Chapter 11: Lies Revealed

*En Route to SHIELD Base, nine hours later, currently flying over Pacific Ocean*

Kim adjusted her body again as she tried to find a comfortable position on the hard bench she was sitting on in the back of the SHIELD transport jet. Looking enviously at a comfortable and sleeping Rufus on her backpack, the young woman sighed in defeat for the umpteenth time, recognizing that she just wasn't going to get it. Looking back, she found that her transports from back in the day were much more comfortable. She may have had a bit of a luxury with them, yes...but they did get her to her locations rather quickly, she remembered. Getting into a sitting position and stretching herself, she caught herself in a yawn as she realized something that she never thought about before. How the heck did her transports get her to where she wanted to go so damn fast?!

Taking a look at the sleeping forms of Agents Barton & Wilson, Kim sighed again, but this time out of exasperation. "Seriously, how the heck can they handle sleeping on these things?" she muttered to herself as ruffled her hair.

"Years of being a SHIELD agent and an Avenger will do that to you," Coulson chuckled as he walked over from the cockpit and sat across from her on another bench. Kim shrugged and smirked at that. "Pilot says we'll be touching down on base soon. Shouldn't take much longer, probably within a half hour. The team is either already there or touching down as we speak, one of them arriving the same time we do."

"Good to know," Kim answered as she looked out at the window at the oceans below her. Off on the horizon, she could make out the finality of the sunrise...her second sunrise in just one day. It wasn't often these days that Kim could look out a window and see day turn to night and back in such a short amount of time. It was now reaching evening in Middleton, but out here it was just becoming mid morning. It was a beautiful think, she realized, one of those lesser appreciated aspects of life. Kim's thoughts turned to them reaching base soon, and she realized with a mental scream of glee that she was going to actually set foot on the famed & legendary SHIELD Helicarrier, the headquarters of the world's foremost peacekeeping security force and a place where only the best of the best gadgets and equipment were housed. Kim had dreamed of this moment back in her old days. "So, who are these people, this team you keep telling me about?" Kim asked Coulson.

The older man took on a pensive expression, thinking about how to explain. "Well, I guess you could call them SHIELD's own team of Avengers. The difference is that their existence is kept from the world. They're the team that handles the situations that the Avengers, the X-Men, Team Go and pretty much any other hero team on the planet can't or won't handle. The dirty jobs, the secret jobs, the jobs that would make most men question their own morality and ethics. They are SHIELD's superhuman black-ops strike force, the Secret Warriors."

Kim stared at the man surprise, taken aback by the way Coulson had phrased the functions of this team of people she was going to be working with. A thought then struck her, and a flashback to the day SHIELD found her came to mind as she looked at the sleeping forms of Hawkeye and Falcon. "Wait, does that mean that those two-?"

"Yes, they are," Coulson finished for her. "They may be Avengers, heroes that the world adores and knows would always champion them, but they are also amongst our best in the Warriors. A few members of the team are Avengers, but they were Warriors prior to the formation of the Avengers."

Kim was definitely surprised to hear that; yeah, it was public knowledge that a few of the Avengers had ties to SHIELD or were agents of the agency, but nothing like what Coulson was telling her. And if what he said was true about the functions of the Warriors, then the young woman could definitely understand why the general population didn't know of the team's existence. That kind of stuff coming to light would definitely not be something good for respected superheroes. Shaking that from her head, Kim decided to change the subject. "Agent Coulson, how did SHIELD find me? I cut off everything associated with my old life-networks, contacts, communication, even Wade."

"Well, that's rather easy to answer-we never lost you."

"...wait, what?"

"You think you erased yourself from the grid, and you did, but not from our grid. Kim, we've been watching you ever since you entered college."

"You have? But...why?"

"Well, to keep you safe," Coulson replied. "HYDRA may have tried to hunt you down, and we were right. Not only that, but you made quite a few enemies in your time, Kim, some more powerful than you thought. We've managed to keep you off the radar, even kept you safe from some old faces that were on your trail."

