Author's Note:
Let's see: I don't own Avatar, never have, probably never will. I plan on exploring Jake's POV next, then maybe Grace's and Norm's. I'm honestly not sure yet, but Jake's is guaranteed. I guess that depends on the interest the story receives. I measure interest in reviews, not hits, by the way, just saying. I'm curious what you'll think, so I hope you'll let me know. By the way, I freely admit I didn't think this title up, I got it from the scene selection on the Avatar DVD. (Great Stuff!)
Escape From Hell's Gate.
It was career suicide, probably the dumbest thing she'd ever done, and that was saying something. Trudy had worked her butt off to get where she was, and now she was about to blow it. Flying was all she'd ever wanted to do from the word go, getting to be a pilot was all she'd ever cared about. "Can't keep your feet on the ground, can you, mi hija. Too good for us, huh?" her mother was always saying at her, taking another drink.
"Just like you can't keep sober for five minutes," she'd mutter, leaving her mom to her latest happy hour. The sky always felt more like home than the miserable hole in the wall her mom had called a house, all 19 of them over the years. There'd been just about as many "daddies" some of them worse assholes than others. Some had wandering hands, but she'd gotten tough quick. Then she joined the air force, never looked back. By the time the mission for Pandora came up, she had nothing worth staying for on Earth. No boyfriends or anything like that, just the occasional hook-up or a friend with benefits.
To this day, she didn't know if her mother was dead or alive, and she didn't really feel like finding out.
But she had people that she cared about now, that was the sticky part. Grace, Jake and even Norm, they'd all grown on her. They'd all gotten tight, made up some kind of weird family. They gave each other crap, joked, hung out, all that good stuff. Trudy wasn't really comfortable with the whole bonding thing, she liked to be on her own, but she was comfortable around these people. That counted for a lot.
After all, they weren't exactly expecting her to hold hands and get in touch with her inner feelings. They liked her for what she was...a total smartass, a messed up one at that.
She wanted to look out for herself, that was what she was good at. That was the problem with giving a damn about other people; it looked like it just got you into all kinds of shit. She couldn't sit pretty and let them get court marshaled, it wasn't an option.
"You sure about this?" Max asked her, like she would be.
"Not even a little bit, and since you're the genius with the PhD, you shouldn't be either," she told him grimly. If they got caught, they'd be beyond screwed.
"It's okay to be scared, Trudy." He looked pretty freaked out his own self, all sweaty and shaky. "No one would blame you if-"
"I would, okay?" They needed her, she was their best shot. "This needs to be done and I'm doing it. I'm just sayin' this is just gonna buy time, you know? The whole snow ball in hell thing, Quaritch will come after us, guns blazing. We don't have a chance."
"That's the spirit," Max said, trying to smile. "Shall we start this party?"
She nodded, taking a deep breath. She wasn't just scared, she was frickin' terrified but that was okay. It wasn't the first time, she'd learned early that you didn't back down, even if you got scared. That's why she thrived in the military, kicking butt in what was still the boy's club. The guys eventually accepted her because she didn't take their shit lying down, she got in their faces. Now she was throwing all the rules out the window, no safety net now.
She tracked down Jenkins; the grunt drew the short straw and was delivering the food to the detention center. "Hey, Jenkins," she called, playing it cool. "Colonel wants you, like five minutes ago."
His face, baby fat and all, went white. "He wants me? Why?"
"Do I look like the information desk?" She shrugged, nudging him aside with her hip. "Guess I better go feed Fletcher Christian and his gang before they start whinin' about their rights."
"Huh?" Obviously, not a movie buff. Too bad, Clark Gable was a hottie, but Jenkins probably wouldn't agree. Unless...well, hey, no skin off her nose.
"Look, private, you got more balls than brains keeping Quaritch waiting. I'd get moving if I were you."
"Right." He nodded, all but ran down the hall. Trudy wasn't exactly strolling herself, there wasn't much time. She focused on the mission, keeping herself steady. A look through the glass and she felt the tension ease in her stomach a little. Pfeiffer was guarding them, it couldn't have been better if she'd assigned him herself. Grace had once called his IQ depressing, and she wasn't far off. Everything had just got a whole lot easier.
He typed in the entry code, not even wondering why a pilot with her rep got stuck with such a menial job. Typical. She stepped through the opening doors, acting like she didn't have a care in the world. She made the first move, keeping her voice easy and light. "Hey, what's going on, brother? Long time no see." She made sure to keep her back to the wall, even Pfeiffer would see red flags otherwise.
