Luckily, there was no one around when they got into the building, so they made it into her room without running into anyone who would question them. The second Roxanne closed the door behind them, Megamind pulled away, staggering forward to collapse onto her crimson couch. He curled into the cushions, shivering.

Roxanne bit her lip. Okay, he didn't want to touch her. Why did that bother her so much? Didn't matter, she reminded herself. Priority one was making sure he wasn't going to get worse. So, first aid kit, maybe some blankets since his suit didn't seem to be weatherproof.

She walked behind the couch to get the first aid kit from underneath the sink. Megamind turned to watch her, leaning heavily on the back of the couch, but stayed silent. Setting the first aid kit on the counter, she told him "I'm going to go get you some things to warm up, all right? I'll be right back." She waited a few seconds to see if he'd respond, then turned to go down the hallway.

Megamind was- he wasn't sure where he was. He was sitting on something very soft and comfortable. And red. A blurry figure was talking to him. Too small to be Minion, so- oh yes, Roxanne Ritchi. She'd been there after Minion had gotten him away from the civilian mob. Wait, then where was Minion? Minion would never just leave him in the snow, he would have gone right back to the lair. What happened to Minion?

He felt for the de-gun at his waist. Yes, still there. But his communications device for this plot was back in the battle suit. What if Minion was in trouble? How would he call Megamind for help?

Roxanne re-entered the room, setting two blankets on the couch by Megamind. Then she froze and went straight to the window, looking out and checking for any curious onlookers before swiftly drawing the curtains. It wasn't as if anyone was especially likely to notice the two of them from the street, but someone in the apartment across the way could easily have seen them.

She really needed to get a more private apartment. Something where nobody could casually spy on her. If she got that raise she'd been asking for, maybe she could afford a penthouse in one of the apartments overlooking the waterfront?

She turned back to the couch. "I did a quick computer search and as far as I can tell the most important thing to remember when you have a head injury is-"

Megamind was partway curled into the fetal position, staring unseeing at the blankets she'd placed in front of him. He was still shivering.

"Oh, no," Roxanne rushed over to the couch. "I'll get you bandaged up right away, okay?"

He looked up at her, tears once more welling up in her eyes. "Minion saved me. He saved me, and I don't know where he is, and I think the mob got him-" He punctuated his statements by half-heartedly waving his arms in the air, de-gun in one hand.

"Whoa there, slow down." Roxanne caught his hands in hers, gently taking the de-gun from him and setting it on the coffee table. "Minion saved you?"

Megamind relaxed his defensive posture a little. "They were throwing dodgeballs- snowballs- they were throwing things, Minion carried me away. I don't know where he went."

"Megamind-" She paused, unsure if this would upset him further. "That was me. I didn't see Minion, he's probably OK."

"Minion is still in the lair?" Megamind confirmed, half to himself. "Minion's safe." He opened his mouth to speak, then pulled his brows together and closed it again, deep in thought. Roxanne took advantage of his pause to pull the blankets she'd brought him over his lap and tuck them around his shoulders. He either didn't notice or didn't mind, because he didn't stir from his contemplative position.

"I'm going to get the first aid kit now," Roxanne informed him, going over to the kitchen. She took the kit, then paused and opened a drawer with a quiet

Thoonk. Dodgeballs thudded against the wall, the rubber giving the sound almost bell-like undertones if you listened close enough. They were hitting all around him, but he remained untouched.

A voice rang out from in front of him: proud, commanding, and accented by two pinpricks of red light. "Get him!"

The first ball grazed his arm. The second one knocked his shoulder back against the rough brick wall. The next hit him straight in the stomach. He stumbled, breath forced out of his lungs. Then someone hit the side of his head, and now they were all aiming for his magnificent blue braincase.

His temples throbbed, but it was okay; he'd learned from experience that he didn't bruise as easy as humans did. Wayne could kill him with the flick of a finger, of course, but didn't seem to think the skinny blue kid was worth his time. So he'd be fine as long as it didn't get

Cold.

Dodgeballs were still hitting him, but they were shrinking, getting colder, breaking apart on impact. He was on his knees, staring into whiteness.

Cold.

