Notes: I hadn't intended to continue this one quite yet (way too many works in progress already), but thanks to my decision to scrap the next part of "The Shadow Over Middleton" to completely rewrite it, here's the next part of "Ron Factor Found" to tide folks over.
Summary: Kim tries to explain to Monique why she's looking at Ron differently.
Ron's hips were fluid, rocking back and forth and swaying to and fro as he moved. He all but danced towards the source of the appetizing aromas wafting through the lunchroom, weaving his way between tables and around the small knots of chatting students. From his position peeking out of Ron's pants pocket, Rufus rocked back and forth as he danced cheerfully along with Ron, chittering excitedly as they grew closer to the lunch line and the food it lead to.
The cafeteria wasn't very busy - because of the good weather (which inspired many to find alternate sources of nourishment), the irregularity of the quality of food served there (from the smell, today was one of the good days), and the earliness of the hour. This lack of a crowd combined with Kim's choice of seating position to create a very important result.
From her seat perched on a stool by a remote lunch table, Kim could watch Ron like a lioness as it hungrily eyed what it anticipated would soon be its prey. From her vantage at the back of the cafeteria, Kim enjoyed a perfect and unobstructed view of Ron - especially of the way his anatomy reacted as he bounced on the balls of his feet, impatiently waiting for the elderly lunch lady to serve up a meal to all the people ahead of him in line.
Unbeknownst to Kim, a small, predatory smile spread across her face as she watched him. Her eyes openly roved over Ron, lingering here and there (and especially there) as he moved - and some interesting parts of his anatomy that moved right along with him.
"Tell me I did not just see what I think I just saw."
Monique's voice, coming from close behind her, shocked Kim - so much so that she actually jumped nervously in her seat. Spinning atop her stool, she crossly demanded, "Monique! Don't startle me like that."
Monique raised an eyebrow and crossed her hands across her chest, tapping one foot as she stared down at her friend, trying to read her expression as she waited for an explanation. "Startle you?" she finally demanded when it was clear Kim wasn't about to talk. "What about me?" Leaning down, she put her mouth next to Kim's ear in order to whisper, "Tell me I did not just see you checking out Ron's butt."
Kim blushed furiously as she turned away from her friend. Her silence spoke louder than words, and in conjunction with her blush, it also spoke volumes.
Monique's eyes widened... and widened... and widened... until she was gaping at the seated redhead incredulously, surprise obscuring every other emotion on her face. "You were?" she breathed in disbelief, more to herself than to Kim.
"It's not my fault," Kim immediately protested. "It's GJ's fault!" she insisted.
Monique waved her hands in midair in an abbreviated hushing motion as she glanced around to see if they had been overheard. When it was clear no one had, Monique immediately began to grill Kim. "Girl, chill. And spill. And I can't wait to hear you try to explain that little comment."
Kim's cheeks grew rosy in embarrassment, while her hands began to make half-gestures that melted into different configurations before they could be fully formed or understood as she tried to explain herself. "I can't... stop thinking... I see Ron, and I can't help thinking about what's underneath. His clothes, I mean," she whispered, lowering her head in shame at the admission. "I've tried not to, but..."
One of Monique's eyebrows shot up in cautious disbelief. "That's it? Kim, the way that boy loses his pants, everyone's already seen what's under there," she pointed out.
"I don't mean..." Kim began embarrassedly, then changed her tune mid-sentence. "I can't help it," she insisted. "It's his own fault. I mean, look at the way he's dressed!" Kim pointed at Ron with an accusatory finger. "It's so... provocative. Wearing an outfit like that... It's like he wants people to check him out."
Turning, Monique eyed Ron as he was pushed further back in the lunch line by the sudden arrival of the basketball team. They cut to the front of the line, displacing even the poor freshman who had been reaching for a tray (Although "displacing" was perhaps an overly polite description for the event; a bluntly factual description would summarize it as being stuffed into a trash can). As Ron danced impatiently in place, muttering "come on, come on" to himself as he craned his neck to see the food that was abruptly so much further away, Monique considered his clothing. Her fashion sense had been honed by years of training in the halls of consumerism, and been refined even more while working at Club Banana. Ron stood no chance of eluding or confusing her critical analysis, even had he known it was being turned on him as he watched the lunch lady just as intently as Monique was watching him.
