A/N: I have so much back story and notes for this chapter that after 2 more chapters I'm going to start the Kim Possible Global Justice years stories to fill in the gaps. I've already got chapter 1 halfway written.

Special thanks to Quis Custodiet, BigHerb81, Swordbunny4486, bthecatslayer, AtomicFire, aedan cameron, Zaratan, and Joe Stoppinghem for their reviews. Remember write a review, receive a reply.

Bubba

Eaton Trendel had been volunteered to drive Coach Ron Stoppable to the University of Miami Hurricane's final walk through before they traveled to the Boston for the final regular season game of the year. This was totally unexpected on his part. He had enjoyed eating Thanksgiving Dinner with the Stoppable family but figured his audience with the Coach would be at an end when he had to leave for the Coral Gables practice facility.

Instead Ron Stoppable had pointed at him and told him he was to be his driver for the day. Now he would have total access to the man, one on one for the first time. Pointing to his faded blue subcompact he sheepishly said, "That's my ride."

Coach Stoppable lifted an eyebrow, "Cheese and crackers man, that's not a car that's a house slipper."

Eaton shrugged, "The wife has the van because of the kids."

Ron nodded his head, "Well, I'll see if I can fold my body into this thing."

Pointing towards the knob, Eaton said. "This lets the seat slide back."

Looking around to make sure no one was watching in case he fell down. Ron slid into the car. Smiling in relief, he said. "Whewwwwww, I didn't think my knees were going to make it. I was afraid the neighbors were going to see me flopping around in the driveway like a fish."

Eaton chuckled, "Well it's not an SUV."

"Ah, it's alright. I drove around in a beat up old 1987 Ford Ranger extended cab for more years than I car to admit." Ron said with a grin.

Eaton started the motor, turned around in the driveway and headed for the front gate. "So that was your first car...errrrr..truck?"

Ron smiled, "Yea, I traded a bunch of food and cigarettes for it. I still have it in the garage. I keep it around for sentimental reasons."

Passing through the gate, Eaton made a right, "No car like the first car."

"No indeed..." Ron said happily.

"That's some family you have back there." Eaton complimented.

"They're great ain't they? I grew up an only child until I was 18 and Mom and Dad adopted. I always wished I had brothers and sisters when I was little. I think I really missed out on a lot by being an only child." Ron mused.

Eaton nodded his head, "I thought that may have been the reason for the big family."

Ron looked out the window at the holiday traffic, "Yea, if Monique would of said yes, I think we would have had about 4 more kids. I love kids."

Smiling Eaton replied, "If Monique was in the car, I bet she would have slapped you for that one."

Laughing Ron agreed, "She'd say that I enjoyed making them and she was always stuck raising them. There's some truth in that."

Pulling up to a stop light, Eaton looked over. "So you don't like driving?"

Ron shook his head, "No I like to people watch and look at the scenery. I mean look at that woman stopped across the street."

Eaton looked around and then saw the woman Ron was talking about waiting for her turn at the light. "Oh I see her."

"Yep, she's picking her nose up to her elbow. You don't usually see women doing stuff like that. Everyone thinks they're at home in a car and they'll do some of the strangest things." Ron said chuckling.

"Right..." Eaton agreed.

"So how long have you been writing?" Ron asked.

Eaton looked at the coach, "So now you're interviewing me?"

Ron shrugged, "I guess..."

"Well, I started writing in high school, went to USC got a degree in journalism. Fell in love with doing hard news, worked here and there before settling here and writing for the Miami Herald." Eaton told him.

"Miami Herald..." Ron let out a deep breath. "For a moment there I just thought you were some loser who sat around all day writing nothing but fan fiction."

Both men chuckled uneasily. Then turned to one another and said in unison, "So what did you write?"

Eaton laughed, "Star Wars, you?"

Ron smiled, "Agony County..."

"Agony County...never heard of it." Eaton said good naturedly.

Offended Ron looked at him and said, "Well I've never heard of Star Wars."

Laughing at Ron's statement, he nodded his head, "I hear you. So why did you quit?"

Ron grinned, "Well...Kim found out. Told me my story stunk, that none of the characters would ever act the way they acted. That the girls of Agony County would never have a torrid lesbian affair in front of the guys, while they cheered and sprayed beer all over them."

Eaton laughed, "Sounds like quite a story."

"Yea, Kim really flamed me. Said the whole thing was as plausible as her and Shego having a torrid lesbian affair. She also said that the only reason I wrote the story was because of my latent homosexuality, and that it was all right for me to feel attracted to men." Ron said trying to hold back his laughter.

Eaton started to laugh, "So I guess this was before you two started dating?"

Ron nodded his head, "Oh yea, this was before we started dating. I think Agony County did that show during the fourth season. It was a ratings block buster. The show never was the same after that. I think they jumped the shark with the whole lesbian, guy, beer thing. I still think they stole the idea from my story."

"Oh, so what did she say after that show?" Eaton inquired.

