Authors Note: Double update! I hope I can get this right. Also, I probably should've said this a while ago. But, assume Gale is with Elsi unless said otherwise.

Disclaimer: I do not own the Avatar world, that is all owned by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko.

Chapter 25

Sleep

It was midnight in the Resistance's base. Few people were in the main cave, those who were hanging out with friends and family. Most people who could took their close relations with them to the bases. Fearing they would become targets of the Dai Li once their affiliation was discovered. Yulan was speaking with Yakko and a few other field scouts.

Things were peaceful.

Wikilow, Elsi, and Arlo were standing near some crates. The fire bender sitting on the largest one. They were discussing Arlo's newest game, which featured a quick decision mechanic.

"It would serve as an effective practise for reflex refinement. However, its system is too slow." Wikilow critiqued as Elsi gave the game a go.

"That's the dream, dude. But, these things can't run that fast." Arlo agreed with a sigh. Elsi handed the gameboy back to him with glowing reviews. Despite not beating the fire bender's score. Arlo pocketed the device and pushed himself off the crate. However, the force of his action caused the front part of the crate to fall off. "Oops." The fire bender muttered, crouching down and standing the wooden slab up. Arlo went to stand it up against the newly created hole, but a glint of metal inside caught his eye. Curiosity got the best of him, and he removed a metallic device from the crate.

"What is that?" Elsi asked, leaning against the wall. Gale on her shoulder.

"I don't know, give me a second." Arlo replied, inspecting it further. The device had a smooth, light metal surface. Being flatly rectangular in shape, there were a few chips here and there. It looked like some kind of metal briefcase without the handle. Arlo attempted to pry the device open from one side, which didn't work. He tried again from the other, which yielded success. The top raising to reveal a black screen and a thin set of lines.

"I-I think it's some sort of computer." The ex cirque stated, running his palm over the cool screen.

"Pretty small for one though. Only computers I've seen are at the public libraries and offices. And they're much bigger than this." Elsi said in turn.

"The Dai Li own many computers at their headquarters. They do not resemble this." Wikilow backed, both beside Arlo.

"Same here, guys. But, it's like a miniaturized version of one. You see, this is the keyboard." The fire bender noted, motioning to the bottom part of the device, where the lines divided into small rectangles and squares.

"Are they not too small to properly function?" Wikilow asked.

"I don't think so." Arlo replied, pressing down on one of the keys. The screen flared to life, emitting a soft blue light. He nearly dropped the device in surprise that it actually worked. "Why in Shu is this in a crate?" Arlo muttered, standing up and moving to Yulan's group. His two friends following behind.

"Yulan, check this out." The fire bender said, showing the device off.

"Is this some sort of mini computer? Does it even work?" Yulan asked, taking it from him and looking it over.

"I think so. Why was it in one of the crates?" Arlo answered, pointing to said crate.

"Oh, I can answer that." Yakko boasted. "That's the stuff from Hark's old bunk. Thought it would be a good idea to grab it in case there was anything useful." The fighter explained.

"So, why are we just now learning about this?" Yulan pointedly asked, eyes narrowing. Yakko sheepishly shrugged in response, taking a large step back.

"I… sort of forgot." Yakko stated with a nervous chuckle at the engineer's unamused expressions.

"Well, we know about it now. Can we get it to work." Arlo said, bringing back focus to the device. The screen had opened up a small white bar in the blue screen, whose light was wavering.

"It needs a password. Weird Hair, before you ask, no, Hark still hasn't been talkative lately…" Yulan sighed, the keys mocking her.

"Spirits…" The ex cirque cursed.

"I'll try guessing something…" The Beifong girl stated, typing something in. The rest of them gathered around her. "…Can you give me space for Kyoshi's sake!" She shouted at them, which caused them to back away. "…INCORRECT…" The screen blared in big bold letters. The group except Wikilow collectively sighed at the outcome.

"Maybe we could try prying it out from the little twerp's head again?" Yakko suggested, balling his fists from beside Yulan. The incorrect message faded away from the screen, the password bar returning in its place. Along with it however, was a new message above the bar.

"Huh?" Yulan whispered, squinting her eyes. "…The Earth King has invited you to Lake Laogai-" She began saying out loud before Arlo of all people clamped his hand over her mouth.

"Don't read it!" The fire bender practically yelled. Frantically scanning the puzzled group's faces. "That's the old saying the Dai Li used on their sleeper agents!" Arlo hurriedly explained, to their surprise.

