This is going to be a fairly long chapter as I do not know if I will be updating much. But I should be able to get one more chapter out after this one, before Infinite's release. I know the X parasites are said to be extinct but to make things interesting I am going to continue to use them in this story. Mix the X parasite into Halo's world a bit so it's not just the Banished, and the Created causing the conflict.

"I hope you can still trust Blue Team." John's voice was not that surprising for the teen to hear.

"Of course I will always trust you guys. I know you won't donate me to mad scientists." Samus replied, hanging over the arm of her chair so she could see her favourite Spartan.

As she looked at the pale man she noticed a holographic image of an X on one of her dashboard screens. Bringing her into deep thought. Quiet Robe had mentioned that one of Raven Beak's soldiers became infected with the X and travelled back to ZDR. Was it possible that more than one of Chozo's were infected by the parasite, and mimicking their hosts? The Chozo was a well travelled race, could the X already be inhabiting other galaxies?

"Why didn't you tell me about what's going on with you?" Chief asked standing next to the girl in the seat. His words bringing the teen out of deep thought.

"Because you're overprotective." The teen groaned at the Spartan, who in turn cocked an eyebrow at her.

"I just worry about you. You almost died on your last mission." John exhaled folding his arms.

"I have near death experiences on almost every mission I go on. And so do you, we've been over this already..." Samus whined.

Master Chief shook his head at the girl. "Don't whine."

"Don't be fucking annoying..."

"Excuse me?!" John sternly glared at the back talking girl in disbelief.

Samus visibly shrunk in her chair, barely making eye contact with her angry adopted father.

"Don't you ever, talk to me that way again." Chief's tone stern and strict as he scolded his disrespectful teen. "Do you understand?"

Samus swallowed nervously, hanging her head low, she knew she messed up big time. "I... I... understand..."

John shook his head in disappointment, exiting the cockpit to the sleeping quarters, where Linda sat up on her cot.

"What's wrong?" The redhead tiredly asked, seeing frustration and disappointment painted brightly across her leader's face.

"Nothing..." Chief laid down on his cot turning to face the wall.

Linda was not buying Chief's short answer, exiting the sleeping quarters she entered the cockpit. Where she found the young girl hugging her knees in her chair.

"What's going on Samus?" The calm voice of Linda spoke to the young teen. "Why's John so upset?"

"I was really rude to him..." Samus admitted to the sharpshooter.

"Hmm... why?" Linda asked standing in front of the teen.

"Because Chief was being overprotective again..." The girl replied, keeping her turquoise eyes from meeting Linda's emerald green eyes.

"Sounds like someone really cares about you. Do you think it was fair for you to be rude to Chief?" Linda kept calm while speaking with the girl.

"No..." Samus kept her gaze to the floor. "It's hard to adjust to being smothered by a team..."

"I understand the feeling." Linda sighed with a warm smile, crouching down to be level with the blonde girl. "John didn't function as a team player in the beginning. But he was born to be a leader. He cares for everyone around him, whether you're a teammate or an ally in need. Leader's care for everyone on their team, even young foundlings that are adopted into our team." She placed a gentle hand on the teen's knee. "A team is a family, and like it or not, you are a part of it Samus. John is overprotective with you because he takes his leadership role seriously. Though he doesn't often show it, losing a teammate destroys him inside."

"I know Chief is a great team leader." The teen sighed barely making eye contact with the sharpshooter. "You're right, I don't see you guys as just a team..."

"Exactly little one. You're more than just a teammate to all of us. To John especially." Linda cupped her hands on the teen's shoulders. "He takes pride in taking care of you, he dedicates all his heart and soul, to make sure you stay alive and well. You're his little girl. And that's why it hurts him so much when you say things that you don't really mean."

"But I'm not a little girl anymore." The girl grumbled.

"You are in our eyes, and many others as well. You are still a young girl, Samus." Linda gave a small sigh. "Look, Blue Team has been fighting wars, and battling for decades. We've got a lot more experience under our belts than you do. Even if your enemies and battle styles are different from ours. We started young, and a part of us really wish we got the chance to be kids. We had to grow up too fast. And so did you after your parents were killed." The girl turned her head away at the mention of her dead parents. Linda knew she would hit so many different emotions with the teen during their conversation, but it was necessary. "We were given the opportunity to give you to a child caretaker that would've raised you not as a weapon, but as a normal kid..."

"I know, I remember overhearing that." Samus replied. "It wouldn't have worked out though."

"I know, we all knew that. Deep down inside we wanted to give you a normal life, rather than the same fighting, survival of the fittest, lifestyle we grew up with. But you had already begun that lifestyle long before we came into your life." The redhead exhaled deeply, turning her gaze away.

"I didn't have a choice. None of us did." The teen told the Spartan in front of her.

"But do you understand why Chief is so protective over you?"

Samus shook her head no, still not understanding the sharpshooter's point behind this conversation.

"John knows he can't shelter you from war. But he does the best he can to make sure you're safe, and happy. He goes way out of his comfort zone to care for you. John finds whatever nurturing and parental skills he has hidden under his hardened war torn exterior. Just to remind you that you are still just a kid, not a bioweapon to be used and abused by different militaries that hire you."

"She said what to you?!" Kelly couldn't hold her laughter back as her leader explained the moment the teen talked back at him.

"It's not funny Kelly." John growled, Fred nodding in agreement with him.

"Okay, I know it's not funny. She shouldn't speak to you like that. But she's a kid John. So far that's the worst thing Samus has said to you." The brunet replied to her upset leader.

"There shouldn't be a so far. I don't know what got into her." Chief was clearly still shocked that his adopted daughter talked back to him.

"Samus hasn't slept very much. The kid's probably grumpy, exhausted, and not thinking straight." Kelly reminded John of his teen's over exhaustion.

"So you sent in the Lone Wolf, to talk to Junior Lone Wolf?" Fred commented gesturing to Linda's empty cot.

"I did no such thing. Linda went to Samus by herself." John denied sending their most independent teammate to deal with the young bounty hunter.

As Chief denied Fred's assumption both the teen and sharpshooter entered the room.

Samus stood silently holding her arm nervously. Until Linda gave her an encouraging nudge.

"Go on." Linda gently nudged the girl towards Master Chief.

"Chief, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to call you annoying..." Samus shamefully apologized. She was disappointed in herself for talking to Chief the way she did earlier. "What I said was uncalled for. I know you were just being caring..." she looked over her shoulder, glancing at the soft emerald green eyes staring down at her.

Chief stood up from his cot staring at his teen silently, increasing the tension. "Apology excepted." He accepted his daughter's apology.

Samus gave him an apologetic hug in response to Chief's apology acceptance. Even though he accepted her apology she still felt terrible for calling him annoying.

John could tell Samus was exhausted due to her weak embrace. During the hug he mouthed to Linda. "What did you say to her?"

Linda just shrugged with a smile, going back to her cot without any further reply.

"I'm just shocked it took you this long to finally talk back to him that way." Kelly remarked getting an unamused glare from Chief.

"Chief is right though." Samus sighed tiredly, sitting down on her berth. "I'm tired, I am not thinking straight. I've been having a rough time since my mission on ZDR. But none of that is an excuse to treat any of you the way I did with Chief."

"Samus, you only back talked at John. Don't beat yourself up, you didn't shoot him." The brunet scoffed feeling the girl was being a little too apologetic.

John ignored Kelly's comment, sitting down on his cot. "I'm glad you are recognizing your exhaustion. What happened after your mission?"

"After spending almost three days on that hell planet. I responded to a distress call not long after my mission ended. That's where I got injured. After that I went to the GF HQ and dealt with those assholes." Samus vaguely explained, leaving too many holes in her story.

"Okay, that was your schedule, you didn't exactly explain what went down during all that?" Fred cocked an eyebrow at the young teen.

"I kinda did though. I just simple... made it easy... no?"

"Simplified your story?" Linda said what the girl was trying to say.

"Yeah, simple mind." Samus tried to repeat, making the Spartans chuckle warmly at her.

"That's right, we sure do meet a lot of simple minded people." Kelly joked getting a sheepish giggle from the teen.

"Okay, we will brush up on her language skills." John smirked at the sharpshooter.

"Mhmm." Linda smirked with an eye roll.

"You simplified your explanation, Samus. You left out a lot of important details." Chief explained to his confused daughter.

"Oh!" The girl blinked in realization. "Well like I said, I got injured responding to a Pirate raid on a GF space station. After that I went for debriefing at HQ. Where they tried to tear Adam away from me because they think he's a defective AI."

"Whoa there little filly. Tried, to tear Adam away from you? Tried?" Linda questioned the young teen.

"Uuuuh, yeah..." Samus shrugged noticing Chief was getting ready to question her further.

"What happened Samus, tell us the truth?" John sternly asked his foundling.

"Because Adam listened to me, disobeying the Federation's orders to hold me on that space station. They wanted to deactivate him because Adam released me, and helped me destroy the research station and planet. So those Federation idiots wouldn't get killed when they arrived at the station."

"What happened at Head Quarters when they requested that you hand over your AI?" Master Chief ignored Samus's long winded explanation of why the Federation wanted Adam.

"Nothing, I left..." Samus replied, avoiding the question.

"Samus Aran..."

"Okay I may have argued, refusing their request. But I gave in so I didn't have to be throw in a brig." The teen replied honestly to the Spartans.

"Yet you still have the AI?" Fred mentioned with suspicion in his tone.

"I gave them my Ship's built in AI computer, instead of Adam." Samus answered Fred's confusion with a yawn.

"Well that was pretty shifty of you." Kelly thought aloud, almost impressed by what the teen did.

"You fooled them, you know you stole their AI right?" Fred warned the exhausted teen.

"I didn't think about it that way..." the teen tiredly blinked.

"Honestly, it's a small inconvenience that Samus kept their AI. The Federation assigned it to her didn't they, why does it matter whether she keeps it or not?" Kelly argued, figuring the AI wasn't really a huge asset to the Federation since they were just going to destroy it.

"Because Adam has access to the Federation database." Linda answered why the Galactic Federation wanted their foundling to hand over the AI.

