Kim Possible is a loose cannon cop on the edge who doesn’t take guff from anyone. Cyberwraith Nine is her rookie partner, determined to avenge the death of his pet goldfish. Ron Stoppable is the woman they both fell in love with. Together, they make…NO PROFIT!

===============================================================================

Kim Possible

The Power of Love

by Cyberwraith9

===============================================================================

        “Stupid, idiotic, irresponsible…” Will trailed off, his red face puffing as he searched for more words to hurl at his target. “And…and…”

        Ron yawned, appearing very bored at the agent’s furious rant as they lounged in the cockpit of GJ’s hoverjet. The craft currently cruised high above the Pacific, streaking back towards Upperton and home as Will finally divulged his displeasure at Ron’s performance on the mission. “You forgot ‘bumbling’.” he offered helpfully.

        “Yes, BUMBLING!” Will threw his hands up in the air, swiveling away from the controls to glare at Ron. The hoverjet’s whisper-quiet engines and state of the art autopilot allowed Will to scream at Ron unimpaired. Of course, that didn’t mean Ron was particularly impressed…only that he was receiving quality reception.

        Sitting to the side, Kim watched silently at the two duked it out verbally. There were several places she wanted to spring in at, but she wasn’t really sure which side to jump in on. On the one hand, Ron was her friend, and had only come because he was worried about her. On the other, Will had some very good points; Ron’s carelessness ‘had’ nearly turned them into vacationing atoms.

        Will watched with increasing fury as Ron stretched lazily, lacing his fingers behind his head as he leaned back in his chair. Down at his leg, Rufus did the same, sagging against his pocket flap with a wide yawn. “Well?” The agent demanded, “Do you have anything to say?”

        He shrugged, letting his eyelids droop as he felt the aches and pains of the fight make their protest known. The one particular ache that was yelling at him was getting very annoying indeed. “I just think you’re being too hard on yourself, is all.” Ron said smugly, his eyes still closed.

        Will froze at this, his own eyes narrowing dangerously. A low groan wafted from the copilot seat as Kim laid her face in her hands. Leaning closer to Ron, Will felt his temper growing to dangerous heights. “I wasn’t talking about myself, Stoppable.”

        One of Ron’s eyes cracked open and rolled lazily towards Will. “Oh, sorry.” he shrugged again, “I thought you were yelling at the bozo who blew the mission.” The comment drew another moan from Kim, though she didn’t jump to either boy’s rescue yet.

        “Remind me again which one of us disabled the nuclear explosion?” Will challenged.

        “Uh-huh. And which one of us couldn’t even handle Killigan?” Ron kept his monocular look on the irate agent for a moment longer before returning to his ‘nap’.

        “I…” Will stammered, turning three different shades of purple. He sputtered and fumed, so much so that Kim actually feared he might explode. Finally, he threw himself out of his chair, stomping his boots against the deck as he threw, “I’m going to write my report,” into Ron’s serene face.

        Then he clomped off, disappearing into the rear compartment. The door slid behind him with a silent electronic ‘whoosh’, which was really too bad; with the mood Will was in, some door-slamming would have done him some good.

        

        A low chuckle rumbled from the back of Ron’s throat as soon as Will was gone. “That stick of his…” he laughed softly, shaking his head.

        

        Kim groaned with frustration, rising from her seat. “Forget the stick, Ron.” she sighed. “Will’s being a jerk, but he’s not exactly wrong.” She said the last part with a little hesitation.

        

        Now both of Ron’s eyes were wide open. Even Rufus looked up, poking his head out of his pocket at Kim’s uncharacteristically accusing tone. “What?” He sat back up, staring at her incredulously. “Kim, at least we…I mean, it’s not like…uh…”

        

        “Ron,” she shot him a look she usually saved for her father’s ‘Li’l Kimmie-cub’ stories. “You nearly rendered a country uninhabitable.”

        

        “Well, yeah,” he said defensively, also rising. Rufus took the opportunity to jump into his warm seat, curling up with a squeaking yawn. “You aren’t looking at the bright side…the big picture, so to speak.” Ron insisted.

        

        She cocked a brow. “Which is?”

        

        He began listing reasons, ticking them off on his fingers. “One,” he said, “There ‘was’ no nuclear explosion, to which you, Rufus and I are living proof of.”

        

        “Granted.” Kim nodded.

        

        “Two,” he continued, “I only nearly blew up a country we don’t even ‘like’. It’s not like,” he searched, waving his hand in the air as if stirring around a list of options, “It’s not like I nearly blew up France!” He paused, blinking as he considered his own words. “Wait, forget I said France.”

        

        “And number three?” Kim asked with an air of impatience, trying desperately to keep her deadpanned expression from cracking.

