Author's note. Don't own anything, blah blah. This fic deviates from Car Alarm and on. This won't be that long a fic, maybe just one or two more chapters.
As always, comments on language – both English and German in this case – is most welcome, as neither is my first language (Man, I'm really making it hard for myself, don't I?).
On with the show!
Meet the Mustermanns
"This had better work!" Kim grumbled as she cut the wire. She waited for a few moments, but nothing was happening. The Kepler wasn't slowing down at all! She could feel the wind in her face as strong as before. She fished the kimmunicator out of her pocket carefully.
"Wade! I cut the wire but the Kepler isn't slowing down! I thought you said that was it!" She had to yell, since the wind was roaring so loud. Wade looked concerned.
"I... That was supposed to do it! I don't-" Just as Wade spoke, the rocket wobbled a little. Startled, Kim lost her grip on on the kimmunicator, and it sailed down the length of the rocket . Thankfully it didn't hit the Sloth, which was still keeping up with the Kepler.
Inside the Sloth, Ron and the tweebs looked on as Kim hung on as best as she could. Just then, Wade appeared on the monitor.
"Guys, we have a problem!" He said.
"Don't tell me, tell Kim! She's still on the rocket!" Ron replied.
"Yeah, but she dropped the kimmunicator, so I can't tell her. It seems that somehow, Motor Ed managed to separate the quantum drive from the normal rocket thrusters," Wade started.
"Ohh... Why didn't we"
"Think of that" Jim and Tim bounced the words between them.
"Even if the quantum drive failed, he'd"
"Still be able to drive it as a rocket car!" They stated. Ron stared.
"Wait... so it won't tear up the buildings and stuff, right? We just have to wait until it runs out of fuel!" Ron caught up.
"Yeah, but Kim doesn't know that! We have to let her know that before she starts cutting other wires", Wade responded. "Wires that could make the Kepler overheat and explode!" Ron whitened at the thought.
"So what do we do now? I can't just yell to her, she'd never hear me!" He said, somehow getting even more nervous at the thought of what the response would be.
"Well... You're gonna have to get on the Kepler, Ron" , Wade said. The tweebs grinned.
"This is"
"So cool!" They said.
Erika opened her eyes slowly. She looked over at the alarm clock. As usual, she had woken up just a few minutes before it rang. She didn't mind, however. Erika had learned to appreciate it, since it meant that she could have a few moments of just looking at her husband Max while he slept. He always looked so peaceful when he slept.
Moments later, the alarm rang and Max woke up with a start. He sighed as soon as he had calmed down a bit from the shock.
"There just has to be a better way to wake up than this", he muttered. Erika smiled, then leaned in and kissed him softly. "That's one way, why don't we do that instead of the alarm?" Max said, his frown turned into a grin.
"If I woke you up like that everyday, it would take us an hour just to get out of bed, Max", Erika responded.
"And what's wrong with that?" Max said, giving his wife another kiss.
"Good point, but not today", Erika said, slowly sitting up. "Come on. Let's go get breakfast."
"Errm... I don't suppose you've got any more of those magnet rings?" Ron asked, swallowing.
"Sorry, Kim's got the only pair", Wade responded.
"So... how am I supposed to get on to that thing+" Ron said, his nervousness still there.
"I don't know, Ron. You're the one who does these sort of things and somehow manages to do it despite the odds."
"Yeah, Ron. You can do it! And don't"
"Worry about the car, we'll be right behind you 'til you"
"Stop the Kepler", Jim and Tim tweebed.
"Oh, no you don't!" Ron said. "You don't even have your learner's permits yet, you can't drive this thing!"
"We built the car, Ron. I think we"
"Can drive it alright." Ron grumbled at their words.
"Maybe, but if Kim finds out that you drove this thing, she's gonna be angry as all outdoors! Did you guys install an autopilot or something?" Ron asked.
"Sure we did", the tweebs said in unison.
"Well, use that one, and as soon as I'm on the Kepler, you stop the car, ok? We can call Wade for a ride later, and I don't want in harm's way." Ron felt a lot more responsible than he normally was, but a look at Wade nodding his head at Ron's words told him he was right. Funny, he thought. I'm looking to a twelve-year old for mature back-up.
