Title: Red Headed Goddess, 4/?
Author: Heather
Date: March 6, 2005
Category: JJHR, Angst
Summary: Jessie and Jonny head out for Rockport for the afternoon. Everything goes fine until the last minute. Also, Jonny muses on his feelings for Jessie.
Disclaimer: I do not own JQ. I am only using the characters for my own unique story. I am using lyrics for the song "I'll be there for you" by "The Rembrandts" which is also the opening for "Friends". I do not own it, either.
Author's Notes: Well, here's chapter 4. It's shorter than the others. But it's got some action at the end. And that's what counts.

Chapter 4: I'll be there for you when the rain starts to pour. I'll be there for you like I've been there before. I'll be there for you, 'cause you're there for me too.

Jessie sat in the passenger seat of Jonny's sports car as they headed to the Flint household. Amanda was one of Jessie's best friends and had agreed to let them shower and eat there before Jessie went to volunteer at the hospital. They'd just played a couple of intense games of basketball with a couple friends from the high school varsity team. Jessie still wasn't sure how she'd convinced her dad to let her off Quest property, but she'd been glad for the distraction. And the exercise.

She alternated between toweling away sweat and sucking now luke warm water from an almost empty bottle. Jonny half hummed, half sang along with the song playing on the radio. It was kinda cute, kinda dorky the way he'd bop his head along as well. Jessie smiled to herself. The afternoon had turned out pretty well.

Jonny pulled into the Flint's driveway, and they both grabbed their bags with their extra change of clothes and headed in. They entered without knocking and Jessie called out for her best friend. Amanda appeared from the kitchen to greet her guests.

Amanda and Jessie had been friends since Amanda had moved to Rockport with her father. It had been an easy friendship to forge with all the similarities the two girls had. Both had ex I-1 agents for fathers. Thomas Flint and Race had served together for the agency and many missions. They both could sympathize over the loss of a parent, Jessie through the divorce and Amanda through her mother's death. Both girls were also strong willed and no-nonsense. Jonny knew to stay out of their way when the two were on a mission.

They had their differences as well. Physically, Amanda was shorter than Jessie by a couple inches, and not as slender. Her straight brown hair was usually cut short and never allowed to grow much past her shoulders and she had inherited her mother's pale blue eyes. Amanda also tended to be a lot more boy crazy than Jessie. Jonny often teased her about how she had a different boyfriend every week. Jessie dated conservatively, when she dated at all. Which was the way Jonny liked it.

Amanda pulled Jessie into a hug and pulled away again with a "Whew! Girl, you need a shower!"

"See, I told ya the smell was you," Jonny chuckled.

"What are you talking about, bleach head? You smell twice as bad!" Amanda turned her gaze to him.

Jessie triumphantly stuck her tongue out at Jonny.

"You both need to bathe," Tom Flint interrupted the trio. "You know where the showers are. Dinner will be ready by the time you finish."

The two headed up stairs, and parted ways to their respective bathrooms. Jessie headed for Amanda's private bathroom while Jonny took the main. He wasted no time in shedding his sweaty clothes and stepping into the hot stream of water. The humid bathroom was the perfect place to let his thoughts wander as the shower eased his tired muscles and washed away sweat and grime.

His mind wandered immediately to Jessie. She took up his every spare thought. And not just because he was worried about her at the moment. Even when everything was just fine he spent his free time thinking of her. He'd blame it on love, but he'd been doing it before he'd realized how he really felt about her.

Truthfully, Hadji had realized his feelings before he himself had. He remembered talking to Hadji in his room one day soon after they had all just narrowly cheated death-again. Jonny had been describing to his friend how absolutely terrified he'd felt when Jessie had almost…well, he couldn't remember the exact situation. But Jessie had been in danger, and Jonny had felt like someone was trying to fork up his heart like one would spaghetti noodles. Hadji had given him this look, Jonny could remember it vividly, and wondered what it meant.

