Kim Possible and Ron Stoppable, and all other copyrighted content are property of Disney.
Please r&r. This is my first fan-fiction.
Chapter 13 Christmas
"Err….I hate it when you do that!"
"Come on KP, you told me not to hold back, so that is what I'm doing."
"We'll you don't have to do so well! I'm still getting this leg back up to speed, you know." Kim rolled, picked herself up, and got back into a defensive stance again facing her sparring partner. Ron had taken her to the matt a total of three times already that day, and had been doing the same for the past two weeks since she got her cast off. It did not bother her so much that he had taken her down; it was the fact that he was so much better now. Her leg was weak, her endurance waned quickly, but that was not the reason he was able to win. Ron was fast, much faster than Kim; if she could not match him in speed, she would have to slow him down. So far though, she had not been able to do so.
"Alright KP, I think that is enough for today." Ron said as he bowed her direction. Kim returned the bow, but angrily stormed off towards the changing room to shower and get dressed. She might love her boyfriend, she might have missed him to-death for the last six years, but she was not happy about loosing any fight.
Ron sighed as he watched her go. He had promised to teach her some new things that he had learned, but for the last two weeks all they had been able to do were light sparring sessions. Her leg may have been out of the cast, but it was still healing. She would have to build up its strength again if she wanted to fight to her full potential. She was mad though; especially at loosing to anyone, much less Ron. She had always been the better fighter of the two, and it was hard for her to loose to him. It would take a while, but he knew she would be back to normal in no time, then he could teach her some tricks to speed herself up, as well as counter his mystical powers. They would be even again soon enough, but until then he was going to have to put up with her temper at loosing fights. 'Same old Kim, hates to loose' He thought, then grinned to himself then made his way downstairs to shower and change himself. She would take a while, and they had to be ready to go at ten o'clock sharp.
"My Baby!" Kim cried as she ran up to the large white and blue craft sitting in the center of the austere white hanger of the brand new Global Justice facility of Miami. Dr. Director chuckled and Ron just looked perplexed. Kim and Ron had been picked up at ten o'clock sharp for their visit with Dr. Director on her inspection of the facility. Upon arriving they toured the brand new building, inspected the new experimental equipment being tested there, and had even helped interview a few agents already stationed at the complex. Ron was surprised that he was being treated like a high ranking official, when he himself did not know what his own rank was. Kim, of course, was a top agent and was used to the treatment but Ron noted how surprised people where that she was nice to them. Apparently rumors had gotten around about her volatile demeanor. Dr. Director had even commented that she was glad to see Kim in high spirits. It gave Ron a thrill to see that he had lifted Kim's attitude, all he ever wanted for her was to be happy.
"Kim It's just a VTOL." Ron stated looking a little confused as to why she was suddenly hugging the craft.
"Ron! This is not just any VTOL, it's my VTOL." Kim said annoyed as she punched her access codes into the key pad, opening up the lower hatch so she could climb aboard.
"Whoa! You have your own Vertical Take-Off and Landing craft!" Ron said in surprise as he followed her up the ramp, into the vehicle. Inside it was just as impressive. The color scheme remained white and blue, but along with the custom scheme there were also custom 'KP' logos on all the seats and behind the dash instruments. Ron whistled "Impressive."
"You said it! This is my own VTOL, it's been custom tricked-out by Wade just for me." Kim looked proud as she waved a hand around the craft.
"You have no idea." Wade said popping up on a see-through display mounted into the cockpit glass. "This baby has active camouflage, it's own energy shield, an array of anti-aircraft and ground assault weaponry, and the latest in active scanning capability; all powered by an experimental cold fusion power cell!"
"Whoa…that's quite a list. Did you do all of it yourself?"
"Yep!" Wade beamed.
"So Wade what's the sitch?" Asked Kim cheerfully, she new she could not go on a mission, but she could always hope.
"Oh, I just saw you had activated the ship, and I thought I would pop-in to say hello."
"That's nice of you Wade. Why is the 'Blue Fox' here anyway?" Kim said, looking back at Ron and blushing, realizing he would know why she had named her ship the way she had. He just laughed and grinned back…thankful she had not named it after his animology animal.
"Well after you decided that you would move down to Miami permanently, I figured you could use your gear. Dr. Director and I talked it over and she decided she would personally accompany it down herself when she came to the inspection this week. You'll also notice that we took the liberty of moving your belongings from the apartment down with it. All you clothes, the little furniture you owned, and other stuff are in the cargo hold." Wade beamed; he was so relieved that they had worked out their differences. Putting up with Kim for the last few years had been a trial. As Ron and he we'll knew she could get snippy when she lost a fight, and Ron had not been there the past six years to calm her down, so Wade naturally got the brunt of it.
