Asami's hands had been suspended in chains to the brick wall behind her much much later, unsure how long it was really. It seemed like days. She just remembers them tying her up, placing her in the back of a truck and moving. Where? She's unsure.
She much rather prefers her old cell. This new one stunk worse than the lower ring of Ba Sing Se and it was dirty. But there wasn't anything she could do about it anyway.
She just knows that one moment, they were being Mr. Nice Guy, now they were upset with her? Can Tokuga really feel her presence in the spirit world? If so, why hadn't he taken her out there?
None of it made sense.
The cool winter air blew through her cell only making her body shiver. But if she weren't mistaken, she could feel her body get warmer.
The only thing she thought about was that she getting sick.
The violent cough she let out was confirmation enough for her.
Korra. Please hurry and get me out of here.
The screeching sound of the door opening sent chills down her spine. Her hair had been in front of her face to where they couldn't see her so it helped her pretend that she was asleep or unconscious.
"Hope you like your new place." The distasteful voice of Wonyong Keum rang in her ears.
She was tired of hearing this man. So tired she wished she took the opportunity to stab herself in the ears at the dinner table.
"You've won." Her own voice hoarse and full of congestion.
"I know," He let out a hearty chuckle, "but seeing you suffer like this is a delight. I got to admit you're a tough one."
He stepped closer to her and all she wanted to do was spit in his face.
"But I'm going to break you even harder to where you can't ever be fixed."
His slimy hand trailed underneath her dress, teasingly. He rubbed her strong thighs gently but she forced them closed to fight him off.
"Stop," She mumbled, weakly, "I'll do whatever. Just don't."
"I believe you don't have a choice, Miss Sato." His large hand forced her thighs apart, sticking his hand fully up there.
He was cold and she squirmed to try and get him away. He smirked and gave her a gentle rub there. Asami gasped out, eyes growing big. It fascinated him on how much she reacted to his touch. He pushed her hair aside to see her frightened face and fearful eyes.
He elicited a soft groan himself, cupping his pants.
"You like this." Wonyong said, seductively, "I know you do, Miss Sato. Such a filthy whore."
"Fuck you." A tear slides down her cheek.
"That can be arranged. Soon. I want you to beg for it." He retracts his hand.
He walks away, laughing at her, taunting her, mocking her. All she could do was think about killing him. But the shame came over her instantly. Asami thought about her parents and what they'd think of her right now.
She hated herself for letting this man ruin her like this.
Break her. Make her give up Future Industries and the Sato Estate. Keeping her away from Korra.
It all hurt so much.
Asami finally broke down into violent sobs, crying her eyes out. She was giving up on the only hope she had left of Korra coming to save her.
...
Asami put it in her best interest that when she was absent from the company, she told Florina that she was going to be the next in charge. That gave her an opportunity to call a meeting with the board of directors to Future Industries.
They needed to know what was happening to Asami.
She invited Korra to come because she had been a witness to what Jinora was saying.
Florina stood up at the vertical edge of the table to where she could see all five members. She sighs, "I don't know what's going to happen to us. The information I'm about to tell you isn't very good."
"What is it?" The youngest male on the board, asked.
His name had been Moe.
He had been a year younger than Asami but the boy knew his stuff. She had a relatively young board of directors for reasons. The younger people knew what this generation wanted and the ideas they helped conjure up...Asami couldn't be more grateful to have them by her side.
"As you well know, Asami has been kidnapped," She began, "Yesterday we were able to get three of her captors into police custody."
"How's that not good information?" The young brunette next to Moe questioned.
She looked of air nation descent. While she was a nonbender, she had been the one to help Asami produce airbender glider suits.
Her name had been Li.
"That's the hard part." said Florina, stumbling over her words, "She um. She signed the company over to t-the Triple Threat Triads."
They all had stunned looks on their faces. Wide eyed, mouths going agape.
"There's no way she'd do that," Li shakes her head at that, "There's no way. They forced her right? Because we can fight this."
"Yeah. By force," She answered, "But I don't know how much we can do with a fight. She's legally signed the documents to her company and her estate."
"There's no way that they can get in and out of here with the correct documents." Moe said, "Nobody knows where those ownership documents are but Asami. We don't even know where they are."
