A/N: *shrugs* Eh, it's a working title…..
Anyway, this is a Rizzles Titanic AU (idea courtesy of you-are-deceptively-complex) Told from Jane's perspective. Some dialogue taken from the movie. No infringement intended. I also never intended for it to get this long, actually…
Not really beta'd so all mistakes are my own
Feedback is much appreciated :)
Chapter 1
"Yes!" Jane shouted, as the dart stuck right in the center of the board. The man she was playing against groaned, only to be socked in the face by his buddy who was shouting "How could you lose? Those tickets were our only way to America!" in a slavic language.
Jane quickly grabbed the two tickets while Tommy scooped up the money they'd been betting. Jane dragged both of them out of the door of the pub, whooping, jumping, and punching the air. "Can you believe our luck? We're goin' home to see Ma and Frankie!"
"God, Jane, I can't believe you just won these tickets off those guys." Tommy panted in admiration as the pair ran through crowds of people waiting to send off the largest and most unsinkable ship ever built.
"Well, I am the best darts player in New England, little bro. Now come on! We have to run, or this boat's gonna leave without us!"
The pair rushed toward their room, barely aware of all the patrons they were smashing into on the way.
"Can you believe the size of this place, Jane?" Shouted Tommy.
"And we've seen less than half of it!" Jane replied just as loudly, receiving nasty looks from fellow passengers as they plowed their way from 2nd class cabins to third looking for their rooms.
"Here they are! Here!" Jane said, grabbing Tommy's arm to stop him from barrelling past.
Throwing open the door Jane shouted "HEY FELLOW BUNK MATES!" two slavic men fixed her with confused gazes.
After about 10 minutes of icy stares from the two men, Jane and Tommy decided to explore more of the ship before dinner.
Jane and Tommy were on the third class promenade with a couple of Irishmen they'd met at dinner the night before. They were exchanging stories of their travels when Jane looked up at the deck above and saw the most stunning woman she had ever seen. The woman had hair that flowed in waves of gold and a radiance that shone brighter than the sun, but still she looked so sad.
"Jane…? Earth to Janie?" Tommy mocked, waving a hand in front of her face.
"Don't call me Janie." Jane said, her eyes never leaving the beautiful woman. The woman turned her head, looked at Jane, made eye contact for a split second before quickly turning away this time looking anywhere but at Jane.
"You know a girl like that'd never want to be friends with the likes of you." Said the Irishman named Seamus.
"Yeah what're you gonna do? Braid each others hair? Talk about the newest fashions from Paris? Giggle over rich boys together?" Added the one called Riley in his best sarcastic lilt, as the three men burst out laughing.
"Shut up, all a you." Jane spat. Still gazing after the woman as she walked out of her sightline.
Jane lay on a bench on the third class deck, staring up at the cloud intermingling with the stars of the dark night sky. She thought about getting back to Boston, all the Rizzolis reunited once again. She could help Ma with the store and Tommy could help Frankie with the family business. She missed Europe already, though. She could dress however she wanted there, be whatever she wanted, even pass as a man on occasion, if it suited her. But she knew Tommy needed a stable home, he should never have come after her in the first place, but after their Dad died their Ma needed the help of all of her children.
Just as Jane was considering getting up and going inside someone ran past her sobbing violently. She sat up immediately, just in time to see the beautiful woman she'd see on the upper deck rushing past her. Jane was never one to pry. She figured that if someone had a problem she should just thank god that it wasn't her problem and leave it at that, but something inside of her told her to go after this attractive woman, and Jane ignored her gut instincts even less frequently then she got into other people's business. It turned out to be a good thing that she had followed the blonde because by the time Jane got to the bow of the ship the woman was on the other side of the railing, leaning over, ready to jump.
"Don't do it." Jane began gently, alerting the woman to her presence.
"Stay back. Don't come any closer." The lady commanded, her voice wavering.
"Come on, I'll pull you back over. Don't do anything stupid." Jane coaxed.
"I'll let go." The woman threatened.
"No you won't." Jane accused. Trying not to allow the worry she was feeling to seep into her deep, rough voice.
"What do you mean no I won't? Don't presume to tell me what I will and won't do. You don't know me." The woman protested, her voice rising.
"Well, you would've already jumped if you were going to." Jane speculated, her hands on her hips.
"You're distracting me… go away." The blonde snapped, refusing to meet Jane's eyes.
"Can't I'm involved now. If you jump I'll have to go in after you." Jane pointed out as she started to remove her shoes, making her intention to jump into the icy water clear.
"It's very unlikely that either of us will survive if we were to jump." The woman intoned stoically.
"I'm less worried about the jump and more worried about how cold that water is." Jane mused.
