Thank you to everyone who reviewed! Here comes the story itself, no more re-telling. I have used a few scenes in the story along the way, just to set the time frame and location a little but nothing as major as the first chapter. This is my first attempt at writing a long-running romance, so I really have no idea if it is any good or not. Please please PLEASE tellme if it goes too...gushy. I've tried to keep them IN but hey, this is an AU, if I decide that Roxanne is going to go waterskiing over a shark then she will! (Or maybe not)

So, here comes the A/Uish stuff. Oh, and a fair ammount of swearing. Consider yourself warned.


Getting two doses of knock-out spray in one day left Roxanne with a pounding headache that even a double-dose of painkillers wasn't sorting out. She rubbed the skin on her wrists and ankles, which were slightly sore and chaffed from where the ropes had rubbed her a little, and noticed with a little surprise that they had removed her shoes before setting her down on her sofa. She guessed that was Minion's idea, he always seemed more concerned than his boss for her comfort. Normally, any girl would have freaked out at this, wondering exactly what else her kidnapper had done but she knew as an absolute fact that Megamind was nothing if not honourable. He had reacted with such shock and disgust when the newspapers had accused him of 'having his wicked way with her' after his first kidnapping attempt that it was clear that sort of thing would never be an issue.

With a sigh she lay back down on the sofa and stared blankly at the TV at the same moment as a photo of herself flashed up on screen.

"Star reporter for channel 8 news, Roxanne Ritchie, is still missing, presumably still in the evil clutches of Metro City's resident super-villain Megamind. Miss Ritchie was kidnapped this morning prior to the dedication of the Metroman Museum which also happened to be the starting point for Megamind's latest plan of attack. Miss Ritchie has been Megamind's kidnap victim of choice ever since her relationship with the City's hero, Metroman became public knowledge!"

"Yeah, whatever!" Roxanne muttered as she buried her head in the sofa cushion. She hated that rumour more than anything else and she had been furious with Metroman when she found out he was fanning the flames instead of denying the whole thing. He had eventually convinced her that it was a good thing, she would be able to get all of the news coverage that she needed to advance her career, and he would get the fan-girls off his back if they though he was seriously involved with someone. At first it had been OK, she had found it funny, that she had this strange little secret she was keeping from the rest of the world. And then, a few months later, she realised that there was one major problem. Getting a date with someone, when the entire world thought you were the girlfriend of the strongest man in the universe, was very difficult indeed.

It had been a long time Since Roxanne had had anything more than a casual flirt with some nameless guy in a bar. She had grown used to the idea, but for some reason the feelings of frustration had returned leaving her feeling hollow inside. The only guy that seemed to not care about the idea of her and Metroman being an item was her camera man, Hal Stewart and Roxanne promised herself that she would never be that desperate.

"Megamind is still at large and being hunted by both Metroman and the Metro City police department. If anyone has any information regarding his whereabouts or the whereabouts of Roxanne Ritchie, please contact the police immediately." Roxanne wanted to throw something at the news anchor just to prove that she was right there listening to every inane word she was coming out with.

A soft whooshing noise came from outside her balcony windows and Roxanne didn't even have to look up as the glass doors slid open.

"So this is where you've been hiding." His cape swirled around his ankles as he strolled across the room towards Roxanne's prone form.

"Who's hiding, I only just woke up!" She groaned as she pulled herself up into a sitting position, "What the hell happened? Last thing I knew you blasted out of the observatory."

"Whatever weapon it was that he intended to defeat me with went off not long after. The observatory was completely destroyed, that one might have actually hurt." Metroman said as he glanced around the room, "The shock wave actually knocked me out of the sky, and for some reason I've been having trouble finding you ever since. The noise left a ringing in my ears for the past 4 hours!" Roxanne rolled her eyes and stood up, walking past Wayne without even looking up at him.

"Yeah well, I have no idea where we were, like I said, I just woke up here." She said as she poured herself a glass of wine. She stomped down the thought that it would only make her head worse, and figured that if it got any worse she would simply fall unconscious and sleep it off.

"Wait," Wayne said as he turned to her with a frown, "You woke up here? Who brought you back?"

"Yeah, it's not like he doesn't know where I live! He's kidnapped me from here often enough." She took a large mouthful of the wine, closing her eyes as she felt it tingle down her throat.

"What?" Wayne looked like this was the worst news he had heard in a long time, "and you are OK with this?"

"What's gotten into you?" Roxanne demanded as she span on her heel to frown furiously at him.

"Me? You are the one who seems OK with a super-villain having access to your home!" Wayne leaned down so that he was at eye level with her and glared right back at her, "What if he just walks in one night and-"

"Don't you even dare!" She shouted as she pointed the wine bottle at him as if it was a knife, "Don't you even dare suggest something like that, you should know better than that!"

