So I opened my e-mail and almost died. Uh, in a good way. Thank you, thank you, thank you for your fabulous reviews and for favoriting (not a word, but whatev). I feel like a kid in a candy store. I'm literally staring at my computer, reading what you've all said, giggling and rubbing my hands together in glee.

Not much else to say…so, here's chapter two.

-

DAY 16; 20:49

Grace had thrown a bit of a fit over the couch, saying something about impracticality and lack of space (not to mention obvious fact that it was utterly ridiculous), but eventually gave up. Sometimes it's easier to ignore your problems than to try to shove them through too small doors.

Besides, it hadn't gone to total waste. When it wasn't being used for relaxation purposes, it was usually covered in a wide variety of guns and ammunition. Most comfortable weapons rack in the galaxy.

Trudy sat on it now, checking her reflection in the barrel of an M60 machine gun. She nodded approvingly.

"You're going to shoot your eye out," Norm mused as he entered the room. He walked over to his bunk and collapsed, facing Trudy, feet stuck out in front of him to rest on the couch.

"Oh really?" She shook her head. "Please. I'm a trained professional." She looked him up and down, a curious expression on her face.

"What?" asked Norm, shifting uncomfortably under her gaze.

"You know how to use one of these?" she asked, holding up the gun. Norm shook his head. "C'mere then," Trudy continued, standing and grabbing her mask to walk outside. Norm hesitated. "Hurry up!" she called, and he followed.

Trudy was standing outside expectantly. The sun had barely set, and Norm couldn't help but notice the way the not-quite-nighttime light played across her features. She was smiling, and he couldn't suppress his own grin. Maybe they lived together, but at the same time, he couldn't help but feel…well, happy to see her. Almost from the moment he'd met her he mentally associated her with heat, and while she could certainly be fire, tonight she seemed simply warm, and inviting. Beautiful and safe – though perhaps that last word was a bit naïve. After all, flames are beautiful.

"Alright," she was explaining. "Stand like so. Feet shoulder width apart, tall, stop slouching. Good." She extended the gun, and Norm took it cautiously. "Balance the weight in both hands," she said, and he awkwardly obliged. He'd never quite liked weapons. Not that they scared him – they just felt out of place. Alien. They weren't natural. Nevertheless, he shifted the gun in his hands like she instructed him too.

"Don't slouch," she repeated. Norm straightened. "Suck it in," she teased, slapping him lightly across the stomach. "Shoulders straight. Nice." She nodded. "Very nice. Now, it's pretty simple. You just pull the trigger. Once, and don't hold it down. The thing's got a mean recoil, but nothing you can't handle. Just make sure you hold it to the side enough…" she adjusted it slightly "so you don't break your own ribs, yeah?" She pointed. There was a target in front of him, maybe 30 feet away. "You won't hit it," she said pointedly.

"You wanna bet?"

"Hey, I may occasionally hustle my way out of debt, but I'm no thief. Hang onto your money."

"Five bucks," said Norm.

Trudy bit her lip, then nodded. "Whatever. Your loss."

Norm took a deep breath, and pressed his index finger against the trigger.

BANG BANG BANG

Despite expecting it, the force of the gun still caught him off guard. He took a step back as the bullets went flying into the forest, somewhere to the far right of the target. He stumbled, quickly regained his balance, and looked up at Trudy in surprise.

She was laughing. "Told you so."

Norm paused, then shook his head. "One more time. Double or nothing."

She shrugged. "Be my guest. Easy money."

Half an hour and fifty bucks later, the sky had darkened to the point where they almost couldn't see the (embarrassingly untouched) target. "Last time," Norm was insisting.

"You're crazy," Trudy said. "You haven't hit it the last hundred times, and you won't hit it for at least a hundred more. Especially in the dark."

"Come on," he insisted. "At least give me a chance to win my money back."

She sighed. "Fine. Hit it this time, and you don't owe me a penny." She stood back, hands on her hips, and looked at him expectantly.

Norm took a deep breath. He straightened, adjusted the gun, and stared at the target for a long moment. Everything was silent. He mentally calculated angles and arcs in his mind for what felt like the millionth time that day. And he pulled the trigger.

BANG

Norm squinted. "Did I hit it?" Not waiting for a reply, he stood to walk over to the target, Trudy not far behind him. For a moment he thought he had missed. His face fell, and he prepared to kiss fifty bucks (well, fifty five now) goodbye.

And then he saw it.

