Misplaced Allies
Joe awoke to the sound of movement near him and sat up to instinctively grab his shotgun, he blinked the sleep out of his eyes and scanned the room for threats. His eyes settled on Tenenbaum who was standing behind the bar, ash covered clothes and a messy ponytail was all he could see of her.
"how long was I out?" He asked gruffly as he sat his shotgun back on the table and rubbed his eyes. Tenenbaum turned and gave a slight smile as she replied.
"Almost fourteen hours." She asked.
"Someone was supposed to wake me up to take watch..." He responded as he shot a glance over toward Sigma who was still sitting by the door, the giant Protector simply shrugged and gave a low groan. Joe shook his head and Tenenbaum chuckled.
"It would seem Herr Sigma wanted you to rest." She quipped.
"Yeah, it would seem so." Joe sighed in agreement.
"Coffee?" She asked as she gestured to the white mug she was holding.
"Yes, God yes!" Joe groaned positively, it seemed like forever since he had last had a cup of coffee. In reality it had only been two or three days since his last cup but it had become a part of his morning routine, something he did to prepare himself for the day. Even the smell of the freshly brewed coffee was enough to ease some of his stress, it's robust scent filled the bar and drowned out the smell of mildew and dust, it made the place seem a little more comforting despite the skeletons that occupied other booths in the Bar. Joe stood from the booth he had slept in and stretched as he made his way to the bar, his feet dragging through the decade old spent bullet cartridges and confetti on the wooden floor, they clinked and clanked as they slid on the wooden panels to rest in different positions than before. Tenenbaum handed him a cup of the black heavenly liquid and joe took a sip of the hot drink, moaning with pleasure as he did so. It was akin to a glass of iced water in a desert, in the everlasting cold of Rapture a good cup of coffee could warm the very soul, at least that's how Joe felt about it.
"Oh damn, that's better than sex." Joe exclaimed causing Tenenbaum to chuckle slightly and shake her head. He took another sip of the dark liquid and pulled his lips away with another exagerated moan of joy.
"You know it's funny, I didn't even like the smell of coffee until a few years back." Joe explained as he swirled the coffee around in his mug.
"Oh? Do I smell a story coming?" Tenenbaum asked curiously causing Joe to shrug.
"It was about five years ago, James and I were completely brainwashed by that psycho-Bitch Sofia. The Family was at the height of it's power, you know, before Delta came along and tore it a new asshole." Joe said with no remorse anywhere in his explination, Tenenbaum nodded in agreement, he certainly had.
"Lamb sent an announcement out over all channels that everyone loyal to the Family in the Medical Pavillion should be on alert. Aparantly there had been a rogue Gang of Splicers that was offing our guys in the district, no rhyme or reason, didn't even give em a warning, just opened fire on em. James and I had been in the District scrounging for supplies when we heard the call and didn't think anything of it." Joe explained as he took a few more sips of his coffee.
"We entered a Courteyard that led to an old warehouse to loot some bodies we saw from the street and all Hell broke loose. Soon as we got to the bodies we came under fire, I took one in the leg and went down, James caught one in his left side and he went down." Joe raised his eyebrows and took a deep breath as he remembered the event, Tenenbaum leaned back against the counter and sipped her coffee as she listened.
"How did you make it out of there?" She asked.
"We didn't, not right away at least. As soon as we got hit they stopped firing, maybe they thought they killed us, or wanted to take us alive for whatever reason. James and I took cover behind a big pile of bricks that used to be a part of a construction project before the City's fall. We took turns patching ourselves up while the other fired at the warehouse the Bastards were in. I radioed our location to the Family's Command Center and they sent backup our way, but by the time they got there both James and I were down to our handguns and we both looked like hammered shit. Took our guys an hour to get there but when they did it just made things worse." Joe explained shaking his head.
"Whole place turned into a warzone, we restocked on Ammo and first aid supplies and everything went crazy. We soon figured out that they hadn't stopped their initial fire for no reason, they were wanting us to call for backup. We started taking fire from every side, our guys were falling left and right, it was like shooting fish in a barrel... and we were the fish. We took cover inside the construction site and radioed for more backup but all of our guys in the district were already there, others were on the way from different parts of the City. The ones that did trickle in got hit before they even knew what the situation was..." Joe pause and handed his mug back to the Doctor for a refill, she poured him another cup and he took a sip before continuing.
"We were fighting in that half built building for five hours before any real backup arrived to pull our asses out of the fire." Joe gave a dark chuckle.
"What happened?" Tenenbaum asked.
"Lamb sent one of her Demons to end the skirmish. It was the first time I had ever even seen a Big Sister, most people didn't and those that did usually didn't live long enough to tell about it. When we heard the screeches even the guys on our side got nervous, we had all heard the stories, how dangerous they were, how they were just as likely to kill members of the Family as other Hostiles. We didn't even see her at first, apparantly she had somehow broken through one of the buildings to our left that a few of the enemy Gang was occupying, we heard the screams first, then the gunfire. After that she jumped from the second story window and charged streight through incoming fire and into the Warehouse that most of the Rogue Faction was hold up in. It was the same as the last building, bloody screams and gunfire. I guess they got desperate there toward the end because a bunch of em ran out the front doors and into the Courtyard we had been in hours earlier... she followed. We were so scared non of us even fired a shot... the way that Big Sister tore through those Men... It was the most awesome and Terrifying display of power I had ever seen... any of us had ever seen. When she finished she simply looked up toward where we were taking cover and then walked off like she had better things to do, like it had only been a minor inconvenience for her to slaughter all those Men. We inspected the Warehouse after she left and it was a God damn bloodbath, blood and body parts everywhere. I swore to myself right then and there that if I ever saw one of those things again I'd do everything in my power to not fuck with it. After James and I left the scene we stopped at an old Diner to collect ourselves, there was a can of coffee grinds and a coffee machine in the kitchen so we brewed some cups for our nerves. After what we had been through, all the blood, and adrenaline, and fear... that was most delicious cup of coffee I've ever tasted, and I haven't tasted anything like it since." Joe said as he took a few more gulps from his mug. Tenenbaum stayed silent for a while, not really knowing what to say, she had always had that problem.
