The following afternoon, Megamind was in the workroom repairing damage sustained by hoverbike during that morning's exploit. (The chamber in an industrial pressure die had nearly exploded at the local axle works foundry. Megamind had shown up in the nick of time to avert disaster but had had to crash land the hoverbike to do it. Ares, he'd assured Roxanne afterward, had not been involved; the culprit had been ordinary incompetence.) He was currently welding on a new body panel, his face obscured by a welding mask and his hands encased in thick leather. RUSH's Tom Sawyer was playing, although at a lower volume than Megamind would have had it if his new charge wasn't around. The hero himself had thrown aside his cloak, and Olivia had wrapped it about herself. She was sweeping impressively around the far side of the room, making a heartfelt (if completely unsuccessful) attempt at an evil laugh. Roxanne noticed a blue line sloppily marked across part of the concrete floor, and the smell of wet paint still hung in the air. Clearly, Megamind had set a limit to how close Olivia was permitted near his current task.

"Bleh! Bleh!" the little girl ran up to Roxanne, curving her fingers like claws. "I have come to suck your blood!"

Roxanne feigned appropriate horror. "Oh, no! A vampire!"

Megamind glanced at them over one shoulder, mask still in place. "I am not," he informed them. "A vampire."

"How come you have a vampire cape, then?" Olivia asked.

"It's a cloak," he answered in a slightly muffled voice, returning his attention to his work.

"What's the difference?"

"A cape is shorter and covers only the back. It's meant for show. A cloak covers the shoulders as well as the back and is a practical garment for warmth and concealment."

"Okay, then how come you have a vampire cloak?"

"It's not a— it's a supervillain cloak."

She stared at him. "You're a bad guy?"

"No," Roxanne was quick to explain. "He's a very, very good guy." She kissed Megamind on the top of his bald head.

"We're not supposed to cross the line," Olivia warned her.

"She's allowed," Megamind said. "She has special permission."

"Because she's a grown-up?" Olivia inquired sourly.

"Because she's taken the Official Certified Megamind Class on Welder Safety!"

Roxanne bit back a laugh, then moved over to one of the supercomputer terminals to continue searching through the day's news for any signs of their opponent. Half her attention, however, was still on her lover and his charge. A very good guy is right, she mused.

"Oh," Olivia seemed mollified by his explanation. "If you're not a bad guy then how come you've got a Dracula cloak?"

"It's not a—" he sighed and gave up. "I used to be a bad guy, but then I learned that being good is better and bad guys always lose."

"Come on, Megamind," Roxanne couldn't bear to see Olivia look at him like that. "You know that even when you were a 'bad guy' you were still pretty good. He used to help people, even back then," she explained to the girl. "He made it harder for really bad people to do really bad things, and he helped people who felt like they had nowhere else to turn. Don't give me that look, Megamind. I did a lot of research on you. I learned all about the way you helped that family find their father when they couldn't go to the police because of their illegal immigration status, and the way you drove the Peretti Family out of Metro City after you learned they were forcing small businesses to pay exorbitant amounts for 'fire insurance.'"

Megamind was carefully keeping his eyes on his task, but Roxanne was willing to bet he was blushing again. "Yes, well, someone had to," he said.

Olivia stopped parading around the room to study him from a safe distance, her face screwed up with intense thought. "So, you were a good bad guy?" she asked at last.

"Yes."

"And now your just a good guy?"

"Something like that."

"How come you still have all your bad guy clothes?"

He finished the last seam, turned off his laser welder, and removed his mask to grin at the little girl. "Because I'm a scary good guy," he waggled his fingers at her, and she giggled. "I scare the pants off bad people!"

"You do?" she looked delighted. "Do they run down the road in their underwear?"

He snorted. "Sometimes," he said, removing his gloves. "Alright, you can cross the line again now."

She immediately scampered to him, jumping over the wet paint. "Is that why all your stuff looks scary, too?"

"It is." Hooking up a small device into the hovercraft's wires, Megamind frowned at the blinking lights it displayed, then opened a panel and began tinkering with something. A brainbot, obviously familiar with the routine, hurried over and dropped an odd-looking tool into his waiting hand. "They don't scare you, though, do they?" he added to Olivia with a grin.

"I'm not a bad guy," she reasoned.

"This is true."

"They remind me of Halloween. Halloween is one of my favorite holidays."

