Disclaimer: Jonny Quest, The Matrix, Penney Memorial Church, and Stonewall Farm Bed & Breakfast are not mine. However the Iverson Assembly, Garman the scientist, Sanjana Gadhavi, Ryan, Daniel, and Naomi are all products of my own imagination. Descriptions of Penney Memorial Church are entirely fabricated.
A/N: Some retcon on Chapters 1 & 2. Plot became too muddy, so I had to clear some things up.
Chapter 3: Simple Words
Benton Quest strode through the hall of Penney Memorial Church with all the fire and frustration of a man yet to realize he is fighting a losing battle. Through the haze of agitation, the scientist barely acknowledged the two familiar bridesmaids waiting outside the main anteroom as he passed them by.
Only Race's steady approach woke the redheaded explorer from his unapproachable mien, the once-bodyguard now gazing questioningly behind Benton.
"Where's Jonny?" the pale-haired man wondered curiously, absently adjusting his exotic boutonnière.
Benton took a moment to breathe in and out slowly, finally responding curtly. "He's not coming."
Race stared blankly as the words were spoken, blinking several times as he tried to register the meaning. He couldn't seem to make it happen, however, instead prompting the scientist flatly, "What?"
"I said," Benton began with even greater irritation, "he's not coming."
"I don't understand," the other man shook his head in ongoing confusion. "Is something wrong? Is Jonny sick, hurt…?"
"He is just. not. coming." Benton repeated for the second time through tightly clenched teeth. Race looked taken aback, leaning away slightly as his employer and friend became increasingly vexed.
"What happened?" Jessie spoke at Benton's left, her concerned appearance startling the bearded genius out of a part of his annoyance. The young woman looked around the three of them searchingly and added with a frown, "Where's Jonny?"
"He's not coming, apparently," Race repeated with sudden suspicion, leaving Benton to uncomfortably acknowledge whatever conversation his friend clearly had in mind.
"What? Why not?" Jessie asked incredulously, looking between both men in frustration. "He wouldn't miss his dad's wedding just like that! What did you say to him?"
As the young redhead turned on the doctor with fiery green eyes, Benton had the good fortune of being interrupted before he had to respond to the defensive question.
"Alena is ready," Sanjana told the trio quietly, eyeing their discord with an unhappy air.
Jessie turned from the Sultana back to Benton, accusations littering her fearsome gaze that the scientist could hardly respond to in such a public setting.
"Jonathan will not be standing with us," Benton said more calmly, but beneath that lay a wealth of coldness he had never felt towards his only child. The media would have a field day with this incident, he felt certain.
Staring emptily at Benton's blank visage, Jessie stood a moment to gauge him. Whatever she saw, Race's daughter transitioned all too easily into a glare of rather distracting proportions.
"Then I won't be either," Jessie coldly replied, turning on her heel and marching back into the anteroom without looking back.
Sighing tiredly at the growing situation, Race reached up to rub his forehead. "Thanks for that, Benton. There'll be no talking to her for the rest of the day."
The sarcasm in the other man' tone put Benton immediately on the defensive. "It's not my fault if your daughter can't reign in her notoriously short temper."
Not waiting for a response, Benton marched to the sanctuary and headed up to the altar, where Hadji soon joined him. Briefly, Benton wondered where his adopted son had been.
"But where is Jonny?" Hadji asked quietly of his adoptive father, leaving the man to close his eyes for patience.
"Not coming," Benton answered shortly.
It said a great deal about Hadji Singh that he did not comment on such a vastly under-explained statement, but merely stood back in the position he held amongst the groomsmen. Benton did not dare glance back at the young man's face, afraid of what he might find there.
For all the tension amongst the wedding party, Race came to stand at Benton's side, however awkwardly, along with Pasha and Hadji. The bridesmaids began their descent, Jessie noticeably absent from their number. In an instinctive move, Benton glanced toward the back of the church, justified when he noticed two redheads standing near the side entrance of the sanctuary with their head bent in discussion.
Jessie Bannon's young face bespoke the same riled anger of moments prior, all fire and indignation not tempered by any form of understanding. There would be little civil discussion between Benton and the young woman he so often guided through academic endeavors and thoughtful debate. The thought sent a jolt of unease through the scientist, hackles raised at some unknown discomfort he could hardly label.
By great contrast to her twenty-one-year-old daughter, Estella Velasquez's countenance lit with a sad, knowing expression that took Benton's breath away. Taken aback and left afraid for reasons unknown, Benton forced his gaze towards the two bridesmaids now moving to their places at the side of the altar, draping indigo gowns trailing the ground behind them.
Jade Kenyon and Sanjana Gadhavi could not have been more different had they been born ten centuries apart, Benton decided somewhat ruefully.
With her seductive mannerisms and deceptive nature, Race's current partner stood more like a sinuous siren of old mythology than a modern mercenary supporting her soon-to-be-wed friend.
Sanjana, by contrast, held poised and steady by the culture and etiquette of her native land and social position, gave the appearance of a dignified medieval queen.
