Title: Wings of Love

Author: Nubiangeek

Summary: Gopher is whisked away on the wings of love by a beautiful singer with a dark past.

Rating: PG

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters from The Love Boat nor do I make any money from them. I sure do love Gopher, though.

Gopher and Julie were greeting passengers as they came in as usual. That was when Gopher first noticed her.

"Can I tell you where your cabin is, Miss?" Amy smiled.

"My name is Amy Lawson. I'm actually working on the ship. Can you show me where the employee cabins are?" Gopher returned her smile and they walked off. Julie shook her head. Yep, things were moving along as usual, she thought.

"Here you go. By the way, will you have dinner with me?" Amy smiled, "I have a feeling that you're used to asking that question." Gopher mad a face that seemed to say, 'Guilty as charged.'

"I'd love to - have dinner with you that is. It'd have to be early, though, my first show is at 8:00." Gopher was shocked that she had actually said yes. He was pleased that he had accomplished it all without Doc even seeing her.

"See ya tonight." It was a happy day.

That evening, Gopher took extra care getting ready. He didn't want to blow it. He had the worst luck when it came to women. He remembered the woman who was married and laughed.

"Hi." He didn't say anything more because he was speechless. She was beautiful. She had on a glamorous evening gown and she had put her auburn hair up for the evening with little strands loose and curling around her face.

Gopher offered his arm. Amy smiled and took his arm. When they walked into the dining room, it was not Gopher's imagination that told him that every eye in the place was on her. Amy was a little embarrassed, but Gopher patted her arm to reassure her.

Gopher had arranged it so that they had a private table. It kind of helps being the Assistant Purser, he thought. Gopher could barely remember what he had for dinner that night.

They talked about their childhoods and what brought them to the Pacific Princess. Amy wasn't totally forthcoming, but it was too soon to burden Gopher with her problems.

Suddenly Gopher saw Doc making a beeline for their table.

"Uh, Amy why don't we go and take a walk in the moonlight." Gopher hustled Amy out of the dining room.

"It's beautiful." Amy said. Gopher was looking at her.

"Yes, beautiful."

He stroked her cheek with his hand. She turned to look at him. The boy next door, that's what he looked like. The breeze was blowing his hair slightly and he couldn't take his eyes off of her.

She knew that it was coming. He leaned his head in and brushed his lips against hers. He could feel the electricity jump between their bodies. He hadn't felt this way before. She could feel it, too, and pulled away.

"I'm sorry, Gopher. Look, I need to get ready for my show." She ran inside. Gopher was left standing there shaking. What had he done to upset her, he wondered.

He couldn't even bear to go and hear her sing. He knew that he was being childish, but it hurt too much. So, he just went to his cabin.

Julie and Isaac were listening to Amy sing.

"She's good. Hey, where's Gopher. He had dinner with Amy tonight." She looked around for Gopher.

"I don't see him."

Gopher had always been happy-go-lucky, but it was just a cover. He was lonely. He thought about all of the old movies that he was so fond of. Nice guys always finish last. That was the truth.

Her first show was over. It had been a huge success. She received lots of compliments, but as she looked out over the crowd, she couldn't see Gopher anywhere. She had been rude to him. It wasn't his fault that she was so messed up.

As she walked back to her cabin, she looked over to where Gopher's cabin was. He had pointed it out to her. On impulse, she went over and knocked.

"Go away." He didn't want to hear words of wisdom from Julie just now.

"Gopher, it's me. Can I come in, please?" It was her! He thought about whether he should let her in or not. Oh, what the heck. He went and opened the door.

"Yes?" He had been crying. She could tell. Boy was she a jerk.

"Can I come in?" She was so beautiful. How could he refuse. He opened the door wider as she stepped inside.

"Gopher, I want to apologize. I wasn't very nice to you out on deck." Again, he couldn't keep his eyes off of her.

"I just got scared. That's all. I haven't had much luck with guys. I just thought that I would ruin everything." He moved closer to her.

"I don't think that you could mess up things any worse than I mess up things." She looked at him and her lip was trembling. He couldn't stand it any longer. He took her into his arms. He softly held her face in his hands and felt his heart leap. He kissed her gently. Putting her arms around him, she deepened the kiss.

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"Hey Gopher, you missed a great show last night. Amy is terrific." Gopher had a twinkle in his eyes.

"I know she's terrific." He smiled and strolled away.

"I didn't think that he was there last night, Isaac." Julie was confused.

"I think that Gopher had a private show." They both smiled.

Gopher went to the lounge where Amy was rehearsing.

