Kim Possible Rides Again- Chapter 4 (part 1)

CHAPTER 4

Soft golden rays of morning sunlight streamed across the battered face of Kim as she laid unconscious in her hospital room, hooked up to a slew of tubes and wires with only the slight sounds of oxygen squirts and heart monitor beeps breaking the silence.   Her disheveled hair still contained small traces of debris throughout it while her fine porcelain skin was marked with various purple and red hues of bruises and disrupted by rows of sutures.  Her neck was encased in a brace and her arm was riddled with lacerations.  Despite her appearance, she laid in peaceful silence.

Next to her head, a battered Rufus was curled up on the pillow sleeping and trying to recover from the injuries he had sustained in the fight earlier.

To her side, the peacefulness was disrupted by Ron.  He himself marked with cuts and bruises,  stood guard over his girlfriend in silent reverence while sporting a vengeful scowl.  He gently caressed down her injured arm, his finger carefully detouring around the cuts and then working its way back up it.  

There was a gentle knock at the door, Ron peered up with his bloodshot eyes to see Tara gently making her way into the room, tablet in hand.

“Hey,” she whispered softly, “I’m just doing my rounds and need to check on Kim.”

“Huh? Oh...yeah, alright,” Ron replied scooting back from the bed and giving her space to work. “Are the camera crews still staked outside?”

“Yeah, they’re starting to set up camp and are lined up around the block.  Apparently, this is national news.”

“Great.” Ron gave a long suffering sigh.

Tara inspected the set of IV bags hooked to Kim’s arm. “How are you doing?”

“Not good,” he finally said after several seconds of delay. “Not good at all.”

Tara’s forced smile turned into a look of concern and so after she had finished up her patient monitoring, she pulled up a chair next to Ron and sat next to him.  The two continued to sit in silence for several seconds, both watching Kim’s chest slowly rise and fall with her breaths.  Tara slid her hand into her friend’s and gave a firm squeeze of reassurance.

“The, doctors, well, I guess Kim’s mom, said that the bullet didn’t hit anything critical,” he finally muttered after several seconds of silence.  

“Well, that’s good to hear.”

“Yeah, she said the bullet kind of knicked her large intestine so they’re going to have to monitor that for a while to make sure it heals properly and doesn’t come down with pet...petro...something or other.

“That would be peritonitis,” his friend corrected.

“Yeah, that.  Whatever that means.”

“It’s inflammation of the inner abdominal walls.  It’s nothing to mess around with and can be fatal if it becomes septic. The bullet might not have hit anything critical but she’s not out of the woods.”

“Great,” he sighed. “She failed to mention that part to me.”

“She was probably trying to protect you from worrying more than what you already are.  You know how Doctor Possible can be.”

“I know.”

Tara gave her friend a small smile. “I’m sure she will be fine. Kim’s a fighter, and aside from being able to wear a bikini, she should recover from this. It might take a little while but she will be fine.” she assured.

“Just my luck.” Ron gave a rueful smile. “Do you have any idea how much time and effort I’ve put into trying to get Kim into a bikini? Or was it getting her out of the bikini?”

Tara gave a snort. “That’s the spirit. If it’s one thing I’ve learned working here it’s that a positive attitude can go a long way.”

Ron’s face fell. “I know, but-”

“There’s a but?”

“Yeah, there’s a but.  It’s more than just the gunshot wound. They can’t tell yet because of all the swelling but they think she might have damage to her left eye, and there’s also a strong chance she suffered some sort of head trauma after Akuma slammed her head through…” Ron choked up for a second before continuing, “through the control panel.” His voice trembling as his countenance moved from aggrieved to angry.

Tara squeezed her friend’s hand tight again and pulled him in for a comforting hug. She could feel the heat from his anger radiating across his skin and he shook as he tried to contain it.

“Why did we have to do this?!? Why couldn’t we have just stayed in Eugene like good, retired crime fighters and enjoyed each other’s company like we had planned!?!  “She even suggested that we have a naked weekend together.”

She winced uncomfortably at the oversharing, but kept her peace and let the young man vent.

