The Forgotten Child
Onesmartcookie78
Summary: "You're," she pauses, "you're orphans? I didn't know you were—"
"You didn't know we—what, did you think we just like hanging around in alleys?"
Or: Lin and Tenzin have a child, but Tenzin doesn't know it.
Disclaimer: I don't own Legend of Korra or Avatar: The Last Airbender, but I do own any of the characters you don't recognize
A/N: This fic was inspired by "Sparks to Fire" by bipolar . poet08, as well as by my most recent watch-through of season 1 of LoK following its drop on Netflix. I hope you enjoy this fic. Please review!
LIN
If Lin had been having a trying day before the kid with the scarf had come into her office, it was so much worse now. Somehow, somehow, her child, her daughter, was missing, presumed kidnapped, and by the Triple Threat Triad, no less.
It was as if her worst fears had come true; things she had only dreamt up in her darkest moments, thoughts she had never entertained beyond thinking to herself that, surely, she could keep her daughter safe. And yet, she had failed. Failed as a mother. Failed to protect her daughter. And wasn't this what she'd been hoping to avoid by keeping Sarri at home? Home, where she couldn't get into any trouble, where no other kids would make fun of her, where she would be safe from the violence that Lin so often saw on the streets.
Lin laughs to herself disparagingly.
But no, despite her best efforts, despite all her precautions, her daughter is missing.
"Chief, we've searched two of the warehouses," comes the voice of one of her lieutenants. "We have yet to find anything, but there are fifteen more buildings in the area."
Lin eyes the setting sun with apprehension. "We need to move quicker," she commands, trying to remain strong even though her heart currently aches. She won't give up though. She's not one to, especially not on something like this. Especially not on someone this important to her. It's why she pursued Tenzin until she couldn't anymore, until he told her, on no uncertain terms, that he was with Pema now and she couldn't go around imprisoning people out of jealousy.
"Yes, ma'am," the lieutenant says with a salute, and ventures back out to return to his own search.
She sighs to herself.
Sarri, where are you?
Lin knows dread. Felt it when Suyin started running around with her new "friends"; when that cable snapped in her face and the police report had nearly been filed; when Tenzin told her that their goals didn't align and that he was leaving her. But she's never felt it like this. Has never felt sick to her stomach with a sort of grotesque anticipation that feels a lot more like fear. Has never seriously considered breaking down and crying. But she can't. She has to be strong, has to be. Because she can't afford not to be, can't afford to give up when her daughter is still—
Her daughter is—
Lin's eyes widen.
Because her daughter is currently running at full speed towards her, waving her arms above her head frantically.
Her feet are moving, and before she can second-guess the response, she's thrown her arms tightly around the little girl, lifting her off her feet and holding her close. To her complete and utter horror, there are unsolicited tears dripping down her cheeks, but it doesn't matter, none of it matters, because her daughter is safe and whole and healthy and she's here. Lin's relief is almost palpable, tangible in its intensity, and she squeezes Sarri tightly even though she's barely given the girl a pat on the head before, almost as if she's afraid that if she lets her go, she'll disappear.
It takes her a few seconds to realize that her daughter is crying, but through her tears, she's saying something important, she's saying, "Put me down, mom, there are more. More kids. We have to help them, we have to—"
And with that, Lin quickly lets the girl go.
"C'mon, c'mon," Sarri urges her, taking her by the hand and leading her as quickly as her shorter legs can handle. And Lin follows.
The warehouse the children were being kept in did, indeed, turn out to be close to the docks.
The first thing Lin notices is the cages and the children inside them. The second is the thugs. One of them is standing over what looks suspiciously like a body, while the second hovers over a toppled pile of extra cages.
Lin isn't sure what they're doing, but she is sure that she doesn't care. She's livid. Angrier than she's been in her whole life; angrier than when Suyin left, than when Pema confessed. Angrier than she'd ever even imagined she could be.
Because these men had taken her daughter from her, kept her in a cage, treated her like an animal. There's an urge within her, something that feels almost uncontrollable and wild, like how she imagines fire must feel, to do something. To not just tie them up, to not just use her bending, but to beat these men bloody, to punch until her arm aches and the metal lining her knuckles is dented and her breath runs short from exertion.
It takes a surprising amount of control not to, but she eventually manages. Because that isn't the way of things. She has to follow due process; she has to make an arrest. She can't just go around beating the hell out of people just because she feels like it; there's no place for vigilante justice in Republic City, not even when the people in question deserve it. No, even they deserve a fair trial, even they deserve to be protected by the law; because the law is impartial, because the law protects everyone, even criminals. And, as much as it angers her, as much as she aches with the urge to see their blood staining cold concrete, she has to respect the law and her position in it.
Now, if they were to resist arrest, that would be a different story…
She doesn't bother announcing herself and giving them a chance to fight back; instead, she launches her cables at them with deadly accuracy, binding their arms to their bodies tightly so that they can't use them to bend.
But they don't even bother fighting back.
"Pl-please!" says the man with green eyes who she figures is an earthbender. "Just don't do to us what you did to them!"
What she did to…?
The man nods to the body at his feet.
Eyeing him warily, she approaches slowly. She keeps eye contact with the man as she bends down and checks the man's pulse. He's…he's dead. How?
Lin looks at the cage behind her; the lock is mangled and melted, the door ajar. This must be how Sarri escaped. But how did the man die?
She shakes her head and commands the metal locks to break off and the doors to swing open, freeing the children.
She'll figure out the murder later. For now, all that matters is that the children are safe, that Sarri is safe, and that the criminals have been caught.