A New Fate
Just got done writing this. It's been a long week, so I'm surprised I managed find the time and energy to write at all.
Hope you guys enjoy!
Chapter Twelve:
The Split
Fabrizio, Tommy, Trudy, and Cora made it to the upper levels of the third-class passengers' area, right after busting through a locked door and being criticized by a steward for the damage.
Frustrated, all four shouted "Shut up!" at the man before heading to another area where a large group of people were trying to get up the steps but were blocked by gates and stewards refusing to let anyone through.
Tommy made his way forward, managing to get to the front and at the gate, "Hey, what's the hold-up! Let us through!"
One of the stewards shook his head, "No one allowed through until the first class is safely evacuated."
"For God's sake, man! There are women and children down here! Let us through so we can have a chance!"
The steward took out a gun, making everyone gasp and slightly freeze, "Get back!"
"Just give us a chance!" Tommy screamed, kicking the gate and pointing at the steward before heading back to the others.
"What's going on?" Trudy asked.
Tommy huffed, face red, "They're not letting anyone through."
"What do we do?" Fabrizio asked, still holding Cora in his arms.
"Guys!"
They turned to see Jack, Rose, and Bert making their way through the crowd toward them.
"Daddy!" Cora screamed, being let down by Fabrizio as she ran to her father, jumping into his arms and wrapping her own around his neck.
"Jack!" Fabrizio and Tommy hugged their friend.
Rose and Trudy met halfway, embracing each other.
Upon seeing Taylor, Fabrizio and Tommy pulled him into the hug as well.
"Jack, it's useless, we can't get through here! They're not letting anyone through!"
Jack cursed under his breath, "Alright, we need to find another way."
"Fabrizio!" a woman called out.
Fabrizio turned and his eyes widened at seeing Helga running toward him, throwing her arms around his neck.
"Helga!" he exclaimed, hugging her back.
He began to speak her language, poorly but got the point across.
Helga bobbed her head and pointed down the corridor, saying something in return.
"What's she saying?" Rose asked.
Fabrizio turned to them, "She says there's another way out that's less guarded."
Jack nodded, "Alright, then we follow her lead."
Ruth boarded the lifeboat after Molly, sitting down as the officers and workers lowered them into the water.
The whole time, her mind was Rose and the shock of the last few hours still weighing in on her. She could only hope her daughter was smart enough to get on a boat and that she could find her when it was all over.
There was still time to make all this right and help see the path for them to survive. But she would have to be stricter and harsher for now on. The last thing she needed was for her daughter to turn full rebel.
The small letter entered her mind, but she paid no serious thought to it. Believing it meant nothing, nor could persuade her. She will make sure her daughter would do what she needed her to do.
Finding many of the pathways flooded, it became clear that they couldn't reach the Master at Arms office, forcing Lovejoy to grab Cal by the shoulder and lead them back the way they came, just barely managing to make it to the stairs they down before it completely flooded.
"Leave them! We need to get to the lifeboats!"
Though wishing to resist, Cal listened to him as he made his way up the stairs, putting away his gun for now.
Reaching another checkpoint that was gated with the help of Helga, the small group managed to make their way to the front, begging to get through.
Helga reunited with her family.
"Go back to the main stairwell!" the steward repeated himself for the millionth time, his words reaching no one as they pressed against the gate.
"Open the gate, right now!" Jack demanded, pointing at the man.
"Go back to the main stairwell, as I told you!"
Jack and the others sighed in frustration before he lost his cool and began to kick the gate, making it shake as he cursed them. The outburst scared Rose and the others, but no one dared to call him out on it. Some felt the same way.
Seeing a bench, Jack ran to it and began to pull it free. Some of the men noticed and ran to help him, including Tommy, Fabrizio, Bert, and Taylor.
Rose and Trudy motioned for everyone to back up and give them room.
Once pulling it free, the group of men got situated to hold the bench and began to charge. The steward demanded that they stop but they refused to listen to him.
Making the first charge, they managed to weaken it. On the second charge, they completely broke through and set the bench down to the side.
Jack grabbed Rose's hand as they moved over the broken gate and the bench, ignoring the steward as he demanded they stop until Tommy punched him in frustration.
Heading up to the deck of the ship, they reached the top and burst through the door that led to the outside, already feeling the ship becoming far steeper than before.
"The boats are gone!" said Tommy as he looked around.
Jack ran to the railing, using the cable to lean over the edge and see further down.
Rose saw Colonel Gracie and ran to him, "Colonel, are there more boats?"
The Colonel shook his head while interlocked with his wife's arm and the other with a nameless woman, "Yes, miss, there are a couple of boats all the way forward."
