It was super hard to find a way to continue this story. When i left henry with a plan i thought the rest would just make itself up from there. It didnt lol. So at atp im just winging it.
Henry was practically bouncing with anticipation and nervousness. If they did this right, Gwen would be in jail, Charlotte would be safe and they would all eat a pizza once they got back to the ManCave.
If things went wrong…
Ray and Henry stood on the roof of Swellview Consolidated with their helicopter in tow.
"I still don't think this is a good idea," Ray grumbled.
Henry, preoccupied with gadgets on his belt, simply shrugged as he adjusted some areas to fit more comfortably around his waist.
"We're doing this for Charlotte. I think it's a pretty good idea."
"There are more ways to help Charlotte that are way less reckless than this one."
Henry gave Ray a look. "Dude. When have you ever known to not be reckless."
Ray simply rolled his eyes and busted open the door that led into the building. "Well, now I'm thinking cautiously."
Gwen had texted the duo which floor she was on. There were 25 floors in total and they had to make their way down to 20th. It wasn't that far but Ray still found the whining ability to complain.
On the stairs of floor 3, Ray let out an exasperated sigh. "You'd think that a villain would threaten to push someone off of the tallest floor of the building. Not the semi-tallest floor. How does that even make sense? She should have her criminal status revoked."
"Ray. You're only walking down 5 flights of stairs."
"Still!"
By the time they made it to the 20th floor, Ray had stopped his fussing seemingly out of breath.
"We didn't even walk that much. How are you out of breath?"
Ray held a hand up to silence his sidekick. "Shut up, kid."
"I said 5 pm sharp."
The two heroes looked up to see Gwen standing next to a control board, a hand on her cocked hip.
Henry looked at his watch only to see that it was 5:02.
"We're only two minutes late."
"I like punctuality. Any later and I would have dropped her before you even got here."
Henry bristled slightly at the comment and fixed his face into a hard glare.
"Where's Charlotte?" He questioned.
"Where are the keys?" Gwen fired back with an eyebrow raised.
Next to him Ray begrudgingly pulled out the Mancopter keys from a compartment in his gadget belt. He dangled it in the air which created a jingling sound.
Gwen stepped forward to take the keys only to have her face meet the palm of Henry's hand.
"Where is Charlotte?" Henry repeated with much more vigor.
Gwen rolled her eyes. "Calm down kid. She's fine. Ugh, heroes can be so dramatic."
Gesturing towards the windows that brightened the room with the light that it let inside, Henry followed Gwen's hands to see Charlotte moving vigorously in the chair that held her. Her mouth was covered and her eyes were frantically searching for a way to get out of the deadly situation she was in.
"I had to tighten the gag on her because, wow, that girl cannot keep her mouth shut."
Charlotte yelled something back at Gwen with a strong scowl on her face. Henry could see that her fists were clenched tightly. She didn't like what they were doing. He could practically hear her nagging voice in his ears about how stupid they were.
Ray had spoken up while Henry kept his eyes on Charlotte. "Let her go."
"Have you guys never negotiated before?" Gwen grunted exasperated. "Because clearly, you don't know how this works."
"No, we know." Henry's stare never left Charlotte's. Their eyes met and there was a twinkle in Henry's gaze that Charlotte recognized immediately.
Oh shit.
"Now Ray!"
Ray tackled Gwen to the ground as he reached into his utility belt and pulled out a stun gun, aiming for the control panel that restricted Charlotte. Charlotte didn't even have time to comprehend what had happened before the seat and arms of the chair fell slack beneath her and she began to plummet through the sky.
Henry pulled his arm behind him to find a grappling hook strapped to his back. He ran to the edge where Charlotte had fallen and leaped after her headfirst.
To say Charlotte was freaking out was a great understatement. With her hands now free, she managed to remove the gag in the frenzy only to scream loudly at what looked to be impending doom. She couldn't say that she was floating but it didn't quite feel like she was falling. All she knew was that there was a hard, hard ground beneath her and she didn't feel like hitting at full force because ouch.
So for her to scream was completely understandable.
What she didn't expect was to see Henry falling after her, determination so present in his feature that could see it even from the distance they were. Charlotte closed her eyes to imagine herself somewhere safe, away from heights and feet planted on a sturdy surface. In her bed. In the ManCave. Anywhere with Henry.
In her haze, Henry got even closer to her, the way his arms stuck to his side intending for him to fall faster.
"Char!" Once he was close enough to hear, he called out to her. "Char, open your eyes."
Charlotte shook her head and kept her eyes shut as if keeping them shut would somehow erase the entire situation.
"Charlotte, please." Henry pleaded, which prolonged her hesitantly to open her eyes. The wind dried her eyes out as soon as she exposed them to the open air, causing her to blink rapidly. Their eyes fixed on one another, his begging her to trust him. He reached out his hand to her. "Take my hand!
Charlotte lifted her arms up as high as she could to reach him but without having a surface to ground herself on it was proving to be quite difficult. But their hands met nonetheless, gripping one another tightly as they made contact. Henry pulled himself closer to her and hugged her to his chest.
"Hold on to me," Henry murmured in her ear so that she could hear him through the wind whipping around them.
Charlotte proceeded to wrap her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist. She buried her head in the crook of his neck as she caught a glimpse of the ground. Okay, so the anxiety was off the charts now.
Henry placed a hand on Charlotte's back to secure her against him and lifted the hand that held the grappling hook, aiming it at the concrete of the building. Gripping the handle securely, Henry used his legs to guide where he wanted them to land. Unfortunately, he didn't estimate correctly how far from the ground they were before he used the hook. As Henry let go of the handle, the two of them stumbled hard onto the ground and rolled with the force of the fall.
Placing his hand in her hair, Henry cradled Charlotte's head into his neck to protect it as their bodies turned and rolled harshly on the concrete. When they finally came to stop, Charlotte laid on top of Henry's body, still tucked tightly into his torso. They laid still for what seemed like hours, both breathing heavily against each other.
"Char." Henry broke the silence but she didn't say anything. In fact, she was definitely trembling. "Charlotte, you okay?"
He felt her stuttering breath against the skin of his neck. She didn't say anything for a while and he was beginning to grow concerned.
"Char?"
After a moment, Charlotte spoke, keeping her head in it's same position. "You are such an idiot."
Henry chuckled in relief. Charlotte wasn't herself if she wasn't sassing him.
"I believe the words you're looking for are 'Thank you so much Henry for saving my life'."
"No, actually those were not the words I was looking for. Those words are not even in my vocabulary."
She laughed breathily and lifted her head from the corner of his neck. Her words took on a serious tone and he could see some terrified tears unshed in her eyes. "No but, seriously, what the hell were you thinking?"
"I—"
"Like are you out of your mind?!" Charlotte glowered at him. Even still shaking slightly her glare was still as stern and reprimanding as ever.
"I just saved you and this is what you say after?" Henry looked at her with disbelief.
"I can't focus on you saving me without thinking about the fact that you jumped off a damn building for me!"
Henry shrugged and grinned lopsidedly. "Go big or go home right?"
Charlotte just shook her head and chose to embrace him once again, muttering a quick, "Unbelievable."
He knew she was smiling even though he couldn't see her face anymore but he didn't say anything, choosing to wrap his arms around her and return the embrace instead.
I am so sorry that this took so long. I always imagined the ending but never knew how to plan the middle...I dont know if ill make another chapter after this one or just leave it at this. Anyways, i just finished a chapter for another fic last night and i thought about the other ones that i had to do and this one has been on hold since forever. I hope yall liked it and please call me out on any mistakes because like i always say, ya gurl does not proofread. Ill probably look back at this and fix it later(;
