Title: Fighting for You
Pairings: ultimately Zutara, vague Mai/Jet
Rating: PG17/M
Warnings: Modern AU. Language, some violence, occasional citrus.
Summary: Katara is the Princess of the SWT, a branch of The Tribe, a waterbending mafia based out of the North Pole, establishing themselves in Ba Sing Se. Zuko the banished prince of The Nation, a firebending syndicate, is involved in the amateur fight scene of Ba Sing Se. Katara's financial interests turn physical as they raise up in ranks but glory has a price when Zuko's past comes back.
oooOOOoooOOOooo
Early on Dad had taught her how to spot a good cop and a bad cop and from the fools who had just entered pointing in her direction she could just tell they were definitely bad cops. Katara had left Zuko's place earlier that morning, having an early lunch at her favorite café with her brother. After some shopping she was supposed to pick up Liang from school then meet up with Zuko for dinner and a movie. It was supposed to be just an ordinary day.
"What is this?" Katara whispered to Sokka discreetly nodding their way over the rim of her coffee cup. "Cops?"
He fake yawned and stretched to get a glimpse of the three men then went back to dunking his French fries in ranch dressing. "Yup."
"Doesn't Suki handle this?"
"Yeah, but she hasn't said anything about any investigations. And she's pretty good about that. Something's not right." Katara was quite surprised at even his confusion.
The leader sauntered her way rolling a toothpick between his chapped lips, the second guy looked like an explosion waiting to happen, and the third, a baby-faced kid that couldn't have been much older than herself, seemed to be tagging along for fun. It was easy to tell they were on someone's payroll and it wasn't the state's that paid them to "protect and serve". They flashed their badges and introduced themselves.
Cool with a bit of that flirtatious charm that did usually did wonders for her, Katara lifted her drink to the approaching lawman. "Good morning, officers. Joining me for coffee?" She motioned for a passing waitress to serve her "guests".
The lead and the second slid into the opposite seats while the third pulled up a chair from another table, sitting in it backwards. "We're here on business."
"Oh?" Katara maintained a neutral expression. "How can I help you gentlemen?"
"I hear a shipment of illegal goods got picked up the other day. You wouldn't know anything about it would you?"
"Why would I know about illegal goods? I'm just a simple business woman." She honestly hadn't heard anything about any dealings with goods in almost a month. The SWT's more recent dealings were of a real estate and/or laundering nature
The main guy reached into his pocket and pulled out a pack of smokes, lighting one slowly, deliberately giving her time to change her answer. This was a non-smoking establishment, so to smoke here was as if he was telling her that he had the power, no her. "Cut the bullshit, Ms. Karuk. We know what your family does and we want to know about the shipment."
Katara narrowed her eyes at the detective, leisurely sipping her coffee while she mulled over the situation at hand. Something was off. He was looking for information but not for the reasons he was saying. There was more to this. While not outright saying it, it was painfully obvious who they were talking about. But who wanted the information?
Sokka spoke up, casually leaning back in his seat. He had picked up on the vibe also. "Who's paying you?"
"Excuse me?" baby lackey questioned.
"You heard him. Who's paying you? You're cops, obviously," Katara took another sip from her cup then leaned in dangerously close to the men on the other side of the table, "but, who owns you? Someone sent you here and I'm thinking it wasn't the big police chief downtown and you don't look smart enough to be part of the Dai Li, so I want to know who?"
The second in command leaned forward and roughly grabbed Katara's wrist pulling her drink away. "Look, bitch, we want information on the fucking goods and you're going to give it to us."
While not an intimidating man by any stretch of the imagination when it came to family no one messes with Sokka's. "You don't touch her. Got it? You want to talk, fine, but lay a hand on her again and I'll break your fucking hand. What do you want to know?"
The lead cop smiled like a Cheshire Cat. He must have thought the siblings were stupid. No, they just knew how to talk to these guys, make it seem like they were being helpful. "We got word that someone you may know has been taking toys from the other children."
"What kind of 'toys'?" Sokka questioned, popping another fry in his mouth.
"The expensive kind that were supposed to go to some very exclusive children," the second replied.
The siblings looked sideways at each other, "We don't know anything about that. Even if we did, we wouldn't say anything. We're not stupid."
The leader laughed loudly, too loudly, "No, no, no. I know you're not that dumb. But someone you may know isn't so smart. See, we know one of your "associates" who has a history of taking things that don't belong to him, especially Nation things, well we know he was in the area the night it disappeared and we think that he was involved. We just need to know where to find him so we can ask him some questions."
You stupid little shit, Jet! Katara thought vehemently. He was at it again. She had told him a long time ago to knock it off. "Yeah right," Katara snorted.
