A/N: I made a promise, and I always deliver as best as I can.
Disclaimer: I don't own Bioshock.
Opening his eyes with a soft groan, Reece found himself back in his bedroom in Rhoad Island. Laying on the floor facing the ceiling as he tried to get his barings.
"Reece? You there? Reece!" came his father's voice from the other side of his door.
"Dad?" he asked rolling over and struggling to get back to his feet. Looking up, he was shocked to see Elizabeth leaning against his desk. Eyes locking with his as she spoke.
"Save the girl...return to your home." she said in a low monotone voice. "You have no idea what you have gotten yourself into."
Reece stood up and approached her, "Elizabeth? Why are you here? What's going on?" he asked grabbing her shoulders. She looked at him with no expression at all as the pounding on his bedroom door persisted. "I'll BE RIGHT THERE!" he shouted at the person knocking before looking back at the girl.
She was gone. His hands hovering in the air where her shoulders had been. "What the hell is going on with me?" he said dropping his arms down in confusion.
"Reece!" He faced the door hearing another familiar voice on the other side.
"Elizabeth?...but...How did-"
"Reece you need to breathe! Come on BREATHE! Please Reece!" she screamed desperately.
Approached the door, he grabbed the knob and twisted it slowly before pulling it open. The room filling with a bright light and everything went black again.
X
His senses slowly began to come back into focus. The sounds of waves laping against sand heard close by was first. He then felt something pressing down on to his chest several times before feeling something warm and soft on his lips pushing air back into his body.
When enough air was forced into him, Reece's eyes sprang open and found himself in the familiar situation of coughing up water from his ravaged lungs. Rolling on to his side as he cleared his airways and started gulping in fresh air again. "That's it...I hate fucking water!" he thought bitterly amongst his coughing fit.
"Reece? Are you alright?" he looked up and saw Elizabeth kneeling in the sand next to him with a concerned look on her face.
"Been...better..." the traveler wheezed out as he struggled to get up. Hissing in pain when the muscles on his right side flexed around his new injury. "Damn. Couple of ribs are busted at least." he thought laying on his back gently to avoid agitating the breaks. "Where am I?" he asked looking up to see the once blue sky turning pink marking the approaching end of the day.
Elizabeth smiled in relief, "Back in the land of the living." She grabbed his hand and went to help him up when he grunted feeling his ribs flare up. "Oh! I'm so sorry!" she exclaimed laying him back down. "Where are you hurt?"
"My ribs, that thing crushed a couple of them pretty good. What the hell was that anyway?" he asked remembering the monstrous bird-creature that chased them from the monument tower.
The young woman looked striken before shaking her head, "It's...hard to explain. But I might have something that will help you." she said reaching into the backpack that had been sitting by her along with his weapons. After a moment, she pulled out a small vial filled with ruby/red liquid with a red plus sign stamped on the front.
"I found this in the sand after we got to shore, I almost forgot about it because you weren't breathing when I pulled you out of the water. So I had to give you CPR." she explained pulling the top off and handing it to him. "From the label, it should help you heal."
Reece accepted the vial and raised his head enough so that he could drink it. Cringing as the taste of wild cherries mixed with cough medicine bombarded his throat. He managed to down every last drop before settling back down again as he felt a strange warmth start in the center of his chest and spread to where he knew where his ribs were broken. "Thank you. Guess this kind of makes us even huh?"
Elizabeth couldn't help but smile, "It would appear so." She perked up when she heard something in the distance. "Do you hear that?" she asked as her smile brightened. "It's music!"
Despite his sped up recovery thanks to the concoction that he drank, Reece wasn't anywhere near ready to move. But the sheer excitement and joy on the girl's face warmed his heart.
She'd been trapped in that tower for only god knew how long. She was probably denied the luxary of hearing music or even feel the air on her face from being outside. Who was he to deny her at least a few minutes to enjoy her new freedom.
"Go on, have a little fun." he said smirking. "I'm just going to rest up and heal a little more."
Elizabeth's smile turned blinding as she stood up, "Okay! I won't be long! I won't be long, Reece!" she exclaimed before running up the beach out of sight. Reece shook his head at her enthusiasm as he laid back in the warm sand and stared up at the sky.
