A/N: This is one of my favorite things I ever wrote when I was younger, but the writing isn't stellar. I wanted to clean it up a bit and change a few things, and so I decided to rewrite it a bit. No need to read the first version unless you just really want to.

Interns

Aang unconsciously fingered the tie around his neck. He tugged on the knot, making sure it was good and tight as he stared up at the large glass building before him. He checked his wristwatch – good, he thought with a satisfied sigh, twelve minutes to spare. He'd have just enough time to find his new office.

It was enough time, wasn't it? Aang couldn't afford being late after all. This was an internship for the FBI for spirits' sake. A year of doing this could lead to a fulltime position. He could be solving major crimes, saving the country, really making a difference. He couldn't make that happen if he got fired on his first day! No, being late would not do.

Aang took a big breath in, holding it for a moment before he let it out in the hopes of clearing some of his anxiety. He could do this. He was not late. He had worked hard to get here – damn hard! – and he deserved this job. He would not let something as silly as the time on his watch impede his goals.

What could impede his goals though? Aang's nervous mind briefly wandered to his ex-partner from when he worked at the Omashu Police Department. Jet was a loose cannon – and not the cool, walk-away-from-explosions kind like in the movies. He was passionate, sure, but in a dangerous way. Jet wanted to clean the streets of evil, but in doing so he was constantly putting the lives of the innocent in danger. Too many civilians had been falsely accused with guns aimed at them, and so, needless to say, he was let go from the department.

But that wouldn't happen here, right? Aang began to sweat a bit, and he wiped his forehead with a handkerchief he had tucked in his pocket. He knew there would be another intern working with him, but he couldn't be nearly as bad as Jet! He'd had to babysit Jet at every turn, constantly on edge and waiting for whenever Jet's explosive temper would next appear. This other guy was at least competent enough to make it into the FBI's internship program, so he couldn't be awful, could he? He was probably quite pleasant, maybe even easy to work with if Aang was lucky.

And if this guy was another Jet, there would be no babysitting, oh-ho no. Aang would not carry the weight of another slacking douchebag. He would leave this guy in the dirt if need be, drop him and let him suffer the consequences of his own lack of –

Oof.

Aang's thoughts were disrupted by the feeling of someone bumping into him from behind. Stumbling forward a step before he caught himself, he heard the clatter of a bag hitting the ground and spilling its contents. "Shit," he heard a voice whisper frantically to itself. Louder, it said, "Sir, I am so sorry! I'm in a rush, and I wasn't looking where I was going…"

Aang turned around to help the woman who ran into him, ready to help her gather her things before rushing into the building himself, but the second he saw her, he was frozen in place.

She was… gorgeous.

She seemed about his age with smooth-looking skin and silky hair twisted into a bun that he wanted so badly to touch. Her white button-down had just the top two buttons undone – spirits, was there such a thing as a beautiful clavicle? Aang didn't think so until now. Her pencil skirt hugged her hips, and her heels gave the impression that her legs went on forever. A stray strand of hair fell into her face – would it be weird to brush it away for her? That'd be weird, right? But he – oh shit, he was staring and not helping her.

Aang crouched next to her, helping the woman gather her things. Remembering her apology, he answered, "No, no, it's fine! It's – it's great, really!"

The woman laughed – oh spirits, what a pretty laugh! With everything safely back in her purse, they both stood. "Thanks for the help," she smiled at him. Her smile was beautiful, oh spirits, how was he supposed to talk to someone this pretty?!

In his silence, she went on. "So…" she fiddled with her purse strap as she bit her lip. Her full, pouty, pink lip – focus, dammit! "Do you work here?" She gestured at the building looming over them. "It's my first day, and I'm not really sure where to go…"

"It's my first day too, actually," Aang said, nervously rubbing his neck. A thought occurred to him. "Are you… part of the intern program?"

"Yep!" she responded brightly with a proud smile. "Does that mean you are too?"

Aang nodded, grinning widely back at her. "I am!"

"Great!" the woman exclaimed, clapping her hands and bouncing on her toes. "I'm so glad I ran into you! I'm really looking forward to working with you. And now we can find the office together! Err, that is, if you don't mind walking in together?"

Aang could feel himself blushing furiously and he desperately willed it to go away. "Yes!" he nearly shouted in his excitement. He coughed and corrected his volume. "I mean, yeah, I don't mind walking together. That way if we get lost, you can blame me."

The woman laughed again, a tinkling thing that he could listen to on repeat if she let him. "Sounds like a plan," she told him. She stuck out her hand. "I'm Katara, Katara Chi."

Aang grasped her hand and shook it. Her skin was even softer than he thought. "Aang Gyatso."

Katara pulled out her phone and glanced at the screen. "Shoot, it's 5 till. Should we…?"

"Right!" Aang said. "Yes, let's go!"

Together, they walked into headquarters and after quickly looking over the posted building map, they took the elevator to the fourteenth floor. Standing in such close proximity caused Aang to catch a whiff of Katara's perfume, something light and floral. He felt a flush rise up his neck and scooted a little further away from her so that perhaps she wouldn't notice how red he was turning.

Once they reached their destination, the interns were met by a tall, middle-aged man with rigid posture. "Hello," he said, nodding to them both. "I'm Piandao. I'm in charge of the intern program here." He checked his watch. "8:00 sharp – I admire your punctuality."

Piandao looked at Aang. "You must be Mr. Gyatso," he said, reaching out to shake Aang's hand. As he did, he patted him on the shoulder. "I hear great things from your old supervisor. We're happy to have you here, son."

"Thank you, sir," Aang answered, inwardly pleased at the compliment.

Pianodao then turned his attention to Katara. "And Ms. Chi," he said, shaking her hand as well. "I know your father – great, great man. Make no mistake though, you're here of your own merit."

"Thank you, sir," Katara echoed Aang.

"I don't make decisions on who makes this program lightly," Pianodao said, speaking to both of them now. "Your resumes are both impressive, but I also chose you on your ability to work with others. I have a feeling you'll make a good team together. Don't let me down."

"We won't, sir," Aang said. Katara smiled at him and nodded.

