Chapter 2: Snake Trap

Mountains just outside Middleton …

Kim Possible eased across the rooftop of Drakken's poorly hidden 'secret' lab. She was wearing a pair of form fitting black jeans, a black sweatshirt, gloves, and her gadget belt.

She pulled her Kimmunicator from its holster and switched it on, "I'm here, Wade," she spoke softly, looking through the skylight to see Drakken and Shego walking toward a large elevator, "Looks like he might have those kidnapped teens here somewhere underground. I'm going in."

"Be careful, Kim," Wade replied "once you get underground, the signal won't be strong enough to reach me, so you'll be on your own."

Kim pushed her long, red hair from her face before slowly opening a skylight over a rafter. She slowly climbed down, and then, with the grace of a circus acrobat and stealth of a cat, leapt from platform to window to tapestry pole to the cold floor of the stone and metal fortress. She immediately flattened herself as best she could to the wall, and watched Drakken and Shego await the elevator door to open.

The sound of a bell ringing could be heard as the door of the elevator slid open, "Good evening, Drakken, Shego," an unknown voice spoke, and Kim's eyebrows furrowed at the nervous look that crossed Drakken's and Shego's faces.

"B-Big Boss, what are you doing here," Drakken said nervously before correcting himself, "I mean, to what do we owe the honor of your presence, sir?"

Kim tried to ease to where she could see who this 'Big Boss' was but suddenly heard a click and felt cold metal pressed to the side of her head, "I'd take off that fancy belt, if I were you, Miss."

Kim looked with her eyes to see a face that was burned into her memory for the last three years, "You! You're the bastard who killed Ron's parents three years ago!"

"Such language from such a beautiful mouth," Ocelot smiled, "Now out with you. Behave like a nice little girl, and Drakken and I might be merciful to you." He said, slapping her ass to make her move.

Kim growled, but raised her hands and walked out of the shadows with Ocelot's gun rammed into the back of her ribs.

"Well, well, Kim Possible," Drakken smiled, seeing the flustered heroine, "I see you met my old friend, Revolver Ocelot."

"We met some time earlier," Kim spat, not showing the nervousness that was filling her inner being. She looked toward the open elevator and mentally cursed the lack of lights preventing her vision.

"Shego, do take Ms. Possible off Ocelot's hands, please," Drakken said as he smiled at his captured arch foe.

"With pleasure," Shego said, smiling at Kim.

Kim waited for Shego to get close enough before she spun away from Ocelot, and kicked Shego in the sternum. Shego fell back from the impact and landed hard in a seated position. Drakken quickly called a group of guards, but Kim's fighting skills proved more than enough for his minions.

"This is getting tiresome," Ocelot said, twirling his gun, and cocking the hammer. Then the sound of a gunshot filled the first floor of the base.

---

Middleton, short while later …

"I haven't seen you smile this much in a long time, Ron," Meryl said as Ron came bounding through the front door of his former home, carrying a box of his things. Meryl was one of the few Foxhound members who actually called him by his real name. She always said no matter how much of a negative influence Snake had on him, he'd always be her little Ronnie.

"What, you'd rather have me being the sulking brooder?" Ron winked, "Like someone else we know."

"I heard that," Snake hissed, helping Otacon carry in some complicated computer and communication equipment.

"Think you guys can handle unpacking?" Ron asked as Otacon and Snake put down a large computer tower next to one of the guest rooms.

"Off to see that redhead, huh, Kid?" Snake smirked as Rufus jumped from Snake's shoulder to Ron's leather vest's pocket.

"Kim! Kim!" The Naked Mole Rat squeaked, bouncing happily in the pocket.

"Yeah, little buddy, we're going to go see Kim," Ron said as he patted his head.

"Yeah, we can handle unpacking, but … you have to bring home a pizza for dinner tonight," Meryl said, resting her hands on her hips to punctuate her command.

"You sure you guys don't want Nacos?" Ron asked, but seeing the glare from Meryl, he conceded, "Pizza it is. I'll be back in an hour or so."

