A/N: Chapter 20, baby!! Remember, I OWN NOTHING!! Okay, let's get to it!! We're already an hour in!!

(Neytiri's POV-Tree of Voices)

I'm lying there at Jake's side as we bask in the afterglow of last night. Until I hear it: it sounds like....dozers?! The same dozers that killed my sister! I gasp, looking up, as I then look at Jake.

"Ma Jake!" I say frantically, shaking him as I look up again.

"Jake!" I say. I start pulling his arm, trying to get him up, but can't. I then notice that Alex and Siera are still curled up a few feet away. I pull on them as well, Siera feeling a bit lighter.

"Jake, wake up! Jake, please!" I cry out, my hands on his face. I pull on them more, grabbing Siera's body and throwing her over the log.

"Jake, wake up! Jake! Wake up!" I then see Jake's eyes open, so do Siera and Alex's as well.

(Siera's POV)

I open my eyes to see that Neytiri is awake, and shaking us. She looks scared, her eyes fearful. I turn to Alex as he gets up and walks up, following Jake as Neytiri and I hang back.

"Hey!" Jake yells. "Stop! Stop!"

I then hear the bulldozers stop as Alex lifts up a hand.

Back inside, Parker then walks up to where one of his guys is sitting in the chair overlooking the camera and controls of the bulldozer.

"Hey, boss," the man says. "I got natives doing the funky chicken here, they're blocking my blade." Parker just chews on his food and says,

"Keep going, they'll move. These people gotta learn that we don't stop. Come on, go, go, go." Parker pushes on the controller to keep the bulldozer moving, as Jake and Alex nearly fall over.

"Stop!" Jake calls, as he and Alex move again.

Jake and Alex immediately move us. "Go, go!"

"Alex, what-......." I start before both Jake and Alex climb on top of the bulldozer then with rocks in their hands, start banging on the cameras.

"Woah, woah, woah. Dude, woah, dude, no! Oh, I'm blind." Jake and Alex continue hitting the cameras until I see a soldier walk up with a gun as he shoots at Alex and Jake. Both of them drop the rocks and jump off, barrel-rolling in the dirt.

"Jake!" Neytiri calls.

"Alex!" I yell, worried.

"Neytiri!" Jake yells, getting her attention.

"Siera!" Alex yells.

"Come on!" Jake says as he grabs Neytiri's hand and keeps moving, going further in the forest. Alex takes my hand as we watch this.

"Alex! They can't..." I shiver and cry out. I can hear Neytiri sobbing and I can see the angry faces on both Jake and Alex as Alex curses, and Jake punches a tree, a hand on Neytiri's shoulder. I can see Tsu'tey out of the corner of my eye with a couple hunters on direhorses. I can also see his face as it twists in anger.

(Quaritch's POV-Hell's Gate)

I watch the video clip of what seems to be two natives, until I pause the video.

"Freeze it right there," I say as I pause the camera. "Scale up. Enhance." I watch as the image zooms in and enhances on two familiar faces.

"Son of a bitch." Parker says. My eyes narrow. Those traitors! I storm out of the room.

"Get me a pilot." I order one of my men.

"Yes sir!" He says as he storms out.

(Siera's POV-Hometree)

As we start walking back to Hometree, I can hear Eytukan and the hooting war cries of the warriors.

"Tsu'tey will lead the war party!" Eytukan says. He gestures his bow to Tsu'tey, then Tsu'tey lifts up his bow and lets out a war cry. Grace walks up to stop him.

"Stop! Please!" Grace says in Na'vi. "This will only make it worse!" Tsu'tey points his bow to her.

"You do not speak here!" Tsu'tey walks away from her as he lifts his bow over his head as the warriors call out again.

"We will strike them in the heart!" Tsu'tey declares. He walks around as Jake, Neytiri, Alex and I walk up.

"Tsu'tey!" Jake yells. "Don't do this!" Tsu'tey hands his bow off to another warrior then walks up to Jake.

