Night & Day Part 12
Title: Night & Day Part 12
Authors: cgaussie and threequarterfox
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Action, action, creeper-Hal but then we have some good old fluff
Summary: The finale of the movie is now upon us! Hal and Metro Woman square off once more, Megamind stands up for all he believes in and ends up sucker punched for his troubles.
We recieved some beautiful fanart from pinkyapple3 so this chapter is all thanks to that wonderful inspiration.... Thankyou so much Pinky! You are awesome!
Part 1 . Part 2 . Part 3
Part 4 . Part 5 . Part 6
Part 7 . Part 8 . Part 9
Part 10 . Part 11
Hal had been half way across the state when a tiny alarm went off in his head. Naturally his first instinct, upon seeing Metro Woman ready to unleash a world of hurt upon his person, was to get the Hell out of there as fast as possible and never return. His brain turned over a few facts he had not at first acknowledged. He stopped flying and hung there in mid air for a moment, his brain running faster than it ever had before.
He had to remind himself who he was now. He wasn’t Hal Stewart the dumpy cameraman anymore. He was Tighten, he was bad ass, and he could shoot lasers out of his freaking eyes. Why was he so afraid of her, when she was quite possibly the only woman he could ever have now. What good were regular women? She could match him for everything he had, if not more.
He hung in the sky, thinking about this. Then he turned around. He knew Metro City, and Metro Woman, lay waiting.
He turned in several circles, whipping up the wind, then made a decision, and flew back towards the city.
~*~*~
Roxanne turned away from the fish as he returned to his fallen master’s side, and looked down at Megamind. He groaned as Minion knelt beside him, the large, dangerous looking gun still held tightly in his metallic hand. Megamind shut his eyes for a moment, before he forced them open in order to look up, and up, at the woman who was hovering in mid-air above the fountain.
He stared at her, one eye twitching, before he turned his head to Roxanne. “...you see her too, don’t you?” he asked in a stage whisper kind of way. “I’m not the only one seeing this?”
“Yes. She’s here. Saving your sorry arse.”
Minion frowned at Roxanne, before looking up at Metro Woman... Wendeline? He didn’t know. He didn’t understand why her hair was blue, but he was so grateful she was back. He smiled at her. “Thank you.” he said.
“I promised myself I wouldn’t do this.” She gracefully landed on the concrete, and walked over to the fountain. “That I wouldn’t have to do this again.” She put her hands on her hips and looked at Megamind critically.
Megamind still stared at her, and hadn’t looked away from her once. He suddenly looked ashamed, and looked away from her. “...you shouldn’t have...” why did he always fail at everything? Even saving Roxanne he had needed saving. “You could have just left me.” Megamind said, opening his eyes and looking back to her. “If you hate this, hate me... why?”
She frowned. “Where, in all of this, where did you get the idea that I hate you?”
With a sonic boom, loud as a thunderclap, Tighten returned to the fountain.
All four of them turned as one and stared at him in alarm. This they hadn’t planned on at all. Roxanne took a good few steps back from the red head and Minion’s hand gripped his masters shoulder. He was considering his chances if he hauled Megamind out of there. Megamind, though, tapped the robotic arm before pointing to the gun in his hand.
“Give it to me.” he mouthed slowly, while Tighten was preoccupied.
Tighten was staring at Metro Woman and running through a huge list of pickup lines in his head, mouth half open. This had seemed like such a good idea, about five seconds ago. Now he couldn’t remember why it wasn’t a stupid idea. He coughed, and stood straighter and smiled as confidently as he could at the woman in the tight white suit and blue hair.
“Y’know I was thinking,” he said as he walked closer to the fountain and the group.
“I find that hard to believe. You came back, didn’t you?” Wendeline asked, narrowing her eyes.
“Ouch!” Tighten laughed, before coming to a stop. “Anyway, yeah. You and me, we’re the only two like us aren’t we?” he asked. “Nobody else on the whole planet like us. Doesn’t that, like, make us a super rare endangered species?”
“Oh my God.” Minion actually said aloud before hiding himself at the base of his bowl, horrified that he had spoken out loud.
“I.... am an endangered species, yes. I’m... not so sure about you.” Wendeline frowned at Hal, stepping backwards as he advanced towards her.
“We’re close enough aren’t we?” He kept walking forward.
“Too close.” She stepped back again, flicking her eyes desperately at Minion for a moment, then back to Hal. “I think we may be too close...”
“And what does that mean?” He asked, narrowing his eyes at her.
“You’ve got my DNA, Hal.” She backed up again, and stopped, up against a large irregular slab of concrete. “You’re... too close.” Hal advanced even further.
“She means she isn’t interested.” Megamind spoke out suddenly, pushing his free hand against the concrete that surrounded him, forcing himself to sit up despite the incredible pain that was rushing through his body. He even managed to get to his feet, pushing Minion’s hand away when the fish tried to help.
Hal spun around and glared at Megamind. “Nobody asked you!”
“Nobody had to!” Megamind shot back, pointing his gloved finger at the redhead.
“You can all just LEAVE NOW!” Hals eyes turned from warm brown to a fiery red mirroring his hair, his face from a friendly smile to an angry snarl.
“Sir please you’re in no fit state to--” Minion tried to talk some sense into his friend before things get uglier than they already were.
“You can go FIRST!” Hal glared at Minion, and with the lasers from his eyes slashed the suit in a huge diagonal slice. Minion yelled in surprise as his suit spasmed, then crashed to the ground in a smoking ruin.
“Minion!” Megamind cried out in alarm, almost falling with the fish but somehow managed to keep himself steady.
Hal advanced on the smoking remains of the suit, and kicked and punched it into several pieces as he went past, enjoying the destruction. Minion, naturally, screamed at the assault on his poor body but not as much as when the man’s powered foot came in contact with the glass bowl. It was a strong material, it had to be, built by Megamind to withstand all kinds of brutal onslaughts but Metro Woman had never raised her fist to Minion in the past. The glass was not designed to deal with this kind of strength and the instant Hal’s foot made contact it shattered on impact, the momentum of it sending the small green fish flying.
“MINION!” Megamind screamed now, the emotion he worked so hard at normally containing rushing forth. He watched as the small fish skidded across the ground, no doubt loosing a few scales in the process. The thought of Tighten suddenly unloading more upon the fish, now with nothing between him and the angry madman, was enough for Megamind to forgo the terrible agony he was feeling all over his body. He screamed in rage and actually ran at the redhead, de-fusing gun still in his hands.
Did he have a plan? For once. No. He was far too blinded by what he’d just seen to think straight, which explained his actions.
Wendeline dashed in in an attempt to restrain Hal, and somewhere in the confusion Hal picked Megamind up, still holding on to a large panel of the Fish’s suit, and threw him directly up into the air.
“Enjoy your flight!” he said, as he hurled Megamind skywards.
And so Megamind was flying. He felt the wind rushing over his body as he went skywards, gun still in his grip. This, combined with the immense pain rushing through his body, wasn’t helping his difficult task of staying awake. This was a very different flight to the one he had made with Wendeline all those weeks ago. The plan, if he could call it that, had fallen to pieces so rapidly. At least Roxanne was all right, that’s what mattered right? Was Minion all right? He didn’t even know if his friend was even conscious after being so violently removed from his suit. The alien was barely even aware that Wendeline had showed up, or that Minion had handed him the gun down on the ground.
Everything had become an ugly, nasty kind of blur that one normally found themselves in at times like this.
But to finally find yourself falling back towards the earth had a way of jolting you awake.
His eyes opened widely and he saw the fountain that was growing rapidly closer. Fountain. Fountain! It was perfect, it was beautiful. It was what he needed. He pulled out his De-Gun from its holster and switched its setting. In a flash of blue he was nothing but a cube falling to the fountain below, where the fighting continued.
