Roxanne awoke feeling unusually groggy. And wet. Which was strange. She last remembered finishing a report at the local craft fair. As more feeling returned to her, she realized that all but her head and shoulders were submerged in cold water. With her eyes still clenched against her blossoming headache, she attempted to bring a hand up to her head and discovered her movement was restricted. The suddenness with which her arm stopped meant that she was bound. Which meant she was kidnapped again. But Megamind's knockout spray never really left her groggy. Or headache-y. Not like this. Or, at least not after the first few months when he was still refining the formula. She did miss the light citrus scent he flirted with for a while during those the trials though.

But why was she in water? She was used to being tied to the kidnapping chair, some structure or another, or even being suspended over something. Being wet was new. Glad she hadn't thought to move her head yet, she concentrated on keeping still and listening. In the past, she'd been able to glean a few hints about either her location or the current plan while pretending to be unconscious.

All she heard was waves and a few birds. The closest place to Metro City that had waves would put her location somewhere in Lake Michigan.

There was nothing else to hear. She couldn't even hear city-sounds from here.

So much for listening.

She cracked an eye open so the available light wouldn't stab into her brain and discovered that at least one of her suspicions were correct. She was tied up in the lake. What was Megamind up to? He wasn't even here to gloat at her when she woke up and she couldn't see any giant robot. There wasn't even any chatter from the ever-present brainbots that tended to surround him.

Starting to worry about how unusual this kidnapping was shaping up to be, she lifted her head and alertly scanned her surroundings. She realized that she was tied to a rock formation well away from the nearest shore. Shifting her spread out arms and legs one at a time, she felt metal clamps were the restraint of the day. If the weight was any indication, they were attached to chains. All of which bound her to a boulder with the water lapping at her just below her shoulders. The wind was gusting and there were dark clouds in the distance.

Sighing in frustration at not being able to see anything useful, she called out, "Megamind? Minion? What's going on?"

There was no answer.

Very strange.

And not like them at all. Even when Megamind was in a bad mood, he always said something to her. Mostly some sort of gloating. Sometimes it was flirty (and she firmly kept her thoughts away from her reactions to those interactions). Or, rarely, it was sometimes caustic. But Minion always greeted her cheerfully when he wasn't dosing her with the knockout spray. Now that she was looking around, she didn't see any cameras, bots or otherwise. That didn't bode well at all. She wasn't naïve enough to believe that he didn't do supervillain related things when she wasn't around, but when she was involved, it was always televised. It was a whole production! 'Look Metrocity, I kidnapped Roxanne Ritchi again. She's strapped to the death-trap-of-the-day. Metro Man, I bet you can't save her,' etc., etc.

So here she was strapped to a low-tech death-trap, no cameras, and Metro Man was on the east coast, dealing with a 'situation' – he wouldn't tell her what it was – in Philadelphia. Not exactly normal. And even if Megamind didn't want to admit it, there was a formula to his plots. This wasn't matching the formula and that was not a good thing.

She was beginning to suspect that Megamind didn't have anything to do with her current predicament.

That didn't bode well at all.

Although he kidnapped and threatened her often, he'd never hurt her. Well, not intentionally, anyway. She usually felt secure in the knowledge that Megamind wouldn't allow her to get seriously injured. But this situation didn't have any of his usual earmarks.

She was suddenly hit in the face with a wave from the choppy water she was submerged in. She spat out the water that had splashed into her mouth and realized that her shoulders were now covered and the lake-water had crept up to her neck. Her eyes widened as she managed to shake more of the grogginess off and actually registered the dark clouds getting nearer. That was a storm blowing in. And it was blowing all of Lake Michigan in front of it. She was right in the path of a storm surge while chained to a fucking boulder.

She pulled at her restraints again, hoping she could get some slack, but the chains held her too tight. She looked around again and finally spotted a group of about ten people on the distant beach. They were too far away to distinguish, but she could tell none were wearing a high collar or a cape. That could be a point in their favor, although she was increasingly certain that her current situation wasn't Megamind's fault.

"Hey!" she yelled to get their attention and hating every minute of it. But unless she wanted to drown, there wasn't a lot of options available to her but to call for help. "Over here! I'm trapped!"

One of the figures lifted their hands – probably to cup them around their mouth – she was too far away to see details, and shouted, "No one'- - to - you, Rox- Ritch-! - next ti- you'- be careful - -'- careers - ruin! -'- not let- you get away with -!"

The wind that was picking up whipped half of the shouted words away and she couldn't understand what they were yelling at her.

"What?" she yelled back, then had to spit out more water curtesy of another wave.

Instead of answering her, the group turned quickly to face something that that she couldn't yet see or hear from this distance. A few of them pulled something out of the backs of their waistbands and her feelings of dread doubled. She was suddenly extremely aware that her usual kidnapper didn't have anything to do with her current predicament, and that it was these people's doing.

Something unexpectedly brushed her right ankle and she jumped in response. The only reason she didn't yelp was because she happened to be holding her breath to keep another wave from splashing into her mouth. She tried to twitch her leg away from whatever was brushing against her, but the chains were still restraining her tightly against the boulder. And now that she was paying attention, she felt that the chains were also wrapped around her legs just above her knees. At least that kept her loose skirt from flaring out around her. She desperately looked down into the dark water surrounding her, – noting that her chin now touched the water when she did so – but she wasn't able to see anything clearly below her thighs, much less down at her ankles.

As she scanned below her, she spotted the shadow of a huge fish darting by her knees. It was just deep enough that she couldn't make out any details. She jumped again as she felt something touch her left ankle.

Great. She wasn't even dead yet and the local fish were already checking out the soon-to-be drowned buffet. She noted that the water had crept up to just under her chin when looking straight ahead. That's not great. The water was rising quickly and would soon cover her airways. She was already sputtering from the occasional wave that splashed over her face.

