Thanks so much for coming back for the final round of our unlikely couple's little game! Hope you have some steamy fun!

That dejected, forlorn, woe-is-me pout began to change in the blink of an eye to a smile of supreme satisfaction. His vibrant green eyes flashed with manic excitement combined with the most infuriatingly self-appreciating expression she had ever seen.

"Well then, since you're in such a hurry to get on with your kidnapping, I'd be happy to speed things along for you. My final guess is that you've developed a resistance to my knock out spray and over the last year have been waking up early, sneaking around taking pictures... just being nosy in general while Minion and I took care of the final preparations for our plans."

Roxanne was dumbfounded. All she could do was gape at him silently, her eyes wide and unblinking and her full lips parted in astonishment as the realization that his final guess was correct hit home.

"But, wait... but I... but I thought... " she stammered, "... You asked me how I did it! You said you were curious, implying you had no idea how I pulled it off!"

"Yes, I asked; but just because I ask doesn't necessarily mean I don't know. I asked because I was curious how you'd respond when confronted about the year long infiltration of my lair at the hands of my own captive... don't think I didn't know that you were sitting there playing unconscious while I was hard at work, slipping your hands from the ropes to sneak pictures. You seem to forget I'm a genius Miss Ritchi; I find that you're constantly underestimating me. Yes, I may lose the occasional battle to your brainless boyfriend but that's only because he's nigh on invincible. If it were a battle of wits, I'd be unstoppable!"

Still trying process the fact that he knew, she asked, "How long have you known what I was doing?"

"The whole time."

"The whole time? No! That doesn't make any sense, Megamind! Why wouldn't you have stopped me if you really knew all along?"

"Oh, I found it incredibly amusing! You have no idea how many times I've had a good chuckle at the thought of you snapping those pictures with the assumption that I was completely oblivious to what was going on. I knew an opportunity would present itself to me sooner or later to give you a hard time about it, and I was right. And now it looks like I get to keep that wonderful collection of full color photos. You know, I've never had a photo album of my own before. It was so thoughtful of you to contribute your work so I could have one. I'm going to enjoy it immensely!"

Roxanne just looked at him, shaking her head in astonishment at his mind boggling admission. It took her a moment to fully absorb the news before she managed to say in a shocked voice, "Wow, Megamind, I think you missed your calling; you really do deserve an Oscar for that performance. I can't believe it... I had no clue that you knew what was going on!"

Despite being utterly astounded at this piece of information, the wily reporter recovered in an instant, and with narrowed eyes she poked him in the chest with a manicured index finger and said sharply, "But... the deal was you get this file. Anything else I have is off limits so don't think you've messed up my plans, I... "

"I've already found it, my dear."

Roxanne looked at him blankly and asked, "What?"

"The back up file. I have it, too. My brainbots are experts at sniffing out lost items... they are derived from dog DNA, you know. It's uncanny how many similarities they have to their K-9 counterparts!"

"But... how did you know about that?"

"Of course you'd have a back up file! You're Roxanne Ritchi!"

In one swift shot of disappointment, Roxanne realized that she'd been beaten. There was absolutely no chance at this point of getting back all of that hard work. She should have been furious that he had taken her file and stripped her of the backup she had tucked away, but rather than focus her energy on her frustration, she decided her effort would be better spent on coming up with a way to piece together the story without it. Maybe she could even think up a way to sneak her information back... the possibilities for re-vahnge, as he put it, were endless. He may have won this battle, but he hadn't won the war; and she was determined that in the end the winner would be her.

With a sigh of resignation, she tossed her hands into the air and said, "Okay, you won. You get the file... now will you please go away and leave me alone so I can try to explain to my boss that the big story he was expecting isn't going to happen after all?"

"Ah, ah, ah! There's a little matter of a kidnapping that we need to attend to. And if I'm not mistaken, a kiss as well." he said, finishing his response softly, a tiny smile playing at the corners of his lips.

