There's Still Fireworks: Part V
Kim allowed herself a little grin as she got out of the car. Ron might have been oblivious to the fact their backsides had been touching, but she sure wasn't. How many times had they ridden like that, their bodies touching in such a simple and innocent way and neither had noticed how nice that contact was?
Then again, maybe Ron had noticed. In the back of her mind she hoped he did, but that thought had to be pushed aside. It was time for business, not exploring the bounds of their newly transformed relationship.
"Thanks for the lift, Doctor Pheeny." She said, leaning against the open car door.
"It's the least I could do, after you saved my Cold Fusion project." The aging scientist replied with a genuine smile.
"It was no big. I'm just thankful Wade saved the notes Rufus made when he was super-smart."
"Ah, good times, good times." Ron muttered, wistfully.
"Good times that nearly got you fed to Drakken's piranhas, now come on." She gave his hand a light squeeze before she even realized she had done it, making her wonder how such a display of her affection could happen so automatically, after so many years without.
Ron looked down at their hands, as if he were so utterly amazed by it. He returned the squeeze, and the two of them mounted the steps to the Middleton Train Station. By the time they reached the platform, Kim realized they were still holding hands, and for some reason that didn't bother her in the least, Mission Mode or no.
"That is so cool!" Ron finally let go of her hand, rushing across the platform toward the gleaming passenger train waiting there. It was a perfectly matched set, the cars painted bright white with a broad purple stripe down the sides, matching the sleek engine perfectly. "Looks like for once we're going to be riding in style!"
Kim rolled her eyes. She'd seen the advanced train before, so she was a little non-plussed about it. What good is a high-tech power supply when something so simple as the brake system can break off right in her hands? Still, that wasn't why she was hanging back slightly.
Ron was still standing there, practically drooling over the prospect of riding the high-speed special to the lab hidden in the Rockies, when the horn suddenly blasted. For a moment, he had a dumbfounded look on his face as the engine backed up just a bit to compress the slack in the consist, then slowly started inching forwards. He gawked with his mouth open as it picked up speed, leaving the two of them alone on the platform.
"That's not our ride, Ron." Kim waited a moment, her hands on her hips until the final car of the glittering example of twenty-first rail riding technology slid past them, revealing another train waiting on a siding. "That is."
She would have liked to have been on the other train themselves. It was going the right direction, but it wasn't what her tech guru and friend had been able to arrange for them on short notice. That was the problem with having to rely on favors. The super-train actually cost more to ride than a similar plane ride, and her meager earnings from babysitting wouldn't even pay for a bus ticket. That meant they had to depend on the good graces of others.
Oddly enough, Ron didn't seem to share her disappointment in their actual ride. If anything, he was just as stoked as before.
"A steam engine! Score!"
"Ron, it's old, as in older than our parents…put together." She groaned slightly, knowing they could probably beat the old locomotive on their bicycles. It was sooooo time for her to get a car!
"Yeah, it's old, it's a total classic." He almost skipped up to the puffing engine, examining the wheels, then the boiler. "Nineteen Twenty Five, Baldwin Locomotive works. Simple expansion, Walchaert valve gear. The diamond stack is fake, since it's coal fired. Oh man, this is badical!"
"I'm glad you're impressed. Now can we get on board? They're waiting for us."
"Oh, Mr. Magnifico's Circus! I remember these people!" He stopped, frowning slightly. "Wait, they're not going to make me dress up like a clown again are they?"
"So not. We're just hitching a ride with them on their way to their next stop this time."
He relaxed slightly. "Well good. I don't think I can take Lord Laffington honking that stupid horn in my ears, then switching the bucket of confetti for water again."
Stifling a giggle, Kim climbed into the old, wooden passenger car, then held out her hand to pull her new boyfriend up with her. As soon as they reached the top of the platform, the conductor signaled the engine, which responded with a blast of it's steam whistle as the train lurched forward, causing both of them to grab the back of a seat since it lacked a tenth of the grace the advanced train had displayed while disembarking.
Ron sat down beside Kim, wondering exactly what he was supposed to do. Everything seemed to take on a whole new dimension with her. They had sat together countless times, over practically their whole lives, but never, in all that time, did he actually have to wonder if it would be okay to put his arm around her, or hold her hand, or even gasp put a hand on her thigh. There were so many questions in his head, questions he didn't have the knowledge or experience.
It was one thing if they were 'alone.' That much had been proven during the 'date' they shared Saturday night. Sure, they had spent it just talking at Bueno Nacho, but once they got to the movie, things quickly progressed past that point, and Ron wasn't even sure if they had actually gone to see Drowsy in Portland with her, considering very little of his attention was directed at the actual screen.
Sitting in an old, converted rail car with his long-time best friend/become girlfriend was something else altogether. He wanted desperately to hold her hand, but there was something distinctly different about her when she was wearing the black crop-top and olive cargo pants. He always heard how couples who worked together would behave one way on the job, while behaving like, well, a couple when they weren't.
"How long's this gonna take?" Ron leaned against the seat in front of him, acting like he was suddenly bored. Normally, that's exactly how he would have felt, facing the prospect of yet another long ride to one of their missions. Instead, he was actually looking forward to some uninterrupted time with her.
"About five hours. It's already starting to get dark, so it's going to be pretty late when we get there." Hesitantly she reached out, touching the middle of his back between his shoulder blades. Even through her leather gloves, she could feel his muscles tense up at the sudden, unexpected contact. She spread her fingers slightly, rubbing his back until he relaxed a bit, which wasn't much. Neither of them were quite used to being that way with each other yet, and she didn't know how long it would take for them to become accustomed to it, if 'it' even worked out.
