Chapter Text
Minion somehow manages to pry Roxanne’s fingers from Megamind’s collar, gets them both into the back seat and instructs her to hold Megamind’s head steady in her lap.
Roxanne’s never been in the invisible car before while conscious, not without a blindfold but she cannot tear her eyes away from Megamind’s face, one arm wrapped around the back of his neck, the other across his chest to hold him steady.
Minion curses with a stream of bubbles, weaving in out of traffic so quickly that Roxanne has to brace herself against the door to keep from sliding–she has never heard Minion swear before, either. Hearing a fish say fuck would be funny in literally any other instance, but Roxanne still feels shaky and vaguely like she’s floating.
She doesn’t even register that they’re in the Lair until Minion is gathering Megamind into his arms, a hoard of Brainbots hovering anxiously around his dome.
“He’ll be okay?” Roxanne asks as she stumbles out of the car.
Minion doesn’t answer.
Roxanne leans against the car and tries to breathe, feeling the Brain Bots pushing against her chest, her face, glowing red eyestalks blinking in concern. They BOWG softly at her, one even tries to hand her a bottle of water, another tries to push a wrench into her palm-
She sinks to the floor and wraps her arms around herself, shivering on the cold cement as the bots settle in around her, warm domes buzzing comfortably against her sides.
The sun has fully risen, casting eerie shadows around the lair by the time Minion returns.
“He’s stabilized,” Minion sighs as Roxanne scrambles to her feet, jostling the resting bots.
“He’s going to be fine, right?” she whispers, her voice hoarse. “He has to be.”
“His body has started the healing process, he should be awake in an hour or two, knowing Sir," Minion sighs, sounding as exhausted as Roxanne feels. “I’ve left some clothing and a towel for you in Sirs bathroom, if you’d like to clean up.”
Roxanne makes a sound of alarm in the back of throat, looking down at the purple blood staining her skin, the green of her dress–the KCMP party felt like a lifetime ago, now.
“Yes,” she says quietly, her hands beginning to tremble again as she feels the ghost of Sal’s hands on the inside of her thighs. “Yes, please, I-”
“Mrs Ritchi,” Minion says gently. “You don’t have to explain right now, if you’re unable to, but I would like to know what happened to your…” He trails off, gesturing towards the neck piece of his suit.
“Sol,” she spits, her mouth twisting. “Found him and Peter in the alley way by the bar on 5th, beating the fuck out of him.” Roxanne closes her eyes briefly. “Strangled me. Wanted to rape me, Megamind stopped it.”
When she looks up again, Roxanne is startled by the look of cold fury on Minion’s face. Christ, have his teeth always been that sharp…?
“I deeply, deeply sorry, Mrs Ritch,” Minion says coolly, though his tendrils are vibrating with barely contained rage. “Sir and I will have this dealt with, I assure you.”
He forces a toothy smile, “Ziggy will show you to Sir’s ensuite bathroom, I’ll have some soup made up for you within an hour, if you feel up to eating.”
Roxanne feels her eyes fill with tears, darting forward so she can grab the hand of his suit.
“Thank you,” she whispers fiercely. “For coming for us, and…and everything else.”
Minion squeezing her hand gently, “Always, Mrs Ritchi. If you need me, I won’t be far.”
Roxanne turns to Ziggy, one of Megamind’s oldest Bots–their metal jaws open to BOWG at her.
“Well, Ziggy, guess it’s just you and me for a bit.”
The Bot wiggles happily at her, darting off deeper in the Lair as Roxanne follows after them, her heels clicking against the cold cement.
She really only ever spent time in one small part of the Lair dedicated to broadcasting her kidnappings, so Roxanne gazes around wide eyed as she’s lead past giant robotic battle suits of all sizes, heaps of scrap metal and parts--above her are dozens of cat walks and wall after wall of blueprints, blinking lights and tesla coils. A giant wall of screens showing all areas surrounding the Lair is lit up as well, dozens of keyboards lining the massive desk.
The Spyder Bot is even humming quietly in a dark corner, turning her dozens of red eyes to gaze down at Roxanne, who gives her a timid smile and a wave. She raises one long, metal leg and waves back, which makes Roxanne feel slightly less panicked, which is strange considering her usual fear of all things creepy crawly.
Ziggy leads on until the cement under her heels turns into a dark gray title.
Okay, so Supervillains like homey Lair’s. Who knew?
Eventually, Ziggy pauses in front of a door and points a metal claw at it, bowging softly.
Roxanne cracks it open and peers inside, an odd, laser-esc lamp on the end table casting an orange glow across Megamind’s room.
