Chapter Text
“Sneers finally called?” Sokka says as he looks at Zuko coming back from their kitchen.“No, it was from the funerary again” he replied.
“Uh. They never give up uhn” Sokka huffs as Zuko plops down beside him on the sofa and picks the last slice of the pizza on top of the coffee table. They are watching The Godfather while they wait. Zuko says it helps him get in the “mood”, the weirdo. “How can they not get that a funerary providing healthcare is sketchy at best?”
“Maybe they just want to speed the process up” Zuko says with a smirk, fighting the stretchy cheese that threatens to escape. “At least they are calling the right house, we sure help their business a lot”
Sokka gives him a lazy grin and keeps watching the movie. God, he is bored. He splayed out on the sofa early on and now spends his time looking at the grease stain left at the box and contemplating throwing it at Zuko’s head just to have something to do.
The phone rings again. Their eyes meet in a silent match, blue against gold. A third ring is heard. Sokka’s left eye twitches slightly and after a moment Zuko gives up. “OK! But if it’s the bank you are throwing that shitty chamomile tea out!” He gets up with a glare.
“Come onnn it’s not that bad! It was on a sale”! Sokka whines resting his head back over the armrest.
“It is foul , and I will NOT have it in my house!” Zuko picks up the phone.
Sokka could hear soft humming noises coming from the kitchen. Not the bank then. He got up, turned off the TV, threw their trash away, and put their dishes in the sink for later, looking at Zuko on the process, who in turn rolls his eyes.
“Yeah, yeah, thank you Sneers” a pause “No, don’t worry, I’ll let him know”
Sokka goes to the bathroom. Last pee before they go. After washing his hands, he brushes his teeth, fixes his wolftail, and puts on deodorant. On his way out he and Zuko switch places, and he goes to his bedroom to change into the police officer’s clothes. When he comes out he can see that Zuko had changed into his as well, and put on his comfy but serious shoes. It was that kind of night.
They put on long coats to hide their disguise, and Sokka also grabs a backpack for their hats, wallets, a small umbrella, a notepad, a pen, and a water bottle. Their guns go to their waistbands, and Zuko locks the apartment.
Zuko always drives, and Sokka always rides shotgun.
“Where to?” He asks, holding the backpack on his lap.
“Sneers said that the asshole went to the opera today, apparently”
“Tsk, It’s gonna be messy”
“Hopefully not, his meeting with the chief of police has been scheduled for before the play ends”
“Uhmm, better” Sokka always hates involving civilians.
“Uhm” Zuko gives him a soft look, before turning his eyes back on the road.
“Zuko?”
“Uhm?”
“Can we get a milkshake on the way back?”
“Sure” He says with a small smile.
They wait at the bottom of the stairs of The Royal Theater, the small lamps casting the building in a yellow glow, and the street is completely empty. They locked their coats and backpack in the car, leaving them with only the policeman disguise. Zuko looks at his watch. “Almost eight”.
Sokka wordlessly removes the notepad from his back pocket and clicks his pen, eyes looking for the nearest car. Finding one a few feet away, he walks closer to it and starts scribbling.
“Ah, you’re already here” Zuko looks up to see Zhao still at the top of the stairs with a goon by his side “Where is Wang?”
“Unfortunately Mr. Fire couldn’t make it. We are here to escort you to the restaurant, where he will be waiting for you” Zuko ducks his head and adjusts his hat, hoping his bangs can conceal the scar a bit. “He sends his deepest apologies”.
“Tsk, guess it can’t be helped. I expected a little more respect coming from him” Zhao spats reaching the middle of the stairway, bodyguard in tow.
“Mr. Fire thanks you for your understanding”
Sokka looks up from his spot next to the car, the ticket neatly tucked on the windshield. Just from the sight of the man his body revolts and his stomach threatens to spill its contents.
He takes a deep breath. Now is not the moment, he can mourn later. He needs his head cool and his mind sharp.
“What YOU??? I thought I had killed you, you little shit-”
From his spot Sokka sees everything. He sees Zuko raising his head a bit, sees confusion, and then recognition cross over Zhao’s face. He sees Zhao’s hand reaching inside his jacket.
Three shots are fired. The first leaves his gun and reaches its mark right between Zhaos’s eyebrows, the second comes from the bodyguard’s gun, and zinges right past Zuko’s left ear. The last leaves Sokka’s gun and makes its home on the goon’s neck.
Sokka drops his gun and they run. They turn sharp corners and discard their hats and police jackets in an alley. Finally, they can see their car, and slow to a walk. No one followed them.
After they are seated in their respective places, Sokka gulps half of the water and passes the rest to Zuko, who drinks at a more sedate pace. When he finishes, he starts the car and asks “So, Burger King, or McDonald's?”
“Bob’s”
“Uhm” a strawberry milkshake then. That kind of night.
Sokka turns to look at him and stares for a moment. Zuko keeps his eyes on the road, waiting.
“What did Zhao mean when he said he’d thought he killed you?”
Zuko looks at Sokka and sees only pure curiosity along with narrowed eyes of the “why I don’t know about this” kind.
“He blew up my car, once” Zuko says sheepishly
“Jesus, how are you even here?” Sokka’s eyes bug out a little
“I jumped out. Left only with broken ribs and a black eye”
“Holy shit”
Their ride is comfortably silent after that, Sokka staring at the rain that just started falling outside. Zuko parks in front of a Bob’s that doesn’t have a drive-through. Sokka takes the umbrella and his wallet from the backpack and asks “Which flavor do you want?”
“See if they have passion fruit, if not, chocolate”
“Ok” Sokka closes the door
Zuko turns on the radio and Chiquitita by ABBA starts playing softly. He leaves it on. Sokka returns with a small smile when he hears the song and hands Zuko his milkshake.
“The passion fruit was a limited edition, sorry”
“Uhm thought so too”
Upon reaching home Zuko locks the car and sees that Sokka has a thoughtful expression on “I really hoped today would be a “leave the gun take the milkshake” kind of day” Sokka sighs.
“It could have been if Zhao had not recognized me” Zuko says as they enter the elevator
“I guess so, I just never get the opportunity”
“You had it with me. Could have taken it”
“Yeah. I’m glad I didn’t” Sokka smiles, and unlocks their door.