Before we move on to the story . . .
Due to a couple of recent reviews, I feel compelled to clear a few things from the air. First and foremost, to respond to the most recent review. Ava and Jake are not related in any way. Yes, he met her when she was nearly six years old, but it was only for a few minutes, and she was lost in the forest for ten years. While it only took her a day maybe to remember him, it took Jake several days to remember her. Yes, Ava's mother knew Jake's brother, and yes, they "talked" to each other for several months before Tom's death. But Jake was never told of Ava's existence. Secondly, I'm aware of how young Ava is. I know it would probably be better if she were older, but if you look at dates and events, it simply isn't possible for her to be older and still exist the way she is. Grace didn't get to Pandora until 2139, and by then, she was already a renowned scientist. In this story, Ava's mother arrived on Pandora in 2147, meaning Grace was only there eight years before the experiment. I guess Amelia's shuttle could've been on a different schedule, but it wasn't. And in our eyes, yes, Ava is very young. But in Na'vi culture, at 16 or 17 years old, she's an adult. Don't forget that Jake's avatar was grown to full maturity, which in around 17 years old, but he was close to a foot shorter than Tsu'tey. Neytiri was 18 when she found Jake in the forest, and she was already sort of betrothed to Tsu'tey even though they hadn't mated because her mother and father were still leading the clan.
Also, don't let Ava's size fool you. She might be small, but she packs a good punch, and she's just as involved in this as Jake. She's one of those characters who gives as good as she gets, and she sometimes guides me more than Jake does – and it's his story.
And on the subject of Thomas, Jake's son. (I know no one else has mentioned this, but . . .) Simply because Thomas isn't in every chapter or hanging on Jake's hip doesn't mean that Jake has forgotten he has a son. Thomas is almost ten years old. He's almost six feet tall, and he's already carrying a bow. He has his own friends and his own activities. And Jake has had him in his life for nearly ten years. He's been helping Neytiri care for Thomas since he was born, and he's probably the one who would more than likely set an example for Thomas. So it seems normal, preferable even, that Jake give Ava as much of his attention as he's given to Thomas the last nine years of his life. And she has only been a part of Jake's life for a little more than six or eight months. When someone new comes into your life, don't you tend to focus on their well-being just as much as anyone else's?
I really appreciate any time anyone takes to tell me what they're thinking of the story, and though most of my reviews have been positive, I'll address the negative ones as well. I don't want anyone to hesitate telling me when something is amiss. I tend to focus in a tight zone, so if something doesn't feel right about where things are going, I like to know about it.
As always, I really hope you all like this story, and I hope to get more feedback – good and bad. I appreciate all my reviews and anytime anyone adds the story to their favorite and on their alerts. And I'll do my best to keep the standards of my story as high as I can get it.
Also, we're coming into the last leg of our stretch down memory lane, so bear with me while we tackle the three months Jake and Amelia were literally on the same planet together.
And now that I've probably completely confused you all, Read on!
Collision Course
Amelia Shaw had never been more nervous in her entire life, and she wasn't even really sure why. It wasn't like she was waiting for the twin brother of a man she'd only ever corresponded with for ten months over five years earlier or anything like that.
Okay, she wasn't actually meeting him. And he probably, more than likely, didn't even know she existed. But he was on his way down in the shuttle. And Grace had already resolved not to give him anymore of her time than he was worth. There really wasn't anything Amelia could do to stop her, but if there was something Amelia could do, she was at least going to get a good look at him — no matter what Grace said.
"I just want to see him," Amelia told her that morning after the packet had come in with reports and crew manifests from the shuttle.
"No," Grace said with finality as she walked beside Amelia to the link room. "It's not him, and you shouldn't be around him. He's probably an arrogant military asshole, and he'll probably go to Selfridge if he finds out about this."
Amelia sighed heavily, moving along the corridor as other members of the base personnel bustled around to get ready for the new arrivals.
"Besides," Grace added, "I haven't met him, and I already don't trust him. And I'm the one who has to work with him, so you just steer clear of him for now, all right?"
"How can you pass judgement on someone you haven't even met?" Amelia demanded.
"Easily," Grace argued. "Besides, maybe he'll prove me wrong the way you did. I don't have high expectations, but it has happened before. Now get outside before Quaritch sees you wandering around here looking for someone you have no business looking for. I'll see you out there."
Grace moved on into the lab, leaving Amelia in the corridor as she smiled after her. But Amelia would not be deterred, even as she made her way through the lab to the airlock that led outside. It was still early enough that most of the guards were still coming on duty, and most of the science team was still eating breakfast so Amelia was able to step outside without anyone noticing she wasn't wearing a mask.
But as soon as she was out in the courtyard, she saw Ava climbing one of the towers away from the main garden, and Warren was watching from the ground in his avatar. She didn't want to say anything until she was close enough, but with new people coming today — and not just on the science team — the last thing Ava needed to be doing was climbing in plain view of everyone. Warren saw her then, motioning for Ava to start her descent.
"She better get down here," Amelia snapped. "Avamelia Darrin Shaw, you know better than that," she chastised.
Ava made it to the top of the tower, balancing on the center ring before she jumped out and caught a rope to make her way down to the ground where Amelia was waiting.
"I did it," she exclaimed, moving to tackle Warren as he laughed.
"Of course you did," he praised. "You're a natural. Come on, let's get inside before your mother has a heart attack."
"Yes, please," Amelia begged, looking around to make sure no one had seen them. "And let's not do this again for a little while, okay? Until everything's settled down."
"You mean, until the new guys have seen Ava and sworn in blood not to expose her to the security guys on base?" Warren teased.
