Chapter 28

The sound of ringing in her ears jolted Jun upright in her bed, the morning sun pouring in through the open window. Her brain was foggy as she tried to remember where she was, but slowly, as the ringing continued, did it all come back to her. Looking down, she found Pabu, still fast as sleep and undisturbed by her movements on the mattress.

Rubbing her eyes, she looked around the room to find that Korra and Naga were missing. 'Where were they?' she wondered, slipping her shoes on before she crossed the room and entered into the hallway, walking slowly toward where she could hear the sounds of a conversation happening. Her feet came to a stop outside of a bedroom that she immediately assumed belonged to Tenzin and Pema given the size.

"What?" Tenzin cried in quiet distress before falling silent again for a moment. "I'm on my way and will be there as soon as possible."

"What's wrong, dear? Did something happen?" Pema asked her husband, now sitting up as he rushed past his bed to head for the closet door to get dressed.

"That was Saikhan. He's on his way to City Hall. Tarrlok and Korra were ambushed last night and she's been captured by the Equalists."

Jun didn't know when she had turned down the hall and started running for Jinora's room, nor did she know how long it took to get the young Air Nomad out of bed. But what did know was that she had reached her limit.

"No more! I'm not sitting around anymore!" she declared as the two sprinted out of the building.

Tula jumped at the pounding at her door, falling out of her bed as she rushed out of the room and into the living room. Her exhausted brain was having a hard time understanding where she was, only clicking together that someone was there by the sound of the locks clicking and sliding out of place.

"Essa," she whispered as her adrenaline started to pump and a wave of hopefulness washed over her. Had she been found? Was her twin sister finally back home?

Her heart deflated as, to her disappointment, it was not Essa, but instead Jun and Jinora, the two girls out of breath as they rushed into the apartment.

"Tula!" Jinora huffed.

"What are you two doing here at the crack of dawn?" Tula complained, preparing to kick both their butts if they didn't have a good reason for waking her up and breaking into her residence.

"Korra's been kidnapped!" Jun shouted, a look of distress on her face.

Well, that was certainly a good reason.

"My dad just got a call from Chief Saikhan. He said that Korra and Tarrlok were attacked at City Hall last night, so he's on his way to meet them there now."

Turning and heading back to her room, Tula told them both, "Whoever's going, get dressed and meet me at the docks. We're wasting time talking and I've been cooped up in here long enough. You've got 10 minutes."

Tenzin rushed into City Hall to find a crater in the middle of the room as various officers milled around taking notes and conversing. Three of the officers were inspecting the crater while a photographer grabbed pictures of the crime scene. The master Airbender took note of the stun glove in the center of it, and immediately his stomach dropped.

"What happened?" He asked as he reached the front where Tarrlok was being interviewed by Saikhan while a healer worked on his injured arm. As the two men looked to him, he asked, "What was Korra doing at City Hall?"

"As I told Chief Saikhan, Korra came to my office late last night," Tarrlok explained, standing and pulling his sleeve down as the healer walked away. "She was upset that I arrested her friends. She asked me to release them, and…that's when the Equalists attacked."

The Waterbending Councilman's lie came off his tongue like rain from the sky, and if all went well, no one would know the truth.

After reaching his cabin, Tarrlok had made sure to keep Korra's movements as restricted as possible while he levitated and moved her inside. The Avatar grunted in discomfort as she was carried down the stairs, her feet never touching the ground as she maneuvered her into a metal box. The second Korra could control herself again, she attempted to escape, only to be met with the cold door.

"Tarrlok! You can't keep me in here forever" she shouted, pounding at the box angrily as he walked away to leave her with nothing but the light shining through the bars at the top of the box to keep her company.

After returning to his car and leaving her alone, Tarrlok made his way back to City Hall and made quick work of setting up the evidence needed to clear himself. Drop a mask here. Throw a boa on that pillar up there. Everything had to be perfect.

