Ok, I am so sorry it has been like a year since I updated, I have been sick for a while and I plan to update, cuz I kind of leave this at a cliffhanger and I really have the next big part planned out. I've added another character to the list and I don't have the internet yet, I'm working on it, so I have to go to a friends house that lives 45 minutes away to use his, but ah well :). Anyway, please review and thank you all for reading.
Ron turned the key in the ignition and the car rumbled before falling silent. He turned and looked at the broken looking girl in the passenger seat and felt his heart constrict.
"Kim?" there was no response for several minutes, but slowly her head turned to look at him, her eyes looking dead.
"I've been going over everything in my head, over everything that could have gone wrong, the different possibilities, what do I do Ron?" she asked, her voice raw enough to make him wince.
"I don't know Kim," he said and reached out and squeezed her hand before opening his door and walking around and opened her door and gently pulled her out. Once out, she sagged against him and he wrapped an arm around her waist, locking the doors to the car as they walked away.
"What if that was him? What if they are hurt, what if they are being held somewhere? What if I left them behind?"
"Shh Kim," Ron said opening the key to the apartment and pulling her inside and deposited her on the couch. Leaving her there, he went to the hall closet and got a blanket and placed it over her. "Get some sleep Kim," he said and kissed her forehead and turned but her hand reached out and grabbed his.
"Please stay?" she said and he sighed before sitting next to her on the couch, still holding her hand. Once he was sure she was asleep, he gently pulled his hand out of hers and stood, pulling his cell phone out of his pocket and dialed a number.
"Hey Wade, I need you to do me a favor," he said once the younger boy answered.
An hour and half later, Kim awoke to find herself alone on the couch and she sat up groggily, letting the blanket fall to the floor.
"Ron?" she called, suddenly feeling frightened of the idea of being alone. Hearing no response, she stood, her legs supporting her but still shaky, she made her way towards the hallway and looked in the bathroom and bedroom, but he was in neither. She returned to the front room where she saw a piece of paper on the coffee table that she had not noticed before. She picked it up and read it.
"Kim, I had an errand to run, I'll be back soon. Call me if you need anything, Ron."
Sighing and feeling a bit silly, she sat back down on the couch and ran a hand over her face and jumped when the door opened. Turning she saw Ron and Wade entering, Ron's hands were full with bags of food and a drink holder and Wade was holding two folders.
"Oh good, you're awake," Ron said, smiling at her and walked forward to brush a piece of hair out of her face. "How are you feeling?" he asked, searching her face for any signs of distress. Feeling self conscious and a blush creeping up her neck, Kim pulled back and smiled.
"I'm feeling a little bit better," she said and turned to Wade. "What are you doing here?" she asked, smiling to make sure he didn't think she was upset or anything.
"Ron had a really good idea, and seeing as I'm a genius, and he's not, the natural thing was to come to me," he said, smirking at Ron and placing the folder on the table as Ron mock-glared at the younger man as he pulled food out.
"Are you hungry?" he asked Kim as he handed her a take-out container and she opened it to find beef with broccoli and Ron handed her chopsticks. "Do you want these or do you want a fork?"
"Chopsticks are fine, thank you," she said feeling a bit mother-henned by Ron's over protectiveness.
"Ok," he said, grabbing his own container and chopsticks and opened it and took a bite.
"So what brilliant idea did you have and was it your first?" she asked, teasing him with a small smirk.
"Ha ha, very funny, and for your information I've had several," Ron said sticking out his tongue at her and she chuckled.
"Yeah but your brilliant idea's usually land you in a lot of trouble," Wade said speaking up and Ron turned a glare on him to which Wade only chuckled. "Do you remember the tomato sauce incident?" he asked and Ron winced.
"Don't remind me," he said and turned back to his food, his head ducked down.
"Wait," Kim spoke up, "tomato sauce incident?"
"Oh yeah it was great," Wade said. "See Ron had this great idea…"
"Hey Wade," Ron broke in, "why don't we save the stories for another time," he said looking pointedly at the younger man.
"I'll let this go, but you are going to explain that eventually," Kim said and Ron ducked his head again. They ate in silence for a while before Kim got curious about the folder on the table. "What's that?"
"Oh right, the one good, brilliant idea Ron's ever had," Wade said, grinning at the other boy.
"Quiet you," Ron growled and Kim chuckled before picking up the folder and opening it to see a bunch of number's and names in a long list.
"Again, what is this?"
"That is your phone records," Wade said, pointing to the folder with his chopsticks.
"Really? How did you get these?"
"Wade is a genius, knows two languages, has a horrible sense of humor and is a computer hacker extraordinaire," Ron said proudly, causing the young man to blush.
"You hacked into my phone company's records? Isn't that illegal? Wasn't that hard?"
"Please," Wade said, blushing a bit more, "I try to hack into government data bases for fun, if that's not illegal, I don't know what is. Plus, a phone company is nothing compared to the Pentagon."
"You tried to hack into the Pentagon?" Kim asked him, shocked and Wade laughed.
"I'm not looking to get on the government's bad side, so no, I was kidding. Though I think I could if I really tried." Kim looked at him in wonder and shook her head and looked back at the paper and noticed one phone number outlined with an "unknown" name.
"What is this?" she asked, pointing to it.
"That is the phone number we think called you that night that you think you received the call from your dad," Ron said, looking over her shoulder.
"The time and date are right," Wade said putting his container down and pulled the folder out of her hands gently. "I traced the number back and it comes from somewhere in Scotland."
"Scotland?" Kim said, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Duff Killigan?" she said more to herself.
"Duff Killigan?" Ron asked as she stood to pace.
"One of my nemesis," she said, pacing. "He had exploding golf balls, he's obsessed with the game. I just don't know where he would be," she said the last more to herself.
"Actually," Wade said handing her the other folder, "I looked him up and here's the information." Kim just stared at him in wonder.
"What?" was all she could mutter.
"I've been a fan of yours for years," he said, blushing slightly. "If you're interested, I can have a transport for you," he said almost meekly.
"But how?" she asked.
"Like Ron said, I spend a lot of time on the computer, I have a lot of odd friends. So?" he asked when she didn't respond.
"Yes," she cried and grabbed Wade and pulling him up, she hugged him. "Thank you!"
"No problem, I'll go call my contact," Wade said, pulling away, blushing crimson and walked down the hallway.
"I'm coming with you," Ron said from his place on the couch and Kim turned to him.
"No you're not," she said firmly and picked up the folder with the information about the phone number.
"Kim, you need someone's help," he said standing.
"I worked alone for years Ron, I don't need your help," she tried to ignore his hurt look.
"Kim," he said throwing another angle at her. "You don't know what you're going to find, you may need someone for support." Kim sighed and turned to him and saw the determined look on his face.
"If I go without you, will you follow me anyway?" she asked and he grinned.
"Of course."
"Fine, but if anything happens, I want you to stay low, got it?" she asked, feeling irked.
"Don't worry, I'm not into the whole saving the world business," Ron said, holding up his hands, "I'll stay out of it, promise."
"Fine," she said tersely.
"All right, everything is set," Wade said, walking back into the room and looked between his two friends noting the tension. "Everything ok?"
"Great," Kim said sarcastically, "Ron's coming with me."
"Great!" Wade's enthusiasm made her turn to look at him. "I have gadgets hanging around my room that I want to test out," he said rubbing his hands together. "The transport will leave in an hour from the airport, we'll go over to my house and get the stuff then you can meet them." Kim sighed and ran a hand over her face.
"What have I gotten myself into?" she asked when Ron and Wade started talking about all the inventions he had lying around.
