Bonnie, You're a Fine Girl

By Star-Eva01

Part one:

KPKPKPKP

As a teenager, she never really took the time to look at a sunset. Back then, it was just a time of day to her, or kind of like some large alarm clock in the sky. The sun went down at night and came up in the morning. On Friday it meant, depending on the time of the year, that is was almost time for a ballgame, or time to get ready for a night out on a date with some hottie or another. It held no interest to her other than a reminder of a change in her daily schedule.

But not anymore.

She watched the sky intensely as it slowly changed colors. She gazed at the setting sun as if her very life depended on it. It began slowly with the sky blue laced with clouds acting like white highlights and the sun appeared as a search light calling out from the west. Slowly a yellow tint would be added as the sun moved down from it's place high in the sky as it made it's way to some other distant land. Almost like it was making its way to lay down in bed for the night. As the sun started to close the door on this part of the world, it would add orange and red to the mix in the sky. A hint of the fires that burned at its heart. She could see the red on the water as the sun went lower on the horizon, leaving its own version of a lover's kiss on the world. Just as a woman would leave her own mark of lipstick on her man's check.

She knew that as it went lower, it would close that door adding a deeper tint to the red until it turned black. Then this part of the earth would wait until the morning for its return and the process would start up in reverse until the sun was once again hanging high in the sky, shining its own light onto the world again.

She had been standing here, watching the sunset, for hours it seemed to her. But she knew that the time was vague to her. She had come again to see Steven off on another voyage. And, as always, it was more time away from her. Once again she thought about the peculiarity of him leaving at sunset. Like some old Western movie with the cowboy riding off into the sunset with some ranchers daughter sitting in his lap to start a life together.

But in this movie, the cowboy rode off into the sunset alone with the ranchers daughter standing by herself watching him ride off. Only this cowboy was a sailor and the horse was a ship sailing away to some far off port in some other land across the sea.

As the red started to darken, she turned her back to the sea, wiping a tear from her eyes, and started her walk back to her late model car parked at the visitor's parking lot south of the docks.

As her feet carried her on her way, she watched the workers moving about their jobs. After five years, most knew her and took time to say hello and ask how she was doing or if things were ok, just basic chit-chat. And each and every time someone said something to her, she stopped and took the time to reply back. She'd talk to everyone of them and ask how their wife was doing, or how were the kids doing in school, or how that new girlfriend was working out. It was so not the girl she was back in her Middleton High School days.

She crossed from one company's part of the docks into another as she made her way. The first was a company called Rocking Robin, Inc. the sign on the wall of the warehouse almost always made her laugh. Someone had a good sense of humor when they designed the company logo, a red Robin playing the guitar. The next was called International Interstate Imports Inc. It wasn't the logo that she found funny, but the image in her mind. Four Eyes… There were a few more on the way, but it was the last one that she would cross on the way out, and the first one on the way in that always made her smile. There was no logo, and it didn't bring a funny image to mind for her. But for her, the sign on the building should read welcome instead of LLW, Inc.

She turned her head and saw a number of people that she knew. A lopsided grin appeared on her face as she thought of these people working on the docks. They worked doing back breaking jobs so that the rest of the US had the goods that they wanted and needed, and she knew just how hard the life they lead was. After all, the workers of LLW where the closest thing that she had to a family here. And she knew each and everyone of them.

At this part of the docks her path took her well inside the area were the workers did their jobs. And John, the afternoon shift dock foremen for LLW called out to her the moment he saw her.

"I take it that Steven has shipped out lovely Bonnie or are you just here for the view?"

"Steven's ship left about an hour or two ago John," Bonnie replied, and she could not keep a small note of sadness from her voice. It was the only outward sign of the hurt and longing she felt inside. Steven was gone again and she already missed him so that her heart ached with the pain. In the past five years, she had learned the meaning of what it was like to have a part of herself missing. Steven carried her heart with him every time he shipped out. She knew that once she was home, she would spend the next few days crying herself to sleep. That was on the days that she could sleep right after Steven left, after all she had been doing this little dance now for quite a while.

