Kim sat in the chair looking at the head gear, and then she looked at Dr. Wong, "I have to know." As she fixed the gear back onto her head.

Then she put the gear back on and tried to make herself as comfortable as she could under the circumstances and closed her eyes and reconnected with her boyfriend on the other side of the planet.

She saw Ron running towards the Isuzu pickup truck that had a loudspeaker on top of it. Saw him throw a grenade in the passenger's side window and tell the occupants, "I give up."

He ran towards the building with his rifle up, he could feel the heat from the explosion as the truck exploded behind him. He was unsure if the two in the front made it out alive or not.

He cut down two guards with his Negev as he ran past them and hit the stairs that led to the loading dock, he stopped at the top of the stairs and pulled the lotus blade from its hiding place, "I never seen these stairs from the rooftop."

Once the knife was out of the sheath Ron's eyes turned blue and the sword took shape in his hands, the door opened before he could get there, four men were trying to run outside to investigate the explosion only to face a man with glowing blue eyes wielding a sword.

Ron could not go thru the door as the four men had effectively sealed the entrance with their bodies. The hacking and slashing began limbs and heads began leaving torsos with such speed he could no longer tell what limbs belonged to what torso.

Once he stepped over the small pile of arms and legs he was inside the building, he made a hard left and ran thru the first door he came to and encountered four men playing cards, their AK47's lay next to them as they stared in amazement at the figure with glowing blue eyes that had just materialized into their room.

The man closest to the door never had time to turn around before the lotus blade sliced through his neck, the man to his left made a move for his rifle but suddenly found it out of reach as he arm became severed from his body just before his head bounced into the middle of the table and his body toppled over backwards dead.

Ron jumped onto the table and made quick work of the final two men, the room was starting to smell of urine as one of the dead men's bladder released but he wasn't waiting around to find out which man it was as he was already passing through the wall into the next room.

This was a large conference room that was currently being used by the Palestinian Authority as a temporary head quarters to discuss the hostage situation. Ron quickly estimated that there were at least 15 people in the room along with two guards.

Ron dropped the lotus blade and pulled the two glocks out of the waist band of his pants and shot the two guards dead before turning on the men seated around the table. Once the pistols were emptied and the men were dead he dropped them on the floor and retrieved the lotus blade.

He ran thru the wall just as one of the conference room doors burst open and four guards entered. One of the guards screamed out in Arabic, "The Jews are here, kill the hostages."

Ron found the room he was looking for it was a small room that had no furniture but 13 hooded people. He could hear the kids sobbing under the hoods and he began to reach for the hood when the door burst open and two men entered to perform the deed.

The man closest to Ron tried to fire but the lotus blade struck him in the fore arm and sliced cleanly thru the man's chest and out the other side slicing thru the left arm. The other man only had time to drop a hand grenade before his head left his body.

Kim screamed from Middleton, "Grenade Ron"

Ron kicked the grenade back out the door and down the hall where it exploded, he could hear screams from the hall, Ron dropped the sword and pulled the two glocks from his body armor and finished off the two men that were wounded from the grenade, "NO VIRGINS FOR YOU."

The kids behind him were screaming and hollering, Ron wasn't expecting this as his eyes returned to their normal brown color, "IDF, IDF, We are here to rescue you."

The soldier on the ground tried to stand; Ron ran over and yanked the hood off of his head, "Can you handle a rifle?"

The man in an IDF uniform squinted from the sudden shock of seeing bright light again, he started to answer, only to be interrupted by Ron killing another man trying to enter the room, he pulled one of the knives out of his body armor and cut the man's hands free.

The man was not in good shape but he did his best to try and stand up straight, "I can handle a rifle."

Ron nodded, "Great, cut the kids lose, I think there a few rifles laying around on the ground…I'm going to clean out the rest of this building…Kill anything that comes thru that door."

Ron ran towards the wall and retrieved the lotus blade and then entered the hallway to a hail of bullets. He lunged thru a door into a restroom. He made a quick visual check and found it to be empty.

He pulled a flash bang from his body armor and rolled it down the hallway. He could hear people scrambling to get out of the way and cursing before it detonated and he and the sword were on the move again.

The three men at the end of the hallway were stunned and put up very little resistance to the blade. Ron looked at the blade and it turned into the Gerber boot knife once again and he put it away and turned to the Negev as his main rifle, "I think this is the bulk of them, just need to finish cleaning up the stragglers."

Kim was sweating heavily, "He did it, he's not dead…ohhhhh I think I'm going to be sick."

Dr. Wong felt her fore head and handed her a cup of water, "You can quit anytime you want."

Kim kept her eyes closed and shook her head, "No…It's ok."

Kim sat back in the chair, "He's doing fine, and he's going to make it."

