Kim scratched at her head as she dug around the back of the television for the cables. Ron had gone to bed hours ago, per the norm. And, as normal, she stayed up to watch the news. It was especially important to her as deputy director of Global Justice.

It was also a good cool-down for the problem with Ron. The extra week came and went fast. He'd regressed further, now having a spotty enough memory to forget he wasn't supposed to cook anymore. She'd had to stop him numerous times with starting and leaving the oven on just in the last week.

Seeing him like this… It hurt her on a level she never knew could hurt. He was the same giddy goof he'd always been, but at the same time who 'he' was disappeared a little bit more every day. Kim was nearly glad that they had failed to have children. Dealing with Ron's deterioration was about as close to raising a child in reverse as things could be. Normal activities, like getting ready for bed, were too much for him by himself.

So as the normal days had been lately, she saw him off to bed then went to take her cooldown time by herself.

Unlike normal, the connection of the tv cut out. Even with their satellite link. One that was normally unassailable as it was directed through GJ satellites and maintained by Wade.

That's what led Kim to checking the connections in the back of the television. Maybe Ron had messed with something or another, thinking it was back to analog or something? That was the only explanation she had. Yet her examination bore no fruit. There was nothing wrong with the wiring.

This was strange. Very strange.

She set the television back in its spot and took a step back, finger tapping against her chin. What to do next… This was a little below Wade's paygrade, and it was such outdated technology that she wasn't sure a repair-..

Then, with a bright flash that made her cover her eyes, the screen flipped on.

To Kim's great irritation, Shego's smug mug was now staring at her from the television.

"Hello Kimmie!" she said with a chuckle.

"Shego…!" Kim grabbed around the edge of the television and pushed the 'off' switch.

Nothing happened. If anything, the green woman looked even more amused and confident.

"Trying to turn us off? That's awfully mean of you!" Another chuckle escaped her lips. "Don't bother trying to respond to anything I say; this is a one-way messaging service."

Kim snorted. Great. She was about to be in for a one-way rant.

"You should appreciate the effort we're going through! Goodness knows trying to hack outdated tech like your tv - real sophisticated, by the way; can't afford anything better on GJ's salary? - is a pain in the butt!"

Kim grit her teeth as she began to grab for her necklace Kimmunicator.

"Now, I'm sure you're wondering 'why would Drakken and Shego go to the trouble of hacking my tv?'. Am I right?"

Her hand paused, palm over the screen of her Kimmunicator as curiosity struck her. Why would they bother with something so below the radar? Normally they loved annoying and rubbing Kim's nose into their activities.

"Well, I won't beat around the bush just in case you couldn't help your itchy trigger finger and called someone already. Not that there's anything they can do about this!" Shego smirked as she said, "You did a good job with Dementor. Haven't had to deal with his annoying self in weeks! At this rate he might keel over before he can try again. Which is why we're going to make you an offer…

"We want you to help us out a bit more. A little bit of an… Advisor, if you will."

Kim growled. She was pretty sure she had told them she wouldn't be joining them. Them and their evil team. Never!

"In exchange for your help, we'll make sure to make it worth your while. In fact, we'll bump up the time we'll give you by another week! Just think, two week's worth of youth per itty-bitty favor you do for us!" Shego's expression turned positively evil. "Frankly, your buffoon could use all the time he can get! How many times has he had to go to the hospital for accidental injuries he gave himself? Or you having to stop one of his forgetful cooking attempts?"

The redhead paused, eyes narrowing. How did…?

"Anyway, we don't want much. Pretty much what you did with Dementor. Stop a villain from doing whatever they're doing. And, occasionally, their reason for doing whatever. World domination, trying to impress a date, what have you. Perfectly easy for you, and it's nothing beyond giving us a rundown of what's going on. Just think of it as an extra work report!" Shego shrugged. "It's all up to you if your buffoon is worth doing some paltry little errands.

"If you want to take our deal, push 987654321 on the remote. If not? Just need to wait a couple of minutes. We'll cut the signal and then you'll never have to hear from us again…"

Kim growled to herself. She made it seem so easy! Just, making a choice like that. Helping them out by taking down villains that they wanted. And asking if Ron was worth it…

...his time was running out. Every day he slipped away a little more. Soon he wouldn't remember Kim's name. Their first time meeting. Prom…

There was a lot Kim Possible could handle. Aliens, supervillains, several PhD tracks at once… But losing Ron?

