I apologize with all my heart for the sudden lack of updates. Sometimes, it happens that I lose interest in a story for some time (for most of my stories, these periods can take years), but I found that I just had to force myself to write something to pick up the joy again. And I really did enjoy this chapter, especially the ending, where you will find some Korra action! Yup, the girl still has some spark left in her ;)

Enjoy!

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Chapter 9: Decisions

Having just had her first real meal in days, Asami decided to call it a day and go to sleep. Although she had spent most of her imprisonment sleeping – or at least trying to – the whole thing had fatigued her mind as well as her body. A good night's rest in a real bed would do her good. Tomorrow they would continue their search for Korra. She needed the energy.

Asami slipped in beneath the blanket with a contented sigh. A real bed was a luxury she had taken for granted, she realized. There were a lot of things which she had taken for granted. Bed, food, shelter, toilet; the necessities which she had always been provided by her family. Never had she devoted them a thought of gratefulness.

Closing her eyes, she smiled wryly. Being captive, even for a few days, had really helped her put some things in perspective.

Her thoughts wandered to Korra. She dared not even imagine what the Avatar was going through, or how badly she was being treated. The Avatar was the icon for everything which the Equalists despised. They were probably taking it out on her without holding back. Asami was certain that Korra was hurt in more than one way. Not to mention the fact that she had been under Amon's custody for a week now. So much could have happened to her already.

By the thought of Amon, Asami frowned, feeling a mixture of sadness, disgust, and anger.

I still cannot believe he asked me to join the Equalists, the girl thought. The fact that Amon had tried to make her turn her back to her friends angered her. But what did Amon know about friendship anyway? He was probably a lone creature, corrupted by hate and sadness, unable to feel anything but hate – or nothing – towards others. In a way, she pitied him. If it was true that he had lost his family to raging benders, it was truly sad for him. She knew how it felt like. The only difference was that she had been lucky to keep her father by her side – until recently, that is. It was so easy to become bitter, to become corrupted and hateful. And lonesome. Had it not been for her father, and now her friends, she might even have become somewhat like Amon.

It frightened her. Knowing that she and Amon had something like that in common made her feel uneasy. They were two entirely different persons, but even so she could not help but feel some kind of connection to the man.

Frowning, she brushed away the thought just in time for a knock on the door.

"Asami?" she heard Mako whisper through the door. "Are you sleeping?"

She wanted to be alone. Going early to bed had been an excuse for some alone-time. She needed to think. She was not sure about what exactly, but it was clear that she needed to think. To consider.

"Almost," she replied in a low voice, unsure of Mako's intentions. There was a moment of silence before Mako spoke again.

"Okay. I just wanted to tell you that you do not have to worry. Something inside me is telling me that we will find Korra tomorrow. Sleep tight and gather your strength." Then she heard his faint footsteps as he continued down the hallway.

It was clear that Mako was still worried, but their rescue had revived hope in everybody, except for Asami. She could not help but feel that they were approaching this wrongly. But what else could they do? Only the Equalists knew for sure where the Avatar was being held capture.

Green eyes widened in realization.

Of course! she thought. This is what I must do. I know it is a huge risk, and the boys will be infuriated when they find out. But this might be the only way if we should have any chance of rescuing her in time, even though it means sacrificing trust and friendship.

Asami stood up and got dressed silently, leaving a note on her bed before she slipped out through the window and ran into the night.

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When the lock clicked and the door opened, Korra realized that she had been sleeping.

Recognizing the person's scent, she tensed. No matter what Amon had been doing after their arrival, he was now done.

"I hope you were not too uncomfortable while waiting," Amon spoke with his deep, smooth voice dripping with irony. Of course he did not care. Formalities were formalities, shallow and false. Korra snorted angrily.

"I take that as an agreement," Amon added coolly. The rustling of fabric told Korra that he was now undressing. That uncomfortableness from before returned with such strength that she felt nauseous for a moment. Was she wrong about him? Were his intentions sexual after all?

Her heart stopped as she felt his weight tip the bed beside her. She gulped without realizing. His hands started to move over her form, loosening the ropes that kept her body paralyzed. Everything was removed except for the bindings at her wrist. Then, much to her surprise, she felt as his fingers jabbed her back on those exact spots where she had bruises from the many series of chi-blocking stabs she had received during the week. Tightening her jaw in restraint, she kept silent and let the man extend her inability to bend. After all, this was better than losing her bending permanently. She preferred it being temporary, although painful.

When her blindfold was removed afterward, Korra started to wonder what exactly Amon had in mind. One thing she knew was that she wished not to look him in the eyes. In this very situation with them sharing a room, and right now even sharing bed, she tried to avoid inspiring him to do anything inappropriate.

