A/N: Thanks to Broadwaygirly for the nice review... it inspired me to update! :D

And again, I'd also like to thank all of you 22/23 who favorited/followed this story so far!

Here is another update!

Rose's Choice-Rescuing Jack; April 15th 1912

Up on deck, Officer Murdoch was shouting instructions to his fellow officers as they lowered another lifeboat full of first class passengers. "Lower it away! Left and right together! Steady...Both sides together! Steady. Steady! Steady!" He yelled, watching closely as the boat was being lowered.

Just then, the boat began to tip sideways. "Stop! Stop! Stop!" Murdoch shouted as a few ladies shrieked. "Hold the left side! Right side only! Right side only! Right side only hold the left side! Right side down...Lower away together!" He instructed with wild hand gestures. "Steady lads!" The boat slowly descended and hit the water gently.

Rose was standing with Cal and her mother near Molly Brown and some other first class passengers, waiting to board a lifeboat. She watched the flares being sent up, as she contemplated whether or not she'd board the lifeboat when the time came. Her suicidal thoughts had been pushed to the back of her mind, but they were slowly resurfacing, just as they had after she'd spoken to Mr. Andrews.

Imagine the looks on Mother and Cal's faces if I don't get in the boat... maybe that will show them once and for all how much they've made me hate my life. Half of the people on this ship are going to die because there aren't enough boats... hell, I think they should've started with the steerage, I like them better.

Dear Lord if I make it out of this alive, I hope Cal and Mother never find me. Or if I die... please let them survive just so they can't harass me in the afterlife. She tried to shake these desperate thoughts out of her head, but her feelings were too real to go away.

The RMS Titanic was sinking deeper and deeper into the frigid Northern Atlantic ocean. As the water rose higher and higher against the ship's lower portholes, Jack began to panic, not that he'd let Lovejoy see it...so he kept his gaze fixed out the window. The dark sea water was splashing the glass.

Lovejoy sat at the small wooden desk, letting his bullets roll down the slanted surface before catching them in the palm of his hand. He smiled smugly, and turned to face Jack, who was now looking at him.

He loaded his gun with a sharp click. "You know I do believe this ship may sink," he mused, if only to terrify the young steerage rat. Jack was staring at him, an unreadable expression across his face. "I've been asked to give you this small token of our appreciation," Lovejoy said coolly, striding across the room and slamming the pistol into Jack's gut, after pretending he was going to put it to his head.

Jack gasped in pain as he slid down the pole. "Compliments of Mister Caledon Hockley," Lovejoy told him, walking away and grabbing the key off the desk. He put the key in his coat pocket and left the office without another word, leaving Jack huffing and puffing in agony with a scorching pain in his gut.

Shit... Lovejoy really is that evil. I'm screwed. Damn.

Ismay had made his way out onto the deck. He stood looking up at the sky as the distress flares were sent up, for the purpose of attracting the attention of any possible nearby ships that might see them and come to help.

He was suddenly very afraid, taking in the full scene around him. The passengers were in a panic, the officers were rushing people into lifeboats, and the screams that echoed through the freezing night air were loud and chaotic. He could hear Officer Murdoch giving more orders in the background "Release the boats from their lockdowns..."

Ismay turned on his heel abruptly. "For God's sake hurry..." he muttered, his eyes wide. He was suddenly posessed to sprint across the deck yelling "There's no time to waste!" for some reason that was definitely a result of his mixed feelings of guilt and panic. "Lower away! Lower away!" he screamed, shaking the lifeboat lever violently. He didn't know what to do, and he knew that it was of dire importance to launch the lifeboats as quickly as possible.

His guilt was so great, that it was causing him to act like a madman. "HEY!" Officer Lowe yelled angrily, rushing over towards him. "Get off the wheel, do you want me to drown the lot of them?" he shouted.

"Do you know who I am?" Ismay spat back, infuriated that one of the lower in command officers just yelled at him.

"You are a passenger and I am a ship's bloody officer, now do as you're told!" Lowe shouted at him, his eyes flashing dangerously as he pointed for Ismay to back off. He turned back to what he was doing, leaving Ismay utterly mortified at his own outburst.

"Yes he's quite right...Sorry I-" he stuttered as officers pushed past him.

More first class ladies were being helped into lifeboats. "Step abord Miss!" officers voices could be heard echoing through the night air.

Molly Brown turned to look at a lady waiting beside her, who appeared reluctant to board. "Come on sister you heard the man, into the boat," she said.

Cal walked closer. "Any room for a gentleman?" he asked. His voice was hopeful but held an arrogant undertone.

"Only women at this time Sir," the officer in charge told him matter-of-factly. Cal looked put out, but he didn't push the matter.

Rose watched a lady hugging a man who was probably her husband, while sobbing hysterically. She wanted to feel sorry for her, for all the poor and frightened passengers on the ship, but she had her own problems.

"Will the lifeboats be seated according to class?" Ruth's voice snapped her from her reverie. "I hope they're not too crowded..."

Rose couldn't believe the words that had just come out of her mother's mouth. To hear her own mother say such a horrible thing, put Rose at her absolute boiling point. "Oh Mother, shut up!" she snapped, infuriated.

