AUTHOR'S NOTE – Thanks again to all the people who read and reviewed Chapter Five: CajunBear73, screaming phoenix, Kwebs, Katsumara, xyzisme, Michael Howard & CaptProd! You're really flattering me with all those compliments! So sorry I let you wait so long! This is the longest chapter so far, and the next chapters will be almost as long. It takes a lot of time to translate and proofread chapters of this length… so I got a little help. ;) A very special thanks to my new beta reader Michael Howard (who already provided me with a little help before) for helping me improve parts of my translation! Well now, enjoy Chapter Six! ;)

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

Chapter Six: One Night in Vancouver

It was not all that easy to find the place where they had come off the road again. Firstly, because Kim had not even seen what she had run over, and therefore did not know exactly what to search for. And secondly, because by now, more cars were driving around than before. Since the Innovation Party would start in half an hour already, it was possible that some of these drivers were people still on their way to the hotel. Kim and Ron were slowly walking along the roadside in the direction they had come from by car, trying not to overlook anything. They surely had covered a mile already. Kim almost thought they might have missed the place, but then she stopped all of a sudden and motioned Ron to do the same. There was something strange on the asphalt, something that did not seem to have been there all the time. Looking over Kim's shoulder in a curious way, Ron asked: "Found something, KP?"

"Maybe…" She reached into the side pocket of her mission outfit and pulled out an object which she gave Ron, saying: "Go put up the warning triangle back there, so I can take a closer look at this without getting run over."

"Uh, okay…" he answered in a slightly confused way and gazed at the folded up warning triangle in awe, even while he was walking further down the street.

Kim watched him go with an amused smile, shaking her head. Once she was sure he remembered his task, she set foot on the road and crouched down to have a good look at what she had seen. There was a narrow black plate, but its length almost took up the whole width of the lane, and its color hardly stood out from the asphalt. Kim frowned briefly and contacted Wade through her kimmunicator wristband: "Wade, I think I found something here. Take a look at this."

She held the wristband in a way that allowed Wade to see the peculiar plate. "Huh, that looks strange…" he replied thoughtfully. "Let me scan that."

A reddish beam emerged from the side of the kimmunicator wristband, when Kim moved her arm alongside the plate a few inches away from it. The beam disappeared again, and Wade typed something on his keyboard. "There's something under it…" he finally said. "It's a row of sharp metal spikes that can be extended or retracted by an internal mechanism. Pretty ingenious system… Apparently, it's remote-controlled and connected to a surveillance system."

"Surveillance system, huh?" Kim repeated thoughtfully and looked to her side. On the side of the road, exactly on a level with the plate, there was a quite thick fern plant. Just when Kim got up to take a closer look at the plant, Ron came back – and almost would have stepped on it, if Kim had not given him a sign to stand still. Kim bowed down to the plant, and Ron did the same. Then, Kim pulled the plant to the side and revealed a small green camera.

"What's your take on this, Wade?" Kim asked into her kimmunicator wristband and held it in a way for Wade to see the camera.

"Just like I suspected!" Wade answered. "Unfortunately, the camera is no longer activated, so I can't track back from where it has been controlled."

"Too bad," Kim replied. "Looks like someone turned extremely clever…" With that, she and Ron got up again and were on their way back to the car. On the way, Kim added: "One thing's for sure now: Somehow, Drakken must have known that we survived the explosion."

"Maybe he also had a hidden camera there, and he activated it only after the explosion via remote-control," Wade suggested. "I should've checked that…"

"Who could've known?" Kim replied. "I guess Drakken must've stolen a lot of abilities already…"

"You should be prepared for the worst," Wade said. After a short pause, he added: "By the way, a tow truck should be coming to take your car to a repair shop any minute."

"Very good! And how about the innovation party?"

"You're on the guest list!" Wade answered and added hesitantly: "Well, of course not with your real names. And it wasn't all that easy…"

"How do you mean?"

