Woo, I got seven reviews! Sweet! XD Love all of you guys :) Even if more than half of you are anonymous reviewers... and the way you talk makes it out like you're all actually the same person... or maybe you're all from the same place or something...ah well.

Thanks so much for the reviews guys! :) And remember, I need five (5) before I can update. Sorry that this is up so late – my holidays are coming to an end and I'm about to go back to school and have been doing a lot of prepping(on top of that, I woulda had this up last night or earlier this night, but fanfic kept saying I couldn't upload it... grrr). So I'm no longer gonna be able to update as often as I'd like to :( Yes, I agree that that sucks royally, but that's the way it's gotta be... if it weren't for the fact that going to school means waking up early, I'd just stay up later to write, but unfortunately... yea.

In other news! For this chapter, I'd like to welcome a guest OC whom I borrowed from doctor Anthony. :D Go check out some of his stories and get to know Kalo properly. Thank you doc for letting me borrow him ;D

Anyway! Here's chapter 17. Read, review and enjoy, and I'll have the next one up as soon as I can :D

17. Bribery

As the silhouette approached, the details of the man's face came into view. If it weren't for the fact that they were all paralysed, Sokka would have started trying to pick a fight and Toph would have announced to the others who he was before he was close enough for them to see.

The creepy bus boy from the pub loomed over them, "I don't much like it when people go around stalking my girlfriend," he hissed with a smirk. "You bunch of freaks are no exception."

Sokka would have made some sort of smart retort, but it seemed Nyla had even paralysed their tongues.

What are you gonna do then, huh? Zuko thought, attempting to frown. And failing. Stupid paralysation.

His footsteps were light. Lighter than they should have been and everyone lying on the floor knew it. In her head, Toph was absolutely freaking out. She still could not detect a heartbeat. Why? What was wrong with him? He should have been dead! So why was he still walking when he had no heartbeat?

"I wonder what kind of vicious monsters I could feed you to..." he wondered out loud. Out of the corner of her eye, Suki could see him stroking his chin. She tried not to look at him – he was frightening. So she kept her eyes on Sokka, directly in her line of vision, who was staring right back at her.

Ty Lee shivered, although she didn't feel it. His rough voice was enough to chill anybody's blood.

What do you want from us? Zuko thought bitterly. For Spirits' Sake, let us go! Stop wasting our time – I need to find my wife damn it!

"What's going on here?" a woman's voice asked. Zuko was suddenly filled with excitement at the familiarity of it. That absolutely had to be Jun.

"Nothing, my love. These freaks were trying to track you down is all," he said. Suki saw him roll his head on his neck and they all heard several loud cracks.

Jun's footsteps were that of somebody normal – they were heavy, as if there was actually some weight above them. Unlike the creepy bus boy. It brought a little bit of comfort to Toph. But that didn't put her mind to rest.

Jun stooped over each of them and examined their faces. A smirk crept upon her lips when she recognized Zuko.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't Angry Boy! And where might Uncle Lazy be?" she chuckled, rolling him onto his back by pushing him over with her foot. She looked around at the others and then her eyes stopped on Sokka. "Did you and your girlfriend make nice, Angry Boy. I didn't think you were on speaking terms with her brother when we met."

"You know these freaks?" the bus boy asked, wrinkling his nose.

"Just the boys," she intoned. "And setting Nyla onto them wasn't necessary, Kalo."

The bus boy – Kalo – shrugged, "I just didn't want you getting hurt. You know I don't like it when people stalk you."

She chuckled, nearly seductively, "Honey, I'm a bounty hunter. Nobody stalks me – I stalk them. They were just looking for me," she sighed. Then, turning back to Zuko, she continued, "I bet that it was Angry Boy's idea and he needs my help with finding his dear, precious girlfriend again."

The funny thing is, Zuko thought to himself, last time she said it, she was way off in the wrong direction. This time, she's way off from the other direction.

Jun sighed dramatically, "But I guess I'll have to take you all" – She even looked at Kalo when she said it – "back to where I'm staying for the night."

Taking orders from Jun, Kalo grudgingly helped her carry them inside. The small apartment that Jun was staying in was just around the corner from where they were in the alley and Kalo was able to carry Zuko, Sokka, Suki and Ty Lee simply by slinging them over his shoulders. Jun carried Toph and called Kalo a show off. He just grinned at her.

The four paralysed suckers were sat upright on the couch, squished up shoulder to shoulder. After an hour or two of conversation between Jun and Kalo about this and that, they started to get feeling in their bodies again. Kalo came and stood in front of them.

"Are you a zombie?" Toph asked, her face completely serious.

He raised an eyebrow at her and they all heard Jun cackle behind them. Then she came and stood next to him. The four on the couch slowly and stiffly moved around into more comfortable positions.

"No, I'm not a zombie," he murmured, looking at her with interest. "Why do you ask?"

"Because you don't have a heartbeat," Toph said, shrugging.

Kalo raised an eyebrow at her, "How could you tell? Who are you?"

"Finish answering my questions first. If you're not a zombie, but you don't have a heartbeat, then what are you?"

There was a heavy silence that loomed over all seven in the room as Kalo looked into Toph's eyes. She stared blindly and silently back, determined to get an answer, however unnerving he was.

"I'm a vampire," Kalo said. His eyes remained locked on Toph's for a moment longer. "How did you know I didn't have a heartbeat?"

"I'm blind. But I see through vibrations. I can't hear the vibration of your heartbeat, so I have to rely on the vibrations around you to be able to see you at all. I can only see you as well as I see everyone else when you're speaking, because of the vibrations in your voice. I can only see you as well as I can see Twinkletoes when you've got your feet on the ground."

"Twinkletoes...?" he repeated, raising an eyebrow at her. A smirk appeared on his lips at the thought of the name.

"Alright, enough chit-chat," Jun interrupted. Then, she turned her eyes on Zuko. "So, Angry Boy, why were you and your friends stalking me?" she asked, seemingly bored as she played with her nails. Her lips held a smirk.

"I need your help with finding someone. Actually, we'll be looking for the same two people you helped me look for last time – the Water Tribe girl, Katara, who is now actually my wife –" At that, Sokka snorted in disapproval. "–and the Avatar."

The bounty hunter's eyes became very keen. "Oh?"

"As you've probably heard, I am the Fire Lord at the present time." He smirked, knowing he'd already won. "Can you imagine the reward you would get if you helped me?"

"Hmm..." she sighed, tapping her chin with an over-dramatically thoughtful look on her face and a huge grin spreading across her lips. "Yes, I think I could."

"Name your price."

Ty Lee interrupted, "Um, might I point out that WE ARE ALSO LOOKING FOR MAI! There are three people she needs to help us find, Zuko," she grumped.

The Fire Lord rolled his eyes, "Ty Lee, understand this – Katara and Mai were captured together. Chances are, we'll find them together. Aang was captured at a different time to them, although by the same people... or so we're assuming. Anyway, chances are, he'll be somewhere near by the girls. If we find one of them, chances are that we will find all of them. The only reason I keep forgetting to mention Mai is because she's not important to –"

"Now hold on just a minute!" Ty Lee screamed, standing up so quickly that she made everyone else jump – Kalo even made his way to stand between her and Jun and he glared icily at her. "Tell me exactly how Mai is less important than Katara?! I mean, alright, I can understand why she's less important than Aang – he is the Avatar, master of all four elements and the fucking messiah of the world! But how is Mai less important than Katara, exactly?!"

Zuko, Sokka, Suki, Jun and Kalo all blinked dumbly at her. Toph blinked blindly into the distance in front of her, not needing to turn her head to 'look' at the girl. Though, after a few moments of stunned silence at Ty Lee's violent outburst, her head did slowly rotate around in disbelief, though her mouth, hanging open like everyone else's, held a huge grin, unlike everyone else's. And if anyone had looked at her, it would have been all too obvious that she was trying not to laugh or make some sort of smart-arse comment.

