Disclaimer: Megamind isn't mine, no money is being made - this is just a fanfiction to try and answer some questions that have been gnawing at my ankles since I saw the movie…

1) Winning Isn't Everything

"We won, we won!", exclaimed Megamind, ignoring everything but the woman in his arms as he swung Roxanne around victoriously. Still, when you're a super-villain, you have to stay vigilant to survive; instinct took over as the crowd began to close in from all sides. He dropped the reporter and unholstered his blaster in one fluid move. "Ah! Get back, you savages!" he hissed, as menacingly as he could manage after the beating he took. He glared at the mob as he swung the weapon from side to side; in his current condition he calculated he could only take out five or six before sheer numbers overwhelmed him, but that might buy Roxanne enough time to escape.

"Sorry, sorry!" interjected Miss Ritchi hurriedly, grabbing Megamind's blaster and, to his amazement, forcing it to point harmlessly down towards the pavement. What was she, suicidal?

"He's just not used to positive feedback!"

What? 'Positive feedback'? Since when was a lynch mob 'positive feedback'? Megamind mentally rewound the last few minutes of his peripheral vision as he glowered menacingly at the crowd. OK, maybe she had a point; up until the moment he pulled his blaster in 'self-defense', the people had looked pretty…happy. Some had even been clapping and cheering…for him.

Roxanne leaned forward and stage-whispered into Megamind's ear, "It would help if you settled down..."

"Oh. Right." The blue ex-villain's eyes narrowed suspiciously as he came to a decision, then he slowly straightened, making his gun-arm visibly relax as he reholstered his weapon.

The uneasy silence that followed was finally broken by the hesitant clearing of a throat. Megamind's eyes immediately focused on the source of the sound, then widened perceptively as he recognized the Mayor who was slowly inching forward, hand extended. He wasn't sure what was more surprising; the fact that the mayor was making the first conciliatory gesture, or the fact that the man hadn't completely abandoned the city hours ago.

"If you'll allow me...I'd like to shake your hand." The pudgy, balding fellow shook visibly as he continued to move forward, slowly and carefully, faced twisted into a grimace that clearly expected pain and rejection.

Megamind blinked, understanding the feeling well. 'He has guts,' he thought with respect. For a moment the whole city held its breath; then he slowly and silently extended his own hand in reply. With measured steps the two men approached each other, finally meeting halfway and very formally shaking hands. An unrestrained cheer went up once again, but this time the crowd was careful not to approach their touchy new hero. The mayor, finally smiling, released the handshake and joined the applause.

Roxanne moved forward to gently link her arm through Megamind's as he stared around the city center, stunned. "They...like me?" he questioned under his breath, tones so low that even the reporter, standing at his elbow, had to strain to hear him.

She reached up with her free hand, gently grasped his chin, and turned his face so that he could only see her. "Yes, they do." Pulling his face down to hers, she gently kissed him before continuing, "And I do, too."

They smiled at each other for a moment, once again oblivious to the rest of the world. The surrounding crowd faded from view, and all he could see was the tired, dirty, triumphant face grinning back at him.

Wait a second. Literally, all he could see was her face; his peripheral vision was graying out. Oh, this was not good. He suddenly became aware of the hitch in his chest, and the difficulty he was having catching a full breath. 'All right, guess I have a few cracked ribs…again…,' he groaned silently to himself. He'd also clearly broken his right hand when he hit Tighten - fortunately not so badly that he couldn't use it in the fight, but it was certainly throbbing now. His right hip ached abominably where it had struck the wall, and his face was swelling where Tighten hit it to send him into the aforementioned wall. There might actually be internal bleeding; Tighten had really tried to kill him. He'd been a fool to assume the man would have the same morals as Metro Man and pull his punches. Heck, he'd been a fool to assume any morals at all.

Roxanne became concerned as Megamind's eyes widened and his smile faded away. "Um...Roxanne?," he whispered hesitantly. "Could you do me a favor?"

She was alarmed at how pale he suddenly appeared. "Of course! Anything."

"Don't let me fall in front of all these people..."

The blue alien's eyes slid shut as he staggered forward, staying upright only with her support and sheer force of will. Minion began having hysterics in the fountain as the Mayor, with uncanny perception, moved to support him on his other side.

"If I can just...get to Evil Lair..." whispered the collapsing alien. It was the last thing he managed before his surroundings faded to black.

The next few minutes were a flurry of activity. Someone produced a large Tupperware to carry Minion as the mayor had his aide summon his limo. There was no shortage of volunteers to help maneuver the unconscious hero into the back of the spacious car, laying him flat on the bench seat. Minion was placed on the floorboard next to him, making sure the container was wedged in place to keep the water from sloshing out. Once they were settled, Roxanne clambered in and settled on the floorboard as well, where she could keep an eye on them both.

The mayor paused at the door and leaned inside. "I'll have my driver take you wherever you want, but I'd better stay here and coordinate things." He chuckled, "Also, reformed or not, I don't think he'd appreciate it much if you took the mayor of Metro City to his secret hideout." Closing the door, he went to give instructions to the driver. After she was sure he was gone, Roxanne keyed the speaker and gave the driver the address of an intersection about 3 blocks from the lair; she figured they would leave the driver there, drive themselves to the base, have the brainbots carry Megamind inside, then return the car. That way, the nice man wouldn't have to experience the 'forget-me-stick'.

"Sir! Sir, speak to me," demanded Minion, fairly leaping out of the plastic container in an effort to reach his charge. Megamind lay unmoving, a dark purple bruise blossoming on one cheek, swelling the eye partially shut. His breaths came in little stuttered gasps, as if he were having a hard time moving air into his lungs. He coughed weakly, and a small trail of dark blue fluid, presumably blood, ran out of the corner of his mouth.

Roxanne suppressed her own panic and tried to calm down Megamind's assistant; she needed Minion to keep his head if the mad scientist was going to survive. "Minion, I want you to concentrate. Hal gave him quite a beating, but Metro Man has probably done worse in the past. Where does he go for help? A normal hospital clearly won't do."

"Whenever he was sick growing up, the warden just had him sent to the prison infirmary…" began the fish.

"Wait a second….what? He grew up in prison?" Roxanne was flabbergasted.

Minion was confused. "Well…sure? That's where our escape pod landed, after all. Where else would he have grown up?"

Forcing herself to table the issue for the time being, she concentrated on more pressing needs. "How about as an adult? Whenever you aren't in prison?"

"Whenever he was hurt bad enough to need help, Metro Man always took him to prison. I don't know what they did there; I was always left outside to initiate his next plan. If he was healthy enough to escape, he didn't need medical help, so it was never an issue." Roxanne had never imagined that a fish could cry, but she could swear that Minion was tearing up. His voice cracked as he continued, "I guess Metro Man was holding back; they never really wanted to hurt each other. It was always more like a game, or contest, rather than life-or-death. That's why the Observatory was such a surprise." No doubt about it; the sidekick was openly crying now. "Tighten wanted him dead."

Roxanne caught her lip between her teeth as she considered their options. Megamind was hurt, badly, maybe worse than he had ever been in his life. He needed professional medical help that was familiar with his case. There was no choice - she had to take him back to jail. She picked up the car phone and began dialing.

TBC...