Cat: DBN-hr, A, F, RE, Fam, H and is there anything else I'm missing?? Archiver: Sure as always Dis: I own nothing. Morgan gave me full permission to use her. Jan 5, 00 AusieWanaB@aol.com Anywhere but here, By Kara Estes "Their getting too powerful sir." "I realize that Watson, go grab me file number 0-37 and 0-72." "What do you plan to do sir?" "Reassignment." "Do it again!" "Ah come on Race, we've been doing it for two hours now, can't I take a break?" "Not until you can get it right," said Race Bannon who was teaching his student, Jonny Quest how to do a flying dragon. "What am I doing wrong? I'm doing everything that your telling me to do, what else am I lacking?" asked Jonny. "Balance," Race said as he lightly pushed on Jonny's shoulder which sent him flopping down on his butt. "See." "Ha-ha-ha very funny Race!" "Agent Phil Corvin and an unidentified man are requesting admission at front gates." "Request identification please Iris," said Race. He then reached back to his rear pocket where he unlocked his gun holster. Seconds passed before Iris reported back. "The other man is identified as Agent Barry Watson. Shall I let them in or deny entrance?" "Let'em in." Race said with a gruff tone. "What's up Race?" asked Jonny. "I'm not sure kido, but I want you to stay right here and practice your flying dragon." Race said. He then exited the Quest Physical Recreational Activities Room, better known as QPRAR, and headed up to the main part of the compound to join his guest. "So what do I bestow the honors of you guys coming to my humble work place?" asked Race. "Cut the crap Bannon, we need to talk to you and Quest," Watson said as he was cut off by a female voice coming from the bottom of the staircase. "Hey dad, whose here? " Jessie asked, she then noticed the stern look on her father's face when she walked in to the living room. "So is this your lovely daughter?" asked Watson. He then walked over to her and looked her up and down. "Watson, take those filthy eyes off my daughter!" Race exclaimed. "Why, she's about my age and I'm single. So how old are you?" Jessie grinned and said,"I'm 17 and sorry uninterested!" "Ooh ouch, well I was close, only 10 years difference between us, it could've worked!" Watson said. He then watched as Race's blood boiled. "Uhem..." said Coven, "Bannon, we came to talk to you and Dr. Quest, privately!" "You're what?" questioned Dr. Benton Quest. "Were reassigning you a new bodyguard," Watson said. "After reviewing your file, we have come up with that Bannon here isn't doing his job as he's supposed to be, so we are reassigning him to a new file and giving you a new bodyguard. He's a fresh new agent whose at the head of his class, his name is Christoph Holland. He will be arriving in three days, we expect you, Bannon to be out of here and in Springfield Missouri by then." Said Croven. Watson then handing Race and DR. Quest each a file. In it, it contained a detailed description of ether the new bodyguard or the new job. "What do you mean by I'm not doing my job," asked Race. "Simple Bannon, it's just like they said at the academy, or at least when I was in it they did, that you take very little from the government and give back everything!" Watson said with a cocky attitude and a bad southern accent. "And by what I can see, you've taken it all and gave nothing!" "Okay Dad explain it to me again why were going to Springfield Missouri." "We already went through this, I'm getting reassigned. You better start packing your things, because we don't have long before we have to leave," Race said. He watched her expressionless face as she left for her room. He felt sorry for her. "Race, you know whatever happens your always welcomed here at the compound?" asked Dr. Quest. He had watched his bodyguard and friend. It had been 10 years since Race had joined his families life and in that 10 years, he had become a part of it. When he had introduced his daughter into the house, Benton vowed then and there, to treat her asif she was his daughter. They were family, and it was going to be hard to see them leave. "Have you told the boys yet?" Race asked. "Yup. Hadji seems to understand, but Jonny's a different problem. He seems angry and bitter. You might go talk to him." Dr. Quest said. "Later," Race said, it was all he could say. He didn't want to do it, nor did he want to even think about doing it. He knew that Jonny was in love with Jessie, he could see it in his eyes, and he knew that losing her is going to be a big blow to him. Jonny didn't know what to say when his father told him what was happening. How could he, he had known Jessie for almost seven years. Seven years. And within those last few years, he had grown to