Water Rescue
By: Obbbiejoe
Kim had no idea how long she had been swimming she only knew that she had to get as far away from the island as possible before they had a chance to bring a boat from the other side of the island into play.
It had been pure chance that she had run toward to cliffs when they began their chase and it had again been chance, mixed with a lot of luck, that she hadn't hit any of the many rocks in the water when she had splashed into the sea. The one man that dove in after her hadn't been as lucky and was now floating lifelessly in the waves that crashed against the cliffs, his body crushed to a pulp against the rocks lying just beneath the surface of the water.
She was an extremely good swimmer but the constant effort was beginning to take its toll, there was no time to simply float and regain her strength since there was undoubtedly a man watching from the cliffs so he could direct the boat she knew had to be coming directly to her. Her only chance was to put enough distance between herself and that lookout so he would loose sight of her, then she could angle off in a random direction and hopefully loose her pursuers in the choppy waters.
To reduce drag and weight she had doffed her sweater shortly after she splashed into the water and that had been quickly followed by her shoes and pants. That only gave her additional incentive since she had no intention of being pulled into any perusing boat wearing only her wet underwear, not with that group. If they did catch up to her she knew she would rather drown than allow that to happen.
As she crested the next wave she heard it, the low droning sound of an engine, a powerful engine. When she had first landed on the island she had seen several types of craft docked at a pier and knew her pursuers were now hunting her in one of those boats.
The burning sensation of exertion across her shoulders told her she wouldn't last much longer at the pace she was setting, she would be forced to rest soon but the ever increasing drone of the approaching motor spurred her on, giving her the strength for one more stroke each time she thought she could go no further.
She didn't even pause to think about what would happen even if she did loose the men following her, she was swimming in an empty ocean and the only land in sight was teeming with men out to kill her, or worse. The incessant droning became louder as she struggled in the choppy water, she never knew whether it was a sixth sense or simply the sound of the motor drawing closer but with a deep breath she dove beneath the surface barely in time and felt the thundering chop of the propeller as it whizzed by only inches from her kicking feet.
Changing direction she swam beneath the surface as long as she could before she was forced to surface for air. Almost instantly the sea around her erupted in a series of small pockmarked craters as bullets hit the water, several coming so close she was pelted with salty spray as they hit. Miraculously not one of the rounds hit her but she only had time for a quick breath before she sank beneath the surface again before jackknifing to descend to a safer level as the boat cleaved a trough in the water above her.
Two more times she attempted to drag deep breaths of air from the surface and two more times she felt the hot buzzing of bullets greet her attempts before the boat turned to make another pass. The last time she submerged she knew she had been an instant to late and felt the salty water turn the small crease a bullet had gouged out of her arm into blazing pain.
Her eyes were closed against the pain when she felt a tugging at her leg. Her eyes opened wide in terror thinking the blood from her wound may have attracted one of the seas predators and she would be faced with choosing between the quick death that waited her above or the unknown torture of being eaten alive by a shark.
The tugging on her leg increased in its urgency and she chanced a quick look downward needing to know her fate. A bubble of the precious air that remained in her lungs was lost when, instead of the expected shark she saw the last thing she had ever expected, a man.
He was dressed in a wet suit and bubbles escaped from between the twin tanks on his back. She felt herself being tugged downward again and resisted being pulled further away from the surface until she spotted the 'buddy breather' held in the strange apparitions other hand.
The burning in her lungs was instantly relieved when she quickly slipped the rubber mouthpiece between her lips and inhaled the life giving mixture. Staring at the strange man dressed in black neoprene she clearly saw concern in the large brown eyes staring back at her from behind the clear glass of his facemask. She understood his signal, if not his intention, when he held up two fingers in a small ring asking if she was okay and followed that with a pointed finger heading down into the depths.
Signaling back with a nod of her head she felt her leg released at the same time he held out his hand. Taking the offered hand she felt herself being pulled downward into the chill ocean with no idea where this man was leading her, she knew he was leading her away from certain death but couldn't help but wonder if he might be leading her toward a slow agonizing one.
Moments later she saw a blue blinking strobe of light and felt their angle of decent angled slightly to head directly toward it. The chill of the surrounding water was just beginning to make itself known when a large mass materialized out of the gloom beneath them. As they drew nearer the mass was soon recognizable as what had to be a large, although unusually shaped, underwater craft with a blinking blue light attached to its hull.
