In Hiding

Summary: Korra tried hard not to think about Kuvira living in a jail cell waiting for her trial to start – until she finds her sitting on her bed, looking for a place to hide. Set after series finale.

Chapter 24

Asami coughed harshly, expelling the stale and dusty air from her lungs. She licked her lips, swallowing the little bit of saliva in her otherwise dry mouth. As the cool moisture coated her throat, she shifted around, trying to find a more comfortable position. Glancing down at Kuvira, she slightly loosened her grip on her hand, stretching her fingers and knuckles.

Kuvira's head was resting on Asami's knee, her breathing shaky and shallow. Her forehead was dotted with sweat, her eyes staring at the opposite end of the room, unfocused. A chill filled the air as the light outside of the cellar began to fade, indicating the setting sun. A quiet growl filled the enclosed space.

Leaning over, careful as to not stir Kuvira, Asami grabbed her pack and scooted it closer to her. Unfastening the cover, she reached her hand inside and pulled out the few remaining snack packs from her bag. Kuvira shifted, shivering from the cool air in the room.

"There's not much left of our food, so we're going to have to cut back a bit," Asami announced. Kuvira muttered something in response, her lips barely moving across the engineer's knee. Asami quickly leaned forward, brushing her dark hair away from her ear.

"What'd you say?"

"They're not…with Beifong," Kuvira rasped. She coughed twice before swallowing hard. She pushed herself up into a sitting position, frowning at the slight patch of drool on Asami's pant leg. It was then she noticed their hands were still intertwined. Kuvira ripped her hand away with a firm tug. Wincing, she placed a hand on her side, rubbing at the sore bump along her ribs. Kuvira brushed away a small clump of dust from her hair. "They're rogue. They're not going to find Beifong." Kuvira cleared her throat. "They more than likely came along just to find me."

"Um…w-well…" Asami trailed off before even starting her sentence. She wanted to mention her current situation of being on the run, but decided not to bring it up. It wasn't the time to make an obvious comment about their current situation, especially since she somewhat willingly went along with the whole plan.

"They must have connections to the Earth Nation," Kuvira continued as if Asami wasn't in the room with her. Her dark green eyes were transfixed on cellar doors. "After everything I did…I don't blame them." Glancing down at her hands, she inhaled sharply upon noticing how much they shook. Clasping them together, lacing her fingers, she placed her hands into her lap.

"What did they do?" Asami asked. Kuvira looked over at her, a look of surprise flashed across her irises when she remembered that she wasn't alone. She shifted uncomfortably, tilting her head to the side, wincing at the stretching muscles. "You were acting weird earlier…"

"What do you mean?"

The engineer nodded over at her electric glove that was sticking out of her pack. Kuvira glanced at it and flinched, quickly reaching up and rubbing her bare arms to hide her discomfort. Asami bit the inside of her cheek. "You wouldn't let me touch you with my glove. The electricity turns off," she said gently. "You wouldn't have been shocked."

"Wouldn't anyone be weary around electricity?" she snapped.

"So, you're saying you don't trust me to use my own glove?" Asami questioned. Kuvira grunted in response. "…They did something, didn't they?" she concluded. The metalbender's jaw clenched, a muscle in her neck twitched. "You're afraid of being shocked."

"I'm not afraid."

"You also seem to cower when there's a thunderstorm as well."

"So?"

"I'm not making fun of you, Kuvira." At the quiet and calm tone to her woods, Kuvira couldn't help but glance over at the engineer out of the corner of her eye. The engineer had pulled her knees up to her chest, her arms wrapped around her legs. She began to pick at the chipped nail polish on her fingers, ignoring the pieces flaking onto her shoe laces.

"Stop acting like you understand everything." The biting tone in Kuvira's voice had softened a bit; however, the edge was still present. "Stop acting like you understand me."

"We have more in common than you think," Asami said. Kuvira snorted in reponse, shaking her head. A scoff soon followed "I'm afraid of fire," Asami admitted. Kuvira paused for a moment. "My mother was killed by a robbery gone wrong. A firebender didn't think anyone was home. She tried to protect me. All I remember is her telling me to go and find my dad, and of course the smoke and heat." The engineer took in a deep breath, slowly exhaling out of her nose. "Now, two of my good friends are firebenders. It's kind of ironic, but I feel safe around them because they can control it."

"They tortured me," Kuvira blurted out.

"Mako and Korra tortured you?"

"No; you imbecile!" Kuvira snapped. Asami looked over at her with a raised eyebrow, a frown tugging at the corners of her lips. "Sorry," she muttered in reply. The engineer's eyebrows rose at the apology. Asami turned and pulled out one of the few remaining snack packs from her bag. After pouring in the water, she sealed the bag shut, waiting for it to heat up. "Something…happened."

"I figured." Asami carefully opened the snack pack, wincing as the steam billowed out around her hand. She handed the package over towards Kuvira along with a fork. The metalbender nodded once, before receiving the package. She glanced into the opening, and mentally plotted out how to ration the food in half, before sticking the fork into bag and taking a bite.

"Those two guards," Kuvira mumbled around a mouthful of food, pointing over to the locked cellar door with her elbow. "…they work with the prison doctor. They ran some…tests."

"What kind of tests?"

Kuvira inhaled sharply. She closed her eyes. "Pain tests. They have some sort of connection to the Earth Kingdom." After a moment of silence, she slowly opened her eyes once more, frowning slightly. The olive tones in her irises darkening. "After what I did, they wanted me to understand how much pain I caused them," she whispered.

"H-h…how?" Asami asked quietly.

