A\N HI! UPDATE! Welp, another busy month… sorry. Anyway, initially this chapter was much bigger in my head, but limit in my free time made me change it here and there and split it in two, this is the first one, obviously. I hope you'll like it, and hope i still have my readers with my lousy update rate.

And, as always…

READ AND REVIEW.

Disclaimer: I don't own Kim Possible.

Chapter 9

Treasured

Combat boots echoed as Betty walked through big hallways of Upperton Historical Museum. There was a particular artifact she was interested in at recently opened Dark Ages And Witchcraft night exhibit. It was sponsored by some very eccentric rich fellow, whose name she didn't even bothered to get, and contained all kind of historical goods ranged from amulets used in witchcraft rituals, to different devices and documented methods of torture. Looking around, she could only wonder, how many things here were actually used, how many of so called witchcraft artifacts were really created by actual witches, and how many of them are just old decorative items?

'There it is. Damn it.'

Betty, cursing slightly under her breath, was looking at the small beautiful carved figurine of a small girl. Plate on the glass stand said that this particular exhibit was made of unknown wood. There was also name of the item right above the description, White Youth, however she knew that it was wrong.

'Gift of Clotho.' she thought. 'First thing from the list that i found, and i just have to be in the secured museum! Ugh. I guess i'll get to it later.'

She was going to leave, when, unexcitingly, ceiling of the building became engulfed in green flames, soon turning red. As fire spread through the building and all people around rushed towards the exits, Betty swiftly hid herself behind Iron Maiden, the torture device. No matter how to look at it, source of this fire was not natural, but thanks to it, she has her chance to obtain the figurine. Due to intense heat, all electricity in the building cut off, including the security systems like cameras and alarms.

As she was ready to make her move, someone landed on the museum floor, obviously jumping through now broken glassed roof. Betty stayed behind Iron Maiden, observing the intruder, with handgun ready. It had a body of the woman in a jumpsuit, and long black hair. However her palm resembled scaly claws, with each finger having a sharp-looking point. Intruder walking leisurely from one exhibit to another smashing some stands and collecting different goodies in a black sack that she was holding over her shoulder. After that she just leaped in the air, and disappeared through the same hole in the roof she entered.

It became harder to breath, as black smoke covered more and more of the room. Betty, covering her face, went towards the stand, and Gift of Clotho, thankfully, was still there. She smashed glass case with her handgun, and took the figurine. Feeling an approaching lightheadedness, her legs dashed towards the back exit. Betty shot the lock from the door and kicked it, breaking free from flaming building. Coughing, she moved to her car as fast as she could, hit the gas pedal to the floor, and drove away from the museum. While holding the steering wheel with one hand, she pulled out her cellphone with another and quick-dialed a number.

"William." her voice was a bit raspy from the coughing. "I got the item, however there is a certain message you must relay to all hunters in nearby area."

"Miss Director are you ok? You sound a little off" kinda snobbish, but worried, voice answered her.

"I'll be fine Du, now write the message. Tell them there is a humanoid creature in the area, female, long black hair, wears jumpsuit, has sharp claws and above average physical abilities, also has something to do with green fire. Approach with caution. Do you want me to repeat?"

"No ma'am. Everything is written down to a letter. I will send it as soon as you order."

"Do it now. Any new info on the other items?"

"Sorry ma'am, not yet."

"Call me when something will appear."

Betty put the phone away and gave a quick look to a small wooden figurine, focusing her view on the road again a moment later. Stealing wasn't something she enjoyed, or even liked. Quite opposite in fact. However it was an old magical item, which ones, to her experience, would only cause harm in wrong hands. Trying to keep this justification of her actions in her head, she drove towards a nearest motel. She needed quick shower and a change of clothes, since this one reeked of smoke from burning.

A female in green and black jumpsuit was hopping from one roof to another, with a sack over her shoulder. She was heading towards an RV parked in the alleyway. As she reached it, she jumped on its roof, opened the roof vent and jumped down inside.

"Here's the loot Drakken." she dropped the sack in front of blue-skinned man.

"Careful Shego!" he said, opening the sack, looking at the loot. "These are centuries old precious magic artefacts!"

"Yeah yeah, whatever." she said without any interest whatsoever and sniffed her arm. "I need a shower."

"Don't waste all water on it. I don't want to drive to the gas station again."

"Hey, water is free there, so what's your problem?"

