I'm having a hard time spacing each chapter out, so this chapter is a bit
longer than I wanted it to be, but I couldn't find a good spot to stop it at.
GRRR... So it might be a few more days before the next one is out (it's done,
trust me!)
Once again I would love to thank Spense for doing the hard work of betaing
this piece. Thank-you so much!
Now on to the story... Please enjoy! CC's are always welcomed!
Disclaimer: I own Kai, Meredith, Keith Wilson(Will) and anybody else that
wasn't in the show. JQ and friends belong to HB and AOL Time Warner.
Archivers: Sure, just tell me where!
The Promises We Make
Chapter 2
By Kara Estes
“I swear, Bannon. We live our lives in a suit case.”
“That’s why you should buy a new one!” Race said as he pointed to an old,
ragged, torn, suit case carried by his friend and partner, Will.
“You know, I should. Did you know my parents bought this at a garage sale for
me when I was in Cub Scouts?”
“So that’s why it has George Washington’s initials on it. You got it at
his
garage sale!”
“Hey, your only a year younger than me!”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah, just get on the plane.”
“You know, someday, I’ll own my own plane, and be able to fly all over the
world!” Will said with a dreamy look in his eyes.
“When that day comes, mind giving me a lift?”
“Only if you pay for the gas!”
Race sat in the pilots chair, of the Quest Jet he had been flying for years.
The jet, which was designed by himself and Dr. Quest, was used for all the
flying needs that the Quest’s had. Even though Race didn’t own it, the Quest
Jet was always available for use without any questions asked.
“Okay Dad! We are gassed up and ready!” Jessie shouted as she tried to speak
over the sound of the roaring plane.
It was 2am and they were about to leave for a long flight to Hawaii. The
memorial service was in 19 hours, and Race wanted to get a jump start on the
journey to put his friend to rest. Since the phone call he had received, he
learned that his old comrade died in a the plane he was piloting. The crash
was suspicious, and the boys at I-1 felt that it wasn’t an accident.
The first five hours of the non stop twelve hour flight was spent in silence.
“He wrote to me last year.” Jessie said breaking the silence.
“Who?” Race asked. He was caught off guard by his daughter’s statement.
“Kai. He wrote me, and the bad part is, I never wrote him back." She said as
she looked out the window. “I didn’t know what to say to him. He wrote about
his life, and what had been going on since we last saw each other. I didn’t
recognize him any more. He’s changed, not for bad, but he’s just not the
same person that I was friends with when I was eight. I’ve always wondered
since then, if we would still be friends if you and Mom hadn‘t got...
divorced.” She trailed off quietly.
Race closed his eyes. How would things be if he hadn’t got divorced. Would he
still be friends with Will? Would he have to worry about Kai looking at his
daughter different like he does with Jonny and Hadji? Would he still hold
resentment towards Jessie?
“You never told me he wrote you.”
“Sorry. I just filed the letter away. After I read it, I knew I wasn’t the
same person, just like he wasn’t the same. When he’s telling me all about
his school, about surfing, about Hawaii, what am I suppose to tell him? Oh, I
go to a ritzy private high school, and I travel the globe, saving it from mad
scientist who think they should own it. I also live with my dad’s employer
half of the year, and the other half with my mom on some remote dig. Life
couldn’t be much better.”
“Well, your only telling the truth.”
“Yeah, but it’s a truth no one wants to read. Our lives are totally
different. He‘s taken the path that has been taken before. I, on the other
hand, am still trying to figure out where the heck I‘m going, because my path
looks really different from his.”
Time passed in a quicker pace than normal. The memorial service, which was
being held in place of a burial, was at a small area of a private beach. The
area was basically the backyard of the Wilson residents.
“So Race, what do you want to do when you retire?”
“Sit down, watch TV and drink a beer!” Will chuckled. It was a growing joke
about the fact that he and Race never got to sit down and watch TV anymore. “
How about you, Will? You seem intent on this whole retiring thing.”
“Hawaii. I’m ready to go back home. Did you know that’s where my mom was
born?”
“So that’s why you own a hula skirt!”
“Funny!”
The house was small, but the land was big. Far away memories told Race that
this was the place where Will’s mom was born. He had been here before, but
only in pictures and stories. Never in real life.
“I’m guessing that’s Kai.” Jessie said, pointing to a boy with sandy
blonde
hair that was cut long in the back, with his natural wavy hair cut above his
ears, and placed so the wave went towards the back. The typical surfer boy
cut.
He was gathered in a small crowd of people, mostly telling him how sorry they
were, and the rest were patting him on the shoulders. He turned around and
looked directly at Jessie and Race. His face was pale, and his eyes were dull
looking. He wore a black polo type shirt with black pants. He had a tight
looking necklace around his neck, which only reflected his deep tanned skin.
He spoke to someone in the group, and then walked towards the two newcomers.
His eyes searched them, looking to make sure they were who he thought they
were. In his eyes, nothing had changed in almost eight years. To him, it felt
just like the last day he saw his former best friend.