Taking the time to think about everything that had happened to him in the last day. He'd gone from an average college student to a hated pariah in a city in the clouds. Being thrown from the futrue to a century in the past and having to deal with not only the culture shock, but the mission that had been forced upon him.
After everything that had happened leading to this point, the chances of survival seemed to depend on the hour. With more than half the city after his blood, and with the destruction of the city's beloved monument and home to their cherished 'Lamb', there was bound to be a serious backlash.
"We need to get out of this city." he thought looking seriously at the now pink tinted clouds above. "The longer we stay the more likely Comstock's men will find us. And I doubt we can handle a whole army coming down on us, not to mention that giant bird-thing that tried to get us. Who knows when the hell that thing will pop up again."
A few more minutes passed when Reece felt that he could stand again without searing pain putting him back down. The health vial Elizabeth had given him had healed most of the damage he had been dealt and took care of the pain, but he could still feel a slight ache every now and again proving that he still wasn't at a hundred percent.
Pulling on his pack and securing his weapons, the teen slowly trudged up the beach. Passing several rows of people lounging on towels or chairs enjoying the setting sun in the distance.
Reaching the pier at the end, he looked around the various closed shops for anything that could have been left behind by the people that came here that day. Managing to find a couple handfuls of Silver Eagles and a second health vial under the pier itself. "Either someone's not paying attention to what they're dropping, or someones watching me closely." Reece thought as he drank the health vial and felt the effects finishing up what the last one couldn't finish.
Feeling back to his old self again, the traveler continued on his path down the pier in search of Elizabeth. Passing by a couple of guys talking he caught their attention, "Excuse me. Either of you seen a young woman come through here? A little shorter than me, brunette in a white blouse and blue skirt?" he asked.
"Was that sweet thing with you?" asked one of the guys grinning. "She's a beauty lad! Better not let that one out of your sight."
Reece scratched the back of his head sheepishly, "Yeah, she kind of is with me. You know where she went?"
"Just up the pier." said the other man clapping him on the shoulder. "Good luck, you got yourself a winner in that one"
Following the rest of the path, the teen made sure that the sleeve of his denim jacket was covering his hand tattoo. Doing his best to avoid another incident like at the raffle, he doubted that he'd get any good points in Elizabeth's book if he had to slaughter a bunch of people so that they could get away.
Along the way he saw a sign saying where they had ended up. A place called Battleship Bay which looked like a small summer spot for citizens to go to on a hot day. The very fact that they could create a floating island that could hold it's own body of water like this sounded not only impossible...but very cool at the same time.
"Why the hell hasn't anyone come up like something like this back home?" Reece wondered as he made his way along another beach toward a pier that stretched out on to the water where the sound of music could be heard clear across the water.
Remembering where his charge was going, he followed the music down the dock to where he saw a bunch of couples dancing among themselves with a three man band creating the tunes.
Spinning in the center of the group was Elizabeth. Her long skirt twirling along with her movements as a look of serenity and joy filled her beautiful face.
She stopped her movements when she saw Reece at the edge of the group and moved through them, "Reece! This is wonderful! Come dance with me!" she said grabbing his hands and pulling him forward.
He was nervous, he hadn't been on a dance floor with a girl since he and his ex broke up all those months ago. But he just couldn't say no to those gorgeous baby-blues as he was pulled on to the dance floor. Everyone around them giving the younger couple room as they danced in a similar fashion to what they had been doing before.
Reece was glad that he had drank the second health vial he had found, or this would have been rather difficult. He let Elizabeth lead them, her whole form radiating happiness that made a smile appear on his lips. How could anyone imprison such a free spirit? It was inhumane...ungodly to keep this creature locked away.
After several times around the floor, Reece pulled them to a stop and off to the side as everyone else started dancing again. "Elizabeth, we should really get going." he said getting things back on track.
"Why? What could be better than this?" she asked with her arms stretched out to what was around them.
"Being alive and safe from a city filled with religious nut-jobs and they're power crazed leader?" he thought while scratching his neck absently. Then he remembered what he had seen when he got her from the tower, all the pictures, the painting, and what he saw when she opened that portal.
"How bout Paris?" he offered.
Elizabeth's face became a mask of shock, "P-Paris?! I don't understand...how could we even get there?" she asked now very excited.
Reece had to wrack his brain pretty hard on that one. Lucky for him a large zeppelin with the image of a regal looking woman on the side flew by and looked to be docking close by. The name on the side of the airship reading 'The First Lady'.
