Author's Note: Alright, it only took me about a month to update this time! Still not an ideal time-frame, but considering I managed to post three chapters for two of my other stories during that month, I guess it's not that bad.
Anyway, as always my greatest thanks to captainkodak1, noveler00, mattb3671, Godhand's Number, Ezbok58a, cl, Zoko, and continental-line for taking the time to review this story. And thanks to everyone else who has taken the time to read it.
In response to Zoko and continental-line's question/comments, Kim and Ron are applying to be police cadets, not police officers. Many American police departments have similar programs (Usually called Explorer Programs) aimed toward high school students interested in a career in law enforcement. In most of those departments, Explorers are a lot like Boy Scouts; they meet once or twice a month, usually to cover a specific topic such as laying flair patterns, directing traffic,handcuffing suspects, etc, and get to periodically ride-along with officers while they patrol the streets. Typically, these Explorer Scouts are kept away from the front-lines and are rarely in any real danger.
The Cadet Program that the Middleton Police Department runs, however, is going to be quite a bit different than the traditional Explorer Programs run by most other agencies. Since Middleton is a small town, cadets are utilized in more of a Reserve capacity; providing additional support to officers on the street by responding to non-threatening calls-for-service, enforcing parking, conducting security checks on parks, schools, and businesses after-hours, and generally providing any other assistance that the normal patrol officers request. Though it's not the department's intent, cadets are much more likely to get involved in a dangerous situation than an Explorer is.
One final comment I want to make before I get on with the story - this chapter is going to contain some 'police vernacular' that most of you are probably not going to understand. Don't worry, that's intentional and shouldn't detract from the scene as a whole... my goal with doing this is to put you directly into Kim and Ron's shoes; at this point in the story they have no idea what's being said over the police radio either, so they're just as confused as you may be.
Having said all that, enjoy chapter 4...
Chapter Four
- Middleton High School -
(Tuesday)
While Kim was finishing up her interview at the Middleton Police Department, back at Middleton High the halls were nearly devoid of life. All of the various clubs and sports teams that met after school had long since ended, and their members had left for the day. In C Hall, the only noise that could be heard – besides the whine of the aging heating system – was the lonely echo of footsteps as Ron slowly made his way to his hall locker. Cheer practice had ended almost an hour before, and in the time since all the teen had managed to do was wander the various halls deep in thought.
First and foremost on his mind was Kim's interview with the chief of police. He hadn't really thought about it before, but if they didn't get the job with the Middleton Police, that was it; there was nothing else… at least nothing that even remotely resembled what they had been doing. As Kim had said earlier; it was either work for Middleton PD, or take an early retirement.
The other thing that was gnawing heavily at his normally upbeat disposition was the recollection of what he had done to Bonnie the day before.
For three years Ron had endured almost daily insults from the brunette-haired cheerleader and always turned the other cheek. Then, when he finally got a sliver of revenge, protected Kim from doing something she would regret, and put Bonnie in her place without lifting a finger in violence, what happened? He felt sorry for Bonnie and guilty for embarrassing her.
Reaching his locker and opening the door, Ron let out a frustrated sigh as he pulled Rufus from his pocket; placing him on the ledge of the opened locker where the molerat immediately dove into a half-empty bag of Doritos chips.
"What do you think, Rufus?" he asked his rodent friend.
Rufus popped out of the bag and tilted his head in confusion.
"Do you think I went too far yesterday?"
The molerat shrugged his shoulders and offered Ron a half eaten tortilla chip from the bag he was sitting in.
"No thanks buddy," Ron sighed again. "Let's just get out of here and-"
"Hey Stoppable!" a deep voice called out from behind them.
Reluctantly Ron turned and found Brick Flagg, Neil Fenster, and Doug Reilly standing shoulder-to-shoulder behind him in the empty hallway. He had been expecting some type of run-in with Brick due to his relationship with Bonnie, but Neil and Doug were a bit of a surprise. While Brick was on the JV football team, Neil and Doug were both seniors and Varsity football all-stars.
"H-hey Brick," Ron greeted nervously. "What're you guys doing here?"
Brick glanced up and down the empty hallway and casually replied, "Looking for you dude."