"Good." Piandao turned and gestured for them to follow him. He led them out of the floor lobby, down the hall, and into a tiny room with two desks that took up a majority of the floor space. Fancy computers sat on each one next to a tray for paperwork and a telephone. Up against one wall were as many filing cabinets as could fit into the small space, but the highlight of the room was a large window taking up the west wall that looked out over the front of the building.

"This will be your office," Piandao said. "Feel free to make it your own." He gestured to the filing cabinets. "For now, you'll mostly be doing paperwork. A lot of filing and organinzing. We'll occasionally have you look over assignments we're working on – for your input, to get your feet a little wet so to speak." He headed back toward the office entrance. "I'll let you get situated. All the communication info you need should be on your computer. If you have any questions, just let me know." And with that, he left, leaving Aang and Katara to start their first day of work.

"This room is pretty dull," Katara said, mindlessly walking around the room and taking everything in. "I'll have to bring in some things to brighten it up." She looked over at Aang with a cheeky grin. "Want the window desk?"

Aang shook his head. "Nah, you take it." Katara clapped excitedly in response, and Aang couldn't help but find it endearing. It seemed that everything about her was endearing to him. Did the perfect woman exist? Was she right here in front of him, getting situated in a desk by the window with the sun illuminating her as if she were glowing?

Spirits, he was falling hard – and he'd only known her all of 15 minutes.

Aang took a seat at his own desk and began to set up his computer, but he got distracted by the cute way Katara was scribbling in a little purple notebook. Her tongue was sticking out in concentration, and he leaned a little further in his desk chair to see that her writing was very curly and slanted just a bit to the right, and when she crossed her T's, she –

"Aang?"

"Ahh!" Katara's abrupt saying of his name shocked him so much that he promptly leaned over a little too far and fell right out of his chair.

"Oh my gosh!" Katara said, rushing to him. She crouched on the floor next to him. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah! Definitely!" Aang said, trying to get off the ground as quickly as possible to save himself from further embarrassment. "I'm great! Perfect! Dandy!"

"Are you sure? Because you hit the ground pretty –"

"Yes, totally sure! Definitely, definitely sure!" Aang rubbed his neck with one hand, flailing his other hand at Katara in a desperate attempt to move past this excruciating moment. He fell out of a chair? Really?!

Katara raised an eyebrow at him. "Err, okay, if you're sure…" She moved back to her desk and swiveled in her chair. "Anyways, I was about to ask if I could have your phone number."

Aang blinked wide eyes at her. "You want my – what? Really?"

Katara blushed in what Aang thought was a pretty way. He didn't know blushes could even be pretty. "Well, I just thought… since we'll be working together, it might be good to have each other's phone numbers. Is that…?"

"Oh!" Aang blinked. Of course that's why she would want his number. He felt himself deflate a bit. "Err, yeah, that makes sense. Here…" He pulled out his phone and handed it to Katara so she could put in her number. She handed him her own phone in return.

Once they had their own devices back, Katara asked, "So should we start on some of this paperwork?"

Aang nodded. "Yeah, sounds good to me."

Katara walked over to his desk and stood behind Aang, looking over his shoulder to read the papers on his desk. Oh spirits, he could smell her perfume again…

With a subtle sniff, Aang thought that this might just be his best job yet.

"I'm telling you, Toph, she's amazing."

It was the evening after his first day, and Aang had immediately called his friend Toph right after work to tell her all about his fantastic new job and his fantastic new coworker.

"She's beautiful – like, seriously, I think she's the most beautiful woman I've ever seen!"

"Gee, thanks, Twinkletoes."

Aang ignored her. "But it's not just that she's beautiful! She's really smart too, probably the smartest person I've ever met, and she's funny, and she's incredibly nice, and it's like – we just click, y'know? We work super well together, too. We get along so well that it's – it's like I've known her my whole life!"

"Look, as fascinating as this conversation is, you're starting to ramble and I'm trying to eat here."

Aang switched his cell phone to his other hand as he continued down the sidewalk towards his car. "Okay, okay, I'll wrap it up. Basically, she's incredible, and I've never felt this way in my entire life. Katara is just –"

"Wait a second. Her name's Katara? Her last name wouldn't happen to be Chi, would it?"

Aang paused. "Yeah, actually. Wait, do you know her?!"

"Well, Iroh has that nephew named Zuko that always comes to our restaurant."

"Okay…"

"And Zuko's friend Sokka is always tagging along – not that I'm complaining, the guy eats for three and it's good for business."

"Get to the point, please?"

"Sheesh, impatient much? You really are into this girl. Anway, his full name is Sokka Chi – Katara's his sister."

"Huh," said Aang, nodding to himself and resuming his walk. "Has he mentioned anything about her besides the fact that she's his sister? Like, oh I dunno, maybe whether or not she has a boyfriend…?"

"Ha! Nice try, Twinkletoes, but no, believe it or not, he hasn't mentioned anything about whether or not his sister is single. You gotta ask her out to get that information."

"Are you kidding?!" Aang shouted. A couple walking past him gave him an odd look and Aang grinned sheepishly at them before lowering his voice. "I can't ask her out! She's way out of my league!" Aang groaned. "I don't know why I bothered asking anyways. Someone like her has definitely got a boyfriend already."

"Well, you're never gonna find out unless you put yourself out there and ask her, dumbass!"

"How am I supposed to ask if she has a boyfriend or not? I can't just come right out and ask her out of the blue!"

"Well, you could if you weren't such a wuss. But since you are, just slip the question into casual conversation. Think you can handle that?"

"Casual conversation?" Aang asked, nearly talking to himself at this point. "Yeah… yeah, maybe I can do that…"

"Okay, I'm starving over here, so I'm hanging up. Go get 'em, Twinkletoes!"

"Bye, Toph." Aang pressed the red button on his phone, hanging up. Slip it into casual conversation, huh? He could manage that, couldn't he?

"Morning, Katara!" Aang greeted as he walked into their office.

"Good morning, Aang!" Katara smiled. "Ready to get started? Apparently, they were going easy on us yesterday…" She gave the large pile of paperwork that had been newly placed on their desks a sour look.

