11:00 PM

RMS Titanic, Atlantic Ocean, 110 miles off the coast of Newfoundland

Third Class Hallway

"I had a fantastic time." Feuilly said to Azelma as they were walking to her cabin.

"As did I." Azelma replied. The two of them were holding hands. She sighed. "You know, if I had a luxury cabin with a sitting room, and a chaperone, I would've invited you inside for a chat. But…as I'm sure it's the same for you, my cabin is about yay-big." She said, holding her pointer and middle finger close together.

Feuilly chuckled. "It's just as well. I need to return to my cabin anyway. The stewardess will probably have my head if I were caught in this side of the cabins at this time of night.

Azelma smiled and kissed him tenderly on the cheek. "See you tomorrow."

Feuilly waved goodbye and walked down the hallway.

Azelma blushed as she entered her cabin.

When she saw her parents there, and Gavroche asleep on the top bunk, she wondered where Eponine was.

Trying not to wake her little brother up, she whispered to her parents asking about Eponine's whereabouts. They responded that she was out and about with Combeferre.

She smiled to herself. "About damn time." She thought as she waited for her parents to leave the room so she could change into her nightgown and climb into the top bunk opposite Gavroche.

!

11:23 PM

Cabin D-34, Second Class Cabins

Clara was turning down the bed for Lesgles. Joly was out with Courfeyrac and Prouvaire.

"How long have you been with White Star?" Julien asked.

"About three months." She answered.

Julien couldn't help but admire looking at her. "You ever have plans to just stay in America?"

Clara thought on that question. "I don't know. Working ships is all I know, really."

Julien stood up to face her. "Oh come on, there must be something you can do besides ships."

Clara faced him. "Well…I've always wanted to be a nurse and work in a hospital."

"You know…Joly is practicing medicine…if you ever wanted to, I'm sure he would love to get you set up somewhere."

She looked at him carefully. "Why?" she asked.

Julien saw the weight of her delivering that question. "Well if you must know…because I would like to see you again, and I'd prefer not to wait on the next ship and play a guessing game if you're still on it."

Clara's eyes widened. "But…Mr. Lesgles, we've only just met."

"Oui, but I've really enjoyed my time with you. And I was just hoping that maybe we could see each other outside of sea voyages?" he said.

Clara fumbled with her words. "Mr. Lesgles…I am highly flattered. I really am…but…if what I think you're leaning towards is true, I'm afraid I'll have to decline."

Julien laughed. "The cabin door is open, for goodness sakes. Besides, I'm not that kind of a man."

"Oh I know…but I was talking about a relationship. I've joined White Star to sail the world because…I've gotten out of a bad relationship, and I'm not so sure I'm ready to put myself out there."

Julien nodded…feeling dejected.

"I'm sorry, this isn't proper for me to talk of my personal business." Clara said before finishing up with the beds.

"No, I am sorry. I spoke out of line…it wasn't fair of me…I wasn't being considerate of your feelings."

"You didn't know…it's fine. Is there anything else you need?" She said hastily in regards to the cabin.

Julien looked at her. "No…nothing."

She smiled and bid him goodnight and walked out the door. Julien sat on the couch…lost in thought.

!

11:37 PM

Second Class Boat Deck

Joly, Courfeyrac and Prouvaire were walking out on deck, admiring the star-filled sky.

Joly of course, was the one wrapped up in the most clothing to protect himself from the cold.

"Mon Dieu…" Prouvaire began. "It is times like these that I really wish I was an artist and not a poet. Look at the horizon!" he said pointing to the ocean and sky.

The three of them leaned on the railing just behind Lifeboat #15.

"It's an amazing image of variety. Up in the sky, you have a clear dark blue sky, without the interference of a bright moon…almost cluttered with so many stars. And down below, the reflection of the sea collects absolutely nothing. And it is so calm…as if you're staring deep into a dark void…it's so serene."