Snake patted his shoulder, "Remember, Shadow," he said seriously, "No sex on the first date." He then laughed at the sudden blush on the youngest Foxhound's face, "Seriously, take this with you, just in case." He said seriously handing Ron a duffle bag.

Ron nodded, "ok, Mexican pizza it is," Ron said, waving at the glaring Meryl, "You'll be a great mom someday, Mer, be back later!" he teased as he ran out the door to his motorcycle.

Even after three years, Ron still knew the way to Kim's house by heart. He pulled up to the driveway and knocked on the door. He waited and he saw the blind pull, then after a few more moments the door slowly opened, and he came face to face to Mr. and Mrs. Possible.

"Um, yes, young man?" Mr. Possible asked, eyeing Ron carefully, "May we help you?"

"Have I really changed that much?" Ron smiled, "I'm hurt."

Mrs. Possible was hit with realization first, "Oh my God. Ron? Is that really you?" She questioned in disbelief, and as soon as the teenager nodded, She glomped him. "I can't believe this! You've really come back! Oh! Kim's going to be ecstatic!"

"You've grown more than I ever expected, Ron," Mr. Possible smiled, patting the teen's shoulder, "You lose your razor and joined a punk band or something?"

"Not … exactly …" Ron sighed, looking for the right words, but shook it off, "Is Kim home?"

"No, I'm sorry, Ron," Mrs. Possible replied, "She's gone on a mission from Wade right now."

Ron suddenly went slightly stiff, and his friendly happy go lucky face turned to one of ice, "Any idea where?"

They both looked at him strangely before Ron forced a smile through his 'Shadow face' "I just thought I'd go and give her backup, unless she's gotten a new sidekick?"

"O-Oh yeah, of course, but no she hasn't had any other sidekicks or partners after you left," Mrs. Possible said, starting to relax again, "She's really missed you, Ron. If not for Josh being there, I'm afraid she might have been even more depressed after you left."

"Good for him …" Ron said and looked down slightly, "So, no idea where she went?"

"No, but … hold on," Mrs. Possible said before turning and running up the stairs. After a few minutes, she came back from Kim's room, "I believe this is yours?" she said, handing Ron his old Kimmunicator.

"Thanks, Mrs. Dr. P." Ron said with a smile, "I'll go see if I can catch up with her." he then turned and walked toward his bike, pressing a button on the Kimmunicator.

"Hey, KP, guess who?" he said into the communication device Wade had derived. "KP? Kim? Are you there? Damn, I've got a bad feeling about this."

He then pressed another button and spoke again, "Hey, Wade, you there?"

"Wade here, who is this?" the chubby computer kid came on the small screen, and Ron smiled, seeing that at least one thing hasn't changed.

"It's me, Wade. Where's KP?" Ron asked, and Wade's eyes went the size of his computer monitor.

"HOLY GOD! RON!" Wade screeched, "Damn, man, you've changed! But we'll talk about old times later, I'm worried about Kim."

"Where is she?" Ron said, worry gripping his insides.

"The mountains north of the city," Wade responded, "I've been out of contact for forty five minutes. Not like her to take this long with Drakken. If anything happens to Kim, Josh will probably have the whole football team tear me apart!"

Ron gave a faint growl, "Listen, Kim's in trouble, deeper than she probably thinks. I'm going in, and I'm bringing her out, if you don't hear from one of us or a man named Otacon in an hour, call the police. Understood?"

"Whoa, you've really changed, Ron …" Wade said, staring at him through the screen.

"Name's Shadow, Contact you in sixty." Ron said, switching off the Kimmunicator, reaching for the duffle dag, and pulling out the Kevlar Sneak Suit.

---

A small breeze, almost like an invisible person, blew through the same open skylight window Kim went through almost an hour earlier. The faint shadow of a male body could barely be seen as a pair of boots hit the floor.

Only one who strained their ears could hear the footsteps going from the center of the first floor of the base to the wall next to the elevator.

