A/N: Once again, a big thanks to BitterSweetTeller for helping me out.
The next morning, the Possible family, Ron, and Rufus were still at the Stark mansion. Ron walked downstairs to the kitchen, wanting to get some breakfast into his belly. He had a genuine smile on his face, but he was still troubled with how Kim was doing. He has never seen his best friend so upset before. Earlier this morning when he woke up, he thought about checking in on her, hoping she might be able to tell him what happened in that cave. But then he decided against it, not wanting to make Kim more upset than she already is. "I'm really worried about Kim, Rufus." Ron said with a frown as they reached the downstairs. "What if she's right? What if the world isn't what we thought it was?" the naked mole rat just shrugged, not sure what to make of it. "I know, but I just want her to know that we all care about her. But I don't want to make her even more upset."
"Good morning, Mister Stoppable." JARVIS greeted as Ron walked into the kitchen. "Your breakfast Nacos are in the microwave, ready to eat."
Ron managed a wide smile at that, and Rufus hopped out of Ron's pocket and squeaked excitedly, dancing on the table as Ron got the breakfast Nacos out of the microwave. They looked like regular Nacos, except they had cheese, bacon, and eggs in them. "Why thank you, JARVIS, my good robot man." Ron smiled as he sat down at the table.
"I am not a robot. I am a program. But you're welcome anyway." JARVIS smirked a little as Rufus began to chow down on the breakfast Nacos. Ron was about to dive into his, but then he gulped as he saw Kim, now wearing her aqua green sweater, black choker, and grey pants. She smiled a little when she saw her best friend, still feeling a little depressed and guilty about her outburst at him yesterday. Now, Kim wanted to apologize to him and tell him everything, knowing that he'll always be there for him. She slowly made her way to the table while Rufus continued to feast on his breakfast Nacos.
"Oh, hi Kim." Ron smiled a little, not wanting to do anything else to make her have another outburst.
"Hi Ron." Kim smiled a bit as she sat down. She then sighed heavily, still shuddering from her memories being trapped in a cave in Afghanistan with Tony. She then teared up when she thought about how Yinsen sacrificed himself for Tony and Kim to escape. Kim drew in a shaky breath before facing Ron with glassy eyes. "Ron...I'm so sorry for what I said to you yesterday. I didn't mean to make you sad. I know you. You're weird...but that's what I like best about you. That's why we're the best of friends." Ron smiled widely at that, his eyes now getting watery. "It's just...I've been through a lot. So much...but now I'm ready to tell you."
"Good, because I'm ready to listen." Ron said with his best smile. Kim smiled a bit, knowing Ron would gulp and cry next when she finally told him the horror stories that she encountered. She sighed again before finally beginning.
"On the ride to the camp, me, Tony, and those soldiers were attacked by the Ten Rings. One by one, they...they were all killed." Kim recalled, starting to get teary eyed and shuddering at the memory, causing tears to fall from both Ron and Rufus's eyes. They gulped as Kim continued. "We tried to contact Wade, but then one of Tony's missiles landed near us. It knocked us both down, and it destroyed the Kimmunicator. We were then transported to a cave where they trapped us." Ron continued to listen, wanting to show his very best friend that he was there for her. Kim drew in another shaky breath. "Tony had a lot of shrapnel heading into his head, but luckily Yinsen, Dementor's cousin, was able to fix it."
Kim then gulped again, not really wanting to get to one of the most scary parts, but she faced it head on. "The Ten Rings wanted us to construct that Jericho missile. When we refused, they came after me. They pinned me against the wall with...their own grappling hooks." Kim shook at the painful memory while Ron just gulped, horrified that they were able to hurt her. "They then waterboarded me, trying to break me. And...they practically did." Kim began to cry a bit. Ron, sensing her pain, wrapped her in a hug and allowed her to cry on his shoulder and let a few tears of his own to fall into her hair.
"It's OK...it's OK..." Ron cooed as he ran his fingers through her hair as she began to calm down. "If you want...you can stop now."
"No. I gotta finish. You need to hear it." Kim said, still determined. Ron nodded as he continued to listen. "Anyway, they then pulled an electric eel out. Before they dunked my head back into the water, Tony relented. They then took us outside where we saw how many of Tony's weapons they had. They were also building their own Kimmunicators. We knew they weren't gonna let us go, so we constructed our own plan of escape." Ron smiled at that, knowing Kim figuring out a plan to escape from terrorists is what being Kim Possible is all about. "And Yinsen told us more about him. He's from Gulmira, and has...well, had his own family there."
