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Love is Strong	By : harry102 Category: +M through R > New Adventures of Jonny Quest, The Views: 8127 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own Jonny Quest, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
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In literally zero to sixty, Jessie went from kissing Jonny on the couch, and willing to do a whole lot more, to watching him walk away angry. She stood at the bottom of the steps for a full two minutes after he disappeared at the top of them. She truly couldn’t believe this was happening. She was finally getting somewhere with him, and then it all blew up in her face. She was going to kill her mother.

A fire lit under her, Jessie stormed back into the living room to confront her mother. “Mom, can we talk in private…now,” she asked, not even trying to hide her annoyance.

“Hey Jess,” Jordan interrupted, walking up to her. “You remember my parents, right?” he inquired, pointing out the two smiling individuals sitting in the exact same spot she had been quite happy about ten minutes ago.

“Oh hello,” Jessie said politely. “It’s so nice to see you again Mr. and Mrs. Matthews.”

“It’s nice to see you too, sweetheart. And please, it’s Suzanne and David,” Jordan’s mom replied. Jessie just smiled uneasily in response, finding it impossible to focus on much of anything but her desire to work things out with Jonny and to throttle her mother.

Jordan meanwhile had taken Jessie’s hand, and was leading her to sit down with him and his parents.

“Jessie,” Dr Quest exclaimed, as he walked into the room.

Jessie smiled and made her way to him. She was really happy to see him, but even happier to avoid an awkward situation with Jordan’s parents.

“Hi, how are you?” she asked pulling him into a quick hug.

“I’m good,” he said. “I can’t wait to hear all about your semester, and everything you’re learning.”

“I can’t wait to tell you about it,” she said. “I wanna get your input on a couple of projects I’ll be starting next semester too.”

“I’m all ears,” he told her. “How about tomorrow after breakfast? We can go over to the lab, talk about your projects, and I’ll update you on mine,” he suggested.

“Perfect,” she smiled. “Where’s Hadj?”

“Oh, he stayed behind to tie up some loose ends. He’s gonna meet us in D.C. for the President’s party in a few days,” Dr. Quest informed her. “He did ask me to give you this though,” Dr Quest said, and then gave her a kiss on the cheek.

Jessie just smiled. She really missed Hadji too.

“I’m gonna head up to bed now,” he said. “Where’s my son?”

“He went up a few minutes ago. I worked him pretty hard as you can see,” she said, indicating all of the decorations.

Dr. Quest just smiled and shook his head. “Goodnight. David, Suzanne, and Jordan, would you like me to show you to your rooms?”

“That would be lovely, Dr Quest. Thank you,” Suzanne answered immediately, and got up off the couch followed by her husband. “It is rather late. Jessie, sweetheart, we look forward to talking with you tomorrow.”

“Sounds good,” Jessie replied.

“I think I’m gonna stay down here to catch up with Jessie,” Jordan started.

“Oh, I’m about to head up too,” Jessie quickly interjected. “I’m totally wiped from my flight and all the decorating. Plus, I still haven’t caught up on all the sleep I lost from studying. I just wanna say goodnight to my dad,” she finished

“Ok, I’ll see you tomorrow. Nite baby,” he smiled, and then leaned in for a kiss that was quickly interrupted by Race’s sudden reappearance and desire to clear his throat.

“Nite,” she told him flustered, but happy that he was leaving.

Once they were all safely out of ear shot, Jessie rounded on her mother. “What are you trying to pull here?” she asked angrily.

“What are you talking about, sweetie?” she asked innocently, but Jessie wasn’t buying it.

“What are you doing here?” she asked.

“Well, you did invite me,” her mother countered.

“I wouldn’t have if I’d known you were gonna try and pull this shit on me,” Jessie replied harshly.

“Jessie,” her father scolded. “Don’t talk to your mother like that.”

“Oh please, like you have any room to talk,” she shot back.

“Jessica,” he yelled.

