Chapter 14

Luke walked into the lab, the outer bay doors already open wide to allow the fresh Pandoran air inside. He padded a little gingerly into the building and down the hall, passing through two sets of doors, following the sounds of his fellow researchers in the next room and moving to join them, reluctantly. He had come to find out how his experimental bugs were doing in the lab settings, as scheduled; he would have been eager for the progress report a week ago. But not today. Today, Luke knew he had to check on them, had to record the appropriate data, but then he would be gone again, away from this blasted place. He didn't intend to stay long. Not today. He hitched a small smile onto his face and broke through the doors, stooping under the doorway and greeting the four humans in masks as he walked in.

"Hey guys," Luke greeted in a low voice as the others turned toward him.

"Hey Luke, how's-" Max stopped at once seeing the state his fellow researcher was in as the other three gaped and stared. He glanced at Annie, standing by his side, and back at Luke, taking in the deep cuts on his arm, his tattered left ear, a full half of it seemingly torn off, the deep slashes in his upper lip, the mincemeat that should have been his right thigh and knee. It was bound, but not well enough to disguise the obvious, and severe, damage nor the clear evidence that it had been cauterized. Luke cleared his throat and limped over to his table of samples, ignoring his colleagues' reaction to his appearance and pored over the insect larvae, each in their own tiny biome.

"Hey," he said again with a quick sigh, hoping to skip past this part. He should have waited for Jake, he thought. Stupid, Luke, you should have waited. "So, how're these guys doing?"

"Uh, fine. Man…" Max wasn't going to let his friend brush him off so easily. "…what happened to you?" he asked quietly. Luke took several steadying breaths. They didn't help. His friends were murmuring their concern. He had to say something. He spat out the first thing that came to his mind. The thing that had been on his mind, waking or sleeping, for days.

"Jenna's dead," he said shortly. He leaned against his table, staring at its fake granite surface, wishing he hadn't said it. Wishing he didn't have to say it. Max came over slowly and laid a hand on his friend's shoulder. Luke winced against the pain. Even as small as Max's human hands were on the large Na'vi's shoulder, he had a hard time finding any spot large enough that did not have at least a few abrasions. He left his hand where it was.

"Luke…oh, Luke, I'm sorry," Max was one of the few that knew how Luke had felt about the mysterious woman who had cropped up in their lab that day. He felt his pain deeply, and was shocked by the news, himself. "What happened? Were you guys attacked?" Luke shook his head, his eyes closed tight, unable to speak. This was being much harder than he had expected. Max persisted, gently. "What did this to you?"

"I did." The researchers all turned sharply at the sound of Jake's voice and huddled together almost imperceptibly as he came through the door. He wore the same intimidating look he usually did when visiting the human facility, the same stern gaze, but his body was criss-crossed with slashes and punctures, no bandage sufficient enough to cover the shredded skin on his stomach. He came into the lab further and they saw clearly the bruises and slices on his body and face as well, the gash on his jawline just beginning to heal and the deep tear in his lip. "Brother…" Jake rumbled in a quiet voice, addressing Luke, "…you wanna give us a minute?" Luke stood leaning against his table, staring down into the rock-like pattern, and just shook his head. The humans stood dumbfounded, a little frightened still by the imposing Oloeyktan, and wondering why he had beaten their fellow researcher to such a pulp. Truth be told, Max was a little surprised Luke had survived such a beating, whatever else had happened. He knew Jake better than the others, for what little that was worth, and he knew the Oloeyktan was a fierce warrior, unrelenting, and powerful. He had used his military training well and adapted it into a frighteningly effective tool. But still…the senior scientist took note of Jake's equally severe injuries. Max guessed that it must have been Luke that had done it to him. The fight must have been horrific.

Jake launched into his short, prepared speech in a low, dead voice, his words slurring a little as his jaw, still obviously painful, kept him from using it to its full capacity. He gave the research team the short version of what had happened, telling them briefly of the fight between himself and Luke, not over what, and Jenna being caught in the middle. No one dared ask him any questions; they had the bare info they needed to know, and could question Luke about it later, if he was ever willing to talk. They wouldn't push him on it. Not today.

Annie was shocked and saddened. She hadn't spoken to Jenna at all, and had no desire to, really. She had felt weird thinking about facing her avatar and its strange occupant. But now that she was gone, Annie felt her loss. She wondered now what Jenna was like, if she was anything like herself. Her avatar was gone, killed in battle, of a sort, and she found that she missed her a little, just knowing that she had existed and now was gone. She had never known, and never would, that she had in fact met the woman, years ago, in another life, separate from this one on Pandora.

