Chapter Text
A barely conscious groan rumbled from the gagged policeman. “Sorry, pal,” Mako tightened the ropes around his wrists. “We know you were just doing your job.”
“Yeah.” Bolin smirked, tossing the officer’s metalbending harness into the far corner of the room. “Why don't you ‘just stay put until the Chief comes back.’ That sounds very familiar, doesn’t it? Why? Because you said it.” He peered down the entrance to the underground lift, the smile flickering. Since they had heard the massive thunderclap echo up from the tunnel, Bolin’s confidence had shaken.
Mako hauled himself to his feet. “Call the lift, Bo.”
His brother trotted down the steps and slammed the recall button. Gears and machinery whirred to life, moaning and creaking as the mechanism pulled the lift back to the surface.
It was a small blessing that Asami wasn’t here. She was so sure that Hiroshi was a good man. Mako already wasn't enjoying the prospect of telling her what they’d found. He could only imagine the harm it could have done if she’d had to watch her father’s lies exposed.
He felt like a fool; he should have believed Korra from the beginning. He didn’t want to believe it either, but here they were: The Equalists were making their move, his friends were in trouble, and they were about to dive into the lion turtle’s mouth after them.
Their police escort began to struggle against his bonds, calling out through the fabric of his gag. Mako turned to the noise and followed the man’s wide eyes to the workshop door.
His gut coiled into itself as he met Asami’s grim stare.
Two Equalists flanked her on either side. Mako’s lizard-brain told him to charge to her rescue. They’d kidnapped Asami, he thought in a panic, she was in danger. It took a moment for the rest of his brain to register that the masked soldiers weren’t moving. They stood one obedient step behind her. Waiting.
“She’s got a good ear,” one of the soldiers said. He eyed the trussed-up cop on the floor, then returned his attention back to the two brothers.
Mako’s eyes never left Asami. The woman he’d shared his bed with for weeks. Hours ago she’d been in his arms. Tonight, it had been difficult to keep her there; her mind had been somewhere else. Distracted, he’d assumed, with the accusations leveled at her family.
Her eyes had been sharp, but warm. They’d filled him with confidence, affection, a sense of home.
Now that green belonged to a stranger.
“What is this?” Mako asked, his throat straining to form the words.
“You weren’t supposed to be here, Mako.” She tightened her grip around a baton. It looked like a bulky copy of the weapon Amon’s Lieutenant carried.
“Whoa Whoa Whoa!” Bolin sidled up to his brother, hands out. “Easy now, let’s just all take a timeout and talk about this.”
“No time for that,” Asami said. She nodded gently and glided back as the pair of Equalists marched forward.
Instinct kicked in and Mako bounced on the balls of his feet. He focused the tight knot of rage in his gut. Felt the twinge of energy build under his knuckles.
Bolin blew out air and lifted his fists in a challenge. “You take right, I got the left,” he muttered to Mako.
Behind the soldiers, the metal door’s lock slammed shut with a clank. Mako caught a glimpse of Asami slinking back behind them. In a flash of movement, she lifted her knee and landed a swift kick into the tailbone of the Equalist on her right. The masked man stumbled, grunting in pain. She was back in motion before he hit the concrete.
The other couldn’t turn in time, and Asami leapt onto his back, bracing her baton around his neck in a choke hold. This one didn’t have one of those stun gloves like his partner, and he gripped the club with a wheeze, panicking for air.
Lumbering movement caught Mako’s eye and he threw a sweeping arc of flame at the ground. The injured Equalist rolled awkwardly to dodge. The acrid smell of singed leather filled the air.
The standing soldier slammed his back into the wall, bashing Asami’s shoulders against the concrete. She winced but stayed firm, tightening her hold. Another slam. She let go of the tip of her weapon and, with a flick of her wrist, blue electricity surged from the baton. The man’s jaw clenched shut as the electrocution spread across his throat and collarbone. He crumpled to his knees, and Asami stood over him, huffing air.
Mako threw another fire burst at the Equalist on the ground. Asami didn’t catch sight of the soldier as he scrambled up towards her. She threw up hands to block a heavy swing from his gloved arm. The impact sent her careening towards the wall. Another blow backhanded her face with the stun glove. Asami spun out and crashed into the wall. Blood splattered the stone.
Bolin stomped the ground, ripping up a chunk of concrete the size of his head. “Hey!” The soldier turned and Bolin thrust out with his forearm. The rock plowed into the Equalist’s solar plexus and put him down.
Asami slid up behind the soldier, blood smeared under her nose and on her teeth, and got him in another choke hold. Bolin charged forward and threw a full fisted punch between his green lenses. The Equalist slumped in Asami’s arms and she dropped him.
The room went silent. Still.
Gingerly dabbing at her face, Asami leaned down to the unconscious Equalist at her feet. Mako couldn’t tell if the man was breathing. The other one lay crumpled at the door, still twitching from the electrocution. One step forward. Then another. Mako stared at the bleeding face of the girl he thought he’d known.
“You were with them,” he said.
“They weren’t supposed to be here, either.” Asami muttered. She lifted his glove, studying it. He had caught part of Bolin’s concrete rock with it. The power source was smashed. She frowned. “Bolin, toss me what’s left of that rope, will you?”