"I tried to protect Korra, but we were outnumbered," he continued. "Then I was electrocuted." His arm gave a throb as he recalled the stinging shock he was forced to inflict upon himself, hoping to never have to do so again. "When I came to, the police arrived, but Korra was gone. I'm so sorry." Turning to Chief Saikhan, he added, "Mobilize the entire police force. We have to find the Avatar."

The morning sun shined through the window into Lin's room, illuminating the hospital décor with its warmth as she rested. She's been put on bed rest for the foreseeable future, something her body forced her to agree with as the soreness would routinely come back.

Her arms rested on her chest as her mind drifted with the music from the radio on the nightstand. Lin was once again plagued by the wonder of if there had been any progress on finding her officers and the kids, but as long as she was bound to bed, that's all it would be.

"We interrupt your regularly scheduled broadcast to bring you this special report," the radio host said as the music was suddenly cut short. Lin's eyes were open immediately as she turned her head toward the radio. "Last night, Equalists attacked City Hall…"

Lin sat up as the words sank in and turned to the radio to increase the volume. Leaning toward it to hear better, she listened as he continued, stating, "…subduing Councilman Tarrlok and kidnapping Avatar Korra. Details are still coming in-"

She'd heard enough.

Slowly, Lin sat up and turned her body upright, preparing to move when a sudden spike of pain hit her arm. She knew she was still injured, but things had just gone from bad to worse. Swallowing the pain, Lin forced herself to her feet, preparing to shuffle to her closet, but stopping as the door to her hospital room suddenly opened.

"What are you two doing here?" Lin asked as Tula and Jun walked into her room. The former Sentry was out of her normal uniform, now sporting purple Northern Water Tribe tunics and pants, while her arms were adorned with dark blue and grey forearm gloves. On her hips were two small water skins, hidden under her cloak.

"We're here because we need your help, Chief Beifong," she replied, turning to Jun who was sporting her metal spool on the hip of her jacket's belt.

"Who let you two in here?" Lin asked irritably as she turned back to her closet. Yanking it open, she revealed her police armor, resting and waiting for her. "And stop calling me Chief. That's not my job anymore."

"Jinora got the information from her mother," Jun said. "Master Tenzin gave it to her in case of an emergency. We figured that the Avatar getting ambushed and kidnapped fit that category."

"I've heard. Which is why I'm going after them."

"Then we're coming with you," Tula told her. "I have to find my sister."

"And I have to find my friends," Jun agreed, left hand touching the spool.

Lin said nothing, dropping her robe and stepping into her boots before turning around and waving her arms forward. Her chest armor came flying forward, latching onto and over her head before her belt wrapped tight around her body. Her sleeves followed up, completing the uniform, but as she stood proudly, she couldn't help looking down at the badge on her chest.

Jun's eyes followed, watching as Lin removed the badge and stared at it before closing her fist around it. Grabbing her trench coat, she slung it around her shoulders and started tying the belt tight, looking from one girl to the other.

"Then we'd better get a move on. Come on, we're getting more help."

Asami sighed as she looked up at the ceiling of her jail cell. This had been the second worse week of her life, without a doubt. First her father reveals he's an Equalist, then he assists in kidnapping her cousin, and now, she herself was sitting in jail for being out past a bogus curfew. If things didn't take a turn for the better soon, she swore she was going to lose what was left of her sanity.

"Asami!" She heard someone call out when the door to her cell was suddenly ripped off the hinges by Lin Beifong. Jun rushed in, nearly tackling the older girl to the ground in a hug as she stood up. "Thank goodness you're alright."

"What are you doing here?" she asked Jun though she made sure to reciprocate the hug.

"Hope you got enough beauty rest," Lin said as she stepped aside to make her way down the hall, Tula right behind her. "Come on, we're busting you out."

"Thanks. I owe you guys," Asami replied in appreciation before looking down to Jun. "I'm sorry I broke my promise. I wasn't expecting to get arrested last night. Did you sleep ok?"

