Disclaimer: I do not own Jonny Quest or Resident Evil. I am not making any money from this story.

As Nightmares End

Chapter 20

By: Sigokat

Race quickened his pace as he headed down the stark white halls of St. Andrews Hospital. His anxiety had risen when his repeated attempts to contact Estella in regards to Jessie's condition had gone unanswered. All previous feelings that Jessie was okay had begun to wash away with each failed phone call attempt. Now he practically ran through the halls, barely missing unsuspecting nurses and doctors as he wound his way to the ICU.

Jonny kept pace with his bodyguard as they rounded the last corner that led to the ICU. Quickening his pace, Jonny pushed ahead of Race and without breaking his stride pushed through the ICU doors.

The sight before him almost made Jonny faint. Jessie Bannon was sitting up in her bed, reading a book, with her mother at her side. Confusion caused the boy to momentarily stop in his tracks; for someone who had suffered such serious wounds the fact that Jessie appeared as if nothing was wrong perplexed Jonny. Race's large frame barreling into him from behind broke Jonny's temporary spell.

The ruckus at the entrance to the ICU drew Jessie's attention from her book, which she was only half-heartedly reading anyway.

"Jonny, Dad." Jessie exclaimed as she threw back the blanket that was covering her legs and clambered out of the bed faster then she should have been able to.

"Jessie, what are you doing?" Race asked in astonishment as he met his daughter. "You should stay in bed."

"I'm fine, dad." Jessie said as she wrapped her arms around her father and embraced him tightly.

"I don't understand." Race mumbled.

"It's a miracle, Roger." Estella said as she joined her daughter and ex-husband. "All of a sudden her injuries started to well…reverse themselves."

Race eyed his ex-wife questioningly, but did not dispute what she said because from all appearances a miracle had indeed cured his daughter. "I'm just glad to see you're alright, Jess."

Jessie released her father and turned to Jonny. The boy that she was growing to love stood next to her with the same astonished look as everyone else in the room. "Hey, Jonny."

"Hey." Jonny mumbled and was suddenly smothered in hug from the red-headed girl. He reciprocated by wrapping his arms around her and holding her close to him. "You look good."

"You too." Jessie remarked as she leaned back in order to look Jonny in the eyes. "I only regret not getting better sooner so I could have gone with you. What did I miss?"

Jonny shrugged, "The usual; zombies, bad guys, explosions, and lots of gunfire. Oh and a monster tried to eat Corbin."

"I guess it didn't think I would taste very good, but I can't imagine why since I'm so sweet." Corbin replied from where he stood having his wounds rebandaged, wincing as a nurse swapped the cuts with peroxide to prevent infection.

Estella let out an audible groan, accompanied by her staple eye rolling, at the man's response.

"Good for you, I guess." Jessie giggled.

Phil shrugged, "Yeah, I guess."

After a few minutes of recounting the details of the events and Jessie pouting that she had been left of out the latest battle Doctor Quest walked into the ICU. Since the time to have to parasite removed had been ticking away faster then expected he had went straight to the OR and demanded the doctors extract the creature. Since the Las Plagas was already dead the procedure to remove it had gone quickly and with no complications. The doctors had been perplexed at what it was and how it had gotten into the scientist's neck and had insisted on studying the parasite, but Benton had been firm in his conviction to have it destroyed immediately. After some arguing about the benefits of scientific research Benton had become infuriated, grabbed the Petri dish that the parasite had been placed in and stormed out of the OR.

"Anyone have a lighter or a match?" Benton asked as he entered the room.

"Here." Phil said as he handed the man a book of matches. "Why?"

Without answering Benton grabbed the matches, set the Petri dish on the counter of the nurses' station, lit a match and set the deceased creature aflame.

"Sir, what are you doing?" A nurse exclaimed as she tried to stop the man, but he brushed her off as the flame engulfed the dish.

A few minutes later the flames began to die and nothing was left of Benton's former acquaintance but ashes and goop.