"Hnh! Let's go!" Rufus yelped, ready to head into action.
"Sorry, Rufus", Ron said. "I need you to make sure these guys don't try anything stupid with Kim's new car, alright?"
"Hnh. Ok", Rufus muttered and sat back down on the dashboard. Ron patted him on the head for good measure.
With that, he lowered the window, The autopilot kicked in and he made his way out of the window, slowly and carefully. He made his way out and took position on the hood of the car.
He could see Kim holding on to the Kepler, and pondered how he was going to get to her. Suddenly, inspiration struck.
He began waving, and managed to get Kim's attention. He made the best charade he could, drawing an imaginary circle in front of him, tapped on the hood of the car and mimicked it getting stuck. Kim seemed to get the point, as he saw her remove her right hand glove with the ring on it. Ron got into position, and very gently, Kim dropped the glove. It sailed straight to him, and he caught it just barely.
The glove wouldn't fit on his hand, so he had to wear the ring as it was on his left thumb, like Kim did. He edged further out on the hood as the car got as close as it could to the rocket. He said a quick prayer to however was listening... And then he jumped.
Erika finished her second cup of coffee as Max was getting out of the shower. She grinned as he walked in, dressed only in a towel from the waist down.
"Yow! Lose the towel and get over here!" She said. Max just grinned and laughed a bit.
"Hey, if you can't wake me up with kisses because we'd be stuck in bed for too long, do you really think me dropping towel for you is gonna be any different?" Erika smiled and shook her head.
"Nah, I guess not. We'd get all sweaty so we'd have to shower again, and we don't have the time for that, so we'd have to shower together, and then we'd-"
"My God, woman, your mind really is filthy", Max said in a mock serious tone.
"Right now, yeah!" Erika said, which made Max chuckle. He rolled his eyes and walked into the bathroom to get dressed.
"Eh, by the way, I forgot to tell you", he said as he was putting on his white shirt and black pants, "Dr. Wallenstein called yesterday and wondered if we could come in on Thursday, is that ok with you?" Erika sighed. How could he just forget something like that? She got a little annoyed, but let it slide.
"Sure", she responded. "Did he say why he wanted us to come over?" There was a hint of trepidation in her voice, and Max seemed to catch it.
"He said it was just routine, check to see if anything's gotten better. No cures yet", he mumbled as he emerged, fully dressed. He sighed, realizing his mistake. "I didn't mean it like that, sorry."
"It's ok", Erika said, sighing as well. "I know you didn't."
"Could have phrased it differently", Max grumbled.
"I said it's ok, sweetie", Erika said. "We're both getting tired of all the tests and the waiting and the... putting our lives on hold. If we can't talk about it when we're alone with each other, when are we supposed to?"
"You're right, Erika",Max said, nodding. They sat silent for a while, before Max spoke up again. "I just... it's been seven months and now word on a cure or... anything else. I mean... I keep hearing all the time about new science stuff in America or Japan or... France, why can't they do anything to help us?" Erika looked a bit sad. He was right. And even if they found something, it would take how many years to reach Schönau am Königsee? Two? Three? Max looked at Erika and softly took her hand.
"What about you? You got something to get off your chest?" Erika's face continued to be sad.
"I... I should have told you before, but..." She took a breath. "Last month... I missed my period." Max' eyes widened, and his jaw started to fall, but Erika spoke again before he could speak.
"It's fine, it was nothing, just stress or something. I had my period three days ago and I took a test before that, so nothing's going on." Max seemed to calm down a bit, but he couldn't help reaching out and stroking her soft cheek. "I just... I mean... I know we said we were going to try to live our lives, as best as we could but... I was so scared. I mean, how could we have a..." She paused and skipped the next word, not making it real, "when we don't know... anything?"
As her tears pooled in her eyes, Max leaned in and kissed her softly, picking her mood up instantly.
The magnet ring held Ron firmly to the Kepler, even though nothing else did. The speed was almost overwhelming, but he managed to make his way forward until he reached Kim.
"Ron, what are you doing?" She had to yell to make sure he heard.