Ron's pants were... passable; his usual cargo pants, with the optional naked mole rat accessory peering from a side pocket. His T-shirt on the other hand, bright purple with a skull logo on the chest, surmounted by orange flames... Even though she recognized the video game, Monique still rated the shirt as a big fashion don't. The combination didn't coordinate well, even if it didn't entirely clash. Neither article of clothing was anything she'd remotely describe as being provocative, and when paired, they were even less so.
Ron looked exactly like what he was: a young teen with bad eating habits and a taste for video games, which also contributed to his... physique. While Ron wasn't exactly out of shape, he was hardly Mr. Olympia material either. Monique had to conclude Ron was pretty much the same as he ever was - which in turn implied that whatever was up, it was with Kim and not the "provocatively dressed" Ron Stoppable.
"You didn't get hit by any strange rays or get stuck in a weird machine of some kind on your last mission, did you?" Monique finally asked, turning away from the impatiently waiting boy, and back to face Kim.
"Monique!" Kim protested, glancing away from Ron to scowl briefly at her curious friend before her eyes returned to contemplating Ron.
"Just asking, just asking," Monique soothed. While Kim was still distracted by the Mad Dog, she reached out and began to run her fingers gently over the back of Kim's neck, tracing the arch of her spine from where it met her skull beneath the flame of her hair all the way down into the top of her midriff baring pink T- shirt - and as far down into the top as her widespread fingers could reach, stretching down and sweeping across the smooth expanse of Kim's upper back.
"It's not a Moodulator thing either," Kim protested grumpily, but she didn't move or protest further until after Monique had assured herself that Kim was truly Moodulator-free and had stepped away from her. "And you should ask before touching somebody like that," she asserted.
"I'll remember to let Ron know," Monique smirked. "Girl, I don't care who's fault it is; yours, his, GJ's, or anyone else. To me, it just looks like you've got it bad for our Mr. Stoppable."
Groaning, Kim buried her face in the nest of her arms atop the lunch table. "You're so not helping here, Mon."
"So what's the sitch?" Monique shrugged, sliding onto the stool next to Kim's. She rested one hand comfortingly on Kim's shoulder as she asked, "What's got you jonesing so bad for Ron? And why is it GJ's fault?"
Kim sighed in defeat, before lifting her face from the cradle of her arms and beginning to explain. "I told you about the Ron Factor thing, right?"
Monique shrugged. "Sure. Best laugh I had in weeks. That was over a year ago, though. So what?"
"GJ - specifically, Dr. Director, Global Justice's head - showed me some surveillance footage they shot of Ron," Kim answered slowly. "And I saw..." she trailed off, flushing.
"You saw...?" Monique prompted, her voice lilting leadingly.
"Everything," Kim whispered under her breath, the syllables laden with all the confusing emotions the word inspired in her breast. "In full color and larger than life."
"The Full Ronnie?"
"Yes!" Kim snapped back, her eyes automatically seeking out Ron again as she flushed. "All of it. From every angle."
"Interesting. Maybe I should take him out for a test drive if just the sight of him is enough to get you this hot and bothered," Monique smirked, eyeing Ron curiously while tapping one finger against the side of her cheek, trying to see the attraction he held.
Kim's head spun to confront her friend swiftly enough to inspire fears of whiplash. "Monique!" she protested.
"I'm just joshing," she soothed in return. "I just don't understand why this is such a big deal for you," Monique admitted. "You've seen it all before, haven't you?"
"When we were six!" Kim protested, then stammered as she tried to defend herself. "And it's not... just... seeing... that. Well, he does have this adorable little dimple that I didn't know about, and it's..."
"Way too much info, girl," Monique half-raised her hands in case she would need to cover her ears.
"It's... Look, I knew he was a guy already. Sort of."
"After the brain switch thing? I'd hope you already knew it. And seen it. And touched it. Either that, or you've got amazing bladder control; I already know the Mad Dog doesn't. Worst basketball experience ever," she shuddered.
"But that was me as a guy, not Ron as a guy," Kim protested, flushing at the memory. "That's totally different."
