A/N: Heads up, this chapter and the next chapter are HEAVILY linked. Things will be a little weird and confusing this chapter. It's mostly on purpose. This isn't the full story, not by a long shot.

I was going to sit on this a bit longer, but my beta requested I post it. Thank Magic Flying Spud for the earlier posting.

Got a few things to talk about. Sorry for the wall of text. If you don't care or you've already read these particular notes in The Mad Scientist's Assistant, skip on down to the break.

Sorry on the huge wait. I needed a bit of a break. Needed to recharge a bit. Got into a new hobby. I'll be trying to make jewelry! Anyway, I was trying too hard to keep to an invisible schedule and burned myself out a bit.

I'm SUPER EXCITED! One of you... Some of you... Dunno how many... Nominated a bunch of my stuff for the Fannies! What are the Fannies? Basically it's a fandom awards thing specific to the KP fandom that honors various people for various things. Several of my fics are in SO MANY CATEGORIES I can't even list them! So many! If you feel like supporting my efforts (the S Plus D Equals K 'verse has a few nominations), head on over to the Kim Possible Discussion forum to found out how to vote me into the winner's circle! I would suggest messaging the award committee if there are any issues.

Now then, let's get this show on the road!

It had been about two and a half weeks since Drew had been released from GJ custody.

KP'd been acting… Pretty weird. She'd spent several days at the Canadian lair, trying to help out as best she could. But once it was clear that it wouldn't be an easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy fixaroney, that it was gonna be slow goings, she'd come back to Middleton, vowing to visit as often as she could to help rehabilitate him.

So it was in Middleton and the Canadian lair that she stayed.

Kim kinda became a shut-in, avoiding all her extracurriculars. Like, some of the cheerleaders had texted him to see where she was at. Student gov texted too. She didn't even give them a heads-up on what was going on! Just up and dropped 'em all.

Missions too. Wade was in the middle of telling Ron about the old lady with the giant cat when he got an alert that Kim had passed the sitch over to Team Impossible. The boys tried reaching out to Kim on her Kimmunicator but she didn't pick up. All they knew was that Kim was passing on every single mission.

And, worst of all, she didn't even seem to want to be around him. She just… Stayed at the 'rents place, hanging out in her room and stuff. And when she didn't come down for dinner, Mrs. and Mr. Dr. Ps could only guess she was in Canada, helping Drew get back to normal.

Ron'd tried to help once, a week or so ago, but Drew just got all irritated at him. He was used to the dude not remembering his name, but lately Drew didn't even use normal speak with him. He just snarled at him! Like an angry animal snarl! Totally uncool.

To Ron's concern, Drew didn't seem much better.

He didn't eat unless someone told him he could. Not even Ron's badical cooking got him to dig in until he got permission!

When he was alone he took some initiative, but if someone was there to give him direction he waited until it was given.

Worst of all, considering his partner, Drew folded almost the instant someone pressed him on something. Like, he argued and stuff, but if push came to shove he was like a house of cards.

All in all, it was a sucky situation.

But! It wouldn't be like that forever! They'd definitely, 100 percent be able to help Drew. Ron just knew they could! It was all about being optimistic and seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.

He could tell KP was struggling with it, though. Really bad. And with the way she'd been acting lately…

That was why he was dropping by without a heads-up. If he texted, it'd just be the ol' runaround of 'Oh Ron it's okay, I'm fine, can you come later?' and 'But Kim I'm around now can we please talk?' followed by 'No Ron, seriously, sorry.'.

There was definitely something wrong. And he wanted to, was going to help.

Like it or not, Drew was his dad now too. Kim didn't have to shoulder the burden by herself.

This was Serious Talk time. Just him 'n' Kim. Rufus understood, choosing to stay at their house while they talked about stuff. He was a good buddy like that.

Ron didn't knock on the door, instead just walked in like he lived there. Which he kinda did. Heck, before the mess with that Gemini guy he was over pretty much every day!

Ron heard a voice in the kitchen. Deciding, hoping, seriously hoping, that KP was in there, he walked straight through the house to the kitchen.

To his disappointment, it was Mrs. Dr. P. cooking up something or other while she hummed some kind of tune. Whatever it was smelled good… But he wasn't here for that. As much as he liked to eat, Kim was more important.

"Ronald!" Kim's mom said joyfully, looking up at him from the skillet on the small island where the stove was nestled. Clearly, even with as goofy as he was, he was a sight for sore eyes. "It's good to see you! I'm guessing Kimmie called you over?"

"Ah, that's a negative," he replied.

Mrs Dr P's face fell. "Oh." Her lips quirked as she looked down to the skillet, sinking into the sad humdrum routine.

