Partners in Crime
By Weirdbard
Chapter 4
Ron's footsteps were slow and jerky as Kim helped him out of her car and moved him towards the small house she lived in and not all of the lack of grace in Ron's steps were due to the drug in his system. Of all the places Kim could take him, why did it have to be here? When she had told the Global Justice Medic that she was taking him to her house Ron had prayed she meant to her parents' place. The Possible family home was a place of happy memories for Ron but not this place. The small innocent looking house with the front yard with a white picket fence held nothing but heartache for Ron.
This was the place Ron had helped Kim move to when they had graduated from high school together. This was the place that Ron had rented with Kim when they had made plans to be together forever. And this was the place where Kim broke up with him and literally forced Ron to move out when she decided he wasn't what she was searching for.
Kim gestured at the fence as she led Ron towards the front door. "Remember those roses we planted? They still haven't flowered yet. I still think they sold us dud ones. I mean I've given them constant care and if they were good roses they would have bloomed."
Ron was trying his level best not to give into memories. The flush of victory at finally graduating, the horror as his parents coming to him directly after graduation and telling him he was now a man and could take care of himself and them suddenly moving away for their jobs and leaving him alone, trying to decide if he should go on to college, Kim's decision to freelance for Global Justice so she could live on her own and go to the local college part time. Oh most of her time was still devoted to doing free jobs for people but now she could do an occasional big job for Global Justice and not have to worry about money any more. And Ron had taken to doing the occasional catering job as well. Together they had a respectable cash flow and had been independent and happy. At least Ron had been.
Ron blinked back a few tears that gathered in his eyes. Ron had to admit to himself there had been signs from the very first day he moved in with Kim that something was wrong. As best childhood friends Kim often sat cuddled up close to Ron as they watched movies or just talked but as soon as they moved to official live-in boyfriend / girlfriend status she started to pull away from him. If he hugged her she would try to get out of it as soon as possible and when he went to kiss her most of the time she would turn her cheek so he ended up kissing that instead of on her lips. For the longest time Ron thought it was probably worry over what her father who still thought of her as his little girl might do now that she
was a grown woman and living with a man but slowly Ron came to the realization that Kim was just not comfortable in the relationship. Of course the real proof was when he had found her in Josh Mankey's arms and Kim told him that she thought it was best if he moved out of their house.
Ron could have fought it. He rented the house along with Kim and it was as much his as it was hers but in typical Ron fashion he gave in rather than risk hurting Kim's feelings and ended up with a tiny apartment downtown and Kim ended up in the house alone. That part always confused Ron. He was sure as soon as he was out she would have moved Josh in and evidently Josh had assumed the same thing because Ron heard they had a huge argument about it in the mall when Kim had flatly refused to let Josh move in with her.
"Things are pretty much like the way they were when you left." Kim said as she opened the door and ushered him in.
Ron would have frowned if he could have gotten his face to move. Things weren't 'pretty much' the way they were when he moved. They were exactly the same as the day the door closed behind him that last time. Kim had kept the house spotless of course but other than that nothing had been moved or changed.
Kim sat Ron down in a chair, in what had been 'his' chair when they lived together and looked down at him. "You know this might be easier if you would say something."
Ron struggled to get words out. The drug Ivy used seemed to ebb and flow. Sometimes he could get words out easily and other times it was like trying to solve a rubix cube while blindfolded and underwater. "Drug … hard… talk." He finally managed to string together.
"Ah. I thought it might just be you didn't want to talk to me." Kim said sadly as she felt her slightly swollen jaw. "You clipped me pretty hard you know. In a lot of ways better than Shego ever managed to do. I kind of figure that much power in your punch; even if you were being controlled had to be fueled by a bit of anger towards me." She plunged her hands into the pockets of her cargo pants, Kim frowned as her hands felt something in her pockets and grasping a hold of the mystery objects she pulled the items out. She blushed slightly when she realized two of the objects were the vibrators that Ivy and Harley had used to fool Ron and Shego. With a look of distaste she quickly sat them down on the coffee table in front of the couch. The third item she held up to look at it more closely.
It was the silver lipstick tube she had found in the warehouse and had idly put into her pocket. Opening it she twisted it and saw pale green lipstick rise out of it. She thought it might be Shego's although it didn't look like any kind of shade she would use.
She started to put it away when she noticed Ron's wide eyes were glued to it.
She glanced back at the innocent looking lipstick. "This is it, isn't it? This is what that Ivy person uses to control men?"
Ron with a nervous twitch of his head nodded.
Kim stared at the lipstick for a several long moments. "What did that doctor say? That it will make any man follow the orders of the woman who administers it?" She asked as a slow grin began to form on her face.