Ron was everything to her.

Kim sighed wearily as she picked up her television remote and entered the requested number sequence.

Shego stood, waiting for a few moments before a bright snarky smile came to her face. "Good to see that you love your dork! I'm sure he'd be touched if he was with reality enough to get it." The villainess nodded at something off-screen. "Time for us to go. We'll get in touch with our first little request. Ta-ta for now, Queeny!"

The screen then went dark.

Kim closed her eye and took a breath in slowly. It would be fine. It was just like Shego said... Just another report to fill out.

The next day an unmarked envelope appeared on the doorstep. Inside was another ray gun, a form, and a name: Miss Perfect. An up-and-coming villainess with a penchant for jewelry.

Barely a few hours later Kim was processing the GJ paperwork for her arrest for suspected robbery.

KRKRKRKRKR

Kim sighed as she made a plate of eggs and bacon for herself and Ron.

It had been a few weeks since she'd started doing the little errands for Drakken and Shego, leaving the unmarked envelopes on her porch where they vanished as mysteriously as they appeared. None of it was very big. Just raiding specific villain bases here and there, cataloguing what they had stolen or created. Stuff she would've eventually done anyway. As promised, the duo provided the little ray guns that held the charges of youth ray in them. Only charged with a couple of weeks at a time. She had sacrificed one to Wade in an attempt to crack the technology behind it. Start disseminating the tech through the world for the greater good.

All it had resulted in was a charred spot on Wade's workbench. However the two villains had worked the gun, it was completely immune to tampering.

Wade hadn't asked how she had gotten her hands on one of their guns. Kim never gave him an explanation.

She had been using the guns on Ron. Her poor precious husband was so out of it he couldn't even tell there was much of anything going on beyond his normal mild confusion.

It made Kim paranoid. She couldn't see much of a difference in Ron even with a few month's worth of youth added to him. Were Shego and Drakken yanking her chain? Secretly laughing behind her back at her naivety? She wouldn't put it past them.

Kim unceremoniously dumped the eggs and bacon together on one plate. Ron wouldn't notice the mess and she didn't feel like separating the two foods from each other. She then took the plate into their spacious dining room where she had left Ron sitting in a chair at the table.

To her surprise, he was sobbing quietly, arm leaning against the table to support himself.

"Ron?" She carefully set the plate and fork down in front of him, then ducked down to look him in the eyes. Carefully she asked, "What's wrong? Thinking about high school again?"

Sniffling, the blond shook his head. "No… I'm just… Thinking about Rufus…"

Oh.

Kim shifted uncomfortably as she prepared to tell him once again about his beloved friend. "Ron… I-.."

"I can't believe he's gone!"

Kim froze. She must be misunderstanding. She murmured comfortingly, "Ron, Rufus isn't at the vet. He's-.."

"Gone." Her husband looked up at her, lip quivering. "I don't know when it happened, but I know he's… He's…" He resumed sobbing, now rubbing his hands along his arms. "I don't even remember if I told him goodbye or not! How messed up is that?!"

Kim's breath was gone. Ron… Her Ron…! He was…!

She shot her arms around him and hugged him for all she was worth. Bursting into tears, she rocked back and forth with him.

His hands encircled her as he buried his face in her shoulder. They were crying about different things, but that didn't matter. All that mattered was that Ron was coming back to where he belonged.

Not in a nursing home. Not in the hospital. Home, with Kim.

Ron was getting better.

It was a few minutes of crying later that saw both of them finally calm down. Ron was shaking as he dug his head into Kim's shoulder. Then he pulled back and looked her in the eye, his eyes shining with tears.

"KP… Please please please tell me everything is gonna be alright?" her husband begged her.

His doe-eyed look made her heart melt. As strange as it was, she missed him being upset. It was something emotional, something she had missed from his general confused optimism. It was… Him.

And what could she say to that?

Happily, tears continuing to fall from her eyes, she murmured reassuringly, "Yeah Ron. Everything will be fine now."

A/N: Okay, so, I talked with one of my betas about this fic. It was agreed that the fic would probably be better in smaller bits of chapters, to really make the despair real. So! My aim is to try and do at least one chapter every three months, if not sooner. I'm juggling a lot right now and I'm trying not to burn myself out like I did a few months ago. Enjoy this nice little piece, hopefully!