The bedroom was dark. The large king size bed housed only a single man. He was young, drunk and passed out faced down naked. The gentle sound of typing rang across the room. A woman, his woman of the night, was seating at his personal computer. Hacking. The gentle hum of the computer filled the air.

Name: Gorick Flame

Sex: Male

Nationality: Fire Nation

Charges: Human trafficking, Offering sex to a minor, Soliciting sex of minor males to older Johns.

Location: Fire Nation Disctrict, Block #34, Suite #102.

The information was downloaded on a small flash drive. When the transfer was complete she stuffed the drive into her jean pocket before shutting the computer down. She padded carefully to his bed, crawling over his sleeping form. She leaned down and kissed his cheek.

"Thanks for the ride."

She grabs her bag and sneaks out of the house in silence.

...

One week later.

"Detective Kunik," a crime scene investigator called over to the higher ranking officer that ducked past the yellow police tape. The Inuit woman approached the scene of the dirty motel room. It reeked with pungent smells of piss, vomit and the one smell that the detective could never get used to, rotting death. The investigator handed her the report. The woman sighed while glancing it over with her azul pupils then gazed over to the body on the bed. Another Triad gang leader dead in his bed. Sporting the same clean gash across the jugular that she was so used to seeing along with the signature of the killer's black lipstick printed on his cheek.

"Gorick Flame..." She sighed. "We've been trying to get him as an informant for months but he had too much money for lawyers..." Korra Tikani Kunik rubbed her eyes exhaustedly with a groan. "Dahlia... what are you doing?" she muttered to herself.

"Looks like she left a note this time," one of the other members of the CSI announced. Korra beamed up in excitement and trotted over to the man. She quickly slipped on a rubber glove and took the piece of paper. It was crisp, some kind of card stock with an off white color. No larger than the standard business card.

'The Black Dahlia cleans the filth of this city.'

She was being mocked. Korra growled and gave the card back while commanding the investigator to get it analyzed with the rest of the evidence. She has had been working this serial killer's case for a couple of years now. The Black Dahlia has killed 68 men so far, 12 of those murders Korra has personally investigated and witnessed to the crime scenes since she transferred to the Special Victims Unit of Republic City. She was tired of the Black Dahlia's games, tired of chasing her.

Korra was a decorated officer of the United Republic's Army. She enlisted the day she turned 18. She became a hero in the last war, nearly died a few times but saved her entire troop from an terrorist maniac named Amon, who's idea of peace involved a lot more violence than necessary. Korra took pride in her accomplishments. When she was released from duty, she wanted to continue bringing balance to the world with her military skills and background. So she joined the Republic City Police Force.

She quickly became unhappy with her career choice, however. She wanted to do more. All the rules and restrictions of the police force restrained her from successfully engaging action to keep the city street's clean. Her tactics were more dirty, hit first ask questions later type of business. And now here she was, 25 years old, basking in the work of the Black Dahlia. The serial killer has crawled under her skin in a bad way. This woman was killing every single major sex criminal in the city before the police even knew what the hell is going on. It was Korra's job to take down the bad guys, not the Dahlia's. She was actually jealous of the killer. She could find and kill anyone that deserved her judgement, get glorified in the newspapers and broadcasts, and leave the police looking like jackasses.

The Black Dahlia was getting on her nerves. Killing all the suspects before Korra could even lift a finger to submit a request for a warrant. It pissed her off. The only thing that kept Korra from exploding with rage was the support of her partner, Detective Mako Jackson. He was a serious man but always was able to keep Korra from doing anything too stupid. She was grateful for him even though she rarely showed it since they argued all the time about everything. His familiar hand rested on her shoulder.

"Is it the usual?" He asked.

"Yeah..." she sighed. "She's getting more and more confident... third one this month."

"It will only be a matter of time before she slips up and leaves something of interest behind. They always do eventually."

"How can you be so sure?" the female detecive shot out with venom, folding her arms.

"How about you fetch us some coffee? I can handle things here," Mako knew she wasn't in the mood for another Black Dahlia crime scene today. The killings have becoming more frequent as time went on. Little evidence left behind, leaving all the police officers scratching their heads in bewilderment. Each scene bothered Korra to no end and Mako picked up on the increased frustration his partner was experiencing. Korra groaned in disapproval at his suggestion but stomped away from the scene anyways.

Mako wondered around the filthy motel room, slipping on his pair of rubber gloves. He opened the bedside table to take a look at it's contents. A wad of yuan wrapped in a rubber band, a silverplated pistol and a lot of random business letters. Mako picked up the letters and scanned over them briefly. Business reports of charitable donations, purchases and sales reporting. Mako glanced over at the victim on the bed.

