Notes: We're back at it guys! I'm so excited to post a sequel to 'Roxanne Ritchi's Worst Kidnappings Ever ' (reading it on its own will get confusing, especially with OCs, though the flashbacks would still work as standalones). This is post-movie, chronologically happening shortly after where the previous story ended. Highest rating for the love ;D

Hope you enjoy! Please let me know your thoughts, your feedback is everything. All the best 3

TW: Strong language/cursing, alcohol consumption, mentions of violence/trauma, mentions of murder, illegal dealings and the underworld, some explicit adult activities.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

It's been almost a year since Phoebe last visited Metro City, and hearing the latest news from Roxanne, she could barely contain her excitement. Metro Man retiring from being the local defender of justice, with Megamind taking over, easily made the news even in Pittsburgh, but the inside scoop she had about Roxanne and the ex-villain becoming a couple was almost too much to bear.

Her high school friend played down the frenzy as usual, but Phoebe was not going to be deterred with her controlled replies this time around. She had a feeling there was more hidden behind the curtain last time she was here, but the shock of being kidnapped diverted her attention from the underlying connections, making for her most terrifying and thrilling trip ever. Having experienced the oddly accomodating environment of the villain hideout and how everyone cared about her well-being, she got over the initial scary impact and decided to treat the event the way Roxanne did, with calm acceptance. After all, the first time one got a car bump, it was terrifying, but after a hundred, the process became routine.

With Megamind being pardoned, he no longer had to hide his existence, though not everyone came to terms with it easily. His Evil Lair, while not technically illegal anymore, remained somewhat of a mystery, hidden from the citizen's eyes as a hero-cave type of thing now. He still lived there, working on machines of anti-doom, designed to improve the city standing and living conditions.

Roxanne still reported for her news agency, with a realistic outlook on getting promoted now that she didn't have to deal with frequent kidnappings. The tabloid gossip about her intensified tenfold, so she clarified her circumstances with a few official interviews and moved on, focusing on investigating new villains surfacing now that the hero dynamic changed so drastically.

The two friends spent a pleasant day walking around the city, visiting the always freshly-restored monuments and relaxing in cafes, but when they turned back to Roxanne's apartment, Phoebe could no longer hold her burning curiosity.

"How is he in private?", she inquired, gripping her coffee mug and staring at her friend with wide eyes. Roxanne sighed, aware she could be more open with Phoebe than with prying local reporters, but still not feeling the need to announce her private matters to every person who asked.

"What do you even mean?", she asked, wary of personal questions after how the press took the change of their relationship status. "He's a person, Phoebe, there's nothing weird going on."

Her friend shook her head, clarifying. "Okay, here's how it looks like to me. Tall, blue and evil, kidnaps you for five years but you're never hurt, you guys develop a strange bond but you state it's not Stockholm Syndrome. He obviously cares and sends you gifts and all, and you keep saying it doesn't mean anything. Then boom, he renounces being a criminal and you're in a committed relationship."

Roxanne tilted her head in confirmation and Phoebe continued. "There's... a lot of missing links here, Roxanne. You guys knew each other from playing Peach and Bowser, when did you even find the time to hook up?"

"Um..." Roxanne collected her thoughts, unsure where to start. "You know how when there's a kidnapping, I'm out for a few hours, but the news boil it down to a five-minute report?" Phoebe nodded, following. "So there's a lot going on behind the scenes that never make it to the public. So yeah, somewhere there."

"How though? He untied you once the cameras were off or something? 'Cause I could sense something going on when I was there, but-"

"No, I was never his accomplice, I did not help him with his work", Roxanne stated in her firm press conference voice. "I could just see he wasn't evil, a-and he's an interesting person, and we clicked", she added lamely.

"Yeah, so I was asking about the person part. What is he really like?"

"Normal, I suppose? Okay, coming from me it may not be worth much", she admitted feebly. "He's, uh. A workaholic with a genius streak for engineering, but you know that. Cares about me a lot, you know that too. Has a really sarcastic sense of humor, that probably didn't come out during your kidnapping." She frowned when a new kind of worry reached her. "By the way, how are you dealing with that? It must have been hard on you."

"What, that weekend? Pff", Phoebe dismissed the concern with ease. "I sat in a chair, saw some sci-fi stuff, got rescued by a superhero and had wine after. I got why you called it an inconvenience before."

