Old Wound
It was just another day out on patrol; Officer Beifong was driving down Howl Boulevard, a quaint little street in the heart of downtown Republic City. Some people were milling about, but most of the markets and shops were located a few streets over. She surveyed the area as she drove, watching for law-breaking citizens, but everything seemed to be relatively normal and calm.
Lin was just contemplating what she would make for dinner that night, when her radio sounded. She listened intently to the voice coming through the speaker, ready to spring into action if needed.
"Calling all units. Robbery reported on the corner of Fifth and Harbor. Suspect vehicle headed south on Howl Boulevard. Units responding identify."
Realizing the perps were traveling on the exact same street, Lin looked down to pick up the radio and pressed the red button on the side before speaking, "Unit 3 responding."
She barely got out her response before a black Satomobile raced past her in the opposite direction. Without hesitation, Officer Beifong pulled the siren alarm and swung the police car around to chase the criminals down. They must have realized a cop was tailing them because they turned down a busy street that was always packed with pedestrians, probably hoping that no cop would risk the safety of that many civilians. They obviously did not know who they were dealing with. Lin Beifong expertly swerved and dodged in that crowded square with a look of great determination that never changed or wavered. In fact, Lin's ability to stay cool and focused under pressure was one of her greatest strengths as an officer.
As Lin caught up to the fleeing vehicle, she leaned out the side of her car and cast a metal cable from her holster that shot out and wrapped around the back wheel. The wheel flew into the air and the getaway car spun out, but the two guys inside took off running immediately. In the mean time, Beifong had slammed on the breaks and jumped onto the street; she was not going to let these guys get away. Lin took her horse stance and slung two cables out from the holsters on either side of her uniform, coiling the ends around the ankles of the runaways. The two boys fell and, with a scowl, Lin began coiling her cables back in to pull them toward her.
Then, an all too familiar voice spoke from the wreckage of the getaway car. "Leave them alone." Suyin Beifong called as she climbed shakily out of the vehicle.
"Su?" Said Lin, horrified as she laid eyes on her sister.
"Don't hurt me, please!" yelled one of the boys still flat on the dirt road. This outburst made Lin click back into cop mode pretty quick. Her shocked expression turned into a deep frown.
"You - stay put." She said pointing at Su menacingly before cuffing the boys and setting them on the curb. Once she was done, Lin returned to her sister with a white hot anger burning inside. She punched the beam attached to the windshield, causing the metal to dent.
"So, you're robbing stores with the Terra Triad now?" Lin asked with disdain, but not surprise.
"I didn't steal anything" Su said with her hands on her hips, explaining very clearly that she had done nothing wrong. "I just drove the car. I owed my friends a favor. It's not a big deal."
Lin paused for a moment and stared forward at the sixteen year old girl before her; Su always managed to get out of trouble even though she was often the cause of it. Lin had been seething about this for years, but this time, Su had broken the law and she was fed up enough to do something about it. "I'm not letting you get away with this."
Su just laughed haughtily. "Oh, what are you going to do, officer? Arrest me?" She asked rhetorically, knowing that she would have no consequences from their mother about this. Su turned to walk away, waving off her sister like she couldn't care less. This pushed Lin over the edge.
"Don't even think about taking one more step!" Lin shouted, enraged, using both her officer and big sister voice at the same time.
Su paused for a moment out of reflex, but felt that this was just another one of her sister's attempts to control her life. She frowned and walked forward, ignoring the warning.
Furious, Lin leaped into a stance and shot out a cable which wrapped tightly around Su's wrist. The tension of the metal caused Su to freeze in her tracks. With a burst of anger Su whipped around creating a blade out of the metal wrist cuff on her free hand. With one swift motion, she sliced the cable with a loud scraping sound, sparks flying.
It happened so fast that Lin was not quick enough to stop it. The cable slung back toward Lin and the frayed end ripped into the skin on her cheek
"AAAAAHHHH!" Lin doubled over and pressed her hands to the wound, feeling a blinding pain she could not control.
Su froze, mortified as blood began to trickle down her sister's knuckles and plop onto the road like a disturbing red rain.
Lin knelt on the ground for support and pulled her trembling hands away, seeing now that they were covered in blood. She looked up at Su with a desperate anger in her eyes. "What did you do?" She managed through clenched teeth.
Su immediately shook her head and stepped forward. "It wasn't my fault! I didn't mean to - it was an accident!"
Lin stood slowly, pulling herself up by holding onto the broken down car, her sister continuing to plea innocent.
"Save it." Lin grunted with her face twisted into a scowl as she approached the young Beifong. She gripped Su's forearm with so much force that her fingernails dug into the skin. She began to pull her back toward the police car when Su pulled back in pain.