"SPIRITS! Dammit Hark!" Yulan cursed, angrily slamming the device shut. Arlo let out a breath he had been holding.

"Phew… on the bright side. It looks like we're in the clear-" He tried to say before someone roughly pushed him aside. "WHAT THE!" Arlo shouted as he felt someone else punch his side, knocking him to the floor. While the fire bender was down, the first assailant grappled the stunned Yulan by the throat, pushing her to the ground. She desperately clawed at their arms. Yulan couldn't breath.

Her attacker was Yakko.

"Y-Yakko…s-stop-p…" She weakly pleaded, her former comrade's grip deathly tight around her throat. Black spots began clouding her vision. Yulan felt herself passing out… the world began to spin. Suddenly she could breathe again, the pressure around her throat disappearing. The remnants of earth and stone lay around her form. Yulan felt herself being rushed away in a powerful gust of wind by Elsi. Gale wildly screeching overtop.

Yakko was effortlessly taken down by Wikilow, who froze him onto the cave floor. The Avatar proceeded to deal with the other sleeper agent, who had turned out to be one of the other field scouts, in much the same fashion. A swift chop to the back knocked the two out cold. Wikilow then helped the fallen Arlo back up to his feet. With his eyes half closed, the fire bender said one thing.

"…What just happened…?"

The main figures of the Resistance, as well as Arlo and Elsi sat in absolute silence. It had been a measly two hours since the incident. They were meeting in an empty room, around a long wooden table. Yulan fiddled with her hands next to her father, downcast at the sudden developments. Luckily, she had been able to quickly recover from Yakko's choking attempt.

"…What happened…" Bara demanded to know in a deathly low voice, shattering the silence.

"…We found a weird computer that belonged to Hark, sir. We tried to log in to it, but-" Arlo began to explain in a serious tone.

"The Dai Li's code phrase for sleeper agents appeared on the screen. I accidentally read it aloud to everyone present." Yulan hoarsely interrupted, hard guilt evident in her words. "It's my fault." She blamed.

"Don't beat yourself up over this too much. It was an honest mistake." Arlo comforted from across the table.

"A mistake that almost got her killed, boy." Bara harshly scolded, eyes cold with a burning hatred behind them. After all, the Resistance leader had woken up in the middle of the night to find out someone tried to kill his daughter. "We all have to be more careful. Understood!" The older Beifong yelled, which they all affirmed in somber moods.

"But we have a grave problem on our hands. Who knows how many of our own have been compromised already." Bara informed.

"Is there any way to try and weed the sleeper agents out?" Elsi asked.

"We could try a mass meeting where we could say the phrase outloud to everyone. Ideally, the few sleeper agents we have among us will be caught. Then we can investigate whoever they turn out to be." The Resistance leader explained in grim detail. They had been lucky with their first two discoveries, there was no point in which they could have ever got information out to the Dai Li. Said discoveries were being held in the holding area, still unconscious.

"…That sounds like a plan." Arlo went, slowly nodding his head.

"Is there anything else we need to address. We should get this done as quickly as possible." Bara asked the assembled group. There was a long pause, before Bo Beifong shot his hand up. "Yes, Bo?" Bara recognized.

"I have a concern, about Wikilow." Bo stated, shooting an apologetic but reserved look to the Avatar. Who tilted his head in response.

"Wait, dude. Do you think he's a sleeper agent?" Arlo incredulously asked with Elsi.

"It's a valid concern. He's worked with them for how long? And- and he had to be, convinced… somehow…." Bo replied, looking away. There was another long silence, suffocating those present. Before Yulan coughed.

"I don't think he's a sleeper agent, Bo. He was there when I first said it. Plus, Wikilow's done a lot for us." The engineer argued. "If he was going to betray us. He would've done so already." Yulan added, looking to the Avatar. Wikilow gave a low nod but said nothing. His face revealing none of his inner turmoil. In truth he had not thought of the possibility of being a sleeper agent himself.

Wikilow agreed the serious concern should've been addressed. He could see that there were still multiple scenarios in which him being a sleeper agent were possible. However, he didn't voice these thoughts. He didn't want to. It was as if a rock had lodged in his throat. Something in Wikilow tried to deny the accusations, to illogically push them away into obscurity. Whether that was his own thoughts…or something-someone else's… troubled him.

