"He has two compound fractures and several cracked ribs along with a severe concussion." The nurse said to the lone visitor as he stood over the Lieutenant's hospital bed. "It's a good thing that he's asleep. I can't imagine how painful it would be if he was conscious through all of this." The visitor couldn't even speak as he looked at the patient lying in the bed. All that he could do was muster a solemn expression and grip his hat tighter as he held it over his chest.
The nurse placed a comforting hand on the visiting man's shoulder, trying to look for comforting words as she saw tears welling up in his eyes. "I'll give you some time with him." She said, walking out and leaving him alone in the room with the broken patient.
As soon as the door was fully closed, the visitor rubbed the tears from his red eyes and laid his hat at the foot of the bed. Kohun then took out the injection needle that he had taken from the nurse on her way out. Her words kept echoing in his head.
"What a shame it would be if someone accidentally gave you adrenaline instead of morphine." Kohun whispered to the sleeping Lieutenant.
Within seconds of the injection, the Lieutenant's eyes shot open and he gasped for air. Kohun could tell from the look on his face that his body was suffering from a trauma that could not be put into the human language. Air constantly forced its way roughly back and forth in the Lieutenant's throat, only being interrupted by cracked whimpers that issued from the dying man's lungs. His eyes turned desperately to the man standing over him, only to sink deeper into despair as he recognized Kohun.
Kohun merely leaned down and did his best to make sure that the violently shaking man didn't fall out of his bed. "Shhh." He cooed. "You'll go into shock soon. But I can help you." He explained by revealing the morphine that he had also stolen. His reassuring expression suddenly turned cold as he looked right into the man's eyes. "You betrayed and tortured me all those years ago because you thought Amon was the safer bet as the Equalist's leader. Well, let's just say that you obviously made the wrong choice." He couldn't help but smile a little as he looked at the only man left living that he really hated. "I'm here for revenge, but I'm also here for help. I need you to answer one question, old friend. Just one."
The Lieutenant only huffed and wheezed as he felt his consciousness slipping away. Kohun took that as a sign not to take too long with his revenge. "Where were Amon's headquarters?"
Kohun waited, staring straight into his victim's eyes. Finally, the Lieutenant's lips parted and he mustered the last bit of strength that he had to utter the words. They only came out as a raspy whisper, but Kohun heard it clear enough. "Safehouse 18."
Just before he went into shock, the Lieutenant felt his pain begin to subside in a wave of numbness. He turned his head and gave a weak stare to Kohun as the man disposed of the two needles. "W-Why?"
Kohun stood, looming over the man that had betrayed him so long ago. "The same reason that you never told anyone your real name." He said. The Lieutenant laid his head back and began to slip into unconsciousness. Kohun grabbed his hat from the bed and headed for the door. "To protect my family."
The decrepit old buildings in the outskirts of Republic City made everyone on edge. It was Equalist territory. Even after they had been forced back into hiding and even with the military presence in Republic City this part of town remained theirs. A bender didn't walk alone down these streets. A bender didn't even walk with ten other benders down here. If you didn't have something that was unthinkably urgent to attend to, you didn't wander into the outskirts.
"And here we are." Bolin said to himself as he jumped out of the truck. The other police officers began to establish a perimeter as Korra appeared at his side, still mounted on Naga. Bolin laughed as the polar bear-dog gave him an excited and sloppy lick on the face. "Good to see you, too."
Korra hopped off and looked at the safehouse across the street. "You're lucky she hasn't knocked you down. You didn't even say goodbye when you left the South Pole."
Bolin felt a small pang of guilt as she reminded him. After his birthday, Bolin had left the Southern Water Tribe for Republic City with Chief Beifong. He hadn't told anyone why he was leaving or that he was going away at all, except of course for Korra.
"Sorry about that." He said soberly.
Korra gave him an understanding smile as they approached the safehouse. "I told you, Bo. It's fine. Now let's go and knock some heads."
Bolin smiled in agreement.
The two stopped at the door of the dilapidated office building, looking back at the other policemen to make sure they were all ready to breach the building.
Bolin chuckled, taking one final breath before the plunge and smiling to his friend. He stomped his foot on the ground, sending a rock through the bolt of the door just as Korra kicked it open. Within a few moments, the building was swarming with metalbender cops.
The building was exactly what they had been hoping for. The only parts of the walls that weren't covered by filing cabinets were occupied by maps and schematics. The room itself was filled with work desks that seemed to have only been recently abandoned, still covered in reports and messages from other Equalist cells.
Korra could hardly contain her excitement. They had struck gold. The single largest information cache in Republic City was now theirs. The feeling of anticipation ran through her. It wasn't like it normally was, though. Normally she was anticipating the worst. She was expecting a horrible and sudden turn of events. At best she could predict only a minor reprieve from the everyday stress of the Equalist threat. But now, finally, it was all going to be over. She now anticipated how it would feel for it all to finally be done and buried.
"Korra!" She heard Bolin shout from the second floor. "You've got to see this!"
