#me putting this tiny guy in a shark harness and having him play in the water: hehehehhe :3

[fizzytoo]

[primal-screamer-blog1]

Ruby loved being under the red lights. She was Mexican and Japanese, a tiny, bronzed, energetic spitfire with wide hips and impossibly long legs.  Legs that drove men from all over California to see in the flesh.  And after hours on the 405 for a long L.A. weekend, flesh was exactly what they wanted. They’d line up and lay down hundreds for her to crawl into their laps, wrap her long athletic legs around their necks and writhe on top of them.  And Ruby wasn’t the only one drawing a crowd; Seventh Veil was home to some of the most sought after women in Los Angeles.  Between Ruby, Roxanne, Alexis, Lola, Kenzie and Jade, the headlining girls of Seventh Veil were just as well known, if not moreso, than the boys in the bands that they all dated.  In their big cars, with their big hair, they commanded the strip, bringing in money, men and any excess they could ever want. Naturally there was a cover charge. “C’mon, what about $10? I got a 10.”  Nikki pleaded with the bouncer, a tall, muscular man named Rob who wore all black and had a tattoo of a shark on his neck. “How you gonna afford to tip these girls if you can’t even get in the door, kid?” If it were anyone else, Rob would’ve had Nikki out on his ass for talking him down to half price.  But Nikki had been coming around for as long as Ruby had been working there; all the boys in Motley Crue had.  The rock n’ roll of the strip had quickly become the lifeblood of the clubs.  He knew Nikki was trouble, but not the kind of trouble he would ever have to worry about. “I’m gonna tip, I’m just not gonna be here for too long is all.  One dance and I’m out, I swear.” “Nikki!  Please. Spare me the sob story.  You could have any of these girls all over you for free anytime you want. Why are you trying to pay for a lap dance?” Nikki sighed and tried to look inside over Rob’s shoulder.  He couldn’t see past the obnoxious fake smoke that fogged up the entryway.   “I just gotta talk to Ruby.” “Yeah?” Rob laughed. “You and ‘bout every other red blooded male in California. She making you pay for it all of a sudden?”“I don’t pay for shit, man.  Look, this is the only place I can talk to her without her trying to fucking kill me. I got a show tonight anyway, I swear I'm in and I’m out.” Nikki held two fingers up. Rob shrugged and lifted the red velvet rope separating the two of them.   “You got an hour.” “You fucking rock, man.” Through the plaster Arabian palace archway and neon signage, Nikki made for the bar.  If this conversation were going to go the way he wanted it to, he’d need their tallest, cheapest shot.  Leaned against the bar top, Roxanne was on her break, sipping a diet coke and flipping through a copy of  Cosmopolitan.   “Nikki?” Her melodic voice called over to him.  She smiled and waved him over with a manicured hand.  Roxanne was a tall, slim strawberry blonde with big blue eyes and big tits.  She wore white cowboy boots and a red one piece with blue and white fringe, a costume she’d come up with for her “American Woman” number that Tommy really loved.  He also loved her freckles.  Nikki wrapped her in a short hug and let his hand rest on her hip.  “Hey Roxanne.” “You haven’t been here in a  while  , Nikki!  Where’ve you been? Making Tommy wander out all on his own!” She had a sweet, southern accent that always made him smile. “I’m sure Tommy’s doing just fine without me.” “We make sure he has fun out here.” She giggled and sucked down nearly half her diet coke, letting out a tiny burp.  It made sense that her and Tommy got on as well as they did.  “Does Ruby know you’re here?” “Not yet.  Was hoping to chill out a little bit before talking to her.” “You comin’ to apologize?” “Apologize for what?” He gave her a shy grin. “Oh c’mon, Nikki.  You’re on the shit list and you know it.  She told us all about what you did.”  “She did?” He winced.“Been talkin about it since she got here.” She went behind the bar and poured him a tall glass of Jack and Coke.  “On the house.  You’re gonna need it.” “Is she that mad?” He took the mixing straw and tossed it in the trash, taking a big swing instead. “Boot in the head didn’t let you know?” “Okay.  Point taken.  I’m an asshole.” “Just say you’re sorry, Nikki.  It’s not a big word.  She’ll forgive you.” “Where’s she at?” “On stage, dummy.”  Roxanne giggled and pointed behind him. Ruby was crawling down the catwalk towards the tip bar where a cute blonde boy held two twenties in the air.  The room was full, men talking and laughing, pinching Alexis or Lola on their asses as they worked the room while Ruby danced.  