Yes! Believe it or not, I'm finally going to actually have a little action in this story! Remember, this story is a first-time attempt at KP fanfic. The action isn't anywhere close to what's in the show or in the stories by the KP fanfic veterans here. I'm a newbie. Give me time. It will get better.

As with every chapter before and every to follow, Kim Possible and all related characters (other than those of my own creation for the purpose of this story) are the property of The Walt Disney Company. Everything else is all mine.

Kim and Ron were sitting side-by-side on the car tailgate, finishing up their carry-out Bueno Nacho meal. The grass was too damp to lay down a blanket and dew had already begun to form on the picnic tables.

"This tailgate sure is handy", observed Kim.

"Definitely", Ron agreed. "I can't understand why more cars don't have them, especially the new ones. Dad says that when he was growing up, there were lots of cars like this, only they were a lot bigger and called "station wagons" or sometimes "estate wagons"."

"What time is it?" asked Kim.

"About ten minutes after ten", answered Ron.

"Well, shall we have that virgin strawberry margarita now, or save it until we get back from our walk?" Kim asked. "My vote is to wait. The Styrofoam cup is keeping it plenty cold."

"I'm willing to wait, KP", replied Ron. "Let's lock up the car and dump the trash over in that garbage can."

Just as they were about to set off down the lake path, Ron asked, "Kim, you going to be warm enough? I think I might have an old shirt or sweatshirt in the back you can wear."

"Thanks, Ron, but as long as you stick close beside me, I think I'll be just fine."

"You planning to take the Kimmunicator?"

"I would, but the pockets in these slacks are too small, so I thought I'd just leave it in your car. You're bringing along the Ronnunicator, right?"

"Yeah, I think I'd better. Things have been quiet so far tonight, and just once I'd love it if we could be "unplugged" from the world, even if it was only for a twenty minute walk."

Kim wrapped her arms around Ron's waist and leaned her head against his chest. "I'd love to "unplug" for awhile too, Ron. Just the two of us. No interruptions."

"You've had it a lot harder than me, Kim. You've had the Kimmunicator with you 24/7 for almost six years. I haven't even had the Ronnunicator for six months."

"We'd better let Wade know what's the sitch." Ron pressed a button on the Ronnunicator to initiate a transmission to Wade's communications console.

"Yo! Wade!"

"Hey, Ron! How are you and Kim enjoying your night out on the town?"

"I think it's safe to say we're having a bon-diggity time. Right, Kim?" Ron turned the Ronnunicator screen toward Kim.

"I slept through almost the entire movie, but otherwise, yeah, we're having a great time. Ron and I thought we'd better alert you that the Kimmunicator is switched off and we're leaving it in Ron's car during our walk. Ron will be carrying the Ronnunicator, so beep him if you need to reach us."

"Will do. Things have been pretty quiet so far. Let's hope it stays that way."

"Wade, once Ron and I get back to the car, I'll switch on the Kimmunicator and do an air check."

"I'll be here. Enjoy your walk."

"Thanks!" Kim and Ron replied in unison.

Ron slipped the Ronnunicator in his pants pocket, then he and Kim clasped hands and started down the path.

It was a moonless, cloudless night, and, due to the specially-designed lamps used along the path, the two teens were able to look up and see a sky blanketed with layer upon layer of stars.

Slowing their pace, Kim snuggled up beside Ron, who gently put his arm around her shoulders. They came to a stop, continuing to gaze skyward, awestruck by the majestic spectacle on display far above.

For several minutes they stood there in silence, transfixed.

Finally, with some reluctance, Kim whispered, "It puts everything in perspective, doesn't it?"

"How so?" whispered Ron.

"Looking up and seeing those millions and billions of stars, thinking about the vastness of the Universe, and knowing you and I are just two tiny beings on a tiny spec in the midst of it all. Makes all the troubles we face each day seem small, even trivial by comparison. And yet the One who created the Universe cares as much for us as He does all the stars in the sky."

"You know, Kim, in all the years I've known you and your family, I don't recall ever hearing any of you talk about God. That is, until after the Prom last spring."

"Having your entire family nearly die the same night tends to do that to people, Ron. Remember, while that one Diablo was chasing us, the other one was still back at the house trying to get at Mom and Dad and the Tweebs. They barely got out of the garage alive and had several more close calls before they could find shelter in the subbasement."

