Chapter Text
The last time Roxanne was kidnapped by Megamind, her life literally flashed before her eyes. That type of fear had never coursed through her veins amid his evil schemes before. Megamind never harmed her. He was always gentle with the way he handled her while she was unconscious; always made sure she was comfortable in the chair he had her strapped in. He always double-checked to ensure the ropes around her wrists and ankles weren’t too tight. He didn’t kidnap her to harm her—and it didn’t matter how many people tried to convince her otherwise—she just knew it. With the way they bantered back and forth and how he teasingly wiggled his fingers at her, promising that wouldn’t be the last time she saw him as he was hauled away into a police car, she always thought he kidnapped her just to see her more often, and honestly, she didn’t mind if that were true.
But the last battle between Megamind and Metro Man was a battle she would never forget. It was still so fresh on her mind that it plagued her with nightmares almost every night. She remembered how giddy Megamind had been that day about his newest evil invention as he flashed it in front of her like a trophy. Then she remembered when his plan failed—just like all of his plans did—when the abandoned apartment complex they were hiding in collapsed as Metro Man slammed his way through the roof. Metro Man claimed he hadn’t known the building was unstable. Roxanne remembered the sheer look of terror on Megamind’s face as he jumped over her to protect her from the falling beams.
Smoke and debris rose around them, and Roxanne choked on air. It was almost impossible to breathe. She couldn’t see anything. The entire abandoned complex fell around them, and somehow, Megamind protected her. He shielded her with his entire body, caging her to the ground.
She didn’t know how she survived. She didn’t know how he did either. She remembered how scared he looked when he struggled to lift himself off of her; when their eyes clashed. He briefly searched her eyes, green irises flickering back and forth, before he achingly scrambled away from her, hissing in pain as he did so. She tried to reach out to him with one arm—her other one pinned somewhere beneath her—but when she opened her mouth, ready to plead with him, no words came out. She couldn’t find her voice. Her throat felt dry.
They only briefly kept eye contact before Megamind lifted a hand to his side, turned on his heel, and limped away. The sound of police sirens and Metro Man calling out for him echoed in the smoky distance around them.
She watched him retreat that day with a looming cloud of defeat and terror over his head. She’d never seen him lose his confidence so fast. She’d never seen him so willingly accept that he’d lost.
He disappeared through the smoke… and Roxanne’s eyes felt heavy. She barely registered Metro Man’s frantic voice as he lifted her from the rubble. She lost consciousness in Wayne’s arms.
When she awoke, she was in a hospital bed with a broken arm and a severe concussion.
The television in her room was already on KMCP 8 News, and her best friend, Lance Lafontaine, was reporting the scene of the destruction on her behalf. Behind him, the demolished complex was nothing but ruin, and a search team could be seen searching through the rubble for any sign of Megamind.
They failed to find him, of course, because Megamind had made it out—just like she had.
When Lance came to visit her, Roxanne tried to tell him that.
“He made it out alive. I saw him.” Roxanne said, gesturing to the little notebook in Lance’s hands with her eyes, brows furrowing when his hand remained motionless. “You should be writing this down. I was a witness. I saw—”
“Roxanne,” Lance cut her off with a defeated sigh as he closed his notebook and set it aside. He ran a hand down his face, clearly frustrated. “You have a severe concussion. Your word, unfortunately, isn’t credible. For all we know, you could’ve been hallucinating.”
Despite his logic, she scoffed because she knew what she saw. She wasn’t making things up. She wasn’t seeing things.
“I wasn’t hallucinating—”
“I’m not accusing you, Rox, I’m just telling you what our boss is telling me. I can’t use anything you say in a report. I’m sorry.”
Roxanne sighed frustratingly, furrowed brows lowering and her frown deepening. Lance ignored her absolute death stare as he reached for her good hand, squeezing it affectionately.
“I’m just… glad you’re okay,” he whispered between them, his voice trembling slightly. “You could’ve died.”
