Speed: Haven City Style Chapter 3: Bomb on the Bus, a jak and daxter fanfic

Title: Speed: Haven City Style

Chapter: 3/?

Disclaimer: don't own the Jak series or the movie… [sobs]

Keywords: Jak, Keira, that damned bus, and cameos

Couples: hinting Jak/Keira

Chapter Rating: PG-13 for the language and the violence

Genre(s): action/drama/very little romance

Feedback: of course

Timeline: exactly where chapter 2 left off

Author's Notes: Very late update, I know. I've actually been out at my aunt's ranch until last week. As soon as I returned I worked my rump off to get this written and posted. So here is the product of my sweet! I hope you enjoy! I promise to have the next chapter out a LOT faster then this one. Cross my heart, hope to die…

Story notes: Lost of action, very fast-paced… ah… buckle up?

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Last time on Speed: HavenCity Style

You gotta stay above fifty or this bus will explode!" Jak ordered, seeing that he could no longer keep it a secret. Everyone fell into a deep silence at those words and Keira's eyes met his in the mirror for the briefest second. She then pressed her foot on the accelerator.

"Shit." She mumbled unhappily.

This time on Speed: HavenCity Style…

Chapter Three- Bomb on the Bus

Jak turned and addressed the whole bus while he handcuffed Erol to one of the seats.

"There is a bomb on this bus. If we slow down, it'll blow." He clicked one handcuff onto Erol's wrist, "If we try to get off, it'll explode." He clicked on the second handcuff and glared down at Erol, "Don't move."

Torn stood up and glared at Jak in disbelief as some people began to cry softly behind him, "Oh, this is bullshit! Nobody's gonna—this is some joke man!"

Jak pressed himself up into Torn's face and glared at him, "Are we gonna have a problem now?" He asked in a low, dangerous voice. Remembering what he had just down to Erol, Torn sat down.

Jak moved over to Sam, who was being nursed by Helen and Mrs. Kamino, "He's bleeding so bad!" Helen cried in terror, "I don't know what to do. There's all this blood…"

Mrs. Kamino pulled off her sweat and wrapped it tautly around Sam's shoulder. Jak nodded in his head in approval.

"We're gonna make it through this if everybody stays calm and sits down." Jak called to them as he reached the spot where Sig had sat down once more, "That means you, Gigantor."

Torn reached over and helped the two women situate Sam more comfortably on the seat. Jak didn't even look at them as he made his way over to Keira. She had her head lowered slightly so the hair green/blue hair fell across her face and she had a death grip on the wheel. Jak knew she was terrified and he admired her for maintaining her control over the bus.

"This is great." Keira muttered to herself, feeling her heart pound against her chest, "A bomb on wheels. As if my day couldn't get any worse."

Jak placed his hands on the railing of the front of the bus and looked at the zoomer in front of them, "Ma'am, can you handle this?"

"Sure. Sure, I can do this. It's like driving a really big Pinto," Keira returned sarcastically, pushing away hair from her eyes.

Jak frowned at her, refusing to be amused. He was surprised at how pretty she really was and looked down at her soft hair. However, more pressing matter concerned him, "Can you handle it?" He snapped again, truly not appreciating her sarcasm at this time… well, not much anyway.

"I'm fine!" Keira snapped back, somehow oddly reassured by his presence near her own. Somehow it was like everything was going to be okay, "Just tell me the plan… is there a plan?"

"Just for you to drive. We're okay as long as you stay above fifty." Jak explained to her as he reached for the cell phone he had stuffed into his back pocket. As Keira took deep breaths to calm herself, he dialed Daxter's number.

"So you're a cop?" Keira asked.

"That's right." Jak agreed, not really paying attention.

"Then I should probably tell you that I'm just taking the bus 'cause I have my driver's license revoked." Keira said, a small smile curving her lips.

"What for?" Jak asked because he was mildly interested—she sounded like an interesting woman—and because it was expected of him.

Almost sheepishly, Keira admitted, "Speeding."
Jak allowed himself a grin at her antic and patted her hand to let her know everything was going to be okay. He barely registered that the hand was harm and soft beneath he own as he finished dialing.

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Howard Praxis entered his garage room and walked over to his four TVs. They were all playing different newscast. Praxis sat down and watched with amusement all the different angles playing on the bus 2525.