Mako threw a hand up at his brother, and Bolin hesitated. He watched Asami abandon the glove and roll the soldier onto his stomach. “You’re an Equalist.” The word wanted to be spat out.
She avoided his eyes. “Not anymore,” she said.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
Asami turned to Bolin instead, waving her hand to keep him moving. “If we don’t get these men tied up they could kill your cop friend here. And we need to be downstairs.”
“She’s right, Mako.” Bolin stepped past him and gathered up what they hadn’t used to tie up Beifong’s officer.
How in the world was Bolin so calm about this? “She could be leading us right into an ambush!” Mako shouted.
“I am,” Asami grunted, wrapping a knot around the Equalist’s arm. “It just wasn’t set for us.”
His brain was cracking up. This wasn’t happening. What if she was stalling for time? The door was sealed and locked. Was it to keep more guards from reaching them, or to keep Mako and Bolin inside so that they could be collected?
But she’d gone after the Equalists like a prize fighter. Mako had never seen that fury in her before. And here she was, tying up Equalists, bleeding onto the floor and acting like she was built for this.
Asami secured the soldier’s arms behind his back, moving on to his feet. “Can you get the other one?” She tossed Bolin the rest of the rope and took fistfuls of her soldier’s boot laces. She began to knot them together. “Look, I didn’t know any of this was a trap till those two goons showed up. I’m improvising here. I don’t know any more than you do.”
“So that was what the big boom was?” Bolin asked, finishing a quick knot. He hauled the Equalist into a corner and propped him up.
She blinked at him. “What big boom?”
“Downstairs,” Mako said, following as Asami made a break for the tunnel and the grinding of the lift.
The machinery was slow and steady. The lift still had a ways to go before it reached the top. “We don’t have time for this.” Shuffling down the steps, Asami hit the recall button. Machinery halted, and creaked, and groaned, reversing direction. The lift was far too low to step onto, and was steadily shifting downward.
“What are you doing?” Mako yelled from the top of the stairs.
Asami leaned forward, letting her foot gently slip off the landing. She disappeared from the ledge.
He lunged for her. “Asami!”
At the bottom of the steps, he clung to the safety railing, watching as Asami slid dozens of feet down along the smooth gutter between machinery tread. She hopped and stumbled onto the lift. A second or two, and she managed to her feet. “Are you coming?” she called.
Bolin slapped Mako’s back. “You clearly have a type.”
Mako held his tongue and stepped to the ledge, waving his little brother to join him. The drop was only getting more dangerous the longer they waited.
Deep breath. Mako pushed off from the landing and slid downward. Faster and faster. No control, nothing to hold on to. Asami and the lift got bigger and bigger as he bore down on them. He jumped too early near the edge, hitting the top of the lift with a rough slide. Asami caught his arm and tugged with her full weight. He skidded to a halt on the metal floor.
Mako twisted away from her. “This is insane.” He took a seat against the railing, tucking his head into his knees. His lungs burned.
Bolin came up quick and took a rolling leap onto the lift. He latched onto the lift’s controls, steadied himself on his hands. He caught his breath and stared at the ground.
A shudder went through Asami’s body as she touched her nose. It was swelling fast. The bleeding had stopped, though. Exhaling slowly, she crouched at the edge of the lift, watching their descent. “I have no idea what’s down here,” she muttered. “I told Korra she needed to be careful, but she just dove in head-first.” She finally glared back up at Mako. “I also told her not to bring you. But you pushed her, I’m sure.” She spat blood down the tunnel.
Mako pulled his head from his lap. “Korra knows?”
“Of course she knows. I’m the one who fed her the intel about the factory.”
“And we’re supposed to take your word for it?”
“Ask the two upstairs,” she glowered. “I was supposed to monitor the Avatar. I couldn’t go through with it anymore. Korra found out about my mission, and so we changed it. I kept an eye on my father, and that’s how I found out about this place.”
Bolin chewed a thumbnail with deep concentration. “So you’re like a secret double-agent spy.” His chest puffed out dramatically. “Staring down the face of evil while masquerading as a bad guy. That is-” Asami and Mako both glared at Bolin, and he dropped his voice a few decibels. “-I’m not helping. How ‘bout I just let you two hash this out.”
“You’ve lied to me from the moment we met. This whole time, you were trying to overthrow the city with your father!”
“I made a mistake.”
“They kidnapped Bolin! They tried to take his bending! You were gonna live with that? Pretend like you had nothing to do with it?”
“I didn’t,” Asami snapped, “I’m not some high-ranking mastermind of the movement. I just did what I was told! And the only things I managed to do were protect Korra, and hurt you. I’m trying to make up for that.”
“The lady makes some salient points,” Bolin chimed.
“Bolin,” Mako snapped.
“What? We want to stop Hiroshi’s weapons, and she’s trying to help.”
Mako scowled at the back Asami's head. The burning in his chest grew hotter. Heavier.
She crouched at the ready, watching them slide deeper underground. So cool and collected. A war-hardened soldier. The only thing separating her from the men upstairs was the mask. Then again, it didn’t seem like she needed one. “When this is over-”
“I know,” Asami said. She glared down into the darkness below. “How about we not die, first. Then we can break up.”