Disclaimer: I do not own Megamind nor am I affiliated with Dreamworks in anyway. I'm just borrowing the characters.

AN: Sorry about the delay folks, I had some trouble finishing up. I hope the quality didn't suffer.

Ch 10 – Turnabout

It had been few days since Roxanne had switched back to her body and left the lair. Since then, she had tried to keep her on-camera workload light just in case they switched yet again. She winced every time she even thought about the interview Megamind finished 'for her.' It was painful to watch. You would think that someone with as much flair for the dramatic as he had would do well on camera. But then he was having to perform in a different role than he was used to and without preparing at all.

And now, since she was trying to keep a light on-camera work schedule, Dan was calling her to his office. She had already been griped out about the Metro Man/bakery interview, now she was sure he was about to say something about this too. She entered his office and decided to cut him off before he got on a roll.

"Look, Dan. I just haven't been myself lately. I'm sorry I'm not covering as many hours as I usually do, but once I get some personal issues straightened out, I'll be back to my old self," Roxanne said. She was actually slightly proud of that bit of double-speak.

"That's only half of what I called you in here for. What kind of personal issues, Roxie?" her boss attempted to pry into her business.

"Just that, Dan. Personal," she retorted. That, and she figured, 'Oh, I'm periodically trading bodies with the city's supervillain,' wouldn't go over well.

"Ok, ok, fine," he conceded. "I'll give you a week to get things 'straight.' If your performance doesn't improve by then, we'll have to have this little talk again. While you're 'taking it easy,' I'll still need you to do that report on the Metrorail."

"No promises, Dan, but here's hoping," she replied. And boy was she hoping. How sad was it that she was going to have to depend on one of Megamind's inventions to actually work? "I'll start on that Metrorail story today," she said as she turned and walked to the door to get out of Dan's immediate view and out of his office. He had taken to using a dehumidifier, and it always wanted to play havoc with her sinuses if she was stuck in there too long. She reached for the door handle and was surprised when it shocked her.

She was even more surprised when she was suddenly holding a welding torch to a piece of metal right in front of her with AC/DC playing loudly in the background. Since she had never been close to a welding machine in her life, she quickly pulled back and looked for a way to turn it off. Eventually she figured out how to shut it down and did so. She pulled back and removed the dark welding goggles to look around. This time she wouldn't freak out. They were both aware that they could switch at any time, and apparently, had just done so. If she played it cool, she might find out something this time around.

Minion didn't seem to be in the room, so she stepped back to see what Megamind had been welding on. It almost looked like that teleporter thing that caused this whole mess. Maybe he was almost done? She should be able to ask Minion when she sees him.

Roxanne looked around the room and figured that she was in the 'workshop.' She spotted five pieces of paper suspended from the ceiling on red strings. She made her way over to see what in the world that could be. Upon examination, it appeared that they had to do with this body switching machine he was rebuilding. The blue prints were even hanging up. She looked them over, but couldn't really follow all the calculations. It looked like a cross between chemistry, algebra, and calculus and she just didn't take enough science or math in school to understand.

"Sir, I'm back with those parts you wanted," she heard Minion call from just outside the room. Damn! If she let on that she was herself, she wouldn't be allowed to snoop. Could she pull off being Megamind? Maybe to the public, but she didn't think she could fool Minion for long. What if she sent him on an errand?... She let herself smile a truly evil smile as she thought of the perfect errand to send the fish on.

"Bring them in here, Minion," she commanded. Please don't let him see through her. This would be the most fun she's had in months if she could pull it off. Minion came into the room carrying a box. He set it on the workbench and turned back to Roxanne.

"Want me to finish connecting the diodes to the trigger mechanism, Sir?" Minion asked her.

"No, I have another task for you, Minion," she said. She steepled her fingers in front of her chin and smiled a bit, "I want you to kidnap Roxanne Ritchi."

"Sir," Minion said in exasperation, which surprised her, "I still don't think this is a good idea. She knows we need her when we activate the Matter Transferor. She'll meet us if we ask." They've been discussing this? And Minion was sticking up for her, how sweet! Oh, but she's never heard these two disagree! Their plans were always set before she was brought in. How would Megamind respond?

She took a guess and said with an airy wave of her hand, "No matter, Minion. Let's get her here so she'll be available when we're ready instead of 'at her leisure.' Full service kidnapping this time, Minion. She's been getting off easy. I can't have her think we're getting soft."

"Of course, Sir," Minion agreed, but she could tell from the set of his jaw that he didn't like the situation. He left to presumably gather the Knock-out Spray and the bag before heading out. Roxanne grinned. Now she just needed to set up the kidnapping chair somewhere. Revenge would be so sweet!

-/\/\- -/\/\- -/\/\- -/\/\- -/\/\- -/\/\- -/\/\- -/\/\-

An hour later and Roxanne had been frustratingly unsuccessful in finding out anything. Megamind must have 'reporter-proofed' the lair again when they realized they could spontaneously switch at any time. She was able to look under all the tarps and sheets that were covering half-built inventions throughout the lair, but that didn't really help her any. She couldn't tell what any of them was supposed to do. She could make guesses, but she'd been wrong in that department before. She couldn't even find any plans or notes or anything that didn't have to do with the teleporter thingy. He must have stashed all those away somewhere and she didn't have the time to locate them. Not from lack of trying… She hadn't even been able to find out where the lair was located. The monitors were in their screen-saver mode and password protected and she couldn't find any doors that led to the outside!

She smiled in anticipation as she heard the invisible car pull up. Roxanne hurried to make sure everything was set up the way she wanted it. There was the kidnapping chair in the middle of the room, a control panel on one side, and the high-backed swivel chair Megamind liked. Perfect. She was going to forgo the threats, mostly because she didn't know the controls well enough, and partly because she would have to give up the act before then.

She turned towards the door as she heard Minion approaching. "Have any trouble, Minion?" she asked as she settled herself down in the swivel chair and he entered the room.

"No trouble at all, Sir," Minion replied with a grin. She saw her body slung unceremoniously across his shoulders. She grinned when she saw Megamind's hands were tied and that he had the bag over his head. And with perfect timing, Megamind started moving as he began to shake off the spray. She turned the chair around so she could do the spinning entrance he enjoyed. She slouched down and steepled her fingers in front of her chin as she heard Minion set down Megamind on the kidnapping chair.

She heard the rustle as the bag was removed and then her indignant voice say, "Minion?! What are you doing?! Untie me at once!"

She gave an evil laugh and spun the chair to face him then said, "So we meet again, Miss Ritchi…"

Megamind gave her a flat look and replied dryly, "What are you doing, Miss Ritchi?" She saw Minion's startled look as he glanced between the two of them.

"I simply thought I would save you the cab fare, Megamind. And isn't turnabout fair play?" she taunted. She heard Minion gasp loudly and watched as he hurriedly untied Megamind apologizing all the while. She just smirked.

"Very funny, Miss Ritchi," Megamind groused when he was untied. He brushed down her clothes and unconsciously popped the collar on her blouse.

"Why, yes. I thought so," she agreed a bit cheekily. Then she sobered up, "I'm afraid it was me this time. The door handle shocked me. How is that enough of a shock to make us switch?"

"The voltage from my shock wasn't all that much greater than the voltage typically delivered with a static discharge," he told her.

"Huh. So how close are you to finishing the switching back machine? And is this," she gestured to the both of them, "a problem? Will we need to switch back first?"

Megamind looked quickly over at Minion and something seemed to pass between them. Then he looked back at her and answered, "It should be finished in a few more hours, and our current arrangement should be optimal for testing. Minion?"

"I'm on it, Sir!" Minion replied and walked towards the workbench.

"And this'll be permanent, right?" she asked a little anxiously. "We won't switch whenever we receive a shock?"

"I've made a modification that should fix that issue. We'll test afterwards, of course."

"Well, here's hoping," she muttered under her breath.

"No need for that, Miss Ritchi. All my inventions work exactly as intended," he boasted.

"Oh yeah?" she deadpanned, "So you're in my body, why, exactly?"

"That was merely a testing-phase prototype which was prematurely activated through no fault of my own," he started defensively.

"No fault?!" she exclaimed. She started pacing agitatedly and used arm gestures to illustrate her points, "This whole thing is your fault! If it wasn't for you kidnapping me all the time and picking fights with Metro Man, that you never win, we wouldn't be in this mess!"

"And if he would have he-aided my warning then, as you put it, we wouldn't be in this mess, and I would just now be getting out of prison," he pinned the blame on someone else, like usual.

"Oh, so you're just going to ignore the kidnapping and picking fights thing, huh?" she asked bitterly with her hands on her too-small hips.

"Well, obviously I'm going to kidnap Metro Mahn's girlfriend for bait, Miss Ritchi. He's somewhat unreliable otherwise," Megamind explained with a smirk and in a condescending tone that really got under her skin while nonchalantly looking at his painted fingernails.

"Aaaggghhhh!" she yelled in frustration with her hands coming up to clench her hair which she momentarily forgot she didn't have at the moment.

"My, my, Miss Ritchi," he said in a smooth tone of voice, "We seem to be getting a little flustered today. Maybe it's time to switch to decaf."

She turned to face him quickly, which caused her cape to flare out, and pointed at him as she said excitedly, "My coffee drinking habits are entirely appropriate for a healthy woman my age!" Roxanne paused as she realized how weird that sounded in Megamind's voice, then started chuckling.

Megamind quirked an eyebrow at her, but she just shook her head and continued laughing.

"Sir? Miss Ritchi? Can you two move to a different part of the lair? This is delicate work here." Minion interrupted their discussion.

"Certainly, Minion," Megamind agreed. "Come, Miss Ritchi. Let's get out of Minion's way. The quicker he gets to work, the quicker you can go back to your dreary life."

Roxanne had managed to get her giggles under control and started to follow him out of the room. "Dreary?" she asked, all the heat from the earlier argument had evaporated. "I think that's one term that absholutely cannot be used to describe my life."

"It's all a matter of perspective, of course," he half-way conceded.

"And what is your perspective, Megamind?" she asked. Interview skills were warming up. He always likes to talk about himself, maybe she would get lucky.

"My perspective is that you wake up, go to work, then come back home. How boringly normal," he replied with a dismissive wave of his hand. They had reached his viewing room and he sat down in his swivel chair. She didn't count earlier, but she could swear that he had a half dozen strewn about the lair in different places.

"Hey!" she protested as she also found a seat, "My job can be pretty exciting. I get to be where the news is happening."

"You're welcome," he replied smugly.

"I didn't mean that," she retorted. "I meant 'this building's on fire,' or 'this place got robbed,' or 'Little Timmy fell down the well.'"

"Hmm," he thought and tapped on his chin. Then he replied while ticking off on his fingers, "You're welcome, you're welcome and… well, I don't think I've ever caused anyone to fall down a well. Probably due to their lack of numbers in urban areas more than anything else though," he shrugged.

She sighed and put her giant blue head in her hands. "You are impossible to talk to. Do you know that?"

"No I'm not. You're doing it right now," he pointed out matter of factly.

She raised her head and looked at him. "Again, not what I meant…" she told him.

"It seems to me like there would be a lot less confusion if you would simply say what you mean," he taunted.

"Good thing I'm not confused. Anyway, can we get anything setup or anything while Minion is finishing up?"

"Nonsense, Minion has it all under control. He better have anyway," he grumbled with a look in Minion's general direction. "Miss Ritchi, why don't you stay here and watch some televy-shion while I go check on Minion?" he stood with a distracted look on his face and headed back towards Minion and the machine.

Roxanne sighed and lifted the nearest remote. She turned towards the television and turned it on while fantasizing about getting back to normal soon.

-/\/\- -/\/\- -/\/\- -/\/\- -/\/\- -/\/\- -/\/\- -/\/\-

A few hours later and Roxanne was bored out of her mind. The TV was droning on about nothing she particularly cared about and she had already explored what she could of the lair. Not to mention that every time she decided to get up to snoop Megamind would come and either herd her back to the chair or escort her.

Just as she sighed again, she heard a triumphant yell from where her kidnappers were working. Curious, she got up and headed that way. She turned a corner and collided with Megamind as he came running down the hall causing them to both fall to the ground in a tangle of arms and legs.

Megamind lifted himself off of her slightly and gave her a manic grin that looked sort of terrifying on her facial features, "We're done, Miss Ritchi!" He hopped up and extended his hand to her, "Come on! Let's go test it!"

She ignored his hand and picked herself up from the floor. "You sure it's safe?" she asked warily.

"Yes, yes. Perfectly safe," he waved off as he headed back the way he came. She swallowed nervously and slowly followed. She didn't really have much of a choice but to trust that his invention would work the way he said it would. "Hurry along, Miss Ritchi!" she heard him call from ahead of her.

She entered the room they had been working in and saw Minion and Megamind running around the machine doing last minute adjustments. "I thought you said it was ready," she said.

"Ahh, Miss Ritchi, come stand here," Megamind pointed to a spot in front of the kidnapping chair. Once she walked over to the spot he indicated he then instructed her, "Ok, stay there and hold your cape. I'll be in the chair holding some rope and then Minion will throw the switch! Ready, Minion?" Megamind called as he jumped into the chair.

"You're not moving too fast?" Roxanne asked nervously at the same time Minion replied that he was ready. They ignored her and she heard a hum kick on and slowly start to get louder, like something was warming up. She saw Minion move to the back of the room beside a threatening looking level. Him backing away and his position by the lever wasn't helping her anxiety any. "Megamind?" she asked with a rising pitch to her borrowed voice.

Again she was ignored as she heard him ask Minion excitedly, "Power level?"

"Fourty-seven percent, Sir!" she heard Minion reply back. She couldn't believe it. They were enjoying this! She and Megamind were testing this machine they just finished cobbling together, and they were acting like kids on Christmas.

"Minion?" she tried. Maybe he would answer. Not that she knew exactly what she wanted to ask.

"Sixty-three percent, Sir," Minion answered distractedly while staring at a screen. She scowled in frustration and looked at Megamind. He was staring in Minion's direction though. How were these two so blasé about this?

"Seventy-eight percent," Minion reported. As his count increased, she was getting more and more unsure about this plan.

"Eighty-five percent."

Megamind finally looked at her and she could see excitement shining on his face. "Ready, Roxanne?" he asked with a wide smile and an unconscious nod. She could only stare at him in astonishment. How could he not be worried? And she was trying to remember if he ever used only her first name towards her before.

"Ninety-five percent power, Sir!" Minion said and placed a robotic hand on the huge lever beside him. "Ok, we're ready, Sir!"

If anything, Megamind's smile widened. "Throw the switch, Min-yon!" he yelled with a point in Minion's direction then started laughing exuberantly.

"Throwing the switch, Sir!" Minion yelled back and pulled the level. In reflex, Roxanne closed her eyes. She suddenly heard Megamind's laughing seamlessly switch between her voice and his. Her eyes flew open and she saw Megamind with his blue skin and black leather standing over her.

His laughing trailed off and he asked, "Miss Ritchi?" She nodded then he crowed, "We did it, Minion!"

"I knew you would, Sir!" Minion congratulated as he was shutting the machine down.

"Haha! Come, Miss Ritchi, come! Let's test the electric shocks and make sure we stay put!" He almost bounced to the other end of the room. She got out of her chair simply enjoying the novelty of leaving the kidnapping chair under her own power and headed over to him.

"Ok, ready for the shock test, Miss Ritchi?" Megamind asked as she got close to him while removing a glove.

"Sure, let's see if it works this time," she agreed. She was a little surprised that nothing had went wrong so far. He smirked at her then reached out. He touched something on the workbench then quickly drew his hand back. He quickly looked at her and raised an eyebrow.

"Miss Ritchi, it appears that we are cured," he told her. She finally allowed a smile to form.

"Really?" she asked in excited disbelief.

"Of course, Miss Ritchi! Was there any doubt that my superior intellect would solve this conundrum?" he asked. Apparently he decided to put his arrogant pants back on again. She gave him a look that spoke volumes.

"Can I go home now?" she asked flatly. Hopefully they mostly worked on this cure for them and she would have a week or so until the next kidnapping.

She noticed he deflated slightly before he responded, "Of course, Miss Ritchi. Minion will take you home. I trust you recall our previous non-disclosure agreement."

"Yeah, yeah. I won't say anything," she replied.

"Excellent. Until next time, Miss Ritchi," Megamind said. She was about to raise an eyebrow when she was hit in the face with a spray. Her vision rapidly narrowed and she felt her knees buckle. She felt her back contact something then everything went black.

"Take her home, Minion," Megamind told his friend needlessly. Minion was already on the same page if the Knock-out Spray was any indication. "Oh, be sure to take that bag of her stuff with her."

"Yes, Sir," Minion replied and started to turn away.

"Oh, and Minion?" Megamind started. Minion turned to face him. "Thanks," he said simply.

Minion smiled at him in understanding, "Anytime, Sir." He shifted Roxanne to over his shoulder and moved to the invisible car.

Megamind watched silently as Roxanne and her stuff was placed in the car and then as Minion pulled out. He was glad that his invention worked, but he was also slightly disappointed. This was the most interaction he had ever had with Roxanne that didn't involve his plans to defeat Metro Man in some way or another. And even though she was aggravated at him about the accident, it was nice having her around when he wasn't worried about her poking her nose in where it didn't belong. He smiled wistfully as he recalled some of their more relaxed moments. He knew he would replay his memories of the two of them during the past week in his head repeatedly. He knew this experience was probably the closest he would ever get to being social with Roxanne.

And he fully intended to treasure every minute of their time together because, unless something unexpected happened, it was the closest they would ever be.

The End

2nd AN: And that's the end of this little fic. I hope you enjoyed. Thanks to everyone who made it this far, and your reviews are *much* appreciated.