Title: My Heart Will Go On
Summary: A Barson Titanic AU fic
Cast of Characters:
Olivia Benson - Rose DeWitt Bukater
Rafael Barba - Jack Dawson
Elliot Stabler - Caledon (Cal) Hockley
Serena Benson - Rose's Mom – Ruth DeWitt Bukater
Amanda Rollins - Trudy, Rose's maid
Rita Calhoun - Molly Brown
Don Cragen - Captain Smith
Fin - Charles Lightoller
Brian Cassidy - Cal's Valet, Spicer Lovejoy
Munch - Thomas Andrews
John Buchanan - Bruce Ismay
Eddie Garcia - Fabrizio de Rossi
Declan - Tommy Ryan
Tucker - 1st Officer Murdock
McGrath - Master at Arms
Mike Dodds - 5th Officer Lowe
This list will be updated as the story progresses and new characters are introduced, so please refer back to this when necessary.
**Dialogue in italics is taken straight from the movie script.
Chapter 1: Prologue
"Mom! Come see this!" An old man with a head full of curly white hair sat in a well-worn armchair in front of a large television, watery blue eyes focused on the screen before him. His right hand reached out, grasping that of the even older man sitting in the armchair next to his. "Hurry!" he called again, adding to the other man, "She can't miss this."
An ancient woman with gnarled hands and age-spotted skin shuffled into the living room in a dressing gown and slippers, a small pup trailing at her heels, nipping happily. Her long hair was grayed with age and pulled up in a loose bun. "Noah! My sweet boy, what is all this fuss about?"
"I'm a little old to still be referred to as your 'sweet boy', Momma." He rolled his eyes playfully, still teasing his mother after all these years. At over 80 years old, he was not wrong. He was far from a sweet boy anymore when he had one foot nearly in the grave. "It's a new documentary on the Titanic," he pointed to the screen, watching as his mother's dark brown eyes shifted to the television.
"Oh!" Olivia gasped, moving further into the room with shaky movements, eyes fixed on the view of the Titanic on the screen. Noah stood from his seat with effort, helping his mother into the vacated armchair, and watched as his parents grasped each other's hands in a tight grip, smiling lovingly at each other.
"I heard shouting. Is everything alright?" Noah's first born walked in, followed by her two grown boys.
"Lizzy, boys, come sit with me on the couch. We're watching a documentary about the Titanic," he explained, and they all settled onto the large, plush couch to watch with unrivaled focus. "I didn't want mom to miss it."
The family watched, enraptured, as shots of the greatest ship of its time flashed before them. Noah's other daughter, Rose, joined them after a while, having finished putting their Sunday family dinner in the oven.
"You two were there, right?" Lizzy's youngest son questioned during a commercial break, watching his great grandparents share a teary-eyed look. They all gathered closer around the elderly couple, the boys moving to sit on the floor in front of them. "Would you mind telling us about it?"
Olivia and her husband shared a soft look, a thousand memories and feelings, both happy and tragic, passing between them. They'd lived through so much in their lifetime together, all of which began on that fateful voyage. She sighed when his lips tilted up in a lopsided smile and her mind flashed back to the first time he smiled at her like that. She fell in love at first sight with that quirky smile that was so uniquely his. Turning to her beloved family, her still bright eyes glistened with tears.
"It's been 84 years… and I can still smell the fresh paint."
The documentary playing on the screen was long forgotten as Olivia began a firsthand account of her experience on the Titanic.
"The china had never been used. The sheets had never been slept in."
Lizzy slid stealthily from the couch and dug a mini recorder from a drawer in the credenza nearby, switching it on as she settled back on the couch with her dad and sister. She imagined this was something they'd want to memorialize.
"Titanic was called the Ship of Dreams. And it was. It really was…"
TBC