A New Beginning

Chapter 81: Into the Night

Chapter 81: Into the Night

Emma nearly faints when she hears this. Her mind begins to race, her breath catches in her throat and her entire body goes completely numb. Despite the apparent shock of this news, she shouldn't be that surprised. This was going to happen eventually. Jack had become so desperate to find Rose and their child that he'd given up on his friends and took justice into his own hands. He knew that the sweat and blood that both she and Peter had been putting into his case was not enough. As long as Cal was alive, there would be no way that Jack would be free and neither would Rose.

Her heart ached as she sat on the curb, just barely under the police tape surrounding the areas. She fights back tears and her hands shake in so much anxiety and anger. If only Jack could have waited a few minutes more... the police officers had the evidence to bring Cal into the station and likely force him to release Rose, but instead, he'd made it ten times worse. No doubt the police would be searching for him, calling him an escaped convict and maybe even insane to be able to evade police custody. Her eyes burn until she finally lets the tears come. Peter sits down next to her and puts his arm around her quivering shoulders.

"W... We failed him," she whimpers.

Peter opens his mouth to deny it, but his "wife" had spoken the truth. They hadn't worked fast enough and with Rose's life in danger, it wasn't enough for their best friend. It wasn't their fault, with a corrupt judge and police officers who wouldn't take her seriously because she of her gender, they had basically shot themselves in the foot and brought this on themselves. He just wished that Jack hadn't been so impulsive, no doubt he's in even more trouble now than ever before and Cal could still use this to his advantage.

Peter swallows the lump in his throat and pulls Emma into a hug.

"We have to find him before..." she begins. She sniffs and wipes the tears away.

"Excuse me, sir," an officer says coming up to them. "But we'll have to ask you and your wife to leave, this is an active crime scene."

"But we're the escapee's lawyers," Peter says firmly.

"Good, then you are stuck with the job on how to defend an escaped convict," the man smirks.

Emma just gives the man a death glare. Both shift to the opposite side of the street, sitting on a bench, trying to collect themselves.

"How could he be so stupid?!" she snarls angrily. It feels as if Jack had betrayed their trust, taking matters into his own hands. He'd stomped on their hearts and stretched their friendship very thinly.

Peter sighs and hugs her. "We weren't doing enough so he decided to do it himself."

"But it's ten times worse now," she whined. "He'll be in jail so much longer now..."

She swallows, thinking that he may not even be able to see the birth of his child if he's behind bars. Plus, this makes him look even guiltier.

"I know..." Peter says.

Suddenly, a thought comes to mind. "Do you think he might have gone back to the house?"

Emma's eyes go wide, and she looks at him with fear and hope in her eyes. Her face suddenly falls. "And what if he is there? What can we do?! Convince him to come back to jail?"

"I don't know, but if he does manage to get out of the city, it's just going to keep getting worse."

She knows he's right, they must take that chance in order to save their friend from further imprisonment. The two watch the chaos unfolding at the station, reporters have now shown up and are flocking all the officers for details. Flashbulbs are going off and voices fill the night air with relentless chatter.

"They'll be busy for a while anyway," she mutters, not actually feeling very sorry for the dimwits of the law.

The couple takes the bus home, travelling with the hope in their hearts that they can catch Jack before he gets himself or Rose killed. Both of their minds race, how did their lives become so chaotic? Was it because they met the two lovers at that party? Would everything be peaceful at this moment if they hadn't met Rose and Jack? They would probably be living a relatively normal life, likely happily married and Emma might even be pregnant by now. But instead, they're chasing after their escaped friend and trying to rescue their kidnapped one.

The thing is, life might have been peaceful, but very sad. No doubt Emma would still be in a deep depression if they hadn't gone to that party to lift her spirits. They wouldn't have made friends that they could trust, they wouldn't have been married on the bow and felt so very happy. And was it possible that because of the confrontation with Cal, Peter could have gone down with the ship and likely perished? Leaving Emma with only Sybil and nothing left to truly live for. It could have been much, much worse... They also wouldn't have the lifelong friends they had made to fill the void of a family in their lives. Despite all the chaos that came with Jack and Rose, nothing could replace the friendship they had and even now in this crisis, they couldn't let the two of them down.

The couple race up the front porch of the home. The light is still on as Ruth and Molly were staying with them. Peter's parents and siblings were now at Holly and Carl's place to make the place feel less crowded, while Wendy and Tommy had gone back to their apartment, no doubt Wendy would be writing about the dramatic wedding for her book.

They come in to see Ruth with the look of absolute sorrow on her face. She looked positively heartbroken. Her sad green eyes look into theirs and she begins to weep. Molly Brown looks at the duo, rocking an agitated Sybil, showing a similar expression. She looks very sad and slightly shell-shocked as well.

Emma opens her mouth to speak when Ruth cuts her off.

"He just left..." she says quietly.

The young girl's eyes go wide, Peter's soon following. He rushes out the door to the side of the house. His heart drops like a stone into his stomach. Emma tails her fiancé and stares on in horror and sadness as reality hits them like a rock.

"N-No..." she gasps. Tears fall from her eyes.

"It's gone," Peter whimpers, dropping to his knees in despair.

The car was gone, the treads of the tires still fresh in the gravel. Jack had taken their care and fled for the horizon...

An escaped convict disappears into the night.

No doubt the police will be knocking on their door in the morning, invading their home and dragging all of them to the station for questioning. And the reporters swarming their front porch, wanting all the details and basically destroying their last piece of sanity. Ruining their sanctuary

What a great way to celebrate Sybil's first birthday!

...

(Imagine Nina Simone's I Shall be Released playing in the background)

Meanwhile, a 1910 Ford races through the city streets, a determined Jack Dawson behind the wheel. His blue eyes filled with fortitude and strength of the mind. He was no longer that caged bird, he wasn't going to rely on anyone to save him. Rose may have rescued him on the ship, now it was his turn to rescue her.

The sun is just beginning to rise as the car pulls out of the awakening city.

A/N: Please review. Also, thank you to Acroterion, I really like your advice and I'll try to use it more and more in the future.