KIM POSSIBLE: OUT OF LEFT FIELD
AN: This is the prequel to Kim Possible: Right Hand Gal and closes out this arc. When I started this arc a few years ago I got some reviews praising the story. In fact my first review was from Cpneb and he mentioned that the plot bunnies were screaming for a sequel and a prequel. I figured I would get around to making a prequel when I got around to it, with life getting in the way and all. However, just last week I learned of the passing of Cpneb and it motivated me to write this fic to close things out.
This fic is dedicated to Cpneb and his family. May you rest in peace.
I.
"Got your back KP." Ron said with a big smile on his face.
"You always do." Kim said happily, a dopey smile on her face matching Ron's excatly.
"Gag me with a spoon." Shego complained, "Are you two done being all lovey dovey so I can kick the princesses butt?"
Normally Shego really didn't care about how Kim and the buffoon acted around each other, but Drakken had come up with his latest take over the world scheme at the last minute and had prevented Shego from taking her planned vacation. To the say the least she was not a happy villainess.
"You're just jealous." Kim retorted. "What's the matter? Drakken turned you down?"
"Ugg, sick and wrong princess. I would never go out with Drakken, he's the same age as your dad."
This sudden realization caused Kim to lose her concentration just enough to allow Shego to get in a sucker punch that sent the world saving red head to the ground gasping for air.
"Well its been fun princess, but since it looks like you've foiled another one of Drakken's schemes I might as well knock off early so I can start my vacation, toddles." With a dismissive wave of her hand Shego left Drakken to his own fate as she took off in her hovercraft.
Meanwhile, Ron was off chasing down Drakken.
"Ahhh, can't you two be like normal teenagers and spend your time making out instead of chasing me?" Drakken asked in annoyance.
"Who told you Kim and I make out?" Ron asked.
"To much info!" Drakken shouted back.
"And so what if we do make out?" Ron hollowed back.
"TMI TMI TM…." Drakken shouted as he closed his eyes to force the image from his head, just before running smack in to a wall and knocking himself out cold.
"Ouch, I bet that hurt."
"Uh huh, hurt." Rufus added.
After tying up Drakken Ron soon found an irate Kim.
"Hey KP, where's Shego?"
"She got away." Kim complained, "Did you catch Drakken."
"Yep, he's all tied up and waiting for GJ to pick him up."
"Well at least one of us was successful." Kim said as she rubbed her left arm a little.
"You ok Kim?" Ron asked worriedly, "Your arm has been bother you for the last week now."
"It's ok. Just a little sore from fighting Shego is all."
Ron was about to express his lack of conviction of Kim's assessment but was interrupted by the arrival of Global Justice and their ride home.
II.
Later that day as Kim and Ron rode back to Middleton in the back of their ride they cuddled against each other. The two were enjoying each others company in silence until Kim spoke up.
"Ron?"
"Yeah KP?"
"Whatcha thinking about?"
"Just thinking about the future."
"Oh, anything in particular?"
"Yeah, like I need to hurry up and finish that term paper for my small business class."
"Ron, I thought you had finished that already. You've had three weeks to work on it." Kim scolded.
"Don't worry KP I'll have it done in a couple of days."
"That's what you said last week."
"What can I say, some one keeps distracting me."
"Who?" Kim asked annoyed.
"Some girl I go to school with who goes by the name of Kim."
"Nice try Captain Charming. But when we get back to school I want you get cracking on that paper."
"Ahh but Kim there's a wrestling match on tonight. It's Steeltoe verses King Pain"
"You have choice, you can either watch your sweaty, ugly guys beat each other up tonight, or you can have some of this when you get done with your paper." Kim said as she planted one of her four alarm kisses on Ronald's lips.
"Booyah, writing a paper it is then." Ron managed to articulate after Kim had ended the kiss.
III.
A couple of weeks later Kim and Ron were walking hand in hand down the sidewalk enjoying not only the pleasant spring weather but the looks of affection they were giving each other. They were so engrossed with each other that the only thing that seemed to pull them back to reality was the sound of a street vendor hocking his smoothies.
"All right smoothies. Do you want one KP, my treat." Ron asked as he pulled out his detested coupon book.
"How can I turn down an offer like that?" Kim asked seductively as she gently rubbed up against Ron. Kim's actions had the desired affect as Ron's brain began to shut down causing him to lose muscular control over the hand holding his coupon book. Soon the said book had fallen from his grip to the ground where Kim discreetly kicked it in to a puddle of water.
"Ahh man!" Ron whinnied.
"Tell you what Ron, buy me a smoothie and I'll repay you in kisses." Kim replied in a husky voice.
As Kim waited for Ron, who was waiting in line, the teen hero began to ponder both Ron's and her future, and their future together. She also began to think about a conversation that the two had had a few days ago, namely the question of her continued world saving exploits. The couple was about to graduate from college and, and, and what? That was part of the problem, Kim didn't know what to expect next in her life. As Kim pondered these things her right arm unconsciously began to rub her left arm again. Despite her assurances to Ronald earlier in the week Kim did have to admit that her arm had been unusually sore for the past couple of weeks. Not that soreness was anything new after going a few rounds with Shego, but it had never lasted this long before.