Courfeyrac nudged him on the arm. "I don't see why you can't write poetry about this. You're a good poet, Jean. You have the capabilities to create something great."

Jean shook his head. "Nothing I submit ever gets published. I don't have a chance."

"Nonsense!" Joly said. "You have potential. You just have to find your calling."

They were interrupted by Clara exiting the staircase entrance. She had approached Joly.

"Mr. Rivera…?" she asked.

Joly turned around to face her. "Yes?"

"I understand that you are practicing medicine?" Clara asked.

"Uh not quite…I am enrolled at medical school at Harvard. But I do work closely with hospitals." Joly replied. "Why?"

"Well…I was just…never mind…" she proceeded to walk away. Joly followed after her.

"No, wait. Is something troubling you, my dear?" Joly asked.

Courfeyrac and Prouvaire decided to continue their walk, leaving the two alone.

"It's just…I fear Mr. Lesgles may be infatuated with me." The stewardess explained. "I really shouldn't reciprocate any feelings towards passengers. It's bad discipline!"

"Well what does that have to do with becoming a nurse?"

"He asked me if I intend to stay aboard ships…and he felt that if I became a nurse on land, he would be able to see me more often…At first I rejected the thought…but as I was walking up here I began to feel…conflicted."

"Do you care for him?" Joly asked.

Clara slowly nodded. "It is against my principles though. I can't have feelings for a passenger…it's unethical…"

Joly nodded. "And that's why you've reconsidered applying to become a nurse."

"Yes…that way I can quit being a stewardess and not have any sense of guilt for falling for a passenger."

"And I suppose falling for a doctor makes everything just ginger and peaches?" a voice said behind them.

Clara and Joly turned to see Julien standing in the doorway of the Second Class entrance.

"Mr. Lesgles…this isn't what it looks like."

"No…I understand perfectly. You're not interested in a man like me. I get the picture. I hope you two have a great life together." He said, looking grim, before turning around to go inside.

Joly ran over to him. "Julien…wait."

Just then…all three of them felt a strange vibration underneath them.

!

Two Minutes Earlier

Forecastle Deck

Combeferre and Eponine walked outside and climbed up to the Forecastle deck, which supported the Crow's Nest on the main mast.

He had given Eponine his overcoat to wear. She couldn't have been happier.

"What is it about me, Frank?" She had asked him.

"What do you mean?"

"What made you first fall in love with me?"

Combeferre wrapped his arm around her shoulder. "I couldn't help but notice you were quite the troublemaker in school. And…other people in my shoes may have found it disquieting. I found it exhilarating. I've always wanted to step out of my comfort zone and live out a day with excitement."

Eponine nudged her head against Combeferre's shoulder. "Was I your best day of excitement?"

He stopped and turned her around to face him. "Not was. And not just a day. We already told each other what we wanted. And I vowed that I would never lose you again."

Her eyes glistened against the stars. "You never lost me. I was simply misplaced."

He took her face in his hands. "So maybe five years of absence won't be so long…compared to the rest of our lives."

Her smile grew wider, and she threw her arms around him and kissed him like she's never kissed him before.

DONG! DONG! DONG!

They pulled away from their kiss. Combeferre adjusted his glasses. "Don't the bells start afterwards?" Eponine laughed.

!

One minute earlier

11:39 PM

Crow's Nest

Just above where Combeferre and Eponine were standing on deck, Lookouts Frederick Fleet and Reginald Lee were shivering in the cold. Without binoculars they had to squint their eyes to see if they could find anything.

Fleet was more annoyed than any other lookout about the binoculars being inaccessible. His eyes were starting to hurt. He began to rub them when he was looking up ahead.

The horizon was perfectly divided between the moonless sky and the black ocean…until now.

It looked as if the ocean was forming up a strange shape against the sky.

As the shape began to grow larger…Fleet's heart dropped. Without wasting another moment, he grabbed the rope attached to the bell, and yanked it three times.

