~The Man Cave~

Down in the Man Cave, Charlotte and (y/n) were struggling with the headquarter's failing equipment. The supercomputer, snack machine, tubes, the sofa: you name it, sure enough, it was on the blink.

Charlotte furiously tapped the buttons on the computer, but it was unresponsive, causing the young woman next to her to hit the control panel in frustration.

"Gooch? Hey! Gooch, are you there?" They were trying to get contact with the store above their heads, but so far they were unsuccessful.

"Stupid thing!" (y/n) kicked it for good measure.

"Mama." A baby doll came on the screen.

"Okay, that's not Gooch. Ugh, what is wrong with this thing?" Charlotte asked her.

"I don't know! I can do some of the repairs, but I can't work out what's wrong because of all the circuit boards and software in this heap of junk." (y/n) pressed the resignal button, hoping it would fix the fuzzy screen

"Gooch!" They finally managed to get some patchy images.

"Go for Gooch!" Charlotte asked him as his voice crackled from the interference.

"Where are Henry and Ray?" (y/n) questioned, wondering what was taking the superheroes so long.

"There was an emergency at the Swellview mall," Gooch told her.

"I know that!" She pinched her eyes in exasperation.

"Oooh, what happened?" Charlotte hadn't been down in the Man Cave for very long and wanted to know what was going down.

"Santa Claus was running around without his red pants," Gooch reported, confusing the girl.

"But it's not even Christmas." She looked at (y/n).

"Weird, right?" She was interrupted by the auto-snacker processing another order that they hadn't asked for.

"Your hot dog is ready." The A.I said.

"We don't want a freakin' hot dog!" (y/n) yelled at the thing, walking over to the thing and pressing a few buttons to cancel the food.

"You ordered a hot dog?" Gooch asked, not hearing some of their words over the bad connection.

"No. The snack machine is still broken and acting all crazy." Charlotte explained to him as (y/n) peered through the food window.

"R--repeat, y--ou'--re b-break--ing up," Gooch said in a distorted voice, the connection then breaking again.

"Gooch!" Charlotte tried to fix it again, revealing that Ray and Henry were back. Only, one tube came down with Ray, but there was no sign of Henry.

"Hey, guys." He greeted them in a tired voice.

"Hi, those Santa's pants?" (y/n) walked up behind Charlotte.

"Yeah." He replied, his voice telling her that the mission was more trouble than it was worth.

"So, where's Henry?" Charlotte piped up.

"He's right-- huh, that's weird." Ray thought the teen was right behind him, so he looked up the tube to see where he was.

"Henry? Come down." He yelled.

"I can't my tube isn't working." The boy's voice echoed down the shaft.

"Not another malfunction." (y/n) scrubbed her palm against her face. The faulty tube meant there was another problem in the cave that she had no idea how to fix, and she was supposed to keep the place under control and ready for action.

"Okay, hang on." Ray took out his remote laser and tried to manually tried to bring down the tube. It came down halfway before an error noise sounded and the tube retracted. Ray kept pressing it, hoping that it would work eventually.

"Do that and it'll break completely. And then I'll break your face." (y/n) looked at him with her arms folded, but her threat was empty as trying to break the man's face would actually break her fist.

"Ray?" Henry called out, wondering what was going on.

"Yeah?"

"If you keep doing that, I'm gonna vomit," Henry warned him and the woman smirked at Ray.

"Ha, and you're standing under the tube." And the man quickly stepped out from any falling puke.

"Your hot dog is ready." The snack machine said again, this time revealing a terrified Chihuahua.

"Aw, puppy!" (y/n) couldn't help but say. She didn't even know the machine could do that.

"What the..." Charlotte looked at her boss with a puzzled face.

"(y/n), what have I said? We can't have pets in the Man Cave." Ray assumed that his friend had tried to sneak the dog into their lives.

"He's not mine!" She said in an offended tone. She knew that buying a pet without getting his agreement would be rude and irresponsible, two things that she rarely was.

"That's our lunch that we did not order!" Charlotte stressed, the glitches around the room freaking her out.

"Argh, I thought we fixed that thing. Why does it keep--" Ray tried to use his controller to stop the auto-snacker, but then the couch started to spin around.

"Now, why is that spinning?" Charlotte asked as he and his best friend groaned.

"Because everything in here is a piece of crap!" The stress was getting to (y/n), and she was losing her cool.