"We can hitch a ride on that airship." he said pointing it out to her. "But...if you'd prefer to stay here and dance..."
Elizabeth grabbed his hand, "NO! Let's go!" she shouted and started to drag him back to the buildings by the pier. "C'mon, let's go right now!"
"Okay! Okay! Easy girl, we'll get there." said Reece laughing at how jazzed up she was. It reminded him of the time when his sisters got tickets to a One Direction concert before he went to college. He shivered remembering how they forced him to come along and had to bare the horror of so many screaming fan girls in one place.
"Between that and here...Columbia seems like a paradise. Save for the murdering racists."
As they walked along, Elizabeth kept looking at everything in wonder. "I'm out...It's so hard to believe, but it's true. Isn't it?" she asked absentmindedly smelling the air. "Can you smell that? I've never smelled anything like that before, have you?"
"That's the smell of freedom, Elizabeth." said Reece making her smile up at him.
"I haven't thanked you properly for rescuing me...for the longest time I thought I would never see the outside world beyond those walls. I started to lose hope." she admitted with her head down.
She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up into Reece's green gaze, "You don't need to thank me. From what I saw you deserved to get out of there. And as long as I'm still kicking, you'll remain that way."
Smiling her thanks. The two of them passed through a turnstile as they entered the building ahead which had turned out to be a large gift shop filled with souveniers all based around Comstock. "Reece." The traveler turned to Elizabeth and saw her looking at a large poster of the Prophet in front of her.
"Comstock. I've read about him. They say he can see the future." she said looking over the image.
Reece leaned close to her ear and whispered so that he didn't rouse suspicion from the other custormers or the shop owner who had been close by. "Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power." he said quoting Lincoln.
Elizabeth frowned. "I don't like his look."
"Do you dislike the look of the Prophet? Or his gaze?" the shop owner said heatedly.
Reece smiled at the man, "It's not that, sir. The image just could be better. More regal, don't you agree? I mean the Prophet has a much more prominent chin." he said waving to the poster and hoping that his acting paid off.
The shop owner looked from the teens to the poster and gasped. "You're right! I'll have to contact the ones that made the posters and have them make the proper changes. Thank you for pointing that out." he said as the duo slipped out of the store.
"Why did you lie?" Elizabeth whispered as they got a safe distance away.
"One of the things you should never do is bad mouth an important figure head when you're surrounded by their subjects." he replied as they made their way down a row of booths. At the end stood two people who were still on Reece's shit list. "Well...if it isn't my most favorite people on the planet." he muttered as Robert and Rosalind stood before them.
"Hello again, Mr. Vega." said Rosalind.
"Can we assume that your journey has been enlightening?" asked Robert.
Reece squared his shoulders as he shot them a dirty look, "Oh yeah. Very enlightening. The multiple near-death experiences really put things into perspective for you after a while." he said with so much sarcasm that you could feel it.
"Reece, do you know these people" asked Elizabeth a little confused about the confrontation.
"Unfortunetly." the traveler admitted. "Elizabeth, this is Robert and Rosalind Lutece." the twins nodded to the young woman in greeting who did the same in return.
"All pleasantries aside, we have a matter that needs to be handled." said Rosalind as she and her brother both pulled out red velvet pillows with jewelry boxes of the same size, shape and color sitting on them. "A choice for the lady." she continued as they opened the boxes.
Revealing two identical pendents placed on silk chokers. The pendants baring the same symbols that had been on the key that helped Elizabeth escape from the tower. A cage on one, a bird on the other. Both looking like they were made of silver on an oval shaped black-onyx stone with silver trim.
"Which will you choose?" asked Rosalind. "The bird..."
"Or the cage?" finished Robert.
Elizabeth looked at the two pendants closely. "They both look so beautiful." she said picking up the two cases before turning to Reece and showing him. "Which one do you think I should choose?"
This wasn't Reece's first song and dance when it came to picking out jewelry for a woman. He'd helped find something for his grandma, mother, sisters and ex on several occasions. It was all a matter of trying to match the right attributes of the person to the jewelry in question.
"Hmm...Both are exactly the same, yet speak volumes on their own." he thought to himself. "The cage represents safety, but also imprisonment. Which could also force her to remember where she had been housed most of her life. The bird represents freedom and being able to reach new heights. But looks similar to that giant freak that came after us."
