WriterFreak001:

Be prepared for lots of feels.

PS. I was going to post the first chapter AFTER I finished Poaching, but I decided to go ahead and post it since I've already finished writing it, but I'm not going to update the story UNTIL I'm at least done with Kill Switch and almost done with Poaching. Consider this the extended sneak peek for the whole story.


Title | The Scorpion

Fandom | Scorpion (CBS)

Story Type| Alternate Universe loosely based on the motion picture, Titanic (1997).

Description | AU. Major Waige. Though this story is inspired by Titanic, it is a separate entity from the movie. The characters are different, and the storyline, save for a few major plot points, will not follow the pattern of the movie. I could tell you more about this story, but then that would ruin the fun of reading it and finding out what happens yourself! ;)

Rating| This fanfiction will be rated M for language, sensuality and death.

POV | Third Person Omniscient (mostly)

Disclaimer | While CBS owns Scorpion and 20th Century Fox owns Titanic, I am the creator of this masterpiece.

Claimer | I am human; there are bound to be mistakes. If you feel like something should be changed, you have the power to send me a review/private message. I can't guarantee if I'll change it every time, but I do read all of my reviews and all of my private messages!


I am including Character Descriptions in case you want a general background of each character in this story.

Character Descriptions:

Walter O'Brien (in place of Jack Dawson): a third-class Irish inventor trying to make his way into society by traveling to America in hopes of convincing American industrialists of investing in his revolutionary ideas for future industrialization. His sister, Megan O'Brien, a house maid on the ship, tries to help him and his buddy, Toby Curtis, board the Scorpion, but when she can't win favor with her boss, Walter tries Toby's method. Luckily, after gambling for two hours, he (and Toby) is able to (illegally) board the Scorpion and embark on a journey that forever changes his life…

Paige Dineen (in place of Rose DeWitt Bukater): a young, first-class woman, who is trying to live up to her mother's standards by marrying Andrew Baker, the III, son of a wealthy Pittsburgh steel tycoon. She hates her life and absolutely hates her fiancé, but with little to no money and nowhere else to go, she has no choice but to fulfill her mother's wishes. In her mind, there's only one way out… until she meets a strange Irish inventor who changes her entire world…

Andrew "Drew" Baker, III (in place of Cal Hockley): an extremely rich man who is determined to make Miss Paige Dineen his wife. He doesn't care for her well-being, only that he's marrying a pretty face with wealth (little does he know, she doesn't have any). He will do anything to ensure he marries Miss Paige Dineen. Absolutely anything….

Toby Curtis (in place of Fabrizio): a poor street-rat who's best friends with Walter O'Brien and absolutely terrible at gambling. By some stroke of luck, however, he manages to help Walter (and himself) win tickets to board the Scorpion. Toby often plays cards with the other third class passengers, and (again, by some stroke of luck) becomes good friends with Sylvester Dodd, the grandson of the Scorpion's captain. He also falls in love with Miss Happy Quinn, daughter of the ship's leading engineer, Patrick Quinn.

Happy Quinn (no substitution): a brilliant young woman who often follows her father around the ship and advises him on certain aspects of the Scorpion's schematics. She helped design most of the ship, but because she's a woman and, according to society's standards, "not fit for the trade," her father handles all questions related to the ship's design. Often tired of the facade, she sometimes takes a stroll along the lower deck of the ship to help clear her head. By accident, upon one of her walks, she bumps into Toby, and slowly, she falls in love with him.

Patrick Quinn (in place of Thomas Andrews): the leading engineer of the Scorpion. Paige Dineen finds his knowledge of the ship's design rather fascinating and often approaches him with many questions - questions most women wouldn't care to ask. Patrick Quinn is highly impressed with Paige's thirst for knowledge and is happy to answer her questions any time. He eventually introduces Paige to Happy, and the two of them, despite their differences, become great friends.

