"Ever wonder what it's like back on the surface?" Frond asked. He lay on his side, staring at a random point on the wall, idly spinning an empty EVE syringe across the floor like a spinning top with his free left hand, using the right to support his upper body.

It was the closest thing to ADAM that Becky could find on such short notice, and she was grateful that it had proved to be just enough to prevent Frond's mind from cracking. It'd been both interesting and terrifying to watch, how quickly Frond had deteriorated. How sudden too, as though a switch had been flicked from sane to broken in his brain. He'd been stable for about an hour now, yet she'd been unable to leave him in his condition. For the first fifteen minutes he'd just stared into the beyond, ignoring Becky as though they were in altogether different worlds. After that, he slowly managed to return to his body, suddenly talking to her about the most random of subjects. Becky had thought nothing of it, glad that he was finally talking again and continued the conversation to keep him .

"Sometimes," she admitted, "But it can't be much better up there than it is down there. Well, that is if there even was nuclear war. Funny really; Ryan tried to escape war and ended up creating the world's deadliest arena."

Frond caught the syringe mid-spin, halting its waltz across the floor.

"I bet there wasn't a war you know. I don't think it was as bad as Ryan kept telling us, the world above. I wish I could have seen it," Frond added wistfully, sighing to the roof.

"Wait, you're a Sunless too?" Becky asked, surprised. Frond had always seemed old enough to have been at least a toddler when his family arrived in Rapture. Frond grimly nodded.

"Born Rapture general 1952, just after my parents got here. Guess they couldn't wait to get to the 'City of Dreams'," Frond shook his head with disgust, closing his eyes.

"Didn't you ever ride "Journey To The Surface?" Becky smirked, playfully tapping Frond with her foot. He smiled back, shaking his head.

"Nah, mum used to say it was a waste of money. They didn't want me anywhere near that place, seeing as though Ryan…adapted it all to his liking," Frond's smile slowly disappeared, "I just wish I could feel the sun, just once. Just to know how it feels."

"Yeah, that'd be nice," Becky agreed. They were both silent, listening to the drips of water and the trickle of the nearby artificial stream whilst imagining what it'd be like to be above the waves.

That was the problem with Rapture; you could never forget. You couldn't just imagine yourself away or pretend you were somewhere else. It was as if Rapture itself wouldn't allow you; as soon as you closed your eyes to visualize the surface, a big fat water droplet would hit you right on the forehead. Whilst you tried to sleep, the leaks would keep you awake. The damp feeling would plague you in your dreams.

No escape. Ever.

Well, nearly ever.

Becky slowly opened her eyes, wiping the moisture which had ran down her cheek which had obvious fallen from the ceiling and nowhere else.

She withdrew the broken radio from her pocket, her brow dipping as she examined its casing for the billionth time since she'd thrown the damn thing with frustration. Sure, now it seemed like a bad idea but at the time she'd just been so angry. Angry at Frond, at her lack of preparation, angry at life in general.

It had been the closest thing to hand.

The back panel had cracked slightly, revealing bits of circuitry and broken wires. She didn't know what was wrong with it, and lacked the technical skills to fix it: she lived by the rule that if taking the batteries out and putting them back in didn't work, it was beyond saving.

"What's that?" Frond asked, absentmindedly turning the syringe over and over in his hands. She showed him the broken machinery.

"It's my…well, was my radio."

"The thing you used to talk to Grace with?"

"Yeah."

"What happened to it?"

"I kinda…threw it."

Frond looked at Becky at that, his eyebrow raised.

"I may not be familiar with technology, but I'm pretty sure metal doesn't bounce. Well, yet," he added. Becky laughed at that. Had Rapture continued to exist as it did, no doubt the scientists would have figures out a way for it to bounce. Hell, they'd probably make it hover or something else ridiculous.

"Yeah well, now I know," Becky muttered, returning the radio to her pocket.

"So what happens now then?" Frond asked, shifting his weight from his arm to the balls of his feet, beginning to stand up.

"Woah there boy, where'd you think you're going?" Becky frowned, reaching forward and grasping Frond by the collar of his shirt. She yanked him towards her, causing him to fall back to the ground. His head landed in her lap, looking strait up at her with a child like pout of irritation in his face.

"Are we gonna go and sort Ceres out or what?"

"Frond, what happened is serious you know. I-I…don't think I can take you with me."

Frond's mouth widened slightly as he gasped. She felt his body tremble and remembered to close her eyes as he suddenly teleported, re-appearing in a kneeling position facing her directly.

"What do you mean, "can't"? You need me there!"

"What do you think I mean? I mean that I can't have you with me if you're just gonna fade out like that!"

"Becky, I'm not just going to…"

"But how do you know?!" She jumped to her feet, her backpack painfully cutting into her shoulders, "You can't stop it! What if we get there and we don't have enough ADAM?"

"Don't you have any EVE?"

"Well, yeah, but that's for emergencies only," she said firmly.

"And what warrants an emergency for you? It's not like you can use-"

Becky picked up the discarded syringe at Frond's side with her Telekinetic ability and held it there. It was hardly a strain on her EVE levels, just so long as she didn't throw it.

"Since when were you spliced?!" Frond suddenly shouted. He disappeared again, reappearing with his face inches away from hers. She yelped and lost concentration, dropping the syringe.

"I told you not to do that!" Becky punched Frond ineffectually in the stomach. He winced slightly, but remained still.

"When did you splice up? I thought you were meant to be the sensible one!" Frond shouted.

"I don't know what you're angry about. You're not exactly "The Lamb" yourself. I did what I had to. So yeah, I've spliced," Becky shrugged.

"What do you mean "had to"? No one held you down and shoved a needle in your arm."

"Oh course not, but…"

"Haven't you seen what it did to the rest of us?!"