He pointed down the deck, "This way, I'll l-"
They didn't hear him as they all began to run down the deck, passing many passengers who were trying to find a boat.
Eventually, they found a boat that was currently still allowing passengers, but only women and children.
Bert took his daughter and offered her to the officer, "Please, take her!"
"No, Daddy! No!" she protested, squirming as the officer took ahold of her and loaded her into the boat.
"It'll be alright, I'll go find another," he smiled. "We'll see each other again."
Trudy stepped forward, "I'll go with her."
The officer nodded as she helped her into the boat, taking her seat to Cora before picking her up and placing her on her lap so there could be more room.
Cora cried into her shoulder while looking at her father.
"It'll be alright," he repeated, repressing tears of his own before walking away.
Fabrizio turned to Helga and tried saying in her language to get in, but she refused. It was only because of her mother offering to go with that she agreed, taking up the last spots left before it was lowered into the water. Helga's father waved from above before walking off.
Jack looked at Rose, "Get-"
"No!" she grabbed his shirt, hugging herself to him. "I'm not leaving unless you are! Like I said before, you jump, I jump!"
Though he wanted to protest and force her in, he decided against it, fearing that she would do something stupid. Like, jump onto one of the lower decks or something of the sort.
Tommy tapped Jack's shoulder, making him turn.
"We'll go look for any more boats," he offered his hand. "Stay safe!"
Jack shook it, "You too."
Fabrizio nodded to him and Taylor, and they did the same before the two ran off, disappearing into the crowd.
Taylor looked around him and saw the chaos, seeing the actions of his failure coming to fruition. His attempts to slow down Titanic's sinking were halted when he heard Jack and Rose's voices from earlier, sidelining his mission to make sure Jack was safe.
He turned to the two and watched as Jack stroked her hair and held her head against his chest. How she hung onto him like he was going to disappear. Like he was the most important person in his life. How everything else didn't matter, not even being surrounded by so much chaos and the possibility of death, to never see another morning or sunset ever again.
He slowly came to the realization that the time had come. The moment he dreaded for half a decade, each year making him more anxious and wary that he would have to say goodbye. That their days of adventures together would come to an end.
But he felt closure in such a thought as well, knowing that he now had someone to take his place. To look after him and make sure he wasn't alone in this world. And it couldn't have been a more perfect person than the one who was clinging to him.
He smiled at the two of them, feeling a deep desire to one day have what they did. But he knew, deep down, that would never be a possibility. Not after tonight.
Stepping forward, he placed a hand on Jack's shoulder, catching his attention.
"Taylor?" his voice was laced with concern, as well his eyes.
Taylor smiled, trying to keep his emotions bottled up for the time being, "Remember what I once said… about when there would come a time when I would no longer be there?"
Jack swallowed and nodded.
"That time is now."
"No!" Jack shook his head.
Taylor nodded, "It's time."
Jack looked back at him, tears filling his eyes, "Don't go!"
"I must. After all of this, what I'm doing right now… it won't be safe for you."
He looked down at Rose, "Take good care of him."
Though confused, she nodded, "I will."
Turning back to Jack, he squeezed his shoulder, "And you… take good care of her. Live each day as a gift."
Letting go of his shoulder, he turned away and made his way to the first-class main stairwell entrancing, moving through so many people as he walked towards the stairs and began walking down.
Jack watched him leave, tears falling down his cheeks as he remembered his words, unable to believe them.
Letting go of Rose and removing himself from her reach, he ran after him.
"Jack?!" Rose called out, running after him.
Jack shoved his way past so many people, ignoring their angry outbursts and glares. Once reaching the stairs, he saw Taylor reaching the end of the before going down another, charging after him.
Sensing him, Taylor turned and watched as he slammed into him, throwing his arms around him. Though feeling embarrassed by such action with so many people around, he hugged him back.
"Don't go!"
Taylor closed his eyes, trying to keep the tears at bay.
"I can't stay."
"Whatever it is that you're doing, we can outrun them, stay hidden-"
"And force you to live a life in secret, with no chance at a normal life with that girl there?" he looked up at Rose, who was standing in the middle of the stairwell. "That's no life for you. Either of you."
Jack tried to speak again but his voice failed him, unable to think of a solution.
Taylor closed his eyes before reopening them, "I haven't been entirely honest with you."
Jack frowned, "What do you mean?"
He took a deep breath, preparing himself, "The day that we met… I didn't meet you by accident."
He paused.
"I was sent to kill you."
Silence followed.
It took a good half a minute for Jack to fully process what he had just heard, even stepping away from him.
