"Ask Mankey? I don't know, Kim. Don't you think he'd feel awkward… with us?"
" Us? "
" Well we always go together. "
" Yeah, but that's as, you know, friends! And this time I was thinking about lining up, you know… "
" An enemy ?!"
" A date ."
She feels guilty when she says that to him.
She isn't sure why.
Present Timeline
(Kim and Ron are 15)
She's been his best friend for eleven years now, and the same goes for him. But there are boundaries. They are only so involved in each other's life.
She looks at him, and she never really knows what he's thinking about. When he's home alone, she knows he plays video games, sure, but she doesn't know what kind of games he likes, or how he plays.
She wants to know more, but that feels invasive.
"Friday. Dance. You. Me. Average guy. "
When he starts to proposition every single woman they bump into during this new Drakken caper (Ron insists that the Bad Doctor is trying to steal Christmas when he is so obviously trying to take over the world,) she laughs.
At first.
Ron has endless confidence. He's a master of the art form he likes to call: shooting your shot. He gets rejected time and time again, but never once does he falter. He plays it off and it really makes her wonder: why aren't "the ladies" (as he calls them) saying yes to him? He's confident and he's funny. That's more important than being a hottie.
Part of her waits for the moment when he asks her out. But it never comes.
That also bothers her. Why isn't he asking? He's asking literally every woman on the earth. Except her.
Does he see her as his sister?
She thinks about that. Is that how she sees Ron?
No, she decides. She doesn't. She has brothers, and her feelings towards them are so different from how she feels about Ron.
Ron is…
So much to her. So much she's never said out loud. She doesn't know what to do with that. She's not going to bring it up, she doesn't want him to feel bad or anything. About not asking her out. Because she'd say no.
Definitely.
100%, she would turn him down.
…
That's a lie.
"Kim! Help! "
She wasn't thinking. She used her grapple gun to tie Drakken's robot's legs together and it trips over itself.
(Which is what she wanted)
But it falls towards Ron. Helplessly, he cowers in the robot's shadow. She feels like an idiot, why didn't she check to make sure the robot wouldn't—
It doesn't matter. Game time.
Wheels pop out of her shoes, and rockets slink out from her heels. She blasts across the factory and scoops Ron off his feet, holding him close to her chest with both arms. The robot's shadow gets darker. Darker. She skates ahead and—
—clears it. The robot slams into the floor behind her and Ron is safe, in her arms.
She grins and gently lowers him to his feet, one hand clung to the small of his back. She doesn't notice that's where her hand went, but she has him right there. Face to face. She holds him like it's the finishing pose to a dance. His body is beneath hers, and he looks up at her with starry eyes.
If there was ever a moment to kiss someone.
…
Kiss someone?! She stays still, not sure what to do, and thankfully, Drakken ruins the moment.
Shaking his fist while dangling off of a bridge, Drakken screams, nearly giving over to tears, "You think you're all that! But you're noooooot!"
Kim looks back, not sure what to say.
"Yo, that guy?" Ron laughs casually, slipping out of Kim's hold. "Super weird."
Kim laughs, and everything goes back to normal.
But only for an hour, tops.
Then she asks Josh Mankey out. Because it just sort of feels like what she's supposed to do, and for a moment, she is struck by Josh's starry eyes. His lackadaisical who cares kind of aura. It's similar to Ron, but he's quieter. Cuter. Sort of. Maybe?
"I need a ride too!" Ron cries out from the janitor's closet and, not wanting for the moment to be eternally ruined, Kim kicks the door shut behind her as she struts off with Josh.
She doesn't realize that in doing that, she just locked him inside the closet.
The dance is fun, but it's missing something. She notices almost immediately that Ron didn't make it. Poor guy. He shot his shot and yet no one answered his call.
But no, that's weird. Ron wouldn't just not go because he couldn't get a date, he'd at least go stag.
Is he mad at her? For shutting that door in his face? Maybe.
She would be.
She stops mid-dance and looks Josh in the eye. "Hey, it's been fun, but I'm getting kinda worried about Ron, he hasn't shown up or texted or anything."
Josh nods with some understanding, and continues to get his groove on. Because while he was her date , the dance itself wasn't really a date .
She walks through the school halls at a brisk pace, ready to beep Wade for some help.
But then she hears him.
" Somebody let me out! Come on! " She stops in her tracks. Let him out? Where?
...the closet! She snaps her neck to the right and sees the door he's clearly trapped behind. Oh Ron.
He sounds hurt, at least until he shouts: " I'm a bon-diggity dancer! "
She frowns, and opens the door to find Ron huddled in the back of the closet, using a mop as a pillow. "Ron?"
He nearly knocks over the mop trying to straighten his back so as to not look a complete stooge. His face is beet red. "Oh, uh, h-hey, KP. Fancy seeing you here."
"Yeah, fancy me," she sighs, stepping in. "Shoot, Ron, I didn't realize—I didn't know that the door was going to—"
The door shuts behind her.
"—shut, aw shi—" she stops herself. "—iiiiiiiiiii…ooooot., I meant aw shoot. Heh."
Ron punches at the air. "Fiddlesticks! Take a seat, Young Possible. And learn from the master."
