Disclaimer: HB owns the JQ lot, not me.   I'm making no money off this, so
don't sue, unless you wanna waste a bit of time on lil' ol' me.  It's
created out of (a lot) of love and respect for the series.  All none JQ
characters are my own.  You're welcome to use any of them in fics, but
please ask.

If anyone's missed the rest of the fic, E-mail me privately and it's yours.

Warning: None of my stuff is ever beta read, which makes for a dangerous
world of plotholes and spelling mistakes.  I'm still Welsh, so please ignore
Britisms.  Oh, and a couple of Southern fried Race-isms spring up from time
to time.

Archivers: Suze and Aspen are welcome to it, of course.  Everyone else ask
and it's yours.

Categories: Angst, mature language , violence, HR.

Summary:  I'm going places other Fics ignore.
***********************************************************************
The computer operator shook his head.  The boss would not be happy.

"Erm...sir?"

David turned to the man, the usual half-smile on his lips.

"There appears to be a problem with the system."

In a fury, David smashed the operator across the face.  To his daughter's
horror, the anger did not drain from his face as quickly as usual.

"What the Hell is wrong with it?"  He screamed the words.

The man stood, gasping.

"Project Rachel is not compatible with our system, sir.  It will take us
several months, years even, to alter Project Rachel's programming to fit our
mainframe."

David snarled, reaching inside his jacket and pulling out a handgun.  He
held it, aiming at the computer operator.  For a moment, his hand held the
gun rock steady, pure hatred carving his face in stone.  The man trembled,
he knew he was about to die.

David's hand began to shake, fingers loosening on the pistol.  His eyes were
red rimmed.

"Daddy?"  His daughter's voice trembled with fear.

His arm dropped limply by his side, his face returning to its usual pale
complexion.  The operator thanked the girl silentely.

"It's alright, daddy.  I'll do it."

She took the gun out of her father's hand, and shot the man.

"Christine?"

She hugged her father's leg.

"Everything will be fine, daddy.  Mommy will be back soon."

He stroked his daughter's hair, bending down to kiss her on the temple.

"I love you, Christine."

She smiled.  "I love you, daddy.  But I'm tired."  She exaggerated the yawn.
  "Take me home."

David motioned to another man.  The man took Christine and left, leaving
David staring proudly after his little girl.  Marie would be home soon.
***********************************************************************
Jonny followed Jessie to Race's room, deep in thought.  Suddenly Jessie felt
his arm around her, spinning her and pushing her against the wall.  He
leaned closer, their lips inches apart.  Then he stopped.  Jessie looked up
questioningly up at him, her heart pounding.

"Jess, does it seem to you that Race overreacted a little?"  He kept his
voice a low whisper, but his eyes showed his intensity.

It took Jessie a moment to collect herself.  For a moment, she had
thought...she was certain...

"What?"

"He does go a little beserk if one of us get hurt, but he's always managed
to hold his temper when we're around.  I think he knows Claire better than
he lets on."

Jessie tried to focus.  She paused for a moment, closing her eyes.  She had
been damn positive he was about to....she shook her head and tried to
concentrate.

"That's a pretty big guess to make, Jonny."

"I'm been thinking about this.  Look at what Race said to her, "I trusted
you."  He told me and Hadj earlier that he'd trust her on *this*, but I got
the impression that he trusted her fully, that he knew her well.  And I mean
*very* well."

"You better not be suggesting what I think you're suggesting...."  Her eyes
flashed threatingly.

"God, no.  Claire's like, what?  25?  I meant that I think they used to be
close.  I mean, you and Hadji close."  He had very nearly said "me and you
close" but rejected the idea.

"But..."

"It would explain why he reacted so OTT.  He felt betrayed."

"Could it just be the drugged water?"

"I don't think so.  Hadji reckons that wore off a while ago."

She nodded mutely.  She was having trouble organising her thoughts.  Hadji's
name triggered something in her memory.

"I remember Hadj saying that dad was talking to you earlier.  What was it
about?"

Jonny broke eye contact.  "Nothing important."

Her emerald eyes flashed.  "He threatened you.  He blamed you for what
happened before..."

"Whoa, hold it.  He knew it was the water, he didn't blame me at all."

"But he did threaten you?"

"Erm..."

"Tell me, Jonny.  Or I'll force it out of dad.  Either way, I'm going to
find out."

He sighed.  It was getting almost impossible to lie to her anymore.  "Fine.
He said if I ever hurt you again he'd kill me."

"Christ!"  Sudden anger flared up.  "I'm surprised he didn't blame you for
this..."  she indicated her nose, which was still swollen.

"How is that, by the way?"

"Stop changing the subject."

"You changed the subject.  Is it broken?"

She rolled her eyes.  He wasn't going to drop it.  "I don't know.  It still
hurts like Hell, but I'm not sure."

"Let me take a look..." he reached up, but she batted his hand away.

"What's up, afraid it'll hurt?"  He grinned.

"You're a git, Jonny Quest."  She let Jonny slip his arm under hers,
supporting her back and head as he tilted her backwards.  Gently, he reached
up with his other hand and ran his fingers down her nose.  She closed her
eyes and gritted her teeth.

He let his fingers drift down and rest softly on her lips.  With his
supporting hand, he carresed her shoulders.  She opened her eyes again,
unsure of what he was doing.  His smile became soft, caring.  He opened his
mouth to speak.

"Jess, I-"

Race's door opened.

*DAMN!*

Hadji poked his head out.

"Ah, there you are my friends.  Race began to worry when you took too
long..."

"Sure he did."  The bitterness was evident in his voice.  *DAMMIT!*

"Jonny?  So is it broken?"  Jessie didn't want to make the mistake of second
guessing Jonny's intentions again.

"Huh?"  He took a moment to remember what he was supposed to be doing.
"Erm...no.  It's just a couple of blood vessels that've been cut. That's
all."

"Thanks.  And that reminds me, how's your arm?"

He gave her a questioning look.  Rolling up his jacket's sleeve, he looked
dumbly at the forearm cast.

"Oh, that's right.  It's broken."

Jessie giggled, ruffling his hair.  "Ya big lunk head."
***********************************************************************
Claire grinned at Jonny as he entered the room.  Her left eye was black, and
a bruise had risen up on her cheek.

"Hey, kid.  Congratulations, you beat me in a two on one."

He sat on the bed, ignoring her.  Jessie leaned against the wall, arms
folded.

"What've you been up to, Taylor?"  Her eyes hardened.

"You're no fun anymore."

Race lifted the belt she had been wearing, pulling out the tiny handheld
camera.

"Well, lookey here."  He opened the back, pulling out the reams of film.

"They're instants, so should have developed by now."  Race inspected the two
figures on the film.

"Is this Barone?"

"I think so.  He fits the rather limited I-1 profile.  His hair's quite
distinctive."

"Who's the little girl?"

"Look at her, moron.  She's his daughter."

Race snorted but didn't answer.

"Is that all you were doing?  Taking pictures of Barone?"  Jess knew
something was wrong here.

"At least we have a face to go by now."

"Then why the heck did you do a number on Jessie like that?  We would've let
you go on this little escapade, no problem.  It helps us out quite a lot."
Jonny's mind was racing.

Claire shrugged.

"That wasn't why you went.  Was it?"  Race's grey eyes locked with Claire's.

She smiled.

"Nope."

"You were trying to kill Barone."  His voice was level, not allowing any
trace of emotion to show.

"You're getting good at this negotiation stuff, Race.  Nearly as good as
beating women who are tied to a chair."

Race stood, fists clenched.  For a moment he struggled with himself, but sat
back down on the chair.

There were a few moments of tense silence, and Claire opened her mouth to
make another snide comment.  Jonny cut her off.

"We know you two used to know each other.  Whatever the Hell is going on,
open up, and quit screwing around."

Claire smiled grimly at the boy.

"Barone killed my partner.  He shot him, calmly, methodically.  Mark died,
right in front of me."

"Mark's your partner?"

"Was my partner.  For five years."  She was shaking, fists clenched.

Jonny raised his eyebrows.  "You were more than partners." he said simply.

"You're as clever as your old man, kid."  Her hazel eyes were cold, yet she
still held the wry little smile.

"Sorry."

