Mako was surprised by how well everything seemed to have gone. After his meeting with Beifong, he and Yaozhu had high-tailed it back to their Society-owned inn and met back up with Jing and Fa who, outside of some wounded pride and a bit of anger, ended up completely okay. When they inquired as to where Mako and Yaozhu had been, Mako remained quiet. When they pressed the matter, he pulled rank.

Their remaining time in Republic City was spent assisting with the attacks that had been planned. Mako made certain that they were nearby for those that were within a reasonable distance, and while Jing and Fa and Yaozhu assisted in taking hostages as they had been ordered, Mako helped the wounded and set unattended captives free.

It had been hard work to do it so stealthily, but somehow he managed.

Though Mako was exhausted by the time he boarded the ship, he still did what he was ordered to do as far as managing captives: There would be no sense blowing his cover now. He'd been charged with restraints, and so he went slowly down six long lines of sad-looking people and shackled them to their benches, and when they begged him to free them, he didn't say a word. Then he retired to his bunk with a bad taste in his mouth. He didn't like what he'd been doing, but he'd also had no choice. If there was any consolation, it was that he'd helped at least three dozen people escape captivity, but now that he was surrounded by hostiles again he couldn't act so daring.

When the ship set off, Mako felt he could rest easy. Beifong had clearly understood his message, as they left port without a single hiccup. There were no boardings by customs officials, and the only trade inspection they'd had to endure was the standard protocol for every ship that made berth or departed from the south dock. It was a rudimentary procedure, something done for show more than for purpose, and they'd squeaked through without difficulty.

Mako didn't come out of the bunk until well after they'd hit open water, and even then he did so only for two meals. Two meals was all he could stomach in the filthy galley and with everything else on his mind. Otherwise he passed the time lying on his bed, staring at the low ceiling, and thinking of his next course of action.

The first thing he would have to do would be to report on the success-or potential success-of his rendezvous with the Triad boss. He sorely hoped that their scuffle upon exiting hadn't soured the deal, but knew that if the Triads functioned as they always had, the deal would be fine. If anything, the fight would've proven the society to be a substantial force, especially considering that four men had taken on twelve or more without sustaining damage. And really, it had been two on twelve: Jing and Fa had turned tail and run at the first opportunity, but their retreat had been on Mako's orders so he couldn't be too upset.

After he'd briefed someone about his mission, he'd probably have to endure some questions about his quad's role in the attacks, and he knew that it would be tricky since he hadn't really been present, at least not in the capacity he'd been ordered. So, Mako spoke to Yaozhu for a while over dinner, inquiring casually about what he, Jing, and Fa had done during the attacks. And when Yaozhu asked where Mako had been during the operations, Mako lied and told him that captains had been assigned special duties at the attack sites which were, unfortunately, top secret.

Yaozhu had been excited by the prospect of top secret.

Otherwise, Mako didn't see much of his quad during the trip home. They appeared each night to sleep and ventured out early for their breakfast, and Jing had only spent the first six hours seasick. That didn't stop him from mingling with the other three, according to Yaozhu, as he'd spent much of his time puking over the railing into the sea.

The ship docked on the beach north of Fire Fountain City sometime around noon, and again Mako went through the motions of herding their captives out of the boat and onto the beach. The process went the same way as it had when he'd been transported weeks ago: The people in good enough shape were bound at the wrists and marched in a file toward the enormous square where the fire-belching statue stood, and those who had been severely wounded or seemed infirm were separated and piled back onto the ship.

Mako imagined they'd be going to quarantine, just as he had done.

He parted ways with Jing, Fa, and Yaozhu as soon as the captives set off, and he walked with the other eleven captains back to their dormitory where they were greeted with cheers and whoops and general celebration. When Bingwei spotted him, he slapped Mako on the back so hard it was difficult to breathe for a few minutes. He retired to his apartment, then showered, changed his clothes, and lay down on the bed for a more restful sleep than he'd had in the last week.

When Bingwei woke him again, the sun had started to dip low. He explained that an enormous dinner had been prepared and laid out for their homecoming, and upon arriving in the mess hall, Mako sat quiet between Bingwei and some other captain or commander listening to the lot of them talk propaganda. Halfway through the meal, Guan made another appearance at the head of the room and briefed them all on the success of their most recent mission to Republic City. In sum, the society had recruited twenty-nine able-bodied firebenders, twelve earthbenders, nine waterbenders, and sixteen non-benders, numbers that startled Mako perhaps more than they should have. Beifong had known the attacks were coming. He'd instructed her to evacuate the areas. He'd hoped she would've done a better job.