Max, of course, guessed what had happened, or some version of it, and shuddered again imagining the brawl between the two Na'vi over the woman, Jenna. Both wore what were unmistakably knife and bite wounds…lots of them, large and small. They had clearly fought with no remorse. He felt a chill and a very deep sadness, imagining that strange girl getting caught in between them. He glanced over at Luke, hunched over his table, deep in despair…his kind and gentle friend…who had inflicted such severe damage on Jake Sully. He shivered again as he looked at Luke, even in the warm lab.

Jake walked over to Luke and spoke back and forth with him quietly for a moment, then turned back toward the door, ready to leave once more. They were surprised to see his stern gaze waver, just a little, and he tilted his head, feeling his jaw tenderly. It reminded Max of the old Jake Sully, the human he had known.

"Take care, man," he said to Jake, nodding his head. He wouldn't be so familiar as to lay a hand on him, but he would offer his words, at least. Jake looked at Max, remembering his old friend and their old alliances.

"Yeah, you too, Max," he said, nodding as well. He turned to go.

"Brother…?" Luke had twisted his neck around and called out in a quietly desperate voice. He was barely aware of the other researchers in the room in his heartache. Jake paused at the door, peering back at his fellow clansman. "…thanks." It was a quick, strained word, but genuine. Jake tilted his head again with a tiny half-grin then nodded curtly and strode out of the room, out of the building.

Max, Anne, and the others stood nervously for a minute, letting Luke recover himself. Luke heaved an enormous sigh, slapped the table with the palm of his hand with a deafening smack, then turned again to his friends. "Alright! Now, come one…tell me what's been going on here." They recognized their friend's need, even as they jumped at the sudden sound, and launched into a discussion about the insects' progress they had recorded since they had last seen Luke.

… …

…

… …

Jake sighed. Three months had passed since Jenna's death. Life within the clan had regained some semblance of normality. Luke's experiment with the insects was ongoing, but already yielding very good results. About a third of the wreckage at each site he had chosen for field data had been degraded, and the insect populations were acting normally. It seemed when they lost the taste for metal, the insects reverted to their natural diet of other hard minerals in the surrounding flora, and they simply returned to their natural life cycle. Jake was pleased with the progress, and his clan were encouraged by the positive efforts, as were the humans.

But still…Jake found himself back at the lab facility for the fourth time in about five months. He did not want to be here.

"I really hate this place, you know," Jake said to his riding partner.

"Quit your whining," Luke replied. Jake just snorted at him. He had been sniping at him for the whole ride and Luke's patience was wearing thin.

"And I hate riding. I'd rather fly."

"Oh, for cryin' out loud Jake, you're like old man Rey'ta, complaining about every little thing," Luke cried out, exasperated. He knew Jake was baiting him, but he wasn't in the mood for it. He was switching out some equipment from village to lab and had asked Jake if he would help…now he was regretting it a little.

They reached the facility and left the pa'li to graze at the edge of the encampment, carrying Luke's supplies the rest of the way. Jake followed his clansman inside, "…doorways are too low….", and placed the heavy gear on the tabletops in Luke's lab. Jake started unpacking, placing the items on the table for Luke to organize while Luke went around the lab collecting those things he would be taking back with him and putting other things away. As the researcher busied himself swapping stuff out for other stuff, Jake wandered around the room, looking at the different specimen jars, some still containing old specimens, and the general detritus that tended to collect in Luke's lab. He walked over to the gurney sitting in the corner of the room. All the avatars had been claimed; no one would be awakening for their first glimpse through Na'vi eyes in this room anymore. Jake held out his hands, turning them over in the bright lights, remembering his first time waking up in his avatar. It hadn't been this room, but a similar enough one to remind him.

Luke looked up at Jake as he kept walking, reorganizing his equipment, and just watched him as he continued looking at his own hands. Luke kept moving across the room and walked right into a table with a loud bang, the tinkle of specimen jars falling against each other echoing through the room. Jake turned to him quickly, surprised by the sudden noise.

"You okay?" Luke nodded in response, grimacing and rubbing his knee, his right one. Jake knew it was the one so badly damaged in their fight. Luke hid it well, but Jake knew it still bothered him some days, at least. Jake sighed, trying not to remember the day he had been prepared to kill his brother for the love of the woman he missed so dearly. He reflected on the startling noise of Luke's unfortunate impact with the table and chuckled, despite himself, remembering what the sound had reminded him of. Luke turned to look at him, raising a questioning eyebrow. "You know, I smashed the lab up pretty good my first day in the avatar."

