Henry had been leading a small group of people for the better part of the day. They’d flocked to him when they realized he knew what he was doing. Henry had spent the rest of the day doing the best he could to keep them safe. Of course, leading people required diplomacy, and the truth was that Henry’s patience was worn very thin. He’d dealt with too many crises in too short a time, and though he acted as if none of it bothered him to avoid worrying his friends, the truth was that he was slowly spiraling into deeper and deeper depression.
So when he stopped for a second to let the group breath and he was approached by some arrogant businessman, he took a deep breath and did the best he could to calm his frazzled nerves. He’d dealt with this guy at every group stop so far. His wife had been touched very briefly by Reika, and the businessman kept trying to act as if he could lead the group better than Henry could. It was…irritating. “Sir, I understand that your wife is in pain-”
“Listen, I know you’re some kind of famous actor,” the man started, his tone dripping arrogance, “but I’d really like to know what qualifies you for-”
And just like that, Henry’s reserves of patience were used up. His face set into an angry scowl and he lashed out, grabbing the man by the collar and slamming him against a nearby wall. “You want to know what qualifies me for this, idiot? The fact that I haven’t THROWN YOU TO THE GODDAMN WOLVES yet, you stupid bastard! The fact that I have been keeping each and every one of you people safe when I could have just run away and left you to die! The fact that out of all of us, I am the ONLY ONE that’s ever dealt with ghosts before!” The man tried to talk, clearly scared and trying to apologize, but Henry just yelled right overtop him. “Now this is how this is going to work, you are going to shut the fuck up and go hold your wife’s hand, OR you can pick her up and go your own way and get the both of you KILLED! Either way, I am DONE talking to you!” He let the man go, turned on his heel, and took a few steps away from the group to get some air.
And in so doing, he brought himself close enough to the corner to hear the voices coming from nearby. His forward progress halted, and his free hand - the one not holding the camera - rose sharply, fingers outstretched in a symbol to tell his people to stop. "Quiet," he whispered sharply, "and wait here. I'm going to check out what that was. If I yell, get the hell out of here." He hadn't even turned his head to look at them. Then he crouched low and hugged the wall, camera clutched tightly in both hands, ready to be brought up at a moments notice. He knew it wouldn't work on the one he was calling "the lady in robes" but it was effective against the other ones.
Of course, then he saw people he recognized and relaxed, breathing a sigh of relief. He approached slowly, hands held up in a "I come in peace" gesture. "If you're here to exorcise her, I can help. She's, uh, pretty pissed at me, so I figure I can distract her while you guys do your thing." He tried to ignore the fact that Iron Man was standing there. He'd read the guy's comics, this was weird, and if Henry were in a slightly better mood, he would be thrilled at meeting him. Unfortunately, he wasn't in the best of spirits. "I have this medicine bag that keeps her from touching me. So I'm a perfect distraction." Of course, he didn't tell them that he'd given the bag to a girl he'd rescued earlier. Why the lie?