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 9: The Truth Slowly Rises
By ck-pasta
Words started to pour into Booker's ears as his head slowly grew conscious. When he attempted to open his eyes, light coming in from the window blinded them. He covered his face with his hand as he sat up at the edge of his bed. After his eyes adjusted, he looked around and saw Anna, "E-Elizabeth?"
Anna smiled at him, "Hello! I apologize for coming in to your room, but Ms. Lutece and her brother allowed me in."
He looked around and saw that Robert and Rosalind were still in his room. Rosalind turned to him, "Ahh yes, Mr. Birch," she put a sarcastic emphasis on Birch, "Unfortunately, we must be on our way. We wouldn't want to bother the two of you, now would we?"
She gestured Robert to the door, and they let themselves out. Anna was smiling towards Booker, waiting for him to say something. He scratched the back of his head, "So, what did you three talk about?"
She stood up from her chair, "Well, at first I asked how she and her brother were still alive. I thought they had died in an accident with their machine. She explained to me that in a way, they did die. They just now live outside of any universe. They also explained what tears were to me." Anna opened up a tear and let a bird fly through it and it landed on her hand, "They told me that tears were actually doors to different universes, and explained how they work."
Booker was trying to fix himself as Anna was talking. "Speaking of tears Mr. Birch, how did you know I could make them?" She didn't sound angry, but more curious.
Booker's mind frantically searched for an excuse, he just wasn't ready to tell her that he was her father. "Uhm, the Luteces told me about it. I've been talking to them for quite some time." He softly sighed as Anna seemed to believe his lie.
She started to head over to the door, "Well Mr. Birch, are you ready to go for your second tour? I want to know EVERYTHING about Booker DeWitt!" She was excited, which surprised him. He thought that she would be reluctant to know about the truth.
He was about to follow her, until his legs started to cramp up, "Ouch. Actually Elizabeth, would you mind if we just talked here? I don't think I'd be able to get far." He sat down on his bed, and Anna took her place on a chair.
He looked up at her, and her eager blue eyes were watching him, "So, where do you want to start?"
Elizabeth bit a side of her lip as she thought, "Tell me why he left me."
Booker was having trouble figuring out how to convey this to her, "Well, Booker was a gambler. A bad one at that. He made some mistakes with his bets, and lost nearly all of his money. By the time he was done gambling, all he had was an office and you in his name."
Anna's face showed some irritation, "So he sold me to get some money? I thought you told me that he would inspire me." She crossed her arms while maintaining the irritated look.
Booker sighed before continue, "Not necessarily. You see, one of the men he owed money to was Comstock," Anna's eyes widened when she heard the name, "But Comstock threatened him. He told him that Booker had to give you away, or Comstock would kill him. That was the deal, and Booker had no choice but to accept."
Booker didn't know how long he could go on making lies. He didn't even know if Anna believed them, but this was his only chance. If he lost her now, Comstock would send all of Columbia after him.
Anna shook her head in disbelief, "But, I don't understand. What would Comstock want with me?"
"An heir, Elizabeth. He's sterile, so he can't have children of his own. So he took Booker's. He took you. That's why Comstock kept you locked up in Monument Island. To keep him away. He made up the entire story of the False Shepherd just to turn an entire city against a man who wants his daughter back."
"So he came to here to get me?"
"Yes, because he realized what a stupid mistake he made," Booker walked over to Anna and put a hand on her shoulder, "He would rather be dead than not have you." A tear flowed down Booker's face as he said those last words, and Anna's eyes soon followed. They embraced each other as Anna's tears drenched Booker's clothing.
When her tears started to slow down, she slowly pushed away from Booker. "Mr. Birch, everything you have said has matched up with everything I know. I want to believe. But how can I know to trust you?"
He looked her in the eyes, "Because, Elizabeth, I am Bo -" In the next moment, he was on the ground. His vision was blurred, and all he could register was the sharp pain in his left shoulder and Anna screaming. He looked over to the window, and it had a hole that was made by a bullet, and he realized that he was just shot.
Anna scrambled over to his shoulder, and quickly applied pressure to it. Booker had been saved plenty of times by Elizabeth, so he had no worry. That is, until she didn't pull out a syringe that she had on her the first time they were here. Anna was frantically screaming his name, attempting to keep him conscious.
The door swung open, and his last memories were the innkeeper holding his feet as Anna carried his body.
Note: The following will be Anna's POV, and it's right before Booker gets shot. This POV change won't be something that happens often (Unless you guys like it), it just fits with the current events.
She could barely handle what she just heard. There was a chance that everything she had ever known was a complete lie. As she laid her head on his shoulder, she didn't care whether or not Kylar was lying. She wanted to trust him with her entire heart, but she had to hear a reason from him.
Her tears started to slow down, and she slowly pushed away, "Mr. Birch, everything you have said has matched up with everything I know. I want to believe. But how can I know to trust you?"
"Because, Elizabeth," Her heart started to race as she heard this. All she needed was a reason, and she would stay with Kylar, "I am Bo -"
She wasn't sure as to what happened next. A force had pushed her back from Kylar, and left him on the floor. Elizabeth was a bit dazed, and she looked at the punctured window. She saw a man in a blue uniform running away, and then she realized.
"And make sure that those snipers are in place. I don't want to take any chances this time -"
Comstock sent him. He sent everyone. The Vox, the sniper, it was all him. Elizabeth stood in shock for a moment because of her revelation. Then she realized that Kylar was still on the floor, moaning as blood poured out of his shoulder. She rushed to get pressure on it, "Mr. Birch?! Mr. Birch! Stay with me!"