"Well...It's a conversation we both agreed we'd never discuss again. We were dating after all and it would have been suicidal to suggest a three way Shego." The men laughed, before Ron turned to Eaton, "So why did you quit writing fan fics?"

Eaton shrugged, "I discovered journalism, hard news was more fun to write." Eaton said as he turned into the Green Tree Fields practice facility.

Ron smiled as he could see players already stretching out on the field. "They're pumped up. We've locked up the Coastal Division Championship of the ACC. Boston College is tied with Clemson for the lead of the Atlantic Coast Division. If we beat Boston College on Saturday, then Clemson wins the Atlantic. If we lose, Boston wins the Atlantic and we have to play them again in Tampa next weekend for the ACC Championship."

Looking at Eaton, Ron said. "I don't feel like playing Boston College twice. So we've got to win on Saturday."

Following Coach Stoppable, and looking over Green Tree Fields, Eaton noted the vast size of the facility, "This place is bigger than a football field."

Ron glanced over at him, "It's three football fields. That way we can work on offense, defense and special teams all at the same time. I'm most concerned with defense right now. Boston College runs my offense. They have my old offensive coordinator as coach so...it will be like playing ourselves."

"So this is a walk through?" Eaton asked.

Ron handed the man his brief case, "Sort of, normally they'd be in sweats but I've made them wear the pads for today."

"Coach Sweeny, you have your men ready for Saturday?" Ron asked a heavy set African American man wearing a t-shirt and shorts, and a whistle dangling around his neck.

"I believe so Coach Stoppable..." He replied in a deep voice.

Ron looked at the players and clapped his hands, "Line of scrimmage, now..."

The players quickly broke and took up their positions on the field where they would be if it had been an actual game. Ron took up position opposite of them as if he were the quarterback. He looked over the line and the secondary, "Dre, what are you looking at?"

"Coach Sweeny..." He said pointing to coach Sweeny who had lined up as a receiver.

"Why?" Ron said in his deepest coaching voice.

The player named Dre' shrugged his shoulders.

Ron shook his head, "I can't hear a shrug. OK, If I'm looking at you, where should you be looking?"

Dre' pointed at Ron, "At you..."

"Right, now why are you looking at me?"

"Because you're looking to see what I'm going to do." Dre' smiled happy with his answer.

"And what are you going to do?" Ron asked.

"Cheat in, make him think blitz, then on the snap...I break back into coverage to lend deep protection to the corner." Dre' answered.

"That's right, because if he's fixed on you, he's going to the left side of the field." Looking towards his corner back, Ron pointed, "Tucker, your on 81 all day long, He goes into motion..." Ron pointed to Coach Sweeny, who ran from his position behind Ron to the other side of the field.

Tucker ran with him, "I'm going to shadow his move."

Ron pointed at Dre', "What are you doing?"

"I'm moving to my left to lend coverage force or to block a lane on a run, or keep the tight end pinched to the inside." Dre' answered.

"Good, good...Alright everyone gather around." Ron said as he motioned for the defense to gather around him.

Watching the players gather around Ron looked them over, "Alright, Saturday you know what to expect. They play our exact same offense. You have got to make sure of your pre snap reads, corners you're jamming the receivers to inside, we have to control where they throw the ball. WE DICTATE TO THE OFFENSE...not the other way around. They're going to try and spread us thin, and go down field just like we are GOING to do to them. As long as you stay in your zone packages and control the receivers off the snap, we control them."

Ron paused for a breath, "Now I know many of you are asking why so many zone packages. You all know why, it eliminates personnel mismatches created by man coverage. It allows you to have better vision coming to the line of the quarterback and the ball. It allows us to dictate where the ball will be thrown. We always want the ball middle of the field, short gains, no long pass plays."

"It's all about keep away, Cover 2 Cloud, high to low. Cover 3 Sky, side to side. Our layered zone also limits their ability to run for significant yardage on running plays and minimizes YAC after a reception. The zones speeds up your reaction time, pre snap reads..." Ron pointed to himself, "You can read the quarterback's eyes, his shoulders...See the handoff if it's a running play, give quick support to the weak side if you read incorrectly. For those that like to hit the quarterback, don't worry I'm still going to work in some blitz packages to keep em' honest." Ron said looking around.

Ron looked at the men, "BC's offense is just like ours...They are going to go no huddle, they're going to try and stretch us, catch us out of position, they're quarterback is a sophomore, Dean Renner...He's good but he's easy to read, he makes mistakes. Saturday I want him to make a lot of mistakes. If we can take their receivers away and eliminate the cup cake throws, we will control the day."

Looking to Coach Sweeny, Ron nodded, "Work em' Coach."

The men clapped their hands and broke up. Coach Sweeny ordered them onto the field for drills. Ron walked over to Eaton, "They'll be alright, they're in good shape. BC is going to try and run the legs off of them. Avery Shannon will have BC ready, then again...I'll have them ready." Ron said with a wide grin.

