Disclaimer: The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest is owned by Hanna-Barbara. No money is being made from this story. It is simply by a fan for other fans. Also, Criminal Minds is a product of CBS, no money is being made from the use of their characters.

Thank you again to all those that have read and reviewed this story so far. Even after I resurrected this story to write it in a different way than I had originally, it has still changed dramatically over the course of 15 chapters. A lot of things that were supposed to happen have not and will not and the ending is actually going to be very different than I had planned a month ago.

Chapter 15

Two black SUVs headed down the interstate, heading for Baltimore. Evening rush hour traffic in D.C. wasn't making the short trip easy, however, and Race slammed his fist against the dashboard.

"I swear I hate the traffic in this city!" He announced.

Hotch grumbled under his breath, but concentrated on driving. Jonny occupied the backseat of the SUV. While the BAU agents did not feel that bringing the teen along was appropriate, Race had quickly explained that Jonny was a member of the Quest team and could serve as a valuable asset. The gang of thugs would be focused on the agents, not looking for a young kid that could easily sneak around and search for Jessie.

"Garcia and Hadji are working on tracing the IP," Hotch stated, "Baltimore is a big city, but I have a feeling we'll be headed somewhere close to the docks and the warehouse district."

"Based on where those bodies were found?" Jonny guessed.

"Right," Hotch nodded.

Race's cell phone rang. Pulling it from his pocket he saw the number was marked private. His gut twisted into a knot, a feeling that always put him on edge. He hit the speaker phone button and said, "This is Bannon."

"Hello, Mr. Bannon." A thick European accent flowed from the phone. The tone was sly and condescending.

"Who is this?" Race growled. "I swear if you hurt my daughter…"

"I already have, Mr. Bannon," the voice cut in. "What do you propose to do about it?"

Race seethed with anger, his face turning red. He glanced in the rearview mirror at Jonny and saw a similar look of anger and desperation on the young man's face.

"Tell me where you are and I'll show you exactly what I propose to do." Race demanded. He caught Hotch giving him a sideways glance. Race knew that BAU unit chief and his team were profilers and he figured that Hotchner couldn't help but look at Race's behavior as suspect and illogical.

There was laughter on the other end of the line. "Bring me the stone and I'll let you and that worthless wife of yours live."

"I'm gonna shove this stone so far up your ass you'll be tasting rock!" Race spat.

"I'd like to see you try that, tough guy."

"Race, he's taunting you on purpose." Hotch whispered.

Race ignored the FBI agent and focused his attention back on the phone. "We're coming for you. We know where you are."

"I'll be waiting." The man replied and then the line went dead.

"Damnit!" Race resisted the urge to hurl the phone. Exhaling he turned his attention towards Jonny and said, "Sorry, kiddo."

Jonny smiled half-heartedly and said, "You were more controlled than I expected. I probably would have thrown the phone out the window."

That made Race laugh. "We'll get these guys, Jonny. I swear."

Hotch reached up towards the ceiling and hit a button to connect him back to the BAU.

"Yes, Sir?" Garcia answered.

"We're stuck in traffic, how's the search coming?"

"We've narrowed it down to a two mile radius within the warehouse district, but still working."

"That's too much for a city the size of Baltimore. Race just received a call from one of the kidnappers. Can you trace it?"

"Give me the number and I'll work my magic."

Race relayed the number to the woman and she replied, "I'll hit ya back when I've got something. For now, I just sent the details of the radius to your phones."

"Thanks, Garcia." Hotch said then hit the button to hang up.

"Between Garcia and Hadji they'll be able to pinpoint the phone that call was made from by the time we arrive." Jonny said. His respect for the technical analyst at the BAU had grown considerably over the last week.

Back at the BAU

"What have you got?" Benton asked. Garcia had moved her workstation into the conference room so all that had stayed behind could lend their assistance.

"One of those creeps just called Race," Garcia stated. "I'm trying to trace the call now."

Hadji was seated next to Garcia, working on his own laptop. "We can try to triangulate the call based off of the cell towers it pinged off. It would be easier if we could have done this while the call was still connected."

Garcia pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose. "Yeah, but since when do the bad dudes ever make things easy, right?"

Hadji smiled, "Agreed, Ms. Garcia."

"Penelope," She told him. "And you have no idea what an honor it is to be working alongside Doctor Quest and his team of Brainiac kids!"

"One of those kids is still in need of our help." Benton reminded her.

Garcia nodded and continued working.

Corbin was seated on the couch, still holding the melting ice pack to his wounded forehead; his eyes closed and his head leaning back against the wall. "You should probably switch that out." Benton said, walking over to the man. "Let me see."

Slowly, Corbin pulled the ice pack from his head, which made a tearing sound due to the dried blood and skin. "It hurts like a son of a bitch." He said.

Benton examined the man's head wound and shook his head. "Race sure did a number on you."

"First Estella then Race." Corbin said, shooting a comforting smile towards Estella who was seated next to Hadji. He knew she still felt guilty about what she had done and even though he knew why she did it, he was still wounded by the idea that she had tried to kill him instead of taking him into her confidence from the beginning.

Benton sat down and examined the wound. "How's your shoulder?"

"Hurts." Corbin stated the obvious.

Benton hummed and said, "Your stitches are all busted. They need to be replaced."

Corbin waved him off, "Not now. We have other things to concentrate on."

Natalie came over to the two men and said, "I agree with Doctor Quest. The bleeding needs to be contained."

Corbin rolled his eyes, never one to like having so much attention on him. "I'm fine."

"I'll go find a med kit." The Albanian woman said and went off in search of supplies.

"Hadji and Penelope are working as hard as they can right now. Until they pinpoint the location, there isn't much for you to do." Benton stated, "So you're going to let us do this whether you like it or not."

"Sometimes I wonder who the real boss is." Corbin said, resigning himself to his fate.

Natalie returned with the med kit and said, "I found some sutures. Now, Mr. Corbin, you know we have to remove the old ones first."

He eyed the young lady that he had helped save twelve years prior and sighed. "Alright, I assume this is going to hurt."

Benton smiled at him and the young woman in turn. "Oh yes, my friend" He said. "It will."

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"Get ready," Kosta instructed. His men were gathered before him, all armed and ready for a fight. "You know your positions. Let them approach and do not fire until I give the order. Bannon is mine, remember that, or I'll kill you myself."

"What about Drazen?" One of the men asked.

Kosta glared back at the man. "Do not worry about Drazen. I will get him when the Feds arrive. Now get out of my sight and get to your positions."

As the men left to gather their ammunition and move on to their pre-arranged fighting positions, Almin hung back. Once the room was cleared he turned to Kosta and said, "You shouldn't have called Bannon."

Kosta had found the man's number in Jessie's cell phone. He had contemplated using it to call Bannon, just to play with the man's head a bit, but decided against it. He wanted Bannon and the Feds to show up, but he wanted to ensure he was ready for them before they arrived. A trace could have been put on Jessie's phone so that as soon as a call was made, the location would be known. He knew they would trace his call and the video eventually, but he didn't want them arriving before he had everything in position.

"They are already on the way," Kosta stated. "I suggest you get to the roof."

Almin gulped. He had a bad feeling about what was about to transpire.

"I'll go let Drazen know we are ready." Kosta added. He watched Almin turn and head to the stairwell that would take the man to his lookout position on the roof.

Kosta headed towards the hallway that led back to the holding cell. The hallway was deserted; the remainder of the men were needed to take out the Feds that were coming. He turned on the light to the cell and opened the door. The inside of the cell was musty and reeked of blood. Kosta took in the scene which had remained fairly the same as he had left it. Jessie Bannon was tied to the chair, slummed over and unmoving. Drazen however was another story. He was lying in a pool of blood, clutching his stomach and his breathing eradicate.

"Hello, Drazen," Kosta said as he entered.

"You bastard." Drazen replied, his words gurgled by a mouth full of blood.

Kosta reached down and grabbed his superior under the arms and dragged him into a seated position next to the bed. He then sat down on the bed and addressed the other Yugoslavian. "You have fouled this operation up from the very beginning. You do not deserve to have the stone."

Drazen's face was ashen and his eyes rolled back and forth, unable to focus. "The stone," He started, but was suddenly overcome by a coughing fit that produced more frothy blood from the man's innards.

Kosta scooted back, out of the way of the other man's bodily fluids. "You disgust me. Why we ever followed you I will never know."

"You did it for the money," Drazen countered after his fit had subsided. "That's all you ever cared about."

Kosta shrugged and said, "Well, now I am doing this for the power. You were a fool to promise the stone to the Chechens when you could have used its power for your own gain. Nobody in this world," Kosta spread his arms to visualize his statement, "cares about us, about our country. But I promise you, that after tonight, when I have the stone, they will know who we are. I will make us great again!"

"The Chechens will kill you."

Kosta shook his head, "No, they will not. I will use them up to the point where they are no longer necessary and then dispose of them; just like you."

"Intelligence-One will find you." Drazen wheezed.

"Oh they are already on their way here; the FBI too."

"You're a fool." Drazen spat, finding a small ounce of strength.

Kosta stood and moved to the side of his former superior. Crouching down next to him, Kosta withdrew his combat knife and whispered into Drazen's ear, "And you are dead."

