"Look After This, Will You?"
Summary: Gwen Whitney doesn't believe in bad luck. When her father gives her a relic from the Titanic graveyard, she is thrown into Southampton in April of 1912, and right into the arms of a certain 6th Officer Moody.
A/N: My first Titanic fic! And—what a surprise—it's another girl-falls-into-other-world-fic! I don't know why I choose to do them, but go figure. I had two ideas for this one…if I ever make a second titanic fic, it'll be taking place solely in 1912. This one is about 6th Officer Moody…brave man. He refused to get on a lifeboat and continued to load people into the lifeboats until they were all gone. He perished on the Titanic, the youngest officer, and his body was never recovered, so whether it was hypothermia, drowning, or injuries that killed him, we will never know. It's sad and noble. He's one of my favorites out of all the officers. (My second favorite is 5th Officer Lowe). Sorry if the beginning is a bit slow!
Disclaimer: James Cameron owns the film Titanic. The counselor, Steve, Tim, Gwen, Victoria, and Loren are all mine. Oh, so are Ben and Amanda. Lotsa characters for the first chapter, but most of them won't show up for a while.
P.S. The title is something that James Moody he actually said. Anyone who tells me who he said it to and what he was talking about gets my undying love and gratitude…I already know what it is, of course…hee. Oh, and I'll review all your stories and…give you authentic Titanic paper weights…well anyway…R&R.
The counselor looked back and forth between Steve, Tim, and Gwen. Then he looked down at their report.
Summary of Problem:
1.Steve is friends with Gwen.
2.Gwen dated Steve.
3.Gwen breaks up with Steve and remains his friend
4.Gwen dated Tim.
5. Steve doesn't like Tim.
He glanced back at them. The only reason they were here was because a trusted teacher had explained their situation and only wanted the best for them.
"Right," He said, coughing slightly. The three stared him down. It was obvious that their report had been filled out with no seriousness whatsoever. He could even sense that they were trying their hardest not to smile.
"Now, you know that this sort of thing is rarely ever sorted out, and it's good that you've chosen to talk to someone about it."
Tim snorted. "Chosen…sure." He was ignored.
"Now that we've established the problem, how do we work through it?" The counselor asked. Gwen cleared her throat cordially, if not mockingly.
"I still want to be friends with Steve, even if I dated Tim." She said dully.
"I never liked Tim and couldn't believe you were dating him…no offense, Tim." Steve muttered.
"Humph." Tim grumbled.
"I don't think I should date any of you because we're all just friends." Gwen continued.
"Though not necessarily with each other." Steve added.
"I agree." Tim spoke.
"Good, good…discussions are great…is that all?" The counselor looked up from filling out the rest of the report. When he looked back down, he grimaced.
Subject Resolution:
1.Gwen and Tim want to be friends.
2.Steve admits to ill feelings towards Tim.
3.Gwen thinks they should all be friends.
4. Tim agrees with Gwen.
It all sounded so stupid.
"Well…if that's all…" Blank looks crossed everyone's faces. "I'll copy these and you can go." He stood up and left the office. As so as he left, the teenagers burst out laughing.
"That was retarded!" Tim laughed, still staring at the door.
"This was so pointless!" Steve said, chuckling slightly.
"Yeah…did we solve anything, really?" Gwen asked.
"We repeated what we already figured out," Steve replied, scratching his head. "But hell if I'm going to be here forever—I don't care if I'm missing school for this, this is totally messed up."
They laughed for another second, and stopped abruptly when the counselor entered the office again. He glanced at them all for a moment before passing out the copied reports.
"Take these with you and have them signed by your parents to verify that you understand everything." He said, eyeing them. They nodded and left. As soon as they rounded a corner, they balled up the reports and dunked them into a trashcan.
"Mom, I'm home!" Gwen walked up the stairs to her room and kicked off her shoes, then left her messenger bag carelessly on the floor. Loud footsteps signaled her mother's approach.
