I. When They Were 15
"So… assuming Shego does what I'm pretty sure she's going to do, she'll break in from here," Kim taps the museum blueprint with her pen, wrist limp. "We don't want that obviously, so I think if we get Wade to make some kind of booby trap to dissuade her from going that way…"
Ron yawns.
Kim eyes him and continues, "...we can funnel her into this other spot here," she taps the map again. "Which is where we can—Ron are you even paying attention?"
Ron draws back, a little startled, and Kim feels bad. She didn't mean for that to be so biting.
"Sorry," she mumbles.
It's sophomore year of high school, and love is in the air. A few weeks ago, Doctor Drakken actually came up with a pretty good scheme to take over the world. Kim had to put a lot of elbow grease in to stop him and Shego in this widely televised smackdown. Ron stepped up his A-game at the last second and helped Kim, and together they saved the world. All on TV.
Ron turned and looked to Kim, and she stared right back. Then she draped her arms around his shoulders and kissed him hard. His clammy hands went to her back while he kissed her back. Kim got in huge trouble with the 'rents for kissing someone like that. But she doesn't really regret it.
Though sometimes Kim thinks it was just the adrenaline talking. Their bodies were practically vibrating when the battle was over, and they both needed to just keep moving. So now, Kim Possible and Ron Stoppable are dating.
"No, I'm here, I'm present," Ron sighs. "Just, uh, blah."
"Blah?" Kim asks, looking back to the blueprints again, eyes scanning it rapidly for any flaws in her plan. She used to plan and strategize her missions by herself, but once she started dating Ron, she figured she might as well let him in on another part of her life.
Plus, it might be cute planning capers together. She honestly doesn't really know what else to do on a date but talk so… it doesn't matter anyways. Ron definitely doesn't like doing this with her.
"Yeah," Ron grunts, slouching on the couch in the treehouse. "I'm blah about… um…"
She looks at him seriously. "Ron, you know you can tell me anything, right?" She forgets to smile so she gives him one at the end.
"Okay," he takes in a deep breath. "The planning stuff is just kinda boring for me, I don't know. Like whatever you think is best is cool with me."
This doesn't really surprise Kim. But for some reason she can't quite identify, it makes her feel really shitty. She's with Ron practically 24/7 now because of the whole dating thing and their dynamic doesn't feel any better than it did before.
"Like, don't get me wrong, Kim," Ron palms his neck, face all scrunched up. "Our missions are bomb, I'm just… like, I'm not invested in them like you are."
This is starting to sound really serious now. Kim doesn't want to stop planning because like, Shego's hitting the museum tonight but… maybe if it was a friend thing, she could push their personal strugs aside until the mission is done. But they're dating so she should at least try to be selfless. Halfheartedly, she pushes the blueprints aside.
Ron gives her a little grin. "Like, you do missions to save the world, right?"
Kim shrugs. "I mean, why else would I do it?"
"I dunno," Ron sighs. "But hear me out, okay? I don't really care about the world saving stuff, like you got that covered… I, uh, I only do the missions because like… because like…" He pushes his index fingers together. "Well, they're dangerous. And I want to protect you."
Kim feels some heat rise into her cheeks. "Th-thanks Ron."
Ron is really pale though. Like, he's not blushing back. This isn't… this isn't a romantic moment. Or at least it's not supposed to be. It makes Kim feel really confused; she must have misread him.
"I, um, I…" Ron keeps stuttering.
"Am I making you feel uncomfortable?" Kim raises an eyebrow.
"No, no," Ron shakes his head. "It's just, uh… I think… that we… should—" He winces really hard and bows his head. "—breakup! There, I said it. I think we should break up."
Kim drops the pen, and just sits there in stunned silence.
She's supposed to cry, right? That's what you do when people break up with you. You bawl your eyes out, and eat ice cream in bed while complaining to your girlfriends on the phone. Or something. But no tears come to her. She's just… there. In a perfectly normal moment.
"We're with each other all the time, Kim," Ron squeaks. "The missions are just not fun for me anymore, like, it's really hard for me to appreciate how special you are when I'm always with you. Does that make sense?"
She nods, hoping he's not expecting her to say anything.
"Too much of a good thing I guess," Ron shrugs. "Um, this is okay with you, right? I mean if you want to stay together and tryta make it work we can…" He keeps rambling and Kim just sits there, blinking stupidly.
She just never would have thought Ron would be the one to break up with her. More than that, she really didn't expect to feel absolutely nothing if it did happen.
"Yeah," Kim fidgets. It makes her sort of uncomfortable that Ron only does the missions for her. There's like, a complete imbalance in their friendship because of that. It's so weighted towards her. But she's not going to tell him to stop, he needs to decide that for himself. "I'm ok with breaking up. I guess. I'm sorry I kissed you that night, I feel so stupid."
Ron reaches out to grab Kim's shoulder but she doesn't notice. She continues, "It just made sense at the time I guess. We've been through so much together, like, you'd think we'd connect like that and um…"
"Kim," Ron says boldly. "I live in your shadow."
It's not the first time he's told her that, she used to argue that she's in his shadow too, but that always upsets him so tonight she refrains.
"And I kinda just want to try new things, like make new friends, date other people, strike while the iron's hot or whatever," Ron explains. "We'll still do missions and be best friends, I just… I don't know, I keep doing like the most obvious things I can, like dating you is pretty obvious, not gonna lie. Especially with news shows always pairing us together…"
That is true. She hates the pressure adults put on them. They're just kids.
He continues, "I want to like, I don't know, go out with another guy or something." He immediately cringes, as if he's expecting Kim to be homophobic or whatever.
"Ron, you don't have to keep explaining yourself to me—wait, go out with another…" Kim repeats that to herself. "...oh. Are you, um…"
Ron rocks to and fro in his chair, nervous like a little kid. "I think I'm bi. I, uh, aw man, that was like, the worst way I could've come out to you, sorry. And um, I'm explaining myself because I really don't want to hurt your feelings, KP. I still love you."