“Sorry.” Ron pulled out of the hug. “I mean, she even had her doubts about doing it the other night but we still went through with it. Ugh...why didn’t I go with my gut?”

“Because this is what you two do,” Tara answered refocused.  “You two help people, you protect them, save them if you have to.   When you have a passion like that it’s hard to just up and walk away from it.”

“Yeah, but we never had this sort of thing happen to us either,” he said pointing again to Kim’s body.  “Sure, we came close a few times, but not once in all those years did either of us ever get hurt this badly. But this...this is too close to my nightmares about graduation coming true.”

Tara nodded in sympathy and took his left hand into hers. “Well, to be fair, you two have been out of the game for some time now.  You were probably both a little rusty compared to what you were like in high school.”

Ron picked furiously at a seam in the orange cushion on the arm of the chair with his right hand. “I know,” Ron acknowledged, then stopped suddenly.  “Oh, and on top of it all, I didn’t get to pop the question either.”

“You didn’t?”

He sighed. “Nope. I was waiting for an opportune time to do it and managed to lose the ring in the process.”

“You did?”

“Three. Times.”

“Oh no!” Tara gasped letting go of his hand, “I am so sorry Ron.”

“Wasn’t your fault. But man, those stones weren’t exactly cheap.”

Tara stood and lightly rubbed her index finger across Kim’s hair.  “I’m sure. But you have to know that in the end she’s going to say yes to you, no matter what you use to ask her right?”

Ron made a tiny smirk and nodded in agreement. “I know, but I just wanted it to be special with a lot of grandiosity and make it a big deal.  Especially after everything we went through a while back.  During those years...I thought that I had lost her completely as a friend.”

Tara turned a caring smile toward Ron as she continued to smooth Kim’s hair. “I know, Ron, I was there. Still, Ron, that’s not your style, and you know that’s not her style either.” Tara stopped messing with Kim’s hair and reached into the pocket of her dancing cow motif smock and pulled out a short string.  “I mean, you could literally tie this string around her finger and she’d give you the same answer as what you would have gotten if you gave her that ‘Kobe Special’ you originally bought. Maybe it’s a blessing in disguise and that you were supposed to do something different, something a little more, you know...subtle.”

Ron’s eyes hardened. “A blessing, Tara?  Do you call this a blessing?” he asked pointing to Kim’s battered face.

“You know what I meant Ron, calm down.” Tara quickly sat down next to Ron again and grabbed both of his hands gently. “I didn’t mean to get you riled up.”

“Sorry, I’ve been mad all night,” he growled. “It’s not you.”

“Do you want to talk about it?  I can hang here for a little while longer before I have to check on the patient in A113.”

Ron leaned back in his chair, closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “The guy who’s responsible for this.  He used to be on our side.”

“He was?”

“Yeah, he was the top agent in Global Justice.”

“Global what?”

“It is...was some top international secret spy agency.”

“Probably why I’ve never heard of it.”

“Yeah, so anyways they had this guy name W-”

Ron stopped talking when a set of heavy knocks sounded from the door.

“Ocupado,” Ron grumbled not wanting to be disturbed.

Despite his response, the door opened and a still disheveled Bonnie followed by Ken Trepid walked in.

“What do you two want?”

“Nice to see you too,” Trepid said peering over the bed. “How’s Kim doing?”

“How’s it look like she’s doing?”

“Okayyyy, Tara?” Bonnie interrupted, turning her attention to what she had hoped would be a more willing participant to her questioning.

“Banged up pretty bad, but she should recover.”

“No major damage to any internal organs?” Trepid asked.

“Not major, but she has an intestinal wound that could get infected.”

“That’s kind of good. Those bullets can really muck up the organs in the abdominal cavity with the amount of force they enter with.”

Bonnie grabbed Kim’s patient file from the wall holder and started skimming through its pages. “Any traumatic brain injury?”

“Probably a concussion, we’ll have to run her through a protocol once she’s conscious to be sure.”

