Chapter 20

The morning breeze was cool as it brushed over Jessie's body. Sitting in the blush patio chair, her legs tucked up underneath her, she held the oversized mug of tea, reflecting back on to all that had happened. Thankful to have made it out of the clutches of her captors relatively unharmed, she was still frightened by the results of the trauma on her mind.

She had risen early; her sleep had still been troubled by nightmares. Even with the assistance from medication, she still found herself unable to sleep through an entire night.

Hearing the sliding door behind her open she tensed involuntarily. She knew she was home and safe and should not be scared by little nuisances, but it was still difficult; she cursed herself inwardly for feeling so helpless.

"Hey, Ace," Jonny said as he sat down next to her. He was still dressed in his pajamas, his hair a slight mess. He held a coffee mug as well, and Jessie watched the steam rising from within the cup. "You're up early."

Jessie shrugged, "I couldn't sleep so figured I'd come out here and watch the sunrise."

The sky was turning a deep shade or orange and red and Jonny turned his gaze towards the East. The property in Maine had a great view for such occasions, watching the sun crest and peak over the cliffs; the lighthouse off to the left of the cliffs towards to rear of the property.

The teens sat in silence as the sun rose, bringing with it a new day and hope of healing.

Once the sun came into full view, Jonny looked over at Jessie and asked, "So what do you want to do today?"

Sighing, Jessie said, "Anything to keep my mind engaged, I suppose. I just want to feel normal again, especially before my mother gets here and starts hounding me."

"Want some breakfast? I can make your favorite pancakes."

Jessie beamed and Jonny felt a warmth of content, he knew things would be alright. "You got it, Hot Shot." Jessie replied.

Standing, Jessie took Jonny's hand in hers as they walked back inside. "Then after lunch you can show me that new Questworld game you and Hadji were developing before I left for Brazil."

"Sounds like a plan to me!" Jonny agreed.

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The flight was long, so Estella settled in to her first class seat next to Phil. He had paid for the two of them to fly back to Europe, splurging first class accommodations for the long trip. They had seen Doctor Smith back to Philadelphia before heading out to return to Kosovo. The young doctor's fiancé was returning from his business trip to Chicago and while Estella felt the young woman was welcome to accompany her and Corbin, Natalie had insisted on not going. She said that her life was here now and she knew that the two of them would finally put the matter to rest.

None of them had spoken about the trip to the prison. As far as anyone knew Yuri Delic suffered a massive heart attack in the interrogation room and had died as a result.

Estella attempted to read, trying to relax her mind, but the apprehension she felt about returning to where everything had started twelve years prior had her edge. The flight attendants knew who Corbin was, or at least who he worked for, so he had been allowed to board the plane armed; his weapon was currently tucked into the pocket of his seat. He had removed his suit jacket and loosened his tie, making Estella wonder if that was how he felt relaxed. She knew he was a man dedicated to his profession and he wanted to look the part as well.

His eyes were closed and he had earbuds in, but he said, "You should try and get some sleep, Estella. It's a long flight."

She blushed, not realizing he could tell she was watching him. "I know." She replied.

Opening his eyes and pulling the buds from his ears, he looked at her and said, "What's wrong?"

Laughing a little she replied, "What isn't wrong?"

He waited, not responding. Estella had known the man long enough to understand that he was waiting for her to say more. "Things are never going to be the same, are they? I mean, I can tell that you look at me differently, treat me differently."

"Should I not? You did try to kill me instead of asking for help. A lot of this could have been avoided. Michael might still be alive."

His words solidified for her the knowledge that he was truly upset with her and probably would hold the grudge for a long time to come, possibly forever.

"I was distraught. You know I'm not used to these kinds of things. It's normal for people like you and Race, but not for me."

"It's not as normal as you may think." He replied. "You want to know what the worst part of all of this is, Estella? It's not so much that you tried to kill me, it's that you betrayed my trust in you. You can trust me, you know that, you've always known that, but you decided that trusting me was not good enough. So now, how can I ever trust you again?"

His response hit Estella like a slap in the face. "I don't know what more I can say besides I'm sorry. I don't know what you want from me, Phil."

"I know you were doing what you thought was best to save Jessie, but you didn't take into consideration what you were doing to me and to my family. The world doesn't revolve around the Bannons and the Quests, you know."

