Disclaimer:Disney owns Kim Possible. Only the story is mine.
Chapter 23: Delays in the Setting RonshineThe mahogany casket shown brilliantly in the mid-afternoon sun. Close friends and family took seats under the giant maple tree. As they sat quietly each took a long look at the sight before them, each remembering better times, and hoping that the gray and shadowy future before them would somehow dissolve in to a better tomorrow.
Kim sat closest to the center of attention, as was befitting of her place in his life. Placed on her left were her parents and the twins keeping and eye on Rufus. To her right sat his parents with Rabbi Katz, behind them sat most of their friends, those on the cheerleading squad, and their closest friends; Monique, Felix and Bonnie, even Mr. Barkin was asked to sit with the honored guests. The entire service at the graveside seemed to flash past as her eyes only saw the vessel of his departure from this world transfixed in her mind. As he was lowered to his resting-place she tried to move to him, but she found she was rooted by a pair of arms around her shoulders. Looking back she found Shego and Bonnie with their arms around her. Kim pleaded through sorrowful eyes to let her go to him.
To her as quickly as the service began the end came just as surprisingly quick. Before she knew it the minister was offering his personal condolences as he walked away. Rabbi Katz hugged her but she never heard his words of comfort, all she could do was smile and nod. Kim sat there staring at the open hole in the ground, the one that matched the hole in her life. As everyone got up to leave each passed the side of their now entombed friend, each dropped a single flower down to him, and gently sprinkled a handful of dirt next to him. Kim felt her mother and Rons' lift her from her seat and help her over to the edge. Their grip got tighter when they felt her start to sink to her knees. With shaking hands she dropped a single rose to the now blanketed cover.
She tried to turn to leave but her heart just wasn't in it and Kim nearly fell. With haste James reached for his daughter as sobs tore through her. Carefully he picked her up in his arms. Cradling her close he made his way back to the limousine for the ride back to the house.
As she was helped back into the house Kim spotted Monty waiting for her at the door. The look on his face was all business as he led her to the family room.
"Kimberly, before the end, Ronald gave me something for you. He said I had to give it to you after his funeral and not before. He didn't tell me what it was but I already know." Slowly he reached for a small box resting on the mantle. Taking it down he set it in her hands and gently removed the lid. Inside the box was a beautiful silver necklace with jade and some kind of blue gemwork resting in the velvet lined box. Monty took it out, "If you will permit me, I should like to put it on you."
Kim turned and pulled her hair out of his way as he started to drape it around her, but he stopped."
"Before I close the clasp there is something you should know. This necklace has extraordinary power it will keep you safe as long as it is around your neck. No one but you and I can remove it, and I have vowed to see that it stays where it is, with my life I will defend it and you until the one that is to be chosen comes forward to claim it. Do you understand the importance of what I have said?"
Kim nodded as Monty secured the clasp and stood back. As she looked at the necklace it began to pulse, faintly but then brighter it pulsed a soft blue. She looked at Fiske with startled eyes. "Monty is this… It can't be I thought he sent it back to them?"
"No, Ronald kept it with him, before he passed he placed it in this form. It is more than just a weapon and a symbol of his power, it carries part of him with in it." He nodded once and bowed ceremoniously. "Yes it is the transformed Lotus Blade."
Kim felt like she was stuck between sorrow and joy. The aura it gave off made her feel like Ron was right with her. It gave her a feeling of comfort and peace just knowing that it still carried part of him.
Tim Possible picked up the phone once he checked the caller ID, Middleton General Hospital. "Hello Possible residence Tim speaking. Yes, she's here; I'll get her. Mom…"
"Thank you Tim." Ann said taking the phone from him.
"It's a doctor Fowler. I think it's about Kim." He said relinquishing the phone.
"Dr. Fowler… It's Ann; did you get the test results. I see the blood work showed nothing. Did you…" she began but stopped suddenly. "Are you sure? There is no doubt about it. How long then? I see, I will tell her myself, and thanks for getting back to us so quickly… Good-bye." Ann replaced the phone in its cradle.
