Official Introductions
Throughout the entire ride, and long after they'd landed, Asami was still unable to comprehend what occurred tonight. Between their first encounter, the perfect date and the almost kiss which followed, right up to the point where Korra had saved her, confessed her true identity, then at a crucial moment when Asami needed to hear an explanation, to calm her, reassure her she instead avoided Asami, almost acting as if she didn't even exist and Asami didn't know what or how to feel. She felt too much. Too much to the point where it made her numb.
Anger. Joy. Fear. Lust. Hurt. Trust. Betrayal. It was all, too overwhelming. Too hard to process, to enwrapped with what happened, if it really did happen or not and how she felt about it or at least, deciphering how she felt about it all-- it had Asami completely engrossed with her thoughts that she hadn't noticed for the last 20 minutes, she'd been guided down turning corners, empty hallways in what seemed to be an underground labyrinth of paths, and windowless walls until finally she was seated here; but where was 'here' exactly? She thought as she looked around the room, taking in as many details as possible.
It was a comfortable room if anything, which Asami found odd. Dark grey, carpeted floors, a long varnished desk was in the middle of the room and she sat behind it, in a wooden chair, cushioned seats, the wallpapers all wooden, same hue as the chair and desk. A projector behind her, and the large white screen in front of it. Another chair, identical to hers was across from her and tall plants had been placed in the corners of the room. This room is so I'll feel more at ease, she realised. Thinking back to all the shows and movies she'd watched about law enforcement, agencies and the government.
She didn't have time to consider which shows, before a tall, brooding woman with grey hair and piercing green eyes strolled through the doorway and sat in the chair opposite her, placing a recorder which, given the flashing red light, indicated that it had already been turned on before she entered the room, slightly to the right, and just one manilla file on the desk with her hands resting on it.
"Ms. Sato," the lady said, "firstly, I'm General Lin Beifong, or 'Chief' as most of the agents prefer call me. Now don't be alarmed about where you are or why you're here, we'll get to that in a second. For now, I just want to talk to you about what happened tonight." she said, never once taking a pause for air. Giving the impression that she had perhaps given this speech a few times before.
"I don't understand - why can't Korra talk to me about this? She's the one who was there with me after all -- Where is she now?" Asami asked, panic starting to build in her voice.
"There's no need to worry Ms. Sato. Agent Korra is currently being debriefed about tonights events. I am here to simply talk to you. May I continue?" Agent Korra, there it is again. Another reminder that tonight was probably just a standard operation - but if that's true - then why did she almost kiss me? Make me feel things and ways toward a person that I've never felt before? Surely it wasn't just a lie? A sham? Asami broke from her thoughts, looking up to Lin patiently staring at her, waiting for her response. She gently nodded.
Lin then proceeded to get Asami's side of the story from the very beginning. Korra picking her up and the exact time, which route they took to Narook's, the time they arrived, anyone else she could remember seeing at the restaurant or at all, all the way up until the chopper had landed on the roof and SWAT teams were waving flashlights in her eyes. Even with Asami going into excruciating detail about as much as she could remember, she still wasn't paying her full attention. Her mind constantly drifting to Kor-- Agent, Korra.
"Now, we can't actually allow you to go back to your apartment yet. It could be a potentially dangerous situation, given everything that's happened tonight, and we'd rather not risk it. Until we can give you the full clearance and enforced some security measures, we've set you up with a room for the night where you'll be safe." Asami nodded to show her understanding.
"Who are the people after me? Do you know what they want with me?"
"We aren't sure who they are just yet. In the past 6 months alone our analysts have recorded a spike in hackings and other technological crimes across the country. Thankfully we've managed to shut them all down so far, and keep the situation contained. However the criminals come back each time with more advanced hacks, and twice as many tricks up their sleeves. We figured that eventually, these people would try and use the brightest minds in the world to aid their crimes. Given that you, Ms. Sato, are the current CEO of one of the biggest corporations of our time, and are an extremely intellectual being, with specialised skills in technology and engineering, we kept an eye on you, garnering that sooner or later, they would appear to take advantage of your skills - and they did."
