A/N: Thanks to spikessweetgirl75 for reviewing and SarahAnneXXX for favoriting! :)
The Shock Of It All
"Bloody hell, man!" Carrick yelled, sliding across the floor to retrieve his pistol from underneath the night side table. He didn't know what his partner had been thinking, ruining their plan like that. "Fancy jail, do ye?" He glared furiously at him.
"I-I...er..." Joseph stuttered, stepping away from the bed a few inches. "I just realized that any passersby would hear the gunshot...an' our doors are broken down so anyone could come right in. I realized if we shot 'em, we'd actually get arrested faster," he lied.
He didn't dare mention the part about not wanting to murder his own flesh and blood. As much as he wanted to break away from his malicious partner, stand up to him even, he knew that doing so would escalate the situation for the worse. Carrick was dangerous, and he wouldn't hesitate to murder all three of them in a matter of seconds.
Carrick let out a maniacal laugh. "Of course! Ingenious of ye!" he roared, clapping his hands together. He could scarcely believe how foolish he'd been. His partner was actually right for a change.
On the bed, Tommy had managed to free his hands and was now untying his fiancé's. He didn't understand why his brother had chosen to help them instead of pulling the trigger, and actually felt a surge of guilt course through him for dismissing his brother's apologies. But it didn't last for long, as his anger crept back towards him for even putting them in such a dangerous situation.
"Shh, it's all right, sweet... we're going to be just fine now," he whispered soothingly to Shannon, who was still choking back tears.
"I-I thought...I'd n-never see ye again...or me family an' our friends...or Ireland...or America...an we'd never have our six wee babies..." She wept quietly into his soft shirt.
She could scarcely believe what had almost just happened. How her life could have ended in a matter of seconds, yet there she was, still alive. She silently thanked God for whatever he sent to save them, and tried to block out the disturbing thoughts of never experiencing her future with Tommy or seeing her homeland, family, and friends ever again.
"I know, I know that was horrible an' scary, but it's all over now...we're still alive, and we'll be together fer an eternity," Tommy promised, planting a soft kiss on her lips.
He too was greatly disturbed by the whole thing, by the fact that his life nearly ended a mere two minutes ago, and he muttered a prayer of thanks to God and his angels for sparing them. He couldn't imagine not getting to explore the promise land or having a future with Shannon, and never seeing his family and friends and homeland ever again. However, it was important to him to comfort his fiancé first, as she was clearly the more distressed of them both.
"How long is t-that?" Shannon whimpered, kissing him back. She couldn't bear the thought of being without the love of her life for even a day.
"At least another seventy somethin' years or so here in this world, I swear to ye," Tommy replied soothingly.
"What happens after that?" Shannon whispered softly.
"We'll be together forever in Tír na nÓg, a' course." Tommy flashed her a wily smirk and pulled her closer.
"The Land of Eternal Youth." Shannon let out a soft giggle and snuggled against him.
They both remembered being told stories of the magical land known as Tír na nÓg when they were children. It was a place in ancient Celtic mythology of eternal happiness, health, and beauty, and where a hundred years went by in a day. That was their believed Heaven.
Joseph shifted nervously on his feet as he eyed his partner, waiting to see what he'd do next. "So... I wonder what that shudder was," he mused coolly.
Carrick scratched his chin and set his gun down on the night side table. "Dunno... but I think I hear people out an' about in the hallways, prob'ly wonderin' the same thing," he commented.
Suddenly, the voices in the hallway got louder as they came closer. Several stewards were popping in and out of the rooms, telling the first class passengers to put lifebelts on.
"Mr. Ryan?" a voice called from the doorway. "Is everything all right in here?" a brown-haired steward asked, entering the parlor room.
"Fine! I'm fine, yes, thank ye," Joseph answered, scurrying out of his bedroom and shutting the door so the steward couldn't see that he had three other people in there.
"I've come to tell you that the shudder you felt isn't anything to worry about yet, the ship scraped against an iceberg and likely threw a propeller blade," a brown-haired steward said calmly.
"That was one hell of a shudder, are ye sure it's not serious?" Joseph asked curiously.
"You can go and check it out if you'd like, Mr. Ryan. We've stopped the ship and there's still passengers out on deck looking at it," the steward replied.
"Er...thank ye," Joseph said with a small nod.
"Of course, Sir." The steward walked out of the cabin to check on more passengers.
Joseph quickly ran back towards his bedroom door, just as Carrick opened it. He looked at his partner suspiciously. "What the bloody hell is goin' on?" he demanded, crossing his arms.
His partner merely shrugged. "I think we should go up on deck, apparently the ship hit an iceberg," Joseph explained, brushing past him and opening his bedroom door. He walked over to his closet and grabbed his warmest coat off of a hanger.
