It had been about two weeks since Jet's arrest. Katara was fighting tooth and nail to try and make sure Jet would never get out, it was unlikely either way, but she felt as if she had an obligation to the victims. Katara had been by Zuko's side every night he had came home from work, and was practically living there. The pair had been having a movie marathon and were now watching some random movie they didn't know the name of. Zuko was currently kicking Katara's ass in Uno which make Katara pissed cause she hated losing.
Katara's eyes narrowed as she slapped down a green 8
Zuko smirked, then placed down two green 9's.
" Uno"
Katara grits her teeth. " you cheater"
" How am I cheating? I got two 9's and you didn't"
" Maybe you shuffled really shit-ily"
" That isn't a word, and no, I didn't because you're the one who shuffled."
Katara sighed, staring at her deck of cards. she finally slapped down a red 9.
Zuko grinned, then slapped down a red 2. " I win, what's my prize?"
" Your male ego gets to inflate a little more?" Katara suggested, pouting at him.
A piece of Katara's hair fell out of her messy bun as she sat up on her knees.
Zuko grinned, then grabbed onto her waist, tacking her to the ground. The Uno cards were strewn around the floor as he grabbed her wrists and pinned her.
" Hi"
" Hey" she whispered, looking at him with a playful twinkle in her eyes
" Can I have my prize?"
" Yuck, I'm not kissing you" she stuck her tongue out at him.
Zuko took an opportunity and licked her tongue, cackling as soon as Katara recoiled in shock.
" ZUKO WHY DID YOU-"
" I mean, It isn't the first time my tongue's been on yours before.." He grinned " plus we both know our tongues have been all over each other.." He growled lowly.
" Are you flirting with me?"
" I don't know, am I?" He poked her nose with his index finger.
" Your flirting could use some work" she jokes
" i've done just fine with my skills" he smiled.
Katara rolls her eyes and then looked into his eyes. She stroked her fingers along his scar gently. " you're lucky I like you so much, hot pants"
" Hot pants?"
" Yup. " she popped the 'p' and leaned up to kiss him.
He chuckled and kissed her deeply. The pair made quick work of discarding their clothes.
" Katara?" Zuko whispered, lifting his face from Katara's hair. He was really comfortable with snuggling with Katara, but the guilt kept eating away at him. He needed to tell her about Azula, but he wasn't sure time was right just this second. Azula ruined a lot of good things in his life, and he sure as hell was not gonna let her ruin Katara.
She tilted her head slightly, looking at him " hmm?"
" you good?"
" Yep. I'm good. I'm ready to go back to work" she pouted.
" Kat.."
" I'm fine. I told you, I'm fine, if I wasn't I wouldn't even say that I was ready"
" alright. I'll call Iroh and he'll get us some cases ready" he slid his thumb against her chin gently, smiling gently at her.
" Thank you" she beamed at him.
He chuckled, then stood up from the floor, sliding his pants back up his hips. " stay. I'm going to call him." He walked out onto the front porch and tapped on Iroh's number, listening to it ring. Someone picked up. Zuko felt his blood run cold. It wasn't Uncle.
" Hello, Brother"
Zuko growled. " Azula, what are you doing?"
" Having a nice cup of tea with Uncle. Maybe you should come down to his. He's planning on ordering takeout. I can convince him to grab your favorites." She purred.
" put him on the phone" he ordered, closing his eyes. The voice in the back of his head began to chant 'Azula always lies, Azula always lies, AZULA ALWAYS LIES"
" Fine, I'll put Uncle Kooky on the line" she shoved the phone at Iroh.
" Oh, hello nephew" he grinned.
Zuko sighed in relief. " so Azula didn't tie you up and hang out over a pit of sharks?"
" Honestly, Zuko do you think I would really kill Uncle?"
"... Yes?"
Azula rolled her eyes so hard, Zuko could probably hear it.
" Zuko, why don't you come over for dinner?"
" Can't. I'm with.." He trailed off"
" Oh, I see. How is Katara?"
" She's fine. She's ready to go back to work"
"Katara?" Azula asked curiously. Zuko and Iroh both ignored her and continued their conversation.
