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 10: Room For Two
By ck-pasta
It all seemed like everything was falling into place. Booker finally convinced Anna to leave Columbia with him, and ironically, with the help of Comstock. Sure, all it took was a bullet to the shoulder, but for Anna, he'd gladly give a limb. A smile came upon him as he replied to Anna, "So let's leave now. We can go anywhere we want! We can go to Paris!"
Anna raised an eyebrow, "Mr. Birch, I think you misunderstood. Although I do trust you over Comstock now, that doesn't mean I don't want to hear his side of the story. As much as I want to go to Paris, I have to know the truth."
All his joy turned to anxiety. If Anna would know the truth, she would destroy the siphon. If she were to destroy the siphon, she becomes an omniscient being like the Luteces. If she becomes like the Luteces, she'll kill him at Wounded Knee again to try to kill all of the Comstocks.
This was a circle, but the question was, will it be unbroken? His heart raced as he tried to find an answer. There were too many complications that could happen. All he wanted to do was leave Columbia and forget about it altogether. Then he came upon a revelation. I was the one that wanted to kill him. I made the decision. Smother him in his crib.
Although explaining the father situation would be horrendous, Booker began feeling that getting to Comstock was the only option, and he was ready.
He gave a nod to Elizabeth, "Let's pay Comstock a visit then."
They walked out of the inn, and Anna led the way, "He lives in Comstock House. Figures, but I've never been in there myself. I presume we'll be able to find him there."
They walked for quite a bit, seeing as Anna couldn't call the guards anymore. They mostly took lifts and passengers ships, and by the time they were halfway to Comstock House, it was already dark.
Anna turned around on her toes, "So, do you want to keep going, find a place to sleep tonight?" He was tired from all the walking, but didn't want to make the decision. It seemed that every time he did, something would go wrong.
"You decide, I'll do whatever you want." She bit the side of her lip as she was contemplating. After a few seconds, her face lit up, "I guess we could sleep. I know this AMAZING hotel not too far from here."
She grabbed his hand and they sped off towards the hotel. He willingly followed, and they soon got to it. He looked up at the sign, and immediately disliked the hotel, "Songbird's Nest. What kind of name is that?"
"I like it. The people here really like Songbird. He protects them." She said.
He shrugged it off, and went inside of the hotel. The main room was enormous. In the middle there was a shrunken-down replica of Columbia, and there was a golden finish on the wooden walls. Above the check-in desk was a huge mural, probably around 2 stories, of Songbird. He stood for a bit and took in the amazing sight. "You know, for racists and overall a terrible group of people, these people have an amazing sense of art."
Anna turned around, interlocked her hands behind her back, and started to talk while walking backwards, "Well, the people here wanted to separate themselves from everyone else. Everyone down below is so worried about war, economics, and rights that they don't have time to create or appreciate art anymore. Columbia wanted to change that."
When they reached the front desk she turned around to face the clerk, "We'd like a room please."
The clerk turned to Booker, "Would you like two beds, or one?" Upon saying one, the clerk winked over at Booker. He scratched his head while giving half a smile. "Uhh, well," the fact that Anna was staring at him wasn't really helping much either, "I guess two."
The clerk looked a bit disappointed in him while he rung up the room, "That'll be a thousand silver eagles." Booker choked when he heard that.
Anna raised an eyebrow, "How much is a one bed?" The clerk smiled back at her, "One beds are only 750 silver eagles."
She pulled out a silver bar and 250 silver eagles and handed them over to him. I guess being the Lamb does have its perks.
The clerk pulled out a key from the drawer, and handed it to Anna, "Your room will be on the fourth floor, number 451." Anna nodded whilst taking the key. She walked away, and Booker was about to too, until the clerk gestured him, "She obviously likes you. Take some charge."
Booker shook his head while walking away. They made it to the elevator, and he pushed the button to the fourth floor. It was silent for the first two floors up, until Anna ask, "Mr. Birch, why were you so embarrassed back there?"
He looked at Anna. She didn't seem mad, or annoyed, just curious, "I just didn't think that sleeping on one bed together is right for the time being."
She tilted her head, "Why not? Do people from below not like sleeping together?" Booker rubbed his eyes while sighing.
"Elizabeth, when a man and a woman are sleeping together on the same bed, they don't usually get much sleep." He looked back at Anna, but she still had the same confused face.
"I don't think I understand Mr. Birch. Why would they sleep together, if they weren't going to sleep?"
"Jesus, you really were sheltered. J-just ignore what I said." She shrugged her shoulders and turned towards the door as it opened. They walked down the hall until they got to room 451. They stepped inside, and they were greeted by two familiar faces.