love her. More so, that it made him cry just to think of life without her. He then decided to go talk to her, maybe they could come up with a strategy to get her to stay. He got up and left his bed, which he had been sitting in since he heard the news. He then preceded to walk across the hall and into her. He reached her door and gently knocked. "Come in." "Hey," he said. It was all he could say, nothing more, nothing less. "Hey," she replied as she folded her clothes and gently put them in a box. "So I take it, it's true?" he asked. "No, Im just packing these clothes for the heck of it, yes it's true." She said sarcastically. Jonny smiled at her remark. "You know I'm going to miss you?" "Yep." She said. "You know Im going to have a party after you leave?" "Yep." She said again, still folding her clothes in boxes. "You know I know that your ignoring me?" "Yep." She said, "Hey! Sorry, I kinda have a lot of things on my mind. I'm sorry Jonny, I really am." "Hey, I understand. Need any help?" he asked. "Nah, but if you want to, you can start packing my picture frames and stuff." "Okay," he said and went to work. Before he carefully wrapped each picture frame in paper, he would make sure to look at each picture, trying to remember all the events led up to the picture. Most were taking during a mission. Only few were else places. One picture stood out, it was taken during his 16th birthday party. It was when he got his drivers license and had driven the car into the front gates. She was there getting ready to take a picture of him when he drove in, but ended up taking one as he drove right into the front gates. "Hey over there, I thought you wanted to help, not stand there and stare." Jessie remarked. "Opps sorry, I just got caught up in the moment." "So which one are you looking at?" she asked. "Oh it's nothing, its just that picture you took as I drove through the front gates." "Ah, the mighty "Speed Racer" picture." She said, she then grabbed the picture out of his hands and quickly wrapped it up. She then went back to her post and went back to work folding clothes. "You know, we could say good-bye right here, right now, so that way we don't have to worry about saying good-bye because we already have." "Yeah, we could." She said, she then sat down her folded shirt, and went over to him. "Good-bye!" She said, she could feel tears forming in her eyes, but she couldn't do anything about them. She just let them flow. It was then, when she felt Jonny hug her. He squeezed her tight, he knew he didn't want to let her go. "Good-bye Jess," he said. It was then, when Hadji came bursting through the door. It wasn't unusual of him to do this, but he only did this because he had just heard the news and had just got back from Bangalor. "I am so sorry my friends to interrupt, but I just heard the news and I came in here to say that I can't believe it's true," he said. "Join the club," Jonny said as he let go of his embrace on Jessie. Jessie than quickly wiped away her tears, she normally didn't cry. It was something her father kind a shunned down on. So she always did her best not to let them show. "You know Im going to miss you guys a lot, you guys are like brothers to me." She said. Chapter 2. It had been almost a day since Race had gotten the file of his new job. It was going for 3 am, but he couldn't sleep. He had too much on his mind to even comprehend what was going on. It was hard for him to believe this was happening. He knew that something was wrong, but he couldn't put his finger on what it was. He figured he should look at the file and see what he was getting himself into. He opened the file to see the basic history and biography of the guy he would be working for. His name is Gary Sechler, age 47, he is the grandson of the founder of I-1, and is one of the "Big Sticks". His wife, Sandra, has been married twice, the first marriage, her husband died, leaving behind a son, Brent Flanagan-Sechler, who kept his fathers last name and added on Gary's. Brent, was only one when his father died, and was two when his Mom got remarried. He his now 18. Gary and Sandra have a daughter also, her name is Kylee Sechler, who is 16. Included with the background information, Race found information on the town, where they would be living, directions and school information. Just then, he looked up to see the tired emerald eyes looking at him. He cleared his throat as he thought up an excuse for being up, but while trying to come up with something, he realized that he should be asking her why she's up. "Ponchita what are you doing up, its," Race said as he fumbled for the time. "It's 3 am and I was beginning to ask you the same thing," she said. "I just have too