Ron shifted a little as he explained, "I came over 'cause I'm worried about Kim and stuff. Haven't really chit-chatted with KP for a while. Wanted to chat, catch up, maybe figure out what's going on…"

"She isn't…" The redhead's face scrunched up as she said, "We haven't really been talking either."

"I know," Ron sighed. He really wasn't looking forward to this. Him and Kim meshed because of their silly rapport and soft quipping. This was kind of a jump for him. His Note Serious Face was intended more for spooking villains than it was for reaching emotional catharsis. Hoping to answer at least one of his questions, he asked, "Do you happen to know if KP is going to class?"

Kim's mom's face twisted even more, almost as if she was trying to keep her food down, as she answered, "No. She hasn't."

"Ah." Ron rubbed at his arm, having some trouble making eye contact.

It felt really really awkward even thinking about some of this stuff running through his head, let alone asking Mrs. Dr. P. about it. Because those thoughts about ditching activities and not taking care of responsibilities was about KP! HIS KP! Always the responsible one. For as long as he could remember, he floated along in life doing his own thing in her trailblazing wake. Always on top of everything, doing anything possible to make the world a better place.

But now she was…

He shook his head. Then, throwing on a bright smile, Ron said, "It'll be okay, Mrs. Dr. P! The Ronman's here to get to the bottom of it."

The redhead nodded. "I hope so, for Kimmie's sake." She nodded her head, this time more upwards. "Last I knew she was in her room. I haven't heard her leave, but that doesn't mean too much."

"Gotcha." The blond nodded again and turned around. As he headed towards the staircase to KP's room he noted, "That smells awesome, but you might want to add a touch of coriander?"

"Coriander?" She took a quick taste, then gave a nod and a small hum of thanks. "Thought it was missing something…" As Ron left the room, he heard her quietly say, "Good luck."

Ron skipped his way up the stairs to his fiancée's room. As it was before, it was in the attic of the Possible home, though now it was easy-peasy to get into. The door was an actual normal door and everything!

He debated with himself for a few moments, wondering if he should just wander in or knock. On one hand, it was practically his home too. And it wasn't like it would be weird if he walked in on her.

...but on the other hand, he loved and respected her. It would be a total violation of trust if he just burst in when she was so down in the dumps.

So he decided to knock.

After a few seconds, a muffled voice called out, "Come in!"

Swallowing down his nerves, Ron opened the door and climbed up the stairs into Kim's room.

KP was sitting on her bed, completely engrossed in a book. Ron couldn't read the title from the angle he was at, but it looked like it had a picture of a head and a brain on it.

"I'm a little busy right now with this psych book, but if you could do me a solid and put dinner on the dresser that would be spankin'," Kim said, not looking up from the book. "Whatever it is smells great! Thanks for cooking something up for me."

He stood there, confused. She really must be into that book! Whatever Mrs. Dr. P was cooking wasn't smellable from where they were. The empty compliment made him feel a little queasy for some reason.

Awkwardly he cleared his throat and, scuffing his foot against the floor, hesitantly said, "Heya KP."

Kim blinked, surprise crossing her face as she looked up from her book to meet his gaze. She set her book down messily and got up from the bed, reaching her non-injured arm towards him. "Ron?" Suddenly her arm dropped back to her side and a frown tugged at her lips as she asked, "What's the sitch?"

Ron tilted his head; this was a little out of character for his fiancee. Shaking it off, he replied, "I, uh, wanted to see you."

"Oh." Her frown deepened further as she said, "I'm sorry. I've been way busy."

"Eh? With what? Have you been doing research stuff for helping Drew?" He bounced on his heels and spoke fast. "Just… You know me 'n' Wade are here for you, right? I mean, we're totally getting married and stuff!" Ron thought on his words for a moment. "...you and me, not me and Wade." Enthusiastically he pounded his fist into his palm. "I'm here for you, no matter what."

Kim bit her lip and looked away. "He's my dad, Ron. I… I need to do this. Help him. He needs family to help him through this."

A lump of uncomfortableness formed in his gut. It made him a little nauseous and nervous, but he had to ask. Get her to talk about it. And, maybe, make her realize that she wasn't alone.

"Hey… You know, I heard you haven't been doing your stuff. Like class and stuff. You've kinda just holed yourself up away from everyone." He rubbed his arm while he looked at her. "I just-.." He swallowed down a lump and lamely said, "We're worried."

"I…" She turned her eyes to the floor. "I'm fine. Just trying to fix things. Get things back to normal." A limp shrug rolled from her shoulders. "Doing make-up work when Drew's better will be no big."

Here it was. The elephant in the room.

Carefully, Ron took the few steps to stand in front of his KP. His hands settled on her shoulders and he ducked his head down to try and look her in the eyes again.

