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2017-11-12
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2017-11-25
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Has Anyone Ever Written Anything For You?

Summary:

A little bit of Metroid: Other M fluff. Written for DoctorSupernova for the "100 Ways to Say I Love You" writing prompt. She assigned me the phrases "I was just thinking of you" and "wow." The pairing she chose is Samus Aran x Madeline Bergman.

Notes:

Written for DoctorSupernova for the "100 Ways to Say I Love You" writing prompt. She assigned me the phrases "I was just thinking of you" and "wow." The pairing she chose is Samus Aran x Madeline Bergman.

I've always wanted to play around with these two together but they didn't fit together in any of my longer stories. So here it is, my first Metroid: Other M fan fiction.

I know this ship is less of a ship than it is a pool noodle, but I hope I'm helping upgrade it to floaty ride-on whale. :)

Chapter 1

Chapter Text

Has Anyone Ever Written Anything For You?

The incident on the Bottle Ship had been more kinds of messed up than Samus was willing to admit aloud. Two weeks and a whole bunch of red tape later, she was still trying to process exactly what had happened. There were a lot of things about that mission that baffled her, but perhaps the most unsettling of all was her reactions to everything.

She had been feeling out of sorts for a long time now, ever since that final mission to Zebes. It was the killing blow that had ended the Space Pirate War, and yet it seemed like a hollow victory in so many ways. It was strange to think about a whole planet exploding as being anti-climatic, but for some reason that's how it felt. And now with her life long enemies eradicated at last, Samus thought she should feel happy about that.

But she didn't. Since the end of Zebes, she felt like she was just kind of existing, free floating from planet to planet in her ship, no longer needed as she had once been. The loss of the infant Metroid had not helped matters either.

She didn't know how to express the way she mourned for that creature, didn't know how to make people understand. Obviously she could never have been its mother, and obviously she had lived a very fulfilling life filled with accomplishments despite her sterility, so it seemed downright stupid to her that a parasitic life form would have left the void in her it did.

Stepping out into the hallway, she closed the door to her temporary living quarters and looked around the government facility. While she wasn't under arrest or anything like that, she had been instructed it would be best for her to stay in the Federation's accommodations for a while the military looked into the death of Commander Malkovich and verified her story.

As the tall blonde bounty hunter walked over to a massive window, she looked out at the capitol city. Her reflection in the glass showed a thirty-something woman with hair down to the waste of her green coat where a short-hair teenager had once stood in Army clothes that were a couple of sizes too big.

She had stood at this window many times during her years in the Army and more recently when she had said her goodbyes to Adam. It was amazing what ancient half-forgotten memories seeing him had brought up in her. To think that even for one mission she could go back to a time in her life that made more sense than the present did, a time when her life had structure and purpose. That had seemed downright exhilarating after being so long adrift.

But if there was anything the Bottle Ship incident had taught her, it was that she couldn't go backwards. She had come too far since her Army days, and even if she was an outsider by the Federation's standards, she had proven herself so many times over it was ridiculous. Adam had reminded her of that in his last moments when he had half-jokingly referred to her as a galactic savior. She would never think of herself in such magnanimous terms, but he had been right in a sense. She had saved the galaxy. Over and over again.

So why did she still feel so lost?

"Samus?" a voice called out suddenly, and Samus turned to see a tall red haired woman walking her way. "I'm sorry, but you're Samus Aran, correct?"

Samus studied the woman. Madeline Bergman. She had been a scientist onboard the Bottle Ship, the one responsible for the rogue Mother Brain clone and even parts of the Metroid breeding program. It was strange to see her out of her lab coat and just wearing a long-sleeved blue button down and jeans.

"I'm Samus Aran," she said, her voice coming out a bit too soft. Sometimes she went so long without speaking aloud that it surprised her how much more feminine her voice sounded than her armored appearance might have suggested. "And you're Doctor Bergman, from the Bottle Ship. I remember you."

