Family Ties

by Spense

This is a story I wrote over 12 years ago. I've had several requests for it, so here it is. SUMMARY: Jonny's view of family is shaken to the core after an unexpected meeting.

I have had several requests for this story. Apparently, the places it was archived no longer exist.

So, for those who have sent me notes requesting this story, here it is.

Spense

August 2014

DISCLAIMER: I do not have or own JQ, nor do I have any rights to
them. I have no affiliation with Hanna-Barbera, Time Warner, or the
Cartoon Network; I am writing this purely out of love and respect for
JQ. This is written strictly by a fan, for the enjoyment of other
fans, and I have received no payment or other compensation, so don't
sue me! Meach owns Will Harkness and Rae, and I have used the
character with her permission. Any other characters that may appear
belong to me.

CATEGORY: Family, Alt
RATING: PG

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is longer than I usually try to write for JQ
stories (24 chapters), but it wouldn't end where I had planned it
too. As I was writing this, I kept thinking about a play I once saw
called `Six Characters in Search of an Author'. It was an apt
thought as I wasn't at all sure that I was the one in control of this
piece. Be that as it may, here is Family Ties. This is designed to
fit in with Meach's time line and in her universe. The story does
take a little while to really get rolling, so please bear with me.
And as usual, thanks to the B.A.D. Babes, Helen and Meach, for all
their help.
Spense, January 2002

And the roller coaster slowly slides away from the platform . . .

FAMILY TIES

Chapter One

Jonny drove his bike forward up the hill as hard as he could.
Irritation added power to every movement as he willed his body to
work harder yet, sending his bike sailing up the grade of the two-
lane highway towards the town of Rockport at an impressive clip.
Jonny's plan was to cut straight through town, then loop back towards
home. It was a long ride, and he usually did it once or twice a
week. He hoped that today it would work its usual magic and he'd be
too tired to be irritated by the time he got back to the compound.

He knew he'd be late getting home. That was a given. Not that
anyone would probably notice anyway, he thought bitterly, pushing
forward with even more intensity. With Rachel Elyse (Rae for short),
Benton and Will's infant daughter, in the family now, he wasn't sure
anyone would even perceive the fact that he was gone, much less
late. Jonny couldn't decide whether that fact bothered him, or
relieved him.

On the plus side, he wasn't getting into much trouble, and he did
enjoy the extra freedom, but Jonny seriously doubted the lax
attitude was intentional. More like just an oversight. He wondered
how long it would last. Being late had always been rewarded with a
scolding, or a grounding in extreme cases. But his Dad, and Race
too, were both going in so many different directions right now, that
sometimes they didn't seem to even notice what he was up too.
However he did know that not leaving a note definitely warranted a
grounding regardless of the circumstances, so he'd hedged his bets by
leaving a note on the foyer table. He just didn't tell anybody about
it.

On the other hand, if nobody noticed he was even gone, it meant that
not a soul was paying the slightest bit of attention to him, and that
was really annoying. But what else was new lately, Jonny groused to
himself. His level of importance to his Dad seemed to have dropped
like a stone.

The cause of all the disruption, his little sister Rachel Elyse, was
actually kind of fun. He did have to admit that. But all anybody
did anymore was pay attention to her. She certainly had become the
queen-bee, and Jonny was honest enough with himself to admit he was
jealous. But still! Like yesterday, for example, he and Jessie had
talked all day at school about the new game Hadji was writing. But
when they got home, suddenly she didn't have time. She was going to
help Will with Rae. Will had smiled and asked him to help as well,
but he had just declined and gone down to the lighthouse by himself.

The situation was bad enough on its own, but it had been aggravated
by the fact that Will had had a hard time giving birth to Rae. She'd
had an emergency C-Section and some other complications. She'd been
restricted from using stairs, and had been sleeping in the vacant
maid's quarters. That hadn't helped his father's temperament much.
Jonny had found it best to just make himself scarce. It was easier
than getting barked at all the time. He couldn't decide which was
worse; getting yelled at or being ignored.

Additionally, Rae had also had some problems. She'd turned out to be
allergic to all milk products. Lactose intolerant was what his
father had called it. She had gotten pretty sick until it was
figured out what the problem was.

Jonny pedaled harder as his frustration reached a crescendo once
again. It had been a hectic two months and Jonny hadn't like it at
all. On top of being the invisible person since his Dad had a new
kid, they'd been stuck at home the whole time since Rae's birth in
early March. They hadn't gotten to go anywhere, or do anything!
Now, 7 weeks later, Rae was fine, Will was much better, and no longer
restricted to the main floor. Jonny was relieved at that. His Dad
had been pretty hard to live with.

Jonny just wanted things back to normal. Normal included Will now,
he had finally concluded. He didn't mind her all that much. She
knew all kinds of cool stuff, just like Race, being that she was also
an I-1 agent. Besides, she made sure his dad didn't forget him. And
Rae was all right, but everyone just made such a fuss over her.
Jonny didn't think his father even remembered he was around anymore
unless Will reminded him. Funny, it was Will who generally seemed to
remember he was alive more than anyone else.

Jonny mulled that over, then dismissed the thought. He didn't know
why, and he wasn't going to worry about it. He was just glad that
she, at least, seemed to care. Even Hadji, usually his inseparable
companion, was distracted by Rae, and his new family in Bangelore.
Jonny didn't begrudge him that, he was just tired of being lonely in
a big house with lots of people. How could you be lonely with that
many people around? He didn't know, but somehow he managed it.

The really rotten thing about the whole situation was that there was
no one real thing that he could put his finger on and say, `this is
the problem'. Everything was the same, except, that it wasn't
really. And the few times he had tried to verbalize what he was
feeling, it came across as really petty and jealous. Then he got
into trouble for that too. So, now he just stewed in silence. And
then at other times, everybody acted completely normal, just like
they used too. Jonny just didn't get it.

Completely frustrated, his mind whirling in circles, Jonny pushed his
bike harder, resting the hill, and coasting down into Rockport in
record time. Checking his watch briefly as the buildings flashed by,
he realized he'd cut off his time by nearly five minutes. Not even
stopping for a breather at the park as he usually did, Jonny used his
momentum to help him gain a start up the hill for his return trip
home.

Breathing deeply, he leaned forward into the grade and pumped
strongly and steadily towards the top. The exercise was finally
helping. His irritation was beginning to fade. But the small
incidents were still fresh in his mind. There always seemed to be
new ones taking the place of those fading off into memory. Like his
dad breaking off mid-sentence while talking to him, and walking away
at Will's call to help her with Rae; continuously breaking off to
amuse the baby while Jonny was trying to carry on a conversation with
him; or just the plain inattention. Jonny knew there was a lot going
on, and that his father was split many different ways, with family
and work, but he just felt invisible right now to the person who
mattered most to him.

Except for his homework. That seemed to be the only time anyone
noticed he was even breathing anymore. Like this last weekend. He
was having a hard time with his math. Jessie, a grade ahead of him,
finally gave up in frustration trying to help him.

Benton had looked in after Jessie had left in a huff, and noticed his
son looking glum. He had taken the time to help Jonny to understand
the theory. He made him do the problems himself, and Jonny had
struggled all weekend with it, but Benton had made himself available
for questions when Jonny needed it. Jonny had finally gotten through
it. He still wasn't sure how he'd done on the test yesterday, but he
thought he at least understood it now. Too bad Dad didn't have more
time when it wasn't schoolwork, Jonny mused to himself. It was
almost worth sabotaging his own grades, but not quite. That might
get him more hot water than he had bargained for.

He finally reached the main gates to the house, and coasted to a
stop. Sighing, he reached forward and punched in the access code to
the pedestrian gate, and slowly rode forward through it as it
opened. After making sure the gate was tightly closed behind him, he
headed towards the house. It wouldn't do to let Zin or Surd have an
easy opening, but it might liven things up somewhat.

Entering the house, Jonny could hear laughter from the family room.

"Look! She smiled at me!" Hadji was exclaiming.

"I love feeding her," Jessie was saying as Jonny approached. "She's
so sweet."

His father replied with a laugh, "I'm enjoying it too. I never got
involved in feeding Jonny as an infant much." Jonny scowled briefly,
then relaxed his face to a more neutral statement. No sense in
advertising the fact that he was frustrated. Well, lets be more
realistic, jealous. Jonny sighed to himself. He really hated being
that petty, and he really didn't mind Rae. It was his family's
reactions, and especially his father's, that he didn't care for.
But, no sense in getting in trouble anymore than he had to.

"Well," Race began to laugh in response to Benton's comment. "It was
a bit different, from what I understand. Rae eats from a bottle!"
He broke off as he saw Jonny entering the doorway. "Hey, the
prodigal returns. Let's go eat." Race sat forward in his chair and
rubbed his hands together in anticipation.

"Honestly Race," Will exclaimed, "Your as bad as the kids." She
turned towards Jonny. "We're going into town for Chinese food
tonight. Mrs. Evans had to be gone unexpectedly. I saw your note,
so we were just waiting for you."

Jonny perked up at that. He loved Chinese, and this seemed like one
of the times everybody was acting like they used too. This might
actually be fun.

Jessie laughed at his statement. "Bottomless pit."

Benton stood up, holding Rae on his shoulder, smiling at Jonny. "How
was your ride?"

Jonny grinned, "Fine," then added, "I took five minutes off my time,
even adding in time for a rest stop, which I didn't take."

"Wow!" Race exclaimed, surprised. "It was already pretty good.
Which route did you take?"

As Jonny happily began to fill in the details, his earlier
frustration magically erased in the glow of a little attention, Hadji
interrupted plaintively, "Can we go? I am starved."

"Geez, you and Jonny never stop eating. Where on earth to you put
it?" Jessie commented in disgust.

Will laughed. "Their feet. Have you noticed how big their shoes
are?" She grinned at both boys, then continued, saying "Benton, can
you watch Rae while I get a bag together for her? That'll give Jonny
time to take a shower."

Benton nodded agreement, and Jonny headed for the stairs to get
cleaned up, for what he was sure would be a fun evening.

And enjoyable it was. Jonny thought it was just like before Rae came
on the scene. Lots of teasing and horseplay. Maybe things were back
to normal now. He certainly hoped so.

Chapter Two

"Hey Dad!" Jonny yelled as he slammed the front door behind him with
a loud bang. The noise brought Mrs. Evans out from the kitchen to see
what the problem was. You never knew in this household. You never
knew in this household.

"Jonny," she scolded, "you don't need to slam the door! And your
father is in the family room. Yelling is not necessary," she
finished sternly.

Jonny grinned at her, totally unperturbed by her tirade. "Sorry!" he
answered, and headed, like a whirlwind, for the family room. His dad
was going to be as pleased as he was with his news.

"Dad!" Jonny called once again as he blasted into the family room,
waving the paper he held. Suddenly, he was stopped cold at the sight
of his father sound asleep on the couch with Rae napping on his
chest. Jonny was surprised, to say the least. It was only 3 in the
afternoon. Benton was usually engrossed in something or other in his
lab at this time of day, not sleeping.

Jonny registered the scene with some trepidation. He really wanted
to show his dad the results of his math test. Benton had been so
patient helping him, and he knew how Jonny had really been sweating
about the outcome of this test.

Any other time Jonny would have woken him up, but now, with Rae, he
wasn't so sure. His dad always seemed to be tired and cranky. He
might not be too happy about it. Jonny sighed as he thought once
again about how much had changed since Rae was born. He never would
have hesitated previously to wake up his Dad, and had known he would
always receive a warm reception. But now, well, he wasn't so sure.
Last night had seemed normal enough, but who knew. Everything seemed
to change by the day.

While Jonny turned this over in his head, trying to decide what to
do, his father blinked groggily and looked at him. "Jonny?" he
muttered as he shook his head to clear it, and gathered his wits
about him. "What's the matter?"

Jonny paused uncertainly. "Um, nothing really, I guess." He
hesitated. "I just wanted to show you . . ." He trailed off again
as Benton frowned slightly and shifted his hold on the infant. Jonny
wondered what he'd done wrong.

Seconds later he realized with dismay that his dad wasn't even
thinking about him. Benton was looking at the baby, and muttering
distractedly, "you need to be changed." Suddenly, he looked back at
his son. "I'm sorry, Jonny. You were saying?" He remarked as he
stood up and shifted Rae to his shoulder.

Jonny relaxed a little and started over. "Uh, I got an "A" on that
honors math test. You know. The one . . ." Jonny stopped once
again as he realized his Dad's attention wasn't on him at all, but
was riveted on Will as she entered the room.

"Great Jonny," he said absently, with his eyes on his wife. "Will,
Rae needs to be changed." He shifted his hold on his daughter as
though to hand her to Will.

Will began to laugh as she moved further into the room. She squeezed
Jonny's shoulder lightly in greeting as she passed him. "Oh no,
Genius. She's all yours!" Will looked conspiratorially at Jonny as
she walked behind her husband, placed both her hands on his shoulders
and began to maneuver him out of the room.

"But," Benton began, argumentatively.

"No buts. You've had more practice than I have. And aren't you the
one that claims I can't put on a diaper correctly?" She grinned at
Jonny as she steered her grumbling husband toward the door.

Jonny stood uncertainly in the middle of the suddenly empty room,
then slowly made his way out the door and up the stairs. When he
reached his room door, he paused a moment, listening to the vague
sound of laughter from the direction of the nursery. Jonny suddenly
felt very alone. Dejectedly he pushed his own door open and walked
in, shutting out the sounds behind him.

From his spot on the foot of the bed, in a warm patch of sun, Bandit
looked up, yawned, and gave a brief wag of his tail in greeting.
Jonny smiled and sat down next to him. Here was someone who was
always glad to see him.

"Guess what, Bandit?" Jonny said as he patted his lap in invitation.

Bandit looked up inquiringly and bounded happily into Jonny's lap,
needing no second command. Jonny laughed. "I got an `A+' on my
honors math test. The one that I was so worried about! My teacher
said," Jonny began to read directly from the paper, "'excellent job.
Best work I've seen you do this year. Keep it up.' Great, huh?' He
looked at Bandit who leaped up to lick his face in response.

Jonny smiled. "I'm glad you care. Nobody else seems to be all that
interested. They sure are when I don't get decent grades though."
Jonny sighed and dropped the test paper on the floor next to his bed,
and concentrated on playing with his dog.

His attention was diverted by a tap on the door, and Benton poked his
head in. "You wanted to tell me something, Son?"

Jonny's spirits lifted like magic. As he opened his mouth to speak,
the phone rang, and Mrs. Evans called, "Dr. Quest! Telephone!"

Benton looked enquiringly at his son, but was obviously poised to get
the phone.

Jonny just shook his head, defeated. "Nothing."

"Okay, then," Benton commented, his mind already on other things, and
disappeared down the hall.

Jonny lay back on his bed and let Bandit stomp on his chest, and lick
his face.

"Congratulations! Great job! Huh, Bandit?" Jonny signed dejectedly.

Chapter Three

After playing with his dog for awhile, Jonny decided that since it
was still early afternoon, and everyone seemed occupied, he'd go for
another bike ride. `Occupied'. That was one way to put it. Race
and Hadji were out getting equipment for his father; Jessie had gone
shopping after school with her friends. Rae was taking another nap,
and Will and his dad were, well, they had gone into their suite and
Jonny had heard the door lock. Now that Will's health restrictions
were lifted, they appeared to be making up for lost time. So much
for thinking things were back to normal. He sighed.

Jonny had skipped out on a pickup basketball game with his friends
that afternoon in order to show his Dad his test. Now, wasn't that a
real bust.

Slightly depressed, he swung by the kitchen to pick up a water bottle
and he ran into Mrs. Evans again. He agreed to her request that he
pick up some more milk for her when he went through Rockport.

He took the ride slower today, and enjoyed the spring weather, with
Bandit loping happily alongside. He felt a little better. It was
hard to stay down on a beautiful day like today. But why couldn't
things just get back to normal. Jonny sighed as he coasted down into
Rockport. His thoughts were beginning to sound like a broken
record. It was getting ridiculous.

Waving at friends as he cruised through the town, he finally came to
a gentle stop. He made quick work of getting the milk and was
stashing it in his bike pack when he saw her.

She was tall, slimly built, like an athlete, and her hair was a
shining blond. She was waiting to cross the street down from the
park to his side of the road. Jonny couldn't help it. He just
stared at her. She was probably mid to late thirties. Her facial
features were like looking in a mirror. He shook his head slightly
and looked again. It just couldn't be. She was his mother's
portrait come to life.

"QUEST!" Jonny jumped at the loud exclamation originating from the
vicinity of his right ear, and was suddenly shaken violently. He
turned to look at the grinning face of his friend, Troy Mathews.
Troy looked pleased at the reaction he'd elicited.

"Geez, guy! We're you on another planet?" Troy asked with a
laugh. "I've been calling you for the last couple of minutes!" His
grin faded. "Are you ok? You look like you've seen a ghost."

Jonny stared at him for a moment more, frozen, and then spun back to
look at the intersection. She was gone. If she'd ever really been
there at all. Jonny scanned the area quickly. Nothing. She'd
vanished without a trace.

"Jonny?" He turned back to see Troy looking at him in concern. "You
ok?"

Jonny took a deep breath. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm okay." He forced a
smile onto his face. "I'm okay. I just thought I saw someone.
What's up?"

"Nothin'. I just wanted to say hi. What's up with you?"

"Not much," Jonny grumbled, glad of someone safe to vent too. "Life
sure is boring with a baby in the house," Jonny groused to his
friend. "We don't get to go anywhere anymore."

Troy laughed again. "Well, sorry guy! Amazing that you just might
have to stay home for longer than 3 weeks at a time. So one of your
family's bodyguards had a baby. Be glad it's not a relative. Then
you'd be really stuck."

Jonny grinned sheepishly at that. And he didn't enlighten his friend
that Will's baby was indeed a sibling. I-1 had made it quite clear
that this was a secret that HAD to be kept. And frankly, Troy did
have a point. Most people didn't travel even close to the amount the
Quest clan did. "Guess your right," he admitted reluctantly. "But
it still is boring. Hey, I gotta go. I'll see you tomorrow." With
a final wave, he pedaled off with Bandit keeping pace next to him,
and Troy's parting words floating behind him.

"Hey, Quest! Welcome to real life!"

Jonny did have to laugh. He was very aware that normal life to him
was more than a little unusual compared to that of his friends.

Jonny played in Questworld that night with Hadji and Jess. But he
just couldn't get the woman at the intersection off his mind. He
debated telling anyone about it, but then decided that that would be
a big mistake. They would just think he was nuts, and the adults
would worry, thinking he was sick. Jonny sighed silently to himself,
and lost another point to Jessie.

After Jonny had lost 3 rounds in a row, Jessie began cackling at
him, "Beat ya, beat ya," she grinned evilly to him.

Jonny didn't even get mad as he put his light visor away. "Yeah, you
sure did. Pretty off night," he finished.

"Yes, it was for you my friend, and that is putting it mildly," Hadji
concurred as he stretched, then began to shut the system down.

"I'll get that," Jonny commented quickly. "Consider it my penalty
for losing," he finished with a sickly attempt at a laugh.

"What's wrong with you?" Jessie asked quizzically.

"Nothing. I just thought I'd do you a favor."

"I do not mind," Hadji said emphatically. "We'll meet you up at the
house."

`Thanks, Jonny," Jessie decided not to look a gift horse in the
mouth. She still had homework to do. And with that, the two of them
vanished out the door before he could change his mind.

Jonny quickly went about the work of shutting down the computer
system. Then, in the darkening room, he turned his thoughts back to
the events of the afternoon, and the woman he had seen at the
intersection. Jonny turned the vision over and over in his head.
The woman looked so astonishingly like his mother, but that was
clearly impossible. He debated whether or not to tell his father;
Dad might just think he was crazy. And frankly, what did it really
matter? He had just seen someone that looked like Rachel. So what.
So why was he so hung up on it? But there it was. He just couldn't
let it go.

Finally Jonny gave up his reverie, and shut off the interior lights
and headed for the outside door. He was astounded to find that it
was full dark, and significantly later than he'd thought. A quick
glance at his watch confirmed his worst fears. It was past 11
o'clock. Dad was going to kill him.

He knew he was in trouble when he entered the front door to a stern
looking Will. She was holding a very fussy Rae, and looked harried.
Her eyes narrowed at him.

Uh-oh, was Jonny's first thought. She'd obviously been waiting for
him. It was amazing how a woman barely five feet tall could be so
intimidating.

Tapping her toe, she commented dryly, "Late?" as she rocked Rae,
rubbing her back.

"Well, uh," Jonny said intelligently, fumbling for an excuse.

Will watched him carefully as he stumbled around for an explanation,
and then sternly cut him off, "This is way too late for a school
night. Jessie and Hadji were back well over an hour and a half ago,
while you dallied around. Now I suggest you get your butt up to bed."

Jonny nodded in desperate obedience. As he turned to obey, he caught
sight of his mother's portrait through the family room doorway. He
froze for a second, as he seemed to see his mother smile, and feel
her encourage him to talk to his father. He really was losing his
mind. But just the same, he turned back to Will, who was still
trying to calm the unhappy infant. She looked at him quizzically.

"Where's Dad?" he asked abruptly.

Will frowned slightly as the unexpected question, but answered easily
enough. "He and Race are on a conference call to Washington."

Jonny nodded acknowledgement, then turned and headed for the stairs.
I guess talking to Dad tonight is out of the question, he thought
ruefully.

Will carefully watched him go, then as he was halfway up the steps,
asked, "Are you all right?"

Jonny paused for a moment to look at her in surprise, then answered
as he continued upward. "Fine," his voice drifted back.

Will watched in concern as he vanished into the upstairs nether-
regions. Then turning to look at Rachel's portrait, she walked
through the doorway, over to it. Looking up into the clear blue
eyes, she asked softly, uneasily, "What's bothering him Rachel?
Something's not quite right. And what did you tell him?"

Rachel, however, chose not to answer her.

Chapter Four

By the next morning, Jonny had completely dismissed the idea of
talking to his dad. Frankly, it sounded so completely stupid now
that he'd had a chance to sleep on it. All he saw, he realized, was
a woman who looked similar to his mom. And in reality, at a closer
look, he could almost bet she probably wouldn't look nearly as alike
as she did from a distance. He decided to drop it. Besides, he was
in a better mood today, anyway. Why create waves?

Later, as he was leaving the breakfast table to grab his books for
school, Benton followed him out to the foyer and asked him quietly if
there was anything he wanted to talk about. "Will said you were
asking for me last night."

Jonny was bemused, but very pleased all the same. After all the
times he had felt shunned, and all the times recently that his father
had been stretched in so many directions that Jonny had come in last,
at least this time his dad was making a point to make sure he was
okay. "No," he smiled, "everything's fine."

Benton looked at him carefully. "Are you sure? Will said you came
up really late from the lighthouse, and were obviously thinking hard
about something." He waited for an answer.

`Nah. I'm fine, Dad." He grinned. "Unless you'll let me stay home
from school," he added hopefully.

Benton laughed. "Not a chance." He gave his son a brief hug. "Just
get up here and to bed at the normal time next time, ok?"

"No problem," he answered. He was just opening his mouth to add `I
thought I saw Mom's identical twin yesterday' just to shock his Dad,
and to see what kind of reaction he could elicit, when Race called
from the front door.

"Hurry UP, Jonny! You're LATE!"

