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 non-JQ
characters are
my own. You're welcome to use any of them in fics, but please ask.

Warning: I no longer have a good reason for this to be up here. I've
got a
Beta reader now, (Thanks Becky!) So I can't use this bit to make stupid
self-deprecating jokes. Ah, well, I can try. I'm Welsh, so expect Brit
spellings and the occasional phrase. I wrote this fic late at night.
When
I’m tired, I think I'm funny, so I apologize in advance.

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

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

Categories: Angst, mature language (once again I'm swearing), violence,
HR.

Summary: The other half of the kick arse action sequence!
***********************************************************************
Race groaned and ran a hand along his thigh. The laser had gone
straight
through muscle but had luckily missed the femur.

The two teens ran up breathless. Race looked up before the pain in his
leg
made him wince.

"Dad?" Jessie crouched beside him.

"My leg's busted. You two are going to have to get Project Rachel."

"We're not gonna leave you, Race." Jonny knelt next to him and tried to
help
him up.

Race batted him over the head. "Jonny! Quit the melodrama! I can get
out of
here on my own. I need you two to get Project Rachel, then get out of
here
yourselves. I've still got the assault rifle. I'll be fine."

They locked eyes. After a moment Jonny stood.

"You can't get in through Barone's office. The window is bulletproof,
and
its covered by computer operated lasers." Jonny nodded and ran.

Jessie paused to look at Race.

"Ponchita, you too. God knows what'll happen to this place if we let
Jonny
in on his own." A thought suddenly occurred to him. "One more thing.
Make
Jonny carry this. I've got C4, phosphorous grenades, and flash-bangs."

He unslung the backpack and gave it to her. "Why can't I carry it?"

"Get Jonny to take it. It'll make him feel useful." She threw him a
quick
smile, kissed him on the cheek and ran after Jonny.
***********************************************************************
They sprinted around the building, panting heavily. They were beginning
to
feel the strain as much as Race had. Jessie paused for a moment to
catch her
breath.

"Jess?"

"Just gimmie a minute." Her breathing came out in raggedy gasps.

Jonny's heart pounded. He was in the same state, his hair matted to his
head
with perspiration. He slunk to the ground, sitting quietly. They were
both
aching, and probably couldn't go much further. He began to think of his
father....

He shook his head violently. He wasn't going to quit. No way in Hell.

"Jess, you ready yet?"

She grinned, her hair hanging in lanky tendrils. Her catsuit was
glistening,
highlighting every curve on her body. Jonny suddenly found his shoes
the
most interesting thing in the world.

She looked up at him. "Yeah. Just needed a sec, that's all."

Motioning for him to follow, she continued around the building, which
seemed
to form a box around the courtyard. The windows covering the vast
expanse of
its walls were all blacked out or had their curtains drawn. Jessie
paused,
holding a hand up to stop Jonny. She stealthily made her way to a
recess of
the building. Edging her way to the corner, her breath lowered. All
other
sounds had dimmed, and all she could hear was the breathing of the
guards.
There were two of them, both in the corners of the recess. Turning, she
found Jonny, for once patiently waiting for her to finish. Indicating
there
were two of them, she was surprised when he made his own way to the
corner.
She caught his arm, locking eyes, trying to read his intentions.
Bending
down, he picked up a small stone and held it in front of her She smiled
with
relief. For a moment she had thought he was going to run out and tackle
the
guards bare handed. Gripping the stone, he threw it across the recess.
The
large clunk of stone hitting brick echoed across the deep recess. Jonny
grinned at Jess. The guards would run out to the wrong side, turning
their
backs on their actual position.

They heard both guards dropping to one knee and drawing their weapons.
"Freeze!" Jessie rolled her eyes. Reaching into Jonny's backpack, she
closed
her hand on the smooth cylinder of a "flash-bang." Pulling it out, she
brandished it in front Jonny, who grinned and allowed her past. She
hurled
it into the recess.

They dived away from the hot white flash, arms covering their eyes. The
guards' sudden screams rang out through the silence of the night.
Jessie
turned her head and whispered.

"You okay?"

He nodded. Getting up, they both returned to the recess. Flash-bangs
create
a blinding flash of light. The effects are temporary, but hurt. A lot.

Jonny walked up to one of the guards silently. The man was flailing his
gun
around but was fortunately well trained, so he wasn't firing blind.

Carefully, almost gracefully, Jonny punched the man in the temple, the
same
way Race had done to the guard near the perimeter. He made no sound as
he
fell. Jonny grinned at Jess, egging her on to try the same.