Madeline seemed to flinch at the mention of the research facility. "Yes… I was just thinking of you. I realized I'd never properly thanked you for saving my life on there. So… thank you. Really."

"Oh." Samus wasn't sure what to say to that. This kind of thing always made her uncomfortable. She preferred to just give a little wave as she walked away, head back to the relative safety of her ship, and take off before anyone had a chance to get attached.

It made it a little bit more difficult to do that now that they were apparently staying in the same facility. Samus was here because, according to federal records anyway, she was technically homeless since she mostly just lived out of her ship and hotels. She didn't know what Madeline's deal was, and until just then, it had not occurred to her that the Bottle Ship had been home to its scientists before the incident.

"I wanted to know," Madeline continued, "if there's anything I can do to express my gratitude that you would like."

"Like what?" Samus asked.

"Oh, I don't know… Maybe I could take you out for dinner one night? What kind of restaurants do you like?"

"I… don't." Samus frowned. She really didn't enjoy having anyone prepare food for her. It always made her nervous. Sometimes she worried about the intentions of anyone handling her food given her role in the galaxy and other times she just worried about cooks being too careless and contaminating something. Most people probably would have found it pitiful, but she actually liked just staying alone on her ship and eating MREs. It was what she was used to.

"You don't like going out to eat at all?" Madeline looked disappointed.

The bounty hunter shook her head. "Not particularly." Sometimes she wondered if her taste buds were just different than other people's given her genetic makeup.

"Well how do people normally thank you then? I'm sure I'm not the first person you've rescued given your impressive reputation?"

Samus shrugged again, still feeling uncomfortable with the whole situation. "If they contracted me, I just get paid. If they didn't, I just go on my way."

The red-haired scientist looked shocked, and Samus wondered why. She had never thought her style of doing business was so unusual for a mercenary.

"But has anyone ever done anything to thank you?" Madeline's voice was getting more desperate sounding with each word. "Taken you out for dinner? Sent you flowers? Honored you somehow? Has anyone ever written anything for you? Isn't there anything that I could do that would make you happy?"

Samus shifted as she thought about it. She had never known anyone to be so intent on making her happy, and she felt like she was giving the scientist a hard time with it.

"Well," she began after giving it some thought, "I like to go see the loaves sometimes."

"The… loaves?"

Samus nodded. "There are these loaf animals they have at a place not far from here. I kind of like looking at them."

"Um… okay." Madeline seemed a bit confused, but she was smiling anyway. There was something about her smile that helped put Samus a bit more at ease. "Well then, would you like to go look at the loaves? Together?"

The bounty hunter stared at the other woman for a moment, but she eventually nodded. "All right."

There were not a lot of commercial buildings around the facility in which they were staying. Most structures housed more government and military offices. Madeline was confused where Samus was planning to take her, but she followed the bounty hunter regardless. She was intrigued by the enigmatic woman who had seemed baffled when she suggested doing something to thank her for saving her life.

Though this was her first time talking to Samus since they had been on the Bottle Ship, and the first time seeing her without her armor, Madeline could still clearly picture the way the mercenary had put herself between the scientist and danger, using her own body as a shield in the process. It was something she would never forget.

Madeline supposed she shouldn't have been surprised when Samus led her to the doorway of the local animal shelter. She wasn't sure what sorts of animals Samus was referring to, but she probably should have guessed they would be here given that the government run shelter was the only building on the complex that would have something like that. Try as she could, Madeline couldn't remember what types of pet-animals were common on this planet.

As Samus entered the building, a little old woman waved to her from behind the front desk as though they had met before. Samus waved back but wasted no time with words as she led Madeline into the hall and toward a back room. When they walked into the cage-lined room, Madeline had to hold in her laughter.

"Look at them," the bounty hunter said with her typical, serious monotone. "The loaves."

Madeline snickered and looked up at the tall mercenary. "Wow. Seriously?"

