(A/N: Thanks to Big Sister K, shinigamichild, blue rumbler, Shadow700, Sj, crazymike 98 and bbdokomunikaman0123456789 for you reviews. You guys motivate me to write!

So, shortish chapter this time around. I cut it short since it was starting to drag a bit, but luckily that means I'll be able to post a longer chapter faster! :D

Another thing: I've been getting a couple of reviews about Eleanor's regeneration ability- how she seems like a unrealistic super soldier. I appreciate you guys telling me your concerns so I've decided to go ahead and address what my thoughts are about the fight.

The truth of the matter is that Eleanor comes off as a super soldier because I view her as a super soldier. As many of you probably know, the Summon Eleanor Plasmid in Bioshock 2 is ridiculously powerful. Once you get it, as long as you have eve, you really don't even need to fight. Half of the time you'll enter a room and everyone is already dead! With that in mind, I see it as "canon" that Eleanor pretty much everything.

So that's why when I wrote my fight scene, I strove to make Eleanor seem as ridiculously overpowered as possible. Since Eleanor is the main character of this story, many people seem to think she is the hero. While that may be true, I would like to remind people that the protagonist is not always the true man of the show- as great classics like Fitzergald's "The Great Gatsby" shows us.

Having said that, a cookie to whoever can figure who's the "star" of that fight scene. In the mean time, on with the chapter!)

Agent Burningham grimaced as he stared down at the burnt corpse. The body had only a few scraps of burnt clothing to cover the black, cracked skin. A patch of dirty blonde hair was all that was left on top of a mostly bald head- the scars made it obvious that the rest had been burnt off. A coronner was performing a quick diagnosis to verify who the man was but Burningham knew who it was. The heat and flame may have burnt and warped the man's face to the point of indistinguishably, but Burningham could recognize one of his subordinates no matter what the circumstance.

"Yup, that's Agent Sullivan Roddenberry," said the coroner, confirming Burningham's suspicions. He continued speaking as he put each of what remained of Robert's personal effects inside large, clear plastic bags. "We'll have to take him down to the lab and perform a full autopsy to be one hundred percent sure though. Preliminary analysis is that he was burnt to death."

"Thank you," responded Buringham. "You may go."

As the forensic specialist left, Sapper spoke. His voice no longer held that excited optimistic tone that most youth had. Instead, his tone was morose and his face slighty green as he said, "Shit man. How could of this happened to Sullivan? He was such a great guy, man. He was just doing his job..."

Burningham frowned, his expression crossed. What the hell was the academy teaching these days? One little burnt corpse and all professionalism went out the window. Honestly, cursing at the job? Kids these days...Oh how Burningham wished for the good old days when people actually knew the meaning of respect.

Burningham put those thoughts away- he had a job to do and he couldn't have his subordinates distracted. "Agent Sapper," Burnignham said firmly, pulling the young man's attention away from the crispy sack of meat that was once a man. "Do you have the reports from the lab yet?"

Burningham was terrible with kids (or at least that's what he viewed these green fools as), but his words seemed to have done the trick. Sapper's expression quickly became focused as his training came in. "Yes sir, I do sir," He said hurridly as he pulled out the reports. "Early analysis confirms that its the same situation as the last time. Witnesses in the town nearby reported a huge plume of flame rising over the treetops, around the field where codename O'Brien lives. Evidence points that the ground was once again burnt by a huge heat wave, vaporizing everything in the path including Agent Roddenbery."

"Another freak heat wave, hmm? Any news on our mysteriously abandoned teenage girl?"

"Nothing new sir. All we have is Agent Roddenberry's last report- that a girl matching those descriptions was on her way to O'Brien's house. We don't have anything more than that."

It was a shame Roddenberry died, mused Burningham. He could have potentially cleared all confusion with whatever he saw. Of course, that would be too easy wouldn't it? "Is that all?"

"There's more sir. One witness, an old man who lives about half a mile away from O'Brien's home reported hearing gunfire and explosives. He claims there were submachine guns, shotguns, revolvers and..." Agent Sapper paused, as if unsure he was reading correctly. "And, I quote, 'some kind of explosive propellent device.'"

Agent Burningham raised an eyebrow. "That's quite a specific description."

"The old man claims he's a veteran of two world wars and a firearms expert. Mind you, sir, he is quite a bit into his years..."

"Just because you're old doesn't mean you're deaf," Scoded Burningham. Once again he cursed the youth of this day and age. He himself had been part of a world war and at his age, he could be considered 'quite a bit into his years' as well. "From his descriptions it sounds like we had our own little war back here. All that firepower would have left something behind."

"That's the problem sir," Said Sapper. "The freak heat destroyed everything. Casings, bulletholes, guns- anything that forensics could have used to verify if there was a gun fight. Even the stone walls that used to be out in this field...the heat vaporized the bonding material and since most of the stone was old and decaying, the drastic temperature shifts shattered all the walls, leaving us with a bunch of rubble and no evidence."

"What about O'Brien's home?"

"Pretty much untouched, though the ground in front of the home was pretty much wrecked from whatever happened here."

Burningham sighed. "And I guess since you haven't mention O'Brien himself, you don't have him in custody?"

Sapper nodded sheepishly. "Neither he or his daughter Marie were at home when we arrived and none of the witnesses reported seeing them. We're pretty sure they're still alive since we haven't found any corpses. Since one of their registered cars is missing and their rooms look like they're missing a good amount of clothes, its possible they may be on vaction or enaging in a similar activity. None of the townspeople could confirm that, but then again, O'Brien doesn't seem to socialize much. By all acounts, O'Brien and his family were no were near this location last night..."

"But...?" Buringham prompted.

A fire seemed to have lit in Sapper's eye and his voice had that excited youth to it again. "Shortly after the flame was witnessed, all power went out in the town. It took about an hour before it was restored. Our analysist were able to determine that it was power overload of the city grid. But get this- I did a little digging and backtracking and I found that the power overload occurred because there was a massive jump in electrical consumption in one single, specific location..."

Seeing that Sapper was waiting for him to finish the sentence, Burningham let out a weary sigh. "At O'Brien's home?"

"Yes sir!" Said Sapper with a wide smile. Burningham mentally rolled his eyes at his juvenile excitement. "Someone had to be in the O'Brien home that night- O'Brien has to know something! The huge amount of electricty could be powering whatever is causing these freak waves. O'Brien could be involved in this- heck, he could be the one who started this whole thing!"

"Get a hold of yourself son!" Burningham's commanded sharply. "First, the electricity and the heat are not necessarily connected- the last freak heat wave had no odd electrical activity. Second, just because something happened in a man's home doesn't mean that man knows anything about what happened. O'Brien could have just been in the wrong place at the wrong time."

Sapper blushed and scratched his spiked hair embarrassed. "Sorry sir. I just thought he might be a lead."

"That he is, Sapper." Burningham turned and began walking to his car. "Come. Perhaps our old friend O'Brien has some answers. If I know him, he won't be far from here."

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