I am going to warn each and every one of you right now; this is the chapter when shit gets real. Like really real. I had to check the rating of this fic after this chapter. I am going to go to all lengths possible to let you know that there are triggering words and circumstances in this fic, including derogatory terms for people in the LGBT community, drugs, violence, and non-consensual actions. If any of these trigger you, I would advise you to look at the end of the chapter for a summary of what happens so as to not force you to read through the whole thing.

Prompt: Modern Day

Korra was busy hustling about, trying to make sure she had everything she needed. She had showered and put on several layers of deodorant to ensure she smelled extra nice. She spritzed herself with her typical "Deep Water Blue" body spray before throwing her undergarments on. Her wet hair was up in a towel as she scurried across the living room to her phone. Naga watched from the couch as Korra checked the time, made a face, and returned to the bedroom to put on more clothing. The TV was on in the background, the news of the evening fading in and out as Korra moved around. One particular report caught her eye as she passed through the room again, her fingers buttoning up her white, long-sleeve undershirt. She stopped in her tracks and watched the footage on the screen.

"…reports have told us that Kuvira is still on the rise in the former Earth Kingdom. She has overtaken many of the previously untethered territories, bringing them together under her own sanction, acting as what the new citizens call her: 'The Great Uniter'."

An image of a woman with tied-back black hair appeared on the TV. She wore a dark green outfit, metal plating her shoulders, neck, and biceps. She stood atop a podium as people bowed before her, a banner falling over the sign of what was Omashu.

"Our reporters in the Earth Kingdom tell us that only a few colonies remain untouched by Kuvira's army, including Zaofu and Kyoshi. Unfortunately, ties with our reporters seem to be breaking during our campaign to document what is happening in the Earth Kingdom. We have live feed coming in now from one of our people on the ground. Zhang, can you hear me?"

A video cut in of several armies marching forth, though the images were blurry and shaking, as if the camera man was hiding somewhere as he shot the footage. Korra sat down in wide-eyed shock as she watched the tanks encroach on unsuspecting villages. The soldiers stormed in. There was muffled shouting in the background before the view cut into static.

"Zhang?" The reporter put a hand to her ear piece. There was nothing but silence on the screen. Her face grew grave. "We – will do everything we can to keep you up to date on what is to come. Until then, let's – turn to Ming for the weather. Ming?"

Korra tuned out what the man was saying as he gave his forecast. Her eyes took in the picture of rainy skies to come but her mind did not process it. There was a faint ringing in her ears as the images played over and over in her head. She felt outside of herself, enough so that Naga had stood on all of her feet and let out a soft bark to get her attention.

It wasn't until her phone pinged that she snapped from her daze. She shook her head and brought her attention to her dog, who licked her cheek the moment she was moving again. "Hey, girl. I'm fine," she replied with a half-smile and a half-scratch of her ears. She looked down to her phone to check the notification.

Hey Korra. I'm almost here. Are you ready?

Shit.

She typed a quick reply before jumping off of the couch to finish getting ready.

_ _ _ _ _ Almost just give me a sec

Korra rushed around, hopping into her black pants and shoving her arms into her black overcoat. She fumbled with her black skinny tie in the mirror until it was acceptable. She ripped the towel from her hair and frantically tied her three wolf tails up.

Naga lifted her head – having returned to her curled up position – and watched Korra look over everything in the living room mirror. She glanced at the door when the bell rang.

Fuck, Korra thought as she adjusted her tie and sleeves. Alright, I think I'm ready. She skimmed over her outfit one last time: black dress pants, shoes, and long-sleeved suit coat, check. White dress shirt with all of the buttons in place, check. Black tie… She finagled with it again. Okay, good.

"I'm coming, Asami," she called to her as she half-jogged to the door, more than grateful that she had layered up the deodorant. She pulled it open with a "hey" but stopped short when she caught the sight of Asami in a simple-but-somehow-not little black dress. A faint blush covered her cheeks. She threw an embarrassed hand behind her head. "H – hey," she repeated.

Asami smirked and kissed her cheek. "Still blushing when you see me?" She kept her grin as she walked past Korra into the apartment.

Korra turned around and shut the door. "I – well – you…"

She was grateful for Naga running up to Asami at this point; it was the distraction she needed to help get herself under control inside.