He'd never admitted how bad it was, especially to Minion (Minion worried about him too much as it was).

Ice, hard and unyielding, cutting across his face.

Cold.

His reflexes and overall resilience always lowered during winter. It had never been a problem, he just cut back on plot frequency a little and if things ever went wrong Metro Man took him right to the nice warm jail.

He'd miscalculated this time. Snowballs impacted him, harder, harder, seeding bruises across his skin.

Cold

Cold cold cold cold-

Miss Ritchi was in his face, holding his shoulder and shouting his name. Oh, that's right, he was sheltering in her apartment. He relaxed slightly. It was safe here.

Nonetheless, he pulled away from Miss Ritchi out of politeness. She might be willing to help him now, but if he imposed too much- well, he wanted to avoid that. They had an excellent professional relationship, and he wasn't about to screw that up by violating her personal space.

Roxanne had been really alarmed when she took a bowl of water and a damp towel back to the couch only to find Megamind had fallen asleep and appeared to be having a nightmare, crying silently.

She couldn't help feeling relieved when she successfully woke him, and disappointed when he moved aside so her hand was no longer touching him. They weren't friends, she reminded herself, she was just a convenient hostage. Unfortunately, her emotions didn't seem to think that mattered.

"Thank you, Miss Ritchi," Megamind said quietly, not looking at her.

Roxanne widened her eyes momentarily, unsure how to respond, then steadied herself. Banter now, worry later. "You can thank me by holding still while I clean your head."

He went very still. One hand clutched a fistful of blankets, the other went up and gently ran over his temple. It came back bloody, a damp red patch on his scuffed black gloves. And finally, he looked her in the eyes.

God, those eyes- he was always so full of energy, seeing him this burnt out just felt wrong.

"I suppose that would be for the best." he said simply, and Roxanne broke eye contact to grab the towel she'd brought over. If she'd kept looking for much longer, he might have seen how worried she was about him. Heavens know that would be embarrassing for both of them.

She sat down next to him, dipping the towel into the bowl of water which she'd placed on the coffee table. He closed his eyes and faced away as she raised the wet towel to the side of his head. "You okay?" she asked quietly.

He gave a brief nod and responded in a low voice. "Go ahead." He winced as the towel touched his skin, but stayed still just like she'd asked him to.

Roxanne gently dabbed the towel against a cut on his temple, blotting away the blood. Then she moved to the next, and the next- how had these people been able to do this to him? How could they keep throwing things at him once they'd seen him bleed? Yes, he was a bit of a nuisance, but that was not a good enough reason to act so hatefully against someone.

She found she was gritting her teeth and had to take a couple deep and somewhat angry breaths to calm down. Getting mad wouldn't help either of them now.

Inspecting this side of his head, it seemed she'd cleaned up the abrasions but there were still sticky rivulets of blood sweeping along the curves of his skull. She dipped the towel in the water again and pressed it against his scalp, wiping the red away to reveal his sky-blue skin. As she moved the towel from his forehead to the back of his skull, her arm was raised at such an angle that she was practically embracing his head.

She pulled the towel away for a second and looked at his face to see if he was okay being this close to her. He'd seemed kind of reserved earlier. At this point, it was only sort of a surprise to see a couple of tears escape from his still-closed eyes.

Roxanne made noises of annoyance, almost disgust, as she poked at his head with her hand. Oh. He'd hoped- But there it was.

He shouldn't have let her do this. Should have kept his distance so she'd have taken longer to realize what an alien freak he really was. It was amazing it had taken her this long, really, given he had been kidnapping her for years now.

But she kept going, kept moving the towel over his head. Although the wet towel was a little chilly, the pressure was soothing. Having a person touch him like this, touch him at all, was- new. Minion did his best, of course, but Minion's fishlike species wasn't really adapted for physical contact and neither was the gorilla suit.

It was a shame he would only get to experience this once. If only he was more normal, if his head was smaller and his skin was pinker, then maybe-

No. He had heard her disgust. It was too late now to do anything but enjoy it while it lasted.

When she took her hand away, he couldn't bring himself to open his eyes and watch her run just like everyone else he'd tried to make his friend.