Chapter 3: Stateside

Fort Bragg, North Carolina; proud home of the Airborne and the Special Operations Forces covering 251 square miles and the new home of a rag tag group of operators from different services. Sokka had never been there before; he had been to Fort Benning though when he attended Jump School which was mandatory for all Recon candidates. Luckily, North Carolina seemed to welcome them with beautiful weather, blue skies, decent cloud coverage and a comfortable breeze. Sokka looked up toward the sky and remembered how wind played hell with him on his first real jump. It almost blew him off course.

He was once again drawing odd looks from people, but luckily he had gotten his hands on his service uniform so he was proudly wearing it amongst a large population of Army personnel. Besides, his uniform was green; it shouldn't have caused too much trouble until he remembered that the Army had switched their service uniforms to blue not too long ago. While they were all officially under the command of SOCOM which was based at MacDill Air Force Base in Florida, SOCOM had decided to station the task force at Fort Bragg since General Iroh would be based along with them there. And Sokka did not mind, Camp Lejeune was in the same state so he was bound to run into some Marines if he ever went on leave. Or if they decided to stick around Jacksonville, that place was a ghost town.

"You don't look half bad in a service uniform, sir," Toph called out to Sokka. They had had more time to get to know each other over the past couple of days and she had grown on him. Very blunt, if not a little vulgar, but they were in the military, not elementary school so he didn't really mind. "Thanks, the rest of you don't look half bad either. Even with those things on your head." Sokka pointed towards the tan beret on Toph's head which matched Suki's. She grinned at him and removed it as she followed him and Zuko indoors. Their covers came off right away. Sokka approached the Specialist seated behind one of the desks, she was kind of cute. "Specialist," he began since he couldn't get a good enough glimpse at her nametag, "I'm here to speak to General Iroh Long." Sokka caught the Specialist's glance go past him, "Yeah, actually all of us are here to speak with him." Sokka gave her a polite smile before she went off to find the General.

They didn't have to wait long; in fact they hadn't even taken a seat outside the office before they were called in. They stood at attention after they entered and the General waved for them to take a seat. Sokka had to admit that General Iroh Long was the most laid back officer he had ever encountered. It might have had to do with the fact that the General had already reached a position of prestige and no longer wished to make his presence known among his peers like other senior officers. Sokka had encountered plenty of Colonels and Majors that would try to blow things out of proportion so they could glorify an action on a report and possibly secure a recommendation for promotion for themselves. "I hope that Fort Bragg is proving to be comfortable enough for you, Captain," the General seated himself as Sokka and Zuko took the seats right in front of the General's desk. It seemed that he had more than two people come into his office a lot so he had two more chairs up against a wall; which Suki and Toph took.

"It's a nice enough base, sir. I'm sure I'll adjust accordingly," Iroh smiled and looked down at a stack of papers he had been examining prior to them coming in. "Well, now that all of you are acquainted enough, I should let you know that as soon as we begin to run exercises none of you will wear anything that can identify you. That means that any sort of identification and rank insignias need to come off," he glanced at Zuko, "some of you are already aware of this." Sokka wondered if he should have seen Iroh by himself, there were certain things he needed to bring up but right now that would have to wait. "Sir, we would all like to know why it is you're putting this task force together," the General was not surprised by Sokka's question. "Well, to solve the situation in Russia of course, among other things," the ambiguity of the answer sort of got under Sokka's skin. He had once read that if orders were not followed correctly it was because someone didn't issue them clearly. "What other things?" Sokka evened out his tone so he wouldn't sound annoyed. General Iroh sighed and ran his hand through his hair, "Captain, you will know about your objectives when the time is right," unease coursed through the room and the General caught it. "I understand that this makes all of you uneasy, but there's a reason for this. Our missions come straight from the top and we do not want any leaks." He paused and allowed his statement to sink in. "Do you understand me?" they all said "Yes sir," in unison.