much on my mind to sleep, and you?" he said. "Lets just say I just got done packing and can't sleep." "Your done already?" "Pretty much. So is the new boss?" "Yup, and I was just getting to the part about your new school. We need to go up to your school tomorrow and get your transcripts and sign you out and then fax all that in and sign you up at your new school." "So where is my new school called?" "Um, I believe, here it is, Hillcrest High School." He said and took out the picture of it. The pictured showed a the front of the outside of the building which revealed two noticeable levels and what one could determine with a school being located on a hill, a third one, being a basement, would be a must. It also showed a separate square building which was only a mere feet away, which from the look, was a newer edition, a gym, and another building, this one more close to the road and had a gravel sidewalk leading up a hill to it from the school. The school was huge, and as Jessie read the paper about it, she found out that it was not only big a big building, but a big population of students too. It had 1,800 students in it, and her junior class had 355 of those students. Just her school population alone was bigger than the surrounding towns she had lived in. "Wow, it sure is big," she said. "Yeah, but I think you'll be able to just, won't you?" Race asked. "Yah, no problem," she lied. "That's my girl." He said. He then showed her the family and the town they would be living in. "I'm home," Jessie said as she walked into the house with Jonny at her heels. She walked into the living room, dropped her backpack down on the floor, and went to the kitchen to get a snack. "Jess, honey, could you please come to the den, I need to talk to ya." "Can it wait Dad, I just got home and I'm starving. I sure hope the food at my new school is much better than the one here in Rockport," she said with her head in the fridge. "Well, that's what I need to talk to you about," Race said from the doorway. "About school food?" "Funny! No, I'm talking about your new school. Now could you please come in the den!" "Okay Dad." Jessie said, she then shut the refrigerator door, and followed her father into the den. As soon as she walked in, Race closed the door. "So what's up Dad?" "What's up is that your probably not going to enjoy the classes I could get you. And before you complain, just remember, I was lucky to get you in, I had to pull a few strings with your vice principal, Mr. Snodgrass, so heres your schedule. Oh and I found out today that you will be in a few classes with Brent, whose Mr. Sechler's stepson," Race said. He then handed his daughter her schedule and prepared for her reaction. "Okay, its an 8th block schedule." "Oh yeah, Mr. Snodgrass explained to me that on Monday's and Wednesdays you go to these classes," Race said pointing to the left handed column," and on Tuesday's and Thursdays you go to these classes, and on Fridays, you have every class." "Oh joy!" she said. "Okay lets see here, Mondays I have Mrs. Evens, trig, oh boy fun, Mrs. Hannah, Bio III, Mr. Doddson, Journalism II, how in the heck did you manage this one dad?" "I pulled a few strings, you'll be working on the school paper, and the yearbook, everyday!" "Fun!" she said sarcastically. "And last is Media I with Mr. Paley, why did I get media?" "I thought you might like it, besides it sounds fun!" "Tuesday, Mr. Mullherin, PE, in the morning?" "It was the only other class available at that time." "Fine. Okay, Mrs. Gannon, family meals, Mr. Doddson , Journalism II and Mrs. Bishop, English III. Sounds fun dad!" she lied. "That's my girl!" Chapter 3 Knock, knock. "Come on Jess, six bells, we need to be leaving real soon!" Race said. "I'm almost done," Jessie said. As Race was about to go outside to make sure everything was loaded up, but got side tracked at the sight of his empty room. When he walked in, the sight of the bare walls and clean floor. As he walked into the room, he could feel the dents in the carpet from his furniture, and he could see the darker parts of the wall where his pictures were. It was hard to believe that it was really happening. He knew that there was a cover up going on, but he couldn't figure out why or who was behind it. All he knew was that as soon as he moved to his new job, he would make it a point to find out what was going on. But the part that troubled him the most was that they weren't just making his life a hell hole, but his daughter's and anyone else they were close to. He hated that he had to uproot her and take her away from the one house she had been able to call home. "Hey Dad, wanna give me a hand?" Jessie asked as she, Jonny and Hadji walked out