Pale Blue Shadows
Chapter 4: And Now They Come
He was in her living room again. This time, he had settled himself onto her couch. His slim build occupied a space that seemed much bigger than himself. He seemed to be intently focused on identifying the contents of her coffee mug.
"Don't you have anywhere else to go?" she asked finally, masking the ironic pleasure she took in his presence. No one was willing to talk to her, except to say horribly cruel things or insult her every feature.
"Not really," he replied, a bored tone in his voice. "You're hogging the entire spot-light at the moment, Miss Ritchie."
"Well, you can have it back," she spat, perching uncomfortably on the arm of her armchair. "I don't want it." She regarded him with suspicion, "And why haven't you done anything in the past week? It's not like you to skip exploding something or… kidnapping me."
He raised an eyebrow artfully, "Hardly a point in that anymore, is there, Miss Ritchie? From what I've heard, Metro Man has very firmly declared that you and he were never even involved." He smirked at her, "Which would make it an awfully long time since you've had a date, wouldn't it?"
Roxanne swallowed the urge to hit his big blue head. "Yeah, thanks for that. Still, explosions? You could… I dunno… steal something?"
Megamind's smirk widened, "My my, Miss Ritchie, are you actually encouraging my criminal activities? Perhaps there's some truth in what they're saying about you being the real mastermind…"
"Oh, that is so it!" Roxanne shrieked, grabbing the nearest thing at hand – the plush cushion that rested on the armchair's seat – and pelting it at his head.
"Ow," Megamind said flatly, his voice a sarcastic monotone, "Please, stop throwing soft, barely existent items at me. I may not survive their fierce impact." His green eyes mocked her.
"You're enjoying this," she huffed. "Everyone in the city is focused on hating me and you're enjoying this."
He shuffled uncomfortably on the couch. "Not as much as you would think," he crossed his fingers slowly in front of him, "I attempted one of my most evil schemes yet yesterday," he lifted his gaze to her in sheepish discontent, "I reduced an elementary school to rubble." Roxanne gasped, her eyes widening. "Apparently, I was mistaken in ensuring that the custodial staff had left for the evening. The lack of a body count ensured that the whole ordeal barely even got a mention on the evening news."
Roxanne's expression went from shocked to contemplative. "They've really got you all wrong, don't they?" she said finally.
"They, Miss Ritchie?" he drew his eyebrows up into a questioning gaze.
She sighed, running a hand through her short hair. "I know, I know… I was part of "they" just last week." She stood, walking from the armchair to the window, where her devoted haters could still be seen. She wrapped her arms loosely around herself. "I just… I feel like I've disappointed them. I did wrong. I… killed someone. I feel like a horrible, horrible person. I feel like I deserve whatever they can throw at me. Like I should repent forever and ever and maybe, eventually I could earn a slice of forgiveness." She turned from the window, facing him again. He sat still, his head at a slight angle as he regarded her in quite contemplation. "And then I hear the lies they're telling," she continued, "And I read the words… and they… they're horrible. They're cruel and vindictive. They're inventing rumours to spread. I'm not just some person who made a mistake, I'm a monster. I'm… some sort of evil, manipulating, unhuman thing. And I get…" she paused, waiting for some kind of judgment in his expression. But he simply sat there, his green eyes issuing her a challenge to keep talking. To finish what she was starting. To take this equation from a to b to c and then to come to the conclusion on her own.
She took a step closer. "I feel so angry," she admitted. "I feel like…" she cast a gaze towards the window, "Like they're sheep, believing whatever they're told. I feel like they're too stupid to think for themselves. Like they're incapable of telling truth from lies. Incapable of making their decisions, or forming their own opinions. Like they can't see past their own insignificant lives to find the bigger picture. Like maybe they're just so miserable about themselves they need to throw it back on me." Her voice was rising, getting harder and harsher. She looked at him, and he nodded, just enough to send her off again.
"I feel like… like I could just…" she struggled to find the world.
"Rage?" he supplied, "Destroy every fictitious bit of what they dare to consider good? Become exactly what they expect you to be?" The bitterness in his eyes mirrored her own.
"Yeah," she said awkwardly. "Exactly."
A knock came at the door. "Miss Ritchie? This is the Metro City Police. I need you to open this door."
Megamind's eyes widened. "Grab your bag," he hissed.
"But…" Roxanne looked between the door and Megamind himself. His eyes were dark and hard. He stood now, his entire body wound tightly as a spring.
"You don't want to go to jail, do you?" he added. "Go. Get. Your bag."
"Miss Ritchie, you're wanted on charges of aiding and abetting a known criminal, accessory to attempted murder, and accessory to conspiracy to commit murder. Please open this door."
Roxanne's eyes widened. "See?" he hissed. "If they don't have any real evidence, they'll make it up."
Roxanne went to her bedroom and grabbed the bag. She walked back into the living room, passing the front door as they began to kick at it to break it down. She articulated a strangled cry as she literally ran into her living room. Megamind caught her in his arms and pulled her close, wrapping the invisibility cape around them both. "Stay close," he breathed into her ear, his arms remaining wrapped around her.