Sylvester Dodd (no substitution): the captain's only grandson, and because of his seasickness, he often spends his time outside on the third class deck of the ship to help maintain his equilibrium. He meets Toby upon one of his strolls, and they become friends quickly. Toby has this great ability to help Sylvester forget about his seasickness so he finds spending time with the gambler rather enjoyable. Sylvester, after meeting Megan O'Brien, a maid who is instructed to serve Miss Paige Dineen, falls in love and begs Paige to organize a meeting for him.

Megan O'Brien (no substitution): Other than being Walter's older sister, Megan works as a house maid for Miss Paige Dineen. Anything Paige needs, Megan has no choice but to serve her. However, Paige is different than her previous mistresses. Paige doesn't consistently order her around and make fun of her when she messes up or screams at her when she doesn't show. In fact, Paige often does everything herself… Megan, when Paige's mother isn't around, only has to help Paige dress and serve her meals. Megan and Paige become friends quickly, and Paige, who doesn't really have any other woman to speak to when she first boards the Scorpion, confides in Megan. She tells the young maid personal matters in her life, and Megan offers advice. And when Megan finds out about Paige's secret beau, she helps Paige in any way she can to make her younger brother happy.

Cabe Gallo (in place of Molly Brown): a widowed, rich man who recently lost a son to Influenza, takes a liking to Walter O'Brien and helps him blend into first-class society… In spite of his support of Walter's "infatuation" with Paige, he carefully warns Walter about the possible consequences, but the Irish inventor is determined to fight for the woman he has fallen for.


One important note:

Some of the dialogue at the beginning of the story will match, to a degree, with the dialogue in the movie, but once the opening scene is finished, I will be spinning off into my own interpretation of this Alternate Universe. I hope you enjoy!

One 2nd Important note:

The first part of the narration will be mostly in Paige's point of view, but once the flashbacks come to life, the narration will be omniscient. :)


The Scorpion

Written by WriterFreak001

Chapter 1:

The Ship of Dreams

~ SCORPION ~

Slowly, she hovered her palm over the long forgotten relics neatly laid out in front of her and closed her weary eyes as old, painful remembrances of her youth suddenly resurfaced from decades of deep submersion. The soft strings of the viola… the violin… the cello… the bass… resonated inside her mind as his gentle, loving face smiled from her memories. She brought her long, frail fingers to her cold, wrinkled cheeks as she remembered the way his lips would feel against hers… how he would feather hot kisses along her slender neck, and she would weave her hands through his thick, dark curls. Remembering him and how he loved her unlocked feelings she hadn't felt in many, many years, and if she could go back… if she could return to that one night and hold him in her arms again and kiss him and love him once more before everything was twisted and shattered and ripped away from her, she would.

She would always want to return to the man who had stolen her heart.

Always.

Her weepy eyes fluttered open, and she spotted the silver tortoise shell mirror her mother had given her on her eighteenth birthday. Carefully, she wrapped her fingers around its handle and marveled at its intact beauty. "This was mine," she spoke quietly as she held the back of the mirror out in front of her. "How extraordinary. It looks the same as I last saw it." And then she turned the mirror over and stared into its cracked glass. She frowned. "The reflection has changed a bit..." Tenderly, she placed the mirror down on the cushioned table and picked up the next artifact. "My mother's brooch…. She had wanted to go back for it. Caused quite a fuss, actually." Remembering the often crude ways her mother had treated her, she found the emotional strength within her to smirk. "Oh, the irony."

And then she saw the small butterfly comb she had worn in her once honey-colored, silky hair the night she had given him her everything…. She held it in her hands with delicacy as the comb unlocked more repressed memories. She was going to run away with him. She was going to leave her fiancé and marry him and live out her whole life with him. There was so much they had planned to do together once they had run away…, but God had other plans in store for them.

Nothing, after that night, was ever the same.

"Miss Dineen."

Her granddaughter helped her turn around towards the man (she couldn't really remember his name) who had originally asked her to board this vessel floating in the middle of the Atlantic, and the frail, elderly woman forced a smile. "Yes?"

