Chapter 1: The Defection
Hey guys! I'm sorry that I'm not currently working on the next chapter of Rock On right now, but after watching a certain action movie recently, I was inspired to write this. I might not make it a full on story, but if you guys like it then I'll consider it. Rock On is supposed to be my last full story on here, but this idea just hit me and I absolutely love it, so hopefully you guys will, too. Thank you guys for reading and I hope you all have a great day!
Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender.
Footsteps could be heard coming down the hallway as a young man hid against a wall,his heart racing and his mind tired from lack of sleep. A few days ago, he never would have imagined being in this scenario, but here he was. On the run from one of the most dangerous organizations in the world with no food, no money, and no allies. It had all fallen apart so fast. How had it come to this?
As far back as he could remember, he had been raised to be an agent of one of the most well kept secret organizations known to man, and had been trained his whole life on the art of the kill. Well, not his whole life, but from the age of six and up was when his real training began. Five and below was when the organization trained their agents all the necessary regular skills they would need to know: Reading, Language, Manners, and anything that might be needed to know while on a mission.
After that portion of his training had been completed, he had been given training on how to fight and how to stick to the shadows. So much so that they were expected to become like shadows themselves. The first and most important rule of their organization was that no one could know about them. They were to be invisible to everyone but each other, or their mission would fail.
Sticking to this directive had been his lifelong purpose. All up until a few hours ago, that is. He had trained all of his life for this, but when it finally came down to it, he just couldn't do it.
Taking a deep breath, he peeked around the corner and was not so surprised to find some of his former allies looking for him, making him wonder what he should do. He could try to attack them now while he had the element of surprise, but he didn't want to hurt the closest thing he had to friends. Even if they currently had kill on sight orders.
He could of course try to flee, but they would simply track him down until they found him and finished their mission. This didn't sound ideal either, but what other options did he have? It was fight or flight, and the only difference is that one would delay his death a little longer.
Groaning quietly to himself, he thumped his head on the wall, wanting to kick himself for getting into the sticky situation he was currently in. Where exactly did the mission go wrong?
Flashback
It had all been so normal. After a good night's sleep, he had woken up ready for one of the most important days of his life: The day where his trainers would decide if he was ready to go out in the field or not. If he succeeded in whatever test they gave him, then he would become a full fledged agent of his organization. This would earn him access to all the tools and weapons he would need, but he would be prevented from getting his official code name until after his first mission was completed.
Aside from that slight annoyance, he was excited to finally graduate from "The Academy" as the people who had raised and trained him called it. It was the next step to doing what he had been raised from birth to do, and he was looking forward to making his personal mentor proud.
Gyatso, despite having once been an agent in the organization, had a bad experience in his youth that made him question what he was doing. But, since he still believed in the mission, he had stayed on as a mentor to future agents who would be trained, and had raised up many successful agents over the years.
Despite working for such a dangerous organization, he was a kind and caring man, and had even become a father-like figure to his number one student. Due to his work, he had never been able to have a son of his own, and had seen his favorite student as the son he never had.
This was just fine with him, of course, as everyone else treated him like he was an animal being trained for their amusement. Especially the one in charge: Zhao. He had never been kind to any of the trainees, least of all him. Zhao was a bitter man who clearly didn't trust anyone and thought highly of himself and no one else. Needless to say, no one was particularly fond of their leader.
Although his people skills were clearly lacking, he certainly made up for this deficit with his strategy and mental abilities. Whenever there was a problem, Zhao always seemed to have a solution, and stuck to it even if some disagreed. Nevertheless, he was a strong leader, but his lack of care for the agents they trained made him not very well liked.
Zhao and Gyatso often butted heads over certain disputes, as Gyatso had seniority over him, but Zhao was higher in rank in the organization. Both had completely different views of how things could be accomplished, but in the end Zhao had the final word, much to Gyatso's chagrin. It was a wonder why Gyatso put up with Zhao. But that just seemed to beg the question… Why did Gyatso put up with Zhao?
"Aang?"
