Chapter 2: Out of the Ashes

Houston knelt by the alcove that Samus lay on. The computer showed she was still breathing but even that did little to calm Houston's nerves. He wished he didn't have to leave her helmet on. He wanted to see her face but he knew that she needed to be sealed in the suit until they could get to Seriena and Gul'Gen could heal her. Houston flashed back to that day 7 years ago when they found themselves in a similar situation.

"Get out of here, Cowboy. You are just going to slow me down" Samus said, barely containing her disgust and annoyance with him. She turned down the corridor and ran.

"Samus, wait!" Houston yelled but it was too late. Samus' foot stepped on a tile and a large spike shot up from the floor and pierced through her shoulder, lifting her up off the ground

A scream of pain escaped her before she was able to steady herself but try as she might moans of pain kept escaping her.

Houston ran up. "Jesus Christ! Hang on, Samus. I'll get you out of there."He said as he fished a torch from his equipment pack. He turned on the beam and starting slicing through the spike.

"Get out of here, Houston." Samus said between breaths.

"Save your strength, Samus. I may not be a bad ass bounty hunter like you but I know how to work a trap." Houston said.

"I can take care of myself." She replied.

Houston scoffed. "Doing a phenomenal job at it right now" He said as he reached halfway through cutting the spike.

"I didn't ask you to come along." She said.

Houston set the torch down. "Now listen! That doesn't matter. All that matters right now is getting you out of this. And I am not leaving without you, ok? You may not like asking for help but sorry to tell you, sister, that is part of being human." He almost yelled at her. She saw her cringe a bit which he figured was from the pain but she knew it was the opposite.

He picked up the torch and resumed cutting. They both were silent for a few seconds before he said quietly. "I'm sorry."

"Me too." She replied.

"Almost there….Got it!" He said as the spike snapped and she tumbled to the ground, fresh sounds of pain escaping her.

He rushed over to her. "It's ok. I got you." He rolled her over onto his back. "I need to pull the spike out. It is probably going to hurt like hell."He said.

She nodded. "Do it" She said, gritting her teeth.

"Okay. 1…2..3!" He said as he yanked the spike from her shoulder as quickly as he could and tossed it aside. Cries erupted from her as he could see tears forming. "Let's get you out of here." He said as he helped her up. Getting underneath her he lifted her onto his back and made for the landing site.

It didn't dawn on Houston until just then that this was the same shoulder as it was years ago. A beeping from the computer broke his train of thought. He sat down at the pilot's chair and saw that they were coming up on Serniena. He dropped them out of Warp and settled into an orbit around the planet.

"Search for any large structures that have activity in them." He said to the computer. One location popped up.

"That's got to be it." He said as he set a course to land nearby the temple.

He set the ship down and right before he got up he saw a figure standing at the entryway. For the first time since they left Zebes Houston actually felt confident. He recognized that creature before. It was Gul'Gen.

He went over to Samus and unhooked the suit from the power port. "Ok, Samus. We are here. We are home." His voice trailed off when he realized what he said. He shook his head. Get your head on straight! His inner voice chastised him. He lifted Samus into his arms and walked over to the lift. Lowering it he jogged toward the entry way.

"Am I glad to see you." Houst said.

"I felt something was wrong." Gul'Gen.

"I'll explain later. We have to help her first. It's real bad." Houston said.

"Yes, this way, quickly!" Gul'Gen said as he led them down a hallway into a large set of rooms.

"Set her down on the table." Gul'Gen said.

Houston laid her on the table and then stepped into the corner and opened his suit.

"Right now the suit is the only thing keeping her alive, but we don't have much time left." Houston said.

"What did this?" Gul'Gen was barely able to contain his surprised as he looked at the damage to her side and her shoulder.

"Some new Pirate attacked us. I don't know much more really." He said. "I've never seen anything do this to her before."

"Yes, this is something new entirely. "Gul'Gen said as he walked to a nearby workbench. He took a bowl and started adding various liquids and powders to it before stirring it. Houston couldn't even begin to imagine what was going into it.