Eaton looked at Ron, "I think I understood most of that talk, but...what is YAC?"

Ron tilted his head trying to take in the question, "Oh...yards after catch. We want a lot of YAC, we don't want them to have any YAC."

"So where to now?" Eaton asked.

"I want to watch my offense. We are very strong there so I'll leave it to Coach Doaks. Defense is what I'm nervous about." Ron said as the walked to the next football field.

Eaton looked down at his feet, "This is all artificial turf?"

Ron nodded his head, "Yep, Proturf just like inside the Dolphins Stadium, just like what they'll be playing on in Alumni Stadium."

It was an interesting afternoon for Eaton as he followed Ron around the practice field. The two hours they spent watching the practice seemed to fly by as Ron would scream, scold, cajole, the players as he took in every facet of the walk through. There was little if any contact as the full scrimmages had been run earlier in the week. Still to Eaton it was fascinating just to watch Ron in his element.

At six o'clock Ron gathered the team around him for a last minute talk. Once the players quieted down, he looked them over. "Alright, this was a good practice. The week off has treated us well, we're rested and ready to go for Saturday. I want you in your rooms by 10:30, there will be phone checks at 11:00. Lights out at 11:00, do not stay up all night." He said as he looked at a two players he saw chuckling.

"I'm serious, if you don't take this game serious, you will be left in Miami. This is a business, not fun and games. Buses arrive at 10:00 AM sharp. You will be here ready to travel. Suit and tie, look sharp, be sharp, play sharp. The plane leaves at 11:00 and we should be landing in Boston by..."

Ron looked at his itinerary, "...4:00 PM, we will be met by buses that will take us to the hotel. Check in, stow your gear, team dinner is at 5:30 PM, I have arraigned to have the some conference rooms available for another walk through at 8:00 PM to last for one hour. You will be in your rooms at 10:30, room check and lights out at 11:00. Any questions?"

Looking around he could see there were none, "Gentlemen, have a nice evening. Don't play too rough, I need you focused for the next few days. Coaches, staff meeting in the film room, right now."

The team broke up, Ron walked over to Eaton and said. "I won't keep you if you need to leave. I can always catch a ride from one of the coaches."

Eaton shook his head, "No, no, this is fascinating. I never seen a behind the scenes view of game preparation."

Grinning Ron said, "I try to keep a well oiled machine. Follow me..."

It was nearly dark as the small group of coaches headed towards a large 3 story white building that stood behind the practice facility. The building housed the Athletic department. The football offices resided on the 2nd floor. Most of the coaches took the stairs. Ron took the elevator with Eaton and few other coaches. Ron leaned over to the writer and whispered, "You can tell who has bad knees."

The elevator door opened and the men stepped out onto the white tile floor. Walking down the hallway to the film room, Eaton noticed that the other men had already taken their seats had their playbooks open. Ron closed the door behind him and took a seat at the head of the room, taking his play book out of his brief case.

He started the meeting, by pointing to Eaton. Who was standing in a corner, unsure if he should take a seat or not, so he chose to stand. "Coaches, this is Eaton Trendle. He's writing a book about my days back in Colorado. He has little if any football background...He's mostly harmless."

The coaches laughed and Eaton mumbled, "Thanks a lot."

Ron pointed to a young woman, "Brock, injury report?"

Brock Easley the team's trainer looked at his list, "Reginald Stokes, knee...out for the season, Damien Cartwright, separated shoulder, out for this week, should be ready for next week. Marcus Cantrell, high ankle sprain, should be ready for Saturday's game. That's about it for this week."

Nodding his head, "The week off treated us well. Stokes is not making the trip right?"

The trainer nodded, "Yea, he's staying here."

"Alright, I've got some notes to go over." Ron said as he flipped open a small note pad. "Cecil, the off week has made Tyrell sloppy. We get to Boston, you need to get him in that conference room and work on his three step drop. Step, step, step, release...He's not going to have much time back there and he's got to be fluid. "

Cecil Monroe, the quarterback coach nodded his head, "I hear ya..."

Ron looked over the list again, "...uhhhhhhhhh...Coach Strock...Long snapping sucked. When we take the field for practice at Alumni, I want both Otis and Warren worked hard on that. We can't afford to lose a game because of a bad snap."

"Any special requests for gear?" A man said in the back of the room.

Looking up, Ron spoke slowly so he could run the lists of equipment through his head. "Yes...yes...I do...Andy...Cold weather gear, bring the cold weather gear."

Andy Metcalf, the equipment manager winced, "The weather is calling for 40 degrees and sunny..."

Ron chuckled, "Andy, these kids are mostly from Florida and South Texas...That temperature drops below 60, they think they're playing in the artic circle."

Nodding his head in agreement, "You're the Doctor."

"Damn straight..." Ron muttered under his breath as he looked at his note book.

