Zhao

It felt humiliating. Going to him like this. My operation, my mission, and now all of it totally reliant on him. I don't have to go to him. I can take this directly to General Shu. Have him transfer the prisoner to my custody. I don't need Harzek. I can do this without him. As I considered it though, turning my face away from the door that led to Harzek's office, I reconsidered. This is my objective, my responsibility. Pride be damned. I can't go running to mommy whenever there's an obstacle in my way. Harzek, though not in rank, is under me when it comes to this mission. That means, it details regarding it, I have superiority. But this prisoner is not technically part of this mission. Not yet, anyway. Hopefully, that can be changed.

I knocked on the door. "Come in," came his voice soon enough. I used to have an office too. Back on The Zodiac. Before my "reassignment." Felt better than calling it a demotion, even though in all official capacities, that was precisely what it was.

I turned the wheel of the door, unlocking it as the clamps holding it in place retracted in the multi-inch thick steel plate door, allowing it to slide open, albeit with a great deal of strength, as I entered.

"Zhao," he said, a touch of surprise to his voice. "I wasn't expecting to see you so soon. I assume you've made progress in your quest?"

Quest. He was mocking me. He never did believe in this mission. That much was clear from the start. No, I'm being paranoid. He made his concerns known, but the Fire Nation came first to him. He was a blind, foolish patriot, but that was precisely what I needed. "In a matter of speaking. I'm following a lead: one I believe to be in possession of the Nip Sea Separatists."

"How did you figure this out? You have sources in the Separatists?"

I could lie, tell him I did. I could tell the truth and tell him the only reason I knew was because I'd been outmaneuvered by them, and they'd beaten me to my asset, or I could take the middle route. "That's sensitive intelligence impertinent to this operation."

He scoffed. What's that supposed to mean? "Very well," he said. "So why are you here?"

"I have need of your prisoner. He is a vital asset for this operation."

"Vital asset?"

"I need him to extract some information from the Separatist hideout."

"I'm guessing this 'sensitive intelligence' of yours isn't making the cut." He's toying with me. Fine. I can toy back.

"I simply want to corroborate sources. Create the most complete picture possible."

"So I see. Well, I'm sorry, but I'm already in the process of turning him, and have made considerable progress. I can't have you coming in now or you'd risk backtracking my progress to the point I doubt I could recover from it."

"That's unfortunate for you, but I have final say over this mission. Therefore, I'm ordering you to transfer custody of your prisoner over to me."

"Zhao, you can stick your bluffs somewhere else. My prisoner has no attachment to your little misadventure. He's an actual military asset, not another clue for your wild goose chase."

"Hmm. We'll see if the General sees it that way."

"Good. Take it to him. His patience is already running thin with you. Running to him for help is precisely what he'll want to see from you." He called my bluff. Damnit.

"Then at the very least, can you provide me with any information that you learn from him, and give me access to him when you're through?" I was on the retreat, practically begging at this point, and he saw it, clear as day, and wouldn't miss the opportunity to seize on it.

"I'm sorry," he said with a rising grin. "That's classified military intel." He's throwing my words right back at me. His grin died, his face becoming more serious now, his gloating out of the way. "Trust goes both ways, Zhao. Whether either of us like it or not, we're on the same side, on the same team. If we're going to go anywhere, make this work, we need to trust each other."

I sighed. How short sighted he was. I wanted to call him out for the naïve idiot he was, yell at his face, but I was running out of options, and if doing things his way was my only chance of getting what I needed, I'd have to take this one for the team. I grimaced. "My lead was a student from the University of Ba Sing Se, an expert on desert tribes and societies, our best chance at finding this library."

"Your spirit library?"

"Yes. I arranged for some beetle merchants to hold him for us, but they turned on us, tried to sell him to the Separatists. They tried turning on the Separatists at the last minute to get a better deal, but they were outmatched, and the enemy left with the prisoner. Assuming they haven't already sold him off for the ransom, he's being held at their camp."

"When was this deal of yours made?"

"Just yesterday."

"Then my prisoner won't know anything about it, but I think there's a way we can help each other."

"How's that?"

"I believe I am close to turning him. I got hit with a stroke of good fortune and managed to find trace of his family in Miaowan, alive. Over the last couple of days, I've been feeding him thoughts about what matters to him most, to which he responded protecting family. He meant his fellow Separatists, of course, but he reacted rather strongly when I mentioned his family. I believe that a taste of his lost home, a chance to return to the life he lost, protect his real family, may just be what it takes to turn him."

I had to admit. It was impressive work. He'd only had the prisoner for 3 days, and already got where it took most months to get with their prisoners. He got lucky with the family, of course, but everything else had been him. I had to give him credit where credit was due. "Impressive."

"Thank you. I believe that, if his desire to care for his family is strong enough, he can be persuaded to do nearly anything for them. I was planning on conscripting him to assassinate their leader, and perhaps we can kill two birds with one stone, though now, with a bigger emphasis on him getting out alive."

"Not so expendable anymore."

"Sadly not. We could have him go in, re-assimilate with them for a time, something that should take a day at most considering they already know him. We'll feed him a story about how he got out alive. Once he's in, we can have him attempt to extract the prisoner."

"Or if that proves too difficult, we can provide him with the questions he needs to ask and the answers he needs to get. It's more risky, more capable of going wrong, but it's the best we can do. He can silence the prisoner; ensure he doesn't become an asset for our enemy."

"And on his way out, assassinate their leader. We'll keep an extraction team posted nearby, a beach getaway close at hand, but with any luck, he'll manage to slip out on his own. The camp should be in enough disarray to allow him an easy escape."

"But if he fails-"

"-Then neither of us get what we want. We're both riding on this, Zhao."

"Well, it's the best plan we have it seems. I'll need to talk to the prisoner then, brief him on what-"

"Actually, it's probably for the best if I'm the one to do it. I'm his handler, and I've already made progress with him. He'll take it better from me."

"But the questions he'll need to ask the prisoner-"

"You can tell it to me." What if he doesn't? What if he just plans on making this the suicide mission it originally was?

"Trust goes both ways, Zhao. You really think I would have entertained the possibility of your plan for this long If I had no intention of going through with it?"

"Fine. I'll need you to show him a map, when yo-"

"We can discuss this at a later time, when this is ready to go down."

"You're not going to turn him today?"

"Oh I'll try, but it's one thing to feed treasonous ideas into his head. Even with his family on the line, this takes time. Don't worry, I'll keep you updated, but as I said. I need you to trust me. Can you do that?"

I grimaced. This mission, my mission, my career, my life is in Harzek's hands. There was no situation I'd detest as much as this, but I didn't have much of a choice, now did I? Trust went both ways, and he was right, we were on the same team. His success was mine, and mine was his. We needed each other, and for that, we needed to rely on each other.

I let my frown subside, and said what had to be said, just another step in fulfilling my objective. "Fine."