Sweet mother of pearl! I am floored by the number of reviews and hits for this first chapter. Clearly, there is an appetite for AU stories. I only hope you, kind readers, feel I have delivered the goods with this and subsequent chapters.
Thank you reviewers old and new: campy, Jezrianna2.0, Lonestarr, Jokerisdaking, SirDucksworthy, chao-hellsing, Ace Ian Combat, qtpie235, little-n-lost, RamaFan, Charles Gray, Harufu, userx, Ly Thi, Zaratan, mattb3671, TexasDad, Jasminevr, nmorgendorffer, intrepidwarriors, Yuri Sisteble, Dixon-San, Growly Genet, and Zoko. Thanks, also, to Ace Ian Combat for adding this story to his C2.
Special thanks to campy for his excellent editorial assistance.
If you're looking for an enjoyable one-shot, check out Yuri Sisteble's "Time Cooties." All sorts of time traveling fun in less than 2000 words.
Since I posted the first chapter, I decided that everyone in this story was three years older than first reported. Thus, Kim and Ron are actually 30. I made that change to address KP's still-incredible academic achievements and some events that will unfold later in the story.
TI reports that they defeated the BeBes with either the lemon zester or the grapefruit spoon. They can't recall which …
Finally, if you saw it on KP on TV, Disney owns it. I'm saving my quarters with the hope of changing that soon …
I.
Kim was engrossed in her work. She had been struggling with a particularly thorny problem, but began to see the glimmer of a solution around 4:30. When she began to make progress her excitement mounted, and she lost track of time.
She'd been sitting at the computer for hours. When she began to feel her muscles stiffen, she got up to stretch. It was then she noticed the hour: 8:20. "Darn!" Kim said to herself. "I was supposed to meet Ron at 7:00! He's going to think I blew him off!" She pulled out her cell phone to call him, then realized she didn't have his number. She tried directory assistance, called his house, but no one was there. She slumped in her chair. There was no way he'd still be there, she thought. Still, why not try?
Kim ran out of her office and to her car. She jumped in and sped through the streets of Middleton. Just as she approached the pizza parlor she saw the flashing red lights of a police cruiser in her rear view mirror. She banged her head against the head rest and growled.
"Fire, ma'am?"
"Sorry, officer, but I'm an hour and a half late for a dinner …"
"Uh huh. License, insurance, registration, please …"
Kim rummaged through her bag and glove box for the requested documents. She impatiently drummed her fingers on the steering wheel, wondering how long it could take to write a citation. After what seemed an eternity, the policeman let her go. She jumped out of her car and ran into the pizza shop. She approached the booth, amazed, but pleased, that he was still there.
"Ron?" she said, sheepishly.
"Kim?"
"Uh, hi, I was working on calibrating the frequency of the nanotransceivers …"
Ron began waving his hands. "Whoa, I only speak English."
"I got caught up in my work," she explained, nervously playing with her hair. "I guess it's a self-absorbed scientist thing. I'm sorry I'm so late. You still hungry?"
"Yeah, I'm still hungry," he said grinning goofily. "Maybe we can get a pizza with some pepperoni … and nanothingies!"
Kim smiled. Ron was weird. But she liked him. A goofball. But he made her laugh. Like nobody else she'd ever known.
And he'd waited. For her.
II.
Both Ron and Kim were surprised by how easy they found talking to one another. It felt like they had been friends forever.
Yet they both knew they didn't really know much about each other. And they were both curious.
"So, Kim, tell me about you. You said you were a scientist." Before she could answer, Ron peered at her with narrowed eyes. "You're not a mad scientist like that Drakken guy I saw on TV?"
Kim laughed. "Well, I do have the pony tail," she said, flipping her hair. "But do I look blue to you?" She smiled. "No, I'm not a mad scientist. Just a garden variety medical researcher. My work is with technology and the brain." For some reason, Kim wanted Ron to understand what it was she did. So she explained it in a way that would have shocked her colleagues; there was not a condescending word or patronizing tone to be heard.
