"Okay, okay," Bumi held up his hands as the laughter continued. This week's dinner had been slaphappy from the start, the cause probably being Mako's long awaited return. Apparently, once you took extra hours in the police force, it was hard to give them up. The overworked firebender had been trying to get back down to one shift, at least a couple of days of the week, for the better part of a month. But it'd finally happened. Tenzin and Lin were working late with the council, but even though the family wasn't quite complete, everyone was in the mood for joyful stories."I got one since the alpha badgermole isn't here."
"Oh, this has to be good." Bolin was always ready for a funny story that couldn't be told when the alpha wasn't there to hit anyone.
"Let's hear it." Asami smiled, leaning on her boyfriend as they settled in for a story.
"Alright, so picture it. Young Lin Beifong, still married to her late husband, boasts and brags about this guy who wet his pants and fainted when her team came bursting through the windows. Well I manage to con the woman into making a bet with me that 'she'd never faint from anything other that blood loss'. If she ever fainted, she had to be my personal bodyguard during every shore leave for two years. Every two years she went without fainting, I had to do whatever she wanted during half my shore leaves during the third year. Obviously, I couldn't afford to lose, but I had my work cut out for me."
"I'll say." Pema cut in. Meelo's face transformed into an large, evil grin.
"How'd ya get her, Uncle Bumi?" He asked with full confidence.
"Well, I used the old noggin and thought to myself, 'Bumi, my boy, what could scare Lin Beifong'. And I thought, and I thought, and then it hit me like a forty pound boulder...children!" he pounded the table for good measure, "Children scare Lin Beifong."
"We do?" Ikki asked with a cocked head, "Why is she afraid of us? Is she afraid we'll bite her kneecaps off?"
"We can scare her!" The eldest son cheered, "Yeah! She's not scared of crooks, but she's scared of us!"
"That was back in the day, Meelo." Mako shook his head, "Don't push your luck with Lin."
"So one day Lin was at the hospital for some kinda small injury, and I pay off the nurse. They were walking out to the lobby when she informed Lin that she was pregnant...she fainted! Ju-" he had to stop because of the roaring laughter, "Just like that. Lights out. Th-," he held his sides, then he wiped a tear away before continuing, "The best part is, that as she was falling towards the floor, some charmer decided to catch her. Well, she wakes up in the arms of a stranger and he says, 'swooning over me?'"
"Oh, no." there was a collective gasp from the table, everyone, even then the small children, knew where this was going.
"Lucky they were in the hospital so the healers could fix his broken nose! Toph feels everything from the other side of the room, laughs and says 'Yep, that's my girl."
"Okay, real or not," Bolin laughed, holding his sides just like Bumi had, "that was a good one!"
"Hey, it's completely true!" Bumi defended himself, "Have a little trust in your old uncle."
"Oh, come on, Uncle Bumi," Mako joined his brother's side of the argument, "Who'd be stupid enough to try that on Lin?"
"She was just wearing an undershirt. Never underestimate the power of the white tank top, Mako. People see her in that and caution goes to the wind."
"Well, that is true." The omega badgermole switched sides, "Right, Asami?" he nudged her with his elbow with an impish smirk. She nudged him right back, but much harder, "Ow! Hey it's not my fault you had a crush on my mom!"
"You had a crush on Beifong?! When?" Korra's jaw dropped, she couldn't believe anyone would have a crush on that grouchy woman, "And why?". Meanwhile, the children just looked confused, like they didn't realize their aunt Lin could be found attractive. She was an aunt, and aunts were just aunts, nothing more, nothing less. Mako stiffened up in a short of shock,
"My brother's mom?!" Had he heard that right? No, there was no way his girlfriend had a crush on his brother's mom, they must have meant Baako or Banu. Wasn't the tall, brown haired maid named Banu? That had to be it.
"It wasn't a crush." she insisted evenly, "I just admitted that I thought she was pretty when she smiled."
"It was a crush." Bolin called her on her lie.
"It was not!"
"In her defense," Bolin decided to have mercy, "it wasn't like a huge crush. She didn't write down 'I love Lin' all over her journal or anything. And I don't remember it lasting a month." They believed him, Asami could tell. And now nothing she said would change their minds.
"You told me you'd let me forget about it." She almost whined. Fine, she had a little crush on Lin when she was younger, but thankfully she grew out of it. The whole thing was embarrassing and a little uncomfortable to look back on, now that the same woman was like a stepmom to her. And just when she almost forgot about it, something or someone would remind her.
"I'm only bringing up because it supports Uncle Bumi's theory." He told her before addressing the table, "You should never underestimate the power of the undershirt, because I can pinpoint the exact moment Asami developed a crush on mom. It was when mom smiled while wearing a white tank top...after a grueling training session." he patted his friend's arm, "Don't worry, your self-defense instructor was staring at her, too." he wiggled his eyebrows at the family suggestively, "They both like them some nice muscle tone." he flexed his muscles for show.
"Oh she was just appreciating the scenery, right Asami?" The crazy uncle laughed.
"I was twelve!" She had just hit puberty, and Lin was beautiful, and she was lucky she'd only been a kid or she would have been 'invited to train' right along with Sifu Ling. It looked like it hurt.