“I’m fine,” Roxanne insisted stubbornly.
“I don’t know how…” Lance’s gaze flickered over her injuries. “You’re lucky to be alive… I hope you know that.”
Roxanne offered him a terse smile because, despite her frustration, she knew Lance was worried and that his intentions favored her wellbeing. Lance had been a very good friend of hers for a long time. She knew he was scared. She was, too.
She squeezed his hand back, hoping it brought him some comfort. “I’m okay,” she assured him, then jokingly added, “It takes more than a building falling on me to take me out.”
Lance didn’t laugh, but the corner of his lips did pull upward slightly, his silent appreciation for her attempt at lightening the mood pulling a smile out of her, too.
Roxanne was released from the hospital a week later, her arm in a blue cast. She returned to work the next week, and everyone signed her cast. Lance, of course, had been the first to sign it, mockingly wagging the sharpie at Hal, who pouted at the fact that he hadn’t been the first to sign it. As much as she wished Hal wouldn’t sign, she let him sign it last. Later, Lance had taken it upon himself to scribble out the heart Hal had doodled next to his name.
As the weeks went on, so did life. The normalcy of work continued. KMCP’s reporters resumed their search for information regarding Megamind’s whereabouts. But it seemed that no matter what avenue they turned to, they turned up empty-handed. Even Metro Man had no idea where his nemesis was. Weeks slowly turned into a month, and a month slowly turned into four.
By month six, Lance told her he was officially giving up on her investigation for finding Megamind.
“Do you really think Megamind is dead too?” Roxanne had asked him, almost offended that he was giving up on her… on him. Everyone else in Metro City settled with the theory that Megamind was gone. Some were even celebrating.
But Roxanne didn’t want to believe that. She couldn’t.
Megamind had to be alive. She saw him get away.
Lance pressed his lips together and shrugged, exhaling a defeated sigh through his nose. “He hasn’t made an appearance in six months.”
“That doesn’t mean he’s dead! He could be hurt or—or unable to show himself right now—!”
“Rox,” Lance cut her off sternly, his eyebrows furrowing. “Even if he is hiding somewhere, hurt and licking his wounds, why do you care?”
The question had thrown her off guard, so much so that she leaned back in shock, her eyes widening in disbelief. Why did she care? Why did she care?! Because Megamind could have died just like her underneath that building! Megamind had thrown himself on top of her to protect her!
“I—he’s—he doesn’t deserve to be hurt! He was almost crushed underneath that building too!”
“The guy kidnapped you all the time!” Lance raised his voice in frustration.
“He never hurt me!”
“So that makes it okay?? God, Roxanne!” Lance ran a hand over his face, stepping away from her before he could fully lose his temper.
As much as she cherished her friendship with Lance, Roxanne also had to step away from him. She knew that he was just frustrated. She knew that he didn’t understand why she was defending the villain. There would be no convincing him because he was already convinced that Megamind was dead and that he deserved to be dead.
But… as much as Megamind tended to be a nuisance, Roxanne refused to believe death was something he deserved. She saw him escape… but the fact that he had just… vanished was a mystery all in itself. Because that wasn’t like him at all. The Megamind she knew always had to put on a show when he made an entrance… or an exit. It was all about the theatrics for him.
But she didn’t know Megamind as well as she thought she did. He’d done something entirely out of what she thought was his ordinary. But then again, all she really knew about him was what he allowed her to see when he had her tied to a chair in his lair. Their encounters consisted of either Megamind or Minion kidnapping her, taking her home when the scheme was all over, and exchanging teasing dialogue.
She and Megamind didn’t have any close relationship that would resemble friendship. They were barely considered acquaintances. At best, she was his kidnappee.
So then… why did she care so much that he was missing?
Maybe it was because she… missed him.
Did she miss him?