Needing to stay close due to the hose she was breathing from Kim followed this strange man directly up to the hull. Then with one quick glance her way the stranger pressed his hand against the hull and, with a slight gush of small bubbles, a portion of the hull slid silently open exposing a dark chamber beyond.
With a pull of his hand the man pulled her inside the chamber which proved to be more than large enough to accommodate them both. With another press of his hand the hull quickly began sliding closed behind them.
Kim blinked when the blackness inside the chamber was filled with light as soon as the hull plate had closed and a deep throbbing sound was heard. She could feel the water being pulled from the chamber so wasn't surprised when, moments later, she felt the weight of her water heavy hair pressing against her scalp as the water level fell.
Her hand was released from the mans grasp as soon as the water level dropped to her shoulders and she gratefully reached up and removed the mouthpiece and began to breath in clear clean air.
She felt movement beside her when the man who had saved her life pulled off his mask before slipping the hood from his head. She turned and looked at the brown eyes, still filled with worry, as they gazed at her from a face she would almost call boyish. The thick mop of blonde hair on his head clearly didn't fit the chocolate colored compassionate eyes, nor did the smattering of freckles on his cheeks.
The deep voice that echoed in chamber was also a surprise and was yet another thing that didn't fit the boyish face with the oversized ears that was staring at her. "Are you alright?"
The water was around her ankles before she realized she was standing in the chamber with a strange man and was dressed only in her wet underwear. Fortunately she stranger seemed to be ignoring her state of dress and instead started examining the small wound on her arm. Apparently satisfied it wasn't life threatening he looked up into her eyes. "We better take care of that first, then we'll get you warm and dry. We can talk after that."
Then man pressed his hand on the hull one more time and this time Kim saw a slight bluish glow she hadn't noticed before as yet another hull plate snicked inward before it slid silently open revealing the brightly lit interior of the craft.
As the plate opened the man slipped the tanks from his back easily, handling them as though they weighed no more than one of the fins he was slipping off his feet at the same time. By the time the way was clear to enter the craft his gear was already laying on the grated floor of what she now recognized as an ingenious air lock.
He stepped quickly into the spacious interior speaking as he moved. "Follow me, I have medical gear right through here." Three steps down the wide corridor he opened a door and stopped clearly waiting for her.
She was surprised when she stepped into the corridor, beneath her feet she felt warm carpeting and looked down for a moment before remembering the strange man was still waiting. Entering through the door he was holding open she saw the interior of the cabin was actually familiar, she had seen the inside of an examination room many times over the years, more times than she cared to remember.
The strange blonde headed man opened a cabinet and began extracting items as he spoke again. "Have a seat, this won't take long but I want to flush out the salt water before we bandage it."
By the time she had jumped up onto the small table he had already returned with gauze, tape and a bottle that strangely had Japanese writing on it.
She still felt slightly self conscious sitting there in only her underwear but the professional manner and easy smile on her saviors face put her much more at ease than she would have imagined.
He once again gazed at the spot on her upper arm that had been grazed by the bullet and gently probed the area. Then he looked up into her eyes. "I'm going to flush it out, this may hurt a little but it'll only be for a second."
Kim nodded her head and watched the small half smile on his face spread slightly. Something about his smile stirred her subconscious, she was sure she had seen it before somewhere but knew she had never met this man before, if she had she was sure she would remember.
As shocked as she was about the entire situation since he grabbed her leg she was even more shocked when that thought went through her mind. She couldn't remember the last time she had ever been attracted to a man this strongly, she wasn't even sure she ever had been. When she began doing her small missions as a teenager the time just never seemed available for her to date and since then, well, let's just say she had earned the title 'Ice Queen' honestly, even if no one ever dared call her that to her face.
She rarely dated and even more rarely went out with the same man more than once but something about the gentle touch yet commanding aura of this man intrigued her, more than intrigued her.
She was still thinking about her strange and unexpected reaction when he stood and looked into her eyes again. "There, all done. That wasn't that bad was it?"
Looking down at her arm she saw a very professional looking bandage over the area where she had been grazed. She chastised herself for loosing track of things like that, it wasn't like her at all.
When she looked back up she saw the blonde standing at the door. "I'll show you where you can get dried off and cleaned up." Jumping off the table she followed as he led the way out of the room and down the corridor. When he stopped at another door he opened it before speaking again. "I'm pretty sure you can find something in here to wear, when you're done just head up that way, I'll be there somewhere." As he spoke he gestured up the corridor in the same direction they were traveling.
