Author's Note: The time of prophecy is at hand. The era forseen by sages declared mad has finally arrived. The fourth season of Kim Possible is actually here! Rejoice, for these are the good times.
As for our humble little fic here, hope you enjoy. Leave a review and get a response.
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Chapter 2 by johnrie18
Josh Mankey double-checked his watch as he waited anxiously in the Middleton High School parking lot. The sun had just cracked the tree line around the school and a mild breeze blew through as the young artist did yet another take of the parking lot for some sign of his girlfriend, hoping against hope that she might show up just a few seconds earlier.
For reasons that he couldn't explain, he was feeling jittery. He found his hands fiddling with themselves as an unease that he couldn't quite explain seemed to have overtaken him. He'd been feeling this way ever since he woke up this morning and he couldn't figure out why. There was nothing to worry about. He was just meeting his girlfriend a few minutes early before school so the two of them could catch up over the weekend. That was all. Just hanging out a few minutes before school with his girlfriend. No big deal.
"Hey Josh." Kim actually caught him completely off guard as she leaned in from behind, planting a light kiss on his cheek. The startled blond actually jumped a little in his place, anxiously catching Kim's confused glare. "Are you alright?"
"Huh? Oh yeah." Josh rubbed the back of his neck anxiously. What the hell was wrong? It was just Kim. It was just the two of them hanging out alone. Finally, alone. "So, how was your weekend?"
"Oh my gosh Josh, you should have been at Ron's birthday." Kim was oblivious to the cringe that found its way across his face as she drifted back in time by two days. "You remember those rockets that the tweebs had been experimenting with that I told you about? Well I guess they finally got bored with them so they actually attached them to Ron's moped for his birthday present. His bike can actually go faster than most trains!"
"Oh." Josh tried to sound interested, if only for politeness' sake, even as he anxiously waited for his chance to tell her all about his art exhibit. "Really?"
"It was unreal." Kim's pace of a mile-a-minute never slowed once. "We took it out for a test ride and Rufus hit the rockets and we must have done at least a hundred and fifty. The cops actually tried to pull us over but we couldn't stop and we actually led them out onto the interstate before we finally managed to shut the rockets off."
"Uh, wow." Josh managed to force out a response. "I hope the cops don't revoke your guys' world-saving privileges for that."
Josh's hopeful wish passed right through Kim as she dismissed with a wave of the hand "Oh no. We had to call in a favor and Ron got off with a warning. It was no big, but man, that thing goes really fast. And he handled it really well, too! You'd never think he could have had troubles with the Disorienter after the way he could swerve that thing through traffic." A slightly girly laugh escaped Kim's lips, and for some reason, seemed to apply pressure to Josh's chest, causing his beating heart to thunder within his chest.
"Well, I guess I know how your weekend went." Josh forced a smile. "As for min…"
"INCOMING!"
That nameless fear that Josh Mankey couldn't identify within his stomach suddenly came screaming in to the Middleton High School parking lot on a jet-propelled moped with a screeching blonde cheerleader clinging to his waist. Kim quickly grabbed Josh and pulled him out of the way as the moped shot past them both.
Ron grabbed hard on the handles and brought it to a screeching stop, just precious inches from the teachers' parking, leaving a definite tread mark across the lot.
"One small step for man, one huge ride for Ronkind!" the blond exclaimed even as he anxiously leapt off his 'new' ride in triumph. Tara, on the other hand, seemed a little wobbly as her unsteady legs tried to lift her off of Ron's bike.
"I should have stuck with the Disorenter," Tara affirmed uneasily, her face looking just a hint of green as Ron rushed to her side to catch her.
"Ooh, sorry Tara. Maybe a little much on the afterburners, huh?" Ron apologized as he saw the sickly look on his girlfriend's face. He'd been so anxious to show off to his girlfriend that he had practically forced her onto it. Seeing her reaction drew an unexpected pang of guilt. He'd wanted to impress her, not make her lose her breakfast. It wasn't that he didn't fully appreciate the speed of his new ride, or the effect that traveling at that speed could have one's tummy, it was just… well KP hadn't had any problems yesterday on it.
"That's ok Ron." Tara insisted weakly, even as she struggled to regain her composure in front of her caring boyfriend. "But next time, why don't we take my car to school?"
"I think the police would appreciate that too." Kim joked as she pulled Josh up from the ground, walking over to the pair.
"Oh, please. Your jealousy is way obvious, KP. I mean sure, we fly around on hypersonic vehicles all the time, but do you have one parked in your own garage?" Ron asked proudly.
"Well, not since Christmas…" Kim admitted.
"Exactly. Who's the one with the hot ride now?" Ron pressed on in triumph.
"Unless you plan to go to the Spring Fling dance all alone, me!" Tara announced in authority, now that her stomach had finally stopped shaking.