Luke stopped putting things away and raised both eyebrows, now. Jake had rarely spoken to him about those days ever since he had known him. He put down the jar he was carrying, leaning back against the offending table, surreptitiously resting his right leg. "What'd you do? Nag them into hysterical fits until there was flailing and gnashing of teeth?" Jake glanced up sharply at Luke, but with a glint in his eye. Luke grinned teasingly back. Jake snorted again, a wry smirk on his face.

"Yeah, something like that. No, actually I took out several trays of stuff with my tail, first time I noticed the damn thing," he said, quietly grinning to himself now, just remembering. Luke started to chuckle out loud.

"You know, when I woke up in my avatar I was so excited to start recording data I stood up too fast and fell back down, toppled right off the back of the gurney. Right on my ass," Luke said, making a swooping gesture with his hand. Jake laughed with him.

"Hell, brother, you did that when you woke up from the mind-meld, the transfer under the Tree of Souls…" They both laughed heartily at this for a moment until their memories brought them back to their last journey to the Tree of Souls. Their laughter died down gradually, as they reflected again on the woman they both had loved. She was on their minds, every day, but they had not spoken about her with each other. Luke turned back to his equipment, pausing with his hands on the jar. Just remembering. He turned to Jake who was staring at the floor, his right hand on his left shoulder, idly fingering an arm band pulled taut over his burly muscle. Luke wondered. He considered. He risked it.

"Did Jenna make that?" Luke asked quietly, amiably, quickly glancing back down at his jar, running a finger around the lid, feeling the sudden sharp tug of saying her name aloud for the first time in so long. He sighed deeply, exhaling slowly. He didn't see Jake nodding behind him, his eyes still fixed to the floor, but he wasn't much waiting for a response, anyway. The overwhelming sense of her loss flowed over him like a wave and he breathed deep, steadying himself against it. Death was a way of life among the Na'vi, one Luke had accepted long ago. He had accepted Jenna's death, but it was still hard to take. Hard to remember. The two clansmen stood in the bright fluorescent lights of the lab, each lost to his own thoughts and memories for several minutes.

"I miss her," Jake mumbled to the floor. Luke turned to look over his shoulder and met Jake's pained expression. He knew it. He felt it too.

"I do too," he replied in a small voice. Neither man liked to think of Jenna with the other. Jake sighed deeply and ambled over to the table, next to Luke, resting his hands against it and contemplating the jar under Luke's fingers. Luke stared back down at it and continued idly tracing the lip. Jake glanced up at his clansman's face, his scarred lip, his tattered ear. The wound had healed, but he would wear the raggedy torn edge forever. Jake sighed and grimaced, remembering the taste of his brother's blood in his mouth. He glanced down again, noticed Luke still resting his right leg.

"That knee still hurt?" Jake asked in a low, mild voice. Luke lifted his leg and stood on it properly.

"Sometimes. Yeah. I probably couldn't ride an ikran now, even if I wanted," and he smiled a tiny, rueful smile as he said it. Jake grunted noncommittally. "Naw, I'm better off closer to the ground anyway. Can't fall too far off the pa'li," Luke said, smiling a little wider. Jake looked at him and grinned a little. Just a little. "That jaw still bother you?" he asked in a deep, hushed voice, recalling the sickening crack the hilt of his knife had made against the bone, the damage he had inflicted. Jake opened and closed his jaws a couple times, testing it out. Luke heard an audible click each time he did it.

"Still clicks, especially when I eat."

Luke dropped his gaze again. There was still a lot of pain between them. Much of their renewed friendship was because of guilt; the guilt they felt for Jenna's death had completely erased their rage at each other the moment her blood was spilt, and the memory of her kept it from returning. Luke heard Jake's jaw click another couple of times.

"Especially anything sticky," he murmured.

Luke chortled to himself silently after a moment, the absurdity of Jake's comment gamboling around in his mind. He chuckled a little out loud. Jake looked up at him and Luke grinned in earnest, shaking his head a little. Jake grinned and huffed out a tiny laugh. Pretty soon, both Na'vi men were laughing out loud, the sound filling the lab and echoing down the empty hall.. They quieted again after a short time, still grinning.

After another few minutes of silence and awkward fiddling with things on the lab table, Jake spoke again. "You remember the way she would ask all kinds of questions?" he said, a sad grin on his lips. Luke glanced at him and returned it with a somber chuckle.

