#kid danger

“Yeah, well it’s either that or I get held back.”

You give him a small look, “Guess which one my money’s on.”

He waves you off slightly in response.

“It’s not my fault; it’s just work has been so-”

Out of nowhere, the conversation is cut by the sound of these brief, rapid beeps interrupting, and Henry’s eyes immediately flicker downwards towards the black watch that sits on his wrist at all times. 

“…Uhhh, I gotta go,” he says, already hurrying to get on his feet. “Emergency at work.”

Your eyes flicker in recognition. This isn’t the first time that Henry’s had a work emergency out of the blue, so you’re pretty used to hearing those words. 

“Well, I guess that’s my cue,” you say, standing up from your own spot. “Y’know, I never knew you could have this many work emergencies at a junk store.”

“Haha,” this isn’t an exaggeration—you actually heard every syllable in his awkward laugh. “Yeah, I get that a lot.”

“Alright, I’ll see you later, bye!” 

You walk out and close his door behind you, traveling down the stairs to grab your shoes before going out the front door. 

“Going already, sweetheart?” Henry’s mother calls from the kitchen as you’re in the middle of tying a lace. 

“Yeah, Henry’s got work to do,” you nodded, finally standing upright after a moment or so. “Bye, Mrs. Hart!”

After waiting for her to bid you a returning farewell, you turn the knob to their front door and head out, letting the door shut and your feet make it all the way to the end of the front porch before you reach for your phone, sticking a hand in your pocket. 

And it wasn’t there. 

Confused, you stop, checking the other pocket, then start to pat yourself to do a skimming search for it. 

Since it’s nowhere on your person, you turn around to the seating area of the porch, sliding the backpack from your shoulders to sit it down, unzipping it and quickly running through every nook and cranny before your suspicions are confirmed.

You left your phone in the house. 

Upstairs. 

In Henry’s room. 

It’s definitely not the worst situation—in fact, the only reason you’re dreading it is because you’ve already left the house and gone down the stairs, and repeating those steps feels like an entire journey right now; a school backpack is no joke when it’s this heavy. 

Sighing at your forgetfulness, you open the door back up again, catching the attention of Henry’s mom, who gives you a knowing look. 

“Forgot something?” 

“My phone,” you affirm, pointing quickly at the staircase. “I’ll be out in a couple more minutes.”

“Take your time,” she smiles, and leaving it at that, you head for the stairs, dropping your backpack off at the door—because now that you think of it, there’s really no reason to carry it—hopping up two at a time just to get to the top faster. 

Making it all the way to Henry’s room, you just walk in without any forethought, pushing the door open halfway so you could get through. 

“Sorry, I’m back again, I almost forgot my-” 

All thoughts of your phone—and literally anything else—went straight out of the window when you were stunned into silence by the sight in front of you. 

When you came through the door, Henry had turned around with wide eyes, towards the end of blowing a bubble of a wad of bubblegum. 

Absolutely normal stuff, right? 

Wrong, because after the bubble popped, there was this bright flash of light, and when you finally stopped squinting to question what it was, it wasn’t Henry you were looking at anymore. 

It was Kid Danger. 

Your best friend was Kid Danger. Henry Hart, the boy you’ve practically known since birth. 

HE was Kid Danger. 

He’s been Kid Danger for all these years and you never even knew. 

You couldn’t even find it in yourself to say anything. Not that you didn’t have anything to say—in fact, you had a long list of things you wanted to say and questions to ask, but the revelation was just so genuinely off putting that your overwhelmed brain chemistry couldn’t even process them properly. 

“(Y/n)-” Henry’s voice and demeanor is in an entire state of panic, his hands extended because he’s trying to figure out what to do, what to say to you. You’re not the only one lost for words. “I- I, um…”

“…You.” It’s one word, barely even that. Your mouth opens and closes, trying to get the question out. “You’re Kid-?”

He puts a finger to his lips, the gravity of the situation sinking in. He walks up to you, grabbing you by the hand and pulling you away from the door so he could close it. 

And maybe lock it this time. He really needs to start doing that more. 

By the time he’s got his eyes back on you, yours are swimming with all kinds of different emotions. 

“You’re… you’re Kid Danger,” you murmur, the words coming out as more or a statement than the question it was originally going to be. 

Like it was sinking in for you, too. 

“I didn’t mean for you to see this,” he says, shaking his head. “Not like this, at least, not while-” 

Before he can even explain himself or anything else to you, his watch beeps again under his sleeve. 

Right. The entire reason he had changed into this uniform in the first place. 

Swellview needed saving. 

Biting the inside of his cheek, he goes, “Can… we talk about this later?”

You nod without thinking, not like you could argue anyways. 

“(Y/n).” The dazed expression on your face shifts a bit at his serious call of your name. He grabs you by the shoulders, giving them a small squeeze. “I need you to go back down there and pretend like none of this happened.”