Chief didn't know what to say about his daughter's situation. He had personally denied an order to hand over a rampant AI. But Samus's AI did not seem to be malfunctioning like the Galactic Federation seemed to believe. Perhaps Linda was right, they wanted to remove the AI from the bounty hunter simply because with Adam, she had full access to the Galactic Federation database. The Federation clearly had a corrupt side to them, they feared Samus's fierce intelligence and compassion for doing the right thing. "Seems the Galactic Federation prefers to keep you in the dark Samus." John looked over in his teen's direction when he didn't receive a reply from the half asleep girl. Her head bobbing as she fought her drowsiness.

"Samus?"

"Hmm?" The blonde teen tiredly gazed up at the Spartan leader.

Chief sighed with a small smile. "Blue Team, let's go into the cockpit and let Samus rest."

The three other Spartans obeyed their leader, exiting the sleeping quarters. Getting up to follow his teammates, he looked over his shoulder to see Samus now laying down in her berth.

"Adam, is that really all true what Samus said?" Kelly didn't waste any time questioning the AI.

"Correct. Samus deliberately disobeyed her orders, in order to keep me online. I fear her youthful processing has caused her to make rash decisions." The AI replied to the brunet Spartan.

"You think Samus is too immature to be thinking logically?" Fred thought aloud.

"Samus is immature of course, she's very young. But she has done a lot of adult thinking too. She is also very caring, and although you are an AI, she has obviously grown attached to you. Samus values your partnership." Master Chief gave his opinion to his teen's AI.

"I understand. I do not wish to cause problems that will undoubtedly put Samus in danger."

"I don't think it will come to that Adam. I'm sure the Galactic Federation has more important matters than a girl keeping one of their AI's." Kelly scoffed at the worried AI.

"Has there been any signals you've come across in the last few hours since our departure, Adam?" Linda asked changing the subject.

"Negative. Should I plot a course to a specific planet?" The AI replied.

"No, stay on course, and continue to scan." John shook his head no.

"Ugh, I feel like we're even more useless floating around in a ship, than we were running around aimlessly on Sangheilios." The brunet female Spartan complained to her team.

Fred rolled his eyes, shaking his head at Kelly. "We haven't even been on this ship two days yet, how are you already complaining?"

"I know... I just don't like the situation we're in." Kelly sighed.

"None of us do. This is a losing battle, we might not find anything for a while as everything escalates." Fred defeatedly replied.

The tension in their search for the Infinity, and Cortana, was increasing. Chief was trying to keep his team from falling into a defeated dread. But it was proving to be incredibly difficult as defeat took over himself. He knew they had lost and were growing powerless. It was only going to get worse.

Samus shifted uncomfortably, whimpering while chills shot through her body. Shivering in her berth the girl wrapped herself tightly in her blanket, trying to keep warm while the painful chills grew colder. It was as if her body was deficient of something.

One of the active screens on the dashboard of the ship, caught the Spartan leader's eye, as vital signs quickly scrolled on the display. The scans were scrolling by so quickly Chief could barely make out who's vitals were flashing on the screen.

Moments later the swish of the door opening behind the Spartans, grabbing their attention to the shivering girl standing with her blanket over her shoulders.

"Samus, what's the matter?" Linda cooed quickly guiding the girl over to the team.

Kelly gently placed the back of her hand on the shivering girl's cheek. "Samus you're ice cold."

John didn't hesitate to promptly scoop the girl off the ground, wrapping her tightly in the blanket as he held her in his arms. "Did you have a nightmare?"

Samus weakly shook her head no, still shaking tremendously in Chief's arms.

John held his shivering daughter against his chest hoping to share his warmth with the freezing girl. "Adam, what's your prospective on Samus's symptoms?"

"Diagnosis unknown. Subject seems to be declining in internal temperatures, it is unknown if mentioned symptom is due to an energy deficiency." The AI's voice answered through the speakers in the ship.

"Energy deficiency? The kid's exhaustion is shutting down her body, is this burn out?" Fredrick questioned with concern in his tone.

"Highly plausible, Spartan 104. Further analysis is required to be certain." Adam wondered if the sudden weakening symptoms in the teen were due to other reasons. But it would take longer for him to diagnose with the teen out of her armour.

"Adam, can you raise the temperature in the ship please." Chief requested, rubbing the girl's back to create a little more warmth for his freezing child.

"Certainly." Adam replied, raising the temperature in the ship by a small amount.

"Samus has gone without rest for long periods of time before. Why all of sudden is she shutting down like this?" Kelly titled her head curiously at the uncomfortable girl in their leader's arms.

"From what information I've obtained, Samus has had mutations take over her in the last few days. Her body may still be adjusting?" Chief guessed what could possibly be happening with their foundling.

"Great, so we got a sick kid. This isn't what we needed to add to our list of shit that's going down." The brunet Spartan groaned in annoyance.

Samus hid her face in Chief's chest her body was causing more issues again, but this time it effected everyone around her. And Kelly was right to complain they did not need the extra stress of her not feeling well. The Spartans needed her in order to track down the Infinity and the destructive AI.

"Kelly..." Linda hissed at her sister, gesturing to the girl hiding from them.

"No, Samus. I didn't mean for that to be directed at you. I'm just voicing the fact that things are not going well for us. I'm not upset with you, you can't help not feeling well." Kelly apologized to the shivering teen.

Samus's head was spinning, but she looked over with a insignificant nod in acknowledgement. She was confused as to why she felt this horrible. Wondering if it was the effects of her Metroid DNA starving for energy that was keeping her from properly resting.

"Adam... switch all ship controls to english..." The girl weakly spoke. "Grant full control... access... to all Blue Team members..."

"Gunship systems reformatted to english. All ship control systems fully accessible to all Blue Team members." Adam reported back to his human partner.

"Samus why'd you do that?" Kelly asked curiously, softening her tone.

"Yeah, if it's easier for you to access your controls in Chozo, don't switch them for us." Fred added.

Since her body was starving for energy, Samus was concerned that her Metroid DNA was going to cause her body to react involuntarily, especially if she touched her ship's controls. Her anxious craving for energy may cause her to latch onto that particular energy source, and drain the ship completely of its power. "I'm... Imma... need help... I... explain later..."

"We can help you Samus." Linda nodded in understanding

John sat them down in one of the passenger seats he could feel his daughter's trembling simmer slowly as he continued to transfer warmth to the girl. "Are you doing okay?"

The girl nodded in reply, wrapping her blanket over her head to retain more heat. She lay her head weakly against the muscular chest. Her trembling settled as drowsiness took over her completely, causing her to nod off.

"Are you..." John quickly silenced himself from asking the unwell girl questions. Peeking down at his daughter wrapped in the blanket, he could see that her eyes were closed. Figuring it was best to let her fall asleep, and ask questions later. He would question his foundling's AI, as he would get clearer answers to the possible ailments plaguing his daughter.

"We should contact Commander Palmer." Linda thought aloud with a sigh.

"You're going to do that, right when Samus is falling asleep?" John scoffed shocking the team with his comment.

"John..." Kelly laughed at her leader's comment. "As much as I dislike the her. We need to contact her so she doesn't start shitting on Samus for not keeping up with communications." She said walking past her leader and sleeping foundling. "I'm not contacting her by the way." She glared at the other male Spartan in the cockpit.

"Fine, I'll do it." Fred groaned with a sigh, tapping away at the ship's control panel.

"Aran, I'm shocked, I thought I would be the first one to make contact. I wasn't expecting you to check in." Sarah Palmer's surprised voice came through the speakers of the ship.

To Chief's dismay Samus lifted her head after hearing her last name being called.

"Actually Commander, it's me, Spartan 104 checking in." Fred looked over his shoulder to see John glaring at him.

"Huh, where's Aran?" The Commander questioned.

"Resting Commander, Samus had received an injury before reuniting with us." Fredrick replied in short. "We have no activity to report on. Samus's ship is actively scanning for any distress signals or slip space jumps."

"We've been searching but keep coming up empty. We're heading towards colony worlds right now. I would suggest you do the same. I will contact you if we run into a situation." The Commander explained, making the call short.

"Understood." Fred replied, ending the call. "Is she bouncing off the walls John?" He teased his leader.

"Are you trying to be amusing?" Chief cocked an eyebrow at his brother.

"You know the kid's not going to wake to the sound of a pin dropping?" The joking male sarcastically replied.

John rolled his eyes getting up from his seat with Samus fast asleep in his arms. "Adam, are there any new findings on why Samus is so ill all of a sudden?"

"Subjects ailment still have no precise diagnosis, or cause. But I have theories." The AI replied peeking the Spartan's interest.

"What are your theories?"

"Samus was considered to be fully taken over by her Metroid DNA at the end of her last mission on ZDR. To the point that she could not control it any longer. Until Quiet Robe allowed his X to be absorbed by Samus, his added DNA reverting her back to her gravity suit instead of her Metroid suit. Giving our young warrior a small amount of control over her Metroid instincts." Adam explained trying to be quick in his explanation while also being informative.

"Are you suggesting Samus is out of control?" Linda questioned, although her question sounded like a joke, it was not.

"What the fuck is a Metroid suit?" Kelly thought aloud.

"I'm suggesting her Metroid DNA is taking a toll on her body, as she's trying to fight her life draining instincts. Seems Samus has not adapted to the added Thoha DNA. Perhaps all different sets of different genetics are competing against each other, causing Samus to be ill." Adam explained further, as more theories came to him.

The speedy Spartan shrugged her shoulders at the sleeping girl in her leader's arms. "In other words Samus is a genetic nightmare."

"Sounds more like an autoimmune condition. Or to be more blatant, an autoimmune attack of some sort." Linda thought.

"Your theory is most likely correct, Spartan 058. Her body is most likely fighting itself with all the different DNA that's been infused into the young specimen. But further analysis is required to get a definitive diagnosis. It is possible that Samus could recover after this resting period." Adam was in agreement with the sharpshooter, but this area of illness with the teen was unknown to him and everyone else, he needed to do further scans. Deep down Adam knew Samus needed to study, and unlock the knowledge of control from her Thoha genes, in order to gain any sense of peace within.

"Is there anything we can do to help Samus feel better?" Chief asked of course.

"For the moment, helping Samus rest is the best option you can offer. I would highly recommend helping her unlock the knowledge of control for her Metroid instincts. After she's recovered enough physical strength." Adam offered the only aiding options he could suggest.

"How the hell are we going to do that, when we have no knowledge of Metroids in general?" The brunet Spartan shook her head.

