeth sharp.

Henry sighed tired as he handed his latest delivery to an older man who tipped well, " thank you sir" he smiled and made his way away from the apartment building, he needed to head over to the man cave, it was nearing time for their patrol. 

They normally patrolled until around two in the morning if it was a quite night, if not he normally leaves close to three thirty since he needed to be up in the morning for school and work. That left him with only three hours of sleep if he was lucky, he had to make sure Piper was up and ready for school. 

He entered the Elevator and waited for it to drop, after what felt like forever, he finally made it to the bottom floor and the door opened, he put on a grin erasing the frown on his pale face. Ray was at the table with Charlotte and Jasper and schwoz, the three were munching on what looked like to be nachos. " sup " he said taking his seat next to Jasper, God he was hungry, he hadn't eaten in like a day and a half.

" Well for once you are on time " Ray snarked as Henry rolled his eyes but didn't say anything, He stood up and went over to the microwave and tap the button for hamburger, after a minute it appeared and he grinned, he was quite hungry. " Come on, let's go" Ray said heading towards the Tube, Henry grin dropped, and he quickly took a few big bites of the burger to at least tie him over before following the man, he took out his bubbles and began to blow and transforms.

" Good luck " Jasper waved happily while Charlotte was listening into the police scanner, " robbery on Waller Street " she said looking up to the two, " armed?" Henry asked hoping they weren't, " she nodded as he sighed, he hated guns. " No Biggie" Ray grinned as everyone else gave him a look, " said the one who couldn't be hurt. The two disappeared into the tube and into the Van.

It was going to be a long night.

Henry froze as he avoided a bullet that flew pass his face and nicked his ear, The villain was cornered in a back alley, as a last resort the man in red had taken out a gun and fired, the night was already going bad, first the robbery they had handled with Ray taking them out, then there had been another robbery of a downtown liquor store, and now he was chasing two crooks that had been breaking into the Jewely store, Ray had gone after the other while he went after this one.

Henry froze as his life seemed to flash through his eyes, that could have been his head, but it only got his ear. He thought of Piper, what would happen to her if he never came home from one of his patrols? 

Seeing movement, he snapped out of his thoughts and moved just as another bullet was fired and this time it did not miss, he felt pain in his shoulder and had to bite back a cry of pain as he fell to the ground, he had never been shot but it hurt like a bitch. 

The man laughed as Henry held his shoulder, grunted, the man walked forward gun trained on the sidekick, " don't move " he growled now in front of the other, he shoved the gun in Henry face. Henry froze seeing the barrel of the gun Infront of him, fear shot through him, he had been fighting villains and crooks for at least two years now and most times he got out of it unscaved or captain man was there to rescue him.

But there was no captain man to save him now.

" Got you right where I want you " the man had a nasty grin on his face, blue eyes meeting scared brown hazel eyes, He was going to die, no one was going to care, Ray and his friends might, but they would move on quickly, Ray would find a new sidekick, the public would move on too, what would happen to Piper? who would take care of her, their parents wouldn't. 

Just then a gunshot rang through and he closed his eyes, expecting pain, for his life to end, but nothing happened, he opened his eyes to find the man staring down at him only something was different, there was a red dot on his forehead, the red dot got bigger, he realized it was hole, a gunshot hole, blood spilled out trailing down his face, his eyes glazed over and the man fell backwards

Henry eyes widen in shock, he stood up fast, vision blurry. He turned trying to find where or more of who shot the crook, he turned to see a man in the shadows of the alley, he could barely make out his features in the dark. " Henry stepped backwards looking at the new threat, he was trapped and injured with his back to the wall now. " Not going to kill ya kid " the man voice was deep and rough as he put the gun away, he then disappeared into the shadows like he was never there.

Henry waited a few minutes, waiting, wondering if the man would come back and finish the job, but he never did, he let out a breath of air he hadn't realized he had been holding. He fell against the wall and slid down to the ground, he winced as pain shot through his shoulder, he grabbed it, by now his shoulder was sticky with blood, his suit was ruined. 

It was then he heard his watch go off, it beeped loudly in the dark empty alley, he answered the call, " where the hell are you" Henry grumbled as dropped his head against the wall." me I should be asking you that! I've been looking all over for you!, did you get the guy?!" he asked as henry eyes landed on the growing cold body not far from him.

He felt sick.

" well," Ray demanded clearly annoyed at his sidekick, " I got him but uh there was a problem" Henry said tired, his shoulder hurt, and he was growing dizzy, he was already weak from lack of sleep and missing meals and to add bloodless was just the icing on the cake. " What did you lose him?....where are you?" asked Ray trying to look at Henry surroundings, Then his eyes landed on a strange lump on the ground, " so you did get him " Ray shouted as Henry vision blurred more, " no..I I didn't" his voice trailed off as his vision went black.

Chapter Text

Ray had just finish taking out the guy he had been chasing throughout the alley, the guy had been fast and slippery, every time he thought he had him the guy would take a turn or parkour the walls to at that point he was chasing him through rooftops and fire escapes, he was indestructible not fast. After near twenty minutes and maybe throwing a brick at the guy hitting hm in the leg causing him to fall he was able to grab the guy.

Who was thankfully not to injured according to his thinking, He panted for breath while holding the crook down with one foot, he really needed to lay off the junk food, it was starting to catch up to him. after a few minutes and noticing the guy trying to escape, he pulled out a rope and got to work on tying him up making sure to double knot the ropes. After that he stepped back and looked at his handy work, the crook struggled uselessly.

something caught his eye, and he spotted the bag not too far from them, it must have fallen out of the robber hold during the struggle. He grabbed it and found the stolen jewels and smirked, there was at least thirty grand in the bag. 

" let's say, ten years for first decree robbery, maybe twenty if they convict you for other crimes" Ray said shaking the bag as the man growled glaring up at him from the pavement, Ray called the police, he waited at least ten minutes until a patrol car pulled up and two officers got out one male and the other female.

Ray put on a mega smile seeing the female, she was hot, with blue eyes and dark hair pulled up in a bun covered by the hat, he could tell that if she was out of uniform, she would draw all eyes. " Why hello there" he leaned against the wall as the police officer rolled her eyes. clearly not interested in him the least. " where's the suspect?" she asked getting straight to business as her partner was more relaxed. 

" Captain man I'm a big fan of yours, my kids love ya " he said shaking his hand as ray smiled but it was more forced, he rather being taking to the hot babe. " I'm officer Wade and this is officer clearwater " Wade introduced as the woman walked pass, seeing the crook tied up. 

" Does clearwater have a first name" Ray tried again, " no she does not" said sternly pulling the man to his feet, the criminal hissed in pain as his leg throbbed, Clearwater paused and took a better look at the man, " how did he hurt his leg " she asked noticing the injury as captain man turned. " oh he fell off the roof " he shrugged as clearwater eyes narrowed. " no you threw a brick at me you psycho " the man yelled as Ray rolled his eyes.

" it was more of a rock " he mocked as clearwater scowled, " you have super strength, do you really need to resort to such measures to take out a petty criminal" she raised her eyebrow. officer wade looked nervous, " he did get the crook so I don't think it really matters " he said as Ray gave a charming smile as Clearwater glared but said no more on the matter, Captain man was an important figure to the town, and she rather keep her job seeing as she didn't have much pull with her job.

She dragged the Crimmel to the back seat and promised to get his leg looked at, it looked bad, bruising maybe even broken. She had no problem with using force when chasing a suspect, but she didn't have powers and could be hurt, captain man was known for being rough and causing harm to villains. 

What her problem was he didn't have much control over his strength and was cocky. He just did what he wanted without consequences, one of these days he might go too far. Ray handed over the bag of jewels to wade who nodded grateful, he then asked for an autograph for his children which Ray happily gave. By then Clearwater was dragging her partner away needing to return to the station.

Ray watched them drive away waving, he wished he got her number.

He sighed and looked around, he just realized that he hadn't heard from Henry for a while? he frowned as he felt annoyance flare through him, that kid had been late for work or sometimes just don't show up when needed.

He clicked his watch, calling the blonde, after not getting through to him, he frowned, " that kid " he growled trying his watch again, he did not want to have to track the kid down, he was supposed be going after the other crook, it should have been easy for him, after the fifth time of calling him he finally answered and Ray rolled his eyes as he heard henry voice " where the hell are you?" the blonde growled as ray felt anger course through him.

" Me where the hell are you, I've been searching everywhere for you? he shot back as he fibbed slightly, he hadn't looked for him only calling him. " Did you at least catch the crook" he asked hoping his sidekick wasn't getting lazy, he was going to have to crack down on his training.

" I got him but uh there was a problem" Henry voice slurred slightly as Ray growled, he really hoped that didn't mean he lost him! " What did you lose him?.....where are you " he growled angry at his sidekick who was going quite on the other end, he tried to look around the area that henry was in, but it was dark, he could make out a slumped form and figured that was the crook.

" You did get him " Ray shouted confused on why henry was being so vague, He frowned as henry eyes drooped close, he couldn't see much in the dark, " no I didn't " henry voice was quite as he trailed off and his head fell forward.

" Henry? hey what's going on?" he demanded starting to realize something was wrong, a pt formed in his stomach as he pulled out his phone and called scwoze, " hello" the man voice sounded, he was likely tinkering with something, " get me a location henry now" he demanded serious. He heard a thump and then silence as the man moved to his desk. Ray would have done it himself, but they were in the middle of updating their watches.

" he's on fourth street " scwoze voice sounded, Ray hung up not explaining and shot off, that was on the other side of town, He didn't realize how far Henry must have chased the robber, worry ate at him as he ran, he could have taken the van, but he didn't think about it.

Chapter Text

Jasmine sighed as she finished her plate of spaghetti, she was by herself once again. Dr Minyak was busy creating some new creation and had rejected her offer to go to dinner once again. It wasn't like she asked him out or anything, it was just dinner as friends. Though she wouldn't be opposed to a date. She just wanted them to hang out outside of their line of work. He spent majority of his time in the lab. Those fumes couldn't be good for his health.

Jasmine sighed taking a sip of her red wine while also ignoring the stare from an older man. She resisted the urge to sneer, said man was with his wife and daughter. It disgusts her at how obvious he was, even his wife had taken notice. Jasmine could see the pretty red head woman lower her brown eyes in shame, which let the villain nurse know she was well aware of her husband's infidelity. Jasmine now had a knew target in mind as she signaled the waiter for the check.

Her blonde wig itched slightly, being a known villain, she couldn't walk around freely, though not as recognizable as Dr. Minyak. She paid the bill like the good citizen she was, plus she liked this restaurant, the food and service were great, and she wasn't that cold hearted.

She stood up making her way to the restroom, giving a flirting look to the man as she passed their table, it seemed they were just finishing up their own meal, the wife was busy paying for the bill while their daughter was busy on her phone.

Jasmine smirked hearing the chair scratched against the floor, it was too easy, she heard him make up an excuse having need to use the restroom, Jasmine didn't need to look to see the wife expression. She reached the restroom that was located at the back of the restaurant and had to take a right down a hallway. The wife knew her husband was a cheating bastard but said nothing, ignored it in hopes to save their marriage that was falling apart.

Jasmine own parents were just like that, her father was always on business trips her mother had told her when she was young, she was to innocent to see the tears and pain in her mother's eyes then. When she was ten her father had divorced her mother and left to start a new family with his much younger assistant. Jasmine found it funny that he ended up leaving her with two five-year-old boys for another woman.

She knew of at least another woman he was with; they had a baby girl together before he left her to. She knew she had at least five siblings and most likely more. Jasmine shook those thoughts away as she heard the bathroom open and close, Jasmine felt her hand twitch as the man appeared with a greasy grin. 

Jasmine smiled sweetly at the man who did a quick sweep of the stalls and locked the door, it befuddled Jasmine how eager the man was for a quick fuck even when he was out with his family, she ignored the greasy feeling of hands running up her thigh, " I'm Sam" He whispered in her ear. " Saw you eying me" he said making Jasmine snort, if anyone was doing the staring it was him. " you always this desperate for a fuck" she asked brown eyes narrowing as she grabbed his wrist, keeping it from going any further.

" oh don't be a tease" Sam kissed her lips only to shout in pain as she bit his lip hard, drawing blood, " what the fuck" he said touching his injured lip, Jasmine tilted her head, " I'm not a big fan or men who cheat on their wives" She said licking the blood on her own lips away, Sam blue eyes turned from lust to rage " you bitch" he went t to raise his fist only to be knocked backwards into an open stall door and right into the toilet.

" Your right where you belong" Jasmine chuckled as Sam tried to get up but had trouble, Jasmine placed her heel on his chest with surprising strength keeping the man in place, " what the fuck " he snarled. Jasmine hand twitched but only this time she held the now familiar blade in her hands, " I'm already having a bad night, you see instead of having a nice dinner with my boss, I get you, a cheating prick, you have a daughter for Christ sakes" Jasmine pushed her heel deeper into his chest.

" you're crazy " Sam yelled, " help, someone hel" his cries were cut off as Jasmine ran her blade across his throat, " shut up, your voice is annoying" she growled as he gurgled, choking on his own blood as Jasmine stepped backwards. She watched as he tried to crawl to the door on his hands and knees before collapsing.

Cold brown eyes watched as he took his last breath before she went and cleaned her blade and made herself presentable before leaving the restroom, it was a small mercy that there was no one outside the door. As she made her way to the front, purse in hand, he spotted the wife and daughter playing an arcade game. Just as Jasmine was about to step through the door she felt a hand on her shoulder, she turned to meet the eyes of Sam wife.

The woman looked about to say something but didn't, " sorry" she went to step back but Jasmine stopped her, " I know. You don't have to worry about him anymore" was all she said before letting her go and finally left the small restaurant behind, she was only halfway down the block when she heard the screams of terrified civilians.

She picked up her pace slightly and took a turn down a back alley. 

Her hand twitched for her blade as she passed every potential threat, from homeless to possible muggers, her brown eyes cold as she eyed a man who passed her, she sniffed the air and glanced back at him, He smelt of gunpowder and blood.

She could smell more blood up ahead, a lot of it. She narrowed her eyes, she had a strong sense of smell since she was younger, it annoyed her sister since she could always sniff out her hidden snacks. 

As she got closer, she could also pick up a familiar scent, the smell of apple pie and wood she knew belonged to a certain sidekick, she frowned as she turned a corner to find a body slumped on the pavement and a very injured Kid Danger. Her eyes turn sharp as she walked closer, she didn't have to check the man's pulse to know he was dead, the bullet hole was proof enough. She went straight to the hero who was half unconscious.

His eyes were glazed, " hey" Jasmine knelt down in front of him, " hey I know you " he slurred as he tried to stay awake, he glanced to his watch, he wasn't sure if he called Ray or not, he thinks he did. His mind felt sluggish, and everything hurt. " you're the hot nurse" he pointed out making Jasmine smile slightly. Her disguise must have been that good if even he could recognize her in his state. Jasmine focused her attention on the wound, she tore away some of his already ruined suit, there was too much blood for her liking and the bullet didn't go straight through either.

She eyed the sidekick who head had slumped forward, unconscious. This was her chance to get rid a hero, a threat to her and Dr Minyak plans, her hand twitched as he blades appeared, she held it to the sidekick's throat, her eyes went to the mask, she pulled it off to reveal a young face, younger than she thought he was, she had thought he was at least in his twenty, he couldn't be no more than fifteen, his face was pale from blood loss, dark circles under his eyes and a long cut across his cheek.

Her brown eyes widen, Kid danger didn't appear until two years ago, so that would have meant he couldn't have been no older than thirteen, she had thought he was short and squeaky voice, a wave of anger came over her. All these years she had no idea he was a child; Captain Man was an idiot to bring a child into such a dangerous line of work. She put pressure on the wound to stop the bleeding and flipped her phone out, she dialed the familiar number quickly and was glad Minyak answered on the first ring.

" Cohort where are you, what's taking so long, also can you bring me back those bread sticks?" his voice filled her ears. " Dr. Minyak, I'm sending you my location, need you here now" she said serious. " what's wrong" Minyak asked, she could hear movement on the other side.

" Just get here" she hung up and sent the location before focusing back on the kid, she heard sirens in the distance. " come on kid wake up " she shook him awake, " huh" he slurred, he look around not really seeing, " need to call Ray" he mumbled but Jasmine caught it, ' Ray?' she wondered as he fiddled with his watch but failed as he fell unconscious again.

" Damit" she cursed just she heard footsteps and turn blade raised only to come face to face with Minyak who looked out of breath, " you better have a good reason for hanging up on me " he growled as he put his hands on his knees.

" No time to explain, we need to hurry before Captain Man gets here" she said turning " did you bring the car?" she asked as Minyak looked over her shoulder " Kid Danger!" he said in surprise before his eyes went dark. " What happen?" he asked seeing the now cold body, " I don't know, he wounded, I found him this way" she said " now help me" she ordered, it was rare for her to make demands, Minyak raised his eyebrows in surprise but did as he was told. They didn't have time to dawdle, the police or Captain Man would be here soon.

He bent forward and picked the hero up in a bridal style, he was smaller than he thought he was, this was the closest he ever been to the sidekick. He frowned at how light he was, Minyak was no doubt not the strongest villain in strength but even the sidekick he could hold without much struggle.

He followed Jasmine through the dark alley and back onto the street where he parked his small white car down, around the corner were red and blue lights " wonder what happened there" he said more to himself. " I'll tell you later" Jasmine said opening the back door and Minyak laid the sidekick in the back seat, he threw a blanket over him just in case nosy civilians or cops got curious. He slammed the door shut and made way to the driver's seat, He noticed jasmine in the backseat, keeping pressure on the wound, " turn the heat on" she said.

" You have a lot of explaining to do " he grumbled as he did as he was told, he started the ignition and cranked the heat up to maximum and high tailed it.

Chapter Text

Jasmine sighed as she cleaned her hands off, she watched the blood go down the drain, she had spent the hour pulling the bullet out of the kids' shoulder and sewing the wound. The kid had slept through it. ' What a night' she thought looking at the clock, it was late.

She heard the door open and Dr. Minyak appeared, the man leaned against the door frame and crossed his arms watching her. " tea" he said after a minute, " yes" Jasmine answered moving towards the door. The two settled in the small kitchen, Minyak put on a kettle of water on the stove while Jasmine took a seat. They lived in a rundown apartment, the rent was cheap, and the landlord didn't ask question. The apartment had three bedrooms with a kitchen and living room combined. 

" So, what happened?" Minyak asked taking a seat across from her, his chair creaked under his weight, Jasmine watched as he poured the hot water into both mugs and place the tea bags in each. " Well, that's a long story" she said. " I've got time, " Minyak said in response. " I want to know why I got captains man sidekick on my couch" he added with a glare.

Jasmine glanced to the boy who was still asleep, it didn't seem he would wake up anytime soon. " I found him after I had to make a quick get away from the restaurant " she started. She explained what happened with the man in the women's bathroom, to her leaving the scene to finding kid danger injured and a corpse.

" He's just a child" Jasmine said, " he couldn't be no older than pre-teen when he started " she added sipping her tea. Minyak eyes trailed to the boy on the couch while pulling out a cigarette from his front pocket. Jasmine hated when he smoked. She knew those damn thing cut your life span in half. Minyak ignored her disproving look as he lit the cancer stick and stuck it between his lip and inhaled.

" Well, he can't stay here, Captain man will be looking, even though I dismantle the tracker on his watch " Minyak said in thought. He had made sure to remove any devices that he found on the boy and scanned him to make sure there was no tracker inside of his body which he didn't find. He wasn't going to take the risk of captain man finding them. They had also removed the boy's hero costume and found more injuries.

Minyak didn't know how to feel about the scars they found on the boy's pale arms. He knew from how straight and precise the cuts were that they were self-inflicted.

Jasmine looked conflicted. " He can't go back to captain man, just look at the poor boy " she said worried, the boy was already weak from blood loss, and he must have not been eating from what she could tell. " We can't keep him jasmine " he told her seeing the look on her face. jasmine scowled at him. " Just for a little while, at least until he strong enough to hold his own" she begged. 

" He could be a hostage" she said making Minyak pause in thought. She was right, the boy could be used against captain man, a wide smile spread over his face as his eyes gleamed. Jasmine knew she had the man on board. 

This way she can care for the boy.

" I'll prepare a new location and a place to keep him" Minyak said stubbing out his cigarette in the ashtray. Jasmine nodded in agreement, this place they had been here too long, at least three months now. It was risky to stay somewhere to long. They wouldn't leave yet but they would need a backup incase this place was discovered.

Jasmine stood and went to tend to the boy on the couch, he was still asleep on the couch with a blanket over him, the dark circles under his eyes still prominent against his pale skin. Jasmine ran a finger over his cheek. 

" I'm going out for a bit, we need more supplies" said Minyak putting his thick brown coat on, jasmine turned to him, " make sure to get chains" she said. " of course, who do think I am" he said patting his pocket making sure he had everything on him.

With that he was out the door leaving Jasmine to care for the injured sidekick.

Chapter Text

Minyak walked down the dark Steet hands in his pocket while dark eyes shifted every second making sure there was no one following him. The man gave one last look before entering the small rundown bar. It was two in the morning, but he knew this place would be open. It was a local hangout for villains like himself. It was run by a women known as White Owl. It was a place of information gathering and, in a sense, a safe place.

It also was a place of trade. 

Minyak scanned the room, there were quite a few people here tonight, all trying to weasel information from each other or cut a deal. He could see the toddler and his goons drinking milk at a table. they were the loudest of the bunch. Then there were some who just came to enjoy a drink. He spotted an old man sitting at the bar with a beer in hand. The man was known as silver wolf; he was an old friend of White Owl. He was not a man to mess with.

Minyak made his way to the back of the bar where he could see a young woman with long red hair in braids, she wore all leather and had a cigarette in between her lips, there were two large men on each side of her.

" Cherry" Minyak grunted in greeting dark eyes meeting sea green as Cherry looked to him, a sly smile playing on her red lips. " Minyak, it's been a while" Cherry leaned forward, blood red nails clacking against the table. " Not long enough " he said. Normally he would have Jasmine do this but seeing as Jasmine was obsessing with kid danger and taking care of him, couldn't be here.

" where's Jazzy" Cherry asked curious looking behind him but not seeing the nurse. " She had a few errands to run, so I'm here instead " he said face stoic. Cherry studied him for a minute before leaning back in her chair. " What do you need?" she asked getting straight to business.

Minyak pulled out a list jasmine had given him before he left, " here" he said holding it out to her, it was actually a long list. Cherry took it and looked through it, " I have everything in stock " she said after a few minutes of looking through her inventory on her laptop. 

" it's going to cost you" Cherry said as Minyak grumbled " my things first " he scowled at her. Cherry smirked before snapping her fingers and the two men were up and leaving. " It will be ready in ten" she told him. 

" Now sit have a drink" she said snapping her fingers again and another man was next to them already pouring her glass of wine and placing another Infront of him before filling it up also. Minyak glared at her and the drink. 

" I'm not a wine person" he sneered but the man was already replacing it with a bottle of whisky.

" so, what's the use of the chains? you and Jasmine having a fun without me?" Cherry asked flirty taking a sip of her wine while Minyak took a sip of his own drink, he knew it wasn't poisoned but to be safe he had tested it.

" no" He growled annoyed that everyone assumed he was sleeping with his assistant.

" Too bad, Shes a real looker, I bet she would be good in bed" Cherry smirked while Minyak rolled his eyes, this was why he let Jasmine deal with the red head woman. Cherry eyed him like a piece of meat, and it took everything he had not to shiver. 

It was his saving grace that the two guys returned with a duffel bag that had him standing up to fast to his liking. He just wanted to go home and start working on the makeshift prison cell. Minyak tossed the envelope of money down on the table Infront of Cherry. 

The red head woman quicky counted the money while Minyak did a quick take of the supplies he ordered, he found everything was there and zipped the duffle bag up. " Pleasure doing business with you and tell Jazzy I said hi" Cherry smirked. 

" I will " he said before leaving, he wasn't good with interactions.

Henry awoke with a groan, he felt like he been hit by an eight-wheeler. His shoulder hurt and his body felt like it was a bruised apple. Suddenly memeories came back to him, flashes of the patrol with Ray, splitting up to chase the crimmnals, him being shot at and then shot in the shoulder, the mysteroius man who killed his shooter.

Henry went to sit up but found he couldn't, he frowned when he found his wrist was shackled to the bed rail behind him, he found his ankles were also shackled to the bed post. He looked around and found himself in a small room, the windows had been covered up with plywood blocking out any sunlight to shine through. The room was bear with green walls and floor was carpet that looked to seen better days.

Panic began to set in Henry as he tried to pull the shackles off of him, he struggled but failed to remove them, he couldn't remember how he ended up here, he had thought Ray would have found him. did he even call him last night? he wasn't sure, he thought he did but maybe he imagined it.

Henrey looked around trying to find something to pick the lock, but found nothing within his sight, it was then the doorknob rattle and he froze in fear. the door open to reveal a familiar face, the woman wore a nurse outfit that had to be against hospital rules, it reached her just before her knees. " Nurse Cohort?" he said shocked as she looked at him with a look of surprise on her pretty face.

" Your awake?" she smiled dark eyes lighting up. she held a tray in her hands. the villain made her way to him and set the tray on the night stand next to him. " I was getting worried; you were sleeping so long I wasn't sure if you wake" she said walking away out of the room and returning with a chair scaping behind her.

Henry frowned at her unsure, " the alley, I remember now, you were there" he said as blurry memories started to come back to him, he remembered her leaning over him. " Yes, I found you" she nodded. Henry looked to his shoulder; it was bandaged and clean with only a little spotting of blood bleeding through. 

