Hi, so here is another chapter and I hope that you enjoy this chapter, I hope that you enjoy it and there are only three more to go!

Disclaimer-Nothing here is mine.

Please Read and Review.

And as always this story bares no reflection on the real Bruce Ismay, this is just based on the film's portrayal.

Drifting Back

Chapter 12-Times Like These

Theo Patterson and Bruce Ismay come full circle and the relationship between the two men is explored. And the demons are vanquished.

Isabella had gone inside and if Theo had his way she was not going to come back out until he knew for sure that she was protected. He was confident in his ability to protect his and his own, he had his family behind him, he was not the isolated little boy who had let the woman he loved be taken from him, powerless to put up a fight, but the truth was he was still terrified at the sight of him.

Actually, not terrified. Just a terrible combination of anger and fear.

John had gone for the Sherriff, his children were inside his house. His father at some point would be out here to make sure he didn't commit murder to say nothing of the seven people who had dropped onto his life without a word of warning—and there was something about that Rose girl that he was sure he was not going to like, some reason why she and Isabella had both looked like they were heading for the gallows when Bruce had turned up. Rose was a gentile girl just like his daughter regardless of how she had ended up with Jack (though he suspected the song and the story were much the same there) and somehow there was Cora thrown into the mix.

But he had decided that he didn't want to know. If Rose had ran away from the same confines of life that Isabella had, that Maud had tried to do so then that was her business. And if he was being honest he was more than likely to applaud such behaviour rather than discourage it.

So that just left him and Bruce Ismay standing there staring at one another.

"You got old"

Theo raised an eyebrow. He had to be very careful what he said here because it would only take one word and then he really would blow this fucker's head clean off.

"What do you want?" he said finally.

"You heard what I wanted. I want her to make a statement absolving me of blame."

"And then what? You go away and pretend she doesn't exist?"

"She doesn't"

"Until the next time"

"There won't be a next time. I told the silly little whore I was done with her a long time ago. This is just…necessity, it's not personal. There's no love. She chose you though I have to admit I am surprised you want her."

"I wanted her then" Theo said quietly. "You know I did. Why didn't you…"

And then before he could stop himself the one question that he wanted the answer too beyond everything came out and he couldn't stop the words, nor did he even want to. He wanted to know…he needed to know.

He had to sleep after this, after all.

It would be nice to do it without the constant nightmares that still plagued him.

"Why did you not just hand the baby to me? Why not just hand the baby to me and tell me Maud was dead and then just let me go? I would have taken her, raised her, loved her and you'd have never seen any of us again. So if you hated her so much? If my daughter was such a burden to you then why did you not just seize your opportunity to get rid of her?"

Bruce Ismay looked at him as if the answer to that question was really obvious and that was the thing it wasn't. It wasn't to him, it wasn't clear to him.

"My mother" he said finally. "She wanted a piece of Maud. She died very early in Isabella's childhood, and to be honest with you I just did not want to you in my life. And yet somehow like the cockroach you are you keep coming back"

"Yeah" Theo said and he could feel his temper building, the lion inside of him that had kept muzzled for a very long time lifting his head and beginning to snarl as if he could smell the blood that was in the air, getting ready to taste, to strike.

"I gave that child everything a bastard could have ever wanted" he said finally and Theo could feel the temper he was holding onto snap. The strings he had been clinging to, he let go and with that he let go of his temper.

Finally.

"GET THE FUCK OFF MY PROPERTY"

Bruce Ismay raised an eyebrow.

"Well…and here I thought it was Maud—"

"YOU DO NOT MENTION MAUD. YOU DO NOT STAND THERE ON MY PROPERTY AND MENTION MAUD. YOU DO NOT MENTION HER! YOU KILLED HER! SHE WAS THE BEST—THE BEST PART OF EVERYTHING AND YOU TOOK HER AND YOU TOOK THAT FIRE AND YOU SNUFFED IT OUT FOR WHAT? FUN? AMUSEMENT? SOCIAL STANDING? AND YOU TAKE MY CHILD, MY PRECIOUS BABY I WOULD HAVE CRAWLED THROUGH GLASS FOR AND YOU TELL HER THAT SHE WAS NOT LOVED! AND YOU DARE STAND IN FRONT OF ME AND TELL ME THAT THE LEAST SHE CAN DO IS HELP YOU!"

By the time he was done there was an earie silence that seemed to stretch out for days and weeks and never ending times. He watched as Bruce Ismay swallowed and he noted that the man's hand had gone back on the car door as if he was desperate to fling himself away from the wrath that was Theo and his righteous anger that had finally been allowed to be expressed. It felt…good…liberating almost. He needed to get it out, the demon needed to get out, to be exorcised and to be laid to rest. Finally.

It was the least that he could do for the people that were behind him.

"Yes" Bruce Ismay said finally and then Theo heard it. The whine in his voice of the perpetually wrong. Even now, with everything so wide and raw and open could he still not get what was going on. Even now he could still only think of himself, of his actions, not of the people whose lives he had ruined. Not of the people who he had let die on that ship.

"She owes me…"

"She owes you jack shit" Theo said flatly. "She owes you nothing and you can do what you've always wanted and forget she exists. You are not using my girl as a punching bag for your own failings, you are not trotting her out in the press to save your own withered skin. You made this mess, you made it ten times over, and as far as I am concerned you can go rot"

"And what are you going to do to stop me?"

And wasn't that the red rag to the bull?

"YOU WANT TO SEE WHAT I CAN DO TO STOP YOU! YOU WANT ME TO GO TO THE PRESS AND TELL THEM ALL ABOUT YOUR SISTER? THE ONE WHO SLEPT WITH THE POOR MAN, WHO LOVED HIM? YOU WANT ME TO TELL THEM ABOUT HOW YOU LOCKED HER UP, STOLE HER BABY, BEAT ME HALF TO DEATH? YOU WANT ME TO TALK ABOUT HOW YOU TREATED HER CHILD LIKE SCUM? YOU THINK WHEN I AM DONE, POOR OR NOT, FORGOTTON OR NOT YOU WON'T BE CRUCIFIED IN THE PRESS AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN? YOU THINK THAT THE AMERICAN PRESS WILL FORGIVE YOU FOR THAT?"

Bruce stuttered and Theo saw the opening and he pressed. Quietly because he was quite sure if he yelled again he was going to lose his voice and right now he still had a final blow to hit.

For Maud.

For you my darling girl. All of if for you. So you can rest. You can rest now. I've got our girl and I can take it for here.

"You think" he said softly. "That I cannot go out there and annihilate you? You think I don't have proof? Letters? Pictures? You think I won't go out there and talk about how your sister begged for my working class cock? By the time I am done with you and your family Bruce you'll be lucky if your grandchildren are living down Maud's scandal never mind the Titanic. Never mind the hundreds of men, woman and children you left to die because you were too cheap to put in more lifeboats. You think that you can survive that? Because I guarantee that I would make It my mission to make sure that every door is slammed in your face. Do not go to war with me Bruce because I will take you down at the knees and I will love every, damn minute of it"

For a second Bruce Ismay looked at him and he felt the door behind him open. He didn't have to turn around to know who it was. Stupid girl was way to much like her mother. And didn't that fill him with a pride that made him want to burst.

"Go" Isabella said softly as silk, softly as a snake, softly as poison. "Just go Uncle Ismay, just go and do not come back. Let it end here. Let it just…end here because it will not just be my father that destroys you. And I have a lot more contacts within the yellow press than either one of you seem to realise. How much do you think the New York Times will pay for an exclusive interview?"

At that Bruce Ismay went the colour of milk and thankfully, finally, the Sherriff turned up, John trotting back on his little pony looking dreadfully dusty and windswept.

Sherriff Viktor Burton had been a friend of his for a long time and a drinking buddy, he was a good man, a good Sherriff and he had been one of the first people that Theo had told about his eldest daughter. Now as he stepped out of his car he took in the scene with an almost amused look.

"Alrighty now" he said into the silence. "Sir I do believe your trespassing"

"And I do believe you do not know who I am"

"Oh I do" came the soft reply. Viktor was always soft. He never did like reaching for that gun unless he had to.

"I know exactly who you are Mr Ismay. And I have three state troopers on their way to remove you from this property if you do not go willingly. And then I will take you to court if I have to, to ensure you don't come back. We might be poor in our little backwards woods but we damn well look after our own and your niece…well…she's one of our own"

For a moment Bruce Ismay swayed like a little lily in the breeze turning back to his niece.

"You will regret it" he said softly. "You do not know what you are giving up Isabella. It wasn't…it wasn't all bad was it?"

Theo paused. He did not want to even turn around to face his daughter but it was clear that everyone (including all the faces pressed up against the window no doubt) were listening with everything they had.

"No" Isabella said and there was something in her voice that reminded him of how Olivia would speak to one of the children when they'd had a nightmare and pissed themselves.

"No Uncle it was not all bad. But it was bad enough for me to know that I deserve better"

"That's our girl" said the voice in his head.

"Yes Maud" he replied. "That she is"

Bruce Ismay looked around and then perhaps realising that he was outnumbered he opened the passenger door and then with a mundane finality he was gone. Down the path, down the road, down the mountain. Away.

"And to think" he said into the silence. "I didn't even get a chance to shoot him"

"Death before dishonour" Viktor muttered once straightening his hat. "I'd say he saw the writing on the wall. You want me to stay for a bit Ted?"

"Why you think he's coming back?"

"No. But all the same I can—"

"Can you get something on paper so he can't—"

"Come back? I got a few favours to cash in. Consider it done"

"Thanks" he said relieved all over. "You…you need anything Viktor—"

"An invite to the wedding would be nice" Viktor said with a grin. "And…next time your mother is making those goose and gravy with the cheese biscuits maybe I could come over and be the official taste tester?"

Theo laughed weekly.

"Consider yourself invited"

It was over he realised sitting down on the porch afterwards, after his friend had gone back inside for coffee and a report on what was going on. Only Isabella stayed outside with him and she sat down next to him watching him wearily. Theo couldn't care. He didn't care what his face looked like anyway.

"It's over" she said finally.

"Yeah I guess it is" he said quietly.

"You…are you…are you alright?"

"No" he said finally wiping his eyes. "But I will be. I can let her go now. I can…I can let her go"

"Do you want me to go?"

"No"

"You want me to stay?"

"Here? Yes. Right now? Yes. Forever"

She smiled at him and it was like her mother all over again only this time it did not gut him.

Maybe it was time to move on.

And just like that she was in his head again.

"You can move on. You found our girl and you can move on. Be happy darling"

"Without you?"

"It's all I ever wanted."

And he was happy. He was.

And so he let her go. Maud, her voices, all of it. She was to become like a memory, a happy one, not a ghost that haunted him. And so he let her go on the wind and he swore he could hear her laughing as he released her.

Isabella slipped her hand over his.

And he let Maud go. He knew she would agree anyway.

Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. Lost on the wind.

Free, at last.

And yeah, Theo deserved that. And so I hope you enjoy this. I will do my best to bring you the next chapter sooner rather than later.

Next Chapter-In which there is the beginning of the end. Isabella and Tommy get married. Jack and Rose discuss their future. Happiness is felt in abundance.