"Time to go, Dad, my ride's leaving." Without a further thought,
Jonny ran through the front door to Race's waiting car, slamming the
door behind him.

Benton laughed again, then headed back to the breakfast room, feeling
more relaxed. He knew Jonny was having some problems adjusting, but
everything seemed to be progressing fairly normally.
"Is everything all right?" Will asked as she finished her
breakfast. Benton leaned down and picked up Rae out of her baby
swing, and resumed his seat. "Fine, apparently. Jonny said that
there isn't anything the matter," he finished with clear relief.

"Are you sure? He really seemed to be in another world last night,"
Will persisted.

"He's sure." Benton shrugged slightly. "And he seems perfectly
cheerful." Benton put Rae up on his shoulder and rubbed the sleepy
baby's back. "He seems to be adjusting fairly well."

Will nodded in agreement, relief evident in her statement. "Yes,
just the normal small things, but nothing compared to when we first
got married."

Benton laughed. "Or when you first got pregnant?"

Will rolled her eyes; remembering that rocky period with her
stepson. "Oh yes, that. Well, keep an eye on him, but I agree. He
appears to be adjusting pretty well, thank heavens." Noting the now
sleeping baby, Will commented, "And what are your plans for this
morning?"

With a twinkle in his eye, Benton responded, "Nothing. I am
completely at your disposal."

"Oh, really." Will grinned. "Hummm, Jonny and Jessie at school,
Hadji already down working in the lighthouse, Race running errands,
Mrs. Evans shopping, and the little angel sleeping. Looks like it's
just the two of us. Do you have something in mind?"

"Oh, I'm sure we can come up with something," Benton said with a
deadpan statement, as she shifted Rae's position so he could lean
forward and kiss his wife.

Jonny was mentally kicking himself for doing what he was doing, but
here he was, on his bike for an unprecedented third day in a row,
riding his regular route to Rockport. As much as he was trying to
fool himself, he knew he was trying to see the blond woman again.

`Needle in a haystack', he thought ruefully to himself. He kept
telling himself that he was imagining things, but here he was, like
an idiot, cruising slowly through Rockport, once again. He kept the
pace slow as he rode through the intersection where he had seen her
the day before. He looked carefully both ways, then seeing nothing,
laughed to himself, and began to head home. At least now he could
put it to rest. He was just imagining things, plain and simple.

Or was he? Jonny coasted to a stop looking in disbelief at the
window of a coffee shop. There she was, sitting at a table by the
window, sipping coffee and reading the paper. Jonny studied her
carefully, from his position across the street. She looked exactly
like Rachel. The bright blond hair, the breezy cut, everything.

Jonny was frozen in place. What should he do? Oh well, he decided,
in for a penny, out for a pound. He looked for traffic, waited until
the coast was clear, then crossed the street to the diner, wanting to
have a closer look. When he looked over again, he stopped in utter
befuddlement. The blond woman was gone. Jonny began to think he was
indeed loosing his mind.

That night, being Friday, the entire family stayed up later than
usual, watching movies. Jonny's eyes kept straying to the portrait
of his mother. He just couldn't forget the blond woman he had seen
in town. She looked so much like Rachel. Jonny concentrated on the
smile on the painted face. He remembered it so well, that, and the
delicate sound of her laughter. He missed her so much.

After the movie, the kids headed for bed as instructed, amidst the
usual bantering. Jonny lay awake thinking. He knew his dad usually
checked on him before going to his own room, and he decided he wanted
to try to talk to him then. But Jonny wasn't really sure what to
say. `Guess what Dad, I saw Mom today'. That didn't seem to cut
it. But still, he had to do something. The whole thing was
beginning to get out of hand. He couldn't concentrate on anything.

Jonny tossed and turned, waiting for his dad to come upstairs. He
felt like he was waiting forever. Finally, he looked at the clock.
It was after midnight. Jonny sighed, and managed to get out of bed
without disturbing Bandit. He really didn't want to wait until
morning to talk to his father about this. It was just bugging him
way too much.

Jonny opened his door and peeked out. The door to his Dad's and
Will's suite was standing open, but no lights were on. The only
light came from a very faint glow through the gap at the bottom of
the upstairs library door. Jonny headed towards it, opened it and
moved quietly out onto the loft ringing the second floor of the two-
story room. There was a very dim glow radiating out from the
fireplace, out of sight almost directly below him. Even without
seeing the actual fireplace he could tell that the fire had nearly
burned down to embers. He could hear low voices, then a sultry laugh.

"Dad?" Jonny called, somewhat uncertainly.

There was dead silence, then a faint rustling.

"Yes?" Benton answered. Jonny thought he sounded slightly
breathless. He grinned in spite of himself. He still couldn't quite
get used to the idea of his Dad and Will `doing it', but the fact
that he'd walked in on them was pretty funny when you thought about
it.

"Uh, Dad, can I talk to you?" Jonny responded. May as well ask. I
don't have anything to lose, and the only thing he can do is say no.

"Can it wait until morning, son? It's very late," came the
disembodied reply.

"I guess," Jonny sighed briefly, but was somewhat amused all the same.

"All right then. See you in the morning. Good night son," Benton
replied.

"'Night, Dad." Jonny thought about saying goodnight to Will as well,
but decided that would be too crass. He headed back to his room.

Down in front of the fireplace, Benton lay back on the pillows
stacked on the floor with a relieved sigh. "That was close."

Will snickered from her position next to him, coming up from under
the blanket she'd hastily spread over them. "Nice save, Einstein."

Benton gave a rueful chuckle. "A houseful of kids. You never know
what's going to happen."

"Race does remind us to lock doors," Will pointed out. "And you
really should go up and talk to Jonny now."

"Now?"

"Now, before he decides nothing is wrong again."

"Kids have the worst timing," Benton grumbled.

"Go."

"Ok . . ." Benton tapered off as he drew her towards him.

"Uhmm . . ." was Will's response until all thought of anything but
Benton exited her mind.

Chapter Five

Getting up the next morning, Jonny thought about what he wanted to
do. He knew Jess and Hadji both had plans for the morning, so he was
on his own. Hating himself, he decided he'd go out on his bike
again. Sighing, he knew he didn't want to admit even to himself that
he wanted to find the Rachel look-a-like. But he did want to talk to
Dad about it first. Maybe he could help him let go of this. Dad
first, bike ride second.

Heading for the dinning room, bike gear in hand, he literally ran
into his father and Race coming out.

"Whoa!" he exclaimed as he stopped short of hitting them square on.
Jonny thought his Dad looked distracted. He and Race had been deep
in conversation before he had nearly caused a collision.

Both adults smiled briefly at the blond teenager. "Oh, Jonny. There
you are," his father said. "Going for a bike ride? Good.
Something's come up, and Race and I need to call Washington again.
Can we talk when you get back? Ok?" He squeezed Jonny's shoulder
and gave him another smile, then briskly moved off towards his study,
Race meeting him step for step, without giving Jonny a chance to say
a thing.

Jonny watched them go in bewilderment. `Adults'. He'd never
understand them. Now his dad was pawning him off again. One minute
you're fine, the next you're invisible. Shaking his head in
disappointment and disbelief, he headed out to get his bike yet again.

Jonny was very disappointed in the fruits of his tour through
Rockport. There was no sign of the blond woman as he meandered
through the town. He finally did his best to dismiss the whole thing
from his thoughts, and headed for home. Oh well, now he didn't need
to take up his dad's time. All of this was just bogus.

He chewed on it some more as he headed up the highway. It was all
just a figment of his imagination, anyway.

Or maybe not! Jonny stopped his bike so hard it skidded in the loose
gravel of the shoulder on the two-lane highway. He was relatively
close to the compound gates along the bluff road, just a few miles
down, and in front of him, on the shoulder of the road, was the blond
woman he'd been looking for. She really did look like Rachel. He
watched with his jaw on his chest. She beckoned furtively to him,
called his name (called his name!), then looked around quickly to see
if anyone else had seen, and disappeared behind a clump of rocks.
Not another soul was in sight. Hesitating a moment, then feeling
like he was heading through the looking glass, he followed.

He rounded the small clump of rocks, and just stared in disbelief at
the woman a few feet in front of him. The slim blond woman smiled
tearfully at him, and said quietly, "Hi, Honey."

"Mom?" Jonny whispered in complete disbelief. It just couldn't be.

The woman nodded, a smile on her face, tears in her eyes. She put
her hand lightly to her lips. "I've waited so long to see you," she
said with quiet intensity, longing evident in her every move and tone.

"Mom!" Jonny emerged from his trance, dropped his bike and sprinted
over to her, flinging himself into her arms. It couldn't be, but
somehow, it was.

She laughed delightedly, "Oh, Jonny! I'm so glad to see you. I've
missed you so much."

Jonny clung tightly to her, almost afraid to let go. If he did, she
might disappear, and he'd realize he really was dreaming.

"Mom, what . . .? How are you? I thought . . .But you're dead!"
Jonny's words ran into each other as he stumbled over himself trying
to express his thoughts.

Rachel gave another delighted ripple of laughter and hugged him once
again. "Pick up your bike, Jonny, and lets sit down. I'll answer
all your questions, and you can answer mine."

Jonny quickly grabbed his bike and laid it against the rocks of the
outcropping, then moved to sit next to her as she settled into the
grass.

"Tell me about yourself, Honey," Rachel commanded with a smile.

"But Mom! I mean, you're alive. How?" Jonny began again. "I was
thinking I was nuts! I mean, I saw you in town. You were in town,
weren't you?" He added uncertainly, his whole idea of reality turned
inside out in a blink of an eye.

"Jonny," his mom interrupted with another smile. "I've waited so
long to talk to you. Indulge me? But briefly, I'll tell you that
I've been in a coma for a little over 6 years, caused by the
assassination attempt. I'll answer all your questions, I promise,
but please, I just want to know about `you', my baby. I've missed
you so. And I've missed so much of your life. I just need to get to
know you again. You've grown so much," she finished wistfully. "You
were so young the last time I saw you."

At the tone of longing in her voice, Jonny nodded slowly.
Reluctantly, he put his own questions aside for the moment. "Okay,
what do you want to know?"

"Well, who do you live with? Your father, obviously. I know your
living in his family's ancestral home. And I know you and Benton
ended up with a body guard." She grinned impishly. "Isn't it
amazing what you can learn off the TV and newspapers? Is the
bodyguard an I-1 agent?"

Jonny grinned. "Yeah, Race Bannon. He's great, Mom. You'd really
like him. He was way better than some of the others." Jonny's face
clouded. "It was really bad after you died. I mean . . ."

Rachel reached out and touched his cheek lightly. "I'm sorry,
honey. I wish I could take away the pain." They were both silent
for a moment until Rachel broke the mood. "I've heard of Race. I
met him briefly at I-1. He seemed to be a good man."

Jonny nodded enthusiastically, perking up. "His daughter Jessie
lives with us now, too. And Hadji. Did you know I got a dog?"

Rachel laughed out loud. It was a delightful sound. "So your father
finally gave in?" Jonny just grinned in response. "Tell me about
Hadji and Jessie and the dog. I want to catch up on your life. I've
missed so much of it."

Jonny beamed at her, and obliged. He spent quite a lot of time
drawing the picture of his life for her, and a thumbnail sketch of
some of the trips he taken. She was a wonderful listener, and asked
all the right questions.

"And you're father?" Rachel finally asked quietly, as Jonny was
clearly winding down, touching on the one huge glaring omission in
Jonny's narrative.

Jonny looked troubled. "Mom, he remarried," Jonny finally said
reluctantly, then suddenly looked blank. "But how could he? You're
alive!"

Rachel closed her eyes in remembered pain. "He filed for legal
separation several years ago, and finished the divorce just after I
woke up, not quite two years ago. And yes, I was aware that he'd
remarried. I still have a few mutual friends in I-1 who let me know
clandestinely."

Jonny looked absolutely stunned. "How could he?" he repeated.

"Oh, Jonny," Rachel smiled sadly, "He's a man in his prime. A
comatose wife is a liability."

Jonny looked mutinous, and began to say something, but Rachel shook
her head. "Jonny, I was a liability. His enemies would have had a
perfect hostage. Unable to protest or escape. It was better this
way."

"But how could he have remarried?" Jonny demanded, stubbornly.

"A man has needs, Jonny. And your father is human."

Jonny winced slightly, thinking of the scene he'd unwittingly
interrupted in the library. "But Mom, Dad never even told me you
were alive. Why didn't he?" Jonny asked, betrayal evident in his
tone and every statement.

"No, Jonny," Rachel said quietly, as she seemed to read his
mind. "Don't hate your father. Never hate your father. He is a
good man, and he loves you. But he is human and certainly not
perfect. Neither am I. He had his reasons, and they involved
protecting you." Rachel reached out and traced Jonny's
cheekbone. "I'd forgotten how much you and I looked alike. The
resemblance has just gotten stronger as you've grown up," she said
softly.

Jonny looked at her in dismay. "You don't sound very happy, Mom," he
said hesitantly.

A swift smile lit her face again. "I am now that I'm seeing you."
She hugged him tightly. "My son! I've missed you so much." She
gave him a last squeeze, then released him.

Jonny opened his mouth to ask another question when suddenly a
holographic image appeared over his wrist.

Rachel looked astounded as Jonny looked at his watch and exclaimed in
surprise. "Oh man, I'm really late. We've been talking for over two
hours!" He looked completely bewildered. "Can it have been that
long?" Rachel just laughed.

"They've activated the tracker," he continued. "Dad's going to kill
me!" He jumped to his feet, then stopped suddenly and beamed at his
mother. "Or maybe not!" He laughed in delight as he looked at
her. "And you can meet Hadji and Jessie and Bandit!"

Rachel stayed seated and shook her head with a sad smile. "No,
honey. Benton told me clearly to stay away from you."

Jonny looked stunned.

"Oh yes, Jonny. He knows all about me. And if you tell him that
you've seen me, or anybody for that matter, he'll separate us
forever. Be very sure of that. He has full custody of you, and has
made it perfectly clear that I have no rights."

"But, Mom . . ." Jonny began uncertainly, completely appalled.

"Do `you' want to see me again?" Rachel asked quickly, hearing a car
approach.

"YES!" Jonny said firmly.

"Okay, meet me here in two days at, oh, 2pm. Can you do that? And
don't tell anyone! I promise, I'll fill you in on everything then,
ok? But it's imperative that you don't say a word to anybody." She
was insistent as she slowly stood up, brushing bits of debris from
her jeans

Jonny nodded in bewilderment, as the car drew closer and stopped. A
door slammed.

"Jonny?" Race's voice called.

Jonny looked quickly back at Rachel, who put her finger to her lips
as she moved silently into hiding around another clump of rocks.

"Jonny!" Race called, more insistently this time.

"Yeah, Race," Jonny called back, with one more backwards glance at
the spot where his mother had been.

"You okay Kiddo?" Race asked in concern as he came up the slight
incline and around the clump of rocks to the clearing at the head of
the cliffs.

"Um-hm," Jonny responded absently as he retrieved his bike.

Race looked at him oddly. "You're really late. What happened?"

Jonny gave him a quick, disarming smile. "Nothing. I just lost
track of time."

Race looked carefully at him again, then let it drop. "Ok then.
Lets get home. Your father is pretty worried. He was looking for
you."

Jonny nodded and headed to put his bike on the bike rack at the back
of the Quest SUV Race had driven. He noticed Race sliding into the
drivers seat and talking on a cell phone. Probably Dad or Will.
Will! Jonny thought in sudden amazement, he wondered if she knew
Rachel was still alive. Jonny slid into the passenger seat, thinking
hard.

Halfway home, Race broke Jonny's preoccupied silence. "Are you sure
you're ok Jonny? Nothing happened? What about school?" He probed,
concerned.

Jonny shook his head. "Nope, everything's fine," he commented
absently, still deep in thought.

Race continued looking at him carefully.

"Really!" Jonny exclaimed impatiently.

Race relaxed and laughed. "Okay, okay. I'll back off."

Jonny grinned.

When they arrived at the house, Race let Jonny off at the front door,
then headed around to the garage to put the SUV around. Jonny headed
upstairs at a quick clip to grab a shower before dinner. He found
everybody running around in various stages of formal dress. As Jonny
looked uncomprehendingly at the scene, Benton appeared at the door of
his suite, holding Rae, and looking distracted. As the significance
of Rae's name hit Jonny anew, Benton caught sight of his younger son.

"There you are," he exclaimed in mild annoyance. "Where have you
been? We've been looking all over for you. We were getting
concerned." Benton checked his watch. "Go get dressed. Now!"

Jonny looked in puzzlement at his father, his mind returning to the
present. Did he have to get dressed up to talk to his dad? Since
when? And frankly, now, he didn't really need to talk to him. He
knew all about the blond woman, he laughed to himself.

Will appeared at the doorway, looking attractive in a formal gown of
burnt rust silk shot with gold, and took Rae from Benton. "Honestly,
Jonny!" She laughed. "The awards dinner? We've been talking about
it for a week!"

Benton just looked at his son in exasperation, and Jonny realized
with a stab, that his father had completely forgotten about his
promise to save some time for him today. "Go take a shower and put
on your tux," he directed his son. He looked as though he would have
continued, but Rae clutched at his arm, leaning over from Will.
Distracted, Benton turned from Jonny and grinned disarmingly at his
baby daughter. Will laughed at the scene, as Rae completely
captivated her father's attention and gurgled in delight.

Forgotten momentarily, Jonny watched the scene, and felt his stomach
twist at the memory of his mother's said little smile. Remembering
his promise to her, Jonny dove into his room to remove himself from
the sight of the tight little trio down the hall, all the while
remembering clearly another threesome from the past. He really
didn't want to think of the ramifications of what he had learned
today right now. That would have to be saved for later.

Chapter Six

Jonny pulled his bike around the rocky outcropping in a repeat of his
actions two days ago. Over the last two days he had nearly convinced
himself that the whole thing might just have been a dream. But as he
looked around the clearing, there was Rachel, with a huge smile on
her face.

"Mom!" Jonny shouted and ran over to hug her. She staggered and
laughed. "I thought maybe you were just a dream!" he exclaimed.

"Oh no, I'm very real." She laughed again, a delightful sound to
Jonny. It sounded light, like a waterfall. Her face turned
wondering as she touched his cheek lightly. "I can't believe this.
I've waited so long." The quicksilver smile was back again. "Come
sit down, I have something for you."

She stepped aside to reveal a picnic basket. "Are you hungry?"

Jonny just grinned an acknowledgement.

Rachel laughed again. "Let me guess. You came straight here after
school, without stopping for a snack."

"Yep," Jonny acknowledged with a laugh.

"Then dig in!" Rachel began unloading the basket. Jonny as
astounded. It was filled with his favorites. Pizza with everything,
fruit, chips, and sodas.

"Cool! Chips! Dad never lets me have them, or pizza with
everything. He's says they aren't good for me."

Rachel shook her head. "Same as ever. He never changes." She
helped herself to a slice of pizza. "Did you have any trouble with
Agent Bannon the last time?"

"Nah. He was distracted. Dad had an awards dinner. They didn't
care as long as I was ready on time. Dad was kind of mad at first,
but he got over it. I'm kind of invisible to him anyway right now."

Jonny missed Rachel's look of dismay at that comment as he devoured
several slices of the extra large pizza. Rachel nibbled at an apple
and watched him contentedly. "So Mom, what exactly happened?" Jonny
asked through a mouthful of pizza.

"Jonny," she said, shaking her head at his terrible table manners.

"Sorry," he mumbled and grinned as he took the napkin she held out.
He used it, then continued, "I mean, I've been told you were dead.
Dad mourned you for years. Now it turns out you were in a coma. How
bad were you hurt?" he finished in concern.

"Well, things aren't always what they seem. In fact, most of the
time, they aren't," Rachel commented reflectively. "I suffered a
head injury in the assassination attempt. I was comatose for very
nearly six years. It seems like just yesterday to me, but the rest
of the world has gone on living. I feel a bit like Rip Van Winkle."
She reached over and touched Jonny's hair lightly, and sighed deeply
over the lost years.

"You were so young," she smiled slightly, remembering. "I began to
finally come around about 2 years ago. It took me a few months to
come completely around, then over a year of physical and occupational
therapy to be able to function fully. I literally had to learn to
walk, speak and write all over again."

"But why didn't you get hold of Dad when you finally could? I mean,
didn't you wonder why he wasn't there?" Jonny demanded. "Even if he
did have to legally separate from you to protect you, he would have
been there. And why didn't you get hold of me?" Jonny finished
quietly, suddenly looking terribly vulnerable.

Rachel studied her son sadly, then chose her words
carefully. "Honey, I hate to tell you, but I did. I talked several
times to Benton. And he knew everything that was happening. Who do
you think paid for my care?"

Jonny put down his pizza, his appetite suddenly gone. "No, you
couldn't have. Dad would have been right there to help you. He
would have told me! He loves you!"

Rachel quickly moved to her son and put an arm soothingly over his
shoulders. "I'm sorry Jonny, but sometimes things are different than
they appear. I did talk to Benton. He even came to see me. I know
you travel with him, but there were a few trips he left you home.
Those were the trips he came to see me."

Rachel squeezed Jonny's shoulder, hoping to ease the stricken look on
the boy's face. "I really hate to tell you this. We'll just leave
it at that, huh?"

"No!" The word was explosive. Jonny's face was hard. "I want to
know ALL of it!"

"Are you sure? I don't want this to mar your relationship with your
father. He's a good man."

"Yes. Tell me," Jonny demanded.

"Ok." Rachel was silent a moment. "He told me he no longer loved
me. That he'd built a new life. A stable and successful life. He
would help me as much as I needed. He felt responsible that I had
been injured. He would pay my medical bills and maintenance until I
was up on my feet."

Jonny looked stricken. "But Mom . . . He loves you. He mourned you
for years. He's never said a word about it. And he's talked about
you to me lots."

"Jonny, the love between a man and a woman can change. It can grow
stronger, or it can die. People grow and move on. There are facets
to a relationship that only the couple can know. And Benton is a
very complex man. There are sides to him that you've never seen.
Each of us has our secrets, and the older you get, the more you
have. And Benton has many."

Jonny looked rebellious. "Fine," he snapped, "But what about me? He
could have told me. YOU could have told me."

"No honey, I couldn't. Benton made that very, very clear to me. He
wanted you and he had full custody per the divorce papers. Remember
the divorce was final just after I woke up, and I was in no position
to care for you in any way. Anyway, Benton told me that if I made an
attempt to contact you, then any money, support, everything, were
gone. I couldn't take that change at that moment. So I bided my
time and waited until I was healed enough to manage without his
help. Then I came looking for you, and found you!" She smiled in
delight as she hugged him again. "And here you are."

"But why would Dad want to keep us apart? I don't understand," Jonny
asked, absently beginning to eat the chips.

"Well," Rachel began slowly, carefully. "You know what a
perfectionist your father is?"

Jonny rolled his eyes theatrically in agreement.

Rachel laughed, then sobered. "He was not interested in an imperfect
wife. My use as a scientist was gone. Who would believe my
findings? I was in a coma for 6 years."

Jonny was aghast. "You were brain damaged?"

"No, no," Rachel clarified. "Well, yes, in the sense that the head
injury put me in a coma. But no, there is no lasting damage, but how
do you explain that when you present scientific findings? No, my
career as a cutting edge scientist was over. And that is a side of
Benton that is not very attractive-he is only interested in the
perfect. It's the scientist in him I guess. Anyway, he had a
perfect, blond, blue-eyed, all-American boy for a son, whose
intellect was showing great promise. He didn't want me ruining his
ideal little world."