A Krimzon Guard helicopter flew by and Praxis made out Samos's face as it circled the bus. He grinned again.

"Apparently a member of the Krimzon Guard SWAT team boarded the bus just moments ago…" A news anchorman was saying into Praxis's TV with a grim face. Praxis gave a chuckle and tapped the TV with the wire of his large cell phone.

"Would that be you, Jak?" He asked.

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The roar of the traffic was causing Jak to lose focus as he watched Keira glide through the highway. She was biting her lip so hard that for a brief second Jak worried she would cause herself to bleed. Shaking his head, he pressed his cell phone closer to his ear so he could hear Daxter better.

"Where do we start?" Jak asked, wincing just slightly as Keira gave a small shriek as the buss hit another zoomer on its side before they passed it. Her small hands gripped the wheel so tight she could have broken if off and she was panting as if she had just ran a mile. To reassure her he placed a hand on her stiff shoulders.

Across the line, Daxter rubbed his aching forehead before answering in the calmest voice he could muster, "Okay, cheek the speedometer. Has it been fucked with, loosen… any wires?"

Jak removed his hand from Keira's shoulder and bent down. He pushed aside her knee so he could cheek the meter beneath the dashboard. He wasn't as trained in this as Daxter, but from what he could see…

He stood up and answered in the phone, "No it's clean."

Daxter nodded, though Jak had no way of knowing, as if he expected that, "Then it's gotta be under the bus. Probably rigged to one of the axles."

Jak looked around the bus once, at the panicked faces and then down at the blurry street and groaned, "I can't get under the bus right now, Dax." He said it in a voice that suggested it was the most ridiculous idea he had ever heard and that Daxter was being stupid for being the one to suggest it, "It's kinda ah… in motion."

Across from him, Sam began to grunt as loudly as he could—though in his weakened condition it was very soft—to gain Jak's attention. His movements were so frantic that Helen feared he would do himself more harm so she decided to get Jak's attention for him.

"Officer?" Helen cried; Jak didn't look over at her and she tried to be louder, "Hey, Officer Traven?"

Jak looked up, saw Sam trying to make motions with his hands, and knelt down besides him. He leaned his ear next to Sam's sweaty face as the darker man tried to gain enough breath to speak.

"Access panel… there's… in the floor…" When Jak gave him a blank stare, Sam detailed his words more, "underneath you… man."

Jak lowered his head and found he was kneeling on a small square outlined in white with a silver handle. Bingo, Jak thought triumphantly and bent down to release the hatch while calling into his cell phone, "Hang on."

He leaned his head out of the bottom of the bus zoomer and almost was sick as he watched the pavement swish by him. He brought his head up and motioned for the unoccupied man closest to him to come forward. Doug Stephens looked confused for a moment before finally sitting down next Jak and accepting the phone he offered.

"Hold this please." Jak said, pointing to the cell phone Stephens clutched in his hands like a lifeline, "Tell Officer Temple what I see."

Jak stuck his head down into the opening again and searched the axle for signs of the bomb. He found the bomb easy enough even though it was dark and cramped there. He squinted at the bomb and tried to make out specific details that would aid Daxter in defusing the bomb.

"There's a wad… right axle…" Jak called over to Stephens, his eyes never leaving the bomb, "pretty big…"

Stephens nodded and dictated into the phone, "There's a pretty big wad…" Across the line he heard Daxter shouting out the details to his fellow officers.

"Brass fittings…" Jak called up and slowly reached out his strong arm as he cried, "I think I can… reach the circuit wire… I think…"

"He can reach the circuit wire…"

"No! No!" Daxter screamed so loud he almost popped Stephens's eardrums, "Don't. That'll be a… a decoy… yeah, it's gotta be a decoy. Classic."

Stephens leaned over closer to Jak to make sure the young officer could hear him as he said, "That's your classic decoy. Don't touch it."

"What else?" Daxter questioned and Stephens repeated it.

"Hold on…" Jak muttered, to which Stephens repeated even though he didn't have to. It was hard for him to see with all the pipes of the zoomer bus so he stuck his head lower.

Now he could see the large—obscenely massive amount—white wad of plastic stuck to the front of the undercarriage. There were many detonators, wires, buttons… but what caught Jak's attention the most was the jerry-rigged timer around a gutted gold wristwatch. It was worn and Jak knew it may not take much to set it off…

"Fuck me…" He whispered in horror and Stephens eyes widened as Jak said it. He knew then something had to be wrong.