After a few minutes Gul'Gen finished and handed the bowl to Houston. "Get her suit off and apply that to her wounds quickly. I will get the chamber ready." He said as he left the room.

Houston set the bowl down and took a few breaths. He knew he had to be fast so he wanted to prepare himself. He closed his eyes, trying to calm his nerves and his shaking hands. After a few moments he opened his eyes and sprang to action

He punched a few buttons on her cannon and she became enveloped in the light, leaving her out of her suit when the light faded. He pulled the emblem off of her Zero suit that held her main suit and set it aside. He had to grab the table and steady himself when he finally looked at her injures. The readout was bad but seeing them was even worse. Forcing himself to focus he realized that the suit was going to complicate things. He looked around the area and found a knife sitting on the workbench.

"You can kill me later, Samus, but right now we don't have the time." He said as he grabbed a bit of the fabric from her neck and started cutting down her chest. He then cut the fabric suit from around her shoulder and side, revealing more and more. He finally freed her from the suit, tossing the suit aside. He grabbed the tanktop he wore and pulled it off.

"This will have to do for now." He said as he cut the shirt in half. He carefully slipped the top part of it over her to cover her up, cutting one shoulder strap away to keep her shoulder clear. He slid the bottom half on, tying it off to keep it from slipping. Grabbing the bowel he scooped out some of the mixture and started to apply it to her shoulder and her side. Once the wounds were sufficiently coated he lifted her up into his arms and carried her into the other room where Gul'Gen stood. There was a large globe in the center, the same one they used last time.

"Quickly, place her in the chamber." Gul'Gen said. Houston walked up to it and lifted Samus through the glass like membrane. He gently sat her in the center before stepping away as Gul'Gen fiddled with a panel and the chamber began to fill. A few minutes later and it was full, Samus floating upside down curled into a ball. After the chamber filled Houston breathed a sigh of relief.

Gul'Gen placed a talon on Houston's shoulder. "She will be fine. She is probably going to be in there for a day or two. You should get some rest." He said.

"I will in a bit." Houston said.

"You saved her life, Armstrong. Keep that in mind" Gul'Gen said.

"Thank you, Old Bird." Houston said.

Gul'Gen left and Houston backed up against a wall and slid down, his eyes never leaving her.

The first thing Samus realized was the feeling of weightlessness she experienced. After a few minutes she realized she was in a familiar place. Forcing her eyes open she realized she was in some kind of chamber. She focused on the figure outside of the chamber and smiled when she figured out who it was.

Gul'Gen looked up at her. "You are awake." He said.

"You know when I said I needed to come visit you this is not what I had in mind." She said.

He stood up and walked closed to the chamber so she could see him better.

"How long have I been out?" She asked.

"A day and a half. How much do you remember?" He asked.

"After the Pirate stabbed me, not much." She said.

"You passed out soon after that. Armstrong brought you here as quickly as he could." He said.

"Where is he?" She asked, looking around.

"I sent him to get some rest. 18 hours of sitting watching over you was enough for him." He said as he grabbed a large blanket for her to dry off with. He started to drain the chamber as Samus settled to the bottom. As she finally broke the surface she started coughing, expelling the remaining liquid from her lungs. Gul'Gen reached in and helped her out of the chamber. As she set foot on the ground her leg gaveway and she crashed into Gul'Gen.

"Careful. You are still very weak." He said as he wrapped the blanket around her. Samus couldn't help but flash back to a much younger Old Bird doing the same thing to a 7 year old girl after a bath.

"It is going to be a few days before you have your strength back." Gul'Gen said as he helped her put on a rope to keep her warm.

"Can you show me where Houston is? I need to talk to him." She asked.

Gul'Gen nodded. "Of course." He helped her down the hallway to a set of rooms. She leaned against him as they walked to the door Houston was staying in. She knocked on the door gently and opened it, stepping inside.

Houston laid on the bed with his hands behind his head. He wasn't asleep but he was deep in thought. He turned his head when the door opened but when he saw who it was he shot upright. He swung his legs around and sat up on the bed

"Um…hi" He said, swallowing to try to quench his dry throat.

