This story is the sequel to End of Innocence by Bubbahotek and takes place after STD, Ron has to deal with the death of a friend and becomes lost in despair, can Kim save him? Or will he disappear into a black hole of sorrow.

Ron awoke the next morning still in his suit from the night before, he had slept all night sitting up and his back was sore and stiff. He managed to pull himself out of bed and stand up, "I've got to quit doing that, not good on the back." He thought idly. Then he remembered the night before, the date with Kim had gone pretty good for the most part. Then Ron made the major mistake of not getting home by curfew and Mr. Dr. Possible had lit Ron up like a Christmas tree.

Ron grimaced at the memory, "Well at least I know where he stands as far as I'm concerned." Ron thought to himself sadly. Ron was standing at the mirror, with his hands on his hips, "What am I supposed to do today?" Ron's mind was starting to become like swiss cheese and he knew it, "I'm going to have to start writing things down, I think I run today and then I work at Smarty Mart." Ron started to take off his suit, and change into his running cloths.

Ron took a quick peak out of the window, "Looks like rain, better not wear shorts today." He put on his long sweat pants, and then pulled his hooded sweat shirt over his head. He looked at the red cancer ribbon and the little penguin pin and closed his eyes, "I wish Lacey were here…I will try not to stop living." Ron thought sadly to himself as he walked down stairs to get ready for his run.

Ron performed his stretching exercises in the front yard, trying to loosen his muscles up so he wouldn't hurt himself during his run. He started off from his house and ran past the Possible's house, he shook his head, "That house used to seem like home, now it's just another house." He thought sadly to himself.

Ron was well into his run he was working on hills today, when he reached the top of one particularly big hill and then he just stopped. Ron put his hands on his hips and turned and looked back towards home, and then in the direction he was supposed to be running in. Then he just sat down, "Why am I doing this? We have an undefeated cross country team and I didn't even know it…I won a race…big deal…what is wrong with me, I've got to get up and keep running." Ron pulled himself to his feet and continued to run.

Ron was getting angry with himself, "It's bad enough what happened last night, you just don't stop in the middle of a run, what are you an idiot, come on Ron pick em' up and put em' down…If it hurts, make it hurt more." Ron had started to run hard, "Idiot, throwing yourself a private little pity fiesta, so what, the old man don't like you…his problem, not yours…" Ron was making good time; he had fired himself up and was making good time.

Ron had pushed hard and knew he was on a record pace for his hill run; he was heading back into his subdivision. He seen Mr. Dr. Possible out working in the yard, he waived a friendly hello. Ron looked at him and kept running, "Sorry Jim, but big ears don't have time for you today…gotta work ya know." He thought to himself bitterly.

Ron ran back up to his house seen the garage door was open, saw the garden gnome inside with his inscrutable stare. Ron kicked the gnome hard across the garage, and broke its head off, "Thought ya was bad didn't ya gnome, well…I got news for you…Ron's the MAN now gnome, what ya think about that…" Ron was finished yelling at the hapless lawn ornament, and Ron didn't wait for an answer from the decapitated gnome, he was already off in another direction, "Well, Jimbo's probably right, a date or two and then it's asta la vista Ronnie…Gotta strike before being struck…Bonnie's been hinting she'd like to go out and she's Jewish, that would make mom happy." Ron thought to himself bitterly.

He was worked up and walking circles around the garage, he was starting to lose steam and his anger was starting to ebb away as fast as it came. Ron was shaking his head and started to laugh, "Yea, that would make mom happy and it would probably make Bonnie's mom happy, but it wouldn't do anything for me or Bonnie…I don't really like Bonnie like that, I mean it's great she's being nice to me and all…I wouldn't have minded going out with Tara but Kim scared her off…I…I shouldn't even be thinking like this…What is wrong with my head?" Ron's thoughts were becoming more and more random, until he just stopped, "Time to get ready for work." Then he turned to go inside.

Ron's mom had been standing inside the door watching Ron throw his tantrum, "Ron what's wrong?" Ron jumped, he didn't have any idea that his mom was standing in the doorway. Ron was embarrassed to say the least, "Nothing's wrong, everything's ok"

Ron's mom nodded, "Well the way you killed Rudy, I thought you may have had a problem." Ron shook his head and looked at her, and then it dawned on him, the gnome, "Ummmm…no problem, just some things going on that's all." He told her trying to avoid the issue.

Ron's mom nodded, "Girl trouble, you told me you had a date with Kim last night?" His mom asked trying to get to the problem. Ron shook his head, "No girl trouble, just some dad trouble." Ron said sadly.

Ron's mom started laughing, "Jim give you a hard time did he?" she asked Ron. Ron nodded, "Yea stung me pretty good last night." Ron told her truthfully. Ron's mom nodded her head, "You know, for a rocket scientist he isn't the brightest bulb in the bin when it comes to dealing with people….Don't let him get to you." She told her son in a serious tone.

Ron smiled, "Thanks mom." He said gratefully to his mother. Ron's mom then turned to look back into the garage, "Now clean up Rudy and pitch him, should have thrown that creepy gnome away years ago." She told her son. He laughed and complied with mom's request all too happily.

Ron went upstairs and took a shower and was busy readying himself for work, when the phone rang. Ron was getting dressed so he didn't answer it. The phone finally stopped ringing, "Mom must be outside." Ron thought to himself. Then his cell phone started to ring, "It's either Kim or work…oh I was supposed to stop by Kim's on the way to work." Ron thought to himself as he answered the phone, "Hello…Hey Kim" Ron knew who it was; he just didn't feel like talking just now.