She could tell he was getting upset, but she had to get it all out in the open or else the rest of the trip would be awkward and unbearable. "You're right."

Leaning over to her, he asked, "Answer this for me, Estella. If you had to do it all over again, would you have still done what you did?"

Estella hesitated a moment too long. Corbin leaned back and said, "Your hesitation is answer enough."

"I'd do anything to protect my daughter," Estella replied, a bit too harshly. "And I believe you would do the same for yours as well."

"Don't speak for me," Phil shot back. "Don't speak as if you know me like that."

Estella's lip trembled and she turned away, not wanting to break down in front of him. All she wanted was for Phil to accept her apology so she could move on, but she knew that was not going to happen, at least not now.

"Let's just do what we have to do." He said.

"Then what?" She asked.

"I don't know, Estella. You go back to your life and I go back to mine. There's not much else we can do." Exhaustion had crept into the man's voice. As if his statement reminded him of some other matter, he pulled his phone out of his pants pocket, checked his messages, typed another before hitting send. He set the phone down in his lap, but Estella could not see what the messages on the display said.

Estella suddenly felt extremely uncomfortable sitting next to Corbin. No matter what she did, or what she said, it was wrong. Self-doubt crept back into her mind and she suddenly hated the thought of returning to Maine to face her daughter and Race.

Phil had closed his eyes again, and Estella gently touched his arm, bringing his attention back to her, "Phil, I'm sorry for all the pain I've caused you. I truly am. I'm sorry I tried to kill you and that I didn't accept your offer to help. You're right, I should have trusted you and I didn't and I'll always regret that because I see now that I may never be able to regain your trust."

He nodded, but didn't respond. Estella wasn't sure how to take his reaction, so she let it go. She watched him a moment longer as he put his earbuds back in his ears, closed his eyes, and leaned his chair back. With a sigh, she did the same.

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Race ventured out to the lighthouse where he knew the kids were engrossed in a new Questworld adventure. The trio had darted off towards the structure just after finishing breakfast and as Race came up to the heavy wooden door he glanced again at his watch, seeing that it was already after four in the afternoon; the kids had skipped lunch.

Opening the door and passing through, Race listened as the echoes of the teens' voiced bounced around throughout the building. Race strode over to the bank of terminals where Hadji was seated; the boy was currently monitoring the activity inside the Questworld system.

Taping the young prodigy on the shoulder, Race said, "It's about time you kids finished up. Your dad wants to take us all out for pizza tonight."

Hadji grinned and nodded. While pizza was not a dish he enjoyed in his native India, he had grown accustomed to the American staple. Speaking in to the headset he wore he said "Race is here. He says it's time to log out."

Race could see the sad expressions that spread across Jessie and Jonny's virtual countenances displayed on the screens in front of him.

"Already? We barely got started!" Jonny pleaded.

Hadji had switched the audio to run through the computers sound system, so Race was privy to the young man's plea.

"Sorry, kiddo. It's already after four and you guys missed lunch."

Hadji relayed the log out instructions to the two users inside Questworld and within moments the green beams of light that spread across their eyes vanished and both Jessie and Jonny sat up from the reclined seats.

"That was a blast, but I can't believe we were in Questworld that long!" Jessie proclaimed.

"Believe it, Ponchita," Her dad replied as he helped them gather their belongings. "What's the new game about?"

"Another Fisher King Quest," Jonny explained and then turned to Hadji, "There were a few bugs I noticed as we made it to the lower levels. Did you log those?"

"Of course, brother." Hadji replied as the group finished shutting down the equipment and headed for the door.

"Probably the code that you wrote, Hot Shot," Jessie teased.

"Oh really?" Jonny replied with a raised eyebrow. "Think you can do better?"

"I know this," Jessie said as she emerged into the afternoon sun, "I can beat you to the house!" And took off running.

"No way!" Jonny protested and ran off as well, with Hadji following on his heel.

Race stood and watched as the kids zig zagged through the yard, eventually making it to the rear patio. Race smiled; at that moment he knew that everything would be alright.

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The rest of the flight had passed mostly in silence. Estella had not tried to talk to Corbin any more about what had happened, choosing instead to leave him be and let him sleep and had turned her focus back to the task at hand and then her plans for when she returned to Jessie.

