"Got it, KP!" Ron hollered back. He picked up Rufus as the naked mole rat grabbed the keys, placing his buddy on his shoulder before diving for the trunk. Rufus held the trunk key on the keyfob as Ron was running, and the blond opened the trunk when it popped open, grabbing one of the four duffel bags in the back. Then he spun and dashed off after Kim.
Kim raced to the recently righted BMW, bounding over the hood and sliding to a stop by the driver's door. She reached inside the shattered driver's window and turned the ignition off, carefully sniffing the air and trying to detect the smell of gasoline over the odor of antifreeze and other hot vehicular fluids.
The driver, a woman in her early thirties, stared around in shocked disbelief as Kim activated her wrist Kimmunicator, "Wade!" she said in a tight, controlled voice as the pudgy tech wonder appeared on screen, " No time to talk, bad wreck! I need your computer backup for several medical scans from my Mark Four, and probably Ron's too, ASAP! I also need to be put in contact with the hospital or hospitals that'll be sending emergency vehicles, English speaker if possible, please and thank you!"
While Kim held the Mark Four in front of her and angled towards the driver, she glanced around the vehicle to see if any other occupants were inside. Sure enough, in the back seat was an infant carrier bearing a baby of perhaps fifteen months and a boy that was probably seven years old in a booster seat. Both seemed none the worse for wear, the boy staring around in a profound state incomprehension.
The infant was another matter entirely. As soon as she realized the carnage was over, her mouth opened in a heart wrenching wail of panic. "Meine Kinder!" the woman cried, her baby's cry of fear cutting through the fog that had fallen over her during the accident.
"Your babi-… Uh, Ihre, ehm… Ihre Kinder… Eh, sind gut!" Kim stuttered, her worried mind barely able to translate her English to German clearly. "Spriechst Sie Englisch?" The woman shook her head and Kim sighed, glancing around. She saw Ron coming up on her position, the man that had been driving the Porsche only a couple steps behind him and carrying a medical bag with a red cross on a white field.
She let out a breath of relief. She would have to ask him how later, but somehow her blond fiancé had become as fluent in German as he seemed to be in English. And she neededhis skill in that area now! "Ron, translate and check on the kids!"
"Er, right, KP!" Ron called with a touch of nervousness as he stepped up behind her. The tone in her voice suggested he'd be interrogated later, but he had more important things to worry about when he saw how panicked the driver was.
Allowing a light groan of resignation, he spoke to the woman in German with as calming a voice as he could, "Don't worry ma'am, this is Kim Possible and I'm Ron Stoppable of Team Possible! Your kids seem alright, and we'll help you out!"
The woman stared for a moment, and relaxed perceptibly at this. "Danke Gott…" she whispered, glancing upwards as Ron scrambled over the hood of the big sedan and entered the passenger side front window, careful not to cut himself on the shattered glass.
The driver of the Porsche came to a halt between Team Possible and the passenger side of the Ford, and paused briefly to address them with barely accented English, "I am Oberleutnant Edward Schermer, I am a combat medic in the German Army, do you two have need of assistance here?"
"No, we have it but thanks!" Ron called as he moved to reach over the rear seat, "The Ford hit the Beemer pretty hard, though…"
"Thank you!" Oberleutnant Schermer said, moving to the green sports hatchback. "Miss Possible, I may need your scanner in a moment!" he called back as he beheld the injuries the two on the driver's side of the Ford had taken.
"I'll get mine to you in a second!" Ron called out as Kim concentrated on her Kimmunicator's readings. Ron reached down and activated the switch to lean the passenger seatback backwards a bit, then reached back to unbuckle the belts to the infant carrier and the boy's booster seat.
"Don't worry, kids, I've got you…" he called in German, then sang a wordless, silly sounding tune to the little one, her crying subsiding at the silly sounds of the strange, big eared blond in front of her.
"Are you really Ronald Stoppable?" the seven year old asked, his terrified expression falling into one of awe as he stared at the blond teen lifting his sister, carrier and all, carefully into the front seat. It was a difficult operation, but Ron managed it with surprising aplomb. The Mark Four beeped and Kim immediately turned the device on the infant, scanning her for injuries.
"Yes, I am, and that's Kim Possible, like I said!" he smiled at the boy, "Are you hurt?" When the boy shook his head no, Ron nodded, "I need you to be strong for your mom and sister, little dude! You're going to have to stay there for a minute until we're sure it's safe to get you out of the car, but you might have to stay here for emergency services, okay? Just be very careful not to jostle your mom or anything..."
"Yes, sir, Mr. Stoppable!" the boy called out, all but saluting to him, and Ron smiled brightly at him. "KP, the kids seem…" he began in English, but Kim held up a hand and nodded before pointing towards the army medic with a tight smile of relief, as the scan completed on the infant.
She immediately went to the back and began to scan the boy, almost dropping the device as Wade's worried face popped up on the wrist Kimmunicator's screen at the same moment, "I've got someone from the hospital dispatch, Kim! Her name is Tilly…"
Wade dropped from the screen and a voiceprint graph replaced him, a professionally worried sounding woman began speaking in moderately accented English, "Miss Possible, we have your location and Mr. Load's report of an accident, and another call on an emergency phone. What exactly is the situation?"
