Chapter 11: Whiplash
The hairs on the back of Toph's neck stick up, a flare of goosebumps shooting up her arms underneath her uniform. Something about this stakeout feels….off. The salty smell of the bay and a nearby fish market fills her nostrils, and she can feel the heat rising with the early morning sun. The docks are typically busy with fish traders this time of day, but aside from the sound of seagulls flying around above her, everything else seems abnormally still and quiet. Too quiet.
Her back presses against the stone wall of an empty airship hangar, as she and her lieutenant slowly edge their way around the exterior towards the entrance, careful to keep quiet. She stops suddenly when she senses movement from inside, her lieutenant nearly colliding into her. Toph keeps her head dipped low as she tries to make out what's happening.
Her lieutenant, a rather tall, stocky man named Cheng, fidgets nervously next to her. Cheng is usually pretty good about giving Toph space to focus, but he must feel the same unsettling energy in the air that she does. He clears his throat, "What is it, boss?"
She shushes him, refocusing her seismic sense. Her officers are all trained to use it, but she's still the best, and this stakeout calls for no error. Based on the tip they got, this hangar is where a lot of the violent triad activity takes place. And they should be expecting some action very soon.
Toph whispers, "There's two men inside - one of them sitting, but he's struggling. He must be tied down. I also sense a woman….also sitting, also struggling."
"Captives?"
She nods, trying to hear what the people inside are saying, "I think the male hostage works for their capturer," she pauses, listening further, "No, scratch that. The Capturer is just a messenger, here to collect debt. Drug deal gone wrong."
"Well, shouldn't we be going inside? Do we need backup?"
Shaking her head, "No, we need to handle this with special delicacy."
"Why?"
Toph pauses, sending a withered look in her partner's direction, "The woman is pregnant."
"Shit. Why aren't we arresting the hostage-taker already?"
"Shh. I don't think that's necessary. He seems nervous. I don't think he wants to hurt them. We can talk him down if we need to."
"Talk him down? Why bother when we can just earth-tent his ass from here!? This isn't exactly the time to be taking risks, Chief."
"I know, but we might be able to get some information out of him first, and he might be more willing to cooperate if we don't involve bending right away. We don't know which gang he's part of, or if he's a bender, or what." Toph argues, "What if he's able to earthbend himself right out of arrest, huh? Then we might have an even bigger problem on our hands. We do this carefully, and we do this slowly. Wait out here and don't come in unless I give the signal."
"You're going in alone? Are you sure that's the best idea, Chief?"
"Quit your yapping! I'll be fine. I won't let anything happen to the captives, but we can't gang up on him, or he might do something stupid before we get the chance to stop him," Toph stiffens, "Fuck. He's moving towards the woman. I have to go. Wait out here." She repeats her command, tone uncompromising as she moves from the wall and slips into the wide entrance of the hangar.
She approaches slowly and silently, leaving a good twenty feet between herself and the Capturer, not wanting to be noticed yet. His back is facing her as he kneels in front of the captive woman, untying her from the chair.
It's a bit odd that he's so out in the open with the hostages. He may be hidden by the walls of the building, but if anyone happened to walk by the hangar door, he would surely be noticed in the middle of the expansive, otherwise empty floor. Toph takes it as a sign that the triads have clearly gotten a little too confident in their hideout. Either that, or they're confident in their ability to make others turn a blind eye. The irony is not lost on her.
Toph can sense that the captives have noticed her presence, but any relief they might have felt at a hope for rescue quickly disintegrates as the Capturer forcefully makes the pregnant woman stand up. Quite roughly, he turns her around in his arms, holding her wrists behind her back as he walks them a few steps backward. It doesn't take long for Toph to realise what he's doing – he's giving his other captive (who must be the father) – a view.
The Capturer isn't just here to collect debt. Whatever the price owed, the woman - and her baby - are the interest. This is a retaliation situation.
Shit, I need to do this quickly.
With her hip cocked to the side, Toph clears her throat, "Am I interrupting a party or something?"
Toph can sense the Capturer man stiffen at her voice. He turns towards her in one swift, sharp movement, bringing the pregnant woman with him. The woman makes a strange, strangled noise, and Toph realizes she must be gagged. This guy is sick.
Strangely enough, it's the other captive's voice that pipes in. He sounds afraid - as anyone tied to a chair, with their pregnant wife's life being threatened would be - but, his tone is also filled with curiosity, "Who are you?"
The Capturer grits his teeth, "It's the Beifong Bitch."
She crosses her arms, feigning cool indifference, "Glad to see my reputation precedes me."
Sneering, "You don't actually see much though, do you?"
Toph raises a sceptical eyebrow at that. Is he trying to make fun of her or something? Pfft, This guy is so out of his own league. What is he doing in a criminal empire? He's certainly not capable of hurting a pregnant woman, is he?
Keeping her sarcastic cool, "Wow. It appears that you know everything about me, but I know nothing about you. Now, that's not fair, is it?" Her tone sharpens, "Why don't you start by telling me what you're doing holding a pregnant woman captive? Or who sent you to do their dirty work?"
