Chapter Text

Korra

The shrill ringing of the alarm clock startled Korra out of a deep sleep. Without moving her face from where it lay buried in her pillow, she brought up an arm and slammed it down on the alarm clock, silencing it. “The morning… is… evil ,” she groaned into her pillow. Reluctantly, she got up from her bed and stumbled into the bathroom.

Stupid Tenzin, making me go in so friggin’ early on a friggin’ Saturday. She undressed and stepped into the shower, still trying to rub the sleep out of her eyes. The water did wonders to wake her up though, and by the time she stepped out Korra was wide awake. She used a little waterbending to quickly dry herself off before wrapping a towel around herself and setting out into her room to find some clean clothes.

Korra searched through the piles of laundry that she totally meant to do a couple of days ago for something that was passable for a professional work environment. First, she pulled an underwear set from her rapidly depleting clean drawer. She then quickly found some pants and put them on. She was in the process of looking for a shirt that seemed acceptable when her roommate woke up. “What time is it?” she mumbled sleepily.

Korra glanced at her alarm clock. “About six thirty,” she replied. “Go back to sleep, Opal.”

“Why the hell are you up so early?”

Korra sighed. “I have to be at City Hall by eight. The mayor has this important meeting with some corporate bigwig and he wants me there.”

“That sucks,” Opal said. “Well, have a good day.” She rolled over and promptly fell asleep again . Korra finished dressing and with a last envious look at Opal’s peacefully sleeping form, made her way out of her dorm.

Korra made good time in getting to City Hall, arriving at half past seven. It was a near-miracle actually, considering the ungodly mess that was Republic City’s public transportation system. Korra thought, not for the first time, that she should really look into getting a car. And driving lessons for that matter. Still, arriving with half an hour to spare meant she had plenty of time to get some breakfast from the building’s cafeteria.

She made her way there and stood in front of the counter, her eyes skimming over the menu. There really wasn’t much to choose from, and she was feeling nostalgic for home, so she settled on some seaweed noodles.

Since it was so early in the morning, the cafeteria was nearly empty, except for another couple of interns who were engaged in a heated conversation. Korra decided to sit near them, to listen in on their talk.

“I’m telling you, there’s no way Tempest could take on the Avatar! She can bend at least three elements and all Tempest has is lightningbending. And she can barely extended past her hands!”

“Yeah, but Tempest has experience! She’s taken on ten guys at a time. Plus, she’s got back-up from what’s-their-face… Wildfire and Landslide.”

“You can’t bring other people into this, that’s not fair! We’re talking about a straight-up fight between the Avatar and Tempest, and I’m telling you, the Avatar would win!”

Korra sat back, grinning. Ever since her internet debut a few weeks ago it seemed the entire city was talking about her. Now they were actually sizing her up against Tempest! If Korra were in private (and if she didn’t have a rep to maintain) she’d be freaking the hell out. Tempest was one of her biggest heroes.

After a while, Korra noticed that the two guys had moved on to other topics, so she focused on choking back her noodles. They were cheap, rubbery, and tasted suspiciously like someone had taken regular wheat noodles and dyed them green. She reminded herself to look for somewhere in the city that had authentic Southern food.

Her disappointing breakfast over with, Korra made her way through City Hall to Tenzin’s office, where she was told by his secretary Tenzin was waiting for her in Conference Room 2. On the other side of the building. Twenty feet from the cafeteria. Great.

Groaning, Korra turned on her heel and went back the way she came. By the time she made it back to Conference Room 2, she burst in to find Tenzin sitting down in front what had to be the representative from Future Industries. She was… not what Korra expected.

When Tenzin told her they’d be meeting with a corporate executive, Korra had immediately pictured some fat, middle-aged man, not what was, frankly, a gorgeous woman close to Korra’s own age. Unless she has some really good anti-aging cream , she thought.

“Ah Korra, you’re here,” Tenzin said. “Ms. Sato, this is Korra Sikku, one of my brightest interns. She’ll be taking the minutes of this meeting, if you don’t mind.”

“Not at all.” The woman smiled at Korra, and she felt her stomach do a backflip.