Kim's head is all jumbled. This conversation is way too dense. She can't keep up. She unfolds the blueprint on the table across them, lifting her pen back up. "Well, I'm not hurt, thanks Ron. And for the record, I think I'm bi, too. I guess now that we're both single, we can like, go see what that's about."
Ron nods. It's so tense still. This kind of energy is so constricting, and it's never been in the treehouse before. Kim wants it out.
"So," Kim smirks, spinning the pen between her fingers. "Are you going to ask out Felix or is it someone else?"
Ron blushes, scratching his cheek. "Heh. Y-yeah, maybe. One day."
Kim smiles and gets back to drawing up the blueprint. God she knows Ron all too well.
"Yo," Ron commands her attention all of a sudden. She looks to him and he's just so sly. "It's Bonnie, isn't it?"
Kim's cheeks get so red it totally clashes with her hair. Steam might as well shoot from her ears.
Ron bursts into laughter and at least it feels like old times again.
Goddamit, how did he know it was Bonnie?! Ron knows Kim way too well.
II. When They Were 18
" You don't think I'm scared too ?"
Kim confessed that to Ron about ten minutes ago. Since then, they saved the world, discovered they didn't save the world just yet because Warmonga and Warhok were still alive, and then Kim got dangled in the air by her foot and whipped against the ground like a broken toy. Then Ron saved the world with his whacky Mystical Monkey Power. So it's over.
Kind of.
Covered in ash, graduation robe in tatters, Kim takes Ron's hand and he looks at her calmly. As if none of that just happened. As if what he just did was totally normal. She doesn't know what to think. Whether or not she should be scared of this person. So she hugs him really tight because she's still scared. He rubs her back and it helps a lot.
Kim can see Drakken and Shego off in the distance, watching them. She wishes they weren't here. She pulls back, staying in Ron's arms and looks at him very seriously. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah," Ron flashes his teeth. "I'm good now. I like fulfilled my destiny and stuff. Pretty cool, right?"
Kim gently releases his arms and steps back, staring at him cautiously. "Yeah."
He raises an eyebrow, but shrugs it off. "Well, um… we won! Day's saved, woo! I think everything's gonna be, like, smooth sailing from here on out."
"Ron…" Kim says.
Ron either ignores her or genuinely doesn't hear her. He throws his hands on his hips. "You know—"
"Ron," Kim urges again.
"—you'll go to your fancy schmancy college, I'll like hang out here probs, we'll go long distance and see each other during missions and stuff! Booyah, I think—"
"RON!" Kim screams it this time, and it rattles even her.
Ron flinches, looking at Kim with bewildered eyes. He's never looked at her like this before. "Whoa, Kim, amp down, we're good now! I mean, you told me graduation wouldn't be the end of the world and look—"
Kim narrows her eyes. She can't help herself. Her heart is racing, her knuckles whitening as she clenches.
"No Ron," she says slowly. "We are not good ."
Ron's jaw almost drops, but he catches himself, laughing nervously, looking from side to side. "What—what do ya mean, KP? Of course we're good…"
Unbelievable, so un-fucking-believable, she can't believe he's acting like this right now.
Tears are coming to her eyes, and Kim is not a crier. She can think of only one time she's cried in the past few years, and it was two Christmases ago when she thought Ron was dead. And those were just sniffles. But it's really coming on now.
There's this plane they are both standing on, and it's widening by the second. She doesn't recognize him.
"Ron," Kim draws in a deep breath, throat tight. "You just named a ton of things that have been making you anxious. The long distance stuff, the college thing… that's your baggage, Ron."
Ron frowns, blinking. "I… I'm sorry, I don't get it, KP. I mean," he squeaks out a nervous laugh, face getting sweaty. "You're worried about that stuff too, right?"
Kim shuts her eyes, shaking since she's so upset. "No, I'm not."
She hears dirt scraping and looks up to see Drakken and Shego coming over. Drakken is like walking on air, skipping through an imaginary field of flowers, having just saved the world with one of his dumb inventions. Shego on the other is concerned, and she steps between Kim and Ron very suddenly.
"Hey, guys," Shego says quickly. "Looks like things are getting a little tense, huh? We're all kinda amped up right now, maybe let's—"
"No," Kim cuts Shego off, staring daggers at her. "We're doing this right now."
Shego bites her lip and politely bows back, turning on her heel and whisking Drakken away to somewhere else for him to skip. A breeze blows through and Kim feels uprooted dirt hit her ankles. The past year has been building up to this:
Ron getting childishly jealous over Kim and Eric. Ron stealing Kim's battlesuit to get onto the football team so he could impress her. Ron making a documentary about himself binge eating Bueno Nacho after she told him not to. And now this.
She knows there have been good times, but all she's seeing right now is red.
"We have known each for almost our whole lives , Ron," Kim says, and it comes out much more watery and flimsy than she'd like it to. She doesn't feel strong at all. "How do you not understand what I'm scared of?"
"W-w-well," Ron stumbles. "Y-you're Kim Possible, you know? You can do anything and—"
That's just what the media says about her. They romanticize her and put her on a pedestal. When colleges know Kim is applying, they presumptuously send her acceptance letters from places she wasn't even interested in.
No one actually knows who Kim is and what she's like. She thought Ron did, she really thought he did, but standing here right now, seeing his stunned expression, it all feels like such a waste.
"—I'm sorry, Kim," Ron stops himself, "I really fucked up, didn't I?"
She nods and wipes away her tears with her sleeve, but all the dust on the fabric just makes it even worse.
Kim is afraid of so much. She's spent her childhood training up to become the Kim Possible and she's quickly approaching burnout. There is nothing she sees for her future that goes beyond this . This is all she does, she waits in her room, staring at walls until Wade beeps her. She saves the world and comes home. Stares at walls some more. She's like a machine. Hell, if she were a machine she'd be so much more efficient.
College is her chance to reclaim her life, and make it her own. To live as an actual human being with thoughts and desires and ambitions, but now she doesn't even have a plan. She put her heart and soul into her missions, and now there is nothing left. There is only the Teen Hero.