" You saved me?" he asked confused as the villain nurse handed him a glass of water. The nurse tilted her head at him; Henry didn't like the look in her eye as she smiled at him. Henry fiddled with the chains. He realized she didn't save him out of the kindness of her heart; he was a hostage.

He scowled at her.

It was then that Minyak appeared in the doorway with what henry assumed was a cup of coffee in his hands. The man dark eyes made Henry shiver in fear making the boy curl in on himself, he couldn't believe he got caught. All he could think about was piper, he was sure the girl had just eaten junk food, stayed up late on her phone and most likely sleeping through her alarm right this moment. He wondered if Ray and the team was looking for him. 

" Minyak you're scaring him" nurse Cohort hissed to the man, " I'm not doing anything " the man complained as nurse Cohort glared at him. " I'm not the one who's got him in chains" Minyak pointed out. It had been Jasmine idea to shackle the boy to the bed, Minyak was just going to build a cell and lock the boy in it. 

" Henry watched as the two bickered back and forth like an old marry couple. Henry scanned the room and tried to see into the hallway, it was then that henry spotted a small table in the hallway with a mirror, he caught sight of his reflection and paled.

He had no mask, no costume, He wasn't dressed as kid danger.

They had removed his mask.

They knew his identity.

Henry felt sick to his stomach, it was only a matter of time before they figured out who his family and friends were and his link to Ray and the store. The secret base under the junk shop. Henry felt his arms ache in need of a blade; he used his nails to scratch his arms. He needed relief from his emotions. Henry nails dug into his skin drawing blood and catching the attention of the two villains. 

Suddenly Henry felt hands on his shoulders, and he was yanked roughly up by Minyak, " don't do that" growled the man his grip on Henry shoulder strong almost bruising. Henry struggled in his grip as he stared up at the man, the cuffs biting into his wrist and ankles. 

" Calm down, we won't hurt you " Cohort was next to Henry her hands reaching toward him, before Henry knew it, she had pulled him out of Minyak hold and into her arms. Her hand running through his hair.

" shh " she hummed smoothly her grip tight around Henry making it impossible to escape. Henry defeated and too tired to fight her went still and let her hold him. " Here why don't you drink something " the villain nurse said holding the glass to his lips. Henry eyed her warily but drank the water, he didn't know how thirsty he was until the first drop hit his lips. He drank greedily making Cohort smile down at him.

" Not to fast dear, you will make yourself sick" she said pulling the glass away from him. " Now let's look your wounds shall we " the nurse said releasing her hold and lifting his arms up to reveal his cuts making Henry pull his arms away from her ashamed.

" There fine" he muttered face red. He didn't want anyone to know about his habit. He had been so careful in hiding it. He glared at the two villains. " Captain Man will find me " he said confidently even though he didn't feel it. Minyak only smirked, " oh I'm sure but he won't find you I've already disabled all your trackers which weren't that many actually" the man said hands in his pockets. 

Henry tensed hearing this, that meant scowz couldn't find him. That meant he was stuck here as a hostage. " Well since you're going to be here awhile let's get to know each other, I'm Jasmine" nurse Cohort introduced herself making Minyak roll his eyes.

" And if you try to escape..." Minya began eyes going dark as he looked down at the boy, " well let's not find out " he finished with a wide smile spitting his face making henry back away, he didn't want to know what the man would do to him if he tried to escape. He needed to bind his time.

let them think they had the upper hand.

He let Jasmine clean his cuts without giving her any trouble.

Chapter Text

Scowz watched as Ray paced back and forth in front of the monitors, the man had been restless since henry mystery disappearance two weeks ago. The last they had seen of Henry was on fourth street after he had chased the bank robber while Ray went after the other. Said bank robber was sitting in a morgue having been shot in the head. They had found the man body in a back alley along with Henry mask and bloodstains on the concrete.

So as far as they know Henry was injured and someone had him, but who they didn't know, there had been no ransom note and nothing on the street, it was quiet, to quite for schoz liking. Ray had been on a man hunt roughing up every villain or criminal he comes across. No one knew anything. whoever had Henry was keeping a low profile. 

Schozs looked down at his blue keyboard, it was cracked from when he thrown it across, he room in frustration after he couldn't find henry with his tracking devices, they had all been disabled or destroyed and it royally pissed him off.

Whoever had Henry was smart and could get pass him.

The short man looked up when he heard the elevator ding and open to reveal jasper and Charlotte coming out, having just come from school. " Hey, find anything " asked Charlotte hopeful. Ray looked up at them, dark circles under his eyes. " no" was all he said before going back to pacing.

Charlotte shoulders dropped 

" What are we going to tell his family? at some point they have to know?" Charlotte started. The first week Henry was kidnapped they had told his mother that he had went camping with some friends. though his mother hadn't look too concerned and just waved them off with a smile. But now it was the second week, and they still couldn't find Henry. " I'm going on patrol" Ray said heading to the tube.

Charlotte watched him go, feeling useless, she couldn't do anything, she had tried searching the internet and data bases but had hit a dead end. She wasn't used to this; all the Crimmels they dealt with normally weren't that smart and would have boasted that they kid danger by now.

Something was wrong, she could feel it.

Henry sighed as Jasmine hummed while brushing his hair, " you have such soft hair" Jasmine admired running her hands through his hair affectionally. It had only been an hour ago they had decided he needed a shower. It had been Awkard when Minyak had found out he was trans. The morning had been the most Awkard one they had. Henry had been hoping they would give him some privacy, but they hadn't.

He learned jasmine had no sense of personal space and tried to help him wash which ended up in an argument between the three of them and no he was here.

" Jasmine you've been brushing the kid's hair for twenty minutes now, lay off of him" Minyak grouched from his table, coffee cup in hand and a device in the other, he was working on something at the kitchen table, the table was filled with parts of different kinds.

Henry was tied to the chair across from him watching curious to what he could be building. It had been harder than he thought to escape since Jasmine was almost always there with him, and if she wasn't Minyak was always keeping an eye on him. 

Jasmine was nice to him, always making sure his wounds were clean, making sure he ate even when he wasn't hungry. She forced him to eat. Henry never realized how overbearing the woman was. jasmine blinked not realizing she had been brushing his hair that long and blushed. " also, I think your bacon is burning " Minyak pointed to the stove. " oh no" Jasmine stood up fast alarmed.

" Why didn't you tell me before" she hissed looking at the burnet bacon. " I did" Minyak said making jasmine turn and glare at him, the frying pan in her hand, " well you could have gotten up yourself lazy bum" Jasmine said holding the hot skillet threatenable at the man who inched backwards.

" Well, I wouldn't have to if you just played attention" Minyak argued back, Jasmine eyes narrowed at him. " Excuse me" she started, and Henry rolled his eye as the two argued once again. He found they argued a lot.

henry leaned forward trying to get a better look at what Minyak was working on, it was small and looked like a watch that was silver and blue. " what's that?" asked Henry curious. Sue him he was bored. the two so far had not hurt him, in fact they did the opposite, while Minyak worked on his creations and Jasmine tried to mother him to death. The two hadn't harmed him.

It confused him.

He needed to get out of here, he needed to make sure that Piper was okay and safe, he wondered if she was eating her greens. Minyak paused and looked to the boy, so far, they hadn't learned his name. There hadn't been any reported missing children on the news. Only report is that Kid Danger is missing, and Captain Man has been roughing every villain he comes across looking for the kid. 

The kid looked much better than he did when jasmine found him, with the woman nursing him back to health and making sure he was eating three meals a day. the gunshot wound was healing nicely and the cuts on the kids' arm were starting to scar. 

The kid still tried to cut himself when he gets overwhelmed like this morning when they tried to bathe him, it didn't help Jasmine had tried to help instead of letting the kid do it himself. The woman was crazy. Then on top of that finding out the kid was trans too.

" it's a radar, Kitten" he decided to tell the kid, it was just a small invention, a small project he was working on. " Radar for what?" asked the kid.

They had taken to calling the kid kitten in hopes the boy will get annoyed at the and let his real name slip, so far it wasn't working but he could see it ticked the kid off at being called a kitten. Jasmine smiled at the name. He boy really did look like a kitten when he tried to glare at them with his honey brown eyes.

" It detects gems" he said making the blonde stare at him in confusion, " gems?" kitten asked as Jasmine took a seat a cup of tea in her hands and a bowl of scrambled eggs with green onions and mushrooms in it, they had learned the kid really liked eggs and milk.

" Yeah gems, like a metal Decter but better " he said twisting a wire in place. plus, it would help find that duffel bag of Jewely he had buried somewhere in the woods a few years back, he had robbed a Jewely store and had to ditch the bag to make an escape but for the life of him he can't remember where he buried the score, it had been dark, and he had been in a rush.

" cool" said kitten. Miyak reminded him schowz only differnce was schoz was nicer and his invention were meant for good. Minyak inventions hurt people.

Henry sighed as Jasine fed him from the spoon like a baby, " come on why can't I just feed myself, it's not like I can get anywhere" he complained. jasmine looked to be thinking on it making henry hopeful. " Alright only one hand" she told him making Minyak scoff.

" You let him eat his own food but not bathe" he muttered making Jasmine hit him with a wooden spoon " ow woman" Minyak held his head where she hit him. Henry smiled as he had one hand free and took a spoonful of eggs. Glad to have some freedom. he watched the two augured once again. thinking of ways to escape the apartment. 

Henry ignored the feeling in the chest, he had enjoyed their company, which was a surprise to him, he enjoyed the way jasmine ran a hand through his hair and hummed him to sleep, even though he trapped this was the well rest he had ever had. it had been years since he had been able to sleep. He was always doing something, working, cleaning, taking care of piper, dealing with his parents when they were too drunk to make it inside the house. 

Having to deal with Ray and his job as a sidekick, to his failing grade and bullies. He never could catch a break; it was one thing after another. If he was being honest with himself if he wasn't so worried about Piper he wouldn't mind being their hostage for just a little longer.

Henry felt bad for thinking that, it wasn't right, he was there prisoner, he shouldn't be having those thoughts. Henry was knocked out his thoughts when there was a knock on the front door making his head shoot up along with Jasmine and Minyak who looked ready to tear each other throats out.

Chapter Text

Henry was roughly yanked up by his arm by Minyak while Jasmine stood and went to one of the kitchen cabinets and opened it to reveal three computer screens, it was connected to the cameras outside the door and two windows from what he could tell. That was all he was able to see before Minyak pulled him back into his prison, Henry struggled in his strong grip, but the man only held him tighter and put a hand over his mouth so he couldn't call out for help.

Henry was thrown roughly onto the bed, he hissed as his shoulder that was still tender even though the stiches had been removed and was healing up nicely, it still hurt. Henry turned and glared at the man who was already holding the shackles in his hand and coming to towards him, Henry now having one hand free went and pushed the man in to the wall as hard as he could knocking him unbalanced.

Henry was glad that Jasmine had used rope to tie him to the chair. Before Minyak could get up henry was already kicking him in the chest, two weeks of nothing but healing and sleep had helped Henry. with jasmine feeding him three meals a day and even made him take vitamins for his health. He felt better than he had in years. felt stronger and had more energy. " damnit kitten " Minyak growled holding his chest, he hadn't been expecting the kid to be so strong. That kick had knocked the air out of him. 

Henry shut the door to the room and locked it; he was sure jasmine and whoever was at the door had heard the commotion and he was right because it wasn't even a second later, he heard jasmine trying to open the door. the door itself was made of steel, Minyak work of course. speaking of Minyak, Henry turned to see the man was already up and coming towards him again. Henry jumped out of the way with ease.

Despite Minyak being stronger he wasn't very good at fighting; the man had always used his brain more than brawn. Plus, Henry had trained with Ray who was the strongest man he knew and learned how to use his speed in a fight. Henry needed to escape now before jasmine finds a way into the room. he needed to end this quick.

The windows were boarded up, but he could pull them off, he could see a loose nail that he had been eyeing the past week when the two weren't looking. Minyak rushed him again and Henry dodged and punched him in the side of the face causing the man to crash into the nightstand. Henry wasted no time and chained the man to the bed before backing up just as Minyak tried to grab him. 

" Kitten please don't do this " Henry heard jasmine on the other side of the door.

" Jasmine he is going for the window" Minyak yelled to her through the door, hoping she would be able to stop the boy. henry pried the loose nail with his fingers, trying to get it to come out so he could get a better grip on the plywood, he ignored Minyak and jasmine, his hand bleeding from wood cutting into his hand, he was sure he would have splinter later but right now it didn't matter.

the nail came loose and henry grinned, he then pulled the plywood with all his strength, there were not many nails, so it came out with a pop, Henry felt relief, but was soon replace with fear, the window was bolted shut. " shit" henry cursed. he would have no choice but to break it. He didn't have time to cover his hands, so he just punched through the glass, he ignored the pain as the glass sliced up his hands. 

" no" he heard Minyak yell and if Henry was imagining it, he could have sworn he sounded worried. The past two weeks had been strange, when he expected the two villains to torcher and interrogate him, they didn't, they took care of him, patched him up and made sure he was fed. Even though Minyak sneered at him and said he was just a hostage to them, to use against Captain Man. Henry ignored the feeling in his chest and turned to Minyak who was in the middle of pick locking the chain.

" I won't say anything to him" Henry wasn't sure why he said that.

Herny then turned and crawled through the broken window and onto the fire escape, he ran down fast and made a few jumps. He heard Minyak yelling after him, by the time Henry got to halfway down the alley he turned to see Minyak crawling out the window.

Henry ran around the corner of the building and into the crowded street of people, Henry swiped a shirt off a vendor and wrapped it around his wrist. he glanced back while trying to blend into the crowd, he spotted Jasmine, and he turned hoping she doesn't notice him. He sped up and walked into what looked to an ice cream parlor, he spotted a vending machine against the far wall and hid behind it just as Jasmine walked by the window.

He held his breath hoping she didn't see him. after what felt like forever the woman moved on, but Minyak was right behind her. Henry stayed in his hiding spot a little longer waiting until they get farther away. 

Henry sighed in relief and slid to the floor, he couldn't believe he got out. 

" Hey kid you, okay?" asked a man with sandy blonde hair with grey spots, Henry looked up to him, the man was holding the hand of a little girl who was staring at him with an ice cream cone in her hand.

" uh yeah " he nodded getting up and careful not to bump his hand. The man didn't look convince but Henry was already moving to the door, he glanced around the busy street and didn't see the two villains. He needed to get to the man cave.

Chapter Text

Henry grunted as he crawled through his window to his room. He had planned to go to the man cave but decided against it, he needed to check on Piper first and make sure she was okay and to tend to his injuries. His hoodie shirt sleeve was soaked in blood from the deep cuts. Henry quietly made his way to the bathroom, no one was home, his parent was most likely still off somewhere, and Piper was still in school.

Henry sighed in relief, he shut the bathroom door and removed his hoodie, the hoodie was black with small words written in white brain power. It belonged to Minyak., since they didn't have any clothes Henry size, they had him wear Minyaks clothes. Henry opened the cabinet above the sink and was glad the med kit was still where he left it. He started to work on his arm. Pulling the glass out of his cuts and cleaning them. 

He was lucky he didn't slice an artery; he ended up having to sew one deep cut though. His wrist and ankles were bruised and rubbed raw from the shackles. Other than that, he was fine. It took at least an hour to tend to the cuts, but he managed and bandaged his wrist and arm.

He was happy with the result. Henry started to clean the bathroom up of blood. He was already used to cleaning up his own blood, from injuries on patrol to his bad habit of cutting. Henry wiped the blood away and disposed of the evidence in the trash.

Henry left the bathroom and went downstairs to the kitchen, the house was a mess, the kitchen sink was full of dirty dishes and the counters full of different stuff, from Piper arts and crafts to beer cans. Henry sighed looking at the mess. He looked in the fridge and found it empty except expired milk that he poured down the drain with disgust. The trash was overflowing and the living room looked like a tornado went through it.

He was surprised the lights were still on.

Henry ran a hand through his hair in frustration, he should have known no one would take care of the house. His parents didn't give to shits and Piper was most likely off with friends to care. he didn't want Piper to live like this, surrounded by trash and beer cans because his parents couldn't bother to care. Couldn't bother to care for Piper. They probably didn't even notice he was gone. He wondered what Ray told them of his absence? did they tell his parents the truth or come up with some lie.

He wasn't sure. 

Henry wasn't sure if he was ready to see the team yet. It wasn't that he didn't miss them, it was just he knew they were going to ask questions, they were going to ask where he had been and what happened. He didn't want them to know about Minyak and Jasmine. Didn't want them to know how much he enjoyed staying with the two even if it was under questionable circumstances. He missed Jasmine running her hands through his hair and her humming him to sleep each night almost like a mother.

Missed watching Minyak ramble while working on his inventions at the small kitchen table while Jasmine cooked, missed the way they bickered with each other like an old couple. Henry didn't realize how much he missed them.

Henry shook his thoughts away not wanting to think about them.

Henry started to clean the house.

Henry stared at the door to the junk shop; he glanced around him making sure he wasn't followed before entering the shop. He felt guilty since he never let them know he was okay. He waited a day before even leaving the house.

Piper had never come home last night, and it took him calling Mrs. Patty to learn the girl was spending the night with Julie and that his parents had been fine with it. Henry had thanked her and hung up. That meant Piper would go to school with Julie in the morning.

Henry was still wearing Minyak hoodie, it smelled of cigarettes, cheap cologne and ozone. Henry walked pass the empty counter and to the back to the elevator. He wondered if everyone was here or if they were at school. The elevator door opened to reveal the man cave, the first thing he noticed was Charlette at the monitors her back turned to him, he noticed Scowz over in the corner working on something.

Jasper was at the table just sitting head down.

Ray was nowhere to be seen.

Henry walked towards charlotte curious on what she was looking at, he spotted different videos of different street on the screen, on one screen was Jewely store being robbed. The other screen was a different angle of the store. " So, what's the deal with the Jewely store?" he whispered in the girl's ear making her jump and spin around in shock, Henry stepped back smiling at the girl who stared at him like he was a ghost.

" Henry!" she shouted shocked seeing her missing friend standing there like he never went missing for two weeks. Her shouting brought the other two attention to them, Jasper head shot up and his eyes landed on the blonde who had his hands stuffed in a black hoodie. Jasper wasn't sure if he was really seeing Henry or if his mind was playing tricks on him.

" Hey" the blonde waved lamely.

Jasper was up and crossing the room with speed he didn't know he possessed, Henry eyes widen in surprise as Jasper wrapped his arms around him and pulled him towards him in a tight hug, Henry ignored the way he melted into Jaspers arms and tried to focus on the room. " Your here!? how are you here?" Charlotte asked still in shock, she hadn't notice him come in at all.

She had been going over the footage of the robberly and trying to find any cameras that in the area Henry disappeared from. But she had not come up with much, other than that same night there had been a murder in the woman's restroom at a small local restaurant. 

Henry smiled into Jasper shoulder, " Henry!" scowz ran towards them a large grin on his face and crashed into the blonde joining in on the hug, tears falling from his eyes. Henry hissed as he felt his stiches pull.

" Your back" the man sobbed as Henry patted his head, " yeah I am" he said. 

" How did you escape! " Asked charlotte glad to see her friend in one piece, from what she could see he wasn't injured. Henry smile dropped at her question. This was where he wasn't sure how to answer her. Could he tell her he had been held hostage by villains or lie to her.

Before Henry could answer the elevator do ding making them turn in its direction, it opened to reveal Ray looking down at his tablet, the man was angry tapping it with such force the screen cracked. " Damn it" the Hero cursed throwing it against the wall shattering it.

" What the tablet ever do to you?" Henery couldn't help but ask.

" The damn things broken scwosz" Ray complained not looking there way as he walked the monitors and started to click through the open screen's Charlotte had pulled up. " scowz were you ever able to get the files on out dead robber?" he continued not looking at them.

" yeah Ray what did the tablet do to you" scowz decided to answer instead causing an annoyed growl from Ray who turned around an angry scowl on his face " I'm serious this is no time for games....Henry" Ray paused taking in the sight before him, Henry was still in Jasper arms while scaoz had finally let go to face Ray, Charlotte was next to them a grin on her face.

"Henry?" Ray blinked shocked not believing his eyes, he was afraid to blink, and the blonde would disappear from his sight.

" Hey Ray" Henry gave a small smile to the man.

" Your here!" Ray stepped forward still shocked that the sidekick he had been searching for was just standing in the man cave. He had been busting villains' lairs left and right searching for the boy. He reached out a hand to make sure he wasn't hallucinating only to meet solid flesh. 

Henry bit back another hiss as he was pulled from Jasper grip and into Ray chest in a tight bear hug. " can't breathe" Henry gasped, Ray didn't realize how much strength he was using. He was almost crushing the boy. " How?" Ray asked pulling back and looked down at Henry, the boy was swamped in a black hoodie and blonde hair was messy, he couldn't see any injuries within his sight though. But that didn't mean there was injuries under his clothes.

" How did you escape, who held you hostage?" demanded Ray his hands balled into fist. 

Henry froze, he didn't want them to go after Minyak and Jasmine. He didn't know what stopped him, maybe it was the care the two villains showed him. 

" I don't know" he lied.

"The three gave him a confused look, " what do you mean you don't know?" Charlotte asked.

" I don't know, they never showed their face " he shrugged deciding to go with the lie, it was easier. " So how did you get away?" asked Jasper behind him. Henry bit his lip; he hated lying to them. " I was able to get free from my shackles and got lucky " he shrugged, he raised his wrist for extra measure and lifted his hoodie sleeve just enough to reveal his bandaged wrist that he knew was bruised underneath it that had been rubbed raw from the cuffs.

He heard Charlotte and Scowz gasp in horror at his wrist.

Ray stared in horror at his sidekick; the boy was shifting awkwardly Infront of him and his eyes were cast down. Ray felt hot rage run through him, he had never felt so angry in his life. Yes, he had been angry for many different reasons but never had he felt like this. He wanted to pummel the person who did this to Henry.  

" Oh Henry" Charlotte hugged Henry, tears in her brown eyes that did not fall just yet. Henry wrapped his arms around her small form. " I'm fine" he said as he felt her body shake against his. He quickly rolls his sleeve back down. He didn't want them to see the rest of the white bandages wrapped around his arms and worry them. Henry felt Jasper wrap his arms around him from behind him. Henry didn't want to admit how touched starved he was.

Was he so touched starved that he had been desperate for any sort of affection that he let jasmine have her way? he couldn't help it, jasmine had shown him more care than his own mother has ever. His mother never hugged him nor cared enough to even look at him unless she wanted something from him.

" We were so worried" charlotte cried in his chest, and it made henry feel even worst. He didn't think about how his friends must have felt while he was gone. He had only thought about himself. he didn't really try hard enough to escape the apartment. " I'm sorry it won't happen again " he told her holding her tighter.

" It won't " Ray said making Henry look up to the superhero, the man had been strangely quite which was unlike Ray. Normally you could get the man to shut up. Henry felt something in the pit of stomach as he noticed the expression on the man's face.

" Yeah, from now on no splitting up on patrol next time" said Jasper half Heartly joked but Henry didn't pay any attention to the other. 

" There won't be a next time" Ray shook his head making the others look to him, " what?" Charlote turned to the idol who had his arms crossed and a pinched expression on his face like he was debating something. " This is getting to out of hand" Ray started.

" Ray I'm fine, they didn't hurt me, I got away" Henry started but Ray cut him off " no you got lucky" he said voice raised. " Henry, I couldn't find you! whoever had you left no traces....two weeks and i still had nothing to go on" Ray continued making Henry feel worse.

" You would have eventually" henry tried to sooth the hero. " that's not the point! I couldn't find you and for all i knew you could have been killed! you were lucky to escape but what if you hadn't?" Ray voice cracked as he looked at the teen.

For the first-time since he hired the boy, he was now realizing how young Henry was, hell how young Charlote and Jasper were to. In the beginning he didn't think much of his age, nothing like this had ever happened, yeah there had been a few hostage situations and close calls but he had aways been there to save the day and recuse him.

He had always been there to protect him, but not this time, this time he had let Henry go off on his own and nearly cost him his life. It scared the hell out of him, the thought of losing the boy. He didn't think he could live with himself if something happened to Henry on his watch.

" What are you saying?" Henry didn't like where this was going, he knew ray never had a problem before when he had been in dangerous situations, heck the guy hired him when he was just thirteen. so why now after all this time would he start to worry?

" I'm saying " Ray paused not sure how to get the words out, he remembered the large pool of blood and corpse he found in that back alley, that could have been Henry. His resolved returned he looked the three in the eye

" That Henry Danger is no more" he finally finished.

Chapter Text

The sound of a garbage truck was loud outside the small apartment complex that had long ago been abandoned. henry looked through the broken blinds that had been left behind, the streets were starting to become crowed as it was closer to lunch hour. henry moved away from the window not wanting to risk being seen. It had been a week since he ran away from the man cave. Ray had all but fired him.

If that wasn't bad enough the superhero wanted to erase his memories of the last two years like it meant nothing, like he meant nothing. Henry tried to reason with him, but Ray wasn't having it. He was set on his decision.

Henry hadn't known what come over him, he couldn't do anything to convince the man to keep his memories, he did the only thing he could do and ran. It wasn't very hero like; he had been able to escape through the tube. He had left Charlotte and Jasper, and he still felt guilty about it.

Henry looked at the small apartment he was staying in, it was a two bedroom. The bedrooms were empty except for broken furniture. It was bare with only an old green couch and old wooden coffee table. The only other item he owned was a thin white sheet he had found in one of the closets and the stuff he was able scavenge from donation box. He had a bag of secondhand clothes and a few books but that was it. 

