Shipwrecked [IC]

---

The passengers had just finished been loaded and the ship was well ready to set sail. The loading of passengers and luggage to the ship had been quite chaotic, but all had been finished, passengers all safely on board and most likely roaming around trying to find their rooms, and if they had already found them, looked around and unpacked, then they were most likely looking around the ship.

It had been a good couple of hours since the first of the passengers had boarded the ship and now they'd just seen the last on board for what the captain hoped to be a nice relaxing trip for staff and passengers. The captain soon went back to his crew and announced that it was time to leave the dock and set sail on their journey - the cruise of a lifetime for the lucky people on board.

Meanwhile, one of the passengers, Calleigh Anderson had just finished settling into her room when the announcement for the captain welcoming the passengers and that their relaxing journey had begun. Calleigh had no idea that it had been announced and so wasn't even aware that the massive cruise ship was on it's way. She headed over to the dresser where a pile of leaflets were and smiled as she browsed through them, putting them in her shoulder bag so she could at least remember where to go (as one was a map) and what events were when. She figured she'd go to the bar that had been advertised for a drink first. She was finally away from her mother and on a journey that would prove she could survive on her own. She might have been deaf, but that didn't mean she couldn't look after herself.

Everett had simply dumped his bags in his rooms and gone to check out the rest of the ship. The announcement that the ship was leaving port had been made and as far as the twenty five year old was concerned, it was time to party. He was looking forward to this relaxing trip. It was had to relax when you worked for such a good cause. When you worked for something like he did, you didn't want to relax; you wanted to make yourself work for the people less fortunate than you and get your job done. Therefore, now that he didn't have to worry about that, he could go straight to the bar like planned and order a refreshing beer.

The Santos family were all settled into their room and their father had gone off to meet with his business partners who were in one of the many bars on the ship. Maria and her daughter Bianca headed out onto the deck to wave goodbye to the many people on the shore and to watch the land slowly disappear. It was going to be start of their new life for them and the mother wanted to make sure Bianca was okay. Though, with the father's promise of lots of gifts once they arrived, the little girl didn't mind anything.

The only problem was, the ship wasn't going to get to their final destination - ever. And neither were most, if not all passengers.

Mac

Mac was well aware of the odd looks he was getting as he followed his boss onto the ship. He was used to it. For all his adult life people had looked at him because of his height, and now they also looked at him because of what he was wearing on a civilian cruise ship. Truth was, he didn't give a damn what people thought. His boss liked the fact that his bodyguard was an ex-soldier, and he liked everyone else around him to know his bodyguard was an ex-soldier, a tough nut, a dangerous dude. That was why Mac dressed in olive drab fatigues and a camo shirt most places they went. He didn't care what he was asked to wear so long as he got paid. Still, it could be that they weren't looking at him at all. Maybe they were looking at the boss, especially the young women. The actor's dark good looks had girls falling over themselves to meet him.

Walking behind Mr. Blake, Mac took the time to check out the layout of the ship, a military habit which was hard to break. It was huge, spacious and well laid out, several bars on each deck, and the cabins a decent distance away from all the noise and bustle. Everything was state of the art, and Mac smiled to himself. Sometimes this job was cruddy, but sometimes, like today, it was pretty damn good.

“Get yourself settled in,” Brendan Blake told him as they reached their adjoining First Class cabins, “then we'll get a drink.”

Mac covered up his reaction with his usual impassive nod. He knew what that meant. When Blake said they would go get a drink, what he really meant was he would get off his face in a bar, while Mac stood beside him with a Coke, then Mac would half carry him back to the room with whatever girl or girls he had picked up following giggling behind. After that there would be a party, and after that there would be the usual job of getting the girls to leave and paying them off to keep their mouths shut.

Before he would allow Blake to enter his cabin, Mac insisted on checking the security in there himself. Making sure the windows were locked, checking everything from the bathroom to the closet to under the bed, he did the same to his own room before he was satisfied.

“Ok,” he nodded, with his usual economy of words.

Blake glanced up at him sideways as Mac stood at the adjoining door, about to close it.

“Mac,” he said, a twinkle in his dark, brooding brown eyes, “do you ever smile?”

The tall Canadian offered him a basilisk stare, his mouth set in a straight line, and closed the door quietly between them.

Alone, Mac quickly unpacked with his usual brisk movements, placing everything folded as it had been in his case neatly on the shelves of the closet, hanging shirts in colour order, pants the same. Going into the small but neatly arranged bathroom he stripped and showered quickly, uncompromising in his brief routine. Towelling himself roughly, he dressed in much the same as he had just removed, then, tucking his M1911 automatic back into his waistband in the small of his back, he crossed to the door to Blake's cabin once again. Knocking once he entered, and the two men made their way to the nearest bar.

Ben

This wasn't the type of "family get together" Ben had expected. Her parents threw a hissy fit when her younger sister and older brother didn't come along for the trip, and now they were out with her eldest sister at the bar. She rolled her eyes because all three of them were hipocrites, and she personally felt that her sister was a moron for getting drunk in front of their parents, and her parents were equal to blame because they seemed perfectly cool with it; not the mention, they're way too old to go out "clubbing" anyways. Lucky enough, Gavin stayed back with her. He just turned twenty-one right after Christmas and still hadn't taken a drink like so many do on that particular birthday. But Gavin has always been weird like that, but she didn't believe that for only that one reason. Also because he actually wanted to stay with her. Of all things to do on the ship, he stayed back. Of course he could have told their parents he would stay, but then actually go somewhere else; instead, though, he kept to his word.