At first, Aang didn't look up, being far more used to being called by his organization name than the name that his mentor called him. But, after a few moments, he finally seemed to remember that this was one of his names and looked up at his teacher. "Yes, sir?"
A small chuckle escaped Gyatso's lips as he walked more into the room, putting Aang at ease as he sat down on the bed next to him. "Come now, Aang. It's just me."
"But Zhao said that it's important to show respect to our teachers," Aang argued in confusion, watching as Gyatso frowned a little at the mention of his superior.
"Yes, that is one of the few things Zhao and I agree on," he replied as he thought about it before refocusing on his student. "But it's okay if your teacher allows it." Aang couldn't help but smile at this, feeling happy that his instructor seemed to genuinely care about him.
"Okay, Gyatso," he began with a smile, making Gyatso smile and nod in affirmation as Aang decided to ask what was on his mind. "So, what are you doing here?"
At this, Gyatso stood up and faced his young student, a proud smile on his face as he did so. "I'm here to collect you. It's time for your test. Are you ready?" Aang nodded, making Gyatso's pride in him only grow. "Good. Get your things and meet us in the training area in ten minutes." He put a hand on his shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze, having seen that Aang's face had taken on a look of nervousness. "Don't worry, Aang. You will do great. Have confidence in yourself."
Deciding to take his mentor's advice, he took a deep breath and nodded, making Gyatso smile. "Good. Now, get ready. Your test will begin shortly." And with that, he walked out, leaving Aang alone to his thoughts.
But, knowing that he didn't have much time to get ready, he quickly arose from his bed and put on some combat clothes. It wouldn't do him very well to show up for his final test in his night clothes, after all. Once he was sure he had everything that he needed, he quickly made his way over to the training area and awaited his instructors, not being surprised to find that they were right on time. Everything at the Academy was precise and punctual, meaning that nothing went wrong unless it was planned for.
"Well, SA21111," the familiar sound of Zhao's voice snapped him out of his thoughts as he straightened out. "You have come a long way. Are you ready for your final assessment?:
"Yes sir, I am," Aang nodded in affirmation, making sure to keep his hands behind his back and his eyes straight forward as Zhao walked up to him and examined him. He didn't dare flinch as Zhao stared him down, and after a few moments of silence, Zhao finally backed away.
"Very well. SA21111 will now commence the final training sequence," Zhao announced to the room, not noticing as Gyatso gave him a look of disdain. Shaking his head at him, Gyatso followed Zhao to the back room where they would watch their student and waited until the door had closed before he said. "You know very well that he has a name, Zhao."
Zhao didn't flinch, completely uninterested in what his colleague had informed him as he replied. "Why yes, he does have a name, Gyatso. And it is SA21111. Not some frivolous name you decided to give him when he was a boy."
"It is not some name that I made up, Zhao," Gyatso muttered darkly, feeling his anger begin to build up as he saw how he truly did not care for their operatives. "It is his legally given birth name. Regardless of what they were raised to do, they are still humans. They are not machines."
"If only they were," Zhao sighed wistfully, shaking his head as he refocused on the man in question. "Unfortunately, machines do not quite have the same capabilities as humans. Even if humans are certainly more… expensive."
Gyatso, finding that he couldn't believe what he was hearing, wanted badly to give Zhao a piece of his mind, but ultimately decided against it. Zhao had the power to fire him, and if he wanted to be around for Aang's benefit, he would need to stay on his good side. For now, at least.
Shaking his head once more, he too decided to focus on their student, who was currently displaying his skills at sneaking through a crowded area. If the windows they were looking out of weren't as well designed as they were, they would never have been able to keep track of him. He truly was a shadow among the people.
Aang looked around the area as he maneuvered through it, having seen a picture of the target he was looking for and trying to find where they were located. After a few minutes of searching, he finally found what he was looking for and spotted his target sitting at a nearby table.
Making sure that he had his pistol in his pocket, he looked around the area for places where he could hide and make a clean shot. Up on the roof would certainly be a good place, but it would be exposed and easy for others to find once they looked around. There was of course the option to blend in with the crowd and make the shot, but that was only supposed to be in dire situations. It would not be suitable for him in this situation.
