Smellerbee was the only female within the camp impervious to Jet's charms.

Oh, sure, she was able to be convinced with his charisma, but when it came to actual attraction being used to further his gains, it never worked. It baffled any and all of the girls (and some of the guys) in the camp who could never even dream of saying the same.

For the longest time, everyone thought that her ability to ignore his advances was because she preferred women. It wasn't hard to assume that, especially because she dressed and acted more like a boy than some of the boys did.

However, despite her disinterest, Jet seemed to think it was important to persist.

"Smellerbee," Jet cut her off one day, standing a mere inch apart from her. He leaned in close and smiled around his wheat stalk, his dark eyes flashing. "How are you this fine spring day?"

Smellerbee paused, her black eyes going to his impassively. "Feeling the tug of springtime, are we, Jet?" she wondered, her tone bored. Without another word, she slipped past him and grabbed onto one of the zipcords, threading her way through the trees.

Jet watched her go, scratching his head. From behind him, Pipsqueak snorted. "Didn't work out the way you planned, huh, Jet?"

Jet scowled, crossing his arms over his chest. "It's not like that," he protested, but Pipsqueak merely laughed louder.

Later, when Jet managed to catch sight of his elusive new member of his team, it was at lunch. Smellerbee came back wearing a huge grin on her face and holding a heavy bag of goodies. Jet, despite himself and his ego, was rather impressed. He addressed the rest of the team before they started eating.

"Today one of our newest members has returned with one hell of a haul," he announced, his voice clear as a bell. His words were met with happy and excited cheers, and Smellerbee rose to her feet and bowed in a rather silly way, grinning ear-to-ear and blushing a little through her tattoos.

"Congratulations, Smellerbee," he went on, walking over to her side and throwing an arm around her narrow shoulders. Her eyes narrowed, but her grin stayed on place. "What do you plan to do to celebrate?" He leaned in close, his eyes meeting hers right on.

Most girls would have blushed and looked away. Others would have giggled into their hands. Not Smellerbee. Her smile turned cat-like. "I plan to spend the money on nothing but candy," she replied. "And when the candy is gone, I'll go out and get ever more money to buy even more for everyone!"

The last part of the sentence was shouted out, and she threw up her arms and cheered, the other kids joining in with her.

It was then that Jet saw the problem.

Smellerbee was turning out to be a rival. It was even more evident when, late in the night, Jet caught her sitting side-by-side with his number one archer, Longshot.

Jet stared, unable to move or tear his eyes away. She's usurping my best archer!

But it was then that he looked a little closer, and saw how...different she looked in front of the silent Longshot. Her hand kept going to her ragged hair, and she kept looking down at her feet. Very much like how the girls looked at Jet.

She isn't gay, Jet thought, his mouth open slightly. She's also not a rival. She just doesn't like me!

Jet, being Jet, approached it the way he always did: with little thought and lots of passion. In seconds, he was with them. "Are you trying to poach my archer for whatever it is you want to do on your own?" he demanded.

Smellerbee glared at him, and Longshot blinked slowly, his mouth turned down in a puzzled frown. "So, what, I can't talk to nobody without you getting in my face about it?" she snapped at him.

Jet blinked, a little thrown off by the force of her words. "Well, okay, no, not exactly."

"Then what's the problem? You think I wanna be leader? Are you kidding me?" she stared at him, her face completely cloaked in disbelief. "I can't handle these kids like you can!"

Longshot nodded slowly. He quite obviously agreed with this.

Jet knew she was right, and also knew that she was being serious, but still. Still. It bothered him to see the naked dislike in her eyes when she looked at him. He certainly didn't think he deserved it, especially since he had agreed to let her stay. What is her problem?

Longshot caught his eye. With a slow blink, he moved his eyes from Smellerbee, back to Jet, then to the left, away from them both. Then he blinked again slowly. Jet nodded. Wordlessly, Longshot turned to Smellerbee, gave her a small smile, then turned and walked away. Smellerbee opened her mouth to protest, but Jet stepped in closer, cutting her off.

"Let's get it out in the open, shall we?" Jet said, his voice hard. "Why don't you like me?"

Smellerbee stared at him, her eyes flicking to the side for a moment before she spoke. "Who says I don't like you?" she echoed.

"You did, right there, with that lie," he answered. Smellerbee looked away, her cheeks pink with embarrassment, but he didn't let her off. "Why don't you like me, Smellerbee? Haven't I been nice to you?"

"Yes," she muttered, sounding like a berated child. It was his first hint.

"Then what's wrong with you?" he went on, leaning in close. She met his gaze with her own, her eyes unfaltering, but that was her only reaction. "Why don't you like me?"

"Why does it matter?" she finally answered. "You have hoards of people who like you already. Leave me alone." She started to brush past him, but he grabbed her shoulder and dragged her back, sparking fury in her black eyes. For some reason, seeing a reaction pleased him. "Are you looking to get sliced?" she finished.

Jet smirked. "No," he replied. "But I doubt that you could even land a cut on me."