She's played this game with Ron for too long; they both crept in each other's shadow.
But Ron doesn't see that at all. He doesn't understand, he never noticed that any of this was going on. She doubts if she explained it that he would even get it. She wants to scream so badly.
"Do you… do you want to talk about it?" Ron's voice is so small.
Kim's pupils dilate. She could tell him. She could try to make this right.
But it's too late now. She really thinks it's too late for him. "No," she chokes. "I'm sorry Ron. I need to go."
Kim turns away immediately, not even sure what that means. Where can she go? She's in a crater right now. Middleton is destroyed. Her home was destroyed in the invasion. It's just her and Ron. Where the fuck can she even go?
"Kim," Ron steps towards her, reaching out to her. "Come on. Let's talk about it."
"No," she shouts, her shoulder blades sinking and rising like bat wings. "We're done. I'm sorry, Ron. I really am."
She looks back at him, lets him see the tears rolling down her filthy cheeks. She's the bad guy now. She doesn't have to do this, there are ways out of this problem that don't involve breaking up with Ron. But she's not strong enough for that, she doesn't want to do it, she can't even stand looking at him… no, it's not Ron that pisses her off.
What hurts is watching him look at her. He does it with so much fondness, and god dammit why?! Why does he even care about her? She's horrible.
"This is my fault," Kim sobs, and walks away.
III. When They Were 21
Left hook, right swing, uppercut, chop to the head, all so predictable. It's not the goon's fault that all of his moves are so telegraphed. Kim has just been doing this Kim Possible thing for way too long, and knows how to read a body. She sees the individual muscles pinch, she notices how eyes flit about, and she understands how someone will try to fight her.
She blocks Dementor's goon's attacks easily and kicks the goon in the side of the head. He flops with the swing of her foot and rolls over the railing to the catwalk, tumbling to the lab floor below. She makes sure to avoid kicking him into the vat of acid below because, uh, that's a thing in Dementor's lab apparently.
Kim teeters back on her raised heel, regaining her balance when all of a sudden she backs into something. The force of it knocks her forward and she has to catch herself on the railings so she doesn't faceplant.
"Ron, watch where you're going!" Kim hisses behind her.
"Sorry, KP!" Ron chirps, going toe to toe with a goon himself. By Kim's count, she's downed two goons for every one Ron has gone up against. He used to be a lot stronger, but it's okay.
Last year he still had Mystical Monkey Power. But Rufus was dying. Kim took a flight to get to Ron in time, to visit him in Middleton where Rufus was deathly pale, hardly moving for days on end. Ron was so hurt.
He knew that if he just gave his powers to Rufus, it could save the naked mole rat's life. But giving up his powers felt selfish to Ron, he explained to Kim where it was like, not fair to the world and the "greater good" for him to do that. He was supposed to protect people and save lives, but with some encouragement from Kim he gave his powers up to keep Rufus alive.
She just doesn't want Ron to live like her and to never be selfish. She's happy he listened.
That's when Kim and Ron fell in love again. They're long distance now, and only see each other during missions. Kim's a part time student. She tried full time but it was impossible with all the time she needed off, so now she'll be in college for six, maybe even seven years.
"OW!" Kim screams as Ron accidentally kicks Kim in the small of her back. "Watch it, Ron!"
"Sorry, KP!" Ron shouts frantically, trying to swat off the next incoming goon. He lamely punches the dude in the jaw and Kim groans, flipping around and decking the guy out for him. Fuck, that hurt her knuckle. She flashes Ron the most annoyed expression. "You haven't been skipping your practice, have you?"
The tips of Ron's ears ignite.
She could claw his face off.
Dementor blows a whistle from high up and waves at Kim and Ron. Below Dementor, a shit ton of goons gather into one massive clump.
Ron leans into a fighting stance. Kim swats at his bent arms. "That's not how we do crowd control."
One goon whoops and they all charge down the catwalk in a flood.
"Okay," Kim sighs. "Give me a second, um. Oh! Operation Rocket Kick. You in?"
"DO I!?" Ron screams with delight. He loves using his rocket shoes. He grabs onto Kim's hand and even though they both have heavy duty gauntlets on, it still feels damn good to hold his hand. If even just for a second. They smile at each other, Kim's frustrations ebbing.
"On my count," Kim grins and looks to the incoming stampede. "Five. Four. Three."
She stops counting and swings Ron in a full 360 rotation. She keeps him high up, her arms burning from all of his body weight pulling against her muscles. The plan is to swing Ron directly into the first goon that arrives, and have him rocket kick the guy's chest. It'll start a domino effect against the goons, while also blasting Kim and Ron away from harm.
But Ron miscounts and activates his rocket shoes a half second too early, at around the 270 point.
Ron careens off in the complete wrong direction, leaving Kim alone with the onslaught. She tries to leap out of the way, but it's too late, and they bulldoze into her, smashing her all the way across the catwalk and right into the wall.
~*K/R*~
Ron watches in horror from afar. There's got to be at least twenty goons surrounding Kim now. He can faintly hear the ploomp! of each punch she sends their way, but fuck that's a lot for one person to handle. And it's all his fault. He was acting like a dipshit and now Kim might die.
Gah, stop panicking, Stoppable. It's not helping Kim. Ron kicks off the walls, and rockets over to where Kim is, landing on top of the railing of the catwalk. He sprints over to where he can see Kim decking goon after goon over and over again. But something grips him by the ankle and all of a sudden he's upside down, dangling over the acid vat. He looks up—uh, down actually— and makes eye contact with Professor Dementor who grins maliciously.
"Auf wiedersehen, Ron Stoppable!" Dementor cackles.
"RON!" Kim screams at the top of her lungs, punching one goon so hard that he flops backwards. For a second, Ron can see through the crowd. He locks eyes with Kim and mouths an anguished, " Sorry, " and feels himself fall headfirst. He's not even worried about dying, he just wants to make sure Kim doesn't feel guilty about any of this.
It's his fault.