Without You

I was walking in the shadows to

Avoid your light

Stumbling footsteps along the way

Knowing that I need to turn back so I

Closed my eyes

Scared that a tear would appear and

You'd see I'm afraid.

Over and over and over again

I pushed away, you reached out

To touch my soul

I tell you over and over and over again

I made mistakes, but you never let me go

So it's time to let you know

Without you, I can't dream

Without you, I can't see

Don't wanna live my life without you

Here with me

Without you, I'm not me

Without you, I won't be

Don't wanna live my life without you

Here with me

Julie was right. She was good and it seemed as if she were singing right to him.

"Mr. Smith, don't you have work to do?" Gopher didn't even hear Captain Steubing.

"Gopher!"

"Yes, sir! I was just watching Amy." Captain Steubing looked at his new entertainer. She was good and he suspected that his Assistant Purser was sweet on her.

Amy smiled when she saw the exchange between Gopher and Captain Steubing. She could tell that Captain Steubing's bark was worse than his bite.

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Gopher had made himself busy the rest of the morning, but his mind didn't stray far from Amy. He didn't want to say that he was in love with her, but he couldn't remember feeling this way in a long time.

"Hey you." Gopher whipped around and there she was.

"Wanna take me to lunch?" Gopher smiled.

"Sure."

Lunch was being served buffet style on the Lido Deck. Gopher and Amy grabbed plates and went through the line. Gopher watched her graceful movements. He looked at the curve of her neck. She was beautiful.

As they ate, they engaged in small talk. They talked about many things from childhood to goals. Gopher was absolutely fascinated with her. They had connected.

Isaac, Julie and Doc were watching from the bar.

"Have you ever seen Gopher like that? I mean, look at him. He looks like she's his best friend - like they've known each other for years." They all agreed.

I just hope that she doesn't hurt Gopher. Does anybody know anything about her?" They all shook her heads. They were happy for their friend , but at the same time they were concerned about him. Gopher was the type to wear his heart on his sleeve.

"So, are you coming to my show tonight?" Actually Gopher couldn't wait to see her.

I wouldn't miss it for the world.

Gopher was sitting right up front for her show. He couldn't take his eyes off of her. He realized that he was getting in deeper and he knew that he would have to say something soon. There was one more night on this cruise and tomorrow they were docking at Cabo San Lucas. Amy had already said that she wanted to go into town. Luckily, he didn't have to stay on the ship, so he would be able to go with her. She was very excited. He remembered his first trip to Cabo San Lucas. He was excited too.

They walked among the market place and Amy's smile was radiant as she viewed the objects for sale. She didn't purchase anything, but Gopher watched carefully as she eyed a tiny carved statue. When Amy moved on to another stand, Gopher hurried back to buy the tiny statue.

They had dinner at a tiny romantic restaurant before heading back to the ship. Amy was beautiful in the moonlight and the candlelight. Gopher believe his luck for having found someone as special as Amy. But, as much as Gopher was happy, he felt as if Amy were holding something back.

"Amy, tell me more about your life. Like, your life before you came to the ship." Amy was afraid that he would ask this question. She had thought about what she would say if he did ask that question.

"Well, I worked as a music teacher, believe it or not, at a school in a small town. I really liked the job. . ." She lowered her head and gopher noticed that a conversation that had started very light-hearted and happy, had now turned dark.

"What happened?" Gopher wanted to know. Something from her past was causing her pain. He didn't want to see her in pain.

"Let's just say that I had a less than wonderful relationship." She toyed with her drink. Gopher was afraid that it was something like this. He had dated lots of women who came with their own set of baggage, no pun intended. It seems that this woman was no exception.

Suddenly Amy looked at her watch.

"Hey Gopher, we have to get back to the ship." He could tell that she was changing the subject. That was okay. He would just have to wait.

The next day marked the end of Amy's first cruise. Not only was it her first cruise, but she had also met a wonderful guy. Everything was going great, but this was how it always happened. Things would be going along wonderfully and then something would happen to mess it all up. She had to prevent that. Gopher was such a wonderful guy. She didn't want anything to happen to hurt him.

She had come out to see the passengers disembark. Some of them recognized her and thanked her for her performances. She was grateful. She didn't realize it, but Gopher was watching her from across the room. She is beautiful, he thought. I can't lose her. As if he had read Gopher's mind, Doc said, "She's a pretty special girl. You'd better hold on to her." Of course Doc was just kidding and there was no way that he knew what Gopher was thinking, but it fit.

They had three days off before the next cruise. Gopher hadn't asked Amy what she planned on doing for those three days, but he intended to change that very soon. On his way back to his cabin, Gopher stopped by to see Amy.

