Chapter Notes: Trigger Warning: Mentions of non-con/rape with a side character. Mentions of past sexual assault.

It had been a little over two weeks since their not-a-date lunch excursion, and Sokka and Zuko had been texting on and off for the entirety of it. It had started off as a progress snapshot of Sokka's tattoo, which was coming along pretty badass if he did say so himself. And from there, the conversations had only continued.

Zuko had initiated the next one, too. And that time, it wasn't work related at all. Rather, it was dorky and cute, and it had actually initiated their first phone call.

Sokka was sitting on his couch, surrounded by the leftover paperwork that he was supposed to get done by the end of the week. It was Tuesday, and he really had no reason to bring it home. He had plenty of time to get it done, but Sokka was usually pretty good about immersing himself in his work when he got into one of his moods. And lately, those moods had gotten more frequent. Her birthday was drawing near again. It was almost her birthday, and it would be his second one without her. The year before had been harder. He hadn't even been able to go to work. This year, he figured he could make it through if he just drowned himself things that didn't revolve around him.

But it was late, and there was a dull ache forming behind his eyes. He figured it was time to finally set it aside for the night. Sokka started to collect it all so he could go lay in his bed for a few hours and feign some lame attempt at sleep.

Just as he was about to stand and leave his living room, his phone chirped on the coffee table in front of him. He glanced at the screen. The contact name Flaming Jerk appeared.

"Zuko?" he asked himself as he picked up his phone.

It was late by Zuko's standards. It was nearly ten at night, and by this time, Sokka figured he'd be dead to the world. He was especially surprised considering his crack of Agni's ass meditation schedule. Sokka hadn't been expecting anything this late. Heck, he hadn't been expecting anything from Zuko at all unless it was an update on his tattoo sketch. Which it wasn't. The message was short and simple.

Zuko: Are you still awake?

Sokka had nearly dropped his phone in shock. And when he recovered, he shot back the fastest, lamest text or his life.

Sokka: yeah

Zuko: Fuck. I wasn't actually expecting you to respond.

Sokka: well i did what's up?

Zuko: Do you mind if I call you?

Cue a short circuit, please. He could not comprehend it at first. Zuko wanted to call? Him? Why? What could be so important that Zuko needed to call him so late at night and risk disturbing his precious sleep schedule? Sokka had to allow his internal freakout to calm before he could get his fingers to type the four-lettered response.

Sokka: sure.

The call came through a minute or so later. Sokka's brain ceased to function yet again, and he very nearly missed the call.

"Hello?" he said once it connected.

"Hey," Zuko responded back.

The amount of pure giddiness that flowed through Sokka at the sound of Zuko's raspy, sleepy voice this late at night was disgusting. But he didn't care. This was Zuko, and he was willing to deal with the giddiness if he could simply talk to him.

"What's up?" Sokka asked.

"Uh, I feel kind of dumb calling you about this now. Ah, shit," he said.

"Don't worry about it. Something buggin' you?"

"It's not anything important. I can just text you tomorrow."

"Zuko, it's fine," Sokka insisted. "I'm here now, so just tell me."

A sigh sounded from the other line. "Thanks." A pause and then, "Like I said, this isn't important. I'm just so irritated by it."

"Care to elaborate?"

"Fuck. Right. Yeah. Have you ever heard of the Ember Island Players?"

"Is that a kuai ball team from the Fire Nation?" Sokka asked. "'Cause if it's not, then I've got nothing, buddy."

A soft, lilting chuckle sounded from the other end. Sokka decided immediately that he liked that chuckle, and he wanted to hear more of it.

"No, it's not a kuai ball team," he said. "It's a theatre troupe."

"You like theatre?" Sokka asked. Although he was still learning tidbits of information about Zuko's life, he hadn't expected him to be a theatre nerd.

"Is that a bad thing?" Zuko asked. He seemed almost hesitant.

"No!" Sokka said quickly. "Not at all. It's cute."

Fuck. He should not have said that. He should not have inadvertently called Zuko cute by referring to his interests as such. That was a terrible decision, one that he couldn't exactly backpedal on now. He was just going to roll with it. And by that he meant: act like it never happened and keep on talking. Save himself and Zuko the embarrassment.

"I saw a few plays growing up," he said. "They were nothing special. Just stuff Katara had been a part of when we were kids."

