Chapter 37

June 13, 1912

Jesse slowly sat up on the couch he had been sleeping in the night prior, then looked over at Jack, who was still snuggled under the covers. Jesse stretched and yawned quietly, then got up from the chair. He proceeded to open the curtains until a knock is heard.

I don't remember anyone knocking for a wake-up. thought Jesse, as he yawned and stretched again as he made his way to the door. Standing outside was a young man, who appeared no older than Jack. He held out a piece of paper, shaking as he handed to Jesse. Jesse pushed his hair out of his eyes as he took the paper, then saluted the man, before reading the telegram. He was relieved his father's garage wasn't going to be taken by the bank, but he needed to do some paperwork before commencing the takeover of his father's small business. They had no idea Jesse was on the Titanic, or for that matter, they had no knowledge he had gone to Europe. He checked on Jack once more, who was still snuggled, before going to the office, to send the telegram back. He told them he will do the paperwork, but he needed to take care of business, since he was in Philadelphia, where his father worked and possibly catch up to Eric. He paid for the telegram to be sent before going back to his room.

"So, do we go back over to the house, or just wait it out until tonight?" Jack asks, more anxious than ever, as they took a long stroll through the town once more.

"If there's any chance, she may not go out, not unless Cal has got the place locked tight. Didn't you see the size of that fence?" Jesse says, then giggles. "He's probably got a dog out back, and even its watching her too."

They continue walking, until they come to a factory of sorts, as they stood outside the fenced-off property.

"Mr. Hockley's business partner should be here." Jesse says, referring to his father. As if on cue, a 1910 model limousine pulls out of the gate, then stops in front of the boys. The rear window rolls down, as if with difficulty, and soon, a shocked Mr. Williams, Jesse's father, looks at his son in disbelief.

"Jesse?"

"Father?"

Mr. Williams slowly gets out of the car, blinking several times to make sure he wasn't hallucinating, then they both ran up and hugged each other, laughing and crying. Mr. Williams was glad his son made it out of the sinking ship, then he looked lost at Jack's presence.

"Ahem. Father, I'd like you to meet Mr. Jack Dawson. Jack, this is my father."

"Pleasure." The man says, as he tips his hat, and both shook hands. "I'll give you boys a ride, shall we?" as he opens the rear car door. Jesse and Jack climb in, then Jesse's father. They speed off, leaving the factory behind.

"That damn Hockley! I knew being his partner was a bad idea from the start. Not to mention dangerous." Mr. Williams says, then angrily yanks and throws his hat on the car floor, as Jack and Jesse look at each other. His father began murmuring that being Mr. Hockley's business partner had turned sour, and nearly had him killed. Jesse puts a hand to his mouth.

"It's alright son. Eric managed to defuse the situation before it fell apart. Tell you what. Later this week we'll go back to Albuquerque and finish handing you that business. How does that sound?"

"That sounds wonderful. Although Matt wanted me to work with him in New York, assembling trains and whatnot, I do miss the country setting."

"That's great. That Matthew." He laughs, shakes his head, then continues. "I haven't known the Titanic sank that night. I was on my way to a business meeting to Europe the day the ship ran into the iceberg. Thanks to your mother, I knew how to read star positions, and when the Olympic headed off course, I knew just a tiny bit a ship was in trouble somewhere, but I didn't know which, until I got to Southampton. That was some tragedy." Mr. Williams says, as Jesse and Jack bow their heads for those lost that terrible night. Mr. Williams then continued, "When we left New York, there was so much excitement on the Olympic, as there was talk that the two sister ships would have passed each other at sea, since after all, this was the Titanic's maiden voyage, but now that never came to be." Jack and Jesse looked at each other.

"Oh driver. Can you stop at the house here? I need to get something from here." Mr. Williams says, pointing to the large house; the same house Jesse and Jack had seen earlier. The driver pulls in the drive, and stops. Mr. Williams gets out, while Jack sits anxious, and wrangling something in his hands. Just then Jack impulsively jumps out of the car, while Jesse tries to grab his shirt.

"Jack! No! Jack, wait. Ja-!" Jesse says, then snaps his fingers, while muttering incoherently. He looks out the car, while the driver looks on straight ahead, as if not sensing anything amiss behind him. Jesse slowly gets out of the car, then starts to make a run for the house, when sees something in the corner of his eye that made him stop cold. His heart stopped. He saw Cal, walking to the drive. Luckily, he didn't recognize Jesse. Jesse slowly made his way back to the car, then slid down into the seat, hoping Cal didn't see him, his heart hammering in his ears. Jesse spotted something on the floor of the car, and picks it up; it is his father's hat that Jack was wrangling with anxiety. Jesse puts it on, after he messes his hair a bit. Cal walks up to the car, acknowledges the driver and continues walking.

Inside the mansion Jack looks around, at the tall, dome-like ceiling of the house. Mr. Williams bumps past, then looks at Jack.

"What are you doing here?" he asked sternly.

"I'm looking for Rose." Jack replied. Mr. Williams rolled his eyes, then he sighed.

"Alright. Be careful, son." he finally says, putting a gentle hand on the boy's shoulder. Soon he heard Jack calling for Rose, much to Jesse's father dismay. He shook his head, before disappearing in a hall.

In the sitting room, Rose and her maid friend were having tea, when she thought she was hearing things. Rose stood up, then called out.

"Jack!" Jack turned, as he heard his name echo in the house. "Rose!" he yelled, as he makes his way to where the voice was calling from. "Jack! In here!" he heard Rose, until he finally makes his way into the room. Rose was completely thrown off guard. She didn't expect Jack to be alive, not after being in the freezing water for so long. She rose from her seat, tears in her eyes, then gave a long embrace. Meanwhile Jack was taken aback by the girl still sitting on the chair. Jack walked over to her, while Rose was still clutching onto him.

"There's someone I'd like you to meet." he says softly. She quickly drinks her tea, then grabs her meager belongings. Soon, the maid led the way out of the house, while Rose tried to catch up. The maid threw open the door, and quickly bolted to the awaiting car, while Jack was too slow to catch the girl. He had just seen Cal as he was midway between the car and the garden.

Back in the car Jesse carefully peeks above the rear facing seat, towards the front, and sees Cal talking to the gardener. From his point of view they exchange a few hand gestures amongst themselves, when suddenly, the car shakes. Jesse was about to say something when a girl, who appeared to be no younger than himself, falls onto his lap.

"I'm so-" She began, while slowly looks up, nervously, until she finally sees Jesse eyes, before his hair obscures them completely. Her heart hammered in her ears, her mouth went dry, before she could manage to swallow. Jesse pushed his hair back once more, making the girl even more nervous. With their eyes locked for what seemed like eternity, he gave a small smile, before she starts crying. Before Jesse could say something, the girl hugs him, squeezing the boy as hard as she can and at the same time, she buries her face in his clothes.

Meanwhile, Jack and Rose gets in the car, and the last one in the car was Mr. Williams. He slams the door, then tells his driver to leave that instant. Without batting an eye, the driver does what he is told. The sound of gears clashing is heard, and soon everyone jerks from the motion of the car, while Jesse nearly hits his head on the forward glass. Once everyone was settled in the car Rose couldn't believe what she saw in front of her. She finally saw Jesse for the first time since the disaster. They both went into a long, tearful embrace, followed by sobbing and sniffles. She squeezes him very hard.

"I-I can't believe you're alive!" Rose cries. "I thought you were sucked down with the ship."

"Yeah. I am here now." Jesse says, sniffling. He wiped his nose on his sleeve before gathering his composure to finally ask the question. "How did you-"

"We saw Cal, making his rounds, and when he passed the car, we knew it was our only chance to make a run for it." Jack says, as he wrapped his arms tightly around Rose.

"But how did you…?" Jesse was flabbergasted, as he pointed aimlessly at Rose and Jack.

"Oh, that's where I come in." Rose's beautiful maid breaks in. "Rose was with me, in the living area. We were having a cup of tea when this fine gentleman came in, calling her name. Luckily, Cal was outside, out of earshot, and her mother wasn't home as well. When we came to the car, that's when she told me about you as well." She then hugged Jesse once more, making him more nervous as he could feel himself blushing slightly. She slowly looked up at Jesse, then took off the hat he was wearing, then ran her hand through his soft hair and gently brushed it away from his dark brown eyes so she can look into them.

"Hi, I'm Marion." the young girl says, leaning in to the young boy's face even closer, as he became even more nervous, and his heart pounded even harder. "You have really soft hair and beautiful brown eyes."

"Jesse." he says, as he began to nervously scratch the back of his head, then quickly runs his hand through his hair, to push it away from his eyes again. "Thank you," he mustered nervously.

"Are you named after the famous robber in the west I've been hearing about? Jesse James?" she says, slowly pulling his head closer, as if going for a kiss to his soft lips.

"Du-wha-? No. I don't know who that character is. As a matter of fact, I never heard of him. Until now." Jesse laughs nervously. The two girls were still hugging Jesse, when his father started to speak. He knew what he was going to say, so he spoke first. He turned his head towards the front of the car, to the driver.

"Driver, tavern please." Jesse says, tapping the front window, in his best gentleman's voice, and with a slight British accent.

"My pleasure, sir."

"J-Th-tav…" his father sputtered. Jesse shushed him, while shaking his head slightly. Jack, Rose, and Marion took the hint, as everyone rode in silence, only the car's engine and gearbox could be heard. The driver stops at the tavern; the same tavern where the two boys and girls were that night. Not one word were being uttered as everyone exited the car, and Mr. Williams thanks the driver, before he turned to his son, with a stern look.

"What are we doing here?" Mr. Williams asked sternly, scratching his head, before yanking his hat off of his son's head.

"Shh. Look." Jesse points to the car while it turns in a corner, then seemingly disappears. "That driver must be working for Cal, either directly or indirectly. He's probably going to round the corner again, then sit there, waiting to see where we're going, and if he sees where we're going, he'll inform Cal. We better get moving, fast. Easiest way to do is split. Let's meet back at the hotel. Now split." Jesse, his father, the star couple and the maid all ran into an alley, where the three ran in one direction, and Jesse and his father in the other.

...

Later that afternoon they made it to the hotel, with Jack panting hard as a dog, and Rose trying to comfort him.

"I never ran hard in my life." He says, between pants. Jesse knew why, as he seen Jack smoke quite a bit more since meeting back in New York, and Jack even wanted Jesse to smoke too. They enter the hotel, the desk receptionist was surprised by the extra people walking in the building, and making their way back to their rooms. With everyone in the room now, Jack was trying to breathe; Rose and Marion help him to sit on the bed. Mr. Williams takes his jacket off and puts it on the chair, and Jesse comes back with some water from the lobby. Jack drinks the water with difficulty, but surely, as Jesse began to give Jack a shoulder rub, which felt good, since Jesse had firm hands.

Soon, Jesse's father sits on the couch demanding to know what the hell has happened tonight, starting from the time they were back on the ship. Jack starts first, but not before first noticing Jesse, as he arrived to Southampton, and had wanted to befriend him. He explained he went on Titanic's maiden voyage simply by winning his hand at poker at the pub. For the first three days he had fallen in love with Rose, then points at her, as he was trying to free her from the grasps of Caledon Hockley's society she hated. Jesse came into play and helped them even more, as he realized their potential, and had help spark their relationship into an inferno. When they lost Jesse after the rescue, they stayed on the ship, riding it down into the Atlantic. He thought he had died, until he was revived at the hospital. He had been looking for Rose, and with Jesse's help, they ended up in that hotel.

Now it was Jesse's turn. Beginning from the time he almost left Eric at Southampton, he and Karl boarded the Titanic. He met Jack on the ship, then later on he helped set up for the largest party in the third class galley, and as the ship was sinking Rose had asked him with her rescue to Jack, after he put Karl and Eric in the boats. He said his final goodbye before sliding down the deck into the freezing cold Atlantic. From there he seen the ship break in two, then disappear in the dark depths, and left behind a carnage of people, screaming and crying in the cold water. He almost succumbed to hypothermia, until someone pulled him in a boat. That's when he thought he died, but just like Jack, he woke up at the hospital. But they shared a common enemy, and to get away from as far as possible.

Jesse's father couldn't believe what he was hearing. He gave an approving look to Jack and Rose, while he looked sternly at his son, like he was the one causing the mess they were all in.

"Boy son. You sure can get yourself in some situations there. I actually had no idea you were coming back, if at all, since the day you sent me a telegram that the Olympic lost a propeller blade somewhere out in the Atlantic. All I can say is, I'm glad you're back."

By the end he was flustered, saying he was glad to be away from Mr. Hockley himself. He put a hand on both his son and Marion, and gave an approving nod to her. It was pretty dark by the time they told their stories. They yawned and stretched, and got ready to call it a night.