Chapter 9, enjoy. *Reminder, underlined words are spoken in Na'vi.*

(Sophia's POV)

I stood before the table, glancing between the seven cups of liquid, a younger woman was pouring black liquid in six of them. Mo'at was standing before me. Tsu'tey, Neytiri and Eytukan were to the left, furious looks on there faces.

"Choose." Mo'at nods.

I look over the bowls, watching a group of people shuffling them before dispersing.

"What do I do when I choose?"

"Drink."

"There poisoned aren't they?" she holds my gaze "I'm supposed to pick the one that isn't?"

"Our goddess protects the ones she blessed. If you are, you should have no worries." her hands hold the table softly, voice a gentle whisper "There is still time to walk away... if this is not what you want."

I glance to the east, wanting nothing more than to be in my fathers warm embrace and exhale "I'm not leaving." I had come here to do a job and by god was I going to do it.

"Close your eyes, empty your mind and feel our goddess."

My hands move over the bowls, trying to find that sensation from earlier. Each cup felt cold, this shiver moving over my fingers. Left to right. Seven bowls and each one was telling me no.

"Well?" Eytukan says impatiently

Mo'at shushes him, turning back to me. My hand lifts off the table, slowly circling around the room when I pause, that shiver running down my spine. My gaze flickers to the female on my left and I glance at the jug in her hands.

I step away from the table, moving closer to the woman and grab the cup. I look at the black liquid, glancing back at Mo'at and tip the jug to my lips downing three mouthfuls before anyone could stop me. I drop the jug, coughing as my throat burns.

Commotion echoed to my left, war cries echoing around me

"Hey! Hey! Get off!" Jake's angry voice yells.

I spin, seeing Jake punch another male before he's captured "JAKE?!"

"SOPHIA!"

He hisses as a blade is pressed to his throat, the hunters swarming him and he's forced to his knees.

"No! Mo'at please, wait!" I try as the older matriarch blocks me.

More warriors swarm the room, Manova now stuck between us, arrows pointed at her once more as my world spins, my feet going numb. Oh god, had I drank the wrong one?

The last thing I hear is Jake's voice before my world goes black.

"GET THE HELL AWAY FROM MY SISTER!"

(Quaritch's pov)

"She can't take much more of this." a doctor sighs, Grace was looking between charts as the alarms go off again "This is putting to much strain on Sophia's brain, we have to shut her down."

"No." Grace states

"Grace, we need to stop this before she spikes again or it will have major damage." Max sighs

"We have no idea where she is."

"AUGUSTINE!" I growl

"Okay, okay lets start shutting her down. Lower the adrenaline, increase the serotonin, lets see if we can push her into sleep first." she sighs

"Got it," a doctor says.

"Oh fuck this..." I growl, moving down the stairs, the small doctor is no match my men.

"Okay watch the monitors for-"

Beep.

"NO!" Grace yells, every head turning to see my hand on the small red button "WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO?!"

"What I had to do." I lift up the cover, hands grabbing my bloodied daughter "Now get the hell out of my way or the last thing you'll ever see is the bullet from my gun."

..

..

(Jake's POV)

"J-Jake. J-Jake, c-can you h-hear m-me?" The blurry outline of a light flashes over my eyes, the rest of the room falling into my view "J-Jake… Jake." the hiss of air hits my ears, my lungs remembering to breathe "come on marine, come back to us."

I blink, my eyes heavier than I'd felt in a long time.

"That's it Marine, come back to me." wo pairs of hands pull me up "Oh god…" I groan

"Easy, you were dug in there like a tick." Grace sighs

"It was easily over twenty hours."

I wince as the light flashes over my eyes, the burning was an unwelcomed response.

"Jake," Grace turns my shoulders more to her "What happened? What happened to everyone? If your Avatar safe?"

"Yeah…" I sigh, a small smile hugging my lips "And you're not going to believe were we are."

"What about Norm?" Max asks "Can we shut him down?"

I glance to my left, seeing the still running link "I don't know. He was with me and Sophia, but he was stung by some scorpion looking creature with two tails. Manova said he had two days to live."

"Manova?" Grace asks.

"Big ass cat that tried to kill us in the forest." I snort at her look and wave it off "Long story for later, but Sophia went to home tree to find the antidote and I didn't show up till later. We got him the medicine but he's weak. I don't know how this works with both bodies…"

Grace sighs, typing a few things "Did the creature look like this?"

I glance at the tablet and the damn scorpion on it "Yep."

"Fuck…" Grace sighs "Alright people, I want triage set up in here. Shut norm down, get the proper fluids and meds set up and leave him in the link. We will hook them back up at 6 am tomorrow." she types some things "For now you should get some food marine, its going to be a long night."

