Good evening all! My apologies for the late post. Heavy work week…I'm sure you all can relate. Hope you like this chapter. A big thank you and hug to all that have been reading so far. I truly hope you are enjoying the story.

Hawkeye4982: Thank you for reading. Sorry, if you found the fic a bit confusing. Hopefully you are getting it now. A wedding chapter…wow you want Jonny and Jessie to get married! LOL. Too funny. Okay, let's see what I have up my sleeve.

Tj12398: Oh, the fun begins! Little by little this is going to get crazy! Hope you like where I'll be going with this.

Jdcocoagirl: Claire is a very smart girl. She's a great sidekick for Hadji. Well, I think so. Yes, you are right! Jonny is protective of Jessie. He just doesn't understand why, but I'm sure Jessie will help him out.

Playlist

So Far Away-Staind

Enjoy the Silence-Amberlin

Chapter 16

They landed at Madrid Barajas International Airport at 10:50pm. Walking down the terminal Race and Zach searched the crowd to see if their contact waited for them. For the moment, no one was in sight.

"You think they would be here by now," Zack snorted as he rubbed his eyes with his hand. The man was tired and clearly worn out.

"A little cranky, aren't we?" Race questioned his friend, trying to bring a little humor to the situation. But, he too felt completely drained after the five hour flight during which neither rested trying to strategize what they would do after finding Jonny.

"That's an understatement," Zach snorted. "What time is it anyway?"

"Almost eleven thirty," he answered looking at his watch. "I could use some caffeine to clear the cobwebs. Look, there's a stand that's still open. I'll buy you a cup as we wait."

Zack nodded and sighed before the two men walked to the food stand that sold some deli sandwiches, canned drinks and what they sought, espresso. Race ordered two cups and paid the old plump lady who serviced the tiny establishment. The two drank in silence scoping the place, hopefully identifying the I-1 or FBI agent who would guide them around. After a few minutes, they both noticed a man, wearing a black suit with a white loose shirt casually looking around the area.

"I spy with my little eye," Zach commented as he watched the man from afar.

"You saw him too," Race asked.

"Kind of hard to miss FBI," he answered, "They have no originality, no matter where they are."

A smile crept through Race's lips, "Let's go present ourselves."

As the two walked over, the FBI agent turned to them, immediately recognizing his counterpart. He was a few inches shorter than Race and definitely not as built as Zack, but he held his own. With rich brown hair and hazel eyes, the man looked well put together. Too put together, Race thought. This was a man that apparently took more care of himself than a woman. When he shook his hand, he noticed how soft they were and, conspicuously looking down, Race noticed his nails were manicured. The man's face looked moisturerized. This man spent on facials as well. Race was not only tired, but annoyed. No one in law enforcement looked like that. How the hell did he have the time to do all that to himself? He hoped he was not there for show.

"Gentlemen, Agent Queen, Jack Queen," the agent answered.

Holy crap, Race thought, controlling the urge to roll his eyes. Did he just present himself like 007?

Taking the greeting first, Zack immediately mocked, "Good to meet you, I'm Agent Scott. Zachary Scott."

Now, Race had to look away for a moment, trying to control the laughter that threatened to explode from his mouth. He guessed Zach had found some humor around despite the exhaustion he felt. Queen didn't even noticed he was being mocked. Turning to the white haired man, he evidently expected him to introduce himself. At this Race plainly answered, "Bannon. Just call me Race."

Nodding curtly, Queen looked at the two men, "I don't want to waste time, we found him."

At this, all humor was lost in both Zack and Race. Giving their full attention to the FBI agent, Zach asked, "Where is he?"

"Madrid."

"But we thought he-"

Shaking his head, Queen answered, "A few hours ago, he took a plane and headed here. We have him going into a government center just a few miles from here. I have two of my agents running surveillance."

"Let's go," Race immediately said, "You can give us to specifics as we get there."

Without answering the FBI agent guided the two I-1 agents out of the terminal.

XXXXXXXXXX

The rest of the ride had been relatively quiet. After Jonny's last statement, Jessie tried to get more information out of him, but he maintained his silence and cool and continued driving. At around noon, he stopped at a diner off an exit an hour away from the New Hampshire Stateline.

"Why are you stopping?" Jessie asked.

Turning to her, he simply answered, "I'm hungry."

"Shouldn't you be getting to your checkpoint?" she asked sarcastically.

Looking unfazed by the sardonic nature she displayed at the moment, Jonny replied without inflection, "If you don't want to eat, you don't have to." Opening the door, he unbuckled his seat belt and got out of the car.