Ron could only watch in fear as Kim slowly put the lipstick on. Turning she leaned over and slowly started to bring her lips in contact with his… Only at the last moment to turn her head slightly and kiss Ron on the cheek.
This was her first mistake. For maximum effectiveness the lipstick had to be applied to a man's lips for it to be absorbed best.
Even so Ron felt the sensation of being in a free falling elevator. It was a sensation he was quickly getting used to as the minute amount of drug slowly entered his body and added to the amount already there.
"Ron? Do you think if I were to tell you something and then tell you to forget it completely afterwards, this drug will make you do it?" Kim asked as she pulled back to stare into his eyes.
"Yes Mistress." Ron stated.
Kim breathed out shakily and to Ron's surprise reached out and gently brushed him on the cheek where she had kissed him, in effect wiping away the green lipstick kiss. This was Kim's second mistake. The kiss being applied to Ron's skin instead of his lips made it slower for absorption. By brushing away the lipstick mark Kim diluted the effects of it even more.
"Josh broke up with me." Kim said suddenly. "Did you know that?"
"No Mistress." Ron stated.
"He left me because I wouldn't let him take our relationship any farther than we had." Kim said softly as she sat back down on the couch to Ron's left. Ron having not been given any orders continued to sit staring straight forward and could only see her out of the corner of his left eye.
"I bet you are wondering why I broke up with you to go after Josh and then wouldn't let him move in or touch me any more than I would let you?"
"Yes Mistress."
Kim nervously licked her lips. Fortunately for her the drug has no effects on females. "Do you think I'm perfect Ron?" She asked after a moment.
"No Mistress."
Kim frowned. "Why not? I mean what other girl my age has accomplished everything like I have? I had the best grades in school. I did the most after school activities. Do you know how many colleges asked, no begged for me to attend them? I even repeatedly save the world!" She asked in a tweaked tone of voice.
"Yes Mistress. I know."
"Yeah I guess you do. You have always been there, haven't you Ron?" Kim asked allowing some of her 'tweaked voice' fade. After several long moments she stated in a matter of fact voice. "I hate being perfect, you know that Ron?"
Ron wasn't sure how to answer that since he knew for a fact that Kim was not perfect. Nobody was. So he remain quiet.
"It is such a terrible burden. Being perfect. I owe it to nature and fate to remain pure until I find the perfect man to be with. I mean it only makes sense, right? Perfect woman is destined, no ordained to only give herself to the perfect man."
Ron's eyes grew slightly larger. Kim thought she was too perfect for a normal healthy relationship? How could he have grown up with her and failed to see the signs, the signs that his best friend in the world was suffering from what could only be described as a type of megalomania? And suddenly with the sickest feeling Ron had ever felt in his stomach he realized. He hadn't failed to see the signs of it developing. He had helped to create it. Along with her parents by always telling Kim that she could do anything. That nothing was impossible for her to accomplish.
When Shego or Bonnie managed to take her down a peg, always being there to tell her it was because they were jealous of her. Ron knew from personal experience from when he changed his hairstyle or clothing style and people started paying more attention to him how easy it was to get a 'big head' and go overboard. But Kim had always seemed so grounded, so reasonable and level headed. But now Ron understood. Kim didn't let the praise everyone kept giving her affect her on the outside but she did listen to it. And over the years she had even come to believe it. She was a Possible and anything was possible for a Possible except allowing herself to love someone who wasn't as perfect as she was.
Leaning down she touched her forehead to Ron's and stared into his eyes. Ron for the first time in his life noticed a gleam of fanaticism and a touch of loneliness behind Kim's eyes. Fanaticism and loneliness he had never noticed before.
"I do like you Ron. I hope you know that. You have always been there for me; no one could be more loyal than you. You have seen me hurt and you have seen me in rage. And yet you have always been there. No matter how many times I throw you away, you always come back when I need you. If I could ever allow myself to be with a common man, ever allow one to touch me, it would be you." Kim stated somewhat coolly.
"But I can't. Evolution and fate have decreed it. I'm perfect and I have to wait hoping someday to find the perfect man and you my lifelong friend are so not it."
Walking back over to the couch she pulled her top off over her head and then unbuttoned her pants.
"Ron look at me." She commanded.
Ron dutifully turned his head to stare at the nearly naked Kim.
"No man has ever touched my body and I begin to doubt that no man ever will but at least for now I want you to watch as I pleasure myself and know that what you see, you'll never be allowed to touch."
Ron wanted to scream that what Kim was about to do was sick and wrong. He wanted to close his eyes. And yet even with Kim basically telling him that he was so much lower than her on the evolution scale, he still wanted to take his best friend in his arms and try everything he could to convince her that she was not perfect and allow herself to experience love and pleasure like everyone else in this world but he couldn't. All he could do was watch.
