Back on the Horse

XX

The numbers on the alarm clock were ticking up to levels that Kim had rarely seen in the morning. She lay on her side in bed and watched as another minute crept by. An eleven and two zeros winked back at her as the alarm clock changed to a new hour. Kim had no classes on Friday, but it was getting very late compared to her usual morning schedule. She was being a bit of a bad girl.

Kim turned over in bed, almost forgetting that Monique had left earlier that morning, and stared at the rumpled blank spot where her girlfriend had slept. Monique had work to do, and while Kim still had some weekend homework to start, she felt like sleeping in a little. Maybe Kim wasn't a bad girl so much as she was a good girl being corrupted by Monique's easy-going, devil-may-care attitude. That had to be it, she told herself. Kim Possible was always responsible, after all.

She yawned and pushed herself up a little farther as she looked around the bedroom. The morning sunlight was pouring through the window blinds, well on its way to becoming afternoon sunlight, and the collection of fashion designs and sketches that Monique had plastered on various walls were lit up in their usual colorful resplendence. Kim had some of her Cuddle Buddies displayed on a shelf nearby, although she had only taken a few from her collection at home when they had first moved into the apartment, not wanting to freak Monique out with the extent of her obsession. Closer to the bed stood a wire cage on a stand, which contained a pair of actual pets that Kim had bought with Monique soon after they moved into the apartment together.

"Good morning, Chirparoo One and Too," she said. The Budgerigars in the cage scampered back and forth excitedly on their bar and chirped back in reply.

Kim yawned and forced herself out of bed in order to feed the birds and dress herself for the day. The week had passed by uneventfully – other than that call from Wade near its beginning - and now she was looking forward to the weekend. She had told Monique earlier that she would pay her a visit at work today, so that was the first item on her to-do list. She opened a dresser drawer and fished out her trusty white shirt with the pink heart. The shirt was getting a little old, but it was one of her favorites.

Thoughts of a pleasant weekend with Monique were cut off as Kim began to think more clearly about the call Wade had given her a few days ago. She had given Wade's call a little bit of thought over the week, but her attitude hadn't changed that much. It wasn't that she never wanted to see Ron again, but things had been awkward between them. They had fallen out of touch. Kim remembered the breakup with a slight grimace; it happened long ago, and she had gotten enough distance past it to move on, but the breakup had not been a pleasant one. Not that breakups were ever pleasant. At least not as far as Kim was aware.

Cheep cheep!

"Yes," said Kim as she opened up the cage, "food is coming. You guys are totally pampered, you know. You're getting your breakfast before I am."

Cheep che-cheep – going on a mission!

Kim smiled as Chirparoo One seemed to read her thoughts. Apparently it had caught a snippet of conversation with Monique, or perhaps even Wade, earlier that week. Either that or it happened to be a telepathic bird. Kim thought it was unlikely, but when Rufus came to mind, she had to wonder. Chirparoo Too nodded its head in agreement with its partner's statement as Kim gave them their food.

"Trying to get me to go, are you?" said Kim. "Probably so you can open up your cage and poop everywhere in the apartment. Nice try."

Cheep!

Kim closed the cage again and watched as the birds ate their fill of millet seed and spinach. Monique was the one who had wanted the birds, but Kim was happy to have them as well – in part because they served as a replacement for Rufus. Kim supposed that Rufus might be a little insulted to be compared to pet birds. Although the Budgerigars were intelligent birds, they didn't hold a candle to Rufus. Now that she barely saw Ron anymore, Rufus was gone as well, and despite his atrocious eating habits, she did miss Ron's pet mole rat.

They were no Rufuses, but the birds were smart enough to remind Kim yet again of what she had been trying to ignore. Wade's offer was beginning to weigh more heavily on her, as she remembered that the deadline Wade had set on accepting it was today. She had not gone any missions in a while, it was true, and although she hadn't thought about it very much, Kim had always assumed she would eventually return to them. It was too much a part of her life to just disappear completely, even if she had been sidetracked a little.

