Officer Mako x Reader

Chapter 61: A Good Strategy

[Downtown, Republic City] - Haccis Row

He was on the ground in eighteen seconds. Seventeen and a quarter if Mako was being honest. Landed a half a block away from Viper's apartment just in time to watch one of his goons pull his Cadillac to the cobblestone entrance and wait with the wipers on.

Elevator. Three and a half minutes.

Mako timed them just as he ducked into an open alley with a stellar view of his least favorite targets. Viper and Shin.


"You done sweating?" Viper teased, following Shin to the car,
"Ugh!? Sweating? You of all men know one half glance at my record, they'll throw me in the hole. I won't go back. I-I went crazy in there!" Shin snapped,
"Center yourself," Viper ordered, firmly shoving Shin into the driver's seat, "Try to remember, I don't pay your salary as a courtesy, I pay you because you're useful. Now act like it,"
"Hmph. That almost sounded like a compliment, Boss," Shin teased before he pressed the button to open Viper's favorite back seat,
"Yeah? Get used to them and useless at the same time, and that compliment can instantly be a coffin," Viper hissed softly,
"Hmm. Chipper as always in the morning," Shin chuckled,
"Drive fast," Viper ordered,

[Bay View] — Mako's apartment

5 hours til sunset

"Your move," Jay blurted, eyeing the warped chessboard Mudo had found in Mako's hall closet, and then proceeded to sprawl across the coffee table,
"I already made my move," Mudo sighed without taking his eyes from his morning paper,
"When?"
"When?" Mudo repeated, taking his feet from the table, "When you were staring at your last one!"
"Chess is a game of strategy," Jay scoffed,
"Yes, and in no way is glacial a good strategy," Mudo snapped back,
"Hey, I won the first game,"
"You cannot win if you forgot the rules. The first game was a trial run that I let you win," Mudo breathed,
"Whoa. I didn't forget them, I said the rules were...foggy," Jay corrected him with his eyes still glued to the chessboard, "God. My father was as precise as he was...withholding," he breathed, placing a pawn next to Mudo's king,
"And I bet coming from a decorated pilot, he'd say you were as skittish as you were indecisive,"
"Damn. I almost forgot for a second who you really work for," Jay rolled his eyes as he sat back in his chair,
"Currently, I work for your partner. But Viper does make us do our due diligence," Mudo smirked, "Hmph. How'd he find out about my dad, let alone my grandfather?" Jay asked, already more than annoyed to hear Mudo's answer,
"Funny. You ask that like Viper started tracking Mako last week," Mudo sighed deeply, "But to answer your question, death records exist, y'know?" he grinned lightly, "Plus, the Leamong name has some heartfelt ties to this city, with that bridge being named after your dad and all—
"For fuck's sake. It's a park bridge. Barely 40 paces with a young stride. Our name...our name means nothing," Jay scoffed, crossing his arms in disgust, "E-Even Viper knowing that means nothing,"
"Hmm," Mudo nodded, a tad amused, "Well...some might say, Mr. Pawn here means nothing," he grinned, twirling Jay's small white chess piece on the board, "Especially, when compared to the Royal Ruler, Lord King," Mudo smiled even bigger,
"Ugh. Again with the riddles?"
"Yes, again with the riddles," Mudo hissed gently, "Because even a pawn like yourself isn't smart enough to notice when you've backed your king into a corner,"
"Hmph. Now I know you're messing with me," Jay sighed as he stood, "And somehow you must live for this, because my overly decorated, strictly precise and stonewall withholding decorated pilot of a father may not have been able to teach me how to pilot an aircraft without sweating bullets, but he did teach me that a pawn cannot and absolutely will not be ever, ever able to capture a king,"
"Hmph. You know, kid," Mudo chuckled, swirling his whiskey-fused coffee, "When I was in prison, all those...numb and weighted years...I had two men on my lists of lists, who I vowed to outlive...Viper and Shah,"
"Alright. I'll bite," Jay breathed half-exhausted, returning from the fridge with another soda, "You're...mentioning this list, because...you're adding me to it?"
"The opposite," Mudo said flatly, topping his mug with more whiskey, "I'm...I'm making a new list,"
"Which is?"
"A list of bright-eyed idiots I want to outlive me," Mudo nodded, handed his mug to Jay for a shot, "Now...say checkmate before I choke you," he pleaded, damn near in pain for letting Jay ramble,
"Ch–Checkmate?" Jay questioned in disbelief,
"Yes, you stretching lunatic. You've cornered your king," Mudo smirked as he rolled his eyes, "Now, your next feat? How do you intend to keep him from escaping?"


[Upper Ring] — 8 miles from the Outer Walls

"We're getting further out of town. Why?" Kuvira asked flatly as Rohai's drivers seamlessly followed orders. Rohai himself read quietly next to her,
"Hmph. I did say the next part of your training was study, didn't I?" Rohai smirked fondly without looking up,
"You may have mentioned it briefly," Kuvrira answered just as flat, while she familiarized herself with her surroundings, "Doesn't explain why we're nearly ten miles from the Palace,"
"Oh, of course. And just...where do you think the real library is?"

25 miles more...


Rohai's car and the three that followed eventually came to a screeching halt—waking Kuvira from her sheet-thin slumber. She couldn't sleep. Not here. Not without Shah, despite the ass-whooping he deserved. It was all desert. That was all the permission she needed to reset,

"Bring it up," Rohai ordered the twelve agents who filed out of the other cars,

"Captain, it takes twenty-three to keep it from sinking," one of the agents whispered,
"And why do you think she's here?"

The agent bowed and bowed again—even lower for speaking out of turn. Then nodded to the men behind him.

If your ears aren't attuned to the sound of earth, you would've panicked and grabbed the nearest survivor and relayed that it felt like the ground was splitting in two; then, of course, it felt worse than that on sand—like a beast opening its maw from a long slumber. The dust of it all hissed as a steepled building rose from its ashes higher than the walls Kuvira left,


"Hold it, men," Rohai ordered softly, his palm held out for his agents to steady themselves, "She gets six minutes and you've held for far longer for far worthless cargo. But this one? You protect with your life," he hissed,

"Yes, Captain!" the men nodded, widening their stance in unison,
"No–
"Kuvira, you have six and a half minutes. Starting now, as I explain your next assignment," Rohai breathed as he held her gaze, "Never mind them. They have orders, and so do you. This next exercise is study. But your study materials are in a library carved by the heaviest metal we've managed to mine," he smirked proudly, "Osmium. Twice as dense as lead. Found solely from mining the very metal you can't bend—platinum,"
"You're—
"Running out of time. So listen closely. Fifteen stories, and you only need to access six of them. Two books on Avatar Kyoshi, two on Dai Li history, one—on all one hundred and eighteen metals discovered thus far, and one—blank. A journal, to document your history here,"
"They won't hold me!—
"If they don't, I know damn well a woman of your caliber would claw her way out," Rohai snapped, "Go now. Or...hesitate and perish in this desert from desertion itself,"

[Air Temple Island] - infirmary


"Hmph. You say that like he doesn't get off on being threatened," Tenzin grunted as he followed 93 inside,
"He does. Which is why you should never give him an empty one," 93 nodded, "He calculates everything. Even damage,"
"Ugh. A fool's errand, if I've ever heard one," Tenzin groaned, rolling his eyes in annoyance while the nurses scurried past,
"To you. But trust me, Shah is no fool. Just...dangerously foolhardy," 93 smirked to himself,


"God. I'm alive, do I really need to listen to my own heart beating!?" Shah snapped at one of the nurses, ripping the monitor cords from his chest,
"Hey! You're—
"Save it, lady," Shah breathed deeply, yanking the blankets from his legs, "93, finally! Get me the hell out of h—
"So sorry. Let's try this again," another nurse smiled lightly before gently prodding Shah's neck with a needle,
"I!...Ku...Kuvira," Shah slurred, "Kill her first,"
"Wow. He's intense," the nurse chuckled, tucking Shah's limp body back into his hospital bed,
"And entirely not kidding," 93 sighed, "How...is he?" he questioned, eyeing the stitched scars and bruises riddled across Shah's chest and arms,
"Oh, those? He came with," the nurse nodded, looking over Shah's chart, "Looks like he was shot a few days ago and stitched after having the bullet removed. When our assistant gasped at the rest of the bruises, he mumbled something about being kicked and dropped in the Bay by a crane,"
"I-I believe it," 93 breathed a bit shocked, "When can he be released?"
"He's good to go now, if you have a way to transport him. He doesn't seem like the resting type, so the sedative will keep him down for the day,"
"I'll have Pema prepare a room down at the Temple," Tenzin nodded,
"Hm. Perfect. We'll let our discharge nurses know,"

"You sure that's a good idea?" 93 whispered when the nurses left,
"What?" Tenzin asked,
"Being nice to him," 93 nodded as he timed Shah's pulse, "Y'know, after saying his fiancé belongs in prison,"
"They both do—
"That may be how you feel," 93 sighed unamused as he scribbled Shah's chart in his own notebook, "But again, let me pull you back to reality. Kuvira belongs to the Dai Li. As does he. By proxy,"
"Hmph. Ugh. Well. Excuse me if I'm having a hard time adjusting to by far the most outlandish timeline to exist. Kuvira? Dai Li property!?" Tenzin snapped quietly, careful so the nurses wouldn't hear, "And those two!...? En...Engaged?"
"Hmph. And it is every bit of watching two tornados try and kill each other as you could imagine," 93 smirked slightly,
"Your notebook...You're writing...writing her?"
"I am under orders," 93 nodded again,
"She loves him...that much?" Tenzin questioned, teetering on the cliff of disbelief,
"My First Captain used the word...tethered,"
"They just met! We broke her out to catch him!" Tenzin sat baffled, "How did she—How did they—
"Unfortunately, that's the least of our problems. Especially if you plan to continue sucking up to—
"I'm not—
"Regardless. Whatever you're doing," 93 breathed as he stepped forward, "If you want to keep them docile and under significant supervision, then getting him back to the Catacombs alive?...is better than your worst nightmare right now,"