The Lost Love Above | Elizabeth x (m) Reader!

A Breather

I'm out before Elizabeth even lays a hand on me. And for that, I'm glad because I would have turned out to be much less manly than I wanted to think I was. All that I can recall as I black out was thinking how cold and oddly familiar this sensation was. Not just being cold, of course, but dying. This dance with death I've done wasn't unique. It unnerved me. It actually scared me.

When I came to, I met a pair of wonderful blue staring at me. I knew who it was, but they were full of concern as they bore into me. My mouth was dry, and my entire body felt sore. Arms, legs, especially my stomach as I stretched around. "Did we...?"

  "Yes," Booker's side said. He looked different, as did Elizabeth. I immediately felt shame as I realized they had to go on and fight while I was knocked out due to blood loss. The girl I was supposed to protect ended up taking my spot as Booker's partner in this Hellish situation. A hard blush came to my face when I saw the girl. She was now dirty and looked much more fatigued. "Can you walk?"

I moved, and I felt my muscles protest. I cringed and felt like I would blink out of life again, but by miracle, I could find the strength to remain awake. I lay next and hid the pain in my voice by grunting. "Yeah. I shouldn't hold up this Broadway show longer than I have."

Booker moved and helped me straighten out. "Aside from patching you up, you haven't held us back."

I sniffed, feeling my legs wobble uneasily as I crept forward. Elizabeth was beside me, sliding under my right arm as Booker let go. I smelled the grim in her hair and the stink of blood. You swallowed hard. "Is Slate...?"

  "Booker didn't kill him," she whispered as he opened the doors. "But he said that Comstock's men would arrest him."

I sniffed, pushing gently away from her. "Yeah?"

She paused to let Booker get further away before continuing. "Have you gotten used to all this killing?"

I was about to say "no," but I caught myself. Instead, I nodded. "It's taken me less than a day to accept it. Honestly, as long as we survive and you get out of here, then I don't think it'll bother me much."

She was quiet and chose not to say anything more. When we returned to the forked path for the Hall of Heroes, we got into a quick fight. Adrenaline kicks in for me, and I take my place back as a fighter, have been it, with a headache that throbs in the back of my skull, but I'm able to keep up and to make sure I'm providing more for the team than I am taking.

  "Booker..." Elizabeth says as we get closer to the exit. "I can tell what Slate said bothered you. You showed me- sometimes you have to do what's necessary to survive." She glances at me and nods. "I think you both have shown me in record time."

  "There's survival," Booker counters. "And then there's finding pleasure in the act."

  "Booker-" she tries, but he cuts her off.

  "Look, you seem like a decent enough short. That said, less you know about me, the better."

I trace myself to Elizabeth and nudge her, shaking my head gently to motion to her that the subject of killing shouldn't be introduced to Booker so lightly. She grabs her hands and nods, silently understanding my direction too.

When we leave the Hall of Heroes, we run into Comstock's men. The fight is neither pleasant nor clean. We get bogged down at the entrance and exchange at each other and end up getting into a cross-firing shootout for nearly 10 minutes before we manage to kill enough to break out to reach the rail lines that trail Columbia like a metal snake. Even then, it isn't smooth sailing, however. We fight more clusters of soldiers.

The final platform to our destination is better-situated than the last few, but I was subtracting a few more men from Comstock's army. My condition has also been taken away from though, and Elizabeth sees this before Booker.