The fifth time Asami plucked at her bandage, Mako couldn't ignore it. "Stop that," he whispered. "We don't want to draw attention to anything that might make us a target." Bandages, fine clothes, strangers in a town small enough that it was obvious that they were strangers. They might as well have been wearing signs that said "Please mug."

And Ku Gao looked like the kind of place that saw its share of muggings. The streets were narrow and twisty. Cobblestone gave way to dirt without warning or apparent pattern. Half the storefronts they passed were boarded up, and paint on the signs advertising everything from books to flowers was chipped. Children, lean and hard-eyed, watched them with interest; but the few adults he saw had vacant, slightly unfocused, stares. The faint scent of opium smoke clung to everything. He took a breath. This poverty was just as sharp as anything he had seen on Republic City's streets, but somehow worse. There was life in the chaos of the Dragon Flats Borough, but here there was only a slow strangulation. No life, no opportunity, no hope.

"Sorry." Asami flexed her fingers. "It feels so weird not to have the glove. I feel naked without it."

Mako flushed slightly. Ever since last night, his thoughts had been full of her. The way she moved, the scent of jasmine on her skin, the way her good hand felt when it brushed against his. He felt as if he had woken from a long sleep. So suddenly, sharply aware of her that even the word naked conjured memories that it was better to forget. "You were a great fighter before and you still are."

"At least I've got my range of motion back. Now all I have to worry about is some scarring. And the itching." She stopped in front of a tavern. Or at least it had been a tavern. Like everything else here, the windows were dark. "I remember this place. Practically bursting at the seams the last time I was here. The town was always poor, but now it's like it's rotting from within."

"I've heard about places like this. Now that everybody's moving to rail travel, the towns that don't have a station are dying." He wondered if that was why they had seen so few people their own age. All the people who could were heading to Ba Sing Se or Zaofu in search of opportunity. Most of them would end up like his family—if they were lucky.

Asami traced the grimy stone with her fingers. "They need investment, economic activity. Money." Her voice was soft. "I wonder how much difference that chest of gold would have made."

Mako put his hand on her shoulder. "It wasn't your fault. The Earth Queen tricked you."

"I know," Asami said, but the hunch of her shoulders belied her words. "I just wish I could help a few more people that I wasn't lucky enough to hit with my moped. These people deserve—"

"Hands where I can see them!" The voice behind him shook.

Mako turned and blinked. At first he thought he was looking at Bolin. A younger, pimply-faced version of Bolin. He was tall and well-built, but his clothes were patched and threadbare. What really got Mako's attention was the pair of hook swords he held in his hands. He had never seen them outside of children's books describing the Hundred Year War, but these were sharp and vicious-looking. Old, but obviously well cared for. "Give me your money. Now."

"Kid doesn't know how to use those. He's holding them all wrong," Asami whispered. She took a step forward and addressed the boy. "Why don't you put those away and we'll have a nice chat?"

"I said give me your money!" The boy tried to growl menacingly, but the effect was spoiled by the crack in his voice.

Asami took another step forward, hands out and voice gentle and even as she approached the frozen boy. "You don't want to do this."

"You don't understand." He swallowed." I owe this guy money and he works for Tsu-chen. I know what happens to people who piss off the Queen of the Skies."

Asami and Mako looked at each other. Mako nodded to her and Asami fished a two thousand yuan note out of her pocket. "I'm betting this is a lot more than you were thinking you would get. It's yours if you tell me about Tsu-chen."

The boy gaped at her. "I—I said…"

Asami moved like water and disarmed the boy with quick, fluid motions. The swords clattered on the ground as the boy whimpered. "It's a good weapon, graceful." She sounded like she was in a meeting with her engineers. "Don't treat it like a meat cleaver. Now, maybe you should tell us about Tsu-chen?"

The boy couldn't stop staring at the swords. "You're not from around here, are you?" He tore his eyes from the ground long enough to make sure they were alone. "Tsu-chen runs this whole state. Opium, gambling, weapons. Nothing gets through here except what she wants to get through. And the piracy. Can't forget about that. People who owe her or her people money disappear. And sometimes people who don't owe her money."