“I’m sorry alright,” Jessie screamed back. “She’s driving me crazy though.”

“I’m going to bed,” Estella announced. “We’ll talk in the morning little girl,” she finished severely and walked out of the room

“Yes we will,” Jessie called after her, now breathing heavily. She can’t remember the last time she was this angry. If her father weren’t still in the room, she probably would’ve let herself break down again. Since he was, however, she just resumed her position on the couch and stared into the fire place with a scowl on her face.

“I’m sorry I yelled at you, Ponchita,” Race told her softly, as he sat down beside her on the couch. The last thing he wanted to do was fight with his baby girl when he just got her back.

“I’m sorry too,” she apologized. “I really missed you daddy,” she told him, and curled up next to him, which made her feel slightly better.

Race kissed her on the head and pulled her a little closer, savoring the moment, as well.

“What’s going on?” he asked. He held off on the interrogation about two seconds longer than she expected he would.

Jessie just sighed loudly, really not wanting to discuss it, but knowing that he wouldn’t let it go.

“Why didn’t you tell me about Jordan?” he asked, trying to hide the annoyance in his voice.

Jessie pulled away and squared her shoulders before answering.

“Because there’s nothing to tell,” she said, and than asked a question before he could say anything else. “How did mom talk you into this?”

This time it was Race’s turn to sigh, as he turned towards her. “Your mom called us a little after the conference was finished, saying that she’d like to spend Christmas in Maine. I almost fell to the floor right there, but she was really sincere and sounded upset. When I asked her what was wrong, she said that she didn’t want to miss anymore holidays with you, which I can understand. I certainly don’t like the idea of spending Christmas without you either, but…” and then he paused for a moment before continuing. “You know that I’d never get upset if you wanted to go with your mother for Christmas, right? I’d really miss you, but I’d understand,” he finished.

“What did she say to you, dad?” Jessie asked, knowing that her mother was working her father. She was the only woman that ever could, and she took advantage of it.

“Nothing,” he started. “She just…”

“Dad, I’m here because this is home. This is where I want to be, and where I want to spend Christmas,” Jessie interrupted. “So what did mom say to make you think otherwise?” she demanded.

“Don’t worry about it sweetheart,” he said. “It’s fine,” he said angrily.

“No it’s not,” she fumed. “This is bullshit. I’m sorry, but it is. She’s trying to manipulate both of us, and I’m done putting up with it. I’m not gonna let her get away with it anymore. What did she say?”

“Jessie,” he started.

“Just tell me,” she demanded again. “You think she’s stubborn, but I got both of your genes, so just tell me already.”

“She just said that you were feeling torn between the two of us, and that you wanted to spend Christmas with her and Jordan’s family, but didn’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings here either,” he said. “So, she was just trying to compromise and give you the best of both worlds. She said that she wanted to spend as much time with you as possible, so we just left to pick her up right away. We promised each other that we wouldn’t fight, and I promised to give your boyfriend a chance,” he said slowly, and then held up his hand before she could interrupt. “I know that I’m not easy to talk to about these things, but that’s only because I love you more than anything else in the world, Ponchita. I want what’s best for you, but I want you to be happy too. So, when you tell me that you really…really like a guy …when it’s the guy, you don’t have to keep that from me. I will try hard for you, even if it’s not easy for me. I’d do anything for you,” he finished sincerely.

Jessie couldn’t help but smile and hug her father when she heard this. Her biggest fear about falling in love with Jonny has always been that it’d harm his relationship with her father, which she knows is very important to both of them. She doesn’t want to come between that. For the first time, however, she can envision herself telling her father how she feels and having him understand, which is probably the only thing that could’ve put a smile on her face at the moment.

“I love you,” she whispered in his ear, and he just held on tighter. She knew this was really hard for him. “So what do you think of Jordan?” she asked out of curiosity, and thought it was so adorable when he got an alarmed look in his eye that he quickly covered up.

“He’ll…take some getting used to,” her father said cautiously.

