Well, first off I should probably apologize about letting this story sit for so long, especially when I had chapters 9 and 10 outlined already. Oh well. Real life (sucks, btw) and all that. Here is chapter 9! And chapter 10 will follow relatively quickly, as an apology to my several(?) loyal readers.
I don't own anything mentioned in this story. NOT EVEN MYSELF. Even though I don't mention myself in this story.
I guess I should mention right here that every little break in this chapter involves a different day of the holiday vacation.
Ron hummed to himself as he packed his suitcase. The young man was in a seriously good mood at the moment. Classes were done, the holiday break was here, and he was going to be spending two weeks with his girlfriend!
'This is badical! I can't wait to see KP again!' thought Ron as he packed extra underwear and socks. Years of missions had taught him to always pack extra underwear and socks.
Wade had set Ron up with a ride on an experimental unmanned hoverjet. Only, for this flight it wasn't going to be unmanned. Since this was it's first trans-Atlantic flight, an experienced pilot and one of it's engineers were going to be on the aircraft as well. Which suited Ron fine, he didn't think being alone over the Atlantic was a great idea or anything. All he had to do tomorrow was drive his car to the facility and board the plane. It certainly sounded a lot easier than dealing with a big international airport.
As Ron finished packing up his things (as well as Rufus') he wheeled his suitcase to the door and realized there was only one thing left to do.
Ron picked up the phone to call one of his best friends and remind them that tomorrow he was going to be leaving for the UK, and to wish them a good holiday break.
Ron dialed the now-familiar number.
After a moment he heard Tara's voice on the other end.
"Hello, Ron!" Nearly 2 decades of caller ID had taken the mystery out of phone calls.
"Hi, Tara. Just calling to let you know that I'm heading out of the country tomorrow, and won't be back for two weeks." replied Ron.
"Oh? Looking forward to seeing Kim, I'll bet!" Tara sounded playful.
"You know it! You got anything planned for the break?"
"Well, Bonnie and some of the other cheerleading girls are going to be in town again. I'll have to catch up with them. I'll tell them the Mad Dog says hi."
Ron laughed. "Sounds good, Tara."
"I'll try to be in touch while you're gone. Maybe I'll send you an email or something."
"Badical! I'll try to remember to bring something back for you."
"Cool! Well, have a safe trip, Ron."
"Thanks! And you make sure you have a good holiday break, Tara. There will still be almost 2 weeks of it left when I get back, so we'll have to do something when I come back." said Ron earnestly.
"That sounds great, Ron. I've got a few new cheesy movies for us to watch. Well, goodbye." Tara sounded a little less cheery this time.
"Bye, Tara. Have a good break." repeated Ron before he hung up the phone.
On the other end of the line, a platinum blonde huffed a bit. 'It would be a better vacation if you were going to be around, Ron.' she thought as she closed her cell phone.
It was about 8:30AM when Ron pulled up to the gate. The surly-looking guard with a clipboard sauntered up to the car.
"Name, please."
"Ron Stoppable."
The guard perused his clipboard. "Ah, you'll be flying on Mr. Load's newest prototype." said a now much friendlier guard. "That young man has done a lot of consulting work for this company...probably the only reason we're still in business. Please take the road to the right, and pull your car up to hangar 8. It'll be stored in there while you're gone." he said as he pointed the way.
"Thanks!" said Ron. Rufus continued to snooze on the backseat, totally unnoticed by the guard. Ron did as he was instructed and parked the car.
Two hours later, the black jet was in the air. According to the pilot, this was the first supersonic hoverjet that could sustain such speeds long enough to make one full lap around the Earth at the equator, thanks to highly advanced new engines and fuels that Wade had developed. Ron found it odd that the man was willing to divulge such information, but it was a civilian operation after all.
Unfortunately for Ron, while the pilot who wouldn't be doing any piloting, bar an emergency, was a generally quiet and sort of friendly, the engineer, an attractive thirty-something woman called Dr. Green proved to be very friendly. And talkative. And she had a voice like Fran Drescher.
"So, what brings you on our little trip, Ronnie? E-hehehee!" she asked as the jet crossed the line between the mainland and the Atlantic Ocean.
'Agh. She sounds like The Nanny!' groused Ron to himself as he tried to think of a way to get out of talking to this person. Ron suspected the pilot was very thankful for Ron's presence. "I'm going to England to see my BFGF." replied Ron as politely as he could.
"Bee Eff Gee Eff?"
"Best-friend girlfriend."
