Lin was blindfolded and gagged, and scared. The boat rocked slightly as the water moved beneath it. Two men were having quite the time punching her in the gut at the moment. She didn't know why they were doing this to her. All she knew was that first, she'd been kidnapped. Second, and she didn't know how she knew this for certain, the worst was yet to come.
"I got something for her." One of Yakone's henchman said viciously, bringing water up from the river, sharpening the edge and slashing it from the bottom of the jaw on right side of her face to inch or two below her eye. She finally screamed as it cut her gag. They didn't care if they were being honest, no one was around for miles and it was a good sound to their ears."One for Arketah, because your father killed him." He made another slash, "One for Makya, because you killed him."
"One for Taro." Suddenly she was standing in the boat with Su bound and gagged on her knees. Her eyes were visible, though, and they showed her fear clear as day. She couldn't do this to the kid, she tried to will herself to stop, to help her little sister. Instead, she took her cable and took a horizontal slice out of Su's face. "One for Osamu," Another cut, "one for Daiki."And another cut.
"Stop!" Lin bolted upright in her bed, "Damn dreams." She groaned as the panic slowly faded. Forty-three years, and she still had nightmares about the day Yakone's men broke him out and give her the two scars...one for each criminal that died. A few more deep breaths, that nightmare may not top the one that started with her father's death and ended with Bolin's, but it was still pretty unsettling.
Lin knew from her mother that the cuts she put on Su's face with a rock that night had scarred, but up until this moment she could shrug it off. It had been an accident, and it was a lot less than the traitorous brat deserved. But this made her wonder...had Su felt the same way she'd felt when she'd gotten her own set of scars? Was she the monster in Su's dreams?
A loud ring in the darkness brought that train of thought to a screeching halt, and Lin was never so happy for the detraction. Grabbing the phone on the bedside table she offered the traditional greeting before she heard Bolin's slightly panicked voice ask her,
"You haven't seen Mako, by any chance, have you? He should've been home two hours ago." So, the fire breather hadn't come home after his shift. And as with any overprotective parent, Lin's mind immediately jumped to the worst possible explanation, the Triple Threats. They were probably still holding on to that old grudge against her and the boys, but one would think that after she beat Lighting Bolt Zolt to death, they'd take the hint to stay away from them. First thing, though, before she formed a search party and/or assault team against the triad, she needed to make sure that the kid was actually missing.
"You call Headquarters?" Just to make sure that the idiot wasn't trying to pull a triple shift.
"Yeah, they said he left at midnight and I called Asami, he isn't there either." Damn that kid. She knew she shouldn't have let Mako pull double shifts. Looks like she was putting the uniform on today after all, "I don't know where else he'd be."
"I'm heading to the station." She pulled herself up off her mattress, rubbing her eyes as she went. This couldn't be happening to her, not again. If there was any mercy in life, this would all be a simple misunderstanding. As soon as her feet hit the floor, her wish was fulfilled. She sensed another person in the house and breathed a sigh of relief, Mako was sleeping in the sitting room. He was safe, "Never mind, Boy, he's crashing here, apparently."
"...Okay. So...sorry for waking you, and I'll see you later. And tell that man to call next time!"
"I will, and don't worry about it." she was just glad the kid was in one piece. He may get a smack on the back of the head for not letting his brother know where he was, but a bump on the head wasn't a serious injury. "Go back to bed, Boy."
"You too."
"Don't order me around."
"Yes, chief." The chief could practically hear him salute as she hung up on him. No, there would be no more sleep for her, not after two adrenaline rushes. So, she might as well get her day started. First, there was broken glass that needed to be cleaned up in the kitchen. Second, there were rocks in the yard that needed to be thrown. And then, there was a rookie who's ass needed to be kicked, of course the second and third items on her list of things to do today could be combined to save time. Making her way down the stairs to the first destination, the telephone rang again.
"Couldn't that boy just go back to sleep?" she grumbled to herself, going back up the stairs to pick up the receiver a second time, "Chief Beifong."
"Lin?" It was Asami this time, "Have you seen Mako? Bolin called and said he wasn't there. He was supposed to come here after his shift ended, but he never showed up."
"He's over here, and why the hell would he be coming over to your house at one in the morning?" And the answer had better be a good one.