She wore a studded red leather harness on top of a black g-string pulled high up above her ass and a black satin bra. Her strappy black stilettos brought her tiny 5’3 frame to 5’7 and her long black ponytail, teased up high made her look even taller.  Up in lights, she unfolded herself into a split to “Slave” by the Rolling Stones.  She tucked the boys money into her g-string and fell back into him, laughing and wriggling in his lap.  Next to him, his drunk friend howled and threw a handful of ten dollar bills on her chest.  She pulled herself up on stage and spun around on the pole before pulling her bra down to reveal a set of black sequined pasties. She fell down into another split, tossing her bra at the high tippers. Nikki stood back and watched her.  He’d seen her dance plenty of times before; they met outside three years ago trying to buy drugs from each other.  Nikki always loved seeing a hot woman dance, but something about watching Ruby specifically was fun for him.  She danced the same way she played music.  When she took the stage, she showed something vulnerable and something wild that he’d never seen in a woman.  Raised to adhere to strict social conservatism, Ruby was brought up in the elite high society of Manhattan.  It was a complete accident that, while attending an all girls boarding school, she was introduced to Black Sabbath and AC/DC records.  Every Tuesday after her SAT prep, Ruby’s mom paid a 19 year old college student to teach Ruby classical piano.  In reality, she was learning to play ‘Crocodile Rock’ and memorizing the names of singers in metal bands.  In no time, she was sneaking out to meet punk boys at hip, underground parties in Brooklyn where she saw bands like the Stooges and the Ramones.  It was when the Germs toured through the city that a young Lorna Doom handed off a copy of California punk zine  Flipside   to Ruby.  After that, she became obsessed with maps of Los Angeles and would harass the local record store to bring in X tapes every time she went in.  When she turned 17, a boy she was dating put on a copy of a barely formed Black Flag’s single  Nervous Breakdown.   “Holy shit.” They were angry, they were weird and they were unlike anything she’d heard before.  She packed her bags and sold her bike to buy a Greyhound ticket across the country.  Seventh Veil was the first place that would take in a skinny 18 year old with no home, no references and no clue.  After being at an all girls school for so long, she took to the locker room camaraderie immediately.  She went from timid and awkward to bold and brash, someone unafraid who knew how to make space and make noise.  Spinning around the pole or swinging a microphone, whenever Ruby was on the stage, she gave her all to stake her claim in what she’d built for herself.  When she danced, Nikki could see all that liberation in the smile on her face. So it was a little disappointing to see that smile falter as she caught sight of him. She staggered a bit as they locked eyes and awkwardly moved to the other side of the stage, regaining composure away from his glance.  When she came back around, Nikki had grabbed a seat up front next to the blonde and his friend.  Ruby flipped her ponytail to hide her eye roll and crawled over to him.   “What do you want?”  She said just loud enough for him to hear, sliding down onto her elbows and pushing her ass in the air for the rest of the audience. “I wanna talk to you.” “No way.  Go home, Nikki.” “How about a private dance then?” “Fuck you!”  She pulled herself up onto her knees and tugged the straps of her leather harness down.  Nikki placed a hundred dollar bill on stage. “Come talk to me.” Nikki didn’t seem to understand what he was asking.  She stood up and threw one long leg over his shoulder and dragged his seat in closer.  She slid down into his lap so that she straddled him, one thigh pressed up against his arm in a flexible fold.  Her nipples, covered up with pasties, pressed against his chest.  The guys next to them whooped and tossed stacks of dollar bills into Nikki’s lap as she wrapped her other leg around his waist. He was instantly hard. She tangled her fingers into his knotted black hair and purred into his ear. “Are you really trying make a scene, Sixx?”  She pulled back and looked up into his eyes.  His expression had a slight glaze, his mouth dropped open.  His hands rested nervously on her hips.  The answer, she could see from his hesitation, was no.  Nikki was known for his impulse - it’s what they bonded over.  They spent their nights buried in drugs and living out their highs with fireworks, bar fights and loud music, bringing them to early mornings of come downs, shivers and heightened emotions.  Cocaine addled conversations birthed ideas for Motley Crue and eventually led to Ruby forming her own band, The Plastix.  