"Oh really, am I that important all of a sudden?" Ron asked, forcing a small chuckle.
"We heard a rumor that you said something to my buddy's girlfriend," Neil said, gesturing toward Brick.
"Yeah man," Doug spoke up. "Apparently you told everyone she gave you an STD last weekend. What's with that dude?"
"Hey look," Ron replied defensively. "It… it was just a little joke. See, Bonnie was teasing Kim about something and-"
"So since when do you fight Possible's battles loser?" Brick interrupted, taking a few steps toward the nervous teen.
"No, that's not… she's just… and then there was the crowd, and… and… it's kinda complicated."
"Complicated huh? Well then why don't you come with us so we can talk about it," Brick said, giving his buddies a discreet nod.
"Oh hey, y'know actually I really need to-"
"That wasn't an offer Stoppable," Doug growled, stepping forward and grabbing the front of Ron's red jersey. "Let's go!"
As they shoved him forward toward the door to the locker room, Ron's cell phone fell out of his pocket and skidded to a stop under a row of hall lockers.
---
- Middleton Police Department -
"So what's your schedule like on Friday afternoons?" Peter asked Kim as he escorted her back out to the station parking lot. "Do you still have cheer practice, or do you take a break for the weekend?"
"No, not usually," Kim replied, squinting slightly from the mid-afternoon Sun's glare and fishing her cell phone from her pocket. "I let the squad have Friday afternoons off unless there's a game or competition that weekend."
"How 'bout Ron?"
"We've pretty much got identical schedules," she informed him. "School and otherwise."
"Must be nice," Haas commented. "So you two are good to go this Friday after school then?"
"Sure," she replied.
"Cool." He glanced from the cell phone in Kim's hand to the empty parking lot and back. "You got someone coming to pick you up, or do you need a ride?"
"Nah," Kim replied, flipping her phone open and dialing up her friend's number. "Ron's waiting at school to come pick me up. Thanks for the offer though." She hit the connect button and brought the phone up to her ear, waiting as it rang several times.
"Hello?" Ron's voice echoed through the receiver.
"Hey Ron it's me," Kim greeted. "I just wanted to-"
"Nah, I'm just messin' with ya," Ron's voice interrupted. "You got my voicemail. I'm either out saving the world, or stuck in this 21st century internment camp known as high school. So leave a message at the beep and I'll call you back…" The line grew quiet for a few seconds before Kim could hear Ron's voice speak up once again, though slightly fainter, as if he was no longer speaking into the receiver. "…okay, now which button do I push to save this recording? Hey Rufus, which button do I push to save my voicemail recording? Push the pound key? There is no pound key… what's a pound key? There's a star key and a tic-tac-toe key but no-"
-Beep-
"Um, hey Ron," Kim said in a slightly baffled tone. "Uh… just calling to let you know that I'm finished with my interview and ready for you to swing by… uh, give me a call when you get this message." She pulled the phone away from her ear for a moment to glance at the clock. "It's 4:51… give me a call… bye." She closed her phone slowly and stood staring at the small device for several seconds.
"Something wrong?" a voice asked behind her.
Kim turned and discovered that Peter was still standing a few feet away from her, polishing his sunglasses with a small hand cloth and leaning casually against the wall of the building.
"Um, no… it's fine," she replied in a tone that was clearly lacking sincerity.
"Doesn't sound fine," the teen noted casually.
"It's nothing," Kim insisted, trying more to reassure herself than her boss. "It's just I've… I've never gotten his voicemail before."
"He usually answers?"
"He always answers," Kim replied adamantly. "In class, on missions, in movie theaters… we even got into a huge fight a few months ago after I discovered he answered my call while in the bathroom! I had to get my mom to wipe my Kimmunicator down with rubbing alcohol before I would touch it again!"
"You think he's in trouble?" Peter asked, still leaning casually against the side of the building.
"I… I don't know," she replied nervously.
"Where'd you see him last?"
"At school," Kim answered. "He was going to hang out there until I called him for a ride. He knew I'd be calling around this time."
With a small sigh, Peter donned his Ray-Ban's and pushed himself off the wall. "Alright," he said with a hint of annoyance. "Let's go find him…"
---
A few minutes later, Kim was sitting nervously in the passenger seat of a Middleton Police Ford Explorer staring out the window in the direction of the high school.