"I'm fine. Korra helped me get to sleep," Jun said, turning and exiting the room, leaving the heiress feeling a bit down. Her shriek brought Asami back to reality as she rushed out into the hall to find Jun, turned away from an open cell door while Tula cackled in laughter next to her. Looking inside, Asami found Mako and Bolin, the elder locking eyes with her while his brother squeaked in embarrassment.

"Asami!" Mako cried out in joy, bringing a smile to her face. Rushing in, the two embraced, sharing a kiss and ignoring Bolin.

"Ah! A little privacy, please?" he cried out, face red.

"Are you alright?" Mako asked her as they pulled apart.

"I'm fine. It's so good to see you," she replied.

"Hate to break up your lover's reunion, but Korra's in trouble," Lin said to them. "Amon captured her."

"No," Mako said disbelievingly as the joyful atmosphere was sucked from the room. "No, she can't be gone."

"She was with me when I went to bed last night," Jun said after checking that the coast was clear. "She must have disappeared after that."

"Then we better get going. Come on, we've got an Avatar to rescue," Lin said, beginning to lead everyone away but pausing to flick her fingers up, forcing Bolin's zipper up to close. "Your fly was down."

"Thanks for catching that," he mumbled, face red and covered in shock as he walked out of the cell past Jun and Tula, the younger Earthbender blushing again as the former Sentry lightly tapped her back to give her push forward. As amusing as she found this, they were on a time crunch.

Loa gently held Essa in place as she tenderly finished sitting her up to lean against the back wall of the cell.

"Good enough?" she asked, receiving a pained nod from the prisoner. Pulling out a vile, she said, "Good. Open your mouth."

Essa did as she was instructed, allowing Loa to pour the pain meds down her throat. The taste was bitter, but the effect near immediate, and her sigh of relief was evidence of that. Turning to her right, Loa saw Sota, wide awake as he watched her while Mai-Ling used him as a pillow. Her soft snoring didn't seem to bother him as she leaned against his shoulder, not perturbed by the Chi-Blocker's presence in the slightest for the first time in days.

As far as she knew, neither of the two children had said a word since they'd been dragged back to their cell, but it was the boy in particular that worried her.

After getting chewed a part for causing the escape of three important prisoners, she and Shu were to be confined to their quarters until further notice. Knowing that this would be a huge detriment to them, Loa begged her commanding officer to reconsider allowing one of them to continue working. At first, the officer refused, only relenting when Shu took full responsibility by explaining that it was his overreaction that caused all of this, but not before telling Loa she wasn't off the hook yet either.

"You'll be in charge of either picking up your brother's shifts, or finding someone to take them," he told her before walking off. Loa closed the door before turning on her brother angrily.

"Are you proud of yourself? Once again, you screw up and I have to fix it," she complained, grabbing at her short brown hair in frustration. "Do you even care how much stress this is putting on me?"

"I said I was sorry, alright? What more do you want from me?" Shu replied, running a hand through his own long brown hair that was tied in the back. His pal green eyes met hers as he said, "What's the big deal?"

"The big deal is you keep doing things that are utterly stupid and that keep getting us in trouble, and I'm sick of it. You know that for us to make money, we need to stay employed right?"

"And we are, so stop freaking out so much, wouldya?" he complained, getting annoyed at her now. "You should be happy. Thanks to us, there are three less dangerous benders around here. One of them was a bloodbender, who was bending us in case-"

"They were kids fighting for their lives, Shu! What did you think they would do? Did you ever stop to think about what all THIS," she said pointedly as she through her arms out for emphasis, "was like for them?"

"Don't go getting soft on me no, Loa," he said, standing up to tower over her by a good foot. "You know just as much as I do the kinda damage a bender can cause. That kid was a danger to everyone, and if he was this strong now, imagine the kinda damage he could do as an adult. We may have just helped reveal and stop the next Yakone from happening here. So, you can go ahead and be mad if you want, but I'd say this was a small price to pay for a big victory."

Loa had reached her breaking point, marching over to the drawer of her nightstand and pulling out an opened envelope. Without saying a word, she turned around and shoved it into his hands, knocking him over back onto his bed. Shu looked from her to the letter, turning it over to see it was from their mother as he recognized the handwriting.

