A/N: Thank you to Black Dragon Master, Sharpe, MasterKriebel, IrishDreamer4, Lightbrightfury, AsahixMe, devilfiredog18, Aquamirra, and CrazyPhenom for reviewing!

26. As long as you can call my name I'll be there to save the day

Lin calls him into her office.

Bewildered, he exchanges a glance with Minsu before responding to the summons.

"Take a seat, Mako," she says as she flips through a thin sheaf of papers in her hand.

He sits, warily taking note of the various files and folders scattered across her desk. "Chief?"

Lin peers at him with an inscrutable expression. "You've been back at work for about six months now. How's it been?"

"It's been good, Chief." He pauses, then adds, "I've been good."

"Hmph. What makes you say so?"

He isn't sure what to make of this line of questioning, but he dutifully takes a moment to think. When he opens his mouth, it's to ask a question of his own.

"Chief, do you know why I became a cop?"

Lin raises an eyebrow. "You mean it wasn't for the fantastic pay or the regular working hours?"

He chuckles, interpreting her dry humour as an invitation to continue. "I'll admit it, the starting pay was crap — but it was steadier than pro-bending. And after taking down Amon and liberating Republic City from the Equalist movement, I wanted to do something meaningful. I wanted to help, the way Korra does. And…" He hesitates, but goes on, quietly, "I wanted to prevent other kids from ending up like me."

Lin's eyebrow rises higher; her eyes express brief surprise tempered with curiosity. "What do you mean?"

He sighs. "I never told you how my parents died."

"I assumed it was some sort of accident." Lin's tone indicates that she now knows that was not the case. She looks almost apprehensive about what she's going to learn next.

"They were mugged," he says, as dispassionately as he can (staring at the desk helps). "Firebender — one of the Agni Kais, probably. Mom tried, but…she wasn't a match for him. He killed them both, and I couldn't do anything."

Lin startles at that. "Hold on — you were there?"

He nods. Lin swears.

"Damn, kid. I'm sorry. No wonder you had such a chip on your shoulder."

"Anyway," he continues, eager to move past the painful recollection, "you know the rest of my story. Out on the streets, triad exploitation, struggling to survive. For a long time I didn't care about anyone except me and Bolin. Couldn't afford to. Then Korra came along, and I somehow ended up helping her, and we helped save the city — and it got me thinking that maybe I could do…more. Keep someone else from losing their parents or ending up on the streets because of criminal benders — or nonbenders, for that matter. Save someone else from being dragged into a triad or forced into unsavoury acts."

He looks up and sees the dawning awareness in Lin's expression. "Chief, this job — it's not just a job to me. It's almost…a calling." It's the first time he's put a word to his motivation as a member of the police — the same word Huan had used to describe his passion for art — and he realises how right it feels. "That's what it started as, anyway. But I lost sight of that for a while. Especially when it seemed that nothing I did could ever make as much of a difference as what Korra or the rest were doing."

"And now?" Lin prods.

He smiles softly. "Now I know I'm making a difference. Might not be as much as I'd like, or as fast as I like — but the work we do is important, and it matters. And as long as I remember that, I'm good."

Lin observes him thoughtfully for several seconds. He withstands her scrutiny with fortitude this time, fairly certain now that whatever she called him in here for, it wasn't to reprimand him.

Then Lin smiles, so wide it's almost a grin. She pulls open a drawer and picks up something from within. She places a badge in front of him.

"Congratulations, Mako. You've just made Sergeant."

He blinks uncomprehendingly at the badge, then at his boss. "I…what?"

"You're being promoted." Lin gestures at the paperwork on her desk with the paperwork she's still holding. "These are the various reports from your supervisors and your case records. Xien had some particularly complimentary things to say." She favours him with a genuine smile. "You've done some stellar work, Mako. And since you came back you've been stable, according to your mind healer. I think you're ready for this."

"Chief, are you serious?" He can barely contain his delight. The rank of sergeant comes with new responsibilities, but also a significant pay rise and a chance to lead his own officers within his squad. It means he can do more, make a bigger difference — fulfil a greater purpose.

In response, Lin pushes the new sergeant's badge towards him. She meets his eyes with a warm smirk. "Make me proud."

"I will, Chief!"

He grins as he picks up his new badge; it's much the same as his current one, except that the gold is a shade darker. The major difference will be on his uniform, which will now have a triple V insignia on the left sleeve to denote his new rank. His police ID card will also be reissued, and he thrills to imagine what it will now display.

Sergeant Mako has a nice ring to it.

A/N: I've taken liberties with police hierarchy. Note that I'm not terribly familiar with police ranks in the first place (and they differ depending on the city/department, anyway), but I'm broadly taking inspiration from all the police procedurals I used to watch, and I know for the NYPD 'Sergeant' comes after 'Detective.' Now, while making Sergeant in the NYPD involves passing an exam, I somehow don't think RCPD has such things in place. Mako, at 18, could apply to join the force and be out on the streets chasing crooks by himself within six months, so clearly the requirements and paperwork for the RCPD's ranks aren't as stringent as real-world police departments.

Lyric is from 'Fearless' by Kellie Loder.

Let me also apologise, once again, for only doing once weekly updates. It feels like a long time between updates to me, too - and I'd love to be able to go back to twice weekly - but for now, this is a pace I know for certain I can keep up in the midst of work and family and life. I don't want to burn through my buffer, but I also am not averse to doing the occasional weekend update for certain chapters - so keep an eye out for those!