Disclaimer: All of these characters are borrowed from the game Bioshock Infinite, and I do not own or have any rights to them. Oh, and there are major spoilers in this story. Don't read unless you've finished the game.

Second Run - A Bioshock Infinite Fanfiction

Chapter 5: Will You Dance With me?

By ck-pasta

Anna hurried to the dance floor, Booker in hand. She turned around and put one of his hands on her waist, the other in her hand. It was a bit uncomfortable for Booker, seeing as she was missing a pinkie, but he got used to it. They started a waltz that matched the tempo of the music. They smiled and laughed as they would bump into other people and occasionally step on each other's feet. Booker didn't care, or notice at all, that some people were beginning to stare. To the people, it was odd, here was Elizabeth Comstock, heir of the Prophet, dancing with a man no one in the city knew.

The music began to slow down and Anna put her hands around Bookers neck. He was surprised, but eventually fell back into the beat. He put his hands on her waist as they slow danced, and Anna rested her head on his shoulder. It was a nice picture, a father giving his daughter a slow dance on her twenty-first birthday, only problem was that people thought he was a stranger, and so did she.

Booker felt another tap on his shoulder, and saw a man that seemed a little over twenty five asking to have a turn to dance with Anna. He was reluctant, but he knew he had to do it to not give himself away to anybody. Anna look at Booker as he walked back to his table, a tinge of sadness started to project from her face.

She continued to dance with other men as time went on, and Booker sat and watched. Many of the men looked just older than twenty, and many of them got a little too touchy for Booker's liking. He preferred it when fast songs were playing, so the men didn't have to always linger their hands at Anna's waist. But slow dances did come, and Booker cringed at the sight of a man's hands slowly lowering itself farther and farther.

Then came a younger gentleman who wanted a turn with Anna. He looked around nineteen, but his height would argue otherwise. A slow song come on, and he put his body right next to Anna. His hands were farther down Anna's waist than any of the other guys dared, and she was starting to get uncomfortable. They made a pass next to Booker, and Anna's eyes screamed for help towards him.

"You mind raising your hands a bit? She looks a bit tense," Booker requested to the man. The gentleman continued on as if he hadn't heard Booker, and even moved his hands lower. Anna started to push away from the guy, but he kept pulling her back in.

Booker was annoyed enough with all the other men, but this one just broke the camel's back. He stood up and walked over to the man and put his hand on the man's shoulder. Booker had expected the man to just stop dancing, but that idea was pushed aside when a fist slammed on his face. Booker almost fell on the floor, but his hands had stopped the fall.

By the time Booker realized what happened, a circle had already formed around the two of them. The man towered over Booker, hands clenched. "You got a problem?"

"Now that you mention it -" Booker quickly brought his fist into the man's face and made contact with a nicely placed right hook.

He walked over next to the man as he was laying on the floor, "Yes, I do."

Cops were attempting to get to the action, but the crowd was slowing them down. By the time they got there, Booker has already landed his punch, and the man laid on the floor. The cops had pulled Booker aside and handcuffed him.

Booker didn't resist, there would be too much collateral damage with innocent people, not to mention losing his chances at convincing Anna. They took him to a room that branched off of the party. It was small, but it was nicely lit and had a comfortable chair. He sat there for a few minutes, hands cuffed behind his back, before a man with a nicely trimmed white beard came in. Comstock. He looked at Booker for a bit before speaking. "Explain to me why you thought it would be alright for you to disrupt my daughter's birthday."

He doesn't recognize me. Either I look older than I thought, or that guy must have put a bruise the covers my face.

Comstock slammed his hand on a table next to him, "Are you listening to me?!"

"Your daughter's birthday?"

"Yes, my daughter's birthday. Are you new around here, or are you just thick headed?"

"No, what I meant to was, YOUR daughter's birthday?"

Comstock was a bit taken back at the question. He put his hands on the armrests of the chair and whispered close to Booker. "What are you implying?"

"I'm implying that she's not - " Anna crashed through the door and almost fell.

Two cops rushed behind her and stammered towards Comstock. "W-we're sorry sir, we tried to keep her out, but she got around us and -"

Comstock motioned his hand, "Just get out and leave the three of us."

They closed the door and Anna got up and crossed her arms while staring at Comstock. She turned towards Booker and let out a gasp while putting her hand over her mouth. She dug through her pocket and pulled out a handkerchief from her pocket and knelt in front of Booker and started to pat down his face. "Oh my God Mr. Birch, are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, " Booker said as he was trying to gesture Anna to stop.

"Elizabeth, step away from him right now." Comstock tried to pull her shoulder away, but Anna pulled back and continued to tend to Booker's bruises.

"He's done nothing wrong, father. He was just trying to help." Anna stopped wiping Booker's faced and smiled at him.

"He's disrupted your party, not to mention he severely injured a man."

"Well that man deserved it. He was putting his hands in places they shouldn't be. Mr. Birch was only trying to stop him."

"Is this true, Mr. Birch?"

All Booker wanted to do at this point was leave. He wasn't going to get anywhere with Anna as long as Comstock was here. "Yeah."

"Well then, I have to extend my apologies to you. I'm usually a well-mannered man, but when things come to MY Elizabeth," Comstock stroked Anna's hair and turned back to Booker, "I tend to get a bit defensive."

"Now that all that's been settle, can you take these cuffs off me?"

Comstock gave Anna the keys as Booker stood up and she uncuffed him. Comstock started to leave the room, but turned around again, "One last thing Mr. Birch, I suggest getting that bruise looked at. I'd say that if you ran into someone you knew, they wouldn't be able to recognize you."

He stepped out of the room and Anna looked back at Booker. "Look Mr. Birch, I'm sorry about this whole thi - " Booker waved his hand at Anna to stop her.

"You don't have to worry about it. I've been in my fair share of scrapes."

'Yes, but my father. I've never seen him not want to help another person before. He's one of the 'holiest,' if you allow me to use that, people I know."

"Well sometimes, when a person is cleansed, the sinner doesn't go away."

Anna looked down at the ground, seeming a bit hurt.

Booker put his hand on her shoulder, "Look, Elizabeth, that's not what I meant."

"It's alright Mr. Birch. I just want to get this whole mess behind me."

"Yeah, me too..."

"Well, you said you were new here, right?"

"Well, yes, why do you ask?"

"How about I take you on a tour of Columbia? Come on, it'll be fun!" Anna smiled at Booker.

"Erm, well, sure. I guess" Okay, this is good. I can get Anna alone without interference of Comstock.

"Okay! Well, we can go tomorrow if you'd like. I would presume you'd want to take care of this," Anna circled her face with a finger, "first."

Booker rubbed the left side of his face, "Yeah, you're right there. So is Monument Island still going to be here tomorrow or...?"

"Actually, it's going to be back near the fairgrounds. The same place when you first visited."

"It's a deal then. So, would you mind showing me how to get out of here? Without anyone seeing me?"

"Well, my father already had everyone leave, so you don't have to worry about that."

She led Booker out back towards the main room and they walked together to the lift.

"Mr. Birch, you never told me why you came to my party."

"Oh, well - ummm, I had heard about some Lamb, and figured that since everyone was talking about it, I'd come see for myself."

Anna let out a giggle as Booker climbed aboard the lift. "Well, I hope you weren't disappointed."

Well, done with chapter five. Hope you guys still enjoyed it. I'm STILL trying to get the dialogue correct, hopefully I did a bit better here.

And like the last four chapters, any and all criticism is appreciated!