song for the chapter - if i die young by the band perry

"Captain Man, move your butt!"

I shoved Ray as I dodged another paintball. Apparently, the Wall Dogs weren't satisfied with their last fight with Captain Man and Kid Danger and came back for more. To my amusement, they had put up a huge poster of Captain Man in the Swellview Park and were shooting paintballs at it. Ray obviously wasn't having it and called us in to fix it.

"Can't you guys find someone else to take out your misplaced aggressions on?" I shouted at Two-Canz.

She shook her head and tried to hit me again. I was confused as to why they chose paintball guns as their weapons. Paintball's stung when they hit you but they didn't hold you back for long. It definitely wasn't made to conquer.

"Sorry, herbert. Can't have you guys trying to ruin our art."

A new voice joined the fight as I was tackled from behind. A scream left my lips as they pinned me to the ground on my stomach. I could feel the person sit on my lower back, forcing their weight on me.

"Get off!" I huffed as I stopped struggling.

The person on top of me laughed, "Not a chance. Hey, I gotta say, that Kid Danger dude is pretty hot."

My exhaustion disappeared as I rolled myself over, forcing the person off. I stood up and flung my hands out as the familiar blue hue of my powers surrounded my attacker and kept them down.

To my shock, it was a female staring back at me. Her blonde hair had blue streaks in between but looked a bit tangled. She looked absolutely confused as to her lack of movement. I squinted as I saw the WD engraved in her arm. My eyes widened.

"What did you do to me?" She gave up on trying to move.

I shrugged and pulled the handcuffs off my waist. "Magic, hun. And next time, don't compliment my boyfriend in front of me. That's my job."

I leaned down and turned her on her back before pulling her hands behind and cuffing them. I dismissed my hold on her so she could stand. To my surprise, she didn't look the least offended by my comments.

"You're his new chick? Dang, the kid's downgrading."

My mouth dropped slightly, "Excuse me?"

"Well," She scoffed, "He can't exactly upgrade from me. I mean, I was the best out of his past girlfriends. I had the most fun."

I licked my lips as she continued talking. My mind went racing with her words. So Henry had a girlfriend who was also a Wall Dog, who commits crimes, and he was okay with that?

"Jay? You good?" My boyfriend walked up behind us at that moment, his eyes widening as he saw who was with me, "Veronika?"

She smiled at him, "Oh, Kid Danger. I knew you'd come and let me go!"

I rolled my eyes at her but shoved her towards Henry nonetheless, "You deal with her. I'll see you later."

Thankfully, Ray and Henry had rounded up all the other Wall Dogs just as the cops arrived meaning I was able to escape quicker. I took one glance behind me to see the girl all cuddled up with Henry before I turned around. I started to walk away from the scene but someone else jumped in front of me.

"Princess." Henry's voice followed me as he and Ray walked over.

"What are you doing here?" I gritted my teeth at the person in front of me.

"Uh, hey," Ray moved to stand next to me, "Who is this kid?"

Kayden smirked at my boss, "Kayden Scott."

"Get the hell out of here. Right now." I took a step closer, my hands clenching into fists.

"Calm down." Henry reached out to pull me back, his arm wrapping around my waist to keep me in my spot.

Ray looked at me before turning back to Kayden. "Can I ask why my sidekick wants to kill you?"

Kayden looked me up and down, "She's feisty that's for sure."

"That's it!"

I ripped myself out of Henry's grasp and shoved my hands forward. Kayden slammed into the wall of the building behind him, a groan escaping his lips. I stomped towards him, my anger getting the best of me. First the stupid Wall Dog girl ran my emotions up and now this?

I had so many things I wanted to scream at Kayden. I wanted to tear him apart at this point. He had tried to break me from the beginning. I should've known him coming back was a bad thing as soon as Henry got jealous of him. There's nothing good when it comes to the Scott family.

"You don't get to talk to me like that," I snapped, "Not after everything you've done. I want nothing more than you to be gone Kayden. So do me a favor and leave. If not, I'll do it for you."

Kayden chuckled at my outburst, "You think a little threat is going to stop me? Jocelyn, you make me laugh."

"He knows who you are?" I could hear the angry tone in Ray's voice at the revelation.

I sighed, "Sadly, yes."

"Of course I know who she is!" Kayden taunted, "The wannabe superhero who's the family disappointment on good days. She knows she'll never live up to her dad's expectations and knows her brother will succeed further than she does. She could never make her mom happy and always drags everyone down. Jocelyn's nothing but a failure at best."

Kayden dropped to the ground as I lost my grip on him. I didn't even bother attempting to stop him. My hands dropped to my sides as I tried to search for something to say. I took a step back towards the boys.

"What did you just say?" Henry's tone was threatening as he made his way towards Kayden.

"No, just let it go," I tried to grab his arm but he pushed my hand off. Henry stopped just a few inches from Kayden. His fists were clenched tightly next to him. I could see Ray take a few steps forward, ready to jump in if needed.

"You can do a lot of things, Kayden. You can insult us, you can attack us, you can threaten us, but the one thing you will not do is talk to my girlfriend that way. She's gone through hell and back. She's proven herself again and again to be an amazing hero and she's not about to fall at your knees begging for mercy." Henry pressed his finger on Kayden's chest as he moved even closer.

"Kid," Ray stepped even closer as Henry continued his rant.

"You can do whatever you want to me, to Captain Man, but you will not touch her ever again. Do you understand me? You've lost more than just a friend, Kayden. She told me over and over again to give you a chance and let you explain yourself. She wanted you to shape up, for yourself. You blew that shot. You lost out on someone who would've been there for you no matter how much you messed up. That's your own fault."

