Chapter 26: Midnight Hunting Party, Part 2

Meeting room

Interior Directorate Building

Midtown Agna Q'ela

"So you're saying a Fire Nation criminal element here in the North Pole is in cahoots with a suspected Earth Kingdom deep cover operative for reasons unknown, who sent Fire Nation and ex-colonists with genuine NWT passports and IDs to assassinate you as part of some multi-dimensional Pai Sho game to shift the balance of power between the Fire Nation and the Earth Kingdom?" Bulan asked, her eyebrow raised in absolute skepticism at the tale she was being presented with by Kiyi.

"Basically." Kiyi shrugged.

"This has to be the craziest, far-fetched conspiracy theory I have ever heard. Give me something concrete to work with here, else I have half a mind to deport this hunk here, send you to a mental institution and lock up the rest of y'all in a NWT black site for the rest of your days."

"You touch him and I'll tear you apart with my bare hands." Azula growled.

"Is that a fucking challenge I hear?"

"You're damn right it is."

"Azula please, stop getting into unnecessary fights."Zuko pleaded.

"That's right, listen to your big brother over here." Bulan needled.

Before she could leap over the table and start beating her into the ground, Sokka squeezed her hand, partially to prevent her from doing so and partially to calm her down with his touch. Standing up, he dragged her out of the room and ducked into a nearby room. Entering it, he sat her down on the table and locked the door.

"What the hell are you doing?"

"What does it look like I'm doing?"

"Hmm let's see, you dragged me out a meeting room into her and locked the door behind you. And judging by your expression, it's not going to be sexy times but a lecture from you about how I should keep my temper in check. Sounds about right?"

Taking a seat beside her, he moved to brush a stray hair from her face before covering her hand with his and sighing.

"You got me there."

"Is that all?"

"Not really."

"Then what is it?"

"It's just..I mean, I appreciate you standing for me but there's just some fights that aren't worth taking. I'm not completely helpless you know. Like when you fought my sister on that airstrip two days ago, like I knew you were going to win but when she had you pinned with an icicle over you, I really thought she was going to stab you there and then."

"You'd really think she'd do that?"

"When push comes to shove she's capable of doing some really heinous things. And I can't bear the thought of that happening to you, not especially since we're just starting out."

"Alright fine, I'll try. For you."

"Thanks." he replied, before giving her a kiss and making for the door.

"I don't think we're done in here just yet."

"What do you mean?" he replied, puzzled.

"What do you think it means?"

"Surely you're not serious?"

Hopping off the table, she strode up to Sokka and pinned him against the wall. "Don't you think," she whispered in his ear "I deserve a treat after letting you lecture me?"

"Well then, since you've been such a good girl..." he replied, a devious glint in his eyes that told her whatever plan Sokka had was probably going to result in her seeing stars and rolling her eyes in pleasure.

In fact, his hands already started to wander under her jacket and began to knead her breasts, paying close attention to her nipples as he knew just how sensitive they were as his mouth captured hers, more to muffle her loud moans as they were in a public place. Meanwhile, Azula's hands weren't idle either as she returned the favour, running her hands all over under his coat and slowly but surely going lower and lower.

Without realising it, both of them had sunk down to the floor, with her in his lap, grinding her wet core against his stiff member as they continued to tease and make out. When his mouth left hers, she stifled a needy whine as one of his hands wandered lower and lower to her core, leaving her panting and flushed like a tomato.

"Have I ever told you," he said between kisses, "how cute you look when you blush?" before following up with peppering her neck with light suckles, careful to not leave marks on her pale skin lest the others start asking questions.

"I-well.." she stammered between breaths as she looked into his ocean blue eyes and saw nothing but lust, want and affection for her.

Noticing her look, Sokka ceased and asked "What's wrong 'Zula? Is it something I did?", his eyes now full of concern for her.

"N-nothing, it's just...no one has ever said that I'm adorable or cute. You're the first one to do so." she replied, averting her gaze away from Sokka as her eyes started to water.

