Special Shouts to my Betas CajunBear73 and Sentinel103 for both the beta work and being one of my few regular reviewers along with Screaming Phoenix. Thanks y'all.

Chapter 12

Ron and Kim were watching as someone they had only known for less then 48 hours teetered on the edge of breaking down. Seeing the normally stoic, expressionless young man that had threatened to taze Ron without blinking despite his MMP, had fought hand to hand with enough skill to make Kim sit up and take notice, had been on more lethal combat missions then Team Possible could conceive of, who was willing to either lead or be lead as the situation warranted, now displayed a heart wrenching grief that was more than enlightening. It showed Kim that he wasn't just a heartless casual killer and Ron now knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that the Soldier knew, he KNEW, what Ron was going through.

Kaname could see that Sousuke was barely holding it together. She had stayed at his apartment for a few days after he returned from the mission to the mountains of his adopted homeland. He only got four or five hours sleep a night, and that in fits and starts. He would wake up screaming, shouting orders and reports to no one. "Zaid!!! Ammunition down to 60 percent. Hang on, Grey. I'm on the way! GAUUUUROOOONNN!!"

Just the little bit he had told her about was almost enough to give her nightmares, too. Seeing Lieutenant Wiseman's A.S. that Gauron had crucified against a boulder and being forced to leave the Indian Ocean SRT behind in unmarked graves was something that still haunted Sousuke nearly two years later.

Mao dropped the Sergeant Major routine and became Melissa, Sousuke's friend. "Sousuke, no one would blame you if you want to turn this one down."

"NO! When and where do I report, Sergeant Major?

"Are you sure, Sousuke?"

"I failed them before! I will NOT fail again! I owe her this!"

"Sousuke, we've talked about this. I've read your report and seen the records of all A.I.s you recovered. You did everything humanly possible to make the mission a success and bring them home. You can have the best battle plan in history and it may not matter. Remember the 'First Law of Battle'. 'Every battle plan gets fucked up when the Enemy arrives, that's why he's called the Enemy.' It wasn't your fault, Sousuke."

"But I could have…"

Melissa interrupted him, "Done nothing else, except learn from what happened. Most of the mistakes on that mission were made by those arrogant idiots on the Indian Ocean SRT. We sent them an expert on both the terrain and the target; and they refused to listen to him because he was only 17. That's-not-your-fault! Do you copy, Sergeant?"

"I copy, Sergeant Major." Everyone could see that while he said it, he didn't really mean it. "When and where do I need to report, Sergeant Major."

Sigh, "She's being transported here from Malacca through Sydney. You'll meet up with her and your detail here in about four days."

"Detail?"

"You know the reg's Sousuke. KIA's will be escorted by no less then a four man detail."

Kaname could see that Sousuke wasn't happy about that and asked what would prove to be fateful question. "Can I help?"

Everyone just looked at her. Sousuke was too stunned to speak and Kim and Ron didn't know what to say, so they just watched things develop. Mao recovered quickly and said, "What do you mean, Kaname?"

"Can I be one of the escorts." Glancing from the screen to Sousuke and back, she continued, "I really think Sousuke should be around friends instead of strangers for this. And if I'm there, he'll at least have one!"

Ron spoke up then, "Make that two! I want in." The Soldier had proved he could help him and Ron wanted to return the favor.

"Three!" Kim wasn't about to let Ron go without trying to make things right.

Mao didn't let it show, but she was finding Sousuke's discomfiture to be highly amusing. With a huge smile, she said, "I'll have to clear it with Command. But both Sousuke and I have an in with them, so I don't see any problems there."

Kaname answered for the overwhelmed Soldier, "Thanks, Melissa. And don't worry, I'll take care of this baka."(idiot)

"I know you will, Kaname. I'll let you know in about eighteen to twenty-four hours, that'll still give you about seventy-two hours to get ready and get here. Any questions?"

Sousuke was still floored by the offers of help he had just received and could only stammer out, "N-n-n-no Sergeant Major."

