Disclaimer: JQ characters belong to HB & Turner Productions. Charles Wallace
and the idea of the tesseract belongs to Madeleine L'Engle. Characters used
without permission. No $$ made for this venture. Enjoy! ^_^.
Category: Adventure, Episodal, X-over, a touch of Fantasy
Rating: Some language and concepts for mature audiences
Summary:  

The Ripple Effect (5/?)
by: Ina-chan

        "I know exactly what you are thinking, my friend," Hadji stated
quietly before giving his friend a very stern look, "The answer is no."
        "Hadji, we have to do it," Jonny insisted  
        "We are not going to split up," Hadji proclaimed, "It is too dangerous."
        "In case you didn't hear," Jonny ground his teeth, "My mother is on
a date."
        Jessie rolled her eyes, "Jonny, we have more important things to
worry about."
        "That's easy for you to say," the blonde boy retorted, "You're not
the one in danger of NOT being born."
        "You are being more witless than usual Jonny Quest," Jessie
exclaimed in exasperation
        "Quest?" Meg echoed absent-mindedly
        Jessie froze as her best friends gave her a flat look.
        "This is the second time you did this in less than an hour," Jonny
glared at Jessie accusingly
        "Well EXCUSE ME for reacting to your obtuseness---"
        "OB-- ME? I'M BEING STUPID?!?!?!"
        "I'm sorry, my mistake. You know what the word means, so I guess
that promotes your stupidity  to inanity."
        Hadji simply groaned and buried his face in his hands.
        Charles Wallace sighed, "We don't have time for this."
        "QUEST?!?! As in BENTON QUEST?!?!?" Meg exclaimed louder, "You're
Benton Quest's son?"
        Three pairs of eyes looked uneasily on the floor as a thunderous
silence echoed across the walls of the room. Jonny shuffled uncomfortably
before looking up to face the young woman...
        ...only to find a pair clear blue eyes peering  at him through wire
rimmed spectacles, inches from his face.
        "Well... maybe except for the eyes, you don't really look a lot like
him," Meg mused out loud
        "Please don't do that," Jonny mumbled nervously as the woman
straightened up with a thoughtful look on her face 	
        "Actually, you look a lot more like..." Meg stopped as realization
hit her. She took a step back and started to point at the alarmed boy
excitedly, "OH MY GOD! NO WAY!" She sank back on a chair and bursted into a
peal of uncontrollable laughing.
        "Why do I have a feeling that this isn't a very good sign?" Jonny
wondered out loud
        "She's not going to chant numbers again, is she?" Jessie whispered
to the little boy sitting quietly nearby
        "I'm sorry," Meg apologized as she took off her glasses to wipe the
tears off her eyes, "It's just that I would never expect IT to happen."
        Jonny narrowed his eyes and leaned closer to the older woman, "Why?"
        "First of all," Meg crossed her arms and put on a serious demeanor,
"Your father is a genius, and I have a lot of respect for him regarding his
intelligence and all... BUT when it comes to the affairs of the heart...
he's a complete dork."
        "Secondly," Meg continued as she stuck out two fingers, "Though it
is SOOO obvious that he's been drooling after Rachel Wildey since the
beginning of the semester, he's too scared --- excuse the word--- shitless
to even go ten feet near her in his free will."
        "Finally, if my Father didn't drag him back to his senses, he would
have hopped on a plane and taken a vow of a lifetime of silence and celibacy
in a monastery somewhere in Tibet after what happened in Colorado."
        "What happened in Colorado?" The boy inquired worriedly
        Charles Wallace sighed again, "We really don't have time for this."
        Meg stopped at the sight of the distraught expression on the young
boy's face in front of her. Her expression softened and gave him an
apologetic look, "I'm sorry to bring that up. That's something that happened
a long time ago that we don't really need to worry about. What we have to do
now is figure out a way to save your Mom."
        "Alright people," Jessie called out, "Let's formulate a battle plan."
        "I don't see why we can't go along with my idea," Jonny sulked
stubbornly
        "It is too risky Jonny," Hadji replied patiently, "We do not know
