I don't own, Disney does. Sorry for the serious delay on this folks, but updates should come more regularly for a bit now.

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Senior Year – Chapter 4

Kim was grumpy. On the walk to school, she was grumpy. Walking into home room, she was grumpier still. Now at lunch, she had gone well past grumpy. It was obvious to every single person who looked at her as she stalked down the halls and headed straight for the cafeteria line. It was just as obvious that about half the school, including all the teachers, were feeling the same way. She sat with a thud beside Monique, her tray rattling just a little sharply as it hit the table.

Monique looked up from her food, not all that appetizing to begin with since they had canceled the senior lunch budget, and tried to put on a smile for her GF. "Girl, what's up with you? In fact, what's up with everyone today?"

Kim stirred the food in front of her, not looking up. "Coffee."

Monique just gave a laugh. "Girl, is that your problem? I thought it was something serious."

Kim's gaze shot up, locking onto Monique's. For a moment, Monique actually felt fear. "It is serious Mon, I haven't had my coffee this morning. In fact, none of the stores on the way to school had any coffee at all. This town is dry!"

Monique raised her hands defensively. "Hey, don't look at me, I rarely drink the stuff. You know, too much of it can get you acting... umm..." At Kim's questioning gaze, Monique decided to change the subject. "Hey, where's Ron? He wasn't even in the last class."

Now Kim's interest was piqued. "He wasn't?"

Now it was Monique's turn to raise an eyebrow. "Are you telling me that you've let your gaze off your BFBF? This is serious."

Kim moaned softly, resting her forehead on her hand. "Maybe you're right. I just feel so..."

"KP!" The doors to the cafeteria flew open, expelling Ron. He fell to the floor, but was very careful to cradle something gently, even as he hit the floor. He was on his feet in an instant and by Kim's side, holding out the precious item in question. He was gasping for breath, trying hard to get himself under control. "Sorry... took so long... had to dig... Smarty Mart... ground beans myself..."

Kim took the cup almost tentatively, catching a whiff of the aroma. "Ron, is that... coffee?"

A dozen heads turned at that word, eyes wide and attentive. Ron didn't notice a single one of them. "Yeah, sorry I took so long," Ron was leaning down now, his hands on his knees as he sucked in precious oxygen." I really had to dig to find it, and when I was going through the check out line, a riot broke out." Ron lifted one hand to his head, rubbing vigorously. "Man, who knew little old ladies could hit so hard."

Monique could only laugh. "I've heard of whipped, but you have this boy trained perfectly, don't you?"

Kim ignored the comment, slowly lifting the lid on the cup and inhaling the fragrance carried on the escaping steam. She sighed deeply, and brought the cup to her lips. When she lowered the cup, Kim's whole body seemed to shudder, and the tension fled from her shoulders. When she opened her eyes, she gazed lovingly up at Ron. "Have I told you how much I love you?"

Ron smiled brightly. "Not today."

"Then come here." Kim grabbed Ron by the front of the jersey, and locked lips with him with passion, unmindful of who was around them. Monique just rolled her eyes and turned back to her lunch, which was being picked at by Rufus already.

"STOPPABLE, POSSIBLE, what do you think you're doing?"

Ron pulled back from Kim quickly, almost falling over. Kim was stunned for a moment, but recovered quickly. "I'm sorry Mr. Barkin, it was my fault. Ron found me some coffee and..."

"Coffee?" Mr. Barkin's lit up at the mention of that dark brew. That was when the smell reached his nostrils, and the older educator actually moaned and licked his lips. Remembering where he was, he turned his attention to Ron, his expression set yet again. "Stoppable, I think we can work out a deal to avoid detention for the rest of this week. Do you... happen to have more of that coffee of yours?"

Ron gulped deeply, finally noticing the increased attention directed his way. "Umm... yes sir. At home."

"Good, then you're to go get it. I'll even give you a pass for class if you come back late."

Ron's eyes went wide at that, Barkin NEVER gave passes out like that. "Uhh... yes sir, no problem."

Ron was about to head out again when he was stopped quickly by a smiling brunette. She laid her hands on his shoulders, smiling brightly, a smile he hadn't seen since he had gotten his millions. "Oh Ronnie, think you can get one for me as well?"

Kim was on her feet glaring, her eyes practically flaring. "Get your hands off my boyfriend Bonnie."

