Ruler for Rapture Part 6

I tear in, hearing what sounds like a full blown war. I arrive just in time to see some inhuman THING kidnapping Peach. Tenenbaum comes running over, blurting out the whole incident. Apparently that thing is..WAS Fontaine..he didn’t die as he was supposed to. And he took Peach, to extract the Adam he had from him.

"The process will kill him for sure!" Tenenbaum cries. I feel sick.

"Well go back to frolic, amass what weapons we can..then ill go kill thew
bastard the second time..."

Tenenbaum looks worried, but I’m determined. I wont let him get killed by the warped creep.

Back in frolic is take the place apart looking for extra weapons and ammo. Then I try the farmers market where I’m fortunate enough to find a rocket launcher, and a bow gun. I raid every single ammo machine and vending machine, using hack tools to get into them. The two of us stockpile a load of ammo for what weapons we have, I even find a few grenades I can use..

Equipped to the max with weapons and explosives, we set off. I suggest to Tenenbaum she stay behind, but she refuses "I cannot let you fight alone...besides its always helps to have extra hands in a fight!"

She’s got a point. The big daddy army follows behind us, the floor shaken so much w keep losing our footing every now and again. The little one leads us to the  room where the lift to Fontaine resides. The Big D’s take care of the rouge Splicers, but when it comes to the final confrontations, they are unable to follow us further.

So I’m forced to leave Carnby and jimmy behind..

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When he finally came to after blacking out partway through the kidnapping, he was in a huge room. On trying to move he realised he was strapped into a machine. Needles were jabbed into his arms, needles that seemed to be injecting something into his blood.

"Awake at last, you’re just in time.." the chilling voice he recognised from his nightmares spoke again. A hand grabbed his chin roughly and yanked his gaze up so they were face to face.

"Where you doing to me?!" Peach growled. The Fontaine-creature laughed and dug its claw into his cheek, dragging a deep cut down one cheek.

"You’re finally going to make yourself useful to me Wilkins...those drugs are increasing the Adam in your blood, making it multiply...soon it will reach suitable level, then.." he gestured at the needle he held, which was connect via a tube to a large glass tube, which was connected to filtering equipment. "This baby will purify it and ill consume it.." seeing Peach’s terrified expression he laughed "then its just a matter of repeating until I get enough Adam, or it kills you.."

There was a faint beep.

"Looks like you’re ready for round one my little spliced up smuggler..." one swift swipe of a claw and he’d ripped  gaping tear in the smugglers clothes, at his side. Holding the struggling smuggler still he stabbed the extractor needle into his side, laughing in triumph as it began drawing the vital substance from the mans body.

Eventually the smuggler stopped struggling and lay still. He was in a state between unconsciousness and awakening. The pain was too strong to bear, yet the drugs being pumped into him would not let him sleep now..

The Fontaine creature watched eagerly as the level in the tube began to rise. He was so close to his goal..

Not even that girl that had shown up could stop him, she was a mis-match of human and machine, an outsider..

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The first extraction was finished. The machine set about re-injecting  drugs to make the blood multiply, having his little pet die of blood loss wouldn’t do. He had to keep him alive as long as possible...

The guinea pig was white as a sheet, semi-comatose, he could only struggle weakly against what was happening to him. The pain was sure to be immense, but seeing his ex-worker slowly dieing at his hands would be a welcome entertainment..

A light flicked on, on the control panel. a security alert. Those two bitches were on their way. Mother goose and the mech girl.

He would be waiting...

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Over and over. This had to be hell. Each time the drug would be re-injected, and the process restarted. It seemed to take less time each process...

The dull pain in his side, the extraction needle....it wouldn’t let him sleep. It felt like torture, a constant cycle of drugs and pain..

--Don’t come up here issy..-- he thought weakly --or the bastard'll get you too..-- then everything went dead.

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I’m gob smacked by the sheer size of the place as the doors finally open. But there’s no time for sightseeing. The first thing I see is the Fontaine creature, the I see what’s its standing beside. a giant machine, big enough to hold one person standing up. Strapped to it, besieged by tubes and needles, is Peach,.

"What did you do?!" I scream at Fontaine, storming towards him,. He just laughs "he is finally serving a useful purpose, the Adam in his blood is a good resource-"

"Let. him. go." I hiss, pointing the bow gun at him "What give you the right to use people as tools? You’re nothing more than a coward, a weak, pathetic man.."

"I AM rapture, and I wont allow any of you to take that from me. I let you live up til now because you seemed smart enough to clear off once you got the brats...but then you interfered with this one, stopping my mind control. Now I need to be rid of you before you cause any more problems.."