"Severe accident, one roll over, three vehicles involved in a collision, several injured. The woman I'm checking on is an early thirties Caucasian female, several lacerations to her face and arms from glass, no broken bones, four bruised ribs and contusions to her face from her airbag. One infant, female, age…" Kim glanced at the woman, who answered about both of her children, "Age thirteen months and two weeks, one child, male, age seven, both Caucasian, neither injured."
"Thank you," the dispatcher said, relaying the report in rapid fire German to the emergency crews, "Tell them to stay inside until emergency crews arrive." Kim complied and jumped up to check on the Ford as Tilly continued, "Any word on other injuries from the other vehicles?"
Kim glanced up as the truck driver came towards the scene worry and anguish written on his face, and she called out to him in hesitantly in English, hoping he understood her, "Are you injured?"
"No, I am fine!" the man called back in heavily accented English, "I have emergency first aid supplies if they will be needed!" He held up a rather large first aid kit and Kim nodded, turning back to the Kimmunicator.
"The driver of the semi truck involved says he's fine, Tilly," Kim turned back to Oberleutnant Schermer, "How's everyone here?" Kim asked, glancing between Ron and the medic.
"Not good. If I may, I can speak directly in German to the emergency assistance and hospital, Miss Possible." the medic offered, and Kim slipped the Kimmunicator off of her wrist, pressing an on screen button to keep her in the loop, but allow someone else to use the device without a headset. The man removed his purple nitrile gloves before grabbing the device, and spoke in rapid fire German to the dispatcher.
Kim shuddered internally as she remotely connected her Mark Four to Ron's to see the injuries the driver had suffered. She tried to keep a calm, reassuring façade in place, even as she felt horror over the severity of the man's injuries. Compound oblique humerus fracture, ulna and radius both have hairline fractures, five broken ribs, two small lung punctures, a comminuted clavicle fracture and he's still awake!
The story was similar but not as life threatening for the left rear passenger. She had a broken humerus, but it hadn't compounded, and her clavicle was damaged, but not broken. She had two incomplete fractures to three ribs, but the other four injured ribs were merely bruised, and fortunately, no other internal injuries.
The other passengers got off with severe cases of whiplash and bruises from their seatbelts, but they were more worried about their injured friends than themselves. Kim looked at the man in the front seat as he gave her a hard stare, startling Kim with his heavy Irish accent when he spoke, "Go an' check on th' other car, I c'n hold out 'til em'rgency serv'ces get 'ere!"
"If you're sure?" All of the occupants nodded and Kim turned to the Oberleutnant, "Let's go!"
The man nodded and they both raced towards the Opel. Kim felt a brief surge of relief at seeing Ron introducing himself in German to the elderly man in the driver's seat. The man seemed shaken, but a nod from Ron as he scanned the gentleman showed he was otherwise none the worse for wear.
"Herr Stoppable… Meine…" the elderly man who had been driving the silver Opel sedan said worriedly, glancing between Ron and his wife, "Meine Frau fällt in Ohnmacht. Es... Es atmen nicht!"
Kim blinked in a brief panic as her mind translated the words, My… What is… Wait, 'My wife… Fainted? She does not breathe...' Oh, God… The red-head went pale and was jumping across the hood before finishing her thought.
"KP!" Ron called as she stopped at the elderly woman's side, checking her pulse even as Ron scanned her. Kim found no pulse, and looked at Ron, "No back or neck injuries, but her heart beat's all crazy!"
Kim nodded and hurriedly unbuckled the woman from her belt and began to drag her out of the car as gently as she could. "Tilly," Kim called out as the Ron scrambled around the back and the Oberleutnant followed Kim's path over the hood.
She studied Ron's Mark Four as he held it up for her and tried to find a pulse. She reached up to tap the 'No' button on the screen, then continued speaking when it concluded the woman's likely condition, "Elderly woman, possibly late seventies or early eighties, she's suffering cardiac arrest, probable pulseless ventricular tachycardia!"
The Oberleutnant waited until she had finished, then helped remove the woman from the car. "Do you know CPR?" he asked tightly, beating Tilly to the same question.
"Fully certified, passed my recertification test two weeks ago," Kim replied with a jerky nod, "The scanner I'm using has a built in defibrillator, too!"
"You defib and compress, I'll breathe!" he suggested, craning the woman's neck gently and checking to see if her airway was restricted. Finding no restrictions, he removed a CPR mask with a bag from his medical kit.
Kim stared at the elder woman for a long moment as the Oberleutnant finished his breathing preparations. She… She looks so much like Nana...She blinked, then nodded in thanks as Ron held gloves out towards her, "Thanks, Ron!" she said, handing the device back to him and slipping the gloves on, "Put your Mark Four into continuous scan mode, please and thank you!"
Ron complied, holding the device so that it could both scan and Kim could watch it. She frowned as the readings continued to scroll on: almost no breathing and what little breathing showed was brief and extremely shallow. While she had a pulse, it was completely ineffective at pumping blood; the best sign that she was even alive was that of solid brain activity despite being completely unconscious.
Kim almost dropped her Kimmunicator when the woman drew a sharp, agonized series of gasps, then fell back into the weak breaths of a moment before. "Um, some agonal breathing, Tilly…" Kim added, almost as an afterthought. She checked the defibrillator function of the device, attaching the probes before barking, "Clear!"
The woman's body jerked as the device shocked her chest, but there was no sign of heart activity afterwards. "Ron, hold this so I can see if heart stabilizes or if the brain activity decreases, and press the red button in the middle of the screen when I yell clear!"
"Gotcha, Kim!" Ron agreed, taking the device.
