-Sparking Up—

The green substance flowed slowly back and forth in the vial as Lin repeatedly turned it over in her room.

She knew it was dangerous. She knew that it could hurt more than it could help her. But still. The possibility that this substance could contain what she lost and longed for. She imagined the scared faces of Fu and Rong and Qu as she stormed back into the police station with her full metalbending abilities. They wouldn't even be able to touch. No more pushing her around.

That is not the way to think, Lin. You'd be no better than they are…she thought. Yakuza was right. The option was tempting. She put the vial away when Bolin arrived. She wanted to get rid of it, but she didn't know a safe way to do it.

"They got Steel. After you reported it, he was found and killed. I just found out today," Lin told Bolin when he walked in The sun was rising. Bolin was on edge.

He had left Shiva at his apartment. She was still sleeping like a baby, like she hadn't slept in months, so he left her a note. He was uneasy because he was afraid whatever she had run away from would find her again. He was also uneasy because he was currently rooming with someone he had quickly developed extremely strong feelings for.

She was so beautiful, and her voice was so sweet, and her body…

"Bolin are you listening? I said Steel was killed."

"The police got him?" Bolin asked, confused. "How?"

"I'm not sure what happened. I tried to get in touch with them but they wouldn't answer. Just a message sent out that Steel was killed and his body was in the Autopsy Room at the station. It sure was quick."

"Yeah, I wonder how they got him so easily he was big."

"Bolin, forget about Steel. Finding guys like him won't help. Apparently our police can do that. Our work must focus on what is causing all this. I need you to look into something new. I need you to find information on Graft."

"Yeah. I thought you'd say that. Graft has been an object of suspicion ever since his rise to power."

"Yes. He is involved. I need to know more about him. Any information will help."

"Where can I get any information on him if he is always locked away in his building?"

"You're going to have to go outside the law on this one, Bolin. I'm going to need you to steal a few things from the Police Station. Some documentation. Documentation on Graft as well as anything written by Qu, like a diary or something."

"Why would they have his information?"

"It is my belief that even within the government there are one-sided relationships and corruption between its members. Chief Qu has his own motives, he wants this city to be a certain way. Graft seems to agree with him, for now. If Graft were to step out of line and turn the citizens against the government, Chief Qu would want to save his own ass. I don't think Graft knows about this. I would think then that Qu would have stowed away some kind of file on Graft for proof if anything went wrong, at least, that is what Tenzin seems to think."

Bolin was skeptical. "Why would Tenzin know about this? Why don't we just go public? Show that the government is corrupted?"

"Tenzin used to be involved in documenting suspicious people in the city. They exist, I'm just guessing they would have one on Graft. I'm not positive, but it is a start to look there, first. To get any dirt on Graft or Qu or the whole government. Tenzin is a very analytical person. He can read people by listening to their discussions. He's been able to find underlying meanings in everything and they usually turn out to be true. Even when he was a kid, he knew how I felt about him and I acted no differently around him than anyone else. And he was right. So no, he may not be completely correct, but I believe he is. Think about it, the government members have put so much faith in Graft. He is their keystone. They've taken so much for this project and so if it doesn't work, they would fall. Qu would need an escape, and Tenzin might still have some intelligence about the status of the criminal records. It is worth looking into. As for telling the public, I don't think that is the best idea. Graft is still loved, and we aren't. The government controls everything now. Private ownership has gone away. The people who used to believe in freedom, the ones who lost their companies and life's work to Graft, they have all been exiled it seems. Abandoned the city. They gave up, and all that remain are people who blindly follow the government. They make the rules and decide what is right, decide who is right, and we are at their mercy. No matter how right we may be, they can make everyone believe something ridiculous to turn them against us."

Bolin knew Lin was right. The government had exponentially grown in their power. So much of it belonging to so few people, and now there was instability among these few people. The city is inevitably headed for a downfall. "Why does it have to be me?"

"Bolin, as much as it pains me to say it, no one really notices what you do. They ignore you. I hope this isn't news. You could get in so easily and no one would care, just put on your goofy investigator persona. They'll probably just laugh you aside, but that is it. They would ask me what I was doing there, interrogate me, kick me out. I am no longer welcome in the police station my own mother built."

Lin's words stabbed Bolin, but he knew it was all true. He wasn't worth anything to them, even though he believed his work was for the most important cause. It was true. Lin knew it. Bolin was the hardest working cop in the station. He had done more for this city in the last few months of his service than any of the current police men would do in their lifetime.

l-l

Asami walked out of the convenience store. It was about midday now. She needed to get out of the house. She just got on her scooter and let it take her to wherever in the city. She drove until she wanted to stop, and it had been here at this convenience store.

This side of the city was grayer than the rest. The bridge a few blocks down the street led to Pratt Street. She didn't want to go there, but she didn't want to be near her old building. People would recognize her. She wanted to be invisible. She walked to her parked scooter and put the bag on the seat. She pulled out the small box and removed a cigarette, then used lighter to spark up and commenced smoking. It was quite a sensation. Asami started smoking after her fallout with her father then quickly tried to stop. She didn't have any reason to stop now. She would smoke this whole pack. Nothing really mattered to her anymore. Except…

While riding around on her scooter, Asami was half-hoping that it didn't come to her being here doing this. She leaned against her scooter and looked into the window of the store, seeing her reflection next to a poster for the smokes she just bought. A beautiful, slender women was on the poster, smoking, smiling, looking sexy. Advertising. Approved and used by Graft himself. Asami felt sick, but it was no use. She might as well let Graft kill her in every way, then. Inside the convenience store there was a screen at the register. Apparently it served to replace a clerk, but it was being removed now and a human clerk operated the check-out counter again. Graft had taken this store. Even this store. Asami figured he needed his smokes, too.

