"So, you always make people feel this uncomfortable?" Kim said.

The agent had been staring at her for at least two minutes now.

"Not always," Marla replied. "Just when I need to make sure I have their absolute attention."

"Oh," The red head teen said. "That's interesting. Most would settle for handshakes but whatever works for you."

"Works for me," Marla repeated in a monotone voice."Yes, yes I think that sums it up quite nicely."

Kim gave her a questioning look. But before she could respond Marla gave a quick follow up.

"Kimberly Ann Possible," She said sternly. "How would you like a job?"

~~Section VIII~~

Linked Horizon

Area: Possible Residence

Date: July 21, 2006

Time: 5:00 p.m.

She was out. Floating within pure abyss.

She wasn't sure what she was looking at. Or even if there was something to look at at all. She stared at what seemed like an endless void. Wondering if possibly there was something within it staring right back at her. But then she heard it.

"You over did it. She wasn't suppose to fall succumb to the smoke."

"Sorry sir, it just happened."

Voices, Two distinct voices to be exact. Speaking so loudly it felt as if they were within arms reach of her.

And as far a Kim could tell, they probably were.

She couldn't pinpoint a direction, however it sounded like two people arguing. Or more so someone being chewed out by another.

"Doesn't matter," One of the voices groaned. "We're already here might as well just roll with it. Send her upstate."

Steps moved towards her direction. And then she heard something underneath her mouth. An odd movement that caused the wind to sway. And then something broke, something small, fragile, and odorous.

And just like that, the darkness around her vanished almost as quickly as it had came. Her eyes snapped wide open welcoming a bright flash of light to fill her vision. She awoke with a gilt almost falling out of her chair.

It was at this time Kim realized she was sitting in a chair.

But that wasn't all she observed. For example, she was no longer within her bedroom. She was sitting in the kitchen of her very home.

The next thing the heroine realized was that she was sitting right across the table from the Program Director herself.

The leader and face, incognito of course, of one of the worlds largest government agencies, Global Justice. The look they exchanged was unreadable at first and an odd silence fell between the two heroes. But it did not take long before the the gears started to turn.

"Good to see you again Kim Possible," The Director said. "It's not exactly ideal but I'm happy that we're able to speak again after such a long time.

I'm really gonna have to find out what her last name is one day. Just saying Betty sounds way too stupid...

Her mind was already processing everything that had happened. But her reactions were still slow. The Director raised her right hand towards Kim direction. From what the red head could tell, Betty had just singled for one of her men to do something. And sure enough, a cup of water was placed before her. The man who had placed the cup had dark brown short hair that matched his eyes and skin. He gave Kim an apologetic look.

"Here you go," He said. "And uh...sorry about earlier. The stuff wasn't suppose to get you as well."

She wasn't terribly sure what he meant, but Kim merely nodded her head in response. She attempted to open her mouth but her throat felt beyond dry and soar. She reached for the mug in front of her and slowly began to drink from the cup. Not to her surprise, she was also having trouble properly balancing the cup in one hand.

"It messes with you're motor skills," Betty said. She most likely had figured what Kim was thinking. "I apologize again for the mistake. It seems that even we can still make mistakes with all our years."

"It's a new toy from our research department."The Director repositioned herself on her seat. "It's tested safe so you don't need to worry about anything. This error was on us. But to be fair, you kind of forced my hand a little. I wasn't planning on coming here today, until I got wind of your plans to go across the sea."

What is she...the mission...but how did she know about that?

Kim took a slight sip from her cup. It looked like water but there was an odd aftertaste of cinnamon. She couldn't completely identify its taste but it was doing wonders for her throat. With the sourness starting to disappear she decided to take a stab at a few words.

"I-I-It's not like I already did it," The first few were a little tougher then she expected. but she bared through it. "It was just something I was considering."

The Director gave her a skeptical look. "You were doing a lot more then mere consideration, judging from your clothes."

Dang, mission gear

It was a substitution, but it was still clear with her dark grey jeans and purple shirt that Kim was trying to replicate the look of her old mission gear. She inwardly cursed her situation. It wasn't like that would have been the first thing that came to her mind after being knocked out anyway. "Are you seriously about to give me the third degree after gassing my house?"