"You were in Ron's body," Monique pointed out. "And he was in yours."
"It was just different, okay?" she insisted. "Ron still wasn't really a guy. Just... Ron."
"What about the Moodulator? I've got a sheet of notebook paper with your name - your married name - all over it that says differently."
"You kept that?" Kim blinked, remembering dreamily writing variations on "Mrs. Kimberly Anne Stoppable" over and over, with a little heart above every "i" and an occasional smiley face in the "o's". "I thought I threw that paper away." After a moment, she shook her head. "Never mind. Look, the point is... Now that I think of Ron as a guy, I can't help... thinking about... you know... everything he and I have done together," she stammered, not meeting Monique's eyes.
Monique's eyes widened even further than they'd been moments before as she reached a shocking conclusion. "You? And Ron? And you didn't tell me?" she demanded. "Details... Now!" she ordered, sliding forward onto the edge of her seat and seizing Kim's hands so that she couldn't flee. "Just not... you know, certain details," she added, wincing at the thought.
Kim's eyes widened to match Monique's as she realized what her friend was thinking. "No! No! I don't mean like that!" she insisted in a fierce whisper, trying to calm Monique down, and stave off the misunderstanding, staring into her eyes as she prayed Monique would listen. "I just mean like missions and things... and all the little things we've done together, and... and... him being a guy... and me a girl, and... and... what it means, and..."
Scowling, Monique didn't know whether to feel relieved or disappointed at the relatively innocent truth. "I get it. Ron's a boy. You're a girl. And you've suddenly realized that a boy who usually can't even be bothered to do his homework is perfectly willing to jump out of airplanes and climb mountains for you while confronting villains and freaks that the police have trouble with. And it's making you warm for his form."
Kim's eyes widened as she realized the element of truth that lay in Monique's words. Blushing, Kim turned away so she wouldn't have to meet Monique's eyes. "I... hadn't quite gotten to that third thing yet," she confessed. "I was stuck on points one and two, with a little of point four."
The Kimmunicator's beeping saved Kim from having to explain herself further. "Go, Wade."
"Hi, Kim," Wade began, then stopped as his image leaned closer to the display. "Why are you so red?"
"She's freaking out because of the Ron Factor," Monique responded, giving a little wave at the youth's image on the display monitor.
"Oh, hi, Monique," Wade waved back at the older teen. "And I'm not surprised. It's amazing stuff. If I hadn't seen it for myself, I wouldn't have believed it."
"I've already jumped to conclusions once in this conversation," Monique reminded herself as she swallowed her immediate reaction. "I can't wait to hear your explanation for that comment," she repeated, feeling a sense of deja vu.
"You checked the math?" Kim asked before Wade could respond to Monique's question.
"Twice," Wade shrugged as he answered Kim. "I'm way beyond impressed. They've got an amazing amount of data on Ron - pentabytes of it - and have accounted for things that even I wouldn't have bothered with. This goes beyond chaos theory - maybe even quantum mechanics. The closest thing I could find to explain it is quantum tunneling, but the math doesn't hold - but then you wouldn't expect it to work for macro situations anyway."
"And...?" Kim prodded.
"And they were right," he reluctantly admitted. "There's definitely something there. And I can't explain what it is any more than GJ could."
Monique glanced back and forth between Kim and the Kimmunicator. "What are you guys talking about?"
"You said it yourself; the Ron Factor. Weird stuff happens around Ron and to Ron, and there's no scientific explanation for it," Wade explained.
"And this is news because?" Monique shrugged dismissively, disappointed by the "revelation." "I could have told you that months ago."
"When I say 'no scientific explanation,'" Wade clarified, "I mean that literally. It simply can't happen. It's impossible by every known scientific principle. But it does. You can quantify what happens, but it's like whatever happens exists in a vacuum. It just... happens. And the only commonality is Ron."
A wicked smirk briefly appeared on Kim's face, then vanished. "Wade, can you make me a holo-Ron?" Kim asked innocently. "I could show Monique exactly what we're talking about."
