New Hottie In Town, Kind Of

by Nftnat

After Wannaweep, the squad has been noticing Ron, as in NOTICING him. Will Kim freak when she finds out? Will she jell?

Hello, folks. We'll get back to Why Didn't You Tell Me? after this one-shot break. I was inspired by Aero Tendo's 'L At Camp Wannaweep', and to a lesser extent by the numerous post-Wannaweep fics I've read. There was also a couple of scenes in KiRonBon in which some of the cheerleaders speculate on what if they'd known just how Ron was going to turn out back then. That said, it was AT's latest that pushed me over the edge, and I told him I'd blame him, so it's his fault, there.

This is not a TaRoniverse fic, just a little one-shot which could spin off into who-knows-what. A who-knows-what one-shot, if you will.

o

Kim Possible and all Kim Possible characters and concepts are created by and copyright Schooley-McCorkle and the Invincible Empire of the Mouse.

o

Kind of New Hottie In Town

o

It was a week after their unfortunate camp experience, and the cheer squad had come out of it apparently none the worse for wear. Even the Mad Dog mascot - who had been the most affected and whose psyche had endured quite the roller-coaster ride among them - seemed to have recovered, after a few servings of Bueno Nacho and a good night's sleep or two.

If Kim Possible had paid more attention, though - if it had occurred to her to go 'mission mode' on the squad - she might have noticed an occasional signal. Her best friend had been the unwitting object of geometrically more looks from the members than usual, although admittedly that's not saying much. There had been hushed comments whispered behind hands, sometimes occurring simultaneously with a brace of those looks, sometimes not. The occasional giggle could be heard. Two of the squad - the ones whose trip to the little girls' cabin had been interrupted - could be seen in a quiet and intense discussion. In fine, enough to catch the attention of someone whose attention is already caught; but if you don't know to notice something, you usually don't, so Kim didn't.

o

One night the entire squad - with a couple of notable exceptions - was online and in a chat. The squad did that on a regular, in different configurations. This night, once six of the eight regulars had logged in, they noticed who was there and who wasn't, and their online thoughts soon turned to the newest hot topic among the cheerleaders.

chat: gogomaddogs (joined in progress):
MofLandM: Yeah, and you know what they say about big hands and feet.
BlondIJ: And ears, don't forget about those ears.
GroundedFromLife: Handy to hold on to?
BlondIJ: You got it.
LofLandM: Is that an absolute guide?
BlueEyedPlatinum: You're asking?
LofLandM: What? It's a legitimate question; I'm just curious.
MofLandM: My work is finally starting to bear fruit, I'm so proud.
LofLandM: So not.
DuskyCrystal: I'd forgotten you were on, T. Haven't heard much from you tonnight.
BlueEyedPlatinum: You know I'm kind of shy about
BlueEyedPlatinum: whoops
GroundedFromLife: Easy, T. No need to be shy here; we can get as wild as we want.
DuskyCrystal: Got that right.
BlondIJ: So? What do you think, T?
BlueEyedPlatinum: Look, I'm crushing on him if anyone is - and don't think I didn't see you blowing him a kiss, J.
BlondIJ: Not a real kiss, unlike yours; you've no room to talk.
MofLandM: Hey! We're trying to get her to open up; dont discourage her!
BlondIJ: Sorry.
BlueEyedPlatinum: No big. Anyway, like I said if anyone wnats him I do, but ti doesn't matter. What any of us think doesnt matter.
DuskyCrystal: Why?
LofLandM: Give you sixteen guesses.
MofLandM: As in kung fu?
LofLandM: Hai, gf.
DuskyCrystal: Keeping him on a leash while she's free to hunt hotties, it'sn ot right.
GroundedFromLife: Got that right.
BlondIJ: So why doesn't someone do something about it?
BlueEyedPlatinum: You mean confornt her or something?
DuskyCrystal: How 'bout having hermake it official?
GroundedFromLife: Have her make it official?
LofLandM: Yes! If she's on the record as 'just friends', she won't have any legfitimate reason to go al sixteen-styles on anyone.
MofLandM: And let the games begin!
LofLandM: Watch it, you.
BlondIJ: So who would do it?
LofLandM: T, you're the one crushing hardest.
BlueEyedPlatinum: That might work against me. How 'bout you? You're the best speakser.
DuskyCrystal: Maybe someone who she'd have no cause to feel threatened by.
GroundedFromLife: Like who? You?
DuskyCrystal: Well, she might not feel as threatened by me as by someone else, say, Jess.
BlondIJ: What's that supposed to mean?
GroundedFromLife: I stil think it could be you, T. K likes you.
MofLandM: (:o
GroundedFromLife: Not that way!

