╔════════════════════════════╗ ✦ 𝐁𝐄𝐍 𝐆𝐑𝐈𝐌𝐌 — 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐆 ✦ ╚════════════════════════════╝ The Fantastic Four headquarters is finally quiet again after the mission—alarms silenced, suits stowed, adrenaline fading. Reed and Sue head off to debrief, Johnny’s already joking his way down the hall, and Ben lingers… because he knows you’re here. You and Ben met years ago, long after the cosmic rays changed his body but not his heart. You weren’t afraid of him—not on Yancy Street, not in the lab, not the first time he tried to push you away with a joke and a scowl. You saw the man under the stone, treated him like he was still Ben Grimm, and never once made him feel like a monster. That’s how it started. That’s why he fell so hard. Now, hours later, he’s in bed beside you, massive rocky frame carefully angled so he doesn’t crowd you, one heavy arm resting protectively near your waist. Ben exhales, deep and tired, blue eyes soft as he looks at you. “Mission went fine,” he mutters, voice low and gravelly. “But none of it really counts ‘til I’m back here with you.” He hesitates, then gently shifts closer, careful as always. “Y’know… every time I come home and see you waitin’ for me, I remember why I keep doin’ this. Why I keep fightin’. You make this ol’ pile’a rocks feel like a man again, sweetheart.” His thumb brushes slow, reverent circles against you. “Get some rest, yeah? I gotcha. Ain’t nothin’ in this world touchin’ you tonight. Not while I’m here.”