Hi, everyone! Sorry for being gone so long. Had some real life things come up as they do for all of us, I'm sure. This book has been living in my head rent free beckoning me to continue writing it. Such a distracting story, but I'm happy to see it through. I'd like to give a round of thanks to Data Seeker, Randy, David Falkayn, and Sharper the Writer. I'm sorry if I didn't get the chance to reply to you. Being a pile of scrambled eggs is no excuse, but it has been a long few weeks for me, and I hate not following my word. I'd also like to give a really warm welcome to the new set of followers that have decided to join our troops on the path to me giving Ron his 'genius' card back. Ha. Thanks for giving this story a chance. It's definitely appreciated. Now on to the story!

Kim huffed as she entered her home, closing the door softly behind her. Fatigue flitted throughout her body over everything that happened within the past day. Ron hadn't said much on their return to Middleton, and she wasn't sure how to describe how she felt. Worry over rather he was truly okay won out over everything else of course, but she was also exasperated with how things had turned out. The whole mission at some point slipped out of her control. She didn't normally care if the bad guys got away, that sort of thing just happened from time to time, but she felt rattled over the whole affair. Drakken and Shego hadn't only gotten away, they also still had Professor Acgor in their villainous hold. The only solace she had was that the machine, the Remehi device, that was key to getting what they wanted was in her possession.

And of course, there were the effects the device had on Ron to consider. She was a little freaked with how quiet he had been. Her normally chatty best friend was mostly lost inside of himself the whole way back, and when he did speak, it was obvious he was having trouble remembering the present from whatever past experience that had forced back to the forefront of his mind, increasing her worry. She hadn't wanted to part from him, but she could understand that he needed time. Time to process. Time to understand what had happened to him. Wannaweep was an acknowledged dark stain in her best friend's life. One that he still hadn't gotten over all of these years later. Heck, a large range of his current phobias emerged from his time there. Reliving any part of that…it would be more surprising if he didn't break. Still, she wanted to do something, anything, and being unable to do anything made her feel restless…helpless. With what she did know and could observe, she felt her heart weigh heavy.

"Kim, is that you?" Her mom's voice called from the den.

"Yeah, it's me." Kim supplied in a dejected voice. She didn't really want to be bothered. The day's events left her completely drained of energy. She wasn't sure what her place was yet. What could she do if she didn't understand anything fully? Still, her feet carried her to the den's entrance, where she found her mother sitting on the sofa, a mug of what she assumed to be tea in hand. Her mother didn't like to be hard wired on coffee before a late night shift at her job. It wasn't good to be in her line of work. Anne tilted her head very slightly as she regarded Kim.

"Hard mission?" She asked, after studying her daughter.

Kim hesitated, unsure of how much to tell. "Let's just say it could have gone so much better."

"Would you like to talk about it?" Anne asked, patting the spot next to her as an invitation for Kim to join her.

Kim decided to give in. Her mom could give good advice, and she wanted to talk to someone about the whole sitch, especially with Ron being unavailable to hash it out with, her normal go to person. Perhaps it would loosen some of the knots that had wound themselves up tight in her belly.

As soon as she plopped against the cushions, words immediately erupted out of her, fast and quick as she updated Anne on the latest mission failure. When she spoke about Ron she had to hold back tears. It got to her, just that look on his face. She just couldn't get it out of her head. She hoped that speaking with him properly would remove how haunted he had appeared standing there with tears flowing from his eyes. Nearing the end of her recap, Kim took in a deep breath. "And so, yeah, eventually we'll have to track down Drakken and Shego again to stage a rescue mission, but I don't know how soon we'll be able to. Wade's tracking them down, but it might take some time, since they're currently off grid." Kim frowned. "There's also Ron to consider. I don't know if, or when, he'll be ready to go on another mission. I'm not sure I could do it without him, but I also don't want to push him if it'll be too much."