"Read it yourself," Loa said, knowing all too well that would be the next thing out of his mouth. When he didn't voice the question, she turned to head for the door, grabbing her mask and exiting their quarters. As she stopped to close the door, she said, "This isn't what I signed up for when I agreed to this, Shu. I didn't agree to this cause to beat up kids. We could have stayed in Ba Sing Se for that."

Shu flinched both at her words and at the sound of the door slamming as it reverberated around the metal room. He gave a heavy sigh, thinking about how that could have gone better but still feeling no regret. After all, why should he concern himself with a bender losing their bending? All it did was make the rest of them even with those like them who didn't have bending.

Turning the envelope over, Shu pulled the paper from it and flipped it open to begin reading the message from home.

Loa grumbled about how she was gonna kick him in the head later before steeling her nerves. To say she wasn't nervous about being around these particular prisoners again would be a lie. You don't exactly get over getting controlled like a puppet that quickly. But she had a job to do, whether she liked it or not.

Upon approaching her station, she found one of the other guards in their platoon already waiting for her so they could head down to the prison unit. She was given a quick debriefing on the situation and nearly tripped when she heard that the boy was the only one to have his bending taken away.

"Shouldn't we be worried about the Firebender still?" she asked as they turned the corner and walked up to the cell.

"You tell me," he said with a chuckle as he pointed into it. Loa turned and could feel her stomach drop as she took a good look at the three. These were not the same three prisoners she'd dealt with before.

The Sentry was still unconscious, though she now laid on a mat provided by the medical team. Her arm was bandaged tight to keep her shoulder in its place in the sling, but that didn't seem to stop the pain she felt as Loa could see her face clenching even in her sleep.

To her right was the boy, laid sideways on a bench with his hands cuffed. His body made no movement, sinking Loa's stomach at the thought he may be dead.

'Spirits help us all if that kid dies…I doubt even Amon could stop the Avatar if that happened…' she thought to herself as she turned to the opposite corner where she found the terrified little firebender. The once defiant, angry girl now trembled at their presence, turning away from them as she shook.

"Yeah, that's right you little brat. Reap the consequences- "

"Shut it," Loa commanded, silencing him as he looked at her in confusion. Her eyes were still trained on the girl, her heart breaking at the sight of a child flinching away from her. Turning on her heel, she told the other guard, "Let's go. We've got rounds to make."

Loa knew she wasn't getting any sleep that night and based on the look on Shu's face when she came back to their quarters, he wouldn't be either. The best way she could describe the look was a mixture of devastation and conflict.

'Good.' She thought, walking past him and not saying a word. 'Maybe now he can see that this isn't as black and white as he thought it was.'

The next morning, she was assigned to bring the food and medicine to them. Her own stomach churned at the smell of food as she hadn't had much of an appetite the past few days, but she kept her composure as she carried the tray and reached the door to their cell.

Inside, she could see that the Sentry was gripping her blanket in pain as the firebender rubbed the top of her hand, panicked as she wasn't sure how to help. The boy stared at Loa, not a single word coming from his mouth as his blue eyes looked at her coldly. Not that she could blame him.

"Here," Loa said, putting the tray down and opening the door. The firebender flinched back, covering the Sentry's head as best she could in fright while the boy got to his feet wordlessly to stand between them. Holding her hands up, Loa said, "It's alright, I'm not going to hurt her. I have the medicine for her arm."

The boy gave no reaction, his gaze remaining in a hard stare until he heard the Sentry cry out in pain, drawing their attention to her as the firebender jumped away from her.

"Sota…it's ok…" she said, taking deep breathes between the words. "Let…her through…"

The boy looked back at Loa, distrust and hate still very present in his posture, but did as he was told and sat back in his seat. Loa was hesitant at first, wondering if he would try to attack her the moment she let her guard down, but proceeded forward to the two girls.

The firebender scooted away from her, keeping herself at a distance while Loa put the bottle down and gingerly lifted the Sentry up into a sitting position against the wall. Loa could tell she was stifling back as many screams and groans of pain as she could for the kid's sake, so sure to make quick work of opening the bottle.

