A little late on this one but, unfortunately, I lost recently lost my beloved great-grandmother and everything that comes with that has taken up my past week. Hope you enjoy the chapter though and please check out my blog at VixenRose on Ko-fi where you get some sneak peaks at upcoming chapters, personal recipes, and some of my own original art work.

Jack V

After they finished comforting the former Little Sister -apparently her name was Molly- Liz explained to her how to get to Tenenbaum's safehouse and send her on her way. Jack hadn't liked it, hadn't felt it was safe, but Liz assured him that Molly would be fine. Even without her enhancements, Molly knew her way around Rapture the way no else one, not even Andrew Ryan, did. She'd get there, somehow, and Tenenbaum would protect her.

Jack believed that.

Molly gone, they set back out, picking their way through Neptune's Bounty and killing or sneaking by any splicers they came across. They ended up having to kill more than they snuck around. Things were bad down here, the splicers were getting more feral. More desperate. More hungry. It took more work than it should've to clear the area around Fontaine Fisheries enough to catch their breaths, heal up, and take stock of their ammo.

Jack eyed the neon sign that hung above him. "Fontaine... You mentioned him before. What's his deal?"

Liz paused, still hunched over the machine she was hacking for supplies. "...You've never heard of him?"

"Besides what you mentioned? No." Jack said. He noticed then how rigid and tight Liz's shoulders went, like the very name of Frank Fontaine caused a physical reaction within her. 'What is the story there?'

"He's a bit of a long story. In short, Fontaine was a con artist turned 'legitimate' businessman through his ADAM business, Fontaine Futuristics. The plasmids and gene tonics you've been using? Those were developed by Fontaine and his company."

Jack felt himself flinch at the news. He didn't like to think about what he was doing to his body, what he was turning himself into. Atlas assured him it was safe and, yes, Jack hadn't felt any negative side effects aside from some nausea, brief pain, and tiredness. But still...

"We also have him to thank for the Little Sisters," Liz continued, having not noticed his reaction. "Once he created a demand for ADAM, he needed a way to meet that: little girls."

She said that last part with so much malice that Jack could clearly picture Liz's pretty face twisted with anger and bitterness.

"Now, Fontaine... He lik- liked manipulating people. One of his favorite things to do was disguise his own disgusting exploits as charity. Setting up Little Sister's Orphanage got him the 'man-power' he needed to grow his business and, with public opinion backing him thanks to his charity ventures, Fontaine grew in power and influence. Eventually, he was even able to challenge Andrew Ryan for control of the city. Ryan didn't like that, of course, and a power struggle happen -one Fontaine lost."

"So what happened to him?"

"Most people think he's dead," Liz shrugged.

"Do you?"

Another pause.

"...No. I think Fontaine was far too clever for that."

'She thinks he's still there. She might even be worried that Fontaine will be another obstacle for us,' Jack realized. "Forgive me for saying this, but I hope you're wrong. I hope he's dead."

Liz said nothing for a long moment. "...We should get going. You said you have someone to find down here, right? We don't want to keep them waiting, not with how bad things are."

Though Jack noticed the abrupt change in conversation, he didn't mention it. Even though her trust was growing, the woman was still clearly keeping some things close to her chest. And Jack could live with that; he'd have to, lest he lose one of his two main sources of support down here. Besides, Liz was right. They were sitting ducks out here in the open and Atlas' family was still locked away somewhere. Ever since he'd met up with his new companion, they'd been the focus of his mind less and less, horrible as it was. Atlas seemed to sense Jack's wandering attention too, but he was alternating between ignoring him or yelling at Jack.

'Are you there?' he wondered, tapping at the strange earpiece. No response, that wasn't likely to last forever though.

"Yeah, let's go."

They continued on their way, going deeper inside the Fishery, killing more splicers, searching dead bodies for supplies, disarming sentry turrets, and sneaking past another Little Sister with her Big Daddy. This one, Liz informed him with a hushed whisper, was one of the ranged-weapon Rosie variety; Jack had no idea what that meant but had no reason to not believe her, so he just shrugged and tucked that information away for later. They'd probably have to deal with him before leaving the area but not now, not after how hard the last one had been.

