Chapter III
A/N: This story takes entirely too long to write up. The ghost is a pain to write. But enjoyable still. Here Will gets introduced to part of a space saga. Of which at this point in time only the original three movies exist. As always cowgirlbookworm is a godsend! Looking forward to seeing what you all think! SSD
There was no small amount of excitement going around the ship. The entertainment for the night was something called "Star Wars" and it was making the entire ship act like children getting a treat.
Will planned to ask Olivia about the whole thing. He walked into her room asking, "What is this "Star Wars" that everyone is yammering on about…" His train of thought derailed when the familiar sound of a towel hitting the floor crossed his ears. Will couldn't help but turn towards it.
Judging by Olivia's still damp hair, she had just gotten out of the shower. She was quite a bit lither than he expected, especially in her legs and arms. It must have been from the sports she'd played.
Only after she retied the towel did Olivia notice his presence in her room. The first thing that came to his mind was, "You look nice."
"You. Out. Now," Olivia hissed.
"Leaving," Will agreed before walking out of the room.
He was lucky she hadn't thrown anything at him, even if it would just pass right through him. She was getting use to the fact that he was a ghost and such things would not work on him.
Orion was used to his presence as well and hadn't even looked up whilst Will was studying Olivia's nude form.
She had nice legs. And an even better arse. Will was quite certain that Olivia had a couple other nice things that he hadn't gotten a glimpse of before doing an about face.
I should have turned around immediately and closed my eyes as soon as I realized what I was seeing!
Ada definitely would have liked Olivia. He'd always had a thing for spirited women. It was a shame that he could only touch and move objects, not people or animals.
"Will a word," it was Olivia, fully dressed, with her dog at her side.
"Olivia I want to say I'm sorry. I should have left immediately upon realizing what was going on," Will babbled.
"You weren't going into my room with the intent to get a glimpse of me naked. That being said, I thought of a ground rule: Between the hours of 11PM and 8AM you don't go into my room.
"That is perfectly reasonable. I'll give your room a wide berth during those hours," Will agreed trying not to think about Olivia's long legs.
"I believe you were asking me about Star Wars when you walked into my room," Olivia asked evenly.
"Everyone seems so excited about it, I was wondering what it was," Will replied.
"They are a trilogy of movies, which now have sound and special effects. Movies have come quite a ways since 1912. These particular films are the ones where I get the term "force ghost glow" that I use to describe you," she explained.
"Perhaps I should join in on the fun and watch them with you. Do you think that I would like them," he pressed onward.
"I don't see why you wouldn't. They're adventure movies at their core."
Olivia was getting some last-minute snacks. She needed to hide her Reese's Pieces otherwise people would swipe them.
"Have you ever had popcorn," she asked her spectral companion.
"Once or twice. I didn't think much of it. Why," Will asked.
"I didn't think much of popcorn either until I started adding these," Olivia shook her box of candies, "It combines sweet and salty." She looked distastefully at her mail before clipping Orion's leash to his collar. "Come along now, it's time to leave for the movie."
They'd been walking for a bit when Will asked, "Why were you looking at your mail like you wanted to incinerate it?"
"An invite to my younger brother's engagement party. Why I'm invited I have no idea. There's a letter from Grandpa Dorian with the explanation," she snarled.
"Why wouldn't you be invited," Will sounded confused.
"Because the last time I saw Tristan I broke his nose and jaw at my Grandpa Charles's funeral," she barely kept the tears out of her voice.
"Why would you do such a thing at a funeral," he asked.
"Because Tristan was driving far too fast for weather conditions and murdered our grandfather. Our parents covered for him, he's their golden boy," Olivia spat out.
"Tristan always got away with everything. What's a little bit of murder to hide? I wonder who they found to marry him," Olivia hissed.
"The fiancée's name is Diana Field. They met in law school, she's from Chicago. The engagement party will be while we're still out here. According to the letter from Dorian, the reason why you, me, Octavian, and my mom are invited is because they want to play the happy family card. He said it was a fool's errand in the letter I read," her uncle explained.
"Oh goody," she drawled.
"Though since we're dodging the engagement party, we'll have to go to the wedding for sure. Think of it this way: You can buy a dress that will most likely have better taste than the bride and piss off your mother. Now the movie's starting, quiet down," her uncle shushed.
As it would turn out, it was Empire Strikes Back, Olivia's favorite of the three.
Unfortunately her usual level of enjoyment was hampered by Will's yammering.
"So what are those walking machines again," he asked.
"AT-AT's, think walking tanks."
"What's a tank?"
"Remind me to get you a WW1 history book. I'll show you how they started out. They've improved quite a bit since then," Olivia replied.
Will shut up for a time and let her munch on her treat.
"What kind of being is Yoda," he asked upon Luke's arrival at Dagobah.
"No one knows but George Lucas. And he'll tell us when he's good and ready," Olivia rolled her eyes.
Soon it was Luke leaving for the Cloud City and Obi-wan's force ghost popped up.
"I don't shimmer like that," Will commented.
"You have more of an emanating glow, but force ghost glow is the closest approximation I had to describe you at the time," she hissed back.
At Darth Vader's bomb drop Will inquired, "Why does it matter that he's Luke's father?"