It's not my fault Asami still gives me butterflies… and stuff…

"Easy, Naga. Don't jump up on me, okay?" Asami knelt down and scratched Naga's ears once she obeyed.

"She's just excited to see you," Korra walked up to her and smiled. "She likes you better when you're not in a screen. So does my laptop."

Asami giggled when Naga licked her face. "Okay, okay." She gave her one final scratch before standing up and brushing her dress off. "Do you have the reservation made?"

She nodded. "Yep. The fanciest noodle place I could find. Seven sharp."

"Hmm, we better get going, then," Asami muttered as she checked her phone for the time.

Korra bobbed and turned to Naga. "Be good, girl. Asami and I are going out tonight. Don't chew on anything while I'm gone, got it?"

Naga whimpered and barked before hopping back onto the couch.

"Good girl," Korra praised with a ruffle of her fur. "We'll be back in a little while, okay?"

She yipped again.

Korra smiled and grabbed her keys. "Ready," she asked as she turned to Asami.

"Of course," she replied with a smile.

"Bye, Naga," they both called over their shoulders as they slid out of the apartment.

Naga barked back when she heard the key turn in the lock. Once their footsteps were out of her hearing range, she slumped onto the couch, huffed, and fell asleep.

Korra and Asami walked side-by-side down the street, the cool mid-semester air forcing a shiver across Asami's skin; she wasn't expecting it to be this cold. The clouds overhead didn't look promising, either.

Lucky for her, Korra picked up on this. She wrapped her arm around Asami's waist and pulled her closer, hoping her body heat would transfer even though they weren't quite touching.

Asami glanced over to her and smiled before pecking her cheek. "I think you look really nice tonight, too," she mentioned, throwing her own arm over Korra's shoulders.

She couldn't help the blush that hit her cheeks; why she was still such a flushed dork around Asami would remain a mystery to her. She didn't understand how Asami could act so cool and calm and collected.

But that's the thing; that's just who Asami was.

That, and many other things.

"T – thanks, Asami," she choked out, forcing some of her rather inappropriate thoughts out of her head.

"Korra, you're too adorable. Even after a year, you're still all flustered around me."

"What can I say," she replied as she brought them to a near halt, "you still give me butterflies."

"After all this time," Asami asked, completing the stop and facing Korra's front, both of her hands on the woman's shoulders.

"After all this time," Korra smiled back, her palms on both of Asami's hips. They closed the gap and shared a rather passionate kiss on the lips, their eyes fluttering shut at the same time.

At this moment, they both felt butterflies.

The sound of two men fake-vomiting floated to their ears. They stopped their embrace and looked up at the same time.

Two college jocks stood across the narrow street, one of which was wearing a jacket embroidered with frat letters while the other had a varsity athletics coat on. "Get a room you fucking faggot-dykes," one of them hollered, the other one laughing after.

Korra went from clear to half-red vision in an instant. She put a protective arm around Asami and pulled her closer as she yelled back "fuck off".

"Go jump off a cliff you cunts," the other man screamed, throwing the empty bottle of whatever he had been drinking at them.

It missed by a few inches, shattering at their feet.

Korra motioned to lunge, to sprint across the street and kick their asses, but Asami stopped her.

"Korra, don't." She had a death grip on Korra's forearms, struggling to keep her in place.

"Ooooooh, what's the little pussy sucker gonna do? Steal my girlfriend?" They both laughed as they antagonized the pair, walking casually down the block to wherever it was they were planning to go.

Korra tried to jerk away, jaw clenched.

"Korra," Asami repeated, a bit gentler in her tone. She walked around and faced her, her palms now on her shoulders. "Sweetie, don't. They aren't worth it."

She growled, her hands in fists. Her eyes were glued to the assholes.

"Korra," Asami called to her in almost a whisper, sliding one of her hands onto Korra's cheek.

The skin-on-skin contact and the coolness of Asami's palm was enough to break her from her fire-red rage. She whipped her focus to Asami. When their pupils met, calmness started to descend upon her. She took a breath, trying to lower her raging heart.

"Ignore them. They're drunk assholes who don't want us to be happy. Fuck them. We're here for us, not them. Okay?"

Korra's jaw was still clenched. Her eyes wandered back to the pair of jocks as they rounded the corner, effectively out of sight.

"Korra."

She met her peridots once more.