"Man, you're not kidding," Aang replied. He plopped into his own desk chair and began to rifle through the stacks of paper. Casual conversation, he thought to himself. Casual…

"So," Aang said, looking up from his paper. He tapped his fingers on the desktop in what he thought could maybe be considered casual. "Did you… do anything last night? See your family, watch a movie, maybe goonadatewithyourlongtermboyfriend…?"

Oh, NICE JOB, way to be CASUAL, Aang scolded himself as he turned away from Katara and smacked his forehead.

"I just stayed in last night, actually," Katara answered, keeping her eyes on her work. "Ate some takeout, watched some TV, just relaxed after our first day of work, y'know?"

"Oh yeah, definitely! Me too," Aang said, picturing himself relaxing with Katara, eating Chinese food and cuddling as they watch some cheesy sitcom.

His bubble was burst when Katara added, "I have plans with my boyfriend for tonight, though. A congrats-on-the-job sort of thing."

"Oh. So you… you have a boyfriend, huh?" Aang asked, albeit much more sullen now. He hoped Katara wasn't able to pick up on the sadness in his voice.

"Mhmm," she answered, oblivious to his tone. She was still hyper-focused on the papers in front of her as she diligently filled them out.

"How long have you been… uh, dating?"

Katara finally paused in her paperwork and stared thoughtfully into the distance. She tapped her pen against her pursed lips as she hummed in thought. Dammit, did she have to be so cute right now while his heart was breaking?! "3 months I think?" she finally said. "It may be closer to 4 now."

"Ah," Aang nodded, his hands gripping his pants legs underneath his desk in distress. "So you guys must be pretty serious then."

Katara sighed, placing her chin in her palm. "I'm not so sure about that, actually. Even though we've been seeing each other for a while, I don't think he wants to get much more serious than we already are." She rolled her chair from behind her desk and closer to Aang. "See, I know that I've been really career-oriented for a long time, but I really do want to get married and have kids someday – not right this second, but eventually, and I just need to know that my relationship is going somewhere in that direction, y'know?"

Aang nodded, eyes wide, lost in another daydream where he's standing proudly next to Katara who's dressed in all white – He shook his head of the thought. "Yeah, I definitely understand that."

Rolling back to her own desk, Katara sighed again. "I'm sorry, I'm totally unloading on you and I shouldn't be. I haven't even known you for two days! You're just easy to talk to I guess." She smiled shyly at him. Aang gulped. "Anyways, forget I said anything. Whenever I see Jet tonight, I'll –"

Wait, what? "Jet?" Aang interrupted. "This wouldn't happen to be Jet Trili, would it?"

Katara looked confused. "Err, yeah. You know him?"

Aang grumbled, crossing his arms and slumping into his chair. "We used to work together," he answered, trying to hide the resentment in his voice. Katara was dating that asshole? He couldn't understand how sweet, lovely Katara could go for someone like him.

"Oh, did you work in Omashu? That's where Jet was before he left the force."

Before he left the – is that what Jet told her!? That he had left the force by his own choice rather than being fired!?

"Yeah," Aang responded tersely, opting to keep that information to himself for now. He didn't want to create conflict between himself and Katara. They hadn't known each other long after all, and she may not even believe him. "So. What's good ol' Jet been up to lately?"

"He does business in Gaoling somewhere." Katara answered.

"Really?" Aang asked, raising his eyebrows in surprise. Jet did not seem like the business type. "What sort of business?"

"I'm not sure actually…" Katara said thoughtfully, staring into space. "Huh…"

She stared for so long that Aang felt the need to rouse her. "Katara?"

Katara abruptly stood up from her desk. "I'm making a coffee run. Want anything?"

"Oh! Umm, a latte, I guess?" Aang froze. "No, wait, I mean, err, coffee. Just, like, plain black coffee. Definitely not a latte."

"A latte it is!" Katara laughed. "I'll be right back!" She grabbed her purse and walked out the door.

Jet? Her boyfriend was fucking Jet?! Aang couldn't get over it. How was that even possible?! That asshole was literal scum, not to mention all the shit Aang had to put up with while working with him.

At least Katara didn't seem to be very happy with her boyfriend, at least for the moment. Jet was obviously lying to her about things, and while Aang had to grudgingly admit that Jet was charming and suave, maybe Katara was beginning to sense underneath it all what a jerk he was.

With any luck, Katara and Jet would be over and done with soon.

"I'm back!" Katara sang, carrying two steaming cups in her hands.

"Awesome!" Aang said. He was glad for the coffee. He needed a distraction from thinking about Katara and Jet doing couple-y things. Katara handed him a cup. "What'd you get?"

"Coffee. Plain, black coffee. Definitely not a latte," she said cheekily, copying his response from earlier. Aang turned pink as she laughed. "It's a macchiato if you must know."

Katara tapped her fingers against her cup as she bit her lip. Aang raised an eyebrow at her as he sipped his drink, wondering what was on her mind but waiting for her to share.

"Funny coincidence," she finally said. "Jet called me while I was grabbing our drinks."

Aang nearly spit out the coffee he had been sipping. "Oh, really?" Aang asked. He tried to sound casual, but it ended up coming out strangled instead.

She nodded. "Yeah. I told him I was on my way back to work, so it was a short talk, but… he apologized for how flaky and noncommittal he's been lately. Which is surprising, because he never apologizes, so he must really be feeling bad. And he confirmed our dinner plans tonight, which he also never does, and then he even said he'd like to come visit the office sometime. He never takes off work, so it's kind of a big deal that he would offer…" Katara shrugged with a small smile on her face. "I dunno, maybe things aren't as bad with Jet as I thought they were."

The only two things that Aang seemed to register though was that Jet and Katara weren't breaking up any time soon…

…and Jet was coming to visit.

Great.

A month and a half passed before Jet came to visit. During that time, Aang and Katara grew closer and closer to each other. Aang would go so far to say that Katara was his best friend. Unfortunately, as their friendship grew, so did Aang's feelings, and through it all, he had to suffer through watching Katara sink further into her relationship with Jet.

And now, he had to see it in front of him at his own place of work.

"Hey, babe," Jet said as he walked casually through the office door, hands in his pocket. He was the epitome of cool and suave, and Aang hated him for it.

