One of those flashes of insight hit me, and this short story is the result. I will get back to my other scheduled stories when this is finished.

Disclaimer: I do not own any rights to any of the characters portrayed in the following collection of words that you are about to read...

Thin Ice

The argument was epic.

It was Kim and Ron's second year in college, and Ron sprung a question on Kim that she was not prepared for at all.

"Kim?" Ron said with enough apprehension in his mind to cause his stomach to almost give up the Naco platter he had earlier in the day. "I have something very important to ask you, and I hope it doesn't take you too much by surprise."

The redhead just sat back in her chair across from her boyfriend in the schools Student Union Cafeteria. Is he going to ask me to marry him? She thought, but mentally shook her head no. They had talked about this over last Christmas, and both had agreed that they would like to wait until graduation to get married, even if it took Ron one year more than Kim to graduate from Upperton University.

"Kim…" Ron said as he brought out a small black velvet bag. "It would mean so much to me if you…"

"I can't marry you Ron. Not yet." She said quickly, and this time it was Ron who sat back in his chair, but he had a very confused look on his face.

"But I wasn't going to…"

Kim gently interrupted her boyfriend once again as she reached across the table and squeezed his hand, closing his fingers around the small bag. "Please Ron, we talked about this already. We both know that we want to marry each other, but… I… I'm just not sure…"

"If you love me anymore?" Ron said quietly, but it sounded like a shout to Kim. She couldn't even voice a response when Ron said probably the most deplorable thing she ever heard from her boyfriend's mouth. "Or is it because you don't want to make a big commitment to our relationship?"

This brought out Kim's latent Irish heritage. "Commitment? You want to talk about lack of commitment Ron? Commitment is keeping your self true to agreements that we've previously made. Commitment is not trying to push me into something that you know I don't want right now."

"But I was just going to…" Ron tried to explain to his obviously tweaked girlfriend, but he was getting nowhere as Kim Possible was on a tear.

"If you can't get it through that thick skull of yours that I don't want to marry you right now… then…" And it was at that point that Kim said something that was probably the most deplorable thing she had ever uttered to him. "…I don't think this relationship can go any further."

Ron was completely flabbergasted. All he could do was work his mouth, but no sound came out. Did she just say what I think she just said?

Kim suddenly stood, making the legs of the chair screech loudly on the hard floor. She then pulled her jacket off the back of said chair hard enough to almost make it tip over, and she spoke through gritted teeth as she put the coat on and buttoned up the front.

"This conversation is over Ronald Stoppable. I never once thought you would try to push me into something I didn't want." She then grabbed her books and turned to walk away, but stopped and turned back around. "Tomorrow I'll give you a call as to when you can bring my stuff from your apartment to my place, and we can exchange. Yours for mine, and mine for yours. Goodbye."

All Ron could do was watch as Kim stomped out of the Student Union and into the cold frigid air of Upperton Colorado. It was almost 15 degrees outside today, and that was the high.

The blond boy slumped in his chair, opened the small velvet bag, and dumped its contents into his hand. It was the extra key he had made for his apartment, and attached to that key was a small necklace that had an Open-Heart design, which had a series of small diamonds mounted onto the heart.

His lower lip quivered as he spoke to himself. "All I wanted to do was ask her to move in with me."

…x x x x…

Kim was furious! In an attempt to try and clear her head, she opted to go for a bit of a drive, and found herself leaving the city limits. The roads had been cleared from the storm that had come through a few days ago, but the Arctic cold air remained. It was 40 degrees just a few days ago, but this was normal for the mid-west. Mild one day, and below freezing in just a matter of days, sometimes hours later.

Kim laughed almost bitterly to herself when she thought of an old joke. 'If you don't like the weather in Colorado, wait a day. It will change.' She was sure that this old saying not only was true for Colorado, but the other Mid-western states as well like Nebraska, Iowa, and Oklahoma.

It wasn't until Kim finally looked off to the side of the road that she finally noticed where she had driven to. It was Lake Upperton, which was small in comparison to other lakes, more of a pond, really, but a small body of water none the less. And it was a place that her and Ron had frequented quite a bit in the warmer months.

She pulled off the road and onto the small gravel pathway that led to the parking area next to the lake. It was a simple gravel parking lot, but it too was cleared for those who liked to stop by the lake in the winter months to ice skate when the ice was thick enough.

She brought the Sloth to a stop facing the lake (pond, really), shut off the engine and set the parking brake, even though where she was parked it was flat. It was more out of habit than anything else. Kim looked out across the frozen water and started to think back to her last conversation with her boyfriend.

"I still can't believe Ron was going to ask me to marry him!" The redhead spoke out loud to herself. "I mean… Ron's 'Never be Normal' attitude can sometimes actually get on my nerves. He didn't even have the ring in a box! It was in…a…bag." Her voice trailed of at the end as she recalled the previous events.