"Nice." Jonny smirked as he watched his father destroy the creature that had taken control on his mind.

Releasing a heavy sigh of relief, Benton relaxed. "It's over."

"For good?" Jonny asked; a hint of disbelief in his voice.

"Yes, Jonny, for good." His father replied.

"The Spencer Mansion is gone. The Umbrella Corporation has nothing left to go on." Race added.

"Do you think that man was working for Umbrella?" Hadji asked. He also did not appear to believe the threat of Umbrella was truly gone.

"Krauser? I don't know." Race answered.

"Krauser?" Jessie stuttered. "That name sounds familiar."

"How so?" Jonny asked as he placed an arm around Jessie's waste. The warmth of her body and the smell of her hair worked to ease some of the apprehension from his heart.

Jessie's brow furrowed as she attempted to recall the name, but the source continued to elude her. "I'm not sure."

Race watched his daughter's reaction with fatherly concern. The fact that Jessie had reacted to Jack Krauser's name disturbed him, but perhaps he had mentioned the man in the past and that is where Jessie had heard it; however he could not be certain himself either.

The confined space of the ICU began to close in on Jonny and it made him realize just how much he wanted to get out of there and get home; as far away from any reminders of Umbrella as possible.

"When are you going to be released for here, Jess?" Jonny asked.

As if the question had been announced over the PA system Nurse Mabel glided up to the group. "Jessie's recovery has been miraculous to say the least and as much as the doctors would prefer for her to stay in order to run some more tests, I think I can get you released by this afternoon; as long as you promise to take things easy for the next few weeks."

Both Jessie's and Jonny's faces brightened at the news. "I promise." Jessie replied to the kindly old nurse.

"Well, let me get going on the paperwork then." Mabel replied with a warm smile that seemed to wipe away any remaining fears that the group may have possessed.

Finally convinced that Jessie was healthy, Jonny left her side and went over to check on his father. Jessie watched the boy go and then walked over to where Race and Phil were conversing in hushed voices. As she approached the men, Jessie noticed they immediately stopped talking when they noticed she was coming their way.

"Its great that we can get out of here later today, huh Jess?" Race asked his daughter.

Jessie nodded, "I'm ready to go home."

"I bet you are. Actually I think we all are." Phil told the girl.

"Dad?" Jessie said in a lowered voice. Her brilliant green eyes seemed to lose some color as she cast them towards the floor.

"What is it, Jess?" Race was immediately afraid that something had happened and his daughter was not as healthy as she appeared. "Are you alright?"

Jessie looked back up at her father. "I'm fine. I just wanted to show you something."

"What is it, hon?"

Race watched as she reached into the pocket of her gown. Her fist was tightly clenched shut as she withdrew her hand and then held it out to her father. Race reached out and his daughter placed the object into his hand. Race gazed at the small metallic pin and glanced over at Phil, who eyes were also fixed on the object. The pin was a small red and white umbrella, the symbol of the evil corporation that had just finished battling.

"Jessie, where did you get this?" Race asked.

"After I woke up I found it under my pillow. I don't know how it got there."

"Did you show it to anyone else?" Phil asked as he took the pin from Race examined it closer.

"No, not even my mom, I didn't want her to freak out."

Race smiled at his daughter's statement, since he knew Jessie was probably correct about how Estella would react to seeing the pin.

"What do you think it means?" Jessie asked. "Umbrella's not gone like we had hoped, is it?"

Race shook his head after getting the pin back from Phil and then handed it back to Jessie. "I'm not sure, Jess, but you may want to hang onto it just in case."

"Alright." Jessie nodded as she put the pin back in her pocket. She turned and headed back to where Jonny and Hadji were sitting; ready for all the details of their adventure to the Spencer Mansion.

Race watched her go. "What do you think, Phil?" He finally asked once Jessie was out of earshot.

"What do I think? I think I now know where Jessie heard Krauser's name."