Bonnie shot a glare back at Kim, sneering. "Stay out of this Possible, you got yours already." She turned her attention back to Ron, the smile back as if it had never left her face. One hand slowly trailed her fingers down his arm, causing Ron to shudder. "Now Ronnie, you'll get one for me, won't you? I'll be ever so..." Bonnie leaned in, so the last word was barely a whisper, "grateful."

Ron swallowed, and his gaze shot everywhere, looking for support. "Umm... uhh... I... I can get you one... I guess..."

Bonnie squealed softly and gave Ron a peck on the cheek. "Thank you so much Ronnie."

Kim pushed herself between them, bringing her face right into Bonnie's, her teeth and fists clenched. "You leave my boyfriend alone NOW!"

Bonnie just smirked. "What are you going to do about it Kim?"

Monique just turned back to her food, casting a glance down at Rufus, who was just shaking his head. "I am really not understanding this at all, are you?"

Rufus shook his head again and shrugged.

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"Wade, you've got to help me!"

Wade took in the appearance of the distraught teen in front of him. "Ron, I don't believe tracking down coffee would be a good way to spend favours. I don't think Kim would approve."

"Who do you think I'm doing this for?" Ron glanced up and down the halls, making sure he was alone, before turning back to the computer in Kim's locker. "I'm serious Wade, there must be something seriously going on if even I can see it. There's no way that all the coffee in the world just stops flowing, that's impossible! Besides, how would you feel if it was the soft drinks of the world that disappeared?"

Wade shuddered briefly before finally nodding. "Fine, I'll start looking into it. Why is this so important anyways? It's just coffee."

Ron's eyebrow shot up. "Have you seen Kim without her morning coffee?"

Wade paused for a moment, looking up from his other screens. "No."

"Believe me man, it ain't pretty. And it's not just for KP either. I had half the teachers in school following me around and sniffing my shirt cause I spilled some on me earlier. That was just sick and wrong man. We have to do something!"

Wade rolled his eyes as he went back to working, but froze after just a few moments. "Ron... you just might be on to something."

"I am?" Ron looked perplexed for a moment before covering it up with a smile. "I am, aren't I."

Wade didn't spare a glance up. "Shipments have been hijacked all over the world. Not everything has been grabbed, but more than enough to cause a serious shortage world wide. Coffee prices are skyrocketing, and fields are not meeting production quotas for some reason."

Ron's eyes narrowed as he tried to put the picture together. "What's behind it though? It would have to be one major operation to put all this together. I mean, you can't just stop ALL the shipments, can you?"

Wade shook his head, looking frustrated. "I'm not sure, this could take awhile. After all, this many circumstances all at once... got it! I'm showing a massive stock influx by one DK Industries. In the last week, they've been buying in coffee futures, and with prices climbing..."

"In english Wade."

"Someone is cornering the market to make a lot of money."

Ron rubbed the back of his neck, glancing up at the screen. "Why hasn't anyone contacted us?"

Wade just shook his head. "Authorities have been trying to handle this one themselves with little success. I only put it together running a logarithmic scan of all existing information and cross referencing with..."

Ron raised a hand in supplication. "Sorry I asked."

"I think I've found the location of our mysterious DK Industries. It's a large facility outside Cartagena, on the northern coast of Colombia."

"Colombia? Does that mean we're going to Canada? Maybe Drakken's behind the whole thing, he's got something about Canada, doesn't he?"

Wade gaped at Ron for a moment, before softly sighing. "Not British Columbia Ron, Colombia the country. You know, in South America?"

Ron scratched at his head in confusion. "There are two Colombias? Doesn't that get confusing?"

Wade resisted the urge to say something, biting his bottom lip. "I don't know for sure that they're involved, but it wouldn't hurt to check them out."

"Check who out?" Ron felt two arms wrap around him, startling him slightly, until he felt the soft cheek press against his. Kim was almost purring as she snuggled against him. "And what is the greatest boyfriend in the world up to now?"

It was Wade who answered first. "It looks like Ron might have come up with how to track what's going on with the world's coffee supply. It looks like someone may be messing with the shipments to make a lot of money."

Now Ron could feel Kim tense a bit, her arms still wrapped around him. "Messing with the shipments?"

Wade nodded quickly. "There are reports of ships going missing, production down across the growing fields, things like that."

Kim slid her arms free, and Ron could finally see the look on her face; determined, hard, unrelenting. She was ready for battle. "Where are we going Wade?"

"Colombia. I've got a ride lined up for you after school lets out."

"Yeah, the one in South America, not in Canada."