Ron went through the other rooms and found only one man that held up a stack of money, he shot him and took the money, "Nice of him to offer."

He turned and ran down the hall towards the room with the hostages, "IDF DO NOT SHOOT ME!"

The soldier in the room responded, "Advance"

Ron held his rifle at the ready until he was in the room, the soldier was almost in tears, "I am Yosef Kurtz…Where are the others?"

Ron shrugged, "I am Sgt. Ronald Stoppable….I am afraid I am it for now, others will be along soon."

Ron looked at the school children, "Are you all alright?"

The huddled together not saying a word, "Yosef watch the children while I try to figure out what to do next."

"I think we need to either move or move these bodies...I don't think the children will like seeing all this." Yosef said as he motioned to the dead men at Ron's feet.

Ron sat his rifle against the wall and began moving the bodies and parts of bodies into the hall way. "Good enough?" he asked as he retrieved his rifle.

Yosef nodded and continued to cut the bonds of the children as Ron walked out the door and up the hall with his rifle ready, "Back door is where I came thru, the front is in that room, the hall is a dead end and there are no windows back here."

He quickly passed thru the locked door to the conference room to retrieve and reloaded his glocks, "These pistols are pretty good."

The phone rang on the conference room table, a wicked smile crossed his face, "I think it's time for a little fun."

Ron answered the phone in English, "Bueno Nacho this is Ron, how may I help you?"

There was silence and then the caller began to speak in Arabic, Ron couldn't understand him so he responded in Hebrew; "I can not understand you."

He hung up the phone and checked the front of the building and then worked his way towards the back of the building. Barricading doors and peering out windows as he went. When the phone rang again, he picked the phone up, "Shalom"

A voice on the other end of the phone responded in heavily accented English said, "You of course realize that you have signed your death warrant?"

Ron laughed, "Blow me."

Kim giggled at the exchange, "Enough playing Ron, head in the game."

He hung the phone up, "No more calls they may know where I'm at by the phone extension."

"Good thinking Ron." Kim said quietly to herself.

Ron returned to the room with the hostages and took off his pack, "I do not have much for food…Try to make sure they all get something." He said as he passed Yosef the power bars he had taken off the Russians earlier in the day.

Yosef nodded, "I do not know if they will eat, I think they are still too scared."

He pulled his radio out of the pack and put the ear piece in and turned it on, "Shalom, test, test." He listened for a response, "Nothing"

Loud arguing in Arabic near the front caught his attention, he shouldered his rifle and moved the selector switch to full auto and moved toward the voices, a group of men outside the doors were trying to get in, "Doors are metal and glass, that won't slow them down long…"

Ron turned and yelled to the back, "Yosef, I think we have company."

They spotted Ron and began firing through the door, the glass shattered, and the stuffing flew from the furniture that he had hastily placed in front the doors to serve as a barricade as the bullets passed thru looking for their intended victim, Ron ducked back out of the way and waited for a lull in the firing.

He could still hear them yelling at him but there was no shooting so he spun around the corner and opened fire on the now flimsy metal doors now vacant of the glass from the opening volley. Ron's bullets caught the first group of men as they were trying to crawl thru the door and over the top of the leather couch and chair that Ron had placed in front of the doors to slow his attacker's progress.

The loud shrieks, screams and cursing confirmed Ron's accuracy. He could barely see from behind the men he had just shot, that a group behind them was trying to pull the dead out of the way. Ron raised his rifle and shot them as well. He smiled, as he watched their lack of progress, "They won't shot thru their friends…Stack them up here and I have me a new human barricade…Booyah, This is great."

A banging noise came from above him, he raised his gun and shot into the ceiling, he heard screams coming out of the air conditioning vents and blood dripping down thru the bullet holes in the ceiling. Ron smiled and said to no in particular, "Take it from a guy that spent a good portion of his life in duct work, silence is golden dude."

Kim gasped, "Good thing we never made much noise."

He brought his attention back to the front doors a man was crawling thru the door with an RPG; Ron shot him before he could launch his round. Ron saw movement out of the corner of his eye there was another man entering thru the back door carrying another RPG, he managed to get his round off before Ron could shoot him.

"RONNNNNNNNNNNN LOOK OUT!" Kim screamed.

The round hit the ceiling near where he was standing and exploded sending little jagged pieces of flesh shredding shards of steel down the hallway. The force of the explosion hurled Ron backwards towards the room with the hostages.

He tried to cover his face with his right arm but a tiny piece of passed thru his cheek destroying his back molars on both sides of his mouth before passing out the other side. Ron tried to scream but only a gurgled escaped his lips.

The rest of the shrapnel lodged in his already injured right arm and in his thighs and legs, Ron lost consciousness as he lay dieing in the hallway. He was above his body floating near the ceiling, "They got me."

He could hear paratroopers storming the building, "I held long enough…I did it."

