YAY! On we go with the story! The fun and games are about to begin and, Oh! Is it starting to get a little steamy in here? Why yes, I do believe it is!

Just so ya know, this story doesn't include smut, just a bit of steamy fun, so it still gets to keep its T rating.

Thanks for coming back to see what Megs has up his sleeve! Have fun, y'all!

"You know, you should win an Oscar for that performance. How long have you been here, anyway?" Roxanne asked, trying to disguise the mounting panic in her voice. She hoped to God that wasn't him that she had unwittingly handed the file to in her cubicle earlier that morning.

"I've only just arrived, why do you ask? Is it possible that you missed me so much since our last meeting?"

With a roll of her blue eyes and an irritated huff, she responded, "Ugh, please! You know, I really don't have time for this today, Megamind. I'm in the middle of something important, and I really need to... "

"Yes, so I heard." he interrupted, the corner of his lip twitching with the humor he obviously found in the situation. He watched her for a moment as she gazed at him and tried to look as nonchalant as she possibly could, and then continued on as though he hadn't heard her objection to participating in another one of his impending plans, "Oh my goodness Miss Ritchi, it seems as though I've slipped through your nosy reporter defenses this time. Hmmm, you know I'm really relishing the way that feels... in fact, I'm taking a mental picture of that shocked expression on your pretty face right now. This is certainly a moment I'm going to want to revisit again... and again."

As he crooned out those final two words, he reached out with his heavily booted foot and smoothly kicked the door shut, his eyes never leaving Roxanne's for a moment. The second the door slid home in its frame and the latch clicked audibly, he whipped out his de-gun and swung around in a flash. In one swift movement he adjusted the setting on the incredible weapon and fired, a bright beam of energy hitting the lock and melting it in place so they wouldn't be disturbed.

She swallowed as she watched his lithe movements, and could feel her pulse quicken as he turned to her once again and holstered his gun. Then with a sleek gait he began to sidle across the room as he pulled off his long gloves, those strikingly green eyes boring into hers and twinkling with unconcealed amusement. It irritated her that he could so easily make her heart palpitate with a single look, or make her knees weak with the dulcet tones of his voice as he did his best to verbally rattle her cage in the midst of one of their unusual interludes.

As he approached, he stopped a couple of feet away from her and reached out his hand, taking her by the wrist and drawing her in close, finding no resistance from his quarry. They stood like this for a moment, mere inches apart with their only actual contact being his hand wrapped softly around her wrist as he drew it in close to his chest. His lidded emerald eyes searched her sapphire ones and were lost in the fascination of being in such close proximity to someone he had no business being so close to to begin with... and reveling in the excitement of enjoying it so much.

"You do know how I feel about you, don't you?" he asked as he took in every detail of her face; the sweep of her eyelashes, her slender nose, the dimple on her cheek.

Roxanne was beginning to feel a bit woozy as he searched her gaze. The one and only word the typically eloquent reporter could come up with in answer to his question was a whispered, "Yes... "

His smile softened when he heard her answer, and he continued, "Damn that empty headed goody-goody Metro Mahn, you're far too precious; too intelligent for a boorish beefcake like him! A flower can't blossom if it's starved of the sun, Roxanne... I have so much more to offer you than that ridiculous buffoon ever could. And look at you; you won't even pull away from me... I know deep down you feel the same way about me as I do about you."

She lowered her lids and gazed through her lashes at her captor, and then unconsciously tipped her head up toward him and leaned closer, but still managed to find some of her spunky resistance lingering under the magnetic lure he always seemed to have on her. "That's quite an oppinion you have of yourself there, handsome. But did you happen to remember along with all that self-congratulaion that you're a villain? I can't be with a villain, Megamind."

"Ah yes, there is that. But you know what I think? I think you like it when I'm a scoundrel. I think you find the idea of being with the most dangerous man in Metrocity exciting." he said as he trailed a long, slender finger along her jawline and down the length of her neck to the peachy skin exposed by the open vee of her blouse, his eyes traveling along with the movement of the digit.

The way he purred at her so seductively mixed with the feeling of his finger running so softly against her skin was beginning to send tingles to every extremity, and a hot wave was beginning to spread and wash over her from some very exciting areas of her body. Without caring in the slightest that what she was doing might not be the most appropriate response to the romantic attentions of a super villain, she closed her eyes and leaned in closer to him, resting her head against his. She breathed slowly in and out, trying to keep her wits about her in the face of this attraction that was so wrong, but so impossible to ignore.