The man pauses, and Toph feels his erratic heart rate. He's afraid to tell the truth. The woman in his arms squirms a bit, and the man's hand tightens around her wrists, "No one sent me. My wife cheated on me with this son of a bitch and now it's payback time."
A lie. Just a cover-up.
"Right. I'll ask again." Toph says, her tone authoritative, "Who do you work for?"
The Capturer starts to get nervous again, his voice stuttering, "I don't…I…um…."
Losing her patience, "Who sent you!?"
The captive man in the chair pipes up, "It was-"
"Shut your fucking mouth!" The Capturer's heart rate escalates suddenly, his voice frantic, "Say another word and I'll kill your baby and your wife before you even have the chance to blink! I swear to fucking Agni."
Toph's own heart rate skyrockets as the man reaches into his pocket, frantically grabbing a metal object and pressing it against the woman's very round stomach. Toph tries to keep herself from panicking, but she's not doing a great job. Shit. She quickly realises that the metal object is a knife. The woman screams through her gag, her husband keeping his mouth shut, but struggling in his binds. Shit. Shit. Shit.
"Hey. Take it easy." Toph holds her hands up level to her chest, palms out in surrender. She's clearly not going to be getting the information she wants, and now the situation has escalated beyond her control. If Toph makes any sudden movements, this could end very badly. She can't earthbend at the Capturer without also potentially hurting the pregnant woman, but if she doesn't figure out something soon, it won't matter.
Toph steadies her breathing, trying a different tactic, "Why don't you put the knife down and we can talk about this like civilized individuals. If you don't put the knife down, it will only make things worse. No one needs to get hurt."
The Capturer releases a wet, sardonic laugh, "Huh. No one needs to get hurt? Do you really believe that?" His voice is as erratic as his heartbeat, "What do you think will happen if I don't do this? You think the hit on them will just disappear? No…someone else will be sent to do it, and then they'll have my head to add to the list."
Toph, rather insistently now, "No, I won't let that happen. Whoever sent you, we can make sure they don't hurt you. You don't need to do this, please. I can protect you."
The Capturer's hand lowers, just slightly, from the woman's belly. His grip around the knife loosens a bit, and Toph releases a breath she didn't realize she was holding.
The Capturer narrows his voice, skeptically, "How?"
"I have the best metalbenders in my force," Toph reasons, her tone cautious, "We can place guards on you at all hours, enrol you in a protection program. We can work something out, I promise. But you have to give me the knife, okay?"
Toph takes a few careful steps closer to the Capturer. She extends her hand out, slowly, encouraging him to hand over the weapon. She can feel the man quivering, his resolve shaking. He doesn't want to do this. His hand lowers completely to his side, but he doesn't let go of the woman. Toph tries to keep her attention on the Capturer, and not the muffled whimpers of distress coming from the poor pregnant woman.
She hears a noise of frustration from The Capturer as he shuffles, suddenly waving the knife haphazardly in the air, his voice desperate, "You don't understand. Your metalbending won't work. It can't protect me! It can't protect anyone!"
Toph narrows her brows, confused, but she tries another approach, "Please. Just hand over the knife. I promise, we'll work something out. You don't need to do this!" Urgently, she adds, "Do you have a wife? Kids? Think of them. What if this was your family?"
The Capturer grits his teeth again, moving the knife back to the woman's stomach, his tone resolved, "If I don't do this, it will be them."
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Toph's uses a split second to quickly go over her options. She's lost control of the situation now. She should have just listened to her lieutenant and arrested the Capturer while she still had the chance. But, what can she do now, with the Capturer's knife pressed against the woman's belly? One wrong move and it's over.
Toph has never in her life resorted to begging before, but there's a first time for everything. She takes another careful step closer to the Capturer, and she doesn't recognize the sound of her own voice as she desperately pleads, "No! We can protect them! You can protect them. You just have to hand over the knife. Please."
The Capturer is silent for a moment, and mercifully, his hand once again drops down to his side. Toph tries to focus on him, but it's difficult when the sound of her own racing heart thunders so loudly in her ears. When the Capturer speaks again, it's so low, Toph almost misses it, "This is how I protect them."
Before Toph can process his words, the Capturer raises the knife back, in one swift motion, ready to strike.
"No! STOP!" Toph lurches forward, and she's immediately met with a violent scream that pierces her eardrums before coming to an abrupt halt. Then comes the horrible, bone chilling thump of a body hitting the ground, and the clattering of a knife on the stone floor.
But none of these sounds are from the pregnant woman.
Toph reels back her metal cable, her body shuddering as the wire slips through wet flesh, as it comes out the same way it went in. The cable whips back to her belt with a slick sound, and Toph represses the urge to vomit as she feels a splatter of something wet hit her cheeks. She brings her hand up to her face, wiping at the drops of liquid. She already knows what it is, but she holds her hand up to her nose anyway, the metallic tang of blood hitting her nostrils.
Everything seemed to happen in just a split second. One moment, Toph was trying to talk the Capturer down…the next, her cable was through his heart.
Her hand shakes as she puts it down at her side. She hears the sound of her lieutenant running up from behind her, and the pregnant woman rushing to untie her husband from the chair.
