What If? (P1) || Jake / Reader || Draft

Max p1

Toruk's face is the last thing either of you remember with how close he had gotten - barely nipping the edge of Bob's wing mere moments before slipping in between a bundle of trees - far out of his reach.

Leaving you both heavy with breath and clinging to the bark - struggling to gather your thoughts as your hearts beat so intensely.

Regardless of how well you knew Toruk from the first time Jake bonded with him, his face was still terrifying to see as it flashed in your mind.

".....Oh, fuck." You suddenly sound out in the dead of night. If only your dreams would spare you one day cycle to get a full nights sleep in, maybe you wouldn't be so on edge.

The beautiful sound of silence now interrupted.

The moon shines down in the room through the glass window, leaving enough light to bounce off of Jake's skin as you move to touch his arm.

It causes Jake to jump all the same, barely conscious as you sit up in bed beside him.

"Baby?" He barely groans out as he rubs at his eyes.

"I.. shit."
   There's no time to talk, let alone wait.
You swing your legs over with a sense of urgency, slipping your tank top and shorts on as quick as you can.
"I completely forgot, Jake.
The bulldozers."

"Bulldozers?" He can barely sound the word out as hes still somewhere between dream land and conscious.

"Yes, they're not gonna let the protests stop them from proceeding. I can't believe I almost forgot.
    They're gonna try to bulldoze the trees. Fuck."

He watches as you stumble over yourself trying to get your shorts all the way on.
"Where are you going?"

"To see if Norm has made contact with Max.
   Jake, the bulldozers are what start all of this. We have to get our friends out before then, we can storm hells gate. Hell, we can lose pieces of it, we can rebuild it, but when we go we have to get our friends and colleagues out of the way first. It's too dangerous."
  
And not to mention, that innocent little boy who was barely old enough to be without his mother would be at risk in the middle of this war.

Jake pushes himself off, and moves to his wheelchair - albeit slowly.
"What's the plan, then?"

"-I-"
   You stop dead in your tracks, your hand hovering the door knob.

Definitely didn't think this through entirely.

You couldn't ask the clan yet, it was too soon. They wouldn't get involved without Toruk, as they didn't find the lab coats and the military's war was any of their business.
   If only they knew how quickly and devastatingly it would become their problem.

There had to be something to do until Jake was ready for Toruk, anything to push this along.

"I'll.. ask Norm to contact Max."
  You respond, hesitant and unsure.
"-Then.. go from there.  Maybe... Max set up something on the inside?"
Your hand drops to your side, sighing.
      "Damnit."

"Hey." Jake calls out as he comes up behind you, grabbing your hand.
"We're gonna figure this out.
   'Whatever it takes', remember?"

You take a step back, and turn to fully face him as you stand before him - both hands holding the others.
"...That's the part that terrifies me. I know so much, but there's no way in hell I can predict whats going to happen now that I'm fucking up the timeline."

He pulls you down just a bit, to bring his hand up to your jawline and rub his thumb across your cheek.
      "Go wash your face, breathe for a bit. I'll get Norm, okay?"

You take a deep breath, trying to calm your racing heart.

"Okay."

A quick kiss to the back of your hand, and you open the door so he can head out in the hallway.

You're not even sure how much time had gone by, still standing with your hands on the sink and water dripping down the side of your face.

You finally find the courage to step out, and see everyone is gathered around the main table.

It seems your sudden panic from earlier had some kind of intention behind it.

"Any update?" You start with.

Norm looks worried, but to be perfectly fair ... it's not unusual for him to look as such.
   Especially as he aged, having a rather large group of kids and all to look after.

"Apparently we have a few militia on our side." Jake shortly explains to begin. "Max got them to lead his own party out. They're safe."

"Safe? Safe Where?"

"About a click or two east." Trudy answers. "He got as many out as he could, and they're hiding out in the old research building."

"I can't believe he managed it." Grace says with a sense of shock almost.

"Not without lives lost." Norm stresses as he places his palms on the table. "He should've waited."

"It was the best they could do." You try to explain. "Now we just need the rest of them. I'm not leaving Bert and Evelyn there to get caught up in this."

"They're with him." Norm says. "He's got a good bit of avatar drivers and militia."

"But not all of them, right?"

"No." Jake answers for Norm. "Not all of them."

"Then it's settled. The omatikaya won't help, we need time before Jake is ready for Toruk.. so this is how we do it. We get Max's group and we go back, we evacuate as many as we can."

"So we're ditching the destroy RDA shit plan? Just evacuating?"

"We're not abandoning it, Trudy." You pace over in her direction. "We're simply holding off on it. They're a priority."

"Okay..." She sounds, a bit unsure. "How do you suggest it, then? Covert, obviously, but ... what? Horses? Guns? Bombs? Some sort of distraction?"

"I say we blow one of their mining sectors. Run in while they're checking that part out. There's no sneaking around, they're on high alert as it is." Jake breaks in to the conversation and speaks his own thoughts.
   "It might buy us enough time to grab who we can, then get the hell out."

"We'll have to get a few pilots to snag some Samsons." Grace reminds. "We have mobile bases around here that we can access for the other drivers, but we will need more."

"Okay, so we grab some of those, hook on some bases and stick them out here with us. As they're flying off, we set off the bombs." Jake shrugs. "Those mining sectors are everything to them, it'll be a threat to back off. I'll take a team, you go in from the back."

"Or a threat that only pisses off the hornets nest and sends them straight for us." Trudy remarks.

"There's also some... one else." You remind. "Socorro would've had her child in the past few days or weeks. Quaritch's son."

"So, what?" Trudy shifts as she turns to face you. "-You're gonna kidnap him? Threaten Quaritch?"

"I don't know." You admit.
    Your main concern was getting him out unharmed, he was innocent in all of this.
"I'll get him out first then figure it out. I won't hurt him, but taking him out of there means we don't have to hold back."

"And then what after you get him? We're not exactly equipped to handle a new born over here." Grace speaks up.

"I know what to do, don't worry." You glance down at Jake, and while it's a faint expression - he still smiles in return. "I've been through it already."

"Let's head out in the morning for Max." Jake wheels over to you, and places a hand on your thigh. "-We can move our link out there with the others, and build our plan with them."

It would be nice to have the old building again.. lots more room and warm showers for once.