Again, it had been a late night. Lin despised working midnights with a passion, but whenever an employee had called off sick, she wouldn't mind covering, or at least she tried not to show that it bothered her. It was extra money in her pockets - - extra money that needed to be saved up. Now, any sort of extra cash that was handed to her, she was saving for a very special occasion. Lin had recently been in an engagement, something she had planned out for a while for a special waterbender, but it had to be kept secret for she knew her mother would go apeshit.
She felt guilty though, leaving the one she loved at home to sleep in an empty bed without her there. Shit had to be done though, regardless of how painful it was going to be. She was nearing her fourth cup of coffee when the phone rang. "Republic City Police, Lin speaking." Silence. Not a word was spoken, or even a cough. There was nothing but static on the other line. Confused, Lin only suspected that it had been a dropped call or some foolish youngster trying to pull a joke. She had those calls sometimes, but it was weird when it happened for the second time. Lin picked it up a bit more aggressively. "Hello!?" Again there was no answer.
Slamming the phone back down on the receiver, Lin was beginning to feel irritated. She picked up her mug and took a long gulp of black liquid before she continued on going through police reports that were supposed to have been done a few days ago. As she began flipping through pages and mumbling obscenities to herself, the phone rang for a THIRD time. "For fuck sake!" Lin called out with irritation in her tone and grabbed the phone again. "Who is this!? You better say something now buddy, or I'll have this call traced! You're messing with the wrong cop. I'm the daughter of Chief Toph Beifong."
There was suddenly heavy breathing on the other end, as if whoever it was had ran a mile around the block before picking up the phone to play this little game of tag that Lin had enough of. Lin paused, feeling her heart tighten. It was driving her mad not knowing who the other individual (if there had been more than one) on the other side. When the breathing stopped, nothing but dead silence filled the void. Lin was certain the other person had hung up again, but then a female scream had bellowed out, calling out Lin's name. "Kya!? KYA!" Lin shouted, bolting up to her feet, knocking over her coffee on her paper in the process.
That didn't matter anymore. She knew that scream. Why else would anyone call at this ungodly hour just to pester Lin? Kya was in trouble. Someone had her, but why? Was it to gain leverage for some reason? Blackmail? Or were these people just plain lunatics that had a sociopath's tick? Whoever they were, they were going to be dead by Lin's hands if she ever caught them. "Lin, help me!" She could hear Kya. What kind of a sick joke is this? When the heavy breathing came back on the phone, she could hear a deep manly voice, but Lin wasn't for sure if it was really a man. They could be disguising it for all she knew.
"Lin Beifong," said the voice. "Do you love your precious waterbender girl? It's sickening that you poison my city with your smutty lifestyle." Smutty lifestyle? Was he or she referring to her romantic relationship with Kya, the Avatar's daughter? Lin squeezed the bottom of the phone tightly in her hands. It was a hate crime! What in the hell was she supposed to do now? Her mother had no idea about their relationship and she wasn't about to go to alert Katara and Aang. For one, there was no time for that and two, they'd probably grow made with rage finding out that Lin got their daughter in this mess. "For the love of Spirits, I swear if you harm one hair on her head, I'll find you and hang you from the top of Future Industries Tower myself!" The person on the other line began to chuckle menacingly and this terrified Lin straight to her core.
"The only thing you'll be hanging up Officer Beifong, is your badge when Avatar Aang finds out what has happened to his beloved daughter, and you're the cause of it."
"Why…?" asked Lin desperately.
"To ensure our survival."
"Our?"
"The people of Republic City, of course. Can't go tramping around with women, Lin. It wouldn't look good on your record if someone happened to find out the truth."
"I don't care about my record," said Lin fiercely. "Tell me what to do in order get her back safely. Is it money you want? Is it power? Is it control?"
"No, no, no. It's none of those things," said the voice nonchalantly. "I just want to test you, to see if you really have what it takes to protect the one you love. You follow a few simple instructions for me, then you'll be free to have your precious little waterbender."
Lin was confused. She has had strange calls in the past, but this had been the icing on the cake for her, especially since someone's life she loved and cared about so deeply was on the line. "What're your demands?" Lin asked hesitantly as she leaned over her desk, closing her eyes. All she thought about was Kya. She would do anything in the world for her. If this person wanted proof that Lin was serious, she wasn't about to back down. "At the Central City Station, lies a hidden box within the statue with two items inside. You're to choose one to carry out with the note attached. it will explain further of what you have to do. Have fun."
As she was taking mental notes, Lin kept her eyes on the timeclock near the door. It was 1:30am The police detective made sure to listen carefully at the background noise, hoping that this lunatic would give their position away, but there was nothing but silence other than Kya's deafening cries in the background. Lin's heart sunk even lower as she unknowingly curled a police report up in her hand, allowing the tension run through her fingers. She was not only worried for Kya, but she was also furious. This was like an invasion of privacy! Whoever it was had to have been watching their moves for the past week so they could jump at the chance to do this sort of crazy scheme.
The metalbender was anxious now. With a click, she heard nothing but a dial tone and knew she was running out of time. "What do I do? What do I do?" There was no clues from the receiving end on the phone. Nothing to tell Lin where this person was holding Kya. She was frantic, feeling her heart bounce around erratically. She reached for the phone quickly again, but then she stopped herself from going along with it. "I can't get mom involved," she said to herself., thinking logically "I have to do this on my own. It's probably part of the rules anyway. Goddammit!"
Quickly, Lin turned off the coffee pot on the desk nearest hers and began to ready herself. She threw the metal armor on that was hanging on the back of her chair and made sure each of her metal cables were in working order. She slung her arm out, and a cable shot from her wrist as if the cables themselves were apart of her naturally. A crash was made when the cable made impact with one of the windows and she winced. "I guess that's coming out of my paycheck. Doesn't matter, though. Time to get going before daylight comes."