!

Officer Moody walked over to the phone connected to the Crow's Nest and picked it up.

"Is anyone there?!" Fleet shouted through the phone.

"Yes. What did you see?" Moody asked.

"Iceberg! Dead Ahead!"

"Thank you!" Moody said before hanging up the phone. He rushed over to Officer Murdoch. "Iceberg dead ahead, sir!"

Murdoch ran to the window to confirm the report. He shouted into the mouthpiece to Quartermaster Hitchens who was at the helm. "Hard-A-Starboard!"

"Hard-A-Starboard, sir!" Hitchens replied, before spinning the wheel as fast as he could. Unfortunately, his brain had misinterpreted the order, and he was spinning the wheel the complete opposite direction.

"Full Speed Astern!" Murdoch ordered, before running to the one telegraph. The two officers yanked the levers all the way up to stop, then forward again, and then yanked them all the way until they both pointed to Astern.

!

During this particular shift, Bahorel was helping Grantaire with loading up the coal, as the order for 23 knots had them working twice as hard.

AWOOOGA! AWOOOGA! AWOOOGA!

The two of them stopped what they were doing. They looked up at the red light flashing in the Boiler Room.

This baffled everyone. Suddenly Barrett barged in shouting for everyone to shut the dampers. "COME ON, LADS! SHUT THE DAMPERS! CLOSE THEM!" He shouted.

Bahorel and Grantaire ran to their stations, and started closing the furnace hatches…pulling cranks…and revolving valves as fast as they could.

!

Combeferre and Eponine laughed at first at his remark on the bell.

Then they heard the lookout shouting.

They turned around and saw something that left them speechless.

It was a large black mass. It looked to be the size of the Rock of Gibraltar. Combeferre grabbed Eponine's hand and held it tight. The two of them slowly inched back from the thing as it moved slowly forward…towards the ship.

"What's taking them so long?" Eponine asked, worried.

"This is a large ship…it would take a while for it to respond…" Combeferre answered.

The iceberg was almost past the prow when they were at the stairs.

Eponine was on the Well Deck, and Combeferre was still on the stairs when it happened…

A loud piercing sound of metal scrapping was followed by several chunks of ice breaking away from the large berg.

Combeferre ran from the falling chunks but nearly slipped on one.

Eponine nearly screamed and ran over to him. "Oh God, are you alright?!" She panicked as she helped him up.

He brushed himself off, and tried to reassure her that he was fine.

The two of them hustled over to the railing to see the iceberg as it passed them.

!

Bahorel was knocked off his feet by the strong gush of water that blasted through the iron plated hull.

Grantaire helped him to his feet.

"OUT! EVERYBODY OUT NOW!" Barrett shouted. "COME ON! THEY'RE CLOSING THE DOORS!"

Grantaire and Bahorel could see the watertight doors slowly inching down towards the ground.

The two of them ran as fast as they could. They knew the doors wouldn't stop for anyone.

Bahorel ran through the door first, and Grantaire was the last lucky one to get through. He dove for the ground and slid into some wet coal on the other side.

They were inside Boiler Room #5, when the water started penetrating this room too.

"Hurry up boys!" Engineer Hesketh shouted. "We need to draw the fires lest you wanna blow us all to kingdom come!"

Bahorel and Grantaire reached for some picks and started dragging the coal out of the furnaces. If the cold water reached the furnaces while they were live, an explosion would occur…which would be deadly for the ship.

"What the bloody hell's happening?!" Grantaire muttered.

"Hell if I know! We must've hit something!" Bahorel answered, as he was struggling to pull out as much coal as he could.

!

Joly, Julien, and Clara felt the strange vibration under their feet where they were standing. It was then they saw the iceberg sailing past them. Joly ran to the railing to get a closer look.

Courfeyrac and Prouvaire ran back to the others as soon as they felt the vibration.

"Did you guys feel that?!" Henri asked.