"So you knew this was going to happen? You knew these criminals would try to capture me? Is that why Korra approached me? Because she was ordered to? It wasn't just for a date?..." Asami said in a hushed tone, her gaze lowered in slight embarrassment for thinking Korra approached Asami simply because she liked her and wanted to get to know her.
"I ordered Agent Korra to approach you in order to protect you," Lin clarified before continuing, "We felt tensions beginning to rise after the criminals had suddenly gone silent after a constant onslaught of hacks and hijinks. We predicted the occurrence of kidnappings within the following week, which is why I assigned Korra and her team to your case. You were her mission."
I was just her mission. Those words kept circulating round and round her head. Those stupid, 5 letter words. I was just her mission. Asami made a mental note, new 5 letter word to hate: "I was just her mission", which definitely tops the other 5 letter words I hate to hear: "It's not you, it's me" and "We can still be friends."
Asami accidentally scoffed out loud, which gave her an unamused look from Lin. Trying to distract herself from even further embarrassment of the red blush slowly heating up her cheeks, she asked, "So what happens now?"
To this Lin removed her hands from atop the manilla folder. A small label directly in the middle with her name on it, indicated that this was the kept file the CIA had on her that Lin had mentioned earlier. Lin opened it, revealing Asami's photograph attached to, what appeared to be a temporary contract. Beneath the papers, Asami could see another contract. The photo in the top left hand photo couldn't be seen all too well, but it looked like Korra's photo, Asami guessed judging the soft brown hair she recalled the girl having.
"Now, Ms. Sato, we're giving you a choice to help take down the people who are after you." Lin said, the contract still in her possession.
"W-What? You can do that? Just recruit anyone off the street to work with you to help hunt down criminal masterminds?" Asami asked bewildered.
"Well, no, not anyone. Normally we'd just assign agents to tail the asset and remain undercover, but, given how serious this case is, not just for our national security, but also for you, we're willing to waiver it. As I've mentioned before Ms. Sato, you have extensive skills and knowledge which could be put to use and find these criminals before they find you." Lin finished, sliding Asami's contract forward to inspect it. It had mapped out all the details. If Asami accepted, she wouldn't become a full pledged member of the CIA, she would just become a temporary "asset". She would accompany her team on missions to help where required, but only if her team deemed it safe for her to join seeing as she was technically still a civilian. Whilst working for the CIA she is absolutely not allowed to compromise her role or her teams roles or identities to anyone outside the agency. There were tonnes more details spanning across 10 pages which Asami read completely, ensuring she wouldn't miss a single thing.
"What happens if I don't sign it?"
"If you don't sign it, we'll assign agents to tail you in order to ensure your protection and work undercover to hopefully catch the criminals in the act."
"And if I do?" Asami said, picking up the pen and hovering over the contact.
"If you do sign the contract, you will upkeep your usual day to day routine to avoid suspicion whilst also working with us to help capture the criminals at large," Lin slid the other contract out from under the manilla file, and placed it in front of Asami, "Agent Korra will become your handler and you will work alongside her." Lin said pointing her finger to Korra's signed signature at the bottom. "Once your mission is complete, and we've caught the people after you, then your job is done and you will be free to go back to your normal life. The choice is yours Ms. Sato." then Lin sat back in her chair as if she already knew what Asami's decision would be.
Asami could've sworn she saw Lin's lips curve slightly into a smirk as she reached over and signed the contract.
Lin stood, gathering up the contracts and placing them back into a manilla file as an officer standing at the foot of the door came in to collect it from her.
"Welcome aboard, Ms. Sato" Lin said extending her hand.
Once they got back to Castle Korra and Mako were immediately escorted inside and quickly debriefed by their superiors. During their meeting they were instructed about what happens now based purely on the assumption that Asami will agree to work alongside them. Seeing as Korra had already established a connection, she would become Asami's handler and the two would resume a cover. It would now become her responsibility to ensure Asami's safety and protection, not just on missions, but at all other times as well. Mako would become their unofficial team leader - he would handle team plans for missions, intel, weapons - basically all the things Mako normally does (because as Korra put its, he's married to his job). They were dismissed and not two minutes out the door, on their way back towards the main meeting room in Castle, Mako had already delved into talking changes to infiltration plans given the possible new addition to their team, for their upcoming assignments.