It wouldn't have made very much difference if he was there or not because she was still bored to the point she was about to cry. They'd been playing card games--Speed, Crazy 8, et cetera-- for a while and it was tiring her out. It wasn't too long before New Year's, and her parents said they'd be back so all five of them could count down and celebrate together, but what intoxicated person can tell time? She had a better chance of counting on a three-year-old. She had to admit, though, the ship was outstanding; it was like a triple estate on water. There's not telling how much this must have cost the others, but she's just happy she doesn't have to worry about it. Her friends were all back at home with their family, probably sipping wine if their parents were chill enough, or drinking sparkling water; either way, they were together unlike her.

Ben secretly cursed herself for being seventeen. It's only because she was still a minor that she had to stay back. If she knew this would have happened she would have stayed with her grandparents like her younger sister did. But she could focus on being upset with them later, as if she wasn't already, but it was almost the New Year so why enter it with a crappy mood? At least she was on one of the greatest ships around their time, not to mention she was also getting the opportunity to go to Florida, America. She's seen pictures and her friends have told her how hot it is in the summer. Where she lives, their summer isn't anything too extreme so she was excited.

"You're losing on purpose," Gavin muttered as he dropped his cards on the bed Ben was lazily resting on. It was true, she wasn't even trying anymore because he was by far the most boring, dull brother in the world. He wasn't an entertainer, never has been and never will be. She wish her other brother came along instead of him; he was fun and wouldn't mind causing some mayhem on the ship.

"It's about time you figured it out, Gav," She remarked sourly, but bit her lip regretfully when she saw the slightest movement in his jaw. It was difficult to have to watch everything she said around him, he was so sensitive but she rolled her eyes anyway. Her hair was pulled up into a messy bun and she wore a loose shirt, jeans and sneakers. She doesn't know why she wasn't in her pajamas instead, but it seemed juvenile if she were to be dressed for sleeping while more than half of the ship was going to to be up all night, she was already being babysat. "Why don't you go buy a drink and let me have some? That'll make me happy."

In return, he gave her a look then stood up as he walked to turn the television on. "You know, I'm just as bored as you are."

"I'm not bored, I'm miserable."

Gavin

It was difficult to sit there with his sister and act as if the fact that his parents and sister weren't there with him. He gave himself a mental pat on the back for being a good influence on Ben, though; she needed it. He didn't mean to seem cocky, and brushed off his mental pat, replacing it with a mental slap to the face. Why was he praising himself? He'd always be there for Ben, why did it seem as if that fact escaped him for just a second? Gavin was happy to be with his sisters and parents, even though half of them weren't actually with them. It seemed far too long since everyone had actually been together, and he was just so happy to be spending time with any of them even if not all of them. He could recall when they were kids and they would always play together. of course, they're all pretty much grown now except for Ben and his youngest sister; to him, they were still kids but that's probably because they're younger.

Gavin was bored out of his mind, but spending time with Ben pretty much made up for it. He couldn't even recall the last time they'd hung out, just the two of them. She sure was growing up. It was sort of obvious that Ben wasn't really appreciating their time together, but that was okay. It was understandable she was probably upset too, if not more than he was. He'd tried to entertain her by playing some old card games but after she put down the next card it was clear she just wasn't into it. He sat his cards down.

"You're losing on purpose," he told her. Her response made him clench his teeth but he ignored her. It wasn't really surprising that she was probably going to be a brat most of the trip if she continued to hold her childish grudge against their sister and parents. He gave her a warning look when she asked for a drink and he went to turn the television on. Gavin wasn't really a tv-watching person but it was better than nothing. "I'm just as bored as you are," he told her.

"I'm not bored, I'm miserable," she responded dryly as she turned on her back and groaned.

Gavin shook his head. Why hadn't his parents taught her how to sit still patiently, but instead made sure she never sat down. Of course, he felt guilty for not being able to put a smile on her face. She seemed to look up to his brother more than her but that could just be his envy talking; he was trying to control it. He walked back over and sat down across from her and watched as she sat there with her face covered. He shook his head and rolled his eyes because he was dramatic but, he was known for being a softie. "What do you want to do? It has to be legal."

"Well, now I've got to make a new list," she replied sarcastically.

It was then Gavin decided he didn't want to have a daughter. Girls were way too difficult to tolerate, he doesn't know how his father put up with four women in his life. Ben groaned loudly again and he threw a pillow at her, "Would you shut up? I'm thinking." After going through many choices, all failing he came up with the best one so far. "How about we go look around? Just to get out of the room."

"Let's play hide-and-seek," she suggested. He would have replied differently if he didn't notice how her head swiveled in attention and her eyes sparkled with anticipation. Gavin slightly smiled at her. In all honesty, Gavin was far too old to be playing hide-and-seek period, especially on such a high class cruise like the one they're on now, but how bad could the consequences be, if any? Besides, if it was legal and made Ben happy, then Gavin was happy.

He stood up. "Not it."

The deaf girl was looking from her map to any signs that were around as she attempted to find the nearest bar to her rooms. Calleigh Anderson was now starting to realise that maybe she did need some help around a big ship. The map only showed walkways and lines showing how to get from A to B. They criss-crossed all over the place and it was hard to read. If only she had specific pictures of certain locations, maybe it would be easier.

