"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.
Disclaimer: Don't own it…James Cameron owns the movie rights. I just own this crappy, slow, nazi computer.
A/N: Just wanted to give a shout out to all my great reviewers, you all made me feel sho special…especially Willow Evanstar. Golly gee, talk about positive support! That was a perfect first review to get this story off to a great start!
And lots of love to Viviena, who figured out the whole deal with the title being actual words of Moody's to a passenger. I'll probably include it later in the story, near the end...sob sob
P.S. I hope you all liked the speedy update! Chapter three is in the works as I type! Cheerio!
"I still don't like this ship ... I have a queer feeling about it."—Chief Officer Henry Wilde in a letter to his sister, which he sent at Queensland, the last stop before the journey to New York.
Southampton, April 9th, 1912
Gwen heard faint voices before she opened her eyes.
"Who is she?" A curious voice.
"Did she sneak aboard?" A commanding tone.
"Should we alert the captain?" A skeptical person.
She let out a groan. Her head hurt really badly.
"Miss?" Someone pushed her hair out of her face. The same someone pulled her into a sitting position and patted her back comfortingly. "You can wake up."
Her hand flew to the back of her head and she let out a hiss when she touched it. She would definitely bruise.
"She's hurt!"
"Get her up, Officer Moody."
She felt herself being lifted up into some arms and then carried over a long distance. She didn't know where she was, but it felt better not knowing. The strong sea air was surrounding her, so she supposed she hadn't left the harbor. Before she knew it she had been deposited on a cot. With the general feeling that something wasn't right, she blearily opened her eyes.
Three men were beside her, each staring with curiosity. One was right next to her, and she was taken aback for how close he was, his hand on the small of her back so that she didn't fall over. He had a kind, bright face and brown hair. His eyes were brown.
"All right?" He asked. His accent was perfectly English…British English, she supposed. His voice was very soothing.
"Y-yeah." She managed to croak out. He smiled warmly. It was handsome on him.
The men behind him were considerably older looking. One was very tall and thin with a pleasant face and pronounced features. His eyes were blackish and kind. The second was shorter, a bit bulkier but not grotesquely so, clean shaven, with blue eyes and slight wrinkles. All three of them were dressed in some kind of uniform, complete with hat. They looked like they were part of a ship's crew.
"Hello there." The tall man said, snapping Gwen out of her reverie. This most certainly was not the harbor. What ship had these weirdo's dragged her on? How long had she been out? Questions were swimming in her mind.
"Where am I?" She asked groggily, and moved to sit up. The man at her side shushed her and pushed her down.
"You have a concussion that will need to be treated." He said, eyes worried. "You're in Southampton, Hampshire, aboard the RMS Titanic."
At that, Gwen bolted up, nearly colliding with the man who had been her savior. "What?" She looked around wildly. "Where's my birthday present?"
"You mean, this?" The shorter man held up the box her dad had gotten for her. She nodded and reached for it, but once again, Mr. Handsome Smile pushed her down.
"You must rest first, Miss." He insisted. "Try to sleep, we'll get this all cleared up later." Gwen's body told her that sleep was a good idea, but her mind really wanted to know what was going on.
"Can I have your names first?" She asked skeptically.
"Of course." He stood and Gwen was stunned to see that he was almost as tall as the real tall dude was.
"I am First Officer William Murdoch." The shorter one introduced himself. "This is Fifth Officer Henry Lowe, and Sixth Officer James Moody."
Each officer did a little bow.
"Hey. I'm Gwenivere Whitney, but just call me Gwen." Gwen said, trying to act polite.
"I'm going to fetch a nurse." Lowe said, and promptly left.
"I think it would be best to alert Captain Smith as well," Murdoch looked apologetic and left. Great, get the freaking captain involved. Hopefully, she'd die of blood loss and never have to face him.
That left her alone with Officer Moody.
"James, was it?" She said, feeling lightheaded. "Who found me?"
"I did, on the 1st Class deck, starboard side," Moody—James said, then blushed. He probably thought she had no clue as to what he was saying. She nodded seriously, and smiled, to show her understanding. He continued, "I shouted to Lowe to go get the First Officer, who happens to be"—he paused—"Mr. Murdoch. Then I carried you here and you woke up."
