A/N: I hope you're enjoying the story.
Disclaimer: I don't own nothing and nobody, including anything from ATLA or Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy.
In all the years of being a bounty hunter, Katara had encountered some harrowing situations. It comes with the territory. She had managed to even get herself out of some particularly nasty fights. Not with cunning, but with a well placed upper cut and, in a pinch, her retractable blade.
A Burrower once tried to tunnel Katara out of scoring a rather lucrative job. He would spin in a whirlwind, digging into the earth, only to pop up and shoot at her with his double Ozarian blasters. Pretending to be cornered, she actually was pulling the typical reverse trap on the Burrower. He got sliced with her retractable blade. The Burrower never made the mistake of trying to take one of her gigs again.
While Groot may look like a friendly, overgrown twig, he had the strength of a Komodo rhino. Hand-to-hand combat with him had been a bloody affair, mainly with Katara getting beat-up. That was until she had freeze-rayed a puddle, and Groot ice skated into a wall of rock, knocked-out cold. He turned out to be a rather nice alien, quite helpful; theirs was a classic case of a bounty hunter misunderstanding.
A nasty fight between a Dire Wraith, who shape-shifted into adorable animals, made it difficult for Katara strike back against such fluffy cuteness. Don't get her started on the large eyes which blinked faux helplessness. She had spent a lot of her chi with evading combat. Katara eventually got over the shape shifter's cute alternatives and started kicking its adorable kitten's butt. That's when the Dire Wraith made a huge tactical error; the alien had switched its form into a replicated image of Sokka. The shape shifter assumed Katara wouldn't shoot her brother. What the Dire Wraith hadn't known was that very morning Sokka had used her best pants as a grease rag. The alien was dead the moment he changed into her brother, shot right between its fake-Sokka eyes.
So, the idea that this scar-faced, wanna-be bounty hunter, would think that Katara would hand over the artifact, just because he demanded it, was beyond ludicrous. Nothing made her angrier than when someone assumed she was weak, because she was a girl.
"I wouldn't threaten me!" Katara tosses back her blue braid.
"Don't you know who I am?" The man falters. His blaster dips momentarily, but his face tightens into a straight grimace. He jams the gun more firmly at her, while he takes one step forward.
"I don't have to know who you are, in order to kill you." Katara rolls her eyes. 'This guy must be a first timer.'
The brief shock that he isn't instantly recognizable rattles him. He can't believe this peasant doesn't know him and barks out, "I'm Zuko the Destroyer, prince of my people, son of Thanos, honor bound to…"
Katara tilts her hip, placing her hand on it, while her other one twirls a finger in the air. "Speed it up, I don't have all day to listen to your nicknames."
"These aren't nicknames," Zuko spits out, "peasant." His lips tighten in a thin-lined grin, when the peasant's confidence drops for a second. Zuko boasts, "My names are given in honor."
Katara glares at him. She is a professional, and this is beyond insulting. 'I mean, would it be too much to ask that a fellow bounty hunter give her the courtesy in fighting and avoiding pointless conversations?' Taking a deep breath, she reasons perhaps a little enlightenment upon the subject of the exact nature of the business might loosen up this…Zuko the Destroyer. 'Yeah right!' The only thing this prince chump has accomplished is destroying all the hard work good bounty hunters have put into their craft.
"Listen, seeing you're a newbie and all, I won't mess-up your pretty face any more, than someone has apparently already done." Katara waves a hand at Zuko's face, trying to be polite and not stare pointedly at his scar.
Zuko tries to not wince over the puny girl's reference about his obvious mark of failure. He growls, "As if you could hurt me, bounty hunters are honorless fools."
"Whatever, you asked for it, now…" Katara smirks and adds another 'honor name' to Zuko's list. "…Newbie!"
The quick motion of Katara yanking up her blaster gun from her hip and firing it had happened before she'd uttered her insult. The white flash of flames knocks Zuko in the chest. He flings back underneath the cave's opening, landing flat on his back with a grunt.
"That's how it's done, Newbie." Katara pockets the artifact and her gun into her holster.
"Don't call me, Newbie, Peasant!" Zuko circles his legs and hops up into a stance, firing off his gun.
Katara's eyes widen with fear and surprise. She bends backwards as the blast sails inches above her contorted body. As she flings upwards again, Katara breathes out a jet of fire from her mouth, straight at Zuko's gun. The blaster is knocked out of his hand, slamming against the cave's wall. The pictographs flash and ignite the blaster into a shower of sparkling powder.
"What the Drac?!" Katara and Zuko echo together. They look from the floating powder to each other and back again at the incinerated gun.
'Whoa, what just happened?' Katara blinks and touches her hands to her lips. She tries the strange fire explosion again. Bending forward with a wide open mouth, Katara attempts to breathe out another round of fire. Zuko jumps out of the way. Nothing appears. Katara touches her mouth and tentatively holds her hand in front of her lips; she puffs out a gentle breath. Her palm is greeted with a small gust of warm air, but no flames. She drops her hand in confusion.