Jonny protested. "But Dad's not like that!"

"I'm not saying he's bad, or evil, or awful, or anything else,
Jonny. These are just facts. He's a good man, truly. But he's not
perfect and he has his flaws; this is just one of them. None of it
changes the fact that he loves you."

"But it changed for you," Jonny commented slowly, thinking hard. "He
doesn't love you anymore."

"That is different. I was his wife. You are a part of him."

Jonny thought about the last few months, and doubted very much that
it was different, but before he could comment, his watch beeped,
interrupting their intense conversation. He jumped, and swore at it.

"Jonathan!" Rachel protested, distressed at his language.

"Sorry, Mom. That's the alarm. I have to go, or I'll be missed.
But I have so much more to ask you!"

Rachel smiled happily. "Do you really want to keep seeing me,
knowing your father won't like it if he finds out?"

"Dad has other things on his mind than me," he state with sudden
bitterness.

Rachel frowned slightly in concern. "Hummm, that's the second
time . . . I want to know . . ." she broke off her thought. "But
that will have to wait until later," she mused, half to
herself. "Here," she said, reaching into the picnic basket. She
produced a small pager. "This is a voice message pager. Speak into
it and I'll get a text message of exactly what you say."

"Cool," Jonny exclaimed in delight.

"Keep it close by you, but hidden. DO NOT let your father get hold
of it, or Mr. Bannon." She shuddered delicately.

"Ok," Jonny agreed. "When can I see you?"

"How about tomorrow, right after school. Will that work?"

Jonny thought about it. "Well, Race usually picks me up," he
commented slowly, "But if I tell him I'm going to run after school,
and will run home, he won't think anything about it. I do that a lot
when I'm training. As long as I'm home by the normal time."

"We can do that. I'll pick you up a few blocks away from the
school. Rockport High, right?"

Jonny nodded. "Right. How about by the highway intersection?"

"Perfect, nobody would notice. I'll be driving a late model white 4-
door Honda Accord. It's pretty generic."

"Great, but we can't do this every afternoon. Race would get
suspicious, to say nothing of Dad."

"That's why I gave you the pager. We can set up meetings anytime."

Jonny laughed, hugged his mother, and headed home.

Chapter Seven

Jonny felt as though he were living in a dimension apart from
normal. Almost as though he were a disembodied spirit watching his
family without participating. The only thing reminding him that this
was reality was the small pager weighing down his pocket.

Dinner was surreal. He felt as though he were miles away, watching
through glass. Thankfully, nobody seemed to notice. Benton and Race
had spent the afternoon tangling with the government regarding the
application of one of Benton's newest discoveries. Will was busy
with Rae, as usual, and Jessie appeared to have decided that playing
dolls with a living baby was the most fun thing she could possibly
do. Hadji, usually more tuned into Jonny, had spent the afternoon on
the phone with his newly discovered mother and was full of news from
Bangelore.

For once, Jonny wasn't sorry when his father sent him to his room to
do homework. Jessie was going to help Will with Rae, then was
instructed to do her homework as well. This meant he didn't even
have to think of a legitimate excuse to get off by himself tonight.

Jonny half-heartedly concentrated on his schoolwork, staring at the
laptop screen on his desk. The tiny pager felt heavy in his pocket,
far out of proportion to its actual weight. He found it hard to
believe what his mother had said about his dad. It seemed so
opposite from everything that he knew about him.

Benton had always stressed honesty to him. Above absolutely
everything else. He'd harped on it to the point of making Jonny
sick! Then there was the fact that his Dad and Race had always told
him that he could tell them anything. But his father lied to him
about his mother? And hidden the fact that she was alive from him?
It seemed impossible to believe . . . Yet he had seen her, in the
flesh, and had the pager in his pocket to prove it. It was a
tangible link. She was `real'. Therefore, it followed that she was
telling the truth.

His Dad had said to always approach every problem with logic. Well,
logic said this time, his mother was right, and his father was lying
to him. And Benton `had' gone on some trips without him during that
time period in question. Jonny remembered clearly, because he had
whined and cajoled to no avail. All Benton had stated was school
reasons. But Jonny had gone on trips before, even with lousy grades.

Jonny rolled this over and over in his head. `Honesty', with a
capital `H' was always being stressed. But he had physical proof
that his father was lying. It all came back to that. Logic dictated
one answer, and one alone. His father had been lying to him for
years.

"Hey, Hotshot!" Jonny whirled around in his chair, startled, to see
Jessie was standing in the doorway, looking annoyed.

"Don't you ever knock?" He grumbled sullenly. Jonny had too much on
his mind to want to be interrupted.

"I did knock. Which you ignored. After I sent three e-mails. Which
you also ignored."

"Whatever," Jonny mumbled, turning back to his screen.

"What is `wrong' with you?" Jessie demanded. "All I wanted to know
is if you wanted to take a break and play Hadji's new game! Well?"

"No," Jonny retorted rudely, beginning to work on his essay.

"FINE!" Jessie yelled, affronted. "I don't know why I bother with
you anyway." She stalked out, slamming his door loudly as she went,
sparking a reaction from the adults downstairs.

Jonny could hear Jessie's voice in response and sighed. Tattling
again. Pretty soon his father or Will or Race would be up to `talk'
to him. Make sure he was all right, lecture him about manners.
About being polite. About being `good'. Same old, same old.

They were fine to talk. Now he knew that at least his father was
lying about something important.

Jonny half-heartedly finished his homework. Still no one came.
Jonny wasn't sure whether that was good or bad. Good, because he got
out of a scolding, or bad, because he wasn't important enough to
worry about. Jonny had been wondering about that since Will, and now
Rae, had entered the household. He'd been getting a feeling like his
place with his father had changed somehow, and he wasn't sure it was
to the good. He decided to hold that thought. He had enough on his
mind without adding that to the mix!

Jonny took himself to bed at his usual bedtime, still thinking hard
about his mother. Lying awake, events still chased one another in
his mind, and he sure hadn't reached any conclusions.

He didn't realize it had gotten so late until he heard his father's
footsteps on the stairs, and the soft murmur of his voice. Jonny
wondered about that as he'd heard Will go to bed earlier. She still
tired easily, even though she was pretty much recovered from Rae's
birth.

Jonny hastened to snuggle under the covers, out of sight from the
door, knowing that Benton would check on him. But to his surprise,
the footsteps went past, and Jonny realized that his father was
talking softly to Rae. He could hear the baby gurgle in return. He
heard the door to the nursery open, then close again a few moments
later. Jonny quickly feigned sleep again, only to open his eyes in
shock as the door to his father's suite close, a sound filled with
finality. Jonny was stunned. His dad always looked in on him. But
as time pressed forward, and Benton did not put in an appearance, it
became obvious that he wouldn't be tonight.

Jonny felt discouragement press in on him. Everything was changing.
He wondered if anybody was really what he or she seemed at all any
more.

This depressing thought was interrupted by the soft chirp of the
pager under his pillow. Interested, he pulled it out and looked at
the display.

Goodnight honey. I love you. Mom

Jonny smiled happily at the tiny glowing screen and said quietly, "I
love you too, Mom." He was gratified to see the message appear in
letters on the screen. He pressed the send button. After a moment,
another soft chirp, and another message appeared.

XOXOXO

Jonny grinned and felt better beyond belief as he replaced the pager
under his pillow. He had his mom back! Who would ever believe him?

Chapter Eight

Jonny had just had another conversation with his mother regarding his
father's drive for perfection. The whole thought gnawed at Jonny as
he ambled up the long driveway towards the house. His mother had
dropped him off, just out of sensor range. Running was the excuse
again today. They had been meeting together regularly, but
carefully. Neither wanted to raise any type of suspicion.

He knew she was right. That perfectionism was what made his father
the excellent scientist he was. She was also very interested in
hearing more about Jessie and Hadji, and had made a comment that they
had minds much like Benton's. Jonny was uncomfortably reminded yet
again how much unlike them he was. There had been any number of
jokes about Jessie and Jonny being switched at birth, and when he'd
told Rachel about them, she'd just laughed, commenting that
personality-wise, it certainly sounded possible, but she knew better.

Jonny didn't tell his mother, but as she had made several comments
about how bright he was as a child, and how proud his father had been
of his intelligence, Jonny just couldn't get past the fact that he
was disappointing his father in the scholarly aspect of his life.
Jonny had always felt a bit uncomfortable about that, but had not
ever doubted his father until now. Now, though, he was seeing a side
of his father he hadn't known existed; the absolute necessity to
surround himself with the beautiful and the perfect. Jonny was
becoming really afraid that he didn't fit that mold. Especially now
that Will had presented Benton with a daughter who appeared to look
just like him. Hair color and all.

Even the house seemed to support her suppositions. The mansion was,
well, incredible. The furniture was antique, and had been in the
Quest family for generations. Jonny hadn't ever realized before how
museum-like it really was. Even Rae's cradle was a family heirloom.
Jonny really wondered how well he fit in. Like Race, he didn't
really notice or care particularly about whether a piece of furniture
was new, old or antique. It was just something to use.

Then there was his resemblance to his mother. Jonny had always been
pleased that he took after his mother in looks. Benton had made
several comments about that over the years. But now, knowing how his
father had REALLY treated his mother, Jonny wasn't all that sure that
this was a good thing. Jonny was troubled. His life was turned
upside down. Everything he had always believed to be true turned out
to be slanted sideways somehow, and wasn't what he had thought it to
be. He really didn't know what to think.

"Jonny?" His father called to him as he entered the front door.

Jonny quickly checked the clock. Nope, he was on time. "Yeah, Dad?"
he responded with as much nonchalance as he could manage.

"Come here, please."

Jonny's heart sank at his father's tone of voice. What had he done
now? Well, plenty actually. But he didn't think this father knew
about any of it.

Jonny entered the family room. Will was curled up on the couch
reading a book, Rae asleep on a quilt on the floor next to her.
Benton was reading a piece of mail from the pile he had been looking
through, the remainder of which was spread out on the coffee table in
front of him, and was looking definitely irritated.

"Yeah, Dad?" He asked.

"I'd like to know what the story is behind this." Benton looked
sternly at his son, holding up a letter with the Rockport High School
logo on it.

Will put down her book and got up to leave. "I'll leave you two
alone to discuss this privately," she said calmly.

Benton looked at her in surprise, "No, Will. Stay please."

"Benton, this is between you and Jonny." Will said firmly as she
hesitated on the edge of the couch.

`No. You've had to supervise Jonny's homework as much as Race and I
have. I'd like you to hear this as well."

Will smiled apologetically in Jonny's direction and resumed her seat.

Jonny remained standing in the middle of the floor, still wearing his
running clothes, feeling very much like he was on trial. If this was
about school, he agreed with Will, it wasn't her business. She
wasn't his mom. He felt the first stirrings of rebellion creeping in
amidst the unease.

"Jonny, the assistant principal has seen fit to write me a note that
I'm more than a little upset to read. It seems your grades are
slipping significantly this term. He wants to know what's going on.
You're teachers are reporting that you aren't participating in class
projects, your not finishing your assignments, those that you have
finished are sloppy and half done. Now, I'd like an explanation."
Benton sat back in his chair; arms crossed over his chest, and gazed
forbiddingly at his son.

Jonny fidgeted, remaining silent. He knew exactly what was
happening. He was spending time with his mom. Time that Benton
would not be happy about if he knew. And that was the understatement
of the world. Jonny looked at Benton, feeling like a different
person. He'd always wanted to please his father, enjoyed earning his
approval. But now, he wasn't sure he wanted it. Benton was telling
him one thing, and doing another.

"Well?" Benton glacially asked his obviously petulant son, his face
stern. He was getting really tired of having to fight with Jonny
about his grades. It was especially annoying given his son's high
intelligence.

Rae broke the standoff by waking up and yawning audibly. Benton
looked over at her and grinned in reply to her baby smile. She had
Benton wrapped around her little finger already, Will laughingly
remarked.

Jonny noticed it as well. Suddenly, Jonny was very aware of what had
happened. He had been clearly replaced by a perfect daughter from
Benton's adored new wife. Jonny suddenly hated them all. Hadji was
Benton's perfect son – he loved all the same type of intellectual
stuff Benton did, and Jonny didn't care for. Jonny was now the
outcast third.

Benton, unfortunately, chose that moment to look back at his
reclatricant son. His statement changed from that of contented
delight that Jonny had often seen turned on him, but seldom of late,
to that of forbidding sternness. "Well?"

Jonny just shrugged, and remained silent.

"Jonathan, I want an explanation." Benton waited.

Jonny just looked off out the window.

"Fine, consider yourself grounded until your grades go up." Benton
looked back at the letter. "I'll contact your teachers and get extra
work assigned so you can catch up."

Jonny hardly heard the latter part of Benton's comments. He was
focused on the grounded part. "No! You can't," he exclaimed. If he
were grounded, he wouldn't get to see his mom.

Will jumped in. "Benton, that's not fair. Don't be so hard on him."

"You shut up!" Jonny shouted at her, angry and frightened now by the
very real prospect of not being able to see Rachel. "Stay out of
this!"

Rae, startled by the sudden shouting, added her feelings by beginning
to scream. Will looked at Jonny, shocked at the unexpected attack.

Benton leaped to his feet and advanced on Jonny. "Jonathan Quest!
Apologize to Will at once. That was completely uncalled for. She
was here because I wanted her input."

"But I didn't! Nobody asked me. You never ask me! She's not my
mom, even if you did marry her. I don't have to listen to her!"

Benton grabbed Jonny by the shoulders and began to shake him. "What
is your problem? What's gotten into you? Answer me, NOW!"

"Why? So I can be what YOU want me to be? What about me? Why
doesn't anyone ask me what I want? Maybe I hate school." Jonny was
so angry; he didn't realize that he was talking back to his father
for the first time in his life.

Adding to the din, Rae continued to scream, showing that she
definitely had the lungpower of her father and half-brother, as well
as their tempers.

Will waded into the confusion shouting, "Knock it off, both of you!
Benton! Think about what you're doing!"

Jonny struggled to get away from his father who was shaking him so
hard he thought his teeth were coming loose.

"Benton!" Will's voice added to the mêlée, trying to get her husband
back under control.

Benton suddenly realized what he was doing, and let go of Jonny as
though he had had a severe electric shock. Jonny, suddenly released
from the violent shaking, stumbled backwards into the table, and fell
sideways, striking first his shoulder, then the back of his head on
the cold marble hearth of the fireplace.

And noise was suddenly stilled as the ringing in his ears washed out
everything. Jonny lay stunned for a moment, trying to clear his
swimming head. Benton's white face appeared in his vision a moment
later.

"Jonny," Benton gasped, appalled. "Are you okay? I didn't
realize . . ."

Jonny didn't even let him finish; he didn't want to hear it. He
shook off his father's hands as Benton moved to help his son to his
feet, and stumbled up on his own. Ducking under his dad's grasp,
Jonny dashed for the door, bypassing a surprised Race who was coming
to see what the problem was. Jonny pelted up the stairs to his room,
and safe isolation. Shutting the door behind him, he made for the
window seat in the bay window overlooking the ocean. Leaning back
against the wall, he pulled his knees up to his chest, leaned his
forehead against the cool glass and shut his eyes, gasping for
breath, shuddering as reaction set in.

Jonny had no idea his father could be that violent. He was really
shaken from his encounter. He'd heard rumors about his Dad's
legendary temper while visiting I-1s headquarters, but he'd never
believed them. It had always seemed so out of character for the
father he knew. Until now, that is. He'd learned a lot about his
Dad lately, and most of it he didn't care for. All he wanted to do
now was see mom.

"Jonny?" Benton's voice was practically in his ear. Jonny hadn't
even heard him come in. He tensed in surprise and hugged his knees
tighter in spite of himself.

"Son? I'm very sorry. I don't know what came over me," his father's
voice held a tone of legitimate contriteness.

Jonny opened his eyes and stared out the window, refusing to look at
Benton. He knew exactly what had come over him. He had dared to
stand up for himself and his Dad had lost it. He wasn't stupid; he
wished his father wouldn't treat him like he was.

Jonny flinched involuntarily as he felt a hand on his shoulder. The
hand dropped away.

"There is never an excuse for physical violence, and I'm terribly
sorry that I shook you. Are you all right? That was quite a knock
on the head you took."

Jonny could hear the concern in his father's tone. He just nodded
without looking at him, though in truth, he had a splitting headache,
and it felt like it was going to get worse.

"Jonny, please, can we talk about this. I promise I won't get mad."

Silence. Jonny just concentrated on the movement of the ocean,
wishing his father would just disappear.

"Ok. You know you can come talk to me anytime."

Yeah right. Jonny'd tried that several times since Rae was born.
His father's `anytime' meant when he wasn't working, with Will, or
with Rae. By now Jonny knew exactly where he fit in. And if he
hadn't figured it out already, seeing his mother alive had filled him
in on the truth.

Benton sighed. "Ok, I'll leave you alone. And your not grounded.
We'll work this out later. Come down when you feel like it, and
we'll talk."

Benton moved to pat his son's shoulder, but Jonny caught the movement
out of the corner of his eye, and adroitly shifted so that the hand
fell short, missing him completely.

Jonny stayed on the window seat the rest of that evening. He had
lots of food for thought. He was really beginning to think that his
mother was right about his father. Oh, she'd never said in so many
words that Benton was duplicitous, but Jonny was getting the
picture. He was beginning to wonder what else had happened.

He could hear Jessie and Hadji pass back and forth in the hallway,
but he ignored them. They had obviously been told to leave him
alone, for which he was thankful. Darkness fell, and Jonny was
grateful for the anonymity.

"Jonny?" A light tap of the door, then he heard Will come in,
accompanied by the light jingle of Bandit's collar. "Do you want
something to eat?"

Jonny just shook his head, still staring out the window. He wanted
to be far away from here.

"Bandit has been worried about you. He's been sitting outside your
door for hours. I finally just had to let him in."

Jonny felt a blanket settle over his shoulders and drape over his
lap. It felt good against the chill of the evening.

"You're father is mortified by his behavior, Sweetheart. He truly
loves you. Unfortunately he does have a temper." No kidding, Jonny
thought, as he felt a light touch on his hair. "Sleep well." Then
she left.

Bandit jumped up on the window seat next to him and settled down.
Jonny watched the moon rise. Tomorrow morning, first thing, he was
going to see Mom. He needed to talk to her and get some things
straight. Dad was right on that. He did need to talk, but not to
him, to Mom. She'd give him the straight scoop. Good thing it was
Saturday. He'd be out on his bike before anyone else was up.

Chapter Nine

Jonny woke up just before five the next morning, stiff and cold. He
realized he'd been sitting in the same position on the window seat
since the scene in the family room yesterday afternoon. He got up
and stretched, looking out at the fog blocking the sunrise over the
Atlantic Ocean.

"Com'on, Bandit. Let's go. I need OUT of this house!" As Jonny
turned, he felt a lancing pain through the back of his neck and
realized he had a splitting headache. He felt the back of his head
with careful fingers, wincing as he found a raised knot. Marble was
certainly hard.

Jonny dressed and grabbed some Advil out of the medicine cabinet in
his private bathroom. After downing 2, he thought a moment and took
the bottle with him. He didn't plan to come back until the last
possible moment this afternoon, and this headache felt like he'd
definitely need more. Mentally he cursed his father, then stopped
dead in shock. He'd never even had thoughts about his dad like that
before. But then again, he'd never been aware of how much his father
was lying to him before, either. Well, he wasn't a child anymore,
content to accept things blindly.

Patting the pocket of his pullover windbreaker to make sure the pager
was hidden firmly, he quietly let himself and Bandit out of his room
and into the quiet hall. Absolutely nobody was stirring. Good.
He'd noticed that with a new baby in the house, people were up at
some really strange hours. At least everyone appeared to be asleep
right now. He might be able to get out without seeing anyone.

Silently, Jonny made his way down the stairs to the kitchen. The
only sound was the slight noise of Bandit's tags on his collar.
Jonny put his fanny pack, bike pack, and bottle of Advil on the
kitchen counter.

Quickly, efficiently and quietly, Jonny fed Bandit, added an apple, a
couple bottles of water and some Gatorade to the collection on the
counter, and began rooting around in the fridge for sandwich
makings. His arms full of cheeses and meats, he turned back to the
counter.

"Going somewhere?"

Jonny started visibly in surprise. Race was leaning against the
counter, examining Jonny's small pile of supplies. He was wearing
only pajama bottoms and was bare-chested, obviously just awakened.
Even so, he looked perfectly alert. Typical agent B.S. Jonny
thought in disgust. Always instantly wide-awake. He mentally kicked
himself. He thought he'd been really quiet.

Jonny regained his composure and put his burden down on the counter
and began to make several sandwiches. He shrugged in response to
Race's query, and was thankful he'd kept the pager in his pocket –
and not put it on the counter. That would have been a disaster to
try and explain.

"Out on my bike," he answered shortly, clearly discouraging
conversation.

"Pretty early," Race commented in response. He picked up the bottle
of Advil. "Headache?"

Jonny only nodded curtly, and kept buttering bread.

Race moved over and felt the back of Jonny's head. Jonny flinched as
Race found the small lump. "Ow!" he exclaimed, ducking out of the
way and turning to glare at Race.

Race returned to his original position against the counter,
commenting, "Sure you're okay, Kiddo? That's quite a knot. Any
double vision?"

"No! I'm just fine," Jonny snapped irritably.

"Ok." Race watched him speculatively for a moment. Jonny had a bad
feeling that Race was considering forbidding him going. He wasn't
sure what he'd do if Race did that. But thankfully, instead Race
finally just asked, "Do you want some breakfast?"

Jonny shook his head as he packed the sandwiches in waxed paper.

"You're Dad was pretty upset last night," Race began again, looking
carefully at Jonny. Jonny began to feel as though he was under a
microscope. Most people only had one or two parents. He had the bad
luck to have three under his roof, and only one was his real parent.

`My Dad was upset', Jonny thought. Funny, both Will and Race had
prefaced their remarks the exact same way. His Dad. What about
him? Obviously the only item of importance was his Dad's feelings.
Jonny's reason for being upset was pretty clearly of no consequence.
If his father hadn't been upset, would they have ignored the whole
thing? Probably, Jonny thought bitterly.

"Why don't you stay a little longer, have some breakfast, and talk to
him when he gets up? I know he wants to talk to you," Race
suggested. "He was very concerned about you last night, but felt you
needed the space."

Great, now everybody knows about it. How can you live in such a big
house and never have anything be your own business, Jonny reflected.
He could just see the scene-everybody ranged about him, inserting
their own opinions, and never asking his. Just like being on trial.

"Uh-uh," Jonny said with finality while packing everything he had
ranged on the counter into his fanny pack and bike pack.

Race sighed patiently. "Feel like talking to me then? Just the two
of us? How about I come with you."

"No! I just want to be alone! Is that too much to ask?" Jonny said
explosively, temper flaring as he turned to look Race in the eye for
the first time.

Race raised both hands in surrender. "No problem. Where are you
going?"

Jonny shrugged.

"Ok, when will you be home?" Race prodded.

Silence as Jonny continued packing.

"Jonny," Race said warningly.

Knowing he'd pushed as far as he could, Jonny answered
shortly, "Dinner, I'll be back by dinner." Whistling to Bandit, he
grabbed his packs and headed for the garage, seeing Race watching him
in concern out of the corner of his eye.