But going on a mission with Ron was another thing entirely. Things would be awkweird to say the least. While Kim had always thought in the back of her mind that she would continue her missions, she wondered if she could say the same about whether she and Ron would ever patch things up. She certainly wasn't against it, but the Ron question seemed harder to answer. Could they just go back to being friends? Was Ron even interested in that anymore?

Their lives had drifted apart. Perhaps that was just how life went sometimes. And to be honest, she did not want to go on a mission with Ron and deal with the same attitude that he had taken with her after the breakup. The whole subject was beginning to cast a dark cloud over her good mood, so she decided to shelve it at least for a while. Right now, it was time to visit Monique.

"See you guys later," Kim said to her birds as she left the bedroom. "Don't be causing any trouble!"

Before the birds could protest the idea that they would ever even think of causing trouble, Kim had closed the door behind her.

XX

"And that," said Ron as Steve Barkin listened with half-lidded eyes, "is when I told him I had no interest in going on a mission with Kim if she didn't even care enough to ask me herself! I mean, that was what Wade said – he told me Kim hadn't even agreed to come yet. He said he had to 'work on her' a little. Why should I put myself through that?"

Steve shrugged noncommittally as he sat inside the customer service kiosk and watched customers passing by. Normally he would like to be out doing something on the floor – cleaning and organizing merchandise, helping a customer, or any number of other important retail duties that needed to be done lest the store fall into unrepairable, horrifying chaos. He would also enjoy being in Ron's position and ordering a few subordinates around. Steve was a natural leader, after all.

Instead, ever since Steve had clocked in that morning, he had been sitting next to Stoppable and listening to endless sob stories of teen drama. At least he thought it was teen drama. Maybe Stoppable wasn't a teen anymore; he couldn't quite remember if the boy had reached his 20's or not.

"So what do you think?" asked Ron. "I did the right thing when I turned him down, right?"

"Why are you asking me, Stoppable? If you don't want to go, you don't want to go."

"Exactly!" said Ron as he nodded vigorously in agreement. "That's exactly what I'm saying! It's just that Wade said I would have to decide sometime before tonight if I wanted to go."

Ron sat back in his chair and twiddled a staple remover between his fingers, trying to convince himself that he had made the right decision. A nagging voice in the back of his mind told him that he was still undecided. Otherwise, he would not have been thinking about Wade's call ever since he got up that morning. But still, Ron did not feel like traveling cross-country and hearing about what a wonderful time Kim was having in college. Probably acing all her classes, partying with lots of well-built frat boys before going back to her apartment to engage in hot girl-on-girl making out with Monique. Ron knew it was a little strange to care about the attention Kim got from frat boys if she was with a girl now, but he had no time to worry about being illogical. He was sure that was exactly what was going on.

And, most of all, Ron told himself, Kim was probably glad she had cast off a total loser like himself before he dragged her down with him. He didn't need to go a mission and screw things up like he usually did, just to be reminded of what a third wheel he had become.

Not even a third wheel, really. Now that Ron thought about it, that expression didn't make much sense. A third wheel was completely necessary on a car, or even a carriage. You actually needed a fourth wheel to drive along without crashing, so being a third or even fourth wheel was a good thing. Maybe the expression was referring to bicycles or something. But then, if you couldn't balance, training wheels were really important. Ron frowned as he clacked the staple remover's teeth together nervously. He would have to look up -

"Stoppable!"

Ron snapped out of his mental quandary, noticing that he was accidentally biting into his own finger with the staple remover. He winced and put it back on the customer service desk as he looked over at Mr. Barkin.

"Yes sir?"

He chided himself for forgetting that Mr. Barkin was now his subordinate. The guy was so big, sometimes it was easy to forget.

"You looked like you were about to tear your finger off there."

"Oh yeah. Thanks for the heads up Mr. B!"

"What was this mission that Wade wanted you to do with Kim, anyway?"

"He didn't really say. He just wanted the two of us to meet at some address and he would give us the details. It was all pretty hush-hush."

Steve nodded. He had more than enough experience with hush-hush missions from his time in the war, not to mention the times he had saved the world during high school. Although he had been annoyed with Kim and Ron's poor attendance records in high school, he could understand the allure of being an international supervillain fighter. The airline peanuts alone would be irresistible, although Steve would never have admitted that little guilty pleasure to his students in health class.