"Why him?" I snap.

"It wasn’t part of my plan, originally I was going to simply drain a couple of Splicers to get the Adam I wanted. Then I found out this little rat had survived Jacks onslaught, and I figured id kill him, get him outta the way. Figured it’d be easy. But when he persistently survived due to YOUR doings, I figured it’d be better for me to use him instead of the Splicers to get the necessary Adam I wanted. Plus the added bonus of seeing him suffer...its a perfect plan!"

"Of course I figured they’d take him out, and you too...I hadn’t figured on Cohen repairing you quite so well...or his using the pheromones to give you control of the big daddies. You feel sorry for him don’t you? That’s how he broke the mind suggestion the second time. How sweet, I guess someone WILL miss this little wharf rat when he dies..."

I feel something snap inside, and I ready the gun "bring it." I sneer, feeling only a cold hatred for the weasel of a man.

"You don’t stand a chance!!" he laughs, the floor shaking as he runs towards me. I decide its a good time to test my new body to the max. Lets see what Cohen built me with!

Time seems to slow to an indeterminable crawl, and I wait until he’s close enough that I can almost touch him. Then I leg it, off to the side and round. Rocket launcher at the ready, and fire!

The shot impacts with the back of his neck, knocking him forward. It leaves little dent though, clearly normal explosives aren’t enough.

"YOU LITTLE BITCH!" he roars,  and I run, aiming for the area behind the machinery. I can tell this place is built for maximum power usage, which means exposed cables. And water pipes....

A single RPG fired at the ceiling produces a veritable waterfall. Hot water soaks me to my skin and I race by. I can hear Fontaine thumping along behind me. He’s running on pure rage and adrenaline. Which is his mistake..

As he rounds the corner I pull a wire from its place in the wall, sparks flying at the wires break.

"You’re just like him! ungrateful! I let you people into my city, let you LIVE, and you repay me by trying to interfere in MY city!"

Putting as much force as I posses into my feet, I jump up from the wet flooring, grabbing hold of a low hanging water pipe. Then its just a matter of throwing the cable at Fontaine using telekinesis.

"RRRAAGGGHH!" that much electricity is barely enough to stop him, but he can barely move in the electrified water...now’s my chance..

Before leaving frolic, id been fortunate enough to find a pair of proximity mines. Fishing both of them out I aim, prime them and fling them straight at him. He makes the mistake of raising his hand to swipe them aside. One touch is all it takes. The first detonates full blast, and I hear the sound of blood splattering the wall. The second hits him square in the chest, and its wide radius sets it off milliseconds later.

There’s a third explosion as the electric generator short circuits, cutting the leccy flow off.

My arm feels about to fall off, I have to let go...I land back in the water, squinting through the smoke.

As it fades I can see my plans had a decent payoff. The lower part of his arm has been blasted off, and there’s a sizeable hole in his chest. Many of the needles that seemed to have grown into his skin had broken off.

By now he’s lost all coherent speech, and can only roar in fury. Time to run again. I have to divide my attention between injecting an EVE hypo and keeping out of rage of his swipes.

Then somehow he’s above me, and then in front...I see claws swiping towards me..

Luckily they catch me on the metal plated side, tearing through it liek its paper, im thrown back several meters, before I meet resistance in the form of the wall.

Dazed I look up as he stalks closer.

"Nice effort little girlie, but its not enough to stop ME."

In the distance I can see Tenenbaum. she’s gesturing at something...up above. Looking up blearily I see a bunch of broken pipes ends pointing in my direction. Then I realise what she’s hinting at.

The lamppost incident. It'll use the entire hypo to do that trick again, and lord knows how many muscles it’ll rip, but right now, who gives a shit?

He’s too busy grandstanding to notice what I’m doing. I raise my hand a little, staring hard at the pipes. They rattle I  the holdings, but he doesn’t hear.

"I'll rip you tom pieces, then ima deal with mother goose and those kids. You’ll all serve as a warning to the Splicers...." rattle rattle creeeak..

I take a breath and end up coughing. Then laughing. He stops, staring.

"Laughing in the face of death? Can’t fault you for having guts kid"

"No," I snicker, "I’m laughing course your totally fucked!"

Forcing myself to sit up I exert as much force as I can. Bolts fly everywhere as the pipes are wrenched free from their housing, and twisted. They peel away from the ceiling as if I was simply peeling sellotape off a parcel.

"WHAT?!" he turns to see what I’m grinning at. At its the last thing he sees. a multitude of pipes stab into him at the same moment. One in the shoulder, then the chest, then, the ultimate finisher, in the goddamn HEAD.  Something that I assume is brain matter splatters across the floor and I feel close to vomiting. His remains hand twitches a few more times....then as the blood pooling on the floor increases, stops altogether.