"Aww! How cute! E-hehehehe!" Dr. Green had a habit of punctuating sentences with her annoying, nasally laugh. "How long have you been together?"
"As a couple? About 2 years. But, we've known each other since we were four or so."
"Aww, young love! That reminds me of when I met my Darryl. I just knew we were made for each other! Though, now that we're married he seems to drink a lot...in the mornings...and he spends a lot of time in the garage for some reason...E-hehehehe!" Dr. Green's laugh seemed even more awkward after that. But, she remained silent for the time being.
Ron just sat and blinked for a moment, before cracking open a magazine. 'I can't imagine why he'd drink in the morning...' thought Ron before dozing off in his seat.
The next thing Ron knew, he was landing at a discreet, fog-shrouded airstrip. As he stuck Rufus in his pocket and exited the plane with his suitcase, he saw his BFGF standing near a car that was most likely also courtesy of Wade. She was wearing a black skirt with a green top that matched her eyes, and she looked stunning.
"Ron!"
"KP!" Ron dropped his suitcase as the two ran towards each other and engaged in a rather searing kiss, completely oblivious to Dr. Green's 'oohs' and 'awws'.
"I missed you." said both as they separated.
"Jinx! You owe me a soda! And a whole lot of Ronshine." said Kim with a sultry smile on her face.
"Well, I guess I'll have to start repaying my debts now." said a smiling Ron as he leaned in for another kiss.
An extremely bored Tara Strong huffed and flopped backwards onto the bed in her tiny apartment.
"Arrrgh! Lowerton is so BORING!" she groused aloud as she lay there. That wasn't entirely true, there were things to do in Lowerton. There just weren't any things she wanted to do without Ron's company.
'At least Bonnie will be coming back in a couple of days.' thought Tara. Most of the old cheer squad would be back as well. Maybe they could have a girl's night out or something.
'Maybe I'm looking at this the wrong way.' thought Tara as she continued to lay there. 'I've been spending a ton of time with Ron, which I'm sure Kim would appreciate if she knew about it...maybe I should cut back on that a bit.'
'But he's so funny and so sweet and his smile just melts me and...and...I'm thinking these thoughts about a guy who is totally, completely spoken for! Ugh. Get it together, Strong. You're not a homewrecker!' Tara decided she'd had enough of just laying around and doing nothing but think about Ron.
She hopped up off of her bed and put on her shoes. 'I might as well get some grocery shopping done while I've got the free time. Let's see, I need milk, lunchmeat, oranges, shredded wheat...' Tara picked up the newest Smarty Mart sale ad that she'd received in the mail '...oooh, and they're having a sale on Pop-Pop Porter's double-chunk chocolate cookies! Badical!' Tara was quite good about watching what she ate and staying active, but Pop-Pop's chocolate cookies were one of her biggest weaknesses.
'Guess I'll be doing extra sit-ups this week.' thought Tara as she grabbed her coat, locked her apartment up, and began walking towards the bus stop to wait for the bus that would take her to the discount utopia that is Smarty Mart.
'You know, I could really go for some of Ron's lasagna.'
Jim Possible grumbled to himself a little bit as he wandered around the mall by himself. He wasn't alone by choice, but because it seemed that all of his friends, and even his own brother, either had goings on, or a girlfriend to spend their holiday break with.
The 14-year-old high school sophomore didn't have a ton of friends to begin with. Being a middle-school aged kid at a high school tended to do that to one's social life. Combine that with an obsessive love of tinkering and explosions and an equally eccentric twin brother to hang out with and one could see why Jim's friend list was kind of small, despite his fame around Middleton High as one half of the Middleton Pep Puppies.
But now, things were changing.
Tim had a girlfriend.
A lovely, petite Hispanic girl named Rosa Flores, who attended Middleton Middle. Jim idly remembered Tim mentioning that she had an older sister who had graduated with Kim and Ron, but that wasn't ringing a bell.
All Jim knew was that her younger sister could reduce the normally rambunctious and outspoken Tim into a shy, stumbling idiot with nothing but a smile and a flick of the hair. Not that he had anything against his brother's girlfriend, as she seemed really nice.
It was just that Jim felt left out wherever he went. And the few friends he did have doing the same thing didn't help. Even Jim knew he was just a bit jealous of the others.
As he was beginning his third lap of the mall, with his hands in his pockets and his head down, he rounded a corner near the Orange Lazarus stand and found his progress stopped short by an obstacle that knocked him backwards and put him on his rear.
"Ouch!" the obstacle also had a distinctly female voice.
