Canadian Crow: It sure does... it also makes this story pretty unique.

Redbird1: Nice to see other LEO's out there who are fans. Thanks for the comment on the atmosphere portrayed during the shootout, the fact that you were actually there brings even more merit to your compliment.

continental-line: I'm actually thinking of going with option 5 (With some elements of those other four added where applicable)

Godhand's Number: Well eventually the UN is bound to do something... even if they do it by accident.

Darkren186: With all the different military motto's out there, it's hard to remember which one's belong to which branch. Thanks for letting me know, I went ahead and changed it.

noveler00: Thank you... one of the hardest thing to do (In my opinion) is give complex emotions to a pair of cartoon characters. It's nice to know I succeded.

TheFourthman: My thought exactly...it was only a matter of time before politics got in the way of Team Possible's operations.

Mavyric: Not really... Shego was arrested along with the rest of the villains in the prologue. Sean may make a cameo, though only if an incident falls under FBI jurisdiction.

Sorry it took a while to update this, I'm gonna have to attribute the delay to 98 percent work related and 2 percent procrastination. So without further delay, here's chapter two...

Chapter Two

- Middleton High School -
(Monday)

Anyone who has lost a loved one, been through a particularly painful breakup or divorce, or been fired from a job they actually enjoyed doing knows that one of the hardest things you have to do is wake up the next morning and continue with your everyday life. Despite the overwhelming urge to curl up and hide from society, most of us are grudgingly forced right back into the swing of things.

For Kim, going back to school Monday was one of the hardest things she had done up to that point. It wasn't the fact that, at the age of fifteen, she had just now experienced the harsh reality of defeat. It wasn't even the fact that Ron had called her that morning and told her he wouldn't be at school until third period; effectively leaving Kim on her own until they could meet up at lunch.

No… the worst part about school that morning was the sympathetic looks and sideways glances everyone seemed to be giving her. As she walked from class to class, students she never even had contact with on normal days were coming up and saying 'hi' to her. A few even came right out and expressed their sympathy, anger, or frustration over her situation.

Most of the people she passed, however, would pause mid-sentence and try to avoid eye contact, as if her failure could be somehow spread to their lives like a disease. The trend continued all through her morning classes and right up until lunch.

During the teachers' lectures Kim didn't even want to look up from her notes because all she would see would be the piercing gazes of her classmates. At one point she even caught her second period history teacher looking at her as if she was something to be pitied.

Finally, after what seemed like days, the bell rang for lunch. Grabbing her bags, Kim was out the door before most of the other students were even out of their seats. At that point all she wanted to do was drop her bag off at her locker, meet up with Ron in the cafeteria, and hope that her day would finally get better.

---

- Cafeteria -

After a quick stop at her locker, Kim walked through the doors of the Middleton High Cafeteria. She breathed a quick sigh of relief as she looked toward the far corner where she and Ron always sat and ate. Her sigh, however, turned to lead in her throat when she realized that the table was empty.

'Maybe he's still in line bothering the cafeteria lady.' Kim thought as she looked in the direction of the rapidly growing lunch-line.

There were a lot of hungry students, but Ron wasn't one of them. With a dejected sigh Kim turned and headed back in the direction of the door.

"Kim!"

She was just leaving the cafeteria when a familiar voice shouted her name from the direction of the lunch-line. Turning back around Kim saw Monique practically running toward her with a tray of food in her hands.

Though she had only moved to Middleton a few months before, Monique had quickly become friends with both Kim and Ron. Their friendship was thanks largely to the teen's love for professional wrestling, energetic spirit, and most importantly: her Club Banana employee discount, which she gladly shared with Kim on a frequent basis.

Before Kim could even manage a 'hello', Monique dropped her plate in the center of a nearby table and embraced the redhead in a comforting hug.

"Oh Kim, I am so sorry…" Monique said after releasing Kim from her embrace. "I heard all about what happened on the news yesterday! I tried to call your Kimmunicator but it wouldn't connect."

"Yeah, sorry about that…" Kim smiled meekly. "Since Team Possible is gone I decided to ditch the Kimmunicator in favor of a more conventional means of communication." Kim reached into her pocket and pulled out a small cell phone. "I had the number rolled over, so it should work the next time you call me."

"No way," Monique gasped, snatching the phone from Kim's hand like an excited child. "This is one of those new camera-phones isn't it?"

"Uh yeah, it is."

"Girl! Nothing but the best for you huh?" Monique teased.

