Authors Note: Well here it is. The final chapter. And it's a big one. I could have broken it down into two chapters and made you wait longer to learn the ending, but I do enjoy spoiling my readers. It's an early Christmas gift to you all! Thank you again to all the fans of this story. I hope you've enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.
Disclaimer: I don't own Kim Possible.
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"Go with your heart, buddy. Our brains only screw things up."
~Chuck Bartowski
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Eyelids slowly slid open to reveal a new room. An unfamiliar room. A room which oozed with misery and pain. At least that's what the smell told her.
She did not know how she had gotten here. She did not know why there was a small tube in her arm. And she did not know why her head was bandaged. She blinked several times as pieces of equipment and furniture were starting to look more and more familiar. It was a hospital room.
Camille looked to her left to see a heart monitor emitting steady beeps. It was then she realized that her head hurt a bit. She was dizzy. She had initially thought that her weariness had been because she had just woken up. But it was not going away.
She laid her head back down on the pillow, unable to keep it up any longer. Memories began flooding back into her mind. Memories of being with Kim and Ron at her house.
Kim had seen her when she was most vulnerable. She had seen the dark recesses of her mind that she tried to keep away from everyone else. Camille felt angry at the thought. She had been unable to control her weakness. That was the only way she was ever willing to describe it to herself. It was a weakness. Being at times unable to have full control over her thoughts and emotions made her sick. And Kim had seen it. She wondered how the teen hero would use it against her in the future.
Camille looked to the open door on the left side of the room. She knew it lead outside into the hallway. There were people talking out there. She had no idea how long she had been here or how long she had been asleep. A grim smile formed on her lips. She hadn't been asleep. She had knocked herself out smashing her head against the wall. That would explain the bandage at least.
She wondered briefly who had been the one to bring her here, or at least been the one to call an ambulance. But her question was immediately answered. She knew it was Kim. It had to be her. Kim was a hero. She had rubbed it in her face in the past. Despite the fact that Camille was a villain, Kim would not let her die. She may have talked a big game when they were discussing going to Africa to save Ron. She may have said that whatever danger Camille got in was her own fault and at her own risk. But Camille knew deep down that Kim would never let any true harm come to her. It wasn't in Kim's nature. Good or evil, she would save a person in need.
Her thoughts turned to Ron. He was better now. She smiled knowing that to be true. He deserved to be good. Evil didn't suit him. Despite the fact that he was very good at it, he was simply not meant to be evil. Even if his mind had not been decaying, Camille knew deep down that it wasn't a lifestyle he was meant for. She thought back to when they had been dating and how nice he had been to her. That was the real Ron Stoppable. That personality deserved to survive. That was the personality that had liked her for her. He had in fact liked two of her; he just didn't know it at the time.
She wondered where he was right now. In fact she still wondered what day it was. Would he be at school? Was he still sleeping in Kim's guest bedroom? They were questions that she wanted to know the answers to, but at the moment were just out of reach. She knew that her cell phone would not be on her person. Looking underneath the covers she saw that she was in a flimsy hospital gown. Her thoughts immediately turned to how she had come to have it on. But she figured that it had to be standard procedure. And she was sure that it would have been a female nurse.
She couldn't help but still feel utterly devastated by what the Supreme One had told her. She had been the puppet master all along. Camille had been a toy. She was so used to being the one in charge, the one manipulating others. To learn that she had been manipulated herself made her feel angry. It made her feel helpless and violated. She briefly wondered if this is what her own victims felt like. She wondered if Ron had felt this way when he had learned the truth.
She glanced to the open door again. Nobody had come in since she had awoken. It was probably because nobody knew that she was awake. She wondered if anyone had come to visit her. She wondered if anyone cared. She rolled her eyes as she mentally chastised herself for such wishful thinking. Who would ever visit her? Who would even care? The cheer squad? Maybe. Certainly not Kim or Bonnie. Kim knew the true her, and Bonnie despised her for purely social reasons. And there was no way that Ron would ever visit her.
She frowned as she grabbed the small pager that was attached by a cord to her bed. She was hungry. And she would at least get somebody's attention by pressing the button.
It took around a minute for a man wearing a white coat to enter. In one of his hands was a clipboard, she figured he had to be a doctor. Maybe he could answer some of her questions.
"Ms. Leon," he smiled. "I'm Dr. Percival. I'm glad to see you're awake."
"Yeah," she agreed. "So how long was I out?"
"About four hours. You're very fortunate you had someone who was with you at the time of your injury. Had it gone untended to until the morning things could be a lot worse. She must be a good friend of yours. And it's actually quite remarkable that her mother is who she is."
Her thoughts turned back to Kim. She smirked at the doctor's assumption that she and Kim were friends. Nothing could have been further from the truth. But what was that about Kim's mother?
"What are you talking about?"
"Dr. Anne Possible is a neurosurgeon. She's the one who will be overseeing your treatment."
The morbid irony of it all threatened to make Camille burst out in a fit of laughter. But she restrained it the best she could. Her head still hurt. And she didn't want the doctor to ask any questions about it.
"Great," she sighed.
"By the way, you have a visitor waiting outside. He's been here for a couple of hours."
Camille shot him a questioning look. She actually had a visitor? Someone who had been waiting for two hours? She didn't dare hope it was who she thought it was. But if it was, she didn't know what she would do.
"Can he come in?" she wondered.
"Yes, of course. Excuse me for a moment while I go get him."
The man walked out of the room leaving Camille alone. She bit her bottom lip in anticipation of who it might be. But at the same time she hated getting her hopes up. Hope was the first step on the road to disappointment. Hope made you vulnerable. And that only led to getting hurt. She did her best to push the feelings out of her head. Around a minute later she heard footsteps approaching her room.
The doctor came in first. Behind him was the last possible person she would have expected.
"Camille, it is good to see that you are well," Senior smiled.
Her heart dropped. Her teeth grinded. She did her best to maintain a normal breathing pattern. This was not the person she had expected to see.
"He said he's your grandpa," the Dr. Percival explained. "It's good to have family at a time like this. You're lucky that he was able to come at this hour, Camille."
Again, she just wanted to laugh at the absurdity of the statement. If only the doctor knew how she felt about her family.
"May I ask what happened to her?" Senior asked.
"Since you're family, yes," he said. "But of course, Camille is a legal adult. Because of doctor-patient confidentiality I am only allowed to share this information with you if she agrees to it. What do you say, Camille?"
She quite honestly wanted to know what exactly her situation was as well. All she knew was that she had knocked herself unconscious, and apparently had caused her head to bleed. But she had no idea about the extent of the injury. And she didn't want to make a big fuss about the man who was her grandfather. It would seem suspicious to the hospital staff, and Senior knew things. He knew all kinds of terrible things about her. She couldn't risk alienating him when she was in such a vulnerable state.
"Sure. Let's hear it," she shrugged.
"Well…" Dr. Percival said as he flipped a page on his chart. "We've diagnosed you with a grade III concussion. You had a loss of consciousness for a little over four hours. We've already begun the process of treating the injury, but it will take a long time before you are fully recovered from this."
"Oh my," Senior gasped. "And what about the bandage on her head?"
The doctor nodded as he continued his explanation.
"The young woman who brought Camille in said that she sustained the injury by hitting her head against the wall. The blunt force caused a large laceration over her left temporal plate. There was a lot bleeding. But of course with head wounds there will always be a lot of blood, making the injury look worse than it actually is. This is not to say that the wound is not serious, we must be thorough in cleaning and sanitizing it regularly to prevent infection. We actually had to put quite a few stitches into it in order to close it up."
