Note: So we said the last chapter would be slow. obviously, we lied. But, as we said before, we are fans of horror films, and took several cues from them; for instance: you never know when your favorite character is going to get killed off. We'll be uploading chapters over the rest of the year, so stay tuned. Let us know what you think of the story, and what you want to see happen next. Who knows, maybe you have far better ideas than us! In the meantime, enjoy.
Korra slowly opened her eyes. Her senses were overloaded by a bright light shining down on her. Where was she? What had happened to her? The grogginess overwhelmed her; it took all she had not to slip away again. It took a few minutes for her to recognize her surroundings. She was in a white room, resting on a stiff green bed. The room was desolate, sterile, lacking all traces of emotion in its design. But why was she there?
The, it all came rushing back. She was at the press conference. Lin lost her cool. She turned away, and then there was an explosion, and Lin was—she was bleeding, dying. Where was Lin? Was she alright? Korra felt a sudden burst of energy, and shoved off of the bed. Immediately, a sharp pain burst through her gut, and she felt a cool hand gently push her back down.
"Whoa, easy there," came the sweet voice of the woman above her. "You aren't in any shape to move around yet."
Korra laid back on the bed, defeated. She glanced down at her torso. Bandages wrapped around her midsection, sticking out from underneath her stained shirt. The doctor with whom she spoke was in her mid-thirties, and spoke with a calm, yet firm tone. She had a very innocent face, which was faintly laced with fear. She was trying to hide her concern for Korra's benefit. The Avatar saw right through it, but applauded the effort.
"Where am I? What the hell happened to me?" Korra asked. Her words were dry and strained.
"Republic City Central Hospital," replied the doctor. "You were caught in a bombing. A rusted nail got driven two inches through your small intestine. You were bleeding pretty badly, but we cleaned out the wound the best we could. Hopefully, it won't get infected."
"That doesn't explain why my head hurts," Korra groaned. "How long was I out?"
"About ten hours," the doctor said bluntly. "A word of advice, from a professional: if you ever get impaled by a foreign object, don't pull the thing out of you. That's probably the worst thing you can do if you want to minimize bleeding."
"Sorry," Korra sighed. "Where's the Chief? Is she okay?"
"Let's just worry about you for now," the doctor insisted.
"That's not an answer," she said. "Please, I just need to know if she's—"
"She's alive. She's hurt, but she is alive."
Korra released a breath she hadn't realized she was holding in. Her muscles relaxed, letting her fall further into her pillow. The doctor pursed her lips.
"I should probably tell the others you're awake," she said.
"Others?"
"Most of them are waiting close to Miss Beifong. I'll be back in a moment." The doctor quietly walked out of the room, leaving Korra to her thoughts. Her side was killing her, but that was not her main concern. She was worried about what she saw before she blacked out. Demonstration. That word haunted her. Her friend was nearly dead, and for what; an example to the world, to show that the Hanzi Killer was more than just another monster with a knife? The press must have been having a field day with this story. She imagined the headlines: Hanzi Killer Strikes Back! Avatar Helpless to Stop the Killings! Nowhere is Safe! It sickened her worse than any raw wound.
Still, Korra supposed she was lucky. She was only struck by one small piece of shrapnel. She remembered the image of Lin's twisted body, her contorted limbs, and her lifeless eyes. That could have been her. That should have been her. Maybe that was the intention. The bomb did appear to be on a timer. Maybe she was the target. If Lin had finished her speech a few seconds earlier, if she had answered one less question, then Korra would be the one dying on the stage.
Korra clenched her fist. It was all her fault. They had attacked her, and Lin paid the price for it. A more rational part of her said that she did not know the Killer was targeting her, but the rage was quickly overpowering that section of her mind. Even if that wasn't the case, then they still only attacked Lin to prove a point. Her life meant nothing to the Killer, nothing at all. Korra's nails dug into her palm, nearly breaking the skin. She could handle someone wanting to hurt her, but no one would dare hurt her friends while she was around to stop them.
The door opened. Like a tidal wave, Jinora, Ikki, and Meelo crashed into the room, and jumped on top of her, wrapping themselves around her neck, waist, and leg, respectively. They had grown significantly over the years, yet they were still very much children at heart. Korra appreciated the sentimentality, but let out a gasp as Ikki tightened her grip on her wounded abdomen.
"It's good to see you, too," Korra wheezed, "but you're going to have to let go of me."
"Eek! Sorry," Ikki cried, drawing sharply away. "We're just glad you're okay."
"You are okay, right?" Meelo asked worriedly. Korra made sure to smile at him.
"Yeah, I'm all good," she assured. "Where's your brother?"