Toph feels possessed, out of body as she walks towards the dead man on the ground. She feels a rush of wind as Cheng brushes past her, racing to help the couple. Toph stops when she's standing above the dead man, the naked soles of her feet standing in a pool of blood. It's warm, wet, and uncomfortable, but Toph ignores this as she crouches next to the dead man. She places her fingers on the man's neck, feeling for a pulse that she knows isn't there.
She's not sure how long she's crouched there, but her knees start to hurt, and it isn't until she feels her lieutenant's hand on her shoulder that she remembers where she is and comes back to herself. Distantly, she hears the sound of sirens as they approach the hangar. Cheng must of sent for backup.
"Don't worry, Chief. I saw the whole thing. You won't get any trouble."
It takes a second for Toph to realize what he means, and it finally occurs to her.
I just killed a man.
The thought makes her numb again, and she tries to ignore the wave of nausea and focus on the facts. I just killed a man. And she did it without any backup. If Cheng hadn't been watching, the only witnesses would have been the two captives.
Any time a death occurs at the hand of an officer, no matter how necessary that death may be in the moment, investigations occur afterward. If a death happens when only one officer is there, well tough luck. There are protocols in place for a reason, and a lack of other police witnesses means the investigation gets a lot trickier. I'm a fucking idiot. She shouldn't have gone in alone. Thankfully, Cheng saved her idiot ass by disobeying her orders. She'll have to thank him for that later, when she remembers how to use her legs. I just killed a man.
She slowly gets up from her crouching position, stepping out of the pool of blood and walking towards the couple who had been held captive. She knows she must be leaving behind a trail of bloody footprints, but she tries to ignore it. She hears the sound of carriage doors slamming and various shuffling outside, and again, she tries to ignore it when she hears the sound of a camera flash. Right now, it's just the forensic investigator taking pictures for the report, but soon, it will be a news reporter coming to get a story. She'll have to recount the tale of her kill for both accounts. Great.
She can sense the pregnant woman shaking. One of the paramedics is wrapping bandages around her wrists from where the ropes must have chafed her skin. The other captive stands behind her, rubbing her shoulders absentmindedly. Cheng had previously helped the couple before scurrying off to liaise with the forensic specialist and other officers on the scene, but Toph senses him trail behind her now, pen and paper already in hand and ready to take notes. Always thinking ahead. Unlike me, apparently.
"Hey." Her voice comes out gravelly and curt as she greets the couple. It's the first thing she's said since she was shouting at the Capturer to STOP. Now he's dead. She clears the lump from her throat, "Are you two okay?"
"We're better than we would be if we were dead," the man says, tone sounding oddly dry-humoured for the situation.
The woman speaks up, her voice quiet, but surprisingly self-assured, "We're okay. And so is our baby. Thanks to you."
Toph swallows another lump, "I was just doing my job."
"Well as scared as I was, it was amazing to watch. I don't think I've ever seen anyone react to anything that quickly. Your bending reflexes are phenomenal!" Again, the man sounds overly exuberant for the situation, and Toph tries to dispel her discomfort. She usually eats up praise, but in this situation it only makes her stomach churn.
"Right," she bites her lip, focusing instead on the job at hand, "Well, we're going to need you both to come down to the station to give a statement. And to answer a few questions." She says that last sentence with a pointed expression directed towards the man. This guy may be the victim in this particular situation, but she had caught enough of the conversation before she entered the hangar to know that he's not exactly just an innocent bystander.
"If I tell you what you want to know, can you keep us safe, help get us out of the city? And can you grant immunity?"
His question surprises her. "Well, I can definitely promise you that we'll do everything in our power to keep you safe. But, I can't make any promises about immunity until I know your crimes, and even then, it's not up to me. But, any information you give will certainly help your case," she narrows her eyes, thinking back to earlier, "Before, you were about to tell me who it was that sent your capturer. So, who was it?"
"I'm not telling you cops anything until I have a lawyer present and guaranteed immunity." The man's petulance aggravates her, but she's not surprised. What else should she expect from these triad crooks? However, she is surprised, and so is the man, when the pregnant woman again speaks up.
"It was Yakone."
"Ainu." The man says her name warning.
"Quiet, Shin." Ainu slaps his hands away from her shoulders, "She just saved our lives. Maybe she can save others too."
Shin steps a few paces away, exacerbated, but doesn't say anything else as Toph questions, "Yakone?"
"He's the mastermind behind everything. He has a whole criminal empire under his wing, and he's got his hands in drug dealings, trade unions, pro-bending…you name it," Ainu explains, "People are afraid of him, but they also respect him. When you're on his good side, he treats you like family. I mean, we were even going to make him our child's spiritfather, for crying out loud!
"But if you mess up, don't obey his orders or don't pay up in time…Well, he'll make sure you suffer the consequences. And he doesn't always need to send others to do his dirty work. He's…a powerful bender."
Everything Ainu has said is unsettling, but something about how she finishes that last sentence makes Toph feel extra uneasy.
Cheng, from behind her, "What kind of bender?"