" She's sure?"
" That's what she said. Enjoy your night with Azula. Be careful"
" I can handle Azula, Zuko. Thank you for the concern" he said softly. It wasn't a good thing that Azula was around, but Iroh could handle her.
" Of course, Uncle."
" I'll prepare files for Katara in the morning"
" Sounds good. I'll tell her now, bye Uncle"
" Bye, Zuko" he hangs up and Zuko came back into the house, walking over to Katara.
" So I just got off the phone with Iroh, he'll send you the files in the morning."
Katara grinned, then wrapped her arms around Zuko's waist, looking up at him. " thanks for telling him I'm okay, and thank you for being so patient with me"
" Of course, Katara" he smiled. " I understand you need time. All of us understood that you needed a break from that"
she smiled once more and plopped back down on the sofa after she got changed.
" ready to go to bed?" Zuko grinned.
Katara flopped dramatically Into Zuko's arms. " carry me?" She grins.
" Sure, you little four sack" he snorted and carried her to his bedroom.
Katara woke up in the morning, smiling wide, usually, she would never be this chipper, but she was tired of being on leave.
" Wake up, Zuko" she rolled over on top of him.
Zuko grunted, blinking away the sleep from his eyes " what are you doing? Why are you so happy?"
Katara began to bounce on him childishly. " wake the hell up. I get to go to work today and be a real agent"
Zuko's hands went to her thighs as he stilled her from bouncing on him. He grunted and sighed, blowing some of his messy hair out of his eyes. " I get it, you're happy. Stop bouncing on me"
" Why?"
He huffed once more, then threw her off onto her side of the bed, laughing as he got up.
" You gonna shower with me?" He asks, playfully hitting her with one of the pillows.
" I can't. I'm gonna go home and get ready. I can't show up to work in one of your shirts, now can I "
" You wouldn't make it out of my house" he teased.
This time, she smacked him with a pillow and got up. " I'll see you at work" she leaned over and pecked his lips.
He chuckled against her lips and kissed back " be safe"
" Always" she teased.
After Katara arrived back to her apartment and got ready she finally opened her gun safe and placed it on her belt holster, right in between the space where her badge and handcuffs went. She was so ready to get back to work.
Sokka walked out, glancing at Katara " oh you're back. How was smoochy smoochy time with Zuko?"
" I'll spare you details, but it was great"
" ew. "
" You asked, this is your fault." She points her finger at him. " don't ask if you don't really want to know"
" Well, I care about you.. I just don't care about.. ya know"
Sokka chuckled, then opened the door for Suki.
Suki took one look at Katara and gasped. " Agni, look at you"
" Look at me what? Is there something wrong with my hair?" She began to frantically try and smooth her untamed curls.
" No. You just look really happy. I like that on you"
" Oh" she grinned. " thanks"
" Zuko must be really-"
Sokka cut her off with an overly dramatic retching noise. " do not finish that sentence, Suki."
" fine. Let's just get to work." she rolled her eyes and drove to work with Sokka and Katara.
Katara walked into Iroh's office, smiling a bit.
" Good morning, Iroh"
" Morning, Katara. How are you?"
" I'm good, I came by to get the case files"
" Of course, I need to update you on our new Technical Analyst. Her name is Asami Sato." He handed her a few files.
" You aren't gonna come with us then?"
He smiled. " I'm much too old to be involved in a lot of that stuff now. I trust all of you to do your jobs. I'm a phone call away, I'll be your supervisor still, just in the office with Asami, make sure she's got all of the ropes" he grinned. " plus, she won't be going in the field with you until she graduates from the academy. She's only here temporarily, trying it out.. if you will" he suggested as he stood up from his chair to finish brewing his tea.
" Oh. Makes sense. It was great having you to work with us as much as you did"
" I'm not going anywhere, Katara" he chuckled.
Katara gave him a soft smile and left the building. Good to know. She liked Iroh a lot.
Katara sat down at their infamous round table and began to read through the files. First she read up on Asami, then she read up on the case. Her heart sunk as soon as she saw the location.
Katara perked up as soon as she heard the door open and saw Aang duck his head to avoid hitting it on the doorframe.
