Thanks to Commander Argus, Moss Royal, calamite, JPMod, Ace Ian Combat, Josh84, Ultimate Naco Topping, TexasDad, Zaratan, Seamus Dubh, Yuri Sisteble, The Incredible Werekitty, JeanieBeanie33, daywalkr82, campy, qtpie235, conan98002, The Odd Little Turtle, momike, Ezbok58a, JMAN2.0, Lil-Lyon, strength-91-possibility-none, surfost, WhiteLadyoftheRing, and Darkcloud1 for reviewing.
Thanks to everyone for reading!
Special thanks to campy for proofing and beta-reading. A bag of nuts is in the mail …
Leave a review, and you'll get a personal response or your money back. Still guaranteed!
You saw it on KP, it belongs to Disney
I.
Well, at least it's a great view of the city, Kim thought as she admired the brilliantly lit metropolis below. She and the squirrel were now perched atop the Empire State Building, more than 100 stories above street level. This was easily the most bizarre sitch she'd ever found herself in, and that was saying a lot considering she'd once switched bodies with Ron and on another occasion gone full monkey. Kim continued to beat against the squirrel's paw; she had even tried biting it, knowing she'd have to get a rabies shot. Still the giant yard rodent would not release her.
This is so way beyond weird, Kim mused.
The night was clear and cold. She could see for miles around. She scanned the skyline, wondering how Ron would come.
Ron.
She'd run into him less than two hours ago for the first time in years and he was already once again an integral part of her life. What was I thinking? she asked herself. He may not have been the perfect guy, but he was the perfect guy for me. And I told him he wasn't good enough and broke his heart. I was such the idiot. I guess anything really is possible for a Possible. I so hope he's willing to give us – be honest, Possible, me – a second chance.
Kim knew that Global Justice would try something; they had to. Losing their star agent to a rampaging mutant squirrel would not look good at budget time. But it was Ron she was counting on.
Yo, KP, I've got your back …
Kim smiled as she recalled the lyric from the Naked Mole Rap, which she began humming. She found it very comforting.
II.
Shego was troubled. Not just by the fact that she was now in Stoppable's debt, but by what was going down. It was one thing to be taken out by Possible, with an assist by her one-time, once-again sidekick. But to have someone else succeed in defeating Kim by using a squirrel – no matter how large – when she had just failed stuck in her craw.
The question for Shego was who was behind the squirrel. Unlike Kim, she knew that DNAmy wasn't at fault; the erstwhile member of Team Go had it on good information that the mad geneticist was in Asia, trying to locate her crush, Monkey Fist. Killigan didn't do animals and while Dementor did like outsized dachshunds, this just wasn't his style. Seniors? A giant squirrel just didn't seem elegant enough for the billionaire villain and his son wasn't capable of managing a normal-sized squirrel, let alone one 60 feet tall. Gemini? A giant squirrel didn't seem Blofeldian enough; besides, it would probably freak out the Chihuahua. Lucre? It would cost too much to feed an animal that size. Yapsby? If it didn't involve bugs, he wasn't interested. The BeBes? Not their style. Monkey Fist? His interest was monkeys and his beef had always been with Stoppable; besides, he was busy hiding from DNAmy. That left one possibility.
Adrena Lynn.
Shego pulled out and turned on her pocket TV. There was the blonde broadcaster, standing at the base of the Empire State Building.
"Kim Possible has been defeated by a … sk-wirrell," Adrena Lynn announced with great glee. "Freaky! Will it eat her? Or throw her to her doom? Stay tuned and find out after this freaky commercial break!"
Shego arched her eyebrow, then looked at Drakken. She was grateful that Doctor D had wanted a lair in Brooklyn; it wasn't far from the nut warehouse the sidekick had sent her to. Drakken was now resting quietly, thanks to some sleeping pills washed down with cocoa moo; he'd be safe on his own.
Shego decided the time had come for her to make a cameo appearance on Freaky New Year's Eve.
III.
Ron rocketed into the air, taking position by the 60th floor, where he awaited the arrival of the filbert-laden hovercar. The monitor on the remote told him it was moving quickly and would be there shortly. While he waited, he looked down. He noticed that Fifth Avenue had been cleared of traffic and pedestrians. Global Justice and the police were prepared in case the squirrel fell. He wondered if they were bothering to worry about Kim.
Kim. A couple of hours ago she walked back into his life. At the time, he was ecstatic, even giddy. She really seemed to want to kiss him. And she said she wanted to talk about 'us.' Ron couldn't deny his excitement. He'd never stopped caring about her, even after she'd hurt him. And she'd hurt him bad, leaving him not for some other guy, but because he wasn't up to snuff.
He'd thought long and hard about that. He was angry that she thought he wasn't smart enough for her. She'd known when they began dating that he'd never be as smart as her. There was nothing he could do about that. But there had been other things he could have done.