"..." Thoughtful silence, very encouraging, "Just for a minute to get a kiss goodnight?"
"That better be all he was going to get! And it better be all he's ever going to get from you!" This time, she slammed the receiver down. Damn teenagers, it should be legal to lock them all up in jail until they turned thirty.
"Hey, Lin?" Well, there was number three, fresh up off the couch. It was funny, when the kids moved out, she honestly thought they'd stop annoying her at hellish hours of the morning. What a fool she'd been.
"Now what do you, want? The telephone to make a couple calls to the people you should've called last night when you got off work?" She raised an eyebrow as he looked like a scolded pup, "What are you doing here, anyway?"
"Well," he looked at the ceiling nervously, "You're pretty close to headquarters, and I didn't know how far my motorcycle was going to make it."
"When did you get a motorcycle?" Someone needed to explain to her why she was out in the rain, at two-thirty in the morning, looking at a junk pile pretending to be a motorized vehicle.
"They said if I can fix it, I can have it and use it on by shift." He showed her the work-in-progress, and told her of what few, many, little things were wrong with it. She could see what was coming a mile away and she didn't like it one bit.
"But you don't know anything about it." Which, of course, was why he was bringing it to her, so she could do all the work and he could have a new toy on his patrols.
"Not really..." he said while he avoided eye contact, "Do you think you could take a look at it?" They were standing there, getting soaked, waiting for her to say something. Could she look at it? Yes. Did she want to? No. But when was the last time Mako asked her for anything? To be honest, Lin couldn't remember him ever asking for a single thing. And it might be easier on him if he could spend at least some of his shift off of his feet.
"It's junk, but bring it inside." She turned to go back in, "I might be able to use it for scrap metal."
"Alright?" He followed her, but was somewhat confused, how was he going to get a motorcycle up her steps and into her sitting room, "Uh..." the sound of earthbending was heard and the steps molded themselves into a ramp, "got it." Up and in they went.
"Clean up this water." While she fetched her tools from her work, formerly the boys', room. Well, she had thought he'd grab a couple towels or a mop, but his firebending worked fine too, as long as he was smart about it. "You'd better not burn anything." Like he had last time.
"Don't worry, I'm being careful." He assured her, not that she felt as confident about it as he did.
"Whatever." She didn't feel like having a discussion on the fundamentals of water control at the moment anyway. Turning on the engine to listen for any clues, she had but one thing to say, "Damn, this is a piece of junk." there were a lot of parts to be mended, or replaced. Good thing she had the day off, it'd take her that long. "You probably just saved them a towing bill."
"So there's nothing you can do?"
"This whole thing's gonna have to be torn apart, but I can get it back in shape." There was one problem that she couldn't fix, a cosmetic one, "But you'll have to have someone else put a coat of paint on it. Maybe take it to the girl, she's pretty good with that stuff." A pause, usually a good indicator that something wasn't right in Mako's little world, "That a problem, Kid?"
"Umm, no. It's fine." Gee, could that be a lie by any chance?, "Hey Lin, do you mind if I ask you something?" 'Oh spirits,' she said silently, 'I've just been dragged down memory lane, I'm tired and I'm a little hungover...don't tell me that this teenaged knucklehead is gonna come to me with relationship troubles.' Against her better judgment, she told him to go ahead and ask, "When did you know that it was over with Tenzin?" 'I hate every damn one of you for this.' She focused on the work in front of her.
"When he told me he was leaving me." Lin grunted.
"...okay. But you two had been growing apart for awhile, right?" Well, she hadn't thought so at the time. She had, begrudgingly, agreed to have kids and live on the island for the sole purpose of not losing Tenzin. A few months later he was breaking it off, telling her how she was always working and he never saw her anymore. So maybe she wanted to get as much work done as she could before she became a caged broodmare on Air Temple Island.
"According to the airhead." It was a better explanation, she didn't want to talk about old feelings, especially with a kid.
"I think me and Asami are growing apart too." Mako said reluctantly, "I mean she's great, I love her and I don't want to hurt her, but we don't spend that much time together anymore." And this was when the moonlighting mechanic turned away from her work to give him an annoyed glare,
"And why are you telling me this?" Damn, this idiot was going to be just as timid and indecisive as the airhead, wasn't he?