She looked towards the shore again and saw the person she had the shouted conversation with earlier was pointing – probably holding a gun – at someone or something she couldn't see. Something suddenly splashed in front of her, making her jump again, and pointedly bringing her attention to the squarish sharp-toothed fish floating on top of the water in front of her.

She blinked and her brain finally reconciled the fish in front of her into Minion, out of his mechanical gorilla suit that she had never seen him without. And, for some reason, there was a thin length of metal hanging out the side of his mouth and some rubber straps looped around his little antenna.

"Minion?" she sputtered in surprise. "What-?"

He politely interrupted, talking out of the side of his mouth not holding that metal bit, "No time, Miss Ritchi. I'll answer what I can when we get you free. I just wanted to ask you to please refrain from kicking me while I deal with your restraints."

"Oh, yeah. Sure. Sorry," she replied, still a little blind-sided by the current situation. He was here to rescue her?

"No worries!" he replied cheerfully, then disappeared under the waves. This time when she felt something brush against her ankle, she held still – knowing that Minion was working on the manacles holding her legs against the rock. A moment later, her foot was released. She caught a flash of his silhouette as he sped to the other side of her again. She once again held still when she felt him brush against her other ankle. Soon that leg was also free, and the chains surrounding her legs went slack. She busied herself by attempting to wiggle her legs out of the loosened bindings.

Once she had the room to work with, she took the opportunity to try to push herself up a little further out of the water while Minion worked on freeing her wrists. She glanced at the beach where her mystery kidnappers were and was surprised to see Megamind directly in front of them making sharp, angry gestures. She got distracted when her wrist was released and, when she looked back over, there was a full-on brawl going on. The fight looked really violent, and she wished she was closer so she could see what was happening. Unbidden, the thought popped in her head that she hoped Megamind wasn't going to get hurt.

Suddenly the last binding on her wrist went slack and she accidently dunked herself in the water, nearly getting trapped in the wide skirt of her dress as it billowed out around her. That particular chain obviously was more important to keeping her head above water than she thought. She finally managed to get untangled and was now treading water reliably. The wide bohemian skirt on this dress – that she happily twirled around in this morning at her apartment before her segment at the local craft fair – wasn't doing her any favors now. Suddenly, Minion popped up in front of her to float on top of the water again.

"We need to hurry, Miss Ritchi," he started, still holding that metal piece in one side of his mouth. Was that a lockpick? He had to have done something to free her. "There's a… um… rebreather of sorts… looped around my neural implant. You'll need to place it over your nose and mouth. It'll let you breathe while underwater for about six hours. We won't take nearly that long though. The water is too cold for either of us to be in the lake for very long. Oh, and you won't really be able to talk while wearing the rebreather. So, if you have any immediate questions, now's the time."

"I'm not going to hurt you, am I?" she asked nervously as she cautiously reached to get the rebreather from around what she always thought of as his antenna. Neural implant? That thing was attached to his brain? Was that how he controlled the suit?

"I'm tougher than I look, Miss Ritchi," Minion assured her with a hint of an evil grin. "I'll be fine."

Still worried, she gently removed the apparatus from around his antenna while he held still for her. "Where are we headed?" she asked as she examined the strange handful of tech. The rubber straps were obviously meant to go around her head to hold it in place. That narrow part would probably be the piece that goes over her nose, and it looked like that short tube was supposed to go in her mouth. Yeah, those are teeth guards. That tube would keep her tongue slightly depressed, so no talking. There was a patch-looking thing on each side – probably what actually allowed her to breathe. But aren't these things supposed to be attached to a tank of some kind?

"Oh, not far! There's a hidden cove about a half mile from here where I left my suit and the invisible car is nearby," he told her as he glanced worriedly at the combatants on the beach.

"Half a mile?! I don't think I can swim that far, Minion," she protested. Her recent cardio routine has mainly been on an elliptical machine. She couldn't even remember what year it was when she was last in a pool, much less went actively swimming in one.

"Sure you can, Miss Ritchi!" he encouraged her cheerfully. "I'll be right there, and I promise I'm the meanest thing in these waters. You'll be safe."

She glanced at his pointed teeth and decided that he wasn't wrong. He probably was the meanest thing out here. Unfortunately, that wasn't what she was worried about. At least if the breathing thing performed how he said it would, she should be safe from drowning if she got exhausted. Long enough to rest for a little while, anyway. Or for him to get to his suit and call some brainbots to haul her to shore. Assuming the cold didn't get to her first. The temperatures had only recently hit seventy degrees, so the lake water was still a nearly frigid fifty. Cold enough that prolonged exposure could cause hypothermic issues. Those thoughts in mind, she determinedly nodded to herself. She could do this. She might not be able to move for the next couple of days, but she could do this right now.

"Since I can't talk underwater, how do I get your attention if I need to?" she asked as she began to strap the mask on.

"If you clap, I'll be able to feel it," he answered before asking, "Are you ready? We need to get started."

Taking a deep breath to steady her nerves, she nodded then put on the breather thing as instructed. Once it sealed against her face, she gave a nod. Minion glanced towards the shore again then all the photophores along his ridges – that always faintly glowed – suddenly lit up with a blinding flash. He dimmed himself, then lit up again. There was an answering blue flash from the shore. It looked like the typical blast from Megamind's dehydration gun.

Minion dimmed himself again, glanced over at her and instructed, "Let's go. Miss Ritchi, if you would please follow me. And I'm afraid we'll need to stay underwater for the trip so you won't be seen." Then he jumped into the air, did a flip, and dove beneath the waves. Not having many options, she followed him beneath the surface without the acrobatics. She sank into the folds of her dress that seemed like such a good idea this morning. She floated there for a moment to get the hang of her breathing device (and to try to keep her dress from drifting up and strangling her), but she found that she wasn't having to do anything different to breathe like those few times she tried snorkeling. The water stung her eyes, but she knew she'd have to get used to it. There wasn't exactly a pair of goggles around.

