Rating: M (language, violence, sex)

Chapter word count: ~1600

Summary: Mako is already a well-experienced homicide detective in Republic City when Beifong reluctantly assigns him to take over the case of the "Red Killer," the serial murderer that likely was responsible for the death of his parents. Little does he know that the Beifong's reassignment of Vice Detective Korra as his new partner will change things in ways he never anticipated. Noir AU

Author Note: This chapter has some plot building so we can get to the meat!

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Chapter 2 – "Street of Dreams"

"Love laughs at a king, kings don't mean a thing on the street of dreams
Dreams broken in two can be made like new on the street of dreams"

"You got a light?" Korra pulled a cigarette out and held it deftly between two fingers.

"Of course," he pulled out his worn lighter and flicked the flame ablaze.

She held out an unlit smoke, "Want one?" The lit cigarette dangled from the corner of her mouth.

"I don't smoke. People are starting to say it's bad for you."

"Since when are 'people' a reputable source for anything but gossip?" She took a long drag, expelling the smoke into the already polluted air of the police meeting room. "So you don't smoke, but you carry a lighter around?"

"Habit," he shrugged.

The lighter had been his father's. Other than the red scarf he had, it was all he had left of his parents as far as mementos went. Even the memories were foggy; after all he was only eight years old when the two were cut down in front of him.

"Just looking to add a few more pieces to the mystery that is Detective Mako."

"Great." He didn't even bother to look in her direction.

"Look, are you going to keep being cold to me, or are we going to work as a team and get this done?"

Instead of responding he busied himself looking at the brown sludge that passed for coffee in his mug that was now lukewarm.

"This isn't about your brother is it?"

"You slept with my brother!" Mako hissed.

"I didn't sleep with your brother," she crossed her arms.

"I saw him slip a handful of condoms into his pocket," he glared at her, not sure if he could believe his new partner.

"That doesn't mean he got to use any, with me at least." Korra leaned over the table towards him. "And even if we did, your brother is a big boy, and I'm pretty sure he can handle himself."

"How did you even meet him?" he narrowed his eyes. He could only wonder what Bolin got into when he wasn't around; a Vice detective showing up was hopefully only a coincidence.

"I was at a bar with some of the guys and ran into him. He seemed fun."

"I just don't want my brother getting hurt okay?" His shoulders sagged in defeat. "I overreacted."

"Don't worry so much, he seemed like a pro with the girls anyway," she waved him off. "Now can we focus on what actually matters?"

Mako closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Right," he nodded. "We need to dig through the entire case file, and we need to do it together so we can work all of this out."

She nodded, "Let's get lunch first."

"You just got here," he glared. He had come in at his normal time, which was evidently much earlier than hers.

She checked the clock on the wall. "Well it's like, 11:30 already. Let's grab lunch and discuss over food."

Not only was she infuriating, she was probably incompetent. Clearly she was thinking of her stomach before the very important case they had been assigned.

"I'll buy," her voice had a singing quality as she leaned over the table.

"Deal."

Free food was something he could never argue with.

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"Narook's always reminds me of home," Korra pulled the steaming hot bowl of thick seafood noodles towards her on the now cluttered conference room table.

As much as he hated to even think it, lunch ended up being a sound suggestion from his new partner. The noodle shop was a short distance away from the station, and the walk to pick up the called-in food cleared his head. He pulled the carton of dumplings towards him with one hand and part of the case file to his side with the other.

"I know about your parents."

Mako's hand froze clutching chopsticks, halfway to his mouth. Her sudden change in demeanor surprised him.

"I wasn't sure if you were gonna tell me or you didn't want me to know," thankfully she never met his eyes. "But it's something I needed to know going forward. I don't think it will hurt us on the case. Right?"

He nodded mutely, dumpling still hanging midair.

"Good." She smiled, her eyes full of warm reassurance.

Unable to hold her gaze for long, he refocused on the suddenly very interesting food in front of him.

"So," her mouth was full of half-chewed udon noodles. He was incredibly grateful for the abrupt subject change. "I noticed something a little odd when I was going over my copy of the file."

Mako looked up and raised an eyebrow to urge her on.

"There seems to be a divide between victims nineteen and twenty."

He flipped through his file.

Korra swiped the box of dumplings from in front of him. "Did you notice that killings one through nineteen are predominantly guys with a few gals, but victim twenty and on are all female?"

"That is odd," he flipped through the list of the fallen.

The contrast was stark enough it was likely it wasn't a coincidence. It was already well known that the victims of the Red Killer seemed to range from high profile gang members, to family members of high profile businessmen, to seemingly random girls off the street. As a homicide detective, he was used to looking for patterns. Unless there was a root cause or something clearly explainable…well he honestly didn't know what to make of it.

"All of the killings though follow the Red Killer's usual method." He pulled one of the more gruesome photos from the folder. "All victims were first stabbed from behind before having their throat slit."

"But all of the killings past and including victim twenty show signs of rape before their throats were slit."

After all, the media name the "Red Killer" wasn't for nothing. Each crime-scene photoset was as gory as any he had seen. The Killer knew what he was doing, and probably wanted to maximize the gush of blood. Mako couldn't help but feel a large pang of disgust.

"Are we sure this isn't a bunch of killers?" Korra crossed her arms, halting her eating for the first time since the take-out hit the table. "The Red Killer is a big name. There could be plenty of copy-cat killings that would know they would get away by pegging it on this guy."

"The forensic reports…" he wanted to pull out the right sheet from the file to back up his position, "…show that the same knife was used. Each wound had the same depth. Probably wouldn't be multiple people then."

"Alright," Korra looked at him. Her bright eyes caught him off guard; he hadn't noticed earlier how deep they seemed, like a bottomless seas of blue. "This guy has to have some underworld connections. Why don't we work some of my vice contacts and—"

"—Take the rest of the day off?"

She narrowed her eyes, "Look. I don't know what you think I do over there in the Vice Department, but it's real work okay, City Boy? I'm pretty damn sure that some of my contacts—"

"—Who you'll pay off. Or get paid off by."

"Will you fucking cut it out already?" She stood up; her chair fell backward and clattered to the floor. "Sometimes you do what you have to do, so you can get the guy that is one level deeper. You don't understand."

"You think I don't understand?" He rose from his chair and took a step closer to her. He was just about a full head taller than her at standing height. "I've been a cop since I got out of the academy at twenty! That's six fucking years on the force."

"I've also been a cop for six years!"

"Yeah but only three in Republic City." He knew she transferred from being a small-town wherever she came from.

"Fine you've made your point," Korra crossed her arms but tilted her chin up. "We'll do this your way, by the book…for now."

The two were still seething, his head angled down so he could look her in the eye. They were close, and a bit too close for his liking. Her eyes were still narrowed in anger; her lips scrunched up and squeezed tightly like the fists at her side. Mako could already tell she wasn't the kind to back down.

"Now what?" He broke the thick silence.

"We investigate victim nineteen."

"And who was that?"

"The late Sato Heiress. Wife to Hiroshi Sato the scumbag."

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Author Note: I'm not sure in my confidence to craft a mystery, but I'm going to do my best.