Chapter 9: Will You?
Ron opened the hood and stared at the interior. Oh please, lord, not now! Not tonight! What was he doing? Exactly what am I supposed to see that's going to tell me how to get this hunk of junk running in the next five minutes?
He got back into the driver's seat and turned the key again. Nothing happened. There was no quiet clicking meaning the battery was in the process of dying. No, the dome light came on when he opened the door. The headlights were still on. His car still had electrical power. He turned the key again. Zilch! Nada! What did that mean? How come they didn't teach Auto Shop in school any more? Dad took Shop! Why couldn't I? For that matter, why did Dad insist I save money to buy this used hunk of garbage? He's got enough of my money squirreled away for me to buy a Porsche!
Then again, he realized, thoughts like that were precisely why he couldn't touch the greater chunk of that money until he turned twenty one. Maturity can be such a bummer sometimes.
There in the gloomy light of the interior lights he noticed his hands were covered in engine dirt.
-sigh-
He was sitting there on the edge of the drivers seat, his head hanging low when a brand new, baby blue Mustang convertible pulled up beside him. He didn't look up until the driver spoke.
"Loser-mobile conk out on you again, Mad Dawg?"
Ron didn't want to look up. He didn't want this. Not now, not ever if you really thought about it. The last thing he needed was to get into a verbal battle with Bonnie Rockwaller.
"Duh!" was all he could get out.
Bonnie looked at the young man, smiling viciously. Any one of a dozen hurtful barbs sprang to mind, ready to be hurled at her main rival's boyfriend and near life-long companion. Then she started to wonder. Why is the Loser so dressed up? Wasn't K's B-day a couple weeks ago? That mean's Stoppable's birthday was just last week! Surely they had already had their special celebrations! Why would he be dressed to the nines for a date? Unless…
No! This is so rich! The loser is even screwing this up!
She looked at him a moment. He was so dejected. This wasn't right. Being rivals is one thing, watching something like this go wrong is another thing completely. This sort of thing was not to be screwed up. Not if she had anything to do with it.
Plus she would have something to hang over them FOREVER!
"Get in, Ron." She reached over and opened the passenger door.
"Huh?"
"I said get in before I change my mind."
He numbly consented, not bothering to lock his old wreck. The standing joke was that somebody would come along and do $50 worth of damage to it – that is, to steal it outright.
Honestly, right now that would be cheaper than hiring a tow truck to drag it home again.
"Here." Bonnie handed Ron a moist-nap for his dirty hands, followed by a small bottle of hand sanitizer. Sure, it wouldn't hurt for his hands to smell like gardenias!
In minutes they were in front of the Possible home. Bonnie simply pulled up to the curb and let Ron out.
"Thanks, Bonnie. I really don't know what to say."
"Just don't screw this up."
"What do you…"
"Uh huh. Just for one night, don't be a loser. K deserves better than that." With that she sped off, not waiting for Ron to say anything else.
James Possible was on the porch, first wondering why Ron was ten minutes late, then utterly perplexed that he was dropped off by none other than Bonnie Rockwaller.
"Car trouble Ronald?"
"Doctor P, I am beginning to think that my car was a trap set for me by Motor Ed or something."
"That bad, huh?"
"Worse…" his words trailed off as he looked up towards the landing.
Kim knew it was his favorite dress. Tight, black, short, clinging to every curve. It was the same dress she had put on to impress him when she was under the sway of the Moodulator. Even after they began dating, Kim left the dress in the back of her closet, thinking that it would bring up bad memories, until Ron said that the first memory it brought back was of the first time she kissed him. It still only made an appearance on special occasions and this, he thought, was more than special.
Somewhere over the last thirteen months the sight of Ron's eyes bulging out of his head for his daughter had stopped causing James Possible to go into heart palpitations.
Ron told Kim earlier that day that he wanted to go on a special date that night so they could properly celebrate becoming adults just between the two of them (their birthdays being family celebrations.) She enthusiastically agreed, loving the chance to really dress up and go out with her beau.
Kim's parents watched as the two headed for her car, their daughter already grilling Ron why on Earth Bonnie Rockwaller had seen fit to take pity on him.
"Say, I do wonder why she would do that." James said, lost in thought as the tiny car pulled away.
"I think she sensed just how special tonight is supposed to be. She may be a rotten little you-know-what, but I don't think even she could be that mean." His wife told him.
