In which Shits Gets Real.

TEN

The first she heard about the prison break was the unusual amount of noise, so loud that it echoed down the corridors to her cell, which had gained a brand new lock in the aftermath of the whole Tarrlok affair. He had come to visit her a few times, unable to get in, and for once she was glad about the security in the headquarters. He was furtive anyway, which suggested that he wasn't really allowed to be in there, and she managed to get rid of him a couple of times by threatening to scream. Mainly he was just checking her information matched up with Asami's. They were keeping Tarrlok mostly in the dark. She knew from Asami that he was constantly around, but Asami had refused to take him to the headquarters and fed him the wrong information.

From the corridor, shouts echoed; fury, confusion, simple noise, she couldn't tell. There were no distinct words in the mess.

She waited, nerves jangling until she felt sick again. For comfort, slowly, forcing herself to relax, she moved through her forms. Her mind was gradually wiped clean, only occupied by the movement of her body and how she executed each form.

Time passed.

The door was flung inwards with such force that it ricocheted off the wall and right back again, and then juddered to a slow halt halfway between the two extremes. Korra swallowed. She'd decided this. She had to endure. Perhaps it was time to become distant, and go someplace else in her mind.

He stepped through, angrier than she'd ever seen him. Five days. Five days.

He hit her so hard that she blacked out for a moment. Everything went dark and then snapped back seconds later, as if a little chunk of her life had just disappeared, like she'd blinked and missed it. She raised her hand dully to her face, running her fingers over the place where he'd connected. It hurt. An uneasy fear started up in her stomach. He won't kill me. He can't kill me. But looking at him as he was now, the anger nearly visibly rippling off his body, she felt a twinge of uncertainty. He might be angry enough not to care.

"How did you do it?" he said, so tightly controlled that she knew just how deep the fury below it was. Her whole body shuddered instinctively. The door was open… it was open… but she couldn't leave now, she couldn't escape, it wasn't time…

"I didn't do anything," she protested. Her voice came out so cracked and thin and little-girl that she thought it sounded fake. Truthfully, or at least technically, she hadn't done anything. She'd plotted, but never really acted. That was up to the other people. "I've been in here the whole time."

"You got out. How did you get out?"

"I didn't," she repeated, watching him circle and pace like an animal waiting to go in for the kill. Maybe he was cooling off. Maybe he'd had the time to think this through a bit more. She wasn't sure which was worse; the cold calculation of his controlled rage, or the messy, incoherent fury where he wasn't thinking at all.

"I don't believe you," he said, very quietly. She swallowed again. This waiting was awful. Abruptly breaking the tense silence, he lunged forward,. Automatically, crying out, she ducked. He grabbed her hair and physically pulled her back—she scrabbled to break his hold, digging her nails viciously into his hands, but some of her hair came out anyway and she was yanked right back. She kicked him in the shin. He hit her in the stomach. "You do this on purpose, don't you?" he panted, more out of breath than usual. He'd been losing control ever since the beginning and Korra knew that was a good thing for the counter-revolution, it meant more openings and cracks in the system that they could lever wide open, but goddamn if she wasn't terrified. Don't kill me. Don't kill me. I don't want to die. "You strike exactly where you know it will displease me. I tried to give you everything! I tried! I would have made you my equal," he said, shoving her down onto the slat. "I told you enough times for it to sink into even your head, Avatar Korra. But you constantly, wilfully, disobeyed me. Are you worth keeping alive anymore? One more problem and I'll have you shot. Are we clear? I will have you killed. I may do it myself. The ex-Avatar will have died of some terrible, incurable disease, terribly tragic, behind closed doors. We'll allow the public to mourn for a set period of time." He laughed, ugly, unhinged.

"You're a monster," she told him softly, her whole body throbbing with pain. "A monster."

"If I am," he said indifferently, releasing her for a moment, "you created that monster. I was a great leader… I was a powerful force, I had the masses spellbound and chomping at the bit. You make this, this, come out of me." That is not at all true, she told herself. Filled with a reckless courage—five days—she stood back up, stood up straight.

