As with every chapter before and every to follow, Kim Possible and all related characters (other than those of my own creation for the purpose of this story) are the property of The Walt Disney Company. Everything else is all mine.

It had been a good thirty minutes since Kim had angrily ended the transmission with Wade and slammed the Kimmunicator down on the nightstand.

Not wanting to provoke her any more, Ron sat there, patiently waiting for her to calm down enough to ask the question.

"What tweaked you, KP?"

Kim silently sat there with her head in her hands, elbows on knees, staring down at the floor.

"Kim?"

Although there was no immediate verbal response, as Kim slowly raised her head, tears were beginning to roll down her cheeks. The tears became a torrent as she broke down, uncontrollably sobbing.

Sitting down beside her, Ron reached both arms around and lovingly pulled her toward him. Kim resisted and remained rigid at first, but finally gave in and allowed herself to relax within his embrace, her head resting on his shoulder.

For several minutes Kim continued to sob, her face partially buried in Ron's shirt. He would stroke her hair and whisper reassuring words to try and comfort her.

When the sobbing had at last subsided, Kim raised her head and Ron reached behind her, pulled out several tissues from the box on the nightstand and placed them in her hands.

After she had dried her tears, blown her nose and disposed of the tissues, Kim again rested her head on Ron's shoulder.

"Ron, I'm s-o-o sorry. Can you forgive me?"

"No big, KP. You've been through a lot, so it's understandable."

"No, Ron. It's v-e-r-y big. You literally risked your life for me twice last night, and Wade saved both our lives. So what do I do in return? I bite your heads off when all you're trying to do is watch out for me."

"Okay, Kim, I forgive you, although Wade's the one you should really apologize to."

"I know. I'll call him. Right now, though, I just want you to hold me."

"So, Rachel, what do you think?"

"Kate, I think it's a wonderful idea! It'll be easy to get Jon over there. He's planning to call before his flight leaves and I can just tell him to stop by your place on his way home to pick up something I accidentally left behind."

"The tricky part will be timing it so Kim and Ron don't get here early", Kathleen Possible pondered aloud.

Overhearing the conversation while sitting at the kitchen table reading the paper, James offered a suggestion. "Kate, we could talk with the doctor at the hospital about delaying Kim's release."

Kathleen responded with raised eyebrows, a smile and a thumbs-up.

"Rachel, Jim said we might try calling the doctor and having him wait to release Kim. With a little coordination, I think we can delay her and Ron just long enough so they get here about the same time as Jon."

"What do you have in mind as the main course, Kate?"

"If it's not a problem with you, I was thinking of having a backyard picnic: burgers and hot dogs on the grill, 'slaw, potato salad, some chips and drinks."

"That sounds fine to me. I can bring the dogs, potato salad and some drinks if you can supply the burgers, 'slaw and fixings. Give me a call, Kate, if there's anything else you want me to bring."

"Thanks, Rachel. Can't think of anything else right now, but I'll let you know. See you in a few hours."

As Kathleen hung up the phone, James piped up. "I suppose this means I've been drafted to be the grill master, correct?"

"Naturally! That is, unless you'd rather I give the job to the twins?" Kate responded with a wry grin. She knew that comment would seal the deal.

"No, Kate, I'll be more than happy to do it. Speaking of Jim and Tim, where'd they get to?"

"Last I saw them, they were camped out in that enclosure in the living room playing video games. Rufus was in there, too, and from what I could tell, he was giving them some serious competition."

James stifled a yawn. "Well, I think I'll check in on them and then go curl up on the couch for a nap."

Folding up the paper and tucking it under his arm, James downed the rest of his coffee and headed to the living room.

The twins were indeed inside the sound-proof enclosure, having a very animated video game contest with Rufus. Walking around to the enclosure door, James pounded on it to get their attention. Tim looked up, waved, and came over to open the door.

"Hi, Dad. What's up?"

"I was just checking in to see how things were going, Tim. It looks like Rufus is giving you boys all you can handle."

"Yeah, he's been creaming us up to now, but we've decided team up against him. That's the only way either one of us has a chance to win."

"Well, I'm going to take a nap over on the couch. Your mom and Mrs. Stoppable are working on a little "Welcome Home!" dinner for Kim, Ron and Mr. Stoppable."