Tenenbaum’s running towards me, and I have a favour to ask. Kicking the rocket launcher across the floor to her I ask;

"Blow the bastards head off, just for good measure!"

She’s more then happy to oblige. Bits of pipe and flesh bounce across the floor.

"Are you hurt badly?" she asks me, I shrug few rents and tears, nothing a work smith couldn’t fix!" With her help im able to climb to my feet.

Then I remember the reason I came here. I run off, back round to where the machine holding Wilkins is. Its a mass of wiring imprisoning him on the thing. I have no clue what to do, or even what those needles are doing.

"What is this thing?!" I beg of Tenenbaum. She looks at the machines control, then the device the extraction needle is leading to.

"At my best guess...its a machine for harvesting, but its not like anything ive ever heard of. Those drugs seem to be assisting the blood supply in multiplying, so he can extract a large amount of Adam using just one person.."

"We need to detach it, there’s got to be an emergy shutdown.." as I speak I see a switch hidden behind the cables above is written in faded letters "emergency shutdown. Its stuck pretty solid through disuse, but slamming my full weight against it persuades it to budge. There’s a whine and the power seems to shut off. The equipment disengages itself, and im just in time to step back and catch the body it releases.

"Let me check him.." I hear Tenenbaum voice as if its a million miles away. Wilkins doesn’t look so god. Fontaine, that bastard...if he dies now I’ll..

"Were lucky, he is still breathing, but he’s very weak...draining so much blood over and over can be disastrous to a human body..." she looks at the machine, which the blood was being extracted to, "I think it has been done three or four times, any more, and it would’ve killed him outright.

I kneel beside her on the cold metal floor, looking at the pale-as-death patient.

--Wake up, c'mon..-- I’m begging silently. I hear Tenenbaum saying she’s going to get some supplies to patch him up. There’s a bleeding wound in his side from where the needle was stabbed in. and smaller versions along his arms where the chemical drugs were injected. Touching his hand, its freezing. Is he really good be OK? I need to light a fire...

Glaring at the hateful machine that was storing the blood I balefully set it on fire, watching sparks fly as the flames eat away at it, melting wires. The glass tube shatters, blood lighting afire the second it does. The heat washes over the two us, but I feel cold inside.

Time seems to melt into itself as I sit there, feeling the warmth yet not feeling it. Then something breaks my concentration. The hand I’m holding loosely twitches, and grips mien tightly. he shifts, coughing heavily, and at last wakes up.
............

Warmth. It pulled him up from the cold depths he’d sunk to. A fire? he could hear crackling. Then something warm wrapped around his hand..

With a monumental effort, after some arguing with his aching head, he woke up fully.

A pain in his chest was the first thing he felt. A hefty coughing fit hit him, and he struggled to breath. Then someone was helping him sit up, letting him rest against them.

A faint smell of fragrance. hair products probably...which meant it was?

"Chill, bud.." issy said softly, trying not to laugh.

"Im already fuckin freezing.." he coughed, shivering again.

She budged the on fire machinery closet to them with the telekinesis.

"Better?" she asked, which got a shaky nod. She nudged him close to the flames, popping him up so he wouldn’t fall over.

"Whuu...wheres..Fontaine..?" he asked at last, feeling sick to his stomach.

"he’s gone Peach.."

"How can you be sure..."

"Because we blew the bastards brains out, plus he took a pipe to the brain, through an; through.." she patted his arm "so you’re properly free this time, no moremidn  control-suidecie attempts..."

He’d never felt so relieved in his whole life. Closing his eyes he at last let himself relax, leaning against his helper.

"Were all free.." she murmured, at last feeling the warmth from the fire..

This was how Tenenbaum found them when she came back. Scooted up to the blazing wreckage, huddling together, propping each other up.

She was carrying blankets and medicines for the two of them..

"You are both extraordinary...you survive through such harsh times..."

Peach just shrugged and said nothing. Issy just hiccupped by way of response.

While Tenenbaum began bandaging up Wilkins, issy sat to one side, injecting tonics to heal the muscle damage, as well as painkillers to numb the throbbing pains scattered all over her..."

"Lets get you to your feet- og my goodness!" Tenenbaum soft voice was interrupted by a spate of coughing from Peach, and the sound of liquid splashing to the floor. There as a thump as he collapsed to his knees. Whipping round issy seen a puddle of blood splashed on the floor. It was all over Peach's hands too, he looked as shocked as you’d expect when you start coughing blood up..

"What the hell?" he heard issy asking. He tried to talk but this just induced another vomiting fit.