But when he thought about it, Mako realized that the damage could've been so much worse, and the people who had been caught were likely those who disobeyed the evacuation order out of disbelief or who just didn't care enough to follow it. That didn't make them deserving of captivity, but it made Mako feel a little better.

Another round of cactus juice capped the meal, and Mako dumped it under the table while everyone else drank. He wanted to remember his evening this time.

He watched the celebration devolve with as much interest as horror, knowing that at one point he'd been a part of it. The men around him kept drinking, Bingwei included, and then someone brought out the girls, who stood in long double-file lines between the tables looking mostly horrified. Some people made their decisions quickly, others deliberated more carefully, and Mako overheard Bingwei's debate with another young commander as to whether he'd rather have the stacked earthbender girl or that scrawny one over there.

Mako ducked out before Bingwei made his decision.

Knowing he couldn't return to his apartment, Mako walked. The night was on the uncomfortable side of cold, and the closer he got to the beach the more frigid the salt air seemed to become. Eventually he found himself a suitable spot to sit, somewhere northwest of the dormitories, on a rough stone jetty without a single boat in sight.

Mako dropped his chin on his hand, stared out at the water, and waited. Eventually enough time would pass for the debauchery to die down, and then he'd be able to return to his apartment to sleep in some semblance of peace. But it would be a while.

He tried to distract himself playing with fire, warming himself, staring up and trying to figure out which stars were the ones he'd been staring at while he was on the boat. He couldn't see nearly as many now, but the ones that were out shined bright and sparkled. He tried to count them, but couldn't keep himself focused. He couldn't stop thinking.

Beifong said that the girls had gone to the Boiling Rock. They had gone to investigate and see whatever they could. Mako imagined that they'd have been surprised by the population housed on the tiny island, and he hoped beyond hope that they had been smart enough to stay away. He hoped that they would contact Firelord Izumi, and that the full force of the Fire Nation army would come down hard. He doubted they would. Izumi had always been notorious for her unwillingness to engage her army.

Mostly, he hoped that they were okay. The news about Bolin had been difficult enough to bear-it was still difficult to think of-but when he entertained the possibility that Asami and Korra and even Opal could very well be dead, it set an even larger pit in his stomach. He was the one who'd sent them.

He took the fact that he'd not heard anything about the Boiling Rock on this end as a good sign. He had to take it as a good sign, otherwise he'd go crazy with worry.

Then, unbidden, his mind went fully to Bolin, and he sighed and scraped at the rocks with his fingers. He'd wanted so badly to visit the grave and say he was sorry for not being there when Bolin needed him. But there was no way. Mako would never make it to Zaofu. He'd already resolved himself to staying with the society until he could free the rest of his quad and Toru, and beyond that, the idea that he might be redeployed to Zaofu seemed a pipe dream. It was entirely likely that he'd be redeployed somewhere, considering the success of his last mission, but Mako couldn't think of a single firebender who was presently housed in the Metal City. It was a bunch of earthbenders and metalbenders, and there would be no use attacking it because the society wouldn't benefit in any way. They already had enough captive earthbenders to have created the network of tunnels beneath this island, and they had increased that number with their most recent trip: How could they ever want more?

He wondered how the funeral had gone, or if they had even held one. When he closed his eyes he imagined what he thought a funeral might look like, things he'd seen in pictures in books. He'd never been to a real funeral before. His parents hadn't had one; there had been no one to make the arrangements because no one knew they had died, and even if they'd had the chance to make arrangements, Mako and Bolin had been too young to know what to do. He never knew what happened to their bodies. But he imagined all the same: Bolin would be laying there in some kind of box all pale-faced and corpselike in whatever decent clothes he'd had available-not much if Mako knew his brother-and a few dozen people would be sitting there crying. And Pabu. Pabu would've been there, too, probably lying on Bolin like he always did.

But then Mako remembered: Bolin had been crushed, and the image in his head shifted accordingly. And then he remembered that Bolin had been attacked by combustion benders, and the image shifted again. By the time Mako had gone through all the possible combinations of injury and disfiguration he wondered exactly what mangled hunk of flesh would've been left to bury. There had to have been something, or else Su wouldn't have taken him to Zaofu.