Jessie's eyes widened before she quickly unbuckled, got out of the car and slammed the door. Walking to him, she took an abrupt step toward him before reaching the double doors of the diner. She asked, "How can you eat at a time like this? Someone is trying to kill us and you want to go into this Ma and Pa shop to eat? How can you be so calm about this?"

He shrugged, "Because, I don't think he's going to find us right now." Gently, he moved out of her way and strolled inside the diner and straight to a booth. Immediately following him, Jessie walked in and found him sitting looking over the menu.

Sitting down across from him, she stared at him incredulously, "Have you always lived like this?"

His brows pulled into an affronted frown, "Like what?

"Like this Jonny," she said with a significant raising of her brows.

He responded matter-of-factly, "It's the only life I've known."

XXXXXXXXXX

Looking intently at the screen, Claire confirmed for the second time if in fact the car whose license plate she acquired during the time that Hadji was in Questworld was in fact on the car driving through the highway, "Hadji, all signs point to them heading to New Hampshire."

"What could possibly be there?" He asked looking with her at the screen.

She shook her head, "I'm not sure, but the last toll plaza they passed through, marked them at about an hour and a half or so away."

"Is there another plaza after that?" Hadji continued questioning.

"Yes," Clair answered, "Two more. But the records don't show that they've gone through yet."

"So, they have stopped somewhere," Hadji answered more to himself than to Claire as he looked at the screen. "I am just wondering where?"

Opening a new screen, Claire pulled up a map of the United States and then began to zoom in until she found an area, "They have to be around here," she pointed at two small towns near the Stateline. "The problem is finding out where in between these two areas."

"Well, we will need to narrow the search," Hadji answered adamantly. "I do not care how much time it takes, let us see how far we can go before they reach the next toll plaza."

"How will we get there once we find them?"

"Quest industries has a lot of planes. I am sure my father will not miss one of them."

XXXXXXXXXX

The FBI agent drove the two I-1 agents to the government center. Race drove shotgun while Zack sat in the back closing his eyes from time to time, trying to grab some rest in between the ride. Once the trio arrived at the government center, they found two FBI government vehicles located across the street. Agent Queen pulled behind one of them. Looking at the scene around him, Zack whispered to Race as he shifted himself forward, "Well, aren't we noticeable?"

Turning to Queen, Race answered, "You think Jonny isn't going to notice us and bail?"

"This is a government center, Agent Bannon," the FBI agent answered without any worry in his tone, "We are driving registered government issued cars that belong to Madrid authorities. There's nothing that Jonny would be able to detect as out of character. These cars are pretty much around here all the time."

"Why is he here?"

"He's been planting bugs around the building," Queen responded. "We've been trying to find who he is working for, but nothing has turned up." Sounding frustrated, he continued, "We've ran his fingerprints through all known cases associated with organized terrorist and non-terrorist organizations and found nothing. It's like the kid's a ghost. We have no idea who he's working for."

"We need to grab him now," Race responded firmly. He knew the FBI was interesting in finding the organization Jonny worked for at this point, that's probably why they had not detained him.

"We are waiting‒"

"I know," Race cut him, "You are waiting for him to make a mistake. To tell you who he's working for. Unfortunately, you won't find anything. If this kid has disappeared for five years, that means he's good."

"Yeah," Zack nodded, "The only way he'd appear is if he'd want to be found."

No sooner did the words come out of Zack's mouth that Race began having a realization, "He'd only appear if he wanted to be found."

"I just said that," Zack answered. Zack then turned to Race. "Oh my God."

"You're thinking the same thing I am"? Race looked at his partner.

"What?" Queen questioned, unable to understand what the two men had just realized.

Nodding, Zack replied, "I hope we're wrong."

XXXXXXXXXX

He had ordered some grilled chicken, a side order of mashed potatoes and a side salad. It didn't look like the healthiest meal, but Jessie could tell Jonny was careful about what he ate. Earlier in the morning, the breakfast consisted of egg whites and turkey bacon. Now, he was attempting to eat as healthy as he could. He took care of himself. Jessie had never known him to care for himself in that way. Jonny Quest liked BBQ ribs, hamburgers and pizza and he ate them mercilessly.

Jonny noticed her staring at him and said, "You should eat. We won't be staying here too long."

"Do you like your food?" she asked hoping to get the answer she sought.

He looked at her questionably, "Why do you ask?"

