Henry Danger Reader Insert | Captain Man x Reader: SEASON 2
Episode 19: I Know Your Secret
~The Man Cave~
It was safe to say that for Henry, shit was going down. It had been a normal school day: lessons, copious amounts of homework, Jasper being strange and a note in his locker. Not a cute, love letter from a girl in his class, nope, it was some creepy note saying that someone in school "knew Henry's secret and what he did on Wednesday night". Spooky.
Henry and Charlotte had rushed out of school and raced to the Man Cave, where they hoped that Ray, (y/n) and Schwoz would know what to do. He only had one secret and that was his secret alias as Kid Danger, meaning that someone had figured it out and now his job working for Captain Man was in danger.
"And your one hundred percent sure you didn't tell anyone?" Ray asked his sidekick as he paced around the room and Henry sat on the couch. He was freaking out, if someone knew about Henry then that meant the kid was at risk and so was he. Schwoz was busy scanning the letter to see if he could ascertain who created it, but the beeping of the machine just made Ray more nervous.
"I told nobody!" Henry swore, knowing that he took his oath to Ray very seriously. He'd never divulge his secret willy-nilly because that was one way of a bad guy coming and killing him and his family.
"Have you sent any emails or texts messages where you mentioned that you were Kid Danger?" Ray pressed further, making (y/n) roll her eyes. If Henry said he'd told no one, then he meant no one and that extended to electronic communication.
"Oh wait, yeah, last week, I did stand on my roof naked and yelled "Hey, everybody! Look at me! I'm Henry Hart and I'm Kid Danger!" The boy shouted sarcastically, causing (y/n) to giggle as the joke went over Ray's head.
"You did that naked?" He exclaimed in confusion, taking Henry's words literally.
"I think he was being sarcastic, Ray." (y/n) pointed out, hitting his arm as she rolled her eyes again. Her best friend was looking extra dashing today, with a white, palm tree-print shirt that stood out against his tanned skin. God, he was hot and it made her pouty knowing that she couldn't kiss him like she wanted to.
"Oh, he's joking. This is joke time for you? I'm sorry, are you Jimmy Fallon? Hey, later on, are you gonna get some tacos with Questlove?" Ray snapped at his sidekick, which made the young woman stand in front of him so he'd back off.
"Okay, calm down and stop being a dick." She told him sternly and seeing her grumpy with him made him calm down a bit. He didn't want to fall out with her, not when things had been going so great between them in the past few weeks.
"I don't see why you're mad at me," Henry commented, not realising that he was poking the bear. Geez, he really knew how to undo all of (y/n)'s hard work of calming Ray down.
"Dude, if anyone knows you're Kid Danger, they can follow you here, they can come down here and figure out I'm Captain Man and (y/n)'s Miss Danger." The large man stressed, sitting down on the opposite side of the couch. Just the thought of some evil psycho coming into his home and threatening his girl set him on edge. What if she was alone when she was attacked? He'd never get over losing her, especially if he hadn't been around to protect her like he was supposed to.
"Oh, so this is all about you?" Henry asked indignantly, giving his boss a cold, knowing look. His gaze briefly flicked to (y/n), who was trying to keep everything from erupting, but it was no use. Ray knew Henry was taking a jibe at him for worrying about (y/n) and not him, which didn't go down very well with the man or the boy.
"No!... It's mostly about (y/n)." Ray confessed, making his sidekick groan. Henry chuckled bitterly as the young woman frowned. Why was she getting dragged into this?
"Me? Why me?" She questioned, sitting on the back of the sofa as she gave her best friend a puzzled look.
"Because, I'm indestructible and if someone was to come down here, you'd be at risk." He explained, confusing her even further. She looked at Henry for an answer, but he had been sworn to silence. He desperately wanted to tell her that Ray was unbelievably protective over her, more than she could ever see, but if he did, he'd break his promise.
"Uh, hello? Super regeneration? I'm a superhero too...sort of." (y/n) argued, folding her arms as she challenged Ray. He didn't want to argue about this though, he'd never tell her, but she was too precious to put in harm's way and he wasn't certain that her power could protect her as well as he could.
"Ahhhh! I got it! I got something!" Schwoz suddenly shouted, making the three on the couch drop their quarrelling instantly. This was more like it, answers, not secrets.
"What'd you find?" Henry asked as they sat up, but Ray and all of his hyperactivity were already leaping up off the sofa and sprinting towards the genius.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah! What'd you find? What'd you find?" He rambled, his muscles twitching with anticipation. It was funny to see such a huge man filled with so much energy, but that was Ray all over.
"You're so hyper, calm down." (y/n) teased him as she and Henry came over to Schwoz's equipment too. You wouldn't think that they were in the thick of an argument only seconds earlier, especially when Ray chuckled and put his arm around her waist.
