The morning light filtered in through the drawn curtains, casting a smattering of colors and shadows over the two bodies still entangled in the bed. Roxanne very slowly opened her eyes and wiped the sleep from one of them, before peering at the clock. It read seven forty five, which was normally a time when she would be already at work. Last night however, and the events predeceasing it, had made the matter of work an insignificant matter.

She felt Megamind's chest rise and fall beneath her touch, and she could hear his heart beating softly, slowly, in comparison to how fast it had been hammering in his chest the night before. How wonderful he had been, how loving, tender and as full of stamina as she had anticipated. Of course, at first, he had been nervous and shy about what was about to happen but when she did that thing with her hand all of his fears seemed to melt like snow in spring time. It had been a learning experience for the both of them, and she would always treasure the night forever.

Roxanne only hoped there would be more of them in the future, and not too far between.

Reaching over his sleeping body Roxanne picked up her phone and dialed a number before mumbling a half assed 'I'm sick' excuse into her phone to her boss and hung up. Somebody else could handle the late breaking news today; surely, she didn't feel like moving at all. She didn't want to even leave the safety of the bedroom, and the arms of her lover, for anything in the world. Snuggling back down against him, and tugging a slipping blanket up to cover her bared back, she let her eyes slip shut again on a blissful, and content, sigh.

Their picture perfect morning was not long lived, however. The phone belonging to Megamind began to beep suddenly from within his jacket which still lay on the floor in the dining room. His ears, knowing that whenever it rang with that ring it was an emergency, awoke the rest of his body. Roxanne grumbled and whined, and held onto his arm as tightly as she could but he easily slipped away from her and padded into the dining room and retrieved his phone.

"Ollo?" he asked, sounding as tired as he possibly could. Still, Megamind stood up and walked back into the bedroom and climbed back into Roxanne's waiting arms as he listened to the person on the other end of the phone. He hummed as her fingers trailed patterns against his back and head, and let his eyes shut for a moment. "Hmmhmm? I see... Minion, stop it's fine..." he mumbled, "Nothing bad happened I'm fine..."

Roxanne couldn't help but give a small chuckle, before taking in a sharp breath since Megamind had tilted the phone away momentarily to allow himself to press a soft kiss to one of her bare breasts. "Cheeky." she mumbled.

"...hmmhmm? So when...? Good, great... is Wayne there? He can collect them, can't he? So how many-" he opened his eyes and stared ahead, though that meant giving Roxanne's body a good looking at. "That many? Is it that serious?"

He listened to Minion who explained the night before had been all kinds of crazy. Wayne had brought down five vampires in the span of four hours, Bernard had managed to deal with three and Minion himself had taken down ten. And yet Bernard could still smell their rotting stench on the air, so contacts in the government had been hailed. Whole sections of the city was being evacuated, those that reeked strongly of the vampires, and people were being told of dangerous chemical and gas leaks. This, in turn, had even more people who lived near by evacuate in fear of the problem spreading.

So far half the city's areas had been emptied out. Megamind sat up suddenly, and rushed from the bed. Roxanne sat up, and watched as he searched for the television remote. Finding it he flicked it onto the news channel and the room was filled with the sounds of a news room.

"-in the West end. In the top breaking news, multiple chemical leaks and gas pipe ruptures around the city are reportedly linked to terrorism attacks on our fair city. Local police are advising people to remain calm and if you are living in one of the affected areas to take only the essentials and get out as fast as possible. Emergency crews are doing sweeps to ensure nobody is left behind." the man behind the desk spoke off a prompter while on the small projected television screen over his left shoulder was that of people wearing protective yellow radiation suits waving machines over places. Then it showed people wearing gas masks, or the simple paper masks over their mouths and nose.

"I'm seeing it." Megamind said into the phone. "Wow they are good... yes, yes I know how much this will cost the city. But it's either this or multiple murders. All right. Fine. Calm down I'll be there." he hung up the phone and groaned, before rubbing a hand against his forehead. He eased slightly, though, when Roxanne's hands found his middle and she hugged him from behind. Pressing herself against his back she kissed his head, then his neck.

"You have to leave?" she asked quietly.

"'I have to leave." he answered softly. "Some of the Family are flying in right now, and this cover up of gas leaks is being managed by our contacts in the government... they all need to see me."