"Hicka-bicka-ow." muttered Jim as he sat up and rubbed his head, only to notice that he'd plowed straight into a girl about his age.
"Oh, I'm so sorry!" exclaimed Jim as he jumped to his feet and offered a hand to help the girl up. As she looked up to take it, Jim was struck dumb.
He found himself staring at a brunette who could only be described as a beauty, with a slightly round face, long wavy hair, and light brown eyes that seemed to reflect the light in ways that shouldn't have been possible.
Or, at least, that's how Jim saw her.
He managed to get over his speechlessness long enough to choke out an 'are you alright?' to the girl as he helped her up.
"I'm okay." she said, blushing slightly as she returned Jim's gaze. "I'm sorry about running into you."
"Oh, no! It was my fault! I wasn't looking where I was going and I came around the corner...and...uh...yeah...I'm sorry." Jim was rambling a bit.
There was a moment of awkward silence before the girl spoke again.
"Um...do you go to Middleton Middle School? I don't think I've seen you there?"
"Er, no. I go to Middleton High. My name is Jim, by the way."
"You're a high schooler?"
"I'm only 14. I skipped a few grades."
"Ah, cool! Oh, and my name is Katie. Katie Strong."
"Well, it's nice to meet you, Katie. I guess it would've been better to shake your hand or something, but I suppose head-butting you works just as well." said Jim with a goofy grin reminiscent of his father's.
Katie just giggled. "Hey, what was that thing you said?"
"What thing?" Jim looked confused.
"The 'hicka-bicka' thing." replied Katie.
Jim suddenly felt a bit embarrassed by the Tweeb-speak he'd been using for so many years. "Oh, that...heh-heh...well, that's just some thing my twin brother and I do sometimes and...uh...well, it's just a dumb thing I do!"
"Oh, I have a twin brother too! Yeah, twins always come up with goofy stuff, huh?" chuckled Katie.
"Yeah." Jim smiled as he agreed.
Another awkward silence followed. Jim shuffled his feet kind of awkwardly, while Katie nervously grabbed her left elbow with her right hand.
"Um, well...I guess I should be going." said Jim as he rubbed the back of his neck with his hand. "Sorry again about knocking you down."
Katie looked a bit disappointed. "Alright. It was nice to meet you, Jim."
And the two teenagers parted ways.
'Huh. She was really nice. Especially after I clunked her head like that. And she was my age too...I should've asked...'
"Agh! Hicka-bicka-STUPID!" Jim slapped his forehead and turned around, only to find Katie long gone.
Jim sighed and turned around to leave the building. He didn't like his chances of finding Katie again in Middleton's sprawling mall.
'Maybe I'll see her again.' thought Jim dejectedly as he left through the main entrance.
Bonnie Rockwaller frowned a bit as she drove her white convertible (top up) into Lowerton, towards Tara's apartment. It wasn't that she was unhappy to see Tara, as Tara was one of her best friends, but she always enjoyed visiting Tara's family home as well. She wouldn't have admitted it to anyone ever, but Tara's smiling dad, friendly (if annoying) siblings, and small but warm home were the complete opposite to both the large, cold Rockwaller house and her equally chilly Rockwaller siblings. It made visits there something to look forward to, even if Bonnie didn't act like it.
And, since Tara wasn't a rival like Kim, she could actually enjoy those surroundings, unlike whenever she went to Kim's house.
'Oh well, I suppose we all have to move away from home sometime. I know I certainly looked forward to it...' thought Bonnie with a smirk as she continued driving. Bonnie had no intention of spending any time more than was necessary in her own home over the holiday break.
That was part of the reason Bonnie had elected to go to school as far away as Wisconsin. It certainly helped that UW also had a great pre-med program. Of course, Bonnie had also managed to turn a fair portion of the school's male population into her personal toys within a semester, she was the Queen B after all.
Bonnie was nonplussed as she pulled up to the building she'd been given directions to. It certainly was modest, a well-worn block of apartments near an industrial park. At least the area looked clean and safe. Bonnie lifted her nose and sniffed a bit as she got out of her car, walked towards the building, and rang the buzzer for Tara's apartment.
Buzz!
"Hello?"
"Hi Tara, it's Bonnie."
"Bonnie! Come on up!" Tara sounded especially cheerful as she buzzed the door open for Bonnie.
A moment later, Tara was ushering Bonnie into her tiny apartment.
"Bonnie! It's so great to see you again!" chirped Tara as she gave her old cheer buddy a big hug. Bonnie returned it.
