A/N: Hello, everyone! This is my first-ever submission here, so I thought I'd tackle a pairing a bit unconventional: RonGo. There seems to be a small but dedicated pocket of other people who appreciate this pairing as much as I do, so I hope those proud few come out of the woodwork and read this. Reviews are welcome, regardless of content. Thaks for reading, hope you enjoy!

UPDATED: I have modified one of the pieces of 'evidence' Ron uses to back his assumptions about Kim's feelings in order to maintain realism and "in-character-ness"(is that a thing?), on the advice of my two distinguished peers/critics, Taechunsa & XanQenadius. This revision is dedicated to them! Thanks, guys!

The Strange Life After

Chapter 1: Betrayal?

Today had been the best day Ron Stoppable remembered for a long time. 'At least it has been so far', he chided himself. Ron Stoppable had, through years of having some of the worst luck imaginable, found that one should never count out the possibility of things taking a turn for the worst. 'Of course', he thought with a chuckle, 'today has been pretty different from one of the old mission days'.

The "mission days", as he and Kim so affectionately referred to their pre-college escapades, had left a profound impact on the way Ron lived his life despite the fact that he and Kim had taken an indefinite hiatus from missions over two years ago. 'Missions or no missions, never again will I wear pants without a highly tightened belt', Ron thought, allowing himself another small chuckle. It wasn't that he and Kim had grown tired of missions, or even that they had grown bored with them, they had simply made a mutual decision to hold off on any more adventures until after each of them graduated their respective universities.

Ron had just finished his third semester at the Colorado Institute for the Culinary Arts (CICA for short) and was on his way to Harvard's sprawling campus to pay Kim a surprise visit, since her classes wouldn't be letting out for the semester for another week. Of course, he was not without ulterior motive, either. Kim had been somewhat distant of late, at least romantically, whenever they had spoken. She didn't really talk too much about her feelings, instead dedicating more effort to stories of her exploits with her friends. One name in particular came up a lot, some guy named "Sam" who Kim seemed to think the world of. Which had, naturally, led Ron to decide that when he saw her again, he would do something big.

Finding the perfect engagement ring had been the single most arduous task he had ever had to partake in, between searching half a dozen jewelry stores, braving every clerk who doubted he had the money for anything, and convincing his Dad to let him take out a sizable chunk of his college money to pay for the best ring available, since his naco royalties were...indisposed. But against all odds, Ron had done it.

The clerk at the final store had actually been friendly, much to Ron's surprise, and had helped him look for exactly the right ring, down to measurements for Kim's fingers, and the size of the stone. Then, he was surprised in his hotel room this morning by an overnight priority package from Wade, containing a bottle of wine more expensive than most cars. 'Note to self', Ron thought, 'take Wade to lunch some time, and maybe buy him a "thank you" card'. He and Kim hadn't seen hide or hair of the boy genius since their temporary retirement, so Ron was as much surprised by the gift as he was grateful.

'Good old Wade, leave it to him to always know what my plans are, even without talking to me for years' Ron smiled at that thought, before realizing that Wade may have accidentally let slip to Kim that Ron was coming, and/or what his plans are. The young prodigy was a great friend and trustworthy to a fault when it came serious matters, but he wasn't exactly known for his discretion, either. 'Oh well, guess I'll cross that bridge if I come to it', Ron, whistling happily to himself, thought with a grin. All in all, nothing could put a damper on the mood he was in today.

He pulled his motorcycle off to side of the road near the campus, not wanting to spoil the surprise for Kim by having her see his "beast", as he lovingly referred to it, parked on a campus lot. It was times like these that he missed his old scooter. 'Sure, it was slow, but it had character and a certain subtlety that the new beast…well, just doesn't have', Ron reminisced. Walking up to the visitor check-in desk, Ron found himself taken aback at the single most fearsome looking school-related face he could remember since Steve Barkin.

"Uh, hi there", Ron tentatively began, "I'm just coming to visit my girlfriend, how do I go about signing in?" The man (or woman? Ron wasn't entirely sure…) shoved the sign-in clipboard across the counter without a word. "Haha, yeah, I should have guessed it would be that easy…" Ron trailed off, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. 'Smooth, Stoppable', he chastised himself, 'two years out of high school and still acting like you might get in trouble with the Vice-Principal. Ugh…'. He allowed a moment to regain some confidence before signing his name, then looking up at the ambiguously-gendered person (AGP?) at the counter. "Uh...Could you tell me where Kim Possible's room is?" he asked, not expecting the angry glare he received in response.

"What's it to you where her room is?" the AGP sneered.

"Uh…she's my girlfriend? You know the one who I'm coming to see?" Ron reminded he/she hopefully.

"What are you trying to pull? Kim Possible is dating her old sidekick. Who do you think you are?" the AGP responded indignantly.

"Uh…her old sidekick from back in the day?" Ron tried hopefully. 'I am so tired of people not remembering me', he thought with a frown, 'even after I helped Kim save the world, like, all the time in the mission days'.

"Ha, ha. Trying to be funny, are you? Everyone knows who that guy is. Dom Toppable, right? No, that's not it…Tom, er, Don Robbable! Yeah, that's it!" the AGP said, clearly unsure.

Unwilling to let this continue any longer, lest it put a damper on his otherwise perfect mood, Ron pulled out his driver's license. "Ron Stoppable?" he offered.

He/she scrutinized his I.D. for a moment, before instantly changing demeanor to be as cheerful as possible. "Oh, my. I am deeply sorry, Mister Stoppable, I didn't recognize you! I'm sure that must be new for a big-time hero like yourself, huh?" the AGP said with a grin. 'You have no idea…' Ron thought, resisting the urge to put his palm against his forehead. "Yeah, heh, I guess everyone makes mistakes", Ron said, trying his best to act like it hadn't bothered him in the slightest.

