Chapter Text
Jet was sprawled across the couch, watching the latest bounties on Big Shot for the past few hours when Smellerbee walked in. “We’re stopping to fuel up and maybe fuck around in town,” she said.
“Where are we?” He sat up and stubbed out his cigarette in an ashtray.
“Halfway to Tijuana. Place called Ba Sing Se,” she said. “It’s a pretty shady place so you better keep those faces in mind.” She nodded toward the screen. “We need a decent bounty since you squandered the last one.”
“Squandered? I had to go to the hospital .” He scoffed.
“Next time just walk it off,” she said.
“Yeah, I’ll keep that in mind.” He rolled his eyes. “Do we have anything to eat on this spirit-forsaken ship?”
“No, that’s part of the reason we’re stopping,” she said.
“Shit.” He sighed and his stomach growled in response. A few hours later they landed and Jet jumped out onto the landing strip. He meandered around the lower ring of Ba Sing Se for a while before he stumbled across a small tea shop. He shrugged to himself and walked in. He walked up to the counter where a man with short black hair and scar covering the left side of his face was stacking paper cups into a pyramid. Something about the man was familiar, but Jet couldn’t quite place it. “Howdy, can I get a cup of ginseng?” He smirked at him. His eyes flicked down to the nametag on the man’s apron. Li . Jet searched his brain for where he could have seen the man before.
“Yeah, ten woolongs.” He stood up straight and opened the cash register. Jet fished the cash out of his pockets and slid it across the counter. Jet smirked and went to sit at a table. He kept his eye on the man, trying to figure out where he had seen him before. Li went behind a partition for a few minutes and came out with Jet’s cup of tea. Jet’s eyes went wide when he realized that the unassuming tea serve was one of the bounties he had seen on Bigshot earlier that day. He bit down on the stalk of wheat that he had nicked from a flower shop and his hand flew to the gun in his jacket. Li set the cup on Jet’s table and nodded at him. Jet pulled his gun out and pointed it at Li’s chest.
“Hey, Prince Zuko.” He smirked. Zuko raised his hands. Jet took a sip of his tea. “What’s Fire Nation royalty like you doing in a place like this?”
“I don’t know who you think I am, but I’m not.” His brow furrowed and a tremor ran through his hands as he lied.
“Please, you think I’d forget a face like yours so easily?” Jet saw the man stiffen.
“What do you want?” Zuko said through clenched teeth.
“You have a pretty large bounty on your head, Prince Zuko, and I need to eat.” He said and took another sip of his tea.
“Please don’t turn me in. My father, he’ll- I can’t go back.” He scowled. Jet raised an eyebrow. Ozai, or the Phoenix King as he was more commonly known, was the leader of a powerful syndicate who had a lot of hands in a lot of pots throughout the galaxy. He was known to be cruel and brutal, doing whatever it took to get what he wanted. Jet briefly wondered what the son of such a powerful man was doing in such a backwater tea shop, but didn’t let it distract him from the 15 million woolong reward. “Please let me go.”
“You’re a firebender, right?” Jet said and motioned for him to sit down with his gun. Zuko complied, resting his elbows on the table, keeping his hands in view.
“No.” His hands trembled again. Jet appreciated that Zuko was easy to read, it made his job easier.
“Why don’t you just firebend? It would get you out of here.” He cocked his head.
“I’m not a firebender.” He hissed.
“Yeah, sure, and I’m the Avatar.” Jet smirked. Zuko scowled deeper.
“Why are you keeping me here? Why not just take me to I.S.S.P?” he asked.
“Tea’s good.” He shrugged and took another sip.
“You’re the worst bounty hunter I’ve ever met.” Zuko rolled his golden eyes.