Before entering the room she stopped. "Thank you Mr…."
She let the sentence taper off clearly asking for something to call him, he chuckled as he replied. "Man, I'm sorry KP, where are my manners. I'm Ron, Ron Stoppable but you can just call me Ron."
She enter the room after murmuring a quiet "Thanks Ron." And it wasn't until he closed the door behind her that she realized what he had said. He had called her by name, well almost, he had called her KP, not Kim, not Miss Possible, but KP. Again a strange feeling went through her, while she was sure she had never been called KP before somehow it woke memories, memories that refused to come into focus, at the moment anyway.
She found a small bathroom, or head she guessed since she was on a ship, attached to the room he had shown her into and thought about taking a shower but wasn't sure if she should since she had no idea about the protocol concerning water usage on a submarine. Instead she stripped off the sodden underwear and used several towels to dry both her body and her hair.
Not wanting to put on the wet garments again she wrapped one of the towels around herself and reentered the main cabin. The man… Ron, she corrected herself, had said she would find something in here to wear so she looked around. There was a small cabinet against one wall that proved to have several sets of clothing in it.
She looked at two of the items with curiosity, one was a dark grey garment that reminded her of one of the Gi's she wore when training in martial arts and the other was a similar garment except it was a deep blue in color.
Bypassing them she found a pair of cargo pants and an orange and black jersey that would be a bit loose but should work just fine. Quickly donning the clothing she turned to leave and noticed a mirror on the back of the door leading into the corridor. She instantly put her hands up to her head, her hair was a mess and she frantically rushed back to the head and began searching for a brush or a comb.
Five minutes later she sighed, the brush she had found had only been able to do so much with her salt riddled hair but she had to admit it looked a lot better than it had a few minutes ago. Leaving the room she made her way in the direction Ron had pointed.
Twenty feet or so down the carpeted corridor she heard voices and slowed her approach. She had thought that Ron was alone on the ship but now that she thought about it that was simply silly. A craft the size she had seen as she swam toward it a short time ago would need a much larger crew, especially considering Ron had actually been outside the craft when she first saw him.
As she got closer the conversation became clearer. Ron's was the first voice she recognized. "I'm not sure Wade but something must have gone wrong. They actually shot her Wade, she's not hurt bad but I'm not sure what would have happened if I hadn't been able to reach her in time. She might have even been killed and that's something I won't allow to happen."
The answering voice sounded somehow younger than Ron's. "I still can't understand why GJ even sent her in alone Ron. They should have never done that, even they can't be that dense. I didn't even think to send them a message, it was so obvious who was involved and how many people he had with him even Rufus could have figured it out."
The next voice that she heard confused her totally. It was a high squeaky voice that only said one word, "HEY!" but it told Kim there were at least three people on the ship. Then the second voice, the one Ron had called Wade spoke again. "Sorry Rufus, I didn't mean it that way. Do you want me to send in some help Ron? I can get Yori and Hirotaka there in a few hours."
Then Ron's voice sounded again. "Nah, don't bother them Wade, they're on their honeymoon for Gods sake, they'd never forgive me if I pulled them away for a little thing like this. I can take care of this, but I think I'll wait for nightfall."
Kim couldn't believe what she was hearing, this maniac was actually going back to the island, and he was going alone. She had been there, she knew how good the defenses were and she knew how many men were there. Going there alone was suicide, even she had barley escaped with her life. As soon as that thought went through her head she remembered, she hadn't really escaped, she had been rescued.
She was about to move forward again when Ron spoke to Wade again and what he said rankled on her nerves a bit. "I'm going to have to leave KP on the ship Wade, keep an eye on her will you."
She increased her stride and was almost racing when she entered the room where the voices were coming from. "I'll have you know I don't need anyone to keep an…." She stopped short when one of the strangest things she had ever seen greeted her.
Ron was standing in front of a large screen of some sort wearing a pair of shorts with a towel around his bare shoulders, well, a towel and a small pink something that had turned to look at her when she broke into the room. On the screen was a somewhat pudgy black kid and it looked like even he was staring at her. She looked around quickly but saw instantly that there wasn't another soul in sight, except for the young kid on the screen and whatever that pink thing on his shoulder was Ron was completely alone.
Ron's brown eyes were also focused on her. "Feeling better KP? There's no pain in that shoulder is there?"
