For new readers, this story is a continuation of one of my previous stories and is tied into several others. If you're not sure where to start, I'd suggest reading Bioshock Infinite: Unbroken, as well as its prequel Unbroken: Song of Sorrow. Thanks for checking it out.

Foreword: Okay, so this one's shorter than the last but covers an ever shorter timeframe, for the majority of the chapter anyway. I'm also trying to change up my writing style, kick some bad habits on my part, so please bear with me.

Surprise. That's the expression on the leading soldier's face when Elizabeth's revolver thunders in the dark, forgotten theater. The man from Columbia's stopped in his tracks by the large-caliber bullet, the round tearing through the brown material of his trousers and burying itself in his hip.

The injured attacker's leg gives out under him, falling against the seat on the left of aisle and clutching his wound; that affords Elizabeth a look at the three pursuers behind him, two men wearing typical Columbian clothing and the woman in the yellow dress. The look on their faces mirrors the surprise on the first pursuer's face, the rest of them just as startled. But even though Elizabeth hit her mark, it gives her no satisfaction, not one little bit. "Guess they didn't hear that I shot two of their comrades earlier…"

But Elizabeth doesn't have time to brood; the look of surprise on the second fellow's expression vanishes in a heartbeat and turns into of fury, the large, intimidating man skidding to a stop and snapping his repeater up, the weapon aimed squarely at Elizabeth's chest. This time, Elizabeth doesn't hesitate like she did in the alley, dashing for the hardback chairs to her right. The rapid stuttering of the Columbian's repeater fills the dusty, abandoned auditorium just as she's sliding into cover, and a pained shout fills her ears; it takes her a moment to realize it's her own.

The impact of a number of bullets traces a line up her side, Elizabeth nearly knocked over as she makes the line of seats and the rest of the gunmen's fire slamming into the wood paneled wall behind her. Her shield absorbs most of the deadly rounds, but the final one crashes through and digs into the soft tissue on the underside of her arm; a sharp gasp of pain escapes Elizabeth, hitting the ground and cradling the burning line. She'd managed to snap off a f return shot of her own as she fell, but it was desperate and poorly aimed, and she hears no sign of the gunmen being hit.

Picking herself up and kneeling behind the chairs, Elizabeth winces again as a bullet punches through the top of a chair, fragments of wood, fabric and padding raining down on her. And across the aisle from her hides Tobias, the blonde boy crouching behind a chair with his hands over his ears, sobbing his eyes out. "Stay there, Tobias! It'll be-"

"Advance! Don't just stand there, you fool!" The woman's shout is nearly lost in the gunfire, but the repeater falls silent for a moment and allowing Elizabeth to make out what comes next, "That's the Lamb, and don't you forget it! If you harm her, you'll be in for a world of hurt when we get back!"

"What's going on…?" Peering through the gap between mangled seats, Elizabeth finds the brown-haired woman in the yellow dress shouting angrily at the large gunman, though that hasn't stopped their advance one bit; she and the other gunman are pushing the larger man forward, the latter reloading his repeater as he grumbles too quietly to make out. The distinctive 'click' of the repeater's magazine sliding into place comes next. "Oh, damn…"

Elizabeth raises her weapon and aims it through the narrow gap, gritting her teeth as her finger tightens around the trigger; she's never liked shooting anyone, the chances of causing irreversible harm too great in her mind. But she doesn't have a choice, and she pulls the trigger just as the intimidating gunman aims his repeater in her direction. And again, and again.

The first shot connects, the gunman howling in pain and dropping his weapon, the bullet leaving his hand a mangled mess. The next two find his right shoulder and thigh, and a shiver runs up Elizabeth's spine as the pursuer collapses, "At least… at least he's still alive…"

But while Elizabeth's stopped two of her attackers without killing anyone, the remaining soldiers look to have had enough; both the man and woman charge towards Elizabeth's hiding spot, catching the young woman by surprise. Pulling the trigger hastily, Elizabeth's next and last shot flies wide, tearing into the projector screen.