But instead of throwing himself over her, Amon stood up.

"You need a shower," he then spoke. "If you are to live her, I want you to be clean." Those words made Korra look at him as she sat up on the bed. It seemed that he had not undressed entirely as she had thought; on a hook on the wall hung his jacket, and he had removed his shoes as well, she noticed.

"Why are my hands still tied, then?" she asked, her voice a bit hoarse from the many hours of not speaking. The moment he answered, the very same idea popped into her mind.

"I will be bathing you to make sure you will not try anything stupid." Korra frowned.

"No. You will not be bathing me," the Avatar replied sternly and had to keep herself from shuddering by the mere thought of such intimacy. She swore she heard an amused huff from behind the mask.

"You have nothing to hide from me. I have seen everything already," answered said mask with a smirk. Of course he had to remind her. Shame welled up in her and shone red on her face. She looked away with a sneer.

"Either I bathe alone, or I do not bathe at all. You are free to choose for me." The way she said it gave away that this was a matter she would not give up on. For a short moment, Amon wondered if it was possible to force someone to shower without drowning them. Then he decided that he did not have the time for this.

"All right. See it as a test of your trustworthiness. But mark my words; if I get any reason to believe that you are making trouble, I will not hesitate in entering. Are we clear?" Korra was surprised to find Amon complying to her demands. Nodding, she stood up.

"You have ten minutes," Amon instructed monotonously as he unbound the Avatar's wrists. "I will get you some clean clothes." The way his voice almost buzzed in her ear, and the way she could feel his hot breath on her neck as he spoke, sent a shiver down her spine. She ignored it.

It was a strange situation, really, but Korra savoured the fact that, for once, she had it her way. Without hesitation, she went to the small bathroom connected to Amon's room and closed the door. She wanted to lock it, but, much to her dismay, she noticed that there was no lock at all. Sighing, she started to undress. If she knew Amon well enough, he would protest if she had been able to lock the door, anyway. Less time arguing meant more time showering, and she needed it.

All while Korra fought to heat the water, Amon had a struggle of his own.

At first, he had thought having the girl living with him would not trigger anything in him, but he found her proximity to be somewhat uncomfortable. Not that he was afraid of her in any way – quite the opposite – but her very presence reminded him of that day when he had lost control. He had tried to justify his actions until now, claiming it had been a pure lesson of behaviour and a demonstration of power, no emotions or attraction involved. But something had changed in both of them. He did not like it.

He could not help but feel disgusted with himself. Alright, he was a man with needs, and with a life like his, these needs were rarely satisfied. It felt good to have this longing out of his system for some time, but unlike other times, his methods had merely evoked a new kind of lust. Not for sex in general, but for her. The Avatar. Had it been any other woman, it would have been a good thing, a development. It could even turn his life for the better having emotional support, having someone to cure his loneliness. But no, he absolutely had to become attracted to the Avatar, of all people. And good spirits, he hated himself for it; hated that he had let his guard down and allowed himself to become involved with someone he should never have touched in such way in the first place.

He had to take care. If it evolved into something more, it could become a weakness to him. It would destroy his plans.

Trying to distract himself from this strange feeling of disgust and anger, he went to the small table by the couch and picked up the bunch of clothes he had ordered specially for the girl. The advantage of staying in base seven was that there was everything one could possibly need, and female clothes in the Avatar's size was no problem to find at all. Many of the female recruits were muscular like she was. He had only had to ask the Lieutenant to send word to the person responsible for the uniform stock.

When Amon placed the clothes on the stool by the door, he swore he heard the Avatar sigh in the shower. An image of her naked, sweaty body against his flashed before his inner eye for a moment. He felt the effects on his body immediately. Cursing, he withdrew to the couch. He could not allow himself to become affected this easily.

Much to his dismay, the image of the girl brought forth memories as well. Everything came back to him; her moans, those soft but firm breasts, that moment of weakness when she arched her hips against his, the way her eyes had almost rolled back in her skull in pleasure.

The thought that he could just go in there and do whatever he wanted really tested his self-control. She was so close, naked and ready for whatever he wanted to do with her. She was his to command, to control and take advantage of. To touch, caress.

He imagined her eyes, looking up at him pleadingly, begging for his touch, a stroke, perhaps a kiss. A release. Those teal eyes, clouded with lust as he took her, made her his.

"Damn it," he almost hissed as he noticed how much the tight bulge in his pants had just grown. This was no good. He did not have the time to do what was necessary to himself, let alone repressing the sign of arousal. He needed to think of something else. The Avatar would soon have finished her bath. He could not let her see him like this, weak and out of control. Most of all, he could not let her see what power she had over him. It should be the other way around.