"Wade made a mistake, we... we gotta get into the seats!" Ron yelled back. Kim nodded, and they made their way to where Shego and Motor Ed had been sitting a couple of minutes ago. They reached it, and sat down. Ron explained to her how Motor Ed's alterations meant that they could just stop they Kepler even though they had stopped the quantum drive from destroying everything around them.
"But now that you know that, I'm sure we can bang our heads together and take control of this thing, right, KP?" He finished with a grin. Kim looked skeptical.
"Ron... this is a really sophisticated machine. I don't know if the controls are the same as in regulars cars."
"Then leave it to the real button masher and let's see if he can't-" Ron said, cracking his fingers, but Kim interrupted him.
"Look, I don't know if that's the gas pedal, the brake pedal or the self destruct pedal, it could be anything! And I don't think we should be pressing what could be self destruct pedals when we're sitting in the thing that's gonna explode", she said. Ron scratched his neck. She had a point.
"But everything looks just like in a normal car", he remarked.
"Yeah, but it's a rocket, it's much more complicated. I don't know if Motor Ed could have just... connected everything that works like brakes to the brake pedal or if you have to do it in some sort of sequence." Again, Ron caught her point.
"So... what do we do?" he asked. Kim looked at the wheel. She grabbed it and softly made some adjustment. The Kepler responded just fine.
"At least we can steer it. I guess we'll just have to drive 'til we run out of fuel."
"Alright! Road trip!" Ron exclaimed. Kim chuckled.
She realized that going straight ahead was probably the best bet. Altering the course too much was too dangerous, since this thing didn't exactly turn on a dime. There were a few issues, though. After she inadvertently hit the guard rail, the wheels had come off, leaving the rocket car merely a rocket. After she got control over it again, it turned out that it was actually a blessing in disguise, since it meant that they didn't have to stick to roads anymore. The fuel gauge was slowly working it's way down, so there seemed to be only a matter of time before-
"Ohh... Ron, new sitch coming up", Kim said, a little bit nervous. Ron winced.
"You really should have taken care of that before we left!"
"What? Oh, no eugh!" Kim responded. "It's just... we're going east, right?"
"Yeah..." Ron said, not following.
"And I think that's the Manhattan skyline over there, which means that we've reached New York."
"Yeah..." Ron said, still not following. Kim sighed.
"What comes after New York, Ron?" She asked.
"The Atlantic... Oh, this is not good, is it?" Ron said, finally catching up.
"Could be worse, but I think we've got fuel and momentum to get us to the other side", Kim said. It seemed to be true, at least of what she could glean from how much fuel they were using.
"Well, at least if we get to France we can get some could french fries, right, KP?" Ron said. Kim chuckled.
"Sure, Ron. I just hope we don't end up having to eat borscht or something."
Max and Erika walked hand in hand through Schönau am Königsee. The little Bavarian village was buzzing to life, and the young couple laughed as they walked to the hotel where they both worked. After their talk, they had... spent a little time in the bed and in the shower, so their spirits were soaring again. They walked past a newspaper stand, and Erika stopped to get a copy of USA Yesterday.
"Here we go... the horoscopes!" She exclaimed, flipping to the page in question immediately. "Ah, look at this... 'Today, you will meet an old acquaintance, who will help you solve a problem'. I'll take that one, I feel like a Scorpio today!" She said, grinning.
"Well, you're not a Virgo, that's for sure", Max said, which earned him an elbow to his side. They laughed some more as they reached their workplace, the Schönau Hotel. Breakfast had just ended, and now Max and Erika were going to prepare lunch for the guests.
"Mustermann, you're late! Both of you!" They were greeted by their boss, Herr Bellend. He seemed gruff, but he was really a kind man.
"Sorry, boss, won't happen again", Max responded.
"Better not, Mustermann. Anyway, go get things started. I've got a dentist appointment, so your on your own 'til 12. I'm sure you can handle it, all the guests have left to go... whatever it is the tourists do." With that, Herr Bellend grabbed his coat and left the concierge desk. Max and Erika stepped into the kitchen.
"So, any plans for when we're done for the day?" Max asked. Erika shrugged.
"I don't know. Maybe we can go up to the bobsleigh track and get a coffee or something?" She responded.
