Four days after Roxanne turned in the survey to the studio, she was backstage and being prepped by a makeup artist named Karina. As she gazed at herself in the bright bulb mirror, she couldn't help but sigh. The show was starting in ten minutes.

Karina gently styled Roxanne's hair, and chuckled slightly at the face Roxanne's reflection was making. "I didn't think that a TV celeb like you would be nervous," she commented.

"Never been one for reality TV or game shows, to tell you the truth," Roxanne frowned. "I have a sinking feeling that I'll gonna regret having said yes to this deal, though," she confessed to the amiable stylist/artist.

"Everyone feels that way when they get back here," Karina told her conspiratorially. "Be grateful you haven't gotten sick or broken out in hives. That's happened too." She shook her head, remembering how hard it was to hide the red splotches on that one women's face.

"Yeah, don't think stage fright is going to be my problem here." Roxanne bit her lip, worrying over her past relationships. "The spot light is not the place to pick up a romance."

Karina saw one of the stage managers signal that Roxanne was needed in the next five minutes. Lighting had yet to work with her. "Well, life can surprise you, Miss Ritchie. Don't shut yourself down completely to the idea," she said. "I'll give you a few minutes to prepare by yourself, I'm sure that you'll need it."

Roxanne nodded. She was glad for the time alone. After Karina left her side, Roxanne pulled her phone out of her purse. She called a number from her contact list that she hadn't for nearly two and a half years.

Almost immediately, a woman answered. "Hello Roxanne. It's been a while." There was a hint of sadness in the greeting, but otherwise Roxanne could tell the other was glad to hear from her.

"It has, Amelia. I'm sorry that I haven't been in contact recently…" Roxanne took a deep breath and prepared herself.

"That's fine dear. I know how busy you are with your work." Amelia answered kindly. There was a moment of polite inquires about each other's lives, then Roxanne dove straight in.

"I need to ask if you would be okay with me bringing Andy up on TV again," She said, adding, "It would be for the foundation,"

Though Amelia knew that Roxanne couldn't see her, she smiled widely. She almost wanted to laugh at how nervous the reporter seemed, but knew it would be highly inappropriate and taken the wrong way. The girl was too kind and too vulnerable about the subject for her own good, in Amelia's view.

"That would be lovely dear. Any publicity and donation would be appreciated." Amelia said, almost professionally. "And you needn't have called, I don't mind at all."

"I just wanted to make sure," Roxanne replied, almost meekly. "Anything I can do for the foundation or for you-"

Amelia cut her off, "You have no idea how much that means to me, how much you mean to me dear. You're like the daughter I never had, Roxanne. Don't worry so much about me, though. I can handle a lot," she reassured her.

"Thank you," Roxanne said, trying to blink away any tears from ruining her make up.

"You're welcome," Amelia smiled softly again, and wished that she could have hugged Roxanne. The girl sounded so sad, even over the phone.

"Looks like they need you on stage." Karina interrupted. Roxanne said a quick goodbye to Amelia before hanging up and looking in the mirror to make sure she hadn't messed up her makeup. "You alright, hun?" Karina asked softly, placing a hand on Roxanne's shoulder for support.

Roxanne couldn't stop the second sigh from escaping her weary self. She stood after one last glance in the mirror and smiled at Karina. She admired the women's people skills, somehow her careful consideration made Roxanne actually relax a little. "I'm alright, thanks. You should be a therapist, you know?"

Karina shared a grin with Roxanne. "You aren't the first to have said so. Good luck," she finished and shooed the newest contestant on Hearts of Destiny away from the makeup station.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The final countdown began. Roxanne and the show's host, Sean Days, had already discussed the order of events on the show briefly, so she knew what to expect on a scheduled basis. She was also informed that they wouldn't be shooting this episode live, just as a precaution and so everyone had time to get used to the newest season of the show.

It began with a close up of the host's face and the announcing music accompanied the MC's introduction of the show, "And here's the match-maker himself, our natural born Cupid, Mr. Sean Days!"

Sean smiled at the camera as he was given his cue by an off-stage operator. "Hello everybody! I can see we've had quite a turnout for the debut of our newest season, and I think we all know it's due to this reporter sitting beside me, a celebrity all on her own, Miss Roxanne Ritchie!"

The crowd went wild, pledging their love for Roxanne as she smiled and waved enthusiastically to the live audience. She was nearly overwhelmed by the exuberance as they yelled and cheered.

