Yo, everyone!

A\N - I don't own Kim Possible or Totally Spies... sadly... if I did Ron would receive the appreciation he deserves! and the shows will have 25 more seasons at least!

I hope you will enjoy this chapter and don't forget to tell me what did you think.

And id like to give a HUGE! thanks to 'JRC1700' for agreeing to Beta so the fic will be even better! You are awesome on so many levels!

P.P.S: As some of you might have noticed I received a fan art cover for the fic from 'MaksmoNero'! I think it looks really awesome! And I'll leave a link on my profile page so you guys can check his other work! You are awesome!

UPDATE!

P.P.S: I have to again ask for some help in the cover art department! So if anyone can help with any of the new future fics just PM me and let me know!

BTW!

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X-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-X

Chapter 10: In Hot Water

"No… I don't think I will…" Ron quipped, smiling before he simply pushed his hands and elbows to the side. The glass tube he was in shattered into pieces and fell to the floor around him, as if it was nothing more than a movie prop.

"WHAT?!" both men yelled in panic. Their 'prisoner', who was supposed to be restrained and spilling his guts, was now standing completely unharmed. Ron casually brushed himself off, as if he had some dust on his suit.

"Ahh, much better. Now, you were saying something about… 'getting creative'?" the blonde challenged, shooting the pair a devilish smirk.

In response one of the guards rushed towards him, his fists raised. The other ran away, headed straight for a large metal locker against the far wall.

'Grabbing a weapon?' Ron concluded, it seemed like the obvious answer. Deciding not to chance it, he rushed forward and downed the first guy with two hits to the chest. Ron hit the second guy from behind, before he had enough time to open the lock. The room was now almost completely silent, with only the occasional beep every now and then.

Ron looked around, admiring his handiwork. Both men were down for the count (and would be for quite a while), giving him time to explore. Nearby were several additional human-sized glass tubes that were completely empty… Ron just hoped the people who'd been kidnapped were okay.

Suddenly there was a harsh, grinding sound. It echoed throughout the room, loud and clearly moving closer. Seconds later a round drill dropped from the ceiling to the floor, three familiar girls flying out of it.

The ladies looked ready for a fight, glancing around in worry. They spotted Ron simply staring at them, a warm smile sprouting upon his face. "Hey girls! So, you WERE able to find me!" he observed, approaching them.

"Well, yeah… We were following you, but we did lose the signal for a little bit…" Alex explained, sounding a little worried as she looked him over.

"Ahh… it was no big deal. So, how about we finish this mission?" Ron prompted, both Clover and Alex nodding and moving closer.

Sam simply stared at him with narrowed eyes for a few seconds, before finally following her friends.

Ron wasn't sure what to think about her expression, it just felt wrong to him…

The group of four found an elevator, going up they arrived at an even bigger room. Inside were more huge tubes… only these were filled with the missing people, all of them.

In one of the tubes was a boy they all knew… his head looked way too big- and seemed to be growing even larger! Was HE the one responsible for this whole mess?

"Hey, it's that creep from our school!" Alex called out in shock, moving closer to inspect the glass.

Ron couldn't help but feel somewhat sorry for the guy. 'They don't even know him and he's a freak already…' The boy had his head strapped to a variety of different wires, his skull seemingly bigger than what was physically possible- Ron just hoped it wouldn't explode!

"It looks like they're sucking the intelligence from the scholars and putting it into his head!" Sam deduced, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"How does that even work?!" Ron shouted, this situation defying all logic.

"No wonder he's such a know-it-all!" Clover added with a smirk.

Before the team was able to do anything, they noticed they'd been surrounded by a few dozen large men. The new arrivals had formed a circle around them, blocking any retreat. They were all wearing similar suits and had earpieces on.

"Well… what do we have here?" stated a large man walking into the lab, smiling at the surprise, he was clearly the one in charge.

The second he entered, all the men surrounding them bowed slightly. "Mr. ambassador…" they chorused, stepping aside to give him the room to face the intruders himself.

"The ambassador!?" the girls shouted all at once, shocked by the discovery.

"That's right! …and soon, the father of the most intelligent child in the world! My son will be a genius, a star pupil in school! -and no one will be able to pick on him, like they picked on me!" the man explained.

"So, let me get this straight… You kidnapped a bunch of scholars, just to suck out their brains and put them into your son's head?" Clover asked in disbelief.

"Yes!" the ambassador agreed, proud of his master plan.

"And you think he WON'T get picked on?" the blonde girl challenged, a huge smile on her face. "Hello… the guy's head is as big as a hot air balloon!" The rest of the girls couldn't hold their laughter back any longer, hell… even Ron couldn't un-see it once he'd made the connection.