"Hi, I was just wondering what you planned on doing on our break." Actually, Amy hadn't thought about it. She didn't even have an apartment yet. She had arrived from Colorado just in time to board the Pacific Princess. She knew that she would have to find an apartment when she returned. She explained all of this to Gopher.

"Well, I have sort of an idea." He stammered. Amy listened.

"Well, you could come and stay with me and we can look for your apartment." Amy thought about it. The thought of spending more time alone with Gopher was very appealing.

"Alright. If you think that you can put up with me." She smiled devilishly.

Gopher took her into his arms and kissed her.

"Who knows, we might not get to looking for the apartment."

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The three day vacation had been wonderful. They had spent all three days in bed. Gopher was so happy. He had been right, they didn't get a chance to look for her apartment.

Everything was too perfect. Gopher was great. She smiled every time she thought about him. Now they were all waiting for the passengers for the next cruise. Doc and Julie were eyeing Gopher suspiciously. They had a good idea what Gopher had been doing during the vacation.

"So, Gopher, what did you and Amy do over the vacation?"

"We went apartment hunting." He smiled.

Gopher turned around to see who she had been looking at, but couldn't see anyone that she might have been looking at.

Gopher stood outside of Amy's door and knocked.

"Honey, what's wrong. Will you talk to me?" He heard a few muffled sobs and then he tried the door. It was open. He came inside.

"Amy please, will you talk to me?" He had come over and placed his hand on her shoulder.

"He's here." These words seemed to freeze in midair. Gopher was confused.

"Who's here?" She looked at him as if trying to decide whether to tell him or not. She placed her hand on the side of his face and was looking into his eyes.

"I can trust you, can't I?" Gopher was looking into her eyes. They were filled with tears. His eyes filled with tears.

"You can trust me." He ran his fingers through her hair.

"He's after me. I know it." Gopher was still confused.

"Who is he, honey?" He continued stroking her hair. It was comforting.

"My ex-boyfriend. I saw him. He's on this cruise." Gopher felt as if he were getting somewhere now. He had to keep her talking.

"He used to beat me. He was insanely jealous. I had a friend, just a friend mind you, his name was Chuck. We had been friends before I me Ken. Chuck was married and played in my band. He was the fatherly type. There was nothing going on between the two of us, but Ken thought that there was. Chuck had an accident in his car and was nearly killed. The police couldn't prove that it was Ken that caused it. I left him soon after that. He followed me here." Gopher took her into his arms and held her.

Gopher decided that he would go to the Captain and tell him what Amy had told him.

"So, Mr. Smith, you feel that this man is a danger to Ms. Lawson?" Gopher nodded.

"There's not really much that we can do except keep him under surveillance." Gopher understood. He would do what he could to keep Amy safe. He took her to her rehearsal that afternoon and waited for her to finish.

As Amy was rehearsing, Gopher noticed a man sitting in the back of the hall. Amy didn't see him because of the lighting.

"Excuse me sir, but this rehearsal is closed." There was a hard edge to Gopher's voice. The man pretended not to notice.

"I am a friend of Ms. Lawson's." The man sized up the man in front of him. He must be Amy's new man, he thought.

"She and I were real good friends." He emphasized the word real.

"I don't care who the hell you are. This is a closed rehearsal, now beat it." Gopher would not back down. The man seemed to be amused by this.

"Tell Amy that I'll see her around the ship."

Amy was right. There was something about that guy that was creepy. He'd have to tell Isaac, Doc and Julie to keep an eye on the guy as well.

When Amy was finished rehearsing, Gopher took her up for some lunch. It was there that he saw Isaac, Doc and Julie and was about to tell them about Ken. Amy was still afraid; he could tell. He reached over and gave her hand a squeeze. Amy smiled. Julie noticed the look of love that was exchanged between the two of them. Julie smiled.

Ken was watching them from the shadows. Even though he had come on the cruise with a girl, he wanted Amy back. It wasn't that he wanted her because he loved her. He just wanted her because she no longer wanted him.

"Come on doll, let's go and get some lunch." He dragged his new girlfriend with him as he headed for the buffet tables. Just ahead of him was Amy and Gopher.

"Ah Amy, there you are. I want you to meet Marsha. She's my new girlfriend. So you see, I'm not here for you. I have my own girlfriend and she's much better than you ever were." Before he realized what he was doing, Gopher had punched Ken in the face.

"You've done it now, you jerk. I'll get you fired for this." There was a big commotion as Ken headed for Captain Steubing's office dragging Marsha behind him. Isaac, Doc and Julie headed over to Gopher.

"What did you do that for, Gopher?" They were all amazed. They had never seen Gopher hit anyone before. Doc checked his hand to make sure that it wasn't broken.

"You realize that he could have you fired." Gopher knew and he regretted doing what he did, but he couldn't stand there and let Ken talk about Amy that way.

"Mr. Smith, a word with you please." It was Captain Steubing and he didn't look happy. Gopher started to protest because he didn't want to leave Amy.

"Now, Mr. Smith." Gopher kissed her on the cheek before he left.

Amy was worried about Gopher, but she was even more horrified when Ken made his way over to her.

"I would like to speak to you Amy. Come with me, please." Amy looked around. Isaac, Julie and Doc had gone back to their work. Gopher didn't get a chance to tell them just how dangerous Ken was. She helplessly went with him.

"So, who is the little Popeye guy?" Amy was reluctant to tell him. He noticed her hesitation and squeezed her arm tightly to encourage her.

"You're hurting me." She screamed. He slapped her hard when she screamed.

"Shut up, bitch!" He was shaking her now. Her lip was bleeding from where he had slapped her.

************************************************************************

"That was a very stupid thing that you did, Mr. Smith. I realize why you did it, but as your superior, I need to take some action." Gopher realized this, but he didn't care.

"Captain, I'm in love with her. He was insulting her. Look, you do what you have to do. I need to get back to Amy." Gopher left and went back up on deck.

"Where's Amy?" Gopher asked Isaac when he returned on deck.

"The last we saw of her, she was talking to that Ken guy." Gopher panicked.

"Where did they go?" Isaac didn't know.

"Oh my God!" To Isaac's surprise, Gopher ran out quickly.

Gopher went to see what room Ken was in and ran up there. He knocked on the door. Marsha answered the door.

"What do you want?" She was still angry about Gopher hitting Ken.

"I thought that Amy was here with Ken." Ken came to the door at that moment.

"Why would I want her. I've got Marsha.

Gopher then went to Amy cabin. He heard her crying as soon as he got to the door. He knocked softly.

"Amy, can I come in?" She didn't answer, but continued to sob softly. the door was unlocked, so he entered.

"Oh my God." She was a mess. She had a black eye and horrible bruises on her arms and neck where it looked as if he had choked her.

"We need to get you to Doc." He went to take her arm, but she flinched and pulled away. He had expected that. They went to see Doc.

Doc was very careful not to spook her. He was very gentle. Amy seemed to be in shock and simply let Doc do whatever he wanted. As Gopher watched, he was almost in tears.

"Why don't you let her rest here tonight, Gopher." Gopher just nodded. She looked to be sleeping now and let Gopher hold her hand.

Doc went to see the Captain.

"Amy was attacked a few minute ago." The Captain was shocked. Nothing like this had ever happened on his ship before.

"How is she?" The Captain was truly sorry for what had happened.

"She's resting in the infirmary. She was physically abused. She wasn't sexually abused, thank God." As Doc thought about it, he shuddered.

"We need to pay this Ken person a visit." Doc nodded.

************************************************************************

"Look, I don't know what you're talking about. That girl is sick. I was here with Marsha." They looked at Marsha. She confirmed what Ken had said. There was nothing they could do but leave.

The next day, Gopher took Amy back to her cabin and promised to stay with her because she was frightened.

"Gopher, aren't they going to do anything about Ken?" Sadly, Gopher lowered his head.

"Captain Stuebing and Doc went to Ken's cabin, but Marsha said that Ken was there with her and didn't attack you." Gopher could see that this information really upset her.

"Isn't there anything that they can do? He's lying. You know he's lying, don't you Gopher?" She searched Gopher's face to see what he was thinking.

"Of course he did it. I believe you." Gopher took her into his arms and held her. He was indeed falling in love with her; he knew that now.

"I love you, Amy." His words were barely above a whisper, but she could hear him and she smiled.

"I love you, too."

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"We can't get him as long as Marsha is his alibi." Doc was saying to Julie, Isaac and Gopher.

"What do you think could make Marsha change her story?" Julie asked enthusiastically.

"Well, if we made her mad at Ken. . ." Gopher started to say, when Doc got a strange look on his face.

"Wait a minute, who do you think Marsha is jealous of?" They all looked at one another and said, "Amy!" at the same time.

Amy saw Marsha in her swimsuit and sitting by the pool. Amy approached her slowly.

"Hello, Marsha." She said with venom.

"What do you want? Ken doesn't want you anymore." Amy was angry, but not because of what Marsha had said. Just the thought that Marsha was defending this guy, made her sick.

"You know that Ken wasn't with you the other day. Did he tell you to lie to everyone? Why would you do that for him?" Marsha began to flinch. Ken had said that someone might come and try to get her to change her story.

"Look, Ken doesn't love you anymore. When are you going to let go?" Amy started getting angrier.

"Does this look like he doesn't want me back?" Amy pulled up her sleeve and showed Marsha the bruises on her arm. Marsha's confidence began to waiver.

"You could have had anyone do that. How do I know that your boyfriend, Weasel didn't do it?" Amy looked directly into her eyes.

"You know that Gopher didn't do it. You know who did do it." The two women squared off at one another. Marsha flinched again.

"I think that I've had enough sun for today." She announced and picked up her wrap and left. Amy could see Ken standing near the door with a smug smile on his face. He knew that he had won this round.

That evening, Amy did her best to cover up the bruise on her face. She was nearly in tears when Gopher found her.

"Hey, you know I'm sure the Captain would understand if you didn't do the show tonight." He held her as she looked into his eyes.

"I can't keep running and hiding from Ken - that's what he wants. But, I'm ugly." Gopher looked at her in the mirror and then back at her eyes.

"You're not ugly. You're the most beautiful woman I've ever seen." He knew that it sounded cheesy, but he meant every word. Amy couldn't help but smile at him.

"There's only one way we're going to catch Ken, you know." Gopher stared at her as he realized what she meant. It scared him.

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Ken was feeling good when he sat around the pool. All of those beautiful women. He stared boldly from behind his sunglasses. He didn't even hear Marsha approach.

"Hey, Babe. Why are you looking at them. You have me." She was a little hesitant.

"You're fat." Ken said without taking his eyes off of the women. Marsha hit him and stalked away.

Ken watched as Amy came out dressed in a bathing suit. he licked his lips as he watched her. She slowly took off her wrap and sat on the edge of the pool. She tried her best to strike a voluptuous pose.

After a few minutes, after she was sure that Ken had seen her, she put her wrap back on and headed back toward her room.

Gopher made sure that he kept an eye on her. He didn't agree with this method to catch Ken, but he wasn't going to let her out of his sight.

Just as predicted, Ken followed her. As she approached the door and opened it, Ken came up behind her and shoved her inside.

Gopher immediately ran up to the door. Captain Steubing came around the corner and stopped him. Remember Gopher, we need evidence. Even though Gopher knew that he was right, he was worried about Amy.

They stood outside the door until the heard Amy screaming. Gopher lost no time breaking down the door. They saw Ken straddled over Amy. He had torn off the top of her swimsuit and was undoing his pants. Gopher lost it. He grabbed Ken and started hitting.

"Gopher!" Captain Steubing held him back.

"See to Amy." In his rush to beat the stew out of Ken, Gopher had forgotten about Amy. he immediately felt guilty. He went to her and covered her quickly and then held her tightly.

"It's alright. I 'm here." She was sobbing now as Gopher gently rocked her. Captain Steubing called for security to come and pick up Ken.

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After Ken was arrested and taken off the ship, Amy began the long road back to healing. She had help with this healing from Gopher. He planned on being there the entire step of the way. In fact, he had other thoughts going through his head.

"What do you think, Isaac? Should I ask her to marry me?" Isaac looked at his best friend and knew that he was in love with this girl.

"Yeah, Gopher, I think she's the one." Gopher smiled like a mischievous schoolboy as he showed the ring he had bought to Isaac.

"Wow! How did you afford such a rock."

"Let's just say that I saved for it."

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Gopher and the gang were all in attendance at Amy's performance. She looked beautiful. Most of the bruises had healed and the rest had been carefully masked by make-up. She looked directly at Gopher as she sang that evening. Gopher felt full of pride as he sat listening to Amy. He reassuringly felt for the ring that he had in his pocket. he planned on giving it to Amy that night.

When her set was done, Gopher whisked her away to the winks and nods of Julie, Isaac, Doc and Captain Steubing. he took her up on deck where they had cordoned off an area. There were candles and soft music playing.

http://digilander.iol.it/rod758/chinaroses.htm

"Amy, I know we haven't know each other very long and I've really enjoyed every moment that we've spent together." Gopher took her hand in his hands. He was nervous, but he forged ahead. He didn't even know if she would say 'yes'.

"I want to share my life with you." Amy still didn't get what Gopher was saying, so he pulled the ring from his pocket and gave it to Amy.

"I want you to marry me." Gopher opened the box and showed the ring to Amy. She immediately put her hands up to her face. the tears began to fall.

"Oh yes, yes, I'll marry you." She jumped into her arms and they were both crying. Their friends jumped out of the shadows and went to congratulate them. Gopher held her and thought about how blessed he was to have found an angel.