Ha! Made it! Thought for sure I'd be late again. Sorry about that!
This chapter includes a reference to the JQ:TRA episode "Assault on Questworld" just as an FYI.
Enjoy!
"I still think we should have called Doctor Quest," Jessie said, looking across Hadji to where Jonny was wedged in the small seat against the window. They'd been lucky to get three seats together on their commercial flights, but that only slightly made up for the cramped conditions.
"No way," Jonny shook his head. "Not for something like this."
"I am certain he would wish to know," Hadji said softly.
"He'd worry," Jonny returned. "And he can't be distracted right now. It sounded like this meeting is really, really important. We all know that dad thinks he's a master of compartmentalization when it comes to stuff like this, but he really isn't." He smiled a little. "Besides, it's not really that bad."
Jessie raised an eloquently arched eyebrow.
Jonny held up his hands. "I'm not saying it's not a problem. But it's not like I'm actually sick or hurt. And I'm not even having dangerous spikes. It's an absence, not an overload."
"For now," Hadji said.
"Besides," Jonny ignored his brother, "dad would tell us to call Blair and to get to Cascade so he could help us, which is what we're doing. It's not like this is the worst thing to happen to us without them knowing about it."
"I don't know about you," Jessie frowned, "but I still have calluses from our house-painting punishment for not telling them about that time Surd tried to take over the compound while they were in the Himalayas."
"And like I said then, we're just protecting my dad from the harsh realities of the world."
Hadji sighed. "We're never going to win this argument."
Jonny's blue eyes met Hadji's brown for an anxious moment. Jonny knew that if Hadji truly asked, truly wanted him to call their father, he would relent. He could not really deny Hadji anything, and he also respected that while he personally might not want to worry his dad, he couldn't actually come between Hadji and the only parent he had ever known. Hadji's bond with his adopted father was as important to Jonny as his own, and since childhood he had aggressively made sure to defend Hadji as his brother and as Doctor Benton Quest's son. Jonny might tussle with his dad, but when Hadji asked him to stop, he always did.
But Hadji smiled at his brother and shook his head. "As Race has often said, a man must choose his battles wisely. I believe the greater wisdom lies in trusting you, my friend, to know best what you wish for your own senses."
Jessie sighed, accepting that Hadji had a point – they were Jonny's senses and he should get final say over who knew what about them. But she still looked at him and crossed her arms.
"Okay, I'll go along with it, but I'm warning you, Jonny. If either of our dads decides on another round of house-painting for leaving them out of the loop, you are on your own this time!"
"On the plus side," Jonny pointed out with a smile, "Jim and Blair will be in the same boat with us. And I'd absolutely love to see our dads force Jim into painting anything."
"Speaking of which," Hadji pointed out as he looked past Jonny's shoulder out the window, "we appear to have arrived."
-==OOO==-
Jim stood quietly beside Blair, watching the arrivals gate for their friends. He glanced down to see the slight smile tugging at his partner's lips and huffed.
"Still love 'em!" Blair said cheerfully.
"Still hate 'em," Jim replied dryly.
It was an old argument. Blair had a deep and abiding affection for airports. He saw them as gateways to adventures and new places and exploration and discovery and learning. Jim figured this had as much to do with his history of traveling around as it did with the number of times he had met his mother at a random airport somewhere in the world. But also, Blair loved people-watching. The whole spectrum of humanity flowing around him, similarities never clearer, differences never more robust. And, of course, he could watch the joy on display as people geared up for a trip they'd waited their whole lives for, or as people greeted loved ones after a separation.
Jim, on the other hand, despised all airports. They were loud, chaotic, overly-chemicaled places filled with potential threats and thieves. Plus, where Sandburg watched joyful reunions, Jim was much more aware of angrily screaming babies sore from pressure changes in their sensitive ears, exhausted men and women dreading either their flight or their arrival, sharp-tempered travelers who had been bounced all over by canceled flights, and the propensity of the people to be more likely to glare than smile at a stranger. He truly pitied those who worked at airports – they spent their days being yelled at, trying to show politeness to people too tired or stressed or impatient to return in kind, and having to live in stiff, awkward uniforms in a place so controlled even the air was laden with chemicals. He wondered often whether it was their bodies or their souls that got polluted first.
His hearing only open a fraction above normal in deference to the jet engine noises outside, Jim still perceived the three kids long before he could see them make the turn to the security checkpoint. Jessie was voicing some kind of comment about the strange choice of music playing. Jim stiffened when Jonny responded that he hadn't noticed – he could hear it, he was saying, but it wasn't enough to stick out to him and he didn't really feel anything with this Sentinel hearing.
