Wants and Needs
The Protectors stood stock still as Mark questioned the Vermin he and Omega had captured. He was bleeding, sobbing, and coughing from the very brief time they had gotten their hands on him. Omega loomed behind Mark; his fists clenched as if he were ready to fight at a moment's notice. His red visor slits like the eyes of the Devil himself glowing fiercely from inside the shadows that covered him. Through his swollen eyes Benjamin could barely make out his silhouette in the darkness but the red glowing visor slits were unmistakable, he could feel the Protector's hate through those crimson eyes. They were burning a hole straight through him.
Iota too looked ready to go on the war path, her crimson porthole shining burning light on the prisoner in front of them, a subtle twitch in her head as she panted with her Mate. Anna watched them and grew increasingly worried. For her, the revelation that there were still Little Sisters, and possibly even Big Sisters in Minerva's Den was cause for hope, for joy. She was sure her Siblings felt the same, but their Protector instincts were far stronger than hers, far more honed and refined, causing them great anger and desperation. To them, knowing their other Siblings were alive and possibly in danger meant they couldn't get to Minerva's Den fast enough, couldn't burn it down fast enough, and couldn't save them fast enough. If it were at all comparable to a human's emotions, then it would be like watching your house burn down, and knowing your family was still inside, possibly hurt, possibly dying, and being able to do nothing at all.
She shook her head, this wasn't the time to get lost in her own thoughts, this was the time to focus, to learn, and to plan.
"How many Little Sisters are in Minerva's Den?" Mark asked Benjamin. His swollen face looked up toward the two Protectors that showed him the most hostility, wondering if his answer would send them into a blind rage again, and cause them to kill him. Mark snapped his fingers a few times in front of the Splicer's face causing him to focus back on him.
"O-One." He managed to stammer out. He immediately regretted the lie. Omega heard his pulse quicken, saw the way he licked his busted lips to comfort himself the way humans did when they needed reassurance and comfort. The Brother took one step forward and Benjamin began to squirm against his bindings, trying to run in vain.
"Three! There are three... I think!" He shouted, realizing there was no way he would be able to keep any truth from Lamb's Monsters. Omega stopped and growled, his hands clenching and unclenching, ready to not only rip the man apart, but rip all of Minerva's Den apart in order to find his lost sisters. Iota too was feeding off of the intense rage and sense of urgency that he gave off through their bond. She too was ready to kill everyone and everything in her way to find her Family. Mark looked up at Tenenbaum, who wore a horrified expression upon hearing this news. This threw everything she had planned into the trash. She didn't need Protector instincts, or a shared bond to know that Iota and Omega were a hair's width away from abandoning their group, in order to search for and find their missing family members, to sit here and listen to all that they had learned, and not have left already, was an impossibility. Every second they stood there, as eager and enraged as they were, was due to them fighting their very nature, their very reason for existing. They were in a very precarious situation now, and Mark knew it as well. No one could stop the two Protectors if they decided to leave, not even the combined strength of Anna and Sigma on their side, and if they chose to leave, Anna would surely side with them.
Mark paused for a long while, it felt like an eternity had gone by before he spoke again. He didn't want to ask his next question. If he did ask it, and Ben said anything other than the number one, then Omega and Iota were guaranteed to storm out. He took a deep breath to calm his nerves, and wiped the sweat off of his face.
"How..." He looked back to Tenenbaum questioningly, but it was obvious she didn't want him to ask his next question, and there was no way around it. If he didn't ask it, then the Protectors would storm out anyway. Mark thought for a moment, he needed a way to turn this around, he needed a way to ease the Protector's growing urgency and destructive wrath. He needed them to see logic, they were logical creatures after all, or so he thought, he just needed a way to give them a moment to pause, to think, to consider their next plan of attack... hell, he needed them to plan for the attack. It dawned on him a moment later. Big Sisters weren't the only Protectors in Rapture, not by a long shot. His eyes went wide, maybe if he asked this question first, and then the one he dreaded asking, it would give them the opportunity they needed to slow Omega and Iota down, and cause them to stay.
"How many Big Daddies are in Minerva's Den, Benjamin?" He asked quickly, as if time were running out, because it was. Tenenbaum's eyes then shot to the three Protectors on her left.
"I don't-"
"How many Big Daddies are there, Ben?!" Mark yelled in his face, desperate for any answer that wouldn't result in their two strongest Protectors to leave them.
"F-Five! I... I think there are five! But I don't know! Fuck!" He screamed back as he flinched away.
"Some kind of new Tin Daddy, they call them Lancers!" He added. This made everyone present scrunch their eyebrows, they had never heard of a 'Lancer' type of Big Daddy before. Mark looked back to Omega and Iota and saw them key in on the name, he couldn't see their faces beneath their helmets, but he knew the wheels in their heads were turning, they looked to each other then leaned in closer to the Splicer. Iota screeched at Mark, telling him that he needed to press the question.