~*~
“NO!” Wendeline flew straight up in the direction that megamind had taken, then stopped and stared down as Hal advanced on Roxanne. She hovered, unable to choose, then dropped to help Roxanne as Hal closed his hand around her neck, menacing.
Hal let go of Roxanne as Metro Woman appeared out of nowhere in front of him. “Let her GO!” She snarled, and advanced on Hal as he backed up hurriedly.
Wendeline then again stared skyward, and set off upward to catch Megamind, but Hal grabbed her ankle as it went past. Both of them stopped, hovering a short distance above Roxanne and the fountain, glaring at each other.
Roxanne collapsed into the water quickly, heart racing. Everything was happening so fast she didn’t know what to do. Her eyes went from Wendeline and Hal upwards, but then she looked across the street where the small green fish lay on the cement. He wasn’t moving. The urge to both help him, and get out of the way of the two feuding super powered beings got the woman out of the fountain as fast as she could and rushed to the fish.
Just then the De-gun fell in between Wendeline and Hal, both of them staring down at it in surprise. Both had been somewhat preoccupied with one another to expect a gun falling out of the sky. It was suddenly joined by a small blue cube, that sunk in the water slowly but didn’t remain a small blue cube for long. There were blue sparks and with a burst of electronic light, Megamind was back, between Wendeline and Hal, arms open.
The de-fusing gun landed in his arms, the setting changing from ‘warming up’ to ‘de-fuse’. Despite the injuries and grazes to his face, Megamind smiled at Hal triumphantly.
“Ollo.” was all he said before the nozzle of the gun was shoved unceremoniously up Hal’s nose. And not a moment too soon. Hal’s eyes had just been turning read, a split second later the lasers went off harmlessly up into the sky as Megamind pulled on the gun’s plunger trigger. The man seemed to literally, visibly deflate inside his bodysuit, as his whole body gave off a brilliant golden glow before he collapsed on the ground. Megamind, now swaying somewhat where he stood, pointed down at him. “Thing about bad guys...? They always loose.” then he grabbed at the fountain, supporting himself so he wouldn’t tumble into the water.
Roxanne, returning with Minion, hurried around the collapsed Hal in order to place the fish into the water. Luckily enough the fish was still awake, and he was staring at Hal with wide eyes before looking to his boss.
“You did it... you won.”
He smiled as best he could, looking at the two women. “I finally had a reason to win.” Megamind said, though just who to wasn’t exactly clear. Then it felt like he was sucker punched in the gut, as all the pain he had been fighting to ignore roared at him and tackled him to the ground, quite literally. “Oh down I go.” was all he could say before darkness engulfed him, and the alien collapsed into the water.
With a yell, both the women dove into the water to pick him up.
~*~*~
“You really can’t go in there. No.” Minion stood in front of the door, arms crossed defiantly. “He’s in no fit state for visitors.” he was in another suit, built just like the suit which had been collected by the Brain Bots after the police had dragged Hal away to jail. She had a vague idea that he had many others, kept in reserve in case of severe damage not worth fixing.
It was a day after the events that involved the destruction of the Metro Tower, the ‘return’ of Metro Woman, and the defeat of Tighten. Megamind, having passed out from his injuries, had been gathered up by his faithful Minion and rushed to the City Hall where the majority of their things were. After all, a big comfy bed like the one in City Hall was far better to suit a mending alien then the big empty ex-evil lair out by the docks of town. Due to the severity of some of his injuries, Minion had to prescribe medications to help his master deal with the pain his body was being wracked with.
Unfortunately it had its drawbacks. Thus, he stood outside the Mayor suite of the City Hall before Wendeline, acting security against a woman who could lift him up and toss him across the town if she felt the need to. He hoped she didn’t have the need.
“But...”
“When he’s better.”
“Flowers!”
“When he’s better.”
“Chocolates!”
“When he’s better.”
The resting alien’s voice suddenly piped up from behind the shut door. “Who izzit Miniiii...?” he called, his voice sounding somewhat like a song but a very drugged one.
Minion flinched at hearing not only his Master’s voice, but the fact he had called him ‘Mini’, something he hadn’t called him since he was wearing diapers. “It’s... It’s Miss Scott, Sir.” he replied begrudgingly.
“OooOooohh...” Megamind cooed from within the room and was silent for a moment, long enough for Minion to think he had fallen back to sleep. Just as the fish opened his mouth to tell Wendeline to leave though... “Let her in, let her in? I wanna see her!”
Minion sighed heavily, shutting his eyes as he did. If he could, he would have rubbed at his temples with his fingers. Instead he rubbed the sides of this dome with his fingertips. “But Sir, I told you you’re not--”
“I’m fine, fish-fishy. Let her in.”
“But Sir-”
“He wants me to go inside, I’ll go inside.” Wendeline thrust an armload of chocolates, flowers, balloons, three beautiful cards, and a home made carrot cake at Minion. While he was distracted, she pushed past him and stalked into the room, ignoring his weak protests.
Inside was a luxury bedroom of cream-colored walls, thick carpet, and expensive looking blue drapes hanging on large windows. Megamind was sitting up in the king sized bed. He looked ridiculously small and alien amongst the huge pillows, and he was dressed in an adorable looking set of pyjamas that had hazard and warning signs on them. His face broke into an ecstatic smile from ear to ear when she walked in, and he opened his arms to her.
“Wendeeeeyyyylliiinnneeee!” he greeted, slurring her name somewhat.
“Hey.” She had to smile back at him, and he held his arms out desperately so she eventually moved forward and ended up sitting on the edge of the bed. He curled around with a little wince and mumble of pain, until his head was on her lap. He stared up at her. His pupils were giant black wells within the green irises.
“Hiii...” he said back, and smiled again up at her. “You, you... you look pretty today.” Megamind blurted, lifting a hand and gently touched her chin with two of his fingers. “So pretty, pretty...”
“Thank you.”
Minion fussed in, placing her pile of gifts on a bedside table. He glared at her. “He’s not meant to move.” He rearranged Megamind so that he was propped up on pillows again while Wendeline stood to the side feeling guilty.
Megamind, naturally, had whined while Minion had moved him away from her and now just pouted heavily against the pillows. His glazed eyes moved from Minion to Wendeline and he reached out to her, fingers wriggling a little as he did. “Sit, sit sit...” he said, before patting the space before him on the bed. “Pretty please?” why had she stood up and moved away from him? He didn’t like that. He wanted her close again.
She walked forward again, and sat on the bed under Minions disapproving eye. The second she sat Megamind gave a out a happy little noise, and petted her shoulder, before moving down and placed his glove-less hand on top of her own. “Yayyy...”
“Sir, you still haven’t eaten your lunch. You know you’re meant to eat, now more then ever.” Minion said as his eyes landed on the soup bowl on the other side of the bed. “I’m not going to have to spoon feed you again, am I?” he asked, eyes quickly moving back to Wendeline before looking back to his master.
Megamind turned his nose up, shutting his eyes and shook his head. “Noo...”
Wendeline cocked her head at Minion, looked at the bowl of soup on its tray, and then blinked at Megamind. Before Minion could usher her out because he wouldn’t eat his vegetables she picked up the bowl and blinked at Megamind. He laced his fingers together and opened his mouth obediently for her, not even needing to be asked.
Feeding Megamind was an interesting experience. Most times he opened his mouth for her, but half the time was trying to get the spoon into his mouth since he would duck his head now and then. He laughed, though not too hard since it was apparent he had suffered some kind of rib injuries the day before. It wasn’t long until the bowl was empty, and Megamind was resting back against the pillows with traces of soup still smeared over his cheek. He licked his lips appreciatively, then heaved a huge sigh, which ended in a frown. “Ow.”
She looked around, found a napkin on the tray, and tried to clean his face. He struggled to get away, flailing. “Gerroff. Ow. No!”