"Vader killed Obi-wan."
"The ghost of the old man?"
"Correct."
"Obi-wan was Luke's mentor if I understand things correctly," Will continued.
"Got it in one. Luke's mad he killed him," Olivia answered.
"Makes perfect sense. I'd be angry too if I couldn't see his face," Will went back to watching the movie.
Soon the movie was over and they were walking back to her room.
"Sorry that you had to watch them out of order," she apologized.
"It's alright, I liked this one well enough. The other ones should be fun to watch. I'll see you in the morning," Will bowed and left.
Was this a date?
Another couple of weeks came and went, the date of the engagement party came and went, Brock found himself to be in a decent mood.
He wished he could get Olivia into one of the submersibles, but his niece's claustrophobia was too severe.
While they were in the debris field, Brock saw a distinctive shape that he wasn't expecting to find.
Lewis already had the robot out looking around. He called out, "Lewis why don't you get what looks like a pistol?"
"Olivia is going to go apeshit when she finds out about this," Lewis grinned.
Over the radio system, his niece came in, "What am I going to go apeshit over?"
"We found what looks like a pistol of some kind down here. It'll have to be cleaned off to see if it's…" Brock had to hold the intercom away from his ear as Olivia let out an inhuman screech.
Soon enough it was time for them to head back up. Brock imagined Olivia dancing on her feet. His niece had not been in the best of moods since receiving the invitation and this was sure to perk her up!
Once they got to the deck of the Keldysh, he saw Olivia and Orion waiting for him. She was brimming with barely contained excited energy. This would be excellent for her paper.
For a moment Brock saw a tall, dark shape over Olivia's shoulder. He blinked and it was gone.
"How soon will this get into the lab," his niece was acting like a kid on Christmas morning.
"Things need to be catalogued. I'm sure your presence won't be minded there," Olivia was off like a shot with Orion.
Hours later, after eating and a shower, Brock decided to go check on Olivia to see if she'd eaten at all since the arrival of the pistol. Sure enough, his niece was scribbling away in a notebook. There were a few granola bar wrappers along with a thermos of coffee.
"Have you left the room at all," he asked.
"Yes," she replied before answering snarkily, "Yes, I have. I've used the bathroom and walked Orion. He has a bowl of water and I'll be getting his food soon!"
Brock ignored that she was clearly arguing with the ghost. The whole ship did.
"Have they gotten to the Webley yet," he inquired scratching Orion's ears.
"They've just started. I'm so excited!" Olivia was practically vibrating in her seat.
The thermos rolled, but it had to be the ship. His niece didn't seem to think so from her narrowing eyes.
"So whose pistol do you think it is," Brock asked.
"I know whose pistol I'd like it to be, but unless there's some kind of nameplate on it, which I doubt, there's no way of proving anything," Olivia groused and went back to writing in her notebook.
Brock soon noticed something he knew Olivia would like to see.
"Liv, look at the cylinder. Tell me what you see," he knew she was going to be up for the rest of the night from this.
"It's full. Unfired most likely," her smile was getting bigger by the moment.
"This is a very good thing. Do you think the marine archaeologists will let me take pictures before the bullets are removed," she asked.
"Most likely."
Brock left to get some sleep. As he left he heard Olivia say, "Just watch this. Finding the pistol is a good thing. It's just one step on the way."
Will knew that this round of looking for the necklace was coming to an end. While the crew had found many things that museums would love to have, the golden goose had not yet been found.
Olivia had talked things over with her uncle, who in turn had convinced the investors to sell the pistol to her. Whoever her father's family was that she refused to speak of, they clearly had money.
Watching the sailors work brought Will some comfort. It was familiar to see them bring the equipment in and secure things for them to sail into port at Halifax.
He'd been spending most of his time with Orion. The dog had been bringing his toys along so Will could interact with in that manner at least. Rope toys were the best for this.
Olivia had been packing her room as the trek to Halifax was made. Will had been shocked to find that he felt no tugging back to the ship when the Keldysh left the general area of the Titanic. He wasn't complaining about that, being up here was far more interesting.
"What will you be doing until the next round of searching for the Heart of the Ocean begins," Will asked.
"I'll be heading back to Arizona. It'll still be fairly warm, even though it's October already. Looking forward to seeing my brother, his wife and her family again. My grandmother as well. Looking forward to sleeping in my own bed again. I'm pretty sure Orion will be happy to have an actual yard to run around in as well. It'll be hockey season also. Can't wait to get to some Coyotes games. Hope there will be some good fights on the ice," her eyes were glittering with excitement.
"I'm sure I'll find some entertainment here in Halifax," Will muttered.
"At my place in Arizona I can get you caught up better than here. You'll get to spend more time with Orion, which I'm sure he'll like. You'll have a room to yourself. Unless you actually want to stay here," Olivia drawled.
"I didn't want to presume-" he began.
"You're coming with me, end of story. Orion wouldn't let me hear the end of it. And trust me, you do not want to be around a husky when it's unhappy!"
A/N 2: This got quite fun towards the end. Will is going to be getting to Arizona in the next chapter and will be experiencing modern travel! Looking forward to seeing what you all think! SSD