"Hey." She took a second to glance over at her buddies, in a holding cell but okay. She'd been worried the Colonel would really give them the treatment, some kind of 'Resisting Arrest' thing. Except for a small cut on Jake's face, they looked okay. She breathed a little easier.
They were watching her pretty close, but they were keeping their mouths shut. She couldn't blame them, they were probably trying to figure her out. They had the brains to be surprised she was standing there, although they probably weren't thinking along the lines of being rescued.
She dropped the bait in, hoping Pfeiffer was enough of a moron to bite. "Personally I don't think these tree-hugging traitors deserve stake." Yeah, like that'd ever happen in a million years. She saw Jake's eyes narrow and Grace had a similar look on her face. Again, points for brains, because she didn't even get stake in this joint. Hell, that was for the CEO's.
There really was a sucker born every minute and the sucker was Pfeiffer 'cause he didn't even miss a beat. "They get stake? No way. Let me see that."
While he was bending over, smile never faltering, Trudy eased her gun from her belt. She couldn't help but laugh as she stuck the barrel of her weapon at the back of his neck. She'd say part 1 of the mission had been a success.
"Yeah, you know what that is," she told him, suddenly all business. "Down."
"Trudy," she heard Norm say. That was one pleased dude.
"All the way down." Pfeiffer was taking his time, probably straining that pea brain of his, and trying to figure out how to turn the tables. It was so not going to happen. She brought the gun down, making sure she hit him hard enough that he was out cold, but not so hard he'd buy the farm. Last time she checked, being a total moron wasn't a killing offense. You had to be a moron and start shooting. Important qualification, really.
The three of them were at the door, just ready to go. That's what she liked about this gang, no soul-searching crap, no 'Trudy, my God! Why?' Just ready to go.
"Max!" she called, antsy to get a move on. She put her gun away, giving them a look like: Like I wouldn't come, seriously.
Max scrambled in, card in place. He monkied around with the sensory machine, the door sliding open. "Nice of you to join us," Jake drawled.
"You're welcome, wheels," she shot back at him. They took a second to grin as they hustled out of there, and out the corner of her eye, she saw Grace indulgently make a face at them. It felt good, it felt normal.
By the time they hit the corridor, the situation kicked in, and there was no room for kidding around. Behind her Jake said: "Trudy, fire up the ship." To Norm: "Go."
A little out of shape, Norm had to push himself to catch up to her. "Here." She handed him the gun, relieved he seemed comfortable handling it. She didn't have time for rookie shit, none of them did. She kept on high alert, ready to shoot if necessary. She knew Jake would do the same.
She took a minute to get a mask for herself and Norm, then they ran into the maze of planes, trying to avoid the light. Norm had her back, taking the covers off her plane when they got to it. She played with the gears, trying to loosen it up to go quicker. She turned the engine on, hearing it purr to life. "Come on baby," she murmured. Any minute now, they'd be onto them.
Grace and Jake were headed her way, Max must have decided to stay. She just hoped he had the balls to play it cool because they'd nail him for this if they found out. By the time Norm and Grace hoisted Jake in, Samson 1-6 was ready for take off.
"Come on," she told them. She could feel the hammer about to drop, it was in the air. It seemed like this was taking forever, and it was no Sunday social. In their defense, they weren't acting like it but they weren't moving fast enough.
Next thing she knew, the Colonel had opened fire and he definitely wasn't taking prisoners. It was literally do or die now. "I'm taking fire, let's go," she announced. She couldn't wait much longer. Hell, none of them could.
Norm had scrambled up into the plane, pulling Grace along. Jake was doing his best to help, yelling for them to go, to keep going. It occurred to Trudy, randomly, that people said stuff in crisis situations. Useless crap, like: "You can do it" or "keep going" or something like that. It wasn't that the other person needed the feedback, it was because the other person needed to talk 'cause that's all they had to do, it was better than nothing.
And the Colonel kept on firing, even when Grace had taken cover because he was so pissed they'd gotten away, he had to try. Whatever chance he had of taking them out, slim or not, he was gonna take.
No one said human beings made sense. She bet the Navi had their fucked up moments too.
Who didn't? She didn't know and she didn't care.
What she did know and what she did care about was that it was going to be a game of hide and seek. The Colonel was a few cards short of a deck, and they'd just given him another reason to attend Anger Management. She just hoped Jake had a plan...scratch that. She hoped Jake had a viable plan, 'cause they'd need it.
Her? She was just the pilot.