"James… can you come in here? I'm going to need you for this. We need to talk to Kim. I just got her test results." Ann led him into the living room.
Kim looked overjoyed when they entered the room. Immediately she stood to show her parents the talisman Ron had left behind to protect her. Her face dropped at seeing the both of her parents enter together. "Mom… Dad… What's wrong?"
"Kimmie… I just got off the phone with your doctor. She got back the results of the test we did."
"And what did they reveal? Am I going to be alright?" she said sounding anxious.
Ann smiled, "You're fine dear, there is nothing wrong with you. But, I think you had better sit down for this." She motioned to James. "You had better sit down too dear."
His face looked perplexed as he took a seat on the couch opposite Kim and her mother.
"I don't really know how to ask you this without sounding unfeeling, but here goes. Kimmie were you… intimate… with anyone other than Ronald?"
Kim's eyes almost popped out of her head at that question. "What? Ron and I were married. How could you ask that question of me?"
Ann held up a dismissive hand. "Calm down dear, I'm not making an accusation. I just need to know if he is the only one you've been with."
"Of course he is. How can you keep asking me these kinds of questions?" Her eyes narrowed. "Where is this leading mom?"
Ann took a deep breath, "Kimmie you're going to have a baby. Ronalds' baby."
Kim thought a minute. "We were together on our honeymoon, but…" Then she remembered their first night together; the night of his return. He had spent the night with her in her room. Wistfully she though back to that night. The tenderness and pleasure his touch had afforded her, that had truly been their first night together. Kim leaned in to her mother eyeing her still shocked father. "The night he returned, after the football game, when he stayed the night." She whispered.
It had taken almost fifteen minutes to recessitate Kim's dad after he passed out on the couch. When Ann finally roused him he looked over to his daughter beaming with a bright smile. He had been doing well until he heard those words, "Feeling better Grandpa?" He immediately started hyperventilating, and Ann rushed to the kitchen to retrieve a bag.
Shego and Bonnie stopped in the doorway staring at the appauling scene before them. Kim was positively beaming, her father was breathing, labored as it was, into a bag, and her mother and Monty stood closely beside them with crooked smiles across their faces.
"What's going on in here?" Shego asked.
Ann smiled wryly, "Kimmie's pregnant."
The pair stood there with mouths agape. They tried to enter, but got hung up in the doorway. Each trying to move at the same time as the other. The stalemate was resolved when Tara showed up and pulled Bonnie back slightly, allowing Shego through and into the family room.
"Did I hear you right?" Tara asked, "Kim's pregnant with Rons baby?"
Kim nodded with a giant smile, as Tara broke out in tears. "I'm so happy for you. Now we will always have a piece of Ron around for a long time to come."
Ann was doing the math, "Ron came home at the beginning of October, that means Kimmie with have the baby at or around the middle of July." Suddenly the situation became clear. "James, we are going to have to get Kim's room ready, we need a crib and a dressing table, a baby bath."
James looked like he was going to have another attack. 'I guess I better get to doing some overtime to pay for all this. You better Grandpa…' Under his breath he muttered. "Could this get any more odd?"
He soon wanted to revise his observations after the doorbell rang.
He could hear the visitor announce himself when the door opened. Although he could hear voices, James couldn't hear the mans name nor his purpose for the visit. A slightly less than middle-aged gentleman stood looking around the entry as Tim brought the mans card into his mother.
"Kimmie, do you feel like doing some business right now? Ronald's cousin Reuben is in the foyer."
"Rueben Stoppable? Isn't he the families lawyer?"
"Yes he is; he is here to discuss Ronald's will." Ann looked at her daughter, becoming more uneasy by the second. "You don't have to do this today Kim. This is something that can wait."
Kim took a deep breath, "No mom, I should get this started as soon as possible. Ron told me this would be coming, so let's just get the ball rolling." Leaning over she looked to Shego. "Would you mind showing him in please?"
Kim stood and hugged her now relation. "I'm sorry we couldn't get together before now. With all the people coming and with all the arrangements, the time was never there."