Taking another long look around the area, his eyes widened as he spotted it: An air vent that he could take the shot and quickly disappear into. Having decided his next course of action, he looked around to make sure no one was following him and made his way over to the building. No one was currently around him, and with a quick slash of his special blade that Gyatso had given him, he got the air vent cover off and put it back where it belonged before making his way up the vent.
Finally reaching the top vent, he cut through the other covering and pushed it off, hearing it clank softly on the rooftop before he poked his head out of the vent. Seeing that he had good coverage and no one could see him, he took out his pistol and made sure that the suppressor was secure. No one could know which direction the bullet had come from.
With one last check to make sure that his legs were securely holding between the vent walls, he took a deep breath and aimed his pistol at his target; his crosshairs landing right between his target's eyes. After a few seconds of silence, he finally took the shot, watching as his target slumped against the table.
Immediately, a shriek of surprise could be heard from among the crowd as everyone looked to see what had happened, giving him the perfect opportunity to slip away unnoticed. Putting his pistol back into his concealed pocket, he reached over to the vent cover and put it back in place before allowing himself to drop down. With that taken care of, he made his way back to the entrance and slipped outside, making sure to place the vent covering back where it belonged before making his way out of the area.
"Well done, SA21111!" came Zhao's voice over a speaker, though he still didn't sound very impressed. "You are certainly one of our more… creative operatives. But creativity won't be enough to help you succeed in the mission. That is where your fighting training comes in. Are you ready for the second portion of your test?"
Aang looked over at the area he had just been in, seeing all the people completely frozen in place as he looked at his handiwork. Electrical sparks and broken wires could be seen where his target's forehead once was, making him feel a mixture of pride for his good shot and guilt for what he had done. These weren't real people of course, but they sure looked real. Since the organization didn't have any enemies at their facilities, they had commissioned to have robot decoys for training simulations instead, making things easier for Aang. He hadn't even killed yet, and he was already wary of what he would have to do when the time came.
Regardless of wariness, he knew that this was what he had been raised to do since he was a boy, and believed that the mission was more important than his own misgivings. Finally forcing himself to focus, he looked over to the window where he knew the instructors were and said. "Yes, sir. I'm ready."
"Good," Zhao's voice once again came over the speaker, pressing a button that changed the scenario. Now, where there once had stood a small shopping area with plenty of civilians, now there was a fighting arena with ten robotic men surrounding him. "Begin!"
Not getting a chance to prepare himself, Aang just barely managed to dodge a strike from one of his humanoid foes, choosing to deliver a swift kick to its head and knocking it off before moving onto the next. This time he took the offensive, grabbing his opponent's arms and bending it over his shoulder as he threw it to the ground. Producing a small knife from up his sleeve, he quickly stabbed the machine between the eyes and pulled it back out before moving onto his next opponent.
Not all of his enemies appeared to be on the ground to fight him. Some of them were on higher platforms with guns trying to shoot him, but his training would not allow this to happen. Whenever he had a free second, he took the pistol he kept on hand and would shoot a clear shot at each of his armed assailants, hitting his mark with ease as each marksman quickly fell.
"We have done an excellent job with this one," Zhao muttered, almost to himself as he stroked his chin in thought. "Why haven't the others been as successful as this one?"
"Probably because you treat them like they themselves are machines, Zhao," Gyatso answered him against his better judgement. "If you would give them the proper encouragement and care, maybe they would-"
"I have no interest in "encouragement" or "care" Gyatso," Zhao cut him off without removing his eyes from their student. "Only in making soldiers that will get the mission done. Am I clear?"
Unable to keep an angry look from his face, Gyatso balled up his fists and let out a long sigh. "Yes. I understand."
Zhao grinned to himself, but didn't bother to speak anymore as he returned his full attention to their student. Aang was doing quite well with the fight, and was getting down to the last few opponents as he whipped out a second hidden knife.
