Thank you to campy, Boris Yeltsin, Eddy13, F86Sabre53, Molloy, airauralintensity, CajunBear73, Quathis, and KPFan5770, bobtrumpet, Jimmy1201, and Anonymoose for reviewing and to everyone for reading. Thanks also to everyone who has "favorited" this or one of my other stories.

My thanks, as always, to campy for looking over this chapter.

KP © Disney; Original Characters © the Author

campy has another story out: Cri De Guerre. It really grinds my beans that he finished his last story (lots of fun) and is deep into this new one (yet more fun) in the time it took me to finish this chapter ...

Rockets Are Go!

I.

Kim and Ron walked across campus and approached the Student Union, Kim rolling her eyes and Ron feeling uncomfortable with what they saw: banners being carried by noisy, chanting students marching back and forth on the pedestrian plaza.

All of this was hard to avoid, and this time it wasn't like Ron was being cheered after scoring a touchdown.

Kim wondered where they'd found the outdated and unflattering Project Phoebus news photo of her BFBF some of them carried. She bristled at the slogans she saw: "Ron Stoppable: Guilty of Xenocide". "Ron Stoppable: Alien Baby Killer". And then there was the especially-galling "I (Heart) Lorwardia!"

One small mercy was when Ron commented that "Xenocide" was yet another school word he didn't know. For once, Kim was grateful for one of her guy's academic shortcomings.

All was not bad, though. There were some counterdemonstrators, carrying signs of support proclaiming, "Ron Droppable Saved Us" and "Go Mad Dog!"

"Get a life much?" Kim opined as she surveyed the scene.

"I guess they ran out of big issues to picket," Ron shrugged. "Well, KP, your boyfriend is now a thing." He used air quotes when he said the last word.

"Don't get me wrong," Kim replied with a smirk, "but I'd prefer you remained my thing."

"No argument here," he said. "Though you'd think the dudes in my corner would know my name …"

II.

Tim Morel was increasingly freaked out by his situation, or more apropos to his current predicament, he was going bananas.

Monkey Fist was certifiably insane — but he was also cunning and evil, and thanks to his entanglement with dark magic, was able to do the incredible. From the moment his Aunt Amy was turned into a statue, Tim knew that there was more than just empty bluster to the fallen nobleman's rantings. There was every possibility that he would act on his insane rage.

And Tim's current condition was proof of how dangerous Monkey Fist was. The fallen graduate student looked at his simianized hands and feet and sighed. He'd been turned into a monkey — which was awful. Though on reflection, that was not as awful as being petrified …

III.

"See you later?" Kim asked as she and Ron left the building in which their First Year Seminar, which was taught by Reeve Barkin, was held.

"Yeah, after I finish my dorm crew shift," Ron sighed.

Kim gently laid a hand on his cheek. "Don't you forget: you're still my guy." Then she gave him a kiss. "Always."

"Yeah, I know," Ron replied, grateful for Kim's support and commitment. He still found it hard to believe that he'd gone from breakout star of the football team to the guy who cleaned the toilets faster than one could say 'Rockets Are Go' and Kim still wanted to be with him. "At least we'll be prepared if we ever go up against a bathroom villain."

"I so don't want to know," she said with a chuckle.

"Yeah, probably not." Ron grinned, and they held hands, "Well, time for the Ronster to go to work."

Kim felt a rush of deep affection for her BFBF. He had been dealt a lousy hand and he was handling the situation with newfound maturity. She blushed, then said, "I love you."

"Huh? Not that the Ronman has any problems with that, but that seemed kind of random," he said. "Isn't that my gig?"

Smiling, and still holding his hands, Kim said, "Just thinking how ferociously awesome you've been. Your GF has noticed."

"Thanks, KP, that means a lot."

Kim leaned in and gave him another kiss. "I know this isn't the sitch you thought you were signing up for when you transferred here, but you're really doing me proud, Ron Stoppable."

Now he reddened, then grinned. "Well, can't let my amazing feminina down, can I?"

"And you never have, not when it counted," she said with a winning smile. She then bussed him on the cheek.

"Hey, you're doing a lot of kissing there, Kimbo," Ron said.

She cocked an eyebrow, then smirked. "Just because you've been benched doesn't mean I have to give up my Ronshine, does it?"

Ron rubbed his chin. "Nah, I guess not. You need any more before I go?"

"What do you think?" she asked as she leaned in for another helping …

IV.

For reasons he could not explain, James T. Possible was feeling distinctly uneasy. He shook his head, then turned back to the blueprints he was working on. He calmed down, but suddenly he twitched again.

V.

"How's Ron doing with everything?" Monique asked.

"He's been a star, Mon," Kim said, her phone nestled in the crook of her shoulder as she straightened out her side of the dorm room. "I mean, he's like Captain Maturity."

"No way," the style diva said. "This the same Ron Stoppable I knew back in Middleton?"

"Mmm hmm," Kim replied. "And it's such a good look on him. That and the extra couple of inches have turned him into such the hottie. Not that he wasn't one before."

"Girlfriend, you've got it bad," Monique replied with a chuckle.

"Ferociously bad, Monique. I mean, Ron and I have always been tight, but these last few weeks have been amazing. I just wish something good would happen for him."

"You know you could do something about that," she said slyly.

"Monique!" Kim squealed, then paused, "I mean something good in addition to what I have planned."

"Oh?"

"Just because Ron's been suspended from the team doesn't mean he can't score …"

VI.

He didn't know why, but James T. Possible, who was hard at work in his lab at the Space Center, focused on the equations for the new hyper drive he was developing for the latest Kepler rocket, gulped. For some reason, he found himself thinking about the line from the introduction to Space Passage, in which the narrator talks about going where no one had gone before.

VII.

Ron was on his knees swabbing the toilets in a dorm's restroom when he heard a familiar voice.