"You know," he said, "I saved the world a few times myself when I was around your age."

"Oh yeah. I remember you mentioning that when I graduated. What were you doing, exactly?"

"Confidential, Stoppable."

Ron frowned at the swift rebuke.

"I see Possible as a sort of protégé, learning the value of discipline and following in my footsteps. Even if she hasn't gone on any missions lately. I saw you the same way, really. I know I ragged on you for never being normal, Stoppable, and I still think you could learn the value of a little social conformity, but the two of you did good things."

"What are you getting at, Mr. B?"

Steve took a moment to decide what he was getting at. He was still Ron's teacher, in a sense – the whole 'being his former student's employee' thing was just a temporary embarrassment that Steve had to live with – and he wanted to impart some life lessons to the boy.

"If this Wade kid is giving you the opportunity to patch things up with Possible, maybe you should take it. You're telling me you don't miss going on those missions?"

Ron wasn't sure. He missed parts of it, at least. And he did miss the time he spent with Kim, but things had changed, and that had not been Ron's choice. Kim was the one who had broken things off. As for the missions themselves, Ron never had as much of an urge to help those in need as Kim did, and he definitely hated dropping out of planes and nearly getting fried by lasers, but he supposed he had developed a certain fondness for parts of their missions. It was nice to foil an evil plot and save the world, even if the process of actually reaching that goal really stunk sometimes.

"Sure, I miss parts of it, but things between me and KP – well, things between us don't exactly exist anymore, you know?"

"And is that the way you want it? You mention her all the time when you're working here. Which, by the way, you don't seem too enthusiastic about doing. Working in retail is a privilege, Stoppable, but you're phoning it in most of the time."

"Hey now! Watch how you talk to your boss!"

Steve reacted instinctively to Ron's assertion of authority. "Sorry sir!" he gulped.

After he recovered his natural sense of superiority over the boy, he pressed on. He knew Stoppable was not mean enough to fire him, and the boy needed a little tough honesty. "I'm just saying, half of what you do here as manager is play games."

"I do not!"

"You're doing it right now!"

Ron looked down in surprise at the controller he was holding in his hands. Apparently he had turned on a game of Zombie Mayhem during his conversation with Mr. Barkin without even noticing it.

"Yeah well, what's your point? These zombies don't kill themselves!"

"My point is that you seem like you're in a rut. Maybe going on this mission with Possible would shake things up for you a little."

Ron abruptly turned off the game and got up from his chair. Normally, Mr. Barkin was a passive and silent sounding board for Ron's complaints, but today he seemed unusually – Ron struggled for the right word – advicey. As far as he was concerned, Kim had moved on, and getting a call from Wade about a mission that Kim didn't really even want to go on herself was a reminder of his past that Ron did not want. He hadn't expected to be challenged over his decision.

"I'm going to go take a walk around the floor," he said as he left the kiosk. "Make sure everything's in order. You're in charge of the kiosk while I'm away!"

Mr. Barkin's entire body snapped to attention in a way that reminded Ron of a child who had just heard a faint twinkle of music coming from an approaching ice cream truck. He wasted no time in grabbing the manager's chair as his boss left the kiosk.

"YOU GOT IT, Stoppable!"

Ron wandered into the rest of the exotic animals section and passed through the aisles, making sure all the merchandise had adequate food and water and pointing the occasional customer in the right direction. The store was a little more crowded than it had been the rest of the week, but Ron still had a sense of relative privacy as he passed through the aisles, despite the grunts and howls of various animals in their cages.

He passed the cassowaries – trying to lead new shipments of those things into their store cages was a terrifying experience. He passed the naked mole rats and thought of Rufus, who had elected to stay at home during Ron's shift. He passed the cage where the monitor lizards were kept. It had been repaired from the incident earlier that week when the lizards had escaped and attacked poor Jenkins. Fortunately Jenkins was doing just fine, enjoying a week of recuperation in the Smarty Mart mobile hospital. The employees of the exotic animals department had clauses in their hiring contracts against corporate liability in case of grievous bodily harm – and for good reason.

