My thanks to Boris Yeltsin, Sharper the Writer, Eddy12, Bobtrumpet, campy, CajunBear73, Jimmy1201, Quathis, and Sentinel103 for reviewing and to everyone for reading.
As ever, my deepest gratitude to campy for proofreading this chapter. It's great to know I have him as my wingman as I enter 2017.
KP, RS © Disney.
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Chapter XIII: BFFs (Bureaucrats, Family, Foes)
I.
Kim had arranged for Wade to contact her parents, who pulled together a set of mission gear for her, which they then delivered to the Stoppables. Her clothes and equipment were waiting for her at Ron's house when Mr. Smarty's driver dropped her off, and Rufus was clearly ready to go.
"I'm so sorry about this," Kim said, guilt etched on her face.
"Kimberly," Mrs. Stoppable said firmly, catching the young woman's attention. "Remember this: Ron may be in trouble now but if you hadn't started saving the world, the two of you wouldn't be who you are today." The older woman wrapped the younger in a fierce embrace. "He wouldn't have things any other way and neither would we."
Hana then wrapped her arms around Kim's legs and looked up. "Sister!" she said.
"Hana, while having you as my little sister would be spankin', I'm just your big brother's ferociously lucky girlfriend," Kim said with deep affection for the little girl.
"Sister!" Hana insisted as Mr. Stoppable gently laid a hand on Kim's shoulder. "Kim, even if you and Ronald weren't dating, I hope you know you're a part of our family – so don't forget that while anything is possible for a Possible, well what is that they said about Ronald at the football games? Oh, yes, Stoppable is unstoppable! That's true for you, too."
"Thanks," Kim said as she wiped away a tear. "You guys rock." She drew strength from the group hug she was sharing with the Stoppable family. When she heard the sound of the hoverjet landing outside she gently broke the embrace. "Looks like it's time for me to jet."
The family walked out the door with Kim and waved as she and Rufus made to board the aircraft.
"Good luck, Kimberly!" Ron's mother called out.
Kim turned to look at her boyfriend's family and waved back. "I don't need luck," she called back, wearing a confident smile. "I've got the Stoppable Factor. I'll be back with Ron soon!"
II.
The tow-headed young man looked around. He was in Chez Couteaux. Across the table from him was Kim. Clearly, they were on a date. A date was good. But even for never-be-normal Ron Stoppable, this appeared to be a very unusual night out.
For starters, Kim was wearing her battle suit.
"Ron, this pizza is spankin'!" she said as she took a bite of her double-cheese slice. "You were right. The burnt crust smell really is the reason to come here!"
"Uh, yeah," he said, confused.
"What do you think of my baby otter?" she asked as she held up her coloring sheet.
"Badical?" he said. Kim had colored the picture of the aquatic mammal with all of the skill and panache one would expect from the girl who could do anything.
"So, after dinner, do you want to play some Zombie Mayhem or should we watch Bricks of Fury V: The Yellow Brick Road Warrior?" she asked before she helped herself to a double-twist pretzel.
"Uh, both sound good to me. What do you think we should do, KP?" he asked, feeling totally at sea.
"Either is fine with me, as long as I get to be with my BF," she cooed, batting her eyelashes at him.
"This is one of those dream things where you know you're dreaming but you can't wake up, isn't it?" Ron looked at Kim and surveyed the restaurant. "At least there aren't any monkeys."
"That would be so the drama," she said sympathetically.
"Perhaps I may be of assistance," the waiter offered.
"Sensei?" Ron was surprised to see the old ninja master wearing a tuxedo.
"Stoppable-san," he said with a courtly bow.
"If you'll excuse me, I'm going to slip away to the little teen hero's room," Kim said as she rose from her chair. "Be back soon!"
"Uh, yeah, okay," he said, wondering when she had changed into her present-day mission outfit of purple top and black pants.
"You look troubled, Stoppable-san," Sensei said as he sat down.