Chapter Ten

Jonny didn't breath easy until he was safe on the road, pedaling
hard, with Bandit loping alongside. He figured it was too early to
contact Rachel, so he got a workout instead. Finally, several miles
out of town, he stopped on the coast road for a breather, and
contacted his mother. It was just after 7am, so he figured he was
safe. She was up, and very happy to have a whole day to spend with
him. They arranged a meeting place at an isolated State Park up the
highway a ways. Jonny got back on the bike and headed for the
rendezvous.

When Jonny reached the park, he found his mother's Honda already
parked near a picnic shelter facing away from the road and towards
the beach. With the heavy fog and chill early morning air, nobody
else was around. She waved cheerfully to him, obviously watching for
him. Jonny and Bandit headed their direction.

"Hi, Honey! This is a very nice surprise. How on earth did you
manage it? And who is this?" She asked as she bent down to pat the
bulldog who had decided that since Jonny seemed glad to see this
woman, then he was too.

Jonny leaned his bike against the shelter wall, and turned to his
mother who was smiling happily at him, and holding a hand out. Jonny
felt all his self-control from the last 16 hours slip completely away
from him as he looked at her. She was so happy to see him. Nobody
had been that glad to see him for no other reason than it was just
him for a very long time. He was horrified to feel tears begin
welling up. His head hurt, he was hurt emotionally as well by his
father's actions, and for the first time since the scene in the
family room, the realization that his father had actually lifted his
hand against him in anger actually hit home. Benton, and Race too,
for that matter, had spanked him occasionally, but never in a fit of
rage. Jonny had never seen his father violent towards him, ever.

"Oh, Jonny, what's happened?" Rachel asked in concern. She
immediately put her arms around him and led him to a blanket that had
already been set out. She sat down and drew him down beside
her. "Go ahead and cry, Honey, you'll feel better. It's all right
now." She soothed him as Jonny finally gave way to his emotions of
the last afternoon and evening.

Jonny didn't even realize that he'd fallen asleep, until he woke up
with his head in his mother's lap, with her had gently stroking his
hair, and Bandit curled up next to him. He sat up groggily and
rubbed his eyes.

"Good morning," his mother said with a laugh, setting aside the novel
she'd been reading.

"What time is it?" he asked as he remembered where he was. The sky
was still dark gray, but the fog had burned off to general overcast.

"Oh, about 11. Jonny, what on earth happened?"

Jonny looked over at his mother. She was sitting back against the
wall of the picnic shelter, feet curled neatly up underneath her,
looking concerned. Her short blond hair, the exact same shade as
Jonny's was cut in a breezy style, and she was athletically trim.
Anybody seeing them together would definitely know they were related.

Jonny glumly filled his mother in on the events of the last 18 or so
hours. She was aghast.

"Jonny!" She gasped with wide eyes. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah, just a headache," he replied.

Rachel pulled him back against her, hugging him tight. "Oh dear. I
can't believe he lost control like that. He has a temper,
but. . . " She broke off.

Leaning against her, Jonny commented absently, "I've seen him lose it
with creeps like Zin, but never with me. I still can't believe it.
Can you ever think of him doing anything like that?"

"Well . . ." Rachel began, but then seemed to think better of it and
broke off.

Jonny, regardless of what his grades were showing at the moment, was
blessed with a sharp intelligent mind, immediately sat up and
exclaimed, "Mom! Did Dad ever hit you?"

"Not deliberately, honey. But, well . . . he shook me, hard, like he
did you. The same type of thing. A couple of times."

Jonny looked livid.

Rachel continued soothingly, "It's nothing. He shouldn't have done
it, and like you, as soon as he realized it, he stopped. And it
sounds like his new wife has him well in control. Now relax. You're
father is not abusive, ok?"

Jonny subsided sullenly.

Rachel thought for a moment, then said, "And he didn't start shaking
you until you told, oh, what is her name," she paused, shook her
head, then continued," to back off?"

"Will, Wilhelmina Harkness," Jonny supplied, then continued. "Yeah,
that's right. Then he just exploded. I told her it was none of her
business and basically that she wasn't my mom and to stay out of it."

"Oh, Jonny," Rachel said sadly, "you really shouldn't have said
that. By marrying Benton, she does have a say in your upbringing."

"No. She doesn't," Jonny said stubbornly. "I didn't ask for her in
my life. Dad didn't ask me before he married her. He just did it.
One of those really quick things."

"How did it happen?" Rachel asked curiously.

"Do you really want to know?" Jonny asked, sitting up to look at her
carefully. "I've tried not to talk about her, I don't want to hurt
you."

Rachel smiled at him, and smoothed his hair. "Benton and I are over,
honey. It won't hurt me. It can't. Benton doesn't have that power
over me anymore."

Jonny nodded and leaned back against her shoulder and began talking.
Rachel listened quietly, stroking his other shoulder gently.

"Dad was kidnapped, and I-1 sent Race and Will into rescue him. I
knew something more had happened when Dad kissed her goodbye in front
of all of us. I mean, it was one of those long, drawn out things.
Anyway, long story short, he married her two months later. He seems
to really love her, but then again, I thought he really loved you."

"He did, at one time. But love can die. But back to Will; she's an
agent?" Rachel asked.

"Uh-huh," Jonny responded. "And she's tough. She told me once that
if I didn't obey she'd kick my butt so hard my nose would bleed. And
she meant it, too." Jonny was gratified to feel Rachel stiffen in
silent protest at that comment.

"Anyway," Jonny continued, "Dad changed after that. He really didn't
have any time for me after that, and once Rae was born, I've been a
second class citizen."

"Humm, that is interesting," Rachel commented.

"Why?"

Rachel responded. "Well, you know for a good year and a half, I-1
kept pretty close tabs on me. Oh, it was under the guise of helping
Benton discharge his responsibilities to me per our agreement, of
course, but regardless, they were always around. Once, coming back
from a therapy session, they thought I was asleep, and they were
talking about Benton's remarriage. I knew he had remarried. There
are one or two agents that I can count as friends, and they had told
me. But they hadn't told me his new wife was one of their own.
Anyway, my babysitters were laughing about how an I-1 agent was now
married to Dr. Quest, and that I-1 would now have him under their
thumb forever. They had it made. They had an inside agent."

"Whoa! Would they do that?" Jonny was incredulous.

"Well, given what I experienced with I-1 when you were small, and
what I heard after Benton and I divorced-it's well within their
operating scope to do such a thing. They often pushed other women
agents on him from the very beginning, hoping to break up our
marriage and insert someone of their own choosing."

Jonny was amazed. Rachel laughed at his reaction. "Oh, yes. The
government is very concerned about it's property-human or
technology. It wouldn't surprise me to find out that they had
instigated it all . . . Will hooking up with Benton, then getting
pregnant to trap him, the whole thing. And I've heard of Wilhelmina
Harkness. . " She broke off her sentence, as though starting
something she thought better of.

"What?" Jonny asked curiously.

"Nothing," Rachel said with a smile and a shake of her head.

"Yeah, there is something. What did you hear?"

"Well . . ." Rachel hesitantly began, then continued at Jonny's firm
nod. "Wilhelmina Harkness has always had a `reputation' around the
agency. She has always been considered, well, `fast'," she said
delicately.

"Mom! You CAN say it out loud," Jonny laughed, as he rolled his
eyes. "I've heard it before."

"All right, all right. They said clearly that Agent Harkness was
an `easy lay'. A whore," she finished deliberately, then
grinned. "There, satisfied? I said it."

Jonny just grinned in return.

Rachel continued, "It was the scuttlebutt in the agency that she had
been very carefully trained in the fine arts of pleasing a man, and
that not only had she used this personally, but for the agency who
made sure she got the training in the first place."

Jonny began, thinking out loud, "That would explain . . ." he
muttered.

"What?" Rachel encouraged.

"Well, Hadj, Jess and I have spied on them," Jonny rushed his
words. "I mean, they'll have sex anywhere! The kitchen, the
library, the cars, the pool, you name it."

Rachel laughed. "What did I tell you? Of course he's happy.
Remember what I said about needs? They sound like they are being
satisfied quite nicely by the brazenness of performance. Let me tell
you, your father isn't that much of an exhibitionist by nature. He
was much more private when I was married to him, thank heavens. A
little decorum and privacy, please! She obviously has him thinking
with something other than his brain. I-1 definitely has what it
wants."

"I'll say," Jonny muttered.

Rachel laughed and hugged him close. "Your father loves you, Honey.
Your just learning that he's human after all. Sometimes that's very
hard to see. He isn't perfect, far from it. But neither are any of
us."

"Well, it would be nice if he wouldn't lie to me," Jonny grumbled,
then thought a moment, "Hey! You know, everybody in Rockport thinks
he's this high, upstanding, moral person, and they don't even know
he's married to Will, or he's her baby's father. Heck, DAD didn't
even know he was the baby's father at first. They had a big fight
one night when we were in New Orleans. I overheard them. The next
morning Dad was muttering about having a blood test done. He was
really mad." Jonny shrugged. "I don't think he ever did it. And
besides, Rae looks just like him. There isn't any doubt that she is
his. And maybe that's why he doesn't like me so much anymore. I
look too much like you. I used to think that was a good thing,"
Jonny finished, somewhat disgruntled.

"I think it's a good thing," Rachel laughed.

Jonny beamed back at her with his usual lightening change of mood,
then continued back on the original subject. "Anyway, it's obvious
that I'm not the only one both of them are deceived in someway."

"That's right," Rachel said, "the agents were laughing about the fact
that the marriage was to be kept secret. So, now you know. He still
loves you, but now you just have your eyes open. Are you feeling
better?"

Jonny nodded, definitely feeling more himself.

"How about onto more cheerful subjects. That's quite a bike you
have. It looks like a racing bike. Is it?"

Jonny happily began elaborating on the sports he was involved in, and
the two spent the rest of the afternoon talking over a wide range of
subjects, getting to know each other better with each passing hour.

Chapter Eleven

Jonny glumly returned to the house at the appointed time. Dinner
hour was always at 6pm. Rachel had dropped him off just near enough
the driveway entrance so he wouldn't have to ride that far. That
gave them more time to spend with each other. She had also given him
good advice on how to deal with the scene to follow.

"Play a part, Jonny. Do what they expect. Don't lose your temper.
Apologize nicely to Will and tell your father you forgive him. Make
them feel good and they will leave you alone. Then promise to work
on your grades. I'll help you. I'm a scientist, remember? We'll
take care of it. Just tell them what they want to hear."

Jonny walked into a house that felt-strange. Nothing was happening
in the kitchen. Nobody seemed to be around. The table wasn't set,
Mrs. Evans wasn't there, Hadji and Jessie were nowhere to be seen.
Slowly, Jonny set his packs on the counter, as Bandit headed for his
water bowl and dinner that had already been put down for him.

Jonny wandered out into the foyer. This was really weird. He was
opening his mouth to query IRIS to everyone's whereabouts when Race
emerged from his suite on the main floor.

"Jonny! There you are!" Race draped an arm over Jonny's shoulders
and steered him to the family room, maneuvering him towards the
couch. Race sat on the coffee table across from him.

Jonny didn't have to feign puzzlement when he spoke. "Where is
everybody?"

Race looked concerned. "Rae was very ill this morning. Benton, Will
and Rae just got home from the hospital. She's fine," he hastened to
add, "but she was very, very sick. It happens sometimes with
babies. She woke up with a high fever. It broke about 2 this
afternoon, and they just released her. Will and Benton are upstairs
with her now. Hadji and Jessie went to the hospital with us, and we
dropped them off to see a movie in town. They needed a break."

Jonny just nodded in relief. He was pleased Rae was okay. It wasn't
her fault she was a pain. And he was just as glad not to see Hadji
and Jess. They asked too many questions.

"Anyway, Benton's a little preoccupied right now, but he's still very
concerned about you and what happened yesterday. He asked me to talk
to you. Now what is going on?" Race finished, concern etched on his
face.

Jonny remembered his mother's coaching, acted as expected, and
followed the script. "Are you sure Rae's ok?" he asked first,
meaning it, but not caring as much as Race probably thought he
should. He just made sure he didn't show it. Why did they all think
he would feel the same way about things that they did? Did they
think he didn't have a brain?

Race nodded thankfully. "Yes, she's fine. I knew you'd be worried
and Benton wanted to reassure you on the point as well," Race
finished, then pointedly waited.

Jonny did as expected. He apologized for his behavior yesterday and
this morning, talked about the fact that it was hard to concentrate
on schoolwork with all the changes in his life, Rae and all, and said
he was just tired from all the working out he'd been doing. He
finished by promising to do better with his homework.

And the amazing fact was that Race bought it all, looking very
relieved. Rachel was right, tell them what they expected. Race
headed upstairs to report to Benton, and Jonny, bemused, headed into
the kitchen for dinner. That had been easier than expected. Lying
really wasn't that hard. Tell them what they expect to hear. Was
that what his father had been doing to him all this time?

Jonny grabbed another sandwich and headed upstairs to his room. He
was stopped at his door by his father's voice as he came out of the
nursery.

"Yeah, Dad?" He answered calmly.

Benton moved quickly over to his son's side. "I'm so sorry about
yesterday, Jonny. That was inexcusable of me. I just want to make
sure you're all right. And Race said he talked to you. I'm sorry,
but Rae . . ." He gave Jonny a quick hug.

Jonny steeled himself not to flinch, or show his real feelings in his
eyes. Tell them what they expect to hear. "It's okay Dad. I know
you didn't mean it. How's Rae?"

Benton's relief at his son's demeanor and Rae's recovery showed
clearly on his tired face. "She's fine," he said, taking a deep
breath. "Thank heavens. It's an ear infection, but with a fever
that high, you don't take chances. And I just wanted to make sure
you were all right. Race was worried about you this morning. He
told me about running into you in the kitchen. I was worried too."
He hugged his son again.

"I'm okay," Jonny said, steadying the glass of milk he held. "I just
needed some space." And of course he knew Race would tell his dad
about seeing him in the kitchen. Didn't Race always tell his father
everything? Everybody always made sure Benton came first. Jonny
wasn't stupid. He knew that.

"Okay," Benton commented, "I understand. Just get the grades back
up, ok?" He smiled at Jonny's nod, then continued, "Great, now I've
got to get Rae's formula. She's hungry now that she feels better."
He squeezed Jonny's shoulder again in relief and headed back down the
stairs.

Jonny was bemused as he gratefully entered the privacy of his own
room, holding the door slightly so Bandit, who had just materialized,
could slip through, and set his meal down on his desk. Tell them
what they want to hear. Well, that was easy. And he supposed he
should be grateful to Rae for getting sick. That certainly took the
heat off him.

But still, Jonny was annoyed that his father had sent Race to talk to
him instead of doing it himself. Well, that was certainly par for
the course in his life right now. He rated about as high with his
father, as well, Bandit did. Thinking about his conversations with
his mother, he realized that he was probably just one more possession
to his father.

Jonny continued the plan his mother had helped him set up. He
finished his homework, and did what he was expected to do the next
day. He ate family meals, apologized politely to Will, who was
really distracted with Rae's illness, played in Questworld with Hadji
and Jessie, and basically acted a part. It was a long day, but he
thought he done pretty well. He was glad there was school the next
day; he didn't think he could keep it up. It felt really, really
foreign to him. He could relax at school, and see his Mom in the
afternoon. He'd already told Race he was going to run after school.
They had bought it easily. And the amazing thing was that to his
family, the whole scene with his father in the family room on Friday
afternoon was treated like it never happened.

Well, Jonny knew it had. And it had shown him a side of his father
that he didn't like one bit. And now he knew his father for what he
really was. A lying bastard. And Jonny felt no compunctions about
lying right back. Not anymore. His mother deserved better than
she'd gotten from his father, and frankly, so did he. He could
hardly wait until Monday afternoon.

Chapter Twelve

Jonny's next several conversations with his mother stressed his self-
control at home to its absolute limit. He remarked to her that
acting as though nothing was different was much harder, the more you
actually knew. There were several minor blow-ups and only Jonny's
hard work at controlling himself kept them from becoming major
artillery strikes against his family.

Rachel had been very concerned regarding Jonny's earlier comment
about being a second-class citizen, and had encouraged him to
elaborate. Jonny had, talking about the additions of Will and Rae,
and the changes their presence had wrought.

"You'd think Rae was Dad's only child, the way he dotes on her. I
mean, I'm his kid, and so is Hadji. But Hadji doesn't seem to mind.
He just spends time with Dad in the lab, helping him on projects and
stuff," Jonny said bitterly. "I'm the odd one out. I guess knowing
how he feels about you makes me realize that he'd rather not see me
so much anyway. I really look like you. I wonder why he keeps your
portrait up?"

"For your sake, probably," Rachel shrugged. "Didn't you say he told
Will he'd take it down if she wanted him too?"

"Uh-huh. She said to leave it. She wasn't worried."

Rachel asked him to elaborate on Rae, so Jonny obliged. "The weird
thing is that I don't get why Dad named her Rachel," Jonny commented
as he finished.

"Who knows. He did tell me once that he'd always liked the name.
And maybe to appease my parents, who still think I'm dead, by the
way."

Jonny was completely appalled. Rachel laughed at his statement. "I-
1 doesn't discriminate. It was easier for them that way. Anyway,
your father dotes on Rae you said?"

"Yeah," Jonny said with notable bitterness. "And now there's baby
crap in every room in the house."

Rachel laughed again. "In Benton's museum? Really? That's
unbelievable."

"Oh yeah. There's swings in practically every room, including the
lab and Dad's office, and a playpen or crib in each one too. That
kid has everything! And I found a picture where I was sleeping in a
dresser drawer. Go figure."

Rachel looked amazed. "I remember that. We didn't have much in the
way of furniture for you. Benton kept planning to get more, and
something always came up."

"Yeah, well, Rae not only has the antique family cradle, she often
takes her naps in Dad's lab. Its like he hates being parted from the
kid," Jonny finished bitterly.

Rachel shook her head in patent disbelief. "Well, that certainly is
a change. Remind me of this when I say your father never changes,"
she remarked.

"Why?" Jonny wanted to know.

Rachel looked at her son with some trepidation.

"Why!" Jonny pushed.

"Well, because when you were born, he wasn't really interested in you
as an infant. I mean, he was thrilled to have a son, but frankly, in
his eyes, you didn't get interesting until you started to talk and
communicate readily."

Jonny looked slightly puzzled. "Okay, but what about all the
pictures taken of me and Dad. I mean, albums full."

Rachel looked at him sadly. "One moment out of time. One moment out
of thousands in a day, I'm sorry to say. You certainly didn't spend
much time in his lab, I can tell you that."

Not much surprised Jonny anymore. He shrugged and said, "Well, what
else is new. I'm not that interesting to him now, either. That's
pretty obvious. Rae is far more fascinating, I guess. He hardly
lets her out of his sight. Whereas something always manages to come
up when I want to talk to him about something," he finished bitterly.

Rachel looked concerned at Jonny's reaction. "I'm sorry, Honey. I
really wish I could tell you differently."

Jonny smiled sadly at his mother. "Yeah, me too. But I'm glad to
know the truth. It just confirms what I've always felt deep
down . . . that I'm an outsider. Hadji and Jessie are so smart, and
they've always been more like Dad than I am. And now he has a
daughter who looks just like him. Hair color and all."

"Well, you know the saying about `daddy's little girl'. And middle
children always have the hardest time, and now, well, that's you."

"Oh yeah," Jonny agreed. "And Jessie is Race's daughter, so I'm
second best there. At least it's better than being third with my own
dad."

Rachel hugged him. "But you're first with me!"

Things at home continued to deteriorate. Benton was becoming
increasingly impatient with his youngest son. "What's gotten into
you? You're becoming increasingly rude to Will, and to me, and
basically behaving abominably in general to everyone else."

Not nearly as badly as he'd like to, Jonny reflected. In actually,
he'd done amazingly well at holding his tongue. He repeated his
mantra in his head. `Do what they expect you to do. Say what's
expected.' He apologized contritely.

"Apologizing isn't enough, young man. Clean up your act and start
behaving." Jonny was sent to his room to `think about it'. And
think he did, but probably not the way his father wanted him too. It
was a very good thing that Will and Rae were distracting his Dad as
much as they were, or Benton would have been coming down on him much
harder. But Jonny was afraid he wasn't fooling Race nearly as well.
He seemed to be watching him with narrowed eyes. Jessie was just
plain avoiding him.

Hadji however, had tried several times to talk to him. Of everybody
in the household, Hadji just might have been the one person to
understand. Jonny was tempted, several times, to confide in him, but
Hadji was just working too closely with Benton to suit Jonny, so he
just didn't dare.

And now Jonny's schoolwork was deteriorating again, but he found it
hard to be worried about it. Frankly, he just couldn't be bothered.

"Maybe he'll just give up on me," Jonny said hopefully to Rachel one
afternoon.

"Not a chance. You're his son, remember? This is Benton's perfect
world," she laughed, then continued quietly, "And you don't really
want him to, do you?"

"No," Jonny agreed honestly. "I don't. But I wish he'd just love me
without any strings attached. I feel like I've lost my Dad," he said
sadly. "But then again, I never really had him, did I? It was all
just a lie."

Rachel hugged him tightly. "I'm sorry. I should never have come
back. You were doing fine without me."

Jonny's resolve hardened once more. "No, I wasn't. Will and Rae
ruined everything. Dad may be a liar, but he liked me fine
before `they' came along."

And there wasn't much Rachel could say to that. They both knew he
was right.

Chapter Thirteen

"JONATHAN!" Benton's voice cracked the sudden, stunned silence like a
gunshot. Will stood silent looking completely devastated by Jonny's
comment. She knew Jonny wasn't happy about his father's remarriage,
but she really hadn't thought it was about her personally. But to
call her a `whore' to her face, with the rest of the family present
was just about unbelievable.

"Apologize to Will AT ONCE!" Benton demanded, abject fury written in
every line of his face.

Jonny just stood silent, mutinous. It was very clear to all present
that he wanted to say more, and just as clear that apologizing was
the farthest thing from his mind.

Benton lunged forward and grabbed his son's arm and propelled him up
the stairs. "Excuse us," he said with barely controlled anger, as he
escorted Jonny away.

"Jess, Hadji . . . Take Rae and go out to the patio, please," Race
ordered quietly. The other two teens obeyed, still looking wide-eyed.

"Will . . ." Race turned to her. Will just stood there, barely
holding back tears. "He didn't mean it . . .," He continued in
concern.

"Yes he did," Will whispered. "I knew he didn't like his father
marrying again, but I hadn't thought that he disliked me so
personally. I mean, I knew he couldn't possibly accept the betrayal
of Benton's remarrying. For most of his life, he's been told how
beautiful, intelligent and truly amazing his mother was, and how no
woman could ever come close to her. Now, I come along; we have a
quick marriage. I'll never win a Nobel Prize . . . I've killed
people . . . I'm not beautiful . . ." Race's growl of protest broke
her off.

"Will, Jonny's not like that. I don't know what's going on with the
kid, but we'll figure it out," he said as he hugged her.