"Let's try not to let them ruin our night, okay? We're celebrating, remember?"

Korra eased into a smile, which was a relief to Asami. It was a small curve, but she would take it.

"You're right, Asami. We are celebrating tonight. One year of knowing each other, of being friends for the first time."

"One year since that girl who kept staring at me finally started talking to me," Asami grinned back, both palms on Korra's face again.

"You have Bo to thank for that. He's the one who convinced me to do it after I had been too nervous to say hello for, I don't know, two and a half years?"

"I'll have to send him a personal thank-you letter, then," Asami brought Korra closer. "Thank-you, Bolin, for helping me find my best friend and the love of my life."

Korra giggled and received Asami's lips with a smile. "Don't give him too much praise, though; he'll never shut up about it." She grinned, hands back on Asami's waist.

They kissed again and didn't depart until a group of people were forced to walk around them. They pulled away with deep blushes, all contact gone. With averted eyes, they continued their walk to the noodle eatery.

Korra slowly lowered her hands to her sides. She glanced over at Asami, admiring the way her black locks cascaded down her back and danced in the light breeze. How did she get so lucky? At this moment, she thanked the Spirits that she liked girls, even if it had made her self-conscious or had been an inconvenience at times. Not to mention, a target. And while this frustrated her, almost to the point that her actual discovery of her sexuality had, when she looked at Asami… it was all worth it. The struggling. The teasing. The assholes. If it meant getting to be beside Asami at night, then it was worth going through. She stretched her pinky out as far as it could go, the rest of her fingers following the subtle movement of her arm. She closed in on Asami's hand and walked her fingers across her palm.

Asami looked down and smiled before joining their hands together, the fingers now laced. She was content like this and the grin didn't leave her face until they reached the restaurant.

The pair sat down at a small table that Korra had reserved for their special night. It was set with candles and fancy silverware. A small centerpiece of yellow forsythias, white and maroon daphnes, and blue and purple scillias was in the center.

Asami couldn't help but grin to this; they were the flowers they had liked the most on their first trip to The Gardens a year prior, where they first became friends. She pecked Korra's cheek, her heart too full of elation to do more at the moment.

They opened a bottle of Asami's favorite red wine and ordered their food. They talked and smiled and clasped a single hand across the table as they waited for their meals. Korra got seaweed noodles. Asami chose the wheat. Their glasses were empty by the time their entrées were on the table. Their fingers remained locked as they ate, finishing their bottle and ordering a second. After all, this was their night, and nothing was going to ruin it if they had anything to say about it.

This, of course, did not prevent them from noticing some of the stares they got as customers walked by, either for the restroom or to leave the restaurant after gorging on noodles. Korra's hand always tensed to this. There were times when she wanted to pull it away, but Asami stopped her with a squeeze of her fingers and a reassuring whisper. They knew who they were, and while this hadn't been the first time they received dirty looks or words or the occasional man with a sign strapped on his chest yelling about how they were 'abominations', it seemed to bother Korra more today than any other.

"Korra," Asami spoke softly, rubbing the back of her hand with her thumb.

She brought her attention back to Asami after inadvertently staring at an older woman who scowled at them as she passed, something that she hadn't even realized she was doing until Asami called to her. "Sorry," she muttered and looked down, pushing her noodles around with her free hand.

Asami squeezed Korra's again. "Hey," she beckoned, waiting for Korra to look up before continuing, "I love you, with all of my heart. And you are the best, fastest, prettiest, strongest, most thoughtful girlfriend in the whole wide world."

Korra blushed and smiled. This hadn't been the first time Asami said such wonderful things to her, but it always had the same effect.

"You are an amazing, loving, generous person with a great sense of humor and a caring heart."

She looked away, the grin growing. "Thanks, Asami. I really appreciate it," she replied as she took a sip of her wine.

"And you've got a great ass," Asami added, leaning forward to do so.

Korra almost spit her wine out in laughter. Some of it went up her nose while the rest was either in her mouth or her windpipes. She swallowed and flipped between laughing and coughing.

Asami giggled, glad that she finally got Korra to smile.

Their eyes met, absolute love pouring out of each pair. Korra's expression softened. "I love you, too, Asami. If I tried to list all of the reasons why, we would be here all night and would probably stack up more wine than we can pay for."

