a/n: Sorry shorter chapter this time. Review and let me know what you think! :)

Disclaimer: I don't own anything of Megamind other than my DVD, my soundtrack and my obsession! Nods to Dreamworks for this excellent addition to my collection.

Summary: Pre-movie AU. Something goes horribly wrong with one of Megamind's battle suits and he and Roxanne wind up stranded in the middle of a desert with nothing but each other to aid in their survival. Will they make it?

Stranded

Chapter Twenty-one: Everything to Lose

As Roxanne drove down the road in the late afternoon toward the inevitability of the encounter with the faceless people who would stop at nothing to get their hands on her blue love and his best friend, she worried about the things that Megamind had said. She was no less frightened of the possibility than he was, having her heart on the line the way it was. The desperation in his eyes when they'd said good-bye right before she reduced him to a glowing blue cube was heart breaking. She would rather have remembered the look on his face when she'd said she loved him, but their farewell was all her mind could recall.

"Sorry we have to do this Minion," Roxanne said. The fish smiled warmly at her, ever the optimistic one. He was certain the plan would work. She pulled the trigger and the bulky suit with Minion inside was reduced into the familiar compact shape. She dropped her hand that was holding the gun in her lap and looked at the man she loved sitting next to her.

He looked so nervous and uncomfortable, mirroring the exact way she felt, and she again experienced the overwhelming desire to make his pain go away. She reached her arms forward and wrapped him in a tender hug. He responded without hesitation this time and she squeezed him harder, tears forming in her eyes. She knew she was gambling everything on a possibility, but it was the only way to get him past them. She felt him pull back a little from her and sat up herself. One of his hands rested on her hip and the other came up to cup her cheek. He leaned forward and kissed her soundly, stealing her breath as he had already stolen her heart. His kiss was intense, almost as if he felt that it might be the last time his lips would ever touch hers. He pulled back again and made sure to make eye contact with her. "I love you, Roxanne."

That time she'd kissed him, her arms wrapping securely around his shoulders, not wanting to ever let him go. He leaned into her kiss for a few scarce moments and then pulled away, removing her arms from his shoulders with surprising but gentle strength. He looked into her eyes, his emotions right there on the surface for her to see, and said, "Please be careful." Before she could stop him, his hand that had been on her hip moved to grab the De-gun. He picked it up out of her lap and pointed it at his own chest, pulling the trigger himself before he could change his mind.

She'd sighed heavily and picked up the little cube to put it in a safe place, back into the pocket it had been in during their previous escape, then climbed into the front seat and put Minion's cube into the other pocket. She'd deactivated the cloak the way Minion had showed her and the car was now visible as she approached the roadblock. The gun was stowed in the glove box with its holster. The cars in the blockade were all unmarked and the people milling around seemed to be nervous as she slowed down. No doubt, these guys had heard stories about the blue alien and his uncanny knack for destruction, in addition to what they'd experienced only yesterday at the same alien's hands. She'd used the minutes since she started driving to concoct a likely story for why she was driving a car that looked the way it did. She sincerely hoped they were not familiar with this particular creation of Megamind's.

She couldn't recall ever having actually seen the invisible car aside from the tell-tale shimmer she now knew to look for. Megamind had been convinced that there was no possible way they could have seen the car before because they'd never driven it outside the Lair without the cloak activated. In fact, she even hadn't seen it, although being that it was Megamind's car, she knew it was probably black and chrome and decked in spikes. She figured out what to say if they asked about the unique sytling of the car, as they inevitably would. She hoped her story was convincing enough to let her pass. She pulled up to the uniformed man standing on the side of the road who motioned for her to stop. She did and lowered the window. The skinny man had a narrow face and a square jaw with unremarkable features other than the thick mustache riding atop his upper lip. There did not seem to be any name on the soldier's uniform which struck her as odd since every soldier she'd ever met had their name patch sewn on their uniform permanently. This concerned her greatly but she swallowed her fear down and steeled herself for whatever was to come.

"Ma'am, I apologize for the inconvenience, but I need you to tell me where you are going." He bent down to look at her, his mustache turning down at the corners. "Wait. Aren't you that reporter? What's your name? Roseann Rishey, right?"