Cupping her face with his hand, he thumbed away a stray tear and replied " Then I'll say it as many times as you need, from now until the end of days." With that, he pulled her in a tight intimate bear hug, squeezing her so tightly like he was adrift at sea and she was the lifeline and stroked her hair, giving her soft kisses and whispering words of adoration and love to her as she quietly sobbed into his shoulder. Tui and La, just how fucked up had her childhood been? Sokka wondered to himself.

Slowly but surely, she stilled in his arms as her sobbing ceased, replaced with an almost silent snore as she more or less cried herself to sleep again. Putting one hand under her to support her mass, he used his other hand to pull himself up with the doorknob. Once on his feet, he opened the door softly, not wishing to wake her up.

Tenderly he walked back to the meeting room, Azula fast asleep with her face in his shoulders, her arms and legs wrapped around Sokka. Peeking his head in, he whispered loudly "Do you know where the nearest couch is?"

"There's one down the hallway to the right, you can't miss it." Bulan replied.

"Thanks."

Turning her head back to Zuko and Kiyi, she said "Not gonna lie, I'm actually quite jealous of your sister. She's lucky to have a man like him taking care of her."

"What can I say other than she was born lucky." Zuko replied with a shrug.

"Somehow there's more to that story than you're letting on."

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Sure, Mr. Keep Your Secrets. With what you have provided me, it seems that there is just about enough evidence to do a snatch and grab. However, in order to fully prosecute these individuals, I need more evidence."

Pulling the bugs out of his pocket and placing them on the table, Aang replied "Here's something that you might need. Modified for arctic conditions and EM proof, given how much the Northern Lights up here like to fuck with the comms equipment."

"These are military grade bugs. Where the hell did you get them from?"

"They fell off the back of a truck. Like for real, they actually fell off the back of a truck."

Narrowing her eyes in suspicion, Bulan replied sarcastically "Sure they did."

Katara asked "But how are you going to plant them? I mean, we don't even know where their hideout is, much less who and where to place them for maximum intel collection."

"I do." Kiyi said.

"What?"

'Every Agni Kai office and safehouse is laid out in the exact same way, doesn't matter if it's in Ba Sing Se, Republic City or Omashu. Also, the reason most people don't know where they operate from is because they don't know what to look for. Me and Zuzu are known affiliates, not to mention mom is part of the inner council of the Agni Kai. Besides, they know we're supposed to be here any day now to go over their books, well supposedly anyways but since we haven't announced our presence to their head yet, they can only keep guessing when we'll actually arrive."

"So what I'm hearing is you and your brother will pose as Internal Affairs personnel, plant the bugs and get out?"

"Eh, sounds about right to me." Zuko replied.

"Then what does the rest of us do? Sit on our asses and wait for shit to kick off? Is that it?" Katara retorted.

"Y'know, for someone who's from the Water Tribe, you seem to be clueless about hunting. Big game like this are easily spooked. So either we roll them all up in a shock and awe campaign, or we do this slowly and gather as much intel as we can, while slowly rolling up their operations.

At this Katara exploded while waving her hands in the air "What in the flying fuck makes you think we still hunt for food in the Southern Water Tribe you fucking nimrod! What do you think we are, a bunch of ass backwater tribes stuck in the Ice Age?!"

"Spirits above, calm down Kit-Kat, I'm sure Zuko didn't mean it ?" Aang pleaded, as Zuko appeared to shrink into his seat under her outburst. Wheeling around on to Aang, she proceeded to lecture him as Aang sunk further and further into his seat, while Kiyi merely exchanged disappointed glances with Bulan, who shook her head and muttered "This is going to get us nowhere." while pinching the bridge of her nose and sighed.

Tsung Shin Hospital

Pirate's Pier

"Is she going to make it doctor?"

"Hard to say, those shards really did a number on her. I will say, she was lucky. One of our ambulance crews was just coming off work when they spotted her bleeding out. Of course, I don't suppose it has anything to do with the current state of affairs in the underworld, does it?"

"Perhaps, perhaps not. Let me know if there's any updates."