Before Ron could continue, the door to the room burst open. Dan Tovella and two other heavy set men wearing teal sport coats and University of Miami Hurricane baseball caps entered the room. The largest of the men stepped forward towards Ron. He was a big man, well over six feet. His body suggested a former athlete who let his body go to seed. Grinning stupidly he thrust his hand out for Ron to shake. "Coach Stoppable, good to see you. Did you have a nice holiday? Or do Jews celebrate Thanksgiving?"

Ron stared at the man with his mouth open. No one ever walked in on Ron during a closed door meeting. Looking down at the man's hand, he was tempted to grab his thumb and bend it backwards till it snapped. Keeping his temper in check, he took his hand, "Dan...Jews celebrate Thanksgiving just fine. So why are you here?"

"Oh, I wanted to introduce you to some friends of mine. I think you may already know them. Buck Upshaw..." Ron shook the man's hand. Dan Tovella pointed to the next man, "Tom Hildebrand. "

"Nice to meet you gentlemen, now tell me...why are you here?" Ron said as he fought to control his temper.

Dan took out a white handkerchief out of his pocket and wiped at his balding head. "It sure is warm in here."

Blinking Ron thought,"It was fine before you drug your fat ass in here."

"Yes, yes it is, perhaps if you and your friends would like to wait outside..."

Waving his hand, "No, no, we won't take up much of your time. I just wanted you to meet the new exploratory committee. We've been charged with finding a heir apparent should you feel the need to retire at the end of the season."

A wry smile crossed his face, "Now Dan, why would I think of retiring with so many years left on my contract?"

A startled look crossed Dan's face, "No, no, you misunderstand..."

Ron's eyes lit up, "Ahhhhh, you need to talk to my son, he handles all contract negotiations. I'm sure if you're looking to extend my contract, he'd be more than willing to talk to you. I mean, who am I to refuse to take your money." Ron said happily as he motioned the men towards the door, "Now if you gentleman will kindly excuse us. We need to get to the business of winning."

"Well...that's...not..." Dan protested as Ron escorted the new committee out the door.

Buck and Tom had the good sense to understand they were being thrown out of the room. Dan Tovella however was not as quick to take the hint. It only dawned on him that their meeting was over as Ron put his hand in his chest and shoved him back out the door, slamming it behind him.

The room exploded in laughter at the men's expense. Ron grinned and held up his hands as the coaches started to applaud. "Now, now, that's not the attitude to take after all one of you may be the next heir apparent."

It was nearing ten o'clock as Eaton sat in Coach Ron Stoppable's office. Hanging on the wall was various plaques, awards and lots of pictures of star players that went on to the NFL that he coached. There were a lot of those pictures. He sat quietly as he waited for Ron to finish staring at the ceiling.

Dr. Ron, was going over the checklists in his head one more time to see if he had forgotten anything, overlooked the tiniest of details that could cause a problem when they arrived in Boston. He could think of none. Looking over at Eaton he said, "It must be getting pretty late for you."

"I called the wife and let her know I'd be out late." Eaton smiled.

Ron smiled wearily, "Always got to let the wives know, otherwise one day you end up sleeping alone."

"So have you called Monique yet?" Eaton asked.

Shaking his head, Ron said sadly, "Nope, she had a big day. So she's probably asleep. I'm sure more than a few grandkids are spending the night. She's having a blast. She loves the holidays."

Eaton could hear something in the tone of Ron's voice, so he decided to inquire. "...and you don't?"

"Nope, I'm the last of my kind. I am the youngest Jewish Stoppable. When I die, that's it. So the holidays are a constant reminder that I failed my parents. I hang the Christmas wreath on the door and it feels like I'm knifing them in the back." Ron said sadly.

Eaton could see that Ron was tired but this was one facet of the man he had never seen. He was always so upbeat, and positive. To see him down, was very unusual. "So none of the kids are Jewish?"

Ron shook his head, "No, I was raising Cheyenne to be Jewish until I married Monique. Christmas and Easter just blew Chanukah, Pass Over, Yom Kippur and Purim right out of the water."

"I know who's kids are yours and Monique's, I know who's kids are yours and Kim's. Who was Cheyenne's mother? I mean she's older than the other kids." Eaton asked.

Shaking his head, Ron said. "I'd rather not bring the kids into this."

Eaton nodded his head, "Okay, fine...So Monique didn't convert to Judaism?"

"Nope, she lived with my parents in Middleton and then after they moved to Miami. Living with Jews for six years, and not able to celebrate the big Christian Holidays. It really hit her hard. So when, we started dating, she went wild to make up for the lost time." Ron grinned.

Having sat for too long, Eaton stretched. "So it really wasn't a conscious decision on Monique's part to not celebrate the Jewish holidays then?"

"Oh it probably was, and I let it happen. I just wanted her to be happy. She really had it hard back in the old days. I was away at school and for the most part she was living with strangers." Ron said sadly.

"I can imagine."