~*K/R*~
Kim draws blood from one goon after decking him, and she sees Ron fall. Her eyes go wide and manic. Ron is not dying. Not on her watch. She jumps onto the falling goon, and rebounds off him, narrowly avoiding a lunge from another goon.
Kim lands nimbly on the railing, pulls out her hairdryer, and fires a grapple line up into the rafters. She leaps and throttles towards Ron. Very quickly, she realizes that her line isn't long enough. She can't reach him just by swinging..
So when she feels it in her chest, she releases the grapple and free falls. At the last second, she manages to scoop Ron out of the air. She narrowly avoids the acid, makes it over the vat, and slams face first into the wall behind it. She tumbles to the floor, dropping Ron, and bouncing off the metal vat and crumpling on the floor.
Everything's fuzzy. She coughs up blood.
" - - - !?" Ron shouts something. She doesn't know what. This is like being underwater. She stretches her hand and catches his. He's warm. His head is like a big black blob but after a few seconds she finally comes to and sees him sobbing over her body.
"Are you okay?" she coughs.
"Oh God, Kim," Ron bites his lip and leans Kim up against the wall, checking her body for injuries. She definitely has a lot. It's honestly not that far off from the usual though.
Dementor and his goons get away, but that's fine. Kim will cross paths with them again.
She looks at Ron, and touches his cheek. For a second, it feels like they're going to kiss. She really wants to kiss him. But she probably shouldn't, her lips and teeth are caked in blood. Ron pulls out some first aid supplies and starts to clean her up. Kim closes her mouth and just stays quiet while he works away at her. She feels really guilty. She did something stupid and now he has to deal with it.
"I'm sorry," she says, and oddly enough, hears an echo. Turns out, it's not an echo; it's just Ron saying the same exact thing: " I'm sorry."
She smiles a little. From the look in his eye, she knows he has a whole speech he wants to give her.
"You go first." / "You go first."
He says that too. Same time as her.
"Jynx!" / "Jynx!"
"Uh… double jynx!" / "Uh… double jynx!"
"You owe me a soda," Kim manages to quip before Ron can get there. He shakes his head, laughing softly under his breath. "You go first."
"Okay," Ron gets onto his knees, thinking. "It's my fault—"
"Oh stop!" Kim laughs, which shifts her ribs too much and she grunts, trying to conceal her pain.
Ron sticks his tongue out, and leans back against the vat. "F'real though. I fucked that up, if I was being more careful we'd be fine I think. I'll be honest, I haven't been, um, following your training regime."
"It is a little intense," Kim interrupts, her voice all raspy and weak. "Sorry. Um, but! It's not your fault, because I didn't set you up to do this right. I made way too many assumptions, I figured we'd just connect again, just like always."
Kim bites her lip there, because that's the whole problem right there. They aren't connecting. Like at all. And not from a lack of trying.
"Yeah," Ron scratches the back of his neck. "Um. Yeah."
"Yeah," Kim echoes, stretching her legs out. "I guess we took each other for granted again, huh?"
"Sounds like it," he cranes his neck up to look at the lair from way below. "Well, I take you for granted for sure. I did back in high school too. You're fine, KP."
Her expression softens. "Ron, don't beat yourself up over graduation. That was part me, too. I didn't tell you any of the stuff I was feeling, I just figured you already knew."
He shrugs. He obviously disagrees with her, but he won't ever challenge her on it. "We suck, huh?"
She cracks a sly grin at him. "Definitely. We… suck."
They nod with each other, watching each other like predators about to pounce.
Their mouths open at the same time.
"We should break up." / " We should break up. "
Wait — break up? Why did she say that? She didn't even think about it, she just… ended it, right then and there.
She feels really hurt, she doesn't want Ron to know she's hurt. So she makes a joke. Turns out he does too.
"Jynx!" / "Jynx!"
"Double jynx!" / "Double jynx!"
"You owe me—" / "Soda to me, please," Ron finishes smugly. "I figured out how to say it faster."
Kim shakes her head, resting her wrist on her knee. Maybe it's not so bad. That or she just tricked herself. She's not sure. "Wow. I guess I feel relieved, huh? Do you?"
"Yeah, actually!" his voice lifts. "Wait, do we still do missions?"
She shrugs. "I mean, you know more than anyone that my mission partner does not need to be my lover."
"Touche," he purses his lips. "Cool. Cool cool cool. Yeah I guess I'll help out. I'm lowkey kinda bored."
"Same," Kim says without really thinking, just moving on automatic. She tries to slow herself down so she can think.
She just broke up with Ron, but he's still going to do missions with her. Is that any different from what it was like before? Maybe she'll Skype him less or something. Obviously they won't sleep together the few chances they get it. That kinda makes her nervous.
She plants one of her hands to the floor, pulling a scratch on her wrist. She gets beat up a lot, and as a result, she gets really touch starved for affection. Well, maybe she can find a girlfriend or whatever, or fuck buddy, or… maybe set up some kind of platonic intimacy with Ron. She's sure he'd be down for it.
"Can I kiss you anyways?" she asks.
His eyes flutter, and then he switches over to Faux Cocky Asshole Ron. "Gaaaay."
"Ha ha," she crawls over and dives in, trying to be gentle with him as possible. He likes gentle.
She pulls away when she's satisfied and looks at him. "It's like a best friend kiss."
"You don't have to explain it, Kim, I get it," he yawns. "We better get going or I'm going to sleep. And this is like, Dementor's lair and shit."
Kim nods and gets up, eying the lair, mind moving really quickly, trying to map out the best escape route. But she's super distracted by Ron. Way more than she was when she was dating him.
She guesses it's a relief, not having to feel any pressure or expectations. Breaking up is good. Definitely super chill. Yep.
IV. When They Were 25
It's so late at night, she really hopes he's asleep. Though she doubts it.
Gently, she creaks open the door to their thankfully rent controlled studio apartment in Los Angeles and she peers in, foot squeezing in the middle so the cats don't make a daring escape. Immediately, she locks eyes with him. Damn.
Kim shuts the door behind her and takes a seat across Ron. His arms are crossed, and he's in his pajamas, face all pale and clammy. "I'm sorry I didn't call," she sighs. "I didn't want to wake you up."