"I don't think so," she said. "I think this was always there. I think this was always, always you, and you just try to blame it on me. Because even you know that this—this—it's ugly, and hideous, and horrible and twisted."

He hit her again, snapping her head back at an awful angle and making her stagger until she hit the wall. Stars danced in front of her eyes briefly. "I could stay," he announced, "but I have things to do. You'll see yet, Korra. I will have this city subdued, and the bending oppressors will be struck down forever, and I will rule." He swept out, slamming the door behind him.

Breathing so fast she felt dizzy, trembling with pain, legs shaking with the remnants of fearing adrenaline, Korra grinned wildly. She was elated. He—Amon, his name was Amon, she could at least think it—had stormed out, but she was under no illusions about how that conversation had gone. She'd won that round. As he decayed and lost power she rose again, fragmented and afraid but gathering strength.

She slept. Her dreams passed in their hundreds, full of strange, fantastical images from her waking life, her memory and others besides. She awoke to Asami sometimes, waiting with food in comfortable silence. She gathered her strength and with regular meals, gained back some of the weight that she'd lost. Her muscles had strengthened again in the time that she'd been in the cell.

She felt strong again, but strangely fragile. Anticipation of the day to come churned her stomach constantly, gradually making sleep more and more difficult.

She couldn't tell if it was fear or joy.

Asami stepped in for the last time, kitted out, and Korra rose out of sleep the fastest that she had ever managed. "Good morning," she said quietly. "How early is it?"

"About four," Asami replied, lugging in a bag. "We're getting the party started early. We've already had, strangely enough, four sightings of the Avatar all over the city." Asami grinned slyly. "There are going to be at least ten more before we hit dawn. You're going to be seen just as day breaks, City Hall, to start the riots." She pulled things out indiscriminately, handing Korra an impressive array of breakfast and setting down other things all around. "Eat up, even if your stomach hates it. This is going to be a long, long day." Obediently, Korra reached for the steaming food and began to select bits and pieces, nibbling absent-mindedly.

Wordlessly, Asami produced something from the bag. Korra turned, and looked, and slowly, slowly smiled. She got to her feet, setting down her half eaten breakfast to take the Water Tribe clothing into her hands. She ran her hands over it. This was the real thing. This was Southern Water Tribe style. It had been made in the Southern Water Tribe. She brought it to her face after a moment of looking, and took a deep sniff. And it was hers. The smell had been eroded, but it was still noticeably there. It smelled of home—both of them, Air Temple Island and with her parents, and safety, and life, and freedom.

"Shall I leave while you change?" Asami asked, leaning against the wall. Her smile was faint and fond.

"You don't have to if you've got things to set up," Korra said, straightening out the trousers and the shirt and picking up the boots to cradle them to her as well. She looked up into a strangely intense gaze. They were both caught there for a second, unable to move away, and then Korra coughed and looked back at the clothes. "Thanks for these, Asami. Thank you so much."

"It's nothing."

"No," Korra said quietly. "It's everything." She pulled the tattered remains of what she'd been wearing before over her head and reached for her clothing as if she were coming home. It might have been ridiculous, but as each piece touched her skin she felt more and more herself. She felt more like Korra than she had in months. Not as headstrong and cocky as she had been before, just a sense of settling in her own body, realigning back into knowing that she was powerful and worthy of being alive. Happiness, she named it, exploring the unfamiliar feeling. Simple happiness. Not hope, not wild joy, but contentment. "I'm ready," she said when she'd got all of it on, adjusting it a little for her weight loss so that it sat comfortably.

"Not quite," Asami told her, a teasing, mock serious expression on her face. "Eat up your breakfast. Then we'll get going." Korra stuck out her tongue, resumed eating, and patted the space beside her for Asami to sit down.

When she was finished, she straightened up, she brushed off the crumbs and tweaked her clothing one last time. "Let's do this." Asami smiled at her and offered her hand. Without a moment's hesitation, Korra took it. They moved through what must have been secret tunnels or passages, because the door was hidden behind a tapestry and they ran into nobody at all. It was almost eerily silent, actually. Korra's nerves began to jangle again, having been soothed and reassured in the oddly mundane occasion of breakfast. She swallowed, and took solace in holding onto her companion. They were going to get through this, and they'd be free.