He didn't even have a phone or money. luckily, he had nothing on him for them to track both thanks to Minyak measures. Small mercies, he couldn't go home either, that would be the first place they would look and most likely watching. Henry kicked the couch in frustration, he had nowhere to go, nowhere that was safe. He didn't want to lose his memories. Besides Piper, Ray and scwoze were like family to him, along with Charlotte and Jasper.

How could Ray just so easily decide to erase his memories. Henry remembered the man explaining the rules when he first started out, but Henry had been younger, and star struck at meeting his idol that he had forgotten about it.

Henry sat on the old couch and stared at the wall; he needed a plan. 

He still had to take care of Piper somehow, that would be hard with Ray looking for him. Right now, he was jobless and homeless. Henry leaned back against the couch and looked at the cracking ceiling. He needed to get to Piper, he knew Ray wouldn't do anything to her, she didn't have any knowledge of him being Kid Danger.

With a half plan forming in his mind Henry stood up from the couch and grabbed his bag, it was midday, Piper will still be in school.

Henry walked the checkered hallway of Pipers middle school; he kept his head down and made sure not to look at any of the cameras. he knew scowze was most likely trolling the security cameras meaning Henry didn't have long.

He spotted Piper in the lunchroom sitting by herself with her head down stuck in her phone per usual. Henry noticed the girls she normally hung out with were sitting somewhere else. It didn't sit right with him that Piper was sitting alone without a single friend.

Before he could move a group of three walked by her, but what caught his attention was the blonde girl with to red of a lip stick for her age, he saw the way her hand tilted but couldn't move fast enough as milk and pizza was dumped over his little sister's head.

The whole cafeteria erupted in laughter as the blonde girl snickered with her two friends behind her. Henry recognized one of the girls, Carla he remembered the girl used to come over for play dates with Piper but hadn't seen her in a while.

" Hey!" henry shouted angry at the blonde girl.

" Henry?" Piper eyes widen seeing her older brother who had been missing for weeks, it was like one day he had been there making her breakfast and making sure she got to school on time to suddenly gone. He just disappeared and she didn't know what happened to him. Charlotte and jasper had told her parents that he went camping with some friends, but she didn't buy that for a second. Her parents hadn't really cared.

They only cared when no one cleaned the house or had dinner ready or when they wanted something. Piper shivered at the memory of her parents constantly arguing every night they were home and when they couldn't argue with each other they would turn on her. She didn't like the look in her father's eye when he talked to her when he reeked of booze.

She never realized how much Henry shielded her from them until he was gone. 

She started to stay at her friend's house as much of possible. Julie wasn't much of a friend like they had been back in elementary school, middle school was different, and she was left behind. She was lucky to stay at Julies because her mother let her think they were still friends. that only lasted so long until Juile got fed up with her and told her to get lost.

It was then that Piper realized how friendless she really was, at least in the beginning she had been able to be a part of the social circles but that only lasted so far. The other girls laughed at her when they realized she didn't have that many new clothes or lunchbox or a cute lunch or anything really. She couldn't keep up the latest trends like they could.

She was the laughingstock of her school.

Piper shivered as the cold milk ran down her back and bits of pizza stuck to her hair as she stared at her brother who had an angry expression on his face. He was wearing an oversized black hoodie and dark circles under his eyes. 

" You did that on purpose" he snarled as Britney turned to him, " it was an accident my hand slipped" the blonde said though she didn't look sorry. Bitney had been her bully since the beginning of middle school; it started out small but then got worse with time when the girl realized no one would defend Piper.

Before Piper could open her mouth, Henry grabbed Piper already open strawberry milk and dumped it over Britney head. Piper eyes widen in shock as Britney gasped. " What the fuck" the blonde shouted as henry picked up Piper half eaten chilly and finished dumping it over Britney head.

" doesn't feel so good, does it?" Henry said as the girl backed away trying to clean the chilly out of her hair but only smeared it making it worst. " you're crazy" Carla said trying to help the blonde who was now crying.

" Maybe" were all Henrys said before pulling piper up by her arm," come on, were leaving " he said dragging her out of the cafeteria, Piper almost didn't grab her book bag with how fast Henry was pulling her. 

" Wait, where are we going? where have you been?" she asked but she didn't get an answer from him. " We don't have time, I'll explain everything once were somewhere safe" was all he said while pulling her out the front door of the school. 

Chapter Text

Henry avoided every camera he came across as he made his way deeper into the run down Neiborhood where he had been staying the past week, Piper was behind him, he made sure she kept her head down, the girl was angry considering he just showed up and dragged her out of school and thrown her phone in the trash. She hadn't taken it to well and had screamed at him and hit him before trying to dig the phone out of the trash.

The only thing that had her calming down was Henry showing her the sim card he had pulled out, it had all her data on it, and he would only put it back in a phone was when he found a way from their phones not to be tracked.

" Where are we going?" Piper whined as Henry turned a corner, " quiet, were almost there" he hissed, eyes sharp as he took in his surroundings, nothing looked out of the ordinary. Piper didn't like the look of the area, the houses were run down or looked out right abandoned, the shops didn't look any better. Everything just looked old and aged.

Henry stopped at a door with a chain, the blonde moved the chain and opened the door " come on" he gestured for her to go but Piper didn't. " what's going on" she asked voice raised. " I'll explain inside, now come on" Henry pulled her through the door with surprising strength surprising Piper.

Henry made sure there was no one around before he shut the door and rechained it.

He turned to see piper glaring at him and he sighed, maybe he didn't think this through, but what's done is done. " Come on" he moved to the door that led to the stairs. He was on the third floor. " Now will you tell me what's going on!? you disappear for weeks and then out of the blue show up at my school! " Piper yelled as Henry sighed. The two walked the stairs. 

Henry wasn't sure where to begin.

Henry said nothing as piper ranted, the girl had a lot of frustration built up over the past month. " So, Charlotte said I was camping" Henry asked listening to Piper rant. " Well yeah, but I didn't buy it, I mean you hate camping" Piper said arms crossed and stomped.

Henry only hummed, they were on the third floor now, " so is this were you been?" Piper asked looking in disgust at the filthy apartment. " No, I've only been here for a week" said Henry closing the door behind him and went straight to the window to make sure they hadn't been followed. 

Piper had so many questions. Henry was acting weird, like he was in trouble, she noticed him looking over his shoulder and when he told her not to look at the cameras and keep her head down. 

" Are you in trouble?" she asked worried, he didn't look too good, he was paler than normal and the shadows under his eyes made him look older. 

" What no" Henry said too quickly before he paused, " well no, sort of " he mumbled and moved to the green couch that Piper eyed the suspicious Staines on it. 

" it's a yes or no" Piper growled.

Henry was quite as he put his hands together. He stayed silent for a long-time making piper grit her teeth; she was about to yell at him to tell her the truth when he finally spoke up. " Your old enough to understand now " he started making her pause.

Henry looked at her with dark brown eyes, " I take it while I was away you had a certain experience with our parents?" he asked with a knowing look making Piper freeze. Piper felt tear prick at her eyes. the past three weeks had been hell for her, when Henry disappeared, their parents had turned to her, they were always so angry and she didn't know how to please them, school had been her only escape but even there she had to deal with her bullies.

Piper tried to hold back the tear that escaped her eyes but failed. It was only when Henry opened his arms as an offering that the damn released and she found herself in her brothers' arms, her face in his shoulder as she sobbed.

" I thought you abandoned me" she cried as Henry rubbed soothing circles on her back. " No, I would never " he told her making Piper cry harder. Henry felt guilt hit him harder than ever, he hadn't realized how much him disappearing impacted Piper. He was glad he made the decision to come back for her. Originally, he had thought about just sending money to her and whatever she needed. But now he wasn't sure that would have been the best plan.

Henry ran his fingers through her hair ignoring the bits of pizza, soon he needed to find somewhere for her to wash up and a change of clothes. The milk was no doubt will spoil on her clothes and smell. " Hey, I'm right here, I won't leave you " he promised.

It was twenty minutes later that the girl cried herself to sleep, Henry kept running his fingers though her hair, it was starting to get dark outside, he hadn't realized how much time had passed. he carefully moved piper onto the couch and kiss her forehead; he tossed the white sheet over her and stepped back.

He was about to break his promise again, but this time he was coming back, he grabbed the pink unicorn notebook out of Pipers' book bag and tore a piece of paper from it and wrote a quick note and left it on the coffee table.

He needed to get supplies of her and a change of clothes, that would mean he would need to go to the house.

Henry watched the house, he could see lights on inside, but he knew his parents must be passed out drunk by now, he knew that because he had spotted his dad arrive hours prior with a case of beer in hand and his mother hanging off of him. Henry sat in the large oak tree in their backyard, and he had a perfect view of the windows. He hadn't seen Ray or scoze around, but he stayed cautious just in case.

Henry watched his parents move about the living room, his mother in the kitchen digging through the cabinets for something to eat most likely but henry knew there wasn't much there. His father was on the couch already on his fourth beer and watching T.V. He watched as they argued about something he couldn't tell what, he waited for hours until they finally went to their room, he didn't want to know what they were doing behind closed doors considering they spent hours screaming at each other and then making love.

Henry would never understand those two.

It was three in the morning that henry made his move, it had been quite for a least an hour and this would be his time to move. He needed to pack what he could and leave. He didn't plan on coming back. the blonde climbed the tree to his window, he smiled when he found it still unlocked, he slowly lifted the window and stepped in.

Henry silently walked to the dresser, he clicked the small lamp on, and light filled the room, it didn't look to disturbed but he could tell someone had been in here, most likely his parents rooting through his stuff. Henry opened the dresser and started to pull out the clothes he would need and stuffed them into the duffel bag he brought.

Henry moved to the far side of his room and pulled a chair to the tall bookshelf full of books and niknaks. He climbed up it and was relieved to see the fake book was still there, he grabbed it and opened it to reveal and lock box and a bag of change. Inside the lock box was at least a hundred bucks he had saved up and had least 40 in change, it wasn't much but it was a start. He continued to fill the duffle with as much as he could, when he could no longer fit anymore, he made his way to the window, he tossed it into the tree and grabbed the other duffle he brought with him.

He had stolen the bags out of someone backyard shed, the person hadn't put a lock on the shed, and it faced away from their house, so it had been easy pickings for Henry to go through. He had found two duffels and some tools that he had decided to take.

A part of him knew he should feel guilty about stealing but he wasn't. He had long gotten over the guilt of stealing, it wasn't the first time he robbed a neighbor, either rummaging through there pantry or their garage for tools to sell. He had to make ends meet when his parents check or his didn't cover the bills. his parents always went out and bought what they wanted before paying the bills and sometimes they just didn't pay them at all.

Heck he even once stole Jasper brand new PlayStation his grandmother bought him for Christmas the year prior, Henry had sold it for a quick hundred bucks just to pay the water bill. He had felt guilty about it but told himself he needed the money and that Jasper would understand. It wasn't like he played with it very much anyway; he was far too interested in his hobby of collecting buckets.

Henry silently moved through the house, he slid insides Pipers room and turned on the light, he listened for any noise but heard none. Henry quickly started to pack his sisters' clothes, making sure there were summer and winter clothes in the mix. He grabbed her books and music box, anything he knew she valued. He grabbed her school supplies.

When he was done, he turned the light off and made his way back to his room and did the same as before. but instead of leaving henry wanted to check the rest of the house, maybe he could find some cans or anything of value to sell. he grabbed his book bag off the desk and empty it of his school things before going downstairs. His parents were still asleep and wouldn't wake up until late in the morning or midafternoon if he was lucky.

Henry knew which steps to avoid and where each creak was, having been tiptoeing around his parent for years. 

Henry avoided stepping on a beer can that was on the kitchen floor, he sighed as he opened the fringe to find it empty save a case of red wine and left over spaghetti his mother must of either cooked or brought home, he figured the latter, his mother would never cook even if to save her life.

He grabbed the container of spaghetti and shoved it in his bag; Beggers couldn't be choosers. he dumped the red wine for extra measure knowing it would piss his mother off when she found it. Henry opened the pantry to find it almost bare except a few cans of tuna and soup. He took those and the peanut butter and crackers.

There wasn't anything else to take.

Henry looked around the living room but there was nothing of value he could see, if there ever where his parents would have already sold it. The last thing Henry wanted to check was the garage, he knew there would tools that could either be useful to him or he could sell for some cash. He stepped into the one car garage and flicked on the lights. There wasn't much since his father wasn't one to work on stuff, he worked a desk job staring at computers all day. 

What tools there were was just the basics like hammer and screw drivers, Henry took them anyway, Henry walked around the empty garage, the shelves had nothing of interest to take so Henry decided it was time to leave but before he could something caught his eye, there was a shelf behind Piper's old toys and bike. It had a white sheet thrown over it. Henry to curious started to move the stuff out of the way. 

He pulled the sheet off to reveal an old cabinet that looked to seen better days, Henry hadn't really ever noticed before, maybe because pipers' toys hid it from sight, it was short and hidden behind the doll house and bikes. Henry opened the door to reveal old fishing gear; this must be really old because his dad never went fishing as far as he knew.

Herny dug through the stuff see if there was anything of interest, he spotted a box in the back, he pulled it out and opened it, his eyes widen at the contents inside, he snapped it shut and set it down. 

" The fuck" stared at the innocent looking box. he reached out a hand and opened the lid to reveal a wad of cash, a gun and what to look like a bag of cocaine. Henry rubbed his head, it made so much more sense now, how his parents were able to afford the house even with all these bills. There was no way his father who had a good paying job would ever be able to afford this house by himself. His mother didn't work he knew and even with Henry helping out it would not have been enough.

It explained them able to take trips to Vegas multiple times a year and other places, it explained how his mother could afford getting her nails done and coming home with a new outfit every day. explained why the two were able to eat at expensive rest aughts.

It made Henry angry; he picked the wad of cash that was tied together by a rubber band and did a quick count. Ten grand there was fucking ten grand in this box hidden away in a dusty old cabinet. they had all this money and kept it for themselves. They let him and piper live like rats surviving off their scraps. They never bought them what they needed, never bought them school clothes or gave them lunch money for school.

Never took them to the doctor for checks up unless forced to.

Only filled the fridge with beer and wine instead of grocery unless it was bought for themselves, they never bought anything for them. 

it was henry who had to break his back to make sure piper had proper clothes for school, to make sure she had food to eat, and it was him who was able to buy the things she has now. to make sure she had toys to play with when her friends use to come over for playdates. it was him who stole that playhouse that sat in the back yard untouched now. He had stolen it from a secondhand shop. it had been in the package still. It had been heavy, but he had managed it.

He had seen it one day when shopping for new clothes, it had been in the toy section, Piper had seen it and had begged him to get it, but he hadn't enough money. The stupid store had wanted 150 for the used playhouse and Henry didn't have enough for clothes and the playhouse.

Clothes took priority over toys.

He had gone back the same night with a hoodie and bandana covering his face and crowbar, he had spray painted the camera with black paint before using the crowbar to crack the window open and break the lock. He was lucky there were no alarms or silent alarms for that matter.

Henry had dragged the playhouse to the window, all he had was his bike and a wagon attached to it, the wagon had come from a neighbor's house, they hadn't wanted it anymore since their daughter had outgrown it and had given it to Piper.

It really came in handy for Henry, that night he had stolen what he wanted, from clothes to a radio and more toys to fill the playhouse. There had been a kitchen with fake food and silver wear he had taken but left the kitchen behind. It was too big to take with the playhouse already in the wagon.

Somehow, he managed to get away with crime, captain man had been called onto the scene the next day, but the man never found the culprit as far as Henry knew, that had been a year before he met Ray.

Henry shook his thoughts away and closed the lid to the box, he stuffed the box in the bag and stood up, he could see light peeking through the garage window, he didn't realize how long he had been here, he hoped Piper was still asleep.

Henry stood up and made his way into the living room, his parents were still asleep, he decided to just go out the front door and grab his thing. henry checked the kitchen one last time as he had more light from the sun shining through the window, he found an old pocketknife in one of the drawers, he grabbed a few spoons and forks and the can opener before finally leaving out the front door. 

it had to close to six henrys noticed as he grabbed the two duffels from the tree and started to make his way through the back yard where he knew there was a small of beaten trail that led through the neighborhood, it was better than walking out in the open. 

But before he did that, he took the pocketknife and switched it open and slashed his father's tires just to be petty.

Chapter Text

Henry opened the door to the abandoned apartment and was met with a crying piper crashing into him, it took all his strength to not fall backwards with the weight of the duffel bags and her weight combined.

" Henry! where were you!" Piper shouted as henry sighed and dropped the heavy duffel bags that landed with a thump, " Piper I left a note" he said as the girl stood back with a glare. " So, you said you wouldn't leave " she said in a small voice making Henry feel like shit. 

" I had to go and get some stuff, and you need a change of clothes" he said, with the money he had they could afford a hotel at least, somewhere they could wash properly at least. " I'm going to leave again and find us a place to stay; I want you to clean up as best as you can" he told her while grabbing the duffel that held her clothes and set it on the couch and unzipped it. Piper eyes widen seeing the familiar clothes that belonged to her.

" What?" Piper looked to him confused but before she could question him, he was already out the door shutting it behind him leaving piper standing alone. The girl stared at the door before she came to herself. She had no idea what was happening, one day everything was normal then suddenly she was hiding out in an abandoned complex with her brother who wouldn't tell her what was going on.

Piper looked down at the bag and pulled out a pink shirt with stripes on it, she really did need to change, she smelt like spoiled milk. She shivered as she pulled her shirt off and pants, she tossed it aside and tried to wipe herself the best she could with the rag and bottle of water. Once she changed into clean clothes, she felt slightly better, but she wished she could still shower, it had been days since she really showered.

Piper went to the window and looked out it, the streets were empty save a few people setting up vendors. There wasn't much to do, and she didn't have a phone to keep her occupied, so she took to watching the streets.

It was a half hour later that Henry returned, the blonde came through the door with his book bag over his shoulder, " I can see you in the window" he said shutting the door behind him. " Come on we need to move" he said while grabbing the stuff off the coffee table and started to pack them away.

" No not until you tell me what's going on" she demanded tired of being told what to do. Henry paused and looked up at her from his place where he was crouched over the duffel. " Piper, I don't have time for this" he began but she cut him off. " You said that yesterday" she said annoyed.

" Are we running away? because of mom and dad" she asked curious, was it because of their parents? was Henry trying to hide them from them, was that why he told he to not look at any security cameras? Henry ran a hand through his hair.

" that's part it" he said truthfully. 

Piper tilted her head confused, was he in trouble, did he do something wrong? she couldn't see Henry doing anything to break the law though. 

" Alright I'm going to tell you something, but you can never tell anyone "He said standing up and going to the couch, Piper frowned at him. " Piper I'm serious, this is life or death you can't tell anyone "He repeated. Piper was even more confused, what secret could he have, Henry was never good at keeping secrets.

" What is it" she asked taking a seat on the couch. she couldn't think of anything that Henry could be involved in though.

" Alright it started two years ago when I got my new job" he started, 

" The junk shop" Piper frowned making henry smile slightly, " yes the junk shop" he nodded. " you've met my boss" he added as Piper grimaced in memory of the strange man. She didn't like him he was always coming onto their mum every time he was around.

" Yeah him" she said with an unreadable expression.

" What this have to do with why were in hiding?" Piper asked, she didn't understand why a junk shop would be so special. Henry sighed for what seemed the hundredth time today. " Everything, I went looking for a job to make some extra cash and well it turned out to be more" he said.

" More than what?" questioned Piper.

" Well, it turns out it was a cover for Captain Man" Henry said, he waited for her reaction and was not disappointed as she started to connect the dots. " you" she said in shock as henry leaned back against the armrest and smirked as piper tried to get words out.

" no" she gave him a look

" yes" Henry nodded as Piper stood up.

" Your joking " she denied as Henry sighed.

" You can't be" Piper continued brows pinched in thought, it would make so much sense, the odd hours Henry was gone and staying out all night. Always running off when there was a crime being committed.

" Prove it" Piper said, she couldn't wrap her head around Henry being Kid Danger, there was just no way. 

Henry was glad he still had the bubbles he kept on him; he had five left.

He pulled one out and popped it in his mouth and started chewing. Piper watched as Henry transformed into the famous side kick Kid Danger right before her eyes. " So yeah" Henry said awkwardly while doing a small twirl.

" Your kid danger" she stared at him in shock, her brother was kid danger and that would mean he worked closely with Captain Man who was most likely his boss. She couldn't remember his bosses name though. She never paid him much attention when he was around, he had been annoying and loud.

" I need to sit down" Piper sat back down on the couch, it was then another thought came to her mind " oh my god your Kid Danger" she put her hands in her face as she remembered the fan club she started up.

" yeah" Henry knew what was on her mind. It hadn't sat right with him when his sister started at fan club. the fact his little sister had a crush on his alter ego was just so wrong even if she didn't know it.

" I tried to shut that club down mutable times" he shrugged and changed back into his normal self. Piper went red at the memory. She had been so determined to discover the sidekick's identity and wanted to marry him. Now knowing it was her brother made her feel sick to her stomach.

Changing the subject, Piper looked up, " so what are you hiding from? is it a villain, were you discovered or something? where's captain man?" she asked as Henry raised his hands. " Slow down" he told her.

" Does this have something to do with you being missing? I saw the news; Captain Man was looking for you " she said remembering the broadcast. " Yeah, it does " he nodded. " a couple weeks ago I ran into some trouble, bust went wrong, there had been two and each went in different directions " he explained.

" It didn't end well, and I got captured" he decided to not mention being shot. 

Piper paled hearing this, those weeks Henry was missing he was actually taken hostage.

" But I'm fine, I escaped and made it back to the man cave " Henry seeing her face quickly reassured her, " I'm fine, they didn't hurt me" he told her truthfully and Piper had to pause and look at his face, she could tell he was truthful but there was something he wasn't telling her.

" So why aren't you with Captain Man? " She asked confused.

" Well, I'm sort of hiding from him" Henry said shrugging.

" What?!" Piper couldn't help but blurt out. 

" Why?" she asked even more confused at her brother, it doesn't make sense. " Lower your voice and yes, I'm hiding from him " he said, " when I got back to the man cave, he wanted to erase my memories" he added.

" What? he can do that" Piper couldn't help but ask, " yes, because he's an asshole " Henry bit out thinking of the man made him angry. Ray wanted to just erase the last two years like they were nothing. 

" Now we need to move, we've been here too long, I got us a motel for the night until I can figure out our next move" Henry said going back to packing. the box in his bookbag felt heavy with the items it held within. He had used the money to get a cheap motel and had paid extra to buy their silence.

Piper followed henry like a little duckling, her brother had her wear her light pink hoodie and made sure she kept her head down as they made their way through back alleys. Piper carried the duffel with her stuff while henry carried his own bag. they ended up leaving some of the tools that they couldn't fit in the bags, but they knew where they were if they needed them unless someone found them while they were away.

Henry had made sure to hide them in a closet, but he knew that wouldn't stop a person from finding them.

Piper eyed the rundown motel, it had two stories and rusted fence around it, she spotted three women dressed in skimpy outfits and had to adverts her eyes. The woman with olive skin and long curly dark hair that reached her mid back was very pretty. Piper ignored the feeling in her chest as she followed Henry up the stairs to their room, she spotted a pool that had a few teens around it.

" Come on" Henry opened the door and took a quick glance taking in their surroundings, he spotted the cameras but knew they were fake, it was why he chose this place. Working with Ray and scwoze he learned a lot of new skills.

Piper took in the room, there were two beds, a dresser with a T.V and mini fringe that Henry had already plugged in, there was a bathroom and a small table with a microwave on it. It was simple and plain.

" There Arnt any bed bugs are there?" she asked knowing that motels tend to have them, her mother had always complained about them. " no" Henry shook his head. " The beds have plastics surrounding it" he added showing her.

" Go shower, get cleaned up, I'm going to get us some food, don't leave this room no matter what a stay away from the windows" he warned her. Piper nodded, she now knew the situation now. She still felt he was leaving something out, but she trusted him, and she rather be here and at home with her parents or school.

plus, she really needed to shower, she smelled like rotten milk and sweat. 

she watched as Henry leaves once again.

Piper sighed as she entered the bathroom, the walls were an ugly yellow color and cracks in the wall. Piper set her duffel on the counter; the motel thankfully provided amenities such as small shampoo and continuer bottles and soap.

Henry walked down the street with his hands stuffed in his pockets as he eyed everything while making sure not to look at the cameras. So far, he had been lucky not to run into any trouble. He needed to go grocery shopping and needed a phone and laptop.

Henry decided to phone was more important, he walked until he found a store that sold Eletronic, it was small and didn't have much of a selection, but it would due. He ended up buying to cheap phones with a cheap plan. He bought the cheapest laptop they had.

Henry was glad he had his bag on his, he put the new laptop in along with the phone, he put his new phone in his pocket. He then preceded to find the grocery store, he didn't want to stray into the richer neighborhoods, he was more likely to run into Ray there.

He went into the small connivance store owned by an old Koren woman who ran the cash register, she eyed him like he was a thief, and he didn't blame her one bit, he knew she had been robbed many times considering he and ray had been here a few times before to stop the robberies.

Henry grabbed a buggy and started to stock up on raman packets and canned soups, he grabbed a few vegetables but not too many, it wouldn't be good if they went bad because they didn't get ate in time. He grabbed a few bags of chips and a couple of boxes of Debbie cakes; he grabbed a case of water and some orange juice. He got to the counter and the woman still eyed him wondering if he would be able to pay for all this food, after she rung him up at 67.78 dollars Henry only laid a hundred-dollar bill on the counter and left before she could give him his change.