"Kim," Wade called over the wrist Kimmunicator, "The emergency vehicles are about eight kilometers out!"
"Thank you, Wade!" Kim replied as she lifted the woman's shirt to get at her chest. She followed the curve of the rib, found the xyphoid process, and moved up to the appropriate place for her hands. "Starting compressions…" she nodded at the Oberleutnant, and he stopped squeezing the bag. Immediately, Kim began sharp, perfectly modulated strokes to the woman's chest, moving a precise two inches by body rocking forward just so.
"Breathe!" she snapped after thirty-five compressions. The Oberleutnant squeezed the bag twice, and Kim began compressing again. She worked through thirty-five more compressions in twenty seconds and two more breaths from the Oberleutnant. Then she started the process over again for another entire minute of compressions - one hundred and five of them - and more artificial breathing by the Oberleutnant.
"Clear!" she called out, and activated the defibrillator again. Again, the woman's body jerked, and still her pulse showed fast, yet ineffective beats. But it had slowed somewhat, "Compressing."
By the end of the next two minutes, she was feeling the pressure of other's eyes on her, and the stress of the woman's heart still largely unresponsive to their efforts. Desperate tears shined brightly in her eyes, and she blinked, fighting to hold them back, "Clear!" she called out again, and again, the woman's body jerked.
There was an almost physical sensation from many of the people around her holding their breaths as she restarted the compressions. When she paused for the Oberleutnant to breathe, she could actually hear them inhaling and exhaling. Somehow, the whole sound was sympathetic yet hopeful.
No matter how much sympathy and hope they had, it didn't help. All those people being there were pressing on Kim's soul. Normally, she wouldn't have had such a crowd with rescue work. She also knew that, under normal circumstances, there wouldn't be many people rubbernecking at a crash on the Autobahn.
Unfortunately, all the glass and pieces of tire and metal had punctured several tires. She wasn't completely sure, but she could have sworn she'd heard a few cell phone cameras snap pictures or start taking video, and there was a foreigner to Germany that had taken out an actual video camera and was filming the whole thing. After all, it wasn't every day a world saving teen and her boyfriend were on hand at the scene of a regular accident.
"Clear!" she called again, shaking off her fears and frustration at the people surrounding her. The woman's body convulsed, and for a few brief, buoyant seconds, there was a stabilizing of her pulse… And then it stopped altogether. Kim felt her heart plummet, and she felt a tear slide down her cheek as the elderly woman's heart once again began beating at an incredibly sycophantic fashion. "C'mon…" she muttered, nodding to the Oberleutnant again.
After two quick breaths from his device, she began pumping again. Each movement accompanied by a desperate, dread filled grunt, almost, but not quite sounding out the same word.
She stopped at the compressions and the Oberleutnant squeezed the bag once again, the stress getting to him as well. Kim hazarded a glance at the brain activity monitor and saw it still strong, still active, but she knew if she didn't succeed soon…
She blinked as more anxious tears followed the first few, and this time, with each grunt, she spoke in an absent manner, as if in hope the words would help draw the woman out of her near lifeless state, "C'mon… C'mon… C'mon… C'mon…"
Over and over she said the one word, her voice sounding ever so slightly more desperate with each compression, until it was again time to shock the woman. "Please…" She begged into the ether, as she reached over to the Kimmunicator, "C'mon, please… Clear!"
Nothing. Kim felt despair welling up, almost forcing her to stop, but she couldn't. Not because she was a heroine, not because she was having videos taken of her possibly failing. No, it was because during the last set of compressions, she'd heard this woman's husband saying a prayer, thanking God for their time together, thanking God for giving them a full life, and asking God to take her home if it was her time.
It was because she'd never forgive herself for not trying until there was no more to give, because she could notfail this man, this stranger. But it was so hard…
"KP, the paramedics are here…" Ron said, his voice as strained, as worried, but… Solid… And it reminded her almost as if she'd been slapped what she had to do.
She blinked, heedless of the tears, and as the Oberleutnant finished his squeezing, she leaned forward, her arms once again positioned just so, "Any for her yet?" she whispered the question, and glanced between Ron and the Oberleutnant.
"They're getting equipment out…" Ron said, glancing back, "But yeah, they'll be here any second!"
"I'll keep going 'til they're here…" She didn't realize she's spoken. Didn't even realize she'd fallen back into her mantra, begging, and then challenging the woman to come back. With each precise compression, her voice changed in pitch and timbre, until finally, her words had devolved back into desperate grunting.
"Back up, Miss Possible…" the Oberleutnant said gently as she finished her string of compressions, and Kim glanced around. The EMT crew was there, and she backed up to let the first man take over for her. The second man quickly grabbed her arm and inserted a large gauge cannula with an attached catheter, then hooked a drip bag on a meter tall tripod before attaching an IV line to the catheter.
He spoke into a boom microphone connected to a headset, and nodded, quickly inserting an already prepared needle into the IV line's injection port and plunging the drug into the line. He spoke again, and then moved to take over the Oberleutnant's place at the breathing mask. The EMTs spoke in rapid fire German that Kim had no hope of following, only catching a few words as they went to work.
The third man of the team set up a large, complex looking device, and Kim recognized it immediately as one of Wade and Dr. Lipsky's first devices for sale. A 'PLL, LLC. Model 1 EMT Scanner/Defibrillator'; it was essentially an upscaled Mark Four Kimmunicator, with improved scanning, computing power and internal medical library. And, better yet, instead of a combination Taser and defibrillator of the Mark Four, it was loaded with a more powerful, dedicated defibrillator.
