JakeXSamus - An Action/Romance Coop. Story

It had been at least a month since the mission on the Bottle Ship. Jake LightCrasher was flying among the stars yet again. But something had changed. He had a desire for a companion. Sure, he had Samus Aran as his friend.....but he wanted something more. He wanted her affection. He blushed at the thought, and flew his ship, The Aether, named after the planet he was raised on, through the stars. He thought about contacting Samus.

Samus couldn't help but wonder how Jake had been since she had seen him last. Anxiously, she, too, thought of contacting him. Cruising through space, she thought back over their days together. When she snapped back to reality, she realized she had been blushing and hastily shook it off.

Jake finally made up his mind and opened up a comm channel with Samus's ship. "Samus. This is Jake LightCrasher. Do you copy?" He said into the mic, hoping she replied.

"Jake!" Samus answered delightedly. "How've you been? It's been forever since I've heard from you."

"It's only been a month, you goof!" Jake smiled. "I've been pretty good. Things have been pretty slow and boring since the Bottle Ship. How have you been?"

"Pretty good, actually. It's been a little slow for me, too, but I'm hoping I can get another bounty soon." Then, a thought crossed her mind. "How about we team up in this next bounty? For old time's sake."

"Yeah. I'd like that...Sammy." Jake teased her with his old nickname for her. He smirked happily.

Samus chuckled. "I still don't get why you call me that. It seems so childish."

"I still act childish sometimes!" Jake leaned back, but fell out of his seat. He jumped back up. "I'm okay. I'm okay." he sat back down, blushing from embarrassment.

Samus couldn't help but laugh. "That you do." Just then, a beep sounded from Samus' dashboard. She pressed a few buttons, bringing up a message. "Wow."

"What's up?" Jake asked. If it was a bounty, he was itching to get going.

"GF has another bounty back on Norion." Samus looked up. "What do you say? In?"

"Do you need to ask?" Jake teased. "Of course! Give me some rendezvous coordinates and we'll meet up, Kay?"

"Sure thing." Samus smiled, thoroughly amused, as she sent the coordinates. "Meet you then."

Jake nodded. He cut the connection and charted a course for Norion. He landed soon after onto the planet. His Light Suit activated, and he was encased in the familiar armor. He disembarked the ship and waited for Samus to land.

"Hi," Samus called out, startling Jake. She emerged from behind a boulder. "What took you so long?"

"Sorry. I was attacked by a lone bounty hunter. Shot him right out of the sky." Jake explained. "Let's go get our mission."

"... Wow." Samus turned to lead the way. "Let's go, then."

Jake followed Samus into the main building. He also thought about contacting his old buddy Noxus again.

"One more thing," Samus spoke over her shoulder. "That 'friend of yours' better not show his face near me again, or he'll be sorry."

"C'mon. It was a misunderstanding when he attacked you on Arcterra," he countered. "If he had known that you were trying to either protect or destroy the ultimate power in the Alimbic Cluster, he wouldn't have attacked!"

"I still don't really trust the guy." Samus stopped in front of a door. "Here we are." The two walked into the room. The commander was there.

"Ah, Samus," he began confidently. His eyes shifted to Jake. "... And... you brought your friend."

"Disappointed?" Samus questioned boldly. "We're teaming up for this one."

"... I see..." He turned back to business. "I've called you here because of a little 'gang' problem."

"Gang problem, sir?" Jake asked attentively. He stood at attention.

"A troublesome bunch of teenagers," he clarified. "They call themselves the Jynx. Every so often, they come by, wearing dark purple cloaks and sneaking around our security. So far, it's been nothing but graffiti, but what they write is why I called." He pulled up a photo on the computer.

Decorative letters lanced across a 3D techno-scape, spelling clearly, "The Jynx will take your prize."

"... Well, they do have some talent," Samus remarked optimistically.

"Do you know what this "prize" is, sir?" Jake asked seriously.

"No," he answered, rubbing the back of his neck. "It doesn't make sense."

"Sounds like they think you know," Samus deduced. "Aside from that, they seem to be getting past security rather effortlessly."

"So would you like us to join patrols and security?" Jake asked. "Other than that I can't think of a way we can help..."

"Actually..." he thought a moment. "Yes, that might be a good idea." He turned to face Samus and Jake again. "But watch for any suspicious activity. Don't let anyone know you're doing it, though."

Jake saluted. "Yes sir!"

He casually saluted in return. "You are dismissed."

