Disclaimer: I do not own Kim Possible, cause if I did, Yori would show up, much more often.
Hello people, this is currently my Fifth fanfiction I attempt to write. If any of you know who I am, good for you, just letting you know that NGE 2.0 is on the backburner, and the Berserker has been resurrected. This is my First Kim Possible fiction, so I hope I do a good job with it.
Sit back, and enjoy.
The story may be a bit Out of Character for some of you, but I'll try my best. By the way, the time is early second semester of Ron and Kim's Junior year, so some bits of Season 3 will be left out. Think of this as a 'Splinter-Verse.'
"Speaking"
'Thinking'
2/26/07-3/3/07
Middleton, Colorado, a simple, peaceful city. Sure the occasional villain, or more realistically, the occasional nutcase, but overall, it was a decent place to live. It was late in the middle of the night, and everyone slept peacefully, warm and comfortable; unaware of the hell occurring on the other side of the planet.
Bagdad, one can say, is a very dangerous place. With frequent car bombings and terrorist threats, it's not a place where one would take a vacation. But yet there were people there, trying to make living, trying to keep order, trying to stay alive. Ever since the US invasion of Iraq in 2003, Bagdad had been riddled with nothing but chaos. Even the US troop escalation could do nothing to calm the city down, as chaos still ensued.
Now somewhere in the city, there lay a man, inches from life. He left his family, his friends, his home for this God-Forsaken hellhole. He was a young man, maybe in his late teens or early twenties, but that might not matter in a few minutes. That young man was…
"STOPPABLE!" Ron heard a voice calling out to him as he laid there on the hard ground. A loud ringing was heard inside his head as he tried to reorient himself. A pool of blood gathered as he screamed in pain, trying to regain control of his body and take care of the situation. He desperately tried to turn his head to see what was happening, but found it impossible. For every inch he tried to move it felt as if his limbs were going to snap clean off his body. He felt the intensity of the burning wreckage nearby, it caused a soothing, yet agonizing feeling to course throughout his body as he felt it begin to cook him alive.
"STOPPABLE!" He heard the voice all out again, slowly beginning to become aware of his surroundings. Ron tried his best to focus his eyes to in front of him; all he could see was the flaming wreckage of what used to be a car. He heard screaming, and gunshots going off nearby, and knew he had to move. He tried to force his body to move, but was utterly crushed to find he was barely able to feel any of his limbs. Crying slightly, he resigned himself to his fate.
Ron miraculously felt two arms wrap around him as he was quickly dragged through the street. Despite the pain, Ron was relieved to that one of his squad members was able to bail him out. "Don't worry buddy, you're going to be alright." Ron was able to pick up, causing him to feel slightly better.
A large explosion went off nearby, raining hot burning debris on Ron as the sound of gunshots became louder and louder. Looking forward he and was able to make out several bodies. Ron assumed they were shooting at him, and prayed he would make no stray shots would hit him. He let out another scream of pain as his body was turned a sharp angle and propped against wall. Barely making out the figure in front of him, which he had long assumed to be the company medic, Ron tried to close his eyes, feeling safe, to rest for a bit.
"Ron, look at me, look at me." The medic gave him a light slap, trying to keep Ron awake. The medic pulled out a lighter and held it in front of Ron. "Look at the fire Ron, look at the fire; don't worry about it man, you're going to be just fine."
Ron grunted as the man began to inspect his body for any wounds, digging out as much shrapnel as he could find and attempting to find anything that could cause real damage.
The medic, kept the lighter in front of him, "don't worry Ron, we're going to get you home just fine." The medic said, trying to reassure him.
Ron snickered a bit when he heard the man say the word 'home', despite his labored breathing, he couldn't help but laugh. Home was the last place he wanted to be.
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"Ron, I can't believe you!"
"Why didn't you tell anyone about this?"
"Stoppable, even I'm disappointed in you."
Ron Stoppable was having a bad day; he knew he was going to have to confront everyone about what he had just done sooner or later; although he sure as hell would have settled for later. Angrily shoving his way through the crowd, he used every bit of his will power to ignore them.