"I hear ya. But I just find it odd that Professor Dementor would have relatives that aren't evil like him." Ron said, wanting to break the ice. Kim briefly glared at him before giggling.
"Yeah, it surprised me too. He was a good man." Kim smiled a bit, sniffling at her fond memories of Yinsen. She then sighed before continuing. "Then...I saw Shego. She was working with the Ten Rings."
Ron and Rufus gasped at the thought of one of their most hated arch foes working with terrorists. He then began to think, If Shego was with those goons, wanting to hurt Kim and Tony, that could mean...Drakken was behind it! He wanted to tell Kim his theory, but thought it best to keep it to himself as she finished.
"Anyway, we finally finished our means of escape: a suit of armor for Tony. We were able to escape, but..." Kim sniffled again, causing Ron to get concerned. "...Yinsen sacrificed himself." She then began to cry again and Ron wrapped her in a hug, again allowing her to cry on his shoulders. Rufus rubbed his tiny paws on Kim's cheek as she slowly stopped crying and faced Ron.
"It's OK, Kim. I'm so glad you finally told me." Ron promised with a smile, making Kim smile back.
"Thanks Ron." Kim whispered before sighing. "I just still can't believe that the world is filled with so much evil. I thought I could save it, but..."
"Of course you can, Kim. You can do anything!" Ron smiled, hoping to cheer his friend up. "Look, the world will never be perfect. That doesn't mean it's not worth saving. And that doesn't mean you can't save it. If you were able to escape from terrorists, who knows what else you can do."
Kim's mouth former the most sweet smile ever, her eyes now spilling happy tears as she now felt better and more empowered by what Ron said. She just couldn't believe how faithful her best friend was to her, and how lucky she was to have someone like him for a friend. Rufus smiled as the two best friends hugged each other tightly. "Aww..." Rufus squeaked.
"Thank you, Ron. Thank you so much." Kim smiled as the two let go. There was some awk-weird silence between them before Kim began to smirk playfully. "So...you gonna eat that last breakfast Naco?"
"Well..." Ron wanted to say before gulping at seeing Kim doing her signature Puppy Dog Pout. "Oh no. Not that!" Kim kept it up. Ron then split his breakfast Naco. "For my bestie!"
Kim giggled. "Thanks, bestie." Kim smiled as the two began to eat, with Kim feeling a lot more better.
At Edwards Air Force Base, Rhodey was giving some new recruits a tour and a motivational speech. "The future of air combat: is it manned or unmanned?" Rhodey began as they walked besides the aircraft used for war. "I'll tell you, in my experience, no unmanned aerial vehicle will ever trump a pilot's instinct, his insight, the ability to look into a situation beyond the obvious and discern its outcome, or a pilot's judgment."
"Colonel?" Tony asked, walking into the base with Ron, making their presence known to Rhodey. "Why not a pilot without a plane?"
"Yeah, you could always use jet packs!" Ron smiled. "Or try rocket skates. I always forget those, though." Both Tony and Rhodey chuckled at Ron, loving how unusual he is.
"Well, look who fell out of the sky. Mr. Tony Stark, and my new friend, Mr. Ron Stoppable." Rhodey smiled. Tony shook hands with a few of the recruits.
"Thanks for remembering my name." Ron smiled at Rhodey. "Not that many people remember it."
"Well, speaking of manned or unmanned, you gotta get Ron to tell you the time he guessed wrong during Kim Possible and her family's vacation in Florida during Spring Break." Tony smirked, remembering a funny story that Ron has told him of what happened during their vacation to move Kim's nana to Florida. "Just remember that, spring break, last year. That lovely lady you kept hounding."
"Oh no! Don't do that!" Ron warned, not wanting to be more humiliated than he usually would be.
"What was his name?" Tony asked with a smirk, making Rhodey, the recruits, and Rufus laugh loudly in his face. Ron blushed hard as he felt totally embarrassed. "Was it Ivan?" The recruits kept laughing.
"I didn't know it was a dude! His hair was too long for him to be a man anyway!" Ron tried to defend himself, but that only made the recruits laugh more.
"Please give us a couple minutes you guys." Rhodey chuckled. Ron and the recruits then left Tony and Rhodey to talk among themselves. Rohdey just smiled after getting all the laughs out. "I'm surprised. I swear, I didn't expect to see you walking around so soon." He still thought that Tony was suffering from his months in captivity. It was still a pain to see him and Kim so broken during that press conference.
"I'm doing better than walking." Tony promised before getting right to the point. "Rhodey, I'm teaming up with Kim Possible. We're working on something big. I came to talk to you. I want you to be a part of it."