"Hey!" Katara said. She stood from her desk and greeted him with a kiss on the cheek. Aang looked away in jealousy. "I'm so glad you could finally visit!"

Jet ignored her comment. "It's a visit that deserves a better kiss than that, right?"

Katara turned bright red while Aang gripped the edge of his desk so hard that his knuckles turned white. "Jet, I'm at work," she hissed, "and we're in front of –"

Jet scoffed. "Aang doesn't care," he said, rubbing his hands ever so slowly along Katara's arms, around to her back, and down to her –

Katara shoved Jet away angrily. "Jet, stop it, you're embarrassing me." Aang exhaled in relief.

Jet rolled his eyes. "Yeah, whatever," he said looking around the room. His eyes landed on Aang. "Hey," he said to him with a nod.

"Hi," Aang said tersely, glaring at him. Jet glared back.

"So," Jet said, breaking their staring contest and meandering around the room. He walked past the filing cabinets and casually opened a drawer. "Anything interesting going on here?" he asked, glancing over the folders inside.

With her hip, Katara slammed the filing cabinet shut before Aang could do it himself. "You're not allowed in those," she said sternly. "I've told you before, this stuff is classified."

"Stupid policy if you ask me."

"That's the policy most places, Jet," Katara said with a shake of her head. "The only thing I really hate about it here is how dim this office is. Although, it was way worse before. It looks much better now that we've fixed our desks up some." She gestured to some of the trinkets that sat on her desk. "Actually, Aang and I were just talking about maybe going shopping tomorrow for a big plant or something to –"

Jet shot Aang another glare. "No, no need, babe," Jet said, turning to Katara and sweetly taking her hands in his. "I can go with you after work tonight."

Katara raised her eyebrows at him, either in surprise or annoyance, Aang couldn't tell. Maybe both. "No," she said, "I need Aang to come with me. He's the one sharing an office with me, so I need his opinion."

Jet nearly growled at the defiance. "I said I'd go with you," he said angrily, dropping her hands. "You're always complaining I don't do shit with you, and now here I am offering and you don't want me to?"

"That's not what this is about, Jet, I just need Aang to go since it's our office! Stop being unreasonable!"

"I'll stop being unreasonable when you stop being a bitch!"

Aang slammed his hands on his desk and stood seething. "What did you just call her?" Oh, he would not be standing for this.

Jet roughly pushed Katara aside to look Aang head on. "I called her a bitch, because she's my girlfriend, Gyatso, so stay out of it!"

"Jet, stop it –"

"I'm not gonna stay out of it," Aang shouted angrily. "You need to watch your mouth and not talk to Katara that way! I'm not gonna let you come in here and treat her like that!"

"You piece of shit, I'm gonna –"

"Jet!" Katara pulled on his arm hard enough that it finally pulled his attention away from Aang. "Just leave, okay? We can talk about this later, but you need to leave."

Jet stood, breathing heavily with eyes narrowed on Aang. Aang refused to back down. "Fine," he relented. "I'm out of here." He walked out of their office, slamming the door behind him.

It was silent in the office. Katara hugged herself tightly, biting her lip. Aang thought he saw her eyes welling up, and his heart broke for her.

"Katara…?" he said, taking a cautious step towards her. "Are you –"

"I'm fine," Katara said, cutting him off. "…I'm sorry about that."

Aang was bewildered. "Katara, don't apologize for him, he was acting like an ass." He took another step closer to her. "Does he always act like that with you?"

Katara shrugged hopelessly. "I don't know. Sometimes? Not… not all the time…"

"Katara…" Aang gently took hold of her forearms and let his thumbs run soothing circles into them. "The way he talked to you just now… He should not have done that. He should never do that. You deserve so much better than that sort of treatment."

Katara sniffled. "I… I know, I… I need to end it…" she said. She reached around Aang and hugged him tightly, and even though Aang was angry with Jet and upset that Katara was hurt, he reveled in the embrace.

"Thank you," she whispered to him.

"Of course," Aang said, holding her close. "I'm here for you."

"G'morning, Katara!" Aang smiled as she walked through the door the next day.

"Hi, Aang," Katara said, avoiding eye contact with him. Aang thought that was odd.

He shook it off though and said, "Piandao gave us this file to look over." Aang held up a large manila folder packed with papers and colorful post-its jutting out the sides. "Some big group is going around murdering Fire Nation descendants as some sort of vigilante justice for their part in the Hundred Year War. The guys don't have a solid lead, and they're looking for any clues they can. Piandao thought maybe we could look it over too, see if we can pick up on anything."

Katara nodded. "Our first case we get to help out on, huh? Exciting." She didn't sound that excited.

Aang tried to peruse through the folder as casually as possible before he couldn't resist the temptation any longer. "So… how was last night?" He was absolutely dying to know how the breakup had gone. It was probably why Katara seemed off today.

Katara bit her lip, looking anywhere but at Aang. "Oh, y'know… the usual… Sokka called and we talked about his latest crazy business venture, I went out to dinner with my friend Suki, JetcameovertoapologizeandsoIdidntbreakupwithhim, oh I watched a movie that came on –"

"Wait, wait, wait," Aang said, doing a double take. "You didn't break up with Jet?!"

"Well," Katara said, twisting her hair in what Aang knew to be a nervous habit, "he just – he was really apologetic and sweet, and – and I just couldn't do it –"

"Katara," Aang said sternly. He felt a protective instinct over her kicking in. Feelings for her aside, she should not be with such an asshole. "You cannot keep seeing this jerk. He called you a… a you-know-what! You have to break up with him!"

"No… I don't have to…"

Aang looked around the room is disbelief. "Are you serious?! Jet isn't treating you right, Katara – you can't do this to yourself!"

Katara glared at him. "Aang, I can do whatever I want. I'm a big girl, I can take care of myself!"

"Yeah, I know, but – come on, I can't stand to see you be treated like this! When he hurts you, I hurt too, because I –"

Whoa. He almost just said that he loved her. Aang realized just how true the sentiment was, but of course couldn't say that.

"…I care about you," Aang finished instead. "This is getting out of hand, Katara. You need to –"

"I don't need to do anything!" Katara shouted. "You are not the boss of me, Aang!"

