Before anything else, I own nothing but the original characters, and content therein related to them. Avatar: The Last Airbender is owned by Nickelodeon, and any mentioned creator's work belongs to them, and them alone.

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Chapter 9 Dirty work.

As Azula fell onto her back, Connor made a mad dash over to her, sliding onto his knee. "Azula!" He yelled, getting no response from the girl as she seemed to have passed out. Acting quickly Connor found the hole that had been created in Azula's clothing from the gunshot, and tore the fabric open to see how bad the wound was. A small hole leaked blood from her side. Hearing voices from the other side of the wall, Connor decided that there was no time to do anything at that moment, and got to his feet. "Ok, ok, let's get out of here." Connor said to himself in english. Taking his musket off his back then setting it down, Connor grabbed Azula under her arms, and pulled her up with no difficulty thanks to how little she weighed. "Let's get out of here, you crazy bitch." Connor slung her over his shoulders, putting his right arm around her right leg, and grabbing her right wrist to keep her around him. "And hope to God you don't die." Kneeling, Connor picked up his gun, in his left hand, and started running south towards where they'd left the steam wagon. "Please, please don't die."

After only a few miles, Connor felt himself tiring, and with a grunt, stopped beside a tall pine. Dropping his musket, Connor set Azula down as gently as he could. "Please don't be dead." Leaning down and putting his ear near Azula's mouth, Connor could feel shallow breaths. "Good enough." Connor ripped Azula's clothes from around her midsection again, and then pulled his boots off to remove his socks. With what little he had, Connor tied a bundle of Azula's shredded shirt down over the hole she had in an attempt to compress her wound. Taking a breath. Connor put his boots back on, and stood up. "Alright. We gotta go." Connor picked her up again, put her over his shoulders once more, grabbed his gun, before taking off deeper into the woods.

Pain. Pain and darkness.

Voices fluttered in and out of Azula's mind. She didn't know if she was hearing things or if the words spoken were real. The first voice she remembered sounded like Ty Lee's. "... What happened?..."

Conner's harsh tone cut through the air. "... Shot by the…"

"... Do something!..."

"... Can't…"

Mai's quiet sigh echoed behind her. "... So much blood…"

"... Need to get…"

"... Gaoling?..."

"... Too far…"

All went quiet for a moment, and bright spots clouded Azula's vision. A steam whistle blocked out all she could hear, before everything returned to black. "... Move!..." Connor was shouting, and there were the muted sounds of a crowded street beyond him.

"... Help her?..."

The sound of the street vanished as a door somewhere closed, and a new voice came, one she did not know. "... Only seen this…"

"... Yesterday?..."

"... Useless…"

Azula felt as if she had fallen from a great height onto her back. "... Tools?..." Something, a bag or sack, hit the ground.

"... Learned this?…"

"... Surgeon under Washington…"

"...The foreign body…" Her skin felt cold for a moment, bare of her robes and armor.

"... Still inside…"

"... pull it out?..."

"... Won't survive…"

"... Poisoning..."

"... Put it in a fire." The warmth of a hearth could be felt tickling Azula's skin.

"... Infection."

"... Easier if it was a limb we could cut off…"

"... Boil water…"

"... Opium…"

"... Just in case…" It felt as if a serpent had coiled around her body.

"Gɒd ˈstɛdi maɪ hændz."

Azula shot awake, screaming in pain, going rigid, arching her back at first, before curling in on herself to guard her stomach as blood leaked from her side, though her arms and legs were unable to move. "HOLD HER DOWN!" She could hear Conner yelling above the rest of the room.

In an ever worsening panic, Azula felt her heart beat faster and faster as she discovered fresh horrors with every second. She was naked, in a dimly lit room, save a lantern held over her head and the fire that made the room stiflingly hot even to her. There were strangers surrounding her, their hands pressing her to the table she lay strapped to. Few were in Fire Nation uniform, most were mere peasants. Looking down at herself, Azula's screams of agony devolved into that of sheer terror, as she found Connor standing at her side, digging into her flesh with blood covered hands and metal tools. Trying to kick herself free, Azula thrashed and screamed. "HE'S KILLING ME! HE'S KILLING ME!" Finding some semblance of strength, she let out a plume of fire from her mouth, causing most of the people to back away.

