AN:) HEY EVERYONE. JUST THOUGHT I SHOULD SAY SORRY FIOR MAKING THE WHOLE 'WE HAVE TO DISAPPEAR' THING END SO FAST. AS MUCH AS I HATE TO SAY IT JAKE DYING WAS ABOUT THE MIDDLE OF THE STORY SO THERE WONT BE A WHOLE LOT OF CHAPTERS LEFT TO WRITE. SORRY. BUT ENJOY THIS ONE. IT WAS LOADS OF FUN TO WRITE.

ALSO I KNOW IN THE MOVIES THE BANSHEES DON'T GROW THAT BIG BUT I WANTED TO JAKE TO HAVER A BIG ONE. DON'T SUE ME!

Neytiri smiled and for a moment and then hers and Jake's lips touched. But it was only for a moment and then they were walking again. As the sun began to set, Jake and Neytiri climbed into their hammocks. As the lights began to dim around them Jake moved so his arm hung off his hammock and towards Neytiri. Jake smiled as he felt Neytiri's hand touch his. They weren't holding hand, but they were close enough so that their hands touched. Jake closed his eyes sighing with content. He was happy. Right now despite everything that had happened to her was happy.

CHAPTER 7

EARTH (New Orleans.)

James Rely sighed as he sat down. His body ached and he could tell he was going to sleep well. Next to him dropped his second in command Eric Truma. Across from them their resident weapons expert Alice baker, dropped her sniper rifle onto the ground with a loud thud. James sighed again, and brushed a lock of his blonde hair from his eyes. He was bored. His team had been called in to help battle a local drug cartel in the city. Unfortunately the cartel was mostly low level thugs. Easy guys to beat and even easier to kill on this night alone they had killed maybe 15 or 16 guys. Next to him James watched as Eric pulled his shirt of revealing 2 small bullet holes in his arm. Grumbling Eric dug around in his pocket and a moment later pulled a pair of pliers out. James closed his eyes but snapped them back open when he felt Eric's blood land on his hand. "ERIC!!!! WHAT THE HELL!" Eric shrugged and continued to dig the bullet out of his arm.

Wiping the blood angrily off his hand James glared at Alice who had been laughing. "Don't be so cute Alice. Your shot was off by at least 3 inches." Alice shook her head. "No your timing was off. I said 5 second not 3." Behind them a voice shouted. "Oh would you guys just shut up!?!?!? God you sound like children!" turning James scowled at the man who had spoken. Tom Nort stood behind them digging in the fridge for something to eat. James had just turned around when another voice this one new spoke, behind them. "So this is raven company. Must say I was expecting more." Combat training kicked in and James found himself on his feet eyes darting wildly looking for the source of the noise. A man had appeared seemingly out of nowhere. He stood straight backed, and was dressed in military clothing, 4 long slash marks decorated his head and face. Beside him Eric chuckled. "It's a hologram James. Relax." But James didn't 6 years or work had taught him to never let his guard down.

Again the hologram spoke. "My name is Colonel Miles Quaritch. And there is no need for introductions I already know who all of you are, Eric truma, James rely, Alice baker, and Tom Nort. I have a job for you to do." James shook his head. "We're already on a job." Quaritch chuckled. "Yes. A job that wastes your very unique talents. I'm calling on behalf of Jake sully. Remember him?" James's fist clenched as his nails dug at his own skin. The 6th member of their team Jake Sully. No one would ever forget him; he had been their leader, their commander. When he had said move they moved, he had been their god, and when he had been injured they all felt personally responsible. Behind them tom spoke. "What's happened?" the colonel smiled. "I was hoping you'd ask. First off gentlemen… and lady. I have some bad news. Jake is dead." In seconds Eric and Alice were on their feet. Behind them James heard tom let out a short gasp. But the colonel continued to speak. "Now before you assault me with questions allow me to provide what little answers I have. Jake was working for me when he died. And I work on Pandora. Jake was a member of the avatar program. And he was damn fine at it too. He is so far the only one to have gained the trust from the na'vi."

The colonel stopped and help up a small picture of Jake waving to the camera, behind him the hills of Pandora were clear as day. "Jake was going to become one of them. He was going through the na'vi trials so they could see if he was worthy enough to become one of them. Unfortunately he failed one of those trails. The punishment for failure was death." Quaritch held up another photo, this one of a na'vi who looked similar to how Jake looked. "This is Jasul. He is the clan's holder of memories. It was he who killed Jake. And he is your target. Whenever he kills someone he absorbs their mind, their thoughts, feelings, memories everything becomes his. In the case of Jake his knowledge of our defenses and other tactical information. I need you to come here to Pandora and bring Jasul to me. Our entire operation is at risk while he holds Jake's memories." James nodded. "Why us?"