"Did you hear somethin, Mike?" One of the two guards asked, looking to the left, only to see the other guard fall to the floor, his head turned sideways. "What the … AH!" He cried as the muffled sound of a gunshot could be heard and he collapsed as well.

The two Guards then seemed to be dragged by an invisible force into the dark shadows of the corner of the first floor. "Stealth Camo, deactivate." Ron's voice echoed as he appeared out of thin air in his Sneak Suit covered in various weapons.

He drew his SOCOM pistol with a small smile and pressed the button on the elevator. This was a piece of cake; Drakken was as stupid as ever, never thinking of installing security cameras, and only using a group of buff muscle heads in defense. 'This is definitely not the main base, probably a trap for Kim,' Ron thought as the elevator door opened, and he swung around, pointing his pistol into the empty elevator, "Guess they didn't count on me showing up …" he said to himself as he slowly and carefully walked into the elevator.

As Ron thought, with Kim captured, Drakken had lowered his defenses, and Ron easily and efficiently made his way down to the prison area with only a minimal amount of bloodshed and painless deaths.

"Stealth Camo, activate," He said as he slowly walked into the empty prison block, peeking into the small window of every door. With every empty cell he passed, his anxiety increased, but his training and promise of another reason to skin Ocelot kept it under control. He finally came to one and could hear faint moaning.

Ron picked the lock and slowly entered the room, to see his childhood best friend sprawled across a cot, her shoulder covered in a bandage with a dark, red stain in the center, "KP, you ok?" He asked as he deactivated his Stealth Camo.

"R-Ron?" She asked, not opening her eyes. His eyes widened when he realized she was out cold and probably dream talking. He pulled off a glove and pressed it to her forehead.

"You've got a high fever," he said seriously, "looks like you've lost a lot of blood too… hang on, KP, I'll get you out of here." He then replaced his SOCOM and took the girl's small frame into his arms. He couldn't help noting how much lighter she felt then when he helped her with the Cheerleaders three years ago.

"Oh dear, we wanted the real Snake, and we ended up with the Wannabe," a familiar voice called when Ron stepped out of the cell. "What's it been, two years? A year and a half? It's been too long, Shadow Snake," Revolver Ocelot asked.

"Not long enough, Stubby." Ron retorted.

"You know, that really hurt," Ocelot noted, pulling up his sleeve to show the grafted arm connected at just above the forearm, "I've had this bloody hand grafted back on twice. Do you know how painful that is?"

"Is it my fault you can't get away from a Ninja and a Nikita missile? You're lucky my aim wasn't so good back then, Old Man," Ron smirked, causing the older man to growl.

"You're as much of a smart ass as your predecessor," Ocelot hissed, drawing his gun, "But you are NOT Solid Snake."

"Well, buffoon, haven't you've grown up," Drakken said, walking in with Shego and a group of guards.

"Grew up quite nicely, I might add," Shego added, her eyes traveling up and down the Foxhound's body.

Ron tightened his grip on Kim while flexing the muscle in his leg. "To shoot, or not to shoot, that is the question, isn't it, Shadow?" Ocelot asked, twirling his gun for a moment, and then pointing it at Ron's head.

"Question, have you eaten anything sweet that might possibly have dripped onto your gun hand?" Ron asked, causing Ocelot to tilt his head in confusion, and then cry out and drop his gun as Rufus's sharp teeth bit down into the tender flesh of Ocelot's hand.

"THAT LITTLE …I HATE THAT LITTLE BASTARD!" Ocelot cried, dancing around and holding his hand as Rufus dove to the ground, climbed back to the pocket on Ron's thigh, looked back at Ocelot, and gave the old man a raspberry.

Ron leapfrogged a guard, and made for the door, trying to keep from shaking Kim too much and causing further injury.

Ron zigzagged the base, found an empty broom closet, and leaned against the door to rest; he gently brought Kim down to the floor beside him when she started to stir.

"W-what happened?" She groaned, reaching up to grip her shoulder.

"You were shot," Ron stated, trying to keep from sounding happy to see her. Shadow would let Ron out later.