Samus didn't say anything, her expression completely blank as she looked from the animals to her human companion.

Madeline gestured around the room. "You go on death-defying missions and blow up entire planets and then come back here and spend your time looking at… cats?"

Samus looked away from Madeline and over to a very large orange feline that was sitting with all four of its legs tucked beneath its body. "Look at it," she said, roughly trying to mime its position. "It looks like a furry loaf with a face."

Madeline smiled as she looked at the cat, but she smiled even more as she looked back at Samus and how fascinated the bounty hunter seemed as she looked around at all of her favorite "loaf animals." It seemed so ridiculous in contrast to the last time she had seen Samus, but it seemed to make sense in a way. Of course the solitary hunter would find comfort in the companionship of other small solitary hunters.

"You know," Madeline said, standing close beside Samus as the two of them observed a gray tabby rolling into a perfect ball, "if you ask that lady at the front desk, I'm sure she'll let us play with one of them. Have you ever done that before?"

Samus just looked at Madeline and shook her head. "Usually I just look at them. I disturb enough creatures every time I go to a new planet. Sometimes it's nice to just watch them do their own thing."

"I guess I can understand that," Madeline replied as she looked around at all of the homeless cats. "Have you ever considered adopting one?"

The mercenary shook her head again. "My life is too dangerous to have any kind of pet. I wouldn't have the time to commit to it properly."

"You know, I've been thinking lately, once this investigation is over and things settle down, I'm probably going to rent out a small apartment. Without Melissa and the other scientists, I've been pretty lonely lately. If I got one of these 'loaf animals' I think it would be a nice little companion."

"That sounds really nice," Samus said, looking away from the cats and toward Madeline.

"Of course, you would be welcome to come visit us any time you want. I know it's not the same as having your own pet but you could come over and watch her or play with her."

As she studied the scientist, Samus's face broke into a smile, a real smile. It seemed to light her features up and take away so much of the heaviness about her aura.

"I'd like that a lot," the bounty hunter replied.

Chapter 2

Chapter Text

Part 2

Samus stared at the e-mail sitting in her inbox. She must have read it a dozen times, and she still wasn't sure what to make of it. Her fighting instincts told her to be cautious, but there was another part of her that was merely curious as to why the sender had gone out of the way to write to her. It posed quite the conundrum.

Clicking off her phone, the bounty hunter got up from the blue-checkered couch and made her way across the modest living room and into the hall. Rather than her usual military-styled attire, she was just wearing a long purple blouse with black leggings. Her feet were bare, and her hair was in a messy braid down to the middle of her back.

"Anthony?" she called out as she stepped into the kitchen to see her friend sitting at the table.

"What's up, Princess?" he asked with an intrigued grin.

Anthony was a tall black man whose presence just resonated warmth. His head was shaved bald, and he always had a smile that lit up whatever room he was in. Sometimes Samus thought he was her polar opposite given her cold, stoic demeanor. She was pretty sure her presence was more likely to bring down the mood of any room she was in.

"I got an e-mail from someone," Samus said as she pulled out a chair and took a seat across from him at the rectangular metal table. "I'm not sure how I should respond to it."

Anthony raised an eyebrow curiously. Samus had been staying at his house for close to a week now, and this was the first time he had heard her speak of any contact with another sentient being.

"Someone looking to contract you for a mission?" he asked, although he doubted that's what it was about given how conflicted she looked. Business never seemed to frustrate her quite the same way mundane human interactions did.

Samus shook her head. "It's from Dr. Madeline Bergman."

"Oh. How's she doing?"

"I don't know." Samus shrugged. "But she invited me over to her apartment, and I feel really weird about it."

Anthony thought about it for a moment as he got up, went to his coffee pot, and poured them each a steaming mug before setting them down and returning to his seat. "What's got you feeling weird about it? Didn't you say she came by to thank you when you were both staying at that Federation facility together?"

