Author's note: Please don't kill me.

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"Meat cakes…. Everywhere. So cold, so cold." Ron was huddled in the corner, muttering to himself unconsciously, just as he had been ever since the pair had left Norway. As he did, Kim could only give him a bewildered look. She was used to some weird stuff where her boyfriend was concerned. In fact, it was part of what endeared him to her so much, but this was a whole new kind of weird. Kim just dismissed it as one of many mysteries about Ron's nature that would probably remain unsolved.

As it was, she certainly wasn't going to let it ruin her afternoon.

"We're almost at the drop site." The pilot called out.

"Thanks again Mr. Richards." Kim Possible called out to the man sitting in the co-pilot seat.

"Oh please Ms. Possible. It was you who saved my plane in the first place. Giving you and your partner a free ride for the afternoon was the least I could do."

"No big." Kim assured. "Anyone with enough duct tape could have reattached that broken wing in mid fall. I just happened to be in the area."

Kim turned from the pilot to her snoozing partner. She grimaced slightly at the unsightly drop of drool that seemed to dangle ominously from the corner of his mouth.

"Ron."

Kim's voice seemed to have little effect on the slumbering blonde.

"Ron!"

Again, no response.

"Free nacos!" Kim announced to no one in particular.

"Nacos! They're free. I'll take twelve." Ron grumbled as he forced his eyes open, sitting up right anxiously, if somewhat disorientated.

"Rise and shine. We're here." Kim announced with a grin.

Ron took a moment to regain control over his senses before noting his surroundings. They were in the back of a large cabin, obviously aboard a cargo plane, and clearly, still in the air. Both he and Kim were dressed in modestly thick jackets to protect them from the surprisingly cool temperatures at that height.

"Yes. Yes we certainly are… which is where again?" Ron looked at Kim puzzled.

"We are currently over Athens, Greece." Mr. Richards announced.

"So, I guess that means we're going to be landing soon?" Ron asked, still puzzled by the look in Kim's face. He knew her well enough to know that she was happy about something and it was far more than just arriving in Athens. She was up to something.

"Well actually, Mr. Richards is only flying us overhead. The hotel in Norway sent most of our stuff on ahead for us, which means we get off here." Kim stated.

"Get off?" Ron's eyes widened with horror. "You mean…?"

"We're going skydiving!" Kim announced proudly. "And this time, we're pulling our chutes together, after we've gotten some air, instead of straight after the jump."

Ron's face went chalk white before he fainted back into unconsciousness.

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"Yea, though I leap from this plane of certain doom, I shall fear not pain or being horribly splattered for miles, for I am good and the Naco is with me." As Ron recited his prayer, Rufus remained perched on his shoulder, his tiny paws placed together in imitation of Ron's hands, presumably uttering a similar chant in rodent.

"Ron, we do this all the time." Kim reminded him with a groan.

"When we're on missions! I thought we were going to relax on this vacation. You know, sit back, enjoy the sun, make silly faces while posing in front of some great tourist snap shots. Not throw ourselves out of planes."

"Actually son," Mr. Richards spoke up, "statistically, only one out of every hundred thousand jumps results in any sort of injury or fatality."

"Yeah, well it only takes one time!" Ron countered hysterically. "After that, they're serving you up at the pancake house."

"Hoo, pancake." Rufus shivered with the thought.

"Ron, amp down the drama. Are you ready?" Kim asked as she rechecked his pack, at his instance, for the third time. She'd been so busy helping him, she hadn't even put her own on yet.

"Uhhmm, maybe we should go over the safety instructions?" Ron offered.

"Again?" Kim asked.

"This makes four times." Mr. Richards counted.

"What, are you keeping score?" Ron returned smartly.

"Fine." Mr. Richards sighed before indicating to himself. "Once you're ready, pull out your chute." The man mimed the motions.

"And what if the chute doesn't pull?" Ron asked nervously.

"Then you simply pull out your backup chute." The older man indicated again to where this was located.

"And what if that doesn't pull?"

"Well, then there's a very precise procedure you should observe. First, bend over."

Ron looked a little confused before hesitantly complying with the instruction.

"Now, grab your ankles tightly."

Ron did as instructed.