"Ah, hell!" Retreating from the gap, Elizabeth frantically empties her spent revolver, spent shell casings falling to the carpeted floor while she digs through her pocket for her spare bullets. The sound of the soldiers' feet pounding up the aisle and their labored breathing fills her ears, Elizabeth gritting her teeth as her shaking hands fail to slide the first bullet into the waiting chamber. "C'mon, c'mon…"

She only manages to slide one bullet into the chamber before urgency forces her to act; Elizabeth falls back onto the dusty carpet while closing the chamber, bringing up her revolver and tightening her hold on the worn, smooth pistol grip, "Stay back!"

A hand comes down on the weapon as she shouts, wrenching it painfully from Elizabeth's grip before she can bring it to bear and throwing the weapon against the theater's wood paneled wall. Suddenly disarmed, Elizabeth can only look up at the one who'd left her as such; the last of the three men pursuing her, the dark-haired man from Columbia growls something as he reaches down for her, his repeater held loosely in his other hand. The woman in the yellow dress is a couple steps behind him, closing the gap quickly.

Then Elizabeth's eyes focus on the Columbian's hand, reaching out to grab her and do who knows what with her. A sense of panic swells up within the fallen young woman as she begins to imagine what these people's purpose is, and Elizabeth shouts as she bats it away, rolling to the side and scrambling to her feet, "Wh-what do you want from me?!"

"We can't just let the Lamb stay in a place like this, not once we've seen you! You belong in your father's city, now don't figh-gah!"

Elizabeth's slipped her hand into her pocket again while the dark-haired man began to growl at her, the younger DeWitt secretly retrieving something hard and metal. And the moment she's donned them, Elizabeth swings for everything she's worth as anger replaces panic; the solid brass knuckles collide squarely with the dark-haired man's jaw, cutting him off as he lunges at her again. And Elizabeth shouts back at the man, the uncertainty she'd felt before about Comstock having no bearing on her anger now, "He's NOT my father!"

But all she's managed is to buy herself some time; the dark-haired man recovers after a moment and touches his jaw gingerly, glaring back at her while the lady in the yellow dress catches up. Neither of them seem particularly inclined to just walk away, Elizabeth holding up her fists defensively as they creep closer towards her. "Least they're cautious now…"

"Get her!" Both of her assailants lunge at Elizabeth, grasping hands trying to grab her and hold her fast. Neither of her attackers make any attempt to strike Elizabeth, and they're both at a disadvantage while holding their repeaters, but she's still hard pressed to hold them off; these are trained soldiers, not petty thugs or crooks. And the fact that she's outmatched becomes crystal clear as she's slowly but surely forced to back away. Finally, Elizabeth finds her back against the locked double doors as she lands a solid straight on the Columbian man's nose, a touch of panic intruding on her concentration as she comes to realize it.

A wolfish grin spreads across the woman's face, and her partner mirrors the expression as he steps closer, twin trails of blood coming from his newly broken nose giving him a ghastly appearance, "We've got you now, just give it up and come quietly."

"I'd rather die!" Elizabeth practically spits the words back at the soldiers. But while the Columbians take their time in cornering her, Elizabeth spots something unexpected in the gloom; a hint of movement in the darkness beyond the pair of soldiers. Elizabeth's eyes go wide as something is raised high overhead; a long, heavy pipe, swinging like a club and slamming it into the back of the dark-haired man's skull. A cry of pain rings in the empty, forgotten theater as he falls.

"Wha-you bitch!" The lady soldier's already whirling around as her partner falls, bringing up her repeater and lashing out with the butt of the weapon. A panicked, feminine yelp sounds in the dark, the figure's pipe knocked away by the repeater's solid stock, and Elizabeth can't help but think it familiar. "No you don't!" Moving before she even realizes it, Elizabeth slams into the soldier's ribs just as she's about to strike with her weapon again, the both of them falling to the ground. But a stomach turning 'thud' sounds, coming from the woman's head slamming into a corner of one of theater seats.

"Is she…?" Pushing herself up, Elizabeth pauses as she looks down at the Columbian woman, touching two fingers to her neck, "Pulse is normal, respiration's fine… oh, thank goodness…" Heaving a relieved sigh, Elizabeth falls back to sit on the old carpet; she may have been shooting at them, but Elizabeth has little interest in staining her hands with blood.

Footsteps come from behind her, and Elizabeth turns to face her rescuer. But the moment Elizabeth lays eyes on her mysterious ally and gets a good look, her jaw drops, "X-Xiang? What are you doing here?" The Chinese pickpocket stands before Elizabeth, her voice shaking.

