Hey, I just wanted to take a moment to thank everyone who has taken the time to review my story and respond to a few of your questions.

Skymouth: Sorry, but I'm purposely writing this story from a directed point of view. My intention is to give the reader no more info on Mr. Dr. Possible's condition than Kim, Ron, or anyone else in the story has received. In response to your second question, I'm a police officer.

God-hand Number 7: Yeah, I'll admit that USAMRIID is a bit of a stretch, but I know some people whose careers definitely don't match their personalities. Besides, I felt that a small domestic terrorist organization trying to develop and use an ICBM seemed a bit more far-fetched than an easily cultured viral bacteria like Blackpox.

Thanks again for your reviews and I hope you're enjoying the story so far.

Chapter Six

Route 150 Northbound
Near Independence, Iowa – June 4 17:20

Ron walked up slowly and put his hand on Kim's shoulder. "KP, it's alright, everything's gonna be ok."

"Don't touch me!" Kim hissed, slapping his hand away.

He watched as she stood up, walked to the edge of the gravel shoulder, and sat down drawing her knees up into her chest. He turned and began walking back to the car, 'I guess she wants to be alone right now' he thought.

"Ron wait!" He turned and saw her looking back at him. "I'm sorry…I…I didn't mean to do that." Ron returned and took a seat next to her. "I'm just feeling so…"

"Overwhelmed?" Ron offered.

"Yeah." Kim responded weakly, staring at the ground. "I don't think I can handle all this. These people…Kellerman and the others…they're a whole new kind of evil."

"They're nothing we haven't dealt with before." Ron responded, placing his hand gently on her shoulder. "After all, evil is evil."

"No, these people are different." Kim stated forcefully. "Last night, I came closer to dying than I ever have before." She shuddered at her own revelation. "At least when Drakken or the other's captured me, I knew I could escape. When I turned around and found myself looking down the barrel of a gun…" Kim's voice trailed off as a single tear slid down her cheek.

Ron suddenly recognized an emotion in Kim that he had never seen her exhibit before: fear. This wasn't 'afraid to ask Josh Mankey to the dance' fear; his best friend, the fearless Kim Possible, was truly afraid.

Without hesitating, Ron grabbed Kim and hugged her, speaking in a soft and comforting voice. "I know you're afraid Kim, I'm afraid too, but I know we can do this." He pulled away slightly and looked her in the eyes. "Just remember: you're Kim Possible, You can do anything."

Kim stared back at her best friend for several seconds before leaning forward and kissing him.

Sean took a deep breath and slumped back in his seat. "Christ, what a fucking mess." He mumbled to himself. He glanced back at Rufus who was staring at him. "What?" He asked defensively. "She wanted to know…it's not my fault if she can't handle the truth." The small animal just shook its head and crawled over to the window. Sean would have continued the argument, but his cell phone began ringing. He removed the phone from its cradle and flipped it open.

"Pollard." Sean said calmly into the receiver. He grinned when he recognized the voice on the other end. "Hey Susan…no we're about twenty miles South of Independence."

He paused as the voice on the other end spoke. "Well, Kim's not really taking the news too well…" he laughed as the caller spoke, "No, she made it out of the car before puking…so how are things going on your end." He listened for about thirty seconds before responding. "Sounds good…no we should make it to Oelwein in about ninety minutes. What kind of accommodations did Uncle Sam arrange for us?"

Sean groaned when he heard the response. "Sue, how are an FBI Agent and two teenagers supposed to share one room with two beds?" He chuckled at the response given to him. "I don't think they're quite to that point in their relationship yet." He glanced out the window just in time to see Kim lean forward and kiss Ron. "Then again…oh nothing, so where's the meeting place gonna be?" He pulled a small notepad out from the sun visor and wrote an address down. "Cool, any idea who your agency is sending…no? Oh well, as long as they got their shit together we'll be cool…Alright, take care babe."

Sean hung up the phone and sighed before looking back at Rufus. "I hope to God this all works out."

Ron froze as Kim grabbed and kissed him. His mind, as well as his heart, was racing. 'Kim's kissing me? Why? Is this from the stress? Or is it something else?' Before he could fully react, Kim pulled away; a look of shock and embarrassment plastered on her face.

The two teens stared at each other in stunned silence for several seconds before Kim spoke. "I…uh…I think I'm alright now. C'mon, lets get going." She stood and walked sheepishly back towards the car and Ron suddenly found himself fighting to keep his eyes above her waist.

"Um, yeah…coming KP." He stood and followed her.

