Mako was right, Bolin thought. He had a knack for getting into stupid situations.
Right now, his stupid situation was lying on the cold ground of the warehouse, still in an equalist uniform and mask.
He pinched the bridge of his nose, wondering how he even managed to get into such a mess. He had just been walking to the market to restock the kitchen in the newly rebuilt apartment he and Mako shared above the arena. He hadn't been expecting to be ambushed by a group of five Equalist supporters, especially after their leader had fallen.
Bolin sighed, running a hand through his unruly hair. Logically, he knew he should turn any Equalists into the police to deal with questioning. After Lin had been reinstated as Chief of Police, the metalbending force was strong and trusted, advocating for the rights of benders and non-benders alike.
But when he had bent a dense earth disc right into her gut and propelled her into a wall, this Equalist had let out a sharp cry of pain and crumpled onto the pavement. Her companions had turned and fled, leaving her alone. Bolin's conscience, as well as his sense of propriety, kept him from immediately hauling an unconscious lady to the police station.
So instead he carried her into the abandoned warehouse that they had attacked him from, and secured her to the floor with makeshift earth handcuffs. "Right, Bolin," he had mumbled to himself. "She'll feel much safer chained to the floor of a dark, empty warehouse than she would if she woke up in the Police Station. Great plan."
But despite the number of times he told himself that this was a stupid idea and that there was no way this was going to end well, he still sat on the cold warehouse floor, watching the figure in front of him.
He reached forward, tentatively at first, to touch the metal on the Equalist mask. He had never been able to observe one from such a close distance before, at least not without being simultaneously gagged and tied up. He wondered what the purpose of the colored glass over the eyes was. Perhaps to further shield the identity of the wearer, or perhaps to help vision at night.
"I should probably make sure she's not too injured," he muttered, hooking his fingers on the mask and pulling it carefully upward. The mask slid off, and Bolin froze with the garment still dangling from his hand.
She wasn't hard or tough or old or scarred or any of the things he had imagined an Equalist to be behind the disguise. She was young. She looked like Korra's age-his age. The lines of her face were soft and round, and she looked peaceful as she slept. Her hair was a lighter brown than was normally seen in Republic City. Lighter hair was usually more common among the Fire Nation.
But her eyes were deep brown instead of the customary Fire Nation amber, he noticed as they snapped open.
Oh spirits.
The girl jerked upward, only to be forced back down to the ground from the cuffs on her wrists. She kicked her legs up, but was unable to get any leverage with her arms pinned to the ground. She quickly whipped her head from side to side, noticing Bolin for the first time and giving him a glare worthy of the great Satomobile heiress.
"What do you want with me?" she growled, voice raspy.
Bolin drew back, somewhat stung from the accusation in her voice. Logically, he knew that he shouldn't have expected anything else-he did chain her to the floor of an empty warehouse, after all. But he really did have her best intentions in mind!
"I saved you from being arrested." The sixteen year old spread his hands, trying to calm the girl's nerves. "You were knocked out."
"Knocked out by you, earthbender." The implication in her tone was hard to miss, and he felt his frustration rising.
"All five of you attacked me first!" He crossed his arms in front of his chest, abandoning any effort to make peace. She was chained to the floor after her team's failed ambush, and she had the gall to accuse him of attacking her? "I was just going to get food, I wasn't looking for any trouble. And then boom! Out of nowhere, five Equalists are attacking me. Does that sound like a fair fight to you?"
At least she had the decency to look ashamed. Though the frown quickly gave way to a snarl as she opened her mouth to respond. "You benders think you've won just because you unmasked Amon, but you're wrong! We will never stop fighting your oppression!"
"Do you really believe that? Do you really believe that all of the benders are trying to oppress all the non-benders?"
"Do you really not?" Her voice quieted now, and it unnerved Bolin to hear the seriousness in her tone. "The city is run by a council of four, who represent different bending nations. Nobody represents us. We don't have a nation, nor do we have an element. We're lost. Forgotten."
"You're not lost," Bolin replied, feeling a bit put on the spot. "Avatar Korra is working right now to try and fix the city infrastructure so everybody has opportunities, bender or not."
"A bender trying to fix the whole city for non-benders." She sneered, looking as far away from Bolin as she could. "How noble."
"Hey, what do you have against benders?"
He couldn't see her face, but her voice floated back to him, muted and carefully spoken to mask any emotion. "My parents were killed by the Triple Threat Triad when I was thirteen. The police couldn't do anything for me, so I was stuck without a home or any money until I joined the Equalists."
Bolin felt a little sick to his stomach, knowing that his brother worked briefly for the same Triple Threat Triad. Necessary money, but still.
"My parents were killed by benders too, you know." He tried to keep his voice calm and level, hoping to reach some common ground. "A firebender, when I was six. My brother and I were on the streets until I was fourteen." He shuddered at the memory. "My brother was taken advantage of a lot too-he worked long for the power plant and got barely any pay. The problems with the city aren't limited to non-benders, we have a lot of work to do for everybody."
"I bet probending for the Fire Ferrets paid a lot better." She didn't exactly mask the bitterness in her voice this time around.
"You know I'm a probender?" Bolin felt the familiar tingling of pride in his chest, even though he knew that wasn't an appropriate reaction. It still felt nice to be recognized.
She scowled, but a pink blush spread across her cheeks. "Everybody knows who you are. You helped the Avatar destroy our revolution. You got off the streets because you could bend. I had to learn self defense in secret because chi blocking is against the law."
"I know how incredibly lucky I was to get off the streets, but that doesn't mean I don't understand what you went through." He paused. "I didn't know that chi blocking was against the law."
"For the past five years," she affirmed. "Councilman Tarrlok led the campaign."
Bolin scowled. "Councilman Tarrlok was corrupt, and we're trying to reverse the damage he did. I know some benders have done a lot to hurt you, but that doesn't mean we're all bad-"
"Did you call the police?"
Her question cut off his reply, leaving him feeling a bit dazed. Of course she would want to know if he was turning her in to the police. Bolin opened his mouth, wrestling with what to tell her, and opted for honestly. "No," he said. "I didn't."
She gave him a quizzical look. "Why not?"
"I don't know!" Bolin threw his hands in the air, running out of patience. "You were knocked out and it was my fault and I didn't want to just leave you there after I called the police. It's a bad neighborhood and you were unconscious, and all of the other Equalists had run away..."
"They left me?" Her voice was soft and almost vulnerable, and suddenly she looked very small. Bolin could only nod.
"Are...are you going to let me go?"
He bit his lip, nodding again and pulling his arms back, causing the earth manacles on the floor to fall away. She slowly lifted her wrists, rubbing the raw skin.
Bolin turned around to give her some privacy as she stood up. "You should come back with me," he said, feeling suddenly hopeful about the idea. "You could help us fix the city, give us a perspective from the other side. Think of what good we can do!" A rustling of cloth, but she didn't reply. He sighed. "At least tell me your name."
Silence greeted him. Bolin turned around and saw only a completely empty warehouse, soft lights flickering in the evening sun. A small window, at least twelve feet off the ground, slammed closed in the wind. She was gone.
A/N: New story! This is my third WIP, so I apologize if I don't get to update it as often as Sparks and Winds of Change. This story is going to be on the shorter side, probably around five chapters. But then again, I don't really know where I'm going with it so it may end up a lot longer. I really liked the idea of using Bolin to explore some of the underlying causes of tension that spurred the Equalist revolution. Plus Bolin needs some loving too!
Reviews and criticism are always appreciated :)