"I scanned the note with this biometric particle scanner--" Schwoz started to explain, waving his crazy science stick scanner thing around.
"Right." The superhero duo nodded, watching with curiosity. They had no idea how the science worked, but if listening made Schwoz go faster, they'd do it.
"And now, you see, on this note, I found some DNA--" The small man carried on, but once again, his foreign accent was thick and indecipherable for Henry and Ray to understand.
"DN-eish?" The kid repeated as he tried to work it out in his head. In his view, Schwoz should've come with subtitles sometimes, especially when it came to important stuff like this.
"DNA. You know, the molecular acid that makes up our biochemistry?" (y/n) clarified. He wasn't that hard to understand, but maybe she had the unfair advantage of working with Schwoz on numerous engineering projects over the years.
"And the person who created this note is...Henry Hart?!" Schwoz gasped in horror as the database found a match and Ray snapped his head to the boy. Was this all some big prank?
"What?" Ray breathed out and guided (y/n) away from the boy, thinking he could've turned evil or something. That idea was ridiculous and the young woman smacked the hands pulling her by the hips.
"You, idiots! Henry isn't some evil mastermind!" She snapped and the boy was glad that someone intelligent was on his side.
"Dude, of course, my DNA is on the note, I brought it here! It was in my hands!" Henry hissed, making Schwoz gulp. Oops, a small mistake on his part.
"Oh, yeah..." He said nervously, realising that he'd made a slight error and then accused Henry of being a liar.
"Oh yeah! At least (y/n) knows I wouldn't fake it!" He snapped and patted the woman on the shoulder as the men sheepishly looked off to the side. Oh well, at least they knew now, no harm, no foul, right?
~Later that evening, Henry's room~
So, Piper was running an illegal tanning salon from the living room of Henry's house. Only Piper would think of something so crazy. Poor Henry had been forced to retreat to the sanctity of his room to get away from all the bright orange weirdos running around the house, but now, he had peace at last.
Turning on the light, he took a sip of his soda and turned around to see Jasper, holding a sign. It read "I know your secret". Oh shit, maybe peace was the wrong word, panic was looking better.
"That's right, Henry, I know," Jasper smirked, making Henry spit out all the soda in his mouth and then drop the glass bottle. Oh, dear God, how was he going to get out of this?
"Uh...uh--I..." Henry couldn't move his tongue or anything for that matter. His entire body was numb with shock and probably a good amount of fear as he stared at his best friend. This was bad, very, very bad.
"You know, you're not saying actual words," Jasper told him as he stood up and stepped down the stairs on Henry's ledge. He sounded so cocky and confident and it made Henry's knees wobble.
"So, you left the note in my locker?" Henry question, his mind racing at what he was going to do about Jasper knowing his greatest secret. What would Ray say?
"Uh-huh. 'Cause I know your secret." The curly-haired boy pointed to each word on his sign.
"Oh, man." Henry breathed out, feeling all the blood in his face drain away. He felt like he was gonna pass out at some point as he was feeling remarkably lightheaded.
"Come on, Hen. How long did you think you could keep that kind of secret from your best friend?" Jasper asked him, making Henry stumble and stutter. The kid wasn't known for his amazing detective skills, so Henry was certain that he would never find out. That wasn't the case.
"Charlotte knows," Henry said nonchalantly, not thinking about the fact that he had two best friends.
"I meant me!" Jasper snapped.
"Ohhh, right, right, eight, I didn't mean--" He tried to excuse, but his friend was already offended.
"--Wait, wait, Charlotte knows?" He yelled, making Henry concerned about whoever could be listening. His house was full of strangers, any of which could walk in and hear them and then, the whole of Swellview would know. Henry slammed his bedroom door shut before turning back to his friend with a deadly serious expression.
"Look...you can't tell anyone about this, ever. As my friend, you gotta promise never to tell anyone." He told him, looking into his eyes so his message would carry more weight. This was the ultimate test of their friendship and Henry had to be sure that Jasper was trustworthy.
"If we're such "good friends", how come I had to find out the truth about you in the street?" Jasper asked harshly, which confused the blond boy greatly. Were they on the same page here?
"'Cause...I--I--" He stuttered, irritating Jasper again.
"Still not words!" The teen yelled, but it broke Henry out of his word-paralysis, so it wasn't all bad.
"Gah! If only he knew that he wasn't in danger at all, but he was about to be.
~Downstairs~
"Hey, what's that?" Piper asked Charlotte as the dark-haired girl walked past her.
"Oh, just lemonade." Charlotte smiled at her, but her pleasant face soon dropped into a frown when Piper smiled and took it off her. Tanning the entire neighbourhood was thirsty work and the little girl was below taking other people's drinks.