Henry made his way further in the shopping district, he would need to get back to the motel soon, he didn't want to carry these bags around all day, Henry was about to turn back but stopped when he caught sight of the window display, it was a clothing store, he did need some new clothes and some that were darker per say. 

Henry walked in and was hit with the smell of perfumes. it made him nausea, but he continued, he looked around the racks of clothes, what caught his interest was a set of leather fingerless gloves. " ah I see what has caught your eye" a small women appeared next to him, her red curls bouncing.

" oh, uh I was just looking" Henry said caught off guard, he hadn't heard her coming. He narrowed his eyes at her but said nothing as she continued to move. " Yes, these are on sale " she said green eyes glittering.

henry crossed his arms, he never bought anything that was for himself, he was always buying stuff for everyone else. Never for himself though unless it was a must. 

" I'll take them" he said making the woman smile, Henry noticed how sharp it was. 

" Pleasure doing business with you, I'm cherry by the way" she introduced herself.

" Uh I'm h..Harper" Henry lied, he couldn't use his real name, Cherry eyed him with an unreadable look but said nothing at his slip up. " Harper huh" was all she said before moving to the counter. " Well Harper, I'm open 7 am to 7pm same s my other store" she told him.

" Another store?" he asked curious. " Yes, it's right over there" Cherry pointed a long-painted nail to a building across the street, Henry looked where she pointed and had to fight back a blush, it was adult store. 

" oh" he nodded and looked back to her.

" Will this be all?" she asked him, " um yeah" Henry answered as she rung him up, " that will be 12.00" she smiled as Henry paid for the gloves before leaving. " Make sure to come back anytime" Cherry called after him and Henry smiled at her.

Henry opened the door and found Piper curled up on the bed watching T.V, the girl glanced at him, " what took so long?" she asked seeing as it was getting dark outside. " Took longer than I thought" henry shut the door quickly, he had walked in circles making sure he wasn't followed if by chance the camera picked his face up.

He walked to the small table and set the bags down, he had stopped at another store that had premade sandwich half off, so he had gotten a few of those to, he had then gone and ordered from a small Chinese retaught, he had splurged a bit and ordered a lot.

He ordered a platter of sushi along with it.

Piper was up and beside him already digging through the bags, " gosh I'm starving" the girl pulled the chips out" hey dinner first" Henry took the bag from her and moved the bag of Chinese food to her. Piper eyes widen in surprise as she opened the plastic container.

" Really" she looked up, it was rare to get Chinese food, normally they ate what was left over from their parents. There were two containers of fried rice, noodles and pork along with pork buns and platter of sushi. 

It was a lot and piper wondered where henry got the money to afford all of this. " eat" Henry said pulling out chopsticks and handed them to her. " How can you afford this?" she asked suspicious as Henry put away the grocery. The water and juice into the mini fridge.

" I had savings" was all he said not ready to tell her about the box he found. Piper didn't look like she believed him, but she said nothing and stated in on the fried rice, she hadn't eaten since yesterday and what had been her lunch had ended up on Britney head. they thought made her smile. 

Henry organized the can goods and packets of raman on the table, he had decided they would stay here for at least a week until things cool down. He had already gone a paid for the week and a little extra in case someone came asking about him.

Henry looked to find Piper had pulled out some plastics plates she found in the dresser. " here" the girl had already made a plate for him, Henry smiled at her and accepted the plate with a small thanks. he sat on his bed with his back against the headboard. He didn't realize how tired he was and having been sleeping on a dirty broken couch for a week had not helped and the thought of Ray finding him looming over him.

He felt Piper crawl next to him and he scooted over making enough room for her, he grabbed the remote control and flip through the channels until he landed on the news. It had been a minute since he had been able to watch the news properly.

Henry frowned as they reported his disappearance as Kid Danger but there was no mention of him or Piper in the news which he guessed was a good thing. They didn't need people looking for them, they need to stay low. He doubts his parents would report them missing anytime soon. They never cared enough to notice them gone.

Henry finished off his fried rice, he felt full, he couldn't eat anymore. He set his plate on the nightstand and laid down. Piper was curled next to him her own having finished her own food.

Chapter Text

Henry awoke to the sunlight streaming through the blinds, he turned over and looked to the alarm clock that read in red letters 7:am. He sat up and looked around the motel room. It had been another week gone by quickly. They hadn't left the motel room at all, fear of being caught. There was still nothing in the news only the disappearance of kid danger. 

The two had been mostly watching T.V and surfing the net with the new laptop Henry bought. Henry had given Piper her new phone with his number already in it, he didn't give her sim card back though, he didn't want it to be traced back to them.

Henry sat up in his bed, he looked over to see Piper was still asleep, he rubbed his eyes and stretched. Henry was starting to grow restless, being cooped up in the motel room all week was starting to get to him, he was honestly bored. He wasn't used to not doing anything. It was the same when he was with Jasmine and Minyak. 

Henry sighed as he crawled out of the bed and went to the bathroom, he closed and locked the door, he needed to shower, he hadn't showered since a few days ago. Henry pulled his shirt off; the bandages had long come off and his injuries had begun to scar. The cuts on his arms and wrist were beginning to scar too. He hadn't cut himself in a week, not since he brought Piper back to the apartment complex.

He would need to go out eventrly, they needed to find a laundry mat soon. The clothes they had needed to be washed.

Piper stared out the window, Henry was in the shower, she had woken up right after him, she had heard the door shut. She knew she wasn't supposed to be looking out the window, but she couldn't help it.

Piper watched the girl with olive skin swim. The girl was wearing a black two-piece bikini that somehow looked good on her. Piper backed away from the window and turned on the T.V trying to distract her thoughts. she heard the water cut off and knew Henry would be out pretty quick and she was right ten minutes later her brother was walking out the bathroom with fresh clothes, he wore his signature red flannel shirt and jeans.

" Any Raman left?" he asked digging through the food on the table, there were still a bit of food left, mostly soup and tuna. " Yeah, but only chicken" Piper answered eyes glue to the T.V, she had flipped on the news out of habit. Watching for any sign of their faces in the news but so far none. She didn't know whether to feel hurt or not that their parents didn't care enough to report them missing.

Henry popped the cup in the microwave and set the timer for three minutes, he went and opened the mini fridge, there was still green onion and spinach left. He had made sure to buy a lot of bags of spinach because he knew he and Piper would eat most of it. Piper wasn't a fan of greens, but Henry made sure she ate them. They tasted better once boiled down and mixed into the noodles or soup.

" There still nothing" Piper said looking down shoulders slouched. Henry sat next to her on the end of the bed. " that's a good thing" he told her as he ran his fingers through her long brown hair out of habit. If he was being honest with himself, they were better off without their parents, he had enough money to get them off their feet and he could raise Piper better without there interference and without worry of them hurting her or him.

He was already raising her anyway.

Now that he wasn't in school anymore, he had more time to focus on her, soon he would need to find her a school so she could continue her education. The thought of bullies made Henry pause, maybe online school?

If no one besides Ray was looking for him, it would make things a lot easier, he could get around Ray, has been for two weeks at least but luck can only go so far. He could change his appearance maybe. Dye his hair? maybe wear contacts? it would help with not being recognized by familiar faces.  He didn't want to run into his friends or schoolmates or parents in the street by mistake.

The thought of running into Jasper and Charlotte hurt, knowing they wouldn't remember the last two years of working with him and Ray and Scowze.

" What are we going to do now? we can't just stay inside a motel forever" Piper said upset. 

" Your right, we can't stay here " Henry agreed, he didn't want to leave Swellview, it was his home, it was all he knew but if he stayed it would be a risk of Ray finding him. henry shook his thoughts away, " let's not worry about that right now " he said standing up. He didn't want to worry piper.

The beeping of the microwave drew his attention. " Get dressed were going out" he told her making the girls eyes widen in surprise. " Really? are you sure?" she asked unsure as Henry nodded. " There aren't many cameras in this area so it less risk, still keep your back to the any cameras as much as possible " he said dipping his chopsticks into the bowl of noodles. He was pretty hungry.

Piper hopped up and started going through her clothes, she grimaced, she owned noting but pink and right now she didn't want to wear pink, they had been lucky the motel had a laundry matt attached to it. So, they had clean clothes at least which Piper was really grateful for.

She looked to Henry who was finishing off his bowl of Raman, she wanted to ask if she could get some new clothes but thought against it. She didn't want to burden him anymore than she already has. so, she kept her mouth shut. She picked out a pink shirt and hoodie and went to the bathroom to change. She looked in the mirror and frowned, her brown hair was straight and plain, and her eyes were boring. She didn't have any defining features either, Piper wrapped her arms around her body. She barely had any chest. Thinking back to the woman her face went red.

Piper ignored her thoughts and quickly changed, she left the bathroom and found her brother waiting on her, " you ready?" he asked as Piper nodded and followed him out the door.

Henry spotted Cherry small store and notice the clearance sign, he needed some new clothes and maybe a new look, " here" he said to piper who followed close behind him. the girl was already eyeing the clothes and was secretly happy there wasn't much pink or light colors.

" Hey, you again Harper, right?" a red-haired woman appeared, she was holding a basket of folded up clothes. "Piper frowned confused but henry spoke over her " yeah Harper you remembered " he started. " This is my sister Amber" he lied. Piper stayed quite letting Henry talk. fake names made sense to her, they needed to keep a low profile.

" Anything of interest" the woman asked sharp green eyes, " just looking" Henry told her.

" Well, if you need anything you come and find me" she said before moving down the aisle leaving them on their own. Piper watched he go and once she was sure she was gone, " Amber?" Piper questioned " it was the name that popped in my head " he shrugged.

Piper looked through the clothes, there were t-shirts different colors and band logos, her eyes drifted to a black crop top on the top shelf. She picked it up and turned it all sides admiring it. " interested?" the red-haired woman appeared making Piper jump. " uh " Piper blushed. She didn't have the body like most girls in her school, the girls like Britney were already more developed than her and already wearing more revealing clothes.

" Um I was just looking" piper set it back down, " don't be shy it would look great on you" the woman said grinning as she picked it back up. " Oh, and look its half off" she held the tag up. " We even have a dressing room" the woman added seeing the look on piper's face.

Henry appeared behind them having noticed the two, " what's up" he asked, Piper looked down. " Oh, I was just showing her our selection of shirts" Cherry said holding the small crop top up for him to see. Henry frowned, " she's too young for that" he said shaking his head no.

" oh " Cherry said a little down, but perked back up " well we do have this selection over here" the woman pointed to a table, Henry walked to it and eyed a few of the shirts, Piper picked out a red tank top. " Can I " piper looked to Henry who was quiet. 

" Okay but only if I approve it" he told her and Piper smiled, Cherry helped her picking out outfits, the woman making sure to steer clear of anything that wasn't revealing. Henry left them in favor of checking out the rest of the store. There were more than just clothes, in the back was furniture and just different stuff. 

Kind of reminded him of the junk shop.

He spotted a radio on the shelf, it looked to be in good shape, the antenna was still attached, it was only three bucks. Henry put it in the cart, there wasn't much else that interested him, there was but there was no point seeing as they are living out of a motel. They needed to travel light.

" How do I look" henry turned hearing piper voice behind him, the girl was dressed in a red shirt that was too tight on her and black ripped jeans. " Does that shirt even fit you?" he asked noticing her chest showing.

Piper looked down at herself. " It does" she glared at him before walking away. henry frowned at her.

" it's not revealing " Cherry said watching him. Henry scowled, he was used to Piper wearing her normal pink clothes and unicorns. He knew at some point Piper would start becoming interested in different stuff, that she would start trying to dress older. He had honestly thought she would have started sooner, like her classmates had, but Piper hadn't, even when she started middle school, she still wore her unicorns' outfits and fairies. she still played with her toys; she still had her doll house and all its parts to it.

But maybe that had been why she was bullied, because she still like childish clothes and like to play with toys while the other girls were moving on, they were more interested in boys.

Henry sighed, " yeah I know" he said as Cherry stared at him, " are your parents around?" she asked making Henry freeze.

" Uh there at work" he lied he looked to Piper who had her cart full. " I think we're ready to check out now" he quickly said wanting to change the subject. Cherry eyed him but didn't push, he followed her to the counter, and she rung them up.

" Pleasure doing business with you " Cherry grinned all teeth and Henry fought back a shiver, she reminded him of something, but he couldn't place his finger on it. " thanks" he muttered and turned hands full of bags. 

henry was about to leave but he heard the doorbell ring announcing someone was entering, he looked and almost dropped his bags, right there in the doorway was someone he hadn't thought he run into like this.

The Toddler villain stood in front of him with his goon right behind him.

Chapter Text

Henry stared at the short man, but the man didn't show any recognition of him, " what are you looking at?" the man glared at him and puffed up his chest. " nothing" Henry said quickly leaving hoping the man wouldn't stop him. He pulled Piper through the door; he caught the beginning of a conversation before the door shut.

" Hello Cherry" Toddler greeted the red head, " Jackson" he heard cherry respond before the door shut behind him. " What was that about?" Piper asked watching him. " nothing " Henry pushed her to keep moving.

" Come on let's get back to the motel " Henry glanced back to the store making sure the man didn't recognize him. He shouldn't but he wasn't taking any chances. once they were farther away from the shop he slowed down. He spotted the conveyance store and remembered he needed to buy hair dye and maybe some more Raman. " Wait here" he told Piper. The girl said nothing but listened as she took a seat on the sidewalk.

Henry walked into the store and waved to the woman behind the counter, by now she knew he wasn't up to no good. henry went to the back where he knew the hygiene products were kept, he looked at the row of box dye, should he dye it black or brown? maybe black. He decided on the black, he grabbed two for him and Piper. she needed to change her appearance to. he went to the counter and the woman rung him up. 

Henry left the store with bags in hand he found Piper right where he left her, only there was two dudes trying to talk to her, Henry scowled as he noticed how uncomfortable piper looked. " hey" Henry shouted catching the attention of one guy, he looked to be his age or older.

The guy turned to him, he had bleached blonde hair and blue eyes, he had an eyebrow piercing which Henry was tempted to rip out. " What you her boyfriend or something?" the guy said. The guy behind him snickered. 

Piper stood up fast and got behind Henry, the two guys had drove up at the gas pump, they had just come up to her, they had wanted to see if she needed help with her bags, she had told them no but they wouldn't take no for an answer, the blonde guy had asked if she had a boyfriend. Piper had tried to tell them off, but they persisted, it was when Henry had come to her rescue.

" that's my baby sister, now get lost" Henry glared at the guy. The blonde stepped forward, " we were just seeing if she needed help with her bags " he said. " I was just wondering if she was single " the guy added as henry growled.

" Shes fucking 13 " he snarled watching as the guy eyes widen in surprise, he looked to her and then back to him, " really?" he asked in disbelief. Piper didn't look quite her age, she looked older than she was, she was more developed than the girls her age and taller and filled out more and it didn't help her new clothes she was wearing showed off more, making her appear older.

" Shit, I thought she was fifteen" the guy stepped back, and Henry could tell he meant it, he had learned to tell when people were lying. " Look man I really didn't know" the guy stuttered seeing the look on henry face.

" Yeah man" the other guy said defending his buddy, he was tall with black hair and had a lip piercing, he wore an oversized black t shirt and ripped jeans sneakers, Henry eyed them both, whatever don't make that mistake again" he growled as the two nodded.

" Do you still need some help" the blonde asked lamely. " no" Henry shook his head and picked there bags up and began walking away. Piper following behind him.

They made it back to the motel and dropped their bags down on the floor, the motel room was starting to look messy. henry sat on the bed while piper dug through the bags, she was curious as to what he bought. she noticed a few dark hoodies and darker clothes, jeans and a pair of boots.

She also spotted the box of hair dye.

" Going to dye our hair" he told her, Piper felt giddy on the inside, she had thought about dying her hair but hadn't wanted to ask. she felt guilty enough with him buying her new clothes. It had been a while since she had anything new. Henry was normally the one who took her shopping. Her mom never took her shopping always saying she didn't have time or money to do so.

" Huh not bad" Piper said looking herself in the mirror, she had decided to cut her hair shorter, it turned out pretty well. The girl was running her fingers through her hair liking her new look. Henry did the same, he didn't cut his hair keeping it long, but he didn't look bad. He hoped it was enough for no onto recognize him though.

" Yeah, I can live with it " Henry shrugged, he would just have to make sure to do touch ups to his roots but that shouldn't be too hard. Henry cleaned the spots that had gotten onto his skin, it had been messier than he thought but he did pretty good.

" I'm going out again " he said making piper look up at him, " again" she frowned. 

" I have a few errands to run" was all he said, it was close to dark, and he planned on going back to the man cave, he wanted to see if it was still there, if it wasn't then that meant Ray had moved to a new location.

" Yes, I'll be back, it will be late or in the morning " he told her, though he was going to leave the box of cash here and a note, if something happens to him, he knew that Piper would have enough money to care for herself and be comfortable if she managed it right.

Piper nodded upset he was leaving again and not telling her where, but she knew he could handle himself; he was kid danger after all. She still wasn't used to him being a superhero. they ate dinner which was soup out of a can that they heated up in the microwave.

Another thing they both had to get use to was having more meals in a week, before it was whatever they could find in the pantry or left over from their parents' outings, or the rare times Henry was able to buy groceries.

Though said groceries were just stolen from a neighbor's house, but Henry never told anyone.

" Be careful" Piper said as Henry left out the door once again, " I will, make sure not to stay up past 11" he told her before leaving.

Henry stayed in the shadows as he walked the street, his empty duffel bag slung over his shoulder. He was in his old Neiborhood, he spotted his house and nothing looked out of the ordinary, though he noticed his parents' car was gone, he guessed they were out somewhere or on a trip. he wished he could see the look on his dad's face when he found his tires slashed the next morning.

Henry kept walking the familiar path to the junk shop, he knew that ray was most likely out patrolling at this hour, hopefully. It wasn't long until he spotted the junk shop in the distance, there was no lights on inside but that was normal since it was almost ten.

Henry eyed the cameras, he was glad to know their blind spots, he knew he could climb into the air shaft and make his way down into the man cave. Henry went around back avoiding the cameras, he slipped behind the air unit. He looked and seen there was a small wire sticking out the vent, he knew it was a trip wire. If he was to remove the vent scoaze would know someone was in the vents. Herny 

Henry carefully removed the vent careful not to touch the wire, when he was successful, he climbed in, glad there was no Lazers or more trip wires. he was kind of surprised but was glad for it. He crawled through the vent, glad he was small enough to fit. 

It was ten minutes later he was above the man cave; he peaked through the vent and spotted scowze at the monitors. the man had his back to him and looked to be talking, Henry guessed he was talking to Ray being his eyes and ears. Henry was glad they didn't move locations.

It seemed scoze was unaware of his presence, so Henry decided to take a risk, he started crawling further in the vents making sure to be as quite as possible. He found himself over the storge room, he opened the vent door and dropped down into the room. he knew ray had a lot of stuff and knew he didn't come in here often. He had a few storage rooms, but Henry knew this one wasn't used much. there were old weapons that either created by scowze or taken from a villain they defeated.

Henry spent the next twenty minutes going through the inventory seeing if there was anything he could use; he was hoping to find a memory erasing gun but there wasn't one. Henry grabbed a pair of black goggles that had gold stripes. He read the tag; it was an invention that let you see through walls. X ray goggles, it could be useful to him, so he pockets them, he also took the katana that had been on display, the tag said it was made of some type of metal that was strong. there wasn't much information on it.

He took the leather trench coat that was bullet proof and could prevent most attacks the tag read. Herny wasn't sure if he would go back to being a superhero, he did like being a hero, maybe he could start new, be a vigilante maybe? 

Henry smiled at the thought. He looked through more shelves, he was glad to have brought his duffel bag now seeing as it was filling up fast. Henry zipped the bag up glad about his bounty. He should feel bad stealing from Ray but he didn't, the guy deserved it, and it wasn't like he was taking dangerous weapons.

Henry climbed back into the vents, planning on exploring the rooms seeing if there was anything of interest and maybe something he could see for money. He needed money, the ten grand he stole from his parents would last them a long time, but he had plans, he planned on getting a car and maybe somewhere to live even if it was ideal. Somewhere that wasn't a motel.

Henry dropped into another room, this one held more weapons and valuables, there was a diamond on display, he grabbed, he wondered if he could sell it for some quick cash, he knew there was no way he could sell this without alerting Ray and scowze, he set it back with a sigh.

He scanned the shelves and noticed a necklace on display, what caught his interest was the red ruby, he read the tag attached to it, it was an amulet created by a villain known as the red witch, it was a shield that protected against poisons and attacks. Henry decided to take it.

Henry looked around and didn't see anything of interest, he jumped back into the vent and made his way back to the main area, he had been here for too long, crawled silently and dragged his duffel slowly.

When Henry got back to the main area of the man cave, he didn't see scoze anywhere, henry debated on whether of dropping down, he knew there were more cameras here than the rest of the cave. but he had his hood up and a bandana covering half his face. he decided to do it.

He opened the vent door and jumped down, he made sure to keep his back to the camera though, he walked to the Montier, he sat in the chair and stated to go through the police data base, he stuck a hard drive into the Montier and stated downloading what he could off of it. He flipped through different security cameras seeing different areas of the town, he noticed there wasn't many in the area he and Piper were staying which he knew that, but he wanted to make sure.

Henry stood up and closed out of the tab, he left the hard drive letting it download everything and walked around the cave, he shouldn't be here to long though, incase scoze or Ray returned. Henry went to the cabinet on the far wall and opened it, he smiled when he seen his bottle of bubblegum was still there. He grabbed three of them and left the others. 

Henry heard the beep of the computers meaning the download was complete, he grabbed it and pocketed and closed out of the computer making sure to erase his tracks. Henry felt it was time to leave, and he was glad he did because right as he closed the vent door Ray was coming down the tube still in his hero outfit.

Henry didn't bother to stick around not wanting to risk getting found, he had already risked enough.

If he had stayed, he would have seen Jasper and charlotte come out of the elevator.

Chapter Text

" it's a great price though there are a few minor issues" Henry listened to the realter talk, the man going in circles trying to make a sale, it had been six months since he had run away with Piper, a lot has changed for him, some bad and some good. He no longer lived under his parents thumbed and had more freedom, the downside he was in hiding, so far, they hadn't been found. He and Piper had lived out of motel for months.

After a while he had started to go out more, he even got a job, he went back to making suspicious deliveries for his Jason and worked for cherry in her stores, she had him working both stores when needed.

And when he wasn't working, he was scouting out houses to rob, it's funny how he went from being Captain Man's sidekick, a hero to a petty thief. If only Ray could see him now, he would be so disappointed. Herny mentally laughed at the thought.

Though he wasn't working alone, he had a crew, the guys he and Piper had met at the gas station had turned out to be a decent guy, him and his buddy were a year older than Henry. Damion and Theo were local to the area. They had run into them again a few weeks later when he and Piper had decided to go out for Chinese.

They had used their fake names of course, Henry had hit off with Damion once he got to know him, Theo had apolized countless times to Piper even though she had already forgiven him. Henry wasn't sure how it started but suddenly the two were always around, coming over and hanging out. 

It was how he met Elizabeth, the girl was there childhood friend, they grew up in the same Neiborhood, she was pale with long curly black hair and silver eyes like the moon. She was also a pick pocket, the day they met she tried to lift his wallet and phone, but he had caught her which had surprised her. 

He had almost not noticed her hand slip into his hoodie pocket, but years of training taught him, he had grabbed her hand midway.

That was how he got roped into their little crew, the three had already been hitting other Neiborhood's, stealing from backyards and sheds, easy stuff without risk. Which Henry fully agreed, sheds were easier to get into and less risk, tools were easy to sell quick to without questions.

He also learned Cherry was more than she seemed, she bought stolen items cheap and sold them for a higher price, she owned four stores, two were in their area and the others in better locations. henry didn't know how he felt about her, she wasn't bad per say, she made a living.

Though she was still questionable.

Him and his crew hit houses that looked to have good tools and anything of value, he didn't want to risk them going inside. But that didn't stop Henry from doing his own plans. He scouted out houses on his own, houses that would be a big score. He didn't want the others involved in case things went south. 

" Mr. Collins?" Henry was shaken from his thoughts as the restate agent waved his hands Infront of him trying to get his attention, " sorry what were you saying?" Henry focused on the man, right now he was looking at properties, " I was saying that history of this house is well gruesome" the man told him, Henry looked back to the house.

The house itself was three stories with an attic and basement included and had a wraparound porch, he could see the roof would need work and some siding would need to be replaced. What he loved about it was the Ares of land it sat on, if he went through with the deal he would have fifty acres of land. 

He had finally found someone who could forge fake I.D for a fee of course but he was now had a new identity.

He was now Harper Collins while Piper was Amber Collins. He had upped his age to 22, it worked in his favor since he had put piper back in school, she was now going to a new school finally, originally he had her taking classes online. 

But he knew she needed to make friends instead of being stuck in the motel room.

" History?" Henry asked curious.

" Yes, well there's a reason the price is so low, it's because of its past" the man begun, " it has a history of death, the last person who owned it ended up killing his family and then himself" the man explained as Henry listened. apparently, the place was haunted, the people who owned it before had been an old couple who had been murdered in a robberly gone wrong and since then the place had a bad rep.

No one wanted a house were something terrible happened and Henry didn't blame them but he didn't have the funds to be picky. " I'll take it" he said making the salesman eyebrows raise up in shock.

Piper ran up to the house with her duffel bag slung over her shoulder, " it's beautiful" she smiled loving the old Victorian style, living six months in a motel had been rough on them. Henry slammed the door to his small car shut, he had managed to buy a cheap car off of a friend of a friend, the paint was rusted but the motor still runs, he didn't care how it looked as long he was able to get places.