John could hear the sad note in her voice and quickly moved the 15 feet that separated them until he could hold the young woman in his arms. Pulling her in tight, John hugged her just like she was his own daughter. A strong yet tender embrace that only a father could give to his daughter, an embrace that could help heal the soul and the heart. An embrace that her own father had never given her as she was growing up not even until this day.

He could feel her shake slightly in his arms, the tears he knew she wanted to cry only coming out in small shakes and quiet dry sobs.

"Let me get one of the boys to walk you to your car Bonnie," John told her has they broke the hug. She could not help the smile that appeared on her face at his words, and she reflected about how he had always treated her like a third daughter. And she thought that Jess and Katie were lucky to have such a man for a father. And when she saw the group of workers that John called out to included LLW's own colossal of a giant, the smile on her lips turned into a full grin that split her face as the enormous mountain of a man saw her standing there and nodded his head to John.

She watched as the huge man whispered into his partners ear, then walked to where she and John where standing.

"Tommie here will walk you to your car Bonnie, and make sure you get safely on your way," John said then nodded his head to Tommie.

"Sure it would be my pleasure, my Bonnie lass" Tommie answered in his Scottish accent. Then with a bow and an over the top flourish he stuck out his left arm to her.

Taking Tommie's arm in hers, she could not help the laugh that came from her lips as she replied to Tommie's act. She thought it was weird that Tommie, who was born in Edinburgh Scotland, thought that all women born in the US talked like most of the women in the movies that he had watched as a youngster. But she had discovered in the past few years that she "liked weird". So to humor Tommy and to have a little bit of fun herself, she answered in her best impersonation of a classic "Southern Belle" from the state of Georgia with a "Why thank you kind Sir," and a curtsy.

John smiled as he watched Tommie and Bonnie walk away down the docks toward the parking lot. He, like most of the guys working at LLW, had taken to watching over the young woman from Colorado. They were all friends of Steven's and none of them wanted to see her hurt. But all the dock workers knew that hurt was a part of her life.

Hurt and worry were always a portion of the life of a woman in love with a sailor. As were the loneliness and heartache that always companied them. But John also knew that if the woman was strong enough and had enough trust in her heart and had a fire deep inside her soul that would let her survive the long absents, then the rewards could make it all worth while.

For in one day the reunion would ignite the coals of the passion that was at the heart of the love, stoking the fire of the smoldering embers that had been banked with care. Turning them into a raging inferno that would feed the love between them and make them whole again upon the safe return to each other and allow the love to survive the next time he was gone. Until then, the time in-between could not be allowed, and the sailor would leave his mistress for good to be with the one that truly held his heart in her hands.

And to John, along with most of the workers at LLW and those along the docks, Bonnie seemed to carry that fire in her heart and soul and they could see that her love for Steven was strong enough to hold her: with just a little help from her friends on the docks from time to time.

John called the remaining nearby workers together quickly, and told them that Steven had set sail today. He checked his watch and noticed that it was just three hours before the shift ended, and asked everyone gathered if they would like to go see Bonnie after work. With nods of heads, everyone agreed that tonight, like most nights when Steven shipped out, everyone would head for "The Port Call" after work and keep their "Bonnie" company. As always, the message spread like wildfire on the docks.

As everyone got back to work, John could not help thinking about his own daughters Kathrine and Jessica. Both of them off to college in the fall and moving away from home. He could not help but wonder when his daughters found themselves in a place far from home, would someone there watch out for them like the men here on the docks had done for Bonnie after following Steven up here to Seattle?

As Tommie walked her all the way to her car, it wasn't hard for her to picture herself as a fairytale princess from some long ago, far away kingdom being escorted by a dashing knight in shinning armor sworn to protect her from any harm, just like in some old tale told to young girls by their mothers or from the movies. Without her even trying, a memory from her last year of high school came crashing to her mind: the memory of her being, 'ah, elected' homecoming queen and her making some comment to the homecoming king about "their royal subjects". Looking at it now, that was a painful walk into her past and she really did not want to relive it right now.

But as they moved along the docks on the way to the parking lot, men and women stopped working just long enough to called out to her and ask how she was, the image of a queen walking with her Knight among her subjects would not leave her. Even if this time, the image was of a queen that her royal subjects cared for, where they were worried about her welfare and where they were more than proud of her and where they were quite willing to defend her and her honor if she would but ask it of them.