"I don't think that's too much to ask," she exclaimed as they all made their way through the long-house to the habitat in the back where Ava and Amelia stayed most of the time. Warren stayed out here when he could get away with it, which wasn't often anymore. Not after what had happened the day he'd been approached by Quaritch.
"Even for him?" Warren asked, and Amelia knew he was talking about Tom's brother Jake.
Amelia sighed softly, watching Ava climb into the hammock there to relax. "Not you too," she pleaded. "You're not going to be like Grace and size him up before you even meet him, are you?"
"He's an ex-marine," Warren reminded her. "Or at least, he's been a civilian for a little while. I know his type, Amy. They never change. Amy, do you remember what we talked about that night after Quaritch came to get me from remote camp, and I was gone for two days?"
"Of course I remember," she exclaimed. "You scared Ava out of her mind when you left."
"Well, this guy is exactly what Quaritch would need to work one of the Clans," he told her softly. "He's been trained to take orders, and he wasn't trained for this program — not from what I've heard. From what I've heard, they shipped him here less than a week after his brother died. We can't trust him, Amy."
Amelia sighed heavily, glancing at Ava to see her sleeping soundly. "I can't do that, Warren," she said after a minute. "I have to give him the benefit of the doubt."
"Why?" Warren asked as he knelt in front of her and reached for her hands to hold them in his massive avatar hands.
"Why do you still use your avatar?" she asked instead of answering his question.
Instead of pressing her like he usually did, he answered her question as he lifted his fingers to her face. "Because I still like to run through the obstacle course and play basketball," he said with a playful smile. "Plus I can roam around whenever I want to without the guards harassing me. After what happened at remote camp, I've had to be careful, even at night. But mostly so I can help with Ava since she's so big now."
"I have to give him a chance," Amelia said after a minute. "If I don't, then everything I learned from Tom will have meant nothing. You know I love you, don't you, Warren?" she asked, touching his forehead and then his nose. "You know how I feel about you, right?"
"I do," he said bowing his head.
"Then please just trust me. And accept that this is something I have to do, for me and for Ava. If I don't at least get a look at him, even if he doesn't know me or Ava, I'll always wonder if I would've done the same thing for Tom when he came." She sighed lifting both her hands to his face. "I know Tom's gone. And I know his brother isn't him. But he's here in his place, and whether Grace wants to believe it or not, he's here for a reason, and not just because Tom was killed. I can feel that."
Warren sighed softly, lifting his hands to hers and leaning closer to kiss her. Since coming back from remote camp, he'd started doing it a lot more often, and it wasn't as strange now. Amelia kissed him back, laying her forehead over his as he pulled her closer and nearly crushed her against him. "Please just be careful," he whispered to her. "Don't make your presence obvious. If he sees you, don't engage him. I don't know what I'd do if I lost you. Either of you."
Amelia laid her hand over the back of his head, stroking his hair and threading her fingers through the hair at the back of his head where the nerve endings of his queue rested. He shivered, and she smiled, leaning back to look at him. "Feel good?" she whispered.
He nodded, keeping his eyes shut as she continued to stroke.
"Well, then try to miss me while I'm inside," she insisted.
"Do you have to go now?" he pleaded, holding her tighter. "The shuttle won't be down here until later. You're mine until he gets here, right?"
Amelia held onto him tighter, still stroking and leaning closer to kiss him again. "I'm always going to be yours," she promised. "And you're always going to mine. Your reaction to my playing only proves it further."
He shivered again, his massive avatar hands grasping onto her possessively.
"I guess I can stay out here a little while," she whispered to him softly, "but only if you promise to come out here tonight to keep me company."
"I promise," he whispered.
She laughed softly, still stroking his queue with one hand and easing the palm of her other hand down his back.
Amelia didn't stay outside all day, even though she did stay in the long-house with Warren and Ava most of the morning. As soon as she heard the shuttle, Amelia left Warren and Ava in the hammock so she could make her way back inside.
"Don't tell Grace where I am," she told Warren softly. "And keep an eye on Ava for me, okay?"
He nodded as he held onto Ava. "I will."
She eased away from him then, moving through the long-house and then stepped back out into the courtyard. It was nearly noon from what the sky told her, and most of the avatars were out in the courtyard doing their normal activities. Guards were also patrolling, and Amelia stopped by her storage chest before stepping outside. As a precaution, Amelia strapped on the exopack they'd mocked up for her so she could walk around outside without anyone noticing. No one paid her any attention while she walked, and she made it back to the airlock before she saw Grace moving through the garden.
No one in the lab noticed Amelia moving away toward the orientation level of the base, and she kept it that way until she found the mess hall where the new arrivals were filing in slowly. She stayed a good three or four meters from the main group, watching them move inside and trying to see his face in the crowd. But she didn't see him. For a minute, she thought she'd missed him, moving closer until she saw a lone man in a wheel chair moving down the corridor toward the mess hall. Even from a distance, she knew his face, feeling her heart leap into her throat and pick up pace like it hadn't been six years since she'd seen his face. It felt like it had only been a few months. The last words she'd heard him speak resounded in Amelia's head as she watched him ease into the mess hall, and she followed him without thinking.
She had to remind herself that it wasn't Tom. It wasn't possible for it to be Tom. She knew that. She knew Tom was gone. And she knew this was his brother Jake. But she didn't care. She just wanted to see him.
But when she stepped into the doorway of the mess hall, his back was to her as he stopped at the back of the room a few meters from where everyone else was sitting. Quaritch was making his "You are not in Kansas anymore" speech. Amelia had heard it a couple times, and the way he talked about the Na'vi sometimes made her blood boil. She hoped Warren was wrong about Jake. She hoped he would learn to love this place the way she had. Only time would tell.
Amelia seemed to only just remember Tom's avatar, and with one last glance into the mess hall, she made her way back to the science module where they were more than likely unloading the two new avatars from the shuttle. She wanted to see it before they started decanting them.