Being defensive probably wasn't the best tactic, but Kim wasn't in the mood to defend herself right now. "Again I apologize for the incident prior," She said. "I just needed to speak with you alone. Your parents were in the house as well you see. And I didn't really know of a way to get into the house and up to your room without alerting them."

"Why didn't you just go through the window?" Kim asked.

"It's five o'clock in the evening. It's still summer so the sun won't go down for another two hours. Someone would have seen us."

"But no one saw you bringing gas into our house."

"They saw us, but none were the wiser."

"What do you mean?"

"Funny thing about people. They aren't nearly as smart as they think they are." The Director said with a smile. "" People often believe that they know how to identify what's dangerous and what isn't. When in reality, most of their knowledge is borrowed from other observations. Which wouldn't be a problem if most of said observations were from real life, however most of them are from things they see on television, movies, and internet videos."

"Okay," Kim said slowly. "Not sure where you're going with this, but okay..."

"Think of it as hiding in plain site," The Director said. "People aren't likely to let some random stranger into their house, or a little girl scout selling cookies, certainly not a Jehovah's witness. But get a knock on the door from two people claiming to be electricians doing an annual routine check up, and doors fly right open."

Kim looked onto the Director with surprise. "The everyday men, be it plumbers, taxi drivers, mail men, or even fast food delivery, they're all around us. And we've grown to trust them without so much as asking for any form of identification or valid proof that they really are who they say they are. Quite frankly, it's one of the easiest ways to get into people's houses, or least through the front door. We could hand someone something dangerous and they wouldn't even realize it until they've already brought it into their house and opened it."

Kim wasn't sure what she could say to that. That was a little more uncomfortable information then she was expecting. But it wasn't just the information itself that bothered her. More so Betty's nonchalant attitude with what she had said. She was an agent of a secret organization, Kim was smart enough to realize she knew a thing or two about being covert. But she never stopped to wonder about just how an organization as large as Global Justice even goes about 'protecting' the world by using infiltration and deceitful techniques.

Probably don't want to get into that right now...

If Kim knew GJ as well as she thought she did. Then everything with them was operating within a certain time frame. Which meant, the Director was at her house but she couldn't afford to be there for too long. Which meant Kim only had so much time to speak with her, before she would disappear for God know's how long. With everything that was going on, she would need all the friends she could get. So she couldn't afford to waste this opportunity.

"My family," The red head heroine said. "This gas you're talking about. It...It didn't...

This caught the Director's attention.

"Their fine Kim," She said. "The gas was designed to be non lethal and leave no residual damage to the person breathing it in."

This gas, which meant she had other forms of gas that could be lethal...

"You knew that I was at least considering going to Europe. Which means you have to know about the mission I got?"

"Of course," The Director replied.

"How did you find out?"

"That's classified."

Kim gave the Director a pointed look. "So Will told you?"

"Yeah Will told me."

The red head rolled her eyes. "Thought so. So you came here to stop me?"

"Yes," She said with no hesitation. "I don't want you doing this."

"Why not?"

"Why not? Because it's a bad move. You're taking a risk on a slim to none chance."

What does she mean by that?

"I've looked into the situation there. It's not just a simple good guy vs bad guy thing. It's a political altercation between two established families. Two established wealthy families, very wealthy. You show up there getting involved, and theres no telling what could become of the situation."

Kim fixed the Director with a calm expression. "I know."

This time it was the Director's turn to be surprised.

"From what little Wade told me the mission sounded like it would be really tough. But I don't think I've ever done a mission like this without someone there to back me up." She stared down at her cup of warm water, which she had honestly forgotten she was still holding.

"Then don't go," The Director said. "If you realize how dangerous this is don't do it. There's absolutely no reason for you to take such an insane risk."

At this Kim merely shook her head at the Director's words.

The Director raised her eye at Kim's words. " I know its dangerous," Kim repeated. "But I still...I don't know. I still want to do this."

"Let me guess, because of Shego."

"No," Kim replied. She firmly placed her cup on the table. Meeting the Director's eye. "Because of Ron."

