Disclaimer: Kim Possible and friends belong to Disney Corporation. This is written for fun, not profit.
Rating: PG-13 (for some violence)
Summary: Something is wrong with Ron and Kim has to find out what it is before a partnership -- perhaps more -- is lost forever.
THE SUBSTITUTE -- Chapter Two
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To Kim's surprise, Wade had no answers later that evening, and probably wouldn't unless she could get Ron to stand still for a scan. "Not likely, Wade," she told him. "I don't think he's in the mood to let me give him the once over, no matter how important it is."
"Bummer. I'll keep trying from this end. Be careful, Kim. With Ron this out of it, who knows what could happen." With that, Wade signed off.
Sighing, she threw herself back on her bed, studying the ceiling. "Yeah. Who knows?"
Her mother's voice echoed up the stairs. "Kimmie! Dinner time."
"Coming, Mom." Not being in the mood to eat wasn't an excuse to be absent from the dinner table in the Possible household. When she reached the stairs, a pair of stomping feet were heard and the tweebs ran past her, shoving each other playfully all the way to the dining room.
The smell of meatloaf filled the air and Kim fought the urge to bury her face in her hands. Could the day get any worse?
"Would you like the end, Kim?" her mother asked solicitously, once they were all seated. "It's your favorite part."
That's because it's the smallest, Kim thought, but said nothing. She held her plate out, not even caring when a huge pile of brussel sprout casserole was plopped next to the meatloaf. Setting the plate down, she began to wish they had a dog. A big, hungry dog who liked to sit under the table and eat anything Kim threw him.
Anything and everything.
"How was your day, sweetheart?" her father asked. He also seemed perturbed at the presence of brussel sprout casserole but manfully covered it up. "Anything interesting happen?"
Kim debated telling her parents about Ron, but decided against it. Too many questions would follow, questions she couldn't answer and she was in no mood for the inevitable annoying commentary from her brothers. "Not really. How was your day?"
Her mother glanced suspiciously at her. Uh-oh, Kim thought. Mistake number one; asking Dad how his day was. Not only out of character for her, but ...
Mr. Possible beamed at her. "I'm glad you asked, Kim. Today we had an amazing test run with the particle accelerator, using a small laser to rearrange the atoms into small streams of gelatinous material that might be black matter or a new flavor of Jell-O. Why, you should have seen the different colors we were able to produce. Although, I must wonder that if it were black matter, wouldn't it be black? According to Stephen Hawking's latest research ..."
"Nice work, sis," Tim hissed at her.
Jim rolled his eyes. "Why don't you ask him how his whole week went?"
"Please shut up, guys," Kim asked tiredly, as her father continued in the background. "I really mean it. Please."
Her mother's eyes narrowed. Ooops. Mistake number two. Saying "please" to the tweebs. Kim took a huge bite of meatloaf, hoping to distract her. "Mmmmmm," she enthused. "Delicious, Mom! Your best ever."
But Mrs. Possible wasn't falling for it. "Uh-huh," she replied slowly. "Kimmie, are you sure nothing happened today?"
Gulping, Kim shook her head. "Nope. Nada. Zilch and zippo."
"... of course, I don't believe in wormholes that don't get you to other places in the universe. What fun would those be? No, I like me a good old fashioned wormhole that you can cross time and space in, landing, oh, I don't know, back in the fifteen-hundreds, when there were plagues and all that cool stuff," Mr. Possible rambled on. He thought for a moment. "Not that plagues were all that cool, but ..."
"Let's talk after dinner," Mrs. Possible said to Kim, in her "there's no getting out of it" voice. She turned toward her husband. "And as for plagues, dear, they weren't any fun at all."
Mr. Possible looked abashed and turned back to his meatloaf. "You're right, of course, dear."
Mrs. Possible smiled. "Now everyone eat up and remember, for dessert we have coconut sorbet!"
Four faces fell, before a weak cheer rose. "Yay."
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The dinner dishes slowly stacked up as Kim concentrated on drying them. They had a dishwasher but for some reason her mother insisted they do them by hand -- together.
Her mother began to scrub the meatloaf pan. "Why don't you tell me what's wrong, Kim?"
Feigning innocence, Kim shrugged. "Who said there's anything wrong?"
"I wouldn't be much of a mother if I couldn't tell when my daughter is hiding something. So, who is it you're having trouble with now? The girls on the cheerleading squad? One of your teachers? The latest villain or ..."
Oh, what was the use? She might as well spill. "It's Ron," Kim admitted. "I'm having trouble with Ron."
