6Amir left King Ryan's sanctuary and started his trek to Lamb's territory, after his years running through Rapture collecting Adam and later working under Jack he knew the layout of Rapture like the back of his hand. He walked through Jack's territory unworried, nobody was foolish enough to attack a big brother without reason. He strode through the many puddles on the ground and watched as splicers quickly moved out of sight when he approached.
He stumbled upon a dead splicer who still had Adam left in her body, he decided it was best to have some extra on hand if a fight started in Lamb's territory so he started gathering. His experience allowed him to gather faster than a Little Sister, but he hardly got the same enjoyment they did from the act. A few splicers stumbled upon him during the process, but they recognized the suit of a Big Brother and wisely chose to step back.
He had only walked a bit further before he heard the familiar sound of a Big Daddy moan and the sound of bullets being fired. Amir changed paths immediately and ran towards the sound, when he arrived whatever battle there had been was already over. A few splicers lay dead and next to them a Little Sister stood crying. The Big Daddy who had been protecting her was on the ground badly injured, he wasn't dead, but he wouldn't be able to protect his charge if they were attacked again.
With a sigh he approached the pair and crouched down to look closer at the Little Sister who immediately brightened upon seeing him. "What happened here?" He asked keeping his voice soft trying to keep the girl from getting upset.
"I was playing with an Angel and Mr. B was taking care of me, but now he's hurt," she sniffled as she gave him a very abridged version of the events through the innocent eyes of a Little Sister.
"I think I can help him," Amir said walking towards the Big Daddy who just moaned at him as he approached. Amir hated giving up the Adam he had just collected, but the Big Daddy must have been through multiple battles before the most recent ones to be so injured. He pushed his needle inside and allowed his gathered Adam to seep into the Big Daddy healing most of the Bouncer's wounds.
Once he finished he stepped back and allowed the Big Daddy to struggle back to its feet. It's porthole flickered green for a moment before changing to its neutral yellow. "You helped him Big Brother," the Little Sister cheered.
Amir realized she must be new if she wasn't aware she could inject the Big Daddy to heal it, but at least she was safe. He did think it was weird that she had blonde hair, but it wasn't really his business as this wasn't his territory. If she made her way into King Ryan's lands then he'd be able to study her, but he wasn't allowed to touch anything in Lamb's territory while he was a guest, albeit an uninvited one, he didn't want to start trouble.
He wasn't shocked to see a purple mist appear in front of him, but he certainly wasn't happy. A Big Sister stood before him and worse it was one of Lamb's Elite Big Sisters. Unless they were cured Little Brothers and Sisters would go insane as they enter puberty and require new mental conditioning. Gil Alexander conditioned most of them to simply protect the Little Sisters and retrieve Adam stolen from the Family. However a few select Big Sisters were conditioned in a way more like Eleanor and were able to think clearly. Lamb kept them as her elite agents, much like he was to King Ryan.
This coherence made them more dangerous, they were far less reckless in battle and formulated true strategies.
"Amir?" She asked in a calm tone that bordered on annoyance, Amir doubted she felt like bothering with him. He knew who this was she was one of the oldest sisters and didn't retain a shred of the happiness she had as a Little Sister. Thankfully her bad attitude was normal so he wasn't worried that he caused her to become particularly upset.
"How did you guess? He asked politely knowing that it was fairly obvious who he was.
"There are only three active Big Brothers under Ryan and you are generally the liaison sent to the family," her tone was uninterested, but her body was still tensed and ready for action. Amir resisted the urge to point out his title was King Ryan, but most didn't bother with the title even Jack didn't mind dropping it in private.
"Fair enough," he replied removing his helmet, it made speaking much easier. She followed suit and he could see the distrustful expression on her face. "Ah, it's wonderful to see your smiling face," he watched her expression darken slightly further. He didn't refer to her by name as she hadn't made it known and in reality she most likely didn't have a name, or at least not anymore. Little Sisters and Brothers often forget their pasts and by extension their names. He learned his name from Eleanor who confirmed they had met when they were younger and listened to an audio recording she had of them together. Jack's daughters had names, but those were bestowed on them by the king himself. One of his brothers was convinced his name was Billy when he was younger, but Amir didn't know if that was correct as they had no way to confirm or deny it.
"Mother Lamb had not made me aware that you were coming, which begs the question why are you here, Amir?" She spoke slowly and sounded suspicious.
Amir knew trying to fight his way past was idiotic, most opponents were no match for him, but this was no rogue splicer. This was a Big Sister and in a fight with a normal wild Sister he might be better off, but against her it really was a toss up. Big Brothers tended to be physically stronger, but Big Sisters were able to wield plasmids more effectively from the larger amount of Adam present in their bodies while they were young. He cursed himself for healing the Big Daddy earlier, a bit of extra Adam on hand would have been very useful. Beyond that attacking a Big Sister was a grave offense, the Family would certainly take some form of action.
Deciding to be truthful Amir admitted, "I have heard rumors that something new is coming, a 'new daddy' is rising. I was curious as to what was happening and wanted to investigate. I thought the family might have some knowledge on the subject."
The various Big Brothers and Big Sisters had no issue with each other, whether a Sister served under King Ryan or the Family they didn't fight and the same went for the Brothers. The only time they fought was when difficulties arose between the factions or when someone caused a problem. Sneaking into their territory wasn't a major offense and wasn't worth fighting over, but if he started doing damage he would most certainly have a fight on his hand. So being honest and stating his intentions, which were harmless on the surface, he was trying to stop the trouble before it began.
"A new 'Daddy' in our territory," she repeated and shook her head in the negative, "I don't know anything about a new 'Daddy'.