**********

From there things moved fast on Melissa's end. After talking Sousuke and Co., following orders and even though it very early in the morning she called Tessa, who called and woke Lord Mallory, who contacted Doctor Director. And between the three of them they hatched a workable plan. And just like any plan, there were a few……sticky parts. And the problem would be Team Possible.

For Kim, she would have to be under the command of the Veteran, and Betty wasn't sure just how that would work. Kim had always been the Alpha of a very small pack on missions. A pack consisting of three people and a mole rat. Missions came in and Team Possible reacted, without much oversight and guidance, from anyone. Kim had never operated in a formal command structure, and that was what worried Betty. As strange as it was to admit it, Ron was a better prospect for G.J. than Kim for that very reason. Although he could act independently if he had to, he was used to being under someone else's orders. Kim wasn't. (A.N. Think about and you'll know I'm right.)

As for Ron, it was a different situation. The plan called for the team to pose as U.S. Soldiers. Sousuke would have his G.J. rank of Staff Sergeant (E-6) Both Kim and Ron were to be E-4's, but since Kim had the most experience and Leadership skills, she was given a lateral promotion to Corporal (E-4) and Ron would be a Specialist (E-4), leaving Kaname as a PFC (E-3). Betty even decided to let the three civilians keep the ranks on reserve status after the Escort mission was completed

The problem for the guys was they would have to look the parts. That included haircuts to (Army Regulations) AR-670-1 regulations, meaning 'High and Tights'. For the girls all they would have to do was put their hair up into a bun in back of the berets and the Da Dannan Command Staff didn't doubt for an instant that Sousuke would go along with the reg's. Whether or not Ron would be willing to comply was something they would have to find out. Betty decided she would call the two of them in and talk Kim about it and impress upon her the importance of following the Sergeant's orders, particularly in public. And find out if Ron was willing to comply with AR-670-1. The following morning, Wade contacted Kim and let her know that G.J. wanted to talk to her and Ron about the Duty they had volunteered for.

But that was in the future. For now Sousuke, Kaname and Team Possible (tentatively reconstituted) had to deal with other issues.

**********

Kim and Ron watched as Kaname gently took Sagara by the arm and lead him to the dinner table. Along the way they could tell she was whispering to him, just not what she was saying. The only part they heard was a fierce, "You're not alone, Sousuke. Do you hear me?"

When she saw the virtual screen fade out and the miniature screen on the device pop up Kim picked up the Kimmunicator to see a text message from Wade.

Kim, Sorry about interrupting your talk with Ron, but something told me that Sagara's call was important. I guess I was right.

Ron said he got a flash drive from Senior with information on it that he wanted me to look over. Could you get it from him?

Not wanting to intrude on the couple, Kim tapped Ron on the shoulder and showed him the text. Ron fumbled in his pocket and pulled out the flash drive and handed it to her. She plugged it in and hit the call button. The light on the drive pulsed for a moment and a new text popped up.

Thanks, I'll look this over and get back to you. Tell Ron to turn off his phone and after you hang up restart the Kimmunicator. I'm catching traces of an intermittent tap on the lines. The restart will cause the frequency and encryption codes to reset to new ones.

Also tell Ron I'm sending him a Kimmunicator. The encryption and security on his cell isn't going to cut it with this tap. I'm trying to find the source, but they're really good. Will let you know when I find something out.

Kim showed Ron the new message and tapped a quick text to Wade

Stand by Wade, let me and Ron get outside.

Kim led Ron to the patio leaving the door open and restarted the Kimmunicator. Once it rebooted, she hit the call button again. Wade's image popped up and Kim said "Alright Wade, what do you have on the tap sitch?"

"Not sure Kim. It's random and it never lasts more then a few seconds. It's barely long enough to get your GPS position, if that. It doesn't make any sense. It's like they tap and listen for a second, then kill the tap. They just seem to be monitoring the phone status and position at random intervals."