"You know I should slap you for even suggesting this." Roxanne responded flatly.

Megamind began to step closer to her, his smile growing more gentle as he gazed at her with his lidded emerald eyes. He reached out and put his arm around her waist, drawing her in near to him and said, "Perhaps, but I really don't think you're going to... are you?"

Despite the fact that this impending kiss was technically considered the "spoils" of their game, she had never felt more treasured or revered in her life than she did at that moment as he wrapped his arms around her, his eyes never leaving hers for a second. Metro City's number one reporter, the sassy, quick witted Roxanne Ritchi, had suddenly found herself without words as his penetrating gaze held hers... those emerald pools had stolen from her all capability of forming eloquent speech.

"N-no... " she stammered, her voice just barely above a whisper as he placed a hand on her cheek, stroking it tenderly with his thumb.

She began to notice a quivering develop in her knees and the room suddenly didn't seem to have quite enough air in it as she felt herself being drawn toward him, the distance between them closing as though she was being pulled by a magnet. She couldn't have backed away from him at this point even if she had wanted to; a sudden need to be close to him, to be held by him and to feel those blue lips against hers was overwhelming. Breaking their gaze, she tipped her head toward his as her eyes shifted to his mouth, and then she closed them in anticipation of their kiss.

Megamind watched as the beautiful woman he had adored from day one melted into him, and that incredible brain took in every detail of a moment he had imagined countless times. All at once he took in the feeling of her soft, feminine body against his and her intoxicating scent . He memorized every freckle that dusted her cheeks and nose, and the way her hair slipped down into her eyes to brush against her dark, sweepy lashes. But most of all he relished the way she looked at him with such longing, it took his breath away.

Their lips met, and the world suddenly seemed to stop. Roxanne felt every nerve begin to tingle as his soft, gentle mouth explored hers and his free hand slid from her cheek to slip down around her waist, tenderly bringing her even closer to him. She wrapped her arms around him in return and allowed herself to be swept away as those warm lips caressed hers slowly.

He kissed her gently at first, as though she were made of fine china, a fragile treasure to be worshipped and cherished; but as the seconds ticked by and they became more familiar and confident, a surge of long restrained passion began to sweep over them. Their kiss became more needy as his tongue slipped against hers and their exploration became deeper and more intense. He pressed his strong, soft lips against every available millimeter of skin around her mouth, and nipped and sucked tenderly at the swell of her lower lip, producing a quiet moan as she fell more completely under his spell.

The tingling which had begun to rise in her chest quickly rose to currents of electricity that flowed through her and compelled her to wrap her arms more tightly around him. She couldn't get close enough to him, and as his lips began to stray from her mouth to explore her jaw and neck with their warm, soft wetness. She was glad that he held her so tightly; her knees began to feel as weak as jelly. As though it had suddenly developed a mind of its own, one leg rose to wrap itself around his strong, slender form and was met by his hand as it slipped down her back to grasp and caress her upper thigh.

Her searching hands found their way around the high collar of his cape to the smoothness of his head just at the same moment that the long fingers of his free hand made their way into her hair, wrapping themselves in and tangling among the silky strands as though they were a lifeline.

Somewhere in the midst of this furious and increasingly passionate kiss, a tiny voice in the back of her mind began to whisper that things were going too far, that Megamind's prize had already been collected and it was time to call it quits. But as the hand that had been cradling her thigh began to slide up past her full bottom and then traveled up her side toward her breasts and the waiting buttons of her blouse, she didn't care what that tiny voice had to say. She knew what she wanted... what she wanted was him.

Just as things were beginning to get very interesting between the infamous villain and his more-than-willing victim, and were most certainly beginning to spin out of control, a ruckus began to stir outside the copy room door that instantly put the brakes on the "prize collection" portion of their little game. A murmur of voices which had been coming from somewhere down the hall made its way to the other side of the door, and was followed by a jiggling of the knob as an unseen hand discovered that the lock had been frozen in place.

"Hey, it's locked!" came a disembodied voice, "Who'd be stupid enough to lock it in the middle of business hours like this?"

"I don't know, but they'd better open it now; I'm in a hurry!" responded the second voice, and an instant later a series of loud bangs rang out as the occupants of the hallway began to pound the door with their fists.

"Hello? Anyone in there? Unlock the door... I need to get in there and make some copies!" demanded the obnoxious duo as they began once again to impatiently jiggle the ruined knob.

With the deepest sense of frustration, the couple broke from their heated make-out session and looked toward the door. Roxanne watched for a moment as the knob rocked and bobbed back and forth uselessly in it's housing, and then turned to her abductor and said with an irritated roll of her eyes, "I know those guys out there; they're not going to leave until they either figure out a way to get that door open or get maintenace to open it for them. I think this means it's game over, Megamind."

Megamind's brows drew together with disappointment, but wrapping his arms even tighter around her, he said, "Not necessarily. I've got the De-gun, I can buy a little more time... "

"Noooo, no, no, no, no, NO!" she said with a giggle as she ran a finger down the sleek, dark goatee that adorned his chin. "We're leaving them out of this! Anyway, I think they've kind of pulled the rug out from under the mood we had going on, don't you?"

Megamind looked at her with his most seductive gaze, and wagging his eyebrows up and down he responded with a throaty growl, "I most certainly do not; all it would take is a quick hit of the De-gun, and then I can get that mood stirred back up for you in a nano-second!"

"Me-egamind... " Roxanne gasped as he attacked her neck with another round of soft, wet kisses, trying hard to ignore the tingling surge that was once again beginning to build what felt like an electrical fire that radiated through every cell in her chest and crept its way enticingly through her thighs like a smoldering flame. "...what are we supposed to do when you draw attention to yourself by dehydrating those guys and the whole office shows up and starts pounding on the door? And don't think for a second that Metro Man won't be far behind when word gets out you've got me holed up in here."

The blue villain disconnected his lips from her neck for a moment to give her a thoughtful look, and simply said, "Ohhh... "

"Yeah... not very conducive to you claiming your prize, is it?"

"No, perhaps not." Megamind responded, a pout beginning to form on his handsome face as he cast a glare at the door and the prize-snatchers that stood beyond it, loudly making their presence known. After a moment of indulging in a fully formed mope, his eyes brightened as he looked back at her, and he said, "You know, we can resume this somewhere more quiet and secluded. The Lair would be a perfect place to pick up where we left off; Minion will be out putting the finishing touches on the... "

"Whoa! Hold on there, Cowboy! If I'm not mistaken, the deal was "One... single... kiss", remember?" Roxanne said coyly as she looked at him just seductively enough through her lashes to keep his fires burning. The pounding on the other side of the door had ushered the reporter back to reality, but she wasn't ready to let go of the idea of more fun and games with her worthy adversary in the near future. "As of now, this game is officially over and you've already collected your prize. But you know, I'm not opposed to the idea of playing a second round another time... "

"Oh really? How very interesting... it appears Metrocity's favorite reporter enjoyed our little game! Well, don't think for a second you have me fooled my dear; I'm quite certain I know the underlying reason for this fiercely competitive spirit you seem to have suddenly developed. Yes, I think I know exactly what stakes you'll be playing for... a certain file come to mind." said the blue felon with a chuckle as he gently brushed back the unruly lock of her hair that had been dislodged from its place during their kiss.

"Hmmm, yeah... but to be really honest, that's not the only reason." the lovely reporter cooed in a sultry tone, and then she smilingly leaned into him one more time, nuzzling into his ear and running her tongue along its edge, finishing with a gentle suck on the lobe that had him gasping in pleasure and threatened to begin that second round right then and there.

It was at that moment that Roxanne's meddling colleagues proved themselves to be experts at butting in at the worst possible times. A new and incredibly unwelcome sound began to emanate from the hallway... the mechanical whine of an electric screwdriver as it started the process of removing the screws that held the ruined door knob in place. It appeared that after several minutes of pounding on the door with no response, the impatient men had begun a new tactic in their attempt at gaining entry to the copy room and had finally decided to go for help.

The unlikely couple looked toward the door and watched as the melted knob began to loosen at the hands of the maintenance man who had been summoned to fix the problem, and then turned back once again, looking at one another for a moment disappointedly.

Megamind shook his head in irritation as he looked at his gorgeous captive, and with narrowed eyes he said, "You're not going to like this, but I think you should know that those two have just earned themselves an important appointment with my De-gun the second that door opens!"

Roxanne snorted a laugh at his proclamation of doom that was about to be visited on the annoyingly persistent occupants of the hallway, and responded, "Well actually, just between you and me, I don't really mind this time. I think you're right, they've definitely earned that appointment."

Megamind snickered in surprise at her slightly evil agreement with his assessment that her co-workers would make fantastic blue cubes. God, she couldn't be more perfect!

As the sound of the second to the last screw dropping to the floor rang out, Roxanne reluctantly slid her arms away from his waist as she flicked her blue eyes toward the door with a frown, and taking three steps back she said with a heavy sigh, "Well, it looks like time's up, handsome... we might as well get on with the show."

Then, as though someone had flipped a switch, that mischeivously flirty glimmer began to light her eyes again, and a familiar crooked smirk began to creep across her pretty face. "All right, go ahead scoundrel! Do your worst!"

Megamind chuckled wickedly as he took hold of the can of knock-out spray which he had carefully concealed on his belt, and as he rattled it in preparation for the moment of capture, he said smoothly, "Ahhhh, you see? I knew you liked the scoundrel in me, Miss Ritchi!"

Hal awoke with a rip-roaring headache in a strangely cramped, darkened space with no memory of where he was or how he got there. Feeling his way around as he attempted to sit up, he discovered that he was laying in a heap on the floor in what seemed to be a closet of some kind. What the heck, man? Where am I?

Grasping at the closest item he could find to help pull himself up, his hands closed upon something long and narrow. In the complete darkness he had no way of knowing what it was, but it appeared to be solidly planted to the floor. Deciding it seemed safe enough, he grabbed hold of the mystery item and began his attempt to shimmy his way to his feet.

Things seemed to be going smoothly until he reached about midway up. It seemed that the item he had chosen to assist him wasn't planted as firmly to the floor as he had imagined, and in the process of entrusting all of his considerable weight to it, he knocked it loose. As a result, there came a terrible racket as a mass of heavy, oddly shaped items came cascading down from somewhere over-head and containers filled with strong smelling liquids tipped over, pouring their contents all over him.

"Oh God, really? What is this stuff?" Hal whined loudly into the inky blackness of the confined space as he felt the slippery liquids trickle down his face and run down his arms to drip from his fingers.

Reaching out in front of him as he searched in vain for a door knob, he began to feel rather disoriented as his throbbing headache combined with the pungent smell that permeated the air to make it difficult for him to think clearly, something that didn't come easy for him even on a good day.

"HEY! Someone let me out of here! Come on, open the door!" he shouted in rising panic as he began to pound his fists at the walls, flailing about as he did so and knocking over more of the heavy items and bottles of unknown liquids, which in turn continued to pummel and douse him from above.

Just when the hysterical cameraman felt he couldn't take another second of his mad attempt to escape from the strange darkness, a door opened behind him, and a gruff voice called out, "Stewart? What do you think you're doing in there? Look at this mess!"

Hal swung around to face the glorious light that had suddenly broke its way into the darkness and to thank whoever had just saved him from a fate that was certain to be worse than death, but stopped short as he looked with horrified shock at the red, angry face of his boss.

"Ok Greg, I know this looks bad, but seriously, thanks so much for opening that door! I'm not even kidding, you have no idea what I've been through."

"Just what have you been through? What exactly have you been doing for the past 15 minutes?"

"Oh wow... like, I don't even know! It's the craziest thing, man. I seriously have no freaking clue what happened!" Hal said as he stepped out of the closet and rubbed his sore head. When his eyes adjusted to the light of the hallway, he turned around to take in the fact that the darkened room in which he had been held prisoner was in fact the broom closet across from Roxanne's cubicle, and the slick, smelly liquid that he was currently covered in was a selection of glass and toilet cleaners, mixed with a sampling of industrial strength disinfectant sprays. The long, rigid mystery item he had attempted to use to pull himself up with was nothing other than the janitor's mop, which was now laying splayed across he hallway floor.

As the dimwitted cameraman's eyes surveyed the disaster that he had just created in his attempt to break free from his makeshift prison, his attention was drawn by a ruckus about twenty feet ahead in the doorway of what looked like the copy room.

"Like, what's going on? Did I miss something?"

"Yes you missed something, you idiot! It's Megamind! He blasted his way in here and kidnapped Roxanne again, and you were nowhere to be found! We didn't get a single frame of video of the incident because her cameraman was too busy taking a nap in the broom closet!"

Hal's amber eyes widened in shock as he took in the scene before him; a cluster of police officers stood around the now charred doorway to the copy room taking notes and surveying the damage as several of his co-workers looked on. A group of paramedics stood over three strangely glowing cubes and, oddly enough, they held in their hands what appeared to be ordinary bottles of water.

Instructing the passel of onlookers to take several steps back, the paramedics opened their bottles and carefully tipped a few drops of the clear liquid onto the strange looking cubes. With a blinding flash of blue light, the unusual parcels were transformed instantly into three very disoriented and confused looking men.

"Oh, no way! That's Dave from maintenance! Dude, he got dehydrated? Whoa man, that's like, completely awesome... I can't wait to hear about this! And look, it's Carl and Bob from accounting! Ha! They're complete douches, man. They totally deserved it! "

Not being a man who was particularly quick on the uptake, Hal continued to ramble on annoyingly about how amazing this turn of events was as his speechlessly angry boss looked on. Suddenly, like a bolt of lightening, the truth of what his superior had just said struck home. "Wait a minute, did you just say... Megamind kidnapped Roxanne, again?"

Greg stared in shocked silence for a moment at the dense redhead in front of him; he had no clue why this man was still employed there.

"YES! Weren't you listening to anything I said? Now if you want to keep your job, you'd better get your ass to the van and find out where Megamind... "

Although Hal's sweaty, red faced boss continued to shout angrily at him with profanity filled threats that ranged from loss of life, limb, and his employment at Channel 8 news, he found that his mind was only capable of focusing on one thing. The image of a yellow file folder bursting at the seams with hard earned information about Metro City's number one villain floated terrifyingly through his mind's eye.

Despite his usual inability to keep quiet for more than a few seconds at a time, the only words the typically big-mouthed cameraman found he was capable of forming in his mind at that particular moment were Oh... my... god. It's gone! Megamind must have it; oh no... she's gonna freaking KILL me!

Voila'! There you have it. Hope you had a little fun along the way!

Thank you so much for following The File all the way through to the end, it means the world to me. Really, it honestly does. And please leave a review if you're feeling the urge, I'd love to hear from you!

Just in case, you might want to keep your eyes out... I have a half baked idea for a "sequel" of sorts. Not sure how long it might be before I could get to it (I have a lot of other stories I need to work on first), but if I get enough interest from my lovely readers in the idea of a continuation sometime down the road, I might just do it.

For those of you who might be wondering if I've abandoned Dangerous Secret... nope, I haven't. So sorry for the incredibly long delay on that one, but I'll be getting back to it soon. I haven't forgotten it, I promise! :)