He had known about her Type A try-to-do-anything personality long before they started dating – and what had he really done to accommodate that? Step up on a couple of missions? Not much else. He continued to be a slacker, to coast, even when she encouraged him to try harder, to do more with his talents. Maybe if he'd tried to do better sooner, things would have been different.
Well, she can't say I'm not trying my best now, Ron thought. I sure have come a long way from the Middleton High School Home Ec room – heck, even Mr. B. is proud of me now!
The hovercar approached and Ron began to head up to Kim.
He recalled sitting in the tree house eight years ago and talking about coming to Manhattan for New Year's Eve. Well, Kim was wearing the earrings. And they were in New York for the big night. It was a start. Maybe this time they could make it work.
IV.
Will Du led the squadron of GJ hoverjets in over New Jersey towards Manhattan. His first priority was neutralizing the squirrel. Then he would worry about Possible.
V.
Kim noticed the increase in air traffic. There were now TV news helicopters circling the building. She could detect the contrails of the GJ hoverjets streaking in from the west. And then – what she hoped to see – Ron in his old jet pack. She was so glad he kept that and not the Kimmunicator. What she couldn't figure out was why he was being followed by Drakken's hovercar.
VI.
"Yo, KP!" Ron called out, "You okay?"
"Spankin'!" she said, flashing him an electric smile. "It's so not the drama!" she added with a nonchalant wave of her hand.
"Great, here's what –"
"Watch out!" Kim screamed as the squirrel turned to Ron and hissed, then swatted at him with his free paw. Ron dipped and avoided the potentially lethal blow and circled back round. He'd hoped to explain his plan to Kim, but now knew he'd have little time to execute her rescue, let alone talk with her. He mouthed two words at her.
She saw his face. Kim could see that Ron was asking her to trust him.
She looked at him and nodded. Right now, there was nobody else in the world she would trust more.
Ron looked down at his remote and moved the hovercar into position.
"Hey, squirrel dude, you hungry? How about some nuts?" Ron called out, as he inched the hovercar closer to the squirrel's face. He saw its nose twitch and its ears wiggle. Ron pulled the hovercar back and saw the rodent strain. He moved the car back in, then out. One more time, I bet, Ron thought.
He moved the hovercar in close to the squirrel, whose appetite was now aroused, then pulled the craft back. As expected, the critter dropped Kim and lunged for the filberts.
VII.
Shego eyed the police barriers that stood between her and Adrena Lynn and her satellite broadcast truck. Something told her that the resolution to the giant squirrel problem was inside the vehicle. She flared up her hands, cut through the saw horses and made her way to the broadcaster.
"Kim Possible is falling! F-reaky … Huh?"
"You know, your voice really annoys me," Shego said as she took the mike from an astonished Adrena Lynn, before kicking the video camera from the hands of the TV personality's shocked assistant. Shego then she grabbed Adrena Lynn by the collar. "Something tells me you're the reason for that freaky super-sized squirrel that's about to squash us. You gonna do something about it?"
Adrena Lynn, who'd been so caught up in watching Kim Possible be defeated, only then realized that she and her truck would soon be flattened by the falling squirrel. She looked lost. Shego growled and shook her head, then climbed into the back of the vehicle. She quickly scanned the controls, redirected the radar dish, and pressed the button labeled 'Fire Control.'
"I sure hope this works," Shego muttered. "Going out this way would kill my rep in the evil community …"
VIII.
As Kim began falling, she instinctively reached for her grappler, then cursed when she remembered it wasn't there. Much to her relief, Ron swooped in and caught her.
"Need a lift?" he asked.
"Corny much?" she replied.
"Hey, you want I can send you back to the squirrel."
"No thanks … oh my gosh, Ron. Look!"
Ron had begun heading down towards street level when he saw a beam lance out from a truck and hit the squirrel, which shrank back to normal size. The now pint-sized critter continued its fall to the street below.
"KP, reach into my pocket and get the hovercar control."
She did as Ron told her, then piloted the car to catch the squirrel.
Ron, with Kim in his arms, and the hovercar, laden with nuts and a very happy normally-sized squirrel, landed at the same time.
Ron set Kim down, then took off the jet pack. Neither Kim nor Ron noticed the TV crews and cameras; at that moment they just saw each other.
"Thanks, Ron. You rock," Kim said softly.
"Hey, as my best friend likes to say, 'No big'!"
Kim's face lit up when Ron uttered the words 'my best friend.'
"Is that the one who used to be your girlfriend?"
"Yeah, I think so," he said.
"Think maybe we can go back to the way we were?" she asked hopefully.
Ron looked into Kim's eyes. "No, I don't."
Kim was stunned. She was sure Ron wanted to kiss her back in the restaurant and that he'd yelled that he loved her.
Ron looked into her eyes and saw intense disappointment, which was all the confirmation he needed that she really wanted this as much as he did. "KP," he said sagely "I think Danny said it best in the Agony County Reunion show. 'Charity, we can never go back, but we can always go forward.'"