"I-I live here, Elizabeth… what the blue blazes are you doing here?"

4:05 PM

Booker flies down the stairs as fast as his feet can take him, nearly tumbling as he rounds the mid-floor landing between third and fourth. A sense of urgency spurs him on, Booker gritting his teeth while hurrying down the next set of steps; it's more than just urgency, there's a touch of desperation in his manner, too.

"Goddammit! Why didn't I figure this out sooner?!"

He'd thought that the attackers from Columbia had retreated after their snipers were put down, but another notion struck him as he stared at the strands of red hair; the bastards had a clear shot at chasing after Elizabeth while he was running up these stairs. And the possibility had been all but confirmed when he looked out the window, the back door Elizabeth had disappeared into lazily swinging shut.

"Those Founder bastards could have gotten ahold of Elizabeth!" That's the thought that drives Booker, ringing between his ears and keeping him from thinking of anything else; even the mystery over the Vigor-wielding shooter who took care of the snipers for Booker and Elizabeth is pushed to the side, and he'd shoved the fiery strands into his pocket while bolting out of the corner room. The identity of the shooter is the furthest thing from Booker's mind right now, no matter how dangerous he may be.

At the very least, he had the wherewithal to hold onto the fallen sniper's Bird's Eye sniper rifle, the Columbian weapon slung over his shoulder and banging against his back as he runs downstairs. There's little chance he'll be able to use it inside the theater, but it's best to have it should the need arise.

Hurtling out of the stairwell, Booker tears down the short hallway towards the exit, pulse pounding in his ears as he goes. Another set of gunshots sound in the distance, the report of Elizabeth's revolver, and Booker grits his teeth as he slams through the door, "I'm coming, Elizabeth!"

"I don't believe she can hear you."

Booker nearly runs headlong into Robert Lutece as he bursts out of the door, the unflappable physicist standing in the middle of the abandoned alleyway and stepping aside just before the detective would have plowed into him. And the moment Booker comes to a stop, he shoots the male Lutece a sharp glare, turning to face the redhead while clenching his fists.

"Where the hell have you been?!" If he thought he could lay a hand on the peculiar scientist, Booker would grab him by the collar and try to shake some sense into the man. But all he can do is shout at Robert, his aggravation coloring his voice, "Where did these soldiers come from, huh? If they're here for Elizabeth…"

"The girl was not their purpose for coming here," Robert shrugs noncommittally, his voice as even and disinterested as always, despite the tense situation and Booker's anger, "but it would seem the unwanted guests have made retrieving her a priority, now that they've seen her."

"They aren't here for Elizabeth…?" Scowling at Robert Lutece, Booker adjusts his grip on his revolver before turning towards the theater, "That's what Elizabeth supposed… ah, doesn't matter; they're after her now. Look, if you ain't meaning to help, then stop getting in my way."

"Elizabeth is safe."

Robert's statement stops Booker just before he steps away, the ex-Pinkerton glancing back at Lutece and waiting for him to continue. And Lutece makes him wait, adjusting his tie before going on, "She's out of harm's way for the moment, but only for the moment; as you've surmised, our mutual acquaintances are in pursuit, and will be arriving at her hiding place shortly." Lutece brings his arm from behind his back, a silver platter in hand and bearing a large, glowing blue bottle on its surface, "Aperitif?"

Booker snatches the bottle up quickly, glancing at the label for a moment before uncorking the restorative, "Salts again… fine." He has to fight back a grimace as the bitter, pungent, tingling solution touches his tongue, Booker forcing himself to down the entire bottle as fast as possible.

"Guh… much obliged…" Dropping the bottle on the platter, Booker leaves Lutece in his wake as he sprints down the alley, already feeling the effects of the Salts coursing through his body. And as he passes the intersection, Booker spies the four men he'd shot dead; they've been left where they lie, but their repeaters are conspicuously absent.

But he doesn't pay the missing weapons any mind as he blows past and through the backdoor of the theater, Booker's mind focused on Elizabeth and getting to his daughter as quickly as possible. "Lutece said she's safe, but the hell if I'm going to going to take his word for it…"

It takes Booker a few minutes to follow the trail of open doors and knocked over boxes, brooms and debris, wondering in the back of his mind if the obstacles were left behind by Elizabeth trying to slow down her pursuers or the soldiers in their haste; not that it matters, either way Booker has to wind his way around them.