"Most definitely, Miss...Noriko." With that, he left her standing outside the glass window, looking at Zhi Qing's vegetative body being kept alive only with machines and breathing tubes.

"They will pay for this, I promise." she uttered to herself, as a solitary tear rolled down her cheek. Zhi Qing had been one of her best lieutenants and although talent was not hard to find in the ranks, there was something to be said about someone who had stuck by her side through the highs and lows. Unable to bear looking at her anymore, she stormed off silently to her escort, doing her level best to keep her emotions in check.

The first thing that struck Azula was how uncomfortable lying on Sokka's chest actually was, despite whatever trashy romance novel she'd read once that said otherwise. The second thing she noticed was that her hair was all over the place, forming a messy curtain in front of her face. Groggily, she asked "Where, where am I?"

"Oh hey, you woke up. Did you have a nice nap?'

"Not answering the question, Sokka."

"Sheesh, didn't realise you were the cranky type after waking up from a nap. But to answer your question, we're in a lounge right now. More specifically, you basically cried yourself to sleep in my arms. It was not a pretty sight."

"Oh." she replied, before burying her face back into Sokka's chest.

Sitting up, he lifted her gently and planted a kiss on her forehead before asking "Tell you what, let's get out of here and explore the city. I'm sure they can figure shit out on their own. What do you say?"

"Is this your roundabout way of saying you want to go on a date?"

"Well, not quite but when you put it that way...I mean I just think a change of scenery would do you some good y'know, get out of the office for a bit. Besides, it's only going to be just us. No one else. Think about it."

"As long as you're the one footing the bill."

"Anything to see you smile, princess."

"Ohohoho, you're in for it now." she smirked deviously.

Meanwhile, the rest of them geared up to pay the local Agni Kai chapter a visit, after Katara had calmed down and switched out of lecturing mode. As they double checked their gear and loadouts, Zuko turned to his sister and asked "Are you sure about going into the dragon's den alone?"

"To be perfectly honest, no. But sending in a two man team is bound to rile up more suspicions and make my tagivesk far harder than it needs to be. Also, if you're thinking of planting wires, that's out of the question. It's standard practice to scan and pat down any visitors, girls included for wires. Now if the bugs are as good as our bald tech whiz says it is, they should pass through no problem. Right?"

"If they haven't swapped out their equipment that is. I think holding off on bringing in the bugs would be the best idea for now until you can give me a description on what sort of detection systems they're using."

"Fair enough. We ready?"

"Let's do this.

Underground bunker

Hotel Azulon

"All strike teams, are you in position?"

"Yes sir!"

"Copy that, passing over to Dragon Queen."

"Attention all units, this is Dragon Queen. I hereby task you with elimination of our adversaries with extreme prejudice. As you know, one of our bravest women is now rendered a human vegetable thanks to these trash. Let all that you do tonight, be for her, not for me. May the light of Agni shine brightly on your paths."

As Ursa ended her short speech, the multiscreen bank purposefully set up for tonight's retaliatory strike flickered to life with the video feed of a half dozen different teams of twos and threes breaching into various safehouses and clandestine observation points near and within the buffer zone.

On one screen, two men crept into an open window and sprayed the room with suppressed automatic pistols hidden under their coats. A muffled staccato and the tinkling of empty casings on the wooden floor was the only indication there ever was a gunfight to begin with. Not satisfied, they reloaded and gave each body another dose of controlled lead output, two the cranium and one to the pumphouse just to be sure. Lastly, a card with a black flame imposed on a red background was left on the bodies before they left the way they came.

On another, three women brutally dispatched an observation post via tomahawks and stilettos, leaving a mangled and bloody mess in their wake before they, like many others across the city that night, left a calling card scrawled in blood on the walls.

As each team carried out their grisly tasks, Ursa contemplated her course of action, which was to prosecute as many targets as possible in what would be called 'the long night' and how it would be viewed by the city council the next day. Fuck what they thought, she told herself, it's not like they wouldn't have done the same if they were in my position.

