Same disclaimers as before. Thanks to everyone for the reviews!

Chapter 7: Men and Slaves

Elizabeth stared into the fire. Jack Ryan had immediately taken her and Silas to his house; a large, ramshackle building in the heart of the city. "You caught me just as I was making tea." Jack had explained as he pushed them into his home. This had led to them sitting on the rug-covered ground around a small bonfire in the middle of the main room, drinking tea, and exchanging stories. That is to say, Jack and Silas traded stories.

"Remember when Aunt Vera's favorite coat caught fire but didn't notice it?"

Jack cackled. "Which time? The first or the second?" Silas laughed and actually slapped his knee. Jack sighed. "Oh, Silas. It's good to see you again."

Silas patted his grandfather on his autobody knee. "I missed you to, Grandpa. But the last time anyone saw you, you were fighting off guards near the wall. How are you still alive?"

"Ain't that the million dollar question." Scoffed Elizabeth under her breath.

Jack sighed and leaned back. He took a twisted metal poker and started messing with the fire, slowly building it up as he spoke. "Believe it or not, I actually got out of the city." He said, "The guards were going to kill me, but one of the older ones recognized me from Rapture and convinced the others to take me to prison instead. While they were taking me there, I gave 'em the old one-two-punch and made my escape." Silas leaned in, totally engrossed. Elizabeth folded her arms and grunted. "After that, I explored the city. Oh Silas, you would never believe what the city is like outside the walls. So many people, all so happy." Jack got a faraway look as he gazed into the fire. "After about a week, I found another forest on the far side of the city. Nobody went in there, thought it was haunted or some such. Anyway I went in and, after a little looking around, I found a small passage that led to the outside." Jack stopped talking and looked to the ceiling.

"What's wrong, Grandpa?"

"Nothing, Silas," sighed Jack, "It's just," He lowered his head, "It was a utopia out there. Nothing but green trees and wildlife as far as the eyes could see. After years in the dark with nothing but rocks, those woods were the most beautiful thing I had ever seen." Jack put down the poker. It was red hot from the fire. Jack started to tap it lightly with his metal finger, trying to forge it back into shape. "Oh course, just my luck, an old mental program from my Rapture days kicked in and my heart stopped. I don't know much about what happened after that, seeing as I was dead, but the next thing I remember is waking up in a tube. There was an old friend outside the tube, a Doctor Brigid Tenenbaum, and she explained to me that my body had been frozen to keep it safe. Apparently, I had been used in an experiment and my body had been hooked up to this," he flexed his autobody suit, "Fell out of Columbia in the late 60's apparently. I was dead and this brought me back. This was right after the Apocalypse, so she had revived me to lead what was left of humanity." Jack grinned. "All things considered, I think I did a pretty good job."

"How long ago was this?"

Jack glanced u thoughtfully, "Oh, three hundred years, give or take a decade or two."

Silas hesitated before asking, "So, are they all dead? The family?"

Jack sighed and rested his massive hand on his grandson's shoulder, causing the young man to nearly collapse under the weight of the metal appendage. "Yes. I'm sorry Silas, but their all dead. Along with the rest of Kiln City."

Silas looked crestfallen. "I…I thought maybe…"

Jack nodded. "I know, boy, I know." There was a brief moment of silence for the dead, before Jack continued. "Listen; it looks like you could use a rest. There's a bed in that room there. Why don't you go and have yourself a power nap, mmm?"

"But Grandpa!" Silas started to protest.

"No buts, rest!" Jack pointed and Silas reluctantly rose and marched towards the room. Jack turned back to the fire. "He may not have his mother's mental conditionings," he told Elizabeth, "But he does still have a few strings to pull."

Elizabeth glared at him. "You manipulated him?" Jack grinned but didn't respond. Elizabeth narrowed her eyes. "Your story was a complete load."

Jack shrugged with a creak of metal. "Maybe it was, maybe it wasn't."