"Kim, you knew I was up," he groans, kicking his feet out. They've had this conversation so many times now, and it hardly ever strays from the script.
"I just figured you should, um," she looks away nervously. "Stop? I guess. Like, you've been on missions with me obviously. I always come back in one piece and I think it'd be healthier for you to just go to sleep rather than stay up biting your nails."
"I don't bite my nails," Ron says, a little petty. "I think you should just text me you're okay. I don't understand why that's so hard for you."
She doesn't either. She also doesn't like being told what to do. She's like, twenty five years old now, and she still has that childish tendency.
"How were they?" Ron asks without any kind of emotion. He's probably trying to lighten the mood a little, regardless of how ferociously pissed off he is.
"Eh," Kim shrugs, clasping her hands together. It's so quiet. She wishes he had the TV on in the background or something. "Same old, same old. Drakken rants and raves, Shego emasculates him, he complains, I beat them, and the lair blows up. Actually tonight was really cool! He—"
She sees the look in his eyes, and clamps her jaw tight. "—nevermind."
He raises an eyebrow. "What?"
"It's nothing."
"Well obviously it's something."
Kim just draws back deeper into the chair. Her and her big mouth. Why did she have to say anything?
Ron leans his cheek into his palm, kicking his foot back and forth, eyes narrowed. And then…
"Did he hurt you?" he asks.
"Ugh, Ron stop!" she snaps, finally raising her voice. "He didn't do anything, he just figured out that he could use the Kimmunicator's frequency to pinpoint my location, and then use that to ambush me."
Ron pauses. "And that's cool ?"
Oh, she sees his point. "It was more fun for me at least, everything else with Drakken is been there, done that. Like any day now he's going to roll out another Weather Machine I swear."
She was trying for a joke but clearly it didn't land like it was supposed to.
"You're not taking me seriously at all, are you?" Ron deadpans.
"No, I'm not!" she admits. "You're being ridiculous. I'm not going to die on some stupid Drakken mission. They're not even trying to kill me, they just like doing this thing with me—"
"Oh, so it's not even a save the world thing," Ron growls.
"—well, yeah, it still is," Kim backpedals fast. "It's just…" She can't think of anything to say so she just gives up and slumps.
Ron's eyes flit away. "Okay, so like, while you're out there, doing these missions for free—"
"They're not free," Kim mumbles. She could talk about how she at least managed to get government funding to run her operation with all expenses paid for. She's sure eventually she'll be able to work out some kind of salary.
Ron pretends he didn't hear her, "—I'm toiling away at Smarty Mart, doing clopen after clopen—" Those are the shifts where you close, sleep like four hours, and get up again to open. Ron hates them. "—just to make this work. And you're out there having fun with Drakken and Shego, forgive me if I'm a little upset right now."
Kim crosses her ankles, elbows bending at sharp angles as she sinks deeper into the cushion. "What do I have to do?"
She's serious. She disagrees with him but like, she'll make sacrifices for him. She'll lay over and do whatever it takes. She's in it for the long haul now.
Ron flinches and shrugs, throwing his hands in the air. And she starts to get the sense he's not as interested as she is.
"I don't know. Like, best case scenario, you quit missions entirely, get a job that can back us up with health insurance, and I don't know, we can be together. I never see you anymore. We've broken up like, three times now. And I really want to make it work this time, I love you so much."
Kim sniffs, and turns away. "I love you too… b-but, like, I can't Ron. You know I can't just stop. Aside from you, it's um… it's all I have."
Kim took a year off from missions towards the end of her time in college and it was a disaster for her mental state. She's been doing this for too long for a simply off switch to save her. Anytime she's not out there, she sees what's happening to the world and she blames herself.
It's even worse now that she's in her physical prime.
They make pretty meaningful eye contact. Both of their eyes are shining.
She looks away again. "Don't blame yourself for not being out there with me."
Ron sniffles loudly and croaks, "Thanks, KP."
Kim looks at her lap, feeling so uncomfortable just being there. She wants to run away and scream. But she can't. "So I guess I'll make sure to text you when I'm okay and everything? Keep you in the loop."
Ron doesn't move at all, but she can tell he heard her. She starts to feel really lightheaded.
Ron shakes his head, muttering something under his breath, and looks at her. "That's not enough for me. I need you here… and I know it's shitty to ask you of that. Fuck, Kim. Why the fuck are we so incompatible? Why does this keep happening?"
She tries not to think about all the breakups, she tries to ignore the red flags, but he undeniably has a point.
"We've been through practically everything together," Ron sobs.
She's not sure whether or not she should go over to hold him.
"We've been through practically everything together," Kim repeats, and adds on with some hestitance, "Up to high school. I mean, I don't know, even then it didn't really feel like you got me."
His knee twitches. It always does that when he's hurt and trying not to show it. Like he needs to physically react somehow. Too bad for him, Kim knows his ticks all too well.
Kim waits a few seconds, carefully choosing her next words. "I'll do whatever it takes to make us work, Ron. I'll make sacrifices, I'll… I'll do my best."
Ron just sits there, looking at his feet now.
"Ron?" she asks when too many seconds pass between them.
He shakes his head, and her face falls.
Ron looks up at her. "I'm sorry, Kim. I really am. I can't keep doing this. We're—we're done."
Kim opens her mouth to protest, but then gives up. If Ron is going to give up on them, what is even the point in trying to fix it. He's probably right.
She runs a fast analysis in her head of what's going to change. Not much objectively, she just has to move. That's fine. Oh, she might lose the cats… no she's definitely losing the cats. Prices to pay and shit.
Kim nods to herself, looking at Ron while still nodding.
"You okay?" he rasps.
She keeps nodding.
Roll with the punches, Possible. You're good at that. You can do this. Just don't cry. Don't let him see how devastated your are, it will only hurt him. Be selfless. Be Kim Possible.
"Okay," Kim tells herself, closing her eyes. "Never again."