Finally, Booker emerges from the bowels of the theater and into the auditorium, the dim light within still a marked improvement from the near darkness he'd been running through. The moment he steps inside, he can make out quiet, pained groans coming from deeper in. And it doesn't take Booker long to pinpoint where they're coming from, spotting a group of injured Columbians along the center aisle as he makes his way towards the front of the auditorium.

A man with a bloody wound in his hip lies nearest to Booker at the foot of the aisle, another man in a gray suit kneeling beside him with bandages in hand. "A medic… looks like Elizabeth gave them a real fight." Moving towards them as quickly as he dares, Booker scoffs slightly at the thought. But he only makes it about halfway towards the medic and injured soldier before the latter shouts in alarm.

"The False Shepherd, behind you!"

Booker breaks into a sprint and brings up his left hand, obsidian crystals already growing from his skin as he calls upon Shock Jockey; the medic's only just begun to whirl around when Booker releases the Plasmid, the arcing coils of electricity jumping from his fingertips and slamming into the still kneeling soldier. And Booker doesn't slow down for a second, slamming his knee into the Columbian's face and knocking the man out cold, a sick crunching sound coming from his nose. "Now," bending down to grab the shot soldier's collar, Booker pulls him close while shoving the barrel of his revolver beneath his chin, "where's Elizabeth? What have you fools done with her, huh?"

"You'd like to know, huh?" The wounded soldier chuckles in Booker's face, though it's weak and unconvincing, "I'm not about to give up the Lamb to the False Shepherd!"

"Listen here, you-" Booker stops just as he's about to growl a threat; sporadic gunfire comes from up ahead, the deep report of a revolver firing two at a time, only occasionally answered by brief bursts of a repeater. "Guess I got my answer." Slamming his fist and revolver into the soldier's gut, Booker tosses him aside and runs for the double doors, the sounds of gunfire growing louder as he approaches.

The double doors give way to what Booker imagines was the theater's lobby, a number of counters scattered around the room, and boards cover the windows and one of two doors at the other end of the room; a pile of boards rests in the corner next to the second door, someone having pried them loose some time ago. But Booker's not all that interested in the scenery, his eyes narrowing as he spots eight more of the plainclothes soldiers taking cover behind the counters. "That's four more than before… where are they firing… there you are…" It takes all of half a second, Booker finding a stairwell off in the right corner of the lobby, a muzzle flash appearing in the shadows as the report of the revolver thunders in his ears.

The Columbian soldiers hadn't been firing back in earnest, but all eyes had begun to turn towards Booker when he'd barged through the doors. The look on the soldiers' faces quickly transitions from surprise to recognition to anger, and Booker realizes how tenuous his position is as all eight of them turn their repeaters on him; Booker dashes through the doors again, taking cover behind the doorframe as a hail of bullets tear into the double doors. "Hmph, they remember me alright…"

"Booker!"

Elizabeth's voice somehow manages to pierce the roar of the repeaters, Booker gritting his teeth at the desperation in her voice, "Elizabeth!"

4:10 (About 5 minutes ago)

"So this is your home, Xiang?"

Elizabeth looks around the small room her friend had led her to, taking in her surroundings; after the fight in the auditorium, Xiang had unlocked the exit and led Elizabeth into the lobby and up a dark stairwell, a sign beside the steps reading 'Film Storage'. Now, she and Tobias stand in Xiang's home, the wall opposite the door lined with a few dusty reels and a handful of posters.

"Yeah, it's not much to look at…" Stepping over to a small hole between a pair of posters and looking down into the auditorium, Xiang gives Elizabeth a small, lopsided grin, "but its home. I found it last year, right after the theater shut down."

"I suppose trying to accommodate moving picture shows was too much for this part of town…" Stepping over to join Xiang, Elizabeth peers through the small hole; the projector should have been located down in the auditorium itself, but Elizabeth saw no sign of it when she'd been fleeing from the Columbians, and this hole doesn't look like it was part of the original design, either. A small, partly covered lantern hangs from a hook on the other side of the wall, lighting up the small room nicely, "Suppose I wouldn't have noticed it from below if it wasn't lit… but it's clever, keeping the smoke out of here."

