Twilight Rose2's A/N: There is cussing within this chapter, so be careful.


Solembum13

No Worries

Chapter 11

Sideburns 5-O

"Alright! We showed them!" Aang said excitedly as they closed the RV's doors, laughing joyfully; Katara and Zuko grinned while they watched Aang celebrate. Meanwhile Sokka was propping up Toph's leg with an extra pillow while she began to listen to her IPod; Sokka noticed Toph wince when he set her leg down to rest.

"Sorry," he said apologetically. She raised an eyebrow.

"For what?"

"Well, you're in pain...I thought I hurt you."

"Well, you didn't...I'm fine, it's not that bad," Toph said in defence. Sokka ignored her denial and glanced down at her ankle, and frowned; Katara stopped grinning when she looked at her concerned brother.

"Sokka, what is it?" he turned to Katara.

"Toph's ankle...I think it's sprained." Sokka said, watching the spot start turning a dull, throbbing, red.

Aang stopped laughing and walked over to check it out himself, then gasped, "Not good!"

"How badly?" Katara asked hesitantly.

"It's not that bad..." Toph stated.

"Oh yes it is!" Sokka remarked and turned to his sister, "Katara, it's swollen beyond belief. We're gonna have to go to a hospital." Katara flinched and sighed.

"Crap. Fine...Toph will you be okay for now?" They all looked at Toph who wore a very annoyed look on her face.

"Yeah, I guess, whatever...nothing much I can do about it," She replied grumpily.

"Just get some sleep," Sokka said. She huffed and turned up her music, closed her eyes, and started to doze off.

"Well that was surprisingly easy," Zuko said and turned his head back to the wheel, "Well, we should head ou-" Zuko stopped in mid-sentence when his eyes caught the mirrors reflection. "Oh no."

"What?" Katara and Sokka both asked in unison. Aang stared at Zuko, turned to see what he was looking at, also surprised when he realized the problem. Zuko started the Dreaded Ultra Super Awesome Delta Foxy Force Five Limited RV's engine.

Katara and Sokka finally caught on when they saw Song and the mystery man pacing out of the Denny's towards the RV. Katara gasped and Sokka shrieked.

"Better step on it Zuko!" Aang said impatiently.

"Wait, what's on her shirt? What did you two do to her?" Katara said, glaring at Sokka.

"Who cares? Just drive Zuko!" Sokka said ignoring his sister.

He didn't need to be told twice; Zuko was already pulling out of Denny's and quickly going into the highway. Sokka saw Song through the window following the guy, getting into (what was most likely) the guy's car and started pulling out of the parking lot.

"Don't stop driving Zuko they're following!" Zuko sped up while Sokka and Aang watched behind them glued to the concept of being chased. Katara, sitting shotgun, assisted Zuko also by watching through the rear view mirrors and what was in front of them.

"Zuko turn left!" She shouted. Zuko took a violent turn and jerked down the exit.

"Where's Song?" he asked, while manoeuvring around a car.

"No good, she sees us!" Aang said clutching onto his seat.

"Damn, she's turning!" Katara added.

"Shit." Zuko cut off another car, resulting to the driver honking.

"Oh shut up," Katara hissed back, "Zuko that way!"

He shifted more left going down to another lane, cutting more people off, "No good," He said, noticing Song through his mirror still tailing them. Zuko sped up and took another turn without any warning down to another highway. The RV took a dangerous tilt; everyone gasped and held on as Zuko did the cliché "bad action movie car chase" move and turned the wheel preventing the tip and continued to drive. Toph's body jerked and she yelped. Her eyes shot open surprised and she blinked, raising her head, taking out an earphone.

"What's going on?!" She yelled, suddenly aware with how fast they were driving.

"Song's chasing us!" Sokka replied, and before Toph could ask any more questions Zuko took another violent turn and everyone shifted to the right, causing Toph to nearly roll off the bed; but Sokka caught her in time, then propped her up into a sitting position and took a seat next to her on the bed as they both held on for dear life.

"God, Zuko, your driving is worse than Katara's! Err, no offence" Aang shouted also holding on for his life then blushed and smiled apologetically when Katara shot him a look.

"Well, get used to it! She also wasn't driving a big RV; I'm turning again," Zuko replied and sped up once again manoeuvring badly around more cars to reach the next exit.

"She's still behind us!" Katara cried, "DAMN! How the hell are we gonna lose her?!"

"I got it!" Sokka shouted looking ahead, "Zuko, don't freak out but…see that yellow light up there?"

"Yeah?"

"It's gonna turn red any second now; you need to run it."

"WHAT?" Aang yelled, "Are you insane!?"

"It's the only way! Do it Zuko!" Zuko nodded and floored it. The RV was cutting off more cars to reach the light. Everyone's hearts raced, as they were getting closer to the yellow light.