"To the best of our knowledge it isn't anywhere King Ryan rules, so we assumed it was in your territory, but we don't know," Amir continued explaining what little they knowledge they had.
She paused for a moment before looking back at Amir, "Mother Lamb might be interested in this, I'll escort you to her." Her tone left no room for argument, it prevented Amir from looking around, but it did allow him to see Sophia Lamb provided she actually was interested and perhaps he would get to see Eleanor.
As they started walking he heard her say, "Thank you for helping the Little Sister and Big Daddy." She slipped her helmet back on and didn't say anything else. Amir realized that she had shown up in the area because the Little Sister's trouble not because he had stepped into the Family's land. Perhaps it was a mistake to help them, but it felt right at the time. He wanted to ask himself if it was only the remains of the mental conditioning or if he was still human enough to feel sympathy. He forced himself to focus on his surroundings and pulled his helmet on, he was still in enemy territory he couldn't afford to get too deeply lost in thought.
The walk wasn't serene, but it quiet enough for Amir to hear the sounds of rapture which was mainly whispers, water dropping, insane rambling, and the occasional moan of a Big Daddy. Soon enough however they arrived at Lamb's base of operation.
"Wait here, I'll ask Mother Lamb if she wishes to see you," the Big Sister walked away without a glance back. Amir didn't wait long, the Big Sister returned and gestured for him to follow which he did. She opened a door and stepped through allowing him to do the same before she closed it.
On the other side of the room Lamb sat in a large armchair, the picture of serenity. "You may wait outside," she said in her light tone glancing at the Big Sister who hesitated only a moment before stepping out. "Hello Subject Epsilon, apparently there is something you wish to discuss," she phrased it as a statement, but it sounded like a question.
"Not so much as discuss, I just have a few questions I'd like to ask, and Amir is fine," Amir didn't react outwardly, but he hated being reffered to as a subject it made him feel more like a project than a person. Yes he was the fifth Little Brother made, but he still considered himself something beyond that, so being referred to as Epsilon made him feel like less of a person.
Lamb crossed one leg over the other and merely said, "Of course, you're welcome to ask anything you'd like, Amir." The final word was added almost as an afterthought.
Amir repeated what he told the Big Sister and watched Lamb's expression the whole time, it barely changed, but he noticed the slight furrow of her brow. "I'm sorry I don't know anything about, but thank you for letting me know."
In truth he believed Lamb, "Then I'll just see myself out," he gave her a nod before standing and walking out the door slightly disappointed in the meeting. It was short and uneventful, but neither party was one for small talk with no need. He received a few looks from some of the Sisters both Big and Little as he walked, but they didn't bother him. Apparently they had been told of his arrival. He greeted a few of the little sisters who happily skipped over to him.
He made a detour after he was out of sight towards Eleanor's room once he stood in front of it he glanced around one last time, but before he could knock Eleanor's door flew open and she dragged him into the room slamming it behind him. Her expression was slightly difficult to decipher it was dancing between excitement, worry, and something akin to hope was lighting up her usually dark eyes. "I did it," she half whispered looking around conspiratorially.
"Did what?" Amir asked confused by her emotional state. For all the things she was, Eleanor as nearly always calm and controlled. She probably received that from her mother despite her resentment of the older woman.
"Father is going to wake up," her voice hadn't risen from a whisper, but it still hit Amir like a physical force. Her father, Alpha series subject Delta, was awake again and Amir wasn't sure what this meant for rapture, for Eleanor, and especially for him.
"You succeeded," Amir half stated half asked, his tone level. Eleanor had briefly mentioned her plan to bring her father back to life long ago. He didn't expect it would be possible so he didn't think to equate this with the rumors, although now he felt a bit stupid for not at least considering this.
"Yes and he's going to come rescue me, I know he will," there was no doubt or hesitation in her voice and if asked Amir would deny he felt the slightest flicker of jealousy. Amir was closer to Eleanor than almost anyone else, but even he hadn't figured out how deep her love for that man went. Her adoration for her father surpassed her care for Amir by leaps and bounds even after all this time, but his negative emotions were overcome by his happiness and in equal parts worry. He was happy that her plan had finally come to fruition and her father was alive, but he knew Lamb would be upset and her father might end up dead all over again. He was also worried about what would happen if he told his king or what would happen if he chose not to and his betrayal was discovered.
"How did you do it?" Amir considered himself intelligent, but he knew Eleanor was on a different level than most people, so she often came up with things others would think of.
"I'll keep it brief because if you stay long someone will notice, but I used the Little Sisters to collect samples of my father's genetic sequence and revived him at a Vita chamber. Brigid Tenenbaum helped remove his conditioning so now he's alive and free," Eleanor was uncharacteristically grinning.
"He's no longer conditioned and you're sure he'll come for you?" Amir asked not trying to offend her, but still not entirely sure he would come under his own will.
"He's my father of course he'll come and even though the worst of the conditioning has been removed if he doesn't he'll end up dying because the bond we still share," Eleanor's voice sounded slightly upset at the implication.
"I truly hope this goes well Eleanor, you know I've always wished you could escape," he felt slightly uncomfortable with the idea of her not being around.
"Amir, I have a favor to ask of you. I want you to watch over Father and help him if he needs it, when the time comes you can escape with me," she looked almost pleadingly at him.
It sounded wonderful in theory, but there was so much unknown space in that simple declaration that he couldn't quite summon up any joy. With a quick goodbye he pulled on his helmet and it was only as he was walking away did he realize he never said 'no' to her plan, but of course he didn't say 'yes'.
A/N
Alright Chapter two is complete,
One note I think in the first chapter I said that Amir was the fourth little brother, but I didn't want two subject Deltas so I switched it so he and Billy would be the second generation of little brothers.
Thanks for reading let me know what you think.