Anne took in the story as best she could. If she had been in Kim's shoes and she had witnessed the same thing happening to James, she would probably feel roughly the same way. "Oh, Kimmie. If the device works as directed, I'm sure there won't be long term negative effects towards Ron. Memory is indeed a very tricky thing, but if it's only his own memories resurfacing, he should be fine."

"Why do I hear a but in there?" Kim asked, warily.

"Not a but per say," Anne said, pensively. "I'm more curious if the device could create memories not originally the users own."

Kim considered how Ron had mentioned a John, someone he had never brought up previously in his recounting of Camp Wannaweep. "Wouldn't that be ferociously bad? Like we'd have to find a way to get him back his own memories right?" Kim could feel her anxiety rising. Was that why he had been so quiet? Was he working to sift through what was his vs what was fake memories? Was he confused about some things? Her heart raced.

Anne noted Kim's distress and she quickly proceeded to explained further. "I'm not saying that's what happened. If the Professor created this device beforehand to use on himself to bring back repressed memories, I don't think he would create it to forge them. Of course, he could have to create a stopgap in case things went south like it has already, but by the sounds of it, I would deem that to be highly unlikely. After all, it could leave him with permanent memories that aren't his own originally, and that doesn't sound like the sort of risk he would take."

"So chances are more in favor that Ron remembered things that actually happened to him?"

"I would say that's the most likely thing, yes, and I'm sure that once Wade has properly analyzed the device, he will most likely back that claim up."

Kim could feel herself calming down. "Ron definitely mentioned Wannaweep was a part of what he had remembered. It would be hard to forge that unless it was created with Ron in mind," she murmured, trying to think a little more logically.

"Exactly. That summer was rough for you two. I'm sure any amount of remembering things from then would bother both of you equally."

Kim found this comment a little strange. "The both of us?"

Anne's smile felt a little out of place considering the tone of conversation they were having. "You don't remember, do you?"

Yep, Kim officially was confused. "Remember what exactly?"

"How you were when Ron left for camp that summer."

When Ron left for Wannaweep? Hmm. Ron spoke often of the traumatic moments he experienced during that time, so she had Ron's side of the story in her head to the point it almost felt like she had gone with him. She found that it wasn't as easy to recall to mind her side of events during that same time period.

"Well, obviously I…" Kim blinked rapidly, thinking it over. "Um, you know. I'm sure I…definitely babysat...right?" She must have done at least that much, but she found that it was true that she didn't know exactly what she had done herself that long ago summer. Huh. Weird. What had she done while Ron was away at camp? Trying to recall an exact moment was fuzzy. Maybe because it was all mundane day to day things. The sort of stuff that people normally forgot as time moved forward. Perhaps it had been so boring she couldn't really recall any moment for that reason. Outside of Ron, she hadn't made many friends in elementary school. A few schoolyard acquaintances, but Ron and her had always been thick as thieves. It made it hard for other bonds to materialize. She hadn't really tried for new friends and new endeavors until their middle school years where she had gained experiences with others outside of Ron and their social paths diverged a little more. Was that summer the push she needed to forge along her own path? She wasn't sure of the thoughts she had back then.

"Yes, you did do that a few times," Anne agreed. "But mostly, especially the first few weeks after he left, you moped around."

"Me? Mope?" Kim scoffed. "I don't mope."

"Oh, you do and you did. You apparently thought Ron might hit it off with someone at camp. Someone who would replace you as a best friend, or so you eventually told me," Anne said, as if she were casually gossiping to an old friend. "It really ate you up that you weren't able to tag along and join him at camp. It was the first time you guys had to experience that sort of distance apart from each other since you became friends after all. I'm sure that, mixed with the lack of being able to communicate with him, really got to you. I mean, you could have, but the boys had did some kind of tinkering to the house phone, so we had went without for a while there. I don't think you realized that at first, and you thought Ron had forgotten all about you."