"Pray we live," Zuko stated and sped through the intersection; it turned red right in the middle of their crossing and many people cussed at their "road rage"...but they made it safely. The group looked behind them and saw the traffic delaying Song, who was furiously waiting at the stoplight.

"She stopped!" Katara said excitedly they all turned to Zuko who to be safe, took another exit leading out of the town and onto a scenic road.

"YES! We lost her!" Aang announced.

"Lost her for now," Sokka said staring at the vanishing town while he still held Toph, "We're gonna see her again, I just know it." Toph nodded.

"Yeah; seeing as my parents hired her, I wouldn't be surprised…they have serious trust issues."

"Well, you left without telling them, I'm not sure that's helping your case," Katara remarked. Toph glared in her direction.

"That's beside the point, Sweetness," Toph said. Zuko drove over a bump in the road and she grabbed her ankle in pain; Sokka laid her down once again and repeated the routine of propping her leg up.

"We really need to find a hospital, guys, before we have anymore interruptions."

"Well, another town is bound to come up soon," Zuko replied, "The map should be in the glove compartment, Katara." Katara nodded and opened up the compartment, but the only thing that came from her was a gasp followed by an "uh-oh". Aang groaned.

"What now?" he asked.

"The map; it's missing. I bet that bitch took it," Katara stated and slammed the compartment shut.

"Shit," Zuko responded.

"We can always get another one," Aang said optimistically.

"No shit, I wasn't talking about that," Zuko retorted, "Don't you hear that?"

"I do, way to go Zuko," Toph said. Before the other three could ask, Zuko slowed down the driving as the siren grew louder as it came closer and finally Zuko pulled over. The cop car came to an end behind the RV.

"Fuck," Zuko grumbled, "no one talks," he ordered and rolled down the window in dismay as the Cop came closer to the vehicle. The cop wore the standard navy and black uniform and a poker face that said it all. Aang winced in sight of the angry Cop, Sokka rubbed his temples with his free hand and Katara simply looked petrified in the front seat. Zuko maintained a calm, aloof attitude and slowly turned his head left to face the man by his window. The Cop continued to frown as he stared at Zuko behind his massive glasses, sighed after analyzing him, and leaned forward.

"Do you realize how fast you were driving just now?" he asked calmly and kept staring. Zuko continued to face the cop, but looked up towards his black hat and bit the side of his lip in thought; looked down at the floor and finally stared back at the cop with an answer.

"No, not entirely." Katara stared at Zuko dumbfounded with his pathetic smart-ass answer while the three grouped in the back smacked their heads. The cop raised his eyebrows.

"No idea? None at all?"

"No, Sorry," Zuko responded a little quieter. Unsatisfied; the cop gritted his teeth and leaned in a little closer to the window.

"Well, punk, you were going five over the speed limit; did you think that would slide on this road?"

"Five?' Zuko asked puzzled. Aang and Sokka looked at each other, thinking the same thing.

"He must not have seen the chase, hopefully we're clear" Sokka mouthed to Aang and he nodded.

"Yes, five, did I stutter?

"No, sir, sorry…I…"

"License and identification," The cop interrupted and held out his hand. Zuko huffed and fumbled around his pockets for his wallet; Katara, Sokka and Aang watched nervously, glancing back to the cop who was growing more impatient each second.

"A-hah", Zuko muttered finally finding his wallet and took out his license and ID; the cop snatched it from his hand and started to compare Zuko and his photo. He scratched one of his massive side burns when he did this, only stressing the moment for the five in the car.

"So, you're seventeen-years-old travelling halfway across the country with a bunch of other punks and no parents; care to explain?"

"Actually, I'm eighteen, and"

"Don't correct me punk,"

"But I'm eighteen!" Zuko stated in defence; the cop frowned and looked back at the ID again.

"Fine, eighteen, so you're driving with a bunch of minors from the looks of it, right?"

"Well…"

"Do they have parental consent?"

"Yeah, of course," Zuko replied anxiously.

"It's true sir," Katara added, the cop turned to face her resulting to a sheepish "sorry" and turning away.

"I can also see that none of you seem to be wearing seatbelts; do you know what that means?"

"A big ticket?' Zuko asked stupidly. The cop looked at him with disgust and leaned in closer face-to-face with Zuko, breathing heavily as if he was holding back his anger, then lowered his glasses revealing his intimidating brown eyes.

"Look here punk; I may not be 'Officer Riviera', but I'm the next best thing…No, it doesn't just mean a big ass ticket, it also means you've just endangered the safety of a bunch of minors, and you know what else? It means I'm charging you like an adult so get out of the car."

"But-"

"Get out of the vehicle!" Zuko looked nauseous and turned to face the others and frantically opened the RV's doors and climbed out of the car. Katara sat speechless, Aang's mouth was open in disbelief and Sokka whispered "Shit."

