Disclaimer: I do not own Jonny Quest or related characters.


It was late in the night when Benton was woken by... something. He lay there staring at the blank canvas wall of the tent as he listened trying to determine what had woken him. Being out in the middle of the jungle miles away from civilization opened up alot of possibilities for trouble. Fortunately he didn't hear Bandit yapping or the boys screaming for him and Race, which meant odds were they were okay. Perhaps he should get up and check though, just to be sure.

He was about to do just that when a sound came from the other side of the tent. The scientist froze, just listening. He heard it again. It was... a whimper? Sitting up, Benton glanced over to the cot on the other side of the tent. Race was still asleep though occasionally he'd roll from one side to the other. He whimpered again, no doubt lost in a nightmare.

Benton sighed and shook his head as he lay down again. Nightmares were the mind's way of working through something, it was best to let it run its course. Though, it must be a truly terrible nightmare to make Race cry in his sleep. But then, Benton supposed Race wouldn't have his normal emotional control while asleep and having a nightmare.

That didn't make the growing cries from the other side of the tent any easier to listen to however.

Benton shut his eyes tightly, repeating over and over again that it was best to let Race's mind sort through whatever it had to. That's why he was having the nightmare after all.

"No..." The word was uttered in a voice that Benton had never heard before. All confidence the voice typically held was lost in devastating pain and fear. "No... no..." Race was wriggling around now his voice rising as he struggled.

Screw it.

Benton rose and made his way to the other side of the tent. The mind could also sort through things while awake, couldn't it? "Race? Race, wake up." He shook the bodyguard gently. "You're having a nightmare. Wake up."

Ice blue eyes shot open, wide with fear as they darted left and right before coming to focus on him. Benton had seen Race scared before, but this was different. This was far more than just a brief flash of the emotion. Not a single ounce of fear was hidden from him this time. Then, like a mask sliding into place, the fear was gone replaced by confusion. "Benton?" Race sat up slowly, "What...?"

"You were having a nightmare, a bad one from the sounds of it." Benton answered.

"Oh." Race mumbled. He went to rub his tired eyes only to frown when he felt the remaining tears on his face. Shaking his head slightly he wiped away the tears with the cuff of his sleeve.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Benton asked.

Race shook his head, "Can't remember it."

Somehow, Benton knew he wasn't lying. Honestly he should have expected something like that. Given his job, Race was exposed to the absolute darkest parts of the world, something that would give anyone nightmares. If terrible nightmares became to frequent then it was not much of a stretch to believe the mind would build up some defenses, such as locking away the events of a nightmare somewhere Race could not remember it.

"Are you alright, Race?" Benton asked. Even if he could not remember the nightmare, odds were he had at least some idea of what had caused it.

"Yeah. I'm fine, Doc." Race answered though his tone said otherwise. "I'm going to go check on the boys."

"Alright." Benton sighed. He returned to his cot as Race pulled on his boots before leaving the tent.


Race sighed as he walked over to the second tent. He hadn't been lying when he said he couldn't remember the nightmare. He honestly could not remember, but that didn't mean he couldn't piece together some of what happened. Though he could not remember the events, he could still feel the emotions caused by it. And right now there was a little voice in the back of his head screaming at him to check on Jonny and Hadji. He also wanted to check on Jessie, but that wasn't possible.

Poking his head into the tent he found both the boys sleeping peacefully with Bandit on the floor between them also asleep. The dog didn't even react to his presence, which on one hand was a good thing - he didn't need that dog to wake up the boys - but on the other, if someone tried coming into the tent it would be nice if the lazy bulldog would react. Though, he supposed it was possible that Bandit simply didn't react because he knew him. If a strange tried to enter then odds were the dog would wake. At least, Race hoped that was the case.

Shaking his head Race made his way back to the tent he and Dr. Quest were sharing. Entering quietly, he made his way to his cot and sat down. He took off his boots and laid down with the hope of getting back to sleep though he doubted he'd be able to.