Kim took a look on the hesitant smile on Ron's face, cast a glance at Wade who rolled his eyes, and then nodded. "All right then, Colombia it is. And if someone is responsible, that someone is going to pay!"

Ron cast a worried glance over at Wade, who was doing the same to him. This could not end well.

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"Boy, I don't think I ever saw Doctor Director give approval on something so fast. And when she answered, I thought she was going to bite our heads off. Do you think she missed her morning coffee as well?"

Kim cast a glance back at her boyfriend, unamused. "Ron, we're trying to sneak here."

Ron looked around the vent they were crawling through. "Oh yeah, sorry." They crawled for a few moments more before Ron piped up again. "So who do you think is responsible? I still think it's gotta be Drakken, but he's usually not this smart, though after the Diablos..."

"Ron!" Kim whirled quickly and pressed Ron's lips together between her fingers. "We can't sneak if the villains hear you coming. Okay?"

Ron nodded quickly, giving a bit of a groan as he rubbed his lips. "Maybe I should have got you anouther cup of coffee before we came here."

Kim gave him a bit of a dirty look. "I'm not that bad."

Now it was Ron's turn to give her a dirty look, though it tended to look more comical on Ron's face that annoyed. "KP, you're addicted to that stuff. You should have seen how you were acting this morning. And you aren't the only one."

Kim just waved off the suggestion, moving through the vents again. "Ron, I'm not addicted. I just like to have a cup every now and then."

Ron raised a finger at that, which caused him to lose his balance. When he caught himself, he raised his finger again, this time more sure of himself. "That's just how it starts. They get you hooked. First it's just a cup every now and then, and then it's two or three. Soon, you need it all the time, and then they've got you!"

"Ron, that's not going to... wait, we're here."

Ron pulled up beside Kim to look through the grate onto the large warehouse below. Laid out on the floor, huge boxes and cartons filled the room, and every label cleared showing that there was coffee packed into each and every one. For a moment, they just looked out on the room silently, and then Kim pushed open the grating. Attaching the hook of her grappling hook to the floor of the vent, she wrapped an arm around Ron, and then slowly lowered both of them to the ground. It didn't take long before they both heard voices, and they followed them through the maze of boxes. But once they did, they were both in shock.

"Ach Laddie, everythin's comin' up perfectly. Soon as we have the world desperate enough, we sell everythin' and walk away with a sizable profit. Ahh, can ya smell the bucks Laddie-buck?"

Kim got over her surprise at seeing Killigan quickly, stepping out from where they were hiding. "Only thing you'll be smelling is the inside of a Global Justice holding facility."

Duff Killigan whirled, surprise evident. "Kim Possible?"

That was when Kim saw who Killigan had been talking to, and she paused in confusion, lowering her guard slightly. "Wait... aren't you that temp guy?"

"Hank Perkins." Hank just smiled, and looked as if he was almost ready to put out his hand to shake. "And I'm not a temp anymore though. I'm a full partner in this venture, getting fifteen percent off the top. It's proving to be most lucrative."

Kim glanced at Ron, raising an eyebrow, but her boyfriend wasn't paying attention. Instead, his focus was on Killigan. "Ummm... not to question you or anything... but what does coffee have to do with golf? I mean, don't you usually do something that involves golf?"

Kim cast a glance back at Killigan as he answered. "Lad, what do ya think this is all for. Once we sell the remainin' coffee here, ah'll be able ta buy up any and all the golf courses aye could want. Then, aye can say who cannae golf on MAE courses!"

Ron nodded thoughtfully, understanding coming across his features. "Okay, now I get it." Ron strolled over to where Hank was standing, the thin man eying him warily. "You just forgot one teensy little factor in all this."

Killigan looked prepared to laugh, even as he kept one eye on Kim. "And wha' might tha' be?"

Ron cast a smile to his girlfriend, who cracked her knuckles and smiled devilishly. "KP here REALLY likes her cup of coffee in the morning, and you kept that from her."

Duff glanced worriedly at the young teen, the smile especially disturbing him, as she stalked towards him. Hank himself looked ready to bolt, but Ron just wrapped a companionable arm around the young man's shoulders, halting him in his tracks.