People were bustling around her left and right, most trying to avoid her as Calleigh was too busy looking at her map. It was what made her bump into a man. As she looked up, she thought that she recognised the man she'd bumped into. An actor. Brendan Blake. Her eyes moved to the man that was standing next to him in a soldier uniform and a girl next to him. All of them looked rather intimidating.

"I'm sorry..." Calleigh started. Her voice was off. She'd never been able to hear and had been to a special school that taught her how to talk, still, her words were a little off and Calleigh watched everyone's lips, waiting for someone to talk. When nothing happened, she decided to speak again. "I'm looking for the bar. Can you help me?" Calleigh held up the map and pointed to where she was trying to find, feeling more like an idiot. Now she was wondering why she'd chosen to spend New Years alone.

---

Emmett was happily in the bar watching the start of many celebrations. That was until he saw some pretentious dick. Or someone that he thought was pretentious. He could hear him talking to the girls. Two girls. Not one. Who did that? It was so wrong. He seemed like such a bastard, a bullshitter, a womaniser. Emmett hated people like that. And he stood there, leaning against the bar watching the man and the sluts by his side as he drank his beer. It was obvious the man was expecting to be getting laid tonight. Emmett found himself smirking from his thoughts, praying that neither girl would go back with the man.

---

Maria decided that her and Bianca could go and eat in the restaurant. Her husband was going to be in his meeting for a while. In fact, she doubted that there was a meeting going on. Probably somewhere on the ship a party was starting for men only. Or maybe wives were involved, but because she had Bianca, she couldn't go. Bianca was already hyper. Maria had let her have a load of sugar and the little girl was bouncing off the walls.

As they entered the restaurant, Bianca was running around and bumped straight into a man that was making his way to the bar. Maria shrieked. "Bianca! Apologise right now." The mother snapped, picking up her daughter off of the ground.

"But mommy..."

"Don't but mommy me, young lady, do it. Now." Maria looked up at the man. "I'm so sorry for my daughter. She will apologise." She told him.

Mac

Walking along the luxurious corridor towards the nearest bar, Mac was aware of several open stares from the female population. They weren't for him though, or at least the admiring ones weren't. Brendan Blake had the sort of magnetic personality which had men and women alike gravitating towards him, regardless of the fact that he was now one of the best known actors in the Western world. Thanks to the success of his latest movie, there weren't many places Blake could go without being recognised.

As they stepped into the room, Mac looked around, always alert for any kind of threat, though to be honest most of the threats Blake received were offers of marriage and declarations of undying love... threat enough for anyone in Mac's opinion.

"Get us both a drink will ya?" Blake demanded, already on the lookout for whatever might catch his eye.

As Mac made to step away, he felt a slight impact on his stomach, and looked down just as his T-shirt got soaked through.

"I'm sorry!"

Mac frowned at the diminutive female, barely taking in the fact that she wasn't exactly unpleasing to the eye. White blonde hair framed a feminine face, and huge blue eyes gazed up imploringly into his.

"It's ok..." he began gruffly, but it was too late.

"I'll get some napkins,"

As she rushed away, Mac tutted at the damp patch on his shirt. He would have to go get changed again, and that would mean leaving Blake by himself in the bar, and if this female had been anything to go by he might need some protecting. She returned, and began frantically mopping at his chest, evading Mac's attempts to take the napkins from her.

"It doesn't matter," he said, "it's ok... Hey!"

As he tried to grapple the towels from her grasp, he became aware of another presence standing a bit too close to his boss for comfort. He swung round, almost knocking the blonde to the floor, to see a young girl... very young... saying something to Blake.

"Jeez..." he muttered to himself, and stepped forward.

"Hey sweetheart," Brendan was saying, treating the young woman to one of his best smiles. "Can I get you a drink?"

"I don't think that'd go down too well," Mac leaned in to mutter close to the actor's ear. "She's just a kid."

He looked down at the girl who seemed to be staring at him intently as he spoke.

"Beat it kid," he scowled.

He hadn't heard her speak, having been otherwise engaged trying to fend off the blonde, but he saw she was pointing to a map.

"She wants the bar, Mac," Blake grinned, as he looked past his bodyguard towards the other woman. "Why don't you show her where to go while I talk to your friend here."

Mac rolled his eyes slightly, but looked down at the girl, who was still watching him intently.

"C'mon," he grunted. "It's over here."

Viktor was surprised to say the least when a young girl bumped into him, only to snap his head up to the woman approaching them. He was expecting to see a husband rushing after her or with her, but as luck would speak, the woman was alone, and with the most adorable kid he'd seen. "No, no," he lifted his hands up in defense, "No need to be apologizing, I wasn't looking where I was goin', that's all," he smiled at them both.

"Do you need any help finding your way around?" He felt the necessity to ask, since he'd seen the majority of people walking around with their noses stuck in maps of the ship.

Meanwhile, at the bar nearby, Vera was stumbling over her own feet. At first, she'd been embarrassed and flushed, but as soon as she began helping him out in cleaning the mess, and the way he reacted, she couldn't help but grow amused.

"It doesn't matter," he said, "it's ok... Hey!"

And the napkins were grappled from her hands, which soon found their position on her hips. "I'm just helping you, sunshine. Calm down," she teased, only to dodge his swinging frame from knocking her over. What the hell? Curiosity piqued, Vera glanced behind this tall man to watch the scene unfold in front of her. So he was a bodyguard, it would seem. Just as he moved along to show a young girl towards the bar, the man behind him stepped up with the intention of striking a conversation with Vera. Well this was going to be fun, because the woman already didn't like the grin he wore.