"Seems they chose one bed, Robert." She had a mischievous grin. Robert shared the look, "It does indeed seem that way."
Booker waved their comments away, "No choice. Two beds were too expensive."
"I hardly think that 250 silver eagles is a big difference. If I were anyone else, I'd say you WANTED one bed." Robert still had a grin from ear to ear.
Anna turned to Booker, "You see, Mr. Birch? Sleeping on one bed isn't THAT bad. I'm sure everyone else does it."
He turned to the Luteces, "You two need to quit encouraging her. She thinks this is normal."
"And do explain how it isn't normal." At this point, Rosalind and Robert were just having fun.
Robert leaned forward a bit, "It's true. Rosalind and I share the same beds quite often."
"You two are essentially the same person. I don't really think it counts."
"The same person? Hardly," Robert pulled out a coin from his pocket, "We're quite alike, I'll give you that. But then again, tails is rather different from heads, is it not?" He was spinning the coins on his finger, "We're merely different sides," The coin was tossed up into the air, "Of the same coin." The light flickered, and the Luteces were gone.
The two watched as the coin spun in the air and landed on the ground. Heads, figures. He picked it up and shoved it into his pocket. He headed over to the bathroom first, seeing as he was still pretty dirty. By the time he was out, Anna was already laying on the bed, and left a spot for him beside her.
"I think I'll just sleep on the couch." She frowned at him before rolling over again, meanwhile he laid down on the couch. It didn't take long for them to sleep. Both were tired, yet they gained energy from each other. They drove each other to push on when needed.
The next morning both had the intent of sleeping in, but that was interrupted by heaving knocking at the door, "Comstock's guard! Open up!"
Booker quickly got up and prepared his shotgun, whilst Anna stood behind him. The knocking constantly kept getting louder, until for a moment it stopped. They anxiously waited, and the door flew open.
Booker fired his first shot without hesitation, and two of the guards flew back. He pumped the shotgun, and stepped out. There were another two guards down the hallway, but they were within range of the shotgun, and soon enough they were just decorations for the bloody floor.
The two made their way to the elevator with no more resistance, but by the time they came outside of the hotel, they were surrounded. Although mainly normal cops, there was a fireman and a crow waiting to get their turn at Booker. He knew they had to act fast, else they'd be dead before he even got to draw his pistol.
He spotted an automated turret behind the guards, "Elizabeth! Open up that tear!" She followed as instructed, and soon the turret fired upon the guards. He used it as a distraction so that the two of them could get to cover.
By now, the turret had been destroyed so the guards focused on them again. He used Bucking Bronco to lift a group into the air and expertly placed pistol bullets into their skulls. The guards attempted to rush them, but Booker was ready with his shotgun. As they came towards them, he could easily blow 3 or 4 at a time with one shot.
The forces were getting smaller, but so was his ammo supply. He had run out of shotgun bullets, so he pulled out his pistol once more. The guards became hesitant to charge, and the fireman dashed towards him. Booker used his Bucking Bronco once more, but could feel the lack of salt afterwards. He used this opportunity to get close and personal with the fireman. The fire was hot, but he'd dealt with many other firemen before, it was nothing new. He lifted the fireman's helmet, and placed a bullet into his head.
As the fireman fell, he caught the box that he was carrying. He quickly looked through for any ammo, but only cake and a small vial of salt greeted him. he quickly downed the salt, and saw the crow headed straight for him. He unloaded his pistol, but to no avail. The crow simply dodged every shot.
He attempted to use his last Bronco, but he quickly dogged that too. By this time, Booker was out of salts and ammo. He pulled out his Sky-Hook in preparation for the impact, then suddenly a voice yelled out behind him.
"Mr. Birch! Catch!"
Booker quickly turned around a saw a shotgun flying through the air towards him. He caught it and turned around and barely had any reaction time to pull the trigger. The blade of the crow was near Booker's neck, but the hole in his chest stopped him.
He sighed as he pushed the crow to the side and saw the remaining guard fleeing. He looked down and saw a Murder of Crows vigor, and proceeded to drink it. He hallucinated again, and Anna just watched as he screamed into his hands. Once the moment was over, he felt replenished with salts, and could feel the new power surging through him.
He turned to Anna, who was still shocked by the amount of killing they'd done, "Elizabeth, you alright?"
She nodded slowly, and took a deep breath to get a hold of herself. She looked back up at Booker, "Now let's get to Comstock."
Sorry this one also took a while to get out. Calculus homework is killing me. Anyways, hope it's still the same quality as before, and I hope you still enjoyed it!
I'm not sure whether to put the juicy reveal next chapter, or wait until 12. But Anna's going to know the truth before chapter 13, know that (if everything works according to my plan).