"What a welcome!" Sean laughed, "It seems they really like you, Miss Ritchie,"

She smiled back at him, saying friendly, "Call me Roxanne,"

"Well, Roxanne, it's a pleasure to meet you," when she offered her hand to shake, Sean took it in his and kissed her knuckles, making her flush lightly. The crowd whooped and whistled a little in response, and she giggled despite herself. It was turning out better than she had previously thought.

"Roxanne, I have to say you are the first celebrity we've ever had on the show. I'm glad that you were able to come down here to play with us on Hearts of Destiny. It's certainly been more exciting backstage because of it."

"I can hardly believe I'm here myself," Roxanne smiled sheepishly.

"I hope we don't disappoint," Sean replied enthusiastically, "But let's get the ball rolling. Based on a survey we sent to you previously, we've carefully selected the contestants and brought them here today. Now, would you like to meet your suitors for the show?"

Roxanne blushed and said with more certainty than she felt, "Bring 'em on!"

"That's what we like to hear!" Sean nodded once in her direction before turning back to face the cameras, "Let's bring them both out at the same time, and give Roxanne a chance to see her choice!" He waved his hand toward the two round platforms at the end of the stage in front of the audience. The floor of the platforms moved aside mechanically as the dramatic music played over the speakers. Two figures in shadow rose from underneath the stage, stopping once they were both level with the stage itself.

The lights went up as the music suddenly silenced.

Roxanne's eyes widened.

"So here they are Roxanne!" Sean presented them, "Now who will you choose to be? The heroine or the villainess?"

No way! She thought incredulously.

"Metro Man or Megamind?"

The audience didn't have the same reservation as she did. In fact, some of them already had posters rooting for Megamind or Metro Man and were jumping up and down screaming for them. The fucking audience knew about this and she didn't?! It angered her even further when she saw both the supers waving to the crowds, totally at ease with the situation, like it meant nothing to them. All primed and ready in their usual spandex and leather, just another day on the job.

She felt like one big joke.

"So Roxanne," when Sean addressed her again, she snapped to attention, quickly schooling her features in order to be presentable for TV. "What do you think? Looks like the audience agrees with our matches for you."

"I-" she had to clear her dry throat before she answered, "I have no words… This is certainly a unique opportunity."

"And there you have it folks, looks like this is going to be the most exciting match-up of the century!" Sean grinned as the audience went wild again, "And we'll be back after this commercial break."

As soon as the red lights from the cameras blinked off, Roxanne flew off stage. The stage manager who had coordinated the show from the start actually blanched at the furious look on Roxanne's face as the woman marched toward her.

"Get me your boss – NOW!" she barked the order at a deceptively low pitched voice, but her tone had the stage manager Carl running away from her with a "Yes ma'am!"

Carl went straight to Berry, who had been placed in charge of all PR affairs as well as the contestants themselves. When Berry saw the nearly trembling stage manager request his presence on set, he knew what had happened. It wasn't five minutes later that he was walking the last few feet to Roxanne, holding out a hand and saying, "Hi, I'm Berry Hu-"

"Are you insane?!" Roxanne started on him without even letting him finish introducing himself. She didn't have to play nice and pretend to be polite, this was off-camera. "Did you think that if you kept this stupidly dangerous idea a secret from me until the cameras were on that I'd actually go through with this farce? Is this some kind of joke to you? Cause I'm not laughing!"

Berry had backed away from the pissed of lady considerably. It was partly due to the wild hand gestures and pointing in his direction, partly from the sheer volume of her voice, and just partly from the waves of fury he could feel rolling off of her. But he had dealt with angry people before, almost on a daily basis, so when she finally paused for breath between rants, he spoke up despite his fears of assault.

"Miss Ritchie, I know you're angry – okay you're pissed, I got that." He amended when he saw she was about to scream at him how much of an understatement he was making. "But this wasn't a bad idea – wait, just give me a second to explain myself." He had to stop her from interrupting him again, before he took a deep breath to steady himself and get the story straight. He was talking to a famous reporter after all.

"I didn't think of this until I got back your survey," Berry started, admitting he was the one behind it all. No use in trying to hide his brilliance, after all. "But I've read your survey and your resume, not to mention the reports you've done and that have been about you. And you know what I saw? A smart, endlessly brave, cunning and adventurous woman who was strong beyond belief. No ordinary man would be good enough for you, I knew. They would all be intimidated by your work and kidnappings and generally fierce personality. I couldn't think of anybody who could actually hold your interest past the first date that wasn't someone extraordinary in their own right. Megamind and Metro Man are the only ones who live in your area who really fit that bill."