"I wonder if our room's view will be as good as the man on the phone said," Esther mused, lightly curled blonde hair let down around her shoulders as she slung her bag over her shoulder, boarding the ship. Excitement pulsed through her veins at the thought of a cruise, not alone, but with her boyfriend. The boyfriend she'd hoped would propose.

Henry, the 22 year old's coincidentally 37 year old partner smirked. Murmuring mostly to himself, he "joked" in reply, "I wonder how big the bed is." His comment was humorous, and though Esther heard it she ignored it with a low exhale, rolling her bags through the lobby and toward the elevator where she dragged her suitcases in, waiting for Henry before pressing the button to take them where they needed to go.

"Come on, slow poke," she teased, and once the doors had shut, rose onto her toes to plant a lingering kiss on the man's stubbly cheek. "You need to shave." she said, lowering back to her normal height and watching the floor number rise casually.

Henry smirked wider at her petty kiss, chuckling before rolling his eyes at her remark. "I don't want to shave. I think I'd look pretty good with some scruff, don't you?" He asked, turning his head to the side. It was mostly a rhetorical question, though, to him at least. He assumed she'd say yes, being his cocky self.

Esther sighed, shrugging her shoulders. "I don't like facial hair. It's... I don't know, unsanitary." She said it in perfect harmony with the ding of the elevator bell, and before he had time to respond, she was already out into the hall, searching for room 15B. Henry was growing quite annoyed with the beauty that strode out in front of him, but he wasn't one to say. Not yet, anyways.

Once the two found their suite, Esther unlocked it with the room key and gasped. It was lovely, the colors working nicely together. The highlight of the room was most definitely the large bed up against the wall, with white comforters and fluffy looking pillows. It was hard for her to hold back from leaping onto the mattress like a child. "Oh, it's beautiful!" She said, touching the woodwork of the dresser before setting her purse down and sighing contently. "What do you think, sweetheart?" she said, turning around to face Henry with a tilt of her head.

Henry was looking around as well, but his eyes didn't share the admiration hers had. "Oh. It's nice," he replied with a small smile, walking over toward the windows and opening one of them up to look out. Esther realized he was already distracted, and she bit her lip, gesturing toward the door. "Um, I'm going to go get a drink. Want to join me?" she offered.

"No, thanks. Maybe later. I'm gonna get settled in." He said without even throwing a glance over his shoulder at her.

The blonde looked disappointed, but she covered it up after a moment, nodding. "Um, okay." After that, she left the room, taking the key with her and heading down the hallway. Her sandals padded on the carpeted hallway floors rhythmically, the bottom of her skirt swaying around her thighs. She wore a white tanktop and a blue skirt, something casual. After the elevator ride down, she made her way to the bar with the help of another cruise guest.

Blake

As soon as his thug of a bodyguard was out if the way with the weird-talking kid, Blake stepped up to the blonde, oozing male charm and confidence.

"Well hey there darlin'" he smirked, his accent an appealing mix of Irish and Southern Texas - at least, it appealed to his thousands of fans, so he assumed it would appeal to everyone. "What's a cute chick like you doing in a place like this?"

Oh his chat up lines were sooooo smooth, he even impressed himself at times. Soon he would have her falling over herself to come back to the room with him, then all that would remain would be for Blake to get rid of the hulking Mac, and play to his heart's content. Yep, this voyage was already shaping up to be a good decision on his part. Shame he had to bring the ex-soldier along really... he kinda spoilt his fun at times. He would never join in the parties that Blake threw, never take a spare girl off the actor's hands - even when, strangely, some of the girls he took back to his place seemed to like the tall, silent figure who was a constant presence in the background. Still, better to be safe than sorry, and Mac was good at his job... the best, Blake had made sure of that when he hired him. A guy like Blake couldn't be too careful... there were bound to be hundreds of guys jealous enough to try to kill him, what with his amazing good looks and charm. Heck there were probably dozens of jilted husbands and boyfriends even now plotting their revenge on the guy they could never measure up to.

Yep, bringing Mac along had probably been a wise decision too.

Calleigh frowned as she looked between the two men, trying to catch their lips so she could know what they were saying. Unfortunately, the soldier type male leaned in too close to the one that looked like an actor she'd seen on television and she wasn't able to catch what he'd said. She'd ignored Blake's offer for a drink and his charming smile that she'd noticed he'd pulled. She just blanked him. When she looked at the soldier though, he wasn't impressed with her. In fact, he insulted her.

"I'm not a kid..." She told him, almost too quiet, a little intimidated by him but her eyes focussed on his lips and not his face.

When he motioned to follow him, she started to follow and silence seemed to settle between them. "I'm deaf." She finally stated. "All I wanted was a little help, not to be insulted. And I can only know what you're saying if I can read your lips, to." She added, a little nervously, not knowing why she was telling him this, but she was.

---

Maria looked up at the handsome man in front of her. She was shocked and stood stunned for a moment. Then she remembered her daughter. "Oh no, she has to apologise." Maria shot a warning glance at her daughter.

"No. I don't. He told me I didn't have to." Bianca said defiantly.