Benton's observations became only mildly distracted when the bridal chorus began to play, his eyes now riveted to Jessie as she walked away from her mother in an angry hurry.
As Estella took a seat in the far back corner, she and Benton caught gazes between altar and pew – sad green met with blank brown – and Benton felt sudden fear the likes of which he had not felt in years. The emotion struck him mute, playing on his brain in waves of surprise. It took a monumental effort to put his energies back into the appearance of his soon-to-be wife.
From the sanctuary doorway, Irina stepped through in the same indigo gown and trailing skirt as the bridesmaids. The red-haired man had to wonder at her rather elaborate chignon, exotic bouquet, and haughty expression as she walked the floor.
From behind her surrogate daughter, Alena appeared with a regal tread in her long-sleeved white gown, the strapless dress beneath having been overlaid with a sparse and delicate lace bodice. Trailing ages and eons behind the bride herself, the train to match the damask skirt seemed overly extensive, but as Benton had for weeks and months, he let it pass as unimportant. This was Alena's day – her first wedding and the most publicized event she had attended since leaving the office of President; Benton could afford to be indulgent.
It seemed an age by the time Alena came to stand before Benton, waist-length veil shrouding the stately visage her groom had become well accustomed to over the past two years. But the woman beneath that… His mind wandered over those damning words between he and his son…
"Jonathan, what do you really know about her? About her feelings? Her goals?"
"What do you know about those things?"
Did Benton really know Alena? Did he know what she wanted in life or what she wanted their marriage to be like?
Unable to answer those questions, Benton shook it off as best he could and returned his focus to the moment at hand, taking Alena's fingers into his own as she came to stand beside him and the minister began the ceremony.
"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here in the sight of God, and in the presence of this company, to unite Benton and Alena in holy matrimony. Marriage was ordained by God in Eden and confirmed in Cana of Galilee by the presence of the Lord Himself, and is declared by the inspired Apostle Paul to be honorable among all men. It is therefore, not to be entered into unadvisedly or lightly; but reverently, soberly and in the fear of God. It is fitting, therefore, that we should on this occasion, begin by asking God's blessing on this marriage service. Let us pray."
The prayer passed through Benton's mind emptily, as much as he tried to focus on it, but all of his resolve to center on the wedding alone had faded again. Through half an ear he heard the minister ask Alena her intent.
"Alena, will you have this man to be your husband, to live together in the sacred estate of marriage? Will you love him, comfort him, honor and keep him, in sickness and in health, in sorrow and in joy, and be faithful to him, as long as you both shall live?"
Without a single moment of hesitance in her dignified voice, Alena answered, "I will."
The minister turned to Benton in kind, asking the same of him, "Benton, will you have this woman to be your wife, to live together in the sacred estate of marriage? Will you love her, comfort her, honor and keep her, in sickness and in health, in sorrow and in joy, and be faithful to her, as long as you both shall live?"
"I will," the scientist replied steadily.
Their intentions cleared, the minister prompted Alena with the vows passed from bride to groom, the words almost mindless to Benton as he heard them for the second time in his life. All the while the nuptials continued, Benton's mind was only half-focused. No matter how greatly he attempted it, even as the scientist repeated after the minister, he could not repress all of his son's incredulous questions and stunned doubts.
"You're supposed to marry this woman!"
"I, Benton Cleary Quest, take thee, Alena Terezia Stasny, to be my wedded wife."
"Imagine how she'll feel if you get to your ten-year anniversary and you don't know her feelings and her goals and what she wants out of life!"
"To have and to hold from this day forward…"
"You take for granted the fact you'll never have to bail him out of anything…he's older and he's always known better…"
"…for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer…"
"…You know…till death do you part? To love, honor, cherish, and all that?"
"I think I know the vows, Jonathan."
"…in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, 'til death do us part."
"You think your dad is full of wisdom and common sense because he's been around longer than you have."
"…according to God's holy ordinance, thereto I pledge my love."
"…She's not going to forgive you for this."
Benton shook himself mentally, shoving the memory of that room away from his mind with all of his strength. Jonathan had made his choices and Benton had made his, too. They didn't agree, but that didn't mean anything in the long run. At some point, parents and their children had very different views of the world. They didn't have to agree on those views, they simply had to accept that a different view existed and let it go.
Jonathan didn't see things the same as Benton did; his son was more idealistic at such a young age and had a very picturesque view of his father's ideals and choices. That view was one which Benton could not share. But he could accept its existence.
All that left was for Jonathan to accept the same disconnect between their outlooks, and move forward with his own life.
"I give you this ring as a symbol of my vow," Alena pronounced clearly, slipping the gold band onto Benton's finger, "and with all that I am, and all that I have, I honor you, in the name of God."
"I give you this ring as a symbol of my vow," Benton repeated the expected line with due diligence when the time came, sliding the ornate wedding band onto his bride's left ring finger and sealing their mutual fate, "and with all that I am, and all that I have, I honor you, in the name of God."