“Let’s see,” Bonnie mumbled to herself and ignoring Tara’s reply, “multiple lacerations to facial region and extremities. No big, just cosmetic. Damaged blood vessels inside vestibule. Just a nose bleed. HA!, She’s on Brevoxyl-4, I knew it!”

Tara quickly stood and approached the girl. “Um, HIPAA much, Bonnie?”

“No, hate the taste of Pabst Blue Ribbon and I Joy Division blows,” she remarked continuing to go through the file.

“That’s hipsters, Bonnie, not H...”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Whatev’s. Blood transfusion performed after blood loss, good for her at least.  Overall estimated hospital stay…”

“GIMME THAT!” Tara shouted and yanked the folder out of Bonnie’s hands.

“2-3 weeks. Yeah, that’s not gonna work for us,” Bonnie continued despite losing her reference.

Ron had reached his boiling point with the two, and stood from his chair. “For us?”

The brunette sighed before turning to Trepid.  “Yeah, she’s out.”

“Out? What do you mean out?”

“Great,” Trepid sighed, ignoring Ron’s questions. “Well, I guess that’s all we can do here. We better head up to the roof to catch our ride.”

“Hello?!” Ron practically shouted from across Kim’s bed trying to get the pair’s attention.

“What, Ron?” Bonnie asked with a groan.

Ron moved around the bed and faced the duo. “Let’s take a quick time out and explain to me WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON!? In fact, let’s start with why are you.” He pointed at Bonnie. “Are conversing with him.” He quickly moved his finger to Ken. “Like you’re a part of Global Justice or something?”

Bonnie moved from a look of indifference to one of annoyance. “That would be because I AM a part of Global Justice you moron.”

Ron’s mouth dropped open. “You...what? Huh?”

Bonnie’s look of annoyance shifted to one that Ron had seen more times than he could count, one of smug superiority. “I’m an L3 Agent to be exact.” She turned to Trepid. “What? You didn’t tell him?”

“No,” Ron interjected angrily, “he didn’t.”

Trepid shrugged, “Well, Stoney, you were on break. And we’re supposed to be kind of a secret organization. I figured it was kinda need to know?”

Ron’s head snapped back and forth between the two as if he couldn’t decide which one to spear with his stare. Then he finally settled on glaring at Bonnie. “Stoney?”

“Stoney, stone, Rockwaller, rock. It’s a stupid nickname he came up with for me because apparently calling me by my actual name is such a chore,” she said sending an unflattering look towards Ken.

Ron shifted his focus to Ken and sent an angry glare towards him.

Unfazed by the two unfriendly looks he gave a sheepish grin. “Well, um...this...is...my way of telling you?”

“Ugh, unbelievable!” Bonnie scoffed.

“What? It’s not like you were supposed to be here in the first place, Miss ‘Don’t Bother Me On Spring Break.’ I didn’t think it was important to the mission.”

“ENOUGH!” Ron said slamming his fist onto the table next to him so hard that it caused Kim’s unconscious body to jump and the picture of the pastoral scene above it to shudder.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!  Time Out!”  Tara said sternly and moved between Ron and the spies. “If you all are going to get into a shouting match you need to leave the room now!  Kim isn’t going to heal any faster with the three of you arguing over her!”

“No worries, Tara, we were just about to leave,”  Bonnie replied with a trademark flip of her hair.

Ron took a deep breath. “Come again?”

“We gotta go, Ron,” Trepid repeated.  “Despite all of this, Du and Akuma are still out there, now with all of the components they were after and need to be stopped. We have to rendezvous with a helicopter on the roof in ten minutes.  

“Ten minutes?”

“Yeah, we need to be prompt about it.  This pilot, he’s... Well, he’s not very keen on us asking for favors so if we’re not up there exactly when he lands he’s liable to take off without us.”

Ron looked down at the teal hospital gown he had been put into upon arriving at the hospital and gave a grunt.  “Fine, I can be ready in five. Just move so I can grab my gear from behind you and…” Ron trailed off with a hiss at seeing an uncomfortable look come across both Ken and Bonnie’s faces. “What?”

“Yeah, Ron, you’re not really um...going along with us on this one,” Trepid uttered while rubbing the back of his neck uncomfortably.