"SOMEONE KNOCK HER OUT!" Connor shouted, before a man near her head placed something in her mouth, pinched her nose and closed her jaw, forcing her to swallow. There was a moment of resistance, before the pain and panic subsided, and Azula started to feel numb all over. Before she closed her eyes, Azula looked at Connor one last time. "Crazy Bitch." She heard him say in his native English.

Sokka looked at his handiwork. A stack of rocks and sticks from the surrounding area just outside of the team's camp, that roughly resembled a 5 foot tall person. While the others were busy practicing bending, Sokka was going to do a little practice of his own. Picking up his musket. He walked about 25 paces out from his target where he'd left his musket, and picked it up. After going through the entire process of putting powder from the little paper container into the muzzle, then squeezing the lead ball out to drop it down the barrel, ramming the loose round down the hole so it wouldn't fall out, and finally putting some powder from a horn into the flash pan, firing and repeating the process a total of five time, Sokka only found himself frustrated. "Why can't I hit anything with this?" He asked himself, before kicking a mound of dirt near his feet, sending several small stones flying off into a nearby bush. Looking at the now stone and dirt peppered shrubbery, Sokka got an idea.

Azula groaned, as she opened her eyes. Looking around, she found herself in what appeared to be the bowels of a Fire Nation ship. Gripping the linen sheets that covered her naked body, she sat up, feeling a pain in her side. Throwing the sheet off of her, she saw a dressing covering her entire abdomen, a thicker section over where Connor had… Azula swallowed a lump in her throat as she remembered what had happened. The door to the room opened, and with a gasp, Ty Lee dropped the tea tray she'd brought with her.

"Azula!" Ty Lee said, as she ran over to her friend, and hugged her. "I'm so glad you're awake." The girl nearly cried.

Azula gently returned the hug. "Where are we?" She asked, as Ty Lee let her go, giving her the space to pull the sheets up to cover herself.

"A ship. Just off the coast of the Western Earth Kingdom." Ty Lee said, as Azula swung her legs over the side of the cot.

"How long have I been asleep? What happened while I was out?" Azula continued.

"A few days." Ty Lee said. "I wasn't there for the whole thing, but after Mai and I rode back to the wagon, you and Connor weren't there, so we had the engineers follow the bison fur trail out into the hills. Connor was carrying you when we found you both. He said you got shot by the water tribe boy, and your lizards ran off. We took you to see a doctor in Gaoling, but he didn't know how to help… Connor said he knew what to do."

Azula held her side. "He was putting something in me."

"No. He took something out, and then, did something else, but I don't know what." Ty Lee said.

"Is Connor on the ship?" Azula asked.

"Yeah. Mai is too. We're heading back to the Fire Nation. She was just about to write a letter to your father explaining everything." Ty Lee said.

"NO!" Azula shouted, causing Ty Lee to flinch back. "I mean… I'm awake now, there's no need for Mai to explain what happened in my stead." Azula said, as she stood up, winching as her side grew agitated. "Assist in dressing me. I must see them both at once."

Once dressed in a fresh pair of robes, Azula walked the halls with Ty Lee at her side, as she was guided to where Mai was staying on board. She opened the door, and found Connor sitting across from Mai at a tea table. "-Which is why I said we needed maggots in case the wound became necrotic…" Connor trailed off as he looked over at the door.

Azula glared at him, before she spoke to Mai. "Cease your report to the Fire Lord immediately. Tell the ship's helmsman and captain to chart a course for the Fire Navy port nearest to Ba Sing Se." Azula said, as she stepped into the room. Mai gave a bow, before exiting. "Ty Lee, accompany her… I need to have a chat with Connor." Ty Lee looked at Azula with uncertainty, before closing the door for Azula.

The Fire Princess, near instantly cringed in pain. "What did you do to me?" She asked, before shuffling to sit on the other side of the table.

"I saved your life is what I did." Connor said, before taking a sip from the cup he had in his hand. The liquid produced no steam as the pot on the table did, indicating it wasn't tea in his glass. "After we got you to Gaoling, the doctor made a fuss about a bunch of medicine I've never heard of before, and said none of it worked on the gunshot wounds that those fighters took when we rode through near a week ago." Connor took another sip. "I told him you needed surgery."