"I guess you could say that as we started to piece our lives back together, it slowly dawned on us that it wasn't just skill and luck that got us all through that night. Something else --- or Someone else --- was at work."

"All through the summer the five of us have set aside a little time a couple evenings each week to talk about what happened that night, how we felt then and afterward, and try to describe any changes we've sensed taking place in ourselves and in the family. A big part of it has been Mom and Dad opening up and sharing."

"Mom grew up in a fairly traditional Irish Catholic home, while Dad was raised in what he calls a "nominally Episcopalian" family. Neither of them was practicing their faith when they met, but since Mom has an uncle who is a priest, they decided to have him officiate at the wedding, which took place in "Our Lady of the Mountains", a rustic church up in Estes Park, Colorado. I'll have to show you their wedding album sometime. Mom looks absolutely radiant."

"Mom and Dad had agreed that, while they both had some belief in God or a Higher Power, they had seen more than enough religious strife in the world and in their families and didn't want that to continue in their own family. So, that's how they raised me and the twins."

"It's not that we're totally messed up because of it. I think I've turned out okay, don't you?"

"Ummm, I think I'd better take the Fifth on that one", replied Ron with a hint of a grin.

"Ron!" Kim pulled away a step and punched Ron in the shoulder.

"Owww! Just kidding, KP!" Ron winced as he rubbed his right shoulder.

"You'd better be!" Kim said with a look of mock anger.

Ron turned and, taking Kim's hands in his, looked into her green eyes.

"Kim, I think you've turned out wonderfully. In fact, I don't see how you could have turned out any better."

"Now that's more like it!"

"You know, Ron, I am getting a little chilly. How about we pick up the pace a bit? Race you to that next lamp post!"

"You go on ahead, KP. These sneakers are new and the laces have gotten pretty loose. I'd better tighten them back up before I do any running."

Kim broke into a slow jog, swinging her arms back-and-forth, side-to-side and in a windmill motion. Her clothes were not suited for anything too athletic, but after sitting most of the evening it felt good to move and stretch.

Upon reaching the lamp post, Kim came to a stop, spread her legs slightly to maintain balance and began doing some torso twists.

As Kim was making her second twist to her left, she heard what sounded like a high-powered air gun being fired several yards behind her. Before she had any chance to react, two sharp darts pierced her blouse and embedded themselves in her upper-left shoulder. A split second later, 950K volts of electricity surged through her entire body. She tried to call for Ron but she was unable to even open her mouth. With her central nervous system completely out of her control, all Kim could do was collapse to the sidewalk.

Ron was just finishing up tightening his left shoe when he looked up and saw Kim first flinch and then her whole body violently contort in pain before collapsing to the pavement.

"Kim!!!"

He leapt to his feet and bolted down the path.

Whipping out the Ronnunicator, he pressed the transmit button.

"Ron?"

"Wade! 9-1-1! We need an ambulance and some squad cars, stat! And put the Ronnunicator in 'copter mode! Now!"

Ron flung the Ronnunicator up in the air underhanded. Just as it reached its apex, arms sprung out from the top and bottom edges, unfolded and two rotors emerged and began to whirl around, leaving the screen of the Ronnunicator face down.

Using his joystick, Wade carefully maneuvered the Ronnunicator over where Kim lay, ascending to about forty feet above the ground. Meanwhile, via his wireless headset, he was making a 9-1-1 call to the Middleton Police and Emergency Medical Units.

As Ron came closer, two large men dressed in black from head to foot emerged from a clump of trees to the right and stood over Kim's seemingly lifeless body.

"Stay away from her! I swear, if you lay even a finger on her, I'll…"

Ron was cut off in mid-sentence as his legs were chopped out from underneath him, causing him to sprawl head-first onto the pavement.

Two burly arms grabbed his from behind, dragged him to his feet, and began to twist his arms into a pretzel hold.

"You'll do what, little man? Scare us with nasty words? Frighten us with dirty looks? Ohhh, I'm s-o-o s-c-a-r-e-d. Move!"

As he was being shoved forward, Ron could feel something warm trickling down his forehead. It was blood seeping out from an abrasion inflicted when his face scrapped the pavement. "Please, just don't have it run into my eyes." The pretzel hold on Ron's arms was cutting off circulation, causing them to go numb and limp.

