Titanic (Adrien Agreste x Maddie)

Chapter Twelve

Everyone in Third Class was heading above deck, away from the water practically following the rats out. Mr. Brown was making his way to the captain's quarters too to find out what was going on while Charlie looked for a Crewmember. When Charlie found one, the Crewmember tried to tell him that nothing was wrong since everyone was asking about what happened with the shudders. Charlie told the crewmember that something was wrong, claiming to have been robbed.

Connor told the crewmember to fetch the Master-at-Arms. Up on deck, everyone was playing football with the ice that had landed on deck. As Adrian and Maddie left the deck they were on, they overheard an officer telling the Captain what the reported damage was. Boiler room six was flooded above capacity and the mail hold was a lot worse. The Captain asked if they were able to make it to shore and the officer said that they could if the water pumps held up.

Mr. Wayne asked him if he had seen the damage in the mail hold but no one could get in there as it was already underwater. Hearing this, Adrian and Maddie knew this wasn't going to end well. But Maddie gave worse news saying that they had to tell her mother and Charlie about this. In the room, officers were searching the place for any evidence or any sign of Charlie's missing property. Maddie and Adrian made their way to the cabin where Connor was waiting for them. As all three now walked into the cabin, Connor slipped something into Adrian's pocket. The three walked in to see everyone waiting for the two.

"Something serious has happened," Maddie told them

"Yes, it has," Charlie said looking at Connor who gave him a nod, "Indeed. Two things dear to me have disappeared this evening. Now that one is back I have a pretty good idea where to find the other. Search him."

"Take your coat off, sir," The master-at-arms told Adrian

"Now what?" Adrian asked, annoyed at the treatment at this point

"Charlie, what are you doing?" Maddie asked him, "We're in the middle of an emergency. What's going on?"

"Is this it?" an officer asked, pulling the Diamond from Adrian's pocket

"That's it," Charlie confirmed, taking it back

Adrian looked at it in absolute shock. He remembered putting it in Charlie's safe, not his pocket.

"This is horseshit!" Adrain said, swearing for the first time in years, "Don't you believe it, Maddie. Don't!"

"He couldn't have," Maddie said not believing it

"Of course, he could," Charlie told her, "It's easy enough for a professional."

"But I was with him the whole time. This is absurd."

"Perhaps he did it while you were putting your clothes back on, dear," Charlie whispered to her but Adrain heard him

"Real slick, Charlie. Maddie, they put it in my pocket," Adrain told Maddie

"Shut up!" Charlie told Adrain

"It isn't even your pocket, is it, son?" Connor asked Adrian, "Property of A. Hamilton."

"That was reported stolen today," The master-at-arms confirmed

"I just borrowed it. I was going to return it," Adrain said truthfully.

"An honest thief? We have an honest thief here, do we?" Charlie asked the other gentlemen in the room

Adrain turned to Maddie, begging her not to believe them as she knew he wasn't like that. But, with all the evidence in front of her, it was almost hard to believe that Adrain didn't steal all of this. As Adrain was dragged away, he continued to beg Maddie not to believe the lies. But let's assess what will happen to the ship. In the Captain's cabin, Mr. Wayne quickly rolled out schematics of the ship to explain what their situation was with Mr. Brown present.

"Water... 14 feet above the keel in ten minutes. In the forepeak, in all three holds, and in the boiler room six."

"That's right, sir," An officer confirmed everything Mr. Wayne had said

"When can we get underway, damn it?" Mr. Brown asked, irritated that they were making such a fuss over seemingly nothing on an unsinkable ship

"That's five compartments!" Mr. Wayne argued, "She can stay afloat with the first four compartments breached but not five. Not five. As she goes down by the head the water will spill over the tops of bulkheads at E deck from one to the next. Back and back. There's no stopping it."

"The pumps," the captain pointed at where they were located, "If we opened the doors-"

"The pumps buy you time," Mr. Wayne interrupted, "but minutes only. From this moment, no matter what we do, Titanic will founder."

"But this ship can't sink," Mr. Brown said thinking this wasn't a massive problem

"She's made of iron, sir. I assure you, she can... and she will. It is a mathematical certainty."

Everyone in the room was quiet. There was no saving this ship. So the Captain started to assess the situation.

"How much time?" The Captain asked

"An hour," Mr. Wyane said, "Two at most."

"And how many aboard, Mr. Madrigal?"

"2,200 souls on board, sir," Madrigal said feeling responsible for what happened that night

The Captain turned to Mr. Brown, "Well, I believe you may get your headlines, Mr. Brown."

Back in First Class, Maddie and Charlie had been left alone in the cabin. Charlie was irritated at the fact that Maddie preferred a poor man over him. He walked over to Maddie and stood in front of her doing nothing at first before slapping her, calling her a slut, assuming the two had slept together after that picture was drawn. A steward then walked in, just as Charlie was about to give her a strong word about all this. Charlie tried to make the steward leave but he told them both to put on their lifebelts and to dress warmly as it was cold out.

Charlie once again tried asking him to leave but he insisted as it was Captain's orders. Charlie left Maddie who was recovering from the surprised slap. The steward tried to assure Maddie saying that this was all a precaution. But they were quick to tell everyone in the Third and Second classes to put their lifebelts on, not giving them time to properly wake up to take in the news. While everyone in the crew was as calm as possible, the passengers were confused as to what was going on. But they would soon find out.