Kim screamed and rolled out of the chair in pain holding her jaw, then she could no longer feel his presence, "They killed him, they killed Ron."

She staggered to her feet and stumbled as she tried to sit in the chair again, crying and sobbing, "They killed Ron…I can't feel his presence…They killed him."

Dr. Wong came over and hugged Kim, "I'm so sorry Kim."

Kim took off the head gear, "One minute he's alive and messing around on the telephone, now he's dead...Seems so unreal."

"I'm going to head home, I can't tell his parents…I'm…really tired."

Dr. Wong nodded her head, "I have a ton of data to go over…Why was Ron able to pass thru walls and doors and what exactly is that weapon he was using?"

Kim blinked, "You were able to record what I saw?"

"Every bit." Dr. Wong responded.

Kim shook her head, "I can't tell you…It's Ron's business."

Dr. Wong nodded, "I understand…we'll talk of this later…I think we need to examine you further in the office, you really don't look good."

Kim staggered out of the lab and into the elevator to Dr. Wong's office; she was exhausted and couldn't quite gather in what had happened to her boyfriend as she slumped into the leather couch in front of the windows. She looked outside and knew it had to be getting late, "I think I'll just lie down on the couch for a while."

Dr. Wong took her pulse and nodded, "I will stay her as well, I will be down in the lab if you need anything."

Kim nodded and lay all she could think of was when they used to play in the tree house as kids, the tree house could be anything to them a fort, a spaceship, a hideout, a mansion, "I'd give anything if we could be in that tree house again."

-I-

Ron now stood in total darkness, the elderly man with white hair and goatee dressed all in white stood before him, "You have no idea how many times we came close to extinguishing your life."

He stepped back from the man, "W…why? I did …what I was supposed to do."

The White Guardian shook his head, "Showing off by impressing people with how far you can kill people, looting dead bodies, taking money and food from them…like…" The White Guardian made a face to emphasize his contempt of Ron, "Like a petty thief."

"Uh…I…I didn't…know…no one gave me a rule book for these sorts of things." Ron said nervously.

The White Guardian's eyes began to have a blue shimmer to them, "You are here right now to learn…Learn that your life is not your own, it is ours to do with as we feel fit."

Ron's lower jaw began to shake, "I…I…want a normal life, I never asked for this."

The White Guardian laughed bitterly, "You chose this path, you exposed yourself to the power. After observing your poor decision making we can no longer stand by and let you choose your path. Soon you will see our hand in things. We will be the ones directing your life…You belong to us."

The White Guardian menacingly stepped closer to him, "From this day forward, the scars you bear and the pain you suffer will serve as a constant reminder of who you serve."

Ron stepped back another step shaking his head, "N...NO…I don't want to live like this."

The White Guardian waived his hand and Ron was back in his mangled body trying to focus his eyes on the man in front of him, "I am Major Elli Rathman, I am a doctor for the paratroopers…Sgt. Stoppable…If you can hear me…You must remain on your side or you will drown in your own blood."

He could feel a thick liquid in his mouth and realized it was blood he feebly tried to spit it out and saw there were white objects in the blood he spat out, "OH GOD, teeth, they blew my face off."

Kim opened her eyes, "Ron?" and then closed them again as she fell back asleep.

Ron began trying to feel his lower body, "I have to…check."

A medic leaned down, "Do not worry you still have your penis and testicles intact."

Ron closed his eyes and then opened them and tried to look at his arm, but he medic covered his eyes, "Do not try to move, do not try to look at your arm."

"I wish they'd of let me die." Ron thought as he closed his eyes and slipped into unconsciousness once again.

The other medic leaned over him, "You may experience pain, we are going to cut off your body armor, this will not take long, it was shredded in the blast."

Ron tried to respond but couldn't, he shut his eyes tightly as the shears cut thru the vest, "Not bad…Agggggghhhhhhhh…THIS HURTS."

The medics could see him tense and then start to whimper, "We almost have it off."

In the room the children were being escorted out to waiting Achzarit's for their eventual return to their homes. They were all chatting happily about going home and the one man that saved everyone, they're chattering ceased as they were led through the hallway where Ron lay on the floor being attended to by the doctor and two medics.

-II-

Lt. Colonel Simon Eaton looked over what the paratroopers were calling the building of death. He turned and looked at Pvt. Kurtz, "So you are telling me that Sgt. Stoppable killed every single one of these bastards?"

Pvt. Kurtz drank from a canteen, "Yes Officer…He is the only man I saw."

"Did you see what kind of weapon he was using?" Lt. Colonel Eaton asked incredulously.

"I…saw only his rifle, a few handguns and the knife he gave me to free the children"

Lt. Colonel Eaton motioned to a sergeant, "Bring Dr. Rathman here, I wish to speak to him."