"There it is!" Joly said pointing to the iceberg. "We must've come really close."

Julien had forgotten all about the incident with Joly and Clara. "You don't suppose it did any serious damage to the ship, do you?" he asked.

Joly shrugged his shoulders. "If anything serious has happened, I suppose it would have to have happened down below."

!

"What was it, Mr. Murdoch?" Captain Smith asked hastily as he rushed into the bridge.

Murdoch looked at Smith grimly and said "An Iceberg sir. I hard-a-starboard and ran the engines astern…but I'm afraid she was too close."

Smith walked slowly to the window. He was still trying to process what Murdoch had just told him.

"Stop the engines!" Murdoch ordered. Moody adjusted the levers, and Titanic had stopped.

!

The water was nearly up to the men's waists as they were dragging out the last bits of coal they could salvage.

Barrett shoved them both on the shoulders and told them to get out. Bahorel and Grantaire complied, and climbed up the ladder, shortly followed by Barrett.

!

Feuilly and his bunkmates were awoken abruptly by the loud scrapping noise. Alfred was nearly thrown out of his bed by the shaking in the room. Feuilly hopped out of bed and turned on the light.

"What was that?" he asked.

Theobold had suggested they had a collision.

Wennerstrom suggested one of the propellers dropped a blade. He heard it has happened before.

Feuilly was put on his socks and grabbed his clothes to get dressed to find out what's going on.

He put his clothes on over his pajamas. He went back over to pick up his shoes when his one foot made a *splat* sound.

He looked down on the ground, and saw a little puddle.

"Did somebody spill a glass of water in here?" he asked.

The other three shook their heads. After finishing getting himself dressed, Feuilly opened the door to loud commotion.

Every other passenger was out in the hallway, hovering over a very wet floor.

What was going on? Did whatever cause that jolt rupture the plumbing? Feuilly ran to the staircase to find out what happened.

!

He ran out to the Well Deck. There he saw Combeferre and Eponine looking around. Feuilly was about to ask what happened when he felt something slam against his foot.

Another passenger took the chunk of ice and kicked it around, playing a game with his friends.

"Ice?" he asked.

"We hit an iceberg…" Combeferre said. "About ten minutes ago."

Feuilly looked around at all of the broken ice that was on the deck. "I thought there was a massive leak in the plumbing…"

"Leak?!" Eponine asked, worried.

"My bunkmates and I found a puddle of water inside our cabin. I looked outside and all the other men had the same problem. When I left to come back up here, I saw that the hallway floor was wet, and feet were splashing as people ran."

Eponine looked at Combeferre for reassurance. He turned to Feuilly. "Feuilly, do you know how to get to the Aft section of Third Class from here?"

"Yes, why?"

"We should get Eponine back to her family. I don't like the sound of it, but this could be an emergency. Can you get her back?"

Eponine looked back at him again. "Where are you going to go?!"

"Don't worry. I'm only going to go up top, and see if I can find out the seriousness of the situation. I'll come back for you."

"Frank!" Eponine declared. "If anything has happened, I don't want either of us to be lost trying to find each other in the chaos."

Combeferre thought about it, and realized she was right. He still wasn't sure of how to get around the ship, so he decided to follow her advice.

"Feuilly, go to the Thenardier Cabin. Bring everyone with you. If what you say is true about the water, bring them to the Aft Well Deck, and we'll go from there. Eponine, you come with me. I'll see if any of my friends know anything."

Feuilly returned to the door from the Forecastle Deck, and Eponine and Combeferre climbed up the stairs to B-Deck of the First Class Section. They passed up Jack, Thayer's son, who was conversing with his friend about what happened.

!

"Why have we stopped?" Enjolras asked, half asleep when he asked the steward.

"I don't know, sir. There's talk of an iceberg." The steward replied before walking away.

Enjolras looked around, and didn't see his roommate anywhere. He hasn't returned since going to see Eponine at 7…that was almost five hours ago.