"He's evil Roxie! Who knows what he is capable of?"

"He may be evil," with the emphasis on the word 'may' Roxanne made it clear that she was not convinced of the villains self confessed 'evilness', "but he does have standards. He has never once tried anything like that and you damn well know it!"

"OK, OK. Calm down." Wayne held his hands up at her in surrender, "I'm just a little shocked by this is all."

"I'm surprised you didn't realise. How many times has he kidnapped me? It doesn't take a genius to figure it out, all he would have to do is look in the phone book!" Roxanne sat down on one of the bar stools that stood against the breakfast bar and held her throbbing head in her hands. She had a feeling that Wayne was not going to be going anywhere soon and all she wanted to do was to curl up in bed and sleep for a week.

"You sound like you are defending him."

Roxanne's eyes snapped open in shock at his statement. She realised with a sinking sensation that she was actually defending him. Her reasons behind it were the most troubling, she honestly didn't like people thinking things about him that simply weren't true. There was so much more to Megamind than he let show and it had fascinated her for years, he obviously had hidden depths, that was clear enough in his relationship with Minion. His flare for invention was truly astounding and she shuddered to think what he would be able to accomplish if he put some serious effort into it. She had believed for ages that both Megamind and Metroman were merely acting out roles as if they were on a stage.

"So what," Roxanne said after a while, "I just don't like people accusing him of something so hideous." She turned away from him, trying to signal that their conversation is over but knowing that he wouldn't take the hint.

"I'm just worried about you, I don't want you getting hurt." Wayne's tone of voice had turned back to the brotherly form it usually took when he was talking to her.

"I'm a big girl, I can look after myself." She muttered as she poured herself another glass of wine, feeling the effects of it already, "and I most definitely do not need protecting from Megamind. When have I ever actually screamed for your help?"

"Roxie," Wayne had begun pacing back and forth in an attempt to get his thoughts in order and to rein in his temper, "You are beginning to sound like you don't mind being kidnapped all the time."

"Excuse me?" She was out of her seat in an instant, jabbing an accusing finger into his rock hard chest, an angry scowl on her face, "Don't mind being kidnapped? How dare you? You are the reason I'm in this stupid situation in the first place, if you had never talked me into going along with this whole stupid fucking 'relationship' scam then I would never have been chosen as his victim of choice! How dare you accuse me of anything! You could always just stop this fucking game any time you know, that is all this is, a stupid fucking game with me being the trophy! Well I'm fucking sick of it!" She stood there, panting in the aftermath of her rant, the wine and the after affects of the knock-out spray leaving her in an argumentative mood.

"Whoa, Roxie..." Wayne backed away from the shouting woman and decided that this situation was better left alone, he may be a Hero but some things were beyond even his powers, "I think I should just leave you to calm down for a bit, I-" The nearly empty bottle of wine suddenly went hurtling past his head, smashing against the wall behind him. The dark red wine left a stain on the cream walls as it trailed down slowly and she screamed at him to get out.

There was a voice inside her head that was telling her this was not like her at all but that part of her was only a very small part and her anger and frustration at the events of her recent life was bubbling too strongly.

Wayne made a quick retreat out onto her balcony and blasted off into the darkening sky, looking back over his shoulder briefly as if to check to see if she was somehow chasing after him. He wouldn't put it past her, judging by how foul her mood was.

Roxanne screamed her aggravation into her hands as she sat back down on the bar stool. Tears were suddenly pouring down her face as the fury that had consumed her burnt out and left a pit of depression in it's wake. She was so confused by the whole thing and her head hurt so much. A sudden shuffling noise from behind her tore a shriek from her throat as she span, brandishing the now empty wine glass like a deadly weapon, she shrank back against the breakfast bar, all of the bravado and aggression she had displayed only moments before were now gone.

"It's OK, it's OK." He raised his hands up at her, showing her that he was unarmed as he crouched down slightly, ready to dodge any attack she may throw at him.

"Megamind?" Roxanne slumped as a very strange mix of shock and relief flooded over her, "What... what..." She was panting for breath and had turned a very pale colour. She clutched on to the bar for support as she sat back on the stool.

"I'm sorry, I..." Megamind inched towards her, not wanting to incur her wrath but wanting to make sure she was OK, "I had only just put you on your sofa when you started to wake up, I, I wanted to make sure that there were no lingering effects of the spray, it is not every day you get two doses, Minion used a little too much the second time around."

"But why are you still here?" Roxanne asked, gaining a little bit more of herself back again, "Wait, did you see... oh my god."

