Disclaimer: I don't own Megamind and am not affiliated with Dreamworks in any way.

Chapter 4

"Oh, that's just great!" Roxanne fumed loudly. "First I get kidnapped by you for my association with Metro Man and now I get robbed because I'm your 'favorite victim!' How is that fair?! What if I had been home just then?! I could have been raped! Or killed!" Megamind felt the blood drain from his face and his eyes widened as she continued to rant. She was right. He had put her in danger from people trying to get to him and he never put surveillance on her apartment because he respected her privacy. "Oh, and let's not forget the fact that I'm now jobless because somehow I got caught up in your little game!" she continued heatedly.

And now she was crying! He didn't know how to deal with a crying Roxanne! He tried putting up his hands placatingly to calm her down. That didn't work because then she started sobbing and was closing in on herself.

He tried softly speaking calming words to her as he cautiously approached, "Hey, hey. Shhh. Miss Ritchi? Miss Ritchi, I promise I will fix this." He reached out his gloved hands and gingerly placed them on her upper arms. When she didn't protest him touching her, he started rubbing his hands up and down her arms to try to sooth her. From what he observed of humans, when they were upset, they craved a comforting touch. He didn't have any experience himself, but for her, he'd try. He continued softly, "I'll design you a custom security system. And an emergency alert device. Would you like some security brainbots? I can make you some. You'll be safe, Miss Ritchi. I'll keep you safe," he said the last part determinedly. Even if she refused everything he offered, he would still have eyes and ears on her so she would never be in danger because of him.

Suddenly Roxanne threw her arms around his neck and buried her face into his chest while still sobbing. Contact! Highly irregular, voluntary, hugging-type contact! What was he supposed to do now?! And why was she hugging him of all people?! She just accused him of being the cause of her recent problems, and she wasn't wrong. She didn't seem to be regretting her decision to touch him just yet, so he cautiously folded his arms around her and began softly talking to her again.

"Shhh. Shhh. Oh Roxanne," he let her name slip without realizing. "My dear Roxanne. I'll fix this. I promise. Hush now, Roxanne. I'm here. You're ok. Shhh." He brought a hand up to stroke her hair, silently cursing the fact that he was still wearing his gloves. He had always wanted to run his fingers through her hair. He kept repeating the soft platitudes to calm her down. Eventually, she stopped sobbing and held him tight, an occasional spasm rocking her body.

A few silent moments went by before she slowly lifted her head off his chest. She looked up at him with a tear-ravaged face and whispered, "Sorry. I didn't expect to burst into tears."

They were still embracing, so he gave her a little squeeze and said softly, "No I'm sorry, my dear Roxanne. It never crossed my towering intellect that someone would be brash enough to target me through you. I swear by all that is evil that it will not happen again." He rubbed her back softly and whispered, "You ok now?" Although he could stand here and hold her for the rest of eternity, he didn't want her to cry anymore. But he just knew that when she collected herself, he would never get this chance again, so he was committing everything to easily accessible memories.

"As ok as I can be," she replied softly. She gave a watery smirk, "Let's teach those bastards a lesson. Oh, and Megamind?" She stopped speaking for a moment, so he raised an eyebrow inviting her to continue. She reached up, put a hand on his cheek, looked into his eyes then simply said, "Thank you."

Skin on skin! On his face! She touched his face… His brain momentarily shorted out as he involuntarily leaned into her touch. He heard a small whimper escape his throat as the memories of his parents and the last time he was touched gently came to the forefront of his mind. Excepting those few days, the last time he had skin to skin contact with another warm-blooded sentient being that didn't involve fists had been from the warden before he had the coordination to dress himself. And that had been business-like at best.

He came back to himself and felt his own eyes attempt to water. He quickly blinked his eyes to keep that from happening and replied softly, "Anytime you need me, my dear Roxanne." She hadn't moved her hand, and he wasn't going to be the one to break contact, so he stayed still.

A moment later and she still hadn't backed away from him or removed her hand from his cheek. In fact, she was starting to run her thumb across his cheekbone and was searching his eyes for something. Apparently, she found what was she was looking for because she suddenly gave him a shy smile. He smiled back, simply enjoying her closeness, when she applied a slight pressure on her hand on his cheek. The next thing he knew, her lips ghosted over his. Before he could react, she added pressure and brought their lips together for a gentle kiss.