"Special? You don't mean…"
"Um hmm." She replied, smiling.
"Why, I'm going to. That little! My Kimmie-cub!"
"James, not that! Get your mind out of the gutter. All dressed up, dinner reservations…"
He puzzled his wife's comments for a moment, realization coming slowly. "I can't believe this! I always hoped Ronald would ask permission first!"
"He will. This is for them."
"They're too young!"
"James, we were nineteen and we still waited almost three years. Look at me! Those two are good kids. They are the best kids any parent could hope for. They will do the right thing. I love them and I trust them…as should you!"
Ron was starting to relax again. Plan B was now in effect. In fact, he wish he had thought about asking Kim to come pick him up in her car anyway, but something inside of him said that would be wrong. Girlfriends simply did not pick their dates up, not if those dates were proper gentlemen. That meant taking an almost disastrous chance with his old car. He still was reeling at the divine providence of Bonnie coming to the rescue. What was that about?
No matter. The evening was back on track. They arrived at the restaurant at precisely the time indicated by his reservations. It was perhaps the most exclusive eatery in all of the Tri-city area and it was almost always booked weeks in advance, sometimes even months. He knew he had burned up the majority of his favors securing the reservations, but it would be worth it. If everything else came off as planned it most certainly would be.
This also helped his cover story. If pressed, he would simply say that he called for a dress-up date because of an opportunity to take Kim there.
And there she was, sitting across the white linen table from him, smiling that wonderful smile, green eyes glittering. It took all of his concentration not to let the butterflies in his stomach ruin the moment. He even had his line planned out. When the waiter brought their salads he would ask "Would you like some extra karats with yours?"
Rufus, upon hearing that one, simply grabbed his throat and made gagging sounds.
Everyone's a critic.
Everything was in place. There was the waiter, just leaving the kitchen, two dinner salads on a tray. He put his hand in his pocket, his fingers closing on a very special object…
…and the lights winked out.
The whole restaurant was plunged into darkness. Not only that, but it was apparent the whole city block had lost power. Slowly their eyes adjusted to the mellow light of the single candles flickering on each table.
"Oh man!" Ron muttered, pushing the item deep into his pocket.
"Ladies and gentlemen." The maitre d announced. "I have just gotten off the phone with zee power company and zey say it will be at least three hours before zey can restore our electricity. I regret that, because of safety regulations, we will be force to close for the evening."
Ron didn't even hear him finish the statement. He just closed his eyes and silently counted to ten.
Time for Plan C.
Just what was Plan C anyway?
Somehow, dining and dancing at Bueno Nacho just didn't seem appropriate! Somehow he was again faced with the utter demolition of his planes.
No!
"KP, I think there's another place just on the other side of Mid-Town park. It's not nearly as nice as this, but I hear they make a Bon-diggity gourmet burger!"
"Sounds nice." She replied. She actually liked the place, though she had never actually told Ron that was one of the few places she had once gone to with Josh Mankey. Not that it mattered…yet…yes, it did matter. Not because of Josh but because of Ron. He risked his life to save hers that night and still loved and respected her enough to leave and let her finish her date. That was memory she wanted to keep from that time. Plus this time she wouldn't see Shego slipping up behind her trying to TP her.
They walked through the tree-lined park where once Ron had blown pollen toward her, where "Embarrassment Ninjas" had tried to seal her doom, where her little brothers had played a home movie of her taking a bath. All of that made her smile. It was all part of what led to her walking, hand in hand with the man she loved.
"KP, tell me something."
"Anything."
"Do you believe in soul mates?"
"You mean like with that Animology stuff?"
"Well, sort of. Do you think two people's souls are meant to be together?"
"Not like the 'Blue Fox,' 'Pink Sloth' type of thing. I think two people can be Soulmates, but it takes work. It has to be something they both want. I refuse to believe that two people can be meant to be together if they don't want to. That's the part of those 'Pini-elf' books I really never liked. I also believe in it because we've met a couple who are real Soulmates."
"You mean Jimmy and Dona?" a year ago they met the couple. They were from a completely different universe, one existing simultaneously with theirs.
"Yeah. Dona told me that they went to see this wizard named Arcus Oray so he could perform some spell that would merge their souls. In the process, the found out they had already done it by themselves."
She realized the Ron had stopped. They were standing in almost the same spot where he had saved her life several years before.