I glance around, looking at all the faces of other avatar drivers and doctors checking me head to toe and couldn't find the one I wanted.

"Grace." she ignores me, grabbing another cigarette "Grace!"

"What Marine?" she sighs, lighting it between her teeth

"Where's Sophia?"

For the second time that night everyone's eyes fell on me.

..

..

I rolled into the medical bay, Grace behind me. My eyes flicker from Coronel Quaritch to the small girl on the bed. The massive amount of wires stuck to every inch of her face, the tube of air going down her throat and the steady beeping of the heart monitor.

"Coronal."

The Coronal sends me a sideways glance, barely registering my salute. I feel Grace's firm yet heartbroken squeeze of my left shoulder and I let my hand fall to my lap.

"How is she?"

"We don't know." Grace sighs.

I roll forwards, nodding once as Quaritch lifts a few tubes of clear liquid so I could maneuver closer to the bed.

"We're not sure when she'll wake up."

Grace stands by my side, that hand on my shoulder again and I couldn't stop my hand from squeezing it back.

"Sophia isn't like other avatar drivers Jake." she rubs her face "Because she was born here on Pandora, the weaker gravity made her sick."

I couldn't help but snort "We'll she certainly wasn't weak in that forest. God, you two should have seen her. The way she acted, its like she'd grown up here her whole life."

My other hand grabs hers, holding the colder flesh tenderly.

"Well I got to hand it to you three, when you fall off the turnip truck, you really fall off..." Grace sighs.

"Has she gone through this before?"

"She seized a few times when she first linked up." Coronal Quaritch sighs and I don't miss grace's shocked reflection "Get comfortable Marine, it will be at least six hours before the swelling goes down."

I watch him grab the small table, placing the black computer bag on it and pulling pull out a few piles of paper work. Neatly staking the piles in whatever order he liked and line his green, red and blue pens in perfect symmetry. Grace rolls her eyes, going to say what I assume was something sassy when we freeze. Instead of sitting Quaritch had opened the bag, shuffling around the bottom of it and pulls out a small faded blue bunny, placing it under her hands. He tucks a few strands of hair behind her ear, giving her one more check before sitting, leaning back in the uncomfortable hospital chairs.

Grace turns at the door, staring back at Quaritch, the air suddenly holding an line of seriousness and looks. Really looks at the military commander, the brute sitting diligently by Sophia's bedside and sighs.

"Quaritch… make sure you watch over her."

Quaritch holds her gaze, determination and understanding in his eyes and nods.

"Always."

(Sophia's POV)

"Sophia…." a younger voice sings on the air "Sooopppphhhiiaaaa…"

I spin, looking around the empty field. When I go to speak nothing comes out. A hand goes to my throat, not finding any wounds.

"You need to wake up."

I spin again, trying to find the voice

"You need to come home."

I gasp awake, a hand going to my throat. My neck burned, like I had been screaming for hours.

"Woah, woah easy!" A soft voice says, I glance to my left, finding Trudy "Easy, try not to talk. They removed your breathing tube a few hours ago, you're going to be sore."

I blink, my ear were ringing, like that sound you hear in movies after an explosion.

"Here, have a small sip." I open my mouth, carefully taking a sip of water and wince. The action soothed as much as it burned "One more."

I lower the cup with my hand, feeling Trudy grab it softly. My eyes flicker around the room, the overall dryness told me they were most likely blood shot.

"Quaritch had a few things he needed to deal with so he had me watch over you." she smiles, holding my head lightly "Do you remember who I am?"

I nod softly, holding her hand tighter as the memories of the last link came back.

I try to sit up, Trudy grabs my shoulders "Woah woah, Easy!"

I try to speak, raspy croaks hit the air "Uh, shit! Hold on!" she ruffles through her bag "Here, write it down." I scribbled a few things "Norm?" she reads, her face dropping slightly "Jake filled us in on a few things, but they were able to give him the antidote."

I scribble 'Awake?' next.

Trudy shakes her head "No. He's been in the link up for the last nine hours, they have him hooked up to multiple machines but he seems to be getting better. Slowly." I look down, gripping the pen "Hey, don't beat yourself up okay. You did far more for him than other would. I mean you walked into enemy territory for god sakes." she chuckles softly "Though you might want to talk to Quaritch. When he found out what you went through he's trying to convince Parker to bomb Home-tree."

I lean back, shifting my sore shoulders. I scribble a few more things, turning the paper "How long where you out? -A little over nine hours. But the doctors say you should be able to leave if you pass the tests." she squeezes my hand "For now get some rest, I'll let Quaritch know you're awake."