with boxes in their hands. Race chuckled at the sight of his daughter carrying a few small boxes while Jonny and Hadji carrying all the big ones. "Look like you've already got help." "Race, " Jonny said as he walked over to Race and placed the box in his hands. "Ump," Race said, "what is in here? "Oh nothing but the last eight years of stuff I have collected while I've lived here," Jessie said bitterly. After that comment, Race kept quiet, he knew he could never make this up to her. As hard as packing was, leaving seemed harder. Race had expected to be gone by 7 am, but instead, they ended up leaving around 10am. After driving for hours, they decided to stop off at a small cafe outside of Philadelphia. "Sigh," Jessie said as she slumped down in the booth she was sitting in. She stared at her father as he scarfed down his barbecue beef sandwich. The sight of him eating the sloppy meal was making her chicken fingers look gross. It wasn't her choice to eat at a Mom and pop style place, she would rather be eating at McDonneld's or Burger King, but her fathers explanation that they had all the time in the world to eat at those fast food places. So without a fight, she agreed. This is his trip, let him have fun. As Race was eating, he noticed that his daughter wasn't eating, but playing with her food. He then sat his sandwich down. and swallowed his last bite and decided to confront her. "So, what's the sad look for?" "What do you think its for?" "Well, I should've seen that one coming. I was only trying to help," he said. "Yah, and so did the people who decided that we should move." "Hey I'm not that evil," he said. That remark earned him a smile. "Hey got you to smile." "So." "What are you trying to do, have a pity party?" "Sounds fun to me!" "After a short lunch, they were back on the road. Traveling through Philadelphia, and getting lost. "Um... Dad... I think were lost." Jessie proclaimed. "Not according to the map I-1 gave us," he said as he pointed to their direct locations. "But Dad, we just passed a sign for South Street and according to this map I downloaded before we left, we are really off coarse," Jessie said pointing to her map. Just then Race made a quick pull over on the street in front of a shop. When Jessie looked over to see where they were at, she started laughing. While she was laughing Race grabbed her map from her hands and compared it with his. "Hmm..." he said as he starred at each map, looking each up and down trying to find the mistakes. "Dagumit," he said, "what's wrong Dad?" Jessie asked as she stopped laughing. "I can't make heads or tails over which one of these maps are right, and damn, I left the cell phones packed in the comm bag in the U-Haul truck, I wonder if they have a phone I could use, I need to call an old buddy of mine to get him to send a map to the FBI field office here so we can pick it up and leave," he said. He then got out of the car. "Dad wait, do you know where your going?" By that time, he didn't hear her. Oh well, she thought. He probably needs to restock his supply for the new town, she thought. "Hi Welcome to Condom Kingdom, how may I help you?" asked a perky girl who was at the front counter. Just then, Race realized what his daughter was trying to warn him about before he came in. "Um..." he said as he read her name off of her name tag,"Um, yes Morgan, I was wondering if you had a phone I could use." "Yes, but it's only for paying customers." "Okay okay fine." Race said with a red face and picked up an item and paid for it. "Now can I use the phone?" "Certainly! Oh and have a nice night!" Morgan said with a big grin. "Well, we have a new map waiting for us at the FBI office," Race said as he got in the car and threw a small brown paper sack in the back-seat. "It seems like the government haven't gotten new updated map's in years, I had to pull a few strings to get this new puppy," he said. "So Dad, what's in the sack you bought," Jessie said with a huge grin across her face. "None of your business!" With that, he quickly drove off, but not without glancing in his mirrors to make sure no one he knew saw him. Chapter 4 After they dropped by and picked up their new map, they were well on their way. They were trying to make it as far as they could; I-1 wanted them in Springfield in less than two days, so they didn't have time to spare getting lost. After a while, Jessie took over driving so her father could get some sleep. She was told by him, that if he wasn't awake by eight, to stop at the nearest town and find a hotel to stay at and then wake him up. When eight rolled around, it was just her luck that she was a few miles away from a large enough town to have a few hotels. When the