Note: Again, I do not own Bioshock, Rapture, or any of the characters from the game. Another quick reminder is that my Rapture is indeed different from the game in spots, like I've decided that Cohen hasn't reached the brink of insanity, although he is definitely bipolar. Also, I realize that the games referenced him to be gay, but I figure he's more fun to through around as a bisexual male.. Also, obviously Bathysphere travel is not limited to just the kin of Ryan, but they do get to ride for free. For those of you that have read so far, I'm going on vacation at the end of this week, so I'm going to try and have chapter 3 up before I go.

Enjoy.

Two: Fort Frolic

The bathysphere lulled to a stop and Aimee stood, waiting for the door to open. As it hissed aside, she bounded up the steps, and around Cohen's traps. The doors were closed, and she gritted her teeth, banging her wrench on the door.

"Cohen, please! It's Aimee, and I'm sorry it's so unannounced, but-"

The doors opened, and she nearly plowed through them. Cohen was waiting for her at the stairs. His face was full of concern, and he held open arms out to her. Aimee ran straight into them, and they embraced tightly. She pulled away just a bit, to look him straight in the face. He brushed the hair away from her eyes gently as he spoke to her.

"While you know you're always welcome, this certainly is not like you to call first. Please, my dear, come with me. Tell me what troubles you." One arm tightly around her shoulder, he led her up the stairs. He tried to soothe her, but he could tell she was shaken to her core. What could have created such a response in hardened Aimee?

Up the stairs to Fleet Hall, Cohen tried to figure what was eating at her so much. He raised one hand to pet her hair, reassuring her that it was all okay. Fitzpatrick, his current apprentice, was at the piano on the stage, playing a rather melancholy tune. Cohen looked up at him, and began to wave dismissal until Aimee put her hand on his arm. He nodded, and took a seat next to her, waiting for her to speak.

"Sander," she started, and he knew it was serious. She never used his first name. She continued, stuttering. "Sander, I've…I've seen the parasite. The one on the posters, and I walked and talked with him. We shared a bathysphere, Sander. And…Steinman is in hiding. The parasite is after him, and I'll bet he's coming for you, too, and, and…Sander. I can't lose you. I love you; you are my best friend, my ally. The only person in Rapture I trust. What do we do?" She was in tears by the end, and Cohen was shocked. Steinman in hiding, the parasite after him?

As soon as she threw out the "L" word, he knew. He drew her into a tight embrace. "There, there, my little butterfly. Let him come. We'll take him to Ryan ourselves. There's no possible way he can outwit me." Her sobs began to quiet as he spoke, and he could feel her cling to him. While he knew that Aimee could never love him in the way he had grown to love her, he would do whatever it took to protect her.

Finally, Aimee looked up at him, her eyes still watery, face stained with running make-up. "Are you positive? I couldn't survive down here without you, Sander." When he nodded, she kissed his cheek. "Good, because Rapture is nothing your light."

The two sat in silence for a bit, listening to Fitzpatrick play. Cohen sighed, "You know we have to kill him, right?"

Aimee shrugged. "I never liked him anyway." A chuckle escaped them both, and Cohen listed her chin towards him.

"We will be the most powerful in Rapture. Do you think he's worth more dead or alive?"

"Alive. And I can lure him if need be. He knows me face, and he's got a knee-jerk reaction to protect me. Should be a cake walk." She smiled at the approval she saw in his face.

After a moment of hesitation, Cohen decided to take the risk, and pressed his lips against Aimee's. Surprised, he met no resistance from her, and pulled her into a tighter embrace. Mind racing, Cohen closed his eyes. What if Aimee was just using him to get back to Ryan? While the scenario was unlikely, he still feared it. This little game with Atlas's parasite would either win her or make her run. He had to play his card right-he needed Aimee. The woman had become his muse-his everything. If only she understood that.

The embrace lasted a moment longer, and Cohen pulled back, breathless. He had no idea Aimee was filled with such passion. Cohen intended to have it all. She said nothing, but looked away sheepishly. He noticed that Fitzpatrick has stopped playing, and dismissed him. If he played this right…Fitzpatrick wouldn't have to return and play for the rest of the night.

Cohen watched Fitzpatrick depart, and then turned his attention back to Aimee. She was staring at where Fitzpatrick had been sitting. Suddenly, she looked to him. "Sander, I'm going to play." Before he could response, she was up and off towards the stage. When the shock wore off, he followed her. Cohen had no idea that Aimee knew how to play piano, and that she could play so beautifully.