Kim let her hands slowly rove over her body, gently caressing herself. As she started to get carried away by the feelings and the knowledge that Ron was watching every move she made, she slowly slid her panties down till Ron could see what no one else in the world had ever been allowed to see before. Kim in all her womanly glory revealed.
As Kim began to pant and moan from what she was doing, her hands strayed to the coffee table next to her and found one of Ivy and Harley's vibrators and without thought she turned it on and started to use it.
"I love that you are watching me Ron, I wish it could be you touching me but it can never be. You are just too imperfect. You just can't touch this." She giggled sang.
Ron felt tears running out of the corner of his eyes. What should have been the most erotic sight he had ever seen was turned ugly and grotesque by the knowledge that Kim was nearly dying inside from loneliness and would rather deal with her loneliness in this way than let him or anyone else less perfect
that her touch her. He longed to take her into his arms and prove that she wasn't perfect. That he could make her feel the way she was making herself feel right now but he now knew she would never allow it. No Ron had spent a lifetime putting Kim on a pedestal and now Kim was isolated and alone on that pedestal and Ron could no longer reach her.
After finally regaining her normal breathing after her release, a sweaty and exhausted Kim looked over at Ron. "Go to sleep Ron." She ordered with a smile. "We might do this again later."
This was the third and final mistake that Kim would make. She forgot to order Ron to forget all that he had seen and heard and she forgot to order him how long to sleep.
"Yes Mistress." Ron stated and promptly closed his eyes and went to sleep.
Ron didn't know how many hours later it was when he finally opened his eyes but he judged it couldn't have been that long. It was a little after lunch when Kim had brought him back to their house and it was not yet dark out.
Turning his head Ron winced as the neck muscles popped in protest at his sleeping sitting up with his neck turned to the left and Ron had sudden several realizations.
One: He was no longer under the influence of Ivy's chemicals. His thoughts were once again clear and he had complete control of his body once more. Evidently the emotional and mental strain plus the brief nap had been all it had taken to purge the last of that accursed drug from his body.
Two: Ron knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that even though he was still in love with Kim and always would be that he could never forgive her for her heart spoken words about his being too imperfect for her or for her controlling him so she could have an audience.
Three: His best friend in the entire world was suffering from a serious mental problem and Ron wasn't qualified in the slightest way to help her overcome it. Indeed he was part of the problem. As long as he stayed with her, following after her like some love sick puppy Kim would have another example on how 'perfect' she was and would never even try to change.
Four: If Ron were to stay he would not be helping Kim and he would be doing nothing but forcing the worst kind of suffering upon himself. He would have to leave Kim and try to forget the love he had for her.
And finally as Ron shoved the door close on his hopeless love for Kim and faced the fact that he had to leave, he realized he would be alone, alone and lonely as there was no one else in his life that he felt for as much as Kim. As Ron contemplated his emotions he realized that he was lying to himself. There was another face in his mind and heart that he was starting to have feelings for and that face belonged to a certain dark haired, green skinned criminal.
Slowly rising to his feet Ron ignored the half covered naked sleeping Kim on the couch beside him and quietly started to make his way to the door to the house. Ron almost cursed out loud when his knee banged the coffee table and a certain lipstick lying on it started to roll off. Reaching down Ron caught the cursed lipstick and clenched it tightly in a fist. He was about to fling it away from him when he realized he couldn't leave it anywhere Kim could find it. With her mental state and knowledge that the lipstick could be used to control men, who knew if she might not be tempted to hunt him down and use it on him again or maybe Josh Mankey or worse yet, her mythical perfect man when she found him? No, the lipstick had to leave with Ron. It was too dangerous to leave it in Kim's hands.
Ron glared at the tube. How could such a simple little object bring so much pain and complications into his life? Angrily he shoved it into his pocket and allowing himself one brief look back at the sleeping Kim and a single tear to fall he went out the door of 'their' house and shut it and that part of his life closed behind him.
Shego stood in the center of her specially reinforced glass cell with her arms angrily folded over her chest.
"Aww come on Blackie don't be that way." Harlee in the cell next to hers tried to coax her as she had been for the last four hours. "It was a joke. And you have to admit it was a pretty good one. You and Ron running all over the place with dog collars on thinking they might go boom at any moment."
Harley now stripped of her colorful costume and forced to wear the drab prison clothing allowed her freed blond pig tails to bob as she paced the few feet her cell allowed her to and totally ignored the death glares she was receiving from the silent Shego.
