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The screeching of the metal structure starting to collapse under them filled Spider's ears as he doubled over, trying to steady his footing on the wet concrete. Shouts and flames were everywhere. He was vaguely aware of Tuk and Kiri being corralled away by Neytiri, but his eyes were on Jake and Quaritch.
The glint of their blades was brighter somehow than even the most ferocious fire to his right, and he cried out as Quaritch lunged for Jake, barely missing his chest with his knife. They were in this for the kill... neither were going to stop under the other was dead.
He was going to lose one of them.
At the realisation, panic overtook Spider faster than the rising tide and he scrambled up the rotating deck of the ship to try, somehow to get closer. "Stop!" he screamed out, but it was completely drowned out by the waves and the roaring flames, and the clunking of objects falling all around them. He fell once more as the ship jerked, and the painful scrape of the metal bolts under his feet spurred him on to reach the fight. He couldn't lose Jake.
And he couldn't lose Quaritch.
Jake had managed to get hold of a chain, and Spider's heart thundered in his chest as he watched while Quaritch ducked to avoid being struck. The hatred in Jake's eyes was like venom to Spider's heart. The fight was savage, brutal. It terrified him.
"Please!" He called out again, climbing over a sideways stairwell and grasping the handrail for grip as water poured down from the deck above them.
Neither Na'vi hesitated, or even slowed, giving no sign that they had heard him at all. They were going to kill each other, and it would be his fault. Just then something heavy and large slid into his ankle, making him grasp tighter for balance. Looking down, he realised with a wave of nausea that it was a dead RDA soldier. They were floating face down in the calf-deep water. He gasped out loud, which turned into a moan when he realised the man had become wedged between him and the rail. He was going to have to kick the corpse away.
Bile swelled sickeningly in his throat as he kicked his trapped foot out of the wedge, but it disappeared with a thrill of adrenaline when he realised the man's pistol was still attached to his belt. He didn't even think about it, he just bent down and grabbed the weapon with both hands, praying the ship wouldn't tilt any further while he detached the gun from its holster. He held it up as if seeing a gun for the first time in his life. Despite being raised around them, and kept under guard by at least one of them for months, it was like an alien machine in his hands.
His awe lasted only a few seconds, and his brain switched into gear when he found the safety catch, flipping it off. He didn't have time to check if it was loaded, but he didn't to. He cried out again as the ship lurched beneath them, sending him sideways into the wall. He looked around desperately for Jake and Quaritch, who were still fighting only 60 feet away. All he needed to do was get close enough for them to hear him.
He leaped into action, scrambling over fallen obstacles and ripped pieces of metal. He swore as a flaming piece of a gunship came careening towards him, but he dodged it and ran as fast as he could across the deck to get to the two most important men in his life.
He was there... he could run over and insert himself into the fight... they were right in front of him...
"STOP!" he screamed, raising the gun in both hands.
Jake noticed first, his eyes widening for a fraction of a second in shock before Quaritch's fist connected into his face with a disgusting crunch.
"I SAID STOP!" Spider yelled again, this time commanding Quaritch's attention while Jake was down. The recom turned to him, and immediately Spider readjusted his aim so that the barrel was pointing directly at Quaritch.
For a second that held an eternity, no one spoke. For all the noise of the sinking ship, it suddenly fell silent. All Spider could hear was his own heavy pants inside his mask, and the hiss of the exopack on his back.
"Spider-" Quaritch's shocked face was quickly trying to compose itself into one of authority.
"DON'T!" Spider shouted. "Don't move!"
Shit, what was he doing, he couldn't actually shoot Quaritch?
"Spider, son..."
Spider closed his eyes tightly against the endearment. He didn't want to hear it.
"Put the gun down..."
Spider shook his head. "Stop fucking talking!"
"Spider..." Jake's voice spoke up now, edged with anticipation. Spider had almost forgotten about him. "Do it."
He didn't know what came over him. He turned his arms so the gun was pointing at his best friend's dad.
"Woah!" Jake stumbled, confused and frustrated. "Spider, it's me, it's Jake!"
What was he doing? Spider grit his teeth and hissed into his visor. His face scrunched up in despair, fear and anxiety throwing his mind into disarray. He couldn't think straight. They'd hurt him. Both of them. He hated them.