"KP, would you do that for me?"
"In a heartbeat, Ron Stoppable."
His trademark goofy grin spread over his freckled features. She thought for a moment he was going to kiss her to complete such a perfectly romantic moment. He surprised her when, instead, he dropped to one knee, pulling a velvet box out of his pocket.
"Kim Possible, will you be my Soulmate? Will you marry me?"
Her hands went to her mouth and tears started forming at the corners of her eyes. She reached for his hands and started to answer.
"Y…" was all she got out as the sprinklers came on, blasting both of them squarely in the face.
'THAT'S THE LAST STR…" Ron started to bellow when Kim gripped his hands and pulled him to his feet.
"Yes, Ron. YES YES YES!" she shouted, not caring that the two of them were getting solidly drenched.
His goofy grin returned. It had been a very Stoppable proposal!
"Now let's go home, get dried off and put on some clothes we can go to Bueno Nacho in." She suggested, pulling him after her.
Slowly the memory he was replaying in his dreams was replaced with a new feeling as consciousness returned. Pain was the first thing that registered as Ron awakened. It was a dull, distant pain but it was still there. It was the kind of pain that would not let you forget it, though it could be managed. He struggled to remember what had happened. He had opened the container door. Kim and Shego jumped out first, followed closely by Ron. He could remember jumping from their elevated position and dropping the one goon. Then came the pain.
Somehow he realized that he had been shot.
Carefully he opened his eyes. Focus came slowly. He must have still been under the influence of what they were giving him for pain. That meant he would be in agony if it was allowed to wear off. Even turning his head was painful. It felt like a knife lancing through his shoulder.
He was in some sort of hospital bed, but instead of the sterile smelling room he would expect from a proper medical center he was in what looked much more like a lab. There were unidentifiable instruments on each of the several counters. Moving his head as far as he dared, he could make out the door. It wasn't solid like a hospital door, it seemed to be made of two inch thick clear plastic, probably Lexan. There were air holes cut into it at regular intervals. The holes were just small enough that he knew he would be unable to get his hand through one.
Was this a lab or a prison?
A man in a white lab coat stepped up to the door and passed a card through a reader. The door clicked and he pulled it open, coming inside. "Ah, it looks like you are awake, finally. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Doctor Oray."
The door swung shut with an audible click.
It was a prison.
"Okay, what have we got?" Shego leaned on the railing, watching the shoppers milling around Underground Atlanta. They had abandoned the freight train before dawn, making their way to a subway station. The main hub of the Atlanta subway system was located adjacent to the shopping complex.
"One still-dead Kimmunicator, a swiss army knife and about forty dollars and some change." Kim counted off the contents of her pockets.
"All those pockets on those cargos and that's all you've got? Good grief, Kimmie, how were you expecting to pay for the rest of your vacation, keep glomming onto friend like Neil?"
Kim shot her an indignant look. "Honest people get to use their bank cards."
Shego smiled. "Nice Snark there Princess, but guess what? I've got a gold card!" She singsonged.
"Oh, and what, pray tell, is the alias on it? Or does it just have Shego? I so can't believe any bank would extend villains credit."
"You'd be surprised. But this one is one of my favorites, Sheila Ogehs."
"Ogehs? Oh, come on, that name is so last season. GJ uncovered it months ago when you tried taking control of that Norwegian bank."
"It worked the last time I used it."
"Really? Then why were you griping about Neil not being able to afford buying you the beer you like?"
"The IGA on the island didn't take this card."
"Sure, Shego. Face it, that alias is busted. Use that card and whether it works or not, you're just sending up a red flag where you are."
"Is that how…Wade?...tracked me?"
"No. But he has access to special satellites that can pinpoint your power signature. You're just lucky you've been suppressing them for the last few months."
"Really? Dang, I just thought it was me keeping my nose clean."
"Never mind. What else do you have?"
"I've got about five hundred in cash on me."
"Good, then our next move is to find a hotel."
"What in the world for?"
Kim pulled her collar up to her nose and sniffed. "We've been on the run for thirty six hours. We've been wearing the same clothes and we've been in a container with a bag of rotten burritos, fighting in a swamp and trying to catch forty winks in a box car that hasn't been scrubbed since the Nixon administration. Before we meet this guy you know, I want to at least have a shower."
"Gotta admit," Shego said with a snide grin, "You are the brains of your outfit."