Shego to take her attention away from the annoying blond studied her surroundings once again. Not that there was a lot to see. They were in a deep underground bunker like prison. There was a long corridor of empty brightly lit glass box like cages. Not much bigger than a grown woman could lie down comfortably in and each one was completely empty of any decorations or furniture. The only thing to break up the monotony of the glass box was a small hole in one corner used for elimination of body waste. They didn't even allow a toilet stool in the room. In the ceiling there were high pressured
nozzles capable of spraying warm water when it was time to shower, cold water if the inhabitants were acting up and knock out gas if the prisoners for some reason had to be moved.
The three inhabited cells were located at the end of the corridor. Shego was in the cell that the corridor ended at and to her left and slightly forward was Harley and to her right and slightly forward was the cell containing Ivy. The only differences in the cells were Shego's was slightly larger than Harley and Ivy's and Harley and Shego's were brightly lit up while Ivy's, true to Dr. Director's threat was shadowed in gloom.
In front of each glass cage was a numeric keypad on a pedestal that allowed Global Justice agents to open the cages for the occasional cleaning or movement of prisoners.
Harley stopped her wild pacing and pressed her face against the glass as hard as she could and peered across the narrow corridor to where Ivy's cell was. "How you doing Red?" Harley asked in concern.
"Not so good Harley." Ivy answered after a moment. "I wish I had taken the chance of sunning when we were in that warehouse. I feel sick."
Shego looked over at Ivy's cell. "What? She's a person not a plant. Surely she can survive a few days or so without sun?"
"Ivy's blood chemistry has chlorophyll in it." Harley explained. "She stays out of sunlight for too long a period she starts to feel lethargic and nauseous."
Shego blinked. "You mean she really is more plant than person?"
"She's as much a person as you are!" Harley rallied to her lover's defense. "Say, your skin is slightly green too. Don't you have chlorophyll in your blood too?"
"No. I and my brothers were hit by a meteor when we were kids and the radiation in it affected us and gave me my powers along with my skin coloring."
"Oh, sort of like the Incredible Hulk?"
Shego frowned as she tried to figure out if Harley was making another one of her dumb jokes or if this Hulk person was a real being in her dimension.
Ron opened the door to his tiny apartment and dashing in he made for the bedroom. He was relieved to see Rufus was sitting at the computer and occasionally jabbing a key or two.
"He's probably playing Everlot again." Ron thought.
"Come on Rufus we are going to have to leave."
Rufus looked up in confusion. "Involve Kim?" He asked and folded his tiny arms. He had really developed a dislike for her since she had kicked Ron and him from the nice house with the well stocked refrigerator.
"Well in a way it does but not really." Ron tried to explain. There was no way he was going to try to explain to Rufus what Kim had done to him or what he had seen. Ron told Rufus about everything in his life but some things are just too weird to even share with your naked mole rat buddy. "Kim is not well and my being around is only going to keep her from getting better so we have to leave before she comes looking for me." Ron settled for saying as he grabbed his cell phone off the nightstand next to his bed and hit one of the speed dial buttons on it.
Mrs Possible was just finishing setting the table for dinner when the phone rang. She ran over to it and picked it up hoping it was either Kim or Ron. The table was still fairly full with her husband and her twins eating but she missed having her full family at meal times and even though Kim and Ron were broken up at the moment she still thought of Ron as her son-in-law and hoped Kim would realize her love for the man again soon.
"Hello." She answered. "Oh Ron I was hoping it was you or Kim. Do you want to come over for dinner tonight?"
"Um, no Mrs. Dr. P. I can't. I have something I need to tell you and I'm not sure how to go about it." Ron hesitantly replied.
"Is it about Kim? She's okay isn't she? She hasn't been hurt has she?" Mrs. Possible asked worriedly.
"It is about Kim. She is physically well and no she hasn't been hurt… yet. Kind of." Ron Stuttered.
"Ron, start at the beginning and explain to me what you mean." Mrs. Possible ordered.
"Well I can't really tell you everything. It is too personal but what I can tell you is that I was in a recent… Situation that was caused from a mission, Kim took me back to our, I mean her house so I could recuperate. The effects of what happened during the mission left me… Kim thought I couldn't hear or see so she revealed some things to me she wouldn't normally have." Ron rambled.
"What kind of things Ron?"
"She told me that she thinks she is too perfect, that no one has the right to touch her, not only me but almost everyone else in the world as well. That she is waiting for some perfect man because it is her destiny to only be with someone as perfect as she is." Ron said as he started to cry. "I know you probably think I'm lying cause Kim dumped me but I swear I'm telling you the truth Mrs. P. Kim really needs help. Her thinking she is too perfect is killing her inside a little every day and I don't know what to do to help her."
"Ron… Ron… I know you would never lie to me. I trust you like a son." Mrs. Possible sighed. "I just don't know where Kim could have gotten this idea though. I mean sure we have always encouraged her to be the best she could be but to think she is somehow perfect and she can't be touched?"