"I was about to leave when..." He glanced over at the doors to the balcony and moved sideways smoothly as if to hide himself from whoever may be watching, "the brainbots alerted me to Metroman's presence, unfortunately I didn't have time to make an exit."

"But... how come he didn't see you?" Roxanne was genuinely confused by the strange situation, not to mention the fact that she was having trouble even seeing in a straight line at the moment.

"Oh I had that one figured out a long time ago! If he has no reason to suspect anything then his moral code will not let him use his x-ray vision in someone's home. Invasion of privacy and all that." Megamind seemed to be relaxing slightly which for some reason made Roxanne feel a little happier.

"Oh..." Roxanne couldn't think of anything else to say and a silence dragged on for a few more moments before Megamind smiled slightly at her and sighed.

"Thank you," a slight violet blush made it's way to his cheeks as his smile reached his eyes.

"What for?" She whispered with a frown, the sudden change in his behaviour just added to her confusion.

"For defending me." The smile he was giving her was the most genuine she had ever seen and a flurry of emotions ran through her, "not many people would."

"Well, I..." She took a deep breath and wondered if any of this was actually happening, the wine had affected her very quickly and she knew she was slurring her words more than just a little, "I just don't like people making accusations about things they can't possibly understand."

He stood there just looking at her for a few moments, that same smile still on his face. He had been hiding behind the door to her bathroom, praying that neither of the apartments occupants felt the call of nature any time soon. He had been outraged as he listened to Metroman accuse him of wanting to take advantage of her in that way, and his heart had nearly stopped when he heard Roxanne's defence. His pulse had kicked up a good few notches when Metroman had accused her of liking being kidnapped, he had known for a while that she, in some perverse way, enjoyed at least part of their time together, even if it was just the battle of wits they entered into each and every time. He hadn't expected her explosive response and some voice in the back of his head pointed out that she almost sounded too defensive, maybe there was something in the accusation after all.

"So, errm... look, I'm too tired for this, I just wanna go to bed so if you don't mind-" Roxanne moved to stand up and head over to her front door to ask him to leave but her coordination had deserted her and her legs gave way beneath her. With a squeak of surprise she squeezed her eyes shut as she felt her body fall.

Everything happened in such a blur that Megamind didn't even realise exactly what had happened when he found her in his arms. She clung to him almost desperately, as if she would fall to some sort of doom if he let go of her. Her head was against his chest, no doubt his heart beat thundering in her ear as it threatened to burst out from his chest. He had caught her just as she was about to hit the floor which left him kneeling on the floor. When he realised this he also realised that she was splayed across his lap, one arm trapped between their bodies, he sat very still, trying to remember how to breath. He was about to say something to her when he realised that she wasn't moving either.

Roxanne, who was never normally much of a drinker, was very unused to the sensation of the floor spinning round. When she had stood up she had felt the world tip alarmingly and she had reached out for the nearest thing she could find. Her heart skipped a beat when she felt his surprisingly strong arms pull her against his chest. He was warm and soft despite the leather studded outfit he insisted on wearing and the last thought that crossed Roxanne's mind was that it just felt right!

Only moments after all of this she slipped into unconsciousness and lay against his chest breathing steadily against his suit.

He felt a little numb when he finally got back to the evil lair. The brainbots greeted him with their usual excitement and Minion came rushing out as soon as he heard the commotion.

"Sir!" The fish yelled, a relieved smile on his face, he knew how annoyed Megamind got when he became too protective but he just couldn't help worrying, "I was beginning to wonder what had happened to you. The watch didn't say you were back in prison so I..." Minion felt very uncomfortable about hiding the truth from his friend, there had never been any secrets between them, ever. When Megamind had not returned promptly after taking Miss Ritchie back home Minion had begun to get a little worried and had done the only thing he could do under the circumstances. He had activated the watches remote tracking device. Needless to say the fish found it very strange indeed that Megamind would spend so long at Miss Ritchie's apartment after dropping her off.

"No need, Minion." Megamind waved a hand dismissively as he walked past, not really paying attention to anything. Minion frowned, it was not like the blue man to be so quiet after a nearly-win. Today had been a good day, they had been able to avoid going back to jail and the death ray itself had been a success, despite the warming-up issues. The observatory had been completely obliterated giving Metro City a very impressive display of power and as far as Minion could tell, Metroman had not thought of trying to destroy it yet.

"Sir? Is everything OK?" Minion asked as he followed his boss through the lair. Megamind moved like he was in some sort of trance. He unclipped the collar and cape and simply let it drop heavily to the floor behind him, a couple of brainbots dashed out moments later to whisk it away. When he reached his 'thinking chair' he sat down heavily and leaned back with a sigh.

