Chapter 13 – A friend in need

"I must be an even bigger idiot than you are," said an irate Bonnie Rockwaller, her voice practically seething with venom.

It was late in the evening and her new model Toyota Camry was barrelling down the interstate outside of Middleton Colorado. Next to her in the passenger seat was one fidgeting and extremely uncomfortable Ron Stoppable. Ron, to his credit, was doing his best not to break down in shame.

"I'm really, really, really, sorry Bonnie. No one else could help…" Ron stammered.

Bonnie muttered something under her breath that Ron couldn't quite hear and then concentrated on the road. She wasn't so much as upset about doing this favour for Ron as she was feeling uncomfortable about the "incident" that had happened just a few scant hours before. She kept trying to force it out of her mind, but try as she might, she just couldn't.

"Naked on top of me, our eyes locked…. My hand on his…"

Bonnie blushed at the memory.

Ron was of course in pretty much the same state. The encounter had left him feeling more than a little awk-weird and it only amplified his normal weirdness around Bonnie. At first when it had happened he had been more upset about the fact that Kim had seen his little accident, but now that he was alone in a car with Bonnie, the reality of what had happened crashed down on him like a wall of bricks.

Bonnie snapped herself out of her reverie – whenever she was flustered like this, the easiest thing for her to do was to go on the offensive. Trying times called for tested methods.

"Whatever," Bonnie sneered at the hapless young man "How much farther Stoppable?"

Ron looked down at his 'Ronnunicator', the device was displaying a small digital map that was tracking his position relative to the destination he was aiming for – a small and seldom used airstrip right on the edge of town.

"Not much farth…"

Before Ron could finish his sentence, a car seemingly came out of nowhere and pulled up behind them in the classic 'tailgate position'. Just as quickly, the driver switched on his high-beams, momentarily blinding the two teens.

"What the hell! Fine I'll move!" screamed Bonnie, her outburst fuelled by more than just annoyance at the inconsiderate motorist.

She tried to move her car over one lane, assuming the driver wanted to pass her, but much to her surprise the mystery vehicle just switched lanes as well.

"Assholes!" growled Bonnie.

Ron turned around in his seat, the light was blinding and he shielded his eyes as he tried to get a closer look at the vehicle.

"Wait… is that getting closer?"

"Bonnie!" Ron screamed.

Bonnie didn't have any time to respond before she felt the jolt of impact as the car following her rammed directly into the rear bumper of her Camry. It wasn't a particularly powerful impact, but still, it scared Bonnie to death – nothing like this had ever happened to her before. She was barely able to maintain control of the wheel in her shock and she failed to notice that Ron had quickly slipped his hand over hers.

"Just hold on Bonnie," said Ron. His voice was encouraging, but held a hint of panic.

"What? What? Ron?" she stammered.

Despite his outwardly calm exterior, Ron wasn't doing all that much better than Bonnie. Truthfully he was scared almost as much as she was, however unlike Bonnie, the list of things that Ron was scared of was practically inexhaustible. As a result had learned of various ways of coping – particularly on his missions with Kim, and they came to his aid now.

"Okay Stoppable, head in the game. It's mission time!"

Ron took a quick glance at the road ahead and realized they were almost at the exit they needed to take. He was about to say something to Bonnie when he heard the tell-tale sound of the car behind them accelerating. Without a moment to lose he took his left leg and crossed it over into the driver's side of Camry and hit the gas.

Bonnie first felt the crushing pressure of Ron's boot on her own smaller foot and then noticed the rapid acceleration of her car, a new bout of panic started to set in.

"Ouch! Hey what are you…"

"NO TIME! STEER!" yelled Ron.

Thanks to Ron's quick thinking and the fact that Bonnie's parents had bought her the upgraded 'V-6' version of the car, the second ramming attempt never made contact. However, the teens were still screaming down the road in darkness – a situation that was inherently unsafe.

Ron noticed an oncoming exit sign and leaned in to Bonnie's shoulder.

"Take this exit," he said, "Then do a hard, and I mean hard right. I'm going to pop the emergency brake."