"Wow Joe... you did all of that for a single cup of Coffee?" Tenenbaum joked with a smile, Joe busted out laughing at her insinuation, shaking his head at the absurd notion. He retrieved one of his cigars and ignited it, inhaling a large puff of smoke from the tobacco roll and chuckled once more before releasing it, the thick cloud swirling in front of him as his eyes took on a distant stare, a long silence enveloping the two as he remembered past memories.
"Seems like forever ago now." He added.
"Rapture has a way of slowing time doesn't it?" Tenenbaum asked causing Joe to nod in agreement. The two of them sipped on their coffee silently, Joe took another few puffs from his cigar, sighing happily as he released the smoke from his lungs.
"If you went through all of that for a cup of coffee, I am eager to hear what you did for a cigar." Tenenbaum remarked causing Joe to laugh heartily.
"That's a story for another time Doc." he smiled as he turned to the sound of footsteps creaking down the old wooden stairs on his left. James and Vicki stumbled out of the doorway sleepily and took their seats beside Joe at the bar.
"Good morning sleepy heads, you two look better." Joe joked at both of their dirty and tired expressions. Vicki took a cigarette from her beaten up pack and lit it taking a deep puff then handing it to James.
"I haven't slept that hard in a while, if the bar came under attack last night I probably wouldn't have even noticed." Vicki said as Tenenbaum handed her a cup of fresh coffee before sliding one to James as well.
"Yeah I slept like the dead last night." James groaned as he took a sip of coffee.
"Are Mark and Seline still asleep?" Tenenbaum asked curiously, her eyes glancing up toward the stairs. James and Vicki both looked at each other and smiled.
"Yeah." Vicki responded with a grin causing Joe to raise an eyebrow.
"They must be utterly exhausted the poor things." Tenenbaum said causing the young couple to chuckle.
"Well... We didn't stay up late with extra curricular activities like they did." James stated as he raised his eyebrows, Joe grinned and shook his head.
"Oh... OH!" Tenenbaum said as her eyes widened upon realizing what James was insinuating, the other three members of the group laughing as she did so.
"I checked on them when we got up but they were out cold... and naked." Vicki said as she took another puff from the cigarette she and James were sharring.
"Can't say it surprises me." Joe remarked cuasing James to look at his brother.
"You did tell us to do whatever makes us feel better last night." James said as he bounced his eyebrows up and down.
"Yeah, I suppose I did." Joe agreed as he tapped the edge of his cigar on the rim of a glass ashtray to dump the ashes inside.
"Just wish I was as lucky..." James said as he turned to Vicki causing her to give a playful grin.
"You fell asleep before me remember?" She replied with a chuckle.
"Well... yeah... but you could've kept me awake." James joked causing her to smile and playfully slap his arm.
"The bed's still there." She teased as she leaned in to give her Boyfriend a kiss, Joe looked to Tenenbaum and simply rolled his eyes causing her to smile.
"Makes you nauseous doesn't it?" Joe asked rhetorically, Vicki was still kissing James when she brought her hand off of his back and held up her middle finger causing Joe to chuckle behind his dirty beard. When the young Couple pulled away James sighed.
"Nah we better not, we need to focus on getting out of here." James said causing Vicki to nod in agreement.
"You're right, we'll have plenty of time for that when we reach the Surface." She agreed cheerfully before planting a quick kiss on his nose.
"So what's the plan Doc, where do we go from here?" James asked as he turned toward the older Woman, Tenenbaum pulled her worn map out and stretched it across the counter, it still had all of the markings Omega and Iota put there on it, each collapsed tunnel, and flooded building they had scouted weeks before.
"Assuming we can make it to Minerva's Den, we will have to find away across this Tunnel without Reed Wahl destroying it like he did with the other two." Tenenbaum explained as she pointed to two other Tunnels with large red X's on them.
"And how do we keep him from destroying them?" James asked curiously, they all knew how Sigma had been inside one of the Tunnels when it was detonated with explosives, they just needed to know how to keep that from happening again.
"That's gonna be the tricky part, Wahl knows we're coming, if he hasn't already detonated the remaining Tunnel then he's ready to." Joe chimed in tapping the map with his finger.
. . .
Mark opened his eyes slowly as he woke, his fuzzy mind quickly remember what had happened the night before, he looked down to see Seline's dirty face laying on his bare chest, a smile on her face. Feeling the cold air he pulled the blanket toward him and covered her shoulder and back with it, she let out a slight moan as she pulled even closer to cuddle him more tightly. She opened her eyes sleepily and gave him a tired smile.
"Good morning." Seline sighed as she gave an embarrassed chuckle.
"Good morning." Mark replied softly.
"How long did we sleep?" She asked in a warm whisper causing Mark to smile back at her.
"If this old clock's right... a long time." He chuckled causing her to do the same.
