Thanks to campy, Jimmy1201, CajunBear73, NoirValor, Eddy13, Quathis, and Sharper the Writer for reviewing and to everyone for reading.
My thanks, too, to everyone who has put the author on their alert list or "favorited" this story.
As always, my gratitude to campy for beta and proofreading. This has been a particularly challenging chapter and he put in yeoman's work. Thanks!
KP, RS, etc. © Disney
Chapter 24: We've So Got To Talk
I.
An expanded Team Possible gathered in the common room on Kim and Fern's floor. Kim and Ron were there with Mrs. Dr. P, the Stoppables, Mr. Barkin and Fern, sitting in a circle in mismatched chairs and couches while Wade joined the meeting by way of the Kimmunicator. To the side, Rufus and Hana played.
"So, Roomie, what do we do?" Fern asked.
Kim pursed her lips. "Whatever's going on, it started on campus. So the answer should be here at Llenrock. I just wish I knew where."
"Maybe we could split up and look for clues in different parts of the college," Mrs. Stoppable suggested.
Kim nodded. "That's a good idea, Mrs. S."
"I'd like to get you over to the Medical School, Kim," Anne said. Sensing her daughter might protest, she continued, "The sooner I examine you, the sooner I may be able to reverse whatever's happened. We might also get some information that will lead us to whoever did this."
"Man, it's too bad we don' hab de Mathter's time machine thingie," Ron groused.
Fern, not accustomed to Ron's randomness, looked at her roommate's partner with open curiosity. Then she noticed the expression on Kim's face, seated next to Ron's side on one of the couches. The teen hero's face was a study in exasperation leavened by affection.
"Head in the game, Ron," Kim said. "I so wish we could go back to before this happened and stop it, but that's not an option."
"Huh," he said. "Dat's not what I was dinking, doh dat's a pretty cool idea."
"Then what were you thinking, Son?" Mr. Stoppable asked.
"Well, if we could go back in dime, we could follow Kib an' de momen' she was about to be zapped, we could bring down de hammer on de bad guy."
"Stoppable," Barkin groaned, "That's the most preposterous idea I've ever heard."
Ron deflated.
Kim, however, responded much more positively. "Actually, Mr. Barkin, I think Ron's onto something," she said.
"I am?" a surprised Ron said.
"He is?" an incredulous Barkin added.
Fully engaged, she turned her attention to her Webmaster. "Wade, the chip: is it still working?" True to her word to Ron earlier that summer, Kim had Wade implant a tracking device in her neck.
The young tech guru smiled as he answered. "Perfectly."
"Spankin'," Kim replied, before she added, "As long as you're not monitoring me the way you used to keep an eye on my bank account."
Wade was glad he wasn't drinking any soda, otherwise it would have been all over his monitor. Holding up his hands, he said, "No! I promise! It's in passive mode!"
"In English, please and thank you," Kim said with a cocked eyebrow – and a playful grin.
"The chip is collecting data but the telemetry is not being actively transmitted to me. Seventy two hours after something's recorded, it's deleted."
"Which should be enough of a window for you to retrace my path."
"But what good will that do?" Mr. Stoppable asked.
"Wade, can you access the college security camera system?"
His fingers flew across the keyboard. "I'm in."
"Once you've downloaded data from the tracking chip could you then plot that info against video from the places I was on campus?"
"It'll take me a little while, but, sure. I'll let you know as soon as I learn anything."
"As always, you rock, Wade," she said as the tech guru signed off. She turned to her boyfriend. "Nicely done, Ron."
"I do whad I can," he said with a pleased smile before he added, "Uh, what did I do?"
II.
Kim had known Ron too long to not recognize that something was bothering him. While nobody else would have picked up on his discomfort, to Kim it was like a giant neon sign flashing an urgent message. She knew they needed to talk before this mission went any further.
"Do you think my BF and I could have a couple of minutes before we go to the Med School?" Kim asked the assembled adults. Mr. and Mrs. Stoppable and Mrs. Dr. P responded by sharing indulgent, knowing looks with one another, while Steve Barkin squirmed, all of which elicited an eye roll from Kim and a muttered, "Spankin'. They're all grown-up tweebs."
Stumbling and tripping down the hall, Kim managed to pull Ron into her dorm room at the other end of her floor without falling down or hitting anyone or thing.
"KB?" he asked, confused.
She turned an looked him in the eye. "You're buggin'," she said. "Spill."
Ron gulped. "It'z, it'z nothin' …" he answered as he began to rub the back of his neck.