"Sure thing; there's plenty on the GJ server to work from. They've got more than enough data - psych reports, history, surveillance video, school records, genetic studies - we're practically talking the Ron Genome Project. With all that available to work from, a holo-Ron will be a snap. Want me to program it to give the GJ demo?" Wade answered, sipping from a disposable cup.
"Please and thank you," Kim smirked as Monique blanched.
Kim giggled as Monique's expression changed nearly as rapidly as her hands moved trying to form a gesture emphatic enough to express her disagreement and disapproval of the plan. "I'll show her in the girls' locker room, so make the emitter independent of the Kimmunicator and portable please," she instructed, a devious glint entering her eye. "We wouldn't want to violate anyone else's privacy - even if they sign a waiver."
"No problem. I'll have it ready in a couple of days," Wade answered offhandedly as he began typing up notes on what he'd need to do to fulfil Kim's request. "You know, a holo-Ron might be useful on missions," he thought aloud. "The holo-Kim certainly worked well against Monkey Fist, and I bet I could make a much better one now than the one I did back then. The state of my art..."
He interlocked his fingers and cracked his knuckles before wiggling his fingers over his keyboard. "A working holo-Team Possible..." his eyes glittered with excitement at the possibilities. "I love a challenge."
Monique blushed as she watched Ron finally reach the front of the line and collect a tray. She hoped Kim was joking about "showing" her, but after all the teasing, who could tell? "Wade certainly seems to be getting into the spirit of things, too."
"Have you told Ron any of this yet?" Wade asked, after he'd completed taking notes for the new design project.
"Not yet," Kim admitted. "I'm still trying to wrap my mind around the concept."
"Okay," Wade shrugged. "I'd still tell him before GJ does, though - it'll sound better coming from you. Oh, and next time you see your dad? See if he can tell you anything about a 'Project R.F.E.S.' at the space center. I found some money transfers - a lot of money transfers - tied to a project by that name in GJ's Ron Factor data, but there wasn't any information about what it was for, or what the project's about."
"RFES? Ar. Eff. Eee. Ess. Ar-fez? Rifes? Roughs? Roof- ees?" she mentally sounded out the acronym, then blinked in startled realization. "Rufus?" "Will do," Kim agreed thoughtfully.
"Where? I don't see him," Ron asked as he glanced around the cafeteria before sitting across the table from Kim and Monique.
"Will's not here, Ron," Kim replied, blushing as she watched him throw his head back and lower a long strand of spaghetti slowly into his mouth. He licked his lips lingeringly with his tongue to gather up the traces of sauce that had been left behind after he'd slurped the last of it.
Kim found the play of muscles in Ron's neck and face - and tongue - as he ate to be enthralling; she remembered the look on Dr. Director's face as Ron walked in the movie. Every tiny muscle, every motion, every movement he made all mapped, quantified, analyzed, and defined - she'd been almost rapturous at the thoroughness of the data, and Kim was beginning to understand how Dr. Director had felt - although she hoped it was for different reasons.
"He's so free and uninhibited around me; even if he can be gross sometimes... I like it," she admitted to herself silently. "But is Monique right about him and me, too?" she wondered. "Does he feel... like..."
"Kim?" Ron blinked as he noticed Kim's dazed look. "You okay?"
Monique watched Kim stare at Ron's face, and slowly raised an eyebrow as Kim continued to stare, enraptured by his features and her thoughts. "She's just overwhelmed by your Ron-itude, dimple boy," Monique smirked, determined to get her digs in before Kim could extract any revenge.
"I haven't been called that one before," Ron blinked in surprise. "Usually it's 'potential boy,' or sometimes 'freckle boy.'" He shrugged in dismissal of the matter. "Hi, Wade," he abruptly added when he noticed the active Kimmunicator.
"Hi yourself, brain switch boy."
"Or that one," Ron nodded his agreement. "What up?"
"Not much; I'm just working on something for Kim. I'll let her explain it," Wade answered.
Ron grinned as he set Rufus beside his tray and watched him dig in, slurping up some pasta and rubbing his belly in satisfaction. "Sounds good. We have a mission?"
"Not exactly. Later, Kim," Wade grinned as Kim blinked, breaking off her study of Ron's face, as he closed the connection, causing the video screen on the Kimmunicator to wink out.