Title: Fall to Me

Author: C.M Cruz

Rating: Mature PG-13

Disclaimer: I don't own the movie, the rights to the concept, or any of the stars.

Spoilers: None

Pairings: Baxter/OC/Englehorn

Summary: She was won over, and he was too late.

Author's Note: I'm going by the one disc DVD, I'm too poor to buy the deluxe Version. Enjoy.

Love at first sight is easy to understand; it's when two people have been looking at each other for a lifetime that it becomes a miracle.

-Amy Bloom

The person who tried to live alone will not succeed as a human being. His heart withers if it does not answer another heart. His mind shrinks away if he hears only the echoes of his own thoughts and finds no other inspiration.

-Pearl S. Buck

I

"Steady," Mr. Hayes roared as the cargo was being lifted onto the ship. He was monitoring what was going on the ship. It was usually the first mate's job to stay on the dock and give the orders to the unloading and uploading of shipment.

Jimmy ducked before the shipment could slam against his head; he was one of the deckhands so he had to help with the loading. He didn't understand why they were leaving now. The plan was to leave next week to Singapore, now they're leaving tonight. He ducked again as the cargo swayed to the side; he reached out and helped some of the deckhands steady it so they could unhook it.

He hooked the net back up and swung the arm back to the deck to be reloaded again. "Where are you?" Jimmy muttered to himself giving the dock an anxious look. He ducked back down into the hold. Just as he disappeared a small figure appeared suddenly from a haze of smoke, running through the crowded harbor. The boy looked small in his jacket which was twice his size, making it look more like a dress than a jacket. He had a bundle secured to his back as he dodged and weaved until he got to the gangway of The Venture.

Before he could climb the plank though, a rough hand grabbed him around the arm and pulled back onto the dock. The boy gave the man who grabbed him a small smile; the Captain gave the boy an inquiring look in return. "Where've you been?" He questioned.

"The city," he narrowed his eyes at the boy's answer and eyed the bundle.

"You didn't steal anything did you?"

"No Captain, I wouldn't do anything like that." He answered innocently, before the Captain could reach over and look into the bag, someone called out his name. Both of them turned to see a short slightly meaty man make his way toward them.

"Englehorn! Cast off! Hoist the mainsail- raise the anchor, whatever the hell it is you do- We got to leave." As the man spoke, the boy tired to pull his arm out of the Captain's grasp but it didn't budge. When the man was near enough he gave the boy a smile, in return he got a sneer before the boy ducked his head down so he couldn't see his face any longer. From what Denham saw though he knew the kid was an Oriental, they were a rare sight to someone who wasn't as traveled savvy as him. He smiled at himself for that wonderful compliment to his name.

"I cannot do that… We're waiting for the manifest." Englehorn replied calmly, the boy had stopped fighting and waited patiently to be released. Denham gave him a confused look.

"What? Who? English please!" The boy had to bite on his lower lip to not laugh, who ever the man was he was going to be a handful for the Captain.

"Paperwork, Mr. Denham." He said dryly. Denham gave the boy a look than leaned in conspiratorially, he even lowered his voice. The boy leaned in as well he wasn't stupid to just pretend nothing was being said.

"I'll give you another thousand to leave right now."

"You haven't given me the first thousand yet." The boy's eyes widen. The man was offering another thousand, what in God's name was the Captain saying. Just accept the damn money, he'll pay you! He glanced up at Englehorn who had a sour look on his face; then to the man who looked slightly flustered. The boy's eyes wandered to what was behind him though, a rather small young lady, she was just as tall as the boy. She was beautiful! The boy gave a slight nod behind Denham who glanced behind him, than turned back around quickly.

"Can we talk about this later? Can't you see we're in a company of a VIP guest?" Englehorn didn't pay attention when he felt the boy move under his grasp. He had forgotten about the boy. Englehorn turned to see who he was looking at, when he saw it was a woman he dropped his grasp from the boy's. At once the boy reacted by rubbing his arm, it was going to be bruised. He shot the Captain a look, but his eyes were only for the young lady who was now standing in front of them.

"Ma'am..." He greeted her cordially. The boy stayed where he was though, he was curious.

"Ann Darrow." The woman smiled. The boy smiled at the young lady and glanced at the Captain who had his smug look on. That look was always reserved for the ladies who waited on men by the ports. The boy wanted to smack that look off his face, the Captain had no shame.

"So you are ready for this voyage, Miss Darrow?"

"Sure," The Captain pulled out a cigarette and lit it.