"You!" He says, rage in his eyes. He steps closer to Jake.

"Listen, Brother-...." Jake says, only to be shoved by Tsu'tey. Neytiri yells at him in Na'vi to stop. Tsu'tey then glares at Jake and says,

"You mated with this woman?" He glares at him and points at Neytiri.

"Oh shit." Grace says.

"Is this true?" Mo'at asks sternly, glaring at her daughter. Neytiri looks her mother in the eyes as she lifts her head and answers,

"We are mated before Eywa, it is done." Tsu'tey sucks in air through his nose as he turns his back.

"Brother, please. Do not attack the Sky People. Many Omatikaya will die if you do." Tsu'tey then pulls out his blade and swings for Jake.

"You are not my brother!" He yells, swinging for Jake. Jake dodges it quickly, then pulls out his own blade.

"Tsu'tey!" Neytiri yells. Jake then immediately says to Tsu'tey,

"And I am not your enemy!" He throws his blade to the floor. "The enemy is out there, and they're very powerful."

Tsu'tey then grabs ahold of my braid, but just before I can move, Alex lunges for him, and swings at his chest, knocking him back as he takes my hand and pulls me back against him. Alex then crouches slightly as he hisses in rage,

"Touch her, and you die." His tail flicks behind him as a warning. He hisses again, like a true Na'vi, baring his teeth. Tsu'tey turns back to Jake with his blade raised.

"I can talk to them," Jake starts, but Tsu'tey growls at him and says,

"No more talk." He then lunges for Jake again as he cuts at Jake's shoulder as it bleeds. Alex bares his teeth again. I hiss as a warning.

"Tsu'tey!" Neytiri yells. Just as Tsu'tey swings for Jake again, Jake catches him off guard with a punch to the face, a knee to the gut, and another punch to his nose, knocking the head warrior off his feet and sending him to the ground. I stare in shock and horror.

"Jake..." I whisper, but Alex keeps me back. Tsu'tey gets up, and I can see blood dripping from his nose where Jake punched him.

"I am Omatikaya," he says. "I am one of you. And I have the right to speak!" He raises his voice so everyone can hear him. Tsu'tey gets up as he glares at Jake, wiping his nose of the blood. Jake then addresses everyone in the clan, catching their attention clear as day,

"I have something to say..." he explains in fluent Na'vi. "...to all of you."  He then turns to look at Neytiri, his eyes seeming.....sad? No, worried. Oh no.

"The words are like stones in my heart." He says. Neytiri's pinna seem to flick some as I immediately say,

"Jake, don't!" A couple bows in the way keep me back, but it's Alex taking my hand that keeps me from moving any closer. Then, I watch as Grace's Avatar falls and Neytiri gets down to her level.

"Grace!" She calls out, looking up and meeting the gaze of her mate. Jake's tail flicks behind him nervously, knowing what's happening.

"Oh no." He says, his gaze full of worry. I'm the next to fall, collapsing in Alex's arms.

"Siera!" Alex calls in worry, pinna flattened against his skull. He hisses at a male Na'vi warrior that gets too close to my Avatar body, shielding it with his own as he takes out his blade from his sheath on his chest. He hisses again, teeth bared, eyes wild. Then, his Avatar body collapses on mine, dropping his blade on the floor.

"Okay, look," Jake begins. "I was sent here to-....." his eyes immediately shut as he's disconnected from his Avatar body and it falls. Tsu'tey then takes his braid as he stands over Jake's Avatar.

"You see?" He says to the clan. "It is a demon in a false body." He puts his blade to Jake's throat, but before he can do anything, Neytiri yells as she jumps on his shoulders, and throws him off her mate's back, and Tsu'tey rolls to his feet, blade raised, but Neytiri turns to him, her own blade out, hissing like a mama bear as she hovers over Jake's Avatar body, teeth bared, and eyes wild like Alex's were just moments ago. Her tail flicks dangerously behind her. Tsu'tey glares at her, then exclaims in annoyance at her as he walks away. Neytiri watches him, still standing over her mate's body.

