Her own eyes widened. Her mouth moved like she was saying something and she pressed her hand against the glass. Megamind reached down to the side and pressed a button. The lid opened. Slowly the woman sat up, her eyes never leaving Megaminds. Then with a wide smile and a sound that was half sob and half laugh, she swung her legs over the side of the coffin-thingy and threw her arms around Megaminds shoulders in a hug that knocked him backwards a few steps.

"En voi usko täällä!" she gasped. She pulled back to look at him, a grin that looked eerily similar to Megaminds spreading across her face and revealing pearly white teeth, before looking around at all the other coffin-things. The brainbots had moved enough to reveal another blue body lying in another coffin. The woman tried to move forward, but her legs were unused to standing and buckled.

Megamind caught her on one side. Wayne was at her other in an instant, touching her shoulder to steady her.

"Kiitos!" she laughed up at Megamind. "Taidan vain ..."

She turned that beaming face up to Metro Man and froze.

Her smile dropped into a sudden glare, though her eyes flickered with an all consuming fear, and she moved with the speed of someone used to running, throwing herself away from him and against Megamind, sending them staggering backward.

"Pysy poissa! Et vahingoita meitä ei enää!" she snapped, arms spread wide.

Wayne, looking surprised, stepped back and held up his hands in a placating gesture.

"Whoa, hey, I'm not gonna hurt you…"

"Vihollinen! Pysy etäällä!"

Wayne glanced helplessly over at Minion and Roxanne. "A little help?"

Megamind shrugged. "Don't look at me, I only speak eight languages."

Before Roxanne could process that, Minion stepped forward and began speaking, haltingly.

"Se on… umm…okei, hän …. Oh whats the word…on ystävä? Yes, that's what it is." Minion pointed to Wayne. "Ystävä."

"What did she say?" Roxanne asked.

"She thinks he's an enemy and told him to stay back. I'm telling her he's a friend."

"Ystävä?" asked the young woman, pointing an accusing finger at Wayne. "Ei, ei ystävä."

"Hän on ystävä. Rauhoitu." Minion's tone was gentle but firm.

Slowly, the young woman's tense posture relaxed. She still glared warily at Wayne, but no longer looked like she was going to skewer him if he moved. Instead she decisively turned her back on him and spoke to Megamind.

"Eelin." She said, placing a hand against her chest.

"Megamind." He said, repeating the motion.

The newly named woman smiled, stepped back, and touched her hand to her forehead, inclining her head and bending from the waist slightly.

Megamind repeated the action.

"Meg-a-mind." Eelin tried out the name, the syllables tripping on her tongue, a fluid accent muddling the words. She smiled at Megamind.

"On hyvä nähdä, pikkuveli."

…

Having dealt with enough weirdness already for the day, Roxanne asked Wayne to fly her home. Megamind was far too busy trying to learn Eelin's language to pay any more attention to her or Wayne.

They stayed silent until Wayne dropped off Roxanne at her apartment.

"Roxy?"

"Don't call me that, and yes?"

"Do you really think those people are Megaminds species?"

It hurt to say it, but Roxanne nodded. "I think so."

Wayne looked almost hurt. "Why do you think she was so scared of me?"

Roxanne didn't have an answer to that, so she shrugged and pulled an excuse out of her butt.

"This is all so new to her, it must be terrifying. You must look like someone who maybe is her enemy. Or maybe Megaminds people think anyone who looks different from them are enemies."

Her mind flashed to some of the things people said about Megamind, and she had to bite her tongue to keep in her next sentence.

Rather like humans, really.

"Maybe." Wayne didn't seem comforted. "Thanks, Roxy."

She resisted punching him only so she wouldn't break her hand.

"Wayne?"

"Yes?"

"You won't tell, will you?"

A pause. Then…

"No, I won't. But I'm seeing him tomorrow."

Roxanne grinned.

"Me too."

…

The next day, Roxanne was absolutely hopeless at work. Luckily, it didn't show on camera how distracted she was, though somehow Hal noticed.