I smile, letting myself fall into the darkness once more.

..

..

After another eleven hours of rest I felt better. The deep exhaustion was starting to lessen.

I blink finding Trudy by my side again. Dad, mom, Max, Jake, had all come to see me, even Parker had stopped in to sit with me a few times, a fact I loved him for -but the endless row of faces only highlighted the one that was missing.

"Trudy," I whispered hoarsely. Her eyes snap from her sudoku to me "Where's Wainfleet?"

"What?"

"Where's Lyle?" I asks again, taking a sip of water "He always comes to see me."

Lyle had spent two tours with my dad on earth, following him up to Pandora about a year after Dad had arrived. Given there past history Lyle had risen through the rank quickly and was often a close confidant of my fathers, and me by association. While he didn't see eye to eye will Grace he always had my back.

So when Trudy looks to the left, what I dare say was regret I knew something was wrong. Fuck.

"Grab my chair."

"What?"

I motion to the wheel chair "Grab my chair. I'm not going to let him take the brunt of my mistake."

"Sophia-"

"Trudy, take me too them. Now."

..

..

We found them in the hanger, dad ripping into Lyle. I roll my eyes, wheeling closer to the table and grab one of the hand gun, puling the safety and aim at the roof.

"Oh shit!"

Trudy ducks, covering her ears as I fire five shots. Every marine in the base stops moving, spinning to find the small girl in a wheelchair and a medical mask.

"Enough!" I shout louder than before.

Both heads turn to me as I start coughing.

"Sophia!" Lyle and Quaritch run to me

"What are you doing out of the med bay?" Dad growls

My finger lifts, eyes holding Quaritch's as he takes the gun.

I lower my mask, my voice a horse whisper "I expected better from you Dad." My eyes snap to my pseudo brother "Grab your stuff, get back inside."

"Sophia-""

"It was my choice to leave!" I poke my chest, coughing some more "Mine." Quaritch lifts my mask but I shove it down "If you want to punish anyone then punish me, but you are not firing him."

"He disobeyed a direct order."

"Grace wasn't having it!" I swallow roughly "Seriously dad, what did you expect him do against three avatars?" I lift a hand, gently touching his arm, taking another breath of air "I'm sorry I scared you, it was stupid to go off by myself but I just reacted. I trusted my instincts like you told me. There's no one to blame here but me."

I could see the hell storm brewing in his eyes, his teeth grinding before he sighs.

"Wainfleet you're to be on Sophia's ass every second of every day you hear me?"

"What?!" I try but he's already in Lyle's face

"If she's out of your sight for even a second, your ass will be on the next shuttle outta here, you hear me corporal?"

His hand snaps to his forehead "Yes sir!"

Trudy sighs "I should go check on my baby, we have a flight in a few hours."

Lyle nods, walking behind my wheelchair and we start our slower trek back to the office.

"Damn girl... you have balls of steel." he chuckles "but thank you." I glance back at him "For saving my ass."

I smirk, lowering my mask "I put it on the firing line so It's only fair."

"You're going to have to give me a run-down of your schedule." he sighs "I'll probably have to switch around a few things…"

My head turns back to him "I don't think he was being serious"

He lets out a soothing laugh "Maybe not kid, I'm not taking any chances here."

I sigh "Fine, but your not going to like it."

..

..

"What the hell is this?" Grace sighs when Lyle wheels me into the lab

"I'm on Sophia duty for the for-seeable future doc." he grins, hands a tech the new schedule and his lab pass.

"Oh hell no!" Grace growls

"Sorry doc, Cornels orders." he grins, leaning in front of a computer to childishly tap random buttons.

Grace moves, slapping his hand from the console before her heated glare shifts to me "Really? It's not enough for Jake to give me a hard time, now your punishing me too?"

I roll my eyes with a smile, quickly typing a few words on my tablet

'It's the only way dad would back off.' when her eyebrow rises I add 'First time parents are always protective.'

"Fine, but the guns stay out of my lab."

I smack Lyles hands off another computer, smirking at his glare and point to a seat on my left.

"And here I thought we could get away from the coronal" Grace sighs

"What did you expect, half of Sophia legally belongs to him." Norm sighs

"Hey, he's no that bad." Jake smirks

"No he just has his gun so far up his ass he can't see straight." Grace snaps

I tap the tablet on the counter twice, turning the screen to the three of them 'Look, this isn't ideal but we have to make it work.' I slide the screen up 'Or you'll have to leave me here.'

"Twenty-four seven with Ranger Rick? Not a chance." Grace snaps

I can't help but roll my eyes.

Why did both my parents have to be so stubborn?

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