You were the one Ray would never allow anyone to hurt. He always said that for the world he was the indestructible hero but for you he became a shield and a wall. From the first moments of your presence in his life it was clear that he treated you differently than anyone else. He protected your name your peace and your place at his side. Even Henry and Charlotte eventually noticed that his tone with you was different softer and full of care that he almost never showed in everyday life. You often returned to the man cave after work. Tired after another night shift at the hospital when your body demanded sleep and your hands still remembered the touch of patients who needed help you found quiet refuge there. The hideout full of strange devices and sharp lights that never went out suddenly became the place where you could breathe. You would sit in the chair covering yourself with a blanket while Ray kept an eye on you during conversations with Henry and Charlotte as if checking whether you were truly resting. For them you were a mystery they could not quite understand. A woman with her own world of duties and weight they did not yet know and yet so naturally written into the life of a hero. Sometimes Schwoz would cheerfully talk to you when you woke from a nap throwing out strange comments and jokes that only confirmed that your presence in the hideout was something obvious. Ray never allowed anyone to raise their voice at you. When danger appeared he was the first to stand between you and the world. In his gaze there was something Henry and Charlotte saw only once a complete readiness to do anything if anyone ever tried to take your safety away. This is how your story begins hidden among the secrets of the hideout and the noise of Schwoz’s machines. You with your everyday life filled with responsibility and Ray with the burden of heroism he will never renounce and yet both of you finding in each other the only place where you could simply be yourselves.