The red head looked at her plate; a cheeseburger and fries. True, not the best lunch and she would really have to seriously workout on the treadmill when she had the chance, but at the moment, she didn't care. She was going through hell and if she was going to die later, she wanted to go leave Earth with a personal favorite. "You would have never chosen a plate like the one you have now. I mean, burgers, pizza…hot dogs…you liked junk food."

Now Jonny looked at him strangely, "I usually don't eat…American food. Like I told you, I've never been to the states and…"

"You've lived here all your life Jonny Quest," Jessie exclaimed, "You lived in Florida until your eleventh birthday, a year before your mother died. For almost a year and a half after your mother's death, you and your father travelled to different places to conduct research studies. He hired my father as body guard to protect you. During that time, the three of you spent three months in India. That's where he found your brother Hadji and adopted him. After that, your father moved the company and his research facilities to Maine, where he originally was from. I came to live with you when you were fourteen. We've been living in Portland ever since."

Jonny looked at her with a little mirth in his eyes. Jessie knew from his look that he believed that she was telling him a fable, a tall tale, an allegory of sorts, "That's a very interesting story, Jessica."

"It's not a story Jonny, it's the truth! It's your life. Why won't you give yourself the possibility to believe?" she sighed in resignation.

He watched her disappointment as she lowered her head and began eating her fries quietly. For some reason, Jonny wanted to make her feel better, but he couldn't think of anything to say or do. Going back to his meal, the two continued to eat silently.

XXXXXXXXXX

A knock at the door had the doctor look up from his computer screen. For hours he had been trying to track his agent with no avail. He could tell he had travelled, but just couldn't pinpoint the signal to where. Rarely did the agency use this method for tracking agents. The doctor made sure that all agents reported when ordered and none of them ever defected. Only one had the ability to do so and he hoped his agent would stop him soon. Sighing, the doctor realized that he had acted too rashly and disregarded the certain obstacles in his plan. The Master was far better with the system than he thought. He heard the knock again.

"Come in!" he raised his voice as he blanked the screen.

The Master walked in rather calmly, "What are you doing Oliver? Trying to stop your agent from assassinating my son?"

The doctor laughed sarcastically, "What would make you think such a thing?"

"I finally reached Aidan," he stared at the doctor coldly. "Seems that he ran into some trouble while on assignment, strange isn't it? I don't remember assigning any other agent for that particular assignment, which happens to be the only assignment currently active in that part of the county."

Looking rather intently at the Master, the doctor knew he had no choice but to come out clean. The mocking smile faded and serious features molded his face as he answered, "It was the only way to get rid of your obsession with the boy."

The Master's features did not change, rather his voice and his mannerisms were unusually cool and collected. He spoke with firmness, but also with a calmness that bothered the doctor, "I'm not sure what you mean by that…perhaps it is your obsession that you speak of."

"What?"

Smiling, the Master took a seat across from the doctor's desk, "I thought about this very thoroughly Oliver," he began with a nod, "See, you've devoted your entire life trying to control the human mind. For years, you've experimented, you've tortured, hell, you've even murdered your studies trying to reach this dream of total control. Yet," he sighed, "you never realized one important thing."

"And what would that be Master?"

"You can't be God," the Master smiled. "Did you know that even God gave us free will to decide? To choose what we do, how we act? He doesn't allow himself control us. If he, an all-powerful being, won't do it, what makes you think you can?"

"You are almost right, my friend," the doctor responded sitting up from his chair. "God has the choice of controlling us. But, he gave us free-will by choice. Choice! You could have chosen to end this the moment you realized that DR128 would never be the same as the others. You could have made him like the others, but you chose not to. You have the choice of saving this agency instead of bringing it to an end by ending this abomination you call your son!"

"I made my choice a long time ago you bastard," the Master firmly replied, even though he was trying to control himself. No one calls his son an abomination. No one. "Just like I'm making a choice now. "

"What do you mean by that?" the doctor snorted.

"I wouldn't make myself too comfortable Oliver," the Master stood up. "I've told our leaders that you've manipulated data and compromised the agency. You've been…dismissed."

"You can't do that!" the doctor slammed his fist against his desk, "Damn you! I'll tell them what you've been doing for the last five years! You've kidnapped the son of a prominent scientist and a man the agency doesn't want anything to with. You've falsified records‒"

"No, you've falsified records, Oliver," the Master reminded him.

"By your orders!"

"Prove it," he shrugged his shoulders. "Everything in the system shows your user ID. Suddenly, I don't remember telling you to do anything."

"What about your son?" the doctor answered, "How would you explain that?