Before one of the siblings could answer, the second guy licked his lips and took a long hard look at Katara as if undressing her with his eyes, his voice so vile that Katara mentally shuddered in disgust, "Oh, I think you in particular know him. I've heard you know him very well. I guess even rich bitches like you can't keep your legs closed for bad boys like him."
Katara glared, dabbing the sides of her mouth with the napkin, tossing it on the plate a bit harder than she should have. "My personal life is no one's business, let alone a greasy, asshole such as you. Now if we're done here, good day." She rose from the table and walked away before she did something stupid, Sokka following suit.
Behind her baby lackey called out, "Just tell your boy that if he messes up again, he won't get another chance."
Outside the café, Sokka slipped on his sunglasses, keeping a vigilant eye on the door to the restaurant. "They were talking about Jet, weren't they?"
"Probably," she sighed, digging in her purse for her keys. Katara concluded that those assholes in there were a cover to find him. Katara knew he had a history of theft, hell it was one of the many things he was very, very good at.
"Find out what he's up to, baby sister, before he gets us all pinched."
This was not how she wanted to spend her day. She had better things to do than damage control but from the way those cops were talking Jet might have gotten in too deep.
Banging loudly on Jet's apartment door she waited for a good ten minutes until he finally answered, bare-chested with jeans hanging nicely off his hips, hair still sopping wet, and towel around his shoulders.
"What the hell have you been doing?" she barked, storming into his apartment throwing her purse onto his couch.
"Hi, nice to see you too Katara. It's been a while," Jet laughed, finishing toweling off his hair and slipping on a t-shirt.
"Don't give me that. What have you been doing?"
He gave that playboy smile that he had mastered ages ago, "Do you really want to know? Wanna join in or something?"
Katara crossed her arms over her chest and gave him the look. It was then that a strikingly beautiful woman came out of his bedroom. Her long black hair was still a bit tousled, her amber eyes, despite being lined in black, still a bit perky. "Hello?" the woman said her voice like smoke and sex.
Katara rolled her eyes. Figured. Jet noticed this too and just smiled. "Mai, this is Katara. Katara, this-," he wrapped his arm around the other woman and kissed her a bit longer than he should have, "… this is Mai."
"Hi," Mai replied barely actually acknowledging Katara, too engrossed in Jet's attentions. She was quick to pick up that this woman was high class, born into it even, from the manicured nails and diamond bracelet to the cut of her clothes. This was not the normal bar flies he'd bring home and the lusty way he watched her told her that there was something there that they as a couple had never had.
Wiping the edges of his lips after the couple finally stopped sucking each other's faces, Jet patted Mai's butt playfully. "Hey, baby, why don't you wait in the other room while I talk to my friend here?"
Mai rolled her eyes, "No thanks. I've got to get back to my hotel. I'll see you tonight though."
"Just try and stop me," he kissed her again. Katara watched as his eyes went from –was that dreamy? - to serious business as Mai closed the front door behind her.
"So what the hell is this about?" Jet demanded opening the fridge door to get a beer.
Katara broke down about the info from the dirty cops.
"It's no big deal," he tried to pass off. While he didn't go into full detail he summarized that he managed to smuggle a small shipment of goods from a warehouse in the Middle Ring, selling the goods to a "trader" who was "visiting" from Omashu.
"No big deal? Jet these guys practically want you dead."
"I was rusty that's all. You know I'm better than that. Next time will be much better."
Katara pinched the bridge of her nose only to have Jet laugh at her. "What's so funny?" she snapped.
"You and Zuko must be really close now. You're doing the same stressed out, nose-pinchy thing." He held her gaze as he downed half the beer. "Seriously though, it's no big deal. Besides Mai helped me out."
"What?"
"Yeah. She knows where all the goods are. I think they might be her people or something but she really could care less. It was a fun adventure for both of us during and after, if you know what I mean." He waggled his eyebrows at her.
"What is wrong with you, Jet? Can't you be serious about this? Zuko's so close to getting the championship and if you start fucking around it could ruin it for everyone! You need to start thinking less with your dick and more with your brain!"
Jet cradled the bottle between his thighs staring down at it sourly, "I'm always fucking serious. You know, it's not always about the money. Zuko gets the thrill when he fights. He won't admit it of course, but he loves it. You get the thrill from doing your "job", little miss mobster chick. Don't deny it, I know you too well," he added when Katara opened her mouth in protest. "Well, stealing shit is my thrill. It's about that rush." His voice softened, taking a tone Katara could honestly say she'd never heard before he added, "Plus, I like Mai. A lot. She's just… like me. It's nice that finally someone gets me. I know I'm a hard nut to crack but damn if she didn't do it."
Katara blinked a moment, thinking this wasn't all about getting laid, or the final stages of the championship. It was life. It was his life. An orphan turned hoodlum stuck trying to claw his way out of his stagnant life. Granted the means weren't necessarily positive but the ends were paying them all in ways no one expected. Katara cautiously approached him, reaching out she touched his hand when he didn't react negatively she wrapped her arms around his waist hugging him as a friend. "I'm glad you're happy. Heavens know you deserve it. But I'm begging you to stop until everything's done. Please?"