It made getting around much easier, Damion and Theo had taught him to drive and he glad for it. He owed them so much, they taught him a lot.

" Is this really ours" Piper asked as she climbed the stairs, " yep" henry smiled as piper ran in to explore the house. He had been searching websites for somewhere cheap; he wanted a place they could live, somewhere that wasn't a motel or Trailor park. Somewhere that was on the outskirts of Swellveiw.

henry followed her into the house with his own bags, " hey we still need to unpack" he yelled but piper was already upstairs, " hey I already claim the master bedroom" he yelled knowing the girl would try to claim it.

The master bedroom was on the ground level, it was the biggest room and had a joining bathroom, there was a tub and shower. he knew the house needed a lot of work, the pipes and wiring needed to be replaced along with a new coat of paint and a new roof.

he could see the dark spots in the ceiling from leaks forming, he was sure there was more upstairs.

He had used all his saving to buy this place, the money he had stolen from his parents and the fruits of his labor working for Cherry and Jason and his side job as a thief had paid off, he had been able to save at least forty grand. 

He had been lucky when he scouted out a house in the hills, the owners had been away on vacation when he went through their place, he had been able to get their alarm codes when he caught sight of the women typing it into her keypad.

The night they left he had disarmed there security system with ease, he had parked his car a block away for a quick escape, the place had been loaded, he ended up stealing the Xbox out of the living room, most likely belonged to the children, he stole the little fingerling off the shelves, he knew these would go for a pretty penny if he sold them online.

After raiding the living room and kitchen, yes, he stole the food to sue him he was cheap, and they had a big pack of Raman noddle just sitting on the shelf that was begging to be stolen. Henry had gone to the room, he took the games and PlayStation stuffing them in his bag. It was when he went into the office that he found the safe behind an ugly painting.

He had managed to break it open and found at least thirty grand in stacks, Henry had only taken twenty and left the rest, he didn't want to leave them with nothing, he didn't know them, they could be good people who worked hard for this money.

But Henry was selfish.

He had scored big on that job, and it had been what set him on the path of looking for house, it had been pure luck to find this place, he had just been about to close out of the tab when the listing popped up.

Henry smiled as he entered the kitchen, it was a decent size with an island in the middle, there were plenty of cabinet space and a big pantry. That was another thing he liked about the house, the pantry was quite large and already had shelves built in for cans. He knew he would fill it to the brim; he never wanted him or Piper to go hungry again ever.

Piper appears in the doorway, " did you hear me?" he asked her," yea yeah you claimed the masters " she rolled her eyes, " I already got my room though" she said happy, she had found a room on the second floor, it was large and had a balcony with French doors.

" Oh yeah" Henry grinned.

" This house so big" she said in awe at the kitchen, there old house had been large but nothing like this, there were seven bedroom all together plus the attic and basement.

" Yeah, it's pretty awesome" henry agreed.

Henry walked to the backdoor, " come here you want to see something more awesome?" he asked making Piper curious, the girl followed him out to the back porch, there was an old green house that was overgrown with weeds and plant life, the yard was large and needed a lot of work, there was a tall brick wall that had seen better days with moss vines growing on it. " This is all ours" Henry grinned as Piper gasped.

" wow" Piper stared at the yard and greenhouse; it was beautiful and would be even more so when they cleaned it up and planted flowers and vegetables in it. " yeah" Henry said hands on his hips, Piper looked to him, she could see a big difference in him compared to six months ago.

He was taller and wore a black sleeveless shirt and ripped jeans, he had put on some weight but was still lean, what was different was the tattoo on his forearm and neck. Damion and Eilzabeth had convinced him to get a tattoo; Henry had decided to get a tattoo of an orange and red koi fish on his right arm.

It was a three months later he got another tattoo, this time on the right side of his neck, he got a tattoo of a purple and black butterfly at stretched over his neck and it was a week ago that he went back and got another, this time one on his rib, he had got a tattoo of a red spider lily. Piper thought it was pretty, she wanted a tattoo, but henry wouldn't let her, he told her she had to wait until she was older which frustrated Piper.

He now had piercings in his ears and wore a necklace with a red ruby that he never took off, he told her it was for protection. His hair was still black, but his blonde roots were showing, every few weeks he would touch up his roots but hasn't in a while.

" This is our home' Henry said and Piper agreed with him. life had become so much better since they ran away, she was even closer to Herny than before, she hadn't realized how much he protected her from their parents. He had taken the brunt of their anger and beatings. 

She felt guilty for how she treated him in the past; she had been so caught up in her life and trying to be a part of a social circle that wasn't worth it. Since leaving she had become a whole new person, she had changed a lot to.

Her hair had grown some, but she kept it short, she had dyed it red over the black dye creating a cherry cola color, she liked it. She had gotten piercing though even if Henry didn't approve of it. She only pierced her ears and nose. Henry hadn't been too happy when she came home with her nose pierced.

" come lets go unpack we got a lot of work to do" Henry said moving to the door, they didn't have much, they tried not to buy too much but piper still got new clothes and stuff, she had taken to working at the ice cream parlor for extra cash even though Henry told her she didn't have to, but she wanted to, she wanted to help with support and to buy her own things instead of Henry taking care of her.

Chapter Text

Henry walked through the crowded streets of swellveiew, it had been another month since he bought the house, he and piper had been working to clean it up and make it home. he still worked for cherry and Jason bringing in some more money. He was in the process of scouting another house. he needed more cash, he needed to hire a contractor for the roof, he knew it would be costly, but it needed to be done.

he needed a big score.

Henry turned into a dark alleyway, cherry had told him of a place, a bar where he could find jobs, he knew she was a villain, but she was a good friend, she helped him out when she didn't have to, she hired him and taught him a lot, she was a grifter, she knew her way around a deal. 

Henry glanced back making sure there was no one around, he was wearing his long trench coat that concealed his katana. The x ray goggles were around his neck along with the necklace. Henry pulled his hood down and knocked on the door, he made sure to do the pattern that cherry had taught him. he waited as the small slit in the door open and he was met with eyes staring at him " password " a rough voice sounded.

" Where the bears walk" henry said as the man watched him, after a minute the door open and he was met with the smell of booze and cigarette smoke. Henry walked in and the door was slammed shut behind him, the large man sat back down on his stool and opened a book.

Henry scanned the room and had to hold back a sigh, he recognized half these villains, oh if only they knew who he was he though making his way to the bar where an old man sat with a beer in his hand. Henry took a seat and watched the people converse; he spotted toddler and his goons at a table. 

He finally found what he was looking for, there was a wall full of posters, all jobs for someone or bounties, mostly of hero's that villain wanted to get rid of, Henry noticed Captain man bounty was quite high. He also noticed he had his own poster, he didn't know if he should be offended that he had such a low bounty.

" What can I get for you?" the bartender appeared making Henry turn to her, he had half his face covered with a mask. " Apple juice" he answered, the woman nodded and pulled out a bottle of juice and poured him a glass. She was used to people coming in and ordering juice. Even though it was a bar for villains, not everyone drank.

" I haven't seen you before. " She questioned sharp eyes narrowed at him, " I'm new" was all he said. 

She hummed but didn't push which henry was thankful for, Henry stayed at the bar, sipping his juice and listening in in the conversations. the bar was quite large with a bar and tables spread out and booth along the wall. there was a juke box not far from him and henry decided he wanted to play a song, he stood up and walked to it, it was old and only had a small selection, he flicked through the songs until he settled on Mrs. American pie.

He went back to his spot at the bar and finish off his juice

He never thought his life would turn out like this, sitting in a villain bar drinking apple juice and listening to Mrs. American pie surrounded by villain that he had put away one time or another. Henry lips formed a grin at the thought. 

life was funny that way.

Henry set his glass down and left a ten-dollar bill before getting up and moving to the back wall, he was surprised no one had approached him yet, considering he was a new face. But it worked in his favor, he didn't need any trouble.

Henry scanned the posters looking for a job, there were many and most were either looking for parts for projects or wanted someone dead or captured. There was one that was looking for hired help. Henry spotted one that seemed decent, it was post of someone looking for some material for a project, the reward was three grand, it was a start. Henry grabbed it and folded it up; Cherry had told him there was a system.

If you were able to complete the job, you would be able to just go and collect your reward at the bar. 

Henry scanned the rest of the wall and didn't see any other jobs that interest him right now, he needed to just focus on one job and be able to complete it. Henry turned around ready to leave but instead bumped into someone, " sorry my fault" he said not paying attention to who he bumped into, " watch were you're going" a rough voice caused Henry to freeze, it was a voice he hadn't heard in months and one he hadn't thought he would hear. 

He looked up to see Dr. Minyak standing in front of him, the man was wearing his brown trench jacket, his glasses glinting in the light. 'shit' Henry paled seeing the villain who had kept him hostage for two weeks, the man had a sneer on his face looking down at him. 

Not far behind him was Jasmine who was coming their way, " sorry got to go" Henry quickly walked pass Minyak who looked at him confused. Henry hadn't even made it a few steps away when he heard Minyaks voice " Kitten?" the man said voice raised, Henry paused mid step and couldn't help but turn back out of habits reacting to the name.

That was his mistake.

Double shit

Henry ran through the crowed and was out the door before Minyak or Jasmine could react, he hadn't thought they would recognize him so easily. but they did, would that mean Ray or scoze would recognize him if he ran into them?

Henry ran out of the dark alley ignoring the fast footsteps behind him, Henry scowled as he ran into the crowed street, he continued weaving through people, he spotted another alley that was behind the craft store, he made his way to it hoping to shake Minyak who was hot on his heels.

Henry ran down the alley and took a sharp right, " kitten" Minyak yelled as Henry took another right, the alley twisting like a labyrinthine. There was an old apartment complex nearby, and Henry knew he could use the fire escape to well escape.

Henry turned another corner and spotted the old fire escape, he ran faster, ignoring the burn in his lungs, he went and jumped catching the rail, he grinned about to pull himself up but suddenly the rail cracked under his weight and Henry found himself falling, his eyes widen on horror as he fell backwards and hit the ground hard, he hissed in pain. 

Just as Henry had gotten to his feet, Minyak appeared and was already tackling him to the ground, Henry grunted at the force as he hit the ground for a second time. " fuck" Henry cursed as he struggled in Minyak grip. The man full weight was on him keeping him pinned down, Minyak held Henry arms down keeping him immobilized. Henry glared at the man above him; his mask had long ago slipped down revealing more of his face.

" Minyak" Jasmine voice was heard as the woman finally caught up with them, she was out of breath and hands on her knees. " I got him" Minyak yelled to her, Jasmine walked closer and fell to her knees when she recognized him.

" Kitten?" she said with a soft look on her face, her hand reached out towards him, Henry watched her with wary eyes, he noticed Minyak weight shift slightly and his grip loosen just enough for him to move, he head butt the doctor causing him to give a pain cry, Minyak released Henry and he took the chance to punch him right in the nose, he twisted his body and crawled out from under him all the while kicking him in the leg.

" damnit kid " Minyak cursed holding his nose glaring at the sidekick who put distance between him and the two villains.

Minyak watched the boy, it had been almost seven months since he had seen or heard anything about the missing sidekick, even Captain man was looking for the boy. No one had seen him in months, no one knew what happened to cause him to disappear.

there was nothing.

If Minyak was correct, him and Jasmine were the last to see the boy when escaped their old hide out, back in the apartment. He didn't know where the kid ended up afterwards, he had thought he would go back to captain man and return to being his sidekick fighting crime. But that never happened, he just disappeared without a trace.

" What gave me away?" kitten asked watching them cautious, he looked different, his hood had fallen off in the scuffle revealing his hair that had been clearly dyed, his blonde roots were coming through. The oversize trench coat swamped him reaching his knees.

When Minyak had bumped into him he hadn't thought nothing of the boy until he spoke, he recognized his voice even if it had been a long time since he heard it and looking into honey brown eyes he knew it was him, his gut told him it was and he was right when he called out the boy nickname and he responded.

This had been the last place he thought to run into the boy.

Jasmine had been upset when kitten had escaped, she had grown attached to him in the short time he was with them. said woman stepped forward, " what happened to you? you just disappeared?" jasmine asked concerned for the boy.

She was glad he was alive, she had feared the worst when he never made an appearance.

Henry scanned his surroundings, he at a dead end and those two blocked his exit, there was a dumpster against the wall, he could parkour it, but he would need to move fast and if that failed, he could try the fire escape again.

It was just his luck that it was broken.

" Look were not here to fight" Jasmine said wanting the boy to trust her, she really didn't want to fight him. " We just want to talk" she tried as the boy stepped back wary.

" Talk?" kitten questioned narrowing his eyes at them, " yeah I rather not be chained to a bed again" he hissed scowling.

" Coffee?" jasmine blurted making both men give her a look like she had grown a second head

" What?" both kitten and Minyak spoke the same time confused

" You heard me coffee" she said crossing her arms. " I know a great place not far from here" Jasmine continued. 

Henry didn't know if he should trust or not, but he had missed her more than he thought he would. he was quite debating whether to take her offer or not, if things went south, he would make an escape.

" All right" he agreed causing jasmine to smile and Minyak look surprise " really?" he gave him a look while henry just shrugged " I don't say no to free food" he said pulling his hood up and mask back up.

" So, where's this place at?" he asked as Jasmine started to lead the way with a skip in her step.

That was how Henry found himself sitting across the two villains in a back booth in a small hole in the wall cafe, " here you go " Jasmine said cheerfully passing him a menu. Henry took it carefully watching her making sure she didn't have any tricks up her sleeve.

The waiter appeared to take their drink order Jasmine went for a tea while Minyak ordered just a black coffee, Henry ordered a pink lemonade. " I'll be right back " the dark-haired waitress smiled before leaving.

The three were quite as they looked through their own menu's, Henry kept his gaze on the menu, the roast beef looked good, ooh it came with a side of pasta too, he ignored their stares as he flipped through the menu. 

" So how you been " Jasmine stated trying to ease the awkward silence, Henry finally looked up and met her dark eyes, " fine" his answer short before going back to his menu. " How have you been, I read somewhere that you two robbed a nuclear plant was it" he said.

he had made it a point to keep up with crime at least.

" It didn't go so well, captain man foiled our plan " Minyak muttered under his breath, he had not been too happy when the hero had crashed through the ceiling just as he and Jasmine were escaping with the materials they needed for his project.

They had barely escaped the man if not for a well-timed bomb going off.

" What about you, happen to notice a certain missing sidekick" Minyak leaned forward watching the boy's reaction, " did you quit?" he asked curious, that was the only thing he could think of. The other was that Captain Man fired him but that wouldn't make sense because the hero was actively searching for the sidekick.

So, something had to had happen, but what he didn't know.

He watched as the boy scowled at the suggestion, and he even spotted a hint of hurt before it disappeared behind a cold expression. " that's none of your business" kitten said voice cold as he closed his menu.

" Minyak" Jasmine hissed kicking him in the shin causing the man to yell out " bloody woman that hurt" the doctor hissed back at her making henry almost smile but he didn't. Just then the waitress came back with her note pad and pen "are we ready to order? she asked as Minyak shut his mouth, whatever he had been about to say Henry knew it wouldn't be Plesant and would most likely make the girl cry.

" Yes, we are ready" jasmine answered with a sweet smile making the girl smile back, " okay ready when you are" the girl, Henry finally read her name tag attached to her shirt, Lilly it read. " Well, I would like the spaghetti" jasmine started off" extra mushrooms and Sause please " he added as Lilly nodded writing the order down,

" And for you?" Lilly looked to Minyak " the roast beef" was all Minayk said before turning away to look at the wall ignoring her, Lilly frowned at his rudeness but said nothing and turned to Henry " same as him" Henry said.

" Okay it will be a minute were down a staff member so bear with us" she said before leaving them and returning to the kitchen to put the order in.

Henry fiddled with the salt and pepper shaker; he was glad he on his gloves so there no risk of fingerprints. " So where have you really been? what you decide on a new line of work" Minyak pressed. The boy had been in the bar, that bar was very tight, you had to be someone to even get in there or know someone, and he doubt the boy was made a name for himself as far as Minyak could tell.

So, he knew someone with good connection, he wondered who though.

" I guess you say that?" he slowly said, he wasn't sure he could trust them, but it seemed they had kept his identity a secret. the past few months he had robbed quite a few houses. He had boosted a few cars with his crew to. 

He watched their expression turn to surprise " what?" jasmine almost choke on her tea, henry leaned back and crossed his arms.

" you're a villains now?" jasmine asked in a low voice, eyes shifting to the near empty cafe, there was an old couple at a table near the window sharing a chocolate milkshake, Henry thought it was sweet.

Henry paused and thought about it, he guesses he was a villain now, he never went out and hurt people, he was a thief. " I guess so" he shrugged unsure of himself. " What do you mean you're either one or not" Minyak said making Henry glare at him.

" I'm just a thief; I don't hurt people " he hissed at him.

jasmine frowned, she wondered what could have caused the sudden change in the sidekick to change so much, she knew it couldn't have been them, she was sure they couldn't have influenced him in such a short span of time he was with them. something else was going on but she didn't know what.

Lilly the waitress appeared holding a tray of their orders, " here yaw go" she grinned setting the plates down " spaghetti with extra mushrooms and sauce for the lady " lily said cheerfully setting the plate down Infront of jasmine who smiled gratefully to the girl. 

" And roast beef "Lilly looked put off by Minyak who was once again staring at the wall instead of her " just put it right there" he said as Lilly did so while setting henry plate down to. 

" Do you need a refill" Lilly asked seeing there drinks half empty " yes please" jasmine grabbed Minyak cup and moved it towards Lilly who was already refilling her tea. " I'll be right back " Lilly took kittens and Minyaks coffee cup and glass.

" You don't have to be so rude" Henry said as Minyak scoffed.

" Why didn't you tell anyone about me?" Henry asked curious, he wanted to know, they could have easily found out his identity, they knew what he looked like at least, they could have told other villains, but they didn't, at least he doesn't think they did, he figured if they did, he would know.

" I don't know " jasmine wasn't sure herself, it had hurt her heart when she uncovered his mask to find a young face behind it, she remembered discovering the scars on his arms, she could tell he had been cutting himself a long time judging by how old the scars were.

Henry frowned at her answer, Lilly returned with their drinks, " anything else" she asked, Minyak turned to her " that will be all " he said coldly annoyed that she keeps appearing when they were trying to have a serious conversation. 

Lilly look taken back by his rudeness, but Jasmine stepped in, " thank you for your service, we have everything we need" Jasmine told her kindly, the young girl nodded and walked away glancing back at them. Once she was gone jasmine turned back to the ex-sidekick.

"eat" she told him seeing he hadn't touched his food, she had hoped his eating habit had gotten better, she could tell if he had put any weight on or not with the thick trench coat he wore. Kitten eyes shifted downward to the plate that had a roast beef sandwich with a side of pasta salad.

jasmine was already digging into her food, it was smothered in tomato Sause, just the way she liked it. After a minute Henry finally started in on his sandwich. it was good, better than he expected. jasmine was glad to see him eating, he was already halfway through the sandwich, months ago she knew he wouldn't have been able to take three bites with feeling sick.

" I'm glad to see your doing well" she started " you're eating more than you did last time" she said pointing her fork to his late of half-eaten food, " yeah no thanks to you" he said mouthful making jasmine smile fondly. 

" I'm glad, I was worried i would have to chain you to the seat" she said serious making henry pause and look at her, " hell no" kitten inched away. " Oh, relax she didn't bring the shackles " Minyak said enjoying his own food. 

" sadly" jasmine looked sad.

" Why were you at the bar?" Minyak asked changing the subject, Henry paused but decided to be truthful, " was looking for a job" he said pulling out the poster and unfolded it before passing it to the evil doctor. Minayk took the page carefully from the boy, he pushed his glasses up before reading the poster

it was a reward for getting a certain item that was needed, most likely for a machine of some sorts, they needed an energy core with enough power-to-power Vegas. those were found in nuclear plants or in very secured faucitis. 

" you're going after this?" Minyak asked looking at the other who nodded, " yep" kitten answered taking a spoonful of his pasta salad. " By yourself?" he asked, " yes" kitten nodded like it was that easy. " You know this will be impossible" he said holding the paper up.

kitten snatched the paper out of his hadn't, " i can still give it a try" he said as jasmine lips thinned, " it's not that easy, first you would have to get though the security and the guards and if you managed that you have to have an escape route and a way to get the loot out not to mention a certain Swellveiw hero" jasmine said as kitten grimaced at the mention of captain man.

" Right, him" kitten sighed. " I can handle him" he said with a smirk making them perk up, it was easy to forget this was Kid Danger, the sidekick who worked with Captain Man himself and would most likely know his weakness and possibly his identity even.

A plan started to form in Minyak brain as his eyes narrowed at the ex-sidekick. " you're going to need a crew" Minyak started, a wide grin spreading across his face.

Chapter Text

Henry didn't understand how he found himself in this position, well he did but it was a blur, it started with in a hole in the wall cafe with Minyak and Jasmine and Minyak had a crazy idea that Henry honestly should have rejected right off the bat, he should have gotten up and left but he didn't, he stayed and listened to the man.

Now he was standing in a rundown warehouse that was their lair with jasmine showing him around, " so how will this work" Henry asked as the man set up an old projector, " one second " the man said moving around. Henry didn't know why he agreed to team up with the two villains but here he was. 

" The only place I know of that has what we're looking for is the nuclear plant" he said thinking of the same one he and jasmine had tried to break into three months ago and had failed. Henry raised an eyebrow as a photo of a very familiar nuclear plant popped up on the screen.

" You want to try again " Henry narrowed his eyes at the evil doctor, " yes last time we had been unprepared and had run into Captain Man" Minyak explained, " me and Jasmine had been gathering materials " he added. 

" And what do you plan on doing with these so-called material " Henry asked suspicious of the man. " Experiments of course" Minyak said truthfully. Henry bit the inside of cheek, this was dangerous, this was different than robbing people homes. This was working with two well-known villains break into a nuclear plant and they didn't have good intentions either.

Henry was starting to doubt himself; he had only agreed for the money. The house and green house needed to be remodeled and the yard landscaping plus the bills needed to be paid. The plumbing needed to be replaced badly, the first week he and Piper moved in the bathroom pipes had busted and flooded the house. They had spent two days trying to mop up water.

Maybe three grand wasn't worth it, he should just stick to his life as a thief robbing the rich. it done him good so far. Plus, if he was to go through with this it would put him on Ray radar, and he didn't want that.

Jasmine seeing his hesitation stepped forward, " look were not going to use it for evil, we just want it " she said making Henry give her a look. " So, you just happen to want an energy core and not use it?" he said not believing her.

" Wait a moment " Jasmine turned and disappeared into a different room, she wasn't gone long before she returned with a tablet in her hand, henry frown in confusion as she turned the screen to him, on the screen was a chart full of names, he recognized some of the names, they were villains, he noticed it was a ranking system. 

" what's this have to do with the job?" he asked grabbing the tablet from her hands and flicked through it, " well it's how our system works, the more jobs you are successful at the higher your rank is" Jasmine explained. 

" Kind of like the heroes have you know" Jasmine compared the list, " and right now our rank is slipping" Jasmine pointed to her and Minyaks name, they were ranked 78. They had been originally in the top twenty, but the last few months and failed assignments had them slipping from the ranks.

" So, what you just want the energy core for a trophy?" Henry asked bewiled.

" Yes" both villains said at the same time.

Minyak pushed his glasses up, it was the truth, it was a trophy of sorts, but he wasn't going to tell him about his future plans with the core. Right now, he was more worried about their rank, if it slipped any lower, doors would start closing. the ranks were there for a reason, the more successful you were the more connections you could form. 

And it kept the common Crimmel and villain separated.

Places like the bar was a place were only those who were higher in the ranks could have access to, he knew there were other places, he was sure of, but he and Jasmine weren't that high on the ranks and even if they were it didn't mean they would be a part of it.

" So, you see, we need to earn our rank back" jasmine said hoping the boy would help them.

Henry sighed, he really needed the money, and the thought of working with the two was tempting. Might even be fun, he wasn't going to lie, the thrill of doing something he shouldn't was addicting. when scouting the houses and planning every step had been like second nature to him.

" Alright I'm in, but only if no one gets hurt" he warned as jasmine lit up like Christmas. " Really" she smiled and shot forwarding hugging Henry, he tensed in her hold, he didn't push her away knowing if she tried anything the amulet would protect him if she tried anything. it wouldn't be the first time she slips something into his drink or food. The only reason he had been comfortable enough to eat was because of the protection of the amulet gave. 

While wearing it he couldn't be poisoned or drugged, he had even tested it himself and had been glad he took it from the storage room. He didn't know why Ray kept them locked away, the amulae could prove useful to hero work. Maybe because Ray didn't need the items, the man was instructible, the items would be useless for him, but Henry thought it would be useful to other heroes.

jasmine stepped back after a few seconds, releasing henry " I'm so excited " she waved her hands happily.

" Now that's over, we need to get to work, but first you need a name" Minyak said.

" What do you mean?" Henry asked.

" He means you need a name to go by, a stage name?" jasmine clarified making the blonde eyes widen. " I don't need a villain name" he shook his head; he rather not be known at all. " Well, we have to call you something and kitten isn't going to work" she said.

Henry was quite for a long time stuck in his thoughts, he had wanted to be a vigilante of sorts, he needed a stage name, he couldn't be kid danger anymore, that was in the past. He bit his lip running through a list of names he could use until he settled on one.

" Lilly" he finally said thinking of the spider Lilly tattooed on his rib, the other two give him a confused look, " that's " jasmine paused with a look on her face " nice" she looked unsure. " It will do" Minyak said wanting to get to planning.