"And what the hell are we supposed to do with these two?" Carrick cocked an eyebrow, an edge of agitation in his voice as he nodded towards the Irish sweethearts.
"We'll finish 'em later, come on, I think somethin' serious is goin' on..." Joseph replied, quickly fastening the buttons on his coat.
Carrick glared at the couple on the bed. "Don't even think this is over, ye two, we'll come back fer ye... there's no way in hell yer escapin' this one," he threatened through clenched teeth, stalking out of the room.
Once he'd left, Joseph looked at his brother and soon-to-be sister-in-law. "Believe me when I say this, it's in yer best interest 'ta trust me," he said.
He had no intentions of harming them, and was scared of the horrific scheme his partner was probably cooking up in his mind right then as he walked back to his own cabin. "I think somethin' serious is goin' on, so yer safe from us fer now...take advantage of it, and take that how ye will."
The Irish sweethearts hopped off the bed. "We're goin' back down 'ta third class now, an if ye even think yer gonna come lookin' fer us...ye got another thing coming..." Tommy grumbled, pushing past his elder brother as he stormed out of the room, his fiancé close behind him.
Joseph watched them go and sighed. "Oh how I wish he'd learn to trust me... I just bloody saved their lives fer God's sake," he muttered, shaking his head.
...
Being in the bedroom, the Irish sweethearts hadn't heard Joseph telling Carrick about the ship hitting an iceberg, and thus hadn't the slightest idea what exactly was going on. All they knew was that they'd felt a ship-shaking shudder and that something serious might be going on.
"I don't know what the bloody hell is goin' on, come on, let's get back 'ta our cabin," Tommy said, rushing down the stairs from F deck to G deck.
"Jesus, Mary, and Joseph... it's flooded down here!" Shannon squeaked as she stepped down onto the hallway floor with a splash.
"The ship must've hit one a' those icebergs," Tommy mused, shaking his head. "We better get our things before they're too soaked," he decided.
"Look, everyone's grabbin' their things, this looks bad," Shannon commented, nodding towards some other people who were running towards the stairs from their cabins with their sacks full of personal belongings.
They quickly scurried back to their cabin, which luckily wasn't on the flooded side of the ship, to grab their suitcase. Upon opening the door, they were met by Mr. and Mrs. Hannigan, who were rushing around in their pajamas as they did the same.
Mick ran a hand through his disheveled dark brown hair as he picked up his uileann pipes. "These have been in me family since me great grandda was a boy, can't go gettin' these all wet," he told them.
Brenna scowled as she threw the book she'd been reading into their suitcase. "I swear, whatever the hell's goin' on, we better get our money back... me husband worked his arse off fer these tickets, an' if the ship's gonna crash inta' somethin' an' flood... they better not make us pay," she grumbled to herself.
"The ocean is littered with icebergs this time a' year, I'll bet they hit one a' those... but I don't know how serious the damage is yet," Tommy said, grabbing their suitcase from underneath the bed. He checked the time on his grandfather's old pocket watch. It was 11:58, two minutes til midnight.
"Considerin' half this deck is flooded, I'd say it's fairly serious," Shannon added, quickly changing out of her nightdress and back into her skirt and blouse. She pinned her hair back up in a bun as well.
On some sort of gut feeling, she took her mother's necklace out of the suitcase and put it in her skirt pocket instead. Something was telling her that if she somehow lost the suitcase, at least the necklace would remain in her possession. She knew she could live without her diary, but the necklace had been a special gift from her mother; the last thing she'd given her before she boarded the Titanic.
Looking at Tommy, she nodded towards his grandfather's watch. "Put that in yer pocket, in case we lose the suitcase," she whispered.
"Why would we lose the suitcase?" Tommy looked confused.
"Just do it," Shannon huffed. "Does everything have 'ta be a question with ye?" she asked.
"Fine, fine," Tommy agreed. "I was only wonderin', Jaysus," he said as he put the watch in his pocket and locked up their suitcase.
Once they had all of their belongings, they shuffled out of the room behind Mr. and Mrs. Hannigan, shutting the door behind them. All around that side of the deck, couples and families were rushing around with their things as they made their way to the stairs.
Everyone seemed to know that whatever was going on, they needed to get up to a higher deck, as several of the single men were talking about how their side of the deck was flooded.
"I'm worried, Tommy," Shannon whimpered, clutching her fiancé's arm tightly.
"Don't be, Shanny, not yet," Tommy whispered, wrapping his arm around his fiancé's waist. "Come on, we need 'ta find Jack, he'll know what the hell is goin' on around here," he said.
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