They both got in the car just as Sean hung up his cell phone and returned it to its cradle. 'Oh God, I hope he didn't see that.' Kim thought. Then she saw the slight grin Sean was trying his best to conceal. 'Oh shit! He did…he saw the whole thing.' Kim tried not to blush, but found that she couldn't.

"You ok now?" Sean tried his best to sound concerned.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Who were you talking to?" She asked, changing the subject.

"That was a friend of mine from the NSA." Sean figured the respectful thing to do at this point was to tell them the truth. "They're working with us on this operation and we're going to meet up with one of their agents tomorrow in Oelwein, Iowa. There we'll switch cars, pick up our equipment, and get both of you armed and set up with some target practice."

The fact that Sean was now referring to this as an operation worried Kim, but she was more concerned about the other term he had used. "Armed?"

"Yes Kim, armed." He pivoted in his seat so that he was facing both Kim and Ron. "As you are well familiar, The New Order is not a bunch of Boy Scouts. They are heavily armed and will not hesitate to kill any of us, including your father. The NSA Agent and I will be armed for this operation and I plan for both of you to be armed as well. As I'm sure you've suspected, I'm not on the FBI's Kidnapping Task Force; I'm the Assistant Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau's Hostage Rescue Team. This type of thing is what I do Kim, and while the HRT's motto is 'To Save Lives', I will not hesitate to use deadly force in order to ensure that everyone, including your dad, comes back alive. If you can't handle the way I work, then I can always return you to federal custody."

Ron opened his mouth to speak, but Kim stopped him. "Sean, I'm willing to do whatever I need to in order to get my dad back safely. If the rest of The New Order is anything like Kellerman was, then I suppose your methods are the only way to do that."

"Kim…" Ron began to speak, but she kept talking.

"In the past, I've been able to rely on my unarmed fighting skills to defeat my enemies. But in the past, my enemies have never been heavily armed fanatics." Kim turned and looked at her friend. "Ron, I'm going to do what Sean feels is best. I'll understand if you don't want to do this."

Ron didn't even hesitate. "Kim, Mr. Dr. P. is practically my second father. Besides, when have I ever said 'no' to a mission with you? I'm with you till the end, you know that."

Kim smiled at him before turning back to Sean with a serious look on her face. "We're in." Sean nodded and brought the car back on the road.

"Alright, we should reach Oelwein around seven. Tell you what guys, tonight dinner's on me." Ron and Rufus both grinned at the idea of free food. Kim meanwhile, was focused on another topic: Sean. Kim had noticed that the federal agent looked young when she first met him, but now she was wondering just how old Sean actually was. He had changed out of his tactical gear and was now wearing a pair of blue jeans and a t-shirt underneath an unbuttoned plaid over shirt. Kim didn't even realize she was staring at him until he spoke.

"Kim, I understand the stress you're going through right now, and I know I'm probably not coming across as a very compassionate person; so if you've got something you want to say to me, just say it."

"How old are you?" Sean turned and gave Kim a shocked look before breaking into a fit of laughter. He had been fully prepared for any number of obscenities to be hurled at him, but her question had caught him totally off-guard.

He took a moment to compose himself before answering. "Well since you ask, I'm twenty-two."

"Twenty-two!" Both Kim and Ron shouted in surprise.

"Something wrong with that?"

"Besides the fact that my dad's rescuer is only four years older than me?" Kim muttered under her breath. Sean's hearing, however, was much better than she thought.

"My age has nothing to do with my skills Kim. I'm the HRT's ASAC because I'm the best there is. If anyone can get your father back, it's me."

It sounded like bragging, but something about the sincerity in his voice told Kim that Sean was not exaggerating. "Well if you are the best, than I guess we're lucky to have you."

The next hour and a half was occupied by silence.

Just as he had predicted, they pulled into Oelwein, Iowa at five minutes after seven.

"The Bureau's reserved us a room at the Super 8." Sean announced to the others. "Let's check in and use the bathroom, then we'll see what there is to eat around here." He got no complaints from anyone.

"Um…where's the third bed?" Ron asked, eyeing the two queen-sized beds in the middle of their hotel room.

"Unfortunately the federal government's budget is stretched pretty thin these days." Sean's voice had an overwhelming volume of sarcasm to it. "So they could only spring for one room with two beds. I hope you two don't mind sleeping together." Ron and Kim both gave each other an embarrassed glance, causing Sean to laugh. "Hey just kidding guys. You two take the beds, I'll sleep in the La-Z-Boy." He gestured to one of the two recliners sitting next to the window.