Rueben dismissed her apology with a wave of his hand, "Kim, if I may call you, or do you prefer to keep this professional, Mrs. Stoppable?"
"Kim is fine; I never stood much in formality." Then she got a sly smile, "However, I still like being Mrs. Stoppable."
"Kim, I really am sorry about dropping this on your doorstep so soon after Ronnie's passing. However… the trust must be managed on a regular basis."
James pulled the bag from his face, "Trust? What trust are you talking about? Ronald was all of seventeen, almost eighteen. What Kind of trust could he have?"
Rueben just smiled an almost familiar smile. "Ronnie never told you, did he?"
Kim just shook her head. The confusion mounting by the second. Slowly she scanned the faces present. Shego with a smirk, Bonnie a half formed grin, and Tara with eyes as big as saucers. Her parents weren't in much of a better condition trying to discern the context of the exchange.
"Well as you know Ron, your husband, had come into a monetary sum from the Bueno Nacho Corporation. Well, after the initial payment was dispersed, and subsequently lost, he had any further payments diverted to an account to be paid out either on his twenty first birthday or to his heirs on his passing." He leaned over and patted Kim's hand, "That would be you. I have papers for you to sign that makes you sole beneficiary of his estate and trust. He did set aside a portion of his payments for his parents in a separate account."
Kim looked shocked, "I thought he lost all of it when it was stolen by Drew?" She looked over to Shego who shrugged her shoulders. "Didn't he?"
"No Kim, Ronnie only lost the initial payment. He continued to receive monies every quarter."
"How much could he have been worth? It couldn't be that much." Kim wondered aloud.
Reuben smiled as he retrieved the papers from his briefcase, "At the time of his passing his net worth was in the neighborhood of six hundred million. Give or take fifty million."
Kim was stunned. "How could he have accumulated that kind of wealth?"
"Not only did Ronnie hold patents and copyrights on the Naco, he also contributed to the Grande Bueno Nacho franchise offerings. He also did consulting work with GJ, and he received royalties for the album he made after American Star Maker."
Kim looked down and placed her hands on her abdomen, rubbing it slightly, "Did you hear that honey, daddy left us in the black. You will get all the opportunities, all the choices he never had while he grew up"
Reuben looked confused.
Ann leaned over whispering in his ear. "Kimmie's going to be having Ronald's baby. We just found out."
"Well… that does change everything. I will work on an codicil so that the child is taken care of and provided for."
Ann escorted Reuben to the door as Kim sat there just feeling tingly. She kept rubbing her stomach with a soft touch almost expecting to feel a swelling. With a lapse in her dream world she let her eyes travel around the room. All her girl friends sat there with a stunned expression, Bonnie looked like she would fall over with a feather touch. Shego meanwhile had this weird half smile as her eyes seemed to glow with a joke not spoken. Tara just sat there almost shaking from the excitement of Kim's surprise addition to the circle.
'Don't these girls realize what is going to happen now? My Kimmie-cub is expecting… Ronald's' baby and she still has to graduate from high school.' He though for a second, 'What am I concerned about? She has more money than I could even hope to earn in my lifetime. Maybe I should ask her for a loan?' James was drawn from his own daydream as Ann returned to the room.
"Dear why don't we get you upstairs and check you out." She took him by the arm as she steadied him walking to the stairs. They stopped momentarily as they kissed Kim on the forehead.
Kim watched them disappear up the stairs before Shego broke the silence.
"So Kimmie… What do you plan to do now that Ron made you a very rich woman."
The mere mention of his name brought her euphoria to a sharp halt. Kim's eyes watered as she thought of everything he had done for her before, and now all of this. Shego rushed to her side and put her arms around Kim's shoulders.
"I'm sorry Kimmie… I didn't think. I'm so very sorry."
"No you didn't say anything wrong. It's just very hard to come to terms with. Everything has been happening so fast, all at once, I just need to get it all sorted out in my head.
"Well Kim, we are all here for you. You need something let us know. We all owe you both so much, let us be here for you now.
