Asami Sato loved her father. She admired him and what he did for the world, for her. So when Chief Beifong ripped away his workshop floor to reveal a tunnel that ran so far beneath the estate that she could barely see the end, well, denial was understandably her first reaction.

Denial, and more importantly- fear.

She hated how quickly her mind worked in that moment. Each second was a new flimsy hypothesis to throw up and tear down, each excuse becoming harder and harder to justify. She wasn't stupid. She knew what this meant.

Asami was vaguely aware of people moving past her. The clang of boots on metal faded as Beifong's forces made their way down the staircase. It taunted her- like a great black and red maw with iron banisters for teeth- ready to swallow her whole. She clasped her shaking hands to her chest.

Korra took her in her arms, her eyes holding nothing but regret. If Asami had been of the right mind to comprehend them, the Avatar's words would probably have been very wise. As it was, her mind was elsewhere. She almost wished Korra would be smug, blameable so she could have someone other than her father to rage against. But she wasn't. She was kind; understanding, sorry, and right. Right about everything.

No, maybe there was a legitimate explanation for all this. Just because she couldn't think of one didn't mean it didn't exist. Hiroshi was a genius after all, he wouldn't work for someone like Amon without reason.

Korra gave her one last pitying glance before following Beifong down those damned steps. Mako and Bolin weren't far behind, and then she was alone with an unconscious metalbender and her father's torn-apart workshop.

Spirits, they were going to hurt him, weren't they?

If he was involved there would be interrogations; Future Industries would be ruined. Councilman Tarrlok wouldn't give a damn if he was manipulated, the man just wanted someone to blame. Asami felt a familiar heat rise in her core, the unfocused burning of fever behind her eyes. She fumbled for the little bottle of pills in her jacket.

The cap clicked off and she swallowed two just to be safe. The small high they gave her settled her nerves, and she began to make her way down that awful staircase.

Asami needed to see for herself what her father had done.

How could she have been so stupid?

Tomorrow was going to be a mess. Korra had managed to convince the Chief to keep away until the morning (quite the feat Asami knew, she had done the same for Hiroshi many times), but the fallout couldn't be delayed forever. Being on Air Temple Island wouldn't stop the media from swarming once they caught wind of what happened.

She should prepare a speech for that. Something about the core values of the company not being reflected in its former CEO. But would that really be true? She had seen the extent of the catacombs beneath the estate- that level of workmanship required thousands of specialists. Just how much of Future Industries was tied to the Equalists? Could the company be salvaged? Perhaps, but just the thought of all the work she'd have to do made her head spin. First it would be a matter of unfreezing their assets; then screening the key workers, Future Industry's stock price was already crashing so winning back investors-

A gentle knock at the door interrupted her thoughts.

"Asami?" Korra's voice. "I uh, brought tea." She sounded nervous.

Asami turned from her place at the window and forced a smile. She probably needed the distraction. "Thank you Korra, I appreciate it." (She really did.)

The Avatar eased open the door with her foot and looked up hopefully. The mugs on the small tray she was carrying clinked. "Are you okay? I-I mean, I know you're probably not- today was awful and I'm really, really sorry about your dad. I knew something was up, but I was also super insensitive and-"

"It's alright." Asami interrupted, holding up her hands to stop the torrent of words. "You don't have anything to apologize for, it's my fault for not noticing what my father was doing."

Korra placed the tray on a small table in the center of the room. Her earlier ramblings were now replaced by a look of quiet concern. "It wasn't your fault at all. Why would you think that?"

Asami sighed and looked away. If the other girl's face was any indication she wasn't going to convince her otherwise, and there was no point in arguing the nuances of her guilt if neither of them were willing to budge.

A few minutes passed before Korra made a clumsy attempt to fill the silence. "...So how are you finding the island?"

Air Temple Island was fascinating. The buildings were all wood and cloth, very different from the traditional Fire Nation designs of the Sato mansion- she had never seen anything like it. A series of pipelines were built into the walls of each room, angled in such a way that the temperature could be regulated without the need for artificial heating. Such architecture could never be used in her homeland, one wayward spark could set the whole place alight. But here, surrounded by water? It was a beautiful piece of design she would normally have to visit distant clifftops to see.

Asami inclined her head, considering how to answer. "It's different. We don't have buildings like this in the Fire Nation." She was careful not to bring up her father now that the conversation had changed. "I'd love to talk to Tenzin about it actually, I really think some of the designs could be used-"

She stopped herself. Korra wasn't interested in engineering. Asami looked up awkwardly, an apology already forming on her lips. But the Avatar was leaning forward, apparently engrossed in what she was saying (or at least very good at hiding her indifference). Either way, she was suddenly not sure how to act. "-to fix the coolant system problems we had on the last line of Satomobiles."

"Uh huh," Korra nodded slowly. "That sounds.. good?"

Asami blinked and deflated. "You don't actually know what I'm talking about do you?"

"Well no, not really." She grinned sheepishly. "But I like hearing you talk! You looked like you'd just had an idea, and even if I don't completely understand what it means it's nice to see you excited."

"Oh," Asami's face flushed. "Thank you."

They talked for several hours after that. Asami gushed about the small future industries department she'd been running since she was fifteen, the improvements they'd made to almost every vehicle in the city. Korra in turn spoke about her airbender training and the task force. She admitted how much she missed her parents back in the South Pole.

Neither of them mentioned the Equalists.