Compliments at work were fast becoming something Roxanne had to get used to. While she wasn't exactly what you would call out of shape, one could hardly miss the fact that she was toning up relatively quickly. Her clothing hung nicer on her shapely form, there seemed to be a natural radiant gleam to her skin that her co-workers commented on, and they said there was something in her eyes that echoed of flames and enthusiasm.

Roxanne waved it off as a reaction to her dropping the column and focusing on her reporting. There was also a lie about getting a personal trainer and improved physical abilities. This was bought by pretty much everyone.

"You really are looking amazing, Roxanne." Elliott complimented as he brought her a cup of tea one morning.

"Aw, thank you!" she thanked him, smiling sweetly.

"Oh yeah and we got this mail for you in today. From your insurance company I think? About that gas blow out at your place?" he held out a letter to her. She had told her co-workers, and insurance company, that a gas leak had caused a small explosion that had destroyed her apartment. It still took a while for any kind of repairs to be done and it seems like now they were done.

She read through the letter and frowned. If her apartment was back to normal, that meant she didn't have to stay with Megamind anymore. While she did miss her apartment loft, a part of her dreaded the idea of going back there. Even with all the training under her belt, if she was attacked when she was alone could she handle it? Megamind hadn't let her go out to hunt with him yet, she always had to sit in the car and watch with Minion to see how things were handled. Of course, Roxanne didn't want to go all Xena Warrior Princess on the vampires either, she understood she wasn't a mastermind at it like Megamind.

"That's good, yeah..." Roxanne mumbled as she read over the letter. Indeed, the repairs were done, and she could go home tonight if she wanted. The idea of going home to her apartment, cold, alone, without the familiar warmth she had grown to expect when returning home to the manor didn't sit well with her at all. How would Megamind respond, learning she was moving out? Would he be against it? What if he wanted her to stay on, permanently?

Would it be a bad thing? Roxanne briefly fantasized about the two of them living somewhere together comfortably, where they could eat meals together, sleep in the same bed and awaken with each other. Such thoughts weren't something she thought of often, but when she did... it was like a little escape.

It probably would be best to go home and check over everything, to make sure it was all in one place. She could do that, surely. It was her home, after all.

The day wore on and Roxanne was almost done for the day when she was suddenly handed a breaking news story that she had to be out on the field for five minutes ago. Roxanne was to her feet and reading the read out with wide eyes; it was a fire. A huge one that was to the Eastern suburbs, a recycling plant that had gone out of business years ago had been on fire for three hours and just now the fire crew (Wayne might be there!) were just clearing up. Alarmingly, though, bodies had been discovered. And not 'fresh' bodies either, despite the fire damage to the remains found some of them appeared to have been there for years.

Roxanne grabbed her phone and pressed a button, and waited for the voice mail to pick up.

"Ashes burned." was all she said before hanging up and leaving the same message on another phone, though she was sure if Wayne was working today Bernard would know about this already.

Since Hal was still away dealing with family matters, at least that's what everyone around her believed, Roxanne was using a camera man by the name of Alex. He was a tall, tanned man with suave features and black hair. Once upon a time he would have been her type, but seeing how she was happily seeing a blue skinned man with acid green eyes, Alex was nothing more than a work mate.

"You can see the smoke from here, whoa." Alex said as he drove out towards the site, where Roxanne would have to stand near in order to be filmed.

"It is out, isn't it?" Roxanne asked as she skimmed the paperwork in her hands.

"Yeah. But there's still some after burn going on." replied the camera man as he pulled up against the sidewalk.

Roxanne was out the car first, and was glad to see there weren't any other news vans around. That was a good sign. If she could find Wayne, then she could have a quick word with him and ask him what he thinks about the bodies. She excuses herself from Alex, who needs to set up the camera, mentions something about wanting to find a fireman or the chief fire warden to interview on screen and hurries off.

The firemen are still around, rolling up their hoses and talking to one another admits the destroyed recycling plant. Roxanne scans their faces, and while there are many handsome young men here she just can't seem to find the one she's after.

"Looking for me?" Wayne's voice startles her and she spins around, laughing.