Jessie, seeing this, mimicked his action on the other man. She grinned
back,
causing him to frown and mutter something inaudible.

Jessie swore when she reached the door. It was locked with a keypad.
She
sincerely wished that there was some way to get in without having to
check
the guards' clothing. Jonny was suddenly behind her.

"Jess? Can we get in?"

"I can't. The...the keypad. We've got nothing that will crack the
code."

"Well, Race must have packed something..."

"Jon, we can't get in. All dad put in his pack is explosives. Nothing
to
crack the keypad. God, I tried...I'm sorry..."

He winked at her, and for a moment Jessie felt a slight anger at him
for his
reaction to her when she was being so open. He unlimbered the pack,
setting
it on the ground between them. After routing around for a few seconds,
he
found what he was looking for.
***********************************************************************
David stared at the bandaged form in front of him. Hadji's dusky skin
was
clearly visible outside of the bandage, his chest rising and falling
faintly.

David considered this for a moment.

He finally had some leverage.

"You." The guard snapped to attention.

"Bring in Quest."

The man nodded and left hurriedly.

David smiled. He had sincerely missed killing Quests.
***********************************************************************
Jonny found it, stood and grinned. Jessie looked at the C4 in his hand.

"Jonny, I think the guards will notice that going off."

"And?"

"Do you *want* several hundred guards chasing us?"

He shrugged and placed the C4 on the door, setting the adhesive, as
Race had
taught him to years ago.

"The guards will all be by the hangar 'cause of the explosion I
triggered
off earlier. It'll also keep everyone off Race's back."

He set the timer for 1 minute.

Jessie grabbed his arm. "What if Dr. Quest is right next to this door?"

"You're telling me this *now*?" She looked at the timer, realizing he
had
just set it.

They ran, crouching when they had got far enough around the building.
The
explosion was deafening. Jonny immediately got back up and sprinted for
the
entrance, a sudden anxiety clutching his chest.

The recess was black, the brickwork around the door merely dust, the
door
missing. The rooms the door was closest to were empty. Jonny breathed a
sigh
of relief.

Jessie was suddenly beside him. He turned, grinning from ear to ear. It
had
been a very big explosion. Jessie couldn't resist. She returned the
grin.

"Now you've had your fun and blown something up, can we continue?"

He grinned as they entered the main complex.
***********************************************************************
Apart from the rooms devastated by the C4, the complex was brilliantly
lit.
Its corridors were arranged in rows, each one ending in a gap to allow
passage. The gaps were placed in an alternating fashion, so one was at
the
top of the corridor while the next was at the base.

They walked carefully down the corridors, desperate not to alert any
guards
alerted by the explosion by squeaking their dabs on the slick polished
floor.

Doors, arranged opposite of each other with no form of identification,
lined
the corridors. Jessie mulled this over in her head for a minute *The
people
working here have been working here for long enough to memorize where
everything is.*

They checked the doors along the corridor. Some of the doors had
keypads,
making them inaccessible. Jonny cursed, frustrated. Setting up C4 in
here
was likely to kill his father, as well as destroy Project Rachel. He
hit one
of the wooden doors with frustration.

Jessie grabbed his arm. They paused, the sound of boots clearly
audible.
Reflexes taking over, they took up positions either side of the
corridor,
impatiently waiting for the inevitable guards.

The boots got closer. Jonny looked over at Jess, alarmed. She grinned
and
winked. She was itching for a fight after leaving Claire alone like
that.

They could hear the guards' shouts now, which meant there were at least
two,
maybe more.

Jessie braced herself as the first man sprinted past her position. She
pivoted on her heel, swinging her leg into the man's face as he passed.
His
entire body snapped backwards, his head bouncing off the floor.

The next man barely had time to register it before Jonny had body
tackled
him.

Turning, he found Jessie kneeling on the chest of the guard she had
knocked
over.

"Some guys have all the luck."

She snorted but didn't look up, punching the man repeatedly.

"Jess?"

"What?" The man was weakly holding his arm up to fend off the blows.

"I think you got him." She continued to pound the man.

"Jess, we need one of these guys conscious to find Project Rachel. They
might even have the codes for the keypads."

She stood. The man groaned.

"Well, *I'm* not going through his pockets." She crossed her arms,
grinning.

Shrugging, Jonny walked over to the man and went through the pockets on
his
flak jacket. Nothing. He reached into his trouser pockets. Nothing.

