Chapter 3

Author's note: Many thanks to my first reviewesr! And many thanks to everyone who has read this story so far.

/

Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhaaaaaale. Straightening her form fitting jacket Roxanne nodded at her reflection in the bathroom mirror. So she got a little shaken up when she heard all the personal things that Hal knew about her, so what? He was a creep, but she was Roxanne Ritchi, a reporting journalist badass and one tough cookie to boot! I've definitely picked up a few things from Megamind, she thought. She shook her head and made her way back to the lair's common area where, from the sound of things, all hell was breaking loose.

Brainbots assembled by the hundreds carrying various objects as their Daddy shouted his orders. "You there," singling one bot out, "fetch my most intimidating cape! And you," pointing to another, " prepare my most terrifying playlist! The villain Hal Shtuart, formerly known as Tighten, will rue the day he threatened Megamind and his beloved." With a dramatic toss of his cape he bolted toward the Hudson.

"Minion," he threw over his shoulder, "ready the Death Ray!"

"Hold it, hold it!" Roxanne shouted above the flurry of activity. "What are doing?!"

Megamind whipped his body around and raised his fist in the air, chest heaving. "I am going to use the full force of the sun to obl-ee-torate that baffoon!" He had a manic glint to his emerald eyes.

Roxanne put her hand on his cheek and spoke softly. "I know that you're angry. Shhh, let me finish." She placed a finger over his lips as he tried to interrupt her. "Disgust and humiliation are not strong enough words to describe how I feel right now, but I am okay. We are okay. You are the hero now."

"But!"

"No. You can't let people like Hal get to you this way. He is nothing more than a depraved sociopath locked in prison. He has no power and this is him acting out, trying to get even." She put both arms around his shoulders.

Megamind tensed and the then let his arms envelope her, bringing them closer together. Sighing he ran his gloved hand threw her hair. "You're right," he let out, "I'm... less right." He closed his eyes nuzzling her cheek, willing himself to calm down. Slowly he opened his eyes and stared off into the distance. "Still," he murmured, "how did he know what your bedroom looked like if you had never invited him inside?"

"I want to know how he knew every piece of lingerie I own. It's like he made a catalog! God, I should have known something was up. You know, every few months or so a pair of panties would go missing. And I kept making excuses, like-" she stopped mid rant when she realized Megamind's jaw tensed so tightly she thought he would break a tooth.

"He must have been sneaking inside while you were being kidnapped, Ma'am," Minion chimed in. "It was certainly easy enough to come in through the balcony." The first item on Megamind's heroic list was adding security measures to Roxanne's apartment starting with the french doors.

"Maybe the balcony or he could have just asked Carlos to let him up," she explained. " Carlos knew that we worked together. He could have made up any excuse to go inside. I kept a spare key under the welcome mat since my purse was destroyed or missing after some of those kidnappings." Roxanne sent a moody glare at the blue hero standing in front of her. His smirk faded when he realized that his previous schemes may have allowed Hal access into her personal space.

Minion excused himself to put the brain bots and equipment back in order. Roxanne tugged on Megamind's hand and led him towards their bedroom. She had not moved all of her things to the Lair just yet. Her apartment was closer to her work place, and sometimes it just made sense for her to go there after a long day of reporting. She wasn't entirely sure she was ready to give it up, but the when the time was right she would know.

Sitting on the edge of the bed Roxanne patted the spot next to her invitingly. Megamind slumped down.

"I'm sorry, Roxanne. I didn't know he was pilfering. I didn't even know who he was before I gave him Metro Mahn's powers."

"The idea of him pawing through my underwear just gives me the chills," she shuddered. When he didn't respond she looked up expecting to see him fuming again, but all she saw were violet cheeks and ears, and his long fingers drumming over crossed forearms. "Oh. My. God. You did not go through bras and panties?!"

"A good villain must know everything about his victims. Aaand, I have to say my curiosity was peek-ed." He waggled his eyebrows and sent her a smoldering gaze. "I'm afraid I kept my own mental catalog, my dear. You were always the lady, but I did get a tempting glance every so often."

"I never pegged you for a pervert," came her cynical reply.

" I stumbled upon that particular drawer accidentally, I swear!" he defended emphatically, but then added, "I may be devilishly handsome, blue, and from another planet, but I am all male, Ms. Ritchi. You don't know how many times your skirt would rise and I would get a peek of a little bit of layth." He practically drooled at the memory: Roxanne bound and dangling above him, him looking up, and seeing a small swath of blue lace between her thighs. Roxanne sitting on his favorite kidnapping chair, her skirt lifting just high enough to expose the bit of skin between a black, thigh-high stocking and gray wool skirt. She had no idea at the time, and it was beneath him to use it against her, so he filed it away for later when he was very much alone.

"Hmm, a tempting glance, huh?" Roxanne smirked. She lowered herself on the bed and pulled his lean body down with her. "Tell you what. I'll let you take more than a peek this time, and then we'll go eat cake for dinner. What do you say?" A slim index finger ran from his bottom lip down his goatee coaxing his surrender.

"Temptress," he whispered, eyes playful and bright. Leaning down to kiss her fully, he temporarily pushed aside all thoughts about a certain incarcerated foe and re-vahnge.

/

A seething Hal stood in front of the wall of his cell, seemingly staring at nothing. Thwack! Thwack! Thwack! Over and over he smashed his forehead into the reinforced concrete. Every once in a while the guard overseeing the cell monitors would contemplate ordering him to stop, but would change his mind at the last second. If Metro City's worst nightmare wanted to hurt himself who was he to tell him to stop. Must be feeling guilty, the guard reasoned. He would still add it to the inmate log when his shift ended.

Thwack! How could she do this to me? Thwack! She loves me! She loves me! SHE LOVES ME! Thwack!

He pressed his sweaty cheek into the wall, panting. He knew it wasn't all Roxanne's fault, though she still needed to be punished for making him look like an idiot. No, majority of the blame went to Megamind. And he would definitely make him pay.

It's only a matter of time, he giggled to himself. He could feel the flab of his biceps flex into a large muscle and then relax again into a fatty mass. Oh, he was still Tighten all right. He just need just needed a little help bringing him out. And, after years of filming Roxanne reporting on the city's underground, he knew just the criminal that could help him. Psycho Delic.

"Roxieeeee," he sung. "I'm coming for you! I'm coming for you, my pretty Roxaroo." He couldn't wait!