"We'll see who gets-" the ambassador began, cutting off when Ron rushed and forward and punched out two guards without even waiting.

The girls instantly started to handle several other guards, standing over the downed men soon after.

The ambassador simply stared in disbelief at the group of four who now had him at their mercy. He took a step back, planning on making his getaway, when they all heard a familiar sound.

The drilling noises became louder, several holes appearing in the ceiling. WHOOP agents began pouring into the room, helping the downed men up and carting them away. The ambassador met with the exact same fate.

Jerry walked in soon after. "Excellent job spies, we'll take it from here!" he enthused, excited that his team had been capable of finishing the mission without any issues (and, more importantly, were already showing promise).

Several hours later found the team back at Beverly Hills. It was time for their quiz on Les Misérables, much to the spies' chagrin.

From what Ron had seen Clover and Sam had made up, returning to being good friends. Both had admitted that it was silly to call each other names, or fight over something as inconsequential as a part in a play.

They were just about to exit the chopper that had carried them home when Ron felt a tug on his sleeve. "Can I talk to you for a second?" the redheaded spy requested, her tone serious (as were her eyes).

Ron simply nodded, following her onto the roof of the WOOHP building and waiting for everyone else to clear out.

"Okay, so, what's up?" he asked, clearly interested in what Sam wanted.

"It's about the mission… about how you acted-" she began, her tone quiet.

"Yeah! We worked together pretty well, I think-" Ron enthused, cutting the girl off, already certain of what she wanted.

"NO, WE DIDN'T!" Sam yelled, releasing the frustration she'd been holding back until now.

"Wha-what?" the disguised blonde yelped, more than a little confused.

"We DIDN'T work well together! Hell, WE barely did anything!" she continued to yell. Her eyes flashed angrily, her chest heaving as she spoke. "I know you have the power, and the skill, to deal with most things… But, one thing you NEED to learn is what it is to work as a team! …if you even know what that is!"

"What?" Ron couldn't believe what he was hearing. 'I don't know what it's like to work as a team?' What was she even talking about? All he'd ever done with Kim was working as a team.

"You don't even understand what I mean, do you?" she stated weakly, shaking her head. "Clover, Alex, and I work as a team! That means we've got each other's backs! We don't just charge headfirst into a fight without a plan!" Sam chastised, her eyes boring holes into his own. "If you're so good, why do you even need us?" she finally asked.

Ron didn't have an answer, simply standing there, why was he helping them in the first place?

"You clearly don't trust us… so don't expect anything different from me!" the redheaded teen growled, walking away from her new teammate. She honestly wasn't sure what she'd expected…

A few hours later the blonde boy was sitting in the performance hall, already back in his old clothes and with his normal hair color. As soon as he'd gotten back, he'd received a call from his friend Mandy. Somehow, she'd been assigned the lead character in the play- the very same role Sam had already received.

Was the director okay? Did he have memory issues, or had he just forgotten that he'd already cast Sam as the lead?

'To be fair, he did decide to give the entire class a quiz because he'd been impressed by a new student- a new student that's not even going to show up now, because of the whole debacle with his dad… Yep, totally fair…' Ron had warned Mandy about the possibility of her being replaced… because apparently their teacher was INSANE.

Ron chuckled to himself…

"Hey there!" greeted a familiar voice.

Ron turned his head to see Clover staring at him with a smile. "Oh, hey Clover, what's up?!" he returned, hoping that she wasn't prepared to fight Mandy over her role in the play.

"Nothing much… I only came to see who was cast this time… I can't deny that I wanted the lead…" the blonde girl admitted, sitting down next to him.

"I hope you're not angry at Mandy… she didn't steal the part, if that's what you-" Ron began, pausing when Clover shook her head.

"No… I would be if he'd cast me initially, only to push me away like he did Sam. But, that okay… this isn't my big debut, after all." The blonde teen simply smirked at him.

"You're refreshingly alright with this… I'm surprised" Ron admitted.

"I'm not the only one full of surprises… Pretty Boy…" Clover shot back with a smile.

Ron froze completely for a moment, staring at her in puzzlement. "Huh? Pretty Boy? Where did that come from? Are you trying to hit on me?" Ron was so surprised, he may have oversold it a bit.

"Please, I already told you you're not handsome enough for me…" she teased, a knowing smirk upon her face.

"I feel like I need some context here…" the ex-sidekick responded, swallowing the lump in his throat.

"You're not nearly as good of an 'Actor' as you think you are…" the girl supplied, folding her arms and staring at the stage.

"How long have you known?" he asked, the girl having clearly figured him out.

