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 7: And I Shall Try To Understand

By ck-pasta

Anna walked up to Booker, getting within a few steps away, "How could you even say that? That man was lunatic who wanted to bring down Columbia. What type of father would want to do that?"

"A father who didn't know any better. Elizabeth, think of how long you were in that tower. Twenty years! You think Comstock was doing that for your own good? Isolating you, with no contact with the outside world other than books?"

Anna pointed her finger right at Booker's face, "He did that to protect me! And don't you dare say another thing about Comstock! Even if he isn't my father, at least he was there! He didn't leave me!"

Those last words hit Booker hard. He realized that he was the reason Anna had to go through all of that, not Comstock. He's the one that chose to give her away. He looked up at her, her arms were crossed and anger was covering her face, "Look, Elizabeth, I need to explain all of this to you, but I can't do it right now."

She could see that she hit a tight note with him, so she lightened her tone a bit. She was interested in finding out what he meant, and if there was validity in his statements, "And why not? I see no reason that you couldn't, I'm right here and I'm more than willing to hear you out."

Booker put his hands on his face again and fell back onto a bench before uttering out, "Because I'm not ready."

Anna sat down next to him, hands on her lap, and looking at the sky. This lasted for quite a while, before she asked him, "Mr. Birch, who was Booker DeWitt?"

He looked at her, and thought for a moment. "He was a man that made a lot of mistakes in his life. But he told me that one good thing came out of it." He put his hand on her shoulder, making her look at him, "You."

She continued to look at him, "Who are you to him?"

"I'm a really close friend," Booker leaned back on the chair, and looked up at the sky, "You could even say we're the same person."

"Why did he leave me?"

He looked at Anna, "I don't know..."

"Mr. Birch, I really like you, and I think we just started off on the wrong foot."

When will I tell her?! I can't go on with this stuff with her, she's my daughter for Christ's sake! He looked back at her, her blue eyes staring at him. "Elizabeth, we just need to sit down, and talk about this some time. But not right now. I just don't know how to say it yet."

"I wish I could tell you that I understand, but I can't. Look Mr. Birch, I'm interested in my past. Comstock barely acted like a father towards me until he let me out of that tower. Then he opened up more. But I don't even know if I see him as my true father or not. You're right, he's kept me locked up in that tower, trying to protect me from something that might not have even wanted to harm me, but he gave me hope. I believed that through him, I could help the world. Even if it meant to drown it in flames. But what I want to ask, if Booker really is my father, will his story give me the same hope?"

Booker stood up from the chair and looked towards the beach, "I think it will." He started walking towards the beach, and Anna instinctively followed. She hailed down another guard ship, and they took it back to Monument Island. They hopped off, and Anna waited until the guards left before embracing Booker, "When will I see you again?"

He softly pushed her off, "I was thinking tomorrow. Hopefully I've collected my thoughts by then."

"I guess I'll see you tomorrow then. Meet me here at the around the same time you can today. We'll go somewhere else. Hopefully a more quiet place so you can tell me everything." She walked to the lift, and pressed the button to go up to Monument Island. They exchanged smiles right before the doors closed.

Booker walked back to the inn to rest for the remainder of the day. This is going to be hell for me to tell her the truth. He got back to his room, sat down at his bed and faced the window.

"Should we ask him how his date went?"

"Oh come, Robert. It looks as if he has enough on his mind already."

Booker turned around to the Luteces, "Wait, before you two leave again, I have to ask you some things."

Robert raised an eyebrow, "Oh? And what might that be?"

Booker crossed his arms and raised his voice just a bit to emphasize his words, "Why was there another Booker in this universe? You told me that this was MY Anna."

"Ahh, it seems he's run it that," Rosalind gestured to Robert, "Would you like to explain, or shall I have the pleasure?"

"Go on then, I wouldn't want to deprive you of this."

Rosalind turned to Booker again, "You see, when you and Elizabeth closed the initial Comstock universes, other ones started popping up. Yours and this other Booker's universes bled together. Much like when you write with an over-inked pen. Comstock still took your Elizabeth, but afterwards, things change. The previous Booker went on to have a gambling problem and built up his debt, so we sent him here for his attempt to save Elizabeth, but as you can see, he failed miserably. Now your universe changed because we interfered. After your baptism with Elizabeth, you were shot back to your office after Comstock took Anna. You probably would have gone down a different path and didn't gamble and drink, but we couldn't leave that to chance, so we took you and held you in suspension for a year."

Robert interrupted, "It was quite amusing, really. You just floated there in darkness for a year. I would poke you ever so often, and you'd mumble like a child."

Rosalind shot a glance at Robert, "Back to what I was saying. When we interfered, this made a split on your universe. One that remembered, and one that didn't. Then we sent you back to your office, knowing you'd not find Elizabeth. To sum it up, there was only one Comstock, but two of you to save her."

Booker's head was spinning as he was trying to understand this. The Luteces gave him time to think it through, then he spoke, "So this is still my Anna?"

"Yes, it is. We know it's kind of hard to understand, especially when you don't have a mind such as ourselves," Rosalind said.

"Okay, so why are you two helping me so much again?"

Robert stepped forward, "Like I said previously, we picked a favorite. If any of the Booker and Elizabeth counterparts were to come together again, we want it to be you."

Booker smiled at them, but quickly turned again into a frown, "But Anna seems to like me more than she should. How do I go about telling her I'm her father?"

Rosalind chuckled and turned to Robert, "It seems that Elizabeth had a different idea when you wanted these two to come together."

"It does make an interesting turn, but we're sure that you're more than capable of handling it yourself Booker."

Booker started to laugh with the Luteces. They may be annoying, but he realized they're the closest thing to friends he has. Then Booker said something that neither Luteces could have predicted, "What were you two like in the past?"

The Luteces looked at each other, both puzzled as to how to answer, "We haven't given it much thought."

"You know Rosalind, for the amount of time we've spent together, you would think we would have talked about our childhood."

"I presumed that yours was exactly like mine."

"Well do tell. I'm very interested into how you turned into yourself as you are today." Robert sat down and placed his elbows on his knees, hands holding up his head.

Rosalind sat down and took a breath to prepare, "When I was a girl, I dreamt of standing in a room looking at a girl who was, and was not myself, who stood looking at another girl, who also was, and was not myself. My mother took this for a nightmare. I saw it as the beginning of my career in physics - "

Booker listened to them as they went on about their lives. He was interested, but most of it became words that he couldn't understand, and in that single moment, he became content.

Sorry if this chapter didn't have much action in it. It serves as an explanation for everything, and also as a breather. The ending of the chapter also made me feel warm and fuzzy inside. The idea of being friends with the Luteces was just inspiring.

Hope you still enjoyed it!