Hal shrieked as a glow was extruded from his nose into the gun, filling it with golden light. Roxanne let out the breath she hadn't realized she had been holding as Hal shrank back to his normal size, taking Megamind and her with him. As soon as his body stopped glowing he seemed to pass out, for which she was thankful.

Megamind, for his part, landed on his stomach with a strangled, gurgling cry and went rigid. Roxanne rolled him over quickly, pulling her hands back just as suddenly when she felt his ribs move under her hands and he whimpered in pain, biting his lip and squeezing his eyes shut.

"Oh God..." she whispered, bringing a hand to her lips. Blood oozed out of the corner of Megamind's mouth, and not from a split lip. The gurgling noise was blood in one of his lungs.

"Oh God," she breathed again. "Someone help!"

Metroman, behind her, stood very still. Voices were around them, and God no one was helping him, why was no one helping him? Roxanne wondered frantically.

"Move it!" yelled a vaguely familiar voice, and suddenly there were large, strong hands picking her up and moving her. For a split second her mind jumped back to Hal, and how he had handled her like a toy. She shrieked and kicked, turning and just barely avoiding breaking a fist on Metroman's abs. He looked hurt at her reaction, but said nothing, holding his hands up. She looked back at Megamind's broken body, not even noticing the police that had come out of hiding to drag Hal's unconscious body away.

The old woman, lead by the businessman, had brushed aside the crowd that was gathering, and they were crouched over Megamind's form, talking to each other. Another policeman was trying to keep the crowd back. Megamind had turned very pale and stopped even the twitching of his jaw.

Roxanne felt a hand touch her good shoulder very softly, tugging her against a spandex-covered chest. She quivered and burst into tears, burying her face in Metroman's chest and soaking his already damp suit. It felt like the world had just ended, like she had fallen off the edge and was lost in a void bereft of the strange, strange man she had fallen in love with.

Another hand gently touched her back, pulling her from Metroman's protective arms. She squirmed, trying to stay with him, but the hands turned her around and she found the vague features of the businessman - Holt, his name was Holt - swimming behind her tear filled eyes. "Miss, miss, listen. He'll be okay, but we need Metroman to make sure that he will be, okay? Do you understand?" He spoke very firmly.

"He's alive?" she choked, registering his nod. With a sob she wrapped her good arm around this perfect stranger and clung to him, shaking violently from head to toe. Behind them the old woman was talking to Metroman, patting his hand as she gave him instructions. They got a smooth board from somewhere, since the destruction was too much for an ambulance to get through, and positioned it under Megamind, strapping him into place with a street sign pole, a snapped telephone wire, whatever they could find. Under Iris' strict instruction Metroman picked up the bundled Megamind with extreme care and prepared to take flight. With Metroman doing the work it only took a minute to get done.

"Wait! Take Minion with you!" Roxanne shouted, recalling. She pointed frantically at the fountain, where the top tier was still intact and able to hold water for at least a quick trip across the city. "Tell him he had nanobots already!"

Metroman nodded at her, retrieved the alien fish and the makeshift bowl, and set off across the city.

Holt and Iris bundled her away from the curious bystanders after that, with the help of what police were left, and a few good Samaritans that were present. They walked a little ways, before Holt saw her foot and insisted on picking her up. He was short, but surprisingly strong for a businessman. They continued like that for a little while before Holt handed her back to an officer. Roxanne had no idea how far they went, but she was traded between arms twice and when they stopped Iris was adamant they keep her warm and send one of their party for help. Roxanne curled up against the old woman and shivered, cold sweat dripping down her back.

The rest was a blur to Roxanne, and later she was told that 'acute stress reaction' had settled in. At some point she may have fallen asleep or blacked out, she wasn't sure which, but everything just faded for her.

When she woke up she was in a hospital room. Nearby Iris was dozing on the other bed in the room, and Holt was watching the door with a distinctly suspicious expression.

"H-hey..." she ventured, sitting up painfully and noting that her shoulder was in a sling.

Holt looked up and his severe expression was replaced with a smile. "Oh good, you're awake. My wife was just about to come in and switch me shifts. You're a popular lady right now, and probably not in the good way."

Roxanne touched her free hand to her brow and rubbed at her eyes.

"What'd I miss?" Somehow having strangers, at least these particular strangers, in her room didn't bother her. Not right now anyway.

"You'll probably be glad to know Megamind is alive. Probably still out, they have him hopped up on a bunch of pain meds right now, but he's alive," Holt drawled, casting a glance at the door and leaving his post.

Roxanne felt tears in her eyes again but wiped them away with the back of a hand. "Can I go see him?"

Holt shifted, frowning over his shoulder at the doorway. "I don't know if that's such a good idea..."

"Hey, looks like you're awake!" exclaimed a voice from the doorway.

Roxanne managed a weak smile. Metroman, sans costume, was standing in the hallway bearing two vases of flowers.

"Metroman, you've come to rescue me, finally."

"Wayne Scott," he said, placing one of the vases on the cabinet by the window. Holt stepped aside with a nod, taking up his post again.

"Wayne," Roxanne repeated softly. "Thank you for coming back."

"Thank you for getting my head out of my ass," he returned just as softly.

"Hey, we all get that sometimes," she tried, lamely, to pad the regret she sensed in him.

"Not everyone gets people killed," Metroman - Wayne - swallowed thickly. "Have you been to see him yet?"

"No, but somehow I expect I'm not going to be allowed to for a while yet." Roxanne looked up at the beeping machines around her mournfully.

"You know...Just this once...I think I can bend the rules, just for you," Wayne smiled slyly.

"I want no part in this," Holt called from the doorway. Roxanne and Wayne shared a giddy laugh as they unhooked her from the machines and wheeled her out the door before the nurses could get to the room.

It made her feel like a teenager taking the car out for a spin in secret, the way they snuck down the halls. They hid behind corners, strolled casually in corridors, and bolted for elevators like there was a fire behind them. Roxanne laughed until she had tears in her eyes, just because it felt so good to be alive and sharing in that experience with a friend.

The laughter slowed, then stopped as he was wheeling her into the hushed ICU. They passed a few doorways before entering one room in particular. Flowers and gifts were strewn around the window, outside by the doorway. Roxanne felt a lump in her throat at the sight of it all; the messages, the get well wishes. The city was praising him. If only this had been the case before he had to get himself destroyed; if only he'd always been good.

But it was no use thinking of 'what if's, when there was only 'what is'. She stared at his quiet form, the machinery around him keeping his body stable while it repaired itself.

Minion floated, a little tilted, in a tank set up nearby. He noticed them and perked up, but didn't say anything, just nodded at them while Metroman - Wayne - wheeled her over to Megamind's bedside. Wayne quietly excused himself when she reached out and laid her hand over Megamind's blue, bandaged one.

She wasn't planning on letting go, not for a long time.