Ron rushed into his home, Kim slung onto his shoulders, the entrance of his door violently opening as he barged in, with sweat coming from his head as he placed her on the couch.
"I gotcha, Red… just hang on… no use in dying right now. Right?" Ron rushes up to gather the medical supplies and out from his parents room. It should still be enough, he hasn't patched himself up too much since he started his adventures.
He rushed back down the steps. He could hear Rufus scampering down to his direction, wondering what's happening. He could see Ron patching up a girl who looked pretty banged up… he could even hear Ron muttering to himself.
"Of all the things you had to do…" he said. But he wouldn't focus what happened then, at least not until Kim wakes up. Out of all the things she did, either she was pretty ballsy or pretty stupid. But given how stubborn she is, followed with her strength… his money is on the former.
She stirred a bit, a groan emanated from her lips, indicating that she still had life in her. Ron felt relieved, the pacing of his heart was beginning to steady. Rufus would scamper up to his shoulder, looking at him in concern. He looked back assuring the both of them. "She's gonna be alright, trust me she's tougher than she looks."
After doing what he could for Kim's wounds… he decided to head to the kitchen, hopefully there was a tea set for him to use. Ron had learned how to make a certain type of tea, one of Yamanouchi's recipes. The tea should be able to help relax the muscles and allow a faster recovery.
Ron prepared the both of them a cup as Kim woke up. She was about to stand, but the blonde stopped her. "Uh-uh, you're in no shape to get up just yet. You took a serious blow." He arrived at the living room, setting down the tea set and sitting on the floor. He sat on the carpeted floor and blew into his cup, taking small sips of the concoction and allowing a warm feeling wash over his stomach and chest. He took a breath and allowed his body to relax, it seemed that the Centurion's armor had receded back to a bracelet, one that he easily slipped off.
Kim failed to listen to him, she went to sit herself up and saw the tea on the table. "What happened?" Her head was still disoriented from the last fight. She would pinch the bridge of her nose, waiting for this dizzy feeling to vanish. "What happened?" She murmured again. Something that the assassin easily picked up on.
"We were in a fight and the guy decided to blow himself up. Surprisingly he still in one piece… but…" he drew the last word out for a bit.
"He's dead isn't he?" Kim said. Stating the obvious fact.
"Yup, internal organs went to shit. No way anybody can perform a good enough autopsy, I'd would've liked to know how is it that he couldn't feel any pain."
A brief respite happened, the house was silent. The only thing that filled it was a sigh.
"Well being a hero must have its perks, huh? Aside from the occasional scratches, bruises and possible psychological trauma, it's a pretty good gig, huh? " Kim hadn't even awarded his little confession with a response. She just looked at him, surprised that he would start a conversation like that. "Ok, that's… a bad way to start this off. I don't even know what to say… but maybe I should apologize to you about the whole… Y'know."
Ron referred to the incident when they first did a mission together. Slitting Jack's throat, manipulating her to believing that she murdered two guards, that probably weighed heavy on her.
In his own way, he was trying to comfort her.
"You didn't kill those guards, with the explosions, I mean. I did that… with the whole pressing the button and all." Kim decided to interject.
"You're horrible at small talk, aren't you?"
He chuckles while nodding his head. "At least I'm trying." He took a sip of his drink, then he continued. "How'd you figure it out? My past… I mean… I didn't think anyone would catch up the way you did." Ron said. In a way, he knew that he was lying… to himself mostly.
"Cross referenced your name that associated with any type of family deaths, researched police records of the accident on prior to the report…" Before she could continue, Ron interrupted.
"Somebody else did the research, didn't they?" He said. Kim didn't want to admit it, if she said no, he'd pick up on the lie and call her on it. If she said yes, she'd be admitting that it wasn't her work.
Unfortunately for her, her silence had already confirmed his suspicion.
"Yup, I knew it. You got a nerd who's good with computers on your corner." He shook his head.
"Ah shut it! It's not like you're any better!"
As they were silent again, there was still the matter of where they stood. What were they to each other now? Lovers might be out of the equation for a bit. Friends? Enemies? Frenemies? Either way, there was going to be some sort of action needed.
"Okay, let's establish something so that way there's no confusion. The guys who can't feel pain, you and I both know there's more where he came from. I also know that the only chance we got of finding out about them and winning against those guys, is if we work together."
Kim turned her head upon hearing this. First he fights her, kills someone in front of her, frames her for doing a killing (ish), and now he wants to work with her? She's even asking herself what was happening.
"Look, I know that we're not on the best of terms, but at least hear me out on this. You and me are strong on our own, but not strong enough to deal with guys like them, if one of them threw us around like ragdolls, imagine if there were two or three of them against one of us. I'll be dead and so would you."
