Alliances

"As far as we know, there are three access points into the lower depths of the City, here, here, and the one your Group came through here." Archer stated, pointing to the map of the district they had laid out on their operations table. The Group was standing around the map table studying it, memorizing it. This District was unfamiliar to them, and the access tunnels of the City's underbelly were just as foreign. Joe and Tenenbaum had explained their situation to Archer and Tokerev a little better since they had arrived in their Home, and they could tell it made the Men nervous. Reed Wahl was after them, not just after them, but dead set on their extermination, that was more than clear. They took solace in the fact that he didn't currently know where they were, but they also knew it would only be a matter of time until they were found again. Joe and Tenenbaum's rag tag Group of Survivors needed Archer and Tokerev, they were skilled, level headed, and knew the District well. They were also no Strangers to life threatening danger, or combat, but they had been working together, surviving together for so long, it would be a challenge to assimilate them into the Group itself. The two Men also needed Tenenbaum's Group, they were planning on escaping the City, and they had also agreed to lend them the unbelievable strength of not just one or two, but four Protectors to contain the NeoSplicer threat to the rest of the world. They couldn't let those things escape, but their numbers seemed endless, and even with the full might of Rapture's most feared creations, they weren't sure it would be enough.

"There are three access points for maintenance tunnels in this district, here, here, and the one you came out of right here." Archer said, pointing to the last tunnel on their planning table with his fingerless glove, his dirty finger tapping the map table lightly.

"And since you sealed that one, the other two are the only ones we could use without Reed Wahl seeing us. We made sure to blind all of the security cameras in this district when we first arrived, that bitch would not dare to send another army in here if he has no eyes, especially after what your Protectors did to them in the last district." Tokerev added with a dark chuckle.

"Nonetheless, we must move quickly, Wahl won't simply sit around and wait for us to knock his kingdom out from under him." Tenenbaum noted.

"Yes, yes, but we must first deal with the world ending monstrosities that could wipe out the entire Human race. One crazed man with a computer can wait." Tokerev stated, as if the man were no real threat in his eyes. Tenenbaum didn't like that, she scrunched her eyebrows at his comment. She didn't know if he was joking or if he was underestimating their enemy.

"They're right, if we can deal with the NeoSplicers first, and clear the tunnels, it'll be almost impossible for Wahl to track our movements in the City, not to mention if this plan works, we can use some of the districts that have gone dark as well." Joe explained.

While the group discussed the various strategies they might use, and which tunnels they might take in order to find the NeoSplicer hive, the Protectors occupied themselves with the small workout area of the old fire station. It was equipped with various weight lifting machines, and even a boxing ring that Archer and Tokerev used to hone their hand to hand combat skills. When the Protectors realized what the area was used for, they almost grinned with excitement. Anna sat with Lizzy on her lap in an old folding chair much too small for her as they watched their Siblings in the boxing ring, it was a bit small for them considering their size, but the ropes would help them simulate a tight space.

The two Protectors had removed their armor plates and wore only their black Nanofiber body suits so they wouldn't accidently damage them while they trained. Everyone's attention was quickly brought to their sparring match when they heard the Protectors begin. Tokerev and Archer the most intrigued at the sight of two veteran Protectors training with no restraint.

Iota had thrown a high roundhouse kick toward Omega's bare head to start the bout, but he raised his arm to block it resulting in a loud thud that echoed through the large room. The Humans observing the exercise were sure the kick would've killed a normal human, or at the very least shattered their arm and sent them reeling across the room, but Omega wasn't human. As soon as the kick landed, the Brother threw a quick jab at Iota, who leaned back to dodge it, her acrobatics and reflexes allowing her to catch herself on her hands and cartwheel back to the other edge of the ring. Instead of rising from her prone position, she stayed on all fours, resembling some kind of animal. Her glowing yellow eyes narrowed on her Mate as they slowly circled each other.

As if a starting bell had rung, Omega lunged at Iota with a flurry of punches and kicks, the Sister returned the gesture by jumping at him from her crouched position. They were moving as fast as they could, hitting as hard as they could, they were simulating a real fight, and everyone watching knew it now. Iota landed a heavy punch to Omega's face when his guard was focused on her kicks, the blow made a wet crunching sound that caused their onlookers to flinch and cringe at the sound of his breaking nose. Omega in turn lunged his head forward, slamming his forehead into Iota's mouth, she gave a sharp screech of pain as they both growled. When Omega came back up to his full height, the survivors could see a large gash in his forehead with one of Iota's teeth imbedded in his skull. They both locked eyes and continued to growl through clenched teeth, their fangs dripping with bloody spit, and their noses curled as they snarled like Demons.