Mako sniffled, and then he stood to make his way back home. He'd much rather try and sleep in his own warm bed with Bingwei and a strange woman wrestling next to him than keep imagining his dead little brother.

What a choice.

Bingwei had picked the stacked earthbender girl, but to Mako's relief they appeared to have tired themselves out by the time he'd entered the room. They were asleep and didn't even twitch when he fell awkwardly and noisily over one of the chairs, which Mako assumed had been moved as a part of their frivolity. Now sore and still slightly sad, he changed his clothes and bedded down with his pillow over his face.

He dreamed about home.

Mako woke early the next morning, uncertain what he was to do now that he was back home. He assumed that things would go much the same as they had before he left: Training in the yard, lunch with the quad, training in the yard, dinner with the captains, evening off duty, and sleep. But they'd had a truly successful deployment from anyone's standpoint, even Mako's own, and he'd been wondering if that would afford him some kind of leisure.

He left the room quietly this time, taking great care not to fall over the chair again: Bingwei and his lady friend, while still sleeping, looked significantly less sedated now. He showered and changed and made his way downstairs, hoping to snag some kind of breakfast before he went out.

He was in the midst of eating this breakfast when a courier dropped a letter on the table in front of him. Before Mako could protest or question this, the courier had moved on, dropping envelopes before several others before promptly exiting the room.

Mako recognized the writing this time, and he wasn't surprised. He'd had a meeting with Guan before he left, why wouldn't he have one upon returning? This time he wasn't as nervous when he unfolded the paper.

Quad leader four zero five is summoned for a meeting with His Excellency, Guan, at two o'clock this afternoon. An escort will be waiting at one forty-five in the dormitory foyer.

Descriptive, as always, Mako thought dryly. But he didn't need much description, he knew exactly what was going to happen: The escort, whoever it was, would lead him back into the enormous tunnel complex, wind him around for a little while, then drop him at some undisclosed location for his meeting where Mako would no doubt be asked to brief Guan and his council as to the success of their deployment. The only unknowns were whether this would be another dining experience-at two o'clock it'd be well past lunch time-and how Mako would represent his time in Republic City.

He met the quad at their appointed spot at their appointed time, and was relieved that they had operated under the same assumptions as he had. In all, it seemed they had recovered from their busy few days, but Jing and Fa looked somehow tired, maybe a little distracted. Yaozhu, in contrast, seemed unusually perky. And each of their expressions grew more intense, for better or for worse, when Mako explained that he'd been summoned again that afternoon.

As they worked through the morning, Mako found himself surprised by exactly how things had changed since his arrival. He'd not really considered it before, but everything he did had become as second nature now. He didn't have to think before issuing an order, and he didn't have to think before he responded to questions. And his quad seemed the same way. They had come to accept his unorthodox methods of command as normal. As he understood it, he was the only captain who allowed his subordinates to question his decisions forthrightly, and he was the only captain who considered those questions carefully when the time came to choose.

Mako had never thought that particularly strange. He'd always been able to question Beifong, and she was a fantastic chief of police; why shouldn't he operate the same way? Besides, Mako could think of no drawbacks to such a relationship. His quad had grown to be one of the strongest on the island, as far as he'd seen. They worked together fluidly. They developed a stronger, more fraternal relationship. Mako was their captain, of course, and Yaozhu never let him forget that, but in their eyes he was on the same level as they were. He got to make the final decisions in the end, but they knew he'd always take their concerns into account even when some of the concerns were, quite frankly, stupid.

And he'd gotten stronger as a result of his time there, too, Mako knew. He'd not had much occasion to look at himself-there weren't many mirrors on the island-but when he did encounter one he couldn't help but stare a little disbelievingly at what stared back. He'd never been out of shape simply as a matter of lifestyle; but then he'd never been so in shape either. He'd always been small framed, at least when he compared himself to Bolin (as his was the only other body Mako had ever really looked at), but the addition of a hefty amount of muscle mass filled him out nicely. At least he thought it did.

He wondered what Korra would have to say. And that set a cold feeling in his chest.

Two o'clock came quick, and the roiling in Mako's stomach made him thankful he took an early lunch. The nervousness sprang up just as he was leaving his apartment, when the reality of the matter hit him. But by the time he said, "Hello," to the escort he'd reasoned the worry away. He had no cause to be afraid. He'd met with Guan before in relative privacy and had done a good enough job there. And nobody knew that he'd taken a couple of detours while he was in Republic City, nobody except Yaozhu anyway, and the kid's blind loyalty was far too strong to have wavered now. The other two had never figured out where he and Yaozhu had disappeared off to that night. As long as Mako kept his head about him, he'd be fine. As long as he didn't act nervous, everything would work out.

The walk took a long time, and Mako felt certain he'd seen some of the tunnels before. But then, all the tunnels looked the same, and they passed through a couple of wide, roughly-hewn rooms that looked to be for additional storage. They passed some new corridor entries from which Mako could hear all kinds of noises from earth smashing to people yelling. His first instinct was to go investigate these places, but every time he'd set his mind to looking around, it seemed he never got the chance.

There was no food this time. There was little in the way of luxury at all. The rickety table at which Guan sat was small and rectangular and completely bare. An empty chair sat opposite. There was no council.

Guan stood and gestured toward the empty seat. "Please," he said kindly, and Mako sat. Then he turned to the escort and said tersely, "This will be quick, wait downstairs," and the escort left. Then he set his eyes on Mako. "Well, what have you got to tell me?"

Mako tensed. All pretense of kindness had gone out of Guan once the escort left the room, and he now stood there with one hand on the back of his chair, staring hard. Mako wondered it if was a matter of intimidation again. Maybe Guan hadn't liked their last conversation, when Mako had been perhaps a little too flippant on the matter of militaristic authority.

"I spoke with a man who called himself Shirshu. He claimed to represent the Triads," Mako said. He tried to make himself sound as official as possible, like he was giving a police report to Beifong. "The conversation went well, but getting him on board required some negotiation."

"What kind of negotiation?"

"Nothing outrageous," Mako explained at once. "Nothing we wouldn't have done anyway, at least I assumed as much. I told him that in exchange for their cooperation, we'll warn them about any incoming attacks so they can get their men out before any of them are caught up in it. I also told them that we'd stay off their turf."

"Reasonable," Guan said. He turned around then and walked away, his hands clasped behind his back. He was staring at the ceiling. "Anything else you'd like to tell me?"

"Shirshu gave me a message for you. He said that he'd like a wire from you to confirm that the plan is a go. I told him that wouldn't be a problem, since we'll need an open line of communication anyway." Mako paused, thinking. Slowly, he continued. "You should also know that there was a fight when we left. Negotiations had finished, and Shirshu sent a few men at me. I took them out, got my quad, and we left."

"Easy as that?"

"No, not really," Mako replied honestly. "I said there was a fight. There were a lot of thugs in that place looking to get a piece of us. Yaozhu and I held them off so that Jing and Fa could escape."

"And where did you go afterward?"

"Back to our rooms, sir. Yaozhu and I were separated from the other two, but we met back at our rooms as soon as we could."

Guan nodded. "Anything else?"

Mako floundered for a moment, glad that Guan wasn't watching him. "Well, my quad and I were present for two of the attacks on Republic City. We assisted as we could."

"And how did you assist?"

"I took captives, sir."

"How many?"

"I managed three firebenders and a non-bender. Two at each site." Mako was surprised by how easily the lie came. He just hoped that no one had done some kind of official report on the matter. He wasn't sure how they could've.

"And your men?"

"I'm not sure, sir. My men handle themselves. I set them a job and they do it, no questions asked. You'd have to ask them what they did." Guan turned back around then, a strange smile on his face. He looked pleased, of course, but there was something else there. His expression was dulled by what might have been disappointment, but Mako couldn't know for sure.

"It seems you've made good on your side of our deal," Guan said. "And thus I should make good on mine. I'll have Toru delivered to your apartment this evening and she'll be free to come and go as you see fit. My only requirement is that she continue sleeping in the waterbender housing unit with the other healers, in case she's needed."

Mako wanted to argue that that hadn't been a part of the deal, but he kept his mouth shut. "Yes, sir," he said, and then added hastily, "Thank you, sir."

"Your quad will likely be deployed again very soon," Guan said. It startled Mako a little bit. He thought the conversation had ended. "I've got a few scouts in Fire Nation territory looking for connections. If they find one, you'll be the group I send to get them on board."

"Nothing else in Republic City?" Mako asked before he could stop himself. "It's a big place, there must be more..."

"No," Guan interrupted, stern. "No more in Republic City. It seems President Raiko has taken care of that for me."

"Excuse me, sir?"

"He's rallied the firebenders of Republic City against him, against the police, and against the population in general. I heard it from three separate sources and the Republic City Press that was delivered to me this morning."

"How?"

Guan shrugged. "He's begun profiling them. He's put it in the public's head that firebenders are the enemy; that firebenders are the root cause of all the violence that's happened in the city lately. He's not wrong, mind you. With the firebenders required to register with the police, the public began to see them as frightening and has already started alienating them, and the firebenders have begun organizing. They've begun rioting." Guan paused and his smile turned genuine. It widened. "They're doing my job for me, and I couldn't be more pleased. If my goal is for all firebenders to be autonomous and superior, we're certainly well on the way."

Mako didn't know what to say.

"You're dismissed, Captain. I'll send a courier with details of your next deployment as soon as they come available. Otherwise, keep up the good work."

"Yes, sir," Mako said. "Thank you, sir."

Then Mako left.

The escort met him at the bottom of the same staircase they'd ascended to get into this building, and Mako spent the walk back to his apartment with his eyes on the ground, thinking. On one hand, he was glad that things had gone over well. But on the other, he wanted to go back to Republic City.

Mako met again with his quad just before dinnertime to brief them on his meeting. Yaozhu brimmed with pride, but Jing and Fa continued looking a little downcast, and Mako couldn't help but wonder if they were jealous that Yaozhu had become the second in command of their unit, at least unofficially. Or maybe they were just tired of the kid's unyielding optimism.

After the short meeting, Mako retired back to the captain's dormitory, took his dinner alone, and occupied the time thereafter sitting idly on one of the couches in his apartment, staring out the window and waiting.

He nearly fell off the lounge when Toru knocked on his door, and he scrambled to open it. In the seconds between touching the doorknob and greeting her, he wondered why he was so uptight about it, but all that went away the minute he saw her, when she threw herself at him with abandon, as though they hadn't seen each other in years.

She cried for a little while, explaining the tears as relief and happiness and all manner of positive feelings, and once she had calmed herself they left the apartment to walk about the island as they had done most nights before Mako was deployed. They didn't say much as they strolled, and Mako didn't know where they were going until he'd led her to the same rock jetty that he'd occupied the night prior, and they sat beside each other on the ground.

"I'm glad you're back," said Toru after a while. "Things went well?"

Mako nodded and dropped his chin on his hand. "Well enough. They're going to deploy me again sometime soon."

"Oh." She sounded downcast that time. "Were you able to take care of what you needed in the city?"

"Yeah," Mako replied. "Well, mostly. I got the Triads on our side like I was ordered, so that covers my rear with the chain of command. And I was able to go talk to the Chief, too. I warned her about the attacks. I tried to get her to evacuate, but I'm not sure how well it went. I'd have to imagine she did something."

"I'm sure she did. I overheard the numbers, and they seemed low for a Republic City raid."

"Well, that's good, then."

"If you got that done, what did you miss?"

He missed a lot, to be sure, but he knew Toru didn't mean it that way. He'd wanted to do so much while he was there: Visit Air Temple Island, talk to Korra about everything that had happened, have dinner with Asami. But mostly, he missed Bolin. "I didn't get to visit my brother," Mako said truthfully. He didn't bother trying to hide how sad he was about it. He might've, had it been anyone else sitting beside him, but Toru had seen him at his worst, at least when it came to Bolin.

"Why not?"

"He..." Mako faltered, then looked at the ground. He didn't know how to explain in a way that would make sense. Toru didn't know about Zaofu or Su or Opal or anything. So he settled on a half-truth and said, "His mother-in-law took him back to her home town to bury him since we don't really have family in the city."

"I didn't know he was married, you never told me that."

Mako shrugged. He didn't feel like going into semantics. Bolin and Opal had been together for years, for longer than any of Mako's relationships had hoped to be, and they'd been solid enough as a couple that Mako couldn't imagine them cutting things off. If she could forgive him for working with Kuvira and he could forgive her for holding such a ridiculous grudge about it, Mako imagined there was nothing that could tear them apart. They may as well have been married, as close as they were, and if Bolin's prideful bragging about their romantic life had been any indication, they would probably have had kids in a year.

