"This sucks," I say to Kuvira. She grunts and adjusts herself awkwardly. We're both in wheelchairs, and despite Jinora and Opal's attempts to assist, we have been able to do anything interesting like race down the hallways or attempt wheelies. Asami and Doctor Moon had made it to clear to the entire hospital that neither of us were allowed anywhere without an orderly and a security guard, two of them currently scowling at us from the corner. As yet neither Jinora nor Opal had managed to spirit us away from their careful supervision.

Kuvira reaches out and flicks a pile popcicle sticks with a fingers, scattering them across the tabletop. We had been brought to a room adjacent to the physical therapy gym for fine motor control practice, which basically boiled down to art therapy. Painfully boring art therapy. Torture, even. I scowl at a cup full of paintbrushes.

Behind us the door bangs open and we both look over our shoulder in idle hope of a robbery or terrorist action or really anything other than our current offerings.

To our delight our wish was granted.

"Bitches on deck!" Opal announces. She and Jinora each hold a small metal case embossed with the Space Force logo. They salute us both with as much disrespect as they can muster.

Bitches.

"Whatcha got there?" I ask eventually.

Jinora grins at me, and she and Opal drop the cases on the table and push all the art supplies to one side. "You loooooove me, and you're gonna want to marry meeeeee!" she sings.

With a flourish, she upends the contents of the case across the table. Opal does the same thing in front of Kuvira.

Kuvira scowls as she squints. "Are those… blaster parts?"

Opal rummages in a pocket and produces a stopwatch. "We figured fine motor control can be practiced in more interesting ways than this shit." She gives the art supplies a disdainful glance. "This is, in fact, enough blaster parts to build at least three blasters each. And you know, I recall you two once bet each other who could build one from parts the fastest back in the day."

Kuvira shoots me a very smug glance. "That would be me, as I recall."

I roll my eyes. "Yeah, yeah, yeah."

"Wee and I decided this was a good day for a rematch," Opal continues, nodding to her partner in crime.

Jinora also rummages in her pocket and produces two handkerchiefs. "But, just putting them together fast is too easy." She waves the cloths at us with glee. "So you're gonna do it blindfolded."

"What?!"

"The fuck?!"

Kuvira and I look at each other, askance.

Opal and Jinora both cross their arms. "Unless you'd rather make popsicle art?"

I see Jinora shoot a quick glance behind me and I turn again to follow her gaze.

"I've got twenty on Kuvira," my traitorous girlfriend announces from where she's peering in from the door. She gives me a truly evil smirk then disappears.

Oh, is that how it's gonna be? Game fucking on. I turn to my second in command.

"You're going down, Boss."

"In your dreams, Avatar."

—-

I blink, wondering why I'm awake. My room is dark except for the dim glow of the street lights coming through the window. It's either very late or super early, but there's no nurse in my room to explain what roused me.

"Hi, Cap," comes a quiet voice from the corner.

I turn my head and make out the bulky form of Bolin, slouched in a chair. The ever present glow from his goggles let me see his face, but it's still deeply shadowed.

"Little Mouse? What are you doing here so late, man?"

He leans forward and scooches his chair closer to my bed with a loud clatter. Bolin is rarely subtle.

"We wanted to come see you, and I'm a Ferret, and Doc says Ferrets can always come visit," he explains. His tone, as always, is so earnest it makes my heart ache. Now that's he's closer I can see him better, but there's a stillness about him that makes the back of my neck prickle.

"I've been wondering where you've been," I say carefully. "Mad and Wee think you're avoiding them. I'm glad to see you now, though."

He shrugs a bit sheepishly. "We've been busy—" he trails off.

I wait, then clear my throat a bit. "You and Raava?"

"Yeah!" His focus returns to me. "She got some info from you that we've been talking about."

"Info from me—" I trail off, and my unease grows. "I haven't talked to Raava since we raided the Empire ship."

He nods, and reaches out one hand towards me. "But you're part of her, sort of. She knows things about you! And me, of course." He pauses. "And Boss too!" He seems very pleased by all of this.

My stomach starts to churn.

"What kind of things?"

Bolin grabs my hand. "I love you, Cap, you know that right?" At my slow nod, he beams and continues. "Love—" he hesitates. "Love is important! And Raava loves us. All of us!" His voice rises a little in his enthusiasm. "But maybe, she loves me a bit more, I think?"

He trails off again.

"It's been hard," he continues finally. "I can only see her with the goggles, you know? And I can only feel her with the glove." He pauses, and I can see his eyes focus on a point I cannot see. I can easily guess what he's looking at. "And she," he stops, and I see the hand that's now perpetually encased in the haptic glove and it's curling as if he's clutching at something. "She's so real, but at the same time, she's not, and—" his voice breaks. "She's so alone, Cap. And I can't be with her, not really. Not here. And…"

My fingers clench the bedsheets.

"I miss Mako, you know?" he whispers. "And Ironman. My team. They're gone!" He stands suddenly, and the chair skitters back. His pushes his ungloved hand through his hair. "I have to go. I have to think."

And he's gone, the door eventually closing again with a soft click.

I don't sleep for the rest of the night, my mind spinning as I dissect my strange conversation Little Mouse, and the vague memories I have of a dream of Mako and Iroh and a drink. What did it all mean? When the morning duty nurse comes in with my breakfast, I interrupt her cheerful greeting. The expression on my face makes her frown.

"Please call Doctor Sato immediately. It's an emergency."