She chuckled and blushed, just a bit. "Aww, Korra. You're too sweet. I should have added that to the list," Asami replied as she, too, took a sip of her wine.

"You can call me 'Korra Sweet Ass' for now on," she boasted, a smile plastered on her face.

Asami snorted, wine now up her nose. She burst out into choking laughter, prompting Korra to do the same.

"Excuse me, ladies," their waiter approached them. "Can you please keep it down? You're disturbing the guests."

"Sorry," they responded at the same time, averting their eyes in embarrassment.

"Could we actually have the check, please? I think we've had enough food and wine for tonight after we finish this bottle."

"Of course," the waiter replied, leaving them at once.

Asami filled their glasses, effectively emptying the bottle. She held her glass up to Korra in her free hand. "Cheers."

"To us," Korra asked, bringing her glass up to Asami's.

"To us," she answered, clinking them together.

They finished their wine rather quickly while figuring out the checks. They were more than buzzed by the time they counted out the yuans for the bill and a tip, so much so that they used each other for support until the rush of standing subsided. They left the restaurant, giggling and almost falling over each other.

"Asami, I love you so much, you cute little fuck, you," Korra laughed, kissing Asami's cheek as they walked down the sidewalk.

"And I love you," she grinned, pecking Korra in much the same way.

The pair wobbled down the block, Korra's arm around Asami's waist once more.

"So what do you want to do now?" She pulled Asami closer. "We could go for a walk to The Gardens. Or we could just sit somewhere and talk or look at the stars. Or we can go back to my place and fuck each other's brains out," Korra concluded with a rather hard nibble on Asami's neck.

She giggled and pushed her away. "Korra," she chuckled, prompting Korra to laugh with her. "I don't know. I'm kinda in the mood to dance."

"Dance? Hmmm… I think Bo is at a party right now with this girl he met a few days ago. Opal, maybe? I think that's her name. We could go there. I'm sure they've got some obnoxiously loud music we can dance to."

Under normal circumstances, Asami would have hesitated; while she had been to a few parties with Korra before, she still wasn't a big fan of them.

This, though, was not a normal circumstance.

"Let's go," she smiled, wrapping her arm around Korra's shoulders as she did so.

"Okay, okay, let me text Bo to see where he is and then we'll walk over and dance a bit. Sound good?" They stopped on the sidewalk while Korra pulled her phone out.

"Sounds good," Asami responded, kissing Korra's cheek. She glanced up and saw another drunken college jock stare at them, though this time, it was with inward lust.

"Kiss her again," he hollered.

Asami ignored him, turning to Korra and mentally preparing herself to calm her down. Lucky for her, Korra was too focused – and too buzzed – to hear what he said.

After just a few minutes, they made their way to a party a few blocks away.

(-)

Korra and Asami entered arm-in-arm. The house was packed, an even amount of men and women dancing about. The room smelled of heat and must and liquor. The lights were low and flashing. The music was loud in the background, but less noisy in other areas. The DJ spun the latest hits while the bartender was serving jungle juice and shots. They felt many pairs of eyes on them, most of which were men's, but passed it off as their status of being strangers at this party. They morphed to locked hands as they surveyed the floor.

"Wanna get something to drink," Korra called over her shoulder, standing on her toes to look over the heads of the people there.

I hate being short sometimes.

"Maybe just one more," Asami replied over the drop of the bass. "But then, that's it. No more for me."

"Alright, come on," Korra pulled her as she navigated the crowd, half-looking for Bolin and half-looking for the faux bar.

She found the latter first. It was manned by two guys, one that was all muscles and the other that was a bit less. Korra glanced at them both, the body-guard looking guy with a drink in his hand familiar to her. She dismissed it after being unable to figure out who it was and addressed the second, who ended up being the bartender. "Two, please. One for me and one for my girlfriend." She pulled Asami closer and engaged her in a deep, closed-eye kiss as he prepared their drinks.

They departed when the bartender nudged them, drinks in hand.

"Thanks," Korra grinned as she took the red solo cup full of purplish-liquid displayed to her. She took the other that was stretched to Asami and handed it to her. "Drink up!"

They smirked and downed half of their drinks. Whatever concoction was in those cups went straight to their heads.

Korra turned to Asami and grabbed her hand. "Let's find Bo so we can dance," she called over the music, pulling Asami with her as she moved.