"I have plenty of Metroid studies if you wish to indulge in those. But you would have better success speaking with Samus, as she is quite different from an actual Metroid." The AI simply replied to the questioning Spartan.

"We will help her gain control." John reassured the AI.

Over the next few hours Blue Team did maintenance on their weapons and armour. While also studying what they could about the Metroids, and the Chozo's influence.

Hearing the door to the cockpit swish open, Linda looked up from cleaning her rifle. "John, you do know you could've put Samus to bed a long time ago. You don't have to carry her around."

Master Chief replied with a sigh sitting down on the teen's berth. Gazing down at the slumbering being in his arms. "This is the longest she's slept, since she left us to become a bounty hunter..."

Linda put down her rifle with a small smile, sitting next to her leader on the berth. "You don't know that John, Samus must've slept during her down time in between missions."

"I disagree, she did not. You saw her when we traveled to Meridian. Samus was exhausted, and still is. Adam even mentioned how little rest she's gotten." Chief argued.

The redhead sighed deeply, gingerly placing her hand on the girl's cheek. "She's warmer now. Try putting her down."

Linda was trying to help her leader relax his stressful concern for their ill foundling. Reluctantly standing up, Chief very carefully placed the wrapped girl onto the berth.

"Come'on, we should make sure Adam is piloting us towards colony worlds." Linda placed a hand on her leader's shoulder.

John's gazed at his slumbering daughter with concern, he did not want to leave her. So he stalled by putting on his armour, while monitoring his sleeping foundling.

"Okay, you had your armour on thirty minutes ago. I'm sure Adam can pull up a monitor that has a live feed to this room." The sharpshooter guided her reluctant leader into the cockpit.

"Okay, the more I read about these things the creepier they get." The speed runner scoffed as the two other Spartans entered the cockpit.

"Seriously, they can absorb powers and abilities and use them against a target? I'm done reading about this." Fred shook his head, looking over his shoulder to see Chief empty handed. "Did you actually set Samus down in her bed?"

"Yes Fredrick, I did." John replied with a stern yet annoyed tone. "Are we on course for the UNSC colony worlds?"

"Precisely on course 117." Adam replied before any of the Blue Team members could.

"So if we happen to land on one, and Samus is still out of commission. What's the plan?" Kelly turned to the team.

"She stays aboard the ship, and supports us from the sky." John replied, hoping that giving Samus a small job would make her less likely to argue against being left behind.

"I'm sure that'll go over well." The brunet Spartan rolled her eyes.

Samus's eyes opened tiredly, waking in a cold sweat, an overwhelming flush of nausea causing the tightly wrapped girl to sit up. "Oh no..." she quickly got off her berth, taking a few steps towards the lavatory unfortunately getting caught up in her blanket. The extremely nauseous girl fell hard onto the floor with a loud thud. "Fuuuck... get up..." Samus moaned trying to wriggle out of her blanket.

"What the hell was that?!" Kelly jumped out of her seat.

"Did we hit something?" Fred asked as John quickly made his way to the living quarters.

Samus jolted in surprise when she was lifted out of her blanket, and off the ground. The movement causing her nausea to worsen. "Chief... let me go..." she weakly fought her father figure's hold, as the coming vomit rushed to her esophagus.

Master Chief released his hold on his daughter after he made sure was standing. "Are you alri..." Chief didn't get the chance to ask if Samus was alright as she rushed into the lavatory.

Standing in the room with John, Linda cringed hearing the poor teen violently vomiting from the lavatory. "Well, she is still moving well at least..." the sharpshooter commented, almost surprised that she actually made such a comment.

John ignored the comment walking into the lavatory to find his teen sitting on the floor breathing heavily. "Do you need me to get anything for you?"

"Nuh uh..." The girl shook her head, wiping the excess vomit off of her mouth.

"I found a canteen, figured you could use it." Linda stood in the doorway.

Taking the canteen, Chief crouched next to his daughter, offering the canteen. "Samus."

The teen didn't argue against taking the drink, eagerly sipping from the canteen, wanting to get rid of the taste of vomit.

"Alert, unknown signal detected on nearby shipwreck." Adam's alert sounded through the whole ship.

Samus took a deep breath, pushing herself off of the floor. "Isolate the signal..."

"Samus, we can handle this. Go rest, you're not well." Master Chief said, following his foundling out into the cockpit.

"Move your big ass Kelly..." Samus sarcastically retorted at the female Spartan occupying her piloting chair.

Kelly usually would've taken out whoever dared to speak to her like that. But because it was their foundling she couldn't help but laugh at the funny remark. "Gladly, my big ass is getting numb in this tiny seat."

"I'm larger in my armour and I am able to sit, it's not that small." Samus scoffed sitting down.

"Your armour is not very bulky kid, nice try." Kelly shook her head as Samus fully activated the dashboard.

"Speaking of armour, go suit up Kelly, and Fred." Chief ordered the two Spartans that were still in their jumpsuits.

"Adam, what is going on?" The teen asked pulling up the holographic image of the frigate.

"The vessel seems to be of UNSC decent. And has seemed to have been deactivated for over a week." The AI reported to the questioning teen.

"What was the cause of its deactivation?" Both Samus and Chief asked at the exact same time.

"Cause of the ship's deactivation is unknown, judging by the damage inflicted on it, I would suggest it was an ambush. Further investigation is required." Adam replied as the ship pulled up to a small landing pad.

"Are you detecting any potential survivors?" Samus wondered getting up from her seat she activated her armour.

"I'm not seeing any signs of life. There's a possibility of dormant life in hidden sections of the vessel." Adam mentioned as the team of Spartans gathered around the armoured teen at the ship's exit.

The AI must've been talking about cryo chambers John thought as the exit hatch lowered.

Samus allowed Fred, Linda, and Kelly to step off first. Scanning the area with their weapons ready. The teen looked over her shoulder after feeling a tug at her left arm. "Chief?"

"Are you sure you're feeling alright enough?" Master Chief asked looking down into the acid green visor.

Samus nodded yes. "I feel fine." The teen shrugged, her armour was running at full capacity it seemed to be giving her quite a bit of energy.

Chief followed his team to the large bay doors. "Kelly, is the frigate's power still functional enough to open this door?"

"Negative John, I'm getting no readings of electricity in this facility." Kelly responded to her leader's query.

"There's no signs of damage to the docking bays, or the doors." Fred noted. "Could it be possible that the facility had its energy drained?"

"Let's get through the door first before jumping to conclusions, Fred." Kelly said as Samus tried to find an entry way.

"We're going to have to find an alternate route in. This door isn't going to budge." Linda said after trying to activate the smaller door hatch next to the bay doors.

Master Chief gazed up scanning for a possible maintenance hatch. His eyes immediately caught sight of the violet Chozo armour walking along the rafters. "Samus, what are you doing..." John shook his head quickly rephrasing his question. "Samus, do you see a way inside?"

"When the hell did she get up there?" Kelly scoffed looking up at the armoured teen.

"Samus, you need to announce your movements, or we might mistake you for a hostile." Linda called after the moving teen.

"Sorry." Samus apologized finding a small maintenance vent. "I found a maintenance hatch." She called down to the Spartans below.

"Great, we'll climb up..."

"Uuuh..." Samus tilted her helm in an unsure manner as she sized up the vent. "Sure, it'll be a tight fit for you though." The teen said as the Spartans joined her.

Linda cringed at the vent, knowing it would be awkwardly difficult to crawl through with her long sniper rifle. "Is there a larger hatch somewhere, this is going to be tight for us."

Samus rolled her eyes with a sigh. "Why don't you just let me go on ahead, I'll activate the power, and open the bay doors."

Master Chief was going to argue against that suggestion, but knew he had to release his grip on his daughter. "We will continue to try and find an alternate way in while you do so."

Samus transformed into her morph ball, going through the vent onto the other side of the door. The other side was just as dull as the docking bay. There were no lights, or signs of life the only thing illuminating the room was Samus's armour. Walking through the darkness the teen eventually came across generator. Scanning it to see where exactly the power would be routed if activated.

All four Spartans lifted their guns as soon as the large doors jerked apart, slowly opening with screeching pulleys.

"I activated a generator I found, it only powers half of the vessel. Two more generators lay dormant throughout this frigate." The young voice of the teen came over the comlinks.

"Stay where you are, we'll come to you." John replied over the comlink.

"I'm heading towards the bridge to see if there's any survivors. I will wait for you there." Samus replied only irritating John.

"She never listens..." Chief shook his head, checking the rooms on the way to the bridge.

"Samus can handle it Chief." Fred jogged up next to his leader.

Samus entered the bridge with her cannon aimed, scanning the dark room, the teen took note of massive hole blown in the front of the frigate, the MAC cannons completely disintegrated. "The hell..." the teen lowered her cannon as she walked around the deck, not a soul was in sight. Pressing a button on a nearby sparking console it immediately gave her coordinates to a sheltered room. "Wonder if that's where everyone is?" She thought aloud.

The teen's curiosity of course got the better of her, causing her to leave the bridge, forgetting about the Spartan team she was supposed to rendezvous with.

"This place is a freaking ghost town. It's as if no one was even here." Kelly said as they approached the bridge.

Walking through the bridge all Spartans walked over to the control center near the large windshield. "Whoa, something blew the defence systems right off this ship."

"Could that be the work of a Guardian?" Linda asked as Fred activated a nearby console.

"That's a very good possibility. I will tap into the last transmissions that were sent out." Fred said as the rest of the team swept the area.

"Clear."

"Clear."

"What's with this place, there's not a single soul, or dead body to be found?" Kelly asked lowering her shotgun.

"Well, even if that is true, we should head to the armoury at some point. We need to stock up on ammunition. I doubt Samus is packing any of our weapons ammunition." Linda said meeting back up in the middle of the bridge.

Master Chief let out an audible groan at the mention of Samus's name.

"What's the matter?" The sharpshooter turned her helmet in the green Spartan's direction.

"Samus is missing."

Kelly rolled her eyes behind her oversized visor. "Ugh, of course she is... that kid seriously needs to learn how to cooperate with a team."

"It's been a while, and we didn't exactly spend much time on missions with her. Just call her John." Linda reminded.