After weighing the pros and cons with the symbology of each pendant he chose. "Take the bird. It represents freedom and marks the beginning of your new life." he said smiling at her.
Elizabeth smiled back setting the other box back down and taking the choker out of the other. "I expected the cage." said Robert as he and his sister bowed to them and made their leave.
Reece watched them go with narrowed eyes, "We're going to have a long chat when this is over." The twins stopped and looked over their shoulders at him at the same time making him wonder if they had heard his thoughts.
"I love it!" Elizabeth said after fixing the silk choker in place. Turning to show the traveler her new accessory and how it sat snug against the center of her swan-like neck. "How does it look?" she asked touching the pendant lightly.
Reece swallowed and managed a smile, "It's pretty, and it suits you." The young woman smiled with a light blush dusting her cheeks from the compliment.
The moment was shattered when they heard people panicing. Heading to see what was going on, they saw everyone staring in horror at the monument tower coming out of the clouds. Or, more or less, what was left of it after what had happened.
"My god...look..." Elizabeth said in a low voice with her hands clasped in front of her.
"You okay?" Reece asked gently.
"It was my home." came the reply as more people started to gather around. Some of them in tears, others on their knees praying from seeing the sight of the 'Lamb's' home now being in ruins.
Looking around at all the people, Reece slipped his right hand into the pocket of his jacket before taking Elizabeth's hand with the other. "Come on, we should get out of here." he said leading her out of the crowd and into the nearby building which had been the station leading to the First Lady Airship.
But the way leading through the station was blocked off by a police blockade and a large group of people hoping to get inside. Each person wanting to get through had to be searched thoroughly before being allowed entry.
Not wanting to get caught, the duo went down a side hallway only to run into a snag in the form of a locked door. "Dammit..." Reece muttered refraining himself from trying to kick the door in and drawing more attention to them.
Elizabeth moved ahead, reaching into her hair and pulling out a pin before tinkering with the lock. "What are you doing?" he hissed, turning around and blocking her from sight while keeping a look out for anyone that might catch them.
"You're a roguish type. What does it look like?" she asked as she went about messing with the lock.
He shook his head, "You know I should feel insulted by that comment. But considering I broke into a heavily guarded tower not long ago I can see your point." he admitted before looking over his shoulder when he heard a a low clinking noise as the lock fell away from the door.
"Done." Elizabeth said casually pushing the door open and raising an eyebrow at him.
Reece chuckled, "Your a woman of many talents, aren't you?" he said as they went through the opening and shutting the doors behind them.
"Well, being trapped in a tower with nothing but books and spare time you learn to pick up a couple of hobbies. You'd be surprised with what I know how to do." said the girl as they went down the empty hallway.
"I already am." Reece thought remembering her little display back at the tower, and the fact that she could pick locks could prove invaluable if they got stuck somewhere.
Traversing the back hallways of the station. Both teens set about finding a way that would help them get through to the airship. Reece spent that time collecting anything valuable from nearby crates, Elizabeth tossing him a couple Silver Eagles here and there saying that she would keep a look out for anything else.
When they rounded another corner, Reece saw two people he never thought he'd see again. "Hey...mister...we'd like to help you." said an African woman standing next to her husband. They were the same interracial couple that had been at the raffle before all hell broke loose.
"I remember you." said the teen smiling kindly. "It's good to see you both got out of there in one piece."
The man nodded, "Without you, we probably wouldn't have. We owe you our lives."
"Daisy always said somebody like you would come along." said the woman holding out her hand with a good amount of Silver Eagles. "This may not be much, but it's all we have. Take it, please. It's the least we can do."
Reece looked at the offering before reaching into his pocket. Pulling out the Silver Eagles that Elizabeth had given to him a moment ago and putting them in the dark-skinned woman's hand. "Keep your money." he said closing her fingers over the coins. "And stay safe out there. Don't let these racist assholes damage what you two have made for each other."
The couple smiled at the kindness, the woman hugging Reece briefly and whispered "God bless you." in his ears before they took their leave. The traveler turned to his charge and saw her with her arms folded over her chest with a smile gracing her features. "...what?" he asked.
"You saved their lives?" she asked sounding a little impressed.
"They were in trouble, and the situation turned bad fast. I couldn't just let them get hurt." Reece said with a shrug.
