Title: Blue-eyed Angel, 17/17
Author: Goddess Evie
Date: June 18, 2015
Category: JJHR, Angst
Summary: I'm not giving you one because I don't want to give away a single thing.
Disclaimer: I do not own JQ. I make no money off this story. I am only using the characters for my own unique story. I also do not own "I'm Kissing You" by Des'Ree. I merely use the lyrics to enhance my humble writing.
Author's Note: This is not only the chapter you've all been waiting for, but the one you totally deserve. For sticking with me through this journey with all the long delays between updates, the cliff hangers, the angst. For all the amazing reviews you've left me, the story and author favorites. For being so awesome through this journey. It's not finished yet. This fic will be a trilogy, so there'll be another story. And an epilogue for this installment. So one more "chapter" technically. But I can't say thank you all enough for simply everything. I feel like this chapter is just a small way of saying thank you for it all.
Chapter 17: Heaving heart is full of pain, oooh, oooh, the aching…
Jonny stood at the rec room bay window, staring out on the front lawn, the circular driveway, the security fence and the wild forest beyond. He'd been there ever since Race and Estella had left for the second time to go to the high school. They were bringing Jessie home early. He knew it. And he would be here waiting for her.
All morning, with Jessie gone, the fog had been trying to creep back in, cut him off. But this time he wouldn't let it. He would be here waiting for Jessie without the fog getting between them. Just as Estella had asked. It was a battle, but he was winning.
Hadji had been there too, was standing next to him now, a quiet and comforting presence. Jonny wished Hadji knew what a help he was. He would someday soon, when he could find his words.
Jonny glanced at the nearest clock hanging on the wall. It had already been an hour since Race and Estella left. Hadji had suggested they have some lunch, but Jonny couldn't pull himself from the window. Jessie would be upset when she found out he hadn't eaten. But then they could have lunch together.
The gravel crunched under the tires as Race's car pulled up. The moment it stopped, the back door opened and Jessie climbed out. But then she didn't approach the house. Her gaze turned to the window Jonny stood at. She couldn't see him, but Jonny had the feeling she knew he was there.
He watched the exchange between Jessie and her parents with growing trepidation. His breathing grew heavy when she ran away from the house instead of toward it.
Hadji's hand landed on his shoulder. "I'm sure she is okay."
Jonny turned and walked out of the rec room. He caught Race and Estella coming in from the front hall. He thought they looked a little guilty when they spotted him.
"Hey, kiddo," Race greeted. "Jessie wanted me to let you know that she's okay. She just needed a moment alone. School was…well, she'll tell you about it when she gets back. Just let her have her moment, okay?"
Jonny nodded when he wanted to run out the front door to wherever she was.
"I told her I'd go get her myself in fifteen minutes if she's not back," Race added.
Jonny looked to the front hall, then walked back into the rec room where Hadji was waiting. Jonny glanced at the clock again, calculating the time in fifteen minutes. He sat down on the window seat and stared out the window. When Jessie came back, she'd come right by there.
"What did Race say?" Hadji asked in that conversational way he had. Like everything was normal.
Usually Jonny didn't mind, but right now the tone grated on his nerves. How am I supposed to tell you when you know I can't talk? Besides, it was the wrong question altogether.
So instead Jonny imagined Hadji asking him, Why do you think she came home early?
Good question, Jonny might have replied. Something must have happened, must have upset her.
Though he knew he shouldn't go down that path, Jonny wondered what could have happened. His mind immediately took him to the worst scenario: Zach Ellis. Or another like him.
The fog started creeping in. Jonny pressed his eyes closed as his hands resting on his thighs balled into fists. No. She was here. No fog. He was tired of fog.
Jonny opened his eyes to check if Jessie was on her way back.
Instead he saw a trio of men in black holding guns approaching the house.
Jessie!
Jonny was on his feet and running full speed for the front door in the very next moment. He heard Hadji's surprised exclamation behind him. Just before he burst out the front door, Hadji cried, "IRIS, security alert. Intruders. RACE!"
Then Jonny was barreling across the lawn in the same direction Jessie had gone. He stayed close to the front of the house. The guns didn't sound—they were probably silenced—but Jonny heard the crack of the bullets hitting the house. He was lucky none hit him.
Jessie!
He blasted past the end of the mansion into open air. He spotted a couple more black-suited men coming up from behind the house, but he didn't slow. He had his eyes on the cliff above the beach. It had to be where Jessie had gone.
More bullets whizzed past, from either side. Jonny crouched down in the tall grass to make himself a smaller target while still trying to keep his speed. The edge of the cliff seemed to be getting closer so very slowly. At some point he heard someone calling his name. His dad, or Race, perhaps.
Jessie!
She was all that mattered. She was alone, still reeling from the trauma of Zach Ellis—the trauma from school today, whatever had happened. The last thing she needed was to face this alone.