She could tell when they reached the usual corridors—the door was tiny and cunningly fitted into the wall almost as to be unseen, and Asami went ahead first. There was nobody about at four in the morning, apparently. Being outside was refreshing and strange. The streets were so quiet. Even the houses were dark. Was anybody even left in the city? Perhaps they'd evacuated just to be careful. Ahead, City Hall rose out of the darkness, and they moved into a gentle flow of people heading in the same direction. This was so different to that last time, being out in the rally, Amon holding onto her.

She squinted out into the semi darkness, through the drizzle that fell relentlessly. There were people already in the square as Korra and Asami took a different route, around the edge. How many? They were drifting about—no, they were drifting forwards to make space for those coming, their numbers increasing. People were pouring in. They were normal people, all of them, she saw with wonder. Ordinary citizens, none of them dressed up or disguised in the slightest. Young and old were present. People from all nations, some wearing clothing that fitted none of the prescript schemes. If she looked carefully, she could see people on the roofs.

Asami took a deep breath. "Okay, as soon as you step out, there's going to be a spotlight. You don't have to say anything. You can if you want, but just shouting 'freedom' will probably get them as worked up as they need to be; unless you scream, the people at the back probably won't be able to hear a speech anyway—"

"So glad that I caught up with the two of you," came that horrible, familiar, out of place voice, and Korra wheeled around angrily to see Tarrlok. "Funny that I wasn't told about this—or actually, I believe I was… only that it took place next week. How strange…" She itched to take him out, but the public was right there, and starting a scene just at the moment that she was supposed to be inspiring people felt a little odd somehow. Brawling right before something much more important than kicking his stupid face in was probably foolish. Korra waited for the usual anger to rise up, and was surprised when it didn't She remained calm, her thoughts simply racing behind a diplomatically irritated expression. "You don't seem happy to see me, for some reason. Remember that discussion we had about my services? It's not too late for me to inform Amon about what's going on here, girls—"

"Oh, shut up," Asami said, and she leapt forward almost faster than Korra could register. Tarrlok dodged with what must have been instinct, and Asami's hands were up and moving as blurs in the gloom. Korra watched, not moving in between the two, hypnotised by the powerful movements. Asami's self-defence classes really had been something. Tarrlok wasn't even being given enough time with the speed of her hits to establish the forms for bloodbending. Then, in between blinking, he was at once upright and then slumping with a quiet groan to the floor. Korra looked over him.

"What did you do?" she asked curiously, poking at him.

"Nothing serious," Asami said, shrugging and adjusting her jacket cuffs back to neatness. "But it means he'll wake up relatively soon." She nibbled on one glove. "I knew I hadn't done a good enough job of getting rid of him, but I didn't know that he knew so much." She grimaced. "We have our first serious problem of the day, and it's not even light."

"I vote that we do something to make him… disappear or something. As long as he's not back later. Is there anyone here who could do something?" Asami beckoned over someone in the shadows, and had a quick, quiet, urgent exchange with them. Tarrlok's prone body was dragged away unceremoniously. Korra watched him go, her skin prickling uncomfortably. There was a bad taste in her mouth, at the moment that she should have been ready to herald the beginning of the end of the old revolution. The counter-revolution awaited.

She looked up to the sky. The sun was beginning to rise over the buildings in the distance, sending brilliant colours bleeding through the dark rain clouds. It was time. It had to be time. Once more, today, she had to be brave and then she maybe didn't have to be brave ever again. Korra breathed in deeply, once in, and once out.

She stepped out, letting the rain fall on her, and the glaring spotlight instantly snapped on. For one moment, she was impressed with the sheer organisation of these people, and then all around the walls posters unrolled once more, drowning the square in their colours. Freedom, they read. Freedom, the people murmured.