Elizabeth's smile widened as they continued on, "It's good to know that I'm traveling with someone with a good heart and strong morals."
Reece cringed but managed to keep it hidden so that she didn't notice. "I was raised to always help those in need." he smiled before adding, "And it's good to know I'm happy to be traveling with a nice young woman with a hobby for breaking and entering."
Elizabeth blushed and turned her head so that he wouldn't notice. But the chuckle coming from her companion told her otherwise making her face a little redder.
X
The next room they had entered was large and full of arcade games of all kinds and styles. Food vendors were set up here and there selling snacks to patrons as everyone enjoyed themselves among the flashing lights and sounds around them.
Since the moment they walked through the door, Reece had been on edge. Feeling like they were being watched. Elizabeth moved along looking at everything in wonder while he kept his eyes open for anything out of the ordinary. Both hands in his pockets while at the same time ready to launch one of his powers should the need arise.
"Hay Reece? What is this?" he turned to see Elizabeth looking at a bottle of soda she picked up from a table where the vendor was giving them away for free.
"It's called soda. Cola flavored to be exact." he replied taking the bottle and popping the top off before handing it back. "Give it a try, you might like it."
She gave the opening a small sniff before taking a small sip of the beverage. She giggled a little, "It tickles my nose. And it tastes very sweet." she said taking another swig from the bottle.
Grinning, Reece took another bottle for himself and drank with her. Tossing the empty bottles away afterward before heading to the back of the arcade to another turnstile that would take them to where they needed to go.
A woman in a grey uniform had been standing infront of the turnstile on the right when they approached. She turned and gave Elizabeth a strange look. "Annabelle?" she asked after a moment.
"Excuse me?" asked Elizabeth confused.
"Annabelle, it's me Esther! Don't you remember me?" the woman asked thinking that she knew the younger woman.
"I'm sorry, but I'm not Annabelle. My name is Elizabeth." came the reply.
Esther tilted her head and narrowed her eyes at the two of them before smiling, "Elizabeth? Well, isn't that a lovely name?" she said before passing through the turnstile and walking off.
The bad feeling Reece had when they got here went up a great deal. Something about that exchange was way too sketchy for his tastes. "That was odd." said Elizabeth while trying to wonder what that had been about as they went through as well.
An officer by the stairs looked up at them from his spot against the wall called out; "Last customer, park's closing. Park's closing, everyone!"
"Not a whole lot of time, we better get moving." said Reece as they moved a little faster up the steps. Entering the atrium where the ticket booth was set up for the airships. The traveler took note that the place had a couple people in it that were just milling around and speaking in hushed tones.
His instincts were screaming at him that something was off. But they needed to get on to that airship if they wanted to get out of Columbia.
"Excuse me, two tickets for the First Lady airship please." Reece said after ringing the bell.
The ticket booth operator was on the phone with his back to them talking to someone. "Yeah, just a minute friend." came the reply before he went back to his conversation. "Yeah, I have it. How do you want to proceed?"
"In a bit of a rush here, man." said Reece getting a little annoyed.
"Hay mister! You're going to get mustard all over your nice suit!" Elizabeth called to another patron as they waited for the man to get off the phone.
"Mmmm-hmmm," said the ticket man as he kept speaking. "I got it. I'll ring you back once the matter's in hand. Send in the bird, we're ready to execute."
Reece really didn't like the sound of that as he put his hands on the counter. "Hay! We've been patient, so how about a little service before this place-"
"Let go of me!" Reece spun around and saw two cops grabbing Elizabeth while she struggled..
"Elizabeth!" he shouted.
"Don't forget your tickets FRIEND!" The traveler cried out in pain as the man in the booth stabbed a knife through his hand, pinning it to the counter as he went to pull a side arm out from behind him.
Through the pain, Reece brought out his other hand and launched a fireblast into the bastard and lit him up before grabbing the knife by the handle and pulling it from his hand with a sickening spurt of blood.
A cop managed to run up to him when he lit the man in the booth on fire and raised his club to hit him. Only to be met with the glow of his shield flaring up to defend him as he spun on his foot and jabbed the blade into the man's throat.