"Sounds kind of like science fiction. Coolio!" Ron, feeling comfortable with Kim, began to forget his eating habits, and stuffed a slice of pizza into his mouth. Kim raised an eyebrow and he realized what he was doing. "Heh, heh. Sorry, live in the woods with wolves and all that …"
Kim found herself laughing again.
"So, anything else interesting?"
Kim took a deep breath. "Just trying to finish a divorce from my high school sweetheart who turned out to be so the jerk."
"Oh. Sorry."
"I'm not. You know he blamed me for the break up of our marriage? Me! Said he was unfulfilled. That I was too caught up in my research. And this from the guy who practically lived in his stupid art gallery. He didn't seem to think that his sleeping with other women might be part of the problem. I remember thinking he was 'golden' and so 'sensitive'. He is such a creep," she spat our venomously.
Ron couldn't help himself and just gaped slack-jawed at Kim.
"Too much information, huh?"
"N-no need to apologize," Ron said stunned. "I, I … never mind," he stammered, looking uncomfortable.
"What? Spill!"
"No, n-nothing. R-really."
Kim then did something Ron had never seen anyone do. She turned a little to the side, hunched up her shoulders and … pouted. It was mesmerizing. "Tell me, pretty please?" she seemed to ask, but in reality demanded.
Ron looked at her. He was toast.
"You are so beautiful. What guy in his right mind would want to sleep with someone else when he could sleep with you … Oh geez, I can't believe I just said that." Ron first brought his hands up to his mouth, then hung his head in his hands, as he concluded that Kim was going to think he was some pervert. What he didn't see was Kim blushing.
"You know, Ron, you're sweet and you're smooth. You must have quite the love life," she said playfully.
Ron's head snapped up; he was about to light into her for mocking him, but he could see she was being sincere. He smiled ruefully. "Sorry to disappoint, but nothing interesting to report."
Kim could see wistfulness in Ron's eyes as he said that. She could sense that he marched to a different drummer; maybe that had put people off. She wondered if she would have been smart enough to be friends, let alone date him, if they'd met when everything was going well in her life. She hoped she would have been, though she suspected otherwise. Knowing she had this chance, she felt especially fortunate. She looked at him, then offered a warm smile. "Well, Ron, I think you're pretty neat. And I'm glad we're friends."
"Really?"
"Yes. And Ron, about that compliment before? Thanks," she said as she reached across the table and took his hand for a moment before quickly withdrawing hers. She then nervously ran her fingers through her hair. "Uh, Ron, look, I'm uh, I don't know, you see …"
"Kim, it's okay. Friends, remember?"
"Yeah, I know. It's just that, well, I so enjoy being with you. It's been a long time since I've just felt comfortable talking with someone, letting my guard down …"
"And things are complicated in your life. I may not be a mad fu science genius like you, Kim; in fact I'll tell you a secret – I was such a slacker it took me five years just to get out of high school, and I think they gave me the diploma because they finally got tired of looking at me. Though, y'know," he said, parodying a look of thoughtfulness, "maybe I could get college credit if I hang out with you since you're so smart …"
Kim chuckled at that. She was impressed by Ron's ability to know what she needed to hear; Josh had never been this good and they'd known each other for more nearly a decade and a half.
"… but I think I know what you mean," Ron continued. "I'm cool with being friends. Really."
"Thanks, Ron. You rock." This time, when Kim reached across to Ron, she left her hand on his for quite a while. It had been a long time since someone's touch had been so reassuring.
III.
"Well, Kimmie, you certainly seem happier these days," Ann said as she set a plate of bacon and eggs in front of her daughter. With work becoming even more hectic and the divorce negotiations dragging on, Kim decided she might as well avail herself of some Mom-and-Dad pampering; Ann and James were happy to oblige.
"Thanks, Mom. It's Ron."
"Ron?" her father asked.
"Yeah, he's the guy at Bueno Nacho I snapped at last month. He's really funny and easy to talk to. It's like I've known him my whole life."
"So you've been seeing a lot of each other?"
"Well, that's the funny thing," Kim said, "I mean, I have been going there for lunch every day ..."