"Why would a gangster have all of these papers?" Mako asked out loud to no one in particular. He continued to look them over in detail for a moment. One report with sales had caught his eye. It wasn't the numbers that was intriguing nor the wording of the report. It was the name of the business.

Future Industries Corporation

His jaw tightened as he read the company title. Future Industries Corporation was the most successful automobile company headquartered right here in Republic City. The report was old, however. Ten years old, in fact. What was really of interest was the fact that the Black Dahlia's first known victim was the founder of Future Industries, Hiroshi Sato.

"Anything interesting?" Korra asked as she carried two paper cups of black coffee.

"Ummm..." Mako gulped and showed Korra the paper.

"Future Industries?!" Korra exclaimed excitedly. "What kind of business is involved with the Triads? And what does the Dahlia have to do with all of this? You know what this means?!" Korra turned to him, eyes lit up like an excited child. "Miss Sato! She must know how this is connected! We need to interview her again!"

Mako winced and sucked in his breath. "Yeah... That might be a problem..." His reaction immediately killed Korra's enthusiasm.

She lifted her chin and furrowed her eyebrows. "...why?"

"Ummm..." Mako hesitated as Korra's gazed transformed into a menacing glare. "Well... you remember the policemen's ball that you were too good for? You know the one that President Raiko came to?"

Korra arched an eyebrow. "Yeah?"

"Well... Future Industries funded the event and Asami was there and we talked and had some drinks and she came back to my place..."

"YOU SLEPT WITH HER?!" Korra screamed. The crime scene fell silent. All the investigators paused, staring at the two detectives. Korra was filling quickly with rage. "Mako! You knew she is a person of interest on this case!" She turned to one of the investigators and shoved the cups of coffee into his fumbling hands before storming out of the scene again.

"Korra! Wait!" Mako put the papers down and ran after her. "It's been ten years since Hiroshi was killed! I didn't think it would jeopardize the case!"

Korra turned on her heels, her face steaming red. She wanted to punch him in his stupid fucking face. "We finally found something of interest and now you have to be kicked off the investigation because you couldn't help but fuck every vagina in Republic City!"

That stung. Mako has been known to be a lady's man. He was attractive, built well with olive skin, stylishly spiked black hair and orange, firey eyes. Korra had admitted to herself that she had a crush on him once. But the more she worked with him the more she realized that he wasn't boyfriend material. A player. A pumpest asshole in regards to women. It didn't help that she let him get into her pants a couple of times in the past. Regardless, he should have known better than to sleep with Asami Sato, the current CEO and owner of Future Industries.

"I'm sorry!" Mako groaned and rubbed his face.

"You stay here and finish this!" Korra growled in anger. "I'll set up an appointment with Sato." The police woman groaned and rubbed her neck in frustration. "Looks like I will have to interview her alone..."

"Is that a problem for you?" Mako asked.

"N-no..." she muttered. "She just rubs me the wrong way... being all prissy and rich. Women like that pisses me off."

Mako laughed. "What doesn't piss you off?" Korra rolled her eyes and huffed before leaving in her black sedan.

...

Korra approached the large front door of the Sato Estate. She made an effort to dress in her best professional attire. Her blue blazer hung open, accented by a light blue dress shirt, mocha tie, and khaki dress pants. Her golden badge hung presentably on her leather belt. She sighed nervously before racking on the mahogany door, followed by three ringings of the door bell. The door swung open by an old man dressed in his butler attire.

"Detective Kunik!" He announced her presence with a smile and gestured her to entire. "Please, come in! Miss Sato has been looking forward to your arrival."

Korra nodded firmly and entered the house. She's been here once before when she became the lead detective for the Black Dahlia's case. The butler escorted her to the living room. The couches were a deep brown leather accented by warm reds and oranges about the space. There sat Asami Sato, reclined in a chair with a book. Her flowing raven hair spilled over her shoulders. She had her signature red lipstick on but her eye shadow was different, Korra noticed. Last time she had purple shadow, but today it was green. It was a lighter shade than her emerald irises. Asami stood up, placing her book down and approached Korra with a warm smile.

"Detective!" She said rather excitedly. "Please, have a seat."

Korra took her request, taking a perch on the love seat. Her eyes scanned over Asami. She was beautiful as always. She wore black slacks and a white blouse. Simple but it all hugged her curves well. Korra cleared her throat as Asami joined her on the couch, making the detective tense a little. It was a more informal placement as far as an interview is conducted. Usually Korra sits across from the interviewee with a table in between. This felt a lot more casual... more intimate. The hair on the back of the detective's neck was standing on end.

