"-don't see why we had to bring 'er here when ya could have gone to a hospital or somethin.'"

"Raph, stop. Just give her a little more time to wake up. It's only been a few hours."

The sensation of being alive was slowly returning to Korra as her eyes fluttered open, one of them unable to crack open past a small slit, she noted. And everything hurt.

"Guys," a rough voice cut in, interrupting the two that were seemingly arguing. "I think she's awake."

When her vision finally settled, she could make out numerous green forms hovering over her, and one vaguely red.

"Korra!" a female voice exclaimed, and a pair of arms engulfed her as she inhaled vanilla and amber. "Asami," she croaked out, weakly, "oh spirits, you're alive." She placed a hand on the woman's hair, tears threatening to sting her eyes.

Her gaze shifted to the mutant standing closest to her, who appeared calm and wise beyond his years.

"You're the one that saved me." She rasped out. He gave her a small smile and a shallow bow.

"Your brother is kind of an asshole, though."

"And you look like shit," a thick Brooklyn accent interjected from the side.

"Raph," two of them said in unison in a stiff tone.

"Don't mind him," the blue-clad turtle started, his voice calm, alluring. "He is an asshole. I'm glad you're okay."

She sat up then, groaning with the effort. Every muscle near her middle screamed at her to stop, but she propped herself up on her elbows. "So, there are four of you. I unfortunately know Raphael, and I met Donatello last night, but…" her eyes darted between the two remaining, both standing near her.

"I am Hamato Leonardo," her savior said as he bowed, a little deeper this time.

"He's the boring one," the same rough voice from before cut in. "I'm Michelangelo, waaayyyy cooler than all these lame-o's." He said with a wink. She couldn't help but smile at the orange-bearing turtle, his playful tone infectious. "Welcome to our home, dudette!"

Korra glanced around the lair, taking in the scene.

"The gala was… horrible. There were 24 casualties, including the president. Everything is kind of in disarray right now. We didn't want to take you back out on the streets for fear that someone might try and finish the job. We figured you'd be safe here," Leonardo explained. His soothing voice quelled some of the horror rising within her.

"Those Purists… they're completely insane. I need to talk to Tenzin," she said, attempting to swing her legs off the raised bed and grunting audibly with the effort. "Ow," she groaned as a hand flew to her middle.

"Easy," Leo told her as he placed a steadying hand on her back. "You got pretty beat up back there. I'm glad I found you when I did." Korra looked up at him with a grateful smile.

"Take it slow," he told her, as he held out a steadying hand. She took it graciously, standing up gradually, fighting the dizziness. Her free hand reached to grab his arm as she lost her balance on weak legs and toppled towards him, catching herself less than an inch away from his plastron.

"Sorry," she muttered, straightening, but Leo looked patient as ever. She could have sworn she saw Raphael's head snap away out of the corner of her eye.

"Do you have a bathroom I could use? I have a feeling Raphael is right and I do look like shit."

Leo chuckled softly, still holding one of her arms to steady her. "You had a bad night. Here, I'll show you to it," he said as he led her towards their restroom.

"What, you gonna help her wipe too?"

Korra shot Raph a death glare, but carried on anyway, slowly releasing Leo's touch as she felt herself steadying finally.

She flinched at what she saw in the mirror. Her right eye was a gnarled mess of purples and greens, eyelid swollen near shut. A ring of purple bruises encased her neck, and she without a doubt looked like absolute dog shit. She looked down to find herself in a long T-Shirt and track shorts. Who they belonged to and how she was changed out of her dress into this, she wasn't sure that she wanted to know.

After she had completed her best attempt at smoothing out the utter mess that she was currently, she trudged out of the bathroom and headed for Asami and Donatello, who sat together on a couch in what she supposed was their living room. When Asami saw her, she rose, placing a supportive hand on her shoulder. "I know you went through a lot last night. Raph filled us in." Korra shot yet another piercing glance in his general direction. "Did he now?"

Asami's eyes softened sympathetically. "I'm sorry that he lied to you, Korra. You didn't deserve that."

She shrugged, unwilling to process a single ounce of that right now.

"I just want to know which one of you he tried to dissect."

Michelangelo's arm shot up. "That would be me! And before you ask, Donatello is the one he turned into a monster. I'm sure you could already tell from his appearance though." Donnie rolled his eyes at his brother.

"Sometimes I wish he would have dissected you, so then maybe we'd have some peace around here." Mikey feigned hurt as his sweet face twisted into a deep puppy dog pout.

"But then who would keep you entertained? OW-" He was quickly humbled by the red brother smacking him in the back of his bald head.

"I'm sure we'd be just fine, Mikey."

Korra held in a pained laugh as she looked back at Asami and her new companion. "So… what do we do now?" Asami sighed.

"Well, you're in no condition to fight, and New York is a dangerous place to be at the moment. I was going to suggest we all lie low at Air Temple Island until we can devise a plan. I've already called Tenzin and he's agreeable to it- including our new friends." The kind woman's gaze swept over all four of the terrapin brothers. "We can leave tonight, under the cover of shadow. Which, allegedly these four are pretty good at, considering they're ninjas."

Her eyes lit up in recognition. "That explains how Raph over there kept sneaking up on me," her thumb jutting towards him.

"Or maybe you're just slow," he retorted.

She responded by sending a sneaky blast of air towards him, knocking him to the ground with a grunt. "Was that slow?" she asked, chuckling, as the sound of the other four's laughter joined in.

…

Korra sat cross-legged before a fire as Leonardo raised the tea kettle to fill the delicate, forest green cup she held in her tattered hands.

"I heard you like tea, so I figured this might be a good way to kill some time. It's jasmine," he said, the pleasant steam filling her nose as she inhaled. "Might help soothe some of the pain, too."

She looked at him through the thin fog, lips curving upwards. She then considered what an absolute disaster she appeared as right now.

"Thank you, Leo. Really."

She blew an effortless spiral of air into the cup, cooling it instantly, and took a sip, humming delightfully as the warm liquid soothed her weathered soul.

"Almost as good as the jasmine dragon. This reminds me so much of home," she told him, somewhat vulnerably.

He raised a brow at her, still blowing on his piping hot cup. "It's way too hot to drink, how did you do that?" She shot him a playful grin as she whirled a tiny tornado in her palm, sending it whisking towards Leo's cup, clearing the steam. When it cleared, she gave him an encouraging nod, and he drank. Aang would be proud of that antic, she thought, and something deep within her confirmed it.

"Well that's certainly a nice party trick," Leo told her. She shrugged lightly.

"I don't go showing my tricks to just anybody." She winked at him, again forgetting that one of her eyes barely worked and no one in their right mind would take her seriously right now. But Leo blushed a little, anyway.