| By AvatarAang7 | Genre | Rating | Reviews | Updates |
| More from AvatarAang7 | Drama | M | Please do | Irregular |
The Interrogation[]
Working with the crew of the Rhino was surprisingly effective. For Korra, it was incredibly refreshing to work with someone who would throw a saddle on a gift horse rather than look it in the mouth.
The treasure in the hold of the Equalist was considerable, which already put the men in a good mood. They made a fair division, but because captain Bahlo would get to keep the ship, Korra did get the slightly better deal. Still, they parted ways on good terms, and now it was time to head back to Omashu. The Equalist and its new crew decided to head back to the Northern Water Tribe, where some wanted to restart their old lives.
But that wasn't for the Aurora. As far as they knew, Hiroshi Sato was still en route to meet them in the port of Omashu, even if Korra was starting to have her doubts about the sincerity of his letter.
The losses to her crew had been pretty minimal, much to Korra's surprise. They were down to 34, which, considering the bounty they gained, was a good score. The losses aboard the Equalist had been far greater, though the captain suspected that might have been down to slow medical care afterwards.
Most importantly to her, Amon's Lieutenant was still alive, and Korra had insisted that they would take him with them. Bahlo didn't have much reason to refuse, so it was an easy agreement. Now that they were out at sea again and most of the boring details had been taken care of, Korra felt like she could finally get some answers.
Even though it had been a busy day, dinner was now over, and they had a moment to ask a few questions. The Lieutenant was on deck, bound in chains, and Korra knew that he wasn't telling them something. "Now, I am going to give you one more chance. Talk, or we'll make you talk."
He looked up with nothing but disdain in his eyes. "Fuck you."
The captain smiled. "I was hoping you'd say that." She nodded at Mako, who tied a rope around his restraints, both his ankles and wrists, after which he was suspended over the side of the Aurora, hanging upside down and facing away from the ship.
-"What are you going to do to him?" Asami piped up, not sure what was about to happen.
"Keelhauling," Korra clarified. "Simple but effective."
The heiress raised an eyebrow. "I thought that was a punishment? You think it'll get him to talk?"
Korra laughed at this. "Trust me, Sato, it'll get him to sing." She nodded to Mako again, and then the Lieutenant was dropped into the water, pulled flush against the hull of the ship, and then yanked back up on the other end. It was incredibly painful, because the hull is rough, and he was even in luck that it hadn't been very long since she was careened.
Still, even after just the first go, he spent nearly a minute underwater, was pulled up again with a bleeding back, and thrown roughly onto the deck; that would break a man quickly.
Korra walked over to the other side of the ship and kneeled next to him. "Ready to talk or should we do it again?"
-"Go to hell," he spat, though it wasn't nearly as convincing as the first time around.
"Trust me, there's already a seat reserved for me there. But fine, have it your way. Again," she told Mako. The process was repeated, and when he was pulled up on the other side, his back was badly bleeding. "We can do this as many times as is necessary, I have all the time in the world."
-"Stop..." he groaned, partially out of breath and partially in massive pain.
Korra smiled. "You can make it stop. Tell me why Amon wanted to kill Asami, and it stops."
He looked up, and it was pretty clear that he knew his body couldn't take much more of this. "It wasn't Amon. It came down from Mr. Sato himself."
The captain looked up in shock, facing Asami. The look of horror on her face was indescribable to Korra. "What are you talking about?" she quickly asked him.
-"Sato, he said that he'd rather see his daughter dead than having to deal with the likes of you. He told us that if we couldn't win the day, we should kill her. Amon realized we were losing, so he sent three men to your ship to find and kill her."
Korra wished she didn't know this. If anything, she wished she hadn't gotten this information out of him in front of Asami, whose expression of disbelief was slowly turning into one of rage. Out of nowhere, the heiress suddenly jumped forward, grabbing the Lieutenant by his collar. "You lying son of a bitch! Tell me it's not true!" she yelled at him. Tears of rage were flowing down her cheeks, and Korra had to use all her strength to pry them apart.
When they weren't connected anymore, Asami stumbled away into Korra's cabin, clearly not wanting to be around the whole thing any longer.
"Take him to the sick bay to get his wounds treated, then put him in the brig," the captain told Bolin, before she quickly followed Asami. They may not be together, but right now, the heiress needed her.