Just off from the ambient room, a storage space was being filled with two over-sized tanks, but these tanks weren't holding water. They weren't holding seeds for the garden or even fertilizer for the plants. These tanks were holding something much more valuable. Inside these tanks were two of the most expensive specimens to ever enter the base in the last six years, and one of them was already being "unpacked" from its trip across the small span of stars between here and its starting point back on Earth. And Amelia recognized Tom's avatar before she was even in the room.
The liquid inside the tank was tinted blue along with lamps meant to mimic the light on Pandora, and the umbilical running from the controls to his abdomen were meant to give him nutrients and help him grow. He looked just like Tom and his brother Jake. He had their chin and high cheek bones, but he also had normal Na'vi traits the way Ava did. His nose was wider than some of the others, reminding her of Eytukan and Tsu'tey, and his forehead was low. He sloshed around inside the tank like a dreaming baby, and Amelia was immediately reminded how he wouldn't work without someone to make him work. It was the only thing different between him and Ava. His hands and feet curled and clenched, and his tail and queue drifted inside the liquid.
He was beautiful. Like Tom. And Jake too.
"Pretty cool, huh?" she heard, looking up to see Max checking the controls on the side of the tank.
Amelia smiled. "They're beautiful."
Max moved to the other tank as it was also "unpacked," and she heard the doors open, glancing around to see Jake easing into the room with a tall man with a wide smile on his face.
Amelia moved away from the tank, out of Jake's view until she was on the opposite side of the room, and even though she didn't want to leave, she moved out the room quietly, making her way back through the lab so he wouldn't see her.
The day was finally winding down after a new set of scientists flooding the lab and making everything appear to be much harder than it actually was, and Grace was ready for her day to end. Helen, the feisty, grey-eyed, red-headed woman in charge of all the new arrivals, was still having trouble with the new guys' security codes, but all in all, it had been a good day. Now all she had to do was put everyone to bed and get back into the lab to check on her new guys for the avatar team. One she was looking forward to, since he had the credentials and background she needed, but the other was going to be a bit of a headache, and she knew that without even having to think about it.
Grace spotted Warren coming up from the habitat at the end of the long-house alone, and for a few seconds, she thought he was simply leaving Amelia and Ava for the night to get back inside. Since they'd come back from remote camp, he'd been putting his avatar down at the regular time like everyone else so Quaritch wouldn't suspect him of anything that could be considered inappropriate. Grace knew it was starting to wear him down, much more than spending nearly 18 hours in his link the way he'd been doing the first two months he'd known Amelia. She wanted to talk to him about it, but somehow, it didn't seem like the right time.
He looked at her as he stepped around to his bed which was coincidently at the back of the long-house, but he didn't say anything, moving around to the chest on the side of his bed. It was kind of early for him to be getting ready for bed, and Grace made her way over to him while looking over everyone else as they all straightened up their own personal areas.
"Been a short day," she said as she approached him, and he looked at her.
"You could say that," he smiled.
"Amy and Ava already down?" she asked, glancing into the habitat.
He glanced back too, sighing softly. "No."
Grace moved closer, watching the creases on his forehead deepen. "What do you mean, 'no'?" she asked.
"I promised Amy I wouldn't tell you," he said, sitting on his bed and pulling a t-shirt over his head.
Grace leaned closer. "Warren," she said. "Is she inside?"
He didn't really have to say anything, but Grace knew it instinctively. Of course. She should've known that Amelia wouldn't be able to resist the temptation to see a man she neither knew nor had any business knowing. Even after everything they'd talked about that morning, Grace should have expected this. Especially since she hadn't seen Amelia all day.
Grace sighed softly, looking around again. "Where's Ava?"
He gestured back to the habitat. "Back there, reading."
She nodded, rising and moving to the barrier they'd put up for Amelia and Ava to have a little privacy at the end of the day. Back here, they had trunks for clothes, food, and they even had their own shower. Grace expected to see Ava laying in the hammock reading, but when she poked her head through the barrier, she couldn't see Ava anywhere, which was odd. Despite only being six, Ava was nearly four and a half feet tall, and she was kind of hard to miss.
"Ava," she called, hoping the little trouble-maker was hiding somewhere just for the sake of hiding.
But several seconds passed, and no acknowledgment came back. Grace stepped further into the habitat, checking a few places she thought Ava might be able to hide. But the shower was empty, and so was the closet where Amelia kept their clothes.
Grace hurried back into the house. "She's not back there," she exclaimed, garnering the attention of nearly everyone in the house.
Warren looked at her, moving to the barrier and looking himself before he returned to Grace. "She was just here," he swore.
"She wouldn't go inside, would she?" Helen asked as she made her way to them slowly.
Grace looked at Warren, seeing him in deep thought. "Actually, I think I know where she is," he said. "But I have to get out of my link to find her."
"Go," Grace ordered. "Get her back out here, now."
He laid down then, disconnecting from his avatar, and Grace glanced at Helen, nodding for her to get back to her own bed.
"All right, everybody!" she yelled. "Lights out! It's dinnertime! Lisa, when you get inside, I need you to help Warren, okay?"
She looked at Lisa pointedly, and when she saw acknowledgment in Lisa's eyes, she shooed the last two lab techs out of the house, closing the doors and locking them before she shut off the lights inside the house. "Settle down!" she yelled. "I'll see you all at dinner. Good night."
Slowly, to prolong the moment as much as possible, Grace made another round through the house, making sure everyone was down and disconnecting before she did as well to get back into the link room where she would be able to meet her two new guys.