Zuko's jaw snapped shut abruptly, "Because," he explained coolly, "Katara is my wife. And Last time I checked, Mai may as well have been handing us the freaking divorce papers the same night we had gotten married. I am sorry, Ty Lee, but if you ask me – and I'm sure that Sokka and Suki would agree – Mai is nothing but a dirty, good for nothing, troublemaking whore."

Nobody spoke for a few minutes and Zuko just glared up at Ty Lee, standing in front of him. Her eyes went dim of their usual light and her shoulders slumped. Anybody could have sworn that she looked ready to cry.

"I thought you didn't think it was her fault because neither of you could remember anything about that night," Ty Lee stated, blankly.

"Yea, I didn't. But that kinda changed when she started kissing me as soon as she heard Katara coming, just a little while before they disappeared," he replied coldly.

A frown furrowed the acrobat's brow and she hung her head to stare at her feet and she stepped around to lean against the far side of the couch with her back to the others. A few moments later she headed for the door with a tear-choked little, "Excuse me," before she disappeared.

His face had been set in stone as he had spoken to and looked at Ty Lee, but as she left, her heart clearly broken, Zuko's face softened and he emitted a tired sigh and shook his head gently, running his fingers through his hair.

"Um... I'm guessing there is a bit of a background story to this search and rescue mission than you'll be happy to talk about?" It was more of a question than a statement, and Zuko nodded glumly. "Alright then... well, I'll help you," Jun said with a half smile. "But you owe me for it. We'll figure out the price at the end and it'll depend on how long it takes and how dangerous it ends up being – if this Katara chick is your wife, that means she's the Fire Lady, right?" Zuko nodded again, looking her in the eyes. "So, I'm guessing the average bum wouldn't kidnap her. Or the Avatar. So this sounds like a pretty serious matter. Do you know who the crooks that did it are?"

"Yes – we know for a fact that a man by the name of Shang is behind it," Zuko replied. His hand dug into his pocket and he searched for the crinkled pieces of paper. He extracted the two near-identical notes and handed them over to Jun. "If he wrote them, it'll have his sent on him for Nyla to follow. And if he didn't, then she can find whoever did write it and hopefully they'll have something that will help us find him."

Jun smirked as she read over the notes, "This is gonna be big pay."

"I know..." Zuko muttered. "So you'll do it?"

Jun put her arms by her side, keeping the notes in her hand. "Of course." She extended a hand for him to shake, "I'd be honoured to be of service to the Fire Lord." She did not bow or lower her head or take her eyes away from his, and that was enough to tell Zuko that it was only because he had money and that was exactly what she wanted.

He shook her hand nonetheless, "Good."

She took her hand from his and headed towards the door.

"Are you coming or what?" she said over her shoulder.

"Wait, where are you going?" Kalo asked, suddenly alert again.

"Wherever this sent leads Nyla," she cooed, kicking the door open and drifting outside.

Kalo shot Zuko and evil glare and followed his girlfriend outside.

"Angry Boy, if you and your friends don't hurry up, we're leaving without you!" Jun called back to them.

Taking one deep breath, Zuko followed, the others right behind him.

Sokka leaned over to Toph and Suki and whispered, "I'm sorry, but did the creepy bus boy say he was a vampire?"

"Yup," Toph nodded.

Goggling, Sokka glanced nervously at him, "Is he serious?!" The girls could hear the notes of panic right through his voice.

"Well, seeing as he hasn't tried to eat our brains yet, I'm assuming he isn't a zombie," Toph said.

"But can't you tell if he's lying or not?" Sokka pushed.

"No, I can't!" she hissed. "Sokka, he has no heartbeat – I need to hear a heartbeat to be able to tell if someone is lying or not... I guess I'm gonna have to start concentrating on the giveaways in his voice ... but then again, maybe he's good enough to fool me with his voice too... I dunno."

Sokka gulped at the dry lump in his throat. Suki patted his back, "There, there, I'm sure there's nothing to worry about. If he's with Jun and Jun is helping us, I'm sure we can trust him. Anyway, Zuko seems to be going with it fine," she shrugged, an encouraging smile flashing his way.