The three practice robots tried to circle around him, but he didn't let them. Using one knife to stab one in the heart, he moved it in front of him and let it take the blanc bullets that would have gone into him before throwing it away. With that taken care of, he quickly dashed over to the other robot, springing off of a nearby wall and landing onto its shoulders while inserting a knife into its skull. Just as the robot began to fall, he sprang back into the air and took out his pistol, getting a perfect shot on his last opponent before landing safely onto the ground.
"Well done! Very well done!" Zhao's voice came once again, but this time it was no longer over the intercom. Noticing this, Aang turned around and found that all of his instructors had come out of the viewing room and were walking towards him. "You will be one of our finest agents."
"Thank you, sir," Aang thanked him with a small smile, feeling proud of himself, even if he still didn't really like Zhao.
"Your training is complete, Aang," Gyatso spoke up this time, a proud smile on his face despite the irritation he still felt for his superior. "You are truly ready to go out into the field." Motioning behind him, two agents came walking up to him with objects in their hands; one holding a pair of sunglasses and the other a leather jacket. "As you know, much of your clothes are designed to help conceal any weapons you might need for the mission, but these are more… specially designed to help you."
Aang could only stare at them in amazement as his fellow agents handed them to him, feeling proud that he had come this far to earn these. "The sunglasses are your access to anything and everything you will need to know. Not only that, but they will help you to stay undetected while out in the field." Gesturing to the jacket, he continued. "The jacket not only conceals many weapons, but has the ability to help you hide in plain sight."
Reaching over to the jacket's collar, he showed a button that read "Cloaking device". He then proceeded to push the button, making the jacket disappear along with the hand that was currently touching it. "As long as this is on you, you will be invisible to the naked eye. This will come in quite handy for when you need to sneak into a guarded area."
Taking both of these items, he handed them to his former student and smiled, being happy to have seen him grow up from a boy to a man. "Use these well, and help us to keep our country safe."
"I will. I promise," Aang vowed, making Gyatso smile and nod to him before Zhao once again took the attention of their newest agent.
"Now that your training is complete, you will be sent on your first mission," Zhao began explaining, his voice dull and bored as the excitement of the test had already worn off on him. "Upon completion of your first mission, you will be fully accepted into the organization and will receive your very own codename. Do you understand?" Aang nodded. "Good. Gyatso, brief him on his mission."
Deciding to ignore his bossy tone, Gyatso stepped forward as a screen came down from the ceiling, showing an image of a man on a boat with a woman. "This is Ansar Jabari. The prime minister of Uzbekistan." The photo changed to that of a residence by the water, and from what Aang could see, it almost looked like a palace. "He has been on our lists for some time for colluding with Russia and for threatening to take us to war. This cannot be allowed to happen. Your mission is to sneak into his private residence and end his life, quickly and quietly. Do you think you can do it?"
"Yes, Gyatso," Aang nodded, freezing a little as Zhao gave him the stink eye. "I mean, yes sir."
Having noticed this, Gyatso decided to hold his tongue and ignored his irritation, knowing that this was a battle for another day. "Very well. Your plane leaves at oh seven hundred hours tomorrow. Gather your things and be ready."
"Yes, sir!" Aang nodded before making his way back to his room, not noticing as Zhao watched him go until he was out the door before turning to Gyatso.
"What have I told you about this, Gyatso?" he menaced, but Gyatso didn't flinch as he stared him down. "Our operatives are to respect and listen to us; not to call us by our names. They are soldiers, and we are their commanders."
"Yes, that is true, Zhao," Gyatso conceded easily, finally allowing himself to be at ease for the day. "But soldiers respect those who will level with them, and you have done the opposite of that." He walked up to him and looked him straight in the eye. "I know what you think of them. That they are just mindless drones who have no other purpose in life but to serve us, but they are more than that. Not that you'll ever see it that way."
Zhao ground his teeth in anger as Gyatso finally moved away, but knowing that there wasn't much he could do about it, he forced his temper to cool and turned back to his fellow instructors. "Come along. There's other work to get done." They all finally walked out of the room, but even they couldn't help but wonder which one of their fellow instructors was right.