"So, don't you love how busted Henry is?" Piper asked after gulping the lemonade. It was news to Charlotte and it made her forget about her stolen drink.
"What-What do you mean?" The older girl asked, suddenly feeling very uneasy. She didn't like where this was going.
"Jasper found out! You know! Henry's secret!" Piper squealed, but Charlotte wasn't excited by the "juicy" gossip, she was terrified.
"Wait, you know. about it?" She asked in a fearful tone, but Piper just carried on smiling. Oh god, this thing was getting more and more complicated by the minute.
"Sure!" The girl confirmed in a happy tone, loving that Henry was gonna be in so much shit over this, especially since Jasper was Swellview's biggest drama queen.
"How?!" Charlotte gasped, thinking that this was now becoming a much bigger problem than the Man Cave team had first anticipated.
"Jasper told me. Henry should've waited for Jasper to go see that movie." Piper shrugged her shoulders and took another sip of her or Charlotte's lemonade. Wait a second...
"Whoa, wait, wait, wait. What movie?" Charlotte asked and a new, darker fear gripped her.
"Henry promised Jasper that he'd go see Galaxy Wars 10 with him on Saturday night." Piper sighed and rolled her eyes. All she ever did was explain the latest gossip to people and repeating the same story over and over again was getting pretty boring for her.
"Yeah..." Charlotte winced, not liking where this was going.
"But my mom was dying to see it on opening night, so she took Henry with her to see it on Wednesday and then Jasper found out," Piper explained, but Charlotte felt like she was gonna throw up.
"And Jasper thinks that's Henry's secret? That he saw Galaxy Wars 10 without him?" She asked incredulously. Of course, Jasper would have the wrong end of the stick and now, Henry was in deep danger of telling him the wrong thing. Sweet cheese.
"Yeah. What? What other secret does Henry have?" Piper frowned, not knowing that her brother had so much to hide. If only she knew...
"I don't know, none...nothing. I don't know--what?" Charlotte panicked as the situation dawned on her. She needed to tell Henry right now before he made the biggest error of judgement ever.
~Henry's room~
"I would've told you but--" Henry tried to argue, but Jasper was firmly set in the idea that it was just a movie, nothing major.
"I don't need to hear a bunch of excuses." He sighed, not seeing that Henry was going on about something much bigger than some dumb movie.
"I just need you to understand I--" Henry was cut off as his whiz watch began to flash and beep, but he didn't think that he needed to hide it from Jasper anymore. Oh god.
"Well, I guess I don't need to hide this from you anymore." He sighed and flipped the cover of the watch open and Jasper shrieked at the sight of Captain Man's and Miss Danger's hologram over his wrist.
"Hey, it's me." He greeted as Jasper freaked out. What was going on?
"Hey, kid. We have a little emergency." Ray announced, but he couldn't see how Jasper was gasping and hyperventilating just out of shot.
"Yeah, no kidding." Henry nodded, confused as to why Jasper was so affected by the sight of Captain Man and Miss Danger if he already knew about everything. Maybe it was just the excitement.
"Looks like the Malachi Brothers broke out of jail and they're headed for the demolition derby." (y/n) explained, also not realising what was going down. She just thought it was gonna be another normal night of kicking ass with her not-boyfriend and honourary little brother.
"Okay, meet you in the Man Cave." Henry smacked away Jasper's hand as he tried to touch the hologram. He needed to listen to his boss's instructions, didn't he understand that?
"Nah, we'll hop in the Mancopter and we'll pick you up on the way to the derby," Ray explained as Jasper carried on freaking out. Holy cow, it was the actual Captain Man and his latest sidekick and they were talking to his best friend!
"Copy that." Henry closed the watch cooly, but Jasper was anything but calm. He was shaking with adrenaline and excitement from what he had just witnessed.
"That was Captain Man and Miss Danger! As a hologram! Calling you!" He yelled, punching out each statement like he was trying to overcome his rushing emotions just so he could speak.
"Yeah," Henry confirmed nonchalantly, wondering why this was a big shock to him. He knew he was Kid Danger, why was he so taken by Ray calling him?
~Downstairs~
"So Jasper left the note in Henry's locker." Charlotte seethed, feeling so annoyed with him and his stupid dramatic ways of riling up his friends. Any normal person would just send a text or something, but not Jasper, he sent an ominous letter.
"Mm-hmm." Piper nodded, sipping more of the lemonade.
"Oh, man! I gotta go tell Henry!" Charlotte exclaimed, rushing to climb the stairs, but a hand on her arm pulled her back.
"Wait!" Piper interjected, and she whipped around, thinking that there was another piece to the puzzle.