"That's a valid concern, the water is probably less than 4 degrees Celsius. Hypothermia would set in within a matter of minutes." The woman said matter-of-factly.
"Oookaayyyy…. Well, ya ever been ta Boston?" Jane asked jovially. The blonde just stared pointed at her as though she were stupid. "I grew up in Boston. We get some pretty cold winters there. One time I was out on a lake ice skating with my brother, ya know, ice skating is when you—" Jane stared to explain.
"I know what ice skating is!" The blonde interrupts vehemently.
"Ok, well, ya just seem like kind of… An inside girl… Anyway, I uh, I fell through some thin ice. And water that cold, water like down there, it hits ya like a thousand knives just stabbing ya all over. Ya can't breath, ya can't think; at least not about anything but the pain." Jane hoped if she could just keep the woman talking she could convince her to come down off of the railing.
"That's because the body goes into shock from the cold. The natural reaction is to hyperventilate." The, obviously very intelligent woman, explained calmly.
"Well, anyway, that's why I'm not looking forward to jumpin' in there after ya. But, like I said, I don't have a choice. I guess I'm kind of hoping you'll come back over the rail and get me off the hook here." Jane shrugged off her jacket and looked into the blonde's eyes imploringly as she looked back over her shoulder.
"You're insane."
"Well, that's what everyone says… But, with all due respect miss, I'm not the one hangin' off the back of a ship here. Come on, you don't wanna do this." The woman finally turns around to face Jane fully. "Whew. I'm Jane Rizzoli." Jane sighed with relief.
"I'm Maura Dorthea Isles." The woman responds.
"Well, it's a pleasure to meet you, Maura." Jane beams at the blonde. She had managed to sound confident the whole time, but she really was unsure about whether or not the woman was still going to jump. Jane held out her arms to pull Maura back over the railing, but just as Maura moved to allow Jane to help her she slipped on her dress and fell off of the small ledge she had been standing on.
"Help! Help me!" Maura shrieked in terror.
"Listen, I've got you. I won't let go. Pull yourself up! Come on! " Jane instructed firmly.
"HEELLLLPPPP!" Maura continued to shout. In a few of the longest seconds Jane can ever remember, she managed to get a strong enough grip on Maura's arms to pull her up, over the railing, and onto the deck. They lay there, both breathing heavily. Jane rose to her knees above Maura, checking the woman over for any damage (She seemed ok, thank god.) Just then several sailors rushed up.
"Oy, lad, what in the hell do ya think you're doin'?" Exclaimed one of the sailors. Jane quickly realized that, in their compromising position, her shed clothing was not doing her any favours. Two of the burly sailors proceeded to pull her off of Maura's still panting form.
The master at arms put handcuffs on Jane, while Maura sat on a nearby bench with a blanket wrapped around her shoulders, being comforted by her fiancé.
Some man holding brandy, who was apparently a friend of Maura's and her fiancé, glanced up at the master at arms putting handcuffs on Jane and sputtered "Don't be ridiculous, my man, you're putting cuffs on a woman!" The ship's officer looked shocked, but when Jane nodded her confirmation of the statement he began to unlock the shackles.
"Woman or not this is unacceptable! what made you think you have the right to put your hands on my fiancé?" The man, who was doing a poor job of comforting Maura, left her side to jab an accusing finger in Jane's face.
"Ian, please stop, she, she saved me! I was hanging over the edge, too far over the edge trying to look at the... uh... the... propellers and I slipped! I'd have gone over if Ms. Rizzoli here had not saved me." Maura pleaded.
"Was that the way of it?" The Master at Arms inquired.
"Yeah, yeah, that was it." Jane glanced at Maura who was subtly bobbing her head up and down, clearly begging Jane to confirm her blatant lie.
"Well, the girl's a hero! Back to our brandy, then." Said the man with the red face, who was beginning to run low on the brandy in his glass.
"You must be freezing, let's get you inside." Ian said quietly to Maura, deciding Jane was no longer worth his time as he put his shoulder around his fiancé and turned back toward the interior of the ship.
"Perhaps a little something for the girl's trouble?" The man with the brandy urged Maura's husband-to-be.
"A twenty should do it, no?" Ian suggested.
"Is that the going rate for saving the woman you love?" Maura snapped in annoyance.
"Maura is displeased…. What to do? I know." Ian said, turning back to Jane, "Perhaps you could join us for dinner tomorrow evening? To regale our group with tales of your heroic rescue."
Normally Jane would've shot down any invitation to dine with these stuck up aristocrats who lived their lives with their noses in the air and their heads up their asses, but one look at the woman she had just saved changed her mind, "Sure. Count me in." She blurted before she could think better of it.
"Good." Ian said, turning away once more. And then to the man with the brandy he said in a slightly hushed tone, "This should be interesting."