With a groan Ron forced his eyes open as he could hear the beeping of medical equipment. For a few minutes he was confused why he seemed to be in a hospital room before the memories of the fight he just had came back to him. "Oh yeah, Shego kicked my ass," Ron sighed as he felt pretty bummed out for losing. As he saw it, there weren't even any stakes, and that made it worse. That when it just came down to it, he couldn't even handle one fight.
"Hrrn… Ron awake… get nurse," Rufus squeaked as he hopped off Ron's lap having been awakened by his movements.
"Rufus, what's up?" Ron said as he climbed out of the bed. "Oh everything hurts," he complained as he felt like he got hit by a car, and with how much Shego was laying into him, that was an apt comparison. As he was trying to stretch to make his body ache less he heard the door open followed by the loud sound of stampeding feet.
"Woah woah, hang on," a sultry voice said as she tried to control the worried mass of teenage girls who were pushing and shoving to get into the room. Finally they managed to get in without crushing anyone and Ron looked over to see who his visitors were.
"Oh hey everyone," Ron waved as he saw the cheer squad and his nurse standing on one side of the room. "What's up?"
"What do you mean what's up?!" Marcella exclaimed. "What are you doing out of bed?" she demanded to know as she and the other girls had been worried sick waiting for Ron to wake up.
Ron looked around to see the girls were in fact waiting for a response as he just shrugged. "I dunno, figured I was done here and was going to go home," Ron said as he didn't think he'd need to stay in a hospital any longer now that he was awake.
"I'll be the judge of that Mr. Stoppable," Betty Director said as she strutted into the room. "I need a sitrep on what went down this afternoon and I'd like to get one from you if possible."
"Oh hey Mrs. Dr. Director," Ron smiled at seeing the head of GJ. She was a woman he rarely got to meet unless it was important and even then it was only because KP was there that he was there. "How's everything?" he said, trying to make small talk as he looked around for his clothes.
"Ahem," the nurse coughed. "I need to attend to my patient's health, if you wouldn't mind." The nurse stepped through the crowd of cheerleaders.
"Pfft, I'm fine, I got a bit more roughed up than usual," Ron waved off the concern as he finally found his shirt, pants and shoes.. "A booyah," he said as he started to strip off the gown exposing his bruised and scarred body to the rest of the room.
"Oh my," Tara whimpered as she hadn't expected to see how much of Ron's body was injured.
"Jeez Loser, did you get in a fight with a hedge trimmer," Bonnie said, even if her tone wavered and she was a little frightened to see all the wounds on him.
"Nah just the scrapes and bumps I get from missions," Ron shook his head as he slipped his pants on. "It's not like you can stop crazy megalomaniacs for years without getting a few injuries. Come on Mrs. Dr. Director back me up here." he asked as he managed to get his shoes on, leaving only his torso exposed.
"While combat does involve injuries, they are typically treated by professionals, and not," Betty sighed. "Is that one held together with dental floss?" she said as the string sewn into his back was clearly not surgical suture.
"Yeah, Wade's pretty good with his hands," Ron chuckled as he'd gone to the inventor with a few of his injuries from time to time.
"I know Dr. Possible and I know that you are her daughter's friend, so why haven't you gone to her?" the nurse questioned why the young man was saying he was going to a friend for his injuries and not the genius surgeon who had actual training and the proper tools if not the mental wherewithal to bring him to the hospital for some of these wounds.
Ron's cheeks were tinged with a blush as he had hoped that detail wouldn't get brought up. "It's embarrassing sometimes so I don't," Ron said quietly.
"Ugh, men," the nurse tossed up her hands. "The number of guys I see in here who tried to treat their own injuries. Do you know the kind of damage-"
"It's not like that," Ron quickly interrupted as he didn't want the nurse to get the wrong idea. "I just... KP doesn't get hurt like I do, she's better at this than me," Ron sighed. "If her parents knew that I was so bad at this stuff that I was getting blown up, stabbed or whatever else happens when I'm on mission. They would never let me go, then KP would go alone and… I can't let her get hurt like me if she has to do it all herself," Ron admitted the reason for treating his own injuries or at least keeping the Possibles unaware.