Senior looked down worryingly at his granddaughter. Next came the obvious question that was on his mind.
"Do you know how exactly she received this injury?"
Dr. Percival looked at Camille, wondering if he should go on to reveal what he knew. Or at least what Kim must have told him. Clearly he was not sure if Camille wanted the details of the cause of her injury to be revealed at this time. She shook her head softly to indicate her response.
"I'm afraid I'm not allowed to disclose that information at the moment."
"I see," he frowned. "If you do not mind, I would like to speak with my granddaughter alone. I am sure that she would like somebody to keep her company."
"Of course, sir. If you need anything you can use the pager."
Dr. Percival turned and left the room before closing the door behind him. Senior pulled a chair beside the bed and sat down. It was time for them to reveal their true selves.
"What are you doing here?" she hissed.
"I heard that you had been taken to the hospital. I rushed down here as soon as I could."
"And who told you this?"
"Junior did. I must say that I am surprised that he knew himself. Do you have any idea how he could have come to know this in such a short amount of time?"
She knew. Junior had been getting close to Kim over the past couple of weeks. For one reason or another she must have told him. Maybe it was because she knew that Camille was linked to his and Senior's kidnapping. If only Kim knew how closely they truly were linked.
"Yeah. Your little evil protégé has been Kim's sidekick for the past two weeks," she smirked.
She had hoped to get some kind of painful reaction from the old man by revealing this information to him. To Senior, his son becoming Kim Possible's sidekick would be a terrible blow to his evil future. It simply spit in the face of villain tradition. But to her surprise it didn't work.
Senior sighed when he heard the news, but not as much as she would have liked.
"I am afraid I must admit that I am not surprised," he said sadly. "After I escaped Dr. Drakken's lair and found Junior, he expressed to me his disinterest in continuing the hobby of villainy. After seeing our lair… destroyed," he said uneasily. "Junior said that he no longer wanted to participate in the activities. He said that he had begun to find out who he really was. He said that he was no longer ashamed to admit it."
Camille didn't know what he meant by that. She figured that maybe he had fallen in love with Kim or something like that. It would certainly ruin his desire to be a super villain. And it would certainly qualify as finding out who he really was, and no longer being ashamed to admit it. But she simply did not know if this was the case.
"Whatever," she said uninterestedly. "So back to my question. Why are you here?"
"Because… because you are family," he said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Family must be there for each other."
"Yeah, you really knew how to be there for your family."
"We have been over this back at Dr. Drakken's lair. I know that I have made mistakes, but I did what I thought was best at the time. I truly apologize for not being there for your mother and you."
For her that simply wasn't good enough. Her parents had been emotionally distant. Her father had been physically distant as well. He had never been around much when she was growing up. To know that she had a grandfather, a wealthy grandfather who lived on a private island with only his son, had given her a spark of hope. She thought that maybe she could have lived with him, maybe he could have been the family that she had not had. But of course he had ignored her too. He had been far too busy with Junior to ever care about his own daughter and granddaughter. Knowing what could have been fueled her hatred for him more than the incident at the Billionaire's Club.
"Yeah? Well sorry can't make up for it. Blowing up your lair is only the beginning of what I'm going to put you through, grandfather."
Rather than hurting him or making him angry, Senior just grinned.
"Yes, I can only imagine what dastardly plans you have in mind for me," he said excitedly. "I personally cannot wait to see what lengths you will go to for your evil revenge. Revenge is the noblest of all villain traditions."
Camille let out a sigh of disbelief as she shook her head. The old man was even crazier than she was.
"You… you're just nuts…" she groaned. "You can't even accept the fact that I can't stand the sight of you. You just get all excited and gush about how evil I am!"
"How can I not? It is thrilling to know that my own flesh and blood has what it takes to carry on my evil legacy. While Junior may not be capable of it, it is obvious that you are."
"Great. This again…"
"I implore you to reconsider my offer. I know that I cannot change the past, but I can do my best to make up for it. I want to spend time with you. I want to be the family that you were denied growing up. And I want to teach you my evil ways, and for you to teach me yours. Your methods are quite unorthodox and are not in any of my books of villainy. What do you say, Camille? Will you be my evil partner in crime?"
Family. Care. Love. They were the things she had wanted for so long. Senior was offering them to her unconditionally; even after all she had done to him. He was willing to be there for her.
She had tried to fill the voids in her life. She knew she was not unique in what she did. Like she had told Ron weeks earlier, she had had the best education money could buy. She knew a bit about the study of psychology. The core of her issues was not uncommon in many other teenagers of her generation. She had tried to fill the voids in her life with sex, lashing out at and manipulating others, stealing, and other petty crimes. They were textbook cries for attention and validation. She could even consider her entire public persona as a way to make people pay attention to her. She had desperately tried to cling to Ron when he had dumped her because she had felt his genuine care for her when they were dating. And she had continued to cling to him after he had been turned evil. She craved the feeling of being wanted by others. Maybe Senior could provide what she wanted.
But she wasn't about to make it easy for him. She turned her head to face away from him.
"I'll think about it," she said softly.
"Wonderful," he smiled. "It fills my heart with joy to know that you are at least considering my offer. I promise you that you will not be disappointed if you accept. Together we can eliminate Kim Possible and Ron Stoppable, and win this game of heroes and villains."
Despite her best efforts, she smiled at his mention of it being a game. That's what it was to her after all. It was a game. It had always been a game. Ruling the world meant nothing. She was in it to have fun. And more importantly, she was in it to get what she wanted in life.
"One of them at least," she smiled as she stared out the window of her room.
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Thursday was Ron's first day back at school since being changed back. He had slept most of Tuesday in Kim's guest bedroom. His complete lack of sleep, along with the mind-altering affects of the attitudinator had left him completely drained of energy. He couldn't have stayed awake to talk with her even if he wanted to.
He had elected to stay home Wednesday. He wasn't faking being sick like he usually did. Nothing could be further from the truth. The truth of the matter was that he felt physically ill by the things he had done and said. He had hurt a great many people with his actions and words. The most unforgivable among these was what he had done to Kim.
But now on Thursday he knew that he had to get back into his regular routine. He couldn't simply stay home for the rest of the school year and hope things would go away. He wondered if anyone knew that it was he and Camille who were responsible for Mr. Barkin's car. He wasn't sure that the stern administrator would believe their story. In the end Ron decided it would be best to not bring it up to anyone who didn't already know.
As he entered the cafeteria he braced himself for a barrage of strange and fearful looks. He did not know who knew what about what he had done. To his relief the people ignored him. It had never felt so good to be shunned. For once in his life his lack of popularity was to his benefit. Only three pairs of eyes bothered to look his way. He noticed that all three of the people were smiling as well.
Ron made his way to his old lunch table, the one he had sat at before things had gotten ugly with Kim, before he had elected to sit with Camille. He took his usual seat. No one said a word.
"Um… hi?" he said worriedly.
Felix couldn't contain himself. He began chuckling through his wide, toothy grin.
"Dude, it's good to have you back," he said happily.
Monique smiled as she leaned across the table to stare into his gentle eyes.
"Don't you ever scare us like that again!" she said in mock anger. "We were worried sick about you!"
"Trust me… I would never willingly do all the things I did to you guys. To everyone for that matter," Ron said softly.