They talked books and broken homes, b movies and beat poets, deep dark fears and depraved, debased perversions.  But whenever they would come too close, whenever things got too heavy, Nikki would pull away.  He would tug up his sleeves and show his scars, recount memories to the point of tears, but if she ever moved to soothe him, he flinched.  Nikki was always unknowingly crying out for help, but his problem was he never knew what to do once he got it.  It was why she stopped giving him so many chances; she knew he would never take them. She felt bad for him. “Fine.  Let’s talk.”  She pressed her forehead to his and pulled away.  She finished her number with a final upside down spin down the pole and motioned for Jade - a vampy brunette - to take her spot on stage. Ruby stepped behind the zebra print curtain backstage and emerged a few minutes later in a black sweatshirt and leg warmers with a drink in each hand.  She led Nikki to the VIP lounge - a purple velvet couch and a clear lucite table tucked in a corner behind a velvet rope.  Under the black light, she sipped on her vodka cranberry and pushed a refreshed Jack and Coke into his hand. “Got ya a bunch of cherries.”  She commented, snatching one out of his drink and sucking the whiskey off it. “Thanks.  I never wanna ask for them.” He pulled his black fringe over his eyes before doing the same. “You’ll empty half a bottle of hairspray onto yourself but you won’t ask for cherries?” “I don’t care if people wanna call me a chick.  I just don’t want them thinking I’m a kid.” Ruby pulled his hundred dollar bill from her bra and slid it across the table.   “Where’d you get the money?” Nikki made a face and quickly shoved it into the pocket of his leather jacket. “Tommy let me pawn his stereo.”  He mumbled. “Nikki!” “I know.” “C’mon, you can’t do that! You don’t gotta….throw money at me anyway.  I would’ve just talked to you afterwards.”   “Without trying to punch me in the head?” “Okay. I get your approach.”  She shrugged and placed a gentle hand on his shoulder.  “But all I’ve wanted lately is to just talk to you.  I really wish you would’ve just tried that.  I don’t want your money.” He crunched up the bill in his fist. “I thought maybe I could just buy back what I stole from you.” He sighed.  She wanted to yell at him more; tell him that she didn’t care about the drugs.  She cared that he lied to her and used her.  She’d seen him do it to enough people to feel stupid that she let it happen to her.  She wanted to tell him how he made her rush to work even more hectic than L.A. traffic normally made it.  She wanted to tell him about dancing with aching joints and having to wear a smile when you can’t feel the muscles in your face.  She wanted to tell him that just because he wanted her attention, that didn’t mean he could fuck her over. But she didn’t. He already knew all of that. He was trying. “Why have you been so shitty to me lately?” He went quiet.  There was hardly a time she caught him off guard that he couldn’t immediately divert his attention to scribbling in his notebook.  He opened his mouth to say something and then stopped himself before chugging his drink. He was the one who wanted to talk, after all.   “It’s weird for me that you’re dating Vince.” Ruby lifted an eyebrow at him before letting out a confused laugh.“What?” She snickered.  “I’m not dating Vince.” “What are you talking about? Yes you are.” He knitted his brows together.  She stopped laughing when she saw that he wasn���t.   “I’m  fucking   Vince.  First of all,”  She leaned in closer to him and lowered her voice, taking on a more serious tone. “I don’t wanna date  anyone.    I deal with enough men here.  I don’t-” She held up a hand and cut herself off before getting carried away.  “Second of all, what does it matter?  You fuck my friends all the time!” “Yeah! But-” “You were just fucking Jade in your freaky sex closet two weeks ago!  She said it smelled like gouda cheese.  I thought that was part of why we were friends, we hook each other up!” “I know.  I  know  .”  He fell back in his seat.  “It’s just uncomfortable to me.  I mean, it’s  Vince  .  He’s so skeezy.” “You think I don’t know that?  Look I told you, I’m not trying to marry the guy.  We’re just having fun together.  Nikki, why are you so concerned?” “I dunno, you’re not stupid, Ruby, why do you think?” For a moment, they just looked at each other and waited for the other to say something.  When she didn’t, he sipped his drink and looked away.  It wasn’t the first time since she’d known him that he looked so sad she wanted to kiss him.  If only let him know that his feelings weren’t completely displaced.  Instead, she leaned back with him and watched the spinning disco ball above them sparkle.  