"Gas to drive there isn't."

"Well, maybe, you should just get a real house, like a real witch, instead this wheeled hut."

"I am working on it Shego. And it's warlock, not a witch!"

"Who cares." Shego accidentally stepped on the ragdoll. "And stop leaving these creepy things everywhere!"

"Hey! My cursey-dolls are top notch product, it sells really well. Speaking of which, i need to make new website to sell them." Drakken turned his laptop on.

"Hmm, you know, if you show me how to use this thing, i could help you with that web stuff." she pointed at the device.

"You? Haha." Drakken slapped his knee and laughed. "You learned how to use a toaster only a week ago, and want to work on computer? That's a riot!"

"Wanna play Drakken goes ouch?" green flames came from her mouth as her palms transformed to scaly claws.

"No, i mean… i will gladly teach you anything you want later."

"Good." her hands became normal again, as she walked her way towards RV's shower.

A single red letter on a paper could either lift or ruin your mood, every student knows it. Ron held in his hands several such papers, and almost all of them had a bright C written on it. He was dreading the moment he'll have to show it to Possible's. He really didn't want to disappoint them, especially after all that they did for him.

"Yikes." Bonnie looked at them. "Never saw so many C marks in a row."

"I know." Rom almost whimpered.

"Come on, spring term is not over yet, just do better on next tests."

"Easy for you to say, miss mostly A!"

"Not mostly, it's half and half."

"With Bs."

"Ow stop your whining." Bonnie rolled her eyes. "You did well on Chemistry, B plus, better than me actually."

"Bonnie, we both know that plus near grade don't mean anything. We both got B."

"Well, you can stay here at your locker and pity yourself for the rest of the spring term. Or do something productive, like study."

"I studied, it's just." Ron petted his neck. "I missed some school in Lowerton due to…accident, and i was transferring here afterwards. There is too many things to catch up, you know."

"Ow, sorry. I forgot that you are new here." Bonnie felt awkward. "Well, maybe i can help you, like, we can study after classes in the library."

"Really?" he asked hopefully.

"Sure." she shrugged off. "I'll look at you test, give you advice or too. Let's go."

In the school gym, meanwhile, cheer squad worked on their routine. A very important football game is coming up, and boys will need all cheer they could get. Plus to that, cheerleading competition is coming up towards the end of the term, so staying fit and ready is priority for them. Girls were doing their best, all except one. Marcella could barely keep up with the squad today. Her head was cloudy, her legs were wonky, her arms felt heavier when she lifted them.

"M-A-D D-O-G THAT'S HOW WE SPELL VICTORY!" girls cheered in perfect harmony and started to form the pyramid. "GO! MAD DOGS! GO! GO! MAD DOGS!.."

Marcella jumped on shoulders of her fellow cheerleaders, however, almost instantly, lost her balance and fell ungracefully on the gym's floor.

"Marcy!" Liz was by her side in a flash, helping her to get up. "Are you alright?"

"Ooph." Marcella stood, feeling a slight pain in her rear. "I'm sorry girls, it appears i still don't feel so well."

"I told you to skip the practice today." Hope said, with a bit worried tone in her voice. "But did you listen me? No."

"I think Hope is right." Kim nodded. "You don't look so well. I think you should go home and rest."

"Sorry girls." Marcella smiled weakly. "Doctor told me to eat and sleep more, but it didn't help me at all. I thought maybe some workout will shake me up."

"I think you should listen your doctor more." Tara said.

"Yeah, again, sorry. I'll be in my best shape in no time, i promise."

Marcella said good bye to the squad and changed from her cheer uniform to the usual casual attire. Before closing her locker she noticed a book she took from the school library and remembered that it's actually time to return it. She took it from the upper shelf and slowly went away from the girl's locker room.

Bonnie was scribing a note for Ron. After looking more closely into his tests it was clear for her how much of education he missed out. So, she was working on a plan, of some sorts.

"Ok." she finished writing. "History and Biology we gonna leave for you to read at home. You didn't do that bad on them actually, almost B i would say. All you need in those is memorize. However Math, English and Latin will be quite difficult. I'll help you with those after classes, until it's at least in B area."

"You are my savior." Ron smiled widely.

"Still, hard to believe that you flunked biology, but almost aced chemistry."

"I'm usually good with chemistry, it's like cooking, just without licking a spoon."

"Really, like cooking?"

"Yeah." Ron nodded. "Different ingredient mixed together influence each other, transforming in a new single result. It's magical. Well not really magical…"

"It's a funny way to look at chemistry." Bonnie let a small laugh. "Anyway…"

A sudden sound, like a cracking hissing, distracted Bonnie from her thought. She turned her head, facing the source of noise, and saw a girl, returning a book to librarian. Despite her natural dark skin, girl still looked pale. As girl left the library, sound disappeared as well.

"Bonnie?" Ron said, looking a bit confused.

"Have you heard that?" she asked.

"Heard what?"

"That noise!"

"What noise? It's quiet as in library here. Well, because we are in library."

"There were a girl here, and there was a sound… you sure you haven't heard it, like a weird whispering or hissing? "

"Nope." Ron shook his head. "Was it loud?"

"Pretty loud." Bonnie thought about it for a moment. "It's was either an auditory hallucination or it has something to do with magic."

"Let's hope it is magic one." Ron teased her.

"Ha-ha." she said sarcastically. "I'll ask dad about it later. But now, let's start with math."

After good two hours of studies Ron's brain started to boil. Noticing the painful look on her friend's face, Bonnie decided to wrap it up for today, to his clearly visible happiness. They walked a bit together, but eventually went different ways towards their respective houses. Ron walked down the streets of Middleton, enjoying an early sunset in the distance. A slightly cold wind began to blow, making his skin shiver a bit. It wasn't unpleasant at all, even felt nice in some way. In this moment Ron felt truly calm. It was like everything that happened to him for a past couple months just disappeared somewhere. No worries, no pain. This short bliss was over when he notice Possible's house standing on the end of the street, and all his worries came back to him.

Ron walked in the house, trying to make as little sound as possible, and went upstairs. A big sigh of relief left his lungs as soon as he entered his room and close the door behind. His moment of peace was ruined by a knock on said door.

"Ronald." a voice if James Possible came from the other side. "Can i speak with you for a second?"

"Y-yes, of course, come in." Ron's voice cracked up.

"I heard from Kimmie that you got the test results today. She already showed me hers, i would like to see yours as well." he said in his usual kind manner.

"Uhm, well… sure." Ron accepted a defeat, pulled his tests from the back bag and gave it to James.

"Let's see. Hmm, yes, just as we though." he nodded knowingly.

"Wait, what?" Ron blinked in confusion. "Did you expect for me to fail?"

"Considering you were in hospital for a month and changed the school, it isn't surprising that you are a little behind on your studies." James answered. "We even thought about hiring a tutor for you."

"There is no need for a tutor Mr. Possible!" Ron said quickly. "In fact a friend helps me now with studies, so i'll be fine. Really."

"If you say so. Also i must admit, i'm really pleased with your chemistry test. Good work." he smiled. "Oh and one more thing."

James pulled a mobile cellphone and a charger from the jacket. Ron's heart skipped a beat, he recognized this device immediately. It was his cellphone, the one he thought was left in Lowerton.

"Ann kept it in secret from you." James explained. "I guess you left it in your old room for a reason. Fact is, you are busy teen, and you need a phone. You can use this one, or, if you are not ready yet, we can buy you a new one, and keep this one for some more time."

"No, it's good. I…i'll take this one, no need to buy anything." Ron took the device from James's hands. "Thank you."

"No problem."

James left the room, leaving boy alone with his thoughts. The mobile phone in his hands was quite old. No camera, no internet access, simple and sturdy. His parents bought it to him at the start of the middle school. Ron plugged charger in to the wall, making a battery sign appear on the colored display. A minute later he turned on the device. A chime he knew too well alerted him about unread messages. Most of them were from his Lowerton friends and acquaintances with texts like 'Get well soon' or 'My condolences". Feeling a stinging pain in his chest he quickly marked and deleted them. As unwanted messages were gone, he noticed a text from his mother, which he remembers reading before.

'Ronnie, we are having chicken for dinner and i'm all out of garlic, buy some on your way home please. Also a can of peas.'

His vision began to blur. A simple text asking to buy some groceries in now a reminder of the fact that he will never see or hear his mother and father again. With his teeth clenched together, he tried to suppress the tears. Ron's shaky fingers pressed the buttons on the phone, scrolling through the options menu.

Do you want to erase all messages? Yes – No

Felling the heartbeat in his throat, and the tears running freely from his eyes he raised his finger and made his decision.

No