Her face grew tense at the sound of Kim's words. Maybe she was hoping the red headed heroine would have gotten over the incident. But Kim would never forget. She came close to almost losing everything that day.

"Ron's in the hospital because of me."

"Kim," The Director said. "That's not your -

"Yes it is." Her tone didn't suggest any room for argument. But it wouldn't stop Betty from trying.

"No it isn't," She said firmly. "Drakken did that, him and his stupid machines."

"That he made to attack me."

"Precisely, that he made. Him not you."

"And Ron was there to back me up. Me not Drakken."

The Director groaned rubbing the bridge of her nose."Don't do this Kim," She said. "Don't put something like this on your shoulders. Trust me, you don't want it. It'll never go away." Betty placed her cup on the table focusing her attention on Kim. "Trust me on this. You don't want to let something like this stay with you for a long time. Listen the minute I found out about what you were thinking about doing I bolted right over. But to be honest, I didn't really figure out what all I would say to you when I got here."

"That's a plan for success." Kim said. The Director muffled a slight chuckle at her apparent honesty.

"Touche," She said. "To be honest, maybe I should have said something to you sooner. I just didn't know what to say. I wasn't sure what was right to say, or if there was even anything I could say." The Director got up from her seat and walked over towards Kim. "But trust me when I say, you aren't alone in this. Even if it feels like it's just you against the world sometimes."

"Yeah," Kim said. "I know. I just...I just want to do something...anything. I don't know if this is the right decision. It's probably not. If I do this, something tells me I'll be paying for it later. But Ron's in the hospital because of this. And when he wakes up, I want to at least be able to tell him that he didn't go through all this for nothing. I owe him that much."

"This could make things worse," The Director said. "You know that. And Ron wouldn't want you to do anything that would put you in danger."

"I know, but...I still want to do something for him. I...I don't want him to ever have a moment where he questions just how important he is to me. I don't want him to wake up in a hospital bed feeling like I left him hanging. I just...I don't want that to ever happen. Ron was the first friend I ever had when I came to Middleton. He's always been there for me, and now he's hurt because of that."

"Kim -

"I'm sorry," She interjected. "But you can't talk me out of this. I know this probably childish. But I'm still going to do this.

Their eyes locked for a solid minute. Neither said a word to the other. But eventually, the Director gave in.

"I'm starting to wonder if there will ever be a time where kids listen to their elders."

Area: Craig Hospital

Date: July 21, 2006

Time: 6:00 p.m.

There he was. Monique wanted to hug him. Just run right up to him and hug him. Never let him go. That wouldn't be weird. It might be a little weird all things considered. But for the time being she really didn't care. She just wanted to make sure she wasn't dreaming. But it didn't feel like a dream. Not this time. Judging from the look he was giving her.

"Incase you were wondering sweetie, this is the part where you say 'Hi'."

Monique blinked in response to the doctors words. She had almost forgotten she was standing there. "Sorry," The raven haired girl said. "I guess I was just -

"No need to explain yourself Miss Hayes," The doctor said. "I understand perfectly how you're feeling right now. I'll just give you two some alone time. I'll be waiting outside if you need anything from me." The doctor turned and began making her way for the door. But she suddenly stopped as she was about to move through the threshold. "How could I forget," She said, turning her head towards Ron's direction. "I said that I would leave the two of them alone for a while. I'd prefer to stay true to my word, Tia."

The young girl made no response to the doctors words. But this did little to impede the adult woman. "Don't be difficult Tia," She said with a slight tone. "They need to be alone for a while."

"Why?" Tia asked.

"Because they're close friends."

"I don't trust her," The young girl responded. "He's been here for over a week now and he's only had one visitor. It wasn't her. So why is she suddenly showing up now?"

The doctor did not respond. Instead she walked back into the room and grabbed Tia by her wrist. "It's time to go," She said sternly. "Right now."

For a moment it seemed Tia was going to protest Marla's insistence. But she locked eyes with the doctor. For a moment, her body went limp under the woman's touch. This time the little girl did not make a fuss. She quietly stood up and followed the red haired woman outside of the door.

