Elizabeth XIII
"What's that?"
Jack's voice broke through Elizabeth's concentration. Every hair on her body still standing on end, she asked through clenched teeth. "What?"
Her companion gestured with the muzzle of his shotgun, "Over there, next to the Gene Bank. I think it is plasmid?"
Liz squinted through the gloom, noting a dim light glinting off the surface of a glass bottle. "...Maybe? It's hard to tell. I'd ign-"
Before she could finish speaking, Jack was already kneeling down to pick up the bottle.
"Jack, get back here!" she hissed.
The man ignored her, holding the bottle up. "Wrench Lurker? I wonder what that-"
"Look at me! Look at me!"
A blurred figure dropped down from the ceiling, rushing a Jack so fast she was just a blur to Elizabeth's eyes.
"Fuck!" Jack shouted, falling back and scrambling out of the way.
The figure, the female splicer from before, swung one of her hook weapons at Jack's head. It was an attack he was only just able to avoid by rolling to the side. But he dropped his shotgun, the firearm getting knocked away in the struggle.
Liz pulled out her handgun and unloaded it into the splicer's back.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
A dozen bullets pumped into the splicer's back and only now did she stop her attack on Jack to face Elizabeth. She snarled, a large, bulbous cluster of exposed nerves, sores, and muscles covered one of her eyes like a grotesque eyepatch.
Liz recoiled at the sight. 'Jesus!'
"My youth! My youth!" the splicer screeched and, with a deranged roar, went to lunge at Elizabeth.
Only for Jack to kick her square in the back, sending her stumbling forward before rolling to his feet. Elizabeth used the opportunity to summon the power of Old Man Winter to send an icy blast at the splicer. Unfortunately, there was only a little EVE left in her system and all she managed to do is slow the splicer down, stunning her. Jack yanked the wrench from where it was tucked into a belt loop, and savagely bashed into the side of the splicer's head, causing her to howl in pain. It was all he could do though, deciding to focus on retrieving his shotgun instead of trying to fight another way.
'Between this and the fight earlier, how is she still standing?' Elizabeth wondered in amazement. 'She must be a whole different level of splicer.'
In the back of her mind, Liz wondered what Tenenbaum could learn by studying this splicer. It was such a horrid thought that she immediately shoved it away. Besides, the splicer had regained her footing.
"Ehh… ehh… so c-cold… ehh," the female grumbled, her eyes... eye still glued on Elizabeth as she swung her hook weapon wildly.
Bang! Bang! Click!
"Damn it!" she hissed, not even bothering to reload. Liz tossed his pistol down and started to yank out her hand cannon.
"AGGHHHHHH!"
The splicer leaped forward like a wild animal, undoubtedly seeking to tackle Elizabeth down and disembowel her.
BANG!
Thankfully, now it was Jack's time to go for a save. He blasted the splicer in the back with his shotgun, knocking her forward and onto her hands and knees. With a groan, the splicer looked up at Elizabeth.
"I'm sorry," she said, pulling the trigger on her hand cannon.
BANG!
With a spray of red, thick viscera, the female splicer's head jerked back, and finally, finally, she slumped to the side. Dead.
"Fuck... that..." Jack sighed, slumping against the Gene Bank.
"I won't say that I told you so," she said, trying to catch her breath.
Jack snorted. "God, I hope she was the toughest thing we'll find down here."
Elizabeth looked down at the crumpled body of their attacker. "Don't count on that."
She closed her eyes for a moment, giving the soul the splicer had once been a moment of respect, then knelt down to search her pocket. Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw Jack fiddling with the Gene Bank.
"We've still got to get the camera's back to Wilkins," she said, fumbling to get one of the splicer's pockets open. When she missed the button again, Liz gave a frustrated sigh and rubbed her eyes. "Ugh! Jack? Jack?"
"...Huh?" her companion jumped slightly, seemingly startled by her call. "Oh, yeah. It should be a straight shot back to him now. We should move now."
Despite saying this, Jack slumped back now against the Gene Bank with his eyes closed. Elizabeth wanted to join him.
"You're both running on empty."
Elizabeth jumped, nearly dropping her gun. She whirled around to see Booker in the corner with a concerned look on his face.
"Booker!"
How long had it been since Booker had been there?
"Huh?" Jack mumbled.
Ignoring him, Booker repeated, "You're both running on empty. And you're still recovering from quite a few injuries, sweetheart. You two need to find some food and water. Then hold up in a safe place to eat and rest."
"People can go days without water, much longer without food," Elizabeth mumbled.
Booker snorted. "Of course, you can, I did it plenty of times when I was in the army. But hunger and dehydration will make you slow and sloppy. And, in a place like this, slow and sloppy will get you killed fast. That's why I made you stop to eat and drink while we were running around Rapture."