Other than the occasional animal attacks, being manager of the exotic animals department really wasn't such a bad job, to be fair. But Mr. Barkin had a point. Ron did not feel very enthused about being a manager at Smarty Mart. He had even sent in some applications to Martin Smarty himself for other positions in the corporation a few weeks ago, but he had not heard back from the C.E.O. about any of them yet.

Ron's face scrunched a little in concentration as he thought about those applications. Maybe he did need to shake things up a little.

After making sure that nothing of interest was happening on the sales floor, Ron slipped into a small employee lounge just past the edge of the department. He was pleased to find it empty of employees, and he resisted the urge to fetch and reheat one of the Nacos he kept in the refrigerator as a snacking reserve. Instead, he picked up the phone in the corner and dialed Martin Smarty's personal cell phone number, which he still had written on a note in his wallet from his interaction with the Smarty Mart C.E.O. in days long gone. The phone rang for an interminably long time, but eventually someone picked up.

"Hello?" asked a somewhat annoyed voice.

"Hey, Mr. Smarty, this is your favorite employee!"

There was a long silence.

"Wilson?"

"What? No, not Wilson."

"Reeves?"

"No, Ron! Ron Stoppable!"

Another long silence was eventually broken by a tentative reply.

"Oh yes, of course, Ron Stoppable. Over at the Middleton branch. How are things going? Did the monitor lizards get out again?"

"Yes but Jenkins is alright sir, don't you worry. That's actually not why I'm calling."

"I see. And to what do I owe the pleasure of your call?"

"I was wondering if you looked over those job applications I sent a few weeks ago."

As Ron stood waiting through another long silence, he began to wonder if there was some kind of communication problem going on over the line. Clearly, Mr. Smarty was having trouble hearing him.

"You know, the ones that-"

"Oh, I know what you're talking about, Ron."

The tone of Martin Smarty's voice gave Ron the vague impression that he was not about to hear any good news. Still, there was nothing to do but press on. "What do you think?" he asked.

"Ron, you're a likable young man, and you were very good at sales, customer service, stocking, that kind of thing, but I'm not really sure you're the kind of material we're looking for when we hire for positions with more responsibility."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you're not responsible. At least you haven't been lately. I do have security cameras set up in all my store branches, Ronald, and I have noticed how often you play games on the clock. It seems like your productivity has dropped off lately. I don't mean to pry, but have you been having personal problems?"

Ron blanched as he realized he had been called out. Not to mention that having one of his idols ask him about personal problems was uncomfortable, to say the least.

"Okay, maybe you have a point there sir, but I can be responsible – what about the time I taught your kid all that cool stuff about how to not be a delinquent and helped shape him up?"

"Arty is in Juvie, Ronald."

Ron coughed. So that wasn't the best angle to take.

"I just think I'm uninspired in the job I have. If I was promoted to a higher position I would totally work harder. You just gotta give me a chance!"

"Ronald," - Martin Smarty hesitated for a moment before he continued - "I didn't want to tell you this at first, but maybe it will give you some perspective."

"Tell me what?"

"The only reason you got the management job you have now was because of Kim Possible. She gave me a call a while ago and asked me to do it as a favor. She vouched for you, you know. She said you would be responsible and take the job seriously, and your job performance until then had been very good, so I was happy to offer you the promotion whether or not I owed Miss Possible any favors."

Ron listened quietly to this new revelation about why he had gotten the job. He was taken aback – Kim had never told him about this. Not that there had really been any opportunities for her to say anything about it. But Ron had certainly never asked her to put in a good word for him. Even stranger was the fact she Ron had only applied for and gotten the management job after he and Kim had already broken up.

"I have to say, Ronald - based on your performance lately, I'm not sure I would still give you the job you have. That being said, you happen to be the only manager at the Middleton store right now – other than Davis," Mr. Smarty added with an audible shudder in his voice. "I'm far too busy to deal with hiring more, and I keep hoping you might shape up. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go convince a judge that Arty simply lost control of his skateboard and could not stop it from hitting that man in the head after it flew out of his hands."