He turned his attention to Kim, who simply smiled as she looked at him.
"Kim… I don't know how I can ever make up for all the things I did to you."
She shook her head gently before speaking.
"You have nothing to be sorry for," she told him. "You weren't yourself. Jack Hench told me what the attitudinator does to a person. We could never blame you for the things that happened."
Ron nodded absentmindedly. They may have been willing to forgive him. But he wasn't willing to forgive himself. While it was true that the attitudinator had severely altered his thought process, his entire brain function in fact, he had still done horrible things. He remembered them all vividly. Every word, every violent and hateful act, every passionate touch…
He had finally achieved what every teenage guy wanted. He was no longer a virgin. It was something that he had doubted would ever happen in his near future. Being a social pariah made any likelihood of ever having sex seem impossible. But he had done it. With a beautiful girl no less. It hadn't been him though… only it had been him. It was him who had done it all. His mind, his body, his desire. He still couldn't help but feel cheated of it though. Part of his brain was telling him to just shut up and accept it. He had slept with a hot blonde cheerleader. Most guys in his school could only dream of doing that. And yet the other part of him felt like it wasn't real. Nothing about his relationships with Camille had ever been real. The first had been a lie from the beginning. And the second was only because he was evil. But why did being evil make him want to be with her again? It didn't make sense to him.
He reached into his bag and pulled out his sandwich. He silently took a bite of it at his stared down at the top of the table.
"Something tells me you're not convinced," Kim said as she watched his response to her reasoning.
He swallowed his food as he looked back up at her.
"Why do you say that?"
"Ron, we really need to start being honest with each other. Lying and distrust is what got us in this mess in the first place. The tracking chip, Camille, all that stuff. If I had been honest with you from the start about the tracking chip, you never would have… kicked me out of your life like you did," she said uneasily. "And if you had trusted me about Camille, she never could have turned you against me like that. It's both of our faults. That's why we have to make sure to never let it happen again."
Now that was something he could agree with.
"Yeah. No doubt about it."
"That's why we can't start lying to each other again," she continued. "Don't tell me you believe what I said before if you don't. Even a little lie like that could lead to another disaster. I don't know how, but lately there have been a lot of things happening that I never would have thought possible."
He nodded grimly at the truth she was speaking.
"You're right," he agreed. "And you're right about me not buying what you said. No matter what you say, I'm going to feel guilty about everything. I'm going to feel responsible for everything I did. And I'm going to hate myself for a long time."
Felix gently placed a hand on Ron's shoulder and gave him a reassuring squeeze.
"You can't do that to yourself. I mean, guilt is part of life. I understand that. But you can't just hate and not forgive yourself for something like this. It wasn't you, remember? It was… well I don't even know exactly. It was you without any goodness. And Ron without goodness just isn't Ron."
Ron smiled at his friend's gesture.
"I know, man," he smiled sadly. "Deep down I know all that. And I know that I can't just secretly run off to somewhere like Yamanouchi because I'm having problems in life. I have to face my problems. They're just something I'm going to have to get over. It will take time. For now though I think I'm entitled to feel like a piece of garbage."
"And you don't have to go through this alone," Kim said. "We're all here for you. We're all your friends and we want to help. Never forget that. Okay?"
He nodded again. But this time it was because he believed it too.
"Thanks KP," he smiled. "I remember what you said Tuesday morning. I won't forget it."
She returned the smile before she saw another person moving to their table.
"Am I interrupting a moment?" Bonnie asked sarcastically.
Felix and Monique frowned at her rudeness. Kim on the other hand was used to her attitude. She, unlike Felix and Monique, had been going to school with Bonnie for nearly her whole life. She expected the lack of sympathy from the brunette.
"As a matter of fact, you are," she said harshly. Just because she expected such an attitude didn't mean she couldn't be upset over it.
"So what, is Ron done being all confused or whatever he was?" she asked. "I always thought he was a bit confused…" she smirked.
"Bonnie…" Kim warned.
But to everyone's surprised Ron began laughing. They all looked at him in bewilderment, not quite understanding what he found funny about what Bonnie had just said. The implication alone would have been insulting. But her nonchalant attitude toward his near death should have made Ron even angrier. But then again, Bonnie didn't truly believe that anyone involved in Kim's mission work could ever die.
"What's so funny?" Bonnie wondered.
"If only you knew how wrong you are…" he chuckled. "Even if it was a joke."
Kim's eyes widened a bit with sudden understanding. She knew what Ron meant. She was in fact one of only three people who knew what he was talking about. But she figured that he wouldn't go around telling people about it. He may have been boastful and narcissistic at times, especially when he was trying to fit in with the popular crowd. But she couldn't imagine him talking about his experience with Camille.
"What are you talking about?" Bonnie asked.
"Nothing," he smirked. "Just forget about it."
"Whatever," she said as she turned back to Kim. "So where has Camille been anyway? I need to start getting some payback on that manipulative little-"
"She's not coming back anytime soon," Kim cut her off. "Don't worry about it."
"What? Don't worry about it? That freak ruined my life!"
"She's in the hospital at the moment. She…"
Kim stopped herself from speaking any further. Only she and a few certain members of the hospital staff knew exactly what had happened early Tuesday morning. She may have hated Camille more than any other person on the planet. She may have felt a burning desire to vengeance in her heart. But above all else, Kim knew one thing to be true. She was a good guy. She was a hero. And she would not resort to Camille's smear tactics and mind games in order to make herself feel better. What she knew about the blonde was very personal and potentially damaging. But she would not feel right spreading that information amongst her classmates. She wasn't like Camille. She didn't want to ruin people's lives.
"Whatever," Bonnie huffed. "Seems like a convenient excuse. She knew that I would take her down. She knew that I would put her in her place. And now she's hiding in some hospital bed? Yeah, like that's not totally intentional."
Kim's chest heaved with a small laugh. If only Bonnie knew the true reason Camille wasn't at school. If only she knew how easily Camille could destroy her like she had nearly done to Kim.
Seeing how her prey had slipped from her grasp, Bonnie quickly changed the subject.
"So why did Brick get suspended?" she asked nobody in particular. "I mean, not that I still care about that cheating pig. I'm just curious."
"Because people think he smashed up Mr. Barkin's car with a tire iron," Monique said.
"What do you mean, they 'think'?"
"It was Camille," Kim said. "She did it while disguising herself as Brick. We're not really sure why either."
She turned to look at Ron who was remaining silent on the topic. She figured that he knew. But he wasn't talking. Maybe he just didn't want to say in front of Bonnie. She would remember to ask him later.
Bonnie shook her head in disbelief.
"Wow. That chick is seriously messed up,"
Kim wanted to agree. But like what Ron had just done, she figured that it was best to stay silent for now.
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Camille sighed as she flipped through the channels.
"This hospital is like, so ghetto," she said to herself.
There was nothing good on TV. And how could there be? The place only had basic cable. She was used to far more variety at her home.
It had been around a day and a half since she had spoken with her grandfather. His offer was still fresh in her mind. Part of her truly wanted to forgive him and join him in a life of villainy. She did think, however, that villainy was a bit too strong of a word. She didn't consider herself evil. She didn't want to rule the world. She didn't want to hurt anyone. Well, physically at least.
But she did enjoy having fun at other people's expenses. She enjoyed the thrill of stealing something valuable and important. And like she had told Kim weeks earlier, being the cause of the downfall of the world-renowned hero was nothing short of a turn on. She knew that she would have plenty of opportunities to do that if she decided to live with Senior.