Minion leaned in and wiped up just a bit that had been missed on his boss’s chin before taking the napkin from her quickly. “Thank you.” he said stiffly, placing the used napkin in the empty bowl before picking up the tray in his hands. “That wasn’t so bad now Sir, was it?” he asked.
Megamind mumbled something that him before rubbing his own hands over his mouth roughly.
“Well. I’ll just. Deal with these. Yes.” Minion said as he looked down at the tray in his hands before giving Wendeline a keen eye. He turned away and stalked from the room, half shutting the door behind him and they heard his heavy footsteps vanishing down the hall until they were gone.
“Tastes of tomatoes.” Megamind mumbled to himself as he licked at his fingers. He then blinked and looked at her, as if remembering she was here. That smile was back again, and he seemed to shiver in delight at the mere sight of her. “Wendeline. You’re here. Good. Hi. Hi Wendeline. You have blue hair... wow it... it looks really good on you... why’s it so short, why’d you cut it...? It was so pretty long and... and...?” he asked as he reached forward to touch her hair, but he stopped mid way so his hand simply hovered there, inches from her hair.
She gently placed her hand in his, meshing their fingers. He seemed quite pleased with his, his eye looking down at their linked fingers fondly. “So are you okay, now? Did that escapade of ours cause any lasting damage?”
He didn’t seem to notice, or care about, the change of subject at all since he scoffed in a brazen kind of way. “Nahhhh...” Megamind said, lifting his free hand to touch her knuckles gently, smoothing his finger tips along her skin. “Just a few... ribs, bruised? I think? Not broken, close.... closely broken. And a big bruise, all round my back and my front. Want to see?” he asked enthusiastically.
“It’s probably best not to take the bandages off just yet.” She suddenly was lost in the thought of seeing his bare chest. Not thinking, she pulled his hand up to her mouth and kissed the back of it.
Megamind made a happy little noise, lids lowering slightly over his eyes. “No probabably right... probably. Too many... ba’s. Hah.” he looked at her, before lifting his free hand and touched her cheek the same way he had back in her underground lair. “...I missed you so much. No idea how-how bad I felt...” he suddenly admitted.
“Yeah.” She swallowed, her throat suddenly all sore. “I missed you too.”
“‘m sorry.” Megamind mumbled as his thumb gently traced her cheek to her chin. “I didn... didn’t mean not to show up. Warden went ‘n... ‘n I was home again and I didn’t want to be.”
“You... were what?” She frowned in confusion.
“Home.” he replied, before looking out the window as if hoping to see the prison from here. “Jail. They-they had a new place for me ‘n, ‘n everything... horrible paintings and... a chair.” while his mind was somewhat muddy he could still remember moments of his past, it was just putting them into words and phrases that made sense that was the difficult task.
“Oh. Right. The.... You call it Home....?” This was something she hadn’t considered before.
“Lair is lair. Home is home.” Megamind spoke as if he was reciting a poem from his youth before looking suddenly heart broken. “I got-got to your place and you were gone and I was mad and... and I didn’t mean to... to...” he trailed off and looked down at his lap, fingers linking tightly against hers.
She squeezed his hand back, being careful not to squeeze too hard. “Don’t worry. I was pretty mad that night too.” She sighed. “It wasn’t really either of our faults. But someone should have told me that... That you were home that night.”
“...Wendeline...” he said quietly, before looking up at her with pleading eyes. “I-I’m better then Mr. Darcy are-aren’t I?”
“Well, he’s been a backstop for me for a while, that and a long bath with...” She stopped and stared at him. “What... Exactly did you mean, just then? Mr Darcy isn’t real. You’re real. Of course he’s no substitute.”
His face was suddenly flushed. He stared at her, not able to understand her clearly in his befuddled state of mind. Megamind swallowed, hard, and his eyes suddenly looked glassy. “I. I don’t... what...” he tried speaking and stopped, before shutting his eyes tightly. “They said you were on a... a date with Mr. Darcy... I felt like... like something broke and....” Megamind trailed into silence and just sat there.
“That stupid.... ah. No.” She fished around for an explanation. “I tell the staff sometimes that I’m on a date with Mr Darcy when I’m off to watch DVDs in my holiday house. He’s a character. In a story.”
Megamind sat there for a moment longer before his eyes and looking at her in utter confusion. “A story?” he asked quietly.
“Yes. You’re jealous of someone who isn’t real.”
“I feel stupid now.” he mumbled before falling back onto his pillows, groaning as he did since he had forgotten, somehow, about the massive bruise that took up the majority of back space he had. Megamind lay there for a moment before looking at her, up at her hair, then back to her face again. “...you are here... aren’t you...? I’m not... dreaming again, that you’re here and going to wake up and you’re dead again am I?”
“I’m real this time.” She gave him a lopsided smile. “Do dreams usually hurt that much?”
“Yes.” he said in a small voice.
“Oh dear. What on earth do you dream about?”
“...my parents dying. Mini dying. You dying. You die a lot in my dreams and... and then I dream you’re back, like this.” he gestured to her weakly. “We talk. You. Kiss me sometimes. You hold me ‘n then... then I wake up and you’re gone again.” Megamind turned his head away for a moment, staring at the window across the room. “I don’t like sleeping.”
“Ah. I’m.... sorry. It was stupid. I was... I was stupid.”
He turned his head back to look at her, eyes narrowed. “You are not stupid. Never was. Never is. Never will. Youuuuu...” Megamind pointed to her. “Were my rival. Bestest rival ever. You are always smart. Smart and beautiful.”
Beautiful? She smiled again. “Even with blue hair?”
“Especially with blue hair.” he replied with a small, honest smile. “I meant it. Blue suits you... matches your eyes so pretty.”
“Thankyou.” She actually pulled away at that. She was used to people admiring her, but somehow when he said it.... it had a good deal more power to every word. It was scary. Scary enough to make her change the subject again. “I have a far more legitimate reason to be jealous, you know.”
Megamind tilted his head faintly. “Uh...?” then he seemed to pick up on what she meant, before making an ‘oh’ expression.
“Although, to be fair, I was dead at the time.”
“...you’re not dead are you?” Megamind asked again, looking at her.
“Not this time. This time I’m real. Are you sure you’re alright?”
Megamind lifted his hand and waved it in front of his eyes before holding up three fingers. “Three.” he said clearly before looking back at her. “Yes.”
She giggled at the action. “I’m not so sure that works when it’s your fingers.”
“Oh. Well. I think I’m alright.” Megamind touched his face, wincing a little as he did. “Hrm. Bits hurt...” he mumbled before looking at her and smiled. He was already looking a lot more... together than he did when she first arrived. At least now he made some sense.
“That soup seems to have had some effect.” She leaned over to put her hand on his forehead “I’m not sure how warm you’re meant to be.”
“Thirty seven degrees Celsius.” he replied automatically. “No diff’rent then anyone else.” Megamind shut his eyes before nuzzling his head into her hand and sighing as he did. It was an adorable action, and she smoothed her hand over the massive blue dome. It did feel a little warm, warmer than she expected a bare head to feel.
Then again he did have a lot of activity happening under his head, didn’t he? His brain was at least twice the size of her own. Maybe there was a reason, besides the obvious, why he never wore a hat. He certainly appeared to like having it petted, however. He turned his head like a cat, trying to get more headrubs. Had anyone ever touched him like this? She knew she certainly hadn’t...
“Mmmhhhh....” he shut his eyes and sighed happily. “I’m glad you’re alive and... and here.”
“Me too.” She ran her hand again over his head, and he tilted his head into the touch.
Megamind pulled back slowly and sat up in the bed so he wasn’t laying back anymore, opening his eyes and doing his best not to wince, and looked up at her. He looked into her eyes, those eyes he had once thought he’d never see again. They were so... blue. Bluer than any others he had seen, even bluer than the sky itself. He smiled, hesitantly, before reaching up and cupped her cheek gently in his thin blue hand.