Samus took the cup of coffee in her hands and raised it just below her mouth. She liked the way the tongues of steam gently licked at her face. It helped her feel more grounded. "She did."

"Okay?" Anthony took a sip of his drink. "You had a nice time together, didn't you? You took her to see your bread things or whatever you call them."

"The loaf animals."

"Right." He tried to suppress a chuckle. "And she liked your loaf animals. Maybe she liked spending time with you and just wants to see you again?"

"I mean… maybe?"

Anthony rolled his eyes. "I swear, Princess, you can be such a downer sometimes. Do you really not get why someone would want to hang around with you?"

Samus shrugged again as she took a sip of her coffee. "I don't get along with people well, Anthony. That's just a fact. You've known that since we were in the Army together."

"Except that you seemed to get along well with Dr. Bergman the other day."

"Yeah… but Dr. Bergman is weird. I mean… not weird in a bad way. She's just… I don't know." Samus couldn't think of the right words to describe the red-haired scientist. "She seems like she'd rather stay in and do stuff in her lab than go out. She probably has almost as hard of a time being around other humans as I do."

"So you've got that in common." Anthony laughed as Samus buried her face in her coffee mug. "You want to know what I think? I think you should take her up on hanging out together. Maybe bring her something nice as a surprise when you go over there. Who knows? You might end up making a friend."

Samus snorted and coughed as she swallowed the coffee the wrong way. "You're ridiculous…"

"I'm being realistic, Samus," Anthony said, his tone a bit more serious. "You spend a lot of time by yourself. It's not good for you, and you can pretend you're okay all you want, but I know it's taking its toll on you. I know you don't like me to bring up what happened on the Bottle Ship, but—"

"Stop!" Samus held up a hand, her eyes getting wide. "I told you, I don't want to talk about that. It's over. Nothing happened."

Anthony frowned. "I won't press the issue, but when you're ready to talk about what happened back there, I'm here for you, Samus. We're the only two left from that unit, and I know you've always had my back in a tight corner. Maybe this is different than actual combat, but I want you to know I've got your back too."

Samus didn't say anything. She just set her mug down on the table and stared into it for a long while. Just thinking about what had happened on the Bottle Ship was enough to make her heart start racing, and thinking about how her own weakness had nearly gotten Anthony killed was too much for her to deal with right now.

"I guess I'll go visit Dr. Bergman," she muttered eventually, standing up and bringing her mug over to the sink. She couldn't bring herself to look Anthony in the eye as she turned and left the room.

Madeline Bergman's new apartment was in a very plain-looking complex. It was in one of the multi-level apartment towers, up on the eleventh floor, and Samus felt awkward as she stood in the elevator holding the large blue Tupperware.

She had agreed to come over to Dr. Bergman's house for dinner, but she wasn't sure why she still felt so nervous about it. She may have never been a particularly social person, but she had been to plenty of business dinners with prospective employers looking to contract her for a mission or two. Even outside of that, she had eaten dinner with Anthony every night since coming to stay at his place.

Still, there was something different about this, and Samus noticed a level of arousal that, while lower than what she normally experienced in battle, was disconcerting. Her stomach felt a little fluttery, and her chest felt kind of tight. Even her muscles were more tense than usual as she watched the elevator count up the floors to the doctor's apartment.

Dressed in a simple lavender blouse, a black blazer, and a pair of jeans, Samus thought she looked normal enough. Her long blonde hair was down and neatly brushed. She had tried to apply a little makeup but got frustrated and washed it off. It just didn't feel like a make-up kind of day.

After Samus had written back, accepting the invitation to dinner, Dr. Bergman had written back to tell Samus that she had a surprise to show her when she got there. The bounty hunter had no idea what it might be, and it intrigued her. As the elevator stopped on the eleventh floor, Samus stepped out into a plane-looking hallway with a worn and dated rug. The faded wallpaper was starting to peel in places, and all of the metal doors looked the same as they stretched across their long rows.