Rhodey just quietly chuckled and shook his head. He thought that Tony wasn't ready yet to tackle on anything big. Not after his bombshell announcement at the press conference. "You're about to make a whole lot of people around here real happy, 'cause that little stunt at the press conference, that was a doozy."
Tony was still confident in his decision to stop weapons manufacturing, but he thought that Rhodey didn't see what point he was trying to make. "This is not for the military. Like I said, I'm teaming up with Kim and Ron. So, it's different." Tony said, hoping to be more clear with his friend.
"What? You're trying to be more like her? A humanitarian or something?" Rhodey asked, hoping to try to get Tony to see how broken Kim was.
"Please, listen to me..." Tony said.
"No. What you need is time to get your and that girl's mind right." Rhodey said, to which Tony smirked. "I'm serious. Did you see how broken she was?" Tony immediately listen to what he was saying. After escaping from captivity, he just thought that Kim was just lucky to be out of there and away from evil. Tony thought she would go among her day, just being her usual self. He was so busy with the new investments and upgrading his armor and tech that he didn't realize that Kim was actually suffering from some kind of PTSD. "I've seen that look on many of my fellow pilots whenever something bad happened to them. And to just see that on a kid?" He paused then lowered his head. "That's even more heartbreaking than any movie death." He then faced Tony again. "So before you try anything else, help her out. She needs it."
Tony nodded, knowing Rhodey was right. "I will. Thanks." Tony said.
"It's nice seeing you, Tony." Rhodey said as he backed away, leaving a guilty Tony by himself.
A few days later, back at Tony's Malibu mansion, Tony had gathered James, Ann, Jim and Tim, and Ron in the den, then unveiled the blueprints for the Mark I armor to them. He was ready to get started on his massive project, and he needed all the help he could get. James, Ron, and Jim and Tim stared at the blueprints in awe. "Very impressive start, Mr. Stark." James said with a smile.
"Please, call me Tony." Tony said with a smirk.
"Wow, so this is how you and Kim escaped?" Jim asked with a smile.
"Imagine what else you could do with a suit like that." Tim smiled.
"It does seem badical, but it's a little bulky." Ron commented.
"Yeah. Bulkly." Rufus agreed as he stood on his master's sholder.
"Well, luckily we're about to fix that." Tony smirked. "Anyway, Kim spoke in high regards for all of you. And I'd like for you to be part of this upgrade." James, Jim, and Tim's smiles grew bigger at the prospect of that. "Also, I was thinking we could make some new tech for Team Possible, like upgraded jet packs."
"Now you're thinking." Ron smiled with Rufus smiling and nodding in agreement.
"Well, this does seem like a pretty ambitious project, wouldn't you say, James?" Ann asked with a smile towards her husband.
"This might be my greatest accomplishment since building the Keppler 100." James said with a big smile.
"Hicka bicka boo?" Jim asked his twin.
"Hoo sha!" Tim smiled as he high fived his twin.
"Good. There's just one person we need." Tony said with a nervous smile. The Possible family and Ron gulped as Tony began to head towards Kim's room.
"Uh, Tony?" Ron asked nervously. "Look, Kim's doing better, but I just don't..."
"Don't worry. I'll fix my mistake with her." Tony promised. "I'm gonna help her out. Trust me." Ron nodded as Tony headed upstairs.
In her room, Kim was now wearing her white crop top with a pink heart and pink pants, smiling and giggling at herself in the mirror, starting to be more of herself. "Well, don't you look fashionable?" Kim asked herself with a playful smirk. "Why thank you. I just love my pink pants." She giggled before a knock on the door caught her off guard.
"Knock, knock." Tony smirked as he entered with his face covered. Kim managed a smile at that. "You decent yet?"
Kim giggled at that. "Yeah, you can uncover your face now." she said. Tony smiled as he did just that. "Hey Tony. I keep forgetting that you're here. Well, I mean, it is your mansion after all."
"I know." Tony smirked before turning concerned. "I know I haven't really asked you this much since we got back to the States, but...how you doing?"
Kim just smiled. Sure, she still had a little bit of that post traumatic stress left, but she felt a lot better. "Fine. Just been relaxing." Kim said while flipping her hair.
"Good." Tony said before sighing. "Kim...I'm really sorry." It was now Kim's turn to feel concerned as her smile faded.
"Sorry for what?" Kim asked, tilting her head.
"It's just...I was just so busy with everything else...I had no idea you were suffering." Tony admitted. Kim gulped at that. "I just thought everything for you would be fine if I'd just let you be...but I should have helped you more."
