"Are you sure?"
The pharmacist shook his head, handing back the empty pill bottle. "I'm sorry but we've never had anything like this in stock, Ms Sato. There's another place a few blocks from here that might be worth checking, but I wouldn't get your hopes up- I've never even heard of Future Industries producing medicine before."
Asami frowned, examining the little golden cog on the label. She'd never really thought about where it came from before.
"Hey!" Bolin stuck his head round the door, "We got another transmission, you ready to go?"
She nodded and slipped the empty bottle into her bag. The uncomfortable heat in her core had been rising these past few days, but it was manageable. She'd find a place that sold her proper medication when they got back.
Mako and Korra were waiting outside in the car, listening intently to the police radio. Bolin slipped into the back and Asami hurried into the driver's seat. While she started the engine Mako leaned forward and gave her the rundown of what they knew. "Equalists were spotted on the eastern side of the city, they're attacking a bender-run restaurant near the council building."
Asami nodded and sped out onto the road. The electric glove weighed heavy on her hand as they passed block after block. Frantic calls for backup blared out of the radio, and a moment later the car rounded a corner to a scene of chaos.
She recognized the restaurant. It was a novelty place and the food was mediocre- the gimmick of course being that everything was cooked with firebending. How the Equalists even managed to justify targeting such an establishment was beyond her- Yet there they were, electricity crackling across the street as they fought with first-responders.
Asami hit the breaks and spun so that the car created a barrier between fleeing civilians and the Equalists. Mako was already jumping towards the enemy, hurling a great lance of fire from his fingertips.
Korra spun water into ice with one fluid motion, trapping two Equalists in the blink of an eye while Bolin slammed a foot into the ground and raised the earth so that it blocked off any exits for the would-be attackers.
It was over in a matter of seconds. Or at least, it should have been.
A van full of the masked cowards pulled up nearby and began climbing over Bolin's barrier. Asami jumped out of the car and activated her glove- sending a sweeping arc of electricity towards them. She ignored the shouts as they called her a traitor, yelling obscenities as they swarmed over the wall.
She ducked under a fist, shifting her stance before pushing both palms up into her attacker's chin. He grunted, surprised, and she took the opportunity to sweep his legs out from under him- launching a blast of electricity into the back of his head for good measure.
Asami lost track of her friends in the torrent of new opponents. It was distressing really, how much these people fought like her. They used the same techniques, the same moves designed to tip the scale against benders in a fight. They were sloppy though. None of them had the finesse that came with years of training.
She danced between them, flawlessly switching between moves she'd learned as a child but secretly believed she'd never have to use. But spirits, there were so many people now. She caught a glimpse of Korra fighting three Equalists at once, her bending useless in a crowd where she could accidentally hurt an ally. Asami moved to help only for a kick to send her rolling across the ground.
She twisted, minimizing the damage and backflipping onto her feet. Electricity sparked in the gaps between her fingers.
Then the task force showed up.
The earth was ripped out from beneath her feet and used to shove her backward. Asami gasped, winded, as it wrapped around her waist. Dimly she watched as the remaining Equalists were either captured or scattered out of sight. But why was she restrained? Ah, the glove. She looked like one of them.
Now if only she could catch her breath enough to speak.
The stone rubbed uncomfortably against her skin, little bits of gravel finding their way into her clothes. She focused on breathing- quick, shallow breaths were better than nothing at all.
Korra was the first to notice her. The Avatar's face changed from cocky to enraged in a split second. She stormed over, arms raised to release Asami before Tarrlok grabbed her hand. They exchanged words, the councilman saying something that made Korra spark her hands into flames. The fire rippled at his feet and oh spirits, she could feel it.
It was like her core was tethered to the heat around her.
Warmth rippled through her body, then condensed. It was a fuzzy sort of pain. The kind that settled between her eyes and drifted into her bones, that blurred her vision and made the very idea of movement seem heavy. Sweat rolled down her back and she was vaguely aware of her earth prison releasing. Asami fell forward into Korra's arms, too delirious to be embarrassed. Dimly, she scolded herself for not buying fever mediation when she had the chance. Even if it wasn't her prescription anything would have been better than going completely clean and then jumping into a fight.
Everything felt muted. Korra was speaking to her, panicked whispers that she could barely comprehend. She sagged into the Avatar, dark strands of hair clinging to her face- half-lidded eyes staring at the ground.
Asami's tongue was too heavy for sentences so she fumbled in her bag instead. "I-I need.." The heiress pressed her empty pill bottle into Korra's hand, then everything went black.