Kim quirked an eyebrow, folded her arms across her chest, and looked at Ron. "Hello, best friend girlfriend who can read you like a book here!"
He gulped. "Fine. You're gonna think I'b a total loser bub I, well, I felt like Fern could have been your pardner in dere …"
"Ron," Kim sighed.
"… And I didn' libe seein' you wib Brandi before."
"Oy," Kim said as she rolled her eyes. "Newsflash: if anyone's going to be jealing here it's me. Brandi thinks you're cute."
"Wha—oh." he blinked. "Awkweird …" he mumbled.
"Ron, focus," she said, putting her hands on his cheeks. "What do I have to do to convince you that you're the guy I want to be with?"
"Agtually, I know dat," he said, seeing the pictures on her desk and recalling her welcome-to-campus kiss. "Bub you got this whole new libe here. An', an' seein' you laughin' an' pallin' aroun' wib Brandi earlier, and knowin' you and Bern are becomin' budz an' she seems to be into de save de world thing, I guezz I jus' felt like you won' need me to be happy so eben if you wan' me after a while it won' matter." Ron slumped down on Kim's bed and dropped his head into his hands "I'be zorry I'm zo insecure."
Kim sat by his side and wrapped a protective arm around him. "I am too," she said honestly, catching his attention. "And somehow we're going to find a way to deal with this, together," she added with determination before she then she paused and rested her head on his shoulder. "But you get a pass this time because you're sick and I know your job sitch has been tough lately and you're the most ferociously awesome boyfriend, coming to have my back when you should be home in bed."
"Really?"
"Really," she said. Then she took a deep breath and spoke hesitantly. "Look, I, uh, for what it's worth, sometimes I get scared you'll decide you don't need me."
"No way," he said, non-plussed by his girlfriend's confession.
"Way," she answered. "You're going to the White House, you've stepped up your game in school, and you would have been promoted by Mr. Smarty, but weren't because of me …"
Ron was going to protest but the expression Kim's face indicated that she was not to be interrupted.
"… Then let's not forget that you're in Middleton. You can bash zombies with Felix and Zita at MIST. Or go to Bueno Nacho and hang out with Ned. Or with Tara," she said, then added with an unaccustomed nervousness, "And while she may have said I was your destiny, Yori could always change her mind and show up and …"
"But you're de only girl for me, KB!" a gob-smacked Ron interjected.
"Well, back atcha, BF," she said before she took his hands in hers and sighed. "Since I got here I've learned just how much I don't like being apart from you …"
"I'm wib you on dat, Kib," Ron agreed.
"… But we're not in high school anymore and that means we're going to have to get used to not being with each other all the time, even if you transfer here. We'll have different classes, different extracurriculars. And the same will be true when we graduate and get jobs and when we're married."
He began to hyperventilate.
"Ron …" Kim said, taken by surprise and clearly concerned.
"I, I'b otay, KP," Ron gulped. But then he bawled, "I, I – I don' wan to think about you bein' married to someone else!"
Overreacting much? she thought. But then she considered what she'd just said. And then she considered Ron's perspective.
He'd let her go, even encouraged her to leave, all so she could live her dream. Yes, she had said everything would be fine, but she wasn't the one struggling with the demands of a minimum-wage job while going to community college and living at home so he could save on rent to visit his girlfriend who was building a new, exciting life – away from him.
She'd left.
Him.
This is so the drama … she thought.
The past year and a half had been intense. She reflected on what had developed between the two of them since they started dating, of all that had happened. Of Graduation and the Lorwardian invasion, of the mission to the Pacific, and all that had taken place over the summer. True, they'd had their moments, but each time, they found their relationship growing stronger and deeper.
And then she'd left for school.
Llenrock had been wonderful for the most part. But it had one great failing: no Ron. While they stayed in touch on a daily business and went on missions together, it wasn't the same. She was here and he was there and she so didn't like that.
At all.
And then she realized. She'd toyed with the thought before but had shunted aside as idle, pleasant musings. Now she understood its significance. She had known for a while that she wanted be with Ron, for him to be something more. She was now ready for what that really meant.
She took a deep breath, then spoke in as insouciant a voice as she could summon. "That's so flawed. How can you be alone if I marry you?"
"Wai-wha?"
Kim looked at Ron and she felt a happiness she'd not known before. Smiling radiantly, she embraced her boyfriend. "We've both still got a lot more growing up and learning about being together to do before we do anything formal and we still have to figure out what we're going to do with our lives after college but I honestly can't, and more importantly, don't want to imagine a future without you and I will do anything to make sure we're together."