“Don’t worry dad, he’s not the guy,” Jessie smiled. “Not even close.”

“Oh thank God,” he breathed, and let out a relieved laugh. “I fucking hate him.”

Jessie just giggled because she knew that he would. “Why didn’t you say that in the first place then?”

“I thought that you thought he was the guy,” he said.

“What?” she asked, and then realization dawned. “MOM,” she practically growled. “Do you see why I’m upset with her now? She did the same thing to Jonny. She is just so determined to sell me on this guy, but this is a new low. She even got you in on it. Oh, she’s good, but this is ending now. You did talk to Jordan, right?” Jessie asked.

“Yeah,” he said.

“Then how could you still think that I liked him that much?” she asked with a shocked expression.

“I was confused by it,” he admitted.

“It didn’t cross your mind that mom was behind this?” she questioned.

“Of course it did, but I was trying to give her the benefit of the doubt and I promised not to fight so…,” and he just let that statement hang.

“And now everyone gets to be uncomfortable for Christmas. This is just great,” she finished angrily. “I’m going to bed,” she said frustrated and having no intentions of going to bed.

“Goodnight,” he replied, pulling her into another crushing hug. “I’m glad you’re home.”

“Nite, daddy. We’ll catch up more tomorrow,” she promised, and then headed for the stairs with tunnel vision to her mother’s room.

Once she got to the right room, Jessie didn’t even think about knocking. She just barged right in and took her mother by surprise.

Estella was already in bed, but shot right up when she heard the door shut behind Jessie.

“What is…Jessie?” her mother exclaimed. “Qué se está encendiendo?”

“Oh, speak in English mother,” Jessie whispered angrily. She didn’t want the whole house to hear this argument, but she also couldn’t wait another second. She’s too afraid that she’ll lose her nerve if she waits. “I want you to stop this right now?”

“Stop what?” her mother whispered back just as angrily.

“Alright. Stop playing dumb for one because you’re not fooling anyone, and stop trying to control my life…Please. And please tell them to go home. I’d love it if you stayed with us, but please ask them to leave,” she begged. “I didn’t want to go to the Hamptons for a reason, and I invited YOU, and only YOU, here for a reason. Please?” she asked again.

“I can’t do that, Jessica. Suzanne is my best friend,” Estella said.

“That’s not my problem. You did this, and you need to fix it. I don’t want them here. You invited them under false pretenses, and you had no right. Now everyone is going to be uncomfortable. Fix it,” Jessie said fiercely.

“False…”

“I told you to stop playing dumb,” Jessie interrupted again. “That doesn’t work on me. I see right through you.”

“Who does this make uncomfortable, Jessie? Your father and I just spent the last few hours on a jet, a confined space, and we were perfectly civil,” Estella told her.

“He was flying it,” Jessie said, floored by her mother’s gall. “It’s not like you were in the cockpit with him. You probably had about twenty seconds of face time, so excuse me for not being impressed by that,” Jessie finished.

“You are working my last nerve, Jessica?” her mother said furiously.

“Yeah, well you already drove a plow truck over my last nerve, mother,” Jessie fired right back.

“Your father and I will behave,” her mother promised. “We won’t make anyone uncomfortable.”

“Jordan being here makes things uncomfortable, mom. I want him to leave,” Jessie said.

“I already talked to your father about that. He promised to give him a chance, so you don’t have to worry about that,” Estella told her.

“Ok, first of all, I was never worried about that, and, second of all, don’t tell daddy what to do. I just talked to him about it too, and the only reason he was being patient with that idiot is because YOU manipulated him into believing that I was in love with the guy. I set dad straight, so your little plan isn’t gonna work out so smoothly. When Jordan tries to kiss me tomorrow, I doubt that throat clearing is all daddy will do,” Jessie finished smugly. She could play this game too. “That might make our guest a little uncomfortable, don’t ya think? You should probably spare them that, and just ask them to leave.”