Jonny stopped abruptly at the edge of the cliff. He rocked forward, almost losing his balance. In a moment he sized up the situation: Jessie halfway out to the water, and a black clad man pointing his rifle right at her.
The gun went off. Jessie dropped to the sand.
"JESSIE!"
Jonny launched himself off the cliff at the figure in black. The guy looked up just in time to see Jonny coming down on him. Before he could react, Jonny landed, smashing the guy to the ground. The gun he held flew out across the sand. The man started struggling, but Jonny wrapped an arm around the guy's neck, clamping the hand into the crook of the opposite elbow. He held on until the man went limp, then let him drop to the ground.
Jonny was on his feet again running for Jessie. She hadn't moved since the man had shot her. He skidded to his knees in the sand, spraying her with granules.
"Jessie," he said again.
She looked up, her green eyes wide, mouth open.
Jonny helped her up, looking for the bloodstain, the bullet wound. "Are you okay? Where did he shoot you?"
"I'm okay," she said.
It was all she got out before Jonny kissed her. His hands cupping her cheeks. Her lips soft against his own.
His brain was obviously lagging behind his body. When it caught up he pulled away almost violently, ack pedaling in the sand crab style.
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry."
"Jonny, wait!"
They broth froze for a moment, except for their breathing, blue eyes staring into green.
"It's okay," Jessie said.
Jonny started shaking his head. Jessie crawled toward him, pulled herself close, touched his arm, his face.
"Just please don't stop talking," she begged.
He thought she might cry as he sat blinking at her for a moment.
"I won't," he said.
She threw her arms around him and held tightly onto him. Now she actually was crying.
"You swear you're okay?" Jonny asked again as he wrapped his arms around her.
Jessie nodded. "I was playing dead. Studied his body language and dropped before he actually pulled the trigger. I was hoping to lure him closer where I could do some damage."
Only you, Jess.
"I really thought he had…" Jonny couldn't finish the sentence. He shook his head and buried his face in her fair. Breathed in her scent. She didn't seem keen to let go any time soon. And he wasn't complaining.
But what about the other thing? he wanted to ask, a pang of guilt striking his heart. When I kissed you? After what Zach had done to her, how was she okay with that? Or with their embrace right now?
When Jessie finally looked up, her crying done, Jonny wiped the tear tracks from her cheeks. His body, once again, moving faster than his brain. But Jessie didn't even flinch. He noted the bruise on her right cheek with a gentle caress of his thumb.
Before he could even ask, Jessie was explaining. "He didn't do that. That happened at school."
Anger burst in his chest like a suddenly lit fire. It must have shown in his eyes, because Jessie pressed her forehead to his, tightening her arms around him.
"I really am okay. I'll explain what happened later. I promise. But now is not the time."
Despite his fiery anger, Jonny nodded his agreement.
Jessie swallowed and breathed and asked, "What about you? Are you okay?"
Jonny knew she wasn't asking about the attack. He stared into her eyes as he chewed the inside of his cheek. "I will be. I think."
Jessie nodded, still studying him, watching him. "We should probably go find our dads."
Jonny didn't want to let her go, but they had to untangle in order to stand up. The man in black still lay unmoving, unconscious, his gun a few feet away in the sand. Together they walked to him. Jessie took a little detour to pick up the gun, examine it, and then throw it farther away out of reach.
"They weren't shooting bullets," she said as she walked back to Jonny. "They were shooting tranqs."
"So they were here to subdue or abduct, not kill or harm," Jonny replied.
Jessie bent down and started searching the man's various pockets. When she came upon an oversize zip tie, she held it up with a triumphant look. Jonny helped her bind the man's wrists behind his back.
"Let's go tell, dad," Jessie said.
Jonny led the way up the steps, slowing as he neared the top. Cautiously he peered over the edge, but the compound grounds were clear of black clad assailants. The mansion looked as peaceful as it had before the men had appeared.
"All clear," he said, though he took his time climbing the last few steps, cautious of a sneak attack.
No men appeared, no darts zinged past his head.
When Jessie stood beside him, they looked at each other. The coast seems clear.
Together they headed for the house. After only a couple of steps, Jessie put her hands in Jonny's, weaving her fingers with his. He didn't look down or acknowledge it except for the ghost of a smile that crossed his face.
And Jessie didn't let go even when their parents appeared from the door of the mansion, headed straight for them at a run.
Of course, as they were both pulled into hugs by their parents, they had no choice but to part. Estella was taking it all fairly well, Jonny thought, as the woman hugged Jessie tightly to her.
"I'm okay, mom," Jessie assured. She pulled herself back only to have Race hug her to him.
Jonny had been almost knocked over by Hadji, and then his dad enveloped them both in a huge hug.