"Rohan is sleeping," Jinora explained. "The excitement of today must have taken everything out of him." Korra nodded as she saw Bolin and Mako sneak into the room out of the corner of her eye. A part of her hoped to see Asami follow, but she knew that would be impossible.
"Glad to see you haven't abandoned me either," Korra half-joked.
Bolin shifted uncomfortably. "Sorry. I've been trying to calm Opal down. She's a bit distraught."
"No, I get it," stated the Avatar. She glanced at Mako. "You could have at least stopped by."
"I did, a few hours ago. You were unconscious," Mako said in defense. "By the way, Sy hopes you get well soon. She wanted to stick around, but I sent her home. I figured you didn't need the extra noise."
"Thanks," Korra said with a knowing smirk. Mako was always a very noble gentleman. However, her mind quickly turned to more serious matters. "How's Lin doing? The doctor wasn't telling me anything."
There was a drawn-out period of silence. Everyone looked at each other, hoping not to be the one who had to explain the truth. In the end, it was Jinora who spoke.
"Lin is in the middle of surgery right now," she explained carefully. "When the bomb went off, she got hit by tons of shrapnel. Her armor managed to catch most of it, which probably saved her life. But, they managed to find a few pieces still lodged inside of her. They told us that the operation they needed to perform was risky, since removing the shrapnel could lead to more bleeding, but she would die if it wasn't taken care of. They've been going for three hours. We haven't heard any updates since then."
The room grew silent again. Korra felt the guilt in her mind grow. She felt helpless, and the truth was that she was helpless. All she could do was sit and wait around as strangers sliced open her friend and prodded inside of her friend with scalpels and tweezers. Her friends shared her dread, at least the ones that knew what was going on. Tenzin and Pema weren't going to return for two more days. Asami, Zhu Li and Varrick were out flying somewhere in the southern Earth Kingdom. Suyin and her family were back in Zaofu. It hurt knowing that Lin could very well die stranded from those she cared about.
"Hey, have you guys contacted my parents?" Korra asked in realization.
"I called right after they brought you here," Bolin said. "I told them you were alright."
"Thanks," said Korra. "And Asami?"
Bolin laughed nervously. "Oh, yeah, I talked to her."
"And?"
"Well, I don't think she took it too well…"
Asami was concerned. Okay, maybe "concerned" wasn't the most appropriate term for lying face down in the middle of a cramped bedroom on an airship full of people she hated fearing desperately for the safety of loved ones hundreds of miles away. Perhaps "freaked the fuck out" was what she would have used. She gripped her silk sheets tightly. One of the benefits Shang was kind enough to give her was her own stylishly-designed private bedroom, equipped with a work desk, radio, and even a mini-fridge full of exotic drinks and fruits. What she appreciated most, however, was that she could be terrified for her friends' safety without being disturbed.
Several hours earlier in the day, in the midst of a lengthy, highly-important conversation with Varrick, she received a phone call from Bolin. She had practically been locked in her own world for the past two days, having been too caught up in her work to even turn on the radio. Naturally, his message was a bit startling. "Hey, Asami, it's me," he had said with an eerie calmness to his voice. "I'm not sure if you've been keeping up with the news or anything. Probably not. But look… Korra and Lin might kinda be in the hospital right now. Uh, don't worry. They're fine. I think—"
That was the only part of the message Asami had been able to hear before her mind completely went blank, and she started screaming incoherently at him. Poor Bolin, in a panic, promptly hung up, saying something about Korra calling her back later that day. Ever since, she had been lying in her room, waiting. She wished she had gotten some details out of Bolin before she cut him off. "In the hospital" could mean any number of things. For all she knew, Korra could have passed out to due dehydration, or gotten cut in half with a chainsaw. She felt sick. She told herself to stop worrying, that Lin and Korra were probably fine, but she simply could not. Her mind was restless, shooting images into her head of a bloody, mutilated Korra lying on a cool metal sheet and doctors hurriedly stitched her back together.
But then, the phone by her bedside began too ring. As fast as she could muster, she ripped the device off of the receiver, and held it to her ear.
"Hello? Hello?" she asked shakily.
"Hey, babe," Korra replied from the other end. Asami immediately noticed that something was wrong with her based on the sound of her voice. It was too soft compared to her usual brash tone.
"What's going on? Are you okay?" Asami quickly asked. "Because Bolin called earlier, and he said that you were in the hospital, and—"
"I'm okay," Korra responded soothingly. "Trust me, I'm fine. You can calm down."
"You're not fine. If you were fine, you wouldn't be there."
"Look, I got hurt a little. I passed out, but I'm better now."
"A little? Please, define that for me."
Korra sighed. "I… got attacked by a… nail bomb."
Asami lost it. "A nail bomb!? How does that, under any circumstances, constitute as 'a little' hurt?"