Ainu is quiet for a moment. Once again, there's something off about how she says, "He's a waterbender."
Toph chews at the inside of her cheek. What is she not telling me? Crossing her arms over her chest, "Can you tell us anything else about him? Where's his hideout? What does he look like?"
"She's done talking until we can get a lawyer." Shin interrupts, tone making it clear that there is no room for compromise. Whatever. This isn't the best place to do this anyway, with a dead body lying only a few yards away as crime scene investigators flurry around. Plus, the blood is starting to feel tacky on the bottom of Toph's feet.
"Fine. We'll take you back to the station and get you a lawyer," Toph pauses, suddenly remembering something, "There's still something I don't understand though. The man that held you captive, he said my metalbending couldn't protect anyone. Why was he so sure that we couldn't help him? I don't understand, what about my metalbending wouldn't work? I could have protected him." She's asking the question to the couple, but it sounds more like she's reprimanding herself, trying to decipher the flaw in her system. She could have protected him.
Instead, I killed a man.
Toph can't see it, but Ainu and Shin exchange a strange look. She can feel them tense up though, and Cheng must notice it too, as his note scribbling has stopped suddenly.
This time, it's Shin who answers, "He's not just a waterbender."
Cheng, confused, "I don't understand. What do you mean?"
His meaning dawns on Toph before Shin even has a chance to say it. A harrowing chill runs down her spine, the hairs on the back of her neck once again standing up. It's not a question when she says, "He's a bloodbender."
She senses both Shin and Ainu nod their heads, solemnly, and it's all the confirmation she needs before another unsettling chill shoots down her vertebrae. She feels Cheng grow rigid behind her, before he slowly moves his hand to make one last scribble in his notebook.
Yakone = Bloodbender?
Toph hadn't been there when Hama had bloodbended her friends, or when Katara herself had to bloodbend to save their lives…but from their chilling accounts, bloodbending is not something to take lightly. Hence why it's been made illegal.
Toph distantly recalls that odd time when Ty Lee had used her chi-blocking abilities on her during the coup in Ba Sing Se. Having her bending disabled like that, even if only for a few moments, had been awful. It had left her completely blind and powerless. She can only imagine what being bloodbended is like, and she hopes she and her officers never have to find out.
Before Toph has a chance to ask any more questions, Ainu and Shin are being ushered off by one of her officers, leaving her in stunned silence. She stands uselessly there for a few moments until, again, Cheng places a hand on her shoulder, drawing her out of her shock.
It's moments like these where she's thankful for her lieutenant's rather quiet, reserved approach to policing. Her relationship with Cheng is a bit like her one with Aang – he's like the brother she never had. Except, while Aang is light-hearted and can be a bit evasive at times, Cheng has always been rather direct and serious (a quality that Toph loves to make fun of him for). But as much as she heckles him, she has secretly always been thankful for his honest and calm approach, especially in a moment like this.
"Chief. We need to get your statement for the report, but then you can go home."
This makes her turn, offended, "Home? What makes you think I'm going home? I still have work to do. We have to go back to the station and get more information from that couple. And I'm sure I'll have reporters up my ass when I get there. I've got shit to take care of, I can't go home."
"Chief," his voice is delicate, but firm, "I know you can't see it, but you have blood on you everywhere. It's splattered all over your face and uniform, and all over your hands and feet."
This makes her heart quicken, another spell of nausea to her gut, along with a churn of embarrassment at her lack of professionalism. Had I really been questioning those people with blood on me that whole time?? The more she focuses on it, the more she feels the uncomfortable sensation of dried blood on her hands and feet, and the itchiness of where it's smeared across her face. She has no way of imagining what blood looks like, but from what she's heard, it's hard to miss. What a mess she must look like right now…what a monster.
Cheng continues, "Give the statement, but leave the rest for later. We'll keep Ainu in the healing clinic and Shin in a holding cell overnight, interrogate him tomorrow. And the reporters can all fuck off."
"But…" Her voice trails off, not sure where she was going with that thought.
"But nothing. I can take it from here, boss. We'll get you cleaned up the best we can before you go, but then go home. Take a shower," he hesitates a moment, lowering his voice so the others scurrying around the crime scene can't hear, "I know this is the first time you've had to kill someone in action. That must be hard."
"Pfft, I'm fine." Toph waves her hand, dismissively, but her usual bravado wavers. I just killed a man. She hesitates for a moment, biting her lip, "But, I guess I shouldn't go to work with blood all over me. I'll go home, but you leave that lily-livered scumbag for me to question, you got it? I want to know more about this 'Yakone' guy."
"Of course. We'll see you tomorrow, Chief." He pats her shoulder, and Toph can detect the sympathetic smile in his voice before he walks away to help clean up her mess. If it were anyone else, that sympathetic tone would earn them a swift punch to the arm, but she knows Cheng well enough to know that he's not questioning her authority. Even though she wouldn't blame him right now if he did. I just killed a man.
Toph gives her official statement after the paramedics help wipe the bulk of the blood from her face and uniform, though they weren't able to get it off completely. She gives Cheng a quick pat on the back before she leaves, hoping it conveys her gratitude accurately, but knowing it doesn't.