"Should we stop them before they kill each other?" Archer asked Joe as he stood next to him petting his beard thoughtfully. Joe simply laughed at the idea.

"If you think you can, be my guest." He said

"Don't worry, they're only playing!" They saw Lizzy peak around Anna's larger frame to yell to them with a beaming smile."

Neither Archer nor Tokerev knew how to process any of what they were seeing, they had hardly even seen Protectors before, and now two of them were fighting in their living room. As the two Titans advanced toward each other yet again, each landing devastating hits to their Opponent, Archer and Tokerev felt a mixture of feelings at the sight of the two Gods of death. They were first and foremost, afraid. The hits they inflicted on one another would easily cripple or kill a Splicer or NeoSplicer, let alone a baseline Human with no muscle density gene tonics, or hardened bone gene splices. Archer's heartbeat sped up from the sight, and the sound of their growling, he felt himself shake. He had survived in the most brutal place on the planet for years, nearly lost his life countless times, and seen things that would drive any normal person mad, but nothing compared to this. This terrified him. He glanced over to Tokerev as he clenched his jaw tight to keep himself from shaking, his partner returned the look of concern and unease. Another booming crack came echoing to them, drawing their attention back to the two Demons in the ring, both bleeding, panting, and snarling. The ring was slick with blood droplets, smeared and trailing to different parts of the ring, like some kind of abstract art you would see hanging in an art gallery, painted in a fashion to make you reflect on life, the only color being crimson. This did indeed make the two Men reflect on life, and not necessarily in a good way.

Joe was the first to break from the viewing, turning to look back at the map table, holding his lit cigar in his right hand as he looked it over once more. Tenenbaum and Mark followed soon after, the sound of crashing thunder still echoing throughout the fire station as Iota and Omega trained. It took Archer and Tokerev far longer to regain their composure.

"You're all way too used to seeing this kind of thing aren't you?" Archer asked, causing Joe's group to look up at him, all with serious expressions.

"You get used to it, especially when they swim through a sea of blood to keep you safe." Joe stated, holding Archer's gaze for a while before looking to Tokerev. He could see how tense the Men were, how unsure, everyone else had noticed it as well, even Anna, who had heard their heartbeats pick up from across the room when her Brother and Sister started training. Tenenbaum spoke first, looking to ease their minds as best she could, she who knew the Protectors better than anyone.

"You fear them because they are different than us, because they are so terribly powerful, and capable of great destruction... but you do not know them as we do... You do not know how gentle, and kind, and protective they can be. You have not seen them act as shields to save us from gunfire. You have not seen them jump over barricades and dive head first into a Horde of Splicers to distract them from us, or how they would charge into a burning, collapsing building, to save one little girl, who isn't even a Little Sister anymore... and you have not seen them fight their way through pitch black darkness, surrounded by Monsters, even when everyone else had lost all hope, even when they had lost all hope." Tenenbaum explained, her face taking on a sad expression as she wiped her eyes.

"They have sacrificed so much for us, far more than we have given for them, and do you know why they have done this?" The aging Doctor asked the two men, who looked back to one another before their gazes returned to her.

"They have done this because they, like you, want to escape from this Hell, and see a day when their loved ones no longer live in danger, just like you." She finished. Archer and Tokerev nodded at her words, understanding a little more about their fears, they turned back toward the ring where the sound of combat had ceased. Iota and Omega were standing side by side, bloody and bruised. Iota was giving a gentle smile as she listened to Tenenbaum speak, and Omega nodded to the two Men for reassurance, though the amount of blood on their faces made it hard for them to focus. The Brother held their gaze as he brought his gloved hand to his broken nose and snapped it back into place with an audible crunch, then blowing a large amount of blood out as he pushed his thumb against the right side of his straightened nose. He didn't even flinch. It was a small gesture, but one the two Men understood. The Protectors were on their side, and they would risk pain, injury, and death to escape the City, just like them. Both Men nodded back to the Protectors before turning back to Tenenbaum and the rest.

"I suppose... We'll just have to witness those things for ourselves in the coming days won't we?" Archer asked.

"I have always wanted to see a Protector rip a Splicer apart with their bare hands, perhaps I will get that chance." Tokerev added with a small chuckle.