Another thought in a long line of the same, she thought about a future with him and what that might be like. “You know you and me aren’t ready for this, right?” “Yeah.”  He popped another wet cherry in his mouth.  Something in his expression lifted when he looked back at her.  He leaned into her shoulder, his teased up hair brushing into her face.  “What do you mean?” “You  know   what I mean.” “I do.” He smiled at her.  He pulled a knotted cherry stem out of his mouth and placed it in her hand. “I just wanna hear you say it.” “Please don’t make me.” She groaned to keep herself from laughing, not wanting to encourage him.   She stuck his cherry stem in her mouth and swallowed it.  He grinned at her. “I’m gonna make you.” She sighed and her smile dropped.  She pushed the melting ice in her drink around with her straw.  “Things are changing so quickly.” She let out a sarcastic laugh before nudging him off of her.  “You don’t want a girlfriend anymore than I want a boyfriend, Nikki.  Think about it.  You wanna be a rockstar.  You’re gonna go on tour and meet girls and make money.  You’re not gonna have time to be with someone and you’re not gonna wanna be.” “That’s bullshit, though.  You’re gonna do all the same stuff.” “Yeah, maybe. I want to.  And I wanna do it without having to worry about when I’m gonna see you next or who you’re hanging out with or if you care who I’m hanging out with….I just don’t want it.  I don’t want to do that to you.” “Well then, I don’t get why you’re doing it with someone else.” “I’m not.  I don’t care about him the way I care about you. If we ever got close like that, I’d need it to be serious with you. And I’m not ready for that.  You’re not ready for that.” He wanted to argue.  Not because he had anything much left to say, but because he was still frustrated.  He yanked his last cherry off its stem and sucked on it before swallowing it down.  He wasn’t sure if he regretted coming here or if what she said made him feel any better. She wasn’t wrong and in a way, she told him exactly what he wanted to hear. That night, Nikki went back to the Whiskey-a-Go Go to play a show with his band.  They went on 45 minutes later than they were supposed to, something Mick was sure to thoroughly blame him for.   “Where the fuck have you been?” “Don’t worry about it, old man.” “Oh, I’m real fucking worried.” The crowd didn’t care.  They came out for Motley Crue and stayed out with them long into the night, far past their last song.  Particularly, a buxom redhead who reminded Nikki of his first girlfriend had stuck around the club long enough to come back with them for their nightly afterparty.  She stayed tangled up in him all night.  And when he went to bed with her, pounding her into the mattress, he heard Ruby moaning louder than she ever had in the room across the hall.  Working his conquest harder than he normally cared to, he waited until he was sure he heard Ruby cum before unloading himself down the new girls back.  He left her sticky and sweaty in the sheets to smoke a cigarette in the cool night air. Ruby was already out there. He thought she might be. His pressed his bare back to the brick wall next to her and pulled his pack out of his low slung leather pants.  She was wearing one of Vince’s vintage car t shirts and a pair of black denim shorts she arrived in, her feet shoved into Tommy’s oversized sneakers.   “You staying over tonight?” He asked her.  She shook her head and handed him a lighter.   “Nah.  I’m almost on my way out.  Just gotta find my shoes.” She watched him light up and made sure to grab it back before he could stick it in his own pocket.  He pushed his hair out of his face and quietly exhaled, both of them choosing to listen to the Alice Cooper playing from a car down the street rather than speak.  She watched the smoke dissipate in the air, the sounds of laughter carrying over from the strip just a block away. They both smelled of boozey sweet summer air.  It was peaceful.  For the second time tonight, Nikki felt like being honest. “You know, I can hear you and Vince.  In my room. Mostly you.” He told her.  Before she could say anything, he stumbled over an explanation.  “It’s not a big deal.  I just thought you’d wanna know, it makes it kind of difficult for me to uh...not think of you.  In that way.”  He stammered and immediately felt stupid. “Yeah?” She raised an eyebrow at him.  She put out her cigarette on the concrete and exhaled her last hit.  “Same.”  She gave him a sly grin and slipped back inside.  “Goodnight, Nikki.” Nikki went to bed happy that night. She was thinking of him too. ***fan fiction writers are creators too! we work really hard and put a lot of time into our stories. if you enjoy someone’s content, please consider leaving them a comment. it’s really helpful! thank you.  Taglist:  @triplehaitches

