"Damn Bolin, I'm gonna get mad if he keeps being late." Korra grumbled. Bolin was 'busy' and so he was 30 minutes late to his shift. Korra didn't bother scolding him and paced back home. She needed to see her daughter.

"Shh, shh, it's okay Riko. Korra will be back soon." Karina whispered just as Korra walked in. Karina slipped Riko out of her grasp and handed her off to Korra. The mother softly petted her hair to soothe her. Then she frowned.

"You both want to know what happened, right?" Korra said. Both Karina and Asami nodded. She looked down to her daughter who huddled close to her. Riko was out of it, so Korra figured now might be the best time to talk about it.

"The man's name is Zaheer. In the old world, he was Riko's martial arts teacher. He was a great teacher and she almost looked up to him as a father since her real father left us." Korra sighed. "After we got to know him, I trusted him enough to leave her there to run errands, and he took advantage of it… He tried to rape her. She was only 12!" Tears were streaming down Korra's face. Riko unconsciously held to her tighter.

Asami wrapped her arms around both of them. "We're here for you both Korra. We'll stand by your decisions." Asami gulped. "So, did he…?"

Korra shook her head, brushing the tears off. "No, even though she was young and he was stronger than her, she was still very skilled. She was able to push him off and ran away… She found my car outside the post office and waited for me." Korra left out the part where she saw Riko's clothes torn and had a cut on her arm and panicky drove to the hospital. Police quickly arrested him. He hadn't been seen again until now.

"It's okay, Korra. You have us to help." Asami reassured her. Korra nodded and rested her head on her shoulder. Karina carefully rubbed Riko's back.

Night seemed to fall much quicker that day. Karina nudged the door open with her hip since she was carrying dinner. "Asami made some sort of stew today." Karina said gently. Riko was huddled up in the corner of the bed, reliving today. Could she have done anything differently? Zaheer was right. She was still too soft to kill him.

Karina called her name again and sat the two bowls down. The girl finally acknowledged her when she rested her palm on her cheek. "Hey, stop worrying about it. I'll protect you no matter what. Remember that." Riko solemnly nodded and they started eating.

Riko had eaten half of her stew when she abruptly put it back on the table. Karina frowned and looked back at her. Clearly it was still on her mind. Karina was about to say something, but Riko beat her to it. "I thought it was a test at first…" Riko managed to say. Karina eyes widened when she realized what she was talking about. "Very quickly I figured out that it wasn't, though. He forced me to the ground. I was able to keep him a few feet away for a minute, but he was obviously stronger. It happened so fast, I don't really remember a lot of it… Next thing I knew I was running down the street looking for mom's car. And then I remember being rushed through the ER bay…"

Karina cautiously laid a hand on her shoulder. Riko looked up at her tiredly. "He won't get you again, Riko. I'll make sure of it."

Riko gulped and leaned into Karina's open embrace. "Thank you."

Riko growled. At least Mako was awake for his shift. But how was she supposed to get out without being caught? She couldn't let anyone know that she was going on a run during the middle of the night, especially since Korra announced that no one was to come or go for a week. She looked around for another place to slip through. Mako seemed to be focused on the outside, so hopefully he wouldn't pay attention to her walking by. She quietly ran across the road and hid behind some bushes. She would have to climb over the barricade, which Mako would likely notice. Then she saw an opening, where the barricade met the house. She would have to address it later, but for now it was her way out. She checked her hip for her weapons, then carefully crawled through and slipped into the woods without being noticed.

The sky was beginning to get lighter, meaning it was close to morning. She'd have to hurry if she wanted to go unnoticed. She followed what seemed like a path until she heard distant talking. She was close. She carefully pulled her gun out when she saw Zaheer with two other people, sitting on a fallen tree. She could hear menace in his voice as he discussed how to take down the town. Just as she aimed, a loud growl erupted from behind her. Her eyes widened when she saw the trio smile darkly. She glanced behind her and saw a large German Shepherd baring his teeth at her.

"Ah, it would seem Duke found our guest of honor." The other man spoke. Zaheer chuckled and the other woman just scowled.

Zaheer stepped up. "I thought you'd be joining us soon. How are things?"

"None of your business." Riko growled, stepping out from the bushes. The dog followed her for every step she took.

"Well I think maybe it is my business since you came looking for me." He responded.

Riko was still pointing her gun at him, but she knew one move and she'd be dead. Some moans started getting closer and the woman unsheathed her sword to take care of the walkers quietly. If Riko shot him, walkers from all directions would head this way. Suddenly a lightbulb went off in her head. That's it, walkers!