The minister took over for them, gesturing at both of them with his free hand, "Inasmuch as Benton and Alena have consented together in marriage, and have witnessed the same before you, and thereto have pledged their faith to each other, and have declared the same by the joining of hands and the giving and receiving of rings, I now pronounce them… husband and wife. What God has brought together, let no one put asunder."
Benton made his choice.
Now Jonathan had to do the same.
"You may now kiss the bride," the minister echoed in the sanctuary, bringing Benton away from his son with greater permanence.
In the waiting silence, Benton gently lifted the floating veil, rolling the sheer fabric back over Alena's rich brown hair and allowing it to double over the back as he leaned forward to press his lips against hers.
The audience erupted in socially acceptable applause when the smiling minister ended the ceremony, "Ladies and Gentlemen… May I present to you, Dr. & Mrs. Benton and Alena Quest."
Applause rang out more loudly and genuinely this time as Benton and Alena turned hand-in-hand to face the waiting crowd.
To the beat of Mendelssohn's traditional Wedding March, the two of them steadily made their way down the aisle to the sanctuary entrance, the mild joy of their situation easing away as the tension from the groomsmen and bridesmaids behind them began oozing its way forward.
It did not help in the least for Benton and Alena to have a receiving line before everyone left the church and headed to the reception venue in Augusta. However, Alena and Irina had mutually insisted on the gesture so as not to miss any of the guests who might not make the reception. The social ramifications of missing even one strange guest seemed unbearable to Benton's fiancée and her surrogate daughter, but once more Benton had let it pass untested.
With the enormous crowd they had gathered for this occasion, Benton actually felt quite surprised it only took three hours to get each and every talkative busybody out of the church. Alena's decision for the earlier hour of their marriage ceremony made a great deal more sense in that light, and Benton could hardly help feeling grateful for his new bride's foresight.
Gratitude was not an emotion Benton felt when faced with the constant questions and concerns about his son. There was simply no easy or soothing way of explaining a son not attending his father's wedding. Everyone knew the Quest men stood at odds now, and the press would be going insane over the news.
By the time the already-exhausted wedding party and their closest friends reached the anteroom where they would take post-ceremony photos, the air had dropped by unspeakable degrees amongst the silent group. Benton could already see the frazzled air surrounding Irina, Alena's obvious political mask, and the stiffness in Race's shoulders.
To the redheaded scientist's surprise, Jessie and Estella waited in the anteroom for all of them, mother and daughter matching in pensive expressions and clasped hands.
The photographer turned to Estella for guidance in the tense atmosphere, a move Benton ascertained with a certain amount of disgust. Alena and Irina had all but excluded the archaeologist from the wedding events, despite her continuing friendship with the Quest team and her close bond with Jessie. Yet it had not stopped Irina from assigning Estella the work of guiding photographers and stylists throughout the day's events.
Estella seemed accepting, however, so Benton allowed the situation to go untested. It did not mean he liked it, but if the woman herself stood unwilling to challenge it, then it was not Benton's place to intervene.
If Benton had believed the receiving line to be long-winded at three hours, he could not have comprehended how long a mere 30 minute photography session could feel. When at last it ended, Estella thanking the man for his services and leading him to the door, the scientist felt his shoulders relaxing somehow.
Deafened by the overwhelming silence as Estella finally closed the door behind the man, Benton slipped to the window, wary of what reaction Alena would have to her stepson's absence from such an enormous day in their lives.
"Jonny's really got wings," came the sudden comment from a familiar, seductive voice. Benton glanced over to see Jade smirking slightly. The expression agitated him every time he saw it on her face, but at that moment he truly began to hate it. Jonathan's absence was not in any way amusing.
"Of course he does!" Irina finally burst with unexpected vigor, fists clenched at her sides. "Always running away from the things and people that should mean the most to him!"
"Don't talk about things you don't understand," Race interrupted irritably, his temper finally fraying at the edges after all the tension and suspense of the situation.
"If anyone understands Jonathan, it is me!" Irina cut in angrily, fists clenching again at her sides as she leaned towards Race. "He is just too afraid to admit it."
"That's a load of crap if I've ever heard it," Race argued back again, and Benton wondered when the bodyguard's shoulders would pop from the pressure of his tense posture. "You wouldn't truly know that boy if he came up and slapped you. And maybe he should!"
"Do not talk to Irina that way!" Alena threw in with abrupt fury, whirling on Race as deftly as she was able in her voluminous wedding gown.
"Well, maybe she shouldn't make up tall tales!" retorted Race angrily, his glare matching Alena's harrowing stare point for point.
"Race, please," Estella interrupted as calmly as she was able, hands outstretched in a placating gesture. Benton noticed Jade tense up, but she made no effort to speak up in any way. The silence bothered Benton for reasons he could not explain as Estella continued, "This is probably not the best time."
"Oh, it is a perfect time," Alena debated frustratedly, hand clutched about her bouquet with unusual violence. "Mr. Bannon should air his views at every wedding he attends. It would show everyone just how ignorant he can truly be!"
"Speaks the woman who planned a wedding for its social retinue," the bodyguard growled in reply, leading Estella to intercede a second time before Alena and Irina both exploded at the 'insult.'
"Please, the guests are waiting at the civic center," the redheaded archaeologist pleaded with her ex-husband and the bride. "There is enough press fodder as it is. Don't add to it."
"Jonathan and Jessica have added enough already!" Irina spat at the redheaded mother and daughter in turns, glaring openly. "Secrets and lies are all they spread anymore."
"You just can't take the hint, can you?" Jessie herself finally inserted her opinion, glaring with a great deal more violence than Irina had ever been capable of. Alena stood ramrod straight, fully prepared to jump in if Jessie seemed threatening towards the pianist. "Get it through your head: I am not dating Jonny Quest!"
"You could not tell the truth if it would save your life," Irina hissed back. "Just like your mother."
"Don't you dare talk about my mother that way," Jessie bit out furiously, subtly eyeing the wince Estella produced in response to the accusation. Benton had already been glancing at the archaeologist for some minutes, well aware how these conversations usually ended; Estella typically received the short end of the stick no matter what she said or did.
"That woman has been pushing Jonathan further and further from his own family year after year," Irina dared to add. "She only wants you and your boyfriend to be near her as much as possible! She would happily let Jonathan come to harm if it brought him under your care!"
Red flooded Jessie Bannon's face so quickly and darkly that Benton honestly worried for her health, not to mention Irina's physical well-being. From the twitching of Jessie's clenched hand, the scientist decided he had every reason to worry, but the young redhead kept herself in check by the barest of margins.
"You ignorant little twit," Jessie snapped angrily, seeming to be at a loss for words. Those four words were enough to enrage Alena, though, and Benton wished he just disappear before the inevitable explosion.
"You dare speak to Irina this way?" the former president turned to face Jessie, a cold look upon her features. "After you have spent all of your time sabotaging the bond she shared with Jonathan?"
Benton almost felt like laughing at that, but he couldn't find the energy. Irina may have been friendly with his son, but if Jessie's protective measures over the past few years were any indication, Jonathan did not return the sentiment any longer. If there was one thing he would have to speak with Alena about, it was that. After he tried to explain Jonathan's rude attempts to intervene on their marriage, at least. Angry all over again at the thought, Benton sighed almost silently. He just couldn't win in this situation.
"Don't you start on Jessie!" Race stood up for his daughter, Estella right behind him with the first anger she had shown all day. The cryptographer may have allowed her own reputation to go unspoken for, but no one attacked her daughter without recompense.
"As if Jessie would ever want to damage something that made Jonny happy," Estella spoke reasonably, clearly reigning in her unmatched temper. "They are best friends and she cares about his well-being. That's all there is to it."
"Bet you've used that saying before," Jade commented snidely from her place leaning against the wall near the door. Her unrepentant gray eyes matched the sharp snap of Estella's rich green gaze.
The two women held each other at a standoff, the likes of which Benton had seldom seen the archaeologist engage in. By the surprised expressions Race and Jessie wore, Benton was not the only one.
Something, though… something disturbed Estella about Jade's comment. Benton could hardly guess what, but if he got the chance upon returning from the honeymoon, he would talk to her about it. Sometimes she would let him in on little moments she dared not share with even her daughter. Jessie could certainly keep a secret, but if she was angry enough she might very well spill the beans in an effort to protect her mother or clear her name.
"You have no idea what you're talking about," Estella responded coldly at last, statuesque in her posture as she turned away from the slinking woman.
Race stood silent, staring between his ex-wife and his current partner, vacillating between speech and ignorance. The matter seemed to keep him restrained, however, not daring to cross the forever burning bridge between the two most prominent romantic partners of his life.
"Please, my friends," a calm, rational voice interceded finally, and Benton turned to see his adopted son step forward, waiting in the middle of the floor to gain everyone's attention. The young Sultan caught and held Benton's gaze, the searching look sending a feeling of shame through the scientist.
In hindsight, had Benton intervened before this moment, most of the arguments could probably have been avoided.
It was just so difficult. Alienating any one of these people was just one more loss on his plate. Jonathan was terrible enough to have lost the way he did, but to add anyone else would be salt in the wound.
Hadji seemed to sense his struggle, and the understanding in his eyes almost undid Benton's composure.
Returning his gaze back to those assembled, Hadji spoke further in a quiet voice, "This is my American father's wedding day. A day meant for rejoicing over the bond of marriage between he and Alena. No matter who is here or not here, no matter what disagreements we have with each other, surely the significance of this special day is more important. Please, let us put these things aside and stand united behind husband and wife."
In the aftermath of such wisdom and the strength of character displayed, Benton admitted silently that Hadji Singh was born to be a Sultan. His tone was that of a noble king leading his subjects to unity in the face of crisis. The knowledge brought an unexpected wave of fondness and pride to Benton Quest, something he had not really acknowledged in quite some time.
Not one person responded to Hadji's plea, but no more arguments occurred and even Irina looked slightly abashed, even if she still believed her own words.
No one spoke as they all packed up into their vehicles to head to the reception, and Benton preferred the silence.
The drive to the August Civic Center didn't take long, but it was long enough for Benton and Alena to share a fully loaded silence right up until the car pulled in the drive of the civic center.
"He disapproves, then?" Alena eventually decided to say, quiet and pensive.
"Not of you," Benton replied honestly. Jonathan's actions still hurt and they still made him angry on some levels, but he could see it had not all been a selfish argument on his son's part.
"He actually worried how you would feel if…" Benton tried to explain, but the subject felt almost like dirty laundry. Nevertheless, he pressed on bluntly, "if we spent years together and never really loved each other."
"I see," Alena responded simply, staring straight ahead for a long moment before she added even more quietly, "At least he thought out that much."
Uncertain how to respond to such a statement, Benton remained mute as they exited the vehicle and he led Alena through the halls of the civic center.
"Congratulations to the newlyweds, Benton and Alena Quest!" Race called over the microphone, gesturing at the bride and groom. As per choice, Benton and Alena had agreed not to name the members of the bridal party. As public and formal as their wedding was, they still needed to implement some form of security measures, no matter how trivial, regarding the participants.
Heavy applause heralded their triumphal entry into the massive ballroom, Alena's hand securely tucked into the crook of Benton's arm as they walked in synchrony to the bridal table.
Where there were not gardenias along the lengthy table, there were a million exotic flowers to compensate the lack: bird of paradise, blue orchid, butterfly milkweed, blue passion flower, bleeding heartwine, blood lilies… Benton had spent a great deal of time letting Alena ply him with the names and appearances, even though he knew them from a scientific standpoint years ago.
Even if he had not, Rachel always loved flowers of every kind and talked incessantly about them. Exotics were actually a favorite of hers, although Benton suspected Alena was unaware of that information when planning their wedding. The two women may have been close friends since college, but even considering that, Alena would not have wanted her friend's favorites heralding her own nuptials to the same man. The awkwardness of merely thinking it, let alone actually saying it, made Benton's head swim.
Thankfully, serving dinner to their grand reception crowd took foremost priority. Irina did seem ready to explode when she realized Jonathan and Jessie's absences left two extra spaces at the table; two chairs she had forgotten to call and have removed before the audience took any further notice that there were two missing members of the bridal party. Amazingly, the young woman held herself in check; how well was anyone's guess, but Benton could imagine how apoplectic she must have come close to behaving.
No matter how hard they tried, no one in the party talked much except Hadji and Sanjana. Even Race and Jade remained strangely quiet, a fact Benton felt unusually uncomfortable with.
As the wedding toasts came closer and closer, Benton felt Alena's tension increase even more than it already had. That confused the scientist, until he remembered Jonathan had been writing a speech. Another part of the wedding flung away without a thought, incensing Benton slightly. His son may have had a right to his own opinion, but to put such discordance in the events themselves was hardly fair of him.
Again shaking away the thought of their conflict, Benton turned to grasp his wife's hand in some measure of reassurance. The tension did not leave her, but Alena did sigh with resignation and turn to speak with Irina about the missing speech. The pianist grew outraged once more, but a steady stream of discussion from Alena kept the young woman from losing it.
Sighing himself, the red-bearded inventor mercilessly tuned Irina out as she stood to propose a speech which would replace the one Jonathan was not there to offer. Even Race's subsequent speech made no mark on Benton's comprehension. The only that did mark his observation was Jessie's presence at the reception; he had not expected that.
By the time the first dance was to occur, Benton nearly tuned out his wife, too. Patience seemed to become Alena, however, and she gave him time to come back to himself before rising from the table. The song played over the speakers did not sound the least bit familiar to Benton, but he turned the floor with his bride all the same as the music played on.
Given two songs – one for bride and groom, the other for the entire bridal party – Benton luckily completed his required participation on that front and Alena swept away to talk with people she knew. As for Benton, he quickly excused himself to the restroom as a reason to slip away for the moment. All he wanted was a chance to breathe.
Benton silently thanked Race for his security measures, taking appreciative notice of the clear hallways outside their chosen ballroom. He also thanked Race for teaching him well enough how to slip away from a crowd without being truly noticed, hence his relatively simple escape.
Finding a deserted corner of the hall to hide in, however cowardly that sounded, Benton sighed in relief. He hated publicity. Even worse, he hated gossips. Now he was stuck with a crowd chock-full of exactly those two things, and his relationship with his son the most likely topic of gossip to be had.
Grinding his teeth, the scientist pushed away from the wall and stalked the long wall he had stood against. No more than ten feet down that way, Benton heard the distinct sound of a heated conversation. Curiosity driving him, and his typical sense of propriety rapidly diminishing as he became more irritable, the red-haired man followed the voices further down – and further from main hall in front of the ballroom.
To say he was surprised to find Jade Kenyon and Estella Velasquez standing a mere two feet apart in the middle of a recessed storage area, was to say altogether too little. As Benton moved back out of sight, the two women shared equally cold looks with each other, Jade's face tinted with smug fire and Estella's fists clenched at her sides as she spoke irascibly.
"You think I don't see?" the redhead nearly growled at the other woman. "I don't know how long you've known him, but I can guarantee you knew him before our divorce started to take shape."
"I don't give a single care what you see," Jade smirked angrily in return. "He's with me. That's all I care about."
"The only things you care about are your own selfish ends," Estella spit out furiously. "You did something. I don't know what, but you did something to make him leave. "
Benton found himself unhealthily interested in the topic of the moment; he was one among them who knew a fair amount about the time surrounding Race and Estella's divorce. By all accounts, even Race's limited discussion, Estella had been nearly destroyed by the proceedings. To think Jade may have enabled the near-destruction of one of Benton's closest friends was not a pleasant experience.
"Maybe he just got bored of playing house with you," Jade retorted with a sneer. "God knows he had plenty of other candidates to pick from."
"He never cheated." Estella spoke with utter certainty, the strength in her voice actually bringing a tiny smile on Benton's face. "That much I know."
"Oh, cry on my shoulder," Jade rolled her eyes sarcastically and turned away, heading away from Estella on swift feet.
The redheaded archaeologist stood in the same position, not bothering to stare after her antagonist as she attempted to gather her wits about her and calm down. Benton recognized the telltale signs of the stress and chaos Estella felt, but had difficulty controlling. Race Bannon had always been a tenuous subject at best, and to add in the presence of Jade Kenyon on top of it all did no favors for Estella's admirable composure. This additional suspicion just blasted everything out of the water.
Sucking in a breath as he thought over his desire for a moment alone, Benton decided Estella's need was greater than his and stepped from his concealed position. The sound of footsteps on the hard flooring drew the woman's immediate attention, her head snapping towards him in a whirl of vivid red curls.
Seeing who it was, Estella relaxed infinitesimally and let out a harsh sigh. "I suppose you heard all of that… conversation?"
The last word conveyed so much sarcasm that Benton snorted as he replied, "I'm sorry for eavesdropping. But I was a little worried when I saw the two of you alone like that."
"With good reason," Estella admitted ruefully, although darkness crowded her attempt at wry humor.
"Do you really think she had something to do with the divorce?" Benton murmured regretfully, eyes carefully roving the eyes and expression of his companion.
"I feel it so strongly, Benton," Estella breathed almost fearfully, latching a firm hand onto his forearm for support. "It never made any sense… the divorce, I mean. One day he just… told me he wanted a divorce. No questions, no attempt to fix whatever problems we might have had… just closing up shop like it didn't matter. He shut me out so thoroughly I couldn't break through his walls ever again. Even now, I still feel that tension I felt then; like he can't possibly trust me to even speak honestly on the subject."
While Benton knew from talks with Race that this wasn't entirely true anymore, he had no illusions about Estella believing it. After the way their divorce played out, and the stormy path since then, Benton suspected the archaeologist might never again believe anything positive about her relationship with Race Bannon.
"Whatever happened," Estella continued softly, green eyes lost in a haze of pain as she stared unseeingly at the place where her hand rested, "Race experienced something that made him insist on a divorce no matter how much it killed me… And it nearly did."
Reaching up to grasp the slender hand resting on his arm, Benton grimaced unhappily at the information. Race had confirmed the idea years earlier, but it was no less disturbing to hear it now.
"I don't know what happened any better than you," Benton confessed sadly, squeezing his friend's hand as reassuringly as he could. "Race never divulged anything beyond rudimentary facts and events from that time of your lives. Ever since I can remember having the gall to ask him about it, he's only barricaded himself away from the subject. It seems to cause him a great deal of pain."
"Of course it does," Estella remarked bitterly, a frown overtaking her lovely face. "He's in pain because of something I don't even know I did. Something I can't even begin to comprehend. And he would never tell me. Not then, not now."
The topic of Jade's possible intervention seemed to fade away in the face of everything Estella had experienced with her ex-husband. Benton wondered how much of that was deliberate and how much was a subconscious need on Estella's part to insulate against pain.
"I'm sorry," was all Benton could think to say.
Estella half-laughed at him with self-deprecating humor, a heartbreaking sound Benton despised; he heard it all too often over the years he had known Jessie's mother. Silence pervaded their companionable, if sad, moment together.
With a probing look at her companion, Estella seemed to contemplate something before finally speaking quietly, "Are you happy, Benton? With this wedding… with Alena?"
A flurry of heated words crossed Benton's mind, halting just as abruptly as he noticed the sudden tension in the redhead's posture.
"Don't be angry with me," Estella begged him, cutting of whatever response he might have made. The pleading expression on her face stopped him from tuning her out. "Don't be angry with your son, for that matter… You're his father… and he just loves you. He doesn't want you – or Alena – to spend the rest of your life unhappy."