"That why were you pulling hotdogs out of garbage cans?"
"Eh, you work with what you got."
"You're right," Elizabeth said softly. "I miss having you here. I miss having your help."
"Who are you talking to?" Jack asked, drawing Liz's attention.
After a moment, she looked back at Booker. "Just a ghost."
Booker smiled back. "It looks like you've got some new help now. Don't worry, I'll still be around. For a while, at least."
Before she could respond, Jack touched her shoulder. "Are you alright?"
And, just like that, Booker was gone. It was so sudden that Elizabeth felt a rush of anger that she quickly shoved down.
"I'm fine," she said, forcing herself up onto her feet. She looked at Jack, noticing his pale, dirty face and the dark bags under his eyes. "We can't keep going like this for much longer. We need to find some food and water soon; we need to get some rest before we burn out."
"...I wouldn't be against a nap but where would we find it?" Jack asked. "Besides, like I said, I have people I need to save. I can't keep dragging my feet."
'What are these people?' Liz couldn't help but wonder. 'What strings are you pulling, Fontaine?'
Those were questions for later. For now, it was time to drop off a camera. "You're right, let's go."
When they'd finally made their way back down to Peach Wilkins' home... Lair? Base? Whatever. When they'd gotten back, Jack banged on the door.
"Wilkins! We've got your damn camera! Now let us in!"
After a moment, Liz was able to hear shuffling around from behind the giant steel door. The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end and she bit her lip as the paranoid surged. Deciding it was better to be safe than sorry, she subtly slid the cigarette case out and retrieved her last vial of EVE.
'I hope I don't have to use this up,' she thought, injecting herself and feeling the tell-tale rush of power that came from the EVE flooding her system.
With a rusty squeak, the slit in the door slid open, revealing the masked face of Wilkins.
"Oh, what's this?" the man laughed. "The wharf rat didn't get himself et! You got something for me and my crew? Or are you just looking to get criticized? You set here a sp-pell. I needs to put on some coffee, maybe puts on silverware and the like, heh."
"Thank god," Jack mumbled under his breath, his shoulders slumping.
As little as Elizabeth trusted Wilkins, the thought popped into her head that they might be able to use this opportunity to snag some food and a couple of hours of sleep. That thought was immediately squashed when the man spoke up again.
"Not so fast now! Nobody walks into my swampy carrying the heat. Put your weapons in the pneumo tube, and then I'll let you in."
"You've got to be kidding me!" Liz near-shouted, her guard back up immediately. "After everything we just did-"
"Ehehehe, enough of that, girlie. I don't have to let you in at all."
"Hold on, it's fine," Jack said. "Liz and I are just a little frustrated, that's all. No need to turn this into trouble. Give me a second to talk with the lady, will you?"
"Fine, fine. Better get your woman under control though. She's awful mouthy."
'Mouthy!'
Liz's outrage must have been clear on her face because Jack quickly forced a laugh. "Yeah, I'll do that."
He pulled Elizabeth towards the pneumo tube Wilkins indicated. "C'mon, let's just go with it," he whispered. "The sooner we get finished with this guy, the sooner we can move on."
"This is a bad idea!" she hissed back. "Nothing good ever happens when you're forced to leave your weapons behind."
"Which is why I'm not leaving everything behind," Jack replied. Subtly, as they couldn't be sure Wilkins wasn't somehow watching, he tapped the wrench tucked into a belt loop before covering it with his shirt. "You've got anything you can sneak in?"
"...A screwdriver, got it in my pocket."
"Good, good. Well, not good, but we've still got our plasmids. We're not going in there completely helpless at least," Jack said. "So, let's just go with it for now. Okay?"
Elizabeth gnawed on her lower lip. She did not want to do this! Every survival instinct within her was screaming at her to just blast the door down and go in shooting first! Liz looked around, hoping Booker would be there to give her advice. He'd know what to do.
But Booker was nowhere to be seen.
Because Booker was dead.
He had been for a long time now.
"Fine," she sighed. "But I'm stabbing that asshole in the neck the first time he so much as flinches wrong."
"That's fair," Jack said.
Then, with great pains, he slid his shotgun into the pneumo tube. Reluctantly, Liz followed his lead in disarming herself. It was only the weight of her screwdriver in Elizabeth's pocket and the hum of EVE in her veins that provided her with any reassurance.
'Well, that and knowing I'm not alone,' she thought, watching Jack out of the corner of her eye. Even exhausted and covered with an assortment of muck, gunk, bruises, and blood, the man was easy on the eyes. Unable to help herself, Liz smiled. 'Jack is good company. I'm glad he's here with me, I don't think I could do this all alone. I just wish I didn't have to keep him at arm's reach, otherwise, I might-'
She cut herself off right there. There was no use in stewing over meaningless what-ifs. That would just be needless torment.