Ron frowned, "I had always hoped that at least one of my children would take an interest in the religion. But it wasn't to be. I mean how do you get kids attention with a religion without a fat man in a sleigh who gives you toys? Then after a few months shape shifts into a six foot bunny rabbit that gives out candy and is nailed to a cross for it."

Eaton tilted his head, not quite sure what to say. "...Ummmmm..."

"No, when I die. The headstone will read, here lies Ronald Doran Stoppable, pretty good football coach, pretty good football player, practiced a hokey old religion. Maybe Tovella's right, I am a dinosaur..." Ron said sadly as he leaned back and looked at the ceiling.

Ron's morbid mood was making Eaton uncomfortable. So he decided to change the subject, "So does Dan Tovella come to your meetings often."

Grinning Ron shook his head and sat up in his chair. "No, no this was a first. He normally just sends me little notes to try and get into my head. If you don't win, it could mean your job. Stuff like that. He's feeling pretty good about things now."

"So he's trying to intimidate you?" Eaton coaxed. Ron was coming out of his funk and getting feisty again. He liked the old coach feisty.

"Oh...I guess. The man really doesn't know me that well. If he had to face the things I faced in my youth. He'd piss his plaid stretch pants." Ron chuckled.

Eaton laughed, "So Theodore wouldn't offer this man a cigar then?"

Ron leaned back in his chair and laughed, "No, no, he would not impress the bear one bit. The bear is a good judge of character."

"So last we talked, you had just been in some gang violence and received an offer to play football in Wyoming..." Eaton said as he took out his tape recorder.

Covering his face, Ron laughed. "So loosen up the old man and then hit him with the questions."

Eaton grinned, "Just some quick ones. Hopefully nothing too involved."

"OK, OK, ask away..." Ron said as he waved a hand at Eaton.

"You've used a phrase before and I've heard others use it. What is Middleton Mean?" Eaton sat back in his chair grinning.

Grinning Ron's eyes twinkled. The phrase obviously was one of his favorites. "Oh it's more of a state of mind. When the bad times came you had people who either, wanted to steal from you, wanted to kill you, or wanted to take advantage of you somehow. You learned to become mean, or mean spirited in a hurry. Here it is 40 years later and if run across any of those old neighbors and you say something they don't like...you'll see it. The attitude will come from nowhere and it'll shock you how intense the anger can be."

Eaton nodded his head, "So you still have the Middleton Mean in you?"

Chuckling Ron nodded his head, "Oh yea, and not just me. Monique has it, don't ever cross her. Since Theodore was found with your mother...I imagine he has a little of it in him as well."

"So Theodore is Middleton Mean then?" Eaton asked with a grin.

Ron had a far away look in his eye and he didn't return the smile, "The bear's still around. I'm sure he has it in him too."

Eaton looked at his note pad, "Did you ever see anyone disappear?"

Chuckling Ron rolled his eyes, "Oh yea, I don't think anyone could have been around back then and not witnessed at least one disappearance."

"So you've seen people taken out and shot?" Eaton said suddenly turning very serious.

Ron stuck his tongue into the side of his mouth and tried to think of away around the question, "I never actually saw anyone shot. I've seen them disappear..."

Puzzled at Ron's answer, Eaton pressed on. "By disappear you mean...what?"

Letting out a deep breath, Ron looked towards the door. The whole subject made him nervous. Rising from his seat he crossed the room, opened the office door and flipped the switch to make sure it was locked before he closed it again. Looking at Eaton he said, "I'm not real wild about talking about this stuff."

"I can tell..." Eaton said nervously as he watched Ron return to his seat.

Ron pulled his chair around from behind his desk and rolled it up to Eaton. Pointing at his digital recording device, he said, "Switch it off."

Eaton did as he was asked.

Feeling more secure Ron leaned in and said in almost a whisper, "First thing you have to understand is there are two kinds of disappearing. There's the good kind, the kind where you turn up after a number of years. Then there's the bad kind. The kind of bad, where nobody knows what happened to you but it's suspected you're in an unmarked grave or in one of the mass graves they still run across out there."

"So why did some people turn back up then?" Eaton said in a low voice to match Ron's.

Ron grinned, "Well that's the good kind. Those were people that just left the area. You have to remember we had little or any communication with the outside world. So if you just walked away, no one would ever know about it."

He could tell Eaton still wasn't quite getting the message. So Ron put up his hand. "Remember at Thanksgiving Dinner, I told the family about Theodore, your mother and Bonnie Rockwaller?"

"Yea..."

"Do you remember the boy, which Bonnie was trying to get your mother to breakup with?" Ron asked.

Eaton nodded, "Yea, a Joe Monkey or something?"

Ron chuckled, "Yea, close...uh...Josh Mankey. You know it's only one letter difference...anyway it's easy to make that mistake. Well Josh disappeared. Then we're at the ten year high school reunion."