"About your little side gig? Only since our last mission…" Clover leaned back in her seat, stretching her arms.

"What gave me away?" Ron asked, genuinely curious.

"Well, you just gave me too many clues… After enough of those, even I'M going to figure it out…" the blonde spy chided, noting his perplexed expression. "When we first 'met', I told you that you weren't the hot blonde I was aiming for… Then, on our last mission, you said 'I thought I wasn't handsome enough for you' -that was one of my clues… Also, your very first day at this school the Actor just showed up and helped us out…" She smirked at him, the expression softening into a warm smile. "Not to mention, Jerry let it slip that WE would have a quiz… he never said it was only for us girls…"

Ron quite stunned, Clover had been thinking about his identity that much?! Not only that, but if he remembered correctly she had clearly deliberately goaded an answer out of him!

'This girl…' The blonde Stoppable acknowledged just how much he'd underestimated Clover. His first impression of her had been that she was just a teen who's only interests were boys and shopping, one who happened to be a spy on the side. In reality, it was the other way around…

"Wow, I can't believe I fell for that…" the blonde admitted with a smile.

"All I ask is that you don't fall FOR ME, I already have too many admirers! Even though I know that you'll be in unbearable pain and torment over it…" she teased. Ron would have honestly believed Clover to be sincere, if he didn't already know her by now.

"Wow… acting skills like that and you still didn't get the part? The director's even more insane than I thought he was…" It seems that there was yet another thing he hadn't known about her.

"Oh, you're too kind… But, still not my type…" Clover joked, before suddenly spotting something.

"I'll manage to survive…" Ron responded dryly. "So, are you going to tell the others?" he asked nervously.

"No" Clover quickly assured him, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "You have your reasons… and I can respect that. But, I do think it'd be better if we all got to know the REAL you…" Clover shot the blonde boy one last smile, before she got up from her seat. "Some of us really want that…" she declared, walking away. "See you later, Ron!"

"See you later Clover…" the blonde boy returned, he had some thinking to do.

X-=-=-=-=-=-=-X

Ron had a few things to ponder. After his little talk with Clover, and Sam, it was apparent to him that he needed to make a choice.

'Do I WANT to join them?' That may sound like a simple question… but it wasn't to him.

Did he really want to officially start working with a new team? To do what he'd only ever done with Kim?

Ron was fine with helping out to keep the girls safe, especially with the crazy stuff they had to deal with… but to completely join them?

That was something he needed to think about…

His thoughts were cut short upon receiving a call from Mandy, something about the director having to replace her with someone else… This had to prove that the man was having a mental crisis of some kind, or was it all an act to make everything more dramatic?

The blonde teen could hear just how bummed his friend was, vowing to try and cheer her up. "How about we go to the mall? You know, to just hang out?" Ron offered.

The ravenette agreed, the pair meeting up at the mall's entrance and heading inside. Mandy had still looked a bit down, but was already showing signs of getting better.

"Don't feel bad about it… from what I could see, that guy switched the roles of pretty much everyone every few hours. That kind of indecisiveness gives off a bad vibe… like there's some dark truth behind that insane sicko…" the blonde ex-sidekick rambled, dipping into his own little world.

Mandy started laughing softly, Ron liked her laugh… It was so gentle, so pleasant, it always reminded him of Tara. "Wow, that sounds kinda dark… I'm glad I didn't stick around long to persuade him to change his mind!" the girl exclaimed.

'Maybe that's what he was aiming for?' Ron couldn't help but fret. 'Maybe I should call Jerry, ask him to look into it?'

"Kind of a serious look you got there… you know I was only joking, right?" the girl prompted.

"Yeah, of course! …I just remembered that Sam was selected for the role first, then he simply switched her out for you… Then, he did the same thing to you as well!" Ron explained. "I wouldn't be surprised if he offered the part to Alex, or even me, next!" he joked.

"Mmm… I see your point. Now that you mention it, I've seen you hanging around with those three from time to time…" Mandy pointed out, an undercurrent of interest in her tone.

"Oh, yeah, I forgot to tell you! I kinda bumped into Alex, while I was running the other day… and we just started talking-" the blonde teen explained, his friend cutting him off.

"Y-You run in the morning? …l-like, work out?" the girl asked, her tone uneven.

"Um… yeah, I must have forgotten to mention it… I had a-", Ron struggled to find the right words, "-specific workout… back home, I've started doing it again…"

"I see…" the girl replied. It seemed like there was something else she wanted to say, but refrained from doing so at the moment.

X-=-=-=-=-=-=-X

A few days passed, things progressing normally. There had been no new missions, as far as Ron was aware. The girls had been coming and going to school, as normal.

