"All Secrets are deep. All secrets become dark. That's in the nature of secrets." Cory Doctorow

Chapter 1

Korra was standing there watching, watching the men who killed her father, an image of that fateful day sprung into her mind, she was the Avatar and yet she still couldn't stop a bullet, she couldn't stop the bullet that was headed for her father's head, her mother had died when Korra was little, depressed Korra's father had moved them to republic city, against the wishes of the white lotus. Five years ago now, when Korra was 15 her Father had been shot it the head by an equalist fanatic, that was the one moment in her whole life that Korra regretted hiding her forms of bending apart from waterbending, she had always hidden her identity as the Avatar as it was 'the only way to have a normal life' her father had always insisted to the White Lotus. After the death of her father she had moved into her girlfriend's Asami Sato, her father, Hirosi Sato, over the course of the two years of Korra living with them had come to treat Korra as an adoptive daughter. Asami was the only person Korra has entrusted with her secret.

Pulling Korra out of her daydream there was a cheer from around her, Korra eyes snapped up to the stage where Amon, her target, was standing, he had just called up some prisoners they were members of the Triple Threat Triad, the scum of the earth, Korra didn't think that much of any of them except from one… was that Bolin? Bolin was one of Korra's best friends at school and team mates in their Pro-bending team. Her target had just changed, get the prisoners out, if she just freed Bolin it would show favouritism and her cover could be blown, she had to get all of them out, even if some of them were criminals.

Korra pulled the face mask over her face and then pulled her hood up hiding what was left of her face that wasn't covered by the mask in shadows. She slipped through the crowd, when she came to the guard at the steps of the stage she emptied one of the two water skins that she carried on her hip, she then split the bubble of water hovering an inch from the tip of her fingers, into two, freezing into two knife like blades, she flicked her wrists and the two blades shot forward embedding themselves in the guard's necks.

Luckily she had made sure that she was quiet enough not to draw attention to herself. Withdrawing the blades keeping to the shadows, she slipped behind the stage, returning the water to its skin she let her meteorite bracelet uncurl from her wrist, and form into a disk shape an inch from the palm of her hands, spying a guard behind the stage she quickly flicked her wrist the disk flew at speed towards the guard striking him in his head knocking him out. It ricocheted off the wall flying towards the banner hanging behind the stage, ripping the material and flying towards where Korra knew Amon was standing, there was a satisfying thud and Amon's unconscious body fell to the floor, then came the screaming. Staying calm despite the state of the crowd Korra kicked towards the banner sending it up in flames, using her airbending Korra leapt up onto the stage, smiling at the lack of guards as most of them, understandably, had gone behind stage. Empting a water skin again she span around the two water bubbles colliding with the heads of two of the guards that had stayed behind knocking them out Korra then span around kicking with one foot sending the meteorite disk flying from where it lay next to Amon's body and into the face of another guard making a satisfying crunch. Korra then moved her hands above her head in a sweeping motion, bringing the water onto the head of the last guard freezing into a block of Ice.

Korra's attention changed to the hostages in shackles, she clenched her fists feeling the meatal, it wasn't platinum, she unclenched her fists and the shackles popped open with a metallic clink, the gangsters stood up "Who are you?" one of them shouted.

Korra let her voice sliver out, raspy and hissing "The Avatar, now go," she said pointing to the exit. There were shouts coming from the guards behind the stage now. "Go" Korra hissed desperation in her voice. The men nodded and started running towards the door, Korra out her arm and her meteorite disk flew back to her hand before lengthening into a spike the length of her forearm before sliding back under her sleeve she then modelled it back into a bracelet.

"There she is," one of the guards shouted. They were all behind the stage now

"Not today lads" she hissed before bending walls of thick stone around all the exits, and then she sent metal wires into the rafters and disappearing into the shadow cloaked ceiling

Korra was in the vents above Chief Beifong's office. She tapped three times on the vent to let the Chief know she was there, she waited until she heard the sound of three bangs of metal against the wood of her desk,

"Chief," Korra didn't twist her voice, Beifong was White Lotus but the CCTV camera in her office meant they couldn't talk face-to-face.

"Korra, how was the catch tonight?" came the reply

"Below the Republic Noodle bar there was an equalist rally, there's maybe two dozen men there all cooped up alongside Amon I believe," Korra replied.

"I'll take a look now," the Chief said. As Korra slipped back down the vents she heard the sound of a chair being pushed back and the thud of the chief's metal boots on the wooden floorboards.

Korra slipped over the walls of the estate, like she had done a million times before; though the shadows cast by the mansion's imposing presence in the moonlight, scaled the wall to one of the first floor balconies; slipped though the French door and into the bedroom; slipped out of her robes, stowed them behind the false back of the wardrobe and slipped into the bed next to her girlfriend, Asami; and drifted off to sleep, like she had done a million times prior.

In sleep she was greeted by an unwelcome surprise; although she was used to it by now, it happened most nights now; she was standing in that alley again, surrounded by Equalists again, she was 15 again, she was standing back to with her father her hands raised in a Firebending stance.

"Korra remember what we discussed, Water only," her father's kind, loving voice spoke from behind her. She sighed and instead droped into a waterbending stance pulling water from the gutter, Korra shot forward slashing at one of the men, knocking him out instantly, and then using her small frame to her advantage she dodged two strikes from Equalists and that was the moment that the whole world slowed down as the BANG of the pistol rung throughout the alleyway, she turned around just in time to see her father's body fall to the ground with a bullet wound in his temple, she screamed, and as the man pulled the hammer back on his revolver Korra's foot shot up knocking the gun from the man's hand, with a stream of water, and skewered him with an ice spike. After that she spared no-one, she may have been ten but she was the avatar, and extremely well trained, she didn't however use any form of bending apart from waterbending, and she hadn't since while not under a hood, in memory of her father she concealed her identity as the Avatar ever since.

"Korra," a voice permeated the dream "Korra you're scaring me," Korra's eyes shot open, it was Asami she was shaking her awake. "You were shouting again,"

"I'm sorry," Korra said, her voice was horse from the shouting.

"It's OK Korra, it's not your fault," Asami whispered. She rubbed Korra's leg lightly "I'm proud of you,"

"I'm not proud of what I do or what happened in that alley, I mean I kill people 'Sami, no-one should be proud of that," Korra replied

"It's not the fact that you do it that I'm proud it's the fact that you do it so others don't have to," Asami sighed, "now lie down and get some sleep, remember I'm here," she whispered.

Korra laid her head back on her pillow and as her eyelids shut she felt her girlfriend's arms encircle her.

I don't know who owns the rights to this but it sure as hell ain't me