Prompt #37 - Rendezvous from 100makorrathemes on tumblr.
Word Count: 748
A/N: Maybe a prequel to "Seeing Red?" Yeesh, it's been a while since I've updated. (And for anyone who follows Kindred Spirits… I'm just so sorry right now. I promise I am hanging my head in shame.)
They had developed, over the years, an unspoken agreement on where to meet after things took a south turn during battles.
Their apartment was located near the Republic City docks, overlooking Yue Bay (Korra had always lived near the ocean, and besides, they visited Air Temple Island so often there was no point in being any farther away). It was therefore too out of the way for a hasty rendezvous in the midst of the hecticness that accompanied their jobs, and they needed somewhere private to regroup at a moment's notice - make sure the other was okay.
Mako was the one who'd found the building. It was abandoned, in a seedier part of town he'd been more familiar with back during his days living on the streets, but still patrolled through during his shifts. It had housed squatters for longer than he could remember. He had pulled Korra by the hand straight through the front door one afternoon after a lunch date to escape a pursuing troupe of news reporters. They had laughed and stumbled over the dusty furniture and broken tables, hushing each other along the way, and crouched beneath a windowsill, hands clasped tight, listening closely as the clicks of cameras and quick footsteps ran right past their hiding spot.
Mako had glanced at Korra. The sunlight streaming through the window landed right on her as they waited, illuminating her eyes and making the blue dazzle as she grinned up at him, windswept hair a glowing halo around her face. He'd been intoxicated by the moment, and by her, leaning in close to capture her lips between his.
The very next week, a call from Korra had come in on his radio after a skirmish downtown, asking him to meet her urgently. She'd gone before he could ask where to go, but he'd gotten on his motorcycle anyway, revving it up and heading instinctually to their building. She was waiting there for him.
It was a habit, since then, for the two of them to use that location as a kind of rendezvous point - a dead drop of sorts. Some days Korra would stop by after a long meeting with Raiko, and find a bag of take-out still steaming on the table where Mako had left it for her. Other days Mako would walk in on Korra cat-napping on one of the couches, her quiet snores filling the high-ceilinged room as Mako finished his paperwork in peace.
Their system had worked perfectly. Mako could always depend on Korra to be there when he needed her, and she him.
This time, though, Korra was late.
Mako stood fidgeting, peering around at the dark corners of the dilapidated interior and crinkling his nose at the smell of fresh urine and cigarettes (he swore they had to clean this place more often than their actual apartment), and checking his watch every few minutes. He'd never been here at night, but the darkness seemed to throw odd shadows around the usually sunlit room, making it look unfamiliar.
A breeze blew in through an open window, and Mako shivered, moving to shut it and peer out across the road. A few people were walking briskly down the street, jackets buttoned and arms crossed against the cold. The nights had been getting colder, and he'd just been complaining to Korra about his lack of scarves now that he'd given his father's to his grandmother. She'd just laughed.
He waited.
A trickle of unease went down his spine.
He checked his watch again. He'd been waiting almost thirty minutes, and still not a sign of her. Usually by now, he'd at least be able to see her familiar figure hurrying down the sidewalk towards the building, but the street had long since cleared-out.
He was alone.
It only took a moment of consideration, but the feeling of unease remained, and in a snap moment he was pulling his walkie-talkie out of his pocket and dialing in to a familiar frequency with frozen fingers.
"Beifong? Come in, this is Mako."
A tense moment of static interference during which he wondered if she even had her receiver on this late at night (she didn't seem the sort to take nights off), and then, "Mako. This better be good, I'm in the middle of something important."
Mako took a deep breath, shoving his other hand deep into his pocket to grab his bike keys and stepping resolutely towards the door.
"It's Korra. I think something's wrong."