A/N: This should have been up hours ago. However, it took several edits through and I'm still not sure I got everything. This chapter also wasn't supposed to be this long, but the next chapter sort of got spliced and part of it ended up here.

That being said, this story is rapidly reaching the end. Just a couple more chapters to go, so bear with me just a bit longer.

Excessive speeding. The car was perfect for it. It was something Zuko excelled at when he felt pissed. Right now he had sped right passed pissed and gone straight through to furious. That habit tended to happen far too often when he had to deal with Jet. There was however a more pressing and much more important matter that had clawed its way under his skin. It currently sat in the passenger seat tugging lightly at it's mesh sleeve.

Hours ago, Zuko had stood at the airport waiting on his next job, but instead of getting another case, he got Aang. The monk had smiled at him then and something about the sincerity of it had cracked open a door in Zuko's heart. That door just got pushed further and further open with each passing minute, by the time hours had passed, the door stood so wide open, Zuko wasn't sure he had any idea how to close it. The worst part was a toss up that his life was completely invaded by someone that was a complete stranger or that the stranger hadn't even tried, Zuko had practically offered the key.

It left a bitter taste in his mouth and made him feel weak. His mind swirled with self deprecating thoughts. If there was one thing he knew, its that he could only blame himself for it. Aang hadn't ask for it, Zuko had volunteered. So wrapped up and caught in his own thoughts that he hadn't even considered that maybe he was the only one going through the motions. The only thing Aang was guilty of at this time was hiding who he was. Blaming Aang would have been easy, but some how doing so made him feel even more pathetic and made his self hatred rise that much more.

The realization that he hadn't noticed anything was absurd. He was a trained professional. It was his job! Even from their first meeting, Zuko had realized that Aang was well built. Even if he was just a monk that liked to keep himself fit, it didn't make sense how agile he had been able to move through the crowd. First impressions were important, but Zuko had just lost himself in the culture shock of meeting a monk. Still, when Aang pounced on him in the pizza shop, it should have been a tangled disaster of limbs that ended with them a mess, but Aang had managed to maneuver into his arms perfectly. That took a great deal of skill or luck. Outside the ice cream shop, Aang had picked to sit on the railing. Zuko had worried a few times that he might fall off, but Aang seemed to sit peacefully and poised. There were so many little things he never noticed and now he couldn't stop kicking himself. Every time he might have come close to even guessing something, he had been too busy thinking of Aang being close to him. He never saw it coming, but then, Jet probably hadn't either.

"What was it you did back there to Jet?"

"I body threw him for grabbing my... butt," Aang said awkwardly.

"He grabbed your..." Zuko trailed off and his foot pressed the gas more heavily.

Aang lightly put his hand on Zuko's and said, "I don't like you driving so fast."

Zuko was going to tell him that he didn't like being lied to, but the worry and concern and light trace of fear in Aang's eyes took any bluster Zuko had and threw it out the window. His foot let off the gas and went for the brake. He slowed to just under the speed limit. The light and easy speed they drove at seemed to visibly calm Aang.

"If you have the ability to body throw people, what do you need me for," Zuko said throwing out the thing that had been eating him alive.

"In all fairness, I was not the one who made the arrangements for a body guard. My Elder did," Aang tried to explain, but stopped at the blank look on Zuko's face.

Azula was probably to blame that when under times of extreme emotion, he tended to just stop all of them outwardly. They still raged within and fought to consume every part of him, but at least nothing would show on his face. He'd never been so grateful for that ability now. Aang had simply told the truth, but for all that he said, it might as well have been, "I don't even need you and you were forced on me." It took all of his concentration not to pull over and empty the contents of his stomach. His chest tightened painfully.

Casting about for something to focus on, Zuko said, "So, you are at least still a monk."

"A Shaolin monk, yes."

The word seemed to tickle the back part of Zuko's mind. It was like something he felt he should remember, but couldn't. It was worse than a word at the tip of the tongue.

"Why does that sound familiar," Zuko asked out loud, more to himself.

"Have you ever seen a..." Aang seemed to search for the word before he said, "A kung fu movie?"

"Great, you're a fighting monk."

"I suppose you could look at it that way."

Zuko wasn't sure there was anyway else to look at it. Thinking about it, he was able to recall what little he did know about the subject of mythical fighting monks. They could do some seriously interesting things with their body.

The question was out of his lips before he could stop it, "Does that mean you're really limber?"

Aang laughed in that same mind numbing way and Zuko had to struggle to pay attention to the road. Justification, Zuko knew he needed it now. There was something far too wonderful, that even if Aang was a fighting or sit on his butt all day monk, it didn't matter, but he needed to feel like he was here for a reason.

Zuko tried to think of it from another angle. Aang was some kind of warrior monk able to take care of himself. He didn't need Zuko. The thought tasted worse than blood in Zuko's mouth. However, Aang hadn't sent him away as some clients often did once they thought the benefactor wasn't looking. Not only was he kept, but Aang made a date of the whole thing. While Aang hadn't been interested in keeping Zuko around for his body protecting skills, he had at least been interested in Zuko as a person or so he hoped. He was still mostly an innocent monk out getting a taste of the world. He just knew how to body slam people, but Zuko knew there was more to the story then that. Something else wasn't sitting. Not all the dots were connecting.

