Come With Me

by pbow

Kim is in major trouble. This is an AU, one-shot songfic. Puff Daddy supplied the song and the words drive the story. Rated T for mild words and plenty of angst.

Disclaimer: Puff Daddy and Jimmy Plant's song Come With Me is from the 1998 movie Godzilla and is property of Sony Music. I don't own the song or any of the Disney series Kim Possible. I don't do this for money, only for the enjoyment of writing.

Notes: This is a AU so some of the episodic facts will be chronologically out of order. It takes place after graduation and ignores the final episode along with most all other canon from the series but I'll use bits and pieces here and there to make some sense.

Kim is in high security lock down, confined in a straightjacket and highly sedated. She voices the words of the song and those will be in italics. Betty Director, along with a GJ psychiatrist, are viewing Kim through a one-way, highly reinforced window and comment on her ramblings.

Kim is confined because she's either mad, suicidal and/or homicidal at Josh for leaving her at the alter and she also has a few other various problems to contend with.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Dr. Betty Director walked into the small observation room and looked through the one-way glass at the straight-jacketed, frazzle-haired girl on the other side of the window sedately sitting on the padded floor. "Are all these precautions necessary Dr. Waco?" She pronounced his name with a short 'A' instead of the long 'A' sound like in the Texas town. The name fit the person it was attached to. While Paul Waco was a brilliant doctor in the field of psychiatry, his appearance and eccentricities at times led some people to believe Global Justice's top head shrinker should be the one in the straightjacket instead of his patients. "Why, she not even wearing any shoes or socks."

"I'm afraid so Dr. Director," the medical professional said not looking up from his paperwork. "She's on suicide watch and she could use those things to try and choke herself. As to the other precautions," he turned in his chair and held out a long piece of computer paper with squiggly line on it. "her brain waves are off the charts unless we pump her full of sedatives. Before we injected her she somehow escaped the straightjacket and practically tore the padded cell apart. It took four of my biggest orderlies to hold her down before we could administer the drugs and two of them are in intensive care after the incident."

"She's that bad off," Dr. Director sighed and sadly shook her head. "It's a pity."

"What happened to her to make her mind snap like it did?" Dr. Waco asked.

"I was hoping to get a few answers myself," Betty Director said as she peered warily at the red-haired woman who started to stir and strain against her restraints. "I know most of the facts but getting stood up at the alter shouldn't have broken her mind like it did. Kim Possible has always been a strong woman for the three years plus I've known her. I thought everything was still normal in her life even after her partner Ron Stoppable left to live and train at Yamanouchi. I thought their breakup might have affected her since he quit school with only a few weeks before their sophomore year ended but Kim was so fixated on Josh she didn't even notice Ron was gone."

"Kim continued to go on missions? Even without Ron?"

"Yes," Dr. Director answered with a firm nod. "She excelled even."

"That's amazing," Dr. Waco said as he flipped through a file in front of him. "I was under the impression Kim hasn't done so well in the past without Ron playing the distraction."

"She hadn't, but Kim then realized she was more of the distracter than Ron was," Betty said with another sigh. "Ron and Rufus would always destroy the death ray or unhinge the diabolical scheme the villains came up with while Kim would fight the henchmen or Shego. After she realized that, during her first solo mission after Ron departed, she immediately changed her focus to completing the mission instead of battling the hired help and didn't even think about Ron not being along for the ride."

"So she ignored the henchmen?" Dr. Waco posed.

"Not in the least," Dr. Director firmly stated shaking her head in the negative. "Kim stepped up her game when she went solo and did both jobs. She would simply mow down the henchmen before dismantling the doomsday device or super ray gun. That's one of the reasons why I decided to bring her into the organization so soon."

They both watched as Kim Possible slowly stood and struggled against the straightjacket. "She shouldn't be able to stand," Dr. Waco said in surprise as he checked his wristwatch. "She should be unconscious for another hour or two with the amount of sedatives we have pumped into her right now."

"Uh huh, yeah... Uh huh, yeah," Kim Possible muttered aloud as she rocked back and forth against the padded walls of the cell and peered directly at the two people hidden behind the one-way glass seemingly as if she were talking directly to them in the observation room.

"Hear my cries, hear my call

Lend me your ears, see my fall

See my errors, know my faults

Time halts, see my loss.

Know I'm lacking, backtracking

Where I met you, pistol packing

Itchy finger, trigger happy

try to trap me, bad rap."

Dr. Director took a step back as if she had been slapped hard across the face. "She... Kim can't really know I'm here, can she?"

"Miss Possible knows she's being held at a Global Justice facility," Dr. Waco stated. "But I very much doubt she suspects you're standing here at this time. Why?"