There was not much Benton could say to that, having assured Alena of something similar on the ride to the civic center. Estella brought the matter even closer to home by assuring Benton of Jonathan's care for his father, in particular.
Jonathan.
When was the last time Benton called him Jonny? He could hardly remember.
Rachel always loved the shorter name. Not simply because it was cute for a small child, but because Benton himself had given his baby boy the affectionate nickname before he was even a week old.
When and why had he stopped using it? No reason he knew of had perpetuated the change, not even the obvious signs of his little boy growing into a man in his own right.
"I don't know why I'm so…" Benton searched for the proper word, but nothing conveyed what he felt.
"You've been… defensive, lately," said Estella reluctantly, hesitant in a way she had never been with Benton before.
"Have I acted like that much of an ogre, Estella?" he questioned the woman, brows furrowed. "You seem afraid to even talk with me about it."
"Considering the way you let your son walk away," Estella remarked with some apology, although not much, "what would you expect of me?"
Benton groaned quietly at the intuitive accusation, growing increasingly disheartened at the way things transpired between him and his son.
"You shut him out, didn't you?" the redheaded mother asked him, disappointment in her voice. "Because he realized you were only marrying Alena out of a fear of being alone."
"He asked me why I was going to marry her," Benton explained ever more quietly, shoulders dropping fractionally in resignation. "I told him the truth. He just couldn't understand why I would marry her if I didn't love her."
"He reacted the way most people would," Estella concluded stringently. "With surprise and confusion… You're always so wise, Benton. Beneficent, even. The thought that you might not consider the ramifications of such a sensitive issue bothered your son. It… colored his view of you. I imagine that troubles you, even if you won't admit it."
Benton struggled not to snap some irritated comment at her, knowing she was not taking sides so much as being brutally honest. And he had to admit to a definite sore spot after the way his son accused him.
"That's not the only thing you're troubled about," the redhead assumed correctly, judging the scientist's awkward features with a keen eye.
"He said something…" Benton admitted reluctantly. "Something I… hope isn't true."
After a pause, laying her other hand on his arm as well, Estella prompted him, "What's that?"
"He said Alena wouldn't forgive me for this," Benton baldly confessed, the thought more painful than he guessed it would be.
"You care more than you think," Estella told him approvingly. "Although I do wish you would tell her that."
"I… I'll do my best to explain it to her," Benton agreed tentatively. Estella knew better than anyone what it felt like to be hurt by her husband's lack of understanding, so he could hardly doubt her sincere desire to help him fix the marriage Benton now consigned he and Alena to.
Estella nodded in acceptance and changed the subject, "We better get you back. Irina might lose it this time."
"Wait," Benton stopped her from walking forward, keeping her hand ensconced in his own a moment longer.
Glancing up at him questioningly, Estella stopped to listen.
"The way you acted with him…" Benton had to speak up, looking down self-consciously at what would no doubt sound like jealous words, "you quelled his nervousness so easily. I was surprised by that."
"I've become very close with Jonny," Estella said simply.
"I know that," Benton agreed just as plainly. "I was glad to see it happen over the years. He needed a mother in his life."
"That he did," Estella nodded once, sadness in her tone. "You seemed to approve. I would never have done it otherwise."
"Better than that, Estella," Benton added softly, "…Rachel would have approved."
Smiling genuinely for the first time that day, Estella patted Benton's arm companionably. "Thank you for that."
"Thank you for taking care of our son," Benton murmured gratefully. "I'm just sorry I made such a mess of things here."
"Maybe the two of you need this breathing space," Estella considered thoughtfully, then shrugged. "To grow on your own."
"You may be right," Benton sighed disparagingly. "At the very least, I owe it to my son and my wife to be honest about this marriage. If I don't take the time now, talking with my son would only start the same arguments again."
"I hope it works out all right," Estella consoled him. "I'm here if you need to talk."
"Thank you," Benton smiled. "Now, I think you're right. Irina will be out for blood if I don't get back."
Estella laughed more happily this time, leading the way back to the reception.
As it turned out, Irina's fury was indeed a near thing. Alena luckily had a sense for when Benton needed a moment, and they made it through unscathed due to her intervention. Benton actually felt rather surprised Alena had no suspicion about Estella's intentions with Benton after so obviously spending a moment alone together. It was not as though Benton wouldn't speak with Alena if he could, but their interactions had become incredibly one-dimensional in recent years; a fact he bereaved with sincere sadness. Still, it was a good thing Alena never seemed to doubt that Benton and Estella were anything more than very good friends.
Whatever the reason for it, Irina had no such trust, and Benton made his way very carefully through the rest of the night. He endured the cake cutting, bouquet toss, and farewell line with the barest of grace to keep tensions low.
Leaving behind the ridiculously overwhelming reception crowd as they slipped into the car never felt better to Benton, or Alena it seemed.
"I know I helped to plan it," the former president said dryly of a sudden, startling Benton into glancing over at his bride's wry expression, "but I am quite glad to be away from all those people now."