Kim shook her head to clear away the confusion she felt at the moment. "I'm fine… ah, Ron. But I think you were right, we certainly do have to talk."
Ron turned back to the screen before answering her. "I'll call you back before I go in Wade. Keep an eye on things till then and call me if anything drastic happens or if there are any major changes okay?"
Kim was slightly unnerved when the eyes on the screen moved away from her. It was looking at one of those paintings where the eyes followed you around the room. "Will do Ron, if you need anything just call. Do you want me to let GJ know Miss Possible is okay or will you take care of that? We don't want them… ah, dropping in tonight, not while you're on the island."
She saw Ron glance at her for a moment before he turned back to the screen. "I'm pretty sure KP lost her communications device when she escaped Wade but I can set up a link so she can talk to them from here."
The young boy on the screen shook his head. "Okay Ron, I'll talk to you tonight but I'll leave you guys alone for right now, I imagine you've got a lot to talk about."
As soon as the screen went blank Ron turned toward her. "Let me get a shirt on KP, then we can go to the galley and I'll get a pot of coffee going. We can talk in there if you don't mind, or do you want to talk to Dr. Director first?"
Still a bit rattled by everything that had happened Kim spoke before she even was sure of what she was going to say, again, not like her at all. "I can check in later. No one expects to hear from me for a few more hours."
The smile on Ron's face returned as he reached behind him and pulled a t-shirt from where it was draped over the back of a chair and slipped it on as he replied. "Coffee it is then. Follow me, the galley is up this way."
Instead of walking back down the corridor she had just left he turned in the opposite direction and opened a door. This led to yet another corridor carpeted exactly as the other one had been. Following him closely she couldn't help but notice the broad shoulders and tanned legs that spoke of hard work and a lot of time outdoors.
A short way down this new corridor was an open archway and she followed Ron through it and into a cafeteria like room large enough for nearly thirty people. As she readjusted her thinking about exactly how large this ship really was Ron stopped at a table and slid out a chair. "Have a seat KP, I'll only be a minute."
Taking the offered seat she watched him round a counter and head back into the bowels of what was clearly a kitchen. With the size of the place she knew her earlier assumption that Ron couldn't be alone had to be correct. "Ah… Ron? Where is everyone else."
Ron's voice filtered out of the kitchen even though she couldn't see him. "I came alone this trip KP so I'm afraid you're stuck here with just me for a while, well, me and Rufus."
Just at that moment a scurrying sound caught her attention and Kim saw the small pink rodent or whatever it was scampering across the floor. When Ron had donned his shirt whatever this was had been forced to leave his shoulder. It had apparently followed them and, with its short legs, was just now catching up.
She followed its progress curiously as it ran directly to the table she was sitting at and made an incredible jump for such a small creature first to the chair across from her and then to the table top.
It stood there on its hind legs for a second staring at her with small black eyes before it reached out one paw and she clearly heard. "Hck… Hi Kim, Rufus."
Ron was leaping over the counter moments after her scream and he reached her side in moments. "What's wrong KP, what happened?"
Unable to speak at the moment she simply pointed at the small pink creature that now, astonishingly, had its paws on its hips and was staring directly at her. Finding her voice she found it trembling slightly as she spoke without taking her eyes off the small pink whatever it was. "It spoke, it actually spoke."
She heard Ron's voice reply quizzically. "It? What it, I don't see… Oh, you mean Rufus. Of course he spoke, how is he supposed to communicate if he can't speak?"
Kim reluctantly took her eyes off the strange sight on the table and looked up at Ron. "B-But it called me by name, it said hello then called me by name!"
She saw Ron look over at the small creature on the table before shrugging his shoulders and looking back at her. "Sure he did, he's got manners, well, except when he eats." Kim shockingly heard a small 'Hrumph' from the creature before Ron turned and smiled at it before looked back at her again. "And I think he'd appreciate it if you stopped calling him 'It'. His name is Rufus and he's a little sensitive about… well, people not acknowledging him."
Kim was looking back at the small pink creature when Ron spoke again. "Now, since the two of you have been introduced I'm going to finish that coffee. I'll be right back."
She watched Ron's retreating back until she heard a small 'ah-hum' from the table that brought her attention back to her most recent surprise. Even though she felt slightly foolish she held out one finger and looked at the small pink form standing upright on the table. "Sorry… ah, Rufus. I'm not used to meeting… I mean I wasn't expecting… Ah… I'm glad to meet you."
