"As always, you followed me," she echoes back, stepping away with him as he sets up his neatly laid trap. Atta boy.

"Ready when you are," she says under her breath, watching the thing heave itself into motion. It jerks forward and she snaps to the side, as far from the explosion radius as she can without letting the Little Sister stray from her sight.

The Big Daddy drives into Rush's trap and for a minute there's just sparks and smoke and ear-splitting noise. Iman covers her head.

It dies down and she peeks up, searching for Rush. She can hear the little girl sobbing.

"Is it dead?" she asks hoarsely.