"I needed no such thing!" Azula nearly shouted.

"You had a bullet rip open a vein, and tear your large intestine." Connor said flatly. "You were going to either bleed to death, or suffer poisoning and infection if I didn't do the procedure when I did. Count yourself lucky that savage probably only loaded half as much powder in his gun as he should have, or you'd have died then and there. More importantly, be happy all your solid organs were intact, because those, I could do nothing to fix."

"As a member of the royal family, my body is a sacred temple. The mutilation you call a procedure, is an offensive taboo!" Azula said, narrowing her eyes at Connor. He just shrugged. "You do understand that I will eventually have to tell my father how you stripped and violated me?"

"He might already know." Connor said, taking another sip of his drink. "The soldiers stationed at Gaoling sent a messenger hawk when I did the surgery, and another after your shock wore off and the bleeding stopped with stitching. Mai was about to send a third one with a plan for if you became feverish, or the wound festered."

"You seek forgiveness rather than permission in these matters?" Azula asked, growing irate.

"Azula, have you ever stopped to think that-" Connor started.

"You will address me by my proper title as Princes of The Fire Nation." Azula said, cutting Connor off.

Connor set his cup down and crossed his arms… "No." He said shortly.

Azula pulled her head back almost in a twitch. "No?" She asked. "No? Do you realize I could burn you alive for that indignant refusal?"

"You could have burned me alive any time I called you a crazy bitch too, but you didn't, and you won't, because I'm too important for you to kill." Connor said, not so much smug, as he was irritated in his own way.

"How dare you!" Azula shouted, clenching her fists.

"I dare boldly." Connor said, uncrossing his arms to take up his cup and sip on it's contents. "I'm thrown in jail unjustly, I help your people with this war you're in by giving you guns, nevermind I disagree with your politics, I come on this crazy trip to catch a demon child as your man servant, I save your life, and you repay me for all that with nothing but contempt for me and my ways." Connor said. "Səʊ fʌk juː, Azula, fʌk juː, you crazy bitch. I'm not scared of your family's wealth and power, and I'm not scared of you, or your fire bending." With that Connor downed the rest of what was in his glass, and set it on the table upside down. "When we make port, I'm leaving. Have fun finding someone to keep you alive the next time you get shot." Connor said, as he moved to stand up.

Azula closed her eyes for only a moment, as she drew a deep breath. "You should be scared." She said, taking possession of the lanterns lighting the room, turning their orange glow into a dull blue, causing Connor to stop his movement, and sit back down. "Because for as smart as you are, you're also incredibly stupid." Azula said, standing up, focusing on her breathing and not the pain in her side. "If the only reason I had for keeping you alive was because you were useful, what makes you think I would not hesitate to kill you the moment you proved otherwise at the rate you've spoken out of turn and disrespected me?" She asked. "The way you speak and act despite all the formal lessons you've been provided, one would think your entire race is nothing but a bunch of dishonorable, egotistic, stubborn, ill tempered, drunken, barbarians."

Connor looked into her eyes and then crossed his arms again. "Well, if you want to call me by my Irish temperament, I can prove just how honorable I can be. What's it you cockeyed ˌɔːrɪˈɛntᵊlz call a duel? An Agni Kai? Way I see it, you women are treated about equal to men in the Fire Nation, so I don't suppose you'd object on the basis I'm being ungentlemanly."

Azula nearly laughed. Nearly. "You can't fire bend, how could you challenge me in an Agni Kai?" Azula asked.

Connor slipped his pistol out of his belt, and shrugged. "Simple as, we do it the new way. We go find the captain, get his sidearm, walk from the center of the deck to the sides and shoot at the drop of a cloth." Connor said, before the light in the room returned to it's natural orange. "So do you accept?"

Azula smirked. "I accept your challenge."

It was complete. Sokka had figured out a way to make tiny lead pellets from his existing ball rounds. By heating the ball up in a metal spoon he drilled a hole in, the lead would melt and drip through it, creating smaller balls. A boom rang out through the valley, and the target Sokka had made was peppered with shot. "Yes!" Sokka said triumphantly, before punching the air. "I did it!" Looking down at his shot-making materials, then over at a rabbit-pheasant flying west of him, Sokka had another idea.