Subject Sigma sat on a large living room chair next to the fireplace in the makeshift living area Archer and Tokerev had added onto when they first moved into the old fire station. He stared off into space as everyone spoke of plans of escape, and the other Protectors trained. His eyes reflexively darted to the small radio speaker in his diving helmet, as they often did. It was a habit for him, though he didn't know why, or when he had even started doing it. It felt as if he had always done it, for as far back as he could remember, which wasn't very far. It was almost as if he expected something to come out of it at any moment, a message or sentance from someone, though nothing ever did aside from the constant whispering hiss of static. He looked up to Tenenbaum and took a deep, strong breath that echoed inside of his helmet, another sound he had become familiar with. His radio had only ever hissed until he heard her message come through it as clear as day, it had been the most memorable day of his life as a Big Daddy, save for one other that is.

He still remembered the day his mental conditioning had worn off, or was broken... he no longer knew which term was more accurate. He had heard a voice, a Female voice, and it had been the most beautiful thing he had ever heard within his shattered and dark memories. Before he had heard the voice, he had only recalled fragmented bits of memory, like slideshow reels of combat and killing, moments frozen in pictures through reinforced diving glass. It was as if he were a mindless automaton before hearing the voice, and his consciousness was only formed after hearing it call to him. The voice wasn't Tenenbaum's, no, it was... He couldn't recall. No matter how hard he had ever tried, he could never recall who's voice it was that he heard, nor could he ever recall what it had actually said, only the feeling in it, only the emotion, the desperation and sadness. If he were honest, he wasn't even sure if he had heard the voice at all, or if it was simply his imagination as he awoke from the brainwashing he had undergone as a Big Daddy. It was a beautiful, wonderful, sad, happy and terrifying experience all in one. As if he remembered he existed and had free thought, like his eyes had been opened to a horrible truth, one that he was glad to know, but also regretted knowing beyond words.

The Big Daddy turned his bulky helmet to the side, his eyes looking at the three other Protectors in the room. He wondered what it had been like for them, what emotions those poor Children had felt when they had broken free from their mental conditioning and the lies of Sophia Lamb's "Family".

"Children" He thought to himself, the word had popped into his mind out of nowhere, as if he subconsciously knew he were older than them, though he had no way of knowing. He certainly felt old. He felt as if he were a thousand years old and yet... like he were a newborn, knowing nothing of his past, or the world. Sometimes, when he couldn't sleep, he would let his mind drift, and his body incased in armor would go numb. On those rare occasions he could feel air on his skin again, cool and gentle. He assumed it was from his life before being a Big Daddy, though he couldn't be sure, after all, he had only ever known being a hulking monstrosity. The memory wipe done to him as he underwent his Protector mental conditioning had stolen everything from him, his life, his memories, his likes and dislikes, even his name. At least that's what Tenenbaum had told him when he first met her, and she explained things to him.

He looked down at the back of his massive hand, his huge gauntlet raising ever so slightly to allow him a look at his Protector designation.

The Greek letter "Sigma" was all he had ever known, just like Iota and Omega it was all he had ever been called by the Survivors around him. He gazed back to Tenenbaum, Joe, and the rest. He felt a great deal of admiration and gratitude for them, he had been so lost before finding them and getting even the few answers they had for him. They treated him... like a Human, or at least as well as they could considering his size and situation. It was a funny thing, and comforting, that these Humans would easily accept him into their Group, even easier than they had accepted Omega and Iota, though he understood why. They were... far more feral than he had been, but they accepted them all the same, and they had proven their value and loyalty time and time again. They were fiercely territorial and protective, and once someone came under their charge, they would give their all to defend them, no matter how high the odds may be stacked against them. They had shown such bravery and devotion to the protection of their Group, it had often left the Big Daddy astounded. Even for him, who felt the need to protect these people, these Humans, the second generation Protectors were leagues above their predecessors. It pained him to think of everyone they had lost already, even before Omega and Iota had joined the group, or even Anna.

Anna... He glanced at her back as she watched her Siblings train, smiling and laughing as she played with Lizzy. She was by far the most Human of the Siblings, but she wasn't completely Human. He had watched her grow as a Protector, and while impressive, he could see turmoil inside of her. The small glimpses of conflict and doubt that would flash across her face in moments of idleness. The way her glowing eyes would drop low in thought every now and then. He understood why though, she had a foot in both worlds, Protector as well as Human. She carried all of a Protector's strengths as well as their weaknesses, just as she did a Human's strengths and weaknesses. He truly did pity her, not knowing where she belonged in either world, feeling out of place in both. He doubted any of their Human counterparts were privy to how she felt, but he knew her Siblings did, and they, as they always did and would, supported her. They were loyal to each other without question, just as Tenenbaum and the other Humans were loyal to each other without question, but loyalty wasn't always enough unfortunately.

The Big Daddy looked down at the wounded girl on the couch in front of him. Loyalty had never truly been enough to save everyone, though it did go a long way. He supposed luck also had a hand to play in their survival, which blessing or curse was dealt to them at any given moment in time was known only to fate or chance. Seline had been unlucky, or perhaps, considering all they had been through, she had been just lucky enough, though in her state, that was yet to be seen.