As of right now she really didn't have anything better to do. She would be graduating from high school in only a few weeks. She may not have been obscenely wealthy anymore, but thanks to her paychecks from Dr. Drakken she was well off. Not set for life by any means, but then again she had a billionaire grandfather. She could no longer rely on her own immediate family. They had disowned her. They had cut her out of the family will. Senior on the other hand had not. Senior's decision to abandon her had been passive. Her parent's decision had been intentional.
She wondered if that was it. She wondered if that was her decision. But without him as a target of her vengeance, who else was there? She no longer even cared about her parents one way or another. It was something she didn't completely understand herself. How could she hate Senior so much, and yet feel nothing for them? She figured that she had learned to turn off her emotions for her parents at a young age as a defense mechanism. Now they were just strangers to her. She wondered what Senior would think about that. Her mother was his daughter after all.
The sight of a nurse in the doorway snapped her from her thoughts. She looked up at the middle-aged woman.
"Ms. Leon? You have a visitor."
A soft sigh slipped through her lips.
"Great. It must be him again," she thought in frustration.
For the second time she was surprised by who she saw enter the room.
"Camille," Kim said.
"I'll just let you two girls talk," the nurse said as she left the room.
"What do you want?" Camille asked bitterly.
"I'm here to get a confession from you."
"A confession? About what?"
Kim narrowed her eyes at the bedridden girl.
"You know exactly what I'm talking about. You know all the things you've done to people in the past month. I'm here so I can clear their names and make you pay for everything you've done."
"I have no idea what you're talking about, Kim," she smirked. "Are you feeling okay? Maybe you should be in bed too."
Kim took an aggravated step towards her. She didn't know why. She knew that she couldn't intimidate her here. It just came naturally in her frustration.
"I want you to admit to all of the crimes you've committed since you got here," she explained. "The Tiffany Yellow Diamond, Brick's locker, Mr. Barkin's car, and whatever else you might have done."
"Seriously Kim, what on earth are you talking about? I've never been convicted of any of those crimes. Never even been suspected. The police know that it was Senor Senior Jr. who stole the diamond. They have witnesses. And the school security cameras already caught the people responsible for the other stuff. I think all of this mission stuff is starting to make you a bit crazy."
Kim let out a cynical laugh.
"Yeah, like you have any right to talk about other people being crazy."
Kim felt a stinging barb of guilt as soon as she had finished saying that. It had felt good for only the moment she had said it. But immediately afterward she had regretted using someone's personal problem against them. It wasn't her. She wasn't a mean person. To do such a thing was not the way a hero acted.
"I'm sorry Camille. I shouldn't have said that."
Camille wasn't angry. She just laughed as a mischievous grin graced her delicate features.
"Now you're starting to understand the game."
"What game?"
"This little dance we've been doing for a month now. Well actually I've been doing it with everyone. You've only had to deal with one person. But you're a beginner. I'll cut you some slack."
"This isn't a game. Real people's lives have been affected by you and your gimmick. You have to tell the truth and get Brick off the hook. He got arrested and suspended for what you did."
"Silly Kim. It's always been a game. Don't start crying because it turns out you can't do anything. Just admit that I've won, and get over it."
"Camille! You have to tell the truth."
"And as for Brick, well, he got what was coming to him," she continued. "He's a jerk. He cheated on Bonnie-"
"With you!" Kim interrupted.
"I don't know what you're talking about. I heard it was with some other brunette at Bonnie's party."
"Yeah, the one you were conveniently at right before Bonnie dumped him, and thus had a reason to vandalize his locker. All so you could be a starter on the cheer squad."
"That's a pretty smart plan, Kim. I don't think I'd ever be able to pull something like that off. Even if I could somehow make myself brunette. And look like Bonnie."
Kim shook her head in disbelief. She wasn't admitting to anything.
"How can you be so cruel? How can you just go around ruining people's lives like this?"
"How can Bonnie and Brick ruin Ron's life like they did? Those two got what they deserved. Karma's a bitch, Kim. Just like me. But I guess you already know that."
"You told me you didn't care about Ron."
"Yeah? Well I'm a liar. You should know that by now too."
"So you seriously expect me to believe you hurt Bonnie and Brick because of what they did to Ron?"
"I didn't hurt anyone," Camille clarified.
Kim sighed. She knew that she wasn't going to be able to get anywhere if she kept accusing Camille of crimes, even if she knew that the girl was guilty of them. For all legal intents and purposes she was innocent. She would just have to get an answer out of her another way.
"Fine…" she grumbled. "Do you expect me to believe that you genuinely cared about Ron?"
"Is that really so hard to believe?" she asked. "Who cares if I'm a bitch? Does that mean I can't care about anyone? Does it mean I don't deserve to have anyone care about me? He's the only real friend I ever had. He's the only person who ever liked me for me. Not my money."
Kim wondered if she was joking. But the tone of her voice made it clear that she was serious. She realized that in Camille's twisted, selfish mind that her logic made sense.
"I don't believe you for a second. But that's not why I'm here. Are you sure you don't have anything to confess?"
The blonde shrugged indifferently.
"Nope. I didn't do anything wrong. What do I have to confess?"
"This isn't over. I will bring you to justice for all that you've done."
"Sure Kim. Whatever you say."
"Don't think I'm joking," she warned her. "I will find a way to prove that you did all of those things."
"Bored now," Camille yawned as she grabbed the pager beside her bed. A few seconds later a nurse entered the room. "Hey, can you get her out of my room?" she asked. "She's really starting to bother me."
"Of course, dear," the nurse said as she stepped beside Kim. "Come along now. Ms. Leon should be getting some rest. It's especially important for patients who suffered head trauma."
Camille smiled when she saw Kim glaring at her. Being forced to leave the room was not the way the teen hero had wanted this to end. But there was nothing she could do about it at the moment.
She laid her head back against the pillow. The nurse wasn't lying about her needing rest. A dull throbbing pain had invaded her head over the past couple of minutes. She laid there with her eyes closed for several minutes before she heard another person enter the room.
"Hello Camille," the familiar redheaded doctor said.
Of all the doctors in all the hospitals in all the world, she was stuck with this one.
"Hello Dr. Possible," she said courteously.
"I've spoken with several people about your condition, as well as the circumstances that brought it about. They have recommended, and I agreed, that you be moved to the psychiatric ward of the hospital for the time being."
Cold chills like daggers made of ice shot through Camille's body. That was not something she had ever expected, or wanted to hear.
"What?" she gasped. "But I mean- what- why?"
"We looked over everything and decided that because of the self-inflicted head trauma that resulted in your concussion that you were a danger to yourself."
Camille shook her head bitterly as she glared hatefully into the blue eyes of her doctor.
"I bet you're loving this, aren't you? You're loving what I'm going through after everything your precious little daughter said I did to her."
"No, Camille," Anne frowned. "I never enjoy seeing a patient in pain. While what you did to my daughter, Ron, and so many others is unforgivable in my eyes as a parent, I realize as a doctor that you're very sick. And it's my duty to see that you get the help that you need. I've spoken with several psychiatrists about the incident that took place in my home. They all agree that you should be moved to the psychiatric ward for your own safety."
"That's not fair!"
"Are you going to go willingly? Or do I have to get a court order for a full psychiatric evaluation? And I'm sure with what happened Tuesday morning that they will read you like a book."