She raced up the stairs as the other officers were busy securing the first floor. She found Bolin standing in an armory with enough weapons to supply a small army. Equalist gloves and electrified bolas were tucked neatly into shelves alongside spears and knives and swords of expert craftsmanship. In near the center of the room was a table with a complete map of Republic City. Several spots on the map were marked as "safe zones" and others as "targets". That one map alone could shorten the war by months, maybe even years.
Then she caught sight of Bolin. He was standing in the doorway to what looked like the central office. The light was on in that room, while the rest of the building had been dark.
Bolin looked over his shoulder. "I have a feeling this place is still in use."
Korra moved past him and into the office. On the desk there was a solitary file that had been fanned open. She couldn't help but walk up and read it, even though it was very likely that whoever had been reading it was still in this building.
Stamped out onto the tab of the folder was its subject: General Kohun
She had never heard the name, but a picture that was tucked into the folder caught her attention. Before she could even completely recognize the three people in the picture, she felt a strong pulling sensation in the back of her mind. Aang knew about this, and he was trying to warn her. She was so caught up in her observations that she didn't even hear the sounds of electricity charging and people fighting downstairs.
"Korra! It's a trap!" Bolin shouted from the doorway. "We have to get out of here now!"
She snapped out of her trance and turned around just in time for the planted explosives to detonate behind her instead of in her face. Korra went flying forwards, landing face first at Bolin's feet. He stooped down to help her up, only to be tossed aside like a rag doll as more explosives went off next to him. Korra tried her best to get up. The only thing she could hear above the high-pitched ringing in her ears was her own heartbeat.
She felt the floor give way under her and the support beams begin to falter. She gave one last glance upwards as she saw Bolin holding his side and turning to fight off an Equalist that was charging at him. Then time seemed to skip like a needle on a record. The next thing she fully comprehended was lying on her back, two floors down, on a pile of rubble, with a mysterious trenchcoat-wearing figure standing over her. Before she got a good look at the man, his boot met her face in a swift kick.
Korra slowly opened her eyes, her skull pounding. She looked around the dimly lit room, her eyes quickly adjusting to the light. The room was empty for the most part, the only light coming from a halfway boarded up window that let in the lights from the city. The wallpaper was peeling and the bare wooden floor was rotting. She was in some sort of two-bit hideout.
She felt her hands tied behind her back, quietly testing the strength of the bonds.
"I know how to tie a knot. You won't get out of those." A voice came from the along the wall.
Korra turned to spot the man in the trench coat. He sat in the other corner of the small room, resting his back against the same wall as her and staring into his hat with a dark expression. He wore a plain white undershirt beneath the coat. The only identifying marks on his clothing were a belt buckle that was reminiscent of those on United Nations soldier's uniforms and a badge on his military visor hat that was a curious mix of the Fire Nation and Water Tribe emblems. His eyes were the amber color of a firebender and his hair was a dark brown. A cleanly cut beard covered his jaw, clearly accented by his high cheekbones.
Korra shifted her weight a bit, adopting a kneeling position. She wondered how fast she could swing her leg out and kick some air at him.
The man turned his face to her. "Now would you mind telling me exactly why you were helping Equalists burn that building down?"
Korra looked at him quizzically. "I don't work with Equalists. Don't you know who I am?" She normally didn't waste this much time with people who had just abducted her, but she felt a strange calmness in the back of her mind. She felt like somehow, she recognized this man. She felt an odd feeling of both familiarity and safety. The strangest part was that this feeling came both from her own mind and Aang's in a curious mix of memory and Avatar intuition.
"I suppose not." He stood up and stretched, looking at her for a moment before deciding that she was telling the truth. "I don't get much news in prison." He walked over to Korra and cut her bonds. She stood up, rubbing her wrists as the man stooped down to pick up his hat. As he lifted it, a small photograph slipped out and fluttered down to the floor.
Korra leaned down to pick it up, recognizing the man next to her standing next to two people that she would know anywhere. She looked up at him. "How do you now my parents?" Korra asked the man, a hint of determined hostility in her voice.
"Your what?" He asked in surprise. His expression quickly turned from one of confusion to disbelief. His hands slumped to his sides and he seemed to have both lost and gained everything in the world. The man stared at her in shock for a moment. "W-Who are you?"
"I'm Avatar Korra!" She shouted. "Who the hell are you?"
His face brightened at the sound of her name. Korra felt her heart leap as the tall man rushed forward and snatched her up in a bear hug almost as fierce as one of Bolin's. Naturally she would not be very welcome to such an affectionate display from someone who had just abducted her, but that eerie sense of familiarity flared up as she felt his embrace.
"You really don't remember me?" He asked her, setting the Avatar down and stepping back.
Korra just stood there, her face frozen into a curious stare. The man rolled his eyes as his face took on a disappointed look.
"Makes sense that you don't remember, otherwise that safehouse wouldn't have burned down." He crossed his arms and stressed his words in a manner reminiscent of a teacher hinting at an answer. "I always cautioned you not to play with fire."
With that, Korra felt an old memory come flooding back to her. Her vision looked past the beard and the seven years of aging and the small scar on his right cheek. She remembered the embrace in the cold and the warmth of laughter. Korra's eyes lit up as she recalled the memory of her first firebending teacher.
"Uncle Kohun?" She asked.