"Thank you for... um... last night." She said as her face turned slightly pink.
"You're welcome, was it... I mean did I?" Mark stammered out, his face turning pinkish now. Seline looked at him a little confused until he continued.
"What I mean is... was I alright?" He asked curiously, and nervously. Seline chuckled and crawled up him to kiss him.
"You were perfect." She answered happily as she grinned, causing him to do the same. They stared into each other's eyes for a few moments before the sound of cluttering drew their attention downstairs, their Friends were most likely awake by now, they needed to go see what they were going to do, no matter how much they wanted to stay in bed. They both stood up and began dressing, passing smiles and glances at each other, wondering when they would see each other undress again. Once they had put their clothes and holsters back on they wrapped their arms around each other for another kiss. When they finished they both chuckled at the new found pleasure and excitement and began putting on their socks and shoes. Mark sat on the bed and began lacing his boots up as Seline walked over to the bedroom's window, she grabbed onto the curtains.
"This dusty old room needs more light." She said with a smile, she pulled the curtains open with a swift tug to let the light in and look at the street in front of the building.
Mark heard her give a sharp gasp as he looked up at her...
. . .
Omega's eyes opened slowly as bright light bombarded his vision, his right eye still sore from the scratch that had torn through it, he brought his hand up and felt the bandaging that wrapped around his head to cover it. It was sore but at least it wasn't rippling with pain anymore, just a little bit longer and it would be fully healed. His gaze shifted to the Big Sister sleeping on his left side, curled into him for warmth. She had traded ADAM with him to super charge his healing abilities and not only had she succeeded, she had also bonded them together in some sort of pair bond, like their minds were connected to a certain extent. He gently brushed some of her black locks away from her face as he focused to feel her mind, she was sleeping peacefully, no worry, sadness, or anger, just a deep slumber. He was glad for it, when he had awoken from his coma earlier when they first experienced this new bond it was different, very different. The amount of negative emotion he felt coming from her was almost crippling, so much hatred and anger for herself, so much sadness and regret, his Protector instincts didn't even know how to begin to fix it. Instead of mirroring her own emotions though, he brought forgiveness and relief to the front of his thoughts to ease her pain, it seemed like it had worked for the most part. Once she started crying and letting all of those negative emotions go he felt a massive weight lift from her, she had shackled herself with grief and shame, and while it wasn't completely gone it was lifted enough for her to actually sleep. As soon as she laid down with him he felt her mind start healing itself in much the same way his broken body was, it would be a slow process, but it would make her stronger in the long run, all he had to do was allow her to lean on him and he was certainly prepared for that. It was what they had done from the very first moment they had met, and they would continue the tradition for as long as they lived.
Omega glanced down toward his body and lifted the blanket that was covering him to inspect his wounds, they were all bandaged neatly in white with a pink hue showing on the larger wounds, a sign that they had bled for a while after they were patched. Iota had likely changed his bandages a few times as she cared for him, she had even cleaned the blood off of his body while he slept.
The Brother scanned the room around him trying to get a bearing of where they were, something he hadn't had time for in his brief consciousness earlier. It was a small apartment, who knew where it was located in Rapture, in all likelihood Iota had chosen the first semi safe place she could find when he passed out in front of the Athena's Glory. It was a modest place, nothing as lavish as the Hotel but not the worst place he had ever stopped to rest. The room had cream colored wallpaper that had been discolored from years of smoking inside judging from the scent of cigarette tar that clung to the walls, the living room portion that blended in with the bedroom was a mix matched sight of random furniture that had been thrown together. A dark green recliner, coffee table, and navy blue couch directly ahead of him against the window leading to the Street, they too smelled of smoke and the old musty smell that seemed to cover every piece of furniture in Rapture. Windows sat behind the old sofa, or at least they had at one point in time, before someone boarded them shut. Now only streams of dim greenish light shown through the cracks, illuminating the dust particles in the air, shining as they gently floated around before disappearing in the shadows.
Omega was still inspecting the room when he heard Anna and Lizzy's voices echoing down the hallway, they were steadily moving closer and he could hear laughter from both of them. He breathed a sigh of relief, he had been wondering where they were but realized since Iota was asleep they were obviously safe, and even if both of them weren't in the room Anna was more than capable of protecting Lizzy on her own, they had made sure of that when they trained her and both girls knew not to go too far on their own.
He heard the doorknob to the Apartment jiggle and open with Anna shushing Lizzy's giggling.
"We got a lot!" Lizzy whispered from the narrow hallway to his right.
"Yeah we had to, you know how much Brother and Sister eat, not to mention you and me." Anna replied quietly, Omega now realized why they weren't in the Apartment when he woke up, they had gone searching for food. He heard them set various things down in the room just through the wall behind him, the Kitchen if he had to guess.
"Go check on them for me." He heard Anna whisper followed by Lizzy's tiny footfalls as she came their way. Lizzy peaked around the corner carefully and gasped when she saw Omega's glowing eye looking back at her, he watched her disappear and heard her running into the other room.
"Big Brother's awake!" Lizzy whispered excitedly before the sound of her footsteps came running back to the bedroom, Anna's following behind her. Lizzy turned the corner and gently crawled onto the bed to hug him, being careful not to wake Iota as she did so. It struck Omega as odd when he saw what she was wearing, a T-shirt that was far too big for her and nothing else, her hair in a neat ponytail, then he remembered what her dress looked like after they left the maintenance tunnels and everything made sense. She smelled like Vanilla which indicated she had received a bath recently, Anna's doing no doubt, they must not have had any clothes for her after her old dress was destroyed. Anna turned the corner soon after and sighed in relief when she saw his glowing eye look up at her.