"What's a 'Lancer' Big Daddy?" He asked. Benjamin looked between Mark and the Protectors, noticing that they hadn't ripped his guts out yet, he eagerly continued, hoping this bit of information was worth enough to let him go, or at the very least leave him alone.
"Some kind of elite Big Daddy, something only in Minerva's Den! I've only seen one a few times but they're mean! They're armor is gold, like new, and they've been around a while, which means they've seen fighting and come out without damage multiple times!" He yelled, not exactly lying, but stretching the truth. He pressed his advantage.
"They're elite! Something only found in Minerva's Den! Nobody that goes toe to toe with them comes out alive, especially if they're protecting a Little Sister!" He added, practically lunging forward toward Mark, hoping to satisfy their curiosity enough that they wouldn't kill him.
"They have advanced armor and weapons, and they're fast! Real fast!" He said.
Mark looked to Tenenbaum and she shook her head, she didn't know such a thing existed either. Now Mark felt confident in asking his other question, now he knew that the Protectors were thinking, he could see it in their body language, they were trying to figure out what a 'Lancer' was just like the humans were.
"and how many Big Sisters are there?" Mark asked, knowing the Protectors behind him were dying to know, and willing to kill in order to find out. Benjamin's eyes widened and he smiled, like a child that had forgotten something amazing.
"Loads of em! There are at least five of them to-" He stopped in the middle of his unintentional lie. Not because he had forgotten in the heat of the moment that he was supposed to tell the truth, not because he was so excited to see them getting the answers they wanted that they might let him go... but because before he could finish his sentence, Omega had shoved Mark out of the way, and grasped the sides of the man's head with his giant armored hands, his helmet now inches away from his horrified face.
"One Big Sister is assigned to each Little Sister..." Anna whispered, just before her Brother let out an ear splitting howl. Benjamin screamed and stuttered to let out the answer they wanted to hear, even if he didn't know the answer.
"I-I don't know how- how many there a-are! Please! I don't know! I know there's at least one! I've never seen them though!" He answered in a panic.
Omega, to everyone's amazement, let the man's head go. Benjamin started panting, whimpering, and blinking rapidly, the fear causing him to shake more than he had every shaken in his life. He would give anything to be out of this Hell, anything to get away from the Monsters in front of him.
"Omega, we need to consider the situation." Tenenbaum finally spoke up again, her hands coming up in front of her and motioning downward in a calming gesture.
"We need to think about this, if there are Little Sisters, and Big Sisters in Minerva's Den then-" She stopped as he turned his crimson gaze on her so fast it caused her to take a step back out of uncertainty. He turned slightly toward her, and simply stared. It was unnerving, but more than that, his silent judgement was unbearable. With his helmet on she couldn't see his face, couldn't read his expression or gauge his thoughts... She decided, against every instinct begging her to get away from him, to try and convince him anyway.
"If we simply wait a while longer, let him live to tell us more information." She tried to bargain, to plead as she gestured to Benjamin.
His body language was stiff, rigid, like he were made of stone, and for a moment she didn't know if his rage was aimed at her or not, but she didn't know there were Little Sisters in Rapture still, if she had she would've told him, all of them. She felt the uncontrollable urge to apologize to him, to explain that she didn't know, that she hadn't kept it from them on purpose, that she didn't even know herself. Her eyes were locked onto him as he raised his left arm up to his right shoulder, fist clenched into stone, and as she opened her mouth to speak again, it came down with lightning speed as he stared at her. The back of his fist hit the side of Benjamin's head so hard it exploded in a red mist as a thunderous crack echoed in the room.
"Holy shit!" Mark gasped at the sudden attack.
The Brother turned, and walked out of the shower room, Iota close behind, and Anna behind her. Brigid stared at the headless corpse for a moment, not able to process what had just happened. Tenenbaum snapped out of her daze and chased after them, desperately hoping she could stop them before they left their group entirely.
Her heart was pounding, she realized how dependent on the three siblings she had become, how dependent on them they had all become. They were stomping down the hallway as she caught up with them.
"Omega, Iota please! Wait a moment!" She pleaded with them, practically begging. She leaned to the side to look down the hallway in front of them, she saw a door open out into the hallway, Tokerev was investigating the disturbance and still had his hand on the doorknob when he saw the Protectors coming. As Omega got to the door, instead of turning sideways to squeeze his massive frame by, his hand shot forward and pushed the door. Part of the wooden obstruction shattered into splinters as it broke free from the hinges and landed against the wall earning a resounding and shocked "Fuck!" From Tokerev as he ducked back into the workshop he had come from.