She pressed her face into is touch much as he had done. His hands were smooth, warm and exactly what she’d been missing. She turned her head and kissed his palm, suddenly, before he could pull away, then pulled away herself, honestly surprised at her own action.
He blinked in surprise. He hadn’t expected her to do that. Megamind looked at his hand, then back at her, and then back at his hand again. Drawing it in close he brushed his lips over the palm of his hand, shutting his eyes briefly as he did. “Hm.” he said quietly before looking back up at her, lowering his hand.
“Surely you can’t be afraid of me?” he asked quietly, “Since it almost feels like you are... and you’re not afraid of anything.”
“There are some things I’m afraid of.” Her voice was inexplicably hoarse.
“Oh?” Megamind tilted his head, arching an eyebrow as he did.
“I seem to have developed a talent for...” she searched desperately for the words. “For hurting those I care about.”
“I know the feeling.” he replied, before reaching out and finding her hand with his own and somehow guided her hand in close, so he could cover it with both of his own.
“Yes... but... You don’t send them to the hospital for something as simple as a sneeze.” and what a sneeze it had been.... four injured, and a cat... “Or... Other things.”
Megamind looked at her, brain fighting furiously to get through the rest of the fog left behind by the pain medications he had been taking since the previous night. She was talking about something serious, wasn’t she? Something very serious. He physically had to shake his head a moment before looking back to her. “Do you know how many times you’ve punched me?”
“I never really counted. But...” She stopped for a moment. “Why?”
“One million, seventy eight thousand, five hundred and twenty one times.” Megamind said. “I just wanted to remind you just how... rough you’ve been with me, and I’m still here. Bruised and suffering internal injuries yes, but this wasn’t you.”
“Mmmhm.” She looked at him wryly. “There was that time you fell through that wall. And when I tripped and kicked you off the side of that warehouse....”
“Not to mention that time at the light house during that storm I had created.” Megamind sighed dreamily. “I had water leaking our of my ears for weeks.”
“Well, the storm was your fault. But the elephant.... That wasn’t.”
“Let’s not mention the elephant.” he said sourly, the dreamy expression on his face quickly replaced with an unhappy one. “Point is...” Megamind smoothed his hand over hers gently. “...I’m still here. And. I still care about you. A lot. More than a lot.”
“I still have no idea why you’re still here.” She squeezed his hand. “But I’m glad you are.” She leaned in, and kissed him on the mouth.
He had been in the middle of some kind of snappy remark but it had now died somewhere on his lips when hers smothered his own. Megamind’s eyes rolled backwards into his head. His eyelids shut and his thin arms flung themselves around her shoulders and he kissed her back.
She curled one arm around the back of his head, the other she was leaning on so that she didn’t crush his ridiculously thin frame. The kiss and the embrace pulled them both deeper, and they both just drank each other in.
They didn’t even hear the door open. “Oh. Uh. Excuse me...” The door closed again rather firmly. Both of them broke away from the kiss, and Wendeline went so far as to stand next to the bed, madly rearranging her shirt. She had no idea who had opened the door and then closed it again, but they were presumably still in the hallway outside.
“Who was that?”
Megamind’s brain wasn’t at full capacity, having been suddenly ripped from somewhere very, very pleasant and finding his arms empty once more. For a split second he thought he had woken up, that despite all what she had said Wendeline had been a dream again and he was once again stuck alone in his bed. His eyes landed on her and he stared at her, chest rising and falling. “H-huh?” he asked smartly.
“I’d.... better go and find out who it was.” Wendeline started towards the door.
“Wait, wait.. don’t go-- please I don’t want--” Megamind pushed at the blankets on him, pulling himself out of the bed awkwardly since his body was screaming at him at moving in ways he shouldn’t be.
“Lie down, Megamind, I’m just seeing who that was at the door-” Wendeline went back to the bed, and tried to push him back into it. The first thing she managed to touch, however, was the centre of his bruised chest.
Try as he might, Megamind could not contain the harsh gasp of pain escaping his mouth. He saw black and red spots in front of his eyes. He was always like this, after particularly bad battles with her; or just very painful accidents that tended to happen around the lair. “Careful, careful...” he mumbled, grasping at her hands but not to push her away. “You’re coming back?” Megamind asked, looking up at her. “Aren’t you?”
“I’m here, I’m not going anywhere. I’m going to go answer the door. Although by this point whoever it is is probably in the next town over.” Or thinks we’re having an orgy in here, or both she thought to herself irritatedly. “Justice doesn’t lie, remember?”
He had to take her word for it, despite not wanting her to leave. But Megamind remained in the bed, body still grumbling angrily at him for making the bruises feel worse. “Hrm. I remember.” he mumbled.
“But Evil does, so you can lie right there and I’ll go answer the door.”
“Oh my God that is so corny. Even for you.” Megamind replied with a small smirk.
She had reached the door by now, and winked at him before opening it. The hallway was more brightly lit than the bedroom, and sitting in a chair a short distance along was Roxanne. With her face in her hands. Ah. Oh no.
Hearing the door open Roxanne very slowly lifted her head from her hands. Thankfully she wasn’t crying, but she wasn’t looking her best either. She stared at Wendeline for a moment, before sitting up straight and gave her an awkward kind of smile in greeting. “H-hey.” she said, before glancing at the door quickly, then back to the taller woman. “Sorry about that. I should’ve knocked.”
“I’m sorry too. I didn’t mean to-” She seemed to be making a lot of mistakes recently. She tried to work out what she wanted to say before she rammed her foot in her mouth again. She closed the bedroom door. “I keep on making stupid mistakes at the moment.”
“Seems everyone is capable of making mistakes.” Roxanne replied as she smoothed out her skit and got to her feet, sighing as she did. “So. I guess that proves my theory.”
“Your theory? Well it was my theory too but I can’t make head or tail of it currently.” She wandered over to the other chair in the hall and dropped into it loosely.
“That you two have had something.” Roxanne said, watching the former heroine of the city slump down into the seat. “There’s been speculation for years that the whole good vs. evil thing was just a way for you two to flirt, and to be honest I never saw much into that. Least, until I saw how you two were acting the other day. And from what I just saw?” she glanced back at the bedroom door, before back at Wendeline. She said nothing.
“So... is this on the record, or off the record?” A wry smile to the famous reporter. “Because...”
“Off the record, don’t worry. I’m not a tabloid reporter, remember?” she asked, giving up on standing up and sank back down into her seat again.
“No, you’re no tabloid reporter.” She sighed. “Sorry.” It was her turn to put her face in her hands “But I just know the tabloids are going to love this one.”
“Once word gets out? Oh yeah. It’ll be worse than when Brad and Angelina got together.” Roxanne snorted. “At least you didn’t ‘end a marriage’ like that did.” she added before sighing, and pushed some of her hair behind her ear. “To be honest, the tabloids are too preoccupied with everything that just happened to focus on anyone’s love life.”
“Great.” The sarcastic word seemed like a perfect description of the last few weeks. “Just... Great. You should go in there, you know, he’ll be delighted to see you. Just... be careful, I think Minion gave him some sort of pain medication, and he’s a bit confused.”
Roxanne nodded her head as she looked towards the door in question, then looked back at Wendeline. “...honestly though, there was something, wasn’t there?” she asked.
“I thought there was. Then I thought there wasn’t. Now.... I don’t know. I guess there is.” She growled at her feet in disgust. “I just need some time to think.”
“Well. Don’t go faking your death again in order to think, all right? I don’t think he could handle another one of those.” Roxanne said as she walked across the hall to the door and pulled it open slightly but stopped. She looked over her shoulder at Wendeline and smiled. “He’s a great kisser though, isn’t he?” she asked before giving her a small, poignant smile before vanishing into the room, shutting the door behind her with a click.
Wendeline stared at the door, her mouth open.