Bonnie was so flustered it didn't even occur to her to question what Ron was telling her. In the back of her mind she just accepted that in situations like this, people like Ron, who spent the majority of their lives doing freakishly weird and dangerous things were the closest thing to 'expert advice' that you could get. It was of little comfort.

The car behind them pulled back a few lengths as they headed towards the exit and Bonnie eased off the accelerator as she approached the "T-junction" at the end of the ramp. With a quick hand over hand motion she barrelled the wheel to the right while Ron popped the emergency brake. At first the g-forces were insane and Bonnie's eyes went wide with terror as she assumed the car was merely going to flip over. However, it didn't – instead it fishtailed like mad as it nose of the car came to point down the right branch of the road. Without urging she slammed on the gas again.

Ron had hoped that since the road wasn't well lit that the other driver might have made a mistake and not realize where he was going. At the speed they were being followed, it would have been likely for their pursuers to simply continue ahead and off the road. However, the other car had slowed down considerably and made the turn safely. Bonnie and Ron had gained some distance, but unfortunately hadn't lost the tail.

"Since when do villains drive safely?" complained Ron "Isn't that against some sort of villain rule?"

Bonnie was trying to formulate the correct snarky comment in her head when the headlights of her car illuminated a large sign down the road, 'LT. J. BARKIN AIRFIELD' it read in large, bold letters.

"Barkin?" she puzzled.

Ron flipped around in his seat and said to Bonnie, "Turn in here and don't stop until you see a big plane."

Bonnie did as instructed, the wheels of her car squealing on the aged asphalt of the driveway leading up to the disused airfield. Within seconds however she was quickly presented with another problem.

"Ron, it's just a parking lot. Where do we go Ron? IT'S JUST A PARKING LOT!" Bonnie panted in desperation.

Ron was scanning the area as the car rolled through the parking lot. He was looking for something like a gate, or some other way to get onto the tarmac and relative safety. Suddenly he saw the faint lights of a plane in the distance, only separated from their current position by a thin chain-link fence.

"That has to be the cargo plane… now where do we get…"

Ron's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a car quickly approaching. He turned around and put his hand on Bonnie's shoulder. Bonnie in turn took it as a signal to start moving and she gunned the engine of her car again.

"Ron!" she protested, "There's nowhere to go! What do we do?!"

Just as Ron was about to retort, he saw the other car pull alongside them on the opposite side of the lot. The windows of the vehicle came down and both teens stared in apprehension.

"Oh my god," muttered Bonnie "Are those…. monkeys?"

Ron barely had time to register his disgust before the simians leering at him through the windows of the non-descript Ford produced what looked like to him as submachine guns.

"Duck!" he wailed as he threw himself on top of Bonnie.

The report of the weapons and the shrieking of twisted metal and broken glass blasted through the air. Bonnie was wailing hysterically and Ron himself was almost incoherent.

"Pull it together Stoppable!" he mentally screamed at himself. There wasn't any time for him to panic, there was no Kim to come along and pull his (not so kosher) bacon out of the pan.

"WHY DO MONKEYS HAVE MACHINE GUNS?" yelled Bonnie, completely unaware that this question had no realistically sensible answer.

Ron's eyes narrowed and his mouth twisted into a sneer, "Why wouldn't they? Those dirty bastards…"

The bullet storm was over almost as fast as it hard started. Ron reasoned that the simian assassins were likely reloading so he would have to act quickly. Without any time to spare, he whispered to Bonnie, "Just gun it and aim for that fence."

Bonnie hit the gas and timidly poked her head up above the dash – the chain fence that encircled the landing tarmac was quickly approaching. Both Ron and Bonnie braced themselves for impact as the sound of gunfire echoed out into the night. With a final lurch, the car smashed into the fence – there was a split second of hesitation as Bonnie's now devastated Camry pushed its way through the fence with a rattling clamour.

"Over there!" Ron jabbed a finger through the now missing windshield.

In the distance Bonnie could make out the faint red tail lights of a large plane. Without warning another round of gunfire impacted the rear of her car. One of her tires had obviously taken a hit as suddenly the vehicle lurched to the side and a sharp grinding sound, worse than fingernails on a chalkboard, drilled into her head.