"But...why would you guys concern yourselves with me?" Kim asked, none of this making sense in her mind. "Yeah, I was out there, but I really don't see why SHIELD would bother to keep eyes on me. I mean, in retrospect, a lot of the work I did was more like relief, and when I battled supervillains and thugs, it wasn't as world threatening as some of the other things I've seen happen."

"Actually, you would be surprised," Coulson replied.

"Still, I mean, Global Justice has more connections to me that SHIELD ever had. I would expect this from Dr. Director but not you guys. Haven't they tried to have a say in this kind of thing, or of anything involving me? I mean, Director has a lot of details and files on me, last time I checked. Hell, I'm surprised they never managed to find me." Kim looked at the SHIELD agent and asked, "Coulson, is GJ helping out in this operation with you guys?"

There was a few moments silence, Coulson looking out from the window behind him without answering the red head. She found this a little weird, but before she could say anything else Coulson turned back to her, but Kim was surprised to see a very grim expression on his face. "Kim," he said, "I'm going to let you know right now, within the next hour, a lot of what you have believed to be truth over the last 10 years, much of everything you experienced, you're going to find that they've been far from the truths you thought you knew. You're going to question a lot of what you believe and what you've seen, and you're most likely going to feel a sea of emotions that you haven't been dealing with properly over the last four years. The reason I am telling you this...is because you need to be prepared for what lies ahead in this mission, and be ready to react in the most reasonable way possible."

"What...? Coulson, I may have been a depressed wreck for the last four years, but I think I can handle whatever is coming our way," Kim said, albeit ever so slightly doubtful.

Coulson looked at her, headed off to the cockpit again, but before entering he turned back to Kim and asked, "Are you?"

"That was...a bit unnerving," the red head muttered to herself as she stared down at a still slumbering Rufus. "What did he mean by that?" Kim didn't understand...if these people wanted her specifically, for such a seemingly delicate mission no less, then why would they think that she would react to anything about it in any negative way, or unreasonably? And Coulson's first words rocked her a bit, but they still didn't make much sense...what did he mean by her learning that much of what she knew as truth would be revealed to be far from it? What truths? Was he talking about her life prior to Ron's death? A specific mission? And why did he evade the subject of Global Justice? "Dammit...so many freaking questions, and no answers." Damn spies...oh, wait...

A half hour later, the transport jet began to descend and the pilot alerted them that they were now touching down on base. Kim smiled as she looked out the window; she just couldn't help it, the excitement of seeing the Helicarrier in person in all of its gargantuan and technological glory. A flying ship, who wouldn't want to see that, right? So of course, Kim expected to see them arriving at a flying vessel ready for combat.

Instead...she saw a double decker aircraft carrier anchored in its spot in the Pacific Ocean.

Kim blinked.

"That's...that's base?" she asked, trying to hide her disappointment.

If Coulson knew what she meant, he didn't show it on his face or in his voice as he replied, "That's base headquarters." He then turned to the two sleeping agents and called out, "Barton, Wilson, we're touching down on base." The young woman was surprised to see the two awaken so quickly, as if they were used to catching minimal sleep and waking up on a moment's notice.

Within minutes, the transport jet had landed onto the carrier's deck. As the jumping port door opened, Redwing quickly flew off into the depths of the vessel, but not before quickly nuzzling Kim. She wasn't quite sure of what do now that she had reached where she apparently needed to be, so she waited for Barton and Wilson to get off first. Coulson made to get off next but then waited for Kim. Grabbing her suitcase and shouldering her pack, Kim let Rufus jump onto her shoulder as she joined Coulson in walking off the jet and onto the deck. She was bombarded with the sites of military force all around her. Three different 15-man squads of soldiers and their instructors were doing running drills, there were pilots and mechanics tending to the many jets that were stationed; a number of agents and armed personnel everywhere that Kim turned. Men and women, joined by the cause of world security, walking or talking or working. There were even some vehicles on deck as agents and mechanics used them to do their essential duties, whether depositing the jets to their stations or bringing supplies for those that were departing for missions and operations that were sure to take agents to the more dangerous parts of the world. The command tower also seemed to simply command an aura of respect and authority. Kim couldn't help but be amazed at the sights before her and muttered a simple yet awed, "Wow…"

"Big place," Rufus chirped, shocked at the sight.