She leaned in close, her face inches from his. Her smile was once again catlike. "Wanna find out?"

"You see?" Jet answered, leaning back and throwing up his hands. "Right there. You start making it sound like a game, but it's so obvious that you hate me. What did I do?"

Smellerbee blew her bangs out of her face. "What did you do?" she echoed.

"Yes!"

"Fine!" Smellerbee took a step back, her arms crossed. "Whenever someone fails to fall at your feet, you start...you start to stalk them, start to pressure them into liking you. You use that charm and smooth words to win them over, but I can see right through that shit because it's the same kind that my asshole family tried to pull on me." Her eyes narrowed. "And, in case you forgot, these are the same people that ruined me."

Jet stopped, his heart stuttering a little at the mention of that. There had been rumours that, before she had run away to join them, Smellerbee had been brutally abused by her family and, as his comrades put it, "forced to live a lie". He had never learned what that meant, exactly, but the amount of hurt and hatred in her eyes at even alluding to it gave him a pretty good hint.

"And then when people don't kowtow to you at every spare moment," she went on, "you go out of your way to remind them of how generous you are to let them stay here, when really, this is a team effort, Jet."

Jet was stunned. He felt, for the first time in a long time, really and truly humbled, and actually ashamed. He opened his mouth, but no words came out. He honestly had nothing to say that could defend himself without proving some part of what she was saying as true.

"So no, I guess I don't like you for those reasons," she finished, her voice as sharp as her knives. "So can we drop it and move on? I'm still gonna do my part. I'm still gonna follow your orders. But I don't have to like you." And with those words, she pushed past him roughly, stomping away from him as fast as she could without running.

Jet stared. He just...couldn't believe what she just said.

Did she just accuse me of being like a parent?!

It gnawed away at him for days, despite the fact that it was never brought up again. Smellerbee was true to her word and was incredibly useful and priceless on their missions, but she never warmed up to him like the others did and she never seemed to so much as notice him beyond the realms of the mission at hand.

Finally, one night, when the younger kids were sleeping and Pipsqueak and Sneers broke out the pilfered whiskey (a late night tradition at least once a week for the older kids), Jet grabbed two mugs and cornered Smellerbee far away from the others. He thrust one mug out to her, not saying a word.

Smellerbee frowned at him, then took it, sniffing it a little. She winced. "Strong," she admitted.

Jet smirked, leaning back against the nearest tree and sipping his own mug. It took every ounce of willpower not to wince himself. "Fire Nation likes to keep their soldiers happy," he replied.

To his surprise, Smellerbee smirked back, raising an eyebrow. "Having a burning chest is happy?" she wondered.

Jet laughed softly. "Anything with suffering makes those bastards happy," he replied.

Smellerbee sat down, holding her mug between her hands. When Jet didn't move, to his surprise, she waved him down to sit next to her. Wordlessly, he sipped again, his eyes on her. She wasn't looking at him. Her eyes were fixed on her mug.

"How'd it happen for you?" she wondered softly.

Jet sighed, looking away. "I was eight. They burned my village to the ground. Laughed while they did it. I barely made it, but I did get away, much to their chagrin."

Smellerbee nodded.

"And you?"

She looked up, her eyes sombre. "You know I ran away," she replied.

"But why fight the Fire Nation, then?" Jet wondered. "You hate them just as much as I do."

Smellerbee swallowed hard, obviously taken aback by the question. She took a sip of the whiskey before replying. "They took us over more subtly," she admitted. "They took over my town, practically brainwashed my parents into mindless slaves of the Fire Lord." She narrowed her eyes. "They didn't fight back. They wouldn't. When others would try, they looked away. They wouldn't help. They were cowards." She spat out the word. "And they tried to make me the same way. I couldn't live that way. So I ran."

Jet was silent, unsure of how to respond. It was the longest that she had even spoken in front of him, and it was definitely the most intimate.

Finally, he found the words. "You did the right thing, Smellerbee. If they were making you into something you're not, you had to leave. You can't live a lie."

She smiled faintly. "Honestly, I wasn't expecting you to say that," she replied. "I thought you would say that I was the coward for running."

Jet met her gaze. "But you're out here, actually fighting back. They're in their ivory tower, ignoring the pain and the suffering, getting fat off of the Fire Nation's skewed idea of 'kindness'." He shook his head. "It's not the same thing."

Smellerbee stared at him, her face an expression that he couldn't really read. "You know, Jet?" she said finally, her voice soft. "Perhaps you're not such a dick after all."

Despite everything, Jet barked out a startled laugh. "I was a dick?"

Smellerbee grinned. "Yep." She held out the mug and got to her feet. "This stuff is shit," she replied flatly. "Bring me something better next time, okay?"

She walked away, waving as she went. Jet watched her go, his eyes wide, unable to tear his gaze away. He took a huge gulp of the whiskey, then coughed and spluttered as it burned his throat. He set both mugs down, rubbing his chest gingerly.

Something better next time, he agreed, smiling his own catlike grin.