After living and working nearby, and with her relationship with Steven, all the workers on the docks knew her after five years. And all the men acted like the "Big Brothers" she never had growing up back home, and the women acting like her loving "compassionate older sisters" even if they were really younger then herself, unlike her real sisters who had nothing but distain for her and had almost never said a kind or loving word to her.

She recalled one night about a year ago when she had been walking down the docks back to her car from another parting like this one when someone had attacked her. The man, a drifter, had attacked her just past the security gate. His mistake was attacking her during shift change on the docks. Tommie was one of the first one's to hear her screams, and got there in time to see him rip her blouse.

The security guard had called the dock patrol then ran to where she stood with three more dock workers. The police arrived to find her attacker hiding under a truck with a broken arm and a broken nose, a gift from Tommie, and her wearing one of the others workers' coat like a suit of armor. The police had found Tommie starting to lift the truck that her attacker was hiding under so one his co-workers could get at the scumbag so Tommie could break his legs.

Tommie did end up spending the night in jail over it, but he just shrugged it off like water on a ducks back. She found out later, after returning from the hospital, after the police had her checked for any injures, that word had spread like fire on a gas spill, about the attack. And that's how she found herself with over 200 new "Big Brothers and Big Sisters."

She learned after the attack that Tommie's kid sister had been raped when she was eighteen and the scumbag that had done it got away scot-free. Tommie's kid sister would not leave the house for over a year, and then only with Tommie or one of his bothers. Tommie had spent a year looking and had found a nice man that would treat her right then he got them together. They married one year after they had meet and now had two children. And Tommie, the gentle giant of a man that could lift the rear-end of a truck by himself, had become the guardian angel for the whole neighborhood.

Bonnie leaned into Tommie's arm as she thought back to the night of the attack and the aftermath. When Steven found out what happened, he brought together everyone that got involved: the police officers that responded to the call, the entire dock patrol, the security guard on duty that night, and the dock workers, into "The Port Call" and bought everyone a round of drinks. Then another round after that. After that night, Bonnie would have bet that she could walk the docks naked and no one would touch her without her say so. And as if her thoughts provided "The Magic Words", her mind brought the image to life inside her own head: a nude Bonnie walking along the docks without a care in the world, and it made her laugh.

"It's good you see you laugh lass, I know that when Steven leaves it hurts." Tommie said in a voice that was quiet for a man over seven feet tall, and 290 pounds plus.

To Bonnie, Tommie always reminded her of a walking tank. With dark hair, and the frame of someone that has spent most of his life working on docks, Tommie could and did take care of himself and the people that he thought of as "His Family."

"I'll be ok Tommie; it's good to have friends like you that take care of me," Bonnie said.

"Aye my Bonnie lass, that we will." Tommie answered.

They walked the rest of the way to her car with only the soft clicking sound that her heels made on the concrete which was providing a high note to accompany the sound of Tommie's work boots. The mixing of the two sounds turned into a soft musical score worthy of any love story. He watched her unlock the car after he checked around it once and looked inside. Once securely inside, Bonnie rolled the window down.

"Thanks for the escort Tommie. I think I'll be ok form here".

"Aye lass that you will. I'm sure that Johnny be making the arrangements for everyone to be at the "Call" after work tonight for a pint or two." Tommie said as he squatted down beside the car to look Bonnie in the eyes.

"What would I do without you Tommie?" Bonnie asked as she started the car.

"Don't worry your pretty head about that my Bonnie lass, I've got your back," he said as he stood up and started to walk back to the dock and back to his work.

Bonnie managed to drive through the gate and onto 11th South Avenue before she stopped the car on the side of the street. Once the car was in park, she let the tears fall that Tommie's remark had called.

"I've got your back," she muttered in a voice that was incomprehensible. Four words that she had heard for most of the time she was in high school, but during that time in her life, they would have had initials added to the end.

The initials "KP".

She could not count the times that she had heard Ron Stoppable say those words to Kim Possible. She heard them in the hallways, in the gym, at Bueno Nacho, or anywhere she might have bumped into the couple. Her high school rival and her life long best friend. Ron had always said those words with all the conviction of the world behind him.