Xiang nods, still grinning, "I tried having the lantern in here, but the smoke got me coughing." Stepping away from the makeshift window, Xiang drops down onto the old mattress in the back right corner, "Come on, take a rest, Elizabeth. You too, kid." She flashes a small grin at the timid blonde boy, and Elizabeth chuckles herself; Tobias has spent the last several minutes hiding behind her skirt, still scared after the encounter with the Columbian soldiers.

"Thanks, Xiang, I think we'll be safe for a…" But Elizabeth falls silent as Xiang's gaze shifts, her friend's eyes growing wide in surprise. "Umm…"

"I would not suggest relaxing our guard just yet."

"Rosalind?" Turning to find Rosalind Lutece standing behind her, Elizabeth gives the physicist a curious look, "What are you doing here?"

"E-Elizabeth? Do you know this lady? She just… appeared from behind you…" Xiang stammers as she points a shaking finger at Rosalind Lutece, sounding more than a little unnerved.

"Umm…" Glancing back at her friend, Elizabeth feels a nervous smile tease at her lips; she'd been glad that Xiang hadn't asked why these people were after her, or what Columbia was or why they called her the Lamb, but explaining who Rosalind is won't be easy, either. "She's an… an old friend of ours…"

"One could say my brother and I have known her all her life," Rosalind states in her unperturbed, uninterested manner, her pale blue eyes turning to Xiang, "but there are matters of greater import at the moment. Your pursuers haven't given up the chase, and will be arriving shortly. Your lantern there has given them an idea of where to look."

"Oh no…" Elizabeth blanches, apprehension taking hold in an instant; they're trapped in here with only one way in or out, for better or worse. And with that in mind, Elizabeth quickly opens the cylinder of her revolver, sliding bullet after bullet into the still empty chambers.

"I have something that may prove happy in a pinch."

"Huh?" Looking back up to Rosalind, Elizabeth stops in her tracks as she realizes the redhead's meaning; Rosalind Lutece has procured a silver platter from out of thin air, a glowing blue bottle with the word EVE written across it. "Just… just great…"

"Elizabeth…" Picking herself up from the old mattress, Xiang circles around Elizabeth so she's between her and Rosalind, "I've kept quiet because it's none of my business, but… this is just getting too strange! Who is she? What is Columbia and why were those men calling you the Lamb? And what's this… this blue, glowing stuff?"

"Xiang… I…" Staring back at her friend uncertainly, Elizabeth shakes her head, quickly reaching past Xiang and taking the bottle from Rosalind, "Sorry…" With that, Elizabeth uncorks the bottle and brings it to her lips. "Guh!"

It's just as bad as Elizabeth remembers, the tingling sensation of the ADAM derived restorative as it passes her tongue and down her throat leaving her more than a little discomfited. And from the corner of her eye, Elizabeth can see Xiang watching with a mixture of disgust and concern. "Elizabeth… what… what is this? What's EVE?"

Once the EVE is completely gone, Elizabeth slowly takes the bottle from her lips and breathes a long, unhappy sigh, "Xiang…" But she doesn't get a chance; the door bursts open, and a repeater-armed gunman charges into the room with weapon up. Rosalind's gone before Elizabeth and Xiang can even react, and Tobias' terrified yelp as he starts to cringe fills the otherwise quiet room, the little blonde boy burying his head in the mattress. "No…"

"Surrender and come quietly, or-"

"Oh my God!" Xiang's surprised shout causes Elizabeth to wince, and the horrified look her friend gives her doesn't make her feel any better; her left hand's covered in frost, numbing cold swirling around her open palm with thin spikes of ice sticking out from her skin. Elizabeth didn't have a choice; she couldn't risk anyone getting hurt. And so she'd frozen the soldier solid, despite Xiang being right there next to her. "Wh-wh-what was that, Elizabeth?!"

"A Plasmid, Xiang. Please don't ask me to explain, because I can't…" A sad smile flashes across Elizabeth's lips, "He won't stay like that for long… help me take care of this, will you?"