"You, you mean, I, uh … really?"
Kim simply nodded.
"Thad'z, thad'z beautiful," Ron said as he began to tear up again. "I, I must have sometin' in my eye."
Kim smirked but then gave Ron a buss on the lips. "I love you, Ron Stoppable. Don't you ever forget that." She then reached up to caress his cheek. Unfortunately for him, her klutziness struck in full force and …
"OWWW!"
… She poked him right in the eye.
III.
Ron had iced his eye and he and Kim were getting ready to return to the group. "Otay, what iz it?" he asked. Just as Kim could read him, he could read her.
"Snap," she groaned. "I am so busted."
"What do you mean? I can zee."
"Not what I'm talking about," she said with a bemused smile that quickly faded. "I promised Professor Barkin that I hadn't broken the honor code and he could trust me. So what did I do? I just told Wade to hack into the college's security system!"
"You could zay you were zecret borrowin' de data?"
Kim glared at Ron. "So not happening."
Ron's unease was palpable as he shrugged. "Hey, I wuz jus' tryin' to help."
Kim shook her head. But then her expression changed into something contemplative. "You really want to help?"
"Of course, KB," Ron said. "You zave de world, I hab your back."
She looked at Ron then smiled. He did have her back. "Okay. Here's what you can do while Mom and I are at the Medical School …"
IV.
One of the things in life that Kim Possible could count on was Ron Stoppable's ability to move beyond an issue. Yes, he could completely lose control of his emotions, but, having worked whatever was bugging him out of his system, all would ultimately be well and he would proceed with whatever life called for. And so, he'd freaked about Fern and his place in Kim's life and she in turn had reassured him, telling him just what he meant to her, which allowed him in turn to dust himself off and move onto the next thing.
"You'll let me know as soon, and I mean as soon, as you've got the okay," Kim said through the passenger's window, which was rolled down.
"You gob it, KB," Ron said.
"Uh huh!" Rufus chimed in.
Kim looked at her boyfriend with a longing smile. "Okay, then I guess we're good to go."
"Yeah," Ron said, his expression the mirror of Kim's.
The couple looked at each other. Then, both said words that seemed more meaningful than when Ron had arrived just a short while earlier. "Love you!"
Naturally, Kim called the jinx. Ron groaned, though he grinned, and accepted his fate like a man, his girlfriend smiled smugly and waved, and she and Ann drove off. He stood and watched as daughter and mother went their way.
"So, you sure you okay with this?" Fern asked. Ever the perceptive one, she had sensed how her presence had threatened Ron, which in turn made Kim feel guilty.
"Yeah, I am," Ron said, surprising himself with how at ease he felt. Then again, there was the conversation he had just had with his girlfriend. Who had made it clear that she wanted to be something else, something more to him. And she was already his best friend girlfriend!
Life was good. No, life was badical. He felt like he could do anything. Kim Possible wanted to be with him, Ron Stoppable!
Fern looked at Ron and his mole rat – or, she thought, Rufus and his human; she wasn't sure which was right. "Okay, then, Academics Central, here we come," she said. She started walking away but Ron remained. She turned to look at him. She wasn't sure, but something was different about him. In fact, she'd have sworn that there was a faint aura surrounding him.
"Ron?"
Were those monkeys?
"Yeah?"
He turned, but now the glow and simian noises were gone.
"You okay?"
"Never been better," he said brightly. Then he blinked. "Hey, my cold's gone! Kooky!"
V.
Kim was lost in her reveries. She had told Ron that she wanted … what? To be married to him? No exactly, but she knew it was implicit in what she had said. She recalled the conversation. She hadn't proposed. No, she had … pre-proposed? Not quite. She had "preposed." Yes, that was it: She had "preposed."
Was that a word? It didn't matter. Kim knew she had just made one of the most important decisions of her life. Yet she was just an eighteen year-old freshman with most of college before her. Should she have done this? Was she old enough, experienced enough to have made this choice?
Yes, I am, she thought. I am so ready for this.
She had saved the world on numerous occasions and had cheated death regularly. She knew she had made been making life-or-death, "grown-up" decisions for years. But none of them were as important as who she would spend the rest of her life with and that, if she was honest with herself, was one that had been made years ago: Ron. Despite his fears, he was brave. He may not have been an A student, but he was creative. He was loyal. He was most definitely cute. And, yes, he was weird, but, well, she liked weird, at least his variety. But most important, he had demonstrated again and again that he was devoted to and loved her – and she knew loved him, not the way two love-struck teens would but the way her parents loved each other.