But that wouldn't happen now.

Mako wondered for a while how Opal had taken the news.

"How did you get to see Chief Beifong?" Toru asked when the silence grew heavy. It seemed she was trying to change the subject, or at least to get Mako's mind off of Bolin. "I mean, you were busy on society business, weren't you?"

Mako shrugged. "We made a detour," he said. "Yaozhu and I, I mean. We visited with the Triad bosses, and on our way out they attacked us," he paused and looked at the horrified expression on Toru's face, and he guessed at her question easily enough. "No, nobody was hurt. Well, none of us anyway. Yaozhu did a number on their building." He shook his head and looked back at the ground. "Well, we split. I told Jing and Fa to head back to our rally point and Yaozhu and I stayed to fend off the Triads. And then I figured that we should go see Beifong while we had the chance. We hopped a cab and headed straight for headquarters."

"It sounds scary," Toru said.

"No, not scary," Mako replied thoughtfully. "There wasn't anything scary about it." He paused. That was a lie. He'd been mortified when the Triads attacked, and he'd worried about visiting Beifong, too. "Yaozhu gave us some cover and I snuck into the building without a hitch. Told Beifong everything I could in the short time I had, and then we bailed."

"What did you tell her?"

"I don't know," Mako said. "I explained to her what had happened, where I had been since I was taken from Ba Sing Se. Or at least I told her most of it, there was no way to get the whole story out there. And I told her about the attacks that had been planned so that she could evacuate, but I already mentioned that. She met Yaozhu and looked horrified to have a combustion bender so close to her. Then she told me that Bolin had been taken to Zaofu and that the rest of the people I care about were safe. That's really all. And there wasn't a lot of talking on her part, it was mostly me."

"They don't have combustion benders in the city?"

"None that are welcome. At least none that I know of."

"I'm happy that things went well for you," Toru said.

The silence came back for a while, and the two of them stared out at the dark. Mako could see the reflections of the stars in the still water. There were no ships.

Then he remembered.

"In a few days there's going to be a raid on the island," Mako said pointedly, his voice gone all serious, and he turned to face Toru directly. "On this island. I need you to be ready to go at a moment's notice, okay?"

"What do you mean?"

"I told Beifong that she needed to storm the city. I told her that she needs to get a group together to come take down the society and release the prisoners."

"When is she going to do that?"

"See, that's the problem," Mako said with a sigh. "I don't know. All I know is that I gave her the message, and if I know Beifong, she'll be on the ball about it. She doesn't mess around when it comes to things like this." He paused again, looked at the ground, and then looked at Toru. "You have to be ready to go," he said seriously. "I mean it. You're coming with me."

"What?"

"When Beifong shows up and takes me home, you're coming with."

It looked to Mako like she wanted to cry again, but her eyes remained dry. Not surprising, considering that she'd cried most of the night away. She'd probably dried up.

"Come on," Mako said, and he got to his feet. "We ought to head back. I've got to be up early for quad and you've got to report back to your room."

"I know."

Toru stood, and they set off again. They stayed silent until they reached the dormitory, and Toru paused in the foyer.

"My room is in a different building," she said. "Looks like we'll part ways here."

Mako felt a little crestfallen. He expected that she had been staying in the same building as he was, the same as Guan was, but when he thought on the matter he supposed it made sense. She was a waterbender, a captive healer, and it was probably expected that she'd stay with the others. And to maintain the apparent illusion of distance, Guan probably had arranged the separation intentionally.

Before Mako could utter a good night, she kissed him, and then she left.

He didn't see her the next day. He didn't really see anyone, which wasn't troubling until he went to the yard for training. Only Yaozhu showed up, looking just as happy as he ever did.

"Where are the other two?" Mako asked shortly. He felt uneasy, and he didn't know exactly why. Things were just too quiet. Something felt off. "They know we're scheduled today, don't they?"

"They were sick," Yaozhu said. "I think they had some bad dumplings. I didn't eat them, but they did and they both left after dinner last night and didn't come back till late."

"Oh."

"They were gone again this morning when I woke up. Must've been something bad."

"Well, we can't really train without them."

"I suppose not."

