Reasons of the Heart
"The heart has its reasons whereof reason knows nothing."
-Blaise Pascal
A/N:
This was my Yuletide assignment for AO3 user Saffronra, reposted here verbatim.
The funniest thing about this assignment is how closely it plays with a lot of what I've been writing lately. Saffronra, you couldn't have known (since I don't think you've ever checked out my work on AO3) that I've got a massive Jonny Quest crossover up now, and all (and I do mean ALL) of 2015 will be me posting my near 400,000 word set of 4 novel-length stories and a full anthology of oneshots in which Jonny and Hadji are one of my two central foci.
(Okay, technically my stories are from the "Real Adventures" version, but as far as I'm concerned, all you have to do is take out a few truly absurd things from RA and it can flow seamlessly from the original series with very little break in canon. You just have to forget the Golden Quest movie (bleh) and some utterly silly episodes in RA about Hadji's backstory. Which I conveniently did.)
That said, and in case I need to make it explicit – this story is not canon to either of my other works/series, not exactly. Let's call it a potential prequel to either, because whichever universe I've crammed the Quests into this time, there are certain constants. And this is probably one of them. So thank you, Saffronra, for giving me the push I clearly needed to write out one of my own headcanon perspectives on Jonny Quest. I hope it gives you all you hoped for and more!
Enjoy and Happy Yuletide!
It was very quiet.
Benton looked up from the report and blinked. "Everything all right?" he asked, absently wondering how long he had been lost in the pages before him.
Beside him at the Dragonfly's controls, Race smiled. "Fine. I think those two finally dropped off, though."
Benton squinted at the nearest timepiece. "After all the excitement in Calcutta, I thought for sure they'd go to sleep hours ago. What have they been doing?"
"Getting to know one another, I guess," Race answered quietly. "They haven't exactly been friends for long. And they've been brothers for all of a day or so. I'd be more worried if they weren't so interested in talking each other to exhaustion right now."
Benton looked sharply at his bodyguard and friend. He'd known Race for a few years now, had worked beside him, had entrusted his son to his care – but he still didn't quite know how to read the man sometimes. Race was a bit of an enigma, particularly when he turned on that small, knowing smile.
Benton unbuckled his seatbelt. "I think I'll just go check on them."
"Sure thing, Doc."
Navigating down the narrow corridor that separated the cockpit from the immediately aft cabin, Benton almost tripped over Bandit, who was curled up near the divider that blocked off the little galley – whose wall was still radiating heat from what must have been the stove. The little dog wuffled lazily at Benton, too comfortable against the warm divider to even lift his head up.
Benton checked the galley just to be sure the stove wasn't actually still on before he pushed aside the little accordion curtain that he'd always meant to replace with a proper door.
"Greetings, Doctor Quest."
Benton almost jumped at the unexpected voice, then smiled. "Hello Hadji. Are you settling in all right?"
Jonny was sprawled bonelessly across one of the bench seats. It was pure habit for Benton to check for a seatbelt, but Jonny was securely strapped in, though he still found a way to contort himself into a position the belt shouldn't have allowed comfortably. A pile of books and papers were strewn around him in a pattern that showed Jonny had not been perusing them on that bench alone.
But Hadji sat primly in a seat on the other end of the cabin, his legs crossed and tucked under him. He still seemed a little stiff in the new clothes Race and Benton had bought him, and he was clearly moving gingerly as if afraid to wrinkle them. Beside him sat a mug of still-steaming tea.
"Yes, I am. Jonny showed me how to use the galley facilities," Hadji explained. "We have been getting to know one another." He flashed a tiny smile. "Not too difficult a task given how eager he is to tell me about everything that interests him."
Benton laughed. "I'm sure. He never lacks for eagerness, anyway. May I sit with you?"
"Of course, sir," Hadji scooted slightly to make room where his bony knees wouldn't poke into the seat beside him.
Benton took his seat and quietly regarded the boy. "Hadji, are you…certain this is what you want?"
"To be here?"
Benton nodded.
"Yes, Doctor Quest. I shall be forever grateful for this kindness you have offered me, and I shall strive to deserve it."