The word 'monitoring' set off alarms in Kim's mind. Where had she heard about monitoring cells before, recently? Where?! "Of course! Wade, could the tap be coming from inside G.J., say the A.I. of Sagara's machine? He left orders for it to monitor both of their phones for security reasons. Maybe it's tapping ours as well."

"Maybe, like I said, it's very random and hard to pin down. I'll do what I can to lock it down. Anything else?"

A masculine voice from out of nowhere caused all three to jump, "Al is monitoring your communications on a random basis under my orders."

Ron could hear the growl from Kim and he deflected her by asking in a calm voice, "Why?"

"For your own protection."

Before Kim could get her mouth open he calmly asked "From who?"

"Please come inside, Kaname has dinner ready. We can talk about it there." He addressed the Kimmunicator, "Load-sensei, would you please stay online as this concerns you as well?"

Wade was a bit confused, but answered, "Yeah, sure."

Sousuke motioned them to the open door of the patio and Kim said "After you." He had just fallen back into the untrustworthy file as far as she was concerned. When Sousuke started towards the door she heard Ron saying, "Dude's like a ghost. I never heard anything. Kim, look at this roof, it's tar and pea gravel. It should be almost impossible to move up here without making some kind of noise."

"I know, he did the same thing to me yesterday. Scared me out of my wits. Come on, let's go get some answers." she growled.

Sousuke was standing behind a seat at the table waiting for the rest of them to enter and Kaname was bringing in a tureen of stew. There was a platter of breads already on the table and the places were set with a large bowl and both Western and Japanese utensils. Kaname set the tureen in the center and asked what the Americans wanted to drink. She disappeared into the kitchen and retrieved the requested sodas and a pot of tea for her and Sousuke.

Kim placed the Kimmunicator on the edge of the table and the virtual monitor appeared again, showing Wade and his ever present super-sized Slurpster. Once they were seated and had food in front of them Kim, in an irritated voice asked, "Alright, why do you have that A.I. tapping our communications?"

After the past 24 hours, Ron was willing to cut the Japanese pair some slack, Sousuke in particular. "Calm down, Kim. Something tells me he's got a good reason. Sagara?" Kim was a bit tweaked at Ron's interference with her interrogation, but the glare bounced off Ron like a pistol round off a tank.

"Load-sensei, I understand you spoke with Kaname at length today."

"Yeah, we did."

"And she explained what was involved with the Whispers?"

"Yeah."

He looked back at the pair, "And that is the reason I had Al monitor your communications."

Both Kim and Ron went, "Huh?" Kim almost called a jinx, but broke off at the last second. Over the last year the jinx prize had changed from sodas to kisses. And she was pretty damn sure she wasn't going to get payment for a while, if ever.

Sousuke, backed by Kaname and to a certain extent Wade, went on to give a basic explanation of the Whispers and what they involved. The threat to them by terrorist's and other groups like the KGB and NKVD. How those groups and people like Gauron and Leonard Testarossa kidnapped them and pulled the information out of the minds of Whispered like squeezing juice from an orange leaving behind a trembling wreck of a shattered psyche. He told them of Sarah Miller, an American Whispered girl he had rescued just before being assigned to Tokyo to guard Kaname. How she seemed intent on chewing off her own hand after her treatment at the hands of the KGB just to stop the waking nightmare she was in.

Kim was disbelieving, "This is a joke right? I mean it has to be. How could people possibly get away with something like that. And that still doesn't answer why you're tapping our channels"

Ron figured it out and started to get angry and upset. "You're here to protect Wade aren't you? What was all that crap about being here to help me?"

"As I informed Possible-san, my mission here is multi-part. Part of it is to assist you through your time of recovery following your actions on your Graduation Day, another is to try and help Possible-san with her views on lethal force. The third and most important is to protect Load-sensei, especially in view of the fact that Team Possible has fallen apart in the last few months, removing a large portion of his security."