"That's not what I –!"

Katara stood up abruptly. "I'm leaving. I suddenly don't feel very well. Tell Piandao I'm taking a sick day."

Aang stood in a desperate attempt to stop her. "No, wait, Katara –"

The door slammed behind her. Aang held his head in his hands, despaired.

Shit.

Another month passed. Aang was still hopelessly in love, and Katara was still with Jet. Fortunately, Aang and Katara were able to make up after their fight. Their friendship grew as they chatted and worked and shared coffee together.

One morning, though, on Katara's day to grab coffee, she came in distracted and empty-handed.

"Hey, Katara," Aang said. "No coffee today?"

"Must've forgot," she replied shortly without looking over at him. Instead of turning to her work, she was anxiously tapping her heel and clicking a pen, staring out the window deep in thought.

"Err, are you okay?" Aang asked. "You seem upset."

Katara huffed angrily, clicking her pen even faster. "Yes, I'm upset. Jet told me to quit my job last night."

Aang was surprised. He thought Jet was all about law enforcement. "Why would he tell you to do that? You love your job, don't you?"

"Of course I do!" Katara said. "It's because… well, it doesn't matter!"

Aang put down his own pen as he looked closely at her. "Come on, Katara, what is it? You can tell me, you know that."

Stopping her clicking, she leaned back into her chair, crossing her arms. "It's… it's because of you."

Aang was stunned. "…What?"

"It's stupid," Katara muttered. "He's not happy that I spend so much time with you, and he says that I talk about you too much, and – he's just jealous, and he told me to quit. Inisisted on it, actually!"

Aang couldn't believe it. Jet was jealous of him? If Katara hadn't told him herself, he wouldn't have believed it. He felt just a big smug inside.

But he couldn't linger on that, not while Katara was upset. "Katara, I… I don't know what to say."

"That's fine, because I don't know what to think," Katara said, finally pulling out some folders from the drawer of her desk. She quickly paused and shot a look at Aang. "I'm not quitting," she said matter-of-factly.

Aang smiled at her. "Didn't think you would," he answered.

Turning back to the papers she pulled out, she asked him, "Have you looked any more at that murder group case?"

"Yeah, but I haven't been able to find much of anything." He pulled out from his own stack of papers a map that he had been going over. "It does seem that all of their hits have been within a 60 mile radius of the Old Earth Kingdom."

"Do you think they're based somewhere out there?"

"They must be, but there's no way the guys can search them all. There's so many small towns and abandoned cities out that way, they could really be anywhere."

"Right," Katara said, taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly. "Well, does Piandao have any more information for us on them?"

"They're calling themselves the Freedom Fighters," Aang said. "And Piandao said that they've gotten some intel that suggests the leader is an ex-pilot or something."

"Ex-pilot?" Katara said, confused. "What's an ex-pilot got a grudge against the Fire Nation for?"

Aang shrugged. "No clue. There's obviously stuff we're still missing here."

Katara stretched her arms above her head. Aang tried not to stare at the way her back arched. "Well," she said, "whatever we're missing, we'll find it!"

Aang had a feeling that whatever it was, it was right in front of him and just out of reach.

A couple of weeks passed, and Piandao's team, let alone Aang and Katara, hadn't come any closer to closing the Freedom Fighter case. Murders were still ongoing, innocent Fire Nation descendants were found dead all over the Old Earth Kingdom, and everyone at headquarters was starting to get desperate. Aang and Katara were even included in the occasional meeting with Piandao's team, a true sense of urgency felt by all to end this awful crime spree for good.

After a particularly long meeting with their higher-ups, Aang and Katara were gathering their things to leave the office and making small talk on their way out.

"Any plans tonight, Aang?" Katara asked him.

"I may stop at the Jasmine Dragon for a bite," he answered. "I haven't seen Toph in a while, so it'll be nice to visit. What about you?"

"I'm driving up to the Old Earth Kingdom," Katara answered. "Gaoling, actually."

"You are?" Aang asked, pausing as he was about to lift his messenger bag onto his shoulder. "Why?"

"Jet's there on business for a few days," Katara said. She took a deep breath. "And… I'm going to go and break up with him."

"You are?!" Aang shouted, dropping his bag in shock. "That's – that's great! Good for you, Katara!"

"I know, I should've done it a long time ago…" Katara said. She seemed upset with herself over it, but she shook her head and went on. "But I'm doing it now. And… that's what matters, right?" She checked the time on her phone. "I'm headed straight there. It'll be a late night, but I should still be in on time for work tomorrow."

"Take as long as you need, Katara!" Aang said excitedly. Katara rolled her eyes at him good-naturedly. "Just text me if you're gonna be late."

"Will do." She hefted her purse over her shoulder. Katara clutched the strap of it tightly in her hands. "Well… wish me luck!"

"Good luck!" Aang yelled at her back as she walked out of the office. As soon as she was out of sight, he threw a fist into the air. It was finally happening! Katara was dumping that jerk, and then maybe, if Aang was lucky, she might be his soon.

It was 9:38 – a whole hour and thirty-eight minutes after Katara should have been at work – and she was nowhere to be seen. Aang checked his phone for what felt like the hundredth time. Still no text from Katara. Where was she? She couldn't still be in Gaoling, could she? She would've contacted him if she was. Maybe he should call her… she was going to have a late night getting back, she said, so maybe she just overslept?

Aang found Katara's number and quickly dialed it. It rang three times before the call was picked up.

"Katara!" Aang said, relieved. "I'm glad you answered, I was starting to get worried. Did you sleep in this morning?"

"Umm, sorry, Katara won't be coming in to work today."

Aang's heart stopped. That wasn't Katara's voice. And it wasn't Jet's either.

"Who is this?" he asked, confused and angry. "Where's Katara?"

But nobody answered. The phone had already been hung up.

Aang had a horrible feeling in his gut. Something had happened while Katara was in Gaoling, he concluded. Something serious, maybe something bad. There was no other reason why a stranger would be answering her phone and saying she wasn't coming in. He had to do something, had to find her and make sure she was safe.

