Chapter 35: No going back

"Hold on a sec. Char, are you saying we could use this," Jasper reached over and held up the flash drive, "to bring down the whole organisation? Just boom, gone?"

"It probably wouldn't be that easy," she said, "but… yeah, I think so. If we use our cards right."

Henry looked at her, frowning. "And how do we do that?"

"... I don't know."

Charlotte sighed, glancing around at the four of them sitting in a semi-circle in front of her. They all looked as dejected as she felt. Even from the beginning they had been way out of their depth… but at least then there'd always been a goal. Find Henry and Piper. Crack the code. Escape from the crazy people trying to kill you. There'd always been some sort of plan, something to do. But now what? What chance did the five of them stand against a worldwide (at least, that was what she'd gathered from the flash drive) criminal organisation with eyes and ears everywhere? Sure, two of them were local superheroes and they all had dealt with bad guys before… but nothing close to this scale.

"What about Doctor Minyak?" Jasper said, changing the topic. "Is he on the list?"

"Let me check." Everyone watched her as Charlotte shuffled through her papers. Finally, she looked up. "He's not."

Jasper frowned. "But Nurse Cohort's on it. Shouldn't he be too?"

"Could his name be on one of the other documents, the ones you haven't decoded?" Ray asked, but Charlotte quickly shook her head.

"No, I don't think so. The lists seem to be arranged after city. I've decoded the whole one for Swellview… his name's not on it."

"But why?" Jasper said. "It doesn't make sense."

An exasperated sound escaped Piper's lips. "Yes, it does. I mean, what's the point of having a dead guy on the list?"

All four of them turned to stare at her. Then Jasper let out a shocked sound. "Minyak's dead?"

"Yeah. He was found in an alley three days ago. Seriously, haven't any of you heard about it?"

"No," Charlotte said, glancing at Henry, "We've been a little preoccupied."

"How do you know about it?" Jasper asked.

"I'm the president of the Man Fans, remember? It's my job to keep track of everything related to you, Captain Man, including your enemies." She paused. "... It was also all over Twitter."

"Wow. I definitely chose the right president," Ray said, still stunned, and Piper beamed with pride. Charlotte couldn't help but smile too: she knew how much receiving a compliment from her favourite superhero (behind Kid Danger, that was) must mean to the younger girl.

"I'm so confused," Jasper said. "What does this mean? Nurse Cohort wouldn't join M.I.S.T. alone - she and Minyak have always been as thick as thieves… literally."

Charlotte bit her lip. "It means whoever made this list must've known he was going to die… or killed him themselves."

A sombre silence settled over the group.

Ray frowned. "Maybe he stumbled onto something he wasn't supposed to."

"He could've been set up too." Charlotte leaned forward, thoughts spinning. "Think about it. M.I.S.T. can't have been happy when they found out about the list, probably begun to investigate. The real guy who made it needed to throw them off his or her trail - what better way than to frame someone else?"

"That's a good theory," Ray said, "but there's not much point speculating." He got to his feet and nodded towards the computer mounted in the cupboard. "I'm gonna check the records, see what I can find. Meanwhile, I suggest all of you take a break. You've earned it."

The others hummed in agreement and soon, all of them begun to tidy up. Reluctantly, Charlotte began to collect up the papers scattered over the floor, stuffing them into the backpack again. She didn't really want to stop until they worked everything out, but maybe resting for a while could be good. At least it gave her some time to truly think.

She walked over to the cupboards, where Henry and Ray stood side by side: the latter already typing away at the computer while the former put away the last of the food. As she set down her bag against the wall the rain outside suddenly increased in strength, hammering against the roof. Seeing that Piper (and Jasper) was a little further away, Henry seemed to decide to take advantage of the loud background noise.

"Ray," he said, speaking so quietly Charlotte hardly heard him over the rain, "Me and Lynne… we saw Doctor Minyak and Nurse Cohort. In the saw mill. The same day he was killed."

Charlotte wanted to ask him what he and Lynne had been doing there, but decided not to. Now was not the time though and besides… she didn't really know how.

Meanwhile, Henry continued.

"They- they were talking about a meeting and… Ray, what if it was then that M.I.S.T…?"

He trailed off, leaving his question unfinished. Both of them knew what he meant though.

