In this fanfic, Roy and Johnny do not move on to accept positions as firehouse captains. They remain as paramedics at Station 51. I do not like the way the story ended there in the series, and in my fanfic world, it just didn't happen. The cell phone part however, doesn't belong (thanks Nana for pointing that out.) They have become such a part of the now a day's world that I forgot they weren't around yet. Oops! Oh well, more fanfiction.
On to the next chapter! Thank you Madilayn for your kind and helpful encouragement! Your years of wisdom and experience are so appreciated to a beginner like me!
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"You want me to do what exactly?" Johnny was gazing at the hitchhiker through the back mirror, a look of incredulous fear on his face. Roy suddenly grabbed the steering wheel and yanked it to the right.
"Just do what he says, pal. And stay on your side of the road. You almost ran ran right off."
Johnny glanced at Roy, then sighed, clenching the steering wheel tighter. "Yeah, whatever."
"Hang in there," Roy whispered, catching the helpless glance thrown his way. "We will get rid of him somehow."
The hitchhiker leaned forward. "Shut up, both of you. And you, kid, drive."
Johnny held up his right hand in an appeasing gesture. "I'm driving, okay? See, I'm driving. Don't fall all to pieces, dude, chill. Which direction do you want me to go?"
The man curled his upper lip in a sneer and thought for a moment. "Carbondale. Turn around."
Johnny rolled his eyes and executed a slippery three point turn that sent them away from their intended vacation destination. It was an uneasy and silent half hour drive up to Carbondale. Right outside of the mountain town, the strange man made another demanding request.
"Hey, you! Stop the car, dude."
Johnny rolled his eyes again and grudgingly complied, all four of the LA travelers feeling their blood running cold, unsure of the strange hitchhiker's intentions. The man pulled a semi-automatic Glock 17 out of his coat pocket and aimed it directly at Roy. "You, wise guy, in the front seat. Get out of the car. Slowly now, with your hands where I can see 'em. No sudden moves or I will blow you to kingdom come."
Roy turned to look back and try to argue with the man, but found the tip of the Glock at his nose. He grunted in repressed fury and swung his car door open. He stepped from the car, hands held up, to show he was complying.
"You are going to regret this." Roy attempted to throw back a threat to make the man change his mind, but he waved off Roy's words as if he didn't care in the least bit. The deranged escapee now pointed his gun at Hank. "Now you, out of the car."
Hank pulled Ash firmly against his side, his dark eyes steely and angry. "If I go, she goes with me."
The man smirked and eased the hammer back on the gun. "Out."
Hank glanced helplessly at Roy through the window and Roy shrugged. He didn't know how to fix the situation. His blue eyes were helpless. He felt like he was letting his captain down.
Johnny leaned around to look back at them, causing the gun to swing back toward himself. He jumped and held up his hands. "Hey, hey, easy. I just wanted to say, man, dude, all you need is me. Get rid of all of the other folks and let's just you and me take a joyride. Huh, how about it?"
The escapee smiled and turned his gun slowly back toward Hank. His smile disappeared and he snarled. "The girl stays. You. OUT."
Hank gritted his teeth. "Bastard," he mumbled under his breath. He cupped Ash's face in his left hand.
"Be brave, sister. Fight if you have to, kill even. Don't let him get to you. We will find you."
She nodded at him. "Thanks, Hank." Her voice came from a tight throat and sounded desperately pitiful. Hank's heart sank.
The man quickly eased the hammer into place and slammed his gun down onto Hank's hand, effectively scaring Ash, hitting her in the face and injuring Hank's knuckles. The escapee's face was darkening with suppressed rage . "I said out! Don't make me use this gun. You are seriously trying my patience." He threw an arm around the scared girl's neck and yanked her close to his chest, pressing the gun to her temple. "Last chance. Out."
Hank backed away from the door, nursing his injured hand. "Okay, okay. You win. I'm leaving."
Roy came over from his school de of the car and spoke tensely to the escapee. "We will find you, Mister. We will follow you to the ends of the earth, and if it takes a year or it takes fifty years, we WILL find you and you will be sorry."
He patted Ash's knee and the escapee kicked him away and reaching over Ash, slammed the door shut. The last thing Hank saw as - (apparently as instructed) Johnny turned the car yet again and drove back toward Aspen - was Ash's scared face, looking just like the lonely, frightened girl that his parents brought home so many years ago. He kicked the snowy car tracks angrily, and Roy let him vent. Finally Hank sat down in the snow, dejected.
Roy knelt in front of him. "Hey, Cap, let me see that hand now," he spoke quietly, using the voice he pulled out of his hat whenever a victim was in dire distress.
Captain Stanley listlessly held out his hand . Roy felt the bones of his lanky fingers, and examined the bruising joints carefully. "Can you make a fist, Cap?"
Hank carefully squeezed his fingers into a fist, wincing slightly. "Yeah, I guess so, pal."