As her minded contemplated these things Kim began to become aware of the sound of sirens in the distance. They were still faint, but their increasing volume could only mean that they were getting closer. Slipping in to mission mode, Kim began to take in her surroundings, becoming aware of everything, every little detail like some kid with to much Ritilan in their system. She also became aware of a woman's voice from behind her. She sounded worried, worried and concerned.
"Leroy, Leroy where are you honey? Mommy has your ice cream CONE!" The last of the mother's sentence became a scream at the site of her child playing in the street. However, it was the sight of the speeding car followed by another car with flashing lights and the screeching siren with the constantly rising Doppler pitch that had caused her to scream.
Seeing that the mother was holding a small toddler in her arms Kim's mind immediately came up with a course of action and soon her body was reacting before she was even consciously aware of it. Moving as if out of instinct or reflex, Kim's well toned legs began to pump as fast as they could as she propelled herself towards the street. Even though she had been standing only a few yards away from the street, every step that Kim took felt like it had taken longer than the previous one. The closer Kim got to the child who was now frozen with fright in the middle of the street the more time seemed to slow down and the closer the car seemed to get.
Witnesses to the event would all swear that things happened in a blur and that it was hard for them to agree on all of the facts. But to Kim she would always remember the how the sound of the crying and scared child cut above the roar of the cars engine and the pitch of the police siren. She would also remember the look on young Leroy's face, the New Jersey license plate on the car, and the thought that went through her mind about how objects in mirror are closer than they appear. She would also remember the feel, the feel of his small body as she bundled Leroy up in to her arms, the wind of the car as it speed past her, the sting of the asphalt as it torn the exposed skin on her arm, and lastly, the feel of Ron as he embraced her.
"Kim, Kim are you alright?" Ron asked worriedly as he brought Kim up to a sitting position.
"I think I'm ok." Kim said as she began to come out of her shock. "Leroy, are you ok?" Kim asked as she began a quick visual inspection of the small boy.
Looking up at the pretty lady holding him, Leroy felt scared, relief, worried, and bewildered, so he did the only thing that a five year old would do, he began to cry for his mommy.
Soon Leroy's mom swept her son up in to her arms and held her two children tightly in her arms.
"You're a guardian angle, thank you." She practically sobbed.
"No big." Kim said with a smile as Ron helped her to her feet.
"Kim, your head's bleeding." Ron pointed out.
Bringing her hand to her head Kim saw a small amount of blood on her finger tips. "Oh its nothing, I've had worse." Kim dismissed.
"No it's not nothing Kim, come on we're going to take you to the hospital and have you checked out."
"I'm fine Ron, really I am." Kim insisted.
"Wrong Kim. We're taking you to get checked out.
Had there been a writer or author or even a poet there to witness the battle of wills that passed between Kim and Ron that day then surely they would have been inspired to write an epic that would have rivaled the Iliad or the Odyssey. But the cliff notes version is that Ron won that battle and soon both he and Kim were on their way to Middleton General Hospital. Once there Kim tried to reassert her Kimminess and convince the doctors that she was fine. Or at that was what she tried to do until Mrs. Dr. P arrived.
"Well Kim you appear fine." Anne Possible said after checking out her daughter. "But I am considering making you wear a helmet more often."
"Mom!" Kim complained.
"Just joking dear."
"Well now that your mom has taken care of your head, maybe she can do something about your arm?" Ron added.
"Ron, it's no big deal." Kim snapped as she glared at her boyfriend.
"What's wrong with her arm?" Dr. Possible asked.
"It's nothing mom, just a little sore from fighting Shego."
"KP, it's been bothering you for the past two weeks now, that's not soreness from a fight."
"Hmm, let me look at it." Anne said as she began to manipulate Kim's arm despite her daughter's protests. "Hmm, I don't see any bruising or contusions, and there doesn't seem to be a lack of movement. So I don't see anything obviously wrong with it."
"See told you it's no big deal." Kim said stubbornly.
"Just the same I want you to let me know if its still sore three days from now." Anne said, "Now I need you two to get going so I can see my next appointment."
IV.
"Hi mom." Kim said cheerily as she met the elder Possible woman at her place of work.
"Hi Kimmie, what brings you to the hospital? It's not your arm is it?"
Kim shook her head no.
"Well in that case then as long as you're here do you want to join me for lunch? It's Italian day in the hospital cafeteria today." The slim and attractive neurosurgeon asked.
"That's why I'm here."
Anne looked at her daughter with an unconvinced look on her face.
"Actually, remember how I said that Middleton U. had posted fliers looking for a bone marrow donor for that sick girl in Georgia?" After Anne nodded in her head Kim continued. "Well I came by to be screened to be to see if I'm compatible." Kim said proudly.
"Kimberly, you do know that family donors are the best matches. The odds of you being a good match for that girl are pretty small."