A tiny hole was ripped through the yellow ring on the paper, about eight inches from the bull's eye. Norm's eyes widened. "I hit it," he said quietly. He looked up at Trudy in disbelief.

She looked equally as surprised. "I don't believe it," she said. She shook her head, but broke into a smile. "You hit it!" she cried, suddenly jumping forward to hug him. Norm hugged her just as tight, grinning ear to ear. He picked her up and spun her around, high on life.

"I'm amazing," he said when he put her down.

"You are amazing," she replied. "You're Batman."

Norm nodded, but even his own animated words faded into the background. Whatever they were saying was suddenly far from his mind, because she was beaming at him, and it was the best feeling in the world.

-

DAY 18; 10:35

Humankind had managed to create basic artificial life, clone mammoths, and surpass the speed of light. You think that a little rain wouldn't be able to bring their entire operation to a screeching halt.

Jake was gone again, as usual. The weather certainly wasn't stopping him. He'd taken a liking to his private teacher, Neytiri, and had mentioned something about finally getting a bow today. Grace and Norm, on the other hand, were cooped up in the tiny cabin. They had been planning to actually go out today and tag Prolemuris today, something Norm had been looking forward too. The green and blue monkey-like creatures were not as dangerous as many of the animals on Pandora, and in fact were curious and interactive.

Of course, as disappointed as he was, he couldn't really complain with Trudy there.

Bad weather. Pilot's nightmare. She was agitated and out of it today, symptoms of being grounded. She glanced out the window ever few minutes, looking at her "baby", and she bit her nails as she went over various charts and maps she had sketched of the Hallelujah Mountains.

Outside, the storm raged. The thunder was louder than anything Norm had ever heard on Earth, and when it sounded the entire base shook. This thunder felt close. He didn't merely hear it – each clap reverberated in his bones. The torrential rain pounded on the roof, coming down in sheets, echoing throughout the hollow metal building. It made everything sound (and feel) empty.

Norm looked up from his microscope and blinked a few times. His eyes were red and raw, and his head pounded. He gazed out the window. He could hardly see a thing through the thick clouds that had settled in and above the Hallelujah Mountains. It was the kind of thing you saw when you tried to remember a dream – you knew more or less what should be there, but all you could really see were the vaguest of outlines, mere suggestions of reality.

He stood. Grace had long since fallen asleep on her desk, cheek pressed against an open book. She'd worked herself to the bone these last few days. Despite the fact she would certainly wake up with biology terms smeared onto her face, it was good she was sleeping now, when she could. Norm smiled in her direction and walked into the other room.

Trudy was sitting on the couch, knees pulled up to her chest, the papers she was looking at forgotten as she stared off into space. She jumped when he cleared his throat.

"Sorry. Didn't mean to scare you."

She shook her head. "No prob. You didn't."

"Do you mind?" he pointed at the couch.

"Nah." She moved her books off the cushion and onto the floor. Norm sank into the couch next to her.

"Can you believe this rain?" he started lamely.

"Sure."

"It's really wet outside. I mean, it has to be flooding out there. It's been pouring for hours," he continued, only shoving his foot further into his mouth. "I've never seen a storm like this." Apparently he wasn't going to shut up yet. "I mean, we got a lot in Portland. When I was six I woke up one morning and the entire place was in at least a foot of water. We couldn't go anywhere. My cousin Leah was over, and we built this little fort thing out of all the blankets in the house, in front of this big window, and, we, uh…" he trailed off. Trudy was still staring blankly ahead.

She turned to him suddenly after a beat of silence. "And what?" she asked.

"Sorry," Norm said. "I'm just rambling."

Trudy offered him a crooked grin. "Don't worry about it. It's kinda cute." Norm didn't look down when he felt her hand slide into his. Their fingers laced together, and he had to suppress a smile. Her hand was calloused at the base of her fingers, but otherwise surprisingly soft. It was also icy cold, but he was pleased it fit so comfortably in his own hand. He squeezed hers gently, trying to send even the tiniest bit of warmth to the aberrantly icy woman beside him. "So you liked it?" she asked. "Portland?"

Norm shrugged. "We weren't there long. And it was never sunny. Living in Brazil was better."

"Why?"

"The food was amazing."

Trudy laughed, and this time there was more life in her eyes. "No, really," she said.

"The Amazon was beautiful. Strangely untouched," Norm mused. "Some might call it primitive – I call it pristine. There aren't so many factories, business tycoons. It was one of the few places on Earth we hadn't yet destroyed. Everything was green. Like here, actually. Everything was natural."