He could go to Gaoling. It was a long trip to the Old Earth Kingdom, but he would do it to find her. But where in Gaoling could Jet be working? It was a big town, and… well actually, it was mostly abandoned now that he thought about it more –

Wait. An abandoned town in the Old Earth Kingdom?

Panicked, Aang quickly pulled out his Freedom Fighter file and flipped to the map marking every hit they'd made. There, in the center of their determined radius, was Gaoling.

"Holy shit," Aang whispered, gripping his hair as he stared in horror at the map. Pieces started to fall together in his mind. Jet, a man Aang knew to have his own sick sense of justice, did unspecified business in Gaoling up in the Old Earth Kingdom. And – the leader was an ex-pilot? No, intel was slightly off on that. Their leader wasn't a pilot, he just had a name like a plane – Jet.

Aang remembered Jet subtly checking their filing cabinet when he visited. He was looking to see if the agency was onto him and what they knew. Jet was weird that day about Katara going shopping with Aang. He wanted her away from work dealings as much as possible to keep her out of the loop. Jet told Katara to quit her job. He knew they were onto him.

And Katara had gone to break up with him last night, something that must've made Jet angry – Jet who was a murderer – oh, spirits, NO.

What were they doing with her?! Was she okay?! Was she being tortured, was she –

No, no thinking like that. Aang wouldn't allow it to be true. Wherever Katara was, she had to be alive. And he had to save her.

He needed help though. Aang dialed Piandao's number as fast as he could. He waited in agony and groaned when he got Piandao's voicemail. Piandao just had to be working interrogation today, didn't he?

"Sir," he said urgently, "I know you're out of the office today, but Katara is missing, and I have reason to suspect it's in connection to the Freedom Fighter case. Please call me back as soon as you get this!"

Aang slammed the phone back on the receiver. No backup? Fine then. He would do this on his own.

There was no time to waste.

Aang pulled out his cell and dialed Toph's number.

"Hey, Twinkletoes! More lady trouble?"

Toph was laughing, but Aang was all business. "Toph, listen carefully. This is important."

The laughter stopped abruptly as Toph recognized the seriousness in Aang's voice. "Oh. Err, okay. What's going on?"

Aang began to prepare himself as he spoke. He took off his blazer and tie and began to roll up his sleeves. "I have reason to believe Katara's been kidnapped by her ex-boyfriend who has turned out to be the head of the Freedom Fighters."

"Holy shit, are you serious?!"

Aang ignored her, pulling his gun out of his bottom desk drawer and strapping it in its holster around his waist. He rifled through his things, checking for any extra ammo. "I can't get a hold of my department head, but you know Katara's brother, Sokka. I need you to get a hold of him. Tell him what's going on and have him relay the information to their father, he's the police chief at the Southern Waters Police Department. He needs to get a squad together and drive to Gaoling in the Old Earth Kingdom. Have them look for the largest empty building they can find – that's where they'll most likely be. Got it?"

"Yeah, I can do that. Aang, I can hear you running around like a madman, you're not going over there right now, are you?! Without backup?!"

"Sorry, Toph, gotta go."

"Are you crazy?! You can't –"

He hung up. Aang went to the bottom drawer of the furthest filing cabinet and pulled out a hidden bullet proof vest, putting it on in one swift motion. Without looking back, he was out the door, a man on a mission.

After driving around Gaoling, Aang found that the biggest building he could find was an old shipping warehouse. He parked his car a bit away from the building in the hopes of not drawing any suspicion. He walked cautiously and lightly, crouched low to stay out of sight. On the side of the building, he spotted a large window and he swiftly made his way to it, gun at the ready. He peeked inside – it was dusty, and he could barely make anything out. Glancing around, he rubbed at the glass, hoping to clear his vision.

It worked. Aang could make out a massive room with large iron shelves and cardboard boxes shoved to the sides. In the center, sitting on makeshift chairs made of crates and shelving, were men of all sizes seated around Jet, and there next to him was Katara, bound and gagged.

"Katara…" Aang whispered, his hand unconsciously reaching out to her but instead hitting the glass of the window. Her hair was unkempt and hanging around her face, but besides that, she looked unhurt. He needed to get her out of here before that changed. Forget the men – they could be dealt with later once backup arrived. Katara's safety was all that mattered right now.

Aang tucked his gun away and looked towards the building entrance. That wasn't an option, they would spot him for sure. He looked up at the window in front of him. It was far enough away from the group that as long as it opened quietly, he should be able to sneak in undetected. There was a pile of boxes just in front of the window perfect for hiding behind.

There was no time to waste. Aang pushed the window up, as slowly as he could to make sure it wouldn't make a sound. He carefully crawled through the opening and immediately ducked behind the nearby boxes. Fortunately, the Freedom Fighters were too focused on Jet to even notice.

"…and we'll go from there. Got it?" Jet said. His voice echoed in the vastness of the space. The men nodded and affirmed their understanding of whatever it was that Jet had gone over.

The front door creaked open. Every head turned to the open door, guns out and aimed at the ready. The tall, lanky man who walked in seemed to be familiar to them, though, as they all immediately lowered their weapons once they spotted him.

"Longshot," Jet nodded to him. "Glad you made it. I'll go over things again for you."

Longshot merely nodded silently before joining the group. Spotting Katara, he gestured to her in question.

"That's what I was just about to explain," Jet said smugly. "This," he ran his hand through Katara's hair, "is Katara." She glared up at him from her position on the ground, attempting to pull away from him. "Gorgeous little thing, isn't she?"

Katara swung her body around so that her elbow collided hard with Jet's gut.

Jet reeled backwards. "Damn it," he growled. He grabbed Katara by the hair and brought her forcefully to her knees, right up to his face. Aang tensed and had to physically stop himself from jumping from his hiding spot. He couldn't give away his position if he wanted to get Katara out of here safely. He could hear Katara's rapid, heavy breathing.

"Don't fuck with me," Jet hissed at her, "or you're dead." Katara could only glare in response.

Jet dropped her to the floor and she hit it with a thud. Aang clenched his fists. "Katara happened across our little… operation last night," Jet continued, looking at his men. "And you may be asking yourselves why she isn't dead yet for it. And that's because…" he smirked at her with dark, empty eyes, "she's bait."