After reloading his weapon, Sokka crept out into the shrub, and began a hunt. Spotting his prey not far from where he had been experimenting, he knelt down, finding the rabbit-pheasant he'd seen earlier drinking from a small pond. There were footsteps behind him. Sokka figured that it was probably his sister coming to look for him since the sun was starting to set. "Shh. Katara, be very very quiet, I'm hunting rabbit-pheasant." He said, before looking over his shoulder, only to see a small brown animal brushing up against his foot. "Oh… Hey little guy." Sokka said, as he slowly stood up. The creature didn't seem to be afraid of him. "Well, no point wasting the lead." Sokka said, as he set his musket down, and tried to take out his knife, only for the ground beneath him to give way, causing him to sink down to his waist. Sokka blinked twice, and drew a breath, as the little four legged thing hadn't run away still. Sokka raised his arms to strike the thing with his knife. "Well, at least I can still reach-" The universe decided that Sokka would not be doing any hunting today, as he sunk into the hole to about neck level, his arms pinned uselessly in the air against his ears. "Oh come on!" Sokka cried, before Aang came running down the trail. "Oh, Aang! Hey, can you get me out of here?" Sokka said, attracting his friend's attention.

Azula stood at the center of the ship's deck with Connor, each holding a pistol in hand. She looked up at him and narrowed her eyes. He remained unreadable. "You've made a grave mistake challenging me." She said.

"Only mistake I made was putting it off for so long." Connor said.

From the sidelines, Ty Lee and Mai stood along with the Captain, who was acting as a referee for the duel. "Is this really necessary, you two?" Ty Lee asked, concerned that both of them were going to be hurt. After the two had come up to the deck, she'd noticed something strange. Connor's aura was completely different than it was before Azula had woken up. It was a vibrant red, as opposed to his former dull gray. It was like his earth chakra had all the sudden opened up, and his chi was flowing. She hoped that it didn't have to do with Connor and Azula fighting.

"Stay out of this Ty Lee." Azula snapped, without breaking eye contact with her opponent.

"Turn around." The Captain said, before both Azula and Connor turned. "To the edge of the deck. Once you reach it, turn, then await my signal."

As the two started walking, Ty Lee grabbed the Captain's sleeve. "Mister, you can't let them just shoot each other. Azula's already been hurt and she's still recovering. It's not fair."

"Connor's drunk, looking at the Sun and twice the size of a normal target. That's about as fair as it'll be." Mai added idly, as the two duelists reached the edge of the deck and turned around.

"This is a stand-in for an Agni Kai. I'm honor-bound to facilitate their request to duel." The captain said to Ty Lee before looking between Connor and Azula. The captain raised a rag that peeked out into the two opponent's fields of view. There was a beat, as both contestants held their guns low, before the captain dropped the rag.

Azula raised her pistol quickly and kept her body as thin as she could to avoid getting shot, lining up her eye with the barrel as she pointed at Connor, and fired.

Before Connor could raise his arm, pain ripped through his deltoid, the bullet having grazed him, taking a layer of skin, and feeling as if a hot iron had been pressed to it. Slapping his left hand over the wound reflexively, he yelled, before cursing to himself, and stomped his right foot on the deck three times, before looking at Azula. "juː, tuː sɛnt, ˌɔːrɪˈɛntᵊl hɔː!" He said loudly. He checked the wound, finding that it was not bleeding much.

Before Connor could do anything more, there was a shout from the ship's tower. "WATER TRIBE COLORS ON THE HORIZON! PORT SIDE, CLOSING FAST!" Both Connor and Azula looked up at the man shouting down at them, and locked eyes.

"We'll resume this later." Connor said, as he tucked his pistol in his belt, and walked over to her side of the ship to get a better look at the incoming enemy vessel. The ship that had been spotted was a Fire Nation made cruiser, of that much Connor knew. As it drew closer he could make out five marks on the bow.

As men rushed to their battle stations, Connor turned to Azula. "Looks like we're about to have a good fight on our hands." With that, Connor disappeared below deck.