"Oh, I meant... the explosion part, actually", Roxanne said in a small voice.

"There was an..." Phoebe paused, connecting the dots. "That warehouse getting bombed, that was the same place?!"

"Y-yeah", her friend confirmed weakly. "You fainted, but I stayed behind back then, and the explosives... this was what we were whispering about. How to twist it so no one gets hurt."

"You knew about it?!", Phoebe exclaimed in disbelief. "But you said that Metro Man, he-"

"I lied." There it was, her time of reckoning for the last five long years. "I'm sorry, I didn't want you to panic. I... may have lied about many things back then."

Phoebe suspected she wasn't told everything, but couldn't help feeling hurt at those words. Then again, it's not like she gave Roxanne any indication she would be more understanding than the general public, did she? She freaked and got outraged at most of her revelations, not to mention scared half to death so that her co-kidnapee had to cooperate with their perpetrator to ensure her safety.

Maybe she could cut Roxanne more slack. Or, at the very least, tone down on the offense and try to accept the facts without judgment.

"But you'll tell me the truth now, right?", she ensured. "Roxanne, you can't keep this all bottled up. It'll give you ulcers."

"Well... back then, Megamind rescued me", Roxanne started the truth train. "It was his voice you heard from my bedroom."

"You cunning woman", Phoebe smiled knowingly. "He kidnapped you, then saved you, why was I even surprised you ended up together?"

"It was complicated, he wasn't supposed to", her friend said defensively. "I didn't see him for a month after that, he was redoing all the safety procedures. Next time something went wrong I got a personal brainbot to watch over me."

"I can imagine", Phoebe nodded before a new idea hit her. "Aren't you worried you'll get kidnapped by a new villain now? It seems to be a pattern around these parts."

"No, it won't happen again. They'd have to be suicidal." Only after the words left her mouth, Roxanne realized what she suggested. Once she switched off her professional self-censorship, this is exactly what she feared would follow.

"So it did happen?" Phoebe caught on immediately. "Next thing you tell me, that scar is not even from a bicycle accident."

The truth train was getting derailed, falling down a cliff and mauling a crowd of innocent passengers in its wake.

"...It's not. Sorry."

"Roxanne!" Damn being understanding, Phoebe would not stand for abuse. "He let you get hurt for the sake of a villain mating dance, you can't be-"

"Not him." It seemed she was using this phrase a lot lately. "Um. The time I was kidnapped by someone else, his name was... weatherman, I didn't want it to make the news." Here goes nothing. "He stabbed me, Megamind almost killed him for it. So I'm fairly sure the underworld knows not to now."

Phoebe froze, a deadpan expression on her face. "You were stabbed."

"Very lightly, but the blade was serrated, so-"

"You were stabbed and you kept it a secret so what, people wouldn't worry about you?!" Comprehension reached her in waves of horrified exasperation. "What kind of mental strength does it require to cover up such a thing?!"

"So they wouldn't see me as a victim!" Roxanne sighed painfully, hating the process of updating her friend about upsetting events. "It was insane, Phoebe, my shoulders roll back further than they should from all the times my hands were tied back. I didn't want pity eyes on top of that."

Phoebe huffed, taking an angry sip. "Yeah, because that makes perfect sense." Stabbed. And she had the audacity to say 'lightly'. "Anything else you'd like to get off your chest?"

"You're angry with me." She felt attacked and tried to disarm the situation calmly. "This is why I don't tell those stories."

"I'm mortified, Roxanne", her friend explained. Wasn't it obvious? "How can you keep saying you're okay?"

"Because I am", she shrugged. "I don't know, maybe it changed me or something, but a lot of things don't phase me so much."

Okay, so maybe it wasn't that easy to turn off her public deny-it face. With some strain, she tried again. "The weatherman thing, it took a toll on me, I'll admit. But I processed it." She looked at Phoebe's doubtful face and smiled reassuringly. "I promise."

Maybe it was the memory of the giant gift basket, but Phoebe's eyes softened and she decided to trust her friend's words. With a sigh, she changed the subject, unsure how many life-altering events still lurked in the past, but having her fill for tonight.

"And you got a boyfriend out of it", she said in an uplifting tone. "Okay, you gotta gimme some girl talk, or I'll never recover."