The innkeeper burst through the door, "Didn't I tell you that you couldn't make any loud nois -" She looked down at Kylar and held a hand over her mouth. Elizabeth was still applying pressure, "Please! You have to help me! He needs some bandages, medi-gel, anything!"
The innkeeper quickly grabbed his legs, "Okay, quick. Lift up his body, and I'll get a hold of his legs. We'll carrying him downstairs, there's a lot of medical supplies there."
Elizabeth started to lift the body, while repeating, "Thank you." Kylar was out cold when they got to the hallway, and she started to get worried. The innkeeper kicked a door down and started to climb down the stairs. Elizabeth followed, and they set Kylar on a table once they were down there.
Elizabeth watched as the innkeeper opened up a medical bag and applied a sizable amount of medi-gel all over Kylar's shoulder. Tears started to flow down Elizabeth's face again, but she was brought back to reality when the innkeeper screamed at her, "Are you just going to stand there?! Apply some pressure on his shoulder!"
She promptly followed, and held down Kylar's shoulder. Once the bleeding seemed to stop, the innkeeper pulled up some chairs and they both fell onto them.
After a while of resting, the innkeeper got up to clean herself off. She offered Elizabeth to do the same, but she refused. Elizabeth sat there and stared at Kylar, thinking about what just happened.
Why would Comstock want to kill Kylar? This only proves Kylar even more right. The only reason Comstock has to kill him, is because he knows the truth. The truth that Comstock has been hiding from me for twenty one years. Elizabeth was infuriated at this point. Her tears were replaced with hatred.
In that moment, she wanted to confront Comstock, and asked him about everything he's done. She probably would have too, if Kylar hadn't started to wake up.
Elizabeth quickly stood up to help him. Kylar's moaning was piercing her, she couldn't bear to watch him in this much pain. He sat up, and she looked at his shoulder to ensure that it didn't open back up. It seemed to almost be healed. There were still spots of open skin, but most of it was just a scar. A bad memory.
She watch Kylar, and let him take his time to register what happened. He started to mumble words together, and she got closer to hear what he was saying. "Anna. Anna. ANNA."
She stood in front of him and made sure he could see her, "No, it's me, Elizabeth."
He held his head in pain, "Where am I?"
Elizabeth put her hand on his, "Back in the land of the living."
There was a pause in the moment. She looked at him, relieved that he was still alive, and he seemed to have mutual feelings. She sat back down and let him rest a bit. They stayed there well into the afternoon. When Kylar tried to get up, Elizabeth helped him, "Are you sure you can walk?"
Booker stood up, but flinching in pain, "Yeah, it hurts, but I can manage."
She put his arm around her shoulder to help ease the pain. They were about to walk out of the basement, when two voices stopped them.
"Do you know what I just remembered? We seemed to have forgotten to give him the infusion."
Kylar and Elizabeth turned around, and saw the Luteces there.
Robert put his hands behind his back, "Ah yes. I presume that would have been a great help before all of this happened."
Rosalind held out a yellow beaker towards Kylar, "My apologies, but better late than never I suppose."
Elizabeth helped Kylar to the beaker, and propped it up over his mouth. She let him drink it until it was empty. A yellow bolt of lightning raced around his body, frightening Elizabeth, but it ended soon.
Rosalind put the tray that held the infusion behind her back, "Hm, thankfully it didn't kill him."
Robert raised an eyebrow at her, "I had thought you perfected that infusion already."
Rosalind quickly nodded her head in disapproval, "Heavens no, this infusion is far from being perfected."
"Fortunately, he still seems to agree with it."
"Ah, yes. Anyways, we'll be on our way then."
The lights started to flicker, and the Luteces soon disappeared. Elizabeth was a bit disappointed that she couldn't talk with Ms. Lutece, but she was sure there would be later occasions.
Kylar, on the other hand, started to look adequately better. The bullet scar was still there, but yellow jolts of lightning were rapidly mending it up. She still helped him up the stairs, but with less effort this time.
She looked at him when they reached the top, "What do we do now Mr. Birch?"
She waited for a reply, but it took a while before one came. "We have to find out who shot me, and make sure we find out why."
Elizabeth started to rub her thimble, "I-I think it was Comstock's men."
Booker turned towards her, and put his hand on her shoulder, "Are you alright?" She held her head down for a bit.
Elizabeth had to process this entire thing in her head. In one day, everything that she knew was being crumbled, and the truth was rising from the rubble. She was determined to find out everything. She was with Kylar the entire way, whether it meant following him to his death, or hers.
She looked back up at him, "Yes. At least now I know who I can really trust."
And there's chapter 9 for you. Like I said in the note in the middle, the POV change won't happen often unless you guys actually like it.
I also apologize if you think that Anna's change in view of Comstock happened so fast. She was still kind of mad at him for keeping her in a tower, but not enough to follow a random guy who says he's there to save her. Hopefully you guys think that there was enough dialogue to suffice the change in heart.
Hope you guys still enjoy this chapter, and as always (I've been forgetting to say this), any and all criticism is appreciated!
Oh, and to annoyingfan1224, I think you might be thinking that I'll be going to a love story between these two. As I specified before, I won't be going for that. It has crossed my mind, but I don't want to risk ruining the story with it. I just set it up like that to show how awkward/weird it'll be when Anna finds out the truth ;)