The large bed is empty, blue and black sheets still unmade, two big pillows covered in lightning bolts discarded on the floor. Roxanne feels herself smile; of course Megamind has lightning bolt pillows.
The room is rather bare aside from a small, framed photograph of Megamind and Minion on the bedside table, and some wild looking blueprints scattered everywhere.
Ziggy points towards a massive ensuite bathroom, complete with a jacuzzi style tub that looks like it could fit at least 5 more of her, and a stand up, dark tiled shower. There’s no curtain or door, just a drain in the middle of the floor, and the showerhead is one of those fancy, feeling like you're standing in a rain storm types. The counters are an equally dark marble, bare aside from two huge, fluffy white towels, a Metallica shirt with the neck stretched wide enough to accommodate one's large blue dome, and a pair of spandex shorts.
There’s even a new toothbrush and toothpaste laid out for her, and some fancy bottles of shampoo, some body wash.
Roxanne feels her stomach flutter over the fact that she is inside a literal supervillain's bedroom, staring into his bathroom, oh my god? What the fuck is her life? Would Megamind even want her in here? Wouldn’t this make him uncomfortable?
She ignores the dread crawling up her spine and forces herself to close the bathroom door behind her, pushing one of the many fancy light switches as she does.
Roxanne takes a deep breath and tries to pull herself together before glancing in the mirror, wincing as she meets her own bloodshot eyes
God, she looks like hell.
Her throat is already bruising an angry purple, tracks of mascara and eyeliner staining her too pale cheeks, her chest. Roxanne braces herself against the counter as she starts to peel her dress down, hissing in pain at the cuts all over her legs from being drug around like an animal. She is absolutely covered in Megamind’s blood, and the thought of it now being dried to her skin makes her gag, nearly has her vomiting again, as if there’s even any goddamn contents left in her stomach.
(Breathe, Roxanne)
She’s safe here, she is fine. Meganmind is okay, Minion said so, and Minion wouldn't lie to her just to make her feel better, she knows he wouldn’t do that to her.
Roxanne lifts a shaking hand to touch the bruising on her neck, and instantly bursts into tears again as she forces herself under the stream of hot water, leaning against the wall.
She cries and cries, water and tears blurring together–her eyes feel so fucking sore, like they should have popped out of her skull and she bit her tongue when Sol was strangling her–
Roxanne makes a wordless sound of rage and snatches up the bottle of body wash, dumps way more than she needs into the palm of her hand, starts scrubbing at herself with too much force but she has to get this fucking blood off, has to stop feeling Sol’s hands on her–
She should have fought harder. Should never have let him get his hands around her.
No, that’s fucking ridiculous, the rational part of her brains screams.
(You fought like hell, he’s 3 times tour goddamn size)–
By the time Roxanne drags herself out of the shower, she’s long out of tears and so exhausted that she has to sit on the bathroom floor, wrapped in her fluffy towel for nearly 20 minutes before she manages to dress herself.
She scrubs her teeth, splashes some cold water on her face and finally feels something close to human again
Ziggy is still waiting for her when she opens the door, and Roxanne gives the old bot a smile. “Thank you, Ziggy. Any idea where your daddy is?”
The bot wriggles happily at her praise then zips off again, letting Roxanne follow slowly after them, damp hair dripping onto her shoulders.
The Lair is absolutely massive.
She knew that already, of course, but given free rein to walk about has her peeking into many of the rooms in awe.
There’s several large charging stations for the Bots scattered all around, random laboratories filled with even more blinky machines and discarded metal, a giant room filled with huge pipes and the biggest goddamn water heater Roxanne has ever seen. A few rooms are closed off with a radiation symbol on the doors and a chemical shower outside--those she decides are best left un-snooped.
Roxanne realizes Ziggy is leading her to a metal staircase, descending into a very dark and creepy hallway.
“Hey, Ziggy? I can’t see in the dark.”
The Bot whirls around and chirps at her, their dome beginning to glow a bright blue as they continue to lead Roxanne down and down.
Eventually, a breeze picks up that has Roxanne pulling up short because it…smells like the ocean?
They round a corner and Roxanne hears herself gasp.
There is.
A pool? A lake? Under the Lair.
No, no, she sees coral poking out from the tops of the water–
Megamnd has a coral reef
In his basement.
Roxanne feels her mouth hanging open in shock as she slowly approaches the side of the massive pool, watching as schools of bright fish dart by under the surface, colorful coral every which way.
The air down here is also so warm that she feels a slight sheen of sweat break out across her forehead–
“Ziggy, is your daddy in there?” She asks, pointing to the water.