Korra gave a light hearted chuckle, and commented where necessary, but her thoughts and attention were stolen from Mako and set upon the beautiful green eyed girl tucked away in one of the many meeting rooms in the facility. She hadn't realised just how much time had gone by before she found herself in the main room, slouched in a desk chair.
"You're looking a little pale, you okay?" Mako asked reaching for his steaming mug, and accidentally stirring Korra from her waking thoughts.
"Yeah, my minds just a bit preoccupied thinking about what happened tonight." Korra said, rubbing sleep from her eyes. It was past midnight and Asami had been in there talking to Chief for over an hour now.
"Tell me about it! High speed chase out of nowhere, the huge crash you only narrowly avoided downtown, the shooter on the roof. One hell of a night, huh?" He said, slowly sipping his decaf.
"Uh yeah, one hell of a night." She repeated, though that wasn't the part she was referring to. She was secretly thinking about how she nearly kissed Asami. Which, though she wouldn't have minded at the time given how alluring the girl was this evening, could've severely pooched their newfound situation of Korra becoming Asami's handler. She could've compromised herself and spilled her thoughts and feelings well before the mission had even begun. Well that's IF Asami signs the contract. Given how Korra practically had to manipulate the poor girl to get her to out on a date with her, then lie about who she really was the entire night, she wasn't so sure Asami would, she wasn't even sure if she wanted her to. Having to work around her for who knows how long, hide her feelings whilst keeping Asami's in check - it just seemed, dangerous.
The sound of heels clacking against the stone cold floors from behind a hidden doorway, jolted Mako and Korra up out of their seats to greet whoever was coming through into Castle.
Mako stifled a yawn just as the door slowly opened to reveal Lin's accompanying officer, followed by Lin herself, followed shortly by "Asami..." Korra quietly mumbled to herself as she felt her breath catch one again. Even though she knew she didn't say it loud enough to be heard by the approaching party, Mako heard it and shot her a look out of the corner of his eye.
Inhale.
"Ms. Sato this place is 'Castle' - your teams primary base of operations. It houses your equipment, gear, weapons, intel, anything you may need for missions. And this is your team," Chief said as she gestured toward them, "allow me to introduce Agent Mako," she said as Mako formerly extended his hand to shake Asami's. A slight blush creeping onto his cheeks as Asami's eyes widened once she realised just where she had seen Mako from, but he gave a professional nod towards her anyhow, "and this as you already know, is Agent Korra." Lin finished.
Even though they knew each other, Korra extended her hand anyway, "It's nice to officially meet you" Korra said with a small, genuine, smile. She studied her gorgeous green eyes and noticed they'd lost a little light in them. They held instead a pang of hurt, shame, even embarrassment. Korra bit back the urge to say anything further, especially in front of her superiors who will now be watching her every move as Asami's handler.
"You too, Agent Korra." Asami replied. Korra picked up a very subtle exaggeration on the 'Agent' and tried her best not to let out a sigh or show any kind of reaction towards Asami's slightly distasteful addressing of her.
"Now Ms Sato, if you'll follow me, I'll show you to your quarters." Lin said guiding Asami down Castle's corridors into the sleeping chambers.
Korra didn't exhale until Asami left the room, and even with her gone she still felt terribly tense and irritated. Something in Asami's tone, the look in her eyes - it had thrown her off, to say the least. Rather than dwell on it, Korra decided to join Mako in catching up with filing work.
"She's pissed at you." Mako said once they were left alone.
"Why wouldn't she be? I basically manipulated her feelings and lied about who I really was. All part of the mission though, right?" Korra replied, trying to sound upbeat and nonchalant, trying not to show Mako what she really thought or how much her actions towards Asami truly bothered her. What she didn't understand was why - why as she feeling this way now? on the most important mission she's given thus far, one where all eyes are going to be on her, assessing her, expecting her to keep her feelings and her assets feelings in check. She'd never dangled this close to the line between professional and unprofessional. Never worried about feeling too deeply for someone who one day, could possibly become disposable. Expendable.
The thought alone made Korra uncomfortable. Sent shivers up her spine. Caused every hair on her body to stand at the end.
"Either way, you need to fix it. I don't want there to be any conflict on any of our missions. We all need to be working together like one well oiled machine and that can't happen if the asset is throwing a tantrum at her handler." He said sternly
"I know. I'll fix it."