Henry opened the front door to his house, it was late since he had spent the last two days with minyak and jasmine planning the heist, it was going to take time and preparation to pull it off. He had finally snuck away from the two leaving a note telling them he would return.

He had needed to come home and check on piper, even though he had left her a voice message letting her know he wouldn't be home for a few days. he was sure she had questions on where he had been.

Henry scanned the entry way, seeing nothing out of the ordinary, he noticed the light on in the kitchen and the flashing from a T.V in the living room, Piper had fallen asleep on the couch watching her show. it was just past nine, she really needed to sleep in her own bed, the couch wasn't a good spot to fall asleep on, but he decided against waking her up, instead he placed a blanket over her and turned the T.V off.

Henry then made his way to the basement where he had decided to convert into his office of sorts or better word Man cave or secret lair. He flicked the lights on and was met with a large area; there was a desk with his laptop on it and monitors. He had installed security camera the second week once he was able to get the cable company to come out and set the dish up and Wi-Fi box. He now had camera surrounding the property and even a few in the woods.

He had found an old hunting cabin a few miles away from the house that the owners before must have used to hunt game during the season. It was in decent shape, it was just a one room shack with a bed, dresser and table. 

Henry made his way to his desk, the basement was still pretty bare, there was a table with his equipment on it and the stuff he stole from Ray. There was a cabinet on the far wall that didn't have much in beside first aid kit and some knives. There was a wooden post with a target poster on the other wall where he practiced his throwing knives on. 

He took a seat and leaned back in his chair, it was going to be a minute until they could make there move, maybe even a few weeks meaning Henry was going to have to stick with robbing houses. it would get him by. He wasn't working for Cherry anymore; he decided to go full time with his not so Steller job. he had more time to scout and research Neiborhood's. He had his eye on a house, it was a vacation house, but word on the street was some rich kids had been dealing in drugs.

Henry had even witnessed them himself; he had come across a teen his age selling small pouches of cocaine in the park while his buddies had been on look out. He had kept his eye on them, even followed them home one night. He had found they were staying at their parent's vacation home near the lake and using it as a base of sorts. 

He had been debating on robbing them, he was sure they had money behind a vault from there deals unless they had blown through it, he didn't doubt that for a second, the kids came from money and were used to getting what they wanted.

The other reason he wanted to go was because there was no camera, when he had scouted the place, he had found the security system disabled which worked in his bereft. Henry smiled as he opened his laptop, he had work to do and bills to pay.

" Morning" Piper paused when he heard Henry voice as she entered the kitchen rubbing her eyes, she looked to see her brother at the counter with papers spread around him. He must have come in at some point last night.

There was already a plate of eggs and waffles on the table and bacon still cooking in the pan on low heat. " Your back" Piper took a seat at the table and helped herself to the late of waffles. " Hm yeah got caught up in work" he lied. 

Piper narrowed her eyes suspicious, she knew Henry wasn't walking a straight and narrow line, she knew he was involved in something, in what she didn't know, Henry kept a tight lid on where the money came from. 

When they lived out of the motel, Henry had been gone most of the time working, he had worked for Cherry and some other guy she had never met. It brought them income, but she knew the money Henry made didn't come from them. the fact he had been able to buy this house and land even if it was reduced price and been a quick sell from what Henry told her.

Piper had googled the house before it had been taken off of market, she had seen the price, there was no way Henry would have been able to afford the house even with his saving from jobs.

Piper had a guess he was stealing, working with Elizabeth and Damion and Theo, she knew those three had sticky fingers and the times they would disappear at odd hours of the night with her brother.

She didn't know if that sat right with her or not, she didn't like the fact her brother was a Crimmel even if it was to get them by and create a life for them. She feared one day it would catch up to him.

Piper tried to get a look at the paper, but Henry quickly slid them into a folder hiding them from her.

" You know you can tell me "Piper said upset that he was hiding things from her, she didn't like that. Henry paused, " tell you what?" he said dumbly making Piper's eyebrow twitch. " I'm not stupid you know I know about your side job" she said watching his reaction. It irked her when his face remained the same, unreadable.

" Piper I am not discussing my work with you " he said voice hard making her tense. " but" she tried but he cut her off " don't you have school?" he said instead, piper glared at him for changing the subject, but she turned and glanced at the clock, it was just pass seven and if she didn't start getting ready, she would be late.

She had started the new school a week ago after henry was able to get the transfer papers, it saddens her that she would have to start over and make new friends. She was still in contact with a few friends from her old school though so it wasn't all bad and she could still see them. On the weekend. they only lived on the outskirts of Swellveiw. Maybe twenty minutes from the town.

" Get ready, the bus will be here any minute" he said standing up folder in hand, Piper scowled but did as she was told even if she stomped away like a child. Henry watched her go and sighed. He didn't want her to involve in his life of crime and tried to keep her away from as much of possible, he had even warned Elizabeth and Damion to keep her out of there trouble.

The last thing he needed was cops showing up and questioning him.

Five minutes later piper was coming back downstairs after quickly dressing, she just threw on a shirt and some jeans with white belt. " Lunch money" Henry passed her a ten-dollar bill.

" I'm going to be late, might even be gone a few more days" he told her. 

" Again? you just got back" she whined as henry ruffled her hair, " I know, there's plenty of leftovers and I will leave money for takeout, make sure to clean up after yourself and don't just eat junk food" he said making her roll her eyes.

They heard the bus loud engine coming down the road which made Piper move " oh and make sure to study for that history test" Henry yelled after the girl. " I will" she yelled back happy to have someone to care about her grades.

Henry watched her go, once she was on the bus he went back inside, he needed to pack, he had work to get done and maybe check up on jasmine and Minyak while he was at.

Chapter Text

" Look man I said I was sorry" the petty car booster cried as Ray roughly handcuffed him to the car door. He was already having a bad night, there had been two robberies back-to-back, saved a woman from getting mugged and had to deal with a group of drunks that puked on him and now he was dealing with this asshole. 

Ray scowled as the man tried to kick hm, like it would do anything, he couldn't feel pain. Ray pulled his phone out and dialed the familiar number for the police, a female dispatcher answered and was quick to dispatch a patrol car to his location. Ray debated on whether just leaving and moving on but decided to stick around in case the guy got loose. Ray sat on the bench, tapping his leg impatient, he wanted to get back to searching for Henry.

It has been six months since he last saw any sign of him, he had just disappeared without any trace, scowze couldn't find him on any of the security camera he had access to, they figured the boy was smart enough to keep his face hidden. 

Ray hated himself for even considering erasing Henry memories. When he had seen how hurt henry it had been had made him realize how young he was, how close he had been to dying. He couldn't bear the thought of losing him. Ray had only wanted to erase his memory out of worry; he wanted the boy to live a normal and safe life, to live a long life without risk. 

He regretted the minute he said it, he saw the hurt flash across his face and the betrayal. Before Ray could take it back, Henry was already gone, escaping up the tube leaving them. It was week later Henry showed up at Piper school, the two disappeared off campus never returning home.

It was the last they seen them.

Ray decided not to erase Charlotte and Japers memories. The two had stayed on the team to help search for Henry, though it wasn't the same, he could see the distrust in their eyes every time they see him, and he didn't blame them.

Ray ignored the man's begging to let him go, that he didn't want to go to jail, " you do the crime you do the time" muttered Ray. it was then a patrol car pulled up and a familiar woman and man stepped out.

" Captain man" wade smiled widely seeing the Hero while Clearwater went straight to the crook checking for injuries, seeing none she sighed in relief before turning to the Hero who was already leaving.

She frowned, the last few months the hero had changed, he no longer stuck around as much for the press only when needed. He didn't chat up the woman like he usually did, nor did he barely give the report before he was off. he was also more violent when handling Villains, there were known case of broken bones which Emma frowned on, the man may end up killing someone one day.

He was almost like a robot, there wasn't any light in his eye, and it scared her. Since his sidekick went missing the hero had been kicking down doors trying to find him. No one knew what happened. 

Captain man had been tight lip about it. 

" Hey" she called out to him making him stop and turn " what's his crime?" she asked walking up to him, it put her off when she got closer to him and could see the how dead he looked. " Car thief, caught him trying to break into the car" he said before turning away to leave but Emma did something unexpected, she reached her hand out and stopped him.

Tis had to stop, this was swellveiw hero, this was the man children and adults looked up to, the man who inspired hope. A hero that protected them and was able to do the impossible.

" what" Captain hissed at her getting irate, he just wanted to move on to find the next bad guy to release his anger on. He didn't need some woman trying to hit on him right now, he wasn't interested even if she was pretty.

" Look whatever happen to Kid Danger isn't your fought" Clearwater started causing Ray to freeze. " Look it's been six months and still hasn't been found, it's time for the police to take over, we need a name" she said, no one could get the identity of kid danger, not even the mayor or chief of police.

" No" the hero growled at her making her step back, " my team is handling, like I told your chief "He glared at her angrily. clearwater glared back at him " and where has it gotten you?" she couldn't help but be spiteful. 

she regretted it though as she watches the anger melt away and replaced with that same dead look, she wanted the old hero back to himself and to that they needed to find Kid Danger.

She didn't know if the side kick was alive though.

" Look I can help" she blurted out.

" I don't need the police involved" he told her walking away, but clearwater followed him, " no you do, you need a fresh pair of eyes and someone who isn't connected the way you are" she said making him stop

" Connected how?" he asked confused

" emotionally" she stated, she wouldn't be emotionally involved and wouldn't be blinded by anger. Captain man stared at her in thought. Emma really hoped he took her offer, she wanted to help bring the light back to his eye, before he burnt himself out or worse.

" Okay but only just you, no one else " he finally said, Ray was desperate, it was a risk, but he felt she could be trusted and if she wanted, he would erase her memory. She made sense, they hadn't had any clues in months and maybe a fresh pair of eyes would help.

" Get rid of your partner and meet me at that store" he told her making her eyes widen " now?" she asked not expecting him to except much less start now. " yes, were wasting time" he said eager to get started.

But she couldn't just leave wade by himself, and she was still on the clock. " I still have a job to do, I will give you my number, call my in a few hours and I'll meet you" she told him making him sigh but she could see the light return to his eyes some.

" Fine okay " he said though he didn't look happy about it, ' give me your phone " she held his hand out, " I'll give you a number you can reach me at" he added seeing her expression, it made sense.

" yeah" she nodded, handing it over and watched as he put his contact in, Emma couldn't believe this was happening, it was any person dream to just talk to the man, but to have a way to contact him. she knew many girls would be jealous. though she wasn't interested in the hero, he was handsome looking even behind the mask but his personality wasn't the best even though he was charming.

Emma was shook from her thoughts when handed her phone back.

suddenly the man was tapping the com in his ear and listening to a voice on the other end, who Emma didn't know, she wondered who his team was. " there's a mugging taking place on kelp street" he told before he was taking off.

Emma watched him go before going to help wade with the suspect.

Chapter Text

Henry dropped his duffel on the floor, he had been lucky the house across from the vacation home he wanted to rob was empty, the owners were away on business or only came down on holidays he guessed, he had already disabled the security system which wasn't difficult. He had been scoping out the neighbor for a few weeks and he noticed the house he was in the owners hadn't been home not even once.

He knew where each camera was and could easily get passed them, at least conceal his identity. in the garage was his car with the tags concealed also, after this score he was going to have to sell that one and get another since that one could become connected to the robberies. 

Henry placed anything of value in the trunk of his car which was mostly tools and Eectronic's he found in the bedrooms. he could sell these to cherry for cheap and make a little off of them. hopefully the bigger score was in the house, the drug dealing rich snobs. henry grinned as he placed his X ray goggled on, he was so glad he stole these from ray, they came in handy for his line of work. it helped to make sure a house was empty before entering and to see if there was anything of value or hidden vaults.

Henry could see there was three in the house, one downstairs in the living room most likely watching T.V while the other two were upstairs in a bedroom, Henry had to do a double take, the two upstairs were fucking on the bed, he realized it was two guys. Henry wasn't a stranger to sex, he wasn't a virgin by a long shot, him and Damion had fooled around even though it didn't lead to anything.

They were just friends with benefits.

Henry eyes shifted to the other bedroom, he could see there was a small vault in the walls of one room, most likely an office of sorts, where most vaults were. He couldn't see much of anything, but that wasn't surprising everything was grey and see through.

He would get a better look once inside, but the vault was promising. He would wait until it was dark for better cover and hopefully the three leave for the night. Henry went and sat on the couch; he flicked on the T.V but kept it on low. the curtains were drawn so no one could see inside the house.

He flicked to the news seeing if there was anything of interest, there was nothing just the local report of captain man saving a woman from being mugged. He turned it off when he couldn't find anything to watch, he wasn't one to watch T.V anymore.

Bored he went and started to rummage through the kitchen, maybe start cooking something. He had to make sure he cleaned up after himself though. suddenly he heard a crash behind him, and he turned alert. He hadn't heard any door open so there was no way someone could have snuck up on him.

Henry tensed only to be met with the sight of a cat on the counter, the cat had knocked over a candle and was staring at him curious. Henry let out a sigh of relief. he didn't realize there was a cat. he then frowned, there wasn't any signs that a cat lived here, no food bows or cat furniture's or bed.

the cat had orange fur and bright gold eyes with narrow slits, he could tell it was skinny and hadn't had a decent meal in weeks or ever. just enough to survive, " hey there" Henry reached out his hand testing if the cat was friendly, he was surprised when it came towards him and meowed. So it must have had a home at one point.

but how did it get in?

Henry searches the house and checking the window the window's and found one was open, it was the bathroom window above the shower, it had been left open just a crack but enough for the skinny cat to crawl through. Henry felt the cat rub up against his leg, begging for food. He sighed and went back to the kitchen and find something for the cat too. henry smiled as he found cans of soups in the cabinets. there was bread and cheese also.

Grilled cheese and tomato soup and vegetable soup it was.

The orange cat meowed even louder as he opened the can and poured it in the pot, warming it up, he tossed pieces of bread to the starving cat that hungrily ate them. once he was finished, he made his way back to his spot by the window, he pulled the coffee table closer and set the food down. the cat jumped up on the table and Henry had to push him away from his bowl, he set the other bowl of chick noodle soup in front of the cat, the cat dived in, growing as it tried to eat it all in record time.

Henry pulled his goggles back on and took another look at the house, it had been over an hour and was starting to get late in the evening, not dark yet though. The couple were finished and downstairs with the third person. He could see that they were at the table two sitting and one standing.

Henry sighed, he was glad he brought his crossword puzzle to help pass the time.

it wasn't until just pass eight the three decided to leave, most likely to go sell dope in the park or go to a club, Henry wasn't sure he was just glad they were out the house. Henry watched them go. he had to make this quick, he didn't know when they would return. for all he knew they could just be going to the gas station, but if they were he knew the closest gas station was ten minutes from the house, he had checked just to make sure when scouting.

" All right you stay here, stay out trouble " he told the cat that was napping on the back of the couch.

Henry grabbed his duffel bags and moved quick; he kept an eye out for any nosy neighbors but saw none. He used the cars as cover until he was across street and quickly went around back hopping the privacy fence. 

The backyard was concrete with an inground pool, there was lawn chairs spread out and beer cans and just stuff, it looked like there had been a party at some point. henry made his way to the door and found it locked but easily picked locked it. The inside was a wreck, clothes and beer cans everywhere and he could see at least a week-old pizza under the couch. he was glad for his mask as the smell was horrible.

He quickly made his way up to the stairs and into the office, he went straight for the vault that was behind a painting. henry was about to pull out his gear to get it open but something on the desk caught his eye. It was a small piece of paper peeking out of the back of a photo of a man and his son, henry picked it up and pulled it out.

How stupid were these guys, he read the note that had the passcodes on it, Henry typed it in, and the vault door opened, Henry tossed the paper to the side and opened it the rest of the way, he grinned when he spotted the bundles of cash in stacks.

From what he could guess, it was about seven grand at least, he quickly put them in his duffel, he would check the rest of house for anymore hiding spots but so far there wasn't much besides the Xbox in the living room.

The house was trashed with junk.

Henry went to the bedroom where the two guys had been, the bed was ruined and Henry grimaced at the sight, he checked the closet, there was a shot gun, but he would leave that. the bathroom was even worse.

though he did find a hundred-dollar bill on the counter, he stuffed that in his pocket before deciding it was time to leave, he didn't think the rest of the house had anything worth stealing and he had the cash and what he stole from the other house. henry decided to climb out the window and into the tree, making a swift escape and just in the nick of time. he heard the engine of a car and seen headlights just as he closed the door behind him.

The three teens had come back; Henry was glad to have left.

Henry quickly cleaned his mess up and moved the furniture back the way it was, the cat was still napping on the couch. Henry would need to leave soon before the cops arrived but now that he thought about, he doubts the teens would call the cops, if they were smart. Henry grabbed the cat and made his way to the garage, it was time to leave, he tossed the duffel in the back seat and put the cat up front.

He started the engine and opened the garage door with the remote button; he drove out and pushed the button to close the door before tossing it out the window. He drove away not looking back.

Henry parked at a gas station once he was far away not be connected to the crime, he doubts they call the police, but he couldn't be sure. He went inside the store and placed forty on pump two and bought a pack of cigarettes before leaving. the cat had gone back to sleep curled up in a tight ball in the front seat. henry guessed he could take it home with them, it could eat the mice that had made a home in their walls.

Henry leaned against his car while watching the numbers rise on the pump, he lit a cigarette not caring of the no smoking sign in front of his eyes, he inhaled and waited a few seconds before blowing out smoke, his nerves calming down, curse Damion and Theo for giving him bad habits. He had never thought he would be a smoker, well there was a lot of things he thought he wouldn't be.

A lot has changed and to honest, it was for the better, before he had been working himself to the bone trying to make ends meet and raise Piper and take their parents' abuse. he had tried to be a hero onto of that to, he had wanted to help people and keep the town safe from Villans.

Now he had his own place even if it needed work, Piper was happy and in school, they were able to eat three meals a day and had more freedom. He hasn't cut himself once since he left Jasmine and Minyak place, he had been tempted to but didn't, there had been no need, no expectations to live up to.

Henry placed the pump back in its proper place before getting in the car and driving off unaware of the camera across the street that had just been installed that same day. 

Chapter Text

Emma never got a call from captain man, nor would he answer her calls, she was beginning to think he had lied to her just to get her off his back. It wasn't until the next Saturday she got a call from him. he told her to go to the Swellveiw scrap yard and wait; she did as told, she didn't have to come in until later that day and finish up some reports, but they could wait this was more important.

Emma sat on a rusty car that had seen better days, she was in her normal attire instead of her uniform, she was working off the books of sorts since no one knew she was working with Captain Man, her clothes were nothing special just a blue t shirt and jeans, her long hair pulled in a ponytail instead of her usual tight bun. 

Emma looked at her watch, it had been thirty minutes since she got her and still no sign of anyone, but she would wait, he wouldn't have called her here or nothing. She was right, five minutes later captain man appeared in his suit.

Emma stood up seeing him, " were you followed?" he asked her as his eyes scanned the area, " no" she shook her head but still checked the area, she was sure she know if she was followed, she hadn't told anyone about her conversation with the hero.

" no one knows I'm here or even spoken with you " she told him, the man was paranoid and she didn't blame him, he had a lot of enemies that wanted revenge, heck she might have a few of her own.

" Good, follow me" he said beginning to walk away " wait where are we going?" she asked running after him, the man said nothing until they reached a black van " ill drive " he said.

" But my car?" Emma pointed out, don't worry nothing will happen to it" she waved her off before getting int the driver seat and started the engine, Emma sighed and got in on the other side.

The windows were tented black making it hard to see in, she was sure that was violation of the law but said nothing. The drive wasn't far, only ten minutes or less, what surprised her when they pulled behind a store, it was a thrift store called the junk shop. A garage door opened, and he drove in letting it shut behind him.

" Here we are " he said as Emma glanced around the garage, it was just large enough for one car, there was shelves on the wall that held well just junk, " we use this for storage mostly" he said getting out the van and moving to the door.

Emma followed eying everything. So, this was captain man hide out? not what she imagined. She had thought he be in a penthouse in the hills, the hero she knew liked to show off and loved attention. Maybe that was a front? Emma didn't know, she followed him into a store that was full of stuff, random stuff at that, there was a T-Rex head above the door.

She had never even known this store existed until today.

" This way" he said seriously which was off putting. 

She followed him to the elevator that must go down, makes more sense for a secret base to be under the store, it was just a front. the doors closed shut and she felt her stomach roll as they just dropped.

The doors opened and it took everything in her not to puke, she rushed out of the cursed elevator and glared at the hero " what the fuck" she hissed fixing her hair while he just chuckled amused. " Not bad, most just puke there first time " he said making her glare harder.

" You need to get that thing fixed" she said making him laugh," why it's like a roller coaster ride" he said walking pass her. It was then she took in her surroundings, the room she was in was large, the colors were blue and red the same colors matching the hero's suit. there was a booth table in the middle and monitors on the wall, there was a workstation with different Eletronic's and a set of stairs that lead somewhere.

" Welcome to the man cave" the hero said over his shoulder, the name made her roll her eyes, it was such a guy thing to name their secret base the man cave. Emma finally focused on him instead of the base.

" So where do we start?" she asked getting down to business, there was a missing sidekick that needed to be found, and she needed details. The hero turned to her," you can't tell anyone, no one can know his identity " the hero said.

" I understand, but I need to know so I can work, you can't hide things from me, I need to know what you know" she said serious. She hoped he would take her advice. the hero sighed and sat down in the chair. 

Just then the elevator door dinged causing Emma to turn and look, a dark skin girl stepped out of the elevator with a tablet in her hands, she was young and couldn't be no older than fourteen, " hey Ray there's been another house robbery " the girl stated not looking up, to focused on her screen to see the newcomer.

Captain man stood up fast and was over to the girl putting a hand over her mouth " charlotte" he hisses lowly. The girl finally looked up and noticed Emma, " uh what's going on?" the dark-skinned girl looked confused, she narrowed her dark eyes at Emma in suspicion as Ray sighed.

" You weren't supposed to be here until this evening" The hero hissed as the girl glared at him, " what's going on? who is she?" asked the teen as Ray ran a hand through his hair, messing it up.

" I'm officer Emma Clearwater, I'm here helping with the investigation of the missing Kid Danger" Emma decided to inform the girl causing the hero to groan while the girl eyes widen. " You finally involved the police? what happened to its too dangerous?" the girl asked sarcasm in her voice.

" I'm not, well not the force at least" the hero told her as Emma studied the two, it baffled her on why a teenage girl would be so casual with the hero and she seemed to know his identify if her calling him Ray was any hint, so the hero's name was ray, Emma would file that information away for later.

" So, what made you change your mind, after all these months? I told you we needed to involve the cops long ago" the girl said angry as Ray looked away guilty. He hadn't wanted any risk of Henry or there's identity at risk. 

" I know, I know but clearwater made a good point" he said remembering her words, ' someone who wasn't emotionally involve and a fresh pair of eyes" she had told him.

" And what point was that?" Charlotte glared, the fact the man listened to some stranger suggestion over hers irked her. After Henry ran away and left them with no word or even a note it had hurt her. Ray had changed his mind on taking their memories, but she still felt betrayed, things were never going to be the same between them.

She had gone along with Ray because he had made a good point, but she could only take so much and with no leads they needed help.

She only stayed on the team to help find henry but so far, they hadn't been successful, Henry didn't want to be found, and he was making it harder for them. He had taken Piper and went off grid. she had even gone out at night searching hoping to find him on a street but no luck, her thoughts was that he left all of Swellveiw and maybe went to the bigger cities like dystopia to hide.

It would make sense, she had put missing photos out in all of Swellview and the city but so far no one has called with information. 

charlotte looked to the officer and studied her, " I'm charlotte " she decided to give her name, if they were going to be working with her they needed to be truthful, plus she would find out sooner or later when she started investigating Henry.

" Emma but you already know that, i didn't know captain an had a daughter? "Emma said seeing as the was only conclusion on who the girl was. both the hero and Charlotte eyes widen and grimace

" Daughter?"

" father"

Both made a look of disgust looking at each other. " Charlotte not my daughter " Captain Man said making Emma frown. She hoped he wasn't implying the teen worked for him, she couldn't be no older than fourteen.

" She works with me" he added as Charlotte went to her usually spot by the monitors and connected her tablet. " No I don't " the girl yelled over her shoulder still angry with the hero.

" She on the team" Ray added, Emma narrowed her eyes at him, a child was a part of the hero team? she hoped the girl didn't go out in the field, but from what she could tell the girl was behind the computer.

" So, you have children working for you?" Emma looked bewiled as the hero looked sheepish, " it just happened" was all he said thinking of a time he didn't want Charlotte and Jasper apart of the team, he had thought they would be a risk, but they proved him wrong.

Emma decided to deal with that later, right now she needed to start, " alright will deal with that later, but now I need you to start from the beginning, what happened" Emma asked curious. she felt there was something more going on with charlotte attitude towards Captain Man.

Captain man sighed, while Charlotte turned to look at them with sad dark eyes. " Henry was taken hostage a few months back" Captain Man started while pulling a chair over and took a seat in it cowboy style. 

" Henry? is that kid dangers real name?" Emma asked to clarify, the hero looked like he just drank vinegar " yes, Henry Hart" he finally bit out making Emma raise an eyebrow at him. " don't mind him he's acting like a child" Charlotte said rolling her eyes.

