Rose and Jack were sitting in the lounge of the suite the next day when they heard a knock on the door "You expecting anybody?" Jack asked making his way over to the door opening it to reveal Mr Andrews.

"Uh Mr Andrews. What are you doing here?"

"Hello Jack. I wanted to stop by and see how our young Rose was doing. I hope I haven't interrupted anything."

"Jack? Who was at the door?" Rose called from the couch. Her ribs were still sore that she couldn't walk very far without support.

"Mr Andrews." He replied leading the older man into the sitting room. "Mr Andrews?" Rose asked her eyes brightening as she saw him, she had enjoyed his company during their time on Titanic, and of course she had been grateful when he had saved Jack.

"What are you doing here Mr Andrews?"

"Thomas please. I just wanted to drop by and see how you were doing."

Rose smiled "I'm okay" Jack, who was standing by the door watching the exchange rolled his eyes but didn't say anything when he saw Rose's warning glance.

They chatted amicably for the next few minutes "What are your plans?" Thomas asked as a maid laid out some tea and cakes on the coffee table "We're moving to Denver with Molly, uh Mrs Brown, as soon as I'm well enough."

Thomas smiled "Where is Molly?"

Rose frowned "I'm not sure, I haven't seen her all day" she turned to Jack "have you?"

"Me? No haven't seen her, no idea where she is" he replied quickly, God he really was a terrible liar.

Rose had apparently caught on and was eyeing him suspiciously "Oh you're lying, you know where she is"

"What? No I don't she just said that she had some business to take care of"

"Jack Dawson…"

Finally he relented "She went to Philadelphia" he sighed

"What?" she didn't understand, why would she… "Oh No"

Jack nodded "She wanted to go and try and get your mother to see sense"

Rose let out a harsh laugh "My mother? Sense? That is never going to happen" she groaned and buried her face in her hands "No good can come of this"

She wasn't wrong

00000

Molly stood outside of the large, ominous three storey house taking a moment to gather her wits. Finding the address hadn't been difficult, the Dewitt Bukater's were one of the most prominent members of Philadelphia's society, or at least they had been.

No that had been the easy part. Now she would have to confront Ruth Dewitt Bukater, the ice queen herself. Not that she was scared, of course not, she was Molly Brown and Molly brown never got scared, money or no money.

But she wasn't a fool either, she knew this wouldn't be easy but she had to try, for Rose's sake.

She inhaled deeply and made her way up the long winding pathway to the large double front doors and hesitated for a moment before she knocked the brass knocker.

It was several minutes before a middle-aged woman dressed in a maid's outfit opened the door "Can I help you?"

"Yes, I'm Molly Brown, can I speak to Mrs Dewitt Bukater"

The woman eyed her warily for a moment before she opened the door to let her through and led her through to what she could only assume was the lounge or the sitting room "Mrs Dewitt Bukater will be right with you ma'am" the maid curtseyed before hurrying from the room.

Molly took the solitude as an opportunity to explore her surroundings. Upon analysis of the décor the only word that sprung to mind was ostentatious. Everything seemed to be a flamboyant display of wealth and social standing, to the point where it was almost gaudy.

A portrait above the fire place caught her eye, she immediately recognised a young Rose sitting on a stool, only the stool was hidden by her dress. At first glance she looked everything a well brought up child should but when she looked deeper Molly could see clearly her misery and distress. The same look she had had during the lunch on Titanic when Cal had treated her like a child.

"What on earth are you doing here?" Ruth's sharp voice cut into her reverie and she spun round and faced her.

"Ruth, I came to talk to you about Rose"

She hadn't thought it possible, but Ruth's gaze-and voice- turned even colder "Don't you dare mention her name, you vulgar…"

But Molly cut her off before she could say anything more "Ruth please see sense, she's your daughter, and she needs you"

"And where was she when I, when her family needed her?" Ruth asked bitterly.

"She has made her own bed and now she must deal with the consequences of her actions, foolish girl"

Molly could only stare at her in an astonished silence, for the life of her she couldn't understand how this woman had created someone has warm and compassionate as Rose, how they were even related let alone mother and daughter.

Finally she broke the gaze, and headed towards the door, avoiding Ruth's penetrating gaze but keeping her head held high. This was pointless, she needed to get back to New York and check on Rose and Jack.

The sooner she could get them to Denver far away from these people, the better.

0000

The sun was just beginning to rise as she let herself into the suite the next morning. Jack was already awake, sitting on one of the couches with his head buried in his hands. He looked up when she entered, startled, he looked like he hadn't gotten much sleep in days.

"You're back. How'd it go?" He asked, though he could tell the answer by the look on her face.

"Not well, she wouldn't listen to anything"

"Damn" he cursed under his breath running a hand over his face.

"How is she? Has she slept?" it had been over a week since they had arrived at the hotel and she had woken up with nightmares every night.

Jack shook his head "No, she had another nightmare and she was vomiting for about an hour before she finally fell back asleep about a half an hour ago.

"Poor girl, I'll go check on her before I call for breakfast, you should get some rest too" she called over her shoulder as she left the room "you're not any good to her exhausted."

The room was dark when she entered, only dimly lit by the sliver of the light coming through the curtains. Her eyes landed on the bed as she heard Rose's muffled cry before she saw her thrashing about in the bed. She hurried over and perched on the edge of the bed and gently placed a hand on her shoulder, careful not to startle her.

"Rose darlin' wake up, its just a dream, you're alright" it took a few attempts but eventually she woke up, her eyes wide with fear and filled with tears.

"Ssh darlin' you're safe, its alright"

"Molly" she breathed, her voice trembled.

"I'm here sweetie, its okay."

Rose nodded taking deep breaths "Did you… did you talk to my mother?" her voice was hopeful, though the logical part of her knew it had been any attempts to get through to her mother were hopeless. That didn't make it any less crushing when Molly shook her head. They had never been close, even when she was a child Ruth had treated her with what could only be described as a cold indifference… but she was still her mother.

But it would be fine, she had been dreaming for months, years, of escape from her oppression and now she finally had it. She had Molly and she had Jack and it was good.

She didn't need her mother. Not anymore. She had finally escaped.