This is just another one of those things that started with a germ of an idea, and I kept going until this emerged.
Disclaimer: Kim Possible and all characters related to the show are owned by the "Mouse Ears" Channel, Disney.
Ron Takes a Life
"I told you once if I told you a thousand times, Betty," Kim said heatedly, "I will NOT carry a gun of any kind. I'm sorry."
Dr. Elizabeth Director sighed while looking at Kim, knowing full well that this high sensibility of hers would soon be her undoing. Sometimes she wished that Kim had the same sense as her partner, Ron. "Kim… Kimberly… I respect how you feel about such barbaric weapons, but sometimes a person must do some things that they don't like. It's… a part of life."
Kim shook her while she spoke. "Spare me your sensibilities Betty. Read my lips... I... will... not... carry... a... gun."
…x x x x…
Kim shook her head at the memory of her last meeting with Betty Director. She couldn't believe she had been so naïve at that point in time, even though it was only a few hours ago. It was her current situation that made her wish that she had not been so stubborn on the issue.
It had been a text book mission to take down Dementor and retrieve the Pan Dimensional Vortex Inducer. The demented little German thought he could use it in conjunction with his Transportulator to send himself anywhere in the world.
That is, it was text book until she and Ron were separated during their escape from his mountain hide-out. The little… well… Kim wouldn't even call her enemies nasty names, but she so wanted to tell Dementor that he looked like a phallic symbol. Anyway, the guy used an actual exploding rocket to try and knock them out of the sky while they were flying away on jetpacks. The resulting explosion caused her current predicament where she was sitting by a small mountain stream with a broken leg and a severely damaged Kimmunicator wondering where Ron ended up landing.
…x x x x…
Ron Stoppable always had the worst luck, but this time it seemed to be of the good variety. The mid-air explosion did separate him from Kim, but his jetpack wasn't damaged sending him spinning out of control as Kim's had. He was just sent off course, and landed relatively unscathed, while Rufus just held on for dear life in his pocket.
His landing was rough though, as Ron had to roll for a few feet. After standing, he quickly pulled out his Kimmunicator and was able to get Kim's signal so he knew where she was relative to his current position. A small red dot on the screen indicated where she was, and he took off in the direction indicated.
He didn't want to alert anyone to where he was by throwing off a high heat signature, so Ron opted to retract the wings and hike to Kim's position. As he trudged through the trees and shrubs, he would occasionally check the screen to make sure he was still on course. He had to double back a few times when he would run into an impassable barrier of either rock, or dense trees. Finally it cleared out, and Ron stepped out of the trees and into a blast of wind.
The area that he and Kim had landed in was a small valley with a stream meandering through. Each side of the stream had about 50 feet of marsh-like land, and then there were the dense trees right after that. The total distance across the valley from edge to edge was only about 300 yards, making the area seem more like a canyon than a valley. From the shape and position of the sides of the valley, winds would funnel down into the area and reach speeds of near 60 to 70 mph. They just happened to crash land during one of those winds.
With the wind whipping his hair, Ron scanned the other side with binoculars searching for Kim, and finally saw her. He tried waving to get her attention, but she was looking in the wrong direction. He tried contacting her with the Kimmunicator, but all he got was static. Apparently Kim's device was able to transmit its emergency beacon, and that was it. He also tried yelling to her, but the wind just carried his voice away.
What Ron saw next almost caused his blood to freeze. About 50 yards behind Kim was one of Dementor's goons. Quickly Ron raised his binoculars again, and surveyed the situation. He quickly located two more henchmen, but they were at least 75 to 100 yards up and down stream of Kim, respectively. The one behind Kim saw her sitting against a rock by the stream, and Ron could see that he carried a small handgun of some kind, and was sneaking up behind her. She had no idea he was there.
Before any of the henchmen could spot him, Ron ducked behind some dense foliage. Quickly he took off his backpack, and dug deep inside for the one thing he was glad he brought, but hid from Kim. She would have his hide if she knew he carried it all.
Ron quickly snapped together the small folding rifle, and brought it to bear on the goon approaching Kim from the rear. The small rifle didn't have a scope, so he had to rely on the hard sites, and he also had to deal with the wind. Ron hoped and prayed that the little bit of training given to him at GJ would be enough. He despised killing, but this was the only way to help Kim in her situation. There was no way he was going to let this guy even HURT his Kim.
…x x x x…
Oblivious to the guy behind her, Kim stayed against the rock by the stream, waiting for Ron. She knew he would be there soon, and everything would be fine. She relaxed a bit and contented herself by just taking in the landscape around her.
Suddenly her senses screamed at her to turn around, and with a painful grimace she did so just in time to see one of Dementor's goons level a hand gun in her direction. Her eyes went wide and the explosion from the gun echoed in her ears. She felt something slam into her left shoulder causing her to spin around and yell out in pain.
"I've been shot!" Kim screamed to herself and her vision started to darken at the edges and close in.