And apparently thought she was distracted because of him, because he kept running his hand through his hair and winking at her after the newscast. He actually got his hand stuck in his hair and was trying to free it when Roxanne left.

When she got to Megaminds Lair, she walked in and was instantly hit with two small blue blurs, which solidified into two small children, a boy and a girl, around six and five years old. They stared up at her with two wide pairs of eyes (one bright silver, the other a heart-melting shade of gold) and spoke in high, fluttery voices like a pair of robins.

"Kuka sinä olet?"

"Olet natti!"

"Oletko ystävä?"

"Oletko kuuro?"

"Whoa!" Roxanne said, laughing despite herself and holding up her hands. Remembering what Eelin had done yesterday, she pressed her hand to her chest. "Roxanne."

She held out her hand to the children, trying not to feel too 'me-Tarzan-you-Jane' as she did so.

"Paaso." Said the boy, pressing his own hand to his chest. He pointed to the smaller girl beside him. "Paavali." He grinned and slung a skinny arm around the little girl's giant head, his silver eyes shining up at Roxanne. "Sisko!"

"Veli!" pronounced the little girl, giggling and shoving him away.

"Lapset!" called a familiar voice. Eelin was coming toward them. She smiled when she saw Roxanne.

"Ollo!" she said in heavily accented English. "Meg-a-mind 'as been…how you say…teaching me your English. I am Eelin. You are?"

The children answered for her. "Roxanne! Roxanne!"

"Come, then, Roxanne." Eelin laughed. "There is much to show, and Meg-a-mind 'as been wishing for you to come."

Feeling dazed, Roxanne followed her.

…

She found herself in the part of the Lair from yesterday. The coffin-things were still spread across the floor, but no one was lying in them and the lids were all open. Half-a dozen blue people, all dressed in black, were milling around, talking in soft voices in that strange language. Paaso grabbed hold of Paavali and ran to a tall man with bright green eyes like Megaminds, calling "Isä, Isä!" Paavali was scooped up off the floor and Paaso clung to the man's leg.

Megamind was talking with two other blue people, speaking haltingly in that strange language.

"Nimeni… on… Megamind?" he said. One shook his head.

"Ei, nimesi on…" he started, then noticed Eelin and Roxanne, standing shyly behind her.

"Ah, sinun täytyy olla Roxanne! Olemme kuulleet paljon sinulle!" he called, standing and making his way towards them. Megamind saw them, flushed pinkish, and tried to jump to his feet, ending up sliding over to the other blue woman who had been helping him with his language. He ended up knocking her over into a tangle of blue limbs on the floor.

The other blue man took no notice. Like Eelin, he too was beat up: his large blue head was covered in lavender bruises, white bandages wrapped around his right hand and ankle, left knee and bicep. He was limping. He stopped in front of Roxanne, touched his fingers to his forehead, and bowed slightly.

"I am Maksim." He said, this time in English.

Roxanne's composure stayed intact as long as she kept her mouth shut. She managed a nod.

All the other blue people gathered around Roxanne, studying her with polite curiosity.

The shades of their eyes made Roxanne catch her breath. Emerald, violet, silver, and gold, in bright colors the human eye could never hope to achieve, all wide and scarily intelligent. They all shared a racial similarity to Megamind, mainly the shade of their skin and absurdly skinny bodies. They all had angular features. None had hair on their heads, but the men who sported facial hair all had black beards, mustaches, or goatees.

There were certainly differences, in the jewel-toned colors of their eyes, in the way they held themselves, in the way their features were arranged.

All of them, except for Megamind, looked like death warmed over despite their smiles and chatter. Dark circles lay under their eyes and bruises and bandages littered their bodies. Their blue skin pulled taught over their bones, showing lines of ribs and wrists and cheekbones beneath.

They looked like refugees.

"What happened to you?" Roxanne half whispered, then winced at her immediate mental slap.

(you don't say stuff like that Roxanne whats the matter with you)

Smiles dropped, and heads turned. For a long moment, everything was silent.

Then,

"I suppose we had better show you."