Just another charming little blippit in the lives of our friends :)

Unexpected

Roxanne stormed down the street; her eyes focused down. She didn't know if she felt more stupid or angry. She'd sat in that restaurant for nearly an hour waiting. At first she'd thought maybe he'd just been caught up in something, but then she realized; no, nothing had happened to him.

No; he hadn't gotten caught up in his work.

She had been stood up; plain and simple.

She regretted even more not having a car now. It was early November, and though it had been a strangely warm month, the chill was beginning to set in, and Roxanne's thin sweater was not enough to keep out the chill of the Michigan night.

"You know, it's not safe for a lady to walk alone at night. There's a villain running around." The silky smooth voice emitted from the car that had pulled up alongside her. She turned, seeing the blue face appear as the window rolled the rest of the way down. "I'd hate for my number one captive to be kidnapped by someone else."

"Look Megamind, I'm having a really bad night, so if you can just hold off on the kidnapping tonight.."

"Who said I was kidnapping? I was just driving by and happened to see you walking alone. That is dangerous you know." His normal mask slipped as he warned her. "I will however offer you a ride home."

Roxanne looked at him a moment, scrutinizing his face for honesty.

"Miss Ritchi… get in the car; please." he leaned over and opened the door for her. There was an underlying sense of urgency in his voice; and it was a very rare moment in which he said please. Roxanne sighed, stepping down to sit in the car. Kidnapping or not, she'd end up home either way. She'd just barely sat down when a thin blue arm reached across her out the window, shooting a blue beam into the darkness. She let out a gasp of surprise and turned to look at him as he sat back nonchalantly.

"What was that?"

"Just some dark shadow that had been tailing you for the last block." He said simply. Roxanne was, to say the least, shocked. He pulled the car away from the sidewalk, directing them down the road. Despite her attempts to do so, Roxanne sighed as she relaxed back into the soft leather seats.

"When did you get heated seats?" she asked. She'd spent more than her fair share of time in this car from kidnappings and she couldn't remember there ever being heated seats. Realizing now just how cold she was she reached for one of the many dials, turning the vents on and directing those closest to her towards herself.

They drove in silence for a few minutes before he spoke again.

"Do you mind telling me just what you were doing walking in this city alone, at night?" he asked. He was honestly angry with her for risking the walk alone. He'd always known her to be brave, but to walk along the dark deserted streets, unarmed, bordered on stupidity; and Roxanne was not a stupid woman. She stayed silent, and he wondered if she might not answer him at all when her quiet voice replied.

"I was stood up, alright?"She folded her arms across herself as she stared out the window.

"That's ridiculous." He snorted. "Who would be stupid enough to stand you up?"

Roxanne said nothing.

"Besides, I thought you were dating Metro Loser! Unle-oh…" he stopped at the expression on her face. Even if she and Metro Man weren't exactly dating, the fact that she'd been stood up didn't hurt any less. She leaned her head against the window, staring out at the lights as they passed by. Megamind was at a loss for what to say. He certainly was not about to taunt her for having been stood up, especially not with the angry expression that she had just sent his way. But he found himself concerned for her.

"Have you eaten yet?"

"What?" she looked at him. His question was unexpected.

"I was…just wondering if you'd eaten yet." He placed his question hesitantly. Roxanne studied him a moment; he was actually sincere. She sat back in her seat, looking back out the window. It was no use now trying to ignore the gnawing hunger in her stomach; especially when it growled loudly at the mere mention of eating.

"No."

He smirked and brought his watch to his mouth and muttered something quickly that she didn't catch. She did however notice that they weren't headed back to her apartment.

"The abandoned observatory? What's here?"

"I like to come here to think sometimes."

"So…why here? I thought you were driving me home." Once again a little voice inside of her shouted that this had been a trick and that she was being kidnapped. The more reasonable side of her fought that if she were being kidnapped there was a noticeable lack of ropes, knock-out spray and weapons.

"Well, you were clearly supposed to have dinner, and did not. So, to make up for my adversary's lack of tact, I'm offering you dinner. Think of it as a rare moment of good will, Miss Ritchi."

A brain bot flew over, hovering just in front of him. A basket hung from its claws. Megamind patted the glowing dome and said a quiet thank you as he retrieved the basket. The bot buzzed off and Megamind reached inside the large basket, retrieving a folded square of dark blue material. He placed the basket down, and unfurled the material in his hands; Roxanne recognized it instantly as the coat Minion had gifted her just that past Christmas. At first Megamind had been against the idea of such a personal gift to their captive, but with Minion's insistence and seeing how good it looked on her, he acquiesced.

"Where did you find that? I thought I'd lost it." Roxanne asked, and found herself all the more surprised as he stood behind her, holding it open for her to put on.

"It was left at the Evil Lair during one of that pretty boy's routine burst-ins. You know, I do have a door." He moved again to grab the basket. "Surely you wouldn't mind letting him know?" he smirked to her.

"Oh sure, because he listens to everything I say." She said, unable to keep the bite out of her tone.

"Not feeling so warm towards the hero right now, are we?" he couldn't help but feel smug at that fact. Her anger towards the over-muscled hero was obvious. Metro Man was supposed to have taken her out on a date, and the blue villain himself was instead.

Wait… no this wasn't a date.

That's crazy!

He was just simply making sure that his favorite kidnappee was fed.

He opened the basket again and pulled out a box that explained the large size of the basket.

"Pizza?" the scent hit her nose and she felt her mouth instantly water.

"Yes, Miss Ritchi, pizza. Now, eat up." He handed her a large slice and took his own before setting the box down in the basket once more. She studied him a moment; something about his manner told her instincts to trust him; for now at least. She gladly took his offering and her hunger screamed at her again at the first bite.

"This is delicious! Where did you get it?"

