12:00 afternoon/ Four Days after Flood- Republic City Hall
"The dam faltering was a setup." It was safe to say that no council member suspected this from Captain Saikhan, if the five jaws hitting the table was any indication. He'd just had been summoned to report the final tally of damages from the flood four days prior.
"How do you know that?" That wasn't the first question that Tenzin should have asked, but...oh well.
"A setup for what?" Tarrlok asked. Yes, that should have been the first question.
"I ordered an autopsy on Toph Beifong." he answered Tenzin's question first, "They found a broken arrow just beneath the heart. She was assassinated."
..."Assassinated?" Just when he thought he couldn't get anymore bad news. All this devastation, this madness, because of an assassin? And Aunt Toph...murdered? The criminals of this city have been known to try, but he never thought in a million years they would succeed.
"The dam near her home was faltering, on her day off, during a storm. It's obvious that she was lured there to be killed."
"Why are we just now hearing about this?" The new watertribe councilman asked bitterly.
"The rain was too heavy to see the arrow, all our officers saw was Master Beifong collapse without warning, causing the dam to break. She was the strongest earthbender in the world and in perfect health, but that wasn't enough for the coroner to take her body out of preservation, so we had to take a closer look at the dam. There were traces of explosives." Now Tenzin felt guilty, he shouldn't, but he did. He'd been the one to order the coroner to freeze her body in a block of ice so that the funeral could be held at a later date when Lin was well enough to attend.
"Do you have any leads?" Tenzin broke the quiet that had overtaken the room.
"The explosives appeared to general, anyone could have made them, but there's only a handful of archers in the world that could pull off that shot in those conditions, that should narrow it down."
"Good. We expect this murder behind bars quickl-"
"Have you told Chief Beifong any of this?" Everyone stared at his outburst.
"She made her orders clear, Councilman Tenzin, I sent my lieutenant to debrief her." Not good! Tenzin quickly stood up.
"How long ago?"
"About fifteen minutes, Sir."
"There might still be time." he went over to the chairmen's seat and borrowed his gavel, "Meeting adjourned until tomorrow."
"Tenzin, what is the meaning of this?!"
"I have to- well you see, if I don't go, Lin is going to do something...foolish." He rushed out the door.
"But she's only been awake for two days!" Saikhan called after him, "There's no way she can get up!" He could hear Lin now...'You wanna bet?'.
12:30 afternoon- Republic City Hospital/ Room 201
"Lin, you need to stay here and heal."
"While my mother's killer roams free? Not a chance, Aunt Katara!" Lin put her uniform on, admittedly wincing, "I'm fine." she said as her aunt folded her arms, "You do good work."
"Even I can't heal you this fast. Lin listen to m-"
"Lin!" Tenzin burst through the door, "Don't do anything!"
"What the hell is wrong with you people?! You want me to wait for my hair to grow back before I get outta bed and do my job?" she tore the bandage off her shaven head. "A man killed my mother and I am going to find him, right now." She growled stepping towards the door, only to have them block her way.
"You can't do this, Lin."
"Watch me." She pushed through them. They each grabbed an arm, "I don't want to fight either of you. But I will." This was probably the first time she'd had ever crossed Katara. It was commonly believed among the family that the waterbender scared Lin more than her own mother, with good reason, when Katara was angry it was always 'yes, ma'am'. So it came as a shock to both of the younger ones that Katara let go first. At first the airbender questioned his eyesight, but he knew it was best to trust his mother's judgment and loosened his grip.
"Wha... Mother, why? She couldn't have beaten us."
"But she would fight us. I know how she feels, Tenzin, such anger and hatred is hard to ignore."
"But, she might kill him. I still believe that we should have stopped her from leaving."
"It would only be a matter of time before she escaped to go after him. And when she finds him, she'll have to make that decision on her own.
"I have to follow her, perhaps I can talk sense into her." Even he knew that was a long shot. There were two things that all Beifongs throughout the generations had in common, they were all hard-headed and short-tempered.
