Here it is. The long awaited and uncalled for Titanic AU. I have tried to keep it relatively in the realm of being historically correct; but since it is fictional and still on a more fan fiction side and scope of things, creative liberties have been taken to suit the story. The Titanic portion of things is based more off of the historical event than James Cameron's depiction of said event. The Titanic has always been a subject that has fascinated me and I hope that I give this event the justice that it deserves. As such I want to be aware of the impact that this event did leave on the world and the people who were affected by it. While posting it in time for 108th anniversary since the sinking, if not a bit early. This AU will touch on some more sensitive subjects/topics so that you are aware, though I will try to mention them as they come up. Death is mentioned vaguely in this chapter.


April 1912

It had been far too long since he had last been home. This had been the longest stint he had been on; well over a year on the sea.

Seeing places all over the world that he'd never otherwise see.

He had spent his entire stint on the S.S. City of New York, but would not be ending on it. He and one other able seaman; like himself, were transferring over to a different ship. One that would get them home a few weeks sooner than staying with the New York would.

John would be closer to home than him; he'd still need to take a long train ride to get home. There was no point in thinking about that yet.

He had sent a telegraph to Ruth, bragging that he must be moving up in the world. He had managed to snag a job with John to sail home on the maiden voyage of the R.M.S. Titanic.

There was one last thing he had to do before switching ships.

Earlier in his stint, he had come across a relic of the Spanish-American War. Something he and his siblings had a connection to. Their dad's name carved into the ship.

His bag was at his feet; while he made an etching of the carving with the pencil nub and paper he had saved just for this purpose.

He could hear John tapping his foot and sighing lowly.

He stretched and straightened from his bent over position. Carefully folding the paper into four and tucking it into his coat pocket.

"Are you finally done?" John asked as he uncrossed his arms and they both slung their bags over their shoulders.

"Yes-"

John clapped his free shoulder.

"Good. I would hate for the ship to sail without us on it."

He rolled his eyes as he pulled out his pocket watch to check the time. Snapping it shut when done.

"There's still plenty of time." He said as they started to disembark from their current ship.

They didn't have far to go and coming upon the large ship was incredible.

He hadn't had the chance to see the Olympic, making that first glimpse all the more impressive.

oOo

It didn't take long to board the Titanic and report to duty. Where they got their tentative schedules and their bunking arrangements.

He and John would be within the same quarters, though their schedules differed.

His first shift was on the bridge. He had to be at his post an hour before they left port.

As it was, he had some free time before he needed to head to the bridge. He wanted to do a little exploring before his shift. So, he and John split ways.

What he wanted to see first, was the lifeboat davits.

He was curious about how the lifeboats would lower on a ship this tall.

The davits were similar enough to other ones he had worked with to practice. He shouldn't need to use them, but now his curiosity about them was sated.

Just in time too.

He hadn't realized how late it was getting. If he didn't hurry, he'd be late to his post.

The only problem was that he was going to have to rush through the passengers lining the deck to get to the bridge on time.

He set out at a steady but swift pace. One that would hopefully keep him from looking rushed.

He focused on the path that he wanted to take. Scanning ahead to avoid running into the passengers.

Only to knock into a young lady talking with an older woman, nearly knocking her to the deck before catching and steadying her.

"I'm sorry Miss, my most humble apologies for not seeing you. Please enjoy your voyage."

He tipped his hat, giving a small respective bow before continuing on towards the bridge.

He had managed to avoid running into anyone else and was a couple minutes early before his shift began. Giving him a moment to straighten up before entering the bridge.

oOo

He left his first shift shaken and tense.

They had a near collision with the New York. Leaving him with the horror of watching the smaller ship being pulled from its moorings, just missing a collision before it was put back into place.

The event had quickly spread through the crew as it had delayed them by an hour.

Luckily, the rest of his shift was smooth sailing.

That had been the only event that had marked that he was on the largest most luxurious ship on the water.

It didn't really change his daily ship life. He, John and the other sailors worked their shifts, smoked when they had the chance, and played cards to help pass the time.

One of those times he had foolishly told John about his encounter with the young and obviously first class passenger, when they both happened to be off shift together.

"On the way to my first shift I ran into a young lady with either her mother or grandmother. I'm not sure which..."

"Was she pretty?" John asked while shuffling the deck of cards in his hands.

"Does it matter? I'll probably never see her again."

"That sounds like you do find her pretty." Said John putting the cards down.

"She's a first class passenger. She'll probably never think of me again."

"There's no reason to be embarrassed then, you did apologize?"

"Of course I apologized." He huffed, crossing his arms.

"Well then, there's no problem. You said yourself that you'll never see her again, so no need to worry." John paused, a smirk growing across his face. "Unless you want to see her again."