"KP… Kim…" he started, trying to find the right words to get through to her. "...you know it won't be a fast recovery, right? Drew's gonna be messed up for a long time, like maybe months or years, and-.."

She cut him off, voice shaky, "Look, I just-.. I need to go to the Canadian lair." Kim wrenched herself free of his grasp and rushed out the door of her attic room.

Ron stood with his arms hanging in the air for a good few seconds, staring off into the space that she had been standing moments before. That was… That wasn't right. She was… That was all wrong. There was something seriously messed up. And he wasn't going to let it slide. Determination filled him as he raced to catch up to his fiancée.

She was already in the garage when he managed to finally match pace with her. Her good hand was fumbling with the keys when he came up behind her. A twitch of her head towards him and the pause in her attempts to get into her car let him know that she knew he was there.

"KP…" he set a hand on her shoulder. "We're partners. For life. If…" Ron shook his head and took a small step back, spreading his arms wide. "I'm here for you. Please, I want to help. We're Team Possible. Don't forget that!"

"I… I…" She began to bodily shake before her head dropped and she shouted, "I have to keep trying! This isn't something you need to do! I…" her good fist clenched "...I have to do this."

"I'm not saying you can-.."

Suddenly, like a dam bursting, she practically shrieked, "But I CAN'T!"

The turnaround in her behavior freaked Ron out a little. "Whoa, KP. I don't-.."

"I can't help!" Kim turned and began pounding the hood of her car with her good arm, teeth grinding audibly as she did so. She snarled, "I can do anything… Anything but this. Dad needs help and I can't help him. I don't know anything about genetics. I can't help with the psychological scars. I can't help with anything." She clenched her fists tightly, fingers turning white from the effort. "I feel so… So…"

He knew what she was feeling. Heck, he felt it during a ton of their missions! Now he kinda got what was going on.

After a few moments of silence, Ron carefully supplied, "Helpless."

"No!" Kim snapped. "I'm not helpless. I'm…" She muttered the next line, lip quivering. "Useless…"

Ron's eyebrows shot up to his hairline. "What?"

"You heard me!" she cried, tears gathering in her eyes. "I'm USELESS! I can't do anything right! Not when it counts! I keep letting everyone down!"

Ron's mouth opened and closed a few times. He reached around in his brain, scrambling to find words to help his partner realize that she was wrong, that she wasn't useless. How she'd even gotten that idea in her head he didn't know, but it really badly needed out!

"I tried to help. I've been trying to help. But nothing, nothing I've done has had any impact." Kim growled angrily, as if trying to hide the soft, hitching sniffles between each breath. "Betty was going to release Drew anyway. I wasn't there to help Mama Lipsky, too… Too cowardly to face the chance of Doctor Director finding out everything. If I'd been there…" She shook her head, then continued. "Heck, I gave in to Shego's badgering about going shopping instead of heading back to the island. If we'd gotten there sooner, maybe we could've… Could've…" Kim snorted and shook her head, eyes squinting, trying to hold in the tears. "And now, trying to help him recover from all of it… I can't even give moral support right…" She suddenly slumped, like a puppet cut from its strings. "Some daughter I am… Some hero I am…"

Ron stood, staring at his fiancé as she grit her teeth and tried to keep her emotions in check. This… This wasn't right. Not the whole sitch with not being able to help her dad. That would upset pretty much anyone. But her reactions… Trying to suppress it all… That wasn't right, or healthy.

He couldn't help fix Drew. But he could help his KP.

Ron took the step to come up behind her and enveloped her into a hug. She twisted around and finally began to let her emotions loose as she wrapped her arms around him.

"KP, you aren't useless…" Ron murmured into her hair, stroking her back as she buried her head into his chest.

"Then why can't I help him? Why can't I…" She gasped, then sobbed, tears finally falling as she gripped his back like he was a life preserver in the middle of a storm.

Then, suddenly, she took a step back and gave him a strange look. "And you…"

"And me…?" Ron tilted his head, confused. What did he do?

"You've, you've been holding back! During missions!" Tears kept falling, her fists clenching against her head. "You said as much during the debriefing with Global Justice!" She looked at him, hurt clear on her face. "Am I really that behind? That you have to dumb yourself down just so I can keep up?"

A lump formed in Ron's throat. That wasn't-.. No. Nonono, that wasn't right! Not at all! ...but now that she said it, it really did sound way bad.

"That isn't it! Not at all!" Ron waved his hands in front of himself as if warding off the blatant accusation.

"Then why? Huh? Why hold yourself back when you can CLEARLY do everything yourself?!" Kim cried. Her hands splayed out in frustration at her sides, eyes narrowed in anger.

"I just-.." He cut himself off and looked away as he tried to swallow down the lump of guilt. The shame and guilt and all the not-good feelings he had about stuff.

