Creeping Shadows
Her lips met his again and again each with more heat and passion than the last, every kiss holding so much power it made her feel like the rest of the world no longer existed, all of the things they couldn't say to each other, all of the things they wanted to say to each other flowed out of them with each kiss. Omega responded in kind by pulling her closer until he was holding her to his chest, he placed his hand on the side of her head and she nuzzled into it. Iota gave a quiet screeching moan that surprised even her, his pheromones were so powerful she felt like she could melt, when she pulled away for air she could see that she was having the same effect on him. She pulled Omega forward again and put her nose to the side of his neck taking in more of his intoxicating scent, feeling his lips kiss her neck she gave another quiet moan signaling her approval, with her body against his she could feel his racing heart as he could hers. A devilish smile grew on her face when she felt the cold chills on the back of his neck, angling her head so he could have better access to her neck she let out a very seductive breath in his ear, when she did she felt his K9's lightly nip the skin on her neck only enough to excite and tickle her. Iota giggled screechingly and grabbed his wrist, she begrudgingly pulled away from him and began lightly running toward the doors of the pool hall leading him to a more suited location for their "bonding activities".
After passing James and Mark in the hallway Iota giggled once again still leading Omega to her living quarters, both Mark and James grinned at Omega when they passed obviously knowing where they were going and what they were going to do. They both looked at each other with knowing smirks and gave each other a high five as congratulations for the part they played. Iota pulled Omega through the front door to her apartment room and left Omega at the entrance as she strode over to her bed, Omega tilted his head as he watched her through the doorway that separated her room from the living room. Iota turned to face him and gave him a sweet smile, with an embarrassed and blushed look she slowly pulled the thin straps on her short dress off of her shoulders, as the dress fell she looked toward the window on her right too embarrassed to see how Omega would react. He was a little surprised when her dress came off until he remembered that she hated wearing underwear because her suit made it so uncomfortable, his mind flashed back to their time in the maintenance room in Dionysus Park before, back then he had removed part of her suit so that he could keep her warm and never put much thought toward her body, or her beauty. It was for survival, but now, he could fully appreciate her in all of her Womanly glory, her smooth pale skin, her lean muscles, her delicate glowing eyes that held so much fierceness and love. He could have gazed at her for hours simply appreciating every aspect about her, every aspect he loved with a burning fury inside.
Iota could feel his eyes on her as he drank in her body, like she could tell exactly where he was looking even if she couldn't see him. She felt so Happy but also very sheepish, even a little scared, she had been nude in front of him before but it had never been for anything other than medical treatment or to change damaged suits. This went way beyond damaged suits however, the entire situation had changed and she was both eager and scared of the current situation. She looked back at Omega and could see the effect she was having on him, she watched him for a moment as the wheels started turning in his head, likely all the things he wanted to do to her. Omega turned toward the door causing her heart to stop for a split moment, that is, until he locked not one or two but all three of the door's locks. Iota smiled happily when each of them clicked and couldn't help but feel relieved, when he made his way over to her she realized how much she was shaking, if it were from adrenaline, or nervousness she no longer knew. She felt Omega's hand pull her chin up when she looked away, he wanted her full attention, his hand was so gentle, so warm, the same hands that had snuffed the life out of countless people were so tender and soft, and it was only for her. She looked into his bright eyes, the same eyes that usually held such a stoic and determined look now only held such compassion for her. Her shaking had stopped when he leaned down to kiss her again with the same passion she had experienced in the Pool Room, this time with more intensity, Iota put her hands on his chest before grabbing his shirt and ripping it off of his body in one effortless motion, she tossed the ruined fabric aside and he didn't seem to mind. She ran her hands up and down his torso feeling the muscles only years of hard combat could give and she moaned as he did the same to her, each brush of their fingers sending lightning bolts through both of them. She pulled him down onto the bed and wrapped her arms around him, again, he didn't seem to mind. They continued their kissing, it was awkward at first, even clumsy but they soon fell into rhythm with each other and felt their bodies tune in to one another even further.
Omega was breathing heavily but then again so was she, he ran his hand gently up her thigh and pulled her leg up to wrap around him, he cupped her breast in his hand causing her to give another moan that almost drove him mad. With each sound she made he could feel his heart speed up and she sounded like an angel to him, she was an angel to him. He paused for a moment when he noticed the tears streaking down her pale cheeks even though the expression on her face couldn't be happier. His expression changed to concern when he saw her tears, afraid that he might have hurt her in some way. Iota seemed to notice his change in behavior when she saw the look on his face and gave him another heated kiss that quickly layed his mind to rest. Omega brought his hand up and gently wiped the tears away causing Iota to give him another smile filled with so much happiness and love it made him feel like exploding. She pulled his face down closer to hers and gave him a nod as she glanced down toward their legs, Omega gave her a smirk before kissing her again and began removing the pants that James and Mark had let him borrow.
When they had finished both of them were panting and held each other close, neither one wanting to ever leave that embrace. Iota lay on his chest, her legs trembling from the pleasure she had experienced for the first time feeling nothing but pure and wholesome love for the Man she was holding. Omega lightly brushed her hair with his fingers and for the longest time neither of them thought about anything but each other, they enjoyed each other's company and closeness. Neither of them had been so close with anyone, only each other, both of them were simply in that room in their own little world.
