"Hey Xun, have you seen this boy?" Mako ducked as he saw two cops come into the grocery shop. That was something being on the street taught him, when the cops show up, you get out. "His name's Mako." Oh no, they were here for him. He quietly dropped the food he was going to steal and made a quick, but stealthy, break for the entrance. He didn't know what crime they wanted him for and he wasn't going to stick around to find out.

"Hmm, no, can't say I have, Lan. He missing or in trouble?" The old man asked from behind the counter.

"Missing." the woman answered, "The Chief's been keeping his brother at the station for the last couple of weeks. I guess she wants to find this boy and ship them to an orphanage together."

"There's a boy living at Headquarters? Where does he sleep, a cell?" Xun asked, obviously amused.

"The overload cell. Man, you should see it." Wen, Lan's partner, laughed, "When he's around, Beifong almost acts like a human. Putting him to bed and everything."

"No. Really?" Xun gave them a bewildered look, "The old 'Iron Maiden', puttin' a kid to bed? I was that woman's captain, and her heart was as hard as the armor she wore even back then. I think I'd like to see that." He chucked.

"Then you should come by sometime." Lan offered, "I'm sure the Chief would tolerate a retired old Lead-Foot roaming around the place."

"Naw, this old coot would probably just get in the way."

"If you're sure. You mind if we post this flyer here?"

"Like you gotta ask." He waved them over to the billboard, "And give the Maiden my best."

"By the way, why did you guys call her the 'Iron Maiden'?" Wen asked. Xun chucked mischievously and threw a piece of fruit at both of them,

"Get outta here and back to your beat before I report you."

"Yes, Sir!" They both saluted before leaving the store.

"Mr. Sato, thank you for coming." Lin greeted a somewhat plump man with glasses. Her gaze fell upon the little girl with him,

"Hello, I'm Asami." This man was bringing his daughter with him to a meeting about his wife's murderer? And she thought her mother had issues.

"I'm so sorry, Chief Beifong, I really didn't want to bring her but today's the nanny's day off and..."

"I see." She turned and gestured for them to follow her. There was no way that little girl should be here, but as luck would have it there was a little boy who shouldn't be here either. Since she was on duty, Bolin would be playing in her office. The doors would be open so that any officer in the squad room could hear any trouble. Today he seemed to be behaving himself, just sitting at her desk and coloring a picture.

"Hi." He gave them a cheeky grin, "Can I take your name and massage?"

"Message, Kid. Very amusing. Now get outta my chair." She softly barked as she picked him up by the back of his collar and set him on the floor. The little boy just giggled, he was used to it by now, "Bolin, take Ms. Sato and go play in the gym."

"Really?" He got to play with another kid? His face brightened before he remembered something, "But Mako says not to go anywhere with a stranger." Bolin said softly, a pout forming at the thought of missing out on play time.

"You're surrounded by police, she can't hurt you. Go on. Before my better judgment kicks in." Well if it was okay with her...

"Tag. You're it!" He shouted before running down the hall. Asami looked to her father for permission.

"Go ahead, but behave yourself."

"Bye, Daddy." She waved enthusiastically before sprinting after Bolin.

"Now that they're gone. You said you have information about firebender that murdered my wife."

"We have a suspect, we asked you to come for identification."'

"Finally," for the first time in two years he breathed a sigh of relief, it was over.

"Whenever you're ready."

Meanwhile in the gym:

"Hey Bolin, who's this?"

"I'm Asami Sato. Nice to meet you." Asami stuck out her hand to the police officer like her daddy taught her to.

"Well, nice to meet you too, Asami." Song shook the polite girl's hand, "Does the Chief know you two are here?"

"She told us to play in here."

"Alright, just stay way from the weights. Okay?" The children nodded. Satisfied, Song went back to his workout. Bolin faced his playmate.

"Okay, so let's play Avatar. You can be Aang, I'll be Zuko, and I'll teach you firebending."

"I wanna be Katara." Asami insisted. But Katara was a waterbender, how was he going to teach a waterbender to bend fire?

"Hmm," the little boy pondered for a moment, "Oh, I know! You be Katara with team Avatar, and I'll be Zuko. You hide and I'll chase you around."

"Okay close your eyes and count to ten."

"One, two three..."

Observation room #1

Lin offered Hiroshi a chair and brought in a line up of ten. She absolutely hated the line ups. There were times that the victims didn't recognize anyone, but pointed to a suspect anyway. She couldn't for the life of her figure out why. That one stupid gesture could kill the case in front of a judge. What made everything worse is that she couldn't legally drop any hints, so she could only hope that he was good with faces or at least had the intelligence to admit that he wasn't.