        

        “Simple.” His patented ‘I’m-Ron-So-Please-Don’t-Crucify-Me’ smile flashed as he spoke. “If I hadn’t been there, Will totally would have wet his jumpsuit.” A deathly serious look crossed his face as he leaned in, whispering, “These seats are real leather. Can you imagine the mess?”

        

        Kim’s features finally broke with a huge grin. She couldn’t help but chuckle as she ruffled Ron’s hair. “Okay, okay.” she gave in with a laugh. “Just make sure there aren’t any international incidents on the next mission, all right?”

        

        His entire face lit up at this. “Next time?” At her nod, he thrust his fist up and spun in his chair, squishing Rufus without even realizing it. “Boo-yah!”

        

        “In the meantime,” she added with a sigh, “I’ll try to smooth things over with Will.” She was still a little ticked at Ron, but seeing as how they hadn’t wound up in the middle of an expanding ball of thermonuclear death, things could have been a lot worse.

        

        As she slid back into her seat and turned to the controls, she felt a pair of strong hands envelop her shoulders from behind. A different kind of sigh erupted from her lips as Ron’s nimble fingers kneaded her sore muscles. Her head lolled about as she melted contently into his touch, feeling kinks she didn’t know she had being worked out.

        

        “No big, KP.” he assured her. He gave another smile as she looked up at him, captivating him with her luminous eyes. Not for the first time, he found himself lost in her oceans of emerald beauty. He only hoped she didn’t notice. “It’ll be better after things calm down.” he managed to say without stuttering.

        

        “I hope so,” she moaned, patting his hand. Her cheek brushed against his fingers as she closed her eyes, suddenly feeling exhausted. “This weekend’s been a madhouse.”

        

        “You’ll see.” he reassured her. “Once we get back to school, everything’ll be okay.”

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-MONDAY-

        The dim lighting at Bueno Nacho was more than enough for Rufus to clearly see the look of dejection and worry plastered on his best friend’s face. The naked mole rat was waist-deep in a Grande Nacho Platter, enjoying the sensation of warm cheese seeping between his claws as he gnawed on a veritable field of corn chips.

        Ron, on the other hand, was not enjoying his food nearly as much as Rufus was. It sat in front of him, still wrapped and stone-cold as he leaned against the booth’s table, arms folded and head lowered. His eyes were locked ahead as if he were concentrating on some distant point. As Rufus well knew, the thought wasn’t too far off. However, it was a person he was thinking of, and not a place.

        Heaving a sigh, Ron checked his watch. It was a quarter to ten o’clock. The sun had set long ago behind the row of campus buildings. Ron had a front-row seat, since he had occupied that very booth for the better part of three hours. And now, the place would be closing in a few minutes. “Where is she?” Kim almost never ran late, and when she did it was usually connected with some world-saving jiggery-pokery.

        “Hey!” a high, nasally voice called at him from the counter. Even without looking, he knew the word was directed at him. No one else had entered the store for a half-hour. “We’re closing up. Either order something, or get out.”

        Ron turned with a dull heart. Then he stopped, staring at the familiar face situated behind the counter. “Ned?”

        The pimply, greasy scowl behind the man’s thick glasses was unmistakable, and Ron doubted that anyone else on the planet would wear such a hideous clip-on tie. Still, the man shook his head. “No,” he insisted, pointing to his nametag, “I’m Ted. Though I do have a brother who works over in-“

        “Middleton, yeah.” Ron finished for him, turning back to his food. The wrappers were still untouched, which was unthinkable for the Prince of Bueno Nacho. He had wanted to wait for Kim, remembering a few times when she had half-jokingly told him it was rude to start without someone. The one time he remembered, and she hadn’t even shown up.

        “So?” Ted demanded, leaning over the counter. “You gonna eat something, or do I have to toss you out?”

        The thought of the skinny, noodle-armed taco jockey getting rough almost made Ron laugh out loud, but not quite. Ron stood obligingly, gathering up his cold food. A gentle hand removed Rufus as he took a napkin from the dispenser, cleaning the giggling rodent’s claws before pocketing him. He gathered up the remains of what was going to be their dinner and tossed it away. “Yeah, I’m going.”

        

        Seeing that he wasn’t going to need to chase this one out, Ted grew a little curious. “What were you doing here, anyway?” he asked, pushing his glasses further up his grease-covered nose. “You’ve been here all night.”

        

        “I was…” Ron paused at the door, looking back at Ted with an unreadable expression. “I was waiting for a girl.”

        

        “A girl?” Ted laughed at this, pounding the countertop. “What kind of doofus would wait around that long for a girl? I would have gotten the hint hours ago!”

