Chapter 8: When the Shadow Falls

Meryl slinked through the late evening shadows of the rooftops around the warehouse district of Middleton, using her night vision goggles to search the area. "Damn it, Ron, where the hell did you go?" She then heard a sound behind her and spun around with a drawn pistol.

"Easy!" Kim squeaked, backing away, hands raised in a conciliatory gesture, "It's just me, Mrs. Emmerich."

"Holy God, Kim," Meryl hissed, "You scared the begeezus out of me!" she then replaced her gun, "What the blazes do you think you're doing here? And only call me Meryl; you're making me feel old!"

"You know," Kim shrugged sheepishly, "The Teen-Hero thing …"

"After what you've been through, you should be resting! Didn't Ron tell you to stay out of this one?" Meryl asked, eyeing the girl carefully, mentally smirking at the reaction on Kim's face at the mention of her best friend's name. 'Yup, she's got it bad.'

"Yes, but is he here?" Kim replied smartly, "I think not. I need to keep busy."

"Oh really?" Meryl softly spoke, fighting desperately to keep the smile down, "You've got guts, little girl."

"I'm not a little girl," Kim shot back.

"Ok then, you want to help find AWOL Boy, sure, we could use the extra eyes," Meryl stated, pulling a second SOCOM pistol and handing it to her, "Here, you can use this."

"I don't like guns …" Kim said, looking at the gun, the cold metal of the handle making a shiver run down her spine.

"Tough, those we're up against do," Meryl shrugged, "Gotta keep the odds as close to even as possible."

Kim then adjusted her grip on the weapon and stared daggers at Meryl when she started laughing, "What is it?" Kim barked irritably.

"I thought Kim Possible could do anything?" Meryl smiled.

"So?" Kim asked, trying to mentally figure out what she did wrong.

"Do you even know how to handle one of those?" Meryl asked, nodding toward the gun in Kim's hands, "If you do, you're fooling me; you don't wrap all your fingers around the handle, you have to have one ready for the trigger!"

"Oh … um, ok," Kim said, fiddling with the gun in her hands before she had her forefinger over the trigger, "Like this?"

Meryl shook her head for a moment, "Good, now if it took you that long to get your finger on the trigger in a fight against Ocelot, he would have you dead ten times over already, and we really don't need a any more of a reason for Shadow Snake to go on a rampage."

Kim blinked in confusion as Meryl moved toward an old paint can on the roof and picked it up. She walked over to a small chimney and placed the can on top of it before walking back over to Kim. "Ok Green Girl, shoot the can off the chimney."

Kim stood board straight, and held the gun straight out between her and the can. She closed her eyes and pulled the trigger quickly. The next sound was the squawk of a bird flying three feet to the left of the chimney as it was shot out of the sky.

"Good, you can hit a moving target," Meryl nodded, "Now aim for the can."

"I … sort of was …" Kim mumbled sheepishly.

Meryl sighed deeply before walking over to Kim. Kim then gasped when she forcefully grabbed one leg and moved it to right, with her foot under her shoulder, then positioned the other under the other shoulder. She then grabbed Kim's locked arms and shook them 'til she loosened up, "Relax, don't try so hard; take slow, deep breaths; keep one eye open, and don't pull the trigger, squeeze it gently, but not until you can hold that little red dot on that can, understand?"

After a few more tries, Kim was finally hitting the chimney, but the can still stood. "Ok, new strategy," Meryl said walking toward the chimney.

"What are you doing?" Kim asked when she held up the can by the handle.

"Shoot the can now," Meryl instructed.

"But you're holding it …"

"Yup."

Kim's eyes widened in horror and her arms began to tremble slightly. "But what if I miss and hit you?"

Meryl let out a laugh before drawing her own SOCOM, and putting the little red dot in Kim's crotch, "If you want children, I wouldn't miss."

Kim took a very deep breath before clearing her mind, and aiming the gun at the can in Meryl's hand, "Ok, relax, don't try so hard, take slow, deep breaths, keep one eye open, and gently squeeze trigger …" Kim mumbled, closing one eye and focusing on the holding the red dot on the can.

Kim gently squeezed the trigger and a muffled gunshot could barely be heard, but the sound of metal hitting metal rang across the rooftop. "I knew you could do it, Kid," Meryl smiled, "Ron didn't pull it off in that situation when Snake was teaching him."

Kim's eyes widened and Meryl quickly waved it off, "Don't worry, he just grazed Snake's arm, and Snake returned the favor to the side of Ronnie's hip, but it still scared the shit out of the boy."

"Brutal …" Kim gulped.

"Nah, Snake's been worse," Meryl smirked, "So did Ron tell you anything before he disappeared? Like where he was going?"