Quaritch chuckled again. "in his service record Jake lists you all as his family I figure you'd want revenge. Will you come here and help me?" James didn't even have to look to know that everyone had nodded like him. Quaritch smiled. "good. There is a ship waiting for you at the local airport. It's called the sun runner. It is the fastest ship we have. It'll get you here in 48 hours. Once here you will all undergo a surgery that will permanently put your mind in a body of an avatar. After that I don't care what you do, just bring Jasul to me. Is that clear?" everyone nodded, Quaritch's face hardened. "IS THAT CLEAR!?" a chorus of "SIR YES SIR!" met his question. As the hologram shut off James began throwing things into a small duffle bag beside the couch. Half an hour later he and his team left the city and clambered onto the sun runner, ready to capture the being who had killed their leader. James smiled as he felt the ship accelerate and a moment later he was pushed back in his seat as the ship left the planet surface, headed for the inky blackness of space.

PANDORA

Jake slowly opened his eyes and smiled. Neytiri had shifted in her sleep. Their hands still touched, but she had shifted so she was more or less leaning out of her hammock. Gently shaking her Jake let out a surprised yelp as Neytiri woke and struggled to regain her suddenly lost balance, and grabbed Jake around the neck as she fell downward. Hitting the ground with a hard 'thud' Jake gasped as the wind was knocked out of him. Above him Neytiri smiled sheepishly at him. For a moment he looked at her and then the both of them started laughing. Helping Jake up Neytiri allowed herself one kiss before they began their days work. After eating Neytiri and Jake began to make their way to the Thundering Rocks. The sun was still low in the sky and Jake found himself yawning as they walked. All around them the sounds of the waking forest met their ears.

As the sun climbed higher in the sky Jake and Neytiri found themselves at the base of the thundering rocks. At was a nerve racking climb to the top. Jake had to watch where he put every hand and foot to be sure he wasn't about to plummet to his death below. Even with him being careful there were a few close calls and one particularly heart stopping moment when Neytiri almost fell. If it weren't for Jake grabbing her ankle as it plummeted passed his Jake was sure he would never see Neytiri again in the living world. Finally after hours of climbing Jake lay down on the semi-solid ground of the hovering mountains. Next to him Neytiri chuckled. Don't rest to long Jake. We still have to find you a new banshee." Jake nodded, but closed his eyes. "Yeah I know. Let me just savor having ground under me for a little while longer." Neytiri nodded and lay down next to him her tail falling so it lay against his. Jake smiled and slowly moved so his hand covered hers.

For several minutes they lay like this. Simply enjoying each other's company. But somewhere high above them a banshee let out a roar, and they both remembered why they had climbed there in the first place. Sighing Jake got back to his feet, as Neytiri did the same. Making their way up the winding path Jake and Neytiri soon found themselves at the banshee nesting ground. Jake slowly began picking his way along the rocky path between what had to be hundreds of banshees. Every now and then one would turn to him, or roar at him but none attacked him signaling they wanted to be his. The minutes seemed to creep by as Jake slowly walked amongst the banshee. Behind him he could hear Neytiri following. Time seemed endless as he passed banshee after banshee. And it was with a jolt of his heart he realized they were getting bigger now. Gone were the 'small' ones that were the size of cars. Now the banshee around him were larger, the size of car driveways. And still none stopped his movement. And while several stopped what they were doing and roared at him none of them made any advancements towards him.

Jake could feel his heart rate speed up as banshee's got even bigger now. They were huge now one not far from him was about the size of a car garage. Jake sighed slightly as they came to a bare patch of land that no banshee covered. It was here that Jake turned to Neytiri. "Are you sure I can have another banshee? Seems to me like none of them want me." Neytiri looked back at the seemingly endless sea of banshee they had passed. "I suppose it's possible. But there are still many banshees left. Do not get discouraged because the front most ones didn't pick you." Jake rolled his eyes, as they began walking again muttered under his breath. "Easy for you to say. You wont have one of these things gnawing on your ass." A moment later Jake felt the customary slap to the back of his head and a mutter of "skxawng." Jake smiled slightly at his old nickname. "Been a while since you called me that." Neytiri smiled at that but didn't speak as a large banshee walked passed them and jumped off the cliff.

