Trinity

Only the Beginning

The pleasantly cool day marked three weeks since Spider and Ten joined their fondly named 'Band of Blue Dipshits.' The Colonel was less than thrilled when the duo led them to a hot spring. He could admit that it was an incredible sight. The springs were terraced, water flowing from the top and cascading down into the lower levels. The smooth rocky edges were covered with a bioluminescent moss. It was serene and calming.

But relaxing was the last thing on his mind. He hated staying in one place, left with nothing but his thoughts. His very chaotic and severely loud inner thoughts. Staying in one place let them wander and they always circled back to the same shit.

The d̷̢͊i̵͍̓s̶̘͝c̵̼͝ö̴̧́n̴̳̓n̶̮̽e̸͝ͅc̵̫̍t̵̮͂.

A battle between two minds that were supposed to be one and the same, but were not.

The conflict that began the moment those red eyes starred, unseeing. The man he once was with her, and the man he became when she was gone. The hell-bent and determined monster he let drive and consume him. Compounded by this new version of him. The supposed copy.

The clone who was repeatedly told: he's not your son, she's not your wife.

The old him would choose the mission over Tenera. Wouldn't he? Or was that remnants left over from what remained of him after she died. The choice to put distance between them was a difficult one. He kept telling himself he was doing this for her protection as much as his own. For their own good. But... why?

What good would it do in the end? The original wanted his wife back. The Monster wanted to complete the mission. And he... what did he want?

He found himself smiling fondly at Ten and Spider roughhousing in the water. The thoughts still flowed through his mind, but they weren't as loud. Her radiant smile as she flung Spider into the water, pulled at him. He wanted them to be safe. His men, his son, and the woman who defied death, he wanted them to be safe.

Ten'etirey glided over to the Recombinants while sidestepping Spider's attempt to jump on her back. He resurfaced with a glare.

"How do you always fucking do that?" Typically he bitched at her in Na'vi, otherwise Lyle would join in and he hated that. She did not need anyone's help being a menace.

"I can hear you, dumbass." Arms crossed, she used her tail to splash him with water and smirked with amusement at his glare, hidden slightly behind the beaded water of his mask.

"Anyways," her attention returned to the Recombinants. "When you're feeling more relaxed let me know. I'll show you how to work out the stiffness in your muscles. Native Na'vi don't have as much muscle so they don't deal with this, but we do."

The immediate questioning looks threw her, the hell was that about?

"What?"

"You said, we." Mansk responded after no one else attempted to speak.

"Yes, we. All of you and me are considered hybrids, or half-breeds as Lyle so gently put it. I have four fingers and every other human characteristic that can occur in hybrids. Not forgetting about the red eyes. I'm not exactly a shining example of native."

"Then where di-"

"Some of the original Avatar scientists left me with the Omaticaya, that's all I know." She interrupted Lyle before he could continue. That was apparently a bit of a sore subject.

"You never asked?" Her neck rolled until those glaring red eyes burned into Lyle. He lifted his hands, shit my bad.

"Of course I asked, never received any answers." Spider's eyebrows flashed and he looked away from her, the kid knew something. Something she wasn't aware of. He was too far behind her, she didn't see his subtle movements. "Doesn't really matter anyway, I can speculate all I want but it changes nothing."