Since she could remember, Ava had always been curious about the people inside the lab, but her mother and Uncle Warren and even Aunt Grace had never allowed her to satisfy her curiosity. For nearly four years, she'd been watching them wander around the courtyard with their masks on, and even though she knew their differences from Uncle Warren's big body and his smaller body, she was still curious about so many things. And the only way she was going to learn anything about them was to see them up close. Aunt Grace was always telling her the only way to really study something was to see them with her own eyes.
After Uncle Warren had left the habitat, Ava had pretended to read in the hammock she sometimes shared with her mother, listening to him talk to Aunt Grace while she slid out into the trees surrounding the end of the long-house. Being as quiet as she could, she moved from the rear of the house to the front, seeing the smaller people leaving the house and following them to the airlock. They never saw her.
It was still kind of light out, but it would be dark soon. Ava would need to be quick, and she shuffled between two males taller than her as she grasped onto her tail nervously. It twitched in her hands, but she held it tight. Most of these people all thought it wasn't real, especially since she and her mother all told them it was paint on her face, arms and legs and that she just really loved the Na'vi so much she wanted to look like them as much as possible. Even her queue, which she'd already put to good use, was cleverly disguised in her hair that was already to the middle of her back. No one thought it was strange that she looked so young, but they never really thought about her being a child. She never spoke like one, even if she did behave like one sometimes. Like now.
The lights and air inside were difficult to adjust to, but Ava had seen and breathed in here often enough for it to not be a problem, and she followed the smaller people into the lab before she made her way to the corridor. She avoided anyone in a uniform, and she tried to stay hidden within the taller people walking around her.
They all looked so different! She couldn't believe they all got along so well! There were tall ones and short ones. There were pink ones and brown ones, and there were males and females. They all seemed to know each other, talking and laughing as they milled around the rooms off the corridor. Some of them were petite and slender like her mother, and others were tall and muscular like Uncle Warren. But none of these looked like her mother or Warren. So interesting!
None of them really seemed to notice her, even as she walked among them in a tank top and shorts with her rubber shoes. Her tail still twitched in her hands, but she didn't let go. The more it flicked, the tighter she held it, and she made sure no one really thought to look at what she had in her hands. She was sure she could get a better look on the habitat level where she knew Uncle Warren still kept a room. Since they'd come back from remote camp, he'd been spending more time in here, but she knew he didn't want to. She knew he wanted to be with her and her mother. They were his family now after all.
The habitat level was even more crowded as even more people milled around looking for their rooms. She'd only been here a few times when she and her mother had spent the night in Uncle Warren's room when the guards were running night maneuvers, but it still looked the same. The walls were a plain grey color with bright yellows letters and numbers displayed nearly two meters above her head.
Level 4, Section 6 told her where she was she eased down the corridor around the people hurrying around. Uncle Warren's room was in Section 10, but he didn't have a bunk mate. Neither did Aunt Lisa, but Ava didn't really find that strange. She wasn't sure why.
"I'm gonna go get something to eat," she heard from behind her, looking to see a very tall man with dark blond hair walking next to a shorter man sitting in a chair with wheels carrying him along the floor. "You wanna come?"
"Nah," the man in the chair said. Ava recognized him and the taller man from the pictures she'd been seeing on Aunt Grace's reading pads. They were the new avatar drivers. Aunt Grace hadn't told her about the man in the chair.
Ava sifted through the images in her head, quickly putting the faces with the names and remembering which one was which.
"I'll see you later then," the taller man said to the man in the chair.
"Later."
Ava hid from the man in the chair as he glided passed her, and she followed him, wondering why he was in a chair with wheels. Didn't his legs work? This would be a perfect time for her to study him up close. He looked interesting.
After traveling over four light years from home, sleeping in suspended animation for over five years and arriving at nearly midday on his new place a residence, Jake was finally able to see the room he would be sleeping for real for the next six years. He couldn't believe he was really here, even though it felt like less than a week had passed since he'd been shown his brother's dead body at the Crematorium. None of this felt real, not even after seeing his brother's avatar fully grown and floating in a tank the size of a cannon. Jake had been told in advance — very little advance — that the damn thing would be over nine feet tall with a tail and feet the size of a truck tire.
Sitting in the room he would be sharing with Norm, Jake was just now able to open his duffle to have a look inside even though nothing had changed since he'd hurriedly packed it less than 72 hours before boarding the shuttle to be put in cryosleep. He remembered the suits back home releasing Tommy's personal effects to him — everything his brother'd had on him when he'd been shot. His pants, shoes, jacket and his bloody shirt that still had a hole in the side from the bullet that had hit his brother's intestines, causing him to bleed out too fast for the medics to save him.
As Jake pulled Tommy's clothes out and set them on the bed with the full intention of getting them recycled so they could be put to good use, a glint of silver clattered to the floor, and Jake leaned down to see what it was. He was surprised to see a silver chain with a small butterfly charm hanging from it, and he was curious. This looked like it was supposed to belong to a little girl. What had Tommy being doing with it the night he'd been shot?
Gently, Jake folded all of Tommy's clothes, thinking silently that his brother had deserved more than to be burned at the Crematorium and shuffled out of the way along with all the other people who'd died that day. Tommy had been someone special, someone who would have effected change in this place, but now, he was nothing but a distant memory. It wasn't fair. Jake was all alone in the world — universe, or galaxy if you put it more plainly. What was he doing here? Why had he agreed to come? Were there any easy answers?
He laid the necklace on top of Tommy's clothes, still confused by its presence but too tired to really overanalyze it. Tommy was the one who overanalyzed every minute detail of just about everything there was to be analyzed. Jake wasn't usually the over-analytical type. Usually.
"You're Jake, right?" he heard, turning to see a little girl in his doorway with an inquisitive look on her face.