Iota looked up at her Lover with a devilish grin, when he returned the smirk she giggled again, she wasn't sore from their first bout anymore and was thankful for her super regenerative abilities, now it was time to test their enhanced endurance she thought as she climbed on top of her Mate.
The next few days were filled with a sort of routine, during the Group's agreed upon waking hours Omega and Iota would help defend the Hotel from the odd Splicer attack, the afternoons were spent training and now included Anna in the strict and unforgiving methods only a Big Sister and Big Brother were capable of, and at night Omega and Iota would seek the privacy of their room. While they were used to working alone as Protectors, both of them found a relaxation and peace with each other when they were alone that they would never have imagined possible before, even without an effective way of communicating they simply felt right together, like they could say with actions what they would never be able to, like they could understand each other perfectly without the need for words, all they had to do was take one look into the other's eyes and understand exactly how they felt or what they wanted.
Iota watched as her Partner dodged and blocked all of Anna's attacks with ease, her glowing eyes following every one of her younger Sibling's movements, it reminded her of her days in training and brought back both fond and not so fond memories. Anna was improving at an astonishing rate, she had already been partially trained before the Family was destroyed so she really just needed practice now. Both Iota and Omega had to admit that she was skilled, she simply lacked the experience that made them so deadly and efficient, she had only ever defended herself against Splicers so that she and Lizzy could escape, she never fought to kill them. The Pool room had become their training grounds for the time being and she had to admit it served it's purpose quite well. There was a lot of open ground and very few tripping hazards, it was ideal for training a Little Sister to become a Protector. Iota couldn't help but chuckle slightly as Omega caught one of Anna's kicks with his left hand and lifted her into the air. He simply held her there as she flailed angrily, when she finally calmed down the Brother dropped her and began circling her as he walked. Anna landed with an "Oof" as she fell to her back, she looked up at her Brother's demonic looking helmet and sighed.
"I know I have to keep calm in a fight but my Mental conditioning still causes me to get angry easily! I don't know how to stop it." Anna said with annoyance as she watched her Brother shake his head as if to say "That's no excuse." and caused her another sigh. He tapped the side of his helmet slowly like he was thinking and she knew exactly what he meant.
"I know it's in my mind but you don't know what it's like trying to-" She caught herself, actually he did know what it was like to wrestle with mental conditioning and the rampant angry mood swings it caused. She shook her head mentally cursing herself, she trusted her Siblings but she was also angry at the fact that she was running into problems in her training. Her mind flashed back to what Tenenbaum had told her when she first started her training. "Without conflict, and failure there can be no progress, it is good to have problems, they breed progress." The older Woman had wisely told her, it was true what she said now that she thought about it. Her skills were improving all the time due to her failures, thanks mostly to her teachers who never faltered on delivering her a swift but necessary "Correction." when she messed something up, she had taken a few jabs to her ribs for being open and quite a few more to her head for not protecting it.
Iota walked slowly to her Sister causing the light fabric of her short dress to wrap around her form and Omega's eyes followed her from underneath his helmet, when she reached Anna she crouched down beside her and flicked the helmet she let her Sister borrow. The loud "ding" caused Anna to jump and look to her left, She mumbled something before pulling the helmet off of her head and wiping her brow. "I can't breathe in this thing and I can hardly move in this suit because it's too big!" she complained. Iota simply stared at her with the same look Omega always wore, the look of someone who was annoyed and bored at the same time. Anna knew she had said too much when she saw her older Sibling bite her lip and look to Omega as she pulled her shoulder length black hair back behind one ear. The Titan of a Sibling only nodded causing Anna to gulp, they did it again she thought, they were communicating without words and by the look on her Sister's face it wasn't a praise toward her.
When Iota looked back at her she gave the younger Sister a sly smile before pointing at her eyes and back to Omega. Anna sighed again, she was watching his movements, he was just too fast for her, both of them were so infuriating sometimes!
"I am watching his movements, he's just too fast! By the time I notice where he's aiming I only have a split second to react!..." The teen said angrily, she quickly learned the error of her pouting. Omega's head reared back when he heard the complaint leave his younger Sister's lips, her eyes went wide when she heard him pulling air into his lungs and knew she was about to regret her earlier statement.
Iota simply watched as Anna frantically looked to her and quickly put her helmet back on, the older Sister only shook her head with a wry smile. When Omega's death howl echoed through the pool room Anna tried to cover her ears before remembering she was wearing her Sister's helmet. The only thing she could see through her blurry vision was her Brother's fist coming toward the porthole, before she could react the attack met it's target causing her to stumble backwards. After regaining her balance the younger Sister threw a flurry of punches that her Brother swatted away with little effort. She heard him growl impatiently before shifting his weight and throwing a roundhouse kick directly to her ribs, Anna coughed and dropped to her knees as she held her stomach. She could see Omega walking toward her with his fists clenched, she grunted in pain and gasped from having the air knocked out of her.
Why was he so angry, what had she done? She wondered. When Omega reached her he knelt down in front of her and gave a very vocal bark of irritation. She could only wheeze and gasp for air, did he really have to kick her that hard? It had only been a few days since they began and she thought she was doing pretty good, but when she saw her Sibling's reactions she doubted herself, no matter how hard she tried they only looked at her like she had learned nothing.