The small black eyes peered up at her and the foolish feeling she had been having tripled, what did she expect, she was talking to an animal. She was about to withdraw her finger when she saw what looked like a small smile on the rodents face. Then it actually reached out and took hold of her finger and began shaking it as she heard the squeaky voice again. "Hrk… Glad meet you too Kim."
She was still staring dumbfounded at the… ah… Rufus when Ron returned to the table bearing a tray. On the tray were two cups, a pot and a small thimble. Sitting in the chair Rufus had jumped on earlier Ron placed a cup in front of her and surprisingly placed the thimble on the table in front of Rufus.
As he poured coffee into the cups he looked down at Rufus. "It's your favorite Rufus, raspberry iced tea." Then he looked up at Kim. "You do drink your coffee black don't you? I read it in one of Wade's reports a while back."
Kim reached down and wrapped her hands around the cup feeling its heat warm her still chilled hands and she looked up at Ron. "Ah… yea, I do." The she shook her head. "You read a report about me, why?"
Ron lifted his cup and took a small sip before responding. "Well KP, I like to be kept informed about the other people doing the same stuff we do. I get reports on Team Go and Team Impossible too but honestly the reports on you are the only ones I really read, the rest I just kind of gloss over."
Kim shook her head again, this was getting weirder by the minute. "And what's with the KP thing, nobody ever calls me that, where did you ever come up with it?"
When Ron looked back at her that smile returned, the one that looked so familiar and foreign at the same time. "I've always called you that, ever since we first met in Pre-K. You may have forgotten but I haven't."
Suddenly memories rushed back to her, memories of a boy she had met years ago, a boy she had become fast friends with until he vanished three years after they met. "You're that Ron Stoppable, the one from Middleton?"
Ron smiled wider. "One and the same KP, one and the same."
Kim's brain was buzzing and suddenly she did it again, spoke without thinking. "Where on Earth did you disappear to, why didn't you say goodbye and what are you doing out here."
Ron smiled again. "Well, I disappeared to Boston, my mom got transferred. As to why I didn't say goodbye, well, honestly I didn't know we were moving until we drove past the city limits, my 'rents kind of had this 'you'll know when you need to' attitude, still do as a matter of fact."
Kim stumbled through his explanation with a bit of difficulty but was finally able to piece together his meaning. "That doesn't explain what your doing out here in the middle of nowhere Ron, not by a long shot."
Ron sat his cup on the table. "Ah, that. Well, I'm here for the same reason you are KP. We kind of do the same type of thing. I just don't work for GJ, I'm more of a… well, freelance kind of guy I guess."
Ron's statement threw her for a loop. "That's another thing we have to talk about. You seem to know about GJ? How, they're kind of particular about who knows about them."
Ron took another sip. "Oh, I've been doing stuff for Betty for years, ever since you joined them."
Kim had a hard time believing what she just heard. "B-But Dr. Director never mentioned you, not once. Does she know we used to know each other?"
Ron got a slightly sheepish look on his face. "Ah… yea, about that. She doesn't really know who I am, she only knows me by my code name, 'Blade', and we've never really met, not that she remembers anyway."
Kim's eyes opened wide. She had naturally heard of 'Blade' before, everyone in GJ and nearly every villain she knew of had, they were the people you called in when everything else failed, they were a force to be reckoned with and a few times she had actually defeated villains simply by telling them she would call in this 'Blade' organization and they didn't play as nice as GJ did.
Much to her consternation Kim's mouth again moved on its own. "You're part of this Blade group?"
Ron smiled again. "Ah… kinda sorta. Actually, I am the Blade group, well, me, Wade and Rufus anyway. I do call in help from two other people from time to time but not very often, mostly it's just me and Rufus in the field."
Kim thought Ron's statement was outlandish, there was no way one person, even with the help of the… ah, Rufus and that kid on the screen, could do some of the things she had heard about, it was impossible.
As she stared across the small table at this man she absently lifted her cup to her lips and took a sip. Her eyes popped wide open as soon as she did, this wasn't coffee, this was ambrosia. Staring at the cup in her hands she hesitantly took another sip and was again startled by the taste, she had never tasted anything like it before.
She began taking larger sips feeling the warmth spread throughout her body and before she even realized it the cup was empty. Setting it down she was slightly surprised to see it filled again almost instantly. Looking up she saw Ron's eyes looking at her cup as he refilled it from the pot. "You're probably still a bit chilled KP, the water temperature at this depth isn't much over forty five."