"Detective Jackson is not with you today?"

Korra felt a bit of rage swell up in her chest at the mention of Mako. She managed to keep her cool, however.

"No... unfortunately he had to take care of something else," she lied. Korra's attention was brought to the bulter who presented the women with a tray of freshly brewed tea, pouring each of them a cup.

"Thank you," Korra said to him as she was presented with her serving. As soon as the servant left, the interview began.

"There is something I don't quite understand about your father's death..." Korra said. "Your father's murder mimics the style of the Dahlia's but he wasn't a primarily a sex criminal like the others..."

"That is true," Asami agreed. "However, I did discover later that he did partake of the Triad's services of sex services with young girls..."

"That is why I'm here, actually..." the detective announced as she took a piece of folded paper. "Last week, the Black Dahlia killed another Triad leader. We found this among his belongings." Asami took the paper and unfolded it with care.

"Huh..." Asami's eyebrows rose. "This is Satomobile sales report from ten years ago... well that's not too surprising I suppose."

"It's not?"

"My father was an overall good man, despite his bad dealings with the company... It took me a while to construct Future Industries practically from the ground up, cleaning out all the dirty money my father was laundering for the Triads."

"Why didn't you mention this before?"

"I didn't think it was relative to the case..." Asami said honestly. "I wanted to make sure that the media didn't know about the involvement Future Industries had back then. If that got out, I wouldn't have been able to save the company." The young CEO handed the paper back to the detective. "It is rather strange that you found this... its an old report... why didn't the guy throw it away by now?"

"Maybe he still needed it as leverage if he had to..."

"Leverage against who?"

"You, of course."

"What would a Triad need from me?" Asami laughed at the idea.

"Gangsters take a lot of things personally. Maybe he was upset that Future Industries wasn't laundering money for him anymore."

Asami shrugged nonchalantly at the idea. She knew she didn't have anything to worry about. She can handle herself and had more power than anyone in the city. She could truthfully challenge the President in power if she really wanted to. Korra sighed and rubbed her temples, expressing her distress.

"Is everything alright, Detective?" She asked, leaning in.

"I dont know why but this case has gotten to me personally. Everyone else says to let it go, the Black Dahlia is doing this city good. Like a super hero or something. But the Dahlia is still a murderer, a serial killer. They are impulsive, dangerous and what if this is only the beginning? What if she goes after innocent people if she can't satisfy her bloodlust?"

"I don't think you have to worry about that. She has plenty of prey."

"It's still against the law to kill someone."

"True... but how is it justified in other circumstances?"

"What do you mean?"

"Like... war, for example. Do you arrest the government for sending soldiers to their deaths? Or arrest the other army for killing specifically? How is killing acceptable in the name of God or your nation's flag but not when some vigilante is killing bad guys."

"It's because those victims are still civilians." korra argued.

"What about the death penalty? Aren't your prisoners once were civilians too? same as the soldiers?"

"Those prisoners have a trial and jury for a chance to prove that they are not guilty if so be it. We have a system here and it works. The Dahlia needs to know that she has no place in interfering."

"Perhaps you are right," she said with a smile. "Also, I am curious, though... How are you so sure that the Black Dahlia is a woman?"

Korra never thought about that before. The question surprised her but she found the answer quickly with a smirk. "I suppose I don't... The black lipstick marks were the only clue that this person wears make up and the name Black Dahlia is feminine in itself. So we are assuming it is a woman at this time."

Asami smiled and bit her bottom lip at the detective's defensiveness. She enjoyed getting her a little worked up about the subject she was so touchy on. Korra swallowed and got back to business.

"Let's go over the incident again." The young detective summoned her little notepad and favorite pen at the ready, flipping to the next clean page. "Tell me about the day and how you found your father."

"I was 16... to be honest the day wasn't the best for our father and daughter relationship. I knew something was wrong with him. He drank... a lot. Well, he always drank since my mother died. But I noticed it was getting worse. I went to his office after school and he was wasted... we argued."

'Dad! Can't you see this is killing you?!' She slammed a newspaper down on his desk. 'CEO Future Industries Drunk at Press Conference'?! Are you fucking serious? You need to stop drinking!' The young Sato was fuming with rage. her father calmly pressed his scotch glass against his lips avoiding her eyes.

'Asami, why don't you go buy yourself something and get out of my face.'

'Fuck you!' Asami growled. 'You don't ever want to see me anymore, you just want to be here and drink! Why?! What the fuck is going on?!' hot tears screaming down her face.