"Well, the guest list was full already, and the hotel is completely booked out tonight. So, I couldn't add any more names to the list, when I hacked into the system. I almost thought I'd have to remove someone else from the list. But once I was in the system, I was also able to intercept e-mails to the hotel. A few hours ago, two guests wanted to write they can't come at the last minute. So, you'll just go to the party using their names."

"Sounds good, Wade. Then we'll get ready for the party right away. I'll call you back when we arrive at the hotel." With that, she disconnected.

"Do we even have suitable clothes with us?" Ron asked her then.

"I'm sure there's some stuff for undercover missions left in the car," she replied.

When they got back to the car shortly after that, Kim checked out their baggage immediately. Indeed, apart from the winter clothes, she found several other outfits, along with various purses, a few wigs and even a fake beard. Under one of the back seats, there also was a small suitcase with a combination lock, in which she just packed everything they had with them. After all, she did not necessarily want to leave all their stuff behind in the repair shop, either.

"I think it's best to get changed already, so we can be dropped off at the hotel right away," Kim said, when she had stowed away all their stuff, and she went for the edge of the forest with the suitcase in her hand.

"Gotcha, KP!" Ron said in a light-hearted way and followed after her. At least until Kim was about to disappear behind the bushes and turned around once again to look at him questioningly: "Uh, Ron… better watch out – got it?"

Ron blinked briefly, wearing a confused expression, then he got the message: "Uh, yeah, right. Sorry, KP." Slightly embarrassed, he turned around and whistled a tune, while Kim got changed.

A short time later, Kim reappeared, wearing a strapless bright violet dress with a horizontal neckline that also covered her upper arms a little bit. The bottom of the dress was cut diagonally, so that it almost reached her ankle on the one side and narrowly her knee on the other side. With that, she wore matching shoes, a simple necklace with a light blue gem, a matching purse and a black wig with a bun hairstyle worked into it.

Now, it was Ron's turn, and Kim was standing guard. She was looking from one side to the other, always keeping an eye on the cars passing by on the distant street. After a while, she shouted: "Ron, hurry up! I think the tow truck is coming."

"More or less finished, KP!" Ron answered hastily, and in the next moment, he reappeared beside her, wearing a somewhat presentable dark blue suit with a white shirt and a red bow tie. He was just trying to attach the fake beard that was a little bit darker than his blond hair. However, the beard slipped off on one side, as soon as he let go of it. Kim helped him fix the beard, then she picked up the suitcase, and they returned to the car, where the man from the towing service was already about to meet them.

-xXOXx-

At precisely 10 p.m., the tow truck that had loaded Kim's car stopped in front of the hotel that had about fifteen stories. Kim and Ron, who were sitting on the passengers' seats in the driver's cab, gazed out of the window in awe. While Ron almost got stuck on the window, Kim turned to the driver immediately: "Thanks again for dropping us off at the hotel, Mr. Leary."

"Oh, that's no problem at all, Miss Possible," the lean man with the light brown thinning hair and moustache answered. "After all, it was you who saved our nation from the maniacal Dr. Drakken awhile back."

Like always, Kim replied: "No big!" After a short pause, she asked: "When do you think the car will be ready?"

"I'll take your car to Wheeley's garage on the next street. Good old Mr. Wheeley will certainly take a look at it tomorrow morning."

Kim was almost a little shocked when she inquired: "Only tomorrow morning?"

Ron also turned around with a start and said in a huff: "Maybe that Mr. Wheeley forgot we once saved his nation?!"

Kim looked from Ron to Mr. Leary quickly and gave the latter an apologetic smile.

"Well, that was more than two years ago by now, and Mr. Wheeley only came to Canada last year," Mr. Leary carefully explained and then added: "But maybe I can put in a good word for you."

"Thank you in any case," Kim said, before she and Ron got out of the truck, and Mr. Leary drove off again.

Ron shook his head in disbelief again and said: "And I guess that Mr. Wheeley doesn't even remember we saved the world several times, either…?"

"Now, let it go, Ron," Kim soothed him. "We'd better make sure that we can join the party to get Drakken and Shego." With that, she pressed a button on her kimmunicator wristband to contact Wade again: "Wade, we're at the hotel now. What are our names for the party?"