"So…what now?" Toph said breaking the silence.

"This is so stupid! This cop's a total prick! Five? Come on! That's like barely anything!" Sokka complained.

"He may be having a bad day," Aang whispered back, "or he's just dead serious about his job."

"He's a prick nonetheless, I mean, I'm sure Zuko and me not wearing seatbelts isn't helping the case," Katara added, "But still, I hope he lets it go, we need to get Toph help….and a map."

"The seatbelt thing is stupid," Sokka stated, "we're in an RV, he's only doing this for prick reasons; I highly doubt he'll let this go, Katara."

"Talk in whispers Sokka!" she remarked.

"Sorry."

"What's he doing now?" Toph asked; Aang looked out the window.

"Frisking Zuko," Aang replied and smiled fighting back a laugh; Sokka, on the other hand, snorted.

"Really? Man, I gotta see this!" He got up from the floor where he was sitting on to be near Toph and glanced out the window. Sure enough, the cop was frisking a miserable looking Zuko. The three in the back couldn't help it; after Sokka started busting up Aang gave up and let go of the laughter he was holding back and Toph joined in laughing in spite of her pain. The only one who didn't find it funny was Katara who was glaring at the three of them.

"This is serious!" Katara whispered, reminding them once again they should do just the same. Sokka wiped away a tear and looked at his sister.

"Oh, come on Katara, if it wasn't serious you'd be laughing too. Oh, man, I can't let this one go." Katara didn't say anything else; she just gave Sokka the hairy eye, and turned to watch again.

"You know, it's a good thing Zuko doesn't carry his knife around anymore," Sokka stated, "Wait, does he?"

"Hopefully not," Aang replied a little troubled.

"He doesn't I confiscated it a while back," Katara reassured them, "He's clear…the cop doesn't look too thrilled about that. Oh, come on!"

"What's he doing now?" Toph asked.

"Zuko's about to take a breath test! He's crazy!" Katara Shrieked.

"Not so loud," Sokka mocked; Katara glared at him again. The three who could see continued to watch the cop who was looking annoyed that Zuko really had nothing to hide. Finally, the cop was speaking sternly to Zuko, who looked drained, and finally turned him around, and brought out his cuffs restraining Zuko's hands.

"NO WAY! THAT'S NOT EVEN FAIR!" Aang cried.

"Wait, he's bringing him over!" Sokka said, pointing. The cop led Zuko to the Driver's window, where he pushed him against the car.

"Stay here," The cop ordered and walked back to his car to get something. Zuko glanced back and then leaned his head into the window.

"Okay, here's the deal, guys: Unless I have the money to pay off the ticket, like right now, I'm gonna go to jail," Zuko said glumly.

"WHAT?" Katara bellowed incredulously.

"How much are you talking," Toph demanded; Zuko flinched.

"Well, he's charging me for speeding and for every person not wearing seatbelts, which is pretty much everyone…so, it's…well," Zuko paused briefly and turned his head away, and mumbled something inaudible to the group.

"Zuko, I'm sitting right here and I can't even hear that, what did you say?" Katara inquired. He sighed.

"About 900 dollars," He choked. The group looked aghast.

"What about Toph?" Sokka said after a minute.

"Sokka, it's either this, or I go to jail." The group looked at each other and then at Toph.

"What do you think?" Sokka asked her.

"I say, that's too much," Toph retorted dryly. Before anyone can say another word the cop returned with a ticket book.

"You have the money?" He asked while writing out the ticket.

"Well," Zuko began hesitantly.

"It's okay, Zuko, take the money; my ankle can wait," Toph said in her most miserable voice. The cop turned to Toph and raised an eyebrow. The group watched Toph curiously as she ran her fingers through her bangs, revealing her pale eyes.

"What's wrong with her?" The cop asked in a different tone.

"Huh?" Toph said and turned her head the opposite direction of the cop.

"Toph, he's over here," Sokka said sympathetically, and then placed his hands on her face turning her head to face the cop. Toph's cheeks went slightly red and she smiled embarrassed.

"Sorry, sir; I feel embarrassed…you see, I'm blind; I thought you were over there."

"Oh, well, um…that's alright," the cop said uncomfortably.

"But, Toph, your ankle," Sokka said concerned, tensing his face up. She smiled sadly.

"No, he needs the money more than me," she said kindly, winced and grabbed her ankle in pain. She knew the cop was still watching, so she gave another shy smile, "Sorry, my ankle isn't good, I sprained it while walking…some mean person earlier thought it'd be funny to take my cane when I was resting, and they escaped before my friends found out. I…I tried to get up and yell at them, but I tripped over a crack in the road," she said miserably. The Gang was silent while watching Toph do her magic. Sokka put a hand on her shoulder as she forced out a tear and stared blankly into space; Sokka turned to sadly face the cop, who was starting to look slightly guilty.