The next day, Aang found himself on a plane headed to Uzbekistan. It was both exciting and scary thinking about his mission, but he didn't let himself get too hung up on it. Emotions didn't matter. All that mattered was the mission.
"Hey, Twinkles!"
Hearing his less commonly used name, he looked up to see a couple familiar faces walking up to him: His good friends Toph and Zuko. They too had been in the training program since they were little, and they had all bonded over their hatred of Zhao.
But, due to Zuko being a couple years older than him, Zuko had managed to graduate earlier from the academy than he and Toph had. Which meant that they hadn't seen him since then, but he was happy to see him now.
"Hey guys!" he greeted them with a nod, knowing that hugs weren't allowed and that neither of them would like it anyway. "What are you guys doing here?" Another thought made him take on a puzzled look. "And how did you get on the plane?"
"Oh, I have my ways," Toph smirked as she took a seat with Zuko sitting to her left. "We actually just got a contract for some targets in Uzbek and thought we'd tag along."
At this, Aang grinned, happy to see his friends after what felt like so long. "Well, I'm glad that you guys could make it, but we don't have much time before we land. We're almost there." Turning to Zuko, he then asked. "So, how's it been out in the field Firewolf?" he asked with a teasing smirk, making Zuko blush in embarrassment. Aang actually thought that the name was kind of cool, but Zuko did not like it at all.
"Not bad. There's so many targets to take care of, it doesn't really feel like we're going to catch up any time soon," he shrugged, his voice dull and uncaring, proving that he hadn't changed a bit. "What about you? I heard you finally finished your training. What's your first mission?"
Looking around purely by instinct to make sure no one was listening, he finally said. "I have to take out the prime minister at his private residence."
"Nice!" Toph grinned, proud of her friend for getting such an important mission. "Look at you, Twinkle Toes! You're really in the big leagues now!"
"Hey, you just started, too!" Aang argued, even though he didn't really care. He just liked to have fun with his friends. "You still need to complete your first mission to get your codename."
Toph simply snorted as she rested her hands behind her head and kicked her feet up on a nearby box. "Oh please. As far as I'm concerned, it's already done. And I already got my name picked out. I'll be…" she put her hands up in the air for dramatic effect. "The Blind Bandit!"
Aang knew full well why she had chosen that name, as she could take out many enemies while being blindfolded, but he and Zuko had a feeling that this would not be the case. But, after sharing a look of agreement with Zuko, he finally responded. "Okay, but first we need to actually finish the mission. Then we can worry about our codenames."
Toph scoffed, clearly not worried in the slightest for what Aang seemed to be worried about. "Don't worry, Twinkle Toes. We got this! If they made us a squad, we'd be unstoppable!" Aang didn't look so sure about this, but Toph didn't seem to notice as she then said. "Quit your worrying."
Before Aang could say another word, a voice came over the intercom, interrupting him from saying anything further. "Attention all passengers, we will be landing in ten minutes. I repeat, we will be landing in ten minutes. Please gather all your equipment and tools before we land." Needing no more convincing, the three grabbed their various items and made ready for landing.
Instead of being flown into a regular airplane, the organization had chosen to send him in a cargo plane so as to avoid suspicion. Many people were too poor to afford actual plane tickets, and this way they wouldn't have to risk one of their stealth planes since Uzbekistan was not allowing any U.S. planes in their airspace.
Not much longer later, the plane finally touched down and the three agents walked off, having decided that they would meet up at a cafe one more time before they each went for their own missions. After all, once they had each completed their missions, they would be ordered to go in opposite directions, meaning they might not see each other again for a while. Besides, he had some time to kill before he was supposed to infiltrate the prime minister's home.
After spending some more time with his friends, he bid them good luck on their missions and started making his way over to his own, using the organization's financial assets to acquire a scooter that would work for his purposes. Not only were the streets usually crowded, but it was quiet enough to conceal his escape should things go wrong.
Finally reaching the residence, he took a deep breath and threw on his shades, gasping in amazement as he saw it give him every possible entrance into the building. There were too many guards to go in the normal way, and he couldn't break through a window without drawing attention to himself, but an open ventilation shaft on the roof seemed to be his best option.
