A/N: I wrote this several months ago as a present for my little sister. We both loved Keanu Reeves as Jack Travers in the movie Speed, but I felt that the writers missed an opportunity for whump and angst. So I wrote this. Probably not many people have even seen this movie, but I hope those of you who have enjoy this! :) (And those of who who have no clue what this fic is even about, well, if you like whump and angst, this is for you. Wikipedia has a great summary of the movie-search: Speed 1994 film).
Speed: An Alternate Ending
oOo
Jack sprinted to the metro, desperately hoping to reach the doors before they closed. He could hear the screams of passengers as they were forced to get off the train. As he rounded the corner, he fought his way through the panicked people running past him.
"Police!" He shouted. "Get out of the way!" He made it to the train just as the doors closed. Payne smirked at him and waved goodbye with the detonator. Jack felt helpless. He saw Annie looking at him with tear-streaked eyes. He could not let this madman get away with her.
As the train began to move, Jack scanned the train for a way to get on. An idea suddenly came to him. Quickly, he stepped on the narrow ledge outside a door, just a couple cars down from where Annie was being held.
"C'mon, c'mon…" He gritted his teeth as he tried to force the doors to open. He glanced at the approaching tunnel. "C'mon, open!" He gasped as the doors suddenly opened and he fell into the car just as the tunnel opening went whizzing past. He crept toward the door separating the cars and cautiously poked his head up.
Annie was standing handcuffed to a pole next to the bomber. Jack could hear muffled voices, but could make out the words. However, he didn't need to hear what was being said to know that Payne was undoubtedly taunting her.
Jack narrowed his eyes, trying to think of a way to disarm Payne and the bombs without Annie getting hurt. He watched as Payne forced Annie to take the detonator. Jack frowned. Why would—
Suddenly, he saw Payne head to the driver's compartment and fire several rounds at the train operator. Jack ducked when he saw the man coming back. It would be impossible to get him if Jack entered through the door. The only other way was the roof.
Once on the roof, Jack gripped the sides of the subway car with all his might, desperately trying not to fall off the fast-moving train. He tried not to think of Annie, trapped by a madman and strapped with enough explosives to detonate half of the city.
Moving as quickly as possible, Jack inched his way forward, intending to climb in through the front of the train. At least…that was the plan. They didn't exactly teach how to climb around on trains moving at 60-70 miles per hour at the police academy.
Suddenly, several bullets came bursting through the roof. Startled, Jack nearly lost his grip and he struggled to keep from falling. He swore under his breath. Payne must have heard him. Several more bullets peppered the ceiling around Jack, causing him to twist and turn in an attempt to avoid the deadly gunfire.
"Shoot!" Jack yelled in pain. One of the bullets grazed his left arm, leaving a deep and painful furrow in its wake. Gritting his teeth, he began moving again. He grimly noted the sudden lack of bullets flying through the ceiling. Payne must have emptied his magazine.
Unfortunately, Jack's tiny good fortune was not to last. The bomber suddenly appeared and clambered onto the roof of the train near Jack.
"You shouldn't have gotten on this train, Jack!" Payne taunted. "You can't stop me while I have this!" He waved the detonator threateningly.
Jack growled in frustration and lunged at the madman, grabbing his hand and forcing it to remain closed over the button. With an evil growl, Payne raised his fist and repeatedly struck Jack across the face.
Jack felt his head bang against the top of the train and for several seconds he saw nothing but stars. Dazedly, he remembered to keep his death grip on Payne's hand. He felt warm blood beginning to dribble from somewhere on his face.
"Give it up, Jack," Payne sneered. "You'll never be able to stop me." He cocked his fist, preparing for another swing. Jack's vision began to clear just as he saw the fist coming flying towards his face. Quickly he moved his head to the side just in time.
"Aaah!" Payne howled as his fist punched the roof. Using Payne's hand that he still gripped as leverage, Jack head butted the madman and winced as his already aching head protested. Payne fell back, swearing. Before he could get up again, Jack was upon him, punching him several times in the head.