There was something in the too-old expression in Hadji's face that Benton didn't like. He put a hand on the narrow shoulder beside him. "You don't have to earn your keep here, Hadji. You're not a servant or an employee. I didn't hire you. I adopted you."
"Yes, sir," Hadji said too quickly.
Benton's heart felt a sharp pang. I will have to work diligently to help him see that I mean it, he thought. Then, he tipped his head. "Do you know why?"
"Why you adopted me, sir?" Hadji shook his head. "I confess I do not."
"But I imagine you can make a few guesses?"
Hadji's expression pinched a little. "Were I a cynical person, I might think it had more to do with your desire to do good – or to reward me – than my own worth. There are many do-gooders in the world who wish to take the poor heathens into their homes to civilize them." He did not sneer as he said it, but Benton could feel the emotion anyway.
Benton nodded. "That is a fair assessment. But," he held the boy's troubled eyes with his own, "that is not why. I promise you, Hadji, I did not adopt you out of some sort of altruistic demonstration. You do not need to be civilized or fixed in any way, and I would not demean you like that, ever. I promise that it has everything to do with you and nothing to do with me – except perhaps for one thing."
"And what is that, Doctor Quest?"
"That I am already very fond of you, and Jonny is moreso. If I have a selfish reason, that's it right there." He smiled at the boy. "I like you. Jonny likes you. Race likes you. Even Bandit likes you. But we like a lot of things we've never kept before. The leap from our approval to your permanent place here is due to something specifically unique inside you, my boy."
Hadji broke the gaze and turned towards the window. "Many families were entertained by my tricks on the street. Many foreigners paid me to lead them into the mountains. You are the first to have thought more of me than a toy or a tool. You…you must forgive me if it takes me some time to understand it."
Moving slowly, Benton pulled the boy into his arms and held on. From the sudden stiffness of Hadji's shoulders, he had been little held in his short, difficult life. Benton silently vowed to change that, too.
"You may have all the time you need," Benton said gently, cheek pressing against the soft, new turban. "Perhaps we will even make a project of it."
Hadji pulled back, regarding Benton curiously. "How so?"
"Here," Benton reached into one of his pockets and pulled out two simple notebooks, palm-sized and covered with a thick leather binding. "I often keep a notebook on me to write down ideas as they come," he explained. "I bought these two while we were shopping but haven't used them yet. Take one."
Hadji's thin fingers moved over the books hesitantly, lifting one almost reverently.
"You know how to write, correct?"
"Oh, yes sir. In English as well as Hindi."
Benton smiled. "Good. Then your first assignment is to begin a list for yourself. I want you to write down every reason you can think of why I might want you in this family. Why all of us might want you. Try to find at least one good reason worth writing down every day."
Hadji swallowed nervously but nodded. "I will try, Doctor Quest."
"Good. And I will keep a list of my own of reasons I am grateful you are here. Any time you feel uncertain or afraid or overwhelmed, you may come to me and I will show you my list. But yours," he leaned closer, "is yours to keep secret if you wish. You may ask me for my list any time, but I will not require you to share your own. You deserve some privacy and I wish you to feel safe enough to be honest."
"Very well. But, if I may ask?"
"Always, Hadji. Always ask me anything."
"Why have you given me this assignment, then?" he wanted to know.
"Because it is my hope that you will come up with enough reasons and affirmations all on your own to understand your place here. And they will carry more weight if you find them for yourself."
-==OOO==-
After he had discussed schooling and a few basic house rules with Hadji and had returned to the cockpit, Benton pulled out his own little notebook to begin his list.
Because you are a wise and gentle soul, and you make me want to be wiser too.
-==OOO==-
Back in the aft compartment, while Jonny muttered in his sleep, Hadji rose and quietly retrieved a thick, plush blanket from a nearby cubby. He draped it over Jonny carefully, tucking him in securely.
When he regained his own seat, he wrote: Because they care about me. And I care about them.
