CHAPTER 7

When Aang woke, he was very uncomfortable. But then, he thought calmly, anyone would be uncomfortable if they were chained between two iron girders as he was. Two light bulbs lit the room, one on each side of the door straight in front of him.

He looked around disinterestedly. The vertical iron girders appeared to be support beams for whatever building he was in. There were several more of the girders throughout the room, supporting this conclusion. He must have been in a basement somewhere. Some pipes were dripping somewhere behind him.

"Oh good," Aang sighed. His feet were chained to the floor, one hand chained to each pillar. He gave each chain a fruitless tug. "At least they didn't take the cough syrup…" His eyes widened. How long had he been here? How long had Sokka and Katara been alone at their house, sick?

"Hello?" Aang shouted. "Anyone there? I'm awake and confused in here!"

No sooner did he start shouting than someone unfamiliar walked into the room. He was tall and broad and his sideburns attracted most of Aang's attention immediately.

"Avatar," the man said by way of greeting. He had an easy sort of voice that made him sound like he was talking down to him. "My name is Zhao. I am one of Boss Ozai's top men."

"Hey," Aang replied carelessly. Zhao frowned. "So can you let me go, please? My friends are sick, and I need to take care of them."

"Oh, you mean your Riversider friends?"

Aang scowled. "No, I mean my other friends," he said airily. "Oh wait, you and your gang killed all of them, so never mind, you had it right the first time, you ass."

Zhao was suddenly right in front of him, grabbing Aang by the shirt and pulling him forward as much as he could manage with the chains. "You little cretin," Zhao growled. "How dare you talk to me that way? I was trying to be polite, and you respond with that."

"Chaining me up in some cruddy basement isn't exactly what I would call polite," Aang replied coolly, making a point to make a face as though Zhao's breath offended him.

Suddenly Zhao's fist was on fire and inches from Aang's face. He cringed away from it.

"That's what I thought," Zhao snarled. "Now sit tight, you little beast. Boss Ozai is on his way here right now, and I'm sure he'd love to speak to you."

He turned around to leave the room. Aang took a deep breath and blew a stream of wind at him, knocking him into the door. Zhao got to his feet and roared in anger, sending a breath of fire dangerously close to Aang.

"Just be glad I'm not softening you up before Boss Ozai deals with you," he snapped, slamming the door behind him.

Aang looked down, sighing. This wasn't going well at all.

So imagine his surprise when, nearly an hour later, the door opened again. But this time it wasn't Zhao. It wasn't Boss Ozai. It wasn't anyone Aang recognized at all.

Probably due to the fact that he was wearing a frightening blue mask.

0000000

Katara woke up sluggishly. Her head felt like it weighed a hundred pounds. She didn't know how much time had passed, but the sun was no longer coming through her window.

"Aang?" she called. She turned and smiled. He had left her a glass of water. She sat up, rubbed her eyes, and coughed. "Aang, where are you?"

There was still no reply after nearly a minute. Katara started to worry.

"Aang!""

No answer. He must be back by now. She attempted to stand up, but staying vertical made her dizzy so she had to sit back down. She was out of commission, and Aang was still out there somewhere.

"Aang," she called half-heartedly. The empty house made no response.

0000000

"Who are you?" Aang asked immediately.

The masked man made no response. He was wearing a black trench coat and gloves, his head covered by a hood and the mask looming out of the shadows within. He pulled out a single pistol that looked just like…

"Sokka?" he offered.

The person didn't respond. He was too tall to be Sokka anyway, and Sokka was in no condition to be out saving people. So if that was the case… who was this guy?

"Look, uh… you don't want to shoot me," Aang said quickly as the man moved toward him. "Boss Ozai is on his way here and if he doesn't get to kill me he'll be really disappointed."

No response.

"I've got a dog, he needs to be fed just the right amount or he'll get sick!"

Still no response.

Aang let out a groan of frustration. "Fine, I'm not going to beg you not to kill me," he snapped. "Because frankly, I'm above that. But I feel you should know that there's this girl, and she's sick and I really care about her. So if you kill me, fine, whatever. But there's this bottle in my pocket and I'd really appreciate it if you would make sure it gets to her."

The man still didn't respond. The gun was suddenly pointed at Aang and he didn't flinch. Then the man's arm shifted and a shot rang out, slicing right through one of the chains connecting his arm to the pillar. Three more shots took care of the others.

"You're letting me go?" Aang said flatly.

He still didn't respond. He gestured over his shoulder with the gun and walked out the door, Aang following him mutely. There were two unconscious guards on the floor by the door. Aang stepped over them carefully.

"Where are we?" Aang hissed as the two of them ran down the hallway. No response. "Are you going to say anything at all?" No response. "Fine. No talking, I get it."

The hallway came to a crossroads. To the right was a set of great double doors, no doubt leading to a speakeasy. Straight across was a rough door that probably led to a cellar. And to the left was a flight of stairs. Their way out.

The man walked straight across the hall into the cellar.

Aang sighed and hastened after him.