Alex had surprised him a few more times, joining him during his morning workout. The girl had energy in spades, as he'd come to learn. By now, it was almost routine for her to join him for his runs.

"Say, Ron…" Alex began. They'd both already stopped running, simply walking side by side at a rapid pace. "…are you and Mandy going out?"

"Out? You mean, like, as friends… or-?" the blonde teen returned, the ravenette cutting him off.

"More than friends… like, dates and stuff?" she clarified.

Ron simply shook his head. "No, just friends…" It was like being back in Middleton all over again, people asking him if he was dating Kim- just because he spent so much time with her… Couldn't a boy and a girl just stay friends and hang out?

"Wha- really?" Alex replied, sounding quite surprised by his answer.

'Well… Mandy IS a pretty girl, so I guess it looked like I was trying my luck…' Ron mused, nodding his head for confirmation. "Yeah… So, anyway, how did Sam take being booted out of the play?"

Alex quickly smiled, recalling her friend's reaction. "It was great! She started chasing after her replacement onstage, me and Clover needed to calm her down before she went ballistic!"

"By the way you say it, I assume that she's not normally like this?" the blonde ex-sidekick asked.

"Not really… Sammy's normally really calm and cool!" the ravenette swore, appraising the look Ron was giving her. "Hey, it's true! I'M the one who usually gets into all sorts of trouble!"

"Okay, okay, I believe you…"

"You don't look, or sound, like it…" the girl pointed out.

"I don't really know her all that well… I guess I'll take your word for it-" Ron conceded, unwilling to upset Alex over this.

"No!" the teen girl suddenly declared.

"No…?"

"You said you don't know her like I do, right?" Ron nodded at the question. "So, all you need to do is get to know her better! Then, you'll realize how awesome she is!" the ravenette spy shouted.

Ron was a bit conflicted… On one hand, he could see Alex's point, it would be a good way to get used to the redheaded spy. But, on the other hand… Sam already reminded him too much of his friend Kim- and being a spy didn't help in the least!

"Well, what do you say?" she prompted.

In the end, Ron agreed to Alex's request…

He just really didn't want to offend her, it was one of his biggest faults…

The ravenette spy made a point to ask Sam to help her study, taking the redhead up on her earlier offer. She invited Clover to join them as well, making it one big study session.

Alex was determined to make sure Ron got along with her friends, before she made her move… Hey, if Mandy wasn't going to woman up and do it, she would!

A few hours later it was already the end of the school day, Ron out of the classroom and on his way home.

Suddenly, there was a soft ringing sound. He picked up his phone and opened it to see a familiar older gentleman.

Ron quickly put it close to his ear. "Hey Uncle, how's it going?" he asked, glancing around quickly.

"You know Nephew, I've already checked that you're alone… so, could PLEASE remove the camera from your EAR? It's a rather unpleasant sight…" Jerry requested dryly.

Ron was quick to return his eyes to the camera feed, an embarrassed grin on his face. "Sorry about that… so, what's the sitch?" the blonde ex-sidekick prompted, leaning against a row of lockers behind him.

"What's the… sitch?" the older man parroted, an odd look upon his face.

Ron realized his mistake a second later, waving it off. "It's nothing… so, what do you got for me?"

Jerry seemed to suspect there was more to it than that, but moved on to business. "I have a mission for you… I've already sent the girls on ahead, thinking they could handle it. I still do… but they're down a member…"

"Ahhh…" Jerry's motivations were perfectly understandable. "Sure thing! Do you want me to rush over there, or will you pick me up from the- huh?" The locker Ron was leaning against gave way, the blonde boy falling backwards.

Ron slid forward for a few moments before the locker came to a stop, landing on the floor of Jerry's office.

"Nice of you to 'drop' in…" Jerry joked.

"Your puns need work…" the teen groused, getting up and dusting himself off. Jerry gave him the scoop on what was going on, sending him off to help the girls.

Ron just hoped that he wouldn't have another issue with Sam… It pained him when someone who was so much like Kim looked at him with anger- or perhaps even worse… hate and distrust.

The plane ride gave Ron the time he needed to change his hair color and outfit to fit the style of his destination. After arriving in Sydney, he made his way to the Picture-Perfect model agency.

As Ron looked the building over he noticed the front door opening, a pair of rather large female guards 'escorting' two very familiar teens.

The blonde Stoppable stared at the two undercover spies, one eyebrow raised. "Hey girls… did I miss something?"

Alex instantly smiled at him, before getting up in a hurry.

The redheaded teen simply stared at him angrily…

'Great… this is going to be fantastic…'

X-=-=-=-=-=-=-X

Chapter uploaded on February 14.