At long last, Sunday has arrived for Rufus. Sorry for the delay. I've been swamped with appointments.

As usual, Disney owns the characters, I own the rest. Feel free to "borrow".

Thomas

SUNDAY

Rufus slowly opened his eyes and stretched his little arms over his head. He scratched the back of his neck a couple of times, realizing who he resembled in the gesture. His eyes turned to the young man sleeping in the larger bed. The youthful face seemed peaceful enough, neither pale nor troubled. It seemed like ages since Rufus had seen stillness on Ron Stoppable's face. He smiled down on his friend for a while, and then hopped down to the floor.

While the house was quiet, this was a good time to do a few things for himself. Ron was very good about seeing to his small needs, but all creatures like the feeling of independence. Rufus had not been kept in a cage like most rodents since being purchased at Smarty Mart. His dignity was respected. The tubes of a standard pet habitat went around the room to satisfy the urge to run tunnels. There were multiple exits. He could come and go as he pleased.

First on the agenda was a nice hot bubble bath.

As the bubbles sloshed around in the sink, Rufus lathered himself up with a sliver from the bar of soap. When one has so much exposed skin, cleanliness isn't just next to godliness. It's good health practice. The heat soaked into the soft, pink body, helping the rodent deal with dry winter air. Sometimes the wisdom of taking an East African animal from its natural habitat was questionable. Considering the life that he had gained from it, Rufus thought it worth minor annoyances. Besides, snow could be a lot of fun!

Reaching for a tiny towel, Rufus dried himself off completely. He wrapped the towel around his waist and examined himself in the mirrior. Yep, squeaky clean. His toothbrush lay over the lip of the sink. With a kick to the handle, it flipped up and into the waiting hand. "Perfect.", he thought to himself. "Every time!"

Finished with his morning routine, Rufus padded into the bedroom. Ron was still sound asleep.

Quickly, he pulled the liner from the pocket of Ron's pants. Time to do a little house keeping, after a fashion. As clean a person as Rufus was, sand and lint did build up over time. If left there, it made for very uncomfortable naps. To clean it out, he turned his nest inside out and draped it over the stretcher dowel of a chair. Picking up a discarded ruler, he spit on each hand and wound up like a baseball player. He then proceeded to beat heck out of the fun fur.

After that kind of effort, it was definitely time for breakfast. Rufus debated waking Ron, but simply didn't have the heart. Let sleeping humans lie, he figured.

The bedroom door opened without a sound. The mole rat stole down the hall, needlessly trying to be silent. At all of ten ounces, he could have jumped and stomped without danger of waking anyone. Common courtesy demanded that he make the effort though.

The kitchen had once posed problems for Rufus, be he had learned to adapt. It helped that the Stoppables were not averse to thin ropes hanging from the fridge and key cupboards. He was able to fend for himself without leaving a mess. Climbing to the counter top, he hit the switch on the coffee maker. When it had begun to brew, he opened one of the cabinet doors and surveyed his cereal options. The sugary brands weren't particularly appealing that day, so he pulled out the wheat squares. With the cereal on the table, Rufus went to the fridge, and used a strong metal spatula to pry open the door. A small carton of milk awaited him on a bottom shelf.

Just as he was finishing his breakfast, the rest of the family began to make appearances. Jean and Eugene came into the room as the coffee finished dripping into the pot. Two large mugs and one tiny one appeared on the table. The hot liquid helped to rouse Ron, who mumbled a quick greeting. Another mug was at his hand, the steam rising to his grateful nose.

Rufus left his empty bowl. "Sleep good?", he asked his human. It had certainly seemed so back in the bedroom. Still, it seemed to be a good idea to enquire.

"Fine, little buddy. I didn't realize just how tired I was."

"Do you have plans for the day, son?" Eugene raised his cup to his lips. Instinctively, his eyes looked in the direction of the Possible house. Whatever was in the works, it would involve the young woman down the street. At one time, he and his wife had been worried about the amount of time Ron spent with Kim. Over the years, she had become family.

"Not really. I was just going to ask Kim to go over my algebra with me. We have a test coming up, and I want to bring up my grade."

Rufus was so proud of his human. In the last few months, he'd begun putting more effort into school. With missions and his Maddog responsibilities, it took a lot of work. He was desperate to make it to any school his best friend might apply to. Ron Stoppable may have been labelled as lazy, but with the right motivation, Rufus believed he was every bit as capable as Kim. Indeed, the cast on his arm ( and the injuries inflicted on the bad guys) proved it.

A couple of hours later found him lying in a pile of cuddle buddies, listening as Kim Possible exercised her patience. The teens were staring at the papers in front of them. It looked, from where he sat, as if she were ready to run out of the room and tear her hair out. Ron was doing his best, but progress was slow.

Four familiar beeps sounded from the bedside table. Saved by the bell!

"What's the sitch, Wade?"

The screen lit up with an image of the techno-guru of Team Possible. "We've gotten a fresh hit on the site. There's a young girl missing from a lodge in the Aspen Area. They have called in every resource available, and you were requested." There was the rumble of chopper blades. "That would be your ride."

Rufus hopped to the foot of Kim's bed and pointed at the cast on his friend's arm. "Un-un!", he squealed and shook his little head. There was no way Ron could go traipsing around in the mountains. It would be irresponsible to let him try, as much as he might want to help.

"He's right, Ron. You're sitting this one out."

"Okay, KP, but I'm going to the base camp with you. All of those volunteers and rangers will need to be fed and warmed up." They grabbed their coats on the way out of the door. "If I can't have your back, I can still be a support." That satisfied Rufus sense of reasonableness. The boy would be safe from any harm, but would still be contributing as he always did.