Samus continued down the dark empty corridors, the sound of her light footsteps echoing. Hearing an odd whirring noise from above made the teen spin around with her cannon aimed high. Seeing nothing she lowered her cannon with confusion continuing on cautiously. "Adam, I'm approaching a fortified room. I'm guessing it's a bomb shelter, I believe there may be some survivors hiding there. Are you picking up anything?"

"Samus, I am still not picking up any signs of life on the frigate." Adam replied making Samus concerned.

"I wonder if this facility was evacuated..." she wondered breaking the lock panel to gain access to the a room that led to the shelter. As expected there was more than one door blocking access.

"Halt!" A bloody soldier jumped out of the shadows with a battle rifle aimed at the Chozo warrior.

Samus put her left hand up in surrender. "Easy, I'm friendly. I am here with Spartan Blue Team.

"Oh thank god Spartans! We thought we were goners!" The soldier lowered his gun taking a step closer to the teen.

"We?" Samus replied taking a step closer, figuring the man was talking about the survivors in the bomb shelter. "Are the other survivors in the shelter?" She as her left hand lit up with her familiar Metroid instincts. "Shit..." she thought, now wasn't the time to be having issues in front of UNSC soldiers.

"John, looks like a fortified room has been unlocked." Looking at a large monitor Fredrick pointed out to his leader.

"That's Samus, she may have found survivors. Let's move Blue Team." Master Chief led his team down the dark corridors towards Samus's location.

Hearing a squish underfoot Samus looked down to see black goo oozing from under the closed door. The soldier behind her had gone silent, the door swung open revealing a room fully of rotting, deceased, bodies. Thankful for her armour as she assumed the smell of this room would've been pungent throughout the frigate. Stepping in to check for any signs of life the room lit up completely, revealing familiar floating gelatinous parasites. Terror stuck her heart as she realized the imminent danger her family was in.

The parasites quickly absorbed themselves into the deceased, reanimating half of them as blackened rotting flesh creatures, while the other half looked like pale sickly soldiers standing on their last legs. They began their assault on their predatory enemy.

"Gunfire!" Linda alerted the team as they ran faster towards the noise.

Using her wide plasma beam, Samus vaporized most of the sickly humans absorbing the X that had infected them. The hail of gunfire and physical damage from the gooey creatures took a toll on the teen, but she pushed on fighting. Ignoring her Metroid instincts trying to siphon energy from the X parasites. By the time the Spartans reached the room all enemies were terminated except for one.

"Samus!?" Master Chief called out in shock approaching the death scene with the teen's armour covered in blood.

The soldier that had led the teen to this room jumped at the Spartans after seeing Samus's strength, it mutated into a horrific humanoid gooey mutation.

"Open fire!"

Blue Team immediately fired at the creature, destroying it. Causing the parasite to be exposed. The gelatinous parasite floated before charging for Master Chief.

Samus quickly leapt in front of her father figure. Shoving him into his teammates she absorbed the jelly parasite.

"Samus, what the hell is going on, why'd you do that?" Kelly hissed steadying Chief.

"You need to get out of here, right fucking now!" The teen forcefully began to shove her family out of the room.

"What the hell?" The Spartan's complained stumbling into the corridor.

"Samus explain yourself, what is this erratic behaviour coming from you?!" Chief demanded but the teen had no time.

"Spartans, it is vital that you listen to Samus's every command. The X parasites have overrun the frigate. There's a 0% chance of survival if you become infected." Adam's concerned robotic voice came over their comlinks.

"What about survivors?" Kelly asked, warily looking around for said deadly parasite.

"There's no survivors here. If any appear it's most likely the X mimicking their host." Samus replied gesturing for her Spartans to follow. "Come'on, let's get you back to the ship."

The Spartan team didn't argue or question as to why their teen's hand was glowing. As much as this was a UNSC frigate like any other they've been on. It was unknown territory for them with this dangerous parasite. Following the teen's instructions they rounded a corner where multiple marines stood with live grenades in their hands.

"Fall back!" John ordered as the marines threw multitudes of grenades at the team.

Samus used her wide beam to disintegrate the flying grenades as the team did not move fast enough. The teen fired at the X parasite hosts until the gelatinous creatures emerged to be absorbed by her. Going for the last mutant marine it threw one more grenade, the unexpected explosive exploding right under Chief as he fired at the marine with his assault rifle.

The explosion caused John to fly back his teammates suffering small shield damage from the nearby explosion. His shielding completely depleted, the warnings beeping, flaring rapidly in his foggy mind.

Samus finished off the X absorbing it before rushing back to her Spartans.

"John's down." Kelly and Fred rushed to aid their leader while Linda kept guard with her rifle ready.

"I'm fine... my shields are down." Chief exhaled kneeling on the ground, his armour crackling and sparking without shields.

Hearing the screech of monstrous parasites approaching, Samus's hand glowed intensely. Crouching next to her damaged adopted father, with a deep exhale the girl placed her hand on Chief's helmet.

John visibly jumped when he felt an odd sensation wash over him, watching his shields rapidly recharging on his HUD.

Depleting three energy tanks, Samus released the Spartan's helmet after the sparking, and sizzling, of his armour subsided. "We should move." She stood back up hiding her wooziness.

Master Chief got off the ground with his assault rifle in hand. Very confused by what had just happened, they continued to follow the armoured teen.

As they neared the gunship Samus's strides were noticeably uncoordinated. As a wave of intense nausea took over her once again. Still sealed inside the frigate the teen knew she would not make it back to her ship in time. Deactivating her helmet she held onto the nearby wall.

The Spartan team halted as the teen violently vomited onto the floor. Chief gestured with his head for his team to move forward.

Samus visibly jumped feeling a large hand on her back. Activating her helmet she got back up to point position, leading the team back to the violet ship.

"Get in."

"What are you doing?!" Kelly hissed refusing to get in the ship.

"I've got to destroy this vessel. We can't risk the parasite being exposed further." Samus replied, herding the team onto the ship's hatch. Even though deep down she felt the parasite had spread beyond this frigate.

"We couldn't have done that on the way back here?" Spartan 087 complained.

"With the risk of infection being 99% no Kelly."

"You're still unwell Samus. Get in your ship, we can fly around to hit the fusion reactor core." Fred said to the reluctant teen.

"The reactor won't blow the frigate unless its online." Linda mentioned making Samus nod her head in understanding.

"I will activate the frigate's full power. Stay here and assist me from the ship." The teen told the frustrated teen.

"Samus, you're not going by yourself." John sternly told the girl.

"Yes I am Chief." Samus replied equally as stern.

"Samus..."

"No!" Samus spat shutting Chief up. "You're in my domain now. This environment is not safe for humans. You all lack the immunity to combat this parasite, I will not put you guys at risk, when you are needed to combat Cortana's madness." The teen activated the hatch sending the team into the ship. "Adam do not let them off of the ship." She ordered, leaving the docking bay.

"Samus!" John smashed his fist against the wall as the ship sealed.

Ignoring the Spartan's anger Adam quickly calculated a course for the teen to follow. "Of course Lady. The fastest way to the remaining generators is through maintenance vents. You should be able to avoid the infected while travelling to each generator." The AI computer announced pulling up a live audio visual feed for the Spartans.

"John, come'on she's right. We're no use to the UNSC if we get infected by a deadly parasite." Fred brought his upset brother over to the monitor.

Samus travelled through the vents taking only fifteen minutes for her to turn on full power.

"The facility is fully operational, we should pilot to the fusion reactors." Adam suggested, firing up the ship engines.

"What about Samus, she's still in the ship!?" Fred asked steadying himself as the ship took off.

"You can retrieve me on the way." Samus replied over the comlink.

Not only was the frigate operational again, the X amongst the ship awoke to the presence of a Metroid. Sprinting down the corridors instead of taking the vents, the teen's attention was captured by the loose plasma rifles, and alien weaponry littering the floors. Going through a hatch Samus was suddenly tackled to the floor by a massive brutish creature.

"Samus!" Chief cried out in horror as the live feed went fuzzy during the attack.

Taking numerous blows to her sides that lacked metal plating, the teen could feel the impacts from the attack begin to crack her ribs. Getting a leg under the creature she kicked it off, quickly rolling onto her feet she fired a super missile, obliterating the mutated ape like creature. Absorbing the X that escaped the exploded body.

"What... the fuck... was that!?" Samus gasped for air as she scanned for any other surprises.

"That was a Brute. Or their native name Jiralhanae. It was incredibly mutated, but definitely a Brute." Kelly answered the injured teen's question.

"So the X wasn't the reason for this frigate's deactivation." Fred thought aloud.

Samus continued on further, making her way across the demolished deck into the starboard of the frigate. Finding a platform full of familiar Covenant aliens along side more Brutes. The berserk X Brutes charged the hunter over powering her once again. The teen fired a charged plasma beam downing another Brute, just as another slammed her into the ground. The teen yelped in pain, her hand lighting up she latched her hand onto the head of the attacking Brute.

The creature screamed in agony as it's life was drained. The red X escaping the ape like husk. Samus jumped to her feet as the parasite escaped absorbing into an already infected Jackal.

"Fuck this, I don't have time for this!" Samus painfully contorted into her morph ball, setting off a power bomb, the surrounding parasites vaporizing as the frigate shook. Reminding her that Blue Team was igniting the frigate. Sprinting to the destroyed missile launcher Samus stood outside. Scanning the destroyed remnants of Banshees, and Spirit drop-ships.

"Samus, two minutes until the frigate blows and you with it!" Kelly announced through the teen's helmet speakers.

"I'm on the nuclear missile launcher!" The teen replied as the ground beneath her began to crumble.

"Why is she there?" Fred grumbled, piloting the ship towards the frigate's missile launcher.

"There she is right there!" Kelly exclaimed, pointing at the violet armoured teen struggling to stay afoot the exploding missile launcher.

John lowered the ship's hatch as they hovered warily next to the exploding launcher.

Samus leapt onto the lowered platform. "I'm on!" She called out as Chief activated the hatch.

Master Chief didn't wait for the hatch to lift. Hooking his hand on the collar of the teen's armour, yanking the girl aboard the ship.

Samus laid on the floor, her adrenaline wearing off, all the agonizing pain from her injuries sharply surging through her body. "Fuuuuck... I'm lighter... than a tank, Chief..."

"We have to move away from the frigate before it explodes." He replied holding the teen in place as the turbulence shook the entire ship violently.