"He wasn't trying to ask me to marry him! But what was he up to?" Kim's brow narrowed in confusion as she racked her brain tying to figure out what her at times scatterbrained boyfriend (but she still loved him) was trying to actually ask her. She dropped her head in shame and muttered the one swear word that had gradually crept into her vocabulary. "Damn. And After all those things I said to him. He probably hates me now. He'll probably never even think about marrying me after my little tirade."

Kim placed her fingers on the keys to start the engine, and her eyes caught something black moving across the icy surface of the pond. (Or was it a lake?) Squinting, she saw that it was a rather large dog, and the poor animal was having trouble with it's footing. There wasn't much for snow on the ice, as it hadn't snowed anymore for the last few days. It was just bitterly cold. As a result, the surface of the water was almost pure ice, and very slippery.

Kim got out of the Sloth and immediately pulled her coat around her tighter. She walked to the edge of the ice, and could now see that the dog was probably a black lab. Labs don't have much for thick hair, so she knew the poor thing must be freezing. Her own breath was coming out in plums of steam as she called out to the dog.

"Here boy! Come here!" She tried to whistle, but the cold on her lips prevented anything shrill enough to get the animal's attention. Kim tried calling again. "Come here puppy! Come here… C'mon!"

Forgetting for a moment that she had gloves on, Kim tried clapping her hands, but to no avail. She was going to have to try and go out on the ice and pull the poor dog off the ice.

Trying vainly to remember how cold it had been for the last few days, Kim tried to calculate in her head how thick the ice might be. The cold was numbing her thoughts, so she took a step towards the Sloth to contact Wade. (Kim didn't have her Kimmunicator with her) Then she heard the dog give out a yelp as its paws slipped out from under it and smacked its jaw on the ice.

"Damn." There was that word again that had become part of her vocabulary.

Taking her first cautious step onto the ice, Kim listened for any signs of it starting to crack. She didn't hear anything, and gently started to slide her feet along, inching closer to the dog, which was now once again trying to stand, but not with much success.

"Here boy… Come here…" Kim tried calling the dog again, but she could tell that now the animal was both frightened and shivering. Moving herself along some more, and calling out to try and calm the dog down, Kim didn't realize just how far out from shore she actually was when she heard the unmistakable noise of ice starting to crack!

Looking back towards her car, Kim immediately knew that she was too far out, and she then saw cracks forming all around her. Quickly, yet gently, Kim laid down to try and spread her weight out more in an attempt to put more surface area of her weight on the ice.

"I'm such an IDIOT!" Kim said, chastising herself. She was now facing shore, and when Kim tried to move herself around to see where the dog was, she suddenly felt the cold wet tongue of the dog on her cheek. Somehow the Lab had worked himself to her side, and was breathing heavily. "Well boy… Don't count yourself saved yet. But thanks for the vote of confidence."

For a little bit the cracking sound of the ice had subsided, but then it started up again, this time sounding like distant rifle shots. Taking the snap hook on her glove used to hold the gloves together in storage, she snapped it to the dogs collar, and started to shimmy herself along the ice with dog in tow. The Lab was also trying to move with her, but he was more of a hindrance than anything else.

Kim then did something that she wished she hadn't. She looked down at the ice. There right beneath her she saw a few bubbles rising beneath the surface, and this most definitely was not good. She then started to feel her legs get wet along with her stomach and torso. Kim figured the ice she and the dog were on top of at this point was no more than half an inch thick.

""This is just great." Kim said to the dog beside her, not expecting an answer. "I'm gonna die trying to save a damn dog!"

…x x x x…

Back in the Student Union of Upperton University, about 15 minutes after Kim had left, Ron decided to walk back to his apartment, which was only 5 minutes from campus. He took off his coat, and lay on his couch for another 5 minutes wondering what to do.

"Man… I wish Kim would've listened to me. She can jump to conclusions so fast! I knew she didn't want to get married yet. All I wanted to do was ask her if she wanted to move in with me. I mean it makes no sense that we're both living in separate apartments. Mines big enough, and I have that extra room. Not that I would really want her to sleep in there." He added that last part under his breath.

He pulled the small velvet bag out of his pocket again, and pulled the small chain out with one finger. He watched the Open-Heart glitter in the light as it slowly spun with his apartment key just above it.

"Maybe tomorrow when I go over to her place we can talk, and I can straighten this whole thing out." Just as Ron put the necklace and key back into the bag, both his phone and his own Kimmunicator (OK, Ronunicator) rang out.

"Now that's weird…" Ron said as opted to pick up the Palm Device. "What's the si…"

Before Ron could finish his greeting, Wade interrupted. "Ron! I think Kim is in trouble at Lake Upperton!" Ron noticed that at the same time he answered, the phone had stopped ringing.