Both of them just gaped at the Soldier. He was demonstrating just how strong he was, not physically, but mentally and emotionally. Not ten minutes before he seemed to be having a breakdown, and yet now he was calmly briefing them on threats to their friend, Wade Load, Super Genius. His words on the plane came back to Ron like a hammer to the forehead.

Learn to think your way through the danger.

There is nothing wrong with being afraid for yourself or others, but you can't let the fears control you.

I control my fear, I do not let it control me.

These were not just platitudes to calm him down, Sousuke really meant them. And like a light going on in a dark room, Ron could see that he just wasn't talking about fears, but all the emotions. It wasn't that he didn't feel the emotions, he just refused to let them influence his actions when he had a job to do.

"With the security breakdown, he is at a much greater risk of being captured. Also the two of you would be primary targets in any attempt to capture him. The possibility that one of you would be captured to force the other out into the open where all of you could either be captured or killed is a distinct possibility."

Sousuke's words hit the team like a sledgehammer. He continued to lay out the possible threats against them. "Consider this, one of you is captured and threatened with bodily harm unless the other surrenders. An early warning of the capture could make all the difference in a rescue attempt. This is why I had Al monitor your communications, just as I have him monitor both mine and Kaname's. Do you recall the list of contacts I gave him if a discrepancy was detected."

Kim answered him, "I remember you giving him a list, but not who was on it."

"Four of the first five people on that list are sitting in this room. That should give you a measure of consolation as to my intentions. I have placed both my safety and that of Kaname in your hands as well as taking responsibility for some of yours."

"Who was the fifth?"

"Commander Director."

"And the rest of the list?"

"With the exception of one person, it consists of people I have trusted with my life. And the last is the Commander of the team that would most likely be called for a rescue attempt or assault strike. I take Kaname's safety very seriously. These are the people I have trusted to keep her safe. I even had Eleanor built with her safety in mind. And I have placed the two of you near the top of her line of defense. Does this not earn me a measure of trust?"

Kim and Ron looked at each other and even with the recent troubles between them, they still shared an almost telepathic contact built over nearly 15 years of playing together, working beside each other, fighting side by side and each other and trusting each other with their lives; for a long second, they communicated.

Ron/ I trust 'em/

Kim/ I don't know/

Ron/ I do, I get a weird vibe from him, but not a bad vibe/

Kim/ Are you sure/

Ron/ Yeah, there's no bad road here/

Kim/ OK/

"All right dude, but no more hiding the taps."

"Understood, Stoppable-san. You have no objections to continuing them?"

Ron and Kim looked at each other again, "No, you're right, Wade's safety is too important."

"Very well." He looked at Wade's image, "Load-sensei?" The time had come.

"Ye, Ye, Yes." Wade was still shocked by his friends willingness to give up some of their privacy for his safety.

"I have a space in the basement of this building that is 30 feet by 75 feet with armor reinforced walls and ceiling, a full sized freight elevator, three 880 volt electrical connections and a T-3 line waiting for someone to put it to use. There is also a garage that has room for at least 6 full sized vehicles, a full lift and six ton overhead crane. Considering your agoraphobia and the need to keep you safe, would you be willing to put all that space and equipment to use? You would be able to continue any experiments and tech development you wish. And from what I understand, one end of the room is adjacent to the parking lot out side if you feel the need to expand your labs."

Except for Kaname, they were all floored by the offer. "Are you offering me a place there? But what about my parents?"

"Consider this, if you're not in your parents home, that would help keep them and your neighbors out of the line fire if an enemy attempts to capture you. If you accept you would be able to install any security measure you deem necessary, above and beyond the ones already in place here." Sousuke gave him a file address on a G.J. server. "Please look that over and delete the files from G.J. once you have them on your systems."

Wade started hammering away on the keyboard, looking for the buildings specs. "WOW! You don't play with security do you, Sergeant? Kim, Ron, I doubt if Rufus could get in there undetected."

"What?!" Kim exclaimed. Ron was dumbfounded.

