Midnight on the Ship of Dreams

Chapter Two

"Jack, Jack!"

Jack groaned as he rolled over and peaked between sleepy lids at his friend, who was dancing around the room wildly. "Fabi, I'm tryin' to sleep here." Rose stirred in his arms and he sighed, so much for that. Slipping his arms from around her he sat up and rubbed at his face. "What?"

"Jack, the Hockley, he shoot somebody!"

"What!" Rose nearly smacked her head on the top bunk trying to sit up, and she ended up crawling across the mattress to climb out and head for the door. The purple dress she had slept in was wrinkled and stained from their excursions below deck, and still it was oddly beautiful on her. Jack jumped up to grab her arm.

"Where're you going?"

"He might have shot my mother, Jack!"

Fabrizio shook his head quickly. "No, no. He shoot a man." At this, Rose and Jack looked at one another, and then Fabrizio, who took that as a push for more information. "Ah. Tommy said that he got arrested, and that some cop in first class is gonna look into it."

Standing, Jack grabbed Rose's hand. "Well this is no way to start the morning." He said softly, smiling at Rose when she looked up at him sadly. "How's about we get some grub?" She managed a soft smile and nodded, and Fabrizio led them to the third class dining hall. After getting food they sat with Tommy and Helga, who Fabrizio flirted with for the entire meal.

"I heard it was about money," Tommy told them. "The ol' coppa was tryin' t'rip Hockley off so he shot 'im cold."

Jack looked at Rose briefly to gauge her reaction, but she kept her eyes on her food and her face blank. Under the table, he grabbed her hand gently and smiled at her. She returned his smile and went back to her breakfast, but Jack was struggling with his appetite, wondering how close Cal had been to finding them and shooting them dead over everything. He was lost in his thoughts as Tommy railed on, and it wasn't long before his friend caught on.

"…and your mother is a shite eating gutter whore…"

Jack blinked, glaring up at him. "Hey…"

"There y'are, boy'o." Tommy would have repeated what he had been talking about when suddenly the room was hushed and everyone turned to look at a man, middle aged and obviously not dressed to be in the third class standing on one of the tables.

"Pardon me ladies and gentlemen but I was just hoping that I could find Miss Dewitt Bukater…"

Rose glanced nervously at Jack and when he squeezed her hand, she stood and faced the man. He smiled, although it was an odd smile, and he turned to walk out into the hallway, and she and Jack quickly followed. As soon as they were out of the crowded room and able to think, he introduced himself. "How do you do? I'm Edwin Lightfoot."

"Pleasure," She said, shaking his hand, and surprising the hell out of him. "What can I do for you, Mr. Lightfoot?"

"I'm investigating the death of Spicer Lovejoy and I was rather hoping to question you in the matter." He flipped a little notepad out of his waistcoat. "It is to my understanding that you are engaged to Mr. Hockley?"

"I'm sorry sir, but no. I was formerly engaged to Mr. Hockley." Rose quickly became nervous, hugging herself, she tried to look stern past it all, but every part of her expected Cal to round a corner and snatch her up. She had hoped things could have gone somewhat peaceably but she supposed she had been unreasonable in that desire. Now her only desire was to get through the last couple of days of the cruise without being scathed.

"Forgive me madam but it must be terribly hard to call off a wedding as grand as yours from the middle of the Atlantic ocean?"

"Hardly, there's a Marconi room, I can go up there any time I choose and send a message to my family."

Jack idled nervously beside her, sure he was going to be implicated in the crime any second now. The investigator looked him up and down and managed a smile, one of those fake, snobby smiles that made his skin crawl. "Forgive me, but we haven't been introduced Mr. Uh…"

"Dawson. Jack Dawson."

"Ah yes, Mr. Dawson. You stole Miss Bukater's 56 carat diamond necklace."

Rose was taken aback by the accusation and she looked like she could spit. Jack further slid her arm into the crook of his to try and calm her down, but it wasn't working in the slightest. "Excuse me, what did you just accuse him of doing?"

"Mr. Hockley informed me, as well as the purser and master at arms that the necklace which he bought you went missing." He added cooly. "He suspected Mr. Dawson as the thief."

Jack could put up with quite a bit, he had a pretty thick skin, but he was having none of this. "Well from what I've heard about last night it sounds a bit like he suspected Mr. Lovejoy more than he suspected me." Rose glanced at him in surprise, and had to suppress a smile. He slipped his arm around her shoulders. "You, and the ship's crew, are free to search our room, if you like."

Incensed, Lightfoot scribbled a few notes and then quickly put his pad away. "I will be sure to let the master at arms know. In the mean time, Mr. Hockley has requested a word with you." He looked at Jack. "Alone."

"Eat shit and die."

"Jack!" Rose frowned a little. "That's enough." She faced Lightfoot again. "Where is he?"

Cal was surprised when the door opened and his fiancee, looking like she was being marched to her execution, entered. He sat up straight on the chair he had been on, and looked at her with pathetic eyes. "Come back. This is madness, Rose. I can give you everything. I can give you the world."

Rose crossed her arms. "And the only cost is my freedom."

Cal frowned at that and sighed, dropping his gaze. Rose studied him closely and leaned back against the door, which had been closed behind her. "Why did you do it?"

He smiled slightly. "It was self defense, Rosie, dearest." That would get him off the hook at least.

"What would you have to defend yourself from Lovejoy for?"

"He was mad with greed. I caught him with his hand in the safe and he pulled his gun on me. I had to protect myself and the Hockley fortune."

"And why did you want to see me?"

"Ah," He nodded to the other chair. "My coat. Take it. I want you to have it."

"I don't want your coat, Cal…"

"Will you just take the bleeding thing and not argue with me about it? For once in your life?" He watched her intently as she sighed, picked it up and draped it over her arm without another word. "Rose," She looked at him and his heart thumped at the sight of those eyes. "Rose, I want you to know despite the arrangement, despite the pomp, I suppose. You were it, for me."

Rose wasn't sure of what to say to that. It was probably the closest thing to a compliment that he had ever paid her. She looked at him and walked closer, pausing to brush her fingertips along his cheek. He sighed and closed his eyes and she smiled softly. Cal had been the first man she had thought she had loved, had been the first person she had given herself to. She had assumed he would be her husband one day, and it was strange to tell herself that that wouldn't happen. Strange as it was, she was glad. Because in reality, she couldn't love him the way she loved Jack. She bent to press a kiss to his cheek, and left the room quickly.

Left with the lingering feeling of her lips on his face, and the ache in his heart, Cal sunk into himself more.

Jack had been waiting in the hall and jumped when the door opened, glancing up at the redhead as she exited. His immediate concern was that she was safe, unharmed, and not terribly upset and when he first saw her, it was difficult to judge what she was thinking, but she wasn't physically harmed at least. She didn't meet his gaze at first, but after pausing to shut her eyes and take a deep breath, she looked to him and offered him her hand.

"Let's go for a walk, darling."

Lunch was being served, so the deck wasn't terribly crowded. She just needed the air. She needed to breathe. She needed sunshine and Jack and to forget the look in Cal's eyes when she had left him. She didn't love Cal, that wasn't an issue and she knew enough to know that. But she was human, far more than he was, and she didn't like to see people's pain.

"Are you okay?" He was so gentle with her, so understanding. She didn't know how he could be so damned wonderful all of the time.

"Yes." She nodded. "I just felt…I don't know. I felt sorry for him, you know?" She sighed. "I'm not sure he was lying to me."

"He lied about me."

"He didn't even mention that." She unfolded his coat from her arm and looked at it, it was heavy. Really heavy. Slipping it on, she immediately slid her hands into the pockets and frowned at the feeling of cool metal in the pocket. She lifted her hand out and immediately shoved it back in. "Jesus!"

"What? What is it?"

"The necklace is in the coat."

"Shit, he did set us up."

"No," She waved for him to quiet down and he stared. "No, he said he wanted me to have it. He told them it was missing so he could file the insurance claim, probably."

Jack had to hand it to Cal, he wasn't sure there was anyone alive that could do something so generous and so self centered at the same time. "That's gonna be a bitch to keep from getting stolen."

"They'd be stupid to steal it, no jeweler would ever buy it from anyone of lower standing." She ran her fingers over it in her pocket and felt something under the necklace. Biting her lip, she slipped her hand past it and found a wad of US currency and a note.

Make sure to give your mother the amount separated by this note, the rest, including the necklace, is yours. Good luck to you, yours, Cal.

Rose shook her head and looked at Jack. "I think we might be able to get a decent place in America." She showed him the money. "And I think we're going to be just fine for a while once we're all settled in."

Jack stared at the money with wide eyes and had to finally sit down on one of the benches. Since his parents had died he hadn't lead a charmed life at all. Never really lived in a nice place, always under bridges or in people's leaky rooms for pennies a day. Now he had the opportunity to start over with the woman he loved and not freeze his ass off. "I'll be goddamned," He murmured.

Rose moved to sit next to him and hid the money, looking over at him. "Are you all right?"

He nodded. "I'm…yeah I…" He smiled over at her, his blue eyes twinkling with the promise of his love. "I'll give you a good life, Rose. We'll even send Cal his money back one day. We'll just get a head start on it."

She nodded, breathless. "I trust you."

Leaning over, he pressed a quick but firm kiss to her mouth. "I…I love you."

Rose stared at him, her heart pounding at the sound of his voice, at the words he was saying. Good Lord, it could not have been a more perfect moment for him to say it and she felt…at peace. She grinned in response and kissed him as well, lingering, deeply. She poured her heart and soul into the kiss and he knew her response before she even managed to gasp it between kisses. "I love you, too."