Korra felt herself being carried by her arms and her feet was being drag onto the floor. She tried to open her eyes but had a hard time keeping the left one open due to the stinging pain and her head was throbbing. When she opened her right eye fully, she couldn't see anything but black. She tried to talk but her voice failed her and suddenly, they stopped.
"Take her inside." She hears a man speak in front of her and a door opening.
She felt herself being brought to a chair and her hands were now tied behind tightly. She tried to get herself loose but stopped when she felt a hand on her shoulder.
"Don't struggle." The man says to her. "You need your strength."
"W-What's going on?" She whispers.
She felt the hand on her shoulder disappeared and heard two sets of footsteps getting farther away from her.
"I don't think we should be the one answering your questions right now." A woman answers her.
Korra then hears the door closing and all she could her now was her breathing.
Once they arrived, Asami and Mako were placed in different interrogation rooms. It had to be done, Bolin needed answers. All of them needed answers on what had happened last night. Bolin isn't going to take it easy even if it's his older brother and his friend.
Bolin went to park the truck in the parking lot. He turned the ignition off and went out of the truck. He was about to head into the building but instead started kicking the front tire of the truck again and again.
Mike went to the storage room to keep the team's equipment. He needed to be alone even if it's just for a little while. He needed to clear his head. When he kept everyone's body armor, he couldn't help but slam the locker shut and banged it with both his fist.
Joe was keeping an eye on Mako through the one way mirror. Joe couldn't help but feel guilty for not being able to help Korra. He even had a hard time restraining Asami from running back to her. He was clenching his fist and was too caught up with his own thoughts that he didn't notice Joyce who came in the room and stood beside him.
"Don't blame yourself, okay?" She told her brother while putting her hand on his shoulder to calm him down.
"I should've done something though. I could've shot them." He says but still looking at Mako who was now fiddling with his fingers.
"I could have too but you know our priority was to get Asami and Mako safe." She sighs.
"But what would have Korra done if she was in our position?" He turns to his sister.
"If we all knew Korra well, she would have given herself up to let us go." She says to him before leaving the room.
"You're probably right."
Korra didn't know how long she had been sitting there. Maybe a few hours, she really had no idea. But waiting there in the quiet room felt like an eternity to her.
She then hears the door opening with someone approaching her. Her blindfold was then removed from her and her hands were now untied. Her vision was blurry and the light beaming on her wasn't helping either. She blinked a couple of times and rubbed her eyes to make her vision clearer.
Standing in front of her was a black hooded figure wearing a mask but Korra could see the person's eyes and they were cold. This person was holding what appears to be a Khukuri knife on the right hand. The person motioned Korra to stand up. Korra wasn't sure what was happening but stood up from her chair.
The hooded figure suddenly threw the knife at Korra's direction. Korra, startled by the movement, was barely able to dodge the attack, getting a small cut on her left arm. The knife went straight to the wall hitting a poster.
"What the hell…" She whispers to herself while looking at the poster.
Asami was trying to steady her breathing to calm herself down. She was still trembling from holding her tears back. She knew where she was and she knew she had every right to be in there. She looks across the table and sees the warm cup of chocolate Joyce had brought in earlier for her. She brought the cup to her lips and takes a sip before putting it back down. The warmth gave her comfort and it was better than nothing.
Mako was in a room a few doors down the hallway. Joyce had just come in to give him his warm cup of chocolate. She had no expression when he looked at her and she just left without saying a word. He stares at the cup but after a few minutes, he grabs the cup and just held it between his hands. The warmth calmed him down a bit.
Korra was staring at the poster; it was a picture of herself and Asami. She remembered throwing the picture away when their relationship ended about a year ago. Korra was so occupied on the picture that she hadn't notice the hooded figure was standing right behind her. When she did, the person already shoved her towards the wall making Korra's forehead wound open up again.
"Don't let your guard down." The woman whispered to her ear.
She dropped Korra to the ground and began walking towards the chair.
"Arm yourself; it would make the fight even." She says to Korra.
Korra uses the wall behind her to help herself stand up and grab the knife that was on the wall. She walked towards the back of the woman, slowly.
"You're unarmed." Korra says to her. "How does it make it even?"
"Don't worry. I'll be armed when you won't be needing yours."
"What do you mean the crates were empty?!" Beifong yelled.
They were both in the briefing room, waiting for Bolin and Mike to arrive. Apparently the Captain wasn't able to see what had happen on Mike and Raf's monitor because she was too busy helping the others out.