"Where are we going now," Aang asked.

Zuko had spent the night breaking the rules, ones he had carefully created, to keep people safe. There were problems with letting people getting too close, especially a client. A mess up on this level could easily have ended with someone dying on another job. It was time to get the truth and make sure this mistake didn't happen again.

"Isn't this your place?"

"Is that a problem?" Zuko questioned back.

Aang gave him a small smile and said, "Not at all."

"I think it's time we talk and I'd like to do it somewhere that we don't have to worry about jerks and cameras and in such a way that I don't have to worry about getting in my car and doing something stupid."

Zuko led the way into his place, when he closed the door, he made it a blatant point not to lock the door for Aang's benefit. Aang followed a pace behind him through the house, his steps almost too quiet. After being there for over two years, Zuko knew he could find his way in the pitch dark without any trouble, but he turned on a light here and there as he walked back to the kitchen. He doubted Aang would need the light. The monk seemed trained enough that all he would have to do was shuffle to the kitchen and Aang would follow along without any trouble.

Azula had once been over and said he had a man's kitchen. Everything was done in a stainless steel tone. His kitchen was probably too clean, but Zuko rarely ate there. Most of it was all for show. There was one cabinet that wasn't. Zuko walked to it and opened it. He pulled out a bottle of Tequila and two shot glasses. Zuko gestured to the breakfast bar and Aang grabbed a stool and sat down. Zuko pulled out another stool and sat beside him.

The shot glasses clinked on the counter top as Zuko sat them down. His phone and keys, he tossed on it with a clatter. He poured half shots for Aang, but poured them full for himself.

One full and one half full shot sat in front of each of them. This was how Zuko had come to deal with step one of dealing with his mistakes. Sort out the truth and get as drunk as possible over what you couldn't. On many occasions, Mai had sat across the counter as he covered and went over his latest disaster. Now though, … Now, it was Aang beside him. He wasn't quite sure if that thought made him want to put up the bottle of Tequila or want to down the whole thing in one breath.

"Your name is Aang and you are a fighting monk. You were sent here by your Order, but there is something more than that. Something that is keeping you from giving your last name and making you act as discreetly as possible. This has nothing to do with your fighting ability. Right?"

Aang nodded. Zuko drank. Aang followed his example and made a disgusted look after, but he put his shot glass out with Zuko's as Zuko refilled his.

"You have an endless credit card. That isn't something that every monk or even fighting monks for that matter get when they go on pilgrimage. Right?"

Aang nodded and this time he anticipated Zuko drinking and follow. He put his shot glass out to be filled again. When Zuko only filled it half full, Aang tipped the bottle to fill it the rest.

"Most monks don't go on a pilgrimage, my case is special. Before you ask, no, I can't talk about it," Aang volunteered.

This time, Aang took the drink first. Zuko followed after and for the first time, could clearly read that it was this problem that seemed to be weighing on Aang since they met. It was the thing he felt the monk was hiding. Zuko started to piece it together.

"Whatever this is, it's why your Elder wanted you to have a bodyguard. He knew what you were capable of, but for whatever reason you had to go, he also felt you needed someone to guard you and look out for you. It also has something to do with that endless credit card and the reason you can not only speak, but read English," Zuko said.

"Yes."

Zuko poured them each a full shot which they downed. He quickly refilled them again.

"You don't feel that you need a bodyguard. You are capable of taking care of yourself. You kept me around though. Was that because your elder wanted you to or because I was a convenient warm body to latch on to?"

"Both," Aang said, piercing silver eyes never flinching.

Zuko grabbed his shot glass, but Aang's hand rested over Zuko's, stopping him. The same piercing look in his eyes.

"Your hands were warm as they traced my tattoos in the bathroom. They were rough hands, much like the person I expect you actually are, but on me, they were smooth and gentle. When I saw you were the same way with me, I realized you were just like those hands. Those hands that traced over me then, that I wish would trace over me now."

Aang didn't give him a chance to say anything, but kept on, saying, "My elder wanted me to keep a bodyguard around. I knew I didn't need it. I was willing to do whatever it takes to make him happy. My own happiness came with the first bite of pizza and that first lick of ice cream, but even more on that first taste of you. You were there, but so was every other person whose eyes have been on me. These golden ones have been the only ones that I have wanted to keep on me. The ones my own silver ones keep looking out for."

Whatever else Aang had meant to say was lost as Zuko attacked his lips with his own. The two full shots sat on the counter forgotten as Zuko kissed Aang to the floor.

They tumbled to the floor and Zuko found himself overly glad of Aang's skills to keep either of them from fully injuring themselves. Aang had managed to get them to the floor in one piece and with only minimally breaking the kiss. Zuko was now feeling almost ready to concede that Aang had some serious skills with his body. His body firmly pressing the said skilled body into the tile floor.

