The medikit sent instant relief through Eleanor's system, dulling the pain. Silence descended around her, with only the faint yells as Marie and Jack no doubt engaged in their own battle. She quickly shoved that thought out of her mind- she had to focus on her own problems. It was complete darkness around her- the nearest light source were the flames ignited by the exploding barrel in the middle of the room.

As Eleanor stood there in the darkness, Delta whispered into her mind. Stay calm and clear your mind Eleanor. Your attacker must have some kind of gene tonic to quiet his footsteps as well as the ability to pierce this nightly veil. But while his steps may be silent the rest of his body is not. Concentrate and listen!

So Eleanor closed her eyes. She had no need for her sight...only her ears. She took a deep breath as she began to block out all the sounds. The crackling of fire, the sounds of Marie and Jack's battle, the rush of wind as someone swung their fist down-

Eleanor leapt to her side as a massive fist slammed where she was standing, the huge blow glancing against her armor with a loud bang! Her suit shook violently from the blow, but Eleanor ignored it as she launched a kick out at her unseen assailant followed by a fireball. Her attacker was too fast though, as he dodged both attacks and melted back into the shadows...

Except the burst of flame had revealed her assailants appearance. With her attacker's face in mind Eleanor reached out with her telekinesis and with one sharp jerk of her telekinesis pulled the splicer tumbling towards her.

Straight into her waiting needle-blade.

Shh-ck.

It was another gorilla-like splicer, identical to the one Marie and Jack had fought that was now impaled on Eleanor's needle. To Eleanor's surprise the full length of short blade had sunk straight through the splicer's thin body, and out the other side. There seem to be no muscle mass in the main body, allowing even the dullest of weapons to cut through the skin like butter.

Eleanor's attention was brought to the splicer who gave a rasping gasp. Bringing the splicer closer to her face, Eleanor was surprise to see a gaunt and thin man starting back at her. There was barely any meat on his face- his cheeks were sunken and Eleanor could see his skull beneath the thin and pale skin. The splicer's eyes stared straight into her helmet, wide and in pain.

I see...all attack and no defense, Said Delta. No wonder these splicers need to attack from the dark.

Eleanor said nothing as she simply stared at the splicer's emancipated body. She could clearly see his ribs beneath his thin skin. A wave of pity came over Eleanor: how could this splicer have done this to himself? While his arms rippled with power, the rest of his body suffered from starvation, devoid of any nutrients as his over enlarged fist sapped everything.

Well, what are you waiting for? Kill him. I suggest you light him on fire. Not only will it provide a light source but if there are other splicers watching, it will serve as a warning and possibly discourage them from attacking you.

Eleanor still did nothing. Instead she thought about Jack. What would he do? What was he DOING? No doubt he had fought his own strange splicer. Eleanor knew he would come out victorious...but would he kill the splicer? Or would Jack spare him?

Why would he spare an animal? Asked Delta, having picked up her last thought. Splicers are crazed drug addicts. Even Jack wouldn't spare them.

Eleanor frowned. It almost sounded like Father was bitter...but why?

In any case, Father was right. She was thinking too hard- Jack didn't spare splicers. Killing them was probably a mercy. Still, instead of lighting the splicer on fire, she reached up behind the splicer and snapped the man's frail neck with ease. Jack would have wanted me to do that, Eleanor mused, as she placed the splicer's body gently on the ground. A quick and painless death.

And as Eleanor walked and began looking for Jack, Delta was silent.


After a bit of stumbling about (her suitlight had been damaged by the explosion and a single fireball served as a poor flashlight), Eleanor walked over to Jack and Marie. A flare had been lit, lighting the room area them. Jack cradled an unconscious Marie, her gore and blood soaked face resting on the man's lap. Jack didn't even bother acknowledging Eleanor's presence as he applied multiple healthkits on to Marie's shattered arm. The combined power of Rapture's science slowly began to regenerate the Hispanic girl's arm.

"What happened?" Asked Eleanor, as she took off her Big Sister helmet and shook her sweaty brown hair out of their cramped confines. Sharp blue eyes took in the gore and brain parts that soaked the Hispanic girl's hair, wondering what exactly had transpired.

Jack eyes snapped from his daughter. Eleanor immediately took a step back as Jack glared at the armored Big Sister with pure, rage. Unconsciously, Eleanor bent her legs in preparation to move- Jack looked like he was about to explode. "That's exactly my question!" He hissed in anger. "Why didn't you tell me about that damn thing?"

Eleanor felt fear pile in her stomach and she struggled not to take another step back. Jack could be very frightening when he was angry. "W-What?"

A revolver was instantly in Jack's hand and aimed straight at Eleanor's unprotected face causing the girl to quickly take another step back. Eleanor was pretty sure she could survive a shot to the face (she did it before!) but she wasn't about to tempt faith again. "I said, why the hell didn't you tell me about this splicer type? You were suppose to tell me about all the new splicers that had formed in the last eight years as per our deal!" Jack spat out.

Eleanor held her hands up in an attempt to calm him. "I didn't know!" She protested, her voice trembling. "I've never seen this splicer type either! I didn't betray you, I swear!"

At the sound of her frightened voice, Jack instantly deflated. His hand dropped to the ground as a look of guilt crossed his face. "I...I know you wouldn't betray us Eleanor. I'm sorry...I'm just angry."