[sharperthewriter]

Locked Together (a Kim Possible fanfic collab between me and TemporaryInsanity91)

This story was a collab between Daisy and Sharper. Find Daisy on FFn and Wattpad @ temporaryinsanity91 and find Sharper on FFn and Deviant Art @ Sharper the Writer. Special thanks to Chris for creating Heehaw the Hellacious Hillbilly. He's a good friend and we both think he should start a reaction channel on YouTube xD Check him out on out on Deviant Art @ tennente. Thanks for reading. Let us know what you think!

Legal stuff:

Any recognizable Kim Possible characters and settings are created by Schooley and McCorkle and (c) by Disney. No profit is being made from posting this story, but the plot and any OCs do belong to us so please contact before copying or translating all or part of this story. Heehaw the Hellacious Hillbilly is an OC and created by a good friend of ours, Chris. Check him out on Deviant Art as Tennente.

The Fanfic is rated PG for brief language

Chez Couteaux, 7:15 pm)

"Hey. Come back."

She raised her eyes from the cloth napkin in her lap, made greener by both the dark liner and mascara that created a soft dark fringe around them, and the shadows underneath them poorly concealed by makeup. Her soft, turquoise blue sleeveless dress made her red hair look even more fiery, and the natural paleness of her skin seem just slightly more tan and golden, especially in the dim, glowing light of the tiny white candles floating in the vase between them. Ron concluded, not for the first time, that Kim Possible was absolutely stunning.

She'd been determined to finish the mission in time for them to celebrate their fourth anniversary, but even though they had been extremely prepared and cautious, the mission became complicated. The villain, one with a ridiculous name and title she couldn't remember—Heehaw the Hellacious Hillbilly?—had tried to take over her uncle's farm in hopes of using his surveillance, robotic animal and farming technology, and land for his evil master plot. What should have been a simple rescue and capture turned into Ron being scarred for life again by a robotic horse, being held captive for two days with no food or water, and a whole lot of trouble catching the crazy horrible hillbilly, whatever his name was.

"Sorry," Kim said quietly, picking at her nails. They were painted white, as were her toe nails, which she seemed to be staring at now. "I had hoped we'd be more up to this, but I'm kind of exhausted."

"I understand." Ron reached out and took her hand, squeezing it. "I get it, KP. But I know you. That's not what's on your mind. Talk to me."

She shook her head, offering a smile he could tell was forced. "It's nothing, Ron. I'm just... overreacting I guess."