Running his cheek tenderly along hers, he said quietly, "Why don't you kiss me Roxanne, I know you want to. We both want this."

As much as she longed to do exactly what he proposed, she just barely managed to respond, "I can't. You're the bad guy, that's all there is to it." But pulling back so she could look at him clearly, she added with a mischievously crooked and hopeful smile, "You know, if you really want that kiss, you're going to have to steal it from me."

His eyes widened with surprise for a moment, and then he chuckled. "Well you've come to the right man for that; grand theft is one of my specialties... but I'm afraid that as much as I want to, that's the one thing I won't steal."

Despite the fact that she was finding it hard to breathe as he gazed at her like that and her disappointment at his answer made her heart drop the instant it left his lips, she was as stubborn as she was smart. She was not about to let on so easily to her serial kidnapper that he was capable of affecting her like that... at least no more than she already had.

She decided that the best method she could use to divert the course of this conversation was distraction.

Taking a step back from him but allowing him to continue to keep his gentle hold on her, she set her jaw stubbornly and said as she picked up his free hand and nodded toward his wrist, "It's that watch you know; that's the reason you were able to slip past my 'nosy reporter defenses'. I hate that thing! That's the only one of your genius creations that actually trips me up, and even then it only works when I'm already really distracted or worked up about something."

Megamind had expected her to dodge the subject of the way their strange relationship had naturally begun to deepen despite all the odds that were stacked against them. Despite their obvious attraction to one another, she continued to fight against it tooth and nail and he found her efforts irrestably endearing. But rather than continuing to push the envelope, he decided to play along.

He switched back into villain-mode a trifle and laughed, a laugh that was only slightly evil and born more out of his amusement at his victim's adorable belligerence, and said, "Touche'. I'll give you that much; it hasn't worked on you every time, but often enough and you know it! And now, since you've decided to change the topic of conversation, that brings us to another matter... what's all this I hear about a file? It's obvious that this all-important file is the object of your distraction today."

The instant she heard him mention the word file, her mind switched back to the reason for her frantic search that had taken up such an important portion of her morning. God, could his timing have been any more terrible? He just had to show up to kidnap her right at the exact moment she was so mad at Hal she had lost all control over her mouth, and walked in just in time to hear her beginning to rage about the very file that she had been trying to keep hidden from him. It was going to take some smooth talking to get herself out of this one, but she could handle it. No one could handle Megamind the way she could.

"Nothing!" she said as she slid her wrist free from his grasp and dismissively waved her hand. "It's just another one of those boring assignments I'm running behind on because someone is always pulling me away to 'assist' him in his schemes and it ends up not leaving me enough time to get my work done. My boss is getting tired of me going over my deadlines, so he wants this one finished by tomorrow."

"Ah, I see... " he answered, but he didn't look convinced. His smirk deepened and one eyebrow began to arch up mischievously. "So that's it, you're feeling rushed because you have a difficult time being poonk-tual and your boss is giving you a hard time about it?"

"No, I don't have a hard time being punc-tu-al," she enunciated, "the only reason I ever run late is because of you. And yes, he's giving me a hard time about it so I need to get my work done today, it's as simple as that. Now, can you go away and let me get back to work please?"

"So, it has absolutely nothing to do with a very interesting file that happens to be absolutely packed with the most fascinating photos and bits of information about yours truly?" he asked, his velvety voice flowing as smoothly as melted butter.

Roxanne's breath caught in her throat and her eyes opened wide . He knew? How could he possibly have found out already? She'd taken every precaution imaginable over the past year to keep it from him and she couldn't see how he could have gotten wind of it so quickly that morning upon her arrival with it to work. She hadn't told anyone about it but Hal; not even her boss knew what her story was about. Given enough time she had no doubt that Hal would do a bang-up job of making it the talk of the town, but even he couldn't mess things up to the point of attracting Megamind's attention that quickly.

She had known the blue troublemaker would find out about it and happen along to fetch the file soon enough, but this was shocking. She had been certain she'd have more time than this to get her work finished before he showed up, unless...

Looking at him suspiciously, she asked, "How long did you say you've been here?"

"Like I said before, I've only just arrived." he responded, his crooked smirk twitching with humor.

"And what exactly does 'only just arrived' equate to in terms of actual time passed? A couple of hours ago? A few minutes? What?"

Megamind sighed in faux exasperation and said with an exaggerated roll of his green eyes, "Miss Ritchi, have I ever told you that you're the nosiest reporter I know?"

"Frequently. How long, Megamind?"

