Sophie (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
ladyhoneydarlinglove) wrote2012-09-29 07:20 pm
ladyhoneydarlinglove) wrote2012-09-29 07:20 pm
Entry tags:
{OC/LoK Fic} But Who's Gonna Protect You?
Fandom: Original/Legend of Korra
Rating: PG
Word Count: ~4900
Summary: In which Jin does something very brave, and very stupid. But mostly just stupid.
Notes: This is a piece featuring two Legend of Korra OCs. Jin is mine, but Tuo belongs to DJ.
It starts out like most days Jin and Tuo spend together. They meet for lunch at a little café; Jin brings Tuo flowers because he likes the way Tuo blushes when he receives them. Tuo tells Jin that Jin doesn't have to buy him things, and Jin tells Tuo that he knows, but he wants to anyway, which just makes Tuo blush more. Jin has to struggle not to laugh because Tuo's too cute for his own good.
They have to finish lunch quickly because Jin has an afternoon class and Tuo needs to work, but Jin still takes the time to walk Tuo home. With everything that's been happening in Republic City lately, he doesn't feel comfortable letting Tuo go alone, even if Tuo insists that he'll be fine. "Beside," Tuo says to Jin as they walk, "now you're going to have to walk back to class alone. What if something happens to you?"
Jin smiles and slips an arm around Tuo's shoulders, bringing him close like he always does when he thinks Tuo is being exceptionally cute. "No offense, Tuo, but of the two of us, I think I stand a better chance of going somewhere alone and not getting hurt."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Tuo huffs, scowling up at him, but Jin only grins.
"Only that you're just an earthbender, but I'm an earthbender and a metalbender," Jin explains. "I just have a slight advantage over you, that's all."
Tuo continues to scowl and crosses his arms. "That's not what it looked like when we sparred last week," he pouts.
Jin moves the arm around Tuo's shoulders to give him a small shove. "I don't metalbend when we spar," he says. "If I did, you'd be toast."
"Hmph. You keep telling yourself that, pretty boy," Tuo retorts, sticking his tongue out, but he shrieks in laughter as Jin grabs him by the waist and spins him around, pressing him up against the nearest wall and holding him there.
"That's cheating," Tuo grumbles, but he's smiling.
"Can't be cheating if we're not fighting," Jin murmurs, and leans in to give Tuo a warm, slow kiss.
And then suddenly the ground beneath them is shifting, and Jin feels a horrible, blazing heat at his back and he yells as he's slammed up against the wall before tumbling over. Tuo falls on top of him, and when Jin opens his eyes he can see a smoking crater before them, roaring with fire.
"What on earth—"
"Jin!" Tuo yells, and kicks up a slab of earth just in time to avoid the second bomb, though Jin still feels the heat of it scorch his face. He coughs as smoke enters his lungs, thick and black and burning, and through watery eyes he looks up to see where the bombs came from.
"What... What are those?" Jin coughs as he begins to make out shapes in the sky, huge and looming overhead.
"They're airships," Tuo answers. "But they don't look like they're police airships..."
Tuo stands, and Jin hears him gasp. "Jin," he says, and Jin is not at all encouraged by the way his voice trembles. "Jin, I think... I think they belong to the Equalists."
Jin feels his blood run cold and he stands, looking up through the smoke despite how it burns his eyes. He sees the airships above them, bright red and emblazoned with the Equalist symbol on their sides. The bottom drops out of his stomach.
Another bomb falls, too far away this time to really harm them, but Jin still moves to shield Tuo instinctively. He can feel Tuo trembling, if only a little, and he hates it.
"What is going on?" Tuo asks, and Jin looks out at the smoking craters with unsure eyes.
"... I don't know," he says after a moment. "But we need to get out of here. Come on, let's get to the restaurant and make sure Aza's—"
"Jin, look out!"
Jin moves without thinking, but not fast enough, and suddenly he's on the ground with his arms pinned to his sides. He yells, feels the earth beneath him move as Tuo lashes out at something and hears the unmistakable thud of solid earth hitting a human body. "What's happening?" he yells.
"Chi blockers!" Tuo gasps, kicking up more earth, punching chunks of road and sidewalk at the attackers Jin can't see. Jin swears loudly and kicks backwards; a jagged piece of earth slices through whatever is holding him and he sweeps a kick out and away from him as he jumps up, sending a wave of earth towards the chi blockers. He hears at least one get knocked over, and allows himself a grim smile of satisfaction as he straightens up and immediately assumes his horse stance.
Jin doesn't wait before attacking further, seeing at least five, maybe more chi blockers moving toward them at an alarming rate. Beside him, Tuo is throwing out everything he's got, sending chunk after chunk of earth at the chi blockers. Jin moves, sending out another wave, and then a third, disrupting the attackers movements so that they stumble, and then fall under Tuo's assault.
But it isn't enough, and one of the chi blockers manages to get close enough to Jin to hit him and while Jin does his best to counter, he's driven backwards, away from Tuo. Jin lashes out with a chunk of pavement but misses his target, and in a moment of imbalance, feels the chi blocker hit his arm and suddenly, it goes limp. Jin gasps, feeling the limb turn into dead weight, but he manages to kick the chi blocker in the stomach before she can hit him again, and sends her sprawling.
"Jin!" he hears Tuo yell, and looks up just as another chi blocker sweeps his legs out from under him, sending Jin to the ground with a harsh grunt. Jin feels panic seize him for a moment when he realizes he doesn't have enough time to block, but then the chi blocker is knocked off his feet, sent flying by a chunk of sidewalk that slams his body into the ground. Jin hears the sickening crunch of breaking bone followed by a sharp cry of pain; it makes him wince.
"Jin!" he hears Tuo yell again; he looks up to see his boyfriend running towards him. "Jin, are you okay? Did they get you?"
Jin groans as Tuo helps him up. "I'm alright," he reassures Tuo. "They got one of my arms, but that's it." He gives Tuo a small smile. "Thanks for saving me, duckling."
Tuo gives him a shaky smile in return. "You're welcome," he answers, voice trembling a little.
