I do not own the Despicable Me franchise.

If you haven't seen the sequel, there's a bit of a spoiler in the author's note at the end of this chapter. You've been warned!

Family

The Gru household was far from peaceful. But it seemed to have finally succumbed to utter chaos.

The girls had finished eating their breakfast and the family descended into the lab to assist in the giant task of doing laundry and replacing overalls. The second the tube reached the underground facilities they were greeted by the sight of dozens of naked minions waltzing around.

"Whoa, whoa!" Gru cried. "Where are your clothes?!"

The nearest minion turned to him, mystified. "Tim dias uoy detnaw su ot teg dir fo esoht kcalb smrofinu."

"Yes, I did, but yoo were supposed to wait until yoo got replacement overalls!"

"Tim t'ndid llet su taht."

Gru slapped his forehead. Margo, Edith and Agnes giggled madly at the kernel-shaped minions, most of whom were not at all embarrassed to be seen without any clothes.

"Do yoo have any backups?" Gru asked impatiently.

Peter blinked up at Gru. "Fi I dah spukcab, I dluow eb gniraew meht."

"Nobody een dis place takes care of dere t'ings!" Gru threw his arms in the air and stormed off, the girls hurrying behind him. "Eet's no wonder I'm always out of money!"

Sensing Gru was in a ranting mood, Margo quickly excused herself and went to find Dr. Nefario. Edith grabbed Agnes' arm and dragged her away. Agnes frowned up at her sister. "Where are we going?"

"To see if any of the minions on washing duty need our help," Edith grumbled. "I'd rather be around them then Gru when he's irritated about something."

"Okay," Agnes said cheerfully. "Can I pour the soap?"

"Sure, why not?"

Gru had not noticed the disappearance of his daughters and set his eyes on Tim, who was helping Phil pile the black denim into large metal roll-away bins. The two had found some spare pairs of the familiar jean overalls with the G insignia stitched in the middle of their small chests.

"I t'ink yoo forgot to mention somet'ing to de others," Gru said dryly.

Tim and Phil exchanged confused glances. "Tahw?"

"For dose who didn't have backup uniforms to wait for dem," Gru stressed, jabbing a finger at the clothes-less minions scurrying in the backyard, helping with the loading of El Macho's wardrobe into the metal bins.

Phil shrugged. "Yrros. Tub s'ti on gib laed."

"For yoo, maybe. Do yoo t'ink I want to see yoo guys mooneeng me all day?"

Tim let out a snort of laughter. "Yes, yes, very funny." Gru rolled his eyes with a smirk on his face. "Alright, let's get dis done as soon as possible so we can cover up your banana butts. Who's maneeng de washers and dryers?"

"Carl, Dom, Heathcliff dna Terrence era gnipleh daol ruo sehtolc otni eht srehsaw. George, Danny, Morrison dna Kent era gnittup meht ni eht reyrd."

"And I'm guesseeng dat de ones weareeng Gru Laboratory overalls are de only ones who kept a spare clean pair," Gru observed, noting that the minions who had changed from the black overalls into their regular ones happened to be the most responsible of the bunch.

Tim and Phil shrugged in response.

Gru shook his head. "Fine, fine, keep up de good work. I want dat filth een a blazing pile by sunset-and I want everyone een dere uniforms by den as well."

Tim and Phil saluted their boss before continuing on with their work. Gru started off and almost tripped over Donny, who was stumbling along carrying a large pile of black overalls. Gru arched an eyebrow at the jar that was firmly encased over the minion's head. "Donny?"

"Boss?"

"Why do yoo have dat t'ing on your head?"

"S'ti kcuts," Donny replied.

"Okay…"Gru said slowly. "Do yoo want me to get eet off?"

"Nah. M'i doog."

"Are yoo sure?" Gru asked, mystified. The minions were known to have strange tastes in fashion, but jars for hats were just ridiculous even by their standards.

"Ti sekam a doog temleh." Donny tossed the overalls into the nearest metal laundry bin. "Hctaw."

Donny walked over to his friend Carl and slugged him in the shoulder. Carl let out a yelp of pain and glared at the snickering Donny. "Uoy kniht s'taht ynnuf, eh?" Carl reared back and tried punching Donny in the head in retaliation.

Crack!

"Ow ow ow ow!" Carl howled, clinging to his throbbing hand and hopping around the lab. Donny rapped on his jar-helmet triumphantly and Gru rolled his eyes.

"Point made," he said dryly. "But eef yoo change your mind, let me know and eet weell come right off."

