DISCLAIMER: The JQ characters are not mine. We all know that. So what’s the point of these anyway?

Thanks to Wendy and Patti for beta-reading! :)

Shedding Light on the Shadows Ch 7

Jessie's legs pounded the dirt; her blood racing through her veins as she ran for her life through the wooded area near the Quest Compound.

"Wait up, red!" came a shouted voice behind her, followed by much laughter. Jessie reached up, grabbing hold of a branch above her head and using it to swing over a fallen tree in her path. Ahead she could see the house, glowing with cheerful light. She redoubled her efforts to reach it, her breath coming in ragged gasps. She burst out of the forest, scaring birds into flight, and ran as fast as she could to the back door. With a loud crash it opened and she whipped around, slamming it shut as a doppleganger came out of the woods, followed quickly by others. Jessie reached for the deadbolt, ready to throw it and run, only to find that it wasn't there. Someone had shot a hole through it. Probably the Madroxes when they tried to get in the first time, she realized as her spirits fell.

She looked back up, out the window, and saw that many of the clones had stopped running and were simply walking closer, as though they knew she was trapped. Jessie clenched her jaw and looked around the kitchen, knowing that most things there could be used as a weapon.

Jessie ran for the barbecue cupboard, using precious seconds to grab things that could conceivably help protect her. Thanks to her over-protective father, she knew many ways of creating deadly weapons out of everyday things.

She grabbed Kit's backpack--still laying on the kitchen table from school earlier--and turned it upside down. Yo-yos, watches, marbles, scraps of paper, various sticks and many unidentifiable objects fell out, littering the floor. Jessie didn't bother to pick them up as she started throwing her weapons of choice into the bag, cutting her hand once on the rough-edged zipper.

The last thing she did as the voices grew louder was grab two knives--the large butcher knife that was Mrs. Evan's pride and joy, and a smaller but by no means insubstantial steak knife. The butcher knife she shoved into the backpack, the steak knife she kept in her hand. Without a backward glance she fled from the room, her thoughts clear on what needed to be done. Out the front window she could see shadows of the people coming closer, but she ignored them and made for the basement. There was no better place in the house to make a stand, she knew, and she didn't know how long she would have to hold out.

She grabbed the fireplace poker as she raced by, biting down on the dull side of the knife blade to free another hand. That hand was used to grab the row of shelves against the hallway wall, and she pulled as hard as she could against it while ducking down the hall. The shelves fell over with a crash of books and glass, and she mentally apologized to Dr. Quest. She wasn't sure she even wanted to know what had broken. But her ploy had worked--the clones were already in the house, and the hall she was going down was blocked. It would buy her at least a little time.

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Dana smiled tremulously at the boys hovering around her. "Thanks," she said, sniffing delicately, "I don't know what I would have done without you." She hugged the boy nearest her tightly, then quickly released him. "But now I'm lost," she said sadly, looking out at the unfamiliar terrain outside.

"Where do you live?" one of the kids asked gruffly.

"The Quest Compound," Dana answered promptly, knowing that the place was well known among some circles.

The young men, however, were not part of those circles.

"Look," one of them finally said, "why don't you call home? You can call from my house, it's near here."

Dana smiled up at him prettily, nodding. "Thank you very much," she said.

"Yeah, yeah. Let's go," was the returned reply as the older boy turned and started walking off.

"See you tomorrow, Ray?" a voice shouted as the two left.

"Sure."

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Risk waited impatiently in the phone booth, listening for the dial tone that would tell her to go ahead. A moment later it appeared, and she handed the telephone to Hadji gratefully. Swiftly he punched in the passwords needed to track Benton and Race, waiting as the computer system overrode the telephone system, using those same signals to locate their missing fathers. A moment later there was static, then it translated into words.

“Benton Quest and Roger Bannon,” the computerized voice read, “are currently above the Atlantic Ocean at--”

Hadji frowned and hung up the phone without waiting for the coordinates. “They must be flying to an airport around here somewhere,” he said as he started to unhook the small device that had allowed this odd tracking. Jonny and January had spent weeks putting it together and working out the kinks, trying to get it to operate. Hadji had been carrying it around since, meaning to take it to a friend of his that often helped with the patenting work.