12:50 afternoon- Police Headquarters
She didn't know what surprised her officers more, her presence at headquarters or her appearance. Sure, they've all seen their chief limp into the station after a hard earned victory, but she looked half dead at the moment...and bald...and murderous. Small children would probably run from her looking like this, even many of the adults gave her a wide berth as she made her way to the archives. Every movement brought a new pain, but she pushed through it, there was a job to be done. On the other hand, she wasn't stupid. Her injuries were going to effect her in the field so she needed to sit and rest until she knew who to go after.
"Chief?" An officer jumped out of his seat in surprise.
"Who's case are you working on?"
"The assassination. I'm pulling together a list of the world's best archers that we have on file."
"Fine. I'll put a suspect list together."
"Pardon me Chief, but isn't that what I'm doing?" This man was the best at archive work; fast and thorough. But finding information and putting it to good use were two different things, and he didn't seem to realize that.
"You can't assume that every good archer was out to kill." she snapped, "And odds are that the assassin was nothing more than a hired hand of someone with a grudge."
"But what if the archer acted on their own?"
"Then I might be able to cross reference the archer with the suspects list and we'll have probable cause." This had to be done by the book, or at least for now. Her mother always said there's a time to enforce the rules, and a time to break them. The trick was knowing when to throw the rule book out and start busting heads, "When you've finished, report your findings to me."
"Of course, Chief." The first thing she had to do was get all the files detailing every threat her mother got while she wore the badge. Those took a entire drawer by themselves, no shortage of people wanting to cause her mother harm. She removed the files and carried them over to a secluded table in the back of the room. Grabbing some nearby paper and writing utensils she said down and assessed the workload,
"You could've at least tried not to paint a target on your forehead, Mother...I know you're there, Airhead."
"Oh," Tenzin poked his head around the corner, "I, uh...wanted to check on you."
"Cut the garbage, say it and get it over with." She barked. He came to the table and sat down beside her.
"I think you're making a mistake. You are hurt, Lin."
"I'll survive." Probably.
"And I fear that you might be tempted to take the life of the archer when you find him."
"The thought's crossed my mind." Again and again and again...
"Vengeance is never the answer. Forgiveness is-"
"Is something for airbenders and monks. Tenzin, I am not now, nor will I ever be, either of those things." He should know by now that she wasn't the forgiving type. So he tried a more practical approach.
"You could go to prison for murder."
"The bastard's facing the capital punishment for the deaths of sixteen officers, twelve rescue workers and five civilians. With any luck he'll resist arrest." That way she could kill him and honestly claim self defense. Even if the judge knew full well that she was only too happy to kill him, there wasn't anything that could be done about it except a resignation.
"Well..." he was on the same page "...think of you officers...who's going to lead them if you were forced to resign?"
"Don't try to talk me outta this Tenzin." Well, he finally struck a cord. She never thought about herself, so the best way to get through was to remind her of the people she'd be hurting, "And what about your son?"
"This doesn't concern him."
"Child services can take him from you for even suspecting that you intentionally killed a man."
"I just became the third richest person in the world and inherited a title on top of it. They can't touch him."
"You'll kill them if they try?" The sad part was, he saw her lips form the word 'yes'. She stopped herself, though.
"Get. Out. Now." Knowing there was nothing more to be said, he left her in peace.
Jia Li...Dead.
Lian...Possible/not likely. She wrote the name and information down.
Dewei...Jail.
Shui..Jail. On and on. The minutes turned to hours and soon it was three o'clock in the morning. That was when the archer's locations had finally been discovered. Putting aside her own work for the moment, the chief started sorting through the list. There was only one that was known to be anywhere near Republic City and a suspect in other paid killings. She had a winner.