Roxanne continued her investigation alone… in the comfort of her own home and outside of work. Every new ‘lead’ she received was hung in her apartment in an array of clues strung from her ceiling. Often, when Lance came over, he would roll his eyes at the sight, choosing to ignore it even when she tried to gently nudge him into discussing the topic. She wouldn’t consider it so, but Lance thought it was becoming an obsession of hers.
Roxanne liked to believe it was just determination.
Despite their disagreement regarding the infamous villain, Lance never left her side entirely, though. He started driving her home every night in a news van, even though his apartment complex was about five miles away from hers. He didn’t mind the extra driving, though, especially when he realized if he didn’t drive her, Hal would try to offer. Since neither Roxanne nor Lance were comfortable with that, Lance was happy to volunteer.
He even walked through the lobby with her, tipping his cap to her doorman, Carlos, as they made their way to the elevators.
“You don’t have to walk me all the way to my door, you know,” Roxanne said as she pressed the button for the elevator.
“Who’s going to help you carry all this stuff?” Lance gestured to his arms with a grin. He was holding several bags of groceries that they had picked up along the way.
The elevator dinged and opened, and Roxanne stepped inside, Lance following right behind her.
“You know I can carry it all by myself. See?” Roxanne wiggled the fingers of her newly healed hand. “Good as new.”
Lance chuckled and playfully shook his head, some of his hair falling into his eyes.
The elevator door slowly closed. Lance leaned over to press the number for her floor with the back of his wrist.
“Have you talked to your mom lately?” Lance asked, causally changing the subject.
Roxanne raised a brow at him. “A few days ago. Why?”
“She was calling me. Said she was worried about you.”
“Ignore her.”
“I can’t just ignore your mom,” Lance nervously chuckled, sounding bewildered that she would even suggest such a thing.
“Why not? I do it all the time.”
The elevator dinged and opened again on her floor, and Roxanne stepped out first.
“Your mom would literally buy a plane ticket just to fly down here and ring my neck if I ignored her,” Lance fell into step beside her. “She’s scary.”
Roxanne’s soft laughter echoed down the hallway. The truth was that her mom was more interested in Lance making a move on her daughter than she was in Roxanne’s wellbeing. Much to her mother’s disappointment, Lance and Roxanne would never be anything more than just friends.
Mainly because Lance was gay.
They reached her apartment door, and Roxanne fished for her keys in her pocket. “My mom is the definition of all bark and no bite.”
“Her bark could still rupture my eardrum, though.”
Roxanne threw her head back and laughed as she twisted her key into the keyhole, the lock clicking open. Her hand blindly searched for the light switch in the darkness, quickly finding it and flickering the light on. She tossed the keys into the bowl by her door and set her work bag on the floor.
Lance tried to step inside after her, intending to put her groceries away for her, but Roxanne stopped him with a hand to his chest. “I can put away my own groceries, Lance.”
Lance rolled his eyes but didn’t argue as he handed her the first bag. “Why do you have to be so stubborn?”
“Stubbornness is just one of my many qualities,” Roxanne gestured with her fingers to hand her another bag. Lance skeptically eyeballed her hand before cautiously hanging another one on her fingers.
“Are you sure you can carry all of these?”
Roxanne playfully rolled her eyes as she gestured to the last bag he held with a jut of her chin. “I’ll be fine. Just hand me the last one.”
He did as he was told, but he was still skeptical, of course.
Roxanne made an effort to flash him a smile. “See? I’ve got it all under control.”
“If you say so,” Lance’s smile was somewhat uneasy as he stepped back. “See you tomorrow.”
Roxanne watched him turn with a smile, thanking him as he went for helping her. He raised a hand in response, waving, but kept his back towards her. Roxanne laughed softly and gently closed her door. She meandered towards the kitchen, setting the bags down on the marble counter, and smiled as she started sorting through her groceries.
“Well, this is interesting.”
Roxanne froze, a series of sudden chills trickling up her spine as she slowly lifted her head, and her breath caught in her throat.
Because standing there right in the middle of her apartment, underneath all of the hanging evidence she had of his six-month disappearance, stood Megamind.