"Damn." Jessie frowned, then stood over the guard, who was slowly
coming to
his senses.

"'Scuse me, but you don't happen to know where Project Rachel is, do
you?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." Frowning, Jonny looked over
at
Jess.

"Great. We're screwed. It'll be behind one of the locked doors, for
sure,
and we've got no way of opening them."

She motioned for Jonny to toss her the prone man's 203. She turned the
rifle
on one of the doors, shooting out the handle. The door flew open.
Turning,
she grinned impishly at Jonny.

"Guess not."
***********************************************************************
The guard heard the gunshot and paused. It was close. He motioned for
the
other man to wait before dragging Quest back to David. Pulling out his
sidearm, he carefully made his way to the edge of the corridor. He
quickly
glanced round the corridor and was shocked to find two kids, standing
over
the bodies of two burly guards. Jonny's peripheral vision caught the
movement. He suddenly started to run in the guard's direction.

He leveled his gun just as Jonny reached him.

"Put your hands on your head! Now!"

Jonny, in one sharp movement, grabbed the gun in both hands, slipping
his
finger behind the trigger, therefore blocking any attempt to pull it.
Jonny
yanked hard, and in the same movement spun the pistol round, twisting
it out
of the guard's hands, so the muzzle was pointed in the man's face.

"Sorry, I misunderstood the instruction." Amusement danced behind his
eyes,
but he resisted the impulse to smile.

The guard raised his hands. Jessie leaned in closer to whisper in
Jonny's
ear.

"You sure you'll be okay with the gun?"

"No." She watched him for a moment. There was fear for his safety
behind
those eyes. For a moment he felt a small pang of concern. Then he shook
his
head.

*Focus, Quest.*

He pointed his gun at the guard. "Take us to Project Rachel. I have no
problem with shooting you."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Take us to Dr. Quest."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

Gripping the gun's barrel in her right hand, and letting go of the grip
with
her left hand, Jessie swung the rifle's butt upwards in a wide arc. The
man
was lifted off the ground by the impact, crashing to the floor heavily.

Jonny raised an eyebrow at her.

She frowned back at him. "These guys seriously get on my nerves."

The second guard had gotten impatient and followed his partner a few
minutes
later. Jessie's head snapped up Jonny spotted the guard at the same
time. He
sprinted noisily up the corridor, Jessie just behind him. For a moment
she
considered stopping him, but after seeing his determined expression she
knew
it would be pointless.

The guard looked behind him, then tripped over the recumbent form of
Dr.
Quest that he had left on the floor, as his head was turned. The man
cursed
and stood.

Jessie leveled her gun.

"Freeze!"

For a moment the man hesitated. Jessie's eyes were positively glacial.
He
raised his hands.

Jonny was beside his father, helping him up.

"Dad!" He hugged him tightly, grinning. Benton, who was barely
conscious,
could only grip him weakly.

After a few minutes, Jonny reluctantly let go and gave him the once
over.
Benton's lip was split, his face heavily bruised. Jonny looked up
angrily at
the guard.

"Did you do this?"

The man hesitated. "Er...no?"

Jonny swung his fist at the man, catching him on the jaw. The man
swayed,
but stayed up.

Jonny raised his pistol. Jessie's heart leapt into her throat. If Jonny
shot
the man, he'd break down for certain. The past few days had revolved
around
his mother, and a gunshot had triggered a breakdown when there was
little
provocation.

"I'm only gonna ask this once. Where's Project Rachel?"

The man hesitated. Looking from one angry teen to the other, he got the
impression that neither of them was in a mood for the usual response.

"Follow me."

Jonny slung his father over his shoulder, ignoring the small grunt of
protest. The guard walked ahead of them, his expression hidden from
their
view. They passed rows of doors, each one exactly the same. Yet the man
seemed to know where he was going. He led them up a flight of stairs,
which
seemed to be placed only halfway along the complex's length. The group
paused at a door, which seemed identical to all the others.

"This is the place."

Jessie thanked the man before knocking him unconscious. Shooting out
the
door handle, they entered quietly. Among a myriad of computers was a
heavy-duty case. Pulling up the heavy catches, Jonny frowned at the
pair of
CDs.

Jessie looked over at them. "Doesn't look much."

"Yeah, but these are an actual time machine." He gazed with wonder at
them.
When he had first learned of them, he was too busy trying to save the
world
to realize just what that had meant.  He could do whatever the heck he
wanted.  Bring back whoever he wanted.