"Very good," he continued, "now Technical Sergeant Vinluan is a bit busy finding us one pilot in particular to serve the needs of this unit. And I'm sure you all have gotten to know each other well enough so you can begin to train here," Iroh eyed them cautiously before telling them they were free to go to their barracks. Sokka asked for permission to speak with him privately as everyone left. The General told him to stay and Sokka brought up something that had been troubling him. "Sir, I have a question that you may find a bit personal," the General gave him a small smile as he nodded his head. "Go right ahead, Captain," Sokka chose his words carefully.

"It's about Chief Warrant Officer Long, sir."

"Is he giving the unit a problem," the older man cocked an eyebrow suspiciously.

"No, not at all, sir. I was just wondering if the fact that he would indirectly be under your command bothered you."

The General scratched his knuckles as he thought about the right way to answer what Sokka had just brought up. "Son, Zuko was selected for this mission for a reason. I did not pick him, someone with much more power did." Sokka wondered who had orchestrated this entire thing to begin with. "All I know is this, Captain," Iroh continued, "I will not be the one making the calls out in the field at the end of the day, I'll mostly be a voice in your ear giving you objectives and updating intelligence. The unit belongs to you once you're on board that helicopter," the older officer must have noted some alarm in Sokka's features because what he said next seemed to be an attempt to diffuse any feelings of nausea that might have begun to besiege Sokka's stomach.

"I was in your position not too long ago, Captain," he seemed to realize what he had just said, "very well maybe it was long ago when I went out into the field, but the point is that I know how it feels to make calls that no one else wants to make. I know what it is like to send people you've gotten to know well to their deaths. It is a burden that not many people can carry." Iroh stood up and glared out the window behind his desk, Sokka wondered if it was just for dramatic effect. "I have the utmost confidence in your abilities, Captain," he continued, "the days where the special operations community would scoff at Marine attempts to integrate into SOCOM are long over. But after this operation, any shadow of a doubt will be erased from their minds."

Sokka took a moment to look around the office; there were plenty of pictures a lot of them in black and white. Groups of men posing in a fire base somewhere in Vietnam, Sokka even caught a glimpse of a young Zuko in a frame on Iroh's desk. "The Chief is my nephew, Captain. Make no mistake about that, he is family and I do love him. But he is also a fine soldier, and I expect him to be that under your command or mine."

"He has yet to make me think anything else, sir," Sokka assured him.

"Good, well you can use the base's facilities as you like and schedule training as you see fit," Iroh smiled as Sokka stood up. He extended his hand toward the Marine before he made a movement to leave. Sokka took it and gave it a firm shake, "I know the right man was selected for this operation, Captain. I know that for a fact." Sokka nodded and made his way out of the office, running right into Zuko. "So when do we start training?" he asked enthusiastically. "Shit, geez! Do you always do that to people?" it was the third time that Zuko had surprised Sokka in such a manner and it was starting to get on his nerves. "Sorry, sir," Zuko said, "I have a tendency to do that." Sokka sighed and motioned for Zuko to walk with him. "It's the middle of the afternoon, Chief. I doubt we should start training as it is, when we do though, it'll start in the morning. Where'd the females get to?" Sokka didn't see either Toph or Suki.

Zuko shrugged, "Toph said she was going to get set in her barracks and Suki said something about phoning home," they stepped out into the North Carolina sun once again. "Have you seen the bald one around here?" Sokka was referring to Aang. "He's still looking for that pilot we heard about, he's supposed to be a badass," Zuko rolled his eyes slightly at the thought, very rarely were "badass people" ever really badasses. "Do you at least know the guy's name?" Zuko squinted as he tried to remember. "Damn, it starts with a T if I remember right; Aang was just gushing about this guy."

"Well where can we find the midget?" Sokka said, referring to Aang's height.

"You're asking like I have a little bell and a leash on the guy," Zuko quipped.

"Fuck it, he can find us whenever he's ready. Where are you staying?" Sokka huffed.