"I'm glad you're okay Big Brother!" Lizzy whispered as she held onto him.
"Are you okay, how do you feel?" Anna asked with concern as she looked over his wounds, Omega simply nodded and pointed to a glass of water on the nightstand. Anna grabbed the glass and knelt down beside the bed and handed the cup to him. He sat up slightly and drank the entire glass in only a few large gulps before handing it back to her. Despite the fact that the water tasted like metal, likely due to the filtering system of the apartment failing, it felt good to drink cold water after all that had happened.
"Dying makes you thirsty huh?" Anna joked with a light smile causing Omega to nod in agreement, she had no idea.
"Would you like some more?" She asked, Omega nodded again and she went to refill it. After three cups his thirst had finally subsided and he sighed. Anna pulled an old wooden chair from the Kitchen area and slid it gently over to sit next to the bed, Lizzy sat up on the side and held Omega's hand with both of hers, playing with his large, fingers she rarely got to see without gloves on.
"Iota's different Brother, I... I think she blames herself for what happened in the Hotel." Anna whispered as she stared at her older Sister's sleeping form, sorrow filling her face.
"And I think Big Sister's angry with me..." Lizzy leaned in to whisper, her expression just as sad and worried as her older Sister's.
Omega stared at them for a moment, his face blank as he thought. While it was true that Iota blamed herself, and likely would for a while, why did Lizzy think she was angry with her?
"I don't think she's angry with you Liz, I just don't think she could face you then... she thought she'd killed you... maybe she still does." Anna said causing Lizzy to look back at her. Omega nodded, Anna explained it perfectly, he couldn't tell them how much pain she was going through when their minds connected, he still barely believed it. The amount of despair was overwhelming even for him, they didn't know what that was like, couldn't know what that's like. Only a Protector with the weight of the world on their shoulders could know that pain, especially if that Protector thought they had burned their world in their hands. He hoped neither of them ever had to know that darkness.
"Will Big Sister get better?" Lizzy asked as she looked back and forth between her older Siblings, Anna also looking for answers in her Brother's face. Omega thought for a moment before nodding yes, he didn't know how long it would take for those psychological wounds to heal but he believed they would, especially if she could lean on him through their new bond.
Iota began to stir at the sound of their voices, her Protector instincts finally rebooting her systems after being subject to so much mental trauma. Her eyes opened slowly and she sat up immediately to check on her Mate, her attention had focused so hard and so fast on him that she didn't even see Anna or Lizzy next to him for a moment. When she noticed her younger Siblings she looked at each of their worried expressions and then looked away. Omega felt a wave of dark emotions through their bond and sat up against the bed's headboard, Iota trying to stop him so he didn't hurt himself. She put her hands on his shoulders in an attempt to ease him back down but he held up his hand and looked at her sternly, Iota nodded in defeat and put her hands back in her lap as she gazed downward. Once the Brother had sat upright he placed his hand gently on her shoulder and stared at her until she lifted her gaze to him, he then looked at Anna and snapped his fingers, the look on his face the same one he had always given her when she needed some tough love in their training sessions. He winked at her and Anna's face lit up with realization, she nodded and began to speak.
"Sister!" She began, a little too aggressively, Omega shot her a glance and she immediately dialed it down a little.
"Sister, with all respect... pull yourself together." She spoke softly, Iota pulled her eyes to her younger Sister as she listened.
"You and Brother are the strongest people I know... but you're letting your emotions get the better of you, just like mine are..." She glanced downward, it was true, her concern for all three of her Siblings was eating at her like a virus, she was terrified of losing them again, so terrified she didn't even want to leave the disgusting apartment they were occupying, she didn't want them to have to face anymore dangers outside, to be ripped apart again. She knew they had to though.
"I'm scared... So scared I don't know what to do, we need you Iota... we need the real you. We need the Iota that isn't afraid of anything, the Iota that we've seen charge straight through enemy gunfire for our sake, ripped her foes apart with all of the rage and hatred of a Demon... We need our Sister back." Anna explained, tears welling up in her eyes, but she never cried, she was done crying, she wanted, needed to be strong, not only for herself but for her Family as well. Her words hit Iota hard, her chest burned with both anger and shame, she knew Anna was right. What had she become, what kind of shell had she turned into that she was so weak now? She brought her hand up and scratched at her right eye as she gritted her teeth. She could feel Omega through their bond, pushing her toward the anger and away from her past shame and regret. As if he was telling her: "Kill the weakness! Don't give into the past! What's done is done!"
She felt a fire light inside of her, a fire that she thought had gone out, it was small, more of an ember really but the more she thought about what a sorry mess she had become the more the ember grew. She was a Big Sister, a Guardian, a Protector. She was a Warrior, a Predator, a Demon. She was the reason people feared the dark, She was the reason people ran, begged, and died! Iota could feel Omega encouraging her, she could feel him lifting her up to stand on her feet again even as shaky as they were.
Now was not the time for weakness, now was a time for redemption, for action! Iota stood up as her Mate and Sisters watched her. The Big Sister's fists were balled up and shaking with anger, her teeth and fangs gritted. She pushed her negative emotions away, putting them in the back of her mind with Omega's help, she needed to focus on the here and now, not the past. Anna stood up with a quick glance to her Brother and smiled excitedly.
"That's the Big Sister we need! That's what a Protector looks like!" Anna said loudly, Lizzy jumping up on the bed.