Maria decided that she wasn't going to look a fool in front of this man and ended the conversation there but kept a tight grip on her daughters wrist. When he asked if she wanted a tour, Maria eagerly took the offer up. "Why yes, some help would be amazing. We were thinking of sitting down to eat before the parties. Maybe you would like to join us? I take it by offering to show us around to places you work here." She paused for a moment, looking slightly horrified. "Oh my god, I'm so rude. I haven't even introduced ourselves. I'm Maria, and this is my daughter, Bianca." She told him.

---

Emmett turned to continue with his drink and stop glaring at the man with two girls. It was turning his mood sour and that was not needed on a night like tonight. Sighing, he looked around and that's when he saw a rather attractive girl enter. She was wearing a white tank top and blue skirt. And maybe she'd head his way. And no, he wasn't thinking with his other head. He was hoping that maybe he could strike up a friendship or something while on the ship.

When she seemed to be closer to him, he smiled slightly at her, hoping that it would attract her attention.

Mac

Mac was not too happy about being made to babysit... that was not what he was here for. Just because his idiot boss wanted to chat up the blonde bimbo did not give him the right to palm Mac off on some...

"I'm deaf. All I wanted was a little help, not to be insulted. And I can only know what you're saying if I can read your lips, to."

The tall ex-soldier stopped dead, then turned slowly to scowl down at the young woman behind him, unaware just how intimidating the expression made him appear. Well, maybe not unaware - he knew just how to use his height and demeanor to intimidate when the need arose - but sometimes he did it unintentionally, like now.

"Deaf," he repeated, looking straight at her, unconsciously positioning himself so that she could read his lips. "Oh..."

He wasn't the kind of guy to try shouting at her, like some people might, but neither did he know just the right thing to say to such a revelation. It wasn't like he intended to spend any time with the kid.

"You want me to get you a drink?" he asked, forming his lips round his words more carefully than usual, even though he knew there was probably no need.

He glanced across the room as he finished speaking, trying to catch sight of Blake. If the guy kept insisting on sending him off on mercy missions, he would only have himself to blame if some crazed stalker shot him while Mac wasn't there to do his job.

"Well hey there darlin'" -- "What's a cute chick like you doing in a place like this?"

Vera couldn't tell American accents apart, they were all the same to her, all in different pitches. And being a woman like her, cocky attitude that this Brendan possessed didn't sit well with her. It even did so much as to give her a bad taste in her mouth, to which she grimaced briefly before folding her arms across her chest, a less than amused smile curling her lips. He'd better back off before she clocked him in the head.

"I vas enjoying my vacation," she began, moving off to the right to lean against the bar. She ordered another drink to replace the one that she'd spilled previously. In total disregard to the actor that was trying to chat her up. If he only knew that her limited knowledge of actors and actresses was of Lithuanian and Russian ones, and maybe a small amount of Italian stars. American? You'll never see her reading up on US or Stars, even watch those TMZ shows, not her type.

---

Viktor watched the brief interaction between mother and daughter, and he couldn't help but smirk at the idealistic image. The girl was a fiery one, and her mother wasn't too far behind. The lovely woman soon lifted her eyes to look at him when he'd offered to help them about. "I do," he replied the simple question of whether he worked on this ship or not. But he hadn't yet shared his line of work, for she began introducing herself and her daughter.

"Viktor," He replied, extending a hand towards her, and if she were to place her hand in his, he'd lift it to his lips. It was a casual greeting for him, but who's to know, he often got mixed responses from women in America. "I would love to join you," he begins, "Maybe I can show you around the menu instead of the corridors," he jokes lightheartedly.

---

Back at the bar, Wade Foster was beginning to grow bored with the empty-headed blonds in his company. By now, the two girls chatted between themselves while he was left to lean back against the bar and scan the crowd for anything interesting. And just like that, he spotted a highly familiar face: Esther. How in the world did him and his ex-girlfriend end up being at the same place in the world. For all he knew, they haven't seen or talked to each other in six years almost. Medical school was the culprit of their untimely break-up.

Pushing off the bar and out of the stool, Wade breezed through the girls, who in response uttered a few "Where are you going?" at his back. He couldn't hear them through the music, and his destination was towards the only blond he felt he had a real connection. Once he was near enough, he called out her name, "Esther!" and once she'd turn around, he'd pull her in a tight hug.

"What if we get lost? This ship is huge?" Ben stood with Gavin, both of them leaning against the wall as they discussed the game. Ben was pretty intent on winning this because she was always such a beast at it in elementary school, and that was only the school playground. Now, she's on a ship the size of...well...something extremely big. To tell the truth, she didn't care if they got lost: it would only make the game even more fun. But Gavin and Ben both agreed that it had to be safe and being alone in a huge, unfamiliar ship late at night while most were drinking wasn't the best example of "safe".

"Just don't go onto different floors. Stay on this one. Just come back to the room if you get weary." She slightly snarled because it was easier than she was putting it out to be. She turned around, facing the wall and covering her face, as she began counting. In her head she was already getting her plan together. Ben doesn't play for the fun of it; she plays to win. Which is why though some people might think it cruel, she was going to take her abilities and Gavin's disabilities to her own advantage, making her twice as able. Gavin had asthma, she didn't. She could run ten times faster than him; he could barely move an inch without hyperventillating. When she found it, she'd just charge for him. He wasn't really as up-ish as she was for the game so that should also decrease the effort to win. Boy, this would be easy.