"Because of what she just said," Betty shuddered at the remembrance. "When she joined GJ she was required to train with firearms and got a little trigger happy the first time she used a handgun. I was there, overseeing her training. At first she refused to even hold the gun stating that she didn't believe in them, but after I convinced her to at least experience it she took to the pistol like a pro and even got a little trigger happy. Kim was practically giddy as she popped off shots between her legs and behind the back. When she finally saw the paper target up close Kim realized it was of a human silhouette with perfect groupings in the chest and head. She fled the shooting range in horror. After that, even though she was required by GJ regulations to carry a firearm at all times and complied, she still refused to use it even when her or her fellow agent's lives were in danger."

Kim staggered across the padded cell and stood in front of the one-way glass.

"Wiretap me, back stab me

Break the faith, fall from grace

Tell me lies, time flies

Close your eyes, come with me."

"Kim also went a little nuts when she found out all of the agents have to have their communications monitored," Dr. Director added. "She almost quit after she easily qualified with the pistol but when we tapped in to her Kimmunicator... Well, she almost went ballistic."

"Do you mean she was going to kill you?" Dr. Waco asked in total disbelief. "I thought she didn't believe in taking physical violence that far; That it was repugnant to her very being."

"No, but that's why Kim is telling me to close my eyes and come with her," Dr. Director reasoned as her chin hit her chest. "She wants me to join her in her delusional state. I talked her down after those two incidents and thought it was just a small hiccup in her training, like with all the rest of the new trainees. They all get mad at their instructor at one time or another and threaten them with physical violence."

"I understand that but do you think Kim blames you for her breakup with Josh at the alter?" the medical doctor questioned, "along with everything else that's gone wrong in her life?"

Dr. Director watched Kim sway to the music in her mind and thought about the question. "I guess Kim believes I was the start of all her woes. She started training with Global Justice shortly after she and Josh started dating in the middle of their sophomore year. Kim began to ignore or simply not to interact with Ron almost immediately. That's when Ron started going on solo missions, because Kim would occasionally blow them off to be with Josh or for GJ training. The missions she did go on, Ron refused to help her so she went solo on those. Finally Ron got fed up and took off for Yamanouchi a few weeks before classes ended. That's when Kim took on all of the missions herself."

"And Kim never acknowledged Ron left," Dr. Waco said with a nod.

"It was as if Ron and Kim were never close, almost inseparable friends the previous twelve years," Dr. Director stated with a sad look in her good eye. "At least it seemed that way with Kim. She would spend all her free time with Josh and not go into work at Club Banana. Her grades began to slip when she began to split her time between training here at GJ and going out in the evenings with Josh. She even gave up cheerleading."

"That's something I didn't read about," Dr. Waco said as he paged through one of the files in front of him. "What happened there?"

"It started out as the usual stuff. Kim and Bonnie Rockwaller were arguing in the middle of practice over a new routine," the doctor with the eye patch stated as she folded her arms across her chest. "When Josh came in to the gym to watch, Kim looked over to him, dropped her pompoms and started to leave."

"Do you mean Kim just up and left the team?"

"Not quite," Dr. Director chuckled. "When Bonnie confronted Kim as she was leaving, Kim ignored Bonnie's rant, turned to the rest of the squad and said, 'If you think you can do better with Bonnie as your leader than with me, go right ahead.' She took Josh's hand and walked out of the gym, never to come back."

"How did the squad handle the change of leadership?" Dr. Waco asked.

"Not very well," Dr. Director said shaking her head in disgust. "Half of the squad quit within one week under Bonnie's strong-armed reign and the rest didn't follow their new captain's directions. After two horrible weeks of practice, Bonnie had a mental breakdown and couldn't continue with the squad, or school for that matter. That's when Tara..."

"The cute platinum blond," Dr. Waco interjected as he held up a photo of the cheer squad and connected the face with the name.

"Yes, the platinum blond," Dr. Director acknowledged. "Well, she and the remaining girls devised some simple sideline cheers to keep the fans in the game after Bonnie had her breakdown."

"Yes," Dr. Waco muttered and opened a separate file. "I read about Ms. Rockwaller's condition. She's institutionalized in an insane asylum right now muttering some drivel about she being better than everyone else; That her two sisters were the losers and she was superior to everyone else on the planet. I believe I even saw somewhere in her file that Bonnie Rockwaller might be considered a minor Super Villain in the same league as Frugal Lucre or Falsetto Jones if given the chance."

"If Miss Rockwaller were to be released at this time," Dr. Director slowly shook her head in disbelief, "she would most certainly try to take over the world with her currently unhinged mind and superiority complex. And with the grades she's shown in high school, Bonnie might actually succeed as a Super Villain in the same league as Professor Dementor or Dr. Drakken. At least we caught on to that possibility in time."