"Seline" the name hummed in his head. The poor girl had been injured when Splicers attacked them in the bar. Her arm was a bandaged nub, and her eyes were most likely gone now as well due to the shrapnel that had hit her when the Fiends opened fire on her through the second floor window. Sigma's anger rose when he thought about it, the Degenerates. They would stop at nothing to get their greedy hands on ADAM, and they would kill or maim anyone that got in their way.

As Sigma watched the girl breath in and out with painful slowness, he realized she was mouthing words. He watched her for a while and assumed it was normal for a Human to do such things, but when her head moved, he stiffened slightly. He knew what was coming, and he knew no one else did. He looked around the room, everyone going about their business as the girl tossed and turned more and more on the couch. The Daddy rose from his seat and took a large step towards her, placing his massive hand on her chest to hold her still as she thrashed, moaning gently to try and calm her.

He was unprepared for what would come next.

Screaming.

Seline began screaming as if she were being torn apart by NeoSplicers, bloody screams that made his skin crawl, and before he knew it, he was backed against a wall with guns pointed in his face. The two new Men, Archer and Tokerev, were aiming their Tommy guns at the viewport of his helmet, shouting at him, asking him what he had done. They had been on edge already, but the screaming must have sent them over the top. The Big Daddy glanced back to Seline, who was still screaming, even as Mark cradled her on the couch, trying to calm her down to no avail. When Tenenbaum and Joe approached the two men, Tokerev took his pistol from the holster on his side, and aimed it at them with his left hand.

"Stay back!" He yelled.

"What did you do?!" Archer shouted at the Protector, as if he expected an answer. It was clear the two Men had moved on instinct, and he couldn't blame them for that, any threat in Rapture could end your life, and for all they knew from their perspective, he had done something to harm her when no one was looking. The whole scene was a mess, everyone was shouting, trying to explain things, or reason. All he could do was stand against the wall with his hands up in a defensive posture, one wrong move and anything could happen. Before anything else could happen Sigma saw two flashes of black, faster than even his advanced eyesight could track. By the time he noticed it was Omega and Iota, the threat was already dealt with. They were far faster without their heavy armor on, and so silent he hadn't even begun to hear them approach.

Almost simultaneously, the two Protectors disarmed the two Men. Iota grabbed Archer's gun from his hand and swept his legs out from under him, pinning him to the floor with his arm behind his back, her other hand holding the side of his head, his face pressed against the cold floor as he cursed. Her expression impassive as blood from her training session dripped onto the Man's face causing him to flinch at each droplet. She didn't even consider him a real threat, merely a nuisance she had to stop training to deal with. Omega, who had sprinted toward Tokerev the moment he raised a gun to Tenenbaum and Joe, had swatted the gun from his hand with so much ease, no one was sure if he had even been holding one to begin with until it clanked to the floor. The Brother pinned the man to the wall by his throat, his right hand squeezing just enough to restrain him as his left hand held Tokerev's wrist in place on the wall beside his body. No one but the Brother had seen the knife he had pulled the moment he was grabbed. Omega too was wearing an annoyed scowl as blood ran down his face and chin, it was as if he were dealing with a petulant child before.

Both restrained Men cursed as they struggled, until Anna's voice thundered over everyone else's.

"Enough!" The youngest Protector yelled, a large stream of fire catching everyone's attention as it bloomed in the open space, lighting the room in a warm glow and licking everyone with heat. Even Seline stopped her screaming as she heard the thunderous voice. Everyone froze as she spoke, leaving no room for argument from any of them, even Lizzy sat silent behind her as her wide eyes looked on. Omega and Iota looked to her, expecting her to explain what they had seen, rather than what the Humans had only caught a glimpse of.

"Sigma was trying to calm Seline down, she became restless, violent." She stated as the room looked to her for answers.

"We heard her heartrate spike, and her breathing pick up, the same breathing and heartrate we hear when Humans or Splicers panic." She explained, clearly angered by the two Men's actions.

"Instead of jumping to conclusions, and risking your lives, you should learn to be more observant... You're lucky I told Brother and Sister to wait when they rushed you, or you would have been dead long before you hit the ground." She breathed heavily, her own adrenaline pumping through her veins. She had almost been too late, too late to save the two Men who had obviously misread the situation, a second longer and they would have had to scrape them off of the walls and floor, and no one but her knew just how close the situation had come to ending like that.

After a few moments Archer spoke up, visibly calmer than he had been earlier, though breathing through ragged breaths.