"You didn't! Oh my God Wade, that is so badical of you! You rock so hard!" Kim was practically jumping up and down, and it was Ron's turn to be relieved. They had talked about when to go back up to New York to move her down. Getting off work was not a problem for Ron, but being the holiday season and all, his boss wanted him to work as much as possible; it was a busy time of year for them. Also, Ron hated moving, too much junk, it reminded him of cleaning the garage for his mom…and creepy yard gnomes.
To Ron's surprise Kim did not have a whole lot of belongings. Clothes dominated, she had the usual assortment of random junk, some sentimental personal items, lots of books, and some electronic entertainment equipment. Lucky for him she did not own much furniture, a few small pieces and a bookcase, but nothing else. GJ would deliver it later to the house for them, so all he had to do was help sort it out and put it up.
"Alright you three; if you will excuse us Wade, Kim, Ron and I need to have a meeting before I dismiss them for the day." Dr. Director said as she joined them next to the cargo bay door of the aircraft.
"All right, talk to you guys later! Wade out." Wade said, disappearing from the glass display.
"So Dr. what did you want to talk to us about, we already de-briefed you on our respective missions." Ron said as they all situated themselves in the small conference room they were meeting in.
"Well Ron, this actually concerns you." Ron just looked perplexed. "You see the top officials and I want to offer you an opportunity. We want to offer you and Kim a chance to re-form Team Possible, and to come on-board here at Global Justice permanently." Ron just sat quietly for a minute thinking. Kim and he had casually discussed the possibility of it, but it had never occurred to him that GJ would want to bring him back on board permanently. Kim did not seem surprised, after seeing Ron's fighting and hearing about the missions, she expected Dr. Director to offer Ron an opportunity. Dr. Director was a prudent administrator, and had a knack for finding good 'talent'; she would not let this opportunity pass her by unattended.
"Kim…could Dr. Director and I have a minute alone to discuss this?" Ron asked turning to Kim. She was taken back by Ron's request. They had always been honest and open when it came to the team, but he obviously had some question he did not want her there for just yet. She decided she would accommodate him, but only for the fact she knew she could weasel what he had discussed with Dr. Director out of him later. Kim took his hand and gave it a quick squeeze and nodding in approval at him before she left the two.
"Dr. Director, do I understand correctly that you want to hire me as a full time agent and member of Team Possible?"
"Yes, we do." Ron hummed, and thought for a few more minutes before he launched into a series of questions.
"What about my career? I enjoy being a chef, and I get paid very well for my expertise. It seems like a pretty big decision just to up and change my career." He paused, but continued after a moment, rapidly increasing his speed and starting to hyperventilate. "Then there's Kim. I would love to work with her again, but we are romantically involved again. I don't know if it's such a good idea to spend that much time together. We already spend most of our time together outside of work, and that would mean we would see each other even more. Not that I don't like spending as much time with her as possible, it just seems like we would eventually want to have some alone time. How we would be as a team again? We have both had a lot of time to develop our own fighting techniques in the past six years…" Ron finally paused, he was asking questions, but mostly voicing them to himself. It was a lot to consider, and he did not know just what to think of the idea yet.
"We'll Ron we did consider some of those questions. As far a career change goes, yes it is asking a lot. We would like to work with you on that if you want. I understand that you enjoy your job as a chef, and we would be willing to entertain the possibility of only working part-time for GJ, and spending regular hours working for the restaurant. But GJ might require you to take un-announced time off work for missions, and I cannot vouch for your current employer's thoughts on that. As far as your involvement with Miss Possible, it is not something we normally condone among agents; however, given both of your histories we are willing to make an exception. We are not asking you to decided today Ron, we understand if you would like to think about it. When Agent Possible comes in for her re-activation exams a couple of weeks after Christmas, I would like an answer. Until then, I think you should discuss it with Kim and your family." Ron finally pulled himself from thought, and nodded at Dr. Director. She understood he was conflicted on the issue and would need some time. She got up to leave, but turned back to him before she opened the door.
"Ron, I know you have concerns, but as a friend I'll tell you this: Kim needs you. She needs you, not only in her personal life, but in the field too. She's safer from not only villains, but from herself when you are around." She nodded to him, and then left.
"So...what did you and Dr. Director discuss in there?" Kim asked as they got into Ron's car and began heading towards home.