Immediately, he could see something different about her as she stood there in shorts and tank top with blue stripes painted on her face, arms and legs, but he figured that was just a kid thing. But she was beautiful, and Jake didn't usually allow himself those kinds of thoughts these days.
He smiled at her. "That's me," he said with a slight nod.
"I'm Ava," she said, stepping into the room slowly and reaching out to take his hand. "Grace told me about you. I recognize you from your picture. You're here to do what Uncle Warren does."
"Who?" Jake asked, since he hadn't really been introduced to everyone on the science team just yet.
She shook her head, still smiling and revealing a set of slightly pointed canines. Jake couldn't think if he'd been told about any kids being on the base, but she looked big enough to have been here for a while. And she sounded intelligent enough to be about ten years old.
"Nothing," she said. "What is that?" she asked, moving around him to where he'd folded Tommy's clothes. She reached out to touch the necklace, and Jake could see the most brilliant light in her eyes.
Jake looked at the necklace as it laid on top of Tommy's bloody shirt, thinking his brother might have meant to give it to someone who was her age even though he certainly couldn't have thought to give to her directly. "It's my brother's," he said softly, moving closer.
"It's pretty," she said softly. "What is it though?"
It was a strange question for a little girl like her to ask, especially when most little girls Jake had known all liked butterflies and necklaces. "It's a necklace," he said, lifting it in his hands to show it to her more closely. "And that's a butterfly."
"What's a butterfly?"
He laughed softly. "You don't know what a butterfly is? Haven't you ever seen one before?"
She shook her head, extending her finger and touching the charm. "And it was your brother's?"
He still smiled. "Yeah. He was always a little girly." He paused, looking back at the door and then at her. "Here, you take it. You'll put it to good use, right?"
She smiled widely as he lifted the necklace toward her and unclasped it. She bowed closer to him, her face close to his as she blushed gently, and he secured the chain around her neck as she laughed softly. Her fingers brushed his as he leaned away, and she lowered her eyes to look at the necklace.
"Irayo," she whispered softly.
Jake leaned closer, mostly because he'd barely heard her but also because he didn't understand her. "What was that?" he asked, grinning slightly.
She shook her head, still smiling. "Oh, sorry," she said with a nod as she lifted her eyes to his.
Jake was taken back by how clear and green her eyes were. He was sure he'd never seen anyone with eyes like hers in his whole life, and he was sure he never would again.
"Thank you," she said as a tall, dark-blond haired guy appeared at the door.
"Ava," he exclaimed. "I've been looking everywhere for you! You know you're not supposed to be here. What if someone saw you? Come on," he said extending his hand to her which she didn't hesitate to take while Jake still sat there.
She looked at Jake, still smiling and waving. "Bye!"
Jake nodded. "Bye, Ava. It was nice to meet you."
The tall guy pulled her off, whispering to her and kind of manhandling her in a way Jake didn't think was appropriate, but for all he knew, she knew who that guy was and was used to him being that way. Normally, Jake would have followed and given the guy a piece of his mind. But Jake didn't know the rules here, and he was already in trouble with his boss — Dr. Grace Augustine already considered him a thorn in her side she had no intention of giving the time of day.
It wasn't Jake's fault his brother had been killed less than a week before shipping out to this place, and he wasn't going to let anyone make him feel guilty for taking Tommy's spot. Whether he knew what he was doing or not, that was no reason for people to treat him like he was stupid.
Now that Jake was thinking about it, he was kind of hungry, and he did have an early morning, so he promptly turned around and left his room to get back to the mess hall for dinner. Maybe he'd get to meet more people on the science team.
As soon as Warren stepped out of the airlock with Ava, he lifted her in his arms to carry her back to the long-house where he was sure Amelia was currently going out of her mind with worry over her own daughter sneaking inside to spy on the people on base. Ava held onto him tightly, silent as her tail coiled itself around Warren possessively. These days, it did that often, especially since Warren was the closest thing she had to a father.
"You know better than to go inside unsupervised," Warren chided Ava, to which she sighed softly. "What if someone not on the science team had seen you? What would you have said to them? 'Hi'?"
She smiled, holding him tighter. "Maybe."
He squeezed her, looking over her to make sure she was okay and seeing a necklace around her neck. "Where'd you get that?" he asked, fingering it gently.
"Jake gave it to me," she said, moving her hand to Warren's. He immediately thought of the new guy, Tom's brother. "He said it belonged to his brother."
Warren remained silent as he carried her through the garden, but he thought the whole way, now knowing that Tom Sully had probably intended to give the necklace to Ava upon arriving. Suddenly, he didn't like Tom Sully so much anymore.
The long-house was of course silent as he walked through it with Ava in his arms, and he moved her to his back as they stepped down into the habitat where Amelia was currently pacing steadily. The minute she saw them, she hurried forward, pulling Ava from Warren's back and holding onto her tightly.
"What were you thinking?" she demanded from her daughter. "You know it's not safe for you to go inside by yourself."
"I just wanted to see them," Ava said softly, tears welling in her eyes as her mother scolded her.
"They don't know anything about you," Amelia pressed. "They could hurt you without meaning to. They could tell one of the security guards they saw you, and then what would we do? We're trying to keep you safe!"
"I'm sorry," Ava cried, the tears in her eyes spilling down her cheeks gently.
"Amy, come on," Warren said. "Go easy on her. This isn't the first time. And besides, I think we both know where she went."
Amelia exhaled heavily, lifting her hands to her daughter's face and wiping her tears away before she pulled her closer to hold her. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "But please, baby. You have to be careful. I don't know what I'd do if anything happened to you. Please?"
"Okay," Ava promised. "I'm sorry."
Warren stepped closer, and Amelia lifted her eyes to his. He lifted his hand to the back of her head, kissing her lips and then her forehead. "I'm going to take a shower, okay?"