Kim crossed her arms. Still in disbelief about the whole ordeal, if anything, he couldn't be trusted… at least not entirely. But one thing was certain: his case was valid with credible points.
"But if you and me team up, with some boundaries mind you, we got a better chance of taking these guys on, it's the best chance we have. What do you think?"
Kim had finally found her voice. "I think, I can't trust you! How do I know you're not just gonna go on another killing rampage?" Even if he saved her life, seeds of doubt were planted long before this. It would be some sort of miracle if he convinced her otherwise.
"If I'm going to be honest with you… you don't." Ron placed it out in the open. "Look, I'm not gonna sit here and lie, the people responsible for killing my family are gonna die, plain and simple. But if there's a chance where I can focus on them only, there's less of a chance of me killing those who aren't involved. So if we do this, as much as I don't like it, I'm willing to put my methods aside for the rest of these assholes. You want less bloodshed, this is the compromise, hundreds of thousands of these guys, all for one… maybe even a dozen. Like I said, I'll go all the way for this, so this is me trying to meet in the middle."
Kim didn't want any more people to die, criminals or not. This could be the chance for Kim to ensure that less blood is shed and that the investigation of those guys with the Greek letters would be accelerated. Having that deal seems good at first glance, and yet, he'd still get to kill… even if it's just one guy, or maybe even 6 people. Apparently he might've slaughtered at least thirty to forty people in Middleton, maybe even more. Ron's putting himself in her microscope so to speak. While there's still no trust to be shown, there could be an attempt to build it.
"If you want me to agree with you, then you're gonna need to show me that you're capable of not killing any of these guys. No murdering, no maiming, no beating someone to an inch of their life, any of that!" Kim put her foot down on that matter. While she did see that the pros would outweigh the cons by a slight margin, it would only be accomplished if he followed his end of the deal to the letter… and the spirit.
Ron pinched his nose. "There's a couple cases I've been working on, maybe if I can show you that I'm capable of not killing them, then hopefully you'll consider it."
"Cases? What, you're a private detective now?" She asked sarcastically.
With a stern tone to his voice. Ron replied. "I am what I need to be." He then cleared his throat. "Alright, there's a bunch of shipments of vehicles being sent here to the Middleton area. All of which are being handled by some dude… Motor Ed, I think that's his name."
"I know him, car enthusiast, mullet and narcissist." Kim placed in her comment. "So he steals cars, gives them a paint job, fixes them up and all of that which…" Kim stops herself for a hot minute. "Motor Ed makes a lot of money with cars and he could pretty much sell them to anybody in the criminal element. He gets money, they get fast getaway cars."
Ron smiled. Knowing that she was thinking on a similar wavelength as he was. "Eliminate a critical method of transportation…"
"Along with a source of revenue…" Kim continued. "We'll deal a very serious blow to the bad guys… that much I see… but won't they find someone else to get them cars like this?" Kim knew that even if we're cutting off one head, two more might take its place.
"Which is why we stay on the offensive, we're also attacking how they get their money operations going, less money flow, less opportunity to regain."
Kim definitely saw the good in this case. It could definitely be of help. "What about the other?"
"Ok uhh… after what happened with Hench, there's a rumor going around that a couple of people want to take over parts of his company. You and I already know how much of a pain in the ass the company already is. Someone wants to take over the henchman part and the other wants to take over the illegal dealings they had and incorporate them into their own. This is a good way to disrupt their structure, and see what skeletons they have in their closet."
"You got any names?" The redhead asked.
"Uhh… Frugal Lucre, that's one… and Señor Senior… whatever the heck his name is. We can do this tomorrow morning, so for now, I'm calling it a night." Ron got up to walk away and go into a bedroom. "Adios." He said.
"What? That's it? Not even a good night Kim… or you would see me out the door, or any of that? How very gentleman-like of you." Kim scolded. Although she wasn't entirely serious on the matter.
"I'm still pissed about you fighting me and getting us detention, don't forget that we still have to make up for it!" He responded, sharing that same level of semi seriousness. Once that matter had settled in, she remembered that school would continue onwards. The fact that they slipped from Barkin's leash at least once, filled her with enough dread. For there wouldn't be a second time.
The door had shut in Ron's room. While Kim could leave at any time, she still felt quite weak from the last fight. It was official: she'd sleep in this place for tonight and convince her parents that she was with Monique. Hopefully she'd cover for her in that aspect.
Kim felt as if she literally made a deal with the devil. Something was running through the majority of her synapses that this was going to be a less than stellar idea. But for now, she was going to call her father, let him know that she was okay.
'What did I get myself into?' She rubbed her temple while debating this.