Anna was pulled out of her thoughts when she heard a loud "DING" in her helmet again, when she looked up she saw Omega's hand, his finger shot out causing another loud pop to ring inside the helm. He continued adding more and more force to the flicks, Anna growled and swatted his hand away. Omega tilted his head and put his hand back for another volley, when the Sister attempted to swat his hand again his left hand shot up unexpectedly and flicked her, he continued to trick her with fakes until he saw her head pull back in realization.
"I-I'm being predictable?" She asked quietly. Her Brother nodded, she looked to her older Sister only for her to confirm it as well. Anna thought for a moment before looking back to Omega. "Alright, let's go again!" she said with new determination. Omega hopped up and stepped back into his fighting stance as his student did the same. The Brother began to question her learning abilities when she threw another set of punches at him, he deflected them as he sighed.
Anna smirked under her helmet before dropping low in an attempt to sweep his legs, he simply stepped over that as well. Now it was time to surprise him, before she could spin full circle Anna arched backwards catching herself with her hands in an impressive display of flexibility. She swung her leg up and brought it back down toward his head, like a back handspring she had initiated from the ground. Omega moved with lightning speed to catch the unexpected attack, when he grabbed her ankle he thought he had avoided the threat. Anna quickly used her own leg as a pendulum and pulled her torso up so that she was directly under him, when he looked down at her she smiled again, she had him now. She brought her hand up as fast as she could and released a large fireball of Incinerate straight into the eye slits of his helmet, as he let go of her ankle she rolled between his legs and stood behind him. When her Brother turned around slowly his helmet lights illuminated her in a crimson glow, Anna felt dread wash over her, the very air of the room had changed. She felt her legs tremble when he lunged toward her, she tried to move but couldn't, the only thing she could do was close her eyes and wait for his terrible punishment to commence. She closed her eyes tightly and waited, and waited... and waited. When she finally opened her eyes in confusion he was standing in front of her with his soot covered helmet staring at her. He wasn't going to attack her for tricking him? She was confused until she saw Iota chuckling as she approached. Iota gently patted Anna's helmeted head with a smile and all of her previous fear washed away. Anna took off her heavy helmet and watched Iota wipe the black soot from Omega's for him, she kissed his helmet on the mouth guard and chuckled again. The Brother only nodded to her, he cracked his neck and stepped back into his fighting stance, he looked over to Iota and waited. Iota thought for a moment and looked back to her younger Sister before smiling fiendishly, she then held up her hand to Omega with five fingers held up followed by a big zero with her other hand. Anna gulped as she realized what her Sister was doing... she wanted Omega to use fifty percent of his full strength in their next match, her eyes went wide as she questioned how much he had been using before. The younger Sister quickly put her helmet on when she saw Iota counting down with her fingers from five, She was still panting heavily but she knew if she didn't hurry she would get a harsh punishment.
Iota walked back over to one of the old pool chairs she had angled to watch the training and sat down, she listened to the phonograph that chimed one of Cohen's earlier works. She listened to the gentle piano notes and the delicate hum of the violin as she matched her Sibling's movements with the rhythm.
After a few more rounds of sparing with Omega, Anna was regretting that she had asked her older Siblings to train her. She was exhausted, out of breath, and it felt like her suit was two hundred degrees hotter than when they started. Omega on the other hand looked exactly how he did after every one of their sparing matches, like he was now warmed up. She panted heavily as she removed her older Sister's bulky helmet and wiped the sweat from her forehead. Omega walked over and extended his hand to help the girl up, she wasted no time in taking up his offer, her muscles were burning and it felt like her legs would give out from the ferocity of their shaking. Her Brother pulled her up to her feet with ease and held her steady until she nodded that she was okay, she gave him a tired smile as he patted her shoulder.
"Thank you both for teaching me." she said as she looked from Omega to Iota, they both nodded as her Sister gave a warm smile. Anna was nowhere near as good as them but she was every bit as determined, it didn't matter how many times she spared with them, when Iota or Omega knocked her down she got back up. She took pride in that fact, even if they weren't using their full strength. Anna shakily made her way over to her Sister and handed her helmet back over, Iota cleaned the porthole as her Sister began taking off the rest of the suit.
"You know, this would be a lot easier if you got me my own suit right?" Anna chirped glancing up to see her sibling's reactions, both Protectors looked at each other and simply ignored her comment. Anna sighed, she would have to get better first but that didn't mean she would stop pestering them about it. Once she removed her Sister's body suit she watched how easily Iota removed her short dress and put her suit on, it was impressive to say the least but then again, practice makes perfect. Anna chuckled at the thought that occurred in her head, Iota was skillful enough to put all of her combat gear on in under two minutes yet she still had a difficult time putting regular clothes on the right way around. After all three Siblings were set they returned to their temporary base for some food and rest, ready to do it all over again the next day.
...
Three days later Omega now sat where Iota had and watched his Siblings train, Iota fierce and graceful, while Anna was inexperienced but determined. They had already made her run laps around the Pool room as part of her stamina training, then they practiced hand to hand and Plasmid techniques, now it was time for weapons training. She had practically started to glow when Iota handed Anna her Harvesting Needle, she had practiced the movements and attacks countless times without it but this time she got to actually use it. It was heavier than she thought but nothing she couldn't handle, especially with her eagerness to prove herself in her Sibling's eyes.
