Chapter Text
Not for the first time, Mako went against Beifong’s advice. Heading up the stairs, he tiptoed into the empty detectives’ office and planted himself at the desk he’d normally do anything to stay away from. Here and now, it was a welcome, familiar sight. A reminder of a time when he did a job for which he’d had more than a week’s training.
Promising himself he wouldn’t stay too long, he switched on the small lamp on the desk and opened the file.
He made to flick through the pages of combustion, or otherwise dangerous benders that lived in the melting pot of a city.
He glanced at the first record in the paper before turning to the next one. Except, there wasn’t a next one.
Mako lifted the folder, leaned under the desk, and looked towards the door to check he hadn’t dropped anything. He looked back at the single record encased within the brown paper folder, stared at it for another minute, and his confusion became relief. He only had the following day off before the first of two night shifts the following evening, and the fewer suspects meant fewer leads to follow up before he had to show up again at Station Seven — and plan how he’d apologise to Captain Urika, he thought, his elbows slumping onto the desk.
He’d leave that chore until after he’d got some sleep.
Pulling the record out of the folder, he found a man’s face. A scruffy, black beard underlined his features, and the shadow of buzz cut hair peppered the top of his head, adding further prominence to the distinctive vein-like mark between his eyes.
Mako stared at the photo until his eyes stung. Though he’d only caught a millisecond’s glimpse at the man who’d escaped in the alleyway, the longer he stared at the photo, the more convinced he became that this was the same person. But was that true recognition, or were they just blending into one and becoming what he wanted to see?
Mako blinked, then noted the emblem clipped to the record’s top right corner. A grey octagon with the Earth Kingdom’s symbol within.
Turning his attention to the writing beneath the photo and emblem, he read the details:
Name: ‘Doja’
Age: 52
Alias: ‘The Beacon of Zaofu’
Skimming over the physical details, Mako found the section headed Offences:
The list was self convicting:
Arson (x5)
Assault via bending (x7: Adults - x5. Minors - x2)
Criminal damage via bending (x5)
Violence against authority (x4)
Mako re-read the list, feeling like he’d struck gold. Further down, he noted the sentencing section:
Time served for all convictions: 10 years.
He scribbled the address on a notepad, snatched the mugshot, closed the file, put it in his drawer, and locked it.
The next morning didn’t go as planned. Trying not to wake Bolin, Mako grabbed a scruffy hooded coat and brown scarf and drove to the small police station in Green Meadows. After an argument with the jobsworth officer in charge of the parking lot, he’d persuaded the station’s captain to let him park there.
Striding through the dilapidated residential streets, he found the address scribbled in his notepad in a row of tenements lining a side street — a place no one should set foot in without a squad of metalbending cops. Rusted fire escapes encased the streets’ dirty, decrepit facades, with more than half their windows boarded up. The industrial district’s colossal factories towered over the buildings, and the rising sun shone off their pipework and smokestacks.
None of the doorbells worked, and nobody answered his knocks on the exterior door.
And so, Mako sat on a bench across the street from the tenement. The light didn’t reach the street, leaving Mako in the cold shadows from the dwellings behind him; their facades covered by a wall of scaffolding, and the meshed sheeting fluttered in the breeze.
Mako thought longingly of his car sitting in the police station car park, but this would draw less unwanted attention than someone parked in an unfamiliar vehicle.
His eyes stung as he stared at the apartments’ entrance, waiting for anyone to emerge.
Minutes became hours, but no one stirred. No light switched on through the few dirt-caked windows that weren’t boarded up, and none of the sorry-looking civilians traipsing through the street took any notice of the building.
Careful not to give away what he was doing, Mako glanced up and down the street. Like the target of what had become his stakeout, no one paid him much attention. He glanced at his watch — he’d been sitting there for an hour and a half.
Two hours. Then two and a half hours. Why was he still there? Was this Doja guy even home? Would another explosion ring through Republic City’s ambience, followed by the chorus of sirens?
As he was preparing to give up, Mako stopped himself from leaping to his feet. The door to the tenements had opened, and a figure exited onto the top step. Getting up as slowly as he could without spooking anyone, Mako’s eyes remained fixed on the figure as they turned to close the door.
‘Excuse me?’ Mako said, reaching the bottom step, confident he could stop the man if he made a run for it, but also giving himself enough room to escape should they have a third eye.
The figure turned. Mako’s stomach flipped as he stared at a man with a scruffy, black beard and buzz cut hair. A bandana was tied between his faint hairline and his eyes.
‘Doja?’ Mako asked as casually as he could.
‘Yes?’ His voice was aged and croaky, as if his throat was dry.
‘Do you have a minute?’
‘What for?’
‘Just a chat,’ said Mako, reaching into his pocket.
Doja’s eyes flicked between Mako’s hand and face, and he took a step back.
‘No,’ Mako warned. Pulling out his badge, he lowered his voice. ‘It ain’t worth blowing up this street and everyone in it. Let’s do this quietly.’
Doja looked Mako up and down, and his stance softened. He sighed. ‘All right. Come inside.’
The apartment was close to what Mako had imagined based on the exterior: a single room with a wash basin and toilet in a corner. