Disclaimer's: Still don't own Jonny Quest and probably never will... Why do I even bother with this Disclaimer's thingy? Oh, well, just don't sue me...

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Now, as I've said before about other things, power outages at your and mine house wouldn't be that big of a deal, especially if there was a storm, but this was the palace, I was with the Quest's and Co. and there was no storm.

I felt someone grab my arm. After a brief second of panic, I recognized Race's cologne, and as my eyes got used to the darkness, I could make out his outline. He was dragging me towards a corner.

"Stay here," he said, "If this is an attack, they won't see you right away. No matter what happens, don't leave this corner unless you are in mortal danger. I'm putting a guard in front of you. When the danger's over, if there's any, we'll come get you. Do you understand?"

"Yes," I whispered. Race nodded and walked towards the door once my guard was in place. No sooner did my guard draw his sword, than the window across the room from me exploded.

Well, I was betting this meant there was danger. At least I was safe in my corner and there was a guard in front of me. Now if only the lights would come back on and I could see everyone else. Where were Jonny and Hadji? And Hadji's Mom?

Through the window came people in black. How stereotypical. Couldn't they choose a different color? I almost slapped myself. Now was not the time to be thinking of clothes. Now was the time to stay very quiet and pray to God that no one came to close to my corner.

The guard was in my way and I couldn't see any of the fighting, but the sounds certainly were descriptive enough. I could tell people were fighting, but I couldn't see whom it was, let alone who was winning. Well, if I can't see them, then hopefully they can't see me.

I heard a gunshot. Please, God. If they shot at one of my friends, let them have missed. Or let Race have gotten the pistol off of them and shot them. Or why don't you just make it all go away? The sounds were getting louder, which could mean they were getting closer. My guard certainly was getting more nervous. He kept moving back and forth. I still couldn't see even though my eyes had become used to the darkness completely by now.

Then I heard, "No!" shouted by Jonny. God, what's going on? Don't let one of my friends die here. Not tonight. Please!

It turned out it wasn't them I should be worried about. It was me. All of a sudden, my guard moved forward. It looked like he tripped over something. Then I saw the bad guy.

He was holding my guard's sword. I guess the reason my guard had stumbled forward was because they had pulled his sword away from him. I was feeling oddly calm.

I am not here. I am far away. I'm back in Maine at Robbie's party. Or I'm at home, my home, in bed reading, with my puppy next to me, or... My thought wave trailed off as my guard was sliced through the stomach. He fell at my feet.

It was amazing. I could finally see what was going on beyond where I stood. Race was slicing someone's throat and Jonny was running towards me. What was so amazing about this was I didn't even stop to think about why I could finally see. I was about to die and it didn't even seem to matter.

Then it hit me: I'm going to die. My guard -I'm going to die- was dead. I watched -I'm going to die- him die in front of me. There is a -I'm going to die- guy with a sword standing in front of me. He was probably -I'm going to die- kill me. This is what happens when you wish something exciting would happen.

I could hear Jonny yelling and Race yelling something back, but none of that really mattered now. Then, I heard a shot. At first, I thought the guy in front of me had shot me, but he had only had a sword. I was sure of that. Plus, I didn't feel any pain or discomfort.

Then, I realized that the guy in front of me wasn't holding a sword anymore. It was lying on the floor with blood on it. Someone had shot the sword out of his hand and had apparently gotten a nice piece of his hand along with it. Just as the guy turned around, a blossom of red appeared on his chest that rapidly got bigger. He fell and as my legs gave out, so did I...

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"Cayla!" I heard someone calling my name. I could see just fine. Jonny was kneeling in front of me and calling for me; I just couldn't get my mouth to work to answer him.

I was looking past him at my dead guard. He had died protecting me. I looked next to Jonny and saw the guy who had tried to kill me. I wondered who had killed him? Race? Jonny? One of the other guards? Did it really matter?

"CAYLA!" Jonny's yelling was getting louder. Go away, can't you see that I'm thinking?

"Cayla, talk to me. Are you hurt? Did you get grazed with the sword or a bullet? Answer me!" Jonny's voice was rising to hysteria. I still couldn't answer, only stare at the bodies. So much blood, all because of me...

"Race, what's the matter with her?" Jonny asked, "Why isn't she answering? She's still conscious. Why isn't she answering?"

"Jonny, calm down. There's no blood. She didn't get hurt. She's just in shock. She could've died. Give her some space." Race pushed Jonny out of the way. He knelt in front of me, "Cayla? We're worried about you. If you can hear me, answer."