"Ron!" yelped Bonnie as the other teenager grabbed the wheel to help her steer.

"Almost there!" said Ron.

As the car approached the idling plane Ron saw two men standing by an open door. They were obviously the pilots and were waiting for him to arrive. However, they weren't prepared for the sight before them. Both men wore a shocked expression on their face as the now near totalled Camry flew up beside them.

Without hesitating Ron got out of the car and screamed at Bonnie, "Run! Inside the plane!" he then turned his attention to the two stunned pilots.

"C'mon we need to get out of here, now!"

Both of the men climbed up the ladder after Bonnie. As soon as Ron was confident that no one would witness what he would do next, he reached into Bonnie's car and put the transmission into neutral. With a quick step to the side he positioned his foot on what remained of the front bumper and waited. The pursuing assassins were almost upon him.

"I sure hope this works. Mystical Monkey Mojo don't fail me now!"

Gunfire rang out again from the oncoming vehicle, this time aimed directly at Ron. Pushing down his own terror he took a deep breath – his eyes snapped open and his normally hazel orbs turned a luminescent shade of blue. In an instant, Ron pushed out his leg with a force and speed that belied his gangly frame, sending Bonnie's car rolling at a surprising speed directly into the path of the oncoming Monkey assassins.

With a leap he cleared the metal ladder to the plane and vaulted through the open door, not even bothering to witness the impact of Bonnie's now deceased vehicle as it slammed into their pursuers.

"That should stall them for a bit."

Ron looked around; both the pilots had taken their seats and were already starting the airplanes engines. He quickly closed the hatch behind him and screamed for them to get moving. Following his ears he traced the faint sound of sobbing coming from the cargo bay. The plane was now heading down the runway and Ron moved quickly into the hold. There, clutching a safety belt to her chest was Bonnie Rockwaller. She was huddled onto a jump seat and crying manically, her slender body heaving with every sob.

Ron sat down beside her. He wanted to say something, but the words just wouldn't come. He ruefully thought that he had absolutely zero experience comforting a girl in this kind of situation; after all it would usually be Kim calming him down and to be truthful, his own anxiety right now was at a fevered pitch.

"I have to pull it together for Bonnie, this entire situation is wrong-sick. Why did it have to be monkeys? WHY?"

There was something about seeing Bonnie Rockwaller, the "Queen B" of Middleton High, in such a state that moved Ron Stoppable. He didn't know why, but he an overwhelming urge to reach out and comfort Bonnie, to hold her in his arms and protect her. Perhaps if he hadn't spent the last several years of his life playing second banana to an incredible caricature of girl self-empowerment, he might have recognized the feeling for what it was, but that discovery would have to wait for another time.

Slowly Ron felt his own anxiety start to abate, being replaced with both a sense of calmness and certainty. There was no Kim here to be the one to take charge, there was only the sidekick, but the sidekick wasn't good enough. No, he had to be better - He couldn't rely on Kim to solve every problem or to help everyone while he just tagged along. People were depending on him, and only him – Bonnie and Yori for starters, and then possibly whoever remained of the Yamanouchi School. He knew instinctively that he had to pick up his game or risk just hurting them, or worse.

It was in this moment that Ron came to the realization that he had been relying on Kim far too much and for far too long, to the point where it had left him in a strange and immature state. Sure, she had insisted that he was always her "partner", but deep down inside he had to admit he never believed it. After all, he never felt like he managed to make the contribution to the team he should have. Ron declared to himself that it was time to man up and first he'd start by being there for Bonnie when she needed him.

"Bonnie…" said Ron, as he reached out a hand to the hysterical girl.

Bonnie opened her eyes and found herself staring into Ron's face, only a few inches from her own. Somehow her free hand found his and she felt him squeeze it in a reassuring way.

"We're safe now. It'll be okay, in fact…"

The plane began to lurch backwards and Ron found himself sliding down the bench towards Bonnie. Almost instinctively he put one arm around her and then used another arm to hold onto some webbing attached to the wall of the cargo hold. Within moments the plane leveled out to a more gradual ascent.