Her head swam and her vision blurred as Kim's knees buckled beneath her and she fell with a thud. Not knowing how long it had been, suddenly Kim felt someone gently take her head and set it on outstretched legs. She strained to look up, and saw Ron. Weakly smiling, Kim spoke in a whisper. "My hero…"
…x x x x…
After shooting the henchman in the head with either pure skill or dumb luck, Ron looked down at the weapon in disgust, and realized what he had just done. His hands were shaking and he could feel his heart hammering in his chest. I did it…He thought to himself with a bit of awe, but then without warning he tossed the gun down and threw up.
While catching his breath, the images he had just seen were being replayed in his head. He had seen the flash of the handgun, and saw Kim spin down to the ground. Kim had been shot, and she would need help! Ron had never run so fast in his life before and he reached Kim's side in a matter of seconds.
He gently lay her head on his lap and brushed a strand of hair from her eyes. Ron heard Kim speak two words, "My hero…" and closed her eyes. He quickly checked for a pulse and found it to be weak and slow.
…x x x x…
Green eyes fluttered open and ruby red lips took a deep breath of air. The eyes looked to the left, and the lips smiled in reaction to what the eyes had seen. There was a shock of matted blond hair sitting on the bed next to her left shoulder, held up by crossed arms. He hadn't moved since the last time she had awoken, but she didn't want to wake him up at that time. With grim determination, and one-handed typing on her Kimmunicator, she had sent a very important message before falling asleep again…
This time Kim reached over with her right hand and felt a small tug on her index finger. She saw the clip sensor that had her partially connected to the heart monitor, and easily slipped it off. Immediately the steady beep… beep… beep became a constant sound. Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep…
Ron quickly lifted his head and said without even thinking, "No Kim… don't you dare die on me!" He then felt a warm hand touch his cheek, and he looked down into Kim's wide open green eyes.
Almost immediately tears fell from his brown eyes as Ron hugged Kim close to him, and all she could do was hold his heaving shoulders in her arms while an IV tube dangled from her left wrist.
The door burst open and a nurse followed by a doctor entered the room. Kim quickly held up her right hand indicating that the sensor had just been pulled off, and the nurse dutifully reattached the clip. The two quietly let themselves out of the room leaving the two teens alone.
Ron was blubbering incoherently into Kim's shoulder, and she gently pushed him up and away to look into his eyes. "Ron…" He still wasn't making sense. "Ron…" She said again, and then gave him a bit of a shake, causing him to finally shut up.
This time he spoke clearly. "I… I… took a life, Kim."
"What are you talking about Ron?" Kim said as she watched Ron sit back down on the chair next to her bed.
"I… I… killed someone."
All Kim could do was look at him in silence as her mind processed his statement. She recalled back to that moment and remembered seeing the goons head snap back, and his eyes cross before he fell back, dead.
Then she remembered the pain in her shoulder, and her opposite hand came up to the bandage. She measured the distance of the center of the bandage to where her heart was, and then looked back up into Ron's eyes, a tear escaping one of her own.
"Ron…" She began slowly, "You… You didn't k… kill someone, you… you saved mine."
"But I still ended a life, Kim!" Ron said heatedly. "This goes against everything I believe in! I'm… I'm a… killer." He took a deep breath to calm himself.
He started to stand, and a steel grip almost crushed his wrist as Kim stopped him. "Ron Stoppable you are NOT, I repeat, NOT a killer. You saved my life. Doesn't that mean anything to you?"
"I'm so confused Kim…" He said shaking his head with his eyes closed. Kim could see tears welling inside his eyelids, as they were screwed shut tightly. "You… you were still shot!" Ron gently lay a hand on her bandage.
"I'm sorry Kim!" Ron dropped his head into the crook of Kim's elbow, careful not to aggravate her sore shoulder. "I'm so… so… sorry."
Once again Kim reached over herself with her opposite arm, and gently stroked his hair. "It's going to be OK Ron… It's going to be OK."
The door to her room gently opened, and Kim saw who it was. She nodded her head, and they left. Ron didn't notice a thing. She returned to consoling her boyfriend.
"Things are going to be alright Ron. They're going to be fine."
Swiftly, and silently, 5 Marines entered the room without Ron noticing, until he lifted his head from her arm. He looked around the room with puffy eyes, and saw that they all had full military gear, including side arms.
"What… what's going on Kim?"
One of the Marines stepped forward and spoke in a commanding voice. "Ronald Dean Stoppable… By order of Kimberly Anne Possible, we would like you to come with us."
Ron looked at the man, and then back at Kim with a questioning and hurt look. "Why Kim? What have you done?"
"It's… the only thing I could do, Ron." Tears streaked Kim's face as strong hands latched onto his shoulders, and pulled Ron back away from his girlfriend. His arms stretched out in an attempt to keep contact with Kim's equally outstretched fingers. "It's the only thing I could do."
Through the entire altercation, Ron couldn't help but stare at Kim with shock and hurt. The really odd thing about what was happening, was that ever since the Marines had entered the room, Kim had this very strange smile on her face.
To be concluded…
Now I bet y'all are wondering just what the heck is going on? Now if I told you… that would defeat the purpose of the cliffy. You should only have to wait a day or two at the most for an answer… (evil chortle)