Wade, who was already in his pajamas by now, answered: "Mr. and Mrs. Brinestoop."

Kim just pulled a face briefly and replied dryly: "What a name…"

Meanwhile, Ron's eyes went wide, and he stuttered: "Uh, just a second… Does that mean, we… we're… married?!"

"That doesn't bother you, or does it?" Wade asked and explained right away: "Like I said, there was no other way to get you on the guest list, because every guest must be linked to a room reservation in the hotel. That way you don't even have to pay for the room or anything, because according to the hotel's database and the e-mail I intercepted before, the Brinestoops already paid in advance. And the hotel would only have refunded, if their cancellation had arrived at least 24 hours ago."

"Rich people, I suppose. I guess they don't mind," Kim just commented. "Okay, then we'll be going in now." With that, she ended the call and stuffed the kimmunicator wristband into her purse, as it could look too conspicuous with her dress. When she looked up at Ron, she noticed that he still wore a quite dumbfounded expression. Therefore, she asked him, slightly concerned: "Ron, is anything wrong?"

"No, no, everything's fine!" Ron answered, but he hardly managed to keep the nervousness out of his voice. "I mean, there's nothing to it… After all… we are a couple, right? Then I'm sure people will buy that we are… well…"

"…a married couple?" Kim finished the sentence for him. Then, she placed her hand on his shoulder in a soothing way and added: "Relax, Ron. It's just another undercover mission. You know: Just until we've found Drakken and Shego."

Ron took one deep breath and smiled. But then, he noticed: "But we're not even wearing rings…?" With that, he pointed at his other hand questioningly.

Kim pulled back her own hand and looked at it for a second, but then she shrugged and said: "No one will notice. We just won't point our fingers at anyone."

"Hey! But we could use those magno rings!" Ron grinned at that.

Kim shook her head with a frown and answered: "Very bad idea!" Soon, she smiled again and presented her arm to Ron, saying: "I'd prefer to go inside now, …Mr. Brinestoop."

Now, Ron smiled as well, offered his arm to Kim, so she could take it, and replied: "With pleasure, …Mrs. Brinestoop."

Arm in arm, they marched towards the glass entrance of the hotel.

-xXOXx-

As soon as they had entered the lobby, an impressive sight met their eyes. The enormous size of the entrance hall, the noble furniture, the ornaments on the walls, as well as the numerous chandeliers on the high ceiling conveyed incredible luxury. For a long time, Ron could only utter low, squeaking sounds. Meanwhile, Kim discovered the reception desk at the end of the hall and not far from it, there was the entrance to a ballroom, with a tall, muscular man in a suit and sunglasses standing in front of it. Probably, he saw to it that no one except for party guests entered the room. Kim discreetly jostled Ron to wake him up from his amazement and whispered to him: "Ron, I think we should check in… Uh, hello, Ron?"

When he was still tongue-tied, Kim just pulled at his arm firmly to make him go to the end of the hall with her. Once there, Kim quietly cleared her throat and spoke to the lady at the reception: "Uh, good evening. We …have a reservation. The name is Brinestoop."

The elegantly dressed woman with glasses, who wore her dark brown hair in a bun, typed the name into her computer and looked at the monitor thoughtfully. For a short moment, Kim feared that something might have gone wrong. But she knew that they could always count on Wade, and soon, the lady reacted positively: "Ah, Mr. and Mrs. Brinestoop, there you are. The party has already begun, but don't be concerned: You're not the last guests to arrive."

She turned around to the key shelves which were completely empty except for two. From one of these two shelves, she pulled out a piece of paper and two keys. She lay the piece of paper down on the desk, exchanged a brief confused glance between Kim and Ron and finally pointed at an empty line near the bottom of the form: "If you would please sign here…"

Kim just put down the small suitcase she was still carrying in her free hand on the floor, then without hesitating, she gave her signature – of course, using the name "Brinestoop". At that, the lady handed her one of the two keys, kept the other in her palm with a questioning look and suggested: "If you wish so, I'll have your bags carried up to your room, so you can join the party immediately."