Dr. Rathman entered the room, "You wished to see me."

Lt. Col. Eaton motioned for the Doctor to follow him once they were out of earshot of the group he spoke quietly, "How is Sgt. Stoppable?"

"We have started him on an IV drip with some morphine to ease his pain; he needs to be moved quickly…Loewenstein Hospital and Rehabilitation Center in Ra'anana is where he needs to go." Dr. Rathman informed his superior and his friend.

Lt. Col. Eaton shook his head, "I will make the arrangements immediately…Elli, have you ever seen anything like this before?"

Dr. Rathman looked around to see if anyone was near and then he quietly answered, "No, never, we are not even sure how many bodies we are dealing with, we believe there is 40 bodies here but until we can get a forensics team here to match parts with bodies the number could…go as high as 50."

"Get Sgt. Stoppable ready to for transport, I will give the necessary orders."

The two men went their separate ways; a young sergeant approached and saluted, "Lt. Glick is outside reporting as ordered."

Eaton nodded and a keyed the microphone on his radio, and then released the talk button, "Thank you, I will see the lieutenant in just a few minutes."

He ordered an ambulance to be dispatched to his location as well as a helicopter to fly Ron back to Israel. After the orders were given he turned to look at Lt. Glick, "I hope he can shed some light on this mess."

"Come with me Lieutenant." Lt. Col. Eaton ordered as they walked out of the room and down the hall.

Lt. Glick knelt at Ron's side and saw that he was still unconscious and patted his hand and whispered, "Sorry we could not make it sooner."

Lt. Col. Eaton cleared his throat and Lt. Glick turned and followed him, "I want you to see something in here."

They walked into the conference room, "Two doors, both locked from the inside, 17 dead bodies all shot at close range by…we assume Sgt. Stoppable, now follow me further down the hall."

Lt. Glick looked at the bodies each with a number by it and shook his head, "Damn but Stoppable's a killer."

They walked to the next room, "We think there are 4 bodies in the room, each dismembered…by we assume Sgt. Stoppable…What kind of weapons is he outfitted with?"

Lt. Glick looked at the body parts and shook his head, "Rifle…he had a couple of glock pistols…a few knives, grenades…He is after all a Golani."

"Lt. Glick, I'm going to ask you now to level with me, have you ever seen anything like this before?"

Lt. Glick began his briefing, "Yes Officer, We arrived at the location that Sgt. Stoppable called from this morning…down the road about eight blocks and we found one man dead, decapitated in a similar manner, we believe he was part of the Russian mafia group that was smuggling weapons to the Palestinian Authority…He had 3 others with him in military dress and one Palestinian Authority police officer…The others were all killed by conventional means."

Simon Eaton had never in his life encountered anything as strange as what he was looking at now, he had served in the IDF for close to twelve years and fought in many different engagements in Gaza and the West Bank but this was something all together new to him and he couldn't quite decide how to proceed, "Lt. Glick…Do you notice anything strange about these dead men?"

"Yes sir…No blood."

Lt. Col. Eaton nodded, "Whatever Sgt. Stoppable was using cauterized the wounds as it was slicing through the skin and the bone of the terrorists, the bodies and heads and arms all have blood in them…It is just not natural."

-III-

Katrina Sakorov stared out the window of her office, "Yuri, is there any word from Ivan and his men?"

Yuri Stepanovich stepped forward into the office, "I am sorry Ms. Sakorov but We…we have been told by the Palestinians in the area that he and his men are all dead."

Katrina Sakorov nodded, "I see, I will need a new assistant, you will do until you too are killed."

Yuri smiled nervously, "You…You are too kind."

He hurried out of the room; Katrina paid little attention to the man. In her mind she knew that replacing Ivan Totsky would be no easy thing to do but the business had to function. She poured herself a drink, "It was him…I wonder if he used the blade…If he did…I wonder if Ivan and his men could comprehend the honor….Struck down with a 4,000 year old weapon of the Gods."

Uri returned to the room, "Ms. Sakorov, the IDF has taken the Palestinian Authority offices to the north, all of the hostages have been released and…"

Katrina Sakorov raised an eyebrow, "And?"

Uri swallowed hard, he was beginning to sweat under the pressure of his new job, "The sources are saying the IDF is bringing body parts out in boxes."

She smiled, "Thank you for the information Uri."

"So he does have the blade…I will be the one to kill the chosen one and claim the blade, this is my destiny….The chosen one will die and by my hand…" She licked her lips in anticipation, "When he is dead…I shall take his power and become one with the blade."

-IV-

At this moment Ronald Stoppable would have given the power and the sword to her willingly, he wanted only to have a life that would now be forever denied to him. Ron opened his eyes and realized it was dark, then he made out the unmistakable sound of engines and rotor blades and knew he was in helicopter, "I must be pretty bad off to get a ride in one of these."

