Chapter Text
It was past mid-day now, somewhere along the way the duo had made their way downstairs into the main area of the Man Cave. Henry sat on the couch all the while Ray was rummaging through Schwoz’s room behind the secret wall. The kid hadn’t been entirely sure what exactly Ray was looking for.
After a brief intermission, Ray returned with a large black duffel bag in hand. Henry gazed at it with confusion but chose to not pry.
Ray set the duffel bag aside as he sat at the other end of the couch giving Henry some space regardless if he wanted it or not.
“I’m not the best doctor but I think I can work my way around it with some of the supplies we have on hand.”
Ray didn’t miss the way Henry stiffened.
“We can do this now or, you can take a shower or bath whichever you prefer first then get you situated.”
Henry didn’t say anything, he knew eventually Ray would want to evaluate his wounds but he had hoped he would be able to stall until much later. He simply pursed his lips and remained silent as his fingers intertangled with each other. He wasn’t looking at Ray.
When Henry didn’t respond, he decided to scoot closer to where Henry was sitting but still attempted to keep his distance. He hunched down to Henry’s height and tried to keep a calm composure;
“I know this is hard and it doesn’t feel real at times but I want to prove to you it is. I don’t want to pry and I can’t make you tell me anything you don’t want to but just know if you need an ear to listen to, a shoulder to cry on, I’m here. I’m always here Henry for as long as you need.”
Henry tried hard to not let his tears spill, not now for God’s sake.
“...but Henry I really need to tend to your injuries, that hand of yours has me quite concerned. I just want you to be okay physically before we get to the heavy stuff.”
Henry sighed, he supposed Ray was right. He would much rather want to stray away from the many questions he knows Ray has and anything related to the topic of Drex as long as possible but at the same time doesn’t want any touching hands at this very moment so Henry decided that fine, a wash would do him some good.
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Henry waited near the tub, waiting for the water to warm up. He opted to take a shower rather than a bath. A bath simply would make him feel claustrophobic, a new development since his captivity.
Ray had lent him a long shirt to use to cover his body at some point that he can’t remember ever putting on himself. He shrugged it off over his head as well as the bandages and gauze that sprinkled across his frame, those removed as well revealing his shabby stitch job.
When he deemed the water satisfactory, he jumped in and closed the curtain behind him. The water was so relieving like a warm hug that overwhelmed his body. He felt disgusting. He then found the body wash bottle and used it to lather a loofah that he used to gently scrub himself.
Some places still hurt from all the punches and hits he had endured from Drex so he tried to be careful as he ran the sponge over it. He was dreading his wounds the most, he would try to scrub as gently as possible to get the grime out which would only lead to further bleeding and irritating his scabs.
The clear bluish water transformed into a light brownish color with the occasional red. It felt so good to feel clean. It was relieving to rid himself of anything of that place as much as he could.
Henry had been thinking, thinking about something. Something off from afar and he hadn’t realized he was scrubbing a little too hard and his side where he had been stabbed began to bleed.
It wasn’t too bad just enough that it was coloring the water. He brought a hand to it and then he pulled away that left some diluted blood in his hands. He stared at it with immense interest.
There was literal blood on his hands.
He tries to not think about Drex but it's the only thing he can think of and no matter how hard he tries he can’t wipe the image of him from his mind. So to combat this, he turns the knob of the shower to the highest heat possible and the water becomes unbearably hot.
But Henry doesn’t care. Drex isn’t hurting him but it's him who is doing it to himself on his own accord and it felt damn good to have some control. The water burned and scorched at his open wound terribly but he really, really couldn’t have cared less.
He lost any sense of time and the hot water eventually began running cold. He was already paler than he usually was so the redness of his skin wouldn’t be difficult to miss.
He had completely blanked to wash his hair so he grabbed whatever shampoo that he could find from Ray’s many shampoo bottles to induce hair growth and quickly slathered it on his head before washing it away with a bubbly water trail flowing down his side.
After what felt like forever, he turned the knob to a close and stepped out of the shower with the hot air still swirling around in the bathroom. The mirror was fogged over which Henry didn’t entirely care about because he was not interested in seeing himself or how he appeared. He almost fell apart when he found himself in that bathroom in the factory and he didn’t want to remind himself of that moment in time where all he wanted to do was just die.