Jeez Korra, calm the fuck down. Keep it in your pants!

“Korra, this is Asami Sato, CEO of Future Industries,” Tenzin continued.

Korra needed a few moments to shake off this new information. This woman, who was at the absolute most a couple of years older than her, was already running her own multinational corporation. That was beyond impressive. Remembering how to interact with humans, Korra walked up to the CEO and held out her hand. “Pleasure to meet you, Ms. Sato.”

“Likewise,” she replied. “And please, call me Asami.”

Tenzin cleared his throat and signaled to a seat between him and Asami, at the head of the table, already prepared with paper and a pen. Korra sat down and cracked her knuckles, mentally preparing for the hand cramp that would inevitably result from this meeting.

“Well Ms. Sato,” Tenzin began, “I looked over your proposal and I have to say, from an economic standpoint it’s more than feasible. The only thing I’m worried about is the practicality of it all. Construction would force us to close down large areas of the city for extended periods of time. Does this city really need a subway system that badly?”

“All due respect, Mayor Gyatso, but when was the last time you used public transportation in the city?” Asami asked.

“Not for years,” Tenzin admitted.

“Well sir, if you had, you’d know how difficult it is to get around in this city when you don’t have a personal vehicle. My company provides Republic City with most of its buses and we own about half the tram lines. And every day we get reports of angry and unsatisfied customers who have trouble getting where they need to be on time.”

Korra sat there, quickly jotting everything down and trying to keep a big, dopey smile from her face. Asami Sato, the beautiful and brilliant CEO of Future Industries, was now trying to make her day-to-day life less of a living hell. Where have you been all my life?

Tenzin and Asami continued talking for a while, bouncing off numbers, figures and logistics that made absolutely no sense to Korra, when Tenzin’s secretary walked in.

“I’m sorry to interrupt sir, but you have a phone call in your office,” he said.

“Would you please tell whoever it is that I am in the middle of a meeting?”

“Normally I would but, ah… it’s the vice president, sir.”

Tenzin audibly sighed, not that Korra could blame him. From what little she knew of Vice President Tarrlok the one thing Korra was sure of is that he fit every cliche in the Slimy Politician Handbook. “Would you excuse me for a few minutes Ms. Sato?”

“Of course.” Tenzin rose and quickly left the room with his secretary, leaving the two women alone. They sat in silence for a few awkward seconds, until Asami attempted to break the ice. “So… you’re an intern, huh?”

“Yep,” Korra replied, a small smile on her face from Asami’s poor attempt at making conversation.

“Let me guess… political science major?”

Korra nodded. “Freshman year at RCU.”

“Really? I had you pegged a little older than that.”

Korra chuckled. She got that a lot. “I am, actually. I’m twenty-one.”

“So why’d you start college so late?” Asami asked. “Travelling the world?”

“What makes you think that?”

Asami shrugged. “You just strike me as the adventurous type, I guess.”

“Well, no traveling the world, but I definitely have had more adventure than is good for you. Although, for the last couple of years I’ve been… dealing with some trouble back home.” Korra tried to keep her admission as vague as possible, preferring to avoid the war talk with someone she barely knew, but realized she failed when Asami’s eyes went wide.

“Oh god, you’re from the Southern Water Tribe, aren’t you?”

Korra cringed “Listen, do you mind if we don’t talk about it? The war ended three years ago and I spent those three years basically helping my dad rebuild the Tribe from the ground up. That’s pretty much all there is to know.”

Asami nodded in understanding. “It’s alright, we don’t have to talk about it. I think it’s great that you’re here now. RCU is a very good school. I actually did my master’s there.”

“Um… how many degrees do you have exactly?”

“Three?” Asami said uncertainly. “I have a bachelor’s degree in both mechanical and structural engineering, plus my MBA. So yeah, three.”

“Okay, and you’re how old?”

“Twenty-two.”

“And you run your own multinational company.”

“Pretty much.”

“Well… that’s a bit discouraging.”

The corner of Asami’s mouth quirked in confusion. “What do you mean?”