"Fair enough", Roxanne agreed, glad they were over the worst revelation. Only a million smaller ones to go. "What do you wanna know?" Skin or anatomy, it was usually one of the two.

"Did you guys do it in the villain chair?", her friend spurted out and Roxanne blinked.

"Phoebe, no!" But as she kept staring, Roxanne knew protesting her modesty claims would be in vain. "...I blew him in the chair and we did it on the master console."

"I knew it! You dirty, kinky girl!"

The rest of the evening passed in a more relaxed atmosphere and Roxanne had to admit that it was nice to be able to share more of her life with Phoebe. She had the outsider perspective that grounded her whenever she lost touch with reality, and it helped her rein the crazy when it threatened to spill over the bucket of what could and should be accepted.

She was in the middle of some absurd dream about pancakes when a small noise stirred her awake. Turning from her position on the couch, she tensely watched her front door and listened to the rattle by its lock, old instincts never really down for good. But as Megamind came inside, trying to be as quiet as possible in the darkness, she relaxed under the covers, waving to him lazily.

"Hey", she whispered softly when he kneeled in front of her, lifting herself up to give him a quick kiss. "Did you really work that late?"

"Sorry", he muttered quietly. "Didn't mean to wake you." She shook her head that it wasn't a problem and he frowned after a second. "Why were you sleeping here anyway?"

"Phoebe's in my bedroom", she explained, then raised her eyebrows at his confused face. "You did remember she was visiting, right?"

"Um", he stammered in reply and she smiled, squeezing his shoulder with affection. She told him while he was busy with a project, she could've expected that. "I should go", he added uncertainly.

She sat up, taking his hands between her palms. "You don't have to. The couch reclines, we can both fit." She thought about tomorrow for a second and considered his feelings. "Unless you're too nervous to see her again?"

He made a pained expression, keeping his voice low. "Does she hate me?"

"Huh?" They spent half a day talking about him, but he wouldn't know that. "No, of course not", she assured. "She's alright with what happened. Kinda excited for us, too."

It didn't take much more coaxing to convince Megamind to stay. He was working insane hours, and it was only now that she saw the full extent of it, the sheer volume of consumed caffeine and short intervals of sleep getting him through laborious amounts of physical and mental overexertion. Apparently he always operated like that, somehow still finding strength for high-energy super battles and rarely showing signs of fatigue.

She reclined the couch, he undressed and slipped behind her, spooning her and placing a light kiss on her exposed shoulder. She giggled and flexed her neck to meet his lips, moving her hips to fit better into his body, but he stopped her with a hand on her stomach.

"You should go back to sleep, it's late", he murmured.

"After you've woken me up so nicely?", she replied teasingly, turning to face him. "We just gotta keep quiet. Unless you're tired?", she added, remembering his maniacal schedule.

He smirked at her in the semi-darkness, streetlamps illuminating them both with a blue glow. "It's you who'll worry about being quiet", he said, moving down under the covers and pushing down her pajama pants.

She was in trouble now, wasn't she, as Megamind slowly went down on her, kissing her stomach and grabbing her thighs as if to purposefully make her gasp. She covered her face with a pillow to muffle the sounds she wasn't able to not make at feeling his tongue between her legs, the first slow strokes causing her to bite her lip in anticipation. He was too good at improvisation and learning on the spot, taking cues from her body, adjusting his moves to intensify her sensation.

When he sucked on her clit, delicately at first, she raised her hips into his mouth and he held her down with hand pressing on her hipbone, caressing it gently when his moves quickened, building up the pressure inside her with deliberate, wicked tempo he controlled. He didn't hurry, enjoying it as much as she was, letting her relax and take the pleasure he gladly provided. She hopelessly whimpered into the cotton pillowcase, spreading her thighs as wide as she could when quicker strokes teased her clit, as if he could finish her whenever he wanted, yet didn't as if just to feel her struggle.

His hand slid down from her thigh, two fingers entering her just after a long stroke of his tongue, pressing on her upper wall and massaging it when short licks on her clit heightened. She put her hands over the pillow, arching her back, muscles tensing and when she crossed the threshold of her climax, it was gradual and deepening, making her forget her breathing for several seconds of pure, unaccented bliss.