"It's none of your business!" Ron yelled out, pushing another student out of his way. Since when did they care anyways? He asked himself. It's not like anyone really gave a damn about him, Ron was surprised when he heard the reaction. Still, the crowd persisted on getting answers. He was able to near the exit until he recognized a familiar shadow right behind him. "Kim, what do you want?" He growled as he stood at the door, his body twitching, yearning to slam the door open and bolt on home.
"Ron, I just want to know why." She asked worryingly. Kim couldn't understand what had caused Ron's sudden shift in behavior.
"Come on man; just tell us what you were thinking." Ron froze when he heard that voice, he hated that voice.
"Kim…Josh…it's none of your damn business." Ron snarled as he kicked opened the door and tried to get home. Despite walking at a rather quick pace, Kim and her retinue persisted in their quest for answers. Ron knew they were following him, but did not dare look back. He kept his pace and tried his best to ignore the small crowd of people trailing him. Hearing a rumbling in his stomach, he easily discovered he was hungry and debated on going to Bueno Nacho for a quick lunch, despite the risk of getting cornered. Stomach winning over common sense, again, he headed towards Bueno Nacho, hoping he could get something to eat while he continued to ignore the pressing questions behind him. 'I swear, when are they going to give up?' he asked himself.
"Yo Ron, what's with the fan-club?" Ron perked up to see Ned at the counter. Ned was always good for a laugh every now and then, especially recently.
"Ignore them, just get me the usual." He responded and paid for his meal. After a brief wait, Ned handed Ron his meal, and he happily accepted. Unfortunately, he needed to turn around. "Oh my god, did the crowd get bigger?" Ron asked aloud, seeing at least twenty to thirty students, much more than there were before. There was no point of escape, he was trapped. Knowing he was cornered, Ron admitted defeat. "Fine, let me eat first," he sighed, "damn stomach, I knew you'd get me in trouble.
"Alright, fine." Kim uttered, impatient for answers, she sat down in front of Ron in their usual spot, with Josh by her side. Ron glared as resisted the urge to inhale his food and chewed as slowly as possible, hoping to stall for more time, unfortunately everyone obviously knew he was doing this on purpose.
"Okay, that's it, spill Ron." Monique yelled from the front of the crowd, tired of waiting.
"Ron, we care about you." Kim added.
Ron unhappy demeanor changed as his angry face turned into a smile. Kim was slightly pleased with herself. Ron began to snicker uncontrollably, next thing everyone knew he had burst into a fit of laughter. Kim quickly frowned at this.
"Kim, you have no idea do you?" Ron turned serious for what seemed to them, the first time in their life. "Kim, when was the last you and I hung out together?"
"Just last week Ron," she answered quickly.
"What are you jealous that your precious Kimmie is spending more time with her boyfriend then you?" Bonnie teased condescendingly, causing a good chunk of the group to laugh, and surprising Kim herself.
"Come on Ron, you know we will always be friends." Kim smiled.
"Bonnie aside, you're wrong Kim." Ron shook his head. "You planned on hanging out last Friday, but remember when you said "I'm sorry Ron, things just popped up!"" he mocked. "You told me there was an emergency, but it turned out you just ditched me to go out with Josh, again."
Kim frowned, "Come on Ron, you know I didn't mean to hurt you."
"Yea, it's not her fault that she wants to hang out with someone that wasn't a loser!" Bonnie opened her mouth, unfortunately.
Ron was not pleased. He just shook his head and stared at his food. "I'm just sick of it," he finally said.
"Ooh, is the nerdling going to cry?" Bonnie also put in.
"Hey, who told you about our code names?" Ned yelled from behind the counter.
The laughter resulting from Ned's response didn't make things any better. Ron closed his eyes, and got up. He waded his way through the crowd and tossed his lunch in the trash can. "I did it because of you Kim."
"What are you talking about?" Kim yelled. "I want you to tell me what is going on right now!"
Ron just looked at her, but couldn't bear to look into her eyes. "Kim, you've changed, and not for the better."
"What?" Kim questioned, not fully understanding what he was talking about.
"I've seen you Kim, you may not know it, but you're not who you used to be," Ron cried, tears began to form around his eyes. "Remember Chris Shieffler the other day?"