'Because... you look like her." he gulped his drink down and slammed it on the desk. 'Every fucking day... you grow into your mother... I can't fucking stand it. Looking at your face. My beloved... staring back at me, Yasuko.' He growled and grabbed her wrist, pulling her across the desk to the other side, pressing her body against the edge. His hands grasping at her body.

'DAD!' Asami struggled and fought to push him away. 'DAD, you're drunk! Stop it!'

'Yasuko... Yasuko...' he said huskily against his daughter's neck, crying. 'I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to kill you.'

I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to kill you. kill you... kill you... kill... kill. Asami trembled and shook as fear left her paralyzed. Her father killed her mother?! How could he?! And now, he was touching her... He shouldn't be touching her like this, she was his daughter. Asami choked back sobs as she was slammed back onto the desk, her wrists almost crumbled under his grip.

'Forgive me, Yasuko.'

"What did you two argue about?" Korra asked while scribbling some notes on her notepad. Asami gazed at her in silence for a moment. Taking in the detective's features. She was really nice to look at, she decided. Light mocha skin, pretty blue eyes with chestnut hair cropped under her chin. Asami smiled and shrugged her shoulders when those eyes snapped back up in her direction.

"Just the usual stuff teenagers and parents fight over. I was upset about his drunken state at the press conference, I got a lot of dirty looks at school that day for it. I just couldn't live my own life outside the shadow of my father always in the press. After the argument I ran out of the office to blow off some steam with a street race downtown. Then I stayed at a friend's house that night, Kuvira is her name. We are still good friends... she understood what I was going through."

"And then, when you came home after school the next day?"

"Right, I came home after school... and..." Asami swallowed a hard lump in her throat as she hesitated, recalling the scene. Her father slumped back into his chair, neck craned to the side with a deep gash across his throat. The blood had spilled down his 600 yuan dress shirt. His eyes were wide open, mouth agape with the fearful expression that he still carried on with his death. An imprint was left on his pale cheek, black lipstick. "I found him dead in his study." She closed her eyes tightly as she tried to keep her tears from spilling over her cheeks.

Hiroshi huffed as he reclined in his favorite chair, just having poured himself another drink. He fawned over a book for a moment until someone entered his private study. A curvy silhouette sauntering towards him. A tall woman cladded in black leather, tightly hugging every curve. Her head was shrouded in a black hood and her eyes covered in a dark mask.

"Who are you?" Hiroshi asked. "I didn't ask for any girls tonight."

The woman said nothing, but kept closing in, her boots clicked hard and increased in pace as she neared him. She whipped around his chair, grabbed the hair on top of his head and pulled to expose his neck. She leaned in, eyes dark, lips painted in black and breathed out her words in darkness.

"Bad daddies need to be punished..." she said before unsheathing a blade, twirling it with expertise until if fit just perfectly in her gloved dominant hand. His eyes widened with fear as she gazed into his. He started to panic and thrashed helplessly to get free but it was too late. The intruder clenched her jaw and motioned, slicing his jugular. She leaned down and kissed his cheek with affection. "Our daughter is safe now..."

Asami flinched as Korra placed a hand over hers. The touch was startling, something made her feel... strange. Her pulse quickened... this woman made her feel uneasy... uncomfortable. Her emerald eyes dashed to those sapphires that looked at her with concern. It was genuine...

"I know this is hard, Miss Sato..." she said snapping her hand away thinking it was the wrong move when the raven haired woman flinched. The air quickly became tense but Korra pressed further to keep the interview going. "I can't thank you enough for your cooperation in this investigation."

Asami shifted in her seat and flipped her hair out of her face. Korra instantly tensed up. The woman cleared her throat, folding her legs. "What have you found out so far?"

"I'm sorry I can't discuss the details with you," the detective straightened her posture. "I hope you understand."

"I do..." Asami scooted a little closer to her, tilting her head and played with a strand of onyx hair. "You know I think I can help your investigation though. I had to cut all the ties Future Industries had with the Triads. I still have those contacts. Maybe I can get some information for you?"

'Is she... flirting with me?' Korra asked herself as her stomach flipped. The detective fidgeted a bit. "What kind of contacts?" She asked out loud.

"Well, mostly the lot my father dealt with. I know where they hang out most nights. Maybe we can find some information on the most recent murder? Most of the Dahlia's victims are Triads. Maybe they know something about how the Dahlia gets the information she needs on a target."

The detective froze in thought. It wasn't too bad of an idea... except doing anything without the chief's permission was strictly against the rules. Especially with a person who had a special interest with the case helping her this way. It was a bad idea, a horrible one. But it was the only lead Korra could use right now.

"Alright."

...

AN: