Author's note: Italicized text signifies active thought, as usual. I would like to thank all of the readers that have taken the time to review my work. I found this next chapter very difficult to write. It took several times rereading and revising to get it to the point that I felt it was 'postable'. I hope you enjoy it reader.


Ron lay in the hospital bed waiting for the doctors to read the results of the many tests and scans they had given him. His wounds and burns had been bandaged and he was ready to have visitors again. Kim had waited impatiently the whole time. She couldn't ask him anything on the way over to the hospital. After they were out of danger she had let her guard down and began sobbing. She told him how they all thought that he was dead. It was all she could do to keep from hurting him as she hugged him tightly all the way back to Middleton Hospital. Ron had melted into the hug, despite the pain it was putting him in. Erik had looked on uncomfortably.

"Hey KP, how ya doing?" Ron asked from his hospital bed as Kim walked into the room, still in her mission clothes.

"Better, thanks. Now that we know that your going to be OK I'd like to get some answers to those questions." She moved to sit in the chair beside the bed.

"Umm, what questions?" Ron replied.

Kim fired off her questions in rapid succession. "What were you thinking going off alone? Why did Shego owe you a favor? What do you owe her? And last but not least, what exactly happened on your mission? Spill."

"Amp down KP, I just woke up a couple of hours before you rescued me." Ron shifted in his hospital bed, trying to find a spot to lie that wasn't sore. "I thought I could handle it KP."

Kim shot him a look that said, "I guess you were wrong." She merely arched an eyebrow, leaving that unsaid.

"I got the call from Wade on my new, badical, Kimmunicator." He reached into his bag, sitting next to the bed, to pull out his red communicator. He groaned when he saw how much damage had been done to it during the fight. The screen was smashed and the antenna had been broken off. "It was so shiny and new," Ron said sadly.

"Ron, so not the drama. I'm sure Wade can fix it up in a jiffy." Kim replied, rolling her eyes. "Besides, Wade filled me in on that part. I'd like to know what happened once you got inside."

"Oh, OK Kim." Ron said, shifting again. "I got in the hoverlair just before it took off by jumping on the landing gear. Rufus and I snuck through the ventilation shafts to the main room." He blushed realizing what part he was getting to. "I had thought to grab the H11 battery pack and get out while Drakken was busy ranting to Shego, but I snagged my pants and fell. They heard it and I had to fight a couple of henchmen." Ron looked away sheepishly, "I thought of running after that, but I was so mad at them two for what they did two weeks ago I couldn't bring myself to run."

Kim looked down at him with a frown. "Ron, you can't let that get to you. They played me, and now you are paying for it too. You can't let your emotions get you in a sitch that you can't handle." "Like I'm one to talk. This is the second time in a row I've gone after Drakken and Shego without a second thought for revenge."

"I know KP. I just wasn't thinking at the time." He sighed.

She gave his arm a gentle squeeze. "Go on."

"I fought Shego and she was handing me my biscuit. But I managed to throw one of the henchmen's batons on the battery and it began to short, ready to explode. Drakken had already fled the room and I knew Shego and I weren't going to get out in time. I threw myself down on her and covered her from the blast."

Kim stared at him in shocked disbelief. "You saved Shego?!"

"Yah, no big KP. Anyways, I was knocked unconscious and when I came to Dr. Drakken and Shego were in the room. Dr. Drakken left grumbling and Shego stayed to let me know that she emailed Wade to let him know that I was OK."

"I know Ron, Wade told me. He just got the email while I was in the waiting area." Kim replied.

"Well, my stomach rumbled and she went and got me some food so I kinda told her that I owed her a meal," Ron said sheepishly.

"What!? You owe her dinner? She's my arch foe! What were you thinking Ronald?" Kim said with her voice echoing in the small room, a mix of shock and horror on her face. "Most people I know would call that a date."

"It just seemed like the polite thing to do," Ron replied. "Wow, she is really tweaked." "Don't worry KP, I doubt she's really going to take me up on it, I mean, it's Shego. Maybe if you and I were dating or something, she'd find that amusing. I think she's just trying to play you Kim."

Kim's face broke into a bit of a smirk, "I guess you're right Ron." She stood up and leaned over, giving him a hug. "I better get going, it's getting late and I have school in the morning." She walked to the door and turned. "Ron. I'm so glad that you're OK, I don't know what I'd do without you."

Ron thought back to Erik wearing his mission clothes and had a bitter taste in his mouth. "I think you'd pull through KP, but I don't plan on testing that theory." He suddenly didn't feel like talking anymore so he yawned and stretched a little, his muscles aching in response. "Goodnight KP."

"Goodnight Ron." Kim said as she shut the door behind her.