"It's nice to see you too."
"So, how was Wisconsin? Any cute guys there?" asked Tara as they both sat down on Tara's sofa.
"Eh, Madison is okay. It's like this little bubble of sanity surrounded by...just...complete shit." Tara gasped a little at Bonnie's description before starting to giggle.
"Yeah, I was surprised that you went to Wisconsin. But, you do like it there?"
"Oh yeah. The pre-med department is full of hotties... AND foreign hotties!" cackled Bonnie. "So, how about you? Enjoying Lowerton?" Bonnie couldn't keep the slight distaste at 'Lowerton' from her voice, but Tara had long since learned to ignore such things from Bonnie.
"Lowerton is badical! The new campus is great, and most of my instructors are really cool and I really like the nursing program and Ron is there which is really great and we go to Bueno Nacho every Friday and he came at Thanksgiving and..."
Bonnie, who's eyebrow had gone up at 'badical', had to interrupt Tara's excited gushing at the mention of 'Ron'.
"Ron? Rieger?"
"No, Stoppable. He goes to LTC too. He's so much fun, the other day we went to a Lowerton Lemurs game and he lost his pants in the stands and..."
"You mean, you hang out with Stoppable?" Bonnie was a bit surprised, and had to know more.
"Of course. He's my friend, we do all kinds of stuff together."
"Well, it sounds to me like you seem to really enjoy his company, and you've been talking non-stop about him for the past couple of minutes." Bonnie arched an eyebrow.
"Oh...well...uhm...heh-heh..." Tara floundered under Bonnie's gaze, like she always had.
"You like Stoppable, don't you? Just like you did in high school!"
"But...but..!" Bonnie amped 'the look' up a little. "Yeah, I do. He's really something special..." Tara's head drooped a bit at being outed by someone who had never liked Ron. Still, it felt good to tell someone the completely unaltered truth.
But, Bonnie ended up surprising Tara.
'Tara's never been totally normal, has she? She likes watching those weirdo movies, to the point that she was convinced she was stuck in a horror movie at Wannaweep...and she ate Ron's ancient pork things...she hated all those Food-Chain approved guys we set her up with...the only guy she ever liked besides Ron was Josh, and he wasn't exactly normal either...face it Rockwaller, your friend isn't Jessica or Marcella...she'll always be a bit unique.' Bonnie's thoughts about one of her oldest friends was cut short by Tara.
"Bonnie? Bonnie? Hello? Earth to Bonnie!" Tara snapped her fingers.
"Gah!" Bonnie jumped, before turning to Tara and giving a slightly predatory grin, something Tara never liked being on the receiving end of.
"You know what, Tara? I approve." Tara's eyes widened. "If that Froob makes you happy, go for it. But, I gotta ask...does Possible know about this? I can't imagine Kay would be too happy about you sniffing around her lapdog. I mean, they are still together, right?"
"Don't call him a Froob!" snapped Tara, surprising Bonnie, before she continued. "Kim knows that Ron and I are friends, and I don't think she likes it. If she suspects anything else, I don't know. But, I'm not the kind of girl who goes around stealing other women's guys from them." huffed Tara.
"Are you going to see Stoppable later?" asked Bonnie.
"No, he's off at Cambridge, visiting Kim." Tara deflated at that. Bonnie noticed.
"That's totally lame. If he was here I'd drop him some subtle hints that he needs some more blonde in his life." cackled Bonnie.
"Bonnie, please."
"Alright, alright. I'll leave you guys alone. It's not like I can do anything from Madison anyway. So, what do you and the Froob usually do, anyway?"
As Tara began to animatedly talk about the things she and Ron liked to do, and some of the more interesting things they had already done together, Bonnie was only half listening.
'Jeez, it sounds like Tara is just filling in for Kim while she's gone. If you hurt her, Stoppable, I'll personally rip Little Ron off and stuff it in your ear.'
Bonnie had to stop Tara for a second when she mentioned the party with Ron, and kissing him on the cheek. "What, after all of that he still didn't figure out that you want him?"
"I don't think so. But I was just being friendly!"
"Well, then I guess you'll just have to jump him one day, maybe the next time his pants fall down." chortled Bonnie.
"BONNIE!" Tara's tomato-red face clashed terribly with her hair and eyes. Bonnie just laughed.
Though, as she continued to listen to Tara, Bonnie couldn't help but think about how great it would be if one of her best friends not only found that special someone, but in doing so managed to completely stick it to one of her worst enemies. Oh, that would just be wonderful!