The group began to mutter amongst themselves.

"You see," Jet continued over the noise, "Katara here is a member of the FBI intern program. She works closely with some of their top agents, and she has lots of information that I'm sure she'd be willing to share with a little bit of… persuasion."

Aang was having a hard time keeping it together. His fists were clenched so tightly now that he could feel his nails digging painfully into his palms.

"She's valuable," Jet went on, "and her department will be missing her soon. Pipsqueak's been intercepting any messages from her cell until we're ready to notify her superiors that we've got her. And when we do, we'll make our demands – in exchange for their little assistant, they need to agree to eliminate every fucking Fire Nation citizen that plagues us!"

The men gave a loud cheer, fists in the air. Aang was sickened at the thought of their group demanding genocide, and it was all too obvious to him now that Jet was definitely not in his right mind.

Jet, grinning maniacally, crouched on the ground next to Katara. He grabbed her chin and forced her to look at him. "And then," Jet said sweetly, softly sweeping the hair out of her face, "we'll kill her anyways." He kissed her gently over her gag as the group gave another rousing cheer.

As Katara ripped her head from Jet's grip, Aang found he couldn't take it anymore. He swiftly took his gun, aimed, and with trained precision, he shot the window on the opposite side of the warehouse.

The shattering glass had every head turning with weapons at the ready. Aang crouched further behind the boxes to make sure he was well hidden. It was dead silent until Jet shouted, "Don't just sit there, check outside!"

A small, almost child-sized man quickly got up and ran out the front door. A beat passed before he came back in. "Jet," he said, "there's a car out there, five buildings down the road."

"What?" Jet said, shocked. "But – no one lives around here, I made sure of it. There shouldn't be…" He peered through the broken window. "There's only one car?" The short man nodded. "We can take them out." He turned to his crew. "We're attacking, let's go."

Everyone in the room, minus Aang, Katara, and Jet, began to scramble, shouting plans to ambush the unsuspecting civilian before running out the front doors together. Shit, Aang thought. How was he supposed to get Katara out of here if the gang was surrounding his car?

Jet stayed behind as his group left. Aang waited anxiously for him to leave too, but instead, Jet walked over to Katara and grabbed her by the ropes that bound her. "What did you do?" he shouted menacingly in her face. Katara simply glared back, showing no acknowledgement of his question. "Did you call someone? You did, didn't you? When? How? Tell me what you did!"

He was shaking her by now, but Katara refused to give him any sort of response, and Jet was getting angrier by the second. He pulled his gun out of his pocket and shoved the barrel under Katara's chin. Aang took a sharp breath, his heart beating faster in his chest than it ever had. He kept a tight grip on his own gun, ready.

"I don't need you, you know," Jet threatened Katara. He pushed the barrel of his gun harder so that Katara had to raise her chin in an attempt to escape it. "I could kill you right now, and no one would know. The FBI would come to get you, but all they would find is your cold. Dead. Body." Katara's chest was visibly heaving, but she still wouldn't budge.

Jet roared in frustration, using his gun to hit Katara across the face. She reeled from the hit, and Aang saw blood dripping down her cheek. Aang growled quietly, his hand tightening on his gun, waiting in agony. He had to be patient, he told himself, but he didn't know how much longer he could take this without doing something dangerous.

"Tell me!" Jet shouted, shaking her again. "Did you call Piandao? Your dad? That Gyatso kid? Or –" Jet froze as he seemed to have an epiphany.

"You didn't call anyone, did you?" he breathed, dropping her. "Your little boyfriend probably noticed the second you were missing, huh? I bet he came running to your rescue, itching to save his little damsel in distress." Jet nudged Katara out of his way with his foot. "When I get back here, we'll see just how much longer you live compared to boy toy Gyatso."

Jet stomped out the door at last.

Aang listened for the thump of the door closing and then waited another few short beats to make sure the room was truly empty. He heard Katara take a long, shaky breath, but besides that, the room was eerily silent. Unable to wait any longer, he ran from his hiding spot and towards Katara.

At the sound of footsteps, Katara looked up abruptly, but seeing Aang instead of a Freedom Fighter had her eyes widening in relief. Aang saw her, his brave, brave girl, saw her eyes glossy and filling with water at the sight of him, and he willed his own tears of relief to stay at bay.

Aang holstered his gun and dropped to his knees in front of her. "Katara, I'm here, Katara," he whispered, trying not to choke on his emotion, desperate to keep his cool for her. He ran his hands all over her, checking for injury but also reveling in the fact that she is here, safe, in front of him. He noted a few bruises on her and the cut on her face, but besides that Katara seemed relatively unharmed. He ended his searching by gently cupping her face in his hands. "Are you okay? Please tell me you're okay."

Katara nodded her head rapidly, trying to keep herself from crying. Aang sighed in relief and hugged her tightly to him. He could feel her body shaking from the sobs she was trying to contain.

"It's okay," Aang said, speaking to them both as he held her close, "everything's gonna be okay. This is what we've trained for. I know this whole thing has been a shock, but you are so brave, and you have been so brave, and we need to stay brave just for a little longer." He pulled back and looked her in the eye. "We don't have much time. I'm the only here, and the guys outside are gonna get tired soon of waiting for someone out there who isn't gonna show. We can hide out in another building while we wait for backup, but we need to hurry."

Katara nodded, gathering control over her breathing. And Aang was so relieved to have her safe and in his arms that he couldn't stop himself from untying the gag around her mouth and kissing her soundly.

He knew he needed to pull away. This was a completely inappropriate time to be kissing with them both still in danger. But he couldn't bring himself to do it, and he thought that it seemed maybe Katara couldn't either. Time stood still as they kissed, and Aang made sure to pour every bit of his love for her into in case he never got to do this again. He only pulled away from her when he heard someone say, "Well, look who it is."

Their heads snapped towards the door. Jet, standing there in all his glory, was somehow both seething and calm.

"I knew you were here," Jet said to Aang, stepping intimidatingly closer to him and Katara as he spoke. "That building you're parked by? The guys have it surrounded, waiting to ambush whoever they think must be in there, but I knew it was you and I knew you'd be in here with her."