To her credit, Xiang manages to keep her composure despite the incredible sight she'd just seen, she maneuvering behind the frozen soldier with her lead pipe in hand. And once the soldier's out cold, Xiang gives Elizabeth another curious look, "You'll explain later, right?"

"Umm… alright, Xiang…" Elizabeth's gaze falls; now, later, she doesn't know how she's going to explain any of this. "I… I think we need to get out of here. C'mon, let's go." Xiang nods in agreement, Elizabeth breathing another relieved sigh when her friend goes to Tobias, taking him by the hand.

Stepping out of Xiang's home and into the dark hallway leading to the stairs, Elizabeth feels a chill run down her spine; there's nothing about this to like, and now that she has both Xiang and Tobias to protect, Elizabeth can only hope that they find the lobby as empty as when they came through last.

But the moment Elizabeth sets foot on the stairs down, she knows that's too much to hope for; she can just barely make out whispered voices and the sound of people moving around downstairs. "Great… why can't we…" Catching herself, Elizabeth heaves another quiet sigh; no point in complaining about it now. "Xiang, keep back with Tobias… I'll… figure something out."

She doesn't wait for a reply, starting down the stairs as quietly as she can. By the time she's made the landing halfway down, Elizabeth can feel the tension growing with every step, tightening her grip on her revolver and letting ice cover her hand again. The measure of light that comes from the lobby is still fairly dim, coming through the open door and gaps in the boards that seal the theater's other door and windows.

"That's… that's a lot of them…" Peering out from the staircase, Elizabeth spies eight of the intruders from Columbia, some of them peering out the open door, others peering back through the double doors into the auditorium. But the soldier that Elizabeth really has to worry about is the one approaching the stairwell; he must have seen her through the shadows, for his eyes grow wide and his jaw drops.

Old Man Winter's already freezing the man solid before he can shout, and Elizabeth's scrambling a couple steps up the stairs as the other soldiers take notice. Bursts of gunfire shatter the silence, peppering the spot Elizabeth had just vacated and the wall beside the stairwell, at least until the frozen soldier thaws. "Stop, stop! That's the Lamb!"

"Great." Muttering to herself, Elizabeth fires blindly into the lobby, hoping to dissuade any bright ideas on the soldiers' part. And she keeps at it, for lack of a better option.

This goes on for a minute or two, Elizabeth firing into the lobby from her place on the stairs and the occasional burst of return fire making her cringe. But when she fires another pair into the lobby, even more gunfire than usual greets her in return. "Did they decide I'm not… wait…" Elizabeth blinks, taking a step down the stairs cautiously; the gunfire isn't directed her way, not anymore. And Elizabeth can only imagine one thing that would draw their attention away from her. "Booker!"

"Elizabeth!" Her heart soars as she hears Booker's voice. His revolver thunders again and again, and Elizabeth slips down the stairs just as a fireball flies from Booker's hiding place, Devil's Kiss incinerating two of the attackers.

But the orange and red glow of Devil's Kiss doesn't fade with the explosion, and it's not coming from Booker; the last of the Columbian soldiers holds a glowing, dripping ball of flame in his hands, coming out of cover to throw it back at Booker, heedless of his safety. "Booker! Watch out!"

Bringing up her frosted hand, Elizabeth grits her teeth as she watches the fireball; she's too slow, her own Plasmid still at her fingertips even as the Vigor's about to fly towards Booker. Her gaze is fixed on the burning orb, and there's nothing she can do to stop it from burning her father. "He'll live… rig-oh, holy-!"

Gunshots come from out the open door, two of them; the first slams into the soldier's chest, drawing a pained cry. But the second one is what draws a surprised, horrified gasp from Elizabeth, the bullet slamming into the Devil's Kiss fireball; the soldier's burned alive by his own Vigor, the fireball detonating in his hand and reducing him to a pile of ash.

"What… who was…?" Elizabeth sprints for the door once her shock passes, Booker doing the same. But all she can make out as the two of them come up to the only unbarred door is a flash of red hair, tied up in a braid and disappearing into another abandoned building across the street.

5:50 PM

"What a birthday…" Muttering to herself as she, Booker and Xiang step onto their floor of the apartment building, Elizabeth heaves a long, exasperated sigh; after all the gunfire, the exchange of Plasmids and Vigors, and all the running and hiding, neither she nor her father have any clue what this had all been about. Booker didn't get a chance to interrogate any of them, all of the wounded Columbians having escaped some way or the other.

