To ATOM: I'm sorry? You're going to have to be a bit more specific than that. Was the time I uploaded an issue?

Anyway, moving on

Disclaimer: I don't own Bioshock or any of the characters

This problem could be solved so easily you know.

Davian grit his teeth as he tried to block out the voice. His trudge through the halls of Rapture was becoming more difficult with each step.

You have two sources of Adam well within arm's reach.

He had abandoned his earlier attempts of moving stealthily when it became clear that he desperately needed another injection of Adam. Right now, all that mattered was getting home before he did something unforgivable.

You don't even have to kill the child. The one on your back would be more than enough.

It wasn't the kind of thing he had expected at first. After all, when you think of a voice in your head aren't they supposed to be criminally insane? Where was the manic giggling? The haunting whispers? It certainly wasn't supposed to be a calm, controlled, and persuasive force.

All you need to do is distract her for a moment. When she's looking the other way, take what you need from the armored one.

Davian didn't know if he was insane. Did crazy people recognize their own instability? All he knew was that the voice would come back whenever his reserves ran dry.

She won't even realize that something is wrong. Just tell her that her sibling is sleeping. Isn't that what they always say?

In a way it was helpful. Whenever he started hearing it, he knew that he needed a fix right away. By the time you started feeling the other symptoms like shaking, chills, and the pain, it was usually too late.

The thing is probably dead anyway. She hasn't moved once since you picked her up.

By the time Davian realized he was in familiar territory, they were already standing below the opening to his home. He had been so busy trying to focus on not giving into his need for Adam that he hadn't even noticed his surroundings. His body had taken him back automatically, knowing where to go without any help from him.

There was just one problem.

He had designed the safe-house to prevent most splicers from being able to reach it, and now…

Do you honestly think you can make that jump in your state?

He was already feeling some of the symptoms of withdrawal. Just standing still was difficult as tremors ran up and down his spine. Going up alone would have been a major challenge, but with two passengers in tow, it would be nearly impossible.

You're just going to get yourself killed if you try. Is that what you want?

He didn't have a choice. Leaving Wren and her sibling outside, even if it was just for the time it took him to find an Adam syringe, would be incredibly dangerous. Any passing splicer would have a free target that was too good to pass up.

"Wren." He called. "We're going to be going up now. I need you to hold onto me."

Both his hands were currently being used to hold the big sister in place, so she took hold of his elbow instead.

"Ready." She assured happily, looking up at him with the kind of total trust that only a child could pull off. Gods above, how he wished she wouldn't look at him like that. Especially right now.

Davian fixed his gaze up on the balcony above. It was a teleport he did almost every day, but it seemed so far out of reach. If something went wrong, it was more than just his life at risk. He took a moment to steady his nerves, and jumped.

Almost immediately he knew something was wrong.

The normal weightless feeling of vanishing into the Adam spawned mists was replaced by a terrible ripping sensation. Every cell in his body felt as though it were being pulled apart by some merciless force. In a panic, he tried to force his way back to reality through willpower alone. The mists resisted his efforts as they threatened to shatter his form.

After what felt like an eternity, but couldn't have been more than a few heartbeats, he worked up enough concentration to break through the curtain of red. His reappearance was rushed and clumsy, causing him to topple over the moment he touched down on the balcony. The big sister suddenly felt much heavier now that she was crushing him into the ground.

As he heaved her off, he realized just how badly off he was. A crippling chill had begun coursing through his veins, and his eyesight was becoming less clear with each passing second.

Looks like you're going to take my advice after all. Pity you didn't listen when you still could do it willingly. That would have saved us all a lot of trouble.

No! He couldn't lose control! Not now that they were so close to safety. Wren bumped into him, dizzily blinking away the effects of their jump.

"Mister M, that made my head feel all funny."

Davian didn't have the time to answer. He needed to reach his Adam stash right now. Lurching forward, he desperately pried the door open.

As he shifted the bulk of the portal with one hand, he used the other to drag his metal passenger through with Wren bringing up the rear. In one swift motion he slammed the door shut, dropped the big sister on the floor, and took off sprinting into his home. Behind him, Wren let out a startled cry at his actions, but he didn't have the luxury of hiding his affliction at the moment.