" Hostage? I think I remember something about that? you were kicking down every known villain door " Emma stated bringing out her notepad and pencil to take notes. " yeah, actually it was the night I met you" Ray pointed out, he only remembered her because she had rejected his advances. he 

" There had been two suspects, so we decided to split up, worse mistake i ever made" he bit out angrily, " then what happened?" Emma pressed. " We after you and wade left, I tried to call henry, he wouldn't answer at first until he did, he had been injured" Ray continued remembering the alley full of blood and the corpse.

 " When i was finally able to track him, he was already gone, there was a corpse, it was the suspect, who ever had henry must have killed the guy and taken him" he finished as Emma nodded listening. " And that was the last time you saw him?" she asked in though.

" Did you ever identity the body?" she asked him curious, " yeah and no that wasn't the last time we saw him" at this he looked away guilty and Emma narrowed her eyes at him, there was something more.

" It was two weeks later that he finally escaped, he made his way back here" Captain man gestured to the man cave, Emma furrowed her brows, that didn't sound right? if Kid Danger escaped then why was he still missing.

" If he escaped then why is he missing? did he gets kidnapped again" she questioned as Ray looked down, Charlote spoke up " Henry wasn't kidnapped, he just doesn't want to be found " the girl said.

Emma paused in her writing, " what?" she frowned not understanding.

" This idiot decided to fire him" charlotte pointed and glared at the hero who just looked defeated, Emma could see the dead look in his eye again, " you fired him? why?" she asked as Captain man pulled at his hair, it was a mess now, no longer slicked back and perfect. 

" It was a mistake, i...when he made his way back here he " Ray trailed off remembering seeing the bandages wrapped around Henry wrist and he was sure there had been other injures under his clothes that he kept hidden from them, Ray hadn't even given him the chance to be looked over, he didn't know how injured he was either.

" He was hurt?" Emma said knowing, " yeah" the hero nodded upset.

Emma hadn't been expecting this, she had thought the sidekick was held hostage by someone, this was different the ex-sidekick was in hiding. But something was eating at her, if why was Henry in hiding, if Captain Man fired him from the job why would he go in hiding and why would Captain man want him found?

" Why doesn't he want to be found?" she pressed watching their faces for any clues, both were silent now, she could tell they were having a silent conversation with their eyes as captain man stood up and turned thinking.

"I can't help if I don't know the details " Emma said serious. It was common for people to hold back information vital to a case and it irk her that he was lying to her. " Look I made a mistake, and he needs to be found " the hero said instead making Emma sigh, she decided to press later, for now she had what she needed, " okay tell me about Henry, what does he look like his age " she started.

" Here" charlotte turned to her computer and started typing, her head blocked the screen, but the printer came to life and spit out a paper, Emma stood and went to it picking up what looked to be a missing person photo.

It was a young boy with blonde hair and honey brown eyes with a wide smile wearing a red flannel shirt he looked to be no older than Charlotte maybe even younger, was kid danger really a child? she thought the name kid danger had been just a name, yeah, she figured the sidekick to be in his twenties at least not a teen.

" That's the most recent photo I have of Henry" Charlotte told her while swirling around in her chair facing them. " How old are you Charlotte " she asked the dark-skinned girl curious and was hoping she was older than she looked.

" Going to be sixteen soon the girl answered making Emma groan, that would mean kid danger was the same age, she turned to captain man " you have a child for a sidekick? how irresponsible could you be, are his parents aware?" she asked concerned now.

" His parents wouldn't care if he was dead or alive " the hero growled out, it pained him when he went to Henry home, after the kid had taken Piper and weeks went before, he decided to go see his parents. at first, he wasn't but when they never filed a police report for henry to file him as a missing person he grew concerned, so he went to Henry house, he had knocked but no answer.

The door had been unlocked so let himself in, the house had been a wreck, the kitchen overflowing with dishes and trash everywhere along with beer cans and wine bottles. it looked like a tornado came through the place, he didn't remember it being like this, every time he was over the place was clean and spotless, nothing out of place.

Seeing that his parents weren't home Ray left, he went back every day until they returned home, when he was able to confront them, it hadn't gone the way he expected, Siren Hart, Henry mother who he had a massive crush on had been so drunk and angrily screaming at him. He had gone as his normal self not as Captain Man, he was Henry boss, and it gave him an excuse to ask about the boy. 

Ray had been so angry at the things they said about Henry, he had punched Jake when he called the boy a no-good thief. 

" How many kids do you have working for you?" Emma questioned, first Charlotte and now henry, maybe helping the hero out was a mistake. " Does that really matter right now?" captain man said annoyed that she was questioning him, yes, he screwed up when he hired henry, the boy had been only just turned fourteen when he came into his shop looking for a job.

Emma gave him a look " two?" he said unsure just as the elevator dinged and Jasper came running out " Charlotte I got your message " the boy said as Ray face palmed. " Okay three, buts that's it I swear " Captain Man said as Jasper scanned the room.

" What I miss?" Jasper looked confused at the woman, he didn't recognize her at all, " Ray finally got help" Charlotte said making the hero cringe at his real name. " What Shes goanna find out one way or another" Charlotte shrugged.

" Yeah, but you didn't have to tell her" The hero whined.

" Who is she?" Jasper pointed out looking lost.

" Shes a cop Ray hired to help find henry since were getting nowhere" Charlotte explained to him, Jasper lit up hearing this, he had weeks searching for his best friend, he even skipped school to go walk the streets all day and night. 

Emma watched their interaction, the two teens were not starry eyed by the hero which leaves her to believe they have been working with long enough to overcome the idolization most have, Kid Danger didn't appear until about two years ago. god they were so young, Emma knew it was tough work to do what she does, being a police officer wasn't fun and games, you put your life in danger every time you walk out that door or when you responded to a call.

She had lost a coworker three months ago in what should have been just noise compliant but ended up getting shot when things got out of hand. It was so easy for something to happen.

" you're going to find Henry? the boy looked hopeful making her heart clench, " I'm going to try" she told him not wanting to get his hopes up, but knowing the kid wasn't kidnapped and just on the run gave her hope.

It meant he was alive.

Chapter Text

Henry opened the vault he had built into the wall of the basement, he put the cash he got from the drug house. Piper wasn't home still in the school which benefit him. He was going to leave again, he needed to sell the car for some fast cash and get a new one, he didn't need it connected to him. Henry made his way back to the car, the cat was still with him, he wasn't going to leave the orange cat here.

He was going to take him to the vet and get vaccine and checked out, it would cost a penny but worth it. 

He drove away from the house, speeding down the road towards town, he lit a cigarette and inhaled, he looked in the review mirror, his roots needed to be re dyed again and maybe a haircut, he ruffled his hair. 

He planned on hitting a few Neiborhood's to see if there were any easy scores, selling stuff to Cherry for quick cash made him a living, Cherry then resold everything for a higher price in her stores. Henry glanced to the duffel bags full of stuff, mostly Eletronic and games to sell to Cherry, he would stop by her store in the old neighborhood and then the vet and maybe check in on Jasmine and Minyak and see how plans are coming along.

Henry parked in front of Cherry store, Henry grabbed the duffel and made sure to leave the window cracked for the cat that was napping in the front seat, he entered the store. There were only a few people in the store including a familiar villain known as the toddler, the man was in the children section looking through the colorful clothes and toys. Henry was used to seeing villains in the store now, he had become familiar with them now.

" Harper" the toddler smiled seeing him, the child man beamed up at him and skipped over to him, Henry returns the smile " Jackson" he greeted the villain that hugged him around his waist. The man had taken a liking to him one day when Henry was in the store, he had been with Cherry, the man had come in with his goons behind him. The man liked coming to the store and buy clothes and toys for his lair.

Henry had been in the process of buying clothes for Piper, the man had been complaining about a toy, he had broken his favorite car. The door broken fallen off and couldn't get it back on. The villain had been upset ever since then, he had wanted Cherry to fix it, but Henry had stepped in seeing that it was an easy fix, he used to fix Pipers toys all the time. 

Since then, the toddler had taken a shine to him and Henry found himself fixing the villains toys or spending the day playing with him in the park, they played catch with a baseball and hide and tag.

The man looked up at him, " you haven't been around " he pouted as Henry ruffled his hair fondly. " I've been working little one" Henry told him. " But I do have something for you" Henry said pulling out a cotton candy Lolly pop. the man child eyes lit up at his favorite candy and reached for it, henry pulled it out of his reach " ah ha what's the magic word" Henry said as the man pouted even more.

" Please, please, Please" the man jumped up and down excited, Henry let the man have the candy and watched him eagerly unwrap it and stick it in his mouth. " Want to go play hide and seek " he asked as henry looked to be in thought. " Sorry Jackie I have a lot of work to do today" he said as the man looked about to have a fit, but Henry quickly cut him off, " next Saturday" he told him watching the man face change from angry to happy.

" Promise" Jackson asked as henry ruffled his hair again, " I promise" he told him, the villain gave him a hug before running back to the toy selection. " odd one that one" Cherry said in his ear, " tell me about it" henry turned to her.

" So how much can I get for this?" he asked looking at the stuff he stole spread out on the table. " hm " Cherry eyed the items with calculation in her sea green eyes. " 200 for all" she made her offer, " 200? this Xbox is worth that by itself" he told her. " that's my offer " she crossed her arms not backing down.

" 300" he tried making her scoff " 250 and that's my final offer" Cherry said as Henry knew she would, she was a hard woman to negotiate with, the stuff on the table was worth at least a grand but he would rather sell to her than on the street, she was able to move stuff faster and get it off his hands.

There was less risk

" deal" Henry agreed, " also I want to sell my car, and it needs to be quick" he added, " that hunk of junk" Cherry smirked as Henry rolled his eyes " its runs that's all that matters now can you help me or not" he asked hoping she would.

" Sure, I'll buy your car....for five hundred" she made her offer and Henry agreed, he needed the car off his hands. He knew she would sell it for a couple grand maybe even more if Shes able to fix it up some more.

" Thanks, I owe you one" Henry smirked at her, " I'll remember it to " the red head said with a look in her eye making him shiver.

Herny found himself standing across from the junk shop, he hadn't been here since the night he broke in and robbed them, he was back again, he was curious if there was anything else he could use out of the storage rooms, maybe to even sell. he had taken the orange cat to the vet and left him there; he would be back in the morning to pick him up though. he rented a motel for the night.

He never stopped by and checked in with Jasmine and Minyak, but maybe Tomorow he would.

Henry made his to the back of building, so far everything was the same, they hadn't even noticed the vent trip wire disabled from the last time he broke in, henry climbed in with ease, his empty duffel on his back as he silently crawled to the man cave.

When he got there, he could see the man area and it was empty, Henry kept going until he was at the storage room, he dropped out of the vent and quickly started putting guns in his bag, he could see them for a pretty penny to villains willing to pay. He grabbed anything of interest, he left the duffel bag and decided to check out the rest of the rooms again. he found another that he hadn't explored last time.

There he found a case of beautiful daggers with gemstones, he also found another item that could help him, the boots were steel toe but had spikes installed in them, he took them along with the matching gloves that produced needle like nails. after he was done, he hopped back in the vents and started to make his way out. he passed the main area again and stopped when he heard voices.

He looked down and saw Ray sitting at the booth with a woman in front of him, Henry decided he did not want to stick around watching Ray flirt. He continued on as quite as possible.

Henry tossed the duffel to the ground and climbed out the vent door, he placed it back in its proper place before making his way far away from the store.

The car lot was full of cars, all old and used and the salesman never took a breath between sentences as he tried to get Henry to look at all the cars and went in circles around him. henry eyed an old black impala that was rusty and broken light.

" How much for that one?" he asked pointing to the impala, " that one? hm I'll make you a deal two grand for that old rust bucket and Shes yours" the man had a slimy grin as Henry shook his hand.

Henry sped down the road in his new impala, it needed some work but the motor runs and that's all he cared for, it had been a few days since he been in town now, he was headed to an auction, one that was illegal and hosted by a villain that went by the name killjoy.

He wanted to sell the guns he stole from Ray, and this seemed to be the perfect place to do so. He had decided to leave the cat back at the motel not wanting to bring the cat to the auction.

The place was downtown by the docks in and old warehouse. He pulled to a stop in front of the abandoned warehouse from the outside it looked empty and rundown, but Henry knew inside there was an auction and a room full of villains.

Henry parked a few streets away before grabbing his duffel full of weapons to sell. Cherry had given him an invitation card; It was black and pink snake eyes; there was a serial number in small print on the back. He was to have this on him to enter, it was like an I.D of sorts.

He scanned his surroundings, he was dressed in his trench coat that concealed his weapons, his goggles around his neck, he had his hood up and his grey bandana wrapped around his lower face. Herny noticed the snipers on the rooftops of the building and nearby buildings. 

The security was tight.

It wasn't until he entered through the door was used for loading trucks that he was met by four men dressed in black and guns pointed at him on all sides; Henry raised his hands up in surrender with the card in his hand. If things went south, he would have to fight his way out.

" Name?" one man with a marine haircut demanded while snatching the card from his hand, " Lilly" Henry voice was cold as he watched them with narrowed eyes. The man scanned the card number before looking to his buddies. " he's good" he said making a hand signal and the men dropped their guns.

" Go down that hallway and take a left, there will be an elevator, use this to access it, press C" the man told him, Herny was surprised they didn't search him or his duffel bag but was grateful, he wasn't sure if he could part with weapons.

Henry followed the man's directions until he got to the elevator, Henry held the card up to the screen beside it letting it scan it, a minute later the doors open ad he stepped in. he spotted the camera up above; Henry tilted his head away out of habit.

the doors opened and he was met with another hallway, the lights were dim and flickering and the white tile was cracked, it smelt heavy of bleach. there was a guard by the door on the other end, Henry eyed the man who said nothing as he walked pass him and entered through the double doors. he was met with a large room and a crowd of people, there was a stage with a podium and rows of chairs, there had to be over a hundred people here.

Herny looked around hoping to find someone in charge, it didn't take long to find them, there was table on the other side, registering people with numbers, Henry stepped in line and watched others. He didn't recognize to many here, he noticed most were dressed fancier and had on mask, his guess some weren't villains and just rich people wanting to spend money.

Maybe he could find a few scores here?

After waiting in line for almost thirty minutes it was finally his turn, the woman was dressed business like, with white button up shirts and skirt with heels. Henry pulled his card and let her have it as she scanned the numbers with her scanner, " your name?" she asked. 

" Lilly" she answered as she put the card under a machine, Henry watched as she printed the name in small letters in cursive, once she was done, she handed the black and pink card back to him and henry pocketed.

" Make sure not to lose that " she warned him, he just nodded, "will that be all?" she asked noticing his duffel bag slung over his shoulder. " I have some items to auction off" he told her, he watched her eyes take on an calculating look almost like cherry.

" Right this way" she stood and whispered to the man next to her who nodded and turned her chair to the side. Herny followed her around the table and to a door that was covered by a sheet.

The room was bear with only a table and few chairs scattered about.

" Please set your items on the table and we will see if they can be accepted into the auction" the woman told him voice cold as Henry set his duffel on the table and unzipped it, he decided to sell the freeze ray and flame thrower and the set of daggers he found in Rays Mans cave. 

" Guns?" the woman questioned not looking to impressed with the selection, " Freeze ray and flame thrower" he told her while demonstrating it on the wall. The woman looked interested now. " And where did you acquire these" she asked as Henry set the freeze ray back down.

" I have my Sourses" was he said, he wasn't going to tell her where he got them.

" Well, I think we can squeeze you in, whatever you make at the auction we will take five percent" she told him as he nodded in understanding. " Is this all?" she asked eyeing the daggers.

" For now," Henry said, if this went well, he might come back and do business with them again.

Henry took his seat next to a man dressed in a blue suit, he had a mask made of gold and diamond in the shape of a lion, the man fan number was number 89 while Henrys was 67.

The man looked over at him, Henry could tell he was sizing him up, seeing if he was a threat and Henry was doing the same, the man was dressed way to nice to just be a villain, Henry guesses he was a wealthy businessman looking for a thrill, maybe he wasn't too sure.

" Anything of interest?" the man asked in a deep voice that sent shivers up Henry spine, the man tilted his head slightly. " Just window shopping" Henry answered just as a blonde hair woman in a red dress walked onto the stage and behind the podium.

She picked up the micro phone and put it to her bright red lips " welcome Ladies and gents" the blonde woman spoke with a country accent which surprised Henry. henry tried to focus on the woman as she started the auction, but the man in lion mask kept speaking to him " I'm Leo" the man introduced, Henry had to hold back a snort, the mask and the name were too obvious. 

" Lilly" henry told his stage name, he couldn't see the man's expression, but he could see the confusion in his blue eyes. The man didn't comment on the name which Henry was glad for. 

" I heard they have a freeze ray up for auction " the man chatted as Henry bit back a smile, " oh yeah? it's not some knock off, is it?" henry pretended to be doubtful, he knew it wasn't, the gun was the real deal and powerful.

" Killjoy wouldn't put useless weapons in auction, he has a reputation to uphold" the man said. 

Henry had never heard of Killjoy until he met Cherry, the man as far as Henry knew was under Rays radar, he was a merchant and businessman who made his money selling to the rich and villains. Henry was lucky just to be here, if not for Cherry he wouldn't have made it this far on his own, the woman had been good to him, and he knew when she came to him asking for a favor, he couldn't turn her down.

He just hoped that day never came.

Henry wondered how much the man was willing to pay for the weapon, he couldn't ask him, it would be impolite, and he didn't know the man well enough either. " Is this your first time here, I don't believe I've seen you around?" the man continued eying him.

" I'm new" Henry said, " ah makes much more sense, I know everyone here " he said as Henry tilted his head, the man must come here quite often if he knew everyone, he must have a lot of connections.

Maybe he could be an ally, like Cherry.

Suddenly Henry flinched when he felt his amulet grow hot, it had never done that before, he knew he wasn't being poisoned the amulet only glowed slightly. This felt different, he looked up to the stage and his eyes widen, the woman had a staff in a glass display case, it was long, maybe five feet with a glowing red gem on top of it.

" The Red Witch's staff, it's part of a three set but Sadley we only have the staff and bracelet, the amulet still missing to this day" the southern woman spoke, Henry stared at the staff, the amulet was calling to its other half. Henry didn't come here to bid but now he wished he brought more money, maybe he could get lucky and get it for a low bid. 

The person in the next row in front of him raised their fan and started the bid 400 and was followed by others, Henry raised his fan trying to keep up with the others, it was starting to get too high, and he feared he wouldn't be able to get it.

The amulet was hot against his skin, " hm the Red Witch huh, if I remember correctly Captain man arrested her some years ago " Leo said watching henry bid. henry hoped the man wouldn't try to put in a bid, judging by his mask and suit, he had more than enough to outbid everyone here.

" Yes, she still sits in the highest security ward " Henry answered, He had been younger, before and watching the news. He remembered the news when Ray had finally managed to take her down, she had been powerful and had nearly destroyed dystopia, it had taken almost every hero to come together to take her on.

" Yes, a shame, really" the man sounded sad as Henry out his fan down, the bid was too high, it didn't surprise him, everyone wanted the red witch's staff, it was powerful. Henry leaned back in his chair.

He resisted fiddling with his amulet and stared at the staff, he needed that staff and bracelet, maybe he could steal it after the auction. " Not going to bid anymore?" Leo asked curious.

" no" Henry shook his head looking away from the staff, " you know not anyone can wield the red witch's staff or amulet for that matter, which you are wearing right now" the man said lowly in his ear making henry jump in shock. How did this stranger know that Henry was sure he had concealed it under his clothes.

" I can feel it " the man answered seeing his face of shock, " I am very familiar with the red witches magic" he told him. " You knew the Red Witch?" he asked as the man nodded. " I used to work for her before she was captured, she was beautiful and powerful" he spoke with awe.

" The staff cannot be wielded by the weak, I've seen it turn many to ash if they tried, I've seen the amulae strangle a person to death and the bracelet remove a person's hand" Leo explained making Henry stare at him in shock, he hadn't known that. he had put it on without knowing the danger, it could have killed him, wait it didn't?

" You said it would kill anyone other than the red witch? why am I still alive" he asked in a whisper, his eyes scanned the ground, everyone was focused on the bidding that was still going.

" That is a mystery" Leo told him as he raised his fan and called out a bid, higher than anyone's, Henry almost gulped, they were already at seven million and rising. He never stood a chance.

Herny watched as Leo kept going until it reached 40 million and there were less fans raised, it was between him and an old lady in a peacock hat that had to many feathers. The women was glaring at Leo and kept raising her arm up and down.

" 60 mil" Leo called out making the woman growl but she didn't raise her fan back up ending the bid, Leo had won. Henry was upset he couldn't get the two other halves to the amulae, it felt incomplete now.

The auction continued, there had been some interesting stuff, but he didn't bid, he didn't have the money these people had. It was finally time for the Freeze ray to be displayed, and Henry was happy when they started the bid with forty grand and more people were raising their fan. if it went anything like the others then he would be walking away with heavy pockets.

Him and Piper wouldn't have to worry about money for a long time, he could get the house fixed and, get the impala worked on. There was so much he could do, so many possibilities.

Henry sat still not wanting to give away his thoughts.

The bid was had reached a hundred thousand and still rising, he hoped it would be at least three hundred thousand, " the freeze ray hm?" Leo muttered as Henry turned to him curious if the man was going to bid, he wondered if he had enough for another bid, that last one had been a lot.

" Not many freeze ray on the market and most are weak " the man continued eying the gun with interest. The blonde shot off a few shots at a manikin to show the crowd it wasn't a regular freeze ray, it had a stronger blast.

" Really " Henry played dumb as the man lifted his fan and called out four hundred thousand upping the bid making others go even higher. Henry had to contain his excitement as the bid hit seven hundred thousand.

This was only the freeze ray, he still had the flame thrower and daggers to go, " yes there are only ten in the world with that kind of power" Leo told him. twenty minutes went by before the bid came to a closing and the freeze ray sold to Leo for seven million. Henry hadn't expected this, he had thought to sell the gun for ten or twenty grand at least but he wasn't complaining, this was a better outcome.

Next was the flame thrower, it only sold for one million, but henry didn't care, to him it was a lot of money.

When they got to the daggers Henry really wasn't expecting them to go for much honesty, not like the other two, but Leo bought them for another million quickly outbidding everyone. Henry wondered if the man just liked to buy things, yeah, the daggers were pretty, but he didn't think they were worth that much.

The auction was coming to a close with the last item being some book that he didn't recognize but it went for two million. " that's its folks" the blonde smiled at the crowed rise from their seats. 

" Well, this was eventful" Leo said standing up, Henry didn't realize how much taller the man was since he had already been seated when Henry entered the room. He had to look up at him, Henry had grown taller but was still shorter than most his age.

" Indeed" Henry nodded making his way to the familiar woman from earlier, he knew they took five percent but that would still leave him with plenty. Leo followed right behind him, Henry looked over his shoulder at the man but said nothing since he was already standing in front of the woman. 

The woman smiled at him, but it felt off, not real but henry ignored it, the woman was doing her job, and he was here to collect, " right this way" she began walking away," I believe this is where we part " Leo said as henry turned to him.

The man could be a potential ally if he played his cards right plus, he needed to somehow get the staff and bracelet.

" For now, " Leo added, a card appeared in his hand and held it towards Henry, " if it wouldn't inconvenient you, I hope you will join me for dinner tonight, there are things we need to discuss without prying eyes" the man whispered in his ear.

Henry narrowed his eyes at the man, he didn't know if he trusts the man " it involves a certain Red Witch" the man added as if reading Henry thoughts. " Six pm the hills motel" Leo said before walking away leaving henry alone with his card.

Henry stuffed it in his pocket and quickly followed the woman who waiting by a door.

Chapter Text

Henry sat on his bed in the motel room he had rented for the week, it had been a long day, the auction had taken most of the day and then having to collect his money, he had a stack of cash just sitting on the table.

He was eight million dollars richer, Killjoy and his team had taken there cut of profit of course but it still left Henry with more than enough and he didn't know how to feel about that, he never thought he would come this far, his life has changed so much, he had his own house out in the country and a car, and was able to raise Piper without worry of lack of recourses like before.

Henry fell back on the back and looked up at the cracking ceiling, life was better than it ever was, and he had freedom. Henry turned his head to the side and read the big red numbers on the alarm clock; it was nearing six a clock and he hadn't decided if he would meet Leo at the hotel. the man had said he wanted to discuss the red witch and her staff. 

Henry was curious about it, his hand reached for the amulet and held it up, it wasn't glowing like before. He wondered if it was true what Leo said or if he was just bluffing. If it was true, then why didn't it kill him?

Henry sighed and sat up, his curiosity getting the best of him, he stood and made his way out the room, he made sure the cat bowls were filled before he left since he wasn't sure what time he would return.

The hotel was large and henry new he looked out of place here, Henry still wore his suit of sorts, the leather trench coat concealing his weapons, he decided on not taking his katana but kept his throwing knives on him. The lobby was grand with marble floors and white and gold walls; there was a fountain in the middle and a few benches spread out. Henry ignored the odd looks from people around him as he sat on a bench waiting for Leo to show up.

He had called the man earlier, Leo had told him to meet him in the lobby so here he was fifteen minutes later and starting to get annoyed, he sighed when the man behind one of the counters came towards him. " Excuse me are you a resident here?" he asked looking down on him making Henry grit his teeth, " no I'm just waiting on a friend" he answered as the man turned his nose up at him.

" Sir I must ask you to leave, this isn't a place for your.....sort" the man sneered at him with disgust, Henry scowled at the man. " I'm waiting for a friend " Henry repeated. Just then a man with black hair slicked back appeared behind the staff member " is there a problem?" Henry recognized the deep voice. 

Leo was standing tall with a stoic expression on his handsome face, his dark blue eyes watching them, instead of the suit he was wearing a black turtleneck shirt and jeans " ah Mr. Reyes no need for concern " the staff member smiled as Henry stood up from the bench.