"For the record, you said that, not me." She finally laughed, reaching across the table squeezing his hand. He squeezed it back. "I know better. But if you would just say it, KP, I would be happy to tell you how much you're NOT overreacting."

She sighed. "I just... I hated that that weird hillbilly villain diagnosed us so quickly. He knew that you'd be my weakness, or that I would be yours. He knew that splitting us up would be the easiest way to capture us, and he knew that keeping us apart would be the best way to make sure his plan would succeed. I... don't like feeling like I'm a danger to you, that's all."

"Uh, KP... how many times did I get us captured?"

Kim's face showed how unimpressed she was. "So? How many times did I get us captured?"

"Exactly. Does it matter at this point? Look. I'd rather get locked up in some lair with you any day—hell, every day of the week than be free somewhere without you, or worse, be free somewhere knowing that you're out there fighting bad guys by yourself. And I know you feel the same about me. So don't do this to yourself. Don't blame yourself for how these situations play out."

"I know... I know. I mean, I do. I feel that way about you. There's nobody I'd rather be in a shark tank with, or surrounded by evil robot horses with, or tied up in the dark with."

"Ooh, kinky."

"Har har," Kim said, smacking his arm. She hid a smile, but Ron knew that he'd broken her out of whatever dark place her mind had gone to. Well, mostly.

"Here are your appetizers," the waitress said quietly, trying not to disturb them, but also wanting them to move their joined hands so she could set the hot plates down. Or, so that Ron wouldn't be holding her hand anymore...

"Thank you," Ron said absently. The waitress looked extremely flattered, but said nothing. Kim leveled her with an icy stare. If looks could kill, The waitress would have been vaporized. When she was gone, Ron grinned. "Is there a problem?"

"Yeah. She was... looking at you."

"So? I'm looking at you. And I love what I see, to boot."

Kim laughed again, this time looking away as her cheeks turned light pink. "Thank you." She focused on her food, and Ron reached over and stole a bite. "Hey!" She stole a piece of his in retaliation, and her eyes closed as she put the bit of food in her mouth. "Ohmugawshf," she mumbled around the mouthful.

Ron smiled at her. "Glad you like it," he said simply, grabbing the extra plates and handing her one full of his appetizer.

After dinner, Kim thought about that moment for a long time. Ron held her hand and guided her as they walked along, occasionally moving her around cracks in the sidewalk so she wouldn't lose her balance, since she was lost in thought.

The city was, and still is, struggling to rebuild from the alien invasion that almost wiped them off the face of the earth almost three years ago. During the day, various reconstruction sites rang out with the pounding of hammers, road work, and the beeping of cranes and trucks, solemn reminders of how close humanity had been to complete annihilation. The city owed an enormous debt of gratitude to Ron Stoppable since that day.

The recent financial crisis that occurred at the same time didn't help things either. It especially wrecked the super villain industry, as only Professor Dementor was able to weather the storm. Jack Hench, whom built a multi-billion dollar  empire to finance super villains, was in complete ruin.With the sudden influx of funding, newer, darker more insane villains became new threats that national agencies and GJ combined struggled to keep tabs of. Enter Kim and Ron, the ones that had stopped a whole alien invasion. Their help was highly sought after, and between their classes, and cleaning up Middleton... and America... and the whole planet... they kept pretty busy.

In the past, she had always been the one completely in control, as opposed to Ron. She always felt that she was the one taking care of the boy who once feared the lawn gnome in his mother's backyard. But after the invasion, Kim didn't know what to think. Ron was no longer the coward, the distraction, the sidekick. It was a huge adjustment for both of them. Feeling herself suddenly relieved of caring for Ron, she felt that her focus as well as their whole dynamic had changed dramatically.

She was used to it now, though. In the years since, they had come back into sync, despite her personal troubles financing her education while the Possibles figured out where they would live, and his struggle to find what was next for him. Her family ended up buying a new home and rescuing what little they could from the destroyed Possible home, but that left very little room for them to help her pay for school, and with government financial aid being diverted into reconstruction projects across the country, Kim had gotten a job and negotiated with GJ for a scholarship to get her by the first two years of school. Ron had returned to Japan for the summer, honing his powers and spending a lot of time working on himself before joining her in Middleton University.

