A/N: Please review. Many thanks.

A Terrible Synergy

Chapter 9

Korra awoke in a different room. Her mind shifted uneasily as the arousing vivacity of her dream subsided. She didn't know where she was. Her eyes peeked down and she realized that her hands were shaking. She lifted them to her face. What happened and why was she feeling this way? Then the events of the night before came rushing back to her. Her dream was merely the echo of it.

She was in a kind of shock trying believe that her affair with her greatest enemy actually happened. She looked all around her. He was nowhere to be found with only four lackluster walls to give her comfort.

Then suddenly her feelings of bliss renewed into dread. He was just using her just like he was using his lieutenant. It all was just a game to him anyway, and, boy, was he good at it. She couldn't help but concede that she wanted it too. Hot tears rolled down her cheeks from her confliction.

She could still feel his body weight on top of her as if it could never leave her, and the pressure of his fingertips against her glowing skin. How could she remove this weight? It was wrong, and she found that she didn't give damn if it crushed her. She thought that she needed to feel ashamed because that was the correct way she should react but instead sense of pride and satisfaction remained. She tucked her face into her knees crying softly.

The Avatar saw this coming, and connected the dots a long time before he ever dropped his mask. Perhaps, she should have ended her relations with him in the beginning when her suspicions were high, but something inside her wouldn't let him go. She didn't know what it was about that man, and how desperately she wanted to believe his every word but knew it was foolish to do so. A shaky breath released from her ribcage endeavoring to ease the strain that the sudden wave of intense contemplation brought upon her. Her feelings for Noatak were something she simply couldn't explain to herself; all she understood was that she needed him. How incredibly odd the situation was: she should hate him but she found it hard to.

Her mind wandered off again in a long string of thought. She caressed her lip, swollen from the night before. Her hands trailed down her neck. Dozens of purple bruises blotted her once flawless skin like a cracked mosaic of desire. She recalled the sensation of him inside her. Nobody ever touched her that close before. The stimulating, foreign rush was new and exciting. The longer she focused on it the more she wanted again. The man's strained grunts of pleasure resonated in her ears. The corners of her lips absentmindedly curled upward as she relished the experience. She asked herself if she would do it again and found that she would give him a hundred virginities if she could.

She hadn't noticed how fast her heart was beating. She deliberated if she loved him. But he's Amon.

But he's also Noatak.

She couldn't tell if that was the hopeful side of her heart. Korra rolled over to rest on her side with her index finger extended as it languidly skated over the fabric of the white sheet below her. She was fully dressed. Perhaps, being a heavy sleeper was in his favor. She imagined him watching her as she slept, dressing and admiring her naked body, but her thoughts once again trekked into dark waters. The possibility of being manipulated was too strong to ignore. The loaded thought came to her attention once more: He was just playing a game. The unshakable pertinence of that statement was absolutely devastating. Her heart dropped into the pit of her stomach.

He was just using you. He doesn't care. He just wanted a girl to fuck, and you let him.

She had fallen for his deceptions, his false affections, but it all was so real. Had she been so naïve and blinded by her compulsive nature? He had once told her that people lie, to not be so naïve and trusting. This quality is probably why she was so lacking as an Avatar. She always thought that what seemed to be the truth was the truth, and would blindly trust people because she believed that humans were inherently good on the inside. She never once thought that her actions could be wrong. Maybe, it was her inexperience with human interaction and the complexities of the world. She didn't know what to do. Her heart felt like it was bleeding inside her chest.

She wanted answers and she wanted them now. Patience wasn't her forte either; she so badly desired to expel the heartache she felt as quickly as possible. Korra rolled over again in restless fashion as her mind swooned into another wave of concentrated scrutiny. The waterbender wasn't really known for thinking things through. It was always the first thing that came to her mind that won. Never would she consider a different point of attack. It was the result of her bullheaded nature. Her fingernails dug powerfully into her temples as she continued to reprimand herself for her faults. Beating herself up was futile in the end; she had to come to terms with what she had done and accept the fact that she brought it upon herself.

He came to mind again: the loving brand of his lips on her neck stirring into a playful bite; his words plummeting through her core as his deep baritone fluctuated from a sharp, menacing tone into an affectionate whisper. He had told her many things and how she wanted him to show her what he saw. How she desired to do the same. Maybe, they could help one another; what if he truly cared for her? Perhaps, they could find a peaceful end to the war. For a second, she ignored the biting truth that he was her greatest enemy and replayed his every action since she first met him. Their first couple of interactions were rough. He had terrible mood swings from amicability to anger to regret. It seemed like he was conflicted too, and their conversation in the café the day before supported that claim of confusion. It was because she was the Avatar, and he knew it would be trouble if he got involved with her. He told her that that he had never changed his mind about her, so did he always want her? He had too. He did take her out to lunch the first day they meet when he had no idea who she was, but did his feelings run deeper than the desire for a tryst? The Avatar wasn't stupid, she understood that love and lust were two entirely different things.

