Title: Officer & Criminal
Word Count: 1,949
Summary: ["Don't try anything; you've got nowhere to go." She sits and waits to see what this will become. | Cop!Mako. Criminal!Korra. Makorra.]
be-the-peaf · Prompt 021 – rivals
-.-
Korra's not sure what to expect when he pushes her up the stairs with his beat up coat around her shoulders. It's certainly nothing she would have expected last week, but she's curious enough, so she goes along with him. They walk through rotting, scarce hallways, dust over the floors and walls and everything in between. Bugs eat away at scraps of cloth scattered on the floor, buzzing around as they walk past. A normal person would be scared, or sickened to be in a place like this, but it doesn't bother her.
She's seen worse, after all.
Mako throws a door open, hand tight on her shoulder and leads her to the left side of the room. There's a chair there; wooden and dusty like everything else and he has her sit, wrapping her arms over the back of the seat. Telling her a firm stay there and goes to a rigid metal chair beside a table on the other side of the room. His coat hangs loosely on the back of her chair. He's forgotten about it, or doesn't really care that it's in her grasp.
Slowly and carefully, she reaches for the coat.
"Sooo… this is how it is…" Korra says, her back stiff against the old chair but her eyes wandering around the room like a free bird. Searching out every nook and cranny in her view. Mako leans over the round table, his finger brushing along dry lips and he looks hard at her.
"Shut it." He says, almost sneering. It doesn't faze Korra (and if it does, she doesn't show it) and her eyes continue to go about the room. To all the light and shadow and to the top of the lamppost she can just barely manage to see out of a crack beneath a boarded window. The orange light is flickering and sends a shutter of light into the room. Mako knows it's going to get on his nerves, so he goes to a closet on her side of the room. He comes back a few seconds later with an oil lamp in hand. Lighting it, he sets it on the table.
Korra leans in from the chair and Mako faces her in his; glare as strong as ever. Almost menacing in the poor light.
"Don't try anything." He says, crossing his arms. "You've got nowhere to go."
"Oh, you don't have to worry about that." She smiles, tilting her head to the ceiling. "I'd like to see how this turns out."
He tries to not let it faze him and holds his gaze. Korra sways her head from side-to-side, twisting her body in the chair and it shifts, scraping the floor a few inches.
"Stop moving around."
She responds by sticking her tongue at him. Mako rolls his eyes.
"So you've finally got me…" she exhales, leaning as far as she can in the chair and Mako can hear the chains of the handcuff clang together; tight and secure around her wrists. "How does it feel, Mr. Big-Shot Cop?"
He almost laughs. "Feels pretty good after all the trouble you've caused us."
"That was hardly trouble," she says, sitting up in the chair. "I was just doing what would benefit me."
"Ah, I see." He rubs his chin. "So then, breaking and entering, stealing and participating in gang activities all was benefit to you, huh?"
She nods. "That's right."
"You're ridiculous." Mako shakes his head. "I can't believe it took three years to finally get you in those cuffs."
"Well they're on; now what's the plan?"
"I wait here for a transport to take you back to the station." He leans back in the seat. "Then you go to jail."
"That's a little harsh." Korra says, tilting her head. The chains clang again. "Don't I get a fair trial?"
"I doubt there'll be much of one."
"We'll see, Mr. Cop." She says, lifting herself back to rest against the chair. Mako scoffs.
As if that's going to happen.
"It's not 'Mr. Cop', by the way." He says. "It's Officer Mako."
"Ah, introductions!" she laughs. "You can call me 'Criminal Korra'."
"Didn't I tell you to shut up?"
"You're the only who's chatting up a storm, Mako." She notes. "I'm surprised you haven't woken the whole neighborhood."
The chains clang once more. Mako narrows his eyes.
Something's not right…
Mako walks across the room and places a hand on the back of her chair, keeping it in place. Korra looks forward, eyes hard on the horizon and he lifts up the coat from the chair, tossing it to the side.
He's not surprised to see something wedged into the lock of the cuffs.
"So, you were just going to keep me talking until you got these off?" he says loudly, pulling the small object from her fingers and examining it for a second. Then he shakes his head, holding it in front of her face.
"You were going to try to escape with a button?"
Korra looks away.
"Would've worked too… I almost had it." She furrows her brow together, angry that her plan had failed. Mako goes around the chair once more, pulling out a silver key from his pocket.
"Hold still and don't try anything." He says, unlocking one of the cuffs and grasping her loose hands. Then he pulls fire up with his other hand, holding it closer to her for fair warning.
"Walk over there." He says, motioning her toward a radiator on the other side of the room. "Slowly."
She has no choice but to go along with it. He takes her to the metal radiator and secures the end of the cuff to its foothold.
