"Shut up, Link."

He threw his head back and laughed before flashing me a cocky grin. I rolled my eyes, got up, and as I passed him on the couch I landed a punch square on his shoulder. The blondie grunted and fell down onto the cushions, purposely over-exaggerating every little detail.

Sometimes I don't know why I deal with his bullshit, but hey, I've been doing just that for more than five years and I'm not about to stop now.

"You want some coffee, asshole?"

He never gets offended by my vulgar attitude. "Sure, thanks Sam."

I shuffled through the cabinets until I finally found two mugs and ground-up coffee to put in the maker. While I was fiddling with the preparations, I glanced at the clock, "It's almost midnight. We have to pick up Zelda soon."

Link checked his wristwatch and stretched, "Finally, I've been waiting to see her for hours!"

Zelda has a rather interesting schedule to deal with. She's a hotel manager, so she has to tend to all of that important shit. To be honest, she's told me multiple times exactly what she does but I'm too busy working on other things to really pay attention. Half of the week she works the night shift, which sort of clashes with my schedule due to the fact that I'm a bartender at a night club, but we make it work. Anyway, she has to take the bus because even though we have a perfectly functional car and a pretty badass motorcycle (my motorcycle) out back, it's easier for us because we don't have the money for all the gas she'd be wasting driving forty-five minutes away from our apartment and back every day.

So, I took the initiative to pick her up every Thursday to Sunday at exactly 12:13AM at the stupid bus stop a couple of blocks away.

"Coffee's gonna have to wait, Link. We better head out now."

"Fine by me," he stood, stretched and readjusted his green, and pretty obnoxious, beanie. "It's probably still too hot anyway."

"Turn off the TV while you're there," I trudged over to the coatrack and grabbed my leather jacket, slipped it on and then slid into my black combat boots. I took my keys and wrapped the lanyard around my neck. "Damn, I can't take my bike this time. We wouldn't be able to fit your fatass onto it," I raised my eyebrow at him and playfully scoffed. As a response, he passed me and lightly shoved me into the hallway. I know, I probably deserved that.

Link has his own apartment, but it doesn't feel that way considering he's always sitting on my damn couch even when I'm not home. He even has a copy of my keys. I get back from work early in the morning and he's there watching the news with a plate of freshly baked pancakes waiting for me. I admit that I don't sound grateful whenever that happens, but he and I both know that I'd probably go insane if he wasn't there for me. I thought it'd be ridiculous for him to date my other best friend; I was expecting it to ruin our relationship but it's done nothing except bring us closer. Don't tell him I said this, he would never let it go.

We both got into the car and sat for a little to warm the engine and ourselves. The early winter night was beginning to bite through my skin, and that's saying something because the cold never bothered me before. I started to back out, but was abruptly cut off by to ringtone of my phone. Link noticed the caller ID and picked up without my consent almost immediately.

"Zel! What's up?"

I couldn't make out anything but the soft sound of her voice through the miniature contraption. I glanced at the time and almost panicked because I realized that we're ten minutes late, and Zelda'd be sitting alone in the dark, at midnight, in the middle of the city.

Link's face darkened and he passed the phone to me.

"Zel? Where are you?"

"I accidentally fell asleep on the bus, Samus. I missed my stop—"

"What? So where are you going to get dropped off now?"

Her soft voice broke the silence. "Hollow Ridge."

I raised my voice a bit, but kept myself from yelling, "That's the last stop of the bus! You slept that long?" And then that's when I realized I'm a terrible person because Zelda has trouble sleeping. I mean, she's an insomniac and I basically ridiculed her for it. "No, it's alright. I'll go get you, okay?"

"I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about it, we'll be there as soon as you get dropped off."

And then we said our goodbyes, and I hung up the phone. Link looked at me with a weary expression, "Hollow Ridge is infested with crooks. And I don't think we'll get there before she's dropped off."

"Not now, Link. I don't wanna hear it."

I drove as fast as I possibly could without getting noticed by all the cops in the city to Hollow Ridge, sitting in silence with Link as we waited tediously for the next exit to come up. Sure enough, it did, and what felt like fifteen hours was only ten minutes before we got anywhere close to Ridge.

The bus stop was nearby, and when I turned the corner I couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. We were but a few seconds away, so everything would be fine.

"Samus!" Link's sharp yell made me jump and caused my heart to skip a beat, "Look!"

Almost as if I completely jinxed myself, there was a tall, disgustingly hunched over figure next to another innocent looking silhouette. From my position in the car I could tell that he was pulling at her arm and forcing her away from the bench. A shrill scream cut through the cold air and caused my face to flush.

The tires of the car squealed as I slammed my foot onto the gas pedal and straight toward them. The inhumane bastard that tugged and pulled at her skin had no time to realize what was happened before I jumped out of the car and ran toward them. I had no time to peer over my shoulder, so I didn't realize that the car was still moving while I jumped out. Link through himself into the driver's seat and controlled the vehicle from going anywhere.

I slammed both of my palms on the man's shoulders and tore him from Zelda, her miserable weeping only causing my anger to boil beneath my skin. He stumbled back, and before he had time to retaliate, I pulled my fist back and slammed it straight into his jaw. The impact was so strong that he fell back onto the concrete with a yelp, and I shook my hand and wrapped my arms around Zelda's waist, thrusting her into the back of the car. I snapped at Link and told him to drive away, all the while cradling Zelda in my arms.

We drove in silence— well, everything was silent except for her bitter sobs, muffled by my shoulder. I ran my hand through her hair the whole way home.

The coffee was too cold to drink, so I poured it down the sink and made some of Zel's favorite tea. She was sitting with her back straight on the couch, utterly silent with her eyes staring blankly ahead, watery and tired. Link sat next to her, his hand rubbing her back in gentle circular motions.

When we got home, we inspected Zelda immediately to find more than three heavy bruises on her arm and forearm. It was evident that she fought back, but what scared me the most was the fact that I found blood splattered on her lilac suit. I realized after a few moments that it was from the punch I nailed into the fucker's face and not her own wounds.

Ever since we got home she's been silent and refused to speak to us. I slid over with the tea and placed it in front of her.

"Zelda… It's okay. You're okay now. Will you talk to me?"

She didn't even look at me.

"You're okay now, right?" I slid my hand over her knee, but she flinched and slapped me away. I stared at her wide-eyed; she has never attempted to get physical with me before.

"Don't touch me." She didn't look at me when she spoke.

Link and I stared at each other, and I shook my head in silence. "I'll run the bath for her." He stood and carefully but enough to get Zelda to stand with him, he guided her toward the bathroom. After a few moments of silence, I heard the water begin to run.

I sighed and, out of nowhere, I slammed my fists into the cushioned couch. My head was throbbing and I just needed a drink.

xJay-

Hello friends. c:

New AU Ike X Samus fic?

I swear to gosh Ike will come soon.

R & R please! Can I get about five before I continue? I'd love the support!

Thanks~