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Asami's POV

This was really puzzling. I couldn't get a perfect read on her but I could tell she was very confused and hurt. Very hurt. I could see the pain that wasn't entirely physically, it was also mental.

Mako had been right. The girl wasn't from the city. I suspected somewhere isolated. I hated the thought but perhaps the abuse had been longer than the elder had said. She was scared; it wasn't only because of what happened to her but because of where she was. My guess was she'd never seen the inside of a hospital in her life.

"She doesn't cry," someone said. "Normally people that go through that…that's the first thing they do. She hasn't shed a single tear." I turned to look at her. She must have been in her late thirties; she had dark skin, and very familiar cyan eyes…

"Are you a relative of Katara's?" I asked.

The girl blinked. "Uh, yeah," she answered, clearly surprised. "I'm her daughter."

I nodded. "You have your mother's eyes," I noted. "But I'm sure she can answer the question of why she doesn't cry, right?" I said, turning towards the elder.

Katara swallowed thickly and nodded. "This is my daughter, Kya. She's a nurse her as well," she said. I nodded.

"Why doesn't she cry?" her daughter asked again.

The woman studied her for a moment before letting out a long sigh. "She doesn't have enough fluids in her." I could tell that although her daughter was an adult Katara was still trying to protect her from the horrors of this world. It was a shame no one had been there for this girl.

"She trusts him," I stated after some time, my eyes not leaving the two in the room.

"What?" Katara asked, looking at me. She was skeptical of my claim and possibly of me.

"How do you know that?" Kya inquired as well. I could tell she was a very curious person.

"When you were inside with her," I began. "She refused to look at any of you but when he walked into the room, she was startled but then glanced over at him. If I'd blinked I would have missed it."

"I'm pretty sure she looked at us a couple of times when she told us to let her die," the younger healer countered. "Not to mention the sedatives are keeping her calm."

I smiled and called over a male healer. I grabbed his arm and dragged him inside the room. Mako sat up straight and the girl's heart rate immediately began to increase. She was panicking.

"Sorry," I apologized, taking the male out again. Kya went in to stabilize her while her mother looked at me with shock and astonishment. I get that a lot. "I think I proved my point."

She gave me a sharp nod. "This girl is under my protection for now," Katara began cautiously, as if afraid I'd do something crazy. Admittedly that wasn't unlikely. "I would appreciate it if you didn't do that again. She's already nervous as it is and-"

"And the hospital environment is not helping her," I answered, cutting her off. I do that a lot if you haven't noticed. "She's scared because she's been raped, because she tried to take her own life, because she can't control her body urges and because she's never been in a hospital. Everything else is just the icing on top of the cake."

"What the hell was that, Asami?" a clearly infuriated Mako asked as he came outside the room. "You scared her!"

I groaned. I hated repeating myself. "She's already scared Mako. She's in a place she doesn't know with people she doesn't know and every man except for one has hurt her. What else did you expect?"

He closed his eyes and took deep breaths. I knew that gesture very well. I could almost hear him counting to ten in his head. When he finished he opened his eyes, the fire almost gone.

"I'm going to call Bei Fong and then I'm going to have to go. Take care of her," the Firebender said, a slight threat at the end.

"You know, you can't save everyone," I called after him. He stopped and looked over his shoulder but didn't say anything and continued on his way. Kya came out and informed me they were going to put the girl to sleep while they figured out what to do with her.

"What did you mean by that?" Katara asked. I could see the question thing was a family trait.

"His partner was killed about a year ago," I answered. "They both worked on the human trafficking cases like there was no tomorrow. Ben was killed as retaliation when they got too close."

"So he's just helping her because-"

"Mako is helping her because he truly cares," I said, cutting her off once again. I didn't want them to get the wrong idea. "I'm good at reading people's thoughts and emotions, but only he seems to understand them." Of course I knew the reason why, but that was not my story to share.

Lin's POV

Mako had called, saying that he had found a victim from human traffickers. I told him I needed more than just a girl who refused to talk to get the warrants he wanted from Tenzin but he was insistent. I sighed over the phone and went over the procedure with him. He sent me a picture of the girl and my eyes slightly widened, my blood running cold.

