Written for DoctorSupernova for the "100 Ways to Say I Love You" writing prompt. She assigned me the phrases "I was just thinking of you" and "wow." The pairing she chose is Samus Aran x Madeline Bergman.

I've always wanted to play around with these two together but they didn't fit together in any of my longer stories. So here it is, my first Metroid: Other M fan fiction.

I know this ship is less of a ship than it is a pool noodle, but I hope I'm helping upgrade it to floaty ride-on whale. :)

Has Anyone Ever Written Anything For You?

The incident on the Bottle Ship had been more kinds of messed up than Samus was willing to admit aloud. Two weeks and a whole bunch of red tape later, she was still trying to process exactly what had happened. There were a lot of things about that mission that baffled her, but perhaps the most unsettling of all was her reactions to everything.

She had been feeling out of sorts for a long time now, ever since that final mission to Zebes. It was the killing blow that had ended the Space Pirate War, and yet it seemed like a hollow victory in so many ways. It was strange to think about a whole planet exploding as being anti-climatic, but for some reason that's how it felt. And now with her life long enemies eradicated at last, Samus thought she should feel happy about that.

But she didn't. Since the end of Zebes, she felt like she was just kind of existing, free floating from planet to planet in her ship, no longer needed as she had once been. The loss of the infant Metroid had not helped matters either.

She didn't know how to express the way she mourned for that creature, didn't know how to make people understand. Obviously she could never have been its mother, and obviously she had lived a very fulfilling life filled with accomplishments despite her sterility, so it seemed downright stupid to her that a parasitic life form would have left the void in her it did.

Stepping out into the hallway, she closed the door to her temporary living quarters and looked around the government facility. While she wasn't under arrest or anything like that, she had been instructed it would be best for her to stay in the Federation's accommodations for a while the military looked into the death of Commander Malkovich and verified her story.

As the tall blonde bounty hunter walked over to a massive window, she looked out at the capitol city. Her reflection in the glass showed a thirty-something woman with hair down to the waste of her green coat where a short-hair teenager had once stood in Army clothes that were a couple of sizes too big.

She had stood at this window many times during her years in the Army and more recently when she had said her goodbyes to Adam. It was amazing what ancient half-forgotten memories seeing him had brought up in her. To think that even for one mission she could go back to a time in her life that made more sense than the present did, a time when her life had structure and purpose. That had seemed downright exhilarating after being so long adrift.

But if there was anything the Bottle Ship incident had taught her, it was that she couldn't go backwards. She had come too far since her Army days, and even if she was an outsider by the Federation's standards, she had proven herself so many times over it was ridiculous. Adam had reminded her of that in his last moments when he had half-jokingly referred to her as a galactic savior. She would never think of herself in such magnanimous terms, but he had been right in a sense. She had saved the galaxy. Over and over again.

So why did she still feel so lost?

"Samus?" a voice called out suddenly, and Samus turned to see a tall red haired woman walking her way. "I'm sorry, but you're Samus Aran, correct?"

Samus studied the woman. Madeline Bergman. She had been a scientist onboard the Bottle Ship, the one responsible for the rogue Mother Brain clone and even parts of the Metroid breeding program. It was strange to see her out of her lab coat and just wearing a long-sleeved blue button down and jeans.

"I'm Samus Aran," she said, her voice coming out a bit too soft. Sometimes she went so long without speaking aloud that it surprised her how much more feminine her voice sounded than her armored appearance might have suggested. "And you're Doctor Bergman, from the Bottle Ship. I remember you."

Madeline seemed to flinch at the mention of the research facility. "Yes… I was just thinking of you. I realized I'd never properly thanked you for saving my life on there. So… thank you. Really."

"Oh." Samus wasn't sure what to say to that. This kind of thing always made her uncomfortable. She preferred to just give a little wave as she walked away, head back to the relative safety of her ship, and take off before anyone had a chance to get attached.

It made it a little bit more difficult to do that now that they were apparently staying in the same facility. Samus was here because, according to federal records anyway, she was technically homeless since she mostly just lived out of her ship and hotels. She didn't know what Madeline's deal was, and until just then, it had not occurred to her that the Bottle Ship had been home to its scientists before the incident.

"I wanted to know," Madeline continued, "if there's anything I can do to express my gratitude that you would like."

"Like what?" Samus asked.

"Oh, I don't know… Maybe I could take you out for dinner one night? What kind of restaurants do you like?"

"I… don't." Samus frowned. She really didn't enjoy having anyone prepare food for her. It always made her nervous. Sometimes she worried about the intentions of anyone handling her food given her role in the galaxy and other times she just worried about cooks being too careless and contaminating something. Most people probably would have found it pitiful, but she actually liked just staying alone on her ship and eating MREs. It was what she was used to.

