Part 12

"HUNTER!" Sebastian screamed and flew up and straight into Hunter's embrace. Hunter hugged him back tightly.

"I thought you were gone forever", Hunter whispered.

"I'm sorry… but it wasn't my fault", Sebastian mumbled.

"I know", Hunter said and held him. "It was the crew that got confused and all that… did… you look long?"

"Yeah… and I looked for Wes and Thad too… I haven't seen them."

They sat down on a pair of steps and sat and watched. They saw a few happy reunions and a lot of people crying. As they sat there a survivor from first class walked past them talking with a crew member.

"He was staring straight ahead, shaking all over like a leaf", he said. "Even when I spoke to him, he paid absolutely no attention. I have never seen a man so wrecked."

They disappeared but another crew member stopped by Sebastian and Hunter. He was looking disgusted. He noticed the two boys looking at him.

"Did you hear that", he asked and both boys nodded. "Can you believe the nerve of that man?!"

"What man", Hunter asked.

"Mr. Ismay!"

"Who's that?" Sebastian asked shyly.

"He's the chairman of the White Star Line", the crewman explained. "The company owning the Titanic."

"Wait… he was onboard?" Hunter asked.

"Yeah and the coward jumped into a life boat!" the crewman said. "He left women and children to die!"

"Where is he now", Hunter asked.

The man told them that after being picked up by the Carpathia, Ismay was led to the cabin belonging to the ship's doctor, Frank Mcgee. Ismay then gave Captain Rostron, Carpathia's captain, a message to send to White Star's New York office. Apparently he wrote that he:

"Deeply regret advise you Titanic sank this morning after collision with iceberg, resulting in serious loss of life. Full particulars later." Ismay wouldn't leave Dr. Mcgee's cabin for the entire journey, ate nothing solid, and was kept under the influence of opiates. Hunter growled darkly and Sebastian glared. How could that man do that? The captain of the Titanic and her engineer went down with her! A lot of people that didn't deserve to die died and Ismay escaped like a coward!

"Anyway", the crewman said and looked at them. "We will soon be reaching New York. So we need names of the survivors… so what are your names?"

"Hunter", Hunter said calmly.

"And last name?"

"Clarington", Hunter said.

"And you", the crewman asked Sebastian as he started writing on his clipboard.

"Sebastian Smythe", Sebastian hurriedly said. The crewman nodded and left. When he was gone Hunter turned to Sebastian.

"Did you also use Wes' name for us to honor him?" he asked and Sebastian nodded. Then it hit him.

"Wait", he called and the crewman turned to them.

"Yes", he asked.

"Have you found anyone named Thad Coleman or Wes Montgomery?"

The man looked through his papers.

"No, I'm sorry", he said and then walked off. Sebastian sat down beside Hunter. If that man hadn't found them… there was no hope. Thad and Wes really were gone. They sat their leaning on each other and then Sebastian looked up and gasped in awe.

"Hunter look", he said and Hunter looked up. Above them was the Statue of Liberty. Hunter looked ahead and saw New York come into view. They had made it. They had reached New York. The only question was… what do they do now?

A few months went by. Sebastian and Hunter had gotten money from the White Star Line for what they went through, it wasn't much but it was enough for them to get an apartment. They had decided to live together because they were all they had now in this strange new world. They also stayed together so that they could remember Thad together. Hunter had gotten his backpack back and in it they had found Thad's sketchpad… the drawings were all okay. They could spend evenings just looking at them and talking about them. Trying to figure out what had been going through Thad's head when he made the drawings. They saw that there were a few drawings from Titanic and both of them always hurt thinking of it.

Hunter had decided to honor Thad's dreams and had become a police officer. Sebastian was working as an intern at a law firm. The pay he got wasn't the best but he was working his way up. Just hearing that he was a survivor from the Titanic and having Sebastian argument against the whole thing the law firm got interested in him. They were each doing what Thad had wanted them to do. But they also did something once a week.

Every Sunday they would go to a certain office down by the harbor. The office had opened because so many people came and looked for lost relatives. Some of the survivors hadn't been able to give up their names so they went to the office and registered themselves and then family could find them. Every Sunday Hunter and Sebastian walked down to look for Thad. When they asked for Wes, a first class passenger, the man at the office just laughed and told them to not be ridiculous. Why would Lord Montgomery be looking for them? They decided to ask for Thad instead but so far no Thad Coleman or Thaddeus Coleman had been registered.

This Sunday they were heading for the office for the last time. They had decided that this really was the last time they were going. Their hope was running thin. As they walked to the office it started raining so they ran as fast as they could towards the office. When they got there they stopped in the foyer to dry off a bit. They were looking at their feet and suddenly heard raised voices from the counter. It wasn't unusual. It was very common actually. They heard a hand slam onto the counter. Hunter and Sebastian walked into the room. They saw a dark haired man stand in front of the counter. The man behind it was pale and shaken. He saw them and held a hand up to the man.

"No there is still not Thad or Thaddeus Coleman registered", he called. "Come back next week and maybe he will be."

"No", Hunter said and the man in front of the counter froze. "This is the last time."

"Good day", Sebastian said and they both walked out. They hadn't gotten far down the rainy street when they heard:

"Hunter! Sebastian!"

Both of them stopped walking.

"I know that voice", Hunter said and his eyes were wide. He was pale and shaking. He turned to Sebastian. Sebastian was just as pale and shook just as much as him and they both slowly turned. It felt like time stood still. They turned and saw the man from the office.

"It… it's impossible", Sebastian said.

"Hi", the young man said with a soft smile. Hunter and Sebastian took off towards him. They hugged him tightly while shouting his name loudly. Shouting…

TBC *innocent whistling* I'm mean aren't I?