"Welcome to HQ, kid," Barton smiled as he walked up next to her. "Your new home away from home. Make yourself comfortable."

"And the safest place on Earth for you right now," Wilson added as Redwing flew back over and perched itself on his shoulder.

"It's...pretty big, I got to say," Kim said, looking at everything that was occurring on the carrier's deck. Coulson then nodded off in a direction, signaling her to follow him. As she walked off after him, with the two other Warriors/Avengers behind her, Kim saw three other women exiting the command tower and walking over in their direction. One woman was Eastern European in appearance, with long hair even redder than her own, with a Kevlar combat suit that fitted her quite well, complete with a combat belt and holsters for guns on her thighs and ankles, and some kind of firing mechanisms on her wrists. The second was was about 5'3" and blonde, with a dark blue & white Kevlar combat outfit with a partially revealed bust, metallic gauntlets on her wrists, a combat belt with two small rods attached and knee high combat boots, all topped off with yellow goggles resting on her head. The third woman was a brunette and wore a sleeveless black Kevlar top that was partially zipped open along, and black Kevlar combat pants with matching boots and leather fingerless gloves.

"Kim Possible," Coulson said as the three women came up to them, gesturing to each of them, "meet Agents Natalia Romanova, Bobbi Morse and Betty Ross, three of your new teammates."

"Pleasure," the redhead as she extended her hand, which Kim took. "Black Widow."

"I'm Mockingbird, but you can call me Bobbi," the petite blonde greeted next before going over to Barton and embracing him.

"Red She Hulk," the brunette, Betty Ross, said as she also shook the young woman's hand. "Glad to have you here. I've heard a few good things about you from the briefings and files."

"Um, thanks," Kim replied with a nervous smile and chuckle. "Glad to be here, too."

"Coulson," Widow said to Coulson, "Fury needs you on the command bridge ASAP. He wants a word with you, Hill and Quartermain."

"Got it. Make sure her things are taken to her quarters before she heads over to the command bridge herself," Coulson said as he took off for the command tower.

"I think Clint and I are going to head off, too," Bobbi said with a smirk as she began pulling the archer off towards the direction of the command tower. "Don't bother waiting for us; we'll meet you in the command center." With that, she and (a rather smug) Barton heading off inside too.

So…" Kim said as she again looked around at the bustle of the air deck. "This is your base HQ, huh?"

"Yup," Ross said as she stepped over to her side. "Not as comfy as my place back in New York, but it is a hell of a place for us." The older woman turned over to see Kim, and she was a bit surprised to see the somewhat disappointed look on her face as she took in the sights. Ross wasn't sure what to make of it until she realized what Kim must've meant by "base," obviously expecting something a lot more well known. "Oh, wait, you were expecting the Helicarrier," she realized as she chuckled slightly. Kim looked at her in surprise before nodding slowly. "Well, actually-"

"Barnes is here," Wilson interrupted as another transport jet suddenly roared over them, descending onto the deck. A medical crew then rushed past the group as it made its way for the now docked jet, its jumping port gate opened. Two heavily armed SHIELD soldiers quickly came off, carrying a third wounded agent and handing him off to the medical crew for immediate transport to the medical wing. As they left, more armed SHIELD troops got off the jet, all looking fatigued and exhausted from what must've been their mission. One of them branched away from the now departing troops and made his way towards the group. He had shoulder-length brunette hair and wore combat goggles and a partial face mask covering his nose & mouth. He wore combat fatigues, geared up as if he had just come back from war. His combat belt was filled with ammo mags, a couple of knives and some other pockets. He also sported side arms on his thighs and his ankle, along with a machine gun holstered on his back. What stuck out most to Kim, however, was the metallic left arm he sported that was decorated by a red star near the shoulder.

He came up to them and removed his goggles and mask, revealing his hazel eyes. "I...freaking...hate Skrulls," he muttered darkly.

"Kim Possible," Wilson said as Natalia embraced the man, "meet James 'Bucky' Barnes, the Winter Soldier."