"But sir, I-"

Ron heard a clicking noise as Martin Smarty hung up.

A few employees came into the lounge, tittering and laughing amongst each other over some secret joke, but Ron could tell they were not laughing at him. Fortunately, they had narrowly missed his embarrassing phone conversation.

Ron watched with slumped shoulders as one of the employees went over to the refrigerator and pulled out a couple of Nacos that Ron had been saving for later. The teen unwrapped the Naco and put it in the microwave. Normally Ron would have objected. Not to mention that as the only manager present in the store, he could get them in trouble for taking a break without asking permission. But right now, Ron felt too deflated to even say anything.

The employees sat down at a table and began to eat as Ron left the lounge and shambled listlessly down one of the exotic animal aisles, back to the customer service kiosk.

"Young man," said a passing customer.

Ron waved her off apathetically. "Aisle three," he said.

"Excuse me?"

"What you're looking for, it – I – look, I'm busy, sheesh!"

Ron left the shocked customer behind as he arrived at the kiosk, where Mr. Barkin was sitting and playing a game of Zombie Mayhem. Steve shut the console down and put away his controller before Ron could notice that he had briefly given into his shameful gaming curiosity.

"What's the problem, Stoppable? You look like you've just seen a ghost."

"I got turned down for those positions I applied for," said Ron as he entered the kiosk and joined his bulky employee. He considered playing a game to cheer himself up a little, but decided he wasn't really in the mood. That, and the controller looked really sweaty for some inexplicable reason.

"So what are you going to do now?" Barkin asked him.

Ron resisted the urge to tell his former teacher that he would be going to Disneyland. He sat in a different chair than usual, not noticing that Barkin had stolen the one that Ron had unofficially designated as the manager's chair, and stared out over his Smarty Mart domain.

Why had Kim gotten him this job? Did she feel sorry for him? Did she think he couldn't have gotten it himself? And, if she was actually right, did that mean that Ron should thank her or feel insulted?

Ron had tried to shake things up a little, just like Barkin said, but he found himself a bit shaken up by what had just happened. He felt an urge to ask Kim why she'd give him the job without telling him. The easiest way to do that would be to meet her while they were on the mission, he supposed. And now that he knew his attempts to move on from his managerial job had been shot down, he was feeling a little irked. Ron got up from his chair, almost radiating with a sudden aura of conviction. Steve raised an eyebrow as his manager looked down at him resolutely.

"I'm going to go on that mission with Kim, right now."

Steve watched as Ron opened up the small door in the counter that led out of the kiosk.

"Um, Stoppable – you still have three hours left on your shift."

Ron slapped a hand to his head.

"Can you cover for me?"

Steve slapped a hand to his head. Partly because he saw the question coming right before Ron had asked it, and partly because he knew he would say yes. A few hours of peace and quiet, he could deal with – it was better than hearing Ron whining incessantly about how his center hadn't held. Steve had always felt a little guilty about giving Ron that discouraging little rant back during his student's high school graduation, even if Ron seemed to agree with him now that the boy had passed into the crushing despair of adulthood.

Maybe Steve had made up for the whole 'center will not hold' thing by pushing Ron in the right direction now. And to be honest, he always thought Kim and Ron worked best as a team.

XX

The Upperton Arena's parking lot was filled to the brim whenever there was a sporting event going on, but it was nearly empty when Kim arrived in the Sloth. She had no problem finding a parking space, and sat for a couple of minutes listening to a song playing on Britina's latest CD before she turned off the ignition.

The main entrances to the Upperton Arena were locked since there were no events going on, but a few of the side doors were open for employees who still needed to work. Kim took one of the side doors and passed through several back offices and hallways before she found one that led into the empty arena itself. Rows and rows of silent seats stared down at Kim as she entered the vaulted room and caught the lingering scent of sweat in the air.

Monique often worked from home, but sometimes she had to go on-site for her work. She worked a number of odd fashion-related jobs in the time that she did not spend focusing on her college work. Some counted towards her classes, and some were purely for the money. Over the last semester, however, she had managed to combine two of her interests together when she found a job as a fashion designer for the Global Wrestling Association.