"Mine too." He reached deeper inside the hoverbike. "Can you bring me a wire crimper? It's the one that looks like funny pliers. No, no, no," he added to a brainbot. "Don't help her. She needs to learn."

"Is that why I'm safe here?" Olivia asked, bringing the requested tool over. "Because you're a scary good guy?"

"That's exactly why."

"And you won't leave?"

"I won't leave," he said. "I mean, I may have to go away for a few hours sometimes— to scare bad guys, you know— but I'll always come back."

"Always?"

"Absolutely."

Olivia was twisting her little fingers in the hem of Megamind's cloak. "My mommy used to keep me safe, but then she… left."

The room was shock-still for half a heartbeat, then Megamind sat down his tools and turned to face Olivia. He knelt and took her little hands in his.

"My mother left too," he said. "So did my father. When I was very young."

"Were you sad?"

"I was. I still am sometimes, but… It gets easier."

The girl nodded. "I was sad when Mommy went to Heaven," she hugged him. "I still am sometimes, too."

Megamind stiffened for only the briefest second before putting one arm around the girl. "It's alright to be sad. Whenever you are, you can come talk to me. I understand the way it feels."

"Okay," she moved back and studied her shoes for a moment. Turning to look at the hoverbike, she asked: "what are you doing?"

"This machine uses an ion thrust engine to stay airborne. I'm fixing one of the capacitors."

"So it flies?"

"Yes, it flies."

"I want to ride it!"

He chuckled. "When it's fixed, I'll take you up." Catching the look on Roxanne's face, he held up both hands. "I'll install seat belts first!" he assured her.

"Simmons ran the plates from the car outside the Stay Suite run," Megamind informed Roxanne after Minion had taken Olivia up to the schoolroom.

"What did he learn?"

"It's registered to a trust, of all things—" he began.

Roxanne startled. "Wait, is it either SBF or MLS?"

"MLS. How did you know?"

Feeling suddenly cold, Roxanne explained what she'd learned about the Little Gifted School.

"So whoever hired Ares also owned my old shool," Megamind's brows lowered in thought. "Or perhaps attended there. Either might explain the photo, but I find the first more likely. The question is: what's the connection?"

"Could the target be another student?"

"I doubt it. Other than Wayne and I, the other students were distinctly ordinary. As far as I'm aware, they all came from lower-income families." He paused. "Of course, if there really was something strange going on, maybe one of them could have found out something they were never meant to know, but if so, why wait this long?" He drummed long, black-gloved fingers on the console. "It has to be someone connected with running the school," he turned toward one of the supercomputer terminals. "I can research everyone who sat on the board and see if anything turns up."

"And anyone either worth Ares' attention or able to pay his rates would have to be." Roxanne agreed. "I remember you saying that. So maybe it's not one of them, then. I would really like to find out what became of the other students. Maybe one of them reached a position of power. If I can find a list of children who attended that school, I'll look them all up."

"I remember the names. I can make you a list."

"Really? After all these years?"

"I have an exceptional memory," he responded. "But don't get your hopes up. Those were some of the most stunningly ordinary children I've ever met."

He wasn't wrong.

"Ugh," Roxanne groaned two hours later, leaning back in the second office chair Megamind had purchased and rubbing her eyes. "This is pointless! None of these people match what we're looking for! Mildred McQuinn became an accountant and is divorced with two kids, her ex-husband happily remarried. Henry Euwings owns a landscaping business and spends his spare time with his bowling league. Ulysses Burke is a support tech at an interior design firm and his wife is a veternarian... The only one who did anything even remotely extraordinary was Kimberly Bosko. She's an advocate for ADA accessibility, but she's certainly not controversial enough for someone to assassinate her, especially at the sort of rates you say Ares charges."

Megamind sighed. "I seem to be facing the same issue. None of the people formerly on the Little Gifted Shool's board ever seem to have risen above mid-level jobs in the local government. Not a single one of them really impresses me as the high-roller sort."

Roxanne blew out a frustrated breath. "So basically you're telling me that this was a waste of our time."

"At least we've eliminated a score of possible targets," he shrugged. "It was worth looking into. And I still think there's a connection. I'd assumed that the photo was insignificant, but you discovered that there's actually a vital link. You're smart and you have good instincts. I really believe we're on the right track."

"Which leaves whoever is behind out mysterious trusts and the only lead we've got."

"Well, it's one of two, actually," Megamind glanced at her. "Think about it."

"Okay... I'm thinking, and I'm still not following you."