Kim put the key she had received into her purse, briefly looked at the small suitcase at her feet and then said hesitantly: "Uh, sure. Thank you."

The lady smiled briefly, rang a bell and added: "Enjoy yourselves!"

While a hotel employee took care of the suitcase, Kim and Ron slowly moved towards the ballroom. A little unsure, they shortly stopped once again in front of the entrance, but the man immediately stepped aside and motioned them to enter.

-xXOXx-

The huge bright ballroom made a no less luxurious impression. Quite close to the entrance, a band was playing classical dance music. Behind the band, there was a small stage, with a banner hanging above it that said "Innovation Party". Very few guests were dancing in front of the stage, many were sitting at the tables further away talking, and others were standing in the middle of the room, where a huge buffet was served. That sight finally broke Ron's overwhelmed state of mind and captivated him immediately. "Ooh, what a huge buffet!" He grinned happily and dragged Kim off in that direction right away.

While Ron tucked in at the buffet and also gave Rufus some tidbits in a more or less discreet way, Kim stopped to stand near him and have a careful look around the whole room. After a while, she noticed thoughtfully: "Huh, something's really wrong here!" She pulled the kimmunicator wristband out of her purse, discreetly holding it in her hand, speaking into it in a low voice: "Wade, there's no one here who even looks like Drakken or Shego. Somehow, I can't help but feel this is all just a diversionary maneuver."

"Maybe they'll just turn up later," Wade suggested. "But it really is weird…"

"If this is meant to be a diversion, than it's a pretty clever one," Kim replied. "It looks like we're stuck here now, because the car won't be repaired before tomorrow morning."

"And once again, we have no idea where Drakken really is," Wade added. "Of course, I could look for a ride for you, anyways… Though your former drivers have pretty much withdrawn, ever since you got your car, and I can't even get a hold of them any more at night. Huh… maybe Global Justice can help…" He typed something on his keyboard and waited for a few seconds. But then, he noticed in a confused way: "Funny… No one answers in the headquarters!"

"Maybe it's just interference on the line…" Kim suggested.

"Seems more like a deliberate interference to me," Wade answered. "I'm gonna try again a few times, but if there's still no answer then, I guess I'm gonna have to make sure everything's alright over there…"

Ron, who now stood at Kim's side again, asked in a surprise: "What, you mean, in person?"

"Extreme situations require extreme measures," Wade grinned. "In any case, I'll call you back tomorrow morning, when your car is ready. By then, I'll certainly know what's up with Global Justice."

"Alright, Wade. We'll keep our eyes open here, just to be sure." With that, she disconnected, put the wristband back into her purse and sighed: "I can't believe Drakken played us again!"

Ron looked at her with a slightly concerned expression, then he briefly cleared his throat and said with a subtle smile: "Well, …we should make the best of it."

Kim was surprised when he held out his hand to ask her for a dance. But of course, she accepted his offer with pleasure. When they had been dancing closely for a while already, looking at each other in a lovey-dovey way, Kim whispered: "You know what this reminds me of?"

A bit unsure, Ron asked: "Uh… you mean the actuary meeting that bored you to death?"

Kim shook her head with a smile and answered: "No… I mean the prom…"

Ron looked surprised for a moment, then he also smiled: "Oh… yeah, right."

And just like back then, they stopped to stand in the middle of the dance floor, locked in embrace, looking deep into each other's eyes, forgetting everything around them for a moment. Slowly, both closed their eyes, while their lips drew closer to each other… But shortly before the kiss, Kim suddenly pulled back. Ron's eyes opened with a start, and he asked: "What's wrong, KP? Do I have nasty breath or something?"

Kim answered in a slightly embarrassed way: "No… It's just… Your fake beard stings…"

"You don't have to tell me," Ron replied. "That thing's been itching like crazy ever since we went to the party!" With that, he no longer suppressed the urge to scratch his face and said: "I can't help but think I'm gonna break out in a rash from that… I'll go check this. Be right back!"

