A little faith in me
Mike Chang was shaking. His brow furrowed so deep in his forehead as he pointed at the boiler rooms in the plan of the Titanic.
"Five compartments" his tone shook slightly so and Captain was just starting to absorb all of his obvious fear "She can stay afloat with the first four compartments breached. But not five. Not five" Chang was trying to get through the Captain but the older man was shocked to even react.
Everyone had been talking about the unsinkable ship and this was his last trip. An honor certificate waited for him at home along with his retirement check and now the ship was going to sink. He knew before Chang finished talking.
"As she goes down by the head the water will spill over the tops of the bulkheads, at E deck, from one to the next, back and back. There's no stopping it."
"The pumps" he tried to sound collected but Chang was on the edge of freaking out. He could see it.
"The pumps buy us time, but minutes only. From this moment, no matter what we do, Titanic will founder."
There were several gasps around the room full of men but only Abrams stepped up.
"But this ship can't sink!" he said as a matter of fact but Chang didn't spare him a look. His eyes were locked with the Captain's.
"She is made of iron, sir. I assure you, she can. And she will. Is it a mathematical certainty" he softly said. The captain looked around the room to every single face that had been by his side during this trip.
His last trip.
"How much time?"
"An hour, two at most" the Captain's eyes locked with Puckerman's. The boy had been like a son to him, this was his first big trip and he was in charge of the young man.
"How many aboard, Mr. Puckerman?" the boy was sweating but he stepped forward.
"Two thousand two hundred souls aboard, sir" his voice shook. Hell, his whole body was shaking with fear and uncertainty. His first trip. First.
"I think we'll make the headlines after all, Mr. Abrams" the Captain said before he took his men and walked out of the room.
He had an entire sea of people to safe by himself.
…
Rachel had stopped crying when her mother walked away from her as soon as Finn returned to the suite.
She stood in front of him. Her vision of the man had changed drastically when he scared her to the bones by acting like a completely caveman at breakfast.
She feared him but she wasn't going to let him know that. The only sight of him was enough to make her shiver as it was. He was way too tall and right at that moment he hovered above her like a shadow she couldn't outrun.
He was angry. His ego was bruised.
She didn't look up, her eyes fixed on his bowtie but avoiding his gaze.
He opened his mouth as to regard her but instead of speaking Rachel saw the hand fly to her cheek and then it hit her like a brick on the wall.
The strength of the slap threw her face to the side and for a moment she couldn't feel anything but the weight of the world on her face. She saw the light of flames behind her eyelids but it was all over as soon as it began when he grabbed her roughly by the shoulders and shook her like a ragdoll.
But it's not the slap or the roughness that Finn used that broke her heart, no. It was the knowledge that this man who was supposed to be her husband in a near future could lay a hand on her over jealousy.
"You are nothing but a little slut, aren't you?" he angrily spited in her face. Her own ego shattered to pieces with his words so she refused to look up at him. "Look at me, you little…"
Then the door of the suite sprung open after a soft knock and a butler walked inside in frenzy.
"Sir, I've been told to ask you to please put on your lifebelt, and come up to the boat deck." He politely said before making a beeline for the closets to retrieve said lifebelts.
"Get out. We're busy" Finn's eyes were still locked on Rachel's now shocked face. She was pressing the palm of her hand to her burning cheek but it didn't ease the pain.
The butler was adamant to go and insisted.
"I'm sorry about the inconvenience, Mr. Hudson, but it's Captain's orders. Please dress warmly, its quiet cold tonight" he handed a lifebelt to Rachel and thinking that the girl's distress was due to his warnings he smiled kindly at her "Not to worry, miss. I'm sure it's just a precaution."
"This is ridiculous" Finn uttered under his breath before he turned around.
Rachel nodded at the butler with appreciation writing all over her face. He had done more than just hand her a lifebelt that night. He had been her lifebelt it seemed.
…
As the first class passengers enjoyed the services of butlers and drinks accompanied by melodic music while the ship was sinking slowly it was a complete different story all together for the third class passengers.
Butlers were bursting into the cabins without an ounce of respect to the occupants of those rooms.
"Everybody up. Let's go! Put your lifebelts on" the yells waken up the less fortune people in the ship.
"Come on, come on! Put your lifebelts on! Come on!" they yelled in the corridors while banging on the doors with force.
…
Chang looked at the empty deck with disbelief in his eyes. An officer told him a few minutes later that the passengers thought the night was too cold to be standing outside.