Since then, missions only got more complicated and more time consuming, and that had added to her struggles as well. But as her website insisted, she could do anything, and she did. With Ron at her side, she pushed through as always.

Their most recent mission had been particularly brutal. Heehaw Hillbilly (or whatever his name was) had captured and imprisoned her uncle and cousin, and she and Ron had quickly followed. The plan had been simple, really. the way the villain had set up security basically required a distraction. With them separated, it was easy to overwhelm them with security and capture them.

She woke up in the dark with no idea of how much time had passed and no idea of where Ron could be. There was no plan gloating or dramatic plan for their demise. There was just darkness. She was terrified that Ron had been harmed. She didn't know where he was and she couldn't talk to him. At some point, she'd convinced herself that Ron wasn't with her because he was dead, and the dark place her mind went to then was what spurred her to act, sheer rage and revenge pushing her to find an escape route.

She found her uncle first, and got him into the control room to retake control of his systems. She found Joss next, and together they tried to form a plan. The ridiculous villain had almost gone through with his plan, and Kim was still preoccupied with finding and rescuing Ron, who had escaped and was looking for her, and in the chaos, Heehaw had almost succeeded in his plan... something about a robot horse army and evil moonshine.

Kim snorted as she walked, wiping at her nose. Moonshine was evil without the world domination scheme, anyway.

"KP?"

"Huh?"

"You're crying, baby. What's the matter?"

"Oh." She quickly sniffed and wiped at her face with the back of her wrist again . "I'm sorry."

"Kim," Ron said, stopping short and turning to face her.

"I thought I lost you," she finally confessed. "I thought that crazy bastard took you from me and that I would never see you again. I..."

"Aww... KP, I..." Ron brushed the fresh tears from her face, kissing each cheek and her forehead. "I was scared too. They had me in this place and I had no clue how long it had been, or if you had a plan, or anything. But now that it's over, all I can think is that what we have thought all along is true. We're better when we're together."

"I'm my best when I'm with you," she whispered. "I need you, Ron."

"I'm here, KP. I'm not going anywhere. We got him. He's not gonna hurt anyone anymore, and he's not going to get us apart like that again.”

She sniffed, curling her fists into his shirt, under his suit jacket, and pressed herself against him. “Okay,” she whispered. “I love you, Ron.”

His arms went around her, hugging her close to his body. He pressed a kiss to her hair. “I love you too, you know. We've been through a lot, KP, but as long as I'm yours and you are mine, we've always turned out alright.” He loosened his embrace, placing one hand on her hip while the other gently rubbed her back. He kissed her forehead and looked into her eyes, smiling. “Come on, KP. I have something for you.”

It was then that Kim looked around and noticed that Ron had guided her to the entrance of Middleton Park. She'd volunteered there some weekends during high school, but since she graduated, she hadn't had much time to see what had changed since the invasion. The trees that had been downed in one section of the park, had been removed and replaced with a beautiful memorial to the lives lost and the persons injured. The wall where Josh Mankey had once shown her his art had been overgrown with ivy and flowering vines,and the stone path that went around it and led to the lake had spots of grass growing between them. She looked up at Ron, curious. “Why are we in the park?”

Ron grinned. “You'll see. Come on!” He led her toward the lake, and they skip-hopped across the stones, over the grass to the path at the edge of the lake. The path sat at the top of a hill, and they both silently contemplated the sun setting over the lake, brilliant orange, pink and lavander coloring set the lake on fire. A short walk away, there was a bridge that crossed over the stream that emptied into the lake.

The bridge was made of wood, the wood worn and stained by years of weather. In between the wood railings there was a long, chain link fence that was attached just after the invasion. “Remember this, KP?”