"Their offer of working for Global Justice again; Kim, what do you think? Do you want me on the team again? Do you think I should take the job?" Ron asked.
"I don't know Ron. I would love to have you on the team again; we always worked very well together." Kim said, not really fully understanding why Ron was so at odds over this. She had just always been able to work with Ron so well, he followed orders well, could improvise when needed, and they knew each others moves, moods, and personalities so well they could predict what the other would do.
"I need some time to think about it. I don't know if I want to give up my job as a chef yet. We always used to work well together, but some things have changed…you know?" Kim just nodded at him. She began understood why he was hesitant. What if his new abilities got in the way of their teamwork? What if she could not keep up? What if the liked working alone better?
"Ron you know we are a team, if you want to talk about it, I'll listen Ok."
"It's Ok Kim, it is just a lot to think about right now and I need some time to think it through." Kim chuckled at him; he gave her a questioning look.
"Sorry Ron…It's just when we were younger you would have just made some split second decision. Now you actually think about things, and more things than just nacos!"
"Hey! I have always thought about things! I thought about asking you out, and I thought about how to make the naco!" She just grinned back at him.
It was cold! Ron had not been in Middleton, Colorado in six years, and having adapted to the Miami weather he was not used to the cold anymore. His face was flushed, he hands and feet were cold, but it was a thrill. He had forgotten how much he had missed Christmas time at home. The lights, the snow, the warm looking houses, and good friends. He and Kim had decided to just surprise her and his parents by showing up together three days before Christmas and breaking the news in person. It would be a good present to them, and he would get to go home for the first time in six years. Now they were walking to the possible home along the frozen sidewalk, carrying what must have been forty gifts between them. Unfortunately they had miscalculated, and what they had thought might be a small reunion would be big. Tonight was the night of the Possible family's annual Christmas party. Many of their friends would be there: Felix, Monique, the Stoppable's, the Possible's, Wade (Who had come out of his shell the last few years, mainly due to an interest in the opposite sex.), Tara, and many others. Not that they did not want to see everybody, it was just going to be a long night of explanations, discussion, we'll wishing, etc…
"We'll Ron, are you ready?" Kim said looking worriedly at him. She did not know how they would be greeted, or by whom.
"Ready as I'll ever be." He said putting his load of gifts down beside Kim's on the porch and getting ready to be tackled by either the tweebs or an assortment of parents and friends. Kim rang the bell and waited. Mrs. Dr. Possible was the one to open the door and peer out at the two, instantly recognizing Kim, of course.
"Kimmi! Your home!" She squealed wrapping her daughter in a crushing hug. She hugged her for a minute then stepped back to consider her daughter and her guest…who seemed familiar somehow, but at the moment she could not place him.
"It's so good you are home, you are just in time for the party! Tell me, though, who is this attractive young man you have brought with you!" She continued looking pointedly at daughter with an 'explain' look, then at Ron. He spoke first.
"We'll I thought I would be a little bit more recognizable than that Mrs. Dr. P." Ron said, grinning at her.
"RON!" Mrs. Possible yelped at the sudden recognition. Then she nearly knocked him down with a hug. Mr. Dr. Possible, who had been near his wife when she had opened the door came out to see what the commotion was about and why the door was standing open, letting the cold air in.
"What was that dear…Kimmi-Cub!" He happily cheered hugging his daughter. Then noticed his wife try and knock down the young man with a hug.
"Honey, its Ron!" She said releasing him, nearly crying for joy, and turning towards her husband. Mr. Possible instantly recognized his 'other son', and walked up to give him a hug too.
"Ronald! It's good to see you." He said happily grinning himself and hugging Ron. He soon released the young man, and realized they had a lot of bags with them, and looked cold standing on the doorstep.
"Come on you two; let's get inside and out of this cold." Mr. Possible said picking up the bags and motioning everyone inside.
"Whoa…hey…"
"It's Ron!" Jim said with Tim continuing his statement; as they bounded over recognizing the new arrivals. Soon Kim and Ron both were inundated with Parents and siblings all asking questions, hugging, and talking to them. The party had not really cranked up yet so the only ones there so far were the Possible's and Stoppable's. They cheerfully answered most questions, and explained what had happened to bring them back together. They did leave out the part about them being involved again, though. Kim and Ron had both agreed, when they saw the party, that they wanted to discuss that with each set of parents in a little more privacy. They would sit down with each set separately and discuss it with them later. Finally Kim and Ron both had a small breather when other guest began to arrive. Ron went off with his father to talk and get him and Kim something to eat and some drinks.
