Leaving Walter's memories felt like another goodbye.

Delta, Johnny, whoever he was beneath the suit, tried to grapple with it for just a moment.

A short lived spark of desperation as he fruitlessly tried to stay within the memory. As if he could through sheer force of will, perhaps hoping he might somehow find himself within Walter's mind once again.

It wouldn't be the first time someone had coinhabited in such a way after all.

But there was no way to make the moment external and slowly, mournfully, Delta came back to himself.

If nothing else, he was at least not alone when he did. Able to look up and be met by his daughter's waiting, tender smile. Finally returned to him, whole and herself as he had not seen her...perhaps ever before. He'd never known Eleanor's eyes were such a soft, stormy blue until this moment.

Those quiet eyes were waiting for him, as well as whatever remained of Walter laid silent and still between them.

Except when Delta looked back to the still form of the Demo he did not feel any recognition or sting of loss. As if the shell had been emptied entirely.

It took Delta a moment to feel it.

A gentle coolness through the veins that the unfiltered ADAM rushed through mere seconds earlier. Clearing away the gunk and muk of a destroyed prototypes bond. Leaving him lighter, clearer and...closer.

Delta did not have the words to express the sensation, even if he'd still had the voice to try. His daughter, bless her, was not as lost as he.

Smiling still, Eleanor pressed her hand to his chest, gentle but certain when he couldn't fathom the same easy confidence.

"There." she murmured kindly. "Together again."

And, despite it all, Delta had no choice but to smile with her.

Hand placed over her own, as if holding the memory carefully between them. It was not what Delta could call happiness, but it came so very close that he dared not risk losing it again.

Then, of course, there was her.

His daughter, alive and grown.

Delta felt a familiar urge bubbling up, the one he recognised as his desire to babble, he hadn't had that need in such a long time. He physically couldn't anymore, but he had so much he wanted to tell her. To ask her. To get to know about her.

Instead, all Delta did in the end was embrace his daughter.

Pouring every word he couldn't speak into the tight hug. Drawing the young lady that was undoubtedly multitudes stronger than he was, protectively to his chest.

For a moment she hesitated, body tense as if trying to make sense of what he was doing. But ever so gradually Eleanor relaxed and wrapped her arms around him, holding just as tightly. An unspoken desperation shared between father and daughter.

It had been such a long road. But finally, finally they were together once more.

No, Delta couldn't call it perfect happiness. Still, he was sure that if Walter had wanted to capture the moment in his art, the man would have chosen warm words and for now that was enough.

"Come, Father." Eleanor whispered finally, forcing herself to break the embrace although she did not move far. Hands still lingering by his arms, careful not to allow the chance for another separation. "We must return to your allies."

His...allies.

His friends.

Clarity struck Delta. Sharp and cold as it always was. He couldn't hear them anymore.

Neither Tenebaum nor Sinclair had called for him in quite some time. He had no one else but himself to blame, of course. He'd tuned them out when turning off the radio. Having been unable to process anything more than finding Walter at the time.

One loss and heartache was all he could handle at a time.

Quickly Delta tried to turn the radio back on. Needing to signal to Sinclair that, despite what he now knew the man had done to them in another life, that Delta was still there.

That if he died, he didn't do it with Sinclair blocked out.

However when Delta reached out clumsily for his radio again, his trembling fingers fumbling for the switch, he was met by white noise. It was a static that sounded mocking in its familiarity from the outside.

The helmet was damaged.

He could only just make out snippets of something that sounded a bit like Sinclair - but he knew surely the man couldn't see him anymore with the visor shattered.

With both the glass of the helmet in shards and the radio more static than words, there was no way to contact Sinclair nor make out exactly what Sinclair in turn was saying.

Yet, despite being unable to communicate, Sinclair surely must have been watching the fight right up until...until the helmet was broken.

Delta felt an icy terror grip him as he wondered if Sinclair thought him lost. Wondered if Sinclair thought that Delta had pushed himself to death's door while refusing to so much as hear his voice.

He swore the city was laughing at them once more through the static.

But Eleanor, clever and quick as she was, caught his anxiety in mere seconds and began to help ease Delta back to his feet.

The fight had not left him without considerable damage and fatigue. Delta had not been fighting with the restraint of a man that meant to survive the encounter, that much had been clear from the outset and now his body punished him for his recklessness.

The simple act of standing once the adrenaline had worn down was a struggle. But Delta grit his teeth and tried to find the will to command his muscles once more.

"The train is not far, father. We will reach it with ease."