“Come again?” Ron’s eyes began to twitch with anger.

“Well, the whole reason we asked you all along in the first place was...well… I mean… I was down a person and, well, you know… I needed...”

Bonnie had no trepidation at all to intercede in the older man’s ramblings. “What Agent Trepid is trying to say nicely is that your services are no longer required for the remainder of this mission. He had a serious lead and needed backup on the account his partner, me, was on a much-needed vacation.”

“More like sidekick,” Trepid mumbled.

“However as you can see, on the account of an international criminal ambushing her, wrecking her vehicle, kidnapping her, and using her as a hostage before being thrown out a 30-story window, thus ending her vacation. Yada, yada, yada. And now that ‘said’ partner is back on the case and so you can go back to doing whatever your regularly scheduled break was supposed to entail.”

Ron’s twitching intensified and his skin began to turn several shades of mottled red. “YOU’RE...JUST…DUMPING US?!  JUST LIKE THAT?!?”

“Ron, let’s be frank about this,” Bonnie continued arrogantly, but calmly. “Ken here needed a competent person to fill in for me.  Which is why he called in Kim as that last-ditch effort to fill in. Obviously Kim isn’t in any position to continue and my vacation is apparently over with, so the pros are going to take it from here.”

Ron stammered, trying to find the words. “No, let’s not be frank. You all contacted us in the middle of a really, really good romantic moment, made us change our plans for Spring Break, foiled my plans for a marriage proposal--which resulted in the loss of THREE separate engagement rings of varying prices, leveled a space center which was the employer of KP’s father along with a few thousand other people and put Kim in the hospital with head trauma and a bullet wound. So there won’t be any returning to our ‘regularly scheduled break’. And you’re acting like it’s not a big deal?!?!  It’s a pretty FREAKIN’ big deal!”

Bonnie’s arrogant look flickered for a second into something else. “Marriage proposal?”

Ron was too wound up to catch the short slip. “Yeah, marriage proposal. And according to Trepid here, the reason he called us up was that Drakken was dead and Shego was missing, not because you weren’t gracing us with your presence!”

Trepid stepped between the pair. “Look, Ron. There isn’t any way I can say this without coming across like a giant, thankless douchebag, but Bonnie’s right.  Regardless of whatever the reason was, you’re not equipped to handle these guys.  They aren’t some campy villains with a goofy gimmick and a futile plot to take over the world.  These guys are trained killers who won’t think twice about greasing you the moment you get in their way.”

Ron’s face actually seemed to become more angry. “Oh, and she is equipped?” he asked pointing toward Bonnie.

Bonnie pushed Ken out of the way and stepped toward Ron with fists clenched and eyes like daggers. “I took two semesters of Muay Thai kickboxing and I’m learning Krav Maga. That’s on top of the 12 years of intensive ballet training which, I might add you would be very surprised how much that comes in handy when you’re in hand-to-hand combat and outnumbered 4 to 1.”

Ron looked wholly unimpressed. “That’s not exactly a bold resume’.”

Ken stepped between the two again and guided Bonnie away from Ron and toward the door. “Come on, Stoney, we need to get up to the rooftop.”

Bonnie looked back at Ron and raised her eyebrow in a snarky manner before turning her back on him and making her way out of Kim’s room.

Ken paused at the door after Bonnie left. “Ron, look, it’s nothing personal, we just don’t have the time to sit around offering thoughts and prayers.  But this is what we professionals have to do,” he said and closed the door behind him.

The latch clicked and Ron stared at the back of the door in seething silence.  His teeth were gnashed so hard together that they appeared to be on the verge of cracking under the pressure and his eyes began to water.  He turned his eyes towards an equally stunned Tara who was still standing next to Kim and now holding her hand.

The blonde pulled her open mouth and shut before turning a furled brow toward Ron. “Are you going to stand for that bullshit?” she asked uncharacteristically.

---

Seconds later Ken and Bonnie had made it to a utility elevator which was located down the hallway from Kim’s room.  While they waited for the doors to open, the superior look Bonnie had been sporting began to give way to a more subtle, melancholy one.

