The four escapees and their accomplice were shipped to headquarters where they all had statements taken, with the exception of Lin who had a lot more explaining to do and filled out a detailed report. After that formality was finished they would released...and by 'released', they meant 'thrown out by several city officials who refused to let the chief return to active duty that very minute'. Tenzin was dead to her right now because of that, maybe dead to everyone else too, if he got within arm's reach.
"Chief Beifong stood strong when Amon abducted her son," Councilman Tarrlok called a press conference at sunrise, while the Chief was still occupied inside, "and it is my sad duty to inform the citizens of Republic City that she has paid the ultimate sacrifice." His next statement was cut off by a gray haired woman pushing him out of the way with her shoulder as she walked by.
"Not dead yet, Tarrlok." She reminding him before steeling herself for the inevitable question.
"Chief Beifong," the of the many reporters spoke up, "is it true that Amon has taken your bending away?" Yep, there it was.
"Yes."
"Will you continue as the Chief of Police, or will you step down?" another one asked.
"I will continue to serve as the Chief of Police." A few of her trusted officers told her what her captain had been up to while she was away. Now, with no one she could trust to do the job right, she couldn't leave the force even if she wanted to.
"Now, now. Let's not get too hasty. Chief Beifong is a tried and true hero, but she's suffered a trauma and she needs time to recover."
"I'm fine." She glared, wanting so badly to tell him to piss off, but held her tongue for the sake of all the impressionable ears listening over the radio.
"It is nothing to be ashamed of, even battle hardened soldiers must recuperate after being wounded."
"Not happening."
"Lady Beifong, I was hoping to spare your pride, but you have been doing this type of work for many years and I simply worry that your body can no longer keep up without your bending." 'Don't deck him, Beifong, you just got out of a cell'.
"It's still Chief to you, and I may be old, but I'm still capable of leading the police force."
"Well, just to be on the safe side," he turned to face the crowd, "I'm going to push for Lady Beifong to retake the Police Entry Physical Exam. If she passes, she will retake her position, if she does not, she will retire from the force."
…...
The last item that she moved out of her room and into the library was a small chest. It held just a few things, but every one of them held sentimental value to her, so she took great care to keep them all well preserved. There was a picture of her parents making funny faces at the camera, her three championship belts, her mom's championship belts, the necklace her husband gave her, the picture of home Bolin drew when he was six and her chain whip. Lin couldn't stop herself from reminiscing about everything like an old woman before she got her hands on the whip, which was the only reason she opened the memory chest in the first place.
Nine segments long, two black rectangular flags, one near the handle and one near the sharp dart on the other end. The chain whip could be used for offense-hitting and/or binding an opponent (even around obstacles), or defense-blocking an opponent's weapon. This was the inspiration behind the cable system that her officers use daily, and this would be her regular side weapon from now on...assuming of course that she passed Tarrlok's little test, she didn't trust him not to rig it, given his history.
"Knock, knock." somethings never change.
"What is it, Boy?"
"I just came in here to, you know, spend some quality time with my mom." Yep, ten years and he's still a bumbling fool when he gets nervous.
"You're still a horrible lair. What'd you come here to say?"
"It's really more of a question."
"Well..." she waited for him to speak, but no words came out of his mouth, "spit it out."
"Do you hate me?" He floored her with that one. Really, after all that had happened he thought she'd hated him? Lin shook her head as her boy pouted like that little six-year-old she once knew, complete with shuffling feet and nervous hands. "'Cause I really get it, if you do." 'Great, the kid's blaming himself for this mess!'
"What the hell makes you think that this is your fault?" She really considered hitting him upside the head, but Bolin could be very sensitive when he wanted to be and that kind of wake up call would only make him believe his delusions that much more.
"Ever since I was a kid there's been a pattern to this. I get into trouble, you save me, you take me home, you yell at me. I learn from my mistake. Then I make another mistake, get into trouble, you save me...it's always been that way, except this time you didn't come home with me." 'This', she decided, 'is going to require alcohol.'
"Come with me, Boy."
"Where to?
"Just come on." She ordered before heading to kitchen. Up on a shelf there was a decanter with her favorite liquor, and when she grabbed it she found the bottle half empty. Funny, but not entirely unexpected when leaving teenagers in the house alone...she'd scare the living daylights out of those boys for this later. Right now she had more important things to worry about. Sitting in one the chairs, Lin motioned for her son to sit across from her while she poured the drinks.
"My mother and I had a pattern." She said passing him a glass, "We found trouble, fought trouble, arrested trouble, went to hospital, broke out of hospital, found the nearest tavern or food cart. One day, I went to the hospital alone. Drink." She didn't give to him just to look at.
"Yea-grumm," he cleared his throat, the drink didn't do down smoothly, "Yeah, but-"
"Yeah, but what, Boy? It's not a complicated concept, life just likes to throw sucker punches," and yes sometimes it seemed like she got a few more hard knocks than everyone else, but that was beside the point, "and then you just have to get back up." What did Uncle Sokka always say?, "What doesn't kill you-"
"-Had better damn well learn to live with their feet off the ground." He recited, she rolled her eyes and snorted 'Gee, I wonder who he learned that from?'.