"Not with Benton as angry as he is now." Will pulled away as she
looked up the stairs. "This will only make him hate me more," she
commented as she looked back at
Race. "Jonny already feels like I've taken his mothers place." After
a slight pause, she continued. "Benton married me practically
overnight. Now Jonny feels like I've taken Rachel's place, and now
Rachel Elyse has taken his. Jonny is no longer the baby of the
family, and he's no longer Benton's only biological child. In
Jonny's eyes, he has nothing left to lose. The more he pushes, the
angrier Benton will get, and the more Jonny will be convinced that
his father is taking my side. Which means that Benton will be even
less likely to give Jonny what he really needs-a little reassurance
and attention."

Race nodded. Will's logic was very clear. And it made perfect
sense. Unfortunately, Benton, who was so brilliant in most areas of
his life, was so livid at Jonny's truly reprehensible behavior, that
he was most likely to deal with the actions, and not the reasons
behind them.

"I need to get out of here so I can think. I'm going for a walk,"
Will looked about at the end of her self-control. "Will you take
care of Rae for me? Please tell Benton that I'm not angry with
Jonny, and that I'll be back in a few minutes. I just need to be
alone for a few minutes."

Race smiled and hugged his long time friend for the second time. "Of
course. And it will work out."

Will just gave him a quick small smile, and headed out of the house
in relief.

Jonny's bedroom door slammed like a thunderclap as Benton stormed out
of his son's room. Shaking slightly in the aftermath of the
unpleasant scene, Jonny wandered out to his balcony, and slid
bonelessly down the stone side of the house. He sat leaning against
the wall, legs outstretched in front of him. He was exhausted, all
he wanted to do was cry, and get out of this house.

He had never in his life seen his father so angry. Jonny still
couldn't believe that he had actually said what he did out loud. The
incident that had sparked the whole scene was no different from
hundreds of others. He and Hadji and Jessie were coming up from the
lighthouse, and met Benton, Will and Rae returning from a doctor's
appointment. Race had heard everybody arrive and came out to join
them.

It was the usual crap, Jonny recalled. Nothing any different than
normal. Everyone doting on Rae. Then Will had asked if he and
Jessie had done their homework. Of course Jessie the perfect had
done hers. But he had just hemmed and hawed, avoiding the subject.
Will had taken him to task about it.

Jonny hadn't meant to say anything, but his homework was none of
Will's business. She had no right getting on his case about it, and
besides, she wasn't exactly perfect either. He'd learned a lot about
everybody's dirty little secrets lately. Anyway, it was out of his
mouth before he had realized it. And in the sudden, glacial silence,
he knew he had meant it, and that he didn't regret it.

Jonny had really thought his Dad was going to hit him, he was so
angry. He'd marched him into his room, slammed the door, and rounded
on him, demanding an explanation. Jonny had refused to answer.
Amazing how when it was Jonny being insulted and ignored, his father
had overlooked everything, and had an easy excuse each time. But
when he commented on the truth about Will, Jonny was evil incarnate.

Benton had dissected his recent behavior, then demanded an apology
for his comments about Will. Jonny then had taken the biggest gamble
of his life. He looked his father in the eye and stated, "Why? You
always told me to tell the truth. How come when it's something you
don't want to hear, I get in trouble for stating the facts?"

Benton's reaction proved to Jonny beyond anything words could say,
that everything Rachel had said to him was true. Benton towered over
his son in an even greater rage, if that were possible. He
practically quivered with fury. His hands opened and closed in
fists. Jonny took an involuntary step backwards. He really thought
his father was going to hit him!

Benton gathered the last remnants of his self-control, and commented
through clenched teeth, "Consider yourself grounded until further
notice. I will see you in the morning, and you are not to take a
step out of your room. You will stay here and rethink about
apologizing to Will." And with that, he spun on his heel and exited
the room in barely controlled anger.

Jonny sat, leaning against the wall; head bowed on his knees, and
knew he'd lost his father for good. This was it. Dad had taken
Will's side, and always would. He had nothing left. His father had
now betrayed him completely. Just like he had betrayed Jonny's
mother. Jonny closed his eyes and drifted. He had no idea what to
do now.

Benton stalked down the stairs, to see Race waiting at the base,
leaning against the newel post.

"Well?" Race asked calmly. He noticed that Benton looked even
angrier than he had before. Race hadn't even realized that that was
a possibility.

"I'm going to kill him," Benton commented through clenched
teeth. "I'm absolutely going to kill him. He's not repentant at
all. I'm about ready to turn him over my knee and paddle some sense
into him."

"It's a good thing you left," Race said easily, steering Benton
towards the family room. "That's not something to do in anger."

"Oh, its still a very viable option, believe me," Benton ground out,
prowling the room, as Race leaned against the mantle. "Where's Will?"

"She went for a walk," he said, then continued as Benton's statement
changed to worry. "She's okay. She's not angry, and wanted to make
sure you knew that."

Benton's face clouded over in anger once again. "Well, I am. I
didn't raise my son to speak that way to ANYONE. He's been taught to
be more respectful than that."

Race reflected that Will was right. This was not the time to discuss
anything right now.

Mrs. Evans poked her head into the room carefully at that
point. "Excuse me, but dinner is ready. I have it out on the
patio." She looked in concern at Benton.

Race smiled at her. "Thank you, Mrs. Evans. We'll be right there."
He turned to Benton as Mrs. Evans left. "Calm down, Benton. Come
eat, we'll figure it out later." He watched as Benton took a deep
breath, purposely trying to calm himself.

"All right. You're right, as usual." Benton agreed, having himself
in hand once again.

"Not always," Race laughed, "But this time I am."

Chapter Fourteen

Jonny could hear vague voices from the patio at the back of the
house. As usual, he was odd man out, and life was going on just like
normal without him. He wasn't even missed. How typical, he thought
bitterly. Right then, he knew what he was going to do. Going back
into his room, he fished his message pager from its hiding place,
then took it back to the balcony. Resuming his seat, he sent a
message to Rachel.

To his gratification, she acknowledged his message immediately.

Yes Jonny?

"Mom, I need you to meet me right away at the front gates," he spoke
quietly into the little device, and watched as his spoken words were
translated to written characters.

Now?

Jonny could pick up her surprise in that one word.

"Yes. Now. Please mom."

All right. Front Gate ASAP. Love you. Rachel.

"Thanks. Love you too. Jonny."

Jonny turned the device off, shoved it into his pocket, and suited
words to action. Without a look back, he threw his leg over the
stone balustrade, and proceeded to shimmy down the side of the
house. Knowing everyone was at dinner on the back patio, he
hurriedly crossed the lawn to the cover of the trees. Once out of
sight of the house, he trotted determinedly down the long drive in
the cooling spring air. He'd had it. He could hardly wait to get
out.

He didn't have to wait long for the car to pull up. He hardly let it
stop before he was in the passenger side, and motioning Rachel to
drive on.

Rachel looked at him in concern. "Honey, what is it? You look
upset."

"Oh, yeah." Jonny comment grimly. "Can we just go out to the bluff?
You know, the one we met at a couple of times."

Rachel looked briefly at him, and nodded slowly, turning her
attention back to the road. "Of course," she commented quietly, as
Jonny slumped down in the seat next to her, brooding in silence.

Rachel let him be silent until they had arrived at their destination,
and climbed up the slight rise, and rounded the clump of rocks to the
spot Jonny had mentioned. Rachel sat down, and hugged her knees as
she watched her son.

"Jonny, what's wrong?" She asked in concern.

Jonny stared out at the ocean, occasionally pitching a rock out to
the depths. He then turned to his mother and came back and sat
beside her.

"Can I come live with you?" He asked abruptly.

Rachel drew in a quick breath. "Why?" She asked carefully.

"Because I hate Dad. I hate Will. I have nothing there anymore."
He answered sullenly.

"Jonny, you do not hate your father. What a thing to say," Rachel
commented in amazement.

"Yes I do. He always takes Will's side in everything. I've had it."

"Jonny, what sparked this? You were doing okay up until now. I've
never heard you like this," she asked in concern.

"I told Will to mind her own business, then I called her a whore."
Jonny shrugged. "Dad didn't deny it, or ask why. He just demanded
that I apologize to her. When I wouldn't, he drug me to my room. I
told him I had told the truth, just like he'd always told me too."
Jonny turned suddenly to Rachel, betrayal overtaking anger in a
flash. "I thought he was going to hit me, Mom. He was that mad."
Jonny turned back to face the water, and finished quietly. "He's
never been that mad in my defense, ever. I just don't matter
anymore. He has Hadji and Rae. I've been discarded, just like he
did to you."

"Oh, Jonny," Rachel said in quiet compassion. "Oh, Son, of course
you can come live with me. I'd love it. But think about what you're
giving up. My lifestyle is a lot more hand to mouth. I'm not
wealthy like you're father. Sometimes I'm not sure where my next
meal is coming from."

Jonny turned suddenly to her. "I don't care, Mom. I want to be with
you. I can't live there anymore."

"Is there anything you need? When do you want to leave?" Rachel
asked with dawning hope.

"Now. There isn't anything there I want," Jonny said
stubbornly. "I'll miss Bandit, but he'll be fine with Hadji."

"Ok. We'll need to leave town quickly," Rachel warned. "And we're
going to be on the run. Your father has a long reach. It will be
precarious."

Jonny nodded. He understood perfectly. The two began to make
plans.

Suddenly, Race Bannon's voice broke the companionable
planning. "Jonny, get back."

Jonny looked up in shocked surprise to see Will and Race, armed to
the teeth, Glocks extended and focused on Rachel. Jonny and Rachel
both sprung to their feet, in stunned surprise.

"FREEZE!" Race's voice was a whip crack, and froze Jonny to the
spot. He looked in horror at the grim expressions on both agents'
faces as they carefully moved into position. Jonny and Rachel had
their backs to the cliff edge, 100 feet down to the water. Race and
Will moved slowly until they had blocked any avenues of escape.

"Ok, Jonny, now move over to my left," Race's voice instructed, his
eyes never leaving Rachel's face. She stood calmly, stoically,
almost as though she had been expecting this.

`No, Race!" Jonny raised his voice. "Its my Mom!"

Benton's voice added to the explosive situation. "Jonny," he called,
his voice strained, "Come to me, Son."

Jonny looked over to the path that led around the rocks. Benton was
standing there holding his hand out to his son. Jonny was stunned at
the tense expression on his father's face. The anger that Jonny had
last seen was completely erased, replaced by . . . fear? Jonny just
stared in dumbfounded amazement.

"Please, Son," the tension in Benton's voice was clearly
evident. "I'm not angry with you. Please. Come here to me."

"No Dad! It's Mom!" Jonny said in agitation.

"No Jonny, she is not your mother. She's an imposter." Benton
looked with loathing at the woman standing impassively next to his
son. "Rachel is dead," he finished bluntly.

"Go to your father, Jonny," Race voice broke in firmly.

"NO!" Jonny shook his head in disagreement.

Rachel spoke for the first time. "Benton, tell Jonny the truth," she
pleaded.

Benton replied with distaste clear in his voice. "I am, Andrea."
His statement was that of total hatred.

Jonny was completely confused, and getting more so with each passing
second. He could see his father looking with an expression of
complete abhorrence at the woman he believed to be his mother. Race
and Will are in full Agent mode, holding guns to her, all business.
Jonny was nearly in tears. "Mom, tell him!"

`Rachel' smiled sweetly at Jonny, then said to Benton, "I've told him
the truth, Benton. It's time to admit what really happened. I can
understand you wanting to remarry. But you owe Jonny the real truth."

Will spoke for the first time, and it was a snarl. "Dr. Lainer, you
are the one who owes Jonny the truth. About the fact that you are
using him to destroy everything he knows and cares about. You're a
fine one to talk about the truth!" All through her tirade, her gun
never wavered. "Let him go to his father!" she snapped in conclusion.

Rachel began to laugh softly. "Well, well . . ." she trailed off
with a smile of surprise at Will. She had not expected Will to have
such teeth! Especially in defense of this particular stepson, who
had made her life so miserable lately. "Oh, Agent Harkness, let's be
real about this . . . Wouldn't you just jump at the chance to get rid
of the living memory of your rival? Don't you get sick of having to
look at him day after day and know that no matter what, Benton will
always love me more than he does you? I know I'd want to ship the
little bastard off somewhere, if I were you. I'm offering you the
chance!"

Jonny looked at the woman next to him in shocked surprise. In all
their meetings and discussions, he had never heard that tone of
voice, or that manner of speaking before. Much less the crass, blunt
terms he was hearing come out of her mouth right now.

"Jonny!" Race ordered, breaking his stare. "Go to your father!"
Jonny unthinkingly did as ordered by the tone of command he had
obeyed for a good part of his life. He moved a single step towards
him, then stopped suddenly as he realized what he was doing.

As Jonny halted, Benton called again, agonized, "PLEASE, Son! Come
here," he pleaded frantically.

Rachel looked at Jonny and said in desperation of her own, "Jonny, oh
please, I've lost everything. I can't lose you too." Suddenly she
grabbed him from behind, wrapping her arms around him in a
surprisingly strong hold, and backed them towards the cliff.

"NO!" Benton yelled in abject horror, nearly beside himself.

"Back off," Rachel instructed coolly.

Jonny struggled to get free. "Let me go!"

"No, Jonny. I'm not going to leave you." Rachel said calmly,
holding him firmly. "I'm not letting you go ever again."

Will broke the standoff by quietly setting her gun down on the grass
and raising her hands in front of her in a gesture of pleading and
surrender. "Please, let go of the boy, Dr. Lainer. If you want to
hurt someone, then hurt me. I'm the one who has what you want. I'm
Benton's wife. Just don't hurt Jonny."

Benton was speechless in shock for a moment, then shouted "NO!" His
world was crumbling rapidly. Now both his son, and his wife, were in
peril.

Rachel considered Will's comments for a moment, then shook her head
firmly, "I must say, that is a tempting offer, Agent Harkness. And I
may regret that I didn't consider it more fully. But no, I'm afraid
that if I can't have Jonny, then neither can any of you."

Jonny struggled harder. This was definitely not the woman he had
been talking to, and was nothing like the mother he remembered. Had
he made a mistake? Dear God, he wasn't sure what to think anymore.

The tense standoff continued, as Will maneuvered ever
closer. "Please, Dr. Lainer. You know I'm really the one you want."

Rachel backed up right to the very edge of the cliff, still holding
Jonny firmly. The ground crumbled slightly and dropped to the sea
far below, bouncing audibly off the rock wall on it's journey to the
water. Jonny froze as he looked over the edge and registered how
close they were, and how unstable the earth was. Any movement could
send them over.

Rachel seemed perfectly calm, however. "Humm, Agent Harkness, or
should I say `Mrs. Quest', you do propose an excellent bargain, don't
you think Benton?"

Benton was staying his distance; afraid that if he made a single
move, the two most important people in his life would die suddenly
together. He was terrified to even breathe, lest he sway the
situation. "No," he whispered. "Let them go, please."

Rachel turned her attention to him, and smiled an ugly little
smile. "Well now, you don't look so arrogant now, do you Benton
Quest? Can't make a simple choice like this? Your wife or your
son. Which will it be?" She paused for a moment waiting for an
answer Benton could not make, then shrugged. "Ok, I'll keep Jonny
then."

"Andrea!" Will's voice caught the woman attention, once
again. "It's me you want, and you know it."

At that moment, Jonny felt his world go dark. Hands grabbed him,
pulling him from Andrea and away from the edge of the cliff. He
began to cough violently. A confusion of voices and hands pulled at
him from all directions, and suddenly he couldn't breathe. He tried
to draw a breath, and his lungs didn't work. The voices intruded
relentlessly, an indistinct rumble of sound.

"He's stopped breathing! No!"

"Breathe! Damit, BREATHE!

Then the voices faded out, and Jonny let go into darkness.

Chapter Fifteen

Jonny came awake. Well, kind of awake. He was choking. He
struggled, trying to cough but he couldn't. Something was stuck in
his throat. His chest burned, and he thrashed, trying to get the
obstruction cleared.

He felt hands restraining him, and a cool hand brush the hair off his
hot forehead. He opened his eyes to see Will smiling at him. Jonny
panicked. He certainly hadn't made a friend of her! She had every
reason to hate him. He struggled harder, but Will was stronger than
she looked, and held him still. He choked again, but over it all,
Will's voice gradually penetrated.

"Shh, Sweetheart, stay still. Everything is all right. I'm not mad
at you, Jonny, and neither is your father. Shhhh," Will's voice was
a calm oasis that Jonny tried desperately to focus on. She
didn't `sound' mad. Then Jonny tried to take another breath, and
again found he couldn't. He looked at Will for a second, frightened
now, then lost control and struggled again as he choked, feeling as
though a band were constricting his chest.

"Quiet, Jonny. Just lie still. Don't struggle, Sweetheart. I know
it hurts. Shhhh. Try to relax, there you go, that will help." Will
voice brought him back again, and again, talking to him gently, as
Jonny tried over and over to breathe normally.

Suddenly his father was there, a calm smile on his face, saying
something to him that he didn't quite get. Jonny struggled to
respond, but again found this throat blocked. Will kept talking to
him, and he looked at her and his father, his eyes wide with fear,
hanging onto Will's voice as though it was a lifeline. Neither of
them seemed very worried. Maybe he was okay. Will smiled at him,
humming a little now. His father put a comforting hand on his
shoulder, as he turned to speak with someone out of Jonny's sight.

"Yes," Jonny could hear Benton comment, then pause. Then, "Yes, he's
still fighting it." Another pause. "Yes, all right. Sedation?"
Jonny thought his father sounded tired. "No, no. I think your
right. Ok, just a moment."

Benton turned back to his son and said reassuringly, "I'll be right
back, Son. Will is going stay with you." He squeezed his shoulder.

Jonny nodded slightly, then coughed, and choked again. But through
everything, the suffocating tightness and burning in his chest, the
choking, the inability to breathe, Will kept him as calm as she could
with her voice. Soon, Jonny felt his eyes getting heavy. It was
getting so hard to stay awake. Now he struggled to stay awake as
well as take a breath. If he fell asleep, how would he breathe?

But again Will's voice was right there, providing an anchor against
his panic. "Go to sleep, Sweetheart. It'll be all right. I
promise. Shhhh. Don't fight it, you'll feel better when you wake
up." And the last thing Jonny remembered as he let go of
consciousness, such as it was, was hearing Will humming softly to
him, and then Benton's voice joining in. Jonny was surprised; he
didn't know his father could carry a tune that well, much less
harmonize with somebody.

Jonny slowly began to wake up again. This time he was very happy to
realize that he could breathe. He floated in the darkness awhile.
It was way too much work to open his eyes. He could hear the low
murmur of voices close by, but it was too hard to try to listen. But
soon, they were intruding on him, and he really just wished they
would go away. But they didn't, and he soon began to make out the
words.

"How is he?" Will was asking someone.

"Better," Benton's voice became audible. "Still asleep. What about
Rae?" Jonny thought his dad sounded really tired.

"She's fine. Mrs. Evans says she's being perfect, and that Race,
Jessie and Hadji are wonderful with her; AND I checked with the
agents in charge of security here at the hospital, and they assured
me everything is fine." Will's voice became insistent. "Now what
about Jonny?"

What about me? Jonny thought. Why are they talking like I'm not
here? He thought he should open his eyes, but it still seemed too
hard.

Benton replied, "Physically much better. He's off the respirator and
breathing on his own."

Jonny thought he heard a relieved sigh from Will. Now what was that
all about?

Benton continued. "They've started to bring him around." He paused,
then continued. "But the Psychiatrist doesn't know how long Andrea
Lainer has been working on him, or too what extent. But I think you
and I both have a pretty good idea." Benton said bitterly, clearly
discouraged. "I should have told him years ago," he finished,
dispiritedly.

What? Told me what? Jonny thought to himself, but then decided he
really didn't care. It was too nice just to float.

"He'll be all right, Benton," Will was saying. "You sleep. I'll
watch him."

Benton again. "I want to be here when he wakes up."

"Fine, sleep on the couch in here, but just sleep!"

Benton laughed. "Ok, ok."

Jonny could hear the creak of furniture, as though someone was
settling down, then didn't hear anything for a while. He finally
decided that maybe he'd better say something, and drew in a deep
breath as though to speak. It seemed that was a very bad idea,
because his chest suddenly burned, and his breath caught at the
unexpected severe pain.

Immediately, he felt a hand on his cheek. "Shhh, Jonny." Will's
comforting voice again. "Go back to sleep. You don't have to wake
up yet. It's all right. Sleep. Shhh."

Jonny thought that sounded like an excellent idea, and dropped off to
sleep feeling a feather light kiss on his forehead.

Jonny woke up the next time to the feeling of his hand being lightly
stroked. He opened his eyes and looked towards that direction. Will
was next to him, lightly caressing his hand, smiling at him as she
realized he was awake.

"Hi!" Will commented with a grin, and she gently squeezed his hand.

"Hi," Jonny croaked back, trying to find his voice.

"How do you feel?" Will asked compassionately.

"Fuzzy," Jonny whispered, desperately trying to clear his head,
something was wrong and he just couldn't quite get it.

Will laughed and reached up, brushing the limp hair out of his eyes
gently. "I'm sure. You've been out of it for quite awhile." She
continued at his quizzical look. "You've been very heavily
sedated." She grinned wider. "I thought we might have to sedate
your father as well, he was SO worried."

Jonny tried to laugh, then instantly decided that that was not a good
idea. Then he remembered that he had been incredibly awful to her,
but couldn't quite remember why. His expression changed to one of
wariness.

Will noted both his change of expression and his discomfort. "It's
okay, I'm not mad at you, Sweetheart. I promise. Neither is your
father," Will commented quietly, kindly, as she squeezed his hand
again. "I'll explain later, but right now would you like a drink?"
She was gratified to see Jonny relax at her comments.

Jonny nodded, trying as much as possible not to move.

Will laid his hand back down on the blankets, and moved to sit next
to him on the bed. She slid an arm under his shoulders and sat him
upright. Jonny was appalled to realize that he was so weak, he
couldn't even help her. If she hadn't been supporting him, he
wouldn't have been able to sit up at all! What on earth had happened?

As Will supported Jonny with one arm against her shoulder, she turned
and with the other hand, placed a straw in a glass sitting on the
nearby table, then held it to Jonny's lips.

"Just a sip," she warned him. "I don't really want to wear it!"

Jonny snorted, then instantly regretted it.

"You haven't had anything in your stomach for 3 days," she continued.

Jonny obediently took a sip, and savoring the cool sensation down
this throat. "Than why aren't I more thirsty?" he softly whispered
in reply, trying to avoid as much discomfort as he could. He hadn't
eaten in 3 days? He wondered again what could possibly have happened.

"Another," Will instructed him. As Jonny obediently took another
sip, she nodded towards the IV tubing that Jonny noticed for the
first time. "They've been pumping fluids into you at a great rate.
You may not need the hydration, but I'm sure it's making your throat
feel better!"

Jonny nodded gratefully, and took another sip. Savoring the liquid,
he noticed his father stretched out on a couch on the opposite side
of the room.

"Ok, enough for now. I'll let you have some more in a little bit.
Let's just make sure your system can handle what you've had."

Jonny nodded heartfelt agreement. The thought of throwing up right
now made him shudder.

Will carefully laid him back onto his pillows. Jonny collapsed
weakly back onto the bed. He began to frame a question about what
had happened, and where he was, but as Will gently pulled the covers
back up around him, she began to laugh softly, her mind clearly on
something else.

"Remember our first meeting?"

Jonny nodded slightly, puzzled. He did remember that.