"You know, even after all the great things that I'd heard about you, I don't think I like you very much."

Jack laughed hard. He clutched his cast-iron stomach as he doubled over. "Oh! That's rich!" He said. If looks could kill, Elizabeth would have downright murdered Jack Ryan at that moment. After a few seconds, Jack calmed down. "You know," he said, "We're not too different, you and I."

Elizabeth cocked an eyebrow. "How do you figure?"

"Jack looked up at her from across the fire. "Well, we both have two fathers, for one thing."

Elizabeth dropped her arms and stared at Jack. "How do you know that? And I only have one father."

Jack just shrugged. "If you say so. But if you only have one father, why do you take the other one's name?"

Elizabeth glared. "You didn't answer my question. How do you know about me?"

Jack turned his attention back to the fire. "You have to learn to trust things, girl. It doesn't matter how I know, all that matters is the choice."

"What choice?"

"Your choice. My choice. Our fathers' choices. The choice of who you want to be. You say you have one daddy, but you call yourself Elizabeth, the name given to you by your other father." Jack glanced up at her, "Eventually, you'll have to decide who you want to be. Do you want to be Anna DeWitt?" Elizabeth took a deep breath. "Or do you want to be Elizabeth Comstock?"

Elizabeth stood and drew her gun. She pointed it at Jack's exposed head. "What did you call me?" she demanded, her voice breaking slightly.

Jack ignored her gun and kept his attention on the fire. "Elizabeth Comstock. That's what you're turning into, girl." Elizabeth stared at him, her finger itching at the trigger. "You know, before I killed him, my father told me some prolific words of advice; A man chooses, a slave obeys." Jack looked up at Elizabeth. His steady gaze met her wide eyes and she slowly lowered her gun. "I always had a few questions about that. What if a man chooses to obey? What if you have no choice but to obey?" Jack stood, his metal limbs creaking slightly. "Yes, it was a flawed statement, but it was an important lesson. I ended up choosing, not obeying." He walked through the fire and stood in front of Elizabeth, his massive form dwarfing, but not intimidating, her. "I could have obeyed my father and become Jack Fontaine." He said, "Instead, I chose to become Jack Ryan." He knelt down so he was closer to Elizabeth's level. "Someday," he said softly, "You'll have to make that choice."

Elizabeth stood stock still for a moment, and then broke down. She cried and tears fell down her cheek as she grabbed the metal man in a tight hug. "But I can't choose!" she sobbed, "I-I don't know what to do anymore!"

Jack returned her embrace. "I know, girl, I know." For a few minutes, Elizabeth just let the stress and fear of the last day and a half wash out of her. It had been so simple before; find Booker before he becomes Comstock, psychologically torture him, kill him. But things were different now, so different.

After a while, Elizabeth pulled back and wiped her face on her sleeve. "What do I do?" she whispered.

Jack sat down next to her and she sat on his knee. "You live and eventually you either choose or obey." Elizabeth leaned in and laid her head on Jack's metal chest. It was surprisingly warm and reminded her of Booker, how he had been while protecting her in Columbia. It was a feeling she'd missed, the feeling of having a father, the feeling of everything being alright for once.

The ground shook beneath them and Elizabeth shot up. The earth rumbled again and Jack slowly got to his feet. "That don't bode well." He muttered.

Silas came out from his room. "What was that? I just got to sleep!"

There was a knock on the door and Jack opened it. One of the giant Handymen stood there, unable to get through the smaller door. "Sir!" he cried, leaning down, "The Evolutionaries are breaking through the Daddy field! What do we do?"