"Get information on Jiao-long." It was another hour before that information came in. He 'allegedly' was your standard high priced hit man. Handsome ladies man, lived the high life, donated time and money to his local charities...everything that made him innocent in the eyes of a jury; the last person you'd ever think that would commit cold blooded murder. So, he wouldn't have a care in the world. He'd probably come along quietly, let his fancy lawyer do the work, then make a public statement where he sympathetically told reporters that he was sorry for the mistake and he hoped that the police force found the real perpetrator quickly. Why couldn't it be some dumb renegade that attacked her on sight?
5:00 Morning- Police Headquarters/Overload Cell
This was the plan. Don't tell the public that there was an assassin. Let the archer assume that the police had no idea that anything more than a dam faltering had happened. Then they would discreetly search every upscale inn within the city while their contacts in the triads found out everything they could, especially big payoffs. In the mean time, Lin was due for another healing session, this time with Kya.
"You know this isn't healthy?" Kya asked as soon as she had Lin on the cot.
"Katara sent you."
"She said that you might listen to someone your own age and not-"
"A preachy airhead?"
"Your ex. But I agree." Kya chuckled, "Tenzin is pretty preachy. This time though, I think maybe you at least consider taking his advice."
"Would my mother take his advice if I was the one frozen in a block of ice?" Lin challenged.
"Just be careful, you stubborn badgermole. Don't do anything you might regret, and" she gave the younger woman a glare, "get some rest."
10:00 Night/ Fourteen Days After Flood- Police Headquarters/ Chief's office
"We found him Chief. The new inn over by the Golden Tower." When her officers found out that Toph had been murdered and their fellow officers were killed as a result, they all went in an uproar. 'Mess with one, fight us all', that was their motto. All of them decided to go the extra mile. Some were volunteering for double shifts, some coming in on their day off, and others doing their partner's paperwork so that they could work on the assassin case. This was the most coordinated and driven Lin had ever seen any of them.
"How long as he been there?"
"Our intelligence says he checked in two days before the flood, and he unexpectedly extended his stay."
"He hasn't been paid yet." Good news at last.
"You want me to alert a couple undercover teams?"
"Have a team take the day shift. I'll take the night."
"You?" She turned to glare at him, "I mean, of course Chief." There were ways that she could pull this off, tell-tale scars or no.
12:00 Morning/ Eighteen Days after Flood
"Lin could we please surface for some fresh air?" Tenzin nudged her in the side. Airbenders didn't do well underground.
"We still got twenty minutes of air, Windbag." Why did she get stuck with this whining...oh yes, because the council didn't trust her to go alone...can't imagine why...something about mass triad bloodshed, demolished city blocks...general things an incredibly pissed off Beifong could do if provoked.
"Is anything happening yet?"
"Nothing in the last minute, Tenzin."
"Well I beg your pardon, but I can not see what's going on up there! I can't see anything down here, either!"
"Then you shouldn't have told the council that you'd babysit me!"
"I'm not babysitting, I'm watching out for your well-being!"
"You're here to make sure that-wait, he's moving." she grabbed Tenzin's wrist and followed her target as he slowly made his way to a mid level tavern. When it was apparent that he was meeting someone she burrowed up to the floor, a few millimeters more and the ground would fallout on top of them.
"When do I get paid?"
"You weren't supposed to destroy the place."
"That was you people's fault. I did what was in my contract and you're gonna pay me now. Or you're gonna be the one with an arrow in your heart."
"Go call the police, Tenzin." She quietly cleared a path to the surface of a nearby room.
"Yes, right." He rushed off, meaning the hectic child was without adult supervision.
Rumble...
The archer, his employer, and his employer's thugs all lost their footing as Lin shook the ground beneath them. She sprang up ready for a fight, and she wasn't disappointed. The hit man was smart enough to run, as it was painstakingly obvious she wasn't too concerned with protocol at the moment. The thugs, however, didn't get the idea and decided to attack first, causing an irritated boss to do the same. She took out one by redirecting the rock he threw at her, breaking his nose and left cheekbone which knocked him out cold. The second she grabbed with her cables and slammed him into the wall hard enough to break his hip while dodging a small boulder from their boss before he followed Jiao-long.
