Author's Note: Sorry for the delay, I've been preoccupied with my other fics and lost on this one. Thanks again, though, to Midgie for the idea. And to the fans for their requests.
Chapter 57: A Softer Landing
"What happened to your face!?" Peter asked walking through the door to their hotel room. Micky was holding a cloth against the left side of his face and his clothing was a little bloody. Peter's heart sank wondering what had happened to his friend.
"It's fine," Micky said through a partially swollen mouth.
"Doesn't look fine to me," Mike said walking over to inspect Micky. Peter bit his lower lip waiting for Mike to say something.
"Mike, I'm fine," Micky said though Mike pushed his hand out of the way to look at his face better. "It's just a little bump and scrape."
"You're swollen and bloody," Mike said.
"He got into a fight with the Devil," Davy said. "He was planning on cheating at a game of poker for the money and Micky called him out on it. Piper changed our appearances so the Devil didn't recognize it, but the Devil got pissed that Micky accused him of cheating and attacked him. Micky broke a chair when he fell on it."
"He'll heal in time," Piper said. "Just have a pretty busted up face for a while."
"Yeah, but you still love me," Micky smiled only to wince in pain.
"I don't know," Piper laughed. "With a face like that, I might have to give Davy a shot."
"Hey!" Micky exclaimed as Davy stifled a laugh. Peter felt relieved knowing that even though Micky was in pain, he was still able to banter and have fun. He'd be ok.
"What happened with Sophie?" Piper asked after giving Micky a kiss on his good cheek.
"Well, we convinced her to do the right thing," Mike said.
"I feel bad for her though," Peter said sitting on one of the beds. "It seems as though she's had a lot of people mistreat her over the years. She doesn't care about right and wrong anymore because no one has ever showed her the difference."
"Peter, that's none of our concern," Mike said. "Don't get me wrong, I feel bad for her, too, but we can't change history. Which means we can't change her. As much as we may want to help, we can't. Who knows how important she will be to history."
"I know, but I still feel bad," Peter said.
"That's ok, Peter," Piper smiled. "That just shows how big your heart really is."
"That's Pete," Davy said with a smile making Peter blush a little. "Heart of gold."
"So we won?" Micky asked smiling only to wince in pain once again.
"You should stop doing that, Micky," Piper said.
"Micky will never stop smiling," Mike laughed. "And yes, we won."
"Devil never saw it coming!" Davy cheered a little. "Not until the end when I said Micky's name. He realized who we were and was furious. We kicked his sorry little but again!"
"Relax, there, Davy," Mike said. "We haven't yet won the war."
"What happens now?" Peter asked.
"No idea, Peter," Mike answered. "Guess we just wait around until we get sucked into the next time travel hole or whatever."
"Waiting is fun," Davy mumbled sarcastically. But they waited around nonetheless. They didn't have enough money for another night, so Peter hoped that somehow they would get to leave before then. After a while, they were forced to check out and as much as Mike wanted to, they couldn't come up with any more money for another hotel room.
"Well, what do we do now?" Davy asked as they wandered the city. It was getting dark, so whatever they decided on, they'd have to do it fast.
"We don't have time to try and come up with more money," Mike said.
"Well, we could always rough it," Micky said.
"What about the snakes and the scorpions and other bugs?" Davy asked nervously.
"I could probably conjure up some tents," Piper said. "Those should keep us safe from any critters like that."
"It'll be just like camping!" Micky said trying to get them all enthusiastic about it.
"Aren't you supposed to camp in the woods or something?" Davy asked.
"How do you think these guys did it when they first came out here, Davy?" Mike asked. "Besides, we really don't have much of a choice here. Let's just make sure to do it away from town to make sure we aren't seen by anyone." Once they reached the edge of town, they walked a little farther until Mike found a good spot. Despite more of Davy's protests, they all ultimately decided this was their only option.
Piper conjured up a tent for Peter and Davy to share and another for her, Mike and Micky. Peter sat under the sky for a while just staring at the stars. He really enjoyed the beauty of it and wished that he could enjoy this longer. In the city, you didn't see the sky like this so he wouldn't be able to enjoy it when they got home. After a while, Davy joined him for a while before Peter finally felt tired enough to try and sleep.
At sunrise the next morning, however, Peter woke up to the feeling of the ground shaking beneath him. For a moment, he thought it was an earthquake, but soon realized it was another time vortex. Peter braced himself for another hard landing, only to realize he landed in something soft this time. He heard several "oomphs" from his friends as they landed near him.
"Everyone ok?" Mike asked.
"Fine," Micky said. "Soft landing this time."
"Fine," Piper agreed.
"Are we in a dirty laundry pile?" Davy asked. "Gross."
"Hey, at least it's better than the steel floor," Mike said rubbing his backside.
"You ok, Mike?" Peter asked getting up and looking around.
"Fine," Mike answered. "Just a little sore. I'll get over it."
"Where are we?" Micky asked as they all looked around the room. Peter looked around and saw the walls and floors were made of steel. There were dozens of bins filled with sheets and other articles of clothing.
"A laundry room," Peter answered. "An industrial laundry room of some sort."
"Yeah, but where?" Davy asked. "And when?"
"I don't feel good," Mike said clutching his stomach.
"Mike?" Peter asked.
"I think I'm gonna be sick," Mike said.
"Why are you sick?" Davy asked.
"How should I..." Mike answered then stopped and dropped to his knees.
"Mike!" the four of them exclaimed and rushed to side.
"Breathe," Micky said.
"I'm gonna be sick," Mike said.
"He feels fine," Piper said pressing her hand against his forehead.
"Ok, let's just lay down," Davy said clearing a space on the floor for Mike.
"Davy, stay here with Mike," Micky said as Mike curled up on the floor clutching his stomach. "We're gonna go take a look around and see what we can figure out. I have a feeling we're on a ship of some sort."
"Why do you say that?" Piper asked.
"He gets seasick," Micky answered. "Metal walls and if you listen carefully, you can hear groaning of steel."
"Oh yeah," Peter said listening and hearing the groaning Micky was talking about.
"I can try a few spells to cure seasickness," Piper said. "You two go."
"Ok," Micky said as he and Peter walked toward the single door in the whole room. Peter took one last glance at Mike and followed Micky out of the room. The hallway was much more lavishly decorated. The walls were encased in mahogany planks with gold trim. The floors were a light pinewood and waxed to perfection.
"Swanky," Peter said.
"Let's just hope our outfits aren't too dated," Micky said as they crept along the hallway. They walked down the hallway until they came to a stairwell. Just inside, they found a map showing they were indeed aboard a ship. The name of the ship was obscured, however, by a smudge. Micky tried to rub it away, but it wouldn't.
"I think it's paint," Peter said. "Probably some kids messing around."
"What gets me is there's no one in the halls," Micky said.
"Maybe its the middle of the night," Peter shrugged. "Should we go up?"
"Yeah," Micky said. "I don't want to stray too far from Mike, but it would be best for us to find out when and where we are." Together they climbed up the stairs making sure to remain quiet. When they reached the door to the Saloon Deck, they heard voices on the other side of it.
"Everything's clear here, sir," said one of the voices.
"Where is he?" said a second voice sounding very frustrated.
"I don't know, but the stairwells were all checked," said the first voice. "Maybe the passengers were mistaken. I mean, they did say he appeared out of thin air and it is the middle of the night. They could have had a nightmare."
"It's possible," answered the second voice. "But do another sweep just to make sure."
"Should we tell Captain Smith?" asked the first voice.
"No," answered the second voice. "I can handle this. No need to wake him. Especially if they were just having nightmares. Just go check everything again to put their minds at ease."
"Yes, Sir," said the first voice before Peter heard footsteps fading away.
"Think they're looking for the Devil?" Peter asked softly.
"Probably," Micky whispered. "Especially if he appeared out of thin air. I just hope he's not causing too much turmoil here."
"Should we do something?" Peter asked.
"Best to figure out the situation first," Micky answered. They were about to walk through the door when another voice cut through and stopped them. They didn't want to be seen yet.
"Mr. Lightoller!" yelled the voice. "What in God's name is going on?"
"No need to worry yourself, Mr. Turner," the second man's voice said, presumably Mr. Lightoller. "We have everything under control."
"Why are your men searching up and down the halls in the middle of the night?" Mr. Turner demanded. "My wife is very tired and would like some sleep!"
"I understand that, Mr. Turner," Mr. Lightoller answered. "And I apologize if my men were being too loud for her. We did receive a report of a suspicious man roaming the halls and we are searching the premises for him. There is nothing to worry about. Please go back to your room."
"We paid a lot of money for this trip," Mr. Turner said. "And I have breakfast with Mr. Ismay in the morning."
"I know that, Mr. Turner," Mr. Lightoller said. "Please go back to your room. We will be done very soon." Mr. Turner finally walked away and Mr. Lightoller started walking towards them. They exchanged a worried look and ran back down the stairs toward the laundry room before Mr. Lightoller saw them.
"Peter," Micky said worriedly once they exited the stairwell. "Mr. Ismay wouldn't be...would it?"
"Normally, I might say maybe," Peter answered growing just as worried. "But Lightoller and Captain Smith? I think we're in a lot of trouble."
"We need to tell Mike," Micky said dashing off toward the laundry room. Peter followed closely behind and burst into the laundry room to find Mike finally sitting up looking a lot less green than he had before.
"What's wrong?" Davy asked looking at their worried expressions.
"I think we are in a lot of trouble," Peter answered. "I think we're on the Titanic."