And how she had hated that with all her heart, back then.

The girl that could do anything and the "Wonder Looser." Miss Perfect and Mr. Sick and Wrong. She could look back now and see how wrong she had been, but then those two were the walking definition of the term "WrongSick." And after high school, even though she didn't go to the same college that they did, she still found herself getting hit with "you know Kim and Ron?"

All it took was one event in her sophomore year at UCLA to change her mind about Kim Possible and Ron Stoppable. One event that changed her life and the way she looked at things and the way she looked at Team Possible as a whole, and Kim and Ron Stoppable.

Bonnie finally got her self back under control and wiped the tears from her face. Placing the car back in drive, she started moving again. It took her just a few more moments to reach Southwest Spokane. When the light turned green, she made the left-hand turn onto Alaskan Way. She drove the half mile to the light before turning right onto South Hanford. From there it was just a few more moments before she pulled into the parking lot and around back of the "Port Call."

Turning the engine off, Bonnie sat inside the car for a moment. Then turning so she could reach the change of clothes in the back seat, she moved them into the passenger seat. Adjusting the rearview mirror to her, she quickly checked to see if her makeup still looked ok, and found herself staring into her own eyes.

Steven had told her more then once, that her eyes were one of the things that attracted him to her. John, Tommie, and the boys on the dock had all told her that one day, it would be her eyes that would finally pull Steven from his first love: the Sea. She smiled at the complements and blushed when Thomas told her that her "eyes could steal a sailor from the sea". Thomas even told her once that when she got tired of waiting for Steven to come to his senses, to call him and he would make an "honest woman" out of her.

"You would make a fine wife, dear Bonnie," he told her. And she had hugged him tight and gave him a kiss that left Thomas speechless for over in hour.

'Poor Thomas,' she thought, "if you only knew that someone else had made an honest woman of me before I saw you.' Then she added out loud, "And he belonged to someone else then, and he still does now."

Gathering her clothes and her purse, Bonnie got out of the car and made her way to the backdoor.

"BJ is that you?" asked a male voice as Bonnie closed the door behind her and make sure that it was locked.

She made her way down the hall and entered the area behind the bar before saying a word.

"You know it's me, other wise you would have already called the police and the ambulance to carry me off after you had hit me over the head with that baseball bat you have stuffed under here." Bonnie said with a smile. Then she added, "Besides if I know you and your brother, and I do, you have been watching me from the second that I drove my car on the parking lot with that camera system you two installed."

Both the men behind the bar tried to keep a straight face, but when she laid the clothes bag on the bar, along with her purse, then struck a pose that anyone from her days in high school would have known the second that they saw it as Bonnie in "Queen B" mode, both men burst out laughing so hard that they had to grab the bar to keep from falling onto the floor. After a few minutes standing there, Bonnie picked up her things, and then said "I'm going to leave you twin hyenas' alone and change for my shift. That is if you still haven't added one of those cameras in the office." Then with a little extra action in the caboose, she walked away from the men and into the office of the bar.

Bonnie got the door closed before she started giggling. And she found that she could not stop as she removed a t-shirt from her clothes bag and draped it over the camera in the corner of the office. Once that was done, she started to change clothes.

Off with the long skirt, and into one that came to her mid thighs. Next she changed from a one inch heels into a pair of shoes that were open toed and had a one and a half inch heel that was a little bigger then the ones she had worn to the docks. This heel was great at giving anyone that tried something he shouldn't with her an attitude adjustment, not that it happened that often. Then she changed from a long sleeve blouse into a sleeveless one that also showed a little cleavage.

'Some things never change,' she thought as she adjusted the blouse. She remembered one of the first girls she had worked with back in LA had told her that it was sad but true. "The amount of cleavage displayed was in direct proportion the amount of tips that you would get," the girl said as she shook her head sadly. "You would think that in this day and age, that it would be different, but it's not." Bonnie at first had tried to prove her wrong, but ended up just proving her right in the end. And that was at the Campus coffee shop where she got her first waitress job after the "Event".

