My thanks to CajunBear73, Eddy13, campy, Sentinel103, Mindless Violence Fan, Quathis, Jimmy1201, PokeTennyson25, and Sharper the Writer for reviewing and to everyone for reading.

As always, leave a review and I'll send you a response.

A special thanks to everyone who has added this story or author to their favorites or alert lists.

Finally, I am once again indebted to campy for his invaluable proofreading services. Seven Layers of Heaven are on his way. Unfortunately for him, I, not Ron, baked the cake.

KP, RS et. al. © Disney

Lynn Accurate, Lyle Lott © the Author

Chapter 16: You So Can't Handle the Truth

I.

Kim quickly cleaned up and changed into her mission gear before she raced to Mr. Paisley's mansion in Upperton. When she arrived, she was surprised to see what appeared to be TV trucks in the drive. "Oy," she said. "This is so not good."

She parked her father's coupe and ran up to the house. Before she could ring the bell, a butler opened the door. "Ms. Possible, we've been expecting you."

"You have?"

The man nodded. "Please, come this way."

She followed the butler, who led her through the mansion to a spot she clearly remembered from her very first big-time mission: Mr. Paisley's ballroom-sized safe. Arrayed by the entrance were men with cameras, along with Mr. Paisley, and Kim thought, Paula Pandowdy, the daytime TV queen. Inside, in the middle of the room stood Ron and Lynn Accurate, facing away from the entrance.

Kim's ability for rational thought abandoned her when she saw her boyfriend having what appeared to be an exceedingly amiable chat with the woman who had trashed her online. "Ron, you've got some 'splainin to do. Now!"

Ron turned around. "Oh, hey, KP," he said with a disarming grin. "Glad you're here cause now we can par-tay! Do me a solid, though, and wait out there with Mr. P.," he said. "You ready for some must-see TV?" Ron asked Lynn.

Lynn instructed her cameramen to begin live broadcasting. Surreptitiously, Paula signaled her film crew to begin taping, too.

As Kim regained control of her emotions, knowing her BF would not sell her out, and she began to wonder what he was up to, Ron returned his attention to the scandalmonger. "Now Lynn, you want the down-low on KP? Here you go. The whole Kim Possible 'legend'," he used air quotes, "began right here, in this room. You see this?" he reached into his pocket and held up a controller. "It's got a shiny red button on it. See?"

Lynn nodded, not sure where Ron's rambling was going, but she was ready to play along as taking down Kim Possible was the story that was going to ensure her place among the media gossip greats.

"Now, after being with his badical girlfriend and eating nacos, and maybe playin' some video games, you know what Ron Stoppable likes doing most in the world? He likes to press buttons. Especially shiny red ones. Ooh. Look! Shiny!" he said as he pressed the one on the device and activated the McHenry Laser System, which laced the huge room in which they stood with bright, red beams.

"What did you just do?" a terrified, and now contorted, Lynn asked.

"Pressed a button," Ron said with a calm that impressed Kim. She correctly surmised that knowing what was going to happen allowed her BF to more comfortably position himself, though he too had to accommodate the laser lattice.

"Well, press it again!" Lynn demanded.

"I could. But you know what? I can be kind of clumsy. Sometimes I drop things," he said before he let go of the controller, which he then kicked away. "Oops! My bad!"

"You idiot!" Lynn screamed. "How are we going to get out of this mess?"

"Well, we could always ask Kim. Oh, wait. Didn't you call her a teen fraud? Guess we're out of luck. Or, lady," he added venomously, "you can admit you just don't have a clue."

Lynn swallowed, surprised and uneasy. "Cut the live feed!"

"Not if you want to get out of here," Ron said.

"What are you talking about?"

"We're stuck," Ron said. "Unless KP saves us."

"Boss?" the lead cameraman asked.

Lynn gulped, then relented. "Keep the feed live."

"Yo, KP, you might want to ask Wade to keep an eye on this, just in case Lynn decides to pull a fast one."

Kim looked at Ron with frank admiration, appreciating how his inner Zorpox must be at play. "Will do," she said and did quickly.

"Now before I ask KP to do her thing, let me get something straight for you. Kim Possible is a real, live hero. She saves the world. A lot. For free. She doesn't ask for money, she doesn't look for attention. She just wants to help people. Me? I'm lucky. She actually lets me have her back.

"Now, the whole graduation thing? Let me see how well you do when you have to give a big speech and aliens show up out of nowhere and use a ray beam to pull you up into the sky. You may be surprised, too. And later on? That video? Yeah, I got in a couple of lucky punches in but I was running on adrenaline. Nobody messes with Ron Stoppable's girlfriend. Capisce?"

Lynn nodded nervously.

