There's Always a City (Bioshock Burial at Sea/Worm)
AN: This is going to be an AU story for both Worm and Bioshock- Burial at Sea. For Worm, there won't be a huge amount of the original verse in this fic as it's mostly background for Lisa. The most important bit will be handled in the very beginning of the story, with some occasional flashbacks to important moments later on. Though to set expectations: Golden Morning happened very differently and much later than canon. Taylor also never quite went full Khepri, though her power was 'somewhat' similar.
For the Bioshock setting, it has been a long time since I've played the BaS DLC. I loved Infinite and I really enjoyed BaS. That said, I had little incentive to ever replay BaS because the ending rather robbed that enjoyment from me. So this will be a hefty AU for that verse and I'll be going off of my dim memory of some key points as well as the wiki notes for it. Don't expect a full canon plot for BaS, canon was blown away by the crossover aspect before it could ever happen.
Also, and most importantly and unusually for me, this is not a Taylor-centric fic. Taylor as a character is important, because she's important to Lisa. But Taylor herself (outside of flashbacks) is not likely to be in this fic until right near the end - if at all.
The Case of the Dame - 01
Looking up, she saw Scion curl into himself, arms around his legs and head tucked into his chest as he rotated in the air above the twisted remains of his dead monster girlfriend. Insight's cruel smirk was all teeth as she slapped her communicator, signalling her wife. Nearly 10 years of preparation and they were finally at the end.
"He's given up! He's completely given up! Tinker's get ready! Weaver is coordinating the final shot now! All forces prepare for brainjack in 3, 2, 1…!"
Seven years preparing for this, seven years and the end was finally here!
A pinpoint golden portal opened just behind her and Weaver's control swept over her. Lisa felt herself fall into sync with the rest of their small hive mind, her growing headache diminished as the mental burden of her power passed through the link, shared with everyone she was connected to. Her senses expanded as well, and she saw/felt Lily/Flechette lift her crossbow, the power surging through the bolt. She saw/felt Colin/Armsmaster and Chris/Kid Win and Teresa/Dragon and Melanie/String Theory slot the final item into place: the countdown started at 2 seconds.
A portal opened.
Scion lifted his head. He stared straight at Taylor/Weaver, the two of them snarling at each other.
"99.76458% chance he tries to take us with him!" Dinah/Kaleidoscope's shout nearly burst Lisa/Insight's eardrums; it was so loud. It wasn't needed, she was in the Hive, they could all see the glimpses into other possibilities - they could all see the numbers as the shifting mental landscape steadied.
Lily/Flechette fired.
Colin/Armsmaster slammed his hand on the Big Red Button as the countdown hit zero. The gun fired into the portal.
Scion glowed yellow, light spearing out from him in all directions, the very air rending into jagged voids as the light lanced towards them all.
Lily/Flechette's bolt struck Scion. His avatar inverted, a sea of black stars visible through the hole in the sky. It did nothing to stop the golden light arcing towards them.
Portals opened behind all of them. Taylor/Weaver directed Theo/Golem in forcing hands out of the ground into all of the members of the Hive, knocking everyone into their escape doors even as Scion's death rattle hurtled towards them.
The Tinker's beam slammed through the avatar, striking the planet behind him, the massive explosion visible for only a moment before the avatar itself winked out of existence, the doorway to the alternate reality closing with a feeling of finality.
Lisa/Insight hit the metallic ground behind her, and Taylor/Weaver directed her to roll to the side. She just barely managed to avoid the golden light as it struck the portal's edge and a portion of it streamed into the reality she had fallen into. The very air itself screamed as the light struck the edge of the portal, the world seeming to shiver and quake at the collision. Lisa's connection to the Hive collapsed, her wife vanishing from her mind as reality bled in front of her eyes. The ground below her disappeared and she fell -
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hitting water. She couldn't breathe. There was a light, a blinding light revolving around her, drawing her towards the surface. She swam, and her lungs burned, and the light guided her.
Taylor had saved her, but now she was going to drown. She was going to drown and never see her wife or her daughter again.
Someone grabbed her arm, dragging her towards the unseen surface. She clasped the lifeline, digging her fingers into the limb as it pulled her upwards. With a desperate gasp, she broke through, dragging air into her lungs. Glancing around with wide eyes, she nearly inhaled a lungful of water at the impossibility around her, even as the pain in her head started to spike to a degree she'd never experienced before.
There was a sea of lighthouses, a sea of docks, a sea of women walking. One of the women had stopped and pulled her up onto the docks. Lisa gasped, clutching at her skull as it suddenly felt like someone had taken a poker and rammed it into her brain. The world narrowed and blackness closed in, the woman reached for her, but Lisa stumbled backwards, tripped, and then...she was...falling. Falling backwards through the door in the lighthouse -
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Onto the metal floor, her brain on fire and the tear in reality gaping directly at her and she -
Nearly fell off her chair screaming as she bolted upright in her chair, one hand clutching at her heart, the other scrambling for her gun after flailing in an attempt to knock away the person who had just touched her.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry! If I'd realized you were such a stellar morning person I would have kept knocking."
Lisa gasped, trying to get her breathing back under control and force her nightmare back into the corners of her mind where it belonged. It took her too long to focus on the woman in the white blouse across from her. She was getting too old for this.
"Christ I'm barely 25 and I'm already complaining about being too old?" she muttered. Shaking her head, she dropped her hands back to the desk, and eyed the woman who had apparently woken her up. The dame was dressed like most of the women of Rapture, a nice blouse and long skirt, with her hair fluffed in that old-timey 60s fashion where it was half-wave, half-straight. The hair style didn't quite match the rest of the outfit, but it came close. The woman was decent looking, almost beautiful in that 'I'm so done with this' kind of way.