Ron raised his head and looked at the soldier across from him, he could see brain matter leaking out of the man's eye, a nurse in fatigues came over and checked on him and then pulled a sheet over his head, "Ohhhhh Man…I must really be bad off."

She approached Ron and patted his hand, "Try to relax we will be heading to Loewenstein Hospital in Ra'anana shortly…We called ahead and they are sending for your fiancée, she should be arriving later."

He tried to chuckle but the sound wasn't what he was expecting, he still had a hole on each side of his face and the sound that escaped was close to a whistle thru the small hole in his cheeks, "Great….Bonnie's coming…I want to see my mom."

The helicopter began its decent and touched down on the roof of the Loewenstein Hospital the doors to the helicopter opened and orderlies began helping medics remove the injured.

Ron winced in pain as his stretcher was picked up and placed on a gurney, "Take this man to operating room 12."

The Stoppable household received a call early in the morning informing them that Ron had been rescued but that he had sustained serious wounds and that he was in surgery and that they would be informed once they knew more about his condition.

Mrs. Stoppable was shaking when she hung up the phone, "He's alive…for now."

The emotions of the last few days had taken their toll as she began to break down, Mr. Stoppable embraced her, "It's all right Miri at least we know he is alive and nothing more will happen to him…Right?"

She nodded her head, "I need to sit down, I want to speak with him, I haven't spoken to him in nearly a year…I want to talk to him, I won't rest until" Miri began to cry once again, "…I can hear his voice."

Rabbi Katz took her took Mrs. Stoppable's hand, "Miriam, I have a few calls in to friends that I have living near Ra'anana that are going to look in on him, and Mrs. Rockwaller has called, Bonnie contacted her and said that Bonnie is going to be by his bedside."

The door bell rang and Mr. Stoppable patted his wife's shoulder, "I shall go see who it is."

Mr. Stoppable answered the door and there was another Rabbi outside, "Mr. Stoppable, I am Rabbi Mazel with the American Friends of the IDF."

"Please come in."

He stood away from the door so the Rabbi could enter the room, "I have new information on your son's injuries."

Mr. Stoppable nodded and showed him into the living room, "Miri this is Rabbi Mazel with the American Friends of the IDF, he has some information."

Mrs. Stoppable nodded and Rabbi Katz stood and shook his hand, "Rabbi Mazel"

Rabbi Mazel smiled, "Rabbi Katz"

Mrs. Stoppable looked at the man, "You have some word on how Ronnie is doing?"

Rabbi Mazel nodded and sat down across from the family, "Your son was taken to Loewenstein Hospital where is in surgery now, he went through a surgery earlier to repair damage to his face and jaw."

Mrs. Stoppable began to cry, Mr. Stoppable took her hand, "Maybe you should look in on the baby."

She shook her head, "Go on…I need to know."

The Rabbi nodded, "A small piece of shrapnel passed through the side of his mouth damaging his rear molars before exiting out the left side of his face…They removed four damaged teeth and extracted both his upper and lower wisdom teeth."

Mr. Stoppable nodded his head, "So they removed eight teeth?"

Rabbi Mazel nodded, "Yes, he will need a partial plate to replace his lower molars."

"You said he's still in surgery?" Mrs. Stoppable asked fearfully.

"Yes, he has shrapnel wounds to both his legs as well as his right arm and a few minor spots on neck. They are currently working on these injuries now." Rabbi Mazel informed them.

"Will he live?"

Rabbi Mazel was quiet, "They won't know till after he comes out of surgery, he has some other minor wounds, one on his buttocks, that is how we think the Palestinians found his military ID."

Mrs. Stoppable shook her head, "Will he live?"

Rabbi Mazel spread his hands in front of him, "Who's to say, his wounds are bad but there is every hope that when he comes through surgery that he can recover and lead a productive life."

Mr. Stoppable looked at Rabbi Mazel, "What will happen to him once he's out of the hospital?"

"He will be sent to NATAL, The Israeli Center for Victims of Terror and War to help him deal with his emotional wounds."

Mrs. Stoppable shook her head, "Emotional wounds…I want him to come home, he needs to come home."

Rabbi Mazel nodded, "He had put in for two months of leave in May, I'm sure he will have additional time off once he is released from the hospital."

-V-

The car came and picked up Bonnie for the trip to Ra'anana, she talked to the driver of the car trying to glean any information she could about Ron's condition, "You haven't heard anything at all?"

The man shook his head, "No, he was brought in and rushed into surgery…We are almost there, Ra'anana is very close to Netanya."

Bonnie looked out the window, it was night, she had received the call after 6:00 PM that Ron was wounded and being flown to Ra'anana. She promptly called her mom and had Mrs. Stoppable informed of the news.