"Good heavens, what are you doing, son?"

He turned from his work and looked up to see the familiar figure of his old boss.

"Mr. Smarty?" Ron asked.

"In the flesh," the big-box store magnate said. "Now, why are you cleaning toilets?"

"Just earning some money," Ron answered.

"Doing this?" Smarty asked, gesturing, "This is a crime. You belong in retail!"

"Yeah, I thought so too, but not if the price is not being able to help KP."

Smarty sighed. "I get it, son."

Ron's head popped up. "You do?"

"It was kind of hard at first, being a busy mogul and all, but it occurred to me that maybe my very intense yet highly lucrative focus on my business is why I'm on wife number three and counting. Son, if you've found the right woman, you should try to make it work."

"Really?"

"You bet. It may be a cliché, but true love is hard to find. And a good divorce lawyer is hard to pay."

Smarty and Ron looked at each other.

"So, you must wonder why I'm here chewing the fat with you in the men's room."

"I was kind of wondering about that," Ron said.

"I want you back on the team, and we'll work something out to take your mission work, school too, into account."

"That's great, Sir, and I would jump at the opportunity if I were still in Middleton but, I'm here and—"

"Say no more. You can stay here."

"Here?"

"Yes, the newest Smarty Mart will be opening on the edge of town and I want you to be a part of management!"

"No way!"

"Way! So, what do you think?" Smarty said as he thrust out his hand.

"Coolio, but uh, I need …"

"To talk it over with Ms. Possible?"

"Yeah, we're a team and …"

Smarty sighed. "Son, I'd tell you that you need to man up but given my track record with relationships, I think I'll stick to what I know. Talk to her and let me know in a week."

With that, Martin Smarty, turned on his heel, whipped out his mobile phone and exited the washroom, talking to someone about loofahs and leopards, as Ron was left to mull over his situation.

VIII.

"You guys really don't mind?" Kim asked.

"Positive, Roomie. You and your boy deserve a good time. I'm just glad I can help," she replied, before grinning, "And you know I'm always looking for a chance to spend more time at Kasey's place."

Rufus, who was standing on Fern's shoulder chirped, "Go Tri Gams!" as he enthusiastically waved a sorority pennant. Fern might be looking forward to action with her girlfriend, the naked mole rat was looking forward to being spoiled with some good cheese by the members of one of the five sororities of which he already was honorary mascot.

"Well, then, you two have a spankin' time," Kim said.

"Oh, we will. And don't forget to let the Mad Dog score, just not too easily," Fern quipped.

Kim blushed, but then flashed a predatory smile. "You so don't have to worry about that. I think Ron and I will both be running up the score tonight."

IX.

"I don't know what's bothering me, Ann, but I just can't help but feel that something big is going to happen tonight," James said after dinner.

"Oh?" Ann offered.

"I just wish I had something more than this feeling. And it's not as if the boys still have the J200 rocket fuel."

"No, the Defense Department confiscated it after Jim and Tim's latest invention went south."

"South?" James protested, "It went north!"

"Well, I guess that going into low earth orbit would qualify as north. Until it hit that military satellite. It's a good thing General Mills owed Kim a favor."

James chuckled. "We weren't stopping runaway cruise missiles when I was a college freshman."

"I'm glad that Kim and Ron were able to slip in that mission; I actually think fighting bad guys or stopping disasters is a stress reliever for them."

"Not to mention it keeps them from getting up to any hanky-panky," James observed.

Ann rolled her eyes. She recalled the conversation she had with her daughter back at Llenrock when she had visited with the Stoppables and Steve Barkin earlier that fall and suspected that Kim and Ron were already getting up to a lot of hanky-panky, her husband's hopes to the contrary. Frankly, Ann thought her daughter was old enough to be intimate with her best friend boyfriend, even if her father would prefer she not even be dating anyone until she was thirty …

X.

Kim got up when she heard the knocking. She opened the door and was pleased to see it was Ron.

"Hey, KP—"

Ron was cut off by Kim's kiss. When she was done, he was wearing an unusually goofy grin, much like the one after their smooch in front of the lockers during the Moodulator sitch.

"Hey, Ron," she said as she pulled him into the room.

"So, what does my beautilicious lady want to do tonight?" he asked after he recovered.

"Well, first we need to talk," she answered.

Ron's eyes opened wide in panic and confusion.

"W-what?" he stammered.

Kim shook her head. "Sorry, bad choice of words, though I would hope that kiss would have told you I am so not breaking up with you."

Ron rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah, sorry. So, what do you want to talk about? Because I've got news I need to talk about with you, too."

"News?" Kim asked, her curiosity piqued. "Give me the 411."

Ron told her about the visit that he'd received from Martin Smarty that afternoon and how he told his boss he needed to discuss things with his girlfriend. Kim responded by throwing her arms around him.

"Man, seems everyone wants a piece of the Ronman," he said.

"You don't know how much it means to me when you step up, Ron. And, when you're mature about things."

"Well, I figured that growing up is going to happen to me, so why not try to get ahead of the curve," he said with a shrug.

"Well, it's good you're thinking about the future, because I want to talk about our future, and some of the grown-up things I want to do with my BFBF ..."

Ron blinked. Kim smiled smugly.

"You mean, black hole things?" he asked.

"I know I want to be with you, Ron, and Dad may be a rocket scientist but he doesn't know everything. I think we're ready," she answered as she gave him a kiss.

"Well, I guess there's only one thing to say …"

Kim leaned in and whispered, "Less talking, more kissing, please and thank you," and then brought her lips to his.

XI.

Later that night, an agitated James Possible woke up from a deep sleep. He had the most disturbing dream, one in which his Kimmie-cub and Ronald, had, no, they couldn't, could they?

To Be Continued …