"Another life messed up along with Miss Possible's." Dr. Waco closed all of the files in front of him and sighed a heavy sigh as he peered through the one-way glass at the redheaded woman in the straightjacket. "So what is your analysis of the situation? I was only brought in on this yesterday so, where do you think it all started to go wrong?"

"I guess it's all my fault." Dr. Director sat down for the first time since entering the room. She folded her hands in her lap as her chin hit her chest in defeat. "Maybe if I didn't bring Kim in to start her training so early; If I had waited until just before she graduated. Maybe if Josh hadn't come into the picture. Maybe if..." Betty Director's voice trailed off as she gazed at Kim through the window. A tear came to her good left eye.

"If we had gotten her and Stoppable together as boyfriend and girlfriend instead of letting Josh Mankey distract Kim from her missions and school," Dr. Waco firmly asserted as he stood up and towered over the head of Global Justice and began to lecture her, "none of this would have happened! While the rest of the investigative team didn't think so, that was MY recommendation after the Ron Factor investigation. But you had to dismiss my findings and blow off all of my research as a non-factor. While the overall report, that I never sanctioned, showed that the Ron Factor was minimal, I showed conclusively that Kim, Ron and Rufus, working as a team, were unstoppable!"

"You're right," Dr. Director barely breathed out. "I was too arrogant and went with the overall report instead of your findings. I went with the general consensus and thought we didn't need Ron, only Kim. I thought Ron was too random, to undisciplined to be a good agent; That he was a loose cannon and that Kim could handle thing on her own so I lied to Kim and Ron and told them the Ron Factor was a non-factor."

"You even went as far as to tell them that The Rufus Factor was a non-factor too," Dr. Waco stated smugly.

"I know, I know," Betty whined and slumped to the desk, her chin resting on her folded arms. "I thought if I could eventually wean Kim away from her reliance on Ron and Rufus she would become not only a top agent, but a Super Top Agent."

"Someone like you used to be," Dr. Waco nodded in understanding. "You were setting Miss Possible up to be your replacement in ten years or so when you retired. Now that's really planning ahead!"

Before the Director of Global Justice could respond to the allegation the telephone rang. Betty picked up the receiver. "Dr. Director here," she answered as she stood up at attention, regaining her commanding composure. "Yes, by all means bring him directly to me. Immediately!"

"Someone I should be concerned with?" Dr. Waco begged slyly having as good idea who the visitor was and why he was here.

"You know damn well I've had a Alpha Priority, General Alert out to all GJ stations throughout the world to find Ron Stoppable and get him here ASAP," Dr. Director growled as she sat back down. "The preliminary report said he was the only person to bring Kim out of this… state, she's in."

"Maybe bring her out," Dr. Waco qualified her statement. "We don't know enough about the human mind to know for sure where Kim is in her own mind or if she can be brought back to the here and now."

Again, Kim began to scream and violently jerk and swayed to some sort of music in her mind as she practically bore a hole through the one-way glass with her wild-eyed glare.

"You say to trust you, you'd never hurt me

Now I'm disgusted, since then adjusted

Certainly, you fooled me, ridiculed me

Left me hangin', now shit's boomerangin'

Right back at ya, think long-ranged

Narrow minded, left me blinded

Now I co-signed it, shit backfired

Now I'm bouncin' back, I grinded"

"Is she talking about her almost marriage to Mankey?" Dr. Director sat up and asked as she watched the maniacal looking redhead in the enclosed padded cell, "or is she talking about me?"

"I believe Miss Possible is talking about you, Doctor Director," Dr. Waco precisely pronounced her title as he sat back down to take some notes and search through one of the files. He brightened when he found the file he was searching for and sat up further in his chair as he pulled out one particular sheet of paper. "Ah, yes. Here it is. The transcripts from the interview when you finally hired Kim into Global Justice. She's using your exact words. You said, 'Trust me Kim, we here at Global Justice would never hurt you. As a matter of fact I have long-ranged plans for you.' You went on to promise she'd never have to use a lethal weapon. You, Dr. Director, went back on your word and that might be one of the main reasons why she had the breakdown. You were her primary role model after your initial meeting four years ago and you let her down big time."

Kim collapsed back against the padded cell wall and slowly slid down to a seated position as she spoke.

"Not many would bear the pressure

You comprehend me, you mustn't end me

You offend me, it's trauma

FEEL THE DRAMA, come with me.

"You're right," Dr. Director let out a heavy sigh. "It's very evident with the phrase she just used, 'feel the drama.' That's A-typical of Kim's normal 'so not the drama' style."

Kim, starting to stand back up again, caught the Director's good eye and she listened as Kim began to speak in a soft, almost lilting voice.