"Hey, it's no big." Kim said with her best smile, hoping to make Tony feel better. "I mean, it's been a rough few days, but I feel better."
"Good, but I still need to let you know how sorry I am." Tony said. "I just keep forgetting that even though you're a famous hero, you're still a kid. And if it wasn't for you, I wouldn't have found the courage to help us both escape."
Kim started tearing up a little bit as she continued to smile. "It's no..." She wanted to say.
"No. It is big. I never even thanked you." Tony smiled as he came closer to her. "Look, I know you're still heartbroken for Yinsen." Kim nodded as a few more tears fell from her eyes. "I think I have the perfect way to honor him. And, together, we can help make the world whole again. After all, anything is possible for a Possible." Kim smiled as more happy tears spilled out and the two hugged each other. After what seemed like forever, they let go. "So, that project. You up for it?"
Kim smirked at her new friend. "When do we start?" she asked, making Tony smirk back.
A few hours later, Kim, Ron, James, Tony, and Jim and Tim were in Tony's workshop. Kim activated the computer with the press of a keyboard button. Jim and Tim were double checking components from their list. They were all ready to start their special project.
"JARVIS...you up?" Tony asked. He activated his holographic keyboard at the same time.
"For you, sir...always." JARVIS said.
"Kim...you might not have met. But, I would like you to meet JARVIS: My robotic butler and UI assistant." Tony said. Kim smiled at that.
"I know. I...heard him around the house a lot." Kim said. She sounded a bit uncomfortable. But...she was quick to move the conversation away from herself. "Ron already had him cook up a bunch of Nacos for him and Rufus."
Tony smirked at that. He made a little mental note though to himself: I'd check on her some more later.
"Of course Ron would," James commented lightly.
"Hey! What's the point of having a science fiction AI butler around if you can't give him orders?" Ron asked.
"It's a pleasure to meet you again, Miss Possible." JARVIS said. Kim smiled.
"Thank you." Kim added. "You won't tell anyone about what...?" She suddenly sounded nervous again.
"I accommodate to the emotional requirements of Stark's guests: Friends or more. But, rest assured Kim Possible...I won't tell anyone what we talk about." JARVIS mostly assured.
"Oh good." Kim said.
"This doesn't happen to be about a boy. Does it?" James asked suspiciously.
"Dad! I just got back to civilization: That's totally not like me. Don't be silly." Kim pointed out kind of lightly.
"Right. Got ya." James said. He sounded better already.
Ron thought to himself: Yeah. That wouldn't stop me. Come on. Who wouldn't I ask? He smirked to himself as he thought it.
"I should also inform you that Mr. Stark has told me much about you and Ron Stoppable ever since he got back." JARVIS said.
"Cool!" Ron said. He was beaming at the recognition. Kim giggled a little at Ron's reaction.
"Thanks." Kim told JARVIS.
"You're welcome." JARVIS said.
"And now, Tony...I'd like you to meet our own genius boy on Team Possible: Wade Load." Kim said. She was using the computer to bring a holographic real time picture of Wade into Tony's workshop.
"Hey Kim!" Wade said. He smiled with a wave. "Glad to see you up and happy."
"Thanks Wade." Kim said. She said so with a smile and blush. "You remember Tony, right?"
"Uh, duh! Of course I do!" Wade said enthusiastically. "Mr. Tony Stark. It is an absolute honor to...!"
"The honor's all mine, kid." Tony said. He smirked. "Nice to meet you in person. Well...sort of." Ron and James faintly smirked to themselves.
"Yeah. Wade doesn't usually leave his room." Kim said.
"Yeah. The only time he did come out of his room that I know was when he used the Wade Bot. That wasn't so good." Ron said. He was remembering a certain mission where he, Wade, and Rufus had to retrieve a rare flower from the Amazon in order to make sure Kim doesn't disappear from embarrassment.
"Maybe you should tell me sometime. Could at least suggest some modifications of my own to..." Tony offered.
"Thanks for trying to help. But, I already remembered to install the chute and a better GPS in my next Wade Bot." Wade pointed out. He blushed a little in embarrassment at looking back at that certain mission. Tony and Ron couldn't help but chuckle some at that. Wade got really uncomfortable. James quickly steered the conversation away for Wade's sake.
"Well, anyway...we're about to take on a new special project. Would you like to be part of it, Wade?" James asked. He did so with a smile.
"Sure. You guys could probably use my genius anyway," Wade offered with a smirk. Kim smiled in relief to herself.
