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Fanfic: Head Games
Title: Head Games
Author: Dark Puck
Fandom: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Characters: Xin Wan (OC); Ichiro, Yui, and Kouji (OCs); Liu (OC); Zuko and Iroh
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Mindbending of children, creeptastic
Notes: Xin Wan, Liu, and most other Dai Li OCs belong to BeckyH2112 and are used with her permission and assistance.
Summary: A refugee child in Ba Sing Se is found somewhere she shouldn't be by a Dai Li agent. This proves disastrous for her and her brothers, as they have a secret: they're all from the Fire Nation...
The Spider
Put on your pretty lies, you're in the city of wonder
Ain't gon' play nice, watch out you might just go under
Better think twice, your train of thought will be altered
So if you must falter, be wise
If anything, Ichiro's incarceration has gotten worse since his encounter with Creepy Smile Man. On top of barely feeding or watering him and locking him away from the sun, they now come in to disturb his sleep in a further attempt to weaken him. Things are starting to look particularly bad for him.
But he's had bad before, and while this may be worse, Ichiro is confident he can get through this and save his siblings, no matter what Creepy Smile Man has done to them.
He's taken to meditation, something he'd never had much patience for, as a way of trying to retain his strength of body and will, but he isn't looking forward to the testing of it. Nevertheless, he's ready when two Dai Li agents come to fetch him again. He chooses not to struggle and even stands under his own power (though he wobbles a bit). The men don't react to his rising save to take him by the arms and lead him down a hallway… and then another hallway… and then several more hallways until Ichiro is thoroughly lost.
Where the hell are we going? Ichiro wonders.
Halfway there, to Ichiro's irritation, his legs completely give out on him, and he has to be dragged to what looks like an underground version of the earth trains that traverse Ba Sing Se. He is unloaded inside and cuffed with rocks, he presumes as a precaution, then the train begins to move.
Ichiro isn't sure if he blacks out or falls asleep on the way there, but the next thing he knows he's being dragged to his feet and led down another hall, and up some stairs. Finally, he's dragged into a room where a green fire roars. The colour strikes him as being just wrong, somehow, but that doesn't stop him from staring hungrily at the flames.
He's so intent on the flames he almost doesn't notice the tall man standing off to one side. As it is, he can't even be bothered to look at him.
After a few moments, the tall man moves around to one side. Paper rustles, but Ichiro sees nothing but the green flames beckoning to him. After another few moments, the boy closes his eyes and steps forward, answering their call.
He hears the earth move, and his golden eyes snap open to see a stone wall in front of him, just an inch from his nose. He snarls a curse at being cut off from the fire.
"None of that."
The voice is behind him; he whirls and keeps his hands devoid of flame only through sheer effort of will. "Who—?"
The man standing there is tall and thin, dressed in long green robes trimmed with gold. His hair is dark and his eyes glitter in the odd green light cast off by the fire.
"I am Long Feng," he says, "Grand Secretariat of Ba Sing Se."
A thousand snarky replies well up in Ichiro's head, but the boy bites them back. He has been brought to this man by the Dai Li. Snark may well end in pain for him. Finally he settles with, "And apparently in charge of the Dai Li."
The man's lips quirk slightly, and he doesn't even bother to deny it. "And you are…?" he asks, sounding just a little curious.
"Exceedingly confused," Ichiro's mouth says before his brain can censor it.
Long Feng, fortunately, doesn't hurt him for the wiseass remark. "What brings you to Ba Sing Se, Ichiro?" is his next question.
Ichiro gives a lazy shrug, as if he doesn't care whether or not Long Feng knows the truth. "Safest city in the world. What else?"
"For a firebender?" The man sounds curious.
Golden eyes roll in reply. "Even for a firebender. I was not picked up for firebending."
"Then what were you picked up for?" is the mild query.
Ichiro pauses. He doesn't know, even now. Obviously their secret had been outted, but which one? And how? Rather than express his confusion, he says nothing.
At least that's his plan.
His mouth has other ideas. "My pretty golden eyes?"
"Clearly." The man's voice hardens; in just one word Long Feng has gone from congenial to intimidating. "Listen carefully, boy. If you tell me the truth, I will save you from what Xin Wan has planned for you."
He doesn't know that name, but Ichiro has a very good idea of who Xin Wan is anyway. The fire behind him spikes with his fury. Quickly he reaches for it, bringing it back down to normal levels. Emotionbending will get him nowhere, except possibly on a quick road to pain.
Once he's controlled, he focuses on what Long Feng has just said to him. The last thing he wants is to let the bastard who took his siblings have his way with him… but how does he know the Grand Secretariat will do as he says?
And it isn't just himself that he's worried for.
"What about my brother and sister?" he asks, unable to keep the emotion from his voice.
"Your brother and sister would be much more difficult," Long Feng replies calmly. Ichiro hears the unspoken caveat: their safety would require a higher price. He closes his eyes. At least I have no actual loyalty to my country. But will what I know save them?
He takes a deep breath and opens his eyes. "What do you want to know?" he asks softly.
When he's done with Long Feng, he's taken out again and brought to an apartment. It isn't his old one — it's bigger, for one thing, and in the Middle Ring instead of the Lower Ring. But his siblings aren't there. The Grand Secretariat hasn't told him anything about them, save for the sentence, "They are safe."
This doesn't reassure Ichiro any; Ba Sing Se is safe, after all.
But he isn't alone, either — he has a roommate.
Liu.
Ichiro is not sure how he feels about that.
On the one hand, it's Liu's fault that he was even captured to begin with. On the other, however, Ichiro can't help but admire how neatly the Dai Li agent lured him into that trap.
On the third hand, Ichiro is officially a traitor now. He doesn't really regret it — he's never really been fond of his homeland, not since they took his best friend away and drove him to hide his own bending in the first place — but at this point it might not be wise to alienate the only people who might be willing to deal with him now.
On the fourth hand, he misses Kouji and Yui.
With a sigh, Ichiro topples back onto the couch and stares at the ceiling. He really misses them.
Words etch themselves into the ceiling, almost like they'd been inked. 'Are you hungry?'
He's been on starvation rations for Agni knows how long. Of course he's hungry. "Yeah," he says, sitting up to look at Liu. The scarf-wearing agent nods and moves to the kitchen. Sighing a second time, Ichiro falls backwards again. How long will it take before he gets to see the twins? Will Long Feng ever allow it?
Snarling, Ichiro thumps the side of the couch. Sozin's balls, all he wanted was for the twins to be safe, and now look what had happened to them all.
Maybe it would have been kinder to let Kouji die.
Ichiro hates himself for the thought, but dammit, he never asked for any of this! He didn't ask for firebending, he didn't ask to have an earthbender brother, and he certainly didn't ask to have a xenophobic, rule-bound father.
Yeah. It's not Kouji's fault. It's his father's, for not even trying to hide Kouji. It's the Fire Nation's, for even killing Fire-born earthbenders to start with. It's the spirits', for doing this to a sweet kid like Kouji in the first place. Why should Kouji die for their cruelty?
(Why should Ichiro have to deal with the resultant mess?)
More characters form on the ceiling, drawing Ichiro from the darkness of his thoughts.
'Lunch is ready.'
Ichiro groans as he gets up; it's harder than it should be. Stupid starvation rations. He manages to lurch to the kitchen, where Liu pushes him into a chair and puts a bowl of soup in front of him. There's not much there, but Ichiro didn't expect much — even if they're going to feed him normally now, he still has to be built up to that point.
Ichiro manages to eat the soup without bolting it in less than a minute, though it is a very close thing. He also doesn't look at Liu while he's doing it. For his part, Liu makes no conversation. He's grateful for this; he honestly doesn't know what he'd say to the Dai Li.
Finishing the soup, Ichiro rises and moves to the sink to wash the bowl. He's just put it down to dry when someone knocks on the door. 'Stay there,' Liu etches into the counter, then goes to answer.
The firebender scowls, and tries to listen anyway, but Liu's guest is speaking too softly to be heard and Liu can't be heard at all. The Dai Li makes a sharp gesture, then turns on his heel and touches the wall.
'I am needed. You will remain here.'
Ichiro hasn't even finished reading before stone slides across the small window, closing it off from the outside, and Liu steps into the hall.
"…you have got to be shitting me," Ichiro says as the stone door melts into the wall.
Zuko was convinced that this was a bad idea. But Uncle had insisted that the twins' older brother be rescued before they got them all out of the city, and Yui and Kouji had both agreed so quickly Zuko was convinced that they were hiding something about their brother. Now he and the little boy were dressed like the desert folk, slipping through the Lower Ring and trying to fit in.
It galled him how easily the boy moved in those robes, like he'd been born wearing them. To Zuko they were awkward and too hot, just like the boots on his feet. Kouji had insisted on going barefoot, and Zuko just knew he'd end up stepping on a nail or something.
How did the kid even expect to find his brother? Ba Sing Se was an ungodly huge city, and if Kouji thought searching door-to-door would be enough…
Not to mention how strangely Kouji was behaving, bypassing some apartment buildings entirely and pausing briefly outside others. Maybe they'd lied about being able to find their brother like they could each other? But then why stop?
This little family made no sense at all, Zuko sulked.
"Got him!" Kouji suddenly whispered after a few hours of this.
Zuko blinked. "Wait, you do?" But the kid was already scrambling for the apartment. Quietly arghing, the prince followed.
Interestingly, Kouji didn't pelt up the stairs. Instead he paused, running his hand along the wall. "Stone. They'll be guarding him," the kid murmured, "and they'll feel us coming."
"Then we'll be ready for them," Zuko growled, drawing his swords. Kouji started to go ahead, but the prince grabbed him by the collar and hauled him back. "You stay behind me," he ordered, ignoring the wordless protest. The kid was only ten, what did he think he could possibly do?
Partway up the stairs, Zuko decided to change tactics and sheathed his blades. Charging an enemy earthbender surrounded by stone was suicidal, and might get Kouji killed or worse, recaptured. The kid seemed to think that the Dai Li would somehow pick them up through the stone, so Zuko would act natural.
Together, they made it up seven flights of stairs, and Zuko had decided yet again that the people in Ba Sing Se were insane. He turned to go up the eighth flight when Kouji caught him by the elbow and tilted his head down one hallway.
Ah. This was it, then. How the hell did Kouji know?
(earthbender surrounded by stone)
(would somehow pick them up through the stone)
(attacked by a firebender)
More of that freaky supernatural stuff, Zuko decided, brushing aside the almost-formed theory floating in his head.
There was a Dai Li agent at the end of the hallway. Just act natural, Zuko reminded himself, leading Kouji down towards one of the rooms. Just act natural. Natural.
Zuko had no idea what that even meant.
The Dai Li turned to them, his eyes narrowed. "There's nothing here you want," he said, shifting to a more threatening stance. "Move along."
"That's where you're wrong," Zuko replied, stepping forward.
The Dai Li moved faster than earthbenders had a right too, but Zuko had already seen that in them and was ready for the gloves. He drew his sword to cut them from the air, and yelped and closed his eyes quickly as they shattered into sand. Blinding tactic. Smart, he grudgingly observed. But useless if it doesn't work.
He opened his eyes to see the Dai Li falling into an earthbending stance; before he could move to counter, however, the earthbender yelped and leapt away from the floor, where two bloody spikes unexpectedly jutted up.
Apparently not all earthbenders in this city like the Dai Li. Zuko just hoped whoever it was stayed on his side.
The Dai Li was looking past Zuko, his expression almost afraid. "Fuck," he muttered, and slammed his hand against the ground. The ground beneath Zuko's feet opened up, and he yelped as he tumbled dow—
didn't tumble down. The floor had reassembled itself. Whoever that earthbender was, he was fast.
Zuko didn't wait for the Dai Li to strike again; instead he threw himself at the older man, swords at the ready. The Dai Li gestured and a wall came up, but then the wall exploded towards him, throwing him back. Zuko was right behind the flying rocks, so when the Dai Li started to rise, the prince was there, dao blades at the agent's neck. "Stay down," he growled. Without looking away, he called back, "Kid, are you all right?"
"Y-yeah," Kouji replied. Zuko frowned. Why did he sound so tired? Couldn't risk a look back, though.
"How about the guy who helped us?"
The Dai Li gave him a strange look, and Kouji sounded startled as he said, "He— he's fine, too."
"You have no idea who you're dealing with, do you?" the Dai Li asked, and Zuko glared at him.
"I didn't ask you," he said. "Kid, check for a way in, will you?"
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Kouji edge forward and stop at the door the Dai Li had been guarding. "This is it."
"You sure?" The boy's guessing had thus far been accurate, but that didn't mean there wasn't more trickery involved.
Rather than answer, Kouji rapped his knuckles sharply against the stone covering the door in a pattern that Zuko vaguely recognised. A long pause, then an answering pattern sounded from the other side. "That's him," said Kouji, well-pleased. He glared at the Dai Li, then looked to the door again… and, for the first time, seemed uncertain.
"If he tries anything," said the Dai Li unexpectedly, "I'll bend him into a wall."
Zuko immediately turned all his attention to the agent, eyes narrowed. What kind of bastard would threaten a little kid?
Softly, Kouji replied, "It isn't him I'm worried about."
…what?
Taking a deep breath, the boy turned back to the stone barring his path. Exhale, inhale, slide into a stance, and then Kouji—
earthbent.
The stone covering the door cracked and crumbled, to be pushed aside with a smooth motion from Kouji, and the Dai Li agent moved. Twisting his hands against the floor, he made the stone Zuko stood on drag him down to his waist. Zuko yelled in surprise, and Kouji whirled, wide-eyed. A gesture sent the stones he'd dragged from the door at the Dai Li, but the boy was tired and his attack lacked the force necessary to be a problem. With an easy gesture, the Dai Li diverted the attack.
Zuko snarled and tried to pull himself from the floor. Earthbender or not, the boy was still Fire Nation, and he was no match for an agent of the Dai Li, especially not tired as he was—
A thin wheel of stone emerged from the wall, and Kouji spun it at his opponent who only barely dodged.
That was a nasty trick.
Swearing, the Dai Li gathered himself to attack again, and the door flung open, fire shooting out and catching the Agent right in the chest, throwing him down. Before Zuko could blink, the floor spat him out and solidified below him, giving him sure footing once more. Even as a white-faced Kouji stumbled back against the wall, the Dai Li apparently decided he wasn't going to win this. A twisting of his hand again, and he dropped a story below them, getting out while the getting was still good.
"He's gone," murmured Kouji a few moments later, slumping to the ground. Zuko and his firebender brother both lunged for the boy, but the other man was closer and had pale fingers pressed lightly against his brother's throat.
"Steady," the stranger reported, not sounding much better than the boy had.
"Then let's get out of here," Zuko said.
"I'm for that," said the other, scooping the exhausted boy into his arms. "Lead on, prettyboy."
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Tags: character: ichiro, character: iroh, character: kouji, character: zuko, fandom: avatar, story: head games
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