"Well, to be fair, it mostly missed. The only injury I really got was one nail piercing my small intestine." Asami took a slow, deep breath. Korra winced. "That didn't help at all, did it?"
Asami sat on the bed, and rested her head in her palm. Her anger gave way to depression. "How did this happen?" she whispered, aware that shouting on a crowded airship was most likely highly inappropriate. "I leave for one day, and all of this goes down. I just don't get it…"
"It was a sneak attack during the press conference—"
"What press conference? I told you, I'm out of the loop."
Korra explained to Asami what had transpired since she had left. She told her about the growing relevance of the Hanzi Killer. She told her about the craze of the media, the missing victims, and the general encompassing fear within the city. She even told her about her Bombshell Babe of the Year award, hoping to get even the slightest uplifting reaction, but received little more than a sigh. When all was said and done, Asami remained quiet. Korra patiently waited on the other end of the line.
Asami closed her eyes. "I'm coming back."
"What?" Korra asked in shock.
"I'm coming back," Asami repeated. "There's an emergency vehicle located in the bow. I'll tell Shang that I had to break off the meeting, and I can probably get back to Republic City by tomorrow."
"Hold on a second. You can't just come home."
"Why can't I? Korra, you're hurt. A serial killer just put a nail in your chest. And Lin is…" Asami paused. The truth was that Lin's safety had barely crossed her mind. She knew she should care far more than she did, and she hated it. "I at least have to be there for her. I can't just sit around knowing that she's like that."
"You aren't just sitting around," Korra reminded her. "You're working to save your company, remember? I know it's hard, but you need to stay focused on your work."
"Where is this coming from?" Asami asked, surprised. "I thought you would want me to come back."
"Of course I want you to come back," stated Korra, who was startled by the words coming out of her own mouth. "But, this isn't about what I want. This is about what's important for you. And… I think we both know that you need to be there, on that airship."
"I… I don't know. This doesn't feel right. I mean, we're engaged now. I should be there with you, always. That's why I proposed to you: so we wouldn't be apart."
"And I love that about you, believe me," Korra insisted. "Hell, if I could, I would never even leave your side. But we both have other things that we've dedicated our lives to as well. You need to get your company back up and running no matter what, and I need to get this city back into balance."
"But you're—"
"Yeah, I'm wounded," Korra interjected, "but I'm getting better. I'll be back on my feet by tomorrow, and even if I'm still not all there, it's not like I'm facing this all on my own. We called it 'Team Avatar' for a reason."
"Right," Asami sighed. "But that means they can all get hurt, too."
"Just another reason why you should stay away," said Korra. "They care about you just like I do. I'm sure they would want you to stay safe. They know the risks of being involved, and I doubt anyone would want you endangering yourself just because they got hurt. Can you imagine what Beifong would say if you came all the way home because of her? She would rip your head off."
Asami stayed silent. Korra had a point. She did not like that point at all, but she had to admit that the Avatar was right. If she left, Future Industries would sink. That was her top priority. Republic City could handle a serial killer or two. They had dealt with far worse.
She sighed in defeat. "Just… promise me that you'll stay safe, okay?"
"Hey, think about who you're talking to," Korra teased. Asami could practically hear her smirk. "I takes a lot more than a rusty nail to slow me down."
"Right," Asami said, half-smiling. "Now, if the Hanzi Killer ever attacked you with some pink lipstick, then we'd all be screwed."
"Exactly," Korra laughed. She paused. "Hey, a doctor's coming in. I gotta go. I'll talk to you tomorrow. Love you."
"Love you, too."
Asami hung up the phone, and threw the silky covers over her body. She heard her door creak open. The ever-calculating face of Zhu Li popped into the room.
"Hey, is everything alright with you?" she asked with mild concern. "You've been up here all day."
"I'm fine," Asami said bluntly.
"Are you sure? I thought I heard shouting. Did Korra call you back?"
"I'm okay," Asami insisted. "I just… need to be alone for a while."
Zhu Li raised an eyebrow. Asami was never this distressed by anything before. Nevertheless, she shrugged and closed the door. She walked all of two feet away when Shang jumped in front of her, startling her.
"What's the deal with Sato?" he asked inconsiderately. "She gonna bail on us or what?"
"I think she's just upset about all of those attacks in Republic City," Zhu Li stated. "They said on the radio that her fiancé got caught up in one."
"Well, I hope she's in a good mood to get back to work tomorrow. Those parts aint gonna fix themselves."
"Give her some time, won't you? She's concerned enough as it is. Haven't you ever been worried about someone you cared about?"
Shang looked at Zhu Li with an incredulous glance. He blinked once, then twice, and then suddenly burst into an uproarious laughter. He attempted to speak, but could not maintain his composure. Instead, her merely turned one hundred and eighty degrees, and walked away, laughing like a madman.