“I mean… you’re a year older than me and you’ve already done all this stuff and I’m just a twenty one-year-old freshman. I just feel kind of… inadequate.” She averted her gaze from Asami, choosing instead to stare down at the table. “I know, it’s stupid.”

“Hey,” Asami said, placing her hand on Korra’s shoulder, “it’s alright. And for the record, I don’t think you’re inadequate. Sure, you got a late start to your career, but you were helping an entire country rebuild. I’ve certainly heard worse excuses.”

Korra looked up to see Asami smiling warmly at her, and offered one in return. “Thanks, Asami.”

“No problem.” They lapsed back into a more comfortable silence for a while before Asami spoke again. “Listen, I know we agreed not to talk about this but since you’re from the South, I have to ask. You wouldn’t happen to know anything about the Avatar, would you?”

Korra tensed for a second before reacting. This was the first time anyone had asked directly about her nightly activities. Okay Korra, you rehearsed this. Just lie your ass off. “Not really. I honestly thought she wasn’t real until she popped up here. It just seemed too convenient that a mythical figure would appear and save us.”

“The Avatar’s a mythical figure?” Asami asked, quirking an eyebrow.

“Yeah, a really old one, nearly forgotten actually. The Water Tribes barely remember it and I’m pretty sure that’s where the religion started in the first place. Basically, the story goes that there’s this spirit of light and order would choose someone in times of great need, and this person would become her Avatar and help bring peace and stuff to the world. Oh, and that person could also bend the four elements like it’s nobody’s business.”

Asami let out a small laugh. “When you put it like that, it does sound a little ridiculous.”

“I know, right? Anyway, I’ve always been more of a fan of Tempest myself.”

“The lightningbender?”

“The very same. I actually own every single issue of her comic book.” Korra started as she realized what she just confessed. “And if you ever tell anyone about that, I’ll have to kill you.”

“Don’t worry,” Asami laughed. “Your nerdy secret’s safe with me.”

“Who’re you calling nerdy, Ms. I-have-two-engineering-degrees?” Korra asked in a mock-offended tone.

“I’m a different breed of nerdy, though,” Asami replied. “I’m more into cars, computers, the occasional videogame... I didn’t know Tempest even had a comic.”

“Technically, she doesn’t. In the comics she’s ‘Electrowoman’ but it doesn’t take a genius to figure out who she’s really supposed to be. All the big-name supers have comic book counterparts.”

Any further talk of comic books and their merits was interrupted by Tenzin bursting into the conference room. Judging by the force with which he opened the door, his conversation with the vice president had not gone well. Still by the time Korra and Asami turned to face him he seemed to have collected himself, with his face in its default, serenely neutral expression. Guess all that meditation pays off, Korra thought.

“I apologize for taking so long Ms. Sato. Shall we continue?”

“Ready when you are, sir.”

The next hour (or two, or three… Korra couldn’t keep track) was a blur of dates and costs and building materials and hand cramps. After the meeting was over, Asami said her goodbyes to her and Tenzin and Korra returned to the mind-numbing skullduggery that was expected of her as an intern. Finally, mercifully, it was five PM and Korra could head home, take a nap, eat, take another nap, before getting ready for her other job.

After making sure Opal had left for the evening, Korra climbed on top of her desk and bent the concrete on the ceiling above her. She reached into the hole she created and dug around until she found what she was looking for: a large duffel bag with her suit. It was nothing fancy; she had pretty much thrown it together during her time fighting in the South. It consisted of a traditional Southern warrior’s outfit with most the heavy armor removed, although she kept the pelt that went around her waist. She had also added a mask to the helmet, which covered the area around her eyes.

Now suited up, Korra leapt out her dorm window, using airbendng to give herself a boost. She got to the city much faster than she had that morning, but still not fast enough for her tastes. Korra decided she’d try begging Tenzin (again) to let her use one of the ancient Air Nomad gliders he had.

Korra patrolled as she always did, never staying in one place for long, always looking for where the action was. After a few hours she had resigned herself to the fact that it was probably going to be another quiet night when she heard what sounded like a controlled but still fairly loud explosion. She turned to see smoke coming from a building about two blocks down.

The Avatar grinned. Showtime!