A/N: Hi. Yes, I'm breathing. Sorry, this is very short, but it's unfair for me to keep you hanging on that cliff for so long. Sorry if your arms hurt.
A Terrible Synergy
Chapter 17
A police blimp touched down on Air Temple Island. The blimp's ramp extended outward from the passenger's carriage and onto the ground in a loud groan of mechanical parts. The doors opened quickly liberating its contents. The Northern Watertribe Councilman strolled down the incline onto the frozen ground. A squad of six to eight metalbenders followed him. All of them wore their state-issued, long, black coats. The group consolidated around the councilman. A cloud of steam formed form their escaped lips, looking like a pack of wild dogs searching for something to kill. He gave them their orders and they wasted no time in making their way to the main temple.
The whole antagonistic display was simply a show of the councilman's hubris, which had grown remarkably over the past couple of days. The airbender could feel his conceit as he made his way up the path. Arrogance dripped off of him with every swaggered step he took, even his smirk looked cocksure. The monk heard the snow cracking underneath the group's weight. The sound stopped when they reached the first step of the front veranda where the airbending master stood to greet is unexpected visitors. He channeled his anger quietly.
The bald man crossed his arms. The heavy, red cloak he wore folded and crinkled over his entangled forearms, "What are you doing here, Tarrlok. Trying to flaunt your power?" He eyed the officers and his scowl deepened. He was absolutely powerless in this situation, but that didn't mean he would not defend himself or his home if his colleague crossed the line, "I will remind you that you once swore an oath to serve and protect the people of this Nation. You probably don't remember since it was so long ago, but I was the one that swore you into office that day when Northern Watertribe appointed you to be their representative. That was nearly ten years ago. You were the youngest, and most definitely one of the brightest, but now you nothing more than a filthy autocrat," vapor radiated from his mouth and flared nostrils.
The watertribe councilmen remained unaffected by the airbender's remarks, "You don't understand, Tenzin, and I think that you never will. You see, I'm doing what you could never do," he enunciated his spiked words carefully, "I'm taking a stand against Amon."
"You say that you are but all I can see is you taking power for yourself."
"Believe what you want, Tenzin, we never saw eye to eye anyway."
"Why are you doing this? For Northern Watertribe? Is chief Unalaq paying you off or you just simply doing this for yourself?"
"I had enough of your questions. People who take oaths but do nothing but sit at home and on fence don't deserve to ask questions."
"Maintaining peace is better than bloodshed. This continent has seen too much war already. It doesn't need another one."
"So you'll just surrender and let Amon take over then?"
"That's not what I'm saying at all, Tarrlok. Don't twist my words."
The waterbender ignored him, "You'll let him take away airbending for good? Is that what you want for your children? How would your father feel about that?"
A vein bulged from the monk's forehead and the councilman's smirk fortified. The airbender shut his eyes in frustration controlling his rage, "Don't you dare bring my family into this, Tarrlok. A bachelor like you has no right to slander me. I've done everything in my power to maintain peace, but now you have acted too rashly and too soon. I don't know what will happen now, I cannot predict the future. Hopefully, you have not started something that you cannot undue. I am not with you, but know that I would never let the situation with Amon escalate to those extremes. I would defend this city until my last breath if I had too, but it's too soon, Tarrlok, you've have played you're cards too soon and you're playing right into his hands," he paused thinking on his next words, "Don't come here pointing fingers saying I have done nothing for this city. Yes, I have a family, Tarrlok, and I cannot take the right of my children to have a father away from them and sleep at night. It's something you'll never understand until you have one of your own. I was the one that cleaned up after you. I was the one that stabilized the two groups while you ran amuck with your nonbender curfews and taskforces, and now you show up on my island, my father's house, like you own it. You think you can just take what you please, but I've met men like you before and they've failed every time. This city will never submit to a tyrant like you." His eyes were intense and clear as the morning sky. The white lotus guards and metalbenders had observed the entirety of the interaction between the two former coworkers. He had hoped to sway some officers to his side, but of none of the councilman's man budged. When had officer grown so mindless? Money and status was the only thing anyone ever cared about anymore.