“Be nice, firebender.” Jet’s smirk widened and he pressed the gun to Zuko’s scarred cheekbone. Zuko’s lips curled over his teeth and he growled softly. “Too bad about that scar, you’d be rather handsome without it.” Jet thought he was rather handsome with it, but wanted to test his fighting ability. He wondered if Zuko would join the Freedom Fighters. He kept his eyes on Zuko’s hands, which had started to leave charred marks on the table underneath them. Flames roared out of Zuko’s mouth and Jet pulled back, using his arms to protect his face. The metal vambraces on his forearms both protected his skin and trapped the heat. Zuko knocked the gun out of Jet’s hand and it skidded across the tiled floor of the tea room. He jumped up and two blades of fire appeared in his hands. Jet stood too and grinned. “Let’s go, pretty boy.” He smirked. Zuko lunged at him and he easily sidestepped. As he did so, he grabbed the back of Zuko’s head and slammed it into the table. “Shit!” He yelled when he felt the fire knife slice into his thigh, immediately cauterizing the wound. Zuko grabbed his wrist with a searing hot hand and flipped him onto his back. Jet hit the ground with a thud, his air leaving his lungs. Zuko waited in a firebending stance until Jet caught his breath and rolled into a crouch. He lept at Zuko, guarding his face from a blast of fire with one of his vambraces. He slammed into Zuko’s chest, knocking him backwards. He kneeled on Zuko’s chest and wrapped his hands around his throat. Zuko tangled his fingers in his hair and pulled back. Jet begrudgingly let himself get dragged backwards, not wanting to lose his hair. “ Fuck you.” He winced, but he couldn’t help the grin that started to slide across his face. Zuko’s fist collided with his jaw and sent him sprawling. He tried to remember the chi paths that he had learned about when he was younger. When Zuko swung at him again, Jet delivered a few sharp jabs to his muscles, rendering his arm useless.
“What the fuck,” Zuko snarled. He sounded less surprised and more annoyed and angered. Jet smirked and sprung up into a crouch. He ducked under Zuko’s next blast of fire and disabled his other arm. He put a hand over Zuko’s mouth and pinched his nose shut.
“Give up?” He smirked. Zuko nodded and Jet released his nose. “Good boy,” he purred. Something wet and hot brushed his palm. He frowned when he realized it was Zuko’s tongue. “Stop licking my hand, you horse’s ass.” He pulled his palm away from his mouth. Zuko smirked sardonically. “Okay, listen, I won’t turn you in if you tell me why you don’t want to be turned in.”
“If I.S.S.P returns me to the Fire Nation, my father will have me killed. The only reason I’m alive right now is because he doesn’t have any pull in Ba Sing Se,” Zuko said.
“Your father would do that to you?” Jet frowned. He slid off Zuko’s chest and sat on the floor next to him. Zuko nodded. “Shit, man. What did you do?”
“I don’t want to talk about it,” he mumbled. He turned his face away from Jet, hiding his scar.
“Do you like working here?” Jet took a cigarette out of his pocket to replace the stalk of wheat that had been incinerated in the fight.
“Fuck no, but it’s preferable to starving on the streets,” he said.
“I know what you mean.” Jet chuckled. He held the cigarette above Zuko’s lips and said “Light me up?” Zuko blew out a small lick of flame. “Thanks, man.”
“Are you going to let me up?” Zuko tried to lift one of his arms.
“I don’t know how.” Jet shrugged.
“So I just have to wait it out?” He scowled. Jet nodded, smoke curling up from the corners of his smirk. “ Fuckkk you, buddy.” He groaned. Jet snickered and ruffled Zuko’s short hair. “Why are you still here?”
“I’m deciding whether your life is worth 15 million woolongs,” Jet blew smoke into Zuko’s face. “Or if it would be a better idea to try and get you on my team.”
“We just got into a fight.” Zuko raised his eyebrow.
“Yeah, you’re a good fighter and a better bender. That’s the type of person I want on my side.” He smirked.
“Why should I join you?”
“You’re bored of this place, aren’t you? Wouldn’t you rather be starving in hyperspace, hunting bounties, travelling the galaxy, livin’ it up?” He grinned. A flash went through Zuko’s eyes and a smirk tugged at his lips. “What’d’ya say?”
“I don’t even know your name,” he replied.
“I’m Jet.” He smirked. He offered his hand for Zuko to shake before remembering his paralyzied arms.
“Okay, Jet, my uncle should be in the back room. He knows a thing or two about chi paths and he could probably get me unstuck. Could you go get him?” Zuko did his best to gesture at the partition with his head.