"Nervous?"

"Nervous?" The woman asked confused. "No… Why should I be?"

"It isn't every woman who would take such a risk." Now the boy was just about ready to barf at the Captain's antics. No one noticed Denham shoot a look at his aid. All three watched the young man usher the young lady from them onto the boat with her luggage.

The motion of the man taking something out his jacket though brought the boy's attention back to the transaction between the Captain and the passenger.

"Two thousand- it's a deal." He scribbled quickly on the small horizontal notepad. "Do you take a check?"

"Do I have a choice?" Englehorn sighed. The boy took that as his que to sneak onboard with his bundle still untouched. Jimmy was just coming up from the hold when he collided with him.

"Where you've been?" Jimmy asked.

"Getting your stupid book that's where I've been. Captain almost checked my bag down at the docks, but the fat man distracted him. Help me hide this before Mr. Hayes sees me." Jimmy shrugged and descended back down into the hold the boy following close behind.

It didn't take long for them to cast off, but they were still making their way out of the harbor when the Captain called for a meeting on the main deck. The boy was still trying to push the bundle into a cage when they heard the Captain's voice followed by Mr. Hayes.

"Come on Andy," Jimmy urged him. He was stationed at the foot of the stairs as lookout. With a final push the bundle slid behind a box of chloroform into its hiding place. Andy got up and slapped his hands clean of the dirt, and dusted his pants. Which was of no use the stain weren't going anywhere. Shrugging he tucked his hat even more securely onto his head and bounded for the stairs, which Jimmy was already clambering up.

"Hurry up, you little farts!" A sailor whispered as he passed them. All three hurried over onto the deck and took a stand among the crew, all of them looking up at the wheelhouse. Andy recognized the young woman from earlier that night and the troublesome man, who had taken a stand beside the Captain.

"As you know we will be escorting seven passengers to Singapore. They will be filming a movie on this ship, so certain areas of the ship will be off limits for some time. I want you all to make sure that they are given the proper care and respect."

"Who does he think he's talking to?" Lumpy grunted, Andy grinned and nudged Jimmy to see if he heard Lumpy, but he didn't. He was too busy staring at the young lady on the upper deck to be paying attention to anyone. Andy frowned and jabbed his bony elbow into Jimmy's side, who yelped in pain. Mr. Hayes who was also on the upper deck turned his attention to the young sailors and glared at them.

"I want to intro-" The Captain began but he was rudely cut off by the short man again. Andy smiled at the look the Captain gave him, but he didn't stop from taking over. The Captain enjoyed keeping low key and stepped back so that the man had all eyes on him.

"My name is Carl Denham, you all might know my movies." No one spoke up that they did. It was rare for the men to go beyond the whore houses and the docks to say they have. Both Jimmy and Andy sure haven't and they enjoyed watching movies, if they were on land for more than 48 hours.

"Well," Carl cleared his throat and pulled the young lady beside him. At once the sailors shifted their stance, a little straighter, a little more dignified. Andy had to hold back his laughter at the men's change of demeanor when a pretty young lady was around. Once they were out of ear shot though and down in the sleeping quarters they were going to exchange crude jokes about her.

"This is Ann Darrow!" The young lady gave them a genuine smile and a small wave. Choy gave her a small wave in return, which made her smile even more. Jimmy gave a little sigh, while Andy rolled his eyes. He liked the girl just fine, but if it was going to interfere with his time with Jimmy, well that's a problem.

"And this is Bruce Baxter!" He made a wavy movement with his hand and a man stepped up to wave at them as well. Some of the men growled, perhaps angry that Miss Ann Darrow was no longer in the spotlight. Jimmy made a face and turned to look at Andy who was just staring at the actor.

"Andy? Andy you better stop looking at him that way." He warned him, but Andy just kept staring. Jimmy pushed the boy, who snapped out of it and glared at the older and slightly bigger boy. He pushed back, but harder making him bump into Choy, who bumped into Lumpy. At once the two boys yelled and reached for each other, before they could even land a punch or a scratch Lumpy got between them, and pushed Andy back. Mr. Hayes made his way down the steps toward the boys, while Carl just clapped his hands and smiled.

"Well that went well," He said happily. Captain Englehorn gave him a grim look, but Carl was already making his way down the steps with Ann Darrow, Bruce tailed them. He shook his head once more and turned to survey on what Mr. Hayes did with the troublemakers. Jimmy was climbing up toward the nest, while Andy trailed behind Lumpy back to the kitchens. That was a good idea, having them as far away from each other. The last thing he needed was to deal with them; he already had his hands full with Denham and his crew.