" morning, Katara!" Aang said happily
" morning, Aang" she waved and smiled. " anyone else here yet?"
" Sokka is coming up now. Suki is with Zuko and Toph was yelling at someone.. so.. who knows how long they'll take"
" with Toph? Not long. They'll start crying "
" yeah" Aang chuckled. " what's our case for today?"
" you'll see." She sighed softly, shoving the crime scene photos over for him to look at.
Meanwhile, the rest of the agents made their way to the room, along with an unfamiliar female. She raised an eyebrow
" Who.."
" I'm Asami, your new technical analyst" she greeted, shaking Katara's hand.
" Oh! I'm Katara. Pleasure to meet you, I'm about to brief on the case"
Asami took a seat next to Sokka and Aang and smiled politely at them. Katara cleared her throat and motioned to the screen
: for the past two weeks there's been bodies popping up just outside the borders of The Northern Watertribe. the bodies have been drained of blood. By the looks of the way they were drained, someone really knew what they were doing. Uh-" she clicked onto another picture that showed the corpses. " because after they were drained, they were then chopped up, and preserved... especially cause.. of the cold weather." Explaining the cases always made Katara feel weird, but it was worse now because the image of those frozen corpses being hacked in pieces was now permanently engrained in her head.
The room was silent except for the sound of the air conditioner kicking on.
" Anyways, were gonna meet with the chief of police in a few hours. Hope you packed warm" she said awkwardly. Spirits, she would never be over having to brief everyone on horrid crimes.
" Aren't you and Sokka from there?" Toph asks
" actually Sokka and I are Southerners. It's still our sister tribe though" she nods.
" Wonder if that old guy, Pakku is still running things" Sokka hummed. " he's like a million by now"
" We'll see when we get there. " Katara laughed. " I think he's only a thousand though, Sokka"
Aang and Zuko headed out to the plane to place everyones's bags in the underbelly.
" What do you think it'll be like there?" Aang asked excitedly.
" Cold..?" Zuko stood up and blinked a bit.
" No.. I mean, do you think there's gonna be snow.."
" well, yeah, maybe." He shrugs. " maybe not, I've never been though. It's October, so who really knows what their weather is like in the fall."
Sokka steps passed the two, opening the door of the jet. " it'll be snowy. It snows about eight months of the year."
" When is it not snowy?"
Late June through early September, usually. The second week of September is when we all expect snow."
" So you two grew up with snow all the time?"
" More or less" he shrugs and moved to find a seat.
Toph, Suki and Katara piled on and got settled into their seats.
" So, will you tell us stories of your hometown?" Suki asks curiously.
" Why? we aren't going to our hometown.."
" Yeah, but it's still Water Tribe, don't you share some similarities?"
" Similarities, yeah, sure" Katara shrugged. " the South is a lot smaller, they're really sexist up North still, by the way" she added. " so don't be surprised if they barely take us seriously. They'll probably only talk to Aang, Zuko, and Sokka" she rolled her eyes
" Not a fan, I guess?" Aang asks.
" I like the culture, I mean.. technically they're family, I guess? I just.. don't like being treated like garbage, that's why our Gran-Gran left. She hated their ways"
" No one likes being treated like garbage." Sokka placed his hand on her shoulder and rubbed it comfortingly.
Katara sighed a bit. " well, our tribes believe in the Moon and Ocean spirit. Tui and La" she explained " legend has it that they live in the spirit oasis, but no one has ever seen them, some of the elders used to brag about it, but they were full of shit" she laughed a bit.
" That sounds kind of cool" Aang mused
Sokka and Katara both gave similar shrugs. It was home. They hadn't been anywhere near the Water Tribes since their mother died.
Katara laid her head against the panel of the airplane, beginning to draw patterns in the frosted glass. She wrote her name in a very fancy script and then began to make various other patterns.
" what is that" Suki asked curiously.
" it's Water Tribe."
" oh...?"
" usually we learn both English and our language." Sokka interjected.
Katara glanced out of the window once more, smiling wide as soon as she saw the snow on the ground. It was comforting to her. She remembered the times when sokka and her would crawl into their pelt covered beds and snuggle for warmth.