"Don't do that!" Roxanne laughed, smacking his arm. "You're sneaky for a big guy."

"It's a talent." he grinned before gesturing for her to follow him away from the crowd of people. "So you heard?"

"About the bodies? Yes." she asked quietly. "How many were there?"

"Impossible to tell." Wayne replied just as quietly. "They were practically piled on top of each other. I'm sure you media guys will chalk it up to a cult sacrifice or a murderer who's been dumping bodies here. It's bad, Roxie. They'll have to find these people by their dental records."

"So what do you think, vampires?"

"I know vampires." he said, frowning. "I don't think the fire was deliberate though. It's an obvious mistake, and now they've been revealed, something they never do if they can help it. So they can't call this place a save haven anymore, they could be spread anywhere now."

"Well that's great news." Roxanne pulled a face.

"My thoughts exactly. Bernard's already on his way here, he can track vampires pretty well with that nose of his and that'll give Megamind a great help." Wayne went on to continue.

"Think he'll actually let me help him this time?" she asked.

"Not a snowflakes chance in Hell."

"Figured."

"It's still far too early for you to face one alone, you know that. Now go on, you do your day job. I'll go grab the chief if you want?" Wayne asked, gesturing over his shoulder.

"Oh sure thanks I'd appreciate that." Roxanne nodded, and watched the man hurry away. Turning away from the men she stared at the blackened out building that had been gutted thanks to the fire. The air stunk of burnt plastics and metals, and she was thankful to see the firemen had gotten the fire under control and hadn't let it spread to the surrounding areas. A near by tree was torched, sadly, and one poor guy's car who had been parked on the side of the road had gone up in flames too but other than that, there was no damage.

Yet to think, vampires dumping bodies in a place like this, in the middle of suburbia! They really had the galls. Like Wayne had said, it was probably accidental, and she could almost imagine the creatures carrying on at lengths about what had happened and who to blame for it. Angry vampires are not happy vampires, and angry vampires tend to lash out at unsuspecting victims without rhyme or reason.

Megamind will be having his hands full, and having her in the car after a long, busy day won't be help to him. Maybe she should go home tonight, just to resettle into her familiar surroundings.

Wayne returned with the chief and Roxanne did her day job to a tee, and it wasn't half an hour later that her news story was being broadcasted all over Metro City about the recycling plant that had been hiding a horrible secret for years. It would be all over the newspapers tomorrow morning, and no doubt jokes were being made on the Internet as she spoke. None of this truly mattered to her, as she questioned the Fire Chief about what had happened, the only thing that did matter was the fact that a group of vampires were now without a place to roost... so they'd be looking for another.

That meant she had to be careful.

After the job was done, Wayne tried to find the woman but she was already gone. He had been about to offer to take her home, since it was late enough to do so, but finding both her and the news van gone told him she would probably get back home from the office. That made sense.

"Hey Fireman." Bernard's voice greeted him and he turned around to look down at the shorter man, and smiled in greeting.

"Hey you," he kissed him in greeting before turning to look at the gutted building. "Quite a mess isn't it?"

"It stinks to high heaven." grumbled Bernard as he tugged his gloves snugly against his hands. "I can barely smell the vamps."

"I was afraid of that..." Wayne mumbled. The stench of melted and burned plastics was thick and choking the air, he couldn't even contemplate how strong it was for Bernard whose sense of smell was above even his own.

Bernard took a few steps closer and took a good long sniff before coughing, and choking. "Oh good Lord." he wheezed, slamming his fist against his chest. "I can smell forever!" he choked as he backed away, shaking his head like a dog who had just smelt something awful. "Plastics, metal, decaying bodies, fire, melted materials, chemicals, vampires, blood, death... this isn't good. This is awful and it'll be on my nose for days!"

Wayne was already rubbing his back gently, trying to help him breath easier. "Sorry." he apologized.

"You're not the one who's been piling bodies up." Bernard said as he watched the medical crew continue to hang around outside the building. The fire department hadn't deemed it safe for people to walk in, making the fact there were numerous burnt bodies there all the more unsettling. There were families to notify, autopsies to be done, funerals to arrange but nothing could be done if the building could collapse upon the forensic team. Those men, and women, stood around in their white plastic suits and could only wait.