Monique had explained, to Kim's mild surprise and ultimate indifference, that the outfit a wrestler wore was an integral part of his stage persona. Kim was never a big fan of the wrestling – not the way Monique and Ron were – but she was happy to see Monique engaged in something that made her happy.

"Hey Monique!" she called over to her girlfriend, who was sitting at a table just outside of the ring in the center of the arena.

Monique looked over her back. "Finally decided to get your butt out of that bed and pay me a visit, huh?"

Kim gave her a hug and nodded at the two wrestlers in the ring, who had stopped grappling each other and walked over to the ropes to greet the new arrival. Their presence explained the sweaty smell in the otherwise empty arena. Kim wrinkled her nose a little.

"Great. Check it out, Steve - another lady to treat us like pieces of meat," said Pain King.

Steel Toe laughed and slapped his friend and fellow wrestler on the back with a beefy hand. "It's all part of the job, Paul. Gotta bring home the bacon!"

"Enough talk, you two!" Monique twirled her hand around to indicate that she wanted the two of them to get back to wrestling. "Really get into it this time, move your arms around more so I can see what it looks like. And tell me if the fabric feels comfortable and fits well!"

Monique watched at Pain King and Steel Toe returned to their fight. A stereo was placed below one of the padded ropes that lined the edge of the ring, and Steel Toe leaned down to flip it back on, blaring out rock music into the empty arena. The two wrestlers liked a little music to get them pumped up when they were practicing.

And, in this case, testing out fashions at the same time. They were both wearing wrestling uniforms that Monique had designed for them, and today it was time to put them to the test and see what they looked like in action. If Monique didn't like what she saw, or if either of the two wrestlers had any complaints, it was back to the drawing boards. The G.W.A. had gotten more receptive to their wrestler's needs ever since the debacle with Jackie Oakes and that magic amulet. They had been getting more creative, as well.

"So what do you think?" she asked Kim.

Kim looked over the wrestlers with an appraising eye.

"Hot! I think I'm going back to guys now, sorry Monique."

"As if. What do you think of their outfits, miss cheeky?"

"Fantastic, as usual. I don't remember seeing them with those masks before, though."

"Ned came up with those. He's been watching a lot of Mexican Wrestling lately and he wanted to experiment a little. Draw in some new fans, shake up the routine, you know. I gotta say, I never woulda guessed, but the boy is a good manager. I think the G.W.A.'s been making some interesting changes ever since they bought Jackie Oates out of the corporation. I'm hoping Ned will stick around for a while."

"And those masks give you more to design," Kim pointed out.

"Oh yeah. No complaints here!"

Kim sat down next at the table next to Monique and looked at some of the designs and extra outfits her girlfriend had strewn across the table. She wondered if Monique had to pick up the sweaty outfits once Steel Toe and Pain King changed out of them to put on new ones for testing; that certainly didn't seem like one of the high points of a job as wrestling fashion designer.

"Hello ladies!" came a voice from between the two of them.

Kim arched her head around to find that Ned had walked up behind them and was watching the two wrestlers trying to pin each other in the ring. He held a box in his hands, from which a pleasant smell was emanating. "Hey, speak of the devil," she said. She arched her head in the direction of the wrestling ring. "Nice masks there. I heard they were your idea."

"Affirmative! I have recently been inspired by public access television to experiment in the fine art of lucha libre. Perhaps, after quitting Bueno Nacho, I still felt a longing for the warm embrace of authentic Mexican tradition."

"Bueno Nacho was authentic Mexican tradition?" asked Monique skeptically.

Ned gasped, clearly taken aback by Monique's insinuation that Bueno Nacho was not real Mexican cuisine "Hold your tongue!" he told her.

Kim shook her head at Monique in mock disappointment, and Monique held up her hands in surrender at the two of them as she conceded her mistake. If Ron had been around, Kim thought, he would have been downright shocked by the comment.