Davian's condition only worsened as he stumbled towards his room. His teeth chattered so badly that he was worried his jaw might break. Every part of him rebelled against his will as the need for the drug began to take over.

With failing steps, he lunged into his private quarters and yanked open the drawer that held what he needed. Inside lay six vials arranged side by side. Each one contained the single greatest and most horrible creation in the history of mankind. Their brilliant red contents blinked upwards at him tauntingly as he stared.

Davina quickly grabbed the first one he saw as well as a nearby syringe. Normally, everything about Adam needed to be carefully measured down to the drop. To do otherwise would be to risk becoming another lost victim swept away by the red tide.

He didn't have time to measure it out this time however. He pierced the covering on the vial and drew out a rough estimation of what he needed. Once he had enough, the needle was withdrawn from the liquid and positioned above his arm.

The first time he had done this, it had taken every ounce of nerve he had to pierce the skin. Now there wasn't even the suggestion of hesitation.

Davian stabbed the syringe into his arm, and pushed the Adam directly into the vein.

The effect was immediate. The all-consuming need suddenly vanished, replaced by a euphoric bliss. This wasn't all however, and long years of experience with the drug taught him to brace himself for the next stage.

The rush.

It was unlike anything else in the world. As the chemical cocktail took hold, his blood thundered through his veins. Power beyond the understanding of common men flowed into every part of him with a burning desire for more. In those moments Davian truly felt as though he were a demigod in a mortal shell.

If he was allowed to run wild with the intense sensations, there would be no telling how much damage he could do. However, he was too disciplined to let that happen. As the Adam ran its course through his system, he held every muscle in place. To an outside observer he would have appeared to be simply sitting in a slumped position on the floor.

Eventually the rush faded away into a tantalizing memory of the sensation, taking the voice of temptation with it. When Davian was sure it was over, he struggled to his feet. It was always this way. No matter how many times he injected the concoction into his bloodstream it never seemed to lessen. The intense surge of power burned into him, and then left him feeling utterly drained.

Still, he couldn't allow himself to rest yet. He had a guest to look into.

Before he left his room, he did a quick check to ensure that the unregulated amount of Adam he had taken wasn't having any sudden side effects. There was no telling what it would do in the long run, but at least it didn't seem to be having an immediate drawback.

It took him significantly longer to make his way back out to the living area where he had left the two sisters. When he arrived, he was greeted by a very strange sight. Apparently unable to shift the creature from her position on the floor, Wren had instead elected to bring the couch to her. Several cushions had been placed underneath the big sister, with the largest being under her head.

It took her a moment to notice that Davian had arrived, but when she did her face lit up.

"Mister M!" She cried. "I got everything all ready. This way big sister will be all comfy while you fix her up."

Not having the energy to do anything else, he just nodded. As he sat down next to the fallen sister, it became clear that he had no idea what he was supposed to do. It was difficult enough to fix himself up, so how could he be expected to help someone else?

Davian shook his head to dispel the questions. He couldn't worry about that right now.

First things first, the helmet would have to come off. The large shard of metal embedded in it probably wasn't helping her, and he needed to at least see the injuries if he wanted to help.

He could repair the damage to the helmet later, but that would require a bit of time. Something he seemed to have much less of nowadays.

A few moments of searching was all it took to find the release clamps. As they opened, the air inside the suit hissed out of the self-contained environment. Davian took a second to prepare himself mentally for the unveiling. He wasn't sure what to expect, but knowing Rapture it was likely going to be disturbing.

To say he was stunned would have been an understatement.

As the glaring porthole fell away, a very human face was revealed. A tangled mess of dirty, blonde hair sat atop the head of what appeared to be a young girl. There were no twisted metal intrusions in her flesh, or filthy cables implanted in her veins. She was thoroughly unwashed, but otherwise almost normal. If it wasn't for the dazed yellow eyes of a gatherer, she might have passed for human.

All of this was overshadowed by one unsettling fact. She was much younger than he had anticipated.

If his guess was accurate, she appeared to be a year or two younger than he was. Logically speaking he knew she wouldn't be that old, but it was still fairly shocking to see.

Davian suddenly felt much less triumphant about his earlier victory.