"Are you ready to go back to Scorpion?"

She inhaled a deep breath and slowly nodded her shaky head. "As ready as I'll ever be."

The man (she really wished she could remember his name!) led her and her granddaughter to another room and nodded over to a coworker. "Lewis is going to show you an animated analysis of how Scorpion drowned in April of 1912. If any of it makes you uncomfortable, please let us know, and we'll shut it off immediately."

Silently, she nodded and prompted Lewis, the hairy man, to begin his presentation. Though she listened and was curious of the analysis, she was unimpressed with the man's insensitive delivery. Once he was finished, she straightened her back and inhaled another deep breath. "Thank you," she forced a smile, "for that fine forensic analysis. Of course," she continued in a clipped voice, "the experience was somewhat less clinical."

The nicer, more sensitive man knelt in front of her and quietly asked, "Will you share it with us?"

She nodded. Perhaps it was time for someone to know…

Carefully, she pushed herself out of her wheelchair and wobbled over to one of the screens featuring footage of Scorpion in ruins below. Ghostly music waltzed into her mind as she vaguely remembered officers calling for women and children as screaming voices echoed everywhere. She covered her eyes and wept quietly into her palms as the memories became too real for her.

"I'm taking her to rest," her granddaughter said as she placed her palms on her shoulders and guided her back to her wheelchair.

She took a step back and shook her head violently. "No!"

Everyone grew quiet and stared at her as she stepped away from her granddaughter.

Eventually, the kinder man spoke. "Miss Dineen."

"Paige," the elderly woman mumbled as she sat back down in her wheelchair and folded her fingers on top of her lap. "Please call me Paige."

He smiled and nodded. "All right, then, Paige. Please tell us what happened."

Paige let in a deep breath of air and released it slowly as she turned to look at the footage of the ruined ship. "It's been 84 years…"

"Just tell us what you can," the man smiled, encouraging her to continue.

She blinked at him and pursed her lips. "Do you want to hear the story or not?"

Everyone else snickered at her prissy attitude as the man – she really had a hard time remembering his name – awkwardly closed his mouth and silently prompted her to continue.

"As I was saying," she rolled her eyes and leaned back in her chair, "It's been 84 years, and I can still smell the fresh paint. The china had never been used, and the sheets had never been slept in." She then smiled as some of her happier memories came to life. "Scorpion was called the Ship of Dreams, and it was. It really was…."

~ SCORPION ~

April 10, 1912

Paige Dineen, a beautiful young woman with flowing honey-brown hair and piercing hazel eyes, gracefully took the driver's hand and stepped down to the pavement as masses of people gathered along the port of Southampton to bid farewell to their loved ones. Various people, from first class to third class, boarded Scorpion, the fastest and largest ocean liner of the century. Paige gazed at the colossal vessel through her long lashes and studied its incredible features.

As her incorrigible mother and her incredibly smug fiancé joined her in admiring the steamer, Paige pretended not to be impressed and rolled her eyes as Drew, the man her mother was forcing her to marry, touched her back. She stepped away from him and continued stoically gazing at the ship as though she was unfazed by its grandeur. She forced a frown and sighed. "I don't see what all of the fuss is about. It doesn't look any bigger than the Mauretania."

"You can be blasé about some things, Paige, but not about Scorpion. It's over a hundred feet longer than Mauretania, and far more luxurious." He grinned much wider than he needed in order to try and impress her. However, his efforts, as far as Paige was concerned, was failing miserably. "It has squash courts…, a Parisian café… Even Turkish baths!"

Paige shook her head and placed as much distance between herself and Drew as she could while she walked off to examine the ship elsewhere. She didn't need to deal with Drew's arrogance this morning, and she certainly didn't want to give him any sort of satisfaction, knowing he was right. Scorpion was indeed much larger than the Mauritania. Even though she reluctantly agreed to be his wife one day (for the sake of her mother's sanity), it didn't mean she had to like him. She tolerated him most days, but even a strong, dignified woman like herself could only take so much of the man's immeasurable conceited behavior.