While Ron left the room to go look for the rest rooms, Kim got a glass of water and helped herself at the buffet a little. Her glance went through the room once again and came to a stop at the stage, where a middle-aged man, who was holding a glass of red wine in one hand, was just speaking into the microphone: "My dear Ladies and Gentlemen, may I ask for your attention? My name is Dr. Henry Argyle, and I am very proud to be the first to introduce an absolute novelty to you tonight – an innovation for every household! For that reason, I would like to ask one of you to join me on this stage…"

He let his gaze wander through the room briefly and finally pointed his hand at none other than Kim, saying: "How about you? The delightful lady in that beautiful violet dress?"

With widened eyes and almost in a choked voice, Kim inquired: "Me?" The other guests already started clapping, and so, Kim saw herself virtually forced to march onto the stage. Nervously, she stopped to stand next to Dr. Argyle and looked at the audience.

"Dear Ladies," Dr. Argyle continued. "How many times have you already been annoyed by seemingly insoluble stains on your best dresses?" At that, without warning, he spilled some of his red wine on Kim's dress, which gave her a start. But before she could say anything, Dr. Argyle already shouted into the mike: "Don't worry, this is just what my own invention, the stain magnet, is for!"

With his free hand, he pulled a metallic disc out of his inside pocket. "Just like a magnet, it'll draw any kind of stains out of all sorts of clothing immediately – and even out of your hair! Please forgive me my mishap, my dear lady…" And in the next moment, the remaining red wine was spread out over Kim's black wig. But Dr. Argyle, without batting an eyelid, handed her the "stain magnet", saying: "Try it yourself! You'll be amazed!"

Kim felt totally stupid, when she held the "magnet" onto the stain of red wine on her dress unenthusiastically. After a few seconds, she pulled the "magnet" away again – but the stain was still visible. A wave of outrage spread across the room, and Dr. Argyle whispered with an embarrassed glance to the side – but through the microphone, it was still clearly audible: "Oh, I guess I should've tested it for red wine first…"

Furiously, Kim gave him back his invention and left the stage, grumbling to herself: "Great! Why is it that almost every dress I wear gets ruined?"

When she stomped towards the entrance, Ron just returned and asked in a shocked manner: "KP, what happened?! I've only been gone for a minute, and…"

"The party's over, Ron!" she told him dryly, and they both left the ballroom.

-xXOXx-

The room was on the tenth floor, number 1024, quite close to the elevator. While Kim unlocked the door, Ron pulled at his fake beard, saying: "Now I can finally get rid of this thing!"

"Great inventors, indeed!" Kim kept criticising. "No wonder Drakken didn't really mean to steal anything from them!"

Kim opened the door, switched on the lights, and while they both entered the room and let the door fall shut behind them, they gazed in awe at all the luxury that met their eyes once again. This hotel room was almost as big as Kim's room on the attic and filled with the most splendid furniture. Right next to the door, there was the bathroom, which seemed to be very big as well and could be entered through a door around the corner. Facing the door to the bathroom, on the right wall of the room, a double bed was standing, with both a nightstand and a reading lamp on each side. On the opposite wall, there was a TV set standing on a bureau, and further back in the room, near the window, there were two armchairs with a small table and a huge wardrobe.

Ron just dropped the fake beard onto the floor and was now wandering about the room beaming: "Wow, that's got style! Huge TV, minibar…" He opened the small closet that came into view behind the bureau with the TV set and gasped: "…with three x-large packs of peanuts!"

"Yum, peanuts!" Rufus peered out of Ron's pocket on cue, but Ron quickly shut the door in the rodent's face. Then, he turned around for the bed, took a deep breath and then exclaimed with joy: "And… chocolate on the pillows!"

Kim rolled her eyes at Ron's fit of childlike wonder, went towards the bed and seized its left side by placing her purse on the nightstand and putting her kimmunicator wristband into one of the drawers. "Whatever," she commented, while she took off the red wine-soaked wig. "I'll go take a shower real quick. I think the wine trickled through the wig down to my hair…"

Before she could enter the bathroom, she heard Ron's light-hearted voice once again: "Hey KP…"

"Yeah?" Kim asked, turned around smiling and noticed that Ron had ridded himself of his coat, jumped onto the bed and looked at her with an expectant grin.

