Summary: Missing scene from "Tears Of The Jolly Beetle". The gas doesn't just affect the beetles.

Warning: one swearword

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"You'll have to catch them first," Minyak said with his annoying nasal voice. Ray frowned. Why would he have to-

Dr. Minyak put his arm on the metal framework that held the beetles and made it topple over. Glass shards lay scattered all across the floor and the beetles began to crawl around in panic.

Okay, now he got what Minyak meant.

"The beetles!" Minyak's hot nurse cried out as Ray pulled Henry back from the mess of glass, metal, plastic and beetles. Minyak pushed the remaining glass containers off the table and onto the floor as well.

"No, no!" Ray said through clenched teeth as he reached out towards the beetles, but pulled back again to place his hand onto the chest of his much too eager sidekick. Minyak slammed his hand onto a button on the wall and proceeded to pull the nurse with him towards the exit.

"Ta-ta! Cheerio! See ya!" he yelled with a smirk as they escaped. Ray automatically made a step towards the exit, but stopped himself, knowing that saving the beetles was their number one priority. He turned back around and instinctively held Henry back from leaning down towards the glass covered floor.

"I shall recur!"

God, that son of a-

Ray swivelled around and saw Minyak stand in the doorway, smirking and running away for the second time. He growled and clenched his fists, but turned back to the center of the room instead of following them.

"Come on, we gotta go after them!" Henry yelped and took a step forward, but Ray stopped him.

"No, no!" he said as he held onto Henry's shoulders. That's when it first registered in his brain that gas was coming out of the walls. If Minyak wanted the beetles gone, it could only mean one thing.

"That's ioconium gas," he said. "It'll destroy the beetles."

"So?" Henry said and shrugged, looking up at him with questioning eyes.

"We need the beetles to get my power back. We can't let them die." Henry nodded in understanding and together they walked back to the mess on the floor. Then Ray heard something crunch.

Was that-?

Whoops.

"Oh, no," he said, stretching the last letter, as he crouched down to pick up the dead beetle. "The gas already killed this one." Henry gave him a deadpan look. Ray sighed, dropped the beetle and turned his attention back to the living ones crawling over the floor.

"Come on, let's get as many as we can without accidentally killing any more," he said sheepishly as he bent down and grabbed a beetle. Henry did the same.

"What now?," he asked. "I can't hold a dozen beetles in my hands." Ray nodded and looked around the room. He spotted an empty water canister a few feet to the left.

"There!" he said and walked over to the canister. He unscrewed the lid and put the beetle inside. He held it out for Henry to do the same. The kid smiled and held out his fist. Ray bumped it and ruffled his hair.

"Not the hair!" he protested and swatted his hand away. Ray snorted.

They continued to collect one beetle after the other. They worked relatively fast until they reached their seventh beetle. Then Henry began to cough.

"Ray?" he said with a slight wheeze. Ray looked up at him in alarm. Henry was leaning against the wall and holding one of his hands in front of his mouth as he continued to cough. Ray screwed the lid back on the canister and set it down on the floor before coming to Henry's side and putting his hands on his shoulders.

"What's going on? You okay?" Henry shook his head.

"I can't- the gas- I can't breathe properly," he wheezed out and continued to cough. Ray paled. While the gas was only lethal to the beetles, it could still affect a human's airways. No permanent damage, just difficulty breathing. Ray only felt a slight tingle in his throat, but otherwise nothing. He didn't get it. He wasn't indestructible right now, he should be affected by the gas the same way as Henry was.

"Alright, we need to get you out of here," he said. Henry immediately shook his head, making him cough even more. Then Ray felt a more irritating tingle in the back of his throat. Alright, maybe the effect was simply less severe with him? It didn't matter. Henry wasn't feeling well, which meant they needed to go.

"N-no, you- *cough* we need- *cough-cough* we need the- *cough* beetles," he said between coughs, wanting to take a step forward. Instead, his legs gave out, making him collapse into Ray's arms.

"Wow, hey. Hey! Listen, kid," he said and hoisted him back up, but he didn't seem to be able to stand on his own anymore. His body needed oxygen. This was bad. Really bad. Ray himself let out a single cough. "You can't even stand. We need to leave."

"B-but- *cough* beetles," he choked out before having a coughing fit. Henry grasped Ray's arms tightly as his entire frame was wracked with coughs, making him almost unable to gasp for air. Ray kept him upright, not knowing what else to do. As Henry convulsed, he noticed a few tears rolling down his cheeks.

"Alright, that's *cough* it," Ray said, hoisted Henry up and flung him onto his back as carefully as possible. The kid reflexively locked his legs around Ray's waist and his arms loosely around his neck. He heard his coughs next to his ear and felt them wrack Henry's chest against his back.

Ray bent down to grab the canister and continued to collect the beetles, Henry clinging to his back. He was still coughing like crazy and gasping for air in between. Ray even felt some of his tears drip onto his shoulder. He himself had to cough a bit more now, but not nearly as much as Henry.

Henry's constant coughing fuelled him and after just a minute or two, Ray had collected over a dozen beetles. He screwed the lid back on the canister and stood up straight again.

"Kid? You okay back there?" he asked. Henry's fit had calmed down about ten seconds ago and his body had relaxed, but he had yet to say something.

"Kid?" he asked again. No answer.

"Henry?" he called. Still nothing.

"Shit," he mumbled, followed by a cough, and power walked out of the room.

"You awake?" he asked as he began to search his way out of the building. No reply. Ray quickened his pace. Just a minute later he found the exit. He pressed the remote to open the Man Van which he'd parked around the corner and hurried over to it. He yanked open the door and set the canister full of beetles down before gingerly taking Henry off his back. The kid's eyes were closed and his body was limp.

"Oh, god," he breathed and got into the back of the van, laying Henry down on the floor and pulling the door shut behind him. He knelt down next to him and bent down until his ear hovered over Henry's mouth. At first he neither heard nor felt anything.

Wheeze.

"Oh, thank god," he said as he felt the air Henry breathed out hit his ear. He knelt up straight again and carefully tilted Henry's head back and his chin up so he could breathe more freely.

For ten minutes Ray knelt on the floor of the van next to his kid, listening to his breathing and watching his chest rise and fall. He just had to wait it out. With every breath Henry released, the gas gradually made its way out of his system. Ray himself coughed once about every thirty seconds. When Henry finally groaned and his eyes cracked open, Ray's cough was almost completely gone.

"Hey," Ray said and supported Henry's back as he tried to sit up.

"I feel weird," he mumbled and rubbed his face. Ray chuckled softly.

"Yeah, that happens when you breathe in too much ioconium gas."

"Oh," Henry said. "Did we get the beetles?" He looked up at him with those big innocent brown eyes. Henry was fine. Henry would be okay. Everything was alright. Ray sighed in relief at the realisation and smiled.

"Yeah, kid," he said and ruffled his hair. "We got the beetles." Henry didn't even attempt to swat away Ray's hand, nor did he protest. Instead, he smiled and leaned into the half-embrace Ray was giving him since he was supporting his back. Ray let out a breath, finally letting himself relax, and wrapped his other arm around his kid as well.

Neither of them mentioned the incident of the gas or just how long they hugged afterwards to the rest of the team. This stayed between Ray and his kid.