Guiding Light
Captainkodak1
Thanks to
tusconcoyote and cyberwraith9
Dedicated with
appreciation and thanks to all who stood by me.
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Kim braced herself against the side of the plane and forced down what was left of the grilled chicken salad she had for lunch. That bird seemed to want to take flight again. She realized if the plane bounced and tilted a few more times it just might get that chance. Ron had had to clean up Rufus after the first one. Somehow Rufus had found a little toy umbrella. Every time he walked near Kim he would put it up. Somehow Kim remembered that poor clown at the fair. She gasped as the plane hit another air pocket. It felt like she was weightless for a few seconds until the floor of the plane came back to smack her on the bottom. A slight "urp" followed by an "ugh" told her that Ron was having the same problem. She saw him stumble to the small bath located in the rear of the plane. The plane hit another pocket and she raced for the bathroom. They both hit the door at the same time. Ron pulled back. "Ladies first." Kim patted his cheek then her cheeks pouched out and she dove for the bath. Ron tried to tune out the noise coming from the room. Kim came back out quickly. "your turn". Ron readily complied with her suggestion.
The co-pilot crawled out of the cockpit into the cargo area were Team Possible was sitting. Seeing the two teens made him think. "Well at least they are just normal folks:" The plane hit another air pocket and he had to grab onto on the struts inside the plane.
"Miss Possible, we are approaching your drop zone."
Kim stood and gave him thumbs up. She turned and pulled Ron to his feet, his paraglide chute already strapped to his back. He reached over and checked the straps to Kim's chute. He motioned for her to spin around so he could finish checking her chute. She repeated the procedure for him. A light started to blink beside the door. Ron pulled open the door and pushed it to the side. Kim grabbed him by his straps and gave him a slow kiss on the lips.
"Ugh!" They both pulled back a little. "Definitely worse than morning breath."
The light glowed steadily and the two teens dove into the raging darkness.
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They fell through the gusts of wind and rain. The two heroes were on a date when the Kimmunicator beeped. Dementor was still trying to build some super weapon that was supposed to get it power from storms. Just like the storm they were falling through. Lighting flashed above them as they fell into the darkness. Kim signaled to Ron to pull his ripcord at the same as she did. The paragliding chute snapped open and Ron took the lead in soaring toward their landing zone, which was a number of miles ahead of them.
The wind and rain pummeled them as they drifted down, their mission clothes already soaked.
"Ah Kim remind me again why we are jumping in the middle of a storm"
Kim smiled a bit in the darkness. Her BFBF had really been Ron Steppupable lately but he had yet to lose his Ronness, something she hoped he never would.
"I told you Ron, Dementor is using the storm for his machine and we have to stop him now. Besides he would not think that even we aren't crazy enough to jump into a storm"
The two fell for a few more seconds, their winged jumpsuits allowing them to glide toward Dementor's lair.
The rain soaked their jumpsuits. They gave little protection to the pouring rain and chilling wind. A strong downburst hit Ron's chute and he turned violently to regain control.
"RON LOOK OUT!"
Kim pulled hard on her steering toggles to avoid running into Ron. The wind direction changed suddenly and the temperature of the air grew warm. Kim's stomach lurched again as she felt as if she were standing in some super speed elevator heading for the top of a building.
Ron lost sight of Kim as she turned one way and he turned the other. The temperature of the air grew colder as the downdraft pushed him toward the ground. He pulled on his toggles again. He was caught in a microburst. His chute collapsed as another burst of air from above pushed all the air out of it. The winds slung him side to side, the near useless chute catching a gust of air only to have the downburst collapse the chute again. Ron glanced down. A flash of lightening illuminated trees rushing up toward him. He put all of his weight on one of the toggles trying to get out of the downburst. He had just enough time to regain control of his chute as he looked up to see a copse of trees coming straight at him.
"This is SO going to hurt." He thought as the trees loomed before him. Sharp pain knifed through him as he hit the outer braches. He cracked his eyes to see the trunk of the tree in front of him. Then everything went black.
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Kim started to feel light headed and very cold. Flashes of lighting lit the clouds below her as she continued to gain altitude. Grabbing the Kimmunicator she pressed the call button.
"Kim,What's wrong?"
Kim tried to talk but could not get air. Wade rapidly typed on his console.
"Kim, you are caught in an updraft. I am scanning you at 28,000 feet. You need….."