"Cameras, at least three on every corner and two in the center of the outside walls, and two cameras in each corner in all the public areas inside, all monitored by an offline computer. I couldn't hack into them. HVAC ducts too small for any human and with electrified grating to prevent animals from getting past. Sentry guns at strategic positions both inside and out with shock and stun capability."

"All the walls threaded with alarm wiring to prevent someone from bypassing the doors and windows. Once the doors and windows are closed, they use contact switches instead bypassable magnetics. All the windows and doors have armor shielding; either built-in for the doors or automatically dropping into place for the windows. All the alarms are monitored by a separate offline computer that has a battery backup good for 48 hours. According to the prints, there are even plans in place to have the lab set up to handle NBC atmospheres."

"Guys, you could get in, but you couldn't get in undetected."

Sousuke added, "The security measures are aimed at detection. Stopping an enemy is my job. Once Load-sensei is in his laboratory and activated the lock-down, it would take a well equipped, determined enemy anywhere from 60-90 minutes to break in and capture him alive. In that time reinforcements will have arrived."

Kim added "What if they just want him dead?"

"10 minutes to place enough explosives to level this building, however it would take a lot more than that to breach his defenses. I estimate it would almost take a mini-nuke to collapse the laboratory."

"If these specs are correct, he's right."

"In addition, I am extending the offer to the two of you as well. We are closer to the campus we will all be attending than either of your homes. There is space in the garage for all of our vehicles with room to expand." Kaname could see the smirk no-one else could. "The kitchen would be open to you at all times, Stoppable-san. You would not have to share a bathroom with three other males Possible-san. And the two of you would also be available to defend Load-sensei, if necessary."

Sousuke might have been clueless, but he wasn't stupid. Part of getting these two to patch up their team was getting them talking, and living under the same roof would be a good place to start. Kaname had informed him that Kim really wanted to fix the situation between her and Ron. He didn't ask how she knew this, but he trusted her judgment.

Kim was about to say 'I don't know.' when Ron jumped in.

"I'm in. What's my rent going to be?" As much as he had enjoyed staying with his Uncle Roger, the thought of the kitchen and Dojo, coupled with the garage, was too much to pass up. Besides, Rog would understand.

"You supply your talents in the kitchen, police up after yourself, assist with cleaning the common areas and meet with me once a day for a training regimen designed by Toshimaru-sama."

"That's it?!"

"No objections would be made if you wished to purchase your own food, but essentially, yes."

"BOOYAH! The Ronster's got an apartment! Tomorrow night I'm making dinner." Ron looked at Kaname, "After tasting this stew you can help!" Then he looked at Sousuke and aimed a thumb at Kim, "Your job is to keep her out of the kitchen!"

Hearing a growl from the side he looked over and said, "One word, Kim, Cuisinart!"

The redhead went chalky so fast Kaname asked, "Are you OK?"

"Yeah, I'll… stay out here."

Sousuke asked "So will you accept our offer."

How she kept the 'Well DUH, Ron'll be here' look off of her face will forever remain a mystery to her. But pride forced her to play it off. "It would be a lot closer to the school, I'll have my own parking space inside a garage for the winter time and I won't have the Tweebs trying to drive me nuts."

Sousuke looked confused "Tweebs?"

"My brothers, twins, dweebs, Tweebs!"

"I see, a derogatory metaphor."

"Close enough. What's my rent going to be?"

"Stay out of the kitchen, police up after yourself, assist with cleaning the common areas and meet with me once a day for training."

"And that training consists of…?"

You will assist me with improving my hand to hand skills and I will teach the both of you firearms safety, marksmanship, and basic A.S. Operations.

"Why firearms and A.S. ops?" Even with all she had learned and thought about in the last 48 hours, Kim still wasn't comfortable with the idea of lethal force. She was beginning to accept the necessity of it, but that didn't mean she liked it.