"Come on, we should get out of here."
Jin nods in assent, making to grab Tuo's hand, and that's when he sees them.
More chi blockers are coming; at least a dozen of them, cascading down the sides of the buildings. Behind him, the earth shakes, and Jin knows that there must be more coming that they can't see yet, and there are so many already. Too many. Jin knows they can't fight them all.
He acts without thinking. A leg comes up and sends a piece of earth flying at Tuo; it hits him in the stomach and sends the boy crashing into the wall where he cries out before crumpling. Jin can only hope that Tuo's been successfully knocked out as he rips the fire escape off a nearby building, wrapping it around Tuo in a dome. The metal creates a tight cage that he knows the chi blockers can't penetrate, but he leaves the ground alone, so Tuo will have a way out when he wakes up.
Tuo is safe, but the move costs Jin; he feels hands hit his back several times and then he crumples, his entire body going limp. He struggles to breathe as the chi blockers surround him, their eerie goggles peering out through the smoke.
"Should we just leave him?" Jin hears one of them ask.
"No. He's a metalbender, look. He might be a cop."
"Then what should we do with him?"
"We'll take him to the Lieutenant; he can decide."
Someone jams a fist into his back, and Jin blacks out.
--
"What should we do with him, Lieutenant?"
Jin groans softly. His head is pounding and he can't make his eyes open. His limbs lie useless at his sides.
"He's just a bender, right? Throw him in with the others."
"But he's not just a bender, he's a metalbender. He could be a cop."
Jin's eyes begin to flutter and he can make out a dim light and several people in front of him. The words being said echo around his skull, but he can't quite make sense of them, not yet.
"... Take him to Amon, then. We can't be too careful."
"Yes, sir."
The name of the Equalist leader resonates inside Jin and his eyes snap open, wide and terrified. He tries to move, but his limbs are bound and he lets out a sharp, panicked breath without meaning too.
"Hey, he's awake!"
"Knock him out again. He'll be easier to deal with."
Figures advance on him, and Jin tries to struggle, but someone grabs him from behind and he blacks out again.
--
When Jin wakes, he's been blindfolded. The floor beneath him is cold and wet and not earth; he knows by the feel of it against his cheek. Jin shivers as a draft comes in from somewhere, and realizes that his coat has been taken.
He tries to sit up, but his limbs have been bound tightly with rope, and after several minutes, Jin gives up and lies there, trying not to panic. He runs over what he heard before he blacked out the second time, but it only makes him shudder, his breath catching in his throat.
He remembers hearing Amon's name, and feels hopelessness begin to consume him. Jin hasn't cried in years, can't even remember the last time a tear came to his eye, but the prospect of that man—that monster—and what it means for him...
His eyes are squeezed tightly shut behind the blindfold as Jin tries to remember his earliest bending lessons, to take deep, calming breaths, but he can't seem to force any air into his lungs, and all Jin can think is that this is it, he's going to lose his bending. The thought makes him gasp involuntarily and shudder in horror, and he tries to ignore the drop he feels trickle out of one eye.
He casts his mind about, trying to think of something—anything—to focus on besides his impending doom; it lands on a bright smile, warm green eyes, happy laughter and a sweet kiss: Tuo.
Jin forces himself to concentrate on that, on the wonderful boy he can see in his mind's eye, on every happy memory that they've shared, and most importantly, on the fact that Tuo is safe. Jin may have been taken, and his bending may be doomed, but Tuo is safe.
It calms him, if only a little, to think that Tuo is okay, that at the very least, Jin was able to save one of them. He keeps that thought in mind as he lies in waiting. He keeps it in mind when the Equalists come for him, when he's dragged from his hold and out into the open, where the cold winter air chills him to the bone and he knows, without seeing, that this is the end. He keeps it in mind when they remove his blindfold, and when he sees the face of Amon above him, he clings to it desperately, holds on to it as tightly as he can as his head is tilted back, and his fate is sealed.
--
It's so strange, not being able to bend. Jin's been locked in a cell with metal bars, and when he looks at them he thinks that it would be easy—so easy—to pry them apart, but then he remembers that he can't, and it's horrible.
Jin's tried to bend anyway, of course, but to no avail. Part of him feels stupid for doing it when he knows that he can't, but his cellmates assure him that it's normal, that they've all tried, that some of them are still trying. No one wants to believe that this has happened. No one wants to believe that their bending is really gone.
He isn't sure how long he stays in that awful cell. They're trapped deep underground somewhere, with no access to the outside, so what time it is and how long has passed is anyone's guess. Some of Jin's cellmates have been stuck here for what they tell him is probably weeks. He can only pray that his stay won't be that long.
The Equalists bring in new prisoners every day; many of them are members of the White Lotus or policemen, and Jin hates how many faces he recognizes as they're marched past his cell. Jin never sees his father, but when he sends out word looking for him, it gets back to him that Yao is here, and he too has lost his bending. Jin knows that his father’s ability to metalbend means it was
inevitable, but the knowledge still makes him ill.
But he also learns that Renshu got with his mother and sisters. If everything went according to plan, they should be safely in Ba Sing Sei by now, far away from this mess, this war. It's a small comfort, but it helps Jin from breaking down entirely. As it is, he has trouble going for any length of time without wanting to scream. He doesn't, though. He keeps in bottled in, just like everyone else, because he knows, like they know, that if one of them loses it, they all will, and that's something they can't afford.
--
Jin doesn't know how much time has passed when the United Forces finally find them and set them all free. A week, maybe two; not that long, in retrospect, but when Jin breathes in his first gulp of fresh air, it feels as though he's been freed after years of imprisonment.
He sets out to find his father in the mess of released prisoners, and when he does, Jin very nearly breaks down. "Dad," he says when he sees him, and Yao only looks at his son for a moment before pulling him into a tight embrace. It feels so strange, because Yao so rarely hugs his children, but the comfort is something that Jin sorely needs.
"Jin," he hears his father say. "I can't believe they got you too."