"I did not know there were anymore Little Sisters left in Rapture! I swear to you! I would have told you if I knew!" Tenenbaum half shouted in her desperation. They reached the living room area and Joe who was standing at the end of the hallway. He moved out of the Brother's path as he passed by, but didn't see Iota coming up to his left, he couldn't move out of the way in time and as she brushed past him he bounced off of her arm with a grunt and fell onto the floor.
"Iota, please! Please! You have to listen, if you leave us here now we will die, all of us, and we won't escape this City!" Tenenbaum begged, hoping Iota would be the more reasonable of the two, that maybe if she could convince her, then she could in turn convince Omega. The Doctor grabbed onto her arm as she walked, struggling to keep up with their pace, Iota pulled away from her hard, and she felt her hope sliding away just as her fingertips did from the Sister's suit. Subject Sigma was standing in front of the door looking through the cracks of the barricaded window when he turned to see what was happening, right in the path of the door itself. Omega growled as he brought both hands up to latch onto the Daddy's armor, spinning to push him out of the way and sending him stumbling backwards a few feet. He gave a deep groan of surprise and looked to Tenenbaum who was practically in tears. Anna, who had been biting her lip so hard a stream of blood trickled down her chin decided to speak up. She didn't know what to do. Should she follow her brother and sister? Should she stay and protect her friends, who had protected and cared for her? Her brother and sister had also protected her though. They had trained her, were always training her. They poured so much of themselves into her, building her, molding her, shaping her into something so far from the scared little girl she had once been she had all but forgotten what fear even felt like.
"Brother... maybe we should-" She said softly, just before Omega spun around on his heel and stomped, cracking more wood beneath him. She took in a sharp breath at the speed and closeness. He roared a deafening howl at her and she froze, her head immediately looking down in submission to his terrible rage. Iota stared down at her sister, she glanced up at her and immediately tucked her head lower as she breathed heavily through her nose. She didn't fear them exactly, fear was a human emotion, one that had changed in her, but she knew all too well what they were capable of, and she knew her place within the hierarchy. In times when their numbers were far greater, the second generation Protectors operated with each other like family, but it was also a family that operated on respect and seniority. Her Brother had always been at the top of that list, because he was the one Mother would send to Big Sisters in the field if they needed backup, or rescue as rare as those times were when no other Big Sisters could be sent out to them. He was the one that retrieved fallen Big Sisters. He was the one that rescued them, sometimes carrying them back half dead. The most dangerous places in Rapture, the places even a Big Sister wasn't safe, those were his hunting grounds, and the most dangerous hunting grounds required the most capable and dangerous Hunter. Only a few Big Sisters were considered his equal, Iota now certainly fitting the criteria. If anyone, even another Big Sister questioned their decisions, or actions, it was viewed by all of the siblings as questioning their strength, their lethality and capabilities. It was seen as a show of disrespect, lack of faith, and challenge all at once. She had let her human side get the better of her and she knew it, and by doing so, questioned not only him, but both of them. Averting her gaze meant she acknowledged that she had messed up, mistakenly gone too far, and understood her place.
and yet, she had to try, had to convince them to stay, to save everyone and not just the members of their family. Everyone in the fire station had gathered in the living room and kitchen area now, though all they could do was remain absolutely silent as the two eldest siblings simmered with rage. They watched Anna, her arms to her sides, clutching onto the thighs of her suit with balled fists, not out of rage, but anticipation for what was to come.
"Sister-" She began, and was abruptly silenced when Iota smacked her with the back of her armored hand hard enough to almost spin her around. The loud bang echoing through her helmet as she saw stars and struggled to keep her balance. She regained her composure and stood straight again, the green glow of her helmet's porthole meeting the red of her enraged and disrespected Sister.
"We will save them but-" Another hit, this time an uppercut to her stomach so fast and hard she wouldn't have had time to react had she wanted to. An explosion of pain rippled throughout her body all the way to her fingertips as she grunted, gasped for air, and doubled over to the ground. Omega gazed around the room at the humans, their eyes wide and mouths gaping in shock, avoiding eye contact with him when his sight fell on them. None of them could speak, none of them wanted to speak. They knew it could very possibly mean death if they did, and they knew Anna was putting her life on the line for them.
Anna was curled into a ball as she coughed and groaned in pain. She looked up to Iota again, the green light of her helmet steady and deep.
"We're Protectors!" Anna gasped out and pleaded through clenched teeth. Iota shook with rage, and gave a sharp screech as she knelt down, grabbed her sister's chest armor and pulled her up, cocking her fist back, and slamming it into the younger sister's helmet with a loud bang that made the humans jump as they felt the vibration of the hit through the ground. Anna's face hit the front of her helmet from the force, and she felt blood run from her nose.
"We can't abandon them!" She coughed, and Iota's fist answered again. Anna saw stars, her head was splitting and spinning, it felt like it would explode.