"Is there anyone you recognize, Mr. Sato?" Pale complexion, that was actually a good sign. Hiroshi pointed a shaky finger towards the glass.

"Th-the third man down. He's the one."

"Fen, let the record show that Mr. Sato identified Hideki as the assailant. Thank you for your help, Mr. Sato." and she meant that. She couldn't wait to add a few more charges to his collection and put that scum away for life.

"Could I get a drink of water please?"

"Of course." She waited for him to raise, and for a brief moment she thought she'd have to help him up, but Hiroshi finally pulled himself together enough to follow.

"Right this way." There were times, seldom of course, when she wished her mother's training included sensitivity. This man clearly needed some, but that was the one test that she didn't excel in. In fact, she barely passed it...and only because she wouldn't tell a screaming victim to shut it...

...

...

...

...Bolin was the thief, not the victim. That doesn't count.

"So," Hiroshi took a sip of the water she offered, "how old's your boy?" She was about to correct him, but, he seemed so desperate to change the subject and it didn't matter. She wouldn't see him again after the trial.

"Six. Your girl?"

"Eight. Two years later, she still has nightmares. Maybe now they'll stop." Not likely, but she wasn't going to crush the man's hopes, she also couldn't think of a single thing to say back to the man, "Well, Asami's probably ready to go." Finally, after a good five minutes of awkward silence. 'Don't be heartless, Beifong, the man lost his spouse. You know the feeling'.

"It'll get easier." He looked at her in surprise, "Now that her murderer is going away for life," she explained, "it'll be a little easier."

"I still miss her. And Asami...she still needs her mother."

"My mother raised me by herself since I was eight. She did alright, you will too." It should sound more heartfelt.

"I don't mean to pry, Chief Beifong, but I've heard rumors that your mother took you to taverns as a child." Lin looked at him in surprise. Not because of the rumor, that was completely true, but because she was forty-years-old and it was still being whispered around the city.

"Only on my birthday. And I never so much as sniffed any alcohol." His jaw dropped, "Long story." She knew the look she was getting wasn't intentional, but she despised it just the same. She'd seen that look many times in her youth, and always because they were questioning her mother's maternal instinct...and maybe her sanity. After all, what kind of woman would take her child to a tavern? It really wasn't as bad as everyone made it sound. "Look. She may have never been 'mother of the year', but the point is that I'm still here, so she did her job just fine. So will you."

"How can you be so sure?"

"Because you're all she has." She cleared her throat, "Now you said your daughter's probably ready to leave?"

"Yes, of course."

"Base!" Asami yelled happily as she touched the beam. Her playmate looked devastated.

"No!" he hit his knees, "My honor!" Lin rolled her eyes at the scene, immediately knowing what game the children were playing. Her only wish was that her uncle could see the way kids these days were portraying him. The little girl felt sorry for the boy and reached out to comfort him, only to dash back to the base when he tried to grab her again. Well, she's got Aunt Katara right.

"Asami, time to go."

"Aw, do we have to daddy?" Asami pouted.

"Yeah, does she have to, Mister?" Bolin joined in.

" 'Fraid so, Kid. Go on, get back to my office."

"Okay." he huffed, "Bye, Asami." and he trudged out of the room.

"Bye Bo." She called after him as she went to her father's side.

"Goodbye, Chief, and thank you." He shook her hand, she only nodded. After telling a rookie to escort them out, she started towards her office with every intention of getting the daily paperwork done. But as always, the bearer of bad news had to stop her. What did he want this time?

"Chief, the Council just sent this telegram." His hands were shaking, this had to be good...

"TENZIN!" She threw open his door, ignoring the frightened secretary that kept trying to tell her that she couldn't go in there.

"Now Lin I can explain." He put his hands in the air. She grabbed him by the the front of his robes and pulled him out of his chair.

"I told you to say outta my business!"

"You can't keep a child at Police Headquarters, Lin, he needs a family environment."

"He won't go anywhere without his brother, Airhead, you put that boy with foster parents, he'll be back on the street within a week!"

"He hasn't tried to leave the station."

"I've been helping him look for his brother! Of course he isn't going to leave!"

"You can still look for him, but that isn't a place for children."

"It's worked well so far!"

"Lin, the Council has decided." And there wasn't a damn thing she could do about it.

"You knew I'd come here." Realization dawned on her. This was a trap.

"They're taking Bolin to his foster parents now." Tenzin admitted, bracing for the explosion.

She was so angry that she started to pace back and forth like a caged animal. Looking for something she could hit without breaking.

"Now Lin, it's for the best." he went to place a friendly hand on her shoulder. As if by reflex, she turned and decked him in square in the mouth.

"Anything happens to that boy, you're dead meat Arrowhead." Lin threatened before storming out of his office.