"Damn midget." On the other hand, "But I suppose that works too."
"Well, it kinda doesn't work for you now." Oh, when would he learn to keep his big mouth shut? He hunkered a little as she sent him the death glare.
"I can still fend for myself." First Tarrlok, now her boy, anybody else wanna tell her that she's too old and weak without her bending to do this shit anymore, "Just ask Amon's henchmen."
"They're kinda why I'm scared. I mean, they killed Zolt, what's gonna stop them from killing you too?" Well, that explained all the weird looks she got when she retold that part of her capture.
"I killed Zolt, Boy."
"But Shady Shin said-" Well, he wasn't telling the truth.
"He was lying." Her son just stared at her, almost like he would if he'd walked in to see her standing over a corpse, "What?" He'd seen her go berserk before, why was this such a shock? Probably because the boy was a hopeless optimist, and a romantic and he probably still believed all the stories he'd heard as a kid- the ones where the hero was always too noble to take the life of the villain.
"You've never killed before!" Bolin blurted out after a minute of silence. Wrong, and it looked like it was time to let the parrotcat out of the bag.
"Yes I have."
"Wha- why didn't you ever tell me?!"
"Police officers don't make it a point to go home and tell their kids that they killed a bad guy at work that day." She took a long swig and refilled their glasses, "I don't regret what I did. Zolt was still the head of a triad, he still would've hurt you or Mako if he had the chance. You're old enough now to know that even good people will kill if they have to. Drink."
"I don't want anymore." Sweet spirits, was this boy actually moping? Maybe he wasn't old enough to face reality just yet. 'No, you can't think like that, Beifong. He's too old to hold on to the childish sentiment that good guys don't kill.', "Kid, look-"
"No, no. I get it." He reassured her before abruptly getting up and storming out of the room.
"Boy! Get back here!" She called after him, chasing him up to his locked bedroom door, "Boy, open this door right now!" This was no time to turn into a thrice-damned angsty teenager, "Damn it, kid, if you don't open this door I'm gonna bend the wall down!" Or not, she only said it because of the force of habit. If she had her bending the locked door wouldn't even slow her down, and she might have felt Bolin climb out of his window and onto the roof. As it was, the thumping sound above her was enough to tip her off.
"How'd you know I was up here?" Bolin asked, hunched over and using his knees as arm rests.
"Earthbenders have heavy footsteps," that was pretty obvious, "and I swear if you jump of this roof," because with his bending he could guarantee himself a safe landing, "I will kill you."
"Guess I'd better take those threats seriously from now on, huh?" Was that attitude? Coming from Bolin? This passive-aggressive act had better not last long.
"You're asking for it." Instead of whacking him upside the head like she wanted, she chose to sit down beside him, "I'm not going to feel bad because of your pouting, Boy."
"But you kill people."
"You make me sound like a homicidal maniac." she didn't kill someone every time they broke the law. She didn't even kill a criminal every time she thought they deserved it, "In my life I've killed three people and I didn't have a choice." She stared into the distance. This wasn't an easy conversation to begin with, but it was made even more difficult by Bolin's childish innocence.
"The first was a woman named Chihiro. She and her lackeys were holding fifteen people hostage, seven of them were children. The families paid the ransom, but she didn't care. A twelve-year-old boy would've died if I hadn't wrapped a cable around her neck." and snapped it, "The second was a man named Gakuto. He had my officer, Hajime, backed into a corner. I stabbed him in the side just as he went to kill my friend." luckily the fire died down as the wound started to gush, "The flames got so close to him that they singed his bangs. As for Zolt, I killed him to protect my family. Now you can go on and spew those pacifist beliefs all you want, but each time I took a life it was because someone was going to die. I just decided that it shouldn't be the victim."
"...I guess that's one way to look at it." Well, that's how she slept at night.
"Are you done sulking now?"
"...Sure." He shrugged like she'd asked him if he wanted gooseduck for supper.
"Then let's go, Asami should be here any minute."
"Yeah, it's gonna be great having her around."
"Yes, another hormone driven teenager under my roof. Wonderful. And one more thing, you catch your brother sneaking off into her room, you better earthbend him into Yue Bay." no, it wasn't fair to ask Bolin to betray his own brother. On the other hand, this was her house and that was her bed Asami would be sleeping on, "Got it?"
"Yes, Ma'am." He saluted.
…...
Asami had come and moved her things into his mom's room. They also deciding that her definition of 'a few things' was not the same as theirs, but why had they expected anything else? After that chore was finished the three tired people had to go to Air Temple Island so the airbending brats could stampede an old woman. This was followed by an awkward hug from the pregnant woman (his mom blamed the hormones). Next came a decent meal, and finally they were forced to sleep in the guest room. That was until a glass of cold water woke Bolin and Mako up. Two sets of hands covered their mouths.
"Get up, Boys. Get dressed and be quiet." Now there was a certain tone of voice, while soft, it implied trouble and haste, and it got people moving pretty quickly.
