It wasn't often that she was nervous when waiting for him, and it was even more rare that she understood why she was nervous and accepted the stress, rather than try to deny it. Oh, everything seemed so familiar; she was sitting in what had been their usual booth until...had it only been half a year ago? It seemed more like a lifetime! She had ordered a combo meal but it was mostly untouched; she really didn't feel all that hungry and if she forced some down, she was afraid that she'd only be sick.

How had it come to this?

Then he walked in. If this was a cliche, reunion drama she would reflect on how he had lost his baby fat and filled out his frame. They had a mission together just a week before, so she knew how much he had filled out and improved his physical capabilities. Instead of a contentious parting, it had been jovial, almost friendly, with him telling her to call the next time she needed him. Then, there had been the football game Friday and Eric talking to him yesterday. Something had changed and he seemed more content and more confident. Maybe that would mean that he was more open to reconnecting as friends.

He ordered a meal while she reminded herself that things would never be the same between them, but maybe they could have something resembling what they had both grown up with.

"I'm supposed to ask if you mind if I join you," he said, standing at the booth. "But since this is an arranged meeting, I think that permission is sort of implied."

"That it is," she smiled. The joke might not have been all that good, but it was at least an attempt. "Please sit down."

He did, and then neither really knew what to do. At least the food gave theme something to poke around, even though he didn't display any more of an appetite than she had.

"Awkward much?" She asked, taking the initiative.

"Very," he agreed with her.

They shared a snort of laughter, both realizing the humor in the situation and both knowing that the whole emotional sitch seemed...brittle.

"Maybe I should start by saying that I'm sorry," she began.

"Let's not have this in here, okay?" Ron interrupted her. He gave a pointed look at a nearby table and the people seated at it.

"Right," she agreed with him. "Today is a nice day for a walk in the park."

The two of them threw their food away and left the building. By unspoken consent, they walked in silence until they reached the park, and were able to put some distance between them and others.

"Like I said, I'm sorry," she repeated, once they had sufficient privacy. "I really pushed you aside and ignored you when Eric showed up. I'm not going to apologize for falling for him, or for not falling for you that way, but you deserved a lot better than how I treated you."

"Yeah, it was rough," he sighed. "But I didn't handle it all that well either. I guess I was all "either you're all in with me or we're nothing". You didn't need an ultimatum like that."

"So, I guess we both acted like immature teenagers?" Kim suggested.

"I guess you could say so," he shrugged. "Then, you throw in the bizarre lives we lead, I guess overreaction is to be expected."

"I still think that I acted worse than you," she told him. "And it wasn't just with Eric. I never thought that you never had any gear when we went on the missions and sure, at Wannaweep I tried to get Officer Hubble to believe that you took down Gill but he wouldn't believe me. And..."

"Hey, we can beat ourselves up all day," again, he shrugged. "Instead, why don't we figure out how to be friends again?"

"I'd like that," she told him, really feeling happy again.

"So, friends try to catch up, don't they?" He asked. "So I'll start, is Bonnie giving you a rough time on the squad?"

"Not as bad as you'd think," she told him. "Crystal said that she talked to you after the game. Bonnie wants to be the star, but she knows that she doesn't go anywhere without the squad, so she's really doing her best and to be honest, she's pretty good. She even lets me do some high profile acrobatics. All in all, not having to be in charge more than makes up for her irritation." She paused a bit. "Crystal also tells me that you told her you're seeing someone from out of town."

Yeah." He got a contented smile, and the touch of a blush, when he confirmed it.

"Yori?" She asked.

He nodded, and his blush got brighter. There was a story there but, in a move that was sure to irritate Monique, she decided that their repaired friendship was too fragile to dig into it any more. "The head cheerleader, Michelle, isn't going to be happy with that."

"Why do you say that?" Ron asked her. "Crystal said pretty much the same thing. Why?"

"Maybe the massive stink-eye she was giving you and Crystal while you were talking, after the game," Kim couldn't help but smile at him. "Didn't you notice?"