"Big Sister's back!" She squealed as she jumped over Omega's stomach and hugged her oldest Sister. Iota nodded triumphantly, she would never forgive herself for what she had done, but her Family was still here... and they needed her, the real her, not some weak knock off version too sorry and scared to take action. They needed her to be strong, brave, ruthless... and she would be.
Iota put two fingers together and raised them in a circular motion, the signal both Anna and Lizzy knew as "Get ready to move." Both girls smiled and darted off to various parts of the Apartment to gather supplies they might need. Iota looked down at Omega and gave him a small smile to thank him for his encouragement, Omega nodded and pointed behind him toward the bathroom, Iota could tell he wanted to take a shower, he did still stink from being in the sewers after all. Iota nodded and helped him out of bed, taking one arm around her neck until he got his balance. His legs were shaky but slowly began to steady, he still wasn't at full strength but the ADAM she had traded with him had done wonders for him, by the time they made it down the hallway and into the bathroom Omega had already started walking on his own and was removing the bandages from his arms. Iota shut the bathroom door behind them and watched as Omega traced the fresh pink skin that had once been deep gashes in his flesh, he looked pleased, confident... strong. The Brother opened and closed his fist in front of him feeling his strength steadily returning, just a little while longer and it would be like he was never wounded at all, sometimes a Protector's resilience amazed even him. Iota watched her Mate inspect his healing wounds but she was focusing on another aspect, his body.
Omega began hopping lightly on his toes and began to limber out his stiff limbs, all the while Iota watched him intensely, partly to make sure he didn't fall and hurt himself, and partly because he was easy on the eyes, especially hers. She watched him stretch and jab at imaginary targets as he loosened up, the look on his face determined and serious. She had to admit, it was a huge turn on. She felt her face heating up and Omega smirked proudly when he looked at her, her eyes widened when she felt his satisfaction through their bond, he had done it on purpose.
The Brother turned from her with a smirk and twisted the knobs on the bathtub, water began shooting from the brass showerhead, he stood and placed his hand under the water until steam began to fill the air, he glanced back to his Mate with a serious expression and slowly made his way to her. Iota squeezed her fists together repeatedly, eager to see what he would do. When Omega reached her he leaned in close to her face and gently pulled a few locks of her dark hair to his nose as his glowing yellow eyes stared into hers, he gave a knowing smile and Iota bit her lip eagerly for what she knew would come next. Her Mate reached behind her and she felt the zipper on the back of her suit slowly sliding downward until it stopped just above her rear. Iota quickly pulled her heavy steel chest piece off of her shoulders and threw it to the ground with a heavy thud and returned her arms to her sides, she loved it when he took the lead. Omega grasped her suit's shoulders and gently pulled them down to her feet, exposing her fully for his own enjoyment, he followed the suit down as it slid, taking in her beauty. Iota pulled her feet from the suit one at a time and watched him slide it away, he rose again and leaned in close to kiss her, pushing her against the bathroom wall as she gasped with excitement.
She wrapped her hands around his face as she gave into the lust she felt in their bond, pulling them toward each other. Omega took her hand and led her to the shower, drawing the curtain behind them once they had both entered. The hot water poured over their bodies as they kissed again letting it wash away the fatigue they felt, wrapping them in warmth like they did each other. Omega pulled away from the kiss and grabbed a bar of soap from it's place on the side of the tub, lathering his hands until they were covered in suds, Iota smiled eagerly and turned around to give him access to her bare back. He started washing her shoulders first, then slid his hands down the slippery skin of her back gently tracing the muscles her years of fighting had developed, when he was done he leaned in close pressing his chest against her as she rubbed up and down against him, one of her arms reaching up to hold onto the back of his neck, the other going behind him to squeeze his butt. His hands slid around her too, one on her stomach, the other gently wrapped around her throat as she breathed deeply, shivering from the pleasure she felt. He slid his hand down her chest to cup her breast, squeezing and massaging it, filling her with more desire, more pleasure. First one, and then the other. Iota backed further into him as his free hand slowly trailed down her stomach to her womanhood, she let out a screeching moan as his fingers began massaging her. She gasped and moaned as her right hand moved behind her to his member, gently stroking him with her soapy hand. She felt him tighten his grip on her and smiled lustfully. Both Protectors began panting, their bodies pressed against each other harder and harder as their passion grew. Once she was ready, Iota positioned herself in front of Omega, pushing backwards until he entered her, moaning happily as she enveloped him. Their bodies, and their new mental bond sending dual shockwaves of pleasure through them, it was like nothing either of them had ever felt before.
. . .
Anna and Lizzy had been packed for a while now, it had been an hour since Iota and Omega had gone into the bathroom together, and judging from the sounds emanating from the wash room, they were enjoying themselves... and each other. Anna didn't know what exactly was going on but she had a good idea, the grunts and moans coming from the bathroom were... lewd, that much she could tell. With her advanced sense of hearing it only made things harder for her to ignore, she felt her face heating up just wondering what was going on behind the closed door, what could they be doing that made them make such noises? She didn't know, it just sounded like they were slapping each other and enjoying it... a lot.
"Why are you covering my ears again?!" Lizzy shouted as she looked up toward her sister, Anna's face was bright red and she was caught by surprise, shaken from her internal musings.