Zuko snorted. "I'm sure that your sister's childhood plays had leagues on this shit."

"That bad?"

"Uh huh. They literally butchered my favorite play, Love amongst the Dragons."

"Never seen it."

A sigh. "I should have known it would be bad. The last time I saw them, the show was set in Ba Sing Se, but the costumes were distinctly in the southern Earth Kingdom style. That's such an amateur mistake!"

"Don't they all just wear a lot of green?"

He groaned this time. "I'm sure they would even have you if you auditioned."

"Sounds fucking awful- Wait! Hey! Rude!"

"Fuck. Sorry. I didn't mean that."

A smile formed on Sokka's lips. Sure, it was easy to pick on Sokka, but it was even easier to pick on Zuko. "I'm kidding. Don't worry about it," he said and then added, "We should go see them sometime."

"What? Why?"

"I mean, I don't know about you but, I think it would be funny to sit in the balcony by ourselves and crack jokes about how awful they are."

"That..." Zuko said, which was followed by more of those perfect, lilting chuckles from before. "That actually sounds fun, I think."

Sokka couldn't help but swoon. Zuko's little chuckles, his lighthearted complaints, and his all around genuine nature floored Sokka. He wanted to hear the lilting sounds again and again. Zuko made him temporarily forget whatever pain and anxiety he was feeling that night, and on many other nights that followed.

They texted a lot over that two week span. Zuko usually sent long, complex messages while Sokka sent lots of individual messages, one right after the other. But Zuko seemed to be fine with that. He seemed to be okay with Sokka rambling on about random topics, and Sokka was fine with listening when Zuko needed to talk. It had become routine, along with good morning and good night messages. Even if one of them had a busy day ahead of them, they always sent those four words. And when neither of them were busy, they'd call and sit on the phone for hours at a time. Sokka loved those conversations. He loved hearing Zuko's voice. It was soothing and calm and it made Sokka happy.

Their routine didn't fail him that morning. Sokka was working the day shift. By that, he meant that he had to get up at the crack of Agni's ass to get to the station by six. He'd done just that, but it didn't mean that he was a happy otter penguin. He had stopped at the Jasmine Dragon for his morning dose of boba and a muffin, but it'd done little to help his grumpy mood.

It wasn't until Zuko had texted him as he walked through the door of the station that he felt his first smile of the day grace his lips. It was his usual good morning, but to Sokka, it meant a lot more.

Zuko had quickly become his person. You know, when you have that person that just makes you better, that makes you happy just by being around. That was Zuko. Sokka found himself missing him when he wasn't around. He found himself doing exactly what he said he wouldn't do, and that was crush on Zuko.

He walked into the station and made a beeline for his desk so he could indulge in the conversation he'd started with Zuko.

Sokka: i realized that i dont have a contact photo for u

Zuko: Do you need one?

Sokka: yeah it makes the friendship more official

Zuko: Just use a picture from my instagram?

Sokka: but i want a real one

Sokka: of ur face

Sokka: plz. i have one for everyone else

Yeah. That was a lie. He didn't have contact photos for anyone in his contacts. Well, except Toph, but he only had hers because it was a shot of the pair of them. He liked to prove to people that he was close friends with the Blind Bandit. But that was beside the point. He had ulterior motives here. He wanted a selfie of Zuko. Dude didn't have any photos on his social media. Not that he even had very much use for his social media. He hadn't posted on his facebook since before his scar. Sokka stalked that as soon as he'd gotten home from the Jasmine Dragon. His instagram was purely for business purposes and provided a bunch of really great but really useless shots of tattoos. It wasn't like he could find a decent picture if he even tried.

He was on a mission. And he was succeeding. Or at least he thought he was.

Zuko: Fine.

Zuko: [Image]

The picture was indeed of Zuko's face, but he didn't look happy to be sending it. His lips were turned downward into a slight scowl. His brows were furrowed. Honestly, he looked a bit constipated if Sokka did say so himself. He wasn't going to use that for his contact photo. But that also didn't mean he didn't save it to his camera roll anyway.

Sokka: :(

Zuko: What?

Sokka: ur not smiling

Zuko: Do I ever?