She nodded, still holding Ava in her arms.
He left them there silently, moving back to the shower stall to clean up from laying in his link all day.
While he was alone, Warren allowed himself to admit that he was jealous of Tom Sully. He couldn't tell Amelia that for fear that she wouldn't understand. He always had to be so understanding with her, especially with Ava between them more than half the time. He didn't even know how it had happened, but today made it worse. For the last six years, he'd given Amelia every piece of him he had to give, and what it all came down to was the fact that she was always going to have a place inside her that she reserved for someone who was never going to be there for her.
And now the guy's brother was here. Warren didn't trust him. Not even a little, and that was saying a lot about Warren more than it did the guy. Warren was usually the first person to give a new member of the team a chance, but for whatever reason, he just didn't have a good feeling about this guy. He didn't know if it really was the fact that he didn't have the training, or if it was something else. But Warren knew then he was going to have to keep an eye on the guy. Especially now that Ava had come into contact with him.
People around here had long memories, and that guy was bound to remember a little girl roaming around the base. Who wouldn't notice her? Warren loved her more than he thought possible, but she was just about as inconspicuous as a wild dog, and she had no qualms in scaring him and her mother over the smallest things. Ava was getting better about being careful, but she was still a little girl, and she had no shame — Warren knew that because of the amount of times she'd spied on him in the shower. Then there was that whole queue incident.
"Don't be thinking too hard in there," Amelia said, stepping up into the shower behind him and easing her arms around him until her hands were grasping onto the front of his shoulders.
Warren moved his hands to hers, glancing back at her to see her smiling. Since he'd started having to leave his avatar down every night when everyone else did and then having to spend most of his nights in his habitat inside, they hadn't been able to do this as often as they liked or as often as before. But with this new guy on base, he figured Amelia would want him to stay with her tonight. It was just inevitable.
He turned to face her, pulling her closer to him and leaning down to kiss her as she moved him further under the water. She whispered as he leaned back.
"Thank you for going to get her," she said with a smile. "No one else would have known where to find her."
Warren eased his hands up her spine to the back of her neck, and she shivered. He kissed her again. "It wasn't that hard. They always put the new guys in the same spot, and there weren't that many security guards around." He paused, looking outside the shower to make sure Ava wasn't nearby.
"She's asleep," Amelia promised him.
He rested his forehead against hers. "Did you see him?" he asked softly.
She nodded.
"And?"
She inhaled deeply, kissing him. "He looks just like his brother," she whispered laying her head over his chest. "He sounds like him. But he's in a wheelchair, and Grace doesn't like him. Not that those two things have anything to do with each other. I know she doesn't want me to have any contact with him because of Ava, but I was thinking while I was inside about a way I could see him and not have to be in contact with him. I'll have to talk to Grace."
Warren didn't say anything to that, holding her tighter and lifting his hand to his face to lean down and kiss her again. He just wanted to put the whole thing behind him, and he hoped Amelia wouldn't dwell on this for too long. He hoped she would remember they had Ava to keep safe, and Grace could keep an eye on this new guy — no matter what his agenda turned out to be.
From the shower, they both made their way to the bed that was across the habitat from Ava and set up behind a screen so they wouldn't be out in the open for Ava to see them. They didn't bother with towels or clothes, laying over the blankets and keeping their privacy even though they weren't usually quiet when they were making love. Warren couldn't honestly think of any other woman he'd ever been with that he felt like this for, and he never really wanted to. He never wanted to love anyone the way he loved Amelia, and laying in bed with her felt like nothing he'd ever felt. Holding her in his arms and feeling his body connected with hers was the most amazing experience of his life, and being in this place seemed to make it more amazing. Warren didn't know how that was possible. All he knew was how he felt.
"I love you," she whispered while they were laying facing each other after settling down for the night. She eased her fingers through his hair to the back of his neck, and he shivered again, feeling the after-effects of his queue reaching back through the link even though he wasn't in his avatar body.
He laid his forehead over hers, caressing the tip of her nose with his. "I love you."
"You know what I wish?"
"Hmm?"
"For Ava to have a little brother or sister. For Grace to have figured out how to fix what was wrong with me. For you to know what it feels like to have a son or a daughter of your own."
Warren rubbed his hands over her hips, applying enough pressure to her muscles to make her lean into him the way she did when she wanted more. "There isn't anything wrong with you," he said softly. "And I already know what it feels like to have a daughter. Ava's my daughter, Amy. The two of you make my life complete."
She smiled. "You're too easy," she giggled, still caressing the back of his neck and causing virtually every little hair along his neck, shoulders and arms to stand on end.
He shivered again, squeezing her against him. "I try. But you make it easy. A lot easier than I thought possible. I don't know what I'd do if I didn't have you."
She kissed him. "You would have gone home six years ago, and you'd probably still be avoiding your father," she whispered somberly.
Warren didn't say anything to that, inhaling deeply and relaxing as sleep overwhelmed him with the feeling of her caressing his spine with her fingertips from his tailbone all the way up to the nape of his neck.
Amelia had Ava awake, in and out of the shower and dressed before 0630 like normal so they could pick fruit for breakfast. Warren had already gone inside so none of the guards would know he'd spent the night out in the long-house. He wouldn't be linking up until 0730, and Amelia had heard Max tell Jake to be in the link room at 0800. Whether Grace liked it or not, Amelia was going to keep an eye on him. And if she could talk fast enough, Amelia could even tell Grace her idea. So she wanted Ava to be able to keep herself busy until Warren linked to his avatar.
She was dressing her daughter in her usual attire when she noticed the silver chain around her neck, and when she asked Ava about it, her daughter smiled. "Jake gave it to me," Ava said proudly. "He said it was his brother's."