"1...2...3..." She counted loudly. Very, very loud so he could hear her all the way down the hall and through the other one. When she got to the last number she allowed herself to see and turned around. "Ready or not, here I come!" She ran down the hall laughing all the while. Where could you hide in a ship? Before she was thinking of the endles possibilities, and now she couldn't think of anything. After running up and down the halls a thousand times she got tired of the same thing over and over. He didn't go back to the room. He was still on the hall. "Gavin! You're so annoying!"

Since he wanted to disobey the rules she would too. It was getting old anyway and she hasn't even explored the entire ship yet. She wanted to go party. Ben headed down the hall, this time walking, and she pushed the elevator button, looking around casually. The doors opened and she turned around to see her brother staring her dead in the face with a knowing expression.

"Thought we agreed one floor."

"Thought we agreed to go back to the room."

"I'm still playing."

"No you aren't. You broke the rules; you're in the elevator. I win and you lose."

"I'm in the elevator. I didn't leave the floor."

After that they stood silently and she clenched her fists because she finally understood what just happened. It was a trap. A reverse trap, because technically she won but at the same time she lost because he knew that she was going to try to sneak away. Then again she won because she found him, and now she got to hide. "Does that mean...."

"I'm done counting."

"Is that a...?"

"Run."



He shook his head as his sister turned and ran away making unnecassary noises along the way. He already felt silly as it was, now he had to chase her while she hollered like a gorilla. With a sigh, Gavin walked out of the elevator and started running down the hall too. He'd have to keep up just in case she tried to pull something slick. Ben kept looking back, making sure there was a good distance between them and she laughed continuously.

"You look hilarious!" She remarked behind her obnoxious giggles.

"Watch where you're running!" Gavin warned her, just before she knocked over a nearby passenger that looked like they were heading towards the elevator. They gave the both of them reprimanding looks, especially towards Gavin and he could feel his cheeks flush. Why did he agree to do this? Oh, that's right. Because he was trying to make his sister happy, which seemed to be working so maybe it wasn't such a bad idea.

His breathing started to get more distinct, but he didn't want to stop. Ben needed to get caught because she wasn't watching where she was going. She was going to break something eventually and they'd end up having to pay for it. Ben stopped at the end of the hall, not making the possible turn and she leaned her hand on the fire alarm unintentionally as she pretended to yawn. He could feel his heart skip a beat because one slip up would make her pull it by accident or on purpose. She wasn't pay attention to anything so she'd be more susceptible to doing stupid things. Fortunately, she removed her hand and started spinning. But she was far too close to a nearby vase that held a big plant inside.

He ran towards her, taking her by surprise, and knocked her down before she broke the vase. Nothing good came out of it. In an attempt to keep her balance and to keep from falling, she gripped the fire alarm, pulling it down as she fell. As they both fell, she flailed from Gavin's grasp in an exaggerated manner, even when he let her go. Her flailing caused her to kick the vase over even when Gavin tried to catch it. They watched as it shattered and dirt spilled onto the nice carpeted floor, and they looked at each other while they listened to the fire alarm.

"Look what you did," They both replied in unison.

"You made me break the vase!"

"You broke the law!"

Now they were both screwed.

Calleigh just stood there staring at Mac trying not to show how scared she was of him for a moment as he looked at her. Then she noticed a familiar look - the one that everyone gave her as soon as they found out she was deaf. The way he said the word 'deaf' was horrible. Like it was some sort of disease and she thought that she sensed disgust of some sort.

When he offered to get her a drink, she frowned, not sure how to take that - mockingly or that he was trying to help. His look would have suggested the former rather than latter. Finally, after a while of analysing him she nodded. "Yes, a drink would be nice. A coke please."

Just as she finished speaking, the fire alarm sounded. Calleigh of course didn't hear it, and most people had stopped wondering what it was. Then there was a slight panic and people were trying to move out of the way. Calleigh frowned, wondering what was going on. She was confused and it was times like these that she wished she could hear.

As soon as the fire alarm had started, the music systems had cut out. It was an automatic response to make sure that it could be heard. It was 15 minutes later that the noise stopped and an announcement was made to say that it was a false alarm. The music then went back on and Calleigh was left even more confused as people went back to acting normally. Though, her hand had found some way of been attached to Mac's clothes, out of instinctual fear.

Now though, everything was normal. Calleigh was still clinging though.

---

Emmett watched as another male, the male he was glaring at before for been a cocky little thing, moved over to the girl. He couldn't hear the shout but as they stood next to him, his glare hardened as he tried to ignore them. The male was hugging her and obviously knew her. If they were dating, and she'd have known what he was doing moments before, then she'd be disgraced.

"Manwhore." He commented before looking away. And then the fire alarm sounded causing him to jump out of his skin. At first he didn't move, not knowing what to do like everyone else, then he started to move towards an exit but everyone was starting to crush each other. As quick as it started it stopped and then everything calmed down and was back to normal.

False alarm.

---

Maria blushed as he took her hand and kissed it, receiving a 'yucky' and an 'ew' from Bianca. They moved to a table and Maria nodded. "You obviously know the menus working on this ship. You can show us what is the best thing to eat then." She grinned, taking Bianca's hand.

As soon as the alarm sounded, the mother went hysterical and picked up Bianca who was asking what was going on. She just looked at Viktor. "Where is the lifeboat? Take us to the lifeboat." She told him, almost an order out of fear. She hadn't even got out of the restaurant when it was cut off and mentioned that a false alarm had been done.