"Having a skill does not mean you have to use it, Possible-san. It merely gives you more options in battle. If you are forced to use a weapon, though, it's best if you have the skill to go with it. And to be honest not only do we have to be ready to protect Load-sensei, there is also the threat against Stoppable-san by the Nazi's…"

"NAZI'S. THREATENING RON?!?!"

"Yes, Nazi's, threatening Stoppable-san's family. That was the reason the Senor wished to see him. These are people that will attack with everything at their disposal. We have to be prepared to do the same."

Sousuke and Ron went on to tell the girls about the mission to Senior's Island. And the information they had received from him. Upon hearing this, Wade went into overdrive trying to glean the smallest scrap of information from the data off of the flash drive.

They continued to discuss things over the rest of their dinner. Kim had told them that she had a quick mission to Drakken's place, ostensibly to check on the former villains and make sure they weren't hatching a take-over-the-world scheme, but not the entire reason.

Just after dessert, Kim dropped her bombshell. She was taking a page from Ron and hoped to lessen the tension with a small joke. It was also time for a little revenge. Little did she know how large this explosion was going to be. "By the way, Sagara. Shego said she wanted to meet you."

"Why would a former terrorist wish to meet me? They usually wish to avoid meeting me."

"Well, she said she wanted to sleep with you."

Pandemonium ensued from Kaname. She was choking and sputtering while she scowled at the other girl.

Clueless, Sousuke asked, "But why would she wish to repose with me. I normally sleep on the floor."

Ron groans, "Oh man, not again." Kaname just drops her head into her hands while Kim just stares blankly, jaw hanging. Wade was sitting on the monitor blinking. Even the thirteen year old caught it. Ron now steps in and tries to answer, "Uhhhh, I, hmmmm." Looking at the other three, he says, "A little help here?!" The girls aren't touching it. Kim, still staring at Sousuke, vigorously shakes her head and Kaname is still hiding her face in her hands, but you could see she was blushing to the hairline. Wade? Oh! Well, there's no help there. "Oh come on! I can't believe this is happening again. Alright. Look dude, it's another metaphor. Think about it!!!!"

Looking around Sousuke tried putting two and two together. It took a minute, but from Kaname's blush, Kim's shocked, open mouth look, Wade's blank stare and Ron's reticence, he started to get the clue. You could see the blush rise from his neck to his ears and hair. Looking back at Kim, he gulped and said, "Please thank her, but although she may be 'HOT' as Stoppable-san says, I shall have to decline her generous offer."

Ron thought Sousuke was either really brave or really stupid! Probably a little of both.

Wade rapidly said "It'sgettingclosetomybedtime. Talktoyouguystomorrow, byyyeee." with that the virtual monitor blinked out.

Hearing that Ron had called Shego hot, Kim was NOT amused.

Hearing 'generous offer', neither was Kaname.

The green-eyed monster had struck the two girls. Kim stared at Ron with flashing eyes and a grim expression. Ron, however, was in a good position to disregard Kim's opinion at the moment. He just LOOKED at her and said "What?" and after a second he added, "Oh, I get it. You're mad." Looking at the couple he asked, "Could you guys excuse us for just a moment?"

Seeing the incipient explosion, Kaname cooled quickly, grabbed Sousuke's arm and bolted to the garage. "Come on, Sousuke. We need tooooo…., fill Eleanor's gas tank."

"But Kaname, I thought you just….."

"Let's go, Sousuke!" In a surprising display of strength, Kaname dragged him the rest of the way to the stairs.

Seeing the pair disappear behind the door, Ron turned back to Kim. "Now that the innocent bystanders are out of the way. WHAT, is your problem?"

"Ron, how could you possibly call SHEGO, hot?! Do you have any idea how gorchy that sounds?" Kim was starting to yell. And here she had just got back from a mission where the mint hued villainess had threatened to try and seduce him. GRRRRRRRRRR!!!

Ron looked back with a 'Say What?' expression. "Why are you mad?!?!"

"I'm not mad, Ron! This is Shego we're talking about!"