Camille closed her eyes and sighed in defeat. She knew that Anne was right. A board of psychiatric professionals would be able to dissect her issues piece by piece. They would find out soon enough just how messed up she was. And if it were done like that there would be a much greater risk of people finding out just what she had done in the past. She would go willingly.
"Fine. I'll go."
"Good. After I check on how your concussion is doing I'll get everything set up to move you to that area of the hospital."
Anne turned and walked out of the room. Camille set her head back down on the pillow. This was certainly going to interfere with her plans for the immediate future.
XXXXXXXXXX
In the weeks following Ron's return to sanity things had slowly started to get back to normal. Kim had gone to Mr. Barkin and explained the situation to him. She was furious that she had not gotten Camille to admit to what she had done. But she still had to set the record straight. She had to clear Brick's name. She had told Mr. Barkin that one of her super villain foes had found a way to create almost exact copies of people, and had made them do terrible things. She explained how it was all done to get to her, and that Bonnie and Brick were innocent of the crimes they had been accused of. It was the truth, just not the whole truth. Kim felt sick when she thought of how she had used one of Camille's favorite tactics to her advantage.
Mr. Barkin was hard, but fair. He knew Kim's reputation. He also knew that she shared no love for Bonnie. For her to stick up for her most hated rival brought a bit more credibility to an otherwise absurd situation. But he remembered the two incidents at Camp Wannaweep. He remembered how super villains liked to make things personal, like what Gill had done to Ron. What Kim was saying wasn't completely impossible. And seeing how the explanation was coming from such an upstanding citizen as Kim, he decided that he could trust her.
The last class of the day had just ended, and the students were now emptying from the room. Kim saw Ron stand from his desk and went to walk with him.
"Hey Ron, what are we doing today?" she asked cheerfully.
She was thankful that he was starting to get back to his normal self. In the first few days he had been changed back he was very reserved. He hadn't been his lovable, outgoing, goofy self. But he was once again beginning to open up. Things were finally beginning to get back to how they were before all of the Camille ugliness began.
"Sorry KP," he frowned. "But I have a doctor's appointment right after school. But we totally need to hang out later tonight. It's Friday after all. And there's a new movie out about guys who duel with swords on motorcycles!"
"That sounds… um, thrilling…" she said as she struggled to keep a straight face about the movie. "But you've been having a lot of doctor's appointments lately. Are you doing okay? Does this have something to do with the side effects of the attitudinator?"
He let out a sigh as they walked down the hall together.
"Yeah. Sort of."
"Do you want to talk about it?"
"Someday," he said. "I remember the thing about no secrets. And it's not that I like keeping this from you. It's just, well, I'm not really comfortable talking about it yet. Do you think that you can wait until I'm ready?"
She gave him a reassuring smile as they neared his locker.
"Of course I can. I wouldn't ever want to do something to make you feel uncomfortable."
"Thanks, Kim."
She watched him walk off after he had gathered his belongings from his locker. Her inquisitive side wanted to follow him and find out what he was doing. But their renewed friendship had to be built on trust and honesty. She could never betray his confidence by spying on him. He would tell her when he was ready. And that was good enough for her.
XXXXXXXXXX
"…and I think that that, along with Camp Wannaweep, is why I hate monkeys so much."
Ron was sitting in a rather comfortable chair. The room around him was small and cozy, but not confining. He never would have thought he would be in a place like this. He had always been so happy and outgoing. Even in the darkest times of his life he somehow always found a spark of light. But in the past couple of months darkness had threatened to overtake him. It wasn't just the darkness of being evil and the attitudinator. It was him falling into a deep depression.
Ron's therapist nodded. He wasn't sure if it was in understanding or agreement. But the man spoke before Ron could ask.
"While I know that your monkey phobia has impacted some areas of your life severely, I was wondering if we could get back to the causes of your recent depression. You said the monkey phobia never made you feel how you have been recently, right?"
"Yeah, pretty much," Ron agreed. "Monkeys don't have much to do with what's going on now. Well except the whole Tempus Simia part of it."
"Yes, but the Tempus Simia did not have any direct effect on your current condition," the therapist explained. "While it is true that this super villain's quest for the object started a domino effect, as they would say, your phobia did not contribute to your current depression."
"I guess. So what do you want to know about her?"
"Well, I guess anything more that you have to say about what you're feeling, why you're feeling it, and so forth."
"Well… like I said before, I've never had a girlfriend before. Girls just weren't interested in me. And then suddenly, this beautiful cheerleader decides that I'm good enough for her. And I bought into it."
"And you don't feel that you were worthy of the attentions of a beautiful girl?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"I dunno…" he shrugged. "I guess because I've been called a loser the whole time I've been in high school. When Jill said she was interested in me I thought it was a dream come true. And it turns out that it was only a dream after all."
"Because she was using you," the therapist recalled.
"Yeah. She manipulated me and used me to get to me best friend. And I know I should hate her for everything she did. But I can't get her out of my head. I guess maybe it's because she was my first."
"Yes, people do tend to have a hard time letting go of their first serious relationship."
"Not just relationship," Ron said sadly. "She was my first time too."
"Oh. Well that certainly puts your feelings into much greater perspective. It's perfectly understandable for anyone, no matter what age or gender they are, to feel a sort of special bond to the person they lose their virginity to."
"Yeah… it's weird. I hate feeling this way. But like I said, I just can't stop thinking about her. Especially after learning more about her after we broke up."
"What did you learn?"
"Well, um, she kind of has problems. Mental problems I guess. I don't know exactly what it is, but I guess she like, hears voices in her head or something. I didn't see it personally, but my best friend did. And she wouldn't lie about something like that. Like right now Jill is in the hospital because of it."
"Do you think this too could be a reason you can't stop thinking about her?"
"What do you mean?"
"You're Ron Stoppable. You're Kim Possible's partner."
Ron smirked a bit at the mention of him being Kim's partner. For so long he had been a sidekick. For so long people had no idea who he was. He was glad that his therapist did. It made him feel good. He supposed that was part of the man's job.
"Yeah. What does that have to do with anything?"
"Well you said that this girl, your first girlfriend, your first sexual experience, has some kind of psychological disorder. And you've said that you have a hard time not thinking about her. Do you think that because of her issues, because of your close relationship with her, that you feel like you need to save her?"
"Save her?"
"You and Kim are heroes. You go around saving people, sometimes saving the world. And from everything you've told me in our past sessions, I know that you're a very kind and caring person. Do you think that maybe, subconsciously, you see Jill as another person in need of saving? Do you think that maybe you want to be a hero and help her like you've helped so many others?"
His choice of words brought back chilling memories of when he and Camille had dated. Not chilling because they were bad, but because they had affected him so much. She had called him her hero on multiple occasions. She had made a point to tell him that he had saved her when he had done so. Could it all be connected?
"I don't know. Maybe."
"I definitely think it's something worth looking into in our next session," he said as he glanced up at the clock. "But I'm afraid we're out of time for this week."
"Oh. Okay," Ron said as he stood up. "That was actually pretty eye-opening. I never thought about it like that. What do you think I should do until we see each other next week?"
"I think one thing you are searching for is closure. You feel hurt and betrayed by the first girl who you ever had real feelings for. Maybe you can confront her and ask why she did the things that she did to you. And maybe speaking with her can help you find out if you do have a desire to save her."
"Maybe. But what do you think I'm trying to save her from?"