As Omega watched Iota and Anna spar he focused on their movements like a hawk watches a mouse, Iota held her hands behind her back as Anna tried with all of her might to slash or stab her Sister with the heavy Harvesting needle on her right arm. Iota leaned back to avoid a slash, ducked to her right to avoid a stab and jumped to keep her legs from being sliced by a low swing, all the while holding an amused smile on her face. Omega counted the number of times Anna left herself open, as best as he could count anyway, tallying up his fingers he shook his head. Forty times a Splicer could have wounded her if she had to fight alone, not to mention if there were more than one opponent, which in many cases there would be and that number only doubled since she was fighting Iota. It might seem like a large number to some but those weren't terrible odds when it came to fighting a lone Splicer, they were usually too drugged up or insane to even notice when an opening presented itself, let alone move fast enough to take advantage of it, but it was still very possible. Most Splicers attacked with blind rage and wild movements, they were unpredictable and that made them dangerous. Omega watched Iota bring her hands from behind her back to swat any further attacks away with just as much ease as she had dodged them, she was so good in fact it looked like she was moving very slowly. When the large needle came toward her she would place her palm on the side and redirect it using Anna's own momentum against her, her short white dress flowing gently around her as she did so. Omega watched her eyebrows scrunch and heard her release a sigh of annoyance, Iota pushed Anna's thrust toward the ground with her left arm and brought her right knee up sharply catching Anna right in the forehead of the helmet. Omega watched her pull the poor girl back to her feet and show her what she was doing wrong, Iota had obviously been counting too.
"Herr Omega, how is she doing?" He heard a familiar voice from his right, Tenenbaum and Joe came strolling up keeping their attention on the training match. Almost as soon as the question left her lips they heard another thud only to see Anna take a heavy punch to the abdomen and drop to her knees. Omega shrugged while making a slow circular motion with his finger.
"Slow, huh? Well slow and steady wins the race, at least that's what I've always heard." Joe said enthusiastically as he smiled from behind his beard, Omega shook his head. Whoever invented that term had never fought a Splicer in an under water City on it's last legs.
"I came down here to see if you could give me a hand with something, if you're not too busy that is." Joe asked pointing behind him. Omega looked back to his Mate who was still smacking their Charge around and nodded. He gave a sharp screech to get Iota's attention and pointed to Joe and Tenenbaum.
"We're gonna barrow Omega real quick, need his expertise on some things!" Joe yelled across the pool hall to the two girls. Iota simply gave a thumbs up without taking her eyes off of Anna, when Anna looked over to the source of the commotion her Sister corrected her mistake by smacking the side of her helmet with enough force to send her sister to the ground and caused both of their Human spectators to flinch at the heavy hit.
"Damn, you all aren't pulling any punches in her training are ya?" Joe asked as they turned to leave, Omega simply shook his head, they couldn't afford to, Splicers certainly wouldn't.
As Joe, Tenenbaum, and Omega left the pool room they headed into the Lobby and turned down a dark hallway leading downstairs to the basement. Joe clicked on an old flashlight and covered his nose and mouth with a rag, Tenenbaum did the same as they made their way down the darkened steps.
"This is the sub-level of the Athena's Glory, Hotel staff used it to do maintenance for the building as well as laundry and other things back when there were actually a need for such chores." Joe spoke with a muffled voice due to the rag. They made their way down a long and dark passage way with the only light source being that of Omega's helmet and Joe's old flashlight.
"The Hotel's laundry room, sewage, and power runs through here. The sewage has been leaking for a while but that is not the only cause for such a foul odor." Tenenbaum explained.
"You remember when you first got to the hotel, how many bodies Y'all left behind?" Joe asked. Omega nodded still wondering where he was going with the question.
"Well, then you remember how we all just shoved them down the laundry Shute?" again Omega nodded.
"That was a lot of bodies, probably the biggest bloodbath I've ever seen... and I've seen a few." he added
"As have I." Tenenbaum noted.
"But I've never seen a dead Man get up and walk it off..." Joe said as they turned a corner and entered a large room with rusted washing machines lining the walls.
"Have you?" he asked as he looked over to Omega. The Protector stood silent as he observed the large room, blood stains on the concrete floor both new and old, he looked up to see the laundry Shute sticking out of the ceiling connecting all of the floors.
Joe and Tenenbaum watched the Protector take off his helmet and squint his eyes, no corpses remained. Holding his helmet under his right arm the Brother made his way to the middle of the room to stand under the bloody laundry Shute and began looking around the blood soaked floor.
"God I don't know how you Protectors can have such an incredible sense of smell and be able to stand this shit!" Joe said as he shook his head trying not to breath the crippling stench.
"Simple Joe, they are used to it." Tenenbaum explained causing Joe to shake his head again in amazement.
Omega knelt down and picked up a single tooth from the floor, he inspected it before throwing it away, Tenenbaum watched his face the entire time, it was clear that he was as baffled as they were and that greatly concerned her. The Brother brushed his fingers along a dried puddle of blood and screeched toward his two human companions. Joe and the Doctor looked at each other and walked over to join him. He pointed at the floor causing Tenenbaum and Joe to get closer to the ground, Joe shined his flashlight on the floor only to find that some of the concrete had been scratched away, two parallel scratch marks were dug into the surface. Joe scrunched his brow as he thought.
"What'ya think Doc, cannibalistic Splicer could've took em." he remarked as he looked to the Woman.
"Perhaps but I've never known Splicers to resort to cannibalism with so much food just lying around." She answered.
"A Cult maybe, there were those crazy Bastards in Arcadia that were drinking human blood?" he asked trying to figure out the solution to their missing dead men.