"Now why don't you just admit to everyone watching that you're a bully who likes to say things you know aren't true, gossip and ruin peoples' reputations just for kicks?"

"You can't be serious?"

"Note serious face," Ron snarled.

Lynn gulped. "Okay, I admit it."

"Now apologize to Kim," he demanded.

"I'm sorry," she said. "Maybe I took some liberties."

"Took some liberties?"

"Okay, I may have presented alternative facts and manipulated the truth."

"You mean you lied."

Lynn swallowed. A long, uncomfortable pause ensued. Finally, Lynn answered. "Yes."

"And this isn't the first time you've done that, is it?"

"No," Lynn conceded.

"Well, then, thanks for playing," Ron said, his cold demeanor returning to its normal, sunny state. "KP? You think you can do some of that badical cheerleading magic and get that remote thingie?"

Kim's eyes were glistening as she beamed at Ron. "I'd love to. But I need to say something to Lynn's viewers first about my ferociously amazing boyfriend: Ron Stoppable is so not my lap dog. He's my Big Dog and I wouldn't and couldn't save the world without him."

Ron looked like he'd just won a million dollars worth of nacos. Kim blew a kiss at him, but then focused on the mission. From that of a young woman smitten with her beau, her expression changed to that of a seasoned professional about to act. She quickly surveyed the situation, then launched herself into the laser grid, doing a double flip, a pivot, a roll, a handspring, another pivot, a bounce off the wall, a flip, another bounce off another wall, and a double handspring, before she picked up the controller, launched herself into the air again, deactivated the system and spotted a perfect landing.

"Way to go, KP" Ron enthused, pumping his fist in the air. Before he knew it, he was enveloped in a fierce embrace by his red-headed girlfriend. "Oh, that feels good," he said as he reveled in the hug, though he soon felt something was off. "Uh, Kim, is it drafty in here?"

Kim cocked an eyebrow and chuckled. "No, Ron, it isn't."

"Oh man, I just lost my pants, didn't I?"

Kim smiled happily. "Good to know that with all the changes in our lives, I can always count on some things to stay the same," she said. Then she kissed him and Ron forgot that he'd lost his trousers in the presence of film crews.

II.

"So, is there anything else either of you would like to say?" Paula asked as she wrapped up her impromptu interview with Kim and Ron.

"Yeah," Ron piped up. "Just for the record: Me. Bon-Bon. Never. I had to go to the Vet to get shots after she kissed me at J.P. Bearymore's!"

Kim worked very hard, and not wholly successfully, to contain a snicker.

"Miss Possible, do you have anything to add?"

"Just that what Bonnie tried to do was so pre-villain. Honestly, I don't know what her damage is, but considering all of the things she has going for her in life, it makes no sense. I hope someday she can enjoy herself. Life's too short not to," she said, as she took Ron's hand in hers.

"Well, there you have it. Two heroes tell the truth. I'm Paula Pandowdy and on my next show I'll be giving a leopard to each member of the audience simply because I can afford to!"

"Oh, man, I want a leopard!" Ron said enthusiastically.

"No," Kim said, before ending the conversation with a peck on the lips for her BF.

Ron seemed satisfied and let the topic drop.

Paula was pleased with the unplanned interview she'd just recorded with Kim and Ron and thanked them for their time and the great content for her program. Having wrapped the session, she thanked her guests, exchanged a few words with Mr. Paisley, and made her way to leave.

"Ron, this was … Wow," Kim said, "How did you pull this off? I mean …"

"You."

"Me? What are you talking about?"

"When you, uh, left," he began to explain, rubbing the back of his neck.

"You mean flaked. Sorry."

"Sha, you had every reason to be upset, especially if you had any flashbacks to me, the school paper, and Adrena Lynn. Though if you didn't, forget I said anything!"

Kim smirked. "I did recall that."

"Yeah, well, I remembered how tweaked you were about the whole thing and I felt bad and was worried that I had somehow ruined everything for us."

Kim's expression softened. "As you can see, you so didn't ruin anything."

"To which I can now say 'booyah'," Ron replied. "Anyway, as I thought about our last run in with fake news, I remembered how I busted Adrena Lynn for making stuff up and thought maybe I could go for an encore. But I knew I needed to act fast, and inspiration hit: I thought about your first big-time mission."

"Keep your facts straight: It was our first big-time mission."

"Yeah, well, it occurred to me that Mr. Paisley might be willing to help out since you'd helped him and you guys both have the mad love for the cuddle buddies."

"Okay, but how did you get Lynn Accurate here? And Paula Pandowdy?"

"Lynn was easy. I called her at TV Trash and told her I wanted to dish and could give her the inside scoop and what better place than where it supposedly all began?"

Kim nodded approvingly.