The Kimmunicator slipped from her near frozen fingers and disappeared into the darkness. Kim grabbed for the steering toggles and trying to guide herself back to the ground. Sharp gust of wind cut into her. Her jumpsuit started to crackle as it froze in the extreme temperature. A blast of wind drove her into another part of the cloud; hailstones small and large started to pelt her. Kim cried out as they beat against her body. She failed for the control toggles again and made a hard turn.
The hail stopped, but the temperature continued to drop. Her eye became heavy, she felt herself nodding off. In one last thought she pulled a final time on one of the control toggles. It moved partially and jammed, frozen in place.
Her shivering lips cracked open, her skin becoming gray. "Ron where are you?"
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Ron opened his eyes. Flashes of lighting illuminated the area as he glanced around. The paragliding chute lay snarled in the top of a tree. Pain lanced through his leg as he glanced down. His leg hung at an unnatural angle. He wiped his face with his hand and noticed it came back sticky. Looking at his hand in the darkness he could see it was covered in something black. A flash of lighting illuminated the blood on his hand. Gingerly, he moved his hand across his face. Pain shot across his face when he touched his nose.
'Great, a broken leg and a broken nose…. KP!'
Ron jerked around looking for Kim. The rain still poured down and he could not see her anywhere. Getting out of the tree would be the first thing he would have to do. Raising his uninjured leg, he pulled a length of rope from the pocket. Rufus popped out of the other pocket rubbing his head.
"Rufus, think you can take the end of the rope up to that limb and tie it off?"
"u huh u huh" Rufus nodded and gripped the end of the rope in his teeth. He climbed up the shroud lines to the limb above Ron's head and tied it off. Sliding back down the rope he landed on Ron's shoulder. Ron fitted the rope into his harness belt and released the straps to the chute. Rufus clung to his shoulder and they rappelled down to the ground. His leg hit the ground causes waves of pain to lance through him. The ground rushed to his face and blackness came over his again.
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Kim shivered as the chute settled in its slow spiral. Movement was now impossible as her suit was frozen solid. She had wrapped her arms around herself to keep warm.
"Well, princess, looks like you got yourself frozen again just like the time we had that little fight over that DVD for your buffoon."
Kim's eyes popped open. Shego appeared flying along side of her on her flying board.
"H..h..heess not a buffoon. He's my..my.. boyfriend."
Shego snorted. "Oh yeah, just like the one who melted?"
Kim's eyes flared as she flailed at the specter.
"Ohhh is the little princess getting mad? Tell me Kimmie, the buffoon can't melt, so how are you going to get rid of him? Are you just going to do it privately one night or do it with style and in front of the whole school? Why don't you just crush his spirit? You were so good at that. He's worthless anyhow."
Kim a piece of ice off her suit and threw it at Shego.
"He's not worthless. He is the best friend I ever had. He was the one that saved me the night we beat both of you."
"Yeah, I was really wondering about Drakken's plan, but it almost worked. We crushed your spirit just like you almost crushed his."
Kim shut her eyes and turned her head.
"That's right Kimmie. The one who you thought didn't make a statement. The one you though annoying. The one you tossed aside put your feelings and your hopes in front of his. Even when we almost caused you to disappear, he was there saving your butt as you tossed him aside."
Kim hung her head.
"That's right pumpkin, when things don't go your way. Just give up. You don't deserve anyone like him. He may be plain, he may be clumsy, but he has a heart big enough to pull someone into. Even I could see that. So just hang there pumpkin, just freeze to death. He will find someone who deserves him."
Kim eyes popped open again as Shego disappeared into the clouds. As Shego vanished she turned around and blew a kiss. "I just might take a try at him myself."
Kim's arm came up and grabbed the steering toggles. Looking down she could see she had soared out of the worst part of the storm and was spiraling down over the area that she hoped was their drop zone but she could not see it. She closed her eyes. 'Ron, help me.'
"KP!"
Kim's eyes sprang open. Ron was floating down next to her.
"Ron, help."
Ron's figure spiraled back into the center of the storm. His figure was silhouetted against the clouds.
"Ron where are you going, that's the wrong way."
"Come on KP. Trust me. I will always have your back. I trust you. Please just trust me now."
Kim struggled to steer her parachute to follow Ron. As she entered the clouds the rain and winds started again. Hail pelted her and she felt the temperature drop again. She struggled to stay awake and keep thinking but she was so cold.
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Ron rolled over. The rain was still coming down. His cell phone beeped... Rufus pulled it from his pocket and placed it in his hand. The screen came on and Wade's concerned face appeared.
