A/N: Welcome back, faithful readers. Those of you who've studied Latin will no doubt have observed that the title of this chapter pretty much answers the question we were left with after Chapter I. (Will our two heroes spend the entire flight studying?) Then again, the Publilius Syrus quote was already kind of a giveaway, wasn't it? The fact that this story is listed as a Romance probably tipped you off as well. So I guess we all have an idea what to expect. Of course, the real fun lies in seeing how events play out.

Many thanks to spectre666, Jezrianna2.0, MrDrP, Louis Mielke, JPMod, Zaratan, John Steppenwolf, Flaming Gun, Ultimate Naco Topping, mattb3671, and SHADOW ANGUS for their reviews of Chapter I.

Once again, extra-special thanks to MrDrP for his beta-reader services.

Obligatory witty disclaimer: Disney owns Kim Possible, Ron, Rufus, et al. The robot, Mr. Feenie, is a trademark of the Sirius Cybernetics Corporation, the marketing staff of which will be the first against the wall when the revolution comes, for reasons too numerous to list here.

Kim Possible
in

The Latin Lovers

(An Essential Ronness Story)

by
campy

Chapter II
... nos cedamus amori

Kim looked up from her textbook. She glanced at the clock in the cabin; they'd been in flight for just over an hour. Ron was studiously going over a set of vocabulary flash cards. Wow, this is really amazing. I've never seen him focus for so long without a video game controller in his hands, she thought. Let's see how deep this goes ...

She shut her book with a soft 'thump' and set it aside. She'd been sitting with her legs drawn up under her; she stretched them out in front of Ron, raised each foot in turn and wiggled it. No reaction. She laced her fingers together and stretched her arms up above her head as high as she could reach. Ron's attention never wavered from the cards.

Hmm, I was sure that move would have gotten some attention, she thought. Okay, Possible, time to break out the big guns — so to speak. Arching her back, she slowly inhaled a deep cleansing breath, held it, and let it out with an audible sigh. Not even a flicker. He is so in the study zone. She tried the same ploy again, a little more emphatic. Ron looked up, beaming.

"Woo Hoo!" he exclaimed, flinging the stack of cards up in the air. "Who da man? Who is da man? Da Ronman's da man! Got the whole set down, KP! Forty cards! Or as we Latin scholars say, 'XL' cards."

"That's great, Ron. What say we take a little break now?"

"I dunno, Kim, I should go over this list of irregular verbs here, and then I should take a crack at translating that ode on page …"

"Ron, I think we can spare some time now," she coaxed. "We can review some more after we get home."

"Kim, you're the one who told me I need to pass this exam or else. Clock's ticking, KP. Tempus fugit … hey, that was Latin!"

"See, Ron, you know this stuff better than you think," she said brightly.

She moved to him and knelt on the seat astride his lap. "But if you'd rather not take a break, why don't we practice some … conjugation?" she purred, wrapping her arms around his neck. "I'll start. Amare: to love." She lightly kissed the tip of his nose. "Amo ...," she kissed his left cheek, a fraction of an inch from the corner of his mouth. "… I love," same deal, other cheek. "Amas ...," she ever so gently brushed his lips with her own. "… You love …"

She never did reach the third person singular.

After they had kissed and cuddled for a while, Kim pulled away. "I suppose you'll want to get back to your studying now," she offered, starting to get up.

"Uh uh uh, KP," Ron protested, pulling her back onto his lap. "We're still in mission mode until this plane lands. You're the team leader; I think we should pick it up at home like you suggested."

Kim smiled coyly, and reaching a hand to her collar began to slowly unzip her battle suit. "It's starting to get a little warm in here ..." she commented.

"I can adjust the cabin temperature for you, Miss Possible," the pilot interjected helpfully.

"Just fly the plane, Mr. Feenie, please and thank you," Kim said, a slight edge to her voice. "Don't worry about us back here, we'll be fine."

Rufus hopped down from his perch on the co-pilot's seat and unfastened a tieback. Tugging hard, he drew a curtain across the cabin, affording the couple some privacy. He then scampered up to the instrument panel and flipped a switch that dimmed the cabin lights to a more suitable level. "Fly plane," he admonished Mr. Feenie. "And more cookies!" he added.