Shego sat on the balcony overlooking the main lab in the hoverlair. She was reading a magazine and lounging in a chair as the henchmen finished cleaning up the mess in the area below. Dr. Drakken stooped over a table, working quietly on a set of plans in front of him. "He usually starts ranting by now, I wonder what he's up to?" "So, Dr. D., what's next on your plate of evil?" Shego asked plainly.

Dr. Drakken blinked several times, surprise evident on his face. "Shego never asks what I am going to do." Drakken held up a finger happily, getting ready to start his rant. "In Phase One of this operation I will construct my newest invention, the Snoozulator. It will create ultra low frequency waves that trigger the brain waves common in REM sleep in humans. Putting those under its influence into a deep sleep!"

Shego rolled her eyes, "Snoozulator? Come on Dr. D., where do you come up with these names?"

"Shego, imagine the possibilities. And I, by the way, think Snoozulator is a fine name, so nah!" he replied snidely, sticking out his tongue.

"Realll mature," Shego replied, lifting her magazine once again to read.

"In Phase Two I will launch the Snoozulator into orbit and use it to put entire towns to sleep. While their defenders doze, we will enter the area and take whatever we want! Money, weapons, information, the possibilities are endless!"

Shego sighed and lowered her magazine again. "Aren't we going to be put to sleep when we enter the towns? What do you plan on doing about that?" "It's so like him to forget about little details like this."

"Yes, that is a bit of a problem," Dr. Drakken admitted sheepishly. "I'll have to work on it."

Shego rolled her eyes as she got up from her chair. "I'm going to go run another security diagnostic to make sure that the alarm on the landing gear door the henchmen replaced is working properly."

Dr. Drakken nodded silently, tapping his pencil against the table while he contemplated his plan.

Shego walked to the security room. A flat-nosed henchman was sitting in a chair in front of the monitors, looking extremely bored. He looked up at Shego with surprise, turning to fear as he saw the look on her face.

Flat-nose gulped, "Shh. Shego."

"Take a break," she snapped, looking like a cat that was all too ready to pounce.

The henchman scurried out of the room, glancing behind himself nervously. She did this every once and a while, running diagnostics on the system. She was the only one with the access codes needed to run them, besides Dr. Drakken himself. He went down the hallway to get a cup of coffee as long as he had a few minutes.

Shego made sure the henchman was gone and began the security diagnostics. "Security diagnostics started," the computer announced over the intercom. Shego punched some numbers into the computer and manually overrode the security camera above the balcony in the main lab. She zoomed in on the plans that Drakken was still working on and began to study them. "I wonder if it has a chance of working? It's not a bad idea. I will have to check this out later." She recorded snapshots of the plans and send them to her personal computer, erasing the transmission log. She had done the same thing a couple of days ago, erasing the footage of the aftermath or the fight with Ron in the main laboratory. It had shown weakness and she couldn't have that. She gave the computer control of the camera back so it could complete its diagnostic checks.

Shego checked the other security cameras just to monitor what was going on in the hoverlair. Everything appeared to be normal. A few minutes later the computer finished it's diagnostic checks. "Diagnostic checks complete," the computer announced over the intercom system. Shego checked the monitor for the hallway camera and grinned. She watched as Flat-nose came running down the hallway at full speed. He knew better than to keep her waiting when she had finished. She lit up her plasma and began counting backwards, "10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3. The henchman rushed into the room. "Oh, you made it." Shego was a little disappointed that he had made it on time; it was fun blasting them with a little of her plasma. She had no respect for these thugs Drakken hired. She let her plasma die down and left the room.


Monique sat in the hospital room with Ron. She had dropped off his homework and brought him some Bueno Nacho. Kim had been called to help with the recovery of a dangerous device that had been stolen from a top-secret laboratory, the Pan Dimensional Vortex Inducer. She had taken Erik with her to the lab. It wasn't a dangerous mission; they were just there looking for clues as to who had taken it. Ron still wasn't happy about it. Monique could tell that something was up with Ron; he was barely eating his food.

"What gives Ron? The food I brought you not good enough for you?" Monique asked, folding her arms. She knew what it was, but wanted him to admit it.

"No, the food is great."

"Then what's bothering you?"

"I don't know Monique, I just wish I could be on the mission now." Ron said, setting down his naco.

"I'm going to have to drag it out of you, huh baby boy?" "You're jelling aren't you? she asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"Jelling?" Ron asked confused, flexing his hands. The doctor had said he needed to do that as the skin healed.

"Yes, jealous Ron. You're jealous of Erik."

"I am not," he denied. "I so am," he thought, contradicting himself. "I just like going on the missions with Kim and I can't now because of these," he said, holding up his bandaged hands.