As James and Tim were talking, Jim wandered over from the t-v to listen in on the conversation.

James continued. "The only problem they're having is how to get Kim, Ron and Mr. Stoppable to show up here at the same time."

"That's easy, Dad", replied Jim.

"Yeah", agreed Tim. "All we'd need to do is…"

"…to somehow sabotage Ron's car…"

"…so he couldn't start it…"

"…then have Mr. Stoppable stop by the hospital…"

"…pick up Kim and Ron…"

"…and stop here to drop Kim off…"

"…on his way home."

"I don't know, boys. How would we be able to do that without someone seeing us?"

"Someone would probably see you, Dad…"

"…but they won't see us…"

"…especially if we wear…"

"…our mission clothes."

James stood there, mulling over the practical not to mention the ethical ramifications of the plan. However, since they were up against a deadline and had no better ideas, this would have to do.

"Okay, boys. I'll go tell you mom what we'd like to do. As long as she and Mrs. Stoppable have no objections, we'll go with it."

"Cool!" replied the twins in unison.

Walking back into the kitchen, James broached the idea with Kathleen.

"I don't know, Jim. Is that the sort of "means to an end" lesson we want to teach the twins?"

"Kate, I know what you're saying, but all Jim and Tim will have to do is disable Ron's car just enough so it won't start. It's not like they will destroy the thing."

"Jim, we're talking about the twins here, remember?"

"Good point, but do we have any other way of getting them all here at the same time?"

Kathleen had to concede they did not.

"No, Jim, it's the only plan we have and we're running out of time. Let me call Rachel and see what she thinks. If she has no objections, we'll go with it."

It was not long before Kim, snuggled up in Ron's arms, fell fast asleep.

Ron continued to hold her tight, not wanting to let go; not yet, anyway. Unfortunately, his right arm had other ideas and soon was itself asleep. Faced with this dilemma, Ron thought best to try and lay Kim down on the hospital bed.

First, he carefully lowered her head and shoulders down, which, because of the limited use of his right arm, required standing, twisting and nearly straddling Kim. Once this was accomplished, he slowly burrowed his right arm under her back while reaching underneath her knees with his left. Finally, he squatted and half-lifted her body while maneuvering it so Kim was positioned properly on the bed.

Next, Ron opened the room's closet door, pulled down a blanket from the top shelf, draped it over Kim and tucked it in all around. Last but not least, he grabbed her pillow, gently lifted her head, slid the pillow underneath, lowered her head and capped it all off by planting a loving kiss on her forehead.

Having taken care of Kim, Ron pulled the two room chairs together, one to sit on, the other to use as an ottoman. It was hardly the most comfortable setup, but by putting the first chair close to the wall in one corner of the room and using a pillow from the closet to rest his head against, it was tolerable. Compared to some of the sleeping arrangements he and Kim had had to endure on missions, it was downright luxurious.

Before closing his eyes, Ron thought it best to check in with Wade.

"Yo! Wade!"

"Hey, Ron, what's up?"

"Nothing much. Kim is sacked out in her bed for a nap, and I'm going to see if I can catch a little shuteye myself. Anything to report?"

"Nope. Still quiet. Too quiet, if you ask me. Something tells me there's a storm brewing, but I'm getting nothing from my sensors or sources, so I guess all we can do is to be on alert."

"Wade, could you check the laser grid system to make sure it's okay?"

"Sure, Ron, but I did a diagnostics about thirty minutes ago and everything tested fine."

"I just want to make absolutely certain, Wade. I'll sleep a whole lot better."

"Well, the diagnostics are running. It should only take a couple of minutes. Do you want to stay online or have me call you?"

"If you don't mind, I'll just stay online."

"So, did Kim finally cool down a bit?"

"Yeah. Now she's upset with herself for, as she aptly put it, biting our heads off when all we want to do is protect her."

"Do you think she'll still want to go through with the simulation with Dr. Director?"

"I don't know, Wade. You already have it scheduled, right?"

"Yeah, I called GJ just as soon as Kim disconnected. Think I should call them back and put it "on hold"?"

"No, let's leave it for now. Are the diagnostics done?"

"Done and the grid aced every test."

"Good. Thanks for running that for me. Be sure to beep me if anything comes up?"

"Will do, Ron."