"I close my eyes

And I see

You,

standing there

I cry

Tears

of sorrow

I die."

"Oh dear," Dr. Waco worriedly groaned as he began to scribble notes in the margin of an already filled yellow notepad.

"What?" Dr. Director begged while trying to read the scratchy shorthand the male doctor was writing. "Who is Kim talking about now? Is it herself… or Josh?"

"Oh no my dear Dr. Director," Dr. Waco said as he finished up one page and flipped it over only to start writing again. "I believe Miss Possible is remembering the time when the drama with Mr. Stoppable came to a peak. I think she just had a recollection of Ron seeing her in Mr. Mankey's arms for the last time. She's voicing what Ron must have been feeling. After all, that's why he left school, isn't it? Ron was in love with Miss Possible and couldn't stand seeing her in the arms of another guy."

"Uh huh, Yeah!"

The sudden, violent thrashing of Kim against the walls of her cell brought their attention back to the patient as Kim practically screamed:

"Front my enemies, front my foes

Damn those hoes, you steppin' on my toes

Back up off me, take your hands off me

Give me room to breathe"

"That sounds like she's reliving our last argument while I was helping her into her wedding dress," Dr. Director gasped. "Kim accused GJ of turning Shego evil so we would have villains to go up against; That we actually financed Drakken's take over the world schemes. The four female agents in the wedding party and I had to physically restrain Kim during that argument to finally get her back under control.

"I'm not hearin' it, I'm not fearin' it

I'm up to my ears in it, bullshit

I'm destructive, some women find that seductive

Some say it's lunacy

Word diddly, I've been moving on

I ignore you, sorry if I bore you

I neglect you, don't mean to disrespect you

Can't you see

I love you dearly, and that's sincerely

But you annoy me, you can't avoid me

I'm here to stay, forever

And ever and a day, that's never

I can't let you go, I can't forget it

Why you did it, I won't permit it

I won't acquit it, I want to fight you

I'll fuckin' bit you, can't stand nobody like you

You can't run, you can't hide

No surprise, close your eyes

Come with me,

yeah

Come with me"

"Now that sound like Kim's last few confrontations with Josh Mankey before he left her standing at the alter," Dr. Director said as she paged through a file. "Mankey accused her of being a bit too masculine and that she was attracted to other women. Kim denied it of course and didn't pay any attention to his rantings from then on. Still, Kim believed she was in love with Josh and insisted on going through with the wedding ceremony. That's when Josh left her. He never showed up at the church. Kim found him in the arms of another woman and was about to kill them both when we broke in and stopped her. As you know she's been in isolation under suicide watch ever since."

"Come with me

Aaaah

Yeah I like this

Come on, come on

Come on, yeah

Turn me up

Bitches, turn me up

Yeah, yeah yeah

Come on now, yeah

Hear my cries, hear my call

lend me your ears

Huh huh"

Kim almost silently continued her rants, repeating various words and phrases from the last en minutes as she walked over to the side wall and plopped down, cross-legged on the padded floor.

"That is definitely a cry for help," Dr. Waco said as he leaned back in his chair, folded his arms behind his head and stretched out. "Miss Possible is begging you, Doctor, to either keep her so drugged up that she's unaware of her situation or to end her life."

"And she wants to take me along with her," Dr. Director harrumphed.

There was a single knock on the viewing room door before it opened and Will Du stepped in, his usual arrogance proceeding him. "The... amateur, is here," he dryly announced to his superior.

"You'd better not let him hear you say that, Agent Du," Dr. Director said with a sly smirk on her face. "After all of the intense training that amateur, as you so recklessly called him, has received over the past few years, he can now take you, me and ten other of our top agents out in five seconds flat and not break a sweat over it." The one-eyed woman could see that statement had rattled her Top Agent as he thought about it for a second then unconsciously took a half step back and gulp nervously. She knew Will Du, like all top agents in her organization, were required to read and review situation reports from around the world and had seen the photos of some of the 'amateur's' work. Dr. Director let Du off the hook as she ordered, "You can show him in and get back to your duties."

Will Du left the room and Ron Stoppable entered. He was five or six inches taller than Dr. Director remembered, having gone through a growth spurt in the intervening years and was simply dressed in a pair of well-fitting black cargo pants, black tennis shoes and wore a black gi top. The small image of a robin's-egg blue katana was stitched on the right breast of the gi and a large, fearsome blue dragon was embroidered on the back. Ron's corn-hued blond hair was a lot longer than she remembered and he also sported a mustache and goatee, but Ron had that same goofy grin that she would always associate with him.

"What's the haps, Betty?" Ron casually chimed as he sauntered up to the head of Global Justice and shook her hand. "I had to move up my timetable in Somalia when your people found me and said it was vitally important I get back here toot-sweet."