"You so are Ron. You've been jealous of Erik since he first came to the school and caught Kim's attention." She paused, thinking back to the modulator incident sadly, "You told her you just wanted to be friends, you didn't' want to risk your friendship. You had your shot." "Erik makes Kim happy Ron. Don't you want her to be happy?"

Of course I want Kim to be happy, but I still want to be her sidekick and friend," Ron explained sadly.

"And you will be Ron. You just have to get used to the fact that you have to share her time with Erik now."

Ron frowned down at his food. "I guess you're right Monique. It is just hard. I've been her best friend for over three quarters of our lives. It's going to take a little while to get used to."

"Y.B.J.F. Ron.

"Huh?"

"You're be just fine," she said with a bit of a smile.

There was a knock at the door and a nurse poked her head into the room. "Visiting hours are ending," she said and left the room.

"I guess I better get going. Don't forget to read chapters 16 and 17 in your history book. We're having a pretty tough test on Monday and you're going to have to take it."

"Thanks for bringing me the Bueno Nacho Monique," Ron said pausing. "And my homework," he added with a grin.

"No problem Ron." Monique turned and left the room.


The black ninja crouched on a branch in the large maple tree. She saw Kim Possible's friend exit the room and inched over to get a look at the room's occupant, Ron Stoppable. He was lying in bed staring up at the TV, his homework forgotten. It had been a couple of days since he was checked into the hospital and he seemed to be recovering well. The bandages still covered his hands and the burn across the back of his shoulders. He was struggling with the remote when his little mole rat jumped up onto the bed and changed the channel for him. Ron patted him on the head and she could read his lips. "Thanks little buddy." She jumped down from the tree, landing silently on the ground. Team Possible wasn't her assignment tonight, but she had a few minutes to spare. She slipped into the park behind the hospital and made her way to the rendezvous point. The ninja looked around to make sure she wasn't being followed and watched the bend in the trail some 200 feet away. After a few minutes a figure rounded the corner. She studied the tall muscular man walking his German Shepard through the park. He had short brown hair and a hard jaw, his normal look of vigilance plastered on his face. He walked with measured steps, almost as if marching, a habit left over from his military days. No one would find that odd though, he was well known for being a hard line retired military man. He walked with the leash in his left hand and his coat draped over his arm. It was her contact, Steve Barkin. She stuck the envelope with the papers in it on the back of the park bench and slipped back into the shadows to ensure nothing went wrong. He stopped and sat down to retie his shoelace, setting his coat over the bench. He finished and picked up his coat, the envelope captured in its folds, and continued his walk through the park. She watched from the shadows for a few minutes to ensure that no one was following him. Satisfied, she slipped away into the night.
Monique was right, the test on Monday was no joke. It was a good thing that Ron didn't have much to do over the weekend after he was released from the hospital. He couldn't play video games or even play basketball with Felix yet, his hands were still quite sore. His dad had cancelled cable a few months ago after he had found out that Ron had sat in front of the TV for two days straight. His wife and him were rarely home to watch it anyways. So Ron had actually read the required chapters in his textbook for once. He had fallen asleep several times while reading it, but he had retained enough of it that he thought he did well on the first part of the test. He struggled through the last question though; it was an essay. It wasn't so hard to circle the multiple choice questions, or even fill in the blanks with short answers, but steady writing still bothered him. The bell rang as he finished up the last question and people began filing out of the room, turning in their tests as they left. Kim grabbed his books for him as he walked to the front and turned in his paper.

"So, how did you do Ron?" she asked as they walked down the hall to their next class. It was Ron's most hated subject, math. It didn't help that the regular math teacher was on maternity leave and Mr. Barkin was filling in.

"I think that I actually did OK KP. I read the chapters Saturday night while you were out with Erik." People were looking at him and whispering, some pointing. "Oh well, at least no one is calling me a loser," Ron thought.

They entered the class, almost running over Bonnie who was standing just inside the doorway.

"Watch where you're going loser," Bonnie sneered.

"Bonnie, he's not a," Kim started angrily.

"Oh, hi Ron," Bonnie said flatly, interrupting Kim as she turned and sat down in her seat. Kim and Ron stood there flabbergasted.

"She called me by my first name? Badical! She hasn't done that since I saved her from Gill back in Camp Wannaweep." He shivered involuntarily as he visualized the camp. The ticks, the mosquitoes, the chimpanzee mascot.

Kim frowned, staring daggers at Bonnie's back as she walked away. She looked over to Ron, who had just shivered. "At least he's as creeped out about that as I am. Maybe high school evil is enough of a reason," she thought as she considered kicking some Bonnie biscuit. "We better get to our seats Ron, here comes Barkin." She set his books on his desk and sat down at her own.