"I'll look into it, kid," Ray said. His voice was laced with concern and reassurance. "We'll figure this out."

:::

"Can I ask you something, Captain Man?"

It had been about forty minutes since they decided to take a break - or rather, Ray'd urged the others to take one. He, on the other hand, had kept busy: more specifically, he'd been looking up the names that Charlotte had decoded from the list on the computer. So far, nothing had really turned up. He knew Lana Dufrane was dead (seeing it happen wasn't anything he was going to forget any time soon), but it seemed the news hadn't caught wind of it yet. Or, more likely, it was being covered up. Either way, the only thing he could find was what they'd found before: security footage with some shoddy images, her birth certificate and the apartment she'd hired of Brent Quays.

There was nothing really on Nurse Cohort either except month-old reports of different kinds of shady business she'd been up to with Doctor Minyak - who there on the other hand was quite a lot about. Piper had been right: he had been found dead three days ago. And by the sounds of it, by poison. Feeling increasingly ill at ease, Ray's suspicions had been confirmed when he a while later found a very graphic picture of the doctor's body. The symptoms all matched. Sodium monofluoroacetate. The same poison that was used on Lana Dufrane. Which meant it was probably the same person who killed them both.

There was one person he hadn't looked up yet though. Joseph Cassara. Honestly, he didn't know if he wanted to. The mere thought of him still made his blood boil, made him question for the thousandth time if leaving and therefore letting him escape had been the right call.

It was then that Piper spoke and Ray, thankful for distraction, quickly jumped on it.

"Sure," he said. "What do you want to ask me?"

In the corner of his eye, he could see the younger girl leaning over the backseat, a thoughtful look in her eyes. "It's silly, but I gotta know… do you, Henry, Charlotte and Jasper know each other?"

Ray suddenly felt very glad he hadn't turned around, because the shock flew across his face before he could stop it. How did she know? Had he, in his worry for Henry, let his guard down and let something slip?

Despite his swirling thoughts, his voice was surprisingly calm. "What makes you think that?"

"Just a feeling. You seem so comfortable with each other. Like you're friends."

Henry and Charlotte weren't in the van, having gone out for some fresh air, but Jasper, sitting on the floor nearby and eating from a bag of chips he'd found in a cupboard, let out a nervous laugh. "I wish! Wouldn't that be awesome? Being friends with-"

"Jasper," Ray cut him off before he could make the situation worse, "Could you go and check on your friends? They've been gone for a while."

"Um, yeah, sure…"

Ray waited until Jasper had left before turning around, schooling his features into a neutral expression. How was he going to do this? He wasn't a terrible liar, but he certainly wasn't good either. Perhaps, the half-truth would be the best. Taking a deep breath, he walked over and sat down next to the young girl, giving her a serious look.

"Piper Hart, as the president of the Man Fans, can I trust you to keep a secret?"

"Of course," she answered, nodding eagerly. "You can trust me with anything."

Ray wasn't sure that was quite true, but nevertheless continued. "Well, as you probably know, I've known Kid Danger for quite some time now… and he's come to mean a lot to me. More than I ever thought he would."

"Where is Kid Danger?" Piper cut in, frowning.

"He, uh…" He paused, thoughts spinning. "He's taken time off. Some personal things to sort through."

"Oh." She quietened. "Hope he's okay."

Ray had to stop himself from glancing at the van's door. "Yeah. Me too." He cleared his throat, which had inexplicably tightened. "Anyway, getting to know all four of you just makes me think of him. You're so brave, resourceful… even the same age. And I guess, after everything you've been through the past few days, I just want you to feel comfortable… and safe."

A feeling of embarrassment washed over him as he finished the last sentence and he began to fiddle with his gloves, acutely aware of the younger girl staring at him. Where had all that come from? And most of all, why had he said it to Piper of all people?

Suddenly, she snorted. "Wow, who knew you were such a dad?"

Ray blinked, his head jerking back up. "What?"

"In a good way!" she quickly added, fear of having insulted him - one of her favourite superheroes - flickering through her eyes. "... I think it's cool."

He looked - truly looked - at her then. Her expression was open and surprisingly sincere and with a jolt, he realised: she believed him. Even though the conversation had gotten way more personal and truthful than he thought it would, Piper believed him and had accepted his explanation. Mostly, at least.