"No, Minion." He said finally, not looking pleased at all, "Something went wrong. There is a problem with the knock-out spray, I think."

"What do you mean Sir, have there been side effects?" Minion was genuinely concerned, they had tested the knock-out spray very carefully and had perfected the formula years ago after they discovered it caused short term memory loss among a few other mild side effects.

"The higher dose she received earlier had an adverse affect when it was mixed with an alcoholic substance. The residual affect of the spray appeared to enhance the effect of the beverage." He rubbed his forehead with his fingers as he frowned at the memory.

"You mean she got drunk? While you were still there?" Minion asked, trying to clear up the confusion in his own mind.

"Mr Goody-two-shoes showed up before I could leave. I was stuck in her apartment, forced to listen to her arguing with the hero!" Megamind couldn't help but smirk at the memory, it had been good seeing that all was not perfect and rosy between the pair, "She only had a couple of glasses of wine and she became quite inebriated."

"She was arguing with Metroman?" Minion had the urge to sit down in order to properly digest this news.

"You should have heard it Minion! She threw a bottle of wine at him! And she defended me to him!" Megamind looked up at his friend hopefully, a grin finding it's way to his face.

"Errm... well, that's good, I suppose." Minion was utterly confused by the whole thing, not to mention his boss's reaction, "But she is still his girlfriend, isn't she Sir?"

"It didn't really look like it from what I saw, but I suppose she must be." He slumped in his chair a little more before shaking his head to try and get his thoughts back on track, "Now, we must find out what caused the reaction. It must have been the combined effect of the spray and the drink but it was an unnecessary reaction." He muttered to himself as he leaned forward to the drafting table in front of him, calling on a brainbot to bring him his notes on the chemical composition of the knock-out spray.

Roxanne had never really understood the phrase 'bear with a sore head' until today. She groaned as she shifted her position on the bed, not knowing if she should just go back to sleep or head into the bathroom and just hurry things along. As her alarm went off suddenly, filling her head with the most painful sensation she had ever come across, she knew the pounding in her head would never let her sleep again. Feeling for all the world like she had been hit by a bus, she dragged herself out of bed and headed into her bathroom, trying not to even look at the toilet. Blindly she turned the shower on and striped off her crumpled red dress and climbed inside the warm stream of water. After a few moments of trying to get her balance she decided that sitting down would be better. As she sat in a heap of limbs on the floor of the shower, she closed her eyes and tried to remember exactly what had happened.

She could remember the kidnapping, and Megamind's failed attempt to defeat Metroman once and for all, then she woke up on her sofa and instantly reached for the a bottle of wine. She was used to drinking on her own and although she would deny it to anyone else she could easily polish off a couple of bottles of wine to herself in one night. Events after that had become very blurry, she remembered Wayne showing up, and she could remember having a very heated argument with him but she couldn't remember what it was about, the feeling of anger and frustration was still very clear but what had sparked it off? She held her head in her hands, sighing as the heat from the water was finally beginning to unlock her tired muscles. She was missing something else, something important had happened and she needed to remember what had happened.

With a gasp the memory came back, leaving her feeling more confused than ever. He had still been there, after Wayne had left. Megamind had been in her apartment the whole time, he had heard everything and had … what? She could remember a smile, his eyes shining at her in that fantastic shade of green she had never seen anywhere else. He had smiled at her with such a genuine look on his face, she felt herself heating up at just the memory. She remembered standing up, wanting to ask him to leave, falling over and... She felt her cheeks heat up even more as she remembered the sensation of being caught in Megamind's arms, of being pulled into his chest as he stopped her from landing in a painful heap on the floor. He didn't have to catch her, in fact, had she been lucid enough she would have put money on him allowing her to fall so he could stand there and smirk.

The feeling of being in his arms was the most confusing thing of all. She could remember how his arms felt as the tightened around her back, as her hers lay against his chest, his heartbeat pounding in her ear, her legs draping themselves around his waist as he pulled her firmly against him. His body felt a lot stronger and warmer than she had ever anticipated and she remembered with a blush that they had never, actually, properly touched before. At least not while she had ever been awake.

She had felt safe. Secure. More so in that moment than she had ever felt when being carried by Wayne, and the revelation shocked her to her core. Her hangover chose that moment to remind of her existence as the shock she was experiencing mixed with her roiling stomach and she dashed out of the shower and promptly threw up the remains of last nights wine. After a few too many painful dry heaves, she finally managed to calm her raging insides and sat, panting, her head resting against the cool tiled wall. The act of throwing up had, for some reason, eased the sensation of the hangover. Eventually, she dragged herself up of the floor to try and make herself eat something and to find the strongest painkillers she could possibly get her hands on. She wondered what her next encounter with the super-villain would be like and mentally berated herself for the blush that formed on her cheeks. If anyone had seen that display she would never have been able to live it down, the story about her involvement with Metroman was the only thing keeping the tabloids from going to town on her with a Stockholm Syndrome story.