Ron, sensing that this was not the opportunity to press his luck, deflated slightly. "I guess I can survive mooching rides off my smoking hot girlfriend for a while."
"Take it from me Ron; it's not a bad way to get around." Josh interjected even as he placed his arm around Kim's shoulder, causing the red head to smile at him warmly, briefly alleviating his unease.
The school bell cut their brief moment short. Josh looked down at his watch, disheartened to see just how fast time had really flown by.
"Guess we better get going." Kim laid a small kiss on her boyfriend's cheek as the four made their way inside
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Josh Mankey poked uneasily at the pile of mystery meat in front of him as he sat in the school cafeteria. He was fairly certain that the sudden movement he had seen from his lunch when he had poked it a few seconds prior was just an optical illusion, but there was no point in taking unnecessary chances.
"I've been such a horrible GF."
Kim Possible's voice brought Josh up from his probing and prodding, leaving the unnatural grey of the mystery meat behind for the brilliant emerald of her guilty eyes.
"Sorry?"
"Your gallery exhibit. We were talking this morning and I never even got the chance to ask you how it went!" Kim's face pleaded for forgiveness as she sat down next to Josh.
"Oh." Josh let out a breath he hadn't even been aware he'd been holding in since this morning as he tried to play it off. "No big deal."
"It is a big deal. So come on, how did it go?" She asked eagerly as she gave Josh her undivided attention.
"Pretty great actually. There was a professor from Upperton there who gave me his card. He told me about this art scholarship the school is offering and said if I wanted to submit some of my work, I'd have a really solid chance of getting it."
"Josh, that's amazing." Kim's eyes went wide with pride before softening slightly. "I'm so sorry I wasn't there for it."
"Yeah me too, though I suppose, since you're feeling bad about it, I could come up with some way for you to make it up to me." Josh replied in his slickest voice.
"Oh really." Kim's eyebrow rose suggestively at the implication. "Do tell."
"Hey y'all. You kids behaving over here?" Josh Mankey watched in slight despair as what attention Kim was giving him immediately redirected itself towards Ron Stoppable. Why did Ron suddenly bother him so much? Or was it not so much Ron as it was the attention Kim gave him?
"Relax, Ron, no PDA going on over here, yet." Kim then quickly leaned over, gently grabbing Josh's chin and then pulling his lips to her own. The sudden stiffness in Josh's lips quickly melted away before Kim's sensual touch.
Ron casually smiled as he sat down, looking down dishearteningly at his own pile of mystery meat, paying the young couple across from him no mind.
"Hey Ron." Tara leaned, giving him a light peck on the cheek before turning to the young couple across from them. "Whoa. Did I miss something?"
"Well, normally I'd guess that Josh got cheese on his lips again, but the cafeteria lady has yet again sacrificed the glory of cheese pizza for the horror of mystery meat, so my guess is long weekend apart." Ron speculated, even as Rufus leapt out of his pocket in search of food. The tiny rodent made his way to the pile of mystery meat on Ron's plate, then leapt back in terror when it appeared to twitch slightly as he sniffed at it.
"Whoa." Josh drew back in surprise, an awed expression frozen into his face. "Was that cause you owed me?"
"No, that was cause I missed you." Kim smiled at him. "I'll get back to you about how I plan to make it up to you."
"I wouldn't hold your breath though, dude." Ron warned playfully. "When we were in elementary school, I jinxed KP and she has yet to pay up on that soda she owes."
"Oh please. Should I even bother counting all the ones you owe me?" Kim looked back at Ron with a playful look of challenge.
"Ha. I'd like to see even the great Kim Possible try and count that high." Ron joked, eliciting a shared laugh between him and Kim. As they did, for one imperceptible moment, an uncertain look passed between Tara and Josh.
The familiar chime of the Kimmunicator cut in, as Kim quickly drew the small device from her pocket. "Go Wade."
"Hey guys. Hit on the website." Team Possible's resident super genius declared quickly.
"Anything to save us from mystery meat," Ron decided hopefully as he poked at his lunch.
"Cancelled cheese pizza lunch again?" Wade asked.
"Once again, my glorious dreams of cheese choke and die beneath an avalanche of mystery meat." Ron mourned aloud.
"Yuck. Meat." Rufus spit even as Tara petted him consolingly.
"Sorry to ruin your mystery meat, but you are never going to guess who's trying to prop a death ray on top of the Eiffel Tower." Wade interjected.
"Hmm, death ray on top of the Eiffel Tower." Ron pondered aloud. "I'm going to go with Drakken on this one."
"No way. This totally sounds like Dementor." Kim replied back.
"Actually, Ron guessed it. Drakken and Shego." Wade informed the duo.
"Ha. There's another soda you owe me. I'm going to have to start running a tab for you, KP."
"Fine, so that's two I owe you and more than exist in the state of Colorado that you owe me." Kim joked in defense.
