Broh Week, Day Two – 'Protection'

A/N: In which Iroh realises how hard it can be to protect people.

'So let me get this straight,' Iroh said. 'You and your brother made a living earning protection money?'

'Yeah,' Bolin said defensively. 'So what?'

'Nothing; I'm just surprised that two excellent people like yourself and your brother would ally yourselves with common thugs. I've had some tough times stamping out protection rackets in Caldera.'

'Hey!' Bolin exclaimed. 'Mako and I were always fair. If someone paid their protection money, our group saw to it that they got protected! It isn't all cheating and intimidation out there, you know.'

'That's beside the point,' Iroh said impatiently. 'I'm sure your group were fair enough, but in an unregulated, amateur group, how do you make sure? Who polices them to make sure they're doing their job? Who makes sure that the "protectors" are actually capable of protecting without danger to themselves and others? Who actually decides what "fair" means, if there's no official body to monitor their work? It would be much better if people would run their affairs without resorting to using these groups at all.'

'And how are they supposed to do that?' Bolin demanded, flaring up for real.

'By making use of the official police forces of the city!'

'Look, the official forces aren't always fair either! Look at Councillor Tarrloc; he was willing to start chucking innocent non-benders in prison. Chief Bei Fong wasn't too gentle with Korra when she first arrived in town! And have you forgotten that it was the Fire Nation state that started the Hundred-Year War in the first place?'

Iroh stood up. 'You're telling me your experience, but I'm telling you mine! These protection rackets are a breeding ground for criminal enterprises that make life more difficult for everyone. I admit the police forces aren't perfect, but you don't make them better by taking power away from them and putting it in the hands of gangs!' He shook his head. 'I'm disappointed, Bolin. I thought you and your brother were better than that.

The crash of Bolin's fist on the table made every piece of crockery jump into the air. It was easy to forget exactly how much muscle was hidden under his good-natured slouch.

'Look, we weren't running protection money to make some damned political statement!' he shouted. 'We were doing it to earn a crust! We had to get by!' He glared at Iroh, but he was blinking hard at the same time. 'Who the hell was protecting us, huh?'

'I'm protecting you,' Iroh whispered a long time later, when he had realised exactly how stupid he had been, overcome his mortification and succeeded in finding Bolin among the twisting alleys of Air Temple Island. 'I swear I'm going to protect every single person in the Republic. It's what I've always wanted to do.' His mouth twisted ruefully. 'I just didn't realise protecting people was going to be so complicated.'

Bolin gave him a punch on the shoulder to show no hard feelings, and tipped Pabu into his lap. The two of them sat on the ridge of the island, watching Yue go down.