THE END OF THE BEGINNING
By Stephanie Johnson
disclaimer: HB owns them, no money was made
Rated: angst, Hr(they are married), past, and I don't know what else
Archivers go for it,  this is my very first fic, tell me what you think
please!!!

PART ONE
	Rachel Quest sat on the deck over looking the lawn of their Palm Key
residence.  Jonny was playing fetch with Bandit, or rather he was
trying, the puppy chased Jonny  more than he did the stick. Rachel
smiled as she thought about how hard it had been to convince Benton to
allow Jonny to have a pet. It was hard enough to keep him on task with
his school work because the family traveled around so much. True, the
puppy was even more of a distraction, but Rachel didn't care. Watching
Jonny enjoy the little dog made the fight with Benton all worth while.
Rachel finally had convinced Benton on the point that it would make
Jonny more responsible, which it did. Yes, sometimes Jonny would slip up
and forget to feed him, but she didn't mind covering up for her little
boy, he was only seven. A warm breeze  blew past her bringing her back
to her present  task. She looked at the legal papers, that sat in front
of her. She let out a breath that she hadn't noticed she was holding
which blew her blonde hair off her face. The papers were from Quest
Technologies. A company that she had started eight years earlier when
she had found out she was pregnant with Jonny. Her  husband was a
brilliant man, he did fine publishing his work, but when it came to
making money off his ideas he was lost. They had been fine, financially,
but when there was going to be 3in their family instead of 2 Rachel got
worried. She and Benton did okay working apart, as they occasionally did
when their research sent them to different places. But government work
did not pay well enough to support a family. Rachel had decided that she
was not going to work, so that her and Jonny could travel with Benton
and be together as a family. Whatever happened Jonny was not going to
grow up alone, that was one thing Rachel wouldn't stand for. True she
missed her work, but running Quest Technologies and keeping Jonny out of
trouble was a full time job. Rachel had told Benton this once and he had
laughed saying that it was her fault that he got into so much trouble
because his mother was the same way. She hadn't seen that much of
herself in Jonny, sure he had blonde hair and blue eyes like her, but it
wasn't until he had started school that she had notice how similar their
personalities were. It was Benton that had pointed out to her how they
had exactly the same reactions to things. Rachel tucked a strand of her
hair behind one ear and signed the documents.

PART TWO
	Benton, Rachel, Jonny, and Bandit, stood next to their luggage in an
Indian airport waiting for their government car to come pick them up.
Benton saw the man they were supposed to meet and started to walkover to
him when he said some famous last words to Jonny. 
	"Now son, stay close to your mother and hold on to Bandit real
tight, if he gets lost, we won't be able to find him." 
	The puppy had been pulling on his leash in all directions trying
to explore, so when Benton spoke, Jonny lost all concentration he had on
holding the leash. The little dog leaped forward, one big tug as Benton
finished his last sentence, and the puppy went running. Benton^�s last
sentence that if he lost Bandit they would never find him again made the
little boy take off running after his dog. 
	Rachel, used to this type quick departure by her son, yelled to
Benton after she took off after Jonny, "you finish, I'll get him." And so
the chase was on. Jonny was fast and small, he ducked in and out of the
fast moving crowd. Rachel had more trouble maneuvering through the
crowd, but she finally caught up with her son and the little dog at the
main entrance of the airport. "Come on Jonny lets go, and this time lets
hold on to bandit tighter, okay?"
	"We can't go mom, I think Bandit has to go to the bathroom!"
	"Okay, but lets hurry, I think your dad is beginning to regret that he
brought us here."
	As Bandit  sniffed around the ground, a small Asian boy came up to them
and asked them if they wanted any souvenirs. It made Rachel's heart ache
to see this boy, who looked very close to Jonny's age selling things to
tourists instead of being in school. Rachel looked over at Jonny, who
had a puzzled look on his face. Rachel thought it was the perfect time
to show Jonny about alternative ways of living and maybe she could find
out this boy's story. Once again Rachel Quest rushed in to things
without thinking or telling her husband where she was going.