"Hank was it?" Ron smiled cheerfully, as if nothing was going on, the older man squirming in the grip. "I think you're beginning to understand just what a big mistake you've made with this." Both winced at the pained scream emitted by Duff as Kim did her thing. "See, a lot of people get awful cranky if they don't get their morning cup of coffee. Some can get downright nasty. Heck, it even made Bonnie nice to me when she knew I had some, and usually you need a few million dollars in your pocket to make THAT happen. Believe me, I know. Anyways, I'm thinking you might have wanted to think out your role in this, cause you made a lot of people very unhappy. Take Kim for instance... oh, better duck." Ron pulled Hank down just as Duff Killigan flew through the air over the heads, with Kim leaping over them a second later. Ron wheeled them around to keep watch and still keep his arm on Hank's shoulders. "Where was I? Oh yeah, KP. You see, she really likes her morning cup of coffee. She gets downright cranky without it. I had to fight with this little old lady to get a hold of some, and do you know how much that hurt? I swear, she had a brick or something in her purse, and when she... OWWWW!" Ron's head cocked to the side as he winced yet again, and he could actually feel Hank trembling beside him now, his wide eyes locked onto what Kim was doing to Duff. "What do you think Rufus, was that a little harsh?"

Rufus, seated comfortably in a small chair on top of one of the crates, sipping slowly at an extra small coffee, just paused and shook his head.

Ron shrugged then continued his conversation as if he had never left off. "As I was saying, Kim doesn't like missing her coffee, and I don't like her missing her coffee. Still can't understand why she drinks it, have you ever actually tasted the stuff? But she likes it. What she doesn't like are people who mess with it. You get the picture?"

Hank shrank back as Duff gave a final groan and sank to the warehouse floor, and Kim's attentions turned to him.

Ron just grinned, making sure to keep a tight grip on Hank. "Now Hank, you don't want anything to do with what Killigan went through, do you?" Hank shook his head quickly as Kim came towards them. "That's good to hear. So you'll give the cops a full confession?" Hank nodded quickly and enthusiastically. Ron just beamed. "That's great! You hear that KP, Hank here is going to confess. Did you have fun with Killigan?"

Kim just gave him a bright grin. "Oh yeah, I feel much better now."

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Kim and Monique were both smiling as they walked into Starcups the next day, Ron trailing along behind them. "So everything is back to normal now?"

Kim nodded quickly, hopping into line. "Oh yeah. Apparently, Killigan had a few people he was paying off on the plantations to cut production off for a week or so, just to drive up demand. Combine that with a number of ship hijackings, and you create one serious coffee shortage. But as soon as we found Duff's facility, the companies were able to get distribution started again, and everything settled down pretty quickly. Hank Perkins confessed to the whole thing, though he did make sure that he told everyone that it was Killigan's idea. They probably won't get out anytime soon, not with all the charges against them."

"Not to mention the very nice expense account set up for you here." Monique was smiling at the thought. "What was that, two years, anything for free?"

Kim looked a bit embarrassed. "Well, we usually don't take gifts, but they were so insistent. Besides, it does come in handy."

Monique could hear Ron grumbling a bit in the background, but it was obvious Kim hadn't, something about addicted, for which Monique agreed with him about. She decided, since Ron didn't want to bring it up with her, that she would. "Kim, don't you think that you might have a problem?"

"Oh, I don't know about that." Kim just gave them a knowing grin and turned to the now vacant counter. "We'll have three hot chocolates, marshmallows in all of them." She handed over the Starcups special account card with a smile.

Ron's jaw just dropped in surprise, and Kim gave him a smile as she picked up two of the cups, leaving Monique to grab her own. As they sat down at the table, pulling Ron in beside her into the booth, Kim sighed. "You were right Ron."

Now Ron's eyes were really bugging out, as Kim sipped her hot chocolate to stifle the giggle. "Wait... I was right?"

"I have been drinking too much coffee lately, and it has been affecting me."

Ron hemmed a bit, pulling at the collar of his jersey. "Well, I didn't want to say anything..."

Kim laid a hand over Ron's, smiling. "Ron, if something is bothering you, I want you to tell me, okay?"

Ron smiled back, leaning a bit closer. "I think I can do that KP."

The two were slowly drawing closer until a cough interrupted their moment. "If you two want, I can take off... or maybe find a hose or something."

Kim blushed slightly before pulling away. "Sorry Monique."

Ron was just grinning from ear to ear. "So you're gonna cut back on the coffee then?"

Kim nodded, sipping her drink. "Yup. But don't expect me to give up my cup in the morning though, that would be going too far."

Ron chuckled softly, lacing his fingers with hers. "Wouldn't even dream of it KP."

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Author's Notes – One of Drakken's experiments goes awry, leaving Kim with telepathy. But can even Kim deal with the influx of thoughts, especially from one very important guy in her life.