"Quit teasing her, Bumi." Pema stepped in to help Asami, "It's actually pretty sweet." The girl in question smiled gratefully, but her blush darkened.
"Wait a second." Mako said out of the blue as shook his head, finally coming out of his daze, "You two told me once that you tried to set her up with your father." He hadn't meant to open a wound, and Asami knew that, but it didn't stop her from looking downwards. Bolin decided to cover for her.
"We did. That was two years later, by then Asami was looking back on the pretty white tank top which showed the nice muscles, and the pretty smile, and fondly saying 'eewww'." Now Asami was hiding her face in her hands. They would never, ever, going to let her live this down.
"This needs to be done." Lin, the city council, and the two presidential candidates were in city hall trying to sort out the matter of Noatak's, otherwise known as Amon, trial. The people were getting restless concerning him, and his punishment, and it could very quickly escalate into a huge problem. The trial wasn't to be held for another week, but for safety's sake, Lin wanted a closed trial, tomorrow.
"This terrorist's trial must be made public." one of the candidates, the Water Tribe descendant said, oh so valiantly, "To show everyone that justice will be served." If it was justice he wanted, she could give it. All she had go do was walk into Noaktak's cell and put her blade through his heart. Justice served.
"I agree," the Earth Kingdom descendant said with the same vigor, "we can't hide in the shadows. The people must know that we will punish those who hurt them." And this way they could both publicly look like heroic leaders.
"I'm not going to risk a riot so you two can fight over the publicity." Lin barked, "A lot of people want him dead now, including most of my officers." Including her. If the citizens did decide that they couldn't wait any longer and made a run on the building, there was only a handful of officers she could think of that would actually defend it. They wouldn't be enough to hold it against a mob, and she wasn't about to sacrifice good people to save that monster.
"You can't control your own officers?" Raiko was going to be a pain in her ass if he was elected. She made a mental note to vote for the other guy.
"Many of our police officers were imprisoned, depowered, wounded, or lost their friends in the Equalist Movement." The Fire Nation Representative came to her defense, not that she'd asked for any help, "We can't blame any of them for wishing death upon the man responsible."
"I can't guarantee the safety of anyone in that courtroom, it needs to be closed." Lin said to end the argument. A public trial couldn't happen, it was just too dangerous.
"Can we legally move up the trial?" The Air Nation Representative asked, willing to do anything to avoid unnecessary violence, if at all possible.
"We can," one of his co-workers, from the Southern Water Tribe, answered,
"And it may be for the best." Another one agreed. The third and forth nodded their consent.
"Can we get all the witnesses in by tomorrow afternoon?"
"I'll send my officers to escort them." They weren't going to like being dragged off to court without warning, but it was necessary for everyone.
"The public has a right to know."
"We can have the trial published word for word in a special edition paper, but we have to think about the safety of our citizens. Noatak's trial will be closed to the general public, and will be held tomorrow afternoon at one o'clock." The meeting was adjourned with the sound of a gavel. Lin headed back to her office, there was so much to get done and not a lot of time. Tenzin joined her a bit later to go over the security measures, and brought take out food with him. She took her portion and went back to the large map city map that covered her desk, and the smaller blueprint of the Court House laid in the corner.
"I'll have the witnesses brought in through this side entrance. Then we'll bring Noatak along this route," she traced it with her free hand, "and bring him in through the back entrance. I'll have officers stationed here," she pointed, "here, and here. And at every hallway. Every fifth officer will have a radio, and headquarters will be on alert. With any luck, no one will know what's going on before it's over."
"Spirits willing." Tenzin nodded as a knock was heard at the door. That must be the kids, she'd told her secretary to call them and have them come in as soon as dinner was over. Just in case it wasn't them, Lin flipped the map over on itself and set her food on top of the papers before snapping the lock open.
"Enter." She was glad she followed her instincts, the pain in the ass candidate came in with a crazy-looking Water Tribe man.
"Councilman Tenzin. Chief Beifong." He greeted before turning to the man at his side, "This is Varrick."
"Councilman Tenzin. Chief Beifong. Great to meet the both of you, heard a lot of things about you both." He grinned and put a hand up to his mouth, blocking Raiko's view, "Don't worry, I don't believe a word of it. Zhu Li! Bring in the thing!" A short woman heaved in a heavy piece of equipment. Lin and Tenzin looked at each other and frowned, neither had any idea what that strange looking machine was and neither cared. They were a little busy at the moment.
"What is this?" Tenzin couldn't help but ask with a raised eyebrow.
"This beauty can really capture the moment! It takes moving pictures of people and plays them in order so it's like watching a play! But a zillion times better!" He stretched his arms upwards as if that would emphases his point. Hei Bai give her patience.
"What is it doing here?" she growled. She didn't care what the hell that thing was, she wanted it out of her office, now.