She shivered against him. He was stronger than she had thought. His arms were wound only loosely around her, holding the cape closed over them both. He pulled her back slowly into a corner of the apartment as the police burst in. His breathing was slow and quiet and his breath warmed her left ear slightly as he breathed. She hadn't been this close to a man in years, and her body reacted exactly the way it thought it should. Every nerve ending in her body became hyper aware, especially anywhere their bodies were in contact. She felt the muscles in his torso contract slightly against her back, the realization that he actually had muscles filtering absurdly through her mind. His heart beat against her shoulder blade. From the right side of his body. Which really wasn't as odd as the heartbeat that accompanied it.
"Breathe," he whispered in her ear, startling her just enough to make her jump slightly against him. He chuckled, a deep, quiet chuckle that reverberated through what she supposed was his equivalent to a rib cage and into her own. His whisper had set something deep inside of her tingling. Her ears had always been sensitive. It really wasn't fair, she thought helplessly.
On the other hand, another thought surfaced in her mind. You need to look at this objectively, the calm part of herself said. You're currently wrapped in the arms of Megamind, the devilishly handsome master of all evil and villainy while police search your apartment for you because you've been charged with aiding and abetting said master of villainy when really, you haven't. A silent laugh shook her body.
"What's so funny?" he whispered again, and suddenly she felt horribly, wildly free to enjoy the sensation, and maybe even provoke him to do it again.
"The irony of it all," she whispered back, tilting her head back to rest against his chest. She looked up him, catching his green eyes staring down at her. The cape was like a tent of invisibility. It was absolutely absurd. Like some game that children would play. It was… ridiculously entertaining. The police were searching the apartment, starting at every squeaking floorboard, and they were right here. It was… strangely delicious to watch them wander around stupidly. It revealed them for what they were. Stupid. Horribly so.
"This is kinda fun," she admitted softly, just under her breath. She watched his reaction with interest. His breath caught in his throat as he stared down at her. His emerald eyes widened in surprise. They reflected something else though, awe, perhaps. And respect. His arms pulled her tighter.
"Why do you think I do this?" he confided in a wicked whisper. His customary smirk was once again plastered across his thin lips.
"Why are you doing this?" she asked suddenly, her voice a ghost as a police officer passed close to the couch, glancing behind it, but ignoring the apparently empty corner they stood in.
His face twitched slightly, his arms tightening around her further, pulling her closer to him as if he were afraid of losing her to the police officer. He leaned right next to her ear, careful to be as quiet as possible, "Because I'm terribly fond of you, Miss Ritchie. And if they lock you up, who will I exchange witty banter with?"
Roxanne felt a strange thrill run up her spine. She managed a ragged breath. "What if," she breathed, pausing to reassess what she was saying next, debating if this was really the choice she wanted to make. "What if I did become exactly what they expect me to be?"
From the awkward position they were in, his green eyes bore down into her own. In an instant, he had spun her around to face him. He regarded her with suspicion. "Ah," he said with a wicked smirk, "Have I finally convinced you to be my Evil Queen?"
"If I said yes?" Roxanne murmured, her eyes captivated by his gaze. His eyes fluttered closed as he pressed his forehead to her own.
"Don't toy with me, Miss Ritchie. You'll find that there is no going back from this."
"I think there's already no going back," she whispered, her hands settling on his chest.
His eyes flew open. "Temptress," he hissed.
"Are you tempted?" she replied, a hint of mischief in her voice. There was a playfully flirtatious feeling rising within her, even as his closeness was making it hard to breath. She's always accepted the fact that she found him attractive in some strange way. It had just always been a feeling she had squashed under the weight of moral certitude.
She'd lost that stupidity.
"You've no idea," he whispered, a wicked smile dancing across his lips.
Before she had a chance to react, he had spun her back around, thrown off the cape, and unholstered his gun. "Ah, the upholders of Metrosity's justice system. How delightful of you to just burst in," his smirk was wide as the police officers all froze in place. "And even more delightful, your false charges and suspicions have accomplished what I could never do," he drew Roxanne into his arms, "You've pushed poor, dear Miss Ritchie into my clutches for good." He smirked evilly. "You really must send my regards to the mayor. And Metro Man. And… well, everyone really for being so wonderfully cruel." He waved his gun, "Ah ah ah, I suggest you drop your weapons," he suggested playfully, "Unless you would prefer me to test my DE-stroy setting!"
Every police officer dropped their gun with a clatter. Roxanne watched with a detached interest. And a small amount of pride. They were terrified of him. She'd… well, honestly, she'd never really been terrified of him. "Come, Miss Ritchie," Megamind said with a certain grandiosity, "Let us escape from this madness."
She smirked, it was all an act, wasn't it? Every bit of it was a game, played for private amusement. She threw a careless look at the officers, wrapped one hand around the handle of her bag, and delicately wrapped the other around the arm Megamind offered her. "With pleasure," she acceded.