"Don't worry about it!" Anna said as she quickly moved one of her hands from Lizzy's ear and then replaced it just as fast, Lizzy just shrugged and continued coloring in one of her books as she waited. No matter how hard Anna tried to block out the sounds coming from the bathroom nothing worked, if she covered her own ears then Lizzy would hear and ask all kinds of embarrassing questions, and even if she could cover her ears her advanced hearing would still pick up everything that happened. It seemed she was stuck between a rock and a hard place. After a little while longer the noises stopped though, Omega and Iota both exited the bathroom as they attached the last pieces of armor to their suits. Omega was wearing a smirk and Iota smiled every time she glanced over at him.
"Sooooo, what took so long? Sounded like you two had fun..." Anna commented as she still held her hands over Lizzy's ears, both Protectors looked at her and had two separate reactions. Iota started blushing and smiled deviously at her Mate, Omega simply smirked, proud of how loudly he had made his Lover moan. Anna let her hands up from Lizzy's ears now that the danger had passed and rolled her eyes, her siblings were two of a kind. Lizzy looked back at Anna and furrowed her brow.
"Anna why is your face so red?" She asked curiously.
"uh... I... shut up, grab your backpack." Anna instructed her, unable to come up with a valid excuse she would believe. Lizzy just shrugged and did as she was told, when she grabbed her backpack strap and lifted it to her shoulder, the audio log she had found in the sewers fell to the floor with a heavy thud. Everyone looked at the device, not knowing where it came from. Iota had been tightening her heavy shin guard and Omega his equally heavy forearm brace when the audio recorder crashed to the ground, play button first. The voice of a Splicer emerged from the speaker and all three Protectors turned slowly toward the machine and Lizzy who's eyes went wide upon hearing it's haunting message again. They listened to the Splicer cursing, searching for the main power switch that controlled the essential electrical systems of the District they used to inhabit. Omega and Iota slowly walked toward the audio recorder, letting it play on the floor where it was, their faces showing confusion and anger.
"If the Rats won't come out, we'll have to flush them out." The voice said sinisterly as they heard the sound of electrical systems powering down, they heard a loud alarm siren blaring followed by banging, the Splicer desperately trying to silence the alarms. Lizzy's gaze passed between each of her sibling's faces as the three of them stared at the audio recorder in anger. When the hissing of NeoSplicers could be heard, a sound all of them could easily identify, they bared their sharp fangs and growled. They could hear the Splicer screaming, begging... dying. A long silence filled the room as the audio log faded to static, Lizzy was too scared to move, afraid of what her siblings would do, what might be going through their heads. Iota made the first movement, she knelt down to the audio recorder with a low growl, her hand reaching out until her finger pushed and held down the rewind button; When she let up, a single sentence played.
"Can't believe Wahl has me down here in this stinking shithole!" She felt her adrenaline spike as she hit the rewind button again, her rage growing.
"-Wahl has me down here in this stinking shithole!" She tapped the rewind button again.
"Wahl has me down here-" Iota paused the recording and stood, her fists clenched, hatred burning in her eyes, through their bond Omega was feeling the same. Their barely constrained rage feeding off of one another like gasoline on a fire, Anna was full of anger and hatred as well but even she could tell they were leagues ahead of her. She could feel the air heating up and smoke rising from both of her older sibling's arms, blue flames slowly began to grow from their fingertips and crawled up their forearms.
"Reed Wahl was responsible for the Hotel fire, for the deaths... for everything..." Anna growled, voicing what Iota and Omega were already thinking. What she didn't voice however, was how they were planning to skin him alive slowly, make him watch as the two of them pulled his skin from his body.
The three enraged Protectors were broken from their trance when they heard Lizzy squeal in fear, all three of their heads shot toward her. She was sitting on the floor with her back pressed into the couch, shaking, tears running down her face. It was only then that the three of them realized how they looked, shaking from the pure rage they felt, the feral looks in their eyes, their fangs showing, the disturbing half smiles both Iota and Omega wore, almost identical to one another. Smiles that showed no happiness, no remorse or mercy, only a deep seeded hunger for death, for killing. They shook out of it and extinguished the flames that had unconsciously engulfed their arms, worry for Lizzy replacing the hatred they felt.
"It's okay Lizzy! we're not going to hurt you!" Anna said desperately, but Lizzy wasn't looking at Anna, she was staring wide eyed at her two oldest siblings, pure terror plain on her features as she breathed shakily. She had never seen them make those faces before, those weren't the faces of her Protectors, they weren't the faces of people that would save her from any danger... Those were the faces of Splicers... of Monsters.
When Anna had knelt down beside Lizzy the girl had latched onto her chest pulling her close, her tiny knuckles gripping her Sister's suit so tightly they had turned white. Iota knelt down in front of the girl with a pained look, she reached out her hand but Lizzy buried her face into Anna's suit. Iota reeled back, sorrow and pain filling her chest, she and Omega had done the unthinkable... they had brought her fear. The eldest sister stared at the two embracing girls until she felt Omega's hand on her shoulder gently pulling her back toward him, she looked back at him devastated at what they had done. She wanted him to tell her how they could fix it but he simply shook his head, Iota gritted her teeth as her Mate placed her helmet on her head and locked it into place, she stared for a moment longer, the glowing yellow porthole of her helmet shining on Anna and Lizzy. When she finally gave up she picked Omega's helmet up and placed it on his head, locking it into place as he had done for her.
"Give her time, She'll be fine." Anna whispered so quietly even Lizzy as close as she was to her couldn't hear, but both older siblings could. Their advanced hearing making up for the distance between them, and Anna's low volume. They nodded to her in agreement, it was up to her to take care of Lizzy for now, until she calmed down enough to be near them again.