It wasn't for another month that Jonny realized he loved Jessie. I can't believe I was that dense. It wasn't any significant or extremely emotional moment. They'd been walking down the hall at school heading for chemistry. Jessie had been describing how she'd gotten in trouble-again-because she had proved her honors algebra teacher wrong in front of the whole class-again. And it had just dawned on him. He loved her. He'd almost tripped over his own feet. He managed to stay cool. And she hadn't noticed anything. Just kept tirading about how it wasn't fair she was being punished for being intelligent.

For a while, after he'd come to the conclusion about his feelings for one of his two best friends, things had seemed so awkward. He hadn't known how to act around her anymore. But he wasn't sure whether to tell her. Hadji kept urging him to, but he just couldn't. And finally one day, when she had called him on his change in behavior, he had realized that he needed to just act the same. Play the great pretender. He couldn't let her know. It was too risky.

He'd gone over this many times in his head. And vocally to Hadji. It didn't make it any easier. It didn't change his mind, either. He still felt that it would be better not to tell her. To just harbor his feelings for her.

But wasn't that what this stalker had been doing for two years?

The water was beginning to cool off. Jonny needed to hurry and wash up. They'd be waiting for him downstairs to start dinner. He'd taken too much time. He had to stop thinking about her.

JQ

Jessie stepped into the kitchen feeling clean and rejuvenated. The spicy scent of taco seasonings filled the room and Tom Flint was scraping diced onions into a little bowl. He glanced at her as he reached for a tomato. "Amanda went to the store to grab a couple of things. She'll be back soon," he excused his daughter.

"Don't tell me. She just had to have extra spicy salsa," Jessie guessed with a grin, leaning against a nearby counter.

Tom laughed. "That and we were a little low on shredded cheese."

"Do you need help with anything?" Jessie offered.

"No, I've got it handled," Tom assured. " But you should phone your father. He called just before you showed up. Filled me in on what's going on."

Jessie nodded, the smile leaving her face. She'd managed to forget about her stalker for a few hours. It had been nice not to be bogged down by the thought. "I better go do that."

She crossed paths with Jonny on her way out of the kitchen. Tom watched from the corner of his eyes as the young man stopped his friend. He put his arms loosely around her shoulders and leaned in close to whisper something to her. Tom heard her giggle and as she walked on, he could she was smiling again. Not as carefree as before, but she no longer looked as if she carried the weight of the world.

"Mmmm, smells good. When do we eat?" Jonny asked, stirring the simmering hamburger and taking a whiff.

"When the girls get here. Have some patience, you human garbage disposal," Tom chuckled.

"Hey, you know what they say about growing boys," Jonny laughed, seating himself on one of the barstools.

"I also know what they say about children being seen and not heard," Tom hinted.

"I am no child," Jonny insisted.

Tom grunted. "Boy, you're still a kid to me."

Jonny chuckled and the men passed the next few moments in silence.

"So, Race called and filled you in on everything, huh?" Jonny inquired after a while.

Tom nodded as he finished with the tomatoes. "Of course he did. I didn't get all the details. But I know enough."

Jonny gave a half grin. "It's good to know she's got plenty of people looking out for her. We really appreciate everything you do for us."

Tom smiled back. "It's a fair trade."

"I've got the cheese and the spiciest salsa I could find. If everything's ready, let's eat," Amanda pronounced as she and Jessie returned.

"Here ye, here ye!" Jonny crowed.

Dinner was informal. Jonny and Jessie didn't have much time before they had to go again. But it was enjoyable. The food was good and the company great. Jonny and Amanda riffed at each other almost the whole time, between mouthfuls of Mexican food. Tom refereed when things got out of hand, and Jessie got in a comment every once in a while, but mostly just laughed. Jonny and Jessie stayed long enough to help clean up before jetting again.

Jonny really didn't want to go. It was one of the few places he felt safe other than his own home. He knew Jessie felt the same way. Amanda and her father walked them to the door. Tom stayed to watch until they pulled out of the driveway. He gave them one last wave as they drove off.