"Where can we find her?" Mako asked.

The boy's eyes popped out of his head, and for a moment he could only stare. Then he laughed, terrified and disbelieving. "You don't want to find her. You're not safe, even if you're foreign. Maybe especially if you're foreign. Guy came through two weeks ago. Real nice clothes, just like you. Tsu-chen's men snatched him right off the street.

Mako raised an eyebrow. "You wouldn't happen to remember this guy's name, would you?"

His face scrunched together and he eyed the yuan note with obvious hunger. "W—Wen."

The color drained from Asami's face and now it was her hands that were shaking. "Wen. Do you know where he is, where she took him?"

"I've told you everything I know. Please, just give me the money and let me go before someone figures out that I talked to you."

Asami tossed him the note, and they watched as the boy took it, picked up the swords and scurried away.

Asami collapsed against the nearest wall. "She took Wen. She took him." Shivers wracked her body." She took him," she whispered.

Mako watched her for a moment. He'd always responded to other people's emotional crises by trying to fix the immediate physical problem. He'd gotten better at comforting people, but his insides still twisted up. It was one thing to take her hand in the privacy of her cabin, but he wasn't quite sure what to do here when anyone could wander by. Did she want his arm around her? Would it help? Or did she want a plan? Theories on where Wen might be? He stood paralyzed, terrified of making things worse yet again.

But…but he wanted to hold her, he realized. He put his arm around her and then seemed to be the right thing to do because she stilled and relaxed. They stood like that for a long moment, and he could almost feel her strength and resolve growing. Her heartbeat was strong and regular." Thank you," she whispered. She left his embrace slowly and gently as if it were something she had a perfect right to. But when she does looked at him, her eyes were as hard and cold as the street urchins'.

"She's kidnapped and killed my men. I'm going to find her, I am going to get Wen, and I am going to kill her." She pulled all the way away from him and began to pace. "Which means that I have to find her."

"And she runs this entire state. Five hundred kilometers of dirt and rock." Yep, definitely a needle in a really big place. "What worries me is that we didn't know he was taken until now. Big operation like this has to have access to a radio transmitter capable of reaching Republic City. You should have gotten a ransom demand by now."

"Which means he's not being held for ransom." She stopped. "They kid said other people had been taken. And not seen again. If Wen's gotten mixed up with loan sharks or drug dealers…"

Mako shook his head. "But why get mixed up with a syndicate all the way out here? Triple Threats and Red Monsoons can get you anything you want. And they don't usually kill the customer. Puts a wrench into the whole 'force them to pay you back' plan. Anything unusual about Wen? Vices, hobbies?"

"None that I ever heard about. He's been with the company since before I was born, but he wasn't an Equalist." Her voice turned wistful. "Married to the same man for thirty years, happily as far as I know. He was an engineer up until I took the company back over from Varrick and promoted him to management. Still wore the same ratty suit and drove the same Satomobile."

"Okay, I'm stumped. I'm going to pay a visit to the local police chief, see if I can get him to tell me anything. Though if Tsu-chen really is that powerful, he's probably on the take."

"I'll go with you. Provide backup." She smiled at him, and he could almost pass for real one. "And by backup I mean bribe money. I did pick up a few things from Varrick." Her fingers threaded into his and they set off down the street. Despite everything, Asami's hands were warm and soft, and it was Mako's turn to relax. The few people they passed on the way to the chief's house smiled and nodded at them. They might have been any pair of young lovers. Mako found himself wishing, again, that he hadn't been such an idiot when he had had her. If he ever had the chance to visit his brother while he was off saving the rest of the Earth Kingdom, Mako would ask him if Varrick could invent a time machine.

The police chief's home turned out to be a manor house, the largest Mako had seen in the village so far. But like everything else in this place, it seemed faded. A plump, middle-aged woman ushered them into a drawing room with a carpet that was just this side of threadbare. The chairs were in the same style as the ones in Asami's sitting room, but there were scratches and nicks in the wood. "My husband and I have so few guests. Where did you say you were from?"