More than half an hour had gone by with them both working in comfortable silence, until Mako cleared his throat declaring that he was beat, calling it a night. Before he left, he walked over to the mini kitchen area, made two hot chocolates and gave Korra a knowing look as he ascended the stairs to the main entrance/exit. "Don't stay up too late, and don't do anything stupid. We have an early start tomorrow" he called out to her before the metal door slid shut behind him.
Korra leant back in her chair. Her files scattered around her in a messy heap whilst Mako's were in a neat pile stacked in a box. She pushed off the table and the chair slid towards the wall where she gazed down the hallway to the sleeping chambers.
She's just down there... Korra thought to herself. She studied the hot chocolates sitting steaming on the counter, then glanced back toward the corridor. She chuckled aloud upon realising why Mako made them in the first place.
She's just up there. Go out, talk to her, apologise for the way you behaved - she was just doing her job, she's an agent after all. "Yeah, a bloody good one at that" Asami said. "Tricking me, making me like her, being the perfect date, nearly kissing me - yeah, she's really good at her job." Asami sighed, sinking onto her bed. The room the government had set her up in was simple, but cosy. A single bed against the wall, there was a small en suite bathroom, a dresser, and comfortable lounger in the corner. The walls and floors were the same as the rest of Castle; cool, grey, metallic, almost as if the facility they were in was an underground bunker of sorts. It was impressive to say the least. After her meeting with Chief Beifong, her focus was back and she studied the labyrinth of hallways and pathways they'd crossed before entering a strange, large door, almost camouflaged against the cement walls, into Castle. It made her realise there were probably other bases of operations hidden in the secret maze underneath the city. To think, that all these years she'd wandered above the streets, and looked up to the sky and studied the buildings that made up Republic City skyline, looked to the streets and seen the assortments of vehicles, modes of transportation, devices, phones, computers and thought how to better it all, that a labyrinth full of secrets lay beneath the grounds she and her father had bettered all these years.
And now, she'd been "given" a glimpse into that world that lay hidden underground. A world that Korra had unintentionally, "introduced" her to. "Given" and "introduced" she decided were nice ways to put it. She'd been given a harsh, back handed glimpse, and violentlythrown into this new world.
She'd been both internally kicking herself and praising herself for the way she'd behaved towards Agent Korra in Castle tonight, for the past half hour. Given how nervous she was she was glad she was able to get in a subtle verbal blow at Korra, and maintain a straight face whilst doing it too, without drawing too much attention to the situation. She felt an incredible urge to smirk in front of Korra when she did, until she saw Korra's brows furrow the slightest bit at her words before she regained her composure and stared at her blankly, trying to look unaffected. Which was when she began kicking herself.
"Uggggghhhh!" Asami groaned in frustration as she pinched the bridge of her nose. Her life, though busy had been relatively normal, organised. She knew what to expect and when to expect it. But when that damn girl with the beautiful blue eyes and tan skin had walked into her life, she never expected her to flip everything around so quickly, so suddenly. A small part of her almost wished she'd never entered her life --
*knock, knock, knock*
Three knocks at her door shook Asami of her thoughts. She stood, brushing her jeans and straightening her shirt for whoever stood on the other side of the door. She clutched the handle, twisted the door knob and opened it - her breath caught in her throat.
"Korra" she gasped, struggling for the air that had left her.
"Hi," she nodded politely. Asami looked down to see she was clutching two mugs of what looked like hot chocolate, she came to see me, she thought as she shifted to the side and gestured for Korra to come inside. Korra gladly accepted her invitation by strolling inside. She held a mug out to Asami, "this is for you. I wasn't sure if you'd still be up or not, but I thought I should come see you and talk to you either way."
"Thank you," Asami said as she took the mug from Korra. Their hands touched for a moment too long, and Asami felt the air that had recently come back to her body, leave her again and a heat rise up in her cheeks. She quickly turned and went to sit on her bed while Korra took to the chair.
Despite the quiet sips and slurps, the room had grown into an uncomfortable, tense and awkward silence before Asami cut through the tension, "So you wanted to talk to me?"
"Uhh, I did. I just wanted to apologise for tonight and the way everything went down." Korra said, her gaze fixated on her mug. A frown upon her face.