Jake could feel his skin becoming covered in nervous sweat as he walked further on. The banshee's were huge now. And as he moved on he noted that several of the up coming ones were the size of mid aged red wood trees back home. (60-70 feet in heath) Again they came to a bare patch and stopped. "Maybe the one who wants me is away. You know hunting?" it was a lame excuse and he knew it. Neytiri also knew it because she looked at him with that, 'you're so lame' face he had come to know very well from his first few weeks training with her. And so they continued on, all around them the banshee's grew larger and larger until Jake had to stop more out of fear then anything else. The banshee's around them were about as big as busses and Jake was very aware of just how good tasting he must have looked to them. Jake had just opened his mouth to say something when a loud roar cut off his speech. He could feel warm, damp air on his neck and if that didn't tell him anything Neytiri's look of worry was enough of a hint to tell him what was happening.

Jake didn't even have time to turn around. one moment he was standing on the ground and the next he was in the air 2 massive claws wrapped around his arms. Jake let out a yell more of anger than anything else. Sure the thing was supposed to try and kill him, but couldn't it have waited until after he had turned back around?! At least he could still use his arms. And with a bit of wriggling and twisting he managed to free one of them. Above him the banshee holding him roared and dropped suddenly pushing Jake's body horizontal and pinning him to the banshee's stomach. Grunting Jake managed to free his other arm, and grab onto one of the large claws before the banshee straightened out, and he came from of it's belly. They were still in the mountains and Jake smiled as a small plan formed in his head. Banshee flight was strong but everything had to work together. If one thing worked separately then the banshee wouldn't be able to control itself.

Timing things just right would be the key. If he was off by even less than a second he would most likely fall to his death. After several deep breaths he acted. Jake threw himself from the claw and at one of the flapping wingtips of the banshee. For several heart stopping moment Jake thought he was going to miss and fall. So when he felt the rough skin of the banshee wing under his palm he grabbed and held on tight. The banshee let out another roar as it found itself unexpectedly unable to lift one of its wings. The effect was that it flew sideways and crashed into one of the floating mountains that dotted the sky. The banshee roared again as it pushed itself away from the wall and used its massive chest muscles to lift the wing he was on into the air. As the wing prepared to move back down Jake threw himself off and landed with a shaky thud on the banshee's back. Jake had only seconds to grab hold of several spines on the banshee's back before it flipped upside down and nearly threw him off. The world spun around him and in the back of his mind Jake was very thankful that he didn't get air sick easily. After a few moments the banshee righted itself and Jake was able to get a footing.

It took all of Jake's strength to stand up on the banshee's back, and even more will power to take a step forward towards the creature's head. He had just stepped on the banshee's neck when the banshee stopped mid air, no slowing down just stopped. Jake was thrown forward and only with inhuman luck grabbed the front of the banshee's nose; his chest coming to rest against the banshee's mouth. Distinctly aware of how close he was to getting eaten Jake tightened his grip on the banshee's nose and scrambled until his foot caught the banshee's lip and allowed him to get a grip. Pulling himself up Jake froze as he found his face inches from the banshee's eye. As the banshee roared again Jake shouted. "oh shut up!" Jake drew back his arm and a moment later the banshee yelped in pain and jerked in mid air as Jake's fist connected with the its sensitive eyes. Jake rolled his eyes, as the banshee yelped in pain, and frustration. Using the banshee's flailing motions to flip himself up over the creatures head and back onto it's back, grabbing hold of the same spines he had held onto before.

Gripping the spines as tight as he could Jake threw himself to the left and jammed his foot as hard as he could against the banshee's left wing. Instantly the banshee flew left and after a moment found itself headed back to the mountain that they had taken off from. Every now and then Jake would jam his foot down against one of the banshee's wing to remind the banshee who was in charge. As the mountain came into view Jake smiled. He could see Neytiri on the mountain. Jamming his feet against both wings Jake felt the banshee drop out from under him. A moment later the banshee crashed against the ground sending tremors through the ground. Jake landed a moment later on the banshee's back. Climbing down from the banshee Jake finally was able to realize how large the banshee was, that was to say about the size of a small house. Jake shakily stepped off the banshee, and smiled at Neytiri who slowly approached him. As she did so Jake noticed her eyes never left the banshee behind him.

