Dear Fate

"Where is that stupid girl? I told her to be back early. Why does she never listen?" Olivia mumbled to herself, pacing back and forth in the sitting room of her suite.

She had arrived back about ten minutes ago, and had expected Holly to be back as well, to help her wash down for the night and get her into bed. But Holly was not back, and although she'd never admit it to anyone, Olivia was a little bit worried.

She paced around for another ten minutes before finally deciding to go look for the stupid girl. Opening the door and peering in the hallway, she looked around before slipping quietly out of the suite.

The first place she as going to look, which she was not looking forward to, was going to have to be third class.

She hadn't even made it to the third class deck before she as both tired and bored. Mentally cursing Holly, she sat down and tried to think of a plan. It's not like she could just storm in there and demand to know where Holly was. Well, technically she could, but she'd already seen how they'd responded to threats and yelling. It made her feel better, but it certainly did no good for Holly.

"Excuse me, Miss. Are you alright?"

Olivia looked up to see the handsome officer from the other day, the one who had escorted Holly back to the dining hall.

"Actually, good sir I am not. I believe you became acquainted to my maid the other day, Holly Spencer? Well, I'm afraid I let her go down to enjoy a dinner with some of her fellow lower class men, and she has yet to return," Holly replied, making sure to come off just a little dramatic. Hopefully if she sounded pitiful enough, he would offer to go find her himself, and she could retire to her suite, comfortably waiting for Holly to get back.

"She is missing?" he asked, his brow furrowed in concern, just as she knew it would.

"Yes, I was just on my way to try and find her, but I then realized I had no idea where I would even begin to search for her. I am certainly not acquainted with the lower class area enough to attempt it by myself," she cried.

"Well, I just got off my shift. If you would like, I could accompany you?" he asked.

Not what she was going for, but it would do.

"That would be wonderful, kind sir," she replied, standing up and holding out her arm.

He looked at it hesitantly before slowly reaching out his arm. She hooked her hand through his arm and they made their way down to the third class area.

Olivia chanced a glance at him out of the corner of her eye as they walked along. He was young for an officer, perhaps twenty-two or twenty-three at the most. He was quite good looking, even if he was of a lower social status, she had to admit. With his dark brown hair sticking out slightly from under his hat, and his light brown eyes, he would be a wonderful match for Holly, she decided.

"You seemed quite eager to jump and help me retrieve my maid. Why is that?" she asked.

"Well, as a female passenger in danger, it is my duty to make sure she is found alright and escorted back to her cabin safely. It is my duty as an officer," he replied, somewhat nervously.

"How do you know she is in danger?" Olivia challenged.

"Where you not the one who was worried about her being late?" he countered.

"Touché," she said, smiling slightly.

Yes, he was perfect for Holly.

"I don't believe I got your name, sir," she asked him.

"Sixth Officer James Moody," he recited.

"Well, Sixth Officer James Moody, I am Olivia Mae Hamilton, as you probably already knew, and it is a pleasure to officially make your acquaintance," she smiled.

They reached the third class dining hall, and it appeared to be vacant.

"Where could that stupid girl be?" Olivia mumbled to herself.

"The third class passengers usually tend to have a sort of party after dinner. Perhaps she is there?" Officer Moody suggested.

"Yes. We shall search there," Olivia replied, marching ahead of him, despite not knowing where she was going.

Perhaps he was humoring her, or perhaps he didn't know himself, but Officer Moody let her lead the way. After coming upon a dead end several times, they finally stumbled upon hallway where they could hear the faint sound of music coming from nearby. They followed the hallway to the end, and reached a door that led down a flight of stairs where they could both hear loud music coming from, along with the sounds of laughter and a general sense of happiness.

"Shall we?" Officer Moody asked, looking over to Olivia.

"After you, good sir."

He gave her a small smile, before turning and descending the stairs.

She followed him down slowly. When they reached the bottom, they both looked around, but the room was filled and they could not spot the tiny girl anywhere.

The music was loud, and Olivia could hardly hear herself think. Pushing through the crowd, she came upon the sight of a certain Mr. Tommy Ryan. She turned back to point him out as the person most likely to be holding Holly hostage, but Officer Moody was nowhere in sight. Turning back, she marched straight over to Tommy. Upon being closer, she noticed the Italian boy from before and Jack Dawson, along with Rose Dewitt Bukator.

"Excuse me, good sir," she said sarcastically, "but could you possibly tell me what became of my maid?"

Tommy turned around and his genuine smile turned to a smirk. The rest of the men slightly bristled at her tone, and for once Olivia felt a little nervous. It did not show on her face though.

"I could not, my fair lady. She is around here somewhere, I'm sure," he said, turning around to face his friends once more.

"You just let her run around by herself? She's just a little girl, and with all these men around, who knows what could have happened to her!" Olivia exclaimed.

Several things happened at once. Three of the men seated at Tommy's table stood up, looking as if they were going to charge Olivia. Jack pulled Rose back, not wanting her to be in the middle of it. And Tommy Ryan stood up and stood in front of Olivia.

"Hey now, fellas. She's just a girl. No reason to get all huffy," he said, holding his hands out in front of him.

"She may be a girl, but she's first class. They think they can come down into our area and order us around like dogs, I won't stand for it Ryan. I won't," one of the men said.