-==OOO==-
Introducing Hadji to the compound on Palm Key was an adventure for the whole family. Hadji loved the ocean and the sun and the heat, but he struggled to not feel awed in the massive, state-of-the-art bungalow. He spent the first two days recovering from the time-difference that he had known all his life – and carefully not looking at anything that might be too valuable for a nameless orphan child.
On the third day, Race called him to lessons.
"Forgive me, sir, but I thought you were a bodyguard to Doctor Quest?" Hadji asked as he stood awkwardly next to the desk and chair that were already well-appointed with supplies identical to those at Jonny's beside him.
"That's true," Race smiled. "But I'm also Jonny's official tutor for a couple of things. We move around so much, you'll only be in a regular school for part of the year when we're stationed in Washington DC. The rest of the time, while Doctor Quest is working, I'll be trying to keep you up to standards."
"Race is a good teacher," Jonny put in cheerfully. "And he hates all the same subjects I do!"
"Now, Jonny," Race frowned, "you know it's important for you to have a good, well-rounded background in everything. We can't spend all day on computers and engineering."
"Yeah…but…Shakespeare?" Jonny shuddered dramatically and winked at Hadji. "Boring!"
"The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool," Hadji said suddenly.
"Yeah! Wait, what?" Jonny frowned.
"It is from one of Mister Shakespeare's plays. As You Like It, I believe," Hadji explained.
"Well, I don't like it." Jonny was grumbling, but there was a light in his eyes that Hadji recognized as his new brother's own sense of humor.
A pink eraser flew unerringly through the air and lodged in Jonny's ear.
"Hey!" he yelped in surprise. Bandit, woken by the cry, barked brightly.
"Save your literary enthusiasm for later," Race told him with a smile. "First of all, math homework."
"Aw…come on!" Jonny whined, rubbing his ear and fighting a smile. "Shouldn't we ask Hadji what he wants to study today?"
"No, thank you, Jonny," Hadji put up his hands quickly. "I am nothing but a-"
"You stop right there, mister," Race interrupted him sharply.
Hadji turned, holding suddenly perfectly still as though frightened.
"I don't ever want to hear you call yourself 'nothing' again, Hadji," Race said more gently. "You're a Quest now. And that's not even the best thing about you. It's just the most recent. You have exactly as much right as Jonny to influence the schedule and the priorities. You will not be a second-class student in this class, Hadji."
"Yes, sir, Mister Bannon."
Race suddenly smiled a little strangely. "How about we make a bet, you and I, huh Hadj?"
"It is against my religion to wager," Hadji told him.
"That's okay," Jonny jumped in. "I'll do it for you." He looked to Race. "What's the bet?"
"I'm going to give Hadji your last pop quiz," Race said. "If he gets the same score as you or better, he has to call me Race instead of Mister Bannon – forever."
"Oh, no, sir! I couldn't…" Hadji began. But Jonny was grinning.
"Deal! I know you can do it, Hadji!" Jonny cheered.
Hadji felt distinctly uncomfortable. "I…uh…I mean…"
"I'll go get the test," Race said, escaping the room for a few moments.
"Don't worry about it," Jonny told Hadji as soon as Race was gone. "You'll be fine. You already knew that Shakespeare stuff. And it was a quiz about India so I bet you know loads more than me!"
"That might be true, Jonny, but…" Hadji trailed off.
Jonny rose from his seat and stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Hadji. "He wants you to call him Race, Hadji," he said softly.
"Yes, but I am not sure…"
"Don't be scared of Race, Hadji," Jonny said his laughing blue eyes still and serious for once. "He's a tough guy, but he's a good man. He won't hurt you, no matter what. He's never even punished me except when I did something really stupid."
Hadji's shoulders fell. "Where I am from, a man who offers you familiarity at no cost is usually hiding a stick ready to strike."
Jonny slung an arm over Hadji's shoulders. "Well, that's why you're not there anymore, then. I'm glad you're here now, and you never have to worry about that kind of stuff again. Race protects me. Us. Both of us. You can trust him."
Hadji was going to say something in return but Race reentered the room with a sheet of paper. Instead, he slipped into his seat quickly.