V. When They Were 28
"Motherfucker, again?! "
Kim swats at the air; she's just so upset with herself.
Ron creaks upwards besides her, blinking and looking around the room — or rather, the treehouse. They're inside their childhood treehouse. Correction: they're naked inside their childhood treehouse. Double correction: they're naked and pressed tightly together inside their childhood treehouse.
After all, the only comfort in this thing is a couch and it takes a lot of effort to squeeze two adults together on it. Kim can feel everything that is Ron right now. Everything .
"Ooooh," it dawns on Ron very slowly. "We had sex last night." He pauses, thinking hard. Both of their heads are pounding. "We got wasted, and we had sex."
Ron looks over to Kim very proudly and she shakes her head. "Can you give me some space?"
Ron glances at the ground. "I don't wanna get splinters."
"Take the blanket, I don't care—oh fuck, it's cold."
Ron rolled off the couch, taking the only blanket with him, leaving Kim completely exposed and looking awful foolish. She grabs her elbows, all of her skin prickling in goosebumps at once. She scrunches in on the cushion, scanning for her clothes. Ron has seen her naked so many times but something about this is humiliating right now. She covers herself even though it doesn't matter, and says, "Can you hand me my stuff?"
"Yeah."
Within a minute or so, they're both dressed. She in a cute dress, he in a cute tux. Ron looks around the treehouse, apparently just taking in the nostalgia. Meanwhile, Kim is trying to figure out what the fuck happened last night. She didn't blackout or anything, she just has a lot of feelings right now and it's hard to think
Okay.
Hm.
Last night was definitely her ten year high school reunion. She almost didn't go. Like actually, she made back-up plans and everything but Monique talked her into it. Said it'd be good for her to socialize for once. And socialize Kim did. She gives Ron a sly grin and he blushes.
She remembers the reunion kinda sucked. Practically everyone who mattered brought a date. Bonnie had a girlfriend, Brick had a wife, Monique had a boyfriend, Felix had a husband, etc. and none of these partners were people Kim knew at all. She felt so out of her element and uncomfortable, being very blatantly single.
Ron was single too, of course. She hadn't seen him since their break-up. The, uh, fourth one. He was feeling the same exact dread she was. Didn't know anyone, didn't really feel like catching up with anyone, and because the reunion was on school property, alcohol was decidedly not served.
But then Ron revealed a naughty little secret to her. That hot sauce bottle he brought with him? Not hot sauce at all, it's just straight vodka. Feeling some sympathy for Kim, Ron let her snag a few shots and they both got trashed pretty fast and peaced out before anyone caught on.
Kim definitely remembers the sex being really good, despite being in an incredibly uncomfortable place. Damn, why are they in the treehouse? Obviously, going to her place or Ron's would be super weird giving the parental units… and she's pretty sure they both came into this knowing it was a one night stand—
—oh wait wait wait wait wait.
Kim holds her left hand up to her face and gasps as she notices the engagement ring. Her engagement ring. She has no recollection of doing this from last night. But now she knows why they're in the treehouse.
Ron hears Kim making noise and looks over, raises an eyebrow, and then looks at his left hand. He also gasps. And not like a classic Ron " Booyah! " At least he's on the same page as her.
Suddenly, Ron gets a little choked up, looking at the ring. "KP, this is so beautiful."
"Yeah," Kim sighs weakly. Of course it's beautiful, she bought it for him… during their last relationship. She was going to propose when he stage hooked her off stage left. She really doesn't know if she should tell him or not, that like, these are old rings . Rings she bought for her and him.
They've always been honest with each other but like… telling him she wanted to marry him last go around might make this so much more complicated than it needs to be.
"Wait…" Ron frowns. "We didn't get married last night, did we?"
Kim shakes her head. "No way. We left the school at like eleven."
"Huh," Ron narrows his eyes. "Hold the phone then. I'm confused."
"Wh-why?" Oh no.
"Well how did we get engagement rings?"
Kim can't control how much she's blushing right now. "Ron, let's focus on the fact that I proposed to you last night—"
"Wait, you proposed?!" he gasps. Shit, she said too much.
He shrugs. "Huh. Cool. Well… I doubt we bought them, what if—Kim! What if we like—stole these?! I mean, we could totally pull it off, ya know. Maybe we should turn ourselves in—"
"Ron, stop!" she accidentally screams it, fists clenched. "Okay, I have a confession. Please be calm."
She can't believe their stupid one night stand escalated into this . She'd rather focus on the fact that she just had sex with Ron after swearing him off so many times.
Ron gets onto his knees and waits patiently. Always so polite.
"I don't remember last night," Kim gets down on the floor across him. It was so surreal seeing him last night and today it's just normal. She hates it. But she takes his hands anyways. "But I'm putting two and two together and um… I bought us these."
"Wait," Ron says slowly. "You don't mean… oh shit, Kim. I…"
She bows her head. "It's fine. I was being dumb. You had every right to break up with me, but yeah I got these like… a few weeks before. And I left them in here one night when I was feeling really sentimental about you."
Ron slips his ring off with a very grave expression and hands it to her with a smile. "Well, I guess I said yes last night, huh?"
"Yeah," she blushes, taking hers off too. "I'm sorry."
"Wh-why are you sorry?"
"Well," she thinks about it. "I made it weird, I guess."
"Nah, we're always weird, don't be so hard on yourself," Ron tentatively pats her shoulder. She's okay with that. "I really miss you."
She grabs his outstretched wrist, taking in his bad boozy breath. "I did too. Clearly." She pauses, and then her nerves overcome her. "But I think last night was a mistake. I think that, um, we shouldn't like, be dating-dating, you know?"
"Oh yeah, no way, haha," he laughs awkwardly, pulling away. "Nope. Not on my watch, KP. You? Me? Kaput. Breaking up four times, I mean, talk about red flags—"
"Well I'm breaking up with you right now, so this is the fifth," Kim says softly. "Seeing how we got engaged last night."
"—well motherfucker, you're right!" he puts his hands on his hips, feigning anger.
