Somehow the bumpy, drafty ride in an antiquated sea-plane seemed just like old times. Sure, it would take them six times longer to get home than it would if Global Justice had seen fit to send them by a hyper-sonic capable hover-jet, but they were operating outside of the auspices of that august body. Instead, this was a personal response to a hit directly on Kim's website. It seemed the reprieve following Drakken's last failure was really coming to an end. Other villains were starting to step up to the plate, though so far none had risen to the level of the imprisoned megalomaniac.
This time they had been called to an island in the Caribbean called Isla Verde. Naturally, the island was mostly jungle, hence the name. The lack of beaches and fairly rough terrain had kept it from being developed as a tourist destination, making it a perfect spot for those not wanting too much attention by the authorities. The new player was a former Wall Street trader named Nathanial Syder. Over a year ago he had been stripped of his license by the Securities and Exchange Commission, vowing at the time he would have his revenge. Well, it looked like he was going to have it after all unless somebody could infiltrate his hidden lair and foil his scheme. Somehow he managed to hack into one of the great intercontinental communications cables and was threatening to unleash a virus that would cripple the internet, virtually bringing the financial markets (and a whole lot more) to a screeching halt.
It was a pretty straight forward take-down. They tracked him to an abandoned smuggler's warehouse hidden in some man-made caves. Ron almost gave away their position when he got a sudden case of the giggles. When Kim glared at him, he simply pointed to what was written on the stack of crates they were hiding behind. "N. Syder Trading Co." Was stenciled on each one.
"Ron, quit playing around." Kim said, more interested in the layout of the building than what was printed on boxes.
"Kim, don't you get it? N. Syder? Insider trading. He got busted for insider trading." Ron said, trying to stifle his laughter.
"Oy." Kim said, rolling her eyes.
Of course, that was when his goons attacked.
"Why is it these freaks always have to have so many henchmen just to hack into a communications cable? You'd think by now they'd have figured out that brainless muscle is so last season." Kim said as she vaulted over one, doing a handspring on his shoulders, executing a flying kick-split that caught two more in the head, sending them down.
"Careful, KP. I haven't seen the Henchco label on these guys, better call them goons so we don't get another nasty letter from Jack Hench's lawyers." Ron rolled between the thug's legs, grabbing him by the ankles and pulling his legs out from under him. "Booyah!" he shouted, scrambling to his feet.
"Oh, like Hench is going to sue the two of us for using his name. Puh-leese!"
"Hey." Ron said, trying to roundhouse his nearest opponent, his fist bouncing off harmlessly. "He did it to GJ, and they ended up having to pay!" he ran screaming as the thug tried to grab him. The bulky man ended up losing his footing, crashing headfirst into one of the crates Ron had pointed to earlier, knocking him out cold.
In the end, they managed to make short work of the operation. The only real surprise was the way Syder was going to cripple the internet. The file Wade sent during the mission briefing didn't mention him having any major computer skills. Instead he 'outsourced' that particular aspect of his operation.
"I should have known, considering the deal Syder got busted on involved Smarty Mart." Kim said as they climbed back onto the sea plane as the authorities.
"Yeah. He must have found out about him though the company's internal mail or something. Who would have thought we were going to hear from Francis Lehrman again? Hey, maybe if we left him with 'Frugal Lucre' long enough he would have talked him out of all the over-prices goons." Ron said as he gripped the rail, ready to pull himself up after Kim. There was a sudden ripping sound, followed by "Aw, man."
Kim turned and smiled, expecting to see him climbing in with his pants ripped in two. She hadn't seen him as much the last week and was quite happy at the chance to see him in his boxers. Instead he was still on the ground, only his head showing .
"What's the matter, Ron? Come on, it's going to take long enough to get home."
"Uh, KP, can you get me my spare pair of pants?"
"Get up here, it's not like I've never seen you in your underpants. In fact I think I've seen them more than your outside pants."
"Very funny, Kim, just hand me some pants."
She frowned. He was serious. "Ron, don't tell me you went commando today. Of all the people in this world who shouldn't…"
"No, it's not that, just…please!" He pleaded with her.
