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Spider felt the ground beneath his hands and face and opened his eyes. He was in the forest and the area felt strangely familiar. He felt his mask and checked it to make sure it was working. All good there. He felt as though he should be somewhere else but the forest was so peaceful. He was wondering why someone like Kiri or Lo’ak weren’t with him but he kinda liked the quiet the forest provided sometimes. He walked around more and assessed the area. He took in each breath slowly, for some reason it felt like he hadn’t been in the forest for months. After some wandering he came across a place he definitely shouldn’t be in.
The old shack.
He was never allowed to come here, nobody was. He took his chances with being yelled at by Jake to explore. He stepped closer and closer and decided to peek inside, it was all overgrown and dirty. It felt nice to see how nature had claimed its rightful place back. He smiled at the sight of nature winning against the Sky People technology. It was never strange for Spider to refer to humans as Sky People, he never wanted to associate with them. He wasn’t even a Sky Person, he was born here , on Pandora. Spider hissed softly at himself when thinking of his origins, the son of the worst man to ever exist. What a life.
Snap.
Spider’s head snapped into the direction of the sound and felt his world get blurry. He was now in a bright room with artificial light beaming in every corner. The new change in scenery strained his eyes and he shut them.
“Stand up Miles.” A deep and rough voice barked.
Spider was stunned by this voice, it sounded so familiar yet foreign. He looked up only to be filled with fear. A man with three scars on the right side of his head and a sour glare. Spider stood there frozen in fear.
“Don’t make me say it again.” Quaritch reached to grab Spider’s arm in a very tight and strong grip.
Spider hissed loudly, partly in pain and the other in defense. He tried braking from the grip. He pulled with all his might but this was so sad to see, Spider was no match for this man and his strength.
“Don’t act like those savage blue bastards.” Quaritch reapplied his strong grip on not only Spider’s arm but his hair.
Spider winced out in pain as he tried to run, bite him, do anything but it was futile. He hated the feeling of being trapped. What was going on??
“Get OFF me.” Spider yelled now being able to get into a position to bite the man who let go enough for Spider to break free. “You’re supposed to be dead!!” he screamed out.
“Oh? Did you really think you’d get rid of me that easily? Son, you really don’t know how to treat your damn father.” Quaritch spat out like poison.
Spider backed up more and pulled out his knife, hissing even more. He held his ground tightly only to receive a chuckle back.
“You think that’s scary? You forget you’re talking to an army man.”
With one swift movement Quaritch not only was able to grab Spider’s knife away but pull at his wrist very hard. He brought his son much closer to him and glared at him with cold, blue eyes. It was terrifying. Spider was so confused and he just wanted to start crying. And he did exactly that. He didn’t care how foolish or emotional he seemed. He whined and fought and pulled until he couldn’t take it anymore.
Just like that he felt his whole body being shaken as he opened his eyes, wet with tears, in a dimly lit room with a concerned- very blue- face staring down at him. Spider’s eyes adjusted to the light only to be faced with..his father. He moved away swiftly only to find blankets covering him as he backed into the corner of a bed.
“Hey easy there tiger..” The words that escaped this man’s mouth sounded soft and innocent. “Bad dream huh?”
Spider huddled closer into his body as he trembled with fear. His brain slowly began clearing from the fog as he remembered where he was and why he was there. That nightmare felt so real it fucked with his head. He was still shaking profusely and reached to feel his wrist. That grip..felt so real…all of it did. He shuddered at the thought of what had occurred. It didn’t even feel like a dream, it felt like real life, so real and tangible that he could almost taste it.
“Spider..it’s okay I’m here.” Quaritch said gently as he rubbed his son’s leg gently. He didn’t want to initiate too much physical touch as he could see the state his child was in. He took it nice and slow. “Want to start by telling me what happened- if you’re okay with that?”
Spider nodded gently as he moved towards the man, now giving him a soft and scared look that was just begging to be held. Quaritch repositioned himself and opened his arms for Spider to make himself comfortable in his touch. He held his boy so gently and protectively. Spider sniffled quietly and tried wiping his tears away before he spoke.
“Well..it all uh started with me in the forest. I was at the old shack..where you and Jake you know…” Spider tried to control his breathing while getting through his explanation. “I was just looking at the nature and wreckage and then..I was in a room that looked like somewhere in the RDA and..and then…someone spoke.” Spider’s breath hitched as his heart rate began to speed up.
Quaritch sensed this new onset of feelings in Spider and gripped him a bit tighter. He was in what felt like a state of no return. He tried to calm down his breathing but to no avail. Quaritch just sat there with his son not sure how else to help. He hated Spider like this, he’s been having nightmares more and more lately, it was honestly scary. After a few more minutes of panic, Spider’s breathing finally seemed a bit more manageable. Quaritch noticed this and moved to now be peeking at this young boy holding him, eyes red with tears. He took his hand and carefully wiped them away and cupped his face- well tried to but their sizes compared was a bit difficult but he tried nonetheless.
“Hey there Tiger, feeling a little better now?” He asked, voice soft as ever.
Spider only nodded slowly, his eyes said it all. He had never let anyone see him in a state like this before, only Kiri. Even then, he wasn’t as bad as this. This felt different, good, different but different nonetheless. His body just felt attracted towards the protection of this man. Something within him was yearning for something else. He knew this man was not his father- not entirely, but it was clearly enough to make him seek comfort in someone like him.
“I..” Spider tried speaking but felt lumps fill his throat. He wanted to explain what happened, scream about it, do something! But he couldn’t.
Quaritch moved the two on Spider’s bed more and was still looking at him, concern had not washed away completely but it also faded into more of a ‘I want to hear everything’ face. He wasn’t going to make the boy speak if he didn’t want to, but he knew something was still wrong.
“Uh, you- he was there..again.” Spider muttered quietly.
He had dreams about the human Quaritch before, a lot of times in his later childhood and more when being held captive by the RDA and having to face this man daily. The ones from when he was younger was some kind of freakish creation his brain made, he had decided to watch some of Quaritch’s video logs one day- huge mistake.
After Quaritch heard what Spider said, he already knew what he meant. He froze, he felt guilt pooling into his mind. “Oh Spider…” he tried to sound as non-threatening and well- non Quaritch sounding as he physically could. “He can’t hurt you..especially not while I’m here.” he attempted comfort to see if it would work.
Spider began rubbing his wrist, “ He uhm..grabbed me and…then you woke me up so I guess I didn’t have to deal with the rest of that.” he laughed awkwardly. It felt so dumb to think it happened, but Eywa, it felt so real.
“It’s okay son, your papa’s here. Nobody is going to hurt you. Not on my watch.” Quaritch said as he laid down with Spider on the bed. “I’ll be right here, I won’t be leaving.” he smiled and covered Spider up with the blanket.
“Promise..?” Spider spoke softly, eyes glistening with the leftover tears.
“Promise kid.” Quaritch replied smiling.
He was never going to let any harm come to this kid. He may never admit it in front of his comrades, but this kid grew on him. He was his responsibility now. He’s grown far too attached, he couldn’t help it. Something inside him was wishing he could be a real father, but this was as good as it was going to get with their situation.
Quaritch and Spider both longed for something they knew wasn’t feasible but they made the best out of what they got.