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English
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Published:
2018-10-12
Completed:
2019-04-08
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8,322
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6/6
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One Step at a Time

Chapter 6: Jack

Notes:

Hey, it's the final chapter! Thanks everyone who's read this far! Also, I'm definitely going to continue writing Bioshock fics in the future, in fact I have one in the works right now!

Chapter Text

The only warning that Jack gets for Brigid Tenenbaum arriving is Brigid Tenenbaum arriving.

“Mama Tenenbaum!” The girls crowd around her, tugging at her skirt for her attention.

“Ach, mein Schätz!” Brigid kneels on the floor, greeting each girl in turn with a hug and a kiss.

“Brigid.” Jack greets her at the door, trying his hardest not to look completely shocked. “I didn’t know you were coming.”

“Because I did not tell you.” She greets Mary last, prompting the girls to dash away in a free-for-all to show Tenenbaum their latest points of pride. Only Ceecee stays behind, her arms outstretched for another hug.

“How are the rest of the girls?” Jack asks. He takes her coat to hang up.

“Doing very well.” Brigid stands, Ceecee already attached to her hip. “A colleague of mine took in little Susan just last week.”

Jack does the numbers in his head. The Smiths, a couple who escaped Rapture in its early years, took in Barbara and Deborah about a month ago, which means that there are roughly a dozen girls still in Brigid’s care.

Brigid holds up a hand to stop him. He blushes to think his thoughts are written all over his face. “You have five of my little ones. I couldn’t possibly ask you to take more.”

At that, he can only nod. It’s hard enough to make ends meet as it is. He could only imagine what bringing in another girl would do, to both his finances and his children. “Would you like something to drink?”

“Coffee, please.” With Ceecee on her hip, she follows him into the kitchen. She sits, transferring Ceecee to her lap while the little girl chatters on about what she’s been learning about in science class.

“How are your little ones?” Tenenbaum asks Jack the second she gets the chance. “I see this one could not be doing better.” Tenenbaum ruffles Ceecee’s hair, causing her to giggle.

“Oh, they’re doing great, Brigid. Mary and Leenie are at the tops of their classes. Leenie’s even won a prize for reading the most books. Mary placed in the science fair last month. Then Kay’s won ‘Most Improved’ in her class for her spelling tests, and Patsy’s getting ready for a track meet in a couple months.”

“What about me, Papa?” Ceecee asks.

“And this little bugger gets all sorts of compliments for how well she plays with others.” Jack sets a steaming cup of coffee in front of Brigid and kisses Ceecee’s forehead.

“That is so wonderful to hear.” Tenenbaum says. She takes a long drink and sighs her contentment. “And how have you been?”

Jack starts. “Fine.” Why was she asking?

Brigid cocks an eyebrow. Jack tries not to cringe. How is it that she can see through his bullshit just like that? “Because you do not look it.”

“I’m fine,” he insists. Maybe that’s why she can see right through him. Because he’s as bad at lying as he is gullible.

Brigid shakes her head. “All I need is one look at you to see how little you’ve been sleeping.” She picks Ceecee up and places her feet on the ground. “Little Ceecee, can you give us a moment?”

Ceecee frowns. “Is something wrong?”

Tenenbaum smiles patiently. “Of course not. We just wish to talk about boring grown-up things.” She leans in and grins conspiratorially. “But if you would like to keep your sisters away for a while, I am sure I can sneak a candy or two in your direction.”

Ceecee nods vigorously, blonde locks flying, and rushes off to her sisters’ rooms.

Tenenbaum waits until the door shuts to speak. “I understand. I am plagued by the nightmares as well.”

“Really?”

She collects her coffee cup and stands, joining Jack by the sink. “What I have done to the little ones is not something that I can remove from my thoughts so easily.” Brigid sighs. “No matter how safe we are, I worry every day that some harm will come to my little ones.”

She runs his hand through his hair, and when Jack flinches on instinct, he realizes her concern.

He’s not used to being relaxed around others.

He doesn’t feel tense around his girls, but that’s because he didn’t have a reason to. They couldn’t hurt him even if they wanted to—or at least that’s what he tries to tell himself. He tries not to think about how it only took the five of them to take down Fontaine, because he knows better than to give into his paranoia. He trusts his girls with all his heart, and if he ever so much as considers splicing again, he’d much rather be dead.

He knows how the other parents look at him, how afraid they are, and honestly, he can’t blame them. He knows how he must look. Tense, angry, defensive. Like he’s bound to snap at any second. And who knows? Some days, he just might.

“Trust, mein kleiner Schützer.” Brigid says. “The world can be unkind, and the world can be fair, but Rapture is different from the world above. You do not have to be so prepared to fly into battle here.”

“I know that, but…” Jack struggles for the right words. “I made a promise to protect them.”

She sighs again. “You worry far too much, Jack. When was the last time you slept?”

“I’ve been sleeping every night.”

Brigid eyes him knowingly. “For how long?”

“Long enough.” Most nights, he can only sleep a handful of hours at the most, and from the look in her eyes, Brigid can see that.

Brigid wraps a hand around his bicep and gently tugs him in the direction of his bedroom. “Sleep. I will care for my little ones while you rest.”

Despite the fact that Jack could easily snap her in half, he follows mutely behind her. Exhaustion rattles down his spine. It’s quiet and easy to ignore, which is probably why he was able to ignore it for weeks on end. But now that Brigid has pointed it out, he can’t take his mind off of it.

He’s tired. He’s so, so tired.

“Do you trust me?” Brigid asks. She runs her thumb over his hand, easing the tension out of his fists.

“Of course,” he says.

“You do not show it,” she replies. She opens his bedroom door and ushers him inside. “Four hours. I will take the girls out to dinner, buy them candies, and return to play with them after. All I ask of you is to rest. Will you let me?”

“Of course,” he says again.

It’s the nighttime he doesn’t trust. When everything’s quiet, he’s prepared for the worst. At school, the girls are safe enough. If not, he knows they’d run straight here. He could protect them. At their friends’ houses, more of the same. But during the night, while everyone is sleeping, there’s no one he could trust but himself. Or maybe it’s his own body he doesn’t trust. Either way, he and sleep aren’t on the best of terms.

“Thank you.” Brigid touches her palm to his face, thumbing his cheek. “This is the first step, you know.”

“First step?”

“Of shedding Rapture for good. Soon that place will be even less than a memory.” She takes one of his hands in hers.

They look so different, yet so similar. Jack’s hands are large, rugged from farm work, while Brigid’s hands are smaller, attuned to the delicate tasks of surgery. Her nails are uneven, some broken, others bitten down to the cuticle, but there’s a softness in her grip.

“It all comes back to trust.”

Notes:

btw i've got a tumblr if you're interested

Feel free to join the Bioshock discord server my minecraft wife and I mod if you wanna chat!