Sokka: yeah actually

Sokka: u do. just not a lot

Sokka: plz can u smile? and not one of those ones that make u look like ur in pain?

Zuko: If you can send me that text using correct grammar and spelling, then yes.

Sokka couldn't help but roll his eyes at Zuko's snarkiness. He understood where he was coming from. It was 2021. Autocorrect was great about fixing those errors, but how did one fix years worth of crappy texting? Sokka was a smart guy. He had to be for his job. It wasn't like he used text slang when he was writing up reports. So maybe he could do this for Zuko. He'd at least give it a try.

Sokka: Please can you smile? Not one of those ones that make you look like you're in pain?

Zuko: (Image)

Sokka opened the image, and immediately his heart stopped. It was a similar shot to the one from before but more zoomed out. He looked like he was outside for his morning meditation. And the beautiful thing about Zuko was that he apparently didn't wear a shirt during his morning meditation. He got more of his upper body with this one. Sokka could see the gentle downward slope of his shoulders that led into well defined pectoral and abdominal muscles. He could see small beads of sweat glossing his skin from being out in the early morning heat. Shit. Zuko was well built, and Sokka was living for it. And that wasn't even the best part of the photo. Zuko was smiling. It was that fond, barely there, adorable smile that Zuko rarely let him see, but it was perfect. On top of that, his cheeks were flushed and his eyes were looking off to the side, averted as if he were trying to avoid the camera's gaze. There was no way that Zuko wasn't being intentional with the picture. There was no way he didn't know what he was doing.

Zuko was flirting with him.

And even though Sokka knew he would regret it as soon as this conversation was over, two could play at that game.

Sokka: Do you work out?

He was going to use correct grammar only for Zuko. Everyone else could fuck off.

Zuko: Yeah.

Sokka: Well, you look good. ;)

Zuko didn't respond for a minute or so, and Sokka worried that he had overstepped a line. But he had nothing to worry about. Zuko's response came back only a minute or so later.

Zuko: Thanks ;)

Sokka nearly died on the spot. He'd gotten a winky face! That was like spotting and capturing a rare Pokémon in Pokémon Go. He couldn't help the wide smile that stretched across his face. Zuko was totally flirting with him, and he was dead. He was officially dead. Bury him six feet down because there was no way that he could go on living.

"What are you smiling about, Serg?" an annoying voice asked from behind him.

Sokka bit back a shriek of surprise and scrambled to lock his phone. He set it down facedown on his desk and turned to face the sneak behind him. Of course, it was Hahn.

"Am I not allowed to smile?"

Hahn looked down at his watch. "Considering it's only 6:10, I'd say no," he said. "You've been texting an awful lot lately, Sokka. Finally got a girlfriend?"

"What? No!" Sokka said almost too quickly.

His cheeks lit up like firecrackers on New Year's, and he looked away from Hahn. If he didn't say something now, he'd definitely prove his guilt - guilt that wasn't even properly placed because he and Zuko were not dating.

Hahn raised a brow at him, almost daring him to completely deny it.

"Look, not like it's any of your business, but I'm not sure what it is. We're not dating, but I think we're talking?"

"Better not fuck it up, Serg. Knowing you, you will," Hahn said.

Sokka bristled at the barb. "Go back to work, Hahn, before I write you up or something."

That only made Hahn laugh. "Whatever you say, Serg."

Sokka deflated into his desk chair as soon as Hahn walked across the bullpen back to his own desk. He shot Sokka finger guns before he turned his back on him, and Sokka groaned. That was easily the worst thing he could have done. What was he thinking, admitting he might be talking to someone to the biggest gossip in the station?

Sokka was pulled from his misery by his chirping phone.

Zuko: You there?

Sokka: Yeah, sorry! I just have shitty subordinates who are hella fucking nosey.

Zuko: Well, good. I'm glad. You go work. We can talk later.

Sokka: Talk later then. Bye.

Zuko: Bye. ;)

Sokka's day at the station dragged. There weren't many calls, which was unusual for a nice, summer day. But then again, it was probably best that it was quiet. It allowed Sokka to get caught up on some paperwork that he'd been needing to do. His nightly conversations with Zuko meant that he brought work home a lot less. Which was fine. He needed a little rest and relaxation. He couldn't always be a workaholic.