A smile spread across his lips as he stood up again. "Good. 'Cause otherwise I might've had to demote you from president."

"What?!" Piper stared at him in horror.

"I'm kidding."

An audible sigh of relief escaped her as he stood up again. "Pshh, I knew that. Obviously."

Ray only grinned wider as he walked back to the computer.

:::

"Okay, this might not have been my best idea," Charlotte said, grimacing as a few drops singled down from the thick tree crown they'd taken cover under and slid down the back of her neck. "We're gonna get saturated."

Henry moved closer to the trunk, smiling slightly as he did. "Probably. But better standing here than out there."

Charlotte leaned back against the damp bark beside him, watching the rain patter the already soaked ground. It was not coming down as heavily as before, but it showed no sign of letting up anytime soon. Through the tree's low-hanging branches she could just make out the van, faint light slipping out through the front window. She wondered if Ray was making any progress with finding the people on it. Hopefully he was - that way, they might figure out what to do next.

There were a few things she knew she had to do. Decode the rest of the documents on the flash drive. Contact her parents - they were probably besides themselves with worry. Catch up on a week's worth of sleep. But then what? They couldn't keep hiding forever. M.I.S.T. had to be stopped… only she couldn't think of how, and it was driving her crazy. Usually, the answer just came to her. It might take days, weeks, but it came.

Now she wasn't even sure there was one.

"Stop."

Charlotte turned her head to find Henry watching her. "Stop what?"

"Trying to force yourself to find an answer. It'll only make it harder."

"You're right, it's just…" She frustratedly blew out air through her nose. "I hate not knowing what to do. It makes me feel so… so helpless."

A smile crossed his lips as he gazed out into the rain again, though it was not a happy one. "You're not the only one who feels that way."

Charlotte looked at him, torn. On one hand, she didn't want to hurt her best friend by bringing up painful memories… but all the same, she knew talking about it, no matter how hard it was, could help him in the long run. To accept. To heal.

She took a deep breath. "Henry… what happened to you?" When he didn't answer, she wondered if she had made the wrong call. Pressed on too much too soon. "You don't have to tell me-"

"No. I want to," Henry said. His voice was quiet and strained. "I just…"

"It's alright. You don't need to explain." Charlotte reached over and took his hand. "But when you're ready, I'll be right here, okay?"

Henry squeezed her hand back, blinking. "Thanks, Char."

Just then, the sliding door to the van opened and Jasper came out. Spotting them under the tree, he closed the door and hurried over, arms over his head to protect his face from the rain.

"What's going on?" Charlotte asked when he finally crouched down beside them.

"Ray sent me to check on you guys." Jasper paused. "Or he just wanted me out of the way. That would make more sense."

She gave him a suspicious look. "Why?"

"Piper noticed how comfortable we were with each other and asked Ray about it. Gotta say, Henry, she's pretty smart. But don't worry!" he added when he saw their horrified looks, "Ray's handling it."

There was a short pause.

"He better not erase her memories," Henry said dangerously.

He begun to get to his feet, but Charlotte grabbed his arm. "He won't. He knows you wouldn't let him."

She held his gaze, trying to convince him of the truth in her words. Finally, he sat back down with a sigh. "Five minutes. Then we're going back in."

All three of them settled down close to the tree trunk, watching the rain cascade down on the van's metal roof.

"So…" Jasper began after a while. "If Piper finds out 'the secret' now… does that mean Schwoz wins the bet?"

Charlotte groaned. "Yeah, it does."

"Bet?" Henry said, looking between his two friends. "What bet?"

"We made it a few months ago. About when Piper will find out. And don't say she won't," she added when Henry opened his mouth, "'cause with the way she keeps track of everything Captain Man and Kid Danger do, she's bound to eventually."

"... Fair point. But why haven't you told me about it?" At their confused looks, he added, "You know, the bet."

Jasper shrugged. "You weren't there when we made it - I think you and Ray were chasing Jeff…? - and then we kinda forgot about it. At least I did."

"Anyway," Charlotte said, "if I win, I don't have to do any shifts in the Junk N' Stuff shop. If Jasper wins, we have to buy him a bucket every day for a month. And if Schwoz wins…" She made a face. "We have to clean out the basement. The one under the Man Cave."