He fell asleep in front of the monitors waiting for fingerprint results last night. This had to be a dream. He should have suspected it with the hugging. There was no way Roxanne would willingly touch and kiss him like this. He was sleeping and having a vivid dream and he was going to wake up right now…. Now!... Dream Roxanne pulled back and then came in for another gentle meeting of the lips. He decided that he could dream just a little longer. He returned her kiss and tightened his arms around her.

Dream Roxanne started moving her lips against his and he matched the movement. He gasped in surprise when he felt her tongue lick his bottom lip. Apparently, that was merely a ruse because when he gasped, she used the opportunity to slip her tongue into his mouth and slide along his. He reciprocated and they both let out a needy moan as the kiss deepened. After a moment, she pulled back and they both started panting for air. She rested her forehead against his, and he blushed at the intimate contact.

"Wow," she eventually got out while breathing heavily.

"Wow," he agreed, still not believing what was happening.

"Back to work, then?" she asked shyly.

He swallowed heavily a couple times and replied, "A couple questions first," while gently rubbing his forehead across hers. He could feel his cheeks glowing, but he didn't care. "First, and most important so please be honest. Am I dreaming?"

Roxanne smirked and said, "No, Megamind. You're not dreaming. At least I hope I wouldn't have an emotional melt-down in your dreams."

"My incredible intellect can come up with many scenarios without my conscious input. In view of this, I don't have a way to verify your statement, so I will be cautiously optimistic and accept this as being reality."

"Gee, that's big of ya," Roxanne replied dryly and rolled her eyes.

He smirked slightly then said, "Ok then, second question. Why?"

Roxanne looked a little uncomfortable and pulled back her forehead to his disappointment. Then she asked back, "Now?"

"My dear Roxanne," he started. My, it was nice being able to call her that out loud without repercussions. "I'm afraid if I don't know why; possible reasons will be all I'll think about all day. And I do have an ee-vil scheme I hope to plan and execute in twelve hours' time." He spoke softly then, "Can you give me something to latch onto? It doesn't have to be everything."

She reached up and cupped his face with both hands and looked into his eyes. "I think I'm starting to see the real you and not just the mask. And I like the person I see and would like to see more of him." She pulled his face to hers and kissed him softly again.

When she pulled away, he whispered, "Thank you, my dear Roxanne." Then he performed a quick experiment and leaned forward to give her a soft kiss. He pulled back and said, "I really do need to get back to work." He kissed her softly again to verify his results. "I fervently hope we can pick up this discus-shion at some later time." He kissed her a little more urgently this time, still a little afraid he was dreaming. He copied what Roxanne had done earlier to seek permission to enter her mouth. To his delight, she opened up and let him in. He deepened the kiss and held her tight. One of his hands drifted up and rested on the back of her head. Eventually, they broke apart and were breathing heavily again.

They shared a smirk, even as they were catching their breath. Megamind brought his hands to her shoulders and gave her another gentle kiss before stepping away from her embrace. That had to be one of the hardest things he's had to do in years.

Roxanne probably didn't realize it, but she just gave him another weapon to use against his so-called challengers. Because now he wasn't just protecting Miss Ritchi, favorite kidnapping victim, he was protecting his Roxanne.

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Fast Eddie's cohorts both had fingerprints on file with MCPD, so Megamind was able to identify them and track down their last known addresses. It appeared that they were all from the west side of town in one of the gang-riddled neighborhoods. It had been a while since Megamind made it down that way to remind the criminal element exactly who was in charge in Metrocity. Apparently, he had let that trip slide a little too long.

Megamind generally left Metrocity's criminal population alone to mind their own business; he knew a good portion of it personally, after all. But since this was his town, he had a few rules that most people learned to respect. After a few people ended up as blue-cube paper weights on a cop's desk, word got around. He was too busy with his plans to take down Metro Man to really keep track of everything that went down, but he usually had a good idea. And the few city officials, cops, and real estate agents he kept in his pocket helped keep him up to date.

