Chapter 2

The blond teen looked up at the building's roof where his redheaded partner was waiting for him. "Get your head in the game, Ron," she called down to him. "We have to hurry and stop Drakken."

Ron grinned up at her as he pulled out his grappler line from the gun. "Sorry, Kim. No idea where my head's at." Inside his thoughts, the boy went through the automatic process of sorting the paths that stood open to him. 'Kim's getting edgy; she's letting the seriousness get to her,' he thought to himself. 'I hate this part, but I need to stall her a few more minutes and loosen her up.' Tying his line to his belt for the desired effect, Ron aimed and let the hook fly. The young girl heard the usual exclamation as she watched his pants sail up onto the roof.

Setting her friend's line like she had grown accustomed to, Kim handed him back his clothing when he had climbed up. "We say that anything's possible for a Possible, but even we need to build machines to break the laws of physics," she laughed.

"Yeah…I don't get it," Ron replied, confused.

"Uh, Ron? You're pants were still buttoned with the belt cinched, and they aren't torn."

The blond rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah, you'd think I'd tighten my belt more or something."

"They were pulled up off your body. You didn't even trip," she exclaimed, exasperated.

"What are you trying to say?"

Kim threw up her hands. "Nevermind. Let's forget about your magic pants and just stop Drakken. We've wasted enough time."

"You got it, KP," the blond said as they jogged to their entry point. Checking the paths again, he smiled that none would require anything special on his part.

Ron leaned back against the gym's bleachers, lost in thought. But not so lost that he couldn't notice his friend coming out of the girl's locker room. Returning her wave, the blond waited for her to walk up.

"You sure you don't want to walk home together? I've still got plenty of time before my date," Kim said.

He dismissed her concerns. "Nah. I know you, Kim. You're going to need that time to agonize over the perfect outfit."

The redhead returned the grin. "That's only funny because it's true."

"Besides, I have to meet someone in a bit for a small project thing."

The young girl wasn't aware of any project he could be talking about, but she didn't see any of his usual tells that he was lying. "OK. Well, I'll give you a call when I get home tonight."

"You got it, KP," he called out to her retreating form.

Leaning back again, he waited for the person he needed to talk with to arrive.

Walking out of the locker room, Bonnie Rockwaller was surprised to see Ron staring at her; but she quickly recovered her composure. "God, what are you doing, loser? Aren't you supposed to be kissing Kim's ass on your way home by now?" the brunette snapped.

"There's something I have to talk to you about," the young boy answered with total seriousness. "I know you like to take longer showers when Kim's going to be going on dates so that you can try to belittle her personal hygiene. You always try to make her think she smells like dead fish."

"It's her problem if she wants to smell like a skank," Bonnie scoffed. "And if she's going to have you ridicule me because she's too afraid, she might want to think about dumbing it down. Like I wouldn't notice the big words the guy with a 0.0 gpa is using."

Ron laughed. "That was one of the things I found attractive about you when we were together. A quick wit and keen observation. That plus your preference that people not bore you with their verbal bullshit makes this a very difficult task."

"I don't know what fantasy world you live in, but I am not going out with you. Nor have I ever, freak."

"Right…anyways. Tomorrow, David Johnson is going to ask you to the dance; don't accept. Brick Flag will ask you on Monday; go with him. Brick will do more for your social standing. You know, the whole cheerleader/quarterback thing."

"It is none of your business who I go out with. Just because the team let you be the mascot doesn't make us friends. If I want to go out with a hottie like David, I'll do it."

Ron rubbed the back of his neck in frustration. "It's a little hard to explain without you dismissing it as insanity. Whether you like it or not, I am concerned for your well being. And I am aware of things I can't explain off well enough for you to not be suspicious. David will destroy your life, but Brick actually cares about you."

The brunette laughed. "So, what? You can tell the future? You really are a freak."

"For the most part, I can tell the future," the blond replied with a coldness to his voice. "Thanks to a strange event, I get to relive my past. And not only do I know what I do from that, I was given a precognitive-like power. It's more about seeing the most probably events though. In some cases, I can see quite a far distance down the line. Most things get too muddied with other factors to see farther than two or three steps."