"Ungh!" Jack grunted in pain as the bomber's knee found its mark in his stomach. The blow forced all the air from his lungs, causing Jack to fall backwards and lose his grip on the detonator. He gripped the edges of the roof as the wind tried to force him off the train. Blearily, he watched as Payne crouched on the train.
"Looks like I've got all the cards once again, Jack!" He mocked. "You can't stop me and you can't bargain with me. I've got nothing to lose!" He laughed gleefully.
"Except your head!" Jack shouted back at him.
Confusion showed briefly on Payne's face. He turned around and his eyes widened in horror just before a small approaching sign took off his head. As soon as the man's back turned, Jack lunged for the detonator, grabbing it just as Payne lost his head. Jack turned his head away from the gruesome sight of the headless body sliding off the roof.
He closed his eyes for a moment, relieved the man was dead. Briefly he thought of Harry. "He's dead now, man," Jack whispered. Quickly, he climbed down between the cars and opened the door to the car. His heart twisted at the sight of her tear-streaked face and eyes wide in fear. He rushed over to her side.
"Jack," she said tearfully. "I thought you were dead, Jack." She saw the blood on his shirt and her eyes widened. "You're bleeding!"
"Don't worry. It's nothing. "He gave her a brief smile. "Turn around," he beckoned her.
"Where's Payne?"
Jack laughed softly. "He lost his head." Annie looked back at him, confused, and he winked at her.
Jack handed her the detonator. "Here. Hold this, okay? Don't let go of the button. I'm gonna get you out of here." Carefully, he examined the deadly vest. "Okay, okay…" He muttered in concentration. He ripped out one of the wires. "There!" He exclaimed. "You're safe now, Annie."
Annie simultaneously burst into tears and laughter, overcome with relief. Jack gently took the detonator from her shaking hands and threw it on one of the seats. "Let's take this off, shall we?" Jack began unstrapping the explosives.
Annie gave a tired laugh. "Yes, let's take this off." She rolled her shoulders in relief when the deadly weight was gone.
"Come in, come in! Copy. Jack, this is Mac. Do you hear me?" The crackle of a radio startled both of them and Jack hurried into the driver's booth. He glanced at the dead driver lying in a pool of blood on the floor. "Do you hear me?" Mac's voice cut in again. "Jack, if you hear me, you gotta stop the train. The track isn't finished. I repeat, the track—"
Jack pressed the talk button down on the radio. "Mac, I copy."
"Do you copy?"
Jack looked at the radio worriedly. "Mac, Mac, can you hear me?" He started pushing random buttons, hoping somehow the radio would work.
Mac continued speaking. "Try the emergency brake. Jack, do you copy?"
Jack scanned the shot-up control panel. He hit the red emergency brake button several times, but it too was broken. He closed his eyes briefly and swore. He went back to where Annie was standing.
"Nothing works," he said in frustration. "Annie, you won't believe this. We have to jump."
Her eyes widened. "You can't stop it?" He shook his head. "Well, um, okay…well, undo me and I'd love to go with you." She raised her cuffed hands and looked at him pleadingly. "Come on, please."
Jack hesitated, dreading to tell her. "Annie…I don't have the key."
"What?" He could hear the panic in her voice.
"I don't have the key," Jack repeated. "Watch out, I'm going to try to get you out of here." He backed up and kicked the pole viciously, but it didn't budge. He grabbed the pole and tried bending it, lifting it…but it still refused to move. Annie started crying.
"You gotta get off the—you gotta get off the train. Jack, please!" He turned away and started searching the train car for anything that might help. Annie pleaded with him again. "This track dead-ends, Jack. You gotta…" Her voice trailed off. "This is crazy," she mumbled in defeat. She watched hopelessly as Jack examined the track layout.
He turned to her, determination in his voice. "There's a curve ahead," he told her. "I'm gonna speed it up. Make it jump the track."
Annie stared at him dumbfounded. Was he insane? "This is really stupid, Jack! Jack, please…you can still jump…please," she begged him.
Ignoring her pleas, Jack hurried into the control room. He gripped the throttle for a moment. Maybe Annie was right—maybe he was crazy. But what choice did he have? He took a deep breath and slowly eased the throttle wide open. Immediately, the train began to accelerate to a reckless speed.