"Yes, Mr. Rufus," the robot sighed, opening another snack bin.

"Now, where were we?" asked Kim.

"Things were warming up," Ron prompted.

"Oh, that's right." She tugged at the hem of his mission shirt. "I bet you'd be a lot more comfortable out of this. Why don't you let me help you with it."

Ron raised his arms above his head and let her pull the garment off him.

"There, I helped you cool off; now you should be a good honorary Pixie and help me in return," she murmured seductively, fingering her zipper pull.

Ron took hold and slowly unzipped the high-tech suit. "Say when."

Suddenly he halted.

"Uhhhh, Kim," he said. "You're not wearing a b– b–"

"A bra?" she finished, placing her hand over his and guiding it down several more inches. "I know. The Battle Suit actually works better against bare skin. Wade says the fabric uses the electrolytes in perspiration and my body heat to generate power."

"And you do have an exceptionally hot body, KP," Ron said with an exaggerated leer.

"Watch it, Bad Boy." Kim chided him with her voice, but clearly relished the compliment.

"Anyway, the suit gives me all the support I really need — I'm not exactly built like Bonnie — and to be honest, it just feels so good against my skin ... although you feel even better. Mmmm, oh yesss, I love that ..."

Ron did too, along with the ardent kisses that ensued.

When their lips finally parted, Kim looked into Ron's brown eyes and saw an impish gleam.

"What?" she inquired.

"I was just wondering how far this bare-skin deal goes, KP. Anything under here?" he asked, playfully squeezing her toned, shapely glutei.

Kim blushed pink, but looked steadily at Ron. "Stick around and you may get to find out, Mad Dog ... Someday."

"I'm looking forward to it, KP," he said sincerely.

"Likewise," Kim responded, bringing her lips to his once more.

As Kim and Ron enjoyed their romantic interlude, Chip Force One continued on course for Middleton. At about one hundred miles out, the robot pilot spoke up.

"Mr. Rufus," he said, "we are approaching our destination. Should I inform Miss Possible and Mr. Stoppable?"

"Hold on," the naked mole rat chirped. He hopped down and peeked behind the curtain. After assessing the sitch, he climbed back up to the right seat. "Nuh-uh, busy. No land yet," he instructed the pilot. "Fly circles!"

"Circles?"

"Circles!" he affirmed, waving a foreleg in the air for emphasis. "And need cookies!"

The next day dawned warm and sunny. Kim and her parents were in the kitchen breakfasting when Ron came in.

"Ave, familia Possible!" he said in greeting.

Kim rose and gave him a "Hi, Ron" and a chaste kiss. James Possible rustled his newspaper and harrumphed something that might have been hello.

"Hello, Ron," Ann Possible replied warmly. "It sounds like you're all set for your Latin final. Can I fix you some breakfast?"

"Very tempting offer, Mrs. Dr. P., but no thanks. I thought I'd treat your lovely daughter to brunch at the Chateau de Flapjacks after our exam."

"Kimmie, you're a very lucky girl. That's so sweet, Ron. I'm sure you'll do very well on the exam. You've turned into quite the Latin scholar."

"I'm all about Latin, Mrs. Dr. P. I think I was a Roman gladiator or something in a past life."

"Roamin' hands at the very least, I'll wager," James muttered from behind the Examiner.

"Dad!" Kim gasped. "James!" Ann scolded. "Ah ... uh ... gulp ... um ..." was the best Ron could manage.

"Oh, sorry. Did I say that out loud?"

"We need to get going, Ron. Bye, Mom ... Dad." That last was said in a distinctly chilly tone, and the look she shot her mother was as eloquent as could be: Please talk to him. The two teens headed off to school.

"James Possible, I can't believe you said that. You embarrassed them. I thought we agreed you would ease up on Ron. They're good kids, James."

"Be mad at me if you want, Annie, but I'm telling you, that boy looked awfully guilt-ridden to me."

Ann glared at her husband through narrowed eyes. "Mmm hmm, I guess my memory is playing tricks on me. I could have sworn I remembered your hands doing their share of roaming over my body well before we were married, but I must be mistaken ..."