Lisa's hand clenched and she had to fight to unlock her jaw as she remembered that look on Taylor almost every day.
"Are you awake yet?"
"Did you see the 'Closed' sign?" Lisa responded, raising an eyebrow and jerking her head towards the door. She poured herself a finger of…which vintage was she on now? Ah, Old Tom's Whiskey. Damn. Fontaine's Moonshine was better. Too bad that shit was hard to find now that the department store had been sunk. She'd have to shake down her contacts. After she figured out how to raise the damn department store from the seabed. That was for the weekend. Sleep was for now. She should be sleeping. It was too damn early. Why was she awake?
"Your establishment comes highly recommended."
Lisa blinked. She eyed the woman again. She hadn't missed her power for awhile, not having to live with a voice in her head telling her how utterly screwed she was every time she turned around was certainly nice, but…She hadn't been in Rapture long enough to get a rep that would make a woman like this not only come to her door, but force the lock, and take the whiskey tumbler from her drunk-ass hand, and shake her awake.
Something was going on here and she was missing pieces. Fucking Scion.
"Alright, color me intrigued. How can a humble private eye help a dame like yourself?" Lisa asked, flashing her trademarked vulpine grin. Her head was pounding, but the woman didn't need to know that. She was going to get answers by the end of this conversation, powers or no. They had only ever been a crutch anyway, Taylor taught her that.
"I'm searching for someone."
Lisa's smile widened and she crossed her arms as she leaned forward to lean on the desk. "There are several folk here who specialize in 'finding' things. People included. From what I hear, there was a man a few doors down by the name of Booker who was particularly good at that - when he wasn't drunk at least."
The woman stared at Lisa's whiskey bottle, not saying a word. Lisa just met her eyes, waiting for her to speak first. Finally, the woman sighed, shaking her head. "Mr. DeWitt is no longer with us. He met an unfortunate end earlier. I have been forced to seek other means of assistance."
And she didn't care at all judging from her flippant attitude and lack of inflection. Actually…with the way her lips had quivered and the overly formal address…oooh, so Booker's death probably wasn't an accident and they had history together.
Well, that wasn't really Lisa's problem. Hell, she'd taken out Coil herself back in the day. She still had quite a few she would happily murder if everyone's eyes would just turn the other way for a minute or two. Brian was probably at the top of that list right now. Not that she would see him again for years. If that fucking asshole came within 100 miles of Taylor before she could get back to her…
"So can you help me or should I continue to seek other investigators?"
Lisa tapped the desk, using the motion to pull herself back to the conversation. This wasn't what she had signed up for. She needed to get deeper in with Ryan, Suchong, Tenebaum, or Fontaine. She needed resources. She needed their schizo tech if she was going to ever be able to cobble together something that could tear open that hole again. She didn't need to go off on a wild goose chase after someone that a random woman had lost during her revenge quest.
And yet…who would have told this lady about Lisa?
"I have a few questions before I decide if I can help or if I'm going to send you packing."
"I have no bags," she said.
"Figure of speech. First question, where did you lose this person?"
"The last place I saw her was in the toy store downtown. I don't know where she went after that. I was distracted at the time."
Probably cackling at your successful murder plot if that lip twitch and slight hand movement towards your gun means what I think it does. Guilt is a hell of a motivator to help someone, huh, lady?
Lisa nodded. "Okay. Who is the girl?"
"Her name is Sally." The woman paused, her eyes dropping to the floor. "She's just a child. Please, if you can help, I need to fix my mistake."
Lisa leaned back, uncrossing her arms and frowning. That definitely confirmed her hunch about the reasoning behind looking for the girl. It didn't do a thing to tell her about who had tipped the woman off to Lisa herself though. She still shouldn't get involved. She had so much she needed to do still and this city was on the brink of a full on civil war. Everything was primed to go to hell in a hand-basket, even more than Brockton Bay had ever been. At least there the status quo was enforced by three major players, so no one was really comfortable breaking it and setting off a war. Not until Weaver at least.
Here? Ryan was never going to let Rapture grow in a direction he disliked, and Fontaine was too much of an asshole to ever let go of power. No, this city was going down in flames. And these assholes were her only way of maybe getting home. She needed to find the key to getting home before everyone started killing each other.
And yet…if she made it home and had to tell Taylor that she only did it by letting a little girl get swallowed by the madness of this place? Taylor would never look at her again and Dinah's disappointment could very well kill what was left of her heart.
"Two more questions," Lisa said.
"Go ahead."
"Why me?"
The woman shook her head. "Because you don't care for any of the factions in Rapture. If I am to find Sally, I need someone who can move in all circles as I have a horrible suspicion that both leaders of this city have had a hand in her fate. I need to help her, and for that, I need to defy Rapture itself."
Lisa whistled. "You don't aim low. I can admire that spunk even as I can tell you that you're a damn fool. If you're fighting the system, you're in the wrong city. Rapture is going to eat you alive."
"In a way, I believe it already has."
Well wasn't that just the most cryptic bullshit ever. Lisa snorted and leaned forward, smirking. "Okay, lady, one last question before I decide if I'm taking this case."
"Yes?"
"What is your fucking name?"
The woman blinked. Her mouth dropped open, then she held a hand up to cover it as she started to laugh. "Oh, I'm so sorry! I didn't even realize!" It took a few moments, but she was able to get herself under control. After her giggles calmed, she smiled at Lisa, the first genuine grin of the morning. "I'm Elizabeth."
"Well, it's nice to meet you, Liz. I'm Lisa. Let's go find your kid, shall we?"