"Do your best, and don't worry about impressing me," Race winked at Hadji. "You'll be fine."
While Hadji began the quiz, only vaguely aware of Race pulling Jonny to one side of the schoolroom to go over something in low voices, he could not help but hear both their words in his mind. When he finished the quiz, and before he drew attention to that fact, he pulled out his little notebook.
Because they respect my desire to learn for myself and share in it.
-==OOO==-
Benton, who had overheard most of the situation from the hallway where he would say he was not lurking no matter what Race's waggling eyebrows implied, drew out his own.
Because I want to protect you so you never doubt or question yourself again.
-==OOO==-
Days turned into weeks and weeks turned into months. And before he knew it, Benton realized that Hadji Singh, now Hadji Singh Quest, had been a part of their family for more than two thirds of a year. Time and the steady proof that Hadji was not a charity cause or an afterthought had drawn out rare intelligence and wisdom from the boy, and he and Jonny had become as closely bound brothers as if they had been born hand-in-hand.
And Benton's notebook was full.
He turned idly through the pages, smiling at a few entries (Because no other human being in the world can confuse my son enough to get him to listen to sense besides you), feeling cold at others (Because if you had not been there, Jonny would have died in the swamp today), and deeply moved at still others (Because having two sons has truly doubled my joy).
"How's it going, Doc?"
Benton looked up at Race in surprise. He hadn't heard the bodyguard knock on his office door.
"It's going fine. What can I do for you, Race?" Benton closed the little book and gestured for his friend to enter.
"Well…uh," Race slid an envelope onto the desk. "This came in the mail today and I…"
Benton raised his eyebrows in surprise. Race was one of the steadiest, most straightforward, capable and comfortable men he'd ever known. What on earth could have robbed the man of his composure like this?
And then Benton saw the seal on the envelope. "Oh. I see."
"Listen, Doc, you know I like Hadji, right?" Race asked.
Benton nodded slowly.
"And, I'll be honest. I'm honored you'd want to petition for me to be his legal guardian now that the adoption has finally gone through. Not that I'll ever let anything happen to you to make it necessary for me to take him," Race said, never looking away from Benton's eyes.
Benton sighed. "But?"
Race sighed too. "But…I'm not sure I'm qualified to take a kid. If something did happen to you, I don't know how I would, you know. Raise him. It's…complicated."
Benton knew quite a bit more about Race and his past than the man would have been comfortable with, but that intel had been provided before Race's assignment and probably not with his consent, so Benton didn't point out that he was fully aware of what Race wasn't saying. Instead, he asked, "Why would it be any different from how it is now?"
"Right now, I'm his teacher. And his friend. I'm not his father," Race said.
"I disagree." Benton smiled faintly at the surprise in Race's face. "You are as much a father to Hadji as I am. You are a different father, and that is what makes you so valuable. More than I, you have drawn Hadji out of himself. He freely calls you Race now, and he does not seem to question it anymore."
"Yeah, that took a lot of work," Race agreed. "But, to be fair, I had help. Jonny badgered the kid."
"Yes, he did," Benton said fondly. "But he does not call me anything but Doctor Quest. If I am Hadji's father, then so are you. He has no one else."
At that, Benton leaned forward intently. "He has no one else, Race. Just you and I and Jonny. We are the only family he has. And I want him protected if something happens. I don't want him shuffled into an agency and sent away from whoever remains and whatever family he might have left if I am not there to protect him and care for him myself."
"I understand that," Race said, "and you know I'd take him if it came down to it. But…isn't there someone you'd rather be the actual legal guardian than me? Someone more, I don't know…responsible?"
Benton laughed. "Name one person I trust more than you to take care of my family, Race."
Race frowned at him.
"Besides," Benton leaned back. "You clearly didn't read that paperwork fully."
"I didn't?"
"No," Benton shook his head. "If you had, you'd know you're not only on the hook for Hadji."
Race's jaw dropped. He grabbed the envelope and spilled the contents into his hands, fingering through the pages with speed. Benton waited, watching as Race finally saw what he had clearly missed before.