"I know. I couldn't believe it when I heard her myself." Ron managed to reply. "It does explain a lot though. How Kim always wanted me with her but never would let me touch her or kiss her…" Ron suddenly remembered he was talking to her mother and found himself tongue tied and started to stutter. "Not that I expected Kim to be a nympho or anything like that… I mean I know Kim had a proper upbringing… It's just I thought when we moved in together… Not like that meant she had to…"
"Ron? RON! Calm down. I am certainly more open minded and practical than my husband, I know what you mean. Especially after Kim so defiantly stood up to her father after graduation and told him that she was now a grown woman and could make her own decisions on who to live with and rented that house with you. It is only reasonable that you took it to mean she wanted to take your relationship to a more intimate and mature level."
Ron sighed. "Yeah. I thought I was living a dream at the time, I just didn't know that I was more right than I could ever know. Anyway, Mrs P. Will you make sure that Kim gets the help she needs?"
"Of course I will Ron but what about you? You make it sound like you won't be there for Kim?"
"I… Can't. Kim said some things when she thought I couldn't hear her. I don't think I can ever forget them. That and if I were to stay it would probably only hinder Kim getting well."
"How could Kim's best friend since pre-school hinder her getting well?"
"When Kim starts to see, whoever it is to help her and they start to try and convince her that she is not perfect, what do you think she will do?" Ron asked her.
"She'll go to her best friend and ask you if they are right." Mrs. Possible answered immediately.
"And if she gives me the puppy dog pout and demands I agree with her that her therapist is wrong and that she, as normal is right?" Ron asked.
Mrs. Possible sighed. "I see what you mean Ron. But where are you going to go? Kim is my daughter and I love her deeply but I've come to think of you as my son too Ron. I don't want you to end up miserable and alone just for Kim's sake. If you truly believe you can't be with Kim for her sake, I don't want you to force yourself to be alone."
"Well, there is someone I've met during missions. I think I might be developing strong feelings for her, even though she is completely different from myself." Ron replied as he ran a hand through his disheveled hair. "I mean I don't even know if she feels the same about me, not really. And then there is the path I might end up having to take if we were to become a couple." Ron began to ramble.
"Ron… Ronald." Mrs. Possible had to shout into the phone to gain his attention again. "Speaking as someone who thinks of you as her son, follow your heart." Mrs. Possible felt tears starting to come to her eyes. "And promise me that WHEN Kim has been helped, you will come back to visit us? Even if you Kim never become a couple again that you won't disappear from our lives completely?"
"I promise." Ron said sniffling. "In many ways that count you've been more my mother than my own mother has. I better go now. I need to be somewhere Kim can't find me before she wakes up and we both know how determined Kim can be when she is looking for someone."
"Goodbye Ronald. Take care of yourself." Mrs. Possible said with tears dripping from her eyes as the phone in her hand went dead as Ron hung up.
Mr. Possible walked into the kitchen and found his wife with tears in her eyes. "What's wrong?"
"That was Ronald on the phone. Kim and him have broken up again and Ron is going away for a while. Ron says Kim thinks she is too perfect to let anyone touch her."
"Good for her." Mr. Possible replied. "No one should touch my perfect little Kimmie cub."
Mrs. Possible sighed. Not only would Ron have been a hindrance to Kim getting help, it appeared her own husband was going to be a problem as well."
"I spy with my little eye…Something that begins with a G." Harley called out. Neither Shego nor Ivy answered her.
"Aww come on. I spy with my little eye something that begins with a G."
"GLASS!" Shego finally growled. "All right? It is glass. It is the only thing here!"
Harley nodded her head. "You got it." She tried to sound cheerful but even her bubbly personality was starting to be chipped away. "You would think they would have at least put a bed in here. I mean Arkham at least had beds in their cells. What kind of place doesn't give you a bed and expects you to sleep on the floor like an animal?"
"A place that thinks of you like an animal." Shego sighed. "Actually they started leaving the beds out the last time I was capture with Drakken and used my plasma powers to cut and weld the bed frame into a pick and chiseled and cut my way out."
"That's the second time you've mentioned something about powers." Ivy tiredly spoke up surprising both Shego and Harley who had thought she had gone to sleep. "If you have some kind of powers why didn't you use them on me and Harley?"
"Well at first Harley had caught me off guard and knocked me out and then later I thought if I did you might blow my head off." Shego replied glaring once again at Harley.
"Not because you were getting fond of us and didn't really want to harm us?" Harley asked with a smile.
The handcuff / bracelets still on Shego's wrists sparked as Shego's green glow appeared around her hands as they tried to suppress her abilities.
Harley pulled back away from the glass facing Shego. "Sheesh. And after all we did for you too?"