"I could have sworn you were a nurse." Monique heard her whisper as they made their way out of the room, leaving the two alone to finally for a moment, neither of the two actually spoke. Monique simply stared blankly at her old friend and vice versa. She wasn't sure what she could say, or even if there was anything she could say to him that wouldn't sound strange. But thankfully it looked like she wouldn't need to. A slight smile spread across the blonde headed boys mouth.

And for the first time in a long time, Monique heard the voice of a good friend.

"So apparently my name is Ron Stoppable. I was hoping you could confirm that. Cause I'm starting to think they're punking me at this hospital."

Monique had no clue if that should have been enough to make their interaction easier.

But after everything that had happened, she'd take what she could get. She walked towards him and sat down beside his bed. His hair was a mess. It ran down over his forehead, almost shrouding his eyes. His soft warm brown eyes. Eyes that still held a semblance of someone she knew. "Its good to see you again man," Monique wrapped her arms around the base of his neck in a warm embrace. "So good."

His reaction was stiff, but only for a second. Before he relaxed under her pressure, returning the warm embrace. "I really hope everyone else who knows me is as nice as you." They stayed interlocked for a while. She didn't want to let him go. Not yet, not so soon. It had been weeks, but the stress and waiting made it feel so much longer then that. And now that she had him, now that she knew he was alright, she just wanted to enjoy the moment. For however long.

A nice moment

"Please tell me you came to get me out of here."

Aaaand its gone

Monique released her grip around Ron's neck. And gave him a level eyed look. "How have you been," She asked. "Are they taking care of you here?"

The blonde headed boy shrugged. "Nothing too out of the ordinary. I mean I don't have a lot of people coming to see me. So it gets pretty lonely. I mean the only person who comes to visit me is Tia, and all she ever wants to do is make me watch a show about magical horses that talk and friendship all the time. But aside from that it's not bad here. They treat me pretty good here."

Well

"If it's not so bad here why do you want to leave ?"

"Because it's a hospital," Ron replied. "I'm not suppose to stay here too long. Isn't that the whole point? If I was lucky I would never have to ever come back. Not to mention I really need to be around familiar things. Otherwise i'm always gonna be stuck like this."

"Stuck like what ?"

Monique could feel her heart begin to race. She didn't want to ask this, but she knew she had to.

"Like this, you know...broken and...incomplete."

So it's true

Monique had time to take in the news about Ron's condition on the ride over. When the driver told her that he couldn't remember anything, she could hardly believe him. But she didn't argue. She knew something like that she'd see for herself once she actually got to the hospital. About ten minutes into the ride, she knew that she wasn't being played. The phone call combined with the driver speaking to her in such a matter of fact tone seemed way too thought out to be a prank. And something about it felt way too serious and concerned to be a set up.

She wasn't sure what that driver or the voice on the phone wanted from her. Neither of them spoke of what they needed her to do. It seemed like the only thing they really wanted was to get her to the hospital at all costs. And now that she was here, it felt like they kind of just left her high and dry to figure it all out for herself. But they wouldn't do that. At least she hoped they wouldn't.

"So what's it gonna be? You're gonna help get me out of here right?

"I...I need to get some water."

She moved too quickly to hear Ron even give a response. All she was thinking about at the moment was just leaving. She made it through the door and walked straight down the hallway. She kept moving until she almost ran into a water fountain stationed on one of the white walls. The place was a lot bigger on the inside then it looked on the outside. And if she wasn't walking down a straight hallway she probably would have gotten lost.

Why am I even hesitating about this? He wants to leave and go home. That shouldn't even be a problem

But it was a problem. Monique had no idea what was going on here. She hadn't seen Kim in days. She wasn't able to reach Wade at all. It's like the site he managed practically got shut down. And Monique's parents didn't want her going over to either Kim or Ron's house.

Truth be told, when she thought about it, the fact that she got in the car with a total stranger alone was crazy. But now that she was here, and she knew Ron was alright she actually had no idea what to do.

She could take him with her, but for how long? Does she take him back to his parents? There's no telling how his mom would react. There's no telling how Kim's mom would react for that matter. Her best bet was probably taking him to Wade. Seeing if there was anything he could do for him that a bunch of trained doctors couldn't. It sounded dumb, but Wade was a super genius. Who's to say he couldn't do something for Ron?