Omega stood up and looked at the Laundry Shute again then to the floor surrounding the point that the corpses would have hit the floor, he followed a bloody drag mark further into the darkness as Tenenbaum and Joe talked. With his night vision as capable as it was he didn't even need joe or his dim flashlight.
"You can't be serious Joe, Zombies, of all the things it could be!" Tenenbaum yelled at him.
"I'm just saying Doc it's a possibility!" He said as he motioned to the empty room causing the Doctor to roll her eyes. Their attention was pulled to the darkness of the room when they heard Omega screech again. Both of them stood up and followed the source of the sound as Joe illuminated the path in front of them. Bloody drag marks and cuts littered the floor in front of them until they finally cam up to Omega's back. He was crouched in front of a large hole in the wall looking into the darkness. Joe knelt down beside him and aimed his flashlight into the hole, there were pipes lining an adjacent hallway inside with steam and small drippings of water falling from them.
"It looks like another Maintenance tunnel, I doubt there is anyone left alive that knows where it leads. If you thought trying to find your way around Rapture on foot was bad... try navigating the labyrinth of access tunnels underneath the City." Tenenbaum remarked.
"Yeah I don't think so Doc, it's nearly im-" Joe was cut off when Omega's hand shot up telling him to "wait" They watched in silence as Omega tilted his head toward the darkness. Tenenbaum's eyes narrowed as she watched him, she and Joe couldn't hear anything but Omega certainly did. She watched his eyes flit back and fourth trying to visualize whatever was making the sounds he was hearing... until his illuminated eyes stopped completely. She watched his lips part to reveal his sharp K9's as he growled. Tenenbaum jumped up and began backing away when she started to hear the faint clangs of something hard on metal, joe stood up and dropped the rag he was using to cover his face, he pulled his shotgun off his shoulder and aimed at the hole as he put the flashlight on the side of his gun's barrel. Omega growled louder and threw on his helmet in a flash ready for a fight.
Tenenbaum looked at her Friend with concern clear on her face and he could practically read her mind... Whatever was heading toward them, whatever caused Omega to turn hostile as soon as he heard it, it wasn't good.
The metal clanks were getting louder now echoing through the tunnel it was hard to tell how far away it was... or what it was. Tenenbaum closed her eyes and counted, ten, twenty, fifty. She couldn't tell how many of them there were, only that there were alot of them. As if Omega had read her mind he stomped his foot hard enough to send foot long cracks into the concrete below, he balled his fists up and let forth an enormous howling roar that drowned out all other sources of sound. Joe and Tenenbaum dropped to their knees holding their ears and screaming in pain. Joe watched his flashlight flicker from the immense sound and it felt like the entire building was shaking until Omega finally stopped. Tenenbaum and Joe were panting and their heads were aching from the terrible war cry, they watched the Protector as he listened for anymore sound inside of the other access tunnel. When he was sure whatever it was that had been moving toward them had fled he moved over to Joe who was still knelt on the floor holding his head. Though he couldn't hear anything he could feel Omega's heavy boots stomping toward him and from the look of his body language he could tell the Male Protector was angry, furious even. When Omega reached him he crouched beside him and yanked two grenades off of Joe's belt ignoring his protest. Omega walked back over to the hole and stopped, Joe and Tenenbaum heard a sharp screech through the ringing in their ears coming from the way they had come before, they turned to see Iota in the distance, she must have been moving lighting fast to both have her suit on and catch up to them in such a short period of time, likely due to the aggressive howl her Mate had produced. Omega gave an aggressive responding screech and snapped his gloved fingers angrily toward the hole, within seconds Iota had covered the entire room to stand next to him. Joe watched him turn toward her and describe his plan, he pointed at the large hole in the wall and brought his fist into his palm, he then clapped his palms together and pointed behind him. Joe didn't understand what he was saying at all but Iota understood perfectly, he watched her nod and then follow her Mate into the massive breach of the wall. Joe shook his head and wiped the blood from his nose, he grabbed his shotgun and made his way over to the hole.
"Joe... what are you?" he heard Tenenbaum ask through a dazed tone.
"get to the lobby Doc, I think they're gonna try to collapse this tunnel, make sure everybody is ready for a fight if this plan goes south!" he yelled as he shook his head one last time, he took the flashlight from his shotgun and rolled it back to the Doctor before following the two Protectors into the darkness. Tenenbaum grabbed the flashlight and began slowly making her way back to the Hotel's higher levels.
Joe landed on metal grating in the pitch black of the tunnel, he turned to see a wall of fallen rubble blocking what would almost certainly be another path deeper into the maze of tunnels, he couldn't even see any of the lights from Iota or Omega's armor. He pulled out his old Zippo lighter and lit a cigar before holding the flame above him for what little light it could provide. He slowly made his way deeper into the access tunnel with his shotgun pointed in the only direction an enemy could come from, a distant explosion echoed loudly through the tunnel causing the Man to lean against the cold metal pipes that ran along the wall, the walls and floor were shaking and the stench of rotting corpses overlapped with dust and mildew. He heard another large explosion and continued his way through the darkness and steam.
When Joe could finally see Iota and Omega again they had their backs to him and they were creating a wall of ice as they walked backward, Joe sighed in relief as he wiped the cold sweat from his brow, thankful that he had found them instead of whatever else may be lurking in the tunnels. He never thought he would see the day he was thankful to see not one but two Protectors in a dark passage.