"I'm done with this glass." She smiled, making Charlotte accept it with a disgruntled face. She discarded it on the coffee table and sprinted to the stairs. She only prayed that she wasn't too late.
~Henry's room~
Fumbling behind one of the canvas prints on his wall, Henry pulled out his hidden gumball tube and held it in his hand as Jasper rambled in confusion.
"But I still don't understand how you were talking to a hologram of Captain Man and Miss Danger on your own watch!" Jasper freaked out. This was all too much for him and Henry didn't know that he had made a colossal mistake. Or how he was about to make another one.
"Yeah, I don't know how it works. Schwoz does and (y/n), you can ask them." The boy told his friend as he opened the gum tube and moved into the middle of the room
"What's a Schwoz?" Jasper asked, more taken by the odd name than by the mention of one of Henry's bosses at Junk-N-Stuff.
"Wait, what's that?" Jasper asked again as Henry chewed his gum. Oh shit, things were about to get crazy.
"I'm gonna blow a bubble," Henry smirked, thinking that he was doing the right thing.
"You're gonna blow a bubble?" Jasper repeated in confusion.
"I'm gonna blow your mind." Henry quipped, remembering that those were the exact words that Ray had spoken to him before he revealed himself to be Captain Man. Geez, that felt like a lifetime ago.
Henry blew the bubble and it popped, transforming him into Kid Danger and blowing Jasper's mind. Well, the secret was out.
"How do I look?" He smiled at his speechless friend. This was the biggest thing that had ever happened to him. Henry was Kid Danger? What the actual fuck?
"Jasper left the note!" Charlotte screamed and burst into the room and her eyes widened at what she saw. Henry in his. uniform and Jasper looking pasty and mil-bottle white. Oh god.
"I know," Henry said cooly, thinking Charlotte was just being. slow.
"But--hi, Jasper. Why's Jasper's mouth hanging open? And why are you dressed like that in front of Jasper?!" Charlotte screamed, letting out her fear at what had obviously taken place. Ray and (y/n) were not gonna like this.
"YOU'RE KID DANGER!" Jasper screamed at the top of his lungs, making Henry look at him weirdly. Hadn't they. already established that?
"Yeah. You knew that---ooh! Jasper fell asleep." Henry trailed off as Jasper collapsed on the floor unconscious. Poor kid, he'd just found ut his best friend was the sidekick of Swellview's best crimefighter, there was no wonder why he fainted.
"No, he fainted!" Charlotte corrected, feeling so irritated with Henry that she felt like screaming. Why did he always have to go overboard? If only he had waited a few more minutes, this mess would never have taken place.
"Why?" Henry scoffed, thinking that his friend was being dumb again. He wasn't the dumb one though, he was.
"Because he didn't know you're Kid Danger. He thought that your secret was that you saw Galaxy Wars 10 without him." She explained, leaving Henry as pale as Jasper and with his mouth hanging open. Yeah, that was his second colossal mistake.
"Well, how'd he find that out?!" Henry recovered and focused on the wrong bit. The whole Kid Danger part was his main priority.
"WHO CARES? You showed Jasper that you're Kid Danger!" Charlotte snapped and Henry looked down at his costume, then at Jasper, then at himself again and then back to Charlotte.
"AW, GEEZ!" He whimpered as his heart began to pound in his ears. This was his worst nightmare. Jasper was a terrible secret keeper and Ray had been firm about. him keeping his oath.
"What are we gonna do?" Charlotte shrieked, fearing for Captain Man's safety and the security of her job. She was gonna be screwed for this.
"I--gah!" Henry gasped as his larger holo-caller began to buzz.
"It's Ray and (y/n)!" Charlotte told him, although he had already guessed that.
"I know it's Ray and (y/n)!" He hissed and put the hologram device down on the ledge so he could talk to the couple face to face. He answered the call and they appeared in the room and the kids hoped they didn't look too nervous.
"Heyyyy!" Well, that wasn't a convincing greeting and Henry's fidgeting didn't help either.
"Hey, it's us, Ray and (y/n)." He replied, even though it was clear who they were.
"I know it's you guys!" The boy snapped, but the adults brushed off his prickly behaviour.
"The cops captured the Malachi Brothers so there's no more emergency." (y/n) smiled, failing to see how clammy Henry had gone through the fuzziness of the hologram.
"Uhhhh, maybe there is," Henry told them, bracing himself for the biggest ass-whooping of his life. Maybe he'd lose his job.
"What-what does that mean?" Ray asked, sensing. that something was off.
"Henry, are you all right? You look a bit peaky." (y/n) squinted at the boy's little face and on a closer inspection, she could just about make out how he was shuffling and sweating as he talked to them.
"Uh, just you better come over here." Henry groaned, feeling like he was about to have an aneurysm or a heart attack.
