A/N: Yes this is a weird idea, but I'm a greedy girl. I love the hot-headed alien warrior who literally died for his people, but I also love the older silver fox badass who's here to fuck shit up and have a possible redemption ark. So, here's shamelessly both in one grand messed up romance story to tell to your therapists. Enjoy!

I will also like to note that my knowledge of the military stems from my Army service. I am doing my best to properly write for the Marines, but I am limited in this area, so a lot of my writing will come from what I know of the Army. But, I am still a baby soldier and have only been in for three years, so I do not know everything. Please don't come for me if I get something wrong!

*This story is for mature audiences only. The contents of this story contain explicit language, descriptions of violence and character loss, and possible future sexual content*

Please do not leave hate comments. I love constructional criticism, but I will not condone rude comments simply because you do not like this concept. Do not read if you don't like! This is all purely fiction. Please leave a review if you would wish me to continue this story, if you have any ideas for future chapters, or if you simply like the story. Thank you!

~~~

Colonel Miles Quaritch flexed and stretched his fingers, trying to rid himself of their stiffness. He had been filling out paperwork since seven that morning and it was already drawing close to five. He was particularly busy this time of year as new soldiers arrived on base, ready to begin their training for deployment, while others were preparing to ship out to the distant planet known as Pandora. The mass human colonization of the alien planet had begun nearly twenty-one years ago, and sometime soon, it would be his turn to go on tour. It had been just over four years since a new group of soldiers had been sent to Pandora. Within recent years, however, Quaritch had seen an influx in deployments to the foreign planet which meant only one thing; the natives were becoming hostile again, and he eagerly awaited that war. For now, however, his station remained at the RDA base in Silicon Valley, California, and his duty was to oversee the newcomers and complete their paperwork. Trifling work for a soldier such as he, Quaritch often thought. He had three tours under his belt already and he was eager to try his hand at wrangling an alien planet, but he kept these thoughts to himself. His time would come, and when it did, he would be ready.

His thoughts were interrupted by a knock on his office door. The man hardly resisted the urge to groan in annoyance at the prospect of some young soldier armed with ridiculous questions that should have been directed to their chain of command. Quaritch was in no mood for this, so he stated his dismissal loud enough for the soldier to hear. As per his orders, Quaritch was required to keep an open door policy within certain hours of the week. For the aged Colonel, that merely meant leaving his door slightly ajar. The unmistakable creaking of the hinges of his door met his ears and Quaritch ran a hand through his peppered hair. It was all he could do to keep himself from dropping the soldier right then and there.

"That's your welcome mat for old friends?"

The man paused in his writing, the familiar voice instantly ringing familiarity deep in the back of his mind. It took only seconds for the recognition to hit him, and the man smiled. "Well looky here," he drawled, his eyes drawing up the figure of the woman in his doorway. "Ain't you a sight for sore eyes."

Straightening out her woodland cammies, the female soldier cocked an eyebrow and smirked. "You ain't so bad yourself, tiger." With a coy wink, the woman crossed her strong arms loosely over her chest and she leaned against the wall beside the door.

"You can go ahead and shut that," he told her with a flick of his wrist. The woman obliged and shut the door, then took a seat across from Quaritch's desk. For many moments, the two were silent, choosing to simply take in the others presence with mirrored, lazy smirks. He would not admit it, though Quaritch found himself pleasantly thrilled with this surprised meeting.

She looked the same as she had the day he last saw her. Ash blonde hair remained firmly slicked back into a low bun, revealing a heart shaped face with a broad forehead and high cheekbones. His icy blue eyes followed the narrowing lines of her face and down to her jawline, which ended in a pointed chin. The corners of her brown, almond-shaped eyes wrinkled ever so slightly with the smile of her plump lips. The image was nearly perfect, if not for the change in setting. It was almost impossible to remind himself that their last encounter had taken place six years ago.

"Corporal Richardson," he savored the words on his tongue, reminiscing in the old name that had gone too long unspoken.

"It's Sergeant, now," she corrected.

"Ah, that's right."

"I heard you're a Colonel now. Sorry I missed the ceremony."

"Don't worry about it. Just a pay raise and more paperwork." He involuntarily leaned forward at the sound of her laughter, the fluttery sound nearly nonexistent in his current workplace. He missed it. "It's been too long, Liala. Too damn long."

"No shit," she grumbled with a roll of her eyes. "You have no idea how boring it got when you left. I still don't know why you didn't just wait for the colonel slot to open at our unit."

"You know as well as I do how that would have worked out," he laughed. With the retirement of Colonel Johnson, the position would have opened within months. However, there was another Lieutenant Colonel up for the position at the same time as him. "That little piss-ant was such a kiss ass. There's no way I would have been chosen."

"That's why things got so boring," she chuckled with a nod of her head at the memory and he did the same.

"What the Hell are you doing here, anyway? Bet you missed this handsome face." He ran his fingers down the length of his freshly shaven chin. The woman huffed and rolled her eyes at the man's antics. After all these years, he hadn't changed a bit.

"Allegedly missing you aside, why else would I be here?"

Quaritch thought for a moment, then his face broke out into a wide grin. "No shit. You got the deployment?"

