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Disney's Kim Possible in
Sometimes There Isn't A Point
By Adam Leigh
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4. Renewal
Kim looked at the documents, both physical and virtual, spread out across her desk and sighed. So much paperwork, so very, very little time. A small clock silently ticked on the wall, telling her that despite her best efforts, she couldn't simply will time to stop or move backwards.
"Director," a voice said from her doorway. Kim looked up across the 'Big Room' to see an agent standing there, looking casual. He was a well toned agent, tall, with short blonde hair, the hints of freckles, and wearing a Field Agent's uniform. He was smiling warmly as Kim's eyes reached his face.
"Ron," Kim said, suddenly feeling flushed. He's back! her mind yelled, happily. She got up and ran to him, quickly pulling him into a warm hug. Ron chuckled as he held her tightly.
"Hiya, KP," said Ron softly. "Did you miss me?"
Kim laughed and kissed him on the check before letting him go. "You know I did. Everyone did! You've been gone for so long, I didn't think you'd ever be wearing that uniform again."
"Heh," laughed Ron. "It has been a few years, but it looks like it still fits."
"Hah, like you'd ever get out of shape," Kim flattered. "I'm sure you've been worked to death at Yamanouchi."
"It was a little tough," admitted Ron. "I certainly didn't expect to be gone longer than a few months when I left, but one thing led to another and... well, I'll explain it all in my field report."
"Field report?" asked Kim. "You know you don't have to file those for your work with Yamanouchi."
"Well, things have changed over there a little, and we should have a record of it all." He pulled a small datapad out of his pocket. "I've been taking notes over the last four years, it shouldn't take me too long."
Kim pushed the datapad down. "Later, now we've got to celebrate your return!"
Ron smiled uneasily. "Don't you have work to do?" He gestured to the desk filled with papers.
"Later, later," Kim dismissed. "That stack has been growing steadily since March, it'll still be there if I do it now or tomorrow."
"All right," Ron acquiesced. "Where to?"
"It's got to be 'Sharpes,'" Kim said with a grin. "Best Mexican bistro in the city. They have a gourmet version of a Naco that'll knock your socks off."
"Naco," echoed Ron with a goofy grin. "It's like paradise after years of suffering."
"I'm sure Japanese food wasn't that bad," said Kim as they left her office.
"KP, do you know how many different things live in the ocean?" asked Ron.
"Uh, no?"
"Well, I do, because I've been forced to eat them."
Kim laughed.
Less than an hour later, the gang had gathered. With Ron's years long departure, many of their friends came out of the woodwork to see their old friend. Monique, Felix and his wife Florence, Beth and her husband John, Tara and her husband Eric, and Zita all gathered around the table, with a face that Ron had not expected in a friendly atmosphere.
"So," he said awkwardly sitting down. Nobody else seemed to be wielded out by the new woman's presence, so he had to assume that it wasn't just this evening she'd been with them. "What do you do these days?"
The woman was smiling expectantly for several seconds then burst into laughed. "I'm totally weirding you out, aren't I?" Shego asked between fits of laughter.
"Well, yeah," Ron said as if it were obvious. "I mean, shouldn't I be? Something clearly happened while I was gone."
"That's an understatement," muttered Monique. "I don't suppose you have a week or so for the story?"
"Er, well, maybe a summary?" asked Ron.
"Quick and dirty of it is," said Shego. "I saved Mon's ass over here when, get this, Frugal Lucre tried to run her stores out of business by selling knock-offs of her designs at half price."
"Frugal Lucre?" asked Ron. "Didn't we finish with him back in like, high school?"
"Apparently he had a plot to destroy all designer clothing stores with some sort of super-mechanical moth swarm or something," said Kim. "These things could eat a dress, then begin spitting out exact copies if given enough plastic to chomp on."
"Incredible," said Ron.
"There's a lot of stuff that happened in the middle that is bizarre and unusual," said Monique. "So we'll skip all that. Suffice to say, Frugal Lucre is back in jail and, it turns out that Shego has a sharp fashion eye."
"I design clothes for Mon's stores now," Shego said, smiling. Ron couldn't help but notice that he'd never seen her smile like that before. Almost like, every smile he's seen from her before was just an act and this was the genuine article. It was ... disturbing.
"I can't believe I thought being a thief was the way to make millions," Shego said, laughing. "You wouldn't believe how much people pay for clothes I design just because they carry Monique's signature on it."
"I bet I can't," said Ron, still feeling a little awkward but starting to get into the groove. "What about all that 'torment' stuff you used to go on about?"
Shego returned to her evil smile that Ron recognized. "Oh, I torment Kimmie in all new ways now." She poked Kim in the side with her elbow.
"She 'consults' with GJ every now and then," Kim admitted, reluctantly. "Mostly on Drakken's syndicate, but sometimes with Senior Senior Junior. When she's there, she makes a point of setting off every security alarm she can find."
"Bwhahahah!" laughed Shego and the whole table save Kim joined her. Kim smiled though, since even though Shego still called it her 'torment,' they had, over the years, oddly become friends.
As the evening progressed, Ron swapped stories of fighting ninja monkeys and training the youth of the Yamanouchi school for stories of Shego threatening fashion designers who criticized her work and Kim using the full force of GJ to get her brothers out of trouble with the Middleton police. They had been apart for four years, a mere instant in the grand scheme of things, but now it appeared as if they'd lived their whole lives in separate worlds.
As the night dragged on, more and more of the guests packed up and left, home bound because work the next morning or children to take care of. Stories of Felix's son were particularly intriguing to Ron who had never imagined his video game playing and zombie hating cohort would get married, let alone have children of his own. He felt proud of his friend but somehow, he couldn't shake the feeling that somehow Ron himself had failed.