"Still good, Miss Ritchi?" Minion asked from next to her. She looked over at him and gave him a thumbs up before gesturing for him to lead the way. He shot her a toothy grin and started moving, leaving her to swim after him. She followed, swimming as best she could and hoping that once she got moving her dress would stop hindering her.

Fortunately, he let her set the pace. She could tell because he kept turning to check on her, then would slow down so she wasn't so far behind him. He also lit up his photophores when they were nearing underwater obstacles so she could see them more easily. Like a mobile, underwater lighthouse lighting up the nearby dangers. He really was the sweetest.

Once they managed to move away from the rocks, he drifted back a little closer to her and said, "Sorry for the abruptness earlier, Miss Ritchi, but the plan involved extracting you quickly before Sir could really deal with your abductors. I know you have questions and I'll do my best to guess what they are and answer them while we swim, if that's ok?"

She smiled, making sure to crinkle her eyes in case he couldn't see her mouth clearly through the mask, and gave him a quick thumbs up in between clumsy arm movements.

"Ok, so I'll bet your biggest questions are what happened, and how did we get involved. Basically, remember that story you did about a month ago about corruption and insider trading at that financial group? That started an investigation and the authorities found not only that, but money laundering and embezzlement. Several people were charged and fired. Your abductors are a group of the people involved that managed to escape detection, probably by quitting before they were investigated. And, well, they blame you. And Sir for certain activities I can't share with you, Miss Ritchi. You understand. I'm sure Sir is getting more information right now, but from what we gathered, they abducted you and planned to frame Sir for your death. Which, may I point out, was actually a good thing. Death-traps are easier to save someone from than a bullet."

He gave her a disappointed look and threatened, "And I don't mean to derail this one-sided conversation, but you should really be more careful after your investigative reports."

She stopped moving her arms for a minute, quirked an eyebrow and exaggeratedly shrugged her shoulders to convey something along the lines of, "It wasn't my fault – what do you want me to do about it?" This whole not talking thing was going to drive her to distraction soon. Although literally breathing underwater with just a small mask over part of her face was really cool. She was undecided on if she was going to tell Megamind that or not though. There's no way this wasn't an invention of his.

She should tell him.

They just saved her life; she could be nice.

Minion sighed a sigh that she had only ever heard him direct towards Megamind and scolded her, "We know you were only doing your job, but there are dangerous people out there, and we don't think you do enough to keep yourself safe. Case in point." He almost lost the metal bit he was still holding in the side of his mouth while chiding her.

She could hold that for him. Right now, she's the only one of the two of them with hands. She pointed to the side of her mouth, then mimed reaching out and plucking the lockpick from his mouth. Then, holding it in two fingers and bringing that to the palm of her other hand where she released the imaginary lockpick, then closed her open hand.

He squinted one eye at her and said, "I think you're asking if you can hold the lockpick for me?"

She nodded and touched the mask directly over her nose twice with her index finger. Then wondered if he ever played charades to even recognize the gesture.

"If it's not too much trouble," he replied bashfully. In answer, she cupped both her hands in front of her and extended it towards him a little. He drifted back to float over her hands. His dangling appendages – she'd always thought it'd be rude to ask what they're called – brushed her arm as he got into position. He dropped the thin piece of metal into her hands then worked his lower jaw back and forth. Probably working out a cramp. She carefully closed her hands around it and got the lockpick situated in her left hand.

"Thanks, Miss Ritchi," he said once he was done working out his jaw. "I'd have normally dropped it once I got you free, but it's the last straight piece in my set. And the lead times to get a good lockpick set are ridiculous." She just smiled in response.

They swam in silence for a moment before Minion continued his interrupted explanations, "We're sure you're aware that we… monitor?... what's happening in the city. Or at least you've suspected as much."

He glanced questioningly at her and she nodded. They ended up involved in things as they were happening a little too often not to have some kind of information network – that she would die for – involved. Events that wouldn't normally involve them, so they weren't necessarily the instigators in every instance.

A fact that nobody but her seemed to understand. They just looked at her like a crazy person when she tried to point it out. As far as they were concerned, Megamind was guilty of everything from litter on the streets to the local baseball team losing against the best team in the league.

"Well, that's how we found out the plan and where to come look for you. And we do apologize for arriving so late. We try to head these sorts of things off before you're inconvenienced," Minion continued. "And well, not only that, but they broke The Rules. Talk is one thing, but acting on it is another. We really don't have any choice but to set an example on why that's a Bad Idea."

Rules? What rules? It had to be important, she actually heard him capitalize the phrase.

He must've noticed the look on her face, because he answered, "I really shouldn't be telling you this, Miss Ritchi, but as long as you're in Metro City, you're supposed to stay safe. Sir has claimed you as his exclusive victim, and well… nobody else is supposed to bother you without certain… consequences."

She actually stopped swimming and allowed herself to simply float as a couple anomalous memories hit her. There was that mugging five years ago. The guy stole her purse and phone at knife point, which she handed over. He made it to the end of the block when he stopped suddenly, ran back to her and pushed the items back into her hands while apologizing profusely before sprinting off again. She'd always assumed it was because she was a reporter because he "didn't recognize her with the hat and the sunglasses." And that he didn't want her to tell the police or Metro Man when he stammered, "it's all here. Please. No need to get anyone else involved."

And there was that aborted robbery when she was filling up her car after one of the times she unexpectedly worked late last year. Otherwise, she never got gas at night. She was at the register when two guys in ski masks barreled through the door. One started the whole, "this is a robbery" spiel, but the second guy – the one that kept staring at her – grabbed the first guy's arm tightly, said, "No, not here. It's her." The first guy looked at her, swore, then they both bolted out the door and out of sight.

"Miss Ritchi?" Minion called her attention back to the present.