"Have you ever heard of electric shock therapy?"

"Yeah, using electricity to help…muscle…contraction," Asami slowly down as she peered closely at Kuvira. Understanding settled among the silence as Kuvira slowly continued eating, her hand slightly trembling. At first, Asami had assumed it was from the drop in temperature, but it wasn't until she noticed the metalbender's clench that she was having some sort of flashback. Kuvira's entire body was rigid as she stared straight ahead."Oh! I'm so sorry."

Kuvira blinked, raising a shoulder, before she resumed eating. "It's okay," she muttered.

"No, it's not."

"Yes. It is," Kuvira insisted. She finished her portion of the food before handing it over to Asami, who received it and placed it onto her pack, careful not to spill any portions onto the ground. "I deserved it."

"No, you didn't." Asami slowly shook her head. "You may have done some horrible things, but no one deserves to be treated like that."

Kuvira lifted her chin. "Upon my surrender I said I would accept any punishment the city deemed fit."

"But, it wasn't properly agreed upon." Asami grabbed a hold of Kuvira's shoulders and gently shook her. The metalbender regarded her with a raised eyebrow, before turning away. "They were just being…evil. No one," Asami gripped Kuvira by the chin, forcing her to lock eyes, "no one, deserves to go through anything like that. That includes you."

Lifting her hands up, Kuvira tightly gripped Asami by her wrists, removing her hands from her shoulders. "This isn't something you could possibly understand."

"…So help me understand."

Before Kuvira could say anything in response, the chains on the door of the cellar rattled. She dropped the snack pack to the ground and quickly moved to her feet. Asami watched as the metalbender moved back into a corner as the harsh voices of the two police officers came from the opposite side of the door.

"Don't worry," Asami said in a hush. "I'll think of something." She looked around the small cellar and found an old rusted piece of pipe on the floor buried underneath a thin layer of dirt. She quickly brushed it off and lightly tossed it up in the air, to gauge its weight. "Step back," Asami ordered. Kuvira collapsed against the cool, brick wall, beads of sweat dotting her forehead, her breathing intensifying.

Asami breathed slowly, before gripping the pipe with two hands. She shifted her stance and tightened her grip around the pipe, holding it up to her right shoulder like a bat. Her eyes narrowed as she heard the loud banging of the chains being pulled off from the cellar doors. The minute they flung open, light from the full moon shined down into the room. Asami winced, turning her head away and shielding her eyes with her arm.

"Are they still alive?" a gruff voice asked. Asami shifted before running straight towards the opening. Shifting her grip on the pipe, she held it horizontally out in front of her before ramming it straight into the taller of the two men's guts. He cried out in agony, a moan of pain echoing along the narrow alleyway.

"What the f-" the shorter police officer cried out in shock. He quickly rushed over to Asami, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a baton. Asami swung her leg back, connecting with him in the chest. He grunted as the wind was knocked out of him. She snapped a sharp kick to his wrist, knocking the baton high into the air. Asami caught it in her empty hand, and shuffled back, watching closely as the two men staggered to their feet.

"Shoot," she cried when she felt a tight grip envelope her ankles. Asami looked down and spotted her feet encased in two shells of rock. Pulling lightly, she felt her muscles begin to scream at the exertion of her struggle.

"No one to help you now," the taller of the two police officers snarled. Asami tightened her grip on the pipe and the baton, readying herself as they advanced.

She blinked in surprise as the two police officers were knocked off of their feet from being rammed in the side. The earth around her ankles smoothed out. She sighed in relief as the pressure immediately went away. Turning, she spotted the dark figure stalking towards the two officers with a slight limp. Asami strained to see which figure was which in the darkness. A moment later, she quickly moved to the side, pushing herself up against a building as two bodies were hurtled through the air and landed on the ground in a heap.

"You did that?" Kuvira asked, as she poked her head out of the opening. While her voice was light, she did seem impressed. Kuvira's legs shook while ascending the small staircase. Her skin was pale, her breathing somewhat shallow. She handed Asami her pack before slipping her own onto her shoulders.

Asami dropped the pipe before accepting her backpack. "No, I didn't," she muttered while slipping the straps onto her shoulders. She looked up and down the alleyway, looking for the person who had helped them, ignoring the two unconscious police officers in a heap next to the cellar opening. The sound of creaking metal caught her attention. She glanced over at Kuvira who shook her head before pointing up towards the sky.

High up on a fire escape, a dark figure clambered up a few more steps before disappearing over the ledge of a building, onto the roof. Kuvira moved, trying to get in a good position to see more of the roof, the light from the full moon outlining every solid object..

"Hey, come back," Asami called out.

"Just leave it," Kuvira said with a sigh. "They're gone."

Asami dropped the pipe to the ground. The two police officers stirred at the clang of metal. Kuvira quickly metalbent the pipe into two pairs of handcuffs, locking the two up to a nearby dumpster. "We should head back. Korra may be worrying."

"No, we left for a reason so we're not going to go back until we finish."

"Clearly, it's not safe-"

"When is anything ever safe?" Kuvira countered. "You were right." Asami looked at her in confusion. "…when you said before that we have a lot of similarities," she admitted. "You aren't the only one wanting to find more information about their family."

Asami regarded her for the longest time. Kuvira adjusted the backpack on her shoulder before shrugging. She turned on her heel and began to head towards the end of the alleyway. The sounds of cars passing and the shouts of people running food stalls became louder with each step. Kuvira slightly slowed her pace when she heard footsteps behind her. A few moments later, Asami fell into step with her, panting lightly.

"Then lead the way," Asami instructed as they merged into the busy street.