Kim Possible: By Bon's Early Light

Chapter 9

I.

Kim was looking through the slide show presentation she planned on using at the speech she was scheduled to deliver at an elementary school in a few days. While Kim sometimes chaffed at having to deliver these motivational speeches, often to school aged kids, she had to admit that it was an easy way to try to stay in the public's good graces. Which was a good thing when even people like Shego, now reformed and doing occasional free lance work for Global Justice, commented that Kim had become a tad excessive in her use of violence over the past few years.

Taking a sip of water, Kim had reluctantly listened to Joss suggestion to dry out for a few days, she continued to peruse through the pictures deciding which ones she wanted to use. Not all of the various pictures that were in the presentation were used for every presentation that she gave. Most of the pictures were of either of her younger years, which included action shots, publicity shots, and award shots, while others included other people, such as her cousin Joss or her friend Wade. Some of them included her heart and soul, Ron. Those pictures were always the hardest to talk about.

Advancing to the next slide there was a picture of Kim in Mexico standing next to a burning car. Kim remembered that particular picture and the mission it came from. She had been following up on a lead to Ron's where abouts and the information had lead to a human smuggling operation on the US and Mexican border. By the time Kim was done with the mission a multi million dollar home, owned by a cartel member, had been burnt to the ground, several dozen vehicles had been wrecked, and a dozen men hospitalized for injuries, some of them serious.

News of the event, along with a couple of pictures of Kim at the scene, had gotten out, and neither the press nor the public had been very kind about their feelings about the incident. After that it had been several weeks before Kim received another hit on her website asking for help. But by then she had already started taking on paying jobs more and more so she could continue to fund her search for Ron.

Letting out a sigh, Kim laid back in her bed and rested her head against the pillows. She closed and gently rubbed her weary eyes as she tried to mentally steel herself to finish her task. Kim wasn't aware of when she had fallen asleep until the former hero became aware that she was dreaming about the last time that she had meet the Stoppable family.

It had been a few months since Ron's disappearance and Kim had just returned from following a possible lead about Ron. The lead had been a bust and she still had no new information about Ron. For the teen hero the hardest moment she ever had to face came that afternoon as she sat in a nice chair looking at the three people who she had considered part of her family and she considered how she was going to tell them the news.

Hana spoke up first breaking the tension.

"Where Ron?" The little Asian girl asked as she walked up to Kim.

Kim looked down at the little girl whom she had in some ways begun to regard as a sister and told her the truth.

"I don't know Hana. I can't find him."

"He play hide and seek?" She asked.

"He might be." Kim answered.

This seemed to placate the little girl as she wondered away and started looking in, around, and under things while call Ron's name. As Hana left the room Mrs. Stoppable spoke next.

"What do you mean you don't know where he is?" She asked sternly.

"I'm sorry Barbra, but we haven't had any luck finding any clues about Ron."

"That's Mrs. Stoppable."

This statement hit Kim like a slap to the face. After she and Ron had started going to college together as a couple; the Stoppable matriarchy had told Kim that it was alright to call her Barbra. Apparently she was now revoking that privilege.

"I'm sorry but we are all doing our best to…"

"We've heard the excuses several times now Kim, both from you and from Global Justice." Donald Stoppable said, "I think it would be better if you don't come by and get ours, and especially Hana's, hopes up until you do find out something about Ron."

If the first comment had felt like a slap, then this one felt like a punch to the gut.

"Donald dear you're being to nice to the girl. She's the one that dragged Ron all over the world fighting villains, and then he got him mixed up with that Global Justice organization." Barbra said with a glance towards her husband.

She then turned her attention back towards Kim.

"Frankly Kim, we don't know what happened to Ron, but my mother's intuition tells me he was probably kidnapped, and that it probably has something to do with all those villains you fought over the years who are now your enemies. If Ron hadn't followed you in your save the world footsteps then they would never have even known he existed and he would be here now. So yes Kim I don't know who kidnapped Ronald, but I blame you for it happening."

Mrs. Stoppable then hardened her glare towards Kim.

"I don't want to see you here any more, and I don't want to see you near Hana. If I do see you trying to interact with her I will call the police and report an attempted kidnapping. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes." Was all Kim managed to get out as her heart felt as though a knife had been plunged through it. The woman's anger over the disappearance of her son as well as Kim's failure to find him during the past several months was obvious as she was lashing out at the only target she had, Kim.

"Why don't I see you to the door Kimberly?" Donald suggested diplomatically.

Kim simply nodded as she was escorted out of the Stoppable's house. Just before Kim stepped through the front door Mr. Stoppable spoke one more time.

"Kimberly, I know you are trying to find Ron. I don't blame you for his disappearance like Barbra does, but I do think that it would be a good idea if we severed ties until Ronald is found. That is nothing against you but something I need to do for my family, do you understand?"

Again Kim could only nod her head as she was unable to find the courage to speak.

"Ok then. Goodnight Kimberly, hopefully the next time we meet it will be with Ronald."

Shell shocked at how badly the meeting with the Stoppables had turned out, Kim practically stagger down the sidewalk as she made her way back to her parent's house. Once she let her self in Kim ignored talking to her family and went to the liquor cabinet and poured herself a drink. That had been the first night that twenty year old Kim Possible had ever gotten drunk.

II.

Meanwhile in the town of Westernville, as a cold rain fell, a different and even more disturbing dream was being had by a blond man.

"Give him 10ccs of the stuff. That should be sufficient to get the subject riled up." An unseen voice said calmly.

"Are you sure? It might kill him." Another voice asked.

