A/N: Thanks to Louise for the review, I'm glad you think it's exciting, old girl :P, thanks to Number one fan, I am glad that you are excited as well, just trying my best as always! Thanks to Upsidowngirl, you think it's unique and well written? You flatter me, good luck with school and I'm glad you took the time to read my story, I will keep writing! So... onto the story my lovely readers!

Chapter 36

Rachel's POV

Without another word I walked out onto the deck, the lights were dimmed at the front of the ship to make the ice easier to see, not that it would be much help on this night. I walked to the railing at the side of the ship, as I had done so many times before, my breath fogged in the cold air and the metal railing drew the heat from my skin. I closed my eyes and imagined the look-outs up in the crow's nest.

"Their eyes would be bright in the darkness," I thought, "staring out at the blackness in front of them. The still ocean making the horizon difficult to make out, only the stars to distinguish it from the water. Then they would see it." I gripped the railing tighter, "The huge mass of solid ice," I whispered, I could feel myself trembling with anticipation for what would come, I was scared, but strangely excited, this was something that I never imagined I would ever see of experience, the Titanic hitting the iceberg.

Nervousness had a grip on me "'What do you see?'" Officer Moody would ask as he spoke on the telephone with lookout Fleet, 'Iceberg, right ahead!' would be the reply that no one wanted to hear." In my mind I could hear Officer Murdoch giving the order for "Hard to starboard!" The couple of frantic seconds in which they attempt to reverse the ship, to steer around the iceberg, but it wasn't enough. Under my feet I felt the vibration of the engines, then there was a sudden judder, a slight shaking and I jumped back from the railing as a huge iceberg was passed by the ship, it scraped along the side, giant pieces of ice cascading down onto the deck, shards of ice breaking away from the larger pieces and flying in all directions. As suddenly as the berg had appeared, it was gone as the ship shot past it. The only sign I could see of an iceberg was the mess that it had created on the deck. I ran and picked up a piece of it and as I did so, the vibrations beneath my feet stopped.

Jack's POV

I continued to send the passenger messages so that Harry didn't think that there was anything wrong, there was no point in making my friend panic, and I had to keep up the illusion of me being as clueless about what was going on as he was. The ship hitting the iceberg could hardly be felt, just a gentle shaking, it was the engines stopping that would be noticed. Harry got out of bed and pulled the curtain back,

"Have the engines stopped?" he asked, looking confused and tired,

"I believe so," I replied,

Harry let out a disappointed sigh, "this will delay the journey and there will be a ton more messages."

"There will be more messages," I said,

"Do you want me to take over?" he asked, rubbing his eyes,

"You can do the accounts, and then take over at twelve, as we had planned." I smiled to myself, knowing that by the time twelve midnight came, the last thing we would care about would be our accounts.

Rachel came into the room quietly, one hand behind her back and her eyes cast down.

"Any idea what is going on?" Harry asked her, a hopeful look in his eyes,

"Yes," Rachel said, I tried to make eye contact with her, hoping that she wouldn't tell Harry the ship was sinking yet.

"And?" Harry asked, as there had been a pause, he was obviously curious for an answer.

Rachel took her hand out from behind her back, in her clenched fist, dripping with water, was a piece of ice.

"Ice," she said, looking from Harry to me.

She set the ice on the table, away from the mechanics and paper though.

"Ice?" Harry repeated, considering it, his eyes looking upwards.

"Has the ship struck ice?" I asked, attempting to sound casual and as if I didn't already know,

"I believe so," replied Rachel, she raised an eyebrow at me,

"We will be on our way in an hour or so," Harry sighed, seeming irritated at the delay and the probability of sending more passenger messages.

Rachel sat down next to me; she did so slowly, her eyes turned to me.

"You didn't get hurt out there, did you?" I asked her, scanning her quickly for injuries,

"No," she smiled, "my hands are just a little cold from the ice."

"Ah," I smiled, pulling my leather gloves out from my trouser pocket and handing them to her.

"Thank you!" she grinned as I helped her put them on, her hands much smaller than mine, so the gloves fitted easily on over her slender fingers and the ring. Her hands were cold, so I held them in mine, smiling sweetly.

"I wonder if it is serious." Harry said from behind us, we turned to face him, "The damage, I mean, we've had no word yet, is that good or bad?"

"We'll see soon," I replied, finding it difficult to look at him for too long, as I felt guilty as it felt as though I were lying to him.

Harry was about to say something when Captain Smith entered the room, we all stared at him in stunned silence for what felt like forever, then he looked at me, his blue eyes looked devoid of emotion, as if he were miles away.

"Send out the call for distress," he said, looking very definite and handing me a page with the ship's co-ordinates on it.

I heard Rachel let out a little gasp, she was nervous, I wanted to comfort her, tell her not to be scared, but I had the captain to deal with, this was my duty and it had to be done.

"CQD, sir?" I asked, sounding extremely polite,

"Yes, CQD, tell them we have struck ice and we are going down by the head," he said, looking slightly less sure, as if what was happening was only starting to hit him. Hearing these words was no easier than I had been the first time, I still felt deeply shocked, a feeling in my stomach like I needed to be sick.

"Or," chirped Harry, coming over and standing next to me, "you could use the new call, SOS, it could be your only chance to use it!"

Strangely, we all laughed, even the captain, who then nodded and left the room. It was still like no one believed that the ship could sink, even though it was occurring.

"Well, I'd better send it then," I smiled, before battering the message out on the signal key, making sure to keep an air of calm about me.

"CQD," Rachel said to Harry, "that means 'come quickly danger', right?"

"No," Harry shook his head, "'CQ' means 'be quiet and listen!' and 'D' means 'Distress'."

"Ah right," she said, "So SOS means 'Save Our Souls' though, doesn't it?"

"No again!" Harry laughed, "Your wireless training must have been awful! You obviously haven't learned anything from me! SOS was picked as the new call because it's so easy to send and to hear! Three dots, three dashes, three dots, easy, anyone could understand SOS, it doesn't actually mean anything."

"That makes sense now, I guess," she said, looking slightly embarrassed at not knowing that.

I listened to them talk, it helped me to keep a steady head, Rachel's broad Northern Irish accent and Harry's more gentle English accent starkly contrasted, but I enjoyed listening to them, it helped me to act as I should, as I had before, like a hero, but it was past midnight and I had sent the first distress call, now all I could do was wait for the moment of my death to come, again.

A/N: Louise wrote on my fanfic as I was writing in school, can't trust you! It says "Hey Hannah's fanfic!" So I shall reply, Hannah's fanfic says "Hey Louise!" Sorry to ruin the drama, you all must be so excited... or not.