Pausing for a moment Ron leaned back in his chair and began counting his fingers. Then he nodded, "The ten year high school reunion, Josh Mankey shows up with his wife. He disappeared because his family moved to Salina...no...Lawrence Kansas to be closer to his mom's family."

Eaton frowned, "Mom wasn't at the ten year reunion?"

Ron sighed, "Not many were. I think out of a class of 125 or a 150, I can't remember the exact number. There was me, Kim, Monique, Bonnie, Josh Mankey, Zita Flores, Ron Reeger, uh...my best bud Felix Renton. He had also disappeared, his family moved away and he went with them. So getting back to the point, we had a graduating class of 125 or so, there were 18 at the 10 year reunion, 58 at the 25 year reunion. Lots of people went missing, like your mother."

"I don't see how this has to do with..." Eaton began before Ron cut him off.

"Statistics Eaton...OK look, you were out on the practice field today. You saw all those boys out there in their football gear, correct?" Ron asked.

"Yea..."

"Within 5 years one of those boys will be dead. Law of averages, 120 players, 10 coaches, 8 graduate assistants, 1 trainer, 3 assistant trainers, 1 equipment manager, someone within the next 5 years will be dead. Might even be me...God forbid." Ron said with a grin.

Eaton nodded, "I think I'm getting it."

Ron nodded, "Right so at this 10 year reunion there is only about 18 or 20 of us there. Most of the people I knew, a few I didn't remember too well. Okay so out of 120, in ten years, we had 100 fellow classmates that all survived the attack after graduation...disappear."

"But the ones that weren't there weren't all dead..." Eaton said again.

Sighing Ron tried again, "Your mom wasn't there. She disappeared. We never knew what happened to her. We hoped she was like Josh Mankey and Felix, just moved away. Twenty five year reunion a few more show up. Over half of my graduation class is either dead or missing. Now the ones missing, that don't turn up are bad disappearances. They're most likely dead."

"Oh so statistically speaking...that is a really high rate of people that vanished off the face of the earth." Eaton said suddenly understanding what Ron was getting at.

"If there was no way to communicate it would seem that Kim, Monique, me, all disappeared. No way to check up on us. So if you're in charge and you find some people being pesky...kill them, who is ever going to know?" Ron said quietly.

"Ohhhhhhh, but everyone knew what happened to you." Eaton said.

Ron grinned, "Yea, our leaving in a group the way we did was kind of notorious and garnered much attention. A whole neighborhood vanishes at once in the middle of the night. Yea, our disappearance ruffled some feathers."

"So who did you see disappear?" Eaton asked.

Leaning back in his chair again, Ron glanced at the door. "Well now we have bad disappearances. You didn't want to be picked up the Colorado Highway Patrol. It was usually a one way ride to never, never land."

Eaton nodded, "I've heard that, the highway patrol and the National Guard..."

Ron nodded, "Yea, the Guardsman on the borders were pretty cool though. Those guys came back from Iraq and were so happy nobody was trying to shoot them or blow them up. They didn't really prevent too many people from leaving the state, or enforce the stupid laws that came down to us from Boulder. The Guardsman bastards away from the borders were...scary."

"So who did you see disappear." Eaton asked again.

Glancing at the door once again, Ron chuckled nervously. "Old habits...Let me think...I never did know the woman's name. It was around...Monique was there, she was in the store...OK..."

Licking his lips Ron started his story again. "I was working at Smarty Mart...in the parking lot retrieving carts. We had to get the carts back inside or they would disappear too. People would use them for all sorts of things. So we had to keep a tight watch on them."

Straightening the long line of shopping carts, making sure they were straight Ron tied a rope around the first cart and walked to the back of the long line of carts. Pausing to wipe his brow he looked into the afternoon sun. It was nearly 90 degrees, extremely hot for the month of June in Colorado.

Glancing to his left, he saw a slender woman with long brown hair strapping her two small children into the backseat of an SUV. He was sure she wasn't going to be in the way, he turned his attention back to the carts. Pushing them forward and with the rope in his left hand he kept the long line straight as he guided them towards the front of the store.

Tires squalling from a car locking up its brakes behind him cause him to jump. Ron spun around to see a black unmarked Chevrolet Impala come to a halt in front of the SUV and two uniformed officers of the Colorado Highway Patrol jumped out of the car and raced towards the woman.

The woman screamed and tried to get open the front door of the SUV. One of the Officers grabbed her by the hair and pulled her backwards. The second Officer punched the woman as hard as he could in the face, knocking her unconscious.

The first Officer still holding the woman by the hair reached down with his freehand and wrapped it around the belt holding up her blue jeans. The second Officer had the back door to the unmarked police car open and the first Officer threw the woman inside the car.

The first Officer looked up and took notice of Ron for the first time. He drew his pistol, "YOU GET BACK IN THAT STORE, FORGET WHAT YOU'VE SEEN...OR I WILL SHOOT YOU DOWN WHERE YOU STAND..."