“I messed up bad didn’t I?” she asked her partner.

“Bad doesn’t even begin to describe it,” Trepid replied with an agitated tone.

“Sorry. I mean, I had him in my sights and all and...”

“Now’s not the time, Bonnie,” Ken grumbled.  “We’ll deal with it when we get back to base.”

“Alright, it’s just…”

“No justs, like I said we’ll discuss lat-”

Their conversation was abruptly cut when the sound of a door slamming violently open occurred down the hallway from where they were standing.  Both swung their heads quickly around to see what the source was and were stunned to see a fuming Ron enter the hallway behind them while pulling on his mission gear.

“Oh, God, he really thinks he’s coming along with us,” Trepid mumbled to his sidekick.

“As if this day couldn’t get any worse,” Bonnie added.

“Pros?!  You call yourselves pros?!” Ron said stomping towards them while pulling his black turtleneck over his head.

“And here comes the guilt trip.”

“YOU’RE THE REASON Kim is lying in that room with a gunshot wound! Not because of me, the so-called amateur.”

“I know. I’m aware of that and it’s regrettable,” Bonnie replied returning to the cavalier demeanor as soon as Ron got close.

“Regrettable? REGRETTABLE?! Are you freakin’ kidding me. You SHOT HER, Bonnie!”

Just then, a gentle ping was heard and the elevator doors opened and the spy duo entered.

“I didn’t mean to, Ron,” Bonnie said back from inside the cab while Trepid pressed the close door button feverishly. “I had the shot. I had him right there in my sights, and Du pulled her in at the last second as a shield. It was an accident, and yeah, I feel bad about it.”

The doors began to close until Ron’s arm suddenly slid through them, forcing the doors back open.

“Yeah, you look really torn up about it Bonnie,” he sniped while forcing his way into the cabin. “I knew you were cold-hearted, but to just write off Kim getting shot like a ‘whoops, my bad’ moment is getting into sub-zero range.”

“I saved your life!” she growled while backing him against the wall, her nose firmly pressed into Ron’s. “Maybe it was because you were too busy getting your head caved in to realize it, but Du was just about to perform some sort of nasty death punch on your sorry ass before I acted.  If I didn’t take it, you’d probably be down in the morgue instead of here whining to me about it!”

Ron pushed her back off of him and hit the elevator’s emergency stop button. “Whining?  You call this whining? This isn’t whining, Bonnie. This is someone finally telling you the truth. You damn near killed the woman I love.  So, don’t ever expect me to thank you for that. I would have rather died.”

“This making us late for our ride,” Trepid grumbled.

Ron spun to face the older man. “Then start talking. And maybe you’ll get to the roof on time.”

“Fine, about what?”

“You can start with telling me how long Bonnie here’s been your partner.”

Trepid shrugged. “Technically, she’s the sidekick.”

“Partner, sidekick, groupie, friend with benefits; I don’t care. How long!?”

“I dunno, about a year and a half?” Ken asked Bonnie who nodded in slight agreement.

“So that means…”

Bonnie was scowling at the blond boy and interrupted him. "Yes, I've been moonlighting as an agent while being K's roommate."

Ron matched her scowl.  "Is that so? Or is it more like ‘moonlighting as KP’s roommate while being an Agent?’"

Bonnie’s scowl broke, confirming his hunch.

"Okay, fine, more like 'monitor' if you want to call it that," she said, crossing her arms in a huff.

"So you've been spying on us?  ALL THIS TIME?!"

“I’d like to think of it more in line with keeping tabs.”

Ron didn’t look at all impressed by Bonnie’s attempted wordplay. “Keeping tabs without knowledge or consent is spying!”

"Oh lighten up, Stoppable! You of all people know that your girlfriend hasn't been exactly the best in terms of reliability these last few years. Do you have any idea how hard it was for Wade to create an algorithm to keep that titty video of hers from popping back up online? Or how excruciating it was to always tag along with you two on all of those get togethers you went on?"