"I thought she was just angry that I was consorting with the enemy," he answered. "You realize we're attending rival schools."

"Keep telling yourself that," she told him, now unable to smile about it.

"Hey, Michelle is like something from one of Bonnie's nightmares," he told her. "Bonnie was all about her place on the food chain, but Michelle embodies a cult-like infatuation with it. I've seen people take their addiction to oxygen less serious than she takes her status."

"Not exactly a nice person?" she prompted.

"That's an understatement," he told her.

"But she's cute," she pointed out, deciding to tease him a little. "And you're the star running back, you have status."

"Cute doesn't mean that much," he grumbled. "Bonnie's hot and so is Lynn. As for Michelle?" He shuddered dramatically. "Let's just say that if she and I were the last two people on the face of the Earth; she and I would be the last two people on the face of the Earth."

She laughed at that, but there was still something that she had to say. It might be beating herself up, like Ron said that she shouldn't, but it was something that had to come out. On this pleasant day, the sidewalks and benches were a little too full for her to be comfortable with a confession, so she set her course towards a tree in the center of an open space. Ron followed her lead, which was sort of the whole problem. Before long they were at the tree and Kim checked all around it, then in the branches over their head. Satisfied that they were alone, she addressed him.

"Ron, I have to say that I'm sorry the way I've treated you..." she began.

"Whoa," he interrupted, putting his hands up in a friendly gesture. "We've been through this."

"No," she shook her head. "We forgave each other for how we acted when Eric showed up. This...goes a lot deeper. I never really appreciated you as a mission partner, or even much as a friend once we started high school."

"I really wasn't all that much help on the missions at first..." he tried to say.

"But you still went along and did your best," she wouldn't let him finish. "I was so self centered about it that I never appreciated it. When reporters interviewed me after a mission, I should have been saying that you helped me and told them how much Wade supported me with equipment and research. You two..."

"Hey!" An indignant squeak sounded from his pocket.

"Sorry Rufus," she apologized. "See? I did it again. Anyway, the three of you always pitched in, but I was content to take the credit. The only time I can remember giving you credit was when I tried to tell Officer Hubble when you beat Gill at Wannaweep the first time. He didn't believe me and I never tried after that."

"Look, we can..." he tried to interrupt.

"Please let me get through this," she insisted, this time her hands went up in the same friendly gesture. "That attitude went towards the equipment and other gear. I was more than happy to make sure you had the equipment you needed to get to the mission, like the glider packs, but I never asked Wade to give you some form of grapple, or the laser cutter, or the knockout gas. It's not that I was deliberately trying to keep you under-equipped; I just never thought of it and in a way, that's worse, isn't it?"

Ron didn't have an answer. Actually he agreed, but he didn't see the need to beat her up emotionally over it. She was doing a pretty good job on her own.

"Then, after Wade fried the suit, you stood up to me and him both, and demanded that you be treated like an equal. I'll admit that I was miffed but I was willing to go along with it, and then I got a taste of it, myself."

"Let me guess," he said. "Bonnie being cheer captain?"

"Exactly," she rolled her eyes. In mid-gesture, she realized that the contemptuous gesture was aimed at herself more than the brunette. "We're doing well and she's doing her job; a lot more than her two weeks of being captain last year. The only problem is that when she makes a statement in the school newspaper, or to the judges when we win a competition, she never acknowledges all the hard work that the rest of the squad puts in. We have a routine where the band's drum line plays for us, and she's never thanked them. She gives us a schedule for practices and she expects us to meet it, on her terms."

"The way I treated you, Wade and Rufus on the missions," she concluded. "Maybe I didn't deliberately snub you guys, I just didn't think of you. In its own way, that's worse."

"Well, while we're beating ourselves up, I didn't take things as seriously as I should have," he admitted to her. "I was content to let you and Wade come up with the plans while I just reacted to what was happening." Now, it was his turn to chuckle a little. "My quarterback always sits us down and talks to us when the defense is on the field. He's planning and working with us, like a captain should. I guess it's taken me until now to realize just how much I skated for so long."