Zuko grins and thinks, 'you're mine now!' He lunges at her. Katara hops to the side and swipes out her leg against the floor in a circular motion, tripping Zuko during his charge. He falls flat on his stomach. Katara dashes past him. Zuko snakes out a hand and snags Katara's foot, yanking her to the ground.
"You're coming with me!" Zuko claws up Katara's legs.
Jabbing her foot up into his chest, Katara bites out, "I don't think so!"
Zuko flies off her body. Katara whips around and scrambles off the floor, racing out of the rock shelter. She zig-zags down the pathway.
'Think, Katara, think!' I need the rocket boosters, but I have to put on the ice generator suit, and it might slow me down; let's not forget the time consuming Dancing Dragon to ignite the blasted boosters. Katara hears the thundering of Zuko's feet behind her. 'Man, this Newbie never gives up.'
The roar of engines above Katara's head causes her to shield her eyes and glance up. Her braid whips around; wind and dust churn around her. The space cruiser hovers slightly in front of her. She had never been happier to see 'Shipie'. Sokka is waving wildly at her through the windshield. She returns his greeting. Her brother's eyes narrow at Zuko. Sokka repeatedly pushes the buttons on the side of the steering controllers, firing at Zuko, who darts for cover behind a boulder.
Seeing Zuko is now away from Katara, Sokka rotates the cruiser. The lowering gangway is facing Katara. She backs up. With the guns no longer aimed and firing at Zuko, it gives him enough time to run out from behind the boulder. He rushes at Katara, and she staggers from the impact, pitching forward. Managing to not topple over, Katara shifts enough so that Zuko rolls off her back. He whirls around on his heel; grabbing both of her shoulders, Zuko yanks Katara's back to his chest. She goes limp, making him support all of her weight. Struggling to hold onto her, Katara slips out of Zuko's clutches. She dashes to the gangway, which is hanging down.
With a running leap, Katara grabs the lip of the walkway with one hand. She catches hold and flings her body against the edge, gripping the gangway with both hands. The space cruiser is lifting farther away from the ground. Zuko had recovered and is running after the retreating spacecraft. He veers slightly and up a rocky hill, pumping his legs fast to catch up to Katara, who is being lifted away. With a powerful kick off the end of the boulder incline, Zuko jumps into the air. His arms and legs wildly thrashing to increase his momentum, he strains out and grabs onto Katara's legs.
"Of course, he managed that jump." Katara grouses and shakes her head in disbelief. Sokka had to challenge the Universe with the statement an "in and out" kind of job.
Katara claws her way up the gangway, while trying to kick Zuko off from her. His hold is a vice grip on her legs. The space cruiser's engines fire, while the walkway tilts back upwards, slowly shutting. The incline makes Katara and Zuko slide down the gangway, tumbling into the holding area. They skid into the far wall. Simultaneously, Zuko and Katara pop up into fighting stances as the walkway seals shut.
"You're coming with me!" Zuko lunges toward Katara.
Katara side-steps out of the way, narrowly missing his attack. "Seriously, Newbie, you're on my ship! I'm pretty sure we have you!"
"A mere technicality." Zuko watches for an opening to grab her.
Katara shakes her head and makes a move to punch him in the shoulder. "I'm not going to try to sort out your warped thinking." Katara couldn't believe there was someone who had more twisty-turnie ways of perceiving things than her brother. "It will be much more fun to kick your butt."
"If this is all you've got, it will be me subduing you." Zuko blocks her jab with a raised arm.
Zuko swings toward Katara's face. Her head turns to the side from the punch, but she counters back with an undercut into Zuko's stomach. He stumbles, but follows-up with a swift kick to her front. She swivels to the side, but not enough and gets hit in the hip. She staggers a little, but then drops to the floor into a side posture, snatching her retractable blade from her pocket.
"Newbie, I said before I wouldn't hurt your face. Now, I'm going to make sure I hurt you a lot." As Katara moves to cut him, the space cruiser spins around in a sharp circle and flings both combatants away from each other.
Katara's hand slams against the side of the ship's inner wall. The jarring motion knocks the blade from her grip. The space cruiser accelerates, angling upwards. The blade goes skidding down the holding area, with Katara and Zuko tumbling after. Reaching toward each other, Zuko and Katara fight, while they slide to the back of the ship. Rolling over each other, alternating who will dominate the other, punches are flying back and forth. The ship pauses and finally levels out.
Both stop their fighting, breathing heavily. Zuko is on top of Katara; his weight pressing between her legs.
"Give me what I want, peasant."
"You didn't say, please." Katara jabs her forehead up into Zuko's. The blow knocks him off of her, next to her body. He lays stunned and unconscious.
Katara shuts her eyes a couple of times as the adrenaline leaves her system, replacing it with utter pain. Stars swim before her eyes, spiraling in concentric dizzying patterns. Before she passes out, she reminds herself that a head-butting move may look cool, but it hurts like one of the dankest and darkest places of the spirit world.
A/N: Action is going to be the theme from now on. I don't know if we'll ever have time for lemons, but I'll try to squeeze some in (ba, da, bump, here all day, or at least while I have an internet connection.) That said, I'll give a warning beforehand.
Please, please, review, thanks!