'It really is a shame I can't be closer to the action. Good luck, Tara.'
"KP, this campus is totally badical! Nothing like Lowerton!" Ron looked around in wonder at the various colleges and their grounds, which made up the entire Cambridge school. The (mostly) centuries-old buildings were a stark contrast to the modernist campus he attended.
"Glad you like it, Ron." smiled Kim as she kept her arm linked with his.
It was now the second week of Ron's 2-week trip to the UK, and the pair were just now getting around to seeing Kim's campus. In the first week, thanks to National Rail, Kim and Ron had seemingly been everywhere, including several days of sightseeing in London. It was Ron's first time being in that city in a non-mission capacity, and he'd thoroughly enjoyed it.
Ron hadn't found the native British food too appealing though, greasy or not. Thankfully, the Indian and other ethnic restaurants around had been more to his taste. Plus, of course, numerous trips to various British Bueno Nacho franchises.
The pair had also spent considerable time with Joanna and Vijan, Kim's two best friends at her school. Ron and Vijan had hit it off immediately, with Vijan's calm irreverence a perfect counter to Ron's more spastic outbursts. Joanna merely thought that Kim had managed to capture an excellent partner for herself, and jokingly informed Kim that she was jealous.
Today, however, was going to be a quiet day. Kim was showing Ron around her particular school, the other campuses that made up the University and the town of Cambridge itself, and after that, Ron was going to cook them a quiet dinner at her apartment. Ron had suggest curry and Kim liked the idea.
Of course, the two had also taken many opportunities to get into heated make-out sessions.
"Oh, Ron. There's something I forgot to tell you. In two days, we'll be meeting some friends of mine for dinner."
"Oh? Anyone I know?" Ron was genuinely curious.
"Maybe, but I can't tell you who." Kim said smugly.
"Aww...you're no fun!"
"Oh really?...That's not what you say when I do this." replied Kim in a sultry voice before yanking Ron close to her body and giving him a smoking kiss.
"Mmm... you're lotsa fun..." mumbled Ron as he had his circuits fried.
"Oh come on, Bonnie! There's nothing wrong with this place!" whined Tara.
"Ugh! No, I refuse to set foot in there. You've been spending too much time with Stoppable if you think this place is okay." grumbled Bonnie as she put her foot down.
Tara, Bonnie, and a few of the other former Middleton cheerleaders were having a little get-together at Bonnie's house that night. It would be nothing too exciting, just a simple night of casually kicking back and catching up. The partying would be saved for another night. But, they needed munchies and drinks and Tara had directed Bonnie to Smarty Mart.
"Come. On. Please!" grunted Tara as she tugged on Bonnie's arm. Years of Kim's cheerleading drills had left both ladies with a lot more strength than your average young woman, and there seemed to be a game of irresistible force vs. immovable object going on, much to the amusement of several other people who were entering or exiting the Middleton Smarty Mart.
"It has the stench of discount." said Bonnie loftily.
"We just need snack foods and sodas, and there's no sense spending a ton at some other store." grumbled Tara as she continued to tug. Bonnie wondered when Tara had become so forceful.
"No!"
Tara decided to try a different tack. "You know, Mr. Barkin works here."
"So what?"
"I'm sure you have a few things to say to him about summer school." Tara was counting on Bonnie's not yet realizing that it was her own fault she'd been stuck in summer school after senior year.
Bonnie bought it hook, line, and sinker. "Hey...YEAH! Last summer should've been totally awesome, but I was stuck at school every day thanks to that psycho Jarhead!" Tara had to run to catch up as Bonnie stormed into Smarty Mart.
Five minutes later, Tara felt bad as she watched Bonnie imperiously order Steve Barkin to retrieve heavy items off of high shelves, only to change her mind and have him put them back. To his credit, Mr. Barkin didn't look like he wanted to strangle Bonnie too much.
'Sorry, Mr. B, but a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do.' thought Tara as she made her way over to the grocery section to pick up a few gigantic bags of discount snacks and a couple of Smarty-sized jugs of soda and juice.
"This is the place Ron." said Kim as she ushered a slightly dressed up Ron into a small, pleasant-looking restaurant/pub called The King's Table.
"Finally, I get to find out who these mystery people are!" said an eager Ron as he hurried into the eatery.
Kim and Ron arrived at a table where an older couple, both with black hair and in fashionably casual clothes, were sitting. Ron thought they both looked familiar.
"Hi Drew, Hi Sheila!" chirped Kim, expecting Ron to recognize them immediately.