Samus led the way out of the room. "You know you didn't have to be so formal, right?" she asked.

Jake shook his head. "Always respect authority," he said from memory.

Samus rolled her eyes. "Sometimes, authority is just overrated."

"Sorry. It was one of the first things I learned on Aether. You know I was adopted into U-Mos's family, right?"

"Of course. I've just had... several experiences with 'authority'. ... I'd rather not elaborate."

"I know. Adam. I was in your squad back in our soldier days," he said sadly.

Samus sighed, removing her Varia suit and ponytail. "Let's just focus on the mission."

Jake removed his Light Suit. "Gotcha." His eyes strayed and roved over Samus's very shapely body. He blushed and looked away.

"Here we are," Samus announced, stopping in front of a door. "This is the guards' armory."

Jake smiled. "Sweet." He entered the door and started looking for the biggest weapon.

Samus entered... and immediately noticed someone wolf-whistle.

"Now, who do we have here?" an intrigued voice called out. Several other guys took notice and turned.

Jake frowned.

"... And you are...?" Samus began cautiously.

"Chris," the guard answered, striding forward. He started toying flirtatiously with a strand of Samus' hair. "But you can call me 'Honey'."

Jake shoved him out of the way. "Back off," he snapped.

Chris raised an eyebrow. "This chick your girlfriend or something?"

"No. But she doesn't appreciate idiots who try and hit on her. Besides, she could kick your butt into the next dimension. She's Samus Aran, moron!" Jake snapped. "(She's not my
girlfriend YET, anyway.)" Jake thought.

Chris' eyes widened. "... Samus is a girl?"

"Yes, I'm a girl!" Samus snapped. "It still shocks me how few people know that."

"Honestly!" Jake sighed. "Get lost." He said to Chris.

"I think he already is," Samus told Jake.

A thoroughly confused expression crossed Chris' face. "... What?"

"Told you."

Chris shook it off. "Why are you here anyway?"

"We're here to help catch the gang that's getting by your defenses." Jake explained.

"Ah." Chris finally understood something. "So the commander sent you?"

"Yeah," Samus said. "We're basically going to be hanging around you guys on your rounds."

"... That's... creepy..."

"Well get used to it. The commander never said I couldn't send you to the hospital wing." He smirked and picked up an energy rifle.

Chris went pale. "... You're scary... You know that?"

Jake laughed. "I'm only like this when someone does something stupid. Like flirt with Samus," he explained.


"Gotcha," he answered.

Samus got the conversation back to business. "So, you must be in charge here."

"Sort of; I'm second in command." Chris began to relax, color returning to his face.

"Then who's in command?" Jake asked nicely.

"I am," a tall, dark-haired man called from the corner.

"And you didn't say so sooner because...?" Samus asked.

Jake looked at the man quizzically. He leaned back and smiled warmly.

"I was having too much fun watching," he answered. "My name is Ray."

Jake nodded. "It's a pleasure, Ray. Any particular intel about the Jynx?" he asked.

"So far, their incursions are all late at night. I've also noticed a pattern in where they graffiti."

"Really?" Samus asked.

"All of them are pretty deep within the base, and they're always near the labs."

Jake nods. He grabs a weapon and starts walking towards the door. "A night watch, is it? Nice."

"Great," Samus said sarcastically before leaning over to Ray. "Now you got him excited."

"Is that bad?" Ray asked.

"For the child that he is, yes."

Jake smirked and left the room. He started walking towards the lab area.

"What a kid..." Samus sighed, following behind Jake.

Jake arrived at the lab area. His cheerful demeanor dropped to a serious one. "Let's check things out." He suggested.

Samus nodded and opened the door. Several scientists were hastily scribbling something on clipboards. A few others were filing through papers and folders.

"Uh..." Samus stared, confused, as they continued their frantic work. "I think we caught them at a bad time...?"

"Jake nodded. "Let's check the area around here first. See if we can find the actual graffiti," he suggested.

"... Good idea." Samus backed out of the room. "So, if you were to graffiti something, what would it be?" she asked.

"Probably something either that is seen every day, or something important." Jake said thoughtfully.

"The problem is we don't know where that would be... But we do know it's near here..."

Jake activated his Light Suit again. He started using the scan visor.

Samus headed a little further down the hall, peering around the nearest corner only to find it perfectly normal. She wandered a bit through the halls, still finding nothing. Sighing, she shook her head.

"There's no graffiti."

Jake used infrared scanners. "Hmmm...." He switched to X-Ray visor. "I don't see anything either," he said, disappointed.

"Now why would they tell us about the graffiti," Samus thought aloud, rounding another corner, "if it wouldn't be there for us anyway?" She pondered it a moment longer. "... A red herring?"

"I have no idea." Jake sighed. He removed the armor.

"... Maybe we should go back to Ray; try to find out a little more information."

"Yeah. Sorry. I got a little carried away." Jake said apologetically.

"Don't worry about it; let's just see what we can find out." Samus led the way back to the armory.

Jake followed quickly. He was completely serious now. He joked before and after a job.
During one, he was all business.

"Hey, Ray," Samus called out. The guard commander looked up from a few papers. "What's going on with the graffiti?"

Jake nodded. "We couldn't find anything. Nothing was there."

"Nothing?" Ray asked. "I could've sworn there was graffiti there just a few minutes ago."

"Well, it's gone now," Samus said. "The scientists seemed a little flustered as well."

"They did? Did you see what they were doing?"

"They were working furiously on something. We left them alone," Jake answered. "Maybe the graffiti was programmed somehow to disappear after a set time?"

"All of the graffiti was there a few minutes ago. It doesn't make sense for it all to disappear at the same time if they were painted on different nights."

"So they knew we were going to check it out then?" Samus said.
Jake paced the room, deep in thought. "But how would they know we were coming? We were on a secure channel...." He said thoughtfully.

"(... Unless) ... Jake, follow me," Samus ordered. She headed back into the hall.

"Yeah Samus?" Jake followed her to the hall. "What's up?" he asked intently.

"I think we're dealing with a spy."

"That thought crossed my mind too. But how are we going to discover the spy? It's not like we can go ask: "Hey, are you a spy?" " he said calmly.

"I know; we just have to be a little extra careful on the night patrols. It's got to be one of the guards."

"Or one of the higher ups. We can't exactly trust them. Remember, they were covertly developing bioweapons. And they're illegal." He replied with a whisper.

"We've got to watch out." The door to the armory opened and Ray stepped out.

"You two okay?" He asked.

"Yeah, we're fine."

"Yup." Jake smiled.

"All right. The boys are getting ready for a patrol. You two joining?"

"Sure; it'll help us get our bearings."

"Okay. See you in a few minutes." He glanced at the energy rifle in Jake's hand before heading back into the armory.

Jake nodded. But he felt suspicious. "I think there's more to Ray than meets the eye." He whispered.

"Agreed." Samus pulled her hair back up into her ponytail. "But there's only one way to know what's going on."

"And that is to investigate, right?" Jake asked.

"Of course." Samus pulled on her suit. "We can't let him know we suspect him until we have enough evidence. If we confront him in front of the other guards and he's not the spy, the real spy will know."

"Yep." Jake activated his Light Suit. "Why'd I grab this?" He held up the rifle.

"Your childish instincts told you to threaten Chris, remember?"

"Oh. Right." Jake blushed.

The door to the armory opened and Ray stepped out, this time followed by several other guards, all wearing light armor. "Ready?"

"Yup," Samus answered. "Who's coming along?"

"We have Danny," a lithe one with short stature, "Tom," well built, but average sized,

"Max," tall, slightly muscled, and glasses, "and Chris."

"(Great; the perv's joining the party.) Well, we should head out."

Jake nodded, activating his armor. The visor emitted light as the systems came online.

Ray nodded as well. "Right then," he said. "Let's head out."

He led the way down the hall toward the lab. On the way, he noted several other rooms, including the command center, energy core, and, obviously, restrooms.

We finally reached our destination: just outside the lab. Ray looked around, obviously confused.

"Huh," he thought aloud. "The graffiti is gone... That's definitely strange."

Jake nodded. "Yeah. That's what's weird."

"So, shall we see what the scientists are up to?" Samus asked Ray.

"Yep," he answered. "You and Jake can come with me. The others will take up their posts."
As he said so, the guards divided through the halls, taking up their routes. Ray led the way into the lab.

The scientists were working hard.

"Dr. Lieh," Ray called out, "what're you up to now?"

One of the scientists turned. "Oh, we've just got a small problem with our files."
Jake looked around.

"It seems to be more than just a 'little' problem," Samus commented. "Anything we could help with?"

"Well it seems a lot of our files are corrupted." The doctor replied.
Jake wandered around.