"What are we supposed to do with him?" asked one of the two men standing over Kim. "The e-mail notice only said "WANTED: Dead or Alive. Kim Possible. $100 Million Dollar Reward.""

"Let's just dump him in the lake", answered the other man. "He'll be more trouble than he's worth. We've got her. They would have preferred she be alive, but the notice said they'd take her dead, so we'll still get that reward."

"You three had better hope she's not dead, because if she is, I guarantee you'll never have a chance to spend one penny of that reward."

"Big words from such a little man! How are you going to stop us if you're dead, too?"

"I'm not dead yet, and even if I die here with Kim, there are hundreds, even thousands of people all over the world who care deeply for Kim. Once they hear she's been murdered, they'll be hunting down the three of you day and night in every corner of the globe. There'll be nowhere for you to hide. One way or another, they'll find you and you will pay dearly for what you've done."

"Blah, blah, blah! We're wasting our time here listening to this punk make idle threats. Let's get it over with and make our $100 million COD drop-off."

As he was speaking, the man walked toward Ron, a high-voltage stun gun in his right hand, bent on doing to Ron what he had done moments ago to Kim. Ron desperately struggled to break free from his captor's grasp, but his arms were all but useless and he couldn't reach his legs back far enough to do a sweep takedown.

Just as the man was about to thrust the stun gun into Ron's chest, something that sounded like a low-flying jet aircraft but looked like a wheelchair swooped in off the lake and a mechanical arm reached down, clamping onto the man's right forearm. It then hoisted him high into the air, spun around, flew back over the lake and released him to plummet fifty feet straight down into the water.

In the midst of the surprise and confusion, the man behind Ron relaxed his pretzel hold. Seizing the opportunity, Ron swept his right leg behind his captor's and pushed off with his left. The man lost his balance and tumbled to the ground, with Ron crashing down on top of him. Jumping up, Ron contemplated his next blow, looked down and realized that it wouldn't be necessary: his foe was out cold.

Spinning around to face the remaining man, Ron vigorously shook his arms to get some feeling back in them, rolled his head around until he heard his neck crack, and then, arms ready at his sides, he walked slowly and deliberately straight toward his foe, all the while staring the man straight in the eyes.

"Mister, I'll give you a choice. You can either lay face-down in the grass with your arms behind your back on your own, or I'll make you do it. Which would you prefer?"

The man reached around his back, pulled out a handgun that he had tucked in his pants and pointed it at Ron. "I'm choosing neither, punk. Now I'm going to offer you a choice. Would you rather join your girl friend in the next life shot in the chest or in the back? Better think fast, 'cause I'm gonna count to three, then send you on your way."

"One… two…. "

He never made it to "three".

Unobserved, Wade had quietly maneuvered the Ronnunicator around the man with the gun and slowly crept up behind him. Right before he was to say "three", two probes touched the back of his neck, sending four-hundred-thousand volts up and down his body. The handgun fell harmlessly to the ground, while the man slumped over, dropped to his knees and then curled up like an infant on his side.

Ron snatched the gun off the ground, dashed over to where Kim lay and knelt down beside her. Gently lifting her left arm, he took his right thumb and pressed down at several places on her wrist. At the same time, he stroked her face and hair with his left hand.

"Oh God, p-l-e-a-s-e let me find a pulse."

Moving his thumb up, down and across Kim's wrist, unable to feel a pulse, Ron eyes filled up with tears and he began to sob.

"God, please don't take Kim now! The world needs her. I need her. Please, God, please let her stay."

Ron used the sleeve on his left arm to try and dry his eyes. While he did this, he released his grip on Kim's wrist ever so slightly and his thumb slipped back about a quarter of an inch. He resumed stroking Kim's face and hair and pressed down with his thumb. He felt a pulse. It was faint and seemed to come and go, but it was definitely a pulse.

"Thank you, God! Thank you for allowing Kim to stay!"

"Wade! Kim's alive!"

"Thank God!"

"Where's the ambulance?"

"They should be there any moment."

As Wade was speaking, four vehicles with flashing lights were coming over the ridge: three Middleton Police squad cars and an ambulance. The squad cars pulled off to the right and six Police Officers emerged. Quickly assessing the situation, they fanned out, two apiece to the three apparent perpetrators. Moments later all three were handcuffed.

The ambulance pulled up beside where Ron knelt beside Kim, and two EMTs --- one male and the other female --- burst out the rear doors.