Jin draws in a shuddering breath, trying to calm himself. "I'd hoped that they hadn't gotten you," he says quietly. "I knew it was a slim chance, but..."
He trails off, not sure what to say, because what can you say to someone who's lost their bending? But he knows that his father understands, because he pulls back to look Jin in the eye, and gives him a shaky smile.
"We'll be alright," Yao says, and Jin is surprised at how steady his voice sounds. "I know it seems bad now, but we're going to get through this. Everything is going to be okay."
The conviction in his tone makes it possible for Jin to believe him.
If only for a moment.
--
They don’t see their family for another two days, waiting for them eagerly as they travel back from Ba Sing Sei. They meet them at the train station, where Jin’s mother flings herself into her husband’s arms, sobbing furiously, and Jin is almost tackled to the ground by Fei Yun, who clings to him so tightly he has trouble breathing, though he doesn’t mind at all. Renshu has a comforting arm wrapped around Meilin’s shoulders while she tries and fails to hide her tears, and Jin thinks that he’s never seen them all so emotional. In a strange way, it’s kind of nice to know that they all still have the ability to feel.
The family huddles together, not wanting to be broken apart again. “They took your bending,” Fei Yun whispers, still clinging to him. “I can’t believe they took your bending.”
Jin gives her a shaky smile. “I’ll be alright, Fei,” he says. “I mean, not right away, obviously, but…” He trails off, swallowing around the heavy lump in his throat. “I’ll get through this.”
Fei Yun buries her face in Jin’s chest. “Promise?” she asks, and Jin holds her as tightly as he can.
“I promise.”
--
Jin waits another few days before going to see Tuo, not because he wants to, but because his family needs him, and he needs them. He needs their love and support, and the strength that they’ll give him to get through what lies ahead.
Jin expects Tuo to be angry and upset, probably even hurt by his actions, even if Jin only had his best interests at heart. He doesn’t even expect Tuo to forgive him right away, knows that there’s a good chance Tuo won’t forgive him at all, but Jin has to see him, has to make sure that he’s really safe. That Jin’s sacrifice wasn’t in vain.
He goes to the restaurant first, but the servers tell him Tuo isn’t working that day. He tries the apartment next, where the door is answered by a bewildered looking Aza who stares at him as though she can’t quite believe Jin is real. “Tuo said you’d been captured by the Equalists,” she says.
“I was freed a few days ago,” Jin explains. “Is… Is Tuo here?”
Aza fixes him with a stern expression that Jin can’t quite interpret. “He’s at the park,” she says after a moment. “And I should warn you now, he’s not very happy with you.”
Jin smiles shakily. “I expected as much,” he says, bowing. “Thank you.”
Aza gives him a wry smile. “Good luck,” she says as she closes the door, and Jin is thankful, because he knows he’s going to need it.
--
Jin finds Tuo sitting on a park bench, staring blankly out at the landscape. His knees are hugged up against his chest and he’s hunched over, like a small child, and Jin hates seeing him like this; hates knowing that he is, in part, responsible.
He approaches Tuo carefully, not wanting to startle him. When he thinks he’s close enough, Jin clears his throat softly, smiling at Tuo when he turns to look at Jin. It takes a moment, but then Tuo’s head snaps up suddenly, and he stares at Jin with wide, unbelieving eyes.
“Jin,” he says softly, and Jin smiles, taking that as a cue to move forward.
“Tuo,” he answers, voice gentle. “I’m so sorry—“
The block of earth hits Jin in the stomach so fast that he doesn’t even see it before he’s sent sprawling to the ground with a harsh groan, the wind knocked out of his lungs. He gasps and tries to sit up, only just dodging the second disc that comes flying his way.
“You are such a moron!” Tuo yells, punctuating each word with another flying disc, all of them moving so fast that Jin can’t dodge them. “You are such a stupid, idiotic, imbecilic—“
“Tuo—“ Jin tries to say, but Tuo shrieks in defiance and suddenly the ground is swept out from under Jin, and he falls forward with a groan.
“Don’t you ‘Tuo’ me!” Tuo screams, voice rising to an alarming pitch. “Don’t you dare ‘Tuo’ me, don’t you dare even talk to me you stupid, selfish—“
Tuo breaks off with an unintelligible noise and even as Jin tries to stand, the earth moves beneath him and he’s sent back to the ground in a heap. Out of the corner of his eye, Jin can see Tuo stomping off, anger radiating off him so intensely Jin swears he can feel it from here.
For several long minutes, Jin can only lie there, wondering what the hell just happened. But, eventually, Jin gets up to find Tuo again, wincing as he moves his bruised body. He’s never seen Tuo become angry to the point of physical attacks before, and he has to wonder what exactly he did to make the other boy so furious.
Jin finds Tuo sitting at the edge of the park’s pond, staring out at the water with a glare so intense Jin is surprised everything around Tuo doesn’t just whither and die. Jin almost takes a stance so that he can counter whatever Tuo might throw at him this time, before he remembers with a sickening lurch of his stomach that he can’t. Jin shudders, takes a moment to breathe and compose himself, because the last thing he wants is to break down in front of Tuo. Jin has to convince Tuo that it’s going to be okay—that Jin is going to be okay.
“Tuo,” he says softly, and Tuo’s head snaps up to look at him momentarily before he turns back out to the pond.
“I’m not speaking to you,” Tuo says flatly, and Jin sighs heavily.
“And why is that?” he asks, trying to keep his voice gentle.
“Because I hate you,” Tuo snaps.
“You hate me?” Jin asks, confused. “Even after I saved you?”
“That’s exactly why I hate you, you idiot!” Tuo yells, jumping up, and Jin falters, honestly a little terrified of this new, enraged Tuo now standing before him. “How could you do that to me you stupid, selfish, jerk!”
The ground beneath Tuo begins to crack with each word, and Jin feels helpless and scared, a combination that he wants to be rid of as soon as possible. “How could I—Tuo—“ Jin breaks off, unsure what to say. “Tuo, are you… are you mad at me because I tried to protect you?”