Donny nodded and continued on with his work. Gru gave a slight smirk of amusement and turned to give instructions to his girls and was surprised to see that they were no longer with him. "Great. Now where did dey go?"

Pwosh!

Gru froze. He slowly turned to Bob, who had paused beside him. "Did yoo hear dat?"

"Uh-huh. Ti dednuos ekil a tew noisolpxe."

"Dat's what I was afraid of…"

…

Lucy Wilde was exhausted.

She pulled an all-nighter in order to complete all the pesky paperwork and the lack of caffeine was definitely not helping. Unable to wait another few days to visit Gru she decided to pop by and see if he wanted to do something.

The redhead rapped on Gru's rather off-putting front door (it didn't exactly encourage any guests) and waited patiently. When no one answered after a minute, she tried ringing the doorbell.

"I hope I didn't come all the way here for nothing," Lucy muttered, shuffling her feet. "Gas isn't cheap."

Just when she was about to give up the door flew open. Lucy pressed a hand against her mouth, eyes wide. "Gru! What happened?"

The ex-villain stood in the doorway, soaked from head to foot. Soap suds dripped down his sweater and created a puddle on the wooden floor. "Just a leetle mishap," he panted, leaning against the doorframe for support.

Lucy leaned in and sniffed Gru's sweatshirt. "Is that laundry soap?"

"Eet's laundry day." Gru scowled. "Edith and Agnes were helping de minions with de washers…and dey made de t'ing explode."

"Oh, geez." Lucy bit her lip, trying hard not to laugh. "Are they okay?"

"Dere wet and soapy, no worse for wear den me," Gru said flatly.

"I'm sorry to catch you at a bad time," Lucy apologized.

"Oh, eet's never a bad time for yoo to come around," Gru assured, resting a hand lightly on her shoulder.

Lucy beamed with happiness. "Oh, great! I came by to see if you wanted to grab a coffee or something, but if you're too busy-"

"No! Not too busy!" Gru said quickly. "Wait right here, just let me change."

Amused, Lucy waited in the front hall. She did not have to wait long, however, as Gru came back rather quickly, in clean clothes and all dried off. "I just have to make one call." Gru said, removing his cell from his pocket. He pressed a button and Dr. Nefario's number was dialed instantly.

"Hello?"

"Dr. Nefario, eet's me, Gru."

"Gru? Why are you calling me from your cell? You are only upstairs, right?"

Gru grinned wickedly at the slight panic emerging in the old man's voice. "For now, yes. I am goeeng with Lucy to get some coffee. You'll have to handle de laundry by yourself."

"What?! The lab is close to being flooded, there's mounds of dirty laundry to do and piles of new clothes to make and you're just leaving me?!"

"Yes good luck don't forget to feed Kyle byyyyyye!" Gru hung up, grabbed Lucy by the arm and dragged her out of the house. "Let's go before he sends a fleet of Fart Gun wielding minions after me."

…

The couple went to Java Town, a coffee shop that Lucy regulated. After getting their coffee they grabbed a table in the back of the café for a little privacy. "So," Lucy began as she stirred her beverage around with a silver spoon. "Your day not getting off to a good start?"

"Eet ees much better now." Gru grinned. "But eet was a disaster before."

"What exactly were you guys doing anyway?"

"Doeeng laundry for approximately half de minions," Gru grumbled. "I never noticed how much clothes dey go through."

Lucy laughed. "That sounds like a blast!"

"Trust me, eet eesn't," Gru said feelingly. "But eet needs to be done. I t'ink eet will give de minions somet'ing to occupy demselves until we start up de jelly line again."

"Are the poor guys traumatized?" Lucy asked in concern.

"A bit. But what really hit dem-and me as well-ees dat one of dere brothers ees misseeng."

"Oh, no!" Lucy gasped. "Is he still at the compound?"

"No. Dr. Nefario checked before he made de last trip. Mark ees out dere somewhere. I'll always keep lookeeng, but I have a feeleeng dat Mark weell come home one day."

"I'll keep eyes on Silas," Lucy promised. "Make sure he didn't pick up your little munchkin on the DL."

"He'd be a moron to try somet'ing like dat," Gru muttered. "Did Ramsbottom give yoo any trouble for yesterday?"

"He didn't speak to me while I was there," Lucy admitted. "Our offices are located in the same sector and he normally spares a greeting or two my way. And you'd think he'd want to discuss the details of El Macho's mission, but no. I put everything worth noting in the paperwork-and there was a lot, especially in getting the custody papers sorted for Antonio-apparently his mother is still alive and back in his life."