Chuckling at the rare moment of honesty between them, Benton dared to reach out and grasp Alena's thin hand in his own. Glancing up at him in surprise, the brunette smiled tentatively and squeezed the proffered hand with unusual warmth.
Benton wondered where their friendship had gone – that old camaraderie that shrouded his visit to Prague to investigate the golem incident, and the beautiful bond that encompassed Jonny and Jessie's visit to the country for Irina's musical debut.
Alena looked at him, then. Something in her eyes said she knew what he was thinking. Sadness settled over her gaze, but as swiftly as it came, the look disappeared and they were back to their formal, socially acceptable marriage. Benton immediately regretted the change.
When they arrived at the Maine Compound an hour later, Benton found himself tensing involuntarily at what he might find. How Jonathan would react… well, it was anyone's guess.
Everyone had gone in ahead of them, Race and Hadji opening doors for the newly married couple and leading them into the family room.
Jonathan Quest was nowhere to be found, but Jessie Bannon waited as stiffly as a statue, a piece of paper clutched in her hands.
"He's gone," Benton heard himself say as if through water. The scientist felt his vision tunneling before Jessie even spoke, and as much anger as the young woman had felt, even she looked concerned at his suddenly pale complexion. Waving off concerns from Hadji and Race, Benton nodded for Jessie to say her peace. He had to hear this, one way or the other.
"Hey guys," Jessie read, pausing to take a breath for strength. "I guess this is really it. I'm going. Not going away for a little while in order to clear my head for the hundredth time. This is permanent. I can't come back to what little is left of the family I used to know."
Benton shivered at the words, remembering the way his son had often disappeared out to the cliffs, or the lighthouse, or even Bandit's grave, to pick up the pieces after a stressful day. He used to come to Benton's study to do that…
"Hadji, believe me," Jessie went on, bringing Hadji's gaze up, "blood isn't always thicker. You're my brother, through and through, even though we can't spend as much time anymore. Responsibilities are a pain sometimes. You and Sanjana make an amazing pair to rule Bangalore. Tell Neela she's wonderful, as always."
Hadji's eyes gained a sheen of tears that would never fall, Sanjana reaching out to grasp his arm in comfort.
"Race, I'm grateful you were there through everything. I don't like how you've neglected Jessie in recent years, but you weren't always that way."
Jessie paused for a moment, and Benton wondered what went through her mind as she avoided her father's equally apologetic and worried eyes. Before he could wonder further, those expressive green eyes turned on him, and he knew his turn had come.
"Dad," Jessie murmured gently, as if aware her every word could destroy Benton, "I don't know how it happened, but we lost whatever bond there was between us."
The words made their mark. Benton closed his eyes in pain at the very idea that he may have lost his son so thoroughly.
"I'm sorry I disappointed you," Jessie finished weakly. "I'm sorry I wasn't good enough. Be happy, okay? You deserve it after spending this long alone."
With a strangled breath, Benton tried process those words again in his head. Wasn't good enough? His son thought he wasn't good enough for Benton?
Be happy…
Hadn't Estella told him that was Jonny's concern? Yet he had practically accused his son of sabotaging the marriage for selfish reasons.
You're my son, not my master.
Benton winced harshly at the memory of berating his own son like a criminal. He had so worried that his son's ability to hide his emotions was a change in Jonny. When really, it was a change in Benton that Jonny tried very hard to acclimate to, tried to help Benton with. And he shut him out, just like Estella said he had.
What was wrong with him? How could he not know his boy after all this time?
There were no answers to these questions, and Benton barely listened as Jessie read out the last words his son had written.
"Jess, I'm sorry for leaving you alone like this, but I can't stay. There's no place here for me anymore. You're the best friend I have and the one person who was always rock solid. Tell Estella she's the best. I'll miss you both, Ace… Jonny."
Silent and dead described them all best in the wake of Jonny's letter, and Benton wondered if he would ever again feel anything but shame. Estella actually cried silently across the room, leading Jessie to move over to her mother and hug her.
Benton couldn't breathe properly.
Alena was speaking, her voice making some assurance or some comfort… but Benton didn't understand it.
His son was gone.
More than anything else that had been spoken the entire day, two words – even above his wedding vows, the reception speeches, the terrible arguments, and even the deep discussion with Estella – just two simple words kept Benton's brain as electrified as a lightning rod.
Two words held him captive and spread pain through every justified, rationalized, self-assured thought and emotion he had experienced about the wedding, his bride, and their families.
And about the only child of his brief, but loving marriage to Rachel Diane Wildey.
"Please, Dad."
Benton walked blindly to his old armchair near the fire – the one in which he had held his little boy through any number of traumas and hiccups, one where he had held his boy in comfort and understanding – and slumped down onto the seat almost regardless of Alena's attempted support.
Benton Quest sat back in quiet, uninhibited thought for the first time that day… and grieved.
A/N: Thank you to everyone who read and reviewed Chapter 2: Time!