"Oh, that loser, yeah, he was in my way and just wouldn't get moving." Everyone turned their attention towards Bonnie, and was surprised that it wasn't her that said that, but Kim herself. She clenched her mouth shut with her hands; she just couldn't believe what she had just said.
"Oh, and let's not forget Jason Tran, or Kevin Durham; or did those loser get in you way too?" Ron, he was beginning to tear at the moment, but he didn't care. "It's been several long months Kim, I've noticed that you've changed, but I thought that is was nothing at first. I thought you'd eventually come to your senses."
"Ron, I'm so sorry." Kim said, crying into Josh's chest.
Ron just rolled his eyes as he continued. "And let's not forget about me too."
"Ron, I'd never-"
"How about after cheer practice when you told everyone that I was doing nothing but holding you back." He scowled, "Bonnie even agreed with you."
"Ron, I didn't-"
"Stuff it KP, I didn't believe it at first, I thought it was just a one time thing, you know, just a little stress talking. I'm perfectly fine with being a proverbial punching bag at times." Ron glared at the group. "Heck, how many times have you guys ever told yourself, "Well, at least I'm not Ron Stoppable."" He mocked, eyeing the crowd. Noticing the look on everyone's faces, Ron got his answer. "It's wasn't just one time Kim, and you know it, you've said it so many time, I doubt you even notice yourself say it anymore." Ron turned around and quickly walked home, leaving a very shocked and saddened audience.
Josh looked down at his girlfriend, and stroked her back, attempting to calm her down. "Come on Kimmie, if the loser wants to drop out, then let him."
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Ron got home rather early compared to the times he would normally get home. Collapsing onto his bed, he closed his eyes and tried to get some sleep. He cried as he thought about the last couple of months. He didn't mind it at first, somewhat happy that Kim was able to fit in. It kind of surprised him how popular she became when he wasn't around. Kim, however, would still hang out with Ron on occasion, and it wasn't all that bad. She was happy, had a lot of friends, and still made time for Ron.
Even her dating Josh didn't bother him too much, even though it did make her a tad bit jealous. However, things slowly began to change, the amount of time they spent together was getting shorter, and the times they would hang out was getting further and fewer in between. Kim began to shock him time after time, even getting along with Bonnie on numerous occasions. She began to get more and more snobby, and her actions towards his type were getting harsher and harsher. He saw that their relationship was beginning to fade, and a schism between the two was eminent, if it had not happened already. Sighing, he closed his eyes to get some desperately needed sleep.
"RONALD STOPPABLE, GET DOWN HERE RIGHT NOW!" Ron woke up when he heard the sound of his mother's voice, and he slowly willed himself out of bed. He had been replaying and trying to prepare for this moment for some time now. But he knew he was going to get a tongue lashing, and it wasn't going to be pretty. Slowly making his way to the door, he thought about the Hell he was about to receive. It appears his parents found about that he dropped out alright. Not that it wasn't expecting it, it's just seems a lot worse then anyone would have guessed. He slowly walked down the stairs to meet his parents in the living room. Seeing the look on his mom's face, he could tell she was seriously pissed.
Ron let out a sigh and braced himself for the worst. "I'm here mom."
"What the hell were you thinking!?!" Mrs. Stoppable yelled. "You have ten seconds to explain why you did what you did!"
"I just couldn't take it anymore."
Mrs. Stoppable wouldn't take that answer, "But to drop out! This is way over the edge!"
"I just couldn't take it okay!" Ron yelled back. "It's not like you or Dad ever cared about me before!"
"Ron, I know we haven't been the best of parents," His mom replied, hurt. "But we do care for you."
"Son, what about your future?" Mr. Stoppable expressed.
Ron took a deep breath and closed his eyes. "I'm joining the Army."
Mr. and Mrs. Stoppable did a double take on what they had just heard to make sure they heard correctly. "Are you sure you can handle it? I mean, with the war in Iraq and all." His father finally pointed out.
"With all of the missions Kim and I went on, how hard can it be?" Ron answered.
"But son, you could get killed out there!" His mother cried.
"And I could've have gotten killed for years now, but I turned out just fine."
