In Sickness and in Health (Kyalin)

Keep it Together, Beifong

The next time Lin woke up, it was the middle of the night. Ravenous, she made her way to the kitchen.

On her way there, Lin saw her girlfriend fast asleep on the couch. She quietly grabbed a blanket that was folded on the chair and draped it over her. Kya might have gotten her sick, but Lin would never let her sleep cold. After taking one more glance at Kya sleeping peacefully, Lin resumed her trek to the kitchen.

Unsure of what to eat, she just grabbed a piece of plain bread. She wasn't nauseous right now and prayed that it would stay like that.

She sat down and bit into the bread. While chewing it, she tried to inhale through her nose, but it was completely blocked by mucus. She could barely breath through it.

Halfway through eating the piece of bread, the sound of glass shattering echoed down the street. Immediately, Lin's head jerked towards the sound and she bolted to the bedroom window.

Two masked figures were running out of a store, a duffel bag in each hand. They jumped into the backseat of a waiting Satomobile and sped away. 

Wasting no time, Lin ran to her closet and metalbent her armor onto her body. She opened the bedroom window and a cool gust of night air blew in. Perching on the window sill, she let out a hoarse cough. She took one last look at Kya sleeping in the living room before she swung away on her metal cables.

Normally, swinging through the air felt good, but even in the chilly night, Lin was fighting away a wave of nausea.

"Keep it together, Beifong," she muttered to herself.

She tried to just focus on the Satomobile ahead of her. It was moving fast, but even while sick, Lin was gaining on it. Once she was close enough, she retracted her cables and flipped down to the street below, landing in front of the Satomobile.

Lin bent over, hands on her knees, and breathed heavily. Her nausea dampened once she stopped moving as much.

The driver of the Satomobile screeched to a halt. It stopped a few yards from where she was hunched over. A few seconds passed, and one of the criminals must have noticed Lin's police uniform.  All of the sudden a blast of red-orange fire came out of the window. Lin hastily stood up and took a step back. The flame stopped inches away from her chest.

Clenching her jaw tightly, Lin metalbent the door open. She took another step closer, fighting off a new wave of nausea that returned with full force. She swallowed hard.

From the door opening came another burst of fire. Lin narrowly dodged the flames.

"This is Republic City Police. Come out with your hands up!" she called out to them.

Lin could hear some shuffling around before the three criminals climbed out of the Satomobile. They lined up in front of Lin, backs to the vehicle, with their hands in the air. She walked up to them and took out a pair of handcuffs.

"Turn around," she instructed with a raspy voice.

They ignored her. "Now!" one shouted.

Before Lin could react, the thief closest to her slid down and knocked her off her feet. She twisted in the air landed on right knee with a hard thump. As she struggled to regain her footing, Lin heard the three of them scattering, running down separately alleyways in all different directions. She would never be able to catch all three of them now.

When she stood up, pain shot down her leg. It felt like she was being stabbed in the knee. Regardless, she managed to compose herself enough to start chasing one.

"Come on," she grunted. "Keep it together, Beifong."

Lin breathed heavily as she began to pursue the one closest to her. Growing more fatigued with each step, Lin struggled to keep running but she pushed through the pain.

She trailed him for a block, half running, half limping, until the alley came to an end. When the man realized it was a dead end, he turned around to face her in a fighting stance. Lin slowed down, sweat streaming down her back, and flexed her hands. She protectively raised her fists and stomped her uninjured foot on the ground. Two columns of earth rose up, trapping the man against the wall of the alley.

Lin staggered closer to him, ready to put on the handcuffs, but she didn't see as he swiftly slipped between the rocks. He was lightning quick, and Lin felt like her reflexes were working in slow motion.

She spun around to face him but she was too late. The man forcefully grabbed both of her shoulders and slammed her body against the rocks. Lin stumbled backwards. Her head fell back and made contact with the columns of earth. The pain felt like an explosion. Black spots danced in her vision. She felt dizzy. The echo of criminal's footsteps faded as he sprinted away. Lin swayed. She fell to her knees. Pain shot up her right leg. She yelped in anguish. Her vision blurred and became fully encapsulated in darkness. The rest of her body dropped to the ground.