Ghosts of the Past

Samus awoke undressed in her cot, still out of breath and trembling. She suspected that Jake would become somewhat feral during their first session, but she hadn't expected him to leave her so sore from going completely wild. Her attention was drawn to the command console of her ship as she heard the sounds from the computer. She drank in the sight of Jake's muscular form covered in glyphs of both the Lupus and Chozo as he stood hunched over the console. He must have heard her thoughts, for he turned his head to offer her a small smile before tapping a few keys and returning to lay beside her.

"Sorry about before, I guess the Lupus hadn't been exaggerating when they told me their mating habits tended to be rather savage as they lost themselves to their instincts," he said softly as he wrapped his arms around her.

"I just hope I can walk normally by the time we reach Aether," she said, only half joking.

"I'll carry you if need be," Jake whispered as he tightened his hold on her, the warmth of his body making hers tingle.

"I might have to take you up on that," Samus said as she snuggled into his chest, reaching up to rub one of his ears.

"You should get some rest, we're only about twelve hours out from Aether," Jake told her before kissing the top of her head.

It didn't take long for Samus to fall asleep again, not with how cozy and safe she felt in Jake's embrace. Jake remained lying awake beside her as they neared their destination, his mind on the events of their short time on the Pirate frigate. He couldn't shake the feeling that what awaited them on Aether would be worse than what they faced on Tallon IV. The feeling left him filled with dread as he remembered the horrors they had faced together, horrors that had wiped out every last member of his team, including his brother. He was snapped from his thoughts as Samus whimpered in her sleep. He hoped that it had been his thoughts that had affected her dreams, and that she wouldn't be facing the same nightmares he had been having since they left the Tallon system. He tightened his hold on her and snuggled her closer to him, smiling when he felt her relax against him. He managed to doze fitfully when they were only a few hours from their destination.

Jake found himself in the depths of the crater on Tallon IV, the stone painted with an eerie glow from the multitude of red Phazon veins. His canine ears picked up the sound of a roar from deep within one of the caves, a roar that chilled him to the core. He turned to see one of the Space Pirates mutated from the red Phazon around them charging towards him, a horde of similar creatures trailing behind it.

Jake reached for the plasma sword on his hip, only to find himself devoid of armor or weapons. He swore as turned his head to see the horde drawing closer, their cries growing louder as they neared. The Chozo and Lupus glyphs along his limbs and torso began to glow as he drew energy towards himself, crying out as he felt the corruptive influence of the red Phazon begin to course through him.

Jake screamed in agony as he felt his bones snap and stretch into a more lupine form, leaving him looking like a humanoid wolf, just like the Lupus whose DNA had been mixed with his own. He dropped onto all fours, ready to tear through the Pirates approaching him. Jake launched himself into their midst and proceeded to tear apart everything within his reach. It didn't take him long to do it in this form, but his blood froze as his fear and rage subsided and he saw the scene more clearly. In place of the mutated Pirates, he saw the corpses of his team from the Tallon mission. Jake dropped to his knees and cried as he spotted the bodies of Samus and his brother, Daniel. He had ripped Samus' abdomen open, and Daniel's head lay beside his shattered body. Jake ran to kneel beside Samus, overcome with the urge to vomit, but finding that he couldn't.

He jumped as she suddenly reached up to rub his ears. The scenery around them suddenly shifted to the area where they had first landed on Tallon IV as Samus appeared whole again. There were no more bodies around them, nothing in their surroundings but the natural beauty of the planet once home to the Chozo. Samus' armor seemed to disintegrate as her body touched his, quickly leaving her pressing her warm flesh against his own.

"Wake up," she whispered.

Jake opened his eyes to find Samus straddling him, their noses nearly touching as she stared into his eyes. He inhaled deeply of her scent as he wrapped his arms around her, glad beyond words that it had just been the nightmare again.

"Shh. It's okay, I'm right here," Samus whispered as she began rubbing his ears.

"You were dreaming about the crater and the red Phazon again," she said, not having to ask because of their mental link.

Jake nodded in response, not trusting himself to speak as images of his gruesome rampage played across his eyes once more. He buried his face in Samus' neck, taking deep breaths of her scent to help calm himself. Samus tightened her hold on him and continued to assure him they were fine, wishing she could help him more. She knew he had been having the same nightmare almost every night, even if he tried to hide it. She also knew that the only other dream he'd been having was worse still. They both jumped as the ship's console alerted them that they had reached Aether. They rose and put on their Power Armor, Jake taking his wolf form while Samus reported her arrival to the Federation.