All he could do was hiding his visible eagerness. He needed to change clothes, anyway. So he rummaged through his dresser and found a set of his usual ceremonial robes. His dark grey tunic was perfect. The cloth reaching down to his thighs hid his crotch completely. Nobody would suspect a thing.

Quickly, he started to undress.

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Korra fought hard to turn off the water and leave the shower cabin willingly. She could not help but feel that she had every right to take her time after everything she had been through. This was the least Amon could give her to make up for his usual lack of humanity towards her. However, the fear of being interrupted was even greater. There was no moral protection for her; if Amon wanted something, he took it by force. And there was no longer a line to cross. He had erased it by crossing it several times, and she feared he would do it again.

Quickly, she wrapped herself in towels, checking the room before stepping out to greet herself in the fogged mirror. If she had received any bruises on her face during her imprisonment, they were all gone now. However, when she turned her back to the mirror, she could count eleven bluish purple marks on her back. Bruises from her nearly daily 'treatment'. Around the bruises her skin was tinted red, giving away that they had been jabbed recently.

She stared at herself for some time, noticing how tired she looked, before she remembered that she had to hurry. A frown creased her brow when she realized that she had not brought the clean clothes with her. Sighing, she considered the possibilities. She could dress herself in the dirty clothes, but that would ruin the whole idea of her taking a bath, and she knew Amon would force her to change clothes immediately anyway. Or she could grab the clean clothes quickly and return to the bathroom before Amon had a chance to get any funny ideas.

In reality, she did not have a choice. She would have to change clothes anyway.

Making sure the towels were fastened around her body, she turned the door handle as silently she could and popped her head outside to look for the damned clothes.

The sight that met her eyes, however, was highly unexpected. A few metres from her stood Amon, his naked back turned to her. He was only wearing pants and that provocative porcelain mask of his. Korra froze in her quest and could not help but stare, eyes wide and jaw hanging in complete disbelief. He was a firm and quite muscular man, she already knew, but she had never imagined the many scars on his back. Long, thin lash marks broke his smooth skin from the base of his neck and all the way down to the waistband. Now that he did not wear a hood, she could also see his dark brown hair, the locks approximately the same length as her fingers. From this angle she could even recognize his sideburns which followed his broad and angular jaw.

Then, out of the blue, Amon turned around. Although she could not see his face, she could sense that he tensed. He was just as surprised as she, it seemed. Without a word, he turned away from her again and pulled on a shirt.

"I believe you are in a hurry," he told her with an icy voice that reeked of danger. Instantly, Korra was overwhelmed by emotion. Shame, discomfort, shock, and worst of all – pity. And then there was something which she could not quite identify.

Without a word, she grabbed her conveniently placed clothes and slipped back inside the bathroom. Listening for a moment to make sure Amon was not following her, Korra sighed and relaxed a little.

I cannot believe it. What just happened was so... weird. So utterly unexpected. I feel as if I just discovered a secret, the girl mused inwardly as she got dressed. Maybe it is a secret. By the way he reacted, it seems that I was not supposed to see him like that. Is he ashamed of the scars?

Korra dried her hair off in the towel and combed it with her fingers, seeing as there was no hairbrush. It would leave several knots when dried, but she did not care. She would manage. Deciding that she did not want to wear her usual hair accessories, she tied her hair in a simple ponytail and slipped the accessories into a pocket in her pants. They were a gift from her parents, and now the only remnants of them she had. She would not just lay them somewhere where Amon would find them. If it would hurt her losing them, he would most likely destroy them to make her suffer.

Korra threw a final glance into the mirror and decided that this was as good as it got.

All of a sudden, the door opened behind her, revealing a smirking mask and a pair of golden eyes behind it staring intensely at her through the mirror. Korra caught her breath to remain calm.

"Time to leave," Amon said coolly as if nothing had happened mere moments ago. Korra broke their eye contact and turned around, leaving the bathroom without facing the man, whose gaze followed her silently as she went. Why was it so embarrassing? For spirits' sake, she had been raped by this man, and enjoyed it, and yet only this incident gave her a bad taste in her mouth.

Since the day she had been captured, everything had been so illogical. The was she responded to certain things had surprised her, and she came to dislike herself even more for every passing day. A slight sneer found its way onto her face for a short moment, then she stopped in her tracks.

"Where are we going?" she asked finally, her voice a bit lower than she had intended. Amon walked up behind her and grabbed one of her wrists, his breath stroking her ear as he spoke.

"We are going to eat," the man said in a voice that seemed so intense that it sent a shiver up her spine. "As long you are living in my area, you will be eating with me."

Korra already hated the idea. Knowing that she had no say in this matter whatsoever, she kept silent. She knew how it would turn out if she refused to eat at all, so this was no option anymore.