"What could've corrupted them?" Ray asked.

"Not sure," he answered. "Whatever it was, it blew easily past our firewall."

Samus thought. "Can you remember what files were corrupted?"

"Well...all of our files on Project Nova." The scientist said. Jake looked up.

" 'Project Nova'?" Samus repeated.

"Yes; it's a special project we've been working on for quite some time now," he said.

"Unfortunately, I can't show it to you. It's top secret."

Jake understood that. He went back to investigating.

"I think I already know what's going on here," Samus said.

All eyes turned to her, absolutely confused. Ray stepped forward.

"You know what's going on?" he asked.

"If you ask me, it's way too blatantly obvious. I know what that gang is after, how someone is conspiring with them, and the real importance of Project Nova." Samus started toying with a test tube. "It's not exactly a paradox, you know."

Jake looked up. The scientist was baffled. "But you don't even know what Project Nova IS! How could you arrive at a conclusion so soon?"

"If you don't want an assassin showing up at your back door, I can't tell you," she said, emotionless. "Trust me. I can't say anything here." Samus then turned to Jake. "We're headed back to our ships. Now."

Jake nodded and followed after her.

"Leave the energy rifle."

Jake handed it to Ray. He followed her.

They exited the room and were stopped by Chris.

"Leaving?" he asked.

"We'll be back," Samus said. "Just going someplace better suited for a private conversation."

"If you say so..."

She led the way back to the ships. Once there, she turned to face Jake.

"This situation could spiral out of control at any moment," she said coolly.

"What is it?" Jake asked.

"Project Nova is what the Jynx are after. The spy wasn't in the room, but he was still close enough to overhear everything. There's no way I was going to take the chance. From now on, I want you to switch your radio to a different frequency; I've got a special one in mind, and it's so secure, the Feds have no clue it even works. Nothing pocket-sized would ever be powerful enough to pick it up.

"It may be our only option to split up, but we'll keep our radio constant. Make sure you've always got more than one guard with you at all times on patrol. If necessary, I'm going to use a cloaker and sneak around the lab. Any questions?"

"No questions at all, Samus." Jake nodded. He smiled. "We're getting our hands dirty again, huh?" He joked.

"Always the dirty jobs." Samus walked toward her ship. "Come here; I have something for you."

"Sure." Jake walked after her.

When Jake was standing right behind her, she gave a shrill whistle. A small, glowing white sphere flew through the side of her ship and energetically circled around her. Jake raised an eyebrow at the strange device.

"Easy, little fella," Samus called to it as it zipped around her head. "Chill out." She held out a hand and it came to rest in her palm. "Good boy." She turned to Jake. "This small friend of mine is going to be with you the whole time."

"Okay." jake smiled and held out his hand. "Does it have a name?"

The miniature, glowing ball gave off an energetic high-pitched squeal. "I haven't really decided on a name yet," Samus admitted. "Maybe you can help me pick."

"I was thinking "Sparky"." He said smiling.

'Sparky' took an excited leap at Jake, giving him a small zap. Samus smiled.

"Sparky it is," she said. She turned to the little ball of energy. "Now, remember what you did with me?" He wove rapidly up and down in the air. "Good. Do the same thing with Jake."

Sparky gave an excited, high-pitched squeal, flew in a quick loop-the-loop, and flew right into Jake. The energy ball vanished on contact, sending sparks of electricity surging through Jake.

"Whoa....what just happened?" Jake asked, surprised.

"Sparky is hiding inside you."

Jake smiled. "Cool. So what do we do?"

"First, don't tell anyone about any of this; don't even mention Sparky. You've got to act natural and go on patrols as if nothing was different. Got it?"

"Gotcha." Jake smiled and nodded. "Alright. I'll go start my patrols." He turned around.

"And Samus? After this mission is over, how about we go to the usual place to eat, for old time's sake." He smiled.

"Sure." Samus grinned before following him.

The patrols started that night. Jake patrolled the halls with Chris. "Hey, no hard feelings for earlier?" Jake asked Chris.

"Not at all," he answered cheerily. "Just don't actually shoot me, and I'm sure we'll get along fine."

"Awesome. Thanks." Jake smiled. "You see anything?" He asked, looking around.

"Nope." He radioed out. "Max, any activity near you?" He waited a few moments before turning to Jake. "I guess everything's quiet tonight."

Jake switched to thermal visor. He couldn't see anything suspicious. But then something darted past his visor. "Hold up. I'm getting something." He alerted Chris.

