AN: This chapter is later than I'd hoped from exhausting family stuff and researching the prison system, but I was loving writing it and I'm still really psyched for this. Thanks so much to apermissivemommy, DearLemonLima, delictabledelias, cranapplesurprise, turtleducksymphony, KorrasamixxTyzulaxxDreams, Distracted by Lemons, splendorousfire, smokeandshadowfeels, Koka Kola Veins, Streetlight Eyes, FanfictionVillainess, promiscuouslesbian, Guest, American Zombie, illegalsweaters, Don't Touch My Walkman, ThisUnitHasNoSoul, iliasc, turn forever you and me and Tyleepoof for reviewing.
I want to say that I'm really glad this is going well. It's my first real fanfic and English is my second language and I was so nervous! Feel free to point out any errors, though. I can take criticism.
Chapter Three
Demands
Zuko
Chief Beifong crossed her arms and said firmly, "You're not coming."
We stood in her office. She was going to see a new dead body with all the markers of the Blue Dahlia copycat. I was going with her if it was the last thing I did. And, judging by her expression, it very well might be.
"I bought my own plane tickets," I snapped, steadying my stance. She was unfazed by what would intimidate most people.
"You're not coming," the Chief reiterated and I bet it would scare anyone who didn't grow up with my dad and sister.
"Don't stop me. Do not stop me," I stated and I knew from her face she would not argue.
Toph groaned. "You're a pain in the ass, did you know that? I've had a lotta people try to push me into working extra to save their kid. Sometimes it works out. Most of the time it doesn't."
"Take me with you," I snarled, twisting my feet deeper into the floor.
She sighed. "Whatever."
She again did that dismissive wave that I hate, and left the room.
xxx
After a lonely flight, I met up with Chief Beifong at the house. I had been there before. I had been there before identifying another body and it hurt like Hell to be back here again.
His grandmother was crying when I walked in. The moment I saw her face, I felt terrified and sick. It was the same face she had when Katara died. My wife. The love of my life. Two police from the area were showing her pictures, which just seemed fucked up to him.
Then something occurred to the senator. "How do you analyze pictures from a crime scene when you can't see?"
Chief Beifong bristled. "I got really far, didn't I? I'm a fucking Chief of Police in the LAPD. If I had problems because of my sight, I wouldn't be here."
"Right." I was pretty embarrassed by what I just said, but I didn't recant it. "I have a scar."
And Chief Beifong laughed. "If you think a scar compares to the fact I can't see your scar, you're even more egocentric than I thought."
"You don't want to know how I got it? Where it is?"
"You are more egocentric than I thought. Wow."
Chief Beifong pushed past me and went to go see Kanna.
xxx
I regretted seeing Sokka.
Bad. I'm not a cop or coroner and so it hit hard and I hurled everywhere. He had been my brother-in-law since I got married, but I never really saw him again after Katara's death. It hurt everybody too much. I was oddly glad that Ty Lee wasn't here, and I wasn't sure why.
I never got over Katara.
She never got over Azula.
It was late afternoon in a chilly basement and he was on a slab. The burns were something I couldn't describe, but when I looked up from spilling my guts, I saw my own face.
"You ever seen—oh, God, I'm sorry." My cheeks combusted but Chief Beifong brushed it off.
"No. I haven't ever seen." Chief Beifong shrugged; she clearly didn't take it as a transgression.
"I meant to say the movie The Bad Seed," I said under my breath.
Chief Beifong shrugged again. "No. Sounds like porn."
"It's an old horror movie about a little girl who's a serial killer. Her grandfather was secretly one and they said it was genetic. She was innocent, charming, pretty…"
Toph laughed. Laughed. In a morgue. "She reminds you of your sister?"
"It was my sister's favorite movie when we were kids."
Toph laughed despite the sickening body in the room. Surely she could smell the charred skin and the rot. Surely she could understand that this was a human being, and one of the best human beings I had ever met in my life.
"So, is your scar a burn?" Toph inquired, cracking her knuckles. She spoke about it more casually than anybody else ever had.
"Yeah," I grunted.
"She do it?" Toph asked, referring, of course, to Azula. I had been asked that about a thousand times.
"No," I said.
"Who did then?"
I took a moment to think, wondering if it would hurt to open up. It probably would, but I was honest anyway. "My dad."
"Ouch." She didn't sound much like she cared about the pain. "At least he's locked up too. Why'd he do it?"
"You rail on me for asking too many personal questions," I snapped. "I don't see why you seem to think you have the same right."
"I'm more egocentric than you thought." Toph walked to the body and slid on gloves. I was amazing by her movements. They were pretty far from graceful, but she was grounded in a way I had never seen a person be before. Like the earth was made of magnets clinging to the woman.
"He did it because I got expelled from my boarding school. I got smart-mouthed; he got a hot poker. It was a bit of a mismatched fight."