"It must be those drugs. They are still working...causing your blood to keep multiplying...the only way it can control it is to reject it...that’s my best guess..."

Issy shook her head "how long will this go on?" she asked Tenenbaum. The scientists shook her head "it depends on the dosage...since it has been introduced to the system many times it is possible it could take a few days to fully wear off...those drugs aren’t on any of my lists, which  means he probably did not test them. The wear-off period could be lengthily...after all, it was not intended for you to survive, so he did not care..."

After several minutes and a few bottles of water later, he felt able to control it. According to Tenenbaum, jimmy and Carn were having kittens, they ere pacing about acting panicky since wed disappeared for so long.

Jimmy picked his master up and sat him on his shoulder the entire journey back to the bathysphere. His master looked too tired to object..

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Once back at frolic, we decide now is as good a time as any to clear off outta here. But one thing has been bugging me. Carnby. He’s been the biggest help since I first woke up. Now I’ll haveta leave him behind..

I ask Tenenbaum, will he remember us?

"I know its sounds odd, but not likely child. They are a little like goldfish in that way. Remove something from them, and eventually they’ll forget. Do not worry, he will be fine im sure..

I feel relived he wont be lonely, but sad at having to leave him behind....

I ask them to start carrying the supplies down to the fisheries. Going in ahead via bathysphere, im relieved the sub is still good to go. Unlike the bathysphere pods, his ones pretty spacey. Enough room to cram in three adults and amass of kids. Plus the supplies, Tenenbaum equipment and such. I stand to one side while the big Ds pack the boxes in just thinking about the days ive spent here. Finding my iceman frozen in Neptune’s bounty, trying to get his nice side to show. Then meeting Tenenbaum at last, and kicking Fontaine’s ugly ass..

I feel terrible about everything I dumped Wilkins in. If id left him asleep in the ice would he have been safer? Or would Fontaine have killed him anyway? Would Fontaine have gone after me or Tenenbaum instead? This was all one big mess. And id caused it by coming here..

"Whatta ya lookin' so depressed about?" someone interrupts my moping.

I blink, looking round at him.

Peach shakes his head and walks over to the sub controls "Tenenbaum said you were moping again, and that yer still blaming yourself fort this mess, am I right?" he turns back to face me, expression one of bewilderment.

"Fontaine woulda probably smashed my ice cocoon eventually, few Splicers get in there so he didn’t know I wasn’t dead."

"Exactly!" I butt in "the moment I defrosted you I may as well have painted a giant target on your back!"

"Never mind that! Those Splicers would’ve tried breaking the door down anyway, once food got scarce enough. At least by defrosting my ass you gave me a chance!" he sighs, tapping the rusty control panel "I admit I was suspicious when I first seen ya, it thought you were another version of that other guy, here to kill me under Fontaines orders, or somebodys..but," he shrugs "I think by now you’ve saved my ass enough times to clear up any messes...so call it even and quit moaning-hey!"

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After he finished his speech she just staed at him, looking about to start bawling again.

“-so quit moaning-hey!" he was cut off by a sudden flying tackle from the girl. She gave a hug so tight he felt like his blood supply was gonan be cut off, not to mention his lungs.

--Women. All they do is get worked up over nothin..does she really worry about people THAT much..?!-- he sighed. as far as clingy women went, she was by far the least annoying. Even for a kid...

--this is awkward. What do I do now?-- he wasn’t used to much affection, and certainly not from over-emotional women. In the end he settle for patting her back gently "will ya calm down already?" he asked at last.

She looked up, sniffled, and smiled. he knew his face was going red. Damnit, she was dense, but sincere...

Meanwhile, Tenenbaum had followed the last of the big daddy’s and had arrived in time to witness this adorable scene.

--how cute, she has broken down the ice mans barriers...she has many hidden talents..-- seeing Peach turning red she muffled a laugh --and the ice mans defrosting a little if im not mistaken.--

"Now will ya quit moping?" Peach was asking her. "you’re like a waterworks kid."

"I’m not a kid!" she stepped back at last at glowered at him.

"Yeah right, you’re only what..19, 20?" he guessed.

She pulled a tattered piece of paper from her pocket. a passport page. This she waved in face "im 27 wise guy, read an' see!"

He scanned the battered paper and looked embarrassed "whoops, I thought you were a kid...and lets afceit you look like one!"

"I do not!" she fumed. "And since were on ages, what about you mister grouchy!"

He raised an eyebrow "im 9 years older the  you  kid, surprise surprise. People tell me I look older.." he muttered.

9 years. She added it up...that totalled...36? "you’re right, you don’t look your age.."