"Open your mouth and tilt your head back when it touches your lips," she instructed as she brought it up for her to drink. The Sentry did as she was told and swallowed the liquid in a flash. "This'll help with the pain, but it'll only give you about 30 more minutes of consciousness."

Finishing up and standing, Loa stepped back out into the hall to retrieve the tray with their food on it. Placing it on the empty bench, she gave them all one last look before turning and making her way out of the cell before pausing so she could turn to close and lock the door.

"I'm sorry. This…was never what I wanted or signed up for. I promise, I will find a way to help you," she swore before locking the cell and departing.

That was days ago and so far, she'd made no progress in keeping that promise. She couldn't go to her brother, that was for sure. In fact, she had still not spoken to him, regardless of his various attempts. Truth be told, she wasn't still mad at him for the argument, but she also wasn't sure she could trust herself to hide the truth of what she was feeling from him. She loved her brother, but would that be enough to keep him from trying to stop her if he disagreed with her?

She rather she didn't have to find out.

"What's the status?" the other guard asked as she stepped out and locked the door.

"She's not gonna be making any drastic movements if that's what you're asking," Loa replied, looking at him.

"And the brats?"
"You wanna try getting close enough to try and check their injuries, be my guest," she offered, allowing him a second to look into the cell and into the piercing gaze of Sota. A shiver ran down the man's spine as he compared the stare to that of an angry Wolf-Bat in his head before she continued, "Yeah, I thought not."

"I'll uh…tell the commander that they're coming along," he said before turning and starting to head off to report. "Not my fault the little brats got their asses kicked. Servers them right if you ask me…"

Loa waited a few seconds to ensure that the coast was clear before speaking again. "He's gone."

"Bastard," Essa mumbled, gritting her teeth as she used her good hand to push herself up straighter to allow herself to reach out and grab the bowl of soup on the tray. "He wouldn't be saying that if I could move properly."

"As far as he knows, you can't move on your own at all. And if you're not careful, you won't be," Loa said, preparing to walk away. "You should hurry before the medicine kicks in. I'll check on you all later."

Essa watched as the Chi-Blocker walked away, sighing as she looked at her bowl of soup before bringing it to her lips and taking a sip. As she pulled it away, letting the steam brush her face, she looked to Sota.

"Make sure you eat while I'm out. If the food gets cold, Mai-Ling can heat it up for you, alright?" Her response was a simple nod before he turned his head to rest it on top of Mai-Ling's while his hand held hers in her sleep. Essa's wanted nothing more than to reach out to him and hold him, but in her condition, all she could do was watch sadly and hope that he would be ok.

Korra grunted as she threw everything she had at the metal door of the box around her, but even after multiple shoulder checks and forceful kicks, she couldn't get it to budge.

"Somebody! Help!" she shouted, fist pounding away desperately as she started to run out of steam. "Please."

Her breath came out in pants as she slid to the floor in exhaustion. She was trapped with no way to bend her way out of this box and no one to help her. What was she supposed to do now?

"I encourage you to meditate on these visions," Tenzin's words echoed in her head. "I believe Aang's spirit is trying to tell you something."

Sitting up, Korra had an uncertain look on her face but decided that there was no time like the present. Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes and brought her knuckles together in the standard Air Nomad meditation pose. Allowing her mind to free itself of any thoughts, she waited, opening herself to whatever it was that Aang wanted her to see.

Before her was the man himself, Avatar Aang. He turned at the sound of approaching footsteps, finding five metalbending police officers making their way toward him.

"What are you doing here, Aang? I told you I have this under control," former Chief Beifong said as she and four of her officers walked up.

"Under normal circumstances, I wouldn't get involved," he admitted. "But if what those victims said is true, we're not dealing with a normal criminal."

"Fine. Follow me, Twinkle Toes," she replied with a reluctant smile and wave of her hand for everyone to follow as she started toward the restaurant.