She blinked at him and sheepishly shrugged to apologize for spacing out. Even if he didn't quite know what she meant, it was only polite. Her skirt had billowed around her again since she stopped moving. She huffed in aggravation and glared at the flowy fabric. She glanced over at Minion and quickly convinced herself, "he's a fish, he won't care" and "it's the same coverage as a swimsuit."

She held up one finger towards him, then tucked his lockpick securely into her bra to free up her hands. She then gathered the loose material of her skirt above her waist and crumpled it into a ball to hold against her stomach with one arm. Now she could move without getting tangled up. Assuming that taking one of her arms away from swimming wouldn't hinder her too much. Once she was situated as best as she could be, she offered another shrug and started moving again.

When she caught up to Minion, he started leading the way again. They continued to swim in silence and her thoughts couldn't help but scan over her memories to see if there were any other situations she was protected from that she didn't even realize at the time. Maybe all those times she thought she was going crazy and heard brainbots that weren't actually there, were real events and she just never spotted the bots. They have an invisible car after all. It wouldn't be outside the realm of possibility that he used that same technology on some of his other inventions.

Was it weird that she was flattered that the local supervillain was looking after her? That's weird, right? But it was so sweet that Megamind always wanted to look after the safety of his 'Miss Ritchi.' And it was killing her that she couldn't ask Minion how many times they had to intervene on her behalf. Obviously, it was their standing threats and The Rules that scared off the guys in her memories, but he mentioned direct intervention 'before she was inconvenienced.' So they'd caught somebody before. Possibly a few somebodies if Minion was aggravated enough to want to chide her about her safety.

They continued in silence and she shivered. The lake was still really cold even as the calendar slipped closer to June. She brought her other arm in to hold the skirt bundle at her waist – to attempt to preserve some body heat – and solely relied on kicking to propel herself forward. The one-armed strokes probably weren't helping anyway.

She looked forward again after readjusting herself and noticed Minion looking at her worriedly. "Still doing ok, Miss Ritchi?" he asked. She nodded in reply. It wasn't like admitting that the cold was getting to her was going to make them get out of the water any faster. He continued to give her an appraising look then encouraged, "It's not much farther. Just another five or ten minutes at this pace."

She nodded again to show that she heard. Ten minutes. She could do that. She wasn't all that cold. And the movement helps.

She lied.

She was that cold.

Her lips were probably as blue as Megamind was. She giggled soundlessly as she wondered if he would help her warm them up.

She forcibly tore her thoughts away from that particular minefield. There were too many issues even surrounding that particular can of worms to think about opening it. And under the waters of Lake Michigan, dealing with hypothermia – if the shivering was any indication – was neither the place nor time.

Minion glanced back at her again worriedly and said, "Just keep kicking this direction, Miss Ritchi. I'm going to surface and check where we are and make sure it's safe." She gave him another thumbs up in answer and continued to kick as he drifted above her.

A moment later, he swam back down and encouraged, "The coast is clear and we're almost there." They continued moving in the same direction.

Soon, she saw the ground getting closer to them. She shot a look at Minion, who had moved to swimming next to her instead of in front, to make sure it was safe to stand up when she could reach. He noticed her look and said, "I'll just check again, ok, Miss Ritchi?" She nodded and he swam upwards and breached the surface. She was close enough to see that he lit himself up again, in a pattern this time. Then he sunk back down and said, "It's safe. You can stand up whenever you can reach."

She shot him a tired smile and nodded slightly as she continued to swim. It was just a little too deep right now for her to stand. And even if she could, she'd still be able to move faster swimming than walking until it got a little shallower.

Soon, she got to where she thought she could stand and walk faster than she could swim. She dropped her bundled skirt, allowed her legs to fall to the ground and stood up. Her feet sunk slightly into the mud of the lakebed when she did. When did she lose her shoes? The air hit her wet skin and made her shiver instantly. She pulled down the mask she'd been using to let it hang around her neck and took a breath of the slightly fishy smelling air that surrounded the lake. She took a step and her knees tried to buckle when she put weight on them.

Before she collapsed into the water, a strong, skinny arm was suddenly supporting her across her back and under her shoulders. She blinked in surprise, fully expecting to be back underwater by now.

"This way, Miss Ritchi. No complaining now," Megamind said from where he'd materialized beside her. He threw one of those foil-looking emergency blankets over her shoulders, while still supporting her weight, and started guiding her further onto shore.

"W-w-who's complaining?" she stuttered through her chattering teeth.

As he led her to shore, she spotted Minion's suit crouched nearby in the water. It was starting to move. Which was odd because Minion wasn't in the head-dome area yet.

"Miss Ritchi? You with me?" Megamind asked. From his worried tone, it wasn't the first time. Oops. She nodded and let herself lean on him a little more.

"There are blankets in the car, flannel pajamas that Minion assured me will fit you, and a thermos of something hot. You've been swimming in nearly fifty-degree water for over forty minutes, and I don't know when you were initially submerged. We need to get you out of the water, out of your wet clothes, and warmed up. Do you understand?" he asked, still sweetly worried about her.

"Yes, yes. Hypothermia. I know the drill," she stuttered in reply. It was actually one of the subjects she religiously studied once a year since she started getting kidnapped. She'd seen his plans go sideways more than once. She kept an annual lesson plan of emergency scenarios. For just such an occasion.

Since she didn't want to lose it, she pulled the emergency blanket a little tighter around her shoulders then dug out Minion's lockpick from where it nestled itself in her bra. Once she managed to scoop it out with her numb fingers, she then presented it to Megamind – enjoying the startled, wide-eyed look he was giving her entirely too much – and said solemnly, "It's Minion's and it's his last one." She kept holding it out in her palm until his free hand plucked it from her then tucked it into the cuff of one of his bicep-length gloves.

"I'll-" he started in a higher octave than usual, then cleared his throat and tried again, "I'll be sure to get it back to him."