She grabbed Ruth's shoulders and shook her. "Don't you understand? The water is freezing and their aren't enough boats. Not enough by half. Half the people on this ship are going to die," she scolded, shaming Ruth into a shocked and wide eyed silence.

"Not the better half," Cal interjected smugly.

"Come on Ruth, get in the boat!" Molly called out. "First class seats are right up here!" she said as Ruth climbed in.

Rose glared at Cal. In that moment, she realized that she wasn't going to get in the lifeboat. She needed to go back and find the one man that she truly cared for, theif or not. Jack was being held somewhere below the ship, and if she didn't do something, he didn't stand a chance... and she wasn't about to survive without him. He was her only hope at escaping the suffocating confines of high society.

"You know it's a pity I didn't keep that drawing. It'll be worth a lot more by morning," Cal said.

"You unimaginable bastard," Rose spat. The look in Cal's eyes told her everything she needed to know. Jack wasn't a theif, he'd been framed, but then she realized that she'd known this all along.

She didn't have much time to dwell on it though. "Come on Rose darlin', there's plenty of room for you." Rose looked down to see Molly waving her into the lifeboat. "Come on Rose, you're next darlin'," Molly repeated, as some lifebelts were put in the boat.

Ruth glared at her insolent daughter. "Come into the boat, Rose," she ordered.

Rose began to back away slowly. No, I'm not like her. I'll never be like her. I'm different from them, I refuse to surrender my life like this. If I step into this lifeboat, then I may as well die right here.

"Come," Cal demanded.

Rose shook her head and took a few more steps back. "Rose. Get into the boat!" Ruth exclaimed, a worried edge in her voice. "Rose..." Ruth warned, her eyes wide in horror.

"Goodbye Mother," Rose said, breathing heavily. She knew she was making the right choice, for once in her life, she seemed to have the upper hand. Knowing full well that her mother wouldn't dare leave the lifeboat, she turned and stalked off.

"ROSE?! Rose come back here!" Ruth cried.

Cal was on it at once. He refused to have her running off. She had to survive, because he was going to ensure his own survival, and if she got herself killed and screwed up the wedding... there would be hell to pay. "Where are you going?" he demanded, grabbing her arm and turning her around harshly.

He couldn't believe it when he realized the answer, it was practically written on her forehead. "What? To him?" he asked, fury boiling in his veins. "What? To be a whore to a gutter rat?" he spluttered.

"I'd rather be his whore than your wife," Rose replied, looking straight into his cold brown eyes. Her voice was laced with a venom that stung Cal to his very core.

This realization and outburst of Rose's true feelings just infuriated Cal further. He was shocked for a brief second, but then grabbed her arm angrily and yanked her back. "No! No! I said no!" he yelled as she struggled against him to break free. Her emotional struggle was being physically symbolized.

Rose noticed the brief look of despair in Cal's eyes before he'd gotten angry, but she didn't care if he was sad or upset. All he had ever been towards her was abusive and controlling. He treated me as nothing more than a brainless chindadoll. He hit me. He scared me. He yelled at me. I owe him nothing. On a sudden whim, she acted on a idea that had popped into her head, and spit straight into Cal's eye.

She took off running as Cal reached to wipe the sticky saliva out of his eye. "Rose! Please stop!" Ruth was screaming in the background as the lifeboat prepared to lower.

"And, lower away!" one of the officers shouted, much to Ruth's horror.

"Lower away!"

"No wait!" Ruth shrieked. "Rose!"

"And lower together...hold the left side now!"

As soon as the boat hit the water, Quartermaster Hichens began yelling at Lookout Fleet and some other men holding oars to pull them away from the sinking ship. "Keep pulling!" he ordered. The shouting of officers still on the ship echoed in the background.

"Well pull together!" Hichens shouted. He glanced behind him, feeling very afraid. "We've got to get away from the ship," he explained. "Keep pulling... you on the starboard side, you aren't pulling evenly." He looked at Fleet.

"Sorry, Sir," Fleet apologized.

"Pull!" Hichens yelled.

Molly Brown couldn't help but notice that Fleet seemed unfamiliar with the whole rowing thing. "You look like a duck with a broken wing, haven't you ever rowed a boat before?" she asked him.

Fleet shook his head. "No, Ma'am," he panted.

"Gimme that oar, I'll show ya how it's done," Molly said. Fleet moved back and allowed her to take the oar from him. She began rowing swiftly away from the ship.

"Now pull!" Hichens demanded. "Pull! Pull!" Ever so slowly, they rowed further out.

Deep below the waves, as the lower part of the ship was now completely underwater, Jack was looking out the flooded porthole in a panic. "Help!" he yelled, clanging his handcuffs against the pole. "Can anyone hear me?!" he called out desperately.

He now knew for a fact that the ship was indeed sinking, while he was stuck at the very bottom of the ship in handcuffs. He continued to clang the handcuffs against the pole. "Hello? Help me!" he shouted. "HELP ME! CAN YOU HEAR ME?!" his cries echoed out through the hallway.

The freezing water was now flooding the stairwells and corridors at the bottom of the ship. "Can anyone hear me? Someone help me!" Jack was yelling.