"We never asked you to ‘tag along’ on those get togethers and we never wanted you to ‘tag along’ on those get togethers." Ron’s face was moving beyond red at this point and nearing purple. “In fact, your third wheel act usually resulted in us deciding to stay in for the night and watch movies instead."

"Exactly!" Bonnie said flashing a sinister grin.  "I had first-hand knowledge that a good amount of those events involved various amount of alcohol and other ‘recreational’ substances at them. Especially that last one I broke up.  Why tempt fate right?"

Ron stumbled back from the girl and his eyes went wide. “That last event was a Seder Meal put on by the Hillel group, Bonnie.” With a shake of his head and a disgusted snort he continued. “The wine and herbs used in that are not exactly kegs and kilos.”

“Seriously? You didn’t know what a Seder Meal was?” Trepid asked butting into the conversation.

"Okay, fine, so maybe I didn't know what a Seder was at the time. My bad on the whole Passover thing, I’m not a Hebrew. But still, I was only doing my job."

Ron waved his hands, as if to dispel the previous conversation from the air, before turning his glare back on Bonnie. “That’s why I’m here! I’M her boyfriend, it’s my job to keep her straight, not yours!”

“Oh please, Stoppable, nine times out of ten you’re still two hours away in that time warp of our childhood called Middleton. I’m there all the time. So unless you miraculously manage to have the grades and credits to  transfer down to Eugene or you installed a rocket booster into that stupid derelict moped of yours, you aren’t there to keep her straight.”

“That’s B.S. and you know it. How many times since you have moved in has Kim even talked about a non-school related party? Huh? How many?”

Bonnie moved closer to Ron. “None! But that doesn’t change a thing. It’s still my job to keep tabs on her. When people, that matter more than you or I do, wanted us to keep tabs on her while she was still in college and to make sure that she didn't fall off the wagon or make another national embarrassment out of herself, they gave us the job.”

“Who exactly gave you that job? Huh? Because the last time I checked spying on US citizens was illegal!”

Ken’s eyes snapped wide.

Bonnie paused for a second. “Besides, you should be thanking me. The way you two go at it like rabbits every time you are near each other she would probably be parents by now if it weren’t for me.”

Ken swore steam was going to erupt from Ron’s ears any second now.

Ron moved within inches of Bonnie. "So barging in on us during 'private time' was doing your job too?"

Bonnie gave an evil smirk and met Ron’s furious brown eyes with haughty light green. "Nah, that was for the lulz. That, and you two defiled my recliner.  My dad gave me that recliner, it was an heirloom. I took it personally."

"Aaaaand now we're back to TMI," Ken interrupted. “Someone please hit the damn switch."

"Shut up, Ken!" Both Bonnie and Ron said in unison.

“Okay, okay. So, not the drama people.”

Ron gave one last glare at Bonnie before pointedly turning towards Ken. "Yeah, don’t say that again. Ever,” Ron ordered. “You should have told us about Bonnie. I can't begin to tell you how royally cheesed off I am at you.”

Bonnie rolled her eyes and stepped back from Ron. “Oh just go for the gold and say ‘pissed off’ Ron, this isn’t Disney Junior.”

This brought Ron’s attention back to the brunette. “And you, a freaking agent?!  How could you, of all people, be an agent of an elite spy agency?"

Bonnie scoffed. "Well, I wouldn't call them 'elite' per se. They did base their entire science department around the premise that you, of all people, were the reason behind Kim's successful freelancing and not something like, oh I don’t know...teamwork, her own talent or the fact you were backed by a 10-year-old kid genius who had more degrees to his name than you did semesters before you declared for one. They’re not exactly MI6 when it comes to judgment.”

“As for how I could be an agent?  Here’s a thought: How could your girlfriend go from ‘the girl you want to bring home to mom’ to ‘the girl you bring home passed out drunk in the back of a pickup truck?’  People change.  Maybe after I got out in the real world I realized how dumb and insignificant being popular in high school actually was. Maybe, I wanted to actually do something with my life to benefit others for once. Maybe, I was approached and recruited on my abilities and tough grit and not on some archaic rivalry.”