Jack stepped back into the rest of the car. Annie looked at him forlornly and slowly sank to the floor. She rested her head against the pole, a tear slipping down her cheek and falling to the floor. Jack watched her sadly. He wished for the thousandth time that she was off the train and safe at home. He felt a wave of helplessness wash over him as he walked over and sat down next to her.
Annie looked up at him, tears in her arms. Slowly, she raised her cuffed hands and looped them over his neck. "It's going to be okay, Annie, "Jack whispered. "We're gonna be okay." He stroked her hair.
She sniffed tearfully. "Promise?"
"Promise." Jack smiled at her.
Abruptly, the train gave a huge lurch as it reached the curve. Annie gasped and grabbed Jack tightly. He held her close as the train gave a terrible screech as it skidded off the track. The train careened through the construction site, smashing scaffolding and supports; yet none of these obstacles halted its wild ride.
Suddenly, the train smashed into a concrete pillar, breaking into two sections. Annie screamed as the back half of the train broke away. Jack tried to shelter her from the flying debris and glass as their car began to skid up the ramp.
BANG!
The car suddenly burst through the concrete wall that stood between the underground ramp and the street. Jack tried to hold on to Annie but felt the pole she was still attached to give way, which caused him to be thrown across the aisle.
The train landed on its side and rolled a couple of times. Jack and Annie were tossed around the inside of the car like rag dolls. Jack's head connected painfully with a metal seat and he saw stars. Dimly, he hoped Annie was unharmed.
Finally, the train came to a stop, resting in the street beside a van. Jack groaned as he opened his eyes to find himself lying on the roof of the car, surrounded by glass and debris. He was half-buried by a seat, and there was a shooting pain in his stomach. He cautiously turned his head to the side to see Annie beside him, her eyes tightly shut.
"Annie? Annie?" He called anxiously. To his relief, her eyes opened. She groaned.
"Is it over?"
He laughed a little breathlessly. "Yeah, Annie. It's over."
She looked up at him. "You didn't leave me," she said, a little amazed. "I can't believe it. You didn't leave me."
"Didn't have anywhere to be just yet," he joked. He added a little more seriously, "Are you okay?"
She nodded. "My head and leg hurts, but I think I'll live." She looked at the chair covering him worriedly. "What about you? Are you okay?"
Jack started to nod then gasped. "There's something digging into my stomach. Hurts to breathe." He coughed and something wet trickled out of his mouth. Annie's eyes widened and she began to look panicked.
"Help! Somebody help!" She yelled. She looked around the car frantically. There was no way out; the car had suffered so much damage that any opening large enough for a person to squeeze through had been crushed. It was a miracle that she and Jack had survived.
"Hey! There're people in here!" Jack and Annie heard a voice shout. "Don't worry, lady; there's an ambulance coming!"
Annie turned back to Jack. "Hear that? Looks like we'll finally be getting out of here soon." She gave a strangled laugh. "I'm never gonna ride a subway again."
Jack laughed, then coughed. "Yeah, I know what you mean. Never gonna ride a bus either then?"
She laughed. "We'll see…" Her voice trailed off as her attention focused on the heavy chair again. "Do you want me to try to move it?"
Jack hesitated. "Yeah, it's getting' harder to breathe." Even that one sentence had left him panting. Annie glanced at him worriedly as she grabbed the chair. She gritted her teeth, trying to push and pull the chair off Jack. She groaned as her injured leg protested, but her pain faded away when the chair began to move.
"Aaaah!" Jack screamed in pain as the chair shifted. Annie gasped and quickly stopped her efforts.
"Jack!" She cried. "Are you okay? I'm so sorry!"
"Not…your fault," he gasped. He groaned as the pain intensified. "Guess…better not…try that…again," he tried to joke.
Annie slowly let go of the chair, afraid of doing anything that might cause him further pain. As she withdrew her hands from underneath the chair, she looked at them in horror.
"Jack…" She whispered. She showed him her hands. They were covered in blood.
His eyes widened, and he was suddenly aware of how weak he was feeling. He looked back at her. Annie was staring at her red-stained hands, and he could see her beginning to lose it as everything from the past three hours began to catch up with her.