"Gwen, your father called!" Her mother, Victoria, was ecstatic over the news of her husband. "He'll be sailing into the harbor in a few hours!"
Gwen grinned uncontrollably. "He's early! He told us last week that it would take longer!"
"He wanted it to be a surprise!" Both females basked in their own private joy. Her father was finally coming home! After months at sea, which is what he usually did, he was coming home early!
Gwen had never had a particular interest in ships or shipbuilding, but had grown up around ships and boats. She liked some things about them, like blueprint designs and nautical orders and Morse code. She had just never been into sailing for endless months like her dad.
Loren Whitney was literally born at sea. His mother had been on a cruise with his father and he was born three weeks early. He continued to stick around the ports and such until he was through school and got a job on a fishing vessel. He built up his reputation but maintaining titles such as First Officer and Navigator, and then was qualified for a captain's license shortly after Gwen was born. He owned his own ship, The Victoria (named after his wife), that he used to explore shipwrecks. For Pete's sake, he named his daughter Gwenivere, meaning, "white wave". His love for the sea ran deep.
"Get your coat! He'll be in the harbor in two hours!" Her mother hurried her on, knowing that with traffic, getting across Boston could take most of that time. Gwen did what she was told, smiling brightly.
It was slightly chilly when The Victoria entered the harbor. Various crewman were rushing about and yelling, while other officers lugged about on the bridge watching land grow closer. A man stepped on the deck and let out a shout. Gwen and her mother looked up.
"Hey!" Gwen shouted and waved at her father's form. Even from so far away, she could see the smile on his face. A few women followed her example, obviously there because their husband or son or relative of some sort was finally home. It took about twenty more minutes, but finally the crew was exiting the ship. Men and some woman made their way across the dock and latched on to their loved ones.
"Hey, Gwen." A young man named Ben caught her attention.
"Ben! How are you?" She asked, giving him a half-hug.
"Great!" He beamed. "I was missing dry land—that's the longest I've ever been out to sea."
"You get used to it." She rolled her eyes, remembering how every summer her dad would drag her on a cruise or something for months at a time. Though she'd never been on a ship for a total of seven months—which is how long they'd been gone. Ben suddenly froze. A pretty woman behind her was searching the crowd.
"It's Amanda." He said, his cheeks flushing. "I'm going to do it, Gwen. I have to ask her tonight. I've been away from her too long."
Gwen smiled and put a hand on his cold cheek. "Good for you, Ben. You guys are perfect for each other." She then grabbed his arm and lightly pushed him towards Amanda. The other woman was still searching the crowds when he stepped up to her. She smiled and suddenly jumped into his arms, earning a laugh from him. Other people were turning to watch the lovebirds. Gwen wondered when she'd get an invitation.
She turned her attention back to her mother, who was now locked in an embrace with her father. She hated to ruin their moment, but, damn, he was her dad! She coughed.
Loren slowly turned and gazed down at his daughter, simultaneously opening his arms, preparing for a huge hug. Gwen ran to his arms, which smelled comfortingly like salt and musk. Her dad had been away so long that he had even missed her seventeenth birthday. He had called and promised a gift when he returned, but it just wasn't the same. He had only missed her birthday one other time, when she was nine. He usually tried to avoid it.
"Look at you!" He surveyed her. "I think you've grown." Gwen laughed. Every time her dad went away, he always came back and told her how much she'd grown when in reality, not much about her had changed since he left. The only thing different was that she dyed her hair back to its original colora deep brown with reddish-blonde highlights, which usually only showed up in the sun.
"I missed you!" She said, standing up on her tiptoes to deliver a kiss to his cheek. It was rough and stained in areas with stubble, but it felt great just to be able to hug him again.
"And I missed you…" He said, reaching into his pocket. Her eyes followed, and Victoria smiled knowingly. "…And I missed your birthday." He finished, brandishing a box. Gwen looked at it before carefully taking it. It was something he must have picked up at a seaport somewhere because the craftsmanship on it was superb. The woodwork was fascinating, adorned with shells and seaweed and bubbles. The box alone was a keepsake!
"Are you going to ogle it or open it?" Her mother asked teasingly. Blushing, Gwen hesitantly opened the box and peered at the gift inside.
It was a nearly black iron key, hanging from an obviously new strip of leather. Attached at the end was a small, shined pendant made of brass or gold or something. On one side was a sea sunset from the view of a crow's nest.
Gwen looked up at her father. It was beautiful; a birthday gift she would treasure forever…but it was obviously debris or remains of a shipwreck. Her dad loved exploring those especially. Her gratitude must have shone in her eyes.
"Which shipwreck did you explore this time?" She asked, admiring it once more. He lifted it out of its box and exposed the other side of the pendant to her. It had "PROPERTY OF RMS TITANIC, WHITE STAR LINE" engraved in large letters. She nearly dropped the box.
"Dad…this is great…" she gulped. "But the Titanic is…is a graveyard. Isn't it wrong to take something like this?" He shrugged.
"My story is that we were heading over that shipwreck about a month ago and decided to load the submersibles in the water and check it out. We were noting on things like bacteria and measurements since it was last explored, but when we scooped up some sea sand it happened to have this little pendant in it. The leather it had on it was all spongy and chewed away, and it was real grimy and I remembered your birthday had just passed, so I cleaned it up. I even got new leather. Now it's all polished and nice and everything."
Gwen smiled at my dad's sea accounts, but inside, she was nervous. "Isn't it bad luck to rob shipwrecks?" she asked.
Loren was silent for half a second before he roared with laughter. "Dear heart," He murmured, patting her head, "its just a little key. It wasn't sunken treasure or anything!" He chuckled some more, and even her mom laughed a little. He pulled her close. "Bad luck…which scurvy sailor told you that? I'll never let him hear the end of it!" She could tell he was joking.
Ever since Gwen was little, she had thought of the sailors on her father's ship as fun and exciting. They always took shortcuts to get to their destinations (sliding down ladders, for example) and showed her all the secret passages in the ship, and would bring her to the kitchens for a midnight snack if she asked. But along with befriending the sailors came their legends. And it was legend among her father's crew about ten years ago that had chilled her most. It was the about robbing wrecked ships. Bad luck would follow you. They had told her about men dying because of cursed loot from pirate treasure and such. She had been a frightened little girl then.
Now, Loren's crew was not the same at all. All the men she had known had been offered jobs elsewhere or switched to different boats, or were just tired of life on the sea and wanted to settle down with families.
She built up enough courage to laugh at herself for her foolishness. Bad luck. Yeah, sure. She was seventeen, and she now knew better.
"Sorry, I'm just paranoid, I guess." She said, closing the box. Her parents laughed, but soon were gazing out at the beautiful sunset. Every so often one would look at the other, and then look away when they were caught. It was like they were teenagers again. Their hands were entwined, and they seemed very shy. Gwen suddenly wanted to leave her parents alone.
"Can I have some money to run down to the store?" She asked, pointing to the place across the street. "I'm…running low on school supplies."
"Sure," Her mom walked to the car and dug out her purse, then opened her wallet and grabbed a twenty. She seemed partially distracted by Loren being back. "Here." She handed it to Gwen, who put it in her own wallet.
"You guys can go on home, I'll catch the bus or something." She said, waving them off and planning to take at least a few hours wandering around to give them privacy. Then she walked carefully across the dock.
Suddenly a little boy came hurling out of nowhere toward her and in an effort to get out of the way, she moved quickly on the wood. The dock was slippery because of sea spray and water, and she swiftly fell on her back, head smacking loudly on the salty wood. Gwen looked up at the sky, dazed, before groaning quietly and succumbing to darkness. The box was cradled to her side, apparently unharmed.