Despite Ron's somewhat random personality, there were a small handful of things that Kim could always count on from her friend. First and foremost on that list was his availability.
Ron was never out of contact for even the smallest amount of time. It was a trait that Kim had always depended on whenever Wade gave her a mission. Even if it was in the middle of the night, she always knew Ron would answer. He'd be half-asleep, but he'd still answer.
Glancing across the interior of the patrol car, Kim noticed that Peter was still retaining his casual attitude over the situation. The Cadet Lieutenant had his left arm draped indolently over the steering wheel and was typing something on the small laptop-style computer mounted between their seats.
After about twenty seconds of typing, he leaned back and hit the 'Enter' button. The computer let out a diminutive ring in response and opened up a new window with information that Kim couldn't decipher.
"What was that you just did?" she asked, trying to quell the apprehension that was audible in her voice.
"Just letting dispatch know what we're up to," Peter replied.
Before Kim could ask him to elaborate, the police radio mounted in the console between their seats came to life.
"25-Q-5, copy your MDC traffic; out on portable, code 6… Middleton High School," the female dispatcher casually stated.
"Is she talking to you?" Kim asked.
"Yup, just relaying what I already typed in," Peter replied, pointing to the computer. "This is called a Mobile Data Console or MDC. Once you can figure out how to use it, you can do everything dispatch does; self-initiate or clear a call, run a check on a vehicle, person, or gun, and type messages back-and-forth between other officers."
"25-Q-5, are you gonna be code 4 on your code 6?" the dispatcher asked.
"What's a code 6?" Kim asked.
"Out for investigation," Peter replied, unhooking the radio mic from its mount on the dashboard and bringing it up to his face. "25-Q-5, no status… I'll advise when code 4," he informed dispatch before re-holstering the mic and guiding the cruiser into the back parking lot of the high school.
"Q-5 copy; will advise."
"There's his scooter!" Kim shouted, pointing to Ron's beat-up blue scooter which was still parked next to the bike-rack in front of the school.
"Alright, calm down," Peter urged the near-frantic teen. "I'll check the gym, boy's locker room, and boy's bathrooms. You look everywhere else you think he may be." He reached behind into a duffle bag on the back seat and pulled out a second radio that was identical to the one holstered on his duty-belt. "Take this with you," he ordered. "If you need me, push the button and say 'car-to-car, 25-Q-5 go to TAC 2'. Then turn the knob there to channel 6 and say whatever you need to say; you don't have to worry about the radio codes."
"Car-to-car, 25-Q-5 go to Talk 2… got it," Kim repeated before turning and running into the school.
Removing his sunglasses, Peter shook his head regretfully and followed Kim into the building, mumbling something about Ritalin and too much caffeine.
---
- Boy's Locker Room -
"I asked you a question Stoppable!" Brick hissed, releasing his grip on the front of Ron's collar. He watched with satisfaction as the dazed and battered teen fell back against the gym locker and slid down onto the concrete ledge that ran the length of the locker isle.
"I guess he's got a problem hearing," Doug noted, standing behind the quarterback with his arms folded across his chest.
"Or maybe he's trying to be funny again," Neil suggested.
Brick turned back to Ron and glared down at the helpless teen. "Is that true?" he asked, cracking his knuckles. "Are you trying to be funny again loser?"
"N-no," Ron muttered. He tried to keep his left eye open, but the swelling from the beating they had given him earlier was making the task difficult. "I was just-"
"Then answer me!" he roared. "Why'd you insult my girlfriend in front of all those people?"
"I was…" Ron trailed off.
"You were what?"
"I…"
"Answer me!"
"I was trying to protect Kim!"
Neil and Doug both cackled and shook their heads in disgust.
"Is that so?" Brick asked quietly. "Well it's too bad she's not here to return the favor."
As the jock brought his fist back for another punch, Ron closed his good eye and prepared for the inevitable pain that he was sure to receive.