"So you take the brunt of the punishment so that Ms. Possible doesn't?" Betty concluded what was going on in the missions. Now that she saw it first hand, the little details started to create a larger picture, those distractions that Mr. Stoppable created were a means of drawing most of the fire onto him so Ms. Possible wasn't getting injured. 'Damn, he's pretty noble,' Betty thought about how dedicated to Team Possible Ron Stoppable really was.
"Oh, so she's the reason you look like you barely survived a horror movie," Bonnie hissed as she saw Ron's explanation in a more negative light.
"It isn't like that Bonnie, I just need to try harder to not be dead weight," Ron tried to defend KP's reputation from her cheerleading team. "If I was any good at this Tai Shing Pek Kwar stuff, I might have actually been able to actually not get my butt handed to me all the time."
"That's crazy," Jessica interjected quickly. "You fought over a dozen huge guys armed with those crazy staffs and then Shego, like the baddest villain in the world, by yourself. You're amazing," the blonde praised Ron for his fighting prowess.
Ron huffed. "Those were Drakken's henchmen, they're pushovers, I'm just not good enough to even fight them, and I guess it's not the worst with Shego. At least it was better than if Monkey Fist was there, he's actually trying to kill me," Ron continued his miniature pity party by himself.
Knowing that she needed to help bolster this young man's confidence Betty dropped a bit of information she had gotten from the other teens. "Stoppable, Monkey Fist is considered one of the most dangerous people on the planet, as is Shego, that you are able to fight either of them makes you incredibly skilled and you should be proud of that, not many people your age could hold up in a battle like these girls told my agents. Most of my agents couldn't even do what you did."
Deciding to take the compliment he felt he didn't deserve instead of starting an argument, Ron looked over at the director of GJ with a smile. "Thanks Betty," he said as he slipped on his shirt.
"However," the nurse said over the quiet that had settled into the room. "You need to sit back down so I can check you over before you even think of walking out of this room." Motioning for the teenaged boy to sit back down on the bed so she could examine him.
After a few minutes, the nurse sighed. "As much as I don't like it, you don't have any injuries that would require you to remain overnight, those bruised ribs will just require rest."
"Yes," Ron pumped his arm, glad that he didn't have any lasting injuries. "Alright Rufus, let's get ourselves home," he held out his hand for the naked mole rat to climb up it.
"I'll give you a lift," Betty offered as she knew that Ron had no means of getting home that didn't require walking halfway across town. "That way you can also give me your report on what happened today."
"Sure thing Mrs. Dr. Director," Ron saluted before wincing slightly at the exaggerated movement he made. Waving to the cheerleaders who were waiting for him outside the room. "I'll see you all tomorrow," he said to the girls who gave a smattering of various goodbyes to the boy who fought for them just a few hours ago.
Ron sat in the passenger seat of the GJ Director's expensive car. "Okay Stoppable, the civvies aren't here and so you don't have to put on the tough guy act with me," she patted Ron on his thigh, trying to let him know that she wouldn't judge him.
"Oh, well I guess it hurt when Shego was handing me my butt, but that's just more because it showed me how much I have left to learn if I'm going to be any good at this saving the world stuff," Ron shrugged. "If KP were there instead of me, you wouldn't have had to bother coming out since she'd have ended that fight still looking as perfect as she always does." Ron chuckled sadly as he felt inadequate when compared to his best friend.
"Stoppable," Betty sighed. "I meant what I said, you holding up as you did is incredible given what the girls said went down. We're still investigating why Dr. Drakken decided to forgo his normal modus operandi and deliver the first strike this time."
"Well I guess they were just looking for a fight this time, bad luck that KP's not even here," Ron said as he elected to ignore what he considered to be pity. "So I figure that because I was there, they didn't want to waste the trip out. Guess I actually put everyone in danger by being there," Ron could feel the beginnings of tears stinging his eyes. "God, how could I screw that up," Ron growled.