Thankful for the refill Kim began sipping again but at a much slower rate and kept her gaze locked on Ron as the unbelievable story he had just told her rolled in her head. Then Ron sat his cup down and looked at her. "Maybe we should get you in touch with Betty KP. Like Wade said earlier I don't want them showing up unannounced, not tonight."
Now Kim had something to focus her attention on other than the strange attraction she felt for the man she was sitting with. "So I did hear things correctly, you are planning on going to that island tonight."
Ron seemed completely at ease as he replied. "Well, somebody has to. One of the things that it looks like GJ overlooked was that somewhere on that island is a nuclear device of some kind. Wade hasn't been able to determine exactly what it is yet but he say's the radiation signature is unmistakable, it's there and whatever it is it's big, big enough for me to want to make sure it doesn't leave that island and head for somewhere more populated."
Kim stopped dead. A nuclear device could mean anything but the way Ron was talking she knew he was thinking of a bomb. "You think there's a possibility it's a bomb?"
Ron shrugged his shoulders. "Like I said, we're not really sure at this point. But Wade said it's wasn't like the radiation given off by a reactor or anything like that so I just have to assume the worst, for right now anyway."
Kim was confused now, nuclear bombs were not exactly the type of things Dementor normally fooled around with and every indication they had put Dementor on that island. "But that's almost impossible Ron, Dementor would never mess around with anything like that, at least he never has in the past."
Ron looked her square in the eyes. "That's another thing GJ missed, that's not Dementor on that island. The guy that's there spread enough bread crumbs around to make anyone think it was Dementor but Wade's pretty sure the old Prof isn't involved in this at all and a 'pretty sure' from Wade is the same as a fact from anyone else."
Kim went through what she knew so far but needed a bit more clarity. "I still don't understand why Dr. Director sent you here. If their information was that far off why did she think she needed you? Especially since I was already here and hadn't reported back yet."
Kim saw an odd look cross Ron's face before he answered. "Ah, well, she didn't really send me. As a matter of fact she doesn't even know I'm here."
Kim sat back when she heard that. She was fairly sure Ron told her he was here at the request of GJ, at least that's what he hinted at, if he wasn't his presence made no sense. "Then why are you here?"
Ron didn't answer right away, instead he only smiled. That was when she heard the squeaky reply made by, of all things, Rufus. "That easy. You here so Ron here, always is."
Kim had heard Rufus but had a hard time understanding what he meant, I mean 'you here so Ron here' wasn't even a complete thought. Even though her attention was now on Rufus she heard Ron's quiet voice speaking apparently to Rufus. "Thanks buddy, way to let the cat out of the bag."
Kim's mind was still wondering what was going on when Ron spoke again but this time to her. "Ah… maybe I better get you in touch with Betty, you know, so she knows you're okay and stuff."
Kim glanced up and took her attention away from Rufus. "Huh… Oh, yea, that might be a good idea. She needs to know we're not dealing with Dementor and she defiantly needs to know about the presence of a nuclear device, especially if there's a chance it may be a bomb."
Ron drained his cup and stood. Rufus quickly ran over and scurried up Ron's arm to his shoulder and was soon sitting in a relaxed position that told Kim this was a position he was used to taking.
Kim followed suit and drained her cup before standing herself. She couldn't help but look at the pot on the table and wonder if any of marvelous tasting brew remained. Ron must have noticed her look because he smiled and picked up the pot. "Why don't you bring your cup KP, I'd like to get a bit more warm liquid into you to chase away the last of that chill."
Kim smiled back, it was almost like he could read her mind but she honestly didn't care about what that implied at the moment, not if it meant she could refill her cup.
Following Ron back to the room with the screen they had left a short time ago Ron set the pot down and began fiddling with a panel next to the large screen he had been speaking to Wade on earlier. As he made adjustment he began speaking. "Help yourself to more coffee KP, this will only take a minute."
She had no sooner refilled her cup than Ron turned toward her again. "Have a seat, when your ready just press that blue button on that panel, the rest is automatic and you should be talking to Betty directly. You can tell her I'm here but please only call me Blade, Betty doesn't need to know my real name, not yet."
As Kim took the seat she looked up at Ron. "Aren't you going to be here?"
Ron smiled. "Not at first, but I'll be back soon enough. Like I said, it's better if Betty doesn't know who I am right now so I'm going to change."