"Ron! Are you okay? I lost track of both of you for a moment."
"Wade, I'm hurt, but I don't care, scan for KP. I can't find her."
"Ron, that's what I need to tell you. Apparently my scanners showed the two of you got separated when you were caught in a downdraft."
"I know that Wade. Just help me find KP."
"Ron, Kim was caught in an updraft. The last signal I had from the Kimmunicator she was nearly 30,000 feet up."
Ron sat up. "But at that height there is little oxygen and it's like freezing and what do you mean last signal."
Wade bowed his head. "Ron, I was recording the signals when it appeared she dropped the Kimmunicator. The recorded temperature was 20 below zero. The oxygen level was just about what she experienced when she climbed Everest."
"What can you do? What can I do?"
Wade sat back and tapped at his computer. "I am scanning for her chip. I got her. She seems to be moving back and forth like she is circling. Her life signs are barely readable. You need to send up a signal of some type."
Ron sat back. "Signal, what can I signal with?"
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Kim could barely feel her fingers as she tried to pull on the steering toggles. Her chute had gone back into the circling motion as before. The trip through the storm wall covered her in more ice and the paraglider was not responding well. She could see ice encrusting the shroud lines. Pulling on the control handles didn't help much. She just didn't have the strength to control it anymore. The cold sapped her strength; the air forced her mind to struggle to think.
"POSSIBLE!"
Kim opened her eyes. "MR. Barkin?"
"YES, Possible. It's me. Looks like I need to start keeping a watch over you instead of Stoppable."
"HUH?" Kim mumbled
"That's right Possible. It seems you have had a great influence on Stoppable. He is doing better in school. And because he wanted to impress you, the Middleton Maddogs have gotten the best running back the school has seen in a decade. I can tell it went both ways. You aren't so over achieving. You seem to have learned to slow down a little and appreciate something special. Now look at you now, you are not even trying are you? No, you seem to be feeling sorry for yourself. When it came to you, did Stoppable ever quit? No, and now Stoppable needs you and you are giving up."
Kim raised her head. "Ron needs me?"
"Yeah Possible, he does. He had always needed you. But you were too stuck in yourself to see it were you. You locked him in the closet for a weekend because you were all gaga over Mankey. He needs you to keep him moving, to keep improving himself. Life is tough; it doesn't give you a break. Now quit feeling sorry for yourself and move! Get back to Stoppable! If you can't handle this situation then I guess the Mad Dogs need a new head cheerleader, Rockwaller is next in line, so I guess she gets the job. Too bad, we could have taken the regionals again."
Kim growled as Barkin disappeared into the clouds. Her numb hands grabbed the controls again as her eyes scanned the ground. The entire landscape was dark. Ron was down there somewhere and she needed to get to him. Her goggles started to freeze over as her tear streamed down and ran across the lenses. Then below her, a dim light appeared. She steered toward the light.
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Ron crawled to the middle of the meadow. Rain continued to soak him. The wind whipped at the grass as he tried to look up. The flashes of lighting illuminated the clouds from the inside. A bolt of lighting struck a tree on the edge of the meadow and blew it to pieces. The rain drowned out the flaming wood in seconds.
Ron closed his eyes. His body was a wall pain. His leg shot spikes of pain up his body. Groaning he lay back and closed his eyes. He was failing Kim. Somehow he had to help Kim but he was just too stupid to know what to do. His mind wandered as he fought off the chill of the air. He thought of Kim and the Dance, Kim at Lake Middleton. Then his thoughts went to the time they visited that lighthouse in North Carolina that had been moved to save it. The Cape Hatteras Lighthouse was famous for many things but the one thing it had done was save lives. Over the years its light had saved many lives. Ron thought of the light spearing through the night. What he really needed was a light, but his flashlight had been smashed in the landing and everything around him was soaked. He could not start a fire.
'Light' He thought 'I really need a light.'
Darkness overcame his mind and he laid his head back. A blue glow started to cover his body. The glow grew brighter, until a beam of blue light shot straight up in the air.
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Kim knew she had stopped shivering. That was a very bad sign. Her clothes were almost frozen solid. They crunched each time she tried to move. She could breathe again so she must be at a lower altitude. The one lens to her goggles was cracked where it had been hit by a hailstone. She did not want to think what she looked like.
Her chute was still in its slow spiral. The hail had stopped and she seemed to be lower in the clouds. Kim glanced at the shroud lines and noticed that they were free of ice now. She was so cold and her head hurt. A wind gust pushed her to the side.