Asami tried to hide it, but her intention for coming to Republic City aside from getting out of her quiet and lonely house was to find Korra. She was hoping Korra would reveal herself behind a shadow or on top of a building. Asami had no idea where she would even find Korra on a day like this. Or any day.

Huff. Puff. Asami never coughed. People passed her without notice. Not many people, though, and those passing were rushing to get indoors. The man who was behind her in line in the store was strange. He was very pungent, and kept buying things and then getting something else and getting back in line. Stalling. He looked anxious. Sweating. He had tattoos. Being so close to Pratt Street, Asami wasn't surprised to see weird people. It was midday, why was everyone so scared? She knew about all the crimes, but it didn't really stop her from chilling outside.

The man behind her in the store began to harass the guy behind the counter. Arguing about something stupid. The clerk was obviously right, but this weird dude would't give up. On top of the convenient store was a billboard, but burned into the propaganda, over Graft and the Chief's face, was just a word: LIES. Asami had passed various forms of graffiti on her little afternoon trip. She saw Korra's name, Oni. She saw ravaged walls and buildings of companies Graft had absorbed. She wondered if her own building had been vandalized after shutting down. Graft would probably use it for something.

This guy was still arguing. He was going to get thrown out. The clerk wasn't even arguing anymore. The guy was just yelling at himself. Asami's focus switched and she noticed her reflection in the window. Her smoking self. Did she feel bad? Not really. She was so consumed with her own image in the reflection that she barely noticed the red scarf trailing off the man who had just passed by in front of her. The very familiar red scarf.

Asami blew out some smoke and almost coughed as she looked at the man who had passed her. Slender body, black hair, that gait. Yeah, it was him alright. Did he notice her? He walked a little farther down the road then slowed down.

Mako turned around slightly and looked at her. She could tell out of her periphery that he was doing this. Did he want to say something? Did she? She returned his gaze and gave him an expression of recognition.

"Uhh," Mako uttered. He was frozen.

Asami looked away and back in the convenience store window. She wanted to say something to Mako as he stood there. She didn't hate him. She was about to speak, but was interrupted by what she saw. The man in the store was just arguing with himself. This had been going on for a while. Then, he had stopped arguing and waterbent some hot coffee into a sharp crystal. He stabbed the clerk and yelled.

Asami dropped her cigarette and was ready to take this guy down. Cracked her knuckles. She needed someone to unleash her fury on. However, the man turned around and eyeballed her. He had crazy eyes. He smiled and clenched his fists. Fire began shooting out, sending the store up into flames. Several gas tanks were in the store. Asami yelled for Mako to run and they got out of the way of the fire blast that burst through the window.

The man walked out of the flames, using his firebending to protect himself. He shot a fireball at Asami and Mako, and they fled down an alley. Several puddles littered the ground which began to rise and turn into sharp icicles heading straight for the two old friends. Mako melted them with a fire blast. The alley dead-ended.

"Mako, why can this guy bend two things?"

"I never knew Clasma could let you do this. He must be a fiend on Clasma, it gives people bending."

The man approached them. "Such a beautiful girl. Why don't you let me have a turn with her, pal."

Asami and Mako had no choice: they charged the man and began to fight him. The combination of water and firebending made the battle extremely difficult, but soon it didn't matter. What seemed like a tiny metal ball clanked on the ground in front of Asami, another in front of Mako. Asami had noticed it quickly and was able to kick it away before it went off, but Mako was too late. The balls exploded into bright flashes and a loud screech. Mako was blinded completely, but Asami had backed away far enough that she retained some of her sight. She moved to the edge of the alley and saw three men in black appear before her. She wasn't sure if she was really seeing it. Her memory was failing to store any new images she saw.

Mako lost his balance and fell to the ground. He tried to get his senses back as one of the men dragged his body behind some debris. Just out of site. Then returned. The other two held down the rampaging fiend. While he was taken down, one of the men drew a long, sharp rock that seemed to glow. They impaled the fiend in his upper arm. The fiend weakened tremendously. Then they turned to Asami, but she was already back at her scooter.

She sped off but found driving difficult with her impaired sight and hearing. Not many cars filled the road these days because of events similar to the one that just happened to her. Maybe that is why everyone is inside, but if she hadn't turned away from that flash, she would've been completely blinded like Mako and wouldn't have seen those men at all. How often did that kind of thing happen?

She didn't know where to go. She swerved on the roads and made random turns. She felt bad about leaving Mako. She hoped they just left him alone. Once she was back in her normal state, she would have to find out if he was okay. When she decided she was far enough away, she stopped her scooter, surprised that she never crashed. She was still hearing the ringing. She went into a small noodles place, lit a cigarette and tried to get her senses back. She remained in the store for the rest of the day until she was told to leave from all the smoke.