Her heart stopped and she gaped at him. Not good. She inwardly slapped herself for thinking this plan would work twice in the same week. But, there was no sense denying who she was. She was a public persona after all; she hoped she would still be able to make her cover story work even though her identity was known. She prayed that this man's knowing who she was didn't mean that they'd made the connection between the incident earlier and her presence here now, or that the person knew so much about her that they'd spot a fake story about herself. He'd gotten her name wrong, so she highly doubted he was a devoted fan. "Roxanne Ritchi, actually. And I am going back to Metro City, Michigan." The younger man gave a sharp nod, apparently giving a signal to someone watching from afar.

The mustached man eyed her strangely. "Ma'am, can I see your ID, please?"

Her eyes went wide. She had not had her purse when Megamind had kidnapped her, so her ID was most likely sitting in her wallet safely in her apartment. Think, Roxanne! "It's packed in my suitcase. Are you really going to make me find it?" She looked up at him through her eyelashes, "Oh, come on. You know who I am, don't you?" She offered the man a small smile.

The mustache curled downward as the man frowned slightly despite the star-struck look in his eyes. Okay, so maybe he wasn't a big fan at all. She was glad she'd taken the time to think of a story as she drove so she'd have most of the details worked out before this inevitable line of questioning. Nothing gave away a made up story more than hesitating while answering questions. She answered with the practiced ease of the experienced reporter she'd become over the years. After a moment of listening to someone talking in his earpiece, he spoke again. "Haven't you been missing for several days, ma'am? Can you please tell me where you are coming from, where you've been?"

Her heart stopped momentarily. Okay, so the guy, or at least someone on the other end of that ear-piece, was more familiar with her story than she would have liked. She decided to carry on with her cover story in hopes that it was convincing enough. "I was visiting my brother in Nebraska. He's been sick and I was helping take care of him. I had to take off suddenly because he had an emergency and he has no one else to take care of him. I've been there this whole time. But, he's on the mend now and I am doing him a favor because I was going back to the city anyway. This is actually his car." She congratulated herself on her quick thinking. She hadn't thought that far into the story, but since he'd brought it up, it fit with her sudden disappearance too. It was good that she knew how to think on her feet.

The man interrupted her self-congratulations, "And, what is your brother's name?"

She said the only name she could think of. "Naren."

"His full name, please," the man said sternly, apparenly losing patience with her easy demeanor.

She sighed. She hoped she was right about the name the car was registered in just in case they checked. "Naren Aakil." The man repeated the name. "He's my step-brother, actually. I am taking it back to the city for him because he found someone there who wants to buy it, but he's still not feeling up to the trip. I live there so I thought I would help. Is that a crime?" her tone was more biting than strictly necessary, but if she was not involved the way she was and just an innocent motorist on the road, she expected all of these personal questions would be getting on anyone's nerves as well. She banked on that as she responded to the next several of the mustached man's questions.

"Why did you not tell anyone where you were? There have been news stories about your disappearance."

She almost felt flattered. Almost. "I don't have to report where I am to anyone! I had a family emergency! Someone could have called me to find out, but no one ever did. They knew my brother's phone number!" She had run much further with her story than she'd initially prepared for, but it seemed to come easily once she'd set up the basis of the lie.

She was insanely curious what the media had been saying about her latest disappearance. It was the longest one yet, and Megamind had been gone the entire time too, so she was sure everyone would have assumed it was a kidnapping. That was something she hadn't considered yet in her desire to go back home. She'd been gone for nearly a week with no explanation to any of her friends, family or...her job. Oof. She inwardly winced at the thought of the tongue lashing she would face from her boss, if she even still had a job for the guy to care enough to yell at her. She could be putting everything at risk and going back to nothing at all, except for what was in the car with her.

"Can you tell me about this buyer you are going to meet?"

She felt her hands clench. The buyer! She hadn't thought about the damn buyer! Careless oversight, but she thought of something quickly. "He's uh...he's an inventor and has a taste for things like this. All I know other than that is he that has black hair. He's supposed to know what the car looks like. He's my brother's friend. I told you I am just delivering the car since I was coming home anyway."

The wound up underling looked at her skeptically after several more minutes of Q and A. He wasn't buying her story, at least he didn't seem to be based on the questions he was asking, but she couldn't really tell since his expression had not really changed the entire time they'd been talking. And she couldn't see his mouth behind the mustache. He began to study the car itself. She started to panic some then. Why did she think this would work again? This was just stupid, she was so close to freedom she could taste it. She had to get them out of this, it felt as if her life depended on it. "This is a very unique car, ma'am." His voice caused her to startle a bit and she desperately hoped he hadn't noticed. She exhaled quietly and kept her voice calm with a great amount of effort.