"We made a promise!" She choked out, her sister's raised fist was shaking as she hit her again. Anna's hands came up and lightly grasped Iota's wrist as it held tightly to her armor.
"They need us as much... if not more... than our Sisters..." She said, and again, Iota's fist slammed into her helmet. Anna's left hand fell limp at her side as muffled whimpers rose from her helmet. Everyone watched as Omega knelt down and placed his hand on Iota's trembling shoulder, and then they realized, the whimpering wasn't coming from Anna's helmet... it was coming from her older sister.
"Big Brother?... Big Sister?..." They heard a shaking voice from across the room. Both Protectors looked up to see Lizzy standing with her hands clutched to her chest tightly, her eyes streaming tears, a look of horror on her face.
Iota gasped and let go of Anna as she lay on the floor, her hand still lightly grasping her eldest sister's wrist. Iota looked down to her and back to Lizzy, realizing she had seen the whole thing, too terrified to say anything until now, only speaking up when she thought Iota would kill Anna.
"She... needs... you..." Anna whispered through the gurgling blood in her mouth. Iota reached her hand for Lizzy, and she took a step back in fear. Iota felt a red hot knife stab her in the chest, her hand coming up to unconsciously scratch at her eye, instead hitting her helmet. She pulled away from Anna's weak grasp and sprinted out the door behind Omega. He gave her a deep screech but she kept running, he turned back to Anna and sighed. The brother reached into one of his belt pouches and pulled out a first aid syringe, stabbed it into Anna's leg, and pressed the pump down. Once he had tossed the empty container aside, he rose and took a long look around the room settling on Lizzy, he pointed to her, and then to Anna, then left to find his Mate.
Lizzy immediately ran to her wounded Sister and began unlatching her helmet with her tiny fingers, tears still leaking from her eyes as everyone watched, still in shock from the situation and uncertainty of it all. Anna's helmet came off, and when Lizzy saw her sister's glowing yellow eyes she hugged her fiercely. Anna's face was covered in blood, her nose was split horizontally at the bridge, her right eyebrow had a deep cut, her lip was split, and she had a split on her forehead that had all been bleeding just moments earlier before the healing syringe and her natural regeneration abilities stopped the bleeding and began repairing the wounds. She hugged Lizzy for a few minutes before finally sitting up. The cuts on her face almost fully closed and healed.
Are you okay?" the little girl asked, sniffling.
Anna turned her head and spat blood onto the floor, a large, sharp tooth landing in the puddle, it took her a moment to realize it was one of her top fangs, she licked at the spot the tooth had come from. She felt her tongue tap against her fang, already regrown from the efforts of her Adam Slug, healing syringe, and her regeneration combined.
She gave Lizzy a gentle smile, a sad smile. "I'm fine." She said, hugging her again as she shifted and began to stand up, staring at the open door her brother and sister had left through.
"I can't believe they would do that to you, you weren't even fighting back, what the hell?" Mark asked quietly.
"I was way out of line, as a younger, far more inexperienced Protector, I had no right to question them or their decision, especially a decision this important." She said softly, turning her head to him slightly, her eyes still locked onto the door.
"Still... to beat you like that..." Tenenbaum grimaced, voicing everyone's concerns. Anna looked over to the older woman and scoffed lightly.
"For someone who had such a huge role to play in our creation... you know surprisingly little about Protectors, Doctor, or how our family structure works." The sister responded with a sad smile. The older woman simply nodded and looked to the floor.
"They aren't doing much to inspire confidence or trust, that's for sure." Archer said, shaking his head.
"It is more than a little worrying that they could turn on us at any moment." Tokerev added.
Anna turned to them with a scowl, rage dancing across her bloody face, she stomped her way over to them until she was looking down at them causing the two men to flinch back.
"Do not pretend for one second that I won't do the same if you speak ill of them!" She growled threateningly.
"You have absolutely no idea what they have been through! How much they've lost!" She growled threateningly, their eyes widening even more at the sudden outburst of pure rage.
"When my Sister came back to Rapture from a mission on the surface, she couldn't find our Sisters, or our 'Mother'! Because they had already been killed! My Brother was locked in a vault! When he finally escaped a month later, Delta had killed everyone! My brother buried our family! Alone!" She screamed at them before inhaling deeply.
"They both spent over a year in Rapture separately... ALONE! Do either of you have any idea how painful that would be?! To have no one to relate to, or interact with other than Splicers who either run from you screaming, or attack you and die! Now they learn that more of our family may still be alive, the only family that they've ever been able to connect with might still be out there... fighting... dying! and they're told 'No you can't go find them. You can't go help them.' The sheer selfishness humans are capable of! " She screamed.