Chuckling to herself, Bonnie turn to the full length mirror on the back of the door to give her self one last look over before she started work.

'Let's see,' she said to herself. 'Working shoes: Check. Thigh length skirt: Check. Sleeveless blouse: Check. The girls just peeking out enough to say welcome: Check, or should I say Double Check,' and Bonnie giggled at her own "bad joke."

It was then that she saw the locket that was resting between her breasts. She had become so used to wearing it that she forgot that she had it on and only noticed when it wasn't around her neck. The heart shaped locket and the braided chain that held it was made from some of the finest Silver from a little village in the north of Spain. The inside of the locket held two pictures, one of herself and one of Steven. On the front, her name was engraved in an elegant script. On the back, in the same script was the word "Steven".

Carefully, she picked up the locket and pressed the tiny button that opened it. She looked at the pictures of herself and Steven inside, and then the good mood that she was starting to get into came to a crashing halt as she thought of his leaving again to be with his mistress. The woman that he loved even more then her: the Sea.

Steven gave her the locket on a clear and bright summer's day six months after they started dating. He got it for her on one of his last voyage and had had her name engraved onto it there. And she had his engraved on the back after he left for another voyage. The pictures inside were taken during the month that he was shore bound in-between.

The tears started again and part of Bonnie cursed herself as she cried for ever falling in love with someone that could not be there with her all the time. The other part cried for the man that was a part of her soul and prayed for his safe return

She tore her eyes from the locket to look at her reflection in the mirror and into her own blue eyes.

Blue eyes, not teal, that stared back at her with tears pouring down. Blue eyes that took her back to that time and place at UCLA and the event that changed her life. And opened not only her eyes but her heart.

KPKPKPKP

She entered the lecture hall and found a seat about half way up. The professor had been going on for over a week about a special guest lecturer that had agreed to come and talk to the Social Sciences class.

Bonnie really hated this class, after all what could it tell her about things that involved the "Food Chain." She was, after all, Bonnie Jean Rockwaller and she had spent her life manipulating the "Food Chain" anywhere she was. In the two years that she had been at UCLA, she had manipulated her way once again to the top. Being early, she got out her cell phone and started text messaging the UCLA cheerleaders about the new routine that they were going over the next day. Bonnie had played the members "one off the other" when she got on the squad her first year and got herself voted as Captain. A record at UCLA: the first freshman to be elected as captain in the school's history.

It was during that first year at UCLA, and during the push to make cheer squad captain, that her relationship with Senor Senior Jr started to change. Her drive to be at the top interfered with his need of a girlfriend that worshiped the ground he walked on. At the start it was the best thing that had ever happened to her. Jr bought her anything and everything that she wanted; all she had to do was ask. He feed her need to be at the top where she could look down at everyone, and having a boyfriend that could and would buy you a 100,000 car at the drop of a hat worked just right for her. For her part, all she had to do was be at his beck and call all the time. It worked well during the summer after her senior year of high school and into her freshman year at UCLA. But as more of her time was taken up with becoming the cheerleader squad captain, she ended up spending less time being with him.

And it came to a head just after Christmas, when during the break, she stayed at college to insure that a plan she had put into motion to remove a rival for the captaincy interfered with his plans since Jr. just had to have her accompany him to a party in Monte Carlo held by the Royal Family. When he showed up at cheer practice a few days later, demanding to know why she had refused to be with him in Monaco, the argument that took place just outside of the gym, left no doubt with anyone that Bonnie Jean Rockwaller was a force to be reckoned with. She informed Jr. that she had played him for everything she could get out of him and with his mindset she really had no further need of him, thus the incident cemented her reputation on campus as someone you really did not want to be on the bad side of. Or as a few less charitable students would put it: A cast iron bitch.

Bonnie finished her text messaging and looked up to find that most of the lecture hall was now full. Taking a look around, she could see most of UCLA's Deans and adviser committees setting in the first two rows.

Walking up to the front of the class, the professor called for attention.

"I'm glad to see that everyone showed up for a change," he said which brought a laugh from most of the student body along with the faculty members there.

