A/N: It was very enjoyable to reread this and pick it back up again. I very much missed writing Noatak's character. With that being said: I don't own anything from ATLA or LOK. I own all the cliffhangers and angst in this baby tho and I have to say… this chapter is fucking dramatic LOL.

Thank you to everyone that took a moment to respond to my message. I deeply appreciate it. Now, back to the action. I have been away from this story for quite a bit and a lot his changed in my life. Please review and tell me if I have missed the mark. Again, thank you kindly for your continued support.

warmly,

coolera

A Terrible Synergy

Chapter 21

The phone static cleared to a familiar voice. It was his wife, and she had some terrifying news. He steeled his grip on the receiver and released an uneven breath.

"I understand," the Airbender replied quietly. He could hear her voice trembling on the other side. She was trying to keep it together, "It's going to be okay, Pema," he stated firmly, "I am going to get you extra protection. It is imperative that you flea the temple grounds with the children, immediately."

He paused to listen to his wife's plea.

"I know, and I know you're scared," his voice caught in his mouth, "Forgive me. Spirits above, tui and la, forgive me. I can't join you," his chest felt heavy and his stomach began to ache, "I can't forsake the city. As much as it pains me, I can't join you. I have to find Korra."

A sad smile reached his lips and he closed his eyes. His wife knew what he had to do. He could sense her resigned acceptance from across the phoneline.

"I love you too, Pema. The white lotus will protect you and the children. I will join you when I can. I promise."

The line went dead. The Airbender could sense that something awful was about to begin. He turned to the nurse's station next to him and locked eyes with Winona, who had been furtively listening to his conversation with the pretense of filing patient records back in place. She knew it was wrong that she had eavesdropped, but the raw yet restrained pain in the councilman's voice when he answered the phone drawn her attention like a powerful magnet. She decided that she could not stand by any longer. From everything she heard and encountered this day- first, the statutory enactment of martial law, then the subsequent violent attack at Southbend, to the unexplainable injuries that the officers and counselor exhibited- she understood that something truly wicked was underway. However, the enormity and the cost of the approaching conflict and ensuing chaos were something that she couldn't quite fully grasp or imagine, nor could the Airbender.

"What can I do to help you, councilman?" the nurse stated resolutely. Her hands weren't even shaking. They were firm like a soldier preparing for battle despite knowing the sobering odds of victory. But the nurse was afraid. Sadly, the dull yet pounding anxiety that blossomed behind her breastbone was familiar. The feeling emanated from her childhood spent on the streets in fear of gang violence, of family members lost, of fear for her own life. The only attribute hardening her nerves and moving her forward was her unwavering sense of duty to serve and help others.

"Can you tell me; which room Lin Bei Fong is in?"

-0-

They entered his underground domain quietly, secretly. The elephant-rats that larked in the sewer were even familiar with his presence, for he had traveled this path in silence many times. The young women trailing behind him was a new sight though. He often traveled alone.

It took them fifteen minutes or so to reach the entrance without further incident. There, the pair had discarded their tattered winter coats, hats, and scarves in a nearby dumpster covering them with a discarded piece of cardboard as an extra precaution.

He did not want any more thoughtless mistakes, at least ones that he could control. After the unexpected visit from his brother and his one-sided "conversation" with his elderly friend Xing, his tolerance for surprises was waning dangerously thin.

Unfortunately, throughout his years, he never really developed an appetite for surprise. He actively avoided it through his network of informants, meticulous research, and unparalleled mental discipline. He sighed and his breath caught in his mask. Not to mention, his own physical advantage over any person, whether bender or non-bender, gave him an almost unbeatable advantage with the use of his unique bloodbending technique. He needn't even left a finger, only his thoughts. He was utterly, entirely prepared to face any situation, no matter how perilous or outnumbered… well, expect for one.

He felt the girl's steady and healthy heartbeat behind him. It should have strengthened him, but a kind of momentary hopelessness overcame him. He hated the feeling. He was glad that his mask, his back, and even the surrounding darkness concealed his knee-buckling weakness.

It was true, he was prepared for any situation if he had been the same person as before; if he had been the same Amon that passed under the threshold of the masked man's lair. A man without emotion or simply anything to lose; a man that rarely ever had to cope with the whim of his own emotion or the frightening realization of his own loss, both past and the ones to come. For they'd surely come, the losses. They always had.

He smiled despondently to himself I've done a fantastic job he thought scornfully Haven't I, father?

His obsessive quest for control, or rather Amon's quest, was pointless in the end. It wasn't his own. It was never his own. In all actuality, he couldn't control shit. An illusion of infallibility; a defense mechanism like the mask he wore. The Avatar was right, after all, when she said he was blind. Drunk on his own power. Arrogance and recklessness lined in every step, but even he was only human.