JQ

Jonny waited in the hospital lobby for Jessie to appear. He'd spent the last thee hours while she'd been volunteering running errands. Since his father and Race had just gotten into town they'd sent him with a list of things to do for them. Jonny hadn't minded. At least it was something for him to do while Jessie was busy.

"Hey, there you are," Jessie called as she came down the stairs.

"Ready to go?" Jonny asked, watching her approach.

She nodded, looking tired but happy.

"I was up helping out in the maternity ward. It was so fun helping to take care of the newborns. They're so tiny and cute," Jessie gushed as they headed out the door.

Jonny listened to her talk, liking the sound of her voice. It had a sweet calming quality to it. Especially at times like this when she was peacefully happy. It was why he always said something to get a reaction from her. Anything to hear her speak.

Jonny saw a flash from the corner of his eye just as they were entering the parking lot. Jessie had been telling him about premature born twins. He left her mid-sentence in a dead run, towards where he had seen the spark. Whoever it was must have seen him coming. He got up and began to run away. But he couldn't outrun Jonny, and the young man tackled him before he had taken ten steps.

The man wrestled against him, but Jonny kept him restrained on the ground. Lying on his stomach, his face wasn't visible. A camera lay on the ground a foot away where it had skittered when Jonny tackled the man. He heard Jessie's footsteps running up to them.

"Stay back," he called to her as he struggled with his hostage to get a better look.

He heard the footsteps stop just in time for the man beneath him to get his breath back and start yelling at him. Between curses and name calling he demanded Jonny get off and let him go. He continued to struggle, but Jonny managed to turn the guy over without loosing too much control.

"Who are you?" Jonny spat the question.

"I meant no harm," the guy answered back immediately, seeing the dangerous glint in the young man's eyes.

"What were you doing?"

"I just wanted a couple pictures," the man assured.

"For what?"

"To sell to the media!"

Jonny narrowed his eyes and looked the man over. He was older, probably in his late thirties to mid-forties. He had a large gut on him as well as a days worth of beard along his jaw and was balding. With a shake of his head he got off the man and let him up.

"Why were you hiding?" Jonny asked when they were on their feet. His tone wasn't as harsh, but he was still wary.

"You Quest Clan are private people. Knew I wasn't gonna get my picture if I just asked."

"So, you thought you'd just take?" Jonny could feel the anger rising again.

"Ain't illegal. Plenty of paparazzi take pictures of famous people and sell'em to the press all the time."

"Doesn't make it right."

"Same thing goes for your tackling me," the guy shot back.

Jonny didn't reply. He had spotted Jessie coming around behind the photographer. He watched as she picked up the camera. It was of professional quality with the telescoping lens and oversized flashbulb. Not a bad piece of machinery. He must have paid well for it.

"Hey, what are you doing?" the man asked, catching sight of Jessie with his camera. He took a step toward her. Jonny caught his arm.

"Woah, don't go near her," he warned.

"I want my camera back," the man growled.

"You'll get it," Jessie assured him as she looked it over.

In a couple of seconds she pushed a button and the film tray cover popped open. Jessie pulled out the film with no care to proper handling or exposure. Quickly, she detached the film from its cartridge and let it fly away in the evening breeze. The man protested loudly, fighting Jonny's grip on his arm, but neither teen gave the man any consideration.

Jessie walked close enough to hand the camera back to its owner. Jonny released the guy and he snatched his property back. Jessie stepped over next to Jonny once she was free of the thing.

"You guys are gonna pay for that film I lost. And my camera if there are any damages. Even one scratch," the man threatened, holding the small machine as if it were a hurt puppy.

"Get out of here," Jonny told the man, ready to be away from the place.

The man backed away, still muttering about the destroyed film and the valuable pictures that had been on it. Jessie pulled at Jonny's shirt sleeve to get him to move.

"Serves him right," he muttered himself, following his friend to the car.