“Oh yeah, who in their right minds would recruit you? Kenny here?” Ron asked gesturing at Trepid.

“Actually, it was Wade who recruited her,” the senior agent corrected.

“Wade?” Ron asked being taken aback.

“Yeah, Wade.  He remembered me when I helped to take down Dementor a while ago and thought I had some potential to have an expanded role.”

“Well that’s not a big deal, Kim’s cousin Larry took him down too. And he wasn’t even trying.”

“Not with another sixteen-year-old glued to his ass he didn’t.” she remarked, referring to the time she and Kim were stuck together via a Bondo Ball.  “Consider it a handicap on what I could really do.  You all retired, Ken took over, he needed some help, the rest is what you see. So quit trying to marginalize me.”

“You hypocrite. That is all that either of you have done to us from the second this mission started. You call yourselves professional, but all I see is a couple of holdouts from a dead organization with overinflated egos and saddled with sociopathic tendencies,” he said depressing the emergency button and re-engaging the elevator. “You started this. You brought us on. We’re finishing this, together...capiche?”

Visually fed up with the argument, Bonnie turned to her partner.

After several seconds of silence Ken gave a slight eye roll. “Fine, you can come along,” Trepid conceded as the elevator continued to slowly rise.

“And no more spying on KP either,” Ron demanded. “She is perfectly capable of going throughout her day without Big Brother peering into her every move.”

Bonnie nodded. “Well, the proverbial cat is out of the bag on that one anyway.” She then stopped and thought for a second. “However, she only saw me for a second before getting shot, so there's a good chance sh-”

“NO, SPYING! Period! Or I might be inclined to start looking into who authorized it to begin with. I’m not as stupid as you both think.”

Bonnie looked to Trepid for guidance, to which he responded with a simple nod of his head in agreement.

“Fine, no more surveillance. But if she falls back into Girls Gone Wild Kim again, it’s on your head, not mine.”

“I can live with that. Besides, unlike some people, I trust her,” Ron remarked while adjusting the pants he had hastily put on earlier before exiting the elevator with his newfound squadmates. “So what’s our plan now?”

Ken let out a slight groan. “Our plan went out the window the moment we turned the Space Center into a landfill. Right now we’ll hitch a ride back to HQ and figure out with Wade what we’re going to do next. That’s the best course of action to take.”

“Yeah, it’s going to be fun telling him about the jet,” Ron replied.

“Don’t remind me,” Ken said as the elevator doors opened onto the hospital roof and letting the blinding bright daylight in. Ron was taken aback by the light, his head was already sore from the beating he had endured earlier. Once he managed to get his vision adjusted against the blue sky he saw a bright yellow helicopter with the words ‘CASCADE ADVENTURE TOURS’ scripted across its tail and its strikingly familiar-looking pilot impatiently waiting next to it.

“Wait, is that...Junior?” Ron asked looking at the pilot who appeared to suddenly become distressed at the sight of the trio.

Trepid adopted a quick pace towards the helicopter and answered the younger man. “Yep. And he’s looking a little upset.”

He stopped for a second and turned back to the two young adults. “Wait here a sec so I can make sure that he’s not going to leave us on the pad in a hissy. Also, Bonnie, hockey puck.”

Bonnie responded with a nod and watched as her partner headed over to try and smooth over their ride’s nerves.

“I’m assuming by the look of his body language that the whole story with you and the soccer team isn’t as fabricated as everything else in your college career?” Ron asked leaning on the wall next to the elevator doors.

“Nope,” she quipped back.

“That would do it.”

“Yeah, well, we were over well before that anyway.”

“Distance?”

“Broke.”

Ron gave her an incredulous look. “As in broke broke?”

“As in he decided to go all-in to real estate investments after his father died.  Shortly after, the economy went to shit and so did his bank accounts.”

“Ditching the billionaire playboy boyfriend the moment he’s in dire straits? Why am I not surprised,” Ron barbed as the two watched Trepid schmooze Junior. “So much for how people change, huh BonBon?”