Eventually only Ron, Shego and Kim were left at the large table. Food had come and gone. Drinks and dessert followed but were already just memories of the evening. Eventually, even Shego stood up.
"I'm outta here, princess," the emerald-eyed woman said, gathering her bag. "Don't forget to show up for work tomorrow and like, let the world be nuked or something."
"I'll try to remember that, Shego," Kim smiled.
Shego walk over to Ron and looked down at him with a raised brow.
"What?" Ron asked.
"I couldn't help but notice you came back alone," she said salaciously.
"Shego!" snapped Kim.
Shego playfully hit Ron in the shoulder. "See ya around, buffoon," she smiled.
Ron stared as Shego left the restaurant. He turned back to Kim. "Who was that and why was she wearing Shego's skin?"
Kim laughed. "You remember when she saved us back in South America, right?"
"Of course," nodded Ron. "I also remember being completely skeptical up until she did it. She messed with you for years, Kim, now she's a close friend?"
"She's been more than amicable these last few years," Kim explained. "Not to mention she seems to love her job, which is definitely something I didn't expect."
Ron shrugged and looked Kim in the eyes. "I guess anything is possible over time."
"Yeah," Kim mused, staring back.
For several seconds they sat silently and still, transfixed in each other's gaze until Kim finally shook her head and looked away. "So, you finally dealt with Monty once and for all, then?" asked Kim, reddening.
"Uh, yeah," said Ron. "We fought his monkey ninjas for months before finally finding out where they came from. Apparently he had some help from a group of ex-Yamanouchi ninjas call the 'Shade.' Yori and I had the hardest time with them. Thankfully they were ex-Yamanouchi for a reason."
"What happened to them afterwards?" asked Kim.
"The ninjas are imprisoned in a specially designed facility built by the Japanese government with the assistance of Yori. It should be near impossible for them to get out, but just in case, Yori checks in every week to make sure nothing's wrong. As for Monty, well, I'm pretty positive he'll never be a threat again."
"What do you mean?"
"Well," Ron scratched the back of his head. "He was already a little crazy over monkey's to begin with. I think, over time, his pursuit of all things simian left him little ability to think about anything else. By the time we found him after dispensing with the monkey ninjas, he couldn't even talk anymore."
"What?" Kim boggled. "He became a monkey?"
"In essence, he thinks he's a monkey, so much so that what was human in him is pretty much gone." Ron sighed. "He's in a mental facility in Kyoto right now, but the doctors there don't expect much."
"Incredible," nodded Kim.
"Anyway, that was almost a year ago." Ron gestured with his hands. "The war with the Shade and Monty's ninja's left Yamanouchi in a terrible state. I had to stick around to help Yori train up a new class of students to be able to defend the school in case another threat arose. With Sensei missing, Yori and I were the de facto masters of the school."
"That must have been great," said Kim. "Your own personal ninja school."
"Well, it's Sensei's school, we were just taking care of it," explained Ron. "I thought I might, after time, start to feel like it was ours, but... it just didn't work out."
"What happened?" asked Kim, furrowing her brow.
Ron just looked at her for a second. "What about you?" he suddenly said. "Is GJ really yours now that you're Director?"
"Of course not," said Kim with a wave. "It's a multinational espionage agency, every branch office has their own director and their own bureaucrats to listen to. Just one cog in a machine, you know how it goes."
"But you still love it?" questioned Ron.
"I can't just leave it," replied Kim. "If that's what you're asking."
"Not really," said Ron as he looked around the room.
Kim shook her head. "You're so different, Ron," she finally said.
"Different," Ron repeated.
"You're quiet," said Kim. "Contemplative. And calculating, like everything you say and do was thought out to an incredible extreme. So different from the 'anything goes' personality you seemed to have before."
"War is hell," recited Ron, looking back to Kim. "You know that."
"I do," she agreed. Again, they were caught staring at each other's faces.
"How long will you be working with GJ again?" asked Kim, unmoving. "So I can get all your access restored."
"I'm not going back."
Kim flinched. "You're not coming back to GJ?"
Ron shook his head. "I'm not going back to Yamanouchi again. I'm here to stay."
Kim was speechless. Ron just looked down. "I can't be away anymore," he continued. "Fighting the war over there was one thing, but as soon as that was over, I started to feel like... half of me just wasn't there. I couldn't be happy there, Kim. It wasn't fulfilling for me."
Ron looked back up. "I wasn't sure until I made it back to GJ, but, I need to be here, where you are. Fighting beside you." He moved forward and took Kim's hand. "I want..." he trailed off, struggling with the words. "I would like to know if you -- that, is, only if you're comfortable with it--"
"I missed you!" Kim blurted.
Ron blinked at the woman's sudden declaration. Kim seemed a little frazzled that she'd said something as well but decided to press on anyway. "I missed you so much more than I thought I would." She looked lost, all of a sudden. "Four years was... it was just too long. Until you were standing there, in my office, I hadn't realized that--" she stopped.
Ron was smiling warmly at her and tightly holding her hands, as if she were a kite threatening to fly away. It was comforting for some reason.
"Nothing in those four years that I felt was real," Kim finished.
Ron opened his mouth to speak but it was at least half a minute before any sound escaped. "I want to try again," he finally said.
"Me too," said Kim.
Looking into each others eyes, they saw the relief the other was feeling at what was just said and could finally start to relax. There was something else, though, that they'd caught a glimpse of in that shared stare: desire. Something that had never sparked between the two suddenly came alive with a frightening intensity as they gazed into each other.
Without thinking, they moved closer together. Slowly and slowly, their brains already having checked out, their bodies worked by instinct. Desire found equal desire and before they had an independent thought between them, their lips had touched.
And it was different than it had ever been before.