Well, we'll leave it there for now.

o

One day after practice, the rest of the squad got dressed and left in a hurry. Yes, including Bonnie. She wasn't in on what was going on, but Tara had talked her into hitting up Club Banana ASAP.

Actually, there was one cheerleader - other than Kim - who had stayed behind. She had stayed on behalf of the squad, to have a word with the captain. As Kim was finishing dressing out into her civvies, working on shoes and socks, this other member knocked at the door.

"Kim, do you have a minute? Can I come in?"

"Sure, Hope." she replied, adjusting her cargoes over her footwear and dusting herself off.

Yes, it was Hope, the half-Asian American with the strict parents. Which reminded her, she needed to finish this and get on home.

Kim continued. "I'm just finishing changing; come on in. You don't need to ask!"

Righting herself into a proper sitting position from where she'd been leaning over her feet, the redhead swiveled on the end of the bench she was sitting on to straddle it, facing the brunette who - having made certain the door to the locker room was closed - made her way to the same bench and straddled the other end of it, with not a little trepidation.

Equal parts reassurance and curiosity, Kim got right to the point - of what, she had yet to find out. "So, what's the sitch?"

"Well," she hemmed, "the rest of us have been talking about, a certain matter, and, I, was elected to bring it to your attention."

Kim almost went into the variety of 'mission mode' she saved for the squad. "Well, if it's affecting the squad, I have to know about it. So--"

She was interrupted by a knock at the door, soon followed by the voice of her best friend.

"Hey, KP! You decent?"

"Always, Ron, even when I'm changing." she called back with a smirk, deciding to play with his mind a bit for some reason.

It worked. "Huh? How does that work?"

Hope tried - almost successfully - to stifle a giggle while Kim came up with the real answer.

"Ron, yes, I'm dressed and ready-- but don't come in! I'm, conducting a little squad business." she cautioned.

He got that, probably. "Oh. Well, uh, are we going to hit up Bueno Nacho or what?"

"You go ahead; I'll meet you there."

"Okay."

Both cheerleaders were listening for the same thing, the sounds that followed, the sounds of Ron leaving the room he was in, then the close of a door signifying he was in the outer room, then the close of the outside door which meant that Ron Stoppable had left the building.

o

A miniature snort issued from the nostrils of the captain as her eyes closed, accompanied by a slight shake of the head. "Sometimes I wonder where that boy puts it all."

"He probably has a high metabolism, even if being the mascot and having your back on those missions wasn't enough." Hope offered; her little fit of the giggles had relapsed once or twice in the preceding minutes but was appearing to subside.

"I guess you're right." she replied with another good-natured affectionate shake of the head with the thought of her friend. Then, turning her focus back on the matter at hand, she crossed her arms as she directed her gaze back at her squad-mate. "So, Hope, not to repeat myself, but what's the sitch?"

"It concerns your best friend, and his, relationship, to the squad." the brunette replied, absently running a couple of fingers through her long raven locks.

The redhead's arms shot down to her hips as she almost went postal in defense of her best friend.

"Hope, I thought we'd settled this. Ron is on the squad, and I am NOT throwing him off! I might have failed him when he first tried out, but I am sticking by him this time; and I don't care what Bonnie or anybody--"

"Kim, we don't want him off the squad!"

The redhead was brought up short. "You don't?"

"No, and Bonnie and you are the only ones who don't know what we've been talking about; she hasn't been in on it either. It's cool that you're standing up for Ron, though, this time."

"Don't start; you have no room to talk. You were all against him! Well, we, we were all against him... except for maybe Tara, I don't think she was even there." Apparently Ron was rubbing off on his best friend, just a bit.

A placating hand went up from the brunette. "Yeah, that, that's interesting, Kim; but we're getting off the point."

"Oh. Well," she said, waving one arm and placing the other one akimbo, "I've been waiting for you to make a point. I mean, you say that, there's something coming up between the squad and Ron, but, you're okay with him being on the squad, but... Look, you say Bonnie and I are the only ones who don't know about this? So make Bonnie the only one, and tell me."

"Okay. Well, we are okay with him being on the squad. More than okay, well, especially since, uh, camp... We've been noticing him."

The captain noticed the exact words her squad-mate had used. "'Noticing'? 'Noticing', as in..."