"Since you insist on having a closed trial, we'll film it with Varrick's machine-"
"Then after the trial tomorrow, everyone will get to see everything!" he rubbed his chin, "After they pay, of course. The proceeds alone are mind boggling!" Dead silence. Followed very shortly by a very loud,
"What are you thinking, telling him?!" Lin roared. Slamming her office door behind the assistant and getting in Raiko's personal space, "The point of having the trial tomorrow is so that no one knows about it!" she seethed just quietly enough for the sound to not escape the room. This man couldn't become her president, she would kill him within a week. He may not survive the night to even try for it.
"Don't worry, Chief." The madman risked his life by throwing an arm around her shoulder, and fell to the ground when she pushed him away, "I can keep a secret." He grinned as he rose from the floor with no effort of his own, just his assistant pushing him back up. The little woman was stronger than she looked.
"You'd better, or I'll throw you in-"A knock stopped her, "Who is it?!" she was in the middle of a threat!
"It's us, Mom." That boy always did have a habit of interrupting her meetings.
"Get in here." Four teenagers entered the room hesitantly, her voice alerting them to the anger and tension that awaited them in there.
"Why don't we discuss this at the council meeting tomorrow morning?" Tenzin made an effort to settle the matter with Raiko and Varrick while Lin's attention was not on them.
"I think that's a good idea, Councilman Tenzin."
"It's not gonna be too early is it?" Varrick slumped, "Because I floss my teeth at ten and then Zhu Li cleans my toes at ten thirty and-" Lin growled, and he cringed, "On second thought...the earlier, the better! Zhu Li, bring the thing!" He strutted out like a peacockfox with his assistant behind him, leaving Lin to give the death glare to the Water Tribe candidate.
"I will see you both tomorrow. Councilman, Chief."
"I will be heading home myself, if you don't need me." Tenzin took this chance to leave and Lin nodded for him to get out of there, she didn't need him to hold her hand while she worked. He bid everyone a goodnight and followed the others out. After the door shut she turned her glare to the four teens,
"Alright." They snapped to attention as she addressed them, "Noatak's trial's been moved to tomorrow at one o'clock." She got a series of 'what', 'why's and 'how come's. But she held up a hand to silence them. "The council and I think it's too dangerous to have a public trial, and were trying to avoid a riot. So keep this quiet. Come here, all of you." She removed her food from the map and set the blueprints in front of them, "Mako, Bolin, you'll both be with me on security inside the courtroom here." that caused some curious stares to come her way. She was assigning Bolin to a security team? Yes, that had to raise a red flag, "Asami, I want you to sit as close as you can to us, do you understand?"
"Sure, Lin."
"Mako, take off your glove, let me take a look at your blade." She knew she was probably scaring the kids a little, but she was worried herself. These four had to be at the trial, they were some of the star witnesses, and she wanted to make damn sure that they were prepared. Which was why Bolin was on security, so he would have every excuse to be armed to the teeth.
"Okay?" Mako held out his left arm, touched his thumb to his little finger and a blade extended out of his arm guard. She put a hand on each side to check it's stability, and ran her fingers along it's edges to sharpen the blade. Then she told him to retract it so she could get a look at the tiny cable and pulley system that triggered the weapon. After everything passed her inspection, she let him put his glove back on.
"Girl." She walked around her desk and got two items out of her desk, "Come here." The girl only looked at her with wide eyes, "Come here." she repeated. When Asami finally obeyed, Lin rolled up her sleeve and attached an arm guard onto her.
"You kept the blades I made you? Why would you keep them?" Why wouldn't she? True, she'd never got to use them when Amon took her bending, but you never know when something like a pair of blades that require no metalbending will be useful. And only four months after Amon's defeat, she had use for them, "They're not made to fit me."
"We're close to the same size." Lin said simply, placing a ring with a tiny cable attached to Asami's thumb, another to her little finger, and resized them to fit. Then she closed her eyes, felt the weapon with seismic sense and adjusted the tension on the inner pulley system to match the younger woman's arm, "Try it out." Asami touched her finger to her thumb and the blade extended exactly as it should. She repeated the motion, and it retracted. Next Lin checked and sharpened the blade, then the entire process was repeated with the other arm and arm guard, "You'll wear these tomorrow, and wear gloves to cover the trigger."
"Doesn't she need a permit for that?" Bolin asked the group, who all turned to give him a look that shut him up. Asami, though, was obviously trying to hide a touch of nervousness about the idea.
"I'll make sure security doesn't check you." She offered a slight comfort.
"Lin, you think there'll really be trouble at the trial?" Mako asked, wanting to know what put Lin into protective mom mode.
"I think a lot of people want Noatak dead and will plow through innocent people to get to him." She answered before straightening up like a general addressing her troops, "Tomorrow, if anything happens, Mako, Bolin, Asami, I want you three to do nothing to stop the assult. Boys, I want you to get the judge, jury and witnesses out of harms way as fast as possible. Asami, you help them. Avatar, you and I will protect Noatak and Tarrlok. Don't give me that look, kid," she sneered at Korra's disgusted gaze, "you think it's my dream job to protect those bastards? Now," she drew their attention back to the blueprints, "We need to go over emergency routes." They spent the next three hours going over every hallway they could take the innocent people into, every exit they could take them out through, every plan and backup plan, and finally she sent them home to get a good night's sleep.