"Hmm...so this is the famous Kim Possible," Barnes stated as he gave Kim a once over. "I guess she'll do." He extended his robotic hand. "You can call me Bucky."

"Um, ok then," Kim said as she took his hand, "nice to meet you Bucky...wait…you look a bit familiar…" Try as she might, she had no idea where she could've possibly seen this man before in her life. "Have I met you somewhere before?"

"Probably in every history textbook you've read from 6th grade onwards," Bucky shrugged. When he saw that that answer didn't really satisfy the redhead, he sighed and added, "If you ever learned about Captain America, then you've definitely heard of Bucky Barnes, right?"

Kim's eyes widened in shock. "Wait what?! You're...YOU'RE Bucky from the 1940s? I thought...I thought only Captain America was the one that survived-?!"

"Remember those news two years ago about some terrorist group in DC and some guy kicking Cap's ass? That was me," the Winter Soldier replied. "I was found by HYDRA during the war when I was almost dead, the Russians stole me from them near the end of the war and made me an assassin while keeping me in constant stasis. HYDRA stole me back and well...you know the rest."

Kim was...well, being surprised was quite an understatement. She had arrived at SHIELD just minutes ago, and yet she was already having experiences that even her old life as a freelance hero/agent never granted her. Before she could say another word, though, a voice rang out across the aircraft carrier via loudspeakers and intercoms. "Attention all personnel, prepare for immediate takeoff. I repeat, all personnel prep for immediate takeoff. Flight crews 12-19, secure all aircraft. All technicians and mechanics, secure atmospheric protection. All personnel without air deck positions, evacuate outer vicinities. All engines, engaging flight patterns and protocols now."

"Well, that's our cue, boys and girls," Wilson said as he started heading off inside.

"Wait, what's going on?" Kim asked, completely confused. "What do they mean, takeoff-what, are all the jets taking off or something?"

"Nope," Ross smiled as she she guided the young woman to the edge of the carrier. "You were wondering about base, right? Well…" Kim followed her gesture and was completely amazed as she took in the sight of a massive rotary engine emerging from the side of the carrier and activating the ocean water gushing out and cascading downwards as the blades roared to life. The winds instantly began picking more and more, faster and faster as crew members secured the jets and put on air masks. Before Kim knew it, the vessel began rising into the air right out of the water; a feeling of giddiness began rising in Kim again as she and Rufus realized that they weren't on just any old aircraft carrier. They were in actuality on the very vessel that the young woman had wanted to see: the SHIELD Helicarrier.

As the Helicarrier rose higher and higher, Kim followed the other Warriors towards and inside the command tower. Heading into an elevator and heading towards lower levels, the four agents led Kim towards a large room the size of a large gymnasium. There were platforms and various ports for technology with computers, radar screens, communications, and flight guidance technologies. There were dozens of SHIELD personnel going back and forth tending to whatever duties they were in charge of a large amount of chatter going about: some armed guards, some suits, some techies and some regular SHIELD staff. At the end of the room, which Kim assumed was the command bridge center, was a large thickly glass paneled window. Kim was able to make out Coulson speaking with another man, this one wearing standard SHIELD combat gear and with blonde hair, as both were approaching Kim and the others.

An authoritative woman's voice then rang out from near the middle of the room, a sort of stand with state of the art touch screen computer and communications. Something about this woman seemed...somewhat familiar to Kim, but she couldn't place it. The woman was about 5'7" with short brunette hair and dark navy blue SHIELD gear, with two sidearms on her belt and a comm link on her ear. "All systems are functioning at full capacity. All Secret Warriors are present and accounted for on Helicarrier with exception of Agent Strong, currently en route. SHIELD Emergency protocol Alpha-Omega SynTess 335C in full effect as of now. Warriors are on stand by and Subject Chaos," the woman said as she turned to where the group was standing, with her gaze going right for Kim, "is now accounted for." She then looked away. "Engines are fully functional. We're at level, sir."