Instead he heard Brick cry-out in pain…
---
- A Hall -
Across campus from the boy's locker room, Kim was hurriedly making her way down the empty hallway looking room-to-room for signs of Ron. She'd already checked every place she thought she may find him – plus several places she knew she wouldn't find him – but had turned up no sign of her friend. She had found a small group of students studying in the library, but none of them knew – or cared – where Ron was.
Just as she was about to exit the hallway and head back into the cafeteria, Kim caught sight of someone exiting the girl's bathroom out of the corner of her eye. Spinning around, she saw a familiar blonde-haired teen walking toward the other end of the hallway with her backpack slung over her shoulder.
"Tara!" Kim shouted, drawing the girl's attention.
Caught off guard, Tara yelped and jumped slightly. She turned around and saw Kim standing in front of the cafeteria doors with a 2-way radio in her left hand and a very worried look on her face.
"Jeez Kim, you scared me!" Tara scolded her squad captain. "How'd your job interview go at the hospital?"
"My what?" Kim asked, confused.
After a few seconds she remembered she'd told the other girls on the squad that she was interviewing for a part-time intern position at the Medical Center. She'd had to give them some reason for cutting practice so quickly, and for some reason she didn't feel comfortable telling them she was interviewing for a job with the local police.
"Didn't you have that intern interview thing today?" Tara asked again.
"Oh yeah, it was fine," Kim replied dismissively. "Have you seen Ron around here?"
"Yeah sure," the blonde replied. "I saw him about five minutes ago."
"Where?"
Tara turned around and pointed toward the other side of the school. "He was with Brick and his friends over near C Hall," she said.
"He was with Brick?" Kim asked suspiciously.
"Uh-huh," Tara nodded. "He, Brick, Doug, and Neil looked like they were all going somewhere."
"25-K9-1, copy your 11-95 at Rheem and Grove… code 4 via MDC," Kim's radio squelched.
"Hey is that a police radio?" Tara asked, pointing to the Motorola in Kim's hand.
"Uh, yeah."
"Cool, what're they saying?"
"I don't know," she replied curtly. "Look, did you see where they were going?"
Tara opened her mouth to answer, but the radio beat her to it…
"Car-to-car; Possible, go to TAC 2!" Peter's urgent voice came through.
"Now what're they saying?" Tara asked.
Ignoring her friend, Kim switched the knob on the top of the radio to '6' and hit the talk button.
"This is Kim on Talk 2," Kim replied.
"Boy's locker room, code 3!" Peter replied.
Kim had no idea what 'code 3' meant, but the boy's locker room was right next to C Hall, where Tara had seen Ron with Brick.
"Is something wrong, Kim?" Tara asked apprehensively.
"Find Mr. Barkin and tell him to get to the boy's locker room!" Kim replied, shoving the radio into her pocket and turning to leave.
"Why, what's going on?" Tara asked. "Is Ron in trouble?"
"Just do it!" Kim ordered.
Tara nodded timidly and ran off in the direction of the main office. As soon as she was gone, Kim ran out the door and headed toward the boy's locker room.
---
- Boy's Locker Room -
As Kim rounded the corner and entered the boy's locker room, she had no idea what she was going to find. She knew Brick was dating Bonnie, so obviously any contact he made with Ron was not going to be on friendly terms. Her only hope was that Brick hadn't done anything too rough.
"Ron?" Kim yelled as she entered the concrete room and gazed out over row-after-row of metal gym lockers.
"Over here!" Peter's voice called-out from a few rows down.
As Kim ran over and entered the isle she had heard Peter call out from, she was suddenly stopped dead in her tracks. In the center of the locker isle was Ron, Brick, Peter, Doug, and Neil…
Ron was sitting closest to her with a slightly dazed look on his face. The collar of his jersey was torn slightly and there was a small amount of blood running down the front of it. His nose was bloodied and there was a bruise beginning to form around his left eye, but aside from that he didn't appear to be in too much pain.
The same could not be said for Brick…
Brick and Peter were both on the ground in front of Ron. Brick was laying face-down on the cold and dirty floor groaning in pain with Peter kneeling on top of him. The Lieutenant had his left knee jammed against the back of the jock's neck and was holding his wrist behind his back in a position that looked to Kim like something straight out of COPS. Neil and Doug were both standing at the end of the isle watching in horror as their friend was pinned to the ground by the uniformed cadet.