Dr. Director shot a brief, stern look at Dr. Waco who got the unvoiced message and left the room before she turned to the blond young man to return the greeting. "Thank you for coming so quickly Ron. I know you've become one of the most feared ninjas in the world and that you've continued saving the world on your own, with intel gathered by Wade of course, but I believe this is more important than any other situation going on in the world right now..." Her head motioned toward the large viewing window. "…At least in your book."

"KP," Ron whispered as he stepped up to the window, put his hands on the one-way glass and stared into the padded cell. He saw the once love of his life but it didn't seem like Kim was all there. Her red hair was a tangled, frizzy mess, she wore a straightjacket and had no shoes or socks on her feet. And the wild, glazed over expression in her eyes...

"What happened," Ron solemnly asked as he turned from the horrible sight of his former friend to face the head of Global Justice.

"A lot since you left," Dr. Director said as she moved over to a table away from the viewing window and sat down. She motioned for Ron to take a chair next to her. Ron hesitated for a second as he took a final glance at Kim before he sat down to listen to the briefing he knew he didn't want to hear but had to, needed to, anyway.

"Kim," the one-eyed woman said sucking in a breath, "Well let's just say she went in to somewhat of a downward spiral after you left school. She was doing well on her missions..."

"...As was reported in the newspapers," Ron interrupted. "All the news reports said she was still occasionally saving the world and that she was about to marry Mankey last week after they graduated. It sounded like she was living a normal, happy life. Well, normal for Kim anyway." Ron saw the one eyebrow above Dr. Director's good eye cock up in surprise. "I still follow her career, at least the stuff in the news."

"But Kim's life was far from normal," Dr. Director nodded and continued, "even her former life as a crime fighter. Early in her junior year she quit the cheer squad leaving Bonnie Rockwaller in charge. Ms. Rockwaller had a nervous breakdown from all of the pressures at home and school. Kim didn't care. As you know, Kim had already started as a junior agent here and spent her time between training and with Josh. She left her job at Club Banana, which was okay by me, but she and Josh began to squabble during their senior year in school. That led to some erratic behavior in the field. Kim started to take unwarranted chances and she actually began to go beyond the call handling the villains."

"Beyond the call?" Ron queried, unsure what the head of GJ was alluding to.

"Agent Possible trounced Shego," Dr. Director simply stated with a sour tone in her voice. "Agent... Well, to put it mildly, Kim beat the crap out of Shego and put her in the hospital. If other agents weren't on the scene, Shego would have died."

"Kim almost..." Ron's concerned voice trailed off as he warily peered over to the viewing window.

"Agent Possible was suspended for a week over that incident," Dr. Director stated as she sat up in her chair to continue the briefing. "Her wedding was coming up and I thought the changes in her demeanor were due to the stresses from the upcoming nuptials. But she and Josh continued to argue; Violently it seems. There's still broken glass all over the floor in Josh's house and his parents haven't replaced the demolished sofa and dinning room table yet. Anyway, Josh accused Kim of being a lesbian and she denied it. She pushed his concerns aside and went on with the wedding, but he didn't feel the same way."

"Josh left her at the alter," Ron said, having read something about it in the tabloids on his way to GJ headquarters. He pulled a tabloid paper out of one of the cargo pants pockets and tossed it on the table for Betty to see. On the cover was Kim in her underwear, running out of the church with a look of pure rage on her face. The overly large headline read, "KIM POSSIBLE GONE MAD?!"

"Exactly," Dr. Director huffed as she crumpled up the yellow journalism newspaper and tossed it aside. "Kim practically ripped off her wedding dress and left the chapel in her underwear. She found Mr. Mankey with another woman and almost killed Josh. If I and a few of the other agents from the wedding party hadn't followed Kim she could well have committed murder and then…" She left the sentence incomplete to allow Ron to draw his own conclusion.

"And Kim's been in here ever since," Ron sadly announced and hung his head. "It's all my fault. I shoulda never pushed her into the arms of Monkey Boy. I shoulda told KP about my feelings for her."

"It's not all your fault Ron," Dr. Director said as she got up and moved over to him to place a caring hand on his shoulder. "Your fears of Kim not wanting to take your friendship to that level were well founded at the time. She thought she needed a handsome, confident man in her life and you simply didn't fit the bill back then. Josh did. But during her GJ training she came to realize that everyone, no matter what they look like, has their faults and good points and everybody can contribute positively in some way. And there's a lot more to the story. You're not fully to blame, I'm partially responsible too."

"It doesn't matter who's to blame," Ron growled as he forcefully stood up, his chair rocketing back across the room. He marched over to the window and, with a face set in stone, watched Kim as she rocked back and forth seemingly to some music no one else could hear. His voice was equally firm as he stoically asked, "What do I need to do?" He turned and peered at the head of GJ. "I'll do anything to help KP, you know that."