"Korra? Asami? A little privacy?" Bolin squeaked in his boxers to the young women also in the semi dark room.
"What's going on?" Mako whispered.
"I'll explain later. Let's go." They padded down the hall to Tenzin and Pema's bedroom.
"Huh? Do they know we're coming? Because, they're married and could be doing...activities." Three sets of eyes rolled at Bolin. Though, they had to admit, he made them a little cautious. Old, Tenzin may be, but there was physical evidence of an active love life. So Lin did crack the door and listened for a second before entering the room.
"Get up, get dressed, be quiet." Lin ordered after waking them up in the same manner as before.
"What's wrong?"
"Get a bison ready. Your family's leaving right now."
"What?!" While Tenzin's voice was demanding, he still kept it low.
"I talked to that psycho every day. I get the feeling that he's been planning this for years, and he's ready to do whatever it takes. Which is why you need to leave. Right now."
"But this is our home." Pema popped in.
"And a few weeks ago, I'd say stand and fight for it. But Tenzin and your kids are the last airbenders, you all need to get as far away from here as possible." The couple looked at each other, then down at Pema's stomach.
"...Alright. I'll go get Oogi ready."
"I'll get the children." With the help of some people who weren't with child. They didn't bother waking the kids up. Lin carried Jinora, Bolin carried Ikki and Korra carried Meelo while Pema and Asami carried blankets and pillows for them to sleep on. They went outside and climbed up the bison's tail, laying their burdens in it's saddle.
"Aunt Lin," Jinora asked tiredly as Lin put a pillow under her head, "what are you doing?"
"Go back to sleep, girl." The girl didn't need much coaxing, given the unholy time of the morning it was.
"I'll take them to-"
"Don't tell me, Tenzin." Lin interrupted. He nodded to show his understanding. If Amon captured her again...well nobody can withstand torture, despite what the legends say. It's only a question of how long she'd last, "Just get them somewhere safe."
"Bye, Uncle Tenzin, Aunt Pema."
"Hold on, Boy." Lin grabbed his arm, "I want you, Mako and Asami to go with them." She sprung the news on them right then and there so they wouldn't have time to think of a lame brained scheme to get out of it.
"Why?" he shrugged her off, "We're not airbenders."
"No, you're my son, he's your brother and she's the daughter of an equalist. So you're all going."
"I'm not going." He climbed back down the animal.
"Yes. You. Are." She stalked after him in a rage.
"No. I'm. Not." Bolin argued.
"Me neither." With Mako to back him up.
"Me either." And Asami.
"You can't take us three-on-one."
"Wanna bet?"
"No, we just got the family back together. We can't split up now."
"You do what I tell you! Get back on the bison!"
"No!"
"Arrughhh!" She lost her patience and punched the ground, luckily not causing an earthquake in the process, before looking up at the airbender, "Get going, Airhead!" The teenagers silently cheered in victory before she turned back to them, "And don't come crying to me if Amon takes your bending away!"
….
Lin paced around the library as the young ones did...something. Right now she was too infuriated to care what they were doing as long as the house wasn't burning down. She didn't care that the three were grown, she didn't care that they were doing what they thought was best. They were a bunch of idiots who were going to get themselves hurt again!
"What am I doing to do with those knuckleheads?" She pondered as she finally stopped to sit in her favorite chair. And as she calmed down she realized it was quiet in the house...too quiet. Experience as a parent taught her that silence was suspicious, "And just what the hell do you two think you are doing?!"
"Sorry Lin!" Asami quickly apologized for making out with her boyfriend in the sitting room. Mako just had the bulldeer in the spotlight look. Really, the first night (morning, technically) here and she was already having to hose them down. She thought they'd have the common sense to wait until she wasn't there.
"And where is Bolin?" These two could only partially be held responsible. They were only young and lovesick, which was why she'd told Bolin to keep an eye on them.
"He had something to do in his room."
"Like what, hide from you two?" She sneered as she headed for the steps and towards the boys' room, "Boy, I thought-and what are you doing?" Lin opened the door to find Bolin stuffing something into an obvious hiding place.
"Mom! Um, nothing!" He dropped his mattress down on top of it.
"What is it, Boy?"
"L-like I said, it's nothing."
"Then you won't mind me taking a look." She pushed him away from his bed, lifted the mattress off the floor and...'typical, some mothers find dirty pictures under their son's bed, I find this.'.
"I have an explanation." Bolin said meekly as he slid in and snatched one of the newspapers, the one with the family hug on the front page.
"I'm dying to hear it." Her officers would be teasing her until the day she died about how cuddly and motherly she looked, and her own son was hording a copy underneath his mattress. That damn picture should cross a firebender's path and burn.
"Well, it's like this. Bye!" He took off running with his mom hot on his heals. Down the stairs and around the sitting room, she chased him.
"Boy, give it here!"
"No!" He shouted without turning his head, "This is proof that you love me and I'm keeping it!"
"I'm gonna feed you to the wolfbats!" THUMP, THUMP, THUMP. STOMP. CRASH. THUD.
"Just a little Beifong affection." Mako shrugged.
"Some things never change." Asami smiled, it was good to be home.