Henry matched her expression. "Yikes. No one's been down there for about two years."

"I bet the dust bunnies are man-sized by now," Jasper said glumly.

It wasn't even that funny. In normal circumstances, Charlotte would've simply rolled her eyes. But a combination of physical and emotional exhaustion clouded her mind, made her senses run haywire. She couldn't help herself. The laugh exploded from her chest, low at first but quickly growing until it was near hysterical. Henry and Jasper looked at her like she'd grown a second head, both horrified and amused at the same time.

"Um, Jasper, I think you broke Charlotte," Henry said… and that was all they needed to be pushed over the edge too.

They laughed. Laughed until they could hardly breathe. Until their sides ached. Until tears began to stream down their faces. Charlotte didn't know what they were laughing at anymore - Jasper's joke? The total hopelessness of their situation? Or simply that they were together again? - but she couldn't stop and honestly, didn't want to. And neither, it seemed, did the others.

A few minutes had passed when she finally got herself together enough to say between breaths, "We should… probably… head back... inside."

Clearly not trusting their voices, the other two simply nodded in response and, together with Charlotte, got to their feet, still giggling. It was still raining quite heavily, but as they staggered towards the van, an unexpected ray of sunlight escaped through the thick clouds, filling the area with a spark of colour. They watched it together quietly, having sobered up enough to stop laughing.

"I honestly love you guys," Henry said suddenly.

Charlotte turned to look at him as he put his arms around their shoulders. The heavy rain obscured her vision, made it difficult to make out his features, but she could tell by his tone of voice that he was being sincere.

"Same here," Jasper answered. "You're the best friends I could've ever asked for."

A smile spread across her face, affection for her friends swelling inside her. Jasper had taken the words right out of her mouth. She squeezed Henry's shoulder. "Yeah. What he said."

:::

In the end, it was Jasper who came up with a solution. It wasn't great, dangerous even, but at this point it didn't really matter. They couldn't keep on hiding - sooner or later, M.I.S.T. would find them. Which meant they had to act before it was too late. Jasper's plan was decent and certainly doable. But most of all… it was effective.

They had set to work. Henry and Jasper helped Charlotte decode the rest of the documents on the flash drive, while Piper (who thankfully hadn't figured out "the secret" or had her mind wiped. Henry still had no idea what Ray had told her and each time he asked he only got an incoherent response.) fixed with the computer with the occasional hand from Ray, when he wasn't keeping a lookout for M.I.S.T..

And when that was done… they began recording. Henry had tried to mentally prepare himself for it, but still, it was so much worse than he'd thought. Reliving everything, saying out loud what had happened... it made it feel terrifyingly real. By avoiding to think about and process it all he had managed to keep his emotions at bay, but as he spoke, they came rushing through him. Fear… anger… sadness… all mixed together in an overwhelming flood of memories, each more vivid than the last.

The flash drive, slowly spinning on his bedroom floor.

A rough hand clamped over his mouth.

Hurtling towards the ground from the saw mill's third floor.

The image of Piper on the newspaper's front cover.

Lynne, her eyes staring unseeingly into the sky.

And through it all - every hesitation, every stutter, every sob… Charlotte was there. Just as she'd told him she would be. She didn't say anything while he spoke, didn't interrupt or urge him on. Instead, she only held onto his arm gently, a steady presence more encouraging and comforting than any words. The others had supported him too, in their own little ways: Ray had pulled him aside when Piper was out of sight and given him a long, bone-crushing hug; Jasper had put on some ridiculous bucket-themed music in an attempt to make him smile (which it did); Piper had gone back to her usual bickering with him, though her remarks weren't nearly as snide or sharp as they used to be.

Henry had no idea how so many fantastic people became a part of his life.

:::

Henry, Charlotte, Jasper and Ray stood close together, silently watching the computer, and everything they had set up in the past three days. Behind them, Henry could hear Piper's deep breathing (she had fallen asleep a few hours ago) where she lay stretched out on the back seat.

"I know I've asked you a million times," Ray said in a low voice, "but I'll do it again: are you sure about this?" He paused, looking each of them in the eye. "If we post this online - the list, your statements, my report - you will have to go into witness protection. There's a high risk you might not be able to return home for a long time… if ever. You understand that, right?"

