Chapter 4

Lin woke with a start, her hand touching the stone floor. She felt vibrations coming from the roof. She swung her legs out of bed, untangling herself from red silk sheets. There were seven people on the roof, none of them she recognized as estate servants. She grabbed a metal cable from her bedside table before darting down to Asami's room. She knocked before entering. The heiress sat up in her bed, rubbing sleep from her eyes.

"What's going on?"
Lin pressed a finger to her lips.
"Triad members are on the roof." She muttered under her breath.
"I want you to stay here."

"No, I can help-" Asami was interrupted by a crash coming from somewhere within the mansion.

"We can argue later. Stay. Put." Lin turned her gaze towards the heiress, eyes hard and unyielding. Lin left Asami in the room, locking the double doors with her metalbending behind her. She felt three sets of footsteps coming toward her, two firebenders and an earth bender. Lin bolted around the corner, spotting the criminals down the long hallway. She ran towards them, unwrapping her metal cord. She grabbed one of the firebenders with it, throwing him against a stone pillar, knocking the wind out of the man. The earth bender thrust an arm forward, after taking a step forward, sending a trail of marble shooting towards Lin. She dodged it, sidestepping the other firebender, before grabbing him behind the collar, bringing his head down on her knee. The firebender fell on the floor unconscious. Lin turned back to the earth bender, the other firebender getting up, leaning against the pillar. He shot a flame at her, she sidestepped again, however the earth bender caught her in the ribs with a chunk of marble, catching her off guard. She winced after getting back up, punching the floor, sending both of the criminals back against the wall, knocking them out. She felt three more Triple Threat members running towards her, hearing the racket. Two water benders and a fire bender.
"Look, it's Beifong!" One of the water benders pointed at her.
"Get her!" The other one shouted, pulling water out of a water skin he was carrying. Lin got back into a stance, waiting for them to make their move. The firebender kicked a cloud of flames at her, she blocked it with a wall of stone. She punched the barrier, causing it to collide with her attacker, pinning him to the floor. The water benders took that as a queue to send ice shards hurtling towards her. Lin kicked up three chunks of marble, sending them to engage the ice shards. The two elements collided, both finding their targets. Lin fell back as a missed shard dug sharply into her side. She ignored it, sending another wave of boulders at the water benders, hitting one them out cold. The other jumped over the stone projectiles and landed behind her, slashing at her shoulder with another ice attack. She yelled out, her shoulder stinging harshly. She swung out a fist, punching the water bender square in the face. He growled, holding his now bleeding nose. He looked up at her, getting ready to charge, before a sickening electric noise came from behind him. He fell forward unconscious, revealing an angry Asami Sato with her electric glove.

"What are you doing out here?" Lin growled, holding her side, blood seeping through her pajama top.

"Making sure that you aren't dead. And by the looks of it you need medical assistance." Asami put her hands on her hips. "And the police are here."

"I'm fine." Lin stood up straight, hiding a wince. Asami laughed.
"That's the biggest lie I've heard from you. C'mon, I have a first aid kit in my bathroom." Lin sighed, following the non bender as her officers took away the triad members.

"One of them got away." She said, sitting on a bench in the master bathroom. Asami walked up to her with a cloth doused in medical alcohol.

"It doesn't matter now, take off your night shirt."

"Excuse me?"

"Lin, I said take off your shirt. You're bleeding." Asami sighed before pulling on Lin's button up shirt, trying to slip it off her. Lin yelped.

"Alright! Let me do it. Spirits." Lin growled, unbuttoning the night shirt.

"You didn't stay put like I told you to." She said curtly, brow furrowed as she glared at the Sato girl. "You hired me as your body guard, but won't listen to my safety precautions."

"And yet I stopped that water bender from cutting you open again." Asami shot back.

"You didn't need to do that. I had it under control." Lin said, hissing as Asami roughly placed the damp cloth on her shoulder.

"I'm not going to just sit there and watch while you fight seven Triad members on your own. I'm not defenseless."

"Then why did you hire me?"

"Because we can work together, and you are the best house alarm money can buy." Asami answered, as she finished cleaning Lin's shoulder. Lin only sighed in response.
"They're going to come back you know." She said. "And now they know that I'm here." Asami taped down a strip of gauze over the wound, before unwrapping a roll of bandage.

"Should I hire more security then?" Asami suggested.

"No. We'll have to move you somewhere else." Lin answered. Lin felt the bandage that Asami was wrapping around her shoulder tighten at that statement.

"I don't want to leave. I have too many designs and prototypes on the estate to just leave behind."

"I meant temporarily, Miss Sato." Lin growled, Asami tying the bandage almost too tightly.

"Then where would I go?" Asami moved to Lin's side. The ice shard had partially melted, allowing the wound to weep freely. She carefully took it out, throwing the shard in a trash can. Lin grunted as it was removed.

"You could stay with me. I have an apartment downtown. That way you could still have access to your work." Lin answered. She held back a cry when Asami placed the cloth on her side, the alcohol stinging badly. She shook, involuntarily grabbing Asami's hand that was holding the cloth. She relaxed as the stinging faded away. Asami looked at her, an apologetic look in her eyes.
"Couldn't they find me there too?" She pointed out. She placed gauze over the cut.
"If you stay here, they will have an advantage. If we move positions, where they don't know where I live, then we can gain better protection, and still draw them out." Lin replied. Asami unrolled another bandage.

"How would we draw them out?"

"It can work in two ways. If they suspect that you left, then Triad activity will increase as they try to find you. They will then be more likely to make a mistake. If they don't suspect that you left, then they will return to the estate, and I will have my officers on the grounds to catch them." Lin explained. Asami finished tying the bandage.

"Alright, I'll do it. But only if I'm allowed to help." Asami said, standing up. Lin made eye contact.

"Deal." She said quietly. Asami turned to put the cloth in a laundry hamper.
"And Asami... Thank you." Lin said softly. Asami nodded and left the bathroom.