Apparently two kids had set it off. The parents of those two kids needed to control them more, she thought.

Mac

In truth Mac had absolutely no idea how to handle a deaf girl. His incredulity had been just that, and not derision as she believed. True, he didn't have much time or sympathy for people in general, and he had no patience for anyone not one hundred percent fit and well - he would see deafness as an impediment, not an illness exactly, but a reason to leave a man behind because he wouldn't be able to keep up - but he would never deliberately insult anyone with a disabilty. Not knowingly anyway. In all honesty, his awkwardness around Calleigh stemmed from the fact that she was a girl rather than anything else. But regardless, it would never occur to him to apologize for his behaviour, nor to make excuses for it.

At her affirmative, he began to turn towards the bar to get drinks for himself, his boss, and the girl, when the fire alarm began to sound. His immediate instinct was to get to Blake, but as he stepped forward he found himself caught in a death grip to the back of his shirt, and short of picking Calleigh up bodily and taking her with him there was not much he could do. Instead he looked over the tops of everyone's heads - easy to do at his height - to see the actor standing where he had left him with a bemused look on his face. People were milling around him, trying to get to the exits, and jossling him left right and center.

Mac frowned, then looked down at the girl by his side. Making up his mind, he began to walk slowly through the crowd, taking her with him, while as he looked ahead, Blake began to make his own way towards them.

"What the hell's going on?" Blake yelled.

"Fire alarm," Mac replied bluntly, and just as he spoke it stopped and silence decended.

Mac breathed a sigh of relief, and glanced down at his clingon once again.

"Hey," he said, and took hold of her wrist gently where it was attached to the hand grasping his shirt so tightly. With his other hand he touched a knuckle to her cheek, a surprisingly gentle movement.

"Hey," he said again when he had her attention, "you can let go now. It's ok. Just the fire alarm. It's stopped."

He looked back up at Blake over the girl's head to see the actor gazing back across the room.

"She blew me out," he was murmuring, bemused, the fire alarm all but forgotten. He looked back at Mac. "Can you believe that? She blew me out."

Mac looked back at him impassively, wondering if he really was as dumb as he seemed to be. Maybe the blonde had some smarts after all.

Esther threw smiles at passing strangers, trying to brighten her mood. Henry had been a bit of a downer the past few days, and she had spent all that time trying to cheer him up before the cruise, to no avail. She clapped her hands quietly together, sighing before brushing the hair out of her face behind her ear. She glimpsed around, before catching sight of the smiling man just a little bit ahead of her. It was Emmett, but she didn't know that, as they'd never met nor exchanged names -- she was only aware of the fact that he was obviously directing his friendly expression towards her, so she strode over, since he was already at her own destination: the bar.

"H--" her greeting was cut off by the vaguely familiar voice she heard calling her name. Blinking in confusion, she turned around slightly, only to be enveloped in a rather friendly tight embrace. She was taken by surprise, until she caught sight of the man's face, her eyes widening and her jaw dropping. "Wade!" she cried happily, finally returning the hug with just as much vigor as he'd offered it to her with. After a moment, she coughed and drew back, looking to the side at the fellow she'd originally tried talking to. Then it was back to Wade. "How are you?"

A moment later, the alarms went off, sending the people on board into a panic. Someone had tried moving past her, more like shoving past her, and she tripped up a little bit, landing squarely back in Wade's arms. She looked at him with a nervous laugh, before composing herself once more. She was a little worried and anxious, so she casually reached down and squeezed his hand. Henry was on her mind now, and she wondered if he was alright... when it ended up being a false alarm, she sighed with relief, though was still squeezing Wade's hand rather forcefully.

It had taken 3 hours for Ralph Shephard to finally board the ship. The first hour was spent rushing through the main entrance and wading through the denizens of passengers going in multiple directions to find the security checkpoint. After a lengthy sequence of standing and moving forward two feet, he managed to empty his pockets, let his bags go through the x-ray scanner, successfully got his papers for his reenactment guns approved and sorted, and they never even noticed the non-approved revolver in his backpack. This was followed up by further questioning from Dock Customs about the nature of his visit, the typical interview from the men who stamped the passports of the masses and profiled anyone of a race not of their own. Ralph was sure he was gonna be late for the departure of his ship, and was anticipating a ship change within the hour. The only problem he faced was an internal one when he found he had, in fact, arrived quite early, and had an hour and a half to kill before he needed to worry about boarding the ship. After checking his large cases of guns with whatever department deals with huge luggage, Ralph decided to explore.

There was a small strip mall he found near his dock, and decided to engage himself in English merchantism before embarking. After perusing through the book stores and a local pretzel shop, he began passing by a bar with his buttery pretzel in hand and decided to get mildly drunk. He stepped inside, finished off the pretzel along the way to a bar stool, and sat down with a finger in the air.

"You got Guinness?"

"Yeah, coming up."

Ralph slapped a bill down on the counter and was slid a big, sweaty glass of Guinness.

"Fuckin' A, barkeep," he said as he grabbed the glass and toasted the man with his thick country dialect.

Ralph drank the beer soothingly, enjoying the smooth taste and thick froth of the north. Although he usually enjoyed very primitive, peasant-type beers, Ralph was willing to drink anything that had fermented sugar. He never drank so much that he would get legally 'drunk', seeing as he had a reputation to uphold as a public servant, but moderation was key and he never passed up a good drink. He did not, however, drink the Budweisers or Coors Lights of the world, despite his love for peasant beers, but something about it was very degrading and he did not enjoy the taste of such common drinks.