"So, care to try to be friends again?" She tried to ignore how much her heart was in her throat when she asked.

"It will never be the same, will it?" He asked.

She shook her head, agreeing. Ron couldn't tell if her look was sadness or worry.

"But, I don't have so many friends that I couldn't use one more." He told her.

After that, it was easier. Having different lives gave them more to catch up with each other about. They spent a piece of the afternoon catching up before he left for home to take care of "Hana Duty". It wasn't pleasant to see him go, knowing that he wasn't going to come over and hang at her place, but like he had said, things weren't going to be the same between them. She was just glad that they were talking, and that he had seemed to find some sort of peace with himself. She arranged to meet him again, next week, in case

The next week, school was better. Bonnie was still a pain, but it was tolerable. She spent more time talking with Monique and Tara, sometimes, during a free period, she would shoot baskets with Felix and Eric, one on one with the winner taking on the third party. Her boyfriend was with her, and she enjoyed him, but she enjoyed her social life with others than him, as well. On Friday, she cheered as the Mad Dogs took on the Lemurs and checked the score and stats for Eastside's game, to see that Ron had another good game that contributed to another Eagles' victory. She was tempted to call him after the game, but Felix had told her that Friday nights were their night to play video games. Now, she wasn't jealous anymore and was glad that he had a close friend, even if it wasn't her.

She spent Saturday afternoon with him again and the fact that they weren't as close as they had been, sharing most of their classes, being on the squad together, spending a lot of time outside of school together, meant that they actually had more to talk about. It felt good to be able to vent about Bonnie and Barkin, while he bemoaned the torture sessions coach Roughman put him through. She still felt a little bad for him; while he said that he was with Yori, it had to be rough on him having her on the other side of the world. Still, she somehow managed to keep her mouth shut about that and just had some fun. His life was his business.

The next week started out well. She was crushing her classes, getting more and more active on more committees and groups and, of course, excelling on the squad. She and Eric were going strong, Ron was back to being a friend and getting closer, Monique and Felix were real pals at school and Tara and Crystal, growing somewhat disillusioned with Bonnie, became closer friends.

Then came the news that this Saturday was her cousin's birthday.

Not cousin, as in Joss, as in the feisty, self-assured girl who could very well follow her into the hero business someday. Oh no, it was cousin as in Larry, as in the slightly older boy who's social skills were so suspect that his mother was afraid to let him leave the house alone.

Kim was forced to agree with her.

What was worse was that her father volunteered her to spend time with him Saturday, alleviating the woman's fears that her nineteen year old son would somehow wander off and get lost. She tried to protest that she was going to hang out with Ron on Saturday, but her father seemed completely incapable of understanding that her friendship with her oldest friend was still on shaky ground. When she called Ron to tell him what was happening, after he had a good laugh at her expense, he agreed to keep her company while she kept Larry company. It turned out to be for the best.

Professor Dementor had apparently not gotten the memo that Wade hadn't fixed the battle-suit yet. The little tyrant was sure that Kim had it and had learned from her last run-in with Team Possible; he had brought along a dozen, burly henchmen, all armed with some sort of shock-staff. With Larry inside a comic book/role playing game store, she and Ron took on the goons, and she was quickly appreciative at how much her friend had upped his game. She could have been in serious trouble if she had been on her own. Instead, the two of them got the better of the bad guys with nothing more serious than a couple of contusions.

Strangely, Larry thought that it was an elaborate show that she had put on for him as a birthday present. Despite the fact that her father was usually a paragon of honesty, he talked her into going with the flow on that one, mainly for his sister's nerves.

Despite fighting Dementor, or maybe because of it, she and Ron had a better Saturday than they had since Eric came into her life. They poured down some empty calories and Bueno Nacho and even exchanged fist bumps upon saying their goodbyes. It was looking up even more! Maybe next Saturday, they could include Monique and Felix in the fun. She was getting her equilibrium back! When she got back home, there was some news about her brothers being skipped forward in school, but she didn't let that bother her.