"Good. It's his last one," she reiterated. He rubbed his hand along her arm to help warm her up and she muttered, "That's nice." He gently gripped her wrist and held it in front of them.

"Flex your fingers for me, Miss Ritchi," Megamind instructed. She huffed but clenched her hand into a fist. She was surprised when her fist was rather loose because her fingers wouldn't close as much as they should. She let them relax and tried again with the same results.

"I can't," she admitted with slight surprise. That meant she was colder than she thought.

Megamind nodded and muttered, "We need to get you warmed up. I apologize for this, Miss Ritchi."

Before she could ask what he was apologizing for, he bent and hooked his other arm behind her knees and then lifted her in a bridal carry. She squeaked in surprise when she was lifted, but didn't complain. She was tired from all the swimming and the cold and if he wanted to carry her, whatever. At least she was conscious this time, so that was new.

"You're going to get wet," she warned him. There was a lot of water soaked into her full skirt, and it was probably dripping all down his side right now.

"I'll manage," he replied absently as he hurried towards the shore. He moved faster than they were when he was supporting her.

Soon after she thought about resting her head on his shoulder, but before she could act on it, they'd made it to shore and he gently set her down to stand on her own two feet. There was a shimmer in the air next to her and she reached out for it. She wasn't entirely surprised to feel his car beneath her searching hand. She used it to help keep her upright.

Megamind reached into the air next to her and opened a car door. He pointed and instructed, "There's a couple towels, some pajamas, and a temperature monitoring device there on the seat. I'll hold up the emergency blanket to give you a screen and the car will shield you from the other side. Change out of your wet clothes, put on the pajamas and attach the thermometer to your torso. Let me know when you're done."

True to his word, he lifted the foil-like blanket from her shoulders and held it between them with his grip above his head so she had a make-shift changing curtain. She reached behind her to grab the zipper that held her dress together. She couldn't feel the grip. She patted around repeatedly, but could feel it.

She sighed and admitted defeat, "Megamind? I can't feel my zipper. Can you unzip me?"

"What?!" his shocked voice answered from behind the curtain.

"My fingers are numb," she explained. "I can't find my zipper. Much less manipulate it. I'll probably need help with my bra strap too." She was answered with silence. She tapped her bare foot impatiently and snapped, "Either help me get out of these wet clothes, or I'm going to drip Lake Michigan all over the interior of your car. I see the inside, it's too nice for you to want to get it wet like that."

She turned around and presented the back of her dress to the blanket he was still holding up. Finally, she heard him huff in irritation and the foil blanket crinkle as it was lowered. She shivered – from the cold! – as he found the zipper at her neck and carefully lowered it down its track so it wouldn't catch any of the surrounding wet fabric. She held on to the front of the dress as it loosened on her frame. His hand left the zipper quickly after it hit the end of the track. Then she sensed his hand hovering next to her mid-back.

"A-are you sure?" he asked tentatively. Which was unlike him enough that she stopped the sharp retort that she had ready and changed her tone before answering.

"Please? I won't be able to get it off if you don't get it started for me," she admitted. "I don't have the dexterity right now. Even if I rotated the clasp to the front, I can't grip anything enough to unhook it. It's a hook-and-eye connection if that helps?"

She felt him gently grasp her bra strap and quickly undo the connections. As soon as the band went slack, he pulled away like she'd burned him. She heard the foil blanket rustle again as he lifted it back up to give her privacy.

"Thank you," she said softly over her shoulder to where he was hiding. He always took great pains not to touch her unnecessarily during their usual interactions. She was actually surprised that he met her in the water with the emergency blanket and a shoulder to lean on. So, this had to have stressed him out or made him nervous or something. She was also sure that if Minion had been in his suit and nearby he would've had his henchfish help with her wardrobe.

"You need to get warm, Miss Ritchi. Stop dawdling," he replied gruffly.

"Yeah, yeah," she answered, happy they were back on familiar footing in an unfamiliar situation. She peeled the wet sleeves off her arms, then checked again for any wandering eyes from anywhere. Satisfied that no one was around, she let the heavy dress and bra drop to the ground and grabbed a fluffy towel from the car seat. She dried herself off and stepped out of her underwear. She quickly wrapped the towel around her head and hopped into the – dry! – flannel pajamas. Commando, but she'd rather be warm and dry than modest right now. Once changed, she wrapped the other, dry, towel around her hair to keep her wet head slightly warmer. She then clumsily picked up the disk that Megamind claimed was a thermometer. Both sides looked electronic, but one side was sticky. Shrugging, she slipped it through her shirt's neck hole and stuck it on her chest.

"Ok, I'm changed," she told her curtain holder. He lowered the blanket a little, then draped it across her shoulders.

"Get into the car, Miss Ritchi. There are more blankets in there and I'll start the heater while we wait for Minion," he instructed. She was too cold to argue, so she nodded and voluntarily climbed into the backseat of the invisible car. Today was definitely a day full of new things. She was usually unconscious when she was in their car.

Once inside, she found three other neatly folded blankets waiting for her. She wrapped them around herself in the hopes that she would soon be warm. Outside the car, she noticed Megamind picking up her discarded clothes and putting them in the trunk. Slightly surprisingly, he removed his boots, poured out some excess water and put them back on. A towel appeared and he dried his legs with it before dropping it back into the trunk. Once he finished, he opened the driver's door and slid inside. He started the car and adjusted several vents so they would hit the backseat instead of him.

Once he got everything situated to his liking, he checked a readout on the dash then reached over to the passenger seat and produced a thermos. "Miss Ritchi, as we suspected, your temperature is lower than ideal. Do you feel like you can keep some hot liquid down?" He opened the thermos and sniffed the contents. "I suspect it's tea. Would you like some hot tea to help regulate your internal temperature?"