Kim was on the other end of the phone, "Hey Ron, thought you was coming by?" she asked him in a concerned voice. Ron squirmed on his bed, "Yea…well…I was and then I remembered it was my running day…got to stay in shape…world class athlete and all." Ron wasn't really lying, he did have to run but he didn't want to face Kim's dad just yet.

Kim wasn't buying into Ron's story, "Ron did dad say anything to you last night to make you mad?" Kim asked trying to get to the subject of her call. Ron was embarrassed he didn't want to upset Kim but he didn't really want to talk about it either, "Noooo, no, ummmm…no, he really didn't say anything that I haven't thought to myself already…Well I'd like to talk and all but I've got to go to work in a few, I'll catch ya at school tomorrow." Ron said goodbye and hit the end call button on the cell phone. Now he was feeling miserable again.

Kim was taken aback by the tone of Ron's voice, something was wrong and he wasn't going to share it with her. Kim let out a deep sigh, "Just when you think you're making progress, Ron's starts to slip away again." She thought sadly to herself. Now she was getting worked up, "Time to have a talk with a rocket scientist." She thought angrily

Kim walked down stairs and found her dad in the backyard, "Dad, what exactly did you say to Ron last night?" Kim asked her father in a neutral tone. Kim's dad chuckled, "Well, it wasn't anything major, I just reminded him of his place in the larger scheme of things." Kim's dad said in a reassuring voice.

Kim was starting to get a bit disturbed with her father's attitude, "Dad what EXACTLY did you tell Ron?" Kim voice was starting to quiver, she was losing her temper. Dr. James Possible had finally begun to realize that he was now on the spot and that his daughter may not be on the same page as he was.

Kim's dad cleared his throat, "Well I reminded him that your still young and that he'd probably only get one or two dates from you before you found someone new…" He broke the conversation off; he was not getting a look from his daughter that he wanted to see.

Kim had both her fists balled up and at her side, "…AND you were saying? Do you have any idea of the amount of work I had to do to get Ron to go out with me again? He didn't feel comfortable dating me probably for the EXACT same reasons you gave him last night…AND do you know the reason I went to all that trouble to get Ron to go out with me again? It's because I LOVE RON…Got it? Not some new guy next week, RON!" Then Kim turned and stomped back into the house.

Dr. James Possible watched Kim stomp off back into the house and he was left alone in the back yard, "Boy, kids these days, boy/girl love. I remember back when I was Kimmiecub's age, I loved the Saturn 2 rocket, the Apollo project, man that was a sweet ride…Have to talk to the Mrs. later, she was always better with the whole boy/girl thing than I was." He thought absently to himself.

Kim was back alone in her room, "I really said it…I really meant it, I love Ron." She thought to herself smiling. Kim was still upset with her dad, she walking around the room, "Dad really put his foot into it, Ron is really random right now…I hope dad didn't scare him off…No you aren't going to get away this time Ron…Not again, I don't think I could take it." She thought to herself sadly.

Ron arrived at work and the first thing he did was write his schedule down for the week. His memory wasn't too good these days and he was having trouble keeping track of simple things that he did every day. He wasn't in the mood to return to the dock so he was moved to electronics on a temporary basis.

Ron started to front the clock radios and fall into his work time patterns that helped time pass quickly. Ron started to let his mind wonder, "Lacey used to spy on me while I worked…It seems so long ago now. I can still remember how she smelled, funny how the mind can remember some things and completely miss others." Ron thought to himself sadly.

Mr. Dotson Ron's supervisor had watched Ron fronting the clock radios and then he moved on to do some of his work and then returned to the department a little later only to find Ron still fronting the same clock radios, "Ron, you ok?" Mr. Dotson asked not quite sure what was going on with Ron. There was no response but Ron was still working away. Mr. Dotson walked closer, "Ron, you ok?" Ron was still not answering; he finally put his hand on Ron's shoulder.

Ron jumped and looked around and saw Mr. Dotson, "I didn't hear you come up." He told him truthfully. Mr. Dotson nodded, "Anything wrong?" he asked worriedly. Ron shook his head, "No I was just…fronting the clock radios." Ron said shakily.

Mr. Dotson nodded, "Ron you've been fronting these radios for the better part of a half an hour." He told Ron with a frown. Ron jumped, "No…I couldn't have been her more than a few minutes." Ron's voice was filled with disbelief.

Mr. Dotson handed him a packet, "Look we have some price changes on the TV sets, go ahead and take care of those." He told him, and patted him on the shoulder as he walked away. Mr. Dotson shook his head, "I'll have to keep an eye on him, he doesn't look good at all." He thought to himself.

Ron was embarrassed and upset, "I couldn't have been there that long…No…I gotta focus, have to keep this job…I can't pay my car insurance if I don't have this job." Ron thought to himself. Ron started to change the prices; he had to concentrate with all of his energy, all the little model numbers all looked the same and he didn't want to goof up a simple job like this.

His mind flashed back to a vision of Master Sensei that came to him in a dream, "Your soul has been injured." He thought absently. Then the folder with price changes slipped out of his hands and went all over the floor. Ron closed his eyes, "I should of just stayed home." He said under his breath.