"You're getting close, boyo," Atlas said over the radio. The suddenness of it nearly gave Jack a goddamn heart attack. "Fontaine had a hidden area in this building, that'll be where my family is. I'm sure he'll have someone guarding it too so be ready. Oh, and you'll probably have to deal with old Peach Wilkins. I radioed ahead and asked him to let you pass through, but that guy is about as straight as a dog's hind leg and mad as a hatter to boot. A side effect of being stuck down here, I suppose. He's mostly harmless but might make you jump through some hoops, just go along with it."

The radio went silent before Jack could say anything. That was usual, Atlas wasn't really one for two-sided conversations. Typically, Jack didn't mind; he had other stuff to worry about, after all. But this time he'd been hoping to ask Atlas if he knew anything about Fontaine. He couldn't stop thinking about something Liz had said a while back -that it was strange for Ryan to be using his old enemy's hideout to stash Atlas' family. What did Atlas think about that?

"Locked."

Jack was pulled out of his thoughts and mindless wandering to find himself in front of a large metal door with half-busted yet still lit up neon 'Fontaine Fishery' signs.

"No lock for me to pick either," Liz continued. She eyed a collection of wires that let to the door frame, "If it's an electronic lock then I might be able to short it out by cutting the right wire though. I just need-"

"Wait, let me check something," he said.

His partner cocked a confused eyebrow in his direction but shrugged and busied herself by gathering loose supplies from a nearby table. "Help yourself."

Jack pulled his trusty wrench out and whacked it against the door a few times. "Peach Wilkins? Are you in there? My name is Jack, I was sent-"

He was cut off by a metal slot in the door sliding open to reveal a man wearing a welding helmet. At the sight of him, Liz jumped back, one hand going to her gun. She didn't draw though, which was good because, according to Atlas, they might need Wilkins' help.

Wilkins scoffed at the sight of them. "Atlas radioed on ahead. Says you were looking for an invite to the fisheries. Nuts, I say. But, if'n you heads up to the wharf master's office and find ol' Peach a Research Camera, maybe I could manage an invite."

Oh god, Atlas had warned him about this.

"What?" Liz asked, stepping forward. "Look, we just need to get through. We don't have time to run errands for you."

"If you want to come through then you'll have to make time," Wilkins said. He cocked his head to the side as he took in Liz, "Atlas didn't mention anything about you, girlie; I only heard about letting the boy through. I don't trust dames, as a rule, so I suggest cutting the lip, missy. Otherwise, I might change my mind about helping either of you."

There was anger burning in Liz's eyes. Before she could say anything, Jack stepped forward. "Are you sure you can't make an exception? I- We are on a rescue mission. An innocent woman and child are depending on us getting to them."

Another scoff. "There were plenty of innocents in Rapture, sonny. They're dead now, same as near everyone else. I don't why you'd think your broad and brat are any different."

Neither Jack nor Liz had anything to say to that.

"Passage for a camera, that's the deal."

Jack felt his own rush of anger but bit it down. "...Fine!"

"Good now- What was that?"

There was the loud scratching sound of metal on metal. Jack heard Liz suck in her breath and pull her gun.

"Something is coming!"

Taking the hint, Jack readied his shotgun, double-checking that it was properly loaded as a female splicer dropped down in front of him. When his brain caught up with his eyes, Jack realized he'd recognized her. She'd been the one to attack Jack's bathysphere when he first arrived!

"My youth! My rose!" the splicer croaked in a voice that also sounded familiar. "I want it back! I want it back! Yeargh!"

Bang!

"Jack, don't get distracted!" Liz yelled, firing three more shots at the splicer's head to little effect.

The splicer shook her head out, turning her attention back to Jack. After studying him for a moment, she lunged, swinging a large hook wildly. Jack's breath caught in his lungs but he powered through and raised his shotgun.

BANG!

The splicer was blown back, rolling away before shaking off the injury. Jack watched in amazed horror as the splicer leaped up onto the nearby, scurrying up towards the ceiling while throwing fiery meathooks down at him and Liz. She was nimble, he'd give her that; Jack couldn't help but imagine if this is what fighting a murderous spider-monkey would be like.

'Hmmm, a Spider Splicer... That's a good name,' he thought. Giving names to the fucked up shit he saw down here was one of the few mental respites Jack allowed himself.

Liz fired a few more shots, each narrowly missing the splicer. "Ugh, it can't hit her like this! We need to get her to stay still for a minute, then I can shoot her down."

'Stun her...' Jack closed his eyes and took a deep breath, forcing himself to focus on the humming of EVE in his veins. 'I've got about three uses out of this dose. Got to make it count.'