Roy nodded. "Okay. Some minor contusions and scrapes. Your fingers may get a little stiff as the day goes on. But nothing permanent or serious. Right then. Let's get going. We've got to walk into town and get the cops." Roy stood and brushed the snow off of his pants.
Hank nodded. "Yeah. But Roy - Roy, what if he -"
Roy smiled and patted his distraught captain's shoulder. "Don't worry, Cap. We will find them."
He held out his hand. "Let me help you up."
Hank looked into the blue eyes of his senior paramedic and sighed. He had to believe. Somehow, he just had to believe. He reached up and grasped the offered hand. He needed all the support he could get.
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"So, now where are we going?" Johnny asked glumly, watching his friends recede into the distance through his rear view mirror.
The escapee snarled. "Just keep driving, wise guy."
Johnny tapped the steering wheel miserably. He glanced back at Ash. She held a hand to her jaw that had been hit by the Glock, eyes fearful and watching him through the mirror. He gritted his teeth angrily and grasped the steering wheel tighter. He had to protect her for his Captain's sake. If he wasn't successful, well Cap was going to kill him anyway. "Hey Ash? Sweetheart, now I meed you to listen to me okay?"
Ash met his gaze in the mirror and he nodded encouragingly. "Right. Now let me see that jaw okay? Can you move your jaw normally? That's right. Open and close. Minor contusion, might swell some. Just rest for now okay?"
He smiled encouragingly but was rewarded with only desperate wide eyes in the reflection of the mirror.
It had been about twenty minutes since anyone had spoken. The tension was so thick you could cut it with the proverbial knife. Johnny had long since given up listening to the radio as it was all about the escaped convict and how he had murdered a guard. It made Johnny want to throw up so he turned it off.
"Now it won'T do for us travelers to be bored now, would it? I am really cross when I get bored. You and me, missy, and gonna get introduced, right proper like," The escapee suddenly spoke, an evil tone smoothing his harsh voice. He reached across the car and ran a rough hand down the bruised side of Ash's face. She whimpered and jerked away, slamming herself into the left door of the car. Johnny reached down and locked the car doors.
"Ash, don't open that door," Johnny warned. The escapee snarled at him and yanked Ashley back across the seat toward him, then backhanding her face.
"You will NOT pull away from me, do you understand!" He growled down into her face.
She nodded quickly and whimpered.
He gave her a shake. "Answer me, woman!"
"Yes - yes, I understand." She stammered, eyes squeezed shut as if expecting another slap. He flung her back to the other side of the seat. Johnny had pretty much lost his patience, and he slammed on the brakes, nearly sending his passengers through the metal roof, and throwing a shower of snow from the screeching back tires.
"Alright wise guy!" Johnny bellowed, very uncharacteristic for him. "I am not driving ONE more inch if I don't get some cooperation. You guys are going to draw attention to the cops by wrangling around back there and we are about to drive through Aspen. Now I wouldn't mind that but I am sure you would. Now cut it out."
"You keep driving or I will blow your head off," the convict snarled at Johnny, ever present gun back in his hand.
"You," Johnny pointed to the convict. "Either sit there like a good escapee, or I swear if you touch her again, I will drive this car right off that dropoff side of the road and there won't be anything left for you to shoot me with. Capiche?"
The man snarled at him, but settled back into the seat in a huff. Johnny took a deep breath and stepped on the accelerator. He only hoped he could keep this bravado up until Roy could get help to him.
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Hank paced the police station floor as Roy spoke to the police captain. The fire captain's emotions were boiling out of control inside of him. How he wished he had never agreed for Johnny to pick up the hitchhiker. The guilt of the whole situation weighed heavily on his shoulders. He was facing the wall, leaning, hands raised to support his weight on the wall, gazing down at his feet. Roy walked over, placing a firm hand on his captain's shoulder. "Cap, they are putting out a bulletin for the car."
Hank turned his face to gaze bitterly at his senior paramedic. "Roy, I am so angry right now."
Roy dropped his hand. "Yeah, Cap, me too. We have to focus on finding them, though. There will be enough time to express our anger once we catch up to the man. I would like my partner back too. It's worrying me because he hasn't been resting. That head of his is going to give out eventually."
Cap gazed at Roy, concern stiffening his features. "What do you mean?"
Roy sighed and sank down to sit with his back against the wall. Hank squatted down in front of his paramedic, elbows on his knees. Roy glanced at the captain's concerned face then closed his eyes, and rubbed his face tiredly. "Johnny is still suffering from a concussion. Things could happen. Like headache, confusion, lack of coordination, memory loss, nausea, vomiting, dizziness, ringing in the ears, sleepiness, blackout - He could lose control of the car suddenly and- "
Hank held up a hand, noting the distress creeping over his paramedic and intensifying with each symptom he rattled off. "Easy, Roy. He's tough. Almost too tough. He will be okay. He- hang it all, Roy, he has to be okay."