Dropping the man to the floor, the teen looked around and saw Elizabeth plant her knee into an officer's crotch forcing him to release her before turning to him. Her face morphed into one of shock and horror seeing the dead cop at his feet before her gaze met his. Without a word she spun around fled the room, just as everyone else around drew a weapon and opened fire on Reece forcing him into cover behind a nearby pillar.
"Shit. " he growled clutching his still bleeding hand. The damage was minimal, no tendons or major nerves were severed when the knife went in meaning he could still us it. But the pain that went through everytime he clentched his fist made things a little difficult.
Drawing his pistol in his right hand and ignoring the pain as best he could, be spun around the pillar and launched a flock of crows into the group that had been set up to ambush them. Taking advantage of their distraction to drill rounds through them and put them down before they could attack him again.
He then launched a Possession into another man giving him a little back up so that he could better assess the situation.
There were roughly eight people still in the room, all with good firepower that pounded against his shield as he returned fire on them. Tossing a few fire-grenades to thin out their ranks as he switched from the pistol to the machine gun and sprayed bullets through the room just as his shield broke under the assault.
Getting back into cover, Reece pulled out a Salt and knocked it back to replenish his powers when he saw something out of the corner of his eye.
Underneith one of the men his crows had torn apart was a gun that was bulky and had a large barrel. And judging by the trigger pump and its overall design he could tell that it was an old-school version of a shotgun.
He may have been a long distance shooter on the range and in video games, but given the current situation he made an exception as he grabbed the weapon and made sure a new round was chambered before leaping up and pulling the trigger.
The thing kicked like a damn mule and made the pain in his right hand flare up like a cattle prod. But the damage it caused was worth it as the powerful shot ripped a man's chest open like a fountain and threw him back against a pillar lifeless.
Readjusting his grip on the shotgun, Reece pumped the handle loading in a new round as he blasted another attacker before he could get into cover. The combined effort of his Vigors and guns dispatched all but one of the people setup to ambush him and Elizabeth.
And as it turned out, the last one standing was the woman Esther that stopped them by the stairs.
"Die False Shepard!" she screamed firing her own shotgun. The blast destroying Reece's shield in one shot from the close range they had been at causing his own shot to go too high as he dove behind a bench.
A second blast tore a chunk of his hiding place off as he waited for his field to replenish, When he saw the familiar glow in his vision he stood and fired his shotgun without pause. The blast knocked the crazed woman from her cover and throwing her for a loop as the teen fired another shot that nearly shreaded the arm that was holding her shotgun.
Pumping the handle, Reece took aim and fired the last round in the chamber. Punching a hole in Esther's stomach and putting her down for good leaving the room dead silent.
Lowering the smoking barrel, Reece dropped the spent shotgun to the floor before jogging in the direction where Elizabeth had disappeared to. Opening the gate that came down to seal the room and running down the corridor behind it as he looked for the girl.
"Elizabeth! Where are you?!" He called out as he kept moving. His feet pounding the wooden floor under him as he reached the end of the station where the gondola was waiting. It was the only place where she could have gone and he wasted no time going up the steps two at a time and approaching the transport.
He found her inside the gondola, attempting to work the lever but she just couldn't muster the strength to push it into place. When she looked up and saw him in the door way she back away from the controls and put as much distance between them as the small room would allow.
It stung...a lot. Seeing the once joy-filled and innocent eyes that he had seen before looking at him in terror and disgust ripped his heart up. "Elizabeth..." he reached out but she moved back even farther.
"Stay away from me!" she screamed making his guilt even worse.
Reece held up his hands, "Look...I know what you saw was pretty bad. But you have to understand that-"
"What I have to understand?" she fired back heatedly. "You killed all those people! They're all dead!" her gaze burning as she leaned up and shoved him as hard as she could. "YOU'RE A MONSTER!"
Whatever pain he had felt before...pretty much paled in comparison to that one sentence. It was like the password that opened the floodgates that held back everything that he had done since arriving in this city. All the lives he was forced to end for his survival. Looking those people in the face as he shot them and seeing the life fade from their eyes each time.
Elizabeth had calmed a little after a few moments, but she noticed that Reece hadn't said a word. He stood in the center of the room very still, his face turning a shade of pale-green as he looked at the floor wide eyed.
"Reece?" she asked taking a hesitant step forward. The action alone snapped him out of it, he backpeddled to the other side of the goldola's control room until his back was against the wall. Sliding to the floor as he closed his eyes and took deep breaths.