“Why? What did the thingamajiger say?” Risk asked, glaring down at the computer thing that she no more understood than the relationship of the stars.

“They’re above the Atlantic.”

“But they could be anywhere above the Atlantic!” Risk said in exasperation.

“No, that wouldn’t make sense. I think--”

“Hey, check it out,” Kit said as he watched a television playing inside the nearest store.

“--An unidentified flying object has been reported recently, seen last moving into the Bongor area--”

“Oh, you know that Benton and Race have got to be behind that,” Risk intoned with dread as the screen showed a picture of a glowing green ball of light moving through the night sky.

Hadji sighed. “I’m afraid you must be right.”

“Then let’s go!” Kit said cheerfully, running back to the car Risk had “borrowed.” “Can I drive this time?” he asked eagerly.

“NO!” was the unified response.

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Jessie reached the basement, slamming the door shut and cutting off the lights. Silently she waited as her eyes adjusted, listening to the footsteps and various expletives as the men tried to get the shelves out of the way. There was a loud noise, then much laughter, and she could hear footsteps traveling down the hallway and past the basement door.

“She’s not down here!” came a voice from further down the hallway.

“Then where is she?” the same voice, only closer.

“Maybe in here?” yet another voice that was the same as the others, but right at the door. Jessie held her breath, then carefully let it out as they started rattling the door handle. Slowly she stepped up behind the door, knowing that even if it opened sharply she wouldn’t be hurt--and, more importantly, they wouldn’t see her.

It opened with a forced crash, one of the men tumbling down the stairs--and right into Jessie’s path of escape. She swore silently even though she knew she hadn’t been spotted, and watched as the other men started coming through the doorway. Okay, plan change. She licked her lips, thinking quickly.

“Me, are you all right?” one of them said, laughing as he made his way down the stairs.

“Don’ feel so good,” the other replied, rubbing his head which was covered in blood.

“Here,” said the first, and he reached out his hand. The fallen one simply disappeared, looking as though he was pulled back into the healthy one’s body. Jessie’s eyes widened, and she got an idea.

She glanced around, knowing full well that from where she was they had to come through the door one at a time, and she could fight them that way. But they were innumerable, and she was only one person. If she could injure most of them in one fell swoop and make them suck back into themselves, though . . . better yet, if she could get them to suck into themselves and then trap them down here, then she might have a bit better of a chance for escape. She glanced down at the bathroom door at the other end of the room, knowing there was a small window there. If she could lure them in, then escape through there . . . she felt her backpack, remembering the firestarter and electric match her dad used for the barbecue. There was most certainly a way to injure many at once. It would also cause fire in the house, though, and she’d already broken Dr. Quest’s shelves.

Jessie made a quick decision as more men came through the door. She pulled the lighter fluid and electric match out of the bag, uncapping the squeeze bottle as the Jamies realized she stood in their midst.

“Grab her, Jamie!” one of them shouted, and the closest one reached for her. With one hand she pulled her steak knife out of her mouth and stabbed him, not spending the precious seconds to watch him be pulled back into another. The gas was in her hand, and she lined it up with the triggered lighter before squeezing the bottle and pulling the trigger at the same time. The gas caught on fire with a roar, the push of the fluid shooting out catching on the small army of men behind the doorway. There were shrieks as they stumbled back, trying desperately to put out the flames. Jessie turned, bolting down the stairs and vaulting over the banister.

“Grab her!” they shouted, the non-injured ones pouring down into the basement. Jessica bolted into the cavernous room, turning to spray more gas and fire at the men following her. Somewhere in the house the fire alarms had gone off, and she could see a glow much brighter then what had been before out the doorway.

As she had expected, the five second delay set in, closing the basement door and locking it. Kit had the code to open it and get out, but there was no way these clone-people did.

Jessie ran for the bathroom, still more men on her tail.