She snorts and sits down criss-cross applesauce beside him. He brings a hand to his mouth and calls out, "Hey! Hey! Somebody let the Ron-Dawg out to play!"
Normally she'd roll her eyes, but today she finds it endearing. "Hey, Ron, I think we should—"
"In a second KP," Ron gestures to her with one finger and keeps his hand cupped at his mouth. "I'll buy whoever busts us out a Naco! Grande Size! On me!" He blinks and flumps back. "Okay, I'm out of material."
"Material?" she asks curiously. "What are you, a comedian?"
"Ha," he chuckles. "I don't know, this kinda tanks, so I was just playing it like a bit. But I guess you wanna be more serious about it, huh?"
She shrugs. "I guess. I feel really bad."
"Well, you're reapin' what you've sown, KP," he stretches his legs out. "You should find a mop, they're not so bad."
Kim frowns. She is not sleeping on a mop. Nor will she sleep in a cramped janitor's closet ever. Thankfully, there's an hour at least of the dance and she's positive she'll be better at grabbing someone's attention than Ron. But first, she needs to take care of this.
She edges closer to him, to signal that she sincerely wants to talk. "I'm serious, Ron, I feel like I've been a bad friend to you the past few days. I blew you off about being your date, I nearly got you flattened by that robot, and now I've trapped you in a closet."
Ron stares at her blankly and for a moment, she worries that he doesn't really understand. But then he speaks with the most amount of sincerity she's heard from him, maybe ever. "Uh, I mean, no offense, KP, but I also kinda just stood there when the robot fell. That's my bad too, and hold up, why are you upset about the date thing? I thought you wanted to go with Josh?" He waits an impatient second. "You like him, don't you?"
"Meh," she shrugs, sidling in beside him, their thighs touching. "I thought it would be like, a date , you know. But we were just sort of vibing on the floor, and that's cool, but… I don't know, it'd be better with you." She looks at him thoughtfully. "There's no one I'd rather be with."
Ron blinks. "Really? B-b-but you're Kim Possible and I'm just, uh, you know, I'm the Buffoon, or whatever Drakken calls me."
"Who cares about that," she swats that crap away immediately, and then it strikes her.
What is she even saying? She hasn't thought about any of what she's saying, it's all just a stream of consciousness. She's on autopilot. Not that she's being dishonest, if anything, this is the most honest she's ever been. So then why does she feel so nervous? So sweaty?
She looks him in the eyes for some time, and he looks into hers, not sure what to say.
"Do you trust me?" she squeaks.
"Always," he says immediately.
"Okay, because in this moment," she extends her hand and cups it around his jaw. "I'm pretty sure this is a good idea."
At first he seems confused. But then her face glides in and he seems to understand. Eyes shut, they kiss in total darkness.
His hand falls into hers.
His lips are chapped and dry. His technique leaves… much to be desired, but it's Ron.
She's kissing her sidekick.
She squeezes his hand and pulls back.
Ron gulps, immediately going into a panic. "Shoot, d-did I mess up? I'm sorry, I'm such a clown, I—"
"No, no," she whispers. "I just wanted to make sure you were okay with this."
"Huh? Oh, uh, duh, KP, I'm totes down to, ya know, uh," he blushes. "Smack lips and stuff."
She gigglesnorts at that joke, much to her embarrassment.
"You have a cute laugh, you know," Ron grins, face immediately falling. "Aaaah! Shoot, again! Sorry, sorry, I didn't—is it okay to flirt?"
"Huh?" Kim raises an eyebrow and she thinks about it. What does it mean for them to be kissing?
Are they an item now?
Her parents would ground her for the rest of her adolescence if they found out. Tabloids would explode, they'd never know a moment's peace.
"We need to be Miss and Mister Low Profile about it," Kim says. "But yeah, you can flirt. Or like, I don't know, I don't want to put a label on it, but… yeah, let's just try stuff."
"Booyah!" he cries out, voice cracking. He blushes once again and crawls over to her. Whispers, "Booyah," again and they kiss for a second time.
She wakes up the next day to a very confused janitor with a crick in her neck. Probably because she fell asleep sitting up, her head leaned up against his.
But it was worth it.
It all just feels so… resolved. She's with Ron, and everything is right in the world.
"Uh, so no offense Doctor Director, it's cool that you can just kinda warp people in from wherever on the planet, but a heads up might've been nice."
Seven Years Later (Kim and Ron are 22)
Kim blushes furiously. Her hair is ragged and she's dressed down to her flannel pajamas and fluffy bathrobe. Ron stands besides her, also dressed in flannel pajamas, his mouth frothing with toothpaste.
"Does anyone have some water?" Ron manages to say, searching for a trashcan to spit into.
Doctor Director chuckles. "Sorry, I was just excited. You see, Miss Possible, we have an opening for you."
Kim blinks, and her whole attitude changes. "Really?! Wait, is this really happening?"
Betty smiles and Kim punches the air. "Yes!" she cries out.
Meanwhile, patooie! Ron spits into a trashcan and walks back over. "Hey, what did I miss?"
Kim lunges at Ron, wrapping him up in a tight hug. "I'm getting a job here!"