"Oh darn…" Stephens translated, but Daxter on other end knew that hadn't been his friend's exact words. He hastily handed the phone over to Jak as the young officer stood. Stephens hurried back to his set and clutched his tour guide books.

Into the phone, Jak spoke in a slightly panicked voice, "Dax, there's enough C4 on this thing to put a whole in the fucking world… a really big hole…"

In his officer, Daxter felt a small bead of sweat form on the collar of his neck, "Alright… shit… be calm… like me. What else is there?"

Jak paused as he remembered every thing he had seen—every little detail counted, "Three triggers. One on the axle I can't really see. Cellular remote and a timer, running off a wristwatch."

Daxter blinked as the word 'wristwatch' came through from the other end. Frowning, he asked his partner, "What kind of watch?"

Jak shook his head, confused. This wasn't time to be asking about a watch, "Too far off to see. Gold band… fairly cheesy…" What was Daxter getting at?

"Officer!" Keira called over to him as her eyes widened at the sight before her. Her breathing hitched a notch but Jak didn't answer.

"What's on your mind, Daxter?" Jak asked, something also bothering him about the watch. He couldn't quite place it, but he was sure Daxter felt it, too. Jak groaned as over the loud speaker he heard Keira's aggravated voice.

"Traven, NOW!" Keira pushed away the microphone as she watched Jak approach from the rearview mirror. When he gave her a questioning look, she pointed out the window. Jak's looked and moaned in frustration.

There was a domino of red brake lights washing back at them, screaming for them to slow down when they couldn't.

"Get on the shoulder." Jak ordered and Keira obeyed with question. She blasted pass other zoomers as she made a mad dash for the open roadway.

A half a mile ahead they could see a stalled zoomer getting rolled onto a tow truck in the shoulder as well. Behind it loomed the 'off ramp' sign.

"Get off or stay on?" Keira asked as she tightened her grip on the wheel. The off ramp got closer by the minute and Jak didn't seem to be making up his mind, "Jak?"

If they got off they wouldn't have to deal with the traffic, Jak knew, but what about the civilians off the highway? Either way, nothing would be easy, "Shit…" He whispered, unable to make a choice.

Keira winced as she was forced to squeeze the bus between the tow trucks and the slow lane. She hit the zoomer in back of the tow truck as she passed and sent it flying over the other truck. Her curses—enough to give Jak's mouth a run for its money—filled the bus as she sideswiped several more zoomers.

The off ramp was only inches away now, "Jak… what now?"

Just as they reached it, Jak made his decision, "Off. OFF!" He was forced to lean against Keira as she made the bus swerve to get on the exit. The bus hit water barrels and scarped against other zoomers and curbs, but it managed to stay up right.

Keira looked up at him with annoyed look on her face, but it quickly turned into one of relief when she saw the empty road ahead of her. She grinned at Jak and he grinned right back.

But it doesn't last very long as they entered the civilian filled roadways. Keira's right hand moved to the horn so she could hit it repeatedly to warn everyone of their movements. Her hands and feet were constantly moving as she worked to keep everyone—on the bus and off—from harm.

As Keira served and crisscrossed through traffic the passengers of the bus were thrown from their seats and knocked around. Jak at one point fell on his rump but righted himself with a slightly sheepish look at having fallen in front of Keira. As he stood, he gasped as he saw the red light. Cross traffic ahead of it…

Jak watched as Keira's foot hesitated over the brake, but before she could touch it he pressed his booted foot none-to-gently against her foot over the gas pedal.

They whizzed through the cross traffic, causing zoomers to honk their horns and fishtail into one another. Sam winced in pain as the bus slowed down as it crashed lightly into another zoomer and Helen clutched his hand.

Jak's head was lowered and Keira was glancing down when she could spare her eyes to watch the speedometer. Their breath caught at the same time when it dipped down towards fifty and they released it at the same time when it started to rise again. They gave each other a look of relief when they saw that the road was empty for a half-mile.

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Further down the road, a woman chatted aimlessly with her younger friend. Their threadbare cloths proclaimed them to be low on the social class scale in Haven City.

They didn't seem too bothered though as they grinned and laughed at one another. They stepped into the street, looking to cross over to the fast food store.