"That should hold you." He sighs, grabbing his chair and pulling it in front of her. "Just sit tight and be quiet. You'll be out of here soon."
"Not soon enough…" Korra mutters, rubbing the wrist he let free. Then she pauses, and smells the air.
"Do you smell that?" she asks.
"Can it." He says angrily, not wanting to deal with anymore of her tricks.
"I'm not joking this time!" she says, an edge of worry on her voice. "I think something's burning outside."
That catches his attention and Mako heads for the window, looking through the boards but he brings his face away in an instant, coughing.
Smoke.
"What the hell-" he snarls and shoots a furious look at her. "If this is one of your tricks-"
"It's not!" she yells. "I don't know what's going on!"
"Well someone is burning the building." He says, unlocking her from the radiator and securing the cuff around her wrist. He pulls her close to him, so she doesn't try to get away.
"Come on, let's go." He says into her ear.
Mako is reaching for the handle of the door when he hears the echo of footsteps in the hall. Fast, running through the building. He holds onto Korra's arms, keeping her in the room. He looks into the hall and he catches a glint of dark red and gold in the shadows.
"That must be my backu-whoa!" he shouts as Korra pulls him back into the room. They crash together on the floor and Mako almost chokes on the dust that flies up.
He slams a hand on the floor. "What the hell are you doing?!"
"That isn't you're backup!" she shouts, trying to lift herself up. "I recognized those uniforms. Those are Equalists."
"Equalists?" Mako repeats and shakes his head; getting his bearings back. "Why would Equalists be running around in some burning building?"
"Probably looking for me." She says. "Or you. They hate all benders; good and bad."
Mako grabs her and hoists her up off the floor. Smoke stings at his eyes and he's sure that he can feel the boards underneath his feet pulse with heat. The fire is spreading and it's spreading fast.
There's not much time left -
"This is ludicrous; we don't have time to be worrying about that lot. We've got to get out of here." He says through the smoke and they make a rush for the door. But as they reach the hall Mako catches something out of the corner of his eye and he lunges over and pushes Korra down just as a bola whips past her head. Equalists crouch in the smoke, edging toward them with skilled hands ready to block their chi. Mako shoots a fireball, dispersing them for a moment but it also causes the fire to spread. He grabs Korra's shoulder and pulls her down the hall.
"There should be a fire-escape somewhere around here!" Mako shouts, squinting through the smoke. "Keep your eyes peeled!"
It doesn't take more than a second for her to find one and she stops suddenly, sending Mako to a stumbling halt. She motions to an open door.
"There's one!"
-.-
Mako pulls the window open, breathing steadily as the air goes from hot to cold. The fire has spread behind them and engulfs the floor. Beams are starting to crack and break against the flames; he knows there's not much time. He helps Korra through the window urging her along the escape route.
This whole place is going down…
Suddenly Korra spins around.
"Take these cuffs off!" she demands. "I won't be able to get down with them on."
He doesn't really have time to think about it.
"Alright, but I'm going ahead." He says, unlocking the handcuffs and moving down the ladder. They climb down it and Mako has to jump to reach the ground. Korra comes after and he catches her as she falls and they run, fast and far, to escape the heat of the building.
They made it.
-.-
He shoves her against an alley wall, breathing hard. In the distance the building falls apart and he can still see Equalists running around the perimeter, escaping the flames. They'll have to get out of here soon; danger is still afoot. It takes him a moment to realize his hand is around her shoulder and he almost lets go but then he clamps down, keeping her in place because even after all that he has to remember that she's still a criminal and he's a cop who has to bring justice to this city.
"We should keep moving." He says, still out of breath, turning to Korra. She stares at the building with blank eyes, a little shaken, nodding once. He doesn't have his handcuffs anymore; he'll have to rely on what little trust they've formed back in that building – she walks in front of him. He keeps her in arms reach.
They're a few blocks down when he hears the sirens and all he can think is finally, what took them so long. Korra can hear them too and she stops in her track, listening as the sound gets closer and closer. Mako places a hand on her shoulder.
"Get moving." He says in a firm voice, his brow tightening. She hasn't said a word since they escaped; it's starting to worry him. And she slowly reaches up to touch his hand, pulling it off her as she turns around. Then her arms shoot to the sides of his head in a blur and he tries to react but he can't move and it feels like his veins are on fire. His fist sparks with flame once, aiming for her but it stops and fizzles out before it can make its mark. Through the hazy fog his mind is going through he can barely make out the words as they leave her lips.
"Sorry, Mako. Maybe next time."
Then, he hits the pavement.
:Fin:
Mako what the heck you are always getting knocked out / beaten up at the end of my fics.
And, before any of you ask; no. this will probably not be continued, but I am interested in what you have to say about it. So leave a comment, it only take a moment.