"You're very important to them." Roxanne mumbled.

"Hm." Megamind sighed before turning around so he was looking at her, and lifted a hand to caress her cheek gently. "Will you come with me?"

"Can I?" she asked.

"Of course. You're my pupil, and my girlfriend. You have every right to be there to see how we handle things." Megamind said before glancing down at the two of them and suddenly seemed to realize they were both still naked and without a stitch of clothes on. He swallowed, hard, before looking back at her.

She was smiling softly. "I'd love to. But first I think we both need to wash up before we head out, don't you?" she asked.

"That is a good idea." he said, nodding his head once.

"Come on then." Roxanne gripped his hands in hers and got off of the bed, tugging him to his feet.

"What?" Megamind asked, confused and flustered.

"We're going to save time and water by sharing the shower." Roxanne replied simply. His face was violet from the crown of his head to his cheeks and she giggled, before pulling him in close and wrapping her arms around him, and kissed him passionately. Even with the morning breath, she got through the kiss before breaking it. "Compared to what we did last night I think sharing a shower is the most innocent thing we can do right now. Don't you agree?" she asked.

Head reeling from the kiss, Megamind could only nod dumbly before being led to the bathroom by his girlfriend.

The Manor hadn't seen so many cars parked within the large wall before. There were multiple cars, rented from the airport, and had brought all manner of people. Inside the walls there were people everywhere talking, arguing, and discussing what was going on. Minion was serving tea and coffee to everyone, while Bernard was scaring the younger children out of the precious library less they get their grubby finger prints on the ancient books. Wayne, meanwhile, was trying to head the conversation but was obviously having trouble.

"-and what activity did you see last night, what breeds? Where? In what number?" asked an older woman with black hair.

"Well you have to understand-" Wayne started.

"Where is your brother, he's the head of this section!" grumbled an old man. "I ain't talkin' to you."

"Now that's a little ru-" Wayne turned on the old man before having his attention drawn away again.

"Is it really safe to have a werewolf in here, look he's looming over the children!" said a young mother who was glaring at Bernard who was loitering at the doorway that led to the library.

"There's no time for that-"

The main door suddenly opened and all eyes, and heads, turned to stare at who stood there.

Roxanne was standing behind Megamind and felt like she had just walked into a mafia movie. All the people here, all Family members, looked at Megamind as if he was a reverend or something. He removed his hat and hung it on a peg while a young man approached him.

"Ethelwine, thank God. How are you?" he asked, taking Megamind's hand and shook it.

"I'm good. What's the situation here?" Megamind asked as he walked with the young man while other people approached Megamind, extending their greetings and blessings. Some women even offered condolences at the news that his Father might be alive, in some way shape or form.

Feeling as though she was in over her head, Roxanne hung back, while she looked confused. "Ethelwine?" she said quietly.

"That's his name." said a blonde woman besides her, who smiled when Roxanne looked at her in alarm. "That's the name his Father, Willoughby gave him when he brought him under the Family protection. Hi," she shook Roxanne's hand. "My name's Eagle."

"Roxanne..." she answered, shaking her hand back.

"Oh you're Roxanne! We've heard all about you!" Eagle smiled.

"You have?" Roxanne asked.

"Word spreads fast around here." Eagle grinned, "You've been training with Ethelwine for almost a month, right?"

"Right..." Roxanne watched as Megamind approached the dining table where many people were sitting at. Upon the table were a range of weapons Roxanne hadn't seen before. Had they brought them? Or were they from a store room in the manor she didn't know about?

"All right everybody!" Megamind called out, and a hush fell over the crowd. Even the young children who had been giving Bernard strife hurried over to listen to the blue man. "We all know why we're here. It's been almost two hundred years since Dracula made his appearance in England. We know the Children have been here long enough to take my Father from us. Their attacks are growing in number, as is their strength. The war is upon us people and this is not the time to be weak. It's apparent to all of us that this, our city, is the playing field that Dracula has chosen."