"Okay." She opened his pack, pulling out his tan 'street clothes' cargo pants. "Better make these last, you've already used up your extra pair of mission pants." She leaned out the door to hand them to him. He looked almost desperate trying to hold the remains of his ruined pants together.
"Ronnie, sooner or later I'm going to see more of you, I guaranteed that."
He responded with a scowl, swirling his finger indicating she should turn around.
That is so weird she thought. If he didn't forget to wear his underpants, why in the world was he so worried I was going to see him? Heck, I actually want him to model what I got him for his birthday next week!
Somehow, Ron managed to switch right back into sulk mode once they were in the air. He'd been that way for the whole mission, only putting on his 'game face' for the fight itself. She assumed it had to do with Rufus. The poor little guy had come down with a mild ear infection. How Ron knew that, she had no clue. His ears were almost totally invisible anyway. The upshot was the Naked Mole Rat was going to be just fine, but air travel was totally out of the question, meaning he had to sit this one out.
It made sense that Ron would be missing him on the ride up, but he should have been getting amped to get home. "Ron, honey, what's wrong?"
He managed a weak smile. "Nothing, just feeling, how would they say it on that show? Moopy, yeah, that's it."
"Ron? You moopy? Say it isn't so. You're too full of Ron-shine to be moopy."
"I'm human, KP."
"Maybe it's your time of the month." She clucked at him, earning her a slight scowl. "If anything, I'm the one who should be ticked off, not you."
"Why's that? I thought that was next week anyway."
"No, but maybe you need to look up the definition of PMS. Anyway, I should be peeved because, Ron, it's Friday."
"Yeah, well, that's part of it, I guess. I was looking forward to our date, now it's going to be early Saturday before we actually get back."
Kim crossed her arms and glared at him. "Ron, it's Friday. Friday July twenty-ninth? Ring any bells?"
"Princess Di's wedding anniversary?" he said, forcing a grin until her glare turned darker. "Okay, that's another reason I was bummed. I had a little surprise planned for you for the official moment you turned seventeen."
"You were actually going to wait until nine seventeen to even say 'happy birthday' to me? I don't know if that's sweet or just silly. You had me thinking all day you just plain forgot."
"Me forget the most important person in my life's birthday? Well, it's because of what I had planned, but that's not going to work now." He got up and sat down beside her, taking her hands and kissing her warmly. "Happy birthday, KP."
"That's more like it. I've missed you this week."
"I've tried to be a good boy for you. I've saved up for our date. Too bad it won't happen now."
"There's tomorrow night."
"Not really. Your folks have your big family 'birthday' dinner and all planned."
Kim pulled him close and kissed him again, glancing toward the cockpit. The pilot had his attention totally on the skies, not the teenagers smacking lips in the back. "There's always afterwards. I still don't have a curfew until school starts."
"Funny, every time we stay out after midnight your Dad still gives me the hairy eyeball. And since your mother knows what we'd been up to…"
"Ron, it's because she knows that she trusts us all that much more now…what do you mean being a good boy? I haven't seen you a single night this week."
"I thought you only wanted to go out on Friday and Saturday now?"
"When school starts! Ron, Monday I can appreciate you hanging with Felix so I could shop with Monique, but I didn't see you except during the day all the rest of this week." She kissed him again, letting her hands stray teasingly up his legs. This time the kiss was a lot more than warm. "I'm starting to think this whole date-night thing was ferociously stupid. I've missed this." She kissed his neck, using her fingers to pull the collar down slightly.
She got up, a little unsteady on the pitching deck of the plane. The pilot noticed her and favored her with a smile. They had already exchanged the usual pleasantries with him on the way out. He knew they were a couple even before they mentioned it as they made small talk earlier. It seemed the Weekly Sphere had come into the possession of some fuzzy shots of the two making out in several public places, including a night-vision shot of them on the boardwalk in Fort Summerdell. He nodded to her, understanding that she wanted a little bit of privacy. She closed the door and went back to Ron, straddling his legs and crushing herself against him like she had that night on the beach.
