Disclaimer: I don't own or claim to own any part of the wonderful world of the Legend of Korra—that credit goes to Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino.

So, after posting this originally to my ficblr, I decided to give it a whirl and post it here, too. I've never really strayed out of my usual fandoms on this site, but honestly, Korra captured my heart and attention and imagination so thoroughly that I couldn't stay away from writing this story after it was over. Kudos especially to -everdeen and makos-lightningrod at tumblr, who created these brilliant Equalist!Mako gifsets that totally set off the idea and gave me so much inspiration to write the story. It was a challenge to rebuild parts of the Korra universe and sever certain original relationships, but hopefully, everything is still pleasingly familiar and sensible. And if you squint in this first part, you'll be able to see the Makorra already! I hope you enjoy it.

Rules

"You say you know love, but you are just reflecting words you hear."

Part One

Patience, patience, patience.

As several Equalist soldiers trotted through the darkened alley, Korra had to resist the urge to bolt from her hiding spot behind a pile of large wooden crates in the corner and run. They would see her, she knew, and with five of them and only one of her, there was a good chance she wouldn't be able to fend them all off at once. She held her breath and watched through a crack between the boxes as they walked about slowly, glancing around for her.

"I could've sworn she ran out the door and came through this way," one of them said uncertainly.

"She's probably already long gone by now," another said. "We were too slow."

A sigh came from a third. "Amon won't like this."

Korra watched as they strategized, trying to figure out if they should continue to pursue her or call it a night. Interestingly, she noticed, the leader of the pack—a fully-masked figure who, alongside another that Korra had come to know simply as the Lieutenant, always seemed to appear right at Amon's side—seemed very quiet. She shrank back some more, hoping it wasn't because he suspected she was around. If she were caught now, it would all be over.

"Well, what's the word on the others?" the first spoke again. "Did we succeed in capturing Sato's daughter, at least?"

"She got away. And she took one of our hostages while she was at it," the fourth said gruffly.

Yes, Asami! Korra felt relief flood through her system and watched with baited breath, hoping they would mention whom she'd managed to rescue...

"Who?"

"That pro-bender from the championships. I can't remember his name."

"The one with the hair?"

"Yeah, him. I don't know what they'll do with him, his bending is already gone."

The fourth scoffed.

Korra felt her shoulders relax ever so slightly at the good news. So they had retrieved Tahno. She needed to report back to Tenzin immediately and see how the others had fared. She rested on the balls of her feet and placed two fingers on the ground, ready to take off as soon as the slowly departing Equalists left the alleyway. As they reached the adjoining street, Korra scooted back slightly and stood, only to have to duck down again as the leader paused.

"Wait a moment," he said.

Slowly, he walked back down the alley as the others stood and watched him quizzically. Korra's eyes widened in panic and fear as she scooted herself as close to the alley wall as possible, hoping against hope that he would not see her. He moved closer and closer towards the boxes, his gaze fixated on them.

He knows I'm here.

As he paused right in front of the crates, Korra shut her eyes, feeling a surge of adrenaline as she readied herself to shoot a flame in his face and run for her life.

But the moment never came, because his hand never reached out to grab her. A long few seconds passed, and Korra felt confusion mix with the fear that lingered in the pit of her stomach.

"What is it?" one of the others called.

The Equalist cocked his head to the side for a moment, and then he shrugged. "I thought I heard something, but it must have been a spider-rat. Let's go. It's been a long night."

Korra watched in shock as the Equalists left—for good this time—and fell back, panting, as painful relief rushed through her. Fate must have been on her side tonight, she thought—that was one of the narrowest escapes she'd ever encountered. Sighing, she pushed herself up and stole into the shadows to rush home.

"Hello?" Korra pushed aside the tent flap of her team's underground encampment. She tried to ignore the churning in her stomach. If anyone hadn't made it home tonight, she would never forgive herself.

"Oh, Korra! Thank goodness you're all right," Tenzin said, striding over to her to embrace her with Asami and Lin following suit.

"We were so worried," Asami said, pulling Korra into her arms and giving her a tight squeeze.

"Same goes for all of you." She pulled back and looked around to do a head count. Everyone in what she had affectionately come to know as "Team Avatar" was accounted for, she saw with satisfaction, and now, they had an additional member.

"Hi, Tahno," Korra said with a grin.

Tahno looked exhausted—the bags under his eyes had become even more pronounced since Korra had last seen him at the police station—but he also looked a little bit happier than before. He waved two fingers at her in greeting. "Hey, Uhvatar."

"Tell us everything," Lin urged as they sat down in a circle. "How did you escape?"

In the last few months, the Equalist movement had spread across Republic City with deadly speed, gaining more followers and more power as Amon removed the bending abilities of more and more citizens. When Hiroshi Sato, arguably the world's greatest innovator, was revealed to be one of Amon's biggest supporters, the movement gained even more ground. Not long after, Tarrlok, who had taken over the police force after Lin Beifong had resigned, was taken by the Equalists as well. Soon, Amon's forces were commandeering the city with unmatched technology and force at their side. Korra, Asami, Lin, Tenzin, and Tenzin's family had been forced to evacuate their homes and move underground, where Gommu, the strange homeless man Korra had met on her first day in the city, kindly provided them with a place to stay while they gained back some of their own morale.