"Good," a commanding male voice replied as Coulson and the other man gestured for Kim, Betty, Sam, Natalia and Bucky to follow them. Kim turned towards where the voice came from and her eyes found a man that she had heard many things about, things of legend and wonder while also things of controversy and irrationality. This man was African American with an eyepatch, a black leather bulletproof trenchcoat-like jacket, fingerless gloves, black SHIELD Kevlar combat uniform...this man was the legendary Nick Fury, the Director of SHIELD. He was standing on an elevated platform with touch screen computers and communications at both his sides, and the positioning made Kim think vaguely of Star Trek's Captain's Chair.

"Boss," Coulson said, gaining the Director's attention. "We're ready for the initial debrief."

Fury looked towards Kim, nodded, and turned towards one of the suits. "Sitwell, take over for now. Alert me if anything happens." The bald man nodded and Fury left his Director's Stand, approaching the young woman. "Kimberly Ann Possible," he stated as he extended his hand for Kim to take. "A pleasure to meet you. Director Fury, but just Fury is fine...everyone on your team calls me that. This must be Rufus," he added as he looked at the naked mole rat on her shoulder. "I'm glad to have you both on board."

"Um...thanks," Kim stammered back as she shook his hand, her mind currently blown. "I, just um...I'm sorry, this is just waaaay too register right now. I'm meeting THE Nick Fury….yeah, this definitely is not a 'no big.'"

"Well, deal with it fast," the Director said bluntly as he strode past Kim, motioning for the entire group, which now included the brunette from before, to follow him as he headed for the command bridge exit. "We're on a crucial time table and we need your head in the game, now." That definitely surprised Kim, but she nonetheless followed with the others. Within 10 minutes they were all in a conference room located on yet another of the Helicarrier's many levels.

"Alright, first thing's first," Fury said as they all sat down with the exception of him, Coulson and the two others whose names Kim didn't know. "Intros: you've met Wilson, Barton, Romanova, Morse, Barnes, Ross and Coulson. There are others of the team you'll be meeting soon, but for now this is SHIELD Commander Maria Hill and Deputy Director Clay Quartermain." The woman nodded and the blonde man extended his hand which Kim shook. "Alright, now that that's out of the way, we have to get you up to speed on what's going on."

"Yeah, I still don't know what you need me for," Kim interrupted.

"Exactly seven days ago, a HYDRA operative infiltrated a highly protected weapons lab & base on an island off the coast of Fiji, murdering more than half of the base personnel and stealing a weapon that we've been trying to replicate for some time now, in response to a rising increase in extraterrestrial threats to Earth in the last four years. This weapon was the source of conflict in World War ll, and has proven itself to be quite potent. A weapon of this caliber in HYDRA's hands is something we can't afford, and the results will be catastrophic at best, even if it is just a synthetic duplication."

"What kind of weapon are we talking?" Kim asked. This was definitely way above the threat levels of Drakken, Senior Sr. and Dementor.

"It goes by a few names," Coulson said as he gave her some files. "Cosmic Cube being one of the more common ones. We use the name given by the Asgardian race and by various alien races: the Tesseract. It's a limitless source of cosmic energy; the original, now where no one can reach it, was also capable of opening dimensional gates to any point of space. Our replication is only a power source, which we use to power extraterrestrial WMDs."

Kim scanned the files, Rufus muttering to himself as he read along. After a few moments, Kim looked up at the other SHIELD agents and asked, "What the hell were you all thinking when you decided to make this?!"

"Hmm, where have I heard that before?" Natalia smirked.

"We were thinking that the next time a high school student turned amateur secret agent brought about an alien invasion on Earth, we would like to be more prepared," Fury replied to the said amateur in question.

That shut Kim up.

"The artificial Tesseract was one of SHIELD's most well hidden secrets," Hill added. "Only select agents even knew of its existence. Unfortunately, one of those agents was maliciously and horrendously tortured by the same HYDRA operative that struck the base. He's still in our ICU wing."

"And we're still not even sure how he even knew what to look for," Quartermain muttered.

"Alright, look," Kim said as she set the files back on the conference table. "This is a really huge deal, a real big...and you guys definitely need to get this Cube thing back, I get it. I mean, it's HYDRA. What I still don't understand is why the hell you guys need me. You guys are clearly more than perfectly capable of handling HYDRA, which I kind of...well, you know..." Kim really didn't want to relive that memory again, no matter the fact that she was rebuilding herself again. "Where exactly do Rufus & I fit into the picture?"