"And bring the memory wiper!" Charlotte added, making (y/n) and Ray gawp at the teenagers.
"Guys, what's happ--" Henry ended the call before he had to explain himself. It was rude, but at least this way he'd have five minutes to come up with a story. Or, you know, book a flight to Argentina so he could live out the rest of his days in hiding.
Jasper stirred on the carpet and Charlotte nudged Henry when she heard his groaning. Not taking any chances, the kid whipped out his laser control and shot a green laser at his friend. If he was unconscious, he couldn't do any harm.
~10 minutes later~
As soon as the couple had arrived, the room had descended into chaos, adults versus kids.
"You took an oath!"
"It's not my fault!"
"It was your job to make sure nobody else found out!"
"SHUT IT!" (y/n) piercing scream echoed through the room and the bickering ceased. The silence was smothering and tangible, like Ray's fury was embedded into it. He was pissed off, disappointed, gutted, all the emotions expected of a man who felt betrayed. He had trusted Henry and now, he was standing in the kid's bedroom, having just learnt that he "accidentally" told a teenager, notorious for being a blabber-mouth, that he was Kid Danger. Give him strength.
"Bucket boy is waking up." The young woman pointed to Jasper, who was mumbling himself into consciousness, probably affected by all the shouting. (y/n) had to admit, she was a little disappointed too with how the kids had handled everything, but the past was the past and now, they had to deal with the problem at hand.
Well, they would deal with it in a bit. Ray and Henry both shot another green laser at Jasper, sending him back to dreamland. It made sense to come up with a plan first, this was a particularly sensitive issue after all. Henry turned his back on Ray and looked guiltily at the door and floor as he thought about what to say.
"Look...it's just too dangerous to let anyone else know who we are or where the Man Cave is," Ray spoke for him, his voice low and serious. He knew it wasn't fair for the boy, he deserved a normal life, so did Charlotte and (y/n), but this was their life, fighting bad guys in complete secrecy. If too many people knew who he was, his life and everyone he loved would be in danger and he couldn't risk that, he wouldn't.
"He's right. It's not fair or kind and it sucks, but we have to keep Captain Man's secret safe. All of us, no matter what." (y/n) told Henry, her eyes sad and understanding, since she knew what he was going through. It wasn't the first time they'd erased someone's memory, there'd been friends, family, so many who figured out the secret and just had to forget. She knew it was cruel but his life was her life and she'd resigned herself to dealing the bad in exchange for all the wonder he brought with all the difficulty.
"And that means...we have to erase Jasper's memory." Ray picked up the memory wiper and the sight of the machine turned Henry's mouth dry. It was less of a machine or a cool gadget, more of a weapon now, something that was going to take his best friend away from him.
"But when you zap someone's brain with that thing, doesn't it erase all their memories?" Charlotte asked, eyeing the invention with a pained expression.
"Well, not all. He'll still remember how to breathe and eat and...that's about it." Ray's words weren't much comfort, they made the teens feel worse. Lose Jasper? He was annoying and sweaty and way too whiny sometimes, but he was also loveable and selfless and most importantly, their friend. And he was waking up, the time was near.
"It's not an exact science, we can't pick and choose what we erase. We just have to get rid of everything to ensure our survival because secrecy is how we survive. I'm sorry, guys." (y/n) gulped, wrapping her arms around herself at the thought of what they were about to do. Losing a friend was hard but like this? It was cruel and cold-hearted and something she hated about her job and the life she had chosen.
"Hey...can I at least have a few minutes alone with him before you...y'know, wipe his brain? I mean, we've been friends ever since we were five. Wouldn't you want to say goodbye to (y/n) if she had to forget?" Henry asked, hoping he could appeal to Ray's kindness and it worked. Ray couldn't imagine the pain of saying goodbye to his best friend and making her forget how special she was to him, so he agreed immediately.
"Sure thing, kid." Ray nodded solemnly as (y/n) blinked back tears and put her hand on his arm.
"Where do you want us to go?" Charlotte asked softly, understanding that Henry needed one last time to goof around and bond with his best friend.
"Closet?" They all looked at him with apprehension at the prospect of all three of them being squished into the tight space.
"Come on. There you go." He pointed to the room and they all begrudgingly stepped in. Hey, at least Ray had an excuse to get all close with (y/n) in there, even if Charlotte would be gagging the entire time.
Jasper moaned loudly and slowly got to his feet as his head pounded.
"Ugh, what happened?" He asked and turned to see Henry still dressed like Kid Danger.
"I, uh, I zapped you, accidentally." Henry lied, but at seeing Jasper's confused face, his resolve broke. His heart was breaking at the notion of losing his oldest friend and he peeled his mask from his face so he could look him in the eye and see the recognition on his face. What would it be like to see Jasper looking at him like he was a stranger?