"When Mike and I entered the room, we went to investigate the bodies found hanging from the ceiling. They were from the Agni Kai Triad." Raf started. "These were the men identified by our Forensics team." He showed Beifong four photos and she immediately recognized one of them.
"Yes, Kenji was one of them." Raf says to her when he noticed her looking at the third photo.
"You mean to tell me that Kenji, one of our top most wanted, was found hanged?" Beifong couldn't believe it. They've been trying to track his whereabouts but most lead to a dead end or just more questions.
"We believed that he was hanged but we're still waiting for the autopsy report from the Medical Examiners to confirm it." Raf says while keeping the photos and files spread across the table.
"Is Korra there with them?" Mike asks him slowly.
Raf and Beifong froze. They both hadn't notice Mike and Bolin entering the room but there they were standing in front of them. Mike and Bolin were looking right at him with blank expressions. He was sure everyone was waiting for him or the Captain to answer.
"Is she there?" This time it was Bolin who was asking.
Beifong let out the breath she was holding and answered them. "They weren't able to find traces of her body but her blood was there with the rest of her equipment."
"What do you mean her body wasn't there?!" Mike roared, startling Bolin.
"They just found her blood and her equipment in the second floor. Nothing else." Raf answered him calmly.
Mike couldn't take it so he stormed out of the room, leaving a confused Bolin.
"What of the crates?" Bolin asks, changing the subject.
"Both crates were found empty." Raf tells him. "Whoever made the deal with the Agni Kai, they're probably the ones who took the weapons and killed them."
Korra felt herself shiver when the woman said those words to her and she was beginning to feel dizzy due to wound on her forehead. She approached the woman slowly with her knife at hand. The woman had her back on Korra but she can hear Korra's footsteps perfectly clear.
She immediately turned around and hit Korra right on her cheek, making Korra lose her balance and struggling to get up. When Korra got up, she immediately swung the knife at her opponent but the hooded figure easily sidestepped away from the attempted attack. Korra swings again and again but failed to hit her target.
"You're slow." She says to Korra.
Korra calms herself down. She inhales and then exhales. She swings again her knife but the woman grabs her wrist and twists it, making Korra cry out in pain and letting go of her knife. The woman got the knife and kicked the back portion of Korra's knee making her fall to the floor.
She gets up right away, distancing herself from the woman. The hooded figure then approaches her swinging her knife right at Korra's head which she able to dodge but immediately felt herself getting kick on the stomach making her stumble. The woman throws the knife on the ground.
Korra immediately gets the knife and swings it at her opponent's leg but the hooded figure stops the attack with her heel and pushes it back which Korra quickly uses the momentum and maneuvers it towards the woman's body. The woman was able to stop the attack by holding Korra's wrist and twisting it, yet again, making Korra let go of the weapon and she uses it to slice Korra's wrist making Korra tumble forward holding her wrist and yelling in pain.
When Korra turns around to face her attacker, she was quickly met with the knife pointed towards her throat making Korra stop dead on her tracks. Korra begins to back away slowly but the knife was still pointed right at her and then she stops.
The woman didn't expect it but Korra had used the chair to knock the knife back and went to twist the woman's arm making the knife fall from her hand and into Korra's. Korra swung the weapon right at the woman but quickly sidesteps away and when Korra made another swing, she caught the knife with her left hand and hits Korra right on her throat.
Korra was now struggling with her breathing due to the amount of force that was hit to her throat. And the woman stabs Korra at the left side of her ribs and then knocks Korra to her knees. The woman then stabs Korra right below her heart making Korra cough up blood.
"We're just getting started." The woman whispers to Korra's ear before Korra falls to the ground, being a prey to the darkness once again.
Bolin wanted to be the one to ask questions to either Asami or Mako but the Captain told him that he was too close to them which made him frown. He was now standing next to the twins while watching Raf and Beifong question Asami.
"Where the hell is Mike?" Joyce asks them who was really worried.
"I don't know." Bolin answers her. "But I don't think Beifong would want him to question them either. He's too close to Korra."
"We all are close to Korra." Joe tells him
"But Mike knew her longer." Bolin says with confidence. "We should give him some space."
"Yeah, but he might do something reckless." Joyce sighs.
"We'll keep an eye on him." Joe says sternly, Bolin and Joyce nodded in agreement.
"Okay, let's start from the beginning." Raf says to the woman in front of him.
"From the beginning, we mean, how the hell you and Mako ended up chained in that room." Beifong tells her.