"Sounds good", Max said. "Now... lunch."
"So, where do you think we are, KP?" Ron said, as his feet finally touched ground. He looked around. There was forests and mountains nearby, but since geography wasn't his best subject, he had no clue.
"I'm thinking Germany", Kim responded. "Those should be the Alps over there, and if we were in Switzerland or Austria we would have run into them. And We drove too long for it to be France."
"I guess that means no french fries", Ron grumbled, but shrugged. "No big, I guess."
"They do have french fries in Germany, Ron", Kim said, smiling at her boyfriend. "Anyway, let's see if we can find a town or something. Find some fires and maybe a phone so we can call Wade."
"Uhh.. yeah... about... food... I sort of.. forgot my wallet in the Sloth", Ron said, looking embarrassed. "And I sort of forgot your wallet too. I didn't want to risk losing them when I jumped to the Kepler, and... I'm sorry, KP." He fiddled a little with the magnet ring, not wanting to look at Kim. Kim fingered her ring unconsciously.
While they were in the car, they had toyed around with them a bit. The embarrassment they had felt earlier when Wade had sprung the rings on them had gone away, and now, perhaps somewhat wishful thinking form both of them, they wore them on there left ring fingers.
"So not the drama, Ron. I'm sure we'll get by just fine", Kim smiled at him. Wallets weren't important right now anyway, since they had survived riding the rocket car and all. She took his hand as they started walking down the road they had landed on. "I'm sure we can find someone who can help us." She squinted as she saw a village about two kilometers down the road.
"Maybe we can find a hotel or something, they should be able to-"
Her words were cut off as the Kepler rocket exploded, sending the teens flying through the air, landing next to each other.
"Did you hear something?" Max asked. Erika stopped getting the pans out of the cupboard. "Sounded like someone at the door", Erika responded. "Maybe someone was too late for breakfast."
"I'll go check", Max said, getting up and leaving the kitchen. He got to the front door and opened it. A man and a woman were standing outside.
"Tut mir leid, die Küche ist nicht jetzt geöffnet, aber wenn sie wünschen ein Zimmer zu mieten-" He began, but was interrupted by the redheaded woman.
"Ron! Oh my God, I can't believe this!" She said, seemingly in shock. The gentleman next to her also seemed to be quite taken.
"Uhh.. I don't know if... Wait... D- Do you know me?" Max' eyes went wide.
"Yes! Don't you recognize us? We're Kim's mom and dad!" The woman said. Max head was swimming. He turned to the kitchen.
"Erika! Come out here, quick!" he yelled. Erika came rushing out, having heard his tone.
"What's going on, Max, is there some- Ouff!" She was practically tackled by the woman, while the brownhaired man hugged Max.
"We thought we had lost you!" The woman said, sniffling. She was trying to hold back her tears.
"You... We know you?" Erika asked, shocked.
"Yes! We're your parents, Kim", the woman responded. Erika leaned out of the hug and looked at the woman. Her face reminded Erika of her own so much she started crying. It was true. And then she realized what the woman had said.
"Kim?" Erika asked. "Oh my God, my name is Kim?"
"Yes! You're Kim Possible, our daughter! And you," She looked back at Max, who had disengaged from the hug, not knowing what to think, "You're Ron Stoppable."
"You've been gone for seven months", the man said. "We had no idea you were here, but we knew you couldn't have died, we just knew it", he continued,seemingly holding back his tears.
"We... I'm sorry we can't remember you but... We both have amnesia", Max said, still not grasping the name Ron. He looked at Erika, who looked back at him. When he saw her, he couldn't hold it in anymore, and started crying as well. He gave the man another hug, then dislodged and walked over and hugged Erika.
"I... I can't believe it", Erika said. "We have so many questions!" The woman... Erika's... Kim's mom smiled.
"We can tell you everything, but we can do even better. We can make you remember." Max and Erika looked at each other. Their smiles seemed fixed on their faces.
"You mean.. we're gonna remember how we met?" Max... Ron asked.
"Or how we started dating?" Kim asked. Her parents smiled and nodded.
"And how we got married?" Ron asked.
"How you WHAT?"