"Then, reach your head back and kiss your behind goodbye." Mr. Richards chuckled, eliciting a slight giggle in Kim as well.

"Oh ha ha." Ron retorted. "That's it, this was a bad idea to begin with, and it's not sounding any better the more I think about it."

Kim sighed. She knew this was coming. She had prepared herself for this.

"Ron, come on." She moved over to the door, opening, allowing the pressure in the cabin to rush out the door. She caught herself, as she gestured outside. "See, nothing to worry about." She shouted over the roaring gush of wind as she indicated to the vast landscape and ocean below them.

"Nothing except miles and miles of ground racing towards me at hurting speeds!" Ron countered.

"Don't you mean 'hurtling'?" Mr. Richards asked.

"I said what I meant and I meant what I said." Ron shot back before turning around, crossing his hands in determination.

"Ron, will you just…. RON!" Kim's words came out a fading cry. Ron turned around, just in time to see the last of Kim's shoe follow the rest of her as she flew right out the open cabin door and down towards the ground below.

"She doesn't have her chute on!" Mr. Richards indicated to the side, where sure enough, Kim's chute pack laid untouched.

"KP!"

Ron didn't even blink twice as he rushed over, grabbing the spare chute before diving straight out of the cabin and down towards Kim.

It took him all of a second to locate her falling form. Sure enough, she was keeping her arms and legs spread so as to increase wind resistance, and give him a chance to race down towards. Ron maintained his strict dive form as he cut through the air towards her. He knew that Kim could put a chute on in mid drop; he'd seen her perform the stunt quite a few times more than he cared to count. The tricky part was getting it to her before the ground got to her.

Ron squinted as the wind tore mercilessly into his face. In spite of the fact that he could feel himself falling at incredible speeds, the ground didn't really seem to be getting any closer to him as he'd always imagined it would.

In a split second of over determination, Ron shot straight past Kim. Realizing his mistake, he dropped the dive, stretching his arms and legs out in exact imitation of her, feeling himself slow down slightly and allowing him to elevate back up enough to catch up with her.

"KP!" Ron cried out, holding tightly onto the chute for dear life, even if it wasn't his life on the line.

Ron watched as Kim seemed to glide over towards him, her hand reaching out, grabbing tightly onto one of the straps of the pack. As her one hand grasped tightly, she brought the other hand around too, as they both held on. However, Kim did not pull the chute towards herself as Ron expected. Instead, both she and Ron shared a life and death grip on the two straps, the pack bridging them as they fell.

"KP! What are you waiting for? Take it!" Ron shouted anxiously to Kim.

"Not yet!" She cried back.

Ron looked at her in horror before looking down. Surprisingly, the ground really didn't seem as close as he felt it should have. Still, as breath-taking as the sight was, the thought of Kim plastered all over it froze Ron's blood a thousands times worse than the wind.

"KIM!"

"Not yet." She insisted.

The two fell. Ron knew that his chute wouldn't carry them both. Try as he might, if he had, he couldn't bring himself to pull until he knew she would join him. Yet she still wouldn't take it.

"Ok." Kim admitted, before finally taking the chute from Ron. In spite of the velocity at which she fell, Kim made packing herself seem easy. Ron could only remember all the fuss he had had putting his chute on, all the while she strapped herself in in mere seconds.

"Pull!"

At Kim's instruction, both chutes opened simultaneously. Ron let out a huge breath of relief as he felt himself jerk before being caught up by the winds. He felt his breathing slow as he could feel himself slowly float down towards the ground below as he readily reached out for the steering lines, grasping hold of them tightly.

"Let's see if we can aim for the Parthenon." Kim shouted out to Ron.

Ron merely followed her lead through the sky. Below them, the city of Athens slowly came into focus. Ron could slowly make out buildings, streets, small moving specks that he eventually realized were people and eventually, outside the city, the structure of the ancient Parthenon itself.

The sight really was awe inspiring. Yet it only distracted him for a moment as he looked up at Kim, staring at her confident face as she guided herself downwards.

Kim steadied herself as she came in for a landing, touching down several yards away from the ancient monument. Ron brought himself down only a few feet away from her, his landing every bit as graceful as hers.

"Phew! Now that was fun." Kim announced wide eyed as she took in a deep breath.