"SO?"

"Grrrrrrr, Shego, Ron, the villainess?"

Ron was truly confused now. "Again, SO? The fact she's wicked bad doesn't change the fact she's wicked bad."

"GRRRRR."

"What is your problem! I seem to remember a couple a years ago someone complaining that their oh so dreamy boyfriend was all dreamy minded! So I don't know why you're getting your tweak on! It's the same thing!"

"I am not getting a tweak on! And it's not the same thing! Mankey was lost in ArtWorld and Shego's tried to take over the world, it's two completely different things!"

"No, it's not! As much as I don't like the guy, I'll admit the girls think he's to die for, no matter how spacey he might be! And the fact Shego's 'Evil' doesn't change the fact that she's HOT!"

"ROOONNNN!"

Waving a finger in Kim's general direction, "Ya know? I think I'm gonna nip this in the bud right now. What business is it of yours, who I call 'Hot'? Last time I checked, I was a single man." He then put his hand to his face in a very sarcastic thinking pose. "Come to think about it, I'm pretty sure I still am! I used to have girlfriend, but she dumped me when things got a little rough!!"

Kim was in tears now, the dumping comment hit her hard, but Ron wasn't letting up. "I really could a used her help!!! But She Left Me Hanging!!! NOW MY EX IS GETTING MAD CAUSE I CALLED ANOTHER GIRL HOT?!?!"

"I'm not mad Ron, I'm jealous!"

Ron was stopped in mid-tirade, "Huh? OK, now I'm really confused. What do you have to be jealous of? We're not together anymore. And mind you, it wasn't my idea."

"DON'T YOU THINK I KNOW THAT?! I SCREWED UP, OK!!!"

"I mean first you go all floaty blue and throw those two a couple a thousand feet into the sky, Ron, I can't throw a baseball that far across the ground, let alone a couple of aliens that weighed more then 300 pounds apiece. But you threw them straight up into, not on, but into, as in through, the hull of their spaceship, killing them. Then you nearly flip out and go all Conan the Barbarian on Dementor and his crew of goons."

This rant by the red-headed girl has been a long time building.

"It took a while but I think I finally understand why! And you know who was the one that explained it? Kaname. You wanna take a guess as to how she explained it. Two words, Ron. That's it, just two words. 'How far?' And she scared me, Ron. I was frightened out of my wits by a girl our age asking me a simple question. 'How far?'."

Kim was truly on a roll by now and getting more upset by the second.

"How far would you be willing to go to protect your family, your friends, the people you love. Would I die for them? As many missions as we've been on you can guess the answer to that one. As many times as we've been blasted, blown up, beaten up, sent into TV Trash Heap, had stun staves, lasers and doom rays pointed at us, of course I was willing to die to protect you and Mom and Dad and the Tweebs and the rest of the world."

"But taking a life, Ron. It never really clicked, until last night when my Dad, the only man beside you that I've never really seen get angry, James Timothy Possible, Rocket Scientist, my Daddy, said that if he had to, if if if if he'd been in your place, he'd have done the same thiiiiinnnnng." she was wailing now.

No matter how mad or upset he might have been, there was no way Ron could stand to see anyone in this much hurt. And during his talk with Wade (OK, listening as Wade reamed him a new one), the boy had pulled some surveillance videos from the mall. Specifically the inside of Club Banana during Kim's near explosion on Monkey-boy, including the camera from inside the security storeroom. So he knew she was hurting about what happened.

He pulled her into his chest and started to stroke her hair, shushing her. She could feel the whip cords of muscle he had put on in the last year, most of it in the last couple of months. She started muttering into his mission shirt in one long breathless rant, "I'm so sorry, Ron. But I didn't know what was happening or what to do and it all just happened so fast and you were changing and I couldn't do anything about it and I didn't know how to take it and and and…"

"Shoooshshshsh, calm down!"

"But, Ron, I have messed us up sooooooo bad, and I really want my bestest friend again and I don't know how to make it up to him and I really really want to and and ..

