Rebel

Korra

I'm surprised that this boy is following me. Yesterday, he would have ditched me by now. It makes me feel safer with him around. He makes me feel safe.

We round a corner into an alley (there are a lot of these in Seattle). I glance back at the boy, and he seems to be limping, putting more weight onto his left leg. I glance down at his right leg and notice a large cut close to his ankle. The blood is running in a stream down his leg, more of it leaking out of the wound by the second. He looks to be weak, probably from the enormous amount of blood loss.

"Stop," I say. The boy gives me a questioning look. "You're hurt."

"I'm fine," he says.

"That," I say, pointing to his blood-soaked leg, "is not what I call 'fine'."

The boy sits against the brick wall, his right leg reclined out in front of him. He stares at the gaping wound. "I'm fine," he repeats, this time quieter.

"You're the worst liar," I say. "We need to patch that up."

"I don't need any help," the boy says, annoyed. "You're not my mother." He said that like he's been wanting to say that for a while.

I ignore him. I look around the alley for some possible use of a bandage wrap. Nothing. I look down at my feet, staring at my good socks. The only pair I have. I don't hesitate. I remove my boot, and then my sock.

The boy raises an eyebrow and gives me a muddled look. "What are you doing?"

"Shut up and stay still," I order him. My bare foot touches the cold, hard cement, and I shiver a bit. I pull up his pant leg, which reveals the ugly wound. I wince at the sight of it. I wrap my sock around the gash, the blood soaking into it instantly. The boy grimaces as I tighten the sock around his leg. I do the same with my other sock.

"Too tight," he says.

"You'll be fine," I say. "It'll help soak up the blood and hopefully put pressure on the wound. It should stop bleeding soon."

I place my boots back over my feet. It takes him a moment to relax, and when he does, he turns to me and asks, "Why? Why are you-"

"Helping you? Because I'm returning the favor," I cut him off, avoiding his gaze.

He hesitates. "But... why?"

I don't answer that question. I don't really have an answer for that. Yes, I could've just run away and not helped him at all when he was being attacked, but I didn't. Why didn't I? We hardly know each other, yet we risked our lives for the other's safety. I don't understand exactly why. Maybe just an instinct? Or is it more than just that? Maybe it's just the memory of living on the streets, with nobody but Kade to ask for help?

When he realizes I'm not answering him, the boy turns away. "And, ahh... thanks for helping me out back there."

I nod. "You're welcome."

The boy flashes me a warm smile, which tugs at my heart a bit. I can't help but blush. As I return the smile, the boy's smile grows wider. Silence covers us, awkwardness filling the air.

"You think you can stand?"

The boy nods. "Yeah." He uses the wall to help him up. When he stands on his leg, he grimaces, but quickly gets used to it. He groans in an enormous effort. I can see pain in his face.

"Do you need help to walk?"

The boy looks up at me, "No. I pretty sure I'm good."

I roll my eyes, "That was a rhetorical question." I pull his right arm over my shoulders, he winces at my touch. He leans into me, sending heat on my side.

"We can have fun another time. Right now, we need to get you home." My voice is softer, nicer, more convincing. I don't wait for a reply. I am controlling what his fate is tonight, so I start walking out of the alley. More weight gets added to my shoulders. I know that he's growing weaker. I need to do this fast. "I need you to stay awake," I whisper. He shivers but I make a clicking noise with my tongue. "Relax." He does as I say.

A light rain starts to drizzle. It sends a cold shiver down my neck against the heat of the boy. I delight in the contrast. I know he can feel the rain too.

"It's raining," the boy says. It shocks me. It makes me smile. His energy is not drained yet. The thought makes my smile grow wider.

"I can see that," I respond and pull my hood over my head.

Finally, shelter. I go inside with the boy on my shoulders, but I'm not as stealthy as I'd hope. Kade and Margo face the door. Kade speaks up first. "Where were you?" His glare shifts over to the boy. "Who is he?"

"I was out. Look, I'll tell you the whole story later. I need you to help me."

There's not enough beds for the boy. He can take mine. I set him down carefully so he doesn't hit his head on the metal of the bed frame. Margo walks up beside me. "Do you know his name?"

I shake my head. "I only met him last night. I'm just taking care of him until his wound heals. That's all." I give her a sideways look. She winks at me as if she's trying to say something. But I can't figure out what message she's trying to say with her eyebrow dance. I snap out of my thoughts. My only concern should be helping the injured boy. I look down and check his wound. He's drenched my sock. "Damn it," I whine. But I shrug it off after a few seconds. What else did I expect? That his gash would magically heal? That's preposterous. I turn around to see if anyone is still around, but all I can see is Annie's sleeping body two beds down. Margo and Kade left so quietly that I couldn't hear them over my thoughts. Or, was my thinking loud? I shake my head and continue to nurse the boy.

I remove the sock and wipe the dry blood out of the way. It stopped bleeding. I walk up to the boy, and bend down next to his ear. "Listen. I don't believe I told you my name. My name is Korra. I also don't know if you're listening? Or I might just be talking to myself, but I don't care. I tend to do that a lot anyways. You didn't tell me your name, so I'm gonna call you Carl." I pause. "Carl, you stopped bleeding. You should be alright by tomorrow. If this is your only wound. Just sleep, and I'll introduce you to everybody tomorrow."

I find Kade and Margo canoodling on the roof. "Hey," I say. They both look at me and exchange glances. Margo says something to Kade and stands up. She starts to walk over to me. "Korra," I hear Kade say. "A word."

Margo nears me and smiles, "Good luck."

"I think I'm gonna be fine," I return the smile. My gaze shifts over to Kade. He looks as if he's going to go all big brother on me. I turn to Margo. "But, thank you."

I walk over to Kade and stand there for a minute. He breaks the silence with a snap of his fingers. "Sit." I do as he says right next to him.

"What were you thinking going out there?" His eyes are dark. Predatory. He's only like this when he's furious at me, or when he has his Unit patrol suit on.

I close my eyes. "I wanted to see what was going on. I heard a noise, I thought it was some kid. But it turned out to be a mutant. That's where I found the boy." I open my eyes.

"You could've been caught. Even worse, the mutant could've killed yo-"

I cut him off. "But it didn't! I'm perfectly fine. Hell, I just saved a kid." I motion behind me.

His eyes soften. "I'm just trying to do what's best. That's all."

"Why? Because you swam faster to mom's hole?" I used to say this as a kid when he would get all big brother type on me. But he's only older by a few minutes.

He smiles at that. "It's not just that. I want what's best for you. For us. There can't be an us without you."

"Yeah, but it's been hard since dad was convicted of treason and was arrested."

"Did I ever tell you about why I became a Unit?" Kade pauses. "I became a Unit so I could protect you, and keep you safe. To make sure that dad stays where he belongs. Prison."

He does belong in prison. After what he did. I think to myself. "You've never told me that before."

I lean into him as he puts his arm around me. "I know," he says. For the first time tonight, I notice the rain has finally stopped.