There was a beep, and Ron immediately recognized what it was. With a tight grin, he tapped an on screen prompt and fed information from his Mark Four to the EMT S/D, and the man running it unhooked the Mark Four's wires from the defibrillator's pads and placed the larger device's on them. "Freier Raum!" the man yelled, and pressed a button. Immediately, the woman's heart came to a pause, and for several seconds, went back to a normal rhythm, before once again spiraling towards its former, ineffectively rapid pace.
The EMT that was leaning over the woman began compressions, and Kim felt herself falling weakly to her rear against the guardrail. Ron was there immediately, an arm snaking around her as Kim continued to stare at the woman. "Is she…" Kim began, but stopped, her vision unfocused through the tears welling up in her eyes again.
"Shhh, shhh, KP, she's still in good hands…" Ron said, an understanding smile on his face at her fear.
"Indeed, Miss Possible…" the Oberleutnant confirmed as he squatted down next to them, "These men and women are good at their job, and one of them said your work could very well make the difference if they can calm her heart…"
"But…" Kim started, staring at him as if he couldn't be telling the truth, "Only if…"
"He's right, KP, that's exactly what they said…" Ron confirmed resolutely, squeezing her shoulder, "The one giving compressions? He was amazed when I told him how long you'd been doing it and how precise your movements and depth still were. And with their larger defirib… Defribri…"
"Defibrillator!" Kim bit out harshly, immediately wincing at her tone. The Oberleutnant chuckled softly despite the strain, reaching out to grasp her shoulder in understanding, even as Ron squeezed her firmly once again.
"Yeah!" he agreed, "With their larger defib thingy they'll probably be able to get her back to normal just fine!"
"Ron…" Kim said in a strained voice. She appreciated what he was trying to do, but…
"I know, KP…" he sighed, "Sorry, I'm worried too, I'm just… I don't deal with things normally, y'know?"
"I know, Ron…" Kim sighed as well, half burying her face in his chest as she watched other things that were happening, "I know…"
The cars on the Autobahn moved along slowly, passing through the single lane left open by the wreck and emergency vehicles. Some people stared at the carnage and the crew working on the elderly woman as they passed, others stared purposefully ahead, not wishing to see the injured. A few passengers snapped pictures or took videos with cell phones, and she almost hid her face in Ron's chest fully.
Instead she turned further; the burly truck driver was over at the Ford. He had donned heavy leather gloves and was helping a rather muscular rescue crewman pull the front door bodily away from the frame.
At the rear driver's door another emergency crewman used a Jaws of Life spreader to separate the door from the vehicle, the squeal of metal setting her teeth on edge. There was a pair of EMTs standing by with a backboard and gurney for the driver, and another pair with another backboard and gurney for the driver's rear passenger.
There was another crew over by the big BMW. The driver's door was open and they were removing the woman. As Kim looked on, the boy scrambled up to help the men with his baby sister, and then followed them out, asking something of his mother.
She glanced at the EMT and asked something. The short, wizened older man nodded, escorting the young boy back towards them. When he was close, he bit his lip nervously before speaking up. "Herr Stoppable, Frau Possible?" the boy said, and Ron answered for them.
"Ja?" Ron asked leadingly, earning a small, extremely fragile smile from Kim.
"Mein name is Michael… Er, my name is Michael Hauptmann," he said with intense solemnity, his English even more heavily accented than the trucker's had been, but still understandable, "Ich… Er, I would like… Um, to thank you for helping with meine... My sister and mutter. Mother! I am sorry, my Englis-..."
"No thanks necessary, Michael." Kim assured him, "It's what we do. And thank you for speaking English, it's very good!" Kim continued as strongly as she could, almost breaking down at the beaming smile the young man gave her, "You'd better go back and be with your mother and sister … They'll need you, you know."
"Ja, Frau Possible!" Michael said sharply, smiling, and holding his hand out to shake first Kim's, and then bashfully, Ron's hands in turn, "Thank you again!"
"Take care of them, Michael!" Ron called after the young man.
"Ron, she…" Kim choked as she glanced back at the elderly woman, "She looks so much like Nana… I…" she swallowed, words failing her and Ron hugged her tightly, tears of his own in his eyes as she shuddered against him with repressed sobs.
Kim reached up and hugged his arm, then her heart froze; the EMT that had been compressing her chest had sat back with a huge sigh, and… No! Oh, no, no, no, n-…
"Danke! Mein Gott, danke!" the elderly woman's husband cried, and Kim realized that the sigh wasn't one of defeat, but relief.
The old man put his hands gently on the shoulder of the EMT who had been giving the compressions, beginning to thank him again, even as people clapped and started to cheer. The man shook his head sharply, and gently took the older man's in his, saying something Kim couldn't hear and glancing her way. Then the man's relieved, tear filled eyes zeroed on her, and he walked shakily over to where Kim, Ron and the Oberleutnant sat.
"Can we help you, sir?" Kim asked in a unexpectedly small sounding voice, almost fearful of what the man would say.
"Ms. Possible, Mr. Stoppable…" he said in mildly accented English, "Oberleutnant Schermer, I believe you'd said to Mr. Stoppable earlier?" At the man's nod, he bowed his head at them, holding his hands out to them. Kim and Ron took his left hand, and the Oberleutnanttook his right, and he squeezed their hands with surprising strength.