"Yea, but that's Zuko – I don't trust Zuko. Why should I trust the people he trusts?" Sokka asked.

Shrugging, Suki gave up, "Just go with it for now, ok?"

"Fine, but if he starts chewing on our necks and drinking our blood, nobody can blame me!" he huffed.

Once everyone was on Nyla's back, Jun let her sniff the notes and the shirshu lifted her snout to the wind and began snuffling loudly. There were several scents on the pieces of paper and she searched for one that was not on her back or familiar (a.k.a. Uncle Iroh's) and once she found it, she was off. All her passengers could do was hold on tight.

Shang had kept clear of the two girls he was holding prisoner with Long Feng as often as possible. Whenever he was near them, she was there. He couldn't see her – nobody could see her. But he could feel her. Nobody else could, but she was there!

If he thought of using Mai for his own pleasures like he had originally planned, the sense of her presence would become insanely intense. He could virtually hear her voice inside his head. It was maddening.

"Leave me alone..." he hissed at the air as he clutched his head. "I'm sorry, please... just go..." But she would not go. No matter how much he wished her away, she always came back whenever his thoughts or actions had anything to do with the two girls that were imprisoned in the undergrounds.

Whenever he was alone in his room and he could feel her there, he would lock the door and sink into a heap on the ground, afraid. Terrified. Miserable. Longing. Yes, he still longed for her.

"I'm sorry... I just wanted to make you happy!" he shouted for her to hear him. "I just wanted to prove that I loved you!" He would throw his fist against the stone walls as hard as he could, trying to get her out of his head. But she would not leave him unless she wanted to. She stayed. She taunted him. She taunted him every chance she got, or so it seemed to him anyway. It was almost as if she was bribing him not to touch her friends. No, not bribing – that was the wrong term entirely. She was threatening him. He was sure of it. He was positive that if he touched them, she would whisk the last of his sanity away in a flash and he'd have no choice but to endure her presence at all times.

Sometimes, she came to him in his sleep. He would twist and writhe and cry and scream in his nightmares, because of the pain it would cause him to see her. And it hurt so much when she called his name the way she did in his sleep.

"Shang," she called in a sing-song voice. "Shang, you killed me. You hurt me. Shang, do you remember? I'm dead now, do you see me? Do you see me? Look at me. Shang, look at me. Look at me!"

"I'm looking!" he would shout back, collapsing at the knees and falling to the floor at her feet. His whole body would shake with sobs. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean it! I'm sorry! Forgive me!"

"Look at me!"

And he would look at her. Her eyes would bore into his as she glared and although she wouldn't continue speaking, in his head, he could hear her screaming as she had whenever he'd raped and beaten her. And as her voice in his head got louder and louder, he'd cover his ears and beg her to stop – to just go away and leave him alone.

"Please, I'm so sorry... just get out of my head... please..."

And she would stop staring at him. Her eyes would become lifeless. The whole in her abdomen from where her father had stabbed her would widen and she would start bleeding. She would collapse before him and, startled, he would reach out and catch her in his arms.

"Azula?! No, don't die! Please, I'm sorry I hurt you – I didn't mean it!" he would shout. But it didn't stop the lights from leaving her eyes. Then, she would fade away and his arms would be left holding nothing and he would wake up, covered in a cold sweat and panting. His throat would hurt and after the first few times of this happening, he figured out that he actually must yell out in his dreams. He hoped no one ever heard him and that the fact that he was slowly going insane was not discovered.

Please, he thought as he lay there that night, just go away... Azula, I'm so sorry...

Ba-pa-da-da! And there you have chapter 17. :) I hope you all liked it and I'll get the 18th chapter up as soon as possible and I do apologize for the fact that it will be a longer wait than any of us really want it to be :(

On the bright side, I'm not giving up :D

Ok, remember five (5) reviews, or no update. So go and review and tell me what you thought :) Again, thank you to doctor Anthony for letting me borrow his OC Kalo – go and read his stories.

And of course, JOIN TEAM ZUTARA!!!