Kim's father put down his paper to look at his daughter; she looked back.
"… Well, I went and apologized like you suggested and before I left, Ron had me giggling …"
Her parents both stared. Neither could remember the last time Kim had actually giggled.
"… I just felt, I don't know, at ease there. It seemed like an oasis. So I go there every day for lunch. It's like my sanity break. And Ron always takes my order and we chit chat. And then we shared lunch one day and that didn't work out so well because of some distractions but then we went out for pizza the other night and we shut the place down."
"It sounds like you like him, honey."
"I do …"
Kim then saw the expression on her mother's face.
" … Oh. Like like. Well, I might. But it's early. But he is kind of cute. But I'm a highly trained scientist and, well, he didn't even go to college …"
James and Ann glared at their daughter. Kim felt like she'd walked into a buzz saw.
"That sounded pretty bad, didn't it?"
She was met with silence. Kim sighed. Thirty years old and she was still worrying about Bonnie Rockwaller's food chain, even after it had landed her with Josh Mankey and a whole bunch of heartache. Ron was sweet, funny, polite, and kind, supposedly the things that really mattered in a friend … or a romantic interest.
"Wow. I really am so the jerk." Kim shook her head, but then smiled. "Mom, Dad, thanks. I don't know what's going on with Ron; things are confusing for me right now. But at least I'll be able to see things more clearly. You guys rock."
"And we roll, too!" James added with a grin.
Kim groaned. Her father's attempts to be cool only got lamer as he got older.
IV.
"Rufus, hey buddy, how ya doin'?" Ron was worried. Rufus rarely moved now, even when offered cheese. "Hey, how about we go visit the vet, okay?"
Ron gently bundled Rufus up for the trip to the animal hospital, then called Bueno Nacho to let them know he'd be late. He reluctantly left the naked mole rat with the animal doctor, who said he wanted to keep Rufus under observation.
Ron left, distracted. Rufus was his oldest friend. He didn't want to think about life without him. He was glad he and Kim were growing closer; it was an incredible relief to know he had someone in Middleton to lean on.
V.
"I want to see the manager, now!"
Ron heard the shrill voice of Mrs. Flagg, the woman whom he privately thought of as Bon-Bon ever since Kim had told him about her. He was not in the mood for this, not today. Still, he was the boss.
"Yes, Mrs. Flagg?" he said to the brunette, who had two little diablos in tow.
Bonnie sniffed. "I want you to fire that person" she said, pointing disdainfully to the teary-eyed teen behind the counter.
"Come again?"
"You heard me! Or is that tie too tight for you? I said I want you to fire that person. Now."
"May I ask why?"
"She was rude to my children."
Ron turned to the teen. "Marcy? What happened?"
"They began using curse words, and I asked them not to, that it wasn't nice to the other customers."
Ron stared at the two children. "Did you use bad words?" he asked.
They proceeded to use some on Ron; Bonnie interrupted. "That is not the point. Your help should not be telling my children how to behave!"
"Somebody ought to," he replied. He was tired and his thoughts were still on Rufus.
"What? Who do you think you are? You, you nobody! They give you a polyester shirt and a clip-on tie and you think you're important …"
The door to the restaurant opened just then. Kim walked in.
"… Just because you're that loser Kim Possible's Taco Boy Toy doesn't mean you can talk to me or my children that way. I'm going to …"
"You will not talk about Dr. Possible that way. Or any of our other customers, Mrs. Flagg. And I do not appreciate your harassment of my staff. Now please leave or I will have to call the police."
Bonnie stared at Ron open-mouthed. Kim was stunned too. Where had he been, she wondered, when they were in high school? It would have been magnificent to see Bonnie put in her place back then.
Bonnie then glared at Ron, turned, glared at Kim, and dragged her two weapons of mass destruction out the door.
Ron smiled wanly. "Usual?"
Kim smiled warmly in return. "Please and thank you."
"One usual, please and thank you for Dr. Possible," Ron called back to the kitchen crew, which elicited a smile from Kim. "Will you excuse me?" he asked.