"We gotta find a good repairman!" Ray told her, pressing his controller repeatedly, and the sprocket started playing up.

"Not the sprocket, too." He whined, throwing the Santa pants to the couch.

"Gooch!" The screen showed the Indian man with a patchy signal.

"Go for Gooch."

"Just get your toolbox down here and come help (y/n). We got a lot of stuff to fix." Ray tried to tell him, but the woman just growled in annoyance.

"Ray, you know there is only one repairman who can fix things down there," Gooch said, not naming any names.

"I'm not calling him!" Ray muttered back, the memory of the man making him angry.

"We need him, get on the damn phone!" (y/n) shook his shoulders, but he grabbed her wrists and looked into her eyes.

"No, we don't need him, and I will not let him back in our Man Cave!" He said sternly, but she didn't miss the way he said "our Man Cave". That had never been said before.

"I can't fix this stuff!" She tried to reason with him, but he just reached over to turn off the screen.

"Bye!" He said to Gooch.

"Don't you press that but--" Gooch and (y/n) said, not finished with the conversation, but it was too late.

"Who were you talking about?" Charlotte asked as the woman plopped down on Ray's knee in annoyance, his hand resting on her back to steady her.

"Schwoz." Ray spat out the name.

"What's a Schwoz?" Charlotte had never heard of a name like that.

"This guy that used to work with him. He built most of this place, all this cool stuff. He developed the technology we use, built all the weapons and devices. I'm telling you, he's a genius!" (y/n) told her about the man. He had been a good friend to her and was the only one she had properly told about how she felt about Ray. He had been sworn to secrecy and kept silent even when he and Ray fell out.

"Yeah, he's a genius." Ray mocked her, not liking how she was going on about him. He wanted to be the one she spoke of with such adoration.

"He sounds awesome." Charlotte agreed with the young woman. This Schwoz sounded like just the guy they needed.

"Well, awesome guys don't steal your girlfriend!" Ray shouted at her, and (y/n) rolled her eyes.

"Ooh, wow." The teen looked down at the new information.

"Yeah, that's what I said when I found out that she'd been Schwoz'd!" Ray exclaimed, the memory still irritating him.

"Oh, please. She was just as much to blame!" (y/n) tried to make him see that the girlfriend was no good. Sure, Schwoz had done something wrong, but it took two people to cheat.

"Don't defend him!" Ray pointed a gloved finger at her.

"Don't be a dick then!" She replied, grabbing his finger and bending it back a little, the pressure making the man wince and back down.

The tube beeped, and they all thought Henry was finally coming down. He was, in a way. The boy fell down the shaft, landing on his feet and falling backwards. His knees ached from taking the brunt of the drop.

"Oh, man."

"Henry!"

"I'll get the first aid kit!" Ray and Charlotte looked at the boy in horror, as (y/n) grabbed her medical supplies and quickly ran to the groaning boy's side. She helped him up, and he looked at her with a dazed expression.

"That...that really hurt me." He said to her.

"My god, is anything broken?" She looked up and down his body, not seeing any visible injuries.

"I'm fine, it's all good." Henry smiled at her, as a beeping came from Ray's remote.

"Uh-oh. Oh, man." He cried at what it said.

"What's wrong?" Charlotte asked him, peering up at the screen.

"Santa Claus jumped outta the police car and now he's running down Swellview Boulevard," Ray whined, hating the thought of having to chase the pant-less man.

"But, his pants are right here." (y/n) picked them up from the couch and brought them over to him.

"Exactly, let's go." (y/n) handed them over and he and Henry went back to the tube area. They smacked their belts, but only Henry's tube came down. Ray slapped his navel several more times, however, nothing happened.

"Come on!" He yelled.

"Let's just both take my tube," Henry told him calmly.

"All right." The superhero grumbled, so Henry raised his tube and Ray shuffled over. He put his arms around Henry in a hug.

"Awwww, cute." (y/n) snapped a photo of them together on her phone, and they each gave her a bored face in return. Hitting his belt buckle again, they prepared for the tube, only this time, the opposite one came down.

"Seriously?!"

"Geez!" They both screamed as everything in the Man Cave began to malfunction at once.

"You better call Schwoz." Charlotte insisted.

"Never!" Ray hissed back.

"RAYMOND! CALL HIM!" (y/n) pointed her finger at him, the noise in the hideout was beginning to annoy her.