"That’s rich coming from you KID!"

"Can it OLD MAN!"

"Hey! im not THAT old, this is just from stress you know!"

Tenenbaum burst out laughing "hee, you two argue like a married couple!" she giggled.

They both went bright red and turned to yell" WE DO NOT!!" at her. that pretty much spoke for itself.

Once they made sure they had all the supplies, they started bring the kids down to the bay. It was a bit of a squeeze, but they managed to fit all of them in.

"But, what about the operations./?" issy asked.

"Didn’t I tell you?" Tenenbaum blinked “we found the details from the op..I can do any surgery needed, and mr. Wilkins can take care of the metal work. We picked dup a few sheets of it in frolic.."

Issy looked relieved beyond compare. Thank god for that.

As they were preparing the sub to launch, Carnby and Jimmy waddled in.

They both seemed a little sad, the facets flickered and they seemed fidgety.

Then issy had an idea. Despite her constant changes of outfit, she always wore the same dark red tie. This she now untied, and re-tied around Carnby’s wrist.

"There!" she smiled "now you wont forget!" she patted its giant hand.

Peach watched what she was doing, and decided it was worth doing himself. He tore a long strip of material from the apron he always wore, and tied it in a similar fashion fro his own Big D.

Then issy noticed Carnby was holding something in his hand, it was photograph. Taking it from him she burst out giggling.
"What? what is it?" Peach craned over her shoulder and made a spluttering laugh. "what the fuck?!" he laughed.

Tenenbaum took the photo and smiled. The Splicers had re-built the masterpiece Cohen had had up before, but the photographs were different. They no longer showed dead people, they showed issy, Wilkins Tenenbaum and the kids, and lastly, the two famous big daddy’s.

"See? You’ve left a lasting legacy you two..they wont forget you so easily.."

The two looked at each other shrugged, then laughed again. Issy tucked the photo into her pocket, then whipped out the camera and after some persuading, got the two big Ds to stand close enough together to fit 'em both in the shot.

"Everything loaded?" issy asked with one last sigh.

"We just got to fit us in there now!" Peach said with a shrug.

"I have packed extra food and clothes in case we need them,," Tenenbaum smiled "its time to go home!"

Issy nodded and smiled. HOME. at last she was leaving. When shed first started recording her time in rapture, shed assumed shed be there for ever. NOW it looked like that entry needed correcting...

With one last hug for her faithful big daddy, she, Peach and Tenenbaum crammed into the sub with the kiddies.

Issy felt her stomach jolt as the sub jerked into life, seeming to move at a snails pace as it gained speed. Alarms bleated and lights flicked on.

"Were good to go, hold on!" I faintly hear Peach’s shout. But im looking out the window, watching as the two big Ds get smaller and smaller as the sub leaves. Then they’re out of sight altogether....

My silent revere is broken by the sound of muffle coughing. I wince, getting the feeling that bloods not finished reproducing itself..

Sure enough, when Peach stuffs the ragged handkerchief back into his pocket, its soaked in blood.

--I hope that stops, or he’s in big trouble...-- The kids are fidgeting about in the cramped space, a coulple climb into mine and Tenenbaum’s laps, hoping for a hug.

The sub ride seems to take an eternity, although in reality its not very long at all. Then the lights flick off and we rise above the water. By luck or talent, he’s landed us right next to the lighthouse.

"How about a break, my legs are cramped?" Tenenbaum suggests. I cant help but agree.

So we all pile out, squinting in the bright daylight.

Oh god it feels so good to breathe fresh air again. Peach and Tenenbaum are staring at the sky and looking bemused. No need to guess why, to them its pretty alien a sight.

Birds circle across the sky above us, we all stop to stare...

Inside the sub, unnoticed all this time, a distress signal is broadcasting, but its a unique one, tuned only for raptures radios...

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A massive house stood by the edge of the sea. Out of the way of any town, it’s a secluded spot. And why? Because its occupant had a great many children, try over 15 for example..

He too had been and returned from rapture. Fontaines work, he’d trained him to respond to a single phrase "would you kindly". With Tenenbaum’s help he’d faced Fontaine the first time and killed him. Then he’d escaped from rapture with the kids he’d been able to find.  

Now he sat out on a porch in a cosy deckchair, looking out over the sea. Around him the little ones were running about playing tag, drawing on the paved yard stones, or watching the TV inside the massive house. It wasn’t easy looking after the kids, lords knew they were costing a fortune in food. Luckily he’d had the sense to pier a load of cash fro rapture before he took off.

He’d kept the shortwave radio from all that time ago. He’d added a booster to it, just in case Tenenbaum ever got out of there...