Pulling Drazen away from the wall, Kosta positioned himself, and then slid the knife across Drazen's throat. The wounded man attempted to struggle, but only momentarily; within seconds he was dead. Kosta wiped the blade on the dead man's shirt then stood and let the lifeless body fall to the floor with a sick thud.

He turned his attention towards Jessie, who was still slumped over in the chair. "Your father is next." He laughed and then left the cell, slamming the door shut behind him.

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The conference room of the BAU was silent, except for the typing of Garcia and Hadji. The two had divided up the tasks; Garcia attempting the trace the IP address while Hadji worked on the phone call.

Benton assisted the young Albanian Doctor as they finished stitching Corbin's cut. He had winced and jerked away a few times, prolonging the process, but he had finally settled down and let them finish. Pressing a fresh bandage to his head, Benton said. "Sometimes I wonder about you tough guys."

"I sit behind a desk most of the time," Corbin said. "I'm not that tough anymore."

Benton let out a short laugh and said, "I know what you mean. Our lifestyles are not as glamourous as they once were." He turned his attention toward Doctor Smith and asked, "So what more can you tell us about the stone? Were you able to find the secrets?"

Doctor Smith was cautious in her response, "No, but then again I never really tried."

"Why not?" Estella asked.

The young Doctor looked at Corbin and he replied, "Because I never told her about it. I figured it was better that way."

"I wanted to leave that life behind. Remembering what my father had done, what his actions did to me, was enough. I didn't even want the stone, but Mr. Corbin said I had to keep it and keep it safe. I didn't ask why because I didn't care."

"What do you think it contains?" Estella asked.

"My father's formulas."

"So Drazen and his people want it so they can unlock the formula," Benton said stroking his beard.

Corbin nodded, "The formula is not very powerful by itself. I mean, it can kill as we saw back in Kosovo. However, it needs to be combined with a method to weaponize it, which could cause even deadlier results. Delic had only tested it in small doses and the death and destruction it caused back then was significant, hence why we knew we had to retrieve it before he could weaponize it or sell it to someone who could turn it into a weapon. I don't want to imagine what it could do if it was combined with a method of transmission that could infect a large populace."

"Why not just destroy it?" Benton asked.

"At first I wasn't convinced that it was the only copy. Delic gave us some information after we helped Natalie, but he had alluded to other copies as well, but we never found any evidence that he was telling the truth, but we had to be sure."

"Is that why you had him relocated to the states?" Benton inquired.

Corbin sighed, he looked beaten. Benton assumed that ever since this ordeal had begun, the I-1 director had done nothing but second guess himself that entire time. Benton considered leaving the issue alone, it was obviously taking its toll on Corbin, who by all rights appeared as if he should still be in the hospital, but he needed answers.

"Yes, but it was also part of the deal." Corbin confessed.

"What deal?" It was Natalie who asked the question. Apparently there were things that even she did not know.

"After he survived Drazen's attack, Delic came forward with more information; information that proved to be true. He ratted out a number of his potential buyers, to include some pretty powerful nation states. He claimed to know more, but he wouldn't give it up unless we got him out of that prison. We faked his death certificate and leaked word into the prison that he was dead, so as to put off Drazen. There was also something else Delic wanted."

"What?" Benton prodded.

Corbin looked at Natalie and said, "He wanted to be close to you."

Shock overtook the young woman and she turned away from her protector. "I didn't even know he was alive."

"I didn't know how to tell you. He wants to see you, but I didn't think it was right."

Natalie turned back and said, "That's for me to decide, not you."

Corbin shook his head, ashamed. "I know. I'm sorry. I was just trying to keep you safe. And then when I was told about Drazen's escape I figured it was best to keep everything secret. I'm sorry."

Natalie's features softened; Benton felt for the young woman who was experience a wave of emotions based on this new information. But he could also tell that she still respected the man who had devised the plan to protect her and would more than likely forgive him for keeping so many secrets from her.

Benton rubbed his eyes, trying to remember how long it had been since any of them had really slept. Before he could ask any more questions, Hadji pipped into the conversation.

"I've got it!" He exclaimed.

"What? Where?" Garcia asked as she leaned over to look at the young man's screen.

"I've pinpointed the location of the phone call."

"I'm patching it through to Hotch and the others now." Garcia announced as the rest of the group gathered around.

"Good work, son!" Benton said and squeezed his son's shoulders.

Corbin fished his cell from his pocket and placed a call. "I'm going to call in I-1 SWAT from Baltimore. They'll meet the others at the site."

"Good thinking." Benton said.

"Now let's hope this is over soon." Estella added and the looks from the others showed that they agreed with her statement.

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To Be Continued….

A/N: This chapter is much shorter than what I usually write, however I wanted to break up these scenes from the next, which is where more action will take place. It just did not feel right to continue on with it here, but deserves its own chapter.