It would be better if they didn't stay on the phone as late as they did, though. He and Zuko had been up late the night before. Like, it was well past midnight by the time Sokka had been forced off the phone by the ever-reasonable Zuko. In hindsight, it wasn't the wisest decision, but he didn't regret it.

A lazy hum had settled over the station that day, and it threatened to put him to sleep. Small conversations filtered through the space, but it wasn't anything that Sokka had to get bent out of shape over. It was an easy day, knock on wood. He could allow them to slack just a little bit while he tried to keep himself from nodding off.

He was halfway through his twelve hour shift. It was already noon. Sokka was just standing up to refill his water bottle when he saw a young woman enter the station. She was a slight, little thing with a round face and messy, dark hair. No one else seemed to notice her. She was quiet and didn't have much presence about her. Sokka decided that he'd see what she needed.

He approached her with an easy smile on his face, but that smile grew tight as soon as he saw the miserable, sullen expression that marred her features. "Hi. How can I help you?"

She looked up at him and started. It was as if she didn't realize he had approached. "Hi," she said. That one word seemed to be a lot for her to get out. Her voice was soft and warbly. Her eyes darted away from him as she blinked back tears. "I'd like to file a police report."

Sokka immediately put on his calm, soothing voice. "C'mon. Let's sit down and talk over by my desk," he said with a softer smile this time.

He led her to his desk and gestured for her to sit down. The small cubicle-like space at least allowed a bit of privacy for her to tell him what happened. Although, he was pretty sure he could guess. Her clothes were rumpled. Her hair was tangled and disheveled. Her face was puffy and red from crying while her hands shook in her lap.

"Can I get you anything to drink? Water?" Sokka asked.

She nodded. Sokka made quick work of filling a cup. When he brought it back, he set it directly into her hands with yet another warm smile. She was so badly shaken that she'd need every smile he could give her.

"Why don't we start with your name?"

"Jin," she said softly. "It's Jin."

"What happened, Jin?" Sokka asked. "Start from the top."

A fresh wave of tears started to trickle down her cheeks as soon as she opened her mouth to speak. Sokka picked up a box of tissues from his desk and placed it near her. She took one gratefully.

"Take it slow," he said.

"I think I was raped," she said softly.

Sokka felt his jaw tense. It was just as he'd figured, but he'd really been hoping that that wasn't the case. He never understood how people got off on that, taking advantage of other people. He hated it. It made him so angry. But he forced himself to relax because getting angry about the assholes in this world wouldn't help this girl. It wouldn't help Jin.

What would help is him doing his job. Sokka picked up a pen and set the tip to the pad of paper that he kept on his desk.

"Where were you when it happened?"

"I-I work for Phoenix Enterprises. I'm a secretary for the manager of the Ba Sing Se branch," she said.

Sokka had heard of it. It was a large corporate place in the upper ring of Ba Sing Se that had originated in the Fire Nation. He didn't know what kind of business they conducted exactly as it was out of his station's zone, but he figured he'd soon become really familiar with it.

"I was at a work party, and I got way too drunk. It's all my fault. I should have been more careful."

The tears kept coming, and Sokka was at a loss. She was absolutely devastated. "It's not your fault, Jin," he said kindly. "You can't take the blame for the actions of others."

She nodded, but it didn't look like she believed him.

"What happened at the party?"

"Someone led me away, I think. To another room in the building. We were alone. I remember yelling at them to s-stop," she stuttered.

Sokka held up his hand. He didn't need her to continue. He knew what happened next. "It'll be okay. We'll get this figured out for you," he said. "Do you remember what they looked like?"

She shook her head. "It was all of the big company executives that night. The CEO was even in town. The party was for a deal that they'd closed on. I don't remember their face. It's all really vague, but I remember the ring they were wearing."

"Do you think you can try and draw it for me?" he asked.

When Jin nodded, he handed her a pencil and a blank sheet of paper. She slowly sketched out a design with trembling fingers. Sokka looked at it hard when she handed it back to him. It was a crude depiction of a dragon curling around itself. It was placed in front of a symbol of a three-pronged flame, similar to that of the crest of the Fire Nation. Sokka had never seen this rendition before.

"Do you think you'll be okay with talking to a sketch artist? To see if we can get some likeness down?" he asked.

Jin nodded hesitantly. "Yeah. I think so."