"Paula was gravy. Apparently she's a Cuddler, too, and was here to do an interview with Mr. P about his collection."

As if on cue, the preposterously rich man with a disturbing affection for plush came over to the young couple.

"Thanks for helping us, Mr. Paisley," Kim said.

"Oh, think nothing of it," he replied. "I've always regretted not being able to do anything to thank you for saving me all those years ago. When Ron called, I was happy to pitch in."

"Well, you rock," Kim said. "Thanks."

The pint-sized mogul blushed, then showed Kim and Ron out. As they walked down the drive to her father's car, she stopped her boyfriend.

"Ron, there's something I need to ask you."

"Sure, KP, what?"

"You were ferociously creative and resourceful today. When you're at Middleton Community this fall, please use that naco-powered brain of yours on your classes. I so want you to be able to transfer to Llenrock."

"I think I can make that promise," he said. "After all, the Ronman always aims to please his lady."

"Spankin'," she said as she unlocked the car. "Keep me company this evening while I pack?"

"I'd love to, KP. Maybe we can swing by the Bueno for some take out and make a party of it."

"I like the way you think, Mr. Stoppable," she said, squeezing his hand. "And you wonder why I keep you around."

III.

Ron was wishing he'd kept ignoring his phone. But the thing kept buzzing in his pocket, so he finally tore himself away from his girlfriend and their families, who had all gathered at the Possibles for a going-away dinner for Kim, who would be leaving the next day for college.

"Uh, yeah, sure Sir, no, uh that would be great. Yeah, okay, see you then," Ron pressed the end call button on his phone. "Man this tanks. Kim is going to kill me."

"Nuh uh," Rufus disagreed.

"You're right," Ron said. "She's going to kill Mr. Smarty."

Rufus considered that theory for a moment. "Uh huh!"

IV.

"What do you mean, you're going to Washington tomorrow?" a stunned and obviously displeased Kim asked. "We're going to Athens tomorrow! You're supposed to be helping me move into my dorm at Llenrock!"

Ron felt awful. "I'm sorry, KP, but Mr. Smarty was kind of, well, bossy, about this."

"What do you mean, Son?" Mr. Stoppable asked.

"Uh, he said if I didn't go, then it was clear I didn't take my assistant manager's job seriously but that was okay since I'd have a chance to reacquaint myself with my friends in the pet department."

Kim's eyes flashed. "Who does he think he is, just calling you up whenever and dragging you off who knows where?"

The living room, which was filled with both the Possible and Stoppable families, fell uncomfortably silent as everyone stared at Kim, save Ron, who was desperately trying not to make eye contact with his angry and upset girlfriend. It didn't take long for Kim to realize what everyone was thinking. "Well, it's different when I do it! Ron's my BF and we're saving the world!"

It was Nana who finally spoke up. "Kimberly Anne, I know this was unexpected, but it is quite the compliment that Ronald's boss wants to take him to meet the President of the United States. I'm sure there are lots of other people he could have chosen to accompany him, but he wants to bring your young man. It's quite an honor."

"Hmmph," Kim groused, her arms folded over her chest defiantly, while her eyes told another story. "It's not like we haven't met world leaders before."

"Yeah, but this will be a villain-free visit, KP!" Ron enthused, trying to make light of the situation. "Unless there are some lobbyists there …"

"This is so unfair," Kim sighed before she hugged Ron. "I'm sorry for harshing on you. It's actually pretty spankin' that Mr. Smarty wants to take you to the Oval Office to meet Lyle Lott. I'm just tweaked that my Ron-time is being taken away."

"I'm with you there, KP. But Mr. Smarty is payin' the bills for me which'll let me travel to New York to see you while giving me experience that will look good on the ol' transfer application."

"I know, and that means so much to me," Kim said as she cupped Ron's cheeks and pulled him in for a gentle kiss. "Make me a promise?" she asked afterwards.

"Uh, sure, anything, KP," a goofily smiling Ron said.

Kim's eyes, though teary, sparkled. "Please wear the belt I gave you for our half-a-versary," she said with a wicked grin.

"Can do, Kim," Ron said before his pants plummeted. She couldn't help but snicker as her boyfriend pulled up his trousers. "Ya know, maybe I should also wear some suspenders …"

V.

Ron had to admit the Smarty Mart corporate jet was pretty badical. Still, though, he was having trouble focusing on the luxurious amenities.

Kim's off to college, he thought. Without me. Man, this tanks.

VI.

Kim was looking out the rear passenger window of her parents' car as it headed east along the interstate. Lost in her thoughts, she really didn't notice the passing scenery.

It's happening, she thought. It's really happening. I'm going to college. Without Ron. This is so the drama …

To Be Continued …