"Imagine being taken from your family as a child, experimented on by mad Scientists! Living in a constant state of brainwashing or fear that your guts might get ripped out and taken by Splicers simply for what you are! Then, when you're old enough having your head fucked with even more because the mental conditioning caused you to go literally insane! Being turned into a weapon! Forced to watch your family your sisters die and be replaced, and finally wiped out, and you couldn't do a single thing to save them!...and now being told some of your family might still be alive, however small that chance might be, but you can't go to the only family you've ever known!
"Don't you DARE criticize their actions! Their PAIN!... YOU HAVE NO FUCKING RIGHT!" She screamed so loudly they had to cover their ears, her voice enhanced by the strength of a Protector's throat muscles, the veins in her neck and forehead bulging from anger, her sharp K9's snarling at them. At that time Joe stepped in, gently stepping into view with this hands in front of him so she could see him, and that he wasn't a threat. When her eyes turned to him he gently took her arms and looked into her glowing eyes.
"That's enough, Anna. They understand now." He said gently, his deep, gruff voice helping to calm her.
"They!-" She began to say but bit her lip, Joe watched as a trail of fresh blood leaked from the bite.
"Shhhh, I know, it's okay." He said softly.
"Anna... How did you learn all of that?" Tenenbaum asked quietly.
Anna pulled away from Joe and brought her arm up to rub her tears away before taking Lizzy's hand and storming toward the door.
"My Sister has an audio tape, one from Eleanor Lamb addressing Brother... I assume she found it in Mother's office, it would've been the first place she looked for any of our family members when she came back to the city, or maybe he gave it to her himself. I don't know, but it explains a lot, coupled with security footage it isn't hard to piece together what happened." She explained.
"I wasn't aware of such a tape." The doctor said, her face confused.
"Even Protectors have secrets. I won't say exactly what was on the tape, but I will say this... When we get out of this place... I'm going to have a very big question for Eleanor." She scowled as she continued to the door.
"Where are you going?" Tenenbaum asked, concern clear in her shaking voice.
"Where else? We're going to get our brother and sister, they're still in the District. Don't worry, Doctor, I know them, they just need space from you humans for a while, and I don't blame them... Greed and selfishness are something Protectors don't understand, because we were made to give and serve selflessly... They won't break their promise." Anna said before turning back to look at her.
"Even if you all slow us down, criticize us, fear us, or hate us... Even if it costs us more of our family..." She growled before leaving.
. . .
Iota sat on the edge of a long abandoned coffee shop, her legs hanging over the side, dangling over a ruined sitting area. White, rusted tables sat below, chairs flipped and tossed aside, and tattered rotting patio umbrellas still perched in the center of the tables. It was either someone's sick joke to put them there, or an attempt to make customers more comfortable, even if there was no sunlight for the umbrellas to shade them from. The Sister lightly tapped her armored boot off of the side of the building as she held her helmet in her hands, staring down at the dark porthole. Locks of her straight black hair being pulled toward the piece of armor. She used her gloved hand to pull her hair back behind her ears as she took passive note of her surroundings. She wiped her eyes again, now mostly dry. She felt Omega approaching before she heard, saw, or smelled him, their bond was a powerful thing, and she still didn't know how it had formed, aside from what Doctor Tenenbaum had said about it. Anytime he was away from her, it felt like there was a rope attached to both of them, a rope that couldn't be seen or felt by anyone but them. The further he was from her, the tighter and tighter the rope would pull, almost as if it had a mind of it's own, and it wanted them to find each other, to be close to each other. Sometimes it felt like she would get lost without him, even if she knew exactly where in the City she was, and knew her surroundings by heart. It was almost unexplainable. Sometimes she felt like she would die without him by her side, or go mad, both of which she had already almost done once before when the Athena's Glory Hotel collapsed. It was something special only the two of them shared, and she loved that about their bond. It meant they could always feel each other, always know that the other one was okay, or hurt, needed help, or simply needed the support of the other from however far away they were. It guaranteed that nothing like the aftermath of the Hotel's fall would happen again so long as she could still feel him alive. It reminded her of the shared bond between a Little Sister and an Alpha series Big Daddy, though the bond she had with her Mate was far stronger.
She watched him walking down the street toward her, though she had concealed herself perfectly in the darkness of the rooftop, just under and beside a support beam, he was staring directly at her. He had known right where she was before he had even turned the corner of the building behind him. He stopped below the two story café and stared up at her before disappearing in a cloud of red smoke. He reappeared beside her, standing as he looked down at her on his left. She looked up at him and gave a small, sad smile before patting the concrete ledge to her right with her hand. Her Mate took a seat and began removing his helmet. She watched him closely as the lights of his visors went black, and he slowly pulled the armor off of his head. No matter how many times she saw him do this, she couldn't help but sit in awe of him. He was without a doubt the most important person in her life, he had saved her again and again, physically, emotionally, mentally. No matter how bad things had been before she had found him, how alone she had felt, she had never felt so alone since, even when she thought he and Lizzy had died in the Athena's Glory, even the memories of him, the thought that he had been by her side was more comforting than what she had felt when she returned to the City and couldn't find her Mother, or sisters.