“Yes!” Tuo shrieks, and Jin just stares at him, utterly confounded.
“Wh… Why?” he asks, and Tuo makes some sort of noise between a scream and muffled yell.
“Because, you moron!” he screams. “Did it ever once occur to you stupid, tiny, pea-sized brain that maybe you aren’t the only one who wants to protect the people he cares about?”
Tuo glares at Jin with a horrible, burning intensity and Jin honestly isn’t sure what the heck he should do. “So… so what?” he says, trying to ignore the way his voice trembles, just a little. “You… You’re mad at me because… because I didn’t let you protect me?”
“Yes!” Tuo yells. “How could you do that to me, Jin?! Do you have any idea how horrible it was, waking up in the stupid cage and realizing that you were gone?”
“But that wasn’t your fault—“
“I know it wasn’t my fault!” Tuo screams. “But that doesn’t mean I wasn’t horrified to see that you were gone, Jin! You were gone and I didn’t have any idea where they’d taken you or what they were going to do with you and it just felt like I’d failed! I’d failed to protect you and now you were gone and I was never going to be able to see you again! Do you have any idea—any idea at all—how distressing that was?! Especially when I knew—“
Tuo breaks off suddenly, and something in the air snaps. His expression wavers, and the glare lessens. “They said… They said on the radio that all the Equalist prisoners… had their bending taken away,” Tuo says, voice suddenly quiet and unsure. “Is that… Is that true?”
For one horrible, bleak moment, Jin can’t think around the cloud of shame and despair that surrounds him upon hearing those words. Then, slowly, he nods.
Whatever anger Tuo had left vanishes in an instant, and he sags, all the fight gone from his body. “You are such a moron,” Tuo gasps, and bows his head, turning away. Jin knows it’s so that he won’t see Tuo’s tears.
But Jin doesn’t let him hide. He moves forward, trying to grab one of Tuo’s hands, but Tuo jerks it away from Jin’s grasp. “I’m still not speaking to you,” he snaps, some of his previous ire returning, and Jin sighs.
“Then don’t speak,” he says. “Just listen to me, Tuo. Please?”
Tuo glares at him, but he doesn’t move away, and Jin takes that as a good sign. “I’m sorry,” he says quietly. “I really am, Tuo, I never meant to put you through any of that, I just wanted to keep you safe.”
“You didn’t have to keep me safe!” Tuo snaps. “We could have taken them together, we could have still gotten out! But you didn’t even give me a chance!”
“I didn’t want to take the risk,” Jin admits, and he hears Tuo force back a growl. “I mean it, Tuo. There were so many of them and there was such a slim chance of us making it out, and I couldn’t risk your safety on something like that. What kind of person would that make me?”
“One who isn’t as much of a moron as you are!” Tuo yells. “I never asked you to look out for my safety, Jin, especially not when it means ignoring yours! Do you have any idea how stupid and reckless and dangerous what you did was?! Did you even think about the consequences before you decided to knock me out?!”
Jin sighs, letting his eyes slip shut for a moment as he attempts to rein himself in. “Of course I did,” he says after a moment. “That’s why I did it, Tuo.”
“That’s why you—“
“Yes, it is,” Jin says firmly, cutting Tuo off. “As soon as I saw those chi blockers I knew what was most likely going to happen to us if we were caught and there was no way I was letting them take you. So yes, Tuo, what I did was stupid and reckless and horribly dangerous, but I did it for you.”
“But why?!” Tuo demands. “Why would you just shove yourself into the middle of danger like that and not let me help you?!”
“Because I didn’t want to see you get hurt, of course!”
“And I didn’t want to see you get hurt, but that sure as heck didn’t stop you!”
“Tuo—“ Jin cuts himself off, gritting his teeth as he tries to stay calm, to keep his mind clear so he doesn’t end up saying something stupid. It’s difficult, but after a moment of breathing, he feels better.
“Okay, fine,” he says, looking Tuo straight in the eye. “Then let me put it this way; are you saying that if you had been in the exact same position that I was then, you wouldn’t have done the same thing?”
Tuo opens his mouth, eyes blazing with fury, but nothing comes out. A few seconds pass, and he closes it. Then opens it again. Then closes it.
“That’s cheating,” he accuses, the fight draining from his body once more, and Jin sighs.
“I know,” he admits, and reaches out to take one of Tuo’s hands in his own.
There’s a pause, and then Tuo surges forward, wrapping his arms around Jin and burying his face in Jin’s chest. It only takes a moment for Jin to feel a wetness start seeping into his shirt, and he wraps his arms around Tuo just as tightly, holds him close and strokes his hair and doesn’t try to hold back his own small trickle of tears.
“I’m so sorry, duckling,” he murmurs. “I never meant to put you through this. I was just trying to protect you.”
Tuo sniffles, moving his head just enough so that he can speak. “I know,” he says. “But that doesn’t leave anybody to protect you.”
Despite himself, Jin feels a smile tug at the corners of his mouth. “Alright then, tell you what,” he says quietly, drawing Tuo even closer and putting his lips nest to Tuo’s ear. “The next time we’re in a dangerous situation where there’s a good chance only one of us is going to make it out unscathed, I’ll let you be the protector, hmm?”
Tuo laughs. It’s small, quiet, and incredibly shaky, but it’s a laugh nonetheless. “You’d better,” he mutters, and then before Jin knows what’s happening, Tuo is grabbing his face and mashing their lips together in a rough, desperate kiss.
It takes Jin a moment, but then his shock wears off and he returns the kiss full measure, feeding every emotion he’s felt over the past few weeks into it, trying to let Tuo know without saying as much just how incredibly sorry he is. They’re both frantic, Tuo’s hands clinging to Jin’s shoulders and back, one of Jin’s hands sinking into Tuo’s hair, the other trying to pull him closer, though it isn’t really possible.
They’re both panting when they finally break apart, Tuo resting his forehead against Jin’s as he tries to catch his breath. “I still hate you,” Tuo says softly, and Jin can’t help but smile.