"Doc, you can't be serious!"
"Of course I'm serious," Benton snapped. "If you can understand that I would entrust one son to your keeping, why are you surprised I'd send them both to you?"
"But…Jonny has an extended family. I know you do. And I assume they might not take to Hadji like we did, but Jonny…"
"Race," Benton held up a hand. "This is our family. You, me, Jonny, Hadji. There are other people in the world who share Jonny's blood – that's true. There might be people who share Hadji's, for all we know. But tell me honestly. You've met most of my relatives. To whom among them would you entrust the troublesome duo of Jonny and Hadji? Which would encourage and foster their curiosity without quelling their spirits? And, frankly, who has the governmental intelligence clearance for the contents of their experience?"
Race was quiet for a moment before he spoke. "I understand what you're saying, Doc. I really do. But…it just seems…strange. Me, a legal guardian to those two?"
"Let me ask you this," Benton said softly. "Do you consider yourself a part of this family?"
Race nodded. "Yeah. But I'm not your kid, too," he smirked at Benton. "Even you couldn't handle the three of us."
"Some days I can't," Benton agreed with a small grin.
"But yeah. This is the only home I've had for a long, long time. And I care about those boys like they were my own." Race looked at his hands. "It's just…not something I ever expected."
"I know," Benton said. "And that's another reason for me to do it."
Race looked up and their gazes locked. "Do you really want me to stand as the legal guardian for them? Both your sons? Do you trust me that much?"
"Race," Benton said softly, "I couldn't trust you any more than I already do. Yes, I want you to be their last line of defense, as you always have been. In this as well as everything else."
"Okay, then." Race took a deep breath and rose. He smiled tightly at Benton, and his eyes were unexpectedly bright. "You've got yourself a family guardian, Doctor Quest."
As he began to stride out, Benton called after him, "If you're father to my sons, Race, you can probably get away with calling me by my name."
Race glanced back over his shoulder and grinned. "Maybe someday, Doc. But don't count on it."
He was out the door and away before Benton could reply, but that didn't stop him from telling the empty air, "Oh, we'll get there, Race. One day, when you stop keeping your little secrets from me. Maybe it won't be until we both retire from government work, but we'll get there one day. That's a promise."
He bent back to his desk and took up the little notebook. On the last page, he found enough room to write: Because you gave me the opportunity to formalize this family, something I should have done long ago.
-==OOO==-
A few weeks later, Hadji was paging through his own book while sitting under a tree on the warm beach grasses.
Jonny bounded up, Bandit at his heels. "Hey, Hadj! Let's go swimming!"
"All right," Hadji agreed, beginning to rise.
Jonny pointed at the book. "You're always writing in that thing. I thought it would have been full a long time ago," Jonny said. "Dad's was."
The process of becoming fully a member of the family had been awkward and slow in all cases but one – Hadji took to Jonny with ease. He might have required months to call Race by his name, but he hadn't hesitated to tell his adopted brother about the lists in the notebooks within the day of receiving it. In fact, on nights when Hadji woke with fear from the nightmares that had followed him from his difficult childhood, Jonny had taken to pressing the little notebook into his hand as a first assurance that he was safe. Hadji never told Jonny that he felt safe not because of the notebook, but because Jonny himself was there, sitting beside him to hold back the past.
"I am correcting it," Hadji told him.
Jonny tipped his head to one side, imitating Bandit. "How come?"
"Some of what I wrote in my early entries was mistaken," Hadji said. "In several cases, I did not yet know you and Doctor Quest well enough to understand. So I have gone through my book and crossed out those entries which were inaccurate."
And he held it out.
Jonny took the notebook reverently. He had been offered it only a handful of times, often when he was in his own distress. Hadji had discovered that the list was as comforting to his brother as it was to himself.
Jonny looked at the ones that had been crossed off and rewritten.
Because Jonny needs a chaperone had been replaced with Because Jonny needs a friend.
Because Mister Bannon felt grateful I saved the person he has sworn to protect had been replaced with Because Race trusts me to protect the Quests.