"I will have to make sure you do not try and escape, as well," the man added as he grabbed her other wrist and gathered them on her back. "Until I know I can trust you, I will take precautions whenever you are to leave this room." Korra's inner snorted.

You will never be able to trust me. I will knife you down from behind at first given moment. The thought of succeeding this was heartwarming. She would not let him know this, however, seeing as she might eliminate future chances of escape. If she could just fool him to believe that he could trust her...

"Alright," she spoke softly, waiting as her wrists were tied up just like many times before. Amon worked quickly, giving away that he had done this perhaps too many times by now. Then Korra followed the man as he unlocked the door and indicated that she should walk in front of him.

Once again, Korra was reminded of the noticeable lower temperatures out in the hallways, but she ignored it. She did not mind cold at all, seeing as she came from the South Pole, and that she had spent most of the week freezing in a concrete cell.

With a hand on her shoulder, she was led downstairs and then guided through the building. Soon they stopped before a double door behind which Korra heard voices. Many voices.

As the doors were opened, the Avatar's eyes widened in disbelief. Before her was an eating room filled with people – Equalists, to be precise. A quick count said almost seventy people aged from the mid-teens to older than a half century, all seated by one of the many tables around the room.

Amon noticed Korra's expression with a smug smile and pushed her inside gently. The wonderful smell of food hit her like a wave, and her stomach growled in response.

Then, just as strong, a wave of incredulous stares greeted her. People stopped eating, stopped talking. They just stared at her, disgust, fear, or something entirely else in their eyes.

"Welcome to the canteen," Amon said, amusement clear in his voice. Korra grumbled a curse and followed the man to a table, ignoring the many stares on her back and the hurtful words whispered around her. People clearly knew how the Avatar looked like, although she doubted even half of them had seen her in person before.

"You monster," she caught someone hissing at the table next to the one Amon indicated her to sit down at. Again, she ignored the words. This room was filled with people who hated her and her kind. Of course they would take it out on her, but she was used to it. Already back when she was younger and found out she was the Avatar, friends turned their backs to her in jealousy. Friends became enemies. From that day on, she knew that such words could not hurt her. Only a few had managed to hurt her with words only. One of them had just taken seat next to her and was now watching her with those cold, golden eyes of his.

"Lieutenant, will you keep an eye on the Avatar for a moment?" Amon asked, and Korra noticed the Lieutenant who was, in fact, sitting right across the table, a hard stare on her. He nodded silently, never letting his gaze fail. Amon then left the table.

The spiteful comments became worse the very moment Amon was too far away to hear them. Korra even felt as something small but hard was thrown at her, hitting her shoulder. It stung for a moment, but it was not nearly as painful as it would have to be to make her hurt. Like everything else, she ignored it.

When the whispers around her ceased shortly after, she figured that Amon was returning. Said man sat down and placed a bowl in front of her. For a moment she was surprised. She had thought that he would be eating as well, since he had told her they would be eating together from now on, but when she thought about it, it made sense that he did not want to reveal his face before her.

Amon filled a spoon with the hot stew and moved it to her lips. She narrowed her eyes and looked at him, her expression telling him that she refused to play this game. When she did not allow the spoon inside, Amon recognized the problem. He kept the spoon at her lips.

"You know the drill, Avatar. You will eat like this, or you will not eat at all." Yes, she knew the drill very well. Of course, she did not want to end up starving for half a week like before, but the thought of being fed like a baby before seventy Equalists was almost worse. As if it was not enough that they mocked her already...

On the other hand, she did not want to anger Amon, either. And if she were to earn his trust, she had to comply without making a fuss.

It was a question of defining herself. Amon was trying to change her, trying to domesticate her wild side. She was afraid of losing herself. She could not let him win.

In a movement that was so quick and sudden that she even impressed herself, Korra threw herself back over the bench. Just before her back collided with the floor, she kicked the spoon out of Amon's hand, sending it flying across the room. The few grumbles and shrieks that followed told her that someone had been receiver of her flying stew. A smirk tugged at her lips as her body smacked down against the floor.

Everybody was silent now, even Amon. Then the leader stood up without even looking at the girl.

"Jarrak, would you be so kind as to escort the Avatar to my room?" Amon's voice was shockingly calm compared to the situation. The man who had been sitting on the other side of Korra rose to feet with a nod.

"Of course, sir," Jarrak replied and swung Korra over his shoulder, carrying her out of the room. Korra watched people all along, savouring the fact that everybody was still like paralyzed by her trick.

Just before the doors closed behind them, she noticed Amon's gaze which was burning with silent anger. She knew she was in trouble. But she could not help but feel that it had all been worth it.

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Thank you for reading!

Please tell me if there was something you liked or something you did not like so much :3

Love,

MAL