Forgetting the shopping carts Ron turned and ran towards the front of Smarty Mart as fast as he could. He could hear the squealing tires behind him heading in the opposite direction. Running into the store Ron turned around to see the black Impala turning left onto highway 203. Putting his hands on top of his head, he paced back and forth, "Oh man, what the just happened here? Why...What did she do?"

Feeling confident that the Highway Patrol wasn't coming back for him, Ron ventured outside again. People were walking towards the long line of baskets. Running out to finish the job and keep people from stealing them Ron waved his arms and shouted, "BASKETS IN THE STORE..."

The people quickly dispersed, none of them heading towards the store. Ron chuckled,"Beat you to it."

Lining the carts up once again, he began to push them towards the store. He could hear a squeaking but it didn't sound like it was coming from the carts. He stopped and looked the line of carts over again. They looked alright he thought as he walked to the back of the line.

He stopped, he heard it again. Then it dawned on him, the Patrol men only took the woman, not the kids she was putting into the car seats in the back of the SUV. As he moved closer to the SUV, he could now tell the noise he was hearing was children crying. Ron peeked into the back of the SUV and could see two small children buckled into their safety seats. "Hang on, I'll get you out."

He tried the front door, it was locked. He tried the back door it too was locked. As were the doors on the passenger side of the trendy sport utility, putting his hands on top of his head he tried to think about what to do. "If I leave them in the car...They'll broil to death. How do I get them out?"

Shielding his eyes from the glare of the sun, Ron peered into the back of the SUV. The kids in the seat were sweating and crying. Then an idea came to him. Why not just break out a window. Ron held up a finger, "I'll be right back."

Running back to the carts he quickly pushed them through the door in the front of the store. Moving quickly he looked for something heavy to break out the windows with. Then it dawned on him, "Fire extinguisher."

He ran to the empty snack bar and went behind the counter. Taking the small red fire extinguisher from the wall he turned to leave and spotted Monique at the same table reading a fashion magazine. "MONIQUE!"

Monique looked up and smiled, "Ron..."

"You're back, great..." Ron said breathlessly.

"I haven't left." Monique said sadly.

Ron motioned to her to follow him, "Great follow me."

She had to run to keep up with him, "What's going on?"

There was no answer until they reached the black SUV. Ron peered into the window, "I'm gong to get you out." He said calmly.

"I think we need to call the police first." Monique said nervously.

Running around to the passenger side of the truck Ron shook his head, "They're the ones that caused this."

"What..." Monique said in disbelief.

Stepping back from the door, Ron lifted the fire extinguisher and slammed the bottom of the metal can against the front passenger side window, once, twice, and on the third try the window shattered. Reaching inside the truck, Ron found the power door lock switch and unlocked the doors.

The children in back were crying even louder now. They were afraid of the man who had just broken into their death chamber. Ron sat the fire extinguisher on the ground, opened the door and reached inside. He unbuckled the first child. He could see a blue jumper. It was a boy. Taking the screaming child out of the vehicle he handed him to Monique, "Here you go buddy, now for you partner."

Looking horrified Monique held the crying baby far way from her. Shaking her head, Monique said, "Ron, Kim's the babysitter. I don't know anything about babies."

There was no answer as Ron was too busy extracting the second child. Ron wiped the sweaty hair from the child's face. The child was older and he could see it was a girl. "Hang on honey...Ronnie's got you."

Stepping back from the SUV, he bent down and picked up the fire extinguisher with his free hand, and slammed the door closed with his butt. Looking at Monique strangely, he said, "That's not how you hold a baby."

"Well..." Monique started to protest only to have Ron walk away from her.

"Let's get out of the sun." He said over his shoulder.

Returning to the snack bar, he told Monique to sit down. She was still trying to say she didn't want to watch the kids but Ron was talking a mile a minute. "So you'll have to watch them until someone is notified..."

"No...I..."

"I better tell Mr. Barkin, he'll know what to do. I'll be right back with some bottled water. Don't go anywhere." He said as he sat the girl down in Monique's lap.

Looking horrified and holding two crying children, Monique called out to him. "I'm not watching these babies...I HATE BABIES..."

The crying children instantly quieted down and looked at Monique in stunned surprise. Looking at the two now quiet children, she lifted an eyebrow and mumbled, "Well that was easy."

Ron and Eaton were both laughing. Eaton grinned, "So you dumped the kids on Monique?"

Nodding his head and chuckling, Ron said, "The first of many..."

Once the laughter had died down, Eaton asked, "So who was the woman the patrol took?"

Shrugging, Ron said, "I don't know?"

"The kids?"

"Ahhhhhh, someone did come and pickup the kids...eventually...I think." Ron said in a less than confident voice.

"So this is before Monique moved in with you?"

"Yea, I hadn't realized how long she had been inside the store yet. Too much stuff going on." Ron said sadly.

Silence followed for a moment, before Ron started to laugh. "Oh man...You asked about Middleton Mean...This is the ultimate example of Middleton Mean."