NEXT CHAPTER
To be continued
Authors: cgaussie and threequarterfox
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Action, action, creeper-Hal but then we have some good old fluff
Summary: The finale of the movie is now upon us! Hal and Metro Woman square off once more, Megamind stands up for all he believes in and ends up sucker punched for his troubles.
We recieved some beautiful fanart from pinkyapple3 so this chapter is all thanks to that wonderful inspiration.... Thankyou so much Pinky! You are awesome!
Part 1 . Part 2 . Part 3
Part 4 . Part 5 . Part 6
Part 7 . Part 8 . Part 9
Part 10 . Part 11
Hal had been half way across the state when a tiny alarm went off in his head. Naturally his first instinct, upon seeing Metro Woman ready to unleash a world of hurt upon his person, was to get the Hell out of there as fast as possible and never return. His brain turned over a few facts he had not at first acknowledged. He stopped flying and hung there in mid air for a moment, his brain running faster than it ever had before.
He had to remind himself who he was now. He wasn’t Hal Stewart the dumpy cameraman anymore. He was Tighten, he was bad ass, and he could shoot lasers out of his freaking eyes. Why was he so afraid of her, when she was quite possibly the only woman he could ever have now. What good were regular women? She could match him for everything he had, if not more.
He hung in the sky, thinking about this. Then he turned around. He knew Metro City, and Metro Woman, lay waiting.
He turned in several circles, whipping up the wind, then made a decision, and flew back towards the city.
~*~*~
Roxanne turned away from the fish as he returned to his fallen master’s side, and looked down at Megamind. He groaned as Minion knelt beside him, the large, dangerous looking gun still held tightly in his metallic hand. Megamind shut his eyes for a moment, before he forced them open in order to look up, and up, at the woman who was hovering in mid-air above the fountain.
He stared at her, one eye twitching, before he turned his head to Roxanne. “...you see her too, don’t you?” he asked in a stage whisper kind of way. “I’m not the only one seeing this?”
“Yes. She’s here. Saving your sorry arse.”
Minion frowned at Roxanne, before looking up at Metro Woman... Wendeline? He didn’t know. He didn’t understand why her hair was blue, but he was so grateful she was back. He smiled at her. “Thank you.” he said.
“I promised myself I wouldn’t do this.” She gracefully landed on the concrete, and walked over to the fountain. “That I wouldn’t have to do this again.” She put her hands on her hips and looked at Megamind critically.
Megamind still stared at her, and hadn’t looked away from her once. He suddenly looked ashamed, and looked away from her. “...you shouldn’t have...” why did he always fail at everything? Even saving Roxanne he had needed saving. “You could have just left me.” Megamind said, opening his eyes and looking back to her. “If you hate this, hate me... why?”
She frowned. “Where, in all of this, where did you get the idea that I hate you?”
With a sonic boom, loud as a thunderclap, Tighten returned to the fountain.
All four of them turned as one and stared at him in alarm. This they hadn’t planned on at all. Roxanne took a good few steps back from the red head and Minion’s hand gripped his masters shoulder. He was considering his chances if he hauled Megamind out of there. Megamind, though, tapped the robotic arm before pointing to the gun in his hand.
“Give it to me.” he mouthed slowly, while Tighten was preoccupied.
Tighten was staring at Metro Woman and running through a huge list of pickup lines in his head, mouth half open. This had seemed like such a good idea, about five seconds ago. Now he couldn’t remember why it wasn’t a stupid idea. He coughed, and stood straighter and smiled as confidently as he could at the woman in the tight white suit and blue hair.
“Y’know I was thinking,” he said as he walked closer to the fountain and the group.
“I find that hard to believe. You came back, didn’t you?” Wendeline asked, narrowing her eyes.
“Ouch!” Tighten laughed, before coming to a stop. “Anyway, yeah. You and me, we’re the only two like us aren’t we?” he asked. “Nobody else on the whole planet like us. Doesn’t that, like, make us a super rare endangered species?”
“Oh my God.” Minion actually said aloud before hiding himself at the base of his bowl, horrified that he had spoken out loud.
“I.... am an endangered species, yes. I’m... not so sure about you.” Wendeline frowned at Hal, stepping backwards as he advanced towards her.
“We’re close enough aren’t we?” He kept walking forward.
“Too close.” She stepped back again, flicking her eyes desperately at Minion for a moment, then back to Hal. “I think we may be too close...”
“And what does that mean?” He asked, narrowing his eyes at her.
“You’ve got my DNA, Hal.” She backed up again, and stopped, up against a large irregular slab of concrete. “You’re... too close.” Hal advanced even further.
“She means she isn’t interested.” Megamind spoke out suddenly, pushing his free hand against the concrete that surrounded him, forcing himself to sit up despite the incredible pain that was rushing through his body. He even managed to get to his feet, pushing Minion’s hand away when the fish tried to help.
Hal spun around and glared at Megamind. “Nobody asked you!”
“Nobody had to!” Megamind shot back, pointing his gloved finger at the redhead.
“You can all just LEAVE NOW!” Hals eyes turned from warm brown to a fiery red mirroring his hair, his face from a friendly smile to an angry snarl.
“Sir please you’re in no fit state to--” Minion tried to talk some sense into his friend before things get uglier than they already were.
“You can go FIRST!” Hal glared at Minion, and with the lasers from his eyes slashed the suit in a huge diagonal slice. Minion yelled in surprise as his suit spasmed, then crashed to the ground in a smoking ruin.
“Minion!” Megamind cried out in alarm, almost falling with the fish but somehow managed to keep himself steady.
Hal advanced on the smoking remains of the suit, and kicked and punched it into several pieces as he went past, enjoying the destruction. Minion, naturally, screamed at the assault on his poor body but not as much as when the man’s powered foot came in contact with the glass bowl. It was a strong material, it had to be, built by Megamind to withstand all kinds of brutal onslaughts but Metro Woman had never raised her fist to Minion in the past. The glass was not designed to deal with this kind of strength and the instant Hal’s foot made contact it shattered on impact, the momentum of it sending the small green fish flying.
“MINION!” Megamind screamed now, the emotion he worked so hard at normally containing rushing forth. He watched as the small fish skidded across the ground, no doubt loosing a few scales in the process. The thought of Tighten suddenly unloading more upon the fish, now with nothing between him and the angry madman, was enough for Megamind to forgo the terrible agony he was feeling all over his body. He screamed in rage and actually ran at the redhead, de-fusing gun still in his hands.
Did he have a plan? For once. No. He was far too blinded by what he’d just seen to think straight, which explained his actions.
Wendeline dashed in in an attempt to restrain Hal, and somewhere in the confusion Hal picked Megamind up, still holding on to a large panel of the Fish’s suit, and threw him directly up into the air.
“Enjoy your flight!” he said, as he hurled Megamind skywards.
And so Megamind was flying. He felt the wind rushing over his body as he went skywards, gun still in his grip. This, combined with the immense pain rushing through his body, wasn’t helping his difficult task of staying awake. This was a very different flight to the one he had made with Wendeline all those weeks ago. The plan, if he could call it that, had fallen to pieces so rapidly. At least Roxanne was all right, that’s what mattered right? Was Minion all right? He didn’t even know if his friend was even conscious after being so violently removed from his suit. The alien was barely even aware that Wendeline had showed up, or that Minion had handed him the gun down on the ground.
Everything had become an ugly, nasty kind of blur that one normally found themselves in at times like this.
But to finally find yourself falling back towards the earth had a way of jolting you awake.
His eyes opened widely and he saw the fountain that was growing rapidly closer. Fountain. Fountain! It was perfect, it was beautiful. It was what he needed. He pulled out his De-Gun from its holster and switched its setting. In a flash of blue he was nothing but a cube falling to the fountain below, where the fighting continued.
