Disclaimer: I do not own Jonny Quest or related characters.
A/N: This idea popped into my head and I just had to write it. Also, I figured it'd be an okay Mother's Day fic.
She smiled as she looked down at Jonny and Hadji. Both of the boys were sleeping, sprawled out on the floor among the blankets and pillows that had been displaced in their pillow fight only an hour earlier. Little Bandit lay between the boys, also sleeping peacefully. All three were unaware of the faint glow coming from the blond-haired, blue-eyed woman standing over them. Kneeling, Rachel picked up one of the blankets and draped it over Jonny. The boy mumbled something incoherently, turning his head to the side. Smiling, Rachel leaned down and pressed a kiss to her son's temple.
Standing, she carefully stepped over Bandit and then knelt down next to Hadji. She was so glad he had heeded her advice and had followed Benton, Jonny, and Race that day. Not only because he kept her husband from meeting his end prematurely, but also because he had belonged with the Quest family. Though adopted after her death, Rachel felt Hadji was just as much as her son as Jonny was. Picking up another blanket, she draped it over him. She leaned down and pressed a kiss to his forehead before she stood and quietly left the room.
Not that she really had to worry about making a sound. No one would hear or see her if she did not desire it. Just like she technically didn't have to open the door, she could have gone through it if she had wanted to. Despite that, she preferred to act as if she wasn't a spirit when she visited her family.
Making her way down the hall she noticed the light was still on. She shook her head with a fond smile as she spotted the two men on the couch. Benton had been asked to lecture at a nearby university. Of course he hadn't refused. Unfortunately, things hadn't gone to plan and he and Race Bannon - the agent assigned to guard the Quest Family - had been kept out rather late.
Both men were passed out on the couch, leaning against each other. Benton's head was resting against Race's shoulder while Race's head was resting on top of his. They both appeared as if they had entered the house and gone straight to the couch, too tired to do anything else.
Rachel turned the light off as she passed the switch on her way to get a blanket from the hall closet. She no longer needed light to see, and even if she had her ghostly form did give off a soft glow. She was approaching the couch when ice blue eyes snapped open suddenly and Race tensed. Though the agent was exhausted he was still prepared to deal with any threat that may be approaching.
"I won't hurt you, and I certainty won't hurt him." Rachel murmured. Her words weren't meant to be heard - she knew Race would have a lot of questions if he happened to see her - they were meant to cast a sense of safety that would allow Race to go back to sleep with the knowledge that there was no threat.
After casting a glance around the darkened living room, Race went back to sleep.
Rachel tucked the blanket around both men before she kissed Benton's forehead. She felt a familiar ache, as she always did when she was this close to him. The pain was not her own, it was his. The pain he carried from his 'failure', his inability to save her. What he didn't know was it had been fate. She had to die. If she hadn't, then things would have turned out very different, and not at all happier for anyone involved.
She could feel herself fading now, she could never remain in this world long. She pressed another kiss to Benton's forehead before she turned and walked towards the front door. By the time she would have reached the door, she was gone.