"So what do you think?" Wayne asked.

"There were a lot of them." Bernard replied as he dared sniff at the air again. "I can smell different smells on top of each other, all of them reeking of that stench all vampires carry. Let me tell you, no amount of deodorant or perfume will mask it from this nose." he tapped his button nose for emphasis.

"Can you track them?"

Bernard shrugged. "Like I said, there's a lot of other smells happening here now. I'll take a walk around, see what I can find."

"All right..." Wayne said cautiously.

"Hey is Roxanne here?" Bernard asked, glancing around and giving a quick sniff of the air.

"Ah, she was. She's gone now, it was probably a sudden on the spot job to do." explained Wayne as he looked to where the news van had been set up.

"Ah damn. I was going to ask her if she and Megamind's done it yet."

"Wait, what?" Wayne's eyes widened. "Why would you ask her that? That's... that's very personal!" he trailed after Bernard, who had begun to walk away.

"It's what friends do. I've noticed her looking far perkier than normal these past few days. Can't you tell?" asked Bernard, glancing up at his boyfriend. "She's got that 'I just had sex' face all the time now. Course that's pretty much impossible to get that all the time, but she just reeks of a woman who's had a good time."

"Well you shouldn't out right ask her that kind of thing, it's too personal." grumbled Wayne.

"Just because you and your brother can't discuss your love lives doesn't mean Roxanne and I can't." Bernard said back.

"What have you told her, Bernard?" Wayne asked, feeling suddenly very weary.

Bernard only gave him a small, pleased smile. Wayne was sure all color drained from his face as he stood there, feeling his stomach suddenly knot up. "You told her everything didn't you?"

"Well not everything." Bernard said. "She doesn't know about your little kink about my glass-"

"Please don't." pleaded the man. "Not in public."

"You," he reached out and poked the man's chest. "Need to stop worrying about what people think of you. Who cares if you're gay, you're still brilliant at everything you do. But fine, I won't go into detail out here but she doesn't know everything. We have to keep some secrets. So if I can tell her my stories, she has to come out with her own. It's only fair after-hey..."

"What is it?"

Bernard sniffed at the air a little more, and walked around in a circle once, twice. "A new smell. A vampire, one I don't recognize..."

"A newly turned one?" Wayne asked.

"Possibly..."

"That's just great." Wayne sighed.

Walking into her apartment, Roxanne couldn't help but feel a wave of familiarity wash over her. Even if she had become quite comfortable, and at home, at Megamind's house she couldn't deny the feeling of walking into her own home. The plastic covers were still there, left from the repair men, and the place smelt of paint, varnish, and hard work. Twitching her nose, Roxanne waved a hand in front of her face before walking further into her loft.

Seeing that the paint was dry, Roxanne busied herself with folding up the plastic sheets, and setting them away in a cardboard box she had stuffed away that her large television hand came in. She had to cram the plastic bags into the tight box eventually, and stood back to admire the look of her apartment, clean and whole once more. Setting her hands on her hips, Roxanne wondered if Megamind would ever consider staying the night at her place for a night or so.

That brought up all manner of things they could get up to together and she felt a heat rush over her. "Oh come on, don't be like that." she scoffed. "I can offer him the fold out couch but if he'd prefer he could sleep in my bed with me... we wouldn't do anything if he didn't want. If he was too tired..." course she'd feel all kinds of disappointment if they didn't fool around a little. Since finally admitting the 'L' word to one another things just seemed to fall into place with the two. They shared meals together in the mornings and late evenings, they worked out together, he taught her and set her course work to study books, and they had even begun fencing a few days ago.

While this was all expected, what with learning a new art, just the atmosphere between them had suddenly relaxed considerably. They touched each other easier, spoke at lengths about all manner of things, and their kisses had advanced to the stage of being very open and honest. For having never kissed a girl before, Megamind had become a great kisser. She couldn't help but speculate what he would be like in bed, with all that strength and self control and pacing his stamina the way he did in battle.