He walked along the chairs slowly, trailing his hand against people's backs and shoulders as he did. "With half the city evacuated gives us an advantage. We run no risk of multiple casualties, and in this day and age of technology our War might be pushed forth into the limelight if there were casualties. You all know what to do should we happen upon witnesses. I've perfected the chemicals, just be careful not to breathe them yourselves." Megamind stood by an older man, who was still looking at Bernard who was scratching his chin. "In a time of war we have to count on all the friends we can, no matter where or who they are." Megamind said pointedly, looking at Bernard who bowed his head and looked at the floor.

"Now you're going to be divided into sections and sent out to deal with those locations. Track down the vampires. Destroy them. Efficiently and quickly. Lady here," he gestured to Lady who was sitting off to the side with her parents, "And her parents will be joined by our other medical experts who will be on call for any and all emergencies. You all have their numbers, and Wayne here will fly them out directly to where they're needed."

"But-" Wayne started.

"No buts." Megamind cut him off with an authority Roxanne had never witnessed before. The playful, cheerful Megamind had taken a back seat to a man who would no doubt make his Father very proud. "Your strength is a valuable asset to us but your speed is even more important. If you had a choice of killing a vampire and saving one of us, which would you choose?"

Wayne sighed quietly, and looked away.

"Countless wars have passed and so many of our Family have fallen. I, for one, am sick of allowing the enemy to win in the body count war. We will do everything we can to ensure our casualty list is small. I'd be an idiot and a fool to think none of us may die over the past few days, and my Father raised no fool." Megamind paused to look up at the portrait of the man, sitting there at his chair holding a vampires decapitated head. He sighed slowly, before turning back to the people gathered in his home. "We stand on the brink of a war our Family has been fighting since these monsters first came into being. Let's give them a pounding that they shall never, ever, forget."

Roxanne had to cover her ears when the applause exploded all around her. She would never had taken Megamind, Ethelwine, as the type to give rousing speeches even if his had been tainted by the painful truth that death was not something to be avoided in this war. During the cheering this gave her a chance to really look at the people here. Only a small handful was made of older people, well past their sixties, and she wondered if they could fight at all. Then again, these people knew how to look after themselves since there was not a chubby person in sight.

There were women, men, and even various creeds and races. She spotted at least three dark skinned people, a couple Asians and even an Indian sat amongst some white women. This was only a small handful, wasn't that was Megamind had told her? The Family from the surrounding states who could get here this quickly to help. She shuddered to think just how huge the Family was.

"Our house has many rooms, all but a few are shut to you." Megamind instructed. "My laboratory remains off bounds to everyone. That's the room in the West wing, last one on the left. It's locked. The basement is also off bounds tonight." he said sternly, glancing over once more at Bernard who had drifted to be besides Wayne, who had an arm around him. "You all know Bernard Dunning. Yes, he is a werewolf. But no, he isn't a threat to any of us when he's like this. Run into him when he's a wolf though and you'll be asking for trouble. So please. Don't enter the basement tonight." Megamind smiled softly. "We'll sort out the room and get a whole bunch of spare beds for when you want to rest, so nobody will be without a bed. Any questions?"

The meeting went on for hours more. Questions and answers were voiced; maps were drawn up and even projected by electric means Roxanne couldn't understand. Groups were given names and sectors to investigate; weaponry was counted and kept tabs of. Like Megamind, the fighters of the Family held various types of weapons. One woman, of Asian decent, seemed to work with twin blades. All of them had stakes handy, however. Others had fire. A few of them had religious symbols hanging around their necks, or bracelets, some were even carved into their weapons.

It was amazing to know that this secret war had been going on for so long, and yet nobody knew about it.

It was four in the afternoon when she finally found a spare moment to finally approach her boyfriend. He was standing in the backyard, watching some of the younger children fighting against each other.

"Zeke, watch your footing. Alexander, more speed. Don't give him a moment to recover because a vampire will take that chance to strike." Megamind said, and the two boys began fighting again.

"Well, well." Roxanne smiled, walking up besides him. "You've certainly come into yourself."

He smiled shyly. "Yeah well..."

"Ethelwine?" she asked.

Megamind groaned. "Yes."

"That's a lovely name." Roxanne complimented. "Why don't you use it all the time?"

"It's not exactly... I don't know. I like Megamind." he shrugged. "It's like a nickname more than anything else."

"Does it mean anything?" she asked.