"Toph, I'm 40 years old. You think you could stop with the nicknames?"

"'Fraid not," she said, leaving him to shake his head as he fell in behind the officers. The group entered the establishment, making their way to the back where the private section was set up. In one particular booth sat a man, eating away while two others were posted on either side of the table as bodyguards. The Chief of Police and Avatar marched up to the table, not intimidated by the guards in the slightest. "You're under arrest, Yakone."

"What is Republic City coming to?" the man, Yakone, said as he tilted his head up to give the two a devious grin. It was clear by his pressed clothes and slick tongue that he was used to this kind of situation, though it was to be expected of a criminal gang boss. "Used to be a man could enjoy his lunch in peace."

Toph waved her left hand, firing a whip from her belt to snag his right wrist, forcing him to drop his chopsticks before yanking him forward. The force was more than enough to pull him to his feet as he knocked over the table and was immediately pulled into police custody. His men attempted to step in but were swiftly apprehended as well.

"What's the big idea?" Yakone complained as he was handcuffed.

"We have dozens of witnesses, Yakone," Aang stated, stepping forward. "We know what you are."

"Take him away," Toph commanded.

"I've beaten every charge you trumped-up yahoos have brought against me, and I'll beat this one too," Yakone swore, a smirk coming to his face that left a worrying feeling in the pit of Aang's stomach.

"Whoa," Korra said, her eyes opening before a relieved smile came to her face. Looking up, she said, "I finally connected with you, Aang. But what are you trying to tell me?" With a mumble she added, "A way out would be nice," before returning to her meditating.

Tenzin's focus had been divided all morning as he called all over the city for any clues on where Korra could be but so far was having no luck. A knock came at his office door, and as he called out for the person to come in, he was shocked to see who walked into his office.

"I have to go," he said into the receiver with a confused expression as he looked at his guests. "Call me back the minute you hear anything." Hanging up, he was on his feet in a flash, stuttering as he said to Lin, "Lin, what-what are-what are you- you should be in the hospital!" before turning to Asami, Mako and Bolin and saying, "And you three should be in prison!" Finally, his gaze landed on Tula and Jun in the back, adding, "And you two are supposed to be on Air Temple Island!"

"Wow. That was pretty impressive, Boss," Tula said before bowing her head. "Please, forever me. I know your orders were to stay put, but things seem to have become more dire."

"I figured you would use our help finding Korra," Lin said.

"Do you have any leads?" Mako asked.

"I've been on the phone all morning, but nothing yet," Tenzin said, walking around his desk to join the group.

"We need Naga. She can track Korra."

"She wasn't in Korra's room this morning when I woke up," Jun said, shaking her head.

"I'm afraid her Polar Bear Dog is missing as well," Tenzin said, also shaking his head.

"Then where do we start?" Bolin asked.

"My guess is the Equalists are hiding underground in the maze of tunnels beneath the city," Lin said as she placed her hands on her hips.

"Underground…" Jun mumbled, her pulse started to quicken at the very thought of being under the surface. Her hands started to rub together, her left instinctively trailing toward her scar.

"Just like my father's secret factory," Asami said in annoyance before noticing Jun's change in demeanor. "You ok?"

The little Earthbender nodded her head; sure she was fine. For now…

"Yeah, yeah; that makes sense," Bolin said, thinking back to a few weeks ago. Putting his hand to his chin, he said, "When those Chi-Blockers had me and Sota in their truck, it sounded like we drove into a tunnel."

Mako's face lit up immediately before he declared, "I know where to start looking. Come on."

Mako and Bolin rushed out of the office with Asami and Jun on their heels after the Earthbender steadied her nerves and composed herself.

Turning to Tenzin, Lin said, "Wherever Amon is keeping Korra, I bet that's where my officers are." Looking to Tula, she added, "And I'm willing to bet it's where your sister and those kids are too."

"Let's bring them all home," Tenzin stated with conviction.

"Hang on, everyone. We're coming to rescue you," Tula said, tightening her water skins before they too exited the office.

To be continued…