"We'll get more into that next time. But for now all I can really say is that maybe you want to save her from herself. Saving a person doesn't mean that it has to be from a giant laser or… spinning disk."
"Spinning top of doom," Ron corrected him.
"Yes, that. Maybe speaking with Jill will help you find out what you need to know."
"Yeah. Thanks, man. I'll see you next week."
"Goodbye Ron. Take care."
Ron stepped out of the therapist's office and breathed a heavy sigh. Maybe the man was right. Maybe he did need to confront Camille. Sitting around thinking about her all the time was certainly doing no good. He decided he would try to do so tomorrow.
XXXXXXXXXX
She never realized how boring doing nothing could be. Most people would have wanted to stop working, stop going to school, and just do nothing all day. But it just got so incredibly boring after a while. Especially in a place like this.
Camille had almost no freedom in this place. She was currently living in the psychiatric ward of Middleton Hospital. They regulated almost everything in her life. When she slept, when she woke, when she ate, when she got to participate in their "activities". They were so mind-numbingly dull. She didn't want to paint things or do arts and crafts. She wanted to shop, she wanted to go clubbing. But as long as she was confined to this place she couldn't do anything she wanted.
She was sitting at one of the tables in the activity room with her art supplies. Most of the other patients at least tried to get something out of the experience. She on the other hand only made things when the staff sweetly pressured her to do so. The latest of such incidents had taken place only moments earlier. She rolled her eyes in annoyance as she began gluing popsicle sticks together. But thankfully her attention was taken off of it when she heard one of the staff members call her name.
"Camille? You have a visitor."
She hadn't had a visitor in several days. In the past several weeks she had only had one, Senor Senior Sr. Kim had not returned since she had tried to get a confession out of her. Normally Camille would have groaned at the thought of having to talk to her grandfather. But she had been all but cut off from the outside world for nearly a month. Speaking with him would be a rare treat.
She looked up from her work to see who was coming. For the third straight time she was shocked by who she saw.
"Ron?" she asked confusedly.
He didn't respond immediately. Instead he uneasily took a seat across the table from her.
"Why is your hair coming in black?" he asked.
"Because that's my natural color. And this stupid hospital doesn't let me dye it."
"Oh."
"What are you doing here?"
He breathed a heavy sigh before responding.
"Honestly? I don't really know myself," he said. "I guess we need to have a talk. A real talk. No fake you, no evil me. Just pure honesty. Do you think you can do that?"
He didn't sound angry. Camille considered that a good sign. But what wasn't good was how utterly depressed his voice was. That wasn't the Ron she had fake-dated.
"Yeah. I can be honest. I've always been honest with you."
"You seriously can't expect me to believe that."
"Everything I've ever told you was true," she smiled. "The thing is it just wasn't always the whole truth."
"Which is just as bad as lying."
"I guess you could look at it like that. But I don't."
"Yeah, well, I'm not here to argue about what the meaning of truth is. I'll save that for a philosophy class. Not that I ever plan on taking one."
"Okay. What did you want to talk about then?"
"Well… um… first, I guess I just want to know how you're doing. Kim told me some stuff about what happened the morning you two used the attitudinator to change me back to normal. Are you okay with telling me how you're feeling?"
"I'm great!" she said with false enthusiasm. "I'm doing drugs now."
A nearby nurse stopped writing on her chart and looked up at the blonde.
"No dear, you're not doing drugs. You're taking medication. There's a very big difference."
Camille chuckled at the seriousness of the woman. Apparently she didn't share the same sense of humor.
"Anyway…" she continued. "Apparently I'm pretty screwed up. I have dissociative identity disorder."
"What's that?"
"Um, I guess it's the fancy way of saying multiple personality disorder. My therapist also says I have problems with abandonment issues, paranoia, and parental and authority figures. Yay me."
Ron frowned at the sarcasm in her voice. Apparently she was a lot worse off than him in terms of suffering the consequences of the whole ordeal that began two months ago. And he knew that she must have been suffering from these issues long before she arrived in Middleton.
"Oh. Is the medication helping at all?"
"I guess. At least I'm not hearing-"
She stopped before admitting something personal about herself to Ron.
"It's okay," he said reassuringly. "Kim told me about what happened at her house."
"Figures," she grunted. "Well in that case I'm not hearing voices in my head anymore. So I guess the drugs are working."
"That's good. I'm really glad to hear that."
She felt uncomfortable at his kindness. She knew she shouldn't have been surprised by it. Ron was the nicest person she had ever met. But she figured that he would hate her for everything that she had done to him and Kim. If he did he wasn't showing it. His poker face was at least as good as hers.
"So did you really come all the way down here to see how I was doing?"
"That was one reason I guess. The other, well, my therapist said I should try to get some closure about why you did what you did to me. I can't stop thinking about you, and he thinks that getting an answer will help me."
"You're seeing a therapist too?"
"Yeah…" he said uncomfortably. "You don't spend four or five days as a psychotic super villain without it seriously messing with your thoughts and emotions. I'm… well, I'm really depressed about everything that happened. I'm depressed about everything you did to me."
"You weren't the one I wanted to hurt," she said truthfully.
"Well congratulations, you did," he said bitterly. "You did all this to get to Kim, to break us up. And you did. But you did a lot more than that. You took something from me I can never get back. And you almost ruined my friendship with Kim, one we've had for twelve years."
Camille looked down at the table trying to think of how she could possible respond to that. She knew what she had taken from him.
"I… I don't know what to say. I mean, at first when we were dating, when it was all still a job, I didn't care about you. But then I got to know the real you. I learned how nice you were. About halfway through it all I really started to feel bad about having to mess with such a nice guy."
"And you didn't even consider stopping?"
"No. What do you want me to say? That I'm evil? That I'm some super villain like Drakken or Shego? If you came down here to tell me how horrible I am, I don't need this. Just get up and leave."
She sat there staring at him for a few moments and realized that he was not going to leave. So she decided to do it herself. As she was about to stand up a hand reached out and grabbed her own. She looked and saw that he wanted her to sit back down. She reluctantly did so.
"I don't want either of us to leave," he said. "I guess I just want to understand why you did what you did."
"Look, I don't know why. Okay? I have a hard enough time figuring out who I am as a person most of the time."
"Yeah," he agreed. "You were so nice and sweet when you acted like Jill. And you were loving and caring when we were dating. And then you were a complete… um… horrible and manipulative person when it came to Kim. Which one is the real you?"
She smiled as she thought about his question. When Drakken had asked what she was she told him that she was simply a bitch. But the truth of it was a lot more complex than that.
"I'm a little bit of everything all rolled into one," she shrugged. "I'm a bitch and a lover."
Ron frowned as he nodded. It wasn't exactly the answer he had expected. But it at least seemed truthful. She would have had to have been an Academy Award quality actress if her performances as Jill and his girlfriend were just acts. He recalled his conversation with her in the library after he had found out the truth about who and what she really was.
"Do you remember what I asked you in the library? And what I asked you in your car the night after Bonnie's party?"
"You'll have to be a little more specific than that."
"I asked you to tell me something about you that was real. Both times you said that nothing in your life was real. And I guess I've found that to be true. So I'm asking you for a third time. Tell me something about you that's real."
Camille exhaled loudly as she thought about what she was going to say. She had a lot of things to choose from. She had learned a lot about herself in the past several weeks. But when it came to Ron, she knew that one thing stood out above all else.