Eventually, Samus found the door with the number Dr. Bergman had sent her. Apartment number 1125. She hesitated for a moment, but then she rang the bell and waited for the other woman to appear. It didn't take long before the door opened, and Samus caught sight of the redheaded scientist.

"Samus," Madeline said with a smile. "I'm so glad you could make it!"

The bounty hunter hesitated, not sure what to do. She could feel her fight or flight response kicking in as she saw the doctor looking so casual in a button down shirt that matched the light blue of the lab coat she had worn on the Bottle Ship. Her hair seemed to have grown out ever so slightly, and it looked softer and more relaxed now. Samus could feel something almost like an energy pulsing over her skin, and she wasn't sure what to call the feeling.

"Hello Dr. Bergman," she said. "Thank you for inviting me to your home." She paused, awkwardly thrusting out the large plastic container she had been carrying. "I killed this for you."

Dr. Bergman's face turned pale and looked mildly terrified as she looked down at the container and then up again at Samus. Realizing her friendly gesture might not have come off the way she had hoped it would, Samus just shook her head.

"I mean… that's not what I meant. This is a prey animal. It's good for eating, and I shot it while I was out hunting earlier. I've already cleaned it and cut it up, and Anthony cooked it because I'm not so great in a kitchen. I thought I should contribute something to our meal."

Madeline smiled awkwardly as she accepted the container into her hands and beckoned for Samus to come into the apartment. "Thank you, Samus. That was a very nice gesture. Sounds like it definitely took a bit more effort than picking up a roast at the market." She tried to laugh, but it came across slightly strangled.

Samus's face felt hot as she stepped into the apartment. She had honestly intended it as a gesture of goodwill but was starting to think killing something for her might not have been the best way to let Dr. Bergman know she appreciated the invitation.

Madeline's apartment was small, and most things were still in boxes stacked about the living room. The walls were bare, and the floor was a very worn down hardwood. There was only a simple black dining table with two chairs. Over in the corner, there were a couple of other chairs that were still yet to be assembled along with a few other odds and ends. The table settings didn't match, but Samus didn't mind. The bounty hunter had never owned a matching dish set in her life.

"I'm just going to put this in the kitchen and cover it for now so it doesn't get cold," Madeline said as she hurried Samus's gift away into a little galley kitchen, leaving the bounty hunter alone in the eerie bone yard of half-assembled furniture.

She was starting to feel self-conscious as she waited for the scientist to return and was just debating going into the kitchen behind her when she heard a soft mewing sound coming from near her feet. Samus turned and knelt on the ground, looking at the tiny little blonde kitten that had wandered up to her.

"Me-ow," the tiny creature said softly as it walked up to Samus and began nuzzling its face against her knees. The bounty hunter stayed still, transfixed at the site of the animal.

"Samus," Madeline called as she made her way back into the living room. "Is everything all right?" She stopped in her tracks and laughed when she saw the bounty hunter kneeling on the ground, staring in fascination at the kitten that was now pawing at her open blazer.

"You went and got one of the loaf animals," Samus said, a small smiling creeping onto her face in spite of her efforts to remain stoic. "A mini one."

"I told you I had a little surprise for you," Madeline said with a smile as she knelt down next to Samus and began giving the kitten soft head scratches.

"It's not even a full loaf," Samus said, turning her attention away from the kitten and over to Madeline. "It's more like a muffin."

Madeline burst out laughing suddenly, and the sound of it made adrenaline ripple through Samus's body, though it wasn't an unpleasant sensation. Her face felt warm but there was actually something nice about the reaction.

"I suppose she is more like a little muffin than a loaf," Madeline said, flashing Samus a soft smile that intensified that fluttery feeling in her stomach.

Samus quickly averted her eyes and turned her attention back to the little blonde kitten. Slowly, she reached out and began to stroke its soft fur. "Hello, Mini-Muffin. It's nice to meet you."