In front of her, the older woman pushed a baby carriage…

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Jak and Keira glanced away from each other after what seemed like a little too long a moment of smiling at one another. Jak's cellular jerked to life with a sharp ring and the blonde Krimzon Guard answered.

He removed the phone from his ear as Samos's overly loud voice filled the phone. Once the captain was done with his talk, Jak replaced it and said into it, "Samos, where ya been? We had to bail on the freeway. We're in the city!"

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In the copper flying over Haven City, Samos sat with its map spread out on his lap. He traced a finger along the route Jak had relayed to him.

"I can see you, Jak." Samos said to the phone as he watched the bus Jak was on zigzag through a maze of streets, trying to dodge as many zoomers as possible.

"Keep going straight." Samos suggested, "We'll try to clear the roads out for you. We'll do out best to keep civilians out of the way. We'll get you out, Jak."

He leaned down closer to his map as Jak cut the line.

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Howard Praxis ate his sandwich of baloney and drank his glass of milk in his TV room. Around him there were the four TVs. Three of the small, portable television sets had the shots of the moving bus in the city. A forth showed him the football game going on in another city, unaware of what happened in Haven.

He was transfixed by the football game…

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There was something irking Daxter about the bomber holding the bus passengers—and now Jak—hostage. Ashlin could see it as he rapped his fists against the desk. Daxter was thinking about the wristwatch.

"I don't get it." Ashlin said as Daxter began to rap his fists again.

"The watch is a shitty timer. Why use it? What's he trying to say?" Daxter asked himself and Ashlin shrugged.

"A lot of his people have watches, Daxter." She pointed out.

"This guy has not M.O." Daxter said to her, explaining what was going on in his head, "The bombers fall in love with one type of bomb and are very monogamous. This guy uses C4, dynamite, a different trigger every time, and now he's thrown in this watch."

"He's an encyclopedia of bombs. Knows every kind." Ashlin muttered.

Daxter's face slowly got a realization look to it, "And everything we do to dismantle them." He wheeled around and looked at Ashlin in shock, "Ash, I want to look at every file from, say, the last ten years."

Ashlin shook her head, "We did the mug shots, Dax—"

"No," Daxter cut her off with one word and a shake of his head, "I want to look at cops."

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Zoomers were forced to halt as the police zoomers came screeching down the road. The skidded to a halt in front of the intersection, blocking traffic from the road. Other zoomers were forced to slam on their breaks and they barely had time to curse at the cop zoomers as a large bus flew past them going the opposite way.

Inside the bus, passengers watched as the road zoomed by them. They were silent except for their heavy breathing. Panic thick in the small room.

Keira cursed as a garbage truck was pulled out in front of the bus. She was forced to swerve hard left and rush into oncoming traffic. She managed to get the bus to dodge most of the oncoming zoomers, though she hit a few. She crashed into an old Lincoln zoomer and sent it flying into the air.

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The woman with the baby carriage waved goodbye to her friend as she remembered she needed to go to the drug store for medicine for her cough.

Humming a happy tone, the woman pushed the baby carriage towards the curb of the street.

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In the helicopter, Samos was doing his best to get Jak and the bus to the safest roads, "You got about ten more blocks and there'll be some units waiting. Follow them straight, then there's a left at the T. You'll head onto the 105 freeway. It's not in use yet; it'll be empty."

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"Right." Jak said into his walkie talkie and relayed the information to Keira. She nodded and pressed her foot harder into the pedal.

As they came up alongside a purple van the lady with the baby carriage moved in front of it. Keira screamed in horror and Jak's mouth fell open, but it was too late to do anything for the baby or the lady.

The bus crashed into the baby carriage as the woman jumped clear. Keira screamed again and squeezed her eyes tight, releasing the wheel for a moment. Jak lunged and gripped it for her. He didn't want to, but he turned his head up and looked at the baby carriage and the woman through the rearview mirror.

He watched as the baby carriage was lifted at least seventy feet into the air. He grimaced as it crashed into the hard pavement. He prayed for the baby when the hundreds of soda and beer cans came sailing out of it. A smile bloomed across his face when he realized a baby wasn't dead.

"Oh God, oh God, oh God." Keira said, panting, pressing a hand to her heart, "Oh God… oh my God! I just… I just killed…!"

"Ma'am, ma'am," Jak said soothingly so Keira looked up at him. He motioned her to look out the mirror, "there's your baby."