"Okay, Mister Stoppable, let me pull up the room numbers for you…hmmm, let's see here. Alright, she's in room 140, would you like me to show you the way?" he/she offered.

Anxious to get moving, Ron put up his hands. "It's really no big, I'm sure I'll be able to find it no problem. If I do need help, I'll know just who to ask for. Which reminds me, I never got your name…" Ron said, hoping that the answer would put to rest just what this person's gender was.

"Oh, where are my manners? My name is Pat!" the AGP said with a smile. 'Great…so much for an answer on the gender thing'.

"Well thanks for all your help, Pat. I'm gonna go find KP…er, Kim now, okay?" Ron said, making a move towards the door.

"Oh, of course, any time Mister Stoppable. And I hope your visit goes well. Have a pleasant day!" Pat said as the door closed behind Ron.

'Whew…glad that's over' Ron thought, 'now to go find KP'. He sauntered around the dorms for a bit, before finally seeing a hallway that began with room number 140. 'Huh, guess it's my lucky day' he mused, 'I should definitely knock first. Who knows what might be going on in a girl's dorm room'. After receiving no response to his knock, he tried again, before cautiously opening the door a bit. "KP?" he called. Still no response. 'Huh, might as well explore then. See how the other side lives'. Ron had nothing against Kim going to Harvard, he certainly wasn't jealous, he quite liked culinary arts school. But he had always been curious how nice the dorms at colleges like Harvard and Brown really were. So, an empty dorm room, even if it was a girl's dorm, was simply too opportune to pass up exploring.

Opening the door the remainder of the way, Ron was greeted with the sight of the largest and most lavishly furnished dorm he had ever seen. 'Oh, I have DEFINITELY got to transfer here' he thought humorously. He was about to begin his search when something outside the window caught his eye.

'Hey, there's Kim!' he happily thought at first, then inquisitively watched as she sat down on a bench next to a rather large guy. 'Hmmm, must be a football player', Ron thought, recalling how large Brick Flagg had been. 'I wonder what she's doing…' Ron's thought's trailed off as he saw the football player lean in and whisper something conspiratorially in Kim's ear, leading to her blushing and resting her head on his shoulder.

"Somehow I don't like the looks of that" Ron said aloud. "Okay, Ron-man, calm down. It's Kim. You've known her since you were four, there is NO WAY this is what it looks like." Unable to assuage his concerns, he briefly considered checking the room for things to corroborate his faith in Kim's fidelity, but stopped himself. "No way, too far Ron-man. She's never given you a reason to distrust her before. You're not gonna turn into some crazy overprotective stalker boyfriend just because she's spending time with her other friends". 'Guy friends' an oh-so-helpful voice in his head finished for him.

His thoughts were interrupted as he saw the football player guy present her with a VERY expensive looking necklace, probably worth two or three of the ring Ron had in his pocket. Kim gave the guy a peck on the lips, before walking off with him, arm-in-arm and definitely having a good time, if the happy laughter was any indidcation.

"Okay, sooooo not helping!" But Ron Stoppable would NOT give in to suspicion that easily. 'Eh, maybe I'll just wait here…check my Facebook, surf the web, and when Kim comes back I can ask her about what I saw myself. Yeah, that's a good plan'. As he opened up the laptop on Kim's desk though, he noticed that the picture she kept of them together was turned face down. "It's nothing" he said out loud, although he sounded less than sure of himself. "Must've fallen over or something". He was less than pleased upon opening up the laptop to find that it had been left on a web page that helpfully stated at the top, 'Ten Easy Steps to Let Your Man Down Gently'.

And with that, his decision was made. He started by looking around the desk, for things that would reassure him that Kim still loved him. He picked up a CD labeled 'Songs for Boo!' and read the track list. 'Hmmm, I don't like any of these songs' he thought, getting a nasty feeling in the pit of his stomach. The surface of the disc itself proved even more damning as it read, in bright pink marker, 'and in KP's handwriting' his brain helpfully noted: 'For my love, Sam, who I would do anything for!'

'There has got to be another explanation! Think, Stoppable, think!' Ron chided, giving himself a mental slap in the face. Getting up from the chair, he made for the door. "I'm not gonna look at anymore stuff. This is so wrongsick, spying on my girlfr—" he stopped short as, turning the doorknob, he noticed some pictures plastered to the inside surface of the door. And, in the pictures, Kim was being held bridal-style in the arms of that same guy from outside. Another picture showed Kim kissing that guy playfully on the cheek, eliciting a blush from him as the picture was taken. And yet another picture, showing Kim sitting on that guy's lap, looking up at him with her puppy dog pout, his hands held possessively around her midsection.

More stunned than he'd ever been in his life, Ron fought to keep his emotions under control. "I've seen enough" he croaked, his voice barely above a whisper. 'Oh Kim…I love you. I was so sure you loved me too…' he fought to keep tears from welling up in his eyes. 'Who has been my closest friend since Pre-K? Kim. Who was there for me when Rufus died? Kim. Who hasn't shown any interest in 'us' whatsoever for weeks? Kim. Who appears to be seeing someone else? Kim.'

Bolting out the door, Ron ran as fast as he could manage (which was pretty fast, after years of playing chicken with death rays and henchmen) out of the dorm, passed the stunned face of Pat, out past the parking lot, onto the road. He fetched his bike, turned the key, not bothering with a helmet, and sped off to get as far away as he possibly could.

Today was the worst day Ron Stoppable could remember in a long time.

A/N: Whew! One chapter done! Hopefully going to update this daily, or AT LEAST every two days. Probably going to be about 20 chapters, so look forward to an expedient but hopefully satisfying finish. Thanks for reading, and please review! :)