"Of course."
Ron found Marcy and calmed her down, reassuring her that her job was safe. Then he looked at Ned and said, "Ned, you've got the bridge. I'm taking five." Ron then walked over to Kim in what everybody at Bueno Nacho had begun to think of as "their booth," and slumped down in his seat.
"You spent how many years in school with her?"
"Too many to count. And never did I see anybody give it back to her the way you did. You so deserve a medal."
Ron grunted. Kim could tell something was wrong.
"Spill, Ron."
"Rufus."
"Your pet?"
Ron shook his head. "He's not a pet, Kim, he's my friend. I've known him for eighteen years. When I was a kid and everybody was calling me a loser and ignoring me, Rufus was there for me. When my best friend moved away and we lost touch, Rufus was there for me. When I struck out with girls or found myself in relationships going nowhere, Rufus was there for me. When my life stalled out because I was just too lazy and unmotivated to do anything, Rufus was there for me. He's always been there for me. And now, he's, he's … oh man," Ron choked up. "Kim, he's old. He's dying."
She looked at her stricken friend, recalling time spent as a resident walking the floors of the hospital, meeting people whose loved ones' days were numbered. Ron reminded her of those people. She couldn't imagine being so close to an animal. But then again, she wasn't Ron. She thought it sweet that this man had a heart big enough to love something as weird as a naked mole rat.
Kim got up and came to Ron's side of the booth and put her arm around him. "I'm here, Ron. We'll deal with this together."
VI.
Telling Ron she'd be there for him was one thing; actually being present was another. Kim's current project had reached a delicate stage. She became increasingly lost in her work. And she stopped going to Bueno Nacho every day.
It wasn't that she didn't want to see Ron. She had come to look forward to her daily excursion to the fast food restaurant. But after the pizza dinner, they agreed that their friendship had reached the stage where they might do things other than see one another for lunch. They began to talk on the phone at night, go to the mall to shop (Ron was amazed at how much money Kim could spend on clothing, but never said anything), and even went to a wrestling match. (Kim decided that if she was going to be a good friend, she'd have to humor Ron's interest in the GWA. Though not too much.) And they decided that they'd have dinner on Fridays. Kim had even made a notation in her PDA that Friday was her "Ron Night." The first week they went out, the next two times they'd made dinner at her house. His eyes had almost popped out of his head when he saw her kitchen. He was shocked by how well equipped – and how underutilized – it was. He quickly remedied that. As a result, Kim's eyes almost popped out of her head when she ate the first meal he'd prepared for them. Ron, she discovered, was an incredible cook.
Kim had yet to go to Ron's place, and wondered if he might be ashamed of where he lived. She couldn't imagine that running a fast food restaurant paid that well.
But as the project progressed, Kim talked to Ron less frequently and cancelled two consecutive Friday dinners. Ron feared that something like this would happen sooner or later and kept telling himself that he wasn't losing Kim as a friend but that she was just busy with her work. Still, it made him sad. He'd really come to enjoy her company. And things with Rufus were not improving; Ron was increasingly concerned and felt he could really use a friend the day he had to bring his little pink friend to the vet for yet another check-up. When he got home, he called Kim at her lab.
"Hi Ron, I'm busy," she said curtly.
"Oh, sorry, Kim, just called to, uh, talk …"
"Wish I could, but I don't have time," she said as she peered at the nanoprobe schematics on her computer monitor.
"Yeah, sure, sorry to bother you, bye …" he said sadly. Ron hung up the phone and sighed. Being friends with Kim was so much harder than he imagined it would be. When she was caught up in her work she was in a zone and became a different person, which troubled him. Because right now she was the one person he wanted to talk to.
VII.
A couple of hours later Kim was reviewing some data when she caught sight of the Bueno Toy on her desk. She frowned. She'd brushed off Ron. In fact, she really hadn't been that good a friend lately. Not that she'd ever been a particularly good friend to anyone, ever. She'd always been focused on her own needs, especially since high school. She thought of Monique wistfully.