"I understand, you can let me go now, Iota." He stated with an even tempered tone. The Sister eased her grip and stood to her full height, when he noticed that Anna was still looking to her Brother, who in turn was still holding Tokerev by his throat. He hadn't been able to see it before, but now he realized just how dire their situation would have been had Anna not intervened as she said.

"Tokerev, drop the knife, or he will kill you. Protectors are trained and conditioned to deal with any threat that's presented to us... no matter how small or futile it may be." Anna explained. The Man grunted as he strained against the Brother's unflinching strength, his expression defiant, and his eyes darting back and forth between his restrainer and Archer. His face was red, but whether it was from anger, embarrassment, or lack of blood flow due to Omega's iron grip, no one was sure.

"Tokerev... drop the knife... I don't think there's anything I could do to stop him." Archer reasoned with him, more a warning than anything. After a quick jerk from the Brother that slammed Tokerev's head back against the wall, he complied and dropped the knife. Omega kicked the weapon away and slowly sat the Man down on his feet again.

Tokerev coughed and straightened his crudely made bulletproof vest before rubbing his throat. He kept his eyes on Omega the entire time before looking back to the other eyes that followed him.

"Sorry about that, old habits." He chuckled, it sounded like a joke, but felt at least partially true.

"The road to trust is not an easy one, but please try to keep in mind that the Protectors have never done anything to harm us without provocation, or good reason." Tenenbaum said calmly, now that the weapons had been put away once again.

"I'm sorry... Uh... Sigma, and to all of you. I moved on instinct, and didn't even have time to think. It'll take a while to get used to a Big Daddy that isn't a mindless Slave... and it'll take even longer to get used to second generation Protectors that aren't Monsters devoid of free thought..." Archer explained.

Everyone met him with understanding, sympathetic expressions, aside from the three Siblings, who simply held their impassive expressions. Everyone looked over to Tokerev expectantly, but where as Archer seemed to be the more reasonable of the two, Tokerev simply shrugged with a scoff as he spit a small bit of blood from his mouth onto the floor.

"I am not sorry for anything, we had good intentions, we thought that Big Daddy was hurting the girl." He stated.

"We appreciate your concern, Tokerev, but the road to Hell is paved with good intentions." Joe said, earning him another lazy shrug from the Russian.

"W-Where am I? What happened?" They heard a meek voice ask, a voice they hadn't heard in quite some time.

"Shhh. You're safe, we're safe, Seline." Mark whispered to her as she held onto his shirt with the only hand she had left.

"I-I can't feel my arm, and my eyes..." She whimpered, causing him to wince with pain.

"You... were shot... We did what we could but..." He clenched his jaw, knowing that she would never see again. She began to cry as she looked around the room, as if she were trying to will her bandaged eyes to see. He didn't know what to do, what to say. He looked around the room for help, but everyone, even Tenenbaum who seemed to always have an answer, was silent as she covered her mouth in sadness. Anna made her way over to the cough that held them, kneeling down to be eye level with them, her armored knee pad clanging against the concrete floor.

Her illuminated eyes scanned the girl, as well as Mark. He looked to her, hoping she would be able to comfort the girl he loved, as ironic as it seemed. He had hot tears streaming down his face now as his lips trembled. It reminded her of Lizzy when she was frightened, or lost, and he had every right to feel that way. How does one tell the person they love horrible news? News that they know will hurt them more than they have ever felt before, maybe even break them. Anna didn't blame Mark for his lack of fortitude, nor did she blame any of the others, they were after all, only Human. It was ironic she thought, that a Monster like her would be trying to comfort a Human, with Human emotions and Human words, nevertheless she would try. It was plain to see that no one else wanted to do it, so she decided to help her friend, by first hurting her beyond words.

"Seline..." The Protector spoke. Her tone was nothing like before, it was soft now, as soft as anyone had ever heard it, angelic even.

"What I'm about to tell you... Won't be easy to hear, but the sooner you hear it, the sooner you can heal." Anna spoke, her hand coming up to gently grasp the girl's shoulder.