“Jessie, I love you,” her mother started. “I just want what is best for you, and Jordan loves you.”

“That’s ridiculous,” Jessie said. “He doesn’t even know me. He can’t love me. Not for real, anyway. And don’t start on that crap about how we’ve known each other forever because I don’t even remember him from then, and it’s not like we stayed friends over the years. Even if he does love me, it doesn’t matter because I don’t love him, and I never will,” Jessie finished, realizing that all the confusion she felt towards Jordan went out the window the moment her lips touched Jonny’s. Now that she knew there was a strong possibility Jonny felt the same way, she didn’t want anything to do with Jordan.

“Why can’t you give him a chance?” her mother asked. “He’s so nice and smart. I think he’s just what you need.”

“I did give him a chance, and a bunch of others boys too. Guess what? I don’t need any of them,” Jessie breathed, tired physically and mentally. She just wants her mom to understand. Maybe she just needs to be honest. “I already have everything I need.”

“I’m not gonna ask them to leave. It’s just rude. All I’m gonna ask is that you give Jordan another chance over the holidays. That’s all I want for Christmas. Can you please do that for me?” Estella pleaded.

Jessie, fighting back tears again, almost gave into her mother per usual, but then Jonny’s face popped into her head. How nervous he looked before giving her the locket, how vulnerable when he finally opened up to her about his mother, how sexy right before he took charge and kissed her, and finally the hurt she saw in his eyes at being dismissed by her mother. She needed to stand her ground.

“No,” she whispered quietly. “I can’t do it. I won’t.”

“Why?” her mother asked.

“I don’t want him,” Jessie replied nervously, a little scared of what her mother might do if she’s totally honest. “It’s wrong to lead him on, don’t you think?”

“Well, there’s still no reason that the two of you can’t hang out and have fun for the next couple of days,” her mother said. “Who knows, maybe you’ll change you’re mind,” she smiled.

“Mom…God,” she said, getting very angry again. “I can see him at school. I wanted to spend this time with my family.”

“I’m your family too,” she replied.

“Which is why I wanted you to come,” Jessie finished. “So I could spend Christmas with my family.”

“Jonny’s not your family,” her mother interjected rudely, and Jessie didn’t miss the fact that her mother conveniently didn’t mention Hadji or Dr. Quest. He’s the underlying factor in most of their arguments, but Estella rarely acknowledges that because she knows how Jessie gets about him. Grizzly bear protecting her cubs would be an understatement.

“He’s…,” but Jessie couldn’t even talk because she was so livid. “He’s more than my family. He’s my best friend. He’s…Mom, I swear to God. If you ruin his Christmas or make him feel uncomfortable at all. Just don’t, ok? This is his house, and since you’re so concerned with not being rude, you better behave yourself. I meant what I said two years ago. If you can’t be nice to him then you better stay away from him. If you hurt him again, I’ll never forgive you,” Jessie finished.

“Again? What did I do?” she asked.

“Stop it. I can’t do this with you now,” she said, getting up off the bed and frustrated that she didn’t really get anywhere.

“Please,” Jessie began again when she reached the door, finally letting her tears fall freely, and come through in her voice. She was too tired to fight anymore “Just leave him alone. If you care about me at all, you’ll leave him alone. I’m in love with him, mom” she said, and then exited the room. She’s not sure telling her mother was a smart move, but one thing was for sure. That was the first time she’s ever said it out loud, and it was more real than anything else in her life.

As she made her way to her room, she found herself stopping in front of Jonny’s closed door. She knocked twice, determined to make him understand that she was ambushed and didn’t want any of this, but he never answered.

She tried to convince herself that he was just asleep, but knew, deep in her heart, that he was just ignoring her. She allowed herself to cry herself to sleep, but was determined to talk to Jonny tomorrow and fix everything.