He couldn't guarantee he would, but he didn't guarantee he wouldn't. "Besides I gotta get Zuko ready for the big match next Saturday. I don't think Toph is giving us much wiggle room for a life, so there is that."
OoooOoooOoooO
Not again! He takes a punch square to the left side again. Zuko knows it's a target for the opponents, unsure of what its impact is on his fighting. Another blow lands and frustrated Zuko stepped back to shake away the cobwebs. Oh, hell no. Jab left, jab right, hook, side sweep. He's down on the ground and Zuko follows. Blow after blow lands on the opponent's head. He's trying to block. Trying to get out from under Zuko to no avail. Then the ref rings the bell and he has to get off. Zuko stalks to his side of the ring. Longshot squirts the water into his mouth. The first he swishes then spits out the blood, the second he swallows. Zuko only vaguely hears Toph as she wipes away the blood seeping at the fresh gash above his left eye just above the scar, "What's your problem? Every fucking time a hit comes from the left you take it. Are you blind or something?"
Shut up. He needs to focus his attention, not worry about a little thing like his near blindness on that side. He'd been damn good at keeping that secret for so long. "Show no weakness! Show no mercy!" his father's voice echoed in his memories. Show. No. Weakness. The bell dings. Round four, punk. Let's do this. Chomping on the mouth guard like a rabid ostrich-horse, he watches and waits. The other guy is tentative now. Good. He doesn't know what Zuko intends to do. He tries a jab then a sloppy hook that Zuko easily dodges. How'd this idiot get this far? After he throws a punch dude leaves his flank wide open. He's skittish yet bulky obviously using his size as an intimidation factor. As well as the array of tattoos made to intimidate. Sorry dude, evil looking badger-moles aren't nearly as intimidating as one might think. Show no mercy. He's wide open, again. Now! Head, body, head, body that drives the opponent backwards several feet griping his ribs. Must have cracked a rib. Normally Zuko was oblivious to the crowd, but something caught his attention just off the other guy's shoulder. A pair of eyes that he hadn't seen in years. Was that really-? BAM! It was just the distraction the opponent needed. He roared forward knocking Zuko backward landing with a heavy thud, his head bouncing off the mat. Stupid, stupid, stupid. That's what he got for not focusing on the task at hand. Zuko is surrounded by the sheer mass of his opponent. He puts Zuko in an arm bar, choking him out. Using his legs for leverage he was suddenly thankful for all the training that Toph had put in to improve his groundwork because he was able to break free. Bouncing backwards he put some distance between them. He must have landed on his ankle just so because it sent a searing pain shooting up his leg. Breathe through it. Push past. Show no weakness. Think. Think. What's next? He's going to tap his gloves twice then swing wide with a hook. And, on cue, he did leaving him wide open. His footwork was sloppy, he was off balance, and again Zuko dropped him to the mat. Ground and pound. Ground and pound. Take that.
Ding!
"Almost there, man! Keep him off you and it'll be in the bag. Doin' okay?" Jet asks, pressing the chilled enswell against the bruises starting to form in an attempt to reduce them as quickly as possible. Zuko met his friend's eyes. "Perfect."
Jet grinned and passed the mouth guard back to Zuko. "That's my boy. Now get out there and end it."
Ding!
The opponent was tired and truthfully so was Zuko. Never give up. For Liang. No mercy. For Uncle. No weakness. For… Katara?
The roar of the crowd pumps him on to finish what he started. And within the first minute, 23 seconds of the sixth and final round a knockout makes Zuko one fight away from being the middleweight champion of the world.
He searched for those eyes again but like he suspected they were gone. Jet pulls him in for a hug, lifting him in the air. "Hell yeah! You did it, you crazy bastard. That's my boy!"
In the locker room after Zuko is declared the winner by unanimous decision, the doctors check him out. Yeah, his ankle hurts. That injury from way back reared its ugly head earlier in the match. Yeah, the cut above his eye got bandaged. No concussions, no major injuries. Just the normal cuts, bruises, and sprains that came with the job. He wished Katara was here. He could use her smile and healing hands. She had left his place nearly four mornings ago, saying she had business to attend to and she wasn't sure when she'd be back. Granted she had called before the fight wishing him luck, saying how much she missed him, kisses, hugs, should be back tonight, etc, etc.
Letting the hot water in the shower wash away the sweat and blood, he had to admit he did like the fight. It was like he could be a different person, like an alter-ego. He was able to let loose and channel the inner demons into punches and kicks. At times it was hard to switch that side off until he'd open his locker and see the picture of his little girl. That sunny face was enough to bring any strong guy to his knees. Despite her rough origins, she was a little blessing that had kept him grounded over the years.