She has to dodge a few reporters and nosy, rubbernecking civilians as she leaves the crime scene, but somehow the journey back to her apartment flies by. It's not a short walk – a good forty minutes from the docks - and she's sure people are giving her strange looks as she walks through downtown Republic City with bits of blood on her skin. But, for the time being, she can't bring herself to care. Her feet seem to carry her home against their own will, and that forty minutes feels like five, as her mind stays numb to her surroundings.
She stays wordless as she enters her apartment. Thankfully, the paramedics said they were able to easily wipe the blood from off her outer armour, so she makes quick work of bending it off, before stripping out of her blood-stained underclothes and tossing them into the laundry hamper. While her uniform can be a bit bulky and uncomfortable at times, she always finds pride in wearing it. But she finds that now, as she strips completely bare, she's never been more relieved to have it off.
She goes into her bathroom and turns the shower on, letting it heat up before stepping in and embracing the scalding water, welcoming the slight burn of it on her shoulders. She normally likes having a healthy coating of earth on her skin, but right now, it feels contaminated by blood. And she has no way of knowing if all the blood is off, so she scrubs every inch of her skin - extra hard - for good measure. She rinses the soap from her skin and hair, then repeats the process until she's almost certain that it's impossible for any blood to be left. When she's done scrubbing, she stands idly under the showerhead, letting the pressure of the water wash over her head and down her back.
It isn't for another ten minutes, when the water starts to cool down, that Toph realizes she's zoned out.
After drying off and getting dressed, Toph spends the next hour pacing around her apartment, mind not really aware as her body seems to move on its own accord. She fixes herself a cup of tea, but she forgets to drink it. She dumps the cold tea out and makes another, but forgets to drink that one too. Her skin is certainly clean, but it still itches, and Toph plays with her space bracelet in an effort to distract herself from the growing pit in her stomach.
The action makes her think of something, and without much consideration, Toph finds herself gathering her keys and leaving her apartment. Her brain is a few steps behind her body, and it takes her a while to realize where her feet are taking her. But once she's there, she knows what she wants. What she needs.
Sokka isn't that surprised when Toph enters his office, unannounced, in the middle of the day. It's fairly routine for them to pop in on each other at work, even when there are no formal meetings scheduled. And as he always does when she visits, he stands up to greet his friend, "Hi, Toph. How's it going?"
He is somewhat taken aback when Toph says nothing as she closes the door to his office, using her metal bending to twist the lock. That's different. He is also definitely surprised when, without any preamble, she marches straight up to him, a look of determination on her face as she grips the front of his shirt, pulls him down, and plants her lips firmly onto his.
He isn't quite sure what's happening or how he got from point A to point B, but before he knows it, Toph sits buck naked on top of his desk, her legs wrapped around his waist as she grips his arousal in her hand. To say he's caught off guard would be an understatement, and somewhere in the back of his mind, Sokka thinks about how they shouldn't be doing this. Make sure you're committed. Beyond any doubt. One-hundred percent sure it's what you want…or something along those lines anyway. But, with his tongue mingling so naturally against Toph's, those lines have definitely been blurred. At the very least, there's no doubt that he one-hundred percent wants Toph, like this, and he's committed to seeing it through. Not sure that's what Aang meant…Oh well.
Nearly a year has gone by since their first (and last) romantic encounter, and they haven't spoken about it again since Toph returned from her 'vacation'. Sokka had definitely been hurt by her rejection, but deep down he knew it probably was for the best. And just as they agreed, they pretended it never happened, and they moved on. Somewhere between that first time they hooked up and now, they had drawn another line in the sand – one that allowed them to return to their close friendship without letting pesky feelings get in the way. But, crossing it now somehow feels different.
Sokka's shirt is tossed haphazardly somewhere in the corner of the room, and his pants are down at his ankles as Toph uses her nimble fingers and palm to pump him steadily. She kisses him rather ardently, her mouth needy on his as his fingers slip into her smooth folds, granting her sweet, mounting waves of pleasure as they build a steady rhythm.
Before either has time to think, Sokka sinks to his knees and spreads Toph's legs apart, seeking access to her most intimate space. He grips her thighs, eliciting a yelp of surprise from her as he jerks Toph forward to the very edge of his desk. That yelp quickly turns into a gratified moan as Sokka finds her sweet spot with his tongue.
Sokka takes his own pleasure in the way her body trembles in his grasp, jolting with every other flick and lap as he tastes her thoroughly. He grips her hips in an effort to keep her body from jerking around as his tongue dips and slides skilfully across the silk of her flesh. She whimpers as his lips suck on that hypersensitive bundle of nerves between her thighs, and Sokka grins wickedly at his favorite sound - glad to be hearing it again. Head dipping back, Toph rests her elbows on his desk as Sokka devours her. He brings her closer to the peak, and Toph bites her lips in an effort to keep her lustful noises at an acceptable volume. If you could call any volume acceptable for having oral sex in the middle of the day in his very public office at City Hall. Spirits, if the tabloids could see them now.