Kim's eyes followed Ron out of the room before she turned her attention back to the screen and with a deep breath, and one more sip from her cup, she pressed the blue button.
She settled back into the amazingly comfortable chair as she waited and, as Ron had said, it was only a few moments later that the screen lit up and she was staring at the face of Dr. Elizabeth Director.
She saw Dr. Director's eye open wide when she saw who was on the screen. From what Kim could see she was sitting in her office and apparently seeing Kim on the monitor on her desk was not what she had expected. This was confirmed moments later. "Miss Possible, what on Earth are you doing. How did you call me like this? The only people who've ever been capable of communicating directly like this have been… well, they haven't been you."
Kim resisted taking another sip of coffee for the moment. "Sorry to interrupt you Dr. Director but my communicator is at the bottom of the ocean right now and… ah… Blade thought I should contact you."
She saw Betty lean in closer to the camera clearly astonished. "Blade? You're with Blade? They're there with you right now?"
Kim glanced back at the doorway Ron had disappeared through a few seconds before. "Well, not at the moment but… ah, their representative should be here in a moment. We've apparently made a few errors setting this mission up, according to… ah, Blade Dementor isn't involved. I was told that it was an entirely different group and I can tell you from personal experience that their a lot more dangerous than Dementor ever was."
Dr. Director quickly reverted to the consummate head of Global Justice she was. "Exactly how dangerous Miss Possible and how many more agents should we dispatch to the area?"
After taking another furtive glance at the doorway behind her Kim looked back at the screen. "Ah… according to Blade sending anyone else out won't be necessary. H… ah… I was told they'd take care of things here."
Dr. Director looked unconvinced. "Exactly where are you right now Miss Possible? You understand I can't simply take what you're telling me as gospel, I need some sort of reassurance that you're not being coerced."
Before Kim could answer a voice answered for her. "She's not Betty and she's right. I think it's best if we handle things for right now."
Kim turned, surprised she hadn't heard Ron return. What she saw surprised her a bit. Ron had apparently returned to the cabin she had been in earlier and changed clothes. He was currently wearing the blue outfit Kim had seen in the closet, complete with a mask that covered everything but his eyes."
Apparently Dr. Director had seen him dressed like this before because her next question left little doubt that she now knew she was in fact dealing with Blade. "You're sure you don't need our help?"
Ron had moved and sat down in the chair directly next to her. "Positive Betty, and there's one other thing Miss Possible didn't have time to tell you. Whoever it is has a nuclear device of some sort so the fewer people around the better."
Dr. Director sat up straight in her chair. "Nuclear?" then she leaned inward closer to the pickup in her office. "Do you think there's a chance it may be set off?"
Kim could see the telltale signs of that weird smile Ron had beneath the mask he wore. "We're going to put a dampening field around the island just before we go in so the chances of any incident will be almost nonexistent, but we still feel that it would be best to keep the number of people going in to a minimum."
Kim turned to look at the screen as soon as Dr. Director made her next statement, a statement that proved she knew Kim well. "I'm going to assume that Agent Possible will be accompanying the force you send in."
Kim turned and looked at Ron with a smile letting him know that her feelings mirrored Dr. Directors. To his credit Ron answered calmly. "Our original intent was that we would go in alone…" there was a short pause, so short Kim didn't have time to express her disagreement. "… but we now feel that if her wound is sufficiently healed it would better serve our interagency policy if she did accompany the landing force."
Dr. Director's eye opened wide again. "Agent Possible was wounded, when?"
Kim looked at the screen and answered before Ron had a chance to say anything. "It's nothing Dr. Director, a scratch. It won't interfere with my abilities at all."
Kim looked back at Ron when she heard a murmur that she knew wouldn't be caught and transmitted to Dr Director. "No offence but I'll be the judge of that KP."
Five minutes later Dr. Director disappeared from the screen and Kim turned to Ron. "Landing force? Really?"
Ron reached up and removed the mask that hid the bottom portion of his face and Kim saw he was smiling. "Well, actually it would have been just Rufus and I but 'Landing Force' sounds a lot cooler doesn't it?"
Kim smiled back but only for a moment. "Did you really mean it when you said I was going to go back in with you, when you were talking to Wade earlier is sounded like you were against it."
Ron lost a bit of his smile. "Like I said KP, it depends on whether your arm is okay or not. We'll take a look at that in a couple of hours, since we're not going in till nightfall we have time."