Chapter 10

~~~~12:00 am, April 15, 1912~~~~

Helen double-checked the bandages on Edward's torso. It wasn't her best work, but it would suffice for now.

Nikola kept guard by the window; he had been abnormally quiet for the past 15 minutes.

He leaned against the wall, wearing only his undershirt and trousers, and she'd be lying if she said she didn't think he looked desirable in his current state.

Helen stood up and made her way over to him.

"Edward should be fine, you managed not to hit anything severe," she said comfortingly.

"That's good," he said softly.

"You did well, Nikola," she put her hand on his arm. "You were in an impossible position, and we managed to sedate Edward, without killing him. A few scraps and scratches here and there comes with the territory."

He chuckled lightly.

"I guess I'm just rusty at the abnormal hunting business," he shrugged.

Helen smiled and leaned forward to kiss him softly.

"I'm just glad you're safe," she smiled and wrapped her arms around him. She rested her head on his chest. He was cold, more than usual for even a vampire. "You're chilled to the bone."

"Yah, thanks to my little swim," he smirked and sighed contentedly. His arms came around and rested on her back.

"What's going to happen?" asked Helen.

"I don't know," he sighed.

"This ship is not going to stay afloat for very long, we saw the damage," she squeezed him slightly, trying to warm him up.

"Hopefully another ship is on its way, they're bound to send out some sort of signal, especially since the lack of lifeboats," Nikola said calmly. "They'll probably load women and children first, so…"

"No, if we only have a limited amount of lifeboats I'm going to let someone else take my spot, I can handle myself," she lifted her head off his chest. "I'm not leaving you."

Nikola smirked.

"Dear Helen, am I mistaken in thinking that you like me?" he teased.

"Well, we still have a wager to finish," she smirked, sliding her hands down his torso.

Nikola growled low in his throat, and leant down to kiss her, softly at first but then more needier. The arms around her pressed her closer to him and she went willingly. Helen already had him against a wall and she used it to her advantage, pushing him fully against it.

He grunted slightly, pulling her with him.

She ran her hands down his strong bare arms, feeling the curves of his biceps and muscles, wrapping her hand around the bend in his elbow. She had him perfectly pinned.

His lips broke away from hers and moved to her cheek, then down to her jawbone, up to her ear then to her neck.

The sensation gave her chills. He bit down and she moaned audibly.

She heard Edward stir across the room and froze.

"Nikola wait," she gasped in a whisper. He stopped. "We can't do this here."

He let out a strained groan then pulled away.

"Right, no public displays of affection," he released her and she immediately missed the contact.

"Well, we don't want him to wake up to us…" she blushed profusely.

Nikola grinned and wiggled his eyebrows.

"True," he chuckled, pressing a light kiss to her temple. "I much rather have you all to myself anyways."

"You would," she teased, stepping away from him.

She walked over to the furniture in front of the fireplace.

"Come on, you should keep warm," she waved him over. "Your clothes are frightfully damp, maybe you should go change."

"So you can ruin another one of my shirts," he scoffed.

"So you don't catch pneumonia," she gave him a slight leer and smirked. "Besides, I won't ruin your shirt if you promise not to rip my dress."

Nikola gave her a mischievously lusty glance.

"I shouldn't make promises I can't keep," he said slyly.

"Go, get changed, I'll be fine," she sighed.

"Alright, you can make some tea, make sure it's not the funny stuff the Captain was drinking," he opened the door to the cabin and brusquely walked out.

Helen laughed lightly. She had already thrown all of it out. She was not going to risk another overdose.

As soon as Nikola stepped outside he heard the rush of panic as White Star Line employees rushed from deck to deck ordering the passengers to dress warmly and put on their life jackets.

One employee rushed by.

"Excuse me, what's going on?" he stopped the young man.

"Immediate evacuation of the ship, sir, please put on your life jackets and make your way to the main deck," said the man in a very rushed rehearsed manner.

Luckily, Nikola didn't have to ask any more questions, he had seen the damage himself.

Without even thinking he returned inside to the cabin. Helen gave him a confused look.

"That was fast…and you didn't even change," she stood up from her chair. "Is something wrong?"

"They're ordering all passengers to dress warmly and put on their life jackets, I'm assuming they'll be loading them into lifeboats shortly," he said lifting up the panel to the compartment that held the life jackets.

There were only two.

"I suggest you and the Captain do the same," he tossed her he two large white vests.

"What about you?" she looked at him.

"I'll be fine, swimming is one of my talents," he smirked slightly. "Besides there is only two in here and he needs one more than I do."