He wanted to laugh at how stupid people were at that moment. Rich people, he thought with disgust.
All first class passengers were gathered near the staircase. Chang wanted to scream, to tell them what was going on but that would have only raised chaos. Everyone was confused, he could see it in their eyes but everyone was also too damn proud to stepped ahead and ask for what was going on.
How could people act that way in such a situation? He shook his head; he wanted to wake up from whatever bad dream he was having.
The butlers all seemed to be worried. Chang saw a few tripping on their own feet to get whatever it was that they wanted to get to. Fear was shining in their eyes and an enormous weight pressed against his chest.
He had built the ship; he had said that it was ready, that it was unsinkable. He had promised that they'd get too New York safe and sound and now more than half of the passengers wouldn't see the light of another day.
…
Rachel was being dragged by Finn and her mother towards the foyer where everyone was gathering.
She felt the sting of tears behind her eyelids; she wasn't done crying by any means.
She still couldn't believe, she refused to believe that Quinn had used her, had abused her, tricked her in the most vicious way imaginable.
No. No, she wasn't going to believe it. She couldn't. Quinn loved her as much as she loved Quinn. She knew it.
But everything was so confusing, everything pointed right back at Quinn and that's what should have made it hard to believe.
She needed to find her. She needed to talk to her but the ship was sinking and Finn had a hold of her arm in a tight grip.
She heard her mother gave instructions to Tina about making tea and she wanted to slap her mother across the face because the ship was sinking and all Shelby could think off was damn tea.
Rachel saw Mr. Chang walking up the staircase and without thinking twice she shook her arm free from Finn's grasp and ran towards Chang.
She grabbed his arm and turned him around. His eyes were shining and she could clearly see the faith slipping away from him. Finn was right behind her.
"I saw the iceberg, Mr. Chang. And I see it in your eyes. Please tell me the truth." She begged and Mr. Chang looked both sides before walking back down with Rachel's hands in his own.
"The ship will sink" he solemnly said. It was like a punch in the gut. She hated to be right sometimes and that was one of those times.
And Quinn was everything she could think of. Where had they taken her? What had they done to her?
Finn looked confused. They said the ship was unsinkable!
"You're certain?" Rachel needed confirmation and Mr. Chang nodded his head while locking eyes with her.
"Yes. In an hour or so, all this…" he looked around at his creation and felt the dull pain in his chest grow "…will be at the bottom of the Atlantic."
"My God" Finn was shocked. The words of Mr. Chang repeated over and over in his head. He just couldn't believe it.
"Please tell only who you must, I don't want to be responsible for a panic" Rachel nodded her head thinking about how she was supposed to safe Quinn. She needed to safe her because no matter what, she loved the blonde. No matter what happened and no matter what all the clues left to believe, she loved Quinn and she needed her to live simply because there was not a world she wanted to live in if Quinn wasn't in it too.
"And get to a boat quickly. Don't wait. You remember what I told you about the boats?" Mr. Chang quietly asked her. She just nodded again.
"Yes, yes. I understand. Thank you" she sincerely said. Chang just smiled tightly at her before leaving.
…
The officer was handcuffing Quinn to a water pipe when he got the call that he was needed on the upper deck.
"Go on. I'll keep an eye on him" William offered.
"No, wait" Quinn called the officer "I didn't do it, please. You have to believe me, I didn't steal anything!" but the officer wasn't even paying her any attention as he handed William the key of the handcuffs and left the room without sparing her a second look.
"Begging won't do you any good" William said as he took a seat in front of her flipping the key in his hands while Quinn thought that there was no way out.
…
The Captain walked down the deck. There were dozens of men working on freeing the boats from the ropes that tied them to the Titanic and readying them to be aboard.
Several people stood outside. Some still looked confused, others were confident, arrogant that they'd be the first to be taken, others looked completely terrified.
There weren't enough boats, Chang had told him so. What would the sponsors think in the morning when they realized that there weren't enough boats aboard because of their vanity?
His eyes fell on two little girls holding suitcases and their mother was carrying a puppy in her arms. Ridiculous, he thought. It couldn't be happening.
"Hadn't we better get the women and children into the boats, sir?" one of the officers asked but the Captain was beyond himself. The deck was already full with people and the third class passengers were being locked in the lower floors because Abrams had said something about saving the best half. Ridiculous!
The officer recognized the look in his Captain eyes as one of utter terror so he asked again. Louder.
"Sir?" he practically yelled and the older man's eyes finally focused on him.
"Yes. Women and children first" the officer looked like he wanted to stay with the Captain, help him to react but people needed to be safe so he turned to the rest of the men to address them.
"Listen to me!" he called, his voice loud and proponent. Every single working man turned their eyes at him "We are going to start the loading with women and children" he clearly said, receiving nods of approval from his team of work for the night.
The Captain' eye's went wide when he saw the band walk out to the deck and started to play their violins. Couldn't anyone see that the boat was sinking for Christ sake!
"Ladies and gentlemen" the young officer called the attention of the passengers "I'm going to need only women and children for now" his tone didn't leave room for argument so no one fought back his decision.
Finn, Rachel and Shelby emerged from the inside to the cold night. Rachel shook her head when she saw the suitcases on every woman's hand, boxes of jewelry and maids carrying coats behind them.
Their lack of compassion was overwhelming and it killed Rachel to know that she was one of those women not even a week ago. It killed her to know that she still was.
Quinn had made her see what else was out there, all the fun she could have when she wasn't trying to live out of expectations. Quinn had made her feel alive and how could she have been so stupid? She loved Quinn, she loved her.
"My brooch, I left my brooch. I must have it!" Shelby's voice brought her out of her own thoughts and for the first time in her entire life she saw nothing but a stupid, brainless and heartless shell of a person in her mother's figure.
She felt ashamed to call her mother in that moment and it hurt her deeply.
"You're not going anywhere Shelby" Finn said, his own tone filled with worry. Rachel didn't spare him a look.
…
Santana was trying to push her way through the crowd but with no avail. She didn't need anyone telling her that the ship was sinking because she had woken up to a wet floor and that was all the proof that she needed to know exactly what was going on.
The people were shouting at the bottom of the main staircase to their deck and Santana watched with a slight set of panic that the gates had been locked. They were trapped like dogs in cages in one of the lowest floors.
They'd be the first to die if they didn't manage to get to the upper floor fast.
To her right Brittany was looking everywhere with her big expressive and innocent baby blue eyes and the brunette made up her mind at that moment. She'd do whatever it takes to get Brittany safe.
"Wait for me here" she said and before Brittany could give her an answer Santana was already making her way up the staircase.
The steel gate was locked and butlers were on the other side trying to calm the crowd, giving empty explanations she knew.
"Stay calm, please. It's not time to go up to the boats yet" one of the butlers said. If Santana was good at something, she liked to believe that that something was reading people. She was good at knowing when someone was lying; she was good seeing sadness behind big smiles.
With one look at the butler on the other side of the gate and after hearing his voice she knew that he was lying.
"Open the gate" she demanded but the butler simply ignored her. "Open the gate!" he looked at her alright but he just turned around one more time and left the place.
…
The hurried steps of worried people could be heard through the closed door where Quinn was being held. She didn't want it to show but internally she was terrified. No one knew of her whereabouts. Her best friend was probably looking for her and Rachel. She needed to see Rachel one more time.
She looked up through a small porthole only to realize that the water was quickly catching up. It will be no time before that particular floor was under the water.
She didn't want to die like that, not after what happened, not drawn and without the love of her life by her side.
William sat in front of her with his gun held tightly in his hands as he eyed her with disgust. She kept hiding her face behind the pipe in fear that he could see her obvious feminine profile.
"You know? I believe this ship may sink" he stood up and walked closer to where she was chained.
"You know I didn't do it" she spat angrily in his face but he was humored by her statement "Just a coward sends someone else to deal his debts."
He raised his hand as if to slap her across the face and she hide behind the pipe. She wasn't going to make it out of there alive so she might as well just say what's on her mind.
He laughed, loudly so and she wanted to have her hands free to defend herself.
"I can see where your sudden courage has come" he mocked her "At least you know that this is how a man pays for touching Mr. Hudson's stuff"
"Rachel it's not something he owns!" she angrily screamed. How dared he to say such thing!
"She will be once they're married and he had taken care of all her father's debts" William laughed some more.
"She will never love him the way she loves me. I can assure you that" she didn't know about Rachel's father but all that caught her attention was the fact that William said that there will be a wedding.
Even after Finn found out that Rachel had been with her/him all day, that she ran from her bodyguard while holding her hand. He was still planning on marrying her and what for? To make her pay?
"He doesn't care about her love" William said as if that was the most obvious thing in the world. "He is a business man."
So that was it. Rachel was a price, a trophy wife and Quinn was about to become an example of Finn's rage.
"I'd love to stay here and get to know you" William said with Quinn's eyes locked with his "But I've been asked to give you this small token of our appreciation…" and with all his force he punched Quinn in the stomach.
She fell to her knees as he dusted his coat and looked down on her as she coughed and gasped for breath.
"Compliments of Mr. Finn Hudson" he said over his shoulder as he walked out of the room and into the deserted corridor with a small silver key in his hand.
…
The sky momentarily lighted up with different colors from the rockets. Kids stared in owe as Rachel planned her getaway.
Finn watched her with a small smile on his lips. This woman would be his wife in less than a week and Quinn was locked in a lower floor. Everything was looking up perfect for him.
"Women and children only!" the officer called as Finn, Rachel and Shelby got closer to aboard.
"Is there room for a gentleman?" Finn asked the officer. Rachel saw with clarity the fear behind his grin as he spoke and how hard he tried to look confident. She silently wondered if the officer could see it too?
"Sorry, sir. No men yet" the officer responded before he helped another lady over the rail. Another rocket burst over their heads. Rachel knew that they were trying to take the children's minds away from the disaster occurring.
A woman cried on her right as she kissed her husband goodbye and Rachel felt her heart sink lower. She didn't have anyone to kiss goodbye. She didn't want to say goodbye.
Terri was eager to get on a boat as was everyone else but at least the blonde woman had the decency to look guilty for the rest of the people that was obviously being kept behind.
"Come on, you heard the man. Get in the boat, sister" she said as Shelby eyed the boat with superiority.
"Will the lifeboats be seated according to class? I hope they're not too crowded" she pressed her hand on her chest as she laughed mockingly. Rachel couldn't take it anymore.
"Oh, Mother shut up!" she raised her voice shocking Shelby and Terri in the process "Don't you understand? The water is freezing…" she thought back to the day when Quinn saved her life, the blonde had told her so "…not enough by half. Half the people on this ship are going to die."
Quinn was a permanent thought in her head. She needed to find her, to safe her the same way the girl had safe her before.
"Not the better half" she turned around when she heard Finn's arrogant voice. He smirked at her and she had never felt more disgusted in her life than she did at that moment.
Quinn was a third class passenger but she was far better than Finn in every single way imaginable but what he said is that Quinn will never see the light of day again.
Over Rachel's dead body.
"You unimaginable bastard" she uttered the words with venom but his smirk was still in his lips.
Terri boarded the boat and reached out her hand to help a still shocked Shelby.
"Come on, Shel, get in the boat. These are the first class seats right up here" she hoped that the brunette didn't catch the sarcasm in her tone "That's it" she smiled tightly at the woman before turning her eyes to the younger brunette.
"Come on, Rachel. You're next, honey."
Rachel looked at Terri's hand and stepped back only to crush on Finn's chest. She turned around to face him again, he was confused but at the same time realization flashed through his eyes.
"Rachel!" Shelby called her with a tone very close to desperation "Get in the boat."
It was an order but Rachel wasn't going to take orders from her mother anymore. Her heart broke at the sight of the woman who raised her but she couldn't find it in herself to go with her.
"Goodbye, mother."
She turned around just in time when the officers started to down the boat. Shelby completely shock, couldn't utter a word as she watched her only daughter's back walking away.
A hand grabbed her arm roughly and turned her around at once. Rachel saw Finn's raging eyes staring at her with disbelief.
"Where are you going? To him? Is that it? To be a whore to that gutter rat?" his words didn't hurt her in the slightest as he expected them to. As she stood there with his hands squeezing her arms she realized that she felt sorry for him and that she'd rather be anything than his wife.
And that's exactly what she told him "I'd rather be his whore than your wife."
She managed to get out of his grasp as his jaw hit the floor and his eyes watered.
"No!" he screamed and grabbed her arms again, she fought against his hold "No!"
"Help! Help!" Rachel screamed back to anyone who could hear her. Finn shocked by Rachel's screams for help let her go and she ran on the opposite way from him and straight into the crowd. "That man tried to take advantage of me" she accused him.
A group of men advanced towards Finn but his eyes were locked with Rachel's as they pushed him backwards by the shoulders and grabbed his hands to force him away.
He was shaking with anger but Rachel didn't care anymore. He didn't dictate her life, she did and she was choosing Quinn at that moment. It had always been Quinn from the very beginning and she was going to find her to tell her just that.
She turned around and ran inside the ship running as fast as she could. She needed to apologize to Quinn and tell her that she loved her.
…