Chapter 86: Killing Them Softly

A/N: Italian marked with the * will be translated on the bottom

"JACK!" Rose calls out through her tears. "Jack, Jack… please…"

She struggles against her bonds as best she could, but with her lack of food, the burden of being pregnant, and the awkward position she was in, it feels almost impossible. She twists her wrists in the ropes despite how much it hurt, the agonizing feeling of the rough cords dragging against her skin, she pulled desperately, trying to break them or wriggle free. She writhes around until her wrists are raw, almost to the point that they are bleeding. The baby in her womb protests the strain she's putting herself through, kicking repeatedly, but she didn't care… she couldn't care right now, not with Jack so close and the family reunited to some degree. Tears are pouring down her face, repeatedly calling her fiancé's name out of desperation of having been separated from him for so long. She can see a puddle of blood pooling around his head, likely from where he had been struck or attacked by Cal and Riptide.

"Jack…" she cries. "Jack please talk to me…"

She calls until her voice is hoarse and equally as raw as her wrists. She continues to weep, knowing that this is what Cal wanted. It was the worst kind of torture he had put her through, to have Jack so close and yet she couldn't touch him, to hold and kiss him again. To feel his strong arms wrapped around her body, whispering in her ear that everything was going to be okay. She lays as close as the ropes will allow, her curly red hair spread out on the dingy floor like a fan, her tears staining them as she waited for either Jack to wake up or for Cal to come and get them.

Her mind races, thinking about what might happen to them, now that they were at his mercy. He could do anything he wanted to them without hesitation. He would likely hurt both of them, maybe one at a time, just to watch the other one suffer. She wishes beyond all belief that someone would come and save them, she lays on the floor and listens to Jack's laboured breathing, waiting to see his blue eyes again.

"Jack please wake up… I love you."

…

Everything is black to Jack, just a void of nothingness, his head throbbing continuously from the pain of lack of comprehension. He cannot fully grasp what has happened to him as he seems to float in the endless darkness that surrounded his body. He felt numb and cold, unable to feel much else.

Suddenly, out of the void, Jack can see a light, bright and white at the end of this dark tunnel. He tries to head toward it, find out what was going on. Where was he? Where was Rose? What had happened to him? Would they be okay?

The light approaches his form and Jack squints to see what is ahead. The brightness engulfs him completely, he still has no sense of feeling or time.

When his eyesight adjusts, Jack finds himself in a field covered in a light dusting of snow. Flakes of white powder are falling all around him, sticking to his blonde hair, and landing on his nose. They tickle ever so slightly as a cool breeze blows the white forms all around the field of tall grass. Around the field are trees of many kinds, some were green while others were bare, likely because it was winter time in this place. The quiet of this setting soothes Jack's anxieties as he walks through the field, embracing the peace surrounding him.

He hears something behind him. A voice… someone call his name.

"Jack!" it calls.

He turns to see a familiar figure materializing through the snowflakes. He steps closer to see who it was. His heart drops when he hears the voice he's missed so much.

"Jack, mio Amico!"*

"FABRIZIO!" Jack shouts excitedly. He runs as fast as he can towards his best friend. He embraces the Italian with the biggest bear hug known to anyone. He can feel himself starting to cry, holding his friend tightly. "I thought you were dead!"

"JACK! Jack, Jack…please… "A voice in the distance calls out. It feels as if it is in his head. He searches for the source of the voice but cannot find it.

The brown eyes of his very best friend appear to laugh. "I was but now sono vivo…* Alive with the angels." He was dressed in all manner of white clothing, white shirt and pants, even a white hat matching the one he had been wearing the night the ship sank. He had not changed at all since Jack had last seen him, he still had the smug half-grin that he wore whenever he did something mischievous. Jack clung to his best friend, unable to believe that he could see him again.

Jack suddenly feels something grab around his waist. He looks down to see the bright eyes and cherub face for Cora, with her arms wrapped around him tightly.

"CORA!" Jack exclaims loudly. He lifts the little girl up, causing her to giggle loudly. She doesn't weigh like anything at all, she was wearing a white dress that seemed to sway in the winter wind. Her laughter matches his friend's in pitch and tone, one of happiness and joy. Her dark curls blow in the wind and capture a few snowflakes, creating an almost crystal crown around her head.

"Am I still your best girl?" she asks in a curious voice.

"Of course, you are!" Jack shouts. He then places the girl down and they begin to dance with each other, the wind being their music. They dance in the field of snow, both of them laughing. As they spin, another voice calls out to him.

"Don't get dizzy Boyo,"

"TOMMY!" is shouted before Jack greets his other friend whom he'd met aboard the Titanic. He also wears white like his other two friends, even a white bowler hat. Hanging from his lips is an all too familiar cigarette. "I missed you so much."

"Aye, as did I," he says with a wink.

Jack continues to cry in joy, hugging all three of his friends at once. Eventually, more faces appear from within the snow to stand with him in the field. Jack's blue eyes are alight with so much happiness to see those he cared about again.

"Jack… Jack, please talk to me!" he hears in his head. But he was talking to them right now.

"How… how are you all here?"

Then two faces become very familiar to him. His heart drops to his stomach in shock.

There in the snow-covered grass stand his parents, Jack Sr. and Kathy Dawson. Their blue eyes matched his own, his mother's long blonde hair pulled back into a simple ponytail, his father looking at his son over his nose that had always been slightly askew due to a childhood fight which left it broken for a time. Kathy Dawson is dressed in a flowing white gown that hugged her body and the skirts billowed in the wind of the field. Jack had never seen his mother look so beautiful, she'd never had the chance in her life to wear such a lovely gown. She had been a working woman, a housewife who ran the farm like clockwork and her son hardly ever saw her out of an apron. However, she always allowed her son to hug her and help lick the batter bowl after she's finished backing cookies. She seems to glow, with skin that matched the snow except for her red cheeks, which he also remembered fondly. Her lips were a bright red, pursed into a large smile.

She walks next to Jack Dawson Senior, whom his son is the spitting image of, except for his father's dark brown hair which clung to his forehead in a messy way. Jack Jr. couldn't believe it was his father because he did not see the spectacles that often hung at the end of the man's nose. His eyes show laughter and joy, his familiar grin makes his son unable to comprehend seeing his parents again. He looks relaxed and unbelievably happy, something Jack saw very little when he was alive, considering his father worked long hours in the fields in order to make a living and provide for his family. However, he was always willing to crack a joke or share a glass of water with his son.

The last time he had seen them, they had both said goodnight to him. His mother had given him a kiss on the head, despite his fifteen-year-old protests. His father had sat at the end of his bed, admiring his son's drawings, saying that one day he would grow up to be a great artist. Jack, at the time, had almost felt trapped in his life on the farm, wanting to see the world and he knew the encouraging compliment from his father did not support all his previous comments of Jack taking over the family farm. While he loved his parents deeply, more than anyone else in the world, the young boy wanted to explore what was outside Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin. He longed to be free and forge his own path.

Jack wasn't sure if he'd told his parents that he loved them that night, he really wished he remembered, to give him that closure and security that his parents felt loved on the last night of their lives. The next thing the artist remembers is smelling smoke and seeing wisps of it coming from under his door. He can vividly recall him shouting to his parents about the fire before climbing through his window onto the snowy ground. His room was on the first floor, while his parents' was upstairs. Jack continued to shout, calling for his parents and for help. He wanted to go back inside to help them, but he also had to find help. The decision he made destroyed him internally as he left the place he called home and ran the mile and a half to the neighbours to get help.

By the time the volunteer fire brigade arrived, the house was completely engulfed, and nothing could be done about it. Jack kept searching for his parents, thinking that they had heard his cries and escaped. He prayed that this was true, but as none of the faces of the people of the town resembled those he loved the most, he turned in time to see the house collapse in on itself. Jack was utterly devastated, and he fell into the freshly fallen snow, feeling the unbearable pain of loss and the agony of sadness. It tore his insides outward and he could hardly breathe. He remembers crying and calling his parents' names over and over, still kneeling in the cold, wet snow, hoping that they would, by some miracle, appear from the flames and smouldering ruins of his former home.

The wound that he had never healed and when the fire brigade did find his parents, he didn't want to know whether they had been burned or that they'd succumbed to smoke inhalation. He just assumed that their deaths were painless. The heartbroken Wisconsin boy left town as soon as his parents were in the ground, never to return.

Now he saw both of their faces, they looked much more youthful than he remembered them, as he runs and embraces them tightly. He begins to weep in sorrow again, the happiness of reunion long forgotten.

"I'm… so sorry," he whimpers. The guilt of choosing to find help instead of saving them coming back to the surface.

Both his parents wrap their arms around him.

"There was nothing you could have done," Kathy Dawson says, her voice very high and melodic, like a harp.

"You did the right thing and that's all we can ask of you," Jack Sr. agrees.

"I miss you guys so much, it was all my fault…"

"It was never your fault, it was an accident. We still love you, son," his father says.

"And we are always with you," his mother adds.

"We're proud of you, what you've done,"

"But… I've stolen before, I've gambled, I drew prostitutes, I ran away when I should've stayed behind."

"You did what your heart desired…" his mother says soothingly.

"They may not have always been the best choices, but you forged your own path and made yourself happy. You made each moment count for something so much more. That's all we ever wanted for you, son," his father adds, with a bright smile.

"So much more, you gave your love and true friendship to everyone you met, you lived your dreams of travelling the world and you saved someone who is very important to you. You gave your heart to her only the way true love can."

"Jack…" he hears in his head again. Now he recognizes the voice, it was a plea for him, but why and how could he leave his loved ones behind. He is so happy, that he doesn't want to leave.

"Rose…"

"She is waiting for you," his mother says. "She needs you, now more than ever."

"It is not your time to go, son," his father says.

Both parents hug their son very tightly. Jack comes to the realization that he is in a place much like heaven. He turns to see Cora standing with her family waving, Fabrizio holds the hand of Helga, the girl he'd fallen in love with on board the Titanic, and Tommy standing with the widest grin on his face. It dawns on him that he was close to dying at this very moment, much like his experience in the freezing water, but Rose's voice brought him back to life. She'd saved him by never letting go and now… it was his turn to save her.

"I'll miss you guys," Jack says, with a heavy heart, knowing he must go back to Rose, the woman he loves.

"We're always with you," Kathy Dawson says. Jack Sr. nods in agreement.

"Watchin' out for ya," Tommy adds.

"Smiling," Cora says.

"Sempre e per sempre*" Fabrizio nods.

All of his loved ones smile and wave as the white light engulfs Jack once again. He feels heaviness in his heart, sad that he could not bring them all back with him. He had a family in the living world, ones who needed his love just as much as those in heaven did. He feels a single tear roll down his face as the figures vanish and darkness surrounds him again, no snowy fields and no peaceful winds. He follows the voice of his beloved Rose. She was calling to him, desperately wanting to reach him.

"Jack, please wake up… I love you…"

…

After what feels like hours, Rose hears movement from the opposite end of the cellar.

Everything inside of Jack aches, his head especially. He moves ever so slightly, his body hurting more and more as he comes out of the darkness. His blue eyes appear from under his eyelids.

Rose's heart explodes with happiness and she begins to cry again.

"JACK!" she shouts. She struggles again to be near him, doing all she can just to touch him once again. "Jack… Jack, Jack!"

The world slowly comes back into focus for her fiancé, he realizes that he's laying on the dank floor of an ill-lit room. He tries moving his arms but finds them secured behind his back. His feet are also tied together. He's listening to the happy sound of his beloved's voice. He turns his head, trying to see her beautiful face, despite the pain that came with it. He felt the liquid and stickiness of his blood as he moves to see her.

When their eyes meet again, both burst into tears, happy to finally behold one another again. Rose continues to struggle to be near him, Jack does the same, ignoring the pain. He manages to smile at her. He ignores all the bruises and cuts on her body, seeing the beauty and glow of her as she carried their child in her womb.

His mind fills with mixed emotions, of happiness and love, of anger for whoever had done all these terrible things to her, the sadness that they could not touch and the agony of his head throbbing from the blow to the head. She feels relief that he is awake, but the anxiety of the situation, in general, is still ever present. She just mouths his name, so happy to see his eyes again, the eyes that kept her sane and hopeful that he would come to rescue her.

"Rose…" he says quietly, grimacing in pain.

"Oh Jack…" she whispers. "I love you."

"I love you too,"

"How sweet…"

Both bound figures turn, Rose's stomach churning violently as Cal and Riptide stand in the doorway of the cellar. Neither prisoner is sure how much the steel tycoon and his manservant has seen, but they knew it was not good that they are here now.

"You bastard!" Jack barks with all his strength. He tries to fight his own ropes, but dizziness overcomes his head when he tries to move, the spot where he'd been struck throbbing with the movement.

"I'm getting called some pretty horrible things today aren't I, Riptide?"

The manservant carries some more materials that they would need with him and he merely nods in quiet submission.

Cal's dark eyes drink in the scene with much-koshered delight. Now that his enemy is awake, the real fun could begin… but in a different place.

He approaches Jack with much-wicked glee spread across his face. Jack struggles to get free and to bring Hockley down a peg or two, but he's too weak to do so. Cal smirks at Jack, kicking the gutter rat in the stomach, winding him. This gives Riptide time to shove and secure a gag in his mouth.

"LET HIM GO!" Rose screams as Riptide forces a burlap bag over Jack's head. Jack struggles as best he can to try to free himself and attack these monsters, but the bonds hold tightly. He is no match for the manservant now. However, he will not make it easy for transportation, that is until Cal pulls Jack into a chokehold.

"STOP! STOP!" Rose cries out desperately.

He compresses his arm on his enemy's windpipe, causing the air to leave his lungs. Jack tries to fight it, trying to stay conscious, but the gag and the lack of circulation in the bag make it easier for him to pass out. Jack sees stars and within minutes, he goes limp.

Once the gutter rat is compliant, Cal releases him, letting the blonde man fall to the floor unconscious. He has his manservant check to make sure the captive is still breathing.

"He's alive sir,"

"Good, I'd hate to kill him without making him suffer first. Take him to the car."

With reluctance, Riptide drags Jack's body from the room.

"JACK!" she cries out desperately. Rose struggles against her bonds, fighting to get back to her true love.

"You're an absolute monster!" she hisses angrily, tears burning her eyes.

"Like I always said, ladies are to be seen not heard," he smirks, forcing a gag into Rose's mouth again and then putting a bag over her head too.

She continues to squirm around, now completely in the darkness. She can hear Cal's laughter in her ears and she gives off muffled screams through the gag, trying with all her strength to break free.

Eventually, Riptide comes back into the room. Both he and Cal lift Rose up, on carrying her upper body while the other carried her feet and legs. Rose continues to struggle, but the weight of her child and the fear of harming the tiny life inside of her womb scares her. She wants to keep fighting, but her circumstances say something different.

Soon, Rose can feel the cold air of the outside, something she had not felt in nearly two weeks. While it felt nice, she knows how dire her and Jack's situation was. She feels herself being lifted and then placed on a hard surface.

"Get comfortable," Cal sneers. "It's going to be a long drive."

Rose then hears something shut and she knows that it's the trunk of Cal's car. The cold air is gone, and she knows she's in an enclosed space once again. Trapped in another prison, unable to do anything.

She feels the roar of the engine underneath her, her heart pounding in her ears. She can feel herself crying again, the drops now wetting the burlap bag over her head. The car begins to move, bumping them as it moves along.

She shifts several times as the car turns, and she feels another heavy mass. She reaches out with her bound hands and touches skin. Her heart flutters when she realizes that it's Jack. She presses her hand on his, feeling his warmth when she makes contact. She cries a little bit more, but feels some comfort… Cal may have tortured them before by keeping them separated, but now they were touching again, reunited in the best way their situation would allow.

A/N: Translated Italian

*mi Amico = my friend

* sono vivo = I am alive

* Sempre e per sempre = Forever and always

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