"Let... me up!" Samus cried out through gasps as the turbulence was worse from the floor.

John lifted the armoured girl to her feet, escorting her to the cockpit. "Sit."

The teen reluctantly sat down in one of the passenger seats, wincing behind her visor. "Adam..."

"Damage analysis, 6 broken ribs, one said rib puncturing..."

"Adam, no. I want you to scan for any other vessel in the surrounding area. Alien, or human." Samus spoke through pained breaths. "I want to know where the X originated from."

"I will review the data Spartan 104 downloaded from the UNSC frigate." Adam replied as they escaped the explosion unharmed.

"Thank you..." The teen thanked her AI. Getting up with a pained groan. Samus trudged into the living quarters to wash her armour that was disgustingly covered in guts and blood.

"We're safe from the wreckage now. Adam you can take the controls." Fred said, getting up from the piloting chair. "I thought the Covenant was ended during our time on that Forerunner shield world?"

"It must be the rebellion faction Arbiter spoke of on Sangheilios." Chief thought aloud, Linda nodding in agreement with him.

Kelly waited for the door to close after the teen left the cockpit. "What the fuck happened on that ship?!"

"From what I gathered myself, it looks like some rebel Covenant members raided the frigate..." Fred began to reply to the female Spartan's questioned.

"No, I mean when John's shields were blown. What the fuck did Samus do to you?!" The speed runner turned to the Spartan leader.

"I don't exactly have an answer to that Kelly... my shields recharged in seconds just from her touch." John replied just as confused as the rest of his team.

"That was a result of Samus's Metroid powers. It is not uncommon for a Metroid to siphon energy from a host, and transfer it to another target. It can be a healing mechanism for allies. But it can also be a dangerous weapon to overload certain mechanical mechanisms." Adam voluntarily explained to the wondering Spartan team.

"Right, you know all that data we studied makes more sense when you actually see it in action." Kelly shrugged, taking off her helmet.

"We should check on the kid..." Fred looked around the cockpit, noticing the missing sharpshooter. "Where's Linda?"

"She was right next to me five seconds ago." Kelly shrugged not too concerned.

Sitting on the floor of the lavatory, tears streamed down Samus's face, the pain from her broken ribs making her vomiting immensely excruciating.

"Samus..." Linda carefully sat next to the silently sobbing girl. "Do you have anything aboard your ship, that can ease your pain?"

Samus shook her head no, pushing of the floor in a cry of pain.

"I saw a small medical room in the back of the ship. Come'on, let's examine your injuries." Linda gently escorted her foundling to said med bay, that proved to be like a tiny nurses room. Sitting the girl on the medical table, her eyes immediately went to the displaced ribs on the right side of the teen. "Broken ribs, possible fractures on the others..."

"Those Brutes..."

"They're deadly. I know." Linda finished the teen's sentence. "I'm more concerned about what is causing you to be so sick?"

"It's my body adjusting to the injury..." Samus replied wincing at every word she spoke.

The sharpshooter didn't believe the teen, as the girl had vomited prior to getting injured. "It was really brave of you to go through that frigate by yourself. I'm surprised that absorbing all those parasites does nothing to you." Linda commented as she searched for something to ease the teen's pain, unfortunately coming up empty.

"I'm... usually... by myself, that's why... I don't have an issue doing that. As for the X parasites... I'm their apex predator with my Metroid DNA!" The teen yelped in reply as the sharpshooter felt her rib cage.

"Those are definitely broken..." The redheaded Spartan sighed feeling further she worried that one of the broke ribs was puncturing Samus's lung.

Taking shorter breaths to communicate properly with the sharpshooter, the girl scooted back away from the examining hands. "My armour... is more organic now... thanks to my new genetics. I have a lot less armoured plating, and more of a mesh like shielding harness, running in between the plating." Samus carefully got off the table, leading the sniper to the cockpit. "Adam, status report..."

"Incoming slip space jump, prepare for turbulence." Adam interrupted the girl as a large boom came from above them followed by a massive shadow casting over the tiny gunship.

"It's Infinity!" Fred exclaimed.

With a quick flash of light Samus's violet armour materialized around her. "Adam, contact the Infinity immediately." She sat down in her chair with a small gasp of pain.

"Contacting, transmission received, connection is online. You are permitted to speak."

"It's better if someone well known to the UNSC talks." Samus whispered weakly to her father.

"Sierra 117 to Infinity, do you copy?" Master Chief spoke up after Samus gestured for him to talk.

"Captain Lasky of the UNSC Infinity, we copy Chief. Opening the hanger bay doors, you are cleared to dock your vessel aboard Infinity." Lasky replied over the radio.

Samus gently piloted her ship into the mentioned hanger bays, a squadron of Spartan fours waiting with Captain Lasky.

Blue Team was the first out of the ship, greeting the more than relieved Captain.

Samus glanced at a small flashing light on the dashboard of her ship, figuring it was just Adam running some sort of update. She descended down the hatch shortly after Blue Team. The teen was in an incredible amount of pain, unable to properly breath she ignored it completely as all hands on deck aimed their weapons at her odd looking armour.

"At ease." Lasky commanded the men to lower their weapons. The Captain barely recognized the armoured teen in her organically formed Violet armour. "Samus Aran, I'm glad to see you. We've heard a lot about you."

Samus gave a small nod in acknowledgement. Wondering how the hell Lasky heard about her since her departure almost a year and a half ago. Her vision went past the Captain, locating a familiar irritated Spartan Commander, and the doctor now sporting a prosthetic arm. "Shit..." she mentally cursed realizing the blinking light was most likely a missed transmission from Palmer.

All Spartans on Blue Team exchanged looks when they felt the Infinity jump into slip space.

"The only way we've been avoiding Cortana, and the Created is by space jumps, in between helping colony worlds." Lasky explained gesturing for Blue Team to follow him.

As the team followed, Commander Palmer joined them with Halsey in tow.

"Thought I told you to stay in communication?" Palmer walked next to the alien armour.

"Sorry, we got caught up in something. If my ship is in combat mode it will make transmissions a second priority. I saw the notification as we docked..." Samus replied, hiding her pained tone as they entered the massive bridge.

"We got the notification that a UNSC frigate was destroyed nearby. You've all got some explaining to do." The Commander replied, suspicious of the teen. She walked over to the Captain, standing next to Lasky loyally as Osiris joined them in the bridge, lining up next to Blue Team and the Chozo warrior.

That was another thing that worried the bounty hunter. Where did those X parasites originate from, how'd they get on that frigate? Wondering if they were from a plague ship belonging to those brutish aliens? That seemed to be highly plausible. Samus knew she would have to stick around the UNSC, whether their Military Government liked it, or not. If they were actively at war with those aliens they could be spreading the parasite across the galaxies. Dooming mankind in more than one way.

"This isn't going well. Cortana has her Guardians deployed across the known regions of the galaxy." Lasky began to explain with a heavy sigh. "Any attempt to resist, or conflict against them, will result in the Created using the Guardians as constructs to unleash upon perpetrators."

John closed his eyes behind his visor. Instant regrets flashing through his mind. Wondering why he didn't deactivated Cortana when she was clearly showing her signs of expiration. What made it worse was that he practically blindly followed his former AI once she revealed her presence to him. Dragging his team along with him, there would be penalties for going AWOL. Just not now...

As the briefing went on, Samus could sense the tension in the green Spartan standing next to her. Curious if he was feeling responsible for the chaotic state of the galaxy? It was clear to Samus, that Cortana was making up her own prophecies.

Slightly turning his head after feeling a smaller hand brush up against his larger hand. Gazing down at his teen, the acid green combat visor was deactivated, leaving the teen's visor a translucent green. Samus gazed up at him with soft compassionate eyes. It eased his regretful heart a small amount, knowing that there was at least one being that wouldn't suffer the many consequences due to him leading her on an insanity trip to rescue his AI from... "What, what was I rescuing her from? Herself?" He mentally shook his head at himself.

"Doctor Halsey is working on a plan to take Cortana down." The Captain said gesturing to the Doctor.

"It'll take some time, the Created have us in a vice. I will be needing your assistance Spartans." Halsey mentioned, pointing her conversation towards Blue Team.

"How long?" Fred asked.

Halsey sighed deeply she truly didn't know the answer to that, but knew unfortunately it would be a lengthy process. "Six months to a year, this isn't an ordinary battle Fredrick. We're being held hostage at this point, step out of line, mankind and the galaxy could come to a swift end."

While Halsey, the Captain, and Commander continued to speak, Samus was getting fidgety. Bringing her hand to her chest in discomfort. Every breath she took felt like her last, sharply reminding her of the broken bones beneath her armoured plating.

"Samus Aran."

Her name being called brought the teen's attention to the Captain.

"As Doctor Halsey mentioned, the galaxy is now in a surveillance state, with the Created threatening the UNSC at every turn, if we show any signs of resisting." Glancing at Blue Team Lasky turned his attention to the teen. "From the after mission briefing Osiris reported. Your aid on their mission, saved Blue Team from Cortana's clutches. Proving that you're an exceptional asset on the battlefield."

Samus had almost forgotten about her time with Osiris. It was a bit of an argument working with the Spartan fours. But if they gave her a good report, she must not have been that awful.

"As much as the UNSC refuses to hire bounty hunters as an asset. I would like to enlist your help, you offer a lot of abilities, and power, the UNSC does not currently possess. With what's happening, I don't see there's much of a choice." Lasky finally turned his full attention to the girl painfully holding her abdomen.

Samus was uncertain about agreeing at first with the danger of X's existence. Realizing the UNSC frigate had probably destroyed the plague ship in battle, the few aliens that boarded the frigate were the ones who infected the humans aboard. And the Galactic Federation was continuing to be shady to no end, no doubt they were lying about the many contracts they had lined up for her.

"I will gla...gladly... aid the UNSC in any... way... possible, Captain." The girl's words were stuttered as she held back the urge to cry out in pain.

Lasky nodded with a smile that quickly turned into a concerned frown. "Aran, are you injured?"

Samus gave an insignificant nod in reply.

"Samus encountered an issue on a wrecked UNSC frigate. It has been dealt with, but Samus did not escape unharmed." Fred mentioned to the Captain.

Lasky exhaled heavily, rubbing the back of his head. "Samus, report to sick bay. Blue Team, I need you to report your mission data. Sarah, can you please take Blue Team for debriefing."