"Yeah, right…" Kim said dismissively, she still couldn't find any trace of Ron.

"And its got polyphonic ring tones too… ooh, you should totally download that new O-Boyz song… or maybe-"

"Monique," Kim said, interrupting her friend's excited rambling. "Have you seen Ron today?"

"Yeah, just a minute ago before you got here." Monique replied, not taking her eyes off of Kim's new phone. "He said he was gonna try to catch you at your locker… mentioned needing you to sign something, but he wouldn't say what."

"Cool, thanks…" Kim said, turning and walking off in the direction of her locker.

"Hey, wait for me!" Monique shouted as she followed her friend out the cafeteria doors.

---

- B Hall -

"He's not here either!" Kim groaned. She banged her head against her locker door and looked over at Monique. "You said he was waiting for me here!"

"Whoa, calm down…" Monique urged. "I'm sure he'll be here soon; don't panic."

'Don't panic? Right…' Kim thought. 'I'm having probably the worst day of my life and my best friend is nowhere to be found. The only thing that could make this moment any worse would be-'

"Hey Kim!"

'…Bonnie…'

Hesitantly, Kim turned to face the brunette cheerleader who was, as usual, wearing her cheer outfit outside of practice for reasons that escaped most of the other members.

"Hello Bonnie…" Kim grumbled.

"I must say Kim," Bonnie said in mock surprise. "I wasn't expecting you to actually show up today!"

'Just ignore her,' Kim's inner voice warned. 'She's only trying to get a rise out of you; do not acknowledge her!'

"Why's that Bonnie?" She blurted out.

'Crap…'

"Well," Bonnie began, reveling in the fact that their conversation was already starting to attract a crowd. "C'mon Kim; not only did you get fired from you're little wannabe 'hero' thing… but it was all over the news! If I were you, I wouldn't have even bothered showing my face today… or ever."

"I wasn't fired Bonnie…" Kim growled.

"Oh right, I'm sure they were just 'forced' to take action weren't they?" The brunette laughed. "C'mon Kim… you need to stop living in that cloud of yours and come back down to Earth-"

By this point Kim wasn't even listening to her rival's words. All she could see were her lips silently moving through an increasing white haze that was clouding her vision.

On any other day she would have been able to brush off Bonnie's petty insults… but not today. After the events of the past forty-eight hours, the pitiful looks given to her by her classmates, and the absence of her best friend, Kim had finally had all she could take…

Nobody noticed Kim's right arm began to rise up slightly; her fist curled into a tight ball.

'Just one punch,' Kim thought. 'I don't care what happens to me now… just one well-placed punch and I'll wipe that smug grin off her face for good!'

"Hey Bon-Bon, there you are!" A familiar voice called out from the edge of the group.

Kim's arm dropped and her vision began returning to normal as Ron stepped up besides Bonnie and threw his arm across her shoulders.

"You have no idea how long I've been looking for you today…" Ron grinned at Bonnie.

"Ugh, get your hand off me loser!" Bonnie growled, trying to shake Ron's arm loose.

"Now Bon-Bon," Ron grinned even wider as he tightened his grip on the girl's shoulders. "That's no way to talk to your boyfriend is it?"

His comment had the exact effect Ron was hoping it would; the entire hallway fell silent as Bonnie's lower jaw practically hit the floor. For the first time… ever… the brunette was actually shocked beyond words. Ron, of course, had anticipated all of this…

"Speaking of which," He leaned in as if to whisper something, but kept his voice perfectly audible to the entire crowd. "I stopped by the clinic this morning to get something checked out, and it turns out I've kinda got Herpes Simplex 2."

A series of gasps and muted chuckles rose up from the crowd as Ron took a step back and held up his hand.

"Now, I'm not necessarily saying you gave it to me…" He advised, causing more students to start snickering and Bonnie's eyes to grow two times larger. "But considering I was clean two weeks ago… and with all that went on Friday night… you should probably get yourself checked out."

"You…" Bonnie tried to speak but was unable to get out more than one word.

"It's not a big deal really," Ron reassured the mortified teen. "They give you these pills," He pulled out an empty pill bottle that had been given to him years ago when he broke his arm. "And take 'em for a week or two and it just clears right up."

"You…"

"Oh and don't worry… the doc said if they catch it early, you shouldn't be left with too many embarrassing scars."

"You…"

"Don't worry Bon-Bon," Ron said, stepping back and wrapping his arm around her again. "We'll get through this… together."