"Distract her!" he called out, calling the power of Electro Bolt to his fingertips.

His partner seemed to understand what he was going for because Liz wordlessly swapped over to her crossbow. In one smooth motion, she fired one of her noisemaker bolts at their enemy's head; the splicer still managed to dodge but then struck the wall and released the shrill, loud ringing which, even from the distance he was out, made Jack wince. But, bad as it was for him, having it go off next to her head was enough to make the splicer shriek in pain, dropping down to a ledge to cover her ears.

'Now!'

Jack raised a hand and fired a bright bolt of electricity at the woman. Arching through the air, the bolt struck the splicer in the stomach. "Got her!"

Before the stunning effect of being electrocuted could wear off, Liz swapped out her ammo and raised her weapon once more. When she fired this time, it was with a bolt sharpened to an almost cruel level of lethality.

"AHHHHHH!"

There was so much pain in the splicer's voice when Liz's bolt struck her in the shoulder, burying deep into her flesh that Jack felt a twinge of pity -she was, after all, a victim of Ryan too- but he shoved those feelings away as the splicer stood up once more. The hot, sickening smell of fresh blood filled the air, so thick he almost gagged on it. Jack watched on in horror as the splicer, literally dripping with blood, readied itself to jump down at Liz.

'What will it take to kill this thing?' he thought desperately as he reloaded his shotgun, ready to blast the splicer when it jumped down.

"My friend, you are fucked!" Jack nearly jumped at the voice of Peach Wilkins. He'd completely forgotten about the man in the hyper-focus that occurred during a fight. "You hold tightly. I'm sending something fierce to watch your back."

Before Jack or Liz got a chance to ask or even wonder what the man was talking about, the metal door slid open just enough to let a security bot float up. It open fired on the splicer with a flurry of bullets and that was enough to finally send it feeling scrambling up the wall before disappearing through a hole in the ceiling above them. When she was finally gone, Jack let out a relieved sigh, one mirrored by Liz.

"Finally."

Thunk!

The sound of metal hitting metal had Jack spinning around to see a grenade launcher on the conveyor belt in front of him. From beyond the steel-grate-covered window, Wilkins called out to them.

"That one's too tough for you," he said. "Look on the conveyor belt, you'll find something to keep you alive. Now go get that camera and then snapshots of those that crawls on the ceiling. Then I'll let you into the fisheries."

"Come on, you're still making us go through this?" Jack asked, unable to keep the hint of an exasperated whining from his voice.

"A deal is a deal. Just be glad I'm lending you some artillery," the man shot back before disappearing from sight.

"You should have just let me shoot him," Liz said.

"Hmmm, tempting. Still probably a bad idea though." Jack picked up the grenade launcher, turning it over in his hand, testing how it felt in his arms. "And where'd you get that trigger finger anyway? Not very lady-like."

Liz chuckled. "Blame that one on my old man. Books too. Books gave me the knowledge on how to use guns while my father gave me the dispositional and drive. Speaking of which..."

She stepped closer and covered Jack's hand with her own, re-positioning it on the gun. "You're going to want to hold this here. Feel that?"

"Yeah?"

"Make sure you keep your fingers on here, otherwise they could get burnt on the metal. Oh, and watch the kickback. This model tends to back a punch and we don't want it shooting back up to smack you in the nose."

"Sounds good," Jack said, trying not to lean in closer to Liz.

She didn't smell good, not really. Sure, there was a hint of generic soap under layers of sweat, gunpowder, and blood but it was the warmth of her body against his that drew Jack in. He was sore from head to toe and the little bit of heat Liz put off was a comfort Jack didn't know what he needed.

'God, I need sleep.'

.

.

.

When was the last time he slept?

The night before that ill-fated plane ride. Right?

When was that? Keeping time was hard down here.

Hell, when was the last time he ate?

"Let's go," Liz sighed. "Dragging our feet on this little errand won't do us any good."

"You say that like a woman who's gone through all this before."

That earned him a quirky little half-smile, leaning closer. "Maybe I'll tell you about it eventually."

Jack instinctively leaned closer to her in response. "I'd like that."

It was only now that Jack realized how close they were. Close enough that he could count Liz's eyelashes. Close enough that he could feel her breath on his cheek. Close enough that he could...

"After we get that damn camera," Liz said, stepping back.

Something inside Jack twisted at that, the blood rushing back towards his head. "Yeah. The camera."