"Kim! Oh, it's so good you are home for Christmas. You have to tell me all about what you have been up to lately, and I have some wonderful news for you!" Kim twirled around only to be engulfed in another hug by her friend Monique. Monique was soon followed by Felix Renton, who had been dating her for nearly a year now.
"Hey Kim!" Felix called from outside the hug.
"Hey Mon! Hey Felix! It's good to see you two." Kim gasped out from under her hug by Monique. "So what's this news?" Kim's interest was definitely peaked, but she better get it out of the way quick, Ron would be back in a minute and Monique would probably go off on a tirade to him. Monique understood what had happened between Kim and Ron, and she knew why he would want to leave Middleton behind. But she could not excuse him for not picking up the phone to call her or Felix for the last six years. He was both of their friends and should have at least called.
"Well Girl, I know you have not been in town for a while, otherwise you would have been the first to know, look!" Monique had released Kim, but now held her left hand in front of her, pointing at it with her right. On her left ring finger sat a two caret solitaire.
"Oh my gosh Mon! Congratulations you two!" She said hugging Monique and bending down to hug her wheelchair bound friend who was now grinning madly. Just as Kim stood back up and turned to Monique, Felix felt a nudge to his arm.
"Well, well. Felix, my man lookin' good, and it seems you've been doing good as well. Congratulations!" Said Ron grinning at his friend.
"Thanks!" Felix said absent mindedly turning only slightly to voice he thanks, then doing a double take. "RON? Ron Stoppable?"
"In the flesh." Ron grinned but was interrupted by a hard slap across his face. "Hey! What was that for?" He said looking at his assailant.
"That was for not learning how to pick up the phone in six years." Monique said crossing her arms across her chest and giving him a 'Boy, don't tempt me to do it again.' look. She then reached up and hugged him. "And that was for finally coming home."
"Umm….Ok." Ron said looking confused. He gave Kim a quick questioning look, which she returned with an equally confused look, then turned back to the couple. "We'll Felix, Mon. I did mean it. Congratulations. I did not know you were dating, but I think could imagine you being married." They both grinned.
"So Ron and you are on good terms again?" Monique said giving a look to Kim.
"Yes, I guess you could say that." Kim said half-smiling at Ron. He just returned her look and then struck up a conversation with Felix while Monique and Kim made their way over to the couch to talk.
"So, when's your wedding?" Monique asked after a while of talking to Kim. She explained the whole story, again, and had also, once again, left her and Ron's involvement out.
"What?"
"Oh please Girl, don't play stupid with me. It's as apparent now as it was in high school that you two are totally in love with each other. And please! Those looks you have been giving each other across the room!"
"Really? Is it that obvious?" Kim said, blushing. It looked like they had been caught. "We'll Mon, I don't know, Ron has not even asked yet, and it's so soon. We have just been dating again for a little while."
"Uh, huh." Monique replied, a knowing smile playing across her face.
Later that evening, as the party began to wind down, Ron found him self standing on the back deck of the Possible house looking at the clear dark sky. He had retreated out here to get away from the questions for a little while and to catch his breath. It was tiring answering all the questions about his life over the last few years, and Ron's voice was starting to give out with all the talking.
"We'll Ronald. Is there anything you want to talk to me about?" Asked Dr. James Possible as he quietly joined Ron on the deck. Ron turned about to look at the older man, a little surprised that it was him that had come out after Ron.
"Not really Mr. Dr. P. What would I have to talk to you about?" He said wondering why the scientist had asked.
"We'll for starters, my daughter." Mr. Possible said, giving Ron a knowing look.
"What about Kim?" Ron said, still not catching on. Mr. Possible figured it would be most effective just to cut to the chase. Ron was almost a son to him, and he could tell there was a lot on the young mans mind.
"When do you plan to ask her?" He said smiling slightly at him. Ron just gave him a perplexed look for a moment, and then he caught on.
"Is it that apparent we are involved again?" Ron said blushing, a little ashamed and embarrassed.
"We'll you two have been passing looks back and forth all night. I also caught that little kiss under the mistletoe in the foyer when you thought nobody was looking." Mr. Possible said giving Ron a grin.
"Oh…we'll Mr. Dr. P…I can…uh…explain…"
"No need, Ronald. When Mrs. Possible and I were first engaged we both thought we could hide it from other people for a while, but it was just as apparent… So, when do you plan to ask her?" Ron relaxed a bit. Mr. Possible was a good man, he loved his family and was a bit overprotective of Kim, but he had always held a special place for Ron.