He held his hand out in front of him as he walked. He was unable to see it in the damp darkness, but it was a clear image to him. He saw a hand laid out in front of him and a father that he was unable to kill. A demon that he let live. A demon that was still alive and well. You're worse than a fucking demon the newspaper vender's voice echoed…

They rounded a sharp corner.

But she believed that there was light in him. He felt her warm, pulsing heartbeat in his ears again.

"We're almost there," he whispered. He put down his hand and then, stopped abruptly. He did not turn, "Don't firebend if it's dark. Don't waterbend if your uniform gets wet and you want a dry one. Don't even earthbend the dust from your mask and it blinds you. Wipe it off with your hand. Don't bend at all."

"I understand," she returned softly. Nodding even though he couldn't see it. His examples were those of using bending flippantly; acts that any bender would do without thinking, instinctively, almost like breathing. He knew she was not accustomed to intentionally repressing her gifts, especially a bender as talented as she.

She recognized the unusual tension in his voice. She was astonished. He was afraid?

"Do you think I can't do it?" she asked suddenly, "You think I can't be in total control of my bending?"

"No," he said flatly. He hesitated, then turned his head toward her speaking over his shoulder pad, "Not even I can achieve that, Korra. But if anyone could do anything in this world, you could. I have no doubt about that." He turned his head back and looked at the at the end of the corridor where his hidden passageway stood. It would take them to an electrical closet labeled 1A; straight to the bowels of his rebel organization.

Heat pooled on her cheeks from his deeply sincere compliment, "What is it then?"

He had been mulling it over in his head ever since they escaped his apartment. Keeping his anxiety to himself and solely focusing on getting her to safety. How could he end this monster of a war that he had born and unleashed? He couldn't let her pay for his sins. They were his to bare. He knew, however, that she would not take that cut and run excuse for an answer. She'd probably meet that confession with a right hook to the jaw he joked wordlessly. Korra had chosen him, and that was that.

…if she hadn't showed up last night, soaked and eyes ablaze in the mouth of his closet door at what he was about to commit, then he would've been gone. Noatak would have been gone. His brother would have been gone. Both murdered in the darkness of the Northern Watertribe city hall office. The only survivor would've been the masked man. That's what he meant when he told her at air temple island. He had his mind made up on a choice that resembled something close to what an ill-tempered child would choose: death by self-destruction. I'm afraid of what you would've become. And yet, he had still almost killed him, tempted by his brother's heart's momentary stillness. He hadn't even batted an eye to his brother's death. You're more in control of your bending than I ever was, Korra… even as reckless and bullheaded as you can be sometimes. If it wasn't for Korra's persistent shouts that pulled him out of his trance, reminding him of Auma's safety, he wouldn't have restarted his brother's heart.

Auma… he thought Locked in this crossfire.

Restarting a heart was a tricking business. Less than a fifty-fifty chance that the jump-started organ wouldn't result in a lethal arrhythmia and cardiac arrest. There wasn't a doubt in his mind that he had shortened his own brother's life by at least a decade. He knew exactly what he was doing, and he knew the consequences. Though his bloodbending was the most precise and powerful in the world, one was still bending and controlling the water lodged within delicate organic tissues. Damage would always ensue, especially with a technique that intended to kill. Still, Tarrlok was alive. His brother was remarkably strong. Maybe he would tell her this once everything was over. If he lived. He didn't know. His quarrels with his brother were his own. He was his keeper once.

The avatar eyed the outline of his glossy shoulder pads defined by the dim light cascading down from the grated manhole cover above.

"Korra…" he murmured still with his back turned.

She grabbed his forearm and spun him around, "Take off your mask. Let me see your face."

He did as he was told. She removed her equalist covering as well. It was safe to talk there. They needed to get on the same page.

"We wouldn't be able to talk as freely once we cross that door… Things aren't looking that great."

"You don't need to tell me the obvious, Noatak," the Avatar chided attempting to lighten the mood. The closer they got to the compound, the tenser they've both become. She eyed the door. That's were their fate stood, "What is the plan, if there is any?"

"Well, my initial, rough plan… I guess more like a checklist… to overtake the city was to first neutralize the council. Like cutting off the head of chicken-cow, this would've thinned and confused the police force with Saikhan running the show. With the sudden unrest and chaos caused by the vacuum of power, Saikhan's next immediate move would be to contact the United Forces to reestablish order."

"Okay," the Avatar followed.

"But he wouldn't have had the chance to. My men would've already cut the power and phone lines."

"Fine, then he can just set up a back-up line and an emergency power source. He could still contact the Military."

"Unfortunately for us, I don't cut corners. Before they have the chance to, canisters of noxious gas would have already burst in the ventilation system and filled the chambers of the police station before they could complete a remote connection."