The Chief Warrant Officer produced a cigarette and placed it between his lips, "I'm staying with my wife; she lives on the base so it's convenient for me." He ignited the end of the cigarette with a Zippo lighter he had hidden in his pocket. "You don't mind do you?" Zuko motioned towards the cigarette. Sokka shook his head, as much as he didn't like smoking, he had grown accustomed to it since so many Marines he had served with smoked. Although dipping was a more popular way to get their tobacco and nicotine fix. There was no need for a lighter, and they could chew it at night without the fear of giving away their position. Sokka still found the buildup of brown saliva and tobacco juice disgusting though, so he refrained from partaking in any sort of nicotine fix. Personally, Sokka's poison was coffee.

"Have you been married long?" Zuko smiled as he recalled some memory at Sokka's question. He shook his head, "Well, I married her four years ago, but I've known her since we were children." Sokka smiled and returned a passing soldier's salute. "Do you have any of your own?" Sokka was curious if his second in command had any little tikes running around, but Zuko shook his head, disappointed. "No, but that's not to say we're not trying, sir. What about you, sir? Is there a Mrs. Kunayak?"

"Sadly no, and there are no kids either. I just got absorbed in the military life, that's all."

"Hm, like so many of us." Sokka mused. "Exactly, Chief, exactly," Sokka saw Zuko's gaze go past him and the cigarette was suddenly extinguished and had been flicked from his fingers. "Speaking of my wife," he half-whimpered. "Check your six," he muttered.

Sokka cautiously maneuvered his body so he could at least get a good look at her with his peripheral vision. He caught a slim feminine figure in civilian clothing, long black hair and pale skin, much like Zuko's. Other than that he could not make out many details. "Anything I should know about her?" Sokka whispered to Zuko who replied through gritted teeth. "Be nice, she's polite enough as it is."

"So you stop by to see your uncle first and then your wife?" her voice was husky and filled with annoyance as well as a hint of relief. She completely ignored Sokka and kissed Zuko, the Marine averted his eyes and held back a chuckle. The situation brought back memories of coming back home to Yue from a deployment. Zuko's wife pulled away, "Zuko, have you been smoking?" Sokka winced as he knew that a verbal lashing was coming up as Zuko stumbled for the right words. "We'll talk about that later," she whispered. "And who's the Marine?" Sokka smiled and extended his hand to her, "Captain Sokka Kunayak, United States Marine Corps, pleasure to meet you ma'am." He did not expect her grip to be as strong as it was, in fact her handshake hurt Sokka's hands a little bit. "Oh, you're the one Zuko mentioned over the phone, I'm Mai, his wife," she didn't really smile much; it was more like a slight twitch at the corner of her lips. "I figured as much since, he's mentioned you before," Sokka was hoping that he could bail Zuko out of any sort of trouble he might have been in because of the cigarette.

Mai was an attractive woman, Sokka estimated her age to have been in her late twenties or early thirties. She stood about two or three inches shorter than Zuko, thin with serious feature and amber colored eyes. Sokka could already predict that their children were going to have the same eyes as well, and he was no doctor. "You know we don't see many Marines around here," Mai said before gazing up at Zuko. She looked happier than Zuko had described her, but he could definitely see how she had been a Goth through the majority of their adolescence. "I've realized that, I've been asking the higher ups to base us in Camp Lejeune but they turned me down." Zuko chuckled as Mai smirked; he seemed to brood a lot less around her. "It's a lot easier just bringing you here, sir," Mai whispered something in his ear and Zuko suddenly decided it was time to leave. "Well sir, if you don't mind I think it's time I saw how the house is doing." He swiftly saluted Sokka who returned the salute just as quickly before saying good bye to Mai once again. The Captain did his best to hold back his laughter as Mai practically picked up her husband and carried him to the house. "They sure won't miss an opportunity to make a baby," Sokka said to himself as he made his way to his barrack.

The barracks at Fort Bragg were in decent enough shape, he and his unit got individual accommodations so it was a much needed upgrade from their makeshift barracks in Germany. He closed the door behind him and didn't waste any time stripping off his service uniform, as much as he liked wearing them, it was nice to get comfortable. Sokka was happy to see that General Iroh had had his personal effects sent over from Camp Lejeune; his television, his laptop, several books on engineering and military theory, a few pictures and his iPod and its dock. He got settled and set things up the way he liked them, his books and laptop on the desk along with his pictures and the television was soon mounted on the wall. Sokka had just changed into his favorite pair of jeans and a t-shirt when someone knocked on his door.