Toph bites down on her fist to stifle a final cry of pleasure as Sokka brings her to her climax, indulging in the sweet aftermath. She barely has a second to calm her breath before Sokka starts to trail his kisses up Toph's abdomen, taking a break to shower his attention across her breasts before continuing the path up her neck and back to her lips. Toph's mouth is frantic and hungry on his, and while her kisses are intoxicating, distantly, Sokka's sober brain knows something is off.
Quite abruptly, Toph breaks away from the kiss, her breath heavy and her unseeing eyes filled with lust, "We're still just friends."
Sokka's own breathing is quite heavy. He raises a skeptical brow, Toph's naked chest pressed against his, "Just friends? I thought you said it was stupid for friends to hook up?"
She pauses, her face unreadable. Then, her hand wraps around his cock, "It is."
He groans as her hand starts to pump him again, slowly, "Then, why-"
"Sokka," she interrupts, her hand stilling around him, "Do you really want to keep talking right now, or do you want to fuck me?"
He should say no. He really should. She's clearly not ready to commit, and if he's being completely honest, he isn't quite ready to either. But, her hand starts pumping around him again and fuck yes, this is what he wants.
And, if he had any ounce of restraint left in him whatsoever, it goes straight out the window when Toph entreats, in a voice barely above a whisper, "Please."
Sokka grits his teeth, and through a groan of pleasure, "Friends it is then."
Sokka leans forward to plant his lips on hers once more, and it isn't long before he finds himself plunged deep inside her. The kissing has stopped, and Toph rests her chin on Sokka's shoulder as she grips tightly onto his back, her blunt fingernails lightly scratching into his skin. A picture frame topples over and the cup of pens on his desk rattles as he feverishly thrusts in and out of her.
Last time they did this, it had been mostly gentle and exploratory…lovemaking. This is not that. This is raw. A distinct lack of tenderness as Sokka takes her on his desk, their hips clapping roughly together as they seek release. This is not tender nor tentative, this is fucking.
If you were to tell a fifteen-year-old Sokka that someday he'd be fucking Toph Beifong of all people…well, first he'd blush fiercely…but then he'd probably tell you to get lost. Now, he's still blushing, though it has nothing to do with embarrassment or innocence, and everything to do with pleasure and sin.
Toph bites down on his shoulder as she tries to muffle her sounds, but even so, Sokka is sure that anyone passing by his office right now would think there were two wild animals inside. Sokka's head stays in the crook of Toph neck, and he subconsciously notices how soapy her skin smells. For some reason, this bothers him. She always smells good, but usually there's a hint of earthiness to her.
But Sokka ignores the unease in his stomach, focusing instead on the rising wave of pleasure building up in his lower belly. He slows his thrusting, but keeps the roughness of it. It only takes a few more jerks of the hips before Sokka is over the edge, and he comes with a wild, animalistic groan.
He slows his breathing and gradually stops thrusting his hips as he comes down from the high, and he feels a pang of regret that Toph wasn't able to finish with him. He's about to snake a hand between their bodies and make up for it another way, but he stops suddenly when he notices that Toph's body is shaking erratically, her face hidden against his neck.
He pulls back, concerned, "Toph?"
He places his hands on her shoulders to get a closer look at her, and when he searches her face, his suspicions are confirmed. She's crying! She's not sobbing uncontrollably or anything, but the wetness and redness around her eyes, along with her quivering lip, are enough tells that she's upset. She takes a few deep gasps for air, trying to control her breathing.
Sokka, panicking, "Toph, are you okay? Did I hurt you? Fuck, I am so so so sorry, I didn't mean to! Tell me what happened. How can I help? Shit, talk to me, Toph."
Toph sniffles, wiping at her face, "It's not you, you idiot."
Oh. Confused, "It's not? Then what-"
"I killed a man today."
Sokka's eyes widen automatically. His dick, while now soft, is still inside her, and whatever he expected her to say in this intimate moment, that was certainly not it. He doesn't respond, too stunned from the emotional whiplash of the moment. Carefully, he backs up a few inches, slipping out of her and giving her space. Wordlessly, Toph slides off his desk, quickly composing herself and wiping away any stray tears with the back of her hand. She skims around him, finding her discarded pants in the corner of the room and stiffly putting them on.
Sokka does the same, finding his own clothes scattered around his office as he chews the inside of his cheek. Once he has his pants on, Sokka finally asks, carefully, "What happened?"
"Same shit that always happens, just worse. Some triad jackass held a husband and wife hostage, and he had a knife held at the woman's stomach – her pregnant stomach." Toph fastens her bindings before slipping her wrinkled tunic over her head, her tone matter-of-fact, "A drug deal gone wrong. I guess the drug-smuggling father didn't pay up the boss in time, and the jackass was sent to collect what was owed. And well, I guess the wife and baby were going to be the interest."
Sokka stills the hands that were lacing up his shoes, mouth dropping in horror, "What? That's so fucked up."
"It is. These fucking triad bastards are getting more violent every day. And, what makes me sick is the fact that that jackass was just the messenger," she finishes tying her belt, worrying her lip between her teeth, "There's a bigger boss up the food chain who's sending out people to do his dirty work, and based on what I heard today…well, I can only imagine what he is capable of doing.