Just as the cellar door closed behind them, Zhao entered the hallway from the speakeasy. He turned the corner and saw the guards sprawled on the floor. He wrenched open the door to the room Aang had previously occupied, only to find it empty.

Zhao's roar of anger echoed all the way to the back of the cellar where Aang was following his rescuer out the high basement window.

He pulled himself up as quickly as he could. But upon reaching the outside of the building, they were faced with the next problem. A nine-foot-tall chain link fence surrounding a big empty lot patrolled by Dragons.

"Oh good," Aang sighed. The masked man pressed a gloved finger to the carved metal mouth of the mask and gestured sharply to the right. The two of them took off running again reached the fence unnoticed. They only managed to climb halfway up, however, when a flashlight was shining in Aang's direction. There was shouting and someone blew a whistle, and all of a sudden there were fireballs sinking into the fence beside him and he had no choice but to drop to the ground.

As Aang and the masked man stood back to back, facing down a tight circle of Dragons armed with guns and flaming fists, it occurred to him that this wouldn't have happened if he had listened to Katara.

"Keep up," he muttered to the mysterious man, and he turned quickly on the spot, blasting the Dragons out of the way with a draft of wind. As soon as the way was clear, Aang started running toward the gate, not even checking behind him to see if the masked man was following.

Out of the corner of his eye, Aang spotted a pile of extra poles from the fence. He grabbed the shortest he could find, slightly taller than he was. He used to train with a staff when he was learning to airbend, but he'd outgrown it a few years ago and never gotten a new one. This would have to do for now.

He swung his new staff toward an oncoming rush of firebenders, scattering them easily. As he approached the gate, he finally turned to check if the masked man was behind him. He was, luckily, but in the time it took him to check, the gate swung shut and they were surrounded again.

"Everybody stop! The Avatar is to be captured alive," Zhao's voice rang out through the cacophonous night air.

It took less than a second. The masked man turned and fastened an arm around Aang's neck, pressing his handgun to Aang's temple.

Suddenly, the night seemed very quiet.

All Aang could think, over and over. This wouldn't be happening if he had listened to Katara.

Zhao was yards away, eyes locked on the dark holes of the stranger's mask.

"Open the gate," he commanded calmly.

The two of them backed out of the complex, one step at a time. Aang wondered if this was how it was going to end. A year alone in that stuffy old basement, and finally things were looking up. Such a shame to die now.

A shot rang out and Aang closed his eyes. He felt the man fall away behind him and froze. Without a second thought he kicked up a cloud of dust, shielding them from view.

Aang turned and crouched on the ground. The metal mask had stopped the bullet. If not for that mask, he would have taken it right between the eyes. Aang sighed and pulled the mask off the man's face. He fell back in shock. It was hard not to recognize that scar.

There was shouting drawing nearer. Aang ran a few steps and stopped. His conscience was nagging at him. With a groan of frustration he hauled Zuko up over his shoulder and took off running.

For his part, all Zhao could do was grind his teeth in anger.

0000000

Zuko woke with a grunt. He was lying in a puddle in a night-darkened alley. The Avatar was sitting nearby on a crate against the wall.

"The Dragons weren't like this seven years ago," Aang said quietly when he saw Zuko was awake. "One of my best friends was a Dragon. His name was Kuzon. He was killed a couple of years ago, when they were stealing from someone else's turf." Aang looked down at the firebender, no trace of emotion on his face. "When did it change? If you had been my friend, not Kuzon, would you still be chasing me now?"

Zuko didn't respond. He sat up abruptly, shooting a fireball at Aang. But he had anticipated this and had long since leapt to the rooftop, disappearing into the rain-washed night.

0000000

"Hello?" Aang called as he walked in the door of the little house. "You guys okay?"

A light switched on in the hallway and suddenly Aang was staggering backward, locked in a tight embrace.

"Don't do that!" Katara shouted as fiercely as she could as sick as she was. "I was worried sick, you idiot!"

"You were already sick," Aang pointed out gently.

"What took you so long, are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Aang laughed. "It's you and your brother I'm worried about."

"Shut up, what's the matter with you? Just wandering off for hours and hours…"

Aang couldn't help but smile. "I don't really need a hug, you know," he murmured. "No mental baggage."

"I know, this one's for me," she muttered into his shirt.

Aang laughed, digging into his pocket for the bottle of cough syrup. "This is for you and Sokka," he said quietly. "It'll taste awful, but it'll make you feel a little better. It should help you sleep at least."

She finally released him, taking the bottle from his hand. She smiled and leaned up toward him, kissing his cheek briefly.

"Thanks," she muttered, cheeks turning pink.

Aang grinned at her. "Are you getting feverish again, Katara?" he asked slyly.

She punched him ineffectually in the arm. "I retract my previous thank you," she sniffed, turning on her heel to return to her room. But she got dizzy again and he grabbed her from behind, only serving to embarrass her more. It didn't take long to get her back into bed and get the cough syrup to both of the siblings, and by that time Aang was completely exhausted. He crashed to his bed without changing into his wonderfully comfortable pajamas and immediately fell asleep, hoping that somehow, the events of the day would be easier to forget than they were to experience.