As the enemy ship drew closer, there was shouting among the crew as cannons were loaded, and guns issued out to the non-bending crew. "Enemy ship is in range!" A man atop the tower said, before the captain held his hand up, and swung it down.

"FIRE!" At the captain's order a broadside was unloaded at the incoming Water Tribe ship, only for the iron balls to bounce off the bowsprit. Seeing the ship take no damage, the captain went wide eyed as the ship surged closer. "They're on a collision course! HELMSMAN, HARD STARBOARD!" The captain shouted. The ship rolled left as it turned right, but the order was given too late. "BRACE!" The Water tribe ship, scraped up against the fire nation with it's bow, and snagged onto it's anchor, ripping a gash along the iron skin of the two ships.

Azula had backed away from the side of the ship to avoid being crushed, and in doing so had fallen over once the Water Tribe cruiser had made impact. Azula felt a sharp pain in her side, and curled in on herself, as the groaning of iron on iron finally was overcome by the sound of whooping, shouting, and chants coming from the Water Tribe warriors who stood at the side of their ship, some casting grappling lines onto The Fire Navy Cruiser.

"WE'RE BEING BOARDED!" The Captain shouted, before a few musket shots were let off from the tribesmen, as Marines returned fire. The ships were pulled together, and with a war cry the northern warriors jumped from their ship onto The Fire Navy vessel. What few that had muskets stayed on their side of the two ships, as those with clubs and crude chopping weapons rushed forward. One with a large knife and a hide shield had run right towards Azula as the two side's engaged in a melee. She blasted him with a gout of fire, only for the man to block the attack with his shield.

Bearing down on her, the man swung, only to miss, as Azula rolled out of the way and got to her still shaky feet. She blasted fire at him two more times with very basic punches in the hopes she was not agitating her wound any more than it already had been. The warrior fell, his clothing catching fire. Azula turned, in that moment in an attempt to escape the fighting, only to be met with an enraged shout, and a tribesman with a machete to rush towards her.

Before Azula could move to defend herself, there was a concussive boom of a musket from her left, and the warrior slumped over. Looking to where the gunshot came from, she saw Connor standing at the hatch to the lower decks, a smoking musket in hand. 8 pistols hung from his belt and chest strap, with two spare muskets slung over his shoulder, his short sword accompanying them all. Connor dropped the musket, and took one of the two spares off his back as he approached her. "At this rate, I might not get the opportunity to finish our duel." Connor said, before taking aim and firing at another Tribesman.

Looking to her right, Azula saw Mai and Ty Lee doing well enough on their own. "I'll be fine." She said, as Connor dropped his second musket, and took his third and final one from his shoulder.

"Try and keep up then." Connor said, as he affixed the baronet to it, and took off to attack the nearest tribesman.

Amid his rush down the deck, Connor let off a shot into the back of a warrior who'd just cut down a Marine, before plunging the bayonet into another man. The weapon came free without issue, and Connor lunged to attack a third boarding party member, who caught the blade between his two crude swords, and locked it in place. Dropping his left hand from the fore-stock, Conner drew a pistol, and fired the round off into the man's gut, before throwing the spent gun at another man striking him in the head, and leaving his empty musket to take the fallen Marine's gun. The lock had not been set off, and Connor bet it was loaded. Taking aim at the warrior who he'd hit in the head, Connor fired through his hide shield, causing the man to fall over dead. Dropping the spent weapon, Connor took out two pistols, and shot twice at the water tribe musketeers.

"kʌm ɒn juː ˈbæstədz! ɡɪv miː ə rɪəl faɪt!" Connor shouted in his native English, his skin flushing red as his blood boiled for the rest of the fight. He dropped the two guns once more and pulled free another set, letting off the rounds into more warriors. As Connor spent all but one pistol, he and the rest of the crew had pushed the tribesman back to their own ship. Having not yet sated his thirst, Connor took up a run, and jumped across over the two side rails of the ships, drawing his sword as he landed. Inspired, Marines and firebenders alike took to counter boarding the Water Tribe ship with Connor leading the charge.

As Mai and Ty Lee regrouped with Azula, checking to see if she was alright, they all turned to watch the rest of the battle unfold. "It seems the men have lost their senses." Mai said blandly, watching Connor and a fire nation sailor each with their swords cut down a tribesman, soaking themselves in blood.

"Allow them their fun, Mai. Senseless violence is in their nature." Azula said, as she approached the edge of the deck to observe the slaughter. There were few tribesmen left at this point, and as it seemed no water benders. The enemy ship's captain had surrendered, and the survivors of the fight were lined up in the center of the now reclaimed ship. Azula crossed over to the other ship, and stood beside both Connor and the Fire Navy Captain.

"You're highness." The captain addressed her.

"Have these savages locked in the brig." Azula said, before looking towards the jagged bows of the two ironclads. "And tow the captured ship with us to the nearest port for repairs." She said, turning to walk away, before she heard Connor clear his throat.

"I do believe there is the matter of our duel." Connor said, as he drew his original pistol, holding his arm bent, keeping the muzzle to the sky. Azula turned back to face him, as he cocked the gun.

"So after all that, you're just going to kill me?" Azula asked. "What happened to honor?"

Connor held his gun up high, and fired his pistol into the air. Azula looked at him in confusion, as he tucked the pistol into his belt. "Never planned to kill you, just wanted to prove a point." He said, whipping the blood off his sword before sheathing it. "I'm... Sorry about what I said to you. I understand that I can be a foul mouthed ass at times, and I shouldn't have intentionally insulted you... However, that doesn't mean you have any right to treat me like your slave, when I'm not even really one of your citizens. I'm not sorry about what I did to save your life either. I feel no guilt for that. You were dying, and I did what I knew would keep you alive. If I knew you'd have objected, I wouldn't have done it. Now, princess, I'm willing to stay by your side, if you're willing to treat me with a little bit of respect."

Connor was willing to stay? Azula mauled over his offer. His assistance thus far had proven exceptionally beneficial both in tracking The Avatar and combating the boy's companions. The cost for this being the toleration of Connor's eccentric personality. He was unlike Mai or Ty Lee, who could be motivated through fear in one case, and sweet lies in the other. He was too stubborn and witty for that, which was why… Azula narrowed her eyes at Connor… He saw through the lies, and had no fear of her. Connor could not be controlled in any way that mattered. He was a wild card, a rogue she'd so ignorantly paraded around as a testament to her ability to manipulate, not even realizing that his participation in all the affairs she'd involved him in were of his own volition, for one reason or another that she could not decipher, and was now demanding of her to treat him as an equal for his continued help. In these matters, these special circumstances, Azula could only do one thing. Attempt to understand his motives before deciding how best to command him.

"Why?" Azula asked. "I don't understand, why after all of the theatrics would you decide to stay."

Connor looked around at everyone aboard the ships, many, including himself with blood on their hands, before looking at Azula, his eyes going head to toe, before he chuckled. "Why does anyone do anything, Princess?" He asked with a shrug. "I'm gettin' paid. That enough of a reason?"

Azula shook her head, he was lying to her now, blatantly at that. Connor was set for life because of his trade with The Fire Nation, he didn't need money, and if he ever did, he could sell guns to the nation's enemies in the Earth Kingdom. "The inner machinations of your mind are an enigma." Azula said sarcastically. "I'll discover what motivates you yet." She thought.

Author's note.

You didn't think I was going to kill one of my favorite characters did you? Ha ha ha... Na, just permanently traumatize her.

Apparently surgery was historically discouraged in ancient China. Granted, the medical field in 1807 wasn't exactly as good as it is now, but bone saws and maggot therapy is a vast improvement over slapping some mud on it and praying.

Also, holy shit was the confrontation between Azula and Connor fun to write. Since their communication has improved, and she'd just woken up from a near death experience, Azula is done tip-toeing around being her normal crazy bitch self. When she does what she would normally do, being intimidate or lie, Connor being too damn stubborn, doesn't take it well.

The rest is history.

You probably have a few questions, like "how the hell does a 16 year old know any amount of surgery?" and "why do I have tentacles on the bottom of my tongue." Well you'll have to wait until the next chapter for the first one, and the second one... Check a mirror.

Next time on Gunsmoke and Hellfire... Azula sit's in a room. Ba Sing Se get's drilled. And Connor has a main character moment.