Omega pulled his helmet off and sat it beside him before looking at her, his glowing eyes shining as bright as any light she had ever seen in Rapture. She realized that they had shone so bright because of his immense strength, his utter will to protect her, Anna, and Lizzy blazing like the sun she had never seen, or if she had couldn't remember it. In times of great danger, when she had seen him fight without his helmet, his eyes seemed to shine so bright they could burn away any enemy that dared stand against him, or so it seemed to her anyway. When he looked into her own illuminated eyes, she felt like everything would be okay, no matter how dark, or hopeless a situation seemed. He stared at her with the stone expression he always wore, at times it seemed hard, cold, and uncaring, especially to their human Allies, but to her, it always felt soft, kind, and loving. She didn't care what his face looked like though, because she could feel how he felt toward her, the humans, and their siblings. Even when he was in the middle of a firefight, killing Splicers or NeoSplicers in droves, she could always feel how protective of them he was, how he would face anything for them. No amount of pain or hardship would cause him to give up on this duty, no amount of impossible odds would deny him victory, because by finding her, he had already won.
She remembered the security footage she had seen in Mother's office, of him carrying the limp and broken body of one of her sisters. She remembered looking over their graves in Arcadia, seeing all of them filled, all except the last, which had been meant for her... She remembered the gesture he had made when she had asked what he planned to do after burying her, the last of their known family members, and how he simply looked to his harvester. His mission had effectively been ended, and in spectacular failure. Of course it wasn't his fault, she knew that, but he didn't. He would never believe it wasn't his fault that their sisters were dead, even if she wouldn't, couldn't blame him for what happened, it didn't change anything to him. To him, he had killed them as much as Delta had, simply because he couldn't lift a finger to help them, to save them. It broke her heart to think about it.
She felt his gloved hand gently cup her cheek, and her eyes looked up to him as he pulled her, like always, from her own dark thoughts. She nuzzled into his hand as he let his stone mask fall ever so slightly, and gave her a soft smile, as soft as he could manage anyway. She gave a broken chuckle at his ability to feel her emotions through their bond and he smiled a little wider. He brought his hands up and signed a basic 'It will be okay' to her, and she nodded. She knew it would, had to believe it would be, because he had always made things okay. She didn't like the fact that they had just learned more of their sisters could be in danger still, but he made her feel like it would be okay, that they would be okay. She could feel his confidence in them, if they were still alive. He wanted to storm the gates of Minerva's Den just as much, if not more than she did, even if just to investigate and see for himself if there were other Big Sisters and Little Sisters there, but he also knew that if they were, the threat that lurked beneath Rapture would mean they weren't safe, would never be safe. They needed to, had to deal with the NeoSplicers first and foremost. She knew that, as did he, but it felt wrong, it felt like it went against everything they had ever been taught, everything they had ever felt and known. She couldn't help but wonder which of her sisters could still be alive in Minerva's Den, what they had been doing, how they had survived, or how they had died. Had they grown close like she, Omega, Anna, and Lizzy had, had they overcome trials of strength, will, and loss as they had? She didn't know, but she knew they would find them if they were alive, they would save them, and they would get them out of the City in one piece... or they would die trying.
Both Protectors sat with each other, comforting one another as they always had. Iota showed her Mate the small trinkets and keepsakes she had collected in her memento pouch over their time together, a large splinter of wood from their first meeting in the Kashmir diner, when he had shielded her from the explosive trap meant for much larger prey like a Big Daddy. A small, smooth stone from the river in Arcadia, where their sisters lay buried and at peace. One of Wallace's fingers from when she had been pinned down and stabbed by him, and Omega had killed the Brute Splicer to save her, the finger now brown and dried up. A screw from a rampaging Alpha series Big Daddy's armor they had fought. The tape from Eleanor apologizing after locking him in a vault in the Adonis Luxury Resort. A piece of glowing coral now grey and dried from their time in Dionysus Park. The cap of an empty Plasmid bottle found in Fontaine Futuristics. One of Lizzy's old bows from when they had found her just before arriving at the Athena's Glory Hotel, and a small piece of concrete from when it had fallen. There was a piece of cloth from a Big Sister suit from when they had given Anna her own, and a Splicer's tooth that she had taken from their last District, their Castle of Corpses, the Christmas themed painting Seline had given her the night she and her Mate had first held each other without their suits, and so many more.
Each and every piece looked like it could be ordinary trash to anyone else, but to her, they were special. Each piece told a story of their journey together, each piece was a trial overcome, and experiences both good and bad. Each piece was a memory. Omega knew the pieces, knew exactly what they were and where they were from, and how many there were, but he also knew how very special they were to her, and how she felt about each one, the feelings she poured into them, these broken and mismatched things. He did what he always did when she showed them to him, he listened to the story they told, to the story she was telling him through them and through her feelings for them.