~*~
“NO!” Wendeline flew straight up in the direction that megamind had taken, then stopped and stared down as Hal advanced on Roxanne. She hovered, unable to choose, then dropped to help Roxanne as Hal closed his hand around her neck, menacing.
Hal let go of Roxanne as Metro Woman appeared out of nowhere in front of him. “Let her GO!” She snarled, and advanced on Hal as he backed up hurriedly.
Wendeline then again stared skyward, and set off upward to catch Megamind, but Hal grabbed her ankle as it went past. Both of them stopped, hovering a short distance above Roxanne and the fountain, glaring at each other.
Roxanne collapsed into the water quickly, heart racing. Everything was happening so fast she didn’t know what to do. Her eyes went from Wendeline and Hal upwards, but then she looked across the street where the small green fish lay on the cement. He wasn’t moving. The urge to both help him, and get out of the way of the two feuding super powered beings got the woman out of the fountain as fast as she could and rushed to the fish.
Just then the De-gun fell in between Wendeline and Hal, both of them staring down at it in surprise. Both had been somewhat preoccupied with one another to expect a gun falling out of the sky. It was suddenly joined by a small blue cube, that sunk in the water slowly but didn’t remain a small blue cube for long. There were blue sparks and with a burst of electronic light, Megamind was back, between Wendeline and Hal, arms open.
The de-fusing gun landed in his arms, the setting changing from ‘warming up’ to ‘de-fuse’. Despite the injuries and grazes to his face, Megamind smiled at Hal triumphantly.
“Ollo.” was all he said before the nozzle of the gun was shoved unceremoniously up Hal’s nose. And not a moment too soon. Hal’s eyes had just been turning read, a split second later the lasers went off harmlessly up into the sky as Megamind pulled on the gun’s plunger trigger. The man seemed to literally, visibly deflate inside his bodysuit, as his whole body gave off a brilliant golden glow before he collapsed on the ground. Megamind, now swaying somewhat where he stood, pointed down at him. “Thing about bad guys...? They always loose.” then he grabbed at the fountain, supporting himself so he wouldn’t tumble into the water.
Roxanne, returning with Minion, hurried around the collapsed Hal in order to place the fish into the water. Luckily enough the fish was still awake, and he was staring at Hal with wide eyes before looking to his boss.
“You did it... you won.”
He smiled as best he could, looking at the two women. “I finally had a reason to win.” Megamind said, though just who to wasn’t exactly clear. Then it felt like he was sucker punched in the gut, as all the pain he had been fighting to ignore roared at him and tackled him to the ground, quite literally. “Oh down I go.” was all he could say before darkness engulfed him, and the alien collapsed into the water.
With a yell, both the women dove into the water to pick him up.
~*~*~
“You really can’t go in there. No.” Minion stood in front of the door, arms crossed defiantly. “He’s in no fit state for visitors.” he was in another suit, built just like the suit which had been collected by the Brain Bots after the police had dragged Hal away to jail. She had a vague idea that he had many others, kept in reserve in case of severe damage not worth fixing.
It was a day after the events that involved the destruction of the Metro Tower, the ‘return’ of Metro Woman, and the defeat of Tighten. Megamind, having passed out from his injuries, had been gathered up by his faithful Minion and rushed to the City Hall where the majority of their things were. After all, a big comfy bed like the one in City Hall was far better to suit a mending alien then the big empty ex-evil lair out by the docks of town. Due to the severity of some of his injuries, Minion had to prescribe medications to help his master deal with the pain his body was being wracked with.
Unfortunately it had its drawbacks. Thus, he stood outside the Mayor suite of the City Hall before Wendeline, acting security against a woman who could lift him up and toss him across the town if she felt the need to. He hoped she didn’t have the need.
“But...”
“When he’s better.”
“Flowers!”
“When he’s better.”
“Chocolates!”
“When he’s better.”
The resting alien’s voice suddenly piped up from behind the shut door. “Who izzit Miniiii...?” he called, his voice sounding somewhat like a song but a very drugged one.
Minion flinched at hearing not only his Master’s voice, but the fact he had called him ‘Mini’, something he hadn’t called him since he was wearing diapers. “It’s... It’s Miss Scott, Sir.” he replied begrudgingly.
“OooOooohh...” Megamind cooed from within the room and was silent for a moment, long enough for Minion to think he had fallen back to sleep. Just as the fish opened his mouth to tell Wendeline to leave though... “Let her in, let her in? I wanna see her!”
Minion sighed heavily, shutting his eyes as he did. If he could, he would have rubbed at his temples with his fingers. Instead he rubbed the sides of this dome with his fingertips. “But Sir, I told you you’re not--”
“I’m fine, fish-fishy. Let her in.”
“But Sir-”
“He wants me to go inside, I’ll go inside.” Wendeline thrust an armload of chocolates, flowers, balloons, three beautiful cards, and a home made carrot cake at Minion. While he was distracted, she pushed past him and stalked into the room, ignoring his weak protests.
Inside was a luxury bedroom of cream-colored walls, thick carpet, and expensive looking blue drapes hanging on large windows. Megamind was sitting up in the king sized bed. He looked ridiculously small and alien amongst the huge pillows, and he was dressed in an adorable looking set of pyjamas that had hazard and warning signs on them. His face broke into an ecstatic smile from ear to ear when she walked in, and he opened his arms to her.
“Wendeeeeyyyylliiinnneeee!” he greeted, slurring her name somewhat.
“Hey.” She had to smile back at him, and he held his arms out desperately so she eventually moved forward and ended up sitting on the edge of the bed. He curled around with a little wince and mumble of pain, until his head was on her lap. He stared up at her. His pupils were giant black wells within the green irises.
“Hiii...” he said back, and smiled again up at her. “You, you... you look pretty today.” Megamind blurted, lifting a hand and gently touched her chin with two of his fingers. “So pretty, pretty...”
“Thank you.”
Minion fussed in, placing her pile of gifts on a bedside table. He glared at her. “He’s not meant to move.” He rearranged Megamind so that he was propped up on pillows again while Wendeline stood to the side feeling guilty.
Megamind, naturally, had whined while Minion had moved him away from her and now just pouted heavily against the pillows. His glazed eyes moved from Minion to Wendeline and he reached out to her, fingers wriggling a little as he did. “Sit, sit sit...” he said, before patting the space before him on the bed. “Pretty please?” why had she stood up and moved away from him? He didn’t like that. He wanted her close again.
She walked forward again, and sat on the bed under Minions disapproving eye. The second she sat Megamind gave a out a happy little noise, and petted her shoulder, before moving down and placed his glove-less hand on top of her own. “Yayyy...”
“Sir, you still haven’t eaten your lunch. You know you’re meant to eat, now more then ever.” Minion said as his eyes landed on the soup bowl on the other side of the bed. “I’m not going to have to spoon feed you again, am I?” he asked, eyes quickly moving back to Wendeline before looking back to his master.
Megamind turned his nose up, shutting his eyes and shook his head. “Noo...”
Wendeline cocked her head at Minion, looked at the bowl of soup on its tray, and then blinked at Megamind. Before Minion could usher her out because he wouldn’t eat his vegetables she picked up the bowl and blinked at Megamind. He laced his fingers together and opened his mouth obediently for her, not even needing to be asked.
Feeding Megamind was an interesting experience. Most times he opened his mouth for her, but half the time was trying to get the spoon into his mouth since he would duck his head now and then. He laughed, though not too hard since it was apparent he had suffered some kind of rib injuries the day before. It wasn’t long until the bowl was empty, and Megamind was resting back against the pillows with traces of soup still smeared over his cheek. He licked his lips appreciatively, then heaved a huge sigh, which ended in a frown. “Ow.”
She looked around, found a napkin on the tray, and tried to clean his face. He struggled to get away, flailing. “Gerroff. Ow. No!”