"You don't have to do that." Ron offered. "I can sleep on the floor if you want."

"Nah, it's cool. I'm used to sleeping upright anyway. I don't even own a bed." The two stared at him as if he was nuts. Sean just shrugged. "They take up too much room. In an apartment, space is crucial." Kim thought of asking him what he did sleep on, but decided against it.

"Well," Sean clapped his hands and gestured towards the bathroom. "If y'all will excuse me, I gotta take a shit." Kim shot him a disgusted look, which he ignored. "Hey Ron, why don't you check the phonebook for some places to eat." Before he headed towards the bathroom, Sean reached under his over shirt and unclipped his gun and holster; placing it on the dresser between Kim and Ron.

This caught Kim off-guard, for some reason the fact that Sean was armed had never occurred to her. 'C'mon Possible,' she scolded herself. 'He's a federal agent; of course he's armed. Tomorrow you will be too, so stop freaking about it.'

"Relax Kim," Sean said, noticing the look of surprise on her face. "It's just a Glock, it won't bite you."

The waitress had just delivered their drink orders when Kim spoke. "So Sean, how did you get into this type of work anyway?"

"What, law enforcement?"

"Yeah, law enforcement, FBI, HRT, how did you achieve all of this by age twenty-two?" Kim clarified.

"Well, it started when I was a freshman in high school. The local police department in my town had an Explorer program that allowed kids my age to experience what police work was all about and I decided to give it a try. It was mostly just office work and ride-alongs at first, but as I got older I gained experience and began doing more fieldwork. When I turned eighteen, I began taking night classes at the police academy, and shortly after that, the chief hired me as a Reserve Officer and assigned me to the Friday night graveyard shift. Then after I graduated from high school…"

"Whoa wait," Kim interrupted. "That was all while you were still in high school?"

"Yup." Sean answered. "Anyway, after high school I began taking classes in Criminal Justice at the local community college. Because of my years of experience in the field I was always at the top of my class, this of course attracted the attention of my instructor who happened to have a good friend in the FBI. After a few lengthy conversations with him and some other government personnel, I was hired by the FBI on my twentieth birthday." Kim stared in awe at the man sitting across from her. She had always thought of her life as fast paced, but it was nothing compared to what Sean's was like. She suddenly found herself feeling slightly jealous of the young agent's accomplishments.

Sean continued with his verbal autobiography. "Once I graduated from Quantico, I was assigned to one of the various counter-terrorism divisions established shortly after September 11th. From there…I don't know, one thing just led to another and before I knew it, I was appointed ASAC of the HRT." Sean sat back and took a sip of his drink just as the waitress returned with their food.

"Wow, that's impressive." Ron said before digging into his cheeseburger.

"Yeah…" Kim stated absently. With some obvious exceptions, Sean's life didn't seem all that different than hers. 'Teenage crime-fighter, above average student, is this where I'm going to be in four years?' Kim thought. 'I guess that's not a bad thing, I just never thought of my work as progressing anywhere."

She pushed the thoughts out of her mind and focused on more important matters: specifically, the sirloin steak sitting in front of her. It had been nearly twenty-four hours since she had eaten and the urge to shove the entire thing into her mouth was almost overwhelming. Fortunately for her pride, she was able to control her urges.

June 5 – 01:45

Kim rolled over and tried for what seemed like the thousandth time to fall asleep, but it was still no use. She opened her eyes and focused on the clock beside her bed, the digital readout glared back at her: 1:45am. 'Great…just great.' She thought. I've gotta be up in three and a half hours and I can't fucking get to sleep!' Kim didn't normally swear, even in her thoughts, but recent events had quickly altered that. Her insomnia was being caused by several things; the fact that she had already gotten over sixteen hours of sleep the night before didn't help, then there was the fact that her father's safety rested solely in her, Sean, and Ron's hands, as well as the hands of some unknown NSA agent who was meeting them in, oh yeah, a little over three hours! But the thing that was bothering her more than anything was her little 'roadside kiss' the day before. She couldn't get the idea of kissing Ron out of her mind. 'It wasn't like it was the first time I've done it.' She attempted to rationalize.

'Yeah, but last time you were under the control of Dr. Bortel's Moodulator.' Another part of her brain argued back. 'Yesterday's kiss was done entirely by free will.'

'Well I was under a lot of stress,' She retorted, 'That's kinda the same thing.'

'Get real Possible…' She interrupted her own argument by quietly getting out of bed and walking over to the window.