"C'mon Lizz, let's go, we have to find the others... assuming there still are others." Anna said gently as she picked Lizzy up and carried her toward the Apartment door, the young girl's face still buried in Anna's shoulder. The four Siblings made their way out of the old Apartment building, guided by the trail of Omega's dried blood from when Iota and Anna had carried him. It earned only a passing glance from Omega, his Predatory instincts not caring for anything other than the safety of his Family. Iota kept her senses trained on their surroundings as well, still, she couldn't help but to stare at her Lover's dried blood on the floor, remembering how panicked she had been at the time; how she had almost lost him.
Anna focused on Lizzy, who was still clamed up from her earlier scare, the small girl looking down as her older Sister walked, even she was watching the trail of her Brother's blood race bye as they moved through the derelict building. Once they reached the reception area their senses heightened, sharpened to a point as they once again set out into the deadly world they inhabited, to Rapture. They exited the old building and walked out onto the silent streets of the decaying City, all three Protectors scanning their surroundings for any sign of danger. The City was quiet, absolutely no sign of life besides them, the only sounds that could be heard where that of their own heavy boot falls, the sound of water dripping onto concrete from a crack in one of the thick windows above them, and the gentle hum of electricity that flowed to the quietly buzzing street lights; quiet enough no ordinary Human could hear. The lack of sound was so foreign to both Omega and Iota that they immediately suspected an ambush was waiting for them, they took up their combat stances on either side of Anna and Lizzy and continued to scan the area, waiting for bullets to start speeding bye them and dinging off of their armor, but nothing happened. Through their bond they could feel the uneasiness they shared, not even the ever present sound of distant gunfire could be heard, it was just silent, like the whole City had been abandoned and they were the only living things left down there.
Omega and Iota looked at each other and nodded hesitantly, if it were an ambush they would've already felt the sting of gunfire, heard the hushed whispers in the shadows, or the beating hearts of nervous enemies around them, but there was nothing. No gunfire, no whispers in the dark corners of abandoned store buildings or alleyways, no crunch of broken glass under the weight of feet in the surrounding building's windows... no heartbeats other than their own. The entire district had been turned into a Graveyard, a Graveyard that suffered years of abuse, warfare, unrest, and bloodshed, but a Graveyard all the same. The Siblings began walking again, Iota and Omega up front leading the way, Anna still carrying Lizzy following behind them, ready to dash the girl to safety if their Brother and Sister engaged any threats.
They walked down the desolate street passing the same empty, destroyed, or boarded up shops you could find anywhere else in the City until they turned the corner where the Athena's Glory Hotel used to be. They all gave a passing glance at it's smoking ruin as they walked, each remembering their own things about their time living there, and who had caused it's demise. Iota could still see the flames in her mind, feel the despair as she watched the building collapse, her Mate and youngest Sister still inside. Omega remembered the fierce battle that took place within it's burning walls before falling through the building as he desperately clutched Lizzy to his chest to protect her. Anna could still see the look on her older Sister's face as she watched her world go up in flames, the darkness that surrounded them, ready to devour them.
Omega could feel the pain, anger, and shame Iota was experiencing from the horrible memories and pulled her forward through their bond, they didn't have time to dwell on the past, only the present and future. Anna hugged Lizzy tightly as they passed the Hotel's ruins, she would never let her go again, she would protect her always. Down the street they turned another corner, it was the direction Anna had led their Human Allies when they thought all hope was lost, wading through a sea of claws and teeth to escape. Anna remembered the nasty things she had said to them, to Danny especially, she needed to apologize to them, and to him the most; without him they never would have been able to control the security drones that carved their path through the NeoSplicers.
The Bodies of fallen NeoSplicers littered the streets both ahead and behind from when Anna had made two trips through the darkness, unable to leave her Sister alone in the black Hell, ready to die with her. The number of bodies was impressive, their were so many stacked on top of each other it looked like the City streets had grown pinkish mounds of flesh, stacked where they had died as they attempted to climb over one another to get to their prey. The three Protectors continued, stepping over some Corpses, on others, and some Omega simply kicked out of the way in annoyance. The Creature's thick blood covering the Siblings up to their knees by the time they made it to a clearing.
"So much for clean suits." Anna complained as she shook a piece of flesh from her boot she had picked up along the way, half of a NeoSplicer's face by the look of it, it flew to the concrete bellow with a wet squish. They had made it to the heavy bulkhead door that their Human Allies had escaped through, still sealed shut from the lockdown, Anna surveyed the amount of Corpses around the door from where they had put their backs to the wall to defend it. She couldn't remember much during the whole escape, her memory was fogged, likely due to her breaking mind.
In front of the massive door were mounds of Corpses riddled with bullet holes and burns, thick blood pooling around the bodies. They were in a large crescent formation around the door from the defensive positions the Survivors had taken. The Protectors stood in a clearing before the door, charred Corpses and bones decorating the large space, some were incinerated so fast you could still see the shapes of their bodies where the ash fell. Both Omega and Iota looked back at Anna when they realized she was the one responsible, no one else in their group was powerful enough to cause such death, Sigma maybe, but unlikely; His Plasmids weren't nearly as powerful as a Gen two Protector's. This was the work of Plasmids that had been absorbed during the ADAM recycling process as Gatherers, it made them unbelievably powerful because the Plasmids only grew with them as they aged, doubling or even tripling their deadliness, and they didn't even need to resupply EVE because their bodies produced it naturally. If Lamb did anything right, it was making the perfect weapons.