        

        As he pushed through the door (quelling the sudden urge to force-feed Ted his own nametag), part of Ron couldn’t help but agree with the clerk. Another part wondered what had happened; Kim had never stood him up without at least calling ahead. ‘I’ll give her a call tomorrow.’ he thought to himself. He had already left several messages on her phone, so maybe she would call him. The thought brought a little cheer back to Ron, but not much.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

        

        Kim laughed, swinging a nasty-looking sidearm at her side as Will walked her back to her door. They both wore GJ jumpsuits equipped with standard holsters, and Kim had to admit that the garment was growing on her. As she caught her blurred reflection in the polished metal of the corridor, even she had to admit that it looked good on her. Will had said as much…

        

        “Are you serious?” she said, red in the face from laughter. Surprisingly, Will was the same. She had never seen him laugh before, but since they had started training together, he had really loosened up. The calm, relaxed Will was definitely a side to him that she liked seeing.

        

        He nodded, holstering his weapon as he grinned at her. “Absolutely. My very first day of weapons training, Doctor Director herself…of course, then she was just Doctor Vice-Director, but all the same…I…” he trailed off, his words dissolving into infectious laughter.

        

        “Oh man,” Kim gasped, out of breath.

        

        “I shot her eye patch right off.” He zipped his finger right past his skull, mimicking a bullet’s whistle. “Broke the strap. She said it was the most amazing shot she had ever seen.”

        

        “You didn’t!” she insisted.

        

        “It’s true! And then I said, ‘Well thank you, Doctor,” He had to pause to recollect himself, stifling his laughter long enough to finish the story, “But…but I was really aiming for that target there next to you.”

        

        “You lie!” Kim laughed, punching him in the shoulder.

        

        He took the blow good-naturedly, pretending to surrender to her superior fighting skill. “It’s the truth. I don’t think I’ve ever seen her look so pale.”

        

        They continued on, laughing and carousing until they finally reached Kim’s door. Will quieted at this, which prompted Kim to do the same as she opened the door. “Listen, Will…” she rubbed the back of her neck, suddenly feeling uncomfortable. “Thank you.”

        

        “No problem.” He took the firearm from her, placing it in his other holster so she wouldn’t have to worry about it. “Firearms are a little hard to get used to at first, but you seem like a natural.”

        

        “No,” she insisted with a gentle shake of her head. Her hands raised in a gesture that circled the building as she said, “Thank you for…all of this. I guess that’s why I’ve been so happy. It’s amazing.”

        

        “No thanks necessary.” he countered. “It isn’t anything you don’t deserve, Kimberly.”

        

        “Call me Kim.”

        

        The two teens stood quietly for a moment, neither one sure of what to say. Both noticed that the distance between them had somehow shrunk. Finally, he pulled back, giving her a smile. “Good night…Kim.”

        

        “Good night, Will.” she returned the smile as her door slid shut. As she entered the apartment, her eyes caught sight of the clock over her microwave. She was surprised at how quickly the time had gone during Will’s training session. Still, the dull ache in her muscles told her that it had been long enough.

        

        She began fixing herself a warm glass of milk when she noticed a blinking red light on her answering machine. Checking the ID, she wasn’t surprised to find that all four messages were from Ron. “Probably wanted to talk about Physics.” she smiled to herself, thinking back with a shudder to Wade’s horrific science class. Still, as she pressed the button, she couldn’t quite shake the nagging feeling that she had forgotten something.

        

        “Hey KP,” Ron’s voice echoed electronically from the machine. Kim’s smile grew wider, until the message continued on. “It’s about seven-twenty, and I’m not sure where you are. Just wanted to make sure you were okay. Hope to see you soon.”

        

        The digital recording beeped as it moved on to the next message. Kim frowned: Why was Ron checking up on her? “Wait a minute…” She rubbed her temples as that nagging feeling began to coalesce.

        

        “KP, hey,” the next message started out. “Ron again. Eight o’clock on the nose. Your tacos are getting cold, but if you want to still pop on by, I bet we could get you a reheat or something.”

        

        “Oh man!” Kim finally remembered, leaning back against her fridge with a mug of cold milk in hand. She had completely forgotten about meeting Ron for dinner.

        

        Her hand reached for the phone when the third message began to play. Pausing a second, she listened to the third, and then the fourth voice mail Ron had left for her. The last had come at nine-thirty, saying that the shop was closing soon. Some quick math told her that he had waited for her at least two and a half hours at Bueno Nacho.

        

        Her milk forgotten, Kim picked the phone up and dialed Ron’s cell. A moment later, she heard his chipper voice pipe through. “Hey!”

        

        “Ron, I’m-“

        

        “This is Ron.” The message continued. “I’m off fighting crime or failing a test, so leave your message at the sound of the naked mole rat. Ciao!” The message ended with Rufus’s impression of an answering machine, followed by a pair of muffled chuckles before the real beep came.

        

        Kim left a quick message, apologizing profusely and offering to pick up dinner tomorrow, maybe after a movie or something. Then she collapsed into one of her easy chairs, feeling exhausted and guilty. “Hope he’s not mad,” she sighed to the empty room.