After Wade ended transmission, Ron stared at the blank Ronnunicator screen. Wade sensing a "storm" was "brewing" was not good; not good at all. But, like Wade said, there wasn't anything they could do but be ready when it broke.

Setting the Ronnunicator on the floor beneath his chair, Ron leaned back, closed his eyes and silently said a little prayer that whatever was coming their way would wait until Kim was fully recovered. Within minutes, he was snoring away.

Rachel Stoppable was just starting to chop potatoes for the potato salad when the phone rang. She grabbed the handset off the wall mount and wedged it between her cheek and shoulder.

"Hello, Stoppables."

"Hi, hon."

"Oh, hi, Jon", Rachel glanced at the microwave clock. "I didn't realize it was about time for your flight to leave. Any problems getting to the airport?"

"Thankfully, no. I lucked out and happened to flag down a taxi whose driver not only knew the fastest way to the terminal, but wasn't exactly shy moving in and out of traffic. She got me here fifteen minutes earlier than I had planned."

"She?" asked Rachel.

"Yeah, apparently at least here in central Florida the number of female taxi and shuttle drivers is increasing. Normally I wouldn't be crazy about the idea, but this woman obviously could take care of herself."

"How do you know that, Jon? You didn't give her any trouble, did you?" Rachel teased.

"No, Rachel, I behaved myself. It's just that after I handed her a tip, she offered to shake my hand. We shook and her hand clamped down on mine like a pair of Vice-Grips; she clearly wasn't putting any effort into it, either."

"Sounds like my kind of taxi driver!"

"Anything new to report?"

"Well, Kim is recovering so quickly that Jim and Kate think she'll be released sometime today."

"Now that's good news. How about Ron?"

"He's fine. After a few hours of sleep, he went down to the hospital to keep Kim company so her dad could go home, cleanup and get some rest."

"Good. I'm sure Jim was glad to get the relief… oops, that's the boarding call for my flight. I'd better get moving."

"Jon, give me a call when you land, okay? I may have you pick up a couple of things on the way home."

"Will do. Love you."

"I love you too, Jon. Have a safe flight."

Not surprisingly, the Possible twins went all out in dressing for their "mission" to disable Ron's car. Along with the "off-the-rack" black top and green Army surplus pants, they were wearing grey gloves, black knitted caps and had blackened their faces commando-style.

Beholding his two sons, James Possible could only shake his head and sigh. What had he gotten himself into?

Kathleen Possible observed her husband's body language, stepped up beside him and offered words of consolation.

"Jim, it could be a whole lot worse. They could be out running around with the wrong people, doing drugs, drinking or getting in trouble with the police... okay, scratch that last one."

"You're right, Kate. It could be worse. You know, now that I think about it, I wonder if there's anything else we could have them do while they're dressed like this?"

"Maybe we should just stick with this one mission for now, Jim. Okay?" Kathleen said with a grin.

"O-k-a-y", replied James with a grin of his own. "Well, boys, I guess it's time to load up and head to our objective."

Jim and Tim opened the passenger side door and jumped in the back of their father's sedan, while James pressed the garage door opener button, went around to the driver's side, climbed in and started the ignition.

As soon as he had backed the car down the driveway and onto the street, James began grilling the twins, making certain they understood exactly what they were supposed to do and what they not supposed to do.

"Now, Jim and Tim, we're going to keep this v-e-r-y simple, right?"

"Yes, sir."

"Jim, you go to the driver's side and deflate the rear tire. Tim, you go to the passenger side and deflate the front tire. Be sure to let the air out s-l-o-w-l-y, so no one will hopefully hear you, and remember to put the caps back on. Make sure the tires are visibly very low on air but don't complete deflate them, as that could ruin them."

"If anyone sees you, just act natural and explain that you're just pulling a little prank on your sister and her boyfriend. Got all that?"

"Yes, sir."

"Good. I'll drop you off just in front of Ron's car. Quickly hop out and duck between the cars. I'll park at the end of the parking lot. Once you're done, press the button on that little signaling device. The light on the receiver here in the car will flash and I'll know to pull back around and pick you up."

"Any questions?"

"No, sir."

James pulled the sedan into the hospital parking and drove around until it was sitting perpendicular to Ron's car.

"Alright, boys, let's do it!"