A/N: Hey guys! I'm back! No, I'm not dead. Anyway here's the next chapter. This one goes out to Africanpenguin. Please read and review! If there are any horrendous grammar mistakes please don't hesitate to tell me. Thanks. So sorry for the incredibly long wait I'm am just incompetent.

AMORRA LIVES ON.

Revised- 7/21/15

A Terrible Synergy

Chapter 16

The city was barely waking when the wheels of fate started turning all because one man could not be held to wait for a teenager any longer. He would not be subjected to that kind of humiliation just because she had a change in plans. He was the one in control not her. Unfortunately, the teenager he was waiting on happened to be the most powerful person in the world, and shown from her absence tonight she believed that she was above the law, that she was above him, that nothing and no one could hold her back from what she thought was right. The Avatar was wrong in her assertions. His tanned fingers adjusted the collar of his crisp blue blazer flattening and refolding it so it rested flush against his pristine white button down shirt. He glanced at the clock at the other end of his office. It was three in the morning and he was nowhere close to sleep. His mind was swimming in dark waters. She had made a grave mistake in choosing not to show. He knew she was keeping secrets, secrets that could potentially save the city by quelling the insurgency of the equalists. The information that she harbored was vital knowledge that he could use to destroy the masked man's image, and, as a result of vanquishing the darkness from the city, he would become the savior in the eyes of every single citizen of the United Republic. The Avatar was simply being selfish by keeping things to herself, and she was being greedy by believing that she could protect everyone, including her friends, airebending master, and even Amon.

A limit existed to her power, and she would face the consequences. If she wanted to keep secrets; it would only ruin her in the end. If Amon was the person he posited he was than what kind of loyalty did she have to him? A bitter smirk lined his lips; she was probably being manipulated. The rebel leader's methods weren't that different from his own.

In the beginning, when she first arrived, he thought that he and Korra could be partners saving the city together. He adored her as his partner, especially when she was obedient, but all his efforts to steer her in the correct direction seemed worthless after their first operation at Dragon Flats Borough. It occurred a few months before Amon's attack on the arena. It was the taskforce's most successful job by managing to capture and incarcerate all the known equalists within the compound. The avatar should have been jumping with joy for the service she had done for her city but she was total opposite stuck in a state of quietness. Photos were taken for the Republic City Tribune and RC Times. The criminals were placed on their knees and arranged in line with the taskforce members behind them. The officers' face were sated as they loomed over their catch like happy fisherman. Tarrlok and Korra stood at the opposite ends of their celebrating crew. She had been acting very reserved the entire operation, which had worried him. The camera flashes blinded him for a second. He remembered glancing over towards her direction. The sight of the Avatar was very displeasing. Her young face was expressionless and her head was point down toward the equalist perpetrators that sat at her heels. She didn't look happy, and that's when he knew that he had lost her allegiance.

Afterward, the criminals were taken to be interrogated at the police station but none of them would speak. Their unflinching loyalty was firmly in the hands of the masked man. It was clear that they'd rather die than betray their leader. No one slipped or fumbled. The captured prisoners were very well versed, and nothing was recovered about the location of the other training and recruitment facilities; even after the offer of an abbreviated sentence in prison. When they were asked the cause of their association to the terrorist group one man answered with earnest, "This is a diseased age! The great Amon has diagnosed the world's ailment and he has found the cure! You are sick! Let Amon help you! He is the cure and only until he cleanses every single rotting bender will the world be able to breathe easy again!" The councilman was already familiar with the man's bold words because they were from one of the equalist manifestos that Amon had written himself. They were fanatical documents that stated the platform of his party and eminent takeover. He found that non-educated and desperate individuals clung to those papers as if it was a choice between life and death, just like the man sprawled out at his feet. They were always the toughest to break. Tarrlok spat on the man and kicked him in the stomach until he was heaped over on his side begging for him to stop. That's when Korra intervened, to prevent him from beating the man any further. She said, "Stop Tarrlok, he is a defenseless man." The councilman angrily shook his head as the same man she was defending backlashed at her, "You dumb cunt! I don't need your fucking help! You're a rat! A germ! Just because you think you're different from him doesn't mean that you are! All you fucking benders are the same! You will be destroyed, you will be destroyed!" It was if she hadn't heard the man's dripping response because her expression remained much the same other than the addition of clenched fists, "Stop hurting these people."