"Ow, you're breaking my friggin arm, man!" Brick moaned in pain.
"Shut up and put your other hand on the back of your head!" Peter hissed.
Brick tried one more time to wrestle free of Peter's grasp, but the cadet tweaked his thumb back against his arm, eliciting a louder yelp from the quarterback. Finally he did as instructed, bringing his free arm back and placing his hand on top of his head.
Reaching behind, Peter pulled a pair of handcuffs from the back of his duty-belt and snapped them around Brick's wrists. Once his hands were securely fastened behind his back, he yanked Brick upright and sat him down across the isle from Ron.
"25-Q-5 update your status!" the radio mic on his shoulder squelched.
"25-Q-5, I'm code 4 for now; one detained for 243. We're gonna be in the boy's locker room, advise 25-K9-1 and have him continue code 1," Peter replied into the mic.
"25-Q-5 copy, code 4 for now; requesting K9-1 to continue code 1," the dispatcher replied."25-K9-1 do you copy?"
"25-K9-1 copies, I'm about three out," Ruiz's voice replied.
Kim was about to ask what was going on when the back door of the locker room burst open and Mr. Barkin came charging in with Tara trailing close behind. The administrator took a moment to survey the scene in front of him; taking note of Ron's battered appearance, the look of pain on Brick's face, and Peter standing behind him in a police uniform.
"Alright," Barkin said to no one in particular. "I want an explanation for what's going on here!"
"That makes two of us," Kim muttered.
---
- Principal's Office -
"Look," Ron sighed, readjusting the icepack on his eye and glancing back-and-forth from Peter to Mr. Barkin. "I understand you guys feel a need to follow procedure on this, but I really don't see a need to drag this out."
Having brought order to the situation, Mr. Barkin had relocated everyone to his office to figure out what was going to be done. Since Neil and Doug hadn't actually taken part in beating-up Ron, Peter had decided to let them leave with the understanding that Barkin would deal with them the next day.
Mr. Barkin was seated at his desk overlooking the other five teens. Ron was seated on the other side of the desk next to Kim, and Peter was standing against the wall watching Brick; who was still handcuffed and sitting on a bench next to the door. Tara was standing at the rear of the room watching Ron with a look of concern in her eyes.
"I don't think you understand how serious this is, Ron," Peter said. "With Brick's physical conditioning, he could have seriously injured you had I not been there to intervene. Based on what I witnessed, you have every right to press charges against him for misdemeanor battery."
"Just because I have the right doesn't mean I have to use it," Ron replied defensively.
"I'm afraid I'm going to have to agree with Haas on this, Stoppable," Barkin interjected. "This isn't the type of thing you should turn the other cheek about."
"I wasn't gonna do anything too bad to him," Brick informed all of them. "I was just trying to teach him a lesson!"
"Shut the Hell up until I tell you to speak!" Peter snapped.
"Watch your language, Haas," Barkin ordered.
Peter opened his mouth to respond, but was interrupted by Ruiz, who opened the office door and strolled into the room.
"I just got off the phone with the District Attorney's office," the officer announced, tucking his cell phone into his bulletproof vest and glancing down at Ron. "They're willing to file a complaint against this guy if you wanna press charges dude."
"I don't want to press charges," Ron replied quietly.
"Ron-" Kim spoke up.
"I don't want to press charges," Ron repeated. "It's all over, there's no reason to blow this out of proportion."
"You sure about this, bro?" Ruiz asked.
Ron nodded.
"Looks like you don't have to go to jail today, Brick," Peter announced condescendingly. "Stand up and turn around."
Brick did as he was ordered and Peter removed and re-holstered the handcuffs.
"Stoppable may have been compassionate enough to turn the other cheek on this matter," Mr. Barkin announced as Brick started toward the door. "But I am not. Consider yourself suspended from school for the next two weeks. I'm also removing you from all extra-curricular activities for the duration of the school year."
"You're what?" Brick gasped, spinning around and staring wide-eyed at the administrator. "But that means I can't play football anymore! That's not fair, Mr. Barkin!"
