Latent

Chapter 1

Terms and Conditions

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Brian and Mike are the ultimate masterminds!

A/N: The characters are a older than the ages in the TV series [Katara is somewhere in her early 20s if that helps]. This is definitely AU. The world was still searching for the Avatar, as a result of continued war efforts, individuals from all over the world banded together to form a secret elite rebel group to stop the Fire Lord and the Great War. The Water Tribe siblings are in the family business of specialized war tactics. Not my first story but the first one that I've actually outlined to something decent. Enjoy!

It smelled of mold and it was hot. The summer heat was almost through and he reveled in the blissful heat. Every winter marked a new year for him in this god forsaken metal pit. Would he survive? Sure as hell didn't want to. He sat in the center of his cot which was placed on the floor and was pushed against the opposite wall of the door.

Inhaling deeply, he tried to maintain his hold onto the last habit he had before his life behind the rusty bars began. He couldn't feel the familiar heat that would swell in his chest with every inhale. It had been years since he had felt its warmth, oh how he missed it. Since day one he had been given a specialized cocktail laced in his food and water that would stop any form of bending. It had been years since he had seen his own fire and it was starting to burn a hole right through his soul. He would occasionally skip meals just so that he could see a flicker of his soul in the palm of his hand. But starving yourself can only last so long.

The boots of a guard approached and by the smell of it, dayshift just took over. A guard approached the cell carrying a small cup. It had been explained to him upon his arrival to the prison that he would be drinking a brew daily to inhibit his bending capabilities. As a precaution all inmates were subject to the tea regardless of bending status. One inmate had explained that the tea had acted as a neurotoxin that inhibited a part of the brain that was in charge of the bender's capabilities. He didn't care how the tea worked, he just wanted to feel the heat of his soul in his palms again.

The man reached his arms through the cells doors for the cup and shot down the brew in one swig. He opened his mouth and stuck his tongue out for inspection before the door to his cell opened.

"Your have a visitor," the guard sneered. The man stood on command by the door, his shackles clinking as he exited the cell. "I don't got all day!" He felt pain shoot up from his right shoulder blade making him shuffle two or three steps before resuming his normal pace.

The men rattled their cages and gave suggestive motions and hoots and the man was lead down the hallway. The prison itself was pristine. The floors were scrubbed daily by the prisoners, the only tell of wear were the inside of the cells. With carvings and unidentified bodily fluids making each cell unique in their personal design.

The guard led him down multiple hallways until he came across a lone door. The window was dirty and smudged and the man could faintly identify two women waiting inside.

Suki paced the room waiting for the apparently new informant that they were waiting to meet. Her lack of patience was getting the better of her. If she didn't know it, she would have guessed that 40 years had passed since they had entered the disgusting premises.

"Kat, I don't know if you've lost your bloody mind or what, but you better make this quick. I don't want to be here for longer than I need to be. Not that this isn't where I want to be but-"

"Suki, just remember what we came for." Katara could hear the thumping of footsteps outside the door increase in volume. "Just remember and smile." Suki sent a nasty glare to the back of Katara's head. As soon as the door opened both women looked up.

"You got five minutes lady and no more." Katara tried her best to not wrinkle her nose as the smell of old tobacco reached her. "Now sit," the man in the dirty uniform was forced into the seat by the guard rather roughly. The guard chuckled as he left, slamming the door behind him.

Katara took this moment to calm herself. Don't ruin it. She and Suki shared a glance before Suki left to stand guard outside. Katara placed her hands underneath the table, away from the view of the man in the uniform.

"I don't want to waste your or my time so I'm going to get right to the point. I'm interested in doing business with you and if you are willing to complete your end of the bargain I will see to it that you are rewarded fairly." Katara tried to maintain eye contact but his face was downcast. "I need you to locate someone in this prison for me. Easy and simple."

The man finally moved after a while, Katara was starting to get nervous he was deaf. He was smirking.

"I've heard of you. You visit and have your lap dogs do your chores. Listen, I'm not doing shit, so you can take your pretty ass to someone else." The man finally looked up and into her eyes. Katara tried her best to not feel the shiver down her spine as his eyes burned into hers. "I'm not working for someone on a power trip."

"Don't be mistaken, I contacted you for a reason. Everyone has a price, it's just a matter of compromise." Katara never left his gaze. "I prefer to call myself a business woman, so lets conclude this agreement in a business like fashion. You need things that I have. You have skills that I need." She held her finger up before the man could react, "hear me out. Before you go off on my lowly power hungry ways, listen to what I have to say before you reject?" She took his silence as a yes. "I need you to locate an individual within this facility. It's easy to identify him, he looks exactly like me just as a male. He's loud and obnoxious, it's hard to miss him. I need you to find him and tell him the letters 'SWT4,' you got that?" His glare lessened by a hair.

Katara laid her hand flat on the table. She needed to concentrate, she wasn't going to last much longer. She could feel sweat beginning to accumulate at the base of her scalp.

"I need you to tell him that, and in exchange you'll be given a carton of the Earth Kingdoms best cigarettes." Her voice came out a little more stressed. She was pressed for time and he seemed to be dragging his feet.

"So say I find him, and tell him. What's it to you? He's in a prison. Won't be able to do much good to the outside world." He leaned forward, "unless he won't be in this world for too long. My skills don't exactly apply to individuals with healthy long life spans."

Katara was beginning to sweat and her arm was cramping up, but her face remained a mask. Suki flashed by the window, time must be up.