The plane landed twenty minutes later and Katara stretches her legs out a bit.
" Sokka and Aang you two head to the coroners office. See if you can see anything that no one else did. Toph and I will stay behind and coordinate with the local police. Zuko and Suki will head to the place where the last body was found to see if anyone missed anything" Katara announced, clicking on her iPad. " i sent everyone the locations of the areas were supposed to go. You gotta get there on ski mobile"
" ski.. mobile?"
" a car won't make it in all off this snow. Trust us. A lot of stuff we had to do involved using that and then hiking. "
" ah. Good ol Water Tribe." Sokka chuckled.
" how do we..."
" Sokka and I will drive, but Suki or Zuko will have to figure it out." She zipped up her parka and threw another one at Toph. " here. Zip it up and put your hoods up, the wind can be worse than the snow if you're not careful"
Zuko and Suki exited the plane.
" I'll drive" Zuko offered. They looked a little like water skii's he used to ride on as a kid.
" alright. I'll direct" Suki nods her head, climbing on the back behind Zuko.
Zuko revved the engine and began to take off, going slow at first so he could test it out.
" turn left in two miles. "
" got it" he shouted over the sound of the wind whipping and followed her direction until they entered an area that was still marked with yellow tape.
" all of the snow they get, it's unlikely we'll find anything new" Suki mumbled
" probably not, but it's worth a try. The quicker we find this sick son of a bitch the better. It's hard to believe someone would drain and then chop someone up. " he sighed, snapping on some gloves so they could search the scene again.
" anything?" Suki asked after a while, sniffling from the cold.
" nope. Nothing. You got anything?"
Zuko straightened himself up " no. There's nothing around, if there is it's been covered by the snow and ruined by the natural elements" he explained
" well, shit." Suki huffed " guess we should head back?"
" yep. Come on" Zuko got back on the snow mobile.
Aang and Sokka arrived at the coroners office and walked in.
Aang visibly cringed at the scent of chemicals.
" Hello, I'm Doctor Arnook " the man greeted, shaking both of their hands
" I'm Sokka Emiuk and this is Aang Gyatso. " Sokka said politely.
" tell us what you found" Aang mused
The doctor sighed a bit and walked over to a row of metal doors. He pulled one open and then unzipped a bag to reveal a frost bitten head, along with fingers and toes and other various limbs that were purple and covered in frost. " this is our victim. John Doe, cause of death was strangulation"
" strangulation? You're sure?" Sokka and Aang both said at the same time, confused.
Arnook nods. " he was tortured first, then they began to drain his blood. My guess is that the person who killed him snapped and strangled him. Once they finished draining the blood then they chopped him up in pieces"
" so they went way beyond overkill" Sokka asked.
" yes." He confirmed.
Aang hummed a bit in response and began to write on a notepad.
" anything else?" Sokka asks.
Arnook looked through his notes. " from the sheer force used, the suspect is Male. Mid to late thirties most likely. Unhinged, and the way that the cuts are made he had to have had some type of medical background"
" thank you, Doctor Arnook, we'll get back to the station and talk to the rest of our team about this. " Sokka smiled
Katara and Toph rode on their ski mobiles to the police department. The pair walked in
" Katara Emiuk." A loud voice rang out. She turned and looked in the direction of the voice and smiled
" Yue?" She gasped, embracing her old friend.
" what are you doing here?"
" I'm here for work.. the case.."
" oh. The ripper case."
" ripper..?" Toph asked in confusion
" well, the suspect obviously likes to.. rip.."
" technically they hacked." Katara corrected her. " anyways, what are you doing here?"
" well, I work in reception, but I saw you come through the door. I wasn't really sure it was you until I saw your face. How's Sokka?"
Katara stiffened. " he.. he's good" she said awkwardly. She did not want to talk to her brother's first girlfriend about him.
" lovely hearing you two chat, but can you direct us to the officer that's supposed to see us now?"
" that would be Hahn and Pakku"
" he'd still working?"