Aang stood up, angrier than he'd ever been. "Jet, you fucking lowlife. I knew you were a piece of shit but I never knew you were evil."

"Evil? Please," Jet responded as he continued his trek. "I'm just executing justice…" He ended up nose to nose in front of Aang, sneering. "…something you and yours are too weak to do."

"You're gonna pay for what you've done to Katara," Aang growled, simultaneously grabbing Jet by the collar and reaching for his weapon. "I'm going to –"

Jet cut off Aang's threat with a kick to the gut. It knocked the wind out of him and forced him to release the hold he had on Jet. Before he could recover, Jet punched him in the face, knocking him to the ground and making him drop his gun. It skittered across the floor and out of his reach. Aang heard Katara shout his name in fear for him.

Aang groaned, touching his face and feeling blood drip from his nose. He looked up at Jet and began to pick himself up to retaliate only to find that the Freedom Fighter had heaved a struggling Katara off the floor and aimed a gun at her temple. He froze.

"What were you saying, Gyatso?" Jet asked smugly. He cocked his weapon. "Tell me."

Aang couldn't breathe, couldn't move. He couldn't do anything to risk Katara's life, so he waited on edge for what Jet would say or do next.

Katara had no such qualms though. Despite how much trouble she was having standing with bound ankles, she began to squirm and flail in Jet's hold.

"Stay still!" Jet shouted, tightening his grip and shaking her.

"No!" Katara yelled back. "Let me go, let me go!"

While Jet was distracted, Aang tried to slowly inch towards his gun lying away from him. His gaze darted back and forth between the two in front of him and his weapon, trying to ensure his movements went undetected.

Jet forced Katara to look him in the eyes. "Listen to me, you bitch," he snarled at her. "If you don't want a bullet in your brain, you need to figure out what you never did while we were fucking each other and do what I say."

"Fuck you," Katara hissed and spat in his face.

Jet roared, throwing her to the floor and taking aim. Aang panicked – he still hadn't reached his gun, wasn't even close with the miniscule movement he had been trying to make. Did he go for it now that Jet's focus was elsewhere or –

"It was nice knowing you, baby," Jet said, reaching for the trigger.

Aang made his choice.

"No!" he shouted, abandoning his weapon and lunging for Katara. Aang heard only the rushing of his own blood in his ears as he held himself up by his arms above her, ready to take a bullet for her, anything for her. His vest would take the hit, he would survive, and it would hurt, but it would be worth it as long as she just lived –

Where was the pain?

Aang chanced a look up. Piandao, FBI agents, and officers from the Southern Waters Police Department surrounded them, every weapon pointed at a flustered and angry Jet. There was shouting from all around, sirens, noise – how had he not heard all of it right away?

It didn't matter, Aang told himself as he got off of Katara and pulled her up. Katara was safe, and that was all that mattered. He began to untie her, cutting through the ropes with a pocket knife, and he knew everything would be all right.

As the last rope fell away, Katara leapt into his arms. They held onto each other tightly as they sat there, unwilling to let go of each other. With one arm around her waist and his other hand in her hair, Aang breathed her in and thought he may never let go of her again.

Yes. Everything would be all right.

After Jet had been apprehended, Katara had been whisked away from Aang's arms and into her father's before she was led to a nearby paramedic. As she was pulled away, she had looked over her shoulder at Aang, and he thought that there was a message in her eyes that she was trying to convey, but he didn't know what it was.

That was the last time he'd seen her.

Aang himself had been pulled aside by Piandao to relay everything that had happened. He spared no detail (except maybe the part about he and Katara kissing), and by the time he had given his statement and been turned over to the paramedic himself, Katara was already gone, taken home by her father.

He shouldn't have been as disappointed as he was. She had been through a lot, she deserved to go home, she needed to rest. But Aang wished he'd at least gotten to see her before she let, say goodbye. He didn't let himself get too upset, though, because he'd see her at work, right?

That had been a week ago. Piandao had given Katara time to recover from the entire ordeal, and Aang told himself that was a good thing for her despite how much he missed her. He couldn't help it – after being so afraid of losing her that day, not having her smiling and alive in front of him was making him ache.

Aang could've called Katara, he supposed, or texted her. He really should have, he reprimanded himself, at least just to check on her. But how was he supposed to so casually do that after the way he had kissed her? He didn't know how she felt about the whole thing. No, he felt it had been best to give her time, time away from the Jet situation and time away from himself too.

But today was the day. Katara was going to be back at work. Aang was anxious to see her – so much so that he'd shown up nearly half an hour early to work – but he was also terrified. How was he supposed to talk to her after everything that had happened? What was he supposed to say?

"Knock, knock!" Aang heard, rousing him from his thoughts. Turning in his chair, he saw Katara standing in the doorway, two steaming cups of coffee in her hands.

"Katara!" Aang said, surprised. He checked his watch – it was ten minutes until work started. "Err, you're here early."

"I could say the same to you," Katara winked at him, placing a coffee on his desk before walking to her own area to unload her things.

"Oh, right," Aang blushed. "Umm… well… since we're both here early… maybe we should talk about –"

He was cut off by Katara's lips pressing against his.

After a long moment, Katara finally pulled away. "Talk about what?" she whispered coyly, holding Aang's face in her hands.

Aang was shocked for just a beat before he began to grin like a fool. "Actually, maybe we could talk tonight. Over dinner?"

"That sounds perfect," Katara said, and kissed him again before returning to her desk.

Yes, Aang thought to himself. Perfect.

A/N: For those who've read the original, it's not much different plot-wise. It's just more thought out this time around, the writing a little more mature. Young me was probably too sheltered to have written this the first time around, and I think it shows.

Jet is very manipulative. As badass as Katara is, she fell into it. Unfortunately, it happens.

In my mind, Pipsqueak was supposed to just be responding to text messages on Katara's phone if anyone reached out to make things seem 'normal' on her end (even though I imagine he was bad at it). And then when someone actually called, he panicked and didn't know what to do, lol.

Also I'm bad at fight sequences. Which is why one only barely happened. Otherwise something cooler could've happened I bet.

Whether you read the original or not, I hope you enjoyed this loooong oneshot. (It's even longer this time around!) Please review!