A Different Lighthouse

Chapter 7

"Well if you don't, I'll sure as hell take him out for you," Armitage snorted. "Don't worry 'bout that, Ben." He kept his eyes forward as he spoke, leading them through the long, dark shadows cast by Arcadia's foliage.

"Daddy," said Blue, her nose wrinkled up.

"Call me Ben, remember."

"Ben," she amended, before putting a hand over her nose and mouth. "Something smells funny."

Ben frowned, sniffing briefly and grimacing at the sharp sting of chemical. "What the hell is that?"

"Fuck knows. Let's just-" Armitage paused, stopping in his tracks so quickly that Ben nearly ran into him.

He was about to complain, until he followed Armitage's gaze upward, to where plumes of mist were emanating from the vents and settling on the forest around them. Slowly, everything green began to wilt, sagging and shrinking and browning until all of Arcadia was bare in less than a minute's time.

"What the hell?" Ben breathed, staring around in horror. The grass was now brown and crunchy beneath his shoes.

"Ryan's killed Arcadia," Armitage snarled, grinding his teeth. "That son of a bitch. He's gonna kill us all. The trees are the only source of damn oxygen down here."

Blue clung to the hem of Ben's shirt, her wide eyes beginning to sparkle with fearful tears. "We're going to die?" she asked shakily.

Ben did not miss the odd look Armitage gave her; an almost perplexed frown. As if he hadn't expected her to be capable of fearing death.

Ben turned away from him in favor of kneeling so he could look Blue in the eye. "We won't die," he promised firmly. "We're going to fix it. Right?" he asked, looking up at Armitage nervously.

Armitage sighed heavily through his nose. "We can try. If it's possible, the person who'll know is Langford. She created the place."

"Is she spliced, or can we speak with her?"

"She ain't stupid enough to be spliced," Armitage snorted, nodding to a door to their right. "Her office is this way. She's holed up in there these days. Fuck's sake, we don't have time for this." His eyes kept flitting to dark corners above their heads, swiveling left to right as if searching for something in the shadows.

"Armitage, are you alright?" Ben asked softly, frowning in concern as he rose to his feet again. "You seem... on edge."

"Course I'm fuckin' on edge," said Armitage, his tone clipped. "What is there not to be on edge about? I've got a Little Sister shaped bullseye on my arse and now a limited amount of oxygen. Ugh. Let's just get this done, Ben, and get a move on."

With that, he spun on his heel, drawing his shotgun as he stalked away from them. For someone so beautiful, he really did walk like he had a stick up his ass - and not just the metaphorical one that was undeniably there. Ben held out a hand for Blue, and smiled when she stepped into it instead of holding onto his fingers, her new shoes digging into his palms a bit. She clambered onto his shoulders, clinging to him tightly and holding her syringe outward so it didn't poke him. When she'd settled, Ben followed the sound of Armitage's footsteps, the man already a decent distance ahead of them in his haste to not talk about his feelings.

He frowned when he thought he heard voices up ahead, picking up the pace in case Armitage had run into some Splicers.

"-know it was you, Armitage, you and your master will stop at nothing to-"

"Calm down, y'old hag, it wasn't me."

"Well, what other explanation is there?!"

"Gee, I dunno. Maybe the bastard who's been runnin' this place into the ground since day one?"

Ben rounded the corner to find Armitage glaring at a screen mounted above the bulkhead door, a woman scowling right back at him on the other side. Her mouth was set in a severe line, her eyes hard behind her spectacles and her hair in crisp roller curls.

"You must be Langford?" Ben offered.

"Dr. Langford to you," she sniffed. "And just who are you, for that matter?"

"My name is Ben."

"He's with me," Armitage huffed.

"Oh, that's encouraging."

"Yeah, well bite me."

"And I see you've got a Little Sister with you as well," Langford scoffed, giving them both an incredulous look. "And you think I'm just going to let you waltz in here with a crazed rebel and Splicer catnip in tow, Ben?"

"If it would make you more comfortable, I can come in alone," Ben suggested, ignoring Armitage spluttering indignantly.

Langford stared him down for a long moment, leaning a bit closer to the lens as if she could see him better that way. The screen was briefly encompassed by only her eyes and the bridge of her nose.

"Very well," she agreed briskly, backing off again. "Only you. The abomination and the terrorist stay outside."

Ben carefully lifted Blue off of his shoulders to the tune of Armitage grumbling what he was sure were colorful curses.

"I'll be right back, okay?" he told her, smiling encouragingly.

She did not look convinced by the reassurance. "I want to come, too."

"I know, but Dr. Langford would feel better only having one person in her office at a time," Ben explained gently. "It'll be okay. Just stay with Armitage, alright?"

Blue gave Armitage a shifty side eye, quirking one of her dark little eyebrows. "Um, alright. I guess."

Armitage looked even less thrilled than she was. "Just get in there, get the information, and come back. Don't let her talk yer ear off, she loves t'listen to herself."

"I heard that, you know."

"Good. I can say it louder if you missed anything."

Ben sighed, giving him an exasperated look. "I'll be right back."

"Fine. Go on."

Ben straightened, taking a deep breath. As the bulkhead unlocked, he glanced over his shoulder, flashing Blue one more reassuring smile as she stood as near to Armitage as she was likely to get - a couple of feet away, it seemed. He made brief eye contact with Armitage, and was almost sure that he saw a flash of anxiety there. Probably imagining the worst possible scenarios.

He stepped through, and into Langford's office, the door closing with a heavy thud behind him.