AN: Just a short one shot for a change of pace c: inspired by listening to "Bring Me to Life" by Evanescence. I don't own anything besides my plot!

Megamind felt dead inside. Wait- did being dead hurt? He supposed not, so repaired his previous statement. Megamind felt like he was constantly at the edge of death inside. It was a double-edged sword, this lingering inner pain. It inspired many evil inventions, but it was becoming increasingly harder to stay in character. He had a reputation as an over dramatic yet pragmatic, prideful, evil, genius supervillain, and he wasn't about to let anyone, not even Minion, see what was under that mask.

He felt worse at night. He was an insufferable insomniac and it gave him too much time to think in the dead silence of darkness. It was fifteen past midnight now, and Megamind was still wide awake, pondering his inner demons while slouched in his favourite leather chair. He wondered what the point was. His parents had saved him just to be sent to a planet where no one wanted him and no one cared for him. Well, no one besides Minion. He cared because it was his duty to care. He sighed and massaged his increasingly wrinkly forehead. Stress had sucked all his youth from him, though he gained a bit of it back while he played the part of Megamind. What was the point? He was the last of his kind and had no purpose besides being a pest to the city. They didn't even realize how much true evil he kept at bay because of his presence in Metrocity. What was the point? He felt like punching something, which was strange for him. He never usually felt violent. He needed to take his emotions out on something, so he padded out of his planning room and into his "training room." It was where he kept his workout equipment, fighting dummies, and wooden practice weapons. Today, he felt like punching something, so he slid a pair of boxing gloves on and attacked a punching bag with an angry yell. He didn't hold back, even though it felt like he was bruising his knuckles. The two-hundred pound bag swayed heavily every time he hit it. Megamind kept hitting and hitting until his energy was spent. He rested his sweaty forehead on the bag and sank to his knees. His rage, once spent of energy, had mutated into something akin to despair. Megamind didn't cry. But the man behind the mask sure did. His body racked with sobs, his thin shoulders shook. He threw off the boxing gloves and hugged his arms tightly, digging his short nails into his skin and drawing into himself as far as he could.

"What's the point?!" He cried loudly; his voice reverberated in the cement wall. The person behind the mask was still not a man and certainly didn't care about dignity and pride when he was alone. Inside, he was still a rejected, lost little kid.

Across the city, unbeknownst to him, someone else wondered what the point was as well. Roxanne did not sleep well these days. She had no friends- they all ditched her after she became a big time reporter. They had all thought that she was sleeping with Metro Man to advance her career. They were wrong on all accounts, but how was she to prove that?

Her mother wouldn't talk to her. She thought her daughter was not only sleeping with the superhero, but she thought she was inciting battles between good and evil by sleeping with both sides. She didn't understand why everyone thought she was a slut. But it didn't matter now, not while she was laying on her couch with a trusty bottle of Jack Daniel's in her hand and a few over the counter sleeping pills in the other. She just wanted blessed sleep. She wanted the world to fade away for a little while. What is the point? She thought sleepily, her eyelids fluttering. What's the point of living with absolutely no one to share it with. What was the point of being a top reporter when it only made people hate her? What the fuck was the point? She passed out seconds after she put her whiskey on the coffee table.

Megamind was worn out. He knew his eyes were likely puffy and red, but he cared little. He trudged out of his training room after he had ran out of tears to finally let escape. He'd run out of curses to fling at the skies for giving him this fate. All he'd ever wanted was a little acceptance. Even if one person accepted him as normal, it would be enough. He sighed heavily at that thought. He'd never be normal, and he knew it. Oh, how he knew it, he thought bitterly. He shuffled into his bedroom and tossed his body onto the bed carelessly. He didn't even bother to turn his head out of the pillows. This night had exhausted him and now he was finally able to sleep.

Everyone knew that Megamind was incredibly strong willed, persistent, and tougher than a nail. Until the day that he wasn't. That day had been a shocker for everyone involved, especially Roxanne. She never imagined that he was anything but evil. She was surprised at her own emotions. Wasn't he just her kidnapper? A fool who didn't know when to quit? She had admired his persistence until the day he lost it. He cracked. She prayed and cried for him. She hadn't prayed since she was a teenager, but now it seemed appropriate.

The day that Megamind cracked started out normally. The air was bitterly cold despite the bright sun- it was December after all. Roxanne remembers everything that happened that day with minute detail. It was a slow day in the news room until she looked out the window of her tiny office and saw people running, a huge crowd forming around Metro Tower, Channel 8's neighboring skyscraper. She nabbed Hal and pushed her way through the crowd. The crowd of sheep were all staring up and pointing, some laughing and smiling. How anyone could be happy about this, she would never understand. She looked where everyone else had and gasped. There, at the very top of Metro Tower, was a black and blue clad individual who looked very different without his cape. She recognized him immediately and had to choke down a scream. What the hell was he doing? She couldn't tell because he looked so tiny from the ground.

Roxanne picked up her pace. The shoved people out of her way and ordered them around. She lost Hal, but at this point she didn't care too much. She had a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach, so she took off her heels, jumped in the elevator, and rode it as high as she could. She ran the rest of the way up on the emergency stairs and soon busted open the hatch on the roof.

"What the fuck are you doing?" She shouted over the wind. She gripped the antenna tightly with one arm. Megamind was looking down at the crowd, much too close to the edge for Roxanne's comfort. He turned to look at her with a sad smile and a pair of dull emerald eyes.

"I'm about to make everyone very happy. Consider it my birthday present to me." Birthday? She shook her head.