Gwen's head was spinning from all this new information. She was on the Titanic. Impossible! There was no way that she had gone back in time. But, here she was, with a man named James Moody. She remembered falling on the dock back in Boston. Maybe some psychos found her and took her to their own little ship. But her parents weren't even twenty feet away! They'd know if someone was dragging her away…but they did seem very wrapped up in each other…
"Can I see a window, please?" James frowned, but lifted her up to a porthole. Outside was most certainly NOT the Boston harbor she had left.
She saw decorators and crewman hurrying about the docks, and up and down the gangplanks. And what was worse was that they were dressed like…well, like they were from 1912.
With that thought, she immediately fainted. James Moody caught her on instinct, and was thoroughly bewildered.
Gwen woke up feeling like a million bucks. She smelled sea air and that special whiff of new furnishings and could hear gulls out of a distant window. Humming, she sat up and imagined herself on board The Victoria like she had been ever since she could walk. As she began to jump off of whatever she was napping on, it hit her—it was a cot.
And everything came rushing back to her. The officers, the Titanic, the little boy, Ben and Amanda, her father, the box…it was all so overwhelming that she immediately quieted down and was suddenly stunned. She looked up and yelped with surprise to see eight men staring intently at her.
Three of them were Murdoch, Lowe, and Moody. The others were unfamiliar. They were all in uniform.
She stared at them, waiting for them to speak first.
"Why, hello." The white-bearded man spoke gruffly but gently. "I'm Captain Edward Smith. And who are you?"
Shit. Out of all the things on the Titanic, the captain was one of most remembered things her father had drilled into her brain. Smith had been notorious for being the captain of other vessels that had gotten wrecked or damaged in accidents and was known in modern times for making bad choices at sea. Titanic was his last voyage until he would retire for good, but it didn't matter because he died with the ship.
"Um…" She didn't know what to do. She could tell them a fake name…no good. She already told it to the other three officers. They would know something was up. She sighed inwardly. "Gwenivere Whitney."
"I see." He leaned forward from the stool he was perched on. "Do you have any idea why you were on this ship, without a ticket, a day before her maiden voyage?" Gwen gulped. In this instance, they couldn't penalize her for telling the truth, right? It wasn't absolutely ridiculous…she had come to terms with it, at least.
"No, sir." She said, praying to goodness that they wouldn't lock her up or send her off to some foreign authorities. Instead, all of them raised their eyebrows.
"No?" He cocked his head.
Gwen steeled herself. Time for the moment of truth. She took a deep breath.
"I have something to tell you all, and it may shock you hear it, but I want you to know that I'm just as confused as you are." At their patient faces, she continued somewhat hesitantly. "I…I think I went back in time." There. She had blurted it all out, and had flinched back as soon as she said it, waiting for their outraged or ridiculing responses. She got none, however. She was met with incredulous looks.
They probably hadn't been expecting that.
"No, really, I can prove it!" She jumped up with newfound purpose, ready to redeem herself. "My wallet…is somewhere…" She fumbled around with her jeans before opening a pocket and pulling out her slender wallet. "Here's my driver's license!" She said, taking it out and presenting it to the captain. The picture involved her smiling in a cheesy way, but the point of it was that the expiration date and her birth date were there, and that was proof enough. At least they were way after 1912.
"Not good enough?" She pulled out some dollar bills. There were several twenties in there from her job, including the new ones that had the rainbow-y picture meshed into it. She showed them that as well. It had series 2004 in fine print near the center by George Washington's picture.
They looked astonished now, but Gwen still didn't think it was enough.
"Wait, wait…" She was looking around for something remotely relevant to the problem, "ever had Winterfresh?" She was on her last leg. If they didn't buy her license, actual cast, and gum, then she had no hope.
"Now that's all I have on me that can make my case, so please look it over carefully before deciding that I'm insane." Gwen made a miserable face. Worst case scenario was that they would turn her in to a jailhouse or something. Best case: they would just throw her off the ship, no questions asked. But where would she go? If she had any choice, she'd rather stay on the ship. Except for that whole sinking part. But Gwen wasn't stupid, like some of the people back then was. She wouldn't ever just pass up the opportunity to leave a doomed ship just because it was warmer than a lifeboat at sea. Nope, she would rather be there than stuck in Southampton with a bunch of crazies.
After a moment, she looked up.
"Do you believe me?"
"It's absurd!" One man said without hesitation.
"Quite a queer story," agreed Lowe.
"It has supporting evidence…" mused Captain Smith.
"I believe her." All eyes turned towards a solitary voice. It was James Moody. Still handsome. He coughed, not used to all the attention. "I mean, there isn't evidence against it." Their eyes met across the room, and she chanced a smile. He smiled back.
"Oh, come off it," A tall, commandeering man said, obviously agitated. It was the man who had called her situation 'absurd'. "No evidence against it except the general law of physics and nature. There is no way—"
"Officer, Wilde, if I may." Captain Smith broke in. Gwen silently thanked him; that one man, Wilde or something, would have probably made a few good points. "What do you see when you look at this girl?"
The man studied her for what seemed like an hour. Then he spoke, "Her clothing is odd." He seemed to eye her with distaste. She suddenly remembered that in 1912, hearing of women and girls who wore pants was outrageous. Her shirt was probably too tight by their standards—but thank heavens they couldn't see it under her red windbreaker.
"Indeed." Captain Smith smiled. "We have no choice but to trust her."
Wilde sputtered.
"Dude!" Gwen exclaimed, relishing in her happiness. She received some weird looks, and quieted down. "I have nowhere else to go." She said, when she was calmed down.
"Where are you from?" Murdoch asked. She pondered this. Should she tell them the time as well?
"I was born in Boston, Massachusetts…" Aw heck. Who cared. "…in January, 1988. When I was taken here, to 1912, it was the year 2005." They all drew in breaths. That was nearly 100 years into the future. She didn't blame them for being shocked.
"I'm willing to work," she said nervously. "Like I said, I have no where else."
Captain Smith was quiet.
"Can you cook?" He asked suddenly. Gwen nodded. Her mom worked late and there were times when she had to make her own dinners, due to her father being at sea.
"We need an extra cook for the crew's mess." He said thoughtfully. "You would only prepare breakfast and lunch, and dinner would be carried to the crew separately. There are extra state rooms in the officer's wing for God only knows what reasons, and you would be paid, of course—"
"Oh, I don't need pay, just somewhere to stay." Gwen interrupted happily. E.J. considered this before nodding.
"So be it." He said, smiling.
"Oh man, this is so awesome, but so messed up at the same time." She sighed, not caring what strange looks she got this time around. "Do I get a schedule to follow?"
"I'll have a kitchen cook show you around," Smith said, chuckling silently at her eagerness. Gwen stood up, and opened her wallet.
"Well, I'd like to take back what little possessions I have, if you don't mind." She said sheepishly, noticing for the first time that her license, money, and gum were still in their hands. After collecting it all, she brushed off her pants and smiled.
"Lead the way."
As the group followed Captain Smith to the officer's quarters, an officer with a mustache suddenly asked Gwen a question that would reel her.
"How did you know that it was 1912, miss?"
Everyone stopped, wanting to find out. Gwen looked down. She couldn't tell them how she knew. Maybe halfway…she'd been doing fine so far…she'd try pushing her luck while it was good.
"People still talk about Titanic, in my time." She said, shrugging. "It's a famous ship." She had cut herself off from saying 'shipwreck'.
"Still?" And it was Wilde who said that, his eyes wide in fascination, as if he couldn't believe the ship had survived to sail for many more generations.
"Still." She repeated, smiling.
But she didn't have the heart to tell them that it wasn't what they were thinking of, with joyful images of fame and glory fogging their heads, that their fame and glory would go hand in hand with inevitable tragedy.
A/N: Ah...done with the dreaded denial chapter. Every story where a kid falls into a different world has one. Good place to stop, no? I thought I would butcher this chapter alive, considering the great reviews I got for the first chapter (how do I live up to those! Pressure!)! For reference, I don't think Wilde was a very mean guy. And also, though Captain Smith did have an uneasy reputation for captaining ships, the mistakes weren'tmake by him alone...nothing was entirely all his fault. Just wanted to clarify that. Review, please!