"Do you think I wanted to?" he asked so quiet the young woman could barely hear him. "That I wanted to take their lives? Before today I never once even thought about taking another life. The thought of killing another person made me feel sick and inhuman."
He opened his eyes and Elizabeth gasped at the hollow and empty look in them. "I don't do it because I want to or have to. But because ever since I got here people have wanted me dead for absolutely no reason at all. I don't enjoy taking their lives, but its either fight or die. And I keep telling myself that it's self defense...but more and more keep throwing themselves at me to put me down because their so called 'Prophet' made me a marked man in their eyes."
Chuckling humorlessly, Reece kept his gaze on the young woman before him. "You think I'm a monster. Do you have any idea what the people of this city have done? What they're trying to do? They locked you in that tower and hold you as a Messiah that will lead them to victory when they wage war against the surface. You're an asset to them that is too valuable to just let go. And they'll do whatever it takes to get you back under their control."
"The people here won't let you just walk away because you want to. And the only way for either of us to be safe is to get as far from this fucking place as possible. And it has reached a point where it's a shoot first ask questions never kind of deal."
Elizabeth soaked all of this in. Wiping a few stray tears from her face as she looked down at the man who had done everything in his power to not only free her. But just fought off a large number of people to ensure that she wasn't captured again.
"What do...What do they want from me?" she asked after a while with her hand resting over her heart.
"Don't know exactly." Reece said standing back up. "But I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure that they don't get what they want." he reached for the lever to pull it when Elizabeth gasped again.
"Reece! Your hand!"
He looked down at the injury. The slit in his flesh where the blade penetrated cut his tattoo right down the middle and was still bleeding. But the pain had begun to slowly numb allowing him to use it without too much trouble now. "It's not as bad as it looks." he said grabbing the lever and pulling it back. Leaving a bloody handprint in its wake.
Elizabeth shuffled around, removing her ascot and wrapping the cloth around his hand, securing it tightly to stop it from bleeding. "We'll have to find another one of those health vials to help it heal completely." she said tying the cloth in place. "What happened back there...it's not the last of it, was it?"
Reece looked grim, "Probably not. But if we move fast enough we can avoid anymore blood shed."
The gondola made it's trip along the rails toward where the airship was docked. The control room now silent as the two teens waited for it to stop and let them off. Reece was in deep thought, they were almost out of here. But where to go from there.
He was told to rescue Elizabeth and protect her, but nothing for after he did all that. He'd keep the promise he made to her, Reece never went back on his word no matter the odds stacked against him. Even now, and he wouldn't break that streak. Especially when the one he was helping was more than deserving of what she desired.
"Reece?" shaking away his thoughts, he turned to Elizabeth who was looking at the floor and biting her lip. "I...I need to know the truth." she looked up at him with imploring eyes. "Why did you come here? Why did you rescue me? If we're going to be traveling to Paris together...I need to know about the one I'm with."
Letting out a deep breath, Reece looked ahead and saw that they were still a few minutes out from the airship station. They had time...but would she even believe him?
"Okay," he said nodding while setting his backpack on the floor by the gondolas controls, "But to be perfectly honest, you may not believe most of it."
Elizabeth leaned against one of the closed windows, "I'm sure that it's not as farfetched as you're making it sound." she said making her companion chuckle.
"Oh it is, believe me. I can't even believe it myself." Reece admitted as he prepared to tell her everything. Praying that she would understand and believe it.
And if she didn't, things would get a hell of a lot harder.
A/N: The two of them have officially started their journey, and Elizabeth's first time out of her tower has now become something she really wasn't expecting.
If you've played Bioshock: Infinite, then you know Booker's personality and how he handled such emotional situations with Elizabeth. In all honesty, I was pretty pissed with how he handled certain things in canon, I can understand being all business and wanting to get his mission done, but if the person you're supposed to be helping doesn't trust you and looks at you like some kind of murderer...then you really need to go about things another way.
This is why I was able to make things different/better considering Reece isn't a 'killer', but someone who is pushed to extremes and resorted to the fight section of his fight, flight or freeze reflexes. He does feel guilt for having to kill the ones coming after him, but he's able to push his personal feelings aside long enough to keep himself, and now Elizabeth, out of danger. Which could save them even more in the near future.
New update tomorrow folks!