She was wide awake now, and as her breaths evened and Megamind came up to hold her, she pressed her naked back into him, feeling his erection through his briefs.

"You can't just end it here", she whispered desperately, touching the skin on the border of his underwear. "Please, I want to feel you in me."

He gasped shortly and reached down to take off his clothing, then lifted her leg and entered her slowly from behind, sliding in easily through her wet folds. She shuddered and before she could find the pillow, his hand came gently over her mouth. She kissed the inside of his palm as he pushed into her, his hand then sliding down to her throat, stopping there for a few deep thrusts, then going lower, under her top, to touch her breasts.

He moaned in a low voice, closing his eyes and putting his head on her shoulder, lightly biting her skin to stop himself from being too loud. He moved faster inside her, short breaths and muffled panting marking their more frantic moves; Roxanne lifted herself and arched back, letting him reach her deeper, keeping her leg up so he could clench his arm around her ribs when he came inside her in short, strong thrusts, holding her close as he calmed down, breathing in her skin.

"I'm so yours, Temptress", he murmured right by her ear and she chuckled, getting tissues from the coffee table.

"You can't escape my clutches?", she did a quiet parody of a screechy villain tone and he snorted, laying down on his back.

"You would be fantastic at this", he admitted, taking a tissue from her.

"Nah, you've got a much better villain voice", she replied, fixing their covers.

Megamind stirred, looking at her from a side. "Villain voice?"

"That's what I always called it in my head", she clarified, laying down and putting her arm over his chest.

"Always?", he teased, and she hid her face in the pillow.

"Smartass", she muttered. "Sleep with me?"

He took her hand and brought it to his lips to place a soft kiss on her knuckles. "With pleasure."

Megamind stirred at the first vibrating alarm of Phoebe's phone upstairs, always waking easily at the slightest noise. He looked over at Roxanne, sleeping on her side, and moved closer to her, estimating the time before he had to get up and face the music. Only a moment later her own alarm sounded and she moved, finding her phone on the coffee table and blindly pressing snooze.

She caught his hand snaked around her middle and stroked it lightly; he pressed on her fingers to let her know he was awake as well.

"She's using the bathroom upstairs", Roxanne murmured sleepily. "If you want to disappear, now's the time."

He considered the option already, but it seemed like an impolite, if not outright cowardly, thing to do. "Do you want me to?", he asked just in case.

"No, but I don't want you to suffer either", she whispered, turning towards him. "I can handle it."

"It would be fully deserved", he muttered, brushing the hair out of her face. "I should apologize while I'm at it."

"She's not mad", Roxanne ensured, rubbing her eyes to chase the sleep away. "Just prepare for nosy questions."

"More nosy questions?", he asked and she swatted his arm lightly, getting out of bed and looking for her pajama bottoms between the sheets.

Phoebe woke up with renewed energy for another day of her active weekend. She walked downstairs jumpily, then halted as she ran into Megamind putting on a washed-down gray tshirt.

She wasn't sure what was more unexpected, the fact that he was here, or that he was wearing casual clothes. Her eyes lingered for a moment on his lower stomach, quickly disappearing under the fabric, and she cleared her throat as to not be suspected of staring.

"Hi", she greeted cheerfully, determined to pretend everything was fine and it didn't feel weird at all.

"Miss Walkers", he replied uncertainly, and even his voice seemed different now, gentler. Phoebe walked to him with an extended hand, putting on a smile.

"Call me Phoebe, miss Walkers was my kidnapee name."

He winced, taking her hand after a second's hesitation. "Uh, I'm very sorry for that", he apologized, and she could sense it was sincere. "It was an awful mistake on our part."

"Your friend already told me, it's cool", she brushed it off, because who wouldn't want to meet a former supervillain in person and see them struggle with replies. "You... look really different up close", she added, putting her hands on her hips.

He smirked in a self-deprecating manner, looking away from her. "Less menacing?"

And damn if Phoebe didn't see the appeal now, without the sharp lights, spiky clothes and weaponry. "I was gonna say more handsome, but that works." As Megamind stammered, unsure if she was serious, her friend walked out of the bathroom. "Roxanne to the rescue!", Phoebe giggled and went to the kitchen.