Shivering a little at the idea Roxanne went through to the kitchen to get herself a cold glass of water to drink to help cool herself off. Being with Megamind was refreshing, to be sure. Roxanne wasn't exactly what you'd call a prude, but she wasn't easy either. Her normal schedule of seeing a new man in her life meant a few dates first, a dinner at home with one another and the more physical aspect of the relationship would crop up at least a week or so after the initial first date. She had been with Megamind three weeks now and the furthest they had gotten was kissing open mouthed, and her letting him know that yes, he can touch her in places he didn't think possible before.

It was certainly a change of pace going this slowly, but she could see with every passing day his desire for her was growing, just like hers was for him. Maybe any day now they would throw away their apprehension and just take the plunge together.

Her train of thought was disrupted when she heard the door bell go. Glancing at the clock she wondered who would it be this late; maybe it was Megamind checking up on her? If so, that was perfect! And nice of him, too. She made her way down the hall to the door and pulled it open, smiling as she did. "Hello?" she asked, before she stared vacantly at the person at the door for a moment. "...hey! I haven't seen you in... a while?" Roxanne asked, though she wasn't sure why it was a question.

"Hyeah I know, ages hasn't it?" asked the visitor, whose hands were resting in the pockets of their green vest. "So, how you been?"

"Busy..." she answered quietly. "Very busy."

"Just like you, isn't it Roxy?" they laughed, and Roxanne found herself laughing with them, though she couldn't really understand why. It hadn't been that funny, but she was suddenly quite amused.

"I'm sorry!" Roxanne suddenly said, stepping back. "Would you like to come in?" she asked.

"Love to." they answered and stepped on through the door, and looked around. "Nice digs, Roxy." he said.

"Thanks, it's nothing that great..." Roxanne said as she shut the door behind him, and leaned against it for a moment. Something felt off about this, but she just couldn't put her finger on it. It was a little late for visitors, wasn't it? And this was him, someone she never would have thought she'd let-then again, he is looking very good tonight. "How about you, how's your dad...? I heard he had a heart attack?"

Hal turned to look at her and gave her an uncomfortable smile, and she knew she just touched a nerve. "He didn't make it." he shrugged. "Too many years of microwave pasta and TV dinners. Plus the guy smoked like a chimney."

"Oh Hal, I'm so, I'm so sorry." she moved towards him and felt her arms move of their own choice and wrap around his shoulders and she hugged him, and felt him return the gesture. Deep down, a shiver of... something made itself known but it was promptly smothered by the feeling of actual enjoyment from this moment. Her heart beat quickened, and a flush covered her face.

"Yeah well..." Hal mumbled, his breath against her neck. "We all got to go sometime, don't we?" he asked.

"That's a very mature outlook to have..." Roxanne agreed. "Were you close?" she asked, pulling back only just to look at him, allowing the man's hands to rest on her hips.

"Pretty close." he answered. "I had to help my Ma arrange the funeral and all the family coming, it's been a mess." that probably explained why it looked like he had dropped some weight since the last she saw him. When you were stressed and over worked with something like that, your body would react in all manner of ways. Hal suddenly smiled, "But hey. Let's forget about that for now, it's been all I've known for the past few weeks. You're looking great, you know?" his hands pressed against her hips, drawing her closer to him. "You been working out?"

Roxanne blushed, yet didn't pull away. Her heart was racing and her stomach felt like it was full of butterflies that were battling against fighter jets. Why was that? "Oh, ah, just a little... thanks for noticing." she admitted. Why was it that, suddenly, she couldn't remember why she'd been working out? Surely it must have been for a reason... her brain groaned under the pressure of trying to remember as the memory was being wiped away by a sudden cloud of hormones and desire she hadn't felt in her life.

"How could I not?" Hal asked, "You've always looked amazing but now, you look... way more amazing."

That was the best compliment anyone had ever given her. "Oh, you're just saying that..." Roxanne said breathily. His hands continued to caress her through her clothes, and it sent shivers through her body.

"Would I lie to you?" he asked pointedly, before grinning. "I would never."

"Mmh," she brought a hand up and ran her finger tips against the collar of his shirt. "Prove it." Roxanne whispered daringly.

And he did by kissing her.

To be continued