Storms and Comforts

Metroman advanced, slowly and tauntingly. Megamind retreated until his back hit the wall of the building behind him. The hero grinned maliciously, and punched the palm of his hand.

Megamind looked around for an escape route, than his eyes landed on Kaitlin. "Kaitlin! Help!" The blue-skinned villain cried, desperation seeping into his voice.

Kaitlin jumped forward and ran towards him, but the distance between them just seemed to be getting farther and farther. As she ran, Metroman inched closer and closer to Megamind.

"Megamind!" Kaitlin screamed. "Run!"

Then, suddenly, the distance between them vanished and she was standing at his side. Smiling, Kaitlin threw her arms around his shoulders, even as Metroman approached.

As her arms came in contact with his tight leather shirt, a tingling feeling ran up and down her spine. Kaitlin squeezed her eyes shut, and felt Megamind pulling away from her.

She opened her eyes again, and she was standing on the very edge of a cliff. Metroman reached out, and with an evil laugh, shoved her. Then, as she fell, Metroman's face came into view, and his laugh changed, becoming higher-pitched and more familiar.

It was no longer Metroman, but Megamind who was cackling down at her. Kaitlin screamed, "No!", but it was too late.

She fell through a mirror, and it shattered as Megamind's laughter faded into the darkness.

"NO!" Kaitlin screamed, shooting bolt upright in bed.

She was shivering, and drenched in a cold sweat. Her heart was racing, and the faint memory of her nightmare echoed through her head. She swallowed nervously, and untangled herself from the twisted mess of sheets she was curled up in.

Ignoring her feeling of dread, she padded out into the hallway, the freezing steel of the abandoned warehouse's floor causing her to keep shivering. Kaitlin rested her hand on the door handle, and slowly twisted the knob.

She slipped into Megamind's room, and squinting into the darkness, she managed to make out the dim outline of an empty bed. Empty. Kaitlin froze, and swallowed nervously.

"Megamind?" She whispered.

No reply came out from the vacant room. Kaitlin's breathing grew ragged and her heart began pounding again.

"Megamind?" She repeated, louder that time.

Again, no one answered. Hesitantly, Kaitlin inched forward, hands shaking in fear. Suddenly, thunder crashed outside, and lightning illuminated the room. She jumped as she saw that the bed was un-made, and it was clear that someone had slept there that night, but they weren't there now. Kaitlin choked back a sob and began slowly backing away. "No…" She breathed, terrified as memories of her nightmare swirled around in her head.

Her breath short, Kaitlin whirled and darted back to the door. Megamind wasn't here. Heartbeat abnormally swift; she yanked the door back open and raced for the stairs. She had to get to Minion and tell him.

Kaitlin raced down the stairs, and jumped off the second to last step. She spun around in time to see light filtering out under the kitchen door. Her heart jumped in hope, and without hesitation, she slammed the door open and dashed in. A welcome sight met her eyes.

Kaitlin breathed a sigh of relief and ran to him. Megamind stiffened in surprise as Kaitlin threw her arms around his waist and buried her face in his chest.

"Kaitlin…are you…alright?" He asked tentatively, putting the glass of milk he had previously been drinking down on the table and licking the milk off his upper lip.

Without resolve, she immediately launched into her story. "…and you were there, and it was horrible, and when I went into your room, you weren't there and it scared me to death and-" She prattled unintelligibly into his shoulder, tears flowing freely.

"Hey! Stop! I can't understand a word you're saying!" He exclaimed, not sure why Kaitlin was in this state of terror.

She sniffled pathetically and looked up at him, eyes wide. He smiled comfortingly down at her. "What's wrong?" He asked softly.

"I-it…it was terrible." Kaitlin said, shaking uncontrollably.

Megamind wrapped his arms around her and held her against his chest. "Shh…it's okay. It was just a nightmare." He murmured, pressing his lips into her hair and giving her a quick kiss.

"But when you weren't there, I thought that something happened to you." She explained fearfully.

Megamind sighed. Instead of saying anything, he gently took her hand and stood up. He led her up to his room, switching the light off in the kitchen as they went by.

Thunder boomed again, and Kaitlin squeaked in panic, her grip tightening on his arm as she clung to him for comfort. Megamind bit his lip to hold back a laugh as he got an idea of what was fueling Kaitlin's fear. He slowly led her over to the bed, and pulled her under the covers next to him.

"Are you afraid of something?" He asked softly.

She whimpered pitifully and buried her face in his shoulder. "I don't know…"

"Tell me, its okay. I won't tell anyone." He assured her, as if a mentor might to a frightened child.

"Well…I've always been afraid of storms…" She mumbled.

"Oh." He said, smiling.

"But I haven't gotten this scared since I was a little girl!" She exclaimed, visibly upset.

"Hmm. Then why are you so afraid now?" He prompted, playing with a strand of her hair.

"I don't know. But now that you're with me…I don't know." Kaitlin looked painstakingly bewildered. "It's like when I was younger, Tobias always used to comfort me…but he died so I didn't have him and I got over my fear…"

Megamind's smile widened, and he laughed softly.

"What's so funny?" Kaitlin demanded.

"You are!" He said, laughing harder.

"How so?" She growled, pouting up at him.

He stopped laughing and looked down at her. "I think you're suddenly so afraid of storms again because of me."

She still had a confused expression on her face. "But…why?"

"Because I think in your mind, you decided you wanted me to comfort you." He elucidated.

"Oh…" She seemed to understand as she gently positioned her head on his chest. "I guess that makes sense…"

"Your mind just used the storm as an excuse for you to come to me." Megamind smiled again.

"Oh…" Kaitlin repeated. "I'm pretty smart then, because that was for a good cause." She grinned up at him.

Megamind sighed and wrapped his arms around her shoulders. "Well, I think I'll have to agree with that." He said.

"God, if you ever do anything like that to me again, I'm going to drag you back up here and never let you go again!" She threatened.

"Well, I'll try to be a good boy then." He replied good-naturedly.

Kaitlin smiled again and settled in to sleep. "Maybe I should just try sleeping with you every night." She said thoughtfully.

"I'm okay with that." He returned, closing his eyes.

"Good." She said, forcing back a yawn.

Instead of replying, he nonchalantly hooked his leg around her waist. "I think I'm going to be very okay with that."

Kaitlin craned her neck and leaned up to kiss him. Megamind let her, and gladly kissed her back, enjoying the feeling of her lips pressed against his. She slowly took his hands and pulled them up to her right cheek. She rested her head on them and breathed in deeply.

Megamind kissed her on the nose, then closed his eyes and fell silent. Kaitlin found herself content to lounge back against his chest, and she released his hands. They slid out from under her cheek and dropped onto the mattress below.

Megamind began to absentmindly stroke her hair. Her breathing deepened, and leveled out. He immediately assumed she'd fallen asleep, and stopped.

"Don't." She instructed.

"Don't what? You're so non-specific sometimes…" He muttered, too tired to really care.

"Don't stop. It feels nice." She replied.

Megamind sighed and started massaging her shoulders, knowing that particular action always helped her sleep.

Kaitlin gradually let her eyes drift shut, and she fell asleep in his arms. Megamind fell into a half-asleep lull, but then soon drifted off into a deep sleep as well.