"Did you guys find out what was down here?" he asked. Omega shook his head "No."
Joe paused for a moment thinking of things to ask them, Things they could answer even without talking. Though Gen two Protector's Plasmids were far more powerful than that of an ordinary user they still needed to concentrate to form the massive amount of ice they were using to block the tunnel with. Joe could see how tense they were, it must have put an enormous strain on them, to him it looked more like they were trying to hold back a massive force as they walked backwards but he knew it was merely the strain of the activity itself.
"Do you know how many there were?" Joe asked as he walked backwards with them, again, Omega shook his head "No." Joe started to worry when he saw Iota look up toward Omega, Joe could tell she was tense as well. He knew Omega was a mean son of a bitch, probably the meanest, so for him to take so many precautions it had to be a massive threat. One that could even wipe out the Hotel's defenses. He had come to learn a few things from the Big Brother in their time at the Hotel. Omega didn't know fear, didn't shy away from bloodshed, and he preferred to face his problems head on, the only reason he wouldn't try to kill whatever that threat was is if he wasn't sure he could beat it, or if it would put his family in too much danger. Joe watched the two Protectors continue slowly freezing the entire tunnel with a massive wall of ice as he thought about their unknown enemy. It sounded like there were hundreds of them but that couldn't be right, maybe it was just the tunnel distorting the sounds, Hell maybe it was just rats and Omega didn't recognize it. Joe shook his head at the thought of giant killer rats, too many questions remained and by the way both Iota and Omega were acting it was obviously a very real threat to the entire group.
After nearly an hour of slowly sealing the old access tunnel between rest breaks the three Allies climbed back out of the tunnel and into the stinking laundry room of the Hotel, Joe sighed.
"We need to get back up stairs and tell the others what you heard... or, at least what you might've heard." Joe said warily.
Omega nodded stiffly and the three started making their way back up stairs, on their way past the lobby Omega twisted one of their automatic turrets around to face the basement hallway just for good measure. Iota watched him do so and couldn't help but feel uneasy, Omega only acted like this when he knew a big fight was coming, she looked back at the eerie hallway but they didn't even know what they would be fighting... or when, that made her especially anxious, it was a tactical disadvantage and she sneered at the thought.
When the trio finally reached their makeshift base of operations they found that the rest of the Survivors had taken cover behind the hallway's barricade in preparation for a large attack. Omega was walking fast, fists clenched and by the sound of his heavy boots on the hallway floor everyone knew he wasn't in a good mood or even his regular indifferent mood. Iota struggled to keep pace with his stride and Joe lagged even further behind her. She kept looking at Tenenbaum and the other's worried faces, then back to Omega. With a sharp barking screech he circled his finger in the air and pointed to their meeting room toward the back of the floor. As if reading him perfectly everyone, including a scared Anna immediately started jogging to the location he had ordered. The Humans had placed the Protectors in charge of their security because there was simply no one better at keeping others safe than Rapture's elite Guardians, they were called "Protectors" for a reason. So when a threat presented itself and either Omega or Iota told them to jump, they jumped. Anna knew even better than they did, she was in the training room when she and Iota heard Omega's thundering roar echo through the building, within the blink of an eye Iota had pulled her suit off of Anna and put it on, she practically carried her to the stairs and pushed her toward them. Anna didn't need to know what was going on, she knew Omega was in some kind of dangerous situation and Iota ordered her to get back up stairs so she ran as fast as she could. She waited frantically for her Siblings to return and when they did, even though they looked tense, she breathed a huge sigh of relief. She wanted to help them but she knew if she even tried she would just be in the way and cause trouble for them if they ended up having to protect her along with Joe and Tenenbaum, so she decided to do the logical thing and wait.
upon entering the meeting lounge everyone had always casually sat wherever they wanted around the room. This time however, everyone gathered a little closer to the white board at the back of the room. All eyes were on Omega and Iota as they walked in and stood on either side of the board, everyone whispered to each other about what was going on as the two Protectors removed their helmets just like Tenenbaum suggested they do to help them connect to their Human Allies, aside from the bright glow of their yellow eyes and their abnormally sharp fangs it seemed to help. Iota took her helmet off first and shook her shoulder length black hair to loosen it from where it had settled. She watched as Omega removed his and ran a hand through his shorter black hair scratching his head, he didn't look pleased. He tucked his helmet under his arm and waited for Tenenbaum to speak up, the older Woman walked up to the board with her lips in a thin line, everyone watched as she placed two maps on the board side by side. One looked like a regular map of the district they were currently in with the Athena's Glory Hotel circled in green, the only other colors on the map being that of red X's Iota and Omega had placed indicating tunnels that had collapsed or were flooded. Everyone watched as Omega picked up a red marker and uncapped it, their looks turned to shock when he slowly circled the Hotel with red. everyone looked back and forth to each other before Tenenbaum cleared her throat to speak.
"We have a situation." she said as she glanced over to Omega who had now taken a more comfortable leaning position on the wall, he had his arms crossed and looked like he was in deep thought.
"We have a hole in our security, a big one." Joe said as he stood up and walked over to stand in front of the group.
"earlier today while our Protector Friends were training the Doc and I came across a discovery, all the bodies we had dumped down the old Laundry Shute were gone." he said darkly and everyone started whispering in hushed tones.