“I think I can live with that,” he says, staring right into those beautiful green eyes as he does. He sees Tuo swallow thickly before he pulls Jin in for another desperate kiss, and Jin follows easily, never wanting to let go.
Rating: PG
Word Count: ~4900
Summary: In which Jin does something very brave, and very stupid. But mostly just stupid.
Notes: This is a piece featuring two Legend of Korra OCs. Jin is mine, but Tuo belongs to DJ.
It starts out like most days Jin and Tuo spend together. They meet for lunch at a little café; Jin brings Tuo flowers because he likes the way Tuo blushes when he receives them. Tuo tells Jin that Jin doesn't have to buy him things, and Jin tells Tuo that he knows, but he wants to anyway, which just makes Tuo blush more. Jin has to struggle not to laugh because Tuo's too cute for his own good.
They have to finish lunch quickly because Jin has an afternoon class and Tuo needs to work, but Jin still takes the time to walk Tuo home. With everything that's been happening in Republic City lately, he doesn't feel comfortable letting Tuo go alone, even if Tuo insists that he'll be fine. "Beside," Tuo says to Jin as they walk, "now you're going to have to walk back to class alone. What if something happens to you?"
Jin smiles and slips an arm around Tuo's shoulders, bringing him close like he always does when he thinks Tuo is being exceptionally cute. "No offense, Tuo, but of the two of us, I think I stand a better chance of going somewhere alone and not getting hurt."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Tuo huffs, scowling up at him, but Jin only grins.
"Only that you're just an earthbender, but I'm an earthbender and a metalbender," Jin explains. "I just have a slight advantage over you, that's all."
Tuo continues to scowl and crosses his arms. "That's not what it looked like when we sparred last week," he pouts.
Jin moves the arm around Tuo's shoulders to give him a small shove. "I don't metalbend when we spar," he says. "If I did, you'd be toast."
"Hmph. You keep telling yourself that, pretty boy," Tuo retorts, sticking his tongue out, but he shrieks in laughter as Jin grabs him by the waist and spins him around, pressing him up against the nearest wall and holding him there.
"That's cheating," Tuo grumbles, but he's smiling.
"Can't be cheating if we're not fighting," Jin murmurs, and leans in to give Tuo a warm, slow kiss.
And then suddenly the ground beneath them is shifting, and Jin feels a horrible, blazing heat at his back and he yells as he's slammed up against the wall before tumbling over. Tuo falls on top of him, and when Jin opens his eyes he can see a smoking crater before them, roaring with fire.
"What on earth—"
"Jin!" Tuo yells, and kicks up a slab of earth just in time to avoid the second bomb, though Jin still feels the heat of it scorch his face. He coughs as smoke enters his lungs, thick and black and burning, and through watery eyes he looks up to see where the bombs came from.
"What... What are those?" Jin coughs as he begins to make out shapes in the sky, huge and looming overhead.
"They're airships," Tuo answers. "But they don't look like they're police airships..."
Tuo stands, and Jin hears him gasp. "Jin," he says, and Jin is not at all encouraged by the way his voice trembles. "Jin, I think... I think they belong to the Equalists."
Jin feels his blood run cold and he stands, looking up through the smoke despite how it burns his eyes. He sees the airships above them, bright red and emblazoned with the Equalist symbol on their sides. The bottom drops out of his stomach.
Another bomb falls, too far away this time to really harm them, but Jin still moves to shield Tuo instinctively. He can feel Tuo trembling, if only a little, and he hates it.
"What is going on?" Tuo asks, and Jin looks out at the smoking craters with unsure eyes.
"... I don't know," he says after a moment. "But we need to get out of here. Come on, let's get to the restaurant and make sure Aza's—"
"Jin, look out!"
Jin moves without thinking, but not fast enough, and suddenly he's on the ground with his arms pinned to his sides. He yells, feels the earth beneath him move as Tuo lashes out at something and hears the unmistakable thud of solid earth hitting a human body. "What's happening?" he yells.
"Chi blockers!" Tuo gasps, kicking up more earth, punching chunks of road and sidewalk at the attackers Jin can't see. Jin swears loudly and kicks backwards; a jagged piece of earth slices through whatever is holding him and he sweeps a kick out and away from him as he jumps up, sending a wave of earth towards the chi blockers. He hears at least one get knocked over, and allows himself a grim smile of satisfaction as he straightens up and immediately assumes his horse stance.
Jin doesn't wait before attacking further, seeing at least five, maybe more chi blockers moving toward them at an alarming rate. Beside him, Tuo is throwing out everything he's got, sending chunk after chunk of earth at the chi blockers. Jin moves, sending out another wave, and then a third, disrupting the attackers movements so that they stumble, and then fall under Tuo's assault.
But it isn't enough, and one of the chi blockers manages to get close enough to Jin to hit him and while Jin does his best to counter, he's driven backwards, away from Tuo. Jin lashes out with a chunk of pavement but misses his target, and in a moment of imbalance, feels the chi blocker hit his arm and suddenly, it goes limp. Jin gasps, feeling the limb turn into dead weight, but he manages to kick the chi blocker in the stomach before she can hit him again, and sends her sprawling.
"Jin!" he hears Tuo yell, and looks up just as another chi blocker sweeps his legs out from under him, sending Jin to the ground with a harsh grunt. Jin feels panic seize him for a moment when he realizes he doesn't have enough time to block, but then the chi blocker is knocked off his feet, sent flying by a chunk of sidewalk that slams his body into the ground. Jin hears the sickening crunch of breaking bone followed by a sharp cry of pain; it makes him wince.
"Jin!" he hears Tuo yell again; he looks up to see his boyfriend running towards him. "Jin, are you okay? Did they get you?"
Jin groans as Tuo helps him up. "I'm alright," he reassures Tuo. "They got one of my arms, but that's it." He gives Tuo a small smile. "Thanks for saving me, duckling."
Tuo gives him a shaky smile in return. "You're welcome," he answers, voice trembling a little.
"Come on, we should get out of here."
Jin nods in assent, making to grab Tuo's hand, and that's when he sees them.