Now it was letting out a series of bleeps, a distress signal. It had to be near the lighthouse, that had  a signal arial, which would’ve boosted the call...

He’d bought a boat some time ago in case of times like this. Now he issued orders to the kids not to move, answer the phone or the door, and be careful. The little ones all scuttled into the house, closing the doors and windows. They were smart for their young years...

Then he left, racing over the waves with the boat going at maximum speed, towards where the call came from....

While he guided the craft, he wondered who was sending it? It had to be Tenenbaum right? Who else could’ve survived in that dump...it wasn’t Ryan that was for sure....

As he came within view, he stared in shock. THREE PEOPLE?! One was a woman with black hair, most likely Tenenbaum, since their were more kids hanging onto her dress. Beside her was a girl with long brown hair and a tattered outfit. Then she turned to the side to ask someone else beside her a question, and he stared. No way. The guy standing beside her, hands stuffed in his pockets, wearing a tattered fisheries apron, was someone he’d sworn he’d killed.

Peach Wilkins. The slightly batty owner of the fisheries, who’d damn near got him killed. The guy had a MAJOR paranoia complex.

What was that girl thinking, bring him topside?

He reached for his pistol as he got closer...just in case...

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"Hey! Careful kiddo!" Peach yelped as one of the kids nearly fell off the lighthouse. Catching hold of her he deposited her back on dry ground "its a tad crumbly, watch your step..." he smiled as she blinked and gave a determined nod.

Then the roar of a boat busted into the silence, and Tenenbaum and issy looked round. Peach was too busy checking the kids were OK...

The boat pulled up to the side and a guy leapt out.

Tenenbaum seemed to know him. Issy stood and stared while they greeted each other, Tenenbaum giving him a delighted hug. she heard the words "kids" "Fontaine" "how are the little ones?".

"Who is it-oh FUCK." the kids giggled as Peach cursed loudly on seeing Jack.

"Whassa matter?" issy asked. Only for Jack to solve that query. He pushed past her and with an astonishing force, hit the ex smuggler.

Before Peach even had time to react, he was being hauled off the floor by his collar.

"What the hell are YOU doing here?" the other raged, shaking the smuggler, "Why the hell didn’t you die you paranoid bastard?!"

Then he was forced to let go as something pulled his arm back. He dropped Peach, who looked a bit out of it. Twisting round he came face to face with the girl.

"Knock it of wise guy." she snarled, "leave 'im alone."

"Are you clueless?!" Jack snapped, glowering at her "do you know what he’s LIKE?!"

"Probably more then you do!" she snapped "why don’t you wait for explanations before you fly off the handle?!"

"Fine. Who the HELL are you, and WHYS that rat with you?"

"She crash landed in rapture some days ago.." Tenenbaum began "Cohen had her rebuilt, and I asked her to help me the same way you did. Both she and mr. Wilkins helped me find the last of my little ones. Do not treat him harshly, he was nearly killed by Fontaine-"

"What?! that guys not dead?!" Jack blurted. Issy shook her head.

"He wasn’t. he survived. He drew the Adam back into himself from those needles. Then he started regaining his Adam levels.."

"How? if the kids were cured..."

Behind him issy noticed Peach flinch at the memory. He’d gone white as a sheet. It made the recent bruise mark stand out even more.

Tenenbaum continued "Fontaine used mr. Wilkins, manipulated him much the same way he did you. Took control of his dreams and nearly drove him to kill himself-"

"How’d he fail?" Jack muttered. Issy cracked her knuckles, and he stopped.

"-he’d manufactured a machine, to do it for him.” she added  “Created an endless cycle of reproducing the bloodstream of the target, then draining it. Over and over. Need I say who his victim was?" the brown haired girl poked Jack in the chest and glared at him, "so back off already. I think he’s been through enough crap. YOU fought Fontaine, you ought to be able to sympathise, you-"

She stopped ranting as she heard a coughing fit kick off, interrupted by a yelp of pain.

Jack whipped round, and issy let go of him, running over to Wilkins.

There was blood splattered over the stones. The smuggler was pale as a ghost. His hand was clamped over his mouth, eyes wide.

"Take it easy.." the girl was saying.

" ::hurk:: I cant-" more coughing, more blood. He was almost ready to pass out from panic, "cant breathe.."

"What the hell?!" issy looked up as she heard Jacks voice. She looked into the business end of a gun.

"You never said he was infectious, what’re you-"

"Its not an infection." Tenenbaum said softly, putting a hand on Jacks arm "it is a very painful side effect of Fontaines machine. The body has more blood then it can handle, and is reject the surplus supply..."