This brought him back to his original problem of simply not knowing what he was meant to do. The only injury that was currently visible was the gash on her head from the metal shard. For all he knew she might have dozens of similar wounds under her armor, but he was very hesitant to check.

The last thing he needed was for her to wake up while he was undressing her.

That only left him with one other course of action. He really didn't want to use the first aid kit on her, but what other choice did he have? Wren was watching his every move expectantly, and he had to do something that at least resembled being helpful.

Silently cursing his need to keep her happy, he removed the remaining tin from his belt. It was incredibly handy to have but unless he wanted to risk the awkward low-brow movie situation, he had to use it.

With practiced ease, he popped open the container, drew out the needle, and prepared to make the injection. The tip was hovering directly over the big sister's shoulder when a paranoid thought struck him.

What if the sting was enough to wake her up?

Davian was suddenly very aware of how much this could backfire. If she suddenly woke up, she could easily reach out and snap his neck before he could even react. Even so, if she woke up at any point during, or even after, the procedure it would still probably be fatal.

By now he was fairly certain that some higher power was laughing at him.

Closing his eyes and preparing for the worst, Davian brought the needle down. It pierced the skin without incident, and she still hadn't awoken by the time he had emptied the healing serum and drawn it back out.

Letting out a breath he hadn't known he was holding, he sat back in relief.

"Is that it?" Wren asked with a questioning glance. "Is that gonna make big sister all better again?"

"Yea." Davian assured her. "That should just about do it."

Definitely.

Probably.

Maybe…

Possibly…

In all honesty, he had no idea how she would react to the injection. Maybe it would work fine and he would have a pissed off killing machine under his roof. Maybe it didn't work that way for gatherers and he had just poisoned her.

Davian couldn't decide which outcome would be worse.

Now of course, he had to worry about what she would do if she recovered. He doubted that she would be willing to sit down and have a nice chat about not killing each other, so he had to find a way to keep her from tearing the place up.

Some old rope and rusty chains weren't ideal, but they were all he had on hand. Davian was starting to seriously feel the drain of his earlier hit as he tried to focus enough to tighten the knots in the restraints. Every movement seemed to be growing more sluggish as time went on.

"What's that for?"

Davian blinked several times at the unexpected question. "What was that?" He asked.

"I said, what's that for?" Wren repeated. The look on her face was a mixture of curiosity and concern. "Why are you tying up big sis?"

"Eh…" That wasn't good. If he had been thinking clearly he probably would have realized that she would object to him restraining her sibling.

"It's… It's for her protection." He said. "When she wakes up she's going to be disoriented. This is to keep her from hurting herself accidentally."

Or from hurting me. He added silently.

Wren continued to stare at him, a frown growing on her face. Davian started to worry. What was he going to do if she didn't accept his explanation?

After a few tense moments she spoke again.

"Mister M…" She began. He felt beads of sweat forming on the back of his neck. "What does dis… duss… d… diss-owr-eeeh-ent-id mean?"

Davian almost slumped to the ground in a heap as he realized that she hadn't been gearing up for a conflict.

"Disoriented means confused." He explained, trying not to show just how relieved he was. "She'll be waking up in an unfamiliar place and might panic. This is to keep her from running around and getting into trouble."

Wren nodded contemplatively, digesting the new information.

Davian got to his feet after a time, feeling as though he would collapse at any moment. He had put off rest for long enough, and now he couldn't stay awake for much longer.

"I'm headed off to bed." He told her. "Don't stay up too late. You know how cranky you get when you don't get your rest."

"I don't get cranky!" She retorted, pouting.

He just chuckled to himself. "Goodnight." He called, slipping back into his room. Her mirrored goodnight was muffled by the sound of the door closing. He knew Wren wouldn't stay up too late. Whenever she tried to she would inevitably end up passed out in a tiny ball on the floor after just half an hour.

Speaking of passing out in a tiny ball…

Davian fell heavily on his mattress as sleep began dragging him down. He knew that their new house-guest would be an issue, but at the moment he had more pressing concerns.

The last thing he was aware of before sleep claimed him was the sound of Wren talking cheerfully with the unconscious big sister.

Just a heads up to anyone reading, I have some school projects and Finals coming up so updates may slow down in the near future. Hopefully it won't be an issue, but if it is then that's why.