"If the drugs don't kill him then the test subject will. Besides, we have more where he came from." The first voice said, its owner completely unconcerned with the value of a man's life.

Ronald watched as the two unknown men injected something in to a man that was strapped to a table just like he was. After a moment the man began to twitch, then struggle, then yell as if in a blind rage.

"Test subject two is sufficiently agitated. Let's move to the control room in order to observe the rest of the experiment." The first man stated with calmness and detachment.

Shortly after leaving the room the two men, scientist to some, monsters to others, pressed a few buttons from the safety of their control room. Soon the man who had received the injection that was referred to as "test subject two" was remotely released from his restraints. Feeling that he was free the highly agitated man leapt from the table and his wild eyes began to scan the room. After a moment his gaze fell on a still restrained Ronald and began to menacingly approach the man helpless man.

At the last second the restraints holding Ronald in place were released and he just managed to avoid being on the receiving end of the man's attack. Backing away from the man who now appeared to be in the midst of a berserker rage Ronald hoped to avoid the attacks long enough for the man to either tire out or the drugs to wear off.

"That won't work." The calm detached voice said from across a speaker, "Either you fight or you die."

Listening to the man's words had distracted Ron just long enough that the berserker was able to land several hits on to him. Sensing that the voice was probably right Ron assumed a defensive stance and began to fight his opponent. The next several minutes were a blur in Ronald's mind and the next conscious thought he was aware of was him with both of his hands tightly wrapped around the other man's neck.

"I didn't want to, I didn't want to, I didn't want to…" Ronald kept saying over and over again as tears were streaming down his checks and fell on to the body beneath him.

Ron bolted up right in bed with a shriek as the disturbing images began to recede from his mind. Looking around and not recognizing the unfamiliar surroundings or remembering even arriving there he began to panic. Jumping out bed he began to frantically look for both any signs of danger as well as a way out.

The shouting and general ruckus that Ron was making while in his disoriented state were enough to awaken Bonnie and cause her to rise out of bed to investigate. Slipping on a bath robe she made sure that she was prepared appropriately for the situation.

Ronald had gotten half way dressed in his blind rush to get out of the room. He had put on a pair of pants, one sock, and a shirt that was draped across his torso at an angle with one arm through the sleeve while the other sleeve was wadded up on his shoulder. That was when he heard a knock on the door to the room he had .

"Ron, are you ok?"

"Leave me alone!" Ron shouted.

"It's ok Ron. You're safe here." Bonnie reassured gently.

"I said leave me alone!"

"Ron, it's me Bonnie…"

The door to the guest bedroom flew open taking Bonnie by surprise as a highly agitated Ron came through the door.

"Keep away, I don't want to have to hurt you." Ron threatened.

Seeing the crazed look on Ron's face, Bonnie slowly raised her hands up as if to show that she was not any sort of threat and took a small step back.

"Where am I? Where did you take me?!" Ron shouted accusingly at Bonnie.

Bonnie stepped back again as she attempted to placate the agitated man, "Your at my house remember? I didn't kidnap you."

"I don't believe you." Ron shouted as he stared at the woman while slowly side stepping to get past her. After several steps Ron decided that the woman in front of him wasn't a threat and he rushed past her and towards a door that he assumed would allow him to escape. Reaching his hoped for exit Ron attempted to open the door but it remained locked and closed.

"Let me out" He shouted.

"Ron, it's freezing out there…"

"NO! You can't keep me here. I've got to escape, got to escape!" Ron pleaded as he began to bang on the door, "Got to get away, got to get away. Don't hurt me, don't hurt me. Keep from getting hurt, got to get away, get away get away."

Bonnie was shocked by Ron's actions. Something was wrong, very wrong, for the man to be acting so terrified, and so desperate to try to leave. For a moment Bonnie considered just opening the door. But a cold snap had hit the area and it was below freezing outside tonight, she couldn't let him out of the house no matter how much he wanted. Instead she was going to have to try to calm Ron down and try to help him work though his demons.

"Ron, it's ok. I'm not going to hurt you." Bonnie said as she held up her empty hands.

"Lies! Don't lie to me!" Ron shouted as he glared at Bonnie.

"It's true Ron. I just want to talk."

"Just leave me alone." Ron protested as he began to violently struggle with the door handle.

"Ron please calm down before you hurt yourself."

The blond haired man then turned to face Bonnie as if he had a thought. "Keys. Give me the keys to the door."

"I don't have any keys…"

"Stop lying to me!" Ron shouted as he began to approach Bonnie.

Bonnie slowly and cautiously began to back up while slowly lowering her hands. "I don't want to hurt you Ron, but you need to calm down."

"You can't tell me what to do. Now give me the keys so I can leave!" Ron shouted as he lunged towards Bonnie.

However, Bonnie anticipated that something like that would happen. As Ron continued to approach the former cheerleader she had deftly moved her right hand down to the pocket of her robe and pulled out her trusty taser. In a matter of seconds the prongs of the device made contact with Ronald's skin and had delivered enough voltage to overwhelm his nervous system and cause the man to collapse unconscious.

Bonnie stood over the man now sprawled out on the floor and watched him for several seconds to make sure he wasn't going to move. Seeing that he was no longer a threat she sat the taser aside and knelt down next to the former cheer mascot and rolled him over to check to make sure he was still breathing. Seeing that he appeared to be physically ok, Bonnie gently lifted his head and laid it in her lap. She then gently stroked back the hair that had fallen over his eyes as she examined his face.

"What happened to you Ronald? Why are you so traumatized?" She asked in a soft, sad voice.