"You're right, that's not fair," Ruiz agreed. "Hooking you up and sending you to Juvenile Hall would be fair. You're getting off easy in my opinion."
Brick glared at the occupants of the room before turning and storming out of the room. Ron and Tara both jumped slightly as the office door slammed shut behind him.
"Can we please go home now, Mr. Barkin?" Kim asked after a moment of silence.
"I believe we're done here," Barkin stated, glancing up at Ruiz. "Do you need anything else from them, Officer?"
Ruiz pocketed his notebook and shook his head. "Nope, I'm good to go," he announced, looking over at Peter. "You wanna give 'em a ride home?"
"Sure," Peter nodded. "You wanna take the report on this?"
"Nice try," Ruiz laughed. "But I think I'll let you draw the DR for this one."
"Damnit," Peter grumbled.
---
"What are we gonna do about my scooter?" Ron asked when they got out to where Peter and Ruiz had parked their patrol cars. "I don't feel like riding it home right now, but I don't wanna leave it here over night either."
"We should be able to fit it in the back of the Exploder," Peter replied. "You wanna give me a hand, Sego?"
"Yeah, just a sec," Ruiz replied, opening the trunk of his car and retrieving a leather dog leash from his bag. "Let me just water Max first."
"Max?" Kim asked. "Who's Max?"
"My partner," Ruiz grinned, opening the back door of his cruiser.
Kim and Ron both jumped back slightly as a very large and excited German Sheppard flew out of the car and ran over to them. Looking up at Ron, the canine barked and shifted back-and-forth like a puppy waiting to play fetch.
"Kim, Ron, meet Officer Max," Peter announced.
Though Ron and Kim said nothing, Rufus popped out of Ron's pocket and waved, giving the dog a friendly "Hi". Max sniffed the molerat a few times before barking again and wagging his tail approvingly.
"Max, komm heir!" Ruiz ordered.
The dog turned and ran back to his owner, who pulled a bundled-up sock from under his shirt and tossed it out onto the soccer field for Max to fetch.
"Can you give me a hand with the bike, Kim?" Peter asked, wheeling the scooter over to the back of the Explorer and opening the door.
"Sure," Kim nodded. She grabbed the basket on the front of the bike and helped lay the scooter on top of the equipment in the cargo bed of the SUV.
Closing the door, Peter walked around to the passenger side of the cruiser where Ron was sitting with his head resting against the headrest.
"You sure you don't need to go to the hospital, man?" the cadet asked, taking note of the discoloration around the teen's left eye. "You don't look so good?"
"It's not as bad as it looks," Ron reassured him. "Other than a splitting headache it's not that bad."
"If you can drop us both off at my place I'll have my mom check him out," Kim offered. "Just to make sure he's alright."
"Sure, hop in."
---
- Possible Residence -
Once she got home, Kim brought Ron into the kitchen and sat him down at the table so her mom could take a look at his wounds. Peter, meanwhile, was standing near the doorway pretending not to notice the disapproving look Mr. Possible was giving him.
"Well," Mrs. Possible announced, checking Ron's pupils for signs of trauma. "Aside from the black eye I don't see any serious damage. Your nose isn't broken either, though I can imagine it probably hurts quite a bit."
"It's not that bad," Ron reassured the worried doctor. "I don't think Brick's punches killed too many brain cells," he joked.
Andrea nodded and turned toward Peter. "It's a good thing you found Ron when you did, someone with that boy's strength can do a lot of damage."
"Fear not Mrs. Dr. P, it's nothing your home-made meatloaf can't heal," Ron announced.
"I suppose that means you'll be staying for dinner then," Andrea said, pretending to be surprised.
"Has the Ronster ever missed meatloaf night?" Ron asked innocently.
"Are you going to be staying as well?" the surgeon asked, looking over at Peter.
"Thanks, but I'm meeting my girlfriend for dinner in about thirty minutes," he replied, turning toward Kim and Ron. "Take care of that bruise Ron, and I'll see you guys Friday afternoon."
"See ya later," Ron waved as the teen walked out the door and headed toward his cruiser. Once he was gone Ron turned to Kim and asked, "So, how'd your interview go?"
Kim and her mom both smiled and rolled their eyes.