arrived, they got a room, unpacked clothes for the next day, went out for supper and went back to the hotel to sleep. For them, 6 a.m was coming too quick. As the night hours slowly exited, the two travelers awoke to a rainy dawn. They then quickly packed up their belongings, checked out and left. They would be traveling all day so that they could arrive at Springfield at a decent time. The first signs that the received that they were getting close was the sudden change from the contemporary pop to the mostly country music radio stations. It wasn't anything Race couldn't handle, in fact, he was loving it to death. The strumming of the guitar and the rhythmic sound of the fiddle with twangy voice of the singer took Race back to his days of living in Willamette Ill. and working around on the farm. He truly was in heaven. He tapped his thumbs against the steering wheel to the beat of the songs about killing Earl, women getting their revenge against boyfriends who never listened to them, but what made him laugh the most was the song that was on after the revenge against boyfriends song. This song was different from the rest, but it was still a good ol'fashion country song. But it was rather unique, and held a power to make people come out of transes and listen to it. It even caught Jessie's attention. It all started with... Plowing these fields in the hot summer sun Over by the gate lordy here she comes With a basket full of chicken and a big cold jug of sweet tea I make a little room and she climbs on up Open up a throttle and stir a little dust Just look at her face she ain't a foolin me She thinks my tractor's sexy It really turns her on She's always staring at me While I'm chuggin along She likes the way it's pullin' while we're tillin' up the land She's even kind of crazy 'bout my farmer's tan She's the only one who really understands what gets me She thinks my tractor's sexy It was those first lyrics of the song that arose Jessie from her magazine. We ride back and forth until we run out of light Take it to the barn put it up for the night Climb up in the loft sit and talk with the radio on She said she's got a dream and I asked what it is She wants a little farm and a yard full of kids One more teeny weeny ride before take her home She thinks my tractor's sexy It really turns her on She's always staring at me While I'm chuggin along She likes the way it's pullin' while we're tillin' up the land She's even kind of crazy 'bout my farmer's tan She's the only one who really understands what gets me She thinks my tractor's sexy But it was those lyrics that got her to respond. "This song is stupid!" "Huh?" Race said. "This song, listen to it." "I'm listening." "It's stupid. I mean, I've been to grandma and grandpas farm enough and rode a tractor enough to know its NOT sexy. It's down right nasty. Last time I rode one, I was covered with over an inch of dirt all over me, plus the sweat that was dripping off me was turning it into mud. And don't even get me started about the bumpiness. How demented is the person who wrote this song? That girl who thinks a tractors sexy needs to locked up in a mental hospital," she explained. All Race could do was laugh. "Could we please change the station?" "I doubt if your going to find anything better." "It's worth a try!" And with that, she spent the next 30 minutes trying to find anything better and ended up going back to country. Well Jess, were in Springfield," Race said, "now help me look for street signs." "Okay," Jessie said as she laid down her book. "So what am I looking for?" "Umm... National, it's one of the main streets supposedly and will take us to H highway which will take us to Farm Road 143." "Oh goody, were living on a Farm Road, perfect, we should get a tractor to go along with this "Farm Road" and then we can sing, She thinks my Tractors sexy," Jessie exclaimed. "Honey, I really don't want you using those stereo types around here, I'm hoping that maybe this is just a blessing in disguise. Besides, you should really look on the bright side of this, you'll be able to go to school everyday and won't have to worry too much on making up homework and you'll be able to make new steady friends," Race said. "But did you ever stop to think if I ever wanted those? I was perfectly happy traveling all around the world, saving it, and learning stuff in other countries that I would never had learned anywhere else." "I understand, but we really need to start looking for these road signs." "Fine," she said. The rest of the way was quiet except for the directions be given out. As the got closer to their destination, they were actually getting farther out of the town. The house that they were moving to