Henry met Charlotte's and Jasper's gazes. Then all three of them nodded.

"If we'd had the time, we might've found another way," Charlotte said. "But this is the best - and only - plan we've got. And after all the work we've put in, it would be stupid not to follow through."

Ray studied them, his eyes suddenly glossy. "I'm really going to miss you three."

"Please come with us, Ray," Henry said for what felt like the tenth time. "M.I.S.T.'ll come after you too."

"You know I can't. Swellview will need me more than ever once this gets out." Ray sighed, clearing his throat. "I've got a contact in the US Marshals. She's brought your parents to a safe location, where you'll be going too once we're done here."

Charlotte gave him a serious look. "And you're sure we can trust her?"

"Absolutely," he said. "She's… trustworthy."

"I bet you anything it's one of his ex-girlfriends," Jasper whispered in Henry's ear, earning him a faint smile in return.

"Well… if we're ready, we should probably wake Piper up," Charlotte said. "She wouldn't want to miss this."

Soon, a groggy Piper was standing next to him as Ray walked up to the computer. On the screen, Captain Man's social media account could be seen, with the list, their witness statements and Ray's written report attached. At the top of the post, countless police and law enforcement organization from all around the world were tagged. Ray moved the mouse, the cursor hovering just over the "post" button.

"You ready?" he asked.

Charlotte grabbed Henry's hand as Jasper took her other. Pausing for a moment, Henry then reached to Piper, who hesitantly laced her fingers through his.

"Do it," he said.

Ray pressed the button.

Wow. I can't believe I finally finished this chapter. And it's so. Freaking. LONG!

I began writing it the second I posted the last one, and then life got crazy: between searching for summer jobs, fretting over writing course applications, final exams and growing crushes I haven't had a minute to write. But then, when the five day break arrived this Wednesday and I finally had time to sit down with this story again, I wasn't happy with what I'd written... and so started from scratch. But I finally made it! *dances happily*

So... there's one thing I wanna say. In order to get this done, I read quite a bit of HD fanfiction and there was one that especially stuck with me: The (Worst) Situation by Shonashee. Seriously, if you haven't read it you should, it's amazing! There was especially one line that I absolutely loved, where Henry says "I honestly love you guys." So much so I couldn't help but use it in my story. And if you're reading this, Shonashee, (which you probably aren't), I hope it's okay. I'm only using it out of love for your story.

Oh, right! I was gonna reveal the other code from Chapter 6 (the Harry Potter one)! Okay, so once it's been decoded, it says:

London

John Clay

Irene Adler

James Moriarty

Sebastian Moran

All these are villains from the Sherlock Holmes novels (both the ones by Conan Doyle and the ones by Anthony Horowitz), which is where my original inspiration came from. London is also where Holmes supposedly lives.

IBD Ninja: Yeah... I'm really putting him through the ringer, aren't I? Well, at least they're together, like you said. And I love when Charlotte gets to show her full genius: I really wish they did it more on the show! Lol, yeah, good that you feel that way. It just felt strange having such a long chapter when all the others are, like, a thousand words shorter. It's one of my pet peeves when reading. Like, in Lord of the rings, one chapter can be thirteen pages and then the next one's suddenly fifty... I don't know why, it just bugs me. Well, I guess there are two long ones now in a row, with this one...

39addict101: Yeah! Exactly! And they all say different things (Not gonna lie, I'm pretty proud of that lol). Ahhh I'm so happy you guys know it too! It's been agony keeping from dropping any hints lol. You know, you're right. Piper should pick up on it. Your comment got me thinking... hence the whole scene with Captain Man and Piper in the middle. I hope it turned out okay/believable! Aww, I'm glad it turned out that way! I felt very emotional writing that scene.

Zoey J.H: I'm so happy you loved it! I hope this chapter was satisfactory too. :)

IlvNGTNSBFWFIYMHDisNickGirl: Yeah... I wouldn't want to be him right now. Thanks!

Okay, before this AN gets as long as the chapter itself, I should wrap this up. So see you next time with the FINAL CHAPTER OF THIS STORY (Ahhh I'm so not ready for this).