Now that the low-level idiots were taken care of, the chief could focus on the bigger prize. The two men most directly responsible for her mother's death. She heard reinforcements coming as she got up on the zip lines and chased after them.
The boss was easy enough to catch, she tackled him from above, her feet landing in the middle of his back. She ignored his cry of pain, choosing instead to cuff him to the post and continue on after the hit man. Once he was in striking range, he stopped dead in his tracks.
"Hold it," Jiao-long said smoothly as he raised his arms. Lin looked down the street to see her officers blocking the path. "I didn't do anything wrong, what am I running for?" He knew that she wouldn't hurt him with credible witnesses around. He was wrong.
"The murder of thirty-three people." One called. The others crossed their arms and stood their ground. Yes, they wanted to see him get his comeuppance. She aimed her cables at him. He ducked to his left and looked at the cops expectantly. No help was forthcoming.
"Some law enforcement," He swung a punch at her. Lin put up her arm and let him break his knuckle on her armor, then tossed him down to the ground. When he tried go get back up she pulled up a skull sized rock. His head was a perfect target. He deserved it. She should do it. She drew back and threw it. The sicking sound of crushing bones could be heard down the street. His right hand would have to be amputated, he'd never be able to draw back a bow again.
12:00 Noon/ 21 Days After Flood
Suspended for three weeks without pay...very disappointed...bad example...'reluctant' "good job". Blah, blah, blah. As Lin walked behind Toph Beifong's casket through the city with her family and officers, she didn't care what the council did to her. She got to bury her mother knowing that the bastards responsible for this would never hurt anyone again. To make sure of that, she arranged for all of them to be relocated to the Boiling Rock if (when) the jury found them guilty. That way, they'd have plenty of warning if they escaped.
"Mom, that music's really sad." Bolin whispered as they reached the mountain range where they'd put the mother of metalbending in the earth.
"I know. She'd want something more-"
"Fun?"
"Yeah, Kid, fun."
"I'm alone in the world, and my luck's runnin' low," He began to sing. She smirked. Yeah, that was more her mother's style.
"The trail's so hard with such a long way to go." She joined in only because the senile crone would want her to.
"I got no sunshine, and I got no moon," Kya, Bumi, Tenzin, Katara and Zuko.
"no reinforcements to save me from doom." Everyone else.
"But I don't fear the dark or any risk that comes along," They all sang together,
because I'm blind as a wolfbat and twice as strong." Many sad laughs were heard.
"Best lullaby ever, Mom."
Dear Mako,
Mom caught the guys that killed Grammy. After we buried her, Uncle Bumi said that Grammy would not want us moping like a bunch of...tearbending sissies (that's what Grammy would call us). So we went to a bar. Everybody told funny stories.
"There was a tradition at the time. If you saved a fellow officer's life, they took you to a tavern and bought you drinks." Bumi stood on the bar of the high scale tavern/inn they leased for the evening, "It didn't matter if it was your wedding, anniversary, your only daughter's tenth birthday...you went to the tavern and got drunk on someone else's tab. So Toph had no choice, but she'd also promised Lin that she'd spend time with her. So she picked her up, went to the tavern and said,
'if a drop of alcohol touches that girl's tongue, I'll lock you up and smash the key'. The next morning Kya goes to mom and says, 'Toph and Lin came over last night, and they're both drunk!'. I never saw mom move so fast in my life. We just knew that she was going to kick Aunt Toph's butt. After that, it became Lin's birthday tradition, and half the fun was not getting caught by Katara."
I had to go to bed early. Aunt Kya said things were getting too rough. But in the paper this morning there were funny pictures from the party. Uncle Tenzin danced on the table with a lamp cover on his head. Mom had a beard glued to her face. Uncle Bumi was wearing a dress. Aunt Kya said they should not trust her to watch over them when they drink. HAHA! Mom does not know I put one paper under my bed. If you see her, don't tell her.
I hope you are alright. I hope we find you soon, Love Bolin.