Chapter 4: Clarifications

The hallway was silent as Isaac as Isaac tiptoed towards the end. The door was slightly open at the end, and Isaac knew the man he was after was at the end. It was just a matter of sneaking up on him. Isaac pushed the door open, and to his shock, saw the man, with a gun pointed at Isaac's head.

"You really think you can sneak up on me?" laughed the man, pushing the gun towards Isaac.

"Give up Rolf, the police know you were behind the shootings the past few weeks." Said Isaac.

"I can kill you and run. As far as the cops are concerned, Rolf never existed."

"You really didn't get that I was giving you a chance to surrender. It could have been a lot less…" started Isaac.

Before Rolf had a chance to fight back, Isaac pulled his arms across his body, creating a gust of wind. Rolf was slammed against the wall, dropping the gun. Isaac ran at Rolf, fist's engulfed in flames, and punched the man numerous times. When Isaac was sure that he wouldn't get back up for a little while, he pulled multiple pillars from the ground beneath the house, which erupted through the floor, surrounding the criminal in a makeshift cell.

"Painful" finished Isaac, as he pulled out his phone and called Johnstone.

"The house is clear. He is trapped in the kitchen, north-east corner." Said Isaac. A few seconds later multiple police officers came in. Isaac lowered the pillars, and they handcuffed him and took him away.

"Good job Isaac. Our rate of success has improved by 70% with your help." Said Johnstone as he walked in.

"If it weren't for that stupid deal, I wouldn't be doing your job for you." Sneered Isaac.

"If it weren't for that stupid little deal, you would be behind bars." Retorted Johnstone.

Taking the hint, Isaac walked out of the building, muttering under his breath "As far as you're concerned."

After the debriefing at the station, Isaac walked to the apartment Kayla was renting. It was almost 5pm, so Kayla should be home. Isaac walked up the stair until he got to the 5th floor. He walked over to the door labelled 5C, and knocked. Footsteps became louder until the door opened, and Kayla's smiling face was at the doorway.

"Hey Isaac, come in." she said, standing out of the way.

Isaac walked over to the bench, and sat on one of the stools, while Kayla made her way to the other side.

"Coffee?" she asked.

"No sorry, I am in a rush."

"How was work?" Kayla asked.

"Same as usual. Johnstone rings me with some task that him and his lousy excuse for a police force can't handle, I do the job, and they take credit." Laughed Isaac.

"Hopefully one day they don't need you." Said Kayla as she sat on the stool next to him.

"Yeah, then I can pick up where I left off before we came back here."

"What go back to being the subtle-named Isaac Smith?" laughed Kayla. Isaac looked at Kayla, laughed along. After the laughing subsided, there was silence. Silence until Isaac succumbed to temptation, and went to kiss her.

"Isaac, no." she said in a calm voice. He backed pulled back, slightly confused.

"I thought that you wanted us to be together when I had dealt with the Burning Suns. They are gone now. What is stopping us?" asked Isaac.

"Isaac, that was before the bloodbending changed you. I know you are back to normal, otherwise you wouldn't have almost killed yourself to save me, and got your bending back. But I still think that we should take our time with this." Said Kayla.

"I understand," said Isaac checking his watch, "I had better go. I told Asher I would visit him on my way home"

"See you soon?" asked Kayla.

"Definitely."

"Say hi to Asher for me."

It was 7pm when Isaac arrived at the rehabilitation centre that soon would not be Asher's home.

"So how long until they let you move out?" asked Isaac.

Asher was walking slow laps around his room, supporting himself with a walking stick.

"A few weeks. The police force are giving me a nice payout in compensation, which should be enough to get my own place and pay rent for a little while. By the time that runs out, I should be strong enough to get a job." Said Asher, failing to hide the excitement in his voice, "You have no idea how grateful I am for what you and James did. I can live my life normally again. Thank you."

"I heard you say it the first 20 times." Laughed Isaac.

"Seen much of Kayla." Asked Asher.

"I was at her house before I came here. She said hi."

"You are so lucky she is even willing to look at you, let alone be your friend." Laughed Asher.

"I know. I would hate me if I were her."

"She's definitely a keeper." Laughed Asher, "Not many girls are willing to be friends with a guy who almost forced them to kill themselves. Except maybe those with Stockholm Syndrome."

"She said that she only wants to be friends at the moment. Nothing more. I guess I am lucky that she is even talking to me."

Sensing that Isaac was upset about something, Asher changed the subject.

"So what does the Avatar do these days?"

"Well right now I am the cops' errand boy. Basically I have to catch the criminals while the police sit around and eat donuts, otherwise I will be thrown in jail for police brutality." Explained Isaac.

"Is there any way you can get out of this?" asked Asher.

"Run away," Isaac quickly responded, "I managed to do it four years ago and the cops never found me. I had a life there that I put on hold to come back here. My plan was to go back to where I was hiding after all this was done. But that is now a lot harder."

Isaac heard a knock on the door, and one of the nurses walked in.

"Asher, visiting hours are long gone." Said the nurse bluntly.

"Sorry Isaac. Come back soon okay?" asked Asher.

"Yeah I'll be back."

Isaac left the building and walked home. On his way, he couldn't help but think about what Kayla and Asher had said.

Maybe one day he could return to his life as Isaac Smith the handyman. Maybe one day Kayla Thompson would be Kayla Reed, or even Kayla Smith. Maybe he could live a normal life. Maybe.