"Who's Schwoz?" Henry asked, having not heard about the clever man from the tube.

"He's this guy that used to work for me a long--" Ray was cut off when the tube over them came down and hit his head.

"OW!"He exclaimed, putting his hand over where he was hit.

"Just call him, please!" (y/n) didn't want anyone else getting hurt. No one else was indestructible, and that meant that she and the kids were at risk of serious injury.

"I hate him!" Ray seethed at her.

"I don't care!" She told him, as she ran to the computer, hoping she could at least she could get a tube working.

~The next day~

Ray, (y/n) and Charlotte were back down in the Man Cave trying to troubleshoot all of the problems.

"Hey, I really wish you'd get those things working." The tall man said to the two females, who turned around and glared at him.

"When you get off your butt and contribute to our efforts, then I'll take directions from you." (y/n) said to him, and he smiled sheepishly at her, and she turned back around with an amused expression. She couldn't stay mad for long, especially when he was looking so good in his tight, white, long-sleeved t-shirt.

The shouts of Henry falling down in the elevator drew their attention away from the fuzzy screens.

"Hey, something's wrong with the dumb elevator." He complained to the three after he stepped through the doors

"Why are you in such a bad mood?" Ray asked, sensing something was off.

"Because I got kicked off my dumb basketball team." He explained, as (y/n) stood next to Ray.

"Are you good at basketball?" She asked him, having never heard about the boy playing the sport before.

"No." He replied, just as the couch began to spin, making Ray, who was leaning against it, fall into (y/n). Her arms wrapped around him to stabilise them both.

"Charlotte! You made the couch spin again." Ray shouted at the girl on the computer, as he guided his friend away from the twirling couch.

"Well, why don't you hop on it and take a ride?" The girl snapped back, having had enough of his bossing around.

"Ray, the repairman (y/n) ordered is here. He's on his way down." The man said excitedly, knowing who was on his way down.

"What? You can't just send some stranger down here until we have him checked out." Looking between the woman mentioned and Gooch.

"I got to go." Before he could get into trouble, Gooch killed the link. Ray looked at (y/n) for answers, but then the elevator came down, the mystery man inside.

The doors opened, a small, strange man with a balding head and overalls on walked out and put down his toolbox.

"Hey." He greeted his old friends in a thick, foreign accent that was difficult to place.

"Schwoz," Ray said through his teeth, looking at the man in anger and then (y/n), who was smiling brightly at Schwoz.

"Get out." The superhero ordered him in a harsh voice, stalking towards the man, making (y/n) step in front of him and put her hands on his chest.

"Come on, Ray, don't be like that." She pleaded with him, but even her best puppy-dog eyes couldn't melt his anger.

"I mean it! I can't believe you brought him here! Out of here." He kept moving forward, forcing the woman backwards until she was stood next to Schwoz.

"That's Schwoz?" Henry asked, entertained by the man's funny appearance.

"You must be new sidekick, Kid Danger." The tech-genius smiled as he shook Henry's hand warmly. All the niceties were getting under Ray's skin.

"Don't you talk to Henry. You keep your Schwoz cooties off of him." Ray slapped the man's hands away from Henry, and (y/n) looked up at him in horror, shocked that her best friend, who was usually so amicable, was being so mean.

"Ray! It's been three years!" She pointed out to him, as Schwoz walked around the group.

"Yeah, three years since he stole my girlfriend." He replied, following the repairman's every move.

"If it makes you feel any better, I dumped her two weeks later," Schwoz told him, leaning the computer controls. His words made (y/n) wince. 'Why tell him that?" She groaned inwardly.

"Why would that make me feel better?" Ray exclaimed.

"Can I get something to eat?" Schwoz moved away from the subject.

"You could if that hunk-a-junk snack machine you built actually worked." Ray insulted him.

"I check it." The small man said, determined to prove that his machines were cutting-edge science, not junk.

"Don't order a hot dog," Charlotte warned him, remembering what happened yesterday.

Schwoz pressed the touch screen on the snack machine, and a probe dropped out. Holding it against the screen, he then clicked a few buttons, so the machine's software system would reset itself. The four people behind him just looked on in confusion.

"Now, would anyone like a nacho tower?" He said to the machine in his funny voice, and the computer responded immediately, creating a hot, steaming pile of tasty-looking nachos.