Issy gave Jack one more filthy look before pulling a bottle of water from her bag. She tore a large strip of cloth from her undershirt and handed these to Wilkins.

"Try calm down, it'll stop soon." she murmured.

Jack glared at the smuggle, noting the girl, issy was it? was staying very close to him. --he doesn’t seem as nuts as before....--

"Fine" he sighed "the little ones will be waiting, lets get a move on..."

They climbed back into the sub, and keeping it above the water, followed Jack the way back to his secluded home.

Peach didn’t say a single word the whole way back, just stared ahead as he followed the boat.

Issy still seemed pissed at Jacks response to seeing Peach.

"Give him time, he will calm down.." Tenenbaum said as the docked again.

Peach let out a sarcastic laugh "yeah right." he muttered.

As the kids and the women piled out, Peach hung back, pretending to be sorting through the boxes. He felt sick from the taste of blood that seemed to be lingering in his throat.

"Are you coming?" a little one asked. He shook his head, "nah, s'best I don’t for now. Go on, ill be up in  a bit..."

At last he clambered out of the sub, perching himself on a pile of the boxes. From this vantage point he could see the house. The first lot of kids were meeting the second lot.

Issy was explaining her time in rapture in great detail, telling Jack everything shed run into. Cohen was dead, she mentioned, and rapture still a dump.

Jack was amazed when she told him the whole big daddy tale. She even showed the photos of Carnby and j
Jimmy shed taken.

Then they started yapping about plasmids. retelling the bathtub joke. From where he was sitting it seemed like a happy little gathering, like a family.

--Guess I stick out like a sore thumb huh?-- Peach thought tiredly, turning his gaze to stare out across the sea. Topside was nice, fresh air at last. But clearly finding somewhere to stay was going to be tricky. Staying here would be a nightmare. That guy from before would likely kill him soon as look at him.

Rolling up his sleeve he stared at the row of marks left by the needles. a reminder of that seemingly endless nightmare...

He felt his stomach shift, and dove off the boxes, bolting to the waters edge, as another blot clot decided to make itself known. He felt freezing, why had it turned so cold suddenly..? The damn blood was giving him the shivers...

"Lemme get this straight, you had a big daddy ARMY?!" Jack sniggered. Issy laughed "yeah, they’re smarter then you think..Carn in particular...from the moment I woke he was always there...I miss him, but, he will probably forget me in time, so that’s OK.." she smiled sadly.

"Well it would’ve been a bit tricky to bring one topside...not the kid of thing you can pass off a pet!" Tenenbaum and issy laughed and the mental image Jacks statement had given them.

"sit, stay..." issy giggled.

"Roll over?" Jack added and all three creased up laughing.

"momma Tenenbaum!" an anxious child ran up and tugged on Tenenbaum’s dress.

"What’s wrong?" the woman asked. Issy had a feeling of deja-vu...

Before the little one had even finished her sentence she was off and running, down to the docks....

By the time Jack and Tenenbaum reached her, she’d already found him. She looked at Tenenbaum as she got close "its same as before..he's lost too much blood in one go, those drugs aren’t wearing off..." she glowered at Jack "think you can restrain from wanting to murder him long enough to let him rest? I don’t know really what beef you guys had before..but now’s NOT that time to kick it off!"

Which was why, when Peach at last woke up, he was tucked into a big comfy bed. The window was open, curtains fluttering as the breeze drifted in.

Hearing a muffle mini-snore he blinked, looking down. Issy was sat in a chair by the bed, fast asleep.

--what IS she doing?!-- he wondered.

"I told her to go sleep somewhere else, but she looked like she was going to slap me so I left 'er there.."

Peach just about jumped out of his skin when he hard that voice. He glanced about, looking for his gun..

"Ease off, im not going to lynch you. Otherwise I’ll have her, Tenenbaum, and half the kids on my ass.." Jack grumbled. He seen the needle marks on the smuggled arm "what bit you?" he joked.

Peach twitched, and pulled the sleeve down, he felt a brief flicker of panic. His sleep had been full of those memories...

Jack raised one eyebrow as the smuggler twitched and drew his knees close to his chest, glancing out the window as if he was going to bolt.

--geez, from paranoid to petrified. Maybe that weird girl wasn’t kidding when she said he was different from before...she kept making jokes about a monkey wrench and his head...maybe she snapped him out of it.--

"but monsieur, those are not your pants!" the sleeping woman suddenly mumbled. Both men looked at her, then at each other, then snickered.

"she’s weird" Jack muttered "got the attention span of a goldfish, temper fuse of 3 seconds, and talks in her sleep.."