"Let me get this straight. I was so super special that the only men you could find to put up with me was a guy who could break me into tiny pieces with his pinky and a convicted criminal with 46 life-sentences?!" Roxanne asked rhetorically.

"52, actually," a voice from behind her corrected proudly. She spun on her heel and saw Metro Man and Megamind standing there, both totally at ease.

"And you!" She pointed at Megamind with purpose as she stomped toward him, nearly forcing him to back away from her unconsciously before he firmly stood his ground, "How the hell did he convince you to come here for this? I get Metro Man, he's a media whore," She continued her tirade mercilessly, ignoring the weak protest Metro Man presented when she insulted him.

"Who's to say it's not another e-evil plot to finally be rid Metro Man?" Megamind said in his defense, "Maybe I agreed just to rub it in his face that you were never with him even though he asked you out on a date," Megamind regained his composure and grinned maniacally, please when he found out the information. "Maybe, I know I can beat him at his own womanizing games," he finished the last part in a lowered, seductive voice, wiggling his eyebrows, before announcing aloud, "You will never know what goes on in this scheming genius brain of mine!"

Roxanne groaned. For the first time in all of her kidnappings, she actually wanted to scream at Megamind. She saw the intense look of determination on Metro Man's face as he watched Megamind speaking to her, and suddenly the super hero was right in front of her, holding both her hands in his.

"Roxie, I will save you from this villain's plans. I will fight for the honor of a chance to be with you so I can show everyone that evil will always lose and the hero saves the day." He said benevolently, as if he truly believed that she was in danger from Megamind. She almost expected him to stick his tongue out at Megamind, who only raised a challenging eyebrow in Metro Man's direction as he listened to him make such grandiose announcements.

"You've got to be kidding me," She said pointedly to Berry, gesturing with her eyes to the two 'supers', "These two are my matches?"

Berry saw where she was coming from, he really did. They were both ridiculous in their own rights, but amazingly enough, they both fit her psychological profile based on the tests they had used with the previous contestants. At the very least, she would never be bored in their presence.

"Miss Ritchie, please. I understand, I do, but we're both getting something out of this, and the more public attention, the better." Berry tried to reason.

"I knew it!" She said, pulling her hands from Metro Man's quickly and stepping back to where Berry was standing, "This is a total publicity stunt! You couldn't care less about matching me with someone I might actually get along with, just how many viewers you get!" She accused.

"Don't try that high and mighty shit with me, lady!" Berry said indignantly, "Isn't that also what you want? What the foundation needs?"

His forceful coercion immediately ceased and his debating spirit withered under the sheer rage that swept upon him when he caught her eyes. Berry gulped, wishing he could rescind what he had just said.

"You're right, Berry." Roxanne grit her teeth to keep from yelling at him again, "We both want viewers and popularity. I can agree with that. But understand this," she gripped his neck tie and pulled down sharply, choking him in the middle of an exhale, "You ever try and use the foundation against me again, and not only will I break my contract and not finish the show, but I will dedicate my career to ending yours, is that clear, asshole?"

Berry nodded as he found he couldn't speak. She let go of his tie as soon as he did, storming past the on-lookers who had surrounded them in curiosity.

"Miss, the show still needs to be recorded-" someone tried to say.

"I'll be back in twenty," Roxanne yelled, not even turning around.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Megamind was surprised by the display. He had never seen Roxanne as angry as he just had, but there was something else. She had been annoyed and highly frustrated with the idea of him and Metro Mahn being on the show with her, but when the writer fellow had mentioned the foundation…

He never thought that someone could be that sad before today. Roxanne had done a fantastic job of covering up her sadness with anger, and he really enjoyed that threatening thing with the tie, but her whole being seemed to cry out in pain when she talked about the foundation. It wasn't something he would have noticed in another person, but he was closer to Roxanne than he was with any other human (not that that was saying much).

He wondered just what this foundation was. He had never heard her mention it before (but it was obviously a touchy subject) and he hadn't discovered anything about it when he had researched her. Maybe official records weren't enough… he made a mental note to do a deeper search into her past later.

Megamind saw that Metro Man was looking in the direction where Roxanne had stormed off, but the hero was swarmed with techies and backstage workers who wanted his autograph. Surprisingly enough, a couple of them approached Megamind as well. He was tempted to dehydrate them… but decided he wanted to stay and see what happened next. So he signed a few autographs and waited for the curtains to go up once more.