"Whoa, nacho tower," Henry said it as Schwoz did, and (y/n) took a nacho from the plate.

"He fixed the auto-snacker," Charlotte said, sounding impressed.

"Oh my god, I tried for hours last night to get that thing to work. And he made it looked so easy." She said the last part whilst looking directly at Ray.

"I don't care, you ruined our friendship. Now, I've only got one left." Ray replied, gesturing to the woman, which made Henry and Charlotte look at him with frowning faces.

"You know what I mean. And, you're not gonna fix it with a platter of hot, Mexican treats." Ray tried to say, the smelling enticing him, as Henry, Charlotte and (y/n) filled their faces.

"Well, I forgive you."

"Me too."

"I was never that mad." The superhero folded his arms after they voiced their support.

"Look, if you want me to leave, just tell me 'Leave'." Schwoz looked at the grumpy man.

"Leave, leave, leave, leave, leave," Ray repeated at him in an agitated voice.

"Stay, stay, stay, stay, stay." (y/n) said this time, looking up at Ray with hard eyes.

"I'm the boss here!" He whispered at her.

"I have to run this place! I need the equipment to work!" She snapped back, so Henry interjected.

"Shut up before you fall out again." He deadpanned to the friends, which made them break apart and look at each other apologetically, the tension dissolving immediately. Their hearts were still tender from the last time they argued, and they didn't want to be apart again.

"So you want me to stay?" Schwoz butted in, making Ray form a fist at his face.

"Because I could fix up all the broken schtuff around this place." He offered.

"Do it." Henry and Charlotte nodded.

"No!" While he didn't want to make (y/n) angry, he stilled hated Schwoz and didn't want him all over the Man Cave.

"Let him fix the broken schtuff," Henry said to him.

"Please, Raymond. Pretty please? I'll love you forever..." (y/n) fluttered her eyes at him and made her voice as sweet as she could, even though she was already sure she would love Ray until the end of time. The large man looked down at her, and couldn't resist how she gazed at him.

"All right, fix the broken schtuff. And give me a nacho." He said to Schwoz, giving in. Henry took the plate of food, as Ray went to sit on the couch, taking (y/n) with him. They giggled together as they sat down, and the three still at the computer looked their way.

"Ah, young girl is still in love, no?" Schwoz whispered to the teens.

"Oh yeah, totally," Henry answered as he put a chip in his mouth.

"And Ray finally asked her out?" He carried on, hoping that their pining was over.

"Ha, no. He'll never admit it to her." Charlotte said in a hushed tone, but the couple were still in their happy, little world and didn't see them talking to each other in a huddle.

"So he is still nincompoop? Man, it's been years since she told me. I thought she would have done something by now." Schwoz told them, their eyes widening at how long (y/n) had been crushing on Ray.

"She never said it was that long." Henry looked at the girl as she smiled and laughed along at what Ray was telling her.

"I had been here long time when Ray employed her. She was a hard worker and he couldn't help but love her." He sighed dreamily, remembering the good old days.

"But?" Charlotte said, expecting a twist.

"He kept dating the womens and she wanted to stay professional. So, here we are." Schwoz said, frowning at the pair, who were now looking at cat videos on (y/n)'s phone, her head on his chest and his arm around her shoulder.

"He's dumb." Henry said, pointing a thumb over his shoulder.

"And she's too shy." Charlotte analysed.

"They will realise one day, and they will get married and have lots of beebees. Now, children, I must work." Schwoz left them standing together and started working on the computer's video-chat system.

"What's a beebee?" Henry looked at Charlotte, who just shrugged and ate another nacho.

~

Schwoz was tweaking some controls at the back of the Man van, as Ray, Henry and (y/n) finished the nachos on the couch. Grabbing his remote, the repairman walked to the centre of the floor and turned to them.

"Now, who's ready for technological fun?" He asked them.

"Yeah."

"Give us your best shot." Henry and (y/n) answered him, but Ray was still cheesed off.

Running to the tube area, Schwoz went up and came down in the one opposite, proving they were working again.

"All right, he fixed them!" The woman smiled, a hand on Ray's shoulder.

"And I fixed the TVs and the sprocket. And watch this." Schwoz told them excitedly, running down from the tubes.

"Security lasers on." Schwoz pressed his button, and a series of red lasers appeared all over the Man Cave.

"OOh, lasers." Henry geeked out at the new feature, (y/n)