With this settled, he parked his scooter and made sure that it would be ready to go when he was finished with his mission. Making sure that he had all of his tools and weapons with him, he walked up to the nearby unguarded wall and looked around, ensuring that no one could see him before he pulled out a small launcher and shot it at the roof. Once he was sure it was secure, he let it pull him up to the top and took a look around. There were no guards and no door entrances, meaning that either the prime minister did not fear for his life or was confident in his security's abilities. Something that would likely work against him.
Slowly creeping over to the open ventilation, he looked down and noticed that there appeared to be a sensor waiting for anyone who would want to enter. Having just the right tool for the job, he brought out a small device and pointed it at the sensor, deactivating it in a matter of moments before it finally turned off.
With that taken care of, he jumped down into the vent and landed softly so as to not let anyone know that he was there. No matter what happened, he could not allow himself to be compromised. Crawling his way through the system, he followed the digital blueprints he had been given of the place and found his way to his target's room.
The organization's intelligence told him that the prime minister went to bed at this exact time, and sure enough he could see the prime minister already fast asleep in his bed. Feeling his nerves start to crawl, he forced himself to take a deep breath and hit the button on his communicator. "Sir, I am in position and am able to take out the target."
"Good work, SA21111," Zhao's voice came over the comlink. "Take him out quietly and get out of there. Then meet at the rendezvous for extraction."
"Yes, sir," Aang responded, still unable to get the nervous jitters out of his system as he took out his knife and cut open the air vent covering. Carefully putting it aside, he quite carefully managed to lower himself down to the ground without awaking his target, making him relieved that he was succeeding thus far.
Knowing there wasn't much time, he quickly crept his way over to the prime minister and held his knife tightly, preparing himself for what he had to do. But, as he finally reached the position and looked down on the man, he could tell that this was a real man. Up until this point, everything he had hurt or 'killed' had been robots that looked like humans, but he knew that this was real flesh and blood.
Panic started flaring inside himself as his mind fought itself over what he should do next. The part of him that had been trained as far back as he could remember to complete the mission was screaming at him to do it, but the part of him that wasn't a soldier just couldn't do it.
"SA21111," Zhao's voice once again came over the comlink, making Aang wince as he knew that he was taking too long. "Is your mission complete?" He chose to remain silent, not wanting to wake his target while he still had a mission to do, but the question remained: Could he do it?
"SA21111. I repeat, is your mission complete," came Zhao's voice once again, this time more angry that he had not responded. Looking at the man who was still sleeping peacefully, Aang's mind once again fought over what he should do until he finally let out a frustrated groan.
"I can't do it!" he unintentionally yelled in anguish, making himself gasp as he realized what he had done.
Just as he had suspected, the prime minister quickly woke up from his slumber and looked up to see the intruder with a knife in his hand. "Guards!" he shouted as loud as he could. "Someone's trying to kill me!"
Seeing that his cover had been blown, the young operative ignored the angry chatter from Zhao and crushed the comlink in his ear, ensuring that they wouldn't be able to track him through it. With that taken care of, he looked back up to the air vent and was rather unhappy to see it slide closed, preventing him from leaving the way he had come in. Knowing that he didn't have much time, he immediately burst through the door and quickly incapcitated the guards standing outside of it, finding that he couldn't take any human life. Even if it meant that he would die.
With that taken care of, he ran down the hallway and tried to look for an exit, but more and more guards came rushing in to deal with him. Finding that he was quickly running out of options, he looked to his right and saw a window where his scooter was just outside. Bracing himself, he ducked a volley of bullets and ran straight for it, crashing through the glass as he jumped down to the ground below. If he hadn't done this so many times before, it likely would have hurt.
Unfortunately, the glass had proven to cut him up a bit, but that was the least of his worries now. He needed to get out of there. With the guards knowing what he looked like and with the organization's "no liabilities" policy, he knew that he would need to find a place to hide.