"Ugh, fine. I've been here exactly eight minutes and twenty one seconds. I believe when I arrived, you were in the midst of wrapping up your meeting with your boss."

Roxanne's brows creased with frustration as her eyes strayed toward the stack of bursting yellow file folders on the counter. If he was telling the truth, and judging by the straightforward look in his eyes she was pretty certain he was, that wasn't him in her office disguised as Hal that she handed the file to that morning.

For the life of her she couldn't figure out how he could have possibly discovered her secret. There's no way he could have pried it out of her pudgy cameraman. She knew Hal well enough to understand that although he talked a good game, if he had actually been confronted and questioned by the villain face to face, he would have instantly turned into a blubbering mess incapable of coherent speech.

Knowing Megamind as well as she did, in a situation like that it would have taken him mere seconds to grow so impatient with the pathetic man that he would stop the whimpering by reducing him to a tiny blue cube. Her curiosity was beginning to get the better of her; she wanted to know exactly how he caught wind of that file, and she wanted to know now.

Not caring that she was about to admit to her secret, she threw her hands in the air with a final frustrated huff and said, "God, this is going to make me crazy if I don't find out! If that wasn't you in my cubicle this morning pulling one over on me with that stupid watch, how do you know about the file? No one knows about that file!"

He chuckled and said, "Oh dear, we wouldn't want that now, would we? I can't have anything happening to the only mind capable of stimulating my incredible genius in this intellectual wasteland."

He paused for effect and had to use every available ounce of self control to prevent himself from bursting into a fit of laughter at the adorably frustrated glare she was casting his way. Oh, she's so cute!

"Your cameraman had an unfortunate run-in with my forget-me-stick when I was on my way to your cubicle to pay you a visit. He was carrying a file at the time of the 'accident', and it fell and spilled all over the floor. What a mess... that really was very clumsy of him! A few of the pictures that had been inside caught my attention when I was in the process of assisting the poor man. Not bad by the way, you have quite an eye for photography."

She knew she should have been livid that Megamind had introduced her cameraman to the forget-me-stick, but she couldn't help but feel a twinge of amusement when she pictured the scenario in her head. Besides, she was still mad that he had taken her file out of her cubicle just as she had asked him not to do. He kind of deserved it.

"So where is he now?" she asked, making her best attempt to appear concerned rather than amused.

"He's resting comfortably in the closet across the hall from your cubicle."

Roxanne had to bite back a giggle; that broom closet was so small, Megamind would have had quite a time trying to figure out a way to stuff her big, dumpy co-worker into it and still be able to shut the door. The image of her short and slender blue captor cramming that sloppy oaf into the tiny space was enough to send her into fits.

The last thing she wanted to do was feed into his villainy by laughing at the tale of his attack on her colleague, so she cleared her throat and asked in the most serious tone she could muster, "Okay then, as long as he's all right. Now... where's my file, Megamind. You have it, don't you?"

"Why yes, as a matter of fact I do. I thought it would make for some fascinating reading, it isall about my favorite subject after all."

"Give it back!"

He put a long blue index finger to his chin, and looking thoughtfully into the air as though considering her demand, he replied, "Ummmm, no. I don't think so, I'd rather hang on to it. By the way, how did you get all that information? And those pictures? I must admit I'm very impressed... and rather curious."

"Wouldn't you like to know! Listen Megamind, I really want that file. Can't you cut me a break? I mean, come on! Look at all the plans I've had to suffer through for you; why can't you just work with me a little this time? Please?"

Megamind's mischievous smile softened at her request. How could he deny his Miss Ritchi anything when she used the word please?

"Well Roxanne, since you asked so nicely, I may be able to work with you on this. Let it never be said that I'm above concern for my favorite captive!"

Roxanne's eyes lit up at his response. She could scarcely believe her ears... was he really going to just give it to her?

"But... " he continued, "don't imagine for a moment that I'm going to just give it to you. I am in the business of e-vil. You don't really expect me to make it that easy for you, do you?"

She should have known. All the frustrated reporter could do was stand in place, staring with resignation at her adversary. Finally, with a sigh and a shake of her head she said, "Okay then, what do you want me to do? Should I go through another round of the 'Hamm-Her'? Or the 'Pinata Del Beeez', or something else along that line?"

"Oh, E-vil Heavens no! This is an arrangement between the two of us; I have no desire to bring that brutish boyfriend of yours into it. I think we can handle it perfectly well on our own. Now, you know I love a good game, I was thinking more along the line of a challenge; a battle of wits, shall we say."