When she went into her own cabin, Asami was sitting on her bed with her knees tucked up to her chest. Tears were flowing down her cheeks and her shoulders were moving up and down as she was sobbing. Korra sat down next to her and wrapped an arm around her shoulder.
Whether it was because she wanted to be with Korra or because she just needed some reassurance, the captain didn't know, but Asami leaned into her touch anyway.
-"How - how could he do this to me, Korra? He couldn't have!"
Above all else, Korra wished she had answers to comfort Asami, but she didn't. It wasn't likely that the Lieutenant was lying, he had no reason to. Those three in the hold were determined to kill her, and it was unlikely that Amon would have made that call on his own. Not unless he wanted the wrath of Hiroshi Sato over him, but that would be an expensive relationship to break.
And yet... Eight years of experience with the way Hiroshi Sato did business told Korra he would be capable of something like this. Asami always maintained that he was a good man, but every action the captain had been subjected to at his hands proved otherwise.
"It'll be okay, you hear me?"
Asami didn't seem convinced. "How? The only way it's going to be okay is if it isn't true! Do you think he's lying?"
Korra sighed. "No, I don't think he is. What does he have to gain?"
-"A final 'fuck you' to us for killing Amon?"
The captain knew Asami was clutching at straws right now. "You know that's unlikely." A silence fell. "I'm sorry, Asami. I truly am."
The heiress leaned into Korra a little more, seeking some modicum of comfort in her arms. She didn't say anything, because there was nothing to say anymore. Asami knew damn well that, as improbable as this seemed earlier, it was the most likely explanation there was.
"Asami..." Korra cautiously started, already hating herself for what she was about to say. "I have to go prepare the ship for the night. I'll be back soon, okay?" She pulled out of holding the heiress and was already walking away when she felt Asami's hand around her wrist.
When Korra turned around, she was met with tear-filled eyes, pleading her to stay. "Korra... Please don't go," Asami said, her voice quivering the entire time.
Korra had no chance of resisting those massive green eyes, especially when there were tears in them. "Okay, I won't. Just..." She stepped to the door but stopped after opening it. "MAKO!" she yelled through the entire ship. No way would he miss that. Korra quickly sat down again next to Asami, took her hand again, and ran her thumb over her knuckles. "I'm not going anywhere."
Mako soon stepped in, and even though he probably had questions about the scene in front of him, he decided to zip it. "You called for me, Captain?"
"I did. Prepare the ship for the night, you're in charge. No one disturbs us."
He nodded and left in the same silent manner as he came in with.
When Asami had calmed down a little bit, Korra stood up again and walked to her table, pulling a bottle of rum out of the drawer. "Might make it a little easier." She took one gulp before holding it out to the heiress.
She didn't question her, she didn't even hesitate, she just took it and started chugging it back like it was water and she just trekked through the desert. "Whoa, easy there, you don't want to kill your liver just yet," Korra said as she had to take the bottle from Asami again. "You're not me."
Asami let out a dry chuckle. "I guess..." She fell silent for a moment. "How do you do it, Korra?"
"Do what?"
-"Not caring. Everything just bounces off you, and that makes me wonder."
Korra sat there for a moment. "Years of practice I didn't want. People called me bitch and cunt and all kinds of nasty things, but those are just words. This... This is nothing like that at all. Betrayal is an awful thing, and I wouldn't be able to let that slide either."
-"Hmm..." The heiress wasn't very impressed by that answer but didn't press on.
If Korra were to have a guess, it would be that she just didn't have the energy right now to worry about something so trivial. "Why don't we get some sleep? It'll be dark soon, then we can start fresh in the morning."
-"Okay," Asami agreed in a soft voice, but when Korra got up to undress and go to her own bunk, she was once again stopped. "Wait... Will you sleep with me?" she asked, a bashful blush on her face.
To say that Korra was shocked would be an understatement. "What?"
-"I mean, hold me. I... I don't want to be alone right now."
An understanding smile crept over Korra's face. "Ah. Of course I will. Just gotta undress, okay?"
Asami nodded and got up herself as well, once again slipping out of her boots, leather corset, and, kind of to Korra's surprise, pants. The captain herself normally slept only in her bindings, but now, that felt wrong, so she didn't take off her sleeveless tunic.
Soon enough, they were lying in the bunk that was actually already on the small side for one, but for two was a real squeeze. Their only option was for both of them to lie on their sides, with Korra's arms wrapped around Asami's waist. It was snug and pretty warm, but there was no way in hell that Korra would let her go.
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