Because I can become a loyal helper to Doctor Quest when I am older had been replaced with Because Doctor Quest is loyal to me no matter what I choose to do with my future.
Because they want something from me had been replaced with Because they want something FOR me.
Jonny looked up. "I'm glad," he said quietly as he handed it back. "I'm glad you know these things now."
"I don't always," Hadji admitted. "Sometimes the wind feels just right and I forget that I'm here and I think I'm back in Calcutta where I'm worth less than the price of a day's meal to everyone. Sometimes I wake up at night and wonder when Doctor Quest will need a guinea pig for something dangerous and he'll call for me rather than risk a test subject who's really worthwhile."
"He wouldn't," Jonny denied. "Never."
"I do know that the rest of the time, I assure you."
"And if he does, you come get me."
Hadji was surprised. "Oh?"
"Dad and Race are both good men," Jonny said. "They really are. The best men ever, maybe. But everybody makes mistakes. And if they ever, I dunno, forgot or something, you come find me." He looked at Hadji with a fierce expression. "I won't ever forget, okay?"
"Forget what, Jonny?" Hadji asked, not because he didn't know, but because he needed to hear it.
"That you're my brother. That you're my best friend. And you're as much a Quest as I am," Jonny told him staunchly. Then he grinned. "And don't you forget it, either!"
"No, I won't," Hadji promised.
"Good. Now let's go swimming!" And Jonny was away, blond hair flashing in the sun as he raced to the house to get his swimsuit.
Hadji trailed more slowly in his wake. Just before pushing open the door to go inside, he paused and took up the notebook again. The pages were full, but the inside of the front cover remained blank.
Because Jonny Quest is my brother, now and forever.
-==OOO==-
A year to the day of Hadji's adoption, Benton found the young man himself awake alone at dawn.
"Good morning, Hadji," he said, fighting a yawn as he slid to his favorite spot in the breakfast nook.
"Good morning, Doctor Quest," Hadji said. "I have already prepared your coffee for you."
"Thank you, son," Benton said tiredly as he accepted the warm mug.
And then thought about what he'd said.
Hadji had frozen on the spot, but now moved forward fearlessly. Benton knew that set of the shoulders – Hadji was frightened but forging ahead anyway. As Benton watched, Hadji placed a small notebook on the table between them, then squared his shoulders to face him.
"A year ago you gave me this," Hadji said, the words proud in spite of the small quaver Benton could hear beneath them. "You told me that I would learn more if I learned for myself to understand why you had made me a part of this family. I have studied very hard, and I think I have the answer. If you wish to hear it."
"Of course I do, Hadji," Benton told him gently.
Hadji did not fidget, and he faced his adopted father steadily. "It was not pity, or obligation, or mindless charity," he said.
Benton nodded.
"It was because I am a Quest," Hadji said. "Born in the wrong country, but I am yours in spirit as if I were Athena birthed from your very mind, sir. Or from Jonny's heart. Maybe even from Race's courage."
"That's right," Benton urged warmly. "That's exactly right, my son."
"You adopted me and gave me a home because it is my home. Because I belong here. Because I belong with all of you. I am now where I was always meant to be."
Benton's face broke into a smile even as his chest burned and felt thick. "Yes, Hadji," was all he could say.
"But I must ask you then, sir. How did you know?"
Benton reached for the boy and drew him down to the chair beside him, putting an arm around him. "Because there are some things that are true that have no empirical facts to back them up. I looked at you sitting beside Jonny and I just knew. I knew you were my son. I couldn't explain it. But I didn't need to. Some things simply are."
Hadji nodded against where he was pressed to Benton's chest. "I understand."
"I'm so glad you do."
They sat together that way for a few moments before Benton glanced back at the book. "You have never asked to see my list, Hadji. Would you like to now?"
"Only under one condition," the boy said, drawing back to meet Benton's eyes. "I will read yours if you will keep mine. I don't need it anymore."
"It is yours to keep," Benton reminded him. But Hadji shook his head.
"No. I am yours to keep. This is what I have little ability to say, but I nonetheless wish you to know."