But one thing was for certain. Monique couldn't leave him here. He was one of her closest friends. If what Ron said was true, then she might be the only person to come see him outside the hospital. None only that, she might have been the only person he's seen that has any relation to his real life. If she left now, there's no telling how he'd take it.

But what if it's a trap?

What if this was a trap. What if this whole thing was some kind of super villain set up. And they just wanted to get two people to use against Kim. It's not that far off of an idea to be honest. Here both of them were. They could get them at any minute once they tried to leave the hospital. If they did, there's no telling what would happen. Not that she could tell what would happen the way she was no. She had already gone this far, it would seem bizarre if she just tried to walk out now.

"It's not easy is it? Having to make the tough calls ?"

Behind her stood the average sized red haired doctor. "Oh hey," Monique said slowly. "You...you're that doctor right?"

"I am," The woman responded. "You can call me Marla. And I know this isn't an easy situation for you. But I can tell that Ron is delighted to have you here Miss Hayes."

Monique smiled. "No problem. I'm glad he's okay. I was really worried about him and -

Wait...

She wasn't sure how she caught. But something put the pieces together for her in an instant.

Marla gave her a pleasant smile. "Yes Miss Hayes what is it ?"

"Last name."

"What was that dearie ?"

"I...I...I never gave you my last name."

The doctor blinked in realization. "Oh is that so," She said in a vague tone. "Well you see you're name is collected before you can visit a patient. So we keep records."

Oh I guess...wait...

"That's not how it works." Monique replied. "Even if that guy got my name, You shouldn't have known it. There's no way you'd just remember me right off the bat like that."

"And why's that?"

"Because you're a doctor." She wasn't sure how to describe it. But it felt as thought she was watching something crumble and break.

"You get patients all the time, and even then most doctors need clipboards or something to remind them of who they're patients are. There's no way you could remember every person just like that." Monique fixed the woman with a diligent gaze. "Not your patients and especially not they're guests."

The smile fell from the woman's face. She seemed to have been in thought, before a slight smirk came across her lips. "Is that right," She scuffed. "How bout that, Will actually sent someone who's a lot smarter then they look."

Will ?

And what did that girl say?

Something about her being a nurse ?

The little's girls words came rushing back to her. The way she protested leaving and how this doctor made her leave. This entire setup from the phone call to the ride here. She wasn't sure what made her do it. It wasn't smart to be honest. She should have just kept quiet and left, none the less. The words had already left her mouth.

"You're not a real doctor... are you?"

Marla's locked eyes with Moniques'.

Her smirk still evident on her face but no genuine emotion to bare.

"Well, depends on who you're asking."

Area: Middleton Mall

Date: July 23, 2006

Time: 7:30 p.m.

"Evil beware, we have Club Banana mini skirts!"

"Nice, do me a favor. Say that with an Australian accent."

"Why?"

"To see if it will finally be able to make me take you more seriously."

Tara frowned at her friends words. She knew when she was being mocked.

"I'll look into it." She said. "For now lets just get back to this."

"Don't worry we're almost done."

That's what you said two hours ago

"That's what you said two hours ago."

Bonnie gave her a pointed glare.

You're not suppose to actually say that out loud

Whoops

"I already told you, we need to get something new."

"I know, I know," Tara replied. "Club Banana's having an end of the summer sale and you wanted in on it."

"Yup."

"But why?"

"Why what," The brunette said in annoyance. "What is it this time."

"Why do you want us to buy new clothes so badly? It's not like we're on a shortage of fashion."

"You don't want Stoppable seeing you in rags do you?"

Tara blinked in response. She wasn't sure what to make of that question. And frankly she wasn't sure if it had any real point to it.

Leave it to Bonnie to come up with things like this. After going off on her rant, she then randomly out of the blue asks if Tara wanted to go shopping. If this kept up, the blonde headed cheerleader would have to seriously consider getting some help for her friend.

"Look, it's not that i'm not having fun. But should we really be doing this now ? Aren't their other things we could do ?"

"Like what," Bonnie asked. "It's not like we can visit Stoppable at the hospital. Kim's nowhere to be seen. And it's not like we can just look up that weirdo who ran into us at the festival."