"Ow! Stop it! You're hurting me!" Su yelled, but regretted it instantly.
Lin whirled around, the blood now streaming down her neck, infuriated that Su had the nerve to say something so insensitive. After a few seconds, the young girl slacked and Officer Beifong resumed hauling her over to the cop car. She opened the double doors in the back and shoved her sister inside without a word. As she was walking back to get the other two delinquents she left on the curb, another siren was sounding and getting louder by the second. Lin was just pushing the two guys into the back of her car when another two officers arrived on the scene.
Not wanting a big fuss over her wound, Lin moved alongside the car and staggered to the passenger door. She was starting to feel light headed from the blood loss. She took a deep breath and reached into the glove compartment where the first aid kit was stored.
"Officer Beifong?" A male officer named Kuzo called from the other side of the car. "Is everything alright here?"
She plunged her hand into the kit and pulled out a set of thick gauze. Hands shaking, Lin taped them haphazardly onto her cheek, hoping this would stop the bleeding.
"Beifong?" He asked again, and rounded the vehicle.
"The situation is contained," she said, and climbed from the passenger to the driver's seat so her co-worker couldn't see her face. She took a deep breath before continuing. "I've got the robbers in the back of the truck. Taking them to the station now."
"Affirmative." Officer Kuzo said professionally, "I'll call out forensics to take a look at the wreck and bag the merchandise."
Lin nodded and turned the key in the ignition. "I'll handle the arrest reports." She said quickly, wanting to get out of there before he noticed the blood. "Radio me directly if you have any questions."
"You got it, Beifong." He said and waved as she drove off.
The ride over to the station was a little dicey due to a bit of dizziness and difficulty focusing. Once she arrived, Lin handed Su and the two boys off to several officers who met her outside of police headquarters waiting to take them to a holding cell. She tried to be discreet, but it wasn't long before someone noticed the blood on her face and hands. Thankfully, they knew not to ask; such a comment would not be well received.
She walked straight into the atrium, first aid kit in hand, and made for the circulation desk. Usually, she would get the arrest report forms from the third floor in the detective's division, but she did not want to risk running into the Chief before this whole thing was processed. Lin ignored the attendant's disgusted expression upon seeing all of the dried blood on her hands, face, and neck.
"Can I have an arrest form, please?" Lin asked, all business.
"Of - of course." The woman stammered and handed her a folder with all of the materials she could need.
"Thank you." Lin grumbled and and set off again to get away from the silent stares of her colleagues. Unfortunately, she was not alone for too long before one of her co-workers, a detective in homicide, arrived at her left side.
"Glad I caught you Officer. I still need your statement on the Little Ba Sing Se stabbing from last week." The man asked as he struggled to keep up with her pace. "You're in and out of here with bad guys so fast - it's a wonder I ever see you."
Lin just continued on, not saying a word.
The detective noticed her stern expression and lack of response, but didn't give up on her. With a bit of a chuckle, he tried to slow her down by placing his hand on her shoulder. "C'mon Beifong, take a breather!"
She ignored him still, not wanting to have to face anyone or explain what happened. He frowned as she yanked away, "Slow down, would ya?" He said, but this time he ran up and stood directly in her path, causing her to stop. He gasped sharply, not expecting to see the aftermath of a bloody wound.
"Lin, what - what happened to your face?"
"Do I look like I have time to talk right now, Fong?" She asked with frustration.
"Are you okay - I - "
"Excuse me." She said shortly and took off again right into the ladies restroom.
Lin moved inside and placed the first aid kit onto the counter, then reluctantly looked up into the mirror. The gauze that she had taped over her wound were patchy with colors of red and brown and her skin was smeared from cheek to chin with dried blood. Lin exhaled and looked down as she began literally and figuratively washing her hands of this horrible incident.
Once her hands were sanitized, Lin reached to gingerly remove the bandage. As she pulled it off, she revealed two fairly deep lacerations that extended from underneath her jawline to the middle of her cheek. Lin took a deep breath and took out a cloth and a bottle of medical alcohol from the kit. She held the materials over the sink, soaking the cloth in the pungent liquid before quickly pressing it onto her right cheek.
Lin groaned loudly, wincing from the stinging pain as the alcohol seeped into her wound. She squeezed her eyes shut as tears began to leak out. She had to will herself out of crying because the saltiness would only make the pain worse. After a few moments the stinging lessened and she could finally clean up properly. It was a process, but eventually she was able to properly tape on the new gauze.
After cleaning out the sink leaving no trace of her accident, she took the folder with the report forms and slipped quietly to fill them out in the solace of an interrogation room.
