14 Reek

It was like whoever I talked to, they refused to acknowledge my existence. I tried finding a few other of Miro's people on the streets, but it was obvious they had no love for Luke. He had bought and sold their secrets on multiple occasions to merely make a profit. Somebody like that, was lucky to have friends like me. People who actually gave a shit for him. Now he's gone. An actual friend that I had on the streets.

It took me around half an hour to realize I was walking in circles. Luke wasn't here, but he was somewhere. Even if he was dead, somebody would have smelled something by now. Somebody would have found his body. You can't just make somebody disappear. Not in the slums. It didn't work that way.

In the slums, people were cruel. People looked out for themselves. A good Samaritan was as rare as a good meal for the night, but it always existed if you knew where to look.

"Miro", I whispered to myself.

The half decent person I was looking for. I told him about Luke before. Mostly about the times he gave us useful stuff. I tried to avoid talking about why one of our safehouses got raided or why they learned about who was responsible for what. I had pleaded with him on multiple occasions to let Luke join. If Luke joined us, he would be far more useful than ever before. He was smart, agile, quick. Almost everything you needed to survive out here. Almost.

I found the alleyway where we stayed. Now, an alley may seem like an entirely vulnerable position, but that's because we didn't stay in the alley. From what I heard, when Citadel was built, they had constructed a sewer network along with it. When Earthbenders learned about it and started entering the city through these sewers, they were collapsed and all entrances were blocked. All except for one that the Fire Nation had overlooked. Maybe it was just a stupid mistake or maybe intentional, but overlooked all the same.

I walked over to the corner where it was buried underneath piles of rubble and trash. I looked through both accesses to the street, and began digging. Sure enough, I found the cold metal, and with considerable effort, managed to get a corner off. For the rest, I pushed it aside with my foot, leaving enough of a gap for me to get through.

I kept my hand on the edge of the grating as I slipped in, pulling it closed above me. Somebody else in the gang would see the empty corner, and replace the pile. We came across very frequently. They'd find it.

The second I plopped down onto the cold ground beneath the action, I was immediately surrounded by a crowd of others. More of Miro's people. I was home.

I was met with waves, pats on the back, the usual. I wasn't anyone special here, but we were all treated with equal respect. I kept my eyes out looking for someone I knew well. Probably my closest friend in-

"Theron!" I yelled from the other side of a mass gathering as I pushed my way through to reunite with my friend. He saw me, and we greeted each other with a friendly hug that meant relief that we were both still alive. It wasn't easy miss.

"Your face." I said.

He reached up to the oversized bruise on the side of his head and smiled. "Oh. Yeah. Thanks."

"Sorry." I said, feeling kind of bad for the way I pointed it out. "It's just so. Big."

He grinned and said, "We're still talking about the bruise, right?"

"Fuck off. How'd it happen?"

He shrugged. "Looked at Aden the wrong way, I guess."

"So, you looked at him?"

"Yep."

"Figures." We laughed. "Hey, you know where Miro is?"

He looked straight to the left, pointing across the sewers to where a large group was gathered around a small podium that was just a brick large enough for him to stand on.

I thanked Theron and left, making my way towards our leader. He saw me, nodded, and stepped off, letting the others go the separate ways, leaving just the two of us. He was young, but roughed up. Dirt covered most of his facial features except for his stunningly blue eyes.

"Reek." He said nodding. "Why you insist on being called that, I cannot say."

"First word I ever understood belonging to me aside from urchin. I guess it stuck."

He smiled. "So, what's this about?"

"Luke."

He immediately sighed, rolled his eyes, and bent his head up, portraying a little more than slight annoyance. "Again?"

"It's serious this time."

That brought him to attention. "He say something good?"

"I wouldn't know."

"What do you mea-"

"He was kidnapped before he could tell me anything."

"By the Hornets?"

"Probably, but I can't say. He was there one second, I went to take a piss, and he was gone?"

"Where?"

"The Grain street. Next to a store."

He actually seemed intrigued. "Do you know which?"

"You know I can't read the signs."

"Right. Sorry."

"So?"

So, it's not exactly much to go off of. The slums aren't big, but they're not small either. Look" he said as he put a hand on my shoulder. "I'll see what I can do, but I can't promise anything, but if we do this, there's one condition."

"Name it."

"If we find him, he either stops his bullshit information broking or he joins us."

"So you finally think he'll make a good addition."

He sighed. "I don't know. It's getting worse on the streets somehow. More violent lately. And all I know is that I don't want him telling the Hornets anything about us when the time comes. Okay?"

Information broking was Luke's life. If he didn't join, that'd be over. If he did, I imagine he'd just be doing it for us. Probably better that way, but Luke was getting payed by 2 sides. Would he prefer just one? Well. There was one way to find out.

"Okay."