PART THREE
	They had followed the boy through town and Rachel had learned many
things already. His name was Hadji Singh, and he lived with a man named
Pasha. He did not remember his real parents and he had learned what he
could, traveling around with this Pasha. One thing Rachel learned
quickly but hadn't expected was how bright and intelligent this young
boy was. Then they reached their destination, a shabby looking store off
of the main market street. Hadji was surprised to see Pasha waiting for
him when they arrived. Rachel saw a worried look on his face as he told
the young Hadji to go and get something in the back, Jonny looked at his
mother for permission to follow the other boy, which she gave right
away. Jonny had taken a liking to the boy. 
	Just as they had left the room, Pasha spoke in foreign accent, "I
need your help Miss." And so Pasha explained to Mrs. Quest the story of
how he had rescued the young sultan, and how Hadji was in immediate danger
if he stayed in India.
	Rachel agreed that the Quests would take Hadji in, and promised the man
that she would not tell Hadji about his royal line until he was old
enough to take the throne back if he wanted to. With that, Pasha handed
her something wrapped in a cloth. Rachel carefully opened it to reveal a
large jewel, that was red in color. 
"That is the family jewel of Bangalore, it is Hadji's, " said Pasha. Then
he grabbed his purse and left.
	"I will take this to my grave if I have to," thought Rachel. 
	Just then the two boys entered and Hadji, looked around for Pasha.
	"How about you come to live with us, Hadji," Rachel tried to say
in her most excited voice. 
	Hadji had a strange look on his face, and Rachel knew that he had
understood what had just happened. Hadji gathered a few belongings and
was soon ready to leave. Then it dawned on Rachel that they had been
gone for more than three hours, poor Benton must be worried sick. 
	"Come on boys we have to get out of here." 
	As they went out to the busy streets again, they were almost
immediately stopped by a group of men in police uniforms and several cars.
	"Mrs. Rachel Quest? "The leader asked.
	"I'm Rachel Quest"
	"Your husband is waiting for you at your hotel, we were requested to
escort you and your son there once you were located," he told her
sternly as they were about to get into the police car. Then the man gave
a suspicious look at Hadji.
	Rachel coldly replied to his look, "S,ir this is my other adopted
son Hadji, so if we could leave immediately, my husband is waiting for his
family."
	The man nodded and the Quests got in the car and headed for the hotel.
It had started to rain as they pulled up to the giant hotel. Rachel and
the two boys and little Bandit ran into the building and in to the
elevator, which took them to the penthouse. As soon as the door opened
to their room Benton Quest was out of his seat and met them at the
door. 
	"Rachel, Jonny, I was worried sick. Where have you been?"
 	Bandit was in the room first followed by Jonny and Hadji, and then
Rachel. Dr. Quest had a puzzled look on his face when the second boy
came in the room.
	"I am sorry Benton but I had to go and have another child with out
you," Rachel laughed as she kissed her husband. "Besides it a long
story."
	Rachel tried to walk on by, but was grabbed by the loop of her jeans and
pulled back to Benton.
	"I was so worried about you" he said as he kissed her deeply.
	Rachel smiled between the kisses, "you did?"
	"Yeah, I can't take you anywhere. Now spill it, where have you
been and who did you bring home?"
	"Well you always said you wanted more kids, I bring one home and you ask
all these questions," she said teasingly.
	"Well when Jonny was born I had more of a part in that."
	Rachel told him almost the whole story she did not mention, the royalty
story. She didn't know why she had left it out, but she did, and
promised herself she would say something later.
	The rest of the trip in India took place with little to no surprises.
The Quests had little problem adopting Hadji, whom Dr. Quest had
developed a special relationship with even before they left. They where
going to Maine to check out their new house, that they would hopefully
move into by Christmas. Rachel liked the snow and she had chosen the
location of the house because of the lighthouse. The moment she saw it,
she was in love with it. Rachel smiled at the thought of their first
Christmas in their new house. She liked Palm Key, but she had fallen in
love with Maine. Now with Hadji in the family, everything seemed
perfect, but not was all well when they went home to Palm Key.

PART FOUR
	It was night when they got home to Palm Key. Benton and Hadji had
started unpacking right away and Rachel and Jonny went up stairs to get
Hadji's room ready. Jonny picked the room next to his to be Hadji's.
Rachel got out a set of Transformers bed sheets and set out to make one
of the many guest rooms resemble a nine year old boys room. Jonny was so
excited and helped the best he could. Rachel smiled at him, she was
proud of how eager he was to make his "new brother" feel at home. When
Hadji came in, he was so excited.
	"This is all mine? The whole room?"
	"Your part of our family now Hadji, this is your bedroom," replied
Benton.
	"I hope you like it," said Rachel.
	"I love it, thank you!"
	With that Hadji, showing more emotion than he normally displayed, gave a
hug each to Jonny, Benton, and Rachel.
	" Okay, now off to bed, we have all had a big day today," Rachel ended
the party. 
	Benton went down stairs, Jonny ran to his room, and Hadji
climbed into bed. Rachel tucked him in and kissed him on the forehead.