"Annie," he said hoarsely, wincing at the sound of his voice. She turned to him, her eyes scared. "Annie…it's gonna…it's gonna be okay," he tried to reassure her. He could hear the sirens. Help was almost here.
Annie grabbed his hand. "Jack, I'm scared. Don't leave me, okay?"
Jack tried to squeeze her hand but all he managed was a weak pressure on her fingers. He was so tired. "Not…going anywhere…"
"Good, 'cause you and I gotta a lot to talk about," she started rambling, hoping to keep him awake. "Like where you learned to climb under buses and on top of subways, for starters."
Jack gave a weak grin and Annie smiled back him. She glanced up as she heard the emergency vehicles arrive. "They're here, Jack," she said in relief. She looked back at him. "Jack!" She cried as his eyes slipped closed and his head lolled to the side. "Jack!" She quickly checked his pulse, afraid of the worst. She almost fainted in relief to feel his pulse, though weak.
"Hello?" A voice yelled.
"Help! We're in here!" Annie shouted.
"Don't worry; we'll have you out of there in a minute. Are you injured?"
"Just my leg. You gotta help him; he's bleeding real bad!"
"Okay; just hang on. You're both gonna be fine."
The sound of cutting filled the air. Annie leaned over Jack as dust began to fall. There was a horrible grinding noise as a side section of the train was pulled off. A firefighter and two EMTs quickly climbed in through the hole and made their way over to where Jack and Annie were.
"Okay, ma'am," the EMT said calmly. "Can you tell me if you know where he's hurt?"
"He said his stomach and that it hurt to breathe. And he started coughing and bleeding at the mouth." She watched as the EMT took his pulse and checked his pupils. "Is he…is he gonna be okay?" She asked fearfully.
"We're going to take care of him, ma'am. Don't worry." He nodded to the other EMT.
The other man turned to her. "We're going to lift you out of here now, okay? Are you hurt anywhere?"
She shook her head. "Just my leg." The EMT quickly checked her leg. "Possible fracture." He quickly and efficiently immobilized her leg with a splint from the medical bag. "Okay, now I'm just going to put you on a backboard, and we'll get you out of here." Annie nodded wordlessly and allowed them to strap her on; her eyes focused on the other EMT and the firefighter working on Jack. "Okay!" Her EMT yelled. Another firefighter came in and together they carried her out of the car. As they loaded her into a waiting ambulance, Annie called to one of the workers. "Jack, he's gonna be okay, right?"
The man hesitated. "We'll have in out in no time. I'm sure he's going to be just as fine as you will be." He climbed into the back with her and shut the doors. Annie closed her eyes as the ambulance took off.
Back inside the wrecked subway car, the EMTs and firefighters were working to free Jack. "Okay, looks like we have a bleed coming from the stomach area, possible broken ribs and internal bleeding. Are we ready?" The EMT asked the others. They nodded. "Alright, on the count of three. One…two…three!" Together they lifted the chair off the injured man.
They set the chair to the side and the EMT quickly assessed the visible damage. Part of the chair had broken off and entered the man's stomach. Fortunately, it had not come out when they had removed the rest of the chair, which would help lessen the blood loss. There was also significant bruising on the rib cage and stomach region, indicating probable broken ribs and internal bleeding.
With practiced efficiency, the EMT team staunched the blood that was leaking around the metal and started an IV. They also strapped on a neck brace and deftly slid the backboard underneath the victim.
"Okay, let's get this man out of here, stat!" The head EMT ordered. They carefully carried him out of the car and loaded him into the other ambulance, which then sped to the hospital.
oOo
Annie sat in the waiting room with Mac, nervously twisting and untwisting her fingers. She had convinced the doctors to let her sit here, even though they wanted to keep her at the hospital for observation. She stared at the white blob that encased her leg. Why couldn't Jack have been so lucky?
He had been in surgery for five hours now and still no word of how he was doing. Mac had finally ceased his pacing and had sat down near her and was staring unseeingly at the tiled floor.
Annie was just about to begin counting ceiling tiles for the third time when the door suddenly opened. The surgeon walked toward them.