Getting onto his scooter quickly, he put on his helmet and kicked it into gear, zooming off down the streets as he looked around for somewhere he could lay low until the local police would settle down. Fortunately for him, thanks to the Organization ensuring that he had no history, he was a ghost in the machine all around the world. The only ones who would be able to track him down were the ones who considered him to have betrayed them.
After a little while of searching while avoiding the police, he finally found a small, closed off shelter that would work for the night. The police wouldn't think to look for him here, and he would be able to plan his next move without being interrupted.
As he walked into his temporary home, he remembered the sunglasses that he was wearing and how they could track his movements. The jacket had no informational purposes, only for cloaking, so he could keep it. The sunglasses on the other hand had to go.
Throwing them on the ground, he put all of his weight into his legs and broke it to pieces, ensuring that the organization wouldn't be able to track him. With that relief, he walked over to a corner of his space and made a makeshift bed. It wasn't very comfortable, but part of his training had been to learn to sleep anywhere, and this was one of the times that it would come in handy.
Laying down, he finally allowed his tired mind to fall asleep, despite the worry he felt from what he had gotten himself into.
A few hours later, however, Aang was awoken by the sound of footsteps, making him instantly alert as he got up and crept over to the wall. The place he was staying certainly wasn't a house. Actually, it appeared to be the remains of a house. What had happened exactly, he didn't know, but there was still a wall that divided two sections of the former building. Someone had found him. But how?
End of Flashback
So that was where it had all gone wrong. Everything had happened so quickly that it had taken him until now for him to register what had made everything fall apart. His mission, his training, his future as an operative had all been thrown away because he couldn't make himself kill someone. Even if they weren't innocent.
Taking a deep breath, he peeked around the corner again and was not so surprised to see that his friends appeared to be closing in on him. He knew that they cared about him, but the organization was strict on their no liabilities policy, and knew that they would do what needed to be done. Even if they wouldn't like it.
"Look what you've gotten yourself into now, Twinkle Toes!" Toph called out as she looked around, hoping to goad him out of his hiding, and yet also not hoping to so she wouldn't have to kill her friend. "You couldn't have just finished the mission, and now we have to kill you!"
Fear pulsed through Aang's veins as he heard this, but knowing that he didn't have much other options, he kept his blade and pistol at the ready.
"Are you sure we have to do this, Toph?" Zuko's voice came from the other side of the room, surprising Aang at how worried he actually sounded on his behalf. "I don't want to kill him."
"I don't either, but we have orders, Sourpuss," came Toph's reply as she looked at a closet, promptly kicking it down and not being surprised to find that their friend wasn't there. "No matter how much I wish we didn't," she admitted with a low voice.
It touched Aang that his friends really didn't want to kill him, but he knew that they would follow their orders eventually. And although he knew that it might prove beneficial to incapacitate them, he didn't want to hurt them, and he didn't want to put himself into danger if he didn't have to. Making sure that they weren't looking at him, he quickly gathered what little things he still had left and made his exit, choosing to run to the nearby marina. If he could get a boat without anyone noticing, he could get himself out of harm's way.
Seeing only one guard blocking the entrance, he threw a nearby rock to divert their attention and quickly snuck past them into the area. Looking around at his options, he saw a speedboat that was inconspicuous and quick. It would be perfect for his purpose.
Quickly hopping in, he set his stuff down on the seat next to him and reached down into the electrical panel, managing to connect the wires and get the thing running as a smile spread on his face.
"And where do you think you're going?"
Immediately recognizing the voice, he looked over his shoulder and was not so surprised to find that Zuko and Toph had their guns pointed straight at him, making him sigh in defeat. He had no doubt that he could get away, but not without having to shoot back at them, which was something that he really didn't want to do.
"Look guys, I'm sorry, but I just can't do this," he began as he stood up and faced them with his hands in the air as a sign of peace. "I'm not a killer. It took me until now to realize it, but I just can't do it." Taking a deep breath, he then continued. "But I understand that you have orders, so do what you need to do."
There was a long stretch of silence from his friends, both of them sharing a look of doubt without moving the pistols from their target. Then, all of a sudden, Zhao's voice over their comlinks broke the silence. "Agents, did you find the runaway? Has he been dealt with?"