"She’s not weird." Peach spoke at last "if it wasn’t for her, you’d have gotten your wish. She tore into Fontaine when she could’ve just run off with Tenenbaum and the kids. ask her why she did it..not me...I don’t know why...."

Jack was going to make a wisecrack about it, but something in Peach's tone stopped him. He even SPOKE different. Had this insane girl drove some sense into him, shown him she wasn’t taking any crap from him, and somehow snapped him out of his prior paranoia?

Jack sighed, he’d been threatened by issy and cajoled by Tenenbaum into promising he’d leave the guy be, "Fontaines screwed with the both of us, so I guess were even on that score. Plus the little ones seem attached to you, they were gonna start bawling if I even suggested dumping you out on your ass. Plus miss temper there-" he pointed at issy "will have my guts for garters," he shrugged and walked out "so you might as well get used to it here.."

Peach stared at the empty doorway after the guy left. Issy had really blown a fuse at this guy on his account? Why did she keep doing that....

--Guess I cant really refuse the help...but its gonna take a long time to get used to this...--

With a tired sigh he fell back on the bed, drifting asleep again..

-----------------------------

2 Years later..

Issy yawned and shifted in her sleep, and fell right outta the bed, landing on her face.

Hearing a snicker from the beds other occupant she waved a hand above the side of the bed and made a rude gesture.

"Soon as I get up, you’re a dead man.." she grumbled.

"Pfft.." she felt a poke upside her head "try it and fail girlie!"

"Quit callin’ me girlie, fish-brain!"

"Oh real mature for a 29 year old!"

"can it ya old git!"

From behind the closed bedroom door they both heard Tenenbaum’s voice;

"You still argue like married couple, only this time you have right to!"

"Shaddap!" twin voices yelled. Tenenbaum ran off laughing. Since they’d touched down on dry land, she hadn’t seen Peach and issy far apart. Shed initially refused to leave him alone purely because she was still pissed at Jack for punching the guy, and didn’t trust him not to pull a fast one. Then they’d pretty much settled into a routine that involved hanging around each other most the time.

By default, Peach and Jack avoided one another, acting the bare minimum of friendly when they were forced to be in the same room. Now you could sometimes get them to talk to each other, but they weren’t what you’d call friends. Issy got on better with him, but generally spent her time between the kids and Wilkins.

After a while, they simply seemed to get attached to each others company. And inevitably, became a lot closer. They’d be sat for hours by the dock, fishing, although issy seemed to dislike going out on the boat since the attack that first brought her to rapture. Even the kids noticed the inseparable pair, and regarded them as such.

They sometimes argued, but all Tenenbaum or Jack had to do to quieten them down was make jokes about married couples.

Maybe that was what gave them the idea. They acted like they were married, so inevitably, they ended up so. It went down on record as the most chaotic wedding in the known universe. Well you try keeping 20+ kids occupied for more then 5 minutes.. Issy  had a funny way of persuading people to change their attitudes. She'd certainly shifted Wilkins‘. Jacks memory of him was as a grouchy, paranoid, bomb wielding maniac. Now he seemed totally different, Much calmer for a start, and he actually seemed to have a sense of humour. The paranoid madman persona seemed to have faded away, leaving only his real personality free to resume control.

Yawning and stretching, issy grumbled about the sunlight being too bright and ambled over to her dresser. There she spotted her favourite photographs. the ones shed taken of Carnby, the big daddy who'd been a friend from start to finish.

Even thought he’d likely forgotten about her, she still remembered him. She didn’t miss rapture though, beautiful city though it had been, its beauty had long since soured, leaving only a nasty underworld in its wake. Mad Splicers, crazy artists.

But something good had come of it...

"Who wants to bet that dumps finally collapsed?" she heard Wilkins mutter. Putting the photo down she shrugged, looking back over at him "I hope so. I don’t want anyone else landing down there..even if Fontaine IS dead."

"Again." Peach butted in with a snigger.

"Dead, headless, and I swear I set fire to it before we left...or was that your doing?"

"Guilty as charged!" he admitted lazily.

--My life’s done a complete 360 since I landed in rapture. I learnt to use abilities id seen only in sci-fi movies, had a giant robot as a guard, rescued kids, slaughtered Splicers, come face to face with a wreck of a man who wanted to control rapture and..-- she smiled to herself,

--and gotten myself married. My mom'd have a fit if I ever told her this tale...ah well...I’m happy now, that’s all that matters..--

She was startled out of her musings by a familiar pair of arms wrapping around her,

"breakfast?" came the suggestion. She nodded, heading for the door, hearing the sounds of the kids playing drifting in the open window...

It was a family unlike any other, but one she wouldn’t have traded in for the world.