"How is he?" Mac beat her to the question.
"He'll be fine with time and a lot of rest." Annie breathed a sigh of relief at the doctor's words. "I have to admit it was touch and go for a while; during the surgery he crashed twice, but we were able to revive him quickly both times. We had to remove a 6-inch piece of metal that was embedded in his stomach and there was some internal bleeding. We also stitched up the bullet wound to his left arm."
"But he will be okay?" Annie asked anxiously.
The doctor nodded at her reassuringly. "Yes, Mr. Travers will be fine. It will be a long and difficult recovery, but I have no doubt that he will regain perfect health."
"Can we see him?" Annie asked.
"Yes. He won't wake up for a while longer, but you may wait in his room if you like." Both Mac and Annie agreed and the doctor led them to Jack's room.
Annie felt her heart twist at the sight of Jack. He lay still on the bed, surrounded by numerous pieces of equipment. His face was pale and his torso was covered in bandages. A heart monitor beeped steadily. Annie found the sound comforting; it reassured her that Jack was alive. She leaned back in her wheelchair and waited for him to wake up.
oOo
The first thing Jack became aware of was the absence of pain. The second thing he noticed was a constant annoying voice telling him to wake up. He felt himself frown.
"He's waking up!" He heard a voice say excitedly. Annie? He wanted to look at her, to assure himself that she was alright, but his eyelids felt like lead.
"Come on, Mr. Travers, I need you to open your eyes for me." Another voice, a strange one. Where was he?
"C'mon, Jack, wake up. Might just let you off of doing paperwork for once." Mac?
With great effort, Jack forced his eyes open. The calm face of a doctor filled his vision. "Great, Mr. Travers," he said with a smile. He checked his pupils with a small penlight. "Pupil response is good. Are you in any pain?"
Jack shook his head. "What happened?" he croaked.
Mac stepped forward. "What happened was that you crashed a subway through a concrete wall into the street, impaled yourself with a 6-inch piece of metal, and nearly died twice." He shook his head in amazement.
Jack gaped at him. "I did all that?"
The doctor spoke up. "You were pretty bad off when you arrived at the hospital. You were in surgery for five hours to repair the internal bleeding and remove the piece of metal. You crashed twice, but we were able to revive you quickly. You will have to stay at the hospital for a while, but you will make a full recovery," the doctor assured him. He turned to Mac. "You can visit him for a little while, but then he has to rest."
"Understood, Doc," Mac said. The doctor nodded and left. "So, how you feel, Jack?"
Jack gave a small grin. "Not too bad at the moment. Must have some good drugs."
Mac winked at him. "Well don't you go getting used to all this special treatment now, you hear? Got lots of work to do when you get out."
"Hey, man," Jack protested. "What was that you said about getting out of paperwork?"
Mac raised his eyebrows. "Musta been a dream." He winked at Jack. "But seriously, glad to know you're going to be okay, Jack." He squeezed the injured man's shoulder gently.
"Thanks, Mac."
"And now I believe there's someone who's been dying to talk to you." Mac turned and Jack saw Annie sitting by the wall. "I'll let you two catch up. See you later, Jack."
"Bye, Mac," Jack called. He turned to Annie. "How are you?"
She shrugged. "I'm fine. I'll be in a cast for six weeks, but I'm okay." She wheeled herself over to Jack's side. "I was so worried about you. When I saw that blood…" She grabbed his hand. "I'm so glad you're going to be okay."
Jack smiled at her. "Me too. That you're okay too, I mean." He stroked his thumb across the top of her hand. "So…when I get out of here, how about dinner sometime?"
Annie laughed. "I'd like that. But no buses."
"Or subways," Jack added. Annie laughed.
"Right. No subways." She paused and they looked at each other for a long moment. "You know what I said about relationships starting under intense circumstances?"
Jack nodded slowly. "Yeah. You said they never last and you had done extensive research into it."
Annie looked into his eyes. "I think I want to find out for myself." She leaned down and their lips met in a slow kiss.
The End.
A/N: And there you have it. Not my best work, but this was merely a fic of indulgence. Please review! :)