Roxanne rolled her eyes, ready to handle the awkwardness that was bound to happen, and proceeded to start their breakfast routine, avoiding Phoebe's suggestive glances. It seemed that some things didn't change at all since high school.

Megamind gravitated towards his usual seat on her counter and she gave him a reassuring smile, waving at Evil Beans to wake it up, then ordered two regular coffees and one with an obnoxious amount of sugar. It took her some time to master the commands, though some elements were similar to the brainbots' operational system, like a list of gestures that could be used for communication when the red button was lit up.

Phoebe stirred, yanked away from her giddy mood as she watched. "This was voice-operated the entire time?", she asked suspiciously.

Megamind leaned down to catch Roxanne's eyes. "You were using the override with people around?"

She shrugged, handing them their drinks. "They tend to freak on talking appliances", she rationalized.

"It's just ahead of its time", he muttered, taking a sip.

Phoebe observed the exchange, fascinated. "You... are such a cat", she stated in Megamind's direction, getting up. "And I'm gonna go take a shower." She went to the bathroom, slight spring in her steep. "And not get kidnaaaped!", she sing-songed, closing the doors.

Staring after her in utter confusion, Megamind soundlessly mouthed the word back at Roxanne. "A cat?"

She smiled, used to explaining convoluted non-hostile socials to him. "Corner of the room, high place. Possibly the eyes." She turned to the stove and heated up the pan. "What do you want?"

He stretched, getting down from the counter. "Anything you make is fine", he said distractedly, and she glanced back at him with concern.

"You're tired, aren't you?"

"I'm alright", he replied offhandedly, but as Roxanne kept looking at his face, he came closer and placed a kiss on her hair, reassuring her. "Minion already gave me the speech. I'm fine."

She nodded, fixing some scrambled eggs and toast, and once Phoebe finished her shower, they ate together by the kitchen island.

"We were gonna do some sightseeing", the blonde said in a conversational tone, though she remained in sharp focus. "Wanna come with?"

"Uh, I can't, sorry", Megamind replied from over his plate. "I still got a shitton of moving parts to install and I can't leave Minion alone with the shipment."

Phoebe paused for a moment, considering the contrast between the alien who made her scream in fear and the version of him eating scrambled eggs in Roxanne's kitchen. She wanted to say something smart, but all that escaped her was "You really curse."

"Huh?" He looked confused again, unaware how the outside general expectations of him crashed against the reality. Roxanne shot her friend a reprimanding look, irritated whenever people fell for the convenient hood of stereotypes.

"Phoebe, you're staring."

"I'm not staring, I'm drooling", she replied quickly, giving her a knowing look. "This changes everything we talked about, Roxanne."

Megamind glanced between the two, trying to grasp the hidden context and failing. "I'm lost", he admitted quietly.

"People get surprised you're a person", Roxanne explained harshly. "And it's rude", she added, looking pointedly at Phoebe.

"But why..?", he wondered out loud, finishing his food. What else was he supposed to be?

"Brainwashed by the media?", Roxanne supplied and he nodded, finding the cause semi-believable.

"Right. Um, I gotta get back soon", he uttered, saving this new piece of information to be analyzed later.

"What are you working on?", the blonde perked up and Roxanne groaned, discouraging her prying in a low voice.

"Phoebe, classified."

Megamind looked up at her, the line of questioning weirdly familiar. "If you could guess what it does by its looks, I'd tell you."

Her face brightened after a moment as she realized the implication. "...I can see the Evil Lair?!", she exclaimed excitedly.

"He has work to do, Phoebe", Roxanne reminded from the side, getting completely ignored.

"Um... do you want to?"

"Do I want to?! Roxanne, you tell him!"

"You don't have to agree to this", she said quietly as Phoebe squirmed at the prospect.

"It should be okay if you stay with her", Megamind considered. "You... said a very similar thing to me one time."

"I did, didn't I?", she smiled at the old memory. "And you started to switch off the spotlight after broadcasts."

He put his hand on the back of his neck in embarrassment. "God, I'm such a sucker for this", he realized.

"Just consider it making amends", Phoebe asserted, already hyped. "What should I wear?"

They arrived at the Evil Lair, Phoebe keeping her hands over her eyes, having promised she won't peek. It was an empty precaution, but something Megamind still wasn't completely comfortable dropping. Moving the facility was a pain and he'd rather just keep it hidden for as long as possible.