"No one knows that DR128 is my son. Your entries proved that he's been given the dosages needed to control his mind. I've covered my myself Oliver…you just screwed yours."

Knowing it was the truth, the doctor didn't answer. He was a man of medicine, but not a man who mastered deceit well. He would never have the intelligence that the Master possessed to do such a thing.

"What are you going to do to me?'

"Simple," the Master answered. "You will soon die."

"You can't kill me!"

"Who said I was?"

"What are you plan‒"

"Thomas Midgley, Alexander Bogdanov, Marie Curie…people to think about Oliver," the doctor smiled before he turned to the door. "You're heading the same way." With that, the Master casually walked out of the office before closing the door and leaving the doctor completely shocked.

XXXXXXXXX

"Where are the two of you going?" Queen asked as he watched both Race and Zack get out of the car.

"You don't get it, do you Queen?" Zack smirked sarcastically as he leaned on the driver's window. "You've been chasing around a decoy. This isn't Jonny." Quickly walking away, he caught on to Race.

Getting out of the car, the FBI agent ran after the pair, trying to catch up to them, "Wait! What the hell are you two talking about? Where are you going?"

Finally catching up to them, Race didn't look at the man now walking next to him, "This kid's intention is to drive us nuts going into a wild goose chase all over Spain if he has to. I intend on catching him. He could tell us where Jonny is."

From his earpiece, Queen heard his colleagues call out to him, "Stand down," he ordered. Turning back to Race and Zack, he asked, "How do you know all this?"

"Jonny hasn't been seen in five years," Zack answered, "All of a sudden, he's been seen in Russia and parts of Spain in a period of less than two weeks. Something not adding."

"He's not stupid," Race added, "You think he wouldn't have disappeared if he knew you were outside. He wants to keep you in his tail. There's a reason."

"It's not really him," Queen finally realized as the three finally made it into the building.

Going in first, Race began look around. The building was completely empty which was strange for an ordinary work day, "What's going on here? Where are all the employees?"

"It's a holiday today," Queen answered, "No one's working."

"And the door was conveniently open?" Zack asked.

"We watched him unlock it," Queen answered sheepishly, "We thought he purposely left it open in case he needed a quick getaway."

Zack laughed, "You really thought this kid would leave this door open in case he needed an escape?" he refrained from rolling his eyes. "This wasn't done for him to get out. It was for you to walk in. He wanted you to follow him inside."

"For what?"

Suddenly they heard pop, pop, pop.

"Gun!" Zack yelled as the three men ducked for cover.

Pop, pop, pop

"He's shooting at us!" Queen shouted as he hid behind a large file cabinet.

"No kidding!" Race hollered back, "Where is he?"

Pop, pop, pop, pop

Papers and all kinds of debris flew around them. Whatever weapon the kid was using was powerful. Race thought fast. He couldn't hit the kid, he didn't believe it was Jonny, but there was also a small possibility that he could wrong. Also, he didn't want to lose the only contact that could find his surrogate son.

Pop, pop, pop, pop

Pop, pop, pop, pop

Pop, pop, pop, pop

From across the room, Race watched at Queen retrieved his gun, "No! Don't shoot!"

Queen glared at him as if trying to tell him what was wrong with him, "He's trying to kill us!"

"He's trying to stall us!" Race yelled back, "Aren't you kid?" Suddenly, the firings stopped. Looking at Zack who hid under a desk a few feet away from him, he continued talking to kid, "I know you are not who we are looking for. All I want are answers." Race suddenly realized that the kid was not shooting at anyone one of them. If he had wanted to kill them, he had the advantage.

The room became quiet, except for the ticking clock that miraculously still hung on the wall.

"Kid!"

Nothing.

After a while, all three men cautiously walked out of their hiding places. They began to look around and within minutes, they knew the kid was no longer there.

"Is there another exit?" Zack quickly asked.

"No," the FBI agent shook his head.

"There has to be another way out other than the front door!" Zack replied now losing his cool. "An emergency exit…something!"

"We aren't in the states!" Queen yelled back. "The buildings here have a different type of architecture. The only way out is the damn front door!"

"The roof!" Race suddenly began looking around for a door that might lead to a stairwell.

Turning to the agent, Zack asked, "Yes, there's satellites in the building. There's has to be a way up there."

Passing him, the agent ran to a door that led to a hallway, "This way!"