0000000

A few days later, the siblings and Aang were killing time in the bar when Hakoda burst into the room.

"Bad news," he said quickly. "The Dragons have a plan."

"A plan," Katara replied calmly. "What plan?"

"There's the problem," Hakoda sighed. "We don't know."

"So how do you know there's a plan?"

"We have a contact in the Dragons, and something big is in the planning stages right now," he replied. "Something that concerns us."

The bar fell silent. It was ten minutes before anyone spoke.

"Dad, stop," Katara sighed, eyes following her father as he paced around the bar. He didn't seem to be listening.

Katara was standing behind the bar, elbow on the counter and resting her chin on her hand. Aang was sitting across from her, leaning back against the counter as he too watched Hakoda pace. Sokka had fallen asleep, drooling on the polished wood.

"We've got to get into their headquarters and find the plans," he muttered, finally stopping and looking at his children. Aang and Katara looked at him. He went back to pacing. "But how…"

Katara returned her attention to what she had been before her father had entered the room. Aang turned back to the counter. Two lowball tumblers sat between them. Katara held up one finger, gesturing for him to wait a moment while she ducked behind the bar. She emerged moments later holding a bottle of some dark amber liquid. There was no label. She glanced at Aang, lifting an eyebrow. He shrugged. She sniffed the bottle, looking thoughtfully at the empty glasses.

"Bourbon?" she offered him the bottle. He sniffed as well.

"I think so," he consented.

She nodded and poured some in each glass. After tucking the bottle back under the counter, she handed one glass to Aang. They both glanced over when Hakoda stopped for a moment, but he resumed pacing shortly after.

Katara raised her glass. Aang did the same.

"Okay, very simple," she said lightly. "This is one of those toasts where you have to keep eye contact or it's impolite, so keep your eyes on mine."

"Noted," Aang replied, steadily returning her gaze.

"Now we lean forward just a little," she instructed, and they leaned toward each other. "Cross arms." She crossed her arm over his so his glass was closer to her and her glass was closer to him. She hooked her wrist around his, pulling her own glass back toward herself. He mimicked the movement. "And drink." They had to lean closer again to bring their tumblers to their lips, never breaking eye contact.

"That's it," Katara smiled, and they carefully untangled their arms.

"I was raised in a bar, and yet I never learned proper drinking etiquette. Go figure," Aang replied, taking another drink. He looked at the glass. "That's good."

"That's Riversider moonshine," she replied, taking a sip herself and licking her lips. "The best on the river." She laughed, raising her glass again. "To prohibition."

"To high treason," Aang replied, crossing their arms again and taking another drink.

"A toast like that is only for formal affairs," Katara pointed out after they put their glasses down. "You know… weddings and stuff. It's usually just a clink and you're done."

"I knew that much," Aang smiled, finishing off his glass. "That's really good."

"I told you," Katara grinned at him, draining the last of her glass. "Riversider moonshine is the best there is."

"No arguments there," he sighed, leaning against the counter.

"I've got it," Hakoda said suddenly. Katara glanced up, rolling the glass between her hands. "I had a plan to get into their headquarters years ago, but now with you three, I can actually make it happen. Wake your brother and follow me."

Aang and Katara shared a mystified glance before doing as they were told.

0000000

Hakoda hadn't been lying about having his own plan. Everything was accounted for. There was a specific job for every member of the Southern Distillery, except Sokka and Katara, as they had been ten and twelve when the plan was made. The plan was perfect. Just one problem.

"I needed a way to get the back gate open, and the only way I could see was to get someone in to unlock it," Hakoda explained to the group. He was standing before every Southern Riversider that didn't have a job to be doing at the moment. They had all been packed into the mess hall. "But I couldn't get anybody in without attracting attention. Until now."

He looked at Aang, who was spinning his hat between his hands.

"Aang, you can get over the fence with airbending, right?"

"By myself? Yeah," Aang replied simply. "But if I have to carry anybody…"

"No, you'd be by yourself," Hakoda assured him. "You would just need to unlock the back gate. You're the only one who can make a jump like that."

"Very true."

"Alright, we have a lot of recon to do so we can update this plan, but the framework of it is sound. Don't think this means you'll be able to skimp on your other duties," he warned the group at large. "I'll excuse you from your jobs if I have new assignments for you. Now get moving."

The mess hall emptied around them. Sokka, Katara, and Aang remained behind.

"So this whole thing kind of depends on me," Aang said quietly.

Sokka clapped him on the shoulder. "Well done," he said flatly.

"I didn't do anything."

"Don't contradict me."

Katara sighed. "This is a really important job, Aang," she said quietly, smiling. "You're really a Riversider now."

Aang smiled faintly. "Yeah, I guess so."

She got to her feet. "Come on, let's go back to the bar. We can work more on your drinking etiquette."

Aang shrugged. "Okay, why not?" he said, smiling a little. He got to his feet and offered her his arm. She took it with a laugh.

Sokka sighed and pulled his hat down over his face.