"If there's anything I can do, for any of you, please don't hesitate to ask!" He reached into his jacket pocket and produced two business cards, handing one to Kim and one to the Oberleutnant.
"Wow…" Ron began, staring at Kim, and the Oberleutnant smiled at his own card.
"Mr. Hausmann…" Oberleutnant Schermer said in shock, "I… Had no idea that…"
"Expecting me to drive a Mercedes or BMW, perhaps?" Mr. Hausmann chuckled, an honest and open, if strained sounding expression. His reaction earned a puzzled, raised eyebrow from Kim, but understanding responses from Ron and the Oberleutnant.
"Not really," Ron smiled, "Martin Smarty drives a little Ford Focus when he's visiting his stores. Aren't you working on helping Triple-S put a resort on La Isla Senior, among a lot of rebuilding and stuff?"
"That's correct," Mr. Hausmann confirmed, "And have been working with several cities in the US with reconstruction, as well as providing low cost housing for people at my hotels since the invasion." Kim felt a brief flash of annoyance at the business minded tone, especially considering what had just happened.
Then the timbre of his voice pierced her annoyance, and she realized the tone that had annoyed her was that of a man trying to get back on firm footing after his life had almost been ripped out from beneath him. Kim glanced at the Oberleutnant and Ron, seeing similar conclusions in there eyes and relaxed. She could understand wanting to have something approaching normalcy perfectly, especially after a possibly life shattering event. She'd gone through similar emotional shifts herself after the Li'l Diablo incident, and the horrible, nightmare wracked guilt after the events that had toppled the robots control tower…
"Oh, wow…" Kim commented to try and shake the memories off. She felt flustered both at how easily her mind had dwelled on what she considered her greatest moment of weakness as well as not recognizing the name, "That Hausmann…"
Yeah, only one of the most respected men in the world, especially post invasion, after all! Fritz Hausmann was a - and in some circles the - German business magnate. A businessman extraordinaire, with concerns in construction equipment, mining, alternative energy and most notably his first business venture, hotel and hospitality services. The man had been number seven in the list of richest men in the world before the invasion. After the invasion? There was a good chance only Señor Senior, Sr. and Martin Smarty were richer.
"Yes, and if there's anything I can do to help any of you, as thanks for saving for saving my Helen's life…" he stared firmly at Kim as she opened her mouth in automatic reflex, "I know your reputation, Ms. Possible, and that your standard response is, I believe, 'No big!'?"
"Yeah, normally…" Kim nodded, the blush rapidly spreading across her face drawing a genial smile from the elderly man, "And please, call me Kim…" she glanced at Ron, who nodded at her with a big, relieved smile on his face, "And him Ron."
"Oberleutnant, Oberleutnant Schermer, or Edward is fine with me." the young medical officer said with an almost nervous smile.
"Of course, if you call me Fritz." He gave them a smile that wouldn't have been out of place on a junior high school boy sharing a dirty joke, especially with the gobsmacked expressions on Edward and Kim's face. At the same time, he seemed pleased that Ron accepted it with no outward sign of surprise, "But, as I was saying, your CPR saved my wife's life… While we're old, and prepared to accept Death when he finally comes, your actions will allow me at least a little more time with my beloved… I cannot possibly repay you for it, but I feel I must try."
"Wha-…" Kim started, the Oberleutnant and Ron opening their mouths to protest as well, but the business magnate held up a hand, interrupting them with gentle firmness.
"Kim, Ron, Edward…" he intoned seriously, "At the very least, let me promise you that, if you're anywhere in the world that has a hotel of mine, and it has a spare room and you're in need of one? You have it, on the Haus, if you don't mind indulging an old man in a bit of grandiosity."
The three stared at him, forced to chuckle at his self deprecating, friendly tone. Even so, Kim wanted to protest, but realized that, in all honesty, his offer was reasonable, all things considered. She nodded, as did Edward, and Ron just smiled his goofy smile, hugging her to him.
Then the magnate spoke again, "And if there's any other help I can offer… You have my card. I insist, even if it's just a grant or loan to help starting a business, or anything similar… I'll make sure it's part and parcel of the company, and known to… The right people, if something should ever happen to me before you call upon me."
"I… Guess we don't have much of a choice, do we?" Edward joked, earning a hearty laugh from Fritz, and a fragile chuckle from Kim.
Ron just continued smiling, shaking his head with a smile as he spoke, "Thank you, Fritz… I know KP doesn't like being rewarded for doing what she'd do anyway, but it means a lot to both of us that you'd offer."
"Of course, of course…" Fritz nodded, then sighed, "I do believe I will be driven to the hospital my Helen is at after the Autobahnpolizei take statements, so, I will bid you farewell."
"Well…" Kim started, only to stop when three Autobahnpolizei stepped over to them. "Ron, could you explain…"
"No problemo, KP!" Ron said, and stood, pulling her up with him. He launched into German as the officers approached, "Hello, we're Kim Possible and Ron Stoppable of Team Possible. I'll have to act as a translator for Kim, she's not as fluent in German as I am."
Kim watched with fascination as all three officers seemed to flinch as Ron identified himself. There was a brief discussion between the two men and one woman, the woman seeming to have won the debate. One of the men whipped a clipboard off of his belt with a piece of paper already clipped in place, a pen at the ready.