“Yeah, you got it, man.” He patted Zuko’s shoulder and stood up. He sauntered into the back room where an old man was brewing tea and listening to talk radio at a high volume. He knocked on the doorframe and the man turned around.
“What can I do for you, young man?” He smiled. Jet almost laughed at how different the two were based on that one sentence.
“So I may have gotten into a scrap with your nephew and he said you might help him get his chi unblocked?” Jet scratched the back of his neck and smiled awkwardly. The man’s eyes narrowed and pushed past Jet. He followed the man back into the main room of the tea shop and watched as he massaged Zuko’s arms. Zuko sat up and lit small flames in his palms.
“Thanks, Uncle.” He nodded. “This is Jet, he’s a-” his brow creased as he searched for the right thing to say. “Ally.”
“He chi blocked you.” The old man raised his eyebrows.
“We figured it out.” Zuko shrugged. The old man gave Jet a skeptical look. Jet flashed him a winning smile. Zuko stood up and walked over to Jet. He grabbed his arm and pulled him toward the door as he said, “We’re going for a walk, I’ll be back in a bit.”
“Wait, don’t forget this.” The old man held out Jet’s gun. Jet grabbed it and nodded his thanks. Zuko led him out the door and onto the empty street. “What’s up?”
“I’m so fucking bored here. I need to do something new. My apartment is this way. I’m coming with you.” He said as they walked down the street. Jet grinned like an idiot.
“What are you gonna tell your uncle?” He raised an eyebrow.
“I don’t fuckin’ know.” He shrugged and unlocked the door to his apartment complex. Jet followed him up the staircase with beams of sunlight strewn across it. Zuko’s apartment was small, but tastefully decorated and smelled like tea leaves. Zuko led him to his room which was much less tastefully decorated and much more the aftermath of a monsoon. “Sit.” He commanded, pointing at the bed. Jet complied. Zuko pulled out a backpack and a duffle bag from somewhere in the mess and filled them with anything he deemed necessary. “Let’s go.” He said as he strapped a dao to his back. Jet licked his lips and let his eyes drag down Zuko’s body. His black turtleneck hugged his lean muscles exquisitely. His baggy athletic pants were tucked into his combat boots and a blue bandana hung around his neck. Jet had never wanted to kiss anyone more. They stopped in the kitchen to grab some food and leave a note for Zuko’s uncle before they left. Jet wondered how Zuko could leave his uncle so easily and asked him about it. “He has my number and he has a radio. He can contact me if he needs to.” Zuko shrugged, but he looked a little forlorn. Jet nodded skeptically.
“C’mon, my ship is this way.” He grabbed Zuko’s wrist and led him down the streets of Ba Sing Se to where his ship, The Freedom, was parked. He knocked on the door and it swung open. “Last chance to say no,” he said.
“You’re not going to double cross me, right?” He raised his eyebrow and his hands clenched into fists.
“No way, darlin’. You’re one of us now.” Jet smirked.
“‘Us’?” He asked.
“Yeah, we’ve got a crew.” They walked onto the ship and found Smellerbee and Longshot in the meeting room. “Howdy, folks, meet Zuko. He’s joining us.” He smirked. The two frowned at him. “Zuko, meet Smellerbee and Longshot. Longshot and Bee meet Zuko.”
“Hi.” Zuko waved.
“Like Prince Zuko?” Smellerbee cocked her head.
“Yeah.” Zuko nodded. “But I’m not like my father. Don’t worry.”
“Aren’t you worth like 15 million woolongs?” She asked.
“Yeah. But he’s worth more as a fighter,” Jet said. “And Ozai’s got it out for him. If we turn it in, he’ll be killed.”
“Since when did you have a conscience?” She chuckled. “Welcome aboard, Zuko.”
“Thanks, happy to be here.” He smiled softly. It was a nice smile. It really softened his edges. Jet wanted to see it again.
“C’mon, I’ll show you to your room.” Jet grabbed Zuko’s wrist. Zuko slid his hand up so they were palm to palm. Jet grinned like an idiot as they walked through the halls of the spaceship.