Kim paled slightly at the memory of the last moments she shared with her best friend. "No … nothing important, just he was going to settle things with Ocelot," Kim whispered worriedly.

"He'll be fine, Kim," Meryl said reassuringly, "Snake trained him personally, and in many ways, Ron's surpassed his teacher, and Snake's as much of a urban legend as you."

"If you say so …" Kim said unconvincingly, but then lowered her eyes in contemplation. "Meryl, can I ask you something? Sorta personal …"

"Shoot," Meryl said, looking over the area again with her goggles.

"Have you … god, this is awkward …" Kim started sheepishly, "Have you ever thought you might love two guys at the same time?"

Meryl looked back at the girl in thought, "As a matter of fact, I can say yes to that," Meryl stated, her eyes slightly glazed in thought, "Why do you ask?"

"Not for me!" Kim said quickly, "Me in that situation … as if!" She then shook her head, blushing lightly. "I have a friend; she has a boyfriend, and she loves him; that's no doubt. But a few years ago her best friend who she never thought of anything beyond buddy and even brother left and while he was gone, I, uh, she started thinking about him differently, but still only thought of it as her just missing her best friend. But he came back recently and she's starting to think she might have strong feelings for him too."

"How's things with your … friend's boyfriend?" Meryl asked, smirking lightly.

"We … they were going great," Kim stated, sitting down beside the older woman, "But lately they've not been getting along so well."

"Uh huh, I see," Meryl nodded, rubbing her chin.

"How did you handle that situation?" Kim asked hopefully.

Meryl was silent for several moments before she finally spoke, "Well, my situation was a little different, but not too much so. You see; I first fell in love with a hero, a self-sacrificing hero, but a hero nonetheless. We started out great; it was an amazing relationship, but then something happened. He went on a mission and when he came back he was different, cold and hateful. I could see in his eyes he didn't mean what he would say to me, but he still said it and the relationship crumbled from there." Meryl then sighed, "After I started dating Hal, I learned my first boyfriend pushed me away because he had this insane idea in his head that being around him put me in danger. Made me love him even more, but I had already fallen for Hal too."

"So how did you decide?" Kim asked, blushing slightly.

"Three factors to take in account," Meryl said, holding up one finger, "Best kisser," she then raised another, "Best lover," finally, she raised a third finger, "And finally best friend. So I married Hal who had him beat in all three areas."

"Two out of three," Kim mumbled.

"What?" Meryl smirked, hearing her perfectly.

"NOTHING!" Kim shot in surprise.

"If you say so," Meryl laughed before pressing her ear, "Crimson Wolf to Otacon, do you read?" She waited for a response Kim couldn't hear before speaking again, "Any word from Snake?"

"Roger that, I'm coming back and I've got company coming over. Crimson Wolf out," Meryl said, looking over to Kim, "Good news, Snake thinks he has a trail on Ron, but wants to take it solo because he doesn't know the sitch. Want to go back to our place and wait for the boys?"

"Sounds good to me," Kim smiled and the two girls made their way across the rooftops.

---

"I'd love to know why Middleton has so many massive lair and base ready caverns under it," Ron grumbled, checking his ammo as he hid behind a large rock at the side of a large cave. This was the main base according to a hidden computer in Ocelot's latest lab.

He pulled his assault rifle and double checked the ammo before making sure his missile launcher was loaded just in case. He then slowly stood and made his way into the cavern, sticking close to the shadowy walls.

"Ok, Shadow Snake," Ron whispered to himself, "Mission Objectives: Enter enemy base, free kidnapped teenagers, take down Ocelot and/or Drakken, and escape in one piece if possible. No big."

"Funny, for a base, there's not a lot of buildings or structures in here, and that means …" Ron mused, looking around the relatively empty cave before dropping his head in realization, "Oh fuck, not again!"

The dark cave was suddenly filled with light, and Ron dove behind a large rock for cover, "You know, just once I'd like to NOT walk right into a damn trap!" Ron said, peeking up only to duck back down as Vulcan fire took about half a foot off the rock he was hiding behind.

Ron looked down at the rifle, "Vulcan cannon vs. FA-MAS, screw that!" He said throwing the gun down and pulling the medium-sized rocket launcher off his back. He took a deep breath before shooting up to his feet, spinning around, and firing a rocket toward the source of light, hoping it was the source of the fire too.

After the light vanished, Ron hid again behind the boulder, before easing back up with his thermal goggles in place, and scanned the area. He saw nothing but the destroyed light stand at in the center of the cave. He reloaded the missile launcher and carefully made his way out from behind the rock.

He held the launcher tight over his shoulder, and looked around, finding it creepy that there was no sign of any weapons whatsoever, but then almost fell when the ground trembled.