He quickly updated the brainbot's directives, entering Phoebe's profile as a guest. He gave Roxanne admin privileges some time ago, though she rarely used them, concerned about messing up the gestures and causing chaos. He was fine with it, always enjoying her using something he built, and assigned her usual unit to shadow them to boost her confidence.

Roxanne discreetly asked him where not to go, and he mostly wanted to keep the private rooms, idea space and his workshop away from the sight-seeing trip, unfinished work causing him anxiety when examined closely. Phoebe seemed most interested in the old kidnapping room with the master console for conducting evil ploys, comparing it to the version from over a year ago. Megamind left them to it and went to approve their latest shipment, a tall package secured with wooden frames filled with laser-cut metal parts his new machine required.

Minion was ecstatic about seeing Phoebe again and chatted them up for some time before getting back to help with their newest arrival. He was fond of guests in general, and as they sat and double-checked the parts against the delivery slip, Megamind remembered his friend's latest news.

"How did the date go?", he asked conversationally, signing off on the paperwork and passing it to a nearby brainbot.

"Sir, you promised not to implore", Minion reminded him, lifting the biggest parts out of their packaging. "And not to tell miss Ritchi."

"I didn't tell her", he ensured, gesturing at a couple of bots to help him change into his working clothes. "Though I'm not sure why you're keeping that person a secret."

"With all due respect, Sir, I am entitled to privacy, though I don't think I'll stay quiet about it for years", the henchman taunted lightly and Megamind glared, since he did have a point. "But I would request a night off on Sunday."

"Uh, sure, just log in into the system."

The blueprint part was already finished and all that remained was putting the pieces together according to his plans. The heavy lifting was mostly automated, though coding the right responses and testing them against all the parts still required direct attention. Minion was good at following instructions, rarely pointing out overlooked flaws and errors, however; this is what Roxanne excelled at, and he liked it when she joined him in the process, his mind easily focusing on several tasks at once.

It was much easier to construct a working device if he didn't have to worry about it withstanding laser eyes in combat conditions. A machine designed for doing good felt a bit counter-intuitive at first, but it was satisfying to not calculate for casualty risk and armor, concentrating on function and efficiency instead.

The Foo Fighters were playing loudly in the workshop when Roxanne came in shyly, knocking on the metal wall, two sodas in hand.

"Is it alright if I bother you for a minute?", she asked. "Minion is showing Phoebe the scrapyard, he seemed happy to take her."

Seeing the Lair again - or rather its third version since her kidnapping - appeared to be kind of therapeutic for her friend, letting her tame her past and deal with the event. Minion gladly took over guiding the tour after Roxanne ran out of sheer enthusiasm.

Megamind waved at a brainbot to lower the music volume, turning to her. "And babbling all of our secrets while he's at it", he muttered. "Sure, come in", he added and she approached, passing him the drink and sitting on a disheveled leather couch nearby. There wasn't anything particularly dangerous around and he welcomed her presence.

"It'll be fine, she lives in Pittsburgh anyway", she assured. "So, since I'm already distracting you, I brought you these."

She put down a small stack of colorful envelopes and he rolled his chair closer to examine them. "What's that, anonymous..?"

"Fanmail", she explained with a smile. "You better get used to it. And may I suggest getting a PO box? No one knows your address, so they just send it to me."

"Uhh." The correspondence looked regular enough, but he would put it through the usual screening process to make sure. Some envelopes featured children's drawings of him and Minion in a giant robot and he wasn't sure how it made him feel. "Yeah, sorry. I didn't really expect that."

Roxanne sighed, getting ready to mention a topic no one ever felt comfortable with. "I guess we kinda have to schedule a money talk for later." She shrugged when Megamind gave her a lost look. "Yeah, the mundane part of life and all."

"Money talk?", he repeated, tilting his head. "Do you need any?"

"No, um, not like that." Just ask your boyfriend about his illegal income, nothing complicated. "I mean, you said you dropped all criminal activity..."

"I did", he assured slowly. "I'm more of a glorified advisor now. I still keep an eye on things, 'cause these guys can't operate in chaos for shit, but I can't realistically make them do anything."

"Okay. So how do you, um..."

Oh, so this is what she meant. He expected this question earlier on, since the concern was valid, given what he led her to believe before.