"I really don't see why she's still tied up."  Everyone turned to Jessie.
"Her goals are the same as ours."

"No, they're not.  Screw revenge, I want my dad back."  His voice was
steady; determined.

"I could help you with that, kid.  Just let me get my shot at Barone."  her
voice took a pleading, almost desperate tone.

Jonny looked over at Race for help.  His eyes had narrowed, his eyes still
on Claire.

"You took the pictures, you could've shot him."

"I could've, but a catsuit has very little space to hide guns."

Race grunted.

"She could help us get your father back."  Jessie looked over at Jon.

"What?"

Jessie frowned.  "After all this guy has done, you can't defend him.  He's
an evil son of a bitch, Jonny."

"Geez, Jess!"

"We have no I-1 backup.  The enemy of our enemy is our friend."  Hadji spoke
up.

Jonny shook his head sadly.  He couldn't believe what he was hearing.  He
looked over at Race.

"Sorry, Jonny, but they're right.  She got in once, she can get in again.
We need her for this one."

Jonny cursed under his breath.  "Fine.  But we get dad out first.  Got
that?"

Claire grinned as she lifted her hands, pulling off the rope that had, until
now, binded her hands.

"Sure thing, kid."

"We need a plan."  Race looked back at the photos.

"And we also need to recover the Rachel Project.  That thing could be used
to wipe us out years from now."

Hadji had been brooding for a while now.  "I have a plan."

They turned to face him.  His voice had taken a cold edge, something rare
for Hadji.

"You can discover what your enemy fears most by observing the means he uses
to frighten you."

"Huh?"

"He has been using our friends and families against us, starting back when
his man took Rachel hostage.
That is one of his greatest fears, to lose someone close to him."

"Are you saying we kidnap his daughter?"  Race liked this idea.  It had a
nice irony to it.

"Hadji!"  Jonny exploded.  "How the Hell can you condone something like
this?"

"I am not condoning this idea, Jonny.  I am suggesting it."  His soft brown
eyes had turned hard.

"Man..."  Jonny was seriously worrying about his friends.

"Jonny, we will not have to kill anyone this way.  We exchange his daughter
for the Rachel Project and Dr. Quest.  It will be benificial for everyone."

"Not for me." Claire stood.

"After what you just did you can go to Hell.  This plan will work, and
you're not screwing it up."  Jonny unconsciously stood between Jessie and
Claire.

Jessie put her hand on his shoulder.

"Jonny, the plan wouldn't work anyway."

"What?"  He turned to face her.

"All Barone needs to do is hold out 'till Rachel has been integrated into
his system.  Then he'll be able to come back in time to stop us."

"That'll take a couple of years."

"Yeah, but the outcome is the same."

"Then we make a separate attempt for Project Rachel." Jonny's eyes sparkled.
  "We grab Rachel, leg it off, then make the swap."

Hadji yawned.  "Can we wait until tomorrow?"

"It is tomorrow, Hadj."

"We'll do it tonight.  Everyone can sleep during the day."  Race gave in to
the plan.

"Who's doing what?"  Claire had trouble following the plan; it was insanity.

"Me, Jon and Jess go for Project Rachel.  Hadj, since it was your idea, and
Taylor, because Jonny will kill you if you go anywhere near Jess, you two
are doing the kidnapping."

"You're putting kids on the hard part of the mission and me on the brat
snatching?"

"Yes.  You'll tell us how to get in, but I don't want you anywhere near
Barone until the swap.  Now everyone get some sleep.  Taylor, try anything
while we're asleep and I'll shoot you myself."
***********************************************************************
Comments?  Suggestions?  Flames?  Praise?  Send 'em all to
SchmittVanDean@hotmail.com

Only a couple of parts to go, methinks.  Watch out for supersurprise ending!

Tip For The Day:  I stand by my loud music comments, Spense.  Andrew W.K.
distracted me throughout my Fic, and now it's stuck in my head. <sobs>  Will
it will never end?  Oh, it's not stuck in my head, I'm still listening to
it.  ARGH!

-Schmitt

*********************************
The world needs anger.  The world
often continues to allow evil
because it isn't angry enough.
-Bede Jarrett
*********************************