"Freedom…" the Avatar said. It was echoed by a few people right at the front, who reached out as if to touch her, as if to get close to her. She stared at the sky again, and cleared her throat. "FREEDOM," she roared, punching one arm into the air. The crowd roared as well, no one word separating out of the mass. Instead, it was simply noise pushing back at her, an organic, powerful shout from the people. "THE COUNTER REVOLUTION BEGINS NOW," she shouted, taken over by the moment and releasing a short display of her three elements. I hope this works, she thought anxiously, moving into a stance that hadn't worked brilliantly in the past. Be the leaf. Be the leaf.

Pulling through her all that had happened, Korra sent a gust of air rippling through the crowd, making the banners and posters whip violently. She stood back, grinning wildly. Yes. Asami moved next to her, into the spotlight, holding a microphone. "You know where to be," she said. "Let's take our city back! The Avatar has returned, and we're going to take back what's ours!" The roar that answered her sent shivers down Korra's spine, and she took Asami's hand once more. They stood there together as the people drained back out purposefully. Korra glanced at the building behind them. Lights had flickered on.

"Where do we need to be now?" Asami checked her watch.

"Lin and Tenzin will be meeting you—I'll take you there, and then the three of you take Amon on. I'll be co-ordinating the people, moving from group to group. I think first of all I'm with the Dai Li… I have a meeting with their leader before we get started." Impulsively, Asami hugged Korra. "You're so brave, and I know you'll win, and we'll be sitting down and having tea and thinking back on this years from now, safe and alive and happy."

She fell into step easily with Lin and Tenzin, and they moved through the abandoned house. It was eerily silent, and Korra twitched at every noise, every creak, every simple house that echoed throughout the deserted corridors and halls. Amon could be anywhere in here. He definitely hadn't been seen leaving; all of the exits were carefully watched by the counter-revolution's spies, including the secret ones. It was possible that they'd missed some, though, surely, Korra worried. Now that the hour was upon her, she felt stretched thin. It was the moment of all her dreams. Reality never quite managed to match up to dreams.

She took a deep breath. Even if she died here, she'd started something that couldn't be stopped. The people were already in open mutiny. An already fragile regime couldn't handle this eruption of rebellion.

They were approaching his quarters now, the corridors corresponding with her memory neatly. The fight couldn't take place in this building, though, or they'd be trapped, it would be nearly impossible to bend without bringing the whole place down. She voiced the thought to Tenzin; he'd already thought of it. Of course he had. She subsided, aware that she was nit picking out of fear and anxiety.

Then, just ahead, he stepped out in front of them. The party of three stopped, and all was tensely silent.

Lin broke it, taking a stride forward. "Amon, leader of the Equalists," she said, her voice level and strong and comforting, "you are hereby placed under arrest. I haven't quite worked out the charges yet, but I'm sure we'll find what to label you with later. More importantly—resist, and we'll bring you into custody with force. This is your only warning." He wasn't wearing his mask, Korra noticed distantly. It was in his hand. He'd been hurrying somewhere in such a rush that he hadn't had time to put on his mask. That made him awkwardly human for a moment, but then she looked into his eyes and saw the hatred playing across his face.

"You," he said, completely ignoring Lin. His expression twisted into something hideous, a snarl. "I knew that you were working against me—but this, this, it feels like… surprise. This is what you've done to me, Avatar." He straightened up, holding them all oddly hypnotised. Nobody made a move as he carefully put on the mask. "Well, you'll get your fight. I think you understand that I won't be coming willingly. I could fight all of you at once and more."

"This doesn't have to be hard," Tenzin said, moving forward to stand with Lin. "Nobody has to die today."

Amon ignored both of them still, only looking at Korra. "I'll take you with me," he said, deadly certain. "We're linked together. The spirits saw our union; husband and wife, joined before Republic City. If I can't have you in life, then…" His voice went eerily flat and calm. "We could have been great, Korra. We could have been great."

And then he lunged for her quicker than she could have anticipated and something collided heavily with her, setting off an explosion of pain, and then something else was there out of the corner of her eye that she recognised vaguely and that shouldn't be there—the world descended into chaos, and the only clear, simple, easy thing was the solid fear twisting in her belly.