As such, he needs to occasionally take time to ensure everything runs smoothly. Usually, a few public displays of power against someone other than Metro Man was enough to quell any major issues. Metrocity just didn't appreciate all he did for them from the shadows. It was actually a safer place than it would be without him. And a nice little reign of terror should do to tide the city over until after they get back from vacation. Maybe he could talk Roxanne into joining them for the trip. If things keep looking up, that would be exceptionally pleasant.

Almost everything was ready. A handful of stealthbots had just been sent out to keep an eye on the targets. Their GPS systems were activated so he could locate them on a map. Hopefully, they would all end up in one area tonight. He had sent instructions to Brainbot Squad 6 regarding the decoy fire. He was only waiting for Minion to return so he could go set the incendiary device and check things over. He had a timer and a remote activation device made up. Brainbot Squads 1 through 8 (sans Squad 6) were informed about their jobs for the plan. The Spider-bot was ready to go. All that was left was the waiting.

He gave himself a satisfied smile and turned in his chair. Roxanne was just entering the room with a couple steaming mugs and extended one out to him. "You've been staring at those monitors for hours. I figured you could use some coffee," she said as she handed him a mug.

"Oh, my dear Roxanne, this is just what I needed. Thank you," he accepted the coffee from her and let his gloved hand contact hers a little longer than strictly necessary. He took a deep gulp of the steaming beverage. "Now about tonight: would you rather stay here, come with us and stay in the invisible car, or you can come and stay in the Spee-ider-bot with Minion? I know how hard it is to keep you from the action. Although… if you choose to stay in the Spee-ider-bot we'll need to get you into a masked costume. No need letting people see your willing associate-shion with yours truly. Not if you're going to get your job as a reporter back." He seemed to think about something and continued slightly subdued, "Just be warned, there will be violence involved. No way around that, really."

"Hmm…" Roxanne hummed as she thought and took a sip of her own steaming coffee. "Crazy question: but could you teach me to operate the Spider-bot? That way Minion can be with you on the ground."

He looked at her in shock. He'd never suspected that she'd want to get her hands dirty that way. Then he blinked and gave her a wide smile. She'd be his Evil Queen yet! "Roxanne, you are full of surprises!" he complimented her as he leapt from his chair. "We can give it a try and see how you do. Come! To the training room!" He shyly took one of her hands in his and led her upstairs. As they walked, he told her what all the Spider-bot was designed to do since she hadn't been exposed to it during one of his glorious schemes.

When they entered the training room, he put two fingers in his mouth and whistled loudly. A few seconds later, the Spider-bot sidled up to them. He gestured proudly, "The Spee-ider-bot." He helped Roxanne into the cockpit and then clambered in behind her.

"First things first, buckle up," he told her as he stood to the side of the single seat.

"Huh, I figured that was a law you'd religiously flaunt," she replied as she was adjusting the harness.

"It depends on the situate-shion, my dear. And this is purely for necessity, I assure you. Believe me; you can't very well control the thing when you're sprawled on the top of the glass dome." He proceeded to instruct her in the operation of this small battle bot. To his delight, she picked up on all the controls quickly. As a final test, he got out and gave her a small obstacle course to complete on her own. She did well enough that he decided that she could operate the Spider-bot during the confrontation. He wanted Minion beside him anyway when they faced Fast Eddie.

"You're a natural!" he praised her as he helped her down from the Spider-bot. He kept his hands on her waist a little longer than strictly necessary to ensure that she had her balance.

Roxanne blushed and looked down, "Naw," she replied, "I just had a good teacher."

He swallowed to gather his courage, gingerly reached out to touch her under her chin and gently lifted her face to look at his, "All the teaching talent in the world won't help if the student can't grasp the material. You picked it up very quickly," he assured her. Then, because he still had trouble believing it happened earlier and was apparently allowed now, he leaned forward and gave her a quick kiss. When he pulled away, he saw she was smiling and that had him smiling in return.

He grabbed her hand again and said, "Come. Minion should be back by now. We can eat lunch and then get you an outfit. Then, let the ee-vil games begin!" He led her out of the room with a joyous laugh.