"Make money?", he finished the question and she nodded stiffly. "Selling patents, mostly. I have a shell company, they produced the parts for this", he gestured at the unfinished machine behind him. "It's not... well, it would take a very good lawyer to find anything wrong with the arrangement, and it would be circumstantial anyway, I used an alias for it."

"Huh. And you're... okay with that?" Was she okay with that?

"I had a couple more, but they weren't clean", he shrugged, then leaned down to look her in the face. "They won't put a hit on me, they don't have the guts."

She raised her eyebrows, the possibility not even crossing her mind until he mentioned it. "I meant leaving... the underworld affairs", she clarified with strain. God, it would be so much easier if she didn't sleep with him before.

"I got into it to battle Metro Man", he explained neutrally, too aware of how it looked like from the outside. "It took a lot of resources, me and Minion had none, untaxed revenue was the easiest option." She still looked unconvinced, so he dug deeper into his motives. "It was a pain to get through, the constant fucking paranoia, all the invisible connections, damn exhausting." He was happy to get out of it in the end.

She nodded slowly, digesting the information. "So all for hero battles?"

"The battles were fun", he admitted. "Spending time with you was fun. With Metro Man out of commission, I don't need the turnovers to be that high to keep this place going, so I could let go of side operations."

"And what... were those?"

He never let her close enough to find solid shit on him, but he suspected she was going somewhere specific with this line of questioning. He took a sip of his drink, electing the truth, even if it got her mad.

"Drugs, gambling, blackmail, a shitton of bribes to make it all work, some turf management", he said on one breath, watching her reaction. "Are you worried about that?"

"I... kinda am", she affirmed. "I mean, I knew most of that, just... your records only go back until you took on your current name."

His actual motivations, then. The moral grounds, all the uncomfortable 'nature of evil' stuff.

"I had some erased", he stated slowly, distressed about her anguished expression. "Roxanne, just ask", he pressed. "I did a lot of shit, I gotta own it."

She frowned, looking to the side before she got to the core of her concerns. "Did you ever kill someone?"

She certainly tried to beat around the bush on this one. "No", he replied sternly, and she seemed relieved.

He could leave it at that. His underground mask made a different impression, had to, though it was somewhat amazing she even had him when she wasn't sure. That alone deserved a real explanation. "I came close a couple of times", he added, bracing himself. "Minion did, though. And... please don't tell anyone."

She blinked, lifting her head with a bewildered expression. "...what? I won't, of course not, but..."

A brainbot flew over them, bowgling a planner reminder, and he swatted it away, in the middle of one of the confessions he tried for years to keep her away from.

"He was protecting me. Saved my life, but, yeah", he continued with strain. "We both took it badly, I confessed, and since I had priors, that was the first life sentence I got."

"You were the fall guy for him?", she asked uncertainly, trying to distance herself from the horrifying reality. Megamind nodded, playing with the edge of his shirt.

"Minion took care of me my entire life. He never handled prison well, I... didn't mind it. It was like a deal, he broke me out countless times after."

Roxanne swallowed, putting the story together. "So this happened-"

"Before I took the name, yeah", he supplied. "No records remained. I did six months before I got a grip and escaped, the longest I ever stayed after we first got out."

She knitted her eyebrows, looking up at him. "But if you grew up there, shouldn't they..?", she asked carefully, and he gave her a half-hearted smirk.

"You don't graduate prison, Roxanne", he sighed, rubbing a hand on his leg. "You either do your time, die there, or break out."

In the afternoon, Minion drove Phoebe and Roxanne to their next tourist destination, and Megamind focused on finishing his device, playing loud music and getting lost in the zone. It was going to revolutionize traffic management, spotting blockages and fixing road holes on the spot, and there was something relaxing about placing scanning lasers that couldn't harm anyone.

Someone was bound to raise against him, this is how it went. One of the colorful envelopes he received featured death threats and a razor blade glued to the paper, something to worry about tomorrow.

He and Roxanne usually spent the weekends together, though tonight he stayed in the Lair, having bothered her enough already. It was addictive, being able to see her, to touch her without tense fear or pre-arranged circumstances, and mindblowing she would let him, ask him for it, look at him with desire that didn't feel deserved, even if it didn't justify everything he did before.