"...as in, 'NOTICING'."

Kim, as accustomed as she was to expecting the unexpected, still had to think about this one. "'We'. You mean, more than one?"

"Yes, more than one. In fact, um..."

Hope had been very tentative with what she had been saying, to the extent of making Kim lose her patience.

"Well, Hope? What is it?"

She was very nervous; she had some idea of what a bombshell this would be to Kim. She closed her eyes, and after a few seconds of labored breathing, she let it out with a sigh. Then, opening her eyes, she let her captain have it right between the eyes, kind of.

"I'll level with you, Kim. Right now at least half the squad - myself included - is ready to fall all over ourselves to try to get a date with Ron."

Yep, it was a bombshell all right, and it had exactly the effect on Kim that Hope had anticipated. She found herself having trouble getting her jaw to work.

"Kim?" a concerned brunette ventured, timidly.

"I..." Now her eyes were sporadically opening and closing, winking and blinking, in what was not quite a nervous tic.

"Kim?"

"I'm sorry, I; did I hear you correctly? You, you and, half the squad, at least, half the squad including..."

"Yes."

"I, Y, you're saying that, that...?"

"Yes, Kim. That Ron Stoppable is the next hottie of Middleton High."

"Ron, a hottie? MY Ron?"

Now Hope's other hand ran through her hair, brushing a few strands behind her left ear. "Yes, well, your Ron, that's, um, kind of why I'm here."

It was at this point that Kim became conscious of a certain feeling washing over her. The times she'd experienced it in the past had been few, but enough of an impression had been made for her to learn to read and heed the warning signs. With alacrity, but not too much, she brought one cargo-clad leg over the bench so that both legs were now on the same side. Trying to take deep breaths, she managed to get out:

"It's a good thing I'm sitting down..."

And then her head sunk between her legs.

Hope hurriedly brought a leg around to be facing the same direction as Kim, that is, normally. As it was, she was not only focusing on the other end of the bench, she was now on her feet and halfway to her captain. "Kim!"

From between the redhead's legs came a mumble. "I'm all right, I, I'll be all right."

o

A tense few minutes later found Kim still on the bench, not quite so hunched over, sipping at a cup of water brought to her by her somewhat distraught teammate.

"Okay, so you going to tell me what just happened here?"

"Obviously, I almost fainted."

"And you didn't quite, because...?"

"Surefire cure for an oncoming fainting spell: Head between the knees, and controlled breathing, I wonder if it's anything like Lamaze?" she trailed off; again showing Ron's influence on her in the distraction department, in more ways than one. "Anyway, works every time."

"Really?"

"Doctor recommended."

"That doctor wouldn't happen to be a brain surgeon named Possible?"

"It's possible; it's possible." the captain smirked.

"You sure you're all right?"

A very short sigh ensued; while the redhead was not unhappy at her friend's concern, this was the third time she'd asked. It was approaching the beginning of trying her patience.

"I'm all right!" she gritted out between tightly closed teeth. "How many times do I have to tell you?"

But the concern wouldn't let up.

"Has this happened to you before?"

"Lifetime? I can count them on one hand. And I still can."

"So you're--"

"I'm fine, Hope!" she snapped shortly. "Look, so I almost fainted there; that will happen to pretty much anyone with a strong enough shock like what you'd just told me. It's so not the drama."

"I guess I should apologize for dropping it on you like that."

Kim considered that, then ruefully shook her head.

"I don't think so; I was going to react kind of like that no matter how you worded it. It's just, something like that, Ron, a hottie? It throws my world view into question, you know?"

"I guess."

The thought passed through the redhead's mind that Hope and the others couldn't really relate to not thinking of Ron in that way, given that the brunette had already stated that they did think of him in exactly that way. That was but one of a myriad of thoughts she was thinking; she was honestly trying to work her way through this.

o

"So, what's next?"

"Well, next is, kind of where you come in." Now that her captain's health was no longer in question, the brunette reverted to hesitancy in her manner.

"What?!"

"Well, you see, we who want to get on Ron's good side, don't want to get on your bad side. I mean, I mean, the consensus is that it might not be worth experiencing the sixteen styles up close and personal, shall we say?"

Kim blinked, her mind processing this latest shock, with some effort.

"You and the squad don't seriously think that I might have a problem with Ron dating, do you?"

"Well, we, that is, well, you and Ron are kind of joined at the hip..."

Now she groaned as a hand went to her forehead.