" somehow, yeah. We don't really know how but apparently he claims he isn't retiring until he's dead. " Yue laughed a bit, rolling her eyes as she pushed a button to clear Toph and Katara back into the offices. Yue then leads them down a hallway and through a few turns before entering a common room where a bunch of officers and detectives were gathered around a white board.
" in here" she smiled politely.
" thanks, Yue. See ya" Katara smiled politely as she walked in. " morning, officers and detectives" she stood up straighter, trying to assert herself as an alpha in a room full of hot headed sexist fools.
Pakku immediately recognized her and sneered " What are you two women doing here. Especially you, Katara?"
Katara bared her own teeth in a snarl. " I'm here, doing my job. You called the bureau. I happen to work for the bureau. Get over yourself and stop being an asshole to me just because my grandmother wouldn't marry you"
" ya know, we could leave and let you fools try to catch this killer" Toph snorts, crossing her arms over her chest.
" why would they send two women" Hahn asked, sizing Katara and Toph up.
Katara stormed over to the pair " because were damn good at our jobs. Cooperate with us and believe us, we're going to leave as soon as we can. We don't want to deal with this shit any longer that we need to. Suck up the fact that we are successful, capable women!" She shoved her finger at Pakku's chest. The bureau overpowered local police departments.
" well..get on with it. What do you have?"
" nothing yet. We have two teams out right now. " Katara rolls her eyes at the response.
" honestly, you guys must be awful detectives if you can't do that yourselves" Toph replied sassily
Katara would usually saw something about her attitude, but Pakku and Hahn deserved it. " so you have nothing?"
" other than what we have with the victims, no"
" well, let's see it"
Another officer handed a packet to Toph.
Katara leaned over and grabbed it from her, then opened it, scanning over it. " eight victims. Male and female. Same MO." She listed. " and that is all you guys have?"
" We just started" Hahn snapped at Katara
" That's okay, because we got more information by doing your jobs for you" Sokka said as he walked into the room. " M.E reports. Male suspect, possible medical background. Mid thirties to early forties." He listed.
" Thanks, Sokka" Katara shot her brother a glance.
" Aang is calling Asami and we're going through some people that have medical licenses in The Northern Water Tribe"
Just as Sokka was finishing writing on the board, Suki and Zuko walked in. " nothing new at the latest scene. Too much snow, the elements would've destroyed it."
Katara nods. " thought it might be" she sighed. " at least were a little closer to finding our suspect. Aang is calling Asami right now" she informed the rest of the group.
Asmi began to frantically type at her computer, frowning. It had been a full day since they had been in the Northern Water Tribe, but there was no results for any of her searches. She dialed Aang back.
The team were sitting in a conference room, going over what evidence they had so far. Toph was busy questioning some of the people that had medical licenses. They were at a dead end by now. No one had their licenses revoked or even had any flags to make them think they were suspicious. They we're about to give up for the day. Forty eight hours had gone by and they still had nothing.
Sokka was throwing a paper airplane, then gasped as soon as it smacked Zuko in the back of the head
" dude? What the hell?" He grunted
" sorry!" He squeaked, then widened his eyes with a sudden realisation " wait. I got it" he began to dial Asami's number
Asami answered " go"
" hey Asami can you widen your search range for people who recently moved to the Northern Water Tribe"
" from where?"
" try from the Southern Tribe. Check medical licenses and cross references practices that recently let someone go on top of that. "
" alright. I'm on it. It may take a bit.
" thanks, Asami."
Suki looked at her boyfriend, clearly impressed that he came up with the idea
" I didn't know you could be so smart" Toph grinned
" than- wait.. hey!"
" what Toph means, is that's impressive" Aang sighed, mentally facepalming. Sometimes Toph had awful timing.
" I just don't know how he came to that conclusion by smacking me in the back of a head with a paper airplane"
" I didn't, I got distracted thinking about it and I guess I accidentally hit him?" Sokka tried to explain
" still impressive." Katara shrugs, giving her brother a proud smile.
Sokka's phone began to ring and he answered it again. " Asami. Hey what do you have?"
" hey, Sokka put me on speaker first. This is for everyone to hear."
Sokka presses the speaker button and placed the phone on the table. " oh yeah, now what do you have?"