"This HYDRA operative that took the Tesseract replica," Fury replied, "is currently HYDRA's most deadliest asset. The reason we've asked you to help us out...is because he is tied to your past. In fact, he IS from your past."

...

"I'm...I'm sorry, what?" the redhead stammered. "My past?" A HYDRA operative was tied to her somehow? Did HYDRA get to her earlier than she thought after the Incident?! It couldn't be... "No...no, that's not possible," Kim said, denial coming forth. "I've had no connection with HYDRA at all except for that night."

"We know that, Ms. Possible," Maria Hill said. "However, we also know, with enough evidence to back it up, that someone from your past is now associated with HYDRA as this operative...and it isn't one of your old rogues."

"No, no," Kim insisted as she rubbed her temple. "That just can't be-everyone in Middleton, they aren't like that, even Bonnie wasn't. Everyone was an average cul-de-sac person with an average family. They weren't capable...they aren't capable of that; Wade and I made it a point for him & myself to know that for sure, being what I was in those days. No one from my past could have that in themselves to join up with terrorists like HYDRA. I knew them like the back of my hand-"

"The key word being 'knew,'" Barton interrupted. When Kim turned to him with a shocked look, he continued, "Kid, no offense, but you've been out of the loop for four years, and away from Middleton for the same amount of time. You have no idea how people have changed in that amount of time. You can't just say they aren't like that when you haven't set foot there for four years."

"Da," Natalia added, "and some people have indeed changed. We've kept surveillance in that city for years now, and though you may have been initially-"

"I'm sorry, hold on," Kim interrupted. "You've been keeping surveillance in Middleton for HOW LONG? Have you been watching me since BEFORE the Incident? I can understand Coulson telling between then and now you've been watching me and keeping tabs-!"

"You seemed so surprised," Quartermain mused.

"SHIELD has been keeping eyes on me since who knows how long-!"

"Possible, you were publicly offering your services as an amateur secret agent/hero to the entire planet and heading on numerous 'adventures' and 'missions' with minimal training, and completely pathetic back up, from the age of 14 and engaging in dangerous activities while battling aliens, voodoo magic and obnoxiously pathetic criminals, mutants and superhuman criminals that had the potential of becoming apt at their game," Fury angrily said, shocking Kim and silencing her completely. "Do you know how damn lucky you are that not one of those 'rogues' of yours actually posed a serious threat at the time or never actually struck to take you down at the roots?! I am amazed that Middleton is even still on the map! You acted recklessly and irrationally, playing with forces you didn't have the capability to understand at times and causing the planet to actually come under legitimate threat. It was because of actions like yours that the American government's Superhuman Registration Act almost made it to passage five years ago! The only reasons I didn't go over there and shut you down permanently was because you were handling the problems that we didn't have time for-albeit dangerously so-and because that genius techie of yours somehow kept convincing me that you were doing some real good with what you did."

At those words, Kim had no real response. The main reason being was that Director Fury was, no that she really thought about it, right. Sure, she was a skilled gymnast and acrobat, quite athletic and was a black belt in a few martial arts, not to mention having some kickass equipment, Kim was sorely poorly trained to do what she did. Ron wasn't good backup combat wise, and Rufus was a tiny mole rat. She could count 10 instances in any given moment where she and/or Ron screwed up and actually did get the world legitimately threatened. Thinking back, she had dived intona career that she had no knowledge of and had put her family, friends and her entire home city at risk from that moment onward. She really was being an amateur, her encounter with HYDRA four years ago being the greatest example of that.

Although...there was something that was nagging at the back of her mind after what Fury said...

"What do you mean...Wade convinced you?" she asked.

"I mean exactly that," Fury said. "You never knew this, but the day your website went global, I decided to end your little charade quest before it got even more out of hand. I first went to the kid to deal with that side of the problem. I don't know how he managed, but that boy convinced me that what you were doing was a greater good that this world couldn't afford to lose. Of course, I was still a bit paranoid with the issues of a 14 year old girl going out into the world with barely any training and no competent support-no disrespect to Mr. Stoppable-and the risks involved, so we made a deal: he would be my eyes and ears to your whole operation and game, and SHIELD would provide him with the technology he provided you, along with tutelage under some of SHIELD's best hackers and access to SHIELD networks to help you out."