She could still hear Drew's annoying voice talking to her mother, and she clucked her tongue. Drew just didn't know when to shut up. His presence was the first of many things she wasn't particularly looking forward to during this trip. In fact, if she had things her way, she'd stay in Southampton and let her fiancé and mother leave for America without her.

"Shall we go, darling?" Drew suddenly approached her from behind and hooked his arm around hers so casually. If her mother wasn't looking, she'd slap him for being so careless of her feelings. She knew that he knew she didn't like strolling so publicly with him, but he, as always, was too proud to care about anybody other than himself. Perhaps he did care for her in his own way, but Drew had a strange and peculiar way of showing it.

She forced a smile and nodded, but she held her tongue to avoid confrontation with her mother.

Without looking back, Paige allowed Drew to lead both her and her mother to the boarding docks, and she secretly gazed at deep black leviathan, wondering what the Good Lord would have in store for her as she made her way to the Ship of Dreams.

Or, in her case…, the slave ship taking her back to America in chains.

~ SCORPION ~

Walter O'Brien stared intently at the hand of cards in front of him and carefully gazed at each of the men sitting around the table. He couldn't afford to lose now. He and his friend, Toby, were far too invested in winning those White Star Line tickets to give up. He needed to win. No, he had to win. Not for himself (well, mostly for himself), but for his sister. If he didn't win those tickets, he might never see Megan again, and Toby would never forgive him for losing the one chance they had of returning to America.

One card could very well choose his fate, and if he didn't, by some stroke of luck, receive the right one, he and his friend would be mortally screwed.

Toby eyed him suspiciously, and he silently encouraged him not to make a stupid gambling mistake, but Walter had to take the risk despite the fact that the odds were certainly not in his favor. "Hit me again, Sven," he said quickly and quietly.

Toby's eyes popped open. "Are you kidding me?! I know gambling, O'Brien, and you're going to lose all my money!"

Walter ignored Toby's rant and slipped the new card into his hand. He inwardly smirked and stoically looked about the table of people again. "The moment of truth," he glanced at the Swedes and added, "Somebody's life is about to change."

Toby gritted his teeth and revealed his poor hand of cards as the Swedes did the same. Walter, however, chose not to reveal his just yet. "Looks like Toby's hand's a bust. Olaf…," Walter tsked quietly, "It seems the odds weren't in your favor either." Walter met Sven's eyes and then the Swede's hand. "Sven…. Oh, that's unfortunate," he frowned. "Two pair." He pursed his lips and groaned. "That's definitely unfortunate." A long awaited smirk eventually colored his lips. "For you." His smirk grew ear to ear when he suddenly slammed his hand down on the table and exclaimed, "Full house!"

Toby's hands gripped his hair and jumped up and down with excitement as he screamed and laughed in the Swedes' faces. Walter, though really excited he was actually going to America, contained his enthusiasm as Toby celebrated.

"You!" Sven grabbed Walter's shirt and aimed his fist at him before turning and ramming his knuckles into Olaf's nose. Walter scrambled away and dusted off his shirt as the men continued brawling on the floor.

"I can't believe you did it, Walt!" Toby exclaimed as he hugged him unexpectedly. Walter froze and pushed his friend off of him. "I'm goin' back home! And when we get to America, we're going to be the richest sons of bitches there ever was! Oh," he paused and quickly added, "and your sister, too."

"No, mate!" The pub keeper called out to them and pointed towards the clock as they heard loud whistles echoing across Southampton. "Scorpion go to America! In five minutes."

"SHIT!" Toby exclaimed as Walter immediately grabbed his sketchbook and their tickets before both of them scampered out of the pub towards the thickening sea of people as Scorpion sounded its final warning whistle.

~ SCORPION ~


WriterFreak001:

This is my first Scorpion AU story so… be kind with reviews! ;)

Also, future chapters will most likely be much longer than this opening chapter. :)