"I guess…" Bo replied, though did not look entirely convinced.

"We will not doubt Wikilow's actions." Bara firmly stated, perhaps a little too quickly. "That settles everything then. Everyone, get ready!" The Resistance leader ordered, Yulan, Arlo, and Elsi exiting the cave. Wikilow followed behind at a slower pace. He watched the three move ahead, but purposefully lagged behind. Carefully, Wikilow retraced his steps to linger beside the cave's entrance.

"Bara, we need to talk about-." Bo was saying, in an agitated tone.

"I already said we would not doubt him." Bara harshly rebuked. The Resistance leader was trying to forget that particular point, not willing to acknowledge its existence.

"Don't be an idiot! We have to prepare some sort of counter measure! Just because the traditional phrase didn't work doesn't mean that some other one won't work! Or that he could be a ticking time bomb waiting to blow up!" Bo shot back. Wikilow lowered his head at that, it being one of the points he himself had internally made.

"That's my nephew you're talking about-" Bara threatened, leaning dangerously close to the shorter Beifong's face.

"He's my family too!" Bo cut off, shoving the older member off. Wikilow's hand subconsciously curled into a fist.

"What do you want me to do then?" The Resistance leader questioned with a scowl, voice raising to almost a yell.

"Keep your voice down, Bara! Someone will hear you…" Bo angrily chided, but it didn't matter.

Wikilow had already left.

"HARK!" Yulan furiously screamed, a deadly aura surrounding her form as she stormed into the holding area. Device under her arm. Said engineer jumped at the sudden outburst, looking at his former friend surprised.

"…Can I help you?" He sarcastically asked, arms stubbornly crossed. Hark had done a lot of thinking the past few weeks. Having been unresponsive in his daily interrogations for much of that time. The former engineer's eyes widened however upon seeing the device in Yulan's arms. "That's-" Hark began to say.

"So, you do know what this is, huh?" Yulan interrupted, voice filled with contempt.

"…Mph… wouldn't you like to know…" Hark muttered to the side after some hesitation. However, his eyes locked onto Yulan's throat. Where the shadow of a hand could still be seen from her earlier attack. Concern rapidly flooded his features, as he took a shaky step forward. "Wh-what happened to your neck?" Hark loudly questioned. The engineer scoffed at his reaction.

"Oh, nothing. Except Yakko's a Dai Li sleeper agent who tried to choke me! But, you probably knew all about that. Didn't you?" Yulan mocked, shooting a glare at the two still unconscious sleeper agents.

"Yakko? Sleeper… agents?" Hark murmured, disbelieving.

"What? You didn't know? Weren't you the Dai Li's spy?" She spat, unceremoniously ripping the device open. "Because their code phrase is on your computer!" Yulan explained with a snarl.

"Code phrase?" Hark incredulously asked before he could stop himself. "I don't know any code phrase! What code phrase?" He defended. Yulan practically shoved the screen against the bars, pointing at the phrase. "The Earth King has-" He began to say.

"DO NOT!" Yulan yelled, silencing him while pulling the device back.

"I didn't know that was some code phrase! I thought it just sounded-sounded…" Hark stammered, but couldn't finish his statement.

"Sounded what? Cool?" Yulan questioned through a glare. Hark evaded her steely gaze, causing her to scoff again. "Un-freaking-believable…" She growled, slamming the device closed. So caught up in her anger, Yulan began making her exit. Despite her initial goal to not only yell at the traitor, but to try once more and learn the device's password.

"Yulan I-I…" Hark tried to call but was ignored. He faltered, a single hand grasping the stone bars that imprisoned him, mind racing. It took a mountain of internal conflict and reason to overcome his idolization for the Dai Li. And time which he had fortunate amounts of. There were still so many things he just couldn't get behind. But there was one thing Hark would finally admit.

The Dai Li were wrong.

"Your name." Hark shouted to Yulan just before she left. The Beifong girl paused, before suspiciously turning back to him. "…The password's your name…" He repeated, using both hands to grip the stone. Yulan said nothing, merely turning back around and leaving without a sound. His face fell, but was resigned to the bonds he had ruined.

At least the bond's he believed were ruined.

Yulan walked a few tunnels before collapsing against a wall. Hurriedly, she reopened the device and typed her name in. Tense second after second passed before a small beep was heard. The password bar and phrase disappeared, before reopening to a green background. Multiple files were strewn about, resembling the usual computer screen that were commonly known. Hugging the device close, Yulan allowed a relieved smile to grace her face.