When the helicopter landed, Rufus was pulled from his usual pocket, furry liner and all. When he looked out, he found himself in Kim's backpack. Ron was poking around at the gear and rations. It looked like he was checking the contents. That was a job the mole rat always did. The side lined half of Team Possible was looking worried.

"You're going in my place, Rufus. Somebody has to have Kim's back out there. If it isn't me, it had better be somebody I could trust with her life." The brown eyes shifted, checking to see if he was being observed. "Try to keep a low profile though. Kim would be majorly tweaked if she knew I was fussing like this."

Rufus snapped to attention and saluted. Turning around, he wriggled back down into his pocket, which was arranged so that he could climb out quickly and quietly. Stay out of sight, but watch out for Kim. Got it! This was the kind of mission mole rats were born for. "I'll be there to keep her in one piece.", he thought to himself. "You need each other. More than you realize."

From the darkness of the pack, Rufus listened carefully to the briefing. This was serious business, and it paid to have all of the information that was available. It was late, and getting cold out. It seemed that little Amy Rice had wandered from an Aspen area timeshare that she and her parent's were staying in. She had taken only a light coat and hat.

Surveying the gear available, a bundle of heat packs was shoved to the top. Flares would be needed, along with a flashlight. If he knew Kim, she would not stop until Amy was in the hands of the Red Cross doctors setting up camp in a park services garage. When a picture was circulated, the little rodent poked his head out just enough to see over Kim's shoulder. He saw a little blonde girl, about eight years old, with freckles and emerald green eyes.

The search began at the resort condo, and spread out from there. At first, there were many voices calling Amy's name. Over time, the numbers dwindled, and some of the volunteers had to turn back. To cover more ground, the remaining searchers spread out. It was taking too much time! In his pocket liner, Rufus shivered.

Suddenly there was a pause in the motion, as Kim listened. A small voice was calling back! Somehow, it was coming from a downward direction. Sticking his head out of the backpack, he saw a ravine to their right. Kim was leaning over the edge.

"Amy, are you okay?" She reached into the pack, groping around. With a little shove from below, the flashlight was in her hand. She flicked it on and played the beam over the rim. The light shone on the tumbled blonde hair of the missing girl.

"I'm okay, but I can't climb out."

"Wait there, I'm coming down." She grabbed the radio from her belt and called in the location. The voice at the other end told her to keep the child warm, and they would be their within the hour.

As Kim was climbing down, she grabbed hold of a rock. It suddenly pulled away from the ravine wall. In the pack, Rufus was bounced around along with the rest of the contents. When they finally came to rest, he found himself atop the collapsed girl. She wasn't moving!

He pulled himself from the pack and found himself face to face with Amy. When she saw him, she gave a little shriek. He ignored it for a moment and examined his red headed friend. she had hit her head on a stump at the bottom of the wall, and was out cold. A small knot was quickly growing over her right eye. Still, she was breathing okay.

Amy gave up her fear when she saw how he was treating Kim. She came over and helped Rufus pull her up into a sitting position against a tree.

"Is she going to be okay?"

He nodded to the child, though he wasn't exactly sure himself. It was likely that she had a concussion. At the very least, she was going to be out for a good long while. Help had to get there fast. Looking around, Rufus located the flashlight and radio. Neither was going to be working any time soon.

"They can't find us down here.", he thought to himself. "Not without a signal to guide them." It was time to make sure they were going to survive to be found. The first order of business was keeping Amy and Kim warm. Reaching into the pack, he pulled out the tightly folded thermal blanket, and motioned for Amy to sit close to Kim. With shared body heat and the heat packs, they should be warm enough. He gave the girl a couple of granola bars and then settled in to wait for help to arrive.

The night seemed to stretch on forever. Without the flashlight to guide them, the rescue team would have to search up and down the ravine. Rufus shivered and got under a corner of the blanket. "I can't go to sleep.", he repeated to himself. He had to watch the girls. Somebody had to listen for the rangers. Every few minutes he checked on Kim, and listened to the sound of her breathing.

At one point, he was sure that the heroine was trying to say something. "Ron.", she mumbled. "Ron, where are you? I need you." The tired rodent stared into the pale face for a while. He would get her through this. If it could be done, the first face Kim Possible saw would be that of the young man who had been her best friend for so long.

Hour followed hour. Just when it seemed that it couldn't get any colder out, there was a noise in the darkness. "...im! Amy! Kim! Amy! Answer us!" The voices were coming towards them along the edge of the ravine. At last, help was close by.

Rufus scrambled up over the blanket and batted at the younger girl. She slowly woke and tried to focus on him in the dark. She gave him a startled look when he pressed the flare gun into her hand. Hearing the voices, she raised the gun over her head and pulled the trigger. A bright red signal flew into the night sky. When he was sure that the rescue team had a fix on their location, he crawled back into the backpack.

Kim and Amy were both rushed to the base camp on stokes stretchers. The medical team broke into two teams, one for each girl. Kim was immediately put into an air ambulance and rushed to a hospital. Amy was given a thorough exam before being reunited with her parents. She was being taken to a waiting ambulance when she saw a blond man in a cast picking up the backpack with the strange pink animal.

As she was opening her mouth to say something, Rufus popped out and looked at her. Amy saw him and smiled when he shook his head, putting a finger to his lips. She never told a soul about the "little pink thing" that had saved her. As the group passed him by, he winked at her. Then Rufus curled up in Ron Stoppable's arms and fell into a deep, and well deserved, sleep.