The other man took the Oberleutnant aside and produced a clipboard of his own, and they began speaking in a rapid fire, very professional sounding dissertation of the events. The woman, an attractive brunette with wide set, deep brown eyes, a very German nose and broad, pouty lips, smiled as she addressed Ron in German, "Hello, Mr. Stoppable, it is an immense honor to speak to you. So, in your and Miss Possible's words, what happened?"
"Well…" Ron began, turning to speak to Kim, and translate for her. They explained the wreck, and what had happened afterwards as best they could, the woman taking notes and mostly nodding, though she occasionally stopped them to ask for clarification.
Kim found herself watching the woman interviewing them out of the corner of her eyes while she seemed to direct her attention at Ron. She was feeling quite irked, at least at first. She'd better stop hitting on my fiancé!
She was about to speak up, to distract the woman, when she caught that Ron was doing just that. Always the master of distraction for Team Possible, Ron was now using those skills; little gestures, quirks of the eyes and specific inflections in his speech to throw her off. She even caught him looking at her worriedly out of the corner of his eye, before turning back to the officer; he seemed to relax when his friendly manner and seeming obliviousness finally took her attention from him to the accident scene.
Kim wanted to both laugh and hit Ron at the same time as she realized something she should have years ago: the same things he was doing now were the things he had done when Tara had been interested in him! Mr. Stoppable, we will have a long conversation about this… she promised him silently, her internal laugh turning into a concerned little flare of jealousy, As well as why you feel the need for experience at keeping other women from flirting with you!
KP RS SG KP RS SG
"I can't believe this!" Kim growled, her face red with rage, "Who do they think they are, claiming I called and canceled our reservations?"
"I know, KP, but things happen, right?" Ron tried to calm her, placing a placating hand on her shoulder, "Besides, they refunded the mone-…"
"Ron…" He gulped as Kim turned that same fiery glare upon him, and he did the only think he could think of: he kept quiet and let her vent. "We never made that call, we confirmed with the hotel that it was impossible for us to have made that call, and…"
Kim's anger suddenly fled, frustrated tears sliding down her face as her expression crumpled into one of near despair. "Shhh…" Ron whispered, quickly enfolding her into a hug, "It'll be handled, KP, you know that…"
"I should've called when we landed instead of being so stupid…" Kim ignored him, her voice almost breaking with the vicious, self-directed admonishment. She leaned into him, shaking her head angrily, "I knew I should've made sur-…"
"KP!" Ron said in a firmer tone, pushing her back far enough to look into her eyes, letting her see the pain in his eyes as she admonished herself, "Neither of us are experienced in vacations, and we didn't expect a problem, or that some jerk would impersonate you to get our reservations cancelled. Wade said he'd look into it, and we still have options!"
"Like what?" Kim snapped lightly, her tone sharp, but the confused knitting of her brows took some of the sting from her words.
Ron smiled softly, knowing she would be speaking sharply at him again in a moment, but willing to accept it, especially if it helped calm her down in the long run. "Just get in the Sloth, relax and I'll drive, okay? I've already made arrangements while you and Wade were dealing with the problems."
Kim looked skeptical for a moment, but shrugged, "If you're sure, I just hope it's as good as this place looked, Ronnie…"
Instead of speaking, he merely smiled and drove literally halfway around the block to the north. As they got close, he saw Kim start in a mix of recognition, annoyance, and fortunately in Ron's opinion, relaxation. "Hausmann Suites? Ron…"
"I did good, didn't I?" Ron asked in a seemingly worried tone. Kim glanced at him and raised an eyebrow at his huge grin, one on his face despite his tone, and rolled her eyes, looking back at the building. It was a newly completed structure, a multi-story, gray and white stone, steel and glass hotel.
They'd seen the back side of the building, and looking at the building as they drove towards it, it seemed to be shaped vaguely like a capital 'A', with the tip pointed towards the street. The floors seemed to climb the further away from the street they were, except for the 'crossbar' of the 'A' shape, which was where the tallest parts of the structure were. The crossbar was also inordinately thick, indicating that this was where the largest suites were likely located.
The main building was about five stories, higher end rooms obviously residing in the ten stories of the legs and the fifteen stories of the crossbar section. The architecture was a bit avant-garde in comparison to some of the surroundings, but the stone, glass and steel structure managed to blend in surprisingly well.
Kim looked at him, and the goofy grin he knew was plastered on his face with a neutral expression. With a sighed laugh, she smiled and shook her head fondly at him, "I could call you a jerk for doin' this so soon after that wreck, but…" She glanced around the entrance to the hotel, admitting it was tasteful almost in spite of the overt opulence.
"Well, Mr. Hausmann did ask for us to stop by the hospital and visit him tomorrow morning as payback, but…" Ron shrugged and Kim nodded in agreement.
"It's the least we could do…" she muttered as she stared at the entrance. The lobby was fronted by a four story glass window that appeared to be a single pane of glass or, more likely, acrylic. There appeared to be three levels within the lobby.
The first level was filled with comfortable chairs, several HDTV flatscreens with different channels on each, as well as a multi screen display of arrivals and departures at the Munich area airports. The second level seemed to have a few shops for knickknacks and a tobacco shop, as well as directions to the pool and workout gyms. The third had a mezzanine of some sort, with directions to a few conference rooms, as well as a small eatery that held a dominating view of the lobby.
The front had, despite the almost industrial design, a warm, inviting feel to it. The sidewalks were a dark marble set off with light grey granite accents. The bellhops and valet attendants were dressed in expensive suits that managed not to be overbearing. Two of the bellhops almost literally jumped towards the rear of the vehicle as they came to a stop, waiting at the rear of the Sloth as Kim glanced back at Ron once again.
