Jack walked into his and Julie's cabin on the Olympian II, Julie trying to make the small space feel homier.

"Are you going to be alright?" Jack asked as Julie turned towards him.

"Right now, I'm fine. Ask me again in a few days." Julie said, clearly disturbed emotionally. Jack put his arms around her, the two embracing.

"I wish I didn't have to do this." Jack said, the two slowly rocking with the ship as the waves made it gently sway beneath them.

"I think we both knew this day would come eventually. I walked into this marriage with my eyes wide open, knowing that this might happen. I guess I fooled myself into thinking it wouldn't happen but…" Julie said, Jack gently running a hand through her hair.

"Yeah. Look, there's a few things we should discuss. They've probably frozen our assets by now but we had everything prepared long before that. There are new identities, off shore accounts, everything you, Tenenbaum, and the girls will need to make a new life." Jack said.

"None of that talk. You're going to be with us when this is over." Julie said, her head resting on his chest.

"I'll try and come back but-." "No buts." She said as she looked at him, the two staring into each other's eyes.

"Would you kindly, come back to us?" she asked, Jack smiling at her warmly.

"A man chooses, a slave obeys. I guess I'm your slave." He replied as they leaned in for a kiss.

January 1st, 1970
6:41 AM

Storms and rough seas had delayed the Olympian II's voyage by a few days, forcing them to alter course a few times but now it was early in the morning and Jack and Julie were standing on the port bow, looking north, Jack's arms around his wife as she leaned against him. The sun was just starting to rise on the horizon. The two saw an object far off in the distance, a tall thin structure.

"There it is. The Lighthouse." Jack as Julie frowned at the sight of the lighthouse, realizing what it meant.

"Guess we better hurry then." Julie said, Jack giving a nod.

"I want this ship out of here as soon as we're away. Lessen chance that the lighthouse defenses will have to activate. We built a transmitter that informs the lighthouse that we're friendly but I'd rather not take the chance." Jack said, giving a hand signal to the crewmen on the bridge. The men knew what to do and brought the ship about so that they were heading east albeit moving at a slower speed.

…

It was now 8:21 AM as Jack, Porter, Eleanor, and Meltzer emerged onto the top deck, the deckhands helping to prep the bathysphere under Tenenbaum and Jean's supervision. The crew was all members of I.O.O.P. or associates of its members that had agreed to keep the secret. Waiting for the four on the top deck was Julie, the girls, Cindy Meltzer, Dick and Rose Mycroft, their son Michael, Jean and her daughter Sammy, and Julie's Uncle Stephen. The four started to slowly file towards the bathysphere, their helmets under their arms, Mark going first.

"Good luck, Herr Meltzer." Tenenbaum said, shaking his hand.

"Take care of Cindy while I'm away. If I don't come back, make sure her mother knows I died saving her. Don't mention anything else." Mark said as Tenenbaum nodded.

"I will, Herr Meltzer." Tenenbaum said before Mark knelt down and almost tearfully embraced Cindy while Porter approached Dick and Jean.

"Thank you for everything." Porter said.

"You take care of yourself, Mr. Porter. I don't think any of us can continue the computer lines without you." Dick said in a lighthearted attempt to lighten the mood.

"I think you'll manage." Porter said with a sad smile. Jean then put a hand on his armored shoulder.

"I may not be Pearl but…" Jean said before leaning in and attempting to kiss him but Porter politely stopped her.

"I thank you Jean but…" Porter said, shaking his head, Jean giving an understanding shrug.

"Can't say that I didn't try." She replied as Porter turned and started heading for the bathysphere.

"It's not fair really. We just got a new sister and already you have to leave us." Amy said, tearfully.

"It's okay. I'll always be here. I…I know it's not much but, I have something for each of you." Eleanor said as she presented a small wooden box with five small phials of ADAM in it.

"I…made these for you. You know how to read the memories in ADAM. Some of mine are there. I hope you find them and keep them so that even if I don't come back, I'll be a part of you all." Eleanor said, the girls taking the phials and holding them close.

"We don't need ADAM to remember you Ellie." Brigid said sadly.

"We'll remember, we'll all remember." Masha added.

"Just don't forget us, big sister." Suzy said as Eleanor smiled and embraced them all again. Jack was watching near the door, noticing as Julie moved towards the door to the Bathysphere. He then started to approach the rows of people as Mark and Porter climbed into the sphere. He approached Dick and Jean first.

"Hard to believe that this is happening, huh Jack?" Jean asked, her gruff exterior breaking down, her true emotions beginning to ring through as tears formed in her eyes.

"I think you said that when I became CEO." Jack replied, Jean letting out a sad laugh and punching him in the arm, lightly though.

"Shut up you old parasite." She said before they both hugged, Sammy tugging at Jack's pants leg.

"Remember, I have a teddy bear and a dolly but if you find a really pretty one its fine with me." Sammy said as Jack laughed, kneeling down to her level. She didn't quite understand the magnitude of the situation.

"I'll keep my eyes open but I make no promises." Jack said, ruffling her hair before she hugged him. He then stood up and turned to Dick.

"Thanks again for hiring me, boss." Jack said, extending a hand but Dick smiled and shook his head.

"Thanks for being such a good engineer, boss. But listen, how will we know when you're all back on the surface?" Dick asked. Jack quietly reached into a watertight pouch and pulled out a sheet of paper with writing on it. There was only a single line of text reading "E-B-B-C#-C#. Key of E."

"When you hear this, let the ship take care of the rest." Jack replied as he handed Dick the paper. Dick nodded and pocketed the paper.

"Then it better happen." Dick replied, patting Jack on the back. Jack then turned to Tenenbaum who was trying her best not to cry.