Chris raised his energy rifle. "Where?"

"Something showed up on thermals. We might be dealing with cloaked infiltration." jake said, looking around quickly.

"Everyone should switch to thermals," Chris radioed, doing so himself. "Ray, are we to take them in or..." He paused as he was given an answer. "... Understood, sir."

"What did Ray say?" Jake asked.

" 'Don't take any chances.'" Chris stopped. "Shouldn't your radio be on?"

"I'm working on it." Jake finally switched his radio on. "Hey, check over there. I'm on point." Jake says as he creeps up to a source of thermal heat.

Chris nodded and worked his way around to the other side. "Sir, we may have found one."
Jake grabs the source and points his arm cannon at the target's head. The target turned around and shot at him. "Ugh! OVER HERE!" He shouted. Everyone came running.

The target breaks free and bolts toward Chris, who fires multiple hasty shots, all of which completely miss. As if lighter than air, the figure cartwheels swiftly over him and bolts away down an open hallway. Everyone tries to pursue the target, but it easily escapes around several corners. A few seconds later, a surprised scream sounds from one of the halls.

"Got him," Samus called over the radio.

Jake runs up. "Okay. Let's grill this guy for info." He said as two of the guys picked the person up.

Samus was in her zero suit, Paralyzer still holstered and ponytail gone. As she continued to stare at Jake, everyone else took notice and waited to see what she would do.
"Remember a few years ago," she finally instructed. With that said, she simply turned and headed down the hall.

Jake looked confused. They brought the person into an interrogation room.

"Name," the interrogator said mechanically.

"..." The subject remained silent.

"Tell us your name," Ray insisted as well.

The figure still sat there, motionless.

"Answer now!" Jake commanded.

The figure jumped and started rambling something in another language. After a few minutes of the rambled gibberish, the cloaked figure stopped, hands shaking.

"Uh..." Ray began. "... Nice to meet you, too?"

Samus stepped toward the figure. After a few moments of just standing there, the figure slowly looked up at her. More time passed as their eyes locked. Then, Samus began speaking in what sounded like the same language.

Jake looked extremely confused. "Are you part of Jynx?" he asked the person.

"She's speaking Chozo," Samus said. "I'd never forget how to speak it. I grew up there since I was three."

"Ah. if the guy was speaking Luminoth I'd be able to help." jake smiled apologetically.

"She wouldn't have wanted to speak with you in the first place, seeing as you scared her so bad."

Jake frowned. "Sorry.I thought she was with Jynx." He explained.

"She is. I'm guessing the Jynx speak Chozo."

"Well then start interrogating her!" Jake said politely.

A few minutes passed as Samus took on the role of the interrogator. Everyone waited patiently as the two went back and forth with questions and answers. The girl eased up some, focusing on the questions. The page was filled up within an hour. Ray picked it up.

"Thank you, Samus," he said. "That's all of them."

"I'm not done questioning her," Samus said abruptly.

Chris and Jake looked confused. "But...that's it...isn't it?" Jake asked.

"No." Samus said something else in Chozo to the girl.

Whatever she said startled the girl. She didn't get an answer right away and said something more. At this, the girl answered hesitantly. From her eyes, though, Samus knew the girl was telling the truth. Emotionless, she said another thing and stood up.

"Now I'm done."

"What's goimg on?" Jake asked. Chris, Ray and the others nodded.

"I can't say here." She looked at Jake. "Remember what I told you earlier." That said, she turned and left the room.

Jake nodded. He started pacing.

"So..." Ray began. "Can you explain what exactly she meant by that?"

"Sorry. I can't tell you. It's a little inside tip we share. Kinda private." He explained.

"... Okay..."

"Thanks for understanding. So what did our captive tell us?"

"Well she said the Jynx are a relatively small group." Chris began.

"She doesn't remember her birth name, but the gang leader named her Tiger," Ray continued. "Many others in the gang have taken on gang names like Dragon, Leopard, and Hawk."

"They are indeed after Project Nova...." He read.

"She wasn't told why. All she knows is the gang leader wants something having to do with it."

"So that's all we got?" Jake asked.

"Yep."

"Jake," Samus called to him over the radio. "You might want to see this."

"Gotta go." Jake said and ran to Samus. "What's up?" He asked.

She said nothing and pointed to the wall. A bunch of graffiti covered the wall in decorative, 3d styles. It read: You know what we want.