Helen nodded.

"Alright," she put on the life preserver, tightening up the straps as fast as she could. She then rushed over to Edward and put the other one on him.

She saw him head back to the door.

"What are you going to do?" she asked worriedly.

"I'm going to go see if I can be of any assistance, things are going to get a lot worse before they get any better," he said. "Don't worry, I'll come back for you, I'm still determined to win this wager."

He grinned and winked at her before leaving, closing the door behind him.

Nikola made his way past the panicking staff and crewmembers trying to assess the situation. Everyone was caught off guard by the turn of events. He quietly slipped into the crew quarters and stole a spare uniform from one of the lockers. If he was going to be of any help he had to look the part.

He stepped back onto the deck in full uniform, including the hat and RMS Titanic insignia.

With his disguise he marched straight to the bridge and inconspicuously listened into the conversation between First Officer Murdoch and Thomas Andrews.

"You're not listening to what I'm saying Officer, there is not enough lifeboats to fit everyone on this ship," said Andrews.

"I understand you perfectly sir, this doesn't make anything easier I'm afraid," said Murdoch.

"Where is Captain Smith?" growled Andrews.

"Captain Smith is detained at the moment," said Murdoch calmly.

"Now? The ship is in crisis, she'll be sinking in the next hour or so, we need to get people in the lifeboats as fast as we can, tell your staff to still the panic as best as they can and get those lifeboats down and ready for deployments as fast as possible! The longer we stay on the ship the more people who are going to die!"

"Captain Smith is fully aware of the situation and has put me in charge as he takes care of other things," Murdoch remained calm; Nikola smirked slightly. The man was completely lying to Andrews about the Captain, no one but himself and Helen knew about the Captain.

Nikola keeping his head low moved out of the bridge down to the Marconi Room, a name he detested and wanted to scratch off the wall but now was not the time to be petty.

He walked in, making the young Marconi Officer jump.

"I have orders from the Captain," said Nikola.

"What? I mean, yes, what is it?" the young man asked.

"He's ordering the send out of a CQD to any nearby ships," said Nikola.

"A CQD?" the man clarified.

"Yes and the new signal, SOS, as soon as possible on all frequencies," ordered Nikola.

"SOS?" the man looked quizzical.

"As soon as possible," repeated Nikola.

"Is something happening?" asked the man.

"Did you not feel us hit that iceberg?" Nikola glared at the man.

"N-No, I mean yes, I did, but is it really that serious?" asked the man.

"We wouldn't be sending out a CQD if it weren't, and SOS, if you can, now would be preferable," Nikola was quickly losing his patience.

"Uh, okay…"

"What is your name, boy?"

"Uh, J-Junior Marconi Officer Harold Bride sir," said the young man.

"Well Bride, please don't make me have to explain to the Captain of your unwillingness to carry out his orders," Nikola's words bit with every syllable and the young man quickly turned to the radio, sending out the CQD.

Nikola left the room and smirked. He loved intimidating young things; they were so helpless.

He looked back up to the sign and then scowled at it.

Marconi.

He scoffed.

Knowing him they were already doomed.

It should say the Tesla Room, in fact, half of his genius went into the making of this boat, it should very well be named the Teslanic…of course, it was too late for that now…and anyway, his ship would've had enough lifeboats. Idiots.

He bit his lip and kept walking.

He needed to keep focus, Andrews had said an hour or so before the ship sank, that meant they had less than an hour until water flooded the main breaker and they would lose lights and panic would erupt, which means they had less than an hour to get half of the passengers onto lifeboats before people started to get violent.

Nikola picked up the pace.

He wasn't going to go unprepared. Helen won't let herself get on one of those boats if she thinks she can save someone in her place, and Nikola knew that the chances of her surviving in that water was the same as everyone else's.

He got to the top deck and examined it, trying to figure out how things were going to go pear-shaped.

The front was water-heavy, slowly sinking while the aft was still afloat. Either the water would spread to the aft and the whole thing would sink horizontally, or the front would go down and the bottom would go down and the whole vessel would sink vertically. Or worse, the infrastructure would buckle and snap in half. Either way it wasn't going to be pretty.

Those who didn't get on a lifeboat only had one chance of survival, and it would come in the form of a rescue ship.

If a ship didn't come in time there wouldn't be a lot to save.

He wasn't going to let that happen.

He looked around him.

Either way, the aft end of the ship was going to be the last thing to go down.

If he couldn't get Helen on a lifeboat he'd have to make one.