"I don't think Ramsbottom be giving you any trouble anytime soon." Gru could not stop the devious smile that crossed his face, focussing more on the man he loved to hate rather than the child he cared very little about. The moment where his fist connected with Ramsbottom's nose would be forever satisfying.

"You definitely spooked him," Lucy agreed. "No one's ever done anything like that to him before. They're too smart."

"Excuse me?" Gru asked indigently.

"Well, Silas is a powerful guy. He could lock you up in a second. It's not a good idea to mess with him. But I think there's something about you that made him realize that even if he tossed you in jail, you would always find a way to strike back in the worst way possible." Lucy smiled knowingly. "You scare him."

"Good," Gru said, pride welling in his chest.

"But try not to do anything else to him, okay? I kinda like my job and you. I'd hate to lose either," Lucy said sternly.

"I don't plan on having any more contact with that jerk," Gru scoffed.

"So…you're not even thinking of joining the A.V.L permanently?" Lucy asked, a bit disappointed.

Gru patted her hand. "I would love to work with yoo every day, but eef I spend more time around dat man den I need to den dere ees goeeng to be a problem."

"I understand. It would have been cool, though. We're a dynamic duo when together."

"We are," Gru agreed. "But we don't have to fight crime een order to be a dynamic duo…we can just be together."

"Awwww!" Lucy beamed. "That's so sweet!"

"Don't tell Dr. Nefario I said dat. He'd never let eet go."

"Come on, you guys have been working together for a long time. You can handle a few barbs from each other."

"Oh, we riff on each other. But for some reason eet's always him who gets de last word."

"Are you guys okay, then?" Lucy asked hesitantly. She would hate for such a close and long friendship to end, even if what the brilliant doctor did was pretty extreme.

"Yeah, we are." Gru smiled softly. "All he ever does ees try to make me happy, even eef his methods of doeeng so are not exactly right…and I really couldn't imagine life without him."

"I think you guys make a great team," Lucy complimented. "You, Dr. Nefario, the munchkins, the girls, all of you. The way you cured all the munchkins and banded together like that was just amazing. You're a lucky guy."

"Yeah, I am. I just never realized eet until a few years ago."

"You know, I'm curious to know how a rough-and-tough villain like you ended up with three sweethearts. What made you decide to adopt?"

"Er…eef yoo don't mind, I'd rather wait another day to tell dat story," Gru said apologetically, his gut twisting as he recalled the selfish act of a past him. "Eet doesn't really have a happy beginneeng."

Although she didn't quite understand, Lucy nodded. "Sure, no problem. But I would like to hear the story one day."

"One day," Gru promised. "What about yoo? Where does your family live?"

"It's just me, actually. Both my parents died when I was eighteen. Bad road conditions equaled tragic accident. They were both only children and I never knew my grandparents." A soft, sad smile crossed her face. "They were my everything. It hit me hard when they passed. It's difficult, knowing I'm alone in the world. I think that's why I put so much into what I do-so that no villain gets the chance to bring about a possible world where families lose each other because of their maniac and deadly schemes."

"I'm sorry," Gru said, squeezing her hand.

"You didn't know," Lucy said dismissively. "And I've gotten over it, for the most part. All I can do is remember them, you know?"

Gru thought of his own mother, and though she had never been the warm motherly type, he knew he would miss her greatly when she passed. His father had left by choice. His mother had kept him by choice.

And although sometimes she made it seem like it was choice she regretted, he knew it wasn't. Marlena Gru never held on to something or someone she didn't like.

"You know, yoo have a family een us," Gru said. "The gurls, me, Dr. Nefario and de munchkins, as yoo call dem."

A feeling so warm and happy rose up and filled Lucy to the very core. "Thank you, Gru."

A brief moment of silence passed as they sipped their drinks. A thoughtful expression crossed Gru's face. "Lucy…"

"Yeah?"

"Ees dis our furst date?"

Lucy paused, lowering her mug and a slow grin curling across her face. "Yeah…it is!"

And as Gru looked at her glowing face, red strands of hair framing her brilliant and shining eyes, he hoped that there would be many more dates to come. Lucy was the only woman in the world who would be able to handle his crazy life.

He would love to have her in it for a very long time.

The End!

So I know the question I'm going to get is, what about Mark?

I plan on writing a follow up story (another short one) which will answer that question and focus on Gru and Lucy's wedding plans and then ceremony.

Thanks for reading and reviewing!

Until next time, AnimationNut out.

Peace!