He grabbed a towel from the rack and dried himself to the best of his ability. He wished he grabbed a different towel because this one was white and it was impossible to miss the red splotches and spears that were littered across it.
The towel had been set aside to dry all the while Henry dressed himself in clothes that Ray had lent him. A blue shirt with a picture of a badger with some gray sweats that fit much too big on him but he almost preferred it as you wouldn’t be able to tell how skinny he had become.
Walking out of the bathroom, he found Ray seated on his now-made bed and he didn’t miss the small smile that formed on his face seeing him all cleaned up. Henry sighed, he knew what came next.
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They first started on his wrist because Ray had said so and Henry wasn’t too happy about it but he understood Ray’s concern. His wrist had been the slowest to heal, he was gaining some feeling back but it was very minimal if at all, and at first, it concerned him but now he just… he just didn’t care.
“Who stitched this? Was it Drex?” Ray questioned while trying to be the utmost gentle with his wrist.
Henry cringed at the name but he shook his head, “No, I did. I tried to at least.”
Ray looked up at him, not anticipating that answer. He swallowed hard.
Ray didn’t say anything further and simply proceeded with removing Henry’s stitches while replacing them with his own after being disinfected and cleaned. Ray offered an anesthetic and Henry didn’t hesitate to accept it.
The rest of his wounds being tended went off without a hitch. There was the occasional self-consciousness every time he would reveal a new wound and he would see the look on Ray’s face riddled with guilt and concern, he couldn’t bear to look at him instead he looked everywhere else possible.
The process didn’t hurt at all, Ray made sure of it. He made sure to be gentle and his hands were delicate with feather-light touches against his skin. Henry had forgotten what it felt like to be cared for with such gentleness and not that of one wanting to cause harm.
His stab wound made Ray gulp hard but he tried to put on a poker face for Henry’s sake. There wasn't much Ray could do about the tens of bruises that were across his torso and cheeks. They would have to heal on their own. He’d tell Henry to try to not disturb them.
When they finally finished both heroes released a sigh of relief. Ray felt so much better than before, Henry looked beyond wonders better than he could’ve asked for. Henry on the other hand was relieved to have Ray’s hands finally off of him. Although he had to admit he felt miles better than a few hours ago.
“Alright, all done. Better?” Ray tried.
Henry simply nodded.
Ray sighed and instead focused on cleaning up the mess he had created around him. Setting his supplies back in the duffle bag and throwing other unnecessary materials away and was about to go set the bag back where he had found it but a soft hand wrapped around his wrist in desperation made him stop.
He whipped around and found that Henry had made him stop in his tracks. He wasn’t looking at him at first but when he finally did, Henry gave a slim smile.
“Thank you, Ray. For everything.”
Ray crouched to his level where he sat on the couch.
“I know you have a lot of questions and you want answers. You all do but it’s hard when I am trying to pinpoint what’s real and what’s not. I just need some time and I thank you for not prying at me the moment I woke up. I appreciate it, Ray. I do,” Henry promised.
Ray didn’t know what to say. He wasn’t expecting Henry to thank him. He was confused. Henry should be angry at him, furious for letting this happen. But he wasn’t and he could only ponder as to why.
“Anytime. I mean that. It’s not my story to tell so when you’re ready or comfortable to, don’t be afraid to reach out. Mmhh?”
Henry smiled at that, really smiled. Ray’s words warmed his heart, truly.
Time was of the essence, it really was.
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DAMN IT
He should’ve seen it coming, he really should’ve.
Drex stood before the basement door frame that he had found the door wide open.
Henry was gone, the stupid kid was gone.
He should be furious, fuming with anger. But somewhere along the lines he couldn’t because the reality is he had no real intentions of killing the kid, only breaking him enough to the point where he was beyond recovery and surely he had done so.
However, he is slightly disappointed their partnership has come to an end. He had much more up his sleeve that he would now never be able to execute.
No matter, in due time he will be able to do so much worse and so much more than just harm one singular person.
He had a plan, a plan beyond anything he ever thought was possible. These pathetic heroes won’t know what’s coming and it is only a matter of time until hell is brought on earth at Swellview.
For that, he had Sam to thank for.
Captain Man and Kid Danger were going to pay.