Zaheer took another step and Riko steadied her gun. The dog behind her growled louder. She was trapped. Who would be the best to shoot first? Neither of the men brandished a weapon at her. The other man still had his dog though.

Tension grew tenfold in the seconds before the first gunshot. Zaheer realized what was about to happen and reached for his gun. Riko was faster though and shot the other man in the forehead. Zaheer gasped, "Noatak!"

Before anyone had a chance to shoot again, the dog clamped onto Riko's arm. "Gah, damn it!" The dog had a tight grip on her and she would lose blood quickly at this rate. Or Zaheer would kill her first, Riko thought as she saw him aim his gun at her.

Riko dropped to the ground just as he pulled the trigger and dragged the dog down with her. She rolled over and punched it until it let go of her arm. Then she grabbed her knife and killed it.

Walkers could be heard coming. "Kuvira, take care of them and then we're out of here!" Zaheer yelled at the woman. Then he faced Riko again. The teenager stumbled up, woozy from the dog bite. "You're mine this time." Zaheer growled. He ran towards her and went to grab her neck.

Riko chuckled and raised her leg to kick him in the head. "I'm not the same kid as before, you freak."

He rubbed his head, feeling blood beginning to leak. He growled and stood up to face her again, but she was gone. "Damn it! Kuvira, c'mon she's run off!" The woman finished slicing up some walkers and followed after them.

'This was a horrible idea!' Riko screamed in her head over and over again as she ran. She held onto her arm to try to stop the blood flow, but she was still in bad shape. She finally found the road that led to the town and continued running. A bush rattled nearby and Zaheer jumped out. Riko grasped her gun and aimed. This time she finally shot him. Zaheer fell to his knees, clutching his shoulder. Riko inwardly cheered in victory. The chase wasn't over yet, but at least Mako knew they were coming this way now.

Karina rolled around in bed, reaching for the warmth that was Riko. She woke up when she couldn't find her. She sighed. It wasn't uncommon for Riko to disappear in the early morning, but usually she told her before she left. Something wasn't right. Karina stumbled downstairs to Korra and Asami's "room". She chuckled when she saw Korra resting on Asami's chest, both sound asleep. She felt guilty about waking them and decided to just get dressed and go looking for her girlfriend.

As Karina took a few steps into town, a gunshot could be heard far off into the distance. She paused. It sounded far away, but it still made her nervous since her girlfriend was nowhere to be found. The Sun was just now peaking over the horizon. She started towards the barricade where Mako was guarding this morning.

Mako heard the gunshot and waited patiently for someone to show up. Usually when a new traveler was headed towards them there were obvious signs such a frantic shooting. However, this was a single shot, which was different. Then he heard another single shot.

Riko began to panic. Her vision was getting fuzzy from the blood loss and Zaheer was still very close. She blindly shot once more at the man and missed. Just as her hope was being dashed away, she smiled when she finally saw the barricade where Mako was standing guard. "Mako…"

She ran for the barricade and leaned against it to hold herself up. Zaheer was still advancing on her. There was no way for her to get back inside. Mako had to shoot Zaheer, and he couldn't do that if he was running around the back of the bus to open the door. Zaheer would kill her first. She gulped, her strength fading, and slid to the ground.

Mako went wide-eyed. How did Riko get outside?! No matter, he still had to save her. He recognized the man from Korra's description and raised his gun at the intruder. At the same Zaheer aimed his weapon for Riko. "No!" One last shot rang out.

Korra jumped up, awoken by a gunshot for the second morning in a row. Asami followed after her, both of them barefoot yet again. They weren't aware that Riko had slipped out that night.

Halfway to the barricade, Karina froze. That gunshot was very much closer now. Her heart began pounding and she took off running.

Riko gasped for air. Her life just flashed before her eyes. She couldn't believe what had just happened. Something she couldn't do in years took Mako one second. Zaheer lay dead just a few feet away from her with blood pooling around him.

"Riko! You okay?!" Mako called out. Riko barely looked up and nodded. Then someone appeared out of the tree line and she remembered that there was another member to Zaheer's gang. Suddenly, Riko felt herself being picked up and saw her girlfriend out of the corner of her eye.

Karina dashed to the bus and ran inside, looking around for Riko through the window. She saw Zaheer dead on the street. Her heart dropped. Where was Riko? She inched closer to the window and that's when she saw a shadow leaning against the siding. She gasped and ran to open the front door.

Her girlfriend glanced at her and faintly smiled. Karina sighed. "Damn it, Riko. You had to run off by yourself." Just then another woman appeared. Karina hurried to set Riko on the first step of the bus and then pointed her gun at the woman. "Identify yourself." She demanded.