Bonnie felt a sob die in her throat as Ron suddenly embraced her. She had been completely terrified just a scant moment ago, but now that she felt his arm around her shoulder she was overcome with another feeling that seemed to banish everything else away. It made her head spin and her heart skip a beat.

"I guess it's true,"she thought ruefully to herself "Having a guy save your life can have an effect on a girl."

Ron, realizing that Bonnie had settled down, exhaled deeply and took a moment of his own to relax. He slowly started to move away from the somewhat awkward embrace, but as he looked into Bonnie's eyes he felt an intangible force that caused him to hesitate.

"Ron…" said Bonnie, her voice twinged with shyness.

Her soft wet eyes, still rimmed with light tears, locked onto his and almost imperceptibly her face moved inches closer.

Ron Stoppable might not have been the sharpest student at Middleton High, but he was quick enough on the uptake to realize that look Bonnie was giving him. To his surprise he felt a severe case of butterflies in his stomach, the kind that were usually reserved for a certain redheaded teen hero. His mind went back to that amazing first kiss Bonnie had given him the day after Tara's birthday party and he wondered why both of them had never addressed it since. Was what Felix said true? Did he obsess on Kim to the level of a sociopathic stalker? And if that was true, in doing so, what did he do to the feelings of people around him and his friends? How did that make Bonnie feel after she bravely kissed him after his accidental confession?

Before Ron could answer any of these questions, in the dim light of that aging cargo plane, the inevitable happened and two incredibly confused teenagers shared a passionate second kiss.

XXXXXXXXX

Yori tested the chains that bound her arms to the solid stone wall. She was shrouded in almost complete darkness, unable to make anything but the most abstract of shapes, many of which she wondered were real or not. Around her she could hear the hushed conversations and soft breathing of her fellow students from the Yamanouchi School and occasionally, she would hear other sounds as well – the husky rattle of laboured breathing, or the soft, but plaintive moans of the injured. Inwardly sighing, she pushed and pulled against her bonds, yet they failed to yield. There seemed to be no way out of this trap and for the thousandth time she cursed her own stupidity.

"How did I not see that they were following me back to the school? How did I not know that they had used me to remove the sacred barriers?"

Yori knew, without a doubt, that it was her insolence and her own selfish desires that had brought the downfall of the school she loved so much. Her futile trip to America and sudden return had provided the opportunity for an unseen enemy to corrupt the wards that Master Sensei had spent half a lifetime tending. It was a careless mistake and one that was unbefitting of such a highly trained ninja – in her shame and embarrassment at Ron-kun's denouncement of her love, she had fled his home and left behind the key that would allow anyone unfettered access to the school.

From there, it was a simple matter for the Clan's enemies to retrieve the mystic key and then follow Yori as she returned home to Yamanouchi. Within days they had effectively infiltrated the grounds and surrounding area, launching a surprise attack in the middle of the night that had left them utterly defeated.

She had gone to America to pursue her beloved Ron-kun, her head giddy with dreams of marrying the Chosen One and fostering a family of honourable ninjas to carry on the traditions of her beloved Clan, but instead she had only wrought ruination.

"Such is the price of disobedience. Not only have I dishonoured myself, but I have destroyed all that I have loved. If I could stop breathing and die, I surely would."

The soul crushing enormity of Yori's guilt was something she had never experienced before and she was shaken to her core. She had always been the perfect student, the ideal ninja and she had thought in her moment of hubris, the perfect woman to ensure the bright future of her Clan. That confidence had led to a sublime arrogance that not only had she hid from others, but also wilfully, from herself. It was only now when everything seemed lost that she had finally come to terms with the true meaning of honour and what it required of her.

"I can't… I must go on. There may be no hope for me, but perhaps there is hope for the others. Perhaps there is hope for the Clan. My own life may be worthless, but that is not for me to decide."

Yes. She would go on. Despite her failure, despite her arrogance and despite her utter stupidity, there was one thing that she was sure of beyond all doubt, one beacon of light in oppressive darkness that shrouded her soul.

"He will come, and when he does, our enemies will feel the justice of the Chosen One."

Yori settled her heart and focused on this one truth. Her belief in the "Chosen One", in Ron, was so unshakable that it was stronger than a mountain facing the swell of the sea. She knew that even if she had failed, he would not, and when he came, as she knew he would, she would be ready to stand by his side, to live and die for him as needed. She would serve without complaint, without hope and without need.

