Disclaimer: Jonny Quest belongs to Hanna Barbera and Turner Productions. I am not affliated with the mentioned companies in any way. The JQ characters here are used without permission of the owners. No cash is made from this.

A Question of Identity: Chapter 2

by Ina-chan

�Gotcha!� Jessie yelped triumphantly as she snatched the small dog into her arms. She looked at Bandit sternly, �You�re in deep trouble now, you little squirt. Not even one of your poor-little-sick-puppy faces will earn an ounce of my sympathy.�

Bandit barked and started to playfully lick her face.

Jessie laughed, �You just know how to push the right buttons now, don�t you boy? Come on, we better find Jonny and Hadji before we get into any more trouble.�

As if all the gods in heaven were out to spite her, Jessie walked right into a very �interesting� sight. She tried to suppress a groan when the vision of Jonny and that strange girl in an ackward position finally registered into her brain. A biting sarcastic remark was about to roll to the tip of her tongue until Bandit started to growl furiously.

Then she heard what the girl said.

And she saw what was in the girl�s hands.

�JONNY!� Jessie screamed in alarm as Bandit jumped from her arms and reverted to �attack� mode.

The girl pulled the trigger...

Jessie moved...

...And all hell broke loose!

The gun clattered noisily as Jessie tackled Jonny�s assailant to the floor. With the element of surprise was on her side, as Jessie easily managed to pin the girl face-down and twist one of her hands behind her back. The stranger yelped in pain.

�JESSIE STOP!� A voice cried out

Jessie ignored the command and roughly shouted a question behind her prisoner�s ear, �Who are you?�

�What is happening?!?� Another chimed in with the confusion

Instead of answering, the girl reached out behind her. And with a bellow of outrage, she pulled. Hard. Jessie yelped in surprise and in turn tried to grab some of there opponent�s short gold locks, which proved rather more difficult.

�Let go of my hair,� Jessie growled through clenched teeth

�Not until YOU let go,� The girl growled back

�Hadj, we gotta do something before Jessie gets killed!�

�Frankly my friend, it is not Jessie whom I am worried about.�

Jessie looked up (as much as her hair allowed) in surprise, �You�re alive!�

�Of course he�s alive, why should he not be?� The girl spat out angrily

The two boys looked down at the fight blankly.

Jessie felt another wave of fury washing over her, �What are you two waiting for?!?!�

�Jessie, I do believe that this whole thing would be resolved if you simply let go,�Hadji suggested helpfully

That was when Jessie finally realized that she did have the unfair advantage. When both girls finally released each other�s holds, Jessie actually felt a little sheepish over the whole incident. Jessie glared at her blonde best friend, a look not very dissimilar to the one the boy received a few moments earlier from the other girl

�This is all your fault.�

Jonny rolled his eyes, �Whatever.�

Of course it was a good thing that the whole fiasco was over when the adults arrived. Then again, that didn�t really soften the situation.

�What the blazes--?!� Dr. Harrison began with a start of surprise.

For a moment, Jessie thought he looked ready to faint. But he quickly gained his composure and put on a stern look on his face that Jessie was all too familiar with when her dad got into his �you-better-have-a-good-explanation-or-you�re-grounded� mode.

Dr. Harrison crossed his arms and looked at the young stranger, �Young lady, you have a lot of explaining to do!�

The girl gave a weak smile, �Hi Daddy.�

Jessie couldn�t help feeling a bit unnerved as she watched Amanda Harrison from the corner of the eye. She acted nothing like the cold killer that Jessie thought she was earlier. In fact, she was perfectly charming as a well groomed princess after everyone was gathered in one of the dining halls in the living quarters when formal introductions and apologies were made. Not even a vindictive glance, or a sinister smirk. That didn�t mean that Jessie would put down her guard. Something wasn�t right here. And Jessie wasn�t about to give up until she figured it out.