While Amon spread propaganda proclaiming that he had driven the Avatar away from the city and that his mission was near complete, Korra had reluctantly bided her time. The team used Gommu's surprisingly vast network to find support and information, and late at night, several times a week, Team Avatar rushed through the streets to take back the city piece by piece. Their opposition was always strong, always challenging—but so far, they'd had more successes than failures, slowly gaining back some of Lin's captured men, destroying propaganda, disabling Equalist mecha, and taking out key Equalist supporters. Although Amon had told Republic City that he had scared off the Avatar, Korra wanted him to know that she was, in fact, still out there, waiting—and with each mission, she had made it more and more evident.

Tonight's mission had been simple enough: they were to infiltrate an old textile factory suspected to be an Equalist fortress.

"They're holding several hostages beneath the facility, I'm sure of it," Lin said, pointing towards a spot on the blueprint that sat on the table. "Some of my men are down there, among others. Intel also tells me that they've got the star pro-bender who disappeared after testifying to the police. We should get him back, too."

"Tahno?" Korra said in awe. She'd been wondering what had happened to him, but she had assumed he had just left the city after playing his part to aid in the investigation. It couldn't have been easy, she thought, to live in a city that had once revered one for his bending prowess when he could not bend anymore.

"Punishment for speaking out against Amon," Tenzin said. "You're right. Let's bring him back as well."

"Won't there be security all over the place?" Asami said, staring at the map. The building was like a labyrinth, all corners and hidden turns. It would be difficult to navigate if they were going to be fighting their way through.

Lin took a piece of paper out of her pocket and unfolded it onto the table. The others peered closely at it and saw that it was a poster for a rally, Amon's face plastered over it with a stylized rising sun sitting behind him.

"It's the largest rally of its kind so far. It's going to be at the arena," Lin said. "There's bound to be security in the factory, but it'll be minimal. We'll be able to take them down with ease. Amon will want his best men with him at the rally. He knows there's still opposition out there."

"So, what's the plan? Get in, grab our people, get out?" Korra asked.

"Precisely. Your aim is to go unnoticed. But in the event that you are," Lin said, looking Korra in the eye, "take them out."

But somehow, Amon had known. He had known, and he had sent one of his best—the leader of the pack of Equalists who had very nearly found Korra in the alley—to fight and capture as much of Team Avatar as possible. They had come in just as the team had moved to infiltrate the underground bunker of hostages, and everyone had been forced to scatter.

Initially, only the leader had chased after Korra. She had fought herself into exhaustion, dodging well-aimed kicks and blows and shooting back great bursts of fire that the Equalist had evaded just as skillfully. He had been frustratingly fast and precise, and his movements had differed from that of other Equalists she'd faced—in fact, he moved much more similarly to Amon, Korra thought—and it had thrown her off. Still, Korra had managed to gain the upper hand on him when she sent several beams of wood crashing down on him and shot the wood to flames, but more soldiers had appeared just at that moment, and far too spent to face all five of them at once, Korra had been forced to retreat.

To date, it had been one of the hardest fights of her life.

Asami's brow furrowed as Korra finished her story. "So they were after me, too, were they?"

Korra nodded. "I'm sorry, Asami. I guess they've finally gotten word that you're with us."

Asami sighed, and her eyes darkened. "I can't believe how far my father has fallen into that man's clutches."

"I know it must be hard, opposing him. But we're certainly glad you came to us," Tenzin said. "You have a home here now."

Asami smiled gratefully at Tenzin. "I guess I'll just have to be more careful from now on. But at least I don't have to hide any longer."

Lin frowned. "So, Amon's right-hand man—he fights differently, you say?"

"Yes." Korra folded her hands and brought them up to her chin as she thought. "Something about his style... It's almost like he's a bender."

Tenzin's eyebrows shot up. "Did he bend?"

"No. It was just that his movements seemed made to force something out of his hands—he fought with this strange distance and firmness. And he didn't use those electric batons that the Lieutenant uses so often. In fact," Korra said with surprised realization, "he didn't use any weapons at all."

"How bizarre," Lin said. "Come to think of it... Have we ever faced off with him?"

Korra shook her head. "No. Never just him. It's always just been the Lieutenant, or him with some of Amon's other men. That one has always been just at Amon's side—and when I've fought with Amon himself, he was fighting others. This is the first time I've fought him one-on-one."

"We'll have to be sure to keep an eye out for him," Asami said.

"Right." Korra sat back looked around at the group of people in her tent, their faces wound up with worry and frustration, and she tried to reduce the tenseness in her own expression. She let out a long exhale. "Smile, guys. We made it through another night. And I'm so happy that you're all okay."

Tenzin nodded. "Indeed—and after a night like tonight, we should most certainly be thankful for that. Let's get some rest, everyone. I'm sure you're all exhausted."

Part Two Preview:

Korra looked over at him. She couldn't keep from asking. "And are you… Are you an Equalist now?"

Mako finally looked back at her, golden eyes suddenly a little bit wider. Was that surprise in his expression? Was he…?

Korra stared back, stomach churning. For some reason—even when she had no ties to this boy—she didn't want it to be true.

All for now! If you're itching to read the next couple of parts, they're on my ficblr—the link is in my profile! Regardless of whether you've read this already or not, though, I would love if you left a review! Thank you so much for reading, and I hope you enjoyed it! Updates again tomorrow or the day after.

Love,

boreum dal