Chapter 1:
"Let's get back to base ladies. Time to regroup," Quaritch said as he looked down on Spider. "Ja!"
"Yes Colonel?"
"When we get back, I need you to take him to the med bay. Lyle and I have to report to Ardmore."
"Yes sir. I'll take care of him. Poor kid looks like he's been through the ringer."
The Samson lights approached over head as the recoms headed back to the extraction point.
*Time Skip* - After Quaritch stops the machines torturing Spider.
Spider's POV
I wish they would just let me out of here. I've been pacing and shouting for hours. My throat is getting sore from shouting. I've thrown everything I can pick up at the glass; I know they are watching me on the other side of it. I can't take this anymore. Crouching in the furthest corner I can and start to break down. I won't give up my friends. I can't put them in danger like that again. Not Kiri or Lo'ak, or god forbid baby Tuk.
I must have only been having a meltdown for a few minutes when the door opened. Without thinking I slide under the table in the middle of the room, and watch as 3 pairs of big boots come through the door, way too big to be human. Shit… I don't want to talk to them right now, not in the state I'm in. They can't see me crying.
Quaritch POV
Lyle and I are watching this human boy who if memory serves right is mine. I haven't seen him since he was a toddler.
"Look at him. Practically an animal. He thinks he's one of them; nothing more than a savage," the human operating the cameras scoffs.
Asshole how dare he talk about my son like that; and what the hell does he mean "one of them". In case he hasn't noticed he's in the room with two of them. I look over at Lyle and see his ears are pinned back just like mine and his mouth is starting to draw back and show teeth. I can hear a low grumble starting in his chest and know he is just under hearing range of the human.
"Steady Corporal. I hear him too," I say aloud so both Lyle and the human know I can hear them. "Human, if you wish to remain breathing you will cease your comments immediately. If you haven't noticed you are currently in a very small room with two very large and very unhappy Marines. Read the room and SHUT UP. I may have been human once, but that boy in there is my son. I will NOT have anyone speaking of him like that."
Just then the door swung open and Ja crouched through it.
"Colonel you- uh, Colonel, you and Wainfleet okay?"
I put my coffee cup and sighed a deep breath through my nose. Okay? No, none of this is okay. None of this is right.
"Yeah Alexander, we're just fine. Come on, I didn't call you here to chit-chat like ladies at a tea party. I need you to check on the kid with me. We're going to take him out of here. Maybe he will talk to us more. I've got permission from the head bitch to take him out on the premise of learning more about the people we are up against. However before we go I want to get your opinion on the state of the kid and whether you think you can tend to what still needs to heal up out there in the forests. Your medical opinion I trust. The other docs I'm fairly certain will say anything to try and keep him here." I spoke to my subordinate as all three of us stood in front of the kid's cell.
The door slid open with a loud whoosh and I could just make out the tiny feet as they slid under the table in the room. I knew he didn't like us, me especially. Ja immediately set his bag down and started opening it up to take out simple wound care supplies.
"Come on kid, I know you don't want to talk to us but we at least want to make sure your wounds heal. You don't even have to talk to us, just listen to what the Colonel has to say, and let me look at your cuts and scrapes. I just want to make sure you heal correctly, that's all." Ja tries to placate the boy as Lyle starts to walk around the other side of the table.
In the next seconds the boy darts out from under the table and makes it past Ja heading for the door well before Ja is able to get his reflexes moving to catch him. I manage slide in front of the door just before he makes it there. Wrapping my arm around him I lift him off of him feet to halt his movement. The kid quickly begins hissing and scratching at me so I place him down on the table and hold him down until he settles down and quiets just a little. When he stops I remove my hand and show both to show him I don't intend to do anything more than keep him in the room. Lyle walks past me and presses the airlock release on the door to slide it shut and lock it in place.
Ja walks up beside me with his arms up to show that his hands are empty, and looks at the kid. "Can I look at those scratches on your arms and chest please? They look like they hurt, and I don't like seeing anybody in pain when I can help," he asks as he steps a little bit closer to the kid and crouches down so he is eye level with the kid. The boy just nods and looks away so Ja reaches out for his med bag. Lyle hands it to him and helps him begin to clean up the boy's arms. Ja reached points on his arms where those blue stripes were and he started to reach towards them with the intent to clean them off. Spider instantly hisses and tries to pull away from Lyle.
"Okay doc, how about we not try that. If he wants them there, then leave them there. Hey, it's okay bud, we ain't gonna try that again, it's alright. Just settle back down for us yeah?" The kid stops squirming around and settles down on the table again.
"I know you don't like me kid, but can you just listen to what I'm going to tell you. You don't have to speak or even acknowledge that I am talking to you just please, at least listen. I know you don't like it here, hell we don't like it here either. I want you to take us out into the forest and teach us. I can tell this RDA food ain't cutting it for us nutrition wise and I know you know what's edible and how to 'be a na'vi' essentially. We got to learn if we are even going to have a chance at surviving on this planet. You don't have to take us anywhere close to where the natives are hiding, and I'm not asking you to. I just need to know that if I help you and get you out of here, you'll help me and my team get used to this new situation we are in."
I was watching the kids face reactions as I was talking and it seemed like he was at least listening to me. He looked at me as I squatted down in front of him. It seemed like he was watching me too. He must have seen something in my face that made him trust me because in the next second I got a small nod.
"You know my real name, but everyone calls me Spider. I don't want to be called my real name, that's yours. I guess it'll be less confusing that way," the kid, Spider, said almost dejectedly. Okay, that's progress, we can work with that.
"Sure, kid," Lyle piped up from behind Spider as I nodded at him.
"Okay little man, all done. You should be good to go anything else that needs to heal I can take care of out there, Colonel. We should be past the majority of any infection concerns, and everything looks like its healing easily enough," Ja spoke up as he stood back up as far as he could and began packing up his medical supplies. "If you need me sir, I'll be prepping my go bag."
Ja grabbed his med bag and walked to the airlock. It slid open and I could see Lyle and I both tense ready to catch the kid if he bolted, but Spider just stared at the floor almost resigned.
"We'll be back in a few minutes to get you Spider, I've got to go and inform Ardmore that we will be leaving base for a while. C'mon Corporal, let's give the boy some space."
Lyle and I both turned and headed to the airlock. I had only taken a few steps away from the table when I felt two pairs of arms wrap around one of my legs. Lyle and I both tensed back up thinking maybe Spider was running for the door but he just clung to my leg and started sniffling.
"Thank you, I'm sorry that I was so harsh earlier. I'll try to be more civil," he said through watery eyes.
I reached down and started to stroke his hair. "It's alright kid. We completely understand. You don't have to be civil if you don't want to its fine. I'll be back to get you in a few minutes and then we will go to my barracks and you can wait there while I pack.
"Wainfleet, inform the team. We're blades up in 30."
"Yes, sir," Lyle said as he jogged off.
"I gotta tell Ardmore what we're going out there for son, what going to be our first stop?"
"Should probably get ikrans if we want to travel any long distances. Hallelujah Mountain cliffs is the best place to find a rookery."
"Okay, let me got tell that to the General. I'll be right back," I said as I peeled him off of my leg and walked out the door, sliding the airlock closed behind me.
Thirty minutes later we were flying out of base. It hadn't taking those science pukes long to sync up the tracker in Spiders new air mask, to mine and Wainfleet's datapads. An hour later we were dropping out of the Samson and onto the ground, once again in the hostile forest of Pandora.