Hope you enjoy these shorts...

Chapter 1

The day of….

Jessie Bannon kept looking at the ground wondering...

Scientifically it was impossible. But, she had seen it with her own eyes and she knew it was true.

"Jessie," she heard her father whisper.

She didn't look up, rather, an exasperating sigh escaped her, "I have nothing else to say."

"I just wanted to tell you that the search party is going out tomorrow to try again," Race sat next to the cot she presently sat in.

"They're not going to find him," her voice was flat, defeated.

"Don't say that," Race shook his head.

A mirthless laugh rose from her throat, "Don't you get it, Dad? How many times have I told you that the ground took him? It swallowed him."

"I know you think we don't believe you," Race gently countered, "But, that's not it Jessie. We still need to look for him or at least for clues as to where we can find him."

The redhead finally looked up at her father. His blue eyes filled with worry told Jessie that he too didn't believe they'd find anything, "He's gone isn't he?"

"Don't say that," Race shook his head.

"Why? You don't believe anything different. Dad, I'm not saying that we should stop looking," she replied pushing some of her red hair way from her face, "All I'm saying is that it's been hours since the incident and searching for Jonny around these parts is a waste of time. He's not here. Whatever…no, whoever took him wouldn't have stayed around here. Have you contacted Agent Corbin?"

"Yes, he's already in flight. Should be here later tonight."

"How's Doctor Quest?"

"How do you think Ponchita," Race now sighed. "He was hesitant about ending the search. It took a lot of convincing on my part to do so. We've been searching for hours. The team needed the rest."

"Hadji's not doing well, either," she responded. "I feel so guilty."

"It wasn't your fault," he reminded her.

At hearing the words, Jessie couldn't stop the tears that ran down her cheeks, "Please Dad. It was my idea to go. Jonny's missing because of me."

"Neither one of you could have thought of something like that happening. Jessie, I'll be the first to admit that both you and Jonny shouldn't have gone out on your own, but you can't blame yourself for what happened."

"But Doctor Quest–"

"He doesn't blame you either," Race assured her. "He told me himself."

Jessie nodded, but it didn't make her feel any better.

Standing up, Race began heading out of the tent, but not before telling Jessie some more news, "Phil is bringing with him some special equipment."

Jessie looked questionably at her father.

"It's some type of machine that will allow us to see beneath the ground," he answered. "We…we want to make sure Jonny's not there."

The thought of him being there had Jessie crying even harder, "He's not. I'm sure his not Dad. Jonny's not there. I won't believe he is."

Race's eyes watered, but he fought a worthless fight and the tears began to come down as well. He however, controlled his tone and speech, "I don't believe so either, Jessie. I don't want to believe it. But, we need to discount everything."

XXXXXXXXXX

Walking faster than he would normally walk, the Master tried to contain his emotions in front of the other operatives that walked the same hallway around him. All had gone accordingly until the feed he listened to from his office went dead.

He had asked what had happened, but didn't receive an answer until minutes later when they told him something had gone wrong. Immediately, the doctor came in on the feed and told him he needed to get the operating room ready. The doctor had offered no other information. The last ten minutes had been the longest he had ever experienced. Once he got to double doors that led to the operating room, he caught sight of his son being wheeled in. So much blood!

Jonny's hair was bathed in blood. His own blood. Master also saw that Jonny had a broken leg and possibly a dislocated shoulder. One of the members of the medical team pumped oxygen to him through an oxygen bag.

He forced himself to pull his sights away from his son as he heard the voice of the doctor who began to bark orders to his team.

Looking up, he walked over to the man with the dark glasses, "Tell me what the hell happened, Oliver!"

In his usual cold demeanor, the doctor answered, "We miscalculated the fall. His left femur is broken, maybe the hip too, I'll need to go in and check just how bad the head trauma–"

"How could you let this happen?" Master's acid tone asked. "You said you calculated–"

"I told you that I would have to study that contraption further! You didn't give me enough time. You're lucky he's still alive. And if you want it to remain that way, you'll let me go right now so I can save your son's life." With that, the doctor pushed past the Master and went into the double doors running a few steps behind those that carried Jonny to the operating room.

Knowing that there wasn't anything else he could do, the Master took a seat in one of the chairs outside the area. He closed his eyes and shook his head. Aidan, please make it….please.

XXXXXXXXXX

A few days had passed and the search was, as Jessie predicted, unsuccessful. There was no trace of Jonny Quest anywhere above or below the earth. Benton was beside himself. Hadji, to Jessie, looked lost. There were no words of encouragement or deep thoughts to soothe one's mind. Hadji was lost within himself trying to understand what had happened the last few days. Race and Phil had a mixture of anger and despair. Neither knew what to do or where else to go in this situation.

The Peruvian government, as cooperative as they were the last few days, were also anxious. They were already dealing with the mysterious earthquakes, they didn't want to deal with a missing child.

Jessie had just about finished packing her gear and belongings from the tent when her father walked in, "We leave in an hour," Race stated solemnly.

Jessie nodded without saying a word as she picked up the few items she had left.

"Jessie, this isn't over," Race tried to sound convincing, "We will find him."

"He's not at home, Dad," she replied angrily. "Why are we wasting our time going home?"

"Jessie," Race walked up to his daughter, "We need to figure out a plan. Find where to look to next. We need to figure out where they took Jonny."

"I have a feeling he's still here!"

"We've searched everywhere–"

"You didn't search enough!"

"Jessie!"

"He's still here Dad! He's still here! You haven't search enough. You haven't–"

Watching his daughter lose control broke Race's heart. He ran and held her in his arms as she fought him.

"Don't! Get away. You haven't searched enough…Why? God, why did this happen?"

"Jessie! It's okay," he tried soothing her. "Everything is going to be okay, sweetheart. You have to believe it."

Somewhere between the words, Jessie managed to calm down and hold on to her father, but the tears began to eventually bathe her face. She tried to remain strong, but is was useless. He was gone. Her Jonny was gone. "It's my fault," she whispered. "I did this to him."

"No," Race shook his head. "You didn't Ponchita. You couldn't have cause it or stop it. Whoever did this was prepared."

"Will we get him back?" Jessie asked between her sobs.

"I have no doubt in my mind," Race replied, his tone trying desperately to sound convincing. "We will get Jonny back."

XXXXXXXXXX

He sat in dark silence watching the machines that surrounded his son. At first, he prayed that his son would make it out of surgery. Now, he prayed he would just wake up. Jonny was on a respirator, his leg completely casted and his head partially bandaged. He was a complete mess.

The doctor quietly walked in to check on his patient, not expecting his employer to be there, "What are you doing here?"

"What do you think? Keeping my son company," he answered without taking his eyes off Jonny.

"You are going to drive yourself crazy," the doctor replied trying to control his tone of voice. Yelling at his boss could prove dangerous to him at the moment. "You should try to rest. The last five days have been overwhelming."

"How is he today?"

"The same," the doctor answered. "Coma's are not something I can control. The body will reboot when it's ready to reboot. I'm talking in layman's terms, but that's the best way that I can describe it."

Looking at his colleague, the Master tired eyes and worried tone spoke volumes, "He's been like this since you operated on him. It's been five days Oliver. When will he wake up?"

"I can't answer that," he shrugged as he walked over to his patient and began checking his vitals and the machines that aided his recovery. "The fall caused major damage to his body. To tell you the truth, I'm surprised he even survived. A fractured skull, broken femur and hip, dislocated shoulder and internal bleeding…it's truly a miracle."

The master offered a mirthless laugh, "A miracle. He was a miracle. I miracle that Rachel and I never really expected. I hope I didn't make a mistake. I'm just glad that Rachel isn't here to see this."

The doctor remained quiet as he continued checking the patient. He did think it was a miracle that Jonny Quest survived the fall. But, the chances he'd come out of the coma were dubious, to say the least. But he dare not say anything of the sort to the Master at the moment.

"Listen, bones will heal. Other than the head trauma, everything else is healing well. And his brain activity is normal. Let's just take this one day at a time."

Nodding, the Master answered, "When can we move him?"

"We shouldn't," the doctor acknowledge. "But, we can't stay on this base too much longer. Sooner or later, the government or I-1 will find out that this isn't ranch."

"I wouldn't worry about that," the Master dismissed it. "They already passed here two days ago asking if they had seen Aiden. Our operative played the role well. None of them suspected anything. Besides, externally, this place is the perfect place to hide the base."

"So they were here?"

"Yes, Bannon and Corbin. Like I said, nothing to worry about. And I heard that they are leaving tonight. They are going to regroup back in the states. Now, when can we move him?"

Sighing, the doctor replied, "What's the hurry then? They're leaving."

"Our operation doesn't stop, Oliver," The Master's tone was laced with venom. "I have people to answer to and I'll work in peace knowing that I can visit my son when I please."

Nodding, the doctor closed his datapad and walked over to the Master, "Give me three days to prepare everything that I need. If you want your son back, I need to make sure this transfer doesn't affect his healing. Is that alright with you?"

"Acceptable," he replied.

Once the doctor took leave, the Master took his son's hand and gently squeezed it, "Don't you worry my boy. You'll be alright. Once you get better, I will make sure you become the man you were meant to be."