He recalled watching Korra very closely when she left the police station that night. She was questioning him and his course of action and knew that the taskforce could no longer keep her on his side. He needed to find another way to gain her loyality. Foolishly he had imagined growing close to her through their shared experiences in exterminating the terrorist plot; that, maybe, when it was all over, she would stay in the city to rule with him if he pushed her the right way. The Avatar was quite an attractive woman once one got past the brash attitude. She simply just needed to be polished a bit and she would've made the prefect wife. Having the Avatar to bed and control would've been the ultimate trophy, but it was an unrealistic fantasy. All his feelings that he initially held for the Avatar weren't true. All he show in her was potential to elevate himself higher on the social ladder. Just like a teenage boy sees a beautiful woman for the first time, his feelings simply were just lust for her. They both had different goals and now she was getting in his way. Time has run out in persuading her; she needed to be disposed of. Around one in the morning, a rumor was brought to his attention by one of his informants. A mysterious man had visited the Air Temple last night to see Korra but no name was given. He was certain Korra had been turned. She was an enemy of the state.

-0-

The airbending master slept soundly next to his wife who was due to give birth any day now. The old monk dreamed of nothing and his mind was blank both exhausted from his duties in the city's council and worrying about Korra's wellbeing. He turned in his sleep feeling for his wife through the covers. Keeping Amon's revolution at bay was hard enough with the small number of leads they have procured, and, in attempting to track the masked man's every movement, he neglected his family of his attention. Deep down he was terrified. He was fearful of for his family's safety on the island. He didn't know if war could be avoided or if they could be protected. He didn't know what terrible tricks Amon still had left up his sleeve. He didn't know any of these things. The unknowns of this conflict frightened him. In his weakness he tried to find strength because it was what his father would have done: put the world first instead of one's own fears and comforts. At least that's what he told himself every morning to get out of bed and face his children's sad faces to say goodbye. The city was meant to be a beacon of hope, a place where every denomination was welcomed and accepted. He had to uphold this dream because one it may come true.

Pushed from sleep, his eyelids fluttered open. His limbs were wrapped around his wife's waist. The phone was ringing. His long arm reached out as he slid away from the security of his wife's body.

"Hello?" he mumbled not fully awake, "Councilman Tenzin speaking," his free hand rubbed the sleep from his eyes. The sun was just beginning to peak over mountain tops filling up the room with soft rays of morning light. The call was coming from one of the office workers at city hall.

The woman on the other end informed Tenzin of the news. The monk's eyes went wide and for a second; he thought his tattoos would light up like his father's because of the rage that the news had brought him, "What? No one has sent me any notification of this!" the airbender shouted emphatically waking up his wife, "You think a call hours later would be sufficient? I should have been notified the moment this was decided!"

The airbender was silent for a few seconds listening to the woman's reasons for not calling him sooner.

"Oh, you didn't want to wake me up? That is the one of the most inane things I've ever heard. This is inexcusable! Tarrlok cannot do whatever he wants! Who gave him the authority to do this? We are not a goddamn dictatorship! When the hell did this happen?"

He waited impatiently for the answer, "Last night? Why last night? Why didn't he contact me himself about this?" the operator attempted to calm him down but it was futile, "Amon hasn't made any move since the trade for his POWs, which was only two days ago. No action was taken afterward by either side. This is a drastic, irrational measure… it has only been two day! Two days! Put Tarrlok on the phone right now! I want to talk to him!"

The office worker muffled another disgraceful excuse and ended the call. "That bastard. That fucking snake," the airbender snorted, enraged. The Northern Watertribe Councilman was pulling everything apart. Did he really want to invoke war? He had control of the entire police force and the remaining members of the council. Who knows what he has already done. But why was he doing this? And why was he doing it now?