"Shoot." Was all that Jake could say.

"At what?" Samus asked jokingly.
Jake started laughing. "Very funny." He said.

"... But what I don't get it that it's written in English."

"Exactly what I was thinking. Tiger spoke in Chozo. Why would it be written in English?" he contemplated.

"No one at the base can speak Chozo as far as we know. It could be that they speak both Chozo and English, but we don't know how to determine how well they speak both. If they speak it instinctual, like me, all we'd have to do is ask them a favor in Chozo, and we'd have them cornered."

Jake nodded grimly.

"Unfortunately, there's a high likelihood the spy already knows we're onto him."

Jake nodded again. "So we might have to bug this area…"

"I'm not too sure how effective that'll be. We'll give it a try anyway. Let's just keep doing the patrols like normal. Don't link up to the team's radio unless something unusual happens. Keep linked to the other channel."

"Gotcha." Jake nodded.

Ray rounded the corner. "What does the graffiti say this time?" he asked.

"Just take a look." jake said.

"Hmph. How could they know that we know that they are after the Nova Project?" Ray asked.

"You really don't know yet?" Samus asked.

Ray frowned. Jake chuckled. "It means we have a spy in our midst." He explained. Ray's eyes shot open.

"... You two knew about a spy this whole time and said NOTHING?!?"

"Consider this," Samus intervened. "Would you rather have someone spying on you, or would you rather be dead?"

Jake nodded and Ray sighed. "Fine. Fine. I'm sure you had your reasons. But I assure you, it's not me. My first and foremost duty is to the Galactic Federation, not terrorists." He said calmly.

"I know it's not you," Samus said, just as calm. "I do have some suspicions, though.

However, since you're in on this, I guess we'll have to figure something out."

"Hmmm.....there is one man who has been AWOL for weeks. But he could be here, snooping around. Marcus Renos. He's our undercover operative in missions." Ray said.

"I'm not convinced. He couldn't have infiltrated the surveillance room without anyone knowing. Wiretapping the whole system would take too long. Whoever it is was in the interrogation room. They understood the whole conversation I had with Tiger."

"Alright. Marcus might be involved in something else. I'll look into him later." Ray said.

Jake was thinking a little about Chris. He seemed a little suspicious.

"Just keep your eyes peeled," Samus told Ray. Glancing at Jake, she easily read his expression. "... You too." She turned and headed down the hall.

Jake nodded and decided to survey Chris's activities.

"Anything yet?" Samus radioed Jake as she patrolled a darkened corridor.

"Nope. I'm watching Chris right now. He doesn't know I'm here." He said into the radio.

"Keep your eyes peeled. Something could-" Gun shots sounded briefly over the radio.

"Samus!? Samus!?"Jake shouted.

The radio remained silent.

Jake swore and ran to Samus's coordinates. When he got there, she was lying in the middle of the floor in her Zero suit, unconscious.

Jake gasped and picked her up. He carried her to the infirmary.

"We will do everything we can." The doctor said reassuringly.

"... Jake..." Samus muttered weakly.

"Samus...I'm right here." Jake said as the doctors analyzed her.

"... Come closer..."

Jake leaned forward. The doctors were still getting an analysis of her.

With all the strength she had, she reached up and placed a hand on the side of his head. Images flashed through his mind as the detection gear went haywire.

Tunnels... A missing wall... Cloaked figures... Chris!


Jake's eyes shot open. He knew it! "I'll take care of this." He said.

Samus had fallen back into unconsciousness, her energy spent.

Ray burst into the infirmary. "What happened? I saw you run by with..." He spotted her. "Is she..."

Jake looked grim. "It's Chris." Was all he said before he ran out of the room.

"Wait, Jake!"

He was already far down the hall. Jake found Chris quickly. He pointed his arm cannon at him. "Why'd you do it?" he asked him.

"You know it was just a freeze gun, right?" he asked rather pompously. "She's rather weak against it anyway." Chris calmly got to his feet. "You both knew too much about my children."

Jake growled at him.

"But seeing as she's probably not why you're here, you want to know why I'm after that project, right?"

"Yeah...why?" Jake asked, not moving away from him.

"It's actually rather simple." Chris started pacing around Jake. "Project Nova is a special biologic enhancement formula. It was designed to stabilize victims of terrible accidents by strengthening their original biosignature to the point where the healing process would be accelerated. In other words, it's a lot like the Chozo healing technique."