Some thirty minutes later he came up for air, his palms partially inside her cargos, gripping her hips. "KP, I think we're going down."
"RON!" She shrieked. "I am so not doing that!" yet she added silently
Ron may not have been prone to embarrass easily, but he still turned red once he realized what he'd said. "No, I mean the plane. I think we're landing."
Kim gingerly got up off his lap, making her way back to the door. "Ellis? I thought we had a few hours to go?"
"Sorry, Miss Possible. We've got a fuel line problem. I'm going to land early so we can fix it. We shouldn't be too long. I've already radioed ahead and there's an air-strip on Ocracoke Island where I can take care of it before it becomes dangerous."
"No big. At least if we had to land we're in a flying boat." He gave her a thumbs up as she made her way back to her boyfriend.
"What's up?" Ron asked, buckling himself in.
"Fuel problems. We're landing on an island on the coast of North Carolina."
"North Carolina?" he repeated as she fixed her own harness.
"Yeah. I know it's not the most direct way back to Middleton but we had to swing up the east coast to pick up some cargo. It's the nearest air strip to us right now."
If the plane was having trouble, they never knew. Ellis managed to put it down at the strip with out so much as an extra bounce. She did manage to get a look at the gauges, though. There wasn't much gas left in the old canoe with wings.
The sun was already setting over Pamlico Sound when they finally caught a lift to the village on the southern tip of the island. The pilot was able to correct the problem quickly, but the strip was out of aviation gas until the tanker could get there the next morning, having missed the last ferry that afternoon. That left them stuck for the night, in high summer at a relatively isolated beach resort.
Fortunately there was at least one place that didn't have the 'no vacancy' shingle up in their window. It was an older looking place, a two-story motel sitting in a grove of live-oaks, just across the road from the round man-made harbor that defined the south end of the village.
An older couple were sitting in the office as they walked in, one behind the small counter, the other sitting on a wicker love-seat facing the open double doors, knitting in the pleasant breeze coming off Silver Lake.
"Well, what can we do for you folks…" His pipe nearly fell out of his mouth as he got a good look at the couple coming in. They were dirty, dusty, Kim's hair was a wreck from all the wind in the plane and both their black mission shirts looked like they were ready for the rag bin but he recognized them immediately.
"We need a room for the night. A double would be fine."
"Oh, I'm sorry, Miss Possible." He said, adopting a weird sad-sack expression. "I'm afraid I can't rent you a room tonight."
"I thought the vacancy sign was out." She said, perplexed.
"Well, see, there's a law here that we can only rent the rooms to a legal adult…you wouldn't happen to be eighteen yet, would you?"
"Oh. I'm afraid I just turned seventeen." She looked crestfallen. Ron just looked numb.
"There's also the issue of money." The man said.
"It might be tight, but I should have enough left for a room." Kim said. "But if we can't rent a room in the first place…"
"Oh, that's not it. See, your money is no good here. No good at all."
"I don't follow."
In answer he pointed to a cluttered mantle on the far side of the room. Sitting in the middle was a familiar looking red toy. It looked like somebody had whacked the Lil Diablo robot in the head with an axe, but it was clearly one of Drakken's creations.
"I can't rent you a room, but since I own this place nothing says I can't give you a room to stay in for the night. Like I said, your money's no good here." He smiled warmly at the two of them, turning around the sign in the window behind them. "You're in luck, we have one room left. It's a single, but if those rags are to be believed, I don't think the two of you would mind." He looked at Ron, giving him a slight wink.
The motel looked old on the outside, but that was due to the constant battering of the ocean. The rooms had smooth, clean wood floors with dark, wood paneled walls. Anywhere else the 'knotty pine' décor would have looked trite, but here on the Outer Banks of North Carolina it seemed fitting.
It was getting quite dark, but the night-life of the fishing village cum resort was just getting started. Directly across the street, built halfway out over the harbor itself was a quaint little open-air restaurant. Apparently in the time it took for them to freshen up and change back into street clothes word had already spread and before they could even sit down a huge platter of steamed shrimp was placed in front of them. They were seated at the back edge of the deck on a bench built into the railing and the whole place seemed relaxing and friendly.