"Shadow! How nice of you to be so predictable as to come running!" Ocelot's voice sounded from nowhere that Ron could see, "Afraid I'm going to hurt your little girlfriend again?"

"Where are you, old man?" Ron asked, tightening the hold on the launcher.

"What's wrong, Wannabe Snake?" Ocelot laughed, "Can't see me?"

Then before Ron could react, the sound of Vulcan fire filled the air again, and the launcher on his shoulder exploded violently. The explosion was so hot; it pushed back the Kevlar suit off his shoulders and neck and burned his skin. Ron cried out and gripped his shoulder while rolling back behind the rock again. He reached down, and grabbed his assault rifle, hoping it would be of use.

"Not good …" Ron flinched as he looked down at his burned and bleeding shoulder, "Must be some new Stealth Camo system," he whispered, listening as the apparently large invisible object stomped closer, "even thermals can't pick it up, very not good …"

"What do you think of my new Metal Gear, Shadow?" Ocelot's voice asked, "I call it the Raptor. Oh, it isn't complete just yet; it has all the necessary systems finished, but it will still be a few months before it will have all the bugs worked out and be ready to launch a nuke like most other Metal Gears."

"Oh that's comforting," Ron gulped, making sure a shell was in the chamber of the rifle, "not only big and invisible, but it's a Metal Gear; Yay for me."

"Come on out and play, Shadow," Ocelot dared, "You're not afraid are you?"

"Nope, just getting my gun unjammed," Ron smarted before standing up and firing randomly, using the automatic rifle to find where the Metal Gear actually was, and finally hitting it several feet away in the center of the cave, "Peeka boo, I see you," Ron smiled, though still having no idea what to do to stop the thing.

Ron and his gun were then thrown to the ground by a missile, hitting close beside him. He rolled over and saw that the way the barrel of his gun had hit a jagged rock and was badly damaged, "Ok, now what?" Ron gulped before feeling an intense pain in his thigh.

He glanced down at his right thigh and saw a large puncture wound in the center passing all the way through his leg. Ron cried out as a large blade, visible only by Ron's own blood on it, jerked itself out of the wound.

"Now would you like any other body part pierced, Shadow?" Ocelot chuckled sinisterly, "Maybe your belly button?"

The bloody blade then maneuvered over Ron's stomach, and the pain in his leg prevented him from crawling away.

"Back the hell off!" another voice called from the entrance of the cave and a Nikita Missile shot toward the bloody blade and hit the invisible Metal Gear in the chest area sending it backpedaling backwards, slowly becoming visible.

Snake ran up to Ron, and helped him to his feet, and to keep pressure off the injured leg, "Can you walk, kid?"

"Not really," Ron moaned, flinching as Snake moved his bad arm.

"Let's get some cover," Snake said, quickly moving to a large boulder away from the still unsteady Metal Gear.

"Damn you, Snake!" Ocelot barked, trying to bring the secondary stabilizer on line, seeing as Snake was lucky enough to damage the main one.

Snake smirked at Ocelot's line of curses as he looked over his injured student, "Leg and shoulder's in pretty bad shape, but I think you'll live." He then took Ron's right and injured arm over his shoulder and started to stand, "Let's get out of here while he's busy."

"Shouldn't we try to destroy that Metal Gear while we're here?" Ron said flinching as he had to hold the leg off the ground.

"With what? Our SOCOMs?" Snake asked, moving quickly for the exit, "I just had one Nikita, and your Stinger launcher's trashed; if you want to go at it with a pocket knife and a handgun, be my guest, but that isn't my idea of fun."

"Ah, that's better," Ocelot said as the monstrous machine turned to the retreating Foxhound Agents. "You're not getting away from me this time, Solid Snake, DRAW!"

Ron glanced back to see the Vulcan's laser sight on Snake's back. With the instincts and lessons Snake had given him, Ron sacrificially shoved Snake out of the way. Snake was safe, but with Ron's injured leg, he was unable to get out of the way.

Snake looked back and saw Ron's body twist and dance as multiple shots of Vulcan fire shot through his body. "SHADOW!" Snake called as Ron tumbled forward with blood flooding from his wounds and mouth. Snake shot to the teenager's side, and rolled him over, "Shadow! Ron! Don't you dare do this, you little bastard!"

"Oops, I missed, oh well," Snake heard Ocelot, but paid him no mind.

"S-Sorry, Snake …" Ron coughed painfully.

"You just took a lick, Kid," Snake said, his voice uncharacteristically trembling, "You're going to be fine once we get you patched up, but you have to hang on."

Snake glanced up at the Metal Gear that was once again moving toward them, realizing that he just lied. They were both dead already.