"I actually called Fritz directly, KP," Ron said with a grin in his voice, "That's how I know he wants us to visit him and his wife - she's doin' great, by the way - and told him about our trouble. Turns out he owns the hotel we were going to stay at, too, and he said to go ahead and come over to this place and he'd have it set up for us. He also said he'd have his people look into things."
"Mrs. Hausmann's already awake?" Kim asked, receiving an enthusiastic nod from Ron as he handed her the keys. A huge smile broke out through the neutral expression she'd been wearing, "Okay, Ron, you did awesome! This place looks slammin'!"
"Yup!" Ron and Rufus both agreed. They got out and Ron began speaking to the bellhop manager as Kim went around back to begin unloading.
Ron glanced back after speaking to the manager, holding off laughter when Kim was stopped after opening the trunk with the keyfob. One of the teens that were at the trunk raised a hand respectfully when she went for the luggage, his tone sincere, "We have this, Miss Possible; just tell us what you want up in your room!" The young man spoke in clear English, and the blond chuckled at his fiancée's relieved sigh.
"Thank you very much," she said, before turning back to Ron as he walked up to her, "They have it, apparently?"
"Yup, the room's already set up, we just have to sign in at the front desk!" Ron all but crowed, "And the manager here says she has a driver that's used to high power cars, and he'll park the Sloth."
"Spankin'!" Kim enthused, seeming to be taken in by the hotel. She threw her arms around one of Ron's and they went inside to arrange their stay.
The sign-in was efficient and painless, and Ron was informed of several particulars. He glanced at Kim when the desk clerk brought something to his attention, and he wavered for a moment. Kim was about to ask him what was wrong, when he smiled and shrugged, apparently deciding everything was fine.
After they signed their names, the bellhop led them to a bank of elevators in the middle, crossbar section of the hotel, earning Ron a raised eyebrow from Kim. She was distracted by a small flatscreen displaying the upcoming Oktoberfest festivities, and then by the lobby and further out Munich at night as the glass enclosed elevator went up to their floor. When they arrived, Kim glanced up and raised an eyebrow. "Um, fourteenth floor?" Kim asked as the elevator stopped, her mouth screwing up in worry.
"Yes, ma'am," the bellhop intoned, "The basic rooms and suites are on the first through fifth floors, 'Executive' suites are on the sixth through tenth floors, the 'Executive Plus' suites are on the eleventh and twelfth floors, and the 'Princess', 'Presidential' and 'Starlet' suites are on the thirteenth and fourteenth floors, three per floor. The only suite we had free was the fourteenth floor's 'Princess', hopefully this is acceptable?"
"Oh," Kim blinked, shaking her head to clear away the fog of tiredness, "I guess, since that's what we had arranged, Ron?"
Ron apparently didn't miss her tone's slight directedness, and he smiled nervously, "Yup, that's what the clerk said, only room available."
"Well, I guess that's that, isn't it?" Kim sighed, giving the bellhop a resigned smile before glancing down the three branching hallways, "Which way?"
The bellhop smiled in return and led them down the hallway to their left, which took them to the southeast facing side of the floor. "The fifteenth floor contains our restaurant, Das Himmelsicht, as well as a few observation areas. Your balconies are protected from view by those on the other balconies, and the balconies in your suite have a very open view of the Theresienwiese. Like all of our hotel's rooms, this one is very comfortable, but it has the advantages of size, complementary free internet access as well as free access to the Klubhaus room, where we have light breakfast, lunch and desserts, all complementary."
"Slammin'!" Kim enthused, the teenaged bellhop's simple assurance about the room's comfort seeming to calm her worries somewhat.
"They even have a lot of green technology, like lights that turn down or off, at the guest's choice, when there's no movement in a room for a while! It's badical, and it has even more info in the brochure," Ron said as he slid his keycard and opened the door, waiting for Kim to glare at the fine print German on the brochure, "English on the back KP."
Kim eyed Ron with a half lidded glare, the blond's eyes dancing with laughter, "Not funny, Ronnie…"
"Not at all!" Ron agreed with a teasing smirk, his eyes dancing with even more amusement as they walked into the room. Immediately, the lights came up, as Ron had commented on, and the bellhop dropped their luggage into the foyer of the suite. Glancing around the suite, the two teens of Team Possible let out small whistles.
At one hundred and thirty square meters, the suite was as large as their duplex back home. The den area of the suite was a larger than their home, but it made sense considering that there was no kitchen in the suite, giving more room for the den, foyer and bathroom of the suite. The den had a flat screen HD TV that Ron guessed at fifty-six or sixty inches, and an impressive looking sound system.
Even so, the room was dominated by huge windows that looked out over eastern and southern Munich, with the commanding view of the Theresienwieseas the bellhop had promised. Ron was about to ask about the window, but relaxed when he noticed switches for the shades.
The bathroom, visible off to their right, was positively huge compared to their home's bathroom, and contained a nicely sized tub and a sizable walk in shower. The remainder of the room was taken up by a dining table, with eight chairs around it. Glancing around again, Ron almost got a feeling of vertigo as he realized the ceiling was high enough that the Middleton High School cheersquad could have pulled off a four high pyramid.
Then there were the bedrooms; while they were a little smaller than their single bedroom back home, the two rooms took up a little bit more space, since there was no need for a washer and dryer room. Each bedroom of the suite was filled with a king size bed, as well as dressers and another flat screen HD TV set in each, as well as a small office desk and chair. The wall of each room was again dominated by windows, these covered with their shades unlike the den.
"Thank you very much, my good man!" Ron laughed, pulling out his wallet and giving the man a several Euro tip, "Have a good night!"
"Danke, Herr Stoppable!" the man said with a shocked expression, not realizing he'd slipped from his excellent English into his native German.
"No problemo, dude!" Ron said, slapping the man genially on the shoulder. The teen bowed to the blond, then left, closing the door softly behind him. The blond walked up behind his fiancée and wrapped her in a hug, resting his chin on her shoulder and reading the brochure with her, "What's up, KP?"
"This used to be a Sheraton hotel, but it was destroyed during the invasion…" she said with a subdued tone, "Apparently, Mr. Hau-… Er, Fritz, Francisco, Professor Dem… Gah, Hanz DeMenz!" she elbowed Ron lightly in the gut after the blond chuckled, pouting that she still had trouble getting use to the name changes from what she was used to, "Anyway, they and 'interested third parties' got together a couple weeks after the invasion to do a proof of concept using publicly available 'former' mad scientist and Lorwardian technology to rebuild it. It took just two weeks from design to the grand opening!"
"Wow," Ron gaped, "I'm… I got nothin', that's beyond badical…" He smiled as Kim nodded, then gently kissed Kim's neck at the angle of the jaw. When she leaned her head aside slightly to give him better access to her neck, he smirked and nibbled gently at the spot, before planting one rather wet sounding kiss in the spot and stepping away from her, "So, you wanna shower first, or me, or are we showering toget-…"
"Ronald Stoppable!" Kim interrupted when she realized he was no longer kissing her neck. She turned on him with her hands held in fists, holding her arms akimbo, "You'd better have a good explanation for stopping!"
"Um, well…" Ron announced innocently, "You seemed to be relaxing a bit too much, as in, you might've fallen asleep on your feet if I kept up…"
"And that would be a bad thing, how, Mr. Stoppable?" Kim asked as she advanced on him.
"Well," Ron thought for a moment, "I have to say that while it's not necessarily a bad thing, you did mention wanting a shower before bed…" She nodded at him to continue, and he smiled softly at her, closing the gap between them and placing his arms around her neck, resting his forehead against hers, "And I figured it'd help you unwind, and then I could give you a nice, long backrub for doin' so awesome at the accident today…"
"But you did a ferociously awesome job, too, Ronnie…" the red-head pouted, and Ron laughed in agreement, "So did Oberleutnant Schermer… If you guys hadn't been there…"
"But you did the best, KP…" he kissed her nose, then her lips, then her forehead, before resting his forehead against hers again, "You were amazing as always… And I was so relieved when you didn't freak out over the Escort! I know you and blood don't get along too well..."
Kim closed her eyes and moved to hide her face in the crook of Ron's neck, "That was… Oh, God, Ronnie, that was so hard… To stay calm… And then Mrs. Hausmann…" She began to shake with repressed emotion.
"KP…" he whispered as he gently kissed the crown of her head, "C'mon, everyone's gonna be alright, right?"
"I-I don't know…" Kim stuttered, "I… I almost failed, Ronnie… I…"
"But you didn't!" Ron's tone was firm with conviction, startling tear stained jade eyes to look up at him, "You saved her, and you helped other people! And even... Even if you hadn't, that kinda stuff happens! I remember, early on in hero work, your mom sat with us and told us about how sometimes, even as good as she is, sometimes patients don't make it, remember?"
"Y-yeah?" Kim agreed hesitantly, her eyes clouded with worry and tears.
"She also said that, sometime, it might happen to us, with a rescue or something. But it didn't this time, you did what you do, what we do, and it all worked out! So please… If you have to cry, KP, to get it out of your system, then do it, but… Don't…" Ron's eyes began to water as he stared into Kim's, "Don't blame yourself for being you… For doin' your best, alright?"
Kim was startled into silence by his words. She wanted to reject his words, he could see that in her eyes, but she didn't. She merely mutely nodded, and leaned back and again buried her face in the crook of his neck. Her body hitched a couple times as a few stray sobs escaped her lips, and a few silent tears escaped her eyes, but she finally calmed down. "Ronnie… I… I don't know… I'll try, but… After everything, this summer, and… I… I'll try to be strong, but…"
"I'll be here for you, KP…" Ron assured her, giving her a brief, tight squeeze, "You won't be alone, I'll be here if you need more strength, or whatever else... I promise…"
"I love you, Ron…" Kim whispered, her voice still foggy with tears, but Ron could feel her lips quirking into a smile against his chest, almost as if against her own will.
"Love you too, KP…" Ron promised, "Always…"
Author's Notes
And finally, some action! And a li'l scene at the end between our heroes. And… What? What happened with their original reservations? Who would do something like that to Ron and Kim? And poor Kim, is she really over her worries about the accident?
I know, but I'm not telling…! Erm, yeah, anyway… ^_^;; I hope things weren't overwrought or annoyingly heavy in detail, lol. Do let me know what you think, I like to know if I'm hitting the right balance between everything. ^_^
As always, thanks to Neo the Saiyan Angel for checking on major grammar screw ups, and for keeping things on a relatively even keel within the story. Don't forget, there's a lot of fics out there, so keep reading!