"I'm sorry to hear that," the cop managed to say.

"It's not your fault; It's just unfortunate being blind…you see, my cousin, the one who was driving, he was just concerned and was rushing me to the nearest hospital; but my friend she recently discovered our map is gone and we're on vacation so I'm guessing we're lost," Toph finished and wiped her tear.

The cop sighed and looked down to the ground and scratched his head. He looked at the ticket he was writing out, "I see...Well…The nearest hospital isn't too far, just in the next city ahead; take the next exit and you'll hit Arnook County Hospital."

"Thanks you for the information, but it'll be useless considering all the money is going to the ticket...I'm just gonna have to suffer," Toph said, winced once again, and grabbed her ankle; the cop looked at her sympathetically and then at the ticket.

"I'll cut off the ticket, you'll go with a warning…I apologize for everything," he muttered, then turned to Zuko and uncuffed him, "You're free to go."

"Thanks," Zuko mumbled and rubbed his wrists. The cop patted his back and went back to his car; Zuko quickly climbed back to the driver's seat and buckled up (Katara did the same); the cop came back and tossed a map to Zuko. Katara took it and looked at the cop grinning.

"Thanks, Officer…"

"Zhao," he grumbled. Suddenly his walkie-talkie started to pick up a voice, "excuse me," he said and started listening to the message, "A teenage guy and girl speeding 95 running two red lights," he said irritated, and turned back to the RV, "catch you again and you will be punished," he stated sternly, then went back in the police car, turned on his siren and drove away. Everyone turned their eyes on Toph, who was smiling mischievously.

"Toph Beifong does it again! That was the most brilliant lie you've ever told!" Sokka said ecstatically.

"It was nothing, guilt trips always work," she replied modestly, "Man, that cop was PMSing or something." Sokka chuckled and put his hand on her shoulder.

"No, but seriously Toph, you just saved Zuko big time, all of us. It was amazing."

"It was risky," Katara remarked, turning her head from the map frowning, "I can't believe you Toph, lying to a cop, and Sokka…you joined right in! I can't believe you two!"

"Oh, come on, Katara, this is no time for your moral lectures, we saved Zuko, didn't we?" Toph said.

"And the money," Sokka added.

"Yes, but, lying to a cop? I just have the oddest feeling this will bite us in the butt later on; I don't know why but I do," Katara said displeased.

"Katara, you're worrying too much, Toph did what was necessary; I mean, would you rather I have gone to jail?" Zuko said defensively.

"Well, no, but…"

"Then what's the problem? No worries, remember?" Zuko said.

"Besides, what's done is done; we should just focus on the hospital as of now," Aang reassured. Katara looked at everyone and sighed.

"Well, okay, if you all say so," she said still sounding a bit sceptical and went back to looking at the map, "Arnook County hospital isn't too far away, we should get there in less than an hour."

"Well, then we better get going," Zuko said and placed his hand on the key.

"So you think that was Song and her boyfriend the Zhao guy set off to get?" Sokka asked.

"Maybe," Zuko said, then stopped in realization "Wait, boyfriend? You mean…"

"She was taken the whole time? Yeah, sorry Zu-Zu," Toph said bluntly. Zuko was silent.

"Zuko?" Sokka asked. He was staring at the windshield into space with his eyes narrowed and his mouth hanging agape. Aang, Sokka and Katara looked at each other while Toph raised an eyebrow; Katara leaned near Zuko and waved her hand in front of his face. After a moment he snapped back into reality and closed his mouth but kept his narrowed eyes.

"What a whore," he managed to say, and grumpily started the RV's engine.

"Well, look on the bright side, Zuko, you're back to your Emo self now," Aang said after an awkward silence. Everyone except for Zuko busted up laughing; his face just remained stormy.

"Whatever," He mumbled and started the RV, pulling it out into the open road once again.


A/N: Solembum13

Well, first of all, I can't even say how sorry I am for keeping you all waiting for my chapter (and preventing you all of your turns for so long for those waiting, which this apology is going more to). I could go into a long and dull story on what's been preventing me from putting it up sooner; but I'll sum it up and say a majority of it was school related, family related, and a small part of it being the fact I had to restart this chapter three times for stupid reasons I don't feel like going into. But please take my apology, I'm REALLY, really sorry. I hope you all don't hate me. :D

Second, I am very aware that Zhao is OOC, but he was the only character I could think of in Avatar who looked fit to be a cop (I don't know why I think this, I just do. :p) I hope you enjoyed it anyway and wasn't a waste of your time; this is the first AU Avatar writing I've done so criticism is welcome for this chapter.

Well, it's back to Superbleh11. Good luck!