"Kim, calm down."

This was a Ron she wasn't use to seeing, a calm Ron, a strong Ron who seemed to know what to do. Not the guy who was afraid of everything from simians to flickable bugs, with more insecurities than any five other people put together. And as much as the changing Ron frightened her and challenged her world view, she felt safe for the first time in months because she knew without a shadow of a doubt, this man would do anything and everything to protect her from anything and everything.

The arms she felt holding her was something she had almost given up on. The only place she felt this safe was in her fathers arms when she was a little girl. In a lot of ways it was better than being in her Daddy's arms. Ron had really seemed to be acting like a grown man in the last few months.

Like an obstinate puzzle that suddenly snaps into place, CLICK!!!!

She gasped. With huge eyes and open mouth, she drew back and just stared up at him. Ron had been acting like a grown-up?! It had happened without her even noticing it. And suddenly her words from a year and a half ago flashed in her mind, like one of Drakken's Death Rays, sending her back to the days just before their Junior Prom when she had been like a crushing sheep for something that wasn't even real. 'Time to grow up, Ron!' She threw herself back into his chest and started wailing afresh, "I'm Sorry, I'm Sorry, I'm Sorry, I'm Sorry, I'm soooooo Sorrryyyyy."

Ron was bewildered, 'What the Hell? What just happened? I nearly had her calmed down, and now this?!?!'

"Kim, Kim calm down, please, come on KP, calm down."

She barely heard it, but it was there. The syllables she wanted to hear even more than 'I Love You', he called her 'KP' for the first time in months and it sent her deeper into his arms crying harder than before.

Ron had no idea what to do, so he just stood there, holding the distraught young woman. Looking around he spied the couch and started leading her towards it, whispering, "Come on over here, come on, shhhh, it'll be OK." Settling on the couch she wasted no time in worming her way onto his lap and sobbed.

They just sat there as he tried to comfort her enough to where they could talk.

**********

Sousuke and Kaname had gone to the garage where Kaname confronted him about his comment.

With flashing eyes and in Japanese, she asked, "What do you know about 'HOT' girls, Sousuke?!"

"UHHHHHHHH!"

"WELL?!?!"

Somewhere Sousuke found a crowbar to get his foot out of his mouth, "Uhhh, Only that you're the HOTTEST girl I know!"

Kaname was stunned. 'He'd done it! He'd actually done it! He dug himself out of the hole he was in. Again!' With one of her patented 'Kaname Chidori Sunbeam Smiles', "And don't you forget it, Sousuke. Come on, let's go start putting the Armory together." Sousuke just closed his eyes and with a VERY silent sigh thought 'Furniture moving, great! I can only hope she doesn't want to rearrange the rifle racks.'

They walked over to the pallets that contained his weapons and ammo supply. Using a pallet-jack they maneuvered the heavy crates on to the freight elevator. They descended into the basement and moved the crates in front of the vault door. Taking care to make sure each weapon was cleared, they started setting them into the racks along the walls. It was an impressive collection. Rifles, pistols, automatic machineguns, grenades of every sort, you name it, he had it!.

Once they had the armory loaded, Sousuke pulled out his Glock and checked the loads and action. Satisfied with what he saw, he looked at Kaname. She caught the look, he wanted to pop some rounds in the range. "All right. Three magazines, no more! It's been a really long day."

"Will you join me?"

Kaname blushed and she remembered his training her, him standing behind her, his arms around her, pressed up against her, forcing her feet, body and arms into the proper firing position. She had really come to enjoy practicing with him, and she wasn't sure if he was offering training or training. But either way it would be fun.

"Sure"

**********　

AN. For anyone that would like to know more about Sagara, Kaname, Mithral and Full Metal Panic in general then check out www(.)jindai-high(.)com for a basic overview of the characters, plot lines, equipment and general history of the Full Metal Panic stories. Also google FMP and check out the wiki links