A/N: Hi fellow Avatar fans ^^, my first AU, like, ever. Hope you enjoy it, hope the chapter's long enough as well, sorry, I have short attention span when it comes to . . . anything. I'm not exactly sure how to write romance, but I'll do my best to fit how the characters act in the show. If anyone anonymous wants to comment on my story and they have a DeviantArt account, I'll post my link up in my profile (I don't like anonymous reviews, sorry).
Summary: Sokka and Suki are detectives in the elite Criminal Investigation Division, a police squad dedicated to solving high profile and seemingly impossible cases. However, when an arson case lands on the desk, as well as Aang, returning from a year's leave, the squad's thrown into the world of a mad arsonist, vigilante justice and political corruption. And the CID will never be the same again . . .
Updates: When ever I can, but I'll try for once a week
Shipping/Pairings: Kataang, Sukka and Maiko. Possible Toph/OC.
Enjoy
Thud. Thud. Thud.
Sokka's heart beat rapidly as he ran down the alley ways of the metropolis, chasing down the elusive thief. He paused in the darkened streets, his sharp blue eyes scanning the area. Suddenly he saw a flash of navy blue fabric and he was off again, turning the corner sharply and sprinting after the criminal, who was jumping on the dumpsters and cars that crowded the narrow alley.
"Police, stop!" Sokka shouted as he chased after the agile criminal, the shouting was futile, had it been effective, the runner would have stopped five minutes ago.
Again, the criminal turned a deaf ear as they ran out into the streets. Traffic was stopped up as the two runners sprinted, one being chased and the other doing the chasing. It was cold, Sokka's dark blue uniform rustled over the black Under Armor that covered his torso, his badge reflecting in the predawn light and his gun, nestled in its holster, smacked into his side from the running.
They were running down another alley, it seemed to be the area the thief preferred most, the blue-eyed cop growled in distaste. This was exhausting, who was this thief anyway? A triathlete? They had been running nonstop, Sokka was the only cop who had managed to keep up with fast lawbreaker, and he wasn't about to give up anytime soon. This annoying thief was wanted in over thirty breaking and entering cases, they had spent weeks trying to capture him, and now it was all winding down to a single chase.
"Almost got him," the detective said, a small smile crept up to his lips . . .
Suddenly Sokka found himself losing traction and balance as he stepped onto a patch of black ice, he skidded and lost complete control over himself as he fell to the ground with a thud.
"Ugh," he groaned as he picked himself up, his elbow throbbing slightly from the fall, he saw his criminal running away, "The universe just loves to prove me wrong," he said sarcastically as he glared at the thief was too far ahead for him to catch.
The thief ran towards the end of the alley, seemingly not noticing Sokka's plight as he ran out into the streets, a dark shape suddenly barreled into the hapless thief and tackled him to the ground. Sokka gaped in surprise as he saw a very smug Suki place her knee in between the perpetrator's shoulder blades and keep him on the ground as she slapped the handcuffs on him.
He ran up to the two as the female cop hoisted the captured criminal up, "How did you get here so quickly?" Sokka demanded, flabbergasted and wearing a very confused expression on his face. Suki had been the first one to break off from the foot chase.
Suki smirked and pointed to the squad car behind her, "I got a lift."
An officer leaned on the driver's side door of the patrol car and gave Sokka a little wave, "Hey Sokka!" he said as he sipped his steaming hot cup of coffee, his twinkling grey eyes peering at Sokka over the rim of the Styrofoam cup.
The officer grinned as Sokka's expression changed from surprise to recognition, "Aang!" the detective shouted in glee as he walked over and gave the young detective a pat on the back, "Good to see you buddy."
"Great to be back," Aang answered cheerfully.
Sokka walked up to the handcuffed thief and ripped the ridiculous ski mask off his face, revealing a teenager with scared eyes, he looked up fearfully at the two cops now that he was caught. Suki smirked, Sokka scowled, he was definitely not happy having to chase the perpetrator for several blocks, only to get injured in the final seconds.
The teen gulped visibly as Suki lead him to the back of the patrol car, "Come on, let's go."
"Wait," Sokka said as he looked at the patrol car, "how am I going to get back to the station?"
Suki and Aang just cast him an evil grin as they entered the car and drove off without him, leaving him alone in the empty street, Sokka deadpanned as the car sped off, he sighed and reached for his radio, "Dispatch, I'm going to need a car at Fourth and Water Street."