"Mako and I had our dinner at around seven in a place called Golden Cowrie." Asami starts. "We left the restaurant around eight thirty. When we got into the car, Mako told me he had to go meet up with someone for a few minutes and he offered to drop me home before meeting that someone. I insisted and he hesitated at first but after…persuading him, he agreed."
Raf raised an eyebrow at this which made Asami uncomfortable.
"You persuaded him…?" Raf asks slowly which Asami hesitantly nod.
Beifong cleared her throat. "Anyway, where were you headed?"
"I don't know where it is exactly but it was just outside the city." Asami answered and watches Beifong sits across her.
"And then what happened?" She asks the girl.
"When we got there, I noticed a tree and there was a person standing by the cliff. Mako stopped the car and told me to stay put before he went out. That was around…nine fifteen or nine twenty." Asami says while drinking the water bottle they had provided for her when they entered.
"Did you see who the person was?" Raf asks who was now walking behind her.
"No, it was too dark and they were too far away."
"So, what happened after?"
"I don't know what happened but suddenly the person pulled something out from their jacket and I think it was a gun or something, I don't know but it got Mako raising his hands in surrender." She breathes in and then exhales. "And next thing I know is that Mako gets hit in the head by the weapon and I thought he died right there." Asami was now trembling again. "I was about to go run to him but the passenger door suddenly opened and all I could smell was chloroform before passing out."
"And then?" Raf asks her who was standing next to a sitting Beifong.
"Then I-I woke u-up in K-Korra's arms…" She stutters out and tears started falling.
Beifong sighs and gives three knocks on the mirror behind her. After a few seconds, Joyce and Bolin enter the room and gave her a small smile. She immediately gets up and hugs Bolin and gives a hug to Joyce before breaking down on her shoulder.
"Get her something to eat." Beifong tells her. She nods and leads a crying Asami out and made their way first to the comfort room to get Asami cleaned up.
"Well, let's proceed to the next one." Raf tells them.
"Can I have a few seconds with him first?" Bolin asks Beifong.
Beifong looks at him. "Sure. I'll go and grab some coffee and by the time I come back, we're talking to him and you need to leave." She turns to Raf, "You need anything from the cafeteria?"
"No, but I'll go and try to find Mike." He tells her.
"I'll come with." Joe says as he exits the room he was in.
Bolin enters the room where Mako was held. Mako had buried his face on his hands but when he heard the door shut, he looked up and saw his brother and was about to hug him but Bolin placed a hand in front of him to make him stop.
"Bo, I know this looks bad but believe me. I had nothing to do with this." He starts saying to his younger brother.
"Who was the person you were meeting up with?" Bolin asks him softly.
"What? What're you talking about? What person?" Mako asks back.
"Don't lie to me." Bolin hisses at his brother. "Who was it?"
"I don't know what you're talking about!" Mako slams his fist on to the table. "If this is about what Asami said, don't believe a word she's saying!"
Bolin knew his brother was lying. He could tell and he was losing his patience. He grabs Mako by the collar and shoves him to the wall.
"I know you're lying." He tells him. "And if your story doesn't match up with what we know, I'm not saving your ass this time." Bolin lets go of his brother and leaves the room, meeting Beifong and Raf on the way.
"He's all yours." He heads towards the room which overlooks the interrogation room of his brother and was surprise to see Joe and Mike standing there.
"How much did you see?" He asks without looking at them.
"We saw enough." Joe answers him.
Asami had calmed down after their little trip to the comfort room. They were now in the cafeteria; she was sitting on a table where she could see the city from out the window while waiting for Joyce to come back with their food.
"I'm not sure what you wanted so I got a little bit of everything." Joyce says while placing their food on their table. "And if you can't finish, don't worry about it. I have a big appetite." She grins widely at Asami who returns it with a small smile.
"You remind me of her, sometimes." Asami says softly while grabbing a piece of tempura and dipping it on the sauce.
"I don't get that a lot but I'll take that as a compliment." Joyce winks at her.
Asami couldn't help but give a small chuckle and this made Joyce smile. They continued eating in silence but it was comfortable to both of them. As predicted, Joyce ended up eating most of the food on the table.
"You still love her, don't you?" Joyce asks breaking the silence between them.
Asami looks at Joyce with widen eyes. "What makes you say that?"
"It's the way you look at her. Believe me; Korra looks at you the same way." She gives Asami a soft smile.