This wasn't something he was ready to talk about. It was too fresh, too panic-y to try and put into words. How could he explain himself when even he wasn't sure why he was doing it?

He looked back at KP shamefully. She stood stock-still, tears still flowing like little rivers and accusations shooting from her eyes.

...he had to tell her. Ron wasn't entirely sure what and why he felt the way he did, but it was clear that it had hit a point that he couldn't shut it down and hide it away anymore.

And… And it would be fine. They were partners after all, right?

Swallowing a few times while simultaneously trying to wet his dry mouth, he sighed out a hefty breath and said, "I killed those Lorwardians. Warmonga and Warhok. I killed them." Ron looked at his hands. "I… I would do it again, over and over to save you… But I still killed them. It makes me feel bad, whenever I use my MMP. Every time, I wonder if I'll lose control enough to hurt someone. Like, I have no idea how strong I can be. I can hold back - I've gotten pretty good at holding back - but if I go at full strength? I…" he rubbed his arms "...I don't think I could keep it in check."

Kim seemed to hesitate at that. Process it for a few moments. It almost seemed to break through. She said quietly, "I…"

A few seconds later saw the anger come back full force along with a tinge of offense.

"You and I both know that's garbage," Kim growled. "You're the mystical monkey master. You have perfect control of your powers."

"As far as we can tell. It doesn't mean I have the max setting mastered," Ron insisted. "I could totally hurt you if I lose control!" He looked away as he admitted, "I was just trying to toss 'em away from you. The Lorwardians. I just wanted some room to breathe. I didn't think…" A pleading note entered his voice as he murmured, "I don't think I could handle it if I have to go max and somehow hurt you."

"Then why not just do everything yourself?!" KP snarled. "Why bring the tagalong fiancée? As a role reversal? Now I'm the distraction?"

"I…" That hurt. That hurt a lot. She completely downplayed his role in their team. It was like… She thought he was less. And that sucked. "Look, there's nothing, nothing wrong with being the distraction. It's still being a team! Teamwork! I mean, I guess maybe I can do some of it myself. But we're Team Possible. It just…" He gave a vague shrug, not quite reaching the words to explain his point. "I need you. I…" A waver entered his voice as he finished, "I like saving the world with you."

She stood there, nostrils flaring at the last little comment. The blond got the distinct feeling that he just said exactly the wrong thing.

"You 'need' me, huh? 'We're Team Possible'?" Her eyes narrowed. "How exactly do you 'need' me? As a cheerleader? Someone rooting for you from the sidelines?" She then hissed, "You still act like Potential Boy when we both know you reached it! You don't need me at all! You…" her eyes suddenly widened in mild shock "...you pity me, don't you?"

"What?!" Nonono, this was all going wrong! Why couldn't he-.. His thoughts made sense! He knew they did! They had to make sense! But how did KP keep getting the wrong message? "I-.. I don't pity you! I don't!" He began pleading, "Please, Kim, I don't look down on you or, or anything! I love you! We're partners!"

"Partners?" She gave an angry dry laugh. "Yeah. Sure. I'm sure you love thinking about it like that."

"KP-.."

"I need some space." Kim lightly pushed him away from her car. "I-.. I can't talk to you right now. I can't work with you right now."

"Kim-.."

"Maybe when I'm finally at your level we can start things back up. But now?" She wiped at her eyes before she opened the door to her car. "Just… I need to think. And get better. Get Dad better, get me better…" His fiancée shivered a little. "I've fallen behind. Behind everyone." A bitter laugh escaped her throat. "Can you believe it? The girl that can do anything failing so spectacularly that people she cares about pay the price. I need…" her fists clenched "I need to be better. Just be better. And… And I can't do that with you."

The last statement hit like a ton of bricks. "Are you…" He could barely form the words. "...breaking up with me?"

"No. I just…" She bit her lip. "I need a timeout. I do love you. But… I just…" Kim shook her head. "...can't. I can't do anything right now except try to be better." A bitter smile crossed her lips. "How can I do that when I have someone that can already do it all for me at my back?"

Ron's mouth opened and closed, words trying and failing to make their way out. This wasn't right. This wasn't right. He couldn't-..

She hopped into the driver's seat. "We-.. We can talk more later, okay, Ron?" Just before she shut the door, she murmured, "I do love you…"

He stood there, slightly shaking, trying to think of where in the conversation things went wrong as she drove away.

It started off on a Bad Road and just kept rolling downhill. It was awful. None of his words were right, nothing made sense to KP, things ended up completely wrong. But...

She would come back. Right? That's… That's right. It had to be right. She said she would! She loved him, he loved her. They were a team!

...at least, he thought they were.