"Hey, Cap?"

"Yeah?"

"Who's that?"

Yaozhu pointed over Mako's shoulder, and Mako turned round. An escort was approaching from the direction of the dormitory. Mako recognized him only by the unique uniform he wore. He looked impassive, but walked with some authority, with a purpose in his stride that hadn't been there with any other escort.

"Quad leader four zero five?" asked the escort, and Mako nodded. "You've been requested to appear before His Excellency as soon as possible. Please follow me."

Mako shot an uncertain glance to Yaozhu. "Head back. Make sure Jing and Fa are all right, okay? I'll come to the dorm and get you for afternoon training."

With a sigh, Mako turned back to the courier and nodded. Then the courier led him away. As they walked, Mako couldn't help but wonder what had come up so fast that Guan had to summon him two days in a row. He wondered if maybe there had been some news about deployment: The timeline for society matters seemed to be unreliable at best, if not downright erratic. It was entirely possible that a job had come in, especially if he'd done such a good job at the last one.

They trekked down into the tunnels again, and again Mako couldn't be certain exactly where they were going. It wasn't the same route as the night prior. They hadn't walked down such a steep incline, and the tunnels hadn't felt so cold or looked so rough.

They passed through a large circular chamber, from which there exited half a dozen other tunnels in all directions. They entered the corridor directly across the way, and again it sloped downward. For the first time, Mako began to realize just how enormous this place was, and the farther down they went the more tempted Mako became to ignite a flame in his hand. It was dark, and it was cold.

Eventually the escort stopped and motioned Mako onward. Orange light filtered in through the end of the corridor and flickered such that Mako knew it was lit by fire. Mako thought he'd enter into another wide multi-purpose room, but the path leveled out until it turned sharply to the right, and a formidable crowd stood at the intersection.

The minute Mako saw the group of men waiting, he knew something had gone terribly wrong. And when he saw Jing and Fa among them, he knew how. They stood among half a dozen others including Guan and his council, who held postures full of aggression. Guan himself looked impassive-he always looked that way-but when Mako came into the light, he smirked.

"Hello," he said coolly.

Mako didn't respond at first. His mind was racing, searching for answers, and he could only think of one. Still, he clung to hope, and he replied, "Hello, sir."

This cordiality seemed only to make Guan's smile widen. "It seems we've had a misunderstanding, you and I, and I'd like to clear the air. Are you willing to answer some questions for me?"

"Yes, sir."

"Very good. Now, these two," Guan motioned at Jing and Fa, who despite their stone faces looked mildly afraid, "have given me some information that, if true, could mean our relationship is at an end. That would be a shame. You've been a very promising captain. Now, yesterday I summoned you to a private meeting and asked you if there was anything you'd like to tell me. Perhaps I was unclear in that. I wanted everything. So let's try again: Do you have anything you'd like to tell me, Mako?"

"No, sir," Mako said. The pit in his stomach grew, and his body grew cold from his stomach out. That tiny shred of hope was fading fast. "I told you everything."

"Yes, I thought you'd say that," Guan replied. His voice gave no hint of emotion at all, not even of disappointment. "So let me counter you. Your quadmates here informed me last night that you disappeared for a portion of your stay in Republic City. Where did you go?"

"I was scouting, sir," Mako said.

"Scouting what, Mako?"

"The sites that we planned to attack. I wanted to find the best places to-"

Guan interrupted him with a cold, heartless laugh. "See, you're lying to me." His face went cold. It was the face of a man gone mad. It was the face of death. "I don't like when people lie to me, especially people who I entrusted with important tasks. Now, I'll ask you once more: You were unaccounted for for several hours, where did you go?"

Mako didn't say anything. He knew better than to say anything now, it had been lesson number one in detective training. When someone is on to you, stay quiet unless you were forced to speak, that way they couldn't catch you in a lie. That way, you could think of what to say to carry on the story.

Guan stepped forward. "My informants tell me that you went to visit with Chief Lin Beifong. Is that true?"

For a minute, Mako thought about remaining silent. But he had a bad feeling that if he did, things would go south even faster. Maybe if he talked, he could weasel his way out of this. "Respectfully, sir, if the only informants you're relying on are those two, you might consider finding another source."

"I did."

This set Mako on his heels. Stunned, he couldn't even open his mouth.