"Ares hasn't left his motel room. If he had, the tracker would let us know. And yet he has to be getting food and water somehow which means—"

Roxanne gasped. "Which means someone has to be working with him!"

"Exactly! I've questioned the Dragons, along with their former leaders. My suspicions were correct. Hinks had been working with Ares, and sending a package boy with supplies, although most of the Dragons didn't know it."

"Wait, he just willingly admitted to that?" the woman asked.

"Not quite." An evil smile spread across the former villain's face. "Hinks and his confidantes weren't exactly eager to share, but I persuaded them it was in their best interest. What?"

Roxanne's hands were on her hips. "Megamind!" she chastised. "That is not heroic behavior! And how did you convince the prison guards to let you do that kind of thing?!"

"Oh, they don't know about it," he waved a dismissive hand.

"Megamind!"

The blue hero grinned, but there was tension behind it. "I have to admit, that was the first time I've ever broken into prison!" he said, using that bold humor of his to cover his discomfort again.

"Look," she rubbed her temple. "You have to be more careful now. What if someone had seen you? You have to think about... Well, about public relations. You can't afford to just discount people's opinions anymore."

"Dearest, I understand that. I was extremely cautious, and I didn't get too rough; just enough to be sufficiently intimidating. I reminded them that, whatever else I may be, I'm still the Criminal Mastermind. Well, that and I gave my prison uncles have standing orders to deal with any dishonesty or funny business with whatever force they deem necessary." He sighed as she continued to glower. "Look, I know it's not the ideal method, but we need answers. We don't exactly have unlimited time, here. I had the police try first, but they couldn't get anything out of them; not a single word. Every hero has his or her strengths. Metroman had superpowers, I've got my intellect and the leverage that comes with being the Criminal Mastermind." He gave her an almost pleading smile. "I'm the scary good guy, remember? When you get down to it, that and being a supergenius are really all I've got in my arsenal. And it works. It might not be as... noble as what my predecessor did, but it works. Isn't that what matters?"

"I know what you're saying," Roxanne admitted, "but I worry about you. I mean, where do you draw the line between the ends justifying the means and sliding back into your old ways?"

He lifted his face to hers, a slightly ironic quirk to his lips that didn't quite match the rueful uncertainty and uncompromising openness in his eyes. "Honestly, Sweetheart? I don't know. I was raised to be a villain, and this is all new territory for me. But I'm doing my best. I don't hurt people unless I absolutely have to. I don't rob anymore. I make even greater efforts than ever to avoid bystanders being injured during my battles. But I also have to do my job, whatever that takes, and I have to keep a certain amount of fear in my reputation. Because, believe me, if the criminals of this city thought the Mastermind had gone soft, all hell would break loose." He laid a hand on one of her arms, and she dropped them from her hips, sliding her finger reassuringly into his. He smiled softly at her. "This is a balancing act. It's not easy, and I can't pretend I don't make mistakes, but I really am trying." He paused, shrugging almost apologetically. "If you really think that approach was... too villainous, I won't use it again." His tone was blase, almost careless, but she could sense the insecurity underneath. "After the childhood I had... Roxanne, I'm broken. I know I am. There's no point in pretending otherwise. I care about people, and I want to make life better for everyone in this city, so that's my only measure for what's good. When it comes to everything else, well, my moral compass doesn't exactly point due north. Sometimes I feel like I'm flying blind," he admitted. "So, thank you. Thank you, my Love, for letting me know that what I did was wrong. Maybe I'll get better at this someday, but right now, sometimes I still need that."

"Oh, Megamind," Roxanne's voice caught in her throat. Her eyes felt wet. "Megamind, Sweetheart, you are not broken. You are so not broken. The mere fact that you are trying so hard is proof of that." She slid one arm around him, lifted the other hand to stroke his jaw. "You can't be blamed for not knowing what you were never taught any more than someone who no one ever bothered teaching the alphabet can be blamed for not knowing how to read. Other people failed you, Megamind. You didn't fail yourself. And do you know what? You've got me now. Whenever you need a moral compass, you can use mine. I'll always be here when you need a sounding board or a second opinion. But for the record," she kissed his cheek. "I think that most of the time yours works pretty well."

He was looking at her with a sort of humble and tender disbelief as if every one of her words had been a jewel and he couldn't believe someone had showered something so precious upon him. His voice was a little rough when he spoke.

"I love you, Roxanne Ritchi."

She pressed her lips to his. "I love you too."