Asami couldn't help but smile at this and began to look back at the city through the window. The sun was rising in a few hours. Silence took over them once again but something was bothering Joyce.
"Hey, can I ask what you meant by persuading Mako?"
"Oh." Asami blushes and looks down at her empty plate. "I…I pulled on his earlobe until he cried out."
Joyce just stared at her first but couldn't help but laugh out loud at this and Asami couldn't help but laugh with her.
Beifong and Raf were tired of Mako dodging and avoiding questions from them. When he does answer them, they get two knocks behind the mirror indicating to Mako that his younger brother was watching and that he indeed was lying to them. They were all getting impatient with him.
"Look. Like I said, Asami and I went to have dinner and when we left for the car some people jumped us out of nowhere and I got knocked out. When I woke up, I was being carried by your friend and yeah." Mako tells them and not hearing the knocks behind the mirror, he smiled. "See, Bolin believes me."
Beifong sighs. "No, he doesn't. We already know that your story doesn't match up and we don't need Bolin telling us that now." She stands up and nods at Raf.
"So stop lying and just cooperate. It would make things easier for you." Raf says while walking towards him.
Mako saw Beifong walk up to the camera at the corner of the room which was facing him. She gave a two-one-two knock on the mirror before Raf threw his blazer at her direction which she held in her hand.
"Last chance, Mako." Raf says behind him.
Mako didn't know what was happening but he had a very bad feeling. Everyone watching and who was in the room knew exactly what's going down. Beifong heard the one-two-one knock confirming that Bolin was alright with it and that it was only he, Joe and Mike left in the room.
She then covers the camera with the blazer and turns to him, pulling her sleeves up and stretching. Raf was behind him, cracking his knuckles and with the camera being covered, this was not going to be recorded.
"Y-You can't do this!" Mako gasps out. "It's police brutality!"
"I don't know, Mako." Raf says pulling Mako out of his chair, lifting and pushing him towards the wall. "Is it?"
Mako was struggling to break free from his hold but had no energy to do it. Beifong was now in front of him, ready to smack answers out of him. She was about to strike but heard Mako yelling desperately.
"OKAY! Okay…I'll talk." Beifong nods at Raf and he gently puts him down to his feet.
"Two days ago, some guy approached me and I was given a large amount of cash but there was a catch. I had to give you guys a call about a deal going down yesterday or else." Mako starts.
"You made the call?" Beifong asks him.
He shakes his head. "No, I paid someone else to do it for me." He sits back on his chair. "You guys would figure it was me if one of you answered the phone, I couldn't take that chance."
Beifong nods in agreement. Whoever had paid him wanted him to be kept quiet, the danger of the people close to him would be put on the line.
"Then an unknown number called me yesterday afternoon, saying to meet him just outside the city. He would me at a tree on a cliff." Mako continues while drinking his bottled water. "When we got there, I went out to go meet the guy. It was the same guy who paid me the money but he wasn't happy to see me, he started yelling and held a gun in front of me." He gives out a heavy sigh. "He said I messed up and their boss needed me for safe measure in case things turn out bad later tonight and then I get knocked out. I didn't know they got Asami too until I saw her in Korra's arms."
Raf begins to realize something. "The mission was a set up!"
"By who? The Agni Kai's?" Beifongs asks him, it wasn't adding up.
"Who else?" Raf faces her.
"But it doesn't explain why they ended up getting themselves hanged in the process!" Beifong smacks him at the back of him head. "And who in hell were those heavily armed soldiers that came in out of nowhere?" And an idea hits her; she spreads four photos to Mako across the table.
"Is the man here? The one you spoke to?" She asks him.
Mako looks at each picture intently but shakes his head. "No, he's not here."
Beifong nods and gathers the pictures while Raf takes his blazer off of the camera. Both of them leave the room, meeting the others outside.
"Where is Korra? Is she here?" The five of them turn around to look at Mako who was popping his head out of the door.
"We don't know where she is." Bolin tells his brother. "…Or even if she's still alive."
"What do you mean you don't know where Korra is?!"
This voice came from one they all knew well. They all turned their head to see Asami with widen eyes and Joyce with the same expression. No one dared to answer the question directed at them.
"I'm sorry." Was all Beifong could say to her. "Only four bodies were recovered at the building."
Asami fell to her knees and fought back the tears that were trying to fall. Joyce, Mako and Bolin came to her aid, to comfort and calm her down.
"We have to find this guy." Joe tells Mike, Beifong and Raf. "And hopefully Korra."