"Good," he said. "I'll get you set up with Professor Zei. He's great. Super kind. Super helpful."

"Thank you," she said.

Sokka nodded. Spirits, this was such grim business... And here he thought he was in for an easy day at the station.

Jin didn't leave the station until nearly four p.m., and by then, Sokka was mentally drained. As a sergeant, he really didn't work on too many cases anymore. He supervised the other officers and detectives in the precinct. He liked to get in on a case every once in a while, and this case was one that he was going to see through to the end. He wanted to help that girl the best that he could. He'd sat with Jin as she gave an official, on the record statement to the detectives that Sokka was going to be working with on the case.

After she'd left, Sokka set to work on filing his report. He also started on some research. Jin had said she was at a party for employer, Phoenix Enterprises. He was unfamiliar with the business and its CEO, so a bit of time digging through their system would do him some good.

A quick search through their database pulled up plenty of interesting articles and closed cases on the business and their founder, Ozai. The cases all pertained to Ozai. There were sexual assault allegations and suspicions of money laundering, among other crimes. This Ozai guy seemed to be under the watchful eye of all of the precincts in Ba Sing Se, but nothing could ever be pinned on him. They never had enough information to get an arrest.

He found himself chewing on his thumbnail in frustration as he read article after countless article. Ozai and Phoenix Enterprises as a whole were a real piece of work. It was a messy web of conspiracies and crime. He wouldn't be surprised if there was a bit of extortion, bribery, and blackmailing mixed on in. This company had been around for quite some time, and they had a papertrail of allegations against them that dated back at least twenty years.

The most recent one was a sexual assault case from two years prior. There wasn't much on the case, though. The folder was pretty empty. Apparently, the victim had rescinded their statements and dropped the charges against Ozai before the case could get very far. Actually, that was a similarity that many of these assault cases against him had.

If Ozai had gotten out of everything that was thrown at him thus far, he must have been a very slippery guy. He seemed to know the ins and outs of the justice system. He wouldn't be surprised if he had a couple of dirty cops on his side to help him get away with it. Sokka could only wonder what amount of evidence had been destroyed because of Ozai...

But that was all speculation. Sokka couldn't build an imaginary case against him in his head. He'd learned over his years on the force that doing that only led to bias and false accusations. He was above that. He was going to stick to the facts.

To start, he needed to know more about Ozai's personal background. He started by memorizing his face. Sokka was thrown off by his recognition of Ozai. His stern gaze and set jaw seemed oddly familiar to him. His eyes, with their creepy, evil looking stare, triggered some far off, distant memory. He simply couldn't put his finger on it.

The station didn't have very many photographs of him outside of the magazine shots, unfortunately. Sokka found himself turning to Google for answers. And what he'd found, he didn't exactly like.

One of the top searches pertained to some divorce. When he searched it, he found that he'd had one ten years prior. Out of sheer curiosity, Sokka clicked on the first credible looking article he'd found. The cover photo for the article was a picture of Ozai and his ex-wife. An ex-wife that he recognized, too, although she was much younger in the photograph. Her face was soft and delicate and pretty even though her photographs showed her scowling at her now ex-husband. But this was a face he could give a name to. He recognized her instantly.

Ursa.

Zuko's mother.

Sokka kept scrolling through the article, his eyes scanning quickly. Apparently, the divorce had been nasty. There had been a custody battle over their two children. Ursa had gotten their thirteen year-old daughter while Ozai had gotten their fifteen year-old son. In the middle of the article, there was a photograph of the once whole family. Everyone was smiling, although Ozai's looked more condescending than anything. The children stood in front of their parents. Sokka's gaze narrowed in on the boy.

Zuko.

A large smile was stretched across his charming, scar-free face. His eyes were alight with a sort of happiness that he could attribute to the blissful ignorance of childhood. His hair was cropped closer to his head, but it was just as messy as it was these days. He looked boyish and happy. Sokka wondered what happened to Zuko to make that beautiful, carefree smile disappear. Well, aside from the accident.

