Chapter Text
To say Jack was angry was an understatement. Finding out that his so called guide was actually his deceased father’s rival had been playing him from the start, felt worse than any hit he had taken from a splicer or a big daddy. Even after the little sister’s had taken him to Tenenbaum and she had undone his mental conditioning, he still couldn’t shake Fontaine’s betrayal. Atlas, his movement, his wife, his child, everything was lie. Walking through Apollo Square, he eventually got to “Atlas” headquarters’. It was worth scavenging the place for supplies, it’s wasn't as if Fontaine needed the place anymore.
The majority of the place was empty as expected, except for a few cans of food here and there. Most of Rapture wasn't exactly a gold mine for supplies. And in a place of this condition Jack didn't expect to have any luck with finding something of value. He heard footsteps, a splicer probably, Fontaine wouldn't have bothered to come all this way just to face him. He took out his pistol and summoned Electro Bolt getting ready for an incoming attack
"Come out with your hands up, bastard! I won't play games!"
Jack had expected screaming, or the crazed mumbling of a splicer. Instead he heard the familiar Irish accent that he had trusted, filled with rage and aggression. Jack felt his anger rise in him again, why the hell would Fontaine continue to bother acting out his façade? He was stupid to underestimate Jack, he had come this far and wasn't going to be defeated now. Aiming his pistol, he walked cautiously into the next room.
There stood a well built man with a scar-less face and human like features, too human to be splicer.
"Well, then, looks like you're really doing well on the ADAM there. I might even wager you've got a little human left in you. Who do you belong to, then? Ryan? Fontaine? Either way, I'd be damned if you didn't recognize me."
He spit and rubbed his hands together. "Not sure why I bother puttin' my dukes up, if you're a coward like those two, you'd never give me a fair fight."
Jack tightened his grip on his gun, holding up his other hand ready to strike the other man. He furrowed his brows in confusion hearing the other man talk. He didn't understand what kind of set up this was, this man couldn't be Fontaine could he? It didn't matter, he was sick of being toyed with. Gritting his teeth, he addressed the man before him.
“I don't belong to anyone. Give me one reason why I shouldn't shoot you right now."
The man looked at Jack confidently, he blended in here, like he knew the place. Confirming Jack's suspicions, he continued to explain his presence.
"This here, it's my home. I'm just as lost as you are. Haven't seen this since late '58, and it's been an awful pull up from Persephone. Fontaine liked me down there, but if you're on your own the way you say, you'd like him on the ocean floor just as much as I would."
Jack lowered his gun hesitantly, letting out a shaky sigh. He continued to keep his eyes on man, in case of an attack. From what he could see, the older man was unarmed, even if he put up a good fight Jack could probably put him down then and there. His rough looking appearance looked like he hadn't eaten properly in days. Even this would have been going too far for the conman, Jack was sure it wasn't him.
"You're not Fontaine...who the hell are you?"
"You thought I was Fontaine? That ugly son of a bitch couldn't be me if he tried. The name's Atlas. How about you? You got a name, wonder boy? And if that isn't the question- how are you alive? Somehow managing to stay off the ADAM?"
Atlas rolled up his sleeves and stood up straight. "In case you're looking for supplies, you won't find much- Fontaine funded me for a while, before he decided that he wanted in. How he managed to take control, it beats me, but he did it."
Jack's eyes widened in shock at man, Atlas wasn't real, he was one of the many characters Fontaine had used for his sick games wasn't he? Maybe the ADAM was messing with him again, he had been seeing things, hearing things he knew were not there. After everything that had happened Jack wasn't sure what to believe anymore, he was scared he was becoming just as spliced up as Fontaine and Ryan's men. The girls were the only thing that separated him from them. Jack held onto the nearby wall to steady himself.
"You're not real, you can't be... Fontaine, he made all of this."
"You alright, boyo? A bit weak in the knees? I can promise you, I've got no interest in helpin' that bastard. You lock a man up at the bottom of the ocean for tryin' to help a few lost souls, you can't have a heart. What did he do to you?"
Jack looked down at the rusted floorboards trying to process the situation. If Atlas was real, Fontaine must have been using both of them as tools in his game from the start. That was the only thing that made sense at this point.
"You mean you don't know? He's been using your identity since I got stuck down here."
The man's face hardened at that, both of them seemed to share a mutual hatred for the man that had so easily played them.
"You're telling me that- that that ugly rat has been paradin' around wearin' my face like a party favor? Oh, this is too much. Just when you think a man can't do you any more wrong."
Jack felt a calloused hand touch his own, looking up at the man now he could see the spirit and fire in his eyes that he always imagined Atlas would have when they finally met in person. He gripped onto it, steadying himself back into an upright position. Atlas was real, he was here and Jack felt more reassured about escaping Rapture than he had in days.
"Come on, boyo, we've got work to do."