By now everyone in the crowd knew what had just happened: Ron Stoppable, social outcast and goofy klutz, had just managed to publicly humiliate Bonnie Rockwaller.

As the crowd began to break into riotous laughter, Monique, who still had Kim's new phone in her hand, snapped a quick photo of the two: Bonnie, who had a look of absolute terror and humiliation, and Ron, who had a huge grin plastered on his face and was giving an energetic thumbs-up.

"You… ASSHOLE!" Bonnie finally managed to shriek.

With an exaggerated swing, the brunette landed a weakly executed slap to Ron's right cheek and ran off down the hall with the laughter of two-dozen students following.

"Aww!" Ron whined in a mockingly pitiful voice. "But you told me you loved me!"

After a few moments of laughter and cat-calls directed toward the now long-gone cheerleader the crowd slowly began to dissipate, leaving Kim, Ron, and Monique alone in front of the lockers.

"Well that was kinda fun!" Ron beamed.

"That…" Monique said quietly. "Was without a doubt… the funniest thing I have ever seen!" She walked up and gave Ron a firm slap on the back. "Where on Earth did you come up with that?"

"Eh," The blond shrugged. "I saw it in a movie once."

"Boy, that was legendary!" Monique exclaimed. "I can guarantee you that by the end of the day everyone will be talking about this! I wouldn't be surprised if Bonnie is the one who doesn't show up tomorrow."

"Oh it was nothing, just something I thought up this morning on the way to school."

"Speaking of which," Kim interjected. "Where were you this morning?"

"Oh right," Ron said, as if he had suddenly remembered something important. "I stopped by the Middleton police station on the way to school and picked these applications up…" He opened his bag and pulled out two sheets of paper, both of which had already been filled out. "I hope you don't mind but I filled yours out already. All you need to do is sign it and I can drop 'em off today after class."

"What about cheer practice?" Kim asked as Ron handed her the application and a pen.

"Something tells me things might go smoother if the Mad Dog skips practice today." Ron said.

"Smoother?"

"Well, smoother for Bonnie at least…" Ron grinned.

---

- Middleton High Parking Lot -

After cheer practice ended, Kim changed back into her normal outfit and headed out into the student parking lot to meet up with Ron. Though he had planned to stop by the Middleton police department after class, Ron had assured her that he would be in the lot waiting when she got finished at four.

Though there were still several cars parked in the lot at that time, Ron's familiar blue scooter was nowhere to be found. She was just beginning to flash back to the cafeteria scene at lunch when her cell phone began to vibrate from inside her cargo pocket.

Half expecting it to be Ron calling to tell her he was running late, Kim flipped open the phone and brought it to her ear.

"Hello?" She greeted cheerfully.

"Hi, is this Kim Possible?" A heavy male voice asked.

"Um, yes…" Kim answered slightly hesitantly.

"Kim, this is Chief Davis with the Middleton Police Department. How are you doing today?" The voice answered in a deep, yet friendly tone.

"Oh, hi…" Kim replied, rather caught off guard. "I'm doing alright."

She had somewhat expected a quick reply given her name and reputation, but she never guessed she would be talking directly with the chief of police less than an hour after Ron had turned in their applications.

"Well listen, I've got your application here in front of me and I wanted to set up a time for you to come in so we can talk about it."

"Sure," Kim said. "I'd be glad to."

"Do you think you could stop by the station tomorrow at some point?" The chief asked.

"Okay, what time?" Kim asked.

"You get out at 3:00, right?"

"Actually," Kim corrected. "I get out of class at 3:05… but then I have cheer practice immediately afterwards."

"And what time does that usually go until?"

"We usually finish around 4:00."

"Four? All right, tell you what; why don't you just head on down tomorrow after your cheer practice? I work until five, so I should still be here by then. Sound like a plan?"

Kim took a moment to check her mental calendar. Although Tuesdays were always family meatloaf night, that wasn't until at least six, so she had plenty of time in between.

"That works for me," Kim informed him. "I'll be in tomorrow around 4:30."

"Sounds good to me," The chief replied. "I'll see you then."

The line clicked off a few seconds later.

"Well that was fast…" Kim thought aloud.

"What was fast?"

Kim turned and saw that Ron had pulled up while she was on the phone and was waiting for her at the curb.

"That was the chief," Kim informed her friend. "He wants me to come in and meet with him tomorrow after practice."

"Really? Cool…" Ron smiled. "Wait," His smile turned into a confused frown. "The chief of what?"