By the time Anna and Lizzy had found them, Iota had already placed the pieces back in her special pouch, and tucked it safely on the back of her belt, protected by her air tank. They smelled the younger siblings approaching, and knew they were close, Anna no doubt taking her time to scan every surrounding in order to keep Lizzy safe, just as they had taught her. The Protectors looked to one another and nodded. It was time for some more training, sudden and unexpected. They would take Anna by surprise, and gauge just how ready she would actually be in a real life or death situation against more powerful foes. They needed to make sure she was ready for anything they might find in the tunnels or Minerva's Den. They weren't stupid, they knew that if they found their sisters, and if they were alive, they might very well have gone insane and turned hostile to everything aside from Little Sisters. They might have felt such loss and rage that they fell into their own minds and saw everything as an enemy, even other Big Sisters or the only Big Brother. They knew it was a possibility that was all too real. Omega had, on a few occasions, been dispatched by Mother to... grant peace... to Big Sisters that couldn't be saved or brought back from their rage. They had been some of the toughest fights he had ever been in, and he was thankful that he couldn't remember much from them thanks to his mental conditioning being largely intact.
Now it was Anna's turn, the stage was set, and she would be expecting anything but an attack by them. The last thing she saw was Iota and Omega storming out of the fire station, she would be expecting her sister to be in an emotionally distraught state, her brother consoling her as he had before, but this was different. Iota wasn't the broken, pathetic mess she had been when she thought he and Lizzy had died, she was stronger now, would always be stronger, and like Omega, she too would be unbreakable, she had to be.
. . .
Anna continued walking, following her brother and sister's scents, they were strong, and they hadn't gone far, she knew they would be nearby, most likely up high somewhere, as that was a Protector's usual go to when they wanted security. They would most likely be on top of a building or in the rafters of the ceiling somewhere with a good line of sight for their surroundings. Anna's head turned from side to side as she smelled the direction they had gone, her eyes scanning every shadow, every doorway, window, rooftop, and alley for signs of a threat to Lizzy. It was more likely Splicers would attack her rather than her younger sister, since she actually had Adam on her, but Lizzy still held the scent of Adam, and she would leave nothing to chance.
"Are you looking around for bad guys and monsters, anna?" Lizzy asked as she sat in the cage on her sister's back, also looking around the empty area.
"You know I am, Liz. Splicers could come from anywhere, at any time, and it's a Protector's job to see them, hear them, and smell them first." She answered.
"I wish I could see as good as you, or hear as good as you... I don't think I would like to smell as good as you though... We go through a lot of stinky places." Lizzy remarked, earning a chuckle from her sister.
"That's true, a lot of places in this city stink don't they?" She asked.
"Yeah, but I wish I could see like you, in the dark. I don't like the dark." The little girl stated as she looked down toward the pillows she sat on in the cage.
"I don't think anyone really likes the dark, Liz. There are just a lot of dark places in Rapture." She told her.
"Do you think Big Brother and Big Sister like the dark?" She asked curiously, looking up toward the back of Anna's helmet.
"I don't think they mind it, to them, I think it's more of an inconvenience. Like being wet or cold. They deal with it when they have to, but I think they prefer to stay in the light, where they can see just a liiiiitle better, just like I'm sure they prefer to stay dry and warm too." She answered lightly.
"Yeah. I don't like to be wet or cold either, but you guys always get me dry, or get me clothes to keep me warm." She said, her tone changing slightly enough that Anna sensed the shift.
"Hey, what's wrong?" The Protector asked softly.
"Nothing. Everything's okay." She said. Anna immediately knew she was fibbing, and scrunched her eyebrows. She scanned the area one more time before stopping next to the side of a brick building, her hand reaching back and gesturing with her fingers for Lizzy to come out. The younger sister took her hand and Anna lifted her out of the cage to stand her in front of her, the yellow glow from her helmet shining down on her as she let go of her hand and looked up at her. They weren't face to face thanks to Anna's helmet and height but it was close enough. She had been on high alert since she had left the fire station without her brother and sister, but knew they were close by from how strong their scents were in the area, so she figured it was okay for Lizzy to be out for a bit, it also let her come face to face with her, sort of.
"What's going on? What's wrong?" Anna asked.
"Nothing, really, I'm fine." Lizzy said, her eyes looking downward as she thought.
"Liz... I know when you're lying to me, I always know. Tell me what's wrong so I can help, please." She asked softly. Lizzy sighed, she could never lie to Anna, and she knew that, no matter how good she was, or how convincing to everyone else, she could never lie to her. They were as close as her brother and sister, they knew everything about each other, especially when they weren't feeling right inside.