He was fixing it now, doing all he could to make it right. Not only for her, still somewhat surprised the good option was on the table, and it was fascinating to read the other letters, those filled with kind words of support and encouragement. Post from his prison uncles wishing him luck, tough messages from former inmates struggling to do right, inspiring confessions from regular people, parents even, appreciating his story and passing it as empowerment to their children.

He took on the job, but didn't become the perfect Metro Man, didn't miraculously change who he was. He still felt best behind heavy walls for protection and crowds scared the hell out of him. He knew the underworld, felt comfortable talking to people with more behind their collars than he ever had, and wasn't sure if he could pull it off, deserve the gracious words spilled upon him, when he lay in his empty bed, trying to fall asleep but plagued with anxious uncertainty.

It was pathetic, but he wanted to call Roxanne, ask her how to navigate this intricate overworld, hear her voice telling him it'll be okay. He wouldn't dare ask her to balance his darkness, but she did anyway, coming to him with understanding he couldn't quite grasp, but would do everything to protect. So when he heard a knock on his bedroom door and saw her when he answered, standing in front of him with a shy smile, it felt more like a dream, a fantasy personified, and he embraced her tightly, breathing in the smell of her hair, feeling the warmth of her touch on his skin.

"Weren't you pissed at me?", he asked masochistically, still holding her, and she slid her hands down his back with a sigh.

"You told me when I asked", she murmured, placing a small kiss on his collarbone. "I knew it was gonna be messy. My own fault for falling for you."

"Why are you here, anyway?", he whispered, letting her go.

She shrugged, leaning against the wall. "I snuck out", she confessed.

"You...", he snickered, taking her hand. "You're gonna be so dead tomorrow. Come on, sleep with me."

"Phoebe wanted to go to a club, but I had it with drug dealers paying me respects", she muttered, taking off her clothes. Megamind threw her a fresh tshirt from his drawer and she put it on, sitting on his bed.

"How are you holding up?", she asked softly after he moved behind her, hugging her shoulders.

"Confused", he replied truthfully, and she reached back, touching his arm.

"But not conflicted?"

He kissed the back of her head, putting his hand over her own. "Nah, I don't feel like bombing the City Hall", he muttered and she let out a short amused breath. "Thank you", he added quietly, his arms tightening around her, and she nodded slowly, an uncertain smile playing on her lips.

He thought back to his doubts, to the haunting feeling of inadequacy, and it all seemed a bit more manageable now.

"How are you doing?", he asked softly, pressing his lips to the side of her neck. She shook her head, but he cut her off before her usual shield of alrightness took over. "Roxanne", he added more seriously and she rolled back her shoulders, forcing herself to relax in his embrace.

"Stressed, but that's nothing new", she grunted, rubbing her feet together. "I guess we're both dealing with a lot now."

She looked around, eager to change the subject before he dwelled into her emotions too much. "What is this?", she asked, pointing with her chin at a small sphere on his bedside table.

He followed her gesture, reaching out to the device. "Um, it's a toy. At least it was based on one." He pressed a hidden button on the side of its base and the sphere lighted up, projecting a starry sky over the ceiling and walls of the room.

Roxanne stared around in silence, mouth slightly agape at the realism of the image. The stars seemed to flicker just like real ones, their surroundings such dark blue it almost seemed black, with an occasional comet blinking on the edge of her vision.

"The windows are risky", Megamind justified with some embarrassment. "And you can't see the sky too well in a city, so..."

"Woah", she exclaimed in a hushed tone, turning her head to follow the faux sky. "But... it's not random, is it? I can't recognize any constellations."

He accompanied her gaze, speaking bashfully. "It's not... Earth sky. Um."

She turned around to look at him with wide eyes. "Is this the sky from your planet?"

He nodded, stroking her forearm. "Yeah", he confirmed. "It loops after several minutes, it's... as much as I could remember."

She turned back to admire the projection in silent awe. "It would be blasphemous to have sex under it", she uttered after a while and he chuckled, holding her closer.

"And you're facing less than three hours of sleep, Temptress", he chastised, moving to the side and pulling her down by her shoulder. "So lay down, watch the pretty lights and try to unwind for a damn second."

She nodded, crawling under the covers with him, watching the night sky until they both went asleep.