~~~~Captain's Quarters~~~~

Helen cradled her mug of tea in her hands, it was going to get cold very shortly so she was going to enjoy the last few moments she was going to have in the next while

She couldn't help but worry about Nikola.

The man was full of surprises, sometimes he wouldn't lift a finger to help anyone, but when it counted he would do all he could to save a life. It boggled his mind.

She knew there was a difference between helping one person and then saving a boat full of women and children. Especially children.

His immortality gave him the ability to be extraordinarily brave, not all men were. It was times of crisis that really showed the dignity of a person. A man willing to sacrifice himself to save others among many men who would willingly push in anyone in his way to save himself.

Helen knew she would give up her seat to save a child or someone equally as helpless. Edward wouldn't let her put him on a boat. He was the Captain; he would go down with this ship.

The door opened and Nikola came in.

She noticed his change of attire and she grinned.

"You look handsome in uniform," she chuckled.

"I thought you'd think so," he grinned.

"All you need is the anchor tattoo," she teased.

"I'd rather have a tattoo of your beautiful face right here," he laid a hand over his heart.

Helen laughed.

"As flattered as I am, I prefer your chest the way it is," she stood up and wrapped her arms around him.

Nikola pressed a small kiss to her lips and pulled back with a grin.

"Just my luck to choose the voyage that's sinks to woo you," he sighed and Helen giggled.

"Is that what you call it? I'd call it bombardment," she teased.

"How is he?" Nikola gestured to Edward.

"Still resting, but his blood pressure has gone down, so that's good," she released him and went over to Edward to lay a hand on his face. "He's stopped burning awhile ago."

"That's good, it sounds like they'll be loading first class passengers on to lifeboats soon," he sighed.

"What's it like out there?" she asked.

"Panicky, no one knows what's going on out there," he sighed. "It's going to turn into chaos once they realize the place is falling apart around them."

Helen bit her lip.

"What are we going to do?" she asked.

"I'm in this of the long haul, so I'm going to go help them get women and children on to the boats before the men start to freak," he sighed.

"When do you estimate that will happen?" she moved to him.

"I don't know, a half hour maybe more," he took her hand. "I want you to get on one of those boats."

Helen looked into his eyes.

"If you're in this for the long haul then so am I," she reached up and kissed his cheek lightly then hugged him in a tight embrace.

"Hold me," she whispered.

He nodded and he scooped her up in his arms and gently laid her on the settee. He held himself above her and kissed her gently, moving from her lips to her neck and gently kissing the spot above her pulse point. She closed her eyes and bit her lip, willing the frightened tears to stay away.

Nikola would take care of her, she was sure of it.

He was gentle and soothing, his arms caressing her body, willing it to relax, shielding it from the fear she felt in her heart.

This was going to be the last peaceful moment they would have in the next few hours. Her shaky fingers wrapped around his lithe torso and held him close, wanting his warmth to stay with her.

One hand slid to his face and brought it up to hers. She looked into his eyes.

Some many things she wanted to say to him, so many things she needed to know, yet there was not enough time.

She opened her mouth to say something but no words came out. She didn't know where to start.

He kissed her lightly.

"I know," he whispered to her.

He moved off her into the small space between her and the back off the couch.

His arms wrapped around her and snuggled her close to him, his lips on her neck.

"We'll be ok," he whispered and she couldn't help a small tear escaping.

It was hard for her, knowing how many people weren't going to make it home, how many children, wives, mothers, husbands, fathers, and friends we're going to go down with this ship. It broke her heart for them and it scared her.

Helen had seen many things, but loss was still hard for her to contend with, especially at such magnitude.

She was glad for Nikola's warm embrace. It made her feel safe.

Nikola kissed her neck again.

"I," he said but stopped.

"What?" she asked quietly.

"Nothing," he muttered and sighed. "Just glad I came."

Helen let out a weak laugh.

"You would say that," she turned to look at him.

"It was fine while it lasted," he smiled softly at her.

Sometimes she could swear he was talking about something completely different. His eyes never said what they mean.

"Well, for what it's worth, I'm glad you're here too," she smiled back at him.

He leaned over and captured her lips in the gentlest of kisses. This wager was never meant to go past this ship, and she knew it wouldn't. They'd reach New York and they'd return to normal, but it was nice for a moment to pretend. Pretend that this was some epic love story with a happy ending. But Nikola and Helen both knew that fairytale endings didn't happen, not to them. There was still too much history, too much baggage behind them. This voyage was a break in reality where they could forget the lies and the betrayals and everything that had drove a wedge between them in Oxford. Where she and Nikola could play games and never get past the surface, to play lovers.

That was the real truth behind the wager.

But Helen would be lying if she said she didn't wish things were different, but this was the rules of their game.

So in this moment, she lifted her fingers into his hair and kissed him as passionately as she could. She was saying goodbye to her imaginary lover, and it hurt just as much as saying goodbye to any lover would, maybe even more.

Nikola pulled her closer, pulled her under him; into his arms.

Edward stirred again.

"H-Helen," he muttered and Helen sighed.

There was never time.

She got up from under Nikola and went over to Edward.

"It's ok Edward, just rest," she whispered soothingly to him.

He whimpered then went back to sleep and Helen looked back at Nikola who shifted to his feet, scrubbing a hand over his face. He moved towards the window and peered out of it.

Helen felt the distance between them like a lead weight.

She missed him already.