"...w-what?" Kim stammered; this was too much to grasp. Here these people were saying how stupid she was for doing what she did four five years of her life, then saying how they had been keeping eyes on her for the last 10 years because of that, and now she was being informed that one of the people she trusted completely with her life and with Ron's...was in on it all this time? Did she even know Wade at all? "Wade...Wade was spying on me for you?"

"It was for your own good, Kim."

The young woman snapped her head around at the sound of the new voice as the room's doors shut, a voice that sounded grown up and yet so familiar. The last four years had seen a great change in the arriving 17 year old genius that held a laptop & files in his arm. He had grown six inches, now standing at 5'7", and was no longer chubby. He had grown a bit of facial hair and his short hair had grown to his shoulders. He was more muscled and seemed in well shape. His wardrobe had certainly changed: a blue plaid shirt with the sleeves rolled up and the top button undone, black jeans with matching Converse sneakers, a SHIELD ID with keys & flash drive dangling from his neck...and the Glock on his belt that spoke of just how serious of a job he had. It had been years, but this was still clearly...

"Wade?" Kim gasped as she slowly got up from her chair.

"Hey, Kim," Wade smiled back. "It's good to see you again."

"SHIELD Special Agent Wade McKellar," Fury said, gaining their attention, "arguably our best techie and the Warriors' tech/gadget/communications support."

"Yep," Wade nodded. "After you quit the life, Fury hired me to work with SHIELD officially."

That seemed to remind Kim of everything that had been discussed just moments ago, and a rather angry expression appeared on her face. "So working with SHIELD behind my back wasn't enough?! Wade, I trusted you-Ron and I trusted you, and every day you were reporting back to him and these guys about our everyday lives?!"

"Kim, it was for your own good!" Wade replied as he tried to make Kim understand. "You were going out there virtually defenseless. SHIELD gave me the ability to make sure you were always safe, and put me at ease in at least knowing you and Ron were safe. Director Fury is right, Kim, you weren't exactly smart in doing what you did sometimes. It was either that or they would shut you down, and I believed you were really doing some good."

Kim would admit that she did understand why Wade did what he did, sure, but at the moment the sense of betrayal was just a big too much right now. Pinching the bridge of her nose, she asked, "What else do I not know about this?"

"Oh, quite a lot," Coulson offered. "For instance, every person that transported you and Ron Stoppable to your mission locations was a SHIELD agent." Seeing Kim's shock, he continued, "You offered your services to the world, and many took it up and you never asked questions. Seeing this, we decided it would be a perfect way to keep surveillance and eyes on you. Didn't you ever wonder how you got to your locations in record time with such distances? SHIELD technology at its finest."

"So you were basically having me escorted everywhere?!" Kim asked in disbelief.

"Yes," Fury stated. "We needed as many eyes on you as possible, and that was an opportunity we couldn't afford to not have. Since you weren't going to stop, and since you were actually do SHIELD a favor by dealing with your...'rogues' gallery before they became true threats to world security, I had to make sure you as well protected as possible. That's why we had deployed a number of agents there, started a base there as well...and it's also why, after some hard work and a bit of negotiations with the High Evolutionary, we decided to have Rufus genetically modified and enhanced to act as one of our two main connections to you."

"Wait...what?!"

"Rufus, that little rat on your shoulder," Bucky said. "He's a SHIELD specimen, artificially and genetically modified and enhanced to act as surveillance on you. From the day Stoppable died, he was ordered to stay on as your pet

"Rufus, though Ron didn't know, was SHIELD's best line of surveillance on you," Quartermain added.

"Ok...no, no way," Kim said in denial as Rufus jumped down into the table. "That is bull-Rufus can't be a genetic modification, he can't just be a lab rat posing all this time." She looked at the rodent in question, as if seeking his support and confirmation. What she got instead was a very uncomfortable looking Rufus. "...R-Rufus?"