"That's what we're counting on, Ron," Betty Director said as she stepped up beside him to watch Kim in the padded cell. "That's why we brought you here. We believe that if you were talk to her, to calm her down, that she'll come out of the state she's in. Right now she's heavily sedated but the drugs aren't having any effect. Her ramblings are... Well, she's jumping around from subject to subject so much that it's sometimes hard to follow but if you went in there and talked to her..."

"It's as simple as that?" Ron questioned, turning to look the head of Global Justice in the face with confusion written all over his.

"It's a Ron Factor thing,' Betty smiled warmly.

"But I thought..." Ron started, the confusion on his face amping up a notch or two.

"That's another thing I'm to blame for," Betty confessed as she began to guide the confused blond out of the room. "I'll tell you about that later. Right now we should be concerned with Kim."

"You're right," Ron firmly said as he reined in his confusion, stepped out of the room and walked to the next door. "Everything else can be put on the back burner until Kim is back to her old self again." Ron pulled out a jet black version of the Kimmunicator and thumbed it on.

"Hey Ron," the young African-American chimed from the small screen. "How did Somalia go? You're checking in early."

"Mission accomplished, Wade," Ron stated with a wicked grin. "That country has four less Warlords to worry about."

"Four!" Dr. Director yelled in astonishment. "My intel said you only went over there for two day to take out one of the Warlords."

"We thought it'd be better if all the leaders of the factions were taken out," Wade said from the new, improved Ronnunicator. "The way Ron completed the mission will send a clear message to anyone taking over that they need to change their ways of doing things." Wade's confident grin came out as he turned to his longtime friend. "Since you're with Betty Director, Ron, I take it GJ has a mission for you."

"Betty does and it'll take top priority over anything else I have on my plate for the foreseeable future," Ron said sternly. "Kim is in a world of hurt and she needs me."

"I understand complete," Wade said as he started to clack away on his computer. "I'll let the Queen know you won't be able to make it next week." Wade's image disappeared as the screen went to black.

"The Queen of..." Dr. Director warily laid the question out for Ron to finish.

"Oh, of England," Ron laughed as he put the Ronnunicator away and sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment. "I've done a few odd jobs for MI6 over the past few months and she wants to knight me or something. It's no big."

"I haven't hear of you doing jobs for any of the other intelligence agencies," Betty slyly stated. "Only that you've been handling all the tough assignments that Yamanouchi hands out. I guess our surveillance of you is slipping." She saw Ron's face sour at that statement and quickly added, "We keep tabs on all the freelance agents and other operations just to know what's what in the world. Sometimes we even recruit the freelancers if they prove themselves to be highly proficient." A smug, inquiring grin appeared on Dr. Director's face as she asked, "Just how many missions have you been on over the last few months? We only have you down for five, possibly six, that Yamanouchi assigned you."

"I guess your surveillance is a tad shoddy," Ron laughed and sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck again. "I've completed over two dozen missions during the last two months. Of course most of those were stuff Wade and me came up with. Maybe you can't keep track of me because of my mad ninja skills."

"Two dozen," Dr. Director whistled in admiration. "We're definitely going to have to reevaluate your qualifications as a GJ agent."

"No you're not," Ron sternly said as he put his hand on the doorknob to Kim's padded cell. "You know I don't play nice with anyone else but Kim and that I wouldn't fit in with your organization. That's why you didn't want me in the first place."

"How did you..." Betty Director started to beg in astonishment before she was cut off by Ron.

"Know?" Ron finished her question, his goofy smile beaming brightly. "Let's just say the security measures around the reports filed away in your computers are... lacking."

"Wade?" Dr. Director asked, fully expecting her suspicions to be confirmed.

"Nah," Ron waved her off, "it wasn't Wade. I got through your firewalls and security gates in under five minutes. Wade coulda done it in less time but he was busy hacking into the Russian Secret Service servers at the time for intel on one of my upcoming missions."

"You?" Dr. Director questioned, her one good eye wide in amazement.

"Hey," Ron laughed at her, "I can handle more than a sword. I can now fly anything with wings and drive anything that has wheels to go along with my new mad computer skills. Us ninjas have to keep up with the times." His jocularity quickly faded as he turned to the door again.

Ron took a deep breath and was about to enter when Betty laid a hand on his shoulder, stopping him for a second. "Just to let you know, Kim will never be able to rejoin GJ after this. The other agents will never be able to trust her on a mission and we don't think she'll be able to handle any of her normal missions, like she used to, either."

"I understand," Ron sighed and opened the door a crack. "But maybe Kim will get a shot at having a normal life for once."

