Henry Danger - One Shot Book

Once a Freak Always a Freak

Summary/Prompt: I just rewatched the episode "JAM Session" in which Ray claimed, 'once you're a freak, you're always a freak.' What struck me as odd was the way Henry reacted to that statement. 

Rated: Teen

So Henry Hart loved his little sister. That was honestly not something he willingly advertised, but when it came to it he really buckled down and defended her. Especially when it came to some wannabe tween suffering what Henry liked to call 'coffee syndrome'. Today was one of those days. It was just after school, he was walking towards Piper's middle school when suddenly five or six girls, including Piper, came out through the main enterance. He could sort of hear what they were saying. One word set him off... "Lay. Off. Of. My. Sister!" He shouted, surprising both himself and the surrounding civilians. The tweens screamed in fear as he charged towards them. He could barely hear his sister's voice through his rage,

"Henry! Calm down! Please, you can do this! They didn't mean it! It was just a joke. Let's go home, come on. I'll let you use up the rest of the WI-FI from this month." Henry calmed down enough to see past he rage when a voice shouted,

"What's going on here?!" The twelve year olds' hair whipped around her head then she exclaimed,

"Captain Man!" Henry groaned, he did not need this today. The superhero glanced from his sidekick to the group of girls on the floor. A civilian shouted,

"That boy attacked those girls! Arrest him!" Piper glared daggers at her hero, standing in between him and Henry.

"You touch him and I will make your life a living hell. Do you understand me?" The hero chuckled,

"Really? A little twelve year old like you could ruin my life?" Piper never lost her stance.

"Do. You. Understand. Me?" Captain Man hurriedly nodded his head in honest fear of what the girl could - would - do to him. Then Henry finally spoke up,

"It's okay Piper." Her gaze softened as she faced her elder brother again. "I'll go with him, trust me. I'll be fine." Piper slowly realized she wasn't going to win this fight so she nodded then sent glares in the tweens' direction. Once she was gone Captain Man faked arresting his sidekick to humor the public eye then raced them back to the Man Cave.

"Kid, tell me you didn't attack those defenseless girls!" He shouted at Henry, who instantly curled up into a ball, instead of standing up for himself like normal. "Henry?" Ray asked, not in uniform. He knelt down next to the boy on the floor.

The teen continued to shake his head and mutter the words, not a freak, not a freak, not a freak. Over and over again until it was incomprehensible. "Henry!" Ray shouted, shaking his employee. The blonde stood up as if he was shocked by electricity and began to pace around the room, this time muttering the word 'sorry' three times in a row before taking a breath. The elevator landed cuing Charlotte to walk in on her best friend having a panic attack.

"Henry!" His eyes shot up blindly,

"Charlotte?" He asked, waving his hands around trying to find her. "Where are you?! It's dark! It's too dark this time!" The girl ran to his side gripping his hands, Henry's composure relaxed instantly.

"It's okay Henry, you're safe." Henry frowned, his eyes finally opened. Yet they were still dazed and confused.

"Safe?" He asked, she nodded then sat him on the couch next to her, well aware Ray is still observing the whole ordeal.

"Yes Henry, remember? You're in the Man Cave, you're Kid Danger, sidekick to Captain Man. You're Henry Hart, and you have a sister who's probably freaking out about you this very minute." Henry froze then stood up shouting,

"Oh my god Piper!" Charlotte rubbed his back in a circular motion to get him to relax again.

"It's okay, she's safe, she's at your home. You told her to go back home remember?" Henry nodded, his friend could tell he was seeing again. "You're safe. You're safe Henry, everything is okay." After a few minutes of silence Henry fell asleep on Charlotte's lap forcing her to replace her leg with a pillow so she could stand up without awaking him. "You're probably confused..." She said to Ray who nodded. She continued, "back before he knew you, back before Captain Man was even a thing... Henry kept getting bullied until it got so bad he wouldn't talk to anyone, not even his parents. It turned out the bullying escalated so much he was flinching at every turn he took and every pen someone dropped on the floor. After the bullies got expelled and quite literally kicked out of town, Henry slowly got better. When you hired him he fell more and more on love with the job than pretty much anything. Sadly, the past doesn't stay in the past. Henry has triggers, things that force his mind back to the worst days of him being bullied. One of the triggers we know of is the word 'freak'. Even if he hears it just in passing he goes into shock mode and Jasper and I try to get him out of it quickly, otherwise he could be put into a coma if we're not careful." Ray frowned,

"Why was I not told about this before?" Charlotte sighed,

"He doesn't like to openly advertise the fact he has PTSD from bullying. He thinks villains could use it to their advantage." Ray and Charlotte both glanced at the blonde teen the both see as a friend.

"Still though... I'll protect him, in any way possible." Charlotte smiled, finally trusting the man known as "Swellview's Finest Superhero".

A/N
This is not apart of the short story special. I have been bored because literally one person requested a prompt. Please PM me your ideas!!!

~Nerdsareawesome656