Meanwhile, inside his room, Jonny hadn’t moved from a prone position on his bed for more than an hour. He’s been calling Jade every fifteen minutes, but it keeps going directly to her voice mail. He heard the knocks on his door, but couldn’t bring himself to deal with Jessie. He didn’t even want to think about her right now.

All he could think about was Jade, and why she hasn’t called him back yet. It’s almost two thirty in the morning, and he can think of no reason that she should still be scouting the place that his mother is supposedly being held at. There can’t be much activity going on at this point. ‘Maybe she’s just mapping out the surrounding area,’ Jonny found himself thinking, even though he highly doubted that she hadn’t done that before ever coming to see him. He just needs to know what’s going on, and is regretting not finding a way to go with her.

‘What the hell was I thinking,’ he scolded himself. ‘This is much more important than that stupid locket,’ but he couldn’t help how much his heart sped up at the thought of Jessie on top of him and kissing him.

Before he could get too lost in those thoughts, however, he finally felt his phone vibrate against his leg and scrambled to answer.

“Are you alright? Why did it take you so long to call me back?” he asked before she could take a breath.

“I’m fine, but touched at the concern,” Jade replied sarcastically.

Jonny just ignored her and pushed on. “What happened?”

“Nothing much,” she reported. “I didn’t see her, but I know she’s still gotta be in there. Hill’s got more security on this place than in Paris. I think I got their patrolling patterns down, but I won’t know for sure obviously until I check it out a few more nights. I’m working on getting the plans to the house, as well. I’m very familiar with the security system they have in place, so I don’t think that’s gonna be too big of a problem,” she finished.

“Ok, what else?” he asked, soaking it all up.

“Does your father happen to have any handy devices in his lab to help us figure out how many bodies are in that house and on the surrounding grounds at any given time? I know there are at least twenty men, but I don’t know if they’re shifting in and out of the house, or just to different places on the grounds. That’s something we definitely need to know before going forward,” she finished.

“I think I can figure that out tomorrow, and I’ll also keep an eye out for any areas with concentrated or stationary bodies because that’s most likely where she’d be…if she’s really alive,” he added to keep himself convinced of the fact that this may not be real. “I’ll need the coordinates of this place though,” he told her quickly before she could say anything else.

“I’ll figure it out and text you as soon as I know,” she told him.

“Sounds good. I’ll take care of it, so that we have the info for tomorrow night,” he said, having no intentions of letting her get anywhere near his father’s equipment, and having every intention of being there with her tomorrow. She still has to tell him how she found out about all of this again. “Listen, my family ended up getting home early, so just make sure that you don’t come back to the Compound,” he said, still worried that she was gonna tell Race. “Can you pick me up outside the walls at midnight tomorrow?” he asked.

“Yeah, I’ll be there,” she told him.

“Thank you, Jade. Just…thank you,” he said quietly, finally feeling tired from all the craziness of the day.

“Don’t worry about it, baby. You know that I love you. I’ll see you tomorrow. Nite,” she told him.

“Nite,” he replied before hanging up.

Now the question was whether or not he should wait up for Jade’s text and try to sneak out to the lab early, or get some sleep to prepare for the long night he’s gonna have tomorrow. He knows that sleep is probably the smarter idea, but he also know that it’s not really a feasible option, so he settles for just laying there and trying to rest his body a bit.

After about twenty minutes of this, he gives up and decides to go for a run. Once he gets down to the beach and begins running against the wind, he welcomes that familiar feeling of only being able to concentrate on fighting his way through the wind. Reluctant to turn around and be filled with thoughts again, he runs the entire stretch of beach, which is almost ten miles and then practically collapses from exhaustion when he reaches the end. He couldn’t even guess how long he just laid there staring up at the sky and trying to catch his breath, but he knows that he would’ve stayed a lot longer if he wasn’t interrupted by receiving Jade’s text with the coordinates. Seeing that it was now quarter to five, he decided to make a mad dash back to the lab so that he’d have enough time to get what he needed and cover up his tracks before his father was able to get in there.
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Love is Strong