"Hello, Kimmie." replied Sheila as Drew just nodded.
Ron still didn't get it. "Well, you two both seem familiar...have you two ever shopped at Smarty Mart?"
Three sets of eyes turned to face Ron, before looking at each other.
"Wait...no! You were teachers at Middleton High!"
Drew and Sheila shared a glance. "You're half right." smirked Sheila.
"Uh...did we ever see you guys on a mission?" asked Ron.
Before Sheila could snark out another witty reply, Drew finally had enough.
"Bah! I always knew you were a buffoon!"
It finally clicked. "Drakken and Shego!" he yelped.
"Ron, quiet!" hissed Kim. Thankfully, the small pub was almost deserted.
"But, KP! It's..."
"I know. Don't worry, Ron. They helped save the world, they've been pardoned, and gave up crime. I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, but...hey!" said Kim with a smile and a thumbs-up. Kim was willing to give the two a chance. And it seemed like their romance with each other kept them distracted from any other, more illegal activities.
Ron turned again to look at the former villains. "Uh, well...it's nice to see you like this, I guess. But, I gotta ask...what did you guys do to your faces?!"
Everyone just laughed as they sat down. Ron pointed out that he should've seen this coming, since Kim had told him all about her last meeting with them. Everyone agreed.
After their food arrived, Ron again began speaking to Drew and Sheila. "I have to admit, I'm surprised that you two got together."
"So were we." said Drew. "And so was mother."
"But it's going pretty well." said a smug Sheila as she lifted her hand to show off a rather impressive rock.
"Omigosh! Congratulations!" gushed Kim. Ron shared the sentiment.
"So, what prompted you guys to move here of all places?" asked Ron.
"Because I sold off every single property I had, except the countryside farm lair." said Drew matter-of-factly. "It's the quietest one."
"And the one his mother doesn't know about." muttered Sheila.
"Right!"
"So, what do you guys do now that you're 'retired'?"
"I do all of the same things I used to do, except villainy." smirked Sheila. "Drew still messes around in the lab, and he likes to cook."
"Oh, that reminds me, how did the time-machine refrigerator go?" asked Kim.
Drew put his head down on the table and grumbled something.
"What?"
"I said, I accidentally sent a week's worth of groceries to the year 2847!" growled Drew, much to Sheila's amusement.
"He, he, he even sent all of the 'cocoa moo!'" cackled Sheila. "He was depressed for a week!"
Drew simply fumed.
"I guess you never did things one at a time." chuckled Kim.
The former enemies continued their meal and reunion well into the evening. When everyone was set to leave, Sheila pulled Kim aside.
"So Princess, do you think things are okay?" she asked as she motioned slightly towards Ron.
Kim looked over at Ron, who was talking about cooking with Drew. "Yeah, I think everything with Ron is spankin'."
"Ooh, Princess, no need to tell me about what you and Stoppable get up to in private." smirked Sheila.
Kim stared blankly for a moment, and then... "Sheila!" ...sounded quite scandalized.
The two pairs gave their goodbyes and parted ways.
Jim Possible hummed to himself as he stood in line at the Bueno Nacho. Even though his holiday break was almost over, he was in a good mood. Tonight he was going to be hanging out with his brother and some of their friends, a night of newly released video games and junk food. It was going to be superb.
But, prior to that, Jim decided a little nacho-cheese injection was in order, and he'd made his way over to the Bueno Nacho for a double chimirito combo.
As Jim stood there, waiting for his chance to face Ned, something hit him from behind.
"Oof!" Jim was knocked forward, but didn't fall.
"Ouch!" Jim recognized that voice, and turned around.
There, sitting on the floor, was Katie Strong. It appeared that she hadn't been watching where she was going. As Jim looked down in silent surprise, she glanced up, and her face immediately brightened.
"Jim!"
Jim snapped out of it. "Hi Katie! I guess we keep running into each other, eh?" he asked as he helped her to her feet. Katie just giggled.
"I guess so!"
An awkward moment passed before Jim spoke again. "So, how have you been?"
"Oh, fine. The bump on my head went down, which is good."
Jim just chuckled and rubbed the back of his head nervously. But, inside, he was screaming.
'SAY SOMETHING YOU HICKA-BICKA-IDIOT! ASK HER!'
Jim coughed a bit before speaking up again. "So, uh...Katie...I realize this is a bit sudden...but, I was wondering..."
"Yes?!" Katie perked up.
"...I was wondering if maybe you wanted to see a movie or maybe..."
