As dawn broke, the sky wept in shades of gray, a mournful canvas stretching across the horizon. The sun, a lone beacon in the gloom, hung low, its light dulled by the encroaching shadows. The air was heavy with the scent of rain, a prelude to the storm yet to come.
A hospital stood stark against the backdrop, its sterile white walls contrasting the somber sky. Inside, they all gathered, their faces drawn with the weight of their shared burden and shock.
The hospital's sterile silence was shattered by their hushed whispers, each word carrying the weight of their unspoken fears and hopes, and the day had begun, a day that would etch itself into their memories, bringing them closer together or tearing them apart.
There lies Chief Beifong, her once formidable aura now subdued in the sterile hospital room. Attached to ventilators, her weakened body tells a story of immense anguish and pain. Nearly every bone broken, bruises covering her skin, and the possibility of frostbite, she rests in a coma, her breathing shallow and the water in her lungs a cruel reminder of her destructive winter dive.
This tragic event has left everyone around her in a state of shock and sadness. The machine lulled softly, letting everyone know that she was somehow still alive, but nobody knew why she would do this. It was out of nowhere.
They sat around her bedside, watching her breath. The wheeze caused concern to Kya, who had been trying to get it all out before Lin got pneumonia on top of everything else. Nobody was able to find a word to say; it was terrifying.
Lin Beifong, the Chief of Police and eldest daughter of Toph Beifong, the greatest earth bender alive and inventor of metal bending, attempted suicide in the late hours of the night to early morning.
Mako arrived with his brother, inhaling sharply at her, looking so small and fragile. Bolin struggled to hold back a tear as his girlfriend entered his thoughts.
Korra wondered why Lin would do something like this as Asami held her silently. Nobody could handle looking over at Tenzin, only knowing his older brother had to hold him.
Kya wrote notes with desperation, trying to keep her emotions in check. If Lin survived these injuries, there was still a chance that the metal bender would be unconscious for a long time and would need rehabilitation to speak again. It was not even considering that she would have to relearn walking. There had to be an explanation in Kya's mind; there was no way she would do this to herself.
The room stayed silent beside Kya's scrawling until the sun revealed itself, poking through the blinds of her room. Lights and shadows illuminated over the Chief's bed. Kya's pen click alerted the room that she had completed her notes. She softly told them she had to speak with them in her office. Kya called a nurse to watch Lin and left with the group.
—-
They sat stiffly in a large meeting room with snacks, not that anyone was in an eating mood. Kya got straight to the point, not wanting to be away from Lin for too long.
"Have any of you noticed any behavior changes in Lin?" Kya asked softly as she pulled out a sheet of paper. It was psyche intake paperwork. Kya was anxiously awaiting a call from her mother. She needed her help.
"She seemed she was okay when we spoke last," Tenzin remembered how they had laid in bed, her eyes searching for something.
That was when he kissed her, and they were intimate, but it wasn't the same. Fresh regret washed over him; something was wrong, and he didn't ask. Tenzin's eyes were downcast as he replayed the last few conversations with Lin.
"There has to be something else," Tenzin said finally.
"The Chief has been getting a lot of nasty press lately," Bolin offered.
"She hasn't had positive press since the Air Temple Island gate. Don't think it's that either, Bo," Bumi said gently.
"Maybe it was an accident." Asami tried. "One too many late nights, lack of sleep."
They looked over to Mako, the one person who saw her every day—staring at her door, listening to the sound of her machine with his unreal hearing.
"Asami has a point, but I don't think that's what happened. She's been getting a lot of mail. Maybe this is related to a case. Maybe it sent her over the edge. But we will be investigating this thoroughly." Mako said firmly, knowing his boss; she probably would live given she was cat-like with the amount of things that should have killed her.
"We should retrace her steps, maybe do a toxicology report. To see if Asami's theory holds up." Kya said, writing on a spare notepad.
Mako walked into Lin's home with the air master himself. They both took a sharp inhale. It was unlike its normal pristine condition.
The furniture was toppled, the walls were covered in alcohol splatter, and there was broken glass and remnants of a bottle lying on the floor. There were empty sake cans littered with other trash. The smell of booze was overpowering. Clearly, someone had been partying hard, and they had left a trail of destruction in their wake.
The couch was stained with what Mako assumed was vomit, and there were cigarette butts on the carpet. The whole place looked like it had been through a war zone. Tenzin worried, knowing Lin had drinking problems, but she had stopped drinking and smoking for a few months now.
That was when they caught a glimpse of the sofa table. There were drugs scattered all over it.
Tenzin and Mako looked over at each other. There had to be an explanation.
"Maybe someone staged it to look like a suicide," Tenzin said, not believing what was in front of his eyes.
"Or, she ended up having a binge, a meltdown," Mako said. His eyes fell on the bottles. They were the Chief's favorites; he knew Lin had hang-ups. The residue of illicit substances was shocking.
"She will hate this, but after we check it out, I think we will need a few crime scene guys to sweep the place," Tenzin said, grimacing. He didn't want to believe this was happening.
"And ask if the neighbors heard anything," Tenzin said, looking over to the shattered lamp.
They heard a crunch and a door closed.
"Is it true?" It was Saikan. The two men looked over at the third as he entered the scene. Saikan's face contorted with disgust at the scent.
"Lin is in the hospital. We're investigating the situation, sir," Mako said, looking into the older man's eyes. They were saddened by the situation.
Tenzin's eyes fell on a spare robe he had left the last time he was with Lin. He wondered if he should hide it. The implications might bite him. The air master decided not to bother. Bigger things were at stake, and he was guilty of infidelity but nothing more.
"So we're retracing her steps. I brought something that might be noteworthy, but I'm not sure. It was curious that she gave this to me days ago," Saikan said as they stood in her bedroom, looking for clues or notes. Everything else seemed to be in order.
Tenzin felt relieved that her room was clean, but he walked over to her bed, where he saw some photos and a key. Tenzin immediately recognized the key and the threatening note that seemed to be blackmail from a triad.
If you don't release Fang, your filthy little habit will be on the paper's front page.
Saikan and Tenzin frowned. Lin going to triads for substances sounded like a work of fiction. On the other hand, the photos seemed to be of Lin posing in a studio, and there were a couple of pictures of Tenzin in their early teens.
"Did the Chief model in her youth?" Mako asked, holding one of the photos up. He was taken aback by the sweet smile of a young Lin Beifong. Saikan noted she probably never had an ugly phase.
Tenzin stared at the photos of them, and a tear fell. They had gotten the image taken by a friend of his uncle. Before he left her to focus on getting his tattoos, he obsessed about mastering air bending at the same age as his father and broke up with her, hoping it would help.
"I broke her heart after this photo. I-" Tenzin's voice cracked. He looked down at the key. "I dread seeing what she kept in the attic. This was my fault." Mako and Saikan decided not to comment.
"Have you opened the box?" Mako asked a stumped Saikan. The captain never was the best detective.
"I haven't opened it, but we should," Saikan said.
Katara looked over at Kya and Asami, "I did the tox screening, but we will wait on that. Have you notified Su?"
"Yes, Opal, as well. I believe she went to retrieve her mother in Zaofu," Asami said as Korra and Bolin came back to the large room with tea.
"Good. I have to get back to Lin. If she survives the next few hours, we can count on her surviving her injuries. Hopefully, get an explanation." Katara said. She looked at the kids, hoping this was unrelated to her personal failure. The elderly woman wished she could speak to Aang. She knew Lin. If she really did this to herself, the earthbender fully expected to die.
"I'll help you, mother," Kya said, not liking how evasive her mother was to her many questions.