Disclaimer: Much as I'd like to, I don't own Jonny Quest or anything affiliated with the Quest logo… brand… whatever. I hate disclaimers. Oh yeah, and the "tuff" concept, as far as I know, belongs to S.E. Hinton's The Outsiders, which I don't own either.

Author's Note: Jessie will be a bit OOC in this chapter; I blame hormones and the fact that she's been knocked out for around three days. Jonny is a guy; it's always the hormones. And, uh, some stuff won't really make sense in this chapter, but I really wanted this chapter to be humorous, as opposed to how… I guess dark… the previous chapters were.

Last time: To make a long scene short, Jessie was being choked to death by Jager (wanna-be boyfriend gone wrong), and was saved by Jonny, who apparently died previously. Has Jonny returned from beyond the grave? Was he ever dead at all?

In the REAL WORLD:

Jessie awoke after falling into a deep sleep induced by that run in her throat had had with Jager's hands; the semi-coma lasted for around two to three days. She awoke not because she was finally rested, but rather because she heard a familiar voice calling her.

"Jessie," it taunted her from far away. "Bannon, you're too tuff to die. And what would be the point, anyway? Jager's gone, dude. I killed him myself."

Jessie finally opened dull green eyes a fraction to mumble, "Shut light off. Shut up," before rolling over so that she could sleep more. But she hadn't counted on rolling right off of the bed on which she lay. She would have hit the floor hard if strong arms hadn't streaked out to catch her.

"Jess!" Jonny's familiar voice chided. "Dude, you're up!"

Jessie winced. "Not so looouuud," she whined. As an afterthought she added, "Dude," while frowning cheekily up at her childhood friend. Jonny unceremoniously dumped her back onto the cot that she'd been sleeping on, ignoring Jessie's angry grunt in his direction.

Jessie lightly touched a hand to her aching forehead, groaning. "Ugh, I feel like I just downed a litre of Wild Turkey Whiskey," she mumbled, frowning down at her bare legs. She did a double-take just to make sure before eyeing Jonny with an angry gleam.

"Quest," she ground out. "Where. Are. My. Pants!" She yelled the last word at him, wincing when her own loudness jarred her head even more.

Jonny smirked, blue eyes gleaming mischievously. "Pants, pants, pants," he murmured to himself, tapping a finger on his chin thoughtfully. "Nope, dunno what you're talking about!" he finished cheerfully.

"Jonny." Jessie threw caution to the winds, not caring if he saw anything, getting very slowly, very deliberately. "I swear, if you don't give up the ghost right now, I will personally castrate you," she threatened, meaning every word, as she stalked towards him.

Jonny took a moment to admire the sight of the tall, lean Jessie Bannon striding towards him, letting his gaze run from her glittering eyes, to her full lips that were currently pressed into a thin angry line, all the way down her white shapely legs. Then he pulled a hand from behind his back as he feigned surprise.

"Ohhh… You mean these pants." He dangled them tantalizingly in front of Jessie, jerking his hand away when she reached for them. "Ah, ah, ah," he mocked. "Not just yet." He tossed the wanted clothes item behind him before bodily blocking Jessie. He folded his arms across his chest resolutely. "You have to go through me first." He dropped into a ready stance. "I'll take anything you can throw at me."

Jessie shrugged, an idea tugging at the corner of her mind. He has no idea what I'm gonna pull, she thought in satisfaction. She slowly closed the distance between them, a seductive smirk adorning her features. "Jonny," she purred, loving the confusion evident on his face. She let her fingertips trail across his face, enjoying the flush that rose up at her touch. She couldn't help it; she had to express her amusement somehow. And it was her twitching mouth that became her plot's downfall.

Her quirking mouth drew Jonny's attention, and he let a corner of his lips twitch up in recognition of her plan. So that's what she's trying, he realized. Wonder how she'll like it when I turn the tables!

"Jessie," he whispered in a husky voice as he brushed a hand across her cheekbones. He let his hand slip off her face and down her neck and arms until it rested on her hip. She glanced down nervously, but the moment of shock was gone as quickly as it had come. When she looked up again, her mouth was mere centimetres away from Jonny's. She gulped discreetly, but rallied quickly. She looped her arms about his neck, lessening the already miniscule space between their bodies, and brought his face even closer to hers. She hovered her mouth just over his, smirking.

Jonny shocked both Jessie and himself when he brushed his mouth against hers. Jessie breathed in sharply and rose onto her toes to match his height better. Jessie again gasped, but this time not from an unfamiliar feeling, though it was unfamiliar coming from Jonny. Her standing on her toes brought her body flush against Jonny's, which was much more toned than it used to be. She still wasn't used to the idea of Scrawny Jonny having such defined muscles, and feeling them against her unnerved her.

Inexplicably, lyrics from her favourite musical – Wicked – ran through her mind.

Kiss me too fiercely; hold me too tight, she thought a bit giddily. If it turns out it's over too fast, I'll make every last moment last, as long as you're mine… Somehow, I've fallen under your spell… I'll wake up my body and make up for lost time… Say there's no future for us as a pair; I know I may know – I don't care.

Finally, Jonny broke the kiss, looking down at Jessie dazedly. He managed to get a hand on her chin and tilted it up so that he didn't have to bend over too far to reach her mouth. Jessie made a soft, contented sound in the back of her throat when their lips again met, and Jonny took heart from that. He carefully parted his lips and probed at Jessie's mouth with his tongue, at which Jessie abruptly broke away.

"Urgh!" she released a strangled cry into her hands. She lifted her gaze and glared at Jonny's ice blue eyes. "You!" she accused, jabbing a finger at him. "All the little 'seduction'" – she made air quotes – "was so I could get my pants back! And then, it escalated, and…" She shook her head, again groaning aloud. A thought occurred to her that made her eyebrow twitch in discomfort.

"Jonny," she said slowly. Jonny met her gaze without shifting his facial expression at all. "Why were my pants off in the first place?" she asked pseudo-sweetly.

"That was entirely my fault, actually," a new voice answered from behind her. She whirled around and swore when green eyes met green eyes.

Jager moved into the light, nonchalantly tossing a knife up and down in his hand. Jessie would have liked nothing more than to jab said knife into Jager's hand and listen to the screams. A cocky smile lit Jager's face as he seemingly read what was racing through Jessie's mind. He let his gaze lazily traverse Jessie's lithe figure, liking what he saw.

"Your exoskeleton really doesn't do you justice, Jessica, dear," he drawled. A wicked smile lit his features. "Did you miss me?"

-Author's Notes-

:cackles: Hello again, my dears! I apologize for the lateness of this new chapter, but you can blame my rotten teachers for that. :blameblameblame: I assume you all had a right cheery little V-Day, am I right? Well, well done, medium well. Anyway, review! Blessed be, Luna