"We asked Herr Omega to accompany us to the basement to see if he knew anything, or could find anything, any kind of knowledge he might have had as to why there were no more Corpses." Tenenbaum explained as she looked back to Omega, he still looked like he was in deep thought as well as annoyance, Iota merely shifted uncomfortably.
"That's when we found a breach in one of the Basement walls leading to an old maintenance access tunnel, looked old, in bad shape too. Hell I doubt there's anybody left alive that could navigate those tunnels." Joe said as he pointed to the second map Tenenbaum had put on the white board. before he could finish explaining he heard Vicki speak up.
"So no one's alive to go through them and no one knows they exist, isn't all of this a bit much for one abandoned tunnel?" She asked and gestured around to the tense feeling in the room.
"They're not abandoned." Joe said as he shot her a stare for interrupting, Vicki looked away now feeling foolish for jumping to conclusions.
"Someone, or something is in those tunnels and it was enough of a threat that Omega and Iota immediately went inside to seal up the tunnel." Joe added watching the troubled looks on everyone's faces, they all knew how serious it was if not one but both Protectors had to seal the tunnel. Mark looked around and then back to Joe before raising his hand, with an approving nod he began to speak.
"You said Someone or... something was in the tunnels, meaning we don't know what it was?" Mark asked with a serious look about him.
"Correct, when Omega was studying the tunnel we only heard them approaching from the darkness, it sounded like hundreds of them but our hearing is nothing compared to Omega's, he heard them approaching before Joe and I even knew there was something wrong." Tenenbaum spoke, Mark put his hand on his chin as he thought about her answer.
"How many of them do you think there were?" Mark asked cautiously. Tenenbaum thought for a moment as she recalled the events.
"by the time the sound reached us it sounded like it could be between one and fifty, but only Omega's hearing is on a whole other level than ours only he could give us a more accurate number." She explained as she looked over to him, everyone's eyes fell on him. Upon hearing his name Omega was shaken from his thoughts and looked up at the many eyes on him, his illuminated eyes shifted to the older Doctor and pulled one arm free from where they had been crossed. Everyone held their breath when he stared her in the eyes with all seriousness and pointed upwards. When he did there were several quiet gasps, even Iota began to look concerned.
"More than one hundred, then, two hundred?" Mark asked trying to get a clear picture of what they might be up against. Omega shifted his gaze to him and again, pointed to the ceiling. He could see Joe, James, and Mark each doing one of two things, rubbing their faces or thinking of ways to prepare.
"Two hundred!?" Vicki half yelled as Seline grabbed her hand to calm her down. Iota hardly payed them any mind, the only thing she was focusing on were Liz and Anna. Anna was playing with Lizzy in the back trying to keep her distracted from things she was far too young to worry about, Iota was grateful. She knew Anna was paying attention because every now and then the younger Sister would glance up at either her Big Brother or Sister, stifle a dark thought and return to cheerfully occupying Lizzy. Iota felt her chest tighten slightly, she didn't like this feeling, the feeling of being vulnerable, of being in one place for so long. It wasn't the Protector way, they never stayed in one place for very long at all if they could help it, maybe a night or two if that. Her fears were layed to rest however when she looked back over to Omega, he had the same stoic look he always carried with him. To some he might look like he was angry but she knew him too well, the look on his face didn't tell her he was angry but determined. She knew he would do whatever was necessary to keep what was left of their Family safe, her heart fluttered when he returned her glance, her eyes met his and she saw the slightest tinge of tenderness around his eyes, she believed in him and she would follow him to Hell if he only asked. She gave him a smile and spent the rest of the meeting playfully stealing glances of her Mate.
"There is also something else we needed to talk about in this meeting." Joe said in a low voice as he looked to Tenenbaum, everyone knew by the look on his face that there was more bad news. Tenenbaum sighed heavily and rubbed her brow not really wanting to to be the bearer of bad news.
"We will have to set out for Minerva's Den within the coming weeks, Subject Sigma is out checking our possible route there now and should be back soon." Tenenbaum said hesitantly as she glanced over toward Danny, he looked at his clipboard and tapped his pen a few times before standing up and walking to the front of the room.
"Among a slew of other problems, the most concerning is time." he stated matter of factly.
"I've been monitoring the rest of the City for sometime and... well, we aren't in any immediate danger yet but, things aren't looking good for us." he explained as everyone headed him.
"Rapture is failing Ladies and Gentlemen, always has been. The City is taking on water without the number of Big Daddies it needs to repair it, power fluctuations from the leaks are causing power outages across the City and on top of that we still have Reed Whal and his band of Lunatics to deal with." Danny looked back at his clipboard and flipped a page up before turning his attention back to everyone.
"Simply put, Splicers aren't our biggest problem anymore, Nature is. This City is going to collapse slowly but any number of problems could lead to our deaths..." he said darkly as he shook his head. No one said a word, they knew their situation was dire but for Danny to say it outright was another weight all together.
