Kim Possible and all related characters and indicia are owned by the Disney Corporation. This work of fan fiction is written for pleasure, not profit.
Triaxx2: I hope I addressed your concerns in this chapter. Again :) Thanks for re-posting your original reviews, BTW.
Wanderer3: Yeah, I reckon that's what happened. It's fixed now (I hope).
Hottlips:
I was a bad girl is what happened. Broke the rules and got nuked
for it. But I've learned my lesson, and am re-posting.
Kim opened her eyes to utter darkness. She felt a brief surge of panic, but suppressed it.
'Amp down, Possible,' she chided herself. 'Analyze the situation first, then panic!'
Kim could hear a howling sound. The wind, most likely. But it was muted, and mixed in with it were creaks, rattles and groans. 'I'm in a building of some sort.' She was also warm, which could only be a good sign. That probably had something to do with the heavy, coarse cloth that covered her from head to toe. It felt like a woolen blanket, maybe more than one. Kim moved a hand to her face and tried to get the cloth off her head. After some searching she found the edge of the blanket and pulled it aside. Two things happened, First, the darkness eased. Not a lot, but there was enough light for her to see that she was in a small, wood framed cabin. Second, icy cold air assaulted her face. Kim moved the blanket back, leaving only her eyes exposed. She was in a bed, with several blankets covering her body, and another placed as a combination pillow and head cover. There was a movement to her left. She wasn't alone.
Kim moved the head cover blanket just enough to reveal a familiar profile, and sagged with relief. Ron was breathing with the steady rhythm of a man asleep. Wherever they were, and however they had gotten there, they were safe at least. Kim was about to try and wake Ron when a thought occurred to her. Her hand when to her leg. No pants. It slid up, across her waist, along her torso to her neck. No shirt, either. Just bra and panties. She repeated the process, very lightly, on Ron. He was equally undressed.
'More so,' Kim thought with a silent giggle, 'since he isn't wearing a bra.'
A quick scan of the room revealed a scattering of clothes on the floor. Kim thought she could see a sheen of ice on some of them. She frowned. Why couldn't she remember how she'd gotten here? Kim's brow furrowed as she pondered the matter. She and Ron had been hiking in the mountains when a storm came up. They'd turned back toward the resort hotel, but not in time to avoid getting caught. Because of deteriorating conditions they had decided to take shelter in one of the rental cabins along the trail they'd been following. They had headed for the closest one and were almost on top of it when...
Kim gave herself a mental kick. She'd been so focused on the cabin she'd forgotten about the little stream they had crossed on their way up. In her mind's eye Kim recalled the shock she'd felt when she'd taken that last step and found no ground beneath her foot. Her last clear memory was of black water rushing up at her.
Kim sighed. There was such a thing as being too focused, she supposed. 'Ron must have carried me the rest of the way,' she reasoned, 'and gotten me out of my wet clothes.' Kim's gaze went to the man lying beside her. 'Once again, I owe Ron my life. I wonder if that makes us even?' Kim smiled. She and Ron had long since stopped keeping track of that little statistic. Reaching out, she shook him gently.
"Ron."
"Wha..?" Ron's eyes flickered open, and he turned toward her.
"Kim!" he exclaimed, his face lighting up.
Before Kim could open her mouth to reply two powerful arms were around her, crushing her in a fierce embrace. Instead of fighting it, Kim luxuriated in it, returning the hug as best she could with her own arms pinned to her sides. Finally she said, "I'm glad to see you too, Ron. Can I breath now?"
Ron's face went beet red and his grip loosened. "Sorry," he mumbled.
"No big," Kim assured him with a gentle smile.
"So, you feeling okay? No lasting ill effects or anything?" Ron asked, his voice suddenly tinged with anxiety.
Kim's own expression went serious. She shifted beneath the blankets, her fingers probing at her feet. "No pain or discomfort in my feet and toes, and my fingers are fine, so I guess I avoided frostbite."