Aang could only watch as Toph and Zuko looked at him and shared a look as some understanding seemed to pass between them before looking back at him. Pressing the button on her comlink, she took the gun and put some pressure on the trigger, making Aang squeeze his eyes shut as he awaited his end.
What he didn't expect, however, was to feel absolutely no pain. Opening his eyes, he followed the path that the gun was pointing at and was surprised to find that it was aimed at the sky. "No, sir. He got away."
Zhao's frustrated growl only served to make Aang more surprised. He had been certain that his friends would have to kill him. "Fine. We will deal with your failure later. Meet us at the rendezvous point now."
"Yes, sir," Toph sarcastically saluted before turning her comlink off and lowering her gun while Zuko did the same and turned their attention back to their friend. All Aang could do was continue staring at them in shock, being utterly surprised that they hadn't ended him, but Toph wouldn't allow this to continue. "Well, what are you waiting for? Don't make me a liar, Twinkle Toes! Go! Get away!"
"Uh, you've already-" Zuko began, but Toph punched him in the shoulder, making him wince as he rubbed it gingerly.
"Yeah, I know that, Sourpuss," she remarked dryly. "It's kind of part of our job." Turning back to her friend, she said. "Go on! The longer you're here, the more likely you'll get caught! Go!"
Finally snapping out of his surprise, Aang nodded and got back into his seat, preparing to get going when he looked back at his friends. "Thank you, guys," he told them sincerely, knowing the large risk they were taking for his sake.
"Ah, whatever, Twinkles," Toph tried to play it off, but he could tell that she and Zuko were quite sad. This could be the last time they ever saw each other. "Now get out of here!"
Looking back at them, he nodded and forced himself to focus on getting out of there, zooming off into the dark night as they watched him go. His friends had saved him, even though they worked for one of the most dangerous organizations in the world. He really couldn't have asked for better friends.
Looking back at them one last time, he quickly resumed his focus on where he was going, not knowing where he was headed but knowing that he needed to get as far away from there as possible.
"This is not good," Zhao muttered angrily as he paced around his office, Gyatso sitting in the chair in front of him as calm as ever, even though he was worried for his former student. "If SA21111 decides that he wants to expose us, we can get shut down for good."
"Zhao, calm yourself," Gyatso spoke to him calmly, clearly not nearly as worried about this threat as his superior was. "Aang did not leave the mission because he wanted to take us down. He left because he decided he found that he couldn't kill the prime minister."
"How do you know?" Zhao questioned him suspiciously, but Gyatso didn't flinch as he replied.
"Did you not hear him? He said, 'I can't do this!'," Gyatso reminded him, making Zhao roll his eyes as he continued pacing. "Aang is not a traitor, but he is not like everyone else."
"Yes, thanks to you and your 'care' and 'encouragement', he has now fled us and we have no idea where he is," Zhao snidely remarked. Gyatso didn't say a word, knowing that now was certainly not the time to keep arguing about this. "Something must be done about him. He knows too much."
"Zhao, how many times do I have to tell you?" Gyatso growled as he stood up from his chair. "He is not a threat to us. He is only a lost man who wants to find his way."
At this, Zhao rolled his eyes once more, clearly not buying it for a second. "Well, we can't allow 'his way' to be taking us down, no matter what you believe." Gyatso balled his fists in anger, but knew that he couldn't do anything, and remained quiet. "We will track down this traitor and make sure that he cannot reveal our secrets. The only question is how."
"Zhao, just leave Aang alone!" Gyatso finally couldn't hold it back anymore as he felt himself get angry. "He only wants peace."
"And I only want to ensure that nothing goes wrong for our organization," Zhao muttered as he looked at his computer screen, a picture of their former student sitting at a computer while he was being trained on how to hack systems as an idea came to mind. "However, you're in luck, Gyatso. You know how you always said that our runaway has a real name? Well, I think I've got the perfect code name for him."
His eyes narrowed as he looked closer at the picture, sensing that this former student of theirs could cause them many problems if left unchecked. "Zero Day."