"Sucks." It was the least sympathetic thing I had ever heard about my scar. And for some reason, that was the first thing I liked about Chief Beifong. "So, anything other than just burns? Does he have the shocks and brands?"
I excused myself from the room and she smirked at me when I left like she knew I would.
Azula
Two states away, Ty Lee was sitting in front of Plexiglas and gazing into the eyes of her last hope for Izumi. I loved being someone's last hope. It was delicious and invigorating to look at such a pitiful stare.
"I can't kiss you. There's glass there for a reason," Ty Lee said and I rolled my eyes. This delay was tedious and needless; I knew she would agree to kiss me in the end.
I did humor her, however. "And what reason would that be?"
"So you don't bite my face off or something!"
I laughed at that one. It was new.
"I'm not Hannibal Lecter. I want you to kiss me, and nothing spicier than that. I am sure you could find a way to make it happen, given how much you want your little baby Izumi to live," I purred, batting my eyelashes. It clearly hurt her, and I derived such pleasure from it.
"Are you blackmailing me with my daughter's life for a single kiss?" Ty Lee shrieked.
"Yes," I replied earnestly. It was the honorable thing to say.
Before Ty Lee could scream at me a bulky man approached her.
"There's a phone call for you, Mrs. Pyralis," said my favorite guard. I smirked at him and he shook his head.
Ty Lee got up in an instant. It was so sad how she obviously was on edge for news of Izumi. I had my doubts that they would find the little girl before she died. The only reason I cared if she lived was because I could make Ty Lee dance like my marionette until Izumi showed up, corpse or kid.
I waited with a patience that I acquired while isolated in prison for the remainder of my life. Ty Lee returned with tears in her eyes.
"Another body showed up?" I leaned forward. I knew it was not my niece, but I feigned surprise.
"No. It wasn't Izumi. An adult male," Ty Lee said softly. "But he know-knew Zuko. He was his ex-wife's brother."
I could not be more pleased about that news. "I always hated him."
"You're a psychopath!" screamed Ty Lee. I was going to develop a migraine from talking to her today.
"Have you not noticed the bars and handcuffs?" I smirked, composed and collected as she flew off the handle. "Everyone knows that, kitty cat."
"I'll kiss you!" Ty Lee stood up and stopped just short of throwing her chair at the cement wall. "Fuck! I'll kiss you!"
"Well, now I'm think about a gory corpse and the mood is killed." I shrugged, and watched her clench her fists. Perhaps she would try to punch through the Plexiglas.
"Oh, oh, I kind of thought that might be arousing to you!"
"I burned people alive for fun and it had nothing to do with sex." I set my hand over my heart. "You know that. I had a calling card. Do the police this time?" I could not believe I had not asked about that previously. It seemed worth knowing, if not useful to the case.
"I don't know. They tell me what to ask you and I do." Ty Lee sobbed like a weakling.
"And then you do as I ask. What a lovely chain reaction," I purred, watching her squirm. She needed a compliment and flattering her wouldn't necessarily hurt me. "You're pretty when you cry."
She cried harder.
God, she clearly still loved me enough to want me to find her pretty.
xxx
"Do you have those monogrammed?" Ty Lee squeaked, seeming startled by the pen and notebook I was holding.
"They were a gift from the woman who helped me release my autobiography. She made a fortune," I explained honestly as Ty Lee moved slightly closer to me. She was hesitant to be in front of bars and not that safe, safe glass she must be missing. "Everything should be monogrammed, shouldn't it?" I purred. "You even have the same initials you would have when you were with me. How convenient for you."
"Azula, I'm not hung up on you like some schoolgirl. I don't... Look, I love you. I can't not love you. You were my first crush, my first kiss, my first friend. But I'm not in love with you anymore."
"But you're going to kiss me," I said softly.
Ty Lee's nostrils flared. "Yes, I am. Because you're holding my baby girl hostage until I do."
"You could figure out the murders yourself if you were competent." I shrugged one shoulder. "Why do you still need me? You always needed someone to take care of you. Protect you. Hold your hand when you cross the street and order for you at restaurants."
It's true. It is true that Ty Lee never wanted to be independent and I suppose I preyed on it in some ways for my own personal gain. But everyone has a weakness, and I always figure them out.
"No. You made me that way. Zuko didn't feel the need to help me cross the street or order for me at restaurants. Maybe that's why I slept with him behind your back. Because he didn't treat me like a pet."
Ty Lee moved to the bars before I could react to her outburst. I admittedly was distracted by her perfume; it never changed.
It felt like an old western movie when she did it. Her lipstick was as bitter as ever, but an acquired taste. I almost missed it.
The minute she was done, she said, "Now pay up, will you?"
How romantic.
I kept my promises, and so I tore out three pages from the notebook and handed them to her.
"These will help. I have no more patience for your presence. Decent kiss, though."
Ty Lee stormed away.