"Wow! I can't believe this...my best friend is Kid Danger!" Jasper gasped happily, but his excitement just made Henry tear up more.
"Dude...listen, I wanted to tell you...a long time ago, but I took an oath." Henry told him, feeling guilty that he had been lying to Jasper for over a year.
"I totally get it." The curly-haired boy smiled, letting go of any hurt that he felt about the big lie. He understood that Henry had to keep himself safe and he'd rather be unknowing than have his best friend hurt.
"Thanks. And you know, it's--" Henry breathed out, not expecting him to take it so well, but he had to quickly shut the closet door as Ray peeked out with the memory wiper ready to fire.
"Give me a minute!" He snapped to the man as he stuck his face through the gap, shoving Ray away from the door.
"Hurry up!" Ray hissed, getting antsy at how he was not only letting a boy walk around with his secrets but also at how he had (y/n) pressed against him with her back to his chest. God, her ass felt sinfully delicious pressed against his lower half and it was a real struggle for him to keep himself calm.
"Raymond, shut up!" The young woman threw her elbow back so it caught him in the gut. She wanted Henry to say his goodbyes properly since she never got to say hers to the friends and family she'd lost.
"Who?" Jasper pointed at the closet in confusion as he wondered who his friend was talking to. He'd never imagine that it was Captain Man, Miss Danger and Charlotte waiting to wipe his brain of everything he knew.
"Hey...huh. Remember this?" Henry distracted him with a photo of him and Jasper as little kids. They looked so young and it was another reminder of how their friendship had stood the test of time.
"Sure. You and me at Camp Tomahawk." Jasper smiled fondly at the memory and accepted the picture from Henry. Good times.
"Yep. We were cute, huh?" Henry joked, feeling like he was losing a part of himself. Jasper had always been there for him, what would he do without him?
"Hey, remember that time at the archery range, when Billy Brody started beating me up and you jumped in to help me?" Jasper chuckled at how his scrawny best friend had come to his rescue, even though Bill Brody was twice his size.
"Yep and we both got beat up," Henry recalled and they both giggled at how dumb they were.
"I'll never forget that," Jasper promised Henry, but the boy looked away to the closet door with a broken expression. Oh, the irony; in about five minutes, he would forget it and everything else they'd done together.
"Well..." Henry gulped, not knowing how to break it to him.
"You've always been a good friend to me...Kid Danger. I'm proud of you." Jasper told him with his hand on Henry's shoulder, making the boy freeze. His best friend put the picture back where it belonged and Henry knew that he couldn't lose a friend, especially if they were Jasper because he was the best friend a guy could ever have,
"That's it. Ray, Charlotte, (y/n), get out here!" Henry shouted and the three awkwardly stepped out of the closet, shocking Jasper as he saw his idols.
"Captain Man! And Miss Danger! Wow, they're right here in your room!" He exclaimed, quaking with excitement as (y/n) gave him a small wave and a sad smile. Poor kid, ignorance is bliss.
"Uh, I'm here too," Charlotte added, but Jasper just shoved her out the way so he could get close to his favourite superhero and his new favourite superheroine.
"We're not doing this," Henry told Ray firmly, refusing to let go of his best friend.
"We have to do it," Ray whispered to him sternly, which made Henry's emotions run wild as he looked between the man and (y/n), who seemed to be conflicted.
"No! I'm not letting you erase Jasper's brain!" The teen stated, which made Jasper pause and think about what he said. They wanted to do what to his what now?
"Uh, what?" He asked, gulping at the thought of Captain Man messing with his brain or something.
"Don't worry about it." Charlotte brushed it off, thinking that he wouldn't have to worry about anything after they erased his memories.
"Henry, he could tell anyone and I know he's a sweet kid, but he might let it slip accidentally." (y/n) tried to explain to the boy, even though she knew that he realised that. Henry knew the risks and how Ray was trying his hardest to keep them to a minimum.
"I'll never tell anybody!" Jasper promised, knowing that this was Henry's biggest secret and his unyielding loyalty to his friend meant he'd never divulge it.
"Oh, really? What if some big, bad, evil criminal captures you and threatens to cut all your toes off if you don't tell him everything you know?" Ray asked him, making Jasper think about the scenario.
"I'd tell him everything I know." He said, not realising that he'd said the wrong answer and he was just proving himself to be untrustworthy in Ray's eyes.
"Dude!" Henry sighed, thinking that it would take a miracle to convince Ray otherwise now.
"My toes! What am I without my toes?!" Jasper whined, making his situation worse. At this rate, he'd be sat on his doorstep with no memory whatsoever in the next twenty minutes.