"Of course Tom." Palmer replied.

Captain Lasky turned his attention back to the alien armour. "Aran, I want you to meet with Blue Team for debriefing after your treatment. You're all dismissed."

Everyone reluctantly parted ways. Blue Team followed the Commander to the briefing room. While Samus went to search for the medical unit on the deck they were on.

The young teen struggled for over fifteen minutes, trying to find the med bay. She wasn't exactly into rediscovering the Infinity's schematics in her intense state of pain. Samus halted, putting her back against the wall with a painful breath.

"Insufficient oxygen intake. Highly suggest returning to regular inhalation and exhalation, Lady."

A look of irritation on the the teen's face overtook the agonizing expression behind her visor. "Adam... I have broken bones prohibiting me from breathing like a normal person. If I find the fucking med bay at some point, I might attempt your suggestion!" Samus hissed through her teeth.

"Insufficient oxygen intake, highly recommended seeking immediate medical attention." Adam rescanned the teen's internal damage.

"Adam..."

Lasky rounded the corner, spotting the armoured girl leaning against the wall clearly in too much pain to move. "Aran?" He called approaching the girl. "You haven't received treatment?"

"Honestly Captain, I am just going to the briefing room, I will be fine." Samus reluctantly took the kind escort.

"I don't believe that for a moment Samus." Lasky mentioned as the teen pushed on forward.

"I'll be fine... Sir..." Samus replied finding the briefing room where Palmer was already briefing Blue Team.

"Aran, we were just finishing up. Come, sit down." Sarah greeted the teen that entered the room.

Samus sat down in between Linda and Chief. While Lasky walked over to the Commander, clearly sticking around out of curiosity.

"Blue Team was just informing me about your encounter with Cortana, and their capture. Can you start from there Aran." Palmer asked, handing the Captain data pads.

"Okay..." Looking at Chief from the corner of her eye, Samus could see Chief had his head set low as if he were ashamed of something.

John lifted his head, hearing the concerning shallow breaths emitting from his foundling. He knew she was in a great deal of pain, but something seemed to be worsening.

"Blue Team mentioned they were captured by Cortana in a stasis lock, and put into a Cryptum." Sarah tapped away at the keys on her data pad. "Where were you during that moment?"

"I was there... frustrating Cortana..." Samus struggled through short breaths. "Because her stasis lock... wasn't working on my armour. Most of her tricks failed to effect me..."

Palmer recorded the interesting information given from the young teen. Having most of the mission information from both Blue Team, and Osiris, the Commander decided to move onto the next subject. "Okay Aran, and Blue Team, can you explain to me what happened after our departure from Sangheilios?"

"We searched for signals, trying to locate the Infinity. Prior to finding the Infinity we discovered a Destroyed UNSC frigate." Kelly replied to the Commander. "Samus took command of that mission."

"Master Chief, you allowed an adolescent to run a recovery mission on a UNSC vessel?" Palmer questioned the concerned Spartan leader.

"Yes. Circumstances changed, and Samus was put into Command." The Spartan leader answered as Samus's breaths became incredibly laboured.

"What circumstances, are you telling me not a single soul aboard that vessel was alive?" Sarah turned her attention to the teen who was now practically gasping for air.

Palmer immediately turned to the fastest Spartan in the room. "Go get a medical team now!"

"Adam?!" John jumped out of his seat, as Kelly sprinted out of the room.

"I sent multiple warnings, they were ignored. Samus is suffering from a pneumothorax." The AI replied to the Spartan leader.

"Samus, armour off." Chief Commanded his fatigued teen.

Samus took a moment to catch what little oxygen she had available to her. Her armour dematerializing she grabbed hold of her sore abdomen.

John wasted no time carefully scooping Samus up into his arms, quickly making his way to the med bay, with the rest of Blue Team in tow. Almost colliding into Kelly and a team of medics.

"Why the hell didn't I just bring Samus to the med bay..." Kelly mentally slapped herself as she leapt out of John's way.

"I was truly hoping not to see her back in here." The familiar voice of Doctor Cathrine Smith said as she helped the Spartan place the ill girl on a gurney.

"Samus got attacked about an hour ago. Her AI suspects abdominal injuries. Broken ribs, and a punctured lung. I tried to do an examination but did not succeed." Linda reported to the medic, as they followed her into a triage room.

"Her armour doesn't auto inject bio foam when such injuries occur?" The Doctor questioned.

"Her armour is constantly mutating, and changing. It's less of a suit of armour, and more of a protective exoskeleton..." Kelly tried to casually explain.

"Her armour is organic in a manner, the suit is basically a part of her body." Fred added.

"Pneumothorax for sure... Well, that's odd..." Doctor Smith thought aloud, running an X-ray scan over the struggling teen.

"What's wrong?" John asked, worry heavy in his tone.

"I'm going to have to place a one way tube in her lung to allow proper inflation. But it seems..." Cathrine paused reading her data pad, quickly suiting up for surgery. "Samus's bones are already trying to repair and fuse themselves together. One of those ribs is fusing in place in her lung. We will have to break her ribs again, and surgically remove the puncturing bone from her lung." She motioned for her medical team to rush the teen into the OR.

Over a few hours had passed by, the team of Spartans sat in the waiting area. Master Chief nervously pacing.

"John, she's going to be fine." Kelly reassured her leader, gesturing for him to sit.

"You've been real quiet since our return to Infinity, brother. What's ailing your mind?" Fred asked as John sat next to him.

"I'm sorry..."

"What?" Both female Spartans, and Fred replied confused.

"I dragged you down a hole that you didn't need to fall into." Chief replied to his team.

"John, what the hell are you talking about?" Kelly hissed greatly confused.

"I'm sorry that I got you caught up in all this. I'm sorry that you're going to suffer the consequences for my mistakes. I chose to follow Cortana, and go AWOL. I will suffer for that mistake soon enough. And I know unfortunately so will you for following my stupidity." The Spartan leader apologized to his confused team of Spartans.

"John, you're stressed out. And rightfully so, but don't feel like what you did is your fault alone. You followed Cortana because you felt maybe you could make things right, but she refused your offer." Kelly tried to reassure her brother. "We made the same choices as you. If we suffer for it, so be it."

Master Chief went silent, turning his head in the direction of the OR room.

"Our little girl is hurt right now. And the thought going through your head right now, is that you could've prevented her injury. Could you have prevented it? Possibly. But you would've been infected by that parasite." Linda spoke to her leader in a soft tone. "You saw the mutations and incredible power behind it. If you got infected, imagine the difficult decisions Samus would have to make."

Chief knew Linda was trying to take his focus away from the nightmarish stalemate Cortana had them in, and it worked. His dread filled thoughts turning to the possibility of his adopted daughter having to make the difficult decision to end his life if he were to get infected by the X. "You're right... did Palmer dismiss you from briefing?" He changed the uncomfortable subject.

"Not exactly, but Samus is more important then a report we're going to hand to them later anyway." Fred shrugged in reply. "Do you really think that Halsey is going to help us take down Cortana?

"Why would you ask that?" Kelly furrowed her brow behind her oversized visor.

"I don't know, it just crossed my mind I suppose..." Fred was suspicious of Halsey's motives to go against one of her greatest creations, Cortana.

On that note Palmer entered the waiting room with the Captain. The Blue Team Spartans fully expecting to be scolded for running out during debriefing.

"Where's the kid?" The Commander almost sounded concerned, but kept her emotionless demeanour.

"Emergency surgery." John replied equally emotionless.

Sarah looked away feeling sympathy for the injured teen. "I need full reports from each of you, and the kid, if she's feeling well enough. I need them by 0900."

"We'll get them done." Chief assured the Commander.

Palmer gave a nod in acknowledgement, before exiting the waiting room, leaving Blue Team and the Captain behind.

"Is she going to be alright?" Lasky asked standing next to the worried Spartan leader.

"Samus is going to be fine, we removed the rib that was penetrating her lung." Smith informed the waiting team. "As long as she takes it easy for at least a day or two. I will send you data for her recovery." The doctor turned to Master Chief.

"Spartan 117, any traces of Samus's blood, such as gauze, bandages, and surgical tools. Need to be destroyed, or sanitized, immediately." Adam's voice alerted Master Chief.

"Why?" John spoke quietly to the AI.

"Her unique DNA is highly desired for cloning, and weaponizing. Any trace of her DNA is a potential threat to the galaxy." Adam warned the Spartan.

John exhaled deeply, knowing how awkward the next conversation was going to be. "Doctor Smith, all gauze and bandages used on Samus will be disposed of, correct?"

"Uh, Yes Master Chief, all of those will be disposed of properly in the onboard incinerator. Our surgical instruments will be sanitized immediately, no trace of Samus's blood will be on anything. It's highly unhygienic to leave a single trace." Smith explained a bit caught off guard by the odd question.

Master Chief nodded in acknowledgement. Hoping that reply was satisfactory for his teen's AI. "How is Samus doing?"

Smith smiled after hearing the question she expected to hear in the first place. "She's doing well, we corrected her broken rib placement. Undoubtedly her bones are attempting to fuse back together, if I remember her incredible healing process correctly."

John watched as another medic approached the doctor. "Your patient is refusing to be hooked up to the vacuum. And is requesting to leave, Doctor Smith. She's quite adamant about her request despite our recommendations for her to rest a while."

"Of course she is." Kelly snorted with a laugh, there was nothing she loved more than their foundling's stubborn determination.

Cathrine Smith sighed heavily. "You do not need to hook her up to a vacuum. We can discharge her under your care, if you're not busy Master Chief. If you are, Samus needs to stay here."

"We've got a lot of reports to do, we'll be taking it easy while we can." Kelly mentioned with a shrug.

Master Chief felt differently about taking it easy in this stressful time. They had no choice but to sit for the time being, while Cortana's Created threatened the galaxy. "You can release her under our care, Doctor." He replied making it a point to include his teammates.

Smith gave the medic a small gesturing nod to which the medic reluctantly went back to retrieve the teen. "Great, Samus needs to have minimal activity for an estimate of 8 hours, she needs to rest in an elevated position during her sleep cycle. Samus needs to return to me so I can check the inserted tube in her chest. I sent the medical information to your data system, if you have any other questions don't be afraid to ask."

Master Chief blinked behind his visor at all the medical information thrown at him. "Understood, we will follow your medical protocols."