The Bot BOWGS at her, pointing their claw towards the surface as well.
“Huh.” Breathing underwater, that wasn't on her Megamind trivia card, but she will definitely be asking ten thousand questions about it as soon as things are back to normal again.
Roxanne notices some shallow steps carved into the side of the rock, so she plops herself down and puts her bare feet into the water, kicking a little so maybe he’ll realize she’s here.
Ziggy BOWGS again so Roxanne looks away for from the water for only a second, just long enough to send the Bot a parting smile and wave, and when she turns back around—
Roxanne shrieks and scrambles back, hitting her elbow off the stone wall because Megamind is literally right there, inches from her, only the green of his eyes poking out of the water.
She hadn’t heard him, not even a ripple when he broke the surface
“Holy fuck,” Roxanne gasps, a hand pressed against her chest. “I didn’t even hear you! Don't do that!”
Megamind simply stares at her, unmoving.
He’s staying so unnaturally still, in fact, that Roxanne feels her skin prickle with goosebumps.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scream like that,” she says, clearing her throat awkwardly. “You snuck up on me.”
He still doesn’t respond, so Roxanne just keeps talking.
“Minion let me stay, and use your shower. Sorry, I know I should have asked you first, but he said you’d be asleep for a while. I thought he meant asleep in your bed, but, heh, I guess not.”
She rubs her palms down the front of her shirt.
“Thanks for the clothes, by the way. I could barely stuff my ass into these spandex though, what a struggle-“
“What are you still doing here?” Megamind cuts her off
Roxanne blinks down at him, frowning.
“Minion…said I could clean up. And he’s making soup.”
“What happened to you tonight,” he says, blinking a thin membrane over the green of his eyes, like a lizard. “It’s my fault.”
He’s truly fascinating, and she has so many questions that threaten to bubble up; the cut on his forehead has already started to close, and the bruising around his eyes has subsided so drastically that they’re no longer swollen shut. How fast does this man heal?!
Roxanne reins herself in though, shakes her head and begins to protest but Megamind suddenly shoots out of the water, his face so close that she almost goes cross eyed trying to meet his gaze. He’s wearing some type of skin tight wetsuit, hiding the worst of the beating beneath it–
“You should not be here,” Megamind hisses.
Roxanne feels her cheeks flush with embarrassment. She—she saved his life! They would’ve—certainly she at least helped! She almost got herself killed!
“Oh, I’m sorry for needing to wash your blood off my skin before I took a stroll through my apartment complex!” She snaps, going to stand. She should’ve just made Minion take her home, never should have-
Suddenly a cool hand wraps around her wrist; she tries to rip her hand away but Megamind’s grip is iron tight, and something about the way he’s looking at her, it makes her feel like she's…prey, somehow.
Megamind grins, then.
Showing rows pointed, of needle sharp teeth. She has never seen his real teeth before.
“You’re afraid,” he hums.
Roxanne, forever the stubborn damsel, sits with a ‘hmph’. “I am not afraid of you, Megamind.”
“You should be,” he growls, licking his teeth. “You shouldn’t be here.”
“Here, in the Lair? Or in the water?”
Megamind simply stares at her.
“In the water, then, huh? Okay.”
She stands and Megamind slinks back, but all Roxanne does is plop herself back down on the ledge, tucking her legs beneath her rather in the water. “Better?”
He continues to stare at her, tight-lipped and angry, until he finally snarls “You shouldn’t have been walking alone!”
Roxanne frowns at him, “You’re the one who told me no one would touch me-”
“That doesn’t mean you should be testing that theory!”
“I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself, Megamind–”
“Oh, are you?” he snaps, eyes narrowed. “Look at your neck! Does that seem “perfectly capable” to you?!”
“A thank you would suffice,” Roxanne snaps back, raising her voice. “I did stop them from beating the fuck out of you, after all.”
“Oh yes, because distracting them with a tight dress was a perfectly intelligent move!”
Roxanne recoils like she’s been slapped, and Megamind’s eyes go wide.
“That’s–I don't mean it like that, Mrs Ritchi–”
“Next time I’ll just keep fucking walking,” she whispers furiously, getting to her feet.
Megamind reaches for her, tries to pull himself up on the ledge but his broken ribs twinge and he hisses in pain–
“I didn’t mean to imply–”
“Well, you did,” she snaps over her shoulder, headed for the stairs. “I’ll have Minion take me home.”
Megamind uses the last of his strength to haul himself out of the pool, breathing hard–
“Wait–” he gasps, but Roxanne doesn’t.