She next received a call from a Major in the IDF informing her that a car would be sent around to pick her up and take her to see her fiancée', "I wish I wouldn't have been so intent on showing up Kim…I've caused so many problems for Ron and myself…I hope he doesn't hate me."

The car pulled up in front of the hospital and Bonnie got and met with another soldier that escorted her to where Ron would be brought after he was out of surgery, "We are going to the seventh floor, he will be out anytime now from what I understand…He will also be under heavy sedation so it may take a while for him to wake up."

Once she was in the room by herself she sat by the bed that Ron would soon occupy, she felt an overwhelming sadness overwhelm her, "Ron…I promise you that if you live through this I'll do all I can to get you back home to Kim…I am so sorry…I never should have interfered with you guys."

She stood up and walked over to a pitcher of water that was on a dresser, the door to the room opened and the Oster's walked in, "Elli smiled and waived Sharon came over hugged Bonnie, I am sooooooo sorry this has happened to you two."

Bonnie looked at the floor, "Yes…I...I am very frightened, the rocket alerts and Ron being missing and now…"

She tried to fight back tears but so much had happened over the course of the week that she just couldn't contain herself any longer, "I…try to…I mean I never meant to…The rocket attacks and Ron…"

Sharon hugged her again, "You come over here and sit down Ron will be back and then you two can decide on how to approach your lives after all this is over."

Bonnie nodded, "I wish there was someone I could tell the truth too."

"I have not heard anything about Ron's wounds and this worries me."

Sima looked around the room, "I am happy you are Ron's fiancée now, Kim wasn't a good choice for Ron."

Bonnie smiled and wiped a tear from her eye, "Kim is not that bad, a little goofy at times...but...that is okay."

Sima looked at her, "You like Kim even when she tried to take Ron from you?"

"I am...not that fond of Kim, she thinks she knows best for Ron and we just disagree on what that is." Bonnie said diplomatically.

Eli frowned at Sima, "You are too nosey for you own good."

-VI-

Kim woke up and sat up on the couch, she was sore and stiff at first she thought it was from the couch and then the realization came to her, "Ron's still alive."

It was tough to get off the couch her mouth hurt and her legs were very sore, "Ron must be hurt really bad."

She was trying to be upbeat and positive but she just couldn't shake the heavy feeling of being drugged, "He must be in surgery still...but he's alive...that's one thing to be greatful for, worry about the rest later."

Kim stood up, "What day is this? Friday…It's Friday here so it must be…Saturday there."

She felt a wave of nausea set in and her head began to swim, "I need to go home."

"Ron must be under some heavy sedation, I can hardly function." She thought as she sat back on the couch and lay down to go back to sleep.

-VII-

Ron tried to open his eyes but they felt very heavy, felt someone holding his hand so he tried to talk but his voice was raspy and throat was dry, "Mom"

Bonnie squeezed his hand, "It's Bonnie"

"Bonnie"

Bonnie squeezed his hand, "Yea it's me…Sorry they couldn't do better on short notice."

Ron tried to laugh but it only caused him pain, "Nooo…laugh…hurts."

She winced, "Sorry Ron"

He finally was able to pry his eyes open, "Mom Know?"

"She knows…She wants to talk with you when your able."

Ron nodded his head, "OK"

A nurse came into the room and saw that Ron was awake, "I will go and find the doctor."

Bonnie leaned in close to Ron, "How are you feeling?"

Ron looked at her, "Bad, hurt…glad to see you."

Bonnie smiled, "Really?"

"Good to see someone…I know." Ron said in a weary voice.

She squeezed his hand, "I…I feel really bad about what I did…I'll help you get home to Kim."

Ron closed his eyes and swallowed before he continued in little more than a whisper, "I don't know…if…Kim will want me…now."

"Ron if Kim really loves you, your injuries won't matter to her." Bonnie reminded him softly.

The door to the room opened and a doctor walked in, "Shalom, I am Dr. Mofaz, I am one of the doctors that worked on you….So how are you feeling?"

Ron blinked, "Hurt"

The doctor nodded, "You have been unconscious for nearly a day, your fiancée is a trooper she never left your bedside."

He turned to look at Bonnie, "Really"

She smiled sheepishly as the doctor continued, "You lost 4 teeth from the shrapnel that passed thru your cheeks. While we were in your mouth we also took out your wisdom teeth, we of course won't bill you for the extra teeth."

The doctor quickly chuckled, "A little doctor humor."

Ron blinked at the doctor, it was obvious he wasn't in a humorous mood. He pointed at his face, "Scars"

"Shouldn't be too bad, the piece of metal that did all that damage was barely the size of the point on the end of a pencil, so you will have two small spots that will never tan."

"Great" Ron said with a sadness to his voice.

The doctor continued to brief him, "You are very lucky that metal didn't sever your tongue…You will need a partial plate to replace the missing teeth."