"It is, he customized it," she smirled up at him. "I can't believe he actually found someone that wants to buy it, but I guess everyone has their own taste," so far her cover story was holding. She offered the young man a smile and asked, "Can I please pass? I have an appointment with the buyer and I would really rather not be late. He's a very busy man and hard to nail down for a meeting. My brother really needs the money to pay for the doctor he had to see. Come on, cut me a break, will ya?" The man bent down to look into the car and saw that it was entirely empty except for the driver. He walked around the car and looked in all of the windows and then stepped back over to the driver's side where Roxanne sat waiting impatiently.

She was glad that all of the gadgets they had installed in the car had the ability to be hidden when desired. Megamind thought of everything when he wasn't making machines of pure destruction, didn't he? And even then, she was now convinced that most of the failures she'd ever seen were entirely due to Metro Man's presence. The inventions themselves, it seems, usually worked perfectly until the hero interfered. The military man stood next to her open window for a very long time having a convesation in hushed tones with whoever was on the other end of the ear piece. Roxanne began to feel like the jig was up despite all her careful thought. They knew who she was already and she was only moments away from being arrested, having her new love torn away from her and possibly losing everything else in the process.

The man suddenly tensed up and placed his hand against his ear. "What do you mean, headed back toward the site?" A pause. "Yes, General." Another pause, "I was questioning the driver as ordered." Then the man looked back at Roxanne. "I am sorry, Miss. We will clear out momentarily." He turned and jogged back to the vehicles acting as the blockade, got in one of the Jeeps and in mere moments, the road was completely clear. She'd felt the eyes of one older stern man in particular on her as the other vehicles drove past, but kept her gaze pointed straight ahead, afraid to be unnerved when she was so close to being free.

Not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, as soon as they were clear of her position, she slammed the gas pedal to the floor and took off down the road, finally exhaling the breath she didn't realize she ,had been holding. She drove for several miles, just to be sure it wasn't seen before she finally pulled activated the cloak and sped upeven more. After that, she drove as fast as she could down the road until the light had completely disappeared from the setting sun. She found a quiet little church just off the road and pulled into its abandoned parking lot. She reached into the back seat and retrieved the bottle of water she'd been drinking from earlier, then got out of the car, leaving the door open and using the light coming from the car. It was surreal to see the inside of a car open from thin air. She pulled the cube from her left pocket and placed it down on the ground, then tipped a bit of water out of the bottle. She watched as the cube shimmered and popped up into the big-headed blue body of the man she loved. She couldn't resist wrapping her arms around his shoulders in a tight hug and saying, "I missed you," despite the fact that it had been a few hours since she'd seen him last.

He hugged her back closely and said, "I guess we made it."

"Your distraction worked like a charm. In the middle of them asking me questions trying to find a reason to search the car, they just left suddenly." She kissed his lips, then pulled back and looked at him lovingly. "We make a great team, Naren."

"We do, don't we?" He smiled that genuine smile that was already her favorite. "I love you."

"And, I love you," she said with a smile on her face as she leaned in again. They shared another brief kiss but Roxanne remembered that Minion was still dehydrated and she was certain there would be plenty of time for them to be with each other later. She kissed him one more time on the lips for posterity before she pulled the other cube from her pocket and placed it on the ground, tipping a large drop of water onto it.

The fish in his ape-robot suit reappeared with a smile on his own face, hoping that his being rehydrated was a good sign. When he saw his boss and Miss Ritchi in front of him, he grinned widely. "We made it!" he exclaimed excitedly. The two shorter people looked up at him with happy smiles. Megamind patted his friend on the shoulder.

"We're not out of this just yet, Minion. Let's get going!"

"Yes, Sir," the fish said as he hurried to get into the driver's seat. Megamind walked to the other side of the car and opened the passenger door, moving the seat out of the way for Roxanne. She climbed in and he followed her, pulling the door shut behind him and sitting the front seat back up once he was seated in the back. Minion pulled the car back onto the road and resumed their course home. Roxanne wrapped her arms around Megamind held onto him tightly. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her onto his lap so he could hold her easier. Neither of the two of them feeling the need to say anything and both enjoying the simplicity of the closeness they shared. The stress of the past few days and the issues they were surely going to face with their unorthodox relationship in the public eye of Metro City were not something either of them had any desire to let interfere with their time together at present. They were both content to just be in the present for now.