DISCLAIMER: January, February, Kit, Colin and Dana all belong to me. If you use them . . . well, to quote Maelstrom, "I probably won't know. But when I find out I'll give your address to all my friends, and, believe me, the amount of spam they generate is enormous!" The Quests and anyone you easily recognize are not mine. This is for fun, and I'm making no money off it. Please don't sue me, I currently have no income.

Thanks to Wendy and Patti for beta-reading!

Shedding Light on the Shadows 9/9

Benton Quest sat in a chair in a very nice office, his various partners around him.

"Bannon. Risk. Agents Dane and Madrox. I should have known you four would be at the bottom of this." The man turned and frowned at Jamie and Lorna, who were exact replicas of his agents--except for Lorna's green hair. "And you are?"

Lorna took a deep breath and prepared to explain again what they were doing there.

JJJQQQXXX

"So now that we're home," Kit said, looking around, "what do we do?"

Colin eyed the shell that was once a mansion. "I really hope they don't expect us to clean this up. I think Jessie should do it. Jonny always makes me clean up my own messes."

"I think so too," Kit agreed. "Meantime," he yawned, "I'm going to the watch tower."

"Light house," Colin corrected.

"It doesn't look very light to me," Kit said.

"But that's what it's called!"

"So? It's a stupid name."

Colin followed his brother up the side of the cliff, arguing.

JJJQQQXXX

"So after one of Jamie's dupes had been captured and brought to this reality, we followed and--"

"Wait, a dupe is like a clone?"

"Yes. We followed and came through, then found that the dupe--clone--had told them about our technology. The man who now had the knowledge used it to try and create a superhuman. We just came to get back our Jamie, and to take back our technology. Without either one there is nothing they can do." Lorna took a deep breath and sat back in her chair. "If you don't mind," she said, "we'd like to go home now."

Slowly the man in charge nodded. "Agents Dane and Madrox, you say you were working on this case when you were kidnapped?"

The true Agents Dane and Madrox nodded silently. "I can vouch for everything she--I--said," Agent Dane said softly.

"Well then." He looked at Benton, Risk, Race, January and the three impostors. "I suppose I should give you all medals for stopping this illegal activity. I should also arrest you for stealing cars, blowing things up, burning down houses and breaking into a school."

Benton cleared his throat and stood up. "How about you tell us where Jonny and February are and let us go, and we'll call it even?"

The man smiled slightly and nodded. "Good idea. If any of this is breathed to the media, Doctor, I'll have your heads."

Benton smiled, nodded, and they all left.

JJJQQQXXX

Dana sat on the couch, her hands in her lap. She had called the house again that morning. It was disconnected. They had left, and they hadn't told her.

"Hey, kid," the boy said, handing her a bowl of cereal. "Look, you can't stay here," he sighed.

"I know." She smiled at him, blinking back tears. "Don't worry. If you don't mind letting me just sit for a little bit, I'll figure out what to do and then leave."

He hesitated, then nodded. It was sad, really.

JJJQQQXXX

"One two three four, one two three four--no, no, Jonny, you don't move until the second count. Look. One--no! Don't move your feet! One two three four, one two three four."

Jonny laughed as he danced in the cell, trying valiantly to master the steps.

"Do you kids have any idea what trouble you've caused us?" came a familiar voice from down the hall.

"Race!" Jonny shouted, breaking away from February and running to the cell door.

"Sorry it took us so long to get here. They wouldn't let us come get you two troublemakers until this morning."

"Where's Dad?" Jonny asked, looking around as a woman took out keys and opened the door.

"He's got a television spot to make. We still can't find Dana, so he called the local stations and got them to air a message for her on the morning news. It'll repeat every hour until we find her."

February smiled and nodded. "Good idea. And January?"

"With Risk and Jessie. Risk got stabbed in the thigh with a wooden stake, and Jessie cut her hand on Kit's backpack zipper. Looks like it's trying to get infected, so I sent her to the hospital with Risk and January."

They started down the hall behind the woman, walking quickly.

"The Agents?"

Race hesitated. "I'll tell you in the car."

JJJQQQXXX

"Thank you for your help," Lorna said, holding out a hand to Benton. He smiled and they shook hands, then Lorna stepped back with Jamie and Rahne.

"Will we ever see you again?" Colin asked curiously.

"Probably not. But you can keep in touch with our this-dimension selves."

Colin grinned.

"And you did say that you found the way the other Jamie got through?" Lorna said quickly.

Kit nodded. "The portal January made is messed up. It's going to other dimensions instead of other places."

"You going to destroy it?" Jamie asked.

Benton shook his head. "We're going to monitor it, but we'll leave it intact."

Lorna sighed. "Just so long as nothing else comes through!"

A light appeared and a silver haired woman seemed to come out of nowhere.

"Spiral," Rahne said, smiling. "Thank ye."

The woman looked at the group disdainfully. "Are we leaving?" she asked.

Lorna nodded. "Thank you again, Quests and Bannons. Maybe we will meet. Good luck finding Dana."