"There you have it, all of our wonderful problems layed out in front of us, Everybody get ready for the move, pack light and only pack the essentials. We'll be monitoring Sigma's progress through the camera in his helmet, once we see a clear path we'll follow him and make our way through Minerva's Den. We are getting out of here, and I'll be damned if I let a Madman or his gang of Crazies stop us." Joe said wearing a look of pure determination. Omega regarded him with a nod, it was clear that Joe wanted more than anything to Protect the Group, if he had a Big Daddy suit and augmentations he would make an excellent Protector. As everyone began getting up and leaving the meeting room Omega looked over to Iota and stared into her bright glowing eyes, she didn't know why but she threw him a sweet smile before he made his way up to her. She watched as he looked over to Anna who was still playing with Lizzy and then back to Iota, she scrunched her eyebrows trying to figure out what he was going to do. He looked down at her and pinched a bit of the fabric on her black body suit before jerking his head toward their younger Sister. Iota's eyes widened at her realization, he wanted to get her a suit? Iota thought for a moment before giving him a nod, she knew Anna wasn't ready but they didn't have much time and giving her armor with minimal training was better than giving her minimal training with no armor.
She thought for a moment about all of the dangerous fights she alone had been in, let alone her and Omega. She didn't want to put her Sister in danger but she knew Anna was tough, she had survived and protected Lizzy for a long time until Tenenbaum had found her but it still made her worry. Iota was pulled from her thoughts when she felt the back of Omega's hand gently caress her cheek and her worries along with her guilt instantly died, she smiled and hugged him tightly. He always knew what to do, how to comfort her, he was her fortitude, her Mate and she was his. He had deferred to her for Anna's Big Sister training because she herself was a Big Sister and now he wasn't telling her to say yes, he was asking her. Iota pulled his head down to her and nuzzled his forehead with hers before giving him a long meaningful kiss, she wanted to show her appreciation and it seemed like she more than made her point by the way his face looked. When their lips parted Omega stood back at his full height and cocked her a questioning eyebrow still curious at her answer, Iota gave him a smile and nodded as she looked back to her Sisters. Omega put his helmet back on and made his way to the door with Iota right behind him.
When Tenenbaum saw Omega, Anna and Iota heading toward the stairs of the Hotel she quirked an eyebrow, she had never seen the trio train twice in one day and walked forward to ask them what they were planning if only out of curiosity. Both Guardians were holding hands as they walked with their helmets off as they so often did inside the Hotel.
"Excuse me Protectors." She said as she picked up her pace to meet them.
"Are you going to the Pool Room for more training?" She asked as she peeked around them to see Anna had also turned around to listen to her. Omega shook his head causing the Doctor a bit of confusion. Tenenbaum scrunched her eyes before Iota leaned forward gesturing to Anna quietly tugging on her suit, the older Woman gave a sad smile as she now understood their meaning.
"Ah, I see... I suppose it cannot be helped then, it will probably be a big help in the days to come." She said regretfully, she had created the Little Sisters and by being their creator she was also their killer, at least as far as she was concerned. She never intended for them to be weapons and now she was guilt stricken that Anna was forced by fate to become a weapon as well, yet another skeleton in the mass grave that was her closet.
"Please try to hurry, with Herr Sigma away and the unknown threat lurking beneath us I am worried about our chances without you." She spoke softly, worry clear on her features. As if understanding all of her feelings Omega and Iota both nodded at the same time, they had given their word, or rather, their silent word that they would help their Human Allies in return for all they had done and so Tenenbaum could help them locate Eleanor when they reached the surface... if they reached the surface. Tenenbaum could see the seriousness on their faces, she knew they would finish their little mission and be back as quickly as they could manage. Tenenbaum was startled a little when Lizzy suddenly took her hand, she looked up at Tenenbaum with a worried expression.
"What's going on Ma'am?" Lizzy asked in a small voice.
"Nothing sweetheart, your Siblings are just going to train some more." The older Woman said with a gentle smile. Lizzy's face brightened up when she heard the explanation and when she asked her next question the Doctor already had an excuse ready.
"Oooh, can I come?!" The girl asked excitedly.
"No my sweet, I need your help here, and they will make you train with them if you do." Tenenbaum said as she watched Lizzy's head flipping back and forth from the Doctor to her older Siblings, her ponytail flipping as she did so. She looked disappointed until she saw Anna and all of the bruises she had endured in her sparring matches, they were healing but she could still tell how rough the experience had been.
"I don't like getting hurt, I'll help you instead!" She said as she grinned at Tenenbaum. Omega gave a nod as thanks before waving bye to Lizzy, Iota and Anna gave her a quick hug.
"Don't worry Liz, we'll be back soon." Anna said softly as she kissed her little sister on the forehead, she then tickled her sides to make sure her point got across. Lizzy laughed and waved them off as she held the Doctor's hand.
When the trio reached the Lobby Anna was expecting to head for the Pool Hall, instead she followed her Brother and Sister out the main doors of the Hotel onto the large Street outside. She stood between them and began to look around nervously.
"You never really appreciate safety until you walk back out into danger do you?" She asked half jokingly, Omega and Iota both put a hand on her shoulders and nodded seriously, she understood from their demeanor that she was going to better understand her own statement soon. They both put their helmets on and began leading the girl down the abandoned street, it was funny she thought, that as soon as their helmets clicked into place that the entire air around them had changed. Along with their constant state of alertness they usually kept, they had something darker, more serious in the way they held themselves, like they had flipped a switch and were immediately in kill mode. She saw how tense and ready for a fight they were and they had only stepped outside of the Hotel, Anna could only imagine what horrors await any Splicers unfortunate enough, or stupid enough, to wander into their path.
The trio began walking and Anna turned to give one more look at the Hotel she called home, she said a silent prayer that it would still be there when they got back.
A/N: Sorry for the long wait, my technology hates me and likes to laugh at my failures but anyway. Hope you like this chapter and let me know what you think!