"Anyway, I tried to reason with the jackass, and for a second I thought he wouldn't do it." Toph, now fully dressed, leans against the wall, with her arms crossed, her tone resigned, "But, he knew if he didn't go through with it, then his family would just be the next target. It's just a vicious cycle. Once you're in with the triads, you can't get out. Not unless you're dead. He was about to deliver the final blow to that woman's belly, so…well…I stopped him."
Sokka doesn't ask how she stopped him. Whatever method she used, he's dead now, "That guy was worse than a jackass, Toph. He was a fucking criminal of the worst kind. I mean, he was about to murder a pregnant woman. You had no choice."
Toph's features turn severe as she directs her blind gaze towards Sokka, "He may have been a fucking criminal, but he was also a human. He had a name. He had a birthday. A wife, probably! Maybe kids, or one on the way," she steps away from the wall, pacing the floor as she tries to explain, "He was about to do something despicable. He probably has done before! But he was still a person."
Sokka sits on his desk, voice assuring, "Toph. He was an evil person."
She turns on him, sharply, "You weren't there, Sokka! You didn't feel the way his heart raced, or how his hands shook as he gripped the knife. I could feel how badly he didn't want to do it. He was just a guy who ended up in a really bad crowd and couldn't get out," quietly, she adds, "And now he'll never get that chance."
Sokka nods, his brows furrowed as he considers Toph's words. He hates to see her in pain, but still, "You did the right thing, Toph."
She puffs at her bangs, crossing her arms again, "Pfft, 'right thing'. Try telling that to Aang. I mean, even the fucking Avatar found another way when it came to stopping one of the worst humans in all of history.
"I'm the Chief of Police, I'm not stupid. I knew when I took the gig that someday I might have to resort to ending a person's life," her voice adamant, "And I'd do it again if I had to. I'd do whatever necessary to protect this city."
Sokka pushes himself away from the desk, taking the few steps until he's directly in front of her. Placing his hands on her shoulders, "I know, Toph. And that's what I…admire about you. This city is in debt to you. And I'll say it again, you did do the right thing. I don't care what Aang would say. I'm sure if he were in that situation, he would have done the same thing."
Shaking her head, "No, Aang would have found another way. He would have been able to get the knife out of the guy's hand," her voice starts to lose its familiar bravado as a stray tear slips down her cheek, "Or, he would have been better at talking the guy down."
Her voice shaking, "I mean, I've never been the most empathetic with my words. I'm not like you or Katara, or Aang. Maybe if I was more like Twinkletoes, I could have convinced the guy not to do it. Or maybe if I wasn't blind, I could have seen the look on his face and known that he was going to go through with it no matter what I said!"
Berating herself, "I made a bad judgment, Sokka. I should have arrested him the second that I got there, but I read this guy's heart rate and I thought I could talk him down. I was wrong. And now he's dead, because of me. Not to mention, I put a pregnant woman's life at risk by letting it get that far. And for what? Information?"
"Toph." His heart breaks for her, and Sokka rubs her shoulders in an effort to provide her any semblance of comfort. Never in their lives has he heard Toph express her blindness as an insecurity or weakness. It may technically be a disability, but if anything, her blindness has always made her stronger. Her blindness has allowed her to see more than the rest of the world ever will.
At this point, tears are freely streaming down her cheeks. She bites her lips in an effort to control her breathing, and Sokka's eyes flick down at the gesture, but this time he feels no sense of excitement or arousal. What he does feel is the familiar and incessant need to protect her.
He takes his hands from her shoulders and instead wraps his arms around her, offering support as her body slumps into his. Her cries are silent, but Sokka can feel the wetness in his shirt as it soaks up her sorrow. Her arms hang limply at her sides for a moment, before she slowly wraps them around his torso, giving into the need for comfort. At the end of the day, this is why their friendship is so important. Why they need to protect it. The ability to let each other crumble, and the promise to help each other pick up the pieces when they do.
Sokka doesn't say anything else as he holds her. He could keep trying to convince her why she did the right thing, or he could go on and on about how important she is to this city and how she shouldn't be so hard on herself. But, he knows she doesn't want - or need - to hear it.
What she needs more than anything right now is to let herself come to terms with her new reality. The reality that she is now a killer.
This is a reality that Sokka can understand. He had to come to terms with it as just a little boy, when the Fire Nation raided his village. And again, when he fought in the war at fifteen. He may not have taken a life quite as directly as Toph just has, but death is a reality of war, and a warrior must accept their title as synonymous with killer.
Toph may have fought in the war, but her bending has always allowed her a bit more grace, and Sokka is thankful that she didn't have to become a killer at the age of twelve. The fact that she's only faced with this reality now, years after the war and years into her police residency, shows the pure skill and control she has over her power and abilities. But maybe that only makes this first kill harder. She feels like she could have prevented it.