"Are you sure Wade? I just saw her about 20 minutes ago. And I always thought it was more of a pond than a lake anyways."

"Ron! This is serious! I can't raise Kim on her Kimmunicator, and I found her Sloth parked near the Lake with it's built-in GPS. I doubt that Kim would even think about going on the ice, but I'm just not sure."

"She could be just out for a walk Wade. We had a… discussion, and she might be trying to just clear her head." Ron didn't want to give too much detail about the argument at this time.

"But she's been out in 15 degree weather for more than 20 minutes Ron! How heavy of a jacket did she have on?"

Ron thought for a few seconds. "She just had that heavy fleece jacket with her. The one that buttoned in the front." Ron's eyes went wide. "That coat doesn't even have a hood!"

"Doesn't Kim carry heavy winter gear in the Sloth?" Wade asked.

"Yeah, normally she does, but we had cleaned it out the other day, and I think Kim took that stuff out to put it in the washing machine." Realization dawned on Ron. "Kim could freeze to death out there if she doesn't get back inside the car!"

"And the sun is starting to go down, and the low temperature forecast for tonight is supposed to be below zero!" Wade said excitedly, and both boys could see worry on each other's face.

"How am I going to get there, Wade? I always rode with Kim everywhere!

"Hold on…" Wade said, and disappeared from the screen. Ron could hear him talking on a phone, and then after saying 'Good-bye', Wade returned to the small screen. "OK, It's all set up. You can use the car of one of my old professors. He owed me a favor for correcting him on Planck's Equation."

Not having any idea what Wade was talking about, Ron just said "OK."

…x x x x…

It took only a few minutes to get to the car, which in actuality was an old Blazer, that must have been made in the early 60's Ron surmised, and get on the Road. Being a four-wheel-drive vehicle, Ron had no trouble keeping the large truck on the road, but he didn't feel very comfortable driving something so big. He quickly reached the lake/pond and saw the Sloth parked in the parking lot facing the lake.

Ron scanned around the immediate area as he stepped down from the running-board, and didn't see anything at first, Then his eyes drifted out to the lake, and his heart almost fell to his feet. There he saw a redheaded form lying sprawled on the ice with a darker form next to her that looked like a… dog?

Ron reached back into the truck and began blasting the horn.

…x x x x…

The cracks beneath Kim and the dog were now moving faster, and she could feel the ice start to move underneath her. She looked over at the dog once again and said, "Well boy, this looks like it…"

Then Kim heard a loud horn honking from shore and she slowly looked up, not wanting to cause the cracks to move any faster than they already were. She saw Ron standing next to a vehicle she didn't recognize. She immediately called out.

"Ron, help! The ice is breaking right underneath me!"

As soon as he heard Kim's call for help, Ron started to pull forth his MMP, and his hands started to glow blue with energy. His intent was to float over her, and pick both her and the dog off of the ice.

Just has his feet started to leave the gravel parking lot, he heard a car pull in behind him, and he stopped what he was doing immediately. No one else had known that Ron had this power inside him, and both he and Kim knew that if anyone else found out about it, there would be fear, more than anything else, as a reaction towards this power. It was a good thing he stopped too, as it was local authorities that Wade had contacted.

"Ron!" Kim called again, making his head snap around. Now he himself heard the loud cracking of the ice, and from his vantage-point he could see that the cracks were all radiating out from one spot… The spot where Kim and the dog were.

Without thinking about his own safety, Ron immediately stripped his coat off and ran out onto the ice a couple steps, and then dove head first towards Kim's position, sliding to just a few feet from her. He whipped his coat out towards her and Kim latched on with all her strength, while holding onto the dog with her other arm.

Then a loud pop was heard, and at first both Kim and Ron thought it was the ice, but instead a torpedo-shaped water safety device sailed over their heads attached to a rope. The rope landed right next to them, and Ron immediately tied his girlfriend off first.

Of course Kim tried to protest his connecting her first, but he played that he couldn't understand what she was saying through her chattering teeth. Then just as he tied himself off, loud pops and cracks could be heard in quick succession, and the ice gave way beneath all three, plunging them into almost sub-zero degree water.

…x x x x…

The two officers who had arrived on the scene and shot the safety line out to the two teens were shocked when all three plunged through the ice. They had tied their end off on the police cruiser's push-bar, which was mounted on the front of the vehicle.

"They're all as good as dead." One officer solemnly said to the other, and the two lowered their heads in sorrow.

To be concluded…

Yeah, sorry about the cliffy here, but I actually have three to four ideas how to end this story, and I'm not sure yet which direction I'm going to go.

I'd like to have readers pick, but after reading the Bylaws, I can't have an interactive story in which the readers decide the direction of a story. Fudgecicles...

Oh and one other thing before I forget, chapter 2 will not be posted until the week after Thanksgiving, as I will be on vacation in that cold state called Nebraska.