"I gave Samus an injection for the pain. If she feels great discomfort, I can give you something to help her manage her pain." Smith added as the teen girl entered with a medic escort.

"Sammy, how you feeling?" Kelly asked taking the teen off the medic's hands.

"Better." Samus replied short, still feeling quite a bit of soreness in her chest.

"Let's get you to your..." Linda stopped herself as Samus did not have her own quarters on the Infinity. "John's room I guess..."

"She's got her own berth in there, I don't think John got rid of it." Kelly mentioned helping Linda guide their foundling out of the med bay.

"Thank you Doctor." John thanked the Doctor before following the female Spartans with Fredrick.

Samus sat on her berth with an exhausted sigh. She felt a lot better now that she was able to breath properly. Breathing was still painful for her while her ribs healed, but it was a lot better than before.

"I didn't know you had dog tags. Are they some sort of bounty hunter identification?" Kelly gently examined the ID tags hanging around the girl's neck.

"No, I have a bounty number..."

"Blue Team, we should get on those reports before we get too off track." Chief quickly redirected his team to getting their reports done.

"Of course John, we'll check in with you later." Linda said, following her teammates out of their leader's room.

Samus gazed up at the green Spartan as his large hand carefully examined the dog tags hanging from her neck.

A small smile crept across Chief's face from behind his visor, reading his own ID tags. "I had forgotten I gave you these." Surprised that he hadn't noticed his teen wearing them earlier.

Samus winced as she gave a small chuckle. "Yeah, I always wear them under my zero suit. Having a little piece of you with me helped me not feel so alone on my missions." the blonde shyly replied feeling a bit ridiculous for admitting her attachment to the ID tags. "I guess Doctor Smith moved them when they were operating."

Chief felt warm inside knowing his daughter truly kept him in her thoughts during all her treacherous adventures. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm really sore still, but a lot better." Samus replied tucking the dog tags back into her suit, as Chief took off his armour. "Did Palmer bitch you guys out after you escaped briefing?"

"No, the Commander wants a report from each member of Blue Team." Chief replied, grabbing two data pads off the desk in his room.

"Well, that's a lot nicer than hearing her constant condescending tone." The teen scoffed as her adopted father handed her a data pad. "What's this for?"

"You're still a member of this team Samus." John told his teen daughter, while he took a seat at his desk.

"So I have to do a report?" The girl questioned scooting back on her berth so she could sit with her back against the wall.

Chief barely looked over his shoulder. "You used to do them when you were running missions with us didn't you?"

"No, I was briefed by officers, and Linda did them for me." Samus replied, activating the data pad in her hands.

John rolled his eyes with scoff. "Of course Linda did them for you..." he couldn't help but laugh at the fact that the lone wolf Spartan had coddled their foundling in a small way. "What about the Galactic Federation?"

"Adam sent them video logs and data records. I would also go for debriefing." Samus replied.

"It's very simple to do Samus, just give it a try."

Fifteen minutes passed by, Samus stared at the data pad in confusion, the formatting was overwhelming, she didn't understand what she was supposed to fill out.

Looking out of the corner of his eye, Chief could see that his young teen was getting overwhelmed with the report. "Samus?"

Samus eagerly placed the data pad down to look at the pale man. "Chief?"

"Would you like some help?" Master Chief asked, placing his data pad on the desk.

"Yes! Ow!" The girl excitedly replied, her sore abdomen sending a sharp pain to remind her of her healing injury.

"Settle down, you don't need to aggravate your injury." John stepped away from his desk to help his teen.

"Are you already done your report?!" Samus gasped again wincing from her gasp, while Chief sat next to her.

"Yes, I have been doing them for a very long time, they're very easy to do once you get the hang of it." Chief exhaled staring at the blank report on the data pad. "You haven't done anything yet, what's confusing you the most?"

It was difficult for Samus to reply to that question. Everything was confusing, mainly the language. Since her departure over a year ago, she had reverted to using only the Chozo language. Every piece of data she received from the Federation was converted to the language for her convenience.

"Samus?" Chief's voice brought the girl out of her thoughts.

"It's just difficult to understand. Like I know that says objective." The teen pointed to the word on the data pad. "But what is this word?"

"Composition." John read the word aloud.

"Composition of the mission." Samus read the words aloud after Chief told her the word.

"Composition of the mission means the set up, or lay out of the mission." The Spartan explained simply.

"Okay..." The girl replied her eyes finding the next difficult word. "And this?" She pointed to another odd looking word.

"Preparatory."

"Ugh... why are there so many weird words..." Samus groaned making Chief laugh. "I mean I understand prepartory..."

"Preparatory." Chief corrected.

"Chief..."

"Okay, we can try again early tomorrow morning. They are due by 0900. And they're not weird words, the letters, and pronunciations, are just different from the language you know." Master Chief sighed, taking the data pad from his frustrated teen. Putting the data pad on the edge of his desk, a thought crossed his mind. "Stay in bed, I will be right back."

"Where you going?" Samus asked watching the tall man approach the door.

"I'll explain to you soon, just rest." The Spartan leader replied exiting his quarters.

Halsey approached her door after hearing a knock. "John?" The Doctor figured her favourite Spartan had questions about what he could've done better for Cortana.

"Doctor Halsey..." as much as Chief had a large urge to question their current situation under the Created's surveillance. He reminded himself that his adopted daughter still needed to be monitored, she was probably get up to no good as they spoke.

"John, you look like you've got something on your mind." Halsey brought back the Spartan's attention.

"Yes, I came to you to inquire about language tutorials." John replied confusing the mother of Spartans.

Cathrine blinked surprised by the question. "What language skills are you interested in studying? Sangheili, Jiralhanae, Forerunner..."

"English..."

Grabbing a data pad Cathrine cocked an eyebrow at the Spartan. "John, your understanding of the language should already..."

"It's not for me." John said.

"Uh, I see." Halsey now understood that the requested tutorials were for her Spartan's foundling. "You didn't think to give her lessons when you were raising her?"

"No Ma'am it didn't cross my mind to do so. I thought Samus spoke broken english because she was young when we found her."

Halsey chuckled at John's reply. "You remembered speaking like that at her age?"

Chief blinked, understanding the point Halsey's comment was making. "No Ma'am..."

Cathrine smiled handing her Spartan a few data pads. "Take these, they are pretty straightforward. Start small with the lessons for children, then work your way up to the adolescent level."

"Thank you." John thanked the Doctor, before parting ways restricting his urge to ask questions about Cortana, and the plan to stop her.

Samus of course had disobeyed Chief, getting off her berth she activated her armour. "Adam, have you gotten any more information on that raided frigate."

"The frigate was undoubtedly ambushed by a Covenant Cruiser, onboard X parasites infiltrated the frigate. Even after the Cruiser was easily demolished by the frigate's MAC cannon. The only focus the infected aboard the Cruiser had was to spread their parasite brethren to the humans aboard the frigate." Adam eagerly explained to his master.

"Is there any records of where the Cruiser originated from?" The teen asked getting sharp pains from her chest.

"Negative, Lady."

"Shit, Chief!" Hearing familiar footfalls heading towards the door Samus quickly leapt back into her berth. "Ow... fuck.. why'd I do that?" Cursing under her breath as she aggravated her chest injury.

Master Chief stepped into his room, cocking his eyebrow at the now armoured teen sitting in her berth. "You got out of bed, like I told you not to do."

"No I didn't." Samus denied the Spartan's accusation.

"Really, why are you armoured?" Chief folded his arms after the door shut behind him.

Samus quickly examined her armoured body, dematerializing her armour, with a guilty laugh. "Oops, I knew I forgot something..."

"Samus..." John shook his head with a scolding tone.

"I got out of bed, but I didn't leave though!" Samus quickly defended herself, making Chief smirk with an eye roll.

"As long as you didn't aggravate your injury." Chief sighed placing the lesson data pads down on his desk. Picking up his personal data pad to go over the sent medical instructions for Samus's care.

"I wouldn't do that..." Samus sheepishly replied walking over to see what her adopted father was doing. "Are you doing more reports?"

Hearing the short breaths coming from his daughter, John knew it was time for Samus to rest. "No, come'on Samus time to rest." The Spartan said taking the pillow off of his berth, placing it on top of Samus's pillow.

"Why'd you give me your pillow?" The blonde teen questioned, sitting on her berth.

"Because you need to be sleep in an elevated position." John gestured for the girl to lay on the pillows.

Samus winced and cringed, laying on the pillows was just as painful as laying down normally. "It hurts Chief.

"It's just for tonight. We're all expecting your injury to heal remarkably quickly." Chief tried to comfort the girl with hopeful words. "If you sleep time will go by faster."

Samus deflated with a sigh. "I'm not a kid Chief."

The pale man scoffed with a smirk. "You're fifteen Samus Aran. You are a kid."

"I'm almost sixteen!" The girl scoffed back at her adopted father.

"That's still a kid." Chief continued the playful argument, finding amusement in his teen who was trying to claim she was an adult.

"Ugh, no it's not. Why, how old are you?" Samus retorted, making Chief exhale heavily.

"We're all Forty seven. Now go to sleep." The Spartan pulled the blanket onto the alien teen.

"See you're young too." The girl yawned as John made his way to his own berth.

Master Chief chuckled softly, placing all the different data pads on his desk into different organized piles. Pulling his blanket back before crawling into his berth. Chief was sure Linda and Kelly would've loved to hear the teen's compliment. "Okay Samus, go to sleep..." laying his legs flat on his berth to see his teen already fast asleep.

John slept uneasily, waking every hour with overwhelming thoughts and regrets. The only thing that seemed to ease his increasing anxiety, was the sound of his adopted daughter's soft snoring. Quietly getting up he grabbed a data pad off his desk. Sitting back on his berth Chief began to review the language lessons. Taking the tutorial files the Spartan leader sent the lessons to his teammates data pads.

Running through the death filled frigate, mutilated corpses of marines littering the floors, while the X parasites floated through the corridors in search of more prey. Avoiding the Metroid Chozo hybrid hunting them down.

Rounding the corner Samus aimed her cannon finding Chief firing at one of the mutated Brutes. He easily destroyed the alien, causing the X parasite inside the Brute to evacuate it's dead host. The violet gelatinous parasite floated for a moment as Chief attempted to destroy it with bullets to no avail.