"Republic City, ma'am," Mako said. "I'm with the RCPD, and I was hoping your husband could help me with a criminal investigation." Well, it was technically true. He was still a detective and they were investigating a criminal.

"And you couldn't wait and do this at the station?"

"I'm afraid it's time sensitive. Someone's life could be in danger."

"Someone's life is always in danger," said a deep rumbling voice. The man who spoke was about Lin's age, with a thick mane of silver hair and dark, heavy eyebrows. He wore green and yellow silks a little too impractical for Mako to quite believe that a police chief was wearing them voluntarily. "I am Chief Xian. Min, sweetheart, if you could bring our guests some tea."

"Of course." She smiled, but Mako caught a whisper on the wind as she left. "And to think we had servants when we married."

Mako's eyes narrowed. The officer taking bribes to support a standard of living he could no longer afford was an old story, but one that made the fire in his blood simmer. Xian being on the take and just gotten more plausible. "A Republic City citizen went missing and was last seen in this area. I have reason to believe he's the prisoner of Tsu-chen. Who also attempted to board us and killed several of my friend's security officers." He inclined his head to Asami.

Xian blanched. "That was you?" he croaked. "There's been rumors all over town. Nobody's ever managed to stop one of Tsu-chen's raids before. Got some of the younger people in a lather, thinking they can change things that can't be changed. Any of them ends up with a knife in their back, I'm blaming you."

"Tsu-chen started this," Asami said quietly. "I'm not leaving without my employee."

"I'm afraid you'll be disappointed." Xian's voice was cold and matter-of-fact. "Tsu-chen's operation depends on her airfleet. And the kind of people who can maintain that generally don't want to work for pirates. She kidnaps visiting foreigners every few months, usually engineers. No ransom ever asked for. And we've never recovered a single one of them. You want to know what I think? I think she works them half to death, kills them after a few months, and starts the whole process over again."

The tremor in Asami's fingers was almost imperceptible. "And you just let her do that? You don't look for these victims?"

"I didn't say that. I said we never found them. And I'm tired of seeing good men and women died because…" his voice broke slightly. "…because of some storybook notion that the good guys always win and the bad guys always lose. And because I—"

"Because you what?" Mako made his voice low and dangerous, the same one he used to interrogate Triple Threats. "Maybe you don't find them because you don't try hard enough. Maybe it's not worth your while. Maybe it's worth more to you to look the other way. Syndicate like this can't survive without greasing some palms."

Mako waited for the inevitable angry denial. But Xian went very still. "You think I'm on the take?" His laughter was bitter and a little deranged. "Tsu-chen might pay someone to disembowel me after she's seen the whole town die. She gives the young people a chance to get out of this one ostrich-horse town and does all her killing and stealing in a backwater state that the Earth Queen only cared about once we decided to stand up for ourselves. I guess you know how that turned out."

Xian didn't seem to notice Asami flinch as he continued, "I'm sure Tsu-chen bribes people in Ba Sing Se because that's where the real money in the opium trade is. I'm sure she's compromised a few Provisional Authority officers. But me? Anybody over forty in this town, for that matter? She just wants to see us burn."

Asami's eyes narrowed, and Mako could see the wheels turning in her head. "Tsu-chen looked like she was about forty."

"Very clever. Her full name is Tsu-chen Choi. The Chois were the richest family this side of Omashu. Ran a tin mine. Gave me my first job."

"So, what? You're turning a blind eye because you think you owe her?"

His voice turned distant. "Tsu-chen, she glittered in her silks and jewelry. We all used to joke that she must have been brought from the Spirit World because she certainly didn't get her looks from her parents. And she loved to give that money away. Even to a teenage boy working the mines as part of his first job." He laughed again, still bitter. "She said she loved me. Maybe it was even true."

It was suddenly very hot in the drawing room. Mako pulled out his collar and Asami's cheeks were red. "But now she hates you?"

