A/N: Hello there! First, thanks for reading, and before I finished BioShock: Infinite and witnessed its astounding ending, I was hoping this would be a Booker/Elizabeth romance piece because I was sure they would be a pair by the end of the game. I was also certain they had feelings for each other. Then we learned Elizabeth was Booker's daughter. That kinda changed everything. That and the fact she kind of ceased to exist in the game's end. Anyway, this is set right after the post credits scene and around the same time the game takes place. Enjoy, and please R&R!
The last thing Booker remembered was the water. The water closing in around his mouth and nose, filling his lungs and mouth with its cold embrace. He also remembered seeing the multiple imitations and forms of Elizabeth, or Anna, or whoever she was. They were all forms from the different dimensions and universes that Booker inhabited and affected. In the center was the Elizabeth he knew. Beautiful. Strong. Determined. And the one who drowned him in order to break the circle and chain of events that would doom him to repeat his own destruction across multiple universes. As the world went dark, she smiled at him. And Booker knew everything was going to be okay.
He woke up after God knows how long. It seemed he had been napping at his desk in his tiny, low rent office and apartment. He checked the date. October 3rd, 1893. The same day he gave away his own daughter Anna in a selfish act of self preservation. He frowned. He was expecting a knock at the door to come, the Luteces or Comstock or whoever waiting to take her away to be poked and prodded for their own gain. He was determined not to let that happen. He had stopped Comstock from creating his damn city and brining all the pain and misery to everyone who inhabited it. Booker also hoped that he had stopped himself from giving away Anna. His journey through Columbia, through the very fabric of time and space, with Elizabeth taking his hand, told him a lot of things. He had survived. He was determined to wipe away his sins and make sure Anna would be his and he could raise Anna as her true father.
But Booker knew that the Luteces were coming to take her away. Things would be different this time. Booker opened a cabinet and groped around for his Mauser C96 pistol. One way or another, he was going to stop them. First, he would ask them politely. Next, he would order them to leave, and then, he would shoot them if they protested.
He sat there for ten minutes, gun leveled at the door as he waited for them to open the door.
But they never came.
A cry from the other room broke his concentration. He ignored it at first, thinking it was just a product of this whole multiverse business. It became louder and more pronounced. Booker thought for a second. Could it be her? Was it her? Did he not fail in his task and was she here with him?
Anna?
Are you really there? Booker thought. He dropped his gun and got up, stretching his aching joints as he made for the bedroom door. "Anna?" he said. "Anna?"
He opened the door. There was a crib. With uncertainty, he walked over to it. He looked into it and he saw her.
Anna. She was there.
Booker smiled. He hadn't failed. It was all going to be better.
Nineteen years later. July 6th, 1912.
Bring us the girl and wipe away the debt. That was the deal. The details elude me now, but the details wouldn't change a goddamn thing.
"Daddy!" a voice from the other room interrupted him. Booker looked up from the paper he was hunched over at the breakfast table and looked up. Twenty one year old Anna Elizabeth DeWitt strode in from her bedroom, putting her shoulder length black hair into a braid. Booker smiled. "Good morning, sweetheart."
She walked over and kissed him on the cheek. "Mornin,' daddy." she said.
How she had grown.
She looked exactly like she did when Booker rescued the Elizabeth version of her from Columbia in that other place, that other universe or world. Beautiful, of course, and remarkably intelligent. She sounded the same, acted the same, all those things. He had given her the middle name "Elizabeth" in memory of this and how she helped Booker redeem himself and set things right.
She poured herself some cereal and orange juice from their icebox. "Work today is going to be a killer. Mr. Leeds has some important meeting today and I'm going to have to handle all his paperwork." Anna was referring to her job as a secretary at the Macy's store in Herald Square. It paid well and was a good supplement to Booker's work as a private investigator. Most days it was tedious work for him. He spent most of his days chasing cheating spouses or spying on corrupt bosses. Some days he thought Anna had more fun at work than he did. And he had bought this new, larger apartment that doubled as his office with hopes of expanding his business as a private investigator. He had paid off his debt long ago, striking it extremely lucky with a horse race, the same kind of races that destroyed him in the past and in that other world.
At night he sometimes had dreams where he would find himself remembering Columbia, which would of course be impossible considering in this new reality he created, there was no Columbia. He dreamt of riding the skylines, dropping down on foes, bashing them down with his Skyhook. All he remembered was that he loved it, the excitement of it all.
Anna tossed him a newspaper. "Here. Looks like the same headlines from yesterday." And indeed they were. Rattling off the same news about how Europe was about ignite into war- a world war, some warned it might be, very soon. One more misstep and the world may indeed find itself at war.
"Daddy, I'm going to wash up and get dressed for work now, okay?"
Booker nodded, not even looking up from his paper. "Got it, honey." he said, taking a bit out of an apple. She disappeared into her room. Not too long after, Booker heard a knock at the door. He grumbled, wondering who would dare disturb him from this delicious apple. He got up and opened the door.
And there was no one there. Damn kids. He thought as he closed it. But it turned out there were people at the door, except they hadn't bothered to ask to be let it. Booker turned around and there before him stood Rosalind and Robert Lutece. "Hello, Booker. Fancy seeing you up this early." Rosalind said.
Booker jumped back when he saw them. He was about to push past them, grab his C96 in the office, and order them to leave before they attempted their quantum leap or whatever to screw up everything again. Then again, they weren't even moving.
"Oh, Booker." Robert said. "You don't seem very pleased to see us." Rosalind said. "Does he Robert?"
"Hm. Indeed not." Robert said. Both of them kept neutral expressions on their faces. "What the hell are you two doing here?" Booker said, both in anger and disbelief.
"Oh, we just stopped to say 'hello.' See how dear old Elizabeth or Anna or whatever you're calling her is doing." Robert said. "Is that a crime?" Rosalind inquired.
"Get out of my house..." Booker snarled. The pair looked at each other and back to him. "My, my. He is quite..." Robert started.
"Unreasonable." Rosalind finished. Booker thought that it was so odd how they could finish each other's sentences so easily. "Why, Mr. DeWitt? What have we done to you?" Booker was seriously considering punching them both in the face. "Well, besides convincing me to give up my own daughter and send me up to a city where I was thrown into the depths of time and space? Nothing at all."
"But you have your Anna back, Mr. DeWitt. What's the problem?" Robert asked. "I think he's just a little angry, no, Rosa?" She nodded. "Indeed, Robert. Well how is she, Mr. DeWitt? I'm sure she's still exceptionally beautiful and intelligent. And her finger is intact, true?"
"And she can't tear open time and space anymore, right?" Robert added. Booker nodded, still angry. "Right, right. Now would you two just get out already?" he asked. "Besides, I thought you two were dead anyways."
"He's an observant one, Rosa." Robert said. "Indeed." she said. "And no, we aren't quite dead. I thought Elizabeth explained this already."
"We exist across all universes and variables. Though we are dead in one, we are alive in a trillion more. Quite interesting really. You should try it out, Mr. DeWitt." Robert said. Booker paced around. "So, if I got my gun and shot you both in the face, it wouldn't really matter?" he asked.
Rosalind rubbed her chin in thought. "Well, besides sting a bit..."
"... and ruin that perfectly good wall behind us..." Robert added
"No, it wouldn't matter." Rosalind concluded. They nodded in unison.
"I believe Anna works at Macy's, true? That is such a nice store. Let's go there after this, Robert."
"Yes, she does." Booker said. "Are we done with twenty questions? Can you go now?" they looked at each other again. "Oh, why not. Give the poor fellow a break." Rosalind said. "Besides, I think Anna might be coming out of the bath soon. It would be very hard for her father to explain why he is talking to a wall..."
"Oh, she's bathing now?" Robert said. "Why didn't you tell me that, Mr. DeWitt? I would've quite liked to have seen that."
"Robert!"
"Sorry, Rosa. Sorry, Mr. DeWitt. Well, we should be off." Robert said.
"Give your regards to Anna for us." Rosa said. Booker eyed them suspiciously. "Yeah..."
"Good day now." they both said. Booker blinked and they were gone. "Bastards." Booker said. Anna came out of her room at that moment, adjusting her white and blue dress. "Almost ready to go, daddy. Why are you standing over there? And were you talking?"
"Oh, it was... The mailman." Booker lied. She nodded. "Oh. No mail, I presume?" Booker nodded. "Yeah. No mail."
Anna put a chocker necklace around herself. It was light blue with a pendant that contained the image of a bird, which reminded Booker again of Columbia. "Oh yes, what were you writing earlier? You know, at breakfast?"
"Oh, that?" Booker said. "I'm starting that novel I told you I was going to write." Anna smiled. "Really? That's great, daddy! What is it about?"
He grinned. "It's set in 1912. A private detective is hired by a strange couple to go to a lost city in the clouds and find a girl with mysterious powers. Sounds real silly, I know."
Anna smiled. "Huh. Never knew you were the author type, daddy. And 'private investigator?' Really? Was this some idea you were daydreaming about?" she said with a chuckle. "Well. Maybe it was." Booker said with a shrug.
Anna checked the clock. "I still got ten minutes. You got anything planned today, daddy?"
Booker shook his head. "Nothing new."
"Can I ask you something?" Anna asked
"Sure."
"Why is my middle name 'Elizabeth'?"
Booker was dreading the day she asked this. He had to make something up. "She was... Someone I knew. Someone from a while ago."
Anna nodded. "Was she a... lover? Friend?"
"Friend." Booker said. "What happened to her?" Booker furrowed his brow and looked down. "I don't know. And maybe I will never find out. She was lot like you. Beautiful, smart, resourceful, strong willed. All those things."
Anna looked down too. "Daddy... You know I'm not all those things."
He took her chin in his hands and lifted it up to face him. He looked into her clear blue eyes and at her pale, flawless complexion. "Yes you are, Anna. You should never think that. You're my daughter. And I love you and I always will. It's getting late. You should start heading to work." Booker finished. Anna smiled. "Thank you, daddy." She kissed him on the cheek. "I'll see you later!"
Booker kissed her on the forehead. "Goodbye, Anna."
She stopped before she left. "What did you say the name of your book was going to be?"
"I'm calling it 'Infinite'." Booker said. "Why?" Anna asked. He grinned. "You'll see when it's done."
"All right then. Bye daddy. I love you!" Anna said as she went out the door.
Booker smiled. "I love you too."