"Chief no!" Samus cried out firing at the X parasite as she witnessed the parasite infect her adopted father.

Chief screamed in agony as his body mutated into a monstrous creature.

Samus's left hand lit up aggressively, ready to combat the X parasite possessed Spartan. Tears poured down the girl's face as she readied herself to destroy the one who had saved and raised her.

Samus shot up with a cry, her aggressively glowing hand waking her up in a violent coughing fit, making Chief almost drop his data pad in shock.

John immediately leapt out of his berth to his teen's side. "Samus, I'm here. Take deep breaths."

Sitting with her legs hanging over the side of her berth. Samus was thankful her broken ribs had mended enough to be fractured. Still very painful to breath, the lung that was punctured felt like it was on fire. A fair amount of a metallic taste came up as the girl coughed up blood. Listening to Chief's words Samus was able to take deep breaths, calming her coughing down to raspy laboured breaths.

John was so caught off guard by his teen's violent awakening that his own heart raced as if it was going to burst out of his chest. Kneeling in front of the berth to be level with his distressed daughter. "Are you alright?"

Samus trembled involuntarily as what felt like waterfalls of tears streamed down her face. "I'm... okay..." clutching her fist she restricted her Metroid powers from taking over her. Causing a vicious wave of nausea to wash over her.

Chief helped Samus stand up as she paled. Rushing past him into the lavatory. Hearing Samus vomiting, made him again wonder what was making his teen so ill. Going over to the wall closest to Samus's berth John knocked on it, receiving two knocks back before his room's door opened shortly after.

"John, what are you doing up so early?" Linda asked upon entering her leader's quarters.

"I couldn't sleep, but I need you to monitor Samus for a moment." Master Chief replied to the redheaded woman.

"Sure John, where is she?" The sharpshooter agreed without hesitation to assist with their foundling.

"In the lavatory, getting sick." Chief replied gesturing to the lavatory door.

Linda sighed deeply with a nod. "Go, I'll keep an eye on her."

The pale leader gave a grateful nod before exiting his room. Finding the mess hall, he filled an empty canteen with cool water.

Samus weakly gazed up from where she sat on the floor, when the light from the room crept into the lavatory, revealing the sharpshooter.

Linda's emerald green eyes softened after laying her eyes on the mess of a teen. Samus's eyes were watery, her blonde hair an absolute mess, the teen's face was stained from the many tears she was still shedding. "Are you alright Samus, can I help you get back to bed?"

Samus reluctantly nodded, too tired to argue against the offer. Linda gingerly stood her up on her feet, bringing her back to the berth as Chief entered the room.

"Here Samus." John said, handing his ill teen the canteen.

"M...maybe in a minute... Chief..." The teen weakly replied to the Spartan leader.

"The water is here when you are ready Samus." Chief placed the canteen on the teen's berth. "How are you feeling now?" Sitting next to Samus the Spartan purposely avoided asking about the nightmare that woke his daughter. He would inquire later when it wasn't so fresh in her mind.

"I'm not going back to sleep..." Samus leaned against the Spartan sitting next to her.

"It's okay Samus, you don't have to go back to sleep if you don't want to." John replied, wiping away the remainder of Samus's tears from her face.

"I'm going to head back to my room. Oh, John, what did you send us last night?" Linda said.

"Tutorials, I can explain later."

Linda smirked with a quiet laugh, making her way to the door. "No need to explain, I know who they are for."

"Learning something new?" Samus tried to joke after taking a sip of water from the canteen.

"Everyday." John sarcastically replied making the girl snort with a laugh. Relieved the girl was feeling better.

"Very true." The teen sighed as her nausea died down.

"How's your chest feel?"

The blonde shrugged carefully sliding off her berth. "It hurts like hell to breath, my lung hurts so bad, but my bones are healed I think."

"How do you know your bones are healed?" John curiously cocked his head at the mobile teen.

"Well maybe not all the way healed but they're kinda broken, they don't hurt as much when I breath." Samus replied picking up a data pad. "I should probably finish that report, or whatever..."

"Fractured, what you're explaining is that your ribs are fractured. But yes, you should complete your report. You've got four more hours before it's due." Master Chief replied standing up as Samus took a seat at his desk.

"What is this, did the report thingy change?" The teen asked confused by new format of oddly placed words.

"Thingy?" John tilted his head curiously. Surprised by how fast Samus was able to recover from her nausea.

"Whatever, just look at it..." The teen rolled her eyes passing the data pad to the Spartan.

"This isn't a report form file. These are your language lessons." Chief replied after skimming through the literature.

The girl looked up at the Spartan leader. "I have language lessons?"

The tall pale man placed the data pad down, reaching for the correct report data pad. "Linda suggested it, to help you keep up to date with our lingo. I know it's been a bit of a difficult transition for you since reuniting with us after working solo for so long."

Samus gave a small eye roll. "Am I really not understanding... no... am I bad at... wait..." the girl tripped over her words as she questioned if she was understandable.

John gazed up from the report data pad he was filling out, blinking his aging blue eyes as his daughter attempted to form a comprehendible sentence.

"Oh! Am I that difficult to understand!?" Samus finally replied clearly.

"At times, yes." Chief retorted with a smirk.

"Shut up..." Samus giggled as her adopted father placed the proper data pad in front of her.

"I filled out most of the report for you. All you need to do is put in the mission descriptions, the intel you learned, and your acknowledgements." John pointed to the different categories as he listed them off.

"Okay, sure..." Samus nodded in acknowledgement as John started to put his armour on.

"Good, you work on that. I will be right back, I am going to go speak with Doctor Smith." The green Spartan said making his way to the door.

"Why are you talking to the doctor?" Samus asked pivoting in the chair.

"Why am I going to go speak with the doctor?" Chief corrected getting an annoyed glare from the teen. "I'm going to speak with her about your recovery."

"Fine, where do I put this when I finish?" The young teen asked as her father figure tried to leave.

"You would hand it in to Commander Palmer, but I can do that for you when I return." The Spartan leader replied, quickly escaping to the med bay.

"Master Chief, what brings you here so early, is everything alright?" Doctor Smith greeted the leader of Blue Team.

"Samus believes her bones have healed enough to be a fractures. You mentioned that you inserted a tube in her lung, is that something that needs to be removed today?" Chief asked the doctor.

"Usually I would do that after two to three days, but I know that girl heals quickly. If I remove it I would have to do a few scans to see if her lung is inflating on its own before sending Samus on her way." The doctor explained while finishing some desk work.

"I can bring Samus by for an exam, but I am not certain if we will get called out on a mission... maybe later would be best. Or if I bring her by now, and we do get called... can Samus stay here?"

"Slow down Spartan. By the sounds of it everything is at a standstill. I heard rumours of recovery missions once we find a way to evade the Created effectively. But even then it will take some time to put everything into play." Cathrine Smith got up from where she sat at her desk. "To answer your question, yes Samus can stay if you get called out."

"Thank you Doctor Smith." The Spartan replied emotionless, turning to exit the Doctor's office. "I will bring Samus by."

The Doctor nodded in acknowledgement, watching the stoic Spartan leave. "You know, even warriors need a rest from battle."

John paused for a moment after hearing those words, before continuing into the corridor.

"Ugh... this better be good enough for the Commander..." Samus grumbled making her way to the bridge. Taking a sore deep breath the teen entered the fairly quiet command bridge.

"Maybe we should send the kid in. You recruited her as an asset, you should use her." The Commander's voice was firm yet frustrated.

Samus with data pad in hand, stood quietly behind the Commander, just in the Captain's line of sight.

Captain Lasky turned his full attention to the young soul behind the Commander. "Samus, glad to see that you're feeling better."

Sarah turned around surprised to see the teen standing behind her. "Aran, do you have that mission report ready?"

"Yes." Samus nodded handing the data pad to the Commander. "Is there anything I can do for you guys?" The teen informally asked if the Commanding Officers needed assistance.

"No, we were just discussing strategies." Captain Lasky kindly denied the teen's offer.

"Thank you for the report, I will review it later. You're dismissed Aran." Palmer dismissed the teen from the bridge.

Awkwardly pivoting the teen exited the bridge, almost running directly into the green Spartan.

Chief quickly grabbed hold of his teen's arms to prevent her from colliding into him. "Samus, careful."

"Agh, thanks..." the muscular teen exhaled, thankful her Spartan prevented her sore body from slamming into him.

"I told you I was going to deliver the report for you." John sighed walking down the corridor with his adopted daughter.

"I'm not incapable of delivering things, it was only a five minute walk." The teen retorted following Chief towards the med bay.

Chief didn't have an issue with Samus delivering her own report. He wanted to deliver it just so he could double check that the report made sense. Knowing the Commander's anal retentive ways, he worried that Samus's human illiteracy may cause some frustrating confusion.

"Why are we going to the Doctor?" Samus asked spotting the med bay doors ahead.

"Doctor Smith needs to do some scans, to see if that tube in your chest can be removed." Chief replied entering the med bay with his teen.

"Am I going to have more surgery?" The young teen questioned, clearly not wanting to have another procedure done.

"No, we shouldn't have to preform anymore surgery on you. As long as your lung is inflating properly." Doctor Smith answered as she gestured for the two to follow her into an examination room. "Take a seat."

Samus gave Chief an unsure gaze as she climbed onto the examination table.

"You'll be fine." Chief quietly reassured his nervous daughter.

"Alright kiddo I'm going to zip down that top half so I can take a look at your incision and that tube." Cathrine Smith said while putting gloves on.

"I'll be outside the room if you need me Samus." Chief said as he stepped outside the room.

"Thought we'd find you in here. How is Sammy doing?" The familiar voice of Kelly caught Chief's attention.

"She's getting that chest tube removed, hopefully." John replied as his team approached him.

"From what Linda was explaining, little Samus wasn't doing so well." Kelly mentioned leaning against the wall next to her leader.

The Spartan leader exhaled deeply. "Samus had a nightmare, and got sick. I'm not sure if the two are related. I still don't understand why she's getting so sick."

Linda motioned her head in a way that made John suspicious.

"Did she tell you why?"

"Nothing officially, Samus mentioned it was her body adjusting." The sharpshooter said in reply to Chief's inquiry.

"Adjusting to what?" Fred scoffed still just as confused as everyone else.