"I'd love to." said Katie firmly.
"Great! So, how about tonight? My Best Friend's Diary is playing and..." Jim hoped the sappy romance movie would earn him some brownie points.
Katie fiddled a bit before responding. "Well, we could see that, I mean...if you wanted to...but, the new Bricks of Fury movie is playing too! And it's got 60% more cinderblocks! I'd love to see that..."
"Okay!" Jim didn't mind this new development at all. "Hey, since we're both here, would you like to have lunch with me? I'm buying."
"Cool!" Katie smiled and fell into line next to Jim.
'HOOOO-SHAAAAA!'
A moment later, they had found their way into Kim and Ron's old booth, and sat down, chatting as they ate. Jim was surprised to find that Katie was actually quite talkative and inquisitive, but didn't mind at all.
'Wow, she does ask a lot of questions...' thought Jim as he answered another one. 'I guess I'll have to tell the guys I can't make it tonight.' he thought smugly, before also realizing, to his horror, that he'd also have to tell his mother that he had a date tonight.
"Oh come on Tara, I know you'll have fun." said a scantily clad Marcella as she dragged Tara towards the club in Upperton, along with Bonnie, Liz, and Hope.
"This really isn't my kind of thing..." Tara said quietly. She knew her friends wouldn't listen anyway.
Inside the club was the expected bumping music and moving bodies. Tara bought a non-alcoholic drink and found herself a table.
'I'd rather be watching a DVD with Ron or something...'
After turning away several older guys who wanted to dance with her, Tara finally acquiesced to one who didn't seem too drunk. But, after he proved a bit too grabby for her tastes, she retreated to the safety in numbers of her friends.
"This place tanks." grumbled Tara.
"Tanks?" asked Marcella.
"Oh, Tara's just using Froob-speak. She spends a lot of time with Ron Stoppable these days, you know." smirked Bonnie.
"Oh?"
"We're just friends!" Tara wasn't in the mood.
"Gotcha." said Marcella in a disinterested manner before heading out to the dance floor with another guy.
Mercifully, a few hours later, Tara found herself safely ensconced within the confines of her apartment. She was tired from the night's activities, but decided to sit down and shoot Ron a quick email before showering and going to bed. She flipped open her laptop and began to type.
hey Ron. How are things in England? I hope you're having a good time with Kim. Tell her I said hi.
Bonnie and some of the other cheer girls are in town, and we just got back from a club. i really didn't have that great of a time. I think I prefer a couch, popcorn, and a movie, you know? Still, I pulled something impossible off. I got Bonnie into a Smarty Mart! Can you believe that? lol.
well, that's it from me. Have a safe trip home!
Tara.
After sending the email, Tara shut her laptop, showered, and went to bed, intending to take advantage of having tomorrow off by sleeping in as late as possible.
"Hey, KP, mind if I check my email before we go?" asked Ron as he waited for Kim to finish getting ready for their date. Ron was going to be leaving tomorrow afternoon, so they were getting set for one last night out together.
"Not at all, Ron. The laptop is on my desk."
Ron flipped it open and logged into his account.
"Anything interesting, Ron?" called Kim.
"Meh, not much. One from my parents, one from Felix, one from Tara, and one from Wade."
"What?!"
"Yeah, Wade emailed me. Apparently he's got a date and he had to tell me."
"I didn't mean that, I meant from Tara! She's emailing you now?" Kim walked into the room, dressed up, beautiful, and looking slightly tweaked.
Ron turned around and looked evenly at Kim. "Yes, Kim. She emails me sometimes. Because we're friends. You know, just like how Monique emails me, because we're friends."
Kim stopped short. "Ugh." She rubbed her temples. "I'm getting so ridiculous."
Ron stood up and crossed over to her. "Hey, you want to keep your Rondo all to yourself. I know I would too, so I can't blame you." he joked with a warm smile, before leaning down to give his girlfriend a deep kiss.
"Mmm...and this is why I want to keep him all to myself." Kim looked a bit shell-shocked from the kiss, but happy just the same.
After separating, Kim and Ron linked arms and left, Tara's email not even read.
A few hours later, a rather entangled Kim and Ron half fell through the door of Kim's apartment. Kim already had a hand under Ron's shirt. The two made their way over to the bed and let the logical progression of things continue.
A short while later, Kim leaned over, reached into her bag and pulled out a small, foil square, passing it to Ron.
"Mmm...Happy Hanukkah, Ron Stoppable."
"Merry Christmas, Kim Possible." smiled Ron.