He's right.
"Wait," Korra said, grabbing everyone's attention, "You mean to tell me..."
"Yes. There are such documents. If I knew where they were I would show you."
If only Asami knew where the ownership documents were, then they had to be somewhere locked up and where nobody can get to them.
"Florina, you don't know where they are?" Korra asked.
"My guess would be her safe but that's protected by a password nobody knows. It's different than the one to get into the building." Florina replies.
"You don't think that's what they were trying to come back for, right?" Korra questioned, "Because if as you all said, those ownership documents are here still, she signed something else. And it can't be a copy because they couldn't have gotten it."
"We need the password." Li said, "That's the only way to know. Florina I know she tells you everything. She had to give you that password somehow."
Florina shakes her head at that, "No. She never gave it to me. I respected her decision."
Korra glanced down at the jaded pendant necklace she had worn. She gently takes it off and places it in Florina's hands without saying anything.
She knew what that meant.
"She told me this was her mom's favorite color. Emerald."
"And you think this is the password?"
"No. I know that's the password."
The table murmured amongst themselves, the word, "explain," coming from someone's lips.
"Something nobody knows. Everybody knows her mother's name. But nobody knew her mother's favorite color until she told me," Korra explained, "It's Asami's eye color. A bit of a lighter shade, to be exact."
"Okay. Everybody get up," Florina instructed, "We're taking a field trip to the safe."
...
Asami couldn't get over that bastard inappropriately touching her in such a way. She also couldn't get over the fact that he admitted to a relationship with her mom thirty years ago. This Sato-Keum feud had been going on longer than she thought. The grudge he held against her and her family was disgusting.
So disgusting that he was going to force himself on her. It made her gag and soon probably throw up. But she hadn't eaten in a while so there wasn't anything in her stomach.
She's never hated anybody more than she hated Wonyong Keum. Not even Amon, the man who brainwashed her father into thinking all benders were like the Agni Kais that killed her mother.
"You seem cold." She expected the voice of her tormentors, but it was a different one.
The same voice as the waterbender who healed her.
Asami rose her head, weakly, lip quivering to prove it.
"Let me help you." They insisted, taking their water tribe coat off and wrapping it around her.
"I-I thought you were arrested." She shivered.
"That was my twin brother. They always get us confused. I'm the one who healed you. He's Isys, I'm Bryce." He sent her a gentle smile, "I'm the one who cares about you."
Asami's lips curve into a small smile but it faded soon.
"You could get in trouble." She mumbled.
"I wanna get you out of here."
Why? Why would you want to? Are you not like the others?
She sends him a confused look and he answers with, "I wasn't apart of this. My brother was. I was trying to talk him out of it because we promised to get out of this gang thing and start a new life. But he was so hardheaded and he followed his friends."
Maybe this was her way to escape.
"If you get me out of here, I-I'll have a job for you a-at my company. You won't have to worry about anything. I swear to God." Tears formed on her eyelids, "You have to get me out of here. Please."
"When the time is right, I'll have a truck parked outside. I'll let you out and you keep going right at each turn. Hop in it and I'll drive you back to Republic City." Bryce whispered in her ear, "I'll do my absolute best to get you out of here."
"Thank you, Bryce."
Now she had much more hope that she would see Korra again.
...
"I know how these deals go." Mako stated, arms folded across his chest, "Somebody hired you to do this, didn't they?"
He and Bolin were assigned by Lin to do the interrogation. They knew the Triple Threats more than anyone and they knew how to get answers.
"So what if they did?" JuJu shrugged, "Like you said, you know how this goes, Detective. So you should know we never met the guy who paid us."
"So you're telling me that someone you absolutely don't know paid you to hold one of the world's most successful businesswomen captive? Seriously?" Bolin almost laughed, "I know we used to run numbers with you guys in the past but come on. We met who paid us. You're bluffing."
"Things have changed, buddy."
"Why'd you do it?" Mako asked, growing angry, "And where are you keeping her?"
"If you're trying to get me to talk, it won't work. Don't you know I'm the best of the best?" JuJu chortled.