Will grinned. "I think this time your father would approve of the
beverage choice. At least this time it was water, rather than a coke
and M&Ms!"

Jonny laughed carefully.

A deep baritone voice with just a hint of a chuckle joined in before
Jonny could respond. "Coke and M&M's? And when was this?" Benton
joined them, looking tired, but smiling. Jonny remembered that his
father was mad at him for some reason. But Benton just leaned over
and smiled reassuringly in response to Jonny's wary statement, as he
felt his son's forehead.

Will answered his question. "My first meeting with Jonny. At I-1
headquarters." Benton looked blank, as he pushed Will off her chair,
sat down, and pulled her back onto his lap.

Jonny licked his lips, and deciding that his father didn't `seem'
mad, whispered carefully, "I was about six." Funny, he could
remember that, just nothing recently.

Benton laughed. "Race never told me."

Will snorted. "Of course not. He'd lost Jonny. When he located
him, he discovered that I had found him, and fed him caffeine and
chocolate. Do you really think he'd admit to any of that?"

Benton laughed out loud, and Jonny grinned in spite of himself.
Benton's determination that his sons eat right was pretty
strong. "I'd always wondered why Jonny enjoyed visiting I-1 so
much. I'd always thought it was because of the agents, and that they
paid so much attention to him, and showed him their weapons."

"Dad, what happened?" Jonny changed the subject to the question
uppermost on his mind. While both Will and Benton didn't seem
inclined to scold him, he thought he'd better find out.

Benton answered easily. "You turned out to have a severe allergic
reaction to I-1's latest knockout gas, for one thing. You stopped
breathing, and have been on a respirator; that's why your throat is
so sore."

Will laughed. "You should have seen Phil Corvin's expression when
Race laid into him about the new gas formula. When Phil realized
what it had done to you, he about dropped."

Benton continued, "You were fighting the respirator, so we had to
sedate you pretty heavily until the reaction ran its course. You're
fine now, but you'll feel pretty lousy for a week or so."

Jonny shook his head in frustration. He was really tired, and it was
getting harder to think. There was something else, he knew there
was. Then he had it! All his memories came back in a flood. He
tried to speak, found he couldn't, then tried again more slowly. He
was still finding it hard to talk, and deep breathing could be a
chore. "No," he managed to croak, "What about Mom?" He figured they
knew by now. And where was she?

Will closed her eyes in pain, and Benton reached over to grab Jonny's
hand. "Oh, Jonny, that `woman' wasn't Rachel. Her name is Dr.
Andrea Veronica Rose Lainer."

"No!" Jonny whispered emphatically, shaking his head, denying what
his father was saying. It wasn't true.

Benton squeezed Jonny's hand. "I may never forgive myself for not
telling you about her sooner. She was a colleague of mine at I-1
back when you're mother was alive. She was brilliant. She has
advanced degrees in several of the sciences and other fields as well,
including one in Psychology, and interestingly enough, Theater. She
has always been a master of manipulation. Many years ago, Phil
Corvin realized that she was becoming a problem, and had her
hospitalized for evaluation. Unfortunately, that showed that she was
completely unstable mentally. He tried very hard to keep her under
wraps, however, he wasn't able to keep hold of her. After you're
mother died, she had surgery done to enable herself to become
Rachel's double."

Jonny shook his head violently, sparking another coughing fit. "No,
you're lying. She said she was in a coma," he whispered vehemently.

Benton shook his head sadly. He hated destroying his son's
hope. "She kidnapped you when you were seven. You remember? The
sail boat?" At Jonny's brief nod, he continued. "I couldn't tell
you then. You were having such a hard time dealing with Rachel's
death. Both Race and I were relieved that you hadn't seen her.
There never was a good time to tell you."

"But Son, in the past, she has been mainly interested in me. She
seems to feel that we were soul mates, meant to be together from the
beginning of time. She felt we were the next evolutionary jump. I
don't know why she went through this charade now, but back when you
were seven, she thought you might be the next generation in the
evolution. Anyway, she was supposed to be under wraps at I-1. It
appears," he added bitterly, "that the news that she was loose was
lost somewhere on someone's desk. We should have been alerted
immediately."

Jonny shook his head again, tears beginning to cloud his
vision. "No." It made an awful kind of sense. Especially as her
personality had changed when she was confronted by Will.

"I'm sorry, Son. I wish I could tell you differently," Benton said
compassionately, stroking his forehead.

Jonny digested this for a while in silence. Then a thought struck
him. "Dad," he whispered slowly, "If this is true, then did she kill
Mom?"

Will could see the pain on Jonny's face. For the only time she could
remember, she cursed the fact that Jonny was blessed with his
father's quick intelligence. She would have loved to spare him
this. From the look on Benton's face, he felt the same way.

Benton suddenly looked very tired and squeezed his son's hand hard,
glad of the contact. "I don't know Son. But yes, it is a definite
possibility. It fits the circumstances."

Jonny nodded slowly, digesting all this. He hated realizing the fact
that he had probably been used. He sure had fallen for it hook, line
and sinker. He tried to bite back the sobs that were building.

His father voice broke in gently. "Go to sleep Son, we'll talk more
later."

Jonny obediently closed his eyes, he was really tired. But his
thoughts whirled in circles, fitting the pieces together, over the
pain and disillusionment.

Chapter Sixteen

Race hung up the phone and closed his eyes momentarily in relief. He
sighed deeply.

"Dad? What is it?" The voice of his daughter broke his reverie
tentatively.

Race turned to her with a smile. She looked worried. No surprise
there. They all were.

"That was Benton. Jonny's awake, and talking."

Jessie sighed audibly in relief, and a huge smile lit her face. Race
grinned back. "When's he coming home?" She asked interestedly.

Race laughed. "Well, it will be awhile yet. He's still far from
well, and in a lot of pain when he breathes. Right now, he's feeling
pretty rotten. They'll want to keep him until they are sure that
he'll be fine, but he appears to be on the mend."

Jessie gave him a quick hug, then stated as she darted away, "I
gotta' go tell Hadji!"

Race laughed, then dropped wearily onto the couch. This was the best
news he'd heard in a long, long time. And Benton had sounded good.
Race had been as worried about him as he'd been about Jonny. Benton
had been so guilty about how angry he had gotten with Jonny that
night. Race reflected on that scene. It had certainly been
memorable.

Benton had been controlling himself as they had gone out onto the
patio for dinner that night. Race had done his best to act normally,
and Hadji and Jessie nervously followed his lead, and tried to be as
inconspicuous as possible. Race had done his best to occupy Rae, as
she was getting fussy with the palpable tension in the air.

Will appeared a moment or two after the rest had fixed their plates
and were beginning to eat. Well, pick at their food was a more apt
description. Poor Mrs. Evans. It had looked like an excellent
dinner. Will had fixed a plate, and surprisingly, headed for the
door.

"Where are you going?" Benton asked, a conspicuous edge still
apparent in his voice.

"I'm taking Jonny his dinner," was Will's calm reply. Jessie and
Hadji just looked at her in amazement. Benton so seldomly lost his
temper that it was a momentous occasion when he did, and generally
the family lay low when it happened. And with Jonny behaving so
badly, anything was likely to set him off. Will, however, looked
completely uncowed.

"No!" Benton snapped. "Jonny is being punished. You are not to
interfere."

"Benton, no matter what the punishment is, starving him is not going
to accomplish anything except destroy his health!" Will pointed out.

Race reflected that Jessie and Hadji looked as though they were
watching a tennis match, looking first at one, then the other. None
of them would have tangled with Benton in this mood.

Dr. Quest nodded thoughtfully. "Yes, you're right." Like
quicksilver his mood changed back again. "But you owe Jonny no
kindness at all. He has treated you abominably lately. I'll have
Jessie or Hadji take him up a tray later. Let him think about his
behavior for awhile," he finished decisively.

Will looked at him for a second as though she wanted to argue
further, but picked up Race's quick shake of his head and commented
instead, "All right. Please excuse me. I'm not hungry, I'm going to
go for a walk on the beach." Will just wanted out of this
atmosphere, and another walk seemed like a very good idea.

Benton looked mutinous, but Race murmured quietly to him, "Let her
go." Benton looked at him quickly, then took a deep breath,
obviously calming himself deliberately.

The atmosphere was definitely more relaxed when Will reappeared
nearly an hour and a half later. The group was laughing at Rae's
antics. She was definitely going to be a ham.

Benton got up and went to her immediately. "Will, I'm so sorry for
what happened," he began desperately.

Will put a finger to his lips, and whispered, "Shhh. Don't say it.
This is between Jonny and I. You need to stay out of it."

Benton shook his head. "No. I didn't raise Jonny to act in such a
manner, ever. He needs to apologize, and sooner rather than later,"
he finished resolutely.

"Benton, no!" Will answered just as firmly. "I won't be the cause
of you becoming estranged with your son!"

Benton drew in his voice to reply, his temper obviously beginning to
boil. Hadji and Jessie just looked at each other wordlessly and
retreated out of the battle range.

Race made a `T' with his hands and announced, "Time!" before the
situation could escalate into the immovable object meets the
irresistible force.

The two combatants paused and looked at him. "Both of you calm down,
and Will, get something to eat."

Will shrugged and commented as she moved towards the table, "I may as
well. I can't talk to Jonny until he gets back anyway."

"Back?" Race asked in disbelief, exchanging a look with Benton. As
far as they knew, Jonny was up in his room.

"Uh-humm," Will commented, helping herself to a salad. "He's up on
the bluff, quite a ways south of here. You know the one he likes."

"No. There is no way you could have seen him," Benton stated
firmly. "He's up in his room."

"Nope." Will shook her head. "I saw him, clearly. Standing up on
the bluff talking to someone I didn't recognize."

Benton didn't say another word; he looked at her for a moment, the
anger simmering at the surface clearly beginning to boil once again,
then spun on his heel and headed into the house. They could hear him
taking the stairs two at a time, then the sound of a door slamming.

"Race!" Benton called as he came running down the stairs. Will and
Race looked at each other, then headed for the door as Benton
barreled through it. He looked furious. "He's gone."

"IRIS, Jonny Quest's whereabouts," Will called to the computer.

"Jonathan Quest has left the grounds," the disembodied voice replied.

"How long ago," Benton snarled.

"One hour, six minutes ago."

Race put a calming hand on Benton's shoulder. "Queue up the sequence
in the family room," he directed, as he steered a seething Benton in
that direction.

The image was clear enough, as the family gathered around and watched
Jonny climbing down the side of the house, head across the front
lawn, and down the main drive. The cameras picked him up again as he
exited the main gate, and paused while a car drove up. Jonny was in
it before it had even reached a stop, and then it sped off.

There was a stunned silence for a moment. "Who did he meet?" Will
asked in concern, and Benton just watched the screen in silent anger,
his arms crossed over his chest.

"He's grounded for life," Benton muttered.

Hadji spoke up quietly. "I have another question. IRIS. Show Jonny
just before he exits the gate. Zoom in please."

IRIS obligingly zoomed close as Jonny exited the small pedestrian
gate set in the gatepost to the side of the driveway. This time,
they all saw clearly as the object fell from his pocket as he bumped
the side of the gatepost.

"I'll go get it," Jessie volunteered instantly, glad to be out of the
tense atmosphere. She darted out of the room, and they all heard a
motorcycle start up. She was back momentarily, holding a small pager.

Race took the object. "Humm. It's a voice message pager," he
commented. "Cutting edge, too. And it's not one of ours!"

Benton's angry façade began to crack for the first time as he picked
the pager up. "You're right. It isn't one of ours. I wonder where
he got it."

"And why," Will added.

Benton took the pager and headed for the computer in the corner of
the room. Fishing in the drawer, he found a small cable that fit the
devices output, and plugged it into the computer. "IRIS, display the
latest messages on the large screen TV," he instructed.

When the messages began to scroll onto the screen, the entire group
watched in stunned silence. Race went cold. How could this have
happened? He was going to have Phil Corvin's head. He and Will
looked at each other in understanding. Benton looked like he was
going to be physically ill.

"I'll go get the weapons," Will said succinctly, and headed for the
workroom and the gun safe.

"Andrea Lainer," Benton whispered brokenly. "Dear God, I thought she
had been taken care of."

"Yes," Race replied quietly, "me too," he added, looking at the
scientist in concern. Benton looked like he was about to
collapse. "Benton, go get the car. We know where they are. We'll
get there in time."

Benton just nodded, looking as though he was inhabiting his own
private hell, and headed for the garage.

"Dad," Jessie tentatively broke into his reverie as Benton exited the
room. "Rachel's alive?" she asked in disbelief.

"No, she is not alive. But this is essentially Rachel's evil twin,
and Jonny obviously thinks she's Rachel."

"But," Hadji began. Race cut him off. "Later. I don't think we
have much time. You two stay here with Rae and Mrs. Evans. Stay out
of range of the windows. DON'T let anyone in. IRIS, full level five
security lock down."

"Implemented." IRIS's response was immediate.

Race turned back to the two mutinous teenagers. "And DON'T get any
bright ideas about following us," he added forcefully.

Hadji and Jessie took one look at Race and did as they were told.
They didn't know what was going on, but it wasn't good, and they
hadn't seen Race or Dr. Quest like this very often.

Race, Will and Benton had raced to the bluff in silence, each lost in
their own disturbing thoughts, putting pieces together from the last
few weeks. Certain incidents had taken on a new light, and the
results were not pleasant. They readied themselves for the grim
confrontation ahead. It was not going to be easy or pleasant. Jonny
was not going to be very willing to hear the truth, and Dr. Andrea
Veronica Rose Lanier had had him under her thumb for far too long.

Race shuddered to himself as he recalled that scene. That woman had
a great deal to answer for. Jonny had finally managed to put his
mother's death behind him, and had been doing well with Will. Now,
the kid didn't know whether he was coming or going. Who knew what
Andrea had fed Jonny about his family. And Jonny would have believed
all of it, believing that she was his mother. This was definitely
going to take awhile to sort out, but they were all survivors. And
Will wasn't going to let go of either Jonny or Benton without a
fight. None of them would.

Chapter Seventeen

Jonny woke up slowly, in the cool dimness of night. He could see a
figure standing silhouetted against the gray-black light from the
window, gazing out. He must have made some kind of sound because the
figure immediately turned and moved towards him, revealing itself to
be his father.

As Jonny realized who it was, the enormity of everything that had
happened came crashing down on him yet again in a depressing wave.
He was in a hospital. That was bad enough. But his father had every
right to hate him, and his mother . . . Well, he really didn't want
to go there. Jonny closed his eyes and moaned softly, hoping to
slide back into oblivion.

He felt his father's hand smoothing his hair, then gently pulling
another blanket up over him to ward off the chill of the night.
Jonny didn't think it would help much. He was cold to the bone, and
seriously doubted he'd ever feel warm again. He heard his father
pull a chair up next to the bed and sit down. Benton laid his hand
on the back of his son's neck, kneading the tight muscles lightly,
sharing in Jonny's abject misery.

"I know, Son. It's rotten," Benton's deep, calm voice came gently
out of the dark. "I would do anything I could to undo what she did
to you, and I would do anything to truly bring your mother back. She
loved you so much. Just as I do, and always have, regardless of
whatever Andrea Lainer may have told you."

Jonny lay there in silence, not moving a muscle. Frankly, it hurt to
bad. Tears slid from under his closed eyelids, seeping into the
crisp cotton of the pillowcase under his cheek. His whole body
ached, and it hurt so much just to breathe. He wondered if it was
really worth the effort. But that was nothing to the fact that his
mother, or the woman he thought was his mother, wasn't. And
everything she'd said to him was a lie. Well, almost everything.
But it was so hard to know which was which. Jonny was so confused,
and it hurt to even think about it. He was just so very tired.

The tears continued their slow momentum as Jonny thought of all the
things he had told her in turn. His fears. His worries. All the
small and large hurts and doubts, the petty comments he'd made about
people and places. Things he had meant, and other that he hadn't
really. And she'd just been using him. Jonny didn't want to trust
anyone, ever, ever again. They just betrayed you.

But Benton's soothing voice wouldn't let Jonny go, just as Will's had
kept him anchored earlier. And through his heartache and misery, he
could hear the abiding love in his fathers every tone, as Benton
continued talking softly to him. "I love you son. Nothing can take
that away. I love you so much. I love Will and Rae too, but no one
can ever take the place of you and Rachel. We can add people in our
lives, but nothing ever replaces someone we love. I'm not perfect,
and certainly not a perfect father, far from it, but I promise, I'm
here for you. I'll never, ever leave you, or let you go. I promise."

Jonny slid back to sleep, listening to this mantra, and feeling his
father's hand gently massaging his neck and shoulders, as though he
were loath to let the physical connection go.

Chapter Eighteen

Will walked into the cool, dim private room off the farthest hall in
the pediatric wing of the hospital. She reflected that there were
definite advantages to having an instantly recognizable and famous
name. Jonny's room was off the beaten track, easily protected, and
most remarkably for a hospital, quiet. And probably very expensive,
not that cost was an issue.

The privacy curtain was pulled, blocking the view of the bed from the
doorway, but she could see the couch along the wall perpendicular to
the door. Benton was seated diagonally on it, leaning into the
corner, his feet on the table in front of him, obviously far away in
thought as he looked pensively in his son's direction. He hadn't
even heard her come in. She quietly set her burden on the table next
to the couch and looked towards the bed.

Jonny looked somewhat better. The drawn look on his face was gone,
but he was still ashen, and the dark circles under his eyes were
readily apparent. Both Benton and the doctors were concerned about
him. His recovery was far slower than had been expected. He just
wasn't bouncing back, and it was becoming a serious issue.

At least he was sleeping soundly. He lay on his side facing the
window, deeply asleep, comfortably ensconced with several pillows,
cool looking sheets and a light cotton blanket. After the warmth of
the afternoon, the cool temperature and defused light of the room was
welcome. Jonny looked comfortable, even with the oxygen and IV
tubing trailing around him.

Benton looked up suddenly, startled. Will smiled at him. "Hi, you
looked far, far away."

He smiled sheepishly, and held out a hand to her. Frankly, Will
thought as she took it, and let him draw her down next to him, he
didn't look much better than his son. Will settled into the wedge-
shaped gap between him and the back of the couch, and gently traced
his jaw line with her finger. "You alright?"

He sighed and nodded, then commented, changing the subject. "What's
all this?" he motioned to the stack of bags Will had brought.

She laughed. "Jessie and Hadji wanted to make sure that Jonny
wouldn't be bored. Let's see, there is a laptop, complete with
Questworld equipment," she began.

Benton groaned softly. "I'll confiscate that. He doesn't need
anything even remotely as simulating as Questworld right now!"

Will laughed. "I figured as much. They also sent books, letters,
magazines, and Hadji's latest computer game. Mrs. Evans sent enough
food to feed an army. I didn't have the heart to tell her that Jonny
hasn't been able to handle anything solid yet."

"Oh well, then you and I can eat like royalty," Benton responded with
a quiet chuckle.

"And how is our patient today?" Will asked. "He looks a little
better." She reflected that frankly anything would have been an
improvement.

Benton smiled worriedly. "Some. He's still incredibly weak, but his
breathing is getting easier. His doctors still want him on oxygen,
and to keep very quiet. That's not too much of an issue right now.
All he wants to do is sleep." He paused. "However, the main concern
now is his slowness to recover. But, he is stable at least, and no
longer in any immediate danger."

Will gave a relieved sigh. "Staying away from the hospital last
night was one of the hardest things I ever did. I would have much
rather been here."

"I know, but you really needed the sleep, and Rae needed you."

"But you needed me too, and so did Jonny. Now what about you?" Will
returned to the earlier subject. "And don't put me off, Benton, you
looked light years away when I walked in, and I know for a fact that
you aren't getting any sleep either."

Benton thought a moment, then looked suddenly at Will. "I'm
unbelievably ashamed at myself, to tell you the truth. I should have
known something was going on."

Will began to protest, but Benton hushed her with a finger to her
lips. "It's true," he continued softly. "I've been so fragmented.
I've been terrified for you; you've been so frail, and worried about
Rae. It took so long to find out she was lactose intolerant and she
was weighing next to nothing. Then with work, well, frankly, I've
been torn in too many different ways, and unfortunately, Jonny lost.
I never seemed to have time for him when he needed me. Then he just
stopped asking, and I didn't even wonder why." Benton sighed heavily.

Will kept quiet, letting Benton talk himself out. She snuggled in
closer next to him, trying to at least provide creature comfort.

"You and Jonny had been doing so much better," Benton continued, "I
just thought everything was okay. I expected some adjustment, but
then his behavior just deteriorated to such an unbelievable degree so
quickly, I just got mad, and, once again, couldn't be bothered to ask
why. I dealt with the symptoms, not the cause," he finished in self-
loathing.

Will sighed. "And Jonny's young enough not to know how to put into
words what he's been feeling."

Benton nodded sadly. "I provided a beautifully fertile field for
Andrea Lainer. Do you have any idea what it's like to have Jonny
wake up and ask where `Mom' is? I don't know what's worse-that, or
when he wakes up and realizes what has actually happened."

"Has Jonny told you about anything she said?" Will asked.

"A little. He's still very groggy. But what he has said is
chilling. As always, Andrea was masterful in what she did. She
always kept very close to the truth as much as possible, from what
I've been able to gather. It appears that she'd take an incident of
a comment I'd actually made, then would twist it somehow to
corroborate the image of me she was perpetuating. It would be close
enough to the truth to make sense, but from anybody else, Jonny would
have just shrugged it off. However, these comments were coming
from `Rachel', and since she was physically present, and obviously
alive, the only logical conclusion Jonny could possibly come to was
that she was right, and I had been lying. Then she'd allow Jonny's
own mind to do the rest, carefully and methodically directing him
towards the conclusions she wanted him to reach with a word or
comment here and there." Benton paused dejectedly, then continued,
obviously depressed. "Do you know what he asked me last night?"

Will just shook her head slightly. "What?" she prompted quietly.
Benton was talking almost compulsively, he was so disturbed.

"He was very groggy. Enough in fact, that he wasn't thinking about
his words carefully, and he was pretty blunt. He asked why Rae had
all kinds of `stuff', cribs, bassinettes, playpens, etc., in every
single room in the house, and he had a baby picture where he'd been
sleeping in a dresser drawer. I remember that picture, and I
explained that that was the first trip Rachel and Jonny had taken
with me after his birth. He was just over a month old, and the hotel
had no cribs available. So we made do, and it worked just fine, and
we'd gotten such a kick out of it, we took a picture. I also
explained that when he was born, the kind of portable cribs just
weren't available the way they are now."

Benton shook his head. "I also tried to tell him how much I loved
him, and how proud I was of him. But after the last month? And the
muck I've managed to make of my relationship with him? I don't think
I got very far in convincing him."

Will's heart went out to her husband. He loved his son so much, this
was just killing him. "Have you talked to the psychiatrist yet?" she
asked compassionately.

Benton nodded wearily. "Yes, he wants daily sessions with Jonny
alone, as soon as he's able. Then to meet with me separately, and
then me, you, and Race together. He says it will take time to sort
out, and that Jonny will need patience from all of us."

"Of course." Will agreed, then fell silent for a moment. "Then my
news isn't going to help much," she added tiredly.

Benton looked surprised, then resigned. "Lay it on me."

"When Race dropped me off today, guess who we should run into in the
lobby but Phil Corvin himself, coming in to tell us Andrea was on the
loose again. She got away. Again."