In the heart of downtown, the brick building police headquarters stood, home of the Criminal Investigation Division. Detectives sat at desks, filling out paperwork or working on cases, once in a while, patrol officers would open the front doors and wrestle in caught law breakers, sending them to central booking or to one of the several interrogation rooms that lined the hall to the left of the entrance.
It was in one of these rooms that the caught bandit sat while Sokka, Suki and Aang stood outside. Captain Hakoda walked up to both of them, "Good job you two," he said proudly to the two cops as he smiled at them, "You've caught the Twilight Thief. And Aang, welcome back," he said as he gestured to his office, "Why don't we have a word?"
Aang nodded before following the Captain, Sokka gestured to the door, "Why don't you do the honors?"
Suki cast a sideways glance at Sokka before shrugging and walking into the interrogation room, Sokka choosing to stay in the next room over, looking at the proceedings.
The moment the teen saw Suki, he tensed up, afraid and began to sing like a canary, "I confess," he said quickly, "I confess! I robbed those houses, I'm so, so, so, so sorry! I didn't mean to, well . . . I mean, I kind of did. It won't happen again!"
"Uhh," Suki raised an eyebrow, she hadn't even said anything yet and the kid was confessing to pretty much everything, "I think I should call your parents . . ."
"No, please don't," the teen whimpered, "They'll kill me," he said as he panicked, "They don't know that I've been doing this. Oh man, what did I do? What did I do?"
It took several minutes of Suki talking to the young thief to calm him down and give her his personal information so they could put it on file and call up his parents. She left the interrogation room, annoyed yet surprised about how quickly that went, thought the process wasn't entirely painless.
"I think that was the quickest interrogation I've ever seen," Sokka said, voicing Suki's thoughts.
Suki agreed, "I'll say," they both had the same expression of disbelief on their faces.
Captain Hakoda walked up to the two, "Sorry to cut your interrogation short," he said.
"It's okay dad," Sokka said looking up to the captain, "We just wrapped up. What's going on?"
"There's been a fire in an apartment complex on Mountain Boulevard," he said solemnly, "There's been reports of multiple injuries and deaths."
"We're on it dad," Sokka replied as he nodded to Suki and they turned to leave.
A voice called out in the crowded precinct, "Hey, wait up!" Aang came jogging up, "Don't think you could leave without me, could you?"
Sokka grinned as they got into the department issued car for detectives, Suki sliding into the passenger's seat and Aang sitting in the back. They pulled out of the garage and into the streets of the metropolis. Cars were beginning to crowd the road, but they quickly made a path as Sokka barreled up the ribbon of asphalt, the sirens on the car blaring.
By the time they had reached the building, the fire was out, emergency vehicles crowded the streets as patrol officers cordoned off the whole road to allow for the blaze to be put under control. Firefighters walked out of the blackened building, some walking back to the truck, others rolling up hoses or giving directions to police officers.
Sokka exited the car, "What have we got?" he asked to an officer who had waved him over. He recognized the man as Haru, a friend of his at the academy.
"Fire," the mustached officer answered matter-of-factly, "Burnt down five apartments, damaged a couple others. There are loads of injuries, and not everyone in the building's been accounted for."
The detective nodded curtly as he gazed up at the building, still smoking, "When will it be safe to go in?"
"We're still assessing the structural integrity of the building," another, more husky voice spoke up. Sokka looked over to see one of the firefighters walking over, a patch on his helmet indicated he was a captain. His helmet was off and tucked under one of his arms, he looked at the detectives with his gold eyes that were covered with sweaty brown hair. A scar marred the left side of his face.
"Zuko," Sokka greeted with a surprised expression, "It's been a while," he said as his eyes fell on the captain's patch, "I see you've got promoted," he stated, trying to strike up a small conversation.
Zuko gave a single nod, as another firefighter came up, "Captain," the fireman said as he pointed back towards the house, "We found evidence of accelerant," he explained.
Another person exited the building, she nodded, "Building's clear," she called as she tucked a clipboard under her arm and took off the hardhat she had been wearing.
"Come on," Zuko said as he waved them over to the building, Sokka and Suki followed quickly, Aang looked at the blackened structure, still smoking a little, something flickered in his grey eyes before he too, followed the trio into the complex.
Sokka waved Haru off as he tried to follow, "Go look for evidence in the alley," he said as he pointed towards the back of the building.
Water dripped off of charred black walls and fell onto the floor in black puddles as firefighters milled around in what was left in the apartment building. They rooted around in the ashes and dumped copious amounts of water on still smoldering debris. It was a sight of horror in the most damaged rooms, there were the blackened skeletons of couches, pictures shriveled and burned beyond recognition, and the charred remains of people who couldn't get out in time. Suki felt a pang of sadness as she saw the remains of a teddy bear, coal black eyes shining from its blackened face.
