Imagines and One-Shots (Book Three)

Down with the Ship (Michael Clifford) - Part 1

picture this right: something like the titanic but everyone survives (spoiler alert jesus)

aka an au where you're the captain of a cruise ship, you send out an sos, and coast guard husband michael is part of the rescue mission

~

You'd always heard stories of the Captains of sinking cruise ships waiting too long to report it and abandoning ship and not owning up to any other mistakes they may have made that led up to the disaster. You were always determined not to be like them – not to leave your ship no matter what – but you never imagined that you'd ever have to actually make the decision.

Until it happened, of course.

The collision hadn't been your fault – it was a result of the bottom of the ship scraping up against a small but sharp land mass that hadn't been on your map. You tried to avoid it – you tried to steer around it the moment you saw you were approaching it – but it wasn't enough; You still sideswiped it.

You thought you were in the clear – the feeling of the contact jolted the ship slightly, but you figured it was only a minor scrape. You quickly had to come to terms with the fact that it wasn't, however, when the boat started to lean ever so slightly and didn't correct itself.

You quickly went to your radio and called the Coast Guard – they were about 4 hours out from where you were and you wanted as little collateral damage as possible – to send out the SOS and explain the situation, then went over the ship's intercom to tell passengers to begin the emergency drill they'd learned after boarding. You knew that it was inevitable that there would be panicking people aboard, but you also knew that your crew knew what they were doing and would be able to effectively get everyone where they needed to be.

Once you put your radio back, it was eerily silent in the room. You could hear the commotion begin on on the deck outside as everyone hurried to their lifeboat stations on deck 4. You knew you'd done the right thing in alerting everyone right away, but there was still that feeling of dread that came over you – the feeling that there was a possibility not everyone would make it off the ship alive.

You were so lost in thought that the sudden ringing of the cell phone in your pocket made you jump. You looked at the caller ID and smiled slightly to yourself – you'd have been crazy to think you could radio in an SOS to Coast Guard and not have it get around to your husband.

"Hi, Mikey," you answered softly.

"What's with the SOS, Y/N?" he didn't even greet you back, "Why didn't you call me?"

"Kind of a dick move for a captain to make personal calls when their ship is sinking," you replied lightheartedly, "Not just me on this thing, you know; Got 1,516 other people to worry about before myself." Michael let out a small huff, making you smile again – you knew he knew you were right and he was not happy about it.

"I want the specifics," he informed you.

"They not tell you yet?" you exhaled sharply.

"Y/N."

"I wasn't really worried about anything happening – it's the middle of the ocean; there's no land around for miles," you sighed, "Didn't see the rocks until it was too late... Steered out of the way as best as I could, but made contact anyway... I waited a little bit to say anything – thought maybe it was a minor, cosmetic scrape or something and it would be fine... Called it in after 15 minutes when the ship's lean wasn't correcting on its own... Passengers are already doing the emergency drill and crew is already going to check the damage, and that's all I know right now..."

You felt your throat start to close slightly, so you cleared it – you really didn't want to cry; not now. Michael began to speak again, but you cut him off.

"I love you, Michael," you breathed out, your jaw tight as you tried not to cry too hard.

"I love you, Y/N," he returned, "And I'm gonna tell you that over and over again when you get off that ship."

You forced out a laugh, letting your tears fall freely now, "I don't think I'm making it off this ship, Mikey."

"Yes, you are, Y/N," he said firmly, "Do you understand me? I'm going to go in there myself and get you if I have to, but you're going to be fine, and I'm gonna tell you 'I told you so' when you do." You heard him smile when you involuntarily laughed.

"Sure, Mikey," you murmured, "You can tell me that."

"I love you, baby girl," he said again, "I'll see you in a few hours." Michael hung up, leaving you in the silence once again.

And all you could do at that point was wait.

~

Michael's POV

The moment the call ended, Michael was practically running to where his fellow officers were already being briefed about the situation. As soon as he opened the door to the outside, the group gathered at the helipad turned to look at him. They then looked at each other – honestly a bit speechless – then the officer in charge of the rescue when he started talking.

"Michael, I think you should sit this one out," he said.

"Obviously, I'm going with you guys," Michael stated.

"Mike, I just want you to think about it, okay?" the officer sighed, "Things may not turn out the way you want it to, and I don't want you to be the one to find your wife if she doesn't-"

"She's gonna make it, Chris."

"See? This is what I'm talking about."

"I promised her the day we got married that I was going to be the one to protect her no matter what I had to do," Michael said firmly, though his voice was wavering slightly, "And I'm not about to back down just because something could happen to her; Some giant hunk of metal isn't going to stop me from getting to her."

Everyone looked at each other again and shrugged. Upon realizing that Michael wasn't going to back down, Chris sighed deeply. He knew that he would have snuck onto the helicopter if he had to, so it would be easier to just let him come on the mission anyway.

"I'm assuming you've already called her?" he asked, "And she's told you what happened?"

"Wasn't gonna not call her," Michael replied.

"Then you know what we have to do," Chris nodded, "Let's get going then. Got 1,517 people to rescue and 4 hours to get to them."

~

will part 2 be up in a decent amount of time??? unlikely
but at least it's something to post lmao

inspiration: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SaaBLhW2p4