He shook his head.

*Dad made the right choice. So can I.*

Jessie grabbed his wrist. "Well, what're we going to do with them? We
can't
very well lug the case around with us. We've still gotta get out, and
we're
both exhausted enough as it is."

Jonny looked up at her. "Jonny, you've got to destroy them. It's the
only
way to make sure something like this doesn't happen again."

"Jess...this is my dad's work.  I don't have the right to destroy
them..."

The man slumped over his shoulder shifted slightly, then pushed himself
off
his son's shoulder.  He looked at his son for a moment.

"I thought I raised you better than this.  Jonny, if anything like this
happens again, I want you to do the *right* thing. Don't ever stop on
my
account."

Jonny nodded, eyes downcast.

"Son, I'm sorry, but I mean it. Project Rachel is dangerous and the
idea
that you wouldn't destroy it is terrifying.  Especially because it's
out of
concern for me." Benton's voice turned quiet but forceful. "Give me the
gun."

Jonny gave his father an odd look before handing him the pistol.
Turning,
Benton shot the two CDs, ignoring the slight pang of regret. Benton
handed
the gun back to him, forgetting his son's inability to use it.

Jonny's voice was full of concern. "Er...are you okay? Can you walk?"

Benton smiled, amused. "I should be the one worried about you, not the
other
way around."

Jonny grinned.

Jessie had been thinking carefully about the situation. "We need to
stop
Hadj before he kidnaps Barone's daughter."

"We need to get out of here before we can warn him" Benton frowned.
"Didn't
you kids bring communication devices? And where's Race? This is his
usually
*his* job, after all."

"Erm...We didn't bring any radios 'cause Barone would've been able to
track
us. Race was shot, so he opted to get out of here alone."

"Is he alright?"

"Should be.  He wasn't that badly hurt." Jonny looked over at Jess. "I
think
it'd be too late to warn Hadj, anyway."

"Then let's get outta here. We can just give Barone his daughter back,
without asking for anything in return."

Benton looked from one to the other. "What have you been doing? Give
Barone
his daughter back?" Realization dawned. "You didn't..."

"Well..."

"Dr. Quest, we've got to get out of here. Now. Jonny blew up the door
downstairs, so this place is going to be swarming with guards."

Benton hesitated, then nodded. The trio left the room, gingerly
stepping
over the unconscious guard, and briskly walked down the corridor. They
got
down the stairs interruption free. Suddenly Jessie cursed. Benton
turned to
her in surprise.

"Jessie! Mind your language." He paused when he too heard the clear
sound of
several dozen booted feet running towards them from the corridor ahead.

Jessie's mind was working in overtime. "We could make it to Barone's
office.
It has a massive bay window. We should be able to pound our way through
with
the grenades that are in dad's pack."

"But where is it?"

"From outside, it's on the ground floor, and was on its own, which
means
it's gonna be on the end of one of these corridors. We haven't passed a
room
like that yet, so it's got to be on beyond the stairs" They turned,
running
past the flight of stairs. The doors blurred past as they ran down one
corridor, then up the next. The guards were getting closer. Jonny
frowned.
The guards didn't need to catch them to shoot them, just be in the same
corridor. Benton was still groggy, and he and Jess were exhausted. They
turned another corner. Further up from their position one of the doors
was
open. Despite the danger, Jonny's curiosity made him head for it.

David heard the approaching footsteps and crouched behind the bed where
Hadji still lay. He drew a pistol from his shoulder holster.
***********************************************************************
Jonny looked into the room and saw the half-naked figure on the bed. He
instantly recognized his friend.

"Hadj!" He was beside his adopted brother in an instant. He held his
fingers
to Hadji's throat, sighing with relief when he found a pulse. He
paused,
unsure of whether it was safe to move him.

Jessie and Benton were suddenly beside him. "Claire!" Jessie didn't
bother
trying to keep the fury out of her voice.

"No, this is Race's fault." Jonny said quietly, yet with an odd cold
anger.

"What? You're blaming this on dad?"

"I warned him, Jess. I told him this would happen. He ignored me.  Look
what
he's done." Jessie placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. He shook
it off
angrily.

"You ignored me too, Jess. This is as much your fault as it is Race's."
The
sounds of the approaching guards were worryingly close now, but Jonny
couldn't hear them anymore. Benton closed the door. He doubted that the
guards had the clearance into security encrypted doors, so they were
temporarily safe.