The woman raised her arms in surrender. "My name is Kuvira. I have no intention to harm you. I just came along with Zaheer because he was an old military buddy. But clearly he's changed since then. I know you don't want me here, so I will be leaving. You won't see any of us ever again." Karina kept her gun pointed until she was sure the woman was gone.

Karina was hauling Riko off over the bus when Korra and Asami showed up. Korra gasped and grabbed Riko's bleeding arm, making her wince. "What happened?!"

"I don't know and we don't have time to discuss it right now! She's need medical attention!" Karina said.

Before Korra could start to panic, Asami stepped up. "Take her back to the house and find that woman we let in three weeks ago. She's a doctor. Go!"

Karina nodded and swooped her girlfriend up in her arms and ran back into town. Korra began following her, but Asami laid a hand on her shoulder to stop her. "What?!"

"We need to stay here to help Mako kill the imminent walkers that are bound to show up anytime now." Asami said calmly. "If you want to keep her safe, help us now and we'll go back as soon as we're done."

Korra growled but agreed and climbed up the bus. Mako scoffed when they finally decided to check on him. "Thanks for joining me girls. As you can see, there's a big group headed this way." In the distance, they could see plenty of walkers down the street. There were already two banging on the side of the bus. Mako grabbed the spear kept for such a thing and stabbed them.

"Just shut up and get rid of them." Korra commanded.

During the hour, the next guard arrived to help and people who had woken up rushed to help them. In the end, about 50 walkers laid dead outside the wall. Mako, Korra, and Asami all sighed in relief as it finally ended. The next guard and a few of the townspeople stayed to make sure it was done, letting Korra finally run home to check on her daughter.

"This is bad. You're absolutely sure it's not a walker bite?" The woman asked.

Karina quickly nodded. "Yes, we're sure. She said she was attacked by a dog! Now can you please help her?!" She pleaded.

"Alright, I'll see what I can do." The woman said and began touching the wound. Riko hissed in pain and Karina clutched her hand. The woman sighed. "This is going to hurt, dear. Just hold still."

The doctor then proceeded to dab it with alcohol gauze before stitching it up. Nonetheless, Riko screamed. Karina had to cover her mouth so it wouldn't alert more walkers. "Shh, hun, I know it hurts, just hold on." Riko continued to groan into her hand. Tears fell from Karina's eyes from watching her be in pain. "I'm right here, Riko." She cried.

Korra ran across the yard just as the doctor was walking through the front door. She marched up the steps to talk to her. "How is she? How bad was it?" Korra asked impatiently.

"Hello Korra. Your daughter will be fine. It was pretty bad, but she's all patched up now." The woman said, but Korra ran inside after hearing that she was fine. She sighed and was met by Asami.

"Thank you for your help. Korra worries too much."

The doctor wiped the sweat from her forehead. "Well I think she had good reason to be worried this time. Whatever dog did this bit pretty deep. I wasn't sure that I could fix it, but we managed. Oh, and normally I'd tell patients like this to change the bandages several times a day."

Asami scowled. "But we don't have the supplies for that."

"Exactly. So she's gonna have to manage with changing them every other day or so. I'm sure it'll be fine."

Asami nodded. "Again, thank you so much."

The woman waved from behind her as she walked down the steps. "Think of it as my way of thanking you for letting me in." Asami smiled and walked inside.

Karina hugged the sleeping Riko close to her, as if she was trying to protect her. Korra and Asami finally came in and Korra instantly sat beside them and began petting her hair. "She's going to be okay."

Karina nodded. "Yeah, the doc said she'd be fine, given plenty of rest."

Korra couldn't help but smile. "Yeah, well she's not gonna be too happy to hear that I'm taking her off of guard duty for a month."

Karina chuckled. "Yeah, I can just imagine how that's gonna play out."

The family sat there looking over Riko until Asami spoke up. "She needs rest. Can you take her up to bed, Karina?"

"Sure thing."

Riko groaned as she woke up again. She felt the bed sink in beside her and saw a shadow lean over her. She smiled when she saw the face of her girlfriend. "Hey, beautiful."

Karina smiled and grabbed her hand. "You must've hit your head on your little escapade. How are you feeling?"

Riko sat up and felt pain shoot up her arm. She visibly winced, making Karina's smile disappear. "I'm in some pain, but I'll be alright." She groaned.

Karina then frantically grabbed something on the dresser. "Here, Korra found these on a run the other day." She handed the girl a bottle half-full of pain relievers.

Wait, the other day? Riko rose a brow and looked to her girlfriend. "What do you mean? How long have I been out of it?"