Rose ran up and down the first class corridors, desperately looking every which way for the only person that could help her. "Mr. Andrews? Mr. Andrews?" she called, looking around in all directions.

Mr. Andrews was just down the next hall. "Steward, check the starboard corridor," he ordered one of the stewards.

"Yes Mr. Andrews," the steward replied, rushing off.

"Madame, please put on a lifebelt. Get to the boat deck immediately," Mr. Andrews said as a first class lady came out of her cabin. "Lucy, for God's sake put on your lifebelt and set a good example," he said, gently stroking a young stewardess' face.

"Yes, Sir," Lucy said, rushing away.

Mr. Andrews continued checking cabins for passengers. "Mr. Andrews!" Rose called, nearly running right past him. "Mr. Andrews! Thank God!" she cried, spotting him out of the corner of her eye.

Rose ran to him. "Where would the Master At Arms take someone under arrest?" she asked, her voice filled with panic and dread.

Seeing a young first class girl like herself still on the ship absolutely floored him. "What? You have to get to a boat right away!" Mr. Andrews told her.

"No!" Rose shouted indignantly. "I'm doing this with our without your help, Sir. But without will take longer," she said.

Mr. Andrews shook his head with a heavy sigh, and pulled her off to the side. "Take the elevator to the very bottom. To E Deck. Go to the left... down the crewmen's passage. Then go right, and left again at the stairs. You'll come to a long corridor..." he explained. Rose nodded, trying to visualize his directions.

Meanwhile, Jack was starting to lose hope. He sighed heavily after looking out the completely submerged porthole. "This could be bad..." he mused. Just then, he heard the sound of rushing water, and looked down to see it flooding under the door.

"Oh shit! Oh shit!" He yelled, using the pole to climb up on the desk. He clanged his handcuffs against the top of the pole, grunting.

Rose charged through the corridors until she reached the main lobby area with the elevators. "Excuse me, thank you..." she panted, pushing her way through a small crowd of passengers.

She ran up to the elevators as some other passengers were arguing with the lift operator. "I do not care what you think, Sir..." a lady was complaining.

"I'm sorry, Miss, but the lifts are closed," the lift operator said, blocking the elevator.

"I'm through being polite, damnit! Now take me down," Rose demanded with an angry huff. She had a furious look across her face and indignance sparkled in her eyes, as she pushed the lift operator backwards against the wall of the elevator. Not only did she shock herself, but the lift operator looked as if he'd just wet himself.

He yanked the lever with a frightened look in his eyes. "E Deck," Rose told him. The lower corridors were flooding rapidly on that side of the ship, as Jack struggled with his handcuffs. "Come on... come on... come on..." he grunted. He groaned in pain as he tried to force off the stiff metal cuffs, looking desperately at the door as more water flooded into the room.

Rose watched as the elevator descended down towards E deck. Suddenly, the frigid sea water came rushing into the elevator with such force, that it caused Rose and the lift operator to stumble backwards. Rose let out a terrified shriek. "I'm going back up! I'm going back up!" the lift operator cried, reaching for the lever.

"No! No! No!" Rose shouted, shoving him out of the way and forcing the doors open herself. She hadn't even realized she was that strong, but dismissed it as adrenaline.

"Come back!" the lift operator yelled. "I'm going back up! I'm going back up!" he shouted, a wild look in his eyes and a terrified expression across his face. He yanked the lever again and the elevator slowly ascended, the water started pouring back out.

Rose turned away from him and began looking around. "Crew passage..." she muttered, realizing how difficult it was to walk through freezing cold water. Just then she came across the sign above a corridor that read: Crew Only. This has to be it... "Crew passage..." She pushed against the walls as she walked down the corridor, to keep herself balanced in the water. As cold and miserable as she was, she was determined to find Jack.

Jack watched helplessly as more and more water poured into the room. He stepped back up on the desk, praying that someone would come back for him. I refuse to go like this. I am Jack Dawson... I'm a survivor! There has to be another way...

Rose shifted through chairs in the flooded dining saloon room, panting as she passed the D Deck staircase. She was still trying to remember Mr. Andrews' directions. Looking down the flooded hallways, where chairs and suticases littered the flooded floors, she realized she couldn't remember if he'd said left or right. "JACK?" she called, praying that he'd hear her.

"Jack?" she tried again, choosing to go left. Suddenly, the lights began to flicker. In the Master At Arms' office, Jack swore he heard another voice calling his name, and his heart skipped a beat. No... it couldn't be. He convinced himself. Why would she still be on the ship?

"Jack?" Rose called out desperately, running down the hallway. "Jack!"

That time, Jack knew he wasn't imagining it. "ROSE!" he yelled.

Rose turned on her heel abruptly. "JACK!"

"ROSE! Rose I'm in here!" Jack shouted. "I'm in here!" He started clanging his handcuffs again, a faint smile across his face. It was her... she came back.

"Jack!"

"I'm in here!"

"JACK!"

"ROSE!" Jack yelled as the door burst open.

A/N: Whaaa it's almost 5 AM...LOL :P

Let me know what you think!