She stepped back, the venom in his words causing her real pain. She
felt
tears well up in her eyes.

*Don't give him the satisfaction.*

Forcing the tears down, she clenched her fists and turned on him
angrily.
"If you're so damn clever then how come you let this happen?"

"Because I trusted you two. You promised me he'd be fine. You lied." At
first Jessie thought that anger was the most prevalent emotion, but the
pain
in his voice was overwhelming.

Her eyes softened. She was about to reply when she felt her gun yanked
out
of her hand. She spun on the person.

Her eyes widened in horror, taking an involuntary step back. "Shit!
Barone!"

David smiled, dropping the rifle and raising his pistol. "Damn right."
He
winked. "Quest, unless you want me to kill your merry entourage, I
suggest
you help me upload Rachel onto my system."

Benton opened his mouth, clearly about to refuse.

"My dear Dr. Quest, may I remind you that I have *three* hostages other
than
yourself?  We all know what happens in multiple hostage situations,
don't
we?" He looked over at Jonny, who hadn't moved. "Kid, you look an awful
lot
like your mother."

Jonny didn't answer. His eyes were closed as he relived the horror of
his
mother's death.

David's smile didn't waiver, and neither did his gun. "Wow, you came
all the
way here before being stopped. By me, of all people." He laughed,
before
returning to his half smile. "Now, Quest, this is the last time I'm
going to
ask before I start shooting.  Integrate Rachel into my mainframe."

Benton felt a cold fear clutch at his chest. He looked over at the
children.
Hadji was unconscious on the bed, the only movement from his closed
eyelids
and his faintly moving chest. Jessie was staring defiantly at Barone,
anger
evident on every part of her face. Jonny hadn't moved. A silent tear
ran
down Jonny's cheek.  David tapped his foot impatiently. "Oh, well, I'll
start with..." He swung the gun round.

Jonny was suddenly in front of David, the pistol Benton had returned to
him
drawn and held inches from David's face. He could feel David's gun in
his
stomach.

David smiled. "Quest, I already know you won't shoot me. I know how you
break down."

Jonny returned the smile. "I only have a problem *after* I pull the
trigger."

David sighed.  "I'll tell ya what-you're my kind of guy.  I'll strike a
deal
with you.  We can both use Rachel to get back who we want. I'll get
what I
want, you'll get what you want, and we’ll both be fine. There's no
losers in
this."

"Who do you want back?" Jonny asked brightly.

David smiled when he realized Jonny was going along with the plan. "My
daughter, Christine, and M..."

Jonny's laugh was not a pleasant one. "We destroyed Rachel, you moron."

David held his smile for a moment.  Then he folded in on himself, head
in
hands. His body wracked with sobs.  Jessie watched with growing horror
as
she saw the all too familiar scene.  She looked up at Jonny, who still
held
the gun to David's head.  She closed her eyes.  There was little doubt
in
her mind that Jonny would pull the trigger.

After a few moments she opened them again. Jonny was looking at David;
gun
still pointed at his head, utter disgust and revulsion on his
countenance.
He snarled and threw the gun away.

David was whispering a mantra.  Jessie came closer to hear it.
"MarieMarieMarie"  She shrugged, guessing it to be the name of the
person
David was about to say before being cut off.

She gripped Jonny's shoulder, relieved that he hadn't gone over the
edge.
"Jon?"  He shook her off, ignoring her questioning tone. He grabbed
David's
arms, lifting him in front of him, as a human shield.

"This is our ticket out of here." He motioned to his father to follow,
Jessie forgotten.

Jessie felt her heart break.
***********************************************************************
Comments? Suggestions? Flames? Praise? Send 'em all to
SchmittVanDean@hotmail.com

Wow. Still reading, huh?

How many of ya figured out Barone and David were one and the same? Or
did ya
all think I was going to do a mistaken identity thing? Tell me!

I'm thinking of calling my next fic "J&J?" It has a nice ring to it, I
feel,
as well as being kinda appropriate. The "?" is part of the title, and
since
I'm constantly switching from J&J to DBN, no-one will be sure which way
I'll
go. (Heh heh...)

Special thanks to Becky for sorting her way through this tangled mess.

Everything will be explained next part. Only one or two to go,
depending on
which way I play it.

-Schmitt

********************************************
Choice of attention - to pay attention to
this and ignore that - is to the inner life
what choice of action is to the outer. In
both cases, a man is responsible for his
choice and must accept the consequences,
whatever they may be.
-W. H. Auden
********************************************