"Okay what do you need" Trudy asked as she stood her hand firmly on her hips as Jake and several other Na'vi approached her.

"You know you were saying that you've been getting some strange signals from the abandoned base south of the planet" Jake began looking down at the tanned pilot.

"Yeah, we think there's been some activity down there, why what's up" Trudy answered back shifting her weight onto the other leg.

"We were wondering if you could fly down and check out the base for us, we'll be with you but it will be quite hard for us to move around in there" Jake asked kindly to the woman. Trudy nodded her head in understanding. She knew how small the place was and it would be practically impossible for the Na'Vi to maneuver around the place.

"Yeah sure I need some action" she answered a small smile on her face. Jake grinned back at her adjusted the bow on his back.

"Yeah lost your touch" he said nudging her lightly. She slapped his arm and scowled.

"Hey big man the last time you said that my Samson kicked your ass okay, and I thought you had learned" she said teasingly. He just narrowed his eyes at her knowing that she was right.

"Okay when so you want me down there" she asked not wanting to waste any time.

"Well if you and check to see if there's any more activity going on have a good night sleep, we'll go at say 9 tomorrow morning, and gear up too we don't know what could be in there" Jake said as he looked down at the woman with the large exopack fitted to her face.

"Okay I only asked what time, I'm a more experienced Marine then you good boy you do not have to tell me the usual routine for an assignment" she answered back rolling her eyes. Neytiri who was stood alongside Jake laughed slightly.

"Yes ma'am" Jake mock saluted earning a small laugh off Trudy. "I'll come over in a few hours to see what you've found".

Trudy strolled into one of the monitoring rooms and sat herself down at a computer. After scrolling through a few things she managed to finally find the log of activity from the southern base. It was meant to be empty. Completely deserted for the last two years. But obviously not she thought as she looked at the registered activity from the area. There was someone or something in there. Maybe more. Who knows?.

"Probably just some creature" she said loudly as she clicked on another few folders. Finally she came to the file that she was looking for.

Cassie Chacon.

Double clicking on the folder a picture of a young woman appeared looking professional in her photo a small smile on her lips. Looking at her sister's photo her eyes began to well up slightly. She hadn't thought about her sister in a while. Automatically her hand went to the small gold pendant around her neck and squeezed lightly.

She read the details on the file. Details she already knew off by heart. Her age. Her Height. Eye Color. What gun she used. But her heart suddenly skipped a beat as she read those words once more. The words in big bold letters across at least half of the page. Killed in Action. She was 21 years old, my little sister and she died because I was too slow Trudy thought rubbing her face in her weary hands a tiny tear coming down her face.

Suddenly the sound of the door opening startled her and she spun quickly on the chair and came face to face with Jake. Quickly she closed down the file not wanting him to see it.

"Uhh hey Jake" she said trying to make herself sound composed when even she knew she had failed. Epically.

"Hey Trudy, you okay" he asked concerned as he saw the small tear track down her face. Feeling it she rubbed it away quickly knowing that sooner or later Jake would fins out what was bugging her.

"Uh yeah, just tired s'all" she answered back stretching her arms above her had for effect. He raised one of his long eyebrows upwards.

"So you're crying because you're tired" he said not buying a word of what she was saying. He knew her too well. How she tried to hide emotion. Never wanted to look weak. A typical Marine.

Trudy just let a small choke laugh out and her gaze fell to the floor. She heard Jake shuffle closer and watched as he sat down on the floor next to her. Even when he was sat on the floor he was still basically the same height as her.

"Come on, what's up and don't think I didn't see you close some file when I walked in" he asked looking at her curiously. No matter what the woman always fascinated him. There were so many sides to her.

"It's stupid honestly just drop it" Trudy said her gaze averting away from his embarrassed.

"It can't be stupid if it's got you upset Trudy Chacon" he answered back trying to discover what was upsetting her. He didn't like to see his friends upset.

"Just found something from my past that's all" she answered finally getting rid of the choke in her voice.

"Trudy you can tell me, you are the only human family I really have left on this planet as I am yours, please just talk to me" he said his voice soft. Finally she turned her head to look at him. He could see that her eyes were filled up and she was trying to blink the tears away.

"I was just thinking about my sister Cassie" she said her hand once more going to the pendant on her chest and playing with it in her fingers.

"And what about your sister" he asked softly glad that they were finally getting somewhere.

"How much I miss her, how much I wish I could go back in time and stop her from pulling me out of the way, how much I wish I could have been faster, I should have been faster Jake, she was twenty one years old, she was too young" she said her voice hitching once more as she directed the last part at him.

He gulped and looked at the torn woman in front of him. "What happened" he asked knowing what had happened and knowing the pain she must have been through. He lost a brother too. He knew how hard it was.

"We got sent on a mission, search the perimeter of the surrounding area not far from one of the enemy's base's and make sure it was safe for our guys to go in, but they went old school style, and simply disguised themselves as bushes and we walked straight past them giving them the opportunity to surround us" she began taking a deep breath before continuing. "So we were split into pairs, me and Cassie teamed up together like we always did and went left, everyone split up and we were sitting ducks" she continued.

"So suddenly all these soldiers were jumping out of bushes and trees with knives and guns and just came flying at us. Me and Cassie managed to kill a good few of them and we started running back to where we had come from" she carried on her voice getting more and more strained as she continued the story.