Jack glanced down at Elizabeth and Silas, deep in thought before answering. "Activate the city defenses. Get everyone to the catacombs and ready the Handies for battle. Also, bring me my steeds, all three of them." The Handyman bowed and dashed away into the city. Almost immediately, alarms blared in the distance. Jack turned back and held his hand up, telling the two young people to stay put. He walked into a side room where Elizabeth and Silas heard many clashes and clangs before he returned, decked out in rusted but deadly battle gear. His shoulders were covered with spikes and his head shielded with a chrome helm. He wielded twin wicked sabers, each about the size of a full-grown man. Slung across his back was a massive elephant gun. "C'mon, kiddies!" he said, his voice echoing slightly in his helmet, "Something wicked this way comes!" He kicked open his door and clambered out into the sunlight, Elizabeth and Silas hot on his heels.

"What are the city defenses?" Asked Elizabeth, struggling to keep up with the cyborg as they dashed through the emptying city streets.

"Old androids from Columbia. We did some long distance trading a few hundred years ago with a survivor camp in Tibet. Had to trade in a whole flock of livestock, but it was worth it. As he spoke, they neared the wall of the city. As they got closer, Elizabeth noticed certain parts of the wall detaching and coming to electric life. The faces of the presidents had been painted over with tribal markings and their weapons upgraded, but they were unmistakably Motorized Patriots. All of them stood ready at the city's defense outside the wall. Elizabeth and Silas clambered over the wall as Jack jumped over it.

In the distance, they saw the black horizon of the Evolutionaries army growing closer, broken here and there by a slight raised bump that was a Big Daddy, but every few seconds one of them would get swarmed and fall to the ground.

In the sky, there was a familiar screeching noise. Elizabeth looked up and gasped. "No. It's not possible!" In the sky, three shadows looped around overhead, growing larger and larger until they landed. They were silver Songbirds, identical to the one that had protected and tormented Elizabeth in Columbia. "There were more of them?" she said, hesitantly moving forward to touch the closest one.

"Not exactly," said Jack, jumping on one's back with a grunt, "The Tibetans found some blueprints and used them to sweeten the deal with the president robots. We made these ones ourselves, now hop on, we've got a war to wage."

Silas stared at the Songbirds. "They fly. They actually fly. I've only ever read about flying machines. And we get to ride them?" Jack rolled his eyes and picked up his grandson, tossing him on the back of a Songbird. Silas stared at the metal under his legs and crowed victoriously. "Oh, this is gonna be great!"

Elizabeth grimaced as she laid a hand on the last Songbird. Jack sighed impatiently. "Will you just get on the damn thing?" he said. Elizabeth glared at him and swung gracefully onto the metal bird's back. With all three on a bird, Jack gave a shrill whistle and all the birds spread their wings as one.

Elizabeth had flown on a sky-line and in an airship before, but this was different. It was very tense; Elizabeth had to wrap her legs around the bird as well as she could to keep from falling off. Luckily, there were hand-holds molded into the metal of the Songbird's back and Elizabeth clung on for dear life. For a while, they just soared at about a hundred feet in the air, slowly circling around the city. Looking down, Elizabeth could see everything, from each individual building to the mass of black-clad Evolutionaries in the distance.

Finally, the Songbirds swung outwards towards the Evolutionaries. Elizabeth crouched down and gasped in fear as the bird dipped into a sharp dive. She screamed in fear as they got so close to the ground, she was certain they were going to crash. At the very last second, the Songbird pulled up, it's wings cutting down a group of Evolutionaries as it climbed back up into the sky. Bullets and spears clanked and banged off the Songbird's underbelly and rushed past Elizabeth. She was fairly certain that her heart was going to give out at any moment.

She heard Silas yelling in happiness beside her as his ride did the same thing. She turned just in time to see Jack leap off his Songbird, both blades spinning expertly in his hands.

There was a sudden flash of light and Elizabeth turned away with her eyes closed. She turned back when the light faded to see a hooded figure clinging onto the Songbird's neck before her. The figure looked up and pulled down it's hood.

