Okay, couldn't keep away. Nothing much to say about this chapter, just that it was inspired in part by The Hunchback of Notre Dame II and Once Upon a Time (love that show!). Enjoy!


As usual, Minion was up early to start on breakfast. What he hadn't expected was to see his boss at his worktable, hovered over some strange contraption, which to him looked like a turtle. Megamind had stayed up all night before, but for some reason, seeing him now after his streak of doing nothing came as a surprise.

"You're up early," Minion observed, approaching his friend.

"I never went to sleep," Megamind explained, still focused on his invention. "More specifically, I couldn't sleep."

"What does that thing do, sir?"

The villain paused and stepped away from his creation. "You know what? I have no idea."

"You're inventing something and you have no idea what it's supposed to do?"

"I don't know. It just…happened."

Minion raised an eyebrow. "Are you alright, sir?"

"No," Megamind muttered, setting himself on a black leather couch. "I'm not alright. I think I might be sick. I can't eat. I can't sleep. One moment I feel wonderful and then horrible…and then wonderful again. Now I'm building things for no apparent reason. What's wrong with me, Minion?"

The robot fish knelt to his level. "Open your mouth."

His friend did so and Minion examined his tongue.

"It's not an upset stomach." He put a metal hand to his giant forehead. "You don't feel hot."

"That's because your hands aren't real, Minion!" Megamind exclaimed. "You can't feel anything!"

Minion blushed. "Oh, right."

He unzipped a pouch on his belt and took out a thermometer. He put it in his master's mouth and watched as the red liquid went up.

"A hundred and ten degrees," the fish declared. "Good thing you're not human, otherwise I'd say you have a fever."

He removed the thermometer and brought out a stethoscope. He listened carefully to Megamind's chest.

"Your heart rate's okay."

"Then what's wrong with me?" his boss demanded.

"Well, you're not physically ill. It's probably all in your head. Sir, could this have something to do with where you went last night?"

Still wearing the stethoscope, Minion jumped back in his bowl.

"What's the matter?"

"That's weird," the fish said. "Your heart rate just doubled." He took off the stethoscope and eyed his boss suspiciously. "Where did you go last night?"

Megamind bit his lip, but then folded his arms. "That's none of your business, Minion!"

"Fine, don't tell me. But I think you should at least get some rest."

He took his friend's advice. As Megamind lay in bed, staring at the ceiling, he attempted to relax. He shut his eyes to clear his mind, but all that would come were visions of Roxanne Ritchi. He grinned as he relayed the events of that night.

He remembered how she had taken his hand, how she had clung to him during their flight, how she had listened to his back story, and how warm her smile was when she had said goodnight. But most importantly, he remembered that the entire time, he hadn't been wearing a disguise. She had known it was him all along, yet she did all that.

That was when Megamind realized the reason for his illness. It was all because of Roxanne. Even before last night, he had been pining over her, but it was different this time. Why was this different? He couldn't sleep, nor eat, nor concentrate. Could it have been possible that he wasn't sick, but experiencing the symptoms that humans had when they were in…?

No, how could it be? They had only met twice. Could something like that happen so quickly? He admitted that he did have some sort of admiration for her. After all, she was beautiful, intelligent, and she hadn't screamed. Had it already become that serious?

He was certain of one thing. No one must know of this, not even Minion. If word got to Metro Man that he had been sneaking around with his alleged girlfriend, it would not end well.

There was something else he was sure of. He wanted Roxanne, whether it was love he was feeling or not. He wanted to spend more time with her, like they had done last night. He fell asleep while thinking of ways to make her want the same.


"And so, thanks to the brilliant efforts of Metro Man," Roxanne reported to the camera half-heartedly, "the thieves have been taken into custody and the bank is safe once again. What will this powerful man do next? This is Roxanne Ritchi, reporting live from the Metro City Bank."

As soon as Hal had stopped filming, she let out a yawn she had been fighting.

"No offense, Roxie," her pudgy cameraman said, "but you don't seem to be in the zone today."

"I'm just tired, Hal," she grumbled. "The weekend was overwhelming."

"I know what'll make you feel better. How about we get some lunch?"

"No thanks, I'm not really hungry. Besides, I, um, promised my sister I'd swing by to see her."

This was just an excuse to get away from Hal so she could be alone to think. However, she really wasn't hungry. Since the unusual excursion two nights ago, she had hardly been able to eat or sleep. She was so groggy that she could barely keep her eyes open and almost didn't go to work.

She spent her lunch break at the doctor's, but he hadn't found anything wrong with her. All he suggested was that she'd go home and get some rest. She called her boss and he said it was alright, so long as she felt better in the morning.

When she arrived back at the apartment, she found her sister lounging on the couch with three bouquets of flowers on the coffee table in front of her. The vase on the left contained red roses, the second had a mix of all kinds and the third had red and blue roses.

"Who sent you the flowers?" she asked her sister.

"Nobody," Rachel declared. "Those are for you."

"All of them?"

"Yeah, it was weird. The delivery boy was relieved when I finally took them off his hands. I asked him if they were from the same person and he said no. Go on, see for yourself."

Roxanne approached the first bouquet and picked up the small card addressed to her. She groaned as she read the message:

Dear Roxie,

I know everyone thinks we're going out, so I thought why don't we try it? I'll pick you up at seven on Saturday and take you to dinner.

