Fading Dream Pt. 2
Here we go,chapter 2! Reviews loved!
Samus jumped at the feel of cold metal resting on her shoulder, even though its grip was a gentle one. For a moment, she was too terrified to move, and it was so silent in her quarters, she could hear her own heart beating away erratically inside her chest. Even time seemed to stop, until she finally exhaled the breath she'd been unconsciously holding. Steeling herself and calming her nerves, Samus risked a glance behind her.
What greeted her gaze almost made her drop the helmet that she held so tightly against her chest. A man, slightly taller than herself and in Federation armour, was stood behind her. He had iron black hair that was spiked in all directions, giving him a rather messy look. His face was pale and tired looking, but the determined and stern looking grey eyes that met Samus's own was the feature that confirmed she was looking at the very same man that haunted her dreams every night. As the newcomer slowly turned her around to face him, she wondered if she had not unknowingly slipped back into her dream or whether her mind was simply playing cruel tricks on her. The man that haunted her dreams was dead; she had watched him walk to his death, heard and felt the explosion that signalled his demise. He was gone; this wasn't real. Yet, as she observed him for a little longer, she noticed that his face was covered in numerous scars, the most prominent of which went over his right eye, with three deeper ones on his left cheek, alongside many other cuts and scrapes, and his right arm, which was completely devoid of armour after the shoulder, was made of some kind metal from just below the elbow downwards. Samus had never observed him having either of these features in her dreams before. He had always looked the same way; the way she remembered him looking as they parted. As she began to wonder for a moment, she barely felt the man prise the helmet she was holding from her hands.
"I do believe...this might be mine." He chuckled quietly, smiling a little at Samus.
She made no reply, so overcome with shock was she. She desperately wanted this to be real, but knew the minute she began to hope was the minute this would turn into a dream, and she'd still be all alone. A solitary tear slowly descended down her face.
The smile faded from the man's face and he instantly sobered. "Hey, Samus." He wiped away the tear from her face with the hand not clasping the helmet, his gloved hand. "It's me!"
Hardly daring to believe, Samus raised a Zero Suit covered hand to the man's face, delicately brushing his skin with her fingertips. Upon feeling the newcomer's flesh beneath her fingers, something deep within her sparked. In a flash of anger, she drew back her hand and harshly slapped the man before her, catching him completely off guard, so much so, it took him a while to regain his composure. He rubbed his smarted cheek with his free hand, before he regarded Samus with an emotionless look.
"Well..." He began in the same hushed tone as before, "I suppose I deserved that one."
"Five years!" she shouted angrily at him. "Five years I've been reliving that moment, five years I've been tortured by the same nightmare. Five years I've regretted not being able to stop you, five years I've wished I could go back. Five years I could not bring myself to grieve for you, five years I've been lost. Yet, all this time, you were alive...! Five years, Adam! Five years..." Samus was so full of anger and unhappiness at this point, she was shaking uncontrollably. Despite this, she did not pull away when Adam engulfed her in his arms.
"I know Samus, I know." Adam replied back in an unusually soothing manner. "And if I could have come back sooner, then I would have."
"Then why didn't you?" Samus pulled back from him slightly. "I mean...how did you even get out of there alive? That place self-destructed! You even said it yourself; everything inside that place would be eliminated, without leaving a trace."
"I did wonder when you'd ask me that." He released her, before guiding her back towards her bed. "Let's sit down, and I'll tell you from the beginning."
Samus didn't feel like sitting down, but knew she had no choice if she wanted to hear how Adam survived after the Bottle Ship incident. Reluctantly, she sat back on her bed, with her best friend sitting next to her, his helmet on his lap, and she listened as he recounted all that had happened to him since he went into Sector Zero of the Bottle Ship all those years ago.