Shego stood and sighed. She looked down at Kim with a smile, "Well Princess… let's get this party started," as she held out her wrists to Kim.
Kim looked at her with wonder. "What are you talking about?"
"I am surrendering myself to you as per the terms of my arrangement with GJ. I have to spend one week with you under house arrest." Her voice became almost childlike, "It was the deal I made with him." Shego touched Kim's ring.
Standing face to face with Shego, Kim smiled brightly, and hugged the older girl tightly. "I was hoping that I might convince you to stick around for a while. I know Ron asked you to watch over me with Monty, but I kind of like the idea of having you as personal security."
"I will stay with you and make sure that the baby gets the care he or she deserves."
For the first time since Ron had returned Kim felt truly at peace. She still had a piece of Ron that she carried within her, the endowment he left for her, and the protection she carried around her neck. She would have given it all up willingly, just to have him holding her tight.
Almost half-way around the world DN Amy awoke from her induced sleep. Looking around she could see several rather large men watching her from a distance. Oddly they all wore uniforms emblazoned with Greek letters across the chests. She could still smell the heavy odor from the chloroform they used to incapacitate her.
Her eyesight had begun to return to normal when she felt the plane touchdown. As she was led from the plane in handcuffs she spotted another contingent offloading a rather large wooden crate from the hold just behind where she had been kept for the flight.
It hadn't been long before they led her into a large and rather bleak control center. Scanning the room she saw men seated at consoles watching hundreds of reports from all around the globe. At the far end of the bay she could see a large screen the size of a wall behind a tall desk. As she watched a very high backed chair swiveled around, she came face to face with her captors' boss. The leader of the Worldwide Evil Empire, otherwise known as WEE, the menacing Gemini.
"Greetings DN Amy, we have been awaiting your arrival." He looked down from his desk perch. "How do you feel about going to work for me?"
"I might have considered it a couple of months ago, but I have an obligation to Global Justice."
The little dog in his arms suddenly started growling and barking a shrill bark at the mention of GJ. Quickly he soothed the canine. "Pepe… it's alright. We don't want to mention them again, do we Amy?"
Amy grew indigent, "What could I possibly do for you, that you haven't done yourself already?"
"I need you to work on this." With a wave of his free hand a spotlight popped on over a large dark box in the distance.
Amy looked on as the box was moved closer to her. Slowly the lid was opened and the men stepped back. As she approached she peered in, to her horror she recognized the contents. Quickly she spun back to her host.
"What in Gods name have you done?" the disgust evident in her tone.
Gemini Smiled, "What we have here is the culmination of eighteen months of planning and work. Do you realize what it took to have him infected with the drugs, arrange for him to be collected without suspicion. When I saw him in action I knew there had to be a way to turn him to my will. That has been the goal of my organization for almost two years."
"But I examined him… he was, I mean is dead."
"No… not dead, just in a chemically induced hibernation. It took my scientists a long time to perfect the agents, and even longer to create the reanimation drug. What I need from you is you assistance to bring him the rest of the way back. You see once we found out about his enhanced powers it became that much more difficult to bring him back. By that time he had already been infected."
Amy finished the scenario, "And with his heightened powers it took all that much more of a potent drug cocktail to bring him back."
"Naturally… And once we get him back I will have him re-programmed to serve my will. With his powers at my disposal, I will not only conquer the world, but I will destroy the one thorn that has consistently dashed our dreams, Kim Possible. Oh… excuse me, Kim Stoppable."
Amy stood in fear of the evil tirading before her.
"I will use her husband to destroy her once and for all… He will be my instrument for revenge on the world…"
A/N: As you can tell, there is more to this story than I have presented here. So with an evil laugh, those three most dreaded words… To Be Continued.
Just so not to leave you hanging too precariously. I haven't named Part 2 yet. I want it to be longer, with a decidedly darker feel, not to mention more Kung-Fu-Fighting. Let's not forget a splash of romance and humor too. I'll try to speed it along, but I don't expect to be ready before early Oct. Until that time I have a few smaller projects almost ready I will post in the mean time. Until then… Iron Obsidian.