"Don't be a fool John. We had an interaction that lasted maybe 30 seconds, with me running into her."

"You keep denying, and yet, here we are, still talking about her."

"Because someone won't let the topic go."

"It's an interesting topic. You, running into a first class lady walking with her grandmother or mother. Obviously being taken enough with her that you chose to mention the incident to me and explain it in some detail. I've never seen you so suddenly smitten by anyone."
John picked up the cards and shuffled them some more.

"Because I'm not smitten. I'm not going to be taken in by a pretty girl."

"You called her pretty." John trumpeted triumphantly. "Have you tried looking to spot her again?"

"No John; I haven't. It wouldn't be professional. Have you forgotten we're sailors? We're the scum of the earth to those types."

"That sounds like you at least wanted to." John said tapping the cards on the table to straighten them.

"I'm not talking about it any longer." He avoided looking in John's eyes.

"Sure you're not."

"I'm not. And if you don't want to wind up overboard, you won't be either." He stared him down.

John narrowed his eyes at him.

"You wouldn't dare Georgian Heat."

"Try me Used-To-Winter. We can see what you think of a cold dip in the Atlantic."

"Fine. You win. I'm done."

"Thank-you. Now deal the cards."

oOo

Other than John continuing to question him about his run in when he didn't want him to and a fellow AB getting sick, the trip was going well.

Having a man down did lead to a shuffling of the shift schedule, leaving the shifts a bit different than when they started, but it was nothing too out of the ordinary.

Until he had been woken up by John after he had just barely gone to sleep after a longer than normal shift.

He was exhausted, but it was all hands on deck.

They had struck ice.

They were being called to man the lifeboats. A precaution they said.

He quickly got dressed, grabbed his wool cap for later, and made sure that he had his etching and pocket watch on his person, just in case.

He and John were lucky, they were both assigned to help man the same lifeboat.

He quickly lost count of how many times he and John called out for women and children first.

Helping those into their lifeboat, and the increasing panic that happened as they filled.

There may have been an order for them to lower, but it was hard to tell where that came from and they had more room.

It wasn't much longer until they were nearly full.

He helped a man help his wife into the lifeboat; something that had been common as they loaded, whispering reassurances to her.

Followed by his mother from what he was overhearing from their conversation as he helped the elderly woman into the lifeboat.

"Mother, look after them."

"Of course my dear boy. If you get an opportunity to avoid greeting your father, please take it. I'd like to see you at home."

"I'll try."

She put a hand on the man's cheek, giving it a bit of a rub with her thumb before letting it fall and moving further into the lifeboat.

"Your turn next, Miss." He held out a hand to the young woman clinging to the man, ironically, the same one he bumped into at the beginning of the voyage.

"Daddy, I don't want to go without you..."

"Emily, you need to go onto the lifeboat."

"Emily, my dear, if you come on now, you'll give your father a better chance to find another lifeboat to get on, or even this one last minute." Her grandmother tried to coax her, holding her hand out to her.

He looked seriously at the young woman.

"Miss, I only have so much space left before they force me to lower away, those people pushing behind you would have no problem throwing you over if they knew I was stalling and you weren't taking the offer."

Since he had bumped into her, he felt it was only fitting that he made sure she got into a lifeboat. He offered her his hand again. After a moment longer of hesitation she grasped his hand and he helped her in.

"That's my girl. Take care of your grandmother and mother. I know you're scared, but stay hopeful. I'll get home to you if I can." Her father said, giving her a kiss on the cheek.

The young lady started panicking as soon as her father stepped back to let a couple more women and children on; the older man helping them on, filling the lifeboat.

He could hear the daughter panicking, and wanting to get off the lifeboat as to not leave her father behind.

He was going to try to help him. He had an idea which might not work, but at least it would be a chance.

"We can't take you-"

"I realize that, son, it's-"

"LISTEN. If you stay within this area, and jump, we'll find you. We can handle a little more weight once on water." He said.

It took the older man a moment to realize what he had said, but understood the opportunity that he was offering.

"Take my coat then, I have a feeling I'll want something dry after a dip in those waters."

He took the coat silently with a nod and gave it to his family members, before he and John went to man the winches.

They tried to keep it as smooth as possible, but there was only so much they could do for that.

His heart was in his throat as they lowered the lifeboat.

They were splitting families apart, by having filled their boat mainly with women and children. Who knew if any of them would be reunited.

They hit the water with a dull thud, and they quickly worked to release the lines, freeing themselves from the sinking ship.

Once they started rowing away, they could see the severity of the ship's angle.

He doubted anyone could deny the ship was sinking now.

They just needed to get away from being so close from the ship. It would make it easier to spot the gentleman he told to jump as well.

"Why are we- Nanna- we've rowed too far away- you said we'd take my father!"

"Miss-"

"You told him!" The young lady cried out.

"Miss, please! John, you see him?"

"Still on the deck where we left him." John said.

"Here I am already looking in the water..." He grumbled.

"Well, we can't get him until he goes in, at least from here, we can see when and where he does," said John.

Now they just had to wait for him to jump and watch the ship sink.

"There he goes now, watch the water for where he comes up, but we better start rowing. The sooner he's out of the water the better."

"I see him, he's spotted us as well. He's starting to swim over, we need to start getting ready to help him in."

They stopped rowing.

He raised his voice to explain what they were going to do.

"Alright everyone, we are going to be taking in some people from out of the water. The lifeboat is going to rock and roll a bit. It might feel like it's to tip, but it will not. If you shift your weight to the opposite side it should also counter the effects of us pulling people in. If possible, give those who are wet one of the blankets."

"Ready John?" He asked.

"Are you?"

"As much as can be."

oOo

They had already pulled out six people out of the water, including the one he told to jump and they were working on pulling out another, when it happened.

They almost had him into the lifeboat; when the next thing he knew, was the sharp pain of cold water.

Panic.

Which way was up?

A mouth full of ocean water.

Finally sputtering when his head broke above the water.

Before he had the chance to even properly orient himself, he was being pulled out.

Even once he was back in the lifeboat it took him a moment to readjust.

After he finished coughing, he murmured a quick thanks to John and the other man who helped pull him out; Edward Piston, he introduced himself as. The same man he told to jump.

"Anymore space John?" He asked.

"We're overflowing as it is, are you going to be okay?"

He just shrugged his shoulders at the question, he knew he was going to be more susceptible to hypothermia now. He didn't want to think about it right now when the ship was still sinking.

"Let's just get going, we don't want to be caught in her suction. Saw enough of that with the New York." He said.

He refused any offers of blankets, he still had a job to do. But John force him to take his wool cap, since his own was as wet as the rest of him. He had tried to refuse it, but John insisted.

"You're wet, and I'm used to winter, remember? It's a bit colder in Maine than Georgia, Mr. Georgian Heat."

"Thanks for the reminder Winters."

He rolled his eyes at him as they started rowing.

They rowed until they felt like they were far enough away to not be caught by the sinking ship.

They had been watching it sink as they rowed, and now that he stopped he wasn't going to watch the massive ship with hundreds still aboard die, as the ship finished sinking beneath the waves.

As carefully as he could, he turned away from the Titanic, hands folded respectfully in front of him, as those left on the ship died all around them.

If he survived the night, it wasn't one he'd be forgetting anytime soon. Being wet as he was with everything else was going to haunt him.

oOo

He had already been chilled before his dip. Now the only thing dry was John's hat that he forced upon him.

His eyes widened.

His pocket watch and etching.

He patted down his pockets, breathing a sigh of relief when he found both. The etching was a bit waterlogged, but still in one piece.

He shivered as a light breeze blew over them, to counteract that, he squatted down low to try and get out of the breeze.

Every so often John would check on him, "how're you doing Jesse?"

"Fine John." Though he could feel his clothing freezing to his skin.

He didn't know how long it had been when he could hear a young lady scared about not feeling her fingers.

He cautiously made his way to where the panicking young lady was, taking more time than it probably should have, reassuring a different lady that they weren't going to capsize, the ocean was calm yet.

When he got to her, he knew she looked familiar, he couldn't place her other than figuring he helped her into the lifeboat.

"I'd ask how do you do, but considering the circumstances it might be best to skip the formalities. I'm Jesse. Your name Miss?"

She looked over to who must've been her family, who nodded at her.

"Emily. I can't feel my fingers."

"Well, let's see if we can't change that. If you'll just give me your hands, we'll see what we can do."

He was kneeling in front of her now, as she pulled her hands out from the blanket they had been under.

"Will you be able to help warm them up? Your hands must be as cold as mine." She asked.

"Helping you, will help me, so we'll help each other. How does that sound?"

She nodded her head as he took her hands.

He started by rubbing one of her hands between both of his, before switching to the other.

"You're American."

"Born and raised in the south, Georgia, specifically."

He started bending her fingers on each hand, before taking both of her hands together and getting her to rub them together, his hands guiding them.

"How're your hands starting to feel?" He asked.

"Better, I can tell they're there now."

"Good. Any time you feel like you're losing feeling in them, rub them together like we had been, and instead of keeping them under the blanket, place them under your arms like so. Your body heat will help keep them warmer."

He demonstrated putting his hands in his arm pits.

"Do you think you'll be alright now?" He asked.

"Yes, thank you."

He stood to go back to his spot, it left him swaying for a moment and he found it even harder to make it there than it was to get to the young lady. Who he now realized was the same one that he had bumped into at the beginning of the voyage. He shook his head at the thought.

He watched as John made his way over to him, a lot quicker than he had made it back to his spot.

Using John as a bit of a wind break when he got there, as a big shiver shuttered through him.

"How're you doing Jesse? Your movements weren't looking too good."

"Honestly? I'm not doing so well here. I dunno if I'm gunna make it... I'm so tired." He said.

"Don't talk like that. You just have to wait until we get rescued, then you can sleep."

"That could be days and you know it. If this goes further south than this, you'll make sure that Ruth and Henry get these right?" He asked as he fumbled getting out his etching and pocket watch.

"No. You're going to be able to give them to your siblings yourself. Rescue will come soon." John refused to take them, pushing his hands back toward him.

He put them back in his pockets.

"You don't know that John, it could take days for rescue to get here and find us. None of us will last in this cold if it takes days." He pointed out.

"It's not going to take days and everyone here is going to make it, and it'll be a story we can tell our grandchildren. I'm going back to my end, because you're fine, you're going to be fine. You know where I am if you need me." John had put his hands on his shoulders to make his point, and he shrugged them off.

"Go, quit taking up my space then."

He watched as John's dim figure went to the other side of the boat, as a violent shiver racked through his body.

oOo

He was so cold, cold and wet still, though his clothes were freezing, starting to freeze solid more and more.

Everyone was cold and maybe not quite as wet as him, but still a bit wet.

John might not have believed him, but he truly didn't know if he was going to make it through the night.

On top of being cold and wet, he was tired and hungry.

Crouching to try and stay out of what breeze there was, wasn't helping anything either.

He couldn't remember the young lady's name who he helped warm her hands, just that she might've been the one he had bumped into earlier.

Cold was all he could really think about.

His shivering became more violent, shivering was good, not was bad.

He was so cold though, so very cold, just like everyone else was. Everyone was cold, not just him. Everyone was cold.

The young lady he helped warm her fingers was proof of that.

But still, he was so cold. He hated the cold. Everyone was cold, everyone was cold.

He wasn't right.

He was swaying like he hadn't since he started, since he was an ordinary seaman.

Before he could even think about calling out to John, he collapsed.

His legs just gave out from underneath, no longer wanting to hold his weight.

He tried getting up again, but before he got anywhere with it, one of the passengers in the lifeboat had called John over.

"Jesse, come on, tell me what's going on."

"I dunno."

"Sure you do, how can you-"

"I dunno, John...I'm just tired..."

"There must be more than that?"

"I dunno, I'm tired, so cold. Don't let Ruth know-"

"What...?"

"'m tired, not so hungry..."

Someone sitting nearby spoke up. "He's been shaking uncontrollably...almost an hour..."

"Why didn't you say anything?"

"Everyone's cold. We're all cold..."

"But the rest of us aren't collapsing or having trouble thinking straight..."

He wasn't sure when John started holding him upright, but he had.

"Not going to make it. Give Ruth and Henry these." He tried pulling out his pocket watch and etching, only to have John help him and take them.

"I'll hold onto them, but you get to give them to your siblings."

"John."

"I promise I'll get them to Ruth and Henry, should you not pull through."

"Thank you." He closed his eyes just for a moment. Only to be jabbed.

"None of that. I need you to talk to me. Come on Jesse, just tell me about anything... Tell me about that first class lady you ran into again."

"Would've liked to meet her. Didn't see her in my rush... nearly knocked her over... She was pretty. Would've like to get to know her."

He didn't want to talk, just sleep.

He felt another jab, he glared at John who glared right back at him.

"No shut eyes Mr. Georgian Heat. There's someone here who wants to talk to you. Maybe you'll stay awake for her."

"I'd ask how you are, but I'm afraid of the answer. I'm that girl. The one you nearly made fall before catching me. We might not have the time to get to know each other, but at least we can be formally introduced. I'm Emily Piston."

"Jesse Hudson."

oOo

She ended up holding his hand at some point and worked in tandem with John to keep him from being able to rest.

"Come on Jesse, hold on. You see that in the distance, that's rescue. You're so close. Hold on. We're going to get you back to your twin. Just a bit longer."

He wasn't afraid of death, but he felt hopeful for either result.

All he could do was stare at the ship getting closer. Limbs too heavy to move.

Only distant hope keeping his eyes open along with pokes and prods from someone.

He could barely keep his eyes open as he was lifted into the air.

They closed as soon as he hit warm air.


And there we go. The most directly Titanic chapter in this AU. At this time I am not sure that all the Titanic chapters will be grouped together or not. I'm not even sure I'm going to keep everything chronological. Though there maybe off shootings from this AU added. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. It became a real passion project as I had never expected to ever write anything remotely close to a Titanic story before this. So thank you Nurf, for coming down this rabbit hole of an idea with me. I hope everyone liked it.