"Can I have the chocolate on your pillow?" he finally asked.

Kim stopped smiling, dropped her shoulders and answered in a bored tone: "Yeah, sure." With that, she disappeared inside the bathroom.

When Ron had put away the two tiny bars of chocolate, suddenly his eyes went wide and he gasped. Now it hit him: "Hang on… This… This is just… perfect!" In the next moment, however, he became thoughtful again: "But… something's not right…" When he looked around the room once again and his gaze fell upon one of the two armchairs, he noticed the disturbance: "Rufus!"

The little rodent, that lay sprawled across the armchair, looked up questioningly when he heard his name. "Hey, buddy," Ron whispered. "Would you do me a favor? When Kim comes outta there, …could you maybe disappear into the bathroom?"

The naked mole rat crossed his tiny arms in a huff, sulking: "Uh-uh! No way!"

Ron thought shortly, then he suggested: "You can have all the peanuts from the minibar!"

At once, Rufus squeaked happily: "Yum! Okay!"

At that, Ron grinned to himself for a while, but soon, he started worrying again: "Oh, what am I talking about…? We're actually still on a mission…"

In the next minutes – that seemed like hours to him – Ron nervously went up and down the room, trying to distract himself. Once he turned on the TV, once he looked out of the window, then he played around with the lights, until he finally left only one of the reading lamps on, later he wandered up and down again. And just as he sat down on the rear edge of the bed again and considered turning on the TV once again, he heard Kim's voice that said in an almost dreamy tone: "Hey Ron… What's the sitch?"

Ron turned into the direction of the bathroom and almost fell off the bed at the sight. His eyes went wide and his jaw dropped, when he saw a seductively smiling Kim standing in the door, wearing a hotel bathrobe made of silk. While he was still speechless, Rufus scooted into the bathroom unseen, carrying three packs of peanuts in his mouth, and slowly pushed the door shut from the inside. At last, Ron stammered: "K-K-KP! You, uh… I, uh… I mean… Wow!"

Kim slowly approached him and said, using the same tone as before: "Well, you said we should make the best of it…"

"Uh, yeah… I did!" Ron stuttered nervously. "But… but what… what, if Wade…?"

When she was standing in front of him, she placed one finger on his mouth and whispered: "Not before morning…"

"Are you sure?"

"Absolutely." She smiled at him, and when Ron returned the smile, Kim turned off the lights.

End of Chapter Six

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AUTHOR'S NOTE – …well… I'll leave the rest to your imagination for now. Let me just add that Kim and Ron will have plenty of time to… um, talk now… ;)
I still need to write a disclaimer for this chapter, but one more piece of trivia first: The hotel was slightly based on the "Fairmont Hotel Vancouver", which was a mere coincidence. I just chose Vancouver, because the trivia of "A Sitch in Time" suggested that Middleton was located on the West Coast (as Norway was 9 hours ahead). That way, it would still make sense to reach Vancouver within a few hours from Drakken's lair, which is just an hour away from Middleton in my story.
Please be patient – the next chapter could take longer as well. Take care & see you around! :)

DISCLAIMER – The name Leary was taken from a random search for Canadian names.
The name Wheeley was thought up by myself (very creative, I know).
The name Brinestoop appears in the computer game The Curse of Monkey Island, where the hero Guybrush Threepwood tries to enter a restaurant, but doesn't have a reservation, and he finds the reservation slip of one Mrs. Brinestoop which gets him in. ;) I do not own The Curse of Monkey Island or any of its characters. They belong to LucasArts and were created by Ron Gilbert, Jonathan Ackley and Larry Ahern.
And the name Dr. Henry Argyle is a combination of the names Terrance Henry Stoot and Phillip Niles Argyle, two Canadian characters from the cartoon South Park. I do not own South Park or any of its characters. They belong to Comedy Central and were created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone.