Christian’s POV
They were dragging Satine away from me, dragging her away with her shouts reverberating in the empty corridor and shattering my heart. Those men couldn't take my Satine from me! But shock and disbelief kept me rooted in place, unable to move, unable to plan a way to get her out.
I squeezed Satine's kitten and made my way to Rose's suite. Maybe we could plan a way to get Jack and Satine out together. Maybe.
I walked to their door, noticing that it was cracked open. I peered inside, wondering if Rose was as confused as me. She was standing there, watching the door with a perplexed expression. Cal was regarding her quietly, his posture stiff and angry. Without a word, he closed the distance between them and slapped her cheek. It sounded painful, and I winced sympathetically.
But Rose surprised me. She didn't flinch. Instead, she raised her head proudly and exposed the other cheek. Cal looked taken aback, but instantly controlled his features.
"It is a little slut, isn't it?" he asked, grabbing her shoulders roughly. She didn't look at him, though. Her eyes were glazed over and unfocused. "Look at me, you little…" An urgent knock interrupted him, and a steward pushed past me into the room, tossing a lifebelt at me.
"Sir, I've been told to ask you to please put on your lifebelt and come up to the boat deck," the steward said, handing the lifebelts to them.
"Get out. We're busy," Cal said coldly, looking from the persistent steward to me.
"I'm sorry about the inconvenience, Mr. Hockley, but it's Captain's orders. Please dress warmly. It's quite cold tonight." He turned to Rose and reassured her with a few quick words before turning sharply on his heels and leaving the room.
"This is ridiculous," Cal muttered, pulling a jacket on over his lifebelt. I stood there, watching them, wondering what to do.
*****
We were jammed on the deck, waiting for our turn to get into a lifeboat. I knew that there wasn't a chance of me getting one, but somehow I had to get Satine into one. And to do that, I needed to rescue her. I searched the crowd for Rose, finally finding her yelling at Cal. She hesitated for a brief second before spitting in his face. I spotted my chance as she ran through the crowd, away from a shocked Cal. I grabbed her arm as she ran past.
"Rose! You've got to help me find Satine!" I told her. She nodded and slipped her hand into mine, pulling me with her.
"Mr. Andrews will tell us!" she shouted over her shoulder. I nodded in reply, hoping that he would know and that Satine was all right.
We found Mr. Andrews opening doors, checking to see if anyone was in the rooms.
"Mr. Andrews! Thank God!" Rose exclaimed, dropping my hand and running up to him. "Where would the Master-at-Arms take two people under arrest?" she asked him, desperate.
"What? You have to get to a lifeboat right away!" he told her, looking at her. He met my eyes, smiling sadly. My fate was set. I couldn't get into a lifeboat until all of the women and children were in one.
"No! I'll do this with or without your help!" she protested. "Though without, it will be harder." Mr. Andrews paused for a second, anguish written in every crease in his fatherly face. He looked at me as if to say, Keep her safe, and then told her where to go. Rose nodded, repeated the instructions twice, and took my hand again, an act meant to reassure her that she wasn't alone.
She turned and pulled me toward the foyer to where the lifts were. There was only one still operating, and that one was about to be shut down. The man looked up as we approached, rolling his eyes.
"Sorry, the lifts are closed," he said.
I dropped Rose's hand and stepped forward, grabbing the man by the shoulders and pushing him into the lift. Rose supplied the words I was too numb to say.
"We're through with being polite, Goddammit! Now, take us down!" she ordered. The operator obeyed, hastily closing the gates and taking us down.
Water started flooding the lift before we had stopped, and I shouted out as the icy water lapped against my feet. Satine was down here? The lift shuddered to a stop and I stumbled out, pulling Rose with me. Behind us, the lift rose, water pouring out of it like a miniature waterfall.
"It's cold…" Rose murmured, shivering. I nodded shortly, my teeth chattering.
"Where to?" I asked her, wrapping Aureole in my jacket. She mumbled to herself, looking up and down the deserted hallway. She nodded once and set off, turning left, then right, and right again. We ended up in a hallway lined with doors on both sides, and this worried Rose. She gnawed on her lower lip, her arms wrapped around herself for warmth.
And then I heard a loud, wet, hoarse cough coming from a door near us. My heart froze.
"Satine?" I called out. "Jack?"
"Jack!" Rose shouted, looking at every door.
"Rose!" someone shouted. Sudden banging erupted from a door three doors down from us. "Rose!"
"Jack!" She waded quickly through the waist deep water, with me close behind her. She tried the door, pushing against it fiercely, but to no avail. It was locked.
I shoved her away from the door and kicked it open, glad that I had taken up the martial arts. I burst in through the open door and gathered up Satine in my arms, cradling her small body. "I love you," I murmured, burying my face in her hair.