"Four accounts, Captain. I've got four separate accounts outside of these two that suggest you were in the vicinity of police headquarters that night. If you were speaking to Chief Beifong, that would be tantamount to treason."

Mako stood rooted to the spot. He'd been had. Someone had caved.

Yaozhu.

The kid was the only person who knew that Mako had been anywhere he shouldn't have been. The kid was the only one who knew that he went to see Beifong and what he'd said to her. But Yaozhu wouldn't have betrayed him, he was too loyal. Everything he did seemed to be in the name of making Mako happy. Half an hour ago Yaozhu had seemed as chipper as any other time. He wasn't good enough to hide his emotions so well.

The only conclusion was that he'd spilled to Jing and Fa. It made sense. The kid must have been so excited to have been part of a secret mission that he'd said something to those two, and those two had come forward to offer that information to Guan. Information here held value, and both of them had motive. Perhaps they had cut a deal with Guan where if they divulged information about Mako's treason, they would be rewarded or released. Maybe their families would be spared.

"More, these two informed me several weeks ago that you had sent a letter by messenger hawk," Guan said. "They told me that you were trying to warn Beifong of our locations and plans."

Mako glanced behind. At some point a group had assembled at his rear. He'd been set up, and he'd walked right into it. There was no escape, but he'd certainly try.

"I thought so," Guan continued. "Punishment for treason is death, but you've served me extremely well otherwise. You completed the task I assigned you with the Triads, and in doing so you established a connection that I couldn't have created on my own. Knowing you had sent that letter-and knowing what information it contained-allowed us to evacuate the Boiling Rock quarantine and prepare it for whomever the Chief sent to investigate. The place was set with enough explosives to level the island. Pity to those who went."

Afraid, Mako began preparing himself to fight. His body tensed, and his eyes narrowed. He'd been training for this, he thought. He'd put his body through the wringer to build strength and stamina and increase the power of his bending, and he'd made such progress that lightning came just as easily as fire now. He was more potent than he'd been when he arrived. Maybe that would help him now.

"Don't try to fight us," Guan said. "It will be better for everyone if you come quietly."

Mako assumed a defensive posture, and in a cold voice he said, "No."

Before he could wind up to lightning bend, Guan ducked and spun to the side, opening the way for the shot to connect beyond where he'd been standing. The bolt arced out from Mako's outstretched hand, split and crackled, and struck both Jing and Fa in their middles before they could react. They fell twitching to the floor.

The remaining men exploded into action, and Mako threw himself to the ground to avoid the first volley of fire and lightning. He spun around to his feet, kicking hot flaming plumes in a wide arc around where he'd fallen. He punched a rushing attacker straight in the face, which hurt his hand, and followed through with a fire blast that seemed to fill the whole of the corridor from which he'd entered.

But then the combustion started, and Mako knew he'd lost. He'd trained with Yaozhu enough to understand combustion, but he'd never learned how to counter it. He never thought he'd need to.

The first bolt came at him, and Mako managed to dodge such that the blast shattered the ground ten feet beyond, knocking a few enemies to the floor unconscious. More fire flew about, and Mako dispelled it deftly. But there was too much. The heat was too intense.

Another combustion bolt whizzed past his head and hit the wall beside him so close that he fell. He understood then that they were shooting to kill.

Once more, he scrambled to his feet, adrenaline flowing, and tossed another three lightning bolts in as wide an area around himself as he could. Powerful as they were, the arcs of electricity struck only two more men.

Their numbers were too many, and they overwhelmed him. For a while, Mako stood his ground and deflected, dodged, and countered their shots. But then he mistimed his dodge and pivoted toward the wall to avoid an arc of lightning just as a combustion bolt struck.

As he fell down, Mako remembered Ba Sing Se. He remembered the heat of the explosion and the chaos of the moment. He remembered tossing his hands out wide and catching the fire blast as it bloomed. This was so similar, he thought. This felt exactly the same. Except this time he hadn't been able to stop it. The corridor was too narrow. Even if he'd been able to anticipate the blast, there would've been nowhere to deflect it.

He hit the floor hard, and the enemy firebenders overwhelmed him. All he could do now was try to protect himself from further damage, so Mako curled his arms around his head to protect against the unbearable heat. Then there came another combustion bolt, and in the fraction of a second before it connected, Mako knew he wasn't going to wake up.