It was raining, as usual, and the sky was dark and stormy, reflecting Henry's mood. He stared out his window, at the lights of Swellview, wishing that there was something for him to do, someone for him to save. The adrenaline rush of saving someone was what he'd started living for.
Life, real life, in its boring entirety was pointless. Get up, go to school, learn everything you can, so that you can use that knowledge in your job someday, so that you could father children so that the world would not become empty and barren, and then die and be forgotten.
He didn't understand why he was here. What was his point? What was he here for?
So he poured himself into his Superhero Sidekick work, devoting himself to be the best Kid Danger the world had ever seen. Not that the world had ever seen any other Kid Danger's. He was the first, and he would probably be the last.
But after he finished, after the unfortunate soul was safe and warm in bed, there was nothing.
He'd expected to feel elated; he'd expected that the rush of belonging would last longer than two hours. But it didn't and the empty loneliness quickly set in, making him feel as if there was no reason for him to be alive.
The rain fell from the gray sky like tears and splattered on Henry's window, sounding like emptiness and despair to his desperate ears. He needed to hear something besides the angry drops of moisture, which only reminded him that at some point, everything must fall.
He would die someday.
And that scared him.
What had he done that was worthy of the life he'd been blessed to receive? Would there be anything after death? Some people, he knew, longed for the nothingness of death, but it scared Henry. God, it scared him and made him want to curl and cry and cry and cry until there were no more tears to be cried.
What had he done that would be remembered? He didn't want to be forgotten. He didn't want to be just another person who had lived and worked and poured out their life's sweat on this dying earth only to be forgotten fifty years after their death. He wanted to be remembered, but not remembered like Hitler or Stalin or Napoleon.
He wanted to be remembered like Benjamin Franklin or Winston Churchill or even Anne Frank, even though she had died. But at least her name was remembered.
Sure, he was a superhero, but no one knew who he really was, and sometimes, Henry just wanted to go up to someone on the street and say, "I'm Kid Danger! My real name is Henry Hart, and I live over there. I'm a great kid too, I'm not just Kid Danger."
No one knew who he really was. They knew him as "Henry Hart, that kid who's just average." Henry wasn't really popular, he wasn't really nothing in the school's social status, he was just in-between. His grades weren't amazing, but they weren't failing, they were just average. He wasn't super attractive, but he wasn't ugly either. He was just "cute". He wanted to be more than cute and average. He wanted to be stunning and amazing and someone people would look at and say, "I want to be just like him.
Lightning flashed and Henry turned away from his window, flopping down on his bed, trying not to start crying.
He was sixteen, for god's sake, he told himself, you don't cry because you're lonely. But he was crying and angry stinging tears ran down his cheeks like the rain streaming down his window. His throat stung and the lump that had materialized refused to go away no matter how many times he swallowed.
Being a superhero was a hard job. People always expected you to be perfect, and it didn't work. And in his case, no one actually knew who he was, which, for him, was maybe worse than being followed around by the paparazzi everywhere. He wanted someone to give him recognition, someone other than Charlotte or Ray or Jasper or Schwoz.
He wanted real recognition, but not for Kid Danger, for him.
Henry just wanted to belong and be loved and be a benefit to someone.
Just then his door opened and Henry hurriedly wiped his eyes, afraid that maybe someone had heard him crying. Piper stuck her head in the door, her own face covered in tears. "Henry?" She sniffed. "I'm scared of the lightning."
Henry blinked. "Um." His voice sounded tearful and he cleared his throat, hoping Piper would just interpret it as sleepiness instead of tears. "You can sleep with me." He offered, scooting over so that there was room for Piper in his single bed. She climbed in and curled up next to him, pressing her face against his chest.
Piper's body was so tiny and needy next to his, and Henry wrapped his arms around her, wanting to protect her. Every time the thunder cracked in the distance, followed by the explosion of lightning, Piper squirmed closer to him, and Henry held her tighter.
A half an hour later, she fell asleep and Henry stared down at her, still curled against his body. Piper loved and trusted him. Piper needed him. And Piper didn't care if he was a superhero or not. She just loved him for who he was, plain old Henry Hart. And even if she could be a pain sometimes, (read: most of the time), she still loved him. And Henry knew he loved her.
After all, she was his little sister, and she needed him.
As his eyes closed in sleep, the tears and the burning lump in his throat were gone. He had found his purpose, for now.
If all you people can't tell, I really like angst. Especially angst involving Henry.
I just can't see someone being a superhero without having some of the depression side effects.
And I love Henry and Piper's complicated (just kidding, argumentative) relationship.
I'm not that familiar with the Henry Danger show itself, I've only seen a few, but from what I've seen... yeah it's amazing and I had to write fanfiction for it.
And you guys are lucky enough to read it :P (just kidding, it's more like unlucky enough to pick through my terrible random writing.
Also, I know I said in my last story you wouldn't be hearing from me... and then here I am today.
That won't happen again lmao. This was just an unexpected OMG I HAVE TIME I SHOULD GO WRITE AN ANGST FIC
So I turned on some music and opened a blank doc and here I am, forty minutes later.
Also, this is unedited, I'm sorry about that. (I usually don't edit my oneshots very well... only my multichaps lmao)
Ok I'll shut up now, or the author's note is going to end up being longer than the actual fic *shakes head*
See you all at the end of the summer!
Love you all,
39addict101