If Jonny wasn't aware of the screaming jets on the runways and the loud babble of many conversations and the overly loud rock music playing, he really had lost his senses.
A moment later, they rounded the last corner, spotting Jim easily in the crowd.
"Hi you guys!" Blair greeted them cheerfully, as though they were only here for a friendly visit. But his eyes moved from Jessie to Hadji to Jonny and his expression morphed into concern. "Are you okay?"
"Sure," Jonny shrugged, unperturbed. "Just kind of…you know. Normal."
He said it easily and flippantly, but Jim opened his senses to listen to his heart-beat and knew differently. The kid was scared.
Jim dropped an arm around his shoulders and started to walk towards the parking lot. "Come on. We'll figure it out."
Outside, they weaved through the many lanes of traffic to where Jim had spotted a fantastic spot right at the edge of the big parking complex.
"Be grateful," Blair said from behind. "You don't all fit in the truck, so we get this ride instead."
Jim unlocked the sleek, brand new van. "It's not mine," he said almost defensively. "Benton bought it for SELF so we could haul you guys and your dads around when you all come out together. I'd still rather be in my truck."
"We don't mind riding in the back of a pickup," Jonny offered.
"No seatbelts," Blair said as he jumped into the passenger side. "And believe me, with Jim driving, you'll want them."
Jim swatted his partner's head while he watched the kids climb aboard. All three carried a backpack and Jonny had an additional duffle bag, but they had no other luggage so they fit easily in the vast space. As soon as they were in, Jonny set the duffle on the floor and opened it.
"Figures he's still asleep," Jonny said with a smirk. "Bandit travels so much, he equates airplanes with naptime."
"You brought Bandit?" Blair was a little surprised. He spun around in his seat to peek at the snoozing dog in the carrier.
"Of course," Hadji answered. "Where Jonny goes, unless it is simply too dangerous, Bandit follows."
"You Quests are quite an entourage," Jim commented.
Jessie, even though she was technically a Bannon, met his eyes in the rear-view mirror and smiled. "Yes, we are."
The drive through Cascade was mostly quiet. Blair was practically squirming in his seat from his desire to learn more about what was happening with the younger Sentinel, but by unspoken accord they were waiting until they reached the lodge for the serious conversations. Jim instead pointed out certain things of interest as they passed them, including the police station, the basic direction of the loft, and Rainier's main campus.
To his surprise, all three kids seemed knowledgeable about the area, asking specific questions about streets and how they might get from one to the other. At his confusion, Hadji explained.
"We make it a practice wherever we go to commit at least the major thoroughfares to memory, along with any locations we expect to visit. We have spent much time in many different cities, and one does not wish to be lost when one has the choice to find oneself."
Blair nodded. "Yup, I used to do the same thing. Always know your compass directions, major landmarks, and where to find a hospital, a police station, and a grocery store."
"And a library, which is likely to have access to the internet," Jessie added.
"And a hardware store," Jonny put in.
"Why that?" Jim wanted to know.
Jonny grinned. "If you knew how much equipment we break on every single trip and have to rebuild or replace, you'd understand. I can fix almost anything with some good tools and duct tape, but you got to know where to find it."
"Well," Jim smiled back, "if you think the lodge isn't well stocked to your standards, let me know. I'm not sure it's provisioned for the kind of trouble you three seem to get into."
As they followed the winding roads up into the mountains, Blair and Jim fielded various questions about the lodge – the Quests knew all about it from a theoretical perspective, but they hadn't seen it in person yet. They'd claimed their rooms from the floor-plan after knowing what Jim and Blair had chosen, but they'd never actually been there.
"Will there be a lot of agents on site?" Jessie wanted to know.
"Not more than a handful," Blair answered. "And they aren't staying at the lodge. They're split up around the perimeter in the gatehouses. If we stay near the main area, we probably won't see them."
"Good," Jonny said quietly. He didn't have to elaborate – they all understood he didn't want to be seen fighting with his senses by strangers.
When they turned off onto the narrow road that led into the woods, everyone went quiet. It wasn't until they had passed through the secure gate and gotten within sight of the lodge itself that the silence was broken. Bandit picked that moment to yip brightly.
"Yes, we're here, boy," Jonny pet him, unable to quite quell the nervousness that was filling him up.
Hadji wordlessly reached over and gripped his arm.
"All right," Jim said as he pulled the van up beside the lodge. "Let's get your stuff upstairs and then we'll talk."
Bandit eagerly started exploring this new territory, discretely marking it as he went, but he stayed at Jonny's side once they entered the building. Jim led the way, carrying his own bag of overnight stuff he'd brought just in case. The nice thing about the way the lodge was built was that there was sort of a central structure along with wings down either side. The central structure was built around the greatroom downstairs, and all the rooms on the upper levels opened onto wide balconies that had unobstructed views across and down so someone (probably Jim) could stand outside his room and watch over anyone within the greatroom or the hallways. The building went on to either side with wings of rooms that were a little more closed off, but from there Jim could also see well down either hallway. The lines of sight had been built very carefully to account for Sentinels and their instinctive need to watch their territory. Warm sunlight filtered down from a few skylights above, and though empty and quiet, the whole building still felt open and comfortable and safe.
Jim opened the door to the rooms he and Blair shared long enough to chuck his bag into the closet before he went back out to the open hallway. Hadji was digging out the key to the suite of rooms he would share with Jonny. Jim noticed the pair of them studiously ignoring the bright nameplate on their door that read, "Sentinel Jonny Quest, Guide Hadji Quest – SELF Founders." Jessie, two doors down, grinned at her own name beside her father's, also listed as founders of SELF. Only Benton's was different. His read, "Benton Quest – Distinguished Chancellor and Founder of SELF." It hadn't been what Benton had intended for himself, but Race and Blair had interceded. Jim had agreed; the guy making everything around them possible deserved some kind of recognition as more than just a "founder."
Jim hadn't actually looked in any of the rooms besides his own and the one Simon had claimed next to himself and Sandburg; Simon's room was arranged the same way Jim and Blair's had been with two small bedrooms and a central area. But as he followed Jonny and Hadji, he was surprised to find that their space was actually one big room only split by low half-walls or artful screens. They had a shared sleeping area in the far corner with their beds arranged at a right-angle with their heads close together. There was one area right near a big window that had been screened off, but Jim could see a soft rug through the gaps in the joints of the screen – probably for meditation. Otherwise, the living room–kitchen–general use area was fluid, connected. And, unlike the rooms Jim had seen before – his own and Simon's – it wasn't decorated with the rustic look of the cabin. He couldn't quite name the style, but it was much more modern, though it clearly had an Indian twist.
Curious now, Jim moved past Benton's room to where Jessie was just coming out of her own space. But that, too, was almost identical to Jim's rooms. He frowned. Heading back to Jonny and Hadji's door, he leaned on the doorfame.
"Why do I feel like I missed a decorating memo?" he asked.
"Oh, that was my doing," Blair said airily as he slipped past Jim to enter. "Hadji and I thought maybe this would be more comfortable for them."
"We had the same room for the first year we lived together," Jonny explained, pulling a box from one of the cabinets in the kitchenette and pouring a bowl of food for Bandit. "We kind of got used to it. We've got separate rooms now, but…"
"You'd knock down the wall if you could," Jessie put in from beside Jim. "Heck, I'd do it too, but a girl's got to have some privacy around all you boys." She smiled.
"Yeah, but what if you need space?" Jim looked to Blair. "Sentinels sometimes, er…"
"Won't happen," Jonny said resolutely.
"It could," Blair warned.
"My friends," Hadji appeared around one of the screens where he had been unpacking a bag in the sleeping area, "please do not concern yourselves. In the event of such an instinctive desire for separation, I could simply take refuge next door with Doctor Quest or even Race and Jessie." His face softened as he looked at his brother. "But I agree. It is not likely occur. We are not strangers to the other's habits, Jim. We have no boundaries to threaten one another. We have been brothers too long."
Jim nodded, but his gaze fell on his own partner. There was something stiff in Blair's shoulders, something in what he could see of his expression that was subtly unhappy. Jim understood – the ease of the connection between Jonny and Hadji was closer than what Jim had shared with his own brother growing up. It was akin to what he knew Sandburg wanted from him. In fact, it was what he wanted for himself. Jim just had no idea how to get there.
Instead, he cleared his throat and changed the subject. "You guys hungry, or should we just get down to business."
"Let's do it," Jonny faced him with his head up and his shoulders back. "I'm not hungry anyway."
He glanced to Hadji, who gave a slight nod. Neither of them would feel particularly well until what had been lost was restored.
-==OOO==-
Two hours later, everybody was frustrated.
Blair ran a hand through his hair, grimacing at the heat. Mid-September in the Pacific Northwest was still pretty warm and largely dry, and for once the day was blazingly sunny and beautiful. Which, of course, Blair loved. The long grasses under them had made a soft mat for their day outside, and the rest of the world had seemed so very far away. But he was still allowed to get hot. At least now the sun was finally starting to go down for the evening, the long shadows offering some respite.