Eric took her on a date, which did a great deal to put her back on an even keel. So what if her brothers were proving to be child geniuses? It wasn't as if they were going to be going to school with her! Happy again, she breezed into her room and, in typical fashion, got a call from Wade.

"So, who needs help?" She asked him.

"Actually, nobody," Wade admitted. "I have a call saying that he has information that you really should listen to."

"Oh?" She asked. "Who?"

"Monkeyfist."

Ron didn't know what he should think when Wade asked him to meet with Kim and Eric, at the Possible home, after practice...but it didn't sound good. For one thing, he had finally put aside his jealousy over Eric and was starting to get into the friend groove with Kim again. For another, he didn't like the mystery element that Wade was running. Surprises were seldom good surprises. The last one had been Wade setting him up to have a talk with Eric and that turned out okay but still, surprises weren't always good. Finally, he liked to read and compose emails to Yori after practice. However, he knew better than to put it off; when Wade and Kim wanted to talk to him, they'd manage it sooner or later.

He was so determined to deal with whatever had come up that he didn't even bother to stop by his house and drop off his gym bag, he just went straight to the Possibles' house. It was very rare for him to actually ring the bell, but he did, reflecting that it had been a long time since he had been in what had once been his second home. Kim answered the door almost immediately, and she didn't look any happier than he was.

"Thanks for coming," she told him, gesturing him to come inside. "We need to talk."

"About what?" He asked. "Was it something about the mission?"

"No," she shook her head, leading him towards the den. "Or at least, not the last one."

"So, what was it that waited until now to be talked about, but couldn't be said until I got here?" He asked. "And where are your folks?"

"They aren't home yet," she answered. "And I managed to get the tweebs to hang out in the garage, making something I don't want to think about. I'd like to keep this between us, at least for now."

"Us?" By now, they had reached the den, where Eric stood up, respectfully. Wade's visage was on the television screen. Neither the synthodrone nor the boy genius looked all that happy.

"Okay," Ron was now irritated. "Just who all do you mean by 'us', and what's this all about?"

"Ron, could you take your shoes and socks off, please?" She requested.

"What!?" He demanded. "All this secrecy, just to see toes?"

"I got a call from Monkeyfist, Saturday night," she told him. "According to him, you've been mutated."

He felt a moment of panic; then, the prospect of having this out in the open...at least a little bit...appealed to him.

"Fine," he said, plopping onto the couch and working at his footwear. "I'll let you see, but how would he know?"

"Wade, I think you better show him," Kim addressed the boy's image on the screen.

In response, Wade's face vanished, to be replaced my Fiske's. "Ah, Kim Possible," the man greeted her. Ron guessed that this was a recording from Saturday night. "I must congratulate you upon a very impressive victory over Professor Dementor. Granted, I find him to be somewhat underwhelming, but I admit that he hires capable henchmen and equips them with some interesting toys. That said, you're probably wondering why I bothered to contact you."

"Good guess," Ron could hear Kim's voice on the recording, which prompted Fiske to give a smug smile. "You've spoken almost thirty seconds and haven't insulted me once. That has to be some sort of a record for you."

"Ohh, nice retort," the Englishman smirked from the screen. "As much as I would enjoy a clash of wits, I have something else to share with you. You see, I make it a habit to review such losses I have suffered and those who have inflicted them upon me. I must admit that you are most capable. However, have you noticed that your companion has suddenly become more capable, as well?"

The screen showed Fiske's smile slowly growing. Apparently, Kim hadn't seen fit to answer.

"As shocking as it is that you have no banter, it's actually helpful," the nobleman smirked from the screen. "Let me provide a bit of knowledge for you. As you know, I had Dr. Hall modify me, both surgically and genetically, to make me more simian. I did not do this out of an infatuation with monkeys but to gain greater use of my Mystical Monkey Power. A little over a year ago, I discovered another means to merge monkey DNA with my own."

The screen changed from his face, to an aerial view of Camp Wannaweep.