Only then would she regain her honour.

XXXXXXXXXXX

"Ron's a big dummy," whispered Kim Possible to the stuffed animal she was holding over her head.

She was lying on her back in her bed, it was nearly midnight and despite her best efforts, her date with Eric hadn't gone all too well. It wasn't Eric's fault really, she was just really upset about Ron and Bonnie. Unfortunately whenever Kim tried to talk to Eric about it, he just shut her down with some snide comment about Ron. She knew the boys didn't like each other, and she pretty much felt it was mostly Ron's fault, but Eric recently was acting just as bad.

And besides, even if Eric didn't like Ron, wasn't he her boyfriend? Shouldn't he at least be worried about her and her feelings?

Kim tossed Pandaroo up towards the ceiling, watching the fluffy cuddlebuddy arc towards the sky and then come tumbling down into her waiting hands. She was feeling more than a little tweaked and confused and to make matters worse, the only person she could talk to was her well-loved, but decidedly inanimate, stuffed animal.

Kim flipped Pandaroo's face towards hers and stared into the creatures felt eyes.

"He's been spending an awful lot of time with Bonnie. First there was that class project they were working on, then she seemed to be the one getting him into track…"

Something about this really bothered Kim. Why didn't she try to switch with Bonnie to become Ron's partner for the class project like she usually did? Certainly, neither of them would have enjoyed the prospect of having to spend so much time together…. Would they? And besides, she actually enjoyed working on projects with Ron. Sure, he could be frustrating sometimes, particularly when he would get distracted, but he was also a lot of fun. Kim reflected that it was also one of the many ways that the two friends spent time with each other outside of missions, and she had pretty much stopped doing all together.

She winced a little bit at the thought.

Then there was the entire track situation. She hadn't really thought much about Bonnie's strange behaviour at the time; after all, maybe she was just really interested in track. Now, however, Kim was pretty sure that even if that was true, she was more interested in a certain track star. All the clues had been there before Kim's eyes that day, but she had just glossed over them. After all, Bonnie and Ron together? Impossible!

"What do I do Pandaroo? I feel like I'm losing my best friend," Kim sadly whispered as she moved to hold Pandaroo close to her chest.

Pandaroo remained silent and try as she might, Kim couldn't come up with an answer on her own. She resolved that tomorrow, she'd try to pull Ron aside and talk to him about everything again, but this time trying to get to the bottom of the Bonnie sitch.

"I still can't believe what I saw them doing…"

Kim had been pretty livid at the time – after all it's not every day you catch sight of your best friend's naked rear writhing around on top of your most despised school rival. Sure, she admitted, she might have over reacted at the time, but now that she had settled down a bit she couldn't quite believe that Ron of all people would be doing that, particularly with Bonnie.

"He probably just tripped."

It would be just like Ron, or more specifically, like the "Ron Factor", to have some bizarre but entirely plausible series of events happen that had landed him naked on Bonnie Rockwaller. The more Kim thought about it, the more that seemed likely. After all, the concept of "Bonnie and Ron" together was just too…

"Ugh… gortchy!"

Kim quickly banished the thought from her mind.

Kim was tired and decided she had enough dwelled on this crisis enough for one day. She'd have to do something about it tomorrow at school, but for now, she needed sleep. As she rose to prepare for bed, she was startled by the familiar tones of her "Kimmunicator".

"What's the sitch Wade?" she asked.

Wade looked panicked, it wasn't a state that Kim often saw him in. Her body started to tense.

"Kim! Ron's in trouble! There's been a shoot-out at…"

At the words "shoot-out", Kim lost her composure.

"Wade! Ron's been shot? What?" she practically screamed.

Wade realized his mistake and took a moment to calm down.

"No, he's fine I think. Here let me just show you – "

With that, Wade transferred a minimized digital video of the security feed from the airstrip to Kim's device. Kim watched the proceedings with an intent gaze. She took special note of the monkey assassins; they were a sure sign of the involvement of Monkey Fist. There was one other thing that bugged her though.