"Find the man that looks exactly like me, three days from today tell him my message. Tell him exactly what I told you and he will decide whether or not your reward can be changed. Our time's up." The man stood quickly and walked towards the exit door. He glanced at her hands and noticed their kinked odd position under the table but didn't mention anything. The door opened and a different guard escorted him out of the room. He turned to see the woman one last time and stopped short. The room was completely empty, he was standing in the one exit to the entire room and the woman was gone. The guard gave a swift yank to his chains, cutting short any chances of discovering how she might have left the small room.

He was led like a dog back to his cell, the conversation with the woman on repeat long after the door to his cell clanked to a close.

Katara stared through the ventilation grate as the prisoner and the guard left the small interrogation room. She prayed to La that the man would be able to carry the message to her brother. Her eyebrow twitched in annoyance, she should probably pray that her brother doesn't mess up her plans either while she's at it. Following her internal map, she slowly made her way to the meeting spot Suki and her spotted earlier. She would swear for the rest of her days, she'd never forget that man's eyes.

She was silent as she sprinted to the southern most wall of the prison and easily hopped over the metal fence.

"What took you so long?" Suki hadn't even look up from grooming her nails. "Thank the gods it isn't a new moon or else I would have had to fight off way too many guards than I cared for."

"The Warden wouldn't dare pull the alarm on me." Katara chuckled as a memory drifted to the front of her mind.

It had been easy to sneak into the guards quarters and steal a helmet and other items. Her training had made sneaking into the Earth Kingdom's top prison almost too easy. 'Well this won't be any fun,' she thought.

The Warden's office wasn't to far from her entry point into the prison and was within the office within the minute. She couldn't keep the smile off her face as she pressed the unsuspecting Warden up against his office wall. She knocked him in the head with her helmet, letting the disorientation set it, she sauntered over towards his chair. It was a lot more comfortable than it looked, but his taste was horrible. She placed the helmet on the desk.

After a couple moments, he seemed to have finally gathered himself. "What do you think you're-" he was cut off before he could finish his threat.

Katara kinked her index, ring and pinkie finger and forced the man to sit down in the chair opposite to her new desk.

"Don't start yelling, I haven't done anything to you yet. I want to make a deal with you."

He shrank in horror in his chair while her excitement had just begun.

"Oh come now. It wasn't as if our little meeting ended badly. I poured him a drink from his cabinet right before I left."

Metal boots shook upside down in midair, unfortunately for the Warden, he was still wearing them. In all honestly, she only gagged him because of his horrible curses. No person on this planet needed such a vile vocabulary. She took a sip from an expensive bottle of fire-brandy before pouring it over the Warden's face. Turned red from being upside down for so long, he coughed and tried to scream more curses through his gag. Katara could only roll her eyes before taking another sip.

Suki gave Katara a look.

"I know you were dead set on the guy you picked, but he better not mess this up." She paused and walked towards their campsite. "I want Sokka back out in the real world. I miss that idiot more than he'll ever know."

20 minutes of walking around they found themselves at their small campsite. It was just around a small cove near the prison's water dam that granted the facility it's personal power source. Suki walked off towards the river to refresh herself before dinner and to hopefully quell her nerves before their next mission. The sounds of water being flushed through turbines were the only object to make a noise for the rest of the night.

It was two days before he found the man. The resemblance was striking, but they didn't have the same eye color. It was the first thing he noticed. The midday cafeteria session was coming to a close and he took his chance to talk to the blue eyed man. He did have only one day left.

He slowly slid into the bench a few feet away. The man was wolfing down the prison slop at an alarming rate, it was all he could do to not curl his lip in disgust. As soon as he was seated the man stopped his chewing and eyed the newcomer. The new guy seemed confused and was clenching his hands. The blue eyed man decided to end things before it got more awkward.

"Look buddy, I don't know what Chu told you, but I'm not into doing favors like-"

"Do you have a sister?"

Blue eyes went wide before narrowing, "and what in La's name is that supposed to mean?"

"Shit, that not what I-"

"What makes you think you can just sit here and talk to me like that." He stood up quickly and pointed his slop covered spoon at the newcomers face. "Water tribe doesn't take squat from fire nation scum like you." He grabbed him by the shirt but was shoved away easily by the newcomer.

"Listen! I was told to find someone who looked identical to a visitor I had a couple days ago. Now are you going to hear me out?" He was seething between his teeth. If he boiled over anymore, he could have sworn steam would have come out of his nose. He missed the heat that rose in his veins during a fight.

The Water Tribe man seemed to calm down bit before looking him in the eye. "Let's talk, just not here." He followed Water Tribe to a corner of the rec field and leaned up against the gate.

"You got my attention now spit it out. I don't want my time wasted." Water Tribe squatted down, leaning his back against the gate.

The man smirked, "you are related huh."

Water Tribe stayed silent. The man prayed this wasn't going to end up as some inside family joke. "SWT4, mean anything to you?"

The man watched Water Tribe's eyes shoot open wide. A hand went down his face before muttering incoherently in between swears. "That was exactly what she said?" His hand still covered his face.

"Yeah, but all I'm interested in is the reward. She promised me you could deliver. If you guys are planning something along the lines of escape, I want in." Water Tribe remained unmoving before he shot his hand out towards him and stood up.

"We can talk about that later, your end of the bargain hasn't been fulfilled yet. If or when you fulfill it can we talk about the payment options, but first I need you to work with me." He paused, "the name's Sokka."

The man looked down at the extended arm. He hadn't been shown civility in years. His gold eyes looked up with determination. "Zuko."