"Shipping off tomorrow morning, o' five hundred sharp!" She bounced in her seat, unable to hide the excitement she felt. To say she was shocked to be picked up for such a deployment was an understatement. She was only twenty-six, the youngest of the four chosen from her unit. This would be her second tour, her first being in Nigeria when she was twenty. Now, she was to ship out to the most dangerous place known to man, and she couldn't have been more ready.

Coincidentally, that specific tour to Nigeria happened to be Quaritch's last deployment with her unit. He could guess as to who the other three chosen Marines were, and he knew she was in good hands. Hell, with her on the team, Quaritch knew it would be the native Na'vi that had to watch their backs. "I'm proud of you, kid."

She hummed her thanks, then a thought occurred to her. Liala had spent the last year of her life on this base, training for her future on Pandora. She knew Quaritch had transferred here, yet she had not heard of him until just recently. She thought he had long since deployed. "I was surprised to find out you were still here. When do you ship out?"

"At this point, who the Hell knows," he sighed. The whole reason he chose this duty station was to deploy to Pandora. However, no Colonel slots had opened as of yet. So, he was forced to sign off on kids younger than him for the tour of a lifetime, waiting for the day he could get his chance.

"Don't take too long, old man. Like I said, things are boring without you."

"Who you calling old? I'm as young and as fresh as a Spring flower."

"This Spring or the Spring from twenty years ago?"

If it had been anyone else, Quaritch would have run them till their feet were raw. Anyone, but her. The cheeky smirk upon her beautiful face brought no anger to the man. Instead, he smacked his desk with a heavy hand and bellowed out a bark of laughter, which was quickly followed by the blonde woman. God, did he miss this. He almost suggested they get a drink like old times right then. However, the crude reminder of her shipping out in the morning made him bite his words back. She would be placed in cryosleep in the morning, and she was forbidden from eating or drinking anything for twenty-four hours before to reduce the risk of sickness. On the other hand, she wouldn't have to deal with that sickness for another five years, yet. It was a tempting thought, but he ultimately decided against it. She would say yes, he knew, but things had changed since their last meeting. He would not risk it, if only for her sake.

The two continued their chat for hours. The clock ticked past five, and further on to six, then seven-thirty, yet neither noticed. They spoke of what the other had been up to since their last meeting. They swapped old stories from their past with new ones that had been made in the past years. They retold jokes and shared laughs at whatever misfortune the other had gone through. The two soldiers fell back into place easily with one another, like they had never left the other's side. By the time the clock reached eight-thirty, Quaritch's sides hurt and he was seriously re-considering asking the woman out for a drink. Unfortunately for him, that is when Liala began to take her leave.

"I have to get going, lights out at nine for us."

"Right," he nodded, having forgotten the more strict rules for the enlisted, especially the ones set to deploy the next day. Quaritch did his best to hide the disappointment from showing on his face, though he doubted his abilities. Liala always had been good at recognizing his emotions.

As if she could read his mind like an open book, the woman raised a brow and smirked. "Missing me already?"

"You wish I could get that sappy."

"Aw, I'm gonna miss you too!"

"Damnit, Liala, get the Hell out of here," he chuckled and waved a dismissive hand at her. Liala let out a string of giggles as she jumped to her feet. She raised her hands in submission and chanted, "alright, I'm going, I'm going!"

Quaritch stood as well, and he walked her to the door. The two paused before the thick slab of wood, neither one wanting to be the one to open it. Opening the door seemed too final. After all, who knew when the next time they would see each other again would be. Liala placed a hand upon the doorknob, then paused. She looked over her shoulder and her mouth parted as if to say something, though no words were spoken. Quaritch stood far closer to her than she had realized - she could feel the heat emanating from the shoulder that nearly brushed against her own. He practically loomed over the woman, having been over a full head taller than her. Their eyes met, and Liala wished they hadn't as a familiar heat flooded her cheeks and the back of her neck.

Before he could stop himself, Quaritch took a step closer, his sturdy chest brushing against her back. Liala ducked her head in an attempt at hiding her face. Without thinking, Quaritch hooked his finger and thumb around her chin, keeping her head in place so her eyes would not leave his icy gaze. "Pretty girl," he whispered, the old nickname sending a shiver down her spine.

They did not move for many seconds, though it felt like hours. A thick lump formed in the back of her throat and she swallowed thickly. The urge to lean forward - just a bit further - encased her mind heavily, and she very nearly did so, yet she stopped herself. Her eyes flickered shut and she breathed out a settling sigh. She took his wrist within her much smaller hand and she tugged his grip from her flushed face, refusing to look upon the shadow of disappointment that surely clouded his handsome features. She stepped back. "It was good to see you, Miles."

"Yeah, it was good seeing you, too."

She wanted to say more. She felt like she had to, yet her mind had gone completely blank. "Well, I'll see you around."

He flashed her that grin. That damned cocky grin that always sent her heart racing. "I'll be around, dollface."

He shut the door behind her, not wanting to watch her go. Quaritch sighed heavily and he ran a hand through his graying hair. This wasn't good. He thought whatever he had for he was fleeting; a passing one night stand. And yet here he was, that strange pull he felt towards her still as strong as it was years ago. "Shit," he muttered to himself. "What the Hell have you gotten yourself into, Miles..."

---

A/N: Again, please leave your thoughts in the comments! I promise future chapters will be much longer, this is simply a trial run to see how many people will care to read this. Happy new year everyone!