The glow increased and suddenly the bracelets glowed for a moment and then melting fell off her hands to land in a melted lump. "All you have done for me?" Shego growled.
"I helped you get those cuffs off by making you angry enough." Harley pointed out.
Shego scowled and folded her arms across her chest. "Fat lot of good that does me. The glass in here is still plasma proof. I'm still stuck in here."
"Yeah but your hands are free at least."
Shego allowed a vicious grin to cross her face. "Yeah now I can fantasize about taking my free hands and wrapping them around your throat."
Harley instead of being frightened merely smiled. "I always knew you wanted to get your hands on me Blackie."
"Why you little…" Shego was interrupted by Ivy calling out. "What is that noise?"
With all three now quiet Shego could hear the light thumping noise coming from the air vents above them. The venting system had grates above the corridor walk way while the glass cages had tiny little holes near the ceiling that allowed the 'fresh' air to get in and tiny holes at the very bottom of the cells to let the 'bad' air out.
"That better not be who I think it is." Shego muttered to herself.
All three women leaned casually on the glass walls in the fronts of their cell and watched the air vent nearest them in the corridor out of the corner of their eyes. There were surveillance cameras watching the corridor and none of them wanted to tip off anyone who might be watching that something might be coming through the vents.
Harley frowned and almost said something when she spotted what looked like a tiny pink paw come out of the vent and carefully start to unscrew one of the screws holding the vent cover on. The tiny paw disappeared into the grating with the screw as it came loose and a moment later appeared at the other corner and started to work on that screw.
As the last screw came loose and disappeared up into the vent along with the pink paw, the vent cover slowly and silently rose up into the ceiling. A few moments later a small pink creature appeared with what looked like tiny suction cups on its hands and feet and with only a slight popping noise it raced across the ceiling towards one of the surveillance cameras. A brief baring of teeth and nibbling and the camera was dead. The small strange pink thing ran across the ceiling to the other two cameras and repeated its performance and the other cameras were dead too.
Finally the small animal ran down to the side of the glass of the cell Shego was in and stared at her for a few moments as if judging her somehow. It then turned to look up at the open vent. "Okay." It called out in a squeaky voice.
Ron dropped from the hole and landed semi gracefully on the floor.
"Ronnie!" Harley shouted in surprise. To Harley's annoyance Ron ignored her however and went straight to Shego's cell. Holding up a hand Ron waited as Rufus leapt to him and pulled off the tiny suction cups on his paws and feet and quickly running down to Ron's pocket Rufus placed them inside and then ran back up to Ron's shoulder where he perched staring at Shego.
"What the hell are you doing here Ron?" Shego asked.
"Um… I was just crawling through some air vents nearby and thought I would drop in and rescue you?" Ron asked.
"No." Shego said flatly.
"What?" Harley next door said in shock.
Shego didn't glance at her but continued to stare into Ron's eyes through the glass. "You are a hero Ron. A good person. I won't have you banned as a criminal for trying to rescue me. Take Rufus and climb back into that vent and take off before someone upstairs gets curious why all their cameras have gone dead on this level."
Ron continued to look into her eyes for a moment before he sighed. Finally he said. "You know, I'm really starting to get fed up with the women in my life trying to control and tell me what to do. I am quite capable of making my own decisions and deciding what and whom I want."
Shego felt a hitch in her breathing for a moment. "And what has that got to do with me?" She asked being careful to keep the hope out of her voice.
Ron reached up and placed his hand against the glass and after a moment almost as if it was against her will Shego reached out and placed her hand on the same place on her side. Even though the glass was over two inches thick she fancied she could feel the warmth of his touch through the glass. "I think you know." Ron stated. "The question is, am I the only one that feels that way?"
Shego wanted to say yes. That Ron had misread what have transpired between them when they were under Harley and Ivy's control. She wanted to give a laugh that she knew would cut Ron to the quick and make him leave. Make him think it had all been in his head and Shego felt nothing for him but… She couldn't. "Damn it Ron. This probably won't work."
Ron nodded his head in agreement. "Probably not."
"We'll have almost everyone in the world after us and if they catch us they'll treat you just as much a villain as I am."
Again Ron nodded his head. "Probably."
Shego sighed and leaned forward until her forehead was gently resting against the glass. Opening her eyes she noticed Ron had done the same thing and she was staring into his eyes, separated by only two inches of plasma proof glass. "You are not going to just leave like you should, are you?" She nearly whispered.
"Not without you." Ron replied.
"Oooh! This is so romantic!" Harley, her hands clenched beneath her chin with stars in her eyes squealed.
Shego took a deep breath and slowly released it. "Okay. So how did you plan on freeing me from this box?"