"She didn't mean anything by it, she is just worried for her friend. You know how it is when you get worried and you don't realize what you're saying," Tommy replied.

"How can you stand there and defend her, when she's down here insulting us?" Another man asked.

"Hey, I'd be all for it if it were a man. But this is a girl, and young one at that. She is stupid and naive. She doesn't know what she's saying," Tommy replied.

Olivia gave his back a dirty look and opened her mouth to say something when she saw Jack out of the corner of her eye shaking his head softly at her, warning her not to say anything.

"You better keep an eye on that girl, Ryan. I hear her talking like that again, and I won't hold back," one of them said as they stalked off.

Olivia stood in shock for a moment, as Tommy turned around to face her.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

"Y-yes. I'm fine. I don't understand- I did not mean-," she stuttered, trying to come up with the words.

"They are very prideful men and don't like being insulted," Jack answered for her.

"But I was not insulting them! Or at least not them in particular," she replied.

"Doesn't matter. When you insult one of them, you insult all of them. Now, since I rescued you from them, I do believe you owe me a dance," Tommy smiled.

"What? No, I must go find my maid. I meant what I said," Olivia replied, turning up her nose at Tommy.

"She doesn't look lost to me," Jack laughed, pointing over her shoulder.

Olivia turned around to see Holly at the stairs, looking around, before silently creeping up them, a certain Officer a few steps behind her. Olivia smirked to herself before she remembered whose company she was in. She turned back around to face Tommy, his hand held out toward her and a smirk on his face.

"That dance, my lady?"

She just stared at him. On the one hand, he did save her life from those three burly men. They would have pulled her apart had he not stepped in to stop them. It was especially surprising considering how much he didn't seem to like her. Or rather, how much she put him down and ridiculed him. But still, he was a disgusting third class man, and there was really nothing that could help that. But if she did dance with him, it could really be considered charity, and Holly was always telling her how selfish and stuck up she was. So here was her chance to prove her wrong. Forcing a smile, she reached out and grabbed his hand.

She looked up at him to see a look of pure shock written across his face, before he led her slowly out onto the dance floor where an upbeat Irish song was playing.

"Why did you want to dance with me? I could have paid you or given you something of value. Why this?" Olivia asked, not looking at him.

"And miss the chance to take you down a notch? I think not," he smiled, that ever present smirk on his face again.

Olivia scoffed and tried to pull away, but his arm snaked itself tighter around her waist, pulling her closer.

"Our dance isn't done, miss. Won't be done until the song ends, so you best just suck it up," he said in his Irish drawl.

She gave him a sarcastic smile and tried to put all of her concentration into getting the dance steps right.

"What makes you think that you are so special?"

Olivia looked up.

"What?"

"What makes you think that you are any better than the rest of these folks?" Tommy asked her.

"Because I was born into money, into power, and they were not," Olivia said simply, as if he should already know.

"So it just lands in your lap and that makes you better? What about all these men who have to work hard to earn money? And what about when they earn hardly enough to feed their families? Why do you get so much respect for sitting around, being waited on hand and foot? Why shouldn't they be respected for working hard and providing for their family?" he asked, a serious tone in his voice, the usual smirk gone.

"Well, I mean, I never thought of it that way," she mumbled, looking down again.

"Ah, you're looking down again, and this time it's not to look and make sure you've got the steps right. Do I detect a bit of shame?" he asked, the smirk returning.

"No, you don't! You don't detect anything because you don't know anything about me, so don't act as if you do!" Olivia shouted, a slightly hysterical note to her voice.

Tommy merely smirked as they spun around in a circle.

Olivia couldn't believe herself. She didn't want to believe it. She'd been made to see sense. By a third class man, no doubt. It was incredulous. Ludicrous even. But the way he worded it, the way he said it, it made sense. Olivia couldn't believe it, but it made sense. Not that she'd ever admit to it. She had too much pride for that.

The song ended, and she slowly pulled away from his arms, and looked around the room as if unsure of herself. She knew she must look rather pathetic, otherwise he wouldn't have made his next offer.

"Would you like me to find someone to walk you back to your cabin?" he asked, no trace of a smirk on his face.

"Who would walk a first class lady such as myself back to my suite? And why would I trust any of these vagabonds?" She asked, her voice devoid of its usual malice when speaking of the lower class passengers.

"Would you like me to walk you back to your cabin?" he rephrased.

She looked over to him and reluctantly held out her arm. He smiled, a real smile for once, and hooked her arm through his crooked elbow.

They walked in silence through the hallways, Olivia turning the thoughts over in her head. To say she was confused at this point would be a gross understatement. It was as if her whole life had been turned upside down by one simple statement by this man leading her to her cabin.

They reached the steps that led out of the third class area. She retracted her arm from his and looked into his face.

"I can make it back from here. I don't think the other first class passengers would react too kindly to you in our area, especially escorting me back to my suite," she said.

"Are you including yourself in those other passengers?" he asked as she made her way up the steps.

She turned around and sent a soft smile down at him. The difference it made was startling. Instead of seeing a scowling, slightly unpleasant face, he saw a beautiful young girl shining through. He returned the smile and watched her walk up the steps and turn a corner before he turned around himself and made his way back to his cabin, a small smile still on his face.