"I think the masks are muy caliente," said Ned as he watched the wrestlers in the ring, trying to be diplomatic with Monique after admonishing her for her faux pas. "The real test will be the match we have here in a couple weeks. If the audience seems to like the changes, I think we'll be very successful when Steel Toe and Pain King hit the road after that."

Monique nudged Kim as she listened to Ned mentioning the upcoming Upperton match. "You will be going to that match with me, right Kim? It'll be right here in the Arena, and I can get us cheap front row tickets! Isn't that right Ned?" she asked with a strategic flutter of her eyelashes.

Monique was not exactly right, but Ned nodded with great reluctance. It was hard to turn down a beautiful woman, even if it meant abusing his powers as a recently-hired G.W.A. road manager.

"Of course I'll come," said Kim.

She tried to sound enthusiastic; hopefully it was convincing enough for Mon. She had never been a big fan of wrestling, but she was happy to go if she had Monique for company, especially since it made her girlfriend happy.

"Oh, and today is your lucky day," said Ned. "I got some cupcakes from the new place that opened up downtown. They're absolutely delicious!"

Ned set the box he had been holding down on the desk between Monique and Kim. Monique looked a little miffed that Ned had put the box directly on top of the notes that she had obviously been writing, but after she opened up the box's lid, the smell of the cupcakes was so enticing that she wouldn't help but grab one for herself.

Kim grabbed her own, wondering if they were from the same place where her classmate in the study hall the other day had gotten his cupcake. Wherever it was, it seemed to be popular. She bit into the cupcake, making sure to get a lot of frosting in her mouthful. The taste was not quite as amazing as the smell, but it was still very good. As a matter of fact, although Kim hadn't eaten any of Ron's baking in a while, she wondered if it was almost as good as his stuff. Or could it be better? Was that even possible?

"So tell me Kim," said Monique as she finished her cupcake with amazing speed and pushed the box aside to return to her design notes, "you given any thought to that mission Wade was talking about?"

"Yes, I did give it some thought. Why, what do you think about it?"

Monique watched Steel Toe and Pain King grappling for a few moments before she answered. Kim couldn't tell if she was thinking about what to say, or if she was just distracted by her fabrics and fashions being showcased over rippling pectoral muscles.

"It's really up to you, honey."

Her girlfriend was right, of course, but Kim had been hoping for more of a definite answer.

She had, in fact, given some thought to Wade's call the other night. She had turned Wade down almost reflexively after hearing that Ron would be going along, although Wade had been unclear about whether he had actually gotten Ron to agree to go along in the first place. It wasn't that Kim was still tied up over what had happened between them – she had been the one to break up with Ron, after all – but things had gone sour after that. And as far as Kim was concerned, that had not been her doing.

Still, the fact remained that Wade had a mission for her. Maybe it was just an attempt on his part to try to throw her together with Ron again so they could be friends. That would explain Wade's evasiveness when she had asked for details about the mission. But if Wade had called her, there was most likely someone who needed help, or someone who needed defeating. Or both. She couldn't risk turning down someone in need - Ron or no Ron, Kim felt an obligation to know the sitch.

"I think I'm going to go," she told Monique. "Or at least talk to Wade about it more. I kind of figured he's been handling things with Global Justice lately, so if he's calling me, it could be that he really needs help with something. You don't mind if I end up taking off for most of this weekend, do you?"

"That's cool with me. You gotta do what you gotta do."

"Alright. I guess I might as well give him a call now, then."

Kim was about to fish the Kimmunicator out of her pocket when she realized that she had left it at the apartment. It was a little unsettling just how out of the loop she was with the whole mission thing. She would just have to call Wade the old-fashioned way.

"I'm going to sneak off over there in the stands so I can hear the conversation better," said Kim as the wrestlers grunted and groaned on stage to the sound of crashing hard rock music.

Monique nodded and watched as her girlfriend left the desk to give Wade a call on her cell phone. She had known that Kim would accept the mission eventually, even if she had been reluctant the other night.