Her mother's voice grew quiet. "Ron? That's a surprise. I don't remember you two having a serious argument since first grade. But that was over your favorite pair of shoes. Or was it a dress? Or your doll's dress? I can't quite remember ..."
"Mom, Ron was fine last night. We did our homework in the afternoon, fought Shego, had a Nordita and went to bed. This morning, he's doing this angry young man routine and I don't get it. He said he hates everyone and blames me for everything that's wrong in his life. He was so mean, it's like he became someone else overnight."
"Oh." Mrs. Possible started to wash the dessert plates, her expression thoughtful.
"Wade and I tried to figure it out but we came up with nothing. And he hasn't called once, not even for Rufus. I'm worried, Mom. This just isn't like him."
"It doesn't sound like the Ron we know, but have you considered, honey, that ... well ..."
"What?"
"That Ron might be growing up a bit, perhaps in a way that you're not happy with? People grow apart, Kimmie. Especially young men and women who've been friends since childhood. Maybe Ron wants to set himself apart and since you're such a strong, capable girl, maybe you bring out some form of insecurity in him as he grows older and closer to adulthood."
"Wait a minute, Mom," said Kim incredulously. "Are you saying that Ron's acting like this because he's jealous of my abilities?" She shook her head. "Mom, this is Ron we're talking about. He doesn't have a jealous bone in his body." She paused. "Well, not a lot of them."
"I don't mean jealous exactly. I'm only saying that Ron wouldn't be the first man to feel threatened by a strong woman, Kimmie. Which is what you're rapidly turning into." She placed a gentle kiss on her daughter's brow. "I know it's hard to think such a thing about your best friend, but people change, honey. And sometimes not for the better."
Shaking her head, Kim replied, "No, Mom. I don't think it's that at all. I think something's happened to Ron and I'm going to find out what it is. However long it takes, whether Ron wants me to or not."
Mrs. Possible sighed deeply. "I hope you're right, dear. But don't be surprised if you're not."
Kim tossed down the dishtowel. "I don't plan on being surprised. I'm going to find out what's wrong with Ron and you'll see. Whatever it is, I know it's not his fault."
Nodding, her mother put the last dish on the "dry" pile. "He has a good friend in you, Kim. Here's hoping he's as good a one to you."
"The best, Mom," Kim replied determinedly. "The very best."
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Unfortunately, Kim's theory about Ron almost completely fell apart less than ten minutes later, when Wade beeped her. "Hey, Kim."
"What's the sitch?" she replied automatically, reaching for her "work" clothes, a black cutoff and loose black jeans.
"You won't believe this. There's a robbery going down at the Bueno Nacho, right now."
Kim paused mid-dress. "Right now? As in this very moment in time?"
"Yep," Wade replied, taking a sip of soda. "But that's not the weirdest part. I got a e-mail telling me it was going on. Sure enough, I hack into their security cameras and there it is, already in progress."
"Okay, that's weird." A quick clip of her belt and she was ready. "But, ready or not, here I come."
"Be careful, Kim, there's ..."
Biting her lip, she flipped the Kimmunicator shut. Wade was being too worrisome for her liking and without Ron by her side, she needed all the confidence she could muster. "Jeez, I hate being alone like this," she said to no one in particular until an indignant chitter interrupted her.
It was Rufus, mole hands on mole hips, looking quite offended.
Kim laughed lightly. "Sorry, Rufus. How could I forget you?" She opened up a flap on her belt motioning for him to jump inside. "Come on. I'll need the backup."
"All right!" was the squeaking reply.
A short hop onto her new flyboard and the flashing Bueno Nacho sign came into view minutes later. Kim landed lightly on the roof near the skylight. It was bright inside, filled with what appeared to be trembling customers and employees, as well as two armed robbers, dressed in head-to-toe black, ski masks and all.
Kim's face twisted with annoyance. She hated all criminals, but petty ones were the worst. At least supervillains had a little ambition to show for all their evil deeds.
This was just lame.
She took out a glass cutter and silently made a hole in the skylight. Taking a deep breath, she plunged down into the middle of the store, making sure to keep a hand over Rufus, lest he fall.
The landing was light, but noisy enough to make the two thieves whirl around to face her. "This taco's not for you," Kim mocked, moving into a fighting stance.
"Oh, but I think it is," replied one of the thieves, smiling before removing his ski mask.
Kim gasped. "But ... you ... no ..."
"Eloquent as always, KP," sneered Ron Stoppable, before pulling out what appeared to be a very elaborate gun and aiming it straight for her heart.
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tbc ...