She may not be a soldier in the same way that Sokka is a warrior – police enforcement has a different set of idiosyncrasies compared to battle troops – but still, both soldiers and police officers share a similar burden at times. You do whatever you have to to defend your nation, your tribe, or your city and its citizens. Sometimes that means taking a life. And while you know this and accept this as the truth, you still end up losing a part of yourself when that moment comes.
He isn't sure how long they stand there for, but eventually, Toph gently pushes herself away from Sokka's embrace. Her eyes are swollen and her cheeks red, but the tears have ceased. In fact, any other sign of distress has been carefully masked by Toph's stony expression, "There's something else I need to tell you."
Hesitantly, "What?"
Toph also hesitates for a moment, "The couple that was held captive – they told me who the triad's leader is."
She should sound glad about this (she's been after that information for a long time, longer than she probably wants to admit), but Sokka notes the strange tone in her voice. He sits back on his desk, giving her space again, "Well, that's a good thing, isn't it? You did get information, in the end."
"Right, well…they told me something else. Something that you're not going to like." She bites her lips, still hesitating to tell him.
"Well, whatever it is, I'm sure I can handle it. Tell me."
Toph takes a deep breath. Time to face the truth, "Their leader – his name is Yakone – they say…." another deep breath, "They say he's a bloodbender."
Sokka stiffens, a chill running down his spine. Shit. He remains quiet for a moment, processing this information, "Are you sure?"
"Well, we still have to question the couple and get more information, but they weren't lying," Toph pauses, then adds, "And, Sokka, something in my gut tells me that it's true."
He nods, agreeing with her intuition, his tone serious, "Okay."
Toph walks up next to him, placing a reassuring hand on his shoulder, "Don't worry. Now that we know, we can be more careful going forward. We'll just be more alert when the full moon is out. At least now we know who we're looking for."
Sokka nods again, his expression softening, "You're right. And, if anyone can protect this city from a bloodbender, it's you."
Toph's face grows solemn again, remembering today's events. He doesn't realize why his confidence in her stings, but she knows he means well. She clears a lump from her throat, "Anyway…Thanks, Councilman," she forces herself to sound casual, "For letting me be a wuss for a moment. I needed that."
Sokka suddenly remembers where they are and what they just did on his desk. He swallows his own lump, pushing out a strained laugh, "Ha, any time, Chief. You know I'm always here to listen."
She nods as she fights back a blush, "Yeah, well thanks for that other thing too."
Sokka, this time laughing for real, "I'm sure my fellow council members and my secretary will be giving me strange looks for the rest of the week, but anything to help out an old friend."
This even cracks through Toph's carefully composed exterior, and she lets out the first genuine laugh Sokka's heard from her all day. She bites her lips again, her tone suggestive, "I'm sure they will. Hey, maybe we can help each other out again sometime?"
Sokka smile drops, caught off guard by her suggestion. He gulps, a short burst of arousal flaring in his belly, "But, as friends?"
Meanwhile, Toph tries to keep the shock hidden from her own expression, surprised by her own request. But, she finds that she doesn't want to take it back. Instead, she delves further, "We would still date other people, of course. I mean, I think we should stay just friends," she pauses, continuing hesitantly, "But, maybe we can be friends and have…fun…at the same time?"
Sokka blinks, testing how the word tastes on this tongue, "Fun."
Mistaking Sokka's hesitance for impending rejection, Toph quickly starts to backpedal. She grits her teeth awkwardly, her voice lacking its usual smoothness, "Or we can just pretend this never happened! That works too. Hehe, you can go ahead and forget I ever mentioned it, it's a stupid idea anyway."
Toph swiftly turns around, feeling rather embarrassed and surprised by her own suggestion. What was I thinking, coming here? And what was I thinking, asking to do it again? Clearly, she's abandoned her common sense today. She uses her metalbending to undo the lock as she moves to exit his office, but her hand stills on the doorknob, as Sokka's voice stops her.
"Toph." His voice is low and gravelled with suggestion, and just her name on his tongue sends a thrill down her spine. He's quiet for another moment, and Toph's heart races as her grip on the doorknob tightens. When he speaks again, the words send butterflies down to her gut.
"I like fun."
AN
What's that I hear? Did somebody say "friend with benefits?" lol.
So this chapter was a little different than the rest, but I had a lot of fun writing it! I know a lot of people disagree with the creators choosing to make Toph a police officer in LoK, but I actually find it quite interesting, if only because it does seem like a surprising choice, and I like to explore what might have changed since ATLA to make Toph follow that path. It's so interesting to me that the old-lady version of Toph in LoK seems similar to the one in ATLA - sassy, jaded, etc. But when we see her in flashbacks during her time as Chief of Police, she seems quite serious.
Anyway, I'm rambling now... With all that in mind, I wanted to do more of a character study on her and what it might be like to take someone's life while defending others. She's tough, but I think people mistake her attitude for a lack of compassion. She may be a bit harsh in nature and doesn't back down from a fight, but I don't think it means she'd find killing someone to be an easy feat (emotionally anyway). It's so interesting to me that the old-lady Toph in LoK
I hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it. I felt a little weird using "dirty" words lol, but it's intended to serve a purpose to the story and not just be gratuitous p-w/o-p. Hopefully that came across!