Title: The Rookie, The Reason
Word Count: 2,951
Summary: [His first few days on his new job at the police force, Mako gets a two annoying officers to show him the ropes and two new goals: get promoted to detective, and make sure his girlfriend doesn't get arrested. | Cop!Mako. Korra. Makorra. Pre-Book 2.]
A/N: I really have to stop "trying" to write smaller things and just. write smaller things. characters took over a bit in this one and I have no idea if it's any good or not I'll leave that up to you. :/ / Also: in case you don't know which is which Lu is the shorter / fatter cop with the afro and Gang is the taller one with the dark gray hair.
-.-
be-the-peaf · Prompt 044 – 2 A.M.
-.-
There was a rule in the police station that all new arrivals had to be assigned to a field training officer to show them the ropes of "what it meant to be a cop". Three weeks of constant surveillance by your senior, rated on things like appearance, law knowledge, patrol regulations, report writing – the list went on and on. It was a grueling process, but Mako knew he had the determination and skills to get a passing rating in most of those categories; but he wasn't sure his field officer would even notice them, seeing how he was currently stuffing his face with late-night pastries across the street.
Mako forces his back into the car seat and wonders how, out of all the officers available, he could have been paired up with Lu and Gang to be his field training officers.
Technically he had only been assigned Lu as his training officer, but Gang, tall with his eyes like slits on Mako's back, always seemed to tag along with them on rides, forcing Mako to sit in the back of the car (where they kept the criminals!) It was bad enough the pair was lazy, disrespectful and constantly thinking of ways to embarrass him while they were in the station, but out on street patrol, they were ten times worse.
The radio's silent static is jarred, and Mako turns his ear to the mesh metal barrier blocking him from the front of the car as it sputters out a report. The volume was turned down and he almost has to press his cheek into metal just to hear what's being said. Once he hears everything, he opens the car door and crosses the street to Lu and Gang.
"Hey, Mae-ko!" Lu says with a half-eaten pastry clenched in his fingers. "What's up? You finally decide to give that radio a rest?"
"There's a disturbance report by Harmony Tower." he says, pointing down the street. "We should check it out."
Lu and Gang stare at him with gooey filling stuck to their mustaches. Then, they look at each other and burst out laughing.
Mako crosses his arms. "What's so funny?"
"Listen, Mae-ko." Lu says, still chuckling as he brushes the filling with his fingers. "Harmony Tower ain't in our patrol scheme for tonight. We're supposed to do a route down by Dragon Flats and that's it. Nothing else."
"But we're right by–"
"We're going to do the patrol we were assigned." Lu arches a brow at Mako. "But hey, once you make it up to detective, you can call the shots, right?"
Mako groans and Gang heads back to the car, slapping him on the shoulder as he passes. "Give it a rest, rookie. And get in the car."
Mako looks down the street where the tip of the golden tower shines over the buildings and into the night sky. As he slides into the back seat, he swears he could hear the sirens of other patrol cars moving in to investigate the report. But Lu and Gang ignore him and the wailing sirens, and head off in the opposite direction.
Mako raps his fingers on the edge of the seat and stares out the window, hoping the rest of the patrol will go by quickly.
-.-
Even with the night being so late, the Dragon Flats District is silent and void of its usual muck. Dirty-faced men line the entrances to the bars and glare at the car as it rolls past, but nothing else comes from it. Mako scans every face they ride past, on the lookout for anything out of the ordinary. As long as there's no cry or scream or suspicious activity going on, there's nothing they as police officers can do. For the night, their job is to make sure the streets are safe, nothing more.
"Hey, Mako." Lu calls back as they enter the Dragon Flats district. "It's been awfully quiet for this time of night, where should we head for next?"
Mako keeps his eyes on the street, peering down the alleys when there's no faces or bar windows for him to check. "How should I know? You've done this route before."
"Well, this is your part of town, right?" Lu says, stroking the end of his fat mustache as he catches Mako's moving gaze in the rearview mirror. "Come on, you know the saying: 'Once a Triple Threat, Always a Triple Threat', right?"
His hands tighten into fists on the seat and he pushes forward, his face next to the metal wiring separating the car. "Look–"
"Hey, hey, pipe down rookie!" Gang says, slapping the fence and directing his attention to the windshield. "We've got some trouble, bout time too."
Mako sets his anger aside and focuses on the street. It takes a few beats of staring at nothing by the empty path and buildings, but then he sees it – the familiar flash of firebending illuminating the walls of an alley down the road. Two figures run out of the alley as the fire dies down and Mako leans on the edge of his seat as they send earth and ice shards at the alley before running down the street. The firebender comes out of the alley and goes after them, and Mako grits his teeth together as Lu starts the sirens.
