Disclaimer:  I do not own any part of The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest. 

I do own my original characters and they cannot be used without my permission, nor can my story be reproduced or used without my say so.

Author's Warnings:

This has some mild J & J HR but isn't real painful so if you don't like that sort of thing it won't make you gag.  There is some violence and mild swearing which is why I rated it PG-13 to be safe.

The Brotherhood

By

Irene

                     Prologue     

Late Monday Evening

            The tall figure stood just before the dim streetlight and watched as its shadow engulfed the kneeling boy.

            "Rule number one . . ." The voice was scarcely a whisper that filled the boy's ears as he continued to stare down at the pavement. "No girls allowed."

            / Click /

            "Please!" The boy pleaded.

            "Rule number two. . ." The figure walked slowly to the side of their victim, all the while keeping the gun steady and pointing down at the boy's head. " The group comes first."

            / Click /

            "Sh-!" the boy winced at the sound of another blank in the in gun. "What do you want?!"

            "Rule number three. . ."

            "Come on!" The dark-haired boy started to look up but a firm hand forced his head down further than before.

            "Always defend your brother."

              / Click /

            "Oh man!"

            "Rule number four. . ." The dark figure circled the boy. "Never rat out your brother."

            / Click /

            The boy jumped and tears streamed down his sweat-covered face.

            "What?! Come on man! This is messed up! Tell me what you want!"  The boy's voice was filled with pleading and all his desperation.

             "Rule number five. . ."

            "Please," the boy shuddered and started to cry uncontrollably. "Please don't kill me. Please don't kill me."

            "Never talk about the meetings."

            / Click /

            "I'll do anything! Please!"

            "Rule number six. . ."

            "Oh God!"

            "Be willing to die for the group.  Are you willing?"

            / Click /

                     Chapter One

Tuesday morning

Rockport High School

            "Jess!" Claire waved her long arms in the air as she spotted the familiar redhead walking towards school.

             "What are you doing?" Jessie asked as she joined her friend by the empty bleachers.

            "Enjoying the view," Claire stated as she looked through her sunglasses and smiled broadly.

            Jessie looked out and noticed a lone runner taking advantage of the empty track.

            "Oh." Jessie raised her eyebrow and sat next to Claire.

            "I can't believe you get to live with that!" Claire sank back and leaned against the bleacher behind her as she took Jonny in.

            "That being like a brother to me," Jessie pointed out.

            "Sorry!" Claire rolled her large blue eyes. "I forgot about Hadji."

            "Now that is something to live with." Jessie blushed slightly at her own statement.  For some reason it was okay to be so bold with Claire. 

            "I have a confession to make." Claire's voice became serious and she rose up slowly to face Jessie. "Jess, as your friend I feel responsible for you."

            "I'm not dying, Claire," Jessie teased. "Spit it out."

             "Hadji is a figment of your imagination." Claire slid her sunglasses up on top of her head and her tone remained serious even as Jessie started to giggle. "Sultan? A decent man who has an excellent body and is NOT self-centered?  Manners?  Cool accent? Jessie, these things aren't real. Are you sure you aren't part of some experiment at the Quest household?"

             "Claire!" Jessie laughed until tears came out. "I assure you Hadji is real.  You just missed him. He decided to study in India this year."

            "Okay Jess," Claire smiled and returned her attention to Jonny. "If you ever have the need to talk about your invisible friend Hadji, I'm here for you."

             "You know what?" Jessie gave Claire a side ways glance and smiled brightly.  "You wouldn't think Jonny was so great if you lived with him and all his bad habits."

            "Maybe," Claire cocks her head to the side and watches Jonny's back as he runs by. "Could I try it first and then let you know?"

            Jonny stopped suddenly and walked briskly towards them.

            "A guy could get spoiled by this kind of special attention." Jonny smiled broadly and picked up a towel to wipe his face.

            "What are you talking about?" Jessie smirked. "You're already spoiled."

            "Jess!" Claire hissed.

            "He is!" Jessie replied defensively.

            "Hmmm. . ." Jonny picked up his gym bag and threw it over his shoulder. "I think someone needs a hug."