"Really, we're both okay," Jessie said, pulling herself from her father's arms. She turned to look at Jonny. "Right, Jonny?"
Hadji and his dad let go, gave him his space. Watched him for a reaction.
"Yeah, we're okay," he said.
And then Hadji and his dad were hugging him all over again.
"Jonny," Benton breathed. But he was too emotional to say more.
Jonny held onto them just as tightly. Until this moment, he hadn't realized how much he'd missed them. The fog had separated him from his family so completely. Everyone but Jessie. They'd been there, and he'd been trapped in his own mental prison.
"Dad," Jessie said, and Jonny looked up at her over Benton's shoulder.
"What is it, Ponchita?" Race asked.
"Those men were shooting tranquilizer guns," Jessie said.
Race nodded. "I saw."
"What did they want?" Estella asked.
"Either they were trying to abduct one or some of us, or they wanted us out of the way to take whatever they thought we had," Race replied. "Hard to guess, but it makes the most sense if they didn't want to hurt us."
"You think they were after Dr. Quest's solar cell tech or his guidance system?" Hadji asked.
Race shook his head as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "I just can't say for sure. I—this was my fault. I should've seen the signs. The pings on the security system. I just thought, with the system set to high-"
"Stop, Race," Benton cut him off. "We were all caught off guard. We've been a little preoccupied the last couple of weeks."
But Race just shook his head again.
"We left one of them tied up on the beach," Jonny said. "If you'd like to get some answers."
That raised eyebrows all around. Race took off immediately without another word.
"Let's go back to the house," Estella said. Her nerves showed in his voice. She pulled Jessie to her side with an arm around her daughter's shoulders. Benton walked in a similar manner with Hadji on one side, Jonny on the other.
They all paused as they entered the front hall, silent. Nobody seemed to know what to say. Jonny glanced at his dad and Hadji.
"C'mon, mom, I think we both need to sit down," Jessie said. As she led her mother away she glanced at Jonny with a small smile before they disappeared around a corner.
Jonny turned to his dad and his brother. They were watching him with those same cautious looks. Like he'd go speechless again if they didn't.
"I didn't mean to worry you," he told them.
"You went through something hard, son," Benton replied. He reached out and briefly, gently touched Jonny's cheek. "We're just glad to see you're okay. You are going to be okay?"
Jonny remembered what he'd told Jessie on the beach. His answer now was much the same. "I think I will be."
"I tried so hard to help you," Hadji said, and the apology in his voice broke Jonny's heart. "I have never felt so useless in my life."
Jonny stopped Hadji's tirade by grabbing his brother, one hand against Hadji's neck, the other gripping the back of Hadji's turban. "You weren't useless," Jonny said with all the intensity he could muster, staring right into Hadji's soft, dark eyes. "I wanted to tell you so many times how much it meant to have you there. Always there. I just…couldn't seem to put the words together."
Jonny let his head drop, but Hadji pulled him close.
"And I know dad was mad about it," Jonny whispered so only Hadji could hear, "but I'm really glad you decided not to go to college."
He felt Hadji nod and the brothers held onto each other for a few moments longer, while Benton looked on with teary eyes. When Jonny backed off a step, he found Hadji's gaze again for one last reassuring look before they let go of each other.
At that moment Race came in the front door. By the frown on his face, his trip to the beach hadn't been a fruitful one.
"He's gone," Race said. "Not a trace of him. Not a trace of any of them."
"How?" Benton asked.
"They're good," was all Race said. "We've also got Rockport PD at the gates."
Race's gaze went down to Jonny's feet. The Quests' collective gaze followed. Jonny's ankle bracelet blinked at them from under the hem of his jeans.
"Guess I broke parole," Jonny joked. Or at least that's how he meant it. Nobody laughed, so he wasn't sure if they got it.
"C'mon, Benton, let's go deal with the boys in blue," Race said.
The two men left together.
"You really had me scared," Hadji admitted to Jonny as they turned to head deeper into the house. "When you took off so suddenly. And then I saw what had made you react so."
"I just had to get to Jessie. She was all by herself."
"I know," Hadji said with a smile.
Jonny turned away blushing. I kissed her, he almost said to his older brother. But for once he didn't want to share it with Hadji. Partly because he still wasn't sure if Jessie had been okay with it. And partly because it felt…sacred, special. Just for him.
They found Jessie and Estella in the kitchen. When the women looked up and Jessie locked eyes with Jonny in the first moment, the corners of her mouth tugged up into the smallest of smiles. But there was smile enough in her eyes mixed with relief.
"I inadvertently called the police," Jonny said, sticking out his braceleted ankle as explanation.
"You three are taking this so much better than I am," Estella commented. "And I'm not sure how to feel about that."
It was Jessie who responded. "Just be glad, mom. It's easier that way."