“Sure. I mean, it has changed some after the invasion. A lot, really. So much has changed in this park. But this bridge has been around as long as I can remember, and we've been here a couple of times together. Actually, last time we were here, your belt loop got caught in a piece of wire...?”

Ron glared as he saw a tiny smirk pulling at her lips. “Hilarious. I thought that went in the vault of silence!”

“It did,” Kim said with a slightly bigger smile. “Why were you asking about this?”

He smiled and led her toward the middle of the bridge. Overlooking the lake, the trees' reflections became dark shadows as the water reflected the subdued pinks and purples, and the bright neon orange of the sky as the sun faded. In the distance, little neon lights flickered as fireflies danced through the trees, their lights reaching the reeds at the edge of the water and reflecting in the lake's shadows as well.

“This is beautiful,” she whispered.

Ron kissed her cheek in response. “We've been together since we were kids, and I never in a million years thought this day would come. It's our fourth anniversary, KP.”

She turned to him, wrapping her arms around his shoulders and resting her hands behind his neck. With a smile, she said, “Really? I kind of always knew it would. I was in denial.”

“Is that what you call it?”

“Seriously. Josh Mankey, and that Japanese transfer guy, and even Eric, they were all just placeholders. The whole time, there was just some part of me that was comparing them to you. Clearly, nobody measured up.”

Ron grinned and circled his arms around her waist. “You know it, KP. This bon-diggety babe has the essential Ronness that no one can ever imitate.”

She giggled. “Whatever you say, Your Ronness.”

“Yeah? Well then I say we just stay like this until our skin sags and our driving licenses are taken away.”

She grinned at him. “They already took your driver's license, Ron.”

“Okay well, you know what? It's not my fault that that car had the wheel on the wrong side of the road—and we were being chased by evil singing robots! What was I supposed to do, stop at the yellow light? They should have been thanking me!”

“Ron, I was just teasing you.”

“I know. But my objection still stands!”

“It's noted,” she said with another giggle. “Now tell me why you brought us here.” Her smile fell away when he reached into his pocket and retrieved a small box. Tears instantly poured from her eyes, and Ron startled when he saw her face.

“KP, what—what's wrong. Oh—no, baby, it's not that kind of box. Just look at it.”

Slightly embarrassed and feeling more than a little bit awkward, she took the box from his hand and opened it. There was a lock inside. Upon further inspection, she saw that that there were words on it. Tears welled in her eyes again as she read the inscription:

Kim and Ron true love set us free 2007- forever

“KP, we had a lot of messed up things happen to us, and we did a lot of screwed up things to each other.” Ron remembered the morning they talked about her feelings, when she told him she wasn't sure how she felt about his newfound skills. The argument that followed left him dazed and hurt, and he knew that she felt the same. She didn't accompany him to the airport. He thought he would spend two months in Japan wondering if he would come home to a girlfriend, or if everything he had with her was ruined because he finally wanted to make himself better. In the end, Kim came to him, and they spent two days together making up before she had to go back home. He thought it was the best weekend of his life. Until now, anyway. “We fight and we make up, and we save the world, and those are only ever going to be things that I want with my best friend, with my partner. Those are only things I'm every going to want with you. I love you.”

She remembered the moment she saw him come through the door, ready to save her. She was on an Alien ship in outer space. Truly, He would go anywhere after her. More tears spilled from her eyes. “I love you too,” she said, throwing her arms around him and pressing her lips to his. There in the growing darkness, the clicked the lock around a link in the fence, and then Ron handed her the key. With a smile, she threw the lock into the river. She watched it sink quickly into oblivion, and she realized that Ron was right. From the moment she admitted to herself that she would go to the ends of the earth for him simply because she loved him, there had been weight that lifted from her mind and from her heart. Giving herself to him wholly to him was the only thing that truly made her feel free. She never wanted that feeling to end.

This time, when she turned to face Ron again, he was holding a different box, and was kneeling. Shifting, he pushed one leg out and rested his foot down, so that he was on one knee. Then he grinned up at her. “You can freak out now.”