What Monique did not know, however, was how she felt about Kim going on a mission. She knew freak fighting, as Bonnie Rockwaller had so eloquently put it in the past, had been part of Kim's life for a long time. She knew that quitting the missions had somehow been a result of what had happened between her and Ron. Monique wanted to see Kim rediscover her passion for helping people, and she understood that passion even if it didn't really inspire her the way it inspired Kim.

But on the other hand, Monique did not like to see Kim in danger. A part of her had been happy when Kim had given up her missions and thrown herself into college studies and everyday life instead. And she knew that Kim missed Ron's company, and heck - she missed Ron's company herself. Monique had never been as close to Ron as Kim, and she lacked the long history with the boy, but Ron had a certain charm and warmth that Monique always enjoyed. It was unfortunate that he had reacted to the breakup so badly.

But there was something else. Monique reluctantly recognized that, somewhere within her, a pang of worry kept flaring up about the idea of Kim and Ron going on a mission together. Monique was sure the two of them were over. Almost completely sure. After all, Kim was with her now - they even lived together. There was no reason for her to worry about Kim going on a mission. Only good could come of it. At worst, Kim and Ron would have an awkward weekend together, it would end, and things would be the go back to the way they had been between those two ever since the breakup. At best, it would turn out that time had healed old wounds, and perhaps the three of them could hang out again. No problems there.

So why, Monique pointedly asked herself, are you so nervous all of a sudden?

XX

Wade smiled as he twirled in his chair and listened to the call coming through one of his computers. He had been playing a game of Everlot, which was paused on another computer monitor. His tiny wizard avatar wielded a staff that crackled with energy, frozen in mid-strike against a vicious cave troll. Wade did not mind the interruption to his gaming; it was almost lunch time, and he was happy to get a call from Kim Possible.

"You won't regret this," he told Kim.

"Yeah, we'll see about that. You're sure Ron is going too?"

"He called me just a little while before you did. He's ready when you are."

"Okay, so what's the sitch?"

Wade coasted his desk chair over to a third monitor and quickly brought up a map of Upperton on which a red dot was flashing. "I'm going to give you an address – you and Ron can meet up with me there for lunch and we can talk about the mission details."

"Getting out of the room today today, are we?"

"Come on Kim. It's not that surprising anymore."

"Well, I'll be happy to see you again. It's been a while."

"And what about Ron?"

"Like I said – we'll see."

Wade sighed. At least for now, that was the best response he could hope for.

He read out the address to Kim and said goodbye before returning to his game. The cave troll on the screen unfroze, only to receive a white-hot energy staff to the face and hit the ground like a sack of potatoes. Wade would have to wrap up the game, call Ron back to confirm that the mission was on, and give him the address.

He could not resist killing a few more trolls, however. What else could you do when you were so close to a level up? Wade's wizard had his fill of carnage and collected his loot, and Wade was about to get up from his chair after signing off when he received another incoming call. A familiar face popped up on one of the monitors as Wade accepted it.

"Hi Dr. Director. Good timing."

"Oh?"

"I just got off the phone with Kim. The two of them both agreed to do the mission."

"Excellent! You're meeting them now?"

"Yep. I'll let you know how it goes."

Dr. Director looked back into the control room behind her at the sound of a loud crash. "Alright Wade, keep me notified of any developments. One of the interns just got a fly-on-the-wall cam stuck up his nose again, so I have to go."

Wade closed the connection and got up to leave. He was looking forward to seeing Kim and Ron again, and he knew that he was even more eager to see them going on a mission than Dr. Director. The only question now was whether or not he could tell Kim about the mission itself without getting shot down on the spot.

One way or the other, he was about to find out.

XX

Notes - Things will get a rolling a little more starting in the next chapter, since I wanted to establish where Kim, Ron, and Monique were and how their lives were going in these first three. Hopefully you guys like it so far.

Also, any of you guys fans of Kim and Monique? I have already lost a couple of K/R readers who weren't really interested in reading about a relationship between the two of them, which is fine, but I have no idea if I am picking up any new readers who are actually into Kim and Monique or alternate pairings in general (of which there will be some more coming up eventually). Not that the whole point of this story is pairings or anything, but I'd be interested in getting a review or two from people who are into those and hearing what they think so far.