"I hope you know what you're doing son." His father added.
"Me too," Ron said, shaking his head, "me too."
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"Kim, how was school today?" Mrs. Dr. Possible asked at the dinner table. Kim played with her food in grief. Her mother knew that something bad had happened. She was concerned when she say Kim came home looking extremely fatigued, with puffy eyes and dried tears on her face.
"Nothing," Kim sighed, thoughts of earlier today still lingered in her head.
Her mother gave her the look that obviously meant she wasn't buying it. "It couldn't have been that bad."
"Ron dropped out today." Kim let out, trying to get it off her chest.
The sound of dishes shattering was heard throughout the room. Everyone in was bomb-shelled, unable to come to grips with the current news.
Crying, Kim tried to speak, but found herself unable too. She went up to her room as fast as she could and collapsed on her bed. Kim thought about herself during the last couple of months. Desperately, she tried to find when it all began to change. She never noticed the change between the two of them; Ron never seemed to mind until recently. Tears stained a spot on her bed as she continued to grieve. She looked up at her mirror and was shocked at what she saw. She never noticed the amount of make-up she put on to her face. It never was an issue before today, but after seeing herself, she just couldn't believe it. She felt as if she was looking a completely different person, and she didn't like what she saw.
"Kimmie, are you alright?" Her mother poked her head through her door to check up her daughter.
Kim remained quiet and cried into her pillow.
"Kimmie, do you want to talk about it?" Mrs. Possible asked, deeply concerned.
"Mom, have I changed?" Kim asked her mother.
Mrs. Possible's smile died as she thought about the question. "Kim, why do you ask?"
"It's just; Ron said that I've changed, but not for the better."
"Well Kim, I haven't been very proud of your last couple of decisions." Mrs. Possible replied. "I know you haven't been going on as many missions lately as you want us all to believe."
"…" Kim turned her head away.
"You've been spending less time with us as a family then you did before, if with the missions." Her mother continued. "You devote more time putting on make-up then doing homework."
"I'm so sorry mom." Kim cried as her mother held her, trying to calm her down. "Ron must hate me."
"No, no, Ron could never hate you Kimmie." Her mother told her.
"But how could he not!" Kim grieved, "I've been nothing but a bitch lately."
"Kim, you shouldn't be so hard on yourself," Her mother told her. "Now get some sleep, you've had a long day."
Kim let out a sigh before lying back down on her bed and thinking back on the past several months. She softly cried before sleep was finally able to claim her.
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Ron jogged down the streets of Middleton early in the morning, he was getting sent off to Basic Training at Fort Riley tomorrow, and he was trying to get prepared for his nine weeks of hell. Due to all of his missions, he was in surprisingly good shape, and is easily able to keeping a good pace for some time, what with having to escape from so many explosions. But despite these missions, he knew that it wouldn't be enough. Ron had thought long and hard on his decision, not wanting to regret his choice much later. As the months flew by however, he knew there was nothing he could do, his grades were in a shit-fall, and because Kim had stopped tutoring him his grades took a huge dive. With his parent's never home, Kim preoccupied with other leisure, he just had no one to keep him on course. Rufus, bless his little heart, was however unable to help Ron get a hold of himself.
"Stoppable." A voice called, Ron was barely able to pick it up and stopped. "Over here Stoppable." The voice called again.
"Oh, hello Barkin," Ron mockingly saluted, finally noticing him. Ron was surprised to end up in front of Barkin's house.
"Stoppable, I've been meaning to talk to you; you have no idea what you have gotten yourself into." Barkin said. "The second you get on that bus your life will never be the same."
"I guess I'm in for one hell of a trip, aren't I?"
"Stoppable, this isn't a game." Barking took on a serious face. "Your little missions with Kim are nothing compared to what you are going to eventually see."
Ron stood there in silence and listened.
"People get killed out there Stoppable," he continued. "You'll be fighting something a lot worse then those nut-jobs you used to put behind bars. Those so called evil geniuses have no weapon worse then what our enemies have. If you're lucky, maybe you'll end up in Germany, or some place safe. I pray to God you won't end up in Iraq."