"Hey, pard, you got anything to eat at this place?"

"Whaddya like, pard?"

"Fried cheese is a favorite back home."

"Fuckin' A, Billy Yank."

The bartender left to put in his order, and a man sat on the stool right next to Ralph's. He was a taller gentleman, in a nice suit and a very classy general grooming.

"Oy, Guinness please."

"Coming up, sir."

Ralph saluted the man's choice with a raise of his own glass of Guinness.

"Good choice, kemosabe."

"What does that mean?"

"What, kemosabe?"

"Yeah."

Ralph took another quick drink.

"You ever hear of a TV show called The Lone Ranger?"

"Sure haven't." The man received his beer and began to sip on it.

"There was an old TV show called The Lone Ranger in the US, and he's this guy that runs around the Wild West and fights criminals, and he had an Indian sidekick called Tonto that called the Lone Ranger 'kemosabe'. There used to be a joke that Tonto never explained what it really meant, so the Lone Ranger and the audience always assumed it meant 'friend', but some people think it translates into 'horse's ass' in Apache."

"That's fascinating, mate, you sound like a very....cultured man."

"Eh, I'm just a dude."

Ralph took another big drink.

"So, where ya headed, friend?" Ralph asked after a quick 'ahh' following the gulp.

"I'm a businessman, I won a contest to go on that new ship, the Morpheus."

"Really? I'm headed home on the Morpheus, too."

The bartender brought the fried cheese sticks to Ralph.

"Thank you."

"So, we should get going, then."

"For what?"

"The ship's about to leave, mate; you DID check in already, didn't you?"

"Fuck no! I was told that I got here early!"

"Well, shit, man, I just stopped in for a quick beer. You've gotta rip ass if you wanna make it on there."

"Fuck me, man," Ralph slammed another bill on the counter. "Thanks, pard, see ya next time."

"Take care, Billy Yank."

"You want these?" He asked the man, referring to the fried cheese sticks.

"I guess."

"I'll see ya on there, kemosabe."

Ralph grabbed a cheese stick and took off, his backpack over his shoulder and his sleeves half-rolled up as he attempted to chew the piping-hot cheese. He wound up at the main gate for the Morpheus, quickly showed his boarding pass, and found that he had arrived there 15 minutes before they closed the gate for departure. He received his room key, a confirmation that his luggage was placed aboard and given a voucher to retrieve it in Florida, and a warm "Welcome aboard!" from the lady at the gate. He tipped his cowboy hat to the woman as he ran aboard.

He spent the first few hours aboard the ship in his room, watching the television and organizing his belongings. The ship offered a variety of cable channels based on their location at sea and a few premium movie channels that was created as an HBO/Starz knockoff fitted around the name of the cruise ship's company and run by a program director somewhere in the control room. When Ralph turned it on, the captain came over a loudspeaker saying that the ship was departing and wishing all the passengers well. Ralph let his Guinness from port settle as he sat on his bed and watched the extended version of 2005's Jarhead, a movie he showed scenes of in his Military History class. It was very accurate pertaining to certain aspects of the Gulf War, and he showed it to demonstrate the general experience of infantry in modern conventional warfare, and specifically featured the scenes in the burning oil field. Too bad they forgot to load magazines in the weapons in multiple scenes (which was possibly deliberate by the filmmakers, he wasn't sure).

When the movie was over, there was an alarm of some sort that went off. It reminded him of his high school's fire alarm. He let it ring and ring, but he didn't care one bit about it. Just like he thought would happen, it stopped, and soon after, the Captain reported that it was only a test. He realized that it wasn't too late in the day, and decided to take advantage of the luxuries the cruise ship beneath his feet offered. Seeing as it was all free, generously supplied as a company PR move for his educational grant, he figured he would go into the main lounge and pick up some legitimate food for dinner. With some lack of mental security, he retrieved his revolver from his backpack, still in its Galco Royal Guard pants holster, and snuggled it on his belt right above his right butt cheek. He could feel the friction of the short Pachmayr grip on his lower back, and that made him feel okay enough to walk out for supper.

He casually walked around, an innocence that some described as farm boy-ish smeared all over his movements, until he wound up in what was basically a lounge, the type that was frowned upon back home. In Jackal Flats, Colorado, the most classy part of town was the football stadium, first only to Uncle Bob's Diner, GIRLSGIRLSGIRLS, and a place aptly called The Bar, but seeing as mopping the floor of any of those establishments was considered putting on airs, Ralph was never really accustomed to nice places like the cruise ship's lounge. He shrugged his frugal mentality to the side and walked up to the bar, tipping his floppy cowboy hat to people that made eye contact with him as a western courtesey, though he was sure that some of the people didn't understand it. The lounge was full of people his hometown would consider 'hoity-toity', or the type of person that Ralph hadn't spent much time around/the type his family and friends tried to avoid due to a mutual negative judgment of each other's social class.

Ralph didn't give a shit; he was living large because of his brain, and he was gonna get some Goddamn buffalo wings and a tall, sweaty glass of Coca-Cola. He looked around sheepishly for either a waiter, an open table, or anything that would indicate a place to order food. He gave up and went to the bar, intent on getting what now sounded like a delicious glass of Coke.

"Do y'all have soda here? I'd trade an arm for a Coca-Cola right now."