He cursed as he got up and answered, "Good afternoon, Captain," the English accent gave away the identity of the visitor, as if the striking blue eyes didn't. "Staff Sergeant, you've already settled yourself in?" She nodded and it was then that Sokka noticed that she had changed into civilian clothing as well, and that was what he had usually seen her wearing to begin with anyways. "I have actually," Sokka watched as Suki glanced past his shoulder and raised her eyebrows in surprise. "You don't waste any time, do you, sir?"

"None at all, in fact you can expect training to start tomorrow morning."

"Well that's good, because I think Sergeant Bei-Fong is getting a bit rambunctious."

"If that's the case then she can go to the firing range," Sokka dismissed.

Suki bit her bottom lip; "Sergeant Bei-Fong was sort of implying something else actually," Sokka raised an eyebrow. "Well," he suddenly realized what his team leader was implying, "there is a bar here at the base you guys can go to. I heard a few soldiers talking about it when we got here, so you guys should fit right in." There was an awkward silence because Sokka understood the subtext of what Suki was saying and she realized that he was basically blowing her off, in a polite officer-like manner. "Sir, we're sort of inviting you. Everyone else is doing their own thing; Zuko is with his wife, and the other two are going out with other Green Berets later tonight." Sokka mulled the proposition over, "We're training tomorrow, so we can't get too messed up, alright?" Toph suddenly popped her head into the doorway, "So that's a yes then, sir?" Sokka sighed and nodded his head, "We'll leave in twenty minutes," he smiled. Things were going to get interesting.

General Iroh Long sat behind his desk and took a sip of his steaming tea. Many found it odd that the legendary officer enjoyed the drink but he found it to be a fine alternative to coffee. He had to admit that trying new teas had become a hobby of his. He looked down at the paperwork he had been filling out, while the file would never appear for the public record, a file had to be maintained for the task force and their operations. Granted it would always be stamped "Classified-Top Secret" and even then large amounts of the reports would be blacked out. Someday in the future though, the unit's exploits would be exposed to the public, but that would be long after they were all dead.

A knock on his door snapped Iroh out of his focus on getting the paper work done. "Come in!" he called out. He looked up to see Rear Admiral Pakku Cupik walking in; Iroh smiled at him and stood up to greet his Navy counterpart. "Admiral, back so soon? How was your trip?" the Rear Admiral gave him a twitch of a smile and nodded. "The trip was okay, and it yielded us a new task force member." He signaled for someone to come in.

The man stood a little over six feet tall, tan skin and brown eyes with an enlisted Navy uniform clothing a powerful looking body. "This is Hospital Corpsman First Class William Murphy," Iroh shook both their hands and glanced at Murphy's chest. "A SEAL then?" Murphy's cover had been removed so he wouldn't salute indoors, Iroh reminded himself. "Yes, sir. It's an honor to meet you," the Corpsman look flustered; no doubt he was a bit unfocused since his change of surroundings. "Take a seat, sailor," Iroh motioned toward one of the empty chairs.

Iroh flipped the file he was going through shut, he did not want the newest member of the task force to know more about what their main objective was, not before the field commanders anyway. "I trust that the Admiral told you why we had to pull you out of your unit before you shipped out again?" Iroh offered the Corpsman some tea and much to his delight he accepted, he liked the sailor already.

"Uh, yes sir, he has. And I'm honored to have been selected by officers of your caliber," Murphy said before blowing on the tea and taking a polite sip. He eyed it afterwards, realizing it was not coffee as he had thought.

The older man smiled, he realized that Corpsman Murphy was a very well-spoken man; he'd guess that the SEAL read plenty of books and not all of them having to do with his profession. A razor sharp intellect coupled with excellent reflexes and almost superhuman physical endurance was what made for a great operator. The public had this image burned in their minds that all members of the special operations community were muscle bound automatons that lumbered into combat with a heavy machine gun, firing wildly from the hip into helpless mobs of enemies. And in a way Iroh was thankful for that image that Hollywood had perpetuated. It allowed them to go about their jobs quietly, the way it was supposed to be. No one would suspect the lean fellow who has an interest in literature or engineering would also be a warrior trained to the peak of lethality. It was Iroh's desire to work with the best that had drawn him into the Special Forces, as well as other egotistical reasons he felt during his youth, but that had been so long ago.