Minion leaned in and wiped up just a bit that had been missed on his boss’s chin before taking the napkin from her quickly. “Thank you.” he said stiffly, placing the used napkin in the empty bowl before picking up the tray in his hands. “That wasn’t so bad now Sir, was it?” he asked.
Megamind mumbled something that him before rubbing his own hands over his mouth roughly.
“Well. I’ll just. Deal with these. Yes.” Minion said as he looked down at the tray in his hands before giving Wendeline a keen eye. He turned away and stalked from the room, half shutting the door behind him and they heard his heavy footsteps vanishing down the hall until they were gone.
“Tastes of tomatoes.” Megamind mumbled to himself as he licked at his fingers. He then blinked and looked at her, as if remembering she was here. That smile was back again, and he seemed to shiver in delight at the mere sight of her. “Wendeline. You’re here. Good. Hi. Hi Wendeline. You have blue hair... wow it... it looks really good on you... why’s it so short, why’d you cut it...? It was so pretty long and... and...?” he asked as he reached forward to touch her hair, but he stopped mid way so his hand simply hovered there, inches from her hair.
She gently placed her hand in his, meshing their fingers. He seemed quite pleased with his, his eye looking down at their linked fingers fondly. “So are you okay, now? Did that escapade of ours cause any lasting damage?”
He didn’t seem to notice, or care about, the change of subject at all since he scoffed in a brazen kind of way. “Nahhhh...” Megamind said, lifting his free hand to touch her knuckles gently, smoothing his finger tips along her skin. “Just a few... ribs, bruised? I think? Not broken, close.... closely broken. And a big bruise, all round my back and my front. Want to see?” he asked enthusiastically.
“It’s probably best not to take the bandages off just yet.” She suddenly was lost in the thought of seeing his bare chest. Not thinking, she pulled his hand up to her mouth and kissed the back of it.
Megamind made a happy little noise, lids lowering slightly over his eyes. “No probabably right... probably. Too many... ba’s. Hah.” he looked at her, before lifting his free hand and touched her cheek the same way he had back in her underground lair. “...I missed you so much. No idea how-how bad I felt...” he suddenly admitted.
“Yeah.” She swallowed, her throat suddenly all sore. “I missed you too.”
“‘m sorry.” Megamind mumbled as his thumb gently traced her cheek to her chin. “I didn... didn’t mean not to show up. Warden went ‘n... ‘n I was home again and I didn’t want to be.”
“You... were what?” She frowned in confusion.
“Home.” he replied, before looking out the window as if hoping to see the prison from here. “Jail. They-they had a new place for me ‘n, ‘n everything... horrible paintings and... a chair.” while his mind was somewhat muddy he could still remember moments of his past, it was just putting them into words and phrases that made sense that was the difficult task.
“Oh. Right. The.... You call it Home....?” This was something she hadn’t considered before.
“Lair is lair. Home is home.” Megamind spoke as if he was reciting a poem from his youth before looking suddenly heart broken. “I got-got to your place and you were gone and I was mad and... and I didn’t mean to... to...” he trailed off and looked down at his lap, fingers linking tightly against hers.
She squeezed his hand back, being careful not to squeeze too hard. “Don’t worry. I was pretty mad that night too.” She sighed. “It wasn’t really either of our faults. But someone should have told me that... That you were home that night.”
“...Wendeline...” he said quietly, before looking up at her with pleading eyes. “I-I’m better then Mr. Darcy are-aren’t I?”
“Well, he’s been a backstop for me for a while, that and a long bath with...” She stopped and stared at him. “What... Exactly did you mean, just then? Mr Darcy isn’t real. You’re real. Of course he’s no substitute.”
His face was suddenly flushed. He stared at her, not able to understand her clearly in his befuddled state of mind. Megamind swallowed, hard, and his eyes suddenly looked glassy. “I. I don’t... what...” he tried speaking and stopped, before shutting his eyes tightly. “They said you were on a... a date with Mr. Darcy... I felt like... like something broke and....” Megamind trailed into silence and just sat there.
“That stupid.... ah. No.” She fished around for an explanation. “I tell the staff sometimes that I’m on a date with Mr Darcy when I’m off to watch DVDs in my holiday house. He’s a character. In a story.”
Megamind sat there for a moment longer before his eyes and looking at her in utter confusion. “A story?” he asked quietly.
“Yes. You’re jealous of someone who isn’t real.”
“I feel stupid now.” he mumbled before falling back onto his pillows, groaning as he did since he had forgotten, somehow, about the massive bruise that took up the majority of back space he had. Megamind lay there for a moment before looking at her, up at her hair, then back to her face again. “...you are here... aren’t you...? I’m not... dreaming again, that you’re here and going to wake up and you’re dead again am I?”
“I’m real this time.” She gave him a lopsided smile. “Do dreams usually hurt that much?”
“Yes.” he said in a small voice.
“Oh dear. What on earth do you dream about?”
“...my parents dying. Mini dying. You dying. You die a lot in my dreams and... and then I dream you’re back, like this.” he gestured to her weakly. “We talk. You. Kiss me sometimes. You hold me ‘n then... then I wake up and you’re gone again.” Megamind turned his head away for a moment, staring at the window across the room. “I don’t like sleeping.”
“Ah. I’m.... sorry. It was stupid. I was... I was stupid.”
He turned his head back to look at her, eyes narrowed. “You are not stupid. Never was. Never is. Never will. Youuuuu...” Megamind pointed to her. “Were my rival. Bestest rival ever. You are always smart. Smart and beautiful.”
Beautiful? She smiled again. “Even with blue hair?”
“Especially with blue hair.” he replied with a small, honest smile. “I meant it. Blue suits you... matches your eyes so pretty.”
“Thankyou.” She actually pulled away at that. She was used to people admiring her, but somehow when he said it.... it had a good deal more power to every word. It was scary. Scary enough to make her change the subject again. “I have a far more legitimate reason to be jealous, you know.”
Megamind tilted his head faintly. “Uh...?” then he seemed to pick up on what she meant, before making an ‘oh’ expression.
“Although, to be fair, I was dead at the time.”
“...you’re not dead are you?” Megamind asked again, looking at her.
“Not this time. This time I’m real. Are you sure you’re alright?”
Megamind lifted his hand and waved it in front of his eyes before holding up three fingers. “Three.” he said clearly before looking back at her. “Yes.”
She giggled at the action. “I’m not so sure that works when it’s your fingers.”
“Oh. Well. I think I’m alright.” Megamind touched his face, wincing a little as he did. “Hrm. Bits hurt...” he mumbled before looking at her and smiled. He was already looking a lot more... together than he did when she first arrived. At least now he made some sense.
“That soup seems to have had some effect.” She leaned over to put her hand on his forehead “I’m not sure how warm you’re meant to be.”
“Thirty seven degrees Celsius.” he replied automatically. “No diff’rent then anyone else.” Megamind shut his eyes before nuzzling his head into her hand and sighing as he did. It was an adorable action, and she smoothed her hand over the massive blue dome. It did feel a little warm, warmer than she expected a bare head to feel.
Then again he did have a lot of activity happening under his head, didn’t he? His brain was at least twice the size of her own. Maybe there was a reason, besides the obvious, why he never wore a hat. He certainly appeared to like having it petted, however. He turned his head like a cat, trying to get more headrubs. Had anyone ever touched him like this? She knew she certainly hadn’t...
“Mmmhhhh....” he shut his eyes and sighed happily. “I’m glad you’re alive and... and here.”
“Me too.” She ran her hand again over his head, and he tilted his head into the touch.
Megamind pulled back slowly and sat up in the bed so he wasn’t laying back anymore, opening his eyes and doing his best not to wince, and looked up at her. He looked into her eyes, those eyes he had once thought he’d never see again. They were so... blue. Bluer than any others he had seen, even bluer than the sky itself. He smiled, hesitantly, before reaching up and cupped her cheek gently in his thin blue hand.