Race nodded. "It boils my blood that he could have been here."

"Race, it looks to me like Umbrella saved Jessie's life." Phil countered.

"But why?"

"Why question it? Jessie's alive and that's what matters."

"But they are still out there, Phil." Race growled.

Corbin ran a hand through his hair, but did not reply to Race's statement. For once the man did not know what to say.

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The steps leading to the Lincoln Memorial where abandoned. The crisp, cold air of the late winter night snipped at her neck and she pulled the collar of her coat up over her exposed skin. Being summoned at such an ungodly hour did not please her at all, but once she had heard who it was that was summoning her she had agreed to the late night, or was it early morning now, meeting.

Just as the wind began to die she heard footsteps approaching from the bottom of the steps. Turning in the direction of the sound she saw two men, both dressed in dark business suits approaching her. As the men neared her muscles relaxed as the stark white and red Umbrella lapel pins gleamed off the light from the monument.

"Madam Senator." The first man said as he stood in front of her. He was tall, with dark brown hair that was starting to grey at the sides and crystal blue eyes. He was older but his handsome features were not lost on the Senator. "I apologize for calling you out here at such a late hour and on such a cold night, but I assumed that you would have preferred such discretionary means of communication as opposed to a public office call."

"Of course, it is not a problem at all." The Senator replied.

"The issue which we had discussed has been successfully concluded on our part." The man stated dryly.

The Senator stole a quick glance at the other man. He was obviously younger then the other and his light blonde hair shown even in the darkness of night. His eyes were hidden from her due to the thick sunglasses he wore, even though it was pitch black outside. He said nothing.

"So Doctor Quest has been recovered?" She asked.

"Yes as well as the rest of his family. The Intelligence One agent's daughter has been cured as well."

She couldn't be sure, but it appeared the blonde haired man sneered at the last comment, but if he had he had quickly recovered his composure and once again stood silent and emotionless.

"What about Agent Corbin?"

"He is alive as well. He was wounded, but not severely."

"I don't care about that. Is he still pursing you?"

The Umbrella superior continued to speak. "No. He and the others believe that Umbrella has been destroyed. As long as you now do your part and keep Agent Corbin, the Quests, and the rest of Intelligence One out of our business we can proceed with our prior arrangements."

"It will be done." The Senator replied.

"I hope so, for all our sake's. We cannot afford any more interruptions from your government if we are to meet the quotas that you have requested."

"I said it will be taken care of."

As if curiosity finally got the better of the Umbrella exe he asked, "What do you plan to do?"

"Well, I can't have them killed, so we will just have to turn their efforts in other directions; make them forget about The Umbrella Corporation."

"Fine, but we will be watching as well." The man pulled on his suit jacket and slightly cocked his neck, causing a ricochet of cracking noises from his spine that made the Senator shudder. "If there is nothing else…?"

"When can we expect our first shipment?"

"Before we arrived I verified that your payment was received. Your first shipment will arrive within a week."

The Senator nodded and without another word the two men turned and headed back down the steps of the memorial. Even at this late hour The Umbrella Corporation had work to do.

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The End

Author's Notes: It's done…finally!! Finally I can rest!! I must say that even though this story turned out to be fairly decent it took on a life of its own and completely changed from the original concept that I had when I first started writing. Scenes, locations, characters that I had originally had in the story never appeared at all and some I never planned on having decided they wanted to be a part of this story. But in the end, I think it turned out alright.

To my faithful readers, Goddess Evie, TimeGuradian, Aspen, Irisheyesmiling…and my dad (even though he doesn't leave reviews…its okay, dad) thank you for sticking with me. I know I had left you with some killer cliffhangers and some pretty evil scenes, but in the end I'm glad you enjoyed my series. I'm sure if Goddess hadn't bugged me as much as she had I probably would still be on like chapter 5 right now! Again, THANK YOU!!

I'll be writing another story very soon so keep your eyes open for it…its JQ, but not JQ/RE...