"Looks like someone's having a disagreement." Gang says, smiling coyly at Mako as they speed down the street. "Think it's anyone you know?"
Mako stares past Gang, keeping his eyes on the three figures running down the street. Could be – he thinks, but doesn't say. He had a job to do, and he was going to do it – no matter who they caught.
Lu slams his foot on the brakes as the runners duck into a building with half its walls crumbling down.
"Damn, there's no way to get through." He says, leaning on the steering wheel. "We'll have to go out on foot."
-.-
Lu and Gang take the front while Mako lingers in the back, checking their rear for trouble. The floor is nothing but rotting wood and debris from the torn-down walls, and he has a hard time staying up without looking down at his feet to see where he's going. There hadn't been any signs of bending inside the building yet, and as he checks behind a fallen wall for anyone Mako wonders if the runners hadn't made up whatever they were arguing about and gone through the building to escape the cops.
They reach a hallway in the center of the building and Lu stops him with two fingers pointing left.
"You go that way, rookie. We've got it covered here."
He nods in response, and goes to the left. Aside from a decimated stairwell at its end, the hall is clearer than the entryway, and Mako pushes his back on the stone walls to peak into a room on the right side. There's nothing but the wire-frame of a bed and a rain-soaked rug filled with mold – nowhere for anyone to hide, so he goes across the hall to the next room.
That's when the water hits him.
His back runs over pebbles and the slime of the wet wood as he's knocked back, his uniform soaked through on both sides. The waterbender draws more liquid from the floor to hover beside his arm as he approaches him, staring down with calm eyes and a raised lip.
"What?" he says, pointing the water at Mako. "A cop?"
Mako snarls and brings his arms to his sides to lift himself from the floor but the man forms the water into an icy tip pointed at his face.
"You stay right there." He warns, and cups half of his mouth to the other end of the hall. "Hey, Lee! I got one of those cops that was chasing us!"
The second the man looks away Mako takes hold of the ice-spear and sweeps his legs into the man's feet, knocking him flat on his back. He rolls to the side to get up, but Mako is faster, and pins the man to the ground. Taking hold of his wrists, Mako binds them with his handcuffs and lifts the man from the ground.
"Lu! Gang!" he shouts, holding onto the guy. "Where are you?"
"Down here!"
Mako follows the voice through the building's right side, guiding the man forward with a strong grip on his arm. He finds Lu with one of the other thugs, earth piled up to his chest to bind him in place. Lu rests his elbow on the edge of the rocky pile, looking pleased with himself.
"Gang's got the other one in there." He says, pointing to a room behind him. "We'll get them down to the station and see what they were up to."
The thug in the rock squirms. "Hey, come on, man. Let us go!" he begs. "That chick with the big dog came out of nowhere and started busting me and my bud up for no reason! We weren't doing anything!"
Mako raises his brow. "Who?"
"Hey! Let me go!"
His head swerves at the voice and he throws the waterbending thug to Lu, wasting no time to get to the other room. And sure enough, he turns the corner to see Korra with her wrists bound in handcuffs and his hand firmly pressed on her shoulder.
"Korra!" he shouts, running up to the two. "What are you doing here?"
"Well, I was going to see you after your shift got over, but I got a little sidetracked."
"Doing what?"
Gang steps in front of Mako. "Quiet! You and your girlfriend can chat all you want later. Right now, we've got to get these three down to the station."
"What?!" Korra yells. "I haven't done anything wrong!"
"You heard those sirens before, and you ran." Gang says. "That's 'running from the cops', Miss Avatar. And we don't like that, even from you."
"I was going after the bad guys!" she says, motioning her hands to the other room. "If I hadn't slowed them down, you idiots would have lost them! And that kid would have been in a whole lot more trouble if I hadn't shown up to stop them in the first place."
"Wait." Mako interrupts. "What kid?"
Korra sighs and lowers her head. "They were talking about a payment, or something like that. Whatever it was, it didn't sound good. They were going to hurt her, I stepped in before they got very far."
Gang crosses his arms. "I didn't see any kid!"
"That's because she's still in the alley!" she says. "I told her to stay with Naga until I got back."
"Show me." Mako says, taking Korra's hand but Gang pushes him back sharply.
"She's not going anywhere but the station."
"Well I was going there anyway." She says sarcastically, stepping up to Gang and arching her face toward his. Mako puts his hands between them, and pushes out. Dividing them with his body, he looks to Gang.
"You and Lu take the others to the car. I'll take her and confirm her story is true."