"That's all we can hope for," Dr. Betty Director said with a warm smile as she stepped back from the door.

Ron squared his shoulder and put on his old, goofy smile as he entered the padded cell. "Hey Kim," he cheerfully chimed. "I hear you got yourself in a bit of a pickle. Was it a dill pickle or one of them bread and butter kinds?" He slowly began to close the door behind him.

"Who?" Kim shouted anxiously as her wide, wild eyes darted nervously around the room from her seated position on the floor opposite the door. Her eyes finally fixed on the blond standing near the padded door. "Who-who are you?"

"Aw, come on KP," Ron playfully chided as he pushed the door fully shut and took a few steps into the room. He stroked his beard as he chuckled, "I know I look a little different with the goatee and stashe but you have-ta remember your old buddy since Pre-K."

"KP," Kim muttered to herself as her eyes darted here and there over a small area of the cell floor in front of her, trying to break through the drug induced haze she was in. "KP?" she begged aloud as her tear glistening, no-longer-clouded, emerald eyes rose to see him again. "R-R-Ron?"

"In the flesh," Ron sang and held his arms open wide.

"RON!" Kim gleefully shouted and leapt directly from the floor into his arms across the eight foot wide cell. She nuzzled into his chest as best she could in a straightjacket while tears streamed down her cheeks. "Where have you been Ron?"

"Oh, here and there," Ron nonchalantly said as he began to unbuckle the straps to her straightjacket behind her back. "Mostly there. What have you been up to?"

"I was..." Kim heaved and sobbed in an all out crying fit. "And Josh said.... And then Bonnie, she... And then Josh did... And Shego," she managed to get out between ragged breaths.

"It sounds like you've been busy while I took a little vacation," Ron lightly laughed as he finished with the jacket buckles, slipped it off her and tossed it aside. He playfully stuck out his tongue toward the one-way glass knowing Dr. Director was behind it and probably having a fit because he immediately removed Kim's straightjacket. Kim, now clad only in white panties and a tight, white cropped tee-shirt, immediately threw her arms around his waist and continued to cry into his chest.

"Ron, I was such a fool to chase after Josh," the fiery red-haired woman wailed and clung on to her former friend for dear life. After a minute her cry jag subsided and she audibly and visibly shuddered as she moaned. "I really screwed up my life."

"Hey, like Mr. Dr. P. always said," Ron cooed and ran a caring hand through Kim's ruddy locks to get it into some semblance, "'anything's possible for a Possible.' I guess that means you have the right to screw up every once in a while."

"I guess so," Kim nervously hiccupped a laugh. She let out a content sigh as her hands roamed over Ron's back for a moment before she asked, "So... where have you been? You just up and disappeared one day and have been gone for so long."

"I moved to Japan to train and get my high school diploma," Ron softly said as he continued to soothe Kim by stroking her hair. "I wanted to get better for our missions so I needed to go someplace to step up my game."

"You went to Yamanouchi?" Kim cautiously queried and began to tremble in his arms, fearing the answer. "Does... does that mean you've hooked up with Yori?"

"Yori," Ron full out laughed. "No, Master Sensei sorta semi-retired to help out one student after I arrived and Yori took over as the head of the school." Ron didn't want Kim to know Master Sensei's semi-retirement occurred so the wise old Oriental gentleman could focus full-time on tutoring Ron and Ron alone. "Sensei Yori got too busy running the school to pay any attention to me and I really didn't want a girlfriend. After a while we fell into a kinda 'only-friends' relationship. You know. We'd say hi and briefly chat whenever we met and rarely sat down for a word or two over a cup of tea."

"So you're still single?" Kim brightened a bit with hope as she nestled further into his embrace.

"There's been only one girl in my life," Ron cooed in confession as his arms slid down to softly caress Kim's back, "and I won't settle for anyone less. I've been in love with her since Pre-K and I'll never get over her for the rest of my life."

"Me? But that unfair to you," Kim growled as she forcefully pushed her way out of Ron's strong arms and stepped back to glare at him. "I went after the hottest guy in school and never knew about your love." Her anger amped up as she continued, "Why didn't you tell me? You pushed me into his arms and left! I went out with him for three years and you never tried to talk me out of it! I almost married that jerk!"

"Well, you know about my feelings now," Ron playfully smiled to his friend. "So, what'cha gonna do about it?"

"Well, let's see," Kim's anger quickly waned as she pondered in the classic pose. One arm was across her chest while the hand of the other stroked her chin. "My life was on track with you before I screw everything up and threw it all away for that piece of crap, Monkey Boy. Maybe I should get you back in to my life permanently so I don't screw it up ever again."

"Why Miss Kimberly Ann Possible," Ron laughed out loud, "are you proposing to me?"