Rose was too far away to hear, deciding to give them a moment alone.
"What?"
Taylor closed his eyes, "I was sent to kill you by someone who saw an opportunity to use me for their own gain. You were a mission at the time."
Jack's mouth hung open and his mind was completely blank.
"Wh- why?"
Taylor sighed, "Because you were connected to Titanic's sinking. From what Prometheus told me-"
"Prometheus is here?!" Jack's eyes widened, feeling a chill down his spine.
He nodded, regretting to have spilled the beans on that one, "Yes, but he isn't a problem anymore. From what I understand, if Rose had committed suicide, the ship would be forced to turn around to search for her and would have avoided the iceberg. But because you were always meant to save her and did so, Titanic's fate was corrected, despite some differences."
"I… I don't understand… I thought Prometheus was the one who was responsible for the Time-Lock."
He shook his head, "It was me. The mission to kill you was supposed to cause a Split, but because I spared you it caused a Time-Lock instead. Saving Rose set the timeline to Merge before the Split could happen. Everything was on the right course… until now."
Jack frowned, "What do you mean?"
"I'm trying to slow down the sinking in any way I can, but it will cause a Split. And if I succeed, I'll be a fugitive for now on."
Jack shook his head, "It's all… really confusing. But that's not what I meant. I want to know why you spared me."
Taylor's eyes widened, thinking back to that day he first met him.
"Because I saw someone who wasn't a threat, nor a bad person. Someone who was looking to make his own way in the world. To kill you would have been a sin because you were innocent. As you are now. Even if you were to become a threat, I knew I could change it."
Jack hung onto every word.
"I spared you because I couldn't bring myself to do it. It wasn't right, even it was for the right reasons. Maybe it's because I'm too simple-minded. Or that I wasn't strong enough. But all I knew was that it was wrong."
He stepped forward and touched his shoulder, giving it a squeeze.
"As many people as I've met, in so many different lifetimes, in so many different worlds, only a small few are truly as great as they are said to be. And even fewer are who I believe are the best people I've ever known."
Tears rolled down Jack's face.
"There's so much I wish to say, so much I wish to explain. But there's no time. If I manage to keep Titanic from sinking for at least another hour, a rescue ship will come to get everyone. But all of it counts on what I do now. And what happens afterward will be because of that."
Jack nodded, feeling a sense of closure.
"I guess this is really it."
Taylor nodded, "Yes, it-"
Suddenly, his eyes widened, and immediately pushed Jack aside as he reached for his hybrid gun and dropped his briefcase.
Jack was taken back by his sudden change in behavior, nearly falling.
Rose felt time slow down as she watched Taylor push Jack away and reach for a gun of some sort, wielding it in his hands as he pointed it at her. She put her hands in front of her face, ducking to try and avoid what was coming.
Both she and Jack heard a loud sound that almost resembled that of a gunshot but somehow different. She expected to feel the gunshot wound but nothing happened after hearing the shot. She carefully traced her hands over her body, fearing to feel a hole or blood, but felt nothing except the fabric of her dress and her skin beneath, unpenetrated.
She frowned, confused as to what was going on.
Then she heard a loud thump from behind and turned to see a pair of legs hanging over the first step of the stairs.
Taylor ran up past her and reached the top, pointing down at the body before aiming in a different direction.
"I would prefer not to take a life here tonight," Taylor said in a firm tone.
"He's not dead?" a voice asked.
Rose immediately recognized who it belonged to, running up the steps to find the unconscious body of Cal Hockley on the floor and looked up to see Spicer Lovejoy standing a couple of feet away, gun in hand and startled.
Jack followed, standing beside Rose before kneeling next to Cal's body and checking his pulse.
"He's alive," Taylor confirmed, silently switching the setting of the gun from Stun to Live.
Rose also knelt beside him. She paused as her knee hit something in Cal's coat pocket. Her hand traced over the pocket and immediately felt the shape of something that made her eyes widen.
"How about a deal," Taylor kept his eyes on Lovejoy. "Leave these two alone and you get to leave with your boss to live another day. Sound good?"
Lovejoy stared at him, thinking hard.
"I cannot promise he won't come after you tomorrow. My duty is to watch over him, not to change his mind."
"And no one is asking you to."
Lovejoy took his offer to heart and nodded, "Very well."
Taylor motioned for the two to get behind him and they obeyed, climbing down the steps while keeping his trained-on Lovejoy. Even as they reached the bottom, he kept his gun in hand. It wasn't until they had reached the next floor below did he lower and put it away.
Breathing in relief, they took a moment to relax.
