Ron sat on some stairs on top of the warehouse when a GJ hover-jet landed on the roof. Ron stood up as the hatch opened, revealing the pilot to be Agent Will Du. Ron would have groaned if he wasn't still in shock.

"What's the situation?" Will Du asked.

"Dementor is tied up with his henchmen, next to another doomsday laser. There are scattered components of what were formerly Hench-Bebe's all over the building." Ron stated blankly.

"Hench-Bebe's?" Will Du asked in surprise.

"Yeah. Technology stolen from Dr. Drakken. Dementor used it to make some kind of new evil robots." Ron again stated flatly.

"Seems kinda like a rerun" An agent commented as he passed Ron and Will.

Ron would have agreed, had he not been wishing he was dead.

Will Du considered the young man before him. As he recalled, this young man was an upbeat individual whom had a positive look on his face. This man was not the same man he had seen before. This man looked like death warmed over. His eyes were hollow with a lack of any life in them, he stood with a massive slouch, and shuffled with every step he took. As Will addressed the other agents who were rounding up Dementor and his goons, Ron approached Will.

"Hey. Can I get a lift back to Middleton? Kim... Had to be somewhere"

Will, whom prided himself on keeping up on his knowledge of all potential threats to the world, was aware of the relationship between Kim and Ron. He was surprised, though he didn't show it, that Kim left the mission without Ron. He would have to remember to file a report to Dr. Director later regarding this.

"Sure Ron" Will responded.

Ron, so depressed from the earlier events, didn't even notice the Will actually called him by his first name. He just walked into the hover-jet, ready to head home.

Kim flew the Sloth back to Middleton in absolute silence. She was still pissed at Ron. She couldn't believe that Ron would try and undermine her. They had a system that worked for years, she stopped the villain, Ron destroyed the doomsday device. It had always worked. He shouldn't have though that she didn't have a plan, she always had a plan. They were supposed to be a well oiled machine. Of course with college looming...

Kim's thoughts trailed off as she flew over Middleton. She landed in her parents driveway, at the recently rebuilt house. It was lucky she thought, that her parents had extra insurance to cover the place after the Diablo attack her junior year of high school. She parked and went inside.

Once inside, she went straight to her room, still reeling from the earlier mission. She briefly logged on to her computer to see if anything else world shattering happened today, and found an email from her college of choice, University of Cambridge, in London.

Dear Ms. Possible,

We are happy to report, that you have been one of several students selected to be allowed to come to campus a week early. We feel, based on your experiences, that you would be an excellent candidate for our freshman support group. This group is made up of freshmen whom help other freshmen adjust to the college lifestyle. If this is something that interests you, please let us know.

Regards,

UC Freshman Committee

Kim looked at the email for a moment, before responding and telling them that she would be happy to assist in their program. After closing her email, and taking a shower, she met her family downstairs for dinner. After dinner, as she was helping her mom clean up, Anne Possible noticed her daughters sullen attitude and decided to ask Kim about it.

"So how was your mission dear?"

"It was fine mom. We stopped Dementor from his whack scheme. Though I don't really know what he was after. The whole thing just seemed like a trap just to catch me"

"Well I'm glad you were able to defeat him" Her mom replied. "I noticed that Ron didn't stop by for dinner. Is everything alright between you two?"

Kim sighed. She didn't really want to talk about this.

"Kimmie" Her mom pushed with a disapproving tone.

"It's fine mom. We had a little disagreement about how we should handle the mission"

"Really?" Anne asked, surprised. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"No, I'm alright. We've had disagreements before, I'm sure this one will work out too"

"Ok..." Anne relented, not entirely convinced.

"I'm actually a little tired" Kim interjected. "I think I am going to head to bed early. I've got to start packing tomorrow"

"Oh, whys that dear?" Her mother asked, surprised.

"I got asked to be part of the freshmen student support group. Its made up of freshmen students who help other freshmen adjust to college life. They want all members to arrive a week early to help set up"

"Oh, well alright. That's wonderful dear. Sleep well"

"Thanks mom. Night" Kim replied as she headed to her loft bedroom.

Anne watched her daughter head to her room, concerned that there was more to this story than her daughter as telling her.

After being dropped of at his house by Agent Will Du, Ron headed up to his room, his head still a mess from the days developments.

Kim was majorly tweaked today. I can't figure what it was. Maybe I really did screw up today. I'm sure she had a plan, I just didn't want her to get hurt. Maybe I could have done something better, done a better job from the moment we got there, then we wouldn't have had any issues.

As Ron continued to go about getting ready for bed, he was still trying to wrap his head around what had happened. Rufus, whom had already settled into bed, watched his human with concern. He knew that what happened today wasn't normal, but he didn't know why. Ron eventually retired to bed with Rufus, and fell into a nightmare filled sleep.

In his dream, Ron was inside of a church of some sort. He was sitting in a pew, surrounded by what looked like most of Kim's family. As he continued to look around the room, he noticed the couple standing with the minister. The bride had bright red hair. As Ron looked on in shock, the minster started to speak.

"Dearly Beloved. Were are here today to join in Holy Matrimony, Kim Possible and Erik-"

"NOOOOOOOOOOO!" Ron screamed as he few out of the pew to his knees.

"Remember Stoppable, the center cannot hold"

Ron was surprised to hear Mr. Barkins voice being carried on the wind. Then he snapped awake, hyperventilating. As Ron continued to pant, Rufus, whom had been woken up by Ron's nightmare, scampered up to his humans shoulder and began to pat it, hoping to calm Ron down. This seemed to help as Ron eventually stopped hyperventilating.

"Thanks Rufus. I can always count on you"

"Oh yeah, huh huh" The naked rodent replied

The two sat there in silence for awhile. Ron still deep in thought, Rufus eating a piece of cheese he had stuck under his pillow.

That was some dream. I've never really given any thought to marrying Kim. That always seemed like a too good to be true fairy tale. It would be badical though to spend the rest of my life with her. But after today, I don't know if she ever wants to see me again. She was pretty clear that she thought I could do her job better than her

"The center cannot hold" Barkin's voice echoed in Ron's mind. Ron shuddered as he remembered those words Mr. Barkin had told him.

What if Barkin was right? What if this is it? I've finally proven to Kim that I am unreliable, and now she's gonna leave me because she needs someone more consistent, more predictable, someone who's not always loosing his pants in public? I knew this day would come.

Ron didn't get much sleep that night.

Kim awoke the next morning, still upset about the previous days developments. As she was getting ready for the day, she thought about calling Ron and talking, but resolved that he had stepped over a line yesterday, and he would have to apologize to her.

She set about packing things for college. She had to be judicious in what she took as it all had to fit in the Sloth. It was after lunch that she discovered that she needed a few last things from the mall, so she set out to get them. Once she had everything she though she needed, she decided to stop into Club Banana to see Monique. She walked up to the counter where her best girlfriend was going over some stock paperwork.

"Hey Monique"

"Hey girlfriend! How's it going?"

"Its going alright" Kim lied unconvincingly.

"Uh oh, I know that look. What's wrong?" Monique asked.

"Nothing" Kim lied.

"You're not getting off that easy" Monique countered. "Spill"

"Fine" Kim sighed.

Kim explained to Monique about the last mission, how she felt that Ron was trying to upstage her now that he had all these new powers. And about how she had been selected to head to UC next week. How she was having doubts about her relationship with Ron, since she was going to be in London, him in Colorado. Monique listened to Kim ramble for some time before she finally interjected.

"Girl, you need to slow down. So you two had a fight, no big. Just give it a few days, that boy is crazy about you, he'll reach out to you. I'm sure it will be fine. YTCDA (You Two Can Do Anything), so being at school across the world shouldn't be any trouble!"

"You're right Monique. I'll give it a few days. I'm sure he'll call before I leave"

"See? Nothing to worry about. Now come on, you've got to see these new rain slickers we just got in. Considering the weather in the UK, you're gonna need it"

And with that, the two friends went off into the wondrous land of clothes shopping.

Ron awoke the next morning, having not slept much at all. As he shuffled into the kitchen, still in his pajamas, he found a note on the fridge.

"Dad had to go attend to a rich guy who is concerned that his house is too safe. I've taken Hana with me to visit your cousin Reuben while his leg heals from surgery. Hope you mission with Kim went well. Love you, Mom"

Ron stared at the note for a moment, laughing that his White Collar Lawyer cousin, was laid up from a broken leg. He paused, before getting some cereal out of the cupboard and milk from the fridge. As he was finishing up, he heard the doorbell ring. This was odd to Ron, as he didn't have to be at work until 3 pm, and he wouldn't expect anyone to know he was even awake on a non work day until 10 AM. It was currently 8:15 AM.

He went to the door and opened it

"Hey Ron Man" Ron's best guy friend Felix greeted.

"What's up Ron?" Zita, Felix's girlfriend said in turn.

"Oh, hey guys, whats up?" Ron asked, lacking his usual enthusiasm.

"We were wondering if you were down to help us construct a new fortress in Everlot before yo-" Zita started to respond.

"Yo Ron, you alright?" Felix interjected.

"Yes, I mean no, I mean yes... I don't know" Ron finally responded. "Come on in"

Felix and Zita made their way into Ron's house. After the had settled

in the front room, Ron explained everything that had happened yesterday. He also explained how confused he was, wondering if he was good enough for Kim. Felix and Zita listened for some time, concerned by what they were hearing. It was Zita who spoke up first.

"Ron, its normal to had disagreements in a relationship. Felix and I have had a few since we got together. One thing I can say is don't rush the healing. Give Kim a few days, even a week to process everything, then she will call you. You two live such a unique life style, its hard for anyone to give you two advice You've done pretty much everything there is to do!"

"Zita's right Ron. Give it a few days. Obviously you two need to address some major changes in your life right now, but everything will work itself out!"

"Thanks you guys" Ron said, feeling a bit better about the situation. "I'll give her some time to cool off and then we can fix this. You guys rock."

"Actually Ron, I roll" Felix joked as he made his wheelchair do a 360 spin. All three teens laughed at Felix's joke. What Felix and Zita didn't know, and neither did Ron, was that Kim was planning to leave for London in 2 days.

The days passed. Kim focused on packing her stuff for college, Ron focused on getting situated to attend Middleton Community College. Since the college was only 15 minutes from his house, he had decided to live at home for school, which would allow him to save money so that he could transfer to a college more suited to what he wanted (either a better culinary school, or at least closer to where Kim was going to school). Both kept expecting the other to call, but neither did. The day finally came where Kim was off to London. The Sloth was packed and fueled up. Kim was out front saying bye to her family.

"Let us know as soon as you get there" Her mom said as she teared up.

"Can we move our" Jim started.

"Lab into your room?" Tim finished.

"Now boys" James Possible warned softly.

"Are you going to say by to Ron on your way out of town?" Anne asked, hoping her daughter had resolved her issues with her boyfriend.

"I haven't heard from Ron in a few days. I figured he just needed some space" Kim replied evenly. "If I don't hear from him when I get there, I'll call him and make sure he's alright"

"Ok dear" Anne said calmly, but inside she was reeling.

This is not good. Those two would be sure to say goodbye. They haven't spent this much time apart since Ron went to that awful summer camp. I should call over to the Stoppable's and make sure Ron is alright.

With that, Kim got into the Sloth, backed out of the driveway, opened the rocket burners, and launched from the road off into the sky with her family waving at her as she disappeared into the horizon.

After the Sloth was out of sight, the family went back inside.

"James, can you make sure the boys don't move into Kim's room? I need to make a phone call" Anne asked her husband.

"Sure thing dear, is everything alright?" James replied, worry creeping into his tone.

"I don't know" Anne replied sadly.

Anne made her way to the kitchen and dialed the Stoppable's. It rang twice before Ron picked up.

"Hola. Stoppable residence, Ron speaking"

"Ron, its Anne Possible"

"What's up MrsDrP?"

"I was wondering why we missed you at Kim's going away party earlier?"

"What going away party? I though Kim was supposed to leave for UC next week" Ron replied, a pit forming in his stomach.

"I thought she told you. She was invited to be a member of the Freshmen transition group. They needed her there a week earlier the originally planned" Anne said, worry griping her insides.

"No" Ron replied weakly. "She didn't mention it..." He trailed off. "I've got to go now" Ron suddenly stated. "Bye MrsDrP" The phone went dead.

Anne put the phone back up on the receiver and slumped into the eating nook in the kitchen. Kim hadn't told Ron she was leaving. She hadn't told her boyfriend she was leaving the country...

Ron hung up the phone. He leaned against the wall, and slid down it to the floor. Kim had left for college without even saying goodbye, without saying anything to him. This was it, this was how it all ends. The center had not held. Ron curled up into a ball and began to cry.

It was probably an hour later before Ron managed to stop crying. His parents had ultimately needed to extend their respective trips, so they wouldn't be home until tomorrow evening. Ron was alone in the house, well except for Rufus, who was upstairs sleeping. Ron managed to pry him self off the floor and get into a chair. He just stared at the wall, grateful to have had today off from work.

Kim didn't bother to tell me she was leaving early. Why? Did she not want me to know, is this is, are we officially done? I really screwed this one up. I was right at the moodulator incident, we should have just stayed friends.

Ron continued to stare at the wall for a while until Rufus, whom had awoken from his nap, came down to find Ron in his current state. Rufus jumped up on the chair and waved in Ron's face, which got him no response. He then jumped up and slapped Ron across the face. Ron didn't verbally respond, but he did manage to look at Rufus, tears in his eyes.

"Hgh, You ok?" Rufus chirped.

"No, buddy, I am not" Ron meekly responded, before tears began flowing more freely than before. Rufus knew he couldn't do much, so he just sat there on Ron's shoulder, embracing the teen as he cried tears of heartbreak.

Hope y'all enjoyed this chapter! I'm currently experiencing some writers block on the next chapter so I apologize in advance if I miss an upload deadline. I just want the story to be the best for you the reader, so I've been rewriting the chapter several times. See you on the next one!

NightSteed out-