He retreated behind his paper, utterly routed.

"I cannot believe he said that!" Kim fumed.

"Aw, let it go, KP. He just wants to protect you. I'm sure I'd feel the same way if I were a dad. It was kinda funny too."

"Ha ha. So funny."

They walked hand-in-hand in companionable silence until they reached the Middleton High entrance. As Ron opened the door for her, Kim noticed he seemed tense.

"You okay, Ron? You're not worried about the final, are you? I know you'll do great."

"Worried? About the final? Me? Nah, it's no big, KP. I'll be fine. We studied a lot once we got back to your house. I should be fine. I just hope he doesn't ask too much about fourth declension nouns, I just can't get the hang of those. And the ablative case, if there's a lot on that I could be in for it."

"Ron —"

"And I really hope we don't have to translate any Cicero. That dude's stuff just ties me in knots."

"Ron —"

"Aw, man, I'm gonna tank this exam for sure. Why did I let you talk me into that make-out session on the plane? And then the flight ends up taking a half hour longer than it was supposed to; what was up with that? Geez, I am so doomed. This is gonna be the worst summer ever ..."

Ron was babbling, in total freak-out mode. Fortunately, Kim had anticipated this and had a plan to deal with it. She grabbed his arm and pulled him into the janitor's closet. (Yes, that closet.) She shut the door and, placing a hand on either side of his face, planted a soft, tender kiss on his lips. Once she was sure the immediate crisis had passed, she pulled out her Kimmunicator (Wade had had a new one waiting in her room after the mission; don't ask me how he does it.) and contacted her youthful tech guru.

"Hey, Wade, here's the sitch: I need you to beep me, loud, at 8:55 sharp. Got it?"

"Sure, Kim, can do."

"Thanks, Wade. You rock around the clock."

After ending the call, she returned her full attention to her boyfriend. Her hands on his shoulders, she locked her emerald eyes on his.

"All right, Ron Stoppable, listen to me: I have faith in you. You know this material. I know you can pass this test. You will pass this test. You'll treat me to that nice brunch; and then, since it's supposed to get really warm this afternoon, I thought we could spend some time at the lake. I even wore my new swimsuit under these clothes."

With that, she slowly peeled off her crop top, revealing a blue bikini bra a few shades darker than her prom dress. It wasn't the skimpiest ever, but few would call it modest; and it accented her curves wonderfully. "Like it?"

Ron's eyes grew wide. The reality of Kim in a bikini was way better than any fantasy. Placing his hands on her waist, he drew her in close.

"I love it, Kim. Thanks for pulling me back from the edge just now. You're fantastic. I know it's what's inside a person that's most important, but man, are you ever beautiful — inside and out."

"Why thank you, kind Sir," she demurely replied. "You're pretty cute yourself.

"And now, my gladiator," she not-so-demurely continued, sliding her hands up inside his shirt, "since we have about nine or ten minutes before Wade beeps us, how about I show you my roamin' hands?"

"Booyah!"

epilog

Middleton High School
Grade Report

Course: Introduction to Latin
Instructor: Mr. S. Barkin

Student Name ... ... Final Grade ...Status

Possible, Kimberly A ... A ... ... ... promoted to Grade 12
Stoppable, Ronald ... ... B– ... ... . promoted to Grade 12

Our little tale has come to a happy end, but there's a bonus scene in Chapter 3. Wonder what was going on in Ron's head back in Chapter I before he turned into Study Boy? (That's study, not studly.) Kim nearly naked, yes, but that wasn't all. Click and find out.

But first, in case anyone out there is still confused ...

Amor vincit omnia et nos cedamus amori. — Love conquers all, and let us give in to love. (Virgil)

tempus fugit — time flees

glutei — the 'A' of 'T&A'

Ave, familia Possible — do I even need to explain that one?

Oh, and for the definitive downlow on the infamous MHS janitor's closet, be sure to read MrDrP's excellent oneshot, Kim Possible: The Spirit Dance Files.

Costa Maya, Mexico – Limón, Costa Rica – Gatun Lake, Panama
Sunset Beach, Jamaica – Grand Cayman
November MMV