"All right," he said more to himself than the others as he idly carded his hands through the grass before him. "Let's take a step back. We've established that Jonny's senses aren't totally gone, which is good."
"Yeah, and my nose is still itching from that stink!" Jonny protested.
"Dial it back," Blair responded automatically. The young Sentinel frowned deeply but attempted to obey. From the expression on his face, it wasn't completely successful.
"They really do seem to be intermittent," Jessie said thoughtfully. "Offline overall until suddenly one will be back for a moment and then gone again. Never a consistent sense and never a consistent stimulus that brings it back."
"Your music and meditation did not appear to work," Hadji put in. "And Jonny is no stranger to those techniques, and we both feel confident that his answers do not lie in something so simple."
"Jim? Any thoughts?" Blair turned to his partner.
"You're the expert, Professor," Jim shrugged. Then, a little sympathetically, "But I've had a couple of outages myself, and I'm still not sure what fixed them."
"And you already tried isolation out in the wilderness, right?" Blair asked. Jonny nodded. "Then I'm not sure more of that would help. I can't figure why you should get different results just because you're in a different forest."
"We did make every attempt to follow your excellent instructions," Hadji said. "Only when we were defeated at every turn did we decide to trouble you for help."
Jim perked up at that. He suddenly realized that Jonny, for all his frustration and sullen disappointment, was reacting fairly well to the setback. Jim remembered nearly tearing Sandburg's head off for lesser failures than this one – he had very little patience for feeling like the so-called expert was, in fact, out of ideas. But Jonny didn't seem to resent Blair for not having all the answers and cracking the problem yet. He was desperate and angry, but not resentful.
"It comes of hanging out around scientists all the time," Jessie said as if reading Jim's thoughts. "We're used to trial and error as a way of life, and of finding out that some questions just can't be answered right now, today."
"Well, today's what we've got," Blair said with a bit of his own disappointment. "Unless I cancel my class tomorrow." He looked at the four faces around him. "Which I could do. You guys need me."
"No way!" Jonny said so loudly he surprised Bandit out of the snooze he'd fallen into in the center of their rough circle. Bandit came up barking before Jessie quickly settled him.
"This is important," Blair said. "This is what it's all about."
"Yeah, but not this," Jonny argued. "If we were talking about me being insensible from a zone-out or something, yeah, you'd be right. The way I see it, you've only got so much leeway with the university right now, so you've got to spend your margin carefully. And this, me stuck like this, isn't worth that. There's no real rush to getting things fixed. Not enough to justify you missing class."
"What Jonny means," Hadji said softly, "is that we know SELF is worth your sacrifice of your teaching duties. But he does not wish you to sacrifice for him just yet. We all know there will be time enough for that sooner or later."
Blair was taken aback. Then, suddenly, his psychology training kicked in and he understood something else Jonny wasn't saying, something Hadji clearly knew. Jonny doesn't want this to be a big deal to me, because if it's a big deal to someone he considers an expert, then something's really wrong. And if something's really wrong, then Jonny has reason to be afraid. So far, he's focused on being brave.
Blair nodded, and he didn't miss the flash of relief in Jonny's face or the gratitude in Hadji's. "Okay. If you don't mind, then, I'll hang around here through dinner, but then I ought to head back into town. I don't even want to think about commuting in for an 8:15 class from way out here," he smiled.
"Are we planning to stay up here?" Jessie asked, looking to Jonny and Hadji.
"I figure we should," Jonny said. "I mean, that's what this place is for – to help Sentinels figure out their senses. Not really a better place to do it."
"You've got that right," Jim grimaced, remembering certain tests run in the kitchen that never should have been anywhere near where he would actually want to be eating food later.
"Do you not wish to stay here?" Hadji asked her.
"Well…I mean, of course if you need me here, I'll stay," she hedged, "but honestly, I'd rather head back myself."
"What for?" Jonny asked.
"A couple of different things," she admitted. "First of all, the link between SELF and Rainier's anthropology resources online hasn't been finished, so I'm sure there's stuff I could be searching for if I had access, and for that I have to be on campus. Second of all, I…" she tucked her hair back in a sudden nervous gesture, "I kind of want to see the campus, maybe talk to some people."
"Hey, we get it, Jess," Jonny reassured her. "If it's going to be our homes for a while, we better get used to it. Say hi to the Dean for me if you see her."
"You don't mind if I don't stay here with you?"
"We understand your intent," Hadji said. "And if you had no reason at all, we still would not be troubled. It is your preference and that is enough."
"Do you mind if I catch a ride with you?" Jessie turned to Blair.
"Nah," he shook his head. "Where're you staying?"
"Are there any beds in the SELF house upstairs yet?"