Turning Jake found the banshee had lifted its head. A long tendril separated from the banshee's body and a moment later the familiar white nerve ending of the neural queue emerged from its sheath. Smiling Jake approached the banshee and pulled his own queue from behind him. After a moment of hesitation he connected his queue with the banshee's. Jake shuddered as his mind merged with the banshee's. Compared to its mind his felt young and innocent. After a while the banshee spoke to him through thought. 'So you're jakesully?' 'yes.' 'hmmmm. My name is Iso You are strong jakesully. But strength alone cannot help you win all conflicts.' 'Yeah lots of people keep telling me that.' 'They are correct.' Jake nodded and disconnected his queue from Iso's. turning to Neytiri Jake smiled. "Well it seems I've got myself a new banshee named Iso." Neytiri looked from Jake to the banshee and nodded. "A good name for him." Jake shrugged. "what's it mean?" Neytiri chuckled. "It means 'large one'." Jake nodded and together he and Neytiri mounted their banshee's and a moment later were soaring through the skies.

As they flew over the forest Neytiri found her eyes drawn to Jake's new banshee. It was big. Almost as big as the Toruk (Great Leonopteryx). The banshee's wings were flecked with green and blue marks that dotted the pale skin that mismatched the light blue skin of the body. It's body was big and seemed to be very strong she could see the muscles moving with ease and power under the skin. As they flew on Neytiri could only smile. See Jake happy was infectious. Following Jake's lead Neytiri soon found that they were headed towards the human base in the canyon and a few minutes later they were landing in front of it. As they climbed off their banshee's the door hissed open and grace's avatar stepped out and waved to them. "Hey Jake Neytiri. What brings you to our little canyon?" Jake shrugged. "just wanted to check out and see how you are doing." Grace shrugged, and gestured for them to come inside. As the door hissed shut behind them she began to speak again. "we're good. Trudy's been complaining about how she never gets to fly anymore, but other than that we're fine. It's actually a good thing you came I have something for you."

Leading them through the maze of hallways Jake Neytiri and grace soon found themselves in the machine shop. On the other side of the room Jake could make out the form of Trudy working with a large bit of metal. as grace continued to speak with Jake Neytiri found herself moving so she was behind Trudy, watching her work. Neytiri watched fascinated, as Trudy bent and twisted the metal sheet in front of her, simply by passing a small machine over the folds she wanted to make. As the machine passed over the metal a small line of red would appear and with a bit of tugging and pulling Trudy would bend the metal. Neytiri watched as the bit of plain metal began to take shape. After several minutes Trudy smiled and plunged her now slightly red glowing creation into a bucket of water next to her station. As the steam hissed and flowed Trudy smiled and pulled the bit of metal out of the water. The now cooled metal looked back at her, and she smiled again. As she got up to move she found Neytiri standing behind her and obviously watching her.

Trudy raised and eyebrow and spoke. "what?" Neytiri looked from her to the bit of metal. "what is it?" Trudy smiled at her curiosity. "follow me and I'll show you." Leading the way Trudy left the work room and soon found herself in the small hanger of the base. In the middle of the room her Samson sat. several metal coverings were missing and Trudy noted that norm looked as though he had started rewiring the entire thing. Rolling her eyes, Trudy clambered onto her Samson and pulled herself up so her eyes were about level with on of the 'wings' that held the massive propellers. Laying herself across the wing Trudy took painful notation of where she was compared to the propeller blades. When she had first started flying she had heard all kinds of stories about pilots who had been sliced to pieces by their own blades. Grunting a bit Trudy found the spot where her bit of metal went and after a bit of work and cursing the metal chunk in her hand fit back into place over a bunch of exposed wires. Dropping down Trudy smiled again at Neytiri look of wonder as she looked at the Samson. "it's armor?" Trudy nodded. "of a sort." Neytiri looked at some of the patches missing. "why is there no armor on these parts?"

Trudy shrugged. "after a while some of the plates need to be replaced cause of normal wear and tear. Those plates have bee taken off and I'm currently fabrication new ones." Neytiri nodded and turned back to the Samson. "who not just ride a banshee?" Trudy smiled and sat down against the side of her Samson. "I would have thought that would be obvious. We don't have queues like you na'vi do. We can't merge or whatever you call it." as she spoke Trudy spread her hair like a fan showing Neytiri the lack of any queue. Neytiri nodded slowly. She had never really taken the time to look, and it struck her as odd that the sky people had no queues. "maybe…. If our people can work together…….. maybe we can teach you to merge with nature like we can." Trudy shrugged. "maybe. But why would you want to help us after what we've done to your planet?" Neytiri looked at Trudy, caught of guard by her question. "because…………. If you see the planet like we do. maybe you won't want to hurt it anymore." Trudy smiled sadly. "as much as I wish that were true I don't think it'll work like that." Neytiri turned to her looking at her. "why do you say that?"