It took them quite some time to pilot the floor – almost half an hour. They were too drunk to care about the dancing crowd pushing them around. The bump of the bass was core shaking.

Asami started to feel drowsy. She had had alcohol before – perhaps in quantities more than this – but this time, she had felt much worse than the others. Maybe it was from mixing liquors? She didn't have a clue, not in this state. She blinked slowly several times. The room started to spin around her. She tried to mutter Korra's name, but she either didn't get the syllables or the volume she needed. She couldn't tell if she was nauseous or if she had to pee or both, but her body was telling her that she needed a toilet sooner rather than later. She squinted when she felt Korra's hand separate from hers.

"Bo!" Korra hollered, happy that she had finally found the bastard.

"Korra, you made it!" He cheered, taking her into a tight bear hug.

"Ah! Bo, put me down, you're gonna make me puke!"

"Sorry, sorry." He lowered her to the floor and twisted his torso. "Korra, I want you to meet Opal," he introduced, an arm around her shoulders.

"Hey, Opal," Korra beamed. "I've heard a lot about you from this guy over here. He's great, in case you haven't heard."

"Oh, I've heard plenty," she smiled and took a sip of her drink.

"Opal, I want you to meet someone very special to me. This is –" Korra turned around to show off her girlfriend only to find her missing. "Asami?"

Bolin looked over her shoulder.

"Where'd she go," Korra asked aloud, scanning the crowd with frantic eyes.

"Was she the one with black hair in a black dress?"

Korra faced Opal with urgency. "Yes, that's her! Did you see where she went?"

"I think I heard her say something about a bathroom while you two were hugging. A guy came up to her and said he'd show her where it was. It was the same guy that was standing at the bar – the one with the muscles."

"What?" Korra abandoned them, not even waiting for her question to be answered. She pushed her way through the crowd, calling Asami's name as she did so. Each step filled her heart with anxiety and her veins with adrenaline. She found a hallway off the main room where the music was quieter and the walls weren't filled with people. She passed the bathroom, which was, in fact, empty. "Asami," she yelled in a panic. Her ears tuned into a muffled sound coming from another room, as if her hearing had developed tunnel vision. She followed her gut, heart racing. "Asami?" She twisted the nob on the door.

Locked.

When a protesting noise reverberated through the crack of the door, Korra acted. She tackled the center of it, using all of the force she could muster and even getting a running start on each charge. Eventually, through brute strength alone, she smashed through the flimsy, hollow wood, the broken edges cutting her along the way. She didn't give a single fuck about that when she saw the sight before her.

A man – the same man by the bar that Opal had described – was on top of Asami. Her body was motionless, her cup spilled nearby. Her legs were splayed in a grotesque manner as the man fumbled with her dress.

Korra's sight went red in a split second.

"What the fuck are you doing?!" Korra screamed on the top of her lungs, tossing her drink aside. "Get off of my girlfriend! Now!" She rushed over to him, his hands not stopping, and ripped him off of Asami.

He stumbled into the wall, bleary eyed.

Korra closed the gap between them and punched him in the jaw.

The man hobbled but blocked the next jab, countering it with a blow of his own.

The force of his fist against Korra's face was enough to make her fall to the ground. She pushed herself to her feet, her left eye burning from the hit, and growled as the man tried to go after Asami again.

"Get the fuck away from her!" She tackled him to the floor, fueled by absolute rage.

They skirmished back and forth, the man landing another hit on Korra's face – this time on her lip where he drew blood. He tried to overpower Korra, to flip their positions, but Korra was having none of it. Every second that went by, every release of adrenaline and ire sent her over the edge.

She forced herself onto him and punched him in the nose. She could feel it crack under her knuckles. She didn't care. She punched him again, his hands trying and failing to block. He grabbed her arms. She broke away. She punched him again. And again. And again.

"You –"

Punch.

"Fucking –"

Punch.

"Son –"

Punch.

"Of a bitch!"

Punch.

"Korra!"

Bolin rushed in and grabbed her from behind, hauling her up by her armpits.

She squirmed and kicked, still too lost in her rage to see her damage. "Get off of me! Get off of me!"

"Korra, Korra, stop." Bolin tried to hold her back, surprised at the strength she exhibited in her fury.

