The Bergman Affair

Planet Daibon, GFDate 4034:0821

Damara knew where she was.

She was somewhere in Daibon. The people in white told her this when they came to check on her. They were very kind, very soft, and they spoke to her in soothing whispers. They reminded her of the people that had taken her so very long ago and she had peed herself and waited for the pain to restart but they had been nothing but kind even when she attacked them.

There was no escape. There was no place to go.

Soon, she realized she had no place to run to. She stopped trying. 

Days turned into weeks. As she became comfortable they asked her about her story. She told them about the time Samus had saved her, told them about what had been done to her. They held her and listened and told her that none of it was her fault. They spoke with, letting her work through things. Her secrets were safe with them; they told her that they could not repeat anything they heard to anyone else and she believed them.

Over two weeks she talked and talked and came to understand that she was in a private care facility, one of the best in the galaxy. Someone had called in favors to get her here. She wasn't sure who until her minders told her she had a visitor but that she didn't have to see the visitor, that she didn't have to see anyone she didn't want to.

She was lonely. She was ashamed. She knew who had come for her and felt herself trembling, but she closed her eyes and bit her lip and agreed to see her. 

Samus Aran.

There was a red headed girl Damara didn't know with her.

“I'm...,” whispered Damara, but the words died in her throat. How could she have been so stupid? How could she have done the things she had done to Samus Aran, who had done so very much to help her? She began to cry. Strong arms held her.

“It's okay,” Samus whispered. “It wasn't you.”

Damara wept, then, clutching onto her hero and wondering if the weeping would ever end.

It did, hours later. Samus and Damara and the newcomer – Mia Xen – sat down to talk about the future. Mia was like Damara and Samus, an exceptional soldier, but one who the Federation had done right by.

“There's a place waiting for you,” Mia said, “if you want to come back. When you're ready to leave here.”

“When will that be?” asked Damara, nervous. She didn't want to go.

“You'll know,” Samus said, taking her hand and giving it a small squeeze. “I've got your suit. It's safe. If you want it, it'll be waiting for you. You know where.”

Damara nodded. She did.

There wasn't much more to say after that. Samus left. Mia stayed. She would come back and visit sometimes and the two of them would talk. And, as Samus had claimed, Damara knew when it was time for her to leave.

Slowly, holding Mia's hand, she stepped out into the light of Daibon.

For a few months she worked as a drill sergeant, helping train Federation soldiers. The structure was good for her, helped her rebuild her confidence. After a time, though, she felt the pull of the stars and quit, buying a small ship and working again as a bounty hunter.

It wouldn't be long before she'd be ready to be Sylux again.

Until then, this would be enough.

* 

That's Madeline and Damara taken care of. Two down, one to go. Last chapter goes up soon. Reviews and questions will be answered here: http://www2.adult-fanfiction.org/forum/topic/36931-metroid-the-bergman-affair-feedback-comments-and-workshopping/?page=12 Thanks for reading.