Wayne

"Can you believe that guy?" Rachel said, rolling her eyes. "He's basically demanding that you go out with him."

Roxanne nodded. "I should've known he'd bring this up eventually."

"You're not going, are you?"

She really didn't want to, especially after hearing what Wayne had done to Megamind in school.

"I'll think about it."

She moved on to the mixed bouquet and sneezed as she reached for the card. There was at least one flower of everything, including lilac, which she was allergic to. Whoever had sent this clearly didn't know her that well. The words on the card confirmed that.

Hey Roxie,

I bought you flowers. I didn't know what you liked so I got, you know, all of them. Don't tell your boyfriend I sent you these

Love, Hal

"Who's Hal?" Rachel inquired.

"My cameraman," Roxanne moaned. "He's nice, but he can be such a creep."

She didn't think twice when she picked up the two bouquets and threw them in the wastebasket. The remaining bunch of red and blue roses was a mystery. Unlike Metro Man's gift, these didn't have thorns. She examined them for a note, but didn't find one.

"How come this one doesn't have a card?"

Rachel grinned and held up a piece of blue paper. "Who's this Romeo, by the way?"

Roxanne's eyes grew big. "Give me that!"

As she chased her around the room, Rachel read the note aloud:

"My dearest Miss Ritchi, not a minute has passed when you haven't come to mind. I present to you these flowers, though none can compare to your beauty. I do not wish to cause you offense, only that you accept this small gift and think nothing more of it. Yours sincerely, Romeo."

Rachel clutched the letter to her chest. "That is so romantic!"

Roxanne snatched it out of her hands and read it herself. It was written in such perfect cursive and the paper smelt like lavender. This came from Megamind?

"So who's Romeo?" Rachel asked again.

"He's," Roxanne stammered, "the Phantom of the Opera."

"No way! How did he get your address?"

"I, uh, may have told him on our…date."

"You went on a date with this guy? When?"

"A couple of nights ago, while you were at work."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Well, he called after you had left and…I guess I didn't want you to tell Mom about it."

"And his name is actually Romeo? You get three admirers at once and one of them is a Romeo! Wow, I am so jealous of you right now! Mom would kill you if she found out. Now I'm really jealous!"

"Would you stop it, Rach?" Roxanne demanded as she smelt the roses again. "We just went out once. The fact that his name is Romeo does not mean this is going to develop into a Shakespearean plot. Besides, he probably just sent these to be nice. I don't think it's that serious."

"Have you counted the roses?"

Roxanne did and there were thirteen in total.

"It means you have a secret admirer. Red means love, of course, and blue means the unattainable and impossible. It makes sense, since blue roses aren't exactly natural. And thorn-less roses mean 'love at first sight.' Don't you see, Roxie? This guy is totally into you!"

"Red is my favorite color. He knows that."

"Then how do you explain the blue?"

She figured the reason for that was so she would know who had sent them. Roxanne then counted the flowers again and realized that there were seven red and six blue. She remembered six roses meant the need to be loved or cherished. Could it be that he had really known what he was doing?

A question from Rachel interrupted her thoughts. "Why are you home so early, anyway?"

"I wasn't feeling well," Roxanne explained. "My boss said I could rest."

"Oh, you poor thing. Hey, I don't recall seeing you eat this morning. I'll fix something up for you."

As her sister went into the kitchen, the reporter leaned forward and inhaled the heavenly rose scent. What kind of a villain sends roses to women? This must have been a trick, unless he had somehow fallen for her. Had he?

"Did you check with the doctor?" Rachel called from the kitchen.

"He said the only thing I was suffering from was starvation and sleep deprivation."

"I think I know what's wrong with you."

"What?"

"You're in love."

Roxanne stiffened but then faked a laugh. "What? That's crazy!"

"It's the only logical explanation. You can't eat, you can't sleep and you look like a mess."

"That doesn't make any sense. If I'm in love, why do I feel so horrible?"

"You're not with the person you love. I think I might know who that might be."

Roxanne glanced at the bouquet. "No way. We've only met twice."

Rachel peered into the room and looked in the same direction. "That was clearly enough for him."

"No, it's just not right."

"Why not? You seem to have made an impression on him, as he has on you."

Her sister emerged with a tomato, lettuce and cheese sandwich.

"Even if you're not hungry, it's no use going around with an empty stomach."

The reporter reluctantly nibbled on the sandwich.

"He hasn't made an impression on me," she insisted.

Rachel shook her head. "Come on, admit it. You're flattered that he had sent you flowers."

Roxanne gazed down at the gift. "Maybe a little."

"Maybe a lot! Don't even bother hiding that smile! I say you call him and thank him."

"It's complicated, Rach."

"How so?"

"I can't tell you. Just believe me that if anyone knew about this, I'd be in a lot of trouble."

"Oh, I forgot to mention. I got a new job."

"You quit your old one?"

"No, I got another one."

"You have two jobs?"

"Since I'm mostly getting the night shifts at La Lune, I'm going to work at New Beginnings during the day."

"When are you going to find time to sleep?"

"In the morning, of course."

"Why are you doing this?"

"Think of it this way. The sooner I get more money, the sooner I can move out and I won't be your problem anymore."

"I never said you were a problem."

"Aw, thanks, sis. Now get to bed before you get even sicker."

Roxanne rolled her eyes. "Yes, Mother."


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