Kim's look of disappointment was replaced by one of understanding as she realized what he was saying.
"You know," he then added, "I think the timing on this is pretty cool. Being a bon-diggity star chef makes me a pretty good match for the girl who can do anything, don't ya think?"
Kim smiled, then wrapped her arms around Ron's neck and brought her lips to his. It had been years since she'd last kissed him and Kim wanted him to know how much she'd missed doing that while wanting to savor every moment of it.
The news crews were eating it up, their cameras focusing on the scene as the pretty auburn-haired hero in her tattered black dress and the goofy-looking blond in the chef's uniform kissed passionately.
Of course, all good things must come to an end.
"Okay, enough with the kissy face. You two make me sick," Shego said.
Kim looked at her long-time foe. "Come to turn yourself in, Shego?"
"Not tonight, Princess. I think, technically, I'm still Stoppable's sidekick."
"What?" Kim asked, clearly confused.
"Long story, I'll explain later," Ron said. "What are you doing here, Shego?"
"I don't like being in anyone's debt, especially if they're smash-mouthing Kimmie here. The squirrelmeister, otherwise known as Adrena Lynn, is tied up in the back of her truck. I think there's enough evidence to send her away for a long time. The hours of video of Princess she forced the rodent to watch should get her five to 10 on animal abuse charges alone. Anyway, I think that makes us even."
"Thanks, Shego," Ron said.
"You're welcome," she replied as she turned to walk away.
"Yo, Shego," Ron said as he took the hovercar control and tossed it to the glamorous villain. "You probably want to make yourself scarce. I think GJ's about to arrive."
Shego glared at Ron. "Just gotta keep me in your debt, don't ya, sidekick?"
Ron grinned.
Shego allowed herself a small smile, jumped in the hovercar, and called out "Happy New Year, lovebirds!" as she took off.
Kim and Ron were watching the hovercar fly into the distance as Will Du emerged from his hoverjet.
Du ran over to the two one-time partners. "Kimberly, you let Shego escape!"
"Uh, dude, shouldn't you be asking her how she is?" a tweaked Ron asked.
"It's no big, Ron," Kim said, used to Will's underdeveloped social skills. For him, all that mattered was the mission objective; personnel always came second.
"She is obviously fine," he said to Ron, "But that villain, who is wanted in twelve countries, has gotten away." Will then turned to Kim and continued, "You realize that questions will be asked and inquiries launched at GJ. This will not reflect well on you."
"So not my problem, Will," Kim said breezily.
"What are you talking about?" her GJ colleague asked.
"I think it's time for me to go back to being a free-lancer. I thought I might want a sidekick, but then decided I'd do better with a partner. I've even got somebody in mind" she said with a smile as she looked at Ron. "He's weird, but I know I like him."
"Huh. Sounds kind of like some dude I know," Ron replied, cocking his eyebrow as if trying to recall a face. Then, looking directly at Kim while wearing his goofy grin, he said, "If I were you, I'd definitely try to sign him up. Offer him a multi-naco deal. "
"Hmm. That sounds like good advice," Kim agreed, before asking, "So, you got game?"
"For you, yeah," he said. Ron loved being a chef, but he also loved being in the field. And he loved being with Kim even more. He'd find a way to make this work.
Kim smiled and reached up and kissed Ron again. "So, what now, Chef Boy?"
"Well, I don't know of any tree houses in the 'hood, but if you're up for it, I know of a pretty funky loft on 35th Street where a naked mole rat might be willing to give us some privacy. We need to talk, maybe, uh, do some other things. You want me to take you there?"
"Please and thank you," Kim replied as she hooked her arm through Ron's.
IX.
New Year's Eve, one year later …
The night was cold and clear. Kim and Ron walked, hand in hand, until they found themselves at the base of the old tree house. They looked knowingly at one another, then proceeded up to their aerie.
They could see their breath when they exhaled but that just gave them more reason to cuddle. They opened their parkas and drew close to one another, looking into each other's eyes, then began kissing.
After a while, Ron opened a bottle of champagne and the two lovers exchanged silly toasts to the future and to one another. They kissed again. And again. And again.
They turned the Kimmunicator on and tuned in the New Year's broadcast from New York, joining in the countdown as midnight approached and celebrating the new year by making out some more.
When they came up for air, Ron reached into his pocket and withdrew a small box for Kim.
"I got this for you, KP," he said with a sheepish grin.
"Ron …" she replied.
"C'mon, open it," he said.
Kim tore off the paper, removed the lid and cooed. "It's beautiful!"
"Will you marry me, Kim?"
"I'd love to, Ron," she said, a smile on her face and tears in her eyes.
Kim beamed as Ron removed the ring from the box and slipped it on her finger.
Then she embraced him and gave him an extra-special New Year's kiss.
The End.