Hi, so here is another chapter and we have only seven more chapters of this story left! There is something that might resemble a sequel in the works but we shall have to see if it comes to anything.

Disclaimer-Nothing here is mine.

Please Read and Review.

And again nothing here is intended to disrespect anyone living or dead. This story focuses on the fictional characters of the film and Isabella my own creation-any historical character in this story is based upon their film portrayal and not how they were in real life.

Hopefully I will publish the next chapter sooner rather than later.

Some Kind Of Tomorrow

Chapter 13-The New You

Tommy, Isabella, Fabrizio and Helga go on a desperate mission to find Jack and Rose rescuing one innocent life in the process. Meanwhile confronted with his own mortality Bruce Ismay contemplates his sister, her daughter and the man he once wished dead.

Andrews was sure.

He was absolutely sure and for Andrews that was saying something. The man was sweating bullets and that was before you looked at the Captain, the officers and the rest of them. It was impossible to comprehend though. This was the Ship that was supposed to be Unsinkable. This was the Ship of Dreams, this was the ship that he and his company had sunk their entire reputation on and now it was going to end up in the bottom of the ocean in two hours and God only knows how many souls were going to be joining it.

And then the real work began—oh God the press were going to have a field day with this. The Unsinkable Ship had sunk on it's maiden voyage and there was not enough lifeboats for the poor people to boot! Good Lord. Perhaps If another ship came and picked them up he could try and mitigate most of the damage. The best thing to do was to get the woman and children to the lifeboats—the society men as well. Those who had influence.

"You should get your niece Bruce"

That was Andrews. He was looking very calm and Bruce realised that while he had been sat here in his dressing gown and silk pyjama's the men in the room had formulated a plan and seemed to be sticking with it.

That was the problem with the navy—they never gave a regular man a chance to catch up with you.

"My—oh—yes I suppose I should—"

Andrews through him a look that Bruce didn't want to interpret but he suspected was not very nice. He stepped out into the hallway and methodically went back to his room. He snapped at his valet to dress him in his best and then once he was done he dismissed the man. It was only as he heard the door close that he realised he had not told him about the sinking ship. He paused wondering weather it was better to call him back but then he didn't. What was the point? Pretty soon it was going to be every man for himself anyway. Why not give the poor sod a few more moments of unburdened amusement.

He moved to the safe on reflex taking out the money and the documents.

It was only then when he was safely ready to depart this ship that he crossed the hallway to his nieces bedroom. Already stewards were walking around gently knocking on doors and telling the passengers that they had to get out of bed and put a life jacket on and see themselves to a lifeboat—an emergency drill it was being called—God!

It had still not sunk it yet. That this ship was going to sink and he absent minded to the last, ran his hand down the wallpaper and thought that it was a terrible shame that this was going to end at the bottom of the ocean and nobody again would see the splendour that his company had made when they had created the Ship of Dreams.

Now his company was going to be ridiculed. Christ there had to be some kind of failure—surely he couldn't be expected to blame this all on one iceberg.

He banged on Isabella's door loudly and not caring about the noise he was making. The girl better not comment on this because if she did Bruce might just swing for her as undignified as that was. Isabella was like Maud she like her mother tended to bring out the worst in him and he was achingly sick of both of them the dead and the living. He would get the girl married—and that Yankee bastard better not use this an excuse to get out of it either—and then he was done. He was done with the whole sorry tale. The bastard would be married, his deed to his mother was over and he could forget his sister and her haunting beautiful eyes—the same his niece had—ever existed.

"Excuse me Mr Ismay but there's been no answer from that room and I knocked just five minutes ago"

He turned to stare at the steward who couldn't be more than nineteen. Jesus the crew here were just as young as the passengers. All of them here for a new life and all of them about to see it ruined. Where the fuck was Hockney he usually had a view on the classes that would put things into perspective? And right now Bruce needed that. Pity was just not something he had ever dealt with—if he had he wouldn't have told half so many lies about his niece and his sister to her father and her damn lover when he had arrived.

It would have just been easier to let the grubby little artist have the baby wouldn't it? Bruce would not be having to deal with this shit now.

"Open it"

The steward went for a key and Bruce took a swig from his hipflask. He knew the girl slept like the dead but this ridiculous. And if she had gone off somewhere then the ship sinking would be the least of her problems because he really would kill her. She had always been impulsive…after all she was his sister's child through and through and God knows Maud had been a complete law until herself even when she had been dying.

The door swung open and the steward went about his business. Bruce pushed into the room. It looked like Isabella had just left it. The gold dress she had been wearing at dinner was strewn over the floor, her bathroom door was open and there was still a warmth in the air that told him she had had a bath, but none of the nightclothes had been touched, the bed was rumpled and stockings, shoes, jewels…all of it left behind like it meant nothing.

He ran his hand over the wood of the dressing table. He had no idea what she had taken and yet he thought that there might be some cash missing, a book perhaps, a purse. Things that a young girl would take if she was not planning on coming back. He remembered it well.

Oh how he remembered it well.

His hands snagged on a piece of writing paper and he paused. He turned it over and saw his company logo at the top.

He did not have to wonder what it said as his eyes drifted downwards.

He had known…somehow, he thought all along that he had known.

"Uncle, perhaps I am more like my mother than you realised.

Isabella"

She had meant it as a final parting shot, as if Bruce did not already know.

She was gone.

Like her mother before her she was gone.

He stayed there in the room for a long time or what felt like a long time but in reality was only minutes and then he turned on his heel and stalked away leaving the room exactly the same way it was.

He did not look back.

He did not need to.

Everything in that room was dead to him know.

The letter was still clenched in his fist.

He shoved it into his pocket

It was not important.

Tommy and Isabella had been walking hand in hand. He had tried not to hurry his pace but there was something about the sudden rush of sailors on the deck that made him want to go back to steerage. Though even there he and Isabella would raise eyebrows—half of third class would wonder what he was doing with her and the other half would create a storm if they knew he was going to live with her as man and wife before they were man and wife.

He was not entirely sure if she would want a repeat of their lovemaking between now and seeing New York but he hoped that she would. He did not wish to sound like one of those soppy people that waxed poetic about things (Jack Dawson for example) but that had been the best time of his life.

And though the whole of the voyage left was still open to him he couldn't help but think about what Dawson and red-head had said about the ice hitting the ship and—

"Tommy"

He knew that Italian twang anywhere.

"Fabrizio"

He was holding hands with the blonde girl he had been dancing with and talking to the entire time he was on this ship and whose hair was half down her back and dressed in what looked like a loose fitting dress that she had tightened with a belt. Fabrizio was dressed in his usual trousers and shirt sleeves and they embraced when they reached each other.

"Brother we saw an iceberg"

"Yeah Jack and red-head—"

"Rose—" Isabella interjected with an eye roll.

"Yeah her—say they saw it hit the ship."

"It came very close" Blondie said with a shiver and wow—Tommy really did have to start learning some of the names.

"We came up to see if we could find you" Fabrizio said. "They are telling people to wake up and get the life—the life—coats on"

"Jackets" Tommy muttered feeling a stab of worry—oh this was not good, not good at all.

"Are you sure?"

Blondie nodded. "We saw some second class passengers leave" she said nodding. "They will only allow women and children to leave and not men"

Tommy resisted the urge to snort. He was willing to bet the diamonds in Isabella's ears that it would only be first class women and children to the lifeboats if they were being lowered. Fuck the rest of them—as far as British society was concerned they could take their chances with the fishes. Even in a catastrophe (which he had a feeling this was going to rapidly turn into) nothing could separate the steel sheets that forced class separate from class.

"Where are Jack and Rose?" Isabella said breathing air onto her cold hands. "We should try and get on the top deck and see what is going on…we should not be separate at such a time"

"Went to warn her fiancé didn't they" Tommy muttered.

"No they have not" that was Fabrizio and he stuttered over the English. This was apparently why he had come to find them, why he was dragging blondie along with him and he slipped into his native Italian, Tommy opened his mouth to tell him to stop but then Isabella replied in fluent Italian too.

Course she spoke Italian.

Was there anything that this woman couldn't do?

Fabrizio looked as if he was going to pass out with relief that someone finally spoke his language. He stopped waving his arms like a hyperactive windmill and instead spoke quickly and quietly. Isabella listened and then spoke back her face creased with concern.

"Helga Dhal"

Blondie had spoke and he jumped. She held out a hand and Tommy shook it.

"Tommy Ryan"

"Pleasure—I think?"

"Yeah" he said nodding. He didn't know what was happening but he knew it wasn't good. And from the look on her face she knew it wasn't good too.

"My mother and father…down below…they will eventually let them board boats no?"

Tommy opened his mouth to say something cynical but then shut it. She was the same age as Isabella, as him, as Fabrizio and Jack and Rose. All of them still so young and yet all of them hardened through experience. Except her. Helga had the look of a woman who had always been safe, who had always been loved by someone even if it was only her mother and father and their love was mired by strict rules. He had never had that since his own mother had died.

And his cynicism didn't need to affect other people.

Was this what was called evolving?

Was this what love did to a man?

Wow.

He realised she was still looking at him and he nodded. It might be a lie but it was probably going to be the kindest lie that he could tell right now standing on this corner of the deck with his stomach in knots because he was not sure that an emergency drill would have happened had there not been an iceberg, but he could tell it.

"Sure they will. Once they get the rich people on board. You know how it is"

"Shit"

Had he not been standing next to Isabella he would have thought he misheard her. Never before had he heard a woman use such language (other than that St Patrick's Day in 1903 when he had accidently ended up in a brothel in south London but that was by the by) and certainly not a woman from first class.

"What?"

"Fabrizio was just telling me that he saw his friend Jack being dragged down to the bowls of the ship. In handcuffs"

Fuck. What had Dawson done now.

"No sign of Rose"

"They wouldn't drag her down there" he said though he was feigning confidence and she knew it.

"What—"

"Look—something is happening with this ship and we need to get everyone together. I think we should grab Jack you can go and grab Rose—"

"Not bloody likely" Isabella said shaking her head. "Look if I go back to first class then I go back to my uncle who by now probably knows I am with you. And if he gets me…"

She stopped talking suddenly and Tommy wanted to reassure her but he was honestly not sure he could. Her own parents had been separated, clearly they had found a way to separate Jack and Rose. He was not sure he wanted to separate himself from Isabella even when confronted with the assured knowledge that she would get a place on the lifeboats if this was as bad as his gut was telling him.

"Stop thinking" she whispered tugging their linked hands. "We are in this together right, for better for worse"

"Yeah" he said smiling.

"Besides, this is Rose. She'll find a way away from them. Trust me she stronger than she looks"

Of that Tommy had no doubt.

"So…we…go?" Fabrizio said looking between them. Helga took his hand and Tommy gripped Isabella's. If they were going to find Jack and then get back to the deck they were going to have to go fast. Steerage would be dangerous and there were many places to get lost.

But still…perhaps this was a drill and nothing to worry about.

But as they took off running, him, Isabella, Fabrizio and Helga, Tommy wondered if perhaps anyone really believed this was a drill when every man in uniform was acting as if it was anything but.

Next Chapter-Tommy, Isabella, Fabrizio and Helga come across Rose and Jack put they are separated by iron bars. With time running out they must band together to try and find a way out of the bowls of steerage. In doing so another innocent life is saved as well.

There you are, and I will see you soon for the next chapter.