was out in the country, around five miles out of the city limits. They finally saw the road sign for their street, Farm Road 143, and turned into the long gravel driveway that lead to a well hidden house. When they finally reached the clearing of trees, a huge house was revealed. It was a three story house with a pool, and a separate guest house where Race and Jessie would be living. "Wow," Jessie said in awe. "It's almost as big as the Quest Compound." "Yup, and we have our own house too, not too bad if I don't say so myself." Race said as he pulled the car and the U-Haul up to the paved driveway and parked the car. When they got out, they were greeted by their new boss, and his family. "You must be Roger Bannon, how do you do? I'm Gary Sechler and this is my wife Sandra, my daughter Kylee and my son Brent." "Nice to meet you sir, this is my daughter Jessica." Race said shaking his hand, "And please, call me Race." "No problem," Sechler said, he then turned to face Jessie, "So your Jessica eh?" "Hi," she said with a smile across her face, she then shook his hand. She then looked at his kids, Kylee and Brent and smiled at them. "Well, we should probably show ya'll to your house and get what you need unpacked before it gets too dark, then tomorrow we'll help ya'll get moved in." He said as he led them into the guest house. "Hi, I'm Jessica." Jessie said to Kylee and Brent. "Hey, I'm Brent." "And I'm Kylee," Kylee said all perky. "So whats this town like?" Jessie asked. "Well, besides the fact that theirs little places for teens to go, it's okay, We do have some popular hang outs like the Underground, and a few others here and there," Brent said. "Well thats a few more than the town that I came from had." "Where that at?" Kylee asked. "Rockport Maine." It was going for seven o'clock when they finished unpacking what they needed. After all that traveling and unpacking, it was time for Race to crash and burn. He then walked into the living room, laid down on the couch and turned on the TV. They were hooked up to a satellite due to the fact that they were out of the cable company's boundaries. So it wasn't too hard for Race to find something on the tube. While he was flipping through he could hear Jessie talking to Kylee down the hall. "Hey Jessica, lets go out for supper or something, that way we can get to know each other," Kylee sugested. Jessie sighed, it had been a long time since she had done things like that. "But if your too tired I'll understand," Kylee added in. "No, that sounds kinda fun, lets go," Jessie said. "Okay, I'll have to go get my brothers keys and we'll be off." "Your brothers keys?" "I'll explained later," she said. They then drove into town and stopped to eat at popular resturant there. "So you go to Hillcrest, right?" Jessica asked. "Yup, and love it. I'm a cheerleader there and it's so fun. But don't let rumors get to you, the north side is not white trash," she said with a French fry between her fingers. "Northside, white trash?" "See, we live on the northside, which is commonly characterized as the poor side, but were not. And then there's the South side, which is were all the rich snobby people live. You'll see. So are you going to school tomorrow?" "No," Jessica said as she shook her head, "I need to unpack the rest of my stuff and get settled in. Besides, were still waiting on the rest our stuff to arrive, like mine and my dad's other car, some of the other communication devices, and so on.So I won't probably be there until next week or so. Oh speaking of cars, what's the deal with you driving your brothers car?" "Oh that, well lets just say that when it gets icy here, it really gets icy, and I kinda hit a slick spot and put my car in a big ditch," the perky blonde headed girl replied. "Ah, I see." Jessica said with a laugh. "Yup, but since your not coming to school until next week, you might as well come to tomorrow nights big basketball game. It's the northside verses the South. Hillcrest vs. Kickapoo. That way you can meet all my friends and see Brent play and meet some new people." "I don't know." "Aw come on. I'm not cheering so I can introduce and sit with you! Besides it's a Friday night, and no one stays home on Friday or Saturday!" She said all perky. "Okay fine. I'll come." "Good. I'll take you shopping before hand and all, hows that?" "Sounds fun," Jessica said as she was suddenly interrupted by a waiter passing by, who just happened to catch Jessica's eye. "Earth to Jessica, you can stop drooling." "Sorry." "Don't, that is Carey Bell. He goes to our school, and he's on the basketball team. He's also Student Council President and all around nice, cute, funny guy." "Well then, I'm defently coming!"