She pressed her face into is touch much as he had done. His hands were smooth, warm and exactly what she’d been missing. She turned her head and kissed his palm, suddenly, before he could pull away, then pulled away herself, honestly surprised at her own action.
He blinked in surprise. He hadn’t expected her to do that. Megamind looked at his hand, then back at her, and then back at his hand again. Drawing it in close he brushed his lips over the palm of his hand, shutting his eyes briefly as he did. “Hm.” he said quietly before looking back up at her, lowering his hand.
“Surely you can’t be afraid of me?” he asked quietly, “Since it almost feels like you are... and you’re not afraid of anything.”
“There are some things I’m afraid of.” Her voice was inexplicably hoarse.
“Oh?” Megamind tilted his head, arching an eyebrow as he did.
“I seem to have developed a talent for...” she searched desperately for the words. “For hurting those I care about.”
“I know the feeling.” he replied, before reaching out and finding her hand with his own and somehow guided her hand in close, so he could cover it with both of his own.
“Yes... but... You don’t send them to the hospital for something as simple as a sneeze.” and what a sneeze it had been.... four injured, and a cat... “Or... Other things.”
Megamind looked at her, brain fighting furiously to get through the rest of the fog left behind by the pain medications he had been taking since the previous night. She was talking about something serious, wasn’t she? Something very serious. He physically had to shake his head a moment before looking back to her. “Do you know how many times you’ve punched me?”
“I never really counted. But...” She stopped for a moment. “Why?”
“One million, seventy eight thousand, five hundred and twenty one times.” Megamind said. “I just wanted to remind you just how... rough you’ve been with me, and I’m still here. Bruised and suffering internal injuries yes, but this wasn’t you.”
“Mmmhm.” She looked at him wryly. “There was that time you fell through that wall. And when I tripped and kicked you off the side of that warehouse....”
“Not to mention that time at the light house during that storm I had created.” Megamind sighed dreamily. “I had water leaking our of my ears for weeks.”
“Well, the storm was your fault. But the elephant.... That wasn’t.”
“Let’s not mention the elephant.” he said sourly, the dreamy expression on his face quickly replaced with an unhappy one. “Point is...” Megamind smoothed his hand over hers gently. “...I’m still here. And. I still care about you. A lot. More than a lot.”
“I still have no idea why you’re still here.” She squeezed his hand. “But I’m glad you are.” She leaned in, and kissed him on the mouth.
He had been in the middle of some kind of snappy remark but it had now died somewhere on his lips when hers smothered his own. Megamind’s eyes rolled backwards into his head. His eyelids shut and his thin arms flung themselves around her shoulders and he kissed her back.
She curled one arm around the back of his head, the other she was leaning on so that she didn’t crush his ridiculously thin frame. The kiss and the embrace pulled them both deeper, and they both just drank each other in.
They didn’t even hear the door open. “Oh. Uh. Excuse me...” The door closed again rather firmly. Both of them broke away from the kiss, and Wendeline went so far as to stand next to the bed, madly rearranging her shirt. She had no idea who had opened the door and then closed it again, but they were presumably still in the hallway outside.
“Who was that?”
Megamind’s brain wasn’t at full capacity, having been suddenly ripped from somewhere very, very pleasant and finding his arms empty once more. For a split second he thought he had woken up, that despite all what she had said Wendeline had been a dream again and he was once again stuck alone in his bed. His eyes landed on her and he stared at her, chest rising and falling. “H-huh?” he asked smartly.
“I’d.... better go and find out who it was.” Wendeline started towards the door.
“Wait, wait.. don’t go-- please I don’t want--” Megamind pushed at the blankets on him, pulling himself out of the bed awkwardly since his body was screaming at him at moving in ways he shouldn’t be.
“Lie down, Megamind, I’m just seeing who that was at the door-” Wendeline went back to the bed, and tried to push him back into it. The first thing she managed to touch, however, was the centre of his bruised chest.
Try as he might, Megamind could not contain the harsh gasp of pain escaping his mouth. He saw black and red spots in front of his eyes. He was always like this, after particularly bad battles with her; or just very painful accidents that tended to happen around the lair. “Careful, careful...” he mumbled, grasping at her hands but not to push her away. “You’re coming back?” Megamind asked, looking up at her. “Aren’t you?”
“I’m here, I’m not going anywhere. I’m going to go answer the door. Although by this point whoever it is is probably in the next town over.” Or thinks we’re having an orgy in here, or both she thought to herself irritatedly. “Justice doesn’t lie, remember?”
He had to take her word for it, despite not wanting her to leave. But Megamind remained in the bed, body still grumbling angrily at him for making the bruises feel worse. “Hrm. I remember.” he mumbled.
“But Evil does, so you can lie right there and I’ll go answer the door.”
“Oh my God that is so corny. Even for you.” Megamind replied with a small smirk.
She had reached the door by now, and winked at him before opening it. The hallway was more brightly lit than the bedroom, and sitting in a chair a short distance along was Roxanne. With her face in her hands. Ah. Oh no.
Hearing the door open Roxanne very slowly lifted her head from her hands. Thankfully she wasn’t crying, but she wasn’t looking her best either. She stared at Wendeline for a moment, before sitting up straight and gave her an awkward kind of smile in greeting. “H-hey.” she said, before glancing at the door quickly, then back to the taller woman. “Sorry about that. I should’ve knocked.”
“I’m sorry too. I didn’t mean to-” She seemed to be making a lot of mistakes recently. She tried to work out what she wanted to say before she rammed her foot in her mouth again. She closed the bedroom door. “I keep on making stupid mistakes at the moment.”
“Seems everyone is capable of making mistakes.” Roxanne replied as she smoothed out her skit and got to her feet, sighing as she did. “So. I guess that proves my theory.”
“Your theory? Well it was my theory too but I can’t make head or tail of it currently.” She wandered over to the other chair in the hall and dropped into it loosely.
“That you two have had something.” Roxanne said, watching the former heroine of the city slump down into the seat. “There’s been speculation for years that the whole good vs. evil thing was just a way for you two to flirt, and to be honest I never saw much into that. Least, until I saw how you two were acting the other day. And from what I just saw?” she glanced back at the bedroom door, before back at Wendeline. She said nothing.
“So... is this on the record, or off the record?” A wry smile to the famous reporter. “Because...”
“Off the record, don’t worry. I’m not a tabloid reporter, remember?” she asked, giving up on standing up and sank back down into her seat again.
“No, you’re no tabloid reporter.” She sighed. “Sorry.” It was her turn to put her face in her hands “But I just know the tabloids are going to love this one.”
“Once word gets out? Oh yeah. It’ll be worse than when Brad and Angelina got together.” Roxanne snorted. “At least you didn’t ‘end a marriage’ like that did.” she added before sighing, and pushed some of her hair behind her ear. “To be honest, the tabloids are too preoccupied with everything that just happened to focus on anyone’s love life.”
“Great.” The sarcastic word seemed like a perfect description of the last few weeks. “Just... Great. You should go in there, you know, he’ll be delighted to see you. Just... be careful, I think Minion gave him some sort of pain medication, and he’s a bit confused.”
Roxanne nodded her head as she looked towards the door in question, then looked back at Wendeline. “...honestly though, there was something, wasn’t there?” she asked.
“I thought there was. Then I thought there wasn’t. Now.... I don’t know. I guess there is.” She growled at her feet in disgust. “I just need some time to think.”
“Well. Don’t go faking your death again in order to think, all right? I don’t think he could handle another one of those.” Roxanne said as she walked across the hall to the door and pulled it open slightly but stopped. She looked over her shoulder at Wendeline and smiled. “He’s a great kisser though, isn’t he?” she asked before giving her a small, poignant smile before vanishing into the room, shutting the door behind her with a click.
Wendeline stared at the door, her mouth open.
NEXT CHAPTER
To be continued