Then a large figure appeared in the shadows, with a large Vulcan cannon strapped to his back and an almost glowing tattoo of a bird on his forehead. The figure fired on the Metal Gear with incredible force, pushing him back into the cave. "Go, Snake," he said in a Native American accent, "Your time is growing close, but the boy's is not. His fate is not to die here, and neither is yours. Go now, and I will assure your escape."

Snake, not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, nodded, and looked to the barely conscious teen. He gently scooped him up in his arms, "You need to lay off the nacos, kid," Snake groaned as he lifted him, and then turned back to the figure, and found him gone, but in his place, a massive flock of ravens were dive-bombing the Metal Gear.

He turned back and ran as fast as he could out of the cave, "Hang on, Kid," Snake said soothingly, "There's two redheads who will literally kill me if I don't get you back alive, so you better not go into the damn light."

---

"It was so funny!" Meryl laughed on the couch across from Kim, "He shot the grappling gun, and he jerked the lower part of his Sneak Suit clean off! The looks on the Terrorists' faces were priceless! They didn't know what to do. Easiest terrorist raid I was ever involved in!"

"Yup, that's Ron alright," laughed Kim, taking a sip of her soda. "How did he stop that anyway? He was trying for a long time and never could find a way to keep his pants on and use a grappling hook."

"Simple," Meryl shrugged, "We gave him a one piece Sneak Suit. Less likely for him to jerk the bottom part off then. That and Snake really pushed grapple safety."

Kim couldn't help chuckling at the thought of how much work it had to have taken to teach him how to properly use a grappling gun. But the laughter was cut short as Otacon burst into the room, "Kim, something's up and maybe it would be best if you were to go on home. Meryl, get the emergency med kit and … oh shit, they're here …" Otacon said, cursing at the sound of the front door being kicked open.

Kim looked to the entrance to the living room and what she saw caused her heart to drop to her knees. "RON!" She cried when she saw Snake dragging her best friend into the room. Ron's face was past pale, almost a faint blue color, and his usual black and blue uniform was almost shredded and dark red from being covered in his own blood.

"Oh God, oh God, oh God," Kim chanted repeatedly, as Snake, with one hand, knocked the coffee table clear and brought Ron's body to lie upon it.

"It's … ok … KP," Ron said barely above a whisper when his weak eyes opened and saw Kim's panicked expression, "It's not … as bad … as it looks … I'll be ok …"

If Kim heard him, no one could tell, because she just stood there stiff, shaking her head back and forth, and repeating 'Oh God'.

"Meryl!" Snake barked as he began to cut at the remains of Ron's Kevlar Sneak Suit with a knife, "Get her the fuck out of here! She doesn't need to see this!"

Meryl, also in a state of shock, shook her head and brought an arm around Kim's shoulder, "Come on, Kim, let's do as Snake says, ok?"

"No! I'm not, I'm not leaving him!" Kim all but screamed, not taking her eyes off Ron's battered and broken form.

Meryl shook her head sadly before tightening her grip on the girl's shoulder and literally dragging her out of the house and pushing into her rental car, "You're in no shape to drive, so I'll drive you back," Meryl said, helping Kim, who couldn't figure out how to fasten her seatbelt.

Meryl drove to Kim's house and the only sound in the car was Kim's struggle to keep from crying. She arrived at the Possible home, helped Kim unfasten her belt, and helped her inside the house to meet Mrs. Possible.

Upon seeing her daughter's condition, Mrs. Possible shot to Kim's side, "What happened? Are you ok?" she asked, eyeing her daughter worriedly.

Kim couldn't respond, but Meryl replied for her, "Ron, he was hurt … bad, Snake and Hal are working on him now."

"Oh no …" Mrs. Possible gasped, pulling her daughter into a hug.

"I better get back; they'll need my help," Meryl said, turning her back and moving toward the door. Before she exited, Kim finally spoke.

"Is he going to be ok?" Kim asked in a trembling voice.

"They're working on him now; they'll need my help," Was Meryl's only response as she exited quickly.

The two Possible women listened as the car sped from the driveway before Mrs. Possible gently pulled Kim to the couch and helped her to sit down beside her.

This was the straw that broke the camel's back. Ron's three-year absence, the torture by Ocelot, the death of her father, Josh's uncaring attitude, now Ron being hurt, maybe even killed. Then an unsettling thought ran through Kim's mind, 'Was that what Daddy looked like before he died?' With that thought, a dam of emotions erupted. Kim gripped her mother tightly and buried her face in her shoulder as tear after tear fell in almost painful sobs.

"Please don't let him die," Kim prayed/begged, gripping her mother, "Please, God, don't let him die …"

To Be Continued…

Next Chapter: If Only Tears