Delta truly wished he had her assurity. Perhaps some of Atlas's pessimism had rubbed off on him.

What of Atlas? Would he be there too? Delta had hoped the man would come around and try to mend the rift with Sinclair.

Then again, what of his own rift?

In his memory Sinclair looked so very different. He could not say if it was Walter's eyes that tended to see the world in sharp edges and cold tones, or the fact it had been so many years before. In a way it was almost funny. In his prime Sinclair had been such a handsome man, but he'd also been a man Delta couldn't recognise.

Sinclair might have softened some around the middle through the years, sure, but the other rough edges had been rounded too. Sharp eyes weren't quite razor edged, silver tongue not quite so shiny slick - yes, Delta much preferred Sinclair as he was in his eyes now, instead of Walter's then.

Walter would have been furious with him undoubtedly, but also unsurprised by his meekness. Then again, maybe he'd have just been pleased that Johnny had not changed too much beneath the metal.

No matter what he thought of Sinclair now, they had to return to both the man and the lifeboat. The city was looking about as worn thin as he felt, neither of them could take many more blows before sinking. Delta could only hope that Sinclair did not think he returned to settle a score.

He also rather hoped Eleanor didn't try taking a pound of flesh from him. She'd grown up so strong and sure, but Delta was positive he also saw some of Walter's influence in her. Walter had never been one to let go of a grudge and if Eleanor felt the same way towards Sinclair…

Well...they'd cross that bridge when they got there.

Wouldn't be the first time he had to break up spats between his friends over past crimes.

The progress they made was considerably slower than his original trek to find Demo and it was a small miracle that he felt any part of Walter that had once resided within the shell was gone or he likely couldn't have forced himself to leave the Demo's side.

Just as well the ADAM pulsing through his veins reminded him of worn books and abandoned paint brushes. Delta wondered if he would ever feel alone again, and he doubted it.

The journey back to the train was one taken in comfortable silence. As comfortable as Delta could be when his body was battered and broken to a degree he wasn't sure it could be repaired from were it not for Rapture's medical cheats.

Despite this Delta felt at ease for a short time. Eleanor wassolid and real at his side with a gentle lull of understanding hanging between them. One day he would tell her what it meant to him that she'd found a way to reunite them all. Even if it was in a form that he didn't expect anyone else would understand.

But as was Rapture's nature, the calm could not stay and when the train came into view the simple quiet was broken sharply.

"Delta! Herr Delta!"

That was Tenenbaum shouting his name and… running towards them in a blind panic.

He'd never seen Tenebaum panicked before. Actually he'd never even see her run before and they'd all been in plenty of situations that called for haste over the past few days. The doctor was something of a sturdy rock and to see her in such a state, in turn, terrified Delta.

The alpha series reached out to Tenebaum as she all but crashed into his chest. Eyes wild with an unexpected concern.

But what truly caught Delta's attention was what was clutched in her hands. The radio on one side seemed normal enough despite her vice, white knuckle grip on it. But in the other hand she clutched a small doll.

A doll with a baseball for a head and little screw for a drill. A doll that Delta was pretty positive he had actually left with someone else.

Confirmation of his brewing fears came fast and relentlessly.

"It is Sinclair." she got out breathlessly and Delta froze. "He went to search when we lost contact, the fool would not hear reason!"

The words had barely registered before Lamb's voice came cracking across the speakers once more, having no doubt waited for this revelation with eager, vicious glee.

"Yes, Delta, what of Sinclair?" Lamb asked smugly, Delta only barely hearing her over the rising panic between his thoughts.

"The man who would sell Paradise...and where is he now? Where have those lofty, self-serving ambitions gotten him?"

Delta couldn't speak, couldn't express the mounting molten hot anger within his chest. So he did all he could to express his hatred of the woman's snide musings.

Without even lifting a finger his telekinesis plucked up a harpoon. Sending the metal spear hurtling through the air and smashing the nearest speaker to bits.

The sudden crash of metal and broken glass caused both Tenebaum and his daughter to flinch, but Delta wasn't paying attention. Focused only on Lamb and the pounding of his heart in his head.

"You have stolen my life's work, and with it - my only daughter. Every moment tears Eleanor further from me, Delta. Soon, this father obsession will end her. You have left me without want… so before you die, I will take all that you hold dear.

Another speaker shattered to pieces, but Lamb's voice still carried on. Only a little softer than before.

"The Demo died a hero of the Rapture Family, Delta. Was he a friend to you, or just another tool? Can you even grasp the difference?"

Another speaker gone.