Ron stepped back and with a grin reached up and gently took Rufus from his shoulder. Opening his hand he allowed Rufus to stand on it and bow in Shego's direction. Without a word Rufus then leapt to the pedestal and started dancing on the keys of the control pad. To Shego's eyes it looked a little like the naked mole rat was doing a riverdance stomp. With a particular dramatic flourish Rufus suddenly stopped and yelled. "Ta dah!"
With a hiss of compressed air the glass door to Shego's cell opened.
Shego looked in amazement at Rufus for a moment. "No wonder Dr. Drakken and I never won all those times." She muttered to herself. Finally she smiled and bending over kissed the little mole rat on top of his head. "Thank you Rufus." She said.
"Aww shucks." Rufus replied blushing and then leapt back up to Ron's shoulder
"So that is what a Rufus is?" Harley in the next cell asked.
Ron and Shego ignored her while Rufus glanced at her curiously.
"Come on. It's time to go." Shego decided and they started to walk past Harley and Ivy's cells back to underneath the open vent hole.
"Hey! What about us?" Harley cried gesturing at herself and Ivy.
"Give me one good reason why we should?" Shego asked without breaking step.
"If it hadn't been for me, you two would never have gotten together!" Harley cried. "Ron would still be with that screeching redhead and you would two would still be on opposite sides and never admit how you felt!" Harley cried.
Ron stopped in front of her cell and tilting his head he looked over at Shego. "She's right you know."
Shego sighed. "Just keep her away from me. Okay?"
Ron slowly smiling nodded his head. Turning he looked at Rufus.
"Uh huh. Okay. Sure." Rufus squeaked and leapt to the pedestal in front of Harley's cell. A few rapid tap dancing moves and Shego could just imagine the naked mole rat holding a walking cane and a top hat while he did it and Harley's cell hissed open. Harley pranced out and bending over she stared at Rufus at close range. "He's kind of cute." Harley decided after a moment. "Does he have a nice laugh?"
Ron frowned in confusion while Shego resisted the urge to roll her eyes.
Ron picked up Rufus and once again they started to walk off.
"Wait!" Harley cried again. "What about Red? You have to spring Ivy too!"
Shego started to shake her head no. "You may have made a reason why we owe you but neither I nor Ron owes Ivy anything. She kept poor Ron doped up and treated us both like slaves. You can't possibly give me a good enough reason Ron or I should go out of our way for her."
Harley with her eyes filling with tears said quietly. "But I love her. I love her as much as you and Ron love each other. I can't live without her and I can't figure out the code to her cell by myself."
Shego started to say tough luck but stopped as Ron turned without a word and walked the few paces back to Ivy's cell door.
"One condition to my releasing you Ivy." Ron said to the woman standing in the gloom of her cell watching him.
"What?" Ivy asked weakly. The lack of open skies, sunlight and fresh air was starting to take its toll on her.
"Never use that mind control lipstick on me again!" Ron replied. "I've had enough of that stuff to last me a lifetime."
Ivy nodded her head. "I swear, I will never again attempt to control you or Shego."
Ron looked over at Rufus. "Okay Rufus. Do your thing."
Rufus leapt over to Ivy's touch pad but this time seemed to glide across the keys as if dancing solo to a waltz. A few seconds later Ivy's door hissed open as the correct code was entered. Harley raced inside as soon as the door opened and taking Ivy by her arm and allowing her to lean on her slightly helped her out. Ivy's skin which had paled in the shadows started to slowly return to normal once she was in the lights of the corridor. The artificial light wasn't sunlight but it was still good enough to return a slight amount of her strength to her anyway.
Ron hadn't stuck around once the door to her cell was open and had walked back to where Shego was waiting for him underneath the vent. "Ladies first." Ron said crouching down slightly and holding his hands cupped together. Shego placed a foot into his hands and let him boost her up to the vent and disappeared inside.
As Harley helping Ivy reached him Ron once again cupped his hands. Harley making sure that Ivy wouldn't fall over, quickly ran to him and sprang up and was inside the vent too. Ron glanced over at Ivy.
"I don't need your help." Ivy stated flatly.
Ron just shrugged and leaping up caught the edge of the vent and pulled himself inside.
Ivy leapt up but found her recent weakness was too great and she couldn't make the distance to the vent's edge. With an angry scowl she tried once again but fell short. Placing her hands on her knees she breathed in and out trying to regain her strength. As she stood up once again she found her face to face with an upside down Harley who was hanging from the open vent.
"Need help Red?" She asked.
"How are you…?" Ivy started to ask.
"Ronnie is holding my feet so I don't fall." Harley supplied. "You should really try to be nicer to him Pammy. He's a good guy."
Ivy sighed. "That's the problem Harley. He's a GOOD guy. Sure he's thrown that all away for Shego but deep down inside he's still a nice, honest law abiding MAN. He won't last as a criminal like us and we will just get arrested again if don't try to put some distance between us and them."