Zuko followed the firefighter into one of the apartments that faced the back alleyway, "This apartment was abandoned when we came in," the firefighter was explaining, "There wasn't any sign of forced entry, but that may have been because the fire wiped out any sign of it. I found accelerant marks in the hallway."
Zuko knelt down next to the marks, "Looks like accelerant was used," he agreed as he looked up at Sokka, "Don't know what kind though."
"But it was definitely arson?" Suki asked as Zuko inspected the scorch marks. The fireman looked up and nodded.
"This definitely wasn't accidental," he replied, "Unless someone could 'accidently' spill a gallon of fuel on the ground and light it on fire."
Sokka nodded and turned to Suki, "Let's go see if anyone saw anything," he said as they both left the building, glad to be out of the place that stunk of smoke and charred flesh.
Fresh air greeted their senses as they got out of the building but so did the clamor of residents, bystanders and reporters. There were more than a few annoyed people glaring at the first responders as they tried in vain to get to their houses across the street from the fire. Reporters shouted hurried questions at taciturn and stoic policemen who only spoke when someone got too close. Bystanders stood by with cell phones and cameras, trying to capture the building with pictures and calls to loved ones.
The residents of the building stood in a shell shocked state as they stared up at the remains of what was once their home. Little kids stood crying at the loss of their belongings, husbands hugged their wives as they provided what little support they could. Others looked expectantly at the building or at the triage center, trying to see if their loved ones had made it out alive.
"I'll go see if any of the injured tenants saw anything," Aang said as he walked over to the triage center.
Suki nodded, "I'll interview the others," she replied as she motioned to Sokka, "Come on."
Aang watched as the partners left to interview the families huddled on the curb, he walked over to the triage center, seeing a very familiar paramedic as she tended to the burns on a toddler's arm.
"You're going to be okay," Katara comforted the sobbing toddler as she placed him so he was laying on the stretcher, two more medics took the toddler away as per her instructions. She could have been a doctor, she definitely had the brains, but Katara came from a relatively poor family, and rather than drive her father and brother into bankruptcy, she became a paramedic. She also liked the action and the life on the streets.
She threw her gloves into a trash bag and packed up her medical kit, the toddler was the last one to pass through the triage, she was concentrating so much on her work, she didn't notice Aang until he came up behind her.
"Hey Katara," Aang said cheerfully as he walked up.
"Hi Aang," Katara said offhandedly as she zipped the bag shut, her head suddenly jerked up and she turned around in surprise, "Aang!" she rushed forward and hugged him.
Aang hugged Katara back, "Good to see you Katara," he said happily.
"How long have you been back?" the medic asked when they parted, her intense blue eyes shining with joy that her best friend (and secret crush) was back.
Aang replied, "For a day, I would have visited, but I heard you were on shift, so . . ." he trailed off, his hand reaching back to rub the back of his head, a little color creeping to his cheeks.
"Hey Aang, have you finished interviewing the witnesses yet?" Sokka asked, coming up, "Hey sis," he greeted.
"Uh, no, not yet," Aang admitted as he turned away from Katara, "Maybe we can catch up sometime Katara?"
"Yeah, that'd be great," Katara answered as another medic came up to the group.
As he walked up, Aang could see a straw hanging out the corner of his mouth, "We've got to go Katara, we've got another call," he said as he jerked his thumb back to the ambulance.
"I'll be right there Jet," Katara replied, she turned to leave, giving Aang a final wave before following Jet to the ambulance.
Sokka watched as the ambulance drove off, "So," he said, turning to Aang, "Suki and I interviewed the tenants, they said they didn't see anything. It was late at night, so everyone was asleep."
Aang nodded, about to answer when Haru appeared from the end of the alley, "Sokka! Aang! You guys have got to see this!" he called, motioning them over.
Sokka and Aang walked over, Suki joining them as Haru lead them through the narrow alley, "I was checking back here for evidence and I found fresh spray paint, which is strange because this alley's covered in ash and soot from the fire," he stopped at a point in the wall, where bright red paint covered part of the wall, a crime scene technician was snapping photos of the writing.
As they read the message painted on the wall, Aang's eyes widened, Sokka and Suki's eyes narrowed, because on the blackened wall, the vivid crimson paint stood out sharply as the message burned itself into the eyes of the cops, just like the flames had burned into the apartment building only two feet behind them.
"The Fire Lord is back"