CERAUNOPHILE | mako

一

Mako stood at attention, back straight, arms folded behind him. His left arm twinged with a jolt of pain, but he ignored it.

Lin Beifong was sorting through files on her desk. She hadn't looked up since Mako had entered the room, but she had to know he was there. She was the chief of police, after all, and the daughter of Toph, who was famous for seeing with her feet. Besides, she'd probably heard the door open.

...right?

Mako waited.

And waited.

And waited.

"...uh, chief—?"

"Hold on," Lin said without looking up. "I'm almost done with the paperwork."

"...if you say so, Chief." 

"What do you mean, 'if I say so?'" the metalbender snapped, finally looking up from her desk. "Of course I say so!" The events of Kuvira's invasion seemed to have left her as cranky as ever. 

"Alright. Didn't mean anything. Shutting up now." Mako glanced to the side.

"Good." Lin went back to examining paperwork. 

Finally—finally—the police chief looked up and eyed Mako. 

"How've you been holding up, kid?"

"...same as I have been the last few months, Chief."

"Good. I was thinking—" Lin shuffled some papers around. "It'd be nice to give you a case where you could have a break from all that gang stuff and Kuvira stuff."

"That's real nice of you, Chief, but I don't need—"

"This isn't up for negotiation, Mako." Lin Beifong crossed her arms. "I don't want you constantly having to look at things from your past. All those reminders of gangs and Kuvira can't be good for you. You need to take your mind off of all that."

Mako swallowed. There was no way he wanted to be stuck on some boring small case that didn't have much of an impact. He tried another approach, saying, "But with all the increased gang activity and uproar from Kuvira supporters, don't you think—"  

"The president already gave us funds to hire more people for the force, Mako."

Mako tilted his head back, suppressing a groan.

"Oh, don't be like that," Lin said dismissively. "This case should require a decent bit of work, too, if you're wondering if it's up to your heroic standards. Take a look at this." She slapped a sheet of paper down in front of him.

"Ichiro?" he questioned, reading the name off the paper. 

"Sound familiar?" Lin asked, folding her arms.

"Well..no."

"Exactly." 

Mako didn't understand. He raised an eyebrow.  

"He's a firebender. Calls himself a Fire Nation purist." Lin snorted, crossing her arms. "He's more like a terrorist. He's attacked a lot of mixed nation families in the past, and not just in Republic City." 

Mako bit his lip. "That's...horrible, Chief." A slow, sickening feeling was twisting its way through his stomach, coiling up like a snake. He did his best to shut it down.

"You said it, kid," Lin agreed. "Dipsticks. Who cares what nation other people want to marry into?" She cleared her throat. "Anyways, he's been pretty difficult to track. There have been other purists, but he's the hardest to catch. He disappeared altogether around three or four years ago, stopping his attacks."

 "Three or four years ago..." Mako mused. Something clicked. "That was around the time Amon and the Equalists rose up, wasn't it?"

"Bingo." Lin shrugged. "He probably wanted to stay under the radar. But none of that matters now. Ichiro's back, and he's made his move. Two families have already been attacked. With all the extra force we have now, we were thankfully able to save them, but Ichiro slipped away." She gritted her teeth.

"Then...how do we know it was him?" Mako squinted down at the paper.

"He left behind the mark of the Fire Nation, which he did in the past, but besides that?" Lin tapped her fingers on the desk. "One of the officers at the scene recognized him. Said she'd had a run-in with him before the whole Equalists shebang. I've assigned her to be your partner for the case."

Mako contained his irritation to a small exhale. It'd been hard enough to get used to working with his brother, and Mako and Bolin had already known how to fight together, and how the other's minds operated. The last thing he needed was a random person to adjust to working with. "Really, Chief, I work better alone—I don't need any backup—"

"It's more for her sake than yours," Beifong cut him off. "She really wanted to be assigned this case, but she's a little newer to detective work. I want her to have experienced backup. And besides, if you need to set a trap, it's easier to do it with two of you than one." She raised her head and called, "You can come in now," at the door.

Mako's posture stiffened, almost as if his body somehow already knew who was going to walk into the door. He turned his head.

A familiar face walked in, chin held high, posture as straight as his, blue eyes blazing. [Y/N] met Mako's eyes briefly, face stoic and still, and then took her place next to him, keeping her eyes on the chief. Mako felt an involuntary twitch pass over his face at the sight of her, before he squashed it down.

Somehow, I don't think this case will help me 'take my mind off of my past' as much as Beifong thought it would.

"Mako, I'd like you to meet [Y/N]," Beifong announced, narrowing her eyes at Mako like she hadn't missed the slip-up in his expression. "She'll be your partner for the case."