Bonnie rubbed her forehead in frustration before turning around to Ron. “Look, Stoppable, somewhere you have to draw the line with what you’re willing to live with. And I’m not going to spend the rest of my life with a guy who lives in the cargo bay of the same helicopter that he spends all day shuttling bigfoot enthusiasts up to Mt. Hood in.”

Ron just shook his head. “Still, you dump him after he loses his dad and his savings. That’s a real kick in the balls.”

“Meh,” she responded half-heartedly while watching Ken wave back to the duo telling them to come on.

“Speaking of which,” she said as she spun to face the unsuspecting young man and grabbed his shoulders, “there’s my cue.”  

“Your wha-”

Before Ron could even register what was going on, she had quickly landed a hard knee jab directly into his crotch. The force of which knocked the air out of his lungs and dropped him to the ground instantly.

“Hockey puck.” she winked.

“Buh! Buh! Bon….what the?!  *UGH!* Sonuva!” Ron gasped while rolling around the ground in pain.

Showing no remorse for what she had just done, Bonnie punched the elevator button, reopening the double doors and then proceeded to grab one of his hands and dragged his fetal positioned body back into the lift.

“Don’t take it personally, Stoppable,” she said while stepping over him, “but you’re needed more back downstairs at K’s bedside than you are on that helicopter.”

“Buh...I can...fight,” he managed to squeak out, still grasping tightly at to the crotch of his pants and trying to sit up.

“And I’m sure you believe that with all your heart, but I think it’s best you do what we said earlier and leave this to the professionals.”  Bonnie stepped out of the elevator car, leaned in and hit the button back to the ground floor. “Make sure K knows I really am sorry about shooting her,” she said while Ron watched helplessly as the two chrome double doors shut between them.

Bonnie watched as the little arrow on top of the elevator door lit up red, confirming that the lift and its cargo was heading back towards the bottom floor. Satisfied that Ron was no longer a part of the equation, she flipped her hair back and jogged towards the helicopter.

Trepid and Junior were already inside the craft by the time she strolled up to the helipad and were still in the midst of having a heated conversation based on their body language through the windows. Despite this, Bonnie pulled open the back door and slid onto the bench.

“...don’t give me all that formal gobbledegook!” Junior grumbled to Trepid. “If I knew you had that vile, treacherous, horrible woman with you I would have never answered your call!”

“Nice to see you too, Junior,” Bonnie remarked sarcastically while she put on a set of headphones.

“No talking from the back seat!” the jilted lover demanded.  Bonnie responded with a sneer and a middle finger.

Junior’s brow knitted together. “Get out.”

“Junior,” Trepid said, leaning into him, “we need to go. You guys can continue your little soap opera once we get back to base. I’ve had about as much teen drama as I can handle today.  Right now time is of the essence, and I’d like to think the world isn’t about to enter a major crisis on the account of your hurt feelings.”

“She did more than hurt my feelings. She ruined my life!”

“Hey, I wasn’t the one who decided to throw all of Daddy’s money into timeshares in the middle of freaking nowhere!  Do you even know where Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina is?  I’ll give you a hint, NOT where you buy a luxury vacation home!”

“I bought into an idea that it was going to be! I was practicing forward thinking.”

“Maybe you should have practiced diversifying your portfolio!  Moron.”

Junior’s face twisted into a sinister sneer which would have made his father proud. “I said, ‘Get out, you witch!’”

“Hey, here’s an idea you guys can buy into. Both of you SHUT THE HELL UP AND LET’S GO!” Trepid shouted at the duo.  Both stopped with their banter and stared with disdain at him over the crass suggestion.

Junior turned to the controls of the helicopter and flipped a few switches. “Fine, but no promises after we arrive.”

“Just...get me back to base...please…” Trepid said while rubbing his fingers up and down the bridge of his nose in an attempt to stave off a migraine.

Junior glanced behind his seat where he saw a perturbed Bonnie slouched into her seat, arms crossed with her trademark scowl focused on him.  He returned a sharp glare of his own before grabbing the helicopter’s cyclic and lifting it into the air. As the helicopter rose in elevation, the scowl on Bonnie’s face began to give way to one which was more concerning.

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