"Hark…"

The base was abuzz with rumours despite the late time. Everyone having been woken up and gathered in the main cave. Bara had explained the current situation, and in the end no additional sleeper agents were identified. They were fortunate that operations were usually group based. And so if they did have more double or sleeper agents, there would be little opportunity for them to contact the Dai Li.

However, much of the Resistance had thought up the same concerns Bo had. Which included the suspicion on Wikilow. His months worth of work proving himself was being fervently questioned. Due to this, he patrolled farther out, avoiding the rest of the Resistance.

Wikilow kept to the shadows in the ghost tunnels. Having an inward debate if he could be a sleeper agent. Disturbing his silence however…

"Wikilow!" Elsi and Arlo shouted, running to his side. Gale flew behind them, before perching on the air bender's shoulder. Wikilow acknowledged the two with a short nod, allowing the shadows to obscure his face. He checked behind the group to see if anyone had followed.

"We're good, we snuck out." Elsi informed.

"Understood." The Avatar said back.

"You really need to stop disappearing on us, dude!" Arlo panted.

"My presence would escalate tensions. How is the situation?" Wikilow explained, referring to the problems concerning the sleeper agents. His friends looked to each other, before Elsi stepped forward.

"Mr. Beifong is trying to calm everyone down, but it's not looking too good." She sheepishly admitted.

"…I see." Wikilow responded.

"Don't worry about it, dude! We believe in you!" Arlo encouraged with a bright smile. "Besides, even if you were one of them. There's not much we can do…" The fire bender added, though he seemed to falter at his own words. "Actually… that isn't good…" Arlo quietly admitted, looking away from Wikilow.

"There is many things you could do to solve this problem." The Avatar thought, ranging from morbid to light. Though, once again he did say any out loud. Wikilow was suddenly conscious of his uniform. What if there were other reasons for him continuing to dawn it? Reasons unknown even to him?

"…I am my own person." Wikilow stated, forced out? He wasn't exactly sure himself…

"We already know that, Wikilow." Elsi softly agreed. Though, she seemed to pick up on his inner turmoil. Warm eyes filled with concern.

"Yeah, there's no way you're just some mindless puppet." Arlo casually agreed, signing the possibility off.

"…I appreciate the sentiment…" Wikilow replied, slightly unsure. He hoped it was the right and appropriate thing to say. However, he observed as Elsi seemed to withdraw into herself, body tensing. "Elsi-" The Avatar attempted to say before she uncharacteristically interrupted.

"I-I have to go." The air bender quickly squeaked, a haunted look in her eyes. She looked to Arlo and then Wikilow, but to the latter she guiltily snapped her head back. Elsi grabbed her arms and spun on her heel in a hurry. Rushing out of the tunnel and leaving them alone. She had disappeared like the wind.

"Wait a second, Else! Come back!" Arlo yelled after, taking a few steps forward. Contrasting this was Wikilow who stepped back, further immersed in shadows. He wondered what had made Elsi so troubled to leave so quickly. Though, he suspected it was due to him. Wikilow recalled the look she had given him before leaving. Had she lied about believing his authenticity? Did she not feel comfortable associating herself with a possible sleeper agent? Something about Elsi doubting him seemed more problematic then it should've been. But, he didn't know why. His chest felt heavy, breathing quickening. Wikilow forced himself to regulate his behaviour.

"…I would prefer to be alone at this moment." Wikilow dryly told Arlo, turning around himself.

"Wikilow? Are-are you sure that's really a good idea?" The fire bender questioned.

"I am sure." The Avatar replied, but did not face the cirque. Arlo hesitated between Wikilow and Elsi's direction. But, the former made the decision for him. Wikilow was already gone. So, Arlo's face hardened as he took off to find Elsi and Gale.

The Avatar made sure his friends had left before returning to his confusing thoughts.

His character had been put into question so many times already. He'd been pulled apart and confronted with his past. Had his past undone and pieced together. Benji to Wikilow, good to bad, bad to good. Dai Li to Resistance. Were his actions done awake or asleep? A person or puppet? A puppet to his own or someone else's influences? Was Wikilow alive and Benji dead, or Benji truth and himself a lie?

He needed to think. But were his thoughts even his own?

Authors Note: Hope this wasn't too bad! Until next time!