"Shut up, Tenzin, and listen," Tarrlok spat indigently sick of listening to what he had to say as if he were a child, "You're outdated in a world that has changed. Your father was stuck a hundred years in the past and so are you." He motioned to the metalbenders behind him, "Now, where is the Avatar?"
"What do you want Korra for? For another one of your schemes?"
"I don't have time for this, Tenzin, you've already wasted enough of it with your babbling. Hand her over or I will arrest every single person on this island and have them sentenced to death for treason."
He crossed the line, "Get off my island before I make you leave," the airbender thought of Lin, who was still recovering in the hospital. If she were here the officers sure would have mixed feelings from attacking. He didn't know what kind of lies and promises Tarrlok has been spoon-feeding them.
"Tsk, Tsk, Tenzin," the waterbender tapped the center of his forehead with his index finger, a disquieting grin lined his face, "I always thought you to be a rational man, but here you are defying your own logic. Why don't you wake up the Avatar and see what she has to say, hmm?"
Korra was still missing. He didn't know what to do, "Don't make me ask again. Get off my island."
Tarrlok paced once more, "Hmmm, so hostile today, so unlike an airbender," he laughed with feigned amusement, "I'm not going anywhere."
"If you won't leave then tell me why you want Korra."
Now the waterbender squared his shoulders and looked him in the eyes, "If you really want the truth, Tenzin, Korra's working with Amon. I'm here to arrest her."
The airbender started chuckling from the absurdity of his claim, "Are you serious? You expect me to believe this? You've been playing everyone this whole time just so you could seize power for yourself. You're worse than Amon."
"I don't expect you to believe anything. Your bias towards her keeps you from realizing the truth. She has been turned whether you like it or not. Just think about it: where is she now? Obviously, not here," he shook his head slightly, "She would've been out here by now to preform her duties as the Avatar," he pouted his lips and tilted his head to the side, "She didn't tell you, didn't she?"
What didn't she tell him? The monk's eyes dropped to the ground searching for an answer. Only the image of Korra's mysterious visitor came to his attention. That man… who was that man? "Get off my island." Whatever Korra did was in the best interest of the world. She would never do that. He justified.
"I'm sorry, but I can't leave without answers."
Korra, where are you?
-0-
Their bodies froze.
"Why are the police here?" Korra whispered making an effort to hide the apparent panic in her voice. She pushed herself off of him while he secured his boxers back into place. He shot up from the mattress and crouched beside the door frame listening. She cleaned herself from his liquids by waterbending them away and dressed herself. She was worried about his safety; she didn't care what would happen to her, which was something she knew Noatak won't agree with. She found her own clothing where she had left it to dry on the chair next to the radiator. She dragged her light blue tank top over her head and drew her navy pants up. She could feel something bad was going to happen.
"I don't know," his focus was absorbed on what was occurring outside in the hallway. His eyes grew cold and serious, "There's two officers outside." With his refined sensibilities, he could detect their heartbeats and separate them. He searched further into the hallway for more signs of life, "There's a lot of movement going on in the building."
Suddenly he stood up and grabbed her wrist, "Did anyone follow you, here?"
"No, I made sure of it." The officers knocked on the door again.
His expression was that of a fine-tuned machine. He was processing every possible outcome. His eyes sparked for the briefest moment when he came to a conclusion. Moved to the window and opened it. The icy breeze was unwelcomed on her unprotected skin.
"Listen to me." She could still see his mind working to find a solution to the problem. His knuckles turned white from his grip. The subzero wind barely affected him, "Just get out of here. I don't know what they want, and you sticking around is a danger. You can't be seen with me. People will draw connections and ask questions."
"No, I won't go. What if they came here to get you?"
"That would never happen," he shook his head. He shut the window recognizing that convincing her to leave was futile.