�Now, explain why you were in a restricted area...� Dr. Harrison began

�...When you were instructed to go straight here,� Dr. Quest added looking at his own herd

�Actually, it�s all my fault,� Jonny began sheepishly, �Bandit managed to get away from me and we had to chase him all over the building.�

�Then I found her attacking Jonny,� Jessie added with a sidelong glance at the blond girl across the room

The princess front disappeared, �YOU attacked ME!�

�You were aiming a gun at my friend!�

�It was a stupid squirt gun!�

�A very realistically cleverly crafted squirt gun.�

�Can�t you take a joke?�

�Well you have a very sick idea of what a joke means.�

�Whatever.�

Jonny looked at Hadji expectantly.

�My friend, you do not actually think that I would be insane enough to break up a fight between those two after seeing them in action now, do you?�

Dr. Harrison cleared his throat and turned to his daughter, �This doesn�t explain why you�re here. When you should be in school. In Maryland.�

That was when Jessie noticed that Amanda was wearing a rumpled school uniform from a prestigious boarding school she heard of when the family was on a trip in Maryland.

Amanda paled a bit, �Well, you see Dad... Ummm... I wanted to get here first... to ummm... give you a pleasant surprise before you get a phone call... from someone...�

Dr. Harrison groaned at the dawning realization, �You promised to give it a chance for at least a month.�

�I tried Dad. I really, really did. But it was awful...� Amanda whined

�We'll, talk about this later,� Dr. Harrison sighed

�May I go now?� Amanda asked

Dr. Harrison waved her away and Amanda jumped up. She was halfway out the door when she suddenly spun around, �Hey you guys. If you have nothing else to do, I can give you a tour around.�

�I�m game,� Jonny immediately took the offer. It was better than sitting still the rest of the day. He looked at his father who nodded his approval.

�You�re also welcome to come, Jessie,� Amanda said sweetly when she noticed that Jessie didn�t move

�There is greater strength in numbers,� Hadji whispered with a grin of encouragement

Jessie sighed and followed the group. Though not fast enough in order not to catch the older men�s voices from the hallway.

�Ididn�t know you had a daughter, Jon,� Dr. Quest remarked

�I... don�t,� Dr. Harrison replied slowly, �She�s really my niece. I adopted her when my brother died seven years ago.�

�I see...�

It was obvious that everyone in the compound knew Amanda Harrison and her antics. It was also obvious that she was very much well liked. Hadji, Jonny and even Bandit had already been caught in Amanda�s charisma. Specially Jonny, who was having an animated debate with her about something silly about the latest advances in artificial intelligence, as if the earlier incident meant nothing.

To Jessie�s dismay, she too was finding it more difficult to dislike the enthusiastic girl. But her instinct were screaming at her that something was wrong. Her instincts had been right most of the time in the past for her to dismiss it.

�Everyone here seems to know you very much,� Jessie remarked

�They should, I�ve lived here all my life,� Amanda replied absent-mindedly as they reached the glass doors that led to the courtyard. Amanda suddenly perked up with a sudden inspiration, �Wait here.�

She disappeared then returned with a portable fire extinguisher that she nonchalantly dumped on Hadji.

�What�s that for?� Jonny asked

�WE,� Amanda smiled evilly as she led them out to the courtyard, � Are about to have a symbolic burning. And THAT is just in case...�

�A symbolic burning?� Jessie repeated puzzled, �To what?�

�TO FREEDOM!!!� Amanda yelled as she ran toward a metal pole at the edge of the yard like a soldier charging to war.

�She is not going to do what I think she is about to do is she?� Hadji thought out loud.

The trio looked at each other then promptly followed the charging figure. When they reached her, she had already stripped off her school blazer and managed to fling it on the pole.

�You�re serious, aren�t you?� Jessie said incredulously

�C�mon Jessie. Chill. It�ll cool. You know, like the burning of the bra in the sixties,� Amanda said mischievously

Jonny choked as he tried to stifle a snicker.

Amanda brought out a lighter and lighted the edge of the sleeve, then stepped back when it finally caught on fire. She then solemnly put her right hand over her heart and started to sing her school anthem off-key. Jessie couldn�t help but watch with morbid fascination at the display. Then her thoughts drifted back to the earlier conversations she had and heard. And as she watched the piece of clothing slowly wither and burn as it flapped gently in the wind, she couldn�t help but notice that that annoying feeling of anxiety she felt earlier, turn into a full blown sense of dread.

(To be continued)