Kuruk Boulevard

Downtown Agna Q'ela

Much to his wallet and by extension, his bank account's dismay, his idea of retail therapy and Azula's idea of retail therapy were vastly different. For starters, while Sokka was more than content to window shop if he couldn't afford it, Azula would insist on owning whatever piece that caught her fancy. To be fair, while she wasn't as interested in jewelry and other sparkly accessories as her friend Ty Lee, the few pieces that did would definitely raise a few eyebrows at the next fiscal meeting.

In addition, she insisted on having every piece custom made for her and her only, which on the one hand meant that her outfits were one of a kind and unique, but on the other hand racked up a bill that Sokka estimated would have taken him a lifetime and a half to pay for had he still been working his old job. Then again, what were exorbitant prices to a royal, even if said royal was now part of a criminal dynasty rather than one that sat upon the Dragon throne. Not that she still didn't harbour ambition to sit on it one day but as it would most likely never happen in her lifetime (unless she could find a way to bump off the current cadet branch sitting on the throne), she contented herself with being the next in line to be the 'Mountain Master' of the Agni Kai branch as Zuko didn't wish to take up the reins while Kiyi wasn't as experienced in dealing with the head office as well as negotiating with their suppliers and customer base, having been only brought on into their day-to-day operations only recently when she graduated high school.

As Azula stepped out of the changing room for the twelfth time, Sokka was about to comment with something snarky when he saw what she was dressed in and for a brief moment, he forgot how to breathe as she strode towards him in a figure hugging fur-lined anorak that came in just the right shade of blue that accentuated her golden eyes. Furthermore, her leggings and matching boots further enhanced her sensuality whilst keeping her from the worst of the elements. Finally, a blue beanie with a fluffy ball atop it completed her ensemble, to say nothing of the earrings that had been purchased at a previous store not more than twenty minutes ago.

"How do I look?" she asked, to which a gibberish reply was given by Sokka as he struggled to form a coherent sentence in the light of her beauty, before fainting as if struck down by the presence of a deity.

Concerned, she rushed over and cupped his face in her hands, as a minor panic attack built within her.

"Sokka, are you okay? Sokka? Sokka wake up!" Meanwhile, Sokka could only respond in fragmented sentences, the gist of which Azula pieced together was about how pretty she looked to the point Sokka thought she was a goddess manifested here and now.

Grabbing him by his shoulders, she then shook him to break him out of his stupor, which seemed to do the trick.

"Did, did I just see a goddess?" Sokka groggily asked, a little nauseous from his faint.

"From the way you acted, you might as well have." she replied.

"Say, you sound a lot like someone I'm dating, what's her name again? Ally, no, Azu, no, A-Azuka?" Sokka then blurted, his mind still trying to process her image as well as get it up and running again.

"No, wait don't tell, it's, it's Azula! Right! She's gonna kill me for not remembering her name!"

"She's right here in front of you, ya know?"

"Aah, Azula! What happened? Why am I on the floor? Why are you gripping my shoulders so hard?"

"Apparently my fabulous good looks broke your brain's ability to handle reality, which is how you ended up on the floor." she replied, while letting go of his shoulders and twirling a bang with her finger

"Then I suppose some repeated exposure would help alleviate this troubling symptom, would it not?" he smirked deviously before adding in a conspiratorial whisper "Despite how good these clothes look on you, they look better on my bedroom floor, honey.", giving her ear a little nibble while he did so and turning her pale skin bright red.

"S-stop it Sokka, you-you can't just say these things out in public!" she replied bashfully. as she struggled in vain to prevent the sensation of her ears burning from blushing so hard.

"It's just between you and me, what's there to worry about? Unless of course, you'd like an audience to come and watch us 'do the thing'. Also can we get off the floor now? I'd like to not be thrown out by security, thank you very much."

"Since when has getting into trouble been an issue for you?"

"You got me there. Should we go check back in on the others?"

"Might as well, if only to make sure they haven't cooked up some hare-brained scheme in the meantime."

"Well then, shall we?"