Korra glanced at Asami as the audience members began to disperse into groups as they discussed what just happened. Asami pointed towards a door and mouthed 'In there.' Iroh was waiting in the room for them by himself.

Korra crossed her arms looking irritated "Well that couldn't have gone much worse. What happens if your mother doesn't come back this afternoon Iroh?" Asami glanced at Korra then looked at Iroh "Did Izumi just do what I think she did Iroh?"

The general laughed softly "I wondered if either of you would catch on to her little ploy, she's always been rather talented at stagecraft. But yes she did, though it's the most she'll be able to achieve I'm afraid. Ginger won't let her get away with something like that again, she'll have to focus on keeping things from getting any messier after this."

Korra looked back and forth between them "What are you two talking about? She got angry and stormed out? Am I missing something here?"

Iroh laughed "I see you still aren't paying as much attention as you should be. My mother can't let just anybody from Republic City or anywhere else into the Fire Nation to look for the spirit energy lab. There would be an 'accident' and things would spiral out of control very quickly. But on the other hand, nobody would argue if you're the one doing the searching Korra. And she gave you permission to do just that."

Korra thought back to what Izumi had said earlier. "But she called it chasing phantoms and that the whole thing was a publicity stunt by Raiko."

Asami broke into the conversation there "Is she trying to discredit the President? That seems like an odd choice since he was responsible for this event happening at all."

Iroh winced "She's not very fond of Raiko, they've butted heads before in the past. And she's not entirely wrong, Raiko's term as President hasn't gone well for him, too many incidents and unpopular decisions. He needs this convention to succeed if he wants a second term as President. But mostly mother is trying to stall, the longer this convention takes, the more time you have Korra."

Korra took a moment to sift through what Iroh had just told her. "Do you know where this lab even is? I won't be able to find it on my own." The general shook his head "I don't actually. We've been searching, but it's well hidden. It's possible my mother knows, but she can't tell me if she did, Ginger watches her too closely."

Asami looked back and forth between them several times then face palmed. "How are both of you forgetting about Chou? He worked there, we just have to ask him to mark the location down on a map."

Korra hunched her shoulders as she ducked her head, a sheepish expression on her face. Iroh looked slightly bemused "I did forget about him. We'll have to go to the Fire Nation embassy, there are some maps that we can look at before leaving."

Korra straightened her back as she stood fully upright "Leave? What about this convention? This is an important meeting, I'm the Avatar, I can't walk away from something like this."

Iroh gave a quiet laugh "This meeting is more ceremonial then anything. Shake hands, smile for the cameras, let people see you doing something important in public. All the real discussion about this happened weeks ago and it wasn't much of a discussion at that. None of the leaders would dare oppose this treaty, they'd instantly be ostracized by every other nation. The only thing happening here is Raiko trying to secure a second term as President and he's already been called out on it."

"The best thing you can do right now is to go destroy the research lab. The threat of spirit energy weapons will be gone and this will all blow over."

There was a moment of silence from both women before Asami responded "That would solve one problem, but ignores the other. Ginger may lose her chance at getting these weapons, but she won't give up so easily on taking control of the Fire Nation."

Iroh tried to shrug nonchalantly but did a poor job at it "That's true, but this is a more pressing matter. We can deal with her afterwards."

"We?"

"No offense Korra, as powerful as you are, you still need people who can help you. Who can you ask for help? Mako is injured, Bolin is in Zaofu, the Beifongs have to stay here for this meeting even if you don't. Tenzin and Jinora are possibilities, but it was the Fire Nation who wiped out the Air Nomads, they might not be willing to come once they learn where you're going."

"He's right Korra, we can't do this by ourselves. This could be difficult even with just us three, do you know anyone you can ask to help you Iroh?"

"I have a few friends at home that I've been working with. They're all solid benders, but none of them are as strong as the people you've worked with in the past. It's better then nothing at least."

Korra threw her hands up in defeat "All right all right. You two go find Chou, I'll talk to Tenzin and let him know that I'm leaving. He can sign the treaty for me. Let's meet out front afterwards."

The people outside had begun grouping up into small knots as the discussion continued. Waiters carrying drinks on trays wove their way between groups and she could see tables being set with food in the background.