She smiled as she leaned against the wall. "I nearly died and all you can say to me is hi?" She said. She took a step but her leg gave out on her again. Houston shot up and caught her.

"Woah." She said. She looked up at him. "Sorry." She said.

"It's ok." He said as he helped her over to the bed and sat her down. "How are you feeling?" He asked as he knelt down in front of her.

"I'm sore, but I'm much better" She said as she opened the robe and showed him her side. Most of the damage was fully healed but there were a few marks still left. "I should be back to normal in a few days." She said.

He reached out and touched her side, gently. She hissed through her teeth. He pulled his hand back like he got burned. "S..s..sorry" He stuttered.

"You're ok. It's still a little tender." She said.

They both sat there in silence for a few moments. Each of them looking at everything in the room but each other.

Samus was the first to break the silence. "Houston, can I ask you a question?" She said.

"If it's about your suit, I'm sorry. I didn't have much time so I improvised." He said.

She chuckled. "No, it wasn't about that. Although that does answer another question I had, mainly why I am wearing the shreds of your tank top."

Houston laughed. "Oops." He said.

"Actually I wanted to know if you would mind me sleeping here tonight. I get cold really easily." She said. She let a little lie slip in at the end.

"Uh, sure. I don't mind." He said, scratching the back of his head.

She smiled. "Thank you." She said.

He helped swing her legs onto the bed and maneuver to the side. He laid down next to her and pulled the blankets around them. She curled up against his body as he wrapped a massive arm around her, pulling her close.

For the first time in days, both of them felt the tension leave their bodies. They both relaxed in each other's arms.

"Houston?" Samus whispered.

"Yea?" He responded.

"Thank you." She said as she kissed his cheek.

"Anytime, girl." He smiled as he slowly nodded off to sleep, Samus following close behind him.

Houston slowly opened his eyes, blinking to focus them. He realized he was in an unfamiliar place. Looking around to figure out where he was he looked down as saw her, curled up against him, her head resting on his chest. The events of the past 2 days came flooding back into him as he sighed softly. He felt it had all been some dream but when he saw her blond hair he knew it was real. She stirred a bit and opened her eyes, moving her head slightly to look up at him. She smiled a bit.

"Good morning…or evening. I've kind of lost track of time." She said.

"Late afternoon I think." He said, softly stroking her hair.

"How long have you been awake?" She said.

"I just woke up a few minutes ago." He said.

She returned her head back to the way it was and curled against him even more. For what seemed like hours they lay there, listening to each other breath and the sounds from the forest outside the temple.

"Do you miss this?" Samus said.

"Miss what?" Houston said.

"Us. You and I, lying here together." She said, running a finger on his chest.

"I do." He said as he ran a hand down her back. "Do you?" He said.

She nodded slightly. "I do." She whispered.

"Do you want to talk about it?" He said, rubbing his thumb over her uninjured shoulder.

"Not right now. Right now I want to forget everything that is out there and just enjoy being with you right now" She sighed. Houston couldn't argue that point.

After a few minutes of silence Houston looked down and realize she had fallen back asleep again, the sounds of her breathing became the only thing he could hear. He thought about their history, the nights they spent together and then the night everything fell apart for them. Angry words were exchanged; things said that could not be taken back. Houston hated himself for letting things get like that. He knew her for most of her life in the Federation and he betrayed that trust she had in him. No wonder she constantly had her guard up. She never let anyone in except him, and he betrayed her. Houston promised him that he would not make that same mistake. She had quietly admitted to him that she needed him and he was determined to be there for her, no matter what.

He decided to get some more sleep. Barring the time they just slept he figured he had only slept about 5 hours in the last 36 and it was catching up to him. He slowly let himself slip away into darkness, thinking there is no other place he wanted to be.

Chapter was supposed to be longer but I felt like this was a good stopping point. Some hints to their history is establish that will be fleshed out later on. Hope you enjoy it. More to Come!