He wife rolled over, "What happened, Tenzin?"

He felt her warm hand on his back. His eyes briefly lost focus his was so angry.

"What happened, Tenzin?" her gentle voice repeated.

"It's awful," he shook his head incredulously, "Tarrlok put martial law into effect last night, but instead of the highest ranking military officer coming into power Tarrlok has placed himself as the head of state since he was the 'supervisor' of chief Saikhan. If only the United Forces were here then General Iroh or my brother could stop Tarrlok from taking control."

"What does mean?"

"It means that he has total control of city via the power of the police department. He has imposed this for undisclosed emergency reasons to ensure the protection of the public against Amon and his forces. I don't know how he had convinced the other councilmembers to agree with him but I highly doubt it was legal or fair. By placing himself as the military head it temporarily revokes the legislative and executive powers of myself and the rest of the councilmembers until the state of emergency is called off."

Anxiety soon outlined Pema's face, "What? Can't you stop him?"

"I don't know. If I bring in the military maybe he'll surrender his power but that's unlikely. I think he's trying to flush Amon out into the open almost daring him to take action of some sort, but this is only adding more tension to conflict between the two groups. The stability that we have now, which I have fought so hard to maintain, is bound to break at any moment now. This is what Amon wants. It's only adding to his power and support. I need to get Korra and we have to put an end to this insanity right now!"

He lowered his head and kissed the crest of his wife's head, "I love you, Pema. I will fix this, I promise. Please don't worry about me, you have enough to worry about," he placed a hand on her swollen abdomen.

She nodded and held his cheek with her hand for moment then withdrew it, "Please be careful."

"I will." Quickly, the airbender jumped up to retrieve the Avatar without stopping either to dress himself appropriately or to shave. Urgency was laced in every fiber of his body. There was no time to waste. He walked briskly through the dining hall in order to reach Korra's room. A white lotus sentry was standing by the front door on watch.

"You," Tenzin addressed the man pointing to him but unable to remember his name, "Call all the sentries together in the center courtyard as quickly as you can."

"Yes, sir," the guard proceeded outside without asking any questions at all. The monk's demeanor and appearance must have been a strong enough indication that something bad had happened because the airbending master had never started a day without changing out of his nightclothes.

The monk finally made it to Korra's door opening it without knocking, "Korra, wake up! We are going to City Hall," he felt his fingertips go numb. His eyes searched the room again to reconfirm that he was actually awake and not caught in a dream. She wasn't there. Her bed was empty and the sheets were eerily untouched. He paced back to the kitchen then to the main chamber and back again looking for any sign of her. The airbender was clinging onto the hope that since her polar-bear dog was still asleep in her room that she had to be somewhere on the Island, but she was nowhere to be found. Left with nowhere else to search he returned to her room. His light-blue eyes darted around the space once more until a breeze of cool air made contact with his skin. His head turned up toward the window. He walked slowly to the opposite side of the room stepping around the sleeping polar-bear dog to investigate the window. His pale, tattooed hands rested on the pane examining the wooden shutter. It was slightly agape. He opened it looking out onto the roof. There the newly fallen snow greeted him along with another icy gust, but the snow wasn't perfectly flat if it had been left undisturbed. It was uneven with gradual, rutted dips in it. The imperfections could be marks left by a person walking on the roof but it was difficult to tell because they weren't definite footsteps. There is also the possibility that he was looking too deeply into the scene. For all he knew the snow could've been moved by the wind, which he hoped it was so that he could forget this madness and just turn to find Korra standing in safely in the doorway, but deep down he knew it wasn't the wind. Where could she possibly have gone off to? The answer to that question left an unsettling feeling in the pit of the airbender's stomach as he suddenly remembered the man that had visited her last night. "Korra, why couldn't you have let this wait?" It was a quarter to six in the morning and she was nowhere to be found.