But... he loved them. He didn't want them to die. He felt a tear slip down the side of his face.
"Spider, put the gun down..." that was Quaritch. His voice was more familiar, more calming, and Spider wanted to go to it, despite everything. Fire blazed close by, the heat of it making Spider's skin glow.
"No! Just... stop. You can't kill each other. I won't let you!"
"Spider!" Spider had never seen Jake's face so... conflicted. His ears were pressed back against his skull and the agony of Spider's decision was written plainly across every feature of his face.
Was Spider wrong? Should he let them continue? He couldn't just... lower the gun. Not now...
Quaritch's movement forced Spider to turn back to the recom. He'd stepped forward while Spider's attention was on Jake.
"Stop!" he shouted, holding his hands steady on the gun, despite his flat out exhaustion.
"Son," Quaritch spoke in a low voice, taking another step towards Spider with his arms out in self defense.
Spider gasped shakily, glaring at the man as his heart pounded painfully.
"You won't shoot me."
"No, stop right there!" He hadn't come this far to be talked down by his goddamned kidnapper. "Please..." he whispered.
Quaritch kept taking slow steps towards him, keeping his body half facing Jake. He shook his head at Spider's whispered plea.
"Stop!" he yelled again, raising the gun an inch higher.
"Spider! Shoot him!" Jake yelled from his position.
"Shut it, Sully!" Quaritch growled, returning his gaze to Spider's tortured face. "You won't do it. You won't shoot either of us. You're not a killer."
Tears brimmed behind Spider's eyes, making it hard to see clearly as Quaritch advanced. One more step and he'd be within lunging distance...
"You're my son, and I know you."
"Spider!" Jake shouted, anger coating his words. "Don't give him the gun!"
Spider gasped, realising that Jake was right. He couldn't let Quaritch lunge for it. He looked into Quaritch's eyes and saw a flash of something behind the composed mask the recom wore. He knew in the space of a heartbeat was Quaritch was about to do, and reacted before Quaritch could even move. He lowered the gun to the ground and squeezed the trigger.
The bullet sped through the metal of the deck as easily as if it was made of jelly, leaving a hole only two feet away from where Quaritch was standing.
He'd shot the gun.
He stared at the hole left behind in the floor. He was too afraid to raise his eyes to Quaritch, but with trembling hands, he did so.
His voice was low and poisonous. "Was that supposed to scare me kid?"
It took a split second before Quaritch lunged at Spider, who was forced to make a split decision. The colonel was right - he was never going to shoot him. But he couldn't let him get the gun.
In the second that he had before Quaritch's hands closed around his arms, Spider threw the gun as hard as he could into the water that was creeping up the deck like a silent assassin. He couldn't tell how far he'd thrown it, because he was tackled to the ground by Quaritch.
He let himself be taken down, no longer caring what happened to him. He'd tried, he'd tried to stop the killing... He'd done everything he possibly could have to stop the bloodshed. If Quaritch was going to kill him, so be it. At least he could go out knowing he'd tried.
But Quaritch didn't kill him. Although he was rough, Spider was familiar enough with his movements by now to identify that the recom had tried to throw him out of the way gently, before sprinting after the gun.
Spider was left watching after him, as Jake recovered himself and locked eyes with Spider. Neither knew the right thing to say. Spider was too out of it to make out much in Jake's expression, but the man's mouth was hardened, and his eyes seemed closed off. Then, Jake ran up the deck and lunged into the waves on the opposite side of the ship to Quaritch.
He disappeared into the dark waters, as Spider sank to his knees.
Spider was in shock. What had just happened? What had he done?
The sounds of the sinking ship slowly returned to him. Water rushed around his knees on the cold, hard floor. Jake had abandoned him.
He retched, but it had been so long since he'd eaten that nothing came up. The desire to tear his mask from his face and end it now overcame him, but his arms were simply too heavy to move. Maybe better to let the waves wash him away as the ship sank. Let Eywa take him.
He looked up at the stars, twinkling mysteriously above the wreckage. They were beautiful. Why couldn't he be as good as them?
He jumped as a hand clasped onto his shoulder, though he couldn't do much to pull away. He was too numb. Quaritch's voice was colder than the water now lapping at his waist. "You better come with me, kid."