Gang chuckles, and toys with the end of his mustache. "How do I know you're not going to let her go once we're out sight?"
"You're the only one with a key to those cuffs, right?" he says, pointing to Gang's waist. "Korra's not a metalbender, there's no way she'd get out of them on her own."
Gang looks at Mako for a moment, then shrugs and waves his hand as he walks to the other room. "Be back at the car in ten."
-.-
"Naga!" Korra whispers as they enter the alley. "Where are you, girl?"
The polarbear dog's runs out of the shadows, tongue panting with joy to see her master return. Korra is licked all over, but she smiles as her face and hair are caked with a layer slobber. After ruffling her fur and wiping away the drool, Korra bends down and stares at the place Naga was.
"Me and my friend caught those thugs." She says, holding her hand to the darkness. "It's safe. You can come out now."
A few moments pass in the alley, with nothing but the sound of Naga's breath to fill their ears. Korra keeps her hand out to the shadows, waiting like a statue and Mako is about to light the place with some fire when a kid, no older than 12, comes inching out of the shadows and Mako can't help but freeze in his place, all the warmth drawn out of his body. The kid, dirty and skinny with eyes full of fear, runs to Naga and stares at him behind her massive legs – and Mako thinks it's like seeing a ghost.
"See? I told you there was a kid." Korra says, glancing back at him. She holds her hands out to the kid. "Hey, can you come over here for a sec?"
The kid looks at her with caution and Mako notices she's staring at her handcuffs.
"Oh, these?" Korra says, rotating her hands around in the cuffs. "Don't worry, the police are just a little confused right now. Come on, there's someone I want you to meet."
Korra walks over to Mako with the kid at her side. Mako continues to stare and Korra goes up to his side to nudge him and whispers. "Quiet staring. You're scaring her."
"Sorry." He mutters with a shake of his head. Taking a deep breath, Mako sighs and bends down to the girl's level.
"Hi there." He says, trying to smile. "What's your name?"
"Lei." The girl replies, her voice sharp and blunt.
"Lei…" Mako repeats. "That's a pretty name. Do you know what it means?"
Lei shakes her head.
"It means 'flower bud'." He explains. "Like the ones on the trees in spring. Don't you think that's nice?"
The girl shrugs, and her eyes wander back to Korra and the rest of the alley. Mako follows her gaze, and lowers his head.
"Lei…" he says softly, his eyes glued to his feet. "Where are your mom and dad?"
Lei stares at the ground. The word don't need saying, he already knows the answer.
"Do you…" he lifts his head. "Do you have anyone to take care of you?"
Lei shakes 'no'.
"I see… that must be tough, being out here on your own."
Lei nods 'yes'.
"Hey," he whispers. "Do you want to know a secret?"
Lei leans in on her tiptoes and Mako puts his hand by her ear. He speaks briefly with a soft tone, as if to hide the words from everyone else, but they leave Lei wide-eyed with wonder. Mako smiles, and puts his hand on her head.
"I know you can too." He finishes. "Now, listen. I have to go put some bad men into jail, but we'll get those cuffs off of her, and she'll take you down to the station to wait for me, okay?"
Lei nods vigorously. Mako stands and they walk back to the car. Once they had proof that Lei was real, Gang tosses Mako the handcuff keys, and he unlocks them form Korra while Lei waits by Naga a ways off.
"So what did you say to her?" Korra asks, rubbing her wrists.
"Just something I wish someone had told me a long time ago." He says, putting the cuffs on his belt.
"Well, whatever it was, it sure made her brighten up." She says, looking back to the girl. "Do you think she'll be okay? What'll happen to her once we get to the station?"
"Social services will get her in the system, hopefully with a family that'll take care of her." He says. "It might take a while, but she'll be fine. She's been through a lot already."
"This is why you decided to be a cop, right?" Korra asks. "To help people like Lei?"
"Well…" Mako touches his chin in thought. "That, and make sure my girlfriend doesn't get arrested."
She nudges him in the arm with her elbow and he cracks a smile – a real one – just for her.
"I'll see you at the station, Cool Guy." She says, walking back to Naga. "Lei and I will be waiting. Don't be late!"
"I won't!"
He goes back to the car and has to squeeze in next to Gang in the cramped front. The men whine and moan in the back that they didn't do anything wrong and Lu and Gang still have stupid mustaches and try to get under his skin, but the night goes on and Mako, even with his shoulder pressed uncomfortably to the car door, thinks it's just fine and the remaining three weeks of tagging along with them will be too.
:Fin:
I spent 5-6 hours editing this piece of crap what is that ending what is this fic *crawls into hole*