"Hope, (sigh), I don't believe I'm having, well, I already don't believe I'm having this conversation, but... (sigh) Look, if Ron and I are 'joined at the hip', as you put it, why am I going after any hottie who'll give me the time of day?" she pointed out as she turned partially toward her peer.

Hope's eyes drifted down toward the side, as much as refusing to look directly at her captain. "That point was brought up. It didn't seem fair, to Ron, or to those who might want to date him."

Her breath suddenly caught as she felt a finger or two brushing under her chin. Darting her eyes toward her captain, she felt helpless to resist as the redhead gently pushed her head upward until the two were eye-to-eye.

"You're right, it's not fair; and guess what else?" Kim asked in an earnest tone and mien before relaxing her pose into one of reassurance with a comforting smile. "It doesn't exist."

"It doesn't?" The Amer-Asian let out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding.

"No! The only way I'd have a problem with someone dating Ron is if Ron got hurt by that someone. Then there'd be a problem, but not if he dates at all!"

Finally lowering her hand - releasing her colleague from her gentle grip - she continued.

"Look, I admit I'm a bit overprotective of Ron. He acts like nothing that goes on fazes him, and most things don't; but work it right, and it's so easy to crush his spirit." Reliving a choice moment or two from the past, she closed her eyes for a second or two before turning those green searchlights onto the brunette. "I've seen it happen before, and it's been a bear getting his psyche back in one piece again! I don't want to go through that ever again. So while my dates get threatened with the black hole if I should be hurt, yes, Ron's dates will get threatened with the sixteen styles if he should be hurt. I make no apology for that." she finished with intensity.

"Oh."

"So you can pass the word to the rest of the squad. Ron can date who he wants to his heart's content, but don't hurt him."

She nodded with a residue of nervousness. "They'll be glad to hear that."

Now it was Kim's turn to let out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding.

o

"So, that's out of the way. Now what?"

"'Now what', what?" Puzzlement showed in Hope's expression.

"Well, now that you girls have the green light from me, how to decide who gets to date Ron? I mean, he can't date all of you, can he?"

She had to think about that one, and she did mull it over. "Well, who says he can't?"

"What?" Again, Kim was flummoxed, and she'd been doing so well too.

"Sure. Well, other guys date around, so do other girls, we all have; why not him?"

The redhead's green eyes now blazed in peevishness, possibilities of the current loser being elevated to dating five or six cheerleaders at once flooding her mind.

"Oh, I don't know, maybe something called his ego? If he gets it into his head that he's anything approaching 'ladies' man' levels, well, remember the haircut? The Ron Report?"

"The haircut was your fault, and the Ron Report kind of was too..."

"So not!" Kim feigned outrage, not wanting to even remember that she had indeed literally forced that haircut on Ron.

"But I get what you're saying..." Hope continued, trailing off. "Look, we haven't figured that out yet. Maybe we'll take turns, maybe it will be just one of us, maybe we'll all get a chance at him; we haven't worked any of it out. Actually, we have a meeting scheduled to discuss that pending your approval, or lack thereof."

"Well, you've got my approval."

"Then I guess we'll work something out at the meeting." said she, rising from the bench before heading for the door. As she did so, she kept talking. "I'd invite you, but you know how it is."

"Yeah, while I have endorsed the idea, there's no telling how I'd react to hearing my best friend verbally gone over like a side of meat six ways to Sunday."

The brunette's head turned back to her captain in puzzlement. "'Six ways to Sunday'?"

"Y, y, yeah, my Nana called this morning; I guess I picked it up from her." she embarrassedly admitted.

"Oh."

Her head turned back, and she was almost to the door. Kim hurried after her, though, following her through the next room to the outside door. She wasn't finished with her caveats regarding her best friend.

"It's going to be a tough needle to thread, you know. It's very easy for him to overreact, to freak out, to spazz."

"You been reading the thesaurus, too?"

"Yeah, English class." she passed it off. Then, she laid a hand on Hope's shoulder at the door, stopping her. "Look - and pass this along to the others - just be careful. It's easy to hurt him, and easy to get him full of himself, and splitting the difference is more difficult than tuning in a low power station on an old analog radio. It's a very small window, so to speak."

Halted, the brunette had her gaze on her captain, appraising her and her advice. She nodded. "I'll pass that along. And we don't want to hurt him; we want to make, and keep, him happy."

"That's all I ask. That and keep Bonnie out of it, or try to at least."