"Kimberly?"
"Nana?"
Kim lifted her eyes and saw Nana floating next to her. 'Okay, now this has gotten really freaky."
"Kimberly, you need to get control of yourself. What have I told you about going out in the midriff shirt?"
"Nana, I don't wear that anymore."
Nana shook her head. "I told you that it was too cold for that. You need a sweater on young lady."
Kim grinned a little. "Well Nana, I didn't quite have time to pack when Ron and I got the call."
Nana's face changed. "Kimberly, I got into trouble one time on a mission. I got soaking wet and got so cold I could barely think. But I knew your grandfather was waiting for me. Ronald is waiting for you. Just remember Kim, together you can stay warm. Let your love for each other reach out. Much like your grandfather reached out to me that night. He risked his life to light my way. He always was my guiding light. Ronald is yours. Let him lead, trust him, he will guide you."
Nana floated off and disappeared.
"Nana!"
Kim reached out toward the disappearing scepter when a bolt of lightening passed close enough that her body convulsed.
She opened her eyes to see a dim blue light coming from below. Ron's chute appeared out of the clouds.
"KP, Come on I know the way."
Kim pulled on her controls toggles to follow when another blot of lighting hit his chute. Ron's chute erupted into flames as he screamed. He fell as his chute disintegrated.
"Ron!"
Kim used the last bit of her strength to pull on her control toggles and put her chute into a dive. Her eyes never lost sight of his chute as it disappeared into the dim blue light below her. She passed through the clouds and saw an open meadow below her. The flaming mass of what had been his chute burned in the middle. She guided her chute to the spot as the flames went out. Bracing for impact she prepared to land. Ice fell from her clothes and body as she hit the ground. Before she blacked out she could see Ron lying on the ground with his head turned to her. Even in the darkness of the night, she caught sight of his glittering brown eyes.
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Ron opened his eyes to see Kim's chute above him. He sat up in time to see her hit the ground. Her body fell forward and slammed to the ground, arms and legs spilled out across the grass. Her chute collapsed onto the ground beyond her.
"KP!"
Ron crawled over to her and rolled her over. He was shocked at what he saw. Her clothes were covered in ice that was just starting to melt. One of the lenses to her goggles was cracked. Her face was ashen and parts glistened in frostbite. Her lips were blue and she was not breathing. Ron released her canopy and took her pulse, it was weak but there.
Ron laid Kim on her back, tilted her head back and began breathing for her. Each time he placed his mouth on hers if was like kissing a block of ice. He kept forcing breath after breath into her lungs. Pain shot up his leg and back each time he knelt over her to breathe, but he kept at it.
He gasped for breath, his head spinning. He stopped for a moment and placed his cheek over her mouth. A warm trickle of air passed over it. She was breathing on her own. Tears spilled from Ron's eyes. She was still in danger he had to warm her up. Grabbing her by her chute harness he pulled her under one of the cedar trees that lined the meadow. It would give them some shelter.
Ron pulled out his phone and started it.
Wade's face appeared instantly.
"Wade, we need help and right now. KP is in bad shape and I am not so hot myself."
Wade started typing on his keyboard.
"Ron, the storm is keeping everything grounded right now. The plane you jumped from barely made it back. We won't be able to get to you for……"
Ron's phone went dead. Ron slapped it closed, and tossed it to the ground.
"Oh, mannn, I forgot to charge the thing. Now what do I do?"
He looked over at Kim she did not look any better.
Ron beat himself on his head. "Okay Ron, now is the time to step up and not be just a sidekick. Kim needs you now think, think, think. What did they say in the GJ training when I was playing video games."
Kim moaned and moved a little.
Ron grabbed his pack and pulled some of the equipment until he found what he was looking for. He glanced out from under the tree and noticed that the rain had changed to freezing rain. He started to shiver himself. He pulled two emergency space blankets out along with a couple of chemical heating pads. He made a pad of needles and small soft branches and laid one of the blankets on top. He pulled Kim's soaked jumpsuit off and tossed it aside. Her mission clothes under it were still soaking wet. Ron cracked the chemical pads and they started to heat up. Pulling Kim next to himself and putting the heat pads under them he set the other space blanket on top of them. Wrapping his arm around her he willed the warmth from his body into hers. Kim started to shiver and her teeth started to chatter. Then one leg moved, then an arm, subconsciously she snuggled closer to him. Ron held her closer as exhaustion overcame him.
