The Beginning of the End This is the sequel to the End of the Beginning. Let me know what you think. Archivers: go for it and enjoy Disclaimer: HB owns them I want no money, and the description of the car goes to the movie Ferris Bueller's Day Off Rating: humm.HR(B&R, J&J), mystery, Past and Present. I'll finish this part when I finish the story. "Life is lived forwards, but understood backwards." Soren Kierkegaad, 1813-1855 The Beginning of the End Present Jonny laid in his bed somewhere between sleep and consciousness. "Happy birthday to you," he could hear the soft voice of a woman sing. His mothers voice. "Happy birthday to Jonny, hey birthday boy." The voice changed from his mothers to a more familiar voice, Jessie. "Hey Birthday Boy are you going to get out of bed today. Only you Jonny Quest could sleep so late on your own birthday." "Okay, okay, I'm up Jess, I'm up." "So how does it feel to be 18?" Jess asked coming to sit next to Jonny on his bed. "Pretty much the same, a little more mature, I think." "Well that's yet to be decided." "Let's see how can I convince you," Jonny began to lean in for a kiss. "I don't think so, go brush your teeth," she said turning her head. "You didn't care yesterday." "Do you want your present or not." "Of course I do." "Then go brush your teeth, and get dressed." "You want me dressed?" He said with a lopsided grin. "Jonny!" "Okay, sorry I asked." Jonny said with a laugh as he jumped from his bed, and ran to the bathroom. When he came out, he stood there in his towel in front of his bed and smiled. The bed was made, and on his bed, Jessie had laid out his favorite black shirt and jeans. Jonny was surprised, Jessie must be really excited she never does anything like this. He had just gotten on his jeans when there was a knock on his door. "Come in." Jessie peaked her head in. "Do you want your present now?" "Do I!" Jonny threw on his shirt and ran one hand through his wet hair, as Jessie walked in with a small package. She handed it to Jonny, who looked at her and then tore it open like a little kid, to reveal a blank CD in a case with no markings. "It's for Questworld, I made it for us to play." She answered his look of confusion. "You made this?" "Well Hadji helped before he left for Bangalore." "Wow, thank you Jess." "That's your first present, here's your second." With that she threw her arms around him and kissed him. They stood there for a long time. Then Jonny broke the silence. "I needed my clothes for that?" Jessie answered with a poke to his side and they both laughed. "You should go see your dad, I think he^�s been waiting for you." They both headed down stairs to the kitchen where they knew Dr. Quest would be waiting for them, reading his paper as usual. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Hey Pop." "Glad to see your up before noon Jonny." Jonny spied a small wrapped box sitting on the table. "Great," he thought, "probably cufflinks or a tie pin." "That for me Pop?" "Yes it is Jonny, Happy Birthday son." "Thanks." Jessie thought they looked so formal, like they would shake hands or something, but Dr. Quest handed the box to Jonny, who tore it up to reveal a small jewelry box. Jonny opened it and held up a key with a silver Q key chain. Jessie expected it to be cufflinks, so she had to looked at it for a second to realize that it belonged to a car. "You got a car!"Jessie said stating the obvious. Jonny started to take off running for the garage, when he made a sharp U-turn and hugged his dad. Jonny and Jessie took off running and Benton Quest followed behind at a more appropriate speed. Jonny stopped right in his tracks, and stared at the black car from his past. "Jonny!" yelled Race, "Do you know what this is! It's a 1961 Ferrari, 250 GT California convertible! Less than a Hundred were made, can you believe this!" Jonny walked closer to Race and the car and only answered him with a soft, "yeah, I know what this is Race, it's my mom's car." Race felt awkward but continued. "Well when your dad and I went to Palm Key it was in bad shape so I fixed it up and put in a CD player, and flew it out here, so happy birthday kid." Race slapped Jonny on the back and walked over to the end of the car and rubbed it with a cloth. Jonny's eyes began to fill with tears, but he quickly wiped them away. "Lets take it for a ride Jonny, " said Jessie. Jonny looked at his father, who nodded and began to walk back to the house. Jonny sat in the driver's seat, and looked around at everything. The CD player looked foreign in the car, and he noticed how everything fit him perfectly, like the car had been built around him. Jessie sat there next to him letting him have his moment with his past in peace. Jonny took a deep breath and started the car. He smiled at Jessie and they took off down the road that led off the property. Jessie yelled with delight, and they could hear Race yelling at them to be careful. Dr. Benton Quest had remembered a similar reaction many years before. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 20 years ago Rachel Quest sat in her office at her Palm Key home. She was trying to work on a paper, but she kept thinking about her father. He had been so angry with her for marrying Benton. Every time she saw him, he had insulted her new husband. She had finally had it, and told her father, that she loved Benton, and he had better accept it or he would never see her or his grand children, when she had some, again. Benton had chided her, told her that she should have never treated her father like that, and that he didn't care if the man hated him. She was lost in her thoughts when she heard a car pull in to the drive way. She ran down the stairs and outside to meet the strange car. Rachel stopped dead in her tracks and looked at her father in the car. He was talking to Benton and they were smiling. Doug saw his daughter and said," I thought about what you said, I was wrong, it's none of my business who you want to marry." "Thanks dad, what's this did you buy another car?" "Its for you, consider this a peace offering." "Dad I can't accept this, it's, it's too much," Rachel was having trouble with an excuse. "Rachel I won't take no for an answer. Come on have a seat." Rachel took her father's seat and sat there in the classic car, she was in love with it, and her smile revealed it all. Benton watched as father and daughter made amends. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Present Jonny Quest was at a high point in his life, he felt he could conquer the world. First the car was exciting to drive and now here he was making out with Jessie on Lover's point that over looked the ocean. What could be better than this. Then he felt something hitting the back of his calf under the seat. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Benton smiled as he stared out the kitchen window. Remembering Rachel after her father had left. "Shall we take this beauty out for a drive" She had asked him. The next thing he knew he was in the passenger's seat in the ride of his life, and later on the beach having the best sex of his life. He swore it was then that Jonny had been conceived, on a lonely strip of beach at sunset. And Benton hoped that Jonny didn't take after his mother in that aspect. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Hang on, Jess! Something's digging into my leg" Jonny reached under his seat and pulled out a small leather briefcase with the initials R.Q. embroidered on the side. "What's that?" Jessie asked. "This must be my mom's briefcase. She must have left it in here the last time she . . ."Jonny trailed off. "The last time she what?" "The last time she came back from her office before she died." Jonny said a matter of factually. "Oh, I'm sorry. . . . Are you going to open it up?" Jonny carefully opened the latch and began to remove its contents, handing them to Jess as he pulled them out. First to be removed was a small planner that matched the briefcase. Next was a large legal sized folder. A stick of gum, which Jonny tossed out of the car saying "Wow, that's gotta be the oldest stick of gum I have ever seen." Finally searching for anything else Jonny removed a small wallet sized picture of himself, Benton and Rachel. Jessie grabbed the photo from Jonny. Jessie stared at the young woman in the picture for a long time. There weren't many of them in the Quest house anymore. She had no idea that Rachel had been so beautiful. They almost seemed an odd match, Dr. Quest and Jonny's mom. "What a cute little kid you were. Oh my god, look at how young your dad was!" Jonny snatched the photo away from her and stared at it closely. "Your mom was knockout" Jessie said softly. "Yeah" Jonny said, "She was pretty." As Jonny continued to stare at the picture, Jessie moved on to the planner. When she opened it, she saw that it began with a list of phone numbers, behind that, was a notepad. She had just turned the page, when she noticed a familiar name. "Hey Jonny, I didn't know your mom knew my dad?" Jonny looked up. "What? She didn't." "Well, it says right here Roger Bannon" "How could she have known Race? He didn't come to live with us until after she died." Just then Jessie's watched beeped, and she looked at the time. "Come on Jonny, we better get going, we can ask my dad about it later." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ William Strauss looked around the study, he hadn't been here in what seemed like forever. He hadn't been here since Rachel's funeral. Everything seemed the same, except for a few misplaced schoolbooks that didn't fit into his memory of the place. He and Benton talked together as if they hadn't been separated by ten years. Neither one had felt comfortable visiting one another since her death. And he noticed, in their conversation today, they had avoided anything relating to Rachel, including Jonny. William had been friends with Benton in college, he had even introduced him to Rachel. He hadn't realized then, that he was in love with her until after she and Benton were already engaged. Being the good man he was, he wouldn't have ruined his two best friends' happiness. The three of them had had great times running around the world together until Jonny was born. He had been honored when they told him they wanted to name their son Jonathan after his middle name. He wasn't that surprised that Rachel told him that she was going to start Quest Technologies, but he had been surprised when she asked him to be the lawyer and trustee of the company. She told him that Benton wasn't to be involved in the company and that she wanted to be sure that Jonny was financially stable for his future. That had always been her primary goal, so Jonny didn't have to worry about money when he got older. He never knew why she didn't sell the company when she had the chance, and he would always wonder if she would have lived if she had accepted the offer. William heard the roar of an engine that was so familiar to him. He glance out the window to see Rachel's old car pull into the driveway. And he almost saw Rachel in the blonde haired boy that drove it. Jonathan Quest was in fact the person he had come to visit. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Part 2 12 years ago "Rachel, you're late!" shouted William Strauss as he walked up to her and took her coat and brief case. "I know Will, but Jonny wasn't feeling well this morning and you know Benton is in Japan this week." "Boy times have changed, I remember the last time all three of us were there." "Yeah Will, who could forget being arrested and deported. You know the worst part was calling Ben from the police station and explaining to him why I was being asked to leave the country. Those were fun times." She added with a smile. "Yes they were, I don't think I have ever seen old Ben so mad." Rachel and Will were silent for a moment. "Well the board of directors are pretty angry that you didn't accept the Mead account. They're waiting for you in the board room." "Time to face the dogs then." Rachel flashed her old friend a lopsided grin and walked into the board room with all confidence. She never missed a beat through the whole conference, She was always one step a head of everyone. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Present A much older William Strauss let out a long breath. She was so stubborn and cocky, why could she have just listened to him and Benton. "You wanted to see me Pop!" William Strauss's thoughts were interrupted by the young man that burst into the office. The boy had Benton's build, but he had Rachel's blond hair and deep blue eyes. He was definitely Rachel's son. "Yes Jonny I want you to meet William Strauss. He's an old friend of your mothers and mine, and he's also the trustee of Quest Technologies." "So you are Jonathan Quest, I haven't seen you since you were a very small boy." "I'm sorry Mr. Strauss, I don't remember you." replied Jonny with a smile. "But you can call me Jonny everyone else does." "All right Jonny you can call me Will, That's what your mom and old Ben here used to call me anyway. The reason I am here ,have a seat, I'm here to tell you about your company and what it's been doing." "My company Will? "Well not yours until your twenty-one, but I was asked to introduce it to you when you turned eighteen." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Jessie ran up to her room with Rachel's briefcase. Dr. Quest had called Jonny into his office and her dad was making sure Jonny's new car was okay, so she was free to examine the briefcase in private. Jessie looked at the wallet sized picture of the Quest family again. She looked at the woman who was Jonny's mother. She was beautiful, Jonny definitely looked like her. The three of them looked so happy together. And Jessie understood why Dr. Quest never got over his wife. Every time he looked at Jonny he would see her there. She didn't know how he managed. She had thought once that life could go on, now she didn't know what she would do if she lost Jonny. And Benton Quest appeared to be a different man than the one that was in the picture before her. Jessie thought Rachel Quest had beautiful penmanship. She hadn't asked her dad about it yet, she was waiting for Jonny. After flipping through various names and numbers, she came to a notebook of sorts. Jessie's smile grew. She read a few pages about parties and other events, notes to herself, and about people Rachel met. Then she stumbled across a page with Roger Bannon's name on it. Jessie even more curious than before began to read the page more slowly. THINGS TO TELL BENTON I WAS GIVEN THE NUMBER OF A ROGER BANNON TODAY. IT SEEMS THAT HE HAS BEEN OFFICIALLY ASSSIGNED TO THE INVESTIGATION. HE ANSWERED MY QUESTIONS ABOUT THE MEAD FOUNDATION. HE SAID THAT HE DIDN'T SUSPECT THEM OF THE THREATS THAT WERE BEING MADE AGAINST ME. HE ASSURED ME THAT WE HAD NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT. AND THAT HE WOULD CONTACT ME WHEN HE HAD MORE LEADS. Jessie was stunned. It seemed as though her father hadn't even taken them seriously, and Jonny's mom had died because of that. No wonder her dad spent so much time with Jonny. Jessie searched through the rest of the planner but didn't find anything interesting. Jessie pulled out the folder and opened it. On one side was a letter and on the other, some legal documents. Jessie took out the letter and began reading it. It started out normal enough. Talking about different things Quest Technologies were doing. Then it began talking about new clients and the Mead foundation. Jessie thought it seemed suspicious that the Mead foundation was mentioned a second time, so she scrolled down the page to get more information. That's when she saw it. THE CONTACT FOR THE MEAD FOUNDATION WILL BE A DR. ZIN. She could believe it. Did Dr. Zin have something to do with Jonny's mom's death? That would explain Dr. Quest's hatred for the man. Jessie looked down at the end of the letter, surprised again. IF YOU FORGIVE ME, AND WE CAN STILL BE FRIENDS INSPITE OF THIS ALL PLEASE COME AND VISIT ME IN PARIS. HELL, I'LL EVEN BABYSIT FOR YOU. I LOVE YOU. WILL Who was Will and what had happened. Jessie looked at the legal papers and noticed the Mead Foundation and Dr. Zin's name but for the most part she was confused. She could wait to show these to Jonny. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Part 3 present Race Bannon took a drink of his water and looked at the classic car. He had only met Rachel Quest once. It had been before he was assigned to the Quest's before they had had any problems. It had been one of those presidential balls in some foreign country. He had been to so many of them he had lost count. That was the first time he had seen the legendary Dr. Benton Quest. He smiled, who know he would be working for him a year later. He wasn't quite sure why he had remembered Rachel, there were so many women from his past. But Rachel Quest had always stood out in his mind. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 12 years ago SLAP!!! The brunette woman turned on her heal and marched away. Race Bannon was only slightly taken aback, he had been slapped by many beautiful women, this one was no different. "Shot down, I guess today was not your day." Race turned around to see a tall slender blond woman leaning against the wall. Her classic black evening gown clung to her shapely figure. Race looked her up and down, he didn't recognize her at all. "Sorry couldn't help but watch, you both have been the most entertaining thing I have seen all evening." She laughed. Race moved to sit on the bench along the wall. "I'm glad someone one enjoyed it, so how come a beautiful lady like yourself is back here away from the party, isn't your boyfriend missing you?" "Husband, and I'm waiting to use the phone so I can call my son before he goes to bed." "How old is your boy?" "Six." She replied with a smile. "Really my daughter's seven." "Wait you have a daughter? Okay, do you have a picture?" "Sure do." Race pulled out his wallet and handed Rachel a picture of Jessie. Rachel then took out a picture of Jonny and handed it to Race. "She's beautiful. If you'll excuse me, the phone is free." They exchanged pictures and Rachel walked over to the phone, had a quick conversation and hung up. "So is your husband anyone important?" asked Race as they walked back to the party. "No one special." At that time they entered the party. Race saw a older man walk up to the blond. "Rachel did you call Jonny, what took you so long, I was worried." "Oh Ben there was a line for the phone, and Jonny's fine, he promised to go to bed on time." "I'll believe it when I see it." Race was intrigued and stood back and watched everything. A man with dark hair and green eyes came up to them. "Ben, Rach, I haven^�t seen you all night." "Will it's great to see you." replied the older man. The two men shook hands and Will and Rachel exchanged kisses on the cheek. "Ben, I want to introduce you, Senator Ruttersen, I want to introduce you to Dr. Benton Quest and his wife Rachel Quest." "No one special," thought Race. "She's married to Dr. Benton Quest, even he had heard of the famous Doctor. Rachel Quest, he thought about the name for a moment. A beautiful woman who wasn't interested in him. Well there was a first for everything. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Race smiled at his memory. He had never told anyone, even Benton that he had met. What would he say, "I'm sorry I wasn^�t there to save her. That I didn"t take you seriously." Race had found the hit man that had killed her. But he was conveniently killed before he could be prosecuted, and there had gone with him all leads to who hired him. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Race had suspected that Benton knew that the man blamed her death was just a hired hit man. Maybe that's why Benton had never come to terms with her death, and that's why he hired Race. Because as far as either of them knew it, Jonny's life was still endangered. Benton was convinced that it was something to do with him. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Jessie put the folder on her desk and went down stairs. She saw Jonny talking to man in the living room. The man had dark hair that was speckled with grey, and green eyes that could be noticed across the room. The man was handsome. The man and Jonny were laughing and having a good time, when they stopped and Jonny introduced Jessie. She had a hard time not smiling when she heard that his name was Will. "This could be the face to go with the name," thought Jessie. Jonny explained to Jessie that he was going to New York with Will to visit Quest Technologies. Jonny left that evening with William Strauss. Jessie had expected it to be a quiet evening, but then the alarms sounded. That was not unusual for that to happen at the compound, but what they found was. Something that would change their lives forever.