"Duh mom, I know that. Don't you think I picked up a little medical knowledge from you?" Kim complained. "But even if I'm not a match for her then at least I'm in the data base in case I'm a match to someone else."
Anne could only shake her head in wonderment of her daughter. Yes Kim did love to help people, but this was a new level of that commitment even for her. "What time is your screening?"
"Not till two o'clock, so plenty of time for us to have lunch."
V.
"Dr. Possible, can I have a word with you?"
Anne looked up to see the face of her friend Dr. Conner from the hospitals oncology department.
"Sure Dave, what's up?"
"It's about your daughter Kim." The middle age yet slight younger than Dr. Possible man said, "These are the results of the blood work from her bone marrow compatibility screening."
Taking the papers in hand Anne quickly read over them before staring at her college.
"Are you sure about this?"
"Not entirely, but we will need further tests to confirm it. Anne, can you call Kim and convince her to come in, today if possible. Err, no pun intended." He ended with a small smile.
VI.
"Are you sure?" Kim asked worriedly as she clutched Ron's hand inside of hers.
"We're quite certain, it is cancer and the tumor has wrapped it self around some of the nerves of your left arm, that's what has most likely been causing you the pain in your left arm the past few weeks." Dr. Conner explained.
"Does that mean Kim will have to go through chemo therapy then?" Ron asked.
"Only if she wants too. However, we have developed a new experimental procedure to remove a tumor surgically with out the side effects of chemo." Dr. Conner explained. "However, I must reiterate that it is experimental and there is the possibility that you may still need to under go chemo after the surgery."
Looking at Ron for a moment Kim sought reassurance from her best friend.
"Kim, what ever you chose, you know that I will have your back." Ron said softly and soothingly.
"I know, and that's why I love you." Kim said as she gave Ron a peck on the cheek. "Dr. Conner, I would like to try the surgery."
VII.
Kim slowly awoke from her slumber feeling quite thirsty. She attempted to reach out and grasp the glass of water that was on the table to her left. After her third failed attempt Kim became aware of some one standing over her, watching her.
"Hey KP, how are you feeling?" Ron asked.
"Ron!" Kim exclaimed happily.
"Yep that's me." Ron replied with a smile.
"I'm really thirsty."
"Here let me help you." Ron said as he reached across Kim and grabbed the water glass that Kim had been attempting to grasp. Bringing the straw to her lips, Kim took a refreshing sip of water before speaking again.
"Thanks Ron."
"No problem KP."
"Ron, why is it dark in here?"
The room that Kim was in was indeed dark, but it was dark for a very good reason. Darkness prevents people seeing things, such as the look of concern that crossed Ron's face when she asked that question. It also prevented Kim from seeing other things until she needed to.
"Just wanted to make sure that you weren't disturbed while you rested KP."
"Thank you Ron, now come here so I can give you a hug."
Ron hesitated for the briefest of seconds before leaning forward to allow Kim to wrap her arms around him in a hug.
As Kim finished her hug the lights to the room suddenly came on as Kim's parents walked in to the room.
"Kimmie-cub, how are you feeling?" James Possible asked his daughter.
"I feel fine dad. But are you ok? You look kind of nervous." As she finished her sentence Kim noticed that in addition to her father, her mother and Ron all looked nervous too.
"Ok spill, why is everyone so nervous looking? You all look like your about to break something."
"Kimberly darling," Anne began before she was cut off by Ronald.
"Kim we need to tell you something about the surgery. They were able to remove the tumor."
"Then what is everyone so worked up about then?" Kim asked.
"Umm Kim, I'm afraid that…"
"Ronald, please, let me do this." James said as he sat down next to his daughter.
"Kimberly, the doctors encountered some complications during the surgery. It was as successful as they hoped."
"But Ron just said they removed the tumor."
"I know honey." Then taking a deep breath to steady himself James pressed on, "There were some complications and the tumor had spread further than they thought. Kimmie, I'm afraid they had to amputate your left arm."
"Amputate my arm? What you are you talking about? Its right here, I can still feel it." Kim said as she attempted to wave the three inches of stump that were all that remained of her left arm.
At this point Anne broke down and began to cry, as did both James and Ronald.
Seeing their reaction Kim turned her gaze toward her left side and soon saw the truth of the matter. She did in fact no longer have a left arm.
"But, but after all the missions, all those dangers, all those traps and death rays…." Kim trailed off. Then after a few seconds she began to cry.
"It's ok KP, we're here for you." Ron said as he and Kim's parents gathered around her.
"But it's not fair! To lose my arm because I was sick." Kim sobbed in to her right hand even though the twitching of the stump of her left arm indicated that she was still trying to use that arm.
"No life isn't fair, but it's life." James said sagely, "And life is full of people who love you."
"No matter what honey, we'll always be there for you." Anne finally said.
"No matter what Kim, I'll always be there for you." Ron added.
"Even if I'm just a cripple?" Kim managed to mumble.
"You'll never be a cripple in my eyes Kim, no matter what."