Trudy shrugged and lit one of her cigarettes. "I don't know. Just doesn't seem like we're going to be at peace anytime soon. I cant say for sure. Hell if it were my choice I'd pack up everything and leave. I miss my family my home. I've been away from them for 4 years, 6 months, and 24 weeks. I just want to see them again." Neytiri nodded. She could understand that. Taking another drag from her cigarette Trudy let the smoke clear before speaking again. "Oh, I never got a chance to thank you for helping Jake." Neytiri cocked her head to one side. "What do you mean?" Trudy shrugged. "Oh for helping him that time in the forest with the viperwolves. He told me about it and I thought I should thank you." Neytiri nodded. "Yes. But why would you thank me?" Trudy shrugged. "Don't tell anyone but I personally like Jake." Neytiri felt her body stiffen and her eyes narrow but Trudy continued. "Don't worry not the way you like him. But as a friend I like him. I was there when he first arrived Pandora, he looked……..." Trudy broke off as she searched for the right words to describe Jake before all this had happened. It was only at Neytiri prompting that she continued.

"He seemed……… lost. Like he wasn't sure what he was going to do or where he was going. I guess that's not uncommon for people who get injured like Jake did. But that changed when he was put into his new body. He was alive, happy, he laughed, and he smiled." Neytiri vaguely remembered Jake telling her he had been injured at it was that, which reminded her that Jake hadn't told her how. But now this sky person in front of her knew and it was hesitantly that she spoke. "What injury?" Trudy looked up at her. "He hasn't told you?" Neytiri shook her head. Trudy sighed and took a long drag on her cigarette watching the smoke leave her mouth and contemplating what to say next. "Jake…………. Got injured in a way that left more than just physical scars. It left, emotional, and psychological scars. For Jake those scars put a huge strain on his relationship with his parents. I guess his brother didn't care but Jake was still very upset. Before he came here he was………..sad, I would maybe even go as far to say suicidal." Neytiri looked at her curiously. "sui-ici-dal?" Trudy nodded. "I guess you don't know that word. It's an action some humans take when they see no way to help them or the people they love. There's a dozen ways to do it but the out come is always the same." Trudy took another long drag before speaking again. "that outcome is death. People who try to commit suicide knowing and willing attempt to end their lives and bring about their death." Neytiri felt her blood run cold. To kill yourself……… it was unthinkable, it violated Ewya's will. Neytiri felt her eyes slowly fill with tears as the thought of her Jake even considering such an option. Trudy must have known what she was thinking cause a moment later Neytiri felt Trudy's hand on her back. "hey. Don't think to long on it. Jake didn't do anything and now he's here. There is no point dwelling on what was, or what could have been." Neytiri had been about to speak when Jake's voice made her look up.

"Neytiri." Jake stood in the doorway to the hanger, a small smile covering his face. "Neytiri there you are. What are you and Trudy up to?" Neytiri quickly tried to hide the pounding fear in her chest, and spoke. "Trudy was telling me about your kind." Jake nodded but Neytiri notice he looked at Trudy through narrowed eyes. "Anyways Neytiri I'm done here. So we can go back to the hometree now if you want." Neytiri tried not to look to eager as she and Jake left the human compound and climbed back onto their banshees. She was deeply troubled by what Trudy had told her. Even when she had felt completely alone she had never considered ending her own life. Just the idea of never be able to see the world around her made her feel sick.

AN:)WELL FOLKS THERE'S CHAPTER 7. AS BEFORE I'M SORRY FOR ALTERING THE BANSHEES A BIT BUT I REALLY WANTED TO MAKE THEM SEEM MORE REALISTIC AND TO ME I PERSONALY THINK THERE WOULD BE ONES THAT ARE HUGE! HOPE NOBODY IS TOO MAD AT ME FOR THAT.

I THINK THE NEXT CHAPTER WILL HAVE ANOTHER LEMON IN IT. I'M NOT 100% SURE YET THOUGH.

SORRY THIS CHAPTER TOOK SO LONG. I GOT MASS EFFECT ON MONDAY AND I DIDN'T EVEN TOUCH MY COMPUTER LAST WEEKEND. SORRY.

THANKS FOR YOUR REVIEWS AND READINGS. BYE