"I don't know. I was just offered a job by Global Justice to work with Kim again on Team Possible, but I don't know if I want to take it. I mean if we do get married we will be spending a lot of time together outside and during work. I guess I'm just worried about her getting tired of me, or if we don't work together as well as we used to." Ron realized he was rambling and had not yet answered Mr. Possible's question. "I don't know when I will ask her, Sir, but I do know I love her and I could not go another six minutes, much less six years without her." He sucked in a deep breath, tried to stop nervously scratching the back of his neck, and then looked right at Kim's father. "Mr. Possible will you give me your blessing to ask Kimberly to be my wife?"
"Ronald, I've known you a long time. You're almost a son to me, and you have been Kim's best friend all her life, but I have two questions before I will give you my blessing. First, will you always be her best friend?"
"Of course…that's the first promise we ever made to each other. No matter what we would always be best friends." Mr. Possible nodded and continued.
"Second, will you protect her?" Ron had to pause at this. What did Mr. Possible actually mean by asking him that? Was Mr. Possible was trying to help him with his decision, not just about marriage, but about his life as well? Mr. Possible knew that Ron would never be able to live with himself is something happened to Kim. She was his world, even when they were apart he kept an eye on her, and protected her.
"Yes sir." Ron answered quietly, lost in thought. Mr. Possible turned to leave, but Ron had a question for him.
"Mr. Possible…..uh….James." Ron had never addressed Mr. Possible as James, but he felt it was the right time. He was and adult and this was a very 'adult' conversation, and perhaps the most serious of his life. Mr. Possible turned to look at him, a slight smile gracing his face. There was one thing Ron had not gained in his last six years, and that was bravery. He had always had that, and if he was brave enough to call him James, then he was brave enough to seek the answer to his question. "Do I have your blessing?"
"The only thing I have ever told you to do for my daughter, Ron, was to make her happy. If she was unhappy you would be on a space probe on its way into a black hole. There is nothing in this world, I think, that would make her happier than to spend the rest of her life with you. So, Yes, I and her mother would be honored to have you make Kim your wife." Mr. Possible hugged his future son-in-law, and then left to go back inside.
Ron's head was swimming with questions. What had just happened? Did he really just ask for Kim's father's blessing? How had Mr. Possible known that marriage had even come to Ron's mind? It had, he had been thinking of that possibility for while now, but he had not specifically wanted to ask her father for his blessing tonight. It just happened. What about the proposal? When, where? And the job? Did he make a decision, or was Mr. Possible's question food for thought? It was all a lot to think about. Ron did know one thing though. It was the right thing to do. If ever there was one decision in his life that he could say was, without a single doubt, the right one; then it would be to ask Kim to marry him. Now…how to do it?
Christmas day came. It was a wonderful holiday for Kim and Ron. Ron had celebrated Hanukah with his parents, and spent Christmas day with the Possible family. They had told their families about their relationship on Christmas Eve. Ron's parents were surprised, but happy; Kim's acted surprised. Mrs. Possible had caught Ron earlier that evening and given him her blessing. By way of a crushing hug and a tearful 'This is so wonderful speech'. They had all exchanged gifts. Ron had given Kim an impressive emerald necklace, it matched her eyes. Kim had given Ron a new designer watch. (He always used to break his in high school, so she figured he could use a nice, durable one.) Now they were flopped on the sofa in the living room, looking tired. The tweebs were off with each of their respective girlfriends (That was still hard for Ron to get used to. They were in high school, seniors no less, but he would always remember them as crazy ten-year olds.) and Kim's parents were in the kitchen washing the Christmas dinner dishes.
"Kim…what do you think about Felix and Monique getting married? You think there too young?" Ron asked sounding nervous. He was trying to gauge her reaction to the thought of marriage, while keeping himself out of the 'thought', but as usual, Ron was transparent to Kim.
"We'll Ron, I think it's great. They seem very happy together, and they love each other. As to being too young…I don't think so. They both have established careers, and we all are twenty-six. That's not exactly young to get married, I knew people in college who got married at twenty." Kim replied to him, looking sheepishly at him. He was up to something…but just what he was doing was not as clear. He could just be asking to see if she wanted to get married at all, or he could be asking to make a decision about what she would say when he asked. Either way, he was asking to apply it to their own situation. She could barely contain herself. 'How long he will take to ask?' She thought to herself, remembering that Ron sometimes took a while to build up courage to ask certain things.