This quieted Ron into some thought. "You know, I know it's big of me but I think I'll just forgive your tab and call it even."
At this, Kim couldn't help to spit out in laughter as she flicked a sample of mystery meat at Ron. The blond haired sidekick's well-tuned instincts allowed him to dodge the food attack, whereupon he quickly retaliated with a battery of mystery meat all his own.
"Guys," Wade tried to interject over the chunks of meat that went flying.
Kim and Ron couldn't hear over their own laughter.
"Uhh, guys." Tara tried to get their attention.
Still no luck.
"Guys." Josh spoke in.
Only further laughter and blots of flying meat responded.
"GUYS." The three finally shouted in unison, finally get Kim and Ron to come to their senses.
"Paris." Josh reminded.
"Save the world." Tara went on.
"Oh." Ron began.
"Right." Kim concluded. "Our ride?"
"There in two minutes. I've already cleared it with your teachers."
"Thanks Wade. You rock." Kim turned off her Kimmunicator before turning to Josh. "Sorry, gotta jet. Hero thing." She insisted apologetically as she leaned in and planted another kiss on Josh.
"Gotta run." Ron gave a similar kiss that tingled on Tara's lips for a second longer. "I'll bring you back something cool."
"Forget that. Take me with you." Tara almost pleaded, managing only just to catch herself. "I mean I've never been to Paris. I want to see what it's like."
"It's nice." Ron replied, oblivious to the slight desperation in Tara's voice. "Thing is, the French Fries really aren't that great. They taste like they're more from Paris than France."
"Ron, Paris is in France." Kim informed plainly.
"That's what makes the whole thing so weird!" Ron exclaimed frantically even as Kim led him outside.
For a long moment, neither Tara nor Josh said anything. Then, finally building up the courage, Josh gave Tara a knowing look.
"What?"
"You know what." Josh's eyes dug deep into the blonde cheerleader to the point where she refused to look at them any longer.
"Look, if you're still upset about this weekend and you want some alone time with Kim, I'll distract Ron for you, but leave me and Ron alone." Tara crossed her arms as she attempted to shrink back in her seat defiantly.
"Where we even here just now?" Josh could see the confusion in Tara's face so he went on. "Before you and Ron sat down, Kim and I had the mother of all kisses. And then as soon as Ron walks in, the two of them are laughing up a storm and I don't think either of us got a word in edgewise."
"It happens sometimes," Tara admitted uncomfortably.
"It's happening a lot." Josh drove his point onwards. "Tell me that Ron has never run out in the middle of a date with you to go on some mission with Kim."
Tara fidgeted anxiously at the question. "Well… that's mission stuff. I mean, as long as Middleton doesn't get nuked, I can stand having a date or two ending early. And it's not like we didn't both know it would be like that, either." Tara shot a slightly defiant glare back at Josh that warned the young artist to drop the subject soon.
"You know it's more than that." Josh didn't let up for a moment as he collected himself. "Stop me if this sounds familiar. The two of you hang out, you have a good time, you laugh, you touch, you even kiss. And then you see them with the other and you see what a good time they have, how they laugh, how they touch, and you catch yourself wondering when they're going to kiss and what that's going to look like."
"Shut up." Tara whispered.
"You tell yourself 'they're just friends. They always have been and they always will be.'" Josh continued, gaining momentum as he spoke. "But every time you catch them together, there's that little something that they only share with each other that they don't share with anyone else. Call it whatever you want, history, something that comes with saving each other's lives every day, whatever it is, they've got it, and you don't and you never will."
"I said leave it alone." Tara's hand seemed to make its way to her eye, wiping a tiny puddle collecting beneath her eyelid.
"They've got something. Maybe they just can't see it yet or maybe it's been there so long that they don't notice it, but it's there and it's as obvious as daylight to everyone else who looks at them for longer than five minutes. Right now, there's just one thing stopping them."
"I said shut up!" Tara finally slammed down on the lunch table as she got up and stormed off. For a moment, Josh paused to see if anyone else had noticed her outburst, but when it seemed all clear, he immediately took off after her.
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Tara stood in front of her locker, looking at a picture she had taped to the inside of the door of her and Ron together. She looked fondly at the photographic capture of her in his arms, his expression one of usual goofiness and delight, while her face was smothered in sheer warmth and contentment. She tried to swallow back down the lump that persisted in her throat as she found herself once again trying to wipe clean her eyes.
"This wouldn't be bothering you if you didn't know I'm right," Josh said softly from behind her. Tara never bothered to look back at him, instead focusing on her right ring finger, her mind clinging to unheard vows being recited as the priest announced the union of Mr. and Mrs. Ron Stoppable.
"Fine." She finally answered back in a whisper. "What do you have in mind?"
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Author's Note: Stay with us, things are really about to pick up.