Ron tried to soak in what he had just heard, he knew Barkin was right, that if he does end up in combat, it'll make everything he's fought against seem like nothing but a joke.
"You better get going, it's almost lunch time." Barking said, snapping Ron from his thoughts. He quickly said goodbye and ran off towards his house. Checking his watch, he was surprised to find that it was nearly noon; he had been out for almost two hours. Ron felt a grumbling in his stomach and knew he needed to get something to eat. He headed off to Bueno Nacho for a "last meal" there before he had to leave tomorrow.
"Hey Ron, I heard the news yesterday." Ned called from the register.
"Yea, been catching a lot of flak over it," Ron chuckled as he paid for his meal.
"So, why the sudden shift in behavior?" Ned asked curiously.
"I've actually been slowly changing since November, but no one really paid any attention." Ron pointed out. "They assumed it was the old me that dropped out."
"Well, what are you going to do now?"
"I'm heading off to boot tomorrow morning."
"Yea, I heard about that too."
"Well Ned, it's been nice hanging out with you," Ron said, throwing away his trash. "I'll see you some other time."
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Ron rang the doorbell to the Possible residency. He needed someone to watch over Rufus for sometime, and he knew that Jim and Tim would be the best choices.
"I'll get it!" Ron heard someone call from the inside.
"Oh, hey…" Kim said after she had answered the door, seeing who it was.
"Hi Kim…" Ron stammered, "Mind if I come in?"
"Sure." Kim answered quickly. It didn't take her long to notice all the things Ron was carrying in with him. "What's with all the stuff?"
"Well, as you can see Kim, I need someone to take care of Rufus for a while." Ron replied.
"Oh, I see."
"Well, I guess this I'll see you later little buddy." Ron said, petting Rufus's head for a bit. "I already talked to Jim and Tim about it, they're okay with it." Ron told her. "I'm going to miss you little buddy, now be good, I'll check in as much as I can." He gave Rufus a big hug before handing him over to Kim. "I guess I'll see you later."
"Yes, I'll try and contact you if I can." Kim replied, looking at her feet, rather upset.
"Bye." Ron spoke sadly, closing the door behind him.
"Bye…" Kim softly cried to herself. She tried to tell him that she was sorry, but found she couldn't. Feeling exhausted, she decided to turn in early tonight.
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Ron arrived home around dinner time that evening. His parents have taken a few days off to be together to see Ron off in the morning, and to provide what seemed to Ron as a "Last Meal" to him. His parent's cooked a delicious meal, with all of his favorite foods. But despite the great feast, Ron had trouble talking at dinner; it had been a while since he had dinner with all of them together.
"So Son," His dad broke the silence. "When are you leaving tomorrow?"
"Around ten in the morning, there'll be a bus at the stop by the recruiting center." Ron replied, looking up slightly from his meal.
"Son, your mother and I have been talking." His father began. "We don't like the decisions that you have made lately; dropping out of school, joining the army." He continued. "But, through all this, we feel that we have no one to blame but ourselves. We haven't been the best of parents if you've noticed."
Ron chuckled a bit. "I never noticed."
His dad frowned a bit, but continued. "But, whatever decision you make, we'll support you."
"Whether we like it or not, we will." His mother was beginning to cry.
"Mom, Dad, I love you guys," Ron spoke, "So, thanks, I guess."
His parent's smiled a bit, and left Ron to himself to think.
'It's too late for that now,' Ron began to think. 'Where were they when I called them from Camp Wannaweep? Where were they when I called them from that closet Kim locked me in? Why didn't they ever look for me? Why didn't they care that I was missing for almost three days?' Ron began to angrily ask himself. 'They think that by fixing me a nice simple dinner, and a lame speech probably stolen from a sitcom will fix my problems. That I'll turn around, apologize for my stupidity and everything will be alright.' Ron thought. Sighing he got up and slowly headed towards his room. He needed to get some sleep; because tomorrow's going to be a very long day.
Well, this is all that I have at the moment, I spent a few days tying the story up and editing it to make sure everything was alright. I apologize for any problems with everyone being OOC. I also no jack shit from the military in terms of organization in certain fields. This was my first attempt at a KP fanfiction, and I hope you guys enjoyed it.
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