"Just the one emergency cot," Blair answered.
"Good enough," she smiled.
"Actually," Jim spoke up, "I think I'll stay up here for a while longer. Simon said to take some time if I needed it, and I don't have anything to rush back to in Cascade right now. So you can stay at the loft if Sandburg doesn't mind."
"Yeah, no problem," Blair smiled. "You can take my room and I'll hit the couch."
"Will you sleep okay out there?" Jessie asked, concerned.
"Yeah, sure. No big deal."
Jim hid a smile – even without so much as glancing at him, his Guide understood better than to even offer the other proper bed in the loft. Jim's space was sacrosanct and even Blair was only semi-welcome there. Though he might decide to take pity on the guy and let him take the bed instead of the couch if he promised to wash all the sheets.
Blair stood and stretched. "Okay. Teacher says we should figure out the kitchen and grab some grub before it gets much later. Besides, aren't you guys hungry?"
There was a rumble of agreement while everyone got to their feet, Bandit happily bounding from one friend to another. As they set off towards the lodge, Jim gestured for Jessie to stay behind. If the others noticed, they didn't say anything and left the pair alone.
"What's up, Jim?" Jessie looked at him quizzically.
"Come with me a minute," he said. He began to circle around the lodge towards one of the out-buildings. Unlike most, this one looked as though it weren't brand new, as if, in fact, it were regularly in use.
"You gonna shoot me?" Jessie teased the detective as she realized he'd brought her to the indoor firing range.
But Jim was all business. His thumbprint opened the weapons locker inside – unlike the outer door, which was locked with a simple keycard like most of the doors on-site – and he drew out a standard Glock and pair of clips loaded with live rounds. Then he closed up the locker and strode to the door that separated the front area from the actual shooting range.
Jessie followed him curiously but without any fear. It would take a lot more than being alone in a room unarmed for her to even begin to think about doubting this man. Still, she was surprised when he handed her a set of ear-protectors and safety goggles. He waited until she'd donned both before he turned, loaded the gun, and hit a button, activating the range.
Over the course of the next thirty seconds, ten targets appeared, some marked as "friendly" and some marked as "hostile." Jim expertly shot only the hostile targets, putting at least one shot dead-center and usually a second clustered nearby. At the end of the round, he turned to her.
"You know what you're doing?" he asked her.
Jessie's heart sped up a little, and she met his gaze seriously. "Yes, sir."
Jim handed the Glock to her, waited for her to check the chamber, and hit the button again.
Everything disappeared. Jessie fell into the rhythm of the exercise, striking her first target three times to make sure she had an accurate read of the gun in her hands before she settled into shooting instinctively. When the round ended, she efficiently unloaded it, ejecting the magazine and double-checking the chamber to ensure there were no surprises inside. Only when that was done did she look up for her results.
"Nice job," Jim said with a small smile. "Didn't miss more than once, and didn't shoot any friendlies."
"Want to tell me what that was all about?" Jessie asked calmly as she removed her goggles and ear-protectors.
"Your dad once told me that you could shoot anything short of a bazooka he put in your hands, and that you knew how to take care of yourself. I wanted to know if that was true."
Jessie waited. She didn't know Jim well, but she knew well enough to give him time when he was working himself through verbalizing something uncomfortable.
"Look," he said finally. "I promised Blair I wouldn't ignore my instincts as a Sentinel anymore, and I haven't. And right now, I feel like something's not right. I don't know what it is or why, but I feel like I'm waiting for something to happen."
"And you're worried about Blair," she concluded.
Jim nodded. "He's a trouble magnet. Kind of like you and those boys," he flashed a smile at her. "I can't shake the feeling that something bad is right around the corner."
"Why don't you come down to Cascade, then?" Jessie asked curiously. "That's your territory. And you know that Jonny and Hadji will be safe up here."
"Yes, but this is where I need to be," Jim answered. "As much as I need to protect Cascade...I need to help Jonny more." He swallowed. "I don't really know why. I just…feel like I should be here now. Even if I can't shake the sense that something's just waiting to explode down there."
"I don't necessarily understand it," Jessie said, "but it doesn't matter. If this is your way of asking me to protect Blair while you're up here, I will." Her green eyes held his intense gaze without fear. "I promise."
"I'm not honestly sure what's worse, counting on a teenager to protect my Guide or waiting for whatever's going to happen, but I'll feel a lot better if I think you both are watching each others' backs. I'll put in a call to Simon, too, just in case." Jim hesitated for a moment.
Then he picked up the gun she had abandoned and handed her the second, fresh clip. "Hang onto it. And I hope to god you don't have to use it, but if you do, I'm counting on you."