"Great. Welcome aboard, Wade." Tony said.
"Thanks." Wade added. There were smiles all around in the room.
"We're gonna index this project as Mark II," Tony explained. He pulled up from his computer the mock designs of his first suit. His first suit is now known as Mark I: As clearly indicated on the designs. He then transferred it to the digital drawing board. It made it holographic in a instant.
"Shall I store this on the Stark Industries database?" JARVIS asked.
"Actually...Kim pointed out several times over the past week that it was too easy to capture me and her again. And, we don't know who to trust right now." Tony said. It was in a surprisingly diplomatic way. But, mostly everyone got real nervous at his words. That is...except for Jim and Tim.
"No big. Why not have it stored on our computer?" Jim asked with a smile.
"We have massive firewalls..." Tim said.
"...and amazing security!" Jim finished.
"I'd also like to mention that your computer is almost too good. I had to have Wade hack into it to get back pages of my diary that you stole. You sure you don't have embarrassing pictures or something on there I should know?" Kim brought up. She then had her hands on her hips with her arms out. She was glaring very hard at Jim and Tim.
"Well..." Jim started to say.
"Umm...nothing like world devastation?" Tim suggested. They both very nervously grinned. This made James glare back at them.
"We're going to have to have a talk about respecting privacy after we're done helping Tony." James said. Jim and Tim gulped nervously.
"You can store it on my private server. It's 100 percent secure. Nothing gets in, nothing comes out." Wade said. He was kind of nervously smiling.
"Don't know about you, Ron. But, it sounds better than leaving it in the hands of Tweedle Tweeb and Tweedle Tweeber." Tony remarked. That made Kim giggle.
"Hey!" Jim commented back. Ron and James tried hard not to laugh in front of Jim and Tim.
"JARVIS, store everything on Wade's private server." Tony said.
"Working on a secret project, are we, sir?" JARVIS asked rhetorically. He was already figuring out Tony and Kim's plans. Tony then began to take apart the bulky holographic version of the Mark I suit.
"We sure don't want this winding up in the wrong hands." Tony pointed out. He was tossing the bulky parts into Wade's virtual trashbin. "Maybe in mine and Kim's... It could actually do some good." He was looking down some. He was a little teary eyed. Kim put a comforting hand on his.
"Oh. Don't worry, Tony. It will." Kim mostly assured. She did so with a smile.
"Yeah. You can trust Wade," Ron added.
"Yeah. Between Wade and JARVIS...we got plenty of security covered. And, Wade aced college at age nine." Kim pointed out.
"Yeah. That was a good year for me." Wade recalled. Tony smiled at that. Just about everyone was smiling in the workshop now. Even Jim and Tim were by this point.
"Besides... No way anyone will find the original. It's buried deep in the desert along with the blueprints. Even Wade wouldn't want to scan for them." Kim figured.
"Thanks." Tony said.
"You're welcome. Now...let's move on to building your actual battlesuit," Kim figured. They all started to work on the special project together.
Meanwhile, in Afghanistan, Shego, Raza, and the rest of the Ten Rings were shifting around the desert. This was with help from Shego's mostly light and dark green mobile pod. It had a custom paint job that was all Shego's. But, it was a gift given to her by Dr. Drakken a year or so ago. But, that was then. This was more present day. Shego, Raza, and the Ten Rings were trying to find something. A small sand storm was rolling through, and Shego couldn't stand it. Shego cursed under her breath for not thinking to finally get around to installing a replacement bubble windshield for her mobile pod. It was hard to keep it not smashed though in her line of work. So, that was kind of all too easy to understand.
"You sign up for a new job, thinking, "Oh this will be a cake walk. And, Kimmie will be crushed by the cake." Then...oops! It's not a cake walk! And there's sand in your..." Shego complained.
"Shego! You're the one who brought us here in order to find out how Stark and Possible escaped? If you don't deliver-" Raza sharply pointed out in French.
"Can it, Raza! I remember our deal. Trust me. It has to be here." Shego said in French.
It wasn't long until one of the Ten Rings members found something on the scanner: The iron mask from the Mark I suit...or most of it anyway.
"Got it!" The Ten Rings member called out in Arabic. Raza and Shego approached the screen readout. They smirked when they saw the computerized reconstruction of the mask.
"Yes! Our first piece of the puzzle." Shego figured. She smiled evilly.
"Good. Now, find the rest. And soon...we'll have our revenge." Raza requested in German. He smirked evilly himself. The Ten Rings member at the controls then got back to work on their search.