Roxanne tilted her head and gave him a sidelong glance, her eyes squinted in confusion, and then repeated with more than a hint of sarcasm, "Battle of wits... what is this, some sort of weird, e-vil game show?"

"Oh-hohohoho! Very funny! Miss Ritchi, you have no idea how lucky you are to be considered my favorite captive... I guarantee no one else would be able to get away with those sarcastic, mouthy comebacks the way you do." he said warningly, but the gleam in his eyes and his crooked grin betrayed the fact that he found her sassy banter adorable.

He paused and watched her gaze back at him, completely unfazed by his warning, and then continued, "Not a ridiculous game show... I was thinking more along the lines of a simple guessing game. And because I'm doing this for you, I'll even let you be the one to pick the question. Ask me anything you want; I get three guesses and if I get it wrong, you get the file, no questions asked. And no matter what it is you plan to do with it, I give you my word I won't interfere," he said with a knowing smile. "But remember who you're dealing with. Although you're incredibly bright and you seem to be pretty good at figuring me out most of the time, I am a super genius. Just to give yourself a sporting chance, make sure you pick a question you're certain I couldn't possibly have the answer to."

"And if you do guess?"

"I keep the file and we get on with the kidnapping. Like I said; simple. You can handle that, right?"

Her expression shifted from confused to doubtful as she gazed at him with creased brows. Should she do it? In her experience there was often a trick of some kind wrapped up in these little "offers" of his and she usually ended up regretting that she had played along. But it didn't seem that she had any other choice, if she wanted any possibility of getting back the file that was packed with a year's worth of hard work and planning, she would just have to go along with it.

Besides, if she was the one to pick the question she would have the advantage, right? And even if he ended up keeping it, she had copies of most of the information in a back up file stashed away at home. The information was in a bit of disarray; she had stuffed the copies inside in a hurry when she added to her collection rather than taking the time to organize the way she had with the copy Megamind held hostage. It would be a major setback to be sure, but at least the majority of her information was safely tucked away if she needed it.

Coming to a decision, she said, "Okay, I'll do it. Just give me a second to think of a question..."

"Now hold on, I have one more thing to add to the list if I happen to win this little game."

"No, you can't do that! We've already made a deal!"

"Miss Ritchi, I'm e-vil. I can do whatever I want." he purred, his voice low and supple.

Roxanne could feel a tingle begin to shimmer it's way through her chest at his answer. How does he do that?

Forcing herself to focus on her frustration instead of the way he could turn her on like a light switch with that voice of his, she snapped, "Gah, fine! What is it?"

"A kiss."

The shocked reporter's eyes couldn't have shot open any wider if a police siren happened to find its way into her bedroom in the middle of the night to wake her from a deep sleep, and her mouth dropped open as she tried to decide if she had just heard him right. With a disbelieving tone in her voice she asked, "A kiss?"

"Yes... the kiss you won't give me and I won't take from you without you giving it freely. If I win, I get one... single... kiss."

Roxanne's mind was immediately sent on a confusing round of mixed emotions. The modern, independent woman in her was appalled that he would even have the nerve to think about bartering for a kiss; that was a cheap, sexist thing to do. On the other hand, the vulnerable, sensitive woman in her was drawn to the idea, especially when she thought about what he'd just said, "... won't take from you without you giving it freely".

She had wanted to kiss him more times than she could even count and caught herself fantasizing about it frequently when she was able to snatch a free moment to herself... maybe this wouldn't be a bad thing after all? In fact, the more she thought about it, the more it was beginning to sound like an incredibly good idea.

She was feeling very confident that the question she had decided to ask was perfectly designed to trip him up; he had as much as admitted just a short while ago that he had no clue what the answer was. And if he somehow managed to get it right... well, at least she'd get her consolation prize; something she had wanted for a very long time but just couldn't have.

"All right, one kiss. But that's it! And if you can't guess the answer I get my file and the rest of the week off from kidnappings."

"Wait a minute... "

"If you can add addendums to the conditions after the deal is made, so can I."

He looked at her with a scrutinizing expression for a few moments, and then said, "You drive a very shrewd bargain my dear. Fine... you get the file and the rest of the week off. It's a deal. Now, are you ready? What's your question? Ask away!"