Elizabeth had insisted that Xiang spend the night with them after escaping the slums and delivering Tobias to his family. She's none too thrilled at the prospect of her friend sleeping somewhere known to the soldiers. And while Xiang had protested, she relented after a short while.

"Least Ms. Pearl's got a cake for you…" Booker shakes his head slowly, fishing the keys from his pocket once they're coming up to their apartment. "We're back…"

"Daddy, big sister!" Little Anna's excited voice greets Elizabeth as Booker opens the door, bringing a smile to her lips; her little sister's seated at the dining table, a white frosted cake sitting before her and Ms. Pearl at the far end of the table. "You're home!"

"Welcome home, dearie… oh, you're hurt!" Ms. Pearl stands quickly, her weathered brow furrowing in concern, "Come, the twins have something for that…"

"Twins?" Stepping into the apartment behind Booker, Elizabeth blinks in surprise; Robert and Rosalind wait by the bookcase, a pointed party hat on each of their heads. The levity suggested by the hats contrasts with their implacable features, and Elizabeth can't help but chuckle softly despite her exhaustion. Rosalind is indeed carrying a medical bag, looking to have come from Columbia as well.

"Once you've rested, we'll be sure to tend to your wounds." Rosalind nods slowly, looking as unflappable as ever. And Robert continues without missing a hitch.

"I believe Anna here won't wait much longer, she's been quite eager ever since your neighbor brought out the cake."

"Alright…" Rubbing her eyes, Elizabeth gives them both an unamused, sideways glance, "Will you just tell us already? What were those soldiers even doing here?" Ms. Pearl glances between the Luteces and the DeWitts, curiosity and concern evident on her features.

"Suffice it to say, these unwelcome visitors were not here for you, though their purpose was not far removed from bringing you to Columbia." Robert glances to his sister, Rosalind nodding curtly.

"They traveled here to capture an acquaintance of yours. I'd imagine you have guessed as much by now as to the identity of their quarry." Glancing at Ms. Pearl, Rosalind slows for a moment, "The woman in question infiltrated Comstock House and took something of importance before falling through a Tear."

Elizabeth stares back at the Luteces, putting the pieces together quickly enough; red hair, a female acquaintance of theirs, infiltrating Comstock House. The thought that crosses her mind draws a sigh from Elizabeth, "Abigail, huh?" Shaking her head, Elizabeth steps towards the bedrooms, "I'm going to get changed… then we can sit down to eat, alright?" Anna, Ms. Pearl and Xiang all murmur in agreement, and Elizabeth steps through the door after a moment.

"Uh, Booker?" Stopping at hers and Booker's bedroom door, Elizabeth glances back curiously when she notices her father following close behind, "There a reason for following me as I go to change?"

"Just need something, that's all." A touch of a grin tugs at his features, and Elizabeth steps inside after giving him another quizzical look. But the moment she turns her attention from Booker, Elizabeth stops in her tracks; something small and furry lies on her bed, a large red ribbon tied loosely around its neck. And the animal lifts its head as she gawks, staring back at her with warm, curious brown eyes. "A… a puppy?!"

"Happy birthday, Elizabeth." Booker puts a hand on her shoulder, chuckling softly.

Author's Note: She did say she wanted a puppy back at the Hall of Heroes, after all. So, originally I had planned for chapters to line up a little nicer, but a lot of the vagaries will be cleared up eventually in a couple of the side stories, but for now the Luteces' explanation of why the Columbians were even in Booker and Elizabeth's world will have to suffice. And for Xiang's home in the theater, originally I had planned to have her living in the projection room of an early moving pictures theater, but I found out a few issues with that. Namely, the early theaters didn't use projection rooms, they had the projector right down with the audience.

And now they have enough EVE to use their Plasmids again, and Elizabeth has a puppy. There'll be more on the puppy in the next chapter, there wasn't enough time for this chapter.

Now, one last thing; I think I'm going to take a short break. I've been burning the candle at both ends lately, so I'm going to take a few days off. That means there won't be a mid-week chapter, but I should be able to get back in the saddle after that. Might play through Infinite again to refresh my memory.

Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed the chapter.