-0-

She awoke to the sight of him sleeping. The crown of his head was nuzzled gently into hers, lost in the river of her dark, loose hair. She inched closer to him and pressed her ear against his chest. His breathing was soft and even with his heart. Her temple rested on his right pectoral following the slow rise and fall as if she was floating in the current of the bay. He looked so at peace. She brushed his untidy hair back from his face and smiled. His warmth was draped all around her as if it were a winter coat she never wanted to take off. Briefly, she took her eyes off of him to glance out the window. The storm had passed and a foot and a half of snow now stacked against the surface of the smooth window pane. The Avatar stifled a laugh at the small amount of white powder that was dropped from the storm. City dwellers certainly made a big fuss about snow. A foot and a half was nothing compared to the average six feet back at the South Pole. Past the pile of snow, a long stretch of light spilled out onto the floor boards. The sun had risen over the Eastern Sea. She should've gone to go see what time it was but she just didn't care at the moment.

This was the first time he had ever stayed a full night with her, which meant he was serious about his feelings. He never knew how much it hurt her to wake up and not find him by her side the morning after he had first made love to her. That night she had lost her virginity to him, and it was an awful feeling when she awoke to find herself alone in an empty jail cell. She was by herself with only her contemplations for company, and the nagging thought that she had given herself up. That she had succumbed to her body's urges and had failed by not refraining from the temptation of the masked man, but she was conflicted. She knew she should've felt totally ashamed of herself and of her actions but the night was a dreamlike moment to say the least because he had chosen her over his anonymity, which risked the success of his revolution and advanced the possible undoing of his future. But that night, in the darkness of his office, she saw a glimmer of hope. Everything about the interaction was sincere and heartfelt. He meant every single touch and word. Before, all anything ever was between them was pain and tension because they knew the dangers and that's what kept them separate. They knew they had to be circumspect and tiptoe around the edges, but that could only keep them apart for so long. The heart wants what it wants, and now he was by her side and nothing ever felt so right in her life before. The pain in the beginning was worth it because was it was something worth fighting for, and maybe it was wrong, and maybe it was selfish, but she couldn't deny how alive she felt with him, or how deeply she loved him.

He had told her everything last night. It was sickening how much he had endured. It was maddening that he had never told anyone any of those things he told her last night. The waterbender supposed that it was a common male trait to keep emotions and the truth bottled inside if it prevented people who cared about him from worrying, but no one was there to worry for him. It was partly due to his occupation because when Amon breathed Noatak did not exist. Maybe, he had no reason for telling before he met her. Was he afraid that no one would accept ever him, the no one was capable of forgiving him? Was he ashamed of what he has done? He had told her out right that he had killed gang members and mobsters, tortured persons, and embezzled money. She didn't know how to feel about all this information. He wouldn't disclose to her how many he had killed or the specifics of his wrongdoings, but at least he told her.

They returned to his bedroom when the sun started to come up deciding that a few hours of sleep was better than none. They laid side by side and just when her eyes were about to close she heard his voice, "You're the only person I've ever talked to about this before. It's easier to stay quiet. I know what I am. I know what I've done and I don't deny it. To some point I even agree with the people that oppose me. I am a lair, I am a fraud, a criminal even. I'm a bad person but yet I've have helped so many people. And I thought that that still made what I was doing good. I see now that using evil to cast out evil is not the right way. I wanted to burn this city to the ground and start over, but I was wrong. I was too focused on the new utopia that I neglected to see the one that sat right in front of my eyes. My sins will have to be paid for and I know someday that will come and I am okay with that. I pay will whatever price I have to pay. You have given me this strength that I've never known I had. I don't know how you can sit here and listen to the wrongs I've done and still hold my hand. I tell you these horrible things of my past that have weighed me down and you still smile at me and kiss my cheek. I would never have thought in a million years that the Avatar would save me. You have given me a gift that I can never possibly repay, Korra. You have given me hope again."