The sad truth was that his feelings probably didn't run any deeper. All he wanted was a warm body that he was sexually attracted to. The baker Viola came thundering to her attention and his skills in removing her traditional wrap. He most likely didn't give a damn about her or the significance of sex for that matter, but making love to him was a huge deal to her. He probably had slept with hundreds of woman before, what was she even worth to him? But he was so kind and gentle with her last night. She trusted him. His actions and demeanor made her want to trust him, but how could she? She wasn't that blind anymore. It all was an act he put on, perfected through his many years of servicing woman. He knew exactly what to say to get the answer he wanted. He only slept with her for physical pleasure and she had willingly given her body to him without another thought. She shuddered from the dejection that the current, dark place of her thoughts delivered her.

The hopeful side of her heart called once more. How she wanted him to come in and tell her that everything would be alright, to confess that he loved her, to hold her in his arms until she fell asleep with his deep voice cajoling her fears until she believed that no harm would come to her. Again, she was being too sanguine. How could she harbor feelings for the masked man, the very person that subsisted in her nightmares and pledged to destroy her? They couldn't be the same person. It seemed almost impossible.

"Get up," someone barked behind her.

The Avatar was shaken from her thoughts, "What?" She hadn't heard a door open. A shadow crept up her body as the equalist guard loomed over her.

"Didn't you hear me, bitch?" the man snapped viciously, "I said get up!" he kicked her side with his foot, "Don't make me say it again."

The waterbender pushed herself to her knees, "Where am a going?"

"Like hell I'd tell you, you little cocksucker."

The cross attitude of the guard wasn't making Korra any more compliant, "You should remember who you're addressing," the waterbender snapped back bitterly, "before it comes back to bite you in the butt, buddy," she intoned smugly.

The man stepped closer to her sedentary position while the two other equalist guards moved themselves inside her cell. The gold metallic features of his dark, shaded uniform gleamed ominously in the dim light that the singular blub offered. She heard the large man snicker arrogantly from behind his dark green face covering, "What a surprising answer from a self-entitled twat like you. I can't wait until the day Amon wipes the floor with you."

The final statement made Korra snap. She gazed up at the laughing man, her hand sparked up in flame. They must have disregarded how long Amon's chi-blocking actually lasted or checked if he had chi-blocked her at all. The overconfident equalist was caught off guard as Korra happily slapped him across the face in a fire aided punch. His goggles cracked under the force of her knuckles and the man fell to the ground in one loud crash sprawled out unconscious at the Avatar's feet, "Asshole," Korra spat with a self-satisfied grin plastered across her face. The two other guards immediately closed the distance between.

The waterbender pointed at their catatonic coworker, "How do you even work with that guy?"

The pair didn't find it all that funny. Their arms and bodies prepped for anymore of the Avatar's offensives, "Stand down."

Korra was really in the mood to fight. Truthfully, she was always in the mood to fight, but she really needed this. She smirked and shrugged, "Oh, too bad I'm already standing," she jolted forward with incredible speed. The two guards were startled by the girl's sheer athleticism, they probably underestimated her. The equalist to her right, who was male, jumped wide right while Korra shifted to the left pursuing the other guard. The Avatar jabbed her fists forward in a controlled wave of fire. The guard in front of her, who she could tell was female, had no choice but to pin herself against the wall hurdling high in the air. The equalist's leap narrowly evaded her attack; her left arm followed through only to be caught by the second guard's wire from behind. Korra huffed in minor frustration and her eyes glanced around quickly at her surroundings landing on the potential of the open door in front of her. The female guard stood to the left of the door. The male guard pulled on the wire forcing her to take a step back while the female equalist neutralized her right arm of its bending. This only infuriated the Avatar further. The waterbender looked at the open door again, it opened inwardly and it was possible to reach it with her right arm. Korra forward kicked with her left leg summoning a decent amount of fire. The female guard stumbled back to the safety of the wall again, corning herself next to the door. The male guard seized Korra's left leg as it followed through, but the waterbender's hands were already on the door slamming it down on the female guard's body. An earsplitting sound filled the entire room. The fight between the equalist and the heavily enforced cell door was over and the door won. The female equalist slumped down against the wall in unconsciousness. Content in not fighting a two front war anymore, Korra turned toward the remaining guard wrapping her hands around his offending wires that restrained her two appendages. She could faintly hear the male equalist grunt with annoyance as the Avatar displayed her strength as he momentarily lost his control of her. The hold he around her left foot was the most bothersome. An idea sparked in her head, she had forgotten that the ground was made of cement, not metal. Stepping down with her free foot, the Avatar let loose a huge shock wave throwing the man to his knees. The wires lost their tension and dropped down around her feet. Korra pounced toward the man cleanly kicking him across the face with her right foot. The guard jolted back from the impact of the kick giving her enough time to unwrap the wires around her limbs.

The day was certainly turning out better than it had started. The Avatar wasn't expecting to escape today but the opportune circumstances spoke otherwise. In the moment of the man's disorientation, Korra dashed through the door sprinting out as fast as she could down the hallway only to be stopped by a deep, familiar voice.