"You want to know something real?" she asked. "You were my first real friend. You liked me not because of my money, not because of my fame, but for who I was. You did see the real me, but it was only one side of me. I truly valued your friendship and enjoyed spending time with you once I got to know you. And it really sucked that I had to do what I did in order to get to Kim and earn a paycheck. But I want you to know that I didn't like hurting you. I regret doing everything I did to make you suffer."
He was shocked by the truthfulness of her confession. He had never imagined that she actually did care about him. He had figured that she felt bad because of her part in almost causing him to die. But he didn't actually think she cared for him on a deeper level than that.
"And you're sure that's the truth? It's not just part of the truth?"
"It's the whole truth. I like you, Ron. I liked how it felt to be with you. You were the only person in my life who ever truly cared about me."
Ron was hit hard with another shot of honesty. He didn't quite know how to respond to it.
"Oh…" was all he could muster.
"And seeing you being crazy reminded me of myself," she said softly. "I didn't like seeing you suffering like that, like me. I didn't like to see what a crazy person looked like from an outsider's perspective. I felt sorry for you. I pitied myself."
Ron was chewing on his lip as he heard the outpour of sincerity and honesty. She didn't know how alike they were in what she was saying.
"I know how you feel," he agreed. "After being crazy like I was, I can't help but feel sorry for what you're going through. And you've had to deal with this for a lot longer than me. My therapist must be right. That must be why I want…"
He broke eye contact with her as he stopped short of expressing his thoughts.
"What?" she wondered.
"It must be why I want to save you. You said that I was your hero back when we were dating. I want to be your hero again. I want to help you get better."
She was left speechless by what he had said. He still cared for her. Somehow, someway, he still wanted something to do with her. He hadn't cast her aside like her parents. He hadn't ignored her like Senior did years ago. He wanted to help her.
"Wow. It feels good to get all that stuff off my chest," he sighed with relief.
"You really mean it?" she wondered.
"I do. I want you to get better. Because if there's even a small part of the girl I dated or Jill inside you, then that's worth saving."
She couldn't help but smile. He was providing her with everything she had ever wanted. He was being a friend who genuinely cared for her. And he expected nothing in return.
"You still owe me a trip to the prom," she told him.
"What?"
"Back when we were dating," she reminded him. "After the movie. I've never been to a prom because of the home schooling. You said you would take me this year since it's the last chance I'll have."
He remembered now. He had completely forgotten. A lot had happened since that night.
"I remember," he said. "But don't you think it will be kind of hard with everything going on here?" he said as he looked around the large hospital room.
"I've been getting better," she smiled. "I think I can arrange one out patient night as long as I have supervision. The system goes way easy on celebrities who are in rehab. And I think a famous, heroic gentlemen like you would be more than qualified to supervise me."
"Oh. Well if you really want to go, if you think it would help with your… condition, then yeah. I said I would take you. So we can go. It's next week."
"I'll be ready," she said happily.
"I'm curious though. Are you going to be able to graduate this year since you've spent like a month in here?"
"Yeah. They set it up so I can do my homework and take my tests here so I could still graduate on time. In a week I'll graduate with the rest of the class."
"That's good. It would have sucked to have to repeat your senior year."
"I guess. But it wouldn't have been all bad," she smirked suggestively.
"I, um, yeah. I guess maybe not."
She laughed at how uncomfortable she had made him with a single look.
"You're still so easy. You're worse than that awkwardly charming British guy from that one movie we didn't see."
He couldn't hide the embarrassed smile from creeping across his face. But after a few seconds it vanished as he heard the authoritative voice of one of the hospital staff.
"I'm sorry sir, but I'm afraid that visiting hours are now over," the woman said.
"Oh, right," he said as he stood from his chair.
He stood there for a moment looking at Camille.
"So you'll get the whole prom thing arranged, right?" he asked.
"Count on it."
"Alright. See you then."
"Bye."
He turned and walked out of the room leaving Camille alone at her table. She smiled as she looked back down at her awful attempt at art.
"Parting is such sweet sorrow…" she said softly to herself.
XXXXXXXXXX
The big night had finally arrived. Students were already packed into the gymnasium. The darkened room was lit only by magnificent colored lights that danced around the room like the teenagers who were moving across the dance floor. Elaborate decorations covered the walls and ceiling to add to the special feeling of the night. The prom committee had outdone themselves this time. It was a shame that people rarely appreciated the hard work they put into making the night so remarkable.
Kim was one of the students on that committee. She knew that her part in the work would go unnoticed. But it honestly wasn't important. What was important was that she had far greater things to be thankful for. Life was finally back to normal. The crisis of epically dramatic proportions had been resolved.
She looked around the room for Ron. She still hadn't seen him. The night was still very young though, and the event had only just gotten underway. Still though, she had been a bit surprised when he had said he had a date. She couldn't begin to think of who it could be. Normally the two of them went together as just friends. But since he had a date she had decided that she needed one too. She had picked a most unusual date. And it had only gotten stranger since he had arrived.
She saw Junior chatting with another man off in the distance. She found it odd that her "date" was spending more time with the man than with her. She shrugged it off. It wasn't as if she was interested in Junior like that anyway. At least having a date was enough to keep Bonnie off her back. Either way, things were made much easier considering that Bonnie didn't have a date herself.
Junior and the other man approached her with smiles on their faces.
"Kim, I would like you to meet Midas," Junior said happily.
She shook the large blonde man's hand.
"It's nice to meet you," she said. "I'm sorry, but we've never met. Are you related to Junior or something?"
"No no," Junior laughed. "Midas is my date to this spectacular party."
Kim's jaw dropped when she heard the word date.
"Wait, what?"
"And I have you to thank for that, Kim," he continued. "You were the one who told me not to rely on that silly Animology book to find my true love. You told me to follow my heart, to follow my instincts. You said that I should go out and meet people. And I did. Thanks to you I am no longer ashamed of how I feel inside."
"I… um… really?" she stuttered.
"Yes. And let me tell you, Midas truly does have the 'golden touch'," he said with a sly grin.
The level of awkweirdness was threatening to go critical. But she supposed she should be happy for Junior. He had found something, someone, to make him happy. And that was good. She wasn't about to judge him or anyone else for who they were.
"I'm really happy for you," she smiled. "And if you said I helped, then I'm glad I could help."
"You did, Kim. Now if you would excuse us, I believe it is time for Midas and me to show these people how the professionals dance."
Kim watched Junior and Midas walk to the dance floor and begin showing off their moves. She laughed happily as she saw how much fun he was having. She couldn't believe she had never seen it before. Junior was a walking stereotype. The pants, the hair gel, the tan, the physique, the O-Boys obsession, the desire to be a pop star…
She shook her head with a grin as she made her way to where Monique was standing. Her friend had the same look on her own face. Apparently she had overheard everything.
"So I guess you have yourself a new GBF," Monique smirked.
"A what?"
"Gay best friend. You said he wasn't into that whole super villain thing anymore, right?"
"Yeah. I guess you're right," she chuckled. "I've never had one of those before.
"You're going to love it. It's a guy you can go shopping with and he won't complain. And you can get manicures together and talk about all kinds of things you couldn't with a straight guy."
"I guess that sounds, um, fun."
"Trust me. It is."
The two girls continued speaking until they saw Ron walk through the doors. Their smiles immediately disappeared when they saw who was with him.
Camille had an arm around one of his own as they stepped into the gymnasium. Her bright red dress was a natural attention grabber. The cut and fit of it made sure that any eyes that were drawn to her stayed there for more than just a moment. Her entire look just seemed to scream, "look at me".