Lovejoy waited till they were out of sight to put his weapon away and pick up Cal, carrying him like a sack of potatoes to the outside.
He wished to kick the young unconscious Hockley heir for his unprofessional attempt to kill Jack, without accessing the situation or consider that Rose was between him and his target.
But he was thankful that the man known as Mr. Huston didn't kill his employer. Or rather his employer's son. It wouldn't have been a good track record for him, let alone having to report to Hockley's father that his son had died on his watch. He must obey the Code that his father had taught him to follow.
How he missed the days of being a detective sometimes, despite how little it paid to what he was making now.
Once he found a boat that was willing to allow men on board, he used Cal's unconsciousness as an excuse to gain sympathy and was allowed to get on, forced to hold him still as they were lowered into the ocean.
The three stood next to the clock, feeling the ship become more unstable as it continued to sink.
"What do we do now?" Jack asked. "He's never going to stop looking for us."
Taylor sighed and closed his eyes, "I'll deal with that. For you two, when the rescue ships arrive do not board the one called the RMS Carpathia. Only board the California."
"Why?" Rose asked.
"Because the first-class will immediately board the Carpathia, so you can guess where Cal and your mother will be."
The two nodded.
"Not to mention that California will not be able to hold over two thousand people to ship back to New York and the Carpathia will want another to take maybe half of the passengers."
"How do you know all this?"
Jack walked up to him and threw his arms around him , "If this is truly goodbye… thank you."
Taylor smiled as he hugged him back, "Don't worry, it isn't goodbye forever. We'll meet again... some day. Just make this count."
"I will."
Rose frowned, "Where are you going?"
Taylor turned to her and pulled her into a hug, "I expect you to keep that promise. Look after each other."
Though confused, she hugged him back, "We will."
As Taylor pulled away, he turned to Jack and nodded, picking up his briefcase.
Jack smiled, nodding back before turned away and headed down the stairs, disappearing around the corner.
"What was he talking about?" Rose asked, turning to Jack.
Jack laughed as he walked up to her and took her hand, "I'll explain later. Let's get back to the top."
Filled with so many questions, she pushed them aside and followed him back up the steps, rejoining everyone on the deck as the ship continued to sink, deciding to move to the stern when all the boats were gone.
When Taylor reached the bottom of the stairwell, he began searching for flooded areas to use his gun on, using the Time Dilation and Ice Bombs to slow the rushing water. He repeated the process, managing to slow the sinking as much as possible.
After covering some more areas, he reached one of the last few places left, ready to do it again until he felt the presence of someone behind him.
Preparing himself, he turned around and came face to face with Prometheus, who was pointing his hybrid gun at him.
"Sir!" one of the officers approached Captain Smith and Andrews by the railing.
"What is it?" Smith asked.
"Reports are coming in that the flooding has slowed down, sir."
The two frowned.
While the ship was supposed to have sunk almost an hour ago, they had learned that it was due to the efforts of those down below that they were given more time. But as things went on, it became clear that the flooding wasn't as severe as it was believed to be. Only the head of the ship was below the surface now.
Things started to look up as more ships were on their way to assist with the evacuation so the California didn't have to hold over two thousand souls, let alone shipping that many to the mainland. The other closest ship was the RMS Carpathia.
"How is this possible?"
"No one can say, sir. There are other reports that the water has frozen over."
Smith scoffed, "Rubbish! It may be cold but not to the point to freeze the ocean, let alone inside a sinking ship."
Andrews narrowed his eyes at the ground, "Show me."
The officer swallowed, "Very well sir!"
Suddenly, the bell rang as more flares were fired, catching their attention. Moving to the other side, they saw the people cheering as a ship approached them from the distance.
Using a pair of binoculars, Smith read the name of their rescuer.
SS California!
"It's the California!" he gasped.
Andrews took the binoculars and read the name, his breathing pausing a moment.
"They're early by twenty minutes," one of the officers said.
"They must have gotten through the iceberg field quicker than expected," said Smith as he turned to them. "It would seem the good Lord is on our side tonight, gentlemen. Begin boarding procedures and call the lifeboats back."
"Yes, sir!" they all cry out, feeling more hopeful and relieved.
Andrews turned to the officer from earlier, "Take me to the area where the ice was frozen over."
"I would sir, but I need to assist with the evacuation."
"Then tell me where it was reported to be."
The two stared each other down, guns drawn and aimed at the other. A showdown that reminisced of an old era.
"It's too late," said Taylor. "Even if you kill or subdue me, the Split will still happen. The California should be here soon."
Prometheus remained silent as the water got closer to them in the hallway.