"You have no idea what I had to go through to find you!" shouted Booker, shaking his finger in Elizabeth's face, "We are gonna talk, young lady! But right now we have to go! She's right behind me!" Booker reached into his bag and withdrew a large syringe gun. He quickly injected it into his chest and grimaced as the liquid flushed through his vain. "ABEL," he said, tossing the gun away, "Does wonders for the body, but only for five minutes. Get Silas and meet me at the mountain!" With that, Booker let go and dropped off the bird. He landed below, making a massive crater and knocking many Evolutionaries back. Elizabeth turned away and experimentally tugged on the left hand-hold of her Songbird. It swerved to the left in response and she trembled at the movement. She pulled it up next to Silas's bird. Silas himself was actually standing on his ride's head. He had a rifle in his hands and was taking potshots at the Evolutionaries below.

He looked up and grinned at her. "Grabbed it off one of them when Melody dipped down." He called, motioning to his gun.

Elizabeth raised her eyebrows. "Melody? You named it?"

Silas shrugged. "She likes it." In response, the bird screeched and flapped its wings, knocking Elizabeth's bird off balance. It struggled for a moment before returning to a graceful glide. Elizabeth glared at Silas who shrugged sheepishly.

"Booker's here. He said to meet him at the mountain."

Silas stared at her. "But we're needed here!" he said, "Grandpa needs us!"

"Belay that!" Jack Ryan flew up next to them. It appeared he had reunited with his Songbird. He had apparently abandoned one of his swords in favor of his gun, but the look on his face was one of desperation. "If you're to go to the mountain, then you're going to the damn mountain! We can hold the line here!" Blood was splashed across his chest piece, obscuring the word 'autobody' in red. The glass plate that protected his heart was cracked. He was by no means prepared to hold off the entire Evolutionary population by himself. Silas saw the same thing and started to argue with his grandfather.

Elizabeth glanced behind her and saw a small army of Handymen charging from the city walls along with the Motorized Patriots. Even they might not be enough, she thought. She looked below and her eyes widened in surprise. Booker stood atop a pile of bodies, picking off Evolutionaries with guns and occasionally leaping down to engage them in lightning-fast hand-to-hand combat. He was a furious blur of anger and death, but it wasn't compassionate. The Booker from Columbia had only killed to protect her. This one was more like how Booker had referred to himself in the past; a demonic force, a reaper of souls who was glorified in combat, who lusted for that sense of power over another. She saw Booker grin almost manically and she looked away in disgust.

There was a roar above them and everyone looked up in surprise. The ash clouds parted as three massive airships gently floated down from the sky. One gently pulled up next to the Songbirds and Elizabeth looked into the cockpit. Inside, the assassin was piloting with her Big Daddy companion in tow.

Silas turned and saw the two as well. He raised his gun and took careful aim before firing. The bullet shattered the window, but the Big Daddy raised it's hand and blocked the ballistic. "Shit!" swore Silas as he quickly reloaded. The Daddy came to the broken window and raised its massive drill. "Melody, up!" Silas shouted, and the Songbird obeyed, rising just high enough that when the drill launched, it soared underneath its target.

Unfortunately, the drill landed in the side of Elizabeth's Songbird, which cried out in pain. Elizabeth stood up, bracing herself against the wind and altitude and jumped towards Jack's Songbird right next to her. She landed with a grunt and quickly plopped herself down, anchoring herself to the Handyman. As they watched, the three airships began their assault, raining down flaming death from the sky.

Jack barked a laugh. "Where were they fifty years ago? Could have used some more air support than these." Silas and Melody were circling the assassin's airship, trying to get their shots where they could while dodging the Big Daddy's drill.

Elizabeth pointed to Silas. "We have to help them!" She shouted over the wind.

Jack shook his head. "I don't know what issues you tow have with those things, but they're giving us a fighting chance! We'll keep them here, you two need to go to the mountain!"

Elizabeth grunted angrily. She knew he was right; the Handymen needed those airships if they wanted to win and protect the city. "Fine!" she yelled, "Get me to him!" Jack swerved his Songbird and wove through the airships until he was hovering over Melody. "One last thing!" shouted Elizabeth, "How did you know we were coming?"