"I was a stupid kid. Nobody had ever showered me with gifts before, and she was pretty, and it was flattering. I didn't really love her, but I liked her and I told myself that was enough. But then old Mr. Choi got to speculating and he lost everything. No more presents, and by then I'd met Min and well… You know how these things go."

Mako felt cold inside. Little flashes of memory banged against his mind. Touching a suit that looked like something a Fire Lord would wear and not believing when the maître d' said it was for him. Mr. Sato sponsoring his team like it was nothing. Looking at the marble stairs and gilt columns of the mansion and thinking that this might be his life and wondering what he had done right. But also Korra's kiss, hot and electric. Watching her move, watching her fight, watching her burn with a fire hotter than any he had ever created. "I know how these things go."

"Maybe I could have been gentler about it, but I was trying to do what was right for me at the time. Her whple family left in disgrace and nobody saw her here again until after the Earth Queen died. She already had her little syndicate, but she moved the bulk of her operation out here. Guess she blamed us for losing everything. Blamed me."

"You did abandon her." Asami's voice was ice.

"I was a dumb kid," Xian repeated. "You've probably never been poor in your life. It's easy to get caught up in that. And it's not like I made her take up raiding and drug smuggling and everything else. If I—"

The door opened and Xian's voice was swallowed up in the whoop and holler of children. Two small boys, all dirty faces and scabby knees charged into the room bearing long sticks. "Dad, Po cheated!"

"Did not! The Stone Warrior always beats the evil bandit. It's not my fault you lost."

The teenager who followed them was a younger version of Xian, handsome and dark-complexioned. His hair was tied back and his gold-rimmed glasses gave him a scholarly air. "No fighting, you two." He bowed hastily to Mako and Asami. "Sorry. I didn't realize we had company." He peered at them. "Wait, I know you. There was a picture of you in the paper when all that stuff with the spirits was going on. Your friends of the Avatar."

"The Avatar who stole our gold. Lovely. Now I know you two are trouble."

But the two younger boys' eyes were wide with excitement. "You knew the Avatar?"

Mako rubbed the back of his neck. All those years as a probender and he had never quite mastered the art of dealing with an awestruck kid. "Yeah. I, um, guess you can say that."

"Wow! Have you ever fought any bad guys?" Po waved his stick sword about wildly, nearly whacking Mako in the leg. "I want to fight bad guys when I grow up. Be a Stone Warrior. Or a cop like my dad. Or maybe the Avatar!"

"We already have an Avatar."

The oldest boy shifted awkwardly. "May I see our guests out, Father?"

Xian grunted and the boy took that for assent because he took Asami by the arm and led them to the door. "I'm sorry about my Dad. Things were bad even before the Earth Queen died, and now it's even worse. We need outside help. Badly. Especially Future Industries help." He smiled slightly at the look on their faces. "After what happened last time, I don't think I'm going to forget what a Future Industries airship looks like. That gold could have fed a lot of people."

Asami looked at the ground. "I—we didn't know. I'm sorry."

"But don't you see? You could help. People join up with Tsu-chen because they don't have any other options. The fastest way to break a triad is to give someone a good factory job."

Mako frowned. there was something fierce in his voice, more than just an academic discussion of economics. "Who do you know that's in with the pirates?"

"I—what—how did you know?"

"Cop. It kind of goes with the territory."

The boy looked at his feet. "My boyfriend Bao. He's the inkeeper's son, but we're not exactly flush with visitors. He took out a loan from Rui Ta. I don't think he's a big guy for Tsu-chen, but he's still not somebody you want to get mixed up with. His brother Bei's been making noises about joining the pirates too. Because they don't think they can get a good job any other way."

Asami flinched. "I know. I can never repay what I owe this place, but I'd like to-wait, this Bao of yours, does he own a pair of hook swords?"

"His grandfather's." An expression of pure horror crossed his face. "What did he do?"

"Tried to mug us," Mako said dryly. "Tried being the operative word."

He put his hand to his face. "I'm going to strangle him." He looked at Mako and Asami with pleading eyes. "Don't tell anyone. Especially not my dad. He already thinks I'm slumming it. Bao's a great guy. He's just…desperate."