"They're just a bunch of mindless drones, remember? Get over here. You're not going to make anyone down there happy. Grab my hand- you'll make Minion happy and.. You'll make me happy." He acted as if he didn't hear her. She was terrified right now. She was pretty sure what was running through that big, apparently empty, skull of his, and she didn't like it one bit.

"I want my mommy," he barely said loud enough to hear. He looked down again and took a small step further toward the edge.

"Don't you dare do this to me!" Roxanne yelled. "I won't ever forgive you if you make all those idiots happy!" He looked at her, confusion starting to give him doubts. "They're awful! Don't do this. Things can be better, Megamind." She didn't quite understand why she was so against the death of the villain, but when she thought of it, she shuddered.

"How will they ever be better, Roxanne? We'll keep doing the same charade until I die of old age. I'm tired of fighting everyone."

"Then don't! You don't have to fight me! You and I, we can.."

"We can what? I'm the bad guy. I'm the one who kidnaps you every week or so. I'm the one who puts your life on the line every time." He had turned around to face her completely. He was almost unreadable except for his eyes. His eyes were desperate for something, someone to hold him back from the deep end of despair.

"I trust you, Megamind. I have not once ever been hurt in one of your kidnappings. Get inside and we can talk some more, okay?" She held out her hand to him, pleading. It wasn't enough, and she knew it. He was torn in two.

"Megamind," she begged. "I will do anything if you get inside right now. Hey, hey, is the position of Evil Queen still open?" She tried to joke, sounding more scared than laughing. Now he really looked confused.

"Why-"

"Just fucking get in here so I can hug you, okay?!" She shouted, taking a chance to grab his hand and yank him towards her. He couldn't resist. Angry, Roxanne was strong enough to break Metro Man's nose (at least that's what she thought). She pushed Megamind inside first and slammed the hatch shut behind her. She flung her arms around his shoulders and sobbed.

"Don't you ever do that to me again!" She shrieked. He warily put his cold, ungloved hands on her waist.

"I'm sorry," he whispered. "I didn't think anyone would-"

"Well you thought wrong, mister! I care. Minion cares. Your parents didn't send you here just for you to off yourself because life sucks!" He winced but knew that she was right. He was sure that somewhere in Evil Heaven they were cheering on Roxanne. "You are going back to the lair, and I am coming with you."

"Why?" He couldn't comprehend what possible reason Roxanne Richi of all people would care... about him. She was a little bit frustrated.

"I don't know why! I just... The thought of you.. doing that.. I hate it. It hurts. We can talk about this once we're some place less public,'okay?"

Roxanne had no idea what she was doing. All she knew was that people were mad at her for stopping him. In a way, she didn't blame them. They thought Megamind was pure, unadulterated, evil. She knew otherwise. They threw things at her when she dragged Megamind out the front door and towards the not so invisible car. He was like a child. He did whatever she told him to and didn't resist for a second. She pushed Megamind into the passenger's seat and scrambled over to the driver's seat. She had to duck for a water bottle flung at her head but got hit in the stomach with someone's shoe. This was bad. She started up the car and pealed out of there, only stopping a few miles away to make the car invisible and ask for directions. He gave them to her, still looking straight ahead. Where was the Megamind she knew? The one that was lively, funny, prideful, and brilliant? This was a shell of the villain she knew.

Roxanne parked outside the evil lair and pulled Megamind inside.

"Minion?" She shouted. They heard a loud crash and Minion came running around the corner looking very frantic. His face fell into one of relief when he saw his Sir.

"Oh thank the Evil Gods!" He pulled both of them into his gorilla arms and hugged the breath out of them. "Miss Richi, I do believe I owe you a great deal today," he said after he put them back down. "I was out doing shopping and came home to find Sir missing, a note, and the news telling me that he was on top of Metro Tower. You saved Sir!" Roxanne still held Megamind's unresponsive hand.

"I don't think we're out of the woods yet, Minion. He hasn't said anything since I got him out of there." She looked up at him worriedly. She started walking further into the lair, dragging Megamind along with her. She pushed him down onto a black leather sofa and looked at him.

His eyes were glazed over and he didn't even blink. Minion ran into the kitchen and came back with ice cream and spoons, but no one touched it. Not even Megamind, the biggest sugar fiend in Metro City. He just sat there.

"Megamind?" Roxanne murmured, brushing his cheek gently with her thumb. He still sat there. Not one to be deterred, she did the one thing that she knew without a doubt would snap him out of it. She kissed him full on the lips. Sure enough, his eyes dilated and widened and his hands fell on her back to bring her closer. Minion blushed and backed into the kitchen slowly. He knew his friend liked Miss Richi but he never thought they'd start making out on the living room couch after he almost threw himself from the tallest building in the city. On Sir's birthday. He busied himself with Sir's birthday cake and ignored the two on the couch.

The two on the couch had drawn closer- Roxanne sat in Megamind's lap and he had one hand threaded through her hair, the other on the small of her back where her shirt had ridden up.

Eventually they parted for air, both of their chests heaving.

"Am I.. Am I dreaming?" He asked breathlessly.

"Consider me your birthday present," she joked.

The next morning, after Roxanne had fallen asleep on the couch, Minion insisted that Megamind go to an institution to make sure that he would not try something that stupid ever again. It had taken a lot of bargaining, but he agreed to go consensually if Roxanne really would consider taking his offer for the position of 'evil queen.' She had kissed him on the cheek and said,

"I start the day you get back, okay? So go hurry and get better. I'll be waiting here for you, I promise."

The moment he had packed a bag and gotten in the car with Minion, she started praying. To God or Megamind's 'Evil Gods,' she didn't really care. She just wanted to never see him like that again. She'd always had a little bit of a crush on him, but this whole... mess... had made her think that her feelings were a little stronger than that. So she waited patiently for her Evil King to return to her.