Henry was pissed. Beyond pissed; he was furious. But at the same time, he was losing his mind. Never in his life had he felt such strong emotions of worry and anger until now. His footsteps echoed around the silent Man Cave as he paced back and forth with forceful steps.
Why in the world would she go?!
Who in their right mind thinks that it's okay to go on a dangerous mission without him?!
What possessed her to leave without saying anything?!
These thoughts plagued his head.
Charlotte and Ray left hours ago to fight the Time Jerker. He planned to turn back time to when everyone in Swellview was babies so he could bring them up as his minions from scratch. Ray wanted Charlotte to come with them so she can disable the portal before it was activated. Henry was livid with the idea and had protested, but of course, Charlotte hated being told what to do.
The two fought. Voices were raised, threats made here and there, mediator Jasper coming in, and in the end, Henry won. Or so he thought.
What he didn't expect (should've) was that Charlotte and Ray left without him. He was only gone for a moment because Piper was pestering him in Junk N' Stuff, and the next thing he knew Schowz was the only one in the Man Cave. He demanded where they were off to but the scientist wouldn't budge. Apparently, Charlotte threatened to take his worms away if he told Henry where they were going.
And he couldn't access their location since, a - he didn't know how, and b - Charlotte locked him out of their system.
Freaking out was all he could do. He didn't have to worry about Ray, the guy was indestructible, but Charlotte wasn't. His best friend was out there fighting crime, which was his job by the way, with the possibility of getting hurt while he was stuck in the Man Cave with nothing to do.
He muttered incoherent words under his breath, ignoring Schowz who was sitting on the Man couch munching on his worms as he watched him pace around.
Henry's head snapped to the direction of the tubes when he heard the familiar sound of someone coming down. Captain Man came down first and a huge weight lifted from his chest when he saw Charlotte come down next from his tube. He was still angry though.
"What were you thinking?" He immediately regarded her, marching to where she was. She stopped abruptly when he stood right in front of her.
"Hey, Charlotte. How was the mission? Did you stop the Time Jerker and save the city? By the way, I'm glad you're okay," Charlotte smiled fakely, hating how she had to look up now to see his face.
"A mission you weren't supposed to be on. And how could you let her?" He demanded from Ray with a glare.
"Excuse me?" Henry turned his attention back to the enraging girl in front of him. "He didn't let me do anything. I went because it was my choice. He doesn't make decisions for me and neither do you."
"Yeah, Kid," Ray added. "You try fighting her when she sets her mind on something," Henry's glare caused Ray to zip his mouth and move to sit on the couch. It wasn't often that the kid made those looks but when he did, Ray had to admit that he was uncomfortable.
"When it comes to missions, I make the calls," Henry said lowly turning back to her. Charlotte raised her eyebrows.
"You did not just-"
"You're not trained for these things, Charlotte! It's too dangerous for you."
"I can take care of myself."
"Not against this."
"What? So, you think I'm weak?"
"No! Of course not," Henry ran his hand through his hair in frustration. This girl was going to be his death of him. "I'm just saying that you can get hurt."
"So can you. I don't care if you have a superpower," she added quickly when he opened his mouth.
"I'm the sidekick! It's my job!"
"It's mine, too!"
"No, it's not! Your job is to sit in front of the monitors out of danger!"
By this time Ray had left the two of them alone, dragging Schowz who wanted to stay and watch them. Charlotte closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Despite having good intentions behind his words, the way he said them made her blood boil. She slowly opened them again, seeing his own fill with regret. Good.
Charlotte opened her mouth to speak when Henry suddenly grabbed hold of her arm, lifting it. She was surprised to see a large gash on her forearm and a trail of blood dripping down from it. She wondered how she didn't feel any sort of pain until her eyes landed on it. Looking at the blonde, his face remained emotionless as he stared at the wound.
Without saying a word, he dragged her and forced her to sit on the couch while he looked for the first aid kit. Silence seemed appropriate at the moment so Charlotte didn't say anything.
Henry came back with the kit and knelt in front of her. He took a damp rag and gently held her arm. The minute the rag hit the wound, Charlotte hissed.
"Sorry," he apologised before continuing to clean the blood off carefully. Charlotte watched him work. There was no denying the warm, tingling she felt from where his hand touched her, and she couldn't help but admire him. His brows were furrowed as he dabbed the rag, and strands of his hair fell forward from his position of looking down.
Before she could stop herself, Charlotte raised her free hand and moved them out of the way. Henry paused, but then continued.
"Why didn't you tell me?" He asked quietly.
"You would've tried to stop me."
Henry let out a low chuckle. "I meant the wound, Char."
"Oh," she replied, slightly embarrassed. "I didn't feel it."
Henry placed the rag away and started sanitising the wound with a cotton ball filled with alcohol. He tried to do it gently, not wanting to hurt her more.
"This is why I don't like you going out there," he said honestly.
"I'm not the type of person who'll just sit on the sidelines while you're out there saving everyone, you know that," Charlotte spoke softly, trying to ignore the pain. "If I can help in some way, I will. I knew the risks when I took this job, Hen. I'm willing to take it."
"I'm not."
Henry paused what he was doing to look at her. Charlotte wasn't prepared to see the intensity his brown eyes showed. "I'm not willing to risk you, Char," he went back to taking care of her. "We were just kids when we took this job, we didn't know that it'd be this bad."
"We're growing up, Henry. Things change."
"I know, it's just-" he sighed and looked back at her. "I can't lose you, Charlotte. I won't."
"Nothing is going to happen to me," she assured him.
"You're right," His agreement confused Charlotte. She expected him to argue and waited for one to come as she watched him patch the wound up before wrapping an elastic band around it. "Because we're gonna start training you."
Charlotte's eyes widened and waited for him to say the punchline, but received none. She searched his face as well, to see any sign of him playing her. He wasn't.
"Wait, are you serious?"
He nodded. Henry finished taking care of her but remained in his position, holding her hand. "I know I can't convince you to sit out. I've known you long enough to realise that."
Charlotte cracked a grin.
"And I know you can take care of yourself, but this is for me. I just need to know that I did everything I could to help you."
Charlotte smiled widely at him before wrapping her arms around his neck. "Thank you." Henry wrapped his own around her waist, nuzzling his head on her neck, breathing in her scent. She pulled back after a beat but left her arms dangling on his shoulders. "I thought you were going to pull that bull about me never seeing you again because it's too "dangerous"."
Henry chuckled. "You wouldn't listen anyway. Besides, what better way to protect you than keep you close, right?"
"Right," Charlotte smiled and hugged him again, sighing in contentment as she rest her head on his shoulder.
Henry closed his eyes and tightened his hold on her, reassuring himself that she was there. Safe and in his arms, and he was going to make sure it stayed that way. Because he would never forgive himself otherwise.