"The ignorant whelps at the science camp accidentally stumbled upon a genetic modification that even the most brilliant geneticists in the world couldn't match," Fiske's voice narrated. The screen then changed to an image of Gill Moss. "Case in point, a boy who's DNA was merged with a fish's." The screen flickered back to Fiske's face.

"I admit to being no scientist," he told his audience. "But when an opportunity arises, I seize it! Unfortunately, the ignorant EPA cleaned up the lake, yet I did not despair. I made use of the boy to find a hidden grotto that was still contaminated. I allowed him to submerge himself and regain the form he preferred. While he was rampaging through the camps on the lake, I prepared to use the water's properties to merge my own DNA with one of my monkey ninjas. However, my plans were thwarted!"

Now, an artist sketch showed on the screen and Kim's voice gasped "Hirotaka!"

"Thank you for stating his name," Fiske reappeared. "I suspected that he was a servant of the Yamanouchi school. He prevented me from performing this procedure and then contaminated the water. By the time I was ready to try again, the EPA had cleaned this grotto, as well."

"So why are you telling me this?" Kim's voice demanded.

"I was well aware that you and Stoppable were present at the time," Fiske informed her. "Although you were unaware that I was there. We have had our altercations since, and Stoppable has proven more and more capable as time has gone on. It never occurred to me to investigate the connection between his presence at Wannaweep and his increased capability until my latest misadventure against him. You seemed to have missed this one; a ninja wench from Yamanouchi took your place, but look at this."

The screen changed again, showing a series of photographs of him fighting Fiske on the monkeys' heads in the temple of sand. The screen then zoomed in on his feet.

"It isn't obvious," Fiske appeared again. "And I'll confess that I would not have noticed it had one of my monkeys not taken it upon himself to record my actions for review. Miss Possible, your companion gained the mutation that I sought. His improvement is not due to hard work and diligence, it's due to a stolen modification."

"So, why are you telling me this?" Kim's voice demanded of him.

"Why, I thought would want to know," Fiske gloated. "I track my adversaries' exploits however I can. A few weeks before my defeat in Thailand, you called attention to his contributions to your success whenever interviewed. Now, your hometown newspaper is praising his exploits in American rules football. Just think, Miss Possible, is he taking the place of a young man who worked hard to get on the team, through dishonest means? Will he take a scholarship from an honest athlete?"

Silence answered him.

"Ah, nothing to say again," he chuckled. "Well, I'll leave you to contemplate this. Of course, the answers lie with him and he's only a few blocks away, isn't he?"

Fiske's face vanished from the screen, to be replaced with Wade's.

"Okay, we're live now," he announced. "I'm sure you figured out that I recorded the call he made. Before we say anything else, I'd like to remind everyone that Monty doesn't do anything that doesn't benefit him. Maybe he's trying to create turmoil, maybe he's trying to get Kim to doubt Ron, or Ron to doubt himself. Before anything else, I think we all need to first look at Ron's feet, then listen to what he has to say."

"I don't know what to say," Ron told them, then put his feet up on a footstool.

"It isn't obvious, unless you're looking for it," Kim commented. "When did this start?"

"A few weeks after Wannaweep," Ron told her. "The second adventure."

"So it wasn't necessarily Wannaweep," Wade pointed out.

"What else could it be?" Kim asked.

"There have been numerous times that both of you have been exposed to chemicals and radiation," Wade answered her. "Ron has also has Mystical Monkey Power and was with you when we dealt with the Amulet of the Monkey King."

"But that amulet only affected me!" Kim protested.

"That we could see," Wade corrected her. "Just being in proximity to it, since he has Mystical Monkey Power, could have started an alteration. We aren't dealing strictly with science here, there's also a lot of mysticism that I have no knowledge of."

"So, what do we do?" Kim asked.

"I think that's Ron's decision," Eric spoke up, causing Kim to stare at him, wide eyed. Ron was forced to mimic her move.

"I agree," Wade chimed in after a moment. "But could I make a couple of suggestions?"

"Suggest away," Ron told him.