I can hear you I thought, I just can't make my mouth work. So much blood...

"Let's get her out of here," Race said. He moved to pick me up. That got my attention.

"Don't touch me!" I screamed. That got their attention. I didn't want any of them near me, not to mention I hate being picked up.

Race moved away and exchanged a look with Dr. Quest. Jonny moved back towards me. Not a good idea.

"Don't!" I yelled again. Race grabbed Jonny by the back of his shirt and hauled him backwards away from me.

After Race and Dr. Quest looked at each other for awhile, Race walked back towards me and grabbed the back of my neck. Before I could scream at him again, he put almost unbearable pressure on his thumb and fingers. The last thing I remembered was Race saying, "Sorry munchkin, but-" Then it all went black...

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I woke up with a headache. A look at the clock told me I couldn't have been unconscious for longer than 3 hours. It was 10:30 pm and I was all alone. That scared me for a moment before I remembered that Jonny was across the hall and Hadji was next door. I walked over to my dresser and pulled out my PJs. Once I put them on, I decided to go back to bed. It was late and I needed my sleep.

I haven't been afraid of the dark for a really long time, but all of a sudden, I was scared of every shadow on the wall. Even turning my lights on didn't help. I couldn't close my eyes. I'm paranoid by nature, and this made it even worse.

After about 2 minutes of shaking under the covers, I got up and walked over to my door. when I opened it, I half suspected to see another guy in black holding a sword in my face. Another guard was stationed outside my door. This should've reassured me enough to go back to bed and try to sleep, but it didn't.

I smiled shakily at the guard and walked across the hall to Jonny's room. I'd just tell him that I was awake and that I was sorry for worrying him. I knocked on the door.

The door opened to reveal a sleepy Jonny. When he saw me, though, he woke up instantly and went to give me a hug, but stopped short.

"It's OK," I said "I feel better. I won't freak out on you."

He hugged me and I hugged back. I still felt shaky and almost unnaturally scared. He pulled me into the room and shut the door behind him. That was better, but not by much. He had a window and even with the blinds down, it still sent chills through me. He noticed and sat me down on the bed facing away from it.

"Are you sure you're OK?" he asked, "You didn't get cut or grazed with either of the bullets that Race shot?"

"It was Race who shot the guy?" I asked. Jonny nodded, "And no, I didn't get hurt. I'm positive."

"Thank God," he said, "How are you otherwise?"

I almost said fine, but something stopped me. This was the first time Jonny and I had talked without at least one major disagreement. I wanted it to last.

"I don't know," I said.

He was silent before saying, "I wish I knew how to help you. It's been awhile since I first saw someone die."

The thought of the bodies sent another shudder through me. I didn't think the pictures would ever leave my mind. When I told him that, he said, "They probably won't."

He paused and went on, "Dad and Race are worried about you. They're afraid you'll have an emotional breakdown and then your Mom will be mad and won't let you stay the rest of the summer."

"I don't want to go anywhere," I said.

"What do you mean?" he asked, "No one will make you leave if you don't want to."

"It's all just a lot to take in," I said, "It makes me sick to my stomach to think of all the blood and," I started shaking all over again.

"Don't think about it," Jonny said, "My Dad and race will tell you that it's best to deal with it upfront, but until they talk to you, while you're here with me, forget about it. Don't make yourself crazy."

I could feel tears rolling down my face, "The bad guy deserved to die, but the guard didn't. He died protecting me."

"Don't say that," Jonny said, "It's not true."

"I wish I could think that," I said.

"We'll figure it out tomorrow," Jonny said, "Don't think about it now. Just go to sleep. You need it."

"I don't think I can sleep," I said, "I'm too paranoid," I paused This is not a good idea, but... "Could I stay here with you tonight?" I asked, "I just don't feel like being alone right now." Tears threatened to spill over again.

"Sure," Jonny said. He gestured to the messy bed, "One thing about this place. All the furniture is huge. We could fit about 3 more people in here."

I smiled wanly.

"Lie down and go to sleep," Jonny said, "I'll stay up a little longer and keep watch, if it would make you feel safer."

I nodded and lay down. I must have been really tired, because that's the last thing I remembered before blackness....

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Well? How about them apples? I almost died and now I'm emotionally traumatized. Drama, action, and the beginnings of a romance. What more could you want? Review!