It was so relaxing that Kim ended up putting her feet up on Ron's lap as he casually peeled a shrimp and held it up for her to eat. He noticed his girlfriend was smiling.
"Ron, if I didn't know better, I'd somehow think you planned this."
"Oh?"
"Ending up on a romantic little island, having dinner in a place like this for my birthday."
"I swear, KP. It's too late to make it now, so there's no harm in telling you. I had us reservations back at the place we had our first date. Dexter Ash was singing there tonight."
"Dexter Ash?"
"Yeah, remember, the 'smart one' of the Oh Boyz?"
"Oh. Yeah. Man, how quick we forget. He's doing the solo thing?"
"Yeah, it's part of the deal. The guys in the boy bands go solo, end up playing gigs in little places then either start making movies or fade away forever."
"I didn't know they broke up."
"I don't think they did, but you know it's coming."
"Yeah."
Ron rubbed her ankles with one hand and popped a shrimp in his own mouth with the other. Good thing I don't eat Kosher. I like shrimp and bacon too much. He looked at his watch and swung her legs back down to the floor. Scooting closer to her he wrapped his hands around her waist and gave her a quick kiss.
"Happy birthday, KP." He whispered.
"Thanks. Now feed me, mister Perfect." She said, adding a Bebe-like inflection to the last.
Later, leaving a basket of shrimp shells and half a dozen empty soda cups behind, they walked back across the street, hand-in-hand.
"I still want to know what the deal was with your pants this afternoon." She said.
"Easier to show you than to tell you." He said with a grin that would do Shego proud.
Once in the room, he sat down on the bed, fiddling with the TV remote while she went into the bathroom to get ready for bed. It only took her a moment, coming back out wearing his old jersey. On her it actually hung longer than her little black dress, though she had a pair of gym shorts under it.
"Okay, I'm waiting."
"Lie down."
"O…kay." She looked at him, a little worried. She sat back, propping herself up on her elbows.
With that, Ron unbuckled his cargos and let them drop to the floor.
Kim's hands shot to her mouth. She didn't know whether to scream or roll off the bed laughing. The sight was almost too much…
…instead of long boxers, Ron was wearing briefs and not just ugly old 'tidy-whities' but slightly skimpy 'man-kinis,' complete with printed flames and, right across the front, the words 'Happy Birthday!' He held his arms out as if to say 'ta-da!'
"Ron…if that's your way of saying I have to unwrap my present…" she said between laughs.
"No, KP." He said, pulling his pants back up. "That's just a joke. Felix and I found these at that creepy gift store at the mall." He got serious then, unsnapping the pocket where Rufus normally rode. "Actually, that part I was planning for you to see if I lost my pants during the mission. Kinda stupid, really, if you'd been distracted…"
"Uh, yeah. It's still funny."
"Well, when I did rip my pants I didn't want you to see me transferring this."
He held up a small red velvet box. Kim immediately stopped laughing, sitting up straight in the bed. "Ron, that's not what I think it is, is it."
"Depends." He said. He sat down beside her on the bed. "It isn't the box that I have to get on one knee for, but I think you'll like it." He opened it. Inside was a pair of emerald earrings and a gold chain with a tiny heart on the end. The heart had an extra clasp under it, sitting empty for the moment.
"They're beautiful." She said. "How on Earth did you afford this?"
"You know all those figures I had in my room?"
"The robots and stuff?"
"Well, Felix and I got to talking. I have to grow up some time and I haven't played with them in a couple years, so I took them to a collector. Turned out I had some stuff that was pretty valuable."
"Ron, you loved those things…I can't…"
"Kim, I love you a whole lot more than some old toys. I would far rather give you this than see them up there collecting dust." He took the earrings out and helped her put them on, then put the necklace on."
"What's the clasp for?"
"It's for when we get our class rings. You can either put it on the chain or you can attach it to the locket."
"Ron, I don't know what to say." She put a hand on his knee, looking him straight in the eyes."
"I think you do." He said, smiling back at her.
"I love you Ron."
"I love you too, KP. Happy Birthday."