"Korra -- Is it alright if I call you Korra?," Korra, without looking up gave a small nod and the reminder that Korra lied kicked back in again. But Asami knew to let it go, "you don't have to apologise"
"I don't?" she said quizzically, looking up to meet Asami now.
"You don't. I know I may have acted a little snooty back there, but I've had more than enough time to think and I realised you were just doing your job. It's silly for me to be mad at you because you lied - being an agent isn't something you can tell just anyone, so I'm sorry. If it weren't for you, I would be kidnapped or worse by whoever's after me. So really I should be thanking you for saving my life."
Korra nodded and smiled gratefully to show her appreciation of Asami's understanding. They continued to slurp their mugs in peace, the earlier tension and awkwardness replaced surprisingly quickly with a warm, comfortable silence. It felt like even though the words had been said, the apologies weren't entirely necessary - for each one knew how the other felt, and what they meant. Asami found it funny, how even though she hadn't known Korra long, even less longer than she'd known the real Korra - she still felt that connection, that unbreakable bond, that she hadn't felt with anyone else. A part of her wished it wasn't shared with Korra, because she knew she'd never be able to know her, but another part was glad it was, because it was that unique, that uncommon, that special.
"So what exactly is this place?" Asami asked, her curiosity as usual, getting the better of her.
"It's Castle. It's our base of operations. As Chief said, it houses everything we may ever need but it also serves as an underground bunker. There are many other bases like this underneath the city that are linked to buildings the CIA puts up as a front. So for example, this one is beneath a yoghurt shop."
"The government owns yoghurt stores?" Asami asked incredulously.
"The government owns a yoghurt store. It's all for cover. What's important about this one is that it's right across the road from Future Industries."
"Seriously?" she suddenly remembered the announcement of the yoghurt "franchises'" purchasing of the old factory building a month ago and it's recent openings the very day she met Korra in the F.I Tech Store.
Korra nodded and continued, "while you work with us, I'm going to be monitoring everything here from the store and Mako will be working with you as your second secretary at Future Industries."
"Mako? The guy who fumbled in the store that day you asked me out? That guy, working closely alongside me..." She asked, eyebrows raised in doubt and suspicion, "you're sure he's gonna be able to talk - my first assistant is so busy that she almost never stops talking."
Korra chuckled, "don't worry he's surprisingly good at playing secretary. He's very detail oriented, bit of a perfectionist too - he may well just be the best assistant you ever had."
"Well now you've got my hopes up. Anything goes wrong I'm blaming you." Asami joked.
"It's okay, I could handle the blame" Korra responded, smirking in delight.
"Mm... I don't know, I can be pretty ruthless" Asami said, her wits already about her.
"I'm sure I can suffer through it."
And just like that, their flirtatious banter was back. They'd forgotten the near death experience, the fact that they were in an underground CIA facility, that Korra was an agent and Asami was now cooperating with the government to take down the dangerous criminals after her. After a few relaxed words, small smiles, light chuckles and a blush, they were back to square one. Asami flabbergasted by Korra's charm and down to earthiness. Korra must've noticed how quickly the atmosphere and conversation changed too because she was on her feet already and moving rather stiffly to collect Asami's empty mug.
"Anyway if anything does go wrong or looks suspicious from the outside or inside, we'll take care of it." She said, not looking at Asami anymore and being sure their hands didn't touch.
"Wow. I don't really know what to say. Glad in knowing that all this is for my protection or worried that I need to be protected in the first place." She countered, though not spitefully as she handed over her cup.
"I understand it can take a while to adjust, but you have to understand you're a very important person to a lot of people, me included." Korra added, before quickly moving for the door.
"Yeah I get it, I'm your mission." Asami sighed, running a hand through her hair.
Korra was now outside in the empty hallway, looking more confident and self assured, her easy personality she displayed just a minute ago, replaced with a more professional demeanour. "It's getting a little late, we've got a big day tomorrow. We'll be getting you up to speed on everything and filling you in on covers, so I should let you get some rest. Oh and the governments pretty efficient so you'll be back in your home in no time."
"Thanks, for everything." Asami said quietly, before slowly closing the door on Korra.
"Sleep tight."