"Noble friend." he replied quietly.

Roxanne smiled before wrapping her arms around him, and he easily returned it, holding her tightly. She shut her eyes and lived in the moment, holding him, being held by him, and tried not to think about how tonight he would be heading off with his cousins to do battle against vampires that were growing in strength. Was Dracula in the city? Was the Children? What of his Father? There was so much hanging in the air...

"I wish I could go with you." she whispered.

"You know you can't." he replied quietly. "You're not ready. And if something were to happen to you I don't... I don't know what I'd do."

"I know." Roxanne shivered and kissed him, uncaring if anybody saw them. He kissed her back passionately, and for but a moment it felt as though they were still in the safety of her bedroom, blankets curled around them and nothing to keep each other warm but the warmth of each others bodies. The gagging of the little boys brought them out of their moment, and Megamind shook a fist at them before they ran off, laughing.

"You have a laboratory?" Roxanne suddenly asked.

"Huh?"

"You mentioned a lab. Back there." she gestured to the house.

"I do. I design new weapons and ways to hurt the enemy in there and I've been looking at... something interesting. Nobody else knows about it, because I don't want to set up a big disappointment." he replied.

"Can you tell me?" Roxanne asked.

He paused in thought. Only Minion had been allowed in the lab before, since it was where many of the mechanisms of his suit had been design and tested. While it was mostly a place for him to design and build ways to foil vampires or to help aid him (the security camera disrupter and invisible car had been born in the lab) lately the lab had been used for more organic tests. How would she react to seeing them?

"I don't know... it's pretty private." Megamind mumbled.

Roxanne felt a bit disappointed but she had to respect his privacy. She smiled. "I understand." she whispered before kissing his lips one more time before pulling away. "Now you need to eat before you all head out and Minion needs help cooking for all these people. I'll see you inside?" she asked as she walked away from him.

"Oh yes." he nodded.

"See you inside, Ethelwine." she smiled.

"Don't call me that." Megamind grumbled.

He hadn't turned back to instruct his cousins' sons for all but ten minutes before somebody else approached him. The heavy nudge to his shoulder told him who it was long before turning around. "Hello Wayne." he said.

"Hello, hello." Wayne smiled as he set his hands on his hips as he looked down at his brother. "You're certainly doing well for yourself."

"Am I?" Megamind asked, trying not to play along to his mind game.

"Oh yes. You're managing the family in a way that would make Father proud. You're giving orders, people are following. You're teaching. And you have Roxanne too, am I right?" he asked.

"Mm." grunted Megamind.

"You didn't come home last night after going out to see her did you?" Wayne asked, lifting a hand to scratch his beard. It was a new addition, since staying up all those nights to be with Bernard he hadn't had a real chance to shave. Bernard, in turn, had commented on the fact he liked him with a beard and that sealed the deal.

"Why do you ask questions you already know the answer to?" Megamind asked back.

"Because I like teasing you, little brother." replied Wayne honestly before nudging him again. "About time, hm?"

"Oh stop it!" Megamind spluttered, trying to shove his brother away.

"A-hah! So you did!" Wayne grinned victoriously.

"Fine. Yes. We did it."

"Awesome! Good on you!" the taller man punched his brothers shoulder, softly though since he didn't want to hurt him. The force still almost knocked Megamind over. "Aw man I'm so happy for you! I told you all you had to do was wait, that the right girl would come along for you."

Megamind, blushing brilliant violet, only coughed.

"So how'd you go?" Wayne asked.

"Why are you asking me this?" Megamind spluttered. "I'm not giving you details! It's private!"

"Private, sure. So what has Roxanne and Bernard been whispering back and forth about then?" he asked.

"Don't tell me Wolf Man knows too..." sighed the blue man.

"Probably. I'll just ask him then." Wayne grinned, though in reality he wouldn't really. Like Megamind, the idea of thinking about his brother having sex with somebody wasn't something he liked contemplating on at all. Deep down, Megamind knew this too but the brotherly teasing was still something that had to happen. It was family law.

"Bah!" Megamind waved his hands. "Boys that's enough for tonight, come on. Dinner's ready."

The two ten year olds ran back to the house, closely followed by Megamind and Wayne, who continued to berate each other until they were inside.

To be continued