Benton's heart invaded his throat and he blinked at sudden tears. "Very well, son."
And he drew the much-loved little notebook from where it had always sat in his pocket, never removed and never replaced even long after it had been filled beyond using. He held it out, his hand almost shaking with the sudden profundity of his gratitude for the young man who had joined the family, for the luck and providence that had made their family whole.
And when Hadji closed his hands on it, he whispered in a thin, child-like voice, "Thank you, father."
Benton might have been overwhelmed right then and there except for the sudden yippy barking of Bandit who came charging into the kitchen and went careening headfirst into one of the counters. Hadji dashed to the pup, gently lifting him to inspect him for injuries, giving Benton a few moments to recover.
In a whirlwind of activity, Hadji had just gotten Bandit happy again when Race strode in, pointing out that Jonny was yelling about Bandit stealing his socks or something and perhaps someone should go help them. Hadji laughed and started for the bedroom he shared with his brother to rescue Jonny from whatever Bandit had done this time.
But his eyes found Benton's and stayed with him even after the boy had gone.
"He's a good kid. They both are. And they'll be good men someday," Race said quietly.
Benton looked up, his fingers still tight on the little book Hadji had given him. He nodded. "Yes, I think you're right."
"What's that there?" Race asked.
Benton realized there was a small piece of paper sticking out of the back of the notebook, like a miniature bookmark. Benton turned the notebook over and drew out the page which had obviously been cut from a larger sheet and added to the book when even the covers were filled with Hadji's thoughts.
Benton smiled as he read it aloud. "It says, 'Please share this with Race as well. If I have the honor to belong to two such men, both should equally share in my thoughts.'"
Race recovered from his gobsmacked expression quickly and sank into the chair next to Benton. "That kid. Keeps surprising me."
Distantly, they could hear Jonny's voice. "Bandit! Get back here with that shirt or so help me I'm going to teach you to swim in a cement mixer! Bandit!"
Benton laughed. "They both do. They're quite a pair."
Race nodded. "Yeah. They are." Then he looked at Benton and huffed a laugh. "And so are we, Doc."
"I suppose so," Benton agreed. "I believe we shall have to strive more than ever as they get older not only to keep up with them, but to keep ahead of them. Either or both of them will probably surpass us before they're fully grown."
"You're probably right. But I think between the two of us, we can handle them." Race stuck out his hand. "So, what do you say, Benton? Here's to raising a very fine pair of brothers."
Benton's eyes widened and he couldn't help but grin at Race's use of his proper name. He accepted the hand and shook it with a light heart.
"Here's to a family. Our family." He glanced to the little book and thought on Hadji's words.
And then he added, "And here's to being where we all belong. Together."
Further A/N:
The secret that Race is vaguely implying might make it difficult for him to be a guardian to the boys is that he already has a daughter – Jessie. It's never explained in "Real Adventures" why Jessie wasn't around when the boys were kids, but I tend to think it's because while she was young, her father kept that part of his life from her. She lived with her mom and it was easy for him to try to separate the two parts of his life (given that one part threatened to kill him on a regular basis). It is my headcanon that not long after this conversation, Benton made it clear to Race that he knew all about the man's daughter and invited her to join the family, too. It would take a few years for Race to be ready to take on Jessie and be a full-time father to her, but when he reached that point, that's when Jessie joined the Quests once and for all.
Also, if you are sad about the lack of angst, particularly between Hadji and Jonny, let me just say – sorry. It would be a fun story to write someday, of Jonny struggling to adapt to having an unwelcome brother and Benton and Race having to negotiate a truce that grows into a real relationship and friendship. But I was specifically asked for no AUs. And, to me, the way I have always read the bond between Jonny and Hadji in both the original and the RA version, strife just didn't grow up between them. It just didn't. They are brothers and they are soulmates. And when you finally find your soulmate, you don't start off by resenting the fact that they're there with you. They take a place at your side that is as natural as breathing and just as necessary. Hadji might struggle with everything else in the world, but never Jonny, and vice versa. It might be more fun if they did, but it wouldn't be more true to who they are. *Grin*