Amelia was so surprised that she couldn't really say anything back. So she didn't.
But after she left Ava with a reading pad to make her way back into the lab, all Amelia could think about was the fact that Tom had probably had the necklace on him when he'd been killed. Which meant he'd had to buy it off the street. And that meant someone could have tried to take it from him. Was that why he'd been killed in the first place? Was his death her fault?
Amelia pushed that thought out of her mind as she stepped through the airlock to get to the lab. Too much time had passed for her to consider that, and she knew Tom wouldn't want her to blame herself for anything happening to him. She had other things to focus on even if they weren't anymore important to her than he'd been.
The link room was bustling even at 0700, and Amelia made herself aloof to the best of her ability so Max wouldn't be able to spot her as she waited for Grace. Warren came in while she was waiting, but they just nodded to each other before he climbed into his link bed and began his day. Grace came in after half an hour, towing the two new avatar drivers — Jake and Norm. Amelia watched from across the room, moving in and seeing Jake haul himself into his link bed for the first time. He refused to let anyone help him, and Amelia found that strangely admirable.
Amelia realized Grace was in a hurry to get outside, so she left the lab quietly, moving to the airlock as Norm and Jake were waking up in their avatars. She heard commotion but kept going, getting outside and moving around the basketball court as the door to the ambient room swung open to allow one of the new avatars in the court yard still wearing his gown.
"Jake!" she heard, looking to see the other new avatar who she now recognized as Norm running after Jake as he ran from there to the garden near the long-house.
Amelia smiled as she watched him. At least he was putting his new body to good use, and she could only imagine how good it felt to run after being in a wheel chair. She actually envied him a little — at least where the avatar was concerned.
She moved closer, listening to Grace make idle conversation with him and then move him inside where she was hoping Warren had Ava busy. It didn't look like Grace was going to let either of the new guys in on the situation with Ava, at least not yet. She figured she could wait until Norm and Jake were off doing motor exercises to talk to Grace about her idea, since she would need Grace to be alone to do that. If no one else knew what she wanted to do, no one could stop her. Until then, she had things she had to do, so she moved around the court yard so no one would pay attention to her.
It was noon before Amelia found Grace by herself, reading through reports from the day before, and she unconsciously looked around, noting where the guards were before she made her way to where Grace was pacing through the garden. The plants all towered over Amelia's head, so it was perfect camouflage.
"Grace, I need to talk to you," Amelia said, catching Grace's attention easily.
"Amelia, honey, where's Ava?" she asked in her usual monotone voice.
"Probably with Warren or Lisa. I have to talk to you," she pressed. "About Jake. I had an idea I wanted to run by you."
Grace sighed softly. "What is it this time, Amelia? I thought I told you not to think about talking to him."
"I know," Amelia exhaled. "And I thought of a way so I can see him but not have to actually be around him. So I'll be happy, and you'll be happy. And Ava can be safe."
Grace's mind seemed to work without Amelia saying anything, and she sighed heavily, facing Amelia and speaking severely. "Amelia, no," she said with finality. "I don't think that's a good idea. You don't know this man. Why is it so important for you to have any contact with him at all?"
"I won't be having any contact with him at all," Amelia exclaimed. "But I can't just ignore him!"
"Why?" Grace pleaded.
"Would you expect me to ignore Tom when he got here?" Amelia demanded softly. "I know he's not Tom. That doesn't make him any less important. Please, Grace. You won't have to do much. Just send me his logs after he's gone to bed."
Grace shook her head. "Amelia, those are supposed to be private," she argued. "I can't violate his privacy like that."
Amelia steeled herself, clenching her fists. "Well, you wouldn't have to if you'd just let me talk to him," she griped, not caring if she sounded like a child.
Grace inhaled deeply, looking around the courtyard and shaking her again. "All right, fine," she conceded. "I'll see what I can do. I'm going out with him and Norm tomorrow, but I'll do my best. Now you go inside before someone sees you. And check on Ava. The last thing we need is for one of the new people to see her while we're still getting them settled in."
Amelia tried not to smile, turning to the long-house where she was sure Ava was still reading. At least there was a little hope there. At least she'd be able to see him every day, since she knew Grace would make him do it every night. She always did that with the new guys.
For a year and half, Colonel Miles Quaritch had been waiting for any opportunity like this. Now that he thought about it, he couldn't have seen a better opportunity if had shot up and bit him. With as much as Selfridge had started to whine about their output still going down steadily, this looked like the opportunity to get him to shut up. Now that he was looking at the records in front of him, he was thinking this kid was exactly who they needed to get the job done.
A year and a half earlier, Quaritch had tried to do this very thing with a member of the science team, but it obviously had not gone the way he'd expected or wanted. Warren Watson, son of General William Watson, had seemed like the perfect candidate, even with his limited military background. But he'd flatly refused to help them. And now that Quaritch was thinking about it, Watson probably hadn't been the perfect candidate after all. He'd been here too long. He'd been linking with that blue puppet of his for too long. He knew the rules, and he knew how far to nudge in the wrong direction before pulling back. Quaritch knew he would have gone to that crazy bitch doctor, and he would have warned those blue bastards. That would have been unacceptable.
But this kid, Corporal Jake Sully, looked promising. He'd actually been in the military, a marine who'd served in Venezuela before being discharged with a spinal injury. It was strange how the boys back home hadn't fixed him up, but it didn't really matter. Quaritch could use that to his advantage, especially since it looked like the kid didn't really have anyone else back home to call him family.
Quaritch left Sully's info in his office, searching the hangar for the one person he needed and finding her as she watched over some refits to her bird.
"Chacon," he called.
She turned to face him in green camo, a side arm strapped to her left thigh and a smile on her face. "Colonel," she acknowledged.