I told him I'd get the warrants and that I'd send in a team with him. But I told him not to, by any means, go inside any of the warehouses until I gave the order.

I picked up the phone and dialed for Tenzin, asking him to tell the council that we needed search warrants for the suspicion of human trafficking and one victim had been found. At first I could tell he was wary since every time we got issued one, we would always arrive too late but I told him this time was different.

"Tenzin," I said sharply. "I'm not one to ask for favors, but you have to trust me on this one. We might not catch the sickos who did this but we'll get those women out of there."

He sighed over the phone. "How long ago did he find her?"

"Almost two hours."

"Fine, I'll issue the warrants and then alert the council members."

"That's all I needed to hear," I answered before hanging up. I hadn't lied, this time it was different. This time...this time it was personal.

Mako's POV

After I called Bei Fong it only took a few minutes for reinforcements to arrive. They handed me my equipment and I lit up a flame in my hand, readying myself to raid the warehouse. There were about a dozen or so warehouses in the area but I had a gut feeling all those other girls were in there.

I had gone back to where Id found the teenager and made my way back, following her tracks. I looked around for clues of where she could have escaped and I had found a piece of blue fabric, the same fabric as her shirt up on one of the fences. It wasn't hard to figure out that's where she had escaped. I felt my hands tighten into fists at this.

"Hey, relax Mako," one of the officers told me. "Keep your head in the game."

"My head is in the game," I replied curtly.

He chuckled. "Right, I forgot. You're 'cool under fire'."

Just as I was about to reply I spotted Bei Fong and immediately made my way to her. She raised the warrants, showing them to me before I was right in front of her.

"Out of all these warehouses, you think this is the one?" she asked.

I nodded. "I found a piece of the girl's clothing on the fence," I answered. "She has to have come from here."

She gave me a sharp nod before calling everyone in. "Alright, remember these people are probably armed and dangerous. Do not use excessive force unless necessary."

From there we broke into four separate units to cover each point of entry. I took point and led one of the groups through a back door, flames ready in my hand if we were met with any resistance. I gave the Metalbenders the signal and they opened the doors.

Right away we were met with a wave of masked men with electric weapons. They engaged in hand to hand combat, intending to knock us out but we had been ready for that. I used my skills to subdue about five men before getting inside and looking through the rooms along with a small group of officers. I could hear women screaming as I came in, drugged and scared, not a good combination.

I ordered two of the men to untie them and take them to safety while I secured the building, looking for the son of a bitch that operated it. As I went through the rooms once or twice I would see a male engaging in the very behavior the teen at the hospital had been put through. I barely resisted the urge to burn that part off them.

As I knocked the doors down I noticed some of the females weren't moving and I took a closer look. My eyes widened in horror. There was a girl, probably mid twenties whose green eyes were wide open but her skin was almost as white as a sheet. I stepped closer, checking for a pulse and found none. She had choked on her own vomit.

I reached the end of the hall and spotted a man, half of his face covered but his eyes were visible. They were blue and I already knew he had a hand in what happened to the girl when I looked into his sick perverted eyes. The brown skinned male backed away before turning around to run. I growled and went after him but just as I was about to get him another male jumped out and electrocuted me.

The electrocution didn't last long though because the man was slammed against the opposite wall. I groaned and grabbed my shoulder before sitting up to see Bei Fong, a smug smirk in her face.

"Didn't I tell you to watch your back?" she scowled, helping me up.

"I almost had him," I growled, ignoring her comment.

"We'll catch him," Lin assured. "This was a successful raid, the girls we found will be returned home after we get their statement."

"But what about those who are dead?" I asked. "What about that girl that's in the hospital? What am I supposed to tell her?"

"You tell her you tried and the other girls are fine. I'm sure she will be happy to know that." I sighed and lowered my gaze. "Go get bandaged up, and that girl that refuses to talk, she's either going to an orphanage or drug rehab."

"It wasn't her fault this happened to her! We can't just dump her like that!"

"Well unless you have another suggestion within twenty four hours that's what is happening. I'll see you tomorrow at the office."

I let out a growl. I couldn't believe our government did that to girls like her. It hadn't been her fault and they were just dumping her at some rehab or orphanage like she was trash. They didn't care, but I did. That's when a thought came to mind.

I sighed. I needed to talk to Asami.