"What!" Benton exclaimed loudly.

Will smacked his arm, reminding him to be quiet, but she was too
late, the damage was done.

Jonny stirred briefly, then opened his eyes, lifting his head as
though it weighed the sum of the earth. His gaze found his father
and Will. "Dad? What's the matter?" His voice was hoarse and
slurred; his eyes were glazed and missing their usual sparkle.

Will began to get up to go to him, but Benton held her in place as he
answered his son. "Nothing, Son," his warm baritone was
soothing. "I'm sorry we woke you. Everything is just fine. Go back
to sleep. We'll be quiet."

Jonny nodded, and lay his head back down. He was obviously out cold
again, instantly.

"Now what about Corvin," Benton hissed quietly, after making sure
Jonny was asleep again.

`Well," Will began rubbing her face tiredly. "They were transporting
her to I-1 headquarters. They thought the gas had really laid her
out, much like Jonny, but not as bad. She'd been genuinely in and
out of consciousness for a while. But from what Phil figures, she
began faking it after a certain point. She escaped. This morning.
There isn't much more too it than that. They're sure she's still in
the Rockport-Portland area. They got roadblocks up immediately.
Terry requested of Corvin that he be assigned to come help find her.
He's fit to be tied. He's got a real soft spot for Jonny. Race
turned right around and went back to the compound instead of coming
up to see Jonny. He isn't leaving the house, and I'm not to leave
you and Jonny, and the agents here at the hospital have been alerted."

Benton groaned. "That's all we need right now. Can things get any
worse?"

Will just muttered, "Don't even think that."

Chapter Nineteen

Jonny was standing with his mother at the top of the bluff. The sun
was shining, the afternoon was mild, and the Atlantic Ocean was
brilliant with diamond-like sparkles in the light. Jonny drank in
the moment, happy to be alive.

Rachel smiled, enjoying the moment with her son. Her gray-blue eyes
were bright, and her face relaxed. "Honey?"

"Yeah, Mom?" Jonny turned from tossing a pebble out over the high
bluff, and looked at her, beaming his lopsided grin.

She smiled back, and held out her arms. Jonny laughed and hugged her
happily.

His joy turned to stark terror when she began to push him over the
cliff's edge. "Mom!" He shouted in terror.

His fear doubled as her face suddenly became that of Will's, scowling
at him. "Get out of my life, you miserable brat! You're nothing but
trouble. Whining and sniveling, always wanting your own way."

Jonny scrambled, trying to fight back as he was maneuvered inexorably
towards the edge. Looking down, he could see the waves breaking
angrily on the rocky shore below, smashing against the cliff side in
a torrent of foam as the sea turned a dark, forbidding gray, and the
light from the lovely summer afternoon faded into an angry clouded
sky.

Jonny looked back at Will in terror, the wind whipping his hair and
clothes. Now it was his mother again, an odd light in her
eyes. "You should have died. Not me. Everything is always about
you. You're always in the way. Your not smart enough, or good
enough to live. Better if you're out of the way. Rae will be more
like Benton than you!"

"Here, let me help. It will get him out of my way, and out of my
life, once and for all!"

Jonny stared in horror as his father moved up besides his mother,
who's face seemed to be alternating between Rachel's and Will's.
Grasping Jonny firmly by the shoulders he pushed him out over the
brink. "Dad, no!"

Still alternating between Rachel and Will's face, Benton's wife
stepped back wiping her hands distastefully on her jeans as though
she had been touching something foul. "Thank you, darling."

"My pleasure, my dear," Benton's cool baritone purred smoothly in
reply.

"Jonny." His father's voice was suddenly different, stronger.

"Quit struggling." Benton said, the chilling purr was back again, "It
will be over soon."

Jonny fought his father's hands, desperately trying to get
loose. "No! Let me GO!"

"Jonny!" Benton's tone had changed again. Jonny was crying in
frustration and fear now, vainly trying to free himself. "Jonny,
come on Son. Calm down!"

Suddenly, Jonny found himself far away from the cliff face, and in
his own dark room at home, fighting his father who was trying to
quiet him. Still crying and gasping for breath, he realized Benton
was holding him tightly to his chest with one hand around his back,
and the other pressing Jonny's face to his shoulder. Jonny collapsed
suddenly, sobbing, onto his father's chest as he finally woke up
enough to realize he'd been having a nightmare. His fingers twined
tightly into the fabric of Benton's robe as though he were afraid if
he let go, he'd fall back into the nightmare. Benton felt his heart
constrict at his son's action. Jonny hadn't done that since he was
very small, and then only when he was extremely upset or frightened.

Benton kept murmuring to his son, the words finally penetrating and
slowly disseminating Jonny's dream world, "It's okay Jonny, it's just
a dream. You're at home. I'm right here, Son, shhh," the litany
continued, over and over, slowing quieting Jonny's heartbreaking
sobs. Benton stroked his hair gently.

Benton looked up at a light touch on his shoulder. Will looked
compassionately at him. "I'm going to get the medication. I'll be
back in a few minutes."

Benton, never breaking his quiet words to his son, nodded gratefully.

Will headed back to the suite she shared with her husband, running
into Race on the way. He had heard the activity and come up to see
if there was something he could do to help. She assured him that
they were okay, and would he please look in on Rae. He agreed, and
said he was going to look in on Jessie and Hadji as well. Reassured
about the other members of the family, Will continued on her errand.

Once in her room, in a corner of the bedroom, she collected a couple
of heating pads, Benton's stethoscope, and one of the syringes that
was set out, already drawn and waiting. From there, she headed back
to Jonny's room, simmering fury. Dr. Andrea Veronica Rose Lainer
would pay dearly for this.

Three nights now. Each night since Jonny had come home, he'd been
having truly horrible nightmares. They had really debated whether to
bring him home or not. But with Dr. Lanier on the loose again, Race
and Will just didn't feel they could protect him as well in the
hospital. And giving into Jonny's demands and telling him what was
happening, in retrospect, had been a very bad idea. He didn't say
it, but he was terrified. The nightmares were certainly proving it.

And the nightmares then in turn would set off breathing
problems. `Keep him quiet' the doctor had told them. `No stress,
he'll need time to heal, we don't want to set off anxiety attacks'.
Yeah, right. After the mind games that woman had played with him, he
had absolutely no peace. There was no way he could relax. And any
stress caused his breathing to quicken painfully. The gas had done a
real job on him.

Poor Jonny. After each episode he was exhausted, slept for most of
the next day, was sore and achy, and often ran a fever. So much for
healing. Then, it would all repeat again the next night. Damm it!
This just wasn't fair.

Sure enough, when she entered the room, Jonny was gasping for breath,
and in obvious pain. Benton looked completely traumatized as he
tried to calm his upset son. It was a vicious circle. The more
frightened and upset Jonny got, the harder it became for him to
breathe. They'd found the only way to calm him down was a shot of
muscle relaxer and a light sedative. That, and heat, which also
relaxed the tightened muscles. The reaction was almost more
emotional now than it was physical. But his lungs still weren't
totally healed, and this certainly wasn't helping the process.

Will got the heating pads set up, and moved to take Jonny from
Benton. Unfortunately, they were getting very good at this now.
Will handed Benton the syringe as she detached the gasping boy from
his father and wrapped her arms tightly around him. He looked at her
with vague eyes as she began talking soothingly to him. She could
tell he wasn't really awake enough to understand her, but he did calm
some at her voice. Will was pleased about that. He'd responded to
her well at the hospital, which went to show that no matter how much
Andrea had eroded of Jonny's trust, she hadn't erased all the strides
Will had made with her youngest and most emotional stepson.

Jonny moaned slightly, his head lying tiredly on her shoulder, as
Benton injected the contents of the syringe into his upper arm. But
he did begin to relax almost immediately. After a few moments his
breathing began to ease, and he slipped into a light doze. He
stirred at the cold touch of the stethoscope as Benton checked his
lungs, but quickly dropped off once again as his father finished.
Once Benton was satisfied that this particular episode was over, and
that Jonny was breathing normally again, he and Will settled the boy
on his side, and arranged the heating pads on his chest and back.
Benton covered him carefully, noting with relief the regular rhythm
of his breathing. He then joined Will at the window.

He gathered her tiredly in his arms and settled back onto the seat of
the bay window, where he could still see Jonny, and snuggled her
close.

"I can think of several different manners in which I would like to
dispose of Dr. Lainer," Will stated calmly, leaving back against her
husband.

"Really," Benton allowed, nuzzling her hair as the adrenaline drained
from his system. Between Rae's feeding schedule and Jonny's
nightmares, neither of them was getting much sleep, and that was an
understatement.

"Uhmm-hum. Fifty ways to kill a person with a hairpin. But those
are too quick. Drawing and quartering is more to my taste."

"Oh, bloodthirsty. Flaying? Stoning? Burned at the stake?
Anything remotely similar to what they used for witches?" Benton
suggested with a weary grin.

"Those are all good. She's a witch all right." Will leaned back
against him. "Poor Jonny. He doesn't deserve this," she sighed.

"No," Benton agreed, tightening his arms around her. "Go back to
bed, Rag Doll. I'll stay with him," he whispered into her hair,
kissing her lightly.

She made a wordless sound of protest.

"Really. I just need to be with him tonight," he said, the
exhaustion evident in his voice.

She hesitated a moment longer, and he urged, "Go on. I'll sleep
here, in the chair." Benton gestured towards the armchair.

She nodded and kissed him deeply. He laughed softly and shoed her
out of the room.

Will looked back as she exited the room. Jonny was deeply asleep,
clearly under the influence of the medication. Jonny had been living
in his own private nightmare, no doubt about that. That the bitch
had intentionally messed with a young adolescent's mind, and in a
manner most designed to inflict pain infuriated Will. It had to be
the true definition of evil. That the boy was Will's stepson
absolutely sent her over the edge.

And frankly, she was worried about Benton. He didn't look all that
much better. He could hardly bear to leave Jonny alone, terrified
that he'd lose him. He almost had too, right under his own nose, and
from a place of relative safety. That made the whole situation even
harder to take. The woman had to pay.

Will shut the door behind her, and leaned against the wall,
thinking. Neither Jonny, nor Benton for that matter, would get a
moments peace until Dr. Lainer was found. None of them would. It
had been 5 days now, and the chances of finding her were becoming
slim.

Jonny was far too fragile, both emotionally and physically, to be
able to handle another onslaught by Andrea Lainner right now. And
truthfully, Will didn't think Benton could either. Will thought a
bit longer, made a decision, then headed down the stairs, away from
her suite.

She tapped lightly on Race's door. It opened immediately, and he
ushered her in.

"I was expecting you," he said with a look that asked why she hadn't
come earlier.

"Let's go hunting," she said grimly, and was rewarded with a tight,
unpleasant smile.

"Thought you'd never ask."

Chapter Twenty

"Well, any plan in mind?" Race asked as they sat down in Race's
sitting room.

"Yes," Will answered grimly. "We still have the pager she gave
Jonny."

"SHIT!" Race exclaimed, using language he didn't tolerate from any of
the kids.

Will nodded, "I know. I didn't think of it myself until tonight."

Race shook his head in disgust. "I can't believe I didn't think of
it! Lots on our minds, I guess," he added with a dry look at
Will. "Some pair of agents we are."

"You said it. And we could have spared Jonny a whole lot of
anguish," Will added in frustration.

"Speaking of Jonny," Race said, "How is the kid?"

"Not good. He's just about at the end of his rope, and frankly,
Benton isn't much better," Will sighed, the concern in her voice
clearly evident.

"Well, lets get this done, then," he commented, "and the sooner the
better. DAMMIT!" he snarled, running his hands through his short-
cropped hair, "I can't believe we forgot about that damn pager. We
could have set this trap days ago!"

Will sighed agreement. "You go plug the pager into IRIS. Run a
transcript of all incoming and outgoing messages. Oh, and call
Corvin and let him know what we're cooking up. I'll get Mrs. Evans
up here to take care of Rae. Benton's in no shape to handle both an
infant and a sick kid."

Race nodded, adding, "And I'll get Phil to send a couple of agents
over here so someone is on site; even with the compound locked down,
I want to be sure!"

Will nodded in return, and they both headed out their separate
directions to get dressed, and prepare for the task ahead.

By the time Race and Will had everything taken care of at the
Compound, the transcripts run and faxed to Corvin, and finally
entering the hotel room serving as the I-1 headquarters, it was
nearly dawn.

"How's Jonny doing?" were the first words out of Terry's mouth as he
handed Race a strong cup of coffee. He did a double take at Will as
she indicated that she'd like one. Terry just shrugged and handed
her a mug as well.

"Not good," Will said grimly. "Still very sick from the gas PHIL,"
she glared pointedly at the senior I-1 agent, who threw up his hands
in silent defense, "and still uncertain of who's telling him the
truth, or even what the truth is! He's having horrible nightmares
and anxiety attacks. And who in HELL," Will continued, her anger
winding up from the frustration of the last week, "let Dr. Lainer
keep Rachel's face?" she snarled. "That was a real smooth move. A
lot of our problems could have been easily prevented by fixing that
little problem a long time ago!"

"Easy Will," Race muttered. However, Terry thought that the look in
his eyes didn't look any less dangerous than that in Will's. Wisely,
he kept silent. Phil, unfortunately, did not.

"Will," he began in concern, conveniently ignoring the last part of
Will's tirade, "Why isn't Jonny still in the hospital? Sounds like
he belongs there."

"Security, Phil, security." Race growled. "Or course he should
still be hospitalized, but we couldn't guarantee his safety there
with Dr. Lainer's escape. He's much safer under wraps at the
compound. He was a little better, off the oxygen and beginning to be
able to keep down solid food, and besides, Benton IS a doctor." He
shrugged. "So we took the chance. Lesser evil of two bad choices."

Will had thrown up her hands in frustration at Corvin's question and
stomped off to get some sugar for her coffee as Race explained.
Terry watched Will loading sugar into the mug until the coffee was
just turning into a sweet syrup. "That's a really bad idea," he
commented quietly.

"What?" Race asked, then spotted Will and registered what she was
doing. "Uh-oh."

"What?" Phil asked puzzled.

"Will, caffeine, and sugar," Terry elaborated.

Corvin furrowed his brow quizzically, clearly beginning to lose
patience.

"The brat hates coffee," Bannon explained. "Absolutely detests it."

"And sugar winds her up like no tomorrow," Terry elaborated, then
added almost as an afterthought, "and caffeine affects her almost
like speed."

Phil's statement of puzzlement turned to one akin to
apprehensive. "On, no. Someone could get hurt."

"Oh, absolutely," Terry concurred, "Somebody is dead."

"Most definitely," Race agreed. "Manslaughter."

"Well, then its your job to make sure she doesn't kill anyone," Phil
said sarcastically, with one more apprehensive glance towards the
female agent. He then changed the subject and got down to
business. "Thanks for faxing over the transcripts. And how did you
manage to keep Dr. Quest away? I thought he'd be here for sure,
hounding us to get hold of Andrea, and wanting in on the kill."

"Easy," Race said, "We didn't tell him. Will left him a note."

Corvin raised his eyebrows and Terry grinned. Race continued
grimly, "And frankly, he's practically near a breakdown himself. You
know he was the one who released the gas?"

"SHIT!" Corvin exclaimed explosively. "No! I didn't! How the hell
did that happen?"

"He thought that both Jonny and Will were in trouble. The brat's
still not a hundred percent after Rae's birth."

Terry laughed, earning dark looks all around. "But even if she's
only fifty percent, I still give her excellent odds!"

Race laughed humorlessly. "Yeah, well. Harkness and I have worked
together enough to be able to work non-verbally. She was getting
into position to free Jonny. But Benton didn't know that, and he
thought he was about to lose both of them. He wasn't exactly
thinking clearly. Neither Will nor I even knew he had it." Race
shrugged. "It dissipated quickly enough in the breezy conditions so
only Dr. Lainer and Jonny were affected. So anyway, Benton's on the
edge right now too. He's terrified for Jonny, and feels guilty about
the gas and the fact that he nearly killed his own kid, plus
mortified that he hadn't picked up earlier on that fact that
something else was going on, other than normal adjustments." Race
crossed his arms over his chest. "And so do I, honestly. I should
have been more aware than I was, that's for sure."

"Don't blame it all on yourself, Snow," Will growled as she returned
to the group. "I'm guilty of that, if not more so."

Corvin looked at her, then quickly looked away. She looked like an
angry mother bear, and just as frightening. "So, do you have an
idea?" he asked.

"Yep," Will said succinctly. "Here, at the State Park." She pointed
to a section on the transcripts that was already highlighted.

Phil nodded. "Yeah . . . Looks good. Easily defensible. Think
she'll bite?"

"Oh, yeah," Will said firmly. "I do. For one thing, she doesn't
know Jonny is allergic to the gas formula. She would think it would
probably just affect him the way it did her. She doesn't know we
have the pager, either, and frankly, she has enough of an ego to
believe that even six or seven days later, Jonny will still buy her
line. Especially if we word the message carefully enough."

Race nodded agreement. "We can hedge our bets that much more if we
are sure to insert something to the fact that he couldn't get free of
supervision until now in order to page her."

"Perfect," Terry commented. "Tight."

Will nodded, and continued the thread. "Also, maybe something short
and quick to the effect that we keep telling him she's not Rachel,
but he doesn't believe us. Which, unfortunately, isn't that far from
the truth," she finished with justifiable bitterness.

Corvin nodded slowly. "I think it'll work. Lets get agents into
position, then send the page when we are set."

There was unanimous agreement, and they set to work.

Chapter Twenty-One

When an exhausted Benton finally opened his eyes again, it was a
little after dawn, and he was still in the armchair in Jonny's room.
Scrubbing his face with his hands, he took a quick look at his son.

Jonny was still asleep, but restlessly, as the tangled covers
indicated. Benton stretched over and laid the back of his hand
lightly on Jonny's forehead. Clammy, but no fever. That, at least,
was good news for a change.

Benton noticed that Bandit was absent from the room, and that the
heating pads were neatly stacked on the window seat. As those facts
sunk in, he saw the note propped up on the reading table next to
him. Opening it, he read Will's explanation of what was happening,
and the security precautions that they had taken, as well as her
contingencies for Rae.

Benton gave a wordless exclamation of protest. To have Will and Race
taking on that woman, after everything she'd done was more than he
wanted to contemplate. Before he could process the ramifications of
Will's missive further, Jonny interrupted his thoughts.

"Dad? What's the matter?" he slurred. "Dad?" he asked again more
clearly, struggling to sit up as he registered the look of his
father's face, his own face pale. "What is it?"

"Jonny, calm down," Benton moved to sit down on the edge of the bed
next to his son, noting in alarm Jonny's quickening breathing and
widening eyes.

"No, something's wrong," Jonny whispered desperately as Benton pushed
him firmly back onto the pillows. "Is she . . ."

"No, no," Benton cut him off. "Now relax and I'll tell you. Breathe
slowly," he instructed.

He watched as his son made a conscious effort to calm down. Benton
mentally breathed a sigh of relief as Jonny's breathing slowed back
to a normal rhythm. "Good," he smiled encouragingly at his son as he
smoothed the limp hair off Jonny's drawn face. "Will left a note,"
he began in way of explanation. "She and Race have figured out a way
to trap Andrea Lainer. No, relax," he instructed as Jonny started to
show signs of anxiety again. He waited until Jonny had calmed once
more, then began again. "They're conferring with Phil Corvin and
Terry, and they are setting the trap with at least a dozen agents in
place. She also says that neither of us should worry, that they will
be fine, and back as soon as they can. They've also put the compound
on alert and assigned a couple of agents here so we will be safe.
Ok?" He smiled at his son, hiding his own anxiety.

Benton was alarmed to see Jonny's face look even bleaker. "Jonny?
What's the matter?" he asked in concern.

"Dad, what if . . . what if something happens and they get . . .
hurt. It'll be my fault," he whispered. "They shouldn't have gone.
If anything happens . . ."

Benton broke him off mid sentence. "No, nothing will happen. Will
and Race are highly capable agents, and this is the kind of thing
they have trained long and hard to do. And Andrea Lainer has been a
thorn in their side for a very long time now. However, now it's
personal for both of them. Terry also asked specifically to be
involved. All of them want you to be safe, and this is their chance
to make sure. They care about you, son."

Jonny took a shuddering breath. "But, Will must hate me. She
should. I've been rotten to her. And she's still not very well," he
broke off, vainly trying to fight back a sob.

Benton smiled at his son and rubbed his shoulder. "No, she's fine
Jonny, and she doesn't hate you at all. She loves you. She knows
that you weren't acting on your own. She's angry, yes, but at Andrea
Lainer, NOT at you. She's angry that she tried to drive a wedge
between all of us, and used you to do it. She doesn't hate you, she
loves you, son. A lot."

Jonny just stared at his father, hardly daring to believe that he
might be right.

"You know what she told me?"

Jonny moistened his lips and whispered, "What?" his eyes riveted on
his father's face.

"She said that ever since she first met you, when you were very
small, right after Rachel died, that she had wished that she could
have a son just like you. The actual you, preferably. And then,
after the two of us married, and she realized that you were indeed
going to be her son, she was thrilled. You have no idea how much
Will loves you. Each of us, as a matter of fact."

"Really?" Jonny asked in disbelief. "After everything I've done?"

"Really," Benton finished with a smile, thinking that he may have
actually gotten through to Jonny for this subject, finally. "She
wants Andrea just as badly as Race does, and for the same reason.
Andrea threatened someone they both care a great deal about-you.
This is personal for them, Jonny. And its something they want to
do. Ok? They want you to get better."

Jonny nodded weakly, still looking somewhat dazed.

"Now, are you hungry? Thirsty?" Benton asked.

Jonny shook his head, immediately looking queasy even at the thought
of food.

"Ok," Benton smiled slightly, hiding his concern. They just hadn't
been able to get Jonny to eat much at all, and what little he did
eat, didn't always stay down. He was still losing weight too rapidly
to suit Benton. "Then go back to sleep. They'll be back before you
know it, and I'll stay right here with you."

Jonny nodded wearily, even this small amount of talking tiring him
out. He turned over onto his side, trying vainly to get
comfortable. It was hard, he ached all over. "Dad? They are going
to be okay, right?"

"Of course, son," Benton replied emphatically, with more assurance
than he actually felt. "Are you warm enough?"

"Uh-uh. Cold," Jonny murmured drowsily, already dropping off into an
uneasy slumber.

"Ok, I'll get you another blanket, " Benton said gently,
straightening out the bedclothes and tucking them around his son.
Benton was concerned; he didn't like his son's haunted statement.
Frankly, the quicker they apprehended Andrea Veronica Rose Lainer,
the happier he'd be, no doubt about it.

Benton shook out another blanket from the foot of the bed and draped
it over his sleeping child. Jonny looked so young and fragile right
now. He sank back into the chair and looked again at the note Will
had left for him. He closed his eyes and rubbed the bridge of his
nose against the headache he felt coming on. He was worried, no use
denying it, despite he reassurances to Jonny. Dr. Lainer had done
enough damage to his family, let alone consider the added danger to
his wife and closest friend.

