Despicable You
By Shahrezad1
Summary: When a representative from the State investigates Miss Hattie and all her doings, she gets more than she bargained for. Despicable Me/Meet the Robinsons crossover. MildredXGru.
Disclaimer: I own neither Gru nor the girls nor even Mr. Perkins of all people. I don't even own the government organizations mentioned…so don't kill me when I get them wrong. XD The descriptions included are based on the memories and experiences of a twelve-year old…if they're wrong, I apologize.
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Chapter 1
Alicia Stroud frowned at the contents of a letter she was reading. Its pages were still crisp from careful care, but its folds were soft with use. She'd creased the document with each reading, becoming more and more concerned each time. But no matter how hard she stared at the words on the page, the contents remained the same.
Standing as a witness to what was becoming an often occurrence in her field.
Really, sometimes she had to wonder what the world was coming to.
A knock at the door interrupted such melancholy thoughts, and she folded both the page and her glasses and set them aside, rising with hand outstretched.
"Mildred Duffy! It's wonderful to see you."
"And you, Alicia," the taller woman said, smiling above her half-moon glasses. She was an elegant, quiet presence in a long skirt and cardigan. The dangly earrings were a daring and slightly uncharacteristic choice for the administrator, and Miss Stroud wondered for a second if one of her boys had gifted them to her.
Probably that Robinson youth. He was the only one to her knowledge of Mildred's 'kids' with the means to pay for something like that, what with his part-time internship at Inventco. It was all that they would allow until he turned 18, although heavens knew he was already working on his Masters degree at this point. It was so nice hearing about a happy ending in their line of work once in a while. Particularly with the bombshell Alicia would be forced to drop on her subordinate.
"Please, sit down Mildred."
"Thank you."
Steeping her fingers together, Miss Stroud bluntly opened up the conversation. She found that dealing with bureaucrats for thirty years tended to do that to you. Particularly when having to deal with something unpleasant, "you're probably wondering why I asked you to come in today, Mildred. After all, from your reports everything seems to be going well for the 6th Street Orphanage, what with five boys adopted to good homes in the past two months. Additional follow-up visits have gone well, and psych evaluations have shown that they've adjusted."
The African American woman hesitated before nodding, firmly, her hands clasped in her lap, "yes, they have, haven't they? Danny, Steve, Lewis and Michael, even little Rufus."
Miss Stroud nodded slightly. Her tightly wound bun of steel grey hair tended to give off the image of stern disapproval, so she tried to smile more often to counteract its effect. Still, her expression could do little to soften her next line of questioning, "The home has also remained consistently in budget for the past…thirteen years, I believe it was? The status of the building is in good repair, all the youth have been admitted to public school and show signs of improving as well as inclusion in wholesome recreational activity. Their diets are balanced and commentary with teachers and counselors shows general satisfaction with their home lives. Is this all correct?"
Mildred Duffy took in a deep breath, "as far as I am aware."
"And your review isn't for another few weeks, am I right?"
A little of the tension in the woman's shoulders eased and she nodded, a tad more cheerfully, "yes."
"Then that fortunately or unfortunately makes you perfect for the job I'm going to require of you."
Her opposite's smile faltered, "excuse me?"
"Read this letter and tell me what you make of it."
The page was passed over and the orphanage administrator soon found herself faced with a dilemma. The very same one that Alicia Stroud had found herself in a couple days ago.
To Whom It Concerns,
It is highly suggested that Miss Hattie Harrison of Miss Hattie's Home For Girls be investigated. First person accounts indicate that this is not a good environment. It is verbally abusive, manipulative, and controlling. It is requested that she be replaced in her position, immediately. A CD has been included with a recording of conclusive evidence.
Sincerely,
A Law-Abiding Citizen
Mildred frowned, handing the document back, "what is this?"
"A letter that I received two days ago. The package was unmarked and unprocessed by the United States Post Office, with no return address. But no one remembers it being delivered. Not the mail boy and certainly not by anyone else that works here. It just appeared one day. That and the CD that's mentioned."
"And does the CD really have 'conclusive evidence'?" the brown-eyed woman asked.
Alicia nodded, "Sadly yes, but it looks grainy at best and illegally obtained at worst. And I can't go to my superior without legally obtained data, unfortunately. So as much as this makes my blood boil…my hands are tied," she spread them across her desk in demonstration. It only made Miss Duffy more confused.
"That is worrisome. But what does it have to do with me?"
"I…" the older woman paused, choosing her words wisely, "…I would like for you to take a full-expense vacation. I know that you've been putting it off for years, but I feel like what with the stresses that you've been dealing with lately-."
"Stresses?"
"-That you deserve it."
Mildred stared her superior hard in the eye then, "Alicia what is this really about?"
She nearly faltered, only to straighten her spine and bite the bullet, "…I need you to go check it out. I can't investigate it myself and the others think that this is a false alarm. Also, I can't ask for you to go in an official capacity—hence the vacation tactic. To be honest, I would normally ask someone else accustomed to checking these things out but we're strapped on hours and available hands, too, what with Sheila Willis and George Conseco being temporarily transferred to Metro City after that pseudo-superhero fiasco."
"You know that Megamind has fixed most of that-."
"Yes, but should we really be relying on a former villain to solve societal backlash?" Miss Stroud shook her head and noticed that some of her grey curls had come loose, "never mind, that doesn't matter. What does matter is that on the other side of Midtown there are children that are possibly being neglected. By one of us."
But Mildred wasn't having it, "I know, Alicia, but what would you have me do? I can't trust anyone to take my place for a day, much less a week! The boys each have different activities and needs, and you can't exactly hire a babysitter for eighteen kids for that long. Additionally, how am I supposed to get proof? I can't exactly walk up to the door, say hello, and ask her to let me rifle through her filing cabinet."
"No, you can't. But what you can do is act like a prospective parent," she retorted gently, "You know what they act like and the kind of questions they ask. Wear a recorder and interview each child. And in the meanwhile, you can find out who this 'Law Abiding Citizen' is."
"But-!"
"Mildred, there's no one but you that I would trust with this. You know what a good home is made of…and what a horrible one is like, too."
"Fine. But who are you going to get to take care of the Home for me?"
"I've got someone super in mind."
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AN: Despicable Me and Megamind are both stories created by Dreamworks involving reformed villains, so I thought that it would be fun to make an in-reference to the goings-on occurring "next door," in Metro City.
Midtown is the name given to the city in Meet the Robinsons, shown via the scene where Lewis is watching a college lecture. It says "Midtown U" on the podium. ;)
Similarly, in The Incredibles we've got Metroville, Municiberg, Sticksville, Cow Town, Burbsville, Hamletville and Villaville (check the sign for the track meet at the end, and the map in the first scene, when Mr. Incredible is in the car).
The "Smallville" vs "Metropolis" jokes just keep going on and on… *grins*