Wayne Scott sat on the top of the globe that was suspended above the giant marble statue of himself that had been unveiled only the day before. He sighed as he watched the city's occupants go about their daily lives completely unaware of the feelings that were plaguing their resident hero. He was deeply concerned for Roxanne, she was one of his only true friends and he had seen a side of her the night before that he never wanted to see again. If only he had been able to locate them after the observatory had been destroyed, maybe she would not have gotten into the state he had found her in later that day. He had never seen her so furious and he honestly couldn't understand why.

She had it easy, all she had to was stand in front of a camera and tell the world how horrible Megamind was and how fantastic Metroman was. Simple. She didn't have to worry about always being there to save everyone from every little thing that interrupted their daily lives.

Being a hero was tiring. He always had to be on guard and there were always people ready to complain if he didn't show up to stop something. A bank robbery in progress could be handled by the city's more than capable police force but if he didn't show up, at least one of the tabloids would accuse him of slacking. If someone was injured by a drunk driver, people would wonder why Metroman didn't notice it and put a stop to it sooner.

Aside from the weekly scuffle with Megamind there really wasn't much for a hero of his calibre to do in Metro City. There was only what he considered petty crime, nothing really bad ever happened, not like he read about in other cities. He had read about cities around the world that had real problems, even tropical paradises like Hawaii had higher crime rates than Metro City. If Megamind wasn't involved then it probably wasn't even worth mentioning on the news. Metroman was becoming bored of it all. Oh sure, the fights with Megamind were entertaining but if you knew that you could truly never be defeated then what was the point? Where was the excitement.

He had often scoffed at the journalists and authors who accused him of enabling Megamind to continue on his campaign against the city when he was fully capable of taking the super-villain out of action once and for all. People accused him of not taking his position as Metro City's superhero seriously by allowing Megamind to continue living, that he should have been killed in the name of justice from the very beginning, thus saving the city countless millions of dollars. Metroman always countered these suggestions with one plain and simple fact. Megamind had never intentionally hurt anyone and had not once directly caused the death of any citizen of Metro City. Roxanne was the only one who was ever put into the line of fire and even when their battles spilled out into populated areas, beyond the bounds of the evacuation zones, Megamind was careful that no innocent bystanders were ever hurt. It was rumoured that as he grew up the city's prison, he had seen first hand what human beings could do to each other and he wanted no part in it.

Wayne had grown up in the lap of luxury, never wanting for anything. He practically landed in the Scott mansion with a silver spoon in his mouth. He had always enjoyed the natural popularity created by being the adopted son of the richest and most powerful family in the state, and by being the only flying boy probably in the world. He could lift a fully grown adult sooner than he could walk and never went anywhere without being surrounded by a crowd of fawning onlookers. That had propelled him through his educational career, right up until he graduated from high-school and Megamind, as he had taken to calling himself, had issued his first real challenge against the young hero.

Ever since then nothing had really changed. Their battles became more elaborate and ornate and their infamous witty banter became increasingly skewed and confusing. Yet the game had never changed. It ran like a well rehearsed script. Megamind would break himself out of jail, put some nefarious plan into motion, kidnap Roxanne from whatever public event she was attending, threaten her with any number of evil inventions, put a city-wide call out to challenge Metroman to a duel of some description, throw an even larger evil invention at the hero in an attempt to defeat him once and for all, only for that invention to either fail miserably or blow up completely in his own face. Metroman would find and rescue Roxanne and then would haul Megamind back to his jail cell. Wash, rinse, repeat.

It was always the same, never changing, never ending. He could imagine them still carrying on in old age! He was pushing 40 and was beginning to go grey around the temples. His fans said it gave him more of a distinguished look but to him it was a reminder that time was marching on. He had no idea how old age was going to affect him and he could not sense any change in his powers what so ever. He really didn't want to be going toe to toe with Megamind for the rest of his life no matter how long that may be. He doubted that Megamind would be able to survive his own inventions for that long.

With a heavy sigh he blasted off into the sky to head back to his secret fortress. He needed to relax and the only way he knew of doing that required a guitar and an audience composed entirely of his own memorabilia.


A/N: I had a slight issue with some page breaks, I'll try and fix it later if it stays broken after uploading.

Oh yes, and please drink responsibly!