	"Goodnight sweet heart. Oh, I almost forgot Hadji, Pasha wanted me
to give you this." 
	Rachel pulled out the jewel of Bangalore, still wrapped
up in cloth. She gave it to him, and Hadji quickly unwrapped it, and
stared at the jewel.
	"Goodnight Hadji," Rachel smiled and shut the door, leaving it open a
crack. 
	After she left, Hadji whispered, "goodnight mom."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
	"WHAT ARE YOU DOING JONATHAN BENTON QUEST!" Rachel shouted to the boy,
who was jumping up and down on his bed. 
	Jonny landed on his back and threw the covers over his face before
his mom had reached the bed. Rachel heard loud giggling coming from under
the covers as she sat on the side of his bed. 
	"Now I could have sworn that I saw a little boy
jumping on his bed a moment ago, but there's no one here. Where could he
have gone?" The giggling grew louder. "That makes me sad, I sure do miss
him."
	A little head popped out of the covers.
	"You're sad mommy?"
	"Not anymore, I can see your face."
	"Why does that make you happy?"
	"Cause I can kiss it!" Rachel began to kiss Jonny on the face making him
giggle. "Okay goodnight my little man, I love you."
	"I love you more."
	"I don't think so, kiss." Mother and son kissed goodnight and Rachel
closed the door half way, just like Jonny liked it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
	Benton was coming up the stairs just as Rachel shut Jonny's door.
	"Hey did you finish unpacking, or do you need my help?" whispered
Rachel.  
	"No we can finish tomorrow, I just want to get to bed and relax,"
He whispered back "I can help you relax." Benton chased Rachel to their
bedroom. 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
	Three weeks later, Benton could hear Rachel at the top of the
stairs shouting her usual Saturday morning words when they were lucky
enough to be in Palm Key.  
	"Slammin, look at that weather Benton. Boys grab your
swimming suits lets go to the beach and do some sailing!"  
	The phone rang.
	"Benton I am getting the mail, will you get that!"  
	Rachel was out the door.  
	Benton picked up the phone, "Quest residence."  
	"Dr. Quest your wife is a real pretty lady is she that beautiful
blonde getting the mail?"
	Benton dropped the phone and ran to the door screaming Rachel's
name. She was coming in the door before he reached it.  
	"Are you okay?" He hugged her tightly.  
	"What is going on, Benton, I can't breathe."  
	Benton let her go and quickly called the authorities and described
to Rachel what had happened.  With all the commotion the boys had come
down stairs and were watching their parents. 
	As Benton was on the phone with some government official, he heard
Rachel say, "this is some strange shi-- school stuff."  Rachel saw the
boys out of the corner of her eye. 
	"What?" said Jonny.  
	"You know the saying Jonny, too strange for school,"
Rachel shrugged.  
	"Nice save Rachel, what's strange?" asked Benton. 
	Rachel handed him a note card that was in the mail, which read: WATCHING
YOU DR. QUEST, HOW MUCH DO YOU LOVE YOU WIFE?  After investigation teams
came, and found no helpful clues on who the harassers were. Benton and
Rachel sat in the study slumped in their chairs. Benton worried and
distraught, Rachel bored out of her mind.  Rachel broke the silence first.
	"Benton, we can't let a bunch of terrorists run our lives, because
they make some silly threat about me, because they don't like you. Now we
missed a day of sailing to have the government come and investigate and
find nothing. They found nothing because nothing is going to happen, they
are probably empty threats and you shouldn't worry about it."  
	"I worry because I love you, and if some thing were to happen to
you or Jonny or Hadji, I don't think I could forgive myself." 
	Sometimes Rachel was an impossible woman, she didn't understand,
she never had problems because she didn't want to have problems.
	Sometimes that was an attractive quality, this was not one of
them.  

PART FIVE 
	Four months later, They had moved into the Maine residence and the
holidays had not been disturbed with threats to the family. But after New
Years, the threats got worse and worse. So the Quest decided to go to
Paris for a vacation, Jonny and Hadji had never been there, and Rachel
loved the town. The first two weeks of Paris had Been great. Benton and
Rachel took the boys everywhere. Then one night, Benton suggested they
have a night out alone, something they didn't get very often. An old
friend of the family watched the boys that night.   Rachel and Benton had
just left the hotel when, Benton heard the shot, and saw his wife fall.
Benton's life as he knew it ended.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 
	Rachel slowly regained consciousness, in the hospital. She looked
over and saw her husband sleeping in the chair next to her bed.  Hadji was
sleeping too in another chair, but Jonny sat on the floor watching her.  
	"Mommy areyou sad?" Jonny whispered.  
	"No I can see your face," she said weakly, "I love you, little
man."  
	She noticed Benton was awake now, but he stayed silent. Jonny was
off his chair and at the side of the bed. 
	"I love you more."  
	"I don't think so, kiss."  Jonny leaned over and kissed his mom
on the cheek, and everything went black for Rachel Quest.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 
	Race Bannon looked at the file marked Quest. At first he had
resisted this assignment, to go protect the scientist's family. And now
the wife was dead. He couldn't help but stare at the blonde woman in the
picture.  Maybe had he excepted the assignment sooner he might have
stopped it.  He pulled out the picture of the blonde boy, who looked like
her. A boy that would grow up with out his mother. Race Bannon called his
ex-wife and daughter.

THE END OF THE BEGINNING.