" A man by the name of Tarlok recently moved from the Southern Water Tribe to the Northern Tribes period he also had a medical license open till three months ago which is when The Murders began. Apparently he was native to the Northern Tribe but moved to the south when he was a kid... I am going to send the address to your phone's now but it's out in the middle of, like, nowhere which is the perfect place for someone to commit crimes like these..." she trailed off.
" what did he get fired for then?" Zuko asked
"It says he had an obsession with maiming cadavers and draining them of their blood, seems as if he's upgraded to live subjects.."
" thank you. We're on it" Sokka hung up and glanced at Katara " you wanna run this with me?"
" you sure you two wanna go?"
" we won't be alone, plus we know terrain like this better than anything.
The siblings hopped on their own snow mobiles and headed out to the address along with backup.
" you take the rear. I'll take the front " Sokka said softly to Katara
She nods and smiled a bit " he careful."
" always, baby sister" he smiled and headed to the front along with a few SWAT team members.
Katara made her way to the back, waiting for a moment before she kicked the door down. She began to make her way from the corners of the room, then down into the basement since Sokka took the top floors. She neared the basement door, then placed her hand on the knob, trying to open it. nothing. She sighed and backed up again, having to kick the door down, trying to stay focused as she heard Sokka yelling from upstairs.
She rounded the corner once more and placed the collar of her parka over her nose, cringing at the scent of formaldahyde. As soon as she caught sight of the medical tools and the tables spattered with blood she knew there would be bodies, and body parts. She was right. She looked around for a moment before picking her walkie talkie up" we're gonna need CSI out at the location."
" 10-4" came the reply.
Katara placed the walkie talkie back on her belt and continued to survey the scene. She nodded to another officer.
" I'm going up, CSI said they're enroute. You got the scene from here?"
" Got it, Agent Emiuk. Thanks for your help"
" No problem" Katara nodded and jogged up the stairs.
Upstairs, Sokka Begin making his way from room to room with his gun drawn. He then motioned to the last door on the right that was not cleared yet and one of the other SWAT team members busted it down. Tarlok stood with his hands Covered in blood as well as a bone saw in one hand and a literal hand in his other. He was cutting off the fingers on the hand and had been too focussed on it To hear that his doors were busted open.
" put down the saw!" Sokka yelled at Tarlok.
Tarlok stares at Sokka with wide eyes before slowly lowering the saw to the ground. He licked the blood off of his lower lip.
" put your hands up. Now." Another officer yelled, rushing foreword as they cleared the weapons from the scene to ensure Tarlok had no way of fighting back. Once he was in cuffs, Sokka growled the Miranda Rghts out to Tarlok.
" Tarlok Idlout you're under arrest for multiple homicides. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can be used against you in court. You have the right to talk to a lawyer for advice before we ask you any questions. You have the right to have a lawyer with you during questioning.f you cannot afford a lawyer, one will be appointed for you before any questioning if you wish." he tugged on the handcuffs and led Tarlok out of the building. Katara met up with him at the entrance, staring at Tarlok before looking back at her brother " I called CSI out. Looks like more bodies are down in the basement. "
" alright. Let's head back to the PD to get him into custody then we can go home"
Katara nods and watched as another officer took Tarlok and drove off back to the police department
Katara and Sokka walked into the doors only to be met by the rest of the team.
" I heard you called CSI out?" Toph asked
" yep. More bodies were found in the basement. He's in custody now. Our work here is done"
" you ready to get home?" Zuko asked, looking at Katara.
" definitely ready. It was nice to see the snow again, but seeing what I saw down there.." she sighed again, moving to hug Zuko. She couldn't explain it. It was just horrific.
" at least we caught him, he can never harm anyone again" Aang piped up.
" good thing too." Suki added.
After they said their last goodbyes to everyone( primarily Yue) they headed back to their plane and took off to Ba Sing Se once more.
" ugh. I missed my bed" Suki laughed
" me too. I need like twelve showers after seeing all of that" Katara mumbled
Zuko chuckled a bit. " that bad?"
" you have no idea." She plopped in her seat and began to google pictures of baby animals to cleanse the evil from her mind.