Pakku leaned toward the Corpsman as he spoke, "Corpsman Murphy, I am sure that you understand the meaning of top secret." As usual, Pakku's voice was laced with some form of intimidation. It wasn't that he tried, it was just the slight sarcastic tone of his voice that made it seem like he knew something that no one else did; some terrible secret that he could bring up to crush a man's career. "Absolutely, sir," Murphy replied calmly. "Very good, then I believe all that's left here is the paperwork and after that we'll have you sent to your accommodations."

"When do I get to meet the rest of the unit sir?"

"Well I'm sure you'll meet them soon enough, they're a nice enough bunch," Pakku assured the newest member of Joint Task Force Alpha-One.

Sokka was doing his best not to fall into the usual traps bars set in front of him when he got back from a deployment. He learned years ago that he had a thing for liquor, he could hold it fairly well but when he did eventually get full on drunk it was very embarrassing. He couldn't usually remember what happened during his inebriated periods but his friends told him enough to make him blush.

According to his friends, Sokka was a very happy drunk, in fact he talked a lot more than usual and he already liked to talk when he was sober. They also mentioned that he liked to dance which made him thankful that he could not remember his drunken escapades. He did not consider himself the best dancer.

He glanced down at the two empty shot glasses and smiled, it seemed like a solid start, his vision wasn't blurring and his speech was still normal. Besides, he was an officer and he was out drinking with two non-coms, female non-coms at that. "So, you have a problem with the British military?" Suki spouted after her fourth drink, she was not drunk but her lips were a little loose. She was bringing up something she would have kept to herself had her reserve not been inhibited by the alcohol that was now coursing through all of their veins.

"Well I never said that," Sokka said, taken aback by her question.

"Yes, you did. I heard you, on the plane. You said somethin' about 'a limey'," she pointed an accusing finger at him.

"I never said anything like that," Sokka knew he was a bad liar.

"You know what? I call bullshit on that!" Toph said with a proud grin. "I always know when an officer is lying!"

Sokka frowned at them, even in his military life he could not seem to win in an argument against a woman. Maybe Bato did have a point about that after all. "No, you said something about me, damn it." Suki was not going to back off at all. Sokka sighed, his alcohol laced breath mingling with the stale air of the bar. The rustic setting and furniture, the walls adorned with pictures of decorated units and individuals, many of them had been killed in action. Sokka blended in for the most part, as long as he kept his tattoos covered, no one could really tell he was a Marine. "Ah, he does have a problem with me," Suki muttered to Toph.

The Marine felt blood rush to his face, "I do not have a problem with you." Suki rolled her eyes, "Then what was the limey comment about?" Sokka would have to answer the question tactfully. And that was fairly difficult to do with four shots of liquor in his system. "Or is the female angle the thing that gets to you?" Suki's voice oozed something different on the second question. There was an element of intimidation, or accusation in her voice as well as a hint of venom that Sokka picked up. "What does that have to do with anything?" he said. "Did you hear that, Staff Sergeant?" Toph asked, "Our commanding officer answered your question with another question."

"Okay, now you're just fucking with me, Bei-Fong," Sokka glared at her.

"It's what I do, sir," she said with a lopsided smile as she ordered another round.

"Call me, Sokka," he thought about it for a moment, "actually all of you can call me that."

The trio wasn't on duty, so Sokka didn't mind them using his first name in fact he wasn't all that fond of titles at all, unless he felt the need to stroke his own ego. "So, Sokka, could you answer a question for me?" Toph hiccupped as she cracked a peanut open. "Shoot," Sokka signaled the bartender for one more drink. "You've mentioned your father before," Toph began. "Why didn't you opt for OCS right out of boot camp?" It was a question that Sokka had answered several times before, but it was a reasonable question so he rarely became annoyed at it. "That's a simple answer actually; I just wanted to be an enlisted man. I saw something cool about it, and my father didn't really have a problem with it. But, he was happy to hear about my commission." Sokka replied. He downed one more shot and announced that he was done for the night. The Marine officer was surprised by how well he was holding up.