He looked down at Marie's slack face with pure sorrow over his face. "I...I shouldn't brought her here to Rapture. She wasn't ready."

At the broken look on Jack's face, Eleanor felt her heart twisted painfully. She didn't want Jack to be sad! It wasn't right. She walked over to Jack and hesitated. She wanted to hug him but she didn't know how Jack would respond. She settled for placing a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"It's not your fault Jack," She whispered. "She wanted to come to Rapture. She knew the danger."

"No she didn't," Jack interrupted. "She didn't know the danger. But that's why I let her come. Because she needed to understand why I bothered training her in the first place. Marie had built her own little world and she needed to get out of it. I thought she was ready...but...but I was-"

"You weren't wrong," Eleanor gave Jack a re-assuring squeeze. "You weren't wrong about me. You're not wrong about Marie. Believe in me Jack...believe in Marie...and believe in yourself."

Inwardly, Eleanor heard Father scoff at the cliche. She ignored him.

Jack smiled- it was one of his honest smiles that sent flutters in Eleanor's heart. "Thanks Eleanor. I needed that."

The moment was interrupted by a flash of movement, that sent Eleanor and Jack on guard. They quickly relaxed as they realized it was the Man that they were suppose to be protecting- the one that had promised to give them access to his personal bathysphere.

"Ahoya!" The Man said, waving his hand cheerily. "Glad to see you guys took care of those Silent Sluggers!"

"Silent Sluggers?" Asked Eleanor.

"Yup, those gorrilla splicers are people who've invested all their ADAM into super strength and stealth tonics. They rely on hit-and-run tactics cause they're absolute paper!"

"Wait a minute. You knew about these kind of splicers?" Jack's anger was back as it found a new outlet. "Why the hell didn't you tell us!"

It was a testament to how scary Jack looked that even the Man, who had no clue to how dangerous Jack was, took a step back. "You didn't ask..." The Man said, his voice guarded.

Jack sighed, taking control of his anger. "Well, if we want to escort you, we need to stay healthy. Let us use some of your health kits that you've got stocked up."

"What! No way! Those are MY medkits-" The Man wiltered at Jack's glare and quickly correctly, "-and what's mine is yours too! I'd be happy to give you some, as a token of my appreciation for your protection."

With those words, the Man pulled out medi-kits and gave them to Jack and Eleanor. Eleanor only had to use one as her wounds were already almost completely healed but Jack and Marie required quite a hefty amount. The Man's eyes bulged out at the quantity they were using but a glare from Jack quickly stiffled any complaint.

Soon, they were all in healthy condition, give or a take a couple of bruises. Marie remained knocked-out but the wonders of Rapture medicine had completely healed her shattered arm.

"We need to get a move on," Jack said, his eyes scanning the area around them. "The faster we get out of her, the better off we are."

"What about Marie?" Asked Eleanor, gesturing to the comatose Hispanic. "She's still out of it."

"I'll carry her," Replied Jack. "You're our heavy hitter. We can't have you slowed down."

"On the contrary," Eleanor disagreed. "I have far more physical strength than you Jack, so I would be slowed far less than you would. I'm also much faster and agile and with my armor I'll be much more effective at protecting Marie. And with my regeneration, I've got nothing to worried about. She'll be safer with me as the shield and you as the gun."

For a moment Jack almost said no. He felt a personal responsibility to protect Marie, due both to his position as father and his guilt at bringing her down into this underwater hell in the first place. And with the animosity that Eleanor and Marie had for each other, Jack wasn't one hundred percent sure Eleanor would be arranging for his daughter to have an "accident"...

Jack quickly squashed that thought. That was his guilt and anger talking. Eleanor's argument was logical and correct- and she had changed greatly since they had first met. Although she and Marie had some bad blood between them, Jack realized this was a positive step forward. With Eleanor offering to carry Marie, it showed that the violet-haired girl was willing to bury the hatchet. With those optimistic thoughts, Jack said, "Very well Eleanor- I'm grateful that you would be willing to do this for Marie."

He paused then added, "Be careful though. You shouldn't rely so much on your regeneration. Don't forget we've taken some ADAM out of you already. We have no idea how that will affect you and I don't want to see you get hurt."

Eleanor nearly swooned like a little girl as her heart fluttered in happiness: Jack was worried that she would get hurt! He cared about her! At Jack's words she knew instantly it was worth carrying the useless spawn. As she scooped up the dumb Hispanic girl, carrying her bridal style. She had been tempted to throw her across her shoulder like the sack of potatoes the idiot was, but she didn't want to upset Jack.

"Don't worry about protection," The Man suddenly said. "If we get attacked again, I won't bail on you guys."

Jack looked at him in surprise. "Didn't you say you were a pacifist?"

The Man gave a vicious smile. "Oh, you'll be surprise how many ways there are to keep a splicer down without hurting them...much."

Eleanor and Jack exchanged a glance before continuing their journey. Some things were best left unknown.


(A/N: Thanks to Forgotten Honor, Rickmer, The Ravaja of Dejeneration, L.D, LolliDictator, Insurgo, and rockobrocko for your reviews! I really appreciate your input!)

Edited Dec 31. 2010 for minor errors.