"You're still flying those science geeks in their little outings, aren't you, Major?"
"I am, sir," she nodded.
"I need you to find somebody for me," he told her, hoping she knew what was good for her by doing what she was told.
Once she was gone, Quaritch moved back to his office, which doubled as a weights mat where he sat on the bench press. He had a good feeling about this, thinking it could finally start to go their way for a change. Sully would be trained to do what he was told, regardless of why he was here, and if Quaritch could say the right things, he was absolutely certain he could get the kid to see things his way.
Warren was sitting in the mess hall with Grace and Lisa when he saw Trudy come in with what looked like a pointed expression on her face as she searched the crowd for someone. And when she moved toward their table, he thought she was coming to talk to him. But instead of heading toward him, she moved toward the other end of the table where Jake was sitting. Warren listened to Trudy tell Jake the Colonel was looking for him in the Armor Bay, and almost immediately, he looked at Grace. A year and a half earlier, he'd told her something like this would happen, and he could see from her expression that she wasn't too thrilled about it either.
But she didn't do or say anything. She scowled and grit her teeth, watching Trudy lead Jake out of the mess hall while everyone else there continued eating. Warren wanted to follow them, but he didn't need to. He knew what was going to happen. He wanted to hope Jake wasn't stupid enough to listen to anything the Colonel had to say, but he knew it was pointless. He remembered how the Colonel and Selfridge had tried to wrangle him into doing their dirty work for them, and after he'd refused to help them force any of the Clan out of their Home, they'd promptly released him from detention. But he knew it wasn't over. They were always going to want more of the mineral they were mining. It was the only inevitable thing he'd come to accept.
When Jake didn't return, Warren left the mess hall by himself, but not to follow anyone. He'd feared this above everything else, and Amelia needed to know what was going on. She needed to know that Jake couldn't be trusted, not with something like this, and certainly not with someone like Ava. The corridors that led him to his habitat were quiet, and as soon as he was inside, he closed and locked the door behind him. His video log, which had been set up like an internal transmitter so he could talk to Amelia when he couldn't be in the long-house with her, was setting up on his desk, and he sat down to turn it on as soon as he was inside his room.
Amelia answered his call as she got Ava ready for bed, and he told her what he'd seen and heard.
"I told you this would happen, Amy," he stressed. "I knew as soon as the shuttle got here he'd be looking into everyone to see who he could use like he tried to use me. And I don't trust this guy to be smart enough to say 'no'."
Amelia didn't look convinced. "Have you talked to him?" she asked hesitantly. "Maybe he'll surprise you."
"I don't have to talk to him, Amy," Warren scoffed. "I've seen him. The guy's in a wheelchair. And that's exactly the kind of thing Quaritch would take advantage of to get the job done. Now, you know me. You know I can usually tell a lot about a person just by looking at him. It's one of the reasons I wanted to trust his brother. But this guy is different. And I think you know that already."
The worried look on her face told Warren all he really needed to know, and he wished he was actually sitting out there with her telling her this instead of doing it through a video link.
"I'm not trying to worry you on purpose," Warren insisted. "And I'm not writing him off. But we have to be careful, Amy. We have to keep Ava from him. I know she's already seen him and talked to him, and I don't want her to start to getting curious about him. I think we both remember how curious she was about me."
Amelia nodded. "I remember." She paused, looking behind her. "Grace is taking him and Norm out tomorrow, but I'll talk to Ava. I don't know what good it will do, but I'll talk to her. I mean, you're right. He did just get here, and we don't know a lot about him just yet."
Warren thought about that for a minute, about Grace taking the two new guys out into the forest. He remembered her mentioning how Selfridge had been pushing for a diplomatic solution to the stand-off he'd gotten himself hung up on with the locals. He wondered if she was doing it now because she wanted to get the weasel off her back, or if she honestly wanted to make contact again because it had been so long since she'd seen her students.
"It's late," Amelia said, "but I'll see you in the morning, okay?"
Warren exhaled heavily. "Okay. Get some sleep. I love you."
She smiled slightly. "I love you."
"Tell Ava to get a good night's sleep for me. We're gonna start back up tomorrow."
Amelia laughed. "Well, she'll be happy to hear that. Good night."
"Night."
Warren switched off his link then, sitting still for another few minutes and thinking of everything that had already happened. He didn't know if it was because of being in this place for so long, but Warren knew in his gut that something bad was going to happen. He knew it like he'd known something bad would happen at Grace's school, and look at how that had gone down. He knew Grace didn't want to believe it, but she knew it too.
And she knew no one would be able to stop it. After seeing her in the mess hall, he knew she couldn't do anything no matter how much she wanted to, because if she did, Selfridge would shut her down. Apparently, her research and her program were more important to her than the well-being of a native culture that had been here a lot longer than anyone really knew. If didn't mean she didn't care, only that she wasn't willing to risk tipping the balance either way.
But Warren couldn't ignore this. He couldn't look the other way while Selfridge and Quaritch ripped the Clan apart just for some stupid rock in the ground. He didn't know what he was going to do to counter it, if there was anything he could do. But sitting there that night made him very certain of it.
All righty then! Now that Amelia and Jake are actually on the same celestial body, things should be a little interesting. I gotta say, writing this was NOT easy. I never really knew how difficult it would be to pick apart every part of the movie to see where Amelia could fit but still be invisible. I hope I did a good job.
Try not to hold Warren's attitude against him. I think his jealousy is starting to get the better of him, but he's male, so it's expected.
And I apologize for confusing anyone with the note at the top. Try not to hold a few of my short-comings against the story as it continues to unfold.
Only one definition this time around, but an important one as far as manners should go:
Irayo - Thank you.
Until next time, Keep Calm & Carry On!