(Site 26)

I crack open my eyes as I stare in the eyes of Quaritch himself.

"Yah bastard!" I growl.

"Well, well, it was only a matter of time," he says as he grabs my throat.

"Siera! Let her go, Quaritch!" Alex snarls. I can see Jake as he gasps then looks at Quaritch, who's still holding me.

"Are you out of your goddamn mind?!" He yells at him.

"You crossed the line." Quaritch says to him before he punches Jake in the face.

"Jake!" I cry out, until the feathers in my hair are pulled.

"Wheel this meat out of here," Quaritch says as his men come in, and handcuff Jake, Alex, Grace and myself. Quaritch then drags me out.

"Jake, what the hell is going on here?" Grace says.

(Hell's Gate)

We are dragged to Hell's Gate, literally, and almost everyone are released from their cuffs. When I say almost everyone-I mean-almost everyone. I struggle in my binds as the Col. shows a screen of Jake destroying one of the cameras. He then pauses it then turns to us.

"You let me down, son," he says. "So, what, you find yourself some local tail and you just completely forget what team you're playing for?" I growl at him.

"Wait till ma brother hears about this, Col.," I hiss at him. "Yer gonna wish yah were dead." Quaritch glares at me, then Grace interjects,

"Parker, there is time to salvage the situation. Parker..."

"Shut your pie hole!" Grace turns to him.

"Or what, Ranger Rick? You gonna shoot me?" Quaritch answers her with a straight face,

"I could do that."

"You need to muzzle your dog." Grace says to Parker as she points to Quaritch.

"Yeah, can we take this down a couple of notches, please?" He asks.

"Yer full of shit." I hiss, as Quaritch steps up to me and backhands me across the face hard. I can taste the metallic taste of blood in my mouth as I cough. Alex turns to me as he sees this, his eyes narrowed in anger.

"Indian Wh0re." Quaritch says as I cough again, snarling at him.

"You say you want to keep your people alive?" Jake asks Quaritch, making the man turn to him. "You start by listening to her." Grace then explains,

"Those trees were sacred to the Omatikaya in a way you can't imagine." Parker walks away from her, hands in the air and rolling his eyes as he says mockingly,

"You know what? You throw a stick in the air around here, it's gonna land on some sacred fern, for Christ's sake!" Grace then says,

"I'm not talking about some kind of pagan voodoo here. I'm talking about something real, something measurable in the biology of the forest." Parker gestures to her then crosses his arms over his chest.

"Which is what, exactly?" He asks her. Grace sucks in a quick breath before she explains,

"What we think we know is that there is some kind of electrochemical communication between the roots of the trees, like the synapses between neurons. And each tree has ten-to-the-fourth connections to the trees around it. And there are ten-to-the twelfth trees on Pandora." She turns to Jake, who gives her a nod.

"Which is a lot, I'm guessing." Parker says. I glare at him, despite the blood in my mouth and the pain still stinging my cheek.

"No shit, Sherlock." I say. Quaritch glares at me then turns back to Parker.

"It's more connections than the human brain. Get it? It's a network," Grace says, awe in her voice, hoping that she can break through to Parker. "It's a global network, and the Na'vi can access it. They can upload and download data. Memories. At sites like the one you just destroyed." Parker nods as Grace says in awe,

"Yes!" Parker then starts laughing as he says,

"What the hell have you people been smoking out there? They're just goddamn trees!" Parker continues laughing as Grace stares at him in shock.

"You need to wake up, Parker," she says.

"No, you need to wake up." Parker tells her.

"The wealth of this world isn't in the ground, it's all around us," Grace explains. "The Na'vi know that, and they are fighting to defend it. If you want to share this world with them, you need to understand them." Quaritch then scrolls through Jake's video logs.