"Vicki and James are dead." Anna spoke softly, letting the news fill the tense air of the room, replacing anger and misunderstanding with sorrow and regret. She didn't take the news well, of course she wouldn't, that had been known from the moment they knew she would most likely survive. She had lost her best friend, and hadn't even been able to say goodbye. Everyone was silent as the young woman wept, unsure what to say, or how they could help. As Anna spoke, everyone listened and exchanged glances, either worried, or thankful. The Protector explained how they had made their way to a neighboring district in order to save her life in a rundown medical clinic, how they had been cornered, but Omega and Iota showed up just in time, just like they always did. She explained in gruesome detail that they had made the Splicer Vermin pay for James and Vicki's lives with a hundred of their own, how they had become decorations and trophies, warnings to others that Hell awaited them if they followed the Protectors and their Charges. Archer and Tokerev wore horrified expressions as they shared unsure glances once again, trying to process the influx of gory detail the Protector seemed to relish. Anna also told Seline of their trap, how they lured as many Splicers into their amusement park of horrors, only to let a descending tide of darkness, claws, and teeth destroy their Foes in one swift and violent moment. She told her how they had escaped from the district through the tunnels, and how they had found Archer and Tokerev, their new Allies.

It took the Sister about two hours in total to explain everything, and answer the questions that Seline had. She sat up on the old red couch now, her one remaining hand rubbing the nub of her left arm, bandaged and itching like crazy from the advanced healing the wound had undergone thanks to the small doses of ADAM Tenenbaum had been giving her to keep her alive. She wore a blank expression, too shaken to even process all she had heard, tear trails streaming from beneath the bandages around her eyes to carve paths through the dirt of her cheeks as she thought in silence.

"I... Would like to be alone for a while please..." Seline said weakly, her voice a soft tremble as her bandaged eyes leaked fresh tears.

"I don't think you should be alone right now, Seline. Yo-" Mark began to say before Anna cut him off.

"Mark..." She said with a soft yet stern tone. He looked into her illuminated eyes and nodded hesitantly, he didn't like it, but he would comply with her wish until she needed him. Mark rose and kissed Seline's cheek as he did, looking down at her hurt expression with sorrow.

"I'm going to go make sure no one heard her screaming... Omega... would you come with me... please?" Mark asked the Protector. Omega raised an eyebrow and shrugged. He saw Anna looking at him expectantly, he scrunched his eyebrows in curiosity as he was sure she meant something by the stare. When he looked back to Mark he understood what she wanted from him, she didn't just want him to go with him to keep him safe, or to make sure no Splicers or NeoSplicers heard the screaming. She wanted him to go with Mark for some kind of Human emotional reason, he could tell by the longing expression on Mark's face, as if he needed to talk to him. Omega sighed as he nodded toward the door and began putting his armor attachments back on his body suit, eager to find something to kill. On their way out, Archer looked to Omega and grabbed Mark's arm to stop them both.

"Stick to the main roads, we have traps all over this district so be careful." He warned them, Mark nodded as Omega stared at the Man.

When the two got outside, it was just as Omega had feared. The moment the two young Men stepped outside the door, Mark began talking, and Omega could only groan inwardly. He felt Iota giggling through their mental bond, and was sure she could easily hear Mark already talking outside the front door.

"I don't know what to do, Omega. I don't know how to help Seline." Mark admitted as the two Men started walking. As they walked, Mark explained his woes to Omega, who had been happily blind to them until now. Mark droned on and on about everything that had happened, fresh and old emotions drawn back to the surface of his mind from hearing Anna's explanation of all they had been through to Seline. Omega largely drowned him out by focusing his senses on their surroundings, listening for any sign of a threat or life. It was impossible to completely drown the Man's rambling out though, his super human senses and mind causing him to unwillingly focus on everything around him, even Mark's emotional outpour. The Brother was thankful he was wearing his helmet, at least some of the noise was filtered out inside of it, though nowhere near enough.

"and even then I couldn't do anything to protect her. What if she hates me for it?" Mark asked, and Omega simply groaned in reply.

"You're right, that's the probably not the case, but I can't help but worry you know?" He asked, again Omega answered with a short groan.

"I just don't know how much I can help her, I mean, I try to be strong, but I feel so weak when I see you or Iota, or even Anna now." This actually caused the Brother to give a short, scoffing chuckle. Comparing a mere Human to a Protector was hardly doable, especially when it came to emotions, as Protectors only felt them strongly enough for their own kind, and their charges. They felt emotions, but nothing compared to a Human's understanding of them. He would never truly understand such feelings of love, sorrow, happiness, anger, regret, or fear without his Protector instincts altering his perceptions of them, his logical and objective driven mind giving them purpose and meaning from situation to situation, and never in the same sense as a Human's emotions. It was like trying to understand a puzzle that was constantly changing pieces, rotating them into new spots, the image shifting from time to time.

Omega scratched the back of his neck through his suit as he tried to wrap his head around what it must be like to be Human. He had seen the Humans react to all kinds of situations, though their reactions were always the same to certain situations. When they were shot at, they felt fear, he knew that for sure, because they always ducked into cover or hid, they shook, their breath turned sour, and they began to sweat. When he was fired upon, he only felt anger and outrage that an Enemy had dared to oppose him or his might. He really wasn't the one to console a troubled Human in such matters, it was not only beneath him, but it was also infuriating to be spoken to so familiarly, and not even be able to respond to questions or statements.

The Brother sighed and gave a low grunt as Mark made another statement, something about wanting to find something to cheer Seline up. The two young Men passed the bombed out hardware store Archer and Tokerev had detonated to try and stop the Berserker NeoSplicer, it was still burning, and smoke was still rising from the rubble, sucked up into the ventilation ducts above to be carried throughout the City and purified. The two Men had done an admirable job, though not enough to stop the Behemoth Monster, they certainly made the effort. It had even been an effort on his and his Sister's parts as well, and they were far above two baseline Humans as far as power went, still though, he had to give credit where credit was due, the Men put up an excellent defense against a much more powerful Foe.

The Brother knew they were cunning, as he and Mark continued down the large empty street, he would pick out and mark buildings where he could clearly see tripwires and pressure plates in the doorways or windows, no doubt linked to dangerous traps for the next Splicer foolish enough to step foot inside. It was the exact same thing he, Iota, Anna, and Sigma had done in their last district, though two Humans could never match the horrific creativity a Protector could bring to booby traps. When he thought about the carnage, chaos, and utter death their traps had brought their Enemies, he felt his blood rush. It had been glorious, he thought to himself, worthy of reverence and memory. A perfectly laid trap, planned and executed by the perfect Predators, he felt a predatory smirk crawl across his lips, and his tongue tapped the tips of his fangs lightly as he recalled watching the army of Splicer die in blood and darkness at the hands of the NeoSplicers.

"How do you even begin to cheer someone in that position up? I couldn't even bare to tell her any more bad news, thank God Anna was able to do it for me... it made me feel useless, but I was thankful for it." Mark said, causing Omega to break from his reverie, the Brother groaned again, beginning to wonder when this mental torment would end. He felt Iota giggling again at his annoyance through their shared bond, no doubt staying amused at his plight.

As the two of them passed another set of blown out buildings, long since extinguished and now just piles of rubble, it made Omega wonder just how many times Archer and Tokerev had fought that Berserker and survived. He could tell the destruction was fairly new, a few weeks at best from the scent of the rubble. He could smell the burnt wood and freshly disturbed dust, ash stretching out from the building's barely standing door and window frames. There were many buildings, shops, and restaurants like this in Rapture, a City of bones filled with the dead. It was the largest Graveyard in the world, and it was growing all the time.

. . .

In the old fire station, Sigma retook his place in the large living room chair by the home made fireplace, contemplating his thoughts and actions from only a few minutes ago. He watched Seline as she sat in a ball, her knees to her chest on the old red couch, her fingers lightly grazing the bandages of her severed arm. She would bring them up every now and then to brush them over the bandages of her eyes, wince, and visibly shrink. He pitied her, truly. It was hard enough, and terrifying enough to survive in Rapture with all of your limbs and being able to see, and now the poor girl was blind, and she was missing an arm. She had survived, but she looked like she wished she didn't.

"Hey... uh... Sigma." The Protector heard call to him. When he looked away from Seline, he realized Archer and Tokerev were standing in front of him only a few feet away. They kept their distance, and understandably so. They didn't know him, but they knew how dangerous Big Daddies were. Sigma gave a low bellowing groan in the way of a greeting, and the two Men looked as if they wanted to take a step back, like they were forcing themselves to stand in his presence.

"We wanted to say we were sorry for earlier... It wasn't right for us to jump to conclusions as Anna said." Archer said, searching the Big Daddy for any sign of emotion. The large Protector simply stared at him and gave another low groan, devoid of any discernable feelings or thoughts. Was he angry with them? Was he past it now? Did he understand? Did he not? They were all questions the Men thought, but they couldn't be sure.

"Do you even understand us Tin Man? Do you understand English? We are trying to apologize, do you get it?" Tokerev asked curiously, and loudly in his thick accent. The brash question made Sigma curiously smile beneath his helmet. He wasn't used to being spoken to like that, it was... refreshing he decided. The Protector gave a slow nod as he leaned his massive diving helmet forward. Archer looked like he wanted to smack his Friend, but Tokerev just gave a satisfied nod.

"You see? I told you he would understand us. He is not as stupid as the other Big Daddies, okay?" He stated to Archer, causing him to rub his eyes.

"It will be good, you will see, he will forgive us and we can all be Friends. Being Friends is far better than being Enemies I think, it would not be fun to be their Enemies." Tokerev continued.

"I know Tokerev, that's why we're here." Archer stated in an annoyed tone.

"Yes, yes. Listen Metal Man, we are offering many apologies for treating you like the Enemy, and we promise most faithfully that we won't do it again, okay?" Tokerev said.

This amused Sigma, the Russian Man had a curious way of speaking, but he was very charismatic, and even seemed less nervous than his Friend when it came to talking to him. Sigma stood up, causing both Men to take a step back this time, maybe Tokerev was just better at hiding his nervousness. The Big Daddy put his hand out toward them, and it took the two a minute to realize what he was doing. Hesitantly, they both reached out and shook the massive gauntleted hand one after the other, visibly calming down at the Human gesture. It made Sigma appreciate their effort to treat him more like a Human.

Anna and Iota paused their training match to watch and listen to the encounter, glad that the two Men were willing to actually humble themselves to what would normally be considered a mindless Monster. Anna looked over to her Sister and gave a small smile.

"It's a start." She whispered to Iota causing her to nod in agreement before ducking low and sweeping her younger opponents legs out from under her. Anna hit the mat hard and Iota gave a shrieking chirp.

"I know, I know! Keep my eyes on the fight... Jeez!" She said loudly causing other eyes to float their way, watching her rub her head where she had hit it on the floor below.

Lizzy looked up from her coloring book and giggled at Anna as she lay on the floor of the training ring.

"That looked like it hurt Anna." She teased her playfully. Anna gave a challenging sneer and shook her head at her.

"Don't you have something else to do?" Anna asked. Lizzy shrugged and went back to her coloring, every now and then looking up whenever Anna would take another hit, or land one on her Sibling.

After a few minutes, Lizzy got up and made her way over to Seline, still sitting silently on the couch.

"Seline, I colored you a picture to help cheer you up!" The small girl said happily, holding up the picture as if Seline could see it.

"It's you and Mark, this one's you with the pink dress on, and this one is Mark with big red boots and a purple shirt!" She said excitedly as she smiled, pointing to the crudely drawn stick people she had created, both smiling happily in the picture.

"I can't see..." Seline answered her with a dead and defeated tone, a stark contrast to the cheerful glee of the girl before her. Lizzy blinked a few times and let her smile drop as she thought.

"That's okay! I'll describe it to you!" She said cheerfully once again, not deterred from Seline's tone.

"This one on the right is you, you're just a little shorter than Mark." She said.

"Lizzy please..." Seline tried to tell her.

"And Mark is this one, with the red boots and purple shirt, and you're holding hands wit-"

"Lizzy please!" Seline said loudly, anger, sorrow, and pain clear in her voice. The sudden yell caused both Anna and Iota to jump to attention and face the two, their Protector instincts getting them ready for a fight at the tone, even though they knew Seline would never harm the girl.

"I just wanted to-" Lizzy started.

"I know Sweetheart... I know... I just, really need to be alone right now... I need to think." She said more calmly. Lizzy took on a saddened expression and looked down at the picture she had made for her. A few moments later she looked back up with a sad frown.

"Just because you can't see it... doesn't mean it's not there..." She said softly, turning to walk away and rejoin her Sisters at the makeshift boxing ring, wiping her moist eyes.

"It's okay Liz, she just needs some time to adjust, a lot has happened and she wasn't here for most of it." Anna explained.

"I know... I just wanted to do something nice for her." She responded sadly. Seline heard this, but said nothing, she had already felt like a knife was twisting into her chest and heart, and she was barely holding it together as it was. The wounded young Woman wiped the tears from her cheeks as they began to leak from her bandages again. Her mind was in turmoil, thoughts and memories of her Friends passing through her mind. Each one brought on yet more pain, sorrow, and anger. How had it happened? How could it have happened? They were supposed to be safe, they were supposed to be out of harms way, how did the Splicers even know where to find them when they attacked? Why did she go to the window? Why didn't she just stay in bed with Mark?

"Mark..." She whispered gently to herself. Now her mind shifted to questions about him and her. Would he still love her? Could he still love her? Would she just burden him? How could anyone love her now? She was broken, not even a full Woman anymore, she was less than she had been, far less, and she had barely been anything before. Her mind bombarded her with dark thoughts, each more evil and devious than the last. Hate, anger, sadness, disgust, regret, embarrassment, shame... they all punished her inwardly, ripping at her heart and threatening to tear her very soul away. She couldn't stop shaking, but she didn't know which of the emotions was causing it, they were all so strong inside of her, so angry, so pure. She felt as if there were a black hole inside of her, swallowing up everything that she was. She was weak, useless, small, fragile, an utter failure. How could she do anything now? How could she survive Rapture... let alone escape?