"Oh my god you're so stupid!" Becky held her head with exasperation, suddenly finding the situation hilarious, "Are you seriously saying that I could have survived without using ADAM all these years?"

"Others have. Grace has."

"Grace wasn't a frightened twelve year old girl with no family left and no one to care for her."

Frond looked as though she had slapped him, but she continued anyway.

"I had to incinerate my own mother's body when I was just a little girl. Ever had to do that, Frond? I had to look after the trees whilst the Saturnine stole all the resources I had. Did I mention I hadn't a clue what I was doing? Well, I didn't. See, I'd escaped from the Little Sister conversion facility, so all I really knew how to do was drink blood. Oh, I guess we have that in common, eh Frond? So yeah, I had to read all of my mother's notes on how to save trees, whilst cleaning out the carnage that was my mother's office. I had no one to help me, no adults or anything. But I thought, it could be worse, I could always be a Splicer."

She pushed Frond in the chest, but he still didn't move.

"But you wouldn't know about ANY of that, would you? No, you were fine, drinking all the ADAM you could whilst stealing from my mother. Living off the sea floor with not a care for who got hurt. You were fine. What was ADAM damage when you had all you could drink? It was never gonna affect you."

"Becky, look. Will you just calm down, okay? I was just worried that what had happened to me could happen to y-"

Becky slapped him across the face, cutting off his sentence.

"You think I didn't worry about that? Little girl surrounded by crazies didn't worry about becoming one of them? Of course I worried about it, but know what? Telekinesis came in real handy when a Splicer tried to rape me. Oh yeah," Becky saw Frond's face harden when she said that, "Its fine though, I killed him. So not only am I spliced, I'm also a murderer."

"That was self defense," Frond replied weakly. He looked deflated suddenly, "If you hadn't, then…"

Becky closed her eyes and shook her head.

"Doesn't matter. It happened. Can't change it, but I do my best to keep my head clear. That," Becky gestured to the syringe, "is all I use ADAM for. Not trying to bludgeon anyone to death with a boulder or anything, lifting things that my body is too weak to lift by itself. See, I remember what humans used to be like. I don't recall throwing fireballs or electricity being natural abilities. Know what? It's because they aren't. And I was spliced years ago by the way, so there's no point telling me off like a teenager sneaking away to get a piercing or whatever."

"Fine then, how long ago did you get spliced?"

"I've had Telekinesis for several years now, but that isn't relevant. Want to know how I stayed sane? I DIDN'T ABUSE IT!"

Becky began walking, marching past Frond. She continued to talk over her shoulder, knowing full well that Frond had followed.

"I see plasmids as tools, so I use them rarely. I didn't keep trying to get high of the stuff, or whatever it is you Saturnine do. I didn't want it, but it was vital. Maybe that's why I kept my head, because I hated it in the first place. Good thing too; I didn't become dependent on it. Take away my Telekinesis? No problem, I don't really use it, just handy to have. Take away your Teleport? Wouldn't be able to function, would you? ADAM madness aside, you'd feel like you were missing an arm or something. You've allowed ADAM to become part of who you are, and that's where you've tripped up."

She felt Frond's hand clasp around her wrist, and before she could yank it back he pulled her to face him.

"You can stop now, Becky," Frond whispered. Becky's chest hitched suddenly as she forced her mouth shut. She suddenly noticed how fast her heart was beating; driven by the fury in her stomach, fueling the rant she'd just blasted Frond with.

She didn't feel sorry though. She'd said exactly how she felt to someone other than a hacked security bot, and the rush she felt in her lungs was almost addictive. She felt…elated.

"If you think I'm going to apologize now…" Becky spat.

"No! No, I don't expect you to apologize," Frond interrupted her softly. He reached for her other wrist and gently grasped it, holding both arms in front of him. He took a deep breath.

"You're right; I don't know what it's been like for you. But please believe me when I say, you're not on your own now."

Becky was about to snort with derision, but the expression on Frond's face, the soft determination, made her stop. Frond took this a cue to continue.

"I'm not going to let you do this alone. You may see your life as "Becky vs. Rapture," but you can stop now."

Becky glanced down at her wrists, biting her lips to prevent herself from retaliating. She wasn't sure what this was, but whatever Frond was doing, she didn't like it, regardless of its benign intentions. She saw Frond's eyes dim slightly as he followed her gaze, and relinquished her hands. They stood awkwardly for a second as Becky planned her next move whilst her mind wanted to dwell on the disappointed look she'd just seen on Frond's face.

Sighing, Becky squared her shoulders and took a deliberate step towards Frond, bringing them face to face. Curling her hands into fists, she awkwardly wrapped her arms around Frond's surprisingly solid yet skinny body. She felt Frond gasp in surprise, before tentatively mirroring her actions, resting his hands on her lower back.

"Don't get any ideas, plant boy. Take us to the Metro," she said, her chin resting on her shoulder.

Frond she felt Frond laugh slightly before what felt like electricity prickled her skin as they dissolved. She decided to focus on this new sensation, familiarizing herself with the sensation of teleportation whilst trying to ignore how warm Frond was in comparison to the rest of Rapture.

A/N: Urgh, keeping up with a schedule is harder than i though. I planned on making a chapter twice as long in celebration of finishing my AS exams. Well, this is one of the longer chapters so i guess that's something. This was quite fun to write: arguments always are!

Id just like to thank you guys for actually reading this. I assumed this would eventually be forgotten, that people would tire of either my style or my lack of a regular upload schedule. So thank you (and to whoever reviewed this anonymously, this was inspired by you x)

POLL: Guys, im not sure what chapter to do next :/ any suggestions? (as in who to focus on. Dont worry, i know the story but i just need to inspiration to continue )