"And how can you say that so confidently?"
"Because it just couldn't," everything was happening so fast. They had stayed too long. They should've moved sooner, but none of it made sense. How did they find his apartment?
The police banged loudly on the door again, "Open up or we will knock the door down!"
"They don't sound like they're friendly," she inched toward the front room, "let me talk to them."
He thwarted her, "No. If you won't leave then you're going to sit right here while I handle it."
She made a gesture to rebuttal be he pushed her shoulder, "Korra, please. You're more at risk than I am. If anyone sees you here it will not be good for you."
"Let me answer the door, Noa," she shoved him aside angrily.
"You can't take this risk, Korra, I won't let you," he hauled her back into the bedroom and blocked her entry by placing his hands on both sides of the doorway.
"What are you so afraid of? The police are on my side not yours."
"Trust me, it's better for you to stay put," he shut the door behind him leaving her alone.
Walking out into his living room he discovered he had left his mask out laying on the coffee table, "Spirits…" he murmured under his breathe. He was getting careless. He grabbed the mask and threw it in the cabinet under the sink in the kitchen. Now he sensed three more bodies outside. His eyes went wide in shock as a familiar tick reached his senses: it was his brother's. "Impossible," he exhaled. His logical mind pleaded for him to retreat but how he desired to open up the door and look him in the eyes. How his stare would stop him cold. He was being bigheaded, he glanced back toward his bedroom where he had instructed Korra to stay and then paced over to the door. Again, his mind started to run through every viable situation.
The only choice that made sense was to collect Korra and flee to his compound but a final knock resonated against the wood of the door. What followed was his brother's emotionless and detached voice, "Open up." He was baiting him through terms of a challenge and he couldn't turn away.
He opened the door. "Good morning," he spoke gruffly and leaned against the frame only dressed in his dark slacks, "It's seven in the morning. What are you bothering me about?" He folded his arms over his bare chest displaying his athletic build. A five-o'clock shadow lined his face along with an unamused look, but he was anything but uninterested. His brother was staring right at him. His face was unreadable.
"Are you the owner of this building?" Tarrlok questioned. He was wearing a state-issued winter coat, which matched the surrounding officers.
"Yes, I am," he rubbed his cheeks with his hand feeling the rough sensation of his stubble against his skin. Behind them, he noticed masses of people evacuating the building. What was going on? His eyes narrowed in on the councilman.
"What are you doing with these tenants? Why are you forcing them to leave?" There were children and mothers without coats on and it was below zero outside. Ire stirred in his gut. He didn't know what his brother was trying achieve, but how he wanted to wipe the smirk off his face, but he didn't have his mask on; he couldn't blow his cover. Tarrlok wasn't his brother anymore. He had to remind himself.
Even though nobody else could see it, the councilman knew he had affected him, "We got a tip that this building was infested with equalists and equalist sympathizers. We're clearing house and searching the entire building bottom up, and I've decided to start with you," the last word held a poisonous bite to it.
"You can't do that. It's against the fundamental rights of the constitution of the UR. You have no warrant to search this building or right to move these people from their homes."
The councilman started chuckling, "I take you to be a very bright, informed man from that statement. How very much in tuned you are with the laws, but haven't you been paying any attention to the newscasts? Where were you last night? Marshall Law has been declared on this city and absolute authority has been handed over to the police force until the terrorist situation with the equalists has been neutralized. So now that you have been informed of the position you're in, I ask you to move aside because the next time I ask I wouldn't be so polite."
He sighed and released a breath through his nostrils, "Fine. Come in if you have a burning desire to," he turned to the side allowing the four police officers and the watertribe councilor in. He shut the door behind him. They never got that far. Within seconds the four officers dropped like flies; their heavy, metallic armor hit the floor like dropped pots in a restaurant kitchen. His brother had his back to him. Anyone would have been petrified by the bizarre spectacle but his brother remained unfazed by demonstration. He was examining the basket that rested on the coffee table in front of him. It was a tradition Watertribe basket used to store dried meats for the winter. The woven basket was light in his hands, and the faint smell of the jerky that used to fill it could be distinguished within the tiny fibers.