"I think I'm going to call it a night," Sokka said as he stood up and motioned toward the bartender to let him know that he was ready to pay. "Already, sir?" Suki asked, a slight pout forming on her face. The SAS operator that Sokka had gotten to know over the past few days had taken a vacation, in her place was a slightly inebriated attractive thirty-year old. Suki was lucky enough to look younger though. "We might start training tomorrow, its best that we quit while we're ahead." Toph and Suki looked at each other; the Captain had a point, even if they both had thought about it already. They wanted to relax for at least one night in the states before they got down to business. The two females sighed and paid for their drinks before leaving, Toph opted to pay for Suki since she had yet to obtain any American currency.

The trio made their way back to the barracks; they walked well enough to not attract the attention of any sort of official. But if someone got closer to them then they might have been able to smell the alcohol on their breaths.

"Seriously sir, do you have a problem with me being a woman?" Suki asked.

"Shit, you're not going to drop it are you?" Sokka rolled his eyes and regretted it immediately when he felt vertigo almost overtake him.

"I'd just like some honesty from my commanding officer, that's all," Suki replied.

"Well I don't have a problem with you being a chick, either of you for that matter," Sokka stopped and looked around suddenly realizing that he needed to urinate. "All that matters is how you perform in the field. You two are the least of my worries." Sokka's thoughts lingered on Jet and how arrogance could be a dangerous thing when working as a team. Arrogant people rarely turned out to be team players, but how could Jet have been selected for Special Forces training let alone complete it without being a good team player? It was something that worried him even with hard liquor in his system, and it was starting to piss him off.

"You'll have to let your hair grow, you know that right?" Toph mentioned before spitting something out on to the ground. Sokka ran his hand through his crew cut, it looked too military and if they were sent on a mission where they needed to blend into the civilian population he'd stick out like a sore thumb. "Yeah, I guess I will," Sokka then touched his chin. Maybe growing a beard was also in order. But that would only come after he was sure that they were ready to be deployed. "Tomorrow we get to the serious shit," Sokka announced as they reached the barracks. The sun had disappeared behind the horizon a few hours before; there was still activity where ever they looked.

Toph ducked into her room quickly, she had the right idea, sleeping off what they had drunk. "She's pretty tough for someone her height," Sokka said to Suki. "Well she's a Ranger; I reckon that counts for something." An awkward silence passed between them before Sokka heaved a stressed sigh. "Look, Suki, about the whole limey thing," she turned her attention towards him. "I didn't mean anything by it," he swallowed his pride. Apologizing was often the most difficult thing to do, especially when a person was put into a leadership position. "I'm sorry if it offended you. It's no way to treat a fellow operator. British or female, it doesn't matter to me at all." She gave him a small smile and patted him on the shoulder. "It's okay, sir. I wasn't going to make something big out of it, but it's nice to know that my gender isn't an issue." Sokka nodded as he looked down at his feet.

"Um, yeah, that's good. Uh, we should get some shut eye."

"Yes, we should," she moved off to her room. "Good night, sir."

"Good night, Staff Sergeant."

They disappeared into their respective rooms, too damn lazy to brush their teeth. Suki barely had time to strip down before falling face first on to her bed and dozing off. One door down Sokka tore off his polo and tossed it into a duffel bag he used as a makeshift hamper. He kept the lights off as he slipped on something more comfortable to sleep in, thin orange rays of light lanced into the room through the curtains. Sokka caught a glimpse of his own tattoo on the inside of his right bicep. The Strength of the Pack is the Wolf, it read around the MSOR insignia. Sokka yawned and closed his eyes, his last thoughts were of C Company in Kiev and how they could be doing. Knowing that he left his Marines in good hands, he slept well that night without a single bad memory in mind to haunt him in the form of a nightmare.