"I wouldn't go that way if I were you," he spoke simply. No one was present in the hallway except for him. He was at the other end of the corridor leaning against the wall just in the edge of the darkness. She could only see the slight flash of the gloss of his mask. He was so camouflaged by the surrounding shadows it unsettled her. Her legs went numb yet her body rotated continued to run down the hallway. The male equalist guard bolted out of the room.

The equalist leader came out from his hiding spot, "What are you doing? I gave you simple instructions," Amon roared at the guard, "Must I go catch her myself?" His words were sharp. The equalist shook his head and stretched out his arms as if to protect himself from his leader's rage as well as placate it, "No, sir. I apologize immensely, sir." The man was bleeding from his ear. The Avatar must've kicked him pretty hard.

Amon growled under his mask, he made it seem like he just got there but in reality he had been waiting outside her cell the entire time, "Go gather the others as well as the Lieutenant. She does not get away," he ordered imperiously, "Do I make myself clear? Or do you need further explanation?" he ended in a heavily derisive tone.

The man nodded on in spastic fit as he ran down the hallway in the opposite direction the Avatar went to fulfill Amon's orders. The masked man waited until he disappeared to slip to another room. Korra had turned right which would lead her to the gymnasium, but he would catch her before she would even get there. This contest of theirs was amusing and he found himself walking with a hidden purpose.

The Avatar's arms pumped rapidly as she sustained her fast pace down the hallway. There were no guards present which was slightly unnerving to her as she wandered indefinitely down the long corridor. Her head swung every which way searching for an exit, but the tunnel of a hallway appeared to stretch on for miles. There had to be an exit somewhere but the almost nonexistent light made it difficult to see.

She reached out and something snatched her arm making her shout, "UAgh, what the hell!?"

It was him again, and he never ceased to scare the absolute shit out of her, "You impress me, Avatar," he was speaking of her combat skills.

She slipped her wrist from his grip, "Leave me alone," she intoned coldly. His behavior was freaking her out.

"I apologize, Avatar, but I don't intend to do that. It's simple, when I have something I like, I keep it."

Blood rushed to her features, but she stopped herself from falling into his verbal trap, "You're just using me," her eyes were ice against his, "I… I…" she was stumbling on her words now in her usual ineptness of articulating her feelings, "I don't want this anymore. I… I want to end this." It wasn't difficult to say as she looked out onto the emotionless plane of porcelain that substituted as his face.

This left a rancorous sting in his throat; her body had spoken otherwise of her attraction to him as well as her effervescent fervor last night. She was met with silence, he cleared his throat, "Fine," he paused, his hands balling slowly into fists, "Do you as you please. I'm not stopping you, nor impeding your escape, but know that I could easily detain you if I so choose to do so," he stated.

"Then why don't you then?"

He avoided the question, "You should get going before my henchmen return in two minutes. The exit is two doors down. Once you turn in there don't get onto the tram because they will shut them down the moment you step on one. Find the electrical closet labeled 1A. There's a tunnel in there that will take you to the surface."

"Why are you telling me this?"

Again he avoided her question, "It's your choice. Go to end of this hallway or listen to my instructions. I would advise against the first route."

"Why should I trust you?" Korra said starkly, "You have been lying to me this whole time."

"I can't make all the decisions for you, Avatar, you must do that yourself," she couldn't stand him calling her by her title as if he was taunting her to do something totally irrational, "And it appears that your options are waning thin."

He trying to so his dominance in the situation through his metaphorical bullshit, and her mind failed in finding something witty to retort back to him. "You…" she gritted her teeth jabbing her finger toward him, "You really piss me off," she yelled curtly as she obdurately went against his instructions. Her situation only grew worse as the hooded man's warnings proved to be true. The Avatar entered the large training room of equalist. The waterbender was apprehended in a mere five minutes as twenty equalists-in-training confronted her simultaneously. Her defeat resulted solely in the fact that she was out numbered. Her hands were tied as well as her feet. Amon came strutting in on queue in the company of fifteen other competent equalist and his beloved lieutenant.

The group of unmasked novices were smiling as their leader came up to extol them on their momentous accomplishment, "Well done my equalist comrades! Not even the Avatar can win against the sheer numbers of our cause," he glanced down at Korra who hung her head in defeat. She had no desire to meet his eyes. The waterbender was waiting for Amon to humiliate and debase her but he didn't, "Seems that the Avatar likes to fight," his back was turned to her while he placed his arms behind his back, "But so do we."

"What will her punishment be, sir?" the lieutenant inquired earnestly.

"There will be a punishment, lieutenant. When the benders are taken down for good," he paused and glanced over his shoulder. She would not look up. He found no meaning in his words anymore, "This was an auspicious test of our power. Take her to her new residence in the second wing. You men, continue on with your training."

The Avatar didn't have the faintest idea of what to think now. He hadn't necessarily lied to her, but she couldn't discern if the second door to the right actually was the way to freedom. The rope around her wrists cut into her dark skin creating painful burns as they dragged her to her new room. She could only wonder where her door to freedom stood now, and the question was whether or not he was going to lead her to.