"Yeah. Like she was embarrassed to ask but couldn't stop herself. She would have made a good scientist-" Luke cut himself short, his face falling again. His words had reminded them both of the future she did not have, now. The silence was harsh before Jake broke it, again.

"Yeah, she would have," he said quietly. It sounded forced, and it was, but Luke recognized Jake's monumental effort to move through this pain, finally, at long last. He looked at Jake and they shared a pained smile with each other. He hated the vision of Jenna in Jake's arms, but he recognized the pain behind his brother's brave face…he knew just exactly how much he was hurting. And he remembered their friendship from days past. Jake was trying. He would try, too.

"Remember when she would stutter?" Luke asked, making an honest effort, himself. Jake smiled a little and nodded.

"Yeah. It was cute."

"Yeah," Luke agreed, smiling a little more genuinely. "Boy, some of the things she asked…" he said, shaking his head again, and truly smiling at the memories. Jake chuckled too.

"Oh, yeah…she came out with some awkward ones, for sure," Jake replied, smiling at his own memories. Luke grinned and nodded in agreement. He was quiet for a moment, recalling some of the more uncomfortable moments in their conversations. He relished every second of them.

"So, what was the most awkward thing she asked you?" Luke asked Jake, his tone beginning to lighten.

"Oh, man…" Jake chuckled, dropping his forehead to his knuckles on the table, remembering some of Jenna's inquiries, absolutely certain he was not going to share any of them with his clansman. "I don't know…what about you?"

"I asked you first," Luke replied with a grin.

"Petulant bastard," Jake retorted, with another grin. "Come on."

Luke chuckled a little at the teasing. He thought for a moment about his own query; he did actually remember very well the most uncomfortable conversation he'd had with Jenna. "Well, it's kind of two-fold, I guess…anyway, she asked me what was the most awkward thing I'd done in the name of science…" he trailed off.

Jake waited for just a moment. "And?"

Luke looked at him, startled, his face growing warm. No way was he going to tell Jake that story. He flushed a little, stalling. "What?"

Jake was thunderstruck and grinned wickedly. "Oh, come on…I wanna know what could make the hard core biologist blush like that…you're gonna tell me…"

"Not a chance, brother."

"Luke, tell me," Jake said, rubbing a little clan leader vibe onto it.

"Get bent."

"Oh yeah, you're gonna spill it…" and Jake grabbed Luke around the middle with a wicked grin and a snarl. Luke laughed and hissed as he grappled with his friend, trying equally to wrest him off his feet as they stumbled around the lab. Luke knew he was no match for the more massive Oloeyktan, not grappling like this. Not under any circumstances, really. Jake knew it too, but slipped on the linoleum floor and Luke managed to trip them both. Jake hauled Luke on top of him, still wary of his friend's right knee, and they landed with a loud crash on the floor, laughing and growling at each other.

Luke rolled off of Jake and sat on the floor gasping and laughing while Jake rolled onto his knees. Luke shoved him hard on the shoulder. "Skxawng," he laughed at his Oloeyktan.

Jake kept chuckling and got to his feet. Luke did the same, hopping lithely up onto his left leg, keeping his right held out tenderly. Jake noticed, but didn't mention it. He still felt the bitter fight between them. It would be a long time healing, yet. He sat down heavily in one of the lab chairs, his chuckles quieting. It sufficed well enough for his large frame and Luke followed suit.

Their gaiety subsiding, Jake gave in to his clansman, his brother. "Alright… probably the most awkward thing she asked me that I can remember…"

…

The two men shared their tales, laughing with each other over the absurd questions, quietly reflecting on the good times with Jenna. They carefully avoided any mention of their intimate moments with her; neither one wanted to know any more than they had already gleaned. But they spoke of her, at long last. They talked about Jenna and they recognized each other as brothers, again. Their scars would heal, and ultimately, so would their hearts. Eventually they fell silent for a long stretch, each lost in his own memories.

Luke broke the silence. "Hey Jake…"

"Yeah, brother," he replied.

"Did I ever say I was sorry for cracking your jaw?" Luke looked up at his friend. Jake glanced up, surprised by the query.

"No."

"…good."

Jake raised his eyebrows at Luke, while the man stared at him levelly for just another second before his lips broke into a grin. Jake slowly grinned in reply, shaking his head and starting to laugh. Luke laughed with him. The two friends, brothers, eventually packed up Luke's equipment and made their way home, Jake grumbling again about the pa'li, his jaw, and clan insubordination to the sound of Luke's continued laughter.

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Finis