"Alright!" Jack called out when he slammed the tube shut. "We're unarmed! You can let us in!"
"See? Now that wasn't so hard, was it, girlie?"
Elizabeth bit her tongue, deciding she'd be sure to kick Wilkins in the balls if she got the chance.
The door was rolled open with a low, creaking metallic groan. Only enough for Jack and Liz to squeeze through, mind you; a fact that Liz didn't fail to notice as the door was immediately slammed behind them. Nor did she miss the fact they were completely alone.
Jack glanced around the area. "Where is he?" he asked, his breath visible even in the dimly lit corridor.
"I don't like this," she replied. The cold of the freezer room had Liz shivering, her hands already beginning to cramp up. On instinct, she stepped closer to Jack so they could share a touch of body heat. The action seemed to surprise Jack, who stumbled slightly, knocking his shoulder into her own. Elizabeth caught him, gently steadying her companion.
"Sorry," the man muttered. The tips of his ears were red, though if that was from cold or embarrassment, Elizabeth couldn't tell.
Her eyes, however, burned red when Liz realized that her hands were still on Jack's chest. "Oh, s-"
The already sparse light dimmed and the sound of shuffling from behind them cut Elizabeth off.
"Now, I bet when your boss waggled out of Hell, he done told the Devil he'd be right back, and the Devil says: "Sure thing, Mr. Fontaine! I'll hold you a spot."
Through the gloom, Liz saw Jack's eyes go wide. Without pausing to think, she shoved Jack back away from her. But, before she could jump away herself, a heavyweight tackled her to the ground.
"Umpf!"
All the wind was knocked out of Elizabeth's lungs, her eyes closing as pain shot through her body. When she gasped for more, a pair of strong, gloved hands closed around her throat and started squeezing. She forced her eyes open to see the masked face of Peach Wilkins bearing down on her. In the back of her mind, she heard the sound of fast gunfire and, when Liz desperately looked around for Jack, she saw him running from one of Wilkin's balloon turrets.
She struggled with all her might, rolling and flailing like a crocodile in a death roll. But Wilkins was so much heavier than her and, the more Liz fought, the tighter his grip on her throat got.
"Ryan promised Fontaine was dust, and now here you are doing his dirty!" the man said, his voice echoing from behind the welding masking.
"No, it isn't like that," Elizabeth gasped. As quickly as she could, she reached for her pocket. At this point, the screwdriver was her only hope. "Atlas... Fontaine... He isn't who claims to be! He's trying to trick you."
"Lying to survive? Can't expect anything else from a woman."
Her fingers closed around the handle of the screwdriver. Now she just needed to pull it out. "No!"
"Ryan is a bum and a leech. But doing his bidding makes you, little birdie, his fucking who- AGH!"
Elizabeth stabbed the screwdriver into the man's shoulder, burying it right up to the ferrule. The man shrieked in pain, letting go of Liz's throat to grab at his wound. She gasped, sucking in as much air as possible. But, even as bright spots in her eyes started to fade, Wilkins sounded as if he was miles away. She couldn't even focus on what he was saying, let alone think to use the opportunity to get the man off.
"YOU FUCKING BITCH! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!"
"Like hell, you will! Get the fuck off of her!"
Through the gloom, Jack appeared. He looked a little more battered, a little more bruised. Yet, more than anything, he looked furious!
Jack used the wrench as leverage around Wilkins' neck to pull him off Elizabeth and throw him to the ground. Without hesitation, he dropped down, using his knee and weight to pin the larger man down. Then, as Elizabeth watched on in shock and horror, he brought the wrench down Wilkins' head.
Again.
And again.
And again.
And again.
And again.
And again.
And again.
And again.
And again.
And one more time until Wilkins finally stopped twitching. After a moment, Jack's body seemed to half collapse with exhaustion. Even from where she was, Liz could hear the man panting.
"...Jack?" she called hesitantly, her voice rough.
The sound of his name seemed to jolt Jack back to the present. He stood up on shaky legs, stepping over Wilkins' dead body before making his way over to her. When Jack knelt down, Elizabeth could see blood splattered across his face. Still, Jack's eyes were filled with warm concern when he looked down at her.
Elizabeth silently nodded, even as she was rubbing her bruised throat.
"Good." Jack held out his hand, "Come on. I think we're almost there."
Pretty action heavy chapter this one. Gotta love Liz and Jack being a battle couple lol! Speaking of Jack, it looks like the boys got some inner demons that have started flaring up...