It then occurred to her that Ron never called her at the lab just to talk; for that, he called her at home. The more she thought about it, the more she was bothered. And then she realized that he had just backed off, even though, now that she thought about it, he sounded troubled and sad. He didn't push her for her time, he didn't ask her to set aside her work. He was the complete opposite of Josh, who constantly insisted that his needs were important and her work was not.
She picked up the phone and dialed Ron. The phone rang and rang; finally the machine came on.
"Ron, it's Kim, please pick up if you're home. I'm sorry I couldn't talk earlier. Pick up. Please."
"Kim?" Ron answered with a faraway voice.
"Ron, are you okay?"
"It's Rufus …"
"Oh no, he didn't …"
"No, but I, I …"
"Hold on, Ron, I'm coming over …"
"No, you don't have to Kim. I know this project is important."
"Darn it, Ron," Kim said with more emotion than she anticipated. "You're important, too. Now tell me how to get to your house. I'm coming over." She owed this to Ron. And, she realized, she owed it to herself. The project could wait a few hours.
Ron relented and gave Kim the directions. She made a quick stop at her place, then drove to Ron's. He lived in a modest neighborhood, very different from the upscale one where her condo was located. She pulled up in front of the apartment complex, parked her car, and rang the bell.
Ron didn't say anything as he let Kim in. He lived in a studio. The place was neat, but in a hurry-up-and-clean-company-is-coming-over kind of way. Kim smiled, guessing that Ron had rushed around to tidy up before she arrived.
She was carrying a small package. She put that down, then embraced Ron. "I told you I'd be here for you, Ron. I'm sorry I wasn't."
"It's okay, Kim. You're here now."
They stood quietly for a moment. "You want to sit down?"
"I'd like that, thanks," she said as she sat on the futon. She patted the spot next to her, encouraging Ron to sit next to her. She then handed him the bag. "This is for Rufus."
Ron opened the sack and took out a worn stuffed animal. "Nice, KP. Uh, what is it?"
"It's Pandaroo. I slept with it pretty much every night until Josh and I began, uh … Then I put it away. Until the night you gave me the replacement Bueno Toy. Anyway, Pandaroo always made me happy whenever I was sad or wasn't feeling well. I thought Rufus could use a little company when you're not around." She got up, and Ron followed as she walked over to the naked mole rat. Rufus stirred and looked at the stranger.
"Hi, little guy. My name's Kim."
Much to her surprise, she'd have sworn he squeaked, "Rufus" in reply.
"And this is Pandaroo," she added. "He's very special to me and I thought you might like him." She gently put the plush toy next to Rufus who looked at it, then nuzzled it. Rufus looked at Kim and beamed – and then at Ron, at whom he squeaked "un huh!" and winked.
"Th, thanks, KP. This is great." Ron said, seeing how happy Kim had made Rufus.
Kim smiled. "So, what's this KP bit?"
"Huh?"
"KP. That's the second time you called me that."
"Uh, I don't know. It just came out of my mouth. Hope you don't mind."
Kim smiled at Ron and took his hand, "Actually, I like it a lot. It's pretty cute. Just like you." Then she leaned in and, much to Ron's surprise, kissed him.
VIII.
Kim began with a light peck on his lips, but was soon kissing Ron hungrily, pulling him close to her, pressing her body against his. Ron was stunned, but soon melted into the kiss. He was content letting Kim take the lead, knowing only that he didn't want it to end. He'd kissed women before. But never like this. He'd waited his entire life to be kissed like this by someone. It was worth the wait.
And then it was over.
Ron looked into Kim's eyes; they were moist. "Ron, I, oh, oh …" she pulled away, then, before he could say anything, she turned and left.
He looked at the door as it closed behind her, stunned. Where a moment ago he'd felt a happiness he'd never before known, he now only felt an emptiness gnawing away at his gut.
It was a great kiss. But it wasn't worth losing Kim's friendship. And he feared that was just what had happened, the moment she ran out the door. Ron looked over at Rufus, who was asleep holding the stuffed animal, then sighed.