Mr. Hayes made sure that Andy felt the brunt of his anger when he sent him off with Lumpy. Jimmy on the other hand evaded him quite nicely and assigned himself to the nest. That was the difference between the two, Jimmy knew how to act, and Andy was still childish. The crew had already gone back to their chores, it was an everyday occurrence and it didn't bother them one bit. It was even fun sometimes when Jimmy or any sailor start a fight why Andy. If there was one thing about that little boy he can hold his own when it came to fighting.

Later that night after Mr. Hayes had made his rounds around the ship, Jimmy sneaked out from his bunk to Andy's room. He gave the door a soft knock, waited for a few seconds than entered, closing the door behind him.

"So Cassandra has a little crush on the movie star?" Jimmy teased. Cassandra glared at the young man from her mirror, which she was sitting in front of at that moment.

"The walls are paper thin. You better use my boy name." She hissed. Jimmy shrugged his shoulders and made himself comfortable on her bed. They sat there for some time in total silence, only the sounds of the muffled engine, the water, and Cassandra running her hairbrush through her hair was heard. It didn't take long for Jimmy to get restless and start drumming on her wall, or sneaking looks at the mirror to distract her. She set the brush down and turned so that she was facing Jimmy, who was now smiling. "You've come to say sorry?"

"No and you never answered my question." He said brightly, she just gave him a look and got up from her seat.

"I don't have a crush on the movie star." She groaned as she bent over her heater, pushing her arm through the little hole between the heater and the wall. "Andy wouldn't have crushes on male actors." Jimmy watched with amusement, till she finally pulled her arm out, a square thing wrapped in cloth in her small hand.

"I'm not asking Andy, I'm asking Cassandra." He said softly, she didn't say anything but sat next to him on the bed. She passed the object to him with a smile. "What's this?"

"Open it and you'll find out." He gave her a small grin and unwrapped it. It was a slim box, which he opened to find sheets of paper and a pen. He just stared at it with wonder, and slowly picked up the pen. "I was thinking about tossing it overboard after that little row on the top deck… Anyway I thought you'd want it, you kept staring at it for so long."

"This must have been your month's wages." He whispered, she shrugged her shoulders and delicately ran a long finger over the smooth paper.

"Do you like it? I thought it would be a nice 20th birthday present for you." He smiled at her, which she returned.

"My birthday isn't until March," he laughed.

"Just say you like it you oaf!" She shot back. Jimmy nodded and proclaimed that he liked it. He placed it carefully to the side and turned back to Cassandra, pulling her into a bone crushing hug, which she returned with the same amount of force.

Jimmy had a deep connection with Cassandra; both of them had been found on the ship when they were young. Jimmy had only been on the ship for a couple of years when Cassandra was found in one of the cages. Lumpy tended to her; she looked about nine, dirty, and malnourished. Like Jimmy she was in need of some medical care, she had whip lashings all over her back, and her fingers were broken. Since then Jimmy took over the role of a brother in her life.

"You letting go anytime soon Jimmy" she asked, it was like her to ruin the moment. Jimmy just sighed and pulled back but ruffled her hair a bit, which earned him a punch on the arm.

"Ouch that actually hurt!" He winced, rubbing his arm. Cassandra couldn't help but laugh loudly, Jimmy covered her mouth quickly. Both of them held their breath, slowly he pulled his hand away. "I better get going." She nodded and kicked him on the butt to move faster.

"Goodnight Jimmy," She whispered as he opened the door and peeked to see if the coast was clear. He turned around and whispered a goodnight before he slipped out.

A/N: You all might be a little confused? Well here's the lowdown: Andy isn't a little boy, he is in fact a young lady whose real name is Cassandra. Cassandra "Andra" to "Andy". Now that you all know I'm going to stick to describing Andy as a girl. For example: Andy knew that he was in trouble. Will be: Andy knew that she was in trouble. It'll be easier on me and I hope on you all. Good day!

Also Jimmy and Cassandra "Andy" are 19 years old.

I also changed the timeline on when Jimmy arrived on board the Venture.

One more! I'm basing how Cassandra/ Andy looks like on Lea Salonga's Eponine on Les Miserables. I enjoyed that Eponine, she had a lot of spunk and she portrayed her so well. You can actually feel the pain, anger, and sadness in her voice. Amazing.

Yes I know there are A LOT of Englehorn fics out there... But I just HAD to do it! I just HAD to! -scurries away-