"Before you make any decisions, maybe it's best to define the issue," Wade stated. "I'm not a geneticist but I can call in some favors. I can send a drone over, now, if you're willing to provide a blood sample and a cheek swab. If I were you, I'd want to know how superficial this mutation is, how far it will go, what caused it and if it can be reversed."

"Okay, information makes sense," Ron agreed. Trust Wade to inject logic into a potential emotional situation.

"Do you mind if I ask a question?" Eric asked, while they waited for the drone.

"Ask away," Ron told him.

"The change to your feet isn't glaring obvious, but you've been to football camp and you're now on Eastside's football team. You shower with dozens of other guys. Haven't any of them noticed this?"

"I wear beach shoes when I shower," Ron told him.

"And nobody wonders about that?" Eric asked.

"A couple of guys did," Ron shrugged. "I told them that they were medical shoes and if anybody wanted me to share the mother of all foot fungus with them, I'd be happy to take them off." He felt an evil grin creep onto his face. "Then I used the same makeup kit that I used to make the original mad dog head and made the heels of my feet look absolutely hideous. I pulled off my socks really slow the next day after practice...a few guys saw my heels and quickly turned away. The word spread and nobody showed any interest in my feet after that. In fact, everyone encouraged me to keep wearing the beach shoes."

By that time the drone showed up. The cheek swab was easy enough and Ron was gratified to learn that Wade had rigged a blood collection device that didn't require him to stab a needle into himself, or have Kim, Eric or Rufus do it. He could handle Dementor shooting a death-beam at him, but he freaked out at the idea of a person coming at him with a needle.

"You still should think about this," Kim insisted, once the drone was gone. "You really need to reverse it, if you can."

"The man most capable of reversing it has passed away," Wade pointed out, from the screen. "He..." Wade's voice faded to silence.

"What's up?" Ron asked him. "I swear I can see the gears working behind your eyes."

"Don't you think that's suspicious?" Wade asked. "I never thought of this before now...I never had the link between Fiske and Wannaweep. Dr. Lurkin died from a freak accident, in his office at about the time that Fiske developed an interest in the lake."

"Do you think that Monty had something to do with Dr. Lurkin's death?" Kim gasped.

"He is a ninja," Wade pointed out. "He's shown a major disregard for anyone who isn't helping him, and homicidal tendencies to anyone who stands in his way. I'm going to look into this deeper."

"Okay," Eric chimed in. "How long before Ron will have some results from the DNA tests?"

"Days to weeks," Wade told him. "Ron, the most brilliant geneticist I know about is DNAmy. Do you have a problem if I turn these samples over to her...as well as others?"

"Go for it," Ron shrugged. "But if you can make sure that she destroys them when she's done, I'd appreciate it. Who knows what she could make if she feels like it?"

"Good precaution," the boy genius noted, his fingers ticking away at his keyboard. In the meantime, I'd like to remind you of another channel of investigation open to us.

"And that would be..." Ron prompted him.

"Yamanouchi," Wade answered. "Fiske claims that his efforts were stymied by a man Kim identified as Hirotaka, the exchange student that came to Middleton at the same time you went to Yamanouchi. At the very least, and assuming that Fiske is telling the truth, it means that someone from Yamanouchi was present at the time and could very well tell us more." He paused a moment. "Ron, I'm not trying to compromise your privacy, or Yamanouchi's secrecy, but I know that you and Yori blocked another of Fiske's plans in Thailand earlier this year. If you are in communication with her, perhaps you could request to know more about Hirotaka at Wannaweep. It doesn't hurt to ask."

"I'll do that when I get home," Ron assured him.

"But that brings us back to the most important point," Kim stated. "Can it be reversed?"

"I think it's up to Ron to decide if he wants to reverse it," Eric told her.

"Don't be silly," she rolled her eyes at her boyfriend. "Of course he wants to reverse it, don't you Ron?"

"I...don't know," he admitted.

"What?" She demanded. "Why not?"

"It's me," he explained. "It might not be pretty and it might not be normal, but it's me. Why can't I be me?"

"I don't understand," Kim admitted.