“Gotcha!” one of them cried, his hand tangling in her hair. She whipped around, hitting him as hard as she could over the head with the fireplace poker before twisting out of his grasp. The men were starting to swarm around, and she wondered at her logic of before. Then she was at the bathroom door, twisting to slam it shut before anyone else could join her. She threw the lock on the door, knowing that would keep them out only temporarily. Her eyes were wide as she looked around, breathing hard. She glanced down at the half-empty lighter fluid in her hand and her eyes narrowed. Swiftly she grabbed her steak knife, hacking the top off the plastic bottle. She opened the medicine cabinet, pulling out dental floss and ripping it off. Her hands shaking, she tied the trigger to the tiny flame down, then tied the electrical lighter to the end of the fluid bottle, carefully keeping the flame away from the gas, for the time being.

“Let me out!” she screamed, finding it not at all hard to sound panicked. “I give up! Just please, don’t kill me! I’ll do whatever you want!”

There was silence on the other side of the door, then “All right, then. Come out.”

Jessie took a deep breath, holding her soon-to-be bomb ready. Quietly she opened the door, looking around. Right next to her sat Kit’s treasure box, the outside reading “THINGS KIT LIKES ARE NOT IN HERE, SO DON’T LOOK.” She silently apologized for torching his few possessions, then tossed the mini-bomb into the midst of the Jamies, kicking Kit’s treasures inside the bathroom and shutting the door as she heard the gas come into contact with the fire, and a small but effective explosion. Outside the door was screaming and running as they tried to keep from getting burned and put out the fire. Jessie turned, Kit’s box in her hands and his backpack on her back, and jumped into the bathtub, then from there reached up to the small window. Her poker went flying through the screen as smoke started to eat away at the door, and she quickly followed her make-shift weapon.

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Dana looked around the small apartment before picking up the phone and again thanking the young man who had brought her here. He just shrugged. Silently she dialed the Quest’s number, only to come up with a dial tone. She frowned. Someone’s on the phone at this time of night? She hung it up and cast a look up at the boy. “They’re . .. not there, I guess.”

He just sighed and nodded. “Look,” he said after a minute, “you can camp out on my couch if you want.”

Dana looked doubtfully at the clothing covered couch, knowing Benton would disapprove if she spent the night in a man’s apartment. Then she sighed. They were too busy to even wonder where she was--they were talking on the phone while she was out in the cold. At least this guy hadn’t just ditched her.

She turned and smiled up at him. “Ray, right? Thanks.”

He nodded and got some blankets off his bed, giving them to Dana. “Here you go. It doesn’t normally get too cold, but,” he shrugged, “it might. G’night.”

Dana smiled, and was interrupted by a yawn. His door closed and she sighed, throwing clothes off her own “bed” for the night before laying down to sleep.

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Jessie had been walking through the woodland for quite some time before she noticed that the green glow dusting things wasn’t from the moonlight coming through the tree leaves. Quickly she ran outside the forest, poking her head up to see if anything was obvious. The Jamies were still about, which was why she had stuck to the heavy growth, though they were much more respectful of her now.

Jessie looked up at the night sky, the glow getting brighter. Above she saw a floating bubble, bright green, and inside five forms--though she was unable to make out who they might be.

Jessica frowned and ducked back under the cover of the trees.

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They landed amid a splash of color before the whole bubble disappeared, leaving them standing in front of the old house, watching as it went up in flames. Benton turned to the three agents, looking at them beseechingly. “Isn’t there anything you can do?” he asked hopefully.

Lorna shook her head slowly. “I could smother the fire, maybe, putting a bubble over it and waiting until it used up all it’s oxygen, but--”

Race whipped around, facing Benton. “Our kids may still be in there.”

Benton paled and both men headed for the house, only to be stopped by a magnetic force latching onto the metal in their clothing and holding them in place.

“Rahne,” Lorna said, drawing the men back with her power, “get in there and see if you scent anything.”

The Irishwoman nodded and shifted quickly, growing long hair and fangs before turning into a wolf.

Benton shook his head, still getting used to that transformation. Swiftly she ran into the house, racing through fire and sniffing. As she ran up the stairs that had only started to burn she smelled the overpowering stench of burned human flesh--Jamie Madrox’s. She paused for only a moment before continuing up the stairs, hurrying through room after room to find no more people. Gratefully she started down the back stairs, leaping over a path of fire that had slithered its way across the base. She bolted for the door, her lungs choking with smoke and her paws burning. She leapt out the broken kitchen window, scraping her stomach on glass, and charged around the side of the house, running into the stream she sensed nearby before finally leaving it and bolting back to the others.