After that, the two found far more entertaining ways to spend their last night in the UK together.
As the experimental jet-chopper landed at the same facility Ron had left from, Ron was quite thankful that this particular trip had not involved Dr. Green and her nasally weirdness. This flight had only been shared with the same quiet pilot, and a soft-spoken man called Dr. Moore. Ron had accomplished some grade-A marinating on this flight.
As Ron and the pilot walked to the garage containing Ron's car, Rufus popped out of Ron's pocket.
"Hnnk! Home! Good!"
"Yeah, little buddy. It's good to be back. I already miss Kim though."
"Hawww." the mole rat sounded sympathetic.
"Sorry I didn't spend much time with you in England, Rufus. I guess Kim and I were just busy."
"Hnnk! S'okay! KIM!" Rufus was just glad his human was still so close to Kim. He still wasn't sure about that blonde girl.
"Still, how about I make it up to you? On the way home, we'll stop at Smarty Mart and get a nice pack of string cheese."
"CHEESE!" Rufus liked the plan.
A couple of hours later, and Ron was pulling into the Stoppable driveway. Rufus was in the passenger seat, sleeping next to a few empty string-cheese packages.
As he walked in the front door, carrying his suitcase, his mother came barreling out of another room to embrace her son.
"Ronnie! You're home! Give your mother a hug!" Ron did. "How was the trip, how was Kim?"
"The trip was badical and Kim's as bon-diggety as ever." said Ron with a goofy grin.
"Oh, you must be so tired from your trip. Are you hungry? I could whip something up. It's past suppertime, you know."
"No thanks, mom. I'm fine."
As Ron said that, his father walked into the room. "Son! Good to see that you made it home safely. Did you have a good trip?"
"Oh yeah, it was great!"
"That's great, son." replied Ron's dad as he too gave his son a hug. "Oh, by the way, one of your friends called about an hour ago. That Tara girl, she wanted to know if you made it home safely. I told her you weren't home yet."
"Ah, well thanks for the heads-up. I'm pretty tired, so I think I'll just shower and hit the sack." said Ron "Maybe I'll call Tara and tell her I made it home okay."
"It sounded like she missed you a bit." said Ron's dad, while Ron's mom frowned a bit.
"Okay. Well, goodnight guys." Ron grabbed his suitcase and began to trek up the stairs.
As Ron left, Ron's mother turned to his father. "You don't seem too bothered by this Tara girl trying to get so close to our son. You know how close he is to Kim."
"I think they're just friends, dear. Besides, that's Ron's business anyway, not ours."
Ron's mom just huffed a bit.
Inside Ron's bedroom, Rufus immediately crawled into his bed and conked out. Ron set down his suitcase, picked up his phone, and dialed the now-familiar number.
Ring.
"Hi Ron!" chirped a cheerful-sounding Tara.
"Hi, Tara. Just letting you know I got home okay."
"Did you have a good vacation?"
"It was great! Kim and I..."
I really don't like this chapter much. At all. AT ALL. Everything feels a bit off-kilter or something. Probably because I haven't written in so long. I actually had to re-read my story (which resulted in a lot of 'what the heck was I doing here?' sorts of moments) to try to get back into it's groove.
Certain parts of this story should've been longer and more fleshed out, and others shorter. But the ones that should've been shorter proved the most amusing to write, so they're longer.
I don't think I succeeded entirely. Oh well. I wasn't looking forward to writing the holiday break chapter anyway.
I've got another account with another, more popular story in the anime section (no, I won't divulge which one) that I've also been totally lax on updating. Oh well. I guess I need to start writing again, so I started with this.
I'm going to try to get the next chapter up reasonably quickly. Call it an apology for waiting so long. I will say now that Chapter 10 will have a timeskip. Nothing huge, just a jump ahead to the next semester, just after summer break. Because I'm a lazy writer.
I dunno Ron, calling Tara as soon as you get home from your vacation with Kim? Since when do you report to her?
I like the idea of a Tweeb dating Tara's sister.
I hope I didn't date myself with that Orange Lazarus gag.
I'm a native of the Milwaukee area, so before you WI people out there give me any stick about what Bonnie said, realize that an expert on the state provided her opinion for her ;)
I realize Kim/Ron and Drakken/Shego probably wouldn't be able to be so friendly with each other, even after DS go straight after helping Kim and Ron save the world but eh...my story, my rules.
Don't forget to tell me what you thought of my story. I can deal with criticism. Reviews is good, yo.
Zip it up, and zip it out!