"This is what I've been through," he told her, struggling to put the concept into words. "It's not like I'm looking at my feet with pride, but it's my life, my experience. I jumped into that pool to save everyone at Wannaweep..."

"Assuming that's what caused the mutation," Eric interrupted him.

"And this is the result," he continued, giving an agreeing nod to Eric. "I didn't jump into that pool in order to become a better football player...I didn't have any intention of playing football back then. I wanted to be able to match Gill and get everyone I knew out of there. As a result, I have malformed feet. It's not painful and it's not hindering me. Why do I have to change me?"

"But what if it's giving you an unfair advantage?" Kim asked him. "Monkeys are stronger, pound for pound, than people are. What if this is making you more competitive? Is that fair to the boys you're competing against?"

"Is it fair to take it away from him?" Eric asked, before Ron could try to answer. "I could understand if Ron had been taking steroids or other P.E.D.s, but he only wanted to be able to rescue people. Doesn't that motivation count for something? The campers at all of those camps are alive and healthy because he did what he did, isn't that enough of a payoff to make up for the fact that maybe...and I emphasize maybe...this has made him more capable?"

"Could you say that to one of his competitors?" Kim countered her boyfriend. "Or even someone on his team? Could you say to the boy playing second string to him that he had to suck up and accept that Ron had an artificial advantage that helped him edge you out of the starting spot? Could you tell a boy on Middleton's team that he was a split-second too late to make the tackle because of this advantage?"

"Yes," Eric answered. Ron found it more fun to watch the argument than join in. "Because I would also say that this hypothetical advantage...assuming it exists in the first place...comes with disadvantages. Because of who he is, he misses practices because some former golfer with intense anger management issues decided to act up; or he didn't get to sleep last night because a brilliant mechanical engineer with a fetish for the air guitar stole a rocket for a joyride. He lives a life that keeps you safe and that life has done things to him."

"I don't quite buy that logic," Kim grumbled.

"You might be living it," Eric answered her.

"What?"

"At one point, you gained Hego's strength," Eric reminded her. "Can you tell me that it all went back to Hego? There's no way that anyone of your size should be as strong as you are, but you can lift twice your body's weight. You didn't ask for enhancements, you didn't try to get enhancements...but can you say that you don't have enhancements?"

"I hate to interrupt the argument," Wade chimed in. "But I'd like to inform everyone that at the end, it's going to be Ron's choice."

"Thanks," Ron nodded to him, even though he had begun to enjoy the Kim vs Eric debate.

"So, can I suggest that you give me some time to gather information for Ron? After this, we can present points of view to him, but it will be his decision what to do. Furthermore, I think that we should let this be his secret."

"Also, could you dig into what Fiske wants to gain by telling Kim?" Eric asked the young genius. "I've never met the man but from what Kim has told me, he never does anything out of generosity. He wants to gain something from this."

"And the gain may be conflict between Kim and Ron," Wade answered. "But I'll dig a little more."

"I have an email to compose," Ron declared, pulling his footwear back on. "I'll catch everyone here later."

As soon as he got home, his computer screen came to life and showed Wade's image again.

"What's up?" Ron asked. "Did you just think of something?"

"No," Wade told him. "I thought about it, but I thought I should bring it up only to you. There's another reason that you may want to think about reversing your mutation...if it can be reversed."

"What's that?" Ron asked.

"You're still a young man," Wade pointed out, then hesitated. "Man, that sounds weird saying that to someone who's older than me."

"Weird is our standard operating procedure," Ron asked him. "I'm young, what does that have to do with it?"

"Odds are, at some point you're going to wind up with a girl and the two of you will seriously consider kids," Wade replied. "If your mutation could affect potential children..."

"It's something to think about," Ron told him. "Thanks for bringing this up in private, but it's something I'm not going to have to worry about for some time."

"Then I'll leave you to your correspondence," Wade told him. "Wade out."

The screen went blank, then showed his typical desktop. He sat down and began a message to his girlfriend.

A/N: I know I'm sounding like a broken record but, as always, fond thanks to Joe Stoppinghem for beta reading.