"I'd say we understand them just fine, thanks to Jake here," he says. "Hey, Doc, come take a look."

"They're not gonna give up their home," Jake says in the video log as we watch. "They're not gonna make a deal." He scoffs. "For what, Lite beer? And blue jeans? There's nothing that we have that they want. Everything they sent me out here to do is a waste of time. They're never gonna leave Hometree." Jake puts his head down in shame while Grace squeezes his shoulder reassuringly.

"So," Quaritch says as he cuts the video off. "Since a deal can't be made, I guess things get real simple." He looks at Jake as he continues,

"Jake, thanks. I'm getting all emotional. I might just give you a big wet kiss." Jake just sighs in defeat. I growl at him.

"Asshole." I hiss at him, the pain still stinging my cheek.

(Later)

I'm still with Alex, Jake, and Grace. I watch as Grace pours a bottle of whiskey and drinks it as Max says,

"Let's pack it up, people, let's go." Grace sighs as she sips at the whiskey.

"Oh, man." She says with a sigh.

"This is how it's done," Jake says, tapping his finger against the table, then picks up the Na'vi book. "When people are sitting on shit that you want, you make 'em your enemy." He throws it down at Norm's feet. "And you're justified in taking it." I then hear Trudy's footsteps.

"What's wrong, Trudy?" I ask her, blinking my eyes in worry as I see it in her eyes.

"What's the situation?" Alex asks.

"Quaritch is rolling the gunships," Trudy explains. "He's gonna hit Hometree."

"My god." Grace says, getting up.

"He did not just call an attack," I hiss. "Tell me he didn't!" Trudy nods.

"He did." She tells me.

"Shit!" I hiss. I then race up towards the cockpit with Jake and Grace on my heels. I can hear the machinery starting to roll out.

"Dr. Augustine, you cannot be up here!" A soldier yells as he chases us down.

"Back off!" Grace says as she shoves the soldier back. She walks up to Parker while I try to keep the soldier back and away from Grace, Jake and myself.

"Parker. Wait. Stop," she says to Parker. "These are people you're about to..."

"No," Parker says, lifting a finger like he's scolding a child. "No, no, no, no."

"I said back off!" Grace says, shoving the soldier back. I raise my brass knuckles and with a whistle, he turns around and I slug him in the nose with a quick jab to his face, the knuckles breaking his nose.

"Dipshit." I say. I then turn to Parker.

"They're fly-bitten savages that live in a tree," Parker says. "All right? Look around. I don't know about you, but I see a lot of trees! They can move!" He turns to the two soldiers.

"Can you guys just please...?" He asks as one of them says,

"Yes sir." They both walk away.

"There are families in there. There are children. Babies," Grace explains. "Are you gonna kill children?" Jake turns to him.

"You don't want that kind of blood on your hands. Believe me, believe us," he turns to me, and I know he's mentioning Alex, despite the fact I told him I didn't need him coming with me to confront Parker Selfridge. Parker's gaze lands on Jake and myself, despite the fresh blood on the brass knuckles that are wrapped around my fingers. "Just let us try to talk them out. They trust us."

Parker then follows us to the link bay once more. I can hear Grace say,

"Calibrate fast, we're going in, right now." We move straight to our link beds.

"Calibrating three, four, five and six." A female technician says. Jake, Alex and I immediately head to our links, but not before Alex kisses me.

"I love you." He whispers to me in Na'vi. I nod and whisper back.

"I love you too." I whisper, before I head in. I can see Parker talking to Jake out of the corner of my eye.

"Listen to me. You've got one hour," I hear him say to Jake. "Unless you want your girlfriend in there when the axe comes down, you get them to evacuate. One hour." He then closes the link.

A/N: And that's the end of this chapter!!! Remember, I own nothing, except for my OC and Malrog_the_dragon owns Alex!

Next Chapter Title: "You Will Never Be One of The People!"