Keira turned her head and looked through the sideview mirror. She sighed with relief when she saw the cans and the old woman chasing after them, waving an angry fist into the air. She retook the wheel and grinned up at Jak.

"Looks just like you, honey," she said sarcastically and Jak allowed himself to chuckle softly.

Finally, they saw the police zoomers waiting for them at the end of the block. They led the bus down the empty streets, relatively safe from harm for the moment. Then the cop zoomers lead them to an on-ramp. Keira prepared to turn the bus.

Suddenly a group of kids and their wizened teacher walked blithely onto the street. They screamed as they saw the bus, but there was no way for them to get out of the way. Keira was forced to swerve the bus and continue down the road opposite the freeway.

A young boy, with blonde hair and stubby legs, watched the bus whiz with a mixed look of fear and shock on his young face, "Cool…" He managed to mutter.

"Young Jak!" The teacher, who's nametag read Kor, grabbed the little boy's hand and pulled him away, "You're going to get yourself killed!"

"Why aren't you in school!?" Keira shouted to them as they zoomed by the freeway and children, "Why the hell are you in school!?"

Jak was cursing viciously as he pressed the phone to his ear and shouted to Samos, "Samos, we're boned!"

"I saw." Samos answered on the other line, "Keep going straight. I'm looking for another way on."

Jak nodded, though Samos couldn't see, and dictated to Keira. The patrol zoomers showed up again and cleared the road for them, even though not many people had been on the road to begin with.

Samos's voice came back on the other end, "Jak, there's another entrance in about two miles. You've gotta make an ugly turn, though."

"How ugly?" Jak asked calmly.

Keira titled her head and bit her lip, "What's ugly?" She didn't like the way Jak's lips tightened as he talked to his boss on the other end.

Jak nodded into his phone and then faced her, "We got a hard right coming up. At the construction site."

Keira looked out her window and squinted. The construction site was pretty far away but it was slightly visible. However, she couldn't see the road to turn on.

"This is a dead end," Keira muttered.

Jak was staring at the construction site, too, but he wasn't as convinced as Keira was, "There's a turn… there's gotta be a turn. Samos said so…"

There was a turn. Further a head, the first police zoomer took it. It nearly wiped out. Another followed, with all attendants screeching.

Keira's eyes widened, "I can't make that!" She shouted in horror, looking at the slim road. Yes, there was no way this bus could handle that turn. It would flip over onto its side, too top heavy to stay upright.

"Keep left." Jak ordered.

"But it's—"

"Keep left! You take it wide!"

"We're gonna tip over!"

Jak stared at her for a short beat. He stared at her so hard, so intensely, that Keira began to blush under his gaze. The wheels in his head were turning, she could see. What crazy plan had Jak cooked up now?
The young officer turned and addressed the passengers, "Everyone on this side of the bus!" He motioned to the right side of the bus. When the passengers hesitated he growled in deep impatience, "NOW!"

The passengers scrambled to obey, all squeezing next to one another on the right side of the bus. Erol strained to get over, his cuffs hindering him.

"Move! Move! As far over as you can! Hurry!" Jak ordered them, waving impatient hands. He watched as Keira eased the accelerator off as far as it was safe when the turn become fifty yards away. He pressed the phone into his ear and said quietly, "You better make sure the construction site is clear, Samos."

Jak turned back to Keira as she arced out to flatten the turn as best as she could, "Hold on!" She shouted in warning as she made the turn. The passengers were thrown about, but most managed to stay upright.

The bus was lifted off its side for a moment as the tires screeched against the pavement. Some passengers screamed, others held their breath.

Keira strained against the wheel, trying to hold it steady. She gritted her teeth, but continued to lose control of the wheel. Jak rushed forward and grabbed the wheel, helping her hold the turn. Together, they forced the wheel of the bus back onto the pavement. As Keira brought the bus back into the line, Jak turned and faced the passengers with a weary smile on his face.

"As you were." He told them and some smiled back them as everyone went back to their respective seats.

Helen was gasping for breath as she pushed a hand against her bosom, white as a sheet, "Good Lord, we might have… I can't think…"

Stephens took her arm and lead her back to her seat, "It's okay. If you have to, go right ahead and vomit." Helen gave him a look as the bus finally entered the freeway.