"Who are you? Are you with Drakken?" Kim asked, her vision still blurry.

Ron gulped, slightly hurt that she didn't recognize him, but shook his head, "No, I'm … a friend."

"Got a name?" She asked as her vision began to clear.

"I'm R- … Shadow, Shadow Snake," Ron replied; this was not the time or the place for reunions.

"That's a funny name; your parents not like you, or are you an actual government agent or something?" Kim asked, finally able to make out the young man's features; he looked so familiar, but she couldn't put her finger on how she knew him.

"Can you walk?" Ron asked, standing up, "We really need to get you out of here so your mom can check over that arm."

"Huh? What? How did you know my mom is a doctor. I do know you, don't I?"

He stood up quickly, and Kim blushed slightly at the intense gaze he shot down at her, "You'll figure it out soon enough," he said, reaching down to help her up.

Kim took his hand with her good arm, and with a 'thanks', he hoisted her to her feet. She stumbled slightly and Ron placed his hands on her sides to steady her. "You sure you can walk?" Ron asked. She nodded slightly dazedly. 'Great, now she's looking at me like she used to look at Josh, or still does, whatever. Oh shit, there goes my concentration,' He thought before peeking out the door to see if the coast was clear.

"Remember your training," Ron whispered as he signaled for her to follow him into the hall.

"What?" she whispered, walking up behind him as he stopped at a corner, but flushed slightly when he held up a fist, signaling for her to stop.

She then scolded herself mentally, 'He wants you to watch his back, not his backside; get your hormones under control, girl. You have a boyfriend, and you don't even know who this guy is … but he is cute, especially in that uniform,' she thought as her eyes once again wandered.

Ron easily led Kim to the elevator, and on to the first floor, "We've almost made it," Ron whispered as they carefully walked out of the elevator. Kim looked around, and slid slightly, but easily caught herself. She looked down and the sight made her slightly green: there was a small river of blood running across the floor from the shadows.

She looked closely and what she saw made her sicker, two guards laying on top of one another, one had blood pouring from his chest, and the other's head was twisted at an unnatural angle. "Who … did this?"

"Me," Ron stated, firing a grappling hook through the open skylight.

"What?" Kim asked, her eyes widening, as she stepped away from the 'stranger'. "You …k-killed them?"

"I did what I had to do to complete my mission," Ron stated, testing the cord.

"And exactly what is this mission of yours?" Kim snapped.

"Save your life," Ron replied honestly, then reached for her, "Come on, we've gotta go."

But before Kim could respond, the elevator opened again and Shego and Drakken jumped out, "You're not getting away; Shego, get them!"

Shego, with an animal like roar, dove at the two, her energy gloves growing green. "Look out!" Kim cried when she saw Shego was diving at Shadow.

Ron, without a word or sound, spun around, and rolled toward Shego, and when he came back on one knee, he had drawn his SOCOM pistol.

Both Kim's and Shego's eyes widened in terror as he closed one eye, and almost point blank fired a bullet directly toward Shego's face.

Shego's head snapped back as blood and fluids flew in all directions with a fair amount landing on Kim's mission clothes. The green suited minion hit the floor with a sickening thud, flinching slightly, and her killer stood, gun still drawn and showing no emotion what so ever. The only sound in the room was the sound of Kim's screams.

Shadow stood and pointed his SOCOM at the shocked Drakken, who was staring at Shego's lifeless body as if in a trance. He started to squeeze the trigger when Kim screamed again, "NO! DON'T!"

The scream brought the mad scientist out of his trance, and then like a scared animal, he dove back into the elevator.

"How could you do that!" Kim screamed, pounding Ron's chest with her good arm, "You could have stopped her without killing her! Why did you do that? You're no better then Ocelot!"

"I did what I had to do, KP," Ron said, as police helicopters flew overhead, drawing both their attention.

"What … W-What did you call me?" Kim asked, her green eyes almost popping from her head as realization slapped her in the face, "Oh God … Ron?" she asked, looking back down to find herself alone.

"Ron?"

To Be Continued …