There was silence for a moment, then the four travelers disappeared.

"Well," Race said, turning and looking at the burned shell of a mansion. "What now?"

"We find Dana. And we'll move. I have a house in California, and I haven't been there in a long time . . . ."

Race chuckled.

"Dad," Jonny asked, stepping close to his father. "You think January, Feb, and Risk could come?"

Benton slanted a look at the three, two of whom hadn't heard the request and the last who was trying to pretend she hadn't.

"If they want," he said finally, smiling.

"Hey, guys!"

Benton tuned the conversation out, instead putting an arm around Colin's shoulders. "We'll find Dana," he said quietly.

Colin looked up at him, pain in his eyes. "I really hope so."

JJJQQQXXX

Dana shivered as she walked down the street, unsure of what she was going to do now. She wasn't going back, that much she knew.

Someone shouted something obscene at her, and she ignored it. A tear ran down her face, and she dashed it away. Store fronts passed by slowly, multi-colored signs blazing sales. Finally she ducked into one, a "Help Wanted" sign on the door.

"You're looking for some help?" she asked the man inside tremulously.

The man, a father for the past twenty three years, glanced up at her and recognized the scared, hurt look. She wouldn't last long on these streets, he knew. "Sure, honey," he said, though he really had wanted someone to help with lifting. "Why don't you go in the back and talk with my wife? She'll ask you some questions and we can get started."

Dana nodded and headed into the back of the store.

In her years as a mother and wife, Maggie had seen many ragamuffins come in off the streets. This one was just as pitiful as the next, and she sighed. "Hey there, sweetheart," she said softly, motioning for Dana to have a seat. "You here for the job?" She had a feeling her husband had taken the girl in out of pity. It was his worst fault and his greatest gift.

"Yeah," Dana said softly, happy to sit and rest her feet. The nice boy whose couch she had slept on had given her shoes, so at least she wasn't barefoot anymore. Though she did feel like she was rattling around in them.

"What's your name?" Maggie asked, getting out a resume form.

"Dana."

"Dana what?" the woman prodded, hoping to get some information about where she was from, and what had happened that she looked like she did. Long black hair hung in strands down her back, and she wore pants and shirt and shoes that were far too big. Her large eyes held dejection and pain, and her shoulders were slumped.

"Dana . . . Katt."

The woman looked at her for a moment, knowing she was lying. Finally she sighed and wrote it down.

"And where do you live, Dana?"

When there was no answer she looked up at the girl. Dana was staring fixedly at the television in the corner, though it was on mute. Quickly the woman got up and turned mute off. A man was speaking, a scholarly looking gentleman with brown hair that had streaks of gray through it. His eyes, brown, were creased with laugh lines, and his skin was tan and healthy.

"--Ome home," he was saying into the camera. "Once again, this is a message for Dana. We're very afraid that you've been hurt, Dana, and we can't find you anywhere. The house burned last night, and the phones are down. We love you very much, and are scared. Come home, Dana. Come home." The picture changed to a photo of a young, black haired girl playing on a couch in a large room with a stocky, black haired boy.

"If you have seen her, or if you are her, please call this number," an announcer said as a cel phone number scrolled across the screen. The message played one more time, then turned to the Channel Six newsroom.

"It's so sad," the anchorwoman was saying, shaking her head and shuffling papers.

"That's Benton Quest," the man said, looking at the camera, "and he's asked every news station in the Massachusetts area to play that clip every hour until she's found."

Maggie hit mute again and turned back to look at the girl. Tears were rolling down her face, though she didn't move. Maggie moved quickly to her side, enveloping her in a great hug. "You don't have to go back if you don't want to," she whispered, "But I think you should."

Dana nodded, sobbing now.

"Here," Maggie said, standing up and leading her to a telephone. "Call them."

JJJQQQXXX

"--The call came from this downtown general store not ten minutes ago, alerting Benton Quest and his family of Dana Quest's whereabouts. As you can see behind me, the happy reunion is still taking place." Behind the newswoman the Quests hugged Dana tightly, Kit and Colin seeming to try to crawl into her skin. Dana was still crying, hugging everyone back as Maggie and her husband looked on happily

"It looks like it's going to be a happy ending today in Downtown. It's about time." The newswoman smiled into the camera. "This is Amanda Bright, for Channel Six news. Back you, Casey."

JJJQQQXXX

Epilogue

A tall man with black hair and blue eyes walked briskly into the hospital room and glared down at the comatose man.

"Will he awaken?" he sharply asked the doctor standing there.

"There's no way to tell. He's stable, but--"

"That's enough,thank you. I'll have it set up so he may live with me, and I'll move him back home." One black eyebrow rose. The Jamie would no longer be able to multiply due to brain damage, perhaps, but his DNA was still usable.

North smiled coldly at the stuttering doctor and turned on his heel, striding out the door.

--End

Back to the Shedding Light on the Shadows page
Back to the Hangar
Back to the living room