Ray grabbed Henry's arm and pulled him back a few feet, "Kid, I think he gets it."

Henry didn't say anything else and just continued to glare at Kayden. There was a moment where nobody moved until Henry stepped back to grab my hand. I let him pull me along as we followed Ray. We were about to turn the corner until Kayden stopped us.

"He's coming, Jocelyn."

We froze and turned to face him. Ray looked confused, "Who's coming?"

"Kyle. He's coming. And he's not going to let you go easily." Kayden's smirk was purely evil as he narrowed his eyes on me.

I tried not to let his words affect me as Ray grabbed my shoulder and pushed me along. My gaze dropped to the ground. We continued our walk to the car in silence. As soon as Ray unlocked the doors, I was in the backseat, curling up. Henry took the passenger seat with Ray driving obviously.

I reached in my pocket and pulled out my gum. Choosing a blue piece, I allowed the bubble to turn me back into my normal clothes. Neither of the boys said anything at the explosion of color I caused and just continued in silence. I knew there was going to be a lot of explaining tonight.

We had told Ray the basics of the situation with Kyle and Kayden. That they were family friends gone wrong and Kyle's failed attempt at murder. We didn't know what their motives were for me, for the team.

I shoved the door open as soon as the car was in park. I wanted nothing more than to go hibernate for a month, or a year even. Junk-N-Stuff was locked up for the night and I didn't have my keys so it seemed I was taking the tubes down. They weren't the worst things ever but I just preferred the elevator.

"Hold up," Ray's strict tone stopped me before I stepped on the tube pad. He looked at me and pointed back at Henry, "You two need to talk before you go down there. I'll see you guys down there when you're done, okay?"

I sighed and nodded, dropping my gaze to the ground again. Ray patted Henry's shoulder before walking towards me. He stepped on the tube pad before grabbing my arm. "Joce, go easy on him, okay? He already got an earful from us about her before."

I gave him a small smile before he disappeared into the Man Cave. Henry was immediately in front of me, pulling me into a hug. I returned the gesture and buried myself in his uniform. I could feel him rest his chin on my head as he squeezed me tighter.

"You're nothing like what he said, you know that?"

I shook my head before leaning it against his shoulder. "There's a lot about that statement of his that's right, Hen. He knew that. It's why he said it. He knew it would hurt."

Henry let out a breath, "I should've told you about Veronika."

I let go of him and took a step back, "You shouldn't have to. I didn't tell you about Kayden. There's a lot of our pasts that we haven't shared, babe. It's a learning experience. I just wish she wouldn't have talked about you the way she did."

"Yeah, me too. She's exactly that, Joce. She's the past. The only thing I want for the future is you."

"Cheesy," I smiled up at him but pushed myself up on my tiptoes to kiss him regardless. His arm wrapped around my lower back to stabilize me before we broke apart. "I love you, Henry."

He froze for a second at my words. Henry and I had been together for over a year now and we hadn't said those three words to each other. Call it spur of the moment or whatever, but I meant every single word.

"I love you too, Jocelyn Adams." He smiled down at me as his hands rested on my cheeks. "I love everything about you, even the things you don't love about yourself, those especially. You're my everything, princess."

My cheeks went pink at his confession as I pulled him back into a hug. We stood there for a minute or two before deciding on heading down to the Man Cave. Ray would want an explanation, that was a definite. We owed it to him too.

As soon as we landed in the Man Cave, Ray and Charlotte turned to face us. I had forgotten she was down here since earlier today. I smiled at them as Henry transformed back into his normal clothes.

"Well, there's no tears so that's a good sign," Charlotte teased as she spun around in her chair.

"Funny, Char. Really." Henry brushed off her comment as he sat down on the couch.

The dark haired girl shrugged at me before standing up, "Alright, I'm out of here. I've got some cookies to bake."

"Bring me some!" I shouted at her as she walked in the elevator.

"You and you alone, Joce." She smiled as the doors closed.

I turned back towards Ray and Henry to see the former giving me a stern look. I sighed and moved to sit next to my boyfriend. Henry's arm rested on my shoulder as he lightly traced patterns in my skin.

"Mind telling me what that whole deal was?" Ray crossed his arms as he bit into a chicken wing.

"Kayden used to be my best friend," I started, "His brother tried to kill me when we were little and that's why he moved away."

Ray dropped his empty wing to pick up a napkin, "Well, way to be blunt, Jocelyn."

I shrugged and sank lower in my seat. "Kyle's back for revenge, I guess. He used to work for my mom and he's finishing whatever she left."

Ray nodded before shifting his gaze to Henry, "And you? I don't think I've ever seen Kid Danger that angry since we fought the Wall Dogs for the first time."

"He's making me angry, that's all. This kid has tried to tear us to pieces, Ray. Enough is enough." Henry stole a wing despite Ray's protests.

"Agreed. We'll be careful these next few weeks. As always, let us know if there's anything suspicious and we'll figure it out. And Jocelyn," I looked up at Ray, "You're not a disappointment. That kid was wrong, way wrong, about you. Believe me."

I nodded, "Thanks, Ray."

He gave me a curt nod in return. The boys continued eating as more casual, fun conversation started up. Ray, whether he knew it or not, had become a second parent to us. He knew when to take charge and he certainly understood that we were still kids, we were bound to make mistakes. Regardless, he was always there for us. That was more than we could ask for, especially now. All we needed, was someone to tell us we weren't falling apart and maybe, just maybe, we would be okay.