Good god, Will, as his wife, was going to be the first target for
that deranged woman. Benton thought of his petit, powerhouse of a
wife, and shuddered to even contemplate life without her. He shied
away from that thought immediately. He couldn't go there. Not
twice. Nothing was going to happen. Life just couldn't possibly be
that unjust.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Will, Race and Corvin sat inside the beat up van looking out at the
State Park. The outside of the white van was dirty and speckled with
rust spots. The windows in the back doors were coated with dried
mud. It didn't really matter; the windows were tinted to hide the
fact that they were one way. Nobody could see in the inconspicuous
van. It they had, they would have seen state-of-the-art surveillance
equipment filling the inside to the roof.

Outside, Terry sat at the picnic table, reading a magazine and
munching on a sandwich. He was in faded jeans and a cotton shirt. A
backpack leaned against the van, completing the picture.

All over the park, it was the same song, different verse. The couple
over at a shelter, having an intimate dinner complete with wine,
checkered cloth and picnic basket, the 2 RVs parked side by side with
the 2 middle aged couples laughingly engaged in conversation, the
bevy of college age young men on a road trip. All were I-1 agents
specially placed. It was 4:45 pm, a perfect time for lots of
individuals to be at the park. Target time was at 5pm. It had been
a scramble to get the props together, but it was done, and everywhere
weapons were stashed and ready.

The three agents inside the cramped van, along with the agents
running the equipment waited impatiently. Race waited with cold,
icily controlled patience. Will shifted impatiently, drumming her
fingers on any surface available. Idly she poured herself another
cup of coffee and stirred in 3 heaping teaspoons of sugar.

Race looked at her briefly, saw what she was doing, grinned tightly,
and returned his attention to the monitors. Phil Corvin looked at
her uneasily. She looked back at him. "What?!" she snapped.

"Coffee?" Corvin ventured carefully, eyebrows raised. This was her
4th cup so far.

"What of it?" she glared back.

"Easy Harkness," Race growled. "Save it for the good lady doctor."

Will muttered something inarticulately in return, and the tension
level inside the van rose to palpable levels as the clock slowly drug
on towards 5 pm. The time specified in the page.

Then in was 5:01. Then 5:05. "She'll come," Race said
tightly. "She'll be here."

5:10. All three were beginning to fidget, and doubt was beginning to
creep in.

"Look sharp!" An agent monitoring from within the van
exclaimed. "VanWeiss has got someone entering the park!"

Will, Race and Corvin leaned forward as one, in order to better see
the monitor the young agent was focused on.

"It's her!" Corvin stated in satisfaction. He pulled his headset
mike closer to his mouth. "Ok people. She's here. Dark brown, beat-
up Ford Tauraus. Blonde woman entering the picnic area . . . Now.
Hold until I give the order."

They watched tensely as she drove in slowly looking carefully
around. After surveying the area minutely, and not finding Jonny,
she hesitated.

"Ok, Mike. Go!" Corvin commanded tightly. "She's suspicious."

From the farthest shelter, nearest the beach, a slight blond figure
slipped out, looked for a moment, then waved.

They all could see the woman in the car visibly relax, and wave
back. Mike, an experienced agent, slight of build and very blond,
all similarities to Jonny ending there, ducked back into the shelter
before she got close enough to see him closely.

Dr. Lainer slowly eased the car towards the two sided, roofed
structure facing away from them, towards the ocean.

"Great thought Phil," Race commented, "using Mike if she got nervous."

"That woman is cagey and smart. Waaayyyy too smart, and I've had to
deal with her for a long time now," Corvin commented grimly. "She
doesn't leave anything to chance."

Andrea Lainer parked the car and got out, quickly making her way
around the shelter.

"Mike . . . NOW!" Phil shouted.

Mike stepped around the corner, Glock up and pointed at Dr. Lainer's
forehead. "Freeze!" he ordered harshly.

"Everyone, MOVE!" Phil ordered as the three of them piled out of the
van, Terry joining them as they hit the ground running.

Andrea stopped short at the young blond man in this mid-twenties
standing coldly holding a cocked gun at her forehead. She took in
the bright blond hair and slim build, so much like Jonny's. But
there, she registered, all resemblance ended. The cold, narrowed
green eyes and 11 to 12 additional years pretty clearly told her
she'd been had.

Suddenly, she was surrounded, and with several guns on her, turned,
and was propelled forward towards the white van. Not one to dwell on
failure, she was already working on her insanity plea which had
always served her well. Unexpectedly she laughed, seeing the four
agents running towards her.

"Well, well. You are persistent, aren't you? Hummm. You must have
gotten the pager," she commented lightly with an appreciative
smile. "Very good! But really, I can't imagine why you'd bother. I
mean, really, the boy just isn't worth all the trouble. He isn't
much," she shrugged dismissively.

Will's face tightened as she thought of Jonny and all he had gone
through at the hands of this woman, and the steps that still had to
be made before he was completely healed both mentally and
physically. And it was becoming clear to all of them that it was
likely he would bear emotional scars from this encounter for a long
time.

"Why you bitch!" Will snarled as Race put a restraining hand on her
shoulder. He thought about all that coffee in alarm.

"Is that the best you can do?" Andrea said incredulessly. "Benton
MUST have married you for your ability in bed, because he obviously
didn't marry you for your intellect. Come to think of it, Jonny did
make a comment about something to that effect. I understand that you
are very creative, and not all that discreet, either. Jonny doesn't
think much of you, you know," she said conversationally.

Will's eyes narrowed. "Easy, Harkness," Race whispered. "You know
that isn't true."

"Well, no shit, Sherlock," Will muttered in response, all the while
keeping her narrowed eyes fixed on the slim, smiling blond woman in
front of her. "I'm NOT that stupid. I don't believe ANYTHING this
woman says," she hissed.

"Worried?" Andrea commented with a smile, noting the whispered
exchange.

Will snorted at the thought. "Certainly not of you!" she said with a
humorless laugh.

"You know, you two should have taken better care of Benton's little
bastard. He is SO gullible. I had more fun than I've had in years,
in our little meetings. Afterwards I would laugh until I cried."
She giggled, then smiled at the quick flush on both Race's and Will's
faces.

"It really was the perfect plan, you know," Andrea continued,
delighting in their veiled expressions of outrage and
disgust. "Jonny was coming with me willingly; completely of his own
accord. And I was able to get him completely under my thumb in so
much less time than I thought it would take. He really is far too
trusting. Race, you really have fallen down on your job, do you know
that? I thought that you weren't only suppose to protect him, but
teach him to defend himself. You didn't manage either very well,"
She dismissed the thought, and continued with her original topic, as
Will put a steadying hand on Race's suddenly tightened shoulder.

"He would have been my ally in evading you and your small army. The
best of it was that while I had the brat, Benton would have been at
my disposal, totally at my beck and call. And with Jonny not wanting
anything to do with his father, and believing implicitly anything I
told him, I had it made! The new discoveries Dr. Quest and I could
have made. The brilliant children we could have had." She sighed at
the loss of her dream, then shot a look at Will. "You do have a way
of ruining everything, you know that?"

Will gave a tight smile. "Glad to oblige."

Terry just shook his head. This Rachel look-a-like was
unbelievable. He'd heard about her, of course. She was a legend
within I-1. But he'd never seen her in action. Listening to her
talk was mesmerizing; her each and every word carefully designed to
manipulate and elicit reaction. She was subtly goading each and
every person present, but especially Race and Will. Jonny had never
stood a chance, he reflected.

Andrea grimaced. "Next time I'll just kill Jonny outright. I'll
eliminate all the kids. Especially your spawn, Agent Harkness." She
shook her head, tsking. "Whatever was Benton thinking, getting YOU
pregnant." She thought for a moment. "So the brat really is his,
after all. Jonny did say Benton wasn't at all sure, and insisted on
a blood test. Smart of him, really."

"Steady," Terry muttered, a hand on Will's arm. He could feel her
shaking in rage, and biting back her words.

"Mr. Corvin, you might shut your mouth," Andrea suggested. "You'll
be trapping more flys than you actually meant too."

Corvins jaw, which had been on his chest while watching the exchange,
shut with an audible snap. The other agents, guns still steadily
trained directly at her, were listening with amazement.

"Hummmm," Andrea commented, "Those are quite nice," she said as she
stared pointedly at Will's chest, "Are those yours, Agent Harkness?
Or are they Agency provided. Intelligence-1 does make sure they
produce nothing but the best, don't they? Does Benton like them? I
imagine he does. I understand that you service him well. Have you
also been enlisted as teacher for the next generation?"

"Why you vicious bitch," Will finally ground out softly, but with
absolute clarity.

Andrea's laughter tinkled musically on the warm breeze. "My aren't
we defensive! I did suggest the truth to that young whelp. I did
tell him that I-1 planted you in Benton's bed." She shrugged
elegantly. "No other reason could possibly be true, of course. Why
else would a man of such caliber and taste be interested in a
Bondgirl like you. No refinement what so ever. So it follows, you
just appeal to his baser instincts."

Will had had more than enough. "Just because you had to resort to
turning yourself into Rachel, and stealing her face, since you
couldn't get him any other way, is no reason to be so jealous," she
commented, temper carefully in check. "He obviously never did want
to be anywhere near a wingnut like you. He still doesn't, even with
all the surgery you've had. I mean, why would he? The copy hasn't
anywhere near the class of the original."

Andrea's face darkened in anger, and she showed temper for the first
time. "Why, you whore!"

Race reflected that now they knew exactly where Jonny had come up
with that term, that fateful day a bit over a week ago.

"You . . . you . . " Andrea tapered off angrily.

"Bitch? Bondgirl? Trollop?" Will suggested. "Please, can't you do
any better than that?"

Terry and Race laughed out loud. Corvin even grinned. Andrea could
hear the snickers from the other agents. She turned white with fury
and took a step forward towards Will. "Why you . . ." she said
again, as she fought for control

It was amazing, Race thought, that this woman could so resemble the
Rachel of the portrait in Benton's home, but twist those lovely
features into such cruel expressions, tainted by the person within.
He reflected that he was very glad that Benton and Jonny weren't
witnessing this scene.

"Bring it on, bitch," Will growled softly, gladly stepping forward
into the confrontation.

The other agents stirred uneasily, and Corvin broke from his
astonished trance in time to break the impending catfight. "Cuff
her!"

Mike began to cuff Dr. Lainer at the same time Race and Terry stepped
forward to grab Will's wrists. Will turned to look at Race and Terry
in utter astonishment as Phil rolled his eyes. "Oh for . . . Dr.
Lainer, you idiots! NOT Harkness!"

Race and Terry stepped back sheepishly. Will rounded on them
shouting, "Now what was THAT little comedy of errors all about!"
accompanied by Andrea's peal of laughter.

Terry lifted his hands in defense. "Hey. Phil told us to keep you
from killing anybody. And you know what your like when you drink
coffee. Murder's a real possibility."

Race agreed. "Plus all the sugar. Dr. Quest would not be happy to
have his beloved wife up on manslaughter charges!"

Andrea glowered at the phrase `beloved wife' and spat out a
final `whore' to Will as the cuffs were sucured on her wrists.

Will just growled at them and turned to watch the proceedings. "Make
sure you keep her this time, guys, ok? Humm?"

A couple of the agents just grinned and one commented, "sure thing,
Harkness". Andrea glared silently at her nemesis.

"Hey, Phil," Terry called to the senior agent.

"Yeah!" was the quick reply.

"I want the assignment of escorting her in."

Phil looked at him in surprise. "Ok. I don't see why not." Race
and Will both looked quizzically at Terry.

He shrugged in embarrassment. "Just something I thought I could do
for Jonny. I mean, reassure him that she won't be on the loose
again."

Will smiled and stepped over to hug him. "Thank you," she
whispered. "It will help him a lot," she continued
gratefully. "He's been so frightened."

Terry looked seriously at her. "Tell Jonny, from me, that she won't
bother him again. I guarantee it. Ok?"

Will smiled and nodded. She couldn't say anything because she
thought she would probably burst into tears if she tried.

Corvin smiled knowingly at her. "Go home, both of you. You look
like Hell. We'll wrap it up here. Give Dr. Quest and Jonny my
best. Tell Dr. Quest I'll be calling him soon with the final
briefing."

"Thanks, Phil," Race commented as he watched Terry take charge of Dr.
Andrea Veronica Rose Lainer, and march her away.

Will nodded, and the two turned as one towards the car they had left
in the parking lot, eager to get back home.

Chapter Twenty-Three

Race and Will dragged themselves wearily up to the house. Race
stretched his back out tiredly as Will let them in. Mrs. Evans
walked out to the hallway and smiled broadly. "Welcome home!" she
said in relief.

"Glad to be back," Race commented dryly.

Mrs. Evans turned serious. "Did you accomplish your errand?" she
asked carefully.

"Yes. We did." Will answered quietly.

"Sealed and delivered to I-1, in Terry's custody. He was MORE than
happy to handle it for us," Race concluded.

"And she is in one piece, unfortunately," Will interjected.

"Maybe a little worse for wear though," Race finished. "How's Jonny?"

Mrs. Evans sighed. "About the same. He's slept off and on most of
the day, and Dr. Quest was finally able to get him to eat
something. He's achy, but doesn't seem to be running a fever. He's
just restless, and very worried about the two of you," she concluded.

"And Benton and Rae?" Will asked.

Mrs. Evans smiled more easily this time. "Rae is up with Dr. Quest
and Jonny right now. She's been an angel, and has been providing a
much needed and pleasant diversion for her father and brother."

Race raised his eyebrows. "This I gotta see."

"Dr. Quest hasn't left Jonny all day. And the boy has certainly
needed his father. They will both be much better when they see you
two!" She herded them towards the stairs. "Scoot. I'll have some
dinner for you in a few minutes."

At their expressions of gratitude, Ms. Evans just laughed. "Jessie
and Hadji are in the lighthouse," she continued. "Trying very hard
to keep from underfoot since they are banned from Jonny's room. I'll
let them know you're back." She paused and then continued
softly, "I'm glad you both are back safely. You've been sorely
missed. And I'm very glad your errand was successful."

They both smiled in response, then Will turned towards the stairs,
with Race right behind her. After tapping lightly on Jonny's door,
they entered to a yip of greeting from Bandit, lying at the end of
Jonny's bed.

Jonny, propped up on pillows, was supporting Rae with one hand, and
feeding her with the other. Benton looked tired, but relaxed as he
sat in a chair next to the bed, arm draped over the back, smiling at
his son.

"A little slower, Jonny. Don't let her eat quite so fast."

"Yeah, rug rat," Jonny commented. "Slow down! You're greedy." He
laughed, a welcome, but highly unusual sound of late, at his baby
sister, who was clutching at the bottle with her blue eyes wide on
her brother's face. She seemed to suck even harder on the bottle in
response to his voice, which caused them both to laugh.

"Stubborn, just like you, Jonny!" Benton added.

"Well, well," Race commented quietly, pleasantly pleased and
surprised by the scene.

"Welcome home!" Benton sprung to his feet and was hugging Will close
before she knew it, and kissing her hungrily.

"Hey! Not in MY room!" Jonny exclaimed with a tired grin.

"Don't pay any attention to us," Will commented distractedly to her
youngest stepchild, "just keep on doing what your doing." She sighed
as she drew Benton's head down to hers for another heated kiss.

"HEY! NOT in MY room and NOT in front of the BABY!" Jonny protested
a second time, sounding more like himself than he had in well over a
month.

Race grinned, `this was more like it,' he thought.

Benton hugged her tightly again, a promise of later things to come,
and turned to say a welcome to Race. Will headed over to the bed and
sat down next to Jonny and Rae.

Jonny made as if to hand her to Will, as Rae protested the
interruption of her meal.

"No, no. You started, you finish," Will said smiling, marveling once
again at the perfection of her daughter. Rae's long fingers curled
around Will's index finger possessively. Will caressed the delicate
curve of one rose petal soft cheek with her other hand.

Will noticed Jonny gazing at her uncertainly. She smiled
reassuringly at him and added in a low voice under the din of the
noisy reunion with Hadji and Jessie, who, ignoring instructions to
the contrary, had just burst into the room, and Bandit's barking, "We
got her, Sweetheart. She won't trouble you again. Terry is taking
her in. He made me promise to tell you, from him, that she won't
bother you again." Will swept Jonny's bangs back off his pale face
in a soft caress, surreptitiously checking for a temperature.

As Jonny smiled tentatively, still carefully holding Rae, Will
added, "And now, I'm just very glad to be home with my family, all my
family." And Will leaned forward to hug both a surprised and pleased
Jonny and Rae together, to Rae's squeak of protest. When she
released them she dropped a quick kiss on Jonny's forehead, and then
on Rae's, truly thankful.

Epilogue

Jonny sat out on the steps of the back patio leading down to the
second level. It was about two weeks after the final capture of Dr.
Lainer. He was enjoying just sitting and listening to the soft
hubbub of voices, the noise of dinner being prepared, and the phone
ringing behind him. The normal sounds of the busy family.

The early evening air had a salt tang to it from the breezes that
blew in off the ocean nearly one hundred feet below. Jonny could
hear the waves pounding rhythmically. He took a deep breath,
reveling in the feeling of the cool, sweet air in his lungs, with no
pain or tightness. Amazing how the single act of breathing was so
overlooked, Jonny thought, taking another deep breath. He enjoyed
the simple sensation of breathing without pain. He still tired very
easily, and was getting irritated at the constant encouragement to
eat, but that was okay. Just as long as he could breathe.

Will came out onto the patio and sat down beside him,
laughing. "That was your father on the phone just now," she
reported. "And that makes the 6th phone call since he left this
morning. He was checking, once again, to make sure you hadn't
expired."

Jonny grinned, although he probably should have been irritated. But
it was really kind of nice. However, his comment in response was
more in character. Shaking his head, he replied, "Doesn't he have
anything better to do at that conference?"

Will put her arm around his shoulders, laughing as she gave him a
hug. "Humor him Sweetheart. He very nearly lost you, and it scared
him to death. We were all very worried. And you have no idea how
much talking Race and I had to do to just get him to go today! He
would only go if both Race and I stayed here with you, and he
insisted on coming back tonight. Never mind that it would be at
least midnight before he would be able to leave New York. Charlie is
flying him back. There was no way we could talk him into staying the
night." She shook her head in amusement.

"Poor Charlie," Jonny commented.

"Poor Charlie, indeed." Will agreed. "We also had to promise that we
would faithfully have you back in bed after dinner, and that we would
get you to eat something."

She hugged him again and laughed as he wrinkled his nose in
irritation. She reflected that it was a good thing that he didn't
know that neither she nor Race could bear to have him out of their
sight for long either. Benton knew, and that was the only reason
they had been able to convince him to go. She suppressed a shudder.
It was going to be a very long time before any of them wanted to let
Jonny out of their sight for any length of time. It had been way too
close, and right under their very noses in a place they considered
safe.

Jonny rested his head on her shoulder companionably. Together they
watched the sky move softly towards twilight in silence for a while.

Will broke the quiet mood tentatively. "Sweetheart?" she asked
gently.

"Humm?" Jonny responded, relaxed.

"Why didn't you tell your father when you first thought you saw
Rachel?" she asked carefully. Jonny had been working through these
issues with a psychiatrist, and in a separate session, Benton, Will
and Race had been told that they should begin drawing him out on the
subject.

Jonny tensed slightly, but Will just rubbed his shoulder
reassuringly, holding him close. After a moment, he began to
speak. "I tried," he said, his voice shaking slightly. The hurt and
betrayal were clearly evident in his voice. "The day I was late
coming up from the lighthouse. And the next night when you and Dad
were in the library."

Will was glad that Jonny wasn't looking at her, and didn't see her
flushing face.

"Then I guess I just thought it was stupid. I didn't know what to
do, but Dad was usually busy, or distracted. It just seemed like
something always came up." Jonny paused. Will could tell how hard
it was for him, and that he was trying to be scrupulously honest.
She squeezed his shoulder again, holding him closer and waited for
him to continue.

"It's been like that ever since Rae was born. The only time Dad ever
really had for me was on my homework. And even then, he never had
time to hear about the results. And he was always so short
tempered," he continued.

"Lack of sleep because of a new baby. It'll do it every time," Will
explained.

"And missing you!" Jonny said, laughter in his voice. "You had to
sleep downstairs!"

"Scamp," Will growled as she lifted her arm to encircle his neck in a
loose chokehold. "Any other reason?" she asked lightly.

"Well," Jonny said thoughtfully, then continued carefully as he
settled back onto her shoulder. Will was glad he trusted her enough
to keep the physical contact while he explained. "Dad had you and
Rae. And he never seemed to have time for me. I guess I really
hoped she'd be Mom, so I could feel like I belonged somewhere
again." His voice had dropped to a low whisper.

"Oh, Sweetheart," Will whispered compassionately, kissing his
temple. "Remember what I said to you in New Orleans? Trust your
father. He'll never give up you or the memory of his ties with
Rachel. Rae, and myself, and Hadji too for that matter; we're just
newer additions. Nobody ever takes another's place." She paused a
moment, then continued. "Your mother was a remarkable woman.
Beautiful and talented. And I can't, and have no desire to take her
place. I'll just make my own." She could feel Jonny silently crying
on her shoulder. She moved her other arm in front of him so he was
now fully encircled in her embrace.

"Will?" Jonny asked shakily.

"Yes?" She answered, kindly.

"Why did you try to save me that day on the cliff? The time you
dropped your gun down, and told . . . Dr. Lainer to take you instead
of me?" His voice was shaking and nearly inaudible, and Will could
tell what it was costing him to ask this question. He was so afraid
of the answer, dreading that it would be for his father's sake
alone. Jonny continued. "I'd been so awful to you. Really rotten.
I mean, the things I'd said to you. I didn't mean them. . . I really
didn't," he said in a rush. "But like Mo . . . I mean, Dr. Lainer
said, wouldn't you rather just have me gone?"

Will kissed the trembling boy lightly once again, then answered
softly. "No, I wouldn't rather have you gone. I am not Andrea
Lainer, nor am I anything like her. I would have traded myself for
you in a moments notice, because you're you. I couldn't bear the
thought of life without you. You're an integral part of this family,
a part of the whole. I love you Sweetheart."

Jonny was sobbing in earnest now. "But how can you? After
everything I've done?"

Will hugged him tighter. "Because you are you. And you are your
father's son. I really don't need any other reasons than that. If
you were gone, there would be a huge hole in all of our lives,
impossible to fill."

Jonny looked at her is astonishment, his azure blue eyes even
brighter than normal with tears.

"Serious?"

"Serious," she answered firmly. "And if you think about how much I
have to put up with Benton, you'll realize you're not so bad!"

Jonny laughed at that, as she had intended. Then, as Rae's cry split
the evening air, Jonny started to pull away so she could go take care
of her.

Will however, just pulled Jonny closer. "She does have the Quest
lung power," she commented wryly. Then as Jonny didn't relax, she
whispered softly to him, "We have a big family, Sweetheart. Race or
Mrs. Evans can take care of Rae. Or for that matter, Jessie or
Hadji. Right now, I just need to be here with you."

As Jonny collapsed wordlessly back against her shoulder, sure enough,
Rae stopped crying. Will continued quietly, reassuring her
stepson. "All the children I ever needed or wanted were you, Hadji
and Jessie. Rae was just an unexpected bonus. Remember, love can't
divide . . . it multiplies.

She felt Jonny finally relax completely. As they watched the waves,
she held him tight, not wanting to let go. Like Benton, after coming
so close to losing him, she valued the time with him; with all the
kids. She knew Race felt the same way.

Gently, she began humming, and felt his smile against her shoulder.
And together, they just watched the sea and the early evening sky in
peaceful companionship.

~fini~