Korra craned her head around looking for her former airbending teacher. After a few seconds, she saw him on the other side of the room talking to the Beifong sisters. As usual, Tenzin looked awkward and ill at ease around Lin. Suyin was barely concealing a smile, clearly enjoying the moment.

"Excuse me Tenzin, can I have a moment?" Korra grabbed him by the elbow pulling him away towards an empty archway next to the wall. He sighed in relief after they had gotten away "You would think that talking to Lin would have gotten easier after all these years."

He shook his head "How can I help you Korra?" She glanced around for a moment, nobody seemed close enough to hear them, but she kept her voice quiet nonetheless "I'm...taking a trip Tenzin. I need you to represent me here while I'm gone."

"A trip? Right now? You can't neglect your duties as the Avatar, Korra. This conference is important to the world, you should be here."

"I know that this is important, but there's something I have to go take care of. I'll explain afterwards if I have to, I just need you to stay here and speak for me while I'm gone." Tenzin gave her one of his stern looks "What am I supposed to say exactly Korra?"

She shrugged and began backing away with a slight grin on her face "Oh you know, the usual. Avatar Korra supports the ban, spirit energy is dangerous. You'll think of something that sounds nice."

Korra heard him sigh to himself as she walked away. He watched her walk away before the Beifongs snuck back up on him.

"Tell you the location ? But I don't actually know where it is, I wasn't really paying attention to where they took me. And when I decided to run again, I just headed for the ocean and walked until I found a boat I could hide on."

Asami felt a sinking feeling in her stomach "Well...would you recognize anything if you saw it then? Landmarks, cities, roads?"

He frowned "I guess so, but there's no way I'm going anywhere near the -." His voice cut off as Iroh abruptly wrapped an arm around Chou's neck squeezing on the sides. He tried pulling at the general's arm in vain before passing out. "What are you doing Iroh?"

"You heard him, he's not going to help us unless we make him. He'll be fine in a few minutes, simple blood choke, won't hurt him any. Let's get to the car before he wakes up." Asami shook her head as Iroh picked him up and started heading down a mostly empty hallway.

Korra was waiting for them outside as Asami handed her parking ticket to a valet outside. "Why is he unconscious?" Asami nodded her head towards Iroh "His bright idea, knocked him out before I could talk him into helping."

"I didn't knock him out really, it's a harmless choke. He'll wake up in a minute or two. And once we're on an airship, he won't have anywhere to go."

The avatar frowned "So we're kidnapping him now? This doesn't seem like a good idea to me."

Iroh stiffened slightly "Well, he really doesn't want to go back to the Fire Nation. I can't blame him, but we need to find that lab. If you have a better idea, I'd love to hear it Korra."

Korra shook her head as the car pulled up "No...no I don't. You'll have to make this up to him after this is finished though."

Iroh popped the trunk open and dumped Chou inside then shutting him in. The general turned back towards Korra. "I'm sure he'll forget all ab-."

Iroh was cut off in mid-sentence as the car abruptly exploded into a ball of billowing flames. The back of Iroh's jacket ignited from being so close to the explosion. He staggered forward pulling the jacket off and throwing it to the ground. At the same time Korra flinched backwards throwing her arms up as a wave of heat rushed outwards.

Once the wave passed, she dropped her hands back down and looked about for some water. There was a fire hydrant on the other side of the street. She reached forward seizing the hydrant's metal and ripping it from the ground. A gust of water shot upwards into the air, free for her to use.

Korra pulled it across the street and down onto the burning car, extinguishing the flames. Parts of the vehicle kept smoking and the engine looked like a pile of shredded metallic cheese.

She turned towards Asami who instantly shook her head "I'm fine, worry about Chou." Iroh moved towards the car as if to open the trunk but pulled his hand back before getting close enough to touch the metal.

Korra grabbed the trunk with her bending and ripped it off. The car was beyond repair at this point and she had a terrible feeling about what she was going to find. Iroh glanced in and muttered to himself, but looked unaffected otherwise.

Korra took one glimpse at what was left inside before instantly regretting her decision. She staggered away dropping to her knees as her breakfast started decorating the concrete. Asami knelt at her side putting one hand on her shoulder.

They could hear sirens approaching in the distance as they stared at the car, their best chance of finding the lab vanishing with the smoke.