"I would drink a hot pop right now if it would help warm me up," she admitted. "So, tea sounds lovely."

He chuckled as he poured a cupful for her. "I haven't actually microwaved a carbonated beverage, but I can't imagine it would taste good that way," he teased as he handed her the cup.

She carefully took it with a smile and said, "Me neither. But I'm cold. I'll take what I can get." She took a sip of the searing liquid, relying more on her palms than her fingers to hold it steady. Although the warmth seeping into her numb fingers was lovely.

He shook the thermos and said, "There's plenty more where that came from. And Minion is going to ensure that you drink it all, so there's really no escape."

She gave him a small smile and asked, "Speaking from experience?"

"Yes. And I'm relieved that he currently has his sights set on someone else. Be prepared to be coddled," he warned her.

"I'm going to tell him you said that," she teased as she took another sip.

"Please do! He won't listen to me when I tell him that's what he'd doing!" he replied with a smile.

She glanced out the window to the lake and asked, "Is he ok? Do you need to help him get in his suit?"

He peered out the window at where Minion was moving into his dome and answered, "He doesn't usually need help getting into and out of his suit. It's part of the design. If he has any issues, he'll call for me."

"Is his water heated? He mentioned that the lake was cold for both of us. And I don't think blankets will help him much," she asked.

"Temperature controlled and filtered. He'll be fine once he gets into the suit," he assured her.

"Oh, good. I was worried," she admitted. Minion was a big fish, but he still had a much smaller surface area than she does. If he was cold in the lake, then she'd be more worried about him than she would be about her.

She looked back at one of her unlikely rescuers and finally noticed he was looking a little scuffed up himself. She asked him worriedly, "Are you ok? You're bleeding." His upper lip was split and there was a gash above his eyebrow that was currently starting to well up with a bit of blood. That eye wasn't as fully open as his other one – possibly in the process of swelling shut.

He made a face, reached and grabbed a bloodied cloth from the seat next to him and dabbed his eyebrow. "It's nothing," he replied curtly while not looking at her.

"Don't look like nothing to me," she muttered, but made sure it was loud enough for him to hear. She took another sip of her tea and was surprised to discover her cup was empty.

Before their semi-conversation could dissolve into an argument – because it would – the passenger door opened and Minion, back inside his mechanical gorilla suit, dropped into the seat. He closed the door and commented, "Brrr! I know it doesn't make sense, but the temp in the lake is always colder than I expect it to be. All the readings say it's fifty, but then it feels like forty. I will NOT say no to spending a day in the heated tank." Megamind opened his mouth to say something, but Minion ignored him and turned in his dome to face her and asked, "How are you doing, Miss Ritchi? Are you warm enough?"

"Getting there, Minion. Thanks," she answered.

He noticed her empty cup and instructed, "Sir, can you refill Miss Ritchi's cup? My fine motor controls are still coming online."

"Oh, you don't have to," she protested. "I don't want to have an open cup with numb fingers while you're driving." And if the fuzzy, half-formed memories of riding in the car mostly unconscious were correct, they both drove like bats out of hell. She'd definitely spill something.

"That's ok!" Minion said cheerfully as Megamind gently took her empty cup from her unresisting hands. "We're not leaving until you finish another cup." Megamind shot her an I-told-you-so look through the rear-view mirror as he was pouring more tea out of the thermos. She rolled her eyes at him with a slight smile as he handed her the refilled cup of tea.

She took a sip and Megamind turned to Minion and asked him, "Did you have any trouble?"

"No, Sir. It was four standard padlocks. I got through them easy enough," Minion answered. "And there were no issues on the swim back. What about you, Sir?"

Megamind quickly cut his eyes to her then back to Minion before answering, "The plan worked as intended. I have some loose ends to take care of later, but the timing isn't right."

"Understood, Sir," Minion replied before he chided. "And we need to get some ice on that eye before it swells shut."

Megamind scoffed and brushed him off, "It's fine, Minion."

"No, he's right," Roxanne interrupted and thrust her empty cup between the two of them. "You need ice and I bet those cuts need to be cleaned too."

Roxanne was treated to Minion shooting a smug look at Megamind as he took her empty cup. Megamind grumbled something and put the car in gear.

They rode in silence for a few minutes before Megamind made a disgruntled noise to something Minion muttered to him, then Minion turned in his dome to face her and said, "Miss Ritchi, we're bringing you to your apartment. We just want to make sure you're recovering before leaving you alone."

She was about to protest that she would be fine, but she really should be monitored. And she didn't really have an excuse for them not to come up into her apartment. Not like she'd ever been able to keep them out before. She sighed and burrowed further down into her blanket cocoon. The surrounding warmth was finally beginning to sink in and she was starting to get some feeling back into her fingers. Her two kidnappers rescuers resumed a quiet conversation, their voices further muffled by the roar of the engine. The warmth, the subtle vibrations from the car, and their muttered voices just at the edge of her hearing all conspired to relax her and she soon found herself drifting off into a light doze.

A few minutes later and she was startled awake when the car came to a stop and the engine was turned off. She lifted her head and saw that the storm that was blowing in was still on its way. The sky was darker than it should've been at this time of day. Fortunately, the rain hadn't arrived just yet.

Megamind typed on a keyboard that was set near the driver's seat and was checked a monitor in front of him. "Lobby is clear of everyone except the doorman and elevator two is secured. Let's go."

The front car doors opened as Minion agreed with him. The driver-side door next to her opened and Megamind spoke conspiratorially towards her, "I hope you enjoy hot liquids. You're about to be inundated." She idly noted that Minion had opened the trunk and was gathering things out of it.

He then asked in a more normal tone of voice, "How's your balance? Can you walk, or do I need to guide you?"

She got out of the backseat and stood up, holding onto the car door while doing so. Her legs were tightening up and she was going to be sore in an hour or so. But right now, her knees didn't seem like they were about to buckle.

"I think I'll be alright," she reported once she finished mentally checking on herself.

"Let's get you inside before the rain starts then," he said firmly and gestured for her to lead the way into her building.

The odd trio trooped up to her front doors, Roxanne trying not to feel awkward in walking in public while barefoot and in pajamas. Then it dawned on her that people might just notice the supervillain and his hulking henchman walking next to her before they'd notice what she was, or wasn't, wearing.

Once she entered the building, she held her hand up to Carlos, her doorman, and said quickly, "It's ok. They're just bringing me home."

He gave all of them a wide-eyed look and ended up just staring at Roxanne uncertainly.

The last thing she wanted was the police breaking down her door – again! – because they suspected that Megamind was in there, so she pleaded, "Please, Carlos. They're my guests and I'm calling in that favor you owe me."

"I-if you say so, Miss Ritchi," Carlos eventually stuttered and resolutely turned around so he could deny seeing what they did when they entered the building.

She led the way to the elevator bank, surprised that they made it that far without incident. Megamind brushed past her and pressed the button for the elevator. Immediately, one of the sets of doors opened and he strode inside. Once she entered after him, she saw him put a key into the fire service keyhole and turn it on. When all three of them were inside, he held the door close button until the doors were shut, then hit the button for her floor.

"What's that for?" she asked curiously.

He shrugged and answered, "It's for firefighters to get to an upper floor quickly. It also prevents it from stopping on any floor that has a call button pressed."

"Huh," she replied noncommittally. That's handy. "I don't suppose you can get me one of those?" she asked hopefully.

"Now, now, Miss Ritchi. This is for firefighters and supervillains only," he replied smugly.

"Spoilsport," she muttered just as the elevator dinged for her floor. He shot her a wicked grin and held the door open button until it was open fully, then removed his key.

Fortunately, the hallway was empty so they made it to her door when she realized that she didn't have her keys. Or her purse. Or phone. Dammit.

She gestured to her door and said, "I don't have my keys."

Megamind shot her a grin as he lifted his boot up and twisted off the heel. "Good thing we accompanied you, Miss Ritchi. Otherwise, you'd be stuck out here in the hallway." He removed a couple slim metal pieces, lockpicks probably, from the heel still in his hand. He expertly inserted them into her lock and opened the door as quickly as if it was a key. He gestured towards her open door as he clicked the heel back onto his boot.

She entered, turned on the lights, and moved mechanically towards her couch. "Make yourself at home, I guess." Then she remembered who exactly she said that to and added, "And all my appliances had better be in one piece when you leave, Megamind."

Minion ducked into her laundry room and she only just registered that he'd been carrying her soaked dress since they've been in the building. Mentally shrugging to herself, she let him get on with his self-appointed tasks.

She gracelessly flopped on her couch and curled her frozen feet beneath her as she wrestled with the throw blanket that lived on the back of the couch around herself.

Megamind glanced at her, tsked, then turned to her storage closet without another word. He pulled out the comforter she kept in there for guests. It was probably weird that he and Minion knew where she kept stuff, wasn't it? All thoughts of what was or wasn't weird left her as Megamind draped the comforter over her.

"You need to stay warm, Miss Ritchi," he chided. She gratefully pulled the thick comforter closer around her and snuggled into its warmth.

She glanced up at him and noticed that he was now squinting at her through his hurt eye as it continued to swell. "And you need an ice pack. I have a couple in the door of the freezer," she instructed. Assuming she put them back after the last time she used them. Suddenly unsure, she added, "If they're not there, I know I have a bag of peas." She didn't eat a lot of peas. But she always had a frozen bag or two as emergency ice packs. Her life was too active not to have something available when she needed it.

He grunted noncommittally, but headed towards the kitchen, after a quick stop to fiddle with her thermostat. He pulled an ice pack from her freezer and grabbed a dish towel before she thought to mention where they were. He came back to her living room and sat on the chair next to where she was cocooned on the couch.

He applied the icepack to his injured eye and snapped, "Happy?"

"I'd be happier if you'd clean those cuts," she replied, not taking offense to his moodiness. She'd noticed over the years that he got defensive if anyone (mostly Minion or herself) implied he wasn't at his best. And for him to have visible wounds in front of her was probably hurting his pride.

"I'm fine," he grumbled.

She decided not to argue with him. Minion could handle it. She was too busy fighting off exhaustion to spend any energy fighting him.

The tell-tell sound of her washing machine started up just as Minion exited her laundry room and moved immediately to the kitchen. He wordlessly opened her pantry and she quickly turned to look back at Megamind. She didn't want Minion to shoot her any disappointed looks from her pantry contents. She didn't cook much, so whatever he was looking for probably wasn't available. Surprisingly, he didn't say anything about it, and sounds of someone moving about the kitchen continued. She glanced back and saw whatever he was doing involved multiple pots on her stove.

She leaned towards Megamind and asked quietly, "What's he doing?"

He smirked at her while still holding the ice pack to his eye and answered, "I warned you about being inundated with hot liquids. I imagine he's making you soup."

"And coffee," Minion chimed in from the kitchen. Obviously, he had better hearing than she thought.

Resigning herself to the hot liquids in her future, she asked Megamind, "Any chance of seeing my purse again, or should I start canceling credit cards?"

He looked thoughtful for a moment then said, "I can give you a more definitive answer tomorrow if you can wait that long."

She shrugged and answered, "That's fine. Honestly, I think it'll be more of a hassle to get my cell phone replaced than my driver's license and credit cards." She frowned and added, "Which was in my purse."

Another thought hit her and she asked, "Do you know when I was kidnapped? I don't remember. I might need to call work and tell them something."

"Sometime between ten and eleven this morning, Miss Ritchi," Megamind answered. She glanced at the clock and saw it was after four. Yeah, she needed to call. She glared at her cordless phone sitting on its charger across the room. Megamind followed her eyeline to see what she was looking at. When he noticed, he got up and grabbed the phone then handed it to her.