Kim stomped over to him and grabbed his arm, pulling him away from Camille. After walking with him a few steps she turned and looked at him angrily.
"What is she doing here?" she whispered harshly.
"It's a long story, Kim. It really is. I know you must be mad-"
"Mad? Mad doesn't even begin to describe how I feel!"
"It's not what you think. I'm not evil again. And neither is she."
"I don't care what she is. I don't want that harpy anywhere near me tonight."
"I know that you think she's bad and stuff, but it's not what you think. She needs help, and I want to help her."
Kim's fists clenched and unclenched unconsciously as her eyes looked back and forth between him and Camille. Finally the settled on Ron.
"What is it about this girl that makes you always want to come to her rescue?" she asked. "Why do you keep defending her? You've been doing it since the day you met her. And even now after everything that's happened you're still doing it."
He sighed as he looked down at the floor. He took a few moments to collect his thoughts before looking back up at Kim.
"Because I want to be a hero," he explained.
"What?"
"It's something my therapist told me. You and me, we're heroes. It's who we are. Camille is just another person who needs help. And I want to help her. You taught me how to be a hero, Kim."
She wanted to continue being angry. But hearing Ron describe what he wanted, what she had taught him, was threatening to calm her anger. She desperately didn't want that to happen. She wanted to hate Camille. But she felt immensely proud of Ron for what he had said. And she felt a great deal of pride herself that she had helped influence him to be such a good and forgiving person.
"You can't be serious! Even after everything she's done to us?"
"Would you pass up a chance to rehabilitate Shego if you had the chance? Or would you let her continue to suffer because you and her have fought so much in the past."
Another blow to her anger. Kim knew deep in her heart that she would help Shego if the woman asked for it. But it didn't make this situation any easier to deal with.
"Ron… I…" she struggled to say. "I'm proud of you. I really am. But that still doesn't change how I feel about her," she said as she looked over his shoulder at Camille. "And what did you say about a therapist?"
"We'll talk about that later tonight, KP," he smiled. "But for now I owe Camille a dance. This is her first prom. I can't disappoint her."
A mixture of emotions were battling inside of Kim as she saw her best friend and her most hated enemy on the dance floor together. She thought again about what he had said. She taught him to be a hero. She taught him to help others even if they had wronged him. She knew that he was doing a good thing by trying to help Camille. But it didn't mean that she had to like it.
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Bonnie watched Kim and Ron talking from a distance. She didn't know what they were talking about, or why Camille was there with him. But she could feel her anger rising inside her. To her surprise it dropped a bit when she noticed that Brick had come to stand beside her.
"Hey," he said.
"Hey," she replied casually.
"Um… about what happened at your party."
"Don't talk about that."
"Oh. Um… can you forgive me?"
The brunette sighed as she turned to look at him.
"Whatever. Wanna make out?"
"Sure."
Bonnie would never have been able to live down the fact that she had not had a date to the prom. The always dramatic on-again off-again relationship of Bonnie and Brick was back on. The gossip queens would have plenty of new material before the night was over.
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It was midnight as Ron and Camille walked exited the doors of the gymnasium. The prom was still going on, but the two of them felt as if they needed some fresh air. It had been a wonderful night that neither of them could complain about. Other than the little bit of ugliness that Kim and Ron had had, there had been no incidents.
The two of them stood facing each other in the dim street lights. The moon was bright overhead. Had the ugly artificial orangeish lights not been there to corrupt the natural lunar illumination, one could have easily considered their situation romantic.
"Thank you for my first and only prom," Camille smiled genuinely.
"I'm glad I could be the one to do it. I'm glad I could help you. Does this mean it's time for you to go back to the hospital?"
She laughed a bit when he asked that.
"Nah. They released me," she said nonchalantly. "I'm still taking medication and seeing a therapist though. Like I said, judges and doctors go way easy on celebrities with this kind of stuff. Just look at Britina and the Holsen twins. They go in and out of rehab every six months with no problems."
"Oh… right."
"Yeah, so I'm back living at my house now."
"In a few days you're going to graduate. What are your plans for the summer?"
"I plan on seeing my grandpa. He said he's interested in getting me involved in the family business."
"Really? What does he do? Where does he live?"
She smiled at the answers to those questions.
"Right now he's sort of… in the process of moving to a new home. And as for what he does, well, he's retired. But he has a very active lifestyle."
"Oh. Sounds fun I guess."
"And I'm thinking about spending some time in Milan. Going to steal some of the latest fashion designs, maybe start up my own line."
"What?" he asked in disbelief. "Why would you tell me something like that? You know if you go through with this that Kim and me are going to have to come and stop you."
"I wouldn't have it any other way," she smirked.
"You mean you want us to stop you?"
"Haven't you learned anything by now? This whole hero and villain thing is just a game to me. It's always been a game. I don't want to rule the world or anything dumb like that. I just want to have some fun."
"Well then it's a complicated and stupid game."
"And that's the best kind," she agreed. "I look forward to seeing you there. I'll have to make some dinner reservations for the night I get those designs. I know this great little Italian place," she said as she stopped to think. "Well I guess there they just call it a place. But the point is it has great Italian food."
"Kim won't let you get away with this. She still hates you."
"I know. But the important thing is that you don't."
Ron sighed because he knew it was true. Every logical part of his brain told him that he should hate her. But he didn't. He didn't know if it was out of pity, understanding, or real affection. Whether he liked it or not he did still feel something for her. He shared a bond with her that he could never have with any other woman. She was his first. He had had genuine feelings for her when they had dated. And he had learned that she had developed genuine feelings for him as well. And knowing that some of that relationship had been real made him want to pursue it again. There were a lot of reasons for him wanting to do so. Perhaps the strangest of all was something she had told him almost two months ago. She could be the Sheela to his Fearless Ferret.
"She won't give up until she catches you in the act," he told her.
A soft giggle escaped from her lips at the thought of Kim actually catching her.
Camille kissed the tips of her index and middle fingers and gently placed them on Ron's lips.
"Catch me if you can."
She gave him a wink before she turned and walked off to her red Porsche.
Ron stood there smiling as he saw her leaving. He wasn't sure when they would meet again, whether it would be in Milan or before that. But he knew one thing was certain. She wanted to be caught. Not by Kim, but only him. And he suspected that she wasn't about to make it an easy task.
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"In the game of seduction, there is only one rule: Never fall in love."
~Cruel Intentions
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Authors Note: There you have it. I know that some people will be disappointed at how it ended. In my conversations with the readers I noticed that there was sort of a "Team Edward vs. Team Jacob" thing going on. In the end I realized that Ron and Camille couldn't have what people would call a normal romance. But Camille described what they have perfectly all the way back in chapter 13 (and repeated here). She's the Sheela to his Fearless Ferret. They have a very Batman/Catwoman type relationship. I know it isn't what some people wanted, but it's what I enjoyed writing.
Camille in the TV show is such a bland and boring character. She had no place being the star of any story based on how she was portrayed on TV. I set out to make her a character who people cared about, whether you liked her or hated her. I wanted her to be able to play with the big boys (and girls) of the KPverse. I hope I've accomplished that goal.
A big thank you goes out to all the readers and reviewers. Thank you Brandon for beta reading the chapters that you did. And thank you GreenWriterM for being the one to inspire me to take a minor character and make something more of her.