Iota was the first to climb over the NeoSplicer Bodies to get to the Bulkhead door, Omega stood watch while Anna carried Lizzy over to stand with her Sister, who now had her fingers under the massive door trying to lift it. The metal barrier groaned in defiance as Iota lifted up with all of her might, only able to move it a few inches even with her absorbed Gene Tonics and augmentations. She growled in anger until Omega knelt beside her to help, using both of their impressive strength they lifted the heavy door upward, the gears and metal screeching loudly as it raised slowly. Once it was high enough both Omega and Iota got under it facing each other and used their shoulders to support the huge amount of weight while their Sisters rushed to the other side. Once they were safely through both Protectors shifted the weight to their other shoulder so they were more on the other side of the door, Anna watched closely as they moved in perfect unison, like it was one person controlling two bodies, their movements matching exactly. Both of them lifted the door at the same time and stepped aside as they dropped it behind them with a massive crash. Anna was confused to say the least, she knew they worked extremely well together, but now, they mirrored each other's movements with surgical precision. The way they began stretching their shoulders out was even the same, at first she thought it was just amazing teamwork but now, she didn't know.
"Well if any Enemies didn't know we were here before... they do now." Anna stated as she shook out of her earlier thoughts, Omega nodded that everything would be alright as he and Iota flicked their arms down to extend their Harvesting needles at the same time.
"Okay... now that was weird." She explained in a whisper, neither Omega or Iota heard her however, they were too focused on something at the other end of the tunnel. Anna turned and Lizzy looked up with her to see what their Siblings were looking at.
"Monsters..." Lizzy whispered as they laid eyes on a large group of Splicers nearly ten meters away at the tunnels exit. Anna hissed menacingly as her older Siblings passed her in a flash, the Splicers were confused at first, like they didn't expect anyone to come from the sealed tunnel, but when they got their bearings they raised their weapons and opened fire. Anna spun on her heel into a crouched position, her back to the gunfire for Lizzy's protection, she wrapped her Sister close as a few bullets impacted her back. Anna watched through her porthole over her shoulder as her Brother and Sister took the brunt of the fire, only a few bullets dinging off of her armor and helmet once those two got close enough to draw the Splicer's attention. The two Protectors criss crossed their paths just before they reached the group to confuse them, it worked.
Omega tore through the left side as Iota did the same on the right, stabbing, slashing, punching, kicking, ripping their foes apart. It was like nothing Anna had ever seen before, this was different from their usual teamwork, this was... unity. It was like they knew exactly what the other would do before they did it, Anna watched closely, Omega kicked a Man in the chest causing a loud crunch, a second crunch was heard as he hit the large glass window behind him. The Brother caught the Man by the throat before he had a chance to hit the ground and spun him around only for Iota to grab his ankle, Omega released his throat and with the same hand he had grabbed him with, he sent a heavy right hook into a Female Splicer's mouth instantly snapping her neck. Iota swung the dead Splicer she had taken from her Mate and smashed him into three others knocking them all to the hard floor below, her right arm immediately erupted in blue flame and she sprayed the downed Enemies with torching fire in a sweeping motion. Before she extinguished the flame, she kept her arm moving in one motion toward Omega, without looking he reached his hand toward her as she snapped her fingers, a perfect ball of super heated flame appeared in his hand. He was holding the last living Splicer on his knees, the Brother's large armored hand on the Man's broken shoulder and collar, Iota licked her lips as her Lover squeezed the Man's broken bones causing him to scream in agony. Omega growled loudly as he forced the ball of fire Iota had given him down the Man's open mouth, squirming as he did so. Iota shivered and purred happily as he did so, a look of strength and power enveloping Omega, confirming that he was indeed back, and at full strength once again.
"Okay! What the fuck was that!?" They heard Anna's voice behind them, they turned to see the red porthole of her helmet as it turned yellow, a sign that all danger had passed and she was once again on high alert. Both Protectors in question looked at each other and back to her, Lizzy was still in her arms but she wasn't scared anymore, she was smiling excitedly.
"You gave those Monsters a beat down!" She shouted enthusiastically.
"That's an understatement! What the Hell was that!? I've never seen you two fight like that before!" Anna chimed in with her own excitement causing Iota to smile, she looked back at her Mate and took his hand in hers, locking their fingers as she gave a small screech of her own excitement. It wasn't just Anna and Lizzy that felt it, that unity between them, they felt it too. They had never experienced a fight like that, their instincts linked together, every time one made a movement the other immediately knew it and could act based off of it, they didn't know how it was happening, but they could feel what the other was going to do.
"You have to teach me how to do that!" Anna said loudly.
"Me too! Me too!" Lizzy exclaimed, causing Iota to place her hand on Lizzy's head affectionately, she didn't want the small girl to know how to do that, she didn't want her to know anything about fighting or the dangers of it.
Omega gave a slight chuckle as Iota looked over to him, he gave a short screech as he nodded his head behind them, signaling that it was time to keep moving, Lizzy looked into Anna's helmet and smiled happily as their two older Siblings began walking ahead to scout out the area. The small Girl leaned up and put her mouth right beside Anna's helmet and whispered.
"They're back!"
A/N: Hello Everyone! I want to apologize for my slow updates, I've had a ton of stuff going on and I've been super busy lately. With that being said I want to assure you that I will NOT abandon this story, the updates may slow down from time to time but I will continue to update until we reach the end of this amazing journey! If you like the story or dislike the story let me know in a Review, I always read them and they're a huge encouragement to me!
Hope you all enjoyed the chapter!
-Everlasting Night