Harley looked thoughtful for a moment but then shook her head. "I think you are wrong this time Pammy but we can talk about it later after we are out of the prison."
Ivy frowned as for once it was Harley making sense but then nodded her head and as Harley remain still Ivy climbed up her body into the vent.
"Up, up and away!" Harley called out gleefully as Ron and Ivy pulled her back into the vent. A few moments later the vent cover was lowered through the hole and pulled back up flush with the ceiling and tiny pink paws quickly put the screws back in.
After a long somewhat torturous route through multiple vents, with Ron staring at Shego's butt and Harley staring at his, and Ivy staring at Harley's as they made their way through, they finally found themselves on top of a mid-sized building in Middletown. The air vent to Global Justice's underground prison being disguised among the other vents belonging to the building.
"How did you know this vent led to the prison?" Harley asked as she looked around at the view from on top of the building.
"Kim and I once helped Global Justice with some prisoners." Ron said, careful to not mention it had been Shego and Drakken. "I was curious on where the prison complex was so I asked Wade to locate it using GPS. Since I knew where it was, it only made sense they had to pipe in air from somewhere so tonight I located the building over the GPS coordinates and then me and Rufus just started sniffing vents.
Harley looked at him in question.
Ron pointed to one of the vents. "That one smells like Chinese food so obviously it leads to the Chinese restaurant in this building. That one smells like a clean laundry…"
"Which means it leads to the dry cleaners in the building." Shego realized.
"And this one." Ron said pointing a thumb back at the one they had just climbed out of. "Smells of nothing. No scents at all which means…"
"It must have lead to a place kept clean and sterile. Like a high tech prison." Ivy finished for him.
"Clever." Harley admitted.
Shego walking to the edge of the building pointed downtown. "You two go that way. Ron and I are going this way. Agreed?"
Ivy nodded her head while Harley just looked disappointed.
"Good." Shego said and taking Ron by the arm they made for the fire escape and started their way down.
AAAA
Author's notes:
AAAA
I normally think that a writer is a bit like a musician. Neither should defend their works. A piece of music or a story should stand on its own. You either like or you dislike it. And that is fine, that's the way it should be.
Saying that however, I also feel it is all right for a writer to explain why they do a story some way. So the readers can see how the writer thinks and what motivates him to write in one manner or another.
On my writing of Kim Possible as believing she is 'perfect'. In the series we have seen people trying to thank Kim for things she has done for them. Phrases similar to, "thank you for pole vaulting a mighty chasm and then dancing on the back of a horde of wild rampaging wolves in the pouring rain to reach my cabin and retrieve my car keys for me." While in this case is totally made up by me is also not too far off what Disney writers came up with on a regular basis. And what is Kim's response each and every time? "No big."
Now for a person to say something like that, at least in my mind only leads to one of two conclusions. One is false modesty. She knows what she has done was nearly beyond human abilities but she doesn't want people to think she is an egotist so she down plays it in public or two; she really believes it wasn't anything special for her. In this story I chose to try and get inside her head and write as if she believes the second conclusion. In which case she would have to believe she is beyond 'normal' people. That it is no big because she is perfect and can't fail. And taking that idea and running with it I asked myself how someone who thinks they are 'perfect' would see others around them. She would have to believe that everyone is beneath in some manner. After all they can't do what she can, so by nature they are less perfect than she is. And how would someone who is thinking that way contemplate sex? She would have to feel that by having sex with a less pure and perfect subject that herself that she is somehow letting down nature or fate. That she would be lowering or compromising her standards to let them touch her. Anyway that is how I'm writing this particular story. Those that read my other Kim stories know I don't have her with an aversion to sex in those. LOL.
On Harley and Ivy:
I've had a reviewer that told me that Ivy is bisexual. That she doesn't hate men and they pointed to the comic book series to prove it. I base most of my characterizations off of Batman: The Animated Series. In Ivy's case this is the series where she tried to poison Harvey Dent for destroying a field of flowers to break ground for a prison and the one where she teamed up once with Harley Quinn in episode 556: "Harley and Ivy" and made the comment , "That no MAN will ever catch them." That cartoon btw she and Harley are caught by officer Montoya, a woman police officer. I believe that series even though it doesn't come out and say it makes a very good subtext argument that Ivy is a lesbian and has strong feelings for Harley. In the episode I quoted above Ivy becomes enraged when she notices that Harley missing the Joker uses the vegetarian food that Ivy had given her to paint a clown face on her plate.
In any case, when I write Harley and Ivy stories I always put them together. Ivy is a much better match for Harley than the Joker anyway.
Thank you for reading and I always look forward to your comments and reviews. (both Good and bad)
Weirdbard.