Eaton smiled, "What..."

"I don't know how, but someone got a hold of the woman's family. They came to pick up the kids. They don't ask what happened to the woman, they're not overly concerned about the kids. No, no, no, what they want to know is who broke out the window of the SUV, so they could sue the pants off of them." Ron said laughing.

Eaton laughed, "Your kidding?"

Shaking his head, Ron said, "No, no, it's true. Monique looked at me and handed them the kids, said, here ya go and walked away. I turned and walked away, as this idiot woman starts to scream for the store manager."

The little sub compact car pulled up outside the security gate. Eaton looked at Ron, "Want me to drop you off inside?"

Ron shook his head, "No this will be fine. I'll key myself in and head up to bed."

Eaton nodded, "Well good luck on Saturday."

"Oh, hey...I almost forgot. Win or lose, you won't be seeing me for a while. We'll be prepping for the ACC Championship game in Tampa, next weekend." Ron said as he opened the car door.

"So you'll be busy. Do you mind if I talk to Monique?" Eaton asked.

Ron stood for a moment before he leaned back into the car for his brief case. Looking at Eaton, he could see he was thinking it over. "If you do make sure the girls are around her...I...I don't know. This stuff is pretty hard on her."

"I'll bring Theodore..." Eaton said hopefully.

Thinking it over for a bit, Ron said, "I think she'd like to see Theodore. I know I would. Just...just be easy with her, if you talk to her."

Eaton nodded, "I'll do that."

"I'll see ya around." Ron said as he closed the door.

He heard Eaton honk as he pulled away. Ron turned and waved to him. Punching in the numbers on the security box he saw the light turn green and he pushed the gate open. Walking slowly to the house the front door opened.

Monique stood in the doorway dressed in a bathrobe and house slippers. She was smiling. "We've got a full house tonight. We'll have to be quiet."

"What..."

Grinning Monique held up a pill bottle and shook it, "You behaved yourself so well today, I thought you deserved a treat."

Laughing Ron hugged his wife. "I'm pretty exhausted, but not that exhausted."

"Myracle is thrilled you like Ashley..."

"Ashton..." Ron corrected her.

She shrugged, "Whatever..."

"Kid seems alright..." Ron mumbled as they started up the stairs.

Monique walked beside him to help him along. His knees really didn't like stairs any more. She smiled, "You really know his Grandpa?"

"Yep" Ron said as he took another step.

"Did he really try to cheap shot you?"

Taking another step, he said. "Yep"

"You really hate him?"

"Nahhhhhhh, its just football..." Ron said as he reached the top step.

"What did he do?" Monique asked sounding concerned.

"Oh...I it was the Wild Card Game of the Playoffs back in the 2012 season. We were the wild card team, 5th seed. We had to go to San Diego to play the Chargers. I got hit pretty hard and put the ball on the ground. In the pile he punched me in the cup and I jabbed him in the eye through his face mask." Ron said with a grin.

Monique winced, "Ouch...If I remember right you got the ball back."

"I got lucky, Jerome Gainy punched Ashley's Grandpa in the ribs as I was jabbing his eye. He lost interest in the ball." Chuckling Ron's face broke out into a wide grin.

"Ashton..."

"Whatever..." Ron said as they entered the bedroom. He took Monique into his arms and kissed her gently as he reached for the bottle in her hand.

"So you think he'd remember you?" Monique asked nervously.

Ron took the bottle as he watched Monique drop her robe to reveal white satin pajamas. "Nice..." He said pointing at her.

"Thank you..." She smiled.

"Why are you so interested in Ashton's Grandpa?" Ron asked as he went to the sink to get a glass of water.

"Oh...an older gentleman with a lazy eye came to pick up Ashley this afternoon. He seemed really interested in seeing you again." Monique chuckled nervously.

Laughing Ron said, "Shit, my knees are too bad to run from him. So we'd either have to fight or fuck...and he's too ugly for fucking...Oh and it's Ashton."

"Whatever, I just thought you should know..."

Pulling off his shirt Ron grinned, "You are one hot mamma...Why did you think I should know?"

Monique unbuttoned the top of her pajamas to allow Ron a peek at her cleavage. "Oh you never know, Ashton might be family one day."

The smile froze on Ron's face, "Its Ashley and OH HELL NO..."

Gliding up to Ron she unbuckled his belt, "I'm not saying anything...He just has that look about him."

Frowning, he said. "What sort of look does Myracle have?"

Monique laughed, "Flavor of the month..."

Breathing a sigh of relief, Ron said. "Good..."

"Of course girls are funny and tend to say yes to such things without thinking things through." Monique giggled as she reached into Ron's boxers.

"Oh man..." Noticing his member rising to attention from Monique's touch, Ron smiled, "Booyah..."

A/N: Next Chapter a little more background on Eaton, Drakken and Shego fun, Monique memories and a visit from Theodore.