"And what if I am?" Kim sternly questioned with a mischievous look in her eyes.

"Then I'd have to say… Yes," Ron sweetly smiled before he gently took Kim in his arms and kissed her forehead. "It'd be a dream come true for me. But you'd have to settle for the simple life. You'd have to become the proverbial housewife waiting patiently for her hubby to come home from work."

"I think I've had enough excitement in my life," Kim sighed and contently nuzzled in to Ron's chest feeling the love exuding from his embrace. "As long as I'm with you I know I could live like that. I don't want anything else now."

"Well, let me talk to Betty and see what we can work out," Ron said as he stealthily broke away from her hug and, with a cat-like grace, moved for the door.

"Betty Director," Kim groaned and slapped her forehead anxiously. "I'm probably in her doghouse right now from all the crap I've pulled over the last couple of months."

"I think the one week suspension will cover most of that crap," Dr. Director announced as she opened the door and entered the room. "Although I'm required by GJ rules and regulations to permanently retire you with a dishonorable discharge for almost killing Shego and," Dr. Director let out with a short chuckle, "Monkey Boy."

"I guess I did go a little overboard in that last fight with Shego. And then after leaving the chapel…" Kim shuddered at the thought and hung her head in shame. Swiftly she came to parade attention and, not looking at either Ron or Dr. Director but directly ahead at a point in space, firmly stated, "I deserve any and all punishment for my actions."

"Good," Dr. Director said with a firm nod, "then it's settled. You're no longer a member of Global Justice and are remanded to the custody of one Ronald Stoppable for the rest of your life after a few days of tests and observation." She saw Kim's countenance fall slightly at that announcement. "Don't worry about it Kim. It's standard procedure all retiring GJ agents go through to make sure they can lead a normal life after the rigorous work they've preformed for the organization. Ron will be allowed to stay here at the facilities with you until you're released."

"But what about your job, Ron," Kim begged as she broke rank and swiftly wrapped her arms around her blond boyfriend's waist again. She felt if she were to let go, Ron would simply disappear from her life again. "Don't you need to go in to work every day? What do you do anyway?"

"My job is sporadic, KP," Ron cryptically answered and kissed her forehead. "I'm a kinda troubleshooter so I don't work every day and run off for a day or two whenever and wherever I'm needed."

"So I'll be alone most of the time," Kim pouted and broke from his embrace. "That sucks."

"It's no big, KP," Ron chuckled. "I can pick and choose my jobs so it won't be that often."

"But how can you afford to live like that?" Kim earnestly queried. "How can we live like that?"

"If you remember during our freshman year," Ron said with a wicked grin, "I got a Naco royalty check for ninety-nine million dollars." He held up a finger to stop her rebuttal. "I've been getting a check each year and live off the interest so I really don't need to work. I just do my job to keep the world safe."

"You still save the world as a troubleshooter?" Kim questioned with a frown that was almost Puppy Dog in nature. "What do you actually do, Ron? Tell me please and thank you."

"Wellll," Ron stalled a bit as he sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck, "if Yamanouchi is a secret ninja school I guess you could say I do secret ninja stuff for my job."

"Really," Kim thought about Ron's answer for a few seconds before her face lit up with her decision. "I guess I can live with that."

"How are you feeling, Kim?" Dr. Director warily asked her former agent. "We can move you to another room in the facility for your final checkup if you're feeling okay now."

"I feel great," Kim enthused and wrapped her arms around Ron again. "I guess I've been a little moody recently over everything that's happened. But with Ron back in my life," she smiled up at Ron's still freckled face, "I can take on anything once again."

"If that's the case," Betty Director let out a covert sigh of relief, "why don't you two head over to the reception desk at the end of the hallway and check in. Just tell the on-duty nurse you're there for a complete final checkup before your retirement. I'll call ahead and let them know you're coming."

"Yes Ma'am," Kim barked and saluted one last time to her Chief Commanding Officer. As the couple left the room Ron removed his gi and draped in over Kim's shoulders to cover her modesty. It dwarfed her and looked more like a dress than a shirt on her smaller body but she gratefully slipped her arms into the sleeves and said thank you as she tied the garment's sash.

As they walked into the corridor Rufus popped up out of one of the gi's large front pockets and, with arms open wide, joyfully squealed, "Kim!"

"Rufus!" Kim exaltedly enthused, quickly scooped up the naked mole rat in her hands and nuzzled the rodent to her cheek. "It's good to see you too!"

The head of Global Justice walked out of the padded cell room and watched the three walk away and exchange banter just like in the old days before picking up a hallway telephone to make the promised arrangements. She slowly shook her head and chuckled as she listened for the line to pick up. Dr. Betty Director mused aloud to herself, "The Ron Factor. Simply amazing!"