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Just outside the freeway, Samos's chopper landed and the head chief hopped out. Norwood was out his side, going over the freeway route.

"I want choppers up ahead. Make damn sure there's nothing obscuring the freeway. We got a window here; let's keep it open." He snapped to Norwood and the younger man nodded.

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Jak grinned and knelt down besides Keira as she kept her eyes on the road, "Ma'am, you did very well." He looked at her hard. She really was pretty, he decided, beautiful. And strong. Perhaps in this situation he could count on her to help him be strong as well. Since Daxter wasn't here with him, he could really use someone to talk to without trying to soothe them at the same time. He decided—with her at least—to drop the hostage talk, "Actually you were incredible. I've never seen driving like that."

"Keira." She said, titled her head to smile up at him. Now that he wasn't acting like some mucho cop, Keira felt herself opening up to him. He had the eyes that made you trust him.

"What?"

"…is my name. Keira. As opposed to ma'am." She grinned at him and he grinned right back, no longer under the strain of task at hand. Then Keira turned her head back towards the road, confusion written across her features.

"I'm sorry?" Jak said, knowing she hadn't spoken but knowing he wanted to help her in any way he could. He touched her shoulder lightly, amazed by it softness and warmth.

"Why is all this happening?" Keira asked, turning to look back up at him, liking the feel of his large hand on her shoulder, "Did we bomb this guy's country or something?"

Jak shrugged and stretched. Truthfully, he had never thought about why a bomber bombed things. They were bad and he was good so he took them in and that was that, "He's just some guy looking for money." He answered her.

"No…" Keira said with a shake of her head, causing Jak to remove his hand, "I don't buy that. This is not a good way to make money. Odd are, we should be dead already. What's this guy's deal?"

Jak paused, debating whether or not he should tell her the truth. After a beat, remembering what he had decided earlier, he spoke, "A while back this guy held some people for ransom. Things went sour and now he's a little pissed at me…"

"Then what does this—"

"It's a game. If he gets the money, he wins. If the bus blows up, he wins." Jak answered before she could finish her sentence.

"And what happens if you win?" Keira asked.

"Then tomorrow we'll play another one."

Keira looked at him and bit her tongue playfully, "But I'm not available tomorrow." Jak blinked down at her and her smile widened, "Busy." Jak found himself laughing right along with her.

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Daxter frowned at the items laid out before him. Items from last job of Howard Praxis, lined up and tagged. Ashlin was leaning against the door from watching him study the items with a fellow SWAT member.

"We got no match for that description." The SWAT cop said, waving a scrap of paper as he broke the silence that had been going on for a good twenty minutes, "No one's lost an eye and part of their face, at least from the last ten years."

Ashlin growled in frustration as Daxter's search of criminals with missing faces came up blank. "He could be anywhere," she pointed out.

The SWAT cop looked at her in horror, "I can't access all that—" He began to tell her when Daxter cut them off with a wave of his hand.

"Forget the files." He snapped and then addressed Ashlin, "I want you to go through the pension fund. This guy's drawing disability. He may not be Krimzon Guard but he's living here now."

Ashlin nodded and turned from the room as Daxter's voice followed after her, shouting loudly, "I want pictures!"

Daxter frowned down at the items on his desk, alone now. There was something irking him about this scumbag. He seemed so familiar but he couldn't place him. He knew he had seen or heard about this guy before.

"I've seen this asshole." He muttered to himself, touching a piece of the deactivated bomb's core.

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Jak watched as Samos and his cop pulled up besides the bus in a large flat bed carrying him and his fellow SWAT members. He nodded to Keira to keep going straight and stepped down the steps of the bus to face his boss.

As the doors of the bus slide open, Samos shouted over the rush of pavement zooming by, "Let's get this passengers unloaded!"

Nothing would please Jak more then to see all these people off the bus so he would have one less thing to worry about, but he knew the rules well. "I can't do that, sir," he told Samos, his eyes calm, giving away nothing of what he was thinking.

"This is no time for stunts, Traven!" Samos snapped, almost throwing his arms up in exasperation, "We gotta get this people outta harm's way—"

"I got orders." Was all Jak offered him and then he pointed with two fingers towards the helicopters flying overhead, "If we move these people, he'll see. Crazy, not stupid remember, sir?"

Samos frowned but accepted it with a curt nod, "Daxter's working on finding this guy. We think we might have been a cop at one point."

Norwood, who was in the passenger seat of this flatbed, leaned through the back mirror that had been opened and called over to Samos, "Sir, it's him… and he wants to speak with Jak."

Jak glanced at Norwood and nodded, "Give him my number." He told the officer and retreated into the bus, turning on his cellular.

As he waited for the ring of his phone he glanced at Sam, who was getting progressively worse, "How is he doing?" He asked Helen.

"His bleeding is less but…" Mrs. Kamino answered for Helen—was had dived into shellshock moments before—and her look told Jak there wasn't much time for the injured bus driver.

"Are they gonna help us?" Helen asked, watching with a pale face as the flatbed of police drove past the window opposite of her. Her breathing was heavy and uneven, as if she struggled to remember how to breathe,

Stephens tried to give her a reassuring look, "Sure they are. They're the police." He said in a voice that suggested he thought it was obvious, "Hey, your taxes are paying their salary. If we die they gotta take a pay cut!"
Helen shuddered, staring at him in horror.

"What I mean…" Stephens began again, but fell quiet when Jak's cell phone rung and he pressed it to his ear.

"Yeah." Jak growled, knowing full well who was on the other end of the line. Keira looked up at him in surprise when she heard his angry tone.

"Jak," Praxis began, a note of annoyance in his voice, "I think we have trust, but it looks like on TV like you're trying to get those passengers off the bus."

Jak tilted his head sideways and looked over at Sam before saying to Praxis, "You gotta let me have one… just one…"

Praxis chuckled, clucking his tongue against his teeth as if scolding Jak, "Now, we went over the rules before… need we go over them again?"

"Come on," Jak pressed, knowing Sam needed to get off the bus and get off it now, "as an act of faith. We got an injured man here. The driver's been shot."

That had Praxis hooting with laughter, "Jak, tell me you haven't been shooting the passengers. I thought it was customary for the officers to shot the bad guys."

"Hey, get in range." Jak suggested, grinding his teeth together.

"No one gets off."

"Come on!" Jak shouted in rage, trying to lower his voice when everyone stared at him in horror, "This guy has no time. It'll… it'll grease the wheels with the money men if you show a little charity. There's still gonna be plenty of us to kill."

Praxis shrugged and leaned back in his chair, "Okay, son. You can try and unload the bus driver. Tell that wildcat behind the wheel not to slow down, though, or he won't get a chance to bleed to death. And Jak…"

"Yeah?" Jak snapped, feeling odd that he was angry that Praxis had brought Keira into this.

"Don't slip." And the line went dead.

Jak pushed the phone back into his pocket and walked down the aisle towards Sam, "We're gonna get the driver off."

Helen looked at him with wide eyes, her lips trembling, "Just him?"

"For now." He answered, not noticing the way she started to tremble or the glazed, horrified look in her eyes. Instead, Jak turned to Sig and eyed him for a moment before finally saying, "Gigantor."

Sig stood, the whole burly build of him, and looked down at Jak with a look of admiration, "Sig, chili pepper."
"Sig, I'm gonna need your help."

"Okay." Sig answered, already having an idea of what he would be needed to do. Together they walked over to Sam and started to pick him up.

Helen watched and asked, "What about the rest of us?" No one listened and she lowered her head, panting hard, eyes growing wilder and wilder by the second.

"You have to keep him straight or I think the wound will tear." Mrs. Kamino said as Sig and Jak picked Sam up.

As Sig heaved Sam up, Jak picked up the walkie talkie Samos had given him and said into, "Samos, he's letting us unload the driver. Pull up alongside of us." He then bent down and picked up Sam's feet.

Sig smiled down at Sam as his eyes opened weakly, "How ya feelin, cherry?" He asked as Sam winced in pain, trying to take the man's mind off of the pain he knew the bus driver was in.

The bus driver shot Sig a look that said it was the stupidest question to ask, "Like I've been shot."

Sig lifted Sam's head and Jak lifted the legs and as he was raised, Torn rushed forward to support Sam's middle. Jak gave him a nod of approval as they walked the wounded man towards the stairs of the bus.

As the doors slide open and the flatbed pulled up alongside of the bus, Jak shouted, "We gotta keep him straight!" To Keira he ordered, "Try to keep it as close as you can without crashing them."
As the SWAT team nodded in understanding, Jak inched down the steps. With one hand he gripped the railing of the steps and the other held Sam's legs, he moved towards the end of the stairs. Slowly, he leaned out the bus, trying to ignore the pavement whizzing by him. He gave Sam's legs to SWAT team waiting and slowly, aching slow, the exchange was made.

As Sig and Torn reclaimed their seats without a word to Jak, he stepped back on the bus. He felt himself chuckle as he saw Mrs. Kamino trying to wipe away the blood on the seats and floor. It was pointless, but the fact that she was trying was funny.

When she looked up at him with concern for the bus driver, he told her, "I think he's gonna be…"

As Jak talked to Mrs. Kamino, Helen moved forward unnoticed by anyone. She made her way to the steps, her face etched in panic. The doors were still open and the SWAT team was still there. Why shouldn't she leave?

Keira blinked as she noticed Helen hesitate on the last bus stop. Her mouth flew open as she realized what her friend was planning to do.

"I'm sorry, Keira…" Helen said as she turned towards the SWAT team, who were ushering her to come off the bus. She reached out her hand.

"No!" Keira screamed, trying to grab Helen's blouse but being to far away, "Helen, no! Helen!"
Jak turned his head and watched as Helen reached for the flat bed, "NO!" He rushed towards Helen as Keira screamed for him, her voice frantic.

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Praxis frowned as he watched on TV the middle aged woman reach for the flat bed. He reached out a finger and pressed a button on his cellular.

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Directly below Helen a small red light flickered on in the white putty.

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Jak had almost reached Helen when the explosion rocked him. The SWAT team on the flatbed where sent to their backs and Jak crashed into Keira, causing the bus to serve, and she cried out but more from fear then pain.

Helen's body slipped into the hole on the stairs of the bus created by the bomb.

Jak reached for Helen as she screamed, but it was too late. She fell and Jak fell. Sig reached out and grabbed Jak's collar, hauling him into the bus. As Jak collapsed to his knees in defeat, the bus bumped sickeningly as a testimony to what happened to Helen. Keira's face lost all its color and she lowered her head, though still keeping her eyes on the road.

Jak couldn't move. He stared at the space where Helen had stood… where the stairs had once. He could hear Keira almost hyperventilating.

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Praxis grinned and chewed on the wire of his cellular with a grin, "Interactive TV, Jak. Wave of the future."

Author's Notes: Yes, Praxis is a bastard, ain't he? I think he was perfect for the role of Howard Payne from the movie. They even kinda look alike, no? No offense to Denis Hopper, of course.

Next Chapter: In which there is a gap, Stephen's already been to the airport, Keira and Jak get closer, and Jak does something very, very stupid involving a dolly…

Reviews:

Specter Von Baron: as always, you're continued support on both this story and Jak IV is lovely. I am sorry to disappoint you, but I can promise you that I'll make it up, somehow…

Silent Zephyr: Legendary? [giggles] Aw… worship… anyway, don't worry about the fanart thing. It was a dud idea… and since I have no idea how on earth to draw ANYTHING I cannot be cross with anyone. You're safe! :)

Krimzon-Yakkow026: Yay, you've seen SPEED! That is the best movie I've ever seen! Of course, it's sequel was a total let down… anywho, yes Document Manager has changed and, of course, I realized this after I posted Chapter 2. Luckily, my friend pointed it out and now I've fixed my paragraphs!

Snowy Fox: Good, glad you've seen it! And don't bother with Speed 2. Not worth anyone's time. There's no Jack, and Annie gets a new boyfriend and gets engaged to him at the end. I almost sent hate mail to the director. After all, the main male character (Alex) is a totally rip off of Jack. Safe to say it pissed me off.

Glorfindel Silverleaf: A very unique name, if I do say so myself, kinda reminds me of LotR. And thanks for the complements on Jak IV, though it was all Specter's ideas. Unfortunately, after some careful consideration, Jak IV is being remodeled into something completely different. So not quite sure when I'll have it out…

Monkeypants: I thank thee kindly. And don't worry if Jak IV confused you, after a while it confused the hell outta me. So now, remodeling time! I won't have a new trailer for it… at least not for a while.

Prexistence: Of course I remember you! I make a not to remember all my fans! [grins] And I am trying to figure out how I want Jak IV to go… not quite sure, but the plot is being to form… barely…