"I think that, we, are like really pent up about each other," Kim explains, feeling like a middle schooler trying to explain marriage to their little brother, even though she doesn't get it either. "And last night was a good example of what kind of mistakes we make when we're not… um… friends. So let's be friends again and stuff."
He smiles. "I'd like that, Kim. I'd like that a lot."
She grins.
This isn't what she wants from him. She doesn't want to just be friends. But the evidence against them being an item is pretty damning. So she'll have to settle for this, and she'll have to enjoy it.
Ron makes it easy to enjoy at least. She really does love him.
I. When They Were 32
Ten seconds and counting.
Ten.
Kim takes in a deep breath. She looks from Shego to the big honkin' nuke about to destroy Middleton, Lowerton, and Upperton all in one fell swoop. There's practically nothing she can do.
Nine.
Shego makes a face at Kim, and then steps aside for her. Nodding. Like You know what to do, right? Kim eyes the missile.
Eight.
Kim looks back to Shego, like You can't be serious.
Seven.
Shego shrugs.
Six.
No time like the present, Kim sprints as fast as she can. Sprints so hard it hurts her limbs, but she runs.
Five.
Turns out when Ron sacrificed his powers, it resurrected ol' Monkey Fist. Learning that the Mystical Monkey Power is no more, the guy freaked out and is now dedicated to destroying everything that Ron knows and loves. Hence the nuke going to his hometown.
Four.
Kim leaps and hits the missile hard, fingers squeezing into the gaps between steel plates to hold herself up. She scrambles.
Three.
Kim just wishes she could say goodbye to Ron. He's out there, going toe to toe with Monkey Fist she thinks. But there's no time. Even if she did call, the deafening roar of the nuke launch would make sure nothing gets communicated.
Two.
Kim finds a hatch. She pries it open.
One.
In one fluid motion, she slips into the missile and closes the hatch besides her, a deafening boom rattling Kim's whole body as the missile soars into the air. Instinctively, Kim grabs onto whatever she can so that she doesn't fall to the base of the nuke. She doesn't have very long to pull this off.
It's hot. Really hot. She's already drenched in sweat even though it's only been like two seconds. She slips off her jacket and lets it fall. The missile turns and Kim lurches against the metal, her skin brushing against hot, hot metal and igniting in pain before promptly going numb.
Fuck, she might pass out. She finds a metal box and opens it, finding the wires she needs to cut. But everything is so hot and red down here, she can barely tell the difference between colors. Purple looks like red just like black looks like red. If she squints, she can kinda tell but…
Kim thinks she knows the combination for this specific model but if she fucks up she's getting roasted. Probably better her being the only casualty when compared to the population of three cities on Thanksgiving when everyone's in town.
Grimacing, she reaches forward. She grabs her first wire and pulls.
~*K/R*~
Ron swats Monkey Fist away, kicking him really hard in the throat. Guy is totes underwhelming on the field, and that's coming from Ron Stoppable, the guy who just started doing missions again a year ago. He glances over his shoulder and eyes the smoke trail the nuke left behind. He knows it launched, he heard it launch, but like… shit. They lost. There's no way to defuse this thing from the launch platform.
Beep-beep-de-beep!
Ron raises an eyebrow, and picks up his self-christened Ronnunicator.
"KP?" he sighs, leaning up against the dashboard. "How you holding up?"
" Talk to me ," Kim says breathlessly. There's this super loud hum around her, Ron doesn't know what that's about. He glances down to where he last saw her, and she's gone. Shego's just standing there, hands in her pockets.
Shego definitely had no idea what Monkey Fist was planning. She just got bored of Drakken and felt like freelancing, and she picked the wrong guy to work for.
"Kim, where are you?"
" I just need to hear your voice ," she chokes. She doesn't sound so good, it's like she might cry. Makes sense. " Just keep talking, okay? "
"Um… I can—I can talk, yeah. Kim, uh…" He looks out over the ocean. They're somewhere in the Pacific. The nuke has almost vanished over the horizon already. "...please don't blame yourself for this. We didn't have enough time to…" he trails off, and she doesn't say anything. "...let me come down to you. Where are you? I want to hold you."
" You — you can't hold me, I'm sorry… " she whimpers.
"Kim?" Something's wrong. She doesn't say anything. Shit. Something's really wrong. He looks back at the nuke and thinks.
Only way to defuse it at this point is from inside. "Kim, where are you?"
"I'm sorry, Ron ," he hears her hold back tears. " I'm gonna pass out. I can't… it's too hot, please, just keep talking. I love you —"
Crackle.
"Kim?"
"— I'm en route to Middleton. I'm inside the nuke, I can defuse it from inside. I have to do this. It's the only way now."
Crackle crackle.
Beep.
Line dead.
"Kim!" Ron sobs, but she doesn't respond. Holy shit holy shit. He looks around in a panic and sees a fighter jet. He's got no idea how to drive one but fuck it. Within ten seconds he's in hot pursuit of that nuke.
~*K/R*~
Kim gasps, chin thudding against a pipe. It burns her skin, and knocks her back up. She's got three wires out. She's crying, and fuck, she wouldn't be shocked if her tears evaporated into mist at this point.
No, scratch that, she's not crying, she's sobbing . She's about to die, even if she defuses the bomb. No one is here to save here. The nuke will eventually crash and crunch her bones. She just wants to be with Ron. But she can't even have that, she's too far away from him.
She needs to focus but it's so hard. The heat is unbearable. It's like sitting inside of a furnace. It's like if Shego blasted someone with her plasma and didn't let up. Any second Kim might just crumple into ash.
Two minutes pass by and her radio crackles. It startles her so much, she grabs it and leans against a pipe, trying to calm down. "Ron?!"
Stupid. How could it be Ron. It's probably some government guy who caught her signal.
" KP! " Ron cries out in glee. " Thank God. "
She blinks. Looks back at the wires and blinks again. "Wh-what?"
" I'm catching up to you. I'm in a jet thing, I'm gonna scoop you up, okay? You're not dying. "
"Scoop me… up…" she absently pulls at another wire. "...what?"