"It's strange. To think that it was roughly ten years ago, you first stumbled onto Rapture. Now ten years later you're going back." Tenenbaum said, Jack putting both hands on her shoulders.

"I owe you so much, Doctor. You practically raised me. You've practically raised my daughters…although I feel that, maybe they were your daughters first." He said as Tenenbaum sniffled.

"No, I lost the right to motherhood when I turned them into Little Sisters. It was you who saved them, you who helped them adapt and integrate into the world. You helped them gain the chance to learn, to find love, to live. In return, you earned the right to those same chances." Tenenbaum replied before pulling him into a deep embrace, the doctor letting a tear run down her cheek. She then let him go, watching as he moved on to his girls, kneeling down and opening his arms. All five of them dropped to their knees and embraced him, all of them tearing up.

"Please…don't leave." "We need you, Mr. B." "Please come back." They said but Jack couldn't tell who said what.

"Leaving the five of you is easily the hardest thing I will have ever done. I need the five of you as well. I want nothing more than to stay and grow old, watching the five of you grow up. Even though we've been on the surface for ten years now, I've watched the five of you grow into remarkable and beautiful young women and I know that, with or without me, you will continue to grow even more remarkable and even more beautiful. And thank you girls." He said.

"For what?" Brigid asked.

"For letting me be your father. You all had parents down in Rapture but you were taken away from them to be made into Little Sisters. You didn't have to accept me as your father and back then, the thought had never crossed my mind. But then you all wanted to take my name for your own because you couldn't remember your real names. That decision moved me so much that I agreed to be your father, to watch after and take care of you for as long as I was able. I owe you my life and so much more." Jack said before kissing each of them on the head and then rising to his feet, turning towards Julie and approaching the Bathysphere, Eleanor quietly climbing in with Porter and Meltzer. The two looked into each other's eyes before they both kissed, most everyone turning away for privacy.

"I'll come back to you, Julie, I promise you." He said as Julie smiled, trying not to cry.

"We'll be waiting." She said, Jack quickly pulled Julie in close, tears flowing.

"I'll come back. Tell me to come back. Say the words." He pleaded softly.

"Would you kindly?" she asked into his ear as he hugged her even more.

"I will." He replied softly but with determination before pulling back.

"There's a…there's something I left on the phonograph in the library for you. Just play it. You'll know what it means." He said as Julie smiled and nodded tearfully.

"I will." She replied, kissing him on the lips again, before Jack turned and stepped into the bathysphere, locking his helmet into place on his head before pulling the lever inside, the bathysphere door slamming shut and the rotors beginning to spin. The mechanical arm began to lift the Bathysphere up and over the railing before lowering it down towards the water. It then released it roughly fourteen feet above the surface, the sphere landing with a large splash as the ship turned hard to port, intending to get away from the lighthouse. Julie and the spectators all watched as the sphere started moving towards the lighthouse and then slipped beneath the surface, bound for Rapture. Julie followed the ship's movements so that the lighthouse was always in view, finally reaching the aft and watching as the lighthouse disappeared into the distance.

She then quietly started to go back inside, passing some of the girls as she walked the hall towards the library. She entered the library which had been decked out in art-deco style furniture and Rapture-esque designs. Inside there was a phonograph with a single record already on it, the turntable already spinning. She quietly placed the phonograph arm on the edge of the record, taking note of the record case sitting next to the phonograph. She then heard a woman's voice start to sing…

"See the pyramids along the Nile,
watch the sunrise from a tropic isle.
Just remember darling all the while,
You belong to me"

Julie sat down next to the phonograph, a tear running down her cheek, realizing what his final message was: to live…

"See the market place in old Algiers,
send me photographs and souvenirs.
Just remember when a dream appears,
You belong to me."

She sat listening, not noticing as Tenenbaum and the girls stepped in to listen. As they did, Brigid started to furrow her brow curiously, looking out the windows. She'd heard the voice somewhere before.

"And I'll be so alone without you.
Maybe you'll be lonesome too and blue."

She looked out the windows, watching the waves roll by, the Mycrofts, Jean, and Sammy stopping in and listening with her.

"Fly the ocean in a silver plane,
See the jungle when it's wet with rain.
Just remember till you're home again,
You belong to me."

Jack's message was clear for Julie and that was all she needed, putting a hand on her stomach, knowing that when Jack came home, things would be different…very different…

"I'll be so alone without you,
Maybe you'll be lonesome too and blue."

Down in the bathysphere, miles beneath the surface, Jack and the others sat in the darkness as the sphere glided beneath the waves, a small recording device in Jack's hand, playing the instrumentation of the song while Jack quietly sang along just as they saw lights appear in the distance, the neon lights of Rapture fast approaching.

"Fly the ocean in a silver plane,
See the jungle when it's wet with rain,
Just remember till you're home again,
You belong to me."

"Well I suppose this was inevitable."

"It's not over yet."

"No. But the odds are in their favor."

"So have you any theories as to whether the girl will learn the truth?"

"Tis a silly question really."

"I suppose so. But I imagine she will find it odd either way."

"Ah but if the girl doesn't make it back…"

"Tis a silly question really."

"True. At least then the story will be known."

"Guess all we need do now is sit back and see what occurs."

"Hardly see the point. We already know what happens in this and every other possibility."

"Yes but it still can be mildly entertaining."

"Hmm. For once we agree."

To be continued…

…in…

Bioshock: Dream's End

End Chapter 22

This isn't the end of this particular story. Dream's End is merely the midquel. This story will pick up again once Dream's End has finished. Dream's End will focus on Jack, Eleanor, Porter, and Meltzer's return to Rapture.