“…That’s kind of a tall order,” you replied quietly, pressing your lips together. 

“I know,” he sighs. “I know. Just for now. Please.”

It wasn’t like you would’ve ever said no in the first place. But you nod anyways, just to give him the reassurance that he needs, watching his shoulders slump in relief. 

“Thank you,” the response is sincere, and he looks at you one last time before letting go, rushing over to his window to climb out of it. 

And you watch him go, still dumbfounded by this entire situation, by the gravity of revelation of such a huge secret. 

—

For the entire rest of the day, you waited. 

What more could you do besides that?

You’ve been laying in your bed for who knows how long, a pillow clutched to your torso while you face the ceiling, still trying to wrap your head around the fact. 

Then you start to think—thinking back to all of the times when it should’ve been obvious, dating all the way back to when the two of you were thirteen, all the times when he was acting so strange about things. 

Of course you didn’t think anything of it. Henry’s always been a little strange, so it’s not like you had much of a reason to question it?

Maybe this is your sign to start questioning things more. 

It’s one heck of a sign, but it’s done its job. 

You’ve completely lost any concept of time amidst the journey through your mind, but by the time you look up at the sound of a knock on the window, the sun has long since faded as a crisp darkness takes its place. 

However, in the illumination of the moonlight, you can make out a familiar silhouette. 

Fully sitting upright, you scoot downwards until you make it to the edge of the bed to stand, walking over to your window to flip the latch and push it open.

“Hey.”

“Hey…” you reply, fingers tapping against the wall while the two of you just stare at each other. 

It was so odd, how different it felt seeing your best friend like this, in this light. It’s never felt this strange around him, in fact, he was one of the few people you felt at ease with. 

But now, that ease had faded with the belief that you knew Henry Hart completely. 

“…Can I come in?” He tries after a while, breaking the silence. The chill biting at your skin is what inclines you to nod, stepping back to let him pull himself through. 

Even then, you didn’t have any particular set of words to say—couldn’t find them. Henry kept his eyes on you, your mannerisms, the way you’d look at anything else but him. 

And well, maybe he didn’t think this through. How would he go about defending himself for keeping a secret like this from you since you’ve both been in the eighth grade?

“So…” he clears his throat awkwardly. “You know about this now.”

“Yeah.” You’re merely sitting on the side of your bed, playing with the loose threads of the linens beneath you. “Guess I know why you’re hardly ever in school now, huh?”

It’s a weak attempt at a joke, but you’re trying the best that you can, to be normal about this. 

“It’s definitely a better look,” he agrees, taking a couple of steps towards your bed. He tries to gauge you, anticipate what you’ll ask or want to hear next. “Some after school job. 

Your head bobs in agreement, letting the silence tuck back into the empty space. 

“…Why didn’t you ever say anything?”

Henry sighs, running his fingers through his previously neatly laid head of blond hair. 

“I- I wanted to. Ray said it was too dangerous to tell anyone my secret identity, and-”

“Wait, wait. Ray? Ray, as in your boss? The guy who’s super obsessed with your mom?” Suddenly, you go still. “Please don’t tell me he’s Captain Man.”

The boy winces, knowing that he’d walked right into you figuring that one out—and part of him wants to ask how you couldn’t figure out the identity of your best friend sooner than you did his boss. 

“Okayyy, I probably shouldn’t have said that,” he comments before ultimately nodding and confirming your suspicions. “(Y/n), this secret has to stay between us.”

You give him a look, “Henry, who else would I tell? I mean… there’s Charlotte and Jasper, but I would never-”

“They already know.”

The revelation has you stunned, “…They do?”

“Yeah. They’ve known for a while now-”

With big eyes, your voice becomes incredulous. “Charlotte and Jasper have known and I haven’t?”

Grabbing ahold of your shoulders, Henry gently quiets you down, explaining the circumstances behind the facts. 

“Charlotte figured it out, and Jasper…” he shakes his head at that one. “-that was my fault, I told him on accident. No one is supposed to know, technically. It’s dangerous knowing who I am. That’s why I never told you. I’d just be putting one more person at risk.”

At your lack of response, he scoots closer to you on the bed until your shoulders are pressed up against one another, giving him the ability to give you a gentle nudge. 

“You’re my best friend. I love you too much for that.”

Hearing his earnest statement makes your heart soften. Truly, you were never quite angry with him more than it was a slight hurt for not being trusted with the secret before all this, but nonetheless, the feeling found itself melting away. 

You knew how true his words were, the pair of you have been attached at the hip since the very beginning, and it’s never been difficult to tell how one feels about the other. 

“…I love you, too,” you return the affection in kind, the tension finally leaving your shoulders. 

“So… we’re good?”

With a small smile, you find it in yourself to nudge him back.