More chi blockers are coming; at least a dozen of them, cascading down the sides of the buildings. Behind him, the earth shakes, and Jin knows that there must be more coming that they can't see yet, and there are so many already. Too many. Jin knows they can't fight them all.
He acts without thinking. A leg comes up and sends a piece of earth flying at Tuo; it hits him in the stomach and sends the boy crashing into the wall where he cries out before crumpling. Jin can only hope that Tuo's been successfully knocked out as he rips the fire escape off a nearby building, wrapping it around Tuo in a dome. The metal creates a tight cage that he knows the chi blockers can't penetrate, but he leaves the ground alone, so Tuo will have a way out when he wakes up.
Tuo is safe, but the move costs Jin; he feels hands hit his back several times and then he crumples, his entire body going limp. He struggles to breathe as the chi blockers surround him, their eerie goggles peering out through the smoke.
"Should we just leave him?" Jin hears one of them ask.
"No. He's a metalbender, look. He might be a cop."
"Then what should we do with him?"
"We'll take him to the Lieutenant; he can decide."
Someone jams a fist into his back, and Jin blacks out.
--
"What should we do with him, Lieutenant?"
Jin groans softly. His head is pounding and he can't make his eyes open. His limbs lie useless at his sides.
"He's just a bender, right? Throw him in with the others."
"But he's not just a bender, he's a metalbender. He could be a cop."
Jin's eyes begin to flutter and he can make out a dim light and several people in front of him. The words being said echo around his skull, but he can't quite make sense of them, not yet.
"... Take him to Amon, then. We can't be too careful."
"Yes, sir."
The name of the Equalist leader resonates inside Jin and his eyes snap open, wide and terrified. He tries to move, but his limbs are bound and he lets out a sharp, panicked breath without meaning too.
"Hey, he's awake!"
"Knock him out again. He'll be easier to deal with."
Figures advance on him, and Jin tries to struggle, but someone grabs him from behind and he blacks out again.
--
When Jin wakes, he's been blindfolded. The floor beneath him is cold and wet and not earth; he knows by the feel of it against his cheek. Jin shivers as a draft comes in from somewhere, and realizes that his coat has been taken.
He tries to sit up, but his limbs have been bound tightly with rope, and after several minutes, Jin gives up and lies there, trying not to panic. He runs over what he heard before he blacked out the second time, but it only makes him shudder, his breath catching in his throat.
He remembers hearing Amon's name, and feels hopelessness begin to consume him. Jin hasn't cried in years, can't even remember the last time a tear came to his eye, but the prospect of that man—that monster—and what it means for him...
His eyes are squeezed tightly shut behind the blindfold as Jin tries to remember his earliest bending lessons, to take deep, calming breaths, but he can't seem to force any air into his lungs, and all Jin can think is that this is it, he's going to lose his bending. The thought makes him gasp involuntarily and shudder in horror, and he tries to ignore the drop he feels trickle out of one eye.
He casts his mind about, trying to think of something—anything—to focus on besides his impending doom; it lands on a bright smile, warm green eyes, happy laughter and a sweet kiss: Tuo.
Jin forces himself to concentrate on that, on the wonderful boy he can see in his mind's eye, on every happy memory that they've shared, and most importantly, on the fact that Tuo is safe. Jin may have been taken, and his bending may be doomed, but Tuo is safe.
It calms him, if only a little, to think that Tuo is okay, that at the very least, Jin was able to save one of them. He keeps that thought in mind as he lies in waiting. He keeps it in mind when the Equalists come for him, when he's dragged from his hold and out into the open, where the cold winter air chills him to the bone and he knows, without seeing, that this is the end. He keeps it in mind when they remove his blindfold, and when he sees the face of Amon above him, he clings to it desperately, holds on to it as tightly as he can as his head is tilted back, and his fate is sealed.
--
It's so strange, not being able to bend. Jin's been locked in a cell with metal bars, and when he looks at them he thinks that it would be easy—so easy—to pry them apart, but then he remembers that he can't, and it's horrible.
Jin's tried to bend anyway, of course, but to no avail. Part of him feels stupid for doing it when he knows that he can't, but his cellmates assure him that it's normal, that they've all tried, that some of them are still trying. No one wants to believe that this has happened. No one wants to believe that their bending is really gone.
He isn't sure how long he stays in that awful cell. They're trapped deep underground somewhere, with no access to the outside, so what time it is and how long has passed is anyone's guess. Some of Jin's cellmates have been stuck here for what they tell him is probably weeks. He can only pray that his stay won't be that long.
The Equalists bring in new prisoners every day; many of them are members of the White Lotus or policemen, and Jin hates how many faces he recognizes as they're marched past his cell. Jin never sees his father, but when he sends out word looking for him, it gets back to him that Yao is here, and he too has lost his bending. Jin knows that his father’s ability to metalbend means it was
inevitable, but the knowledge still makes him ill.
But he also learns that Renshu got with his mother and sisters. If everything went according to plan, they should be safely in Ba Sing Sei by now, far away from this mess, this war. It's a small comfort, but it helps Jin from breaking down entirely. As it is, he has trouble going for any length of time without wanting to scream. He doesn't, though. He keeps in bottled in, just like everyone else, because he knows, like they know, that if one of them loses it, they all will, and that's something they can't afford.
--
Jin doesn't know how much time has passed when the United Forces finally find them and set them all free. A week, maybe two; not that long, in retrospect, but when Jin breathes in his first gulp of fresh air, it feels as though he's been freed after years of imprisonment.
He sets out to find his father in the mess of released prisoners, and when he does, Jin very nearly breaks down. "Dad," he says when he sees him, and Yao only looks at his son for a moment before pulling him into a tight embrace. It feels so strange, because Yao so rarely hugs his children, but the comfort is something that Jin sorely needs.
"Jin," he hears his father say. "I can't believe they got you too."
Jin draws in a shuddering breath, trying to calm himself. "I'd hoped that they hadn't gotten you," he says quietly. "I knew it was a slim chance, but..."
