AU set immediately after the sinking of The Titanic on April 15th 1912. Mention of Carla/Liam but primarilly shall be a Carla/Peter fic.
The Carpathia gradually sailed to the area of sea where the great ship Titanic had transmitted it's last call of distress. There were small lifeboats bobbing up and down on the dawn-lit sea and to the captain and crew's horror the floating bodies of those poor souls who had not gotten to safety. "Barlow, prepare blankets and brandy. These poor souls will be chilled from the cold exposure." The captain ordered having arisen from his bed once the first-mate had reported they had arrived at the site of the Titanic last transmission. "Of course sir." The young officer said as he nodded his head and went to prepare the deck for the arriving passengers of the ill-fated ship. He still was struggling to believe that the ship that had been lauded as 'Unsinkable' had seemingly sank to the ocean bed.
Carla shivered wrapped in a warm blanket having been one of the lucky few rescued from the icy water. She stirred slightly as she heard the voices above her, crew members of the Titanic talking as they looked towards a small liner that had sped at it's top speed to help the stricken ship. "God have mercy we are rescued." One crew member said as he crossed himself at the sight of the liner approaching. "Charles indicate we need to get the survivors on here aboard urgently." The elder of the three crewmembers stated as he looked at the rather worrying states of the few survivors they had pulled from the water.
"Macdonald careful with them." Peter Barlow said to a fellow crew member as they began the task of pulling the survivors from the lifeboats. He helped to lift the first survivor from the lifeboats and helped the young woman up onto the deck. Her raven hair clung to her cheekbones and her lips were still slightly bluish no doubt after prolonged exposure to the icy water. "Here take this." He said passing her a warm blanket and showing her to the dining room where brandies had been laid out for the people who had been lucky enough to get onto a lifeboat. "Thank you." She shivered as she looked down still scarred from what she had witnessed. She went to move to the area Peter had pointed to but her feet were unsteady and she fainted to the floor. "Barlow help the young lady to a seat. I'll take over here." Second-Officer Duckworth said as he sensed the poor woman was stricken having gotten to safety and finally realising what she had managed to survive. Peter nodded and left his post to aide the petite woman. "Here take my hand Madame." He said as he helped her up captivated by her wide emerald eyes that had a haunted look in them. "I am very sorry, I must seem such a mess." The woman said as Peter shook his head.
"I assure you, you are nothing of the sort. Now I believe if you take a seat here then one of our passengers is a physician and will be around if you need anything." He said as he guided her to a chair.
He looked over hours later having pulled the last of the survivors from the lifeboats. He'd hoped that she had someone there for her. The dining room was bustling with bodies, sobs were echoing around as people slowly saw that their beloved ones were not amongst those who had been rescued. He paused as he found her sat alone at a table, she looked up and he saw how beautiful she was, even after having been dragged from the icy depths. Her eyes were teary as she bit her lip. "He's gone hasn't he." She whispered as she rose a shaking hand to her mouth. "Who?" Peter said kneeling besides her. He was wary of leaving her, unlike other survivors she seemed to have no-one. "My Liam. We were going to marry when we got to America. He had no chance." She whispered shaking her head slightly.
"He gave his life-jacket to a young woman who was with a child. I have no idea if they made it out. Wh…when the ship went down my hand it slipped fro…from his an…and…." She trailed off unable to speak anymore. Peter was unsure what to do as she wept broken-heartedly for her lost love.