Bonnie could feel a shudder run thru his body, she squeezed his hand and he looked at her and tried to smile the stopped self conscious about his mouth, Bonnie smiled and whispered to him, "You will do fine."

The doctor waited for Ron to turn his attention back to him before he continued, "You have a hairline fracture of your sternum, that is why you have pain when you are breathing…I assume you received this on the first day you went missing when you were shot?"

Ron nodded to confirm the doctor's assessment.

"You have a bruise where the bullet hit you that will never go away; you have two cracked ribs from other bullets that your body armor stopped."

Ron shook his head and Bonnie moved closer and stroked his hair, "Hey you're alive and that's what counts."

"Now let's talk about that right arm, we removed as much of the shrapnel as we could, there is still very small pieces that will work their way to the top of your skin for the next several years. When they do just pick them out and throw them away. You have severe scaring on that arm but I think you will be able to maintain full use of it."

"Looks like I'll be wearing long sleeves for the rest of my life." Ron said absently.

The doctor nodded, "Long pants as well the same injuries that you received to your arm has happened to your legs…Your right knee will give you problems and when your in your thirties you will need to look at having knee replacement surgery."

Ron face was visibly becoming pale; he looked at the doctor, and asked quietly, "Is…my package still there?"

The doctor nodded, "Your reproductive organs are intact."

Bonnie looked at him, "Ron"

Ron smiled as best he could and then quickly closed his mouth, "I…I had to know…When can I leave the hospital?"

The doctor chuckled, "We will try to get you on your feet in a few days and start your physical rehabilitation." The doctor looked at the couple, "To make a long story short, you have bad wounds but there is no reason you can not make a good recovery…I will leave you two for now, if you have more questions please contact a nurse or myself."

Once they were alone Ron pointed towards a pitcher of water, and Bonnie poured him a glass without him having to be asked, "See Ron, another couple of days you can start working towards going home to Kim."

Bonnie helped him take a drink of the water, his left hand shaking from the stress, "I don't know Bonnie, I'm afraid she's going to take one look at me…"

He left his thought unfinished, so Bonnie tried to ease his mind, "Ron, you are not a monster, if she really loves you it won't matter, she's just going to be happy your home."

Ron nodded his head; he was starting to shake off the effects of the anesthetic, "How long have you been here?"

Bonnie returned to her chair, "Since last night when they brought you in, the Oster's were here also, they'll be back in a few hours."

"How does my voice sound? How bad do I look?" Ron asked nervously.

She decided not to hide the truth from him, "Well you sound almost like you usually do, I think all the swelling is keeping your voice muzzled. Your cheeks are really swollen and red as far as the rest of you, I can't tell because you're bandaged up."

There was a knock on the door and Lt. Glick stuck his head in, "Not interrupting anything?"

Ron shook his head and tried to salute but it caused him pain so he lowered the arm, "No officer my penis has not woke up yet."

Bonnie slapped his hand and he tried to laugh as Lt. Glick entered the room carrying his things, "I have your things from your foot locker and from the achzarit…Looks like you are becoming quite the glock collector."

He sat the duffle bag and the AK47 down in the corner of the room, Ron saw the rifle and smiled, "I was worried Karman was going to sell it."

Lt. Glick smiled, "He wanted to, your glocks and knives are in the bag…Karman sent along a pair of the tybus fatigue pants, so…" He shot a glance at Bonnie, "ahhhhhhh well you know."

Ron eyes opened a little wider, "You did not pack the….er…mascot with my things did you?"

Bonnie looked at the two men, "What were they doing in Gaza City anyway?"

Lt. Glick started laughing and glanced at Bonnie, "No, unfortunately it did not survive the trip up to get you…Sorry we did not get to you in time."

Ron nodded and then had a thought, "How are the kids and Pvt. Kurtz doing?"

"The kids are back at home with their parents and Pvt. Kurtz is in a hospital closer to home getting looked over, you have not seen the television?"

Ron shook his head, "I only woke up a little while ago."

Lt. Glick smiled, "It appears that you are a big hero, they are calling you Ronbo."

He rolled his eyes, "Great, that's all I need….So did we pull out of Gaza?"

"No our company was rotated out once you were recovered." Lt. Glick smiled, "Good to see you doing well, there will be some IDF people coming to interview you in a few days about some things we found in that building."

Ron nodded, "They want to know how those bodies were dismembered I bet."

"Well hopefully Bonnie has me up and jogging by then."

Lt. Glick nodded and began to make his way to the door, "I am glad you are doing well, I will leave you two to get reacquainted again."

They waived to the lieutenant as he left, Bonnie turned to him and narrowed her eyes, "Penis has not woke up yet?"

