Not Your Hero

Chapter 3

The files really didn't have a lot of information, mainly pictures The Saviors mostly took out victims the public wouldn't notice. The factory worker earning below minimum wage; the old man with no one to look after him; the ragged beggar sitting on the street... A lot of these people died without anyone noticing. Their killers also had a subtle way of killing. There was no blood evident, and usually no signs of a struggle. But the killers always left a note, saying "The Saviors have saved this person." The organization is now going big: entire families in the slums have been killed, and since they're not really important in society, no one notices until a few days later, when the bodies start to stink. Korra wrinkled her nose at this fact.

"Captain?" Mako asked, tentatively.

"Korra is fine. Notice anything, Mako?"

Mako explained his theory: "It bothers me how those people are only aiming for the unnoticed. One less poor person doesn't go a long way no matter what their goal is, so they're probably going to turn things up a few more notches. Also, the fact how they leave a note saying it was them. Either they really want to be caught, or they'll be coming out to the open really soon. And judging by what I've seen, I don't want to hunt them down after they've come out to the public."

Korra saw his point—quite a valid one, to be honest. Asami spoke up, "Whatever the case is, we need to get to Republic City soon if we're going to find out more about these people." Korra nodded, fishing for her intercom to request for an airship.

--

It would take thirteen hours to get to Republic City. Although technology has been advancing at break-neck speed for the last decade or so, airships pretty much stayed the same as they were five years ago, making them pretty slow. Luckily, USOF engineers were able to tweak around with their ships and give them a bunch of upgrades that didn't exist in commercial ones. That meant the airship had a lot more room than most ships have: wide meeting rooms with detailed maps and the newest projectors, luxurious bathrooms, a kitchen stocked with rations; and to Korra's delight, a sparring room. While Mako and Bolin were resting up in the bedrooms, Korra paid the sparring mat a visit. She had to leave the combat robots in the compound, so she opted to do some push-ups instead.

When she was almost 40 in, the door opened, revealing Asami. Korra turned her head to look at her but decided to at least do a few more push-ups, rather than get distracted so easily. Asami idly walked to the bench and sat down, silently watching Korra work out.

"You know, if you work out too much, your muscles would be strained and could lose mass; and that's not mentioning reduced bone density. Why don't you take a break for once and talk about your troubles, instead of taking it out on your body?"

Korra stood up, surprised at the bold accusation. Reaching for a towel, she asked rhetorically, "Who said I was troubled?"

Asami smiled, an expression Korra could only presume to be genuine. "I designed the combat robots you so frequently trained with. I take it upon myself to watch recordings of their fights to see if there's any room for improvement. Almost always, the recordings were you. And I might not know much about fighting style, but I know enough to tell that you're using the bots as an emotional outlet. So what's bothering you, Korra?"

Seeing Asami look at her with such a genuine and concerned expression set a slight burn to Korra's cheeks. But she was always red-faced after a workout, and the blush went unnoticed by both. Korra was often asked if she was doing okay by her fellow officers, but they were all within the professional borderline, just normal concern to ensure that she'd be able to do her job; which was always dismissed with a curt nod on her side. Yet there was this glint in Asami's eyes that set her apart from any officer that has voiced their concerns, maybe even Kuvira. But eleven years in the academy didn't exactly teach Korra to be a people person, and she decided to brush this off as just another professional concern.

Korra blinked, catching herself staring at the girl, who now had her brows furrowed, evidently a bit confused. The expression was quite cute, a stark but good contrast to the fierceness those green eyes like to convey. Before she could stare any longer, Korra said: "Nice work building those robots. They're strong but very flexible. I'd hate to actually come across those bots in battle, or we'd probably be screwed." Combat robots, yes. Asami did mention them at some time, right?

The engineer smirked. "Do you always dismiss those kinds of questions with a compliment, Korra? Because I remember asking you what's got you troubled, not what you thought of my inventions." For the second time, Asami said her name. And for some reason, Korra liked it. Her name falling off Asami's lips just sounded so comforting, and she had said it in such a gentle way.

Korra chuckled and moved to sit beside the engineer, a towel draped over her head. "You're very observant. Most of the other officers asking after me would be satisfied by my answer and leave. Not you though." Asami turned to her, raising an inquisitive eyebrow, clearly saying, "Dismissing the question again?" Korra laughed, earning a grin from Asami. "Anyway, per your question, the answer is really 'I don't know.' Every time I spar with the robots, there's just some frustration I need to let out. I don't even know what I'm angry about, but I just am. Sparring during my free time has pretty much become a habit of mine since I was recruited to the academy, fourteen years ago. I got used to it so much that until you asked, I really didn't take it as a sign of my troubles." Korra lightly frowned to herself. She really didn't know that she was troubled. But now that she told Asami, everything just made sense. How she was always so motivated to fight seemingly unbeatable bots; how she had so much energy when sparring; how she always felt a heavy weight on her chest that she eventually forgot about as time went on. If someone accused her of bottling up her troubles, she'd normally shoot back a strong denial. But with Asami, this "confession" just felt so right.

Asami nodded understandingly. "That, we have in common. The combat bots are also my punch bag, but not so literally. You fight them, I fix them. Whenever I'm annoyed, I look at their sparring recordings and try to improve those bots. I just had no idea why I was annoyed. Like you were."

Korra just sighed. "It's been a long time since anyone really understood me. I'm glad you get me, though. Makes me feel less alone; like there's another frustrated girl out there without a clue what's going on." Asami hummed in agreement. Her eyes had that far-away look, making Korra think that her thoughts had wandered elsewhere. It was at that time that Korra started taking in how beautiful Asami's eyes were. She was beautiful anywhere, but Korra really started noticing the beauty's eyes. They had a slightly pale green color, but not too pale to blend with the sclera; and when Asami was in thought her eyes would portray a darker shade of green, not deep enough to be mistaken for brown, but dark enough for their fierceness to show again. She had on mascara and eye shadow, along with lipstick and other makeup, but Korra could tell that with or without cosmetics this was a beautiful person. Those jade green eyes most definitely proved Korra's point.

The captain blinked. She'd been noticing this woman too much. Since when did she start noting every tiny detail about a person? But this was a good-looking person. Korra decided that it was normal to want to look at a beautiful person more than usual. But their talk would have to end, the team had to plan their next steps.

Standing up, Korra offered Asami her hand, which the latter gladly took and pulled herself up. "As much as I'm enjoying this little talk of ours, we should probably get back to the boys and discuss our next moves." Something about having the boys join them sounded off to Korra. As though they were a distraction, a nuisance that stood in the way. But that's not true, they were a team and the boys were valuable members. And since when did Korra offer her hand to someone?

The young captain shook her head. They had a tough mission ahead of them, and she, of all people, couldn't afford to be distracted.

[End of Part 1: Just A Mission]

A/N: sclera is the white area outside your irises (the part where Korra was checking out Asami's green eyes near the end). Also, I was referring to the female athlete triad at the part where Asami tells Korra about working too much leads to muscle loss and reduced bone density. Yes, I'm a science geek, and I like establishing solid facts where science is involved.