what we are going up against and due to our current circumstances, we cannot
risk being separated."
        "What do we have so far?" Meg interjected
        "We can't depend on whatever convenient technology we're used to,"
Jessie voiced
        "We can't involve any other people or we'll create a greater ripple
in the time stream," Charles Wallace reminded them
        "Meaning we can't depend on Dr. Quest into helping us," Hadji added
        "And my mother is on a date," Jonny spat irritably
        Hadji and Jessie both gave a simultaneous glare of annoyance at
their best friend. 
        "Actually," Meg said in a dead serious tone, "Jonny might have a
very good reason to be worried about."
        The four younger people looked at her in alarm.
        "Rachel went out with some new guy today," She began, "For all we
know, he could be some axe-weilding serial rapi--"
        Her was sentence cut short as Jessie & Hadji scrambled to their feet
and tackled their best friend to the floor just to keep him from bolting out
to the door."
        Meg smirked, "MAN! So uptight! You're Benton's son all right."
        "MARGARET!" Charles Wallace yelled uncharacteristically
        "YOU'RE NOT HELPING!" Hadji and Jessie chorused from the untidy heap
on the floor   
        "Sorry," Meg apologized sheepishly 
        "Even so," Jonny's muffled voice shot through as he pulled himself
up to a sitting position, "There is some truth to that. We can't just stand
here figuring out what we're supposed to do when my mom is out there
unprotected. C'mon Hadj, just give my plan a chance."
        Hadji frowned, "No. If  you are going out there to protect your
mother, then all of us are going."
        "Hadj, I don't know why... but I have this feeling that we're going
to need my Dad's 'Rachel' program on this. And since we don't have Dad
around to help us, between the three of us you're the one most familiar with
its basic programming and Questworld as well."
        "Jonny," Jessie said softly, "Questworld doesn't even exist yet."
        "That's why its important for Hadji to stay here to work on UNIC.
You two can try to modify it or something, while I go with Charles Wallace
to watch over my mom."
        "But that's crazy!" Jessie cried out exasperatedly
        "It's a sound plan as any," Charles Wallace said quietly
        "That is true," Hadji agreed before putting a hand on his best
friend's shoulder and forcing the blonde to look at him in the eye, "But how
much help will you be in stopping whatever danger your Mom is going to be in
when you will start to disappear at that precise moment?"
        Jonny looked back at him, with an uncharacteristic look of maturity,
"How much help will I be if I just sit back and don't even try?"
        The two boys stared at each other, as if trying to bend each other's
will until Hadji sat back and let out a deep sigh.
        "So its settled then?" Jonny asked
        Hadji stood up and muttered something unintelligible under his breath.
        "No, it's not settled," Jessie protested, "If you're going out
there, I'm going with you."
        "But--"
        "No buts Jonny Quest," Jessie retorted determinedly, "When... IF
something happens, at least I'll have a few seconds more to do something
before I disappear."	
        "Okay," Jonny finally agreed reluctantly as he stood up and swept a
glance at the people around him. "Its settled then. Jessie, Charles, and I
are going out to protect my Mom. While Hadji and Meg stay here to work on UNIC."
        "OY!" Meg expostulated loudly at the sound of her name
        "If all goes well, we'll be back at home in time for dinner," Jonny
stated optimistically with his trademarked grin, ignoring the older woman's
protest
        "Wish us luck," Jessie added with a cheerful wave as the three
started their way out of the door
        Charles Wallace simply made a silent secret smile.  
        Meg blinked, a bit unnerved at the rate what just transpired. She
looked at her remaining companion, who had a silent brooding expression on
his face, "Does he do this often?"
        "All the time," Hadji replied
        "And you let him get away with it?"
        "Yes."
        "Why?"
        "I have been asking myself that very question for the past four years." 

(To be continued)
 
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