Jack turned to her and laughed out loud. "You told me, of course! You told me you'd be back! Now go!" with that, he gave her a light push and she slipped off the Songbird. She landed behind Silas on Melody, her knees buckling as she did. She almost fell off, but Silas grabbed her hand and pulled her back up.

"We need to go to the mountain!" She told him.

He waved to the airship with the assassin. "But she's right there! I might never get this chance again!"

Elizabeth closed her eyes and clung close to Silas. "Please! You can get vengeance later! I promise! But right now, your grandpa needs her and we have to get out of here!" Silas glared at her, but grunted and reluctantly shifted Melody away from the airship and flew towards the mountain. Elizabeth clung on to him as they began to soar away from the battle. "You don't need to hold me like that." He grunted.

Elizabeth quickly let go of him and backed up a little. They flew in silence for a few minutes. "I'm sorry," she finally said.

Silas spun around and faced her. Elizabeth looked into his eyes and saw unadulterated rage and hate. "I'm gonna keep you to that promise, Elizabeth. You will help me get revenge for my family." Elizabeth kept his gaze and gave a slow nod. This wasn't the Silas she had met on a rooftop in Kiln City. It took another couple of minutes to get to the base of the mountain.

It truly was a sight to behold. What once was undoubtedly a majestic view now was nothing more than a colossal crater. Ash had petrified parts of what was once Kiln City. The buildings were widely washed away, but there were bodies here and there, frozen in time by the onslaught of heat and ash. Melody landed in the ash and lowered her head to let Silas and Elizabeth off. Just as their feet hit the ground, a tear opened in front of them. Booker stepped through and glared at them.

Elizabeth sighed. "Booker-"

He held up his hand, cutting her off. "One leak," he said, his eyes saying more than his mouth, "One piss. I can't go to the friggin' bathroom without you two MISERABLE MAGGOTS RUNNING OFF INTO THE FUTURE OF A PARALLEL DIMENSION!"

Elizabeth cringed, but Silas stood firm. "It was my fault, Booker." He said, folding his arms over his chest, "I thought I heard someone calling my name from beyond the lighthouse and I went to check it out."

Booker stared at him. "You heard someone calling your name?"

"Yes."

Booker sighed and rubbed his temple. "Okay, right, we're getting close. Stupid Ryan blood." He looked up, "Alright, we're going back to the Eternal Pathway, we're going to find the first world, and we are not going to deviate from the path, okay?" Elizabeth and Silas nodded. Booker grimaced and opened up a tear to a dock in the middle of the ocean with a lighthouse in the distance.

Silas stepped forward. "She's coming with." He said, jerking his thumb at Melody.

Booker raised an eyebrow. "Very funny, now get in there."

Silas shook his head. "Her name is Melody, and she's coming with us."

Booker stared at him. "You know what? I don't care. We've wasted too much time here as is. Fine, the stupid bird comes with, now go." Silas gave a shrill whistle and Melody squawked marched forward. Together, they walked through the tear, expanding it as the massive cyborg bird came through. Booker turned to glare at Elizabeth. "He's a newbie, but you should have known better."

Elizabeth stared at him. "Are you lecturing me?"

"No, I gave up the right to lecture you a long time ago. But I still have a right to be disappointed in you." Elizabeth grit her teeth and walked through the tear. Booker watched her go and was about to step through himself, when a figure in black fell to earth a few yards away. Booker turned back and narrowed his eyes at the assassin.

"You'll have to tell her the truth sometime." She said, removing her head covering.

Booker glared at her. "By that time, it'll be too late." With one fluid motion, he drew a Glock 17 pistol from his bag and raised it at the assassin. The assassin dodged behind some debris as Booker emptied the clip and dropped the gun, putting one foot through the tear.

"Hey!" she called. Booker stopped and looked back. "I'll stop you!" she yelled from behind her cover, "I won't let you hurt her!"

Booker grinned and passed through the tear. "You'll try, my dear," he said to himself. "You'll try."

. . .

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