Well when you put it like that

"So what then, in the meantime we're just gonna shop until something weird happens?"

Bonnie simply shrugged. "You had something better to do ?"

Tara huffed in annoyance. "Okay fine then. At least tell me this. What are we gonna do about that box?"

"Trash it."

Tara's eyes widened. "Wait what?"

"No buts Tara."

"But I didn't say -

"You don't want to deal with it. So we won't, thats all there is to it."

Tara looked at Bonnie in disbelief, a few days ago she was hard pressed to open the box.

"Oh," Tara was at a loss for words. She honestly wasn't expecting that. "That's pretty -

"We don't time for this Tara." Bonnie interjected. "With everything going on. We don't have time to think about some little freak who wanted attention."

She couldn't argue Bonnie's point. After she had a moment to calm down it wasn't hard for Tara to figure out how the guy was able to know so much about them. Basic measurement's aren't really that aren't to find after all. Not to mention both Tara and Bonnie were cheerleaders. Any kind of information about birthmarks wouldn't have been too hard to spot for anyone who went to enough of their games or listened to dirty gossip. Gossip also would answer the stuff he must have known about their families as well.

How he knew about my personal...hobbies is mystery for another day though

Tara heard a slight noise being made in Bonnie's pocket. She took out her phone and stared blankly at the screen for a solid minute. "Look I need to go take care of something," Bonnie said. "Why don't you meet me in the food court in like an hour?"

Bonnie didn't give Tara much of a say in the matter. As soon as she finished her sentence she left the clothes store without so much as a single glance.

"Oh, alright." Tara wasn't sure why she said that. By the time she spoke the brunette had already left.

And with nothing left to do, she merely decided to wander the the lanes of the Middleton Mall. Even though she had already seen it a million times over, she could not help but take in scenery of the Middleton Mall. It was truly beautiful, and the familiarity was always comforting. She didn't really need any cloths, Bonnie was worse than her mother, she would measure out everything for her and tell her exactly what she looked good in and what she looked hideous wearing. Honestly she never actually had to do anything.

Unfortunately sometimes shopping for new clothes felt like a complete waste of time. Because Bonnie and Tara had such similar body measurements, Bonnie would often end up borrowing Tara's clothes and never returning them. So at the end of the day, the two of them would end up buying new clothes just for Bonnie. And Tara would have the ever so lovely privilege of helping Bonnie carry the clothes home, and keeping the ones Bonnie couldn't store in her closet at her home.

In the midst of her walking she wasn't properly paying attention to where she was going, and she walked head first into a tall, lanky boy wearing a large overcoat with a hood covering most of his face. The collision knocked them both onto the ground bringing a great amount of paint as well as embarrassment.

"Oh my Gosh," She said. "I'm so sorry, I am such a klutz. I wasn't looking where I was going. I'm so sorry! I hope I didn't hurt you."

"It's okay, "The hooded figure responded. "I'm not exactly mister coordinated myself."

That voice…

The boy stood up, and slowly removed the hood from his head. His blonde hair fell to his eyes and his brown eyes locked with Tara's. A friendly smile found its way to the boys lips. And in that moment Tara felt her heart stop. She wasn't sure at first. She could hardly believe it. But there was no denying it.

The hair, his eyes. those unbelievably cute little freckles.

"It's really you." She whispered.

"All things considered, I'm pretty accident prone. So it could have been a lot worse." He said, offering her a warm hearted smile. He offered her his hand, but Tara remained frozen in her spot on the ground. After a few minutes the boy's lopsided smile fell from his face.

"Not too use to people helping you up huh?" He retracted his hand in began rubbing the back of his neck. "That's OK, I'm sure you can pick yourself up."

Tara snapped back to reality suddenly realizing she was still in fact on the ground.

"Um…yeah…right"

Smoooooooth Tara…

"Nice to meet you," the boy said looking down on her. "My name's Ron, Ron Stoppable, or at least that's what everyone keeps telling me."

You may not know it. But you are needed for something very important

Aye, locked within you is something very unique

Something protective and deadly

It's what saved your life

And it's what also what may lead you to take the life of another