"You ended up in a good place, then," Trudy remarked.

He looked down at her, hand holding even tighter to hers. "Yeah," he said. "I did. And you?" Trudy nodded. "How did you end up here, anyway?" Norm asked.

"My dog died."

Norm paused. "Sorry?"

"I had this beagle. Charlie Brown. I rescued him, you know. He got hit by a car, and I happened to drive by. I took him to the vet, paid for them to fix him up, and took him home. He was this fat, slobbery, lethargic old thing, and I loved him to death. I had him for a couple years. I was gone a lot, flying all the time, but he didn't seem to mind, and it was nice to have something to come home to." Her smile faded. "When he died, I realized I didn't have anything else on Earth to take care of. No one needed me, you know? So I figured it wasn't all that important I stick around, and that Pandora might be a good place to find a job where you're needed."

"You were right," Norm replied simply.

"Yeah," she said. She lowered her gaze, staring at their intertwined fingers. She lifted his hand with hers and rested them on her knee, head cocked to one side as she studied their hands. Norm ran his tongue over his dry lips, trying to keep his heart rate somewhere within the realm of normal. Trudy shut her eyes and leaned her head on Norm's shoulder, a smile playing on the corner of her lips.

-

DAY 22; 19:35

Trudy opened the fridge, not looking forward to more of the gray crap that was typically overflowing in it. Instead she paused when she saw, on the middle shelf, an unopened white Nutella jar. She reached for it, twisting off the white lid, and peeled back the silver foil seal. She smiled, and held up the jar, walking into the next room. "Did you do this?" she asked Grace.

"Can't talk. Recording," Dr. Augustine replied mechanically. Jake looked up, though.

"Oh yeah, Norm brought that," he answered.

Trudy grinned. "Where is he?"

"Outside, checking on the garden." Jake glanced over his shoulder. "He should be right-" On cue, the door opened and Norm walked in, holding a thermometer and taking off his mask.

"Norm," said Trudy, smiling at him.

"Um, yes?"

"I think I'm in love with you," she said, scooping up the Nutella with her pointer finger and licking it off. "Mmmm… Really, marry me."

He rolled his eyes, but the grin spreading across his face gave him away. "No big deal, Ace. I had Max raid the bio lab fridge for me. They tend to get better stuff than the marines do."

"Mhm,… Seriously, how much was it?"

"Nothing. No big deal."

"Spill, slick."

He shrugged. "I just told Max I'd get a couple extra samples for him, that's all," he said, hanging up his mask and walking over to start up his computer. Trudy stood in front of him, blocking his path.

"You're the sweetest person I know." The smile faded, and she sighed. "I wish I could help you out with that, or-"

"It's no big deal," Norm repeated.

"Paychecks don't come out until next week. I'm completely broke," she said, sucking another dollop of chocolate hazelnut slowly off her finger. Norm gulped and shifted uncomfortably, suddenly not sure what to do with his hands. He jammed them into his pockets. Trudy noted this with the tiniest feeling of triumph. "I'll pay you back in sexual favors," she offered with a smile, and Norm turned bright red.

"Not in my lab, you won't," said Grace in a monotone voice from behind her.

"Y-yeah," Norm stammered in agreement. "I mean, we wouldn't want to break anything." He only turned redder as the words left his mouth.

Trudy laughed. "Joking," she said playfully, turning around to walk back into the other room, swinging her hips side to side maybe a little more than necessary. Jake watched her leave, then turned back to Norm. She's not joking, he mouthed mischievously. Norm whacked him with his copy of Dr. Augustine's book as he walked by.

Though, of course, he couldn't help but wonder if Jake was right.

-

DAY 25; 01:22

Trudy woke with a start, drenched in a cold sweat, hands clammy and heart racing. She stared up at her ceiling with wide eyes, trying to calm herself, taking slow, deliberate breaths. Her eyes began to water as she tried to force herself not to blink, because whenever she did visions of her nightmare flashed behind her eyelids.

She had been flying. Of course, she did this a lot, but this dream was different – in this one she didn't need her Samson. She had been soaring over the lush Pandorian forests. At first it had been exhilarating, and beautiful. Her heart had been pounding so hard as she flew, and although she couldn't turn her head, she could feel someone's warm hand in her own.