She smiled up at him, and he again nodded approval to her. This woman had so many talents. She had worked with him through the building of Fort Frolic. That's when they had struck up a friendship; her mind had been so similar to his. He admired her from the very beginning. This woman as nothing like the others Ryan kept in his company. She was smart, funny, and willing to do what it took to make it. Cohen would bet that she had more than likely slept with Ryan to keep the job she deserved. She was so pretty, and Ryan loved pretty things.

He must have actually cared for her, though. He was extremely upset when the rumors of their affair started, and he cut off contact with her. To Cohen, this meant he didn't want to tarnish her image, though he was sure that Ryan would have gladly had an affair with the woman. He had never spoken anything but highly of her, and had been torn up about having to essentially fire her. But there was Cohen to pick of the pieces, and hopefully her heart.

Aimee stopped abruptly, jerking Cohen back to the present. He blinked a couple of times, and looked down at her. Her face was stone, and this confused him beyond belief. What was the woman staring at? He attempted to stare in the same direction, but couldn't figure it out. He didn't see what she saw. Frustration building, he put his hand on her shoulder, trying to bring her back to reality. She just kept whispering 'would you kindly' over and over.

"Aimee," he said through clenched teeth, "you're testing my patience...Snap out of it!" It came out more testy than he had intended, but damnit, this woman was really starting to grate his nerves. Her attention span sometimes, he'd swear, was that of a goldfish.

"The secret...is 'would you kindly.' Listen, Sander."

She held up a radio to him, and his anger quickly dissipated into a form of intrigue. He took it from her outstretched hand. There was static, but he could very faintly make out voice. Upon a bit of further tuning, the voices of Atlas and Andrew Ryan came through the speaker. The two were nearly bickering with each other over a...a third party?

"Aimee, what is this? Is this some kind of joke?"

She shook her head, and said, "Just listen, Sander. Listen for him."

Him? She was starting to lose it! Creating imaginary men just to make life interesting. To humor her, though, he listened to Ryan, Atlas, Ryan, all over and over. After a lapse of silence, he heard it.

"Would you kindly take care of that Little Sister? Nasty little things..." No mistaking that for Atlas. But another voice followed, one that left Sander Cohen filled with awe. It was new, but yet the tone was familiar. Oh, if only he could place it.

"I...I don't have to kill her, do I? She's just a child!"

"Look, boy-o, I don't care what you do with it, just take care of it." The radio went dead again, until he heard the voice of Tenenbaum, in response to the action that this man was told he must do.

"There is another way," her thick German accent spouted. "I beg you to please consider it."

The silence that followed was awful, until there was a soft 'thank you,' but it wasn't really discernible which party it was from. Atlas's voice soon broke through.

"You have enough ADAM now, but just barely. Now would you kindly get that Incinerate plasmid and get to Steinman?"

Cohen handed the radio back to Aimee, unable to listen any longer, yet awe-struck. While he didn't really understand exactly what he had just heard, the bit of the outburst Aimee had suddenly made a little more sense.

"Well, that was refreshing. DO you know where Steinman has decided to hole himself up at?" When Aimee shook her head, he nodded. "Most curious. I wonder where he's headed next. Do you think Arcadia? To get to the subway system...Oh, how wonderful! There hasn't been action like this in so long, my butterfly! What are you going to do?"

Aimee was silent for a bit, then she looked up. "Langford wouldn't care about the bounty on his head, so I think I'll meet him in Arcadia. He knows my face, so I think I'll play off as help. Oh, Ryan will be ever so pleased...with us."

The way she choked out the last few words made Cohen nervous. They couldn't afford betrayal right now, but he had an idea. One that might make her decide that he was worth keeping in her life after this fiasco was over.

"Aimee, why don't you bring him here? He can take care of Fitzpatrick for us...and the others." The last three words were said with utter distaste, but he quickly recovered and plastered a smile on. "Then...we just take him straight to Ryan ourselves! What do you think, plausible?"

She nearly jumped off the seat at the piano into his arms, planting a rather large kiss at his lips. The smile on her face was so large, it made his heart soar.

"Yes! That's perfect, Sander! What would I do without you?"

Cohen just smiled, asking himself the same question.

I know she will leave me for Ryan, he thought. What shall I do when you're gone, my dearest butterfly?