Roxanne just looked at him for a moment, her face softened by a gentle smile as she shook her head at his eagerness. He was just a few feet from her, watching her with a wildly excited grin, his front teeth biting down on his lower lip with anticipation, and so anxious to get started with their challenge he could barely stand still. He really did love his little games and his hilariously competitive spirit, although very inconvenient for her when she was sucked into his plans, was immensely entertaining. She had secretly snickered at his manic and excited smile so often over the years she'd lost count.

Being an ambitious sort of girl herself, she was easily swept up in the spirit of the game when his competitive attentions focused on her rather than Metro Man. This time was no exception. In fact, the more she thought about this situation, the more enthusiastic and confident she became. This was going to be fun! She could hardly wait to see that smug grin wiped off his handsome blue mug when she beat him at his own game.

"All right then. My question is... how did I get all the information and photos that you saw in the file? How did I manage to steal so many of your secrets?"

Megamind's confident, complacent grin suddenly fell and was replaced by a hesitant, slightly worried scowl. He stood watching her uncomfortably for a moment, suddenly becoming uncharacteristically quiet as he fidgited his tented fingers nervously.

"Roxanne," he piped up with a mildly nervous tenor to his voice, "Isn't there another question you'd rather ask? I mean, I was expecting something a little more challenging."

"Nope."

He looked immensely disappointed at her answer. Metro City's most fearsome villain looked away with a frustrated grimace, glaring at the floor and crossing his arms like a temperamental child. He held his pout for only a short time however. Recovering with a sense of determination, he looked up at her thoughtfully and said, "Your cameraman, Hal Shtoowatt! You had him follow along somehow during your kidnappings and find a strategic location to take covert pictures of the goings on. Is that it?"

Roxanne's smile grew wider, beginning to shift itself into more of a self-confident smirk, and she said, "No, wrong answer. That's one guess down."

"Ugh!" he huffed, and spun around to pace the floor of the cramped copy room, his eyes narrowed in concentration and his cape trailing fluidly behind him. He looked as though he might pop a blood vessel in that enormous brain of his if he focused his intellectual machinations any harder on the puzzle set before him.

Roxanne was getting such a kick out of his dramatic antics, she was having a hard time successfully stifling her laughter. Despite her best effort, an occasional snorting burst would escape, drawing a withering glance from her captor. After observing his fierce attention to his mental task for what felt like several minutes, she couldn't stop herself from asking with a smug hint to her voice, "Having a little trouble?"

"No! Everything is fine! I just... wouldn't want you to be disappointed if I answered your question too quickly. I do want you to feel as though you had a sporting chance when our little game is over, after all. " He responded nervously.

The blue eyed reporter looked at him with a disbelieving sneer and said, "Uh-huh. Well go ahead, disappoint me. This is taking way too long and I really need to get my file so I can get back to work."

"Oh, you're rather sure of yourself today, aren't you?"

"Yep! Now, what's your next guess? You're out of time... you know you can't just pace around here all day pretending to be thinking when you really have no idea what the answer is. Just throw out a guess and let's get this over with!"

"Fine!" he snapped. "You... managed to get hold of one of my brainbots and retrain it to spy on me in my own lair; to slip in unnoticed among the other bots and snap pictures and record information secretly so no one would be the wiser."

"Aahahahahaahaa!" Roxanne burst out in a fit of laughter that had her grasping at the edge of the counter for support while he glowered at her darkly through his lowered brows, his lower lip protruding in a pout.

"Megamind, that's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard! You're just grasping at straws now; you have no idea what the answer is. Why don't you just admit it?"

"No, I still get one more guess!" he grumbled. The longer this game went on, the more he was beginning to sound like a spoiled child who refused to admit defeat in his favorite board game.

"All right, go ahead and throw out your last guess so we can get on with this. I have a lot of things I need to get done today." she responded with a chuckle as she wiped her eyes, ready to put this situation behind her and finally have a chance to sit down and finish her project.

Megamind's doubtful eyes met hers, his face a picture of indignance at her ribbing, and a strange thing began to happen...

Oh dear, another cliffie! Well I guess that means you'll just have to come back for the final installment! Chapter 3 is all written, it just needs a bit of fine tuning. I'll have it uploaded within the week! Hope you'll be back for the conclusion!

Just a quick thank you to all of you who were kind enough to leave me a review for chapter 1. My incredibly busy schedule prevented me from sending out thank you responses to some of you, but please know that I appreciate every single review. They were all very lovely and and mean SO much to me. Your kind words always give me the inspiration to write more! :)

If you feel the urge, please let me know what you think about this chapter! :) I'd LOVE to hear from you again, and I'll do my best to send out thank you responses as quickly as I can! :) Thanks you so much!