Phil had somehow made all the necessary arrangements and knew exactly where to go. Estella followed him, mostly in silence, but eventually asked, "Have you been back here since the war."

"Yes." Was his only response.

They had met up with a contact of Corbin's outside the terminal. The local man handed over car keys and spoke to Phil in Slavic. Phil didn't bother to tell Estella what they had said to each other. After the man departed, Phil said, "This way." And headed towards the parking area.

Two hours passed as Phil drove; eventually leaving the city and heading into the countryside. The surroundings were both familiar and foreign to Estella; a lot of things change in over a decade.

It was afternoon when they arrived at their destination. From what Estella could see the cemetery was deserted. Phil slowed the vehicle as he wound through the main road. After a few turns, Estella noticed he didn't use a map, he pulled over to the curb at the side of a low hill.

"Grab the bag." He said as he exited and moved to the back of the vehicle.

Estella reached into the back seat and grabbed the small gym bag that they had brought with them on the flight. Moving to the back to join Phil she said, "Do you want some time alone?"

He looked at her and then gazed off into the distance, "Afterwards." He finally said. She watched as he removed his jacket and tie, and then rolled up his sleeves. It was cool and the wind brisk, but if the cold bothered the man he gave no indication. Estella noticed his weapon was affixed to his belt again.

Grabbing a shovel from the rear of the SUV he slammed the door shut and locked the vehicle. He then pointed to a large tree at the top of the hill, "There." And hiked up towards the spot, Estella in tow.

Estella shielded her eyes from the glare of the sun as they reached the large tree. Phil wordlessly walked up to tree, circled around it, then paced off a number of steps further away.

Tapping the ground for a soft spot, he looked at his companion and said, "This should be far enough away from the roots."

Estella nodded as she watched Corbin push the pointed end of the shovel into the grass. He began digging. Even with the cool breeze it didn't take long for him to begin to sweat. Estella watched as he dug, noticing that his muscles were taught, and his movements still restricted by his injuries.

"I can help," She said as she stood a few feet from him. "You shouldn't over-exert yourself. You're still not fully healed."

Corbin glanced up at her briefly, then returned to his work. She took it as a sign that he did not want her assistance with this part of the plan. Turning her attention to their surroundings, Estella took in the scene with a sense of contentment. She wasn't bothered by the quietness of the place, their only companions being those that had passed on to a better place. She examined a few of the headstones to pass the time. She knew why Corbin had picked this place, but she saw no indication of the headstone marking the final resting place of his friend.

Phil's labored breathing brought Estella back from her thoughts and she noticed that he had dug a significant hole. It didn't have to be large, just enough to create another resting place. It was deep however, and that was what mattered. He stopped and withdrew a bottle of water from the gym bag, taking a long pull of the refreshing liquid.

"This should be deep enough, you think?" He asked her.

"Yes, I think so." She answered. She noticed the pain of digging had taken a bigger toll on the I-1 agent than he was letting on and he was once again holding his wounded arm close to his side to restrict movement while trying not to make it obvious that he was using the shovel for support as well.

"Go ahead." He told her.

Reaching into the gym bag, Estella withdrew a white cloth that held the stone of Joseph of Aramethia. Unwrapping the stone, she took one last look at the item that had been the bane of her existence for so long. She held it over to Phil, who looked at it, but said nothing.

She knelt next to the hole and lowered the stone inside. "It's a shame we have to do this." She said as she set the stone down and stood back up.

"It's for the best. No one needs to get their hands on this ever again." Phil said as he started to shovel dirt back into the hole. "If it does hold secrets, they will be buried here along with it."

Estella wrung her hands as she watched Phil work. Filling the hole back up was not as physically exerting for him as digging the hole had been and it did not take long for the stone to be completely buried. Patting the soil down he looked over at the woman and said, "We don't leave until late tomorrow night. We can go to Pristina to the Kosovo Museum in the morning if you like. For now we can go check into the hotel."

She already knew the plan for their return flight, but was a little surprised at the man's offer, especially after their conversation on the plane. His words had a much kinder tone than usual and she wondered if perhaps, now that the stone was gone, the healing process between the two of them may actually have begun. That and he must have remembered her desire to go when they were here for the mission, but were never able to make it.