"Please move aside, sir, so we can examine her", requested the female EMT, who knelt down beside Kim and began to check for vital signs."

"What's her name?" asked the male EMT.

"Kim. Kim Possible", Ron answered.

"The Kim Possible? Man, I never thought I would answer a call to help her. So that means you must be Ron; Ron Stoppable, right?"

"Yeah, that's me. Can we keep our head in the game here? How's Kim doing?"

"She's alive, but in shock", answered the female EMT. "We need to get her to ER ASAP. Rick, call in to Middleton General. Let them know we're coming and our approximate ETA, then help me with the stretcher."

"Will do, Karen." Rick ran around to the ambulance cab and contacted ER.

"What happened to her, Ron?" asked Karen.

"As best as I can tell, one of those dudes must have shot her with a super-high-voltage taser from behind those bushes over there. Cowards! She was faced the other way and never saw it coming. I was a little further back up the path tightening my shoes when I saw her flinch, then her whole body went spastic and finally she collapsed."

"I honestly thought she was dead. She hadn't moved a muscle for almost ten minutes. Thank God she's alive."

"Can I ride along with her to the hospital?" asked Ron.

"I think its best you didn't, Ron. I'll be in the back with her the entire trip. We'll take good care of Kim. You can follow in your own car. I'm sure the hospital staff will allow you to be at her side once they feel she's out of danger. Oh, and make sure to have a nurse take a look at your forehead. It doesn't appear to be anything serious but it needs to be cleaned and bandaged or it might become infected."

While Ron and Karen were talking, Rick pulled out the stretcher and laid it down beside Kim. He and Karen gingerly lifted Kim off the ground and lowered her onto the stretcher. After fastening Kim's safety straps, they carefully lifted up the stretcher and slid it into transport position.

Karen hopped up into the ambulance compartment, locked down the stretcher and connected Kim to the on-board vital signs monitoring equipment. Initial readouts showed Kim was weak but very much alive. Turning around, she looked down at Ron and gave him a reassuring smile. "Ron, your girl friend is one tough young lady. From all I've heard about you two, she should come through this just fine."

Rick closed the doors behind Karen, ran up to the cab and jumped in. He backed the ambulance around, cut the wheels and drove back out the way he came in.

As Ron watched the ambulance disappear over the ridge, one of the police officers approached.

"Sir, I know you're anxious to get to the hospital, but we'll need a brief statement from you regarding all that happened here. You can come down to the Police Station later to make a full statement. For now, all I need from you is confirmation that all three of these men participated in the assault on you and the girl."

"Yes, Officer, all three were involved. The dripping wet one is the ringleader and, from what I heard them say, he's the one who fired the taser at Kim. I do know for sure he was the one who tried to zap me with a high-voltage stun gun."

"Thank you, sir. That's more than enough to take them downtown, book them and keep them on ice until we can get everything sorted out. You're free to go."

"Thanks, Officer."

The three men were led away, one to a squad car. With minimal difficulty, the police officers were able to restrain all three in the rear of their vehicles. One by one, the squad cars did a u-turn and headed back out of the park.

Lost in thought, Ron was startled to hear a very familiar female voice yell from the lakeshore.

"Yo! Ron!"

He turned and there hovering before him was Felix seated in his cybertronic wheelchair with Monique standing behind him, riding shotgun.

"Felix! You are the "Man"!"

"Thanks, Ron, but I couldn't have done it without my co-pilot here." Felix tilted back his head while Monique leaned down and they joined in an inverted kiss.

"Well, if weren't for you two, they would be transporting me down to ER along with Kim. Or worse. Thanks!"

"Glad to do it", answered Felix.

"How's Kim?" asked Monique. "We couldn't help but eavesdrop and what we heard sounded pretty bad."

"Kim took a huge jolt from that ultra-high-voltage taser and was still in shock, but her vitals were steady though weak. Karen, the EMT, seemed confident Kim would be okay."

"Ron, don't worry", said Felix. "If anyone can bounce back from this, it's Kim."

"Hey, Ron!" It was Wade, hailing him from the Ronnunicator, which he now had hovering about a foot above Ron's head. "Are you ready to take the Ronnunicator out of 'copter mode?"

"Yeah, let's do it. I want to head over to Middleton General right away so I can be there when Kim comes out of ER."