"KP! Are you ok?" Ron immediately detached his chute, before running up to her, embracing her tightly.

"Never better, thanks to you." Kim replied warmly as she returned the hug.

"Oh my god, I thought you…" Ron paused for a moment, before a certain series of thoughts began to organize themselves within Ron's mind, leading him to only one horrifying conclusion.

"You did that on purpose!" Ron shouted for the entire world to hear.

"No I didn't." Kim replied innocently.

"You did! You totally did that on purpose." Ron renewed his accusation.

"Well, it got you to jump without pulling right away, didn't it?" Kim replied with a satisfied grin.

"KP!" Ron replied mortified. "Are you crazy?"

"Well, my boyfriend thinks so, but as cute he is, he doesn't always know what he is talking about." Kim teased.

"This is so not funny Kimberly Anne Possible." Ron continued to chastise.

"'Kimberly Anne Possible?'" Kim repeated in mock shock. "Who do you think you are, my mom?"

"You could have been killed!" Ron stated as if it wasn't the most obvious thing in the world. "What in the world were you thinking? Do you have any idea how much danger you were in?"

At this, Kim's face turned humble as she removed her pack, before bringing her arms around Ron's neck, her eyes meeting him in dead seriousness as she asked softly "Ron, would you ever have let me fall?"

"What? No, of course not. Never" Ron replied without thinking before adding "but…"

Kim merely silenced him by leaning her head against his chest. "Then I wasn't in any danger." She replied softly.

Ron was speechless. He kept his mouth open a few seconds longer in the hopes that words might come out, but instead, a fly flew in and then right back out.

He wanted to be mad at her. He so did. He knew he had plenty of reasons to be. He wanted to sit up on high on his pedestal and list all the reasons why she should never have done what she had done. Instead, he felt himself melt like butter in her grip. He could feel every last bit of his anger evaporate within his embrace, leaving him with nothing but sheer contentment.

"You know, you owe me after that heart attack." Ron at least tried, if nothing else, to sound angry. The results were much less than he had hoped for.

"Oh, I'm sure I'll find some way to make it up to you." Kim sounded extremely confident in her assurances as she pulled her head back from Ron's chest, her lips reaching up to meet his in one of the most passionate kisses the two had shared in since embarking on this trip.

"I keep forgetting how much of a turn on near death experiences are for you." Ron teased as he pulled his head back in amazement, trying to catch his breath all over again.

"Shut up." Kim laughed as she slapped him playfully in the chest.

Ron just returned the laugh as he reached out, taking her in his arms, and bringing her back tightly against his chest. For a moment, the two just paused to enjoy themselves, when suddenly a thought popped into Ron's head.

"You had a backup chute, didn't you?" Ron accused.

"What?" Kim seemed taken aback by this latest accusation.

"You so did, didn't you? It's under your jacket isn't it?" Ron went on.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Kim insisted.

"KP…" Ron drew out the syllables as he stepped purposefully towards her.

"Ron, don't you dare." Kim stepped back, grinning the whole time.

"Let me see under your jacket." He demanded with a wide grin.

"Not a chance."

"Kim!"

"No." She replied, giggling.

"KP!"

"No!" Without another word, Kim turned around, laughing as she fled from Ron who was in close pursuit behind her, laughing the whole way.

The two reached the grand structure of the Parthenon in under a minute, laughing the whole way.

"Excuse me, pardon me. Angry boyfriend. Coming through." Kim explained half heartedly as she rushed her way through a pack of camera happy tourists, giggling the whole time.

"KIM!" Ron cried out as he worked his way though the same pack. "Excuse me, sorry. Busted girlfriend. One side."

The pack of tourists spared only a moment to ponder this strange phenomenon before returning their cameras to the magnificent carvings and sculptures in the sides of the historical monument.

The chase endured for several minutes longer, the two laughing through every foot step of the pursuit before Kim finally concealed herself behind a spare column. She expected Ron to poke his head around after her, but instead, was surprised to hear and see nothing.

Surely, she couldn't have lost him that easily. He'd only been a few short feet behind her.

She knew far better than to simply poke her head out and take a peak, but the anxiousness finally got the better of her.

"Ron?" Kim carefully stretched her head out to look around, but could find neither hide nor hair of him.

It was at this very moment that a pair of hands reached from her side out for her ribs.

"Monkey tickle!" Ron let out his vengeful cry as his hands mercilessly attacked her sides, prompting a cry of furious laughter from Kim.

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It had been an absolutely perfect day spent outside the Parthenon. Kim and Ron hadn't heard a thing any of the tour guides had said. Instead, they had spent the entire time together just laughing and talking about nothing, scarcely able to keep their hands off each other for longer than a second or two at a time.

Ron took a moment to notice that the sun had begun to set. The reflection off the water seemed to paint the sky a fiery red.

"Wow."

Kim's hushed whisper came as a surprise as she let herself fall into Ron's warm grip, his arms wrapping naturally around her as the pair shared in the sunset.

The moment reminded him so much of their gondola trip through Venice. The way the sun seemed to make Kim's red hair simply burn. The outline of her full lips somehow perfectly illuminated by the slight shadowing of her face through the angle at which the light hit her face.

Even her breathing seemed so much the same. Perfectly relaxed, tranquil. Content. In all their lives, it seemed a physical impossibility to Ron that Kim Possible could ever sit still for anything. If she wasn't sleeping, she was always jumping around to something or other. Yet no matter where she went, no matter how many other people she interacted with, no matter how many other lives she touched, there was one person, and only one person, who was allowed to be there with her through all of it. And he realized that it was for him and him alone, that she ever stopped to stand still for, even if only for a second.

"Kim…" Ron's voice was trembling. This was it. Oh god, now that it was going to happen, really happen, he was going to screw it up, he just knew it.

"Yes Ron?" Kim slowly worked her way within his grasp to turn around, facing him squarely.

"There is something… something that I've wanted… needed to ask you since we came over here. I mean, not here in Athens, just here, over here to this whole country. I mean continent. I mean…" Ron could feel the blood rushing to his face. He was kicking himself for even having spoken up now, because now it was too late to bail out.

"Ron." Kim's voice was so soft, so warm. "It's ok. You know you can ask me anything."

Ron was trembling. He was a nervous wreck. Oh god, why hadn't this been a problem in Paris, or England, or Venice. Why now, of all times, did he have to break down?

"Kim… you are the most amazing thing that has ever, could ever happen to me. You are my best friend, my hero, and my girlfriend. You are gorgeous, brilliant, funny, and the only person I trust completely with my life. Whatever else has happened to me in my life, I always knew that you were there with me. Even if I had the whole world against me, I always knew you were in my corner, and that was all I ever needed."

Ron's trembling hand worked his way into his pocket, unnoticed. Oh god, please let it be there, please let it be there.

Sure enough, it was.

"I can't imagine a day in my life without you in it, and I never want to. Whatever else happens to me, I want to face it with you by my side."

Keep going, you're doing ok… sorta. Don't think about how beautiful she looks, don't think about how beautiful she looks… oh god she looks so beautiful.

Kim Possible wasn't human. Not at that moment. With the setting sun behind her, illuminating her very presence, she was a goddess. An angel sent down to live among mortal man and show them that there was more in their world than they had ever imagined. The small, freckle faced, braced red head he had known as a young boy had vanished, and in her place stood a young woman of unparalleled beauty.

Ron had to rush this. In another second, he was going to crack, he knew it.

With all his strength of will, Ron reached into his pocket, producing a small, purple clothed box that lightly clicked open at Ron's trembling fingers, producing a golden ring with a fierce green, flawlessly cut emerald fixed perfectly in the center, the sight of which took Kim's breath.

"Oh my god…" Kim's breath rushed out of her body all at once. "Ron."

"Kimberly Anne Possible," Ron got down on one knee as he took her ring hand in his while holding up the box in one. "Will you have me as your husband, through bad times, and good, through richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, till death do us part. Will you be my wife? Will you marry me?"

The world froze. Time stopped. The rotation of the earth on its axis abruptly ceased and the planet and all its cares, concerns, noises, and lights were put on hold.

With every second that passed, Ron's heart beat faster and faster until finally he was sure it would burst right out from his chest.

Finally, Kim's voice returned her response, carried through a ghost of a whisper.

"No."

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Author's Note: Please, please, don't kill me. :)