"How long have they've been planted there? The gas bombs?"

"A couple months."

It unsettled her how easily his organization slipped through the cracks of authority in this city without being detected. She was glad that he was on her side as comprehensive as his "checklist" was. He gave her a chance, at least, to set things back in balance.

"Can we dismantle them?"

"Potentially. They are activated by a remote detonator. However, the one detonating them must be within 20 meters of the bombs. Sato couldn't figure out how to increase the range of the device."

"Who's detonating them?"

"An equalist mole working in the command center of the police station. Name is Sakari Sagura. Honestly, a very capable agent. Identification Number 0289. One of my very best." The sharpness of his memory scared him sometimes. Agent Sagura volunteered for the post despite knowing the gas would kill her. He remembered the tone of her voice when he told him that it would bring her honor.

The name didn't sound familiar to the Avatar, "Can we stop, Sakari?"

"She won't detonate until the council is dismantled. The timing of it is important. It's important that she wait. With the leadership of the city intact, the city's brain, the effectivity of the gas bombs would be minimal."

"If you didn't show… would the plans stop?"

"No," he stated causally, "If only it were that easy. They're to act whether I am present or not… and Tarrlok was kind enough to provide a prefect platform of state aggression to act upon."

"So your men are already in motion?"

"Hmm… most likely. They are probably hunting councilmembers down as we speak."

Her pupils went small. She thought about her master. Remembered the warm remarks he had given her before she abandoned his island left for his apartment.

"Tarrlok…" she whispered, "he has my sister. And Tenzin…" the Airbender, her surrogate father, whom she loved very, very much.

"They will be okay."

"How do you know that?"

"They're both related to the Avatar after all. They'll find their ways out of this," he stated easily, patiently weighing her reaction. His sudden certainty in her was extraordinary. It filled her with an unbreakable energy and confidence.

"When did you start to unconditionally believe in the Avatar?"

A rebellious smirk crawled on his face, "When you tried to catch fish in central park's lake," he quipped. At first, she was somewhat stunned by his lighthearted remark and then, laughter filled up her lungs. He wanted to see her smile. He wouldn't be able to she her smile once they passed that door. Maybe it would be the last time. He tucked the image deep in his memory.

"Oh shut it, you dope."

"You are quite the fisherman, Korra," he laughed and pulled her into a deep hug. Her arms wrapped around his midsection and her head tucked under his chin.

"I made a call. That's our advantage," he whispered into her ear, "I notified the white lotus. Luckily, that was one organization that I couldn't infiltrate. The order keeps their cards close to their chest and for good reason."

The Avatar pulled away and looked him in the eyes. He had freely given away his plan. He had given up everything he had worked for.

"My men won't be tipped off about this… or at the very least, delayed. Air temple island will be evacuated. Same with the police station. Someone will be able to reach the United Forces earlier than anticipated, which is the only chance we have. The delay in timing may be enough for us to end this. The military can be stationed in Yue bay before my troops can seize city hall, the police station, electrical plants, water systems, and important transportation infrastructure."

His plan reminded her of chi blocking. His troops were planning to strike vital pressure points of the city. If successful, not even the military could gain control after that, not with the threat of destroying vital organs and spilling the blood of innocent citizens.

He was quiet for a moment while he held her, "It will still be hard," he conceded, "I suspect we will be walking into an ocean of discord once we pass through that door. The news and radiobroadcasts of the attack and traitorous Avatar will no doubt have stirred things up. Plus, on top of that, my lead officers will be tearing apart every inch of the facility looking for a traitor that tipped the white lotus off.

"They won't though. They'll never suspect you."

"Perhaps," she didn't understand, nor could she, the web he had tangled himself in. He recalled rumors of insurgency and his Lieutenant questioning his desire to keep the Avatar in his private quarters; when he had healed her damaged heel cut from kicking in a rear van window. When they had first made love in the darkness of his office.

"What are you thinking?"

He looked her. She was beautiful.

He cleared his throat, "Nothing…" he mumbled, "Let me hold you a moment longer," he kissed her soundly.

He was prepared to die for his mistakes, to help her. Maybe it would count as some sort of reconciliation in the afterlife. When it was all over.

"Our only job now is to delay and wait to see what happens. Stay in the guard courts near my office. They are located to the left at the end of the hallway. Don't trail me closely, the Lieutenant will surely question you. Act as an inexperienced novice if that happens. Anyone with experience would have been mobilized to the frontlines anyway."

"Okay, what will you do?"

He secured his mask, clipping the leather strap around his skull, "I will go to my office and deal with anyone who is waiting there. Be patient and careful. I will find you and come get you. I promise."

He would have never guessed that it'd be the other way around. They opened the door to the electrical closet label 1A and passed through its threshold.