"You weren't out there long enough for that, I guess," Ron said. "You got chilled, but that seems to have been the extent of it. Not that I didn't freak out a little at the time," he admitted. Kim said nothing, just smiled again. Ron's many childhood phobias had faded as he'd gotten older. Pretty much the only thing that made him lose his cool anymore was when he thought she was hurt. On impulse she snuggled up against him. Or maybe it wasn't an impulse, she thought guiltily. Even with the blankets there was a noticeable difference in temperature between the side of her that was facing Ron and the side that wasn't. Ron didn't seem to mind though, if the way his arms drew her in was any sign. He buried his face in her hair, and they lay like that for a while, just enjoying the fact that they were alive.
Eventually Kim turned to look Ron in the eyes. "So," she said, her voice businesslike. "What's our situation?"
Ron rolled away from her and propped himself up on an elbow. Kim followed suit, pressing herself against Ron's back and draping an arm across him.
"We're in a two room cabin. What exactly is in the other room, I don't know, because I haven't had a chance to look. I'm guessing it's a kitchen, or maybe a storeroom. Whatever it is, I'm hoping there's more firewood back there, because there isn't much here," he said, pointing at the small pile near the stove.
"What about food?" Kim asked, suddenly aware that she was hungry.
"So far as I know, only what we brought with us," Ron said as he looked back at her, his expression grim. Kim nodded. She and Ron had brought along five or six energy bars each, and they'd eaten half of them on the hike out. That wouldn't be a problem if the storm didn't last too long.
"What's the weather report?"
Ron blushed slightly. "I don't know." At Kim's slightly accusatory look he explained defensively, "Hey, after I got you warmed up I fell asleep." He reached down beside the bed and produced his Kimmunicator. "While you find that out," Ron suggested, "I'll see about getting a fire going."
"Good idea," Kim relented with an apologetic smile. Wrapping himself in one of the blankets, Ron rolled off the bed. Kim switched Ron's Kimmunicator on, wondering only briefly where her own was. A quick push of the Call button and a familiar face appeared.
"Hey, Kim, what's up?" Wade Load, Kim and Ron's long time friend and technology expert, asked.
"You haven't heard?" Kim asked, her tone amused.
"Heard what?" Wade asked blankly.
"Never mind. Ron and I were on a day hike when a storm blew up. We're holed up in a cabin, and we're wondering how long we'll have to stay here. I guess we haven't been missed yet." A quick call confirmed that fact.
"I told the resort where you are. They said they'll send their Sno-Cat for you as soon as the storm breaks," Wade informed her a moment later.
"How soon is that likely to be?"
Wade made a face. "Twelve to forty-eight hours according to the National Weather Service."
"We'll just have to wait it out I guess," Kim said reluctantly. "Tell you what, Wade. We'll call every six hours. If you hear anything new, let us know."
"Will do, Kim," Wade promised.
"Putting the Kimmunicator in standby mode, Kim out."
A loud banging noise made Kim jump. She turned to see Ron reassembling the stove's metal chimney pipe. A pile of snow lay at his feet.
"Chimney was blocked," he explained. Ron moved to the front of the stove and peered inside. "It's drawing better now," he announced, his voice quavering. Kim could se he was shivering.
"Ron! Get back in the bed before you freeze," she commanded.
"Yes, ma'am," Ron obeyed. When he was under the covers Kim pressed herself against him to speed the warming process. Ron was keeping an eye on the stove. As the fire inside it grew Kim could hear dripping and hissing. Wisps of steam emerged from the joints in the chimney as the last of the snow that had filled it melted away.
"What's in the back room," Kim asked quietly, "Anything interesting?"
"Not much. It's just a storeroom, but there is more firewood, and some charcoal. There's food as well, but not much, and it's all dry stuff. Still, I suppose it's better than nothing."
"Mmhmmm," Kim murmured. With two people, the bed was getting warm enough again that she was getting drowsy.
"What do we do now?" Ron wondered.
"We wait," Kim sighed. The last thing she felt before she dropped off into sleep was Ron turning over and taking her in his arms again.