Satine raised her arms and wrapped them around me, laying her face on my neck. I could feel the kitten raise her head and lick Satine. She let out a small giggle that was interrupted by a bloody cough.
"I've got to get you onto a lifeboat," I told her, turning around and leaving the room. Jack and Rose followed behind us, Rose apologizing profusely. They shared a passionate kiss in the hallway, forgiveness and love melding together.
*****
A few minutes later, we burst through another doorway, the wood splintering. A surprised steward looked at us, shocked, and then began to speak, but with a unified "Shut up!" he became quiet.
Satine was still in my arms, and from the way her body had gone limp, I knew she had fainted. I was worried about her, and I needed to get her into a lifeboat before the ship sank.
A couple of people handed us blankets and whiskey, noticing our wet appearance and Satine's unconscious form. I wrapped the blanket around her securely and declined the blanket offered to me. Rose accepted hers, drawing it around her shivering form.
We encountered a locked gate, the crowd surging around it. Jack let out a whoop of delight, and I saw his two friends, Fabrizio and Tommy, dashing towards him.
"They've locked the gate," Tommy said.
"We've got to get through!" I said, desperate, nodding my head towards the limp Satine. Aureole was curled on her stomach, purring contently.
"It's not possible, mate," Tommy said sadly. Undeterred, I started pushing and shoving my way through the crowd, Jack, Rose, and his friends following me.
"Let me through!" I demanded when I reached the top of the staircase.
"Sorry, sir, women and children only." In response, I held Satine up.
"She's dying right now! Let me through!" The guard hesitated for a fraction of a second before letting me through. I barged past him, heading for the deck of the ship.
"Christian! Wait!" Jack called. I slowed down slightly, enough that they could catch up with me.
We entered the deck through the crew stairs, only to find that all the boats were gone. I swore angrily just as Satine stirred.
"Christian?" she murmured.
"Shh…shh…I'm going to get you into a lifeboat," I said softly. I turned to my right and started pushing past people. Finally, after searching the crowded deck, I saw a lifeboat.
Satine’s POV
I faded in and out of consciousness, finally fully waking up. Christian was handing me off to an officer, who gently placed me in the lifeboat. I grabbed my kitten and looked at Christian with wide and confused eyes. How could he hand me off like this?
"Christian! I can't do this!" He met my eyes sadly, and I let out a wild sob.
"I'm not going without you!" I said at the exact same time as Rose.
"Get in the boat, Rose," Jack said flatly.
"Yes, get in the boat, Rose," Cal said, strolling up to the trio. I wondered where Fabrizio and Tommy had gone. Hadn't they been with us?
"My God. Look at you," Cal said. Her wet dress was clinging to her body, the thin material embarrassingly see through. Cal took off his jacket and put it on her, stepping back to examine his work. He nodded approvingly, a self-satisfied smile on his face.
I was distracted by a tugging on my arm. I turned and saw a small, angelic little boy looking at me, his wide, blue-gray eyes filled with tears. He was shivering with cold, his outfit not much use in the bitter air.
"Yes?" I asked kindly.
"Can I play with your kitten?" he asked, wiping away tears with grubby hands.
"Of course," I answered. "What's your name?"
"Ethan," he answered, tickling Aureole. A lock of blond hair fell in his face and he brushed it away, a smile blooming on his young face.
"Ethan…" I said. "That's a pretty name. I'm Satine. Are your parents here?"
He looked up at me then, his lower lip trembling anew. "N-no…Mummy died when I was little, and Daddy and Sissy said I had to get in the lifeboat, that they would find another one." He looked so scared and alone that I wrapped my arms around him, knowing that he wouldn't see his father or sister ever again. He leaned into my embrace, letting his sobs out. I rocked him back and forth, soothing him with mumbled nonsense. Rose climbed into the boat, looking dazed and torn. She looked at Ethan and shook her head pityingly as the boat shuddered and began to lower. I looked up and met Christian's face, memorizing every line.
"I love you," I mouthed, feeling tears fall from my eyes. Suddenly, Rose lunged across me and leaped out of the boat, landing on a promenade. For a second, I was tempted to follow her. I was standing up when Ethan tugged on my arm.
"Please don't leave me, too!" he begged. "You remind me of my mummy." Those words reminded me of my unborn child, and this child's fatherless and motherless state. I sank down to the bench, looking up at Christian one last time.
He was staring at me, tears pouring unheeded down his face. There was love, adoration, and sadness in his eyes. He leaned down, as if to grasp my hand, but I was too far away. A flare was fired, illuminating him from above like a halo.
"I'll never leave you," I whispered, to both Christian and the little boy. "Never."
Everywhere I'm looking now
I'm surrounded by your embrace
Baby, I can see your halo,
You know you're my saving grace…