"So...no secret Metroids this time, huh? That's good news." Jake sighed but regained his composure. "Stay where you are, lest you want a plasma beam to the face."

"Oh, I don't think that'll happen." Chris gave off a loud whistle and ten cloaked figures dropped down from the ceiling, each wielding a plasma rifle. "You don't seem to be in the position to make threats."

Jake swore.

'Jake.' It was Samus' voice. 'Close your eyes and concentrate.'

Jake did so. "They're closed. But how is this going to help?" He asked.

'Just focus. Sparky knows what to do.'

Jake listened to her and focused. He waited for a miracle.

A strange, electric sensation spread through him.

"What the-" Chris started to say. But he didn't finish. There were eleven thumps, then silence.

Jake opened his eyes. All of them were unconscious. "I need some backup. I've apprehended the culprits." He said into the radio.

"On our way," Ray radioed.

'So am I,' Samus said.

Jake started getting rid of their weapons.
Ray and several others ran over from a hall. As they neared, all they could do at first was stare.

"... How the..." Ray began, looking at all the unconscious gang members.

"I have no idea." Jake answered. The others showed up.

"Sparky sent out an electrical charge," Samus said, emerging from another hall. Stumbling forward, she grabbed at the wall for support. Jake helped her up. He put her arm around his shoulder.

"So it WAS Chris." Ray said.

"Yeah," Samus said. "He snuck up behind me and hit me with a freeze gun."

Jake frowned at the unconscious form of Chris.

"At least I had my suit on; it took most of the ice."

Jake nodded

"Thank you two for your help," Ray said as two guards cuffed Chris and dragged him off. "I'm sure we couldn't have stopped him without you."

"It's no trouble, Ray." Jake said, picking up two Jynx members.

"If you ask me," Samus said as her suit started to re-materialize, "it was a much shorter mission than I'm used to." Her suit fully reactivated, and she picked up one of the Jynx. "Usually, I'm on a mission for a week or so. Sometimes over a month."

Everyone was apprehended. Later back at the ships...

"Hey samus?" Jake asked, removing his helmet. "Can I tell you something?"

"Sure; go ahead," she answered, removing hers as well.

"Thanks for everything." He said softly as he grabbed her face and pressed his lips against her in a soft, gentle kiss.

At first, she was taken aback in surprise, but when she realized how much she liked it, it seemed to make sense. Cheeks flushed with color, she returned the kiss, overjoyed and enthralled by the wonderful sensation.

When he broke the kiss, Jake smiled. "I have loved you....for a long time. You're beautiful, smart, kind, and you don't hesitate to kick some butt." He said smiling.

"I've felt the same way for... forever, it seems." Samus stared lovingly into his deep blue eyes, magnificent oceans. She smiled gently in return. "I especially love that childish side of you that seems to get you into trouble sometimes."

Jake blushed, smiling sheepishly. He hugged her. "What say we don't separate, ever again." He proposed his idea, smiling.

"Definitely," she answered, laying her head on his shoulder comfortably.

"Do you want to share the same ship? 'Cause if you do, I can sell my ship for extra funds." Jake suggested, smiling and playing with her beautiful golden-blond hair.

"You don't have to sell it." She ran her fingers through his fiery red hair. "But if you think it's a good idea, I agree."

Jake smiled. "Yeah. I want to spend more time with you. I'll sell it to the GF. Be right back." Jake loaded his belongings onto Samus's ship and sold his ship to Ray.

"I certainly find this a little sudden," Ray remarked. "But this ship will certainly benefit us." He smiled. "You two lovebirds be careful, okay. Don't have too much fun."

Jake blushed. "C'mon, Ray, don't be like that." He lightly punched his shoulder playfully, Ray shoved him back, smirking.

Samus rolled her eyes. "Boys..." she mumbled before turning for the door.

Jake followed her, turning back to Ray. "Hope to work with you again soon, Ray!" He smiled.

Ray smiled back. "Likewise."

"C'mon, Jake!" Samus called impatiently from outside. "You promised we could go to our usual place after the mission!"

Jake smiled and followed her. "Sorry about that." He said sheepishly.

Samus and Jake climbed into Samus' ship. As they sat down, Samus noticed another message had popped up.

Samus opened the message. She gasped. "... No way..."

"What's up?" Jake asked.

"... Anthony..." The old teammate's face was displayed on the screen, his usual, cheery face still full of energy.
((end chapter))