But then it had changed. As the sun sunk low on the horizon, a sort of wailing had begun to rise from below the forest canopy. It had not taken Trudy long to realize it was the sound of thousands of people crying for help – a sound she'd become all too intimate with during her time in the military on Earth. She'd tried to turn away, but the more she struggled, the more she was frozen, the sound ringing in her ears, a dry scream choking her, trapped at the base of her throat. The hand in hers had grown colder, clammier, stiffer. Dead. Then all at once Trudy had turned her head, and seen the person beside her. It was everyone and no one – it was her sister, it was her father, it was her mother, it was Norm – and yet it couldn't be, because this thing clearly had no heartbeat. Its cold blue eyes stared, empty and penetrating, looking her in the soul. She had screamed, and dropped its hand, and then she was falling out of the air, shrieking and tumbling down, down, down to the hard world below.

She shook her head, trying to forget the nightmare, and went back to sleep.

DAY 25: 07:30

Trudy slowly opened her eyes and groaned. It was her day off, and she had been determined not to get up before noon. Unfortunately, once she was up, she was up. This usually came in handy for a pilot, but when all you wanted was a solid ten to twelve hours of sleep, it pretty much sucked. She blinked a few times, trying to remember her dream, but it had disappeared from her memory.

She sat up unenthusiastically, swinging her legs over the edge of the bed and dropping lightly to the floor. Norm wasn't in bed. She wandered into the other room. "Hello?" she called. "Anybody home?" She glanced over the screens next to the avatar pods; Norm, Jake, and Grace were all apparently plugged in. She nodded, wandered over to the pot of coffee, and poured herself a glass. She shivered slightly, wishing she had pulled a jacket on over her tank top and sweat pants, her bare toes curling against the icy metal floor. She looked lazily out the window, and her coffee spilled all over the floor when she dropped it.

"Norm?"

In an instant she was out the door, still barefoot and in her pajamas, a mask secured onto her face.

Norm's avatar was grappling with a banshee, with little success. In one of his hands Trudy glimpsed a tracking device – a clear indicator of Norm's mission. He had somehow ended up on top of the animal, and was fighting desperately not to be flung off and over the edge of the large, floating rock.

Trudy might have steered clear of the whole thing if the banshee hadn't obviously been winning.

The rope holding it mouth shut had come off, and the creature was now wildly slamming its powerful jaws shut, biting and clawing, clearly displeased with whatever had decided to jump it. Trudy was sprinting over the hard ground, rocks digging into her feet, the cold air rushing past her. Her eyes widened as the creature finally won, and the two tumbled over the edge, both screaming and thrashing over the side of the cliff.

"NORM!"

Trudy ran to the edge, leaning over it and almost tumbling off herself. The beast was flying, Norm clinging to it desperately. He rolled and slipped and hung, but it was not enough. In mere seconds he had been flung off, and he plummeted far, down to smack against the unforgiving stone floating directly beneath him. He landed with a sickening crunch, and let out an inhuman cry of pain.

Trudy was already barreling into her Samson, throwing off the vent covers without watching where they landed, starting up the engine, not even bothering to put on her seatbelt. In a moment she had landed beside the crumpled avatar body, and she jumped out. "Norm! Norm? Are you okay?"

Norm had pulled himself into a seated position, dazed and in pain. He tried to smile at her, but the expression on his face was more sickening than comforting. He was clutching his right arm to his chest. "I – I'm alright," he stuttered. Ignoring him, Trudy came forward to examine his arm. The blood drained from her face. The limb was bloody and mangled, and at the wrist the white bone had jutted out, piercing through the cerulean skin, gleaming gruesomely in the morning light. "Alright," she said, nodding slowly. "I'm going to run back and unplug you, yeah?" Her voice was shaking.

"N-no," said Norm quickly. "No, we have to get the avatar to – to safety."

"But you're-"

"No," he repeated stubbornly, a tone of finality in his voice. Trudy opened her mouth to argue, but realized this was not a battle she was likely to win. She sighed, and nodded. "C'mon," she ordered, walking quickly back to the Samson. The walk was short, but she still couldn't stand to see Norm making it. He couldn't walk on his right foot, and hopped slowly on his left toward her ship, each tiny movement making him wince as pain shot throughout his right arm. Trudy stared down her dashboard, silent and angry, and for the first time in a long time, completely helpless.

Norm finally made it into the copter, and she flew as smoothly as she possibly could back up to their base. She stepped out of the Samson, carefully locked the avatar inside, and ran back into the metal shack, flying through the doors and punching in the codes to get Norm out as fast as she could.

The lid flew open, and so did Norm's eyes. Shaking his head, he slowly began to sit up. "You okay?" asked Trudy quickly.

Norm nodded. "Think so."

"Good." She pulled back her right arm and slapped him across the face. "Don't you ever do something that stupid again, you moron," she railed. "Idiot, if I wasn't here to save your ass, do you have any idea where you or your precious little avatar would be right now? I mean, a dinosaur just tossed you off a frickin cliff! Geez, you're so stupid, I can't believe-" She cut off suddenly.

Norm's right wrist had caught her attention. He was holding it unusually cautiously, and when she took a closer look she saw it was swollen to almost twice its normal size. A large black and purple bruise has blossomed across it, ugly and throbbing. "What's this?" Trudy asked quietly.

"The mind is a powerful thing," Norm replied with a grim smile. "It thinks you're hurt in one body, it tends to think you're hurt in the other as well."

Trudy nodded mechanically, and turned to grab the first aide kid behind her. "Give me that," she said as Norm slowly swung his legs over the edge of the pod. He hesitantly held his wrist forward, and she gently ran her hands over it. He winced a few times, biting his lip and trying not to show any of the pain he was in. "Good news," said Trudy dully. "It's not broken. Just sprained. It'll heal pretty quick." She reached for a bandage in the kit and tenderly but efficiently wrapped it around Norm's wrist. "Too tight?"

"No, it's fine." Norm paused. "Thank you," he said sheepishly.

"Don't," she replied sharply, not looking up to meet his eyes. She taped the end of the bandage down and stood to put away the first aid kit. "In a couple hours when the swelling goes down, we'll rewrap it," she said, standing on tiptoe to try to put the box onto the proper shelf. In a moment Norm was behind her, taking it from her hands with his good one, easily reaching the top shelf and setting it down. Trudy turned around and almost ran into him. They stood there for a moment, chest to chest, neither breathing quite properly.

"I'm sorry," he offered again.

Trudy nodded. "Just don't do it again," she said, her voice breaking. "Ever."

Norm's eyebrows came together and he frowned. There was genuine fear in Trudy's eyes. Why was that there? She was fearless. She was the bravest person he knew. He leaned down until his face was mere inches from hers, and cupped her chin in his left hand, his thumb softly stroking her cheek. Trudy held her ground, looking at him straight in the eyes, not even blinking. Norm hesitated for a moment, and then moved to close the distance between them.

At the last instant, Trudy turned her head sharply, and she turned their might-have-been-kiss into a quick hug. "Glad you're alright," she said quickly, patting him on the back. She ducked under his arm before he quite realized what she was doing, and darted down the tiny hallway to the other room. "I'm calling Max!" she called back to him. "See if he can patch your blue guy up."

Norm shoulders slumped. "Yeah," he said. "Sounds great."

-

DAY 26; 16:04

Norm was very quiet the next day. For one thing, the talking to Grace and Max had given him had sobered him up a bit. And for another, he was a moron.

He knew Trudy was out of his league from day one. After all, they lived in completely different universes. She was perhaps the most beautiful woman he'd ever laid eyes on. He was pasty, geeky, and socially awkward, despite having the best intentions. She looked like she could kill you with her pinky finger. The most he could do was wage biological warfare and drool over her while she did chin ups on the bar hanging over the front door. She was outgoing and not afraid to speak her mind. He couldn't remember the last time he'd stood up for something. And while book smart Norm certainly knew his stuff, Trudy seemed to know about everything that actually mattered.

Of course she could never think of him in the way he thought of her. He'd been ridiculously naïve to ever hope she could. Different worlds, different people, different lives. And for heaven's sake, they were on Pandora. Alien planets were no place to casually ask a coworker out on a date.

She was off limits, unobtainable, unreachable, and he was convinced he was done with trying to attain what he obviously couldn't have. That day as he worked moodily in the lab, he hardly talked to her, hardly looked at her, hardly let himself think about her. Ugh, what an idiot he'd been.

She was exactly what he wanted, and exactly what he couldn't have.

Ouch.

Well, let me know what you think. I'm not sure about some of this…for the most part I'm pleased with it, but bits and pieces seem kinda sorta out there. Also, just trying to get a better view of my audience - mind letting me know your favorite lines for each chapter? Just wondering if you go for the fluffy, the corny, the funny, the depressing, the random, etc.

Oh, and by the way – that little green button right below this? Click it. All your wildest dreams with come true.