"You know, if we're completely honest, I would've done the same thing." Mako stated, making Bolin stare at him in shock.
"Mako." He gasped.
"Nah Bo. I would've." He shrugged, "This job isn't doing much for me. I would've needed the money. How much they pay you guys nowadays?"
"Real good money."
Good. He was falling right into Mako's trap.
"Thousands?"
"Yeah."
"Bo, can you leave us for a sec?" He turned to his brother, winking at him.
Bolin nods in realization before rushing out of the door. As soon as the door closed behind him, Mako took a seat in front of JuJu.
"If we're being honest, I've been trying to get back into the Triple Threats. Must've been a big job, right?"
"Yeah. It was."
He was softening up.
"I would've taken her myself. Ever since we broke up, I couldn't stop thinking about her. I was going to fix things between us until she and Korra got together."
"Must've been hard for you."
"Yeah. She's a great kisser." Mako flashed his golden amber colored eyes at him with a wink, referring to something sexual.
He hated himself for it but he knew what he had to do.
"I know. I wanted to feel those pretty lips of hers. But the boss made us wait."
"That same guy that got attacked by the spirit?"
"Tokuga. Yeah."
Got one.
"Tell me about that day. I wanna know everything for my next job with you guys."
JuJu easily confessed to Mako, going on about how she wasn't paying any attention to them, how she refused to have a meeting with them because she was in a hurry. How they cornered her and forced a fight on her. How badly she lost to them, knocking her out.
They took the same way out the building that they had gotten in. The back staircase that nobody paid any attention to.
The entire time, he kept this wicked, sickening smile on his lips, enjoying it. While Mako kept nodding and listening but his eyes told a different story. The gangster didn't even notice the malicious fire burning inside of Mako's eyes.
He wanted to reach across the table and choke him...so badly. He doesn't know how Korra was able to restrain herself from shooting lighting at this son of a bitch and killing him in cold blood.
"What was it like seeing her in pink? The color she never wears?" asked Mako.
"She was looking real good that night. Like a real woman. I wanted to do her so bad. She was a feisty one too. She hit ole boss with a china plate. It only resulted in me using my firebending whip again. She should've just listened, ya know? But she was so stubborn."
"Asami can be stubborn. She's a tough one." He replied.
A fighter. Mako believed in her that she could hang on until they can get there. Or if she can escape herself and they can find her.
Either way, his faith was strong.
"You want a piece of the action?"
"Yeah."
"Get me and my friends out of here and I'll bring you to her. I know you miss being with her."
"Yeah?"
"Course. Your face says it all."
"I'll get back to you on that."
Mako stands up to his feet, keeping his composure and walks out of the room, closing the door tightly behind him. He is met with Chief Beifong and Bolin, stunned looks on their faces.
"What? I got you a confession." He said.
"He's incredibly stupid or he's playing us. There's no way he just gave us all that information." Lin pointed out.
"I think he was letting me hear what I wanted."
Mako still is upset with the fact that he had been bold enough to admit to being such a disgusting piece of shit. It made him shudder, clearly grossed out.
"You did good, kid."
He smiled small only for it to fade away.
Yeah he got a confession, but Asami was still missing. He never got her location, who hired them, anything. He wanted to try harder but he couldn't stand being in the room any longer with the guy.
He would never want anybody to treat Asami that way and it angered him that he wasn't able to protect her from the torture she was suffering from. The one she's still suffering from.
And it killed him to see Korra tear herself apart over this. It was obvious that the waterbender and the engineer were in love. At first when Mako received the news that they had been dating recently, he didn't take it too well. He was a little bummed about it but it took him a little time to sit back and notice how the two cared so much for each other.
How much compassion, how much adoration and affection they had shown for each other. He dated them both and he couldn't give that to him because he was young and immature. Now that they're all grown, he's glad that they've found happiness in each other. And he supported them fully.
Mako admitted he was an asshole, but everything was okay with the trio now.
And he was determined to help Korra get the girl she loved back from the hands of monsters.
(A/N: I'll slow the story down a bit. I guess I didn't expect people to actually read this haha but thank you guys for doing so. I appreciate it. Thanks for the feedback and the suggestions. Also prepare for emotions, emotions, emotions.)
