She barged into Headquarters with clenched fists and an aura darker than coal. Republic City's finest fled in absolute terror as she stalked past them. She hadn't hoped that Tenzin was lying, that Bolin was still in her office, that if she got back to the station fast enough that she could stop his flunkies. So why was she so surprised to come back and find her office unoccupied...maybe because she wasn't the only damn cop in the building?! As she gazed into the room, one of her men cautiously came within arm reach.

"Chief. Child Services came with authorization from the Council-"

"I am aware of that." She snapped while straightening up and turning on heel. What she had to say was not only for Saikhan, but the entire squad room as well, "Did I," She bellowed, catching the attention of every man and woman there, "or did I not give every one of you a direct order to keep that boy here?"

"You did, Chief." They all answered in unison.

"And did you, or did you not know that the boy has a high risk of running?"

"We did, Chief." Said by people who knew that they were digging their own graves.

"And despite my orders, you just handed him over Child Services?"

"We did, Chief."

"But they had orders from the Council, Chief." The vast majority of the officers in the room winced at the young woman's remark. Dumb rookies. Spirits be with her. Lin's face hardened even more as she crossed her arms. That's it, the evidence was finally conclusive...she was in charge of a bunch of morons.

"Front and center." She growled. It could be said that this particular rookie wasn't completely stupid, she did seem to grasp that now would be a good time to panic, "We are police officers. We protect and serve the people, not the Council. If you wish to blindly follow some self-righteous, politician, I suggest you apply as a secretary. If you wish to continue working here you will follow my orders. Have I made myself clear?"

"Yes, Chief."

"Good. Fifty pushups. Now." The beat cop turned scarlet as she dropped to the ground in front of her co-workers. It was actually a common punishment for rookies, to embarrass them, remind them of their rank in the pack, so to speak, "You will be working the late shift the rest of the month." It went without saying that she would be going to the dreaded training session next week, "Dismissed."

"Yes, Chief Beifong." Now that the example had been made, she needed to say one more thing to the entire audience.

"In the future," assuming she wasn't replaced for punching Tenzin, "if the Council's orders contradict mine you will tell them to take it up with me, since none of you have the backbone to tell them to stay out of police business, I will do it myself. Get back to work." Now she needed to go in her office and do paperwork while she planed her next move. First, she'd have to find where they set him up. Second sh-...her list ended there. When she sat at her desk and saw the drawling Bolin had done. Though obviously done with a child's skill, there was no mistaken the three disproportionate figures on the page were Mako, Bolin and herself. They seemed to be running from her in what she guessed was a game of cops and robbers in the overload cell. One big, barely legible word dominated the top portion of the sheet,

'Home'

Tears threatened to spill, but she shook them away. After she reunited Bolin with his brother she would find a suitable place for them both, and that would be the end of it.

Air Temple Island:

"I fell down." Tenzin insisted to his wife.

"After Beifong punched you, Tenzin. Li Wei told me all about it. Why are you covering for that woman?" A very angry, and very pregnant, acolyte asked harshly. The airbender had to think about his answer for a minute. He really hadn't expected his secretary to trouble his wife over this.

"Pema, dear, Lin has a very protective nature and she felt that-"

"Oh Tenzin. You have to stop thinking like that, she had no right to hit you. Is...is that what you told yourself while you two were dating?"

"What?" His eyes widened, "Lin never stuck me while she and I were together." Of course there was that one time, when she was particularly mad at him, that she said the only reason she didn't was because she would have to arrest herself for domestic violence. But Pema didn't need to know about that.

"Are you sure?" She looked him in the eye, trying to discern whether or not he was telling the truth. Finally she decided that he wasn't lying and continued the conversation, "But she still shouldn't have hit you. You should have told the Council."

"I couldn't betray her again." He whispered, no longer meeting her gaze.

"Betray her? What are you talking about? We never..."

"You wouldn't understand." It was a little complicated, and every time someone involved tried to explain to their spouse they were only met with strange looks.

"What wouldn't I understand?!" Now she was yelling at him, and he decided that giving it a try couldn't do any harm.

"When we were children, Fire Lord Zuko told us that he once foolishly betrayed his uncle, General Iroh. Later that night, Bumi called us all to the beach where we took an a oath. That no matter how mad we got, we would not tell on one another and we would always help each other."

"Tenzin-"

"Please let me finish, Pema. I know it was just a childhood pledge, but if you think about it, it was very mature. We agreed to settle our differences among ourselves and never to turn our backs when a family member needed help. And that philosophy carried through to our adult years. For example, Lin and Bumi were in a pranking war, and Bumi spiked her drink and dumped her in a strange bed without any cloths." Pema gasped,

"Why would he do such a thing?" She asked, horrified,

"Because she ran him up a flagpole in nothing but lady's undergarments." Tenzin explained simply, "He did cover her with a blanket and stood just out of sight to watch over her. But the point is that during that war they both had every reason to get the police involved, and instead they chose honor the agreement." He looked to the floor in shame, "But when my loyalty was tested, I broke my word."

"You regret us, don't you?" Pema cried furiously, perhaps with the help of hormonal mood swings, and left the room as fast as her belly would let her.

"Monkey Feathers! I knew I couldn't explain this well enough!" He caught up with her and held her tightly,

"Please believe me when I say I love you and I don't regret this." Tenzin gestured to the both of them, "It's just I wish I had handled things differently. I wish I'd ended my relationship with Lin sooner, because I knew we would both be unhappy. Lin agreed to live on the island and have a family with me, but that wasn't what she wanted. She wanted to be out in the city protecting those who couldn't protect themselves. She was so unhappy that she started working late to avoid me, and we started drifting apart. I came to realize that we would never be truly happy together because the differences that complemented us as friends hurt us as a couple. But I didn't have the courage to tell her that until you came along. I thank you for that Pema."

"You're welcome." She said meekly, as if she really didn't know what to say at all.

"I knew she would be angry since she was willing to give up her own happiness for me. But since I already had you, she...well she...I suppose the best way to describe the way she felt was 'used' as well. She said I should have just walked up to her and said, 'Eh, you'll do unless I find something better'. So when she became so furious that she punched the ground and uprooted thirty trees, I understood. But when she went after you, I just lost my temper. Then I betrayed her by taking the matter to the Council when I should have confronted her myself. When they filed charges against her for abusing her power, I betrayed her again by not speaking up. Firstly because I knew it wasn't really a personal attack against you."

"Excuse me?" Pema drew back. Oh, he was sleeping on the floor tonight.

"It's just that she's thrown several of us in a cell over the years. It was wrong, but it was much better than being beaten up and she never filed any charges against us. Plus, we knew that was just her way of getting the final word and we would laugh about it later. It wasn't as if what she did to you was out of the ordinary. But the other, most important reason was that she needed help, and though I was regretting what I'd done, I kept silent. The only reason Lin wasn't fired is because Toph threatened to stop the Beifong family's generous donations to the city's funds if she was."

"And she will be fired regardless of the donations if she has another offense?" Her question was answered with a nod.

"Pema, I know you probably don't understand my personal reasons, but please understand...Lin truly believes that taking Bolin out of police custody will prompt him to run away and live on the streets again. She was just being her normal, overprotective self."

"I still don't agree, but if you really don't want me to make a fuss..."

"I would appreciate it."

"Then I won't." She cuddled into his chest, "But if she does it again I'm calling in a brute squad." That would have to be some brute squad, he thought to himself as relief washed over him. Their fight was over, now he could get a good night's rest before his big trip tomorrow, "Tenzin."

"Yes, Sweetie?"

"When did she throw you in jail?"

"Uh, I was sixteen, Lin had spent the night while Toph was working late and I accidentally let it slip to my mother that she'd snuck out to meet her boyfriend at two in the morning."

"Mako! Chief!" He called into the night air, watching his breath float away. His big brother was right. He said that if you weren't careful, bad men would come to steal you away. And that's exactly what happened! The only thing that puzzled the boy was that Chief said that as long as the cops were around, that wouldn't happen, but it did, "They must've been really, really, bad men if they scared the police!" he finally concluded. Well Mako wouldn't be scared of them, he'd woulda beat up those bad guys. Chief wouldn't be scared of them, she'd tell them to go away like she told the man with the blue arrow colored on his forehead. All he had to do was find one of them, then he would be safe and out of the cold.

"Chief! Mako!"