"It wasn't your fault Stoppable," Betty quickly interrupted, knowing that the downward spiral of blaming oneself for a fight not going the way they wanted could lead to incredibly self destructive actions. "You didn't know they would show up and without you there, who knows what Drakken and his goons would have done to the cheer squad. You kept them safe from the danger and that's what all of this is about." She pulled into the driveway of the darkened and empty home that Ron lived in and could see that Ron's mind and emotions were in turmoil.
She unbuckled her seatbelt and reached over to cautiously touch Ron. Betty understood that people in her profession were at times ticking timebombs and could lash out uncontrollably when they were stressed like this. She didn't want to set off a martial artist of his caliber in such an enclosed space. She could protect herself well enough, but after he settled down and his head was clear he'd be feeling even worse for his outburst.
Ron just slumped over into her touch exhausted as the day finally caught up with him. "Betty," Ron whispered. "KP can't know about this," he said to her as she listened to his pleas. "If she knew how much all of this did to me, she'd quit and then who'd be there to save the world?"
"But who is going to be there to save you?" Betty asked back.
"I'm just one person Betty. If I have to hurt so hundreds, maybe thousands can be kept safe, it's not a hard decision to make," Ron stated as if it was such a simple equation.
"What's the point of saving the world if the people you care about are suffering?" Betty tried to reason with the young man.
Ron didn't have a response to that. "Ron," Betty tenderly placed her hand on Ron's cheek and turned his head to face her. "If you can't or won't take care of yourself, I will, because every person matters." Waiting a minute to let what she said sink in. "Let me help you get inside."
"I'll be fine Betty, I'll just crash on the couch," Ron tried to dismiss the offer before he stumbled when trying to get out of her car.
"Not an option Stoppable," Betty said firmly as she came around to help him walk up to his front door. She watched him unlock the front door and the entryway was dimly lit by the moonlight. "Too quiet," she whispered as she looked into the house. She was aware that Mr. and Mrs. Stoppable regularly took business trips or vacations but the home should still feel like a home, everything here seemed so cold.
"You get used to it," Ron responded as he could hear her quiet comment. "At least I got Rufus," he chuckled as the naked mole rat patted his arm comfortingly. "Well, thanks for the ride Mrs. Dr. Director," Ron said, grateful that he hadn't had to walk home this late at night.
"I don't think so Mr. Stoppable," Betty shook her head. "You got into a nasty fight today and I'm not going to leave you on your own. And no, Rufus is not enough, as competent as he is, he is not capable of rendering aid if you need it," Betty said as she helped Ron get upstairs. "The possible concussion and other injuries could come back at you at the worst times, so I'm staying the night."
"I don't want to be a burden though," Ron protested.
Betty smirked as she'd heard this time and time again and in some times was told to her. "Normally I'd have taken you to the Possibles, Dr. Ann would be more than capable of taking care of you for the night but with them and your parents gone, I cannot in good conscience let you be alone."
Ron decided it was better to accept the woman's decision as he couldn't really come up with an argument that she couldn't just stubbornly refuse. "Okay Betty," Ron smirked as he headed into the bathroom to shower off the grime and dirt from his scuffle. He felt the hot water cascading over his sore body and it felt amazing as he let his muscles unwind with the heat.
He finally stepped out of the shower and headed to his bedroom where he found Betty sitting on his bed, taking in the various sights of his room. "You like what you see," Ron chuckled as he figured his room was too much 'Teenage Boy' for a sophisticated woman like her.
"It's nice," Betty smiled as she felt like this was a normal room for a normal person. Not like her own which was littered with paperwork, projects and far too many late night fast food wrappers.
Ron failed to suppress a yawn as Betty got out of the way so he could climb into bed. "Thank Betty." Ron said as he started to drift off to sleep. "For being there when other people weren't."
"You're welcome Ron," Betty said sadly, she didn't like that she was the person who was there for a young man, when his family and friends were away. That he didn't have anyone else to be there for him was sad.
Ron's last sight before his eyes closed was seeing Betty slowly shutting his bedroom door.