" What took you so long" Henry glared at the man who must have taken his sweet time to get down here. Leo smirked at him, " my apogees, I was making reservation for us" he told him.

" He is with you?" the man asked pointing to Henry, " yes he is my guest, is there problem?" Leo asked as the other stuttered " no, no problem at all Mr. Reyes is there anything I can do for you?" the man tone changed quickly as he started sucking up to Leo, and Henry resisted rolling his eyes.

" no " Leo said voice cold and the other took that as a que to leave.

Leo then turned his attention to Henry, his blue eyes raking over Henry form, " you came, I didn't think you would show" he tilted his head. " Well, I didn't either" said Henry avoiding the cameras. 

Henry followed him through the lobby and into the elevator, Leo pulled out a key card and pressed it int he small slit in the wall and pressed the level 10 button, and the doors closed.

Neither spoke as the only sound was the elevator music playing from the speakers. Once the doors open, they revealed what looked to be a penthouse, the living room was large with leather couch set with a coffee table, there was a fireplace, but it was electric, the carpet was white, and the walls painted a creamy color.

" Hm seems the room services hasn't arrived yet" Leo commented moving to the kitchen that was all white, the counter marble, and the walls and cabinets white. Too much white for Henry liking, it was to clean and had no personality to it.

Henry warily watched him, the man was moving around the kitchen ignoring the fact that Henry was standing there, " hm do you prefer tea or coffee?" asked Leo looking over his shoulder.

" Tea" Henry answered. 

Henry sat at the bar while Leo put the kettle on, " you said you would tell me more about the red witch?" Henry started. Leo put on a pot of coffee before moving towards him, he stood on the other side of the bar slash counter.

Leo looked to be in thought before he opened his mouth, " like I said before, not anyone can wield her weapons" he began, " you see her magic is imbued in the amulet, same with the staff and her bracelet " he finished.

" Magic?" Henry questioned, it wasn't too far-fetched for a person to have superpowers, even if it was rare, most of their hero's had powers of some kind. " Yes, she was born with it "said Leo surprising Henry.

" I know impossible right? most think her powers come from science or chemical induced but it's not" Leo added knowing what the other was thinking. The kettle stated to whistle, and Leo turned to take it off the hot eye, he already had a cup set out, so he went ahead and poured the boiling water into it before placing a tea bag in it. He then set it in front of Henry.

" Red was left on the doorstep of the orphanage, never knew who her parents were or if they could do the things she could, by the age of four she was floating her toys with her mind " Leo started pouring himself a cup of coffee and putting a shot of vanilla creamer in it.

Henry listened as Leo continued, " I met her when we were in high school, she was already so strong by even then" Leo said with a look in his blue eyes. Henry had a feeling the man had been very fond of the villain witch, maybe even in love.

" You said the amulet would kill anyone who put it on, how do I know you're telling the truth?" Henry asked suspicious of the other, " you don't" Leo smirked sipping his coffee. Just then there was buzzing sound coming from the living room, where the elevator was.

" Ah just in time" Leo grinned getting up and pressing a button next to the elevator door, they opened to reveal a waiter with a cart full of plates. " Just set it over there" Leo ordered the waiter who did as he was told. Once the table was set and everything in its place then did Leo give the waiter a tip before sending him out.

The food wasn't anything special, it was spaghetti with garlic bread sticks, there was a wine bottle on ice though. Henry wasn't hungry, he wanted to know about the Red Witch and the amulet.

" eat" Leo pointed the table, the older man took a seat across from him, " I'm not hungry" Henry said taking a seat but didn't touch the food. Leo narrowed his eyes at him. " Now don't be rude" he said as henry scowled.

" So, if what you're saying is true, then why am I alive" Herny ignored him and asked his question while pulling the amulet out from under his clothes, it was hot and glowing brightly again, it could sense its other halves. Leo stared at him with an unreadable look.

" That I don't know, you must be considered strong enough to wield it, she never told the reason only that the weak could not wield it" he explained while taking a bite of his spaghetti. " Do you have magic?" Leo questioned.

" No " Henry shook his head making the man frown in thought. 

" I don't know why your different, but it chose you" Leo said getting up and disappeared into a different room. He came back a few seconds later with the display case in his arms and the staff and bracelet was still in it

Henry sat up straighter seeing it, Leo set it on the table, " I cannot touch it, but you can" the older man told him while unlocking the case and opening it but never laying a finger on it. Henry slowly reached a hand towards the staff, it felt like it was calling him, when his fingers wrapped around the smooth wood of the staff, he could feel the power, it was warm almost like home.

He didn't know

" You didn't turn to ash" Leo commented as Henry twirled the staff with ease, Henry picked the bracelet up next, the bracelet was metal with red rubies incaved in it. " Henry felt more complete with all three items but he still felt something was missing.

" Something missing" he stated wondering what it was.

" Hm so you're that Intune with them huh" Leo crossed his arms amazed at how easily the young boy was able to handle the red witches prized weapon like it was nothing, the boy had no magic whatsoever yet was able to use the amulet.

Maybe he did have magic but just didn't know it? Leo wasn't sure, he would have to wait and see. 

" The bracelet can shape into a weapon, a bow and arrow had been red choice of weapon" he told the boy who was busy fiddling with the jewelry, " weapon? how doe that work" he asked curious.

Leo was just going off what he knew and observed from his days with Catherin. 

" Put it on and create a mental image in your mind of what you want, once you do that try and call on the bracelet " he told him. Leo waited as lily closed his eyes in consternation, minutes went by, and Leo could see the bracelet start to dissolve in a dark mist trying to take a shape. Leo noticed a difference in-between Catherin's and this boy, while she had red particles Lilly had black particles.

That was how she got her name the Red Witch.

Soon the bracelet was able to take the shape of a knife, a simple butcher knife but it dissipated quickly, Leo was once again amazed the boy was able to get a shape on first try. " that's good, you just need practice" Leo said as a plan was forming behind his eyes.

Lily could be useful to him, if he trained him enough maybe he could free Catherin? 

Chapter Text

The sound of rain hitting against the motels window soothed Henry, it had been a long night, nothing went as expected with Leo, Henry had been fully prepared to have to fight the older man for the staff and bracelet but instead the other had shocked him when he just gave them to him. Leo had told him he wanted to train him as payment though, but Henry hadn't been so sure.

But he agreed anyway because at the moment Leo was the only one connected to the red witch and could maybe help him control them, he had left Leo with a promise to return and a number to reach him if he ever needed to. 

Leo still never answered his other questioned either, when Henry asked about the feeling of missing something, the man had changed the subject, Henry could tell he wasn't being truthful. the ex-side kick sighed and turned over in his bed, the orange cat that he had decided to name Bobby was laying on his pillow purring loudly. Henry reached a hand up and scratched his ear making lean into his touch.

He smiled at the sight before getting up. He still had things to do today, he still needed to see Jasmine and Minyak, Henry wasn't so sure about going through with the plan to break into the nuclear factory now that he enough money. Henry ran a hand through his hair, what had he been thinking when he agreed to help them? oh right money. Maybe there something worth selling at killjoy's auction? he could earn a couple more million and be set for life.

Henry smiled at the thought, he was becoming a bit to obsessed with money, sue him, growing up he had nothing but living off the scraps of his parents. He got up and pulled on his suit, he left his katana again since he had the staff. It turned out the staff could dissolve and go into the amulet; he had learned that from Leo last night. Now on the necklace was a small staff in craving.

Henry settled on the high beams of the warehouse jasmine and Minyak secret base, he watched the two silently, jasmine was just now starting breakfast while Minyak was working on something at the table with a cup of coffee in his hand. As long Henry known him the man was always fiddling with something, either creating or upgrading.

Henry decided it was time to reveal himself and he did just that, he made his way down one of the steel poles structures that supported the warehouse, this one was farther away so the two didn't notice him climbing down. Once his feet touched the floor, henry made his way towards the two.

Jasmine was still cooking but she noticed him, her dark eyes lit up seeing him and she opened her mouth to say something, but Henry made a gesture putting his finger to his lips hoping she would understand, she seemed to, he tiptoed around them until he was right behind Minya who was to focused on his project, the man was muttering under his breath as he fiddled with a bundle of tangled wires.

" Captain Mans here!" Henry yelled in his ear barely holding back a smirk when the man litery jumped two feet in the air, his knee bumping the table casing the toys to scatter on the tumble to the floor with a loud clang and he let out a very unmanly scream.; Jasmine broke out in a fit of laughter which made Henry break out in his own.

" Damn you " Minyak shouted once he realized it was just Henry, the boy was giggling, " oh man your face" he said between laughs as Minyak glared at him. " Why you little " Minyak began angrily but jasmine cut him off " Horatio " Jasmine snapped giving him a look making the man shut his mouth, Henry knew the man had no filter at all.

" You guys need better security" Henry added taking a sea at the table, " well this place is only temporally " said jasmine going back and flipping the bacon making sure it doesn't burn. " Are you hungry sweety? we have plenty, I can even make your favorite" Jasmine asked him. " Just toast will be fine" Henry smiled at her fondly.

Minayk glared at him hatefully, " where have you been kid, you just disappeared again on us" he grunted sitting back in his chair once he made sure all his tools were off the floor. " working" henry answer was short.

He removed his hood and mask since there was no point in hiding it, they already knew what he looked like. " Got to pay the bills somehow" he added. " Where do you live?" asked Jasmine, " nice try" Henry snorted.

" Well stick around here brat, we got another job" Minyak told him while opening his laptop and turned it around, Henry leaned forward curious on what the man meant. " a mall?" he frowned in confusion. 

" What do you want there?" he asked the man suspicious, " I want us to do a test trial together and see how we work together before the big job " Minyak told him. Jasmine had to contain her excitement. 

" So, a heist?" Henry was now interested, he wouldn't lie and say he didn't enjoy the thrill, maybe he had always been this way and didn't realize it, he had tried so hard to be good, to do the right thing and look where it got him. 

Jasmine turned the stove top off and took a seat, it had been a long time since and Minyak done this, in the beginning they would stalk the streets at night and would choose which place to hit and figure out how to get past the security system or guards.

" Yes, the jewelry store " Jasmine said while plating the food, she handed Henry a plain toast and Minyak a large plate of fried eggs that were cooked all the way through. Her own plate was scrambled eggs and bacon with toast.

" Which one, there's two in the mall?" Henry asked a glint in his eye as both villains smirked, " we hit both, clean them out" Minyak said taking a bite of his eggs and chuckled.

Piper sighed as she walked into the empty house, Henry still hasn't returned for days now, the only reason she wasn't worried was because he had sent a text this morning checking in with her.

" So, this is your place?" a voice behind her spoke, Piper turned to the girl who had long blonde hair pulled in a ponytail and sunglasses on her head, she wore a leather jacket over a blue top and jeans with red sneakers.

Piper turned her head and hid a blush Abigale raked her eyes over the entry way, " it still needs work, we just moved in " Piper told her while the girl walked further in, " yeah I grew up hearing stories about this place, its haunted you know" the blonde said making ghost sounds causing Piper to roll her eyes at her.

Go figure Henry would buy a murder house, she questioned him sometimes, but she liked it here, they were making it there home even if it was a fixer upper. Piper shut the door and followed the blonde, giving her a tour, this was the fist friend she had made here and intended to keep it that way.

Herny walked next to jasmine in the crowed mall, the woman had on a blonde wig and wore pretty white sundress.  Minyak was scouting out the store while him and Jasmine were counting the security camera and guards" ohh look at that" jasmine pointed to the window display, it was a clothing shop for woman, there were different dresses on display.

They entered the store that smelt heavy with perfume, " how about this one?" jasmine held up a dark blue dress, " would look very pretty on you" henry told her while Jasmine admired the dress. " Do you think Minyak would like it?" she asked making henry pause.

" You like Minyak?" he asked in surprise, she blushed and put the dress back, " well no, I mean he's my boss and friend even if he is handsome, I mean" she looked away, Henry chuckled at her reaction.

henry was surprised the woman had a crush on the man, the two argued and bickered so much, like an old married couple.

" I think he would like it, if not he's an idiot" Henry told her with a smile, Jasmine beamed at him just as a lady appeared, " anything I can help you with?" she asked, Henry read her nametag on her uniform shirt, ' kara'.

" yes, a dressing room" Jasmine turned to the young girl, " right in the back" Kara told them while showing them the way, Henry followed them while counting the cameras in the store and the angles they were pointed at out of habit.

While Jasmine was in the dressing room henry looked though the selection of clothes out of boredom, when he was younger, he tried to wear dresses and skirts, he had admired his female classmates' clothes, he had liked the cute flowerily dresses they wore.

But when he had told his father that, the man had become angry, he had hit Henry so hard across the face leaving a busted lip and bruise cheek and had screamed at him, told him that he was a freak. Henry hated being different from the other boys, he was a boy with girl parts, but he was incomplete. Henry stepped back from the rack of dresses.

" Ready to go?" Jasmine asked appearing behind him, Henry nodded and followed her out the store, they didn't bother buying anything since they planned to come back later that night. 

As they left the store, Henry not paying attention bumped into someone, " ah sorry" he looked up to see a teen his age with dark hair and black hoodie, the teen had ear plugs in. " it's fine" the other said not really paying him to much attention, the teen seemed to be in a hurry. " Max come on, we don't have all day" a girl with Simler features to the boy shouted.

" I'm coming" the boy growled, Henry watched him go before shrugging and continued behind Jasmine.

Chapter Text

The mall was quite once it was closed for the night and no crowds of people or music playing. it had been almost too easy taking out the security system and the silent alarm. Minayk had drugged the guards' drinks with what, Henry wasn't to sure but he said it would knock them out for hours but just for precaution they tied them up and locked them in the storage closet.

There had only been four, two in the camera room and the other two making rounds.

With the camera disabled they were able to walk freely, the stores were going to be tricky since each had its own security system, but Minyak was already working on it. Henry kept watch making sure there was no surprises of a fifth guard, the shift didn't change for another four hours so they had plenty of time. 

the doors lifted up and Minyak was crackling as the doors with same security system opened as well, there were only five others including the clothing store him and jasmine were at earlier in the day. 

" Too easy" Minyak quickly put his tools back in his bag while Henry and Jasmine moved inside bags in hand, they didn't touch anything yet waiting for Minyak to disable the second alarms, the only that was connected to the glass displays. if a person was to lift them up or break it would send a silent alarm to the police. 

" Alright its disabled but we need to move fast, Lilly were going to the other, you stay here and clean the place out " Minyak ordered, Henry nodded, he was already inching to start or the pretty gems.

" Roger" lily mocked saluted them before opening his large duffel bag, " here" Minyak handed him a radio " in case something happens" the man told him as henry took the Waki talkie and clipped it to his belt. " Got it" he nodded watching them go.

Henry grinned as picked locked the glass cases and stated to shovel the jewelry into the duffel bag, he knew this would be a fortune for them, though they would have to find someone to remove the serial numbers on the inside so they could sell them easer without the police catching onto to them. Once the bag was full and couldn't hold anymore Henry zipped it up and slid it to the door, he was glad he brought more, he planned on hitting the hot topic and Spencer's.

He knew Jasmine would go back to the other store for that dress; Henry filled the second duffel with the rest of the goods. He then left the store and went to the spencer's, it was already opened, it had the same security company as the jewelry store. The store was darker with only one light on above the counter, though it was dim in the already dark store. Henry walked to the clothes section and took his pick.

He got a few things Piper size to.

He filled the third duffel with clothes and anything that looked interesting, he grabbed the nightmare before Christmas bookbag, he sure wasn't going to pay fifty dollars plus for it no thank you.

Henry paused at the back wall, it was full of sex toys and lingerie, he could sell these to Cherry for her store. He owed the woman a lot and this would be perfect for her. and he might keep a couple for himself to.

Henry cleaned out the shelves with what he could fit in the last bag, the duffels were large and could hold a lot, it was why he like them so much, henry wished he had a wagon to carry this stuff though, the bags were heavy and knew Minyak and Jasmine were going to weighed down with there's to help him. Minyak would most likely think he was stupid for robbing this store, but Henry didn't care.

He was glad to have the for sight to bring his own vehicle though, Henry stood up and went and searched the other stores, maybe he would get lucky and find a wagon. He still hadn't heard from the other two which he guessed was a good thing.

Checking a furniture store, he found a large red wagon he could use, his luck just kept getting better and better, Henry pulled it back to the other store and put his duffel in it. The four duffels were full. Henry spotted a smaller version of a duffel on the shelf and grabbed it. 

This one he filled with female clothes, dresses and skirts and tops and panty hose and shoes that looked his size. This bag he would hide in the back of his closet. He didn't want anyone to know his secret, didn't want to be laughed at for liking girl clothes. 

Once the bag was full, he set it atop the others and left the store, he pulled the heavy wagon behind him checking out the other stores, he went into the furniture store to see if there was anything of interest, there was living room sets and bedroom sets, but he couldn't take them like he wanted. 

there wasn't anything worth taking so he left it and continued, it was then he ran into Jasmine who was in the clothing store picking out what she wanted while Minyak looked ready to go, the villain nurse humming happily and filling her bag with dresses and shoes.

" Woman you have enough clothes already" Minyak growled making Henry chuckled, " don't get between a woman and her shopping" Henry said as Minyak rolled his eyes. He then noticed the red wagon, " smart" he commented.

" There was a yellow one next to this one if you want to go and get it" Henry pointed out, " seems you've been busy" Jasmine noticed the duffels and extras. Henry smirked, " free stuff" he shrugged. Minyak left to go and get a wagon while Henry secretly put a few dresses in his bag.

" Hm, I missed this" Jasmine said more to herself, " oh yeah?" henry tilted his head, " yes, it's been a while since I've had this much fun " she said folding the dress and putting it neatly in her bag, Henry noticed the makeup peeking out of a smaller bag.

" We should do this more often than" Henry told her making her chuckle, Minyak returned with the yellow wagon, and they started loading it down with their loot. " let's go we have been here to long" Minyak grunted sharp eyes scanning the open area of the mall.

So far, they had no trouble and have been here for over an hour. The three made their way to the back door they had come in through leaving the mall behind them.

Henry groaned as his alarm clock went off, he turned over and hit the snooze button, he was back in the motel having drove here after leaving the mall and making sure the other two didn't follow him. He had dropped off his score and took a dew diamonds as payment. 

Henry had ditched the stolen pickup truck he used as a getaway car before arriving to the motel, he didn't want the impala connected to the crimes. After taking care of that, he drove back to the warehouse meeting up with Jasmine and Minyak. 

He had dropped off the two duffel bags before leaving again.

Henry flicked on the news seeing if there was anything about the mall and he wasn't disappointed; it was breaking news. So far there was no information seeing as they hadn't been caught on camera and had successfully gotten away with at least ten million in jewelry. 

He glanced to the floor where his loot was starting to pile up, the money and bags of stolen goods all stacked together, Henry blushed seeing the bag of dresses, he grabbed the bag and tossed it on the bed, he opened it and started to pull the clothes out. No one was here to see him or tell him he was a freak. He didn't think Piper would care if he dressed like a girl, but he didn't want to find out.

Henry found himself trying on the black lace top and black mini skirt with fishnet stockings, he looked at himself in the mirror and blushed. The outfit was cute or so he thought. He put on the silver and black heeled boots. 

He spent the morning trying on different outfits, it was something he wouldn't get to do when he was around the house, maybe in his room and the door locked. after the last outfit which was one of the lingerie outfits from the other bag, it was a red lacy outfit that had a bunch of strings, Henry had been curious and started trying them on, he even picked out a few of the sex toys to keep for himself.

He decided to keep some of the lingerie to for himself. 

The rest he didn't touch since it was going to Cherry, it needed to stay clean and untouched.

Henry changed back into a pair of ripped black skinny jeans and black shirt; he kept the lace panties on instead of boxers. He grabbed the duffels meant for Cherry and made his way out the door.

" So, it was you who robbed the mall" Cherry looked at him impressed, " I wasn't alone" Henry shrugged not giving out names, " well thanks kid you just saved me a ton of money, this stuff isn't cheap you know" Cherry smirked while holding a toy in one hand. This would cut some cost on orders for the next months at least. she would need to remove any trace of it ever belonging to spencer's but she had a guy on her payroll who could do that for her, the kid had been good to her with his sticky fingers; the past months he had brought many goodies to resell. 

Even if it was tools or household items and clothes it saved her money and time on looking for stuff online to buy and sell. Some of the tool's Harper brought back were worth a lot and in good condition. He had a good eye on designer clothing as well and brought her back his finds. 

She couldn't believe how time flew by, it was only yesterday that him and his younger sister were in her store, she knew harper wasn't his real name but never pressed him about it. the two were running from something in their past. Everyone here had a past, even her and it always caught up with you when you least suspect it. 

" So, what do you want for it" Harper asked a glint in his eye and Cherry smirked " 500 for the lot" she offered making him roll his eyes " 600" he smirked and the two continued bargaining with each other.

Emma sighed as she leaned back in her chair, she had been going over the files Ray had given her, she combed through it with a fine eye. It was a mess, looking at the kids records which wasn't much to begin with, there were his school records but other than that nothing.

Emma had gone to his house and found it had been sold and the parents in the wind. She had put out a Bolo for them, she wanted to bring them in for questioning. next she had gone to the school and interrogated the teachers. She learned the boy had a lot of absents or would leave mid-day suddenly which Emma guessed was when he was needed as Kid Danger which was a lot.

Swellveiw had a lot of villains and crime which was why Captain man set up here. She learned Henry had been an average student who kept his grades just above the failure line. she was surprised he was able to keep his grades up and be a superhero at the same time and most likely taking care of his younger sister if she was to assume the parents weren't hardly around.

That had to have been tough on the kid Emma thought leaning forward, she watched the video of Henry going to get Piper from her school for the hundredth time trying to see where he went after, she smirked when he dumped food over bully girl head. The boy had been defending his sister.

That was the last time anyone seen them, the boy was smart he knew how to stay off the radar, but he couldn't have just disappeared altogether. Emma was watching the camera from every angle, she had many cameras pulled up from different areas, the facial scan couldn't find him, so she had to do this the old fashion way. She was still running the facial scan from her department and not Ray and Scowze monitors.

Suddenly a beep alerted her, and she had to look twice to make sure she wasn't imagining it, there on the screen was the face of Henry Hart but it didn't look like him, he was taller and wore all black, his hair was different, where it used to be blonde was now black. He must have dyed it to keep from getting recognized. Emma watched the video, he had pulled into a gas station for gas, the gas station camera couldn't pick up his face but the one from across the street did.

She watched him pump gas and light a cigarette, he wasnt there long.

Now that she knew what he was driving and what he looked like now, she had something to work with. Emma tried to get the licence plate but couldnt, it was concealed which made her frown. even if he didnt want to be found it was more sussisous to have your tag concealed, the risk over being pulled over by police was strong, so why did he cover it? the only reason someone would cover there tag number was when they were doing something wrong.

Emma bit her lip, she had a gut feeling and she didnt like where her thoughts were going. She was going to have to go through hours of footage and try and retrace his steps, this wa going to a long week, Emma poured her self another cup of coffee and got to work.

Chapter Text

Finally, he was home after a week and half, he was sure Piper was angry with him for disappearing for so long, but before he delt with her he made his way to the basement, his lair of sorts. He had to put away his goods. he might need a bigger vault. Henry placed as much money he could in the vault packing it in with the rest of the money, he placed the bags under his desk keeping it out of view.

He was going to hire and contractor to maybe build a secret room under the basement, one that doesn't show on blueprints. He had more than enough money to remodel the house. Henry smiled at the thought. 

Henry took the bags of clothes upstairs with him and his personal bag to store away, he entered his room which was large with a joint bathroom, the bathroom had an old cast iron claw tub and shower, there was a sink with plenty of counter space, the floor was black and white tile with green walls that had flower patterns, he liked it but it needed some touch ups, the black mold needed to be removed from years of neglect.

Bobby the orange cat was already making it self-home on his pillows, the room was large with an office space that had two French doors that lead to the back patio, he could see the green house from his office. Henry set the duffels on the queen size bed he had picked out at a thrift store; the mattress was new though. But once the house was remodeled and everything fixed him, and Piper were going to go shopping for new furniture. 

But that was for another day, Henry made his way into the walk-in closet, it was the size of a small room with shelves lining the wall and a rack to hang clothes. The clothes he had didn't make a dent in how much space there was in the closet, he used it to store some of his finds though.

He hid the bag under some boxes; he might wall off a part of the closet and make a small room to hide his female clothes. 

With that done he decided to go and see if Piper was home.

Eleven huddled in the corner of her small room, the white walls and white tiles blinding, her body hurt from overusing her powers and she felt more tired than usual. Her papa hadn't been very happy when she failed her assignment again. She just couldn't do it, and it hurt to see the disappointment in his eyes. Papa had ordered the guards to take her to her room, their grip had been bruising as they dragged her away, she had been upset crying out to try again, that she could do better.

She was thrown into her room and door slamming in her face and locks clicking in place. 

That had been three days ago, papa had not come to see her, nor has anyone brought her food or water, Eleven felt weak, the room was cold and lonely. She tried to sleep to pass the time, she liked her dreams, when she dreamed it was a whole different world almost, there was a beautiful house with a big front yard, there was a garden with so many plants she had never seen.

Maybe her mind was making it up.

There was a boy with black hair with a butterfly on his neck, he was standing in the doorway of the house, he leaned against the door frame and his lips were moving but Eleven couldn't hear what he was saying, the boy made a hand gesture like he was calling to her, but Eleven couldn't no matter how much she tried.

And then she woke up to white walls and it was just a dream.