"I am so totally confused," Ron confessed. "This isn't real, is it?"
"In the way you normally understand reality, no. But we are indeed nonetheless here. So in that sense, yes, this is real."
"Yeah, right," a skeptical Ron said, still confused. "So, what's the deal with KP?"
"She seeks to make you happy and provide you assurance."
"But like this? She makes me happy and provides me assurance by being who she is! Yeah, it's great when she wants to do Ron stuff but I don't want to date me! I want her to be her!"
Sensei nodded. "Indeed. But allow this experience to remind you of how much she cares about you, how deeply she is committed to you. Let her be your strength as she lets you be hers."
"Okay, I'm cool with that," Ron said. "Anything else you'd like to tell me?"
"No," Sensei replied as he got up. "Actually, yes. You might wish to draw inspiration from Possible-san's performance at the high school talent show two years ago."
"Gotcha," Ron said. "When?"
"You will know. You are ready." Sensei then took his leave.
When Kim returned, she was wearing her old black mission crop top, olive green cargoes and a million dollar smile. But now they were on the Middleton High School football field and she was cheering for him from the sidelines. All was well. Until Ron took a hit and his head felt like it had been hammered …
III.
"Oh, man, Coach B, are Suitcase Sanchez and Dump Truck Dietrich allowed to tackle me like that …" Ron groaned as he regained consciousness. "Man my head hurts." Slowly he opened his eyes. "Okay, this is most definitely not the backfield."
"How very observant of you, Ron Stoppable," Gemini said, relieved to see the hard slap across the boy's face had awakened him. "Though I'm sure you will soon wish you were once again playing football."
"Actually, this is much better," Ron countered with a serenity derived from the vision he had just had.
"What? You are my prisoner, shackled and at my mercy!"
"True," Ron agreed. "But KP wasn't allowed to interfere in games. Lairs and villains? Dude, you are going down."
"Not after I have obtained the secret of the Ron Factor!"
"Sheldon, give it up. I told you three years ago: It's the Kim Factor that saves the day. The little splash of Ron may zest things up but …"
"No! Global Justice—"
Pepé began barking furiously.
"Daddy's sorry," Gemini said as he scratched behind the dog's ears. "As I was saying before you interrupted, Glo—I mean the detestable organization led by my disrespectful younger sister has resumed its research on you."
"Huh. You sure?" Ron wasn't sure why, but he did not find this news reassuring.
"Oh yes, I am positive. Unfortunately, I still do not know what they have discovered. The spider camera was able only to record part of my sister's conversation before contact was lost. That deficiency in my knowledge will change, though, when I am through examining you."
With that declaration, Gemini pressed some buttons on a panel, causing two large doors in the wall to open, thus exposing a very large and ominous looking machine that Ron immediately decided was already way too close to him.
IV.
"And you didn't tell us you had restarted the Ron Factor project why?" Kim asked, unable to hide her pique.
"Why didn't you tell us about Middleton?" Betty countered.
"Perhaps it was because Miss Possible did not want to have the legitimacy of her past so-called accomplishments questioned. As an amateur, she has only her overblown reputation to give her credibility and earn her the attention she so clearly craves. If, in fact, Ron Stoppable has been behind all of her purported success, it would be devastating to her carefully cultivated image."
"Will, you are not being helpful," Doctor Director said as she glared at her younger colleague
"Do I even want to know why you brought him?"
"He is still our Number One Agent."
"Oy," Kim groaned. Then she looked at Betty Director, pointedly ignoring the insufferable superspy wannabe who accompanied her. "I don't mean to sound disrespectful, but you are so not the boss of us."
"Meaning?"
"We're not on your or anybody's payroll. We just want to help people. Besides, everyone seemed happy with Drakken and Shego getting the credit. It most def seems to have put an end to them trying to take over the world."