"Thanks," she said in surprise. He was being pretty courteous to her, all things considered. She sighed and looked down at the phone. She didn't really want to make this call, but she knew she had to.

"Miss Ritchi, if you're calling in to work, be sure to tell them that you need tomorrow off. You need to take a day to recover," Minion said from next to her as he handed her a mug of coffee. He handed a second mug to Megamind.

She dropped the phone in her lap and gladly took the coffee mug, simply enjoying the warmth it radiated to her hands. She took a sip and breathed in the steam, luxuriating in the way it opened up her sinuses. She took another drink before carefully setting her mug down on the coffee table.

She picked up the phone and called her boss, glad that she actually knew the number offhand. She'd missed out on two additional shoots while she was having her underwater adventure. On the second ring, the phone was answered, "KMCP, Dan speaking."

"Hey, Dan. It's Roxanne," she started before being interrupted.

"Roxanne! What happened? You missed your shooting schedule!" her boss complained. Like it was unusual for her to miss shoots.

She sighed and admitted, "I was kidnapped and I ended up in the lake for most of the day." Before she could continue, she was interrupted again.

"Kidnapped?" Dan asked incredulously. "But Megamind didn't interrupt the broadcasts."

Roxanne scowled into the phone and retorted, "Are you accusing me of lying? You know damn well that sometimes his plots get ruined before he can start broadcasting, but I'm still kidnapped for them. And for your information, it wasn't Megamind this time. It was people upset about that Grubstrike Financial Group expose I reported on. They decided my life was worth less than the money they were skimming." Dan attempted to say something, but she kept talking over him, "Because of them, I'm hypothermic and will be taking the rest of the day and tomorrow off to recover. Doctor's orders."

There was a momentary silence on the other end of the line before Dan said, "Get better. And bring in a doctor's note."

She glanced at Megamind, still sitting in her living room, drinking coffee and icing his swollen eye. He's the "Master of all Villainy," right? He should be able to forge a doctor's note. And since they were currently as has her medical advisors she answered, "Right. I'll bring in a doctor's note. See you when I get back. Bye, Dan."

"Get well, Ritchie," he replied before hanging up.

She asked her serial kidnappers, "Any chance you could get me a doctor's note?"

Megamind lowered his icepack and looked at her. His eye had started to develop some heavy purpling around it by now. "We're not medical doctors, Miss Ritchi," he replied.

She scoffed and said, "You're my acting primary care whatevers and told me to rest tomorrow. Besides, are you telling me that you don't have a least one doctorate under your belt?"

"How did you know about that?" he asked suspiciously.

She took another drink of her wonderfully warm coffee and said teasingly, "You just told me." He glared at her which made her hold in some giggles. But that let out a snerk-like sound instead. She valiantly ignored that indignity and let him in on her reasoning, "Oh, come on. You're crazy-smart. When you're not just crazy, anyway. I can totally see you collecting doctorates when you're bored like other people collect comics. Come, on. How many do you have?" She gasped as another thought hit her. She leaned forward excitedly and asked, "Have you been published?! Can I read it?"

He rolled his eyes and put the ice pack back on and said, "I'm not telling you, Miss Ritchi. Nosey reporter."

Damn. Here she was actually curious about something and he put up a wall again. And not a single giant robot in sight to compliment to butter him up.

She sighed disappointedly, sat back in her blanket nest and said, "Well, the point is, you are a doctor. I need a note from a doctor. Just to be excused from work. It's not like I'm trying to get a prescription out of you or anything."

He collapsed back in his chair and huffed, "Yes. Fine. Alright. I'll get you something tomorrow when I have news of your missing purse."

"Soup is ready, Miss Ritchi. Would you like to eat at the table or on the couch?" Minion interrupted from the kitchen. When she glanced at him, she saw he was ladling soup into a bowl.

She squinted at the kitchen table. It was so far away. And she just got feeling back into her toes. To get over there, she'd have to unwrap herself from the blanket nest and walk barefooted all the way over there.

Not worth it.

"The couch please," she answered. She felt around her and probed between the couch cushions until she came up with the TV remote. Once she had it firmly in her grasp, she tossed it at Megamind. He started at having something suddenly thrown at him, but he managed to catch it. Not bad with an ice pack covering one eye. "Pick something," she instructed.

Before he could toss the remote back to her, Minion handed her a serving platter with a bowl of soup balanced in the middle. "Thanks, Minion," she said as she balanced the platter on her knees. Why had she never thought about steadying bowls like that? "How did you find enough stuff in my kitchen to make soup of all things?" she asked before she slurped the first spoonful.

"Oh it wasn't hard, Miss Ritchi," he dismissed her question like it was no big deal. "You had plenty of supplies."

She shrugged and said, "If you say so. This is good soup though. Thank you for making it."

"No problem, Miss Ritchi," he said with a toothy smile. Then he went back to the kitchen. She heard water running, so he was probably cleaning up.

Now she felt bad. "Minion, you can leave it. I'll clean it up later," she offered.

"I won't hear of it. Your job is to get warm. I can at least clean up my mess," he chided her. Megamind sniggered and she looked over at him sharply. He just mouthed, "I told you so."

If she wasn't balancing a bowl of hot soup on her lap and trying her best to stay wrapped up in blankets, he would've gotten a throw pillow to the head. He just lucked out on that. She just rolled her eyes at him instead.

The TV had stopped flipping channels so she asked, "What are we watching?"

"A low-quality monster movie. I think you'll find the lighting and the practical effects particularly amusing," Megamind answered.

She smiled, but hid it by taking another sip of her soup. She'd been wanting to get her kidnappers over to watch movies for forever, but was never sure how to bring it up during a plot.

"Perfect," she answered his inquiring look and settled in for the night.