"Oh, a job, nice," Ron grins. "I mean, you were kind of a shoe-in, KP, heheh."
Kim can't help herself. She just jumps up and down in his arms with girlish excitement. Ever since she was a child, she's wanted to work with Global Justice. And now, straight out of college, her dream is coming true.
Then she realizes something, and slips backwards. Sad now. "Um, I think I might… have to decline."
Betty frowns and Ron nearly gasps.
Kim continues, "I'd have to disband Team Possible, and I don't want to leave Ron and Wade hanging."
Ron rushes over to her and slips an arm around her shoulders. "I mean, GJ could always hire you, me, and Wade." He sneaks a glance at Betty. "Riiiiiiiiight?"
Betty blinks and kicks back into her chair. "Of course."
Kim stares at Betty, biting her lip. "B-but Ron, I mean, you don't want to work for GJ, do you? I thought you wanted to be a chef."
Ron stares back, opens his mouth to say something, then decides against it. "Hey Betty, mind if KP and I sidebar?"
They stand outside in the hallway. Ron leans up against the wall while Kim paces back and forth in her slippers.
"So like," Ron scratches the back of his neck. "I do want to be a chef, but you matter a lot more to me than any professional stuff, KP."
She stops and looks at him. "But Global Justice is going to be so much harder than what we do as Team Possible."
"How?" Ron shakes his head. "No offense, Kim, but there's a lotta dingdongs who work here. Remember that time GJ couldn't find Drakken's secret invisible lair with all their wackadoodle technology, and yet I found said lair with a soda?"
Kim chuckles weakly. "Yeah, but I mean, the time commitment. Like we'd be working so much more often than we already do, and you don't have your powers anymore—"
Because a year ago, Ron sacrificed every last drop of Mystical Monkey Power so that Rufus could live as long as Ron.
"—and, I'm not saying you're not capable, I'm just scared of what might happen to you—"
"Kim, Kim, Kim," Ron touches her shoulders gently and she stops pacing. He looks her hard in the eye. "Can I be honest? I'm getting a little frustrated with you, I don't want to have a fight or nothin' but—"
"What?" she blurts out. "Am I being condescending? I don't mean to, I just…"
"I know, I get it," Ron sighs. "You just have a tendency to shut me out sometimes, y'know, you're kinda cagey."
She frowns and raises an eyebrow. "Name one other instance of me being, 'cagey.'"
"Huh. You still do air quotes," Ron says smugly, pretending to be a jerk. "Interesting."
Kim snorts. At least now she knows this isn't really a fight. They're just talking.
Ron continues, "Like in high school, when you locked me in that janitor's closet because you wanted to spend more time with Monkey—"
"Mankey."
"—yeah, like I said, Monkey," Ron crosses his arms. "I'm not like, bitter about that, I'm just saying, you want things for yourself so badly sometimes that you accidentally shut me out."
"That was different though," Kim sighs. "I wanted Mankey to myself, I don't want GJ to myself, I want…" she takes a second to think about it. "...I want you there with me, but not if it's totally gonna derail your life."
"It won't, I promise you, Kim," he still speaks in that same nasally whine he's had since high school, though Kim thinks it's adorable. "And I'm not letting you go at it alone, someone needs to have your back and I can't let it be Will Du or some fool. If you're taking the GJ job then I am signing on to be your partner."
She looks at him with so much affection. If it were a more tender moment, she might cup his jaw and kiss him, but for now she keeps at a distance. "But what about your dreams?"
"My dream is to be with you, Kim," Ron reaches forward and takes her hands into his. "Through thick and thin. Don't ever doubt that."
She squeezes his hands. "Okay. So you're my partner."
He grins. "Finally. Uh, we should call Wade though and see what he thinks."
She blinks. "Good call." She pulls out her Kimmunicator and thankfully, Wade answers almost immediately. He's seventeen years old now. Gone is the plump boy who is eternally sipping away at a soda. Now Wade is a plump boy with facial scruff, eternally sipping away at an iced coffee.
Kim starts off the call with some anxiety. "Hey Wade, Ron and I have a question for—"
" Yes ," Wade says almost immediately. " I'd love to do GJ with you guys. "
Kim blinks. Ron walks over and narrows his eyes. "You weren't spying on us, were you, dude?"
" No ," Wade grins. " But I've scanned GJ enough times to recognize that hallway you're in. And based on the fact that you are both in pajamas, I can only assume you got warped in through one of those tube things Betty likes using without warning. "
Kim's expression softens. Ron leans in more, his cheek accidentally brushing against hers. She blushes and to her embarrassment, Ron notices and decides to give her a li'l smooch on the cheek before moving on.
" Eeeeeew, " Wade sticks his tongue out, giving into a fit of giggles almost immediately. " Uh, anyways, yeah, I'm all in. But it's three in the morning so I'm gonna pass out now."
He clicks out, leaving Kim and Ron in the hallway together.
Silently, Kim drops the Kimmunicator into her bathrobe and grabs onto Ron's hand. She looks at him with a light in her eyes that says I love you and he grins back, flashing her the same look.
They reenter Betty's office as they've always been: together.