Asami let out a heavy sigh, pushing the red tape paperwork away from her, thinking it would be easier to just get an assistant at this point. There was just too much to keep up with on her own. Rubbing her temples, she blinked away the tiredness in her eyes to check the time.

1:46 in the morning. She sighed, thinking that going to the non-bending fight to watch Bolin would have been a better use of her time. He didnt force her to go, and then, she didnt want to. She had seen quite enough of his temper to last her for a LONG time.

Even so, the fights should have ended an hour ago, and he'd no doubt be here soon, victorious, as always.

Asami sighed again and pushed back from the desk, heading into the kitchen to make herself more coffee. En route, she thought she heard something in the dark hall, but saw that it was only the flutter of curtains from an half-open window. She shut the window and rubbed her arms, wondering why the staff had left it open anyway when it was nearing winter.

She finally made it into the kitchen and began boiling the water for her coffee. Without warning, her intuition sent her a five-alarm warning a split second before she was snatched up by two pairs of hands and one of her kitchen knives was pressed to her throat.

"I wonder how much of her blood it would take to rattle that little pest," she heard the man holding the knife say.

"That psychotic bastard aint rattled by blood, Nako, you should know considerin' what he left on the arena floor tonight," the other voice said, sounding both pissed off and scared. "We shouldnt even BE here, what if he -?"

"He's too busy havin' a pissing match with Zaku to even know we're here, Onno!" Nako growled. "So by the time he GETS here, all he'll have is his dead whore girlfriend to look at! It's what he DESERVES for killin' off my brother!" The knife against Asami's throat pressed closer, and Asami began trembling with fear. "Zolt an' the others are too scared shitless to DO anything about that maniac, but I aint!"

While Asami heard the other one mutter on about how they were both dead if Bolin ever found out, Asami quickly thought back to what her self-defense instructor taught her about being held at knife-point. She twitched around a little to see just where their hands were, then quickly twisted her body around, freed one of her hands, knocked the knife away, then slammed her elbow into the face of of one more concerned with Bolin's wrath than her demise.

With him temporarily displaced, Asami turned to the other, and jerked back just in time to avoid a fist in her face. She snatched the fist out of the air, then twisted around to drive her elbow into his face too, followed quickly by a heel-kick to his kneecap.

He dropped like a sack of rocks, gasping from the pain of his shattered kneecap, and Asami prepared for a deathblow when she was tackled from behind by the other man and pinned to the floor, her arms pinned behind her back.

"Fuckin' bitch!" the man who had the knife spat, grabbing a handful of her hair and pulling hard. Asami bit back a yelp of pain and struggled to get free as he picked the knife back up. "I'm gonna enjoy this FAR more than I should, you whore!"

"You know? So will I."

Both men looked up at the fourth party in the kitchen only to get bricks right to their faces, throwing them away from Asami. Asami bolted up and scurried back on the floor, looking up to see Bolin standing over her, looking more homicidal then she had ever seen him.

Nako shook off his shock and snarled at Bolin. "You fucking lunatic brat!" he spat, jumping to his feet, his hand still clenched around the knife. "You killed my brother!" Bolin gave him a look that very plainly said 'I dont give a fuck'.

"He was weak," Bolin said. "And he died outside the ring, so it didnt count as me 'killing' him." He didnt even react when Nako let out a shriek of rage and dove at him, knife poised to strike. Asami opened her mouth to scream for Bolin to move, but then the knife jerked to a halt not an inch from his face.

Nako struggled to move the knife from the air, but it was stuck tight as though the air was keeping it held in place. Asami blinked and shakily glanced down, seeing Bolin's hand upturned, Metalbending the blade of the knife in place.

"You're just as stupid as he was," Bolin said, his fist shooting out to punch Nako in the sternum, an audible crunch resonating through the kitchen. "But at least HE put up a fight!" He snatched the knife right out of the air then kicked Nako in the chest, cracking a few ribs.

Nako hacked up blood, gasping for air. Bolin glared down at him before whipping around to face Onno, who cowered back against a cabinet in terror. "You." He pointed at Onno with the knife. "You go tell all of those conspiring fuckers who think they can pull one over on me about what happens when they cross me!" With that, he hurled the knife at Nako, putting Metalbending force behind the throw to embed the knife to the hilt between Nako's eyes.

Asami heaved, putting a hand over her mouth, turning away. Onno went as pale as a ghost, a small puddle appearing under him. Bolin picked Nako up by the back of his shirt and tossed him to Onno. "Now pick up his sorry carcass and get the fuck out of here!"

Onno didnt need anymore incentive; he hurled Nako's still-twitching body over his shoulder and sprinted out of the kitchen to a back door.

Bolin turned to Asami, who had just barely managed to keep her vomit down, and picked her up, carrying her up to her bedroom and quietly laid her down on the bed. It was when her head touched the pillow that she finally burst into tears, burying her face in her hands. Bolin let her cry, petting her hair comfortingly.

"...I dont care how many have to return dead, Asami," he said, his voice comforting, yet frosty cold. "...You'll stay safe...nobody will touch you without leaving with tenfold retaliation..." He kissed her temple gently, quietly undressing her and tucking her in.

Long after she cried herself to sleep, curled up in a little ball under her covers, Bolin sat up on the other end of the bed all night, staring almost unblinking at the wall, the dark glow of his eyes unwavering even when the sun rose up.