His sweet breath rolled over her skin in tiny little wafts escaping through his nostrils and parted lips. She had no idea what they were going to do now, but, at the moment, Korra didn't want to worry about how things would work out. She wanted to remain in this secret little world of theirs for as long as she could. She knew it wouldn't last. The weight of the world couldn't be left unattended to for that long, for if it fell it would crush anyone who tried to stand below and stop it. There were a few people who were strong enough to bare the weight, people like her and Noatak.

She had enough of him sleeping. Ever so slowly, the Avatar arched her face towards his and pressed her lips against his. He had a noticeable whiskers on his chin. She could feel the tiny stubble protruding from his jawline as she cupped his cheek. A groggy grin stretched across his lips. She drew away but he quickly pulled her back, and found her lips again. She moved one of her legs over his waist and straddled him. After a couple of minutes, she withdrew for air and he opened his eyes, "Good morning."

"Good morning."

He smiled, "How'd you sleep?" He rubbed her shoulders tenderly and tilted his head back. She watched his adam's apple bob up in down as he swallowed lazily.

"Good. How about you?"

"Best sleep I had in years," his hands continued their relaxing ministrations. Her hair ties were undone and her messy locks ran down the length of her back and neck framing her face beautifully. Korra noted how low and gravelly his voice was in the morning. She liked it.

Her eyes sparked mischievously and she quirked an eyebrow.

"What?" he chuckled.

"You just look so damn happy."

"You have a problem with it?"

She leaned down touching her nose to his, "No, not at all," his hands fetched under her shirt and up the bare muscles of her back. His strong fingers pressed against her taut muscles gaining a sigh from the girl on top of him.

"You do make me pretty damn happy," he murmured softly. She rested her forehead against his and kissed him once more. It started out slowly at first as they welcomed each other into their bodies. He continued kneading her back as she cupped the sides of his face. She pulled back and kissed his cheeks, nose, eyes, chin, and forehead. Spirts he loved her. She was so beautiful.

Soon his roaming hands freed her body from the baggy t-shirt. He pulled up while she lifted her arms into the sky shaking off the offending fabric. Noatak drew her back down kissed her more insistently this time, and as the embrace lengthened she grew wilder. He grouped her breasts, and she leaned back as he sat up to take one of her chocolate nipples into his mouth. She grinded against his thighs each time he flicked his tongue over one of her sensitive areolas. He could feel the pressure mounting inside him. They were so close. After giving both breasts ample attention, he moved to embrace her neck and collarbone with a flourish of wet, open mouthed kisses while he handled her entire body more and more tantalizingly. He could feel she was becoming restless from the friction. Suddenly she wrestled away the sheet that separated their nether regions and slipped her boxers down enough to expose her womanhood. Without any words, he picked his legs up enough to slid boxers down revealing his sizable erection.

The Avatar placed her hands firmly on his shoulders while she lifted her hips over his member. She lowered herself slowly on top of him. Muscle rippled and gasps escaped their lips as the pair became one once more. He never took his eyes off of her. His grip around her hips tightened as she began rolling her hips against his in a pulsing, hypnotic rhythm. He shamelessly looked at her breasts as they bounced with every movement she made. Korra watched his face from below, happy to find him mesmerized his firm grip never loosened. She shoved her hips forward harder, faster. The pressure inside still mounting higher. Sweat began dripped down their bodies and she began to pant and shout.

At the threshold of their limits, he sat up and kissed her lips again. His fingers moved from her hops to tingle in her hair. She shouted as the coil of incredible pleasure gave way in her body. Her muscles pulsated and slacked against his still rigid body. He was soon to follow. Noatak grunted against her neck as his pressure was released and his body shuttered in a wave of trembling pleasure. Their bodies pressed closely together. They both were shaking. Sweat rolled down her temple. He wiped it away and she beamed at him.

He wished that moment could have lasted for an entirety that he could just get lost in the bright blue of her eyes, but nothing prefect could ever last. The world could not be ignored any longer. There was a knock on the door followed by a single word, "Police."