Mr. Barkin came in as the bell rang and wasted no time in getting the class started. "Quiet down and put your books away. Pop quiz people!" There was much grumbling as people put their books under their desks and prepared themselves for the quiz. "The lesson, is to always be prepared," he looked over to Ron who was fiddling with his pencil, trying to find a comfortable way to hold it. "No matter what the circumstances." Mr. Barkin passed out the quizzes and paced back and forth in front of the class, scrutinizing the students to ensure no one was cheating.

Halfway through the class Kim was called to the office by the loudspeaker. She didn't seem as surprised as Ron and gave him a smile as she left the class. "I wonder that was about?" Ron thought to himself.

"Stoppable! Are you paying attention?" Mr. Barkin asked as he finished writing on the blackboard.

"Yes Mr. B.," he replied.

"Good, then you can come up to the blackboard and solve this equation."

Ron stood up, making his way to the blackboard. He recognized the equation; it was just like the one on his makeup homework that the tweebs had helped him with a week ago. Ron picked up the chalk, holding it gingerly, and began to solve the equation. The chalk clattered to the floor and broke in two as it slipped from his grip. A few people in the class snickered as he bent down and picked up the pieces. His ears turned red as he angrily gripped the chalk tightly, the edges pushing painfully into his still healing skin, and finished the equation. He turned and took his seat as Mr. Barkin checked over the equation.

"That is correct Stoppable, well done" he said surprised. "Good, I'm finally getting through to you."

The bell rang and people rushed for the doorway. Ron struggled with his books, finally getting them all picked up and headed for the doorway. They slipped from his hands and slipped out on the floor and he kneeled to pick them up. Someone knelt down and helped him pick them up. He stood up and looked into their, her, face. "Thanks…" he began, suddenly realizing who helped him, "Bonnie." He held out his hands for the rest of his books.

Bonnie just looked at his hands and then up at his face. She sighed, "give me them." She held out her hands for the rest of his books.

He paused, taken aback. "I…"

"Well come on. We are in the next class together, don't make a big deal of it," she said as he handed her his books. "Gosh I hope this doesn't come back to bite me."

They left the class and walked down the hallway, drawing stares from their fellow students all along the hallway. A few began to whisper but were silenced when Bonnie flashed an angry look at them, her head held high.

"What's the matter Stoppable? Does the poor baby have to have a girl carry his books for him," teased one of his classmates, Arny Custer.

"Like you're one to talk. Go crawl under a rock bed wetter," Bonnie snapped at him. "Idiot, I have dirt on almost everybody. Do you think people tolerate me because of my pleasant demeanor? You should tell your little sister to keep her mouth shut."

Arny turned red and took a step toward her. Ron didn't say anything, he just stepped in front of her and stared Arny down. Arny saw the hard set look on Ron's face and thought better of escalating the argument.

"You aren't worth my time," he said with a bit of shake in his voice. "How did she know that?"

Bonnie and Ron continued to class, no one else bothered them along the way.


Wade sat down with the red Kimmunicator that he had given to Ron. This is why he so rarely gave Ron any new gadgets, the Kimmunicator wasn't even two days old and it had to be rebuilt. Well, that reason as well as the fact that Ron tended to injure himself trying to figure out what the gadgets did. "The antenna is totally smashed, no wonder I couldn't get a signal off it." He took the cover off of the Kimmunicator and connected a cable to the bottom. He hit a few buttons on his computer keyboard and began downloading the information off of it. The Kimmunicators were programmed to record sound and video streams when they were out of Wade's download signal range. His grew quiet as he heard what happened during the battle. The fighting he heard was fierce and serious. Unfortunately he couldn't see anything but the inside of Ron's pocket. His eyes grew wide when the Kimmunicator slid from Ron's pocket when Shego tackled him. He saw bits and pieces of the fighting; much of it was off screen, even from the bubble eye of the Kimmunicator's camera. The explosion of Dr. Drakken's doomsday device knocked out the microphone and blasted the Kimmunicator into a pile of debris. Call it divine grace, providence, or just plain luck, but the Kimmunicator landed facing Ron and Shego lying on the ground after the explosion. It caught every detail of what transpired during the moments after the explosion. Shego saving Ron's life, tears running down her face, and the ensuing moments of chaos following. As he replayed the video he didn't know whether or not he should show this to either Kim or Ron. They both had to have their game face on when the faced Shego. The only thing he knew for sure is that if Shego found out he had this recording he had better find a better hiding spot than in his basement.
Author's note: Well, I know there weren't any action sequences in this chapter. I wrote this chapter to tidy up some of the threads I had left dangling in the previous chapters as well as to set up situations for future chapters. I will endeavor to write this week but I can't a can't guarentee anything, it is the holiday season.