Chapter Text
The first thing Roxanne had learned about Megamind was that he was careful.
Before she had ever been kidnapped, she was still a reporter. She followed them, and she had managed an awkward friendship with Metro Man from interviews and trying to respect him as a person. Giving him the respect he would give anyone else so he wasn’t just a superhero.
It was enough that she was assigned to work on covering him for the news. Usually, this meant following up with his good deeds or being there for grand gestures. Lately, she had pushed to documenting his fights with Megamind. It meant that she got to wear more comfortable shoes, and she stayed in shape, so she wasn’t exactly going to complain about her shifting expectations.
Which was how she found herself outside, camera in hand, taking pictures of their current fight. She had had to climb up a fire escape to get a good view of the two of them, perched as high as she could get on the building across from their fight.
It was the closest she had ever been to Megamind. So it was the first time she saw that she was more than just his apparently big head. His strength couldn’t be that much less than Wayne’s with the way he was keeping. Her eyes were wide, but she couldn’t just stop taking pictures.
She carefully zoomed in on Megamind. Which was how she saw the way he twisted, aiming his de-gun in a way that wouldn’t actually… hit anything but Metro Man.
The way his face contorted while he apparently thought through the angles, it was on purpose. He was bouncing the shot off of… Something. She couldn’t see it, but she could see the way it was aimed instead of shooting straight like he could have. But if he missed the straight shot, he’d hit an apartment complex. She’d seen him look before adjusting his aim, jumping away the moment after he shot.
Careful.
She had wondered if it was a fluke, but she got the picture perfectly time, the way he shot even with his arch enemy approaching in the background. If he missed, it would only go into the sky, hitting a bird at most.
Careful enough to avoid hitting an apartment building that likely meant nothing to either of them.
She’d look at that picture later, making sure she was seeing it right. Megamind had been hauled off to prison yet again, and she was looking at a picture that she had been more than lucky to get.
Roxanne’s thoughts were confirmed when she was kidnapped for the first time a few weeks later. The knockout gas had been effective despite trying to kick at the thing that grabbed her, shocked at the sight of a fish in a mechanical suit.
She woke up tied to a chair, eyes wide as the bag was yanked off her head. Her heart was pounding as she saw Megamind turn around to look at her. Her hands were tied behind her back, and she amazingly had both of her shoes despite the fact that this was one of her few days wearing heels lately. At least she was wearing pants…
What she didn’t expect was to see Megamind, settled into a big chair and flipping through her pictures on her camera. “Excuse you! That’s not yours!” she snapped before she could think too clearly.
Megamind’s big head popped up and he grinned slightly, getting to his feet to draw near to her, camera still in hand. “Villain,” he retorted. “You take surprisingly good pictures for someone that was supposed to be focusing on Metro Mahn, Miss Ritchi. I didn’t expect any of his friends to have any bravery.”
Roxanne blinked at the compliment, and at calling her Miss Ritchi before huffing in annoyance as she looked him over. “I am a reporter. It’s my job,” she shot back, during her best to keep her voice steady despite the fear. Megamind wasn’t known for being stable.
“Many people run from fighting, no matter what their job. Even those that are supposed to protect you,” Megamind had laughed, turning away from her. “We’ll see if your boyfriend in tights is one of them that runs or not. He won’t succeed, I assure you.”
Which was when she finally screamed, hoping that Wayne heard her. It was one of the few times she would ever scream in his presence. She only had a few moments to notice the way his eyes snapped to the fish in the suit like he was worried he’d done something wrong. Had he not meant to hurt her? He had… sounded like he did.
She wasn’t left to think about it long because Wayne arrive a minute later. With her still strapped to the chair. She sighed in shaky relief as she saw her friend, only to feel herself yanked away from the fighting. “Let go!” she snapped, trying to squirm in her bonds as she looked up to see the fish again.
“Miss Ritchi, I am merely moving you away from the fighting,” the fish said calmly, glancing down at her. “Sir would be annoyed if you got hurt. He just wante-“
“Minion! Don’t you start telling her my plans! Who’s side are you on?” Megamind snapped as he tossed Minion the camera before rolling away from Wayne.
Roxanne gasped as her camera sailed through the air. She’s spent good money on that! More money than she currently had to replace it! She couldn’t let it get broken… But Minion caught it. She glanced up at the fish and then back at Megamind, eyes wide.
He… hadn’t broken her camera.
It wasn’t until she got home that night, shaken and out of breath, that she realized there wasn’t a scratch on her. Her camera was in one piece. She still had both of her shoes. Even her wrists didn’t hurt…
“I’m fine, Wayne. I think,” she said quietly, putting the camera strap around her neck shakily. She glanced up at the superhero for a moment before nodding. She was alright. Everything was alright. Besides being kidnapped, she was perfectly fine. “Thank you.”
He hadn’t done her any actual harm, and he’d made sure his minion knew to get her out of the way. She had never seen such thought put into something by any of the other villains that attacked Metro City or Wayne.
She kept that picture for a long time after that, a reminder that Megamind didn’t seem to want to hurt her. Or even the city. He wanted to win, and he might truly still be evil, but his goals seemed to be set, even if she wasn’t certain what they were. General destruction didn’t seem to be it though. He cared about something far too much. Enough to return her in the condition he found her, with nothing missing and very rarely even a scratch.
Careful was a good word for Megamind. Even when he didn’t win…