It was then that he spotted Courfeyrac.

Courfeyrac, the fun-loving, outreaching playboy, for the first time in his life, looked gray as a ghost.

"Henri, have you seen Franklin? I can't…what's the matter?"

"We hit an iceberg."

Enjolras's eyes widened. "From your expression it looks bad."

"We felt the vibration on the Boat Deck…I can't imagine it would look good."

Meanwhile, several decks below, Grantaire and Bahorel had managed to escape the Boiler Rooms and found themselves in Scotland Road. Only this time, they were surrounded by hundreds of confused and frightened passengers.

!

Thomas Andrews was pre-occupied with his blueprints of the Titanic, that he didn't even notice the collision at all, until it was brought to his attention by Officer Moody.

He was asked by the Captain if he would go down below decks and inspect the damage.

Andrews had returned to the chart house, where Smith was waiting. Several of the Officers had entered. Javert and Lightoller were among the last, having been just woken up by Boxhall.

"I'm going to hate myself for being the one to address the situation…I couldn't even imagine it could happen…"

"Go on…" Smith asked.

Just then, the silence was interrupted by Ismay's impatience. "Smith! I demand an explanation! Why have we stopped?!"

Smith held up his hand, signaling for Ismay to shut up. "You were saying, Mr. Andrews?"

Thomas laid out the blueprint of the ship. It was her profile with drawn out lines representing the compartments.

"From what I could observe, the iceberg had made several puncture wounds…starting from the forward peak, going all the way down to Cargo Holds 1 and 2, the Mail Room, Boiler Rooms 6 and 5…that is a collection of gashes extending three-hundred feet, all below the waterline."

"So?!" Ismay scoffed.

"That adds up to six compartments flooded…Mr. Ismay." Andrews emphasized. Ismay rolled his eyes.

"If she were to be flooded with three or four compartments…it would be a different story…"

"Speak plainly…Mr. Andrews. What are you saying?" Smith said softly.

You could hear a needle drop in the room. The silent tension was almost unbearable.

"I'm saying that when all is said and done, Titanic will sink."

Everyone looked at each other in shock and disbelief. "But she's unsinkable!" Ismay protested.

"It is a mathematical certainty, Mr. Ismay. The bulkheads only reach E-Deck. Once she starts to go down by the head, the water from Boiler Room 5 will pour over into Boiler Room 4, then into Boiler Room 3 and so on and so forth."

Smith never moved from his stance. "How much time do we have?"

"Water has risen at least 14 feet within the first ten minutes. If my calculations are correct, we should remain afloat…for another hour and a half. Two hours if we are lucky."

Captain Smith's expression never changed, when he turned to his officers.

"Gentlemen…I have served White Star Line for 32 good years. 25 of them I have served as a Captain. We've encountered storms, fogs, small-time incidents…we've had that collision with the Hawke while I commanded the Olympic."

"But in all that time, I have never had the reason to have expected to say that now, we must prepare to abandon ship."

Ismay continued to look on in disbelief.

"Mr. Murdoch, you will muster the passengers and have them proceed to the boat deck with warm clothing and lifejackets."

"Mr. Lightoller, you will uncover the lifeboats, swing them out, and have them loaded with supplies."

"Mr. Wilde, you will call all hands, and have them report to boat stations."

"Mr. Boxhall, you will work out our position, send it to the Wireless Room. Tell the operators to send out a C.Q.D. and to be sure that if any ship picks up our call, they must come immediately to our aid."

"Mr. Pitman and Mr. Javert, you assist Mr. Lightoller at the front end of the Boat Deck. Mr. Lowe and Mr. Moody will assist Mr. Wilde at the stern section."

"You will load the boats with Women and Children first; only allow men if there are no more women and children present. If you are short on hands, allow passenger men volunteers to help row the boats. I don't care how you do it. But most importantly, gentlemen, there must be absolutely no panic. Carry on."