"What a beautiful basket. I wonder who gave it to you," he stated casually.
"What do you want?"
He returned the ornament to its original position on the table, "Nothing, brother, nothing at all," he spoke wistfully, "I just came by to see how you were doing. I didn't even know that you were living in the city. You never told me."
He didn't respond and just stared at his back, which was outlined by his all so familiar ponytails. He hair was longer now, like their father's had been. The snow that was perched on his heavy coat had melted. Noatak swallowed uneasily, not because of his discovery but because of the fatal direction the councilman's comments were taking him.
"You know, now that I think about it, I've seen a basket like this before. Our mother had one exactly like it." Noatak had bought that basket twenty years ago from a Northern Watertribe Merchant; it was the only thing he owned that was of his heritage, "She would put dried meats in it for our long hunting trips, wouldn't she? She'd would always pick that thing to the brim and tell us that there was no way we'd finish it, but we'd did. We always ate the whole damned thing, and we'd come home with it filled with crumbs, and she'd laugh at us and our enormous appetites," he brushed his fingers against the rough, cracking fibers, "She'd say with a smile, 'Those are my boys! The two with the bottomless pits for stomachs!'" The councilman's eyes crinkled from the memory, but he couldn't discern if it was from happiness or sadness.
He was speechless. He wanted to say that he was sorry, but it never sounded right. He swallowed again and looked out the window, the sun had gone away and the clouds were rolling in.
The councilman faced him now. His thoughtful tone was traded for a cool and pointed one, "What shame it is that you can't hide behind your mask this time. How effortless this conversation would be. You'd just bloodbend me into submission and move onto your next victim."
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"Really? You're going down that route?" he looked down laughing, "Don't hide the fact that we both know who you are. I'm not the innocent boy I used to be when we were growing up, Noatak, and you're not the same person either," his hand slid into his pocket and he pulled out a piece of paper handing it to him, "I'd thought I should return this to you, out of courtesy."
Noatak retrieved the note as the councilman walked across the room to the door. It was the photo he had given to Korra; she must've left it in plain sight, but he wasn't mad. It was funny, he relieved.
"Answer me one question: do actually care for her?" his hand rested on the doorknob, "because to me it looks like your fucking a child."
"It's not like you'd haven't tried to pursue her, Tarrlok," he replied bitterly.
"Now I get some fight from you? I apologize if my question was too close to home. Have I struck something in you? Surprising, really, I didn't think you had heart."
"Believe what you want to believe, Tarrlok, I am not your keeper."
"You never were," he stepped back into the room from the door. A memory of a new born resting in tiny arms flashed to his attention. He was his keeper once, but he had given that duty up a long time ago. Tarrlok continued on antagonizing him, "This isn't like you. Always two steps ahead of everyone else but now you're falling back. Is the Avatar really too much for you? You can't seem to handle everything at the fast speed you're used to; you didn't even know I was coming for visit or cleaning out these apartment buildings. What's a matter? It's like you've lost your way, lost your magic touch. Don't tell me you've fallen for her."
He couldn't listen to him anymore. In one swift motion, he grabbed his brother's throat and tossed him powerfully against the wall. His fingernails dug into the councilor's flesh. He couldn't think anymore he was so furious.
"Yes, get angry! Throw me against the wall! It makes everything better, doesn't it?" he coughed through his brother's tight grip, "better yet, why don't you just bloodbend me? Get over with. I can feel your tick inside my blood, your hold over my heart, just do it. It'd be so easy."
He let go of his brother's throat, and Tarrlok stumbled back. Even gasping for air, he could still produce a derisive laugh. It was one of his younger brother many new found talents. The councilor wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, "What a shame, that's not the way our father taught us."