Rose walked slowly towards Jack, never taking her eyes from his. "You're really here," she whispered.
Jack swallowed hard. "Yes." He held out his hand to her. She froze for a moment before taking it. Even if it had been completely dark, Rose would have recognized his hands. There was a gentle roughness to them that Rose loved.
For a moment, Rose forgot everything; Cal, the rape, the necklace. But it was only for a moment, because Rose saw the agony in Jack's eyes. Rose had only seen that look twice. The first time was right before she jumped back on the Titanic from the lifeboat. The other time had been when she had suffered a miscarriage two summers ago.
"How…?" Rose paused, trying to find her words. "Why are you here?"
Jack looked at her, perplexed. What does she mean? Jack's heart was chilled by the fear that she was trying to act as if nothing happened, trying to make everything seem okay. "I got your letter, sweetheart."
"That I had a case of the flu?" Rose's eyes were empty of every emotion but shame and confusion. "Is that why you came home?"
Jack's own confusion grew. "Flu?" Jack searched his brain. "I never got that letter." Rose just continued to stare at him, her mind trying to process what was happening.
A flashback of that night tore through Rose's mind.
Cal crossed his hands behind his back, and walked slowly toward her. His eyes caught sight of a notebook with her handwriting. A brilliant idea came to him. "You know you can't write to Jack about this, right?"
"Get away from me," Rose said bitterly.
Cal ignored her. "If you tell him about this, he may just go AWOL. The Army won't take too kindly to that. You wouldn't want your poor, pathetic husband to go to jail, would you?"
Rose's heart began beating wilder than it already was. Cal didn't. He couldn't have. But through her denial, another voice spoke. Cal has enough money and connections to do whatever he wants.
"Rosebud?" Jack's voice jerked her back to the present. She looked at him. The pain in his eyes told her everything he needed to know. Jack knew what Cal did to her. "Rose—"
"Well, isn't this just beautiful?" Rose felt her knees buckle, but somehow managed to stay standing. She reached for Jack's hand. Though anger flared within him, Jack stood beside her instead of strangling Cal where he stood. Cal ignored Jack's presence at first, instead focusing on the slight quiver of Rose's body.
"Son of a bitch," Jack growled. It was only Rose's vise-like grip on his hand that kept his feet where they were.
"Careful, Jack. You can't save her if you're dead." Cal had a straight face. No curled lip or sick smile. He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out Rose's notebook. His even face disappeared under his infamous twisted smirk. "Were you aware that, for the right amount of money, you can have things forged? Signatures. Documents." He chuckled. "Letters."
Jack felt like his heart stopped. He felt Rose close the gap between them. But it was different. She had always stood beside him, sometimes in front of him. This time, she stood behind him, a broken woman.
"Bastard," Jack growled through clenched teeth. Rose could feel his body beginning to shake.
Cal's smirk turned into his sick smile. "She was begging for you," Cal taunted Jack. "You should have seen how pathetic she was, whimpering like a hurt puppy."
Jack lunged at him. Cal saw it coming, but he wasn't prepared for the full brunt of it. Jack's rage roared through him. He effortlessly slammed Cal against the wall and managed to get a couple of good punches in. But it didn't take Cal long to recover. He managed to loosen Jack's grip and shove him away. Jack lost his balance just enough for Cal to take advantage. Neither of the men heard Rose scream as Cal landed a punch on Jack.
Cal will kill him. Rose's instincts to protect Jack suddenly kicked in, and she found herself trying to pull Cal off of Jack. Jack couldn't speak because of Cal's chokehold, but his eyes told her to run. She ignored it, desperate to save him. However, Cal managed to shove her off of him as if she were a feather. She landed with a thud. Rose closed her eyes to block out the pain. When she opened them again, something caught her eye.
The knife was just within arm’s reach. She didn't know who it fell from, but she didn't have time to care. Seeing that Cal was still focused on Jack, Rose picked it up swiftly. Cal suddenly pulled Jack to his feet, ready to punch him in the stomach. Ignoring her still injured, possibly reinjured ribs, Rose stood quickly, fueled by adrenaline.
Cal was preparing to swing when he felt the knife tear into him. He grunted, his face turning from anger to shock in less than a second. Rose hadn't just stabbed him, she'd twisted the knife before pulling it away, cutting his flesh further. His body began to fail immediately and his grip on Jack loosened. Blood poured from his body, and he collapsed.
Rose's gasp was more of a squeak. Cal began to gasp for breath as blood began to trickle from his mouth. It made a sickening gurgling sound that got quieter and quieter until finally it stopped. Cal lay motionless on the floor. His eyes remained open, but were glassy and empty.
The blood-covered knife slid from Rose's hand and clattered to the floor. Jack's shock broke, and he had his arms around Rose in seconds. Still, Rose was limp in his arms. Her body shook easily as she sobbed. He buried his face in her neck, desperate to comfort her.
"I killed him." Rose's voice was the quietest of whispers. It broke Jack's heart nonetheless. He pulled away and cupped her face in his hands. Tears drenched her face, and still fell from her eyes.
"No, Rose." He brushed a tear away with his thumb. "You saved my life."