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Kim felt warmth. She moved her legs and winced at the sharp stabbing pain. She opened her eyes to see an IV bag along with a heart monitor. A soft snoring noise came from her right. She turned her head to see Ron with his head on her bed. His hand wrapped around hers. A smile crossed her face as she lifted her left hand and played with the soft locks of blonde hair. Ron snorted and lifted his head to see two luminous green eyes staring back at him.
"KP!"
Ron tried to get up but winced.
"Kimmie, Kimmie-cub!"
Kim twisted her eyes the other way to see her parents standing there beside her bed. Apparently they had been asleep too. Her father had at least a day's growth of beard and her mom was still in scrubs.
"KP."
Ron's soft voice near her ear caused her to turn her head back to her BFBF. His face had a number of scratches along with a swollen nose and a black eye.
"Ron, what happened to you?"
He sat back rubbing the back of his neck with his arm.
"Well, Kim, see, it's like this, I …uh….."
Mrs. P touched her arm and Kim turned her head toward her.
"What Ron is trying to say is that he got caught in a downdraft after you got caught in the updraft. The downdraft slammed him into a group of trees. He told me that he preferred to kiss you than to kiss bark again."
Kim giggled and glanced over at her blushing boyfriend when her mother continued.
"You should be proud of him, somehow he attracted you to where he was. When you landed, he got you under cover and started to warm you up. He did this with three cracked ribs, one broken leg and a strained back. He used so much of the warmth of the heat pads and his own warmth that he was going into hypothermia when they found you."
Kim was watching Ron the entire time her mother spoke. Her eyes never left his as her and turned a grasped his tightly.
Mrs. P smiled at her daughter as she finished.
"Now you young lady, have some frostbite on your fingers and toes but nothing serious. There are some places on your face also but nothing that will not heal. Aside from the bruises and hypothermia you will be okay."
Kim just nodded but her eyes never left Ron's.
Anne grabbed James by the arm and led him from the room. Ron's parents stood and joined them as they left the room. James had stayed with Ron almost as much as he had Kim until Ron had woken up. Anne watched as her husband backed out of the room. She had told one of the nurses that to say that James thought highly of Ron would be like saying that it gets cold in Antarctica.
Ron gave Kim a little smile. "How's my little Kimcicle?"
"Much better now that my boy friend/best friend saved my life again, at the cost of extreme pain to himself."
Ron stood up and leaned over her and gave her a little kiss on the forehead.
"I am what I is."
A small smile crossed Kim's face.
"Well, could my boy friend help me get warm?"
Ron grabbed his cane and shuffled toward the closet.
"Sure KP, one blanket or two?"
"Roonnnnn. That's not the warm I am talking about."
Ron turned around to look at the smile on Kim's face.
"Booooyahhhh."
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James, Ann, Dean, and Jean stood around the nurse's station. The nurse was monitoring all the screens when the alarm to Kim's monitor started to beep. The nurse looked up.
"Dr. Possible! Kim's heart rate and BP just went up!"
The nurse got up to rush to Kim's room, but Anne put her hand on her shoulder.
"Just turn off the alarm. It's no problem. I think my daughter is just properly thanking her boyfriend for saving her life."
The nurse had a puzzled expression on her face as she turned off the alarm. Then her face blushed as a certain thought came to her. Anne just nodded.
"Let's just leave them alone, what do you say?"
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Ladies and Gentlemen this was a little fic I have been planning for sometime. I got the idea of the updraft from tusconcoyote. I knew then that I needed to use an idea from a story from a very fine author by the name of cyberwraith9. I asked cyberwraith if I could use the overall idea of the story and Cyber agreed. I would like to thank Cyberwraith for the consideration. The name of the story was "Follow me Home." Please read it. It is one of the finest pieces of KP fanfiction I have read. Thanks to my friend tusconcoyote for the great idea for the story.
This weekend means a great deal to me. It was one year ago that I underwent my heart bypass surgery. All of you were so supportive of me in your notes here and over a DA. It really made a difference to me. Now one year later I am in the best health that I have ever been in. I would like to thank all of you for everything that you did during this very difficult time of my life.
This story is dedicated to all of you,
Thanks everyone.
I owe each and every one of you more than you can ever imagine. May God bless you and yours.
This one is written for you all to enjoy. Reviews would be appreciated but your enjoyment means more to me.
This is the Captain
Right Hand Salute
Over and out