Notes-

Madam Secretary / Titanic cross-over. All rights belong to the original creators.

I have messed about with the ages of the characters for this story. Elizabeth and Henry are in their mid 30s. Stevie is 13, Allison is 8 and Jason is 4.

In this story, Elizabeth is married to Stephen who is based on Cal from Titanic 1997.

Nadine is a Nanny/ Ladies Maid

Matt (the security guy) is their Butler/ Valet

I will try to keep this story as historically accurate as possible but I am no expert. If you see anything out of place let me know! I am fascinated by Edwardian culture and am learning as I write so please be kind!

I have no Beta reader so I apologize in advance for any grammatical errors!

This is my first fan fiction so please read and review! Enjoy!

Southampton, 10th April 1912

As soon as she stepped from the car, it was an assault on her senses. Crowds of people had places to be. Horns blared. People shouted. The scent of smoke mixed with ocean air as it billowed from four immense funnels that towered over the port. Having spent the past four hours confined inside a closed car, it was a relief to feel the cool sea breeze brushing against her cheeks.

Elizabeth's focus was drawn by the cars side step creaking under the weight of feet. She plastered a huge grin on her face as she watched her children scramble forwards. Stephanie emerged first, impatient to escape the confines of the small vehicle. She held one hand on her straw boating hat and used the other to usher her siblings from the car.

As soon as his little feet hit the ground Jason was rushing off, but he was not quite fast enough to avoid capture.

"Woah, woah, woah! Where do you think you're going young man?" Elizabeth scolded gently as she scooped him up.

It was Jason's first time seeing a steam ship and he had been driving his sisters up the wall with his incessant boat-based chatter. Now they had reached the port, he could hardly contain his excitement.

"Look mummy the ship!" he exclaimed, wriggling in her grasp.

"I know, I know. Look how big it is!" she enthused bouncing with him from side to side.

"I don't see what all the fuss is about. It doesn't look any bigger than the Mauretania." Stevie grumbled

"You can be blasé about some things, Stephanie, but not about Titanic." She turned to face her father. "It's over a hundred feet longer than Mauretania, and far more luxurious. It has squash courts, a Parisian cafe... even Turkish baths." He listed off.

She looked to her mother who gave her a mock serious face before they both burst into giggles.

"I must say Elizabeth, your daughter is far too difficult to impress" Stephen said before offering his hand to Nadine as she stepped from the car.

"So" Nadine says as she takes in the sight before her. "This is the ship they say is unsinkable"

"It is unsinkable. God himself couldn't sink this ship." Stephen gushed.

"Are you applying for a job in the White Star line press department?" Elizabeth teased. "I'm sure they'd be glad to have you" she chuckled as she hoisted Jason higher on her hip.

Nadine reached for him "here let me take him".

A porter approached them. "Sir, you'll have to check your baggage through the main terminal, round that way" he gestures to the left.

Stephen pulled out his wallet before stuffing five pounds into the porter's hand. The man's expression turned to one of shock. "I'll trust you to do that my friend". Stephen glanced nonchalantly at Matt. "Talk to my man".

"Yes Sir. Of course Sir"

Elizabeth suddenly finds the laces on her boots fascinating. Stephen never tires of flashing his wallet.
"Here, Alison, Stevie. Help me with our bags please" she requests as she begins lifting her and the children's lighter travelling bags from the car's roof.

Stephen gives her a disapproving look.

"What?" She asks.

"We have people to do that" he chastises.

This riles her. "Well, Nadine has her hands full with Jason and you've sent Matt to deal with the cases so unless you're planning on leaving your hand luggage behind, this is what I'm doing." She gives him a pointed look before turning to hand a small case to Stevie. "Here baby".

"Well" he says testily, "I do believe that we only brought two servants at your insistence"

It had taken a lot of work to convince Stephen to only bring along Matt and Nadine. He thought it shameful to have his butler doubling as his valet. He didn't want a repeat of the last time they travelled with limited help. Rumours had started that they were having financial troubles and had subsequently let some of the servants go.

Stephen thought her yearning for self-sufficiency infantile and insisted she get used to relying on servants, if not for her own sake then for his. But no matter how hard she tried to become accustomed to it, she couldn't shake the feelings of embarrassment every time she made a request for help.

Only Nadine and Matt were with them today but that did not mean she had won their disagreement. Daisy was supposed to accompany them but had fallen sick. She had been left at the townhouse with orders to eat lots of soup and rest up.

"Will has people of his own. We can manage for seven days without Matt and Daisy." She glanced at him. "Don't worry, I'm sure your reputation will still be intact when we get there."

Stephen sighed and took his briefcase from her hand. He looked at his pocket watch. "We'd better hurry. This way, ladies." And marched off ahead.

Elizabeth look skywards in exasperation before distributing the last few cases that held items too delicate for the baggage claim between herself and Stephanie.

She glanced at the crowd of hurrying passengers and well-wishers that they would have to pass through on their way to the first class gangway. "Alison baby, take Nadine's hand please" she called.

Together they wound their way through vehicles and handcarts, and into the throng. They passed a line of steerage passengers being subjected to a health check. Health officers ran combs through their hair in search of lice.

"Honestly Elizabeth. If you hadn't spent so long mucking around in the stables this morning we could have gone through the terminal instead of running along the dock like some squalid immigrant family" Stephen groused.

Elizabeth bristled at her husband's comments. Had they not been in such a public space she would have cut him down to size. Instead, she greets his comments with silence and allows Stevie to walk ahead of her, putting physical distance between herself and him.

Their assent up the ramp brings a sudden peace as they break from the crowd and Elizabeth allows herself to take a deep breath. The black hull of the Titanic looms ominously above them and she enters the doors to the deck with a sense of unease.

It takes a moment for her eyes to transition from daylight to the artificial lighting of the lower deck. They are greeted by two men dressed in formal attire and another porter who relieves both her and Stephanie of their cumbersome bags before directing them to the central stairwell. Together, they clamber onto the lift. The decorative wooden panelling presses into Elizabeth's back and she watches as the ornate metal shutter separates them from the cold, featureless corridors of the lower deck.