Aang's words made the self hatred and worry fade. Kisses that were now being pressed to his lips made the last of his concerns melt away. The hands that slipped under his shirt held desire and they moved to hesitantly run across his chest.

When Aang broke the kiss and nuzzled into his neck, Zuko felt the storm within him break too. None of the facts mattered other than them. Two people who were desperately reaching for one another and found something in the hands that reach back.

It was a flurry of hot mouths pressed against one another and where ever else they could reach. It would have been Zuko showering Aang in his feelings, but he quickly realized Aang wasn't the type to just lay back and be loved. He was the type to give as good as he got. Their shirts had a habit of getting in the way, but Zuko sat up and quickly fixed that problem. He pulled Aang's off first and then grabbed for his own. It got stuck on his collar, but after a quick giggle, another hand reached up and helped to quickly free Zuko. The garments were left discarded on the floor.

The next move came in the form of Aang pressing tender kisses to his lips. Zuko wasn't sure when he found his back pressed against one of the cabinets, but he was glad for the support. Aang, most likely unknowingly, straddled his leg. Different from before, the kisses that Aang gave him filled his head and made him feel like he was drowning.

Tremors ran through the hand that rested on his bare chest. Pulling out of the kiss, Zuko looked at the monk. His lips looked kiss bruised and he lightly trembled. Silver eyes regarded him with a mix of emotions that probably covered just about everything Aang was capable of feeling. Zuko pulled him into a hug and ran his hands down Aang's back soothingly, but could feel the thundering heart underneath. Aang's flesh felt heated. He gave a quick light kiss to the monk's temple.

"I didn't mean to get carried away," Zuko said by way of apologizing.

"Its okay, I'm just cold. Will you keep holding me?" Aang asked by way of letting Zuko know there was nothing to be sorry for.

Zuko ran his hand through his hair and smiled as he said, "Wait here, I'll get something to warm us."

Disentangling Aang from him, Zuko took off toward his room with a quick stride. He quickly pulled the comforter off the bed and folded it over his arm the best he could. He made it back into the kitchen, only taking time to turn out any of the lights that were still on. Aang laughed seeing the blanket. Making his way back over, Zuko wrapped it around himself and sat down. He patted the ground between his spread legs for Aang to come over and it wasn't until the second time Zuko did it that Aang guessed what he wanted.

They sat on the kitchen floor, huddled together. There was still too much between them not to mention too much going on right now for Aang in general. He could tell how much it bothered Aang. To be completely honest, it bothered him just as much. The situation was difficult and wouldn't do well having either of them push it too much. He was content enough just to lean with his back against the kitchen sink and have his chest warmed by Aang's back as he held the monk in his arms.

Zuko couldn't remember the last time he held someone and just listened to their heart beat in the dark. He wasn't sure if it was the soothing beat, the intense kisses earlier, or the drinking that was making his eyes close. The thought that he should move them to bed came to mind, but was quickly dismissed. Moving would mean moving Aang and the monk seemed perfectly content where he was.

His thoughts drifted as he did between sleep. He considered places to bring Aang before noon and talking to him about extending his contract. Zuko was oddly content enough knowing that he mostly for someone's peace of mind and less because someone was after Aang. It wouldn't stop him from doing his job any differently. Either way, he would at least know that Aang was safe. It was that thought that dropped him off to sleep.

XoXo

It hadn't been easy breaking from Zuko's hold as he slept. The deep sleep he had slipped into, Aang suspected was more from the drink then anything else. Zuko seemed an alert kind of person and he doubted that Zuko normally slept so heavily.

Aang walked lightly over the kitchen floor and grabbed hold of Zuko's cell phone. He made his way back to the living room and started to mess with the phone. It took him a bit longer then he expected to figure it out, but finally he managed to find and dial Mai's number.

"This had better be good Zuko, or I swear I'm going to skin you alive for calling me at this hour," Mai said sleepily.

Voice breaking, Aang said, "Actually Mai, this is Aang. I need you do something for me."

OxOx

The sun shone brightly though the kitchen windows. Zuko pulled the blanket tighter around himself. There were several things wrong with this picture. His brain realized he was in the kitchen and then ran a functionary test of what else was wrong. The hang over made that difficult.

A certain monk was not here and in his arms like when he had fallen asleep. That was a rather large problem. Zuko stood and stretched. He wasn't overly worried about said problem. Aang was probably some where far more comfortable. Sensible people slept in those kinds of places. His house also happened to have plenty of them that were not the kitchen floor. He made a mental note not to sleep on the kitchen floor again if he could help it. Zuko picked his shirt up and tossed it on the breakfast bar. It was then that he noticed the shot glasses. Zuko's sat full, but Aang's was empty.

FN: Well that was a Zuko emotional rollercoaster ride. (and a cliffhanger)

For those of you who didn't notice... The fighting monk thing... totally your red herring. Mwahahaha. Zuko highlighted the real troubles, but answers shall be given in following chapters.