Several people stood in the doorway, drinks in hand and expressions carrying horror. The music had stopped thrumming outside. The lights were no longer flashing. The muscle-man was on the floor, his unconscious face covered in blood, just as Korra's bruised knuckles were.

"Let me go," she screamed, breaking away from Bolin. She dropped to the floor and crawled over to Asami. Korra lifted a shaking hand to her face. "Asami," she whispered, pressing her bloody fingertips against her skin. She immediately put an ear to her nose and a finger to her neck, checking for breathing and a pulse. Luckily, she found both. While part of her was overwhelmed with relief, the rage had never left. She glanced over and found Asami's cup turned over, most of the dark purple liquor spilled out. It was then that Korra saw a very small amount of powder stuck to the bottom of the cup.

Her shaking grew violent. Redness blinded her even more.

"You son of a bitch!" Korra hollered again, lunging at the unconscious man on the floor.

The person who was beside him checking his injuries jumped away, fearing for his life.

Bolin was right behind her. He grabbed her by the waist and pulled her away before her hands got hold of his throat.

"Korra, Korra, stop!"

"That asshole! That asshole fucking drugged her! He drugged her. He tried to rape her, that fucking mother fucker!"

"Korra, stop!" Bolin spun her into the wall and held her there, her back against the plaster. "You need to stop. The damage has been done."

Korra struggled against him until her eyes lifted to the people at the doorway. It was then that she realized the room – the entire house – was quiet. The lights were on. Asami and her assaulter were unconscious on the floor, one of them covered in blood. Korra looked down at her hand and saw that she, too, was covered in his blood.

She started shaking, though this wasn't from rage; it was from shock. She collapsed into Bolin and started crying.

"Shh, shh, it's going to be okay," he lowered her to the ground and hugged her.

"Bo –"

"Shhh… breathe, okay? Simmer down and breathe."

Korra nodded and buried her face into his shoulder. Her heart calmed. Her head started to come back to her. The alcohol had little effect on her anymore. One person came to her mind, the most important person. "Let me go, Bo." She pulled away from him and crawled over to Asami. She slid her arms under Asami's knees and back and lifted her, careful to keep her head in place. She brought Asami to her core and rose to her feet. More tears streamed down her face when she heard a faint mumble of her name from Asami's lips, as if she was calling out to her in her drugged, unconscious state. "I'm here, Asami," she tightened her hold, bringing her close enough to kiss her forehead. "We're going home, okay? We're going home." She looked up to the crowd at the door with fire and authority in her eyes.

Bolin stood up behind her, concern on his face.

"Move."

It was all she needed to say. They either flattened or fled as Korra walked through, head high, glare straight ahead. She carried Asami in her arms as she crossed the silent dance floor, the drunken partygoers smart enough to get out of her way.

"Korra?" Bolin called out to her as Korra descended the steps to the sidewalk.

She just kept walking.

(-)

Summary: Korra and Asami go out to dinner to celebrate the one year anniversary of them becoming friends and going to The Gardens (essentially what happened in "Flowers"). They kiss on their walk there and two college guys yell slanders at them. Korra gets upset but Asami is able to calm her down. They go to dinner, drink way too much wine, and generally have a good time, though they still receive an occasional glare from people walking around the restaurant, which makes Korra uneasy. Asami calms her once again.

A bit more than buzzed and wanting to dance, they decide to go to a party where Bolin and his "new friend", Opal, are. They get there and each get a drink. By the time Korra finds Bolin and Opal, Asami is starting to feel drowsy. While Korra and Bolin are hugging, a guy shows Asami where the bathroom is after overhearing that she had to go. Opal tells Korra this and she immediately goes looking for Asami. She was not in the bathroom; rather, the guy had taken her to a bedroom and was trying to do non-consensual things to Asami. Asami was unconscious. Korra gets the guy off of her and beats the shit out of him, taking a few hits herself. Bolin finds her and pulls her off the guy. When Korra goes to check on Asami, she finds out Asami had been drugged, which sends her into another fury. Bolin stops her. Korra looks up and realizes that the party has stopped, the music has died, the lights are on and everyone is staring at her. She breaks down into tears and carries Asami out of the party in her arms. When Bolin calls after her, she just keeps walking.

Well, that chapter turned out to be more intense than I first thought. I knew this stuff was going to happen but DAMN. Um, well... yeah. My take on modern day.

I am sorry.