Bonnie started to walk away. "I don't have to take your sci-fi bullshit. I've got better things to do with my night than argue with a weirdo."

"I can't let you walk out of here until you agree to go with Brick," he called to her as he stepped down from the bleachers.

Storming back, she stood in front of him with her finger in his face. "You are a loser and a freak. I don't care what you think you're entitled to because you're on the squad, but you are nothing. I will do whatever I want with whoever I want," she hissed. Realizing she was standing on her toes, the girl forced herself to calm down. Standing flat again, Bonnie wondered why he was suddenly taller than her. "Besides," she smiled smugly, "how are you going to stop me? Going to hit a girl?"

Ron smiled back, not even a hint of humor in his face. "Of course not. Even with all the crap I went through with you, I could never lay a hand against someone I loved."

The young girl looked at the boy skeptically and began walking towards the gym doors. She'd have to talk to Kim about the squad having a psycho for a mascot. Especially one that foamed at the mouth.

"I know more than just the future," he called out, stopping her. "I didn't know what had happened in high school that had done it," he spoke to her back. "It seemed like overnight, she'd gone from bitch to whore. She never told anyone. And I never asked. I figured she'd talk about it when she was ready, and I just had to support her no matter what until she was. She cheated on me when we were dating in college, and I always forgave her because I knew that she didn't want to deep down. She was unfaithful when we were married, and I would always rub her between your shoulder blades to calm her down when she would confess." Ron's voice trembled with sadness. "She ended up killing yourself while I was on a mission. All her note said was that she didn't deserve to love someone after what had happened. She called me her courageous hero. And, yet, I was too afraid to ask someone I loved what was wrong. Too late, I know everything about how my Bonnie was violated that night so long ago and lost her soul."

"You almost had me," Bonnie replied, still facing away. "I know there's no way I'd let that happen, and no way I'd ever end up like that. Much less ever marry you."

"Yeah, it was more than just getting raped. You're pretty fucked up emotionally after all these years. That was just the final straw that made you actually think that was all you were good for. He thought you were, so other guys must as well. I mean, it's not like you have brains or beauty like your sisters; so that must be all your good for."

"Fuck you," she yelled as she faced him, her fist trembling at her sides. "My family loves me."

He met her glare with unfeeling eyes. "And I quote, 'Well, I'm not surprised Bon-Bon is captain. I bet everyone else let her have it out of pity.' Or one of my favorites, 'What? You lost your spot to some ugly bitch with braces? Why don't you just slit your wrists right now so you can't be any bigger disgrace to the family.' Oh, I know. 'There's no way she could be related to us. We might be able to make some easy cash if we sell her back to the orphanage she came from. Think they take teens?' Can't forget your mom. 'Oh, they're just teasing you; that's how big sisters are.' Or 'Your sisters said they were school and not having an unsupervised party here. How could you lie like that?' Ring any bells?"

The young girl's body trembled with rage as she repeatedly whispered "shut up."

Ron put a hand to cup his ear, "What's that? More you say? Why, I thought the little encouragements your sisters tell you late at night would be enough to convince you since no one else has ever heard them, but I'll keep going if you really want. 'You're going to need a lot more make-up than that to hide what an ugly cow you are.' Maybe, 'Oh, yeah. You should definitely wear that. It focuses attention to your best features. Well, least deformed features anyways.' And a classic. "You'd better learn how to please a man, because it's the only way you're ever going to get one.'"

With a feral screech, Bonnie charged at the young blond. Ron easily dodged the wild swing with a simple sidestep and caught the young girl as the momentum of her attack spun her around. Holding her in the slightly off-balanced position, he silently held the brunette against him while she continued to scream and curse at him while still trying to hit him. Soon, she ceased fighting and clutched onto him as the emotions she long held inside her poured forth. Rubbing her back between her shoulder blades, Ron whispered quiet reassurances while the girl in his arms cried her sorrows into his chest.

A/N

Not much to say really. More things will get explained next chapter. For anyone that doesn't know, and can't infer based on the context, precognitive means to be able to see future events before they happen. Psionics can be a fascinating subject. Well, read and enjoy. I'll try to keep working on these stories.