Ron tried to laugh even though it was causing him pain, "IDF humor, IDF humor"

Bonnie nodded her head, "Well okay then, just to let you know up front if I'm going to help you get back into shape to see Kim, there will be no more sex from me understand?"

Ron giggled as best he could, "Awwww I was hoping that was to be part of the recovery, you know just to make sure everything is functioning."

"Ron, I'm afraid you'll just have to check that out manually." Bonnie said with a grin.

There was another knock on the door and the Oster's were in the room with them, "Mrs. Oster gave Ron a hug and then Sima, Mr. Oster walked over and shook his left hand. Mrs. Oster looked him over, "You look better than you did last night when they brought you in, how long have you been awake?"

Ron looked over to Bonnie and she answered, "He has only been awake for an hour or so."

Sima smiled excitedly, "When are you going to give a news conference?"

He shook his head, "What?"

Mr. Oster smiled, "It was rather hard to get into the hospital today, the place has been jammed with the press wanting to see you…'Hero of Israel' they are calling you."

Ron grimaced, "All this for stepping in front of an RPG….How is my mom?"

"She is relieved and would like to talk to you as soon as possible." She told him.

He nodded, "I would like to speak with her as well."

Mrs. Oster nodded and picked up the phone in the room, "I will see if this one will dial out for international."

Sima smiled, "Is it true you killed over 70 Palestinians while you were missing?"

"SIMA" Mr. Oster scolded.

Ron shook his head and sadly replied, "I do not know, I just did what I did to come home."

"They are connecting us now." Mrs. Oster told him happily.

He tried to straighten up in bed, Bonnie came over and tried to help. Then he looked up as he heard Mrs. Oster as she handed the phone to him. His voice was quivering as he realized he had not spoken with his mother in nearly a year, "Hello?"

"Ronald, Ronald is that you?"

Ron smiled, "Yea mom it's me."

"How are you? Your father and I are worried sick."

He winced, "I'm alright, little banged up but nothing that can't be fixed."

Ron could hear his mother take a deep breath, "You had me and your father worried sick and we are not that young anymore, you stop all this nonsense and come home at once."

He laughed softly, "I would if I could mom…How is Kaley, I can't wait to see her."

"She is getting big and fussy. Is Bonnie there with you?"

Ron looked over to her, "Yes"

"She is a good girl, I'm glad you two are getting married."

"Well…That remains to be seen." Ron said quietly as he looked over towards Bonnie.

"Ronald she is a good girl who stuck with you through this mess, don't you dare screw this up to go chasing after that Kim Possible."

Ron rolled his eyes, "We'll talk more about it when I come home in May."

"I'm so glad you're safe, can you put Bonnie on for me?"

Ron handed the phone towards Bonnie who stepped away, he motioned to her again, "Mom wants to talk to you."

She took the phone, "Hello Mrs. Stoppable"

"Bonnie, you can start calling me mom…Your parents have really been a help and we appreciate you keeping us informed about Ronnie."

Bonnie closed her eyes, "I shouldn't have started telling people that Ron and I were engaged, I never meant to hurt anyone."

"Oh…It was no problem at all, I was happy to help out…mom."

Ron gave Bonnie a curious look she shrugged nervously and kept talking, "They are going to have Ron out of bed in a few days and then I will have him jogging in no time so he can get home in May."

"I know you'll take good care of him, I'm looking forward to seeing you both…And don't let him try to wiggle out of setting a date for the wedding…Keep after him."

Bonnie giggled, "Oh…I will."

"I'd like to talk to Ronald again."

Bonnie couldn't get the phone back into Ron's hands fast enough, "Hi Mom…I'm back."

"I just wanted to tell you how much I love you and that your father and I can't wait till you can come home and see us."

Ron wiped a tear from his eye, "I love you too mom."

"I'll let you and Bonnie to catch up and I'll see you in May."

Ron smiled, "I'll see you in May, bye mom."

He handed the phone back to Mrs. Oster, "Thank you for getting in touch with her for me…It was good to see you all as well."

Eli looked at him, "So when you are released where will you be going?"

Ron looked at Bonnie, "I will be staying with Bonnie once I am released."

She nodded, "Yep have to get you back into shape for your trip home."

Sharon Oster rounded up Sima and her husband and pushed them towards the door, "We will leave you two alone now, Ron…Do not be a stranger, stop by and visit us when you are feeling up to it."

Ron smiled and waived, once they were out of the building Ron turned to Bonnie, "Thanks for being there for my family, it really meant a lot to my mom."

Bonnie smiled and started to giggle, "She said to keep after you about setting a wedding date."

Ron began laughing and wincing in pain at the same time, "She told me not to goof this up by chasing after Kim Possible."

The two finished laughing and looked at one another uncomfortably wondering just what the future would bring for each of them. Bonnie finally spoke, "We'll get you back to Middleton Ron, I promise."