" Defuse the bomb, and jump out. I'll catch you. "
Kim goes still for a moment. That sort of makes sense. "Ron, get away, please. If this thing goes off—"
" I am not leaving you. Never again. "
It makes her smile, his devotion for her. They're in it for the long haul this time. She finally got to propose and everything. "I love you," her voice cracks, getting another wire out. "Keep talking, please, I'm fading."
" You're going to get through this, Kim ," Ron says and it's so steadying. It makes Kim feel like she really can do anything.
There are two wires left. Both are dark green. And she honestly doesn't know which one it is, maybe a few minutes ago she'd know but now…
"I don't remember," she blurts out. "I don't remember which one to pull…"
" ...that's okay, Kim ," Ron tells her. " You've made it so far. You've done the impossible. Trust your gut, I know you'll be right. "
Kim eyes the upper wire and then the lower. She doesn't have a gut instinct yet. "Where are we, do you know?"
" Idaho, I think ."
"Idaho," she repeats. Not good. They'll be in Colorado in no time and that means…
" Kim, pretend I'm in there with you, okay? Close your eyes. "
She closes her eyes and imagines his warmth on her body. It's a nice warmth, a protective one, not like this unbearable heat. Ron keeps talking to her through the radio, voice crinkling like tissue paper.
She can feel his hand on her cheek, his other hand rubbing smooth circles into her back. That's her special spot, Ron always rubs her there on the back when she gets scared and it always works. She wills herself into feeling that rub right there. She sniffs, and eyes the wires again, hand twitching.
" I love you, Kim ," Ron says. " I'm below you. I'll catch you. "
She imagines herself pulling the top wire and cheering when the bomb doesn't go off.
She whispers, "Ron, pull back the jet. Adjust for the time it'll take for me to fall to you."
" Right, heh. I guess I'm nervous too. "
She tries to make herself smirk, still eying that top wire. She knows it's that one. "Open your hatch when I say go."
" You pull the right wire? " he asks.
"I'm about to, my love," she says and lunges forward, snagging the top wire, other hand snagging the bottom one immediately afterwards. She drops them to the floor of the nuke and doesn't bother bracing herself, because she knows she did it right. And when nothing happens, when there's no self-destruct, she grins.
"I'm coming home," she clambers backwards quickly, finding that hatch she came in from. She kicks it open and the current tries to pull her out of the missile, but she's not ready. She clings to the pipes with all she has and waits a second. "Ron, go."
She releases without any confirmation, throttles out the missile, and hits the cold, cold air. It's refreshing on her skin for the moment she hangs there in the sky. And then she falls headfirst towards the ground, only to get intercepted within seconds by Ron's jet. She slams into a blue, leather seat, and the jet hatch closes over her.
"Holy shit," she murmurs, boosting herself back up.
Ron lunges at her and kisses her with everything he has. She kisses back and squeezes his arms.
Then she grips him by the jacket. "I know a place."
~*K/R*~
Kim is wearing nothing but her engagement ring, and splashing happily in a pond. It's cold as fuck, but given the circumstances, she's okay with it. Smiling to herself, she wades for a second and turns over to the shore and sees Ron, also naked, building a fire. Sun doesn't go down for a few hours but Mr. Responsible has really stepped up his game lately.
He smirks at her, knowing she's watching and she sinks into the water for a second to hide her blush, and then swims over to him. She hears his soft panting, he's still reeling from the best sex of their lives they had a half hour ago in the grass. She climbs next to him, bumping her hip next to his. "Hi," she grins.
"Yoooo," he smiles. "This is a cool spot. You've been here?"
"Yeah," Kim takes Ron's hands. "I used to take my girlfriends out here after they visited the 'rents on Thanksgiving."
"Ooh, so this is one of your go-tos," Ron laughs.
"Yeah, hey, y'know, I never thought of it before, but you're the only guy I've ever dated. Except Eric, I guess."
He smiles and shakes his head. "I'm like 50/50 with ladies and bros."
They just sort of sit there for a bit, basking in each other's presence. Kim can see Ron's face scrunch up, trying to broach a topic. She also sees him stuff it away and smile. She's pretty sure he was going to ask her to never do that again, as in, risk her life like that. A few years back he would have said it, but today he understands. Like, there's a reason she's been doing this long as she has.
"I want to tell you something," Ron says a little warily.
"Uh oh," she giggles.
He grins again and lays down. She follows and gets besides him, staring up at the clouds. It's thankfully sunny today, and the clouds are majestic.
He turns his head, cheek pressed to the grass, and stares right into her eyes. "What are you thinking about right now?" he whispers.
"Kissing you," she purses her lips playfully.
"No, no, I'm serious. Like, what are you thinking about?"
That kinda catches her off guard, and it takes a second for her to figure out what that is. "Um, damage control stuff for today. Mostly, I wanna call Shego tomorrow and make sure she's okay. She definitely didn't know Monkey Fist was planning something so nasty."
"Yeah, I picked up on that," he whispers. These are definitely leading questions. He's going somewhere with this. "Hey, look at me now."
She does, and he touches her head, running his hand through her sweeping hair.
"Kim, I'm fucking terrified of you," he tells her.
She blinks, and lets him continue.
Ron continues, "I've known you my whole life, and people talk to us like we know everything about each other. But when I look at you, I have no idea what you're thinking about. I don't know what you're going to say." His nose touches hers, and she giggles. "And I fucking love you for that."
She takes both of his hands and just lies there with him, never wanting to let go of him again. "I feel the same way. Thanks for saying it out loud."
He flashes his teeth. "Hey, no problemo. Sometimes I get sad about all our breakups, but I don't know… you grew so much between each one—"
"—you did too," she slips in. "I love you." She can never say it enough times.
He pecks her on the lips, tearing up. "Thanks KP."
They rest again and she just focuses on the here and now, how it feels to lay naked in the sun with her lover, to feel the engagement ring on her finger, to feel so powerful and loved.
"Hey Ron," she whispers.
He opens his eyes. "What's up?"
She grins. "Thanks for having my back."