"When we were running one of them jumped down from a tree and onto me and Cassie quickly jumped on him and the two were fighting, before I knew it the guy who had attacked us was on the floor and Cassie was holding her stomach, he had stabbed her just before she had snapped his neck" she said her voice barely above a whisper now. "I wrapped my arm around her and we carried on running as fast as she could and I could tell she wouldn't last much longer and that just made me want to run faster, she was my kid sister for god sake" she growled angrily at herself as she hit her hands against her head in frustration.

"It's okay take your time Trudy" Jake answered putting his large blue hand over her tanned one.

"So we thought we'd got away from them but we hadn't, another one came flying out of one of the bushes and straight at me but before I had a chance to pull the trigger on my gun I was pushed to the floor by someone, when I looked up I saw Cassie on the floor the man on top of her his knife planted firmly in her chest, he ripped it out and pressed his gun which was in his other hand to her stomach and pulled the trigger" she said her voice hoarse and breaking even more.

"I got to my feet and ran at him grabbing my gun off the floor and shooting him, I can't even remember how many times, I just remember pumping round after round into him until my clip was empty, when I got over to Cassie she was still alive, only just and I held her as tight as I could telling her to keep holding on and asking why she did it" she said trying to blink the tears away once more but only succeeded in making one drip down her face.

"And do you know what she said" she asked Jake her eyes now looking directly into his. She shook his head. "Because that's what sister's do, protect each other, I love you Trudy, I wouldn't have wanted anyone else here with me now" she said and finally the barriers broke and the tears came spilling down her face and loud sobs racked her frame. Jake instantly snaked his long arms around her shoulders and pulled her right into him. He held her tightly as she cried into him.

Jake didn't know what to say. How could he say anything. Sure he had lost his brother but not in the way she had lost her sister. She was there. She held her as she died. He didn't have that. He didn't have the constant image of his brother getting killed in his head like Trudy did. He rubbed small soothing circles on her back and pondered over what she had been through. He had always thought she had only been a pilot all her life but obviously not. Jake had never once thought about what she had actually been through before. He had never asked when he knew he should have.

"Shh it's okay" he cooed as he rested his big head on her's and let out a long breath. Trudy's frame still vibrated in his arms as the sobs continued to rip out of her mouth and her heart. Everything she had hidden from the world, every pain she had held in and hid under her tough girl façade was pouring from her. "Hey remember our conversation the other day, the one when I told you that something had kept you alive after you crashed, I think I know what it was" he said quietly into her ear as her sobs began to subside ever so slightly. Her breathing was still erratic but she finally managed to speak.

"And what was that" she sniffed as she raised her head from his chest and looked into his big eyes.

"Cassie" he said softly her brown eyes boring into his. She looked at him puzzled. "She didn't die saving you for you to go and get killed just yet, you've got so many years left in you" he said kindly running one of his hands through her soft hair. Trudy just nodded her head against his chest and sighed. Perhaps he was right. Perhaps it was her who kept her alive.

They stayed in silence until her breathing had finally evened out. He had never seen Trudy so broken before and it scared him to the core.

"What happened afterwards" Jake asked finally asking the question he had wanted to know for the last few minutes.

"After what" she asked back not moving from his embrace. No one ever saw her like this. Maybe it's time to let some in Trudy she said inwardly.

"After, after your sister passed on" he said gently but that didn't stop the wince that went through her body and his own.

"I hid in some of the undergrowth for a few minutes until I couldn't hear any more gunfire and then I picked her up and carried her back to where we had come from where the other's should have been" she began her voice slightly muffled by his skin but he didn't mind.

"But when I got there I found the whole team dead, every single one of them, my team was wiped out and I was the only survivor" she finished another sigh falling from her lips.

"How did they find you" Jake asked once more his heart aching for what she had gone through. He thought he'd had it bad.

"I found one of the radios that hadn't been damaged in the fire fight and called it in, within twenty minutes another helicopter was landing and took me back to the base" she answered quietly completely drained after her emotional outburst.

"I'm sorry Trudy" was all Jake could say. Those were the only words that could console her though he knew they probably didn't work. They didn't with him anyway. When people said they were sorry about his brother's death, or when he lost his legs, it didn't make a difference.

"It's in the past now Jake, I guess I've geld it in for so long I didn't realize how much it was eating up at me" she shrugged finally sitting up once more to look at his handsome face. Even in his Avatar form.

"Do you feel any better now you've got it off your shoulders" he asked still rubbing small circles on her back. Her skin was warm even through her shirt.

"Yeah, I think I do" she said back trying to get the smile to her lips but it didn't happen.

"Good" he answered back ruffling her hair slightly. "We don't have to go tomorrow now mind, I mean I can easily say to go another day if you're not up to it" Jake offered knowing that she would probably tell him he was being stupid and of course she would go in the morning.

"I'll be good to go, it'll take my mind off it anyway, so nine o clock sharp" she asked forcing a ghost of a smile on her lips.

"Nine o clock sharp" he answered smiling down at her one of his own tugging at his face.

So we have learnt a little bit more now bless ;), sorry took soooo long to update been so wrapped up with coursework and been seriously ill ugh! Hope it was worth the wait though guys, review and lemme know whatcha think.