Slowly she shifted back into human form, looking at Jamie sadly. “Yuir clones were burned, Jamie. A’m so sorry.”

He hugged her tightly, ignoring the fact that she was dripping wet. “It’s okay. Thanks.”

Lorna frowned, looking around the dark woods. “Rahne, are they still here?”

Rahne shifted only partly, her features taking on a wolfen aspect. “Aye. Ther’ are a few.” She sniffed again, then rubbed her nose and sneezed. “But Ītis hard ta tell with the smoke all aroun’.”

Polaris nodded. “We should look, then.”

Race stopped her, turning her around until she faced him. “We should look for our children.”

Lorna hesitated, then nodded. “Of course. I apologize. Usually kids aren’t involved.”

Benton’s eyebrows rose and he looked at Rahne meaningfully as she sneezed again.

Polaris smiled. “Usually untrained kids aren’t involved,” she amended.

“Jessie! Jonny! Hadj!” Race shouted, walking into the forest.

“See if you can find tracks,” Lorna said to Rahne as the girl turned once more slightly wolfen. She nodded and walked to the edge of the forest, her nose to the ground as she circled to find a place where they might have been.

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“Well, Race,” Risk called as she stepped out of her “new” car, “you sure know how to start a bonfire!”

Race, who had spent the last half hour looking for the kids, sighed in relief when he saw Kit, Colin and Hadji step out of the car behind her. “Where are the others?” he called out, coughing as he breathed in ash.

“Jonny and February--last time we knew about--were kidnapped. January is unconscious in the school. No one knows where Dana or Jessie are.”

Just then a howl went up, an inhuman, eerie sound that shattered the night. Race turned and bolted, recognizing Rahne’s call. She had cried like that once before, when she’d found the trail Jonny and the cats had made to the lighthouse. That, however, had been a dead end. The only thing found there were Jamie Madroxes--which was a very odd sight. Polaris and the real Jamie were with those now, trying to find out what they could.

Race pounded around the house, into the back where the unholy howl still emanated. He charged through the forest, Kit and Colin following almost silently behind, Hadji and Risk behind them. Suddenly they were in a clearing, Jessie on one side, cornered by the wolf that kept her there.

“Jessica!” Race shouted, running by Rahne and slapping her tail, which wagged slightly. He scooped her up, protesting, and hugged her tightly before returning her to the ground.

“Dad! Oh, man, I thought that Agent Jamie had double crossed you! He was here!” she cried, hugging him back.

“Hey!” Kit shouted, jumping out of a nearby tree. “What are you doing with my treasure box?”

Jessie smiled and handed it over. “I had to burn your room, and so I thought you might want it.”

“So you’re the one that started the bonfire,” Risk said, grinning. “I thought it was the work of your old man.”

Jessie cringed. “Sorry,” she said, looking sadly up at her father and Benton, who had just arrived. “I had no other choice.”

“Don’t worry,” Benton said, smiling (though it was slightly pained). “As long as no one was hurt.”

“We’ve got a location,” Lorna said, landing with two Jamies in tow. Jessie braced to fight, tensing in her father’s hands.

“Ponchita?” he asked quietly.

“They’ve been attacking me, Dad. All those Jamies.”

“Right. It’s confusing, but trust me when I say that the Jamie Lorna isn’t manhandling is the real one.” He smiled down at his red haired daughter. “I’ll explain later.”

“Location of what?” Benton asked, watching with fascination as the real Jamie absorbed the second Jamie.

“Where the technology they shouldn’t have is being kept. Where they’ve got the other Jamie that’s causing all this trouble,” Lorna answered with a frown.

“What about the other kids?” Benton asked, looking around.

“We know where January is. We’ll go by and pick her up,” Risk answered quickly. “If she’s awake she can tell us where Jonny and Feb are. Dana’s still missing, though,” she said, frowning.

“All right, then,” Polaris said, “we’ll get the other kids whose location we know, then head to where we need to be to shut this guy down, and hopefully he’ll know where Dana is,” she said briskly.

Benton hesitated, but could see no other course of action and finally nodded.

“Can I drive?” Kit asked cheerfully.

“NO!” was the unified response of those who knew him.

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