"A little shop not too far from here. One of the very few that will serve a blue menace like myself." He smirked at her. Taking a few steps away he pressed a button on a control board and Roxanne watched in awe as the opening in the ceiling came to life and revealed the stars above.

"Woah…" she whispered.

"Out here away from the lights of the city it's much easier to see all the stars."

"Now I see why you come out here. It's so quiet… and beautiful."

"You're more beautiful." He murmured.

"What was that?" she asked; he'd been too quiet for her to hear

"I…asked if you'd like to know more about them. The stars." He cleared his throat awkwardly. She watched him a moment and saw his adam's apple bob in his throat as he swallowed. What could it hurt?

"Sure."

"Really!" he jumped excitedly and without hesitation grabbed the basket, taking her hand in his free one and pulled her towards the large telescope. He dropped her hand and the basket, considering the floor for a second before turning and grabbing a large blanket from a nearby counter top. He'd been here enough times to have a blanket around to sit upon. He laid it out on the ground and gestured grandly for her to sit down. She smirked, placing the box of pizza beside her and watched as he sat on the other side of it, opening the box to retrieve another piece. He was so skinny, she was surprised he ate at all.

"So…do you know anything about the constellations?" he inquired. She took a slow swallow and nodded.

"Well… I know that that's the big dipper." She pointed up towards the stars. Roxanne Ritchi was bright about several things, but the constellations were not exactly one of them. She'd never had a mind for keeping track of them all. He smiled and nodded his head.

"Well yes, but you see the big dipper is not actually a constellation; it's an asterism." He explained. She looked from him and back to the sky above. She was honestly surprised that the tone he used wasn't condescending at all, but rather calm, and kind; different from his normal theatrics that she'd grown so used to.

It was a rare moment that she'd heard this tone of voice; normally only when she was waking up with that smelly old bag still over her head and both men went unaware that she was awake, or on the rare occasion when the cameras were off and he regarded her as an equal and not just a victim.

She wondered, as she often did, if this was the true him.

"You see, an asterism is an easily recognizable figure that has been made up of the brighter stars from other constellations. In this case: the Big Dipper, or Orion's Belt." He said. Roxanne followed his finger as it traced in the air the three stars he spoke of.

"So Orion's Belt is actually made from something bigger then?" she asked, actually very interested and intent on keeping him speaking in this low tone of his. There was something very soothing about it. He smiled brightly as he nodded.

"Exactly. See; you have Alnitak, Alnilam, and Mintaka." He pointed at the three bright spots. "But if you look out a little wider…." He paused to trace the shape with the finger he pointed with. "You can just see Orion." He turned his face to look at her now, finding a funny little smile on her lips. For a moment he feared that she was going to laugh at him or hit him and escape. What he had not expected was for her to smile and request for him to teach her more.

The hours continued to pass as he pointed out other constellations, eventually leading her to the large telescope to point out those farther away. Neither had noticed the time until he looked down to his watch, and his stomach dropped. She hadn't noticed until then how closely she had leaned in to him to follow his directions through the stars. She was even more shocked at finding that she almost missed the body heat and comfort she had found from being so near to him.

"Oh my goodness! Look at the time! It's late! And you have work tomorrow! Minion will be absolutely furious that I'm so late!"

"Nanny-Fish gives you a curfew?" Roxanne smirked at him, tilting her head to one side in amusement.

"He just worries about where I am…" his chest puffed up. "And he'll be cross if he finds out that I've interrupted your sleep as well."

"That's never stopped your kidnappings before." She pointed out.

"Yes well… we've accommodated the times haven't we? The fact still stands that we need to get you home."

The ride back was quiet; as the reality of the night sunk in. They had spent the past three hours together, companionably. Aside from the occasional jibe here or there, they had gotten along extremely well. Roxanne was left to wonder just what tonight meant. It was surreal really; to have had such a pleasant time with the man that society told her she should hate and fear.

For nearly three years she had known Megamind as her kidnapper, the man that was always using her as bait in attempt to lure in Metro Man. Somewhere along the way they had formed an odd sort of friendship, if that's what you could call it. And as she thought about it, there had been many times where she doubted he was even a villain at all; and that everything was an act. There had certainly been glimmers of chivalry and a gentlemanly demeanor on the rare occasion.

But now? By all technicalities tonight could be counted as a date. So what did that all mean exactly? She looked over to him, studying his face as he drove. Her eyes traveled up to his eyes. Those eyes, so bright and green; they were a complete contradiction to his claims of being a villain. Her eyes traveled down his face slowly and once more she found herself wondering what his lips would feel like.

He slowed the car to a stop as he came to her apartment, parking at the curb.

"Last stop." He smirked to her.

"Thanks… for the ride…and the pizza." She finished lamely.

"Of course; we can't have Metrocity's famous reporter starving now can we?"

"And I suppose I should thank you for saving my life…if that's what that was."

"I won't have any amateur villains attempting to kidnap you. What would that say about me?" he smirked.

"Good night, Megamind."

"Good night….Miss Ritchi."

Then they were leaning in, slowly. They were inches away when she snapped back, clearing her throat.

"Well… thanks for the ride." She opened the door and climbed out of the car. She paused a moment before she turned to look at him. "I had a surprisingly good time tonight… for what it's worth I don't think you're as bad as you claim to be."

"Whatever helps you sleep at night." He reiterated her past words to her. She blushed that he even remembered that little line and watched as he sped off into the night. She was certain her dreams that night would once more be filled with a certain blue face and a pair of electric green eyes.

So there you have it folks :) I hope that you all enjoyed. Free time has been slim lately... but Becoming A Villain part 2 should be up soon. Also; keep an eye out for a sequel to What They've Needed All Along. That's right! A full sequel! It should be up soon! :)