“Kai?” Jessie said, with a soft, questioning voice.
“You,” he said with a grin, “haven’t changed a bit.” It was the first
time
he had smiled in the past two days, but for some reason, it seemed like the
thing to do. He then looked at the white haired man, “Just like I remember,
white hair and all.”
“Hey kid! Where’s your old man?” Race said as he rustled the raven haired
mopped top boy.
“Daddy’s in the garage.” the young boy announced with pride. He then
tilted
his head and tried to look behind the towering man, in hope of finding his
best friend. Race laughed.
“She’s coming.”
“Where is she?” Kai said with excitement.
“Behind you!” Screamed the red-headed girl. “Tag your it!”
“Hey, be careful you two!” Yelled Will as he walked out of his suburban
garage to find out what the commotion was all about.
“Ah, what I would do to be seven again!” Race said.
“You mean, your older than seven?”
“How you holding up kid?” Race said. It had been years since he last saw the
boy, but yet, seeing him right now, it only felt like days.
“I’ve been better.” Kai said. He then took a deep breath. “I’m just
ready
to move on.”
“I’m so sorry,” Jessie said as she hugged him. He was taller than her. In
her memory, he went from four foot to six foot.
Race stood there, he listened for a few seconds as his daughter talked to her
former friend, when he caught site of an old figure he once knew.
“I’ll catch up with you two a minute.” Race said as he departed from the
group.
“Wanna go for a walk?” Kai asked as he pointed towards a small walk way that
led towards the beach.
“Don’t you need to stay here?” Jessie asked with reason.
“They don’t need me. The only reason they are here is to feel sorry for
themselves. I’m just a reminder of why they are actually here.”
“Lead the way.”
“Commander Bennett.” Race said as he approached the hidden figure. “Trying
to humble yourself?”
“So I see you pulled things together, Race.”
“It’s a shame. He didn’t deserve it.”
“Well, someone thought he did. We found some tampering with the wires of the
plane. That’s why we want to assign a bodyguard to Kai.”
“So what’s going to happen to the kid.”
“Well, he’s 17 now, and close enough to being an adult that he can be
emancipated, but, something turned up as we pulled Keith Wilson’s files up.
His will.”
Race chuckled. “He always told me that he’d keep his will at I-1, that way,
no one could tamper with it. I always gave him a hard time about that.”
“Well, in it, we discovered that you are Kai’s legal guardian.”
“What?” Race asked. He had always figured that Will had changed his will,
just like Race had done when he became friends with Dr. Quest. “When was the
last time it was updated?”
“Last year. You know Race, you don’t have to take him?”
“I know.” Race sighed. “I’ll talk to the kid,” Race paused, “and Dr.
Quest.
”
“Oh, by the way Race, it also says that you get his old luggage.”
“That’s Will for you. A funny man until the end.”
“Did you get my letter?” Kai asked, breaking the silence that had plagued
them since they left the visitation. They had ended up on the outer skirts of
his private beach, well away from visitors. The private beach, which had been
inherited, had been passed down through four generations. The beach was
spacious, and stretched to almost a mile long.
“Huh,” Jessie said, hoping to change the subject.
“The letter, the one I sent last year. Did you get it?” He asked again. He
looked at her and brushed his sandy blonde hair away from his eyes.
“Oh, that letter. Yeah, I got it.”
“So, why didn’t you write me back?”
She just stared at him, not knowing what to say.
“We should probably head back,” he said, ending the long uncomfortable
pause.
“Yeah, we should,” she said quietly. The walk was quiet, and grim. When they
arrived, they were greeted with a stern faced Race Bannon.
“Welcome back, you two,” he said as he folded his arms across his chest.
“Sorry Dad, we should’ve told you where we were going,” Jessie said.
“It’s okay, I just a little worried. People have been asking for you Kai.”
“Sorry Sir.”
Race laughed. “Don’t be sorry, this is your day to grieve, not theirs,” he
said as a group of teens came by and swept Kai away. As he was about to be
rushed away, Race yelled out, “Kai, I need to talk to you later.” Kai simply
nodded in return.
As Race watched Kai walk away, he looked down at his daughter, hoping that
this would never happen to her. He could tell she was getting a big dose of
reality, the kind of reality that no one wants.
“Reality sucks!”
“Great terminology Will.”
“It’s a shame. Andrews didn’t deserve to be shot.” Will said as he
walked
out of the large church, with his partner following closely.
“Sure brings reality down to our level.”
“No kidding, Race. You know, when I die, I don’t want people making a big
deal about my death.”
“Why?”
“Because, they don’t make a big deal about me right now, why should they
when I’m dead?”
To Be continued...
*~Kara~*
Snowbunny Princess
"I gotta tell you your Questworld Navigator is about as useful as snow in
hell. Next time we go driving in the jungle, we're getting ourselves a real
map."
Race Bannon from "Attack from Within"--an unproduced episode script