"Um, actually, it's true," muttered the rodent, but loudly enough for Kim to here.

"You mean...Ron didn't train-all this time-?"

"Stoppable may have taught him two or three things," Quartermain said, "but everything else? Pure SHIELD enhancements."

"Rufus...was genetically designed and enhanced by SHIELD?!" Kim looked at the rodent with hurt. "You've been spying on me for the last 10 years?!"

"What, did you honestly think that the reason that the mole was able to perform any task given was just for show?! Kim, he TALKED, did MATH...mimicked anything you and Stoppable could do. Was there ever another naked mole rat that you met that could do ANY of those things?" Quartermain asked with a deadpanned tone.

"Remember that one time, during your early freshman year," Wilson spoke up, "when Rufus had vanished for more than a week?"

"Yeah, it happened just before one of my major missions," Kim replied. "Ron was extremely upset about it, and he thought Rufus ran away. He was beyond happy when he came back."

"He vanished then because we took him," Barton responded. "Wilson here was the one who got the little guy and brought him in."

"So...all this time..." Kim said slowly as she looked at her pet of four years now. Even this tiny little animal was in on SHIELD's game, too?!

"Sorry, Kim," Rufus chittered sadly. He understood how mad and upset Kim was feeling right now. He had had to live with that secret for years now

"Ok..." Kim sighed with agitation. "So, the entire time I've been out there doing what I did, SHIELD has been watching me and manipulating me at times. So a lot of what I think is true was in fact a damn lie." This was really not her day. Coulson was right; everything she believed in her whole life was falling apart around and before her, and one by one her perceived truths were revealed to be far from that. "Is there anything ELSE you people want to throw in my face about something I believe, that was in fact actually fabricated by SHIELD?"

"Global Justice isn't real," Hill said, enticing a facepalm from the young woman. "That was something else we fabricated; each of the situations where 'GJ' needed you, SHIELD was in a situation where we needed someone unexpected to perform the dirty work, and you fit the bill. SHIELD set up a string of bases in Middleton to ensure your security and keep tabs on you. We didn't want you to possibly know of our involvement with you, so we created Global Justice. Will Du is an alias of one our best agents, Jimmy Woo, who was the one who was assigned to you in your first encounter with Killigan. As for the persona of Dr. Director..." With that, Commander Hill took out an eye patch from one of her pockets and slipped it on.

Kim took a good look and muttered, "Of course...why not?" Now she knew why Hill looked so familiar: she had played as Dr. Director. In actuality, that revelation made a lot of sense. Although...it took the revelation to to actually recognize that little detail. But that wasn't important right now. "Is there anything else I know about?"

Kim rubbed her temple with closed eyes, so she didn't see the glances that flew across the table. This was it...

"There is one more thing, actually," Quartermain said at last.

"Figured," the young redhead sighed. "Just get it over with so we can get along with this mission."

"I understand that you may feel that way," Fury said as he said directly in front of Kim, "but, this subject is a delicate matter, not just possibly for all of us, but especially for you. Kim...do you remember that night four years ago, the night that everything went to hell for you?"

The entire conference room was silent, awaiting Kim Possible's answer. Kim, right now, was feeling the mess of emotions she had been quelling since she decided to help out SHIELD. Flashbacks and memories flooded back into her mind. Nick Fury just asked her if she remembered that night of the Incident. Was Fury crazy in asking her that?!

"How could I not?" Kim said softly as her eyes slowly began to water. "That was the worst night of my life, the night that I screwed up big time, and like never before..."

XXXXXX-A/N-XXXXXX

And with that, boys and girls, next chapter is when we witness first hand just what happened on that night when Ron Stoppable died. I promise you, it will be amazing!

Now, what'd you think of this chapter? The arrival of Kim was clearly inspired by the Avengers "Helicarrier" scene, and I provided some (hopefully) reasonable explanations as to why everything that happened in the KP show would make sense in this universe. And yes, Wade is here in the story, too! And Rufus is a SHIELD enhancement...how did you like the revelations?

Next chapter, the Incident! Until next time, readers.