            "No!" Jessie jumped to her feet as Jonny slowly approached them.  Her green eyes flashed dangerously as Jonny skipped every other step to reach them. "I mean it Quest! I don't want a sweaty hug!"

            "I wouldn't mind." Claire smiled playfully. "I'm here for you Jonny."

            "Now that's a real friend." Jonny sighed dramatically. "Not like what I have to live with."

            "Well," Claire looked down and hid behind her sunglasses as her earlier conversation replayed itself in her head. "I'd be happy to switch places."

            "I better go or I'll be running late." Jonny walked past them and headed towards the gym for a shower.

            "Does he run every morning?" Claire asked.

            "No, he's training to run a marathon during spring break." Jessie continued to watch the back of Jonny's head as he slowly made his way to the main building.

            "Spring break?" Claire bit her lower lip and sighed. "Five whole months of Jonny. What will I do when he stops training?"

            "You'll live," Jessie replied.  She was no longer paying much attention to Jonny but had shifted it to a small group of boys at the other end of the bleachers.

            "What do you think is going on?" Jessie whispered.

            Claire followed Jessie's green eyes as they continued to look at the group.

            "Beats me." Claire adjusted her sunglasses and picked up her black book bag that had been resting at her feet.

            Jessie continued to look in the direction of the group.  There were five boys in all.  The only two that Jessie recognized were Michael Phillips and Randy Thompson.  Michael was the senior Varsity Football player and Randy was the quiet valedictorian (or so she heard) of his class.  The two hardly seemed like they would be friends.  That left the three other boys. Jessie was pretty sure she had never seen them before and that they didn't attend their high school.

            "What are you doing?" Claire grabbed Jessie by the elbow.

            "I want to know what's going on." Jessie replied softly. Her gut was telling her something bad was about happen but she wasn't sure what.

            "I don't know." Claire let go of Jessie and watched as the daring redhead as she slid behind the bleachers and started tiptoeing towards the suspicious group. "Oh well."

            Jessie crept quietly until she was close enough to hear the deep voices. Claire came up next to her and smiled slightly.

            "I don't like this," spoke an unfamiliar voice.

            "How do we know this has to do with any of us?" A deep husky voice asked.  Jessie recognized this voice; it belonged to Michael.

            "They knew the rules," Randy's smooth voice replied.

            "I think Joe just pissed someone off," the shaky voice replied.

            "But who?" someone asked nervously.

            Jessie leaned down and started to crawl closer to the group.  She needed to see and hear better.  Claire stuck to Jessie like glue and scooted in closer as well.

            "I heard Joe wet his pants."

            Jessie carefully looked through the bleachers and looked over the person who made the statement.  He was a tall blond guy that wore a varsity jacket for another high school Jessie didn't recognize.

            "The guy held the gun right to his head and pulled the trigger," the thick guy replied in a deep smoker's voice. His black hair looked uncombed and his eyes were tired.  He stood next to a quiet kid who smoked his cigarette nervously.  The smoke that escaped from his lips reflected his difficulty in breathing, as the clouds came in short unsteady streams. He had not said a word.

            "We better go," the tall blond guy replied after a moment of silence.     

            "What are we going to do?"  the quiet kid spoke up in a nervous tone. "We can't just leave this. I don't want to die.  This guy means business.  He knows stuff that no one should know but us."

            "We'll talk later," Randy spoke forcefully. "The bell is going to ring."

            Jessie and Claire curled up and tried to become as small as possible as the three strangers strolled right past them.  Jessie wasn't sure what would happen if she and Claire were to get caught. Clearly, this was not something the group wanted anyone to know about.

            "What do you think?" Michael asked Randy.

            "If they know the rules then it would mean that the person is most likely. . . "

            "Is most likely one of us?" Michael shifted his weight and Jessie froze.  All the two boys had to do was look in between the bleachers to see her flaming red hair.

            Why did I get so close?  Jessie held her breath.

            "But which one?" Randy's voice became distant and trailed off at the end.  "What?"

            Claire put her hand on Jessie's arm nervously and squeezed it slightly.

            "Well." Michael's voice was getting closer. He was walking towards them.  "What do we have here?"

            Jessie bit down and got ready to run.