"You don't like going out to eat at all?" Madeline looked disappointed.

The bounty hunter shook her head. "Not particularly." Sometimes she wondered if her taste buds were just different than other people's given her genetic makeup.

"Well how do people normally thank you then? I'm sure I'm not the first person you've rescued given your impressive reputation?"

Samus shrugged again, still feeling uncomfortable with the whole situation. "If they contracted me, I just get paid. If they didn't, I just go on my way."

The red-haired scientist looked shocked, and Samus wondered why. She had never thought her style of doing business was so unusual for a mercenary.

"But has anyone ever done anything to thank you?" Madeline's voice was getting more desperate sounding with each word. "Taken you out for dinner? Sent you flowers? Honored you somehow? Has anyone ever written anything for you? Isn't there anything that I could do that would make you happy?"

Samus shifted as she thought about it. She had never known anyone to be so intent on making her happy, and she felt like she was giving the scientist a hard time with it.

"Well," she began after giving it some thought, "I like to go see the loaves sometimes."

"The… loaves?"

Samus nodded. "There are these loaf animals they have at a place not far from here. I kind of like looking at them."

"Um… okay." Madeline seemed a bit confused, but she was smiling anyway. There was something about her smile that helped put Samus a bit more at ease. "Well then, would you like to go look at the loaves? Together?"

The bounty hunter stared at the other woman for a moment, but she eventually nodded. "All right."

There were not a lot of commercial buildings around the facility in which they were staying. Most structures housed more government and military offices. Madeline was confused where Samus was planning to take her, but she followed the bounty hunter regardless. She was intrigued by the enigmatic woman who had seemed baffled when she suggested doing something to thank her for saving her life.

Though this was her first time talking to Samus since they had been on the Bottle Ship, and the first time seeing her without her armor, Madeline could still clearly picture the way the mercenary had put herself between the scientist and danger, using her own body as a shield in the process. It was something she would never forget.

Madeline supposed she shouldn't have been surprised when Samus led her to the doorway of the local animal shelter. She wasn't sure what sorts of animals Samus was referring to, but she probably should have guessed they would be here given that the government run shelter was the only building on the complex that would have something like that. Try as she could, Madeline couldn't remember what types of pet-animals were common on this planet.

As Samus entered the building, a little old woman waved to her from behind the front desk as though they had met before. Samus waved back but wasted no time with words as she led Madeline into the hall and toward a back room. When they walked into the cage-lined room, Madeline had to hold in her laughter.

"Look at them," the bounty hunter said with her typical, serious monotone. "The loaves."

Madeline snickered and looked up at the tall mercenary. "Wow. Seriously?"

Samus didn't say anything, her expression completely blank as she looked from the animals to her human companion.

Madeline gestured around the room. "You go on death-defying missions and blow up entire planets and then come back here and spend your time looking at… cats?"

Samus looked away from Madeline and over to a very large orange feline that was sitting with all four of its legs tucked beneath its body. "Look at it," she said, roughly trying to mime its position. "It looks like a furry loaf with a face."

Madeline smiled as she looked at the cat, but she smiled even more as she looked back at Samus and how fascinated the bounty hunter seemed as she looked around at all of her favorite "loaf animals." It seemed so ridiculous in contrast to the last time she had seen Samus, but it seemed to make sense in a way. Of course the solitary hunter would find comfort in the companionship of other small solitary hunters.

"You know," Madeline said, standing close beside Samus as the two of them observed a gray tabby rolling into a perfect ball, "if you ask that lady at the front desk, I'm sure she'll let us play with one of them. Have you ever done that before?"

Samus just looked at Madeline and shook her head. "Usually I just look at them. I disturb enough creatures every time I go to a new planet. Sometimes it's nice to just watch them do their own thing."

"I guess I can understand that," Madeline replied as she looked around at all of the homeless cats. "Have you ever considered adopting one?"

The mercenary shook her head again. "My life is too dangerous to have any kind of pet. I wouldn't have the time to commit to it properly."

"You know, I've been thinking lately, once this investigation is over and things settle down, I'm probably going to rent out a small apartment. Without Melissa and the other scientists, I've been pretty lonely lately. If I got one of these 'loaf animals' I think it would be a nice little companion."

"That sounds really nice," Samus said, looking away from the cats and toward Madeline.

"Of course, you would be welcome to come visit us any time you want. I know it's not the same as having your own pet but you could come over and watch her or play with her."

As she studied the scientist, Samus's face broke into a smile, a real smile. It seemed to light her features up and take away so much of the heaviness about her aura.

"I'd like that a lot," the bounty hunter replied.