Summary: Random one-shot. Henry is going through a rough patch and Ray is there to make everything better.

Warning: two swearwords, mentions of child neglect

☁︎ ⚪︎ ☁︎ ⚪︎ ☁︎

Henry wished the elevator had a door he could slam shut. He wished there was some object lying in front of his feet that he could kick out of the way. He wished he could let out all of his anger on something or someone, instead of having to keep it all in. Because the longer it was cooped up inside of him, the more the anger changed into a feeling of helplessness and he did not want to feel helpless.

"Whoa, kid. That frown's been on your face since Wednesday and it just reached a whole new level," he heard Ray say from where he was sitting on the couch. "You mind telling me what's been going on?"

"It's nothing," he said through clenched teeth and practically shoved his backpack into the floor with how forcefully he dropped it.

How could they not be here? Again? Especially with Piper's play earlier this evening?

Henry growled quietly as he marched past the couch towards the monitors. Ray had asked him to come over for a security check up on all their tube exits as well as to check whether they were still connected to all the CCTV cameras in Swellview.

Henry grit his teeth at the sudden constriction of his heart. He ignored just how vulnerable he felt for that one second and instead concentrated on his anger.

Feeling angry was better than feeling abandoned.

"Like hell it's nothing," he heard Ray say just as he plopped down in the revolving chair in front of the console.

Concentrate on the anger.

This had meant so much to Piper. And they just took off. Again.

It's their fault. No reason to be all depressed. Be angry.

"It's nothing important, okay?" Henry snapped without turning to look at his boss. "You can't do anything about it anyway. Can we just- can we just do this now?"

He glared angrily at the screens when he suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder. The gentle touch made the majority of his anger dissipate and that terrible feeling settle around his heart.

They left.

Again.

"Tell me what's going on," Ray said, his hand still on his shoulder. Henry gripped the casing of one of the touch-pads tightly as he fought the tears.

Be angry, be angry, be angry, be ang-

It was too late. He was sad. He was lonely. He felt left behind. He felt so helpless it hurt.

"You know Piper's play, right?" he started without turning to look at Ray. He desperately tried to keep his voice level.

"Yeah. That was just now, wasn't it?"

Henry nodded and furiously blinked the tears away.

"It meant so much to Piper. The theatre group had been rehearsing for months. It was so good for her, you know? She only had a few anger outbursts, she was so nice to everyone, she made so many new friends. She was making an effort and a lot of progress. And we... she came to me to help her rehearse. We actually got along for the first time in ages."

Henry knew his voice was going to crack soon. He tried to inhale without it sounding like a sniffle.

"That sounds great," Ray said, his hand still on his shoulder in reassurance. Henry felt his lower lip wobble. "So what's the problem?"

"My parents didn't show," he said and let out a half-suppressed sob.

"What?" Ray asked with bewilderment. "It's a Friday evening. How could they not have had the time?"

"It's not about the weekday!" he said forcefully, lips curled into a snarl. "They would've had time any evening of the week if they'd been here."

"What do you mean by 'here'?" Ray asked with a hard voice. Henry felt him turn the revolving chair around, but he didn't attempt to stop Ray. Instead of looking up at him, he glared at the floor, the first tears slipping down his cheeks.

They left. They left him again.

They left Piper and him.

What did he ever do to make them leave?

"Mom's off with her tennis instructor since- since I don't know when and I think Dad's on a business trip. I mean, I don't know, he left a note saying he'd be back in a week or something along with a wad of cash for groceries." Henry took in a shuddered breath as he wiped some of the tears from his eyes. "They took o-off ag-again, and usua-usually I can- I can deal with it but it's te-ten-ten times worse this time be-bec-cause they missed Piper's play and I don't know if- if- if it's something I did that just m-makes them leave all th-the time or-"

Ray interrupted him by suddenly pulling him against his chest. Henry froze, but then he realised that he needed a hug so badly that he completely melted into the embrace. He pressed his face into Ray's chest and let out all the feelings he had kept bottled up for the past few days. His fingers curled around the fabric of Ray's shirt as he let sobs wrack his entire frame. One of Ray's strong arms was wrapped around his shoulders, his other hand was gently running through his hair.

The action was so caring and so parental that Henry never wanted to let go. He couldn't remember when he'd last had a hug like this one.

"Jesus, kid," Ray mumbled after a while, but not making any attempt to let go. Henry's sobs were gradually turning into sniffles and hitched breaths, the hand still running through his hair having an incredibly soothing effect.

"Why do they always leave?" he whispered and he hated how small and broken he sounded. Ray sucked in a breath and held on tighter, if that was even possible.

"I don't know, kid. I honestly don't understand how they could do something like that to you. To your sister. Hey, speaking of, is your sister okay? Is she home alone?"

"No," Henry said and shook his head against Ray's chest. "She's at Marla's place."

Ray hummed in understanding and rubbed his back. Henry let out a shuddered breath.

"Can we- can we watch a movie or so-omething?" he asked with a small voice. "And do the check up tomorrow?" He raised his head to look up at Ray. His boss smiled down at him and ruffled his hair.

"Sure, kid," he said and blinked rapidly. Wait, did he have tears in his eyes?

"Are you... crying?" Henry asked as he sat up straight again in the chair. He wasn't smushed against Ray's chest anymore, but his boss' hand still rested on his back.

"What? No, I-" He sighed. "Maybe a bit."

"Why?"

"Because you don't deserve this shit," he said, anger lacing his voice. "And because you thought that it had something to do with you. It definitely doesn't. You're a good kid. The best I know. Don't go thinking that your parents left because of you. Not even for a second. This is on them. You hear me?"

Henry felt his chest tighten and swell at the same time. His heart jumped at the love behind Ray's words and it hurt that he hadn't heard any adult in his life speak to him like this for what felt like years. It probably had been years.

Henry nodded as fresh tears rolled down his cheeks. He didn't have enough energy left to bawl like he did before, so he silently let the tears fall and dropped his forehead against Ray's chest.

"Please don't leave," he whispered. It sounded childish to him, but he needed to hear his boss say it out loud that he wasn't going to. He heard Ray exhale loudly and felt his hand combing through his hair again.

"Never."

- - - - -

When Charlotte came to work the next morning, she was greeted by an adorable sight.

The two superheroes were sound asleep on the couch. The big TV screen was still lowered down from the ceiling. Henry was curled up against Ray, who had a protective arm around his sidekick. Henry's head rested against Ray's chest and Ray's head lolled on the back of the couch. There was a red and blue blanket draped over the two of them, and a forgotten bowl of popcorn lay a bit to their left.

Charlotte smiled at them, snapped a few pictures and walked over to the console. She saw that they hadn't done the security check up last night like they'd been supposed to. For once, she wasn't irritated. She knew Henry had needed this.

They both had.