"I will grant you all of that. You and Ron do an excellent job of helping people and indeed saving the world. And it is a relief not having to worry about Drakken's next convoluted plot. However, what Ron did was more than just assisting you help people. He single-handedly defeated a Lorwardian warrior in single combat using what appear to be magical powers. The implications are staggering."
"Stoppable is a potential threat to global security and should be confined where he can be studied by GJ scientists," Will said. "Indeed, given your captivity by aliens, you, too, should be isolated and put under observation."
"Will?"
"Yes, Ma'am?"
"Please be quiet."
"You are so flawed," Kim said to Will. "Ron is not a thing for GJ to analyze. He's a person." As to her being an alien cat's paw, she wasn't even going to dignify that with a comment.
"Ron is also your boyfriend," Betty Director observed clinically. "Your feelings for him could be clouding your judgment."
"You so don't want to be going there with your twin sibling rivalry sitch," Kim shot back.
"Fair enough," Betty conceded. "May I ask how these powers affect Team Possible?"
"What do you mean?"
"Your dynamic, your approach to situations. How do Ron's powers change things?"
"We don't have any hard and fast rules. We make decisions based on the mission. I can tell you we're not into tipping our hands to the bad guys."
"And who is in charge? You or your buffoonish sidekick?" Will asked.
"Amp down the 'tude, Will. Ron's my partner," Kim said firmly before her tone softened, and her words were filled with gratitude. "But he has insisted that I remain team leader."
Betty listened and watched carefully, thinking about what she had just been told and what she already knew, before she spoke. "Kim, I'm sorry."
The teen hero was taken aback. "Excuse me?" This was not what she had expected to hear.
"I'm sorry," she repeated. "Ron is in trouble because I let my family dynamics and, to be honest, my concern about GJ's funding, affect my judgment. We needed a big win." She paused. "Oh, who am I kidding? I needed a big win."
At first, Kim glared at the older woman, angry that her BF had been put in harm's way because of Betty Director's misjudgment, but the frank admission and apology she had offered counted for a lot with her; after all, honesty was important to Kim Possible. She thought about what had been said and finally offered a small, wry smile. "Normally, this is where I'd say no big. But this time, since Ron's in trouble, it is big."
"I know. Sheldon has Ron. GJ is at your disposal. Tell us how we can help."
"Doctor Director, I must object! We are highly trained professionals with a highly sophisticated understanding of complex events that is beyond the grasp of this amateur."
"Will?" Betty said wearily.
"Ma'am?"
"Shut up."
"But—"
"Now." Doctor Director snapped as she turned from her Number One Agent and looked at Kim. She seemed to be considering something. Then she spoke. "You are in charge of this mission, Kim. Tell us what we need to do."
V.
Gemini approached Ron carrying a bulky helmet, which was festooned with flashing diodes and blinking lights, and which the villain had attached to the large, ominous machine by a series of glowing cables.
"You know, I really don't think that will coordinate well with my tux," Ron observed as he looked warily at the evil headgear.
"My apologies," Gemini said without any sincerity. "Fortunately, you will not care after I'm done."
Ron gulped.
"Once I have sifted through and disposed of your thoughts and memories, your brain will be nothing but an empty vessel, waiting to filled with my own evil designs."
"Do those possibly include me getting into college so Kim and I can be together this fall?"
"No."
"That's what I thought. Just askin'."
"Well, stop. Now it is time for you to join me by my side, Ron Stoppable!"
"Uh, is that going to involve wearing a uniform with some foreign language letter thingie or have you retired them? I noticed your henchmen were wearing something kind of non-descript."
"Funds have been tight lately and I decided to hold off on new uniforms. Until now. I hope you will enjoy being … Agent Aleph!"
"Aleph? That's Hebrew!"
"Yes, it is. Does that matter?"
"I'm pretty sure Rabbi Katz won't be down with this."
"Enough!" Gemini snapped. "The Ron Factor will now be mine! Prepare to meet your destiny!"
To Be Continued …