The officers made their salutes and hustled to their duties.

!

Combeferre led Eponine up the stairs and onto the Boat Deck. They were about past the second funnel when…

FFFFFFFFFEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHH!

They both had to cover their ears from the loud fizzing that came from the funnels.

"What the hell?!" Eponine asked. Combeferre leaned in so she could hear him.

"They're probably releasing excess pressure from the boilers."

"Look!" Eponine pointed.

Combeferre turned around to see crew members scrambling around the lifeboat davits. They seemed to be detaching the lifeboats from their latches on the boat deck.

"We have to regroup with the others." Combeferre shouted. "Come on!"

The two of them ran towards the Aft section.

!

Marius had slept through the collision, but not the sudden disappearance of the low hum of the engines.

He was nearly finished getting dressed when there was a knock on the door.

He opened it up and saw it was Mabeuf.

"Sorry to disturb you, Master Marius."

"Not at all. What's happened?"

"I've just come back from waking your Grandfather. There's quite some…activity up on the Boat Deck. And it is the Captain's request that all passengers dress warmly, don their lifejackets, and report to the Boat Deck at once."

Marius brushed past Mabeuf to see what was going on outside. Sure enough there were plenty of Stewards hustling from door to door with the same intent.

"You better bring your overcoat." The Valet said.

Marius nodded and opened his closet, and pulled out his coat, scarf and cap. Mabeuf helped him by taking down the lifejacket from the top shelf. Mabeuf opened it up, and slid it over Marius's head.

Mabeuf pulled the strings around Marius's waist and tied them to keep the lifejacket securely in place.

Marius walked over to the mirror to look at himself. His lifejacket was cork filled, with two columns of three squares. "Does it go with the latest style?" he asked Mabeuf with a smirk.

He looked at the Valet when he didn't laugh. "Perhaps I didn't emphasize the seriousness of what's happening. The ship is stopped because I heard tell that we've struck an iceberg."

Marius's face dropped. "Should I go to my Grandfather?"

"I'm sure he would appreciate it."

Marius nodded and hustled over to Gillenmormand's stateroom.

!

Cosette was finishing putting on her long overcoat, and pushed her long hair out, when her door was being knocked.

She opened it and it was her father.

"Oh good…you've heard."

"Yes…a Steward came by and told me to get dressed and put on a lifebelt…"

"Good." Valjean said, before walking past her and going to the closet.

"Daddy? Is whatever's going on, something bad?" Cosette asked.

Her father scoffed. "Hardly. It's simply just a boat drill I'm sure." He came back with a lifejacket and some spare blankets.

"In the middle of the night?"

"A very clever stunt from White Star Line. They like to catch us off guard as part of their protocol. This way, their ships can be prepared at any given time." Valjean explained as he helped Cosette with her lifejacket.

"Well I supposed it appears we'll be a day late getting to New York." Cosette said softly, trying to make light of the situation.

Her father chuckled. "Don't worry, my dear. When it's over I'll permit you to sleep in late this morning." Cosette tried to laugh.

!

To say that Feuilly was worried, would be an understatement.

When he first left his cabin, the floor just looked wet. When he returned, the water brushed past his shoes.

Feuilly ran past all the other passengers as fast as he could. It started to become more crowded as he approached an open area.

To his relief, he found the Thenardier family all huddled together, with their warm clothes and lifejackets on.

"Feuilly!" Azelma cried before running into his arms.

"Is everyone alright?" Feuilly asked while still holding onto Azelma.

"Perhaps you should elaborate on alright." Mr. Thenardier said.

"What do you mean?"

"See for yourself!" Mrs. Thenardier said pointing to the stairs.

Feuilly looked up and saw that the passengers that were on it were at a stand-still.

In front of them, the gate was locked, and there was a steward trying to keep everyone calm.

But he looked nowhere near ready to open the gate to let them through.