XXXXXXXXX

When they finished their meal, Jessie excused herself, telling Jonny she needed to go to the bathroom. Quickly, she tried to look for a phone where she could call Claire. At this point, her friend had to be beside herself with worry. She found none. Walking into the bathroom, she found a woman who was checking herself in the mirror, her purse sat on the counter, completely opened. As the woman applied her makeup, Jessie walked up next to her and pretended to check herself, "On vacation?"

The woman turned to her and smiled awkwardly, "I'm sorry?"

"I was asking if you were vacationing," Jessie answered. "My boyfriend and I are taking a road trip to New Hampshire to visit his parents and well…I just haven't spoken to anyone in a couple of hours and…I'm sorry, I guess I had the need to speak to someone of the same gender."

"You needed to hear another voice," the woman laughed sympathetically, "I can relate. Actually, my husband, daughter and I are on our way to Canada. We're moving there in a couple of months and took this week to move some of our stuff into storage." Pausing for a moment, she continued, "I think I needed to hear another adult female voice too!"

Both woman laughed at their encounter before they heard a mousy voice speak from one of the closed stalls, "Mommy, I'm done!"

The woman looked at Jessie with resignation, "Gabby just turned four," her voice then lowered, "And this trip has been a bit hard on her…you know in that department," she pointed to the stall.

Nodding in understanding, Jessie smiled, "Ahh, well, I've heard that long trips can affect a child's digestive system."

"You're a teacher?"

"Oh, no," Jessie shook her head. The woman had now become too talkative, she needed to work fast. "Just took a health class my last semester in school."

"Mommy!"

"Coming Gabby," the woman answered turning to the closed stall before facing Jessie again, "It was nice to meet you…"

"Jessie," she answered, "Go, Gabby needs you."

Nodding, the woman turned and headed to the stall. When Jessie saw she was busy helping her daughter, she quickly turned to the counter and looked for the phone inside the woman's purse. Finding it, she walked out of the bathroom hoping she wouldn't run into Jonny in the lobby before she could hide the phone.

XXXXXXXXX

Running up the stairs that led to the roof of the building, Race wasted no time trying to catch the person who could potentially lead him to Jonny. In his mind and heart, he knew he wasn't chasing his surrogate son. Jonny had been smart for so many years, he wouldn't have been so careless now.

"There he is!" he yelled as he watched the figure jump from the roof of the building to another a few feet apart. Running after him, he tried as fast as he could not to lose momentum. The kid was fast and he knew he couldn't compete with his speed. Race jumped to the other building as the kid was already a few feet ahead of him about to jump onto the next.

He'd need a miracle. Something that would stall the kids for a few seconds so he'd be able to catch up to him.

Race had made it half way onto the roof of the second building when the kid jumped onto the third. Damn it, he thought as he continued running. And just as he continued running, he watched the kid land harshly on the roof. It looked like he had tripped. Race pushed himself hard, he could gain valuable seconds and be able to catch up to the kid.

The kid kept running, but he had lost his speed. Race could tell he was struggling as he continued running. But he could also tell that the kid wasn't about to give up so easily. Luckily for him, he still had some energy within him. He jumped onto the next building and held on to the last spurt of energy he had left to catch the boy. Shortening the distance, he finally tackled him from behind and both fell on to the ground.

The kid fought hard to get away, but Race wasn't about to let him go, he needed answers and he hoped his backup would arrive soon to lend a hand. "Kid, I'm not going to hurt you!"

The kid never answered. It felt to Race that he was trying very hard not to show his face. Race continued holding on to him, "Kid, I know you aren't the person I'm looking for. I don't want to hurt you, all I want are answers."

Stopping, the kid sighed heavily. Turning around to finally show his face, he wasn't surprised by the lack of surprise from his attacker. He looked at the man's face intently before closing his eyes. Suddenly, the kid started shaking violently.

"What the…" Race began before grabbing a hold of the kid to control the spasms. "Zack help!" he screamed. Turning, he watched as the kid began foaming through his mouth. "No, damn it no!" He shook violently for a few seconds before he finally stopped.

Moments later, Zack caught up to him, "What happened?" he asked looking at the dead kid in Race's arms. "What the hell happened?"

Race shook his head, "He wasn't supposed to get caught."

"Damn it Race. He was just a kid," Zack sighed in regret as he kneeled down. Pausing for a moment to look at him, he then turned to Race, "Did he say anything before‒"

"No," he shook his head again, "He never gave me a chance to ask anything."

"What is going on?" Zack asked, "And, who is going to all these extremes to hide Jonny from us?"

Sighing and gently placing the kid on the ground, Race answered, "I have no idea. But whoever is behind this is either getting pretty careless or is playing us for damn fools!"