Roy shook his head. "Cap, I am feeling really rattled myself and I did have a good nap on the flight here. Johnny took the worst of that explosion and hasn't had any rest at all, the hardheaded kid. Do you really think he can just muscle through that?"
Captain Stanley sighed and looked down at the floor. "He has surprised us before, Roy."
Roy glanced at his captain, noting that there wasn't much confidence in his words. He realized that Hank was holding onto hope. Hope that somehow Johnny would be strong enough to protect his sister. It was all he had to cling to.
"You're worried about Ash."
Hank raised tormented eyes to Roy. "Yes. Roy, he - that man - hit her. You should have seen her face. She was looking to me to protect her and I failed. I failed Roy. Now he has her and who knows what will happen? And just when she was doing so much better, and hopefully opening up more. This will drive her back into her shell. Wasted." He threw his hands in the air helplessly. "All those years of work Mom and Dad put into her, wasted. All because I said 'let's pick up a hitchhiker.' How stupid could i be?"
Roy rested a comforting hand on his captains knee again. "It was not stupid. And you didn't fail, Cap. He had a gun, for Pete's sake!"
Hank shoved himself angrily to his feet. "I said to pick him up, Roy. It was my idea. I said it would be okay. Now I've lost one of my best paramedics and my kid sister and I am really, really struggling here."
Roy sighed and wearily stood to his feet. "I know, Cap. I feel the same way. I know how I would feel if they had Joanne or Chris, so trust me, I am very upset too. They've got Johnny and he - he's my kid brother and I am worried about him."
Both men gazed into the pained eyes of the other man, knowing that the tender feelings tgey had shared would go no further than each other. Hank clenched his fists and, turning away, paced nervously back and forth. "They headed back toward Aspen. Where are these cops at?"
Roy sighed. "Cap, they are working very hard. We have to be patient."
Cap stuffed his fists into his jeans pockets and hunched his shoulder. "By George, we don't, Roy. Come on. Let's find a car and head that direction. I can't sit here and just do nothing."
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Johnny shook his head a little. The road kept weaving before him and the sounds around him seemed to be so far away. He rubbed his eyes. Why did it seem so hard to concentrate? He just had to rest. His head was throbbing and the white road stretched before him endlessly. His eyes closed, and the car swerved. He jerked awake, slamming on the brakes. There was shouting, noise, chaos. Then they were falling.
Ash slowly opened her eyes. The car was smashed on its side in a snow drift. Immediately, she tried to sit up, but the prison escapee was unconscious and heavy on top of her. Blood streaked his face and dripped down his nose. His eyes were closed.
With a shriek of fear, she scrambled out from under him and toward the front seat, ignoring the pain now radiating from her left arm. Bruises were already starting to form. She gazed around, trying to remember what happened.
Johnny was slumped against the side of the car. She tried to climb over to him, but shooting pain pierced through her right leg. She gasped and froze for a moment, letting waves of nausea flow over her. Her head ached and something wet trickled down the right side of her face, and she reached up to find a gash and her fingers came away covered in blood. Not good. Shoving down the intense nausea again, she tried to concentrate. She had to find Johnny.
Carefully, she reached over the front seat and found Johnny's still form. His head lay against the door, scrapes on his face. His left arm was pinned between himself and the steering wheel. His dark eyes were closed. Fear gripped her. Was he dead? Gritting her teeth, she carefully felt for a pulse and held her breath. There it was. Weak, but it was there.
She then reached for the convict. Pulse was there, a bleeding nose, but otherwise alive. In relief, she slumped back down into the back of the car, and huddled, feeling chilled all over, and rested her head on the back of the chair. "Please come, Hank. Please come. I'm so sorry I ever disappointed you. Please save us." She brushed away a few tears angrily. "Please. Please."
What was it Johnny had said? "When you feel like quitting, remember why you fought in the first place."
With new determination, she lifted her throbbing head to study their situation. The car was on its right side, and there was only white to be seen through the windows. She reached up and undid the latch on the side door that was now their ceiling, and tried to raise it (now more like a trapdoor than a door). She shoved it with all of her strength, but couldnt get it to budge.
Ash felt the desperation building inside, and some of her old panic began to creep in. She had to get them out. She crawled right below the door, feeling the crack of glass as the right passenger's window shattered beneath her. It was already cracked from the impact and her weight crushed it into the snow. The edges bit into her knee, causing her to freeze again as sharp pain sparked from new injuries. But she paused only for a moment.
In a desperate move, she shoved the door upwards and she found herself standing, looking around them, shoulders and head above the side of the car. All around the car, the world was white. Above them rose the hill that the highway ran along. If it hadn't been for the snow, they would have all been killed. The car had only slid down the embankment in the soft snow instead of tumbling all the way down to the valley below. No one would be able to see them from the road. Ash shuddered and looked back down into the car.
At her feet lay the Glock 17. And the escaped convict was beginning to stir.