"You know what this means."
Taylor remained firm, not letting him get into his head, "Yes."
"No, you don't. Not truly."
"I won't apologize for this."
"I know. Which is why it's more frustrating that you truly believe you are doing the right thing."
Taylor began to laugh, surprising him.
"You know, I have no idea if this is the right thing or not. Your laws were written by smarter men than me. And I know, deep down, that those laws hold more importance than the fifteen hundred lives here tonight."
"Then why do any of this?!" Prometheus pressed, the water reaching Taylor's shoes. "You could have saved Jack, Rose, Fabrizio, and even Tommy. All without causing the timeline to Split."
"Because I wouldn't have been able to live with myself if I walked away, knowing I let these people die. And I don't know what that says about me," tears filled his eyes. "Maybe I am doing the right thing. Or maybe I'm the big bad villain who is selfish for doing this.
"I don't know if I'm doing this because I care about these people or if it's all just for me. But the one thing I do know is that my heart wouldn't be able to take it if I made the opposite choice."
"You can't save everyone. You can't go to every timeline in every world and try to prevent a disaster."
"I know that! It's not like I'm going to save JFK or Joan of Arc as many times as I can. It's being right here, right now that makes me act. The moment when I can change fate."
Prometheus closed his eyes and shook his head, "It isn't just you who have failed here tonight, Taylor. I failed as well. Failed to recognize that you wouldn't let this go or stop you."
"I didn't fail!"
"Not in the way you're thinking you did."
Suddenly, their hybrid guns went off, signaling a message.
The moment Andrews saw the frozen water, his heart stopped. It was unlike anything he had seen. Nothing scientific about it was possible.
He could see that the ice was already started to thaw out, breaking down due to the environment. It was clearly never meant to last very long. But he still couldn't conclude on how it happened.
As he came back to his senses, he began to make his way back up, thinking hard about what had happened. It was then that he thought about Taylor Huston, remembering what he had once said about buying time.
Without lowering their weapons, the two read the hologram message that said: Split Complete – Time-Lock Lifted!
Taylor sighed with relief, while Prometheus lowered his head in defeat.
"It's done."
Taylor nodded.
"I can't just let you get away with this."
"Like you have a choice."
Prometheus remained silent, deep in thought.
Taylor knew that he couldn't win against him. Maybe run away and even get away, but he would follow, and he would lose against him. He was too experienced to be beaten by someone like him, who only had four missions under his record.
"The way I see it… you've earned yourself twenty-four hours."
Surprise and relief flowed through him.
"If I were you, I would make good use of the time to get your affairs in order. To make peace with your actions. Because come tomorrow… I will come for you. We will come for you."
It was more than he expected to get from someone like him. But it was enough.
He lowered his weapon.
"I hope it was worth it."
Taylor closed his eyes, tears falling from his face.
Forgive me, mom.
"Me too," he lowered his gun, watching as Prometheus went to the settings of his own and made a selection.
"See you around."
Prometheus pulled the trigger, "For your sake, I hope not."
A bright light engulfed him, disappearing from sight.
Nodding, Taylor turned around and fired a Time Dilation and an Ice Bomb at the water.
There will be one more chapter after this to wrap things up. I originally meant for what will happen in that chapter to be in this one but I felt it was necessary to end this current chapter here instead.
I apologize for the sinking sequences of the story not being up to par with the movie. I knew it would be difficult to come up with a way how to make it interesting without doing the same thing over again. Sadly, that meant changing a lot of things in order to fit my vision of where this story was going to go. And that meant not having big sinking moments in this. This is a story about saving lives and changing fate, where the movie was about tragedy and human loss (along with a bunch of other things, but that's a listing for its own page).
I was trying to think up a battle sequence between Taylor and Prometheus, but it dawned on me that doing would take away from the story and the story itself would have limited the battle itself. I didn't wish to go complete sci-fi to the point that it compromised what I was doing to do with balancing the real-life event, the movie, and the story I wished to tell. Plus, I want to save a fight sequence like that for a time when it's allowed to reach its full potential.
I've been meaning to ask all of you a question about the character of Taylor Huston. As some of you have noticed, I've been trying to make him more of a gray-area character. So my question to all of you is this... "Is Taylor Huston a Hero or a Villain? Or maybe something else? And most importantly, 'Why'?"
And the same can be asked about Prometheus, who I have tried to make interesting without going full-out bad guy mode with him. Do you guys view him as a villain or a hero? Please let me know.
Anyway, that's it for this chapter. The next one will definitely be the last to finish up this story.
I'll see you all in Chapter 13!