"And Sinclair? Well Sinclair is just another body in your wake"

Finally Delta tore away from Eleanor and Tenebaum both. Turning towards the last of the speakers in the chamber. It broke apart just like those all before it but silenced as she momentarily was, Lamb's voice plagued Delta still.

Was Sinclair already dead at Lamb's hands? Was it too late? Was it his fault again?

"Herr Delta you cannot go!" Tenebaum called after him in alarm. Delta did not even know exactly where he planned to search for Sinclair, just that he had to start immediately. He ignored the doctor's pleas even as she tried to speak reason to him.

"Your shoulder, herr Delta. Your… your armour. You can surely not fight any longer! Do not be so foolish as Augustus!"

He wasn't a fool. He knew the state of himself.

Barely able to walk. Arm broken or dislocated, still limp at his side and forced to carry the weight of his drill painfully. Bleeding from his head where his face had been exposed to the rest of the world.

If he entered any fight now, he would perish. No ifs, ands or buts about it.

Yet, what other choice was there?

To let Lamb snatch away Sinclair as some form of punishment for his retrieval of their daughter? Delta had been ready to die for Walter in the past, he could surely muster up that same force of will for Sinclair now.

He would have too. Determined to continue walking towards an unknown target until a simple sight stopped him in his tracks. Eleanor had her hands out in front of him, blocking his path.

She didn't say anything, just stared at him with eyes far too firm for a girl her age.

Delta in turn pointed towards her, then Tenenbaum and then to the train. Firm in his own motions. Message clear as day.

She had to come first this time. Walter had once put them above himself, and Delta wouldn't insult his resolve a second time by allowing Eleanor to fight it. Unfortunately she seemed to have a similar thought.

"You would not leave us." Eleanor asserted and Delta nodded back angry and stiff.

Pointing between the three once more. He would not leave any of them behind, but they must leave him.

"You would die for this man?" Eleanor demanded, temper flaring within her as well. It almost gave Delta reason for pause. Her scowl looked just like Walters when he was irate with him… "This man that did all of this to us. Truly?"

Delta wished once again he had use of his voice. He couldn't weave words the same way Sinclair or Walter might have, making it a strange art in their own right. But he could have at least told his daughter how his heart bled for these people.

That he didn't know the man that Eleanor did. That to him Sinclair was a friendly voice and confidant through hell. A friend that had run off to try and save him at the end.

All Delta wanted to do was beg Eleanor to see the world through his eyes as she might have Walter's.

But without words, all Delta could do was turn back towards Tenenbaum. Staring miserable at the little homemade doll he'd not long ago given to Sinclair as a promise to return, and nod.

After a moment his daughter let out a rather furious sounding sight of frustration. That too felt familiar to Delta and he almost smiled through the melancholy. Maybe it would be okay for Eleanor to see through Walter's eyes a little longer, if only because she seemed to understand him without the need for too many words just the same as he had.

Striding forward, Eleanor reached out and grasped his hand without a hint of hesitation, levelling him with a sturdy look.

"Father." Eleanor began sternly. "You are not alone here."

Then, her deft fingers pressed against the injection site that still burned warm and true with the pure ADAM Walter's sacrifice provided and Delta could not feel cold no matter how much ice Lamb spoke directly into his heart.

For a brief moment Delta swore he could not breathe but when he finally exhaled it was as though Eleanor had taken all his resistance with her.

Turning back slowly Delta took Eleanor's hands in his own. She'd grown so much but even now her hands fit neatly into one of his. Still his daughter, still their little Eleanor…

In turn she seemed to relax a little bit too. Trusting he would not rush off to his certain demise.

"We still have much to learn about true family but...we think we're beginning to understand." Eleanor told him in a hushed voice. "We have watched you as best we could. All of you. We have seen the things we do for family even if not connected by anything more than sentiment rather than blood and...perhaps we are beginning to understand it."

Eleanor paused before raising her head slightly to look at him once more with a lopsided, tired smile. "But truly, Father, you really do pick such dreadfully high maintenance men for this family…"

This time Delta did smile.

However just as the expression began to form, static cut across the air.

"Yeah…'bout that."

All three of them startled as a tired voice came dryly over the radio clutched in Tenebaum's hand. She looked more surprised than any of them to hear that familiar accented voice again.

"You better never breath a fucking word about this...but you might have been on to something with that whole 'for family' bit.."

"Voice…" Eleanor breathed in recognition and on the other side of the radio, Atlas offered a dry chuckle of his own.

"Think I figured it out this time."

And Eleanor Lamb smiled bright enough for all of them.