Chapter 16: There and Back Again

The silence that followed was potent and deafening. Despite all planning, each felt as if they had just witnessed the beautiful young woman step into her own grave.

"…How long do we have to wait?" Booker asked at last.

"No time at all, if you would like." Rosalind answered. "If Elizabeth told you the exact time you would be needed-"

"She did." He took a piece of paper from his pocket on which the information was written down and handed it to Madame Lutece without ever moving his eyes from the spot where Elizabeth had last stood.

"Then we may be off immediately." Rosalind continued.

"Mind that once the tear is opened you will need to act quickly to enter Rapture and exit it again." Robert added.

"Of course." Booker was already steeling himself to save his little girl.

"Well, Mr. DeWitt." Dr. Tenenbaum interrupted. "I suppose it is goodbye to you too. We will see you shortly when your daughter recovers. Until then, if you have any symptoms of ADAM sickness, I will need to know."

"Of course. I'll make a note." Booker smiled. It was good to talk business in the midst of all this emotion.

"Well, Booker." Jack offered his hand and the two men shared a firm farewell handshake. "I wish I could have known you longer." He said. "I'll be sure to be here when you and your daughter return, if I can."

"Thank you for everything, Jack." Booker said with a smile.

Rosalind spoke next. "We can be back with Mr. DeWitt and Elizabeth momentarily, if that would be convenient, though it may be days or weeks for them."

"Well, we'll see you soon, then, Booker." Jack clapped his new friend on the back. "Good luck."

Booker nodded at the Luteces and a second tear opened in the midst of the lab. Booker could not see Elizabeth through it, which was probably best for Jack and Tenenbaum, but he knew that she would be there.

Booker did not waste another second before plunging back into Rapture.

The city was even more of a nightmare than he had imagined or seen himself. "Elizabeth!" He called into the darkness, before suddenly becoming intensely aware that he ought to call no more attention to himself. He tried not to imagine what could be lurking in the dark of this God forsaken city, but even his stoic mind could not keep a creeping sense of paranoia at bay.

The ground shook beneath his feet as he rounded a corner, but with the explosion, too close for comfort but too far to fear, he finally found some light and sense of direction. He had seen this place before, Elizabeth had shown him. She had walked this hall.

"Get a radio to the surface!" Booker gasped as he heard a voice growing near. As quick as he could, he found a shadowed place, pressed himself against the wall, and held his breath just in time as four or five men grew near, "I'm sure the old man still has one in the shipping lanes, and I don't care what you have to do to get it." Their leader has a strong Irish accent. 'Atlas', Booker knew. That meant that Elizabeth was close. "Would you kindly." The man repeated, "at least that old cook Suchong had a sense of humor." He laughed roughly. "Would you kindly…" The voices faded into the distance, and Booker took off down the hall slightly quicker than proper caution would have advised.

As he rounded one last corner, Booker could see it all: Rapture, in all of its terrible glory. Through the hazy water, a tower brighter than even those he had seen in his visions of New York shone, even as explosions like fireworks tore the city apart. What caught his attention however was the pair of silhouettes that the bright city cast before it. That of a little girl, and a dying woman.

"Elizabeth!" he cried, running to her side and feeling to his knees. Her face was pale and her eyes shut. Bright red blood trailed down from her scalp in terrifying amounts. He scooped her up into his arms as quickly as he could.

"No! NO!" The little girl beside him screamed, pounding her tiny hands against his strong arms and trying to pull Elizabeth away.

"It's alright." He tried to say, more to Elizabeth than to the girl. Sally. She was alive, so Elizabeth must have succeeded.

As Booker stood he heard an ominous cry beside him.

"Mr. B!" Sally cried. Booker felt a startling chill run through his spine as he heard a deep terrifying groan that he knew belonged to a Big Daddy. He would leave Sally in the brute's care and get the hell out of this God forsaken city before it saw him.

Running back the way he came, Booker maintained a steady stream of reassurance to his daughter. "You made it his far, come on. You'll be alright. Come on!"

As he returned to where the portal to 1969 had closed behind him, he found another portal to 1912 open in its place.

"Hold on." Booker clutched his daughter tightly in his arms as he stepped back through the portal "I've got you, just hold on." He placed her down on his bed and rapidly fished out the cloth Dr. Tenenbaum had given him to press against the wound. "Don't die on me, Elizabeth, don't you dare die!"

The End.

A/N: As the reader, you can decide whether the DeWitt's followed the Luteces' advice or opted to stay and live with Jack and Tenenbaum after the procedure. I like to think that they did.