Karina gulped and looked away, hesitant to give her an answer. "You've been asleep for a few days. Korra grew worried more every day and ventured out to look for medicine for you."

"What?!" Riko yelled, tossing the bottle to the bed. She clambered out of bed quickly and stumbled to her knees. Karina caught her and helped steady her on her feet again.

"Riko, you can't just run off again. You need rest. You still have a serious wound." Karina coerced.

Riko pushed away and steadied herself on the wall, determined to find her stubborn mother. Karina sighed and helped her down the stairs. She saw Asami in the kitchen, but Korra was nowhere to be seen. "Where is she?" Riko asked.

Asami jumped in surprise. "Riko?! What are you doing out of bed?! You're hurt still."

"I'm not dead, Asami." Riko growled. "Where's my mom?"

Asami sighed. "She should be returning soon."

Before Riko could retort, the front door opened. Riko growled more. "What is your problem?!"

Korra went wide-eyed when she saw her daughter. "Riko? What are you doing-"

"You think you can run off just because I'm hurt?! Where do you get off doing that?!" Riko demanded.

"Riko, it's not like that."

"Bullshit it's not! You did the same thing with Nami!"

The room went silent. Riko pulled away from Karina after finally grasping her barring and headed outside. Karina followed after her while Asami approached Korra. "What is she talking about?" Asami asked. Korra shook her head sadly.

"Riko? Riko! Stop!" Karina called after her.

Riko stopped her stomping and abruptly faced her. "What?"

"What is going on? You wake up and practically lose your mind?!"

"Mom can't just keep going on a run because of me! I'm not worth her getting herself killed!"

"You know she's capable and she's not going by herself! Mako or Bolin has been going with her! She's just trying to help you."

Riko went silent, hanging her head while she thought. Karina laid a hand on her shoulder. "Yes, Korra is really worried about you, but she's not gonna get herself killed over it. She's knows you're safe here and she's smarter than that. Give her some credit."

Riko sighed and headed back inside, where she could hear Korra crying. She hesitantly opened the door and saw Asami comforting her mother. The older woman shot her a glare, which Riko received shamefully. "I'm sorry."

Korra looked up and hugged the girl. "I'm sorry if you thought I was abandoning you, but that won't happen ever again. I told you that."

Riko pulled away and patted her own cheek. "Do it."

"Riko, those days are behind us."

"No, do it. I deserve it. I went after Zaheer without telling anyone and I got injured, forcing you to put yourself in danger. I was stupid."

"No, I won't."

Asami stepped up. "What are you two talking about?"

Korra sighed, while Riko still kept herself upright. "In the old days, when we used to spar, if one of us did something stupid or disrespectful, that person would get punched. It was a fighting thing, and Riko wouldn't move on without receiving her end of the bargain."

"That's stupid." Karina said, making Riko pout at her.

Asami thought for a minute. "I'll do it."

Everyone gasped and Riko prepared herself, closing her eyes. Asami smirked and winked at Korra. They watched as Asami carefully leaned in and kissed Riko on the cheek.

Riko turned red when she felt something soft on her cheek and opened her eyes to see Asami leaning in front of her. "We don't settle things with fighting, but with love. We've already forgiven you for what you did, dear. Now we're gonna move on together, as a family."

Tears bit the edges of Riko's eyes and she quickly wiped them away. Asami smiled and hugged her. Korra and Karina joined the hug, making more tears come to Riko's eyes.

After two weeks, Riko was finally able to move her arm again and got rid of her makeshift sling. Her wound was still open, but she could at least move it without taking much notice of it anymore.

One night while Riko was getting ready for bed, Karina put her arms around her to stop from putting on her pajama top. Riko smirked, knowing where this was headed. Karina leaned on her shoulder and whispered in her ear. "I have other plans for us tonight." Shivers ran up her back and she turned around to face her. "But first I have a question. Remember, when you woke up from your injury and had a fight with Korra and wanted her to fulfill her side of your old bargain?" Riko frowned slightly and nodded, unsure of where this was headed. Karina smiled and pulled her closer by her waistband. "Do you think you'd enjoy that in bed?"

Riko went wide-eyed and smirked. "I don't know, let's find out."

Karina quickly planted her lips on hers. Riko moaned and ushered them to the bed. Riko straddled the other's waist and grinded into her, making Karina moan with want. Karina suddenly pulled her closer by her hair. "I need you."

Riko smirked and pushed her into the bed. "Yes ma'am."

Nonetheless, Korra and Asami didn't get much sleep that night. When Riko appeared the next morning covered in scratches and bruises, they knew exactly why they were so loud that night compared to other nights.