Using the joystick control, Wade lowered the Ronnunicator three more feet until it was about chest-high for Ron. Ron stretched out his arm and opened his hand so it was four or five inches directly below. Wade carefully lowered the Ronnunicator down further until it was less than an inch above Ron's hand. Next, he cut the power to the two rotors, and the Ronnunicator dropped the final inch. Finally, Wade sent a command to the unit to collapse the rotor arms and retract them back inside the case.

"Wade, you absolutely rock! I knew about the 'copter mode, but I had no idea you had built a stun gun into the unit, too. Thanks, man, for saving my life yet again!"

"Ron, that's what I'm here for."

"Sometime you're going to have to show me all the other gizmos and doohickeys you managed to squeeze into this thing, but not right now. I need to head over to the hospital."

"Care for a lift?" asked Felix.

"You want me to stand on the back with Monique? Won't that throw it off balance?"

"Actually, I was going to have Monique sit in my lap. Mom and I installed an extra set of seatbelts, just in case something like this ever came up."

"Something tells me that second set wasn't installed just for emergency use", Monique slyly observed.

"Well, I suppose there might have been an ulterior motive", Felix replied grinning.

"Uh-huh", said Monique, giving him the eye.

"What about my extra weight?" asked Ron.

"You're about the same size and weight as me, and this was designed to carry up to four times my weight, so again, n-o-o problem. Climb aboard!"

Monique swung around to the front and settled into Felix's lap while Ron hopped onto the back and gripped his hands around the handle bar.

"Felix, how did you two know where to find Kim and me?"

"Wade, of course! He text messaged Monique's pager with "9-1-1 Call Wade". I dialed him on my chair's integrated cell phone and he filled us in. We were at the Video Arcade on the northwest side of town, so even at full speed it took a few minutes for us to get here. Along the way, Wade outlined the situation and he and I devised a plan of attack, something that would catch them off-guard. That's why we flew across the lake instead of down the walking path."

"And it's a good thing you did, Felix. If you had come down the walking path, you might not have been able to grab the ringleader's arm before he zapped me with his stun gun."

They were just coming to the head of the walking path. As they glided out the entrance and across the parking lot, Ron said, "On second thought, I'd like to drive over to the hospital. There's a good chance I'll be there all night, and I'd rather not be stranded in case I need to go out and get something for Kim or run home, take a shower and change. Thanks for the lift."

"Not a problem, Ron. We'll swing by the hospital in the morning to check on Kim. Call us if her condition worsens or if there's anything we can do to help."

Felix and Monique waved as they flew off down the road to Monique's home. Ron waved back, then unlocked the door to his car and climbed in.

"Wade, can you patch me into your cell phone so I can call my mom? I need to tell her what's happened and that I'll probably not be coming home tonight."

"Give me a second and I'll have you set up."

"Oh, and Wade, I need you to do me a big favor. Would you call Kim's parents, explain to them what happened to Kim and keep them updated on her condition?"

"Uh… okay. Ron, are you sure you don't want to make that call?"

"I don't think I'm up to telling Kim's parents that her boy friend nearly got her killed tonight because he had to tighten his shoelaces."

"Ron, it wasn't your fault. There's no way you could have known those thugs were hiding in the bushes with that taser."

"No, but if I had been beside her, maybe I could have shielded her from the darts and taken the jolt myself."

"Ron, they were targeting Kim. If they didn't have a clear shot then, they probably would have waited until later, a little further down the walking path. And even Kim isn't fast enough to dodge a taser when it's fired. At best, you might have intercepted one of the two darts, but then both of you would have been taken down and God only knows what would have happened after that."

"Yeah, I guess you're right, Wade. I'd still like you to call her folks. I'm afraid I might say something stupid and make them even more upset."

"Okay, but you need to talk with them."

"I will. At the hospital. Now, can we dial-up my mom, please?"

Ron started the car, let it idle for a minute or two, then backed up and drove out of the parking lot.

"Hi, Mom. No, I didn't have another flat or run out of gas. No, I didn't have an accident, at least not with the car, anyway. Mom, I think you'd better sit down. Okay? Well, Kim and I did take our walk around City Park Lake, but while we were walking…."

This story was originally going to be fourteen chapters with a postscript, but it looks like it's going to be at least another chapter or two in length. Oh, and, yes, I intend to address the "$100 million "Wanted"" e-mail. Later. In another story.