Zuko finished up his shower, dressing quickly in jeans and a hoodie, took a deep breath, and went through his least favorite part. He wasn't too keen on all the attention but it was part of the job. Luckily Jet was waiting for him to help out with the post-fight interviews, and then he made his rounds signing autographs, posing for cameras, letting the fan girls kiss and hug him along with the occasional proposition for a "fun time", the usual. But he had a girl to go home to and another one on the way- soon he hoped.
"Daddy!" Liang, in her pink pajamas and messy ponytail, ran up and hugged him tightly as soon as he slammed his car door shut and pressed the button to close the garage door. He had to bite back a grimace when she squeezed against the bruise on his rib cage. "We watched you on TV. That was so cool!"
"Thanks," he said leading Liang inside the house. "But it's way too late for you to be up. Let's get you to bed, kiddo."
"But it's Saturday. I don't have school or anything."
"It's nearly midnight. Where's Uncle?"
"Asleep in the recliner," Liang helped drag Zuko's workout bag into the hallway while Zuko shook Iroh's shoulder to wake the slumbering old man. After a moment to get his bearings, Iroh nodded to Zuko, "It was a very good match, nephew. You have been working on your defensive skills. You're coming a long way. I'm very proud of you."
Zuko blushed a little at the compliment, "Thanks."
He nodded back at Iroh who was already gathering up his belongings to head to his wing of the expansive house. "'Night, Uncle," Liang called out from her dad's shoulder.
"Good night, princess. Good night, nephew."
"Daddy, can I sleep with you tonight?" Zuko hated that look and Liang knew it. It was her "You know you want to" look and he fell for it every time. Sighing heavily he caved finding her pillow, stuffed otter-penguin, and a blanket were already in there. Sneaky little thing. Sleep KO'd the pair within moments of getting settled into bed.
It couldn't have been two hours later that Zuko woke with a jolt, his cell phone going off. Slamming his hand onto the nightstand he lifted it to look at the caller ID. Katara. He smiled despite himself. "It's late."
"Sorry. I know. I forget sometimes that people aren't night owls like me. I'm back though." The sentence hanging in the air. Was she waiting for him to invite her over or was she on her way?
"Good," he yawned.
"Soooo?"
"So what?"
"Can I come over? Or do you already have company?" He could envision her devious little smile and he felt a strong urge to kiss her.
"Well," he glanced at Liang's sprawled out body on the other side of the bed. "I do have a cute girl in my bed but I can gladly put her in her own bed to make room for you." He loved to hear her laugh. It was so honest.
Within half an hour, and a child transferred to her own bed, Katara was at his doorstep looking exhausted and a bit stressed. "I saw the fight," she leaned up to kiss him as she dropped her coat and purse on the side table in the foyer. "Good job. I wish I could have been there."
"Thanks." He followed her as she helped herself to a beer from the fridge. "Rough time?"
She popped the cap and took a long swig from the bottle. Rolling her eyes, "Yeah. Let's just say people are idiots." Zuko knew to leave it at that. He didn't want- or need- to know. He had an idea just from his own family. Instead he ordered her to turn around. He pushed the jacket off her shoulders letting it fall to the tiled floor. Heating up his fingers, they pressed and rubbed into the tense muscle of her neck spreading outward across her shoulders, down her spine and back up again. Her appreciative moans turned him on. How could they not? They were similar to the noises she made in the bedroom.
"You're fired," she announced when he was done.
"Excuse me?" he stepped back to look at her incredulously.
"You're fired. You're no longer allowed to fight," her eyes were closed tightly and the edges of her lips quirked upward. "You are to be my personal masseuse from now on."
Zuko snorted lifting her onto the kitchen counter, brushing back her hair from her neck to kiss her neck and ears. "I'd have to triple my wages you know."
She purred, "That's fine. As long as you're okay with me doing this." Katara pushed him away from her, leading him to the couch where she straddled his lap, swirling her hips over his hot flesh that was beginning to strain against the material of his sweatpants. That sent him wild and he bolted up, kissing her roughly. "You have to be good with me doing this though." Her shirt flew open and his hands fumbled with the clasps of her bra finally unleashing those sweet breasts for his enjoyment.
"I'd have to dock your pay for my trips to the tailor," she noted the three now missing buttons from her shirt. Zuko kissed her again, "I'm no businessman. How about we just go upstairs and call it even?"
Laughing all the way to the room, she agreed.
OoooOoooOoooO
I'm so addicted to the Jet/Mai pairing it's not even funny. Thus… why it's here in my little Zutara story since I can't actually write a full story involving the two.
Again thank you to all of you who keep following this story. And special shout outs to xxZutarafanxx and 2wingo . You guys have been so stinking helpful, you have no idea.