"Henry, he's a security risk." Ray turned to his sidekick, who just shook his head. Even (y/n) didn't like calling Jasper that, he was a person and Henry's friend, they should at least be nice about him when he was in the room.
"No, we leave Jasper the way he is or else,...I can't be Kid Danger anymore." Henry swallowed, but stayed strong as he offered Ray the ultimatum.
"Henry..." Charlotte started, worried at how reckless her friend was being. She could understand why, but it seemed so drastic.
"You're not gonna quit being Kid Danger," Ray whispered to him, thinking he could call Henry's bluff, despite the sincerity in the boy's voice.
"I don't wanna quit, but...if you're gonna erase all the memories from my oldest friend's brain...then I don't want this anymore." Henry offered his gum tube to Ray, who looked at it and then at Jasper.
"Henry, are you sure?" (y/n) asked him, tentatively taking a step forward so she could look the boy in the eye and gauge his honesty.
"Yeah...how long have you known Ray?" Henry asked her with a steady voice as the young woman took no time at all to answer him.
"Almost nine years." She whispered at the same time as Ray, making their eyes snap to look at each other. It didn't feel like that though; the time had gone by so quickly and they'd gone from strength to strength, strangers to the best of friends and now they were on the verge of becoming lovers if they already weren't. Nine years of falling in love and they'd hadn't even made a move.
"Would you forget him if you had to?" Henry looked her in the eye and he didn't need to hear the answer, he already knew.
"I'd rather never see him again than lose our friendship." She murmured, staring at the floor so no one could see her tears. Just the thought of being no one to him, just another face on the street was heartbreaking to her, because she'd gotten so used to being the first face he saw in the morning and the one he told everything to. She never wanted to lose that privilege.
"Ray, would you give up being Captain Man for (y/n)?" The boy asked his boss, not knowing the answer this time. He knew he loved her more than himself, but being a superhero was everything to Ray. It was his life's work, everything he'd trained for since he was a boy, could he give it up just for one person? (y/n) froze as she expected him to say that Captain man always came first, the mantra that had been drilled into her since the beginning, but...
"Yes. Yes, I would. She's my best friend." Ray swallowed, smiling gently at the woman as she stared at him in shock. Really? Her? He'd leave the superhero life behind just so they'd stay friends?
Of course, he would. He'd follow her anywhere if she let him and he'd resigned himself to being like that nine years ago when she beat the ass of some lowlife criminal in a cafe. She did Captain Man's job for him and he'd fallen in love with a woman who taught him more and made him feel more than he'd ever imagined. Without her, he was loveless and merciless, he wasn't Captain Man.
"I'm not gonna watch my best friend forget me...you wouldn't, I can't either," Henry told Ray, who stared at the gum tube that was still being offered to him. He had a choice to make.
"Gahhh, put that back in your pants." Ray sighed, making everyone frown at him.
"Wait, does that mean you're saying that--" Charlotte started, but Ray didn't want to hear everything spelled out, he was already annoyed that he was accepting another child into his workplace.
"Yes, yes, yes! Jasper can keep his stupid brain the way it is." He gave in and wandered across the room to avoid the delighted smiles of his friends and the bucket boy.
"Really?" Jasper gasped, ecstatic at what Captain man was implying. (y/n) gazed at her best friend with a proud, loving smile and seeing her so happy almost made the pain of having Jasper around forever worth it. Almost.
"Yes! I've said yes five times now." Ray rolled his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose as Jasper's excitement irritated him.
"Wow! This is amazing!" He squealed and grinned at Henry and Charlotte, who understood his excitement. Now, they'd all get to hang out together with no secrets. Life was good.
"Just take it easy," Ray told him but was taken by surprise as (y/n) tackled him in a hug, not caring about his tetchiness.
"Aw, Mr Grumpy, you're a big softie, really." She cooed into his ear, which made him sigh and nod.
"Whatever." He brushed it off as his cheeks turned pink, but his arms went around her waist anyway so he could have his girl close to him. She was happy and still here, which was good enough for Ray and maybe he'd get used to Jasper's overzealous exuberance after a while.
"Oooh, I can even help you fight bad guys and stuff." Or maybe not.
"Uhhh, no, that's not a good idea." They all replied quickly, not enjoying the idea of Jasper Danger being let loose on the streets of Swellview. His first takedown would be himself, probably.
"Come on, it's my dream," Jasper begged Henry, hoping his pouting and stuck-out bottom lip would sway his mind.
"Some dreams are best left unachieved, kid." (y/n) smiled at him sweetly as she pulled back from the hug, knowing that it be better for everyone if Jasper left the fighting to Captain Man, Kid Danger and Miss Danger.