"No worries there either." she chuckled. "This is going to blow her mind even worse than it did yours."

"I can imagine. I do NOT want to think of HER trying to make a play for Ron. He deserves better than the Queen of Mean." Kim rolled her eyes at least three times during the course of those thoughts.

"Yeah."

The cheer captain then slowly released her teammate, and leaned against the doorway to the outside.

"This might have some negative effects on the Food Chain, you know. Like you said, when Bonnie finds out..."

"She'll just have to deal. We all will." Hope shrugged.

The redhead nodded acknowledgement.

"All right. I'll always support the squad, so good luck, and may the best girl win."

"Thanks, from all of us."

The next thing Kim saw was the brunette member of her squad on the run, probably heading home before her 'rents make trouble for her, she thought.

As she locked the outside door to the building housing the locker rooms, shower, and changing rooms (being the cheer captain, she had a key); Kim continued to try to wrap her mind around the idea of Ron, HER Ron - no, not HER Ron, not if others were going to try to make a play for him. She was all right with that; she'd meant what she'd said to Hope. Just don't hurt him, or else. And try not to swell his head either, or blow his mind.

Still, it was a lot to take in at once. Shaking her head as she headed to the eatery where the apparent future Stud Muffin of Middleton High awaited, the gears in her mind were grinding against each other trying to come up with a way to break it to him.

"Ron, your life is about to get more interesting." No, he won't get that. "Ron, some of the squad might be wanting to spend some extra time with you, one-on-one, maybe two-on-one." No, that won't work at all! Less beating around the bush, Possible. Hmm. "Ron..."

o

Oh, about being the one delegated to sound Kim out about the possibility of Ron getting to know one or more of the cheerleaders very, very well? Well, part of that entailed hosting a very special squad meeting. So that evening the Mad Dog cheerleaders gathered at Hope's house to talk business. Oh, the two chief members were absent, and they weren't really there to discuss cheerleading, but it still counted as a squad meeting. And they were there to discuss the mascot who was on the squad, so it was about squad business, right? At least it was a plausible enough excuse for Hope to be able to get her parents to turn the living room over to the squad. In the manner of a certain assistant principal slash utility substitute teacher, they were firm but fair; otherwise they never would have allowed their daughter to try out for cheerleading in the first place.

Currently the hostess was seated on an ottoman. Going around the room from her one would first encounter Jessica, the other blonde bombshell, straddling a backwards-facing folding chair. Next would be Marcella - Hope's cousin and almost-twin - in a non-reclining recliner. Liz, the other redhead, was behind the recliner and leaning on crossed arms on top of it. Then there was the couch, with Tara and Crystal at either end. Currently speaking was Marcella.

"So she actually agreed?"

"I know, I still can't believe it myself." Hope answered her virtual doppelganger, shaking her head in disbelief.

Liz sagely made her contribution to the conversation. "It does make sense in a way, at least as much as anything in her save-the-world life does. If she's not interested in him for herself, she would at least want what is best for him."

"She's always saying she knows what's best for him, even if he doesn't." Crystal put in.

Jessica then asked the question that had been on all of their minds.

"So now that we have the green light from Miss Green Eyes, what do we do now?"

One by one, the others turned their heads toward Tara, as if she - being the one crushing on Ron the hardest - had the say in how to proceed. To keep him for herself? To give them all a chance? To declare a free-for-all? For them to take turns? Sharing him?

Finally her mouth opened, preparatory to the words issuing forth which very well might change any or all of their lives for the forseeable future.

o

And there you have it. That particular plot bunny has now been fed and cared for, and now I pass it on to y'all. Want a sequel? Want to rewrite this? Then do it yourself. You have my permission and my blessing. I can see some of the ways things could unfold from here but I don't feel good about writing them myself, so do as you will.

For now, I have other plot bunnies in various stages of development. There's the last chapter(s) to Why Didn't You Tell Me?, there's a background of Monique - Pain King's My Boy! - there's bits and pieces of a twentieth MIddleton High reunion, stuff regarding Tara in canonmore TaRoniverse stuff, and not even I know what else yet. Of course I'll have to find time to work on those in between my new job and going back to college (accounting; apparently I'm going to be the next Burn Berman). I'll get to all of these when I can, and I'll keep reading y'all's fics to see what y'all come up with. So keep writing, keep reading, maybe leave an occasional review; and I'll try to do the same. For now - and for the future, online, in e-mail (still AOL, despite having switched to Cable One), and in AIM; I'm Nftnat.