"I'd like that." She said, "But I have one more thing before we go." She unzipped the side pocket on the gym bag and pulled out a packet of Peony flower seeds. Ripping the packet open, she empty the contents onto the freshly turned dirt and around the vicinity as well. Twisting the cap off of another bottle of water she sprinkled the contents onto the seeds until the bottle was empty.

Estella picked up the gym bag and took the shovel and keys from him. "I'll wait for you at the vehicle." Turning she walked back down the hill, leaving the agent to his thoughts.

Phil watched her go and then headed over to Biljana's grave, a few rows over and down from where they had just buried the stone.

Estella peered at Corbin in the distance as he knelt down next to the grave of the old woman that had risk her life to help them. Phil had never mentioned Biljana to Estella since their last time in the country, but she knew that he still cared for the old woman and was upset by her passing.

Turning away from the scene Estella pulled out her phone and sent a text to Jessie, telling her she'd be home within the next few days. She heard Phil approaching and slipped the phone back in her pocket.

"I'll drive," She said as he walked up to her. He was somewhat dirty and he wiped the already drying sweat from his brow; he appeared to wince from the injuries, "You need some rest now."

Phil nodded and suddenly embraced Estella, surprising her, but she wrapped her arms around the man in return, not bothered by the dirt or sweat on his shirt. Realizing that even with the way they felt about each other now, they were bonded to each other by both the past and the present. Estella hoped that with time, Phil would forgive her for what she had done. Estella felt that time was stopped as they embraced, hot tears rolling down her cheeks.

Finally letting go of her, Phil turned and without any words, climbed into the passenger seat. Estella hopped in the driver's seat, started the vehicle and drove off. As they exited the cemetery Estella felt a sense of joy and happiness that she had not felt in a very long time.

THE END

A/N: Okay, well that's it. I hope everyone that has read this and stuck with it to the end has enjoyed the tale. I did enjoy writing it. When I resurrected this fic I had no intention of it turning into an Estella centric story, as I had never really written Estella in previous stories that would make her a sympathetic character because I never cared about her one way or the other. However, as this story progressed I realized that I did enjoy writing her and that I could make her strong, but also fragile at the same time…I hope I was able to convey that idea in the story.

Also, I did not intend for this to have so little involvement from Jonny and Hadji and I found I had to force myself to write them in. I would have been happy if this had been an adults only story, but then it wouldn't be The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest, would it?

I decided to write these last two chapters in a way that did not give clear-cut answers, but instead left it up to the readers to decide certain things. Throughout the story, some characters believed in the power of the stone while some did not; it is up to the reader to ultimately decide what to believe.

Was Estella, Corbin, and Dr. Smith all in on the death of Yuri Delic or was only Smith? Or only Estella and Smith since it was them that gave him the water?

Which stone did Corbin destroy and which one did he and Estella bury? Did his companions at both scenes know which was which? (Remember Dr. Reid from the BAU had mentioned that numerous fakes were discovered throughout time). Again…up to the readers.

I always try to write these characters as more than just cartoon characters. I attempt to give them their own personalities, traits, strengths, and weaknesses that go beyond how they were portrayed in the show. In one scene someone may act a certain way, but in another they act completely opposite, just how we all act in real life. I tried to show this with the relationship between Estella and Phil; where one minute he is fine, but in another scene he is angry/upset with her again; behavior that could be expected from someone dealing with a traumatic event up close and personal (him having to work with Estella after what she did to him). I tried to do it with Jessie as well. Jessie is a tough character, but she is also human and can succumb to fear and anxiety just like anyone else. One minute she is okay, the next she is scared of her own shadow. Again, I hope I was able to translate this well into the written word.

The fine line of revenge and justice was a concept I tried to address in this story as well. The title suggests only justice for one daughter, but both Jessie and Natalie/Natasha were victims of the events in the story, so who was the justice really for? Or did they both receive justice? Just different forms of justice? Was what happened to the "bad guys" truly justice or truly revenge? It is a grey area in life that I hope I was able to address.

Ok, so I've babbled on long enough. Again, thank you for all the readers and those that left reviews. Believe me when I say a number of the reviews helped push me through some situations where I had written myself in a corner! So thank you!

I'm taking a break to catch up on some personal things, catch up on reading some of the other awesome TRAJQ fics on this page, and then I will be resurrecting another story, so be on the lookout please!