Asami put a hand on his shoulder. "Don't let anyone, especially not your dad, tell you that someone is beneath you. You decide what someone is worth to you, no one else." There was an acid tinge to her voice. "I'm sorry. I didn't catch your name."

"Deng."

"Well, Deng. We are friends of the Avatar. And we will help as much as we can. After all, that's what Korra does best. Give people hope."

They took their leave and returned to the dusty, decrepit streets. How were they supposed to bring hope to this? Mako kept replaying the conversation with Xian in his head. There had been a beggar who lived in the tunnels beneath the city and to claim he was a sage. He said that a great cycle controlled everything, with events repeating again and again with only minor variations. Some were destined to be heroes. And others were doomed to be faithless lovers, leaving one person as soon as something better came along. He had stared at Mako pointedly when he said that.

When the whole mess with Korra and Asami had happened, he had tried to dress it up. Korra had kissed him. He was in love with her. He just hadn't realized it until Tarrlok had kidnapped her. But Xian was the distilled form of everything he had been. A jerk. A cheat. A lousy, good-for-nothing scoundrel. "I'm sorry," he said softly. "For the way I treated you before. Both times. I don't think I ever really apologized."

Asami stopped walking and looked at him in surprise. "Mako?"

He kept going. "I wasn't just using you for your money. I really liked you." He swallowed. I still do. But he didn't know how to say that.

Asami closed the distance between them and cupped his cheek. Her fingers were hot on his skin. "I know. You're nothing like him. You're a good man. Just a little thick." She laughed, and it was genuine. Her breath caressed his face, and for a moment Mako could almost believe he had a chance. He focused on her lips, still as dark and red as cherries. He remembered that they tasted like cherries, too. Maybe they could put the past behind them. Maybe he could take her hands and drop to his knees and swear that he would be better this time. He couldn't replace Korra, but he would try to make her happy. Maybe…

But Asami's hand fell to her side and her expression shifted to businesslike so quickly that Mako was left gasping for breath. "Since Xian won't help us, we're going to need other leads. I'm not going to let Wen die."

Oh. Right. The actual reason they were here. Idiot. Still not thinking with your brain. "You've got a plan?"

"This Rui Ta. We get him to talk. Maybe he can tell us where Wen is."

"It could work." Mako tried to transform his addled brain into something worthy of a detective. "But if he really is a small fish-eel, he may not know."

"Okay. You're the organized crime expert. How do we catch the big fish-eel? How did you catch Viper?"

"We interfered with Triple Threat operations. Got him pissed off. Drug buys, arson, extortion. You name it, we were there." He frowned. "Which almost got me killed." The scars on his chest and knee still ached in bad weather.

"I remember." She smiled sadly at him. "But I can't just sit by and do nothing. But I don't want innocent people to be hurt. If Tsu-chen finds out I'm after her, she might go after you. Or kill Wen. Or kill someone else."

"I'm with you regardless." But the civilians… they wouldn't be even a little safe. And they both knew it. They were probably lucky Tsu-chen wasn't hacking people up in search of bloody vengeance right now. "But as long as she knows you're hunting…" He snapped his fingers as an idea hit him. "What if she didn't know you were hunting? The attack on the airship didn't seem like it was connected to Wen."

"So, what, we adopt secret identities?"

"Go undercover."

"Yes. I could say that I'm here looking for investment opportunities. You're with me because you're about to have access to the future Earth King." She looked at her bandaged hand. "I'm furious about Tsu-chen, of course, but I'm in no condition to take vengeance. And I am so very sick of losing people." The excitement of a new plan made Asami radiant. "You're brilliant."

"I try."

As they marched back to the airship to tell the crew that they would be staying indefinitely, Mako thought of this half-insane plan that was the only one they had. Korra would have been proud of both of them. One last adventure saving those who had no one else to save them. And they would come through this safely, rescue Wen, defeat Tsu-chen, and return as heroes.

It wasn't everything he wanted, but it would be enough.