"No way." But a niggling piece of something was emerging from the cracks of her innermost thoughts. She could nearly recall laying on her bed, feeling like the summer had been absolutely ruined because of Ron suddenly being shipped off to camp. The worry that crept through her over him not wanting to be her best friend anymore whenever he returned. The dread she felt day to day when the phone never once rang. She squirmed in her place on the sofa. That memory slowly coming back to her made her uncomfortable. She had overreacted so harshly. She could feel her cheeks heat.

"Yes, way. I was able to sign you up for last minute gymnastics classes, which served as a welcome distraction, but you were miserable at first. Your father and I fretted over how to get you out of your funk. Thankfully gymnastics helped and bits of you returned a little. You still weren't you until he came back, and we took you over to the Stoppable's house as immediately as we could when you finally got the word he was back."

"Could I be any more embarrassing?" Kim asked, groaning, burying her head in her hands, as she sank into the sofa.

Anne chuckled. "Kimmie, our emotions are what make us human. I think the immediacy of his leaving hit you really hard. You were only eleven, after all."

"I so could have handled that a lot better."

"Maybe you could have, but I think you've turned out okay," Anne ruffled, Kim's hair, much to her daughter's chagrin. "So what are you going to do about Ron?"

"I'll let him talk to me when he's ready." Kim stated, brushing a lock of her auburn hair back into place. "It's going to be hard, but I'm sure he'll confide in me when he's able to do so."

"And if he doesn't?"

"This is Ron we're talking about, mom. He can't keep a secret."

"True, but this may be something he had no intentions of ever remembering. What if he chooses to not talk about it? Will you be okay?"

"I...don't know." She admitted honestly, hoping that he would tell her, at least eventually.

Ron stared up at his ceiling, as he laid on his bed, hands clasped over his stomach. He looked very forlorn. Rufus stood next to his side, concern in his features.

"My whole life is a lie, Rufus." Ron stated glumly, and perhaps even a little bitterly.

Rufus chittered, perplexed, not quite understanding what his human was getting at. Ron sighed.

"You know, I could figure, a little, that something was off," he said, his hands shooting out in front of him, his eyes widening. "I couldn't pinpoint what, but it's never been as clear as crystal as it is now."

He turned, facing away from Rufus, and tucked himself into a fetal position. Ron's expression became downcast as his heartbeat accelerated. "What am I saying? It's not clear at all! I don't understand what it means," he swallowed hard, his eyes closing, the thoughts and memories hitting him once again. "I mean, it can't mean what I think it means…you know what I mean?" His thoughts were jumbled, his head, heavy. Weighted. Like he was hoisting an anchor or a cinder block for a head instead of his usual noggin. He wasn't sure what to make of the experience he had with that stupid device, but he hadn't liked it. It felt invasive. Personal. Kind of like deep diving into himself from the outside looking in. However, it wasn't like having an out of body experience. No, it was more like that sudden feeling of clarity one gets over remembering a forgotten memory, but times like a million. Insistent and instantaneous. No longer a moth dancing around a flame, but a full-blown inferno that couldn't be ignored. His thoughts and experiences within a moment of his life brought back with a force that felt so clear and fresh, it was like it had happened that day and not the years ago when it had truly taken place.

Rufus continued to stare at Ron in confusion. He wasn't really making sense. He normally could understand his human's thoughts, but he was being way too cryptic for the little guy. More than the usual amount.

"Well, there's only one thing for it," Ron announced, opening his eyes. "I'm gonna have to talk to my parents."

The Past

Camp Wannaweep

Ron shivered. He had just gotten through a very bad time with poison oak. He knew what the plant looked like. He had learned about it, and he knew what the consequences would be if he touched it. Yet, pick it up he did. How could he have been so naive as to touch it? He didn't think too well under pressure or when he was scared. On one hand he could overthink things, but at least make better decisions, and then on the other, he could just act first and ask questions later. Considering his current unfortunate living situation, he lived nearly in a constant state of fear, so he didn't think logically all that much. It felt like everything that could go wrong, went wrong at this stupid camp. His roommate was a rampaging ape who didn't seem to want to listen to reason. Ron had a small tendency to be able to communicate with certain animals. Mostly with woodland creatures like squirrels and chipmunks. The kind of little animals that came out to play in his backyard. Bobo, however, was an animal in a league of his own. Any amount of communication fell on death chimp-y ears. What's more, Bobo, had scratched him once when Ron had gotten back to cabin 13 in a fit of rage. It hurt major, and his eyes had teared up. He hated to cry. He was eleven and nearing manhood, but he cried, and he hated himself, his mother for hanging up on him (he could get rabies or worse after all, but did she care? Noooo.), and the camp even more.

Speaking of the other animals in the area, they were just as horrible to him. In some part of him, he knew it was probably because other kids picked on them so they had very little trust in people. Exhibit A was catching John in the act of using a paper mache firecracker, that Ron had crafted, he had left it in the crafts cabin, and aiming it into the hole of a tree, setting it off basically attacking whatever lived inside. That boy was evil to the max capacity. He wasn't sure why. He only cared because John was making it harder for him to get to the end of what was most likely to go down in history as his worst summer ever. He had never known anyone so vile in his life. While Gil was no worse than a playground bully, John had the tendency to go above and beyond basic tit for tat stuff. Kids had gotten injured thanks to his pranks or whatever he'd call it. John was a hundred miles of bad road, and Ron couldn't wait to have that distance and more from the boy again when the time came for them to leave.

In the meantime, Ron had taken to utilizing his time toward his survival at camp and learning the tricks of the trade. Maintaining some sort of advantage when it felt like everyone and everything was completely against him, and arts and crafts was similar to building and creating things like he did with the tweebs, so he figured it would be good to take it seriously. Anything small could help with making better inventions. That thought relaxed him. Gave him a reason to see this nightmare through to the end. He had found out that his cabin connected to the arts and crafts building, which was about the only cool thing about the camp. Secret tunnels were badically cool. Even when one half of that tunnel led back to a deranged chimp.

Thanks to Gil willingly trading his arts and crafts time slot with Ron, proving that he had to be certified insane to want to swim in that toxic waste dump of a lake, Ron got a lot of precious time at the arts and crafts cabin. It was the only time he felt peace. Any other time, and his heart rate carried at a steady thrum of erratic. The camp was just awful. The kids weren't all bad. His arts and crafts peers were decent enough, but they weren't Kim. And thinking of Kim, made him feel depressed when he thought about the conversation he had with his parents. He trusted Kim, but it wasn't impossible for her to move on, and find a new, and most likely, better best friend. As time continued to go by, with his mother beginning to ignore his calls completely, he wondered if Kim had indeed replaced him. He had no way of knowing how she was, what she was up to, or of hearing her voice. He had tried calling her a few times, but it always went to a dial tone. So he decided to write to her. It helped give him some perspective. When he wrote, he hoped that she hadn't forgotten about him just yet. He hoped that wasn't why his calls to the Possibles household went unanswered. He felt unsteady, weak, alone. He relied on internal conversations with Rufus a lot more than he had since he had become friends with Kim, and that made him feel utterly pathetic. It wouldn't surprise him if Kim moved on, when he felt like such a loser upon finding himself with more fears than he had started off with.

Dear Kim,

I miss you.

We were supposed to have the best summer ever. We created a bon diggity list! I wanted to enjoy the last summer of childhood before we transitioned into another stage of our lives, heading into the beginning of our adolescence. Ever since we first started school, and became the best of buds in Pre-K, I can't help but think about how lucky I am. Many of our peers don't have the sort of friendship we do. I can conclude that we have a rare diamond in the rough friendship. Something pure and precious and special. I want to rely on that thought, but lately I've been wondering if this will be the end of the line. Will we start middle school slowly becoming strangers who barely know each other? Will we enter high school not even saying hello to each other!? Is this the beginning stages of growing up and growing apart? I don't know, but I hope that, once this is officially behind me, I'll be forced to admit that I'm the biggest idiot on the planet for doubting you, even a little.

That's not to say I don't want you to be happy no matter what route you choose to take, but…I would be lying if I couldn't admit to you that I'd be sad to never hear you laugh again, or tease me, or talk to you anymore. You mean a lot to me, KP. I hope you feel the same way about me.

Your best friend (hopefully forever), Ron

"Well, well, what's this?" A voice asked, snatching the newest letter Ron had been working on away from him from behind. A chill went down his spine. Ron knew that voice. John. He turned, and sure enough, John gave him a menacing grin.

"Hey, that's mine!" Ron exclaimed in a rare burst of courage, glaring angrily. John just laughed as he read over the contents in the letter, holding Ron at bay with a hand.

"What's this? A love letter?" He asked, sneering.

Ron blushed, feeling flustered. "What? Eww. Of course it's not. It's a letter of eternal friendship. Proof of unflinching loyalty."

"Ugh, why do you talk like that? It never fails to tick me off." Ron flinched at the word 'tick'. He had a bad time with them too, and he shivered, recoiling backwards.

John took notice and smirked. "I can confirm she's definitely moved on, Ronnie boy. I mean look at you. You're a know-it-all, stick in the mud, who can't think straight to save your life when it'd count. Book smart's don't apply out here in the real world. Get that through your head. I mean for all the knowledge you have, what good has it done you? From what I see, not much."

Ron tightened his hands into fists. "And all you know how to do is be a bully. You know nothing about real friendship. Jealous much?"

John used his hefty height to tower over Ron. "You know, that's funny. I actually came looking for you because I haven't seen Gil in days. What's up with that? Figured you being a squeeb and all that you might have noticed somethin'."

"Uh, how should I know?" Ron asked, confused. Last Ron could remember of seeing Gil was when he traded time slots with him. Hadn't really thought about him since and that was days ago. Too much other stuff on his mind to really care. "Last I checked, you guys were tight. If you don't know, I don't see how I would."

John frowned, growling a little as he pushed Ron up against a tree. "I really, really hate you."

This was the sort of thing Ron didn't understand as he fought to not let John's words get to him. He had done nothing to John. Wouldn't even think to cross paths with him, and here John decides to mozy out of his way, confront him, and then proceed to wrestle him up and claim to hate him? Why did he even decide to bother him then? Ron hated to admit it, but the bigger boy scared him. A lot. He hadn't truly done anything to Ron yet, but the character John had was vile and full of malice. Ron had never known anyone with such hatred inside of them. People like that couldn't truly change. That's what made him scary. There was a chance he would, and could, do anything. Something more dangerous than burning the hairs off of a few woodland creatures. Something seriously dark and twisted. Sick and wrong.

"Let me go," Ron said, as firmly as he could muster, trying to keep his face neutral. Boy's like John ate fear and used it to grow stronger and more intolerable. Every time he had to face him, Ron did his best to steel his emotions into a hard mask. He had it rough enough already. He didn't need anything to make it worse.

John let go, and Ron went falling, not even realizing John had lifted him off the ground. Trying to hide his fear made him more unaware of what was going on around him. He landed on his rear and his eyes stung from humiliation. He wanted to go home. He wanted to see Kim again. He wanted to be as far away from this stupid camp as possible.

"Fine. I'm gonna find out what happened to him. You better not have done nothing." John said, ripping Ron's letter to shreds and tossing it into the lake, where the murky water swallowed the pieces, pulling them to the depths below. "Because if you did do something, you're gonna hate what I do to you."

Ron gulped as he crossed his arms around himself in the face of that unnecessary threat. Once he was sure John was out of the area, he squeezed his eyes shut to try to keep the tears from coming. He was on the verge of hyperventilating as he thought of Rufus's strength and his friendship with Kim to keep himself from breaking apart fully.

And that's that, for the time being. I appreciate all of my humble readers. You guys mean a lot to me, really. It warms my heart when I get a notification, rather it's a review, a follow, or even a favorite. I hope you guys continue to enjoy the story as it progresses, as always. Until next time, take care, and I'll see you all next chapter!