Kim banished that line of thinking from her head. There was nothing wrong with the two of them exploring a more romantic relationship, at least nothing she could think of. It seemed perfectly natural. True, Ron wasn't the best specimen of manhood she could think of, but there were issues beyond just being a hottie to consider.
Sitting back in the seat once more, she tucked her legs up under herself and pulled out her Kimmunicator, linking up with Wade. "You're sure it's Professor Dementor, Wade?"
"One hundred percent Kim. And it looks like you were right! His target is a top-secret research facility." He responded after a long draught from his soda cup.
"Ugh. Isn't it always? Keep me posted, we've got a long ride ahead of us."
"Later, Kim." He took another sip as he signed off. With a sigh, Kim put the Kimmunicator back into her cargo pocket and turned her attention back to Ron.
"Quarter for your thoughts?" She asked, rubbing his shoulder blades again.
Ron sat back, giving her a slight smile. "Oh, just thinking…wait, isn't that supposed to be a penny?"
"Inflation. What are you thinking about?"
He shrugged, looking down at her gloved hands as they settled once more on her lap. "I dunno. Us, maybe. That, and all that extra homework Barkin gave me before we left."
"Ron, has it ever occurred to you that maybe he's trying to make you do better? You really think he's out to get you?"
"KP, you saw him back there at school. He couldn't wait to load me down with the extra stuff. It's just not fair, the rest of the class isn't expected to turn anything else in."
She sighed. "He's the teacher, I guess he can do what he wants to. When are you going to do it? It's going to be real late when we get home." She stopped for a moment to consider exactly how they were going to accomplish that, though Wade almost always come through with a solution.
They both perked up as a large, balding man wearing a jacket with tails made his way toward their seat. "Thanks for the ride, Mr. Magnifico." She chirped, her brightest smile beaming.
"Think nothing of it, Miss Possible." He replied with a slight accent.
Both of them jumped slightly as a woman dropped down over their shoulder, her legs hooked on the luggage rail above the seats. "It's the least we can do. After all, you saved our circus."
"It's no big. When you twisted your ankle, somebody had to fill in on the high wire."
Another shape dropped from above, not speaking, but honking a small horn incessantly.
"Oh, yes. Ahem. Lord Laffington is right. Your friend made a delightful addition to our cavalcade of clowns."
Ron shuddered slightly, remembering his turn as a circus clown. "Did I have to be dressed up like a monkey?"
"Oh no, not the monkey thing again, Ron." Kim moaned.
"Well, it was sick and wrong." He flinched again as the clown appeared over his opposite shoulder. Not knowing how to respond, he just pointed both index fingers at him and grinned, hoping that would hide his nervousness.
The trio of performers left them alone once more, and Ron went back to wondering exactly how he was going to spend the next few hours. He eyed his backpack, which was sitting on the floor at their feet.
"You know, maybe I do need to get this homework done."
She nodded, a little sad that he was choosing the homework over her, but proud none-the-less that he had decided on the wiser course.
Picking up the backpack, he pulled out the assignments. They weren't long, at least individually, but they still represented three times the work the rest of the class were expected to accomplish overnight.
No sooner than he put his pencil to the paper, he was almost blasted out of his seat by Lord Laffington's horn. He shook his head, then glared at the clown, who shrunk away for a moment. In Ron's book, clowns were, as a whole, only slightly better than monkeys.
"I think I'm gonna go back to the baggage car, KP. I can't concentrate with Lord Laffington honking in my ear. I gotta get this homework done for Barkin's class."
"I'll come with. Maybe I can help you and then we'll have some time left over…just for ourselves."
"Coolio." He shouldered the backpack and headed toward the rear. The 'baggage' car was full of props and equipment for the circus, but there was still a little room to spread out on the floor."
Kim pulled a small flashlight out of her equipment belt and held it for him so he could start the assignment. Just as he was about to start, she leaned over and gave him a soft kiss on his cheek.
"I'm proud of you, Ron."
"Why, because I'm such a slacker that he's got to load me up like this?" He said. "Hey, I'm done with number 7. Let's have a little light on number 8."
"I'm just proud of you, that's all. It wasn't that long ago you would have just blown this all off and played solitaire on the Kimmunicator for the whole trip."
He shook his head. "Priorities, KP. We're juniors now, and if I'm gonna get into college at all, I've really got to hunker down. Stupid Barkin."
"Ron, come on, do you really still think Barkin's out to get you?"
He didn't look up, scribbling his answer to the question in the faint light of her flashlight. "I know, Kim. I looked at him funny once in the ninth grade, and he's dogged me ever since."
"A funny look?" She used her free hand to brush some hair off his forehead.
"That's all it took. Some people are just born to battle, KP. Like you and Bonnie. It's the circle of life."
Kim couldn't help but shudder, thinking of the confrontation she had with the snarky cheerleader after she let her fall during practice. If she wasn't in as good a condition as she was, she'd be nursing more than just a bruised ego. Then she noticed something neither had as they entered the car.
"Interesting choice of words."
Ron looked up at her, and she shifted the beam of her light toward a cage that was right behind him. It only took him half a moment to realize there was a large, male lion in that cage.
Maybe it was his sudden movement, jumping to his feet, or the light startled it, or the big cat simply had a sense of humor of its own, but it suddenly swiped at the blond haired, teen…
…ripping his gray cargo pants right off.
Kim Possible and all related characters © Disney