"Are you and Ron all right?" Ann asked. She had wondered what her daughter and boyfriend went to talk about. While she suspected it was good, she was still a bit concerned. Kim seemed pensive.
"We're spankin'," she said, a satisfied, almost dreamy, smile on her face that put her mother's concerns to rest. She wanted to tell her mother about her "preposal" but realized she needed to talk with Ron about how they were going to share their news with their families. She knew her parents would be pleased (especially when she made clear she and Ron would not actually be getting married, because that was the upshot of all this, for a long time) and that added to her contentment.
But her feeling of exhilaration soon faded. She had told Ron she wanted to spend her life with him but that was the future; in the present, their two college sitch remained with all of the challenges it presented. "I so wish we didn't have this distance ish to deal with."
"I know it's hard for you, honey, but I think this has been good for both of you," her mother said as she resumed driving them across campus.
"Not sure I'm seeing the upside," Kim said.
"You've been together your entire lives. Now you're actually finding out what it's like to not be with one another."
"And I so don't like it."
"Good," Ann said.
"Excuse me?"
"Kim, if you liked being away from Ron, then you'd have a problem to deal with …"
The teen began to understand her mother's point. Something she'd said before her graduation from high school came to mind. "It's tough being apart from someone you love," she said to herself.
"Yes, it is," said Ann. "I'm not telling you to like being apart from Ron, but look for the good. There's some in there. I promise."
Kim thought about what her mother said and then smiled. "Like the reunion kiss?"
"Not exactly what I would have said if your father were here," Ann said.
Kim reddened.
Ann merely smiled. "But, yes, I'm sure it was."
VI.
"Look, I'm wearing the official Team Possible uniform!" Ron said, waving his hands in front of himself. "See, the purple top and the black pants an'—"
"Sorry, kid, but you don't go to school here so I can't give you the okay. End of story," the bored late middle-aged man said. "Besides, everyone knows that Wade is her tech guy."
"Aw, man …"
"Excuse me," a frustrated Fern said. "It's true Wade holds down the fort back home. This is Ron, her partner."
"Huh," the man said. He looked up at Ron. "Wait a minute. You're the guy who's always losing his pants …"
"Yes! That's me!" Ron pumped out his chest in pride. "I'm the pants-losing guy!"
"You still don't go to school here."
"Aww, man," Ron slumped.
"Look, I'm her roommate," Fern said. "Can't you just give the okay?"
"Sorry, Miss, but it's stated clearly that nobody other than the person affected can request access to the system." To make his point, the man held up a dog-eared manual.
As Fern and the man talked, Ron felt something in his pocket. "Rufus?"
The redoubtable naked mole rat made his appearance, complete with a school sweater and pennant. "Hello!"
The man's attention turned from Ron to his naked mole rat. "Rufus? Rufus! Oh. My. Gosh. My daughter loves you! Can I have your autograph?" the security man said with a surprising amount of enthusiasm.
Ron and Fern exchanged glances.
"Ah-boo?" Fern said with a grin.
"And a yah," Ron agreed before directing his attention to Rufus. "Nice to see ya buddy." He gave the mole rate a wink. "Later."
"Buh bye!" he chittered before withdrawing into Ron's pocket.
"W-w-wait …" the security man said.
"You know, you seem like a discriminating sort," Fern said, leaning on the counter. "Maybe we can reach a deal …"
VII.
Kim and Ann entered the Medical School and made their way to the Neurology Department. Kim had not been there before; Llenrock was a large campus after all. While the College was defined by Collegiate Gothic architecture, the medical school, save a couple of its original buildings, was all sleek glass and metal.
Once they arrived, they made their introductions, and then the examination began. Kim was scheduled to undergoing a number of tests, beginning with a motor skills battery. The gathered physicians were shaking their heads when they were done. Somehow, Kim had managed to knock over a monitor, elbow a nurse, and even roundhouse a physician.
There were other tests to be performed and things continued along these lines until, much to the staff's relief, Kim was ready for her MRI.
"Man, am I glad she's out of the way," one medical researcher said after she'd been put in the machine.
"Tell me about it. She's a walking disaster!" her friend agreed.
"Oh, don't worry about her. She'll be fine," another voice said.
The two looked at the source. He was a young man in his twenties and had a goatee and wore glasses. Tim Morel smiled. And prepared to implement the next stage of his plan.
Which, if all went as expected, would result in Kim Possible most definitely not being fine.
To Be Continued …