Sokka couldn't help but stare at the photograph of Zuko and his family for longer than he should have. Something about it made his stomach turn. The memory he'd been searching for had finally come back. He knew where he'd seen Ozai before. He'd met him for all of three minutes while he and Piandao had a pissing contest. He'd known that something was off about that situation back then, but that feel of foreboding only got worse as he made more connections to Ozai and all of the allegations against him. If Ozai was capable of doing any of the number of things he'd been accused of, Sokka couldn't help but wonder if he was capable of hurting his own son. And if so, then why?

Sokka didn't get home until nine that night. His shift had ended at seven, but he'd gotten sucked into the rabbit hole that was Ozai. He couldn't tear his eyes away from his computer screen for anything less than an emergency. And luckily, nothing happened. Spirits, it might have been better if something had happened simply to get him out of the mess he had quickly built up around him. He only left the station when the next sergeant on shift literally kicked him out of the building and told him to get some rest.

He collapsed onto his couch and heaved out a sigh. His body told him that he should fall asleep right where he was sitting, but his mind told him otherwise. Too many thoughts raced through his head to allow him any sort of rest. The sheer amount of stress he felt because of this case and what rabbit holes it had led him down was crushing.

Sokka's phone chirped from inside of his pocket. He dug it out and looked at the notification banner. The text he received was enough to make his heart race out of sheer happiness. It was Zuko. He stumbled to unlock his phone and get the message open.

Zuko:I hope you had a good day at work. Hope to talk to you tomorrow. Goodnight.

Sokka read the message three times before he was able to comprehend what it said. When he finally did, he found that his heart was soaring. Something so simple shouldn't have made him so happy, but it did. Zuko wanted to talk to him the next day. He wanted to talk to Sokka. It was everything to him. Of course, he could be reading too much into it, but considering how they were flirting earlier that morning...

Sokka typed out a quick response - well, at least as quick as he could actually using correct grammar.

Sokka: I actually just made it home a second ago.

Sokka: I ended up staying late at work.

Zuko: I'm glad you made it home okay. :)

Sokka: I'm exhausted.

Zuko: Go to bed?

Sokka: I was actually hoping we could talk on the phone.

Before Sokka could comprehend what he had sent to Zuko and the implications of such a message, a call was coming through. Sokka scrambled to answer it.

"Hello?" he said.

"Hey," Zuko responded. "Sorry. I didn't exactly tell you that I was going to call. I just sort of did."

Sokka smiled tiredly. "No. It's okay," he said. "I enjoy talking to you."

"I enjoy talking to you, too,"Zuko said. "How was work?"

Ah. Yeah. That. Sokka heaved out a sigh. "Long. Exhausting. Stressful."

"How come?"

"New case. It's messy," he said, but he didn't elaborate.

Sokka couldn't tell Zuko that they were going to be investigating his father's company in the coming days. For one, it was a conflict of interest. For two, he couldn't risk Zuko telling his father anything, not that he believed that he would. Still, he couldn't risk it.

"Sounds rough," Zuko eventually settled on.

"Yeah. It is."

"Was there anything you wanted to talk about? To get your mind off of it?"

"Uh, no. Not really," Sokka said and then hesitantly added, "Would you actually mind just... Talking?"

"Uhhh..."

Sokka could have slapped himself for that. He honestly should have. So specific. So utterly descriptive about what he wanted. "Yeah. Just. About anything. I want to listen," he said. His voice then got quieter, barely above a whisper. "I like listening to your voice. It's relaxing."

Zuko didn't miss a beat. He immediately delved into some stories about his clients from the day. Some were strange and others were nice and lighthearted. All the while, Sokka listened. Sokka listened to that voice that sounded like an infusion of smoke and honey. He felt the tension leave his body. He found that he was able to sink into the couch and relax. He chimed in occasionally, but for the most part, he just listened.

For some reason, the sound of Zuko's voice was all that he needed. It was all that he needed to relax, but more importantly, it was all that he needed to realize how truly and utterly fucked he was. Sokka was crushing hard on Zuko. He was breaking his number one rule when it came to meeting new people. He was crushing, and everyone knew all of the possibilities that an innocent crush could turn into.

Sokka was fucked, but quite frankly, he didn't give a damn.

Endnotes/: So. Yeah. I know I put 2021 as the year, but like. No COVID in the AtLA universe. I'm so damn tired of COVID. No thanks. These poor bois have enough problems to deal with. They don't need COVID on top of that. For the sake of technology, they're in 2021. Just omit COVID. :3