He trails off, not sure what to say, because what can you say to someone who's lost their bending? But he knows that his father understands, because he pulls back to look Jin in the eye, and gives him a shaky smile.
"We'll be alright," Yao says, and Jin is surprised at how steady his voice sounds. "I know it seems bad now, but we're going to get through this. Everything is going to be okay."
The conviction in his tone makes it possible for Jin to believe him.
If only for a moment.
--
They don’t see their family for another two days, waiting for them eagerly as they travel back from Ba Sing Sei. They meet them at the train station, where Jin’s mother flings herself into her husband’s arms, sobbing furiously, and Jin is almost tackled to the ground by Fei Yun, who clings to him so tightly he has trouble breathing, though he doesn’t mind at all. Renshu has a comforting arm wrapped around Meilin’s shoulders while she tries and fails to hide her tears, and Jin thinks that he’s never seen them all so emotional. In a strange way, it’s kind of nice to know that they all still have the ability to feel.
The family huddles together, not wanting to be broken apart again. “They took your bending,” Fei Yun whispers, still clinging to him. “I can’t believe they took your bending.”
Jin gives her a shaky smile. “I’ll be alright, Fei,” he says. “I mean, not right away, obviously, but…” He trails off, swallowing around the heavy lump in his throat. “I’ll get through this.”
Fei Yun buries her face in Jin’s chest. “Promise?” she asks, and Jin holds her as tightly as he can.
“I promise.”
--
Jin waits another few days before going to see Tuo, not because he wants to, but because his family needs him, and he needs them. He needs their love and support, and the strength that they’ll give him to get through what lies ahead.
Jin expects Tuo to be angry and upset, probably even hurt by his actions, even if Jin only had his best interests at heart. He doesn’t even expect Tuo to forgive him right away, knows that there’s a good chance Tuo won’t forgive him at all, but Jin has to see him, has to make sure that he’s really safe. That Jin’s sacrifice wasn’t in vain.
He goes to the restaurant first, but the servers tell him Tuo isn’t working that day. He tries the apartment next, where the door is answered by a bewildered looking Aza who stares at him as though she can’t quite believe Jin is real. “Tuo said you’d been captured by the Equalists,” she says.
“I was freed a few days ago,” Jin explains. “Is… Is Tuo here?”
Aza fixes him with a stern expression that Jin can’t quite interpret. “He’s at the park,” she says after a moment. “And I should warn you now, he’s not very happy with you.”
Jin smiles shakily. “I expected as much,” he says, bowing. “Thank you.”
Aza gives him a wry smile. “Good luck,” she says as she closes the door, and Jin is thankful, because he knows he’s going to need it.
--
Jin finds Tuo sitting on a park bench, staring blankly out at the landscape. His knees are hugged up against his chest and he’s hunched over, like a small child, and Jin hates seeing him like this; hates knowing that he is, in part, responsible.
He approaches Tuo carefully, not wanting to startle him. When he thinks he’s close enough, Jin clears his throat softly, smiling at Tuo when he turns to look at Jin. It takes a moment, but then Tuo’s head snaps up suddenly, and he stares at Jin with wide, unbelieving eyes.
“Jin,” he says softly, and Jin smiles, taking that as a cue to move forward.
“Tuo,” he answers, voice gentle. “I’m so sorry—“
The block of earth hits Jin in the stomach so fast that he doesn’t even see it before he’s sent sprawling to the ground with a harsh groan, the wind knocked out of his lungs. He gasps and tries to sit up, only just dodging the second disc that comes flying his way.
“You are such a moron!” Tuo yells, punctuating each word with another flying disc, all of them moving so fast that Jin can’t dodge them. “You are such a stupid, idiotic, imbecilic—“
“Tuo—“ Jin tries to say, but Tuo shrieks in defiance and suddenly the ground is swept out from under Jin, and he falls forward with a groan.
“Don’t you ‘Tuo’ me!” Tuo screams, voice rising to an alarming pitch. “Don’t you dare ‘Tuo’ me, don’t you dare even talk to me you stupid, selfish—“
Tuo breaks off with an unintelligible noise and even as Jin tries to stand, the earth moves beneath him and he’s sent back to the ground in a heap. Out of the corner of his eye, Jin can see Tuo stomping off, anger radiating off him so intensely Jin swears he can feel it from here.
For several long minutes, Jin can only lie there, wondering what the hell just happened. But, eventually, Jin gets up to find Tuo again, wincing as he moves his bruised body. He’s never seen Tuo become angry to the point of physical attacks before, and he has to wonder what exactly he did to make the other boy so furious.
Jin finds Tuo sitting at the edge of the park’s pond, staring out at the water with a glare so intense Jin is surprised everything around Tuo doesn’t just whither and die. Jin almost takes a stance so that he can counter whatever Tuo might throw at him this time, before he remembers with a sickening lurch of his stomach that he can’t. Jin shudders, takes a moment to breathe and compose himself, because the last thing he wants is to break down in front of Tuo. Jin has to convince Tuo that it’s going to be okay—that Jin is going to be okay.
“Tuo,” he says softly, and Tuo’s head snaps up to look at him momentarily before he turns back out to the pond.
“I’m not speaking to you,” Tuo says flatly, and Jin sighs heavily.
“And why is that?” he asks, trying to keep his voice gentle.
“Because I hate you,” Tuo snaps.
“You hate me?” Jin asks, confused. “Even after I saved you?”
“That’s exactly why I hate you, you idiot!” Tuo yells, jumping up, and Jin falters, honestly a little terrified of this new, enraged Tuo now standing before him. “How could you do that to me you stupid, selfish, jerk!”
The ground beneath Tuo begins to crack with each word, and Jin feels helpless and scared, a combination that he wants to be rid of as soon as possible. “How could I—Tuo—“ Jin breaks off, unsure what to say. “Tuo, are you… are you mad at me because I tried to protect you?”
“Yes!” Tuo shrieks, and Jin just stares at him, utterly confounded.
“Wh… Why?” he asks, and Tuo makes some sort of noise between a scream and muffled yell.
“Because, you moron!” he screams. “Did it ever once occur to you stupid, tiny, pea-sized brain that maybe you aren’t the only one who wants to protect the people he cares about?”
Tuo glares at Jin with a horrible, burning intensity and Jin honestly isn’t sure what the heck he should do. “So… so what?” he says, trying to ignore the way his voice trembles, just a little. “You… You’re mad at me because… because I didn’t let you protect me?”
“Yes!” Tuo yells. “How could you do that to me, Jin?! Do you have any idea how horrible it was, waking up in the stupid cage and realizing that you were gone?”
“But that wasn’t your fault—“
“I know it wasn’t my fault!” Tuo screams. “But that doesn’t mean I wasn’t horrified to see that you were gone, Jin! You were gone and I didn’t have any idea where they’d taken you or what they were going to do with you and it just felt like I’d failed! I’d failed to protect you and now you were gone and I was never going to be able to see you again! Do you have any idea—any idea at all—how distressing that was?! Especially when I knew—“
Tuo breaks off suddenly, and something in the air snaps. His expression wavers, and the glare lessens. “They said… They said on the radio that all the Equalist prisoners… had their bending taken away,” Tuo says, voice suddenly quiet and unsure. “Is that… Is that true?”
For one horrible, bleak moment, Jin can’t think around the cloud of shame and despair that surrounds him upon hearing those words. Then, slowly, he nods.
Whatever anger Tuo had left vanishes in an instant, and he sags, all the fight gone from his body. “You are such a moron,” Tuo gasps, and bows his head, turning away. Jin knows it’s so that he won’t see Tuo’s tears.
But Jin doesn’t let him hide. He moves forward, trying to grab one of Tuo’s hands, but Tuo jerks it away from Jin’s grasp. “I’m still not speaking to you,” he snaps, some of his previous ire returning, and Jin sighs.
“Then don’t speak,” he says. “Just listen to me, Tuo. Please?”
Tuo glares at him, but he doesn’t move away, and Jin takes that as a good sign. “I’m sorry,” he says quietly. “I really am, Tuo, I never meant to put you through any of that, I just wanted to keep you safe.”
“You didn’t have to keep me safe!” Tuo snaps. “We could have taken them together, we could have still gotten out! But you didn’t even give me a chance!”
“I didn’t want to take the risk,” Jin admits, and he hears Tuo force back a growl. “I mean it, Tuo. There were so many of them and there was such a slim chance of us making it out, and I couldn’t risk your safety on something like that. What kind of person would that make me?”
“One who isn’t as much of a moron as you are!” Tuo yells. “I never asked you to look out for my safety, Jin, especially not when it means ignoring yours! Do you have any idea how stupid and reckless and dangerous what you did was?! Did you even think about the consequences before you decided to knock me out?!”
Jin sighs, letting his eyes slip shut for a moment as he attempts to rein himself in. “Of course I did,” he says after a moment. “That’s why I did it, Tuo.”
“That’s why you—“
“Yes, it is,” Jin says firmly, cutting Tuo off. “As soon as I saw those chi blockers I knew what was most likely going to happen to us if we were caught and there was no way I was letting them take you. So yes, Tuo, what I did was stupid and reckless and horribly dangerous, but I did it for you.”
“But why?!” Tuo demands. “Why would you just shove yourself into the middle of danger like that and not let me help you?!”
“Because I didn’t want to see you get hurt, of course!”
“And I didn’t want to see you get hurt, but that sure as heck didn’t stop you!”
“Tuo—“ Jin cuts himself off, gritting his teeth as he tries to stay calm, to keep his mind clear so he doesn’t end up saying something stupid. It’s difficult, but after a moment of breathing, he feels better.
“Okay, fine,” he says, looking Tuo straight in the eye. “Then let me put it this way; are you saying that if you had been in the exact same position that I was then, you wouldn’t have done the same thing?”
Tuo opens his mouth, eyes blazing with fury, but nothing comes out. A few seconds pass, and he closes it. Then opens it again. Then closes it.
“That’s cheating,” he accuses, the fight draining from his body once more, and Jin sighs.
“I know,” he admits, and reaches out to take one of Tuo’s hands in his own.
There’s a pause, and then Tuo surges forward, wrapping his arms around Jin and burying his face in Jin’s chest. It only takes a moment for Jin to feel a wetness start seeping into his shirt, and he wraps his arms around Tuo just as tightly, holds him close and strokes his hair and doesn’t try to hold back his own small trickle of tears.
“I’m so sorry, duckling,” he murmurs. “I never meant to put you through this. I was just trying to protect you.”
Tuo sniffles, moving his head just enough so that he can speak. “I know,” he says. “But that doesn’t leave anybody to protect you.”
Despite himself, Jin feels a smile tug at the corners of his mouth. “Alright then, tell you what,” he says quietly, drawing Tuo even closer and putting his lips nest to Tuo’s ear. “The next time we’re in a dangerous situation where there’s a good chance only one of us is going to make it out unscathed, I’ll let you be the protector, hmm?”
Tuo laughs. It’s small, quiet, and incredibly shaky, but it’s a laugh nonetheless. “You’d better,” he mutters, and then before Jin knows what’s happening, Tuo is grabbing his face and mashing their lips together in a rough, desperate kiss.
It takes Jin a moment, but then his shock wears off and he returns the kiss full measure, feeding every emotion he’s felt over the past few weeks into it, trying to let Tuo know without saying as much just how incredibly sorry he is. They’re both frantic, Tuo’s hands clinging to Jin’s shoulders and back, one of Jin’s hands sinking into Tuo’s hair, the other trying to pull him closer, though it isn’t really possible.
They’re both panting when they finally break apart, Tuo resting his forehead against Jin’s as he tries to catch his breath. “I still hate you,” Tuo says softly, and Jin can’t help but smile.
“I think I can live with that,” he says, staring right into those beautiful green eyes as he does. He sees Tuo swallow thickly before he pulls Jin in for another desperate kiss, and Jin follows easily, never wanting to let go.