"It's just... Big Brother and Big Sister." Lizzy answered.
"What about them?" She asked.
"If you're afraid of them because sister attacked me then, that's nothing to worry about, Liz. You know what they're like, everything they do is to protect us, every decision they make is for us. I shouldn't have said the things I did, I'm not as strong as them, I'm not as good at being a Protector as them, it was really mean and disrespectful when I said those things to them." She said, trying to explain to a child what she had said to Tenenbaum and the others. Lizzy had heard that too, and she understood, as well as she could anyway. She shook her head.
"No, I know that, and I understand why Big Sister spanked you... I'm not afraid of them, I could never be afraid of them, I know they would never hurt us, or do anything to make us sad on purpose... but... I saw how they were when they learned that more of our sisters might still be out there... and how much they wanted to go find them." She explained.
"And?" Anna asked softly.
"And... If we do find more of our sisters... ones that aren't... like me now." She hesitated, trying to think of how to word her question.
"Human you mean?" Anna asked.
"Yeah... Do you think they would still love me?" She asked, her fearful eyes looking up to her.
"Oh Lizzy..." Anna said, her angelic voice echoing gently through her helmet's speakers. She sometimes forgot how the mind of a child worked, how they, like adult humans, lacked a Protector's confidence and courage, though children needed far more reassurance.
"Listen to me when I say this. They will never stop loving you, or protecting you. Ever." She said.
"But... what about if we find a real Little Sister... Are you sure they'll still love me as much as them?" She asked, wearing her worried expression clearly. This question made Anna's head move back slightly. She hadn't been expecting that, hadn't even considered the possibility that something like that could happen, and in truth... she didn't know. How could she know? They had only ever had Lizzy with them since they found each other. She had no way of knowing if their Protector instincts would kick into overdrive, force them to protect actual Little Sisters over her... and that thought actually terrified her. In the span of barely a second she had run a few situations through her head, as Protectors often would when asked a hypothetical question regarding their Charges, and in all of her scenarios she imagined herself protecting Lizzy just as much as an actual Little Sister... but that wasn't the same as the real thing.
"Liz..." She sighed lightly.
"I'm always honest with you, you know that right?" Anna asked her sister.
"Yeah, I know, unless it's to keep me safe." She answered.
"That's right. So I'm going to be honest with you now too. We will always love you... but... our Protector instincts... They're powerful, feelings that come over us so strong that we sometimes don't have time to think like we normally would. They make us act rather than waste precious time thinking if someone we're trying to protect is in danger... You've seen how Brother and Sister jump in front of you to protect you without even thinking about it. A Protector's instincts are what drive them to do it so fast, almost like when you can't help but to jump when something scary pops out at you. Rather than flinch, Protectors attack, we flinch just like you, but instead of pulling back away from the danger, we flinch toward it." She tried to explain, hoping she was doing a good job.
"But, do your instincts force you to love me too?" She asked, causing Anna to shake her head quickly.
"No. Our Protector instincts drive us to protect, they make us choose whatever path our experiences have taught us will keep you, and other Little Sisters the safest. We love you, and we want to protect you, not because we're made to do so, but because we choose to do so." She said softly.
"What's the difference?" Lizzy asked, confused on the concept, it was a good question, one that Anna had to actually think about for a few moments.
"The difference is, you're human now... but you're still our family. Protectors don't feel their instincts at all toward humans or things that just smell a little bit like ADAM. We only feel them for Little Sisters or other Protectors like Iota and Omega. We choose to protect you because we always have, and even if you don't look like a Little Sister, or smell like one, or gather ADAM like one... We choose to treat you Just like one, because we love you. You're our family, our little sister, and you always will be, no matter what." She explained warmly. The sentiment caused Lizzy's face to redden a bit as she smiled, clearly Anna had done something right. She had just embraced the girl in a tight hug when a loud explosion went off right next to her, and a cloud of dust flew into her vision.
Anna had moved before she even had time to think, grabbing Lizzy and clutching her to her chest as she ducked an incoming black shadow coming through the cloud of dust and debris. She ducked the incoming blow but before she could get away something slammed into her side, sending pain through her and knocking her nearly ten feet away. She rolled across the hard ground protecting Lizzy's head with her hand as she screamed sharply, the porthole of Anna's helmet shot a crimson glow onto the dust cloud as she rolled backwards and onto her feet. Red visor slits shone through the smoke and dust, and she knew immediately who had attacked her.
"Brother." She whispered, scanning her surroundings for her sister, always the stealthier of the two. She heard her first, the faintest rush of air from above causing her to roll forward still clutching Lizzy to her chest. When she stopped she threw the girl over her shoulder and into her padded cage for safety as both siblings lunged forward toward her.
"Hold on, Liz!" She shouted as her siblings attacked.