As she passed Ron, who was fast asleep and snoring, she suddenly found herself smiling, which only confused her more. She tried to focus on another topic, any other topic as she reached the window and sat down in the empty recliner next to Sean. She checked to make sure the young agent was asleep before once again letting her eyes fall on her sleeping friend.

'Was it the stress? Or was it something else?' She thought back to that evening the previous October; after she had overcome the chip's power and Ron had nervously asked her if the crush was all the Moodulator's doing. 'Not everything, there's still fireworks.' Like all the other events of that day, she had attributed that comment to the Moodulator as well: 'some type of residual emotional instability' she had assumed. Now, however, she was beginning to wonder.

"Can't sleep?' She jumped when Sean spoke.

"Oh! Um, yeah…I just got a lot of things on my mind is all." She hoped Sean hadn't noticed whom she was staring at, but as usual, soon realized that was not the fact.

"I can see that." Sean said with a grin, he was looking at Ron as well.

"Oh no! I wasn't thinking about that. That was just an emotional thing…y'know, from stress…we-we're just friends." For some reason that last part seemed unusually foreign to her.

Sean's grin turned into an evil smirk. "Kim, I didn't say anything about that."

"Well, I…" She tried to defend herself, to reassure him it wasn't what he was thinking, but she quickly gave up.

Even in the dark, Sean could see her blushing. "You want some advice Kim?"

"Uh yeah…sure." She wasn't sure how much valuable advice she could get from someone four years older than her, but she was willing to do anything to break the uncomfortable silence that had engulfed the two of them.

"You and Ron have been best friends for about fifteen years right?"

"Yeah, ever since Pre-K."

"So what's wrong with becoming romantically involved with each other?"

Kim was shocked with the direct nature of the question. "Because we're just friends." She would have yelled it, but she didn't want to wake Ron.

"You're obviously more than 'just friends'." Sean shot back. Kim started to argue, but he cut her off. "Think about it Possible, you spend almost all of your time together; going to school dances, movies, festivals, not to mention your 'hero' work. You know damn near everything about one another, including your faults, and you manage to function perfectly as a pair." He stopped talking when Ron suddenly shifted in his sleep. They both sat in silence for about ten seconds, until Ron began snoring again.

"Anyway," Sean continued. "Do you know why most relationships fail?"

"No." Kim responded.

"Because the couple fails to become compatable with each other. You see, most relationships began with physical attraction; you see a guy or girl who's relatively good looking and you decide to talk to them. After physical attraction, the couple moves into romance; this requires a little bit of compatibility and an ability to spend time together without driving each other crazy. Once these two steps are accomplished, you move into love; now true love is accomplished when both partners are able to understand and accept each other for who they really are, faults and all." Sean paused and looked over at Ron. "Usually relationships and marriages fail because one or both partner's have false expectations of what their relationship is all about. They enter into it expecting something that isn't there because they don't know everything about one another."

Kim sat silently and listened, although Sean could tell from her expression that her brain was deeply processing what he had to say. "You and Ron have a major advantage over most couples y'know."

"How's that?" The manner in which Kim asked was out of curiosity, rather than defiance.

"Because you've already got the compatibility part nailed. That's the hardest part Kim. With that handled, the rest is a piece of cake, trust me." Sean leaned back against the chair, satisfied with his words of wisdom.

"But…" Kim leaned in and lowered her voice, despite the fact that Ron was still under the covers snoring. "How do I know he even feels the same way I do?"

Sean's smile was the widest she had ever seen it. "Kim, you're forgetting that Stoppable and I were in the car together for almost sixteen hours yesterday." The realization of what he was implying hit Kim like a semi truck. "You think you're the first one I've talked to about this? Where do you think I got this impression in the first place? From one kiss?"

Kim's heart began to race. 'If what Sean says is true, then that means Ron…' She glanced over at the eighteen-year-old sleeping less than ten feet from her. This time she didn't care that Sean noticed her smiling.

"Well, now that I've resolved that dilemma, why don't you try to get some sleep." He would have reminded her to consider what he had told her, but he could already tell that his words had gotten through successfully.

"Thank you." Kim's voice was warm and sincere.

"Glad to help." Sean smiled back, displaying a side of himself that Kim had no idea existed. "Now get to sleep, we wake up at 05:30."

Kim nodded and quietly headed back to bed. She was asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.

- As always, reviews are appreciated. If you have any questions, I will try to answer them like I did at the top of this page. I will probably not have chapter seven up until mid next week.