"Because I'd like a little advice!"
"What do you want me to tell you, Kid? That life will never get in the way, and neither of you will ever have to work unfair hours and be apart for more than an hour?" Sweet notions, but life loved to get in the way and screw people over. She was living proof of that.
"I know that, but-"
"Got some news for you, Mako." she wasn't even going to let him finish that dumb sentence, "Relationships aren't just sunshine and rainbows. You're gonna hit rough patches, you'll piss each other off and you're gonna confuse the hell outta each other. Sometimes you'll want to kill each other but you won't because it's murder and you'll go to prison, that and you'd miss the other too damn much. It takes work, Kid. But for reasons I can not fathom, Asami loves you too, so get with her and work it out."
"..." Did he hear her wrong, did she stutter or was this just over his head?
"Just, go sleep in my bed, Kid." she waved him off, "You've got another shift in a few hours."
"You'll do fine." Asami told her best friend as she grabbed him by the arm and dragged him off the ferry's gangplank, holding steady as he fought against her, "Come on, Bo, you'll thank me for this later."
"I'm gonna thank you for letting me make an ass of myself again?!" As an expert on himself, he could safely say that he was not going to be thankful for this barbaric treatment, ever. "No, Asami, don't make me do this! Please!"
"Come on, Bo, you can do this!" Her pep talk was not working, her soft assurances hadn't worked either. Something here had to give, or all hope would be lost.
"I should've never have told you!" He tried to lean over, maybe she'd stop if they both fell off the dock into the ocean, and if he got really lucky he'd drown before the diabolical woman could carry out her dastardly plan.
"You didn't, I guessed." Asami's suspicions had been confirmed when they were eating dinner and she suggested a double date with him and Korra. Bolin had nearly choked on his food and started stammering on about how she was 'just a friend' and 'he didn't think of her that way' as well as other such tell-tale coverups.
"Well, quit being such a good guesser-ouch!" He continued to pull, not knowing that Asami was going to spin around to look him in the eye and tell him how ridiculous he was acting. This made them both fall. Now she was on top of him, but instead of apologizing, getting off him and forgetting the whole thing, she used moved into a holder position. Now Bolin was really trapped.
"Quit worrying. Korra really likes you."
"No she doesn't, not that way! I'm just the goofy friend to her. I gotta face facts, I screwed up any chance I had of her going out with me so let me go wallow in self pity and takeout noddles."
"Hey guys!" A friend of theirs called from a little ways off.
"Korra!" They shouted simultaneously, one from excitement, one from dread.
"Asami, please don't say anything!" he pleaded in a frantic whisper for his pride, "Remember when your father always paid me to chaperon your dates instead of a governess, and I always left you alone when you asked? Well, I'm calling in the favor, don't embarrass me."
"Hey, what are you guys doing?" The avatar asked as she made her way up to them.
"Oh, we're just having a little...debate." Asami lied, finally letting Bolin up, and dusting herself off, "Do you think you could settle it for us?"
"Uh, sure."
"You see there's a girl Bolin wants to ask out," the fore mentioned wanted for a tidal wave to appear and smash him against the rocks right then and there, "but he doesn't know how. So, how would you like for someone to ask you out? Oh, and where would you want to go out for a date?"
"You don't have to answer that!" Bolin waved his arms back and forth, "Just because Asami here-", He gave her a dirty look, which she returned with a rare, and childish, protruding tongue, "thinks I need a date."
"No, it's okay." Korra said, but without the enthusiasm of someone helping out a friend in need, "I guess if it were me, I'd like a guy to just ask, you know? And I don't know where we'd go, I haven't got to see much of the city. At least when I wasn't chasing Amon."
"You see, Bolin. Girls like it when you come out and ask them." She nudged him with her elbow. He took a deep breath.
"Okay, I'll do that." 'It's now or never, Bo. Just say you'd like to show her around the city or something. Yeah, that'll work!'.
"Well, I think I hear Jinora calling me." Korra looked away as if she'd heard something, but if she had, she was the only one who'd heard it, "I promised to meditate with her before dinner. I'll see you guys later."
"But..." Bolin slumped and Asami smacked her forehead as Korra's back got further and further away, "I blew it again, didn't I?" She patted his back compassionately.
"Maybe next time."