"I'm very pleased that today's guest speakers made time from their busy schedules, and their own class work, to come talk to us today about volunteer work." He paused for a second then added, "Please help me welcome Ms. Kimberly Possible and Mr. Ronald Stoppable, otherwise known as Team Possible."

As everyone else in the lecture hall stood up and applauded, Bonnie could feel the old anger and bitterness starting to boil inside her. 'Two years, and over a thousand of miles and I still have to deal with "Little Miss Perfect and the Wonder Looser."'

Finally standing up, she could see Kim and Ron shaking hands with the faculty members on the front row. Finally, they made it to where the professor stood and shook his hand. Bonnie sat down with everyone as he handed the floor over to Team Possible.

"Everyone having a good day so far," Kim asked right off the bat.

Bonnie fought the urge to yell "I was until you and the Looser showed up K" but held her tongue.

"I want to say thanks for inviting Ron and myself here today." Kim said as Bonnie watched her looking out into the crowded lecture hall.

Bonnie tuned out what Kim said as she watched both Kim and Ron standing there, trading back and forth talking to the audience and each other. She had no idea how long the "losers" talked. And she might not have even realized the talk was over if it hadn't been for the person sitting next to her bumping into her.

"…again, we would like to thank UCLA for asking us here today. Kim and I would ask that you take a moment to stop and think about those around you, and I'm sure you will agree that helping those around you is its own reward ." Ron said as Bonnie tuned back into the talk from the front of the hall, after shoving the person beside her.

Everyone stood again, and give the pair a round of applause. Bonnie stood as she watched Kim lean over to the professor and whisper something in his ear. He smiled and nodded his head.

"I want to thank Team Possible again for taking the time to come and speak to us today," the professor said. Than added, "Let's give a hand to Ron Stoppable and to the founder of Team Possible, Mrs. Kim Stoppable."

Bonnie thought her jaw was going to hit the floor.

"So, K really married that loser" she muttered under her breath as made her way toward Kim and Ron.

As she got in line to speak with Kim and Ron, Bonnie focused all her thoughts on something "sharkie" to say to them. She was just four people away when Kim saw her. The look on Kim face made her smile, and then the lecture hall speakers started to sound an alarm:

Code Orange. Repeat Code Orange. Code Orange near the Social Sciences Building.

During orientation Bonnie, along with all the other students, had been told about the school's alarm system. A code "Orange" was for shooter or terrorist attack on campus.

"Everyone remain calm and move toward the inside wall," called out the varying voices of the adviser committees.

"Mrs. Stoppable, Mr. Stoppable, This way please," from the professor.

"I've got a bad feeling about this KP," Ron exclaimed.

And from Kim's wrist, the familiar 4 tone beep that Bonnie thought and prayed she would never hear again sounded.

"What's the sitch Wade," Kim called out as she moved closer to Ron.

"The UCLA Campus security is reporting seeing a group on campus with a RPG launcher. They have called the authorities and report that they are heading toward the building that you and Ron are in," said another voice from Bonnie's past.

Before Kim could reply, the wall on the right side of the lecture hall exploded leaving a cloud of dust that blocked everything from view and Bonnie found herself flying thru the air to land hard as she impacted with something solid.

To be continued

Author's notes:

Hello and greetings everyone.

Here's the first chapter in a tale that I think will be at least 4 or 5 chapters long. This story is based on the song "Brandy, You're a Fine Girl" by Looking Glass and was released in 1972. I have really got to stop listening to my "oldies" disks...

This story is my first that has someone other then Kim and Ron as the focus, but don't worry oh fearless reader... Kim and Ron have a roll to play.

I would like to say a big round of thanks to KT and JA of JAKT, the Wonder Father and Daughter team here for their wonderful work beta'ing this story and their much valued input and ideas.

I would also like to thank the "Great and Powerful" Nebmister for his input and support on this story. And I promise Neb, next time I will be more careful what I wish for. I just might get it too…. Inside joke…

Also, a special note here for Kt.

You might have noted that one paragraph is missing… Don't worry, it's safe. You wrote the last paragraph for this story..

This one is for you Kt.

And just to make sure that everything is cool with legal stuff out there:

Kim Possible, and its characters, are copyright by Disney Inc.

I'm just playing here for the fun of it.