Bonnie Rockwaller was with Ron.

"Wade, what where they doing? Why was Bonnie with Ron?" Kim asked in a steely tone.

Wade paused for a moment. He knew that Kim didn't particularly like Bonnie, but there was something about her tone of voice that put him on edge. He chose his next words with care.

"I think she was just giving Ron a ride to the airplane Kim. He was supposed to be heading to Japan. We got a tip that someone had found Yori and he just wanted to catch up to her… He looked pretty guilty, so I think he wanted to… apologize maybe?"

Wade relaxed in his chair. Mission accomplished.

"So," Kim began, "This wasn't a mission?"

Wade shook his head.

Kim curled her lips and spoke, "Well, it is one now. Get me a ride, I'm going to Japan."

XXXXXXXXX

Ron Stoppable looked down at the sleeping form of Bonnie Rockwaller. Resting this way, she looked so much different than the girl everyone knew as Middleton High's "Queen B". Gone was the obvious tension, the scorn, the scowling looks and in their place was the face of a peaceful and beautiful girl. Ron wondered if anyone else had ever seen this side of Bonnie.

With care, he pulled up the worn green blanket he had found. These cargo planes were a frequent way that he and Kim managed to get around the world, but they weren't really suitable for passengers since they were seldom heated. He remembered Bonnie huddled against him and shaking – he couldn't be sure if it was from the cold or from fear, so he was grateful that he had managed to find this ratty old thing rolled up under one of the benches.

"Ron-man, what kind of mess have you gotten yourself into?"

Bonnie had practically collapsed just moments after she had kissed him. She had burrowed her face into his chest, her body wracked with sobs and all Ron could do at the time was hold her and rub her back. He wanted to say something, but he didn't think he had the words, or at least, the right words for the situation at hand. So instead, he had just decided that he would let her cry it out and try to be as understanding as he could. This meant that for the time being, he had pushed away all thoughts of and memories of the luscious lips that had just moments before been pressed up against his own.

Unfortunately, a lot of time had passed since then and Ron, true to his nature, wasn't the best at keeping his thoughts uncomplicated.

"Bonnie is an amazing kisser. She's so soft and warm right now…"

His mind drifted to other thoughts.

" I'm warm too... it's kind of hot actually under this blanket. Whoa boy, what's… oh no. Bonnie, don't move that way! Oh oh oh oh."

Ron squirmed in his seat as the busty brunette readjusted herself, soft and pillowy breasts pressed into Ron's body and her hand came to rest on a certain dangerous part of his anatomy.

"Urk!" Ron gasped, trying to keep quiet.

Ron struggled mightily. Part of his body was threatening to launch an armed rebellion against his self-control and sense of chivalry and he had precious little experience in counterinsurgency techniques. If he wasn't careful, the entire episode would almost certainly end up with a "firing squad".

He wasn't sure if that would be a euphemism or not.

Ron narrowed his eyes and reached under the blanket. Slowly, he moved Bonnie's hand, causing the girl to stir slightly. She murmured something in her sleep that Ron couldn't hear above the whine of plane's engines, but when he saw the slight smile on Bonnie's face he was relieved.

"At least Bonnie seems to be having a good dream."

With that last thought in his mind, Ron leaned back to try and make himself more comfortable. He'd sort out his feelings later, for now he needed rest. With a deep exhaling of breath Ron closed his eyes and tried to drift off into his own dreams…

This time however, he was slightly anxious as to if a certain redhead was going to feature in them or not.

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Authors Note:

First off, thanks for everyone who's come back to this story. I've appreciated the few reviews and private messages that I've gotten and I've tried to respond to everyone as best I can. I'm just grateful that people are still interested in this thing I suppose.

I know the drama in this chapter is a little a-typical, but we're sort of reaching an apex here in the plot progression so tension just has to escalate and escalate it will – obviously we're heading towards something big here, right?

Also, if people enjoy my writing, I am updating another story right now called Katawa Shojou: Rumbling Hearts based upon the visual novel of the same name. I both recommend the visual novel (it's free!) and the story itself for anyone who likes my drama/angst and twist on romance.

Once again thank you for reading.

QC