Jasper went to argue back, but suddenly, Henry's bedroom door open and the superheroes panicked as some bright orange, fat guy bumbled in. Ray pulled (y/n) back into his arms as he assessed whether this guy was a threat (both criminally and romantically), but he didn't need to be worried. He was wearing a shower cap, for god's sake, hardly the suavest thing in the world.
"Oh, sorry, I just got a tan downstairs and I was looking for the bathroom and I--" The guy looked across the room and nearly passed out when he saw Captain Man with Miss Danger in his arms and then Kid Danger without his mask.
"Whoa! Captain Man! Oh my god, Miss Danger! You're, like, seriously hot!" The man gasped at the couple standing on his right, making Ray straighten his posture.
"Thank you..." (y/n) replied awkwardly, not knowing how to handle such a comment. She had to admit, Swellview's male population all seemed to be entranced by her appearance as the latest hero in town and Ray did not like it one bit. All these stupid guys gawping at his friend and his displeasure showed in the half-assed smile that he gave the orange man, which then quickly dropped to a scowl once he looked at Henry.
"And Kid Danger without his mask! You're Piper's brother!" He gasped as he recognised Henry, who suddenly remembered his bare face
"Uhhh, w-well..." Henry stumbled as Ray and (y/n) moved into the centre of the room. This is why you don't take your mask off when there were strangers around.
"I gotta tell everyone I know!" The man squealed, making Henry slump when he saw the smirk on Ray's face.
"You gonna whine about this one?" He asked his sidekick, who didn't care. This guy was strange and he shouldn't have been poking around his house.
"Nah, do it." He shrugged and Ray gently pushed (y/n) to the side so she wouldn't get hit by the eraser before firing it at the man's brain. His thumbs stopped typing as his mind went blank and fuzzy and after a few seconds, his memories were gone.
"Hey, what's your name?" Charlotte asked the man in a loud, clear voice so she could check to see if the gadget had done its job.
"Muuurghhhh." The man slurred, having forgotten how to form words properly. Ray smirked inwardly, he wasn't calling his girl hot now.
"Nice to meet you, Muuurghhhh." (y/n) chuckled at her little joke, glad that she found herself funny even if no one else did.
"All right, Jasper, you really wanna help us out?" Ray turned to the boy as he put his arm around his giggling best friend. She was so cute sometimes, especially with her silly jokes.
"Sure!" Jasper nodded, ready and willing to do anything Captain Man asked him.
"Good, take this guy out the window and leave him on the sidewalk," Ray instructed him, trying to ignore how much Jasper's enthusiasm irritated him.
"Aye, aye, Captain Man!" Jasper smiled and dashed off to dump the man outside. He attempted to get the man over his shoulder in a fireman's lift, but he was twice Jasper's weight and therefore impossible to carry. Still, it made for funny viewing for Ray, Henry, Charlotte and (y/n) as they watched him struggle.
"You know, I might start addressing you like that. It's got a nice ring to it." The young woman chuckled as she looked up at the man next to her.
"Don't even think about it, sweet girl." He gave her a warning look, but she just giggled and leaned her forehead into his chest as she hugged his waist. She was small next to him and he loved how her little frame fitted so well against his.
"Hey, man, thanks for saving Jasper." Henry butted into their cute moment and clapped his boss on the back. He really was grateful, having Jasper in the Man Cave would be tricky for Ray, but he'd overlook that if it meant Henry got to keep his best friend the way he got to keep his.
"Don't sweat it, kid. He's your best friend and you can't give them up. Not for anything." Ray told him and Charlotte looked at the two adults with a gentle smile. So blind.
"When you said that you'd stop being Captain Man for me, was that the truth? It wasn't just something you said in front of Jasper?" (y/n) asked as she lifted her head to look him in the eye. She had just written it off as a product of the pressure he'd felt to make a decision, surely, he didn't place her above the thing he'd been destined for since the age of eight.
"Yeah, it was the truth. I love being Captain Man and having all the attention and praise, but...I love having you as my best friend more." He told her and he loved seeing the way a soft smile crawled its way onto her beautiful face. He swallowed the words he actually wanted to say, thinking that he wanted nothing more than to tell her that he loved her more than his job or his fame. Not as a best friend, as his girl, the one he wanted to marry and have a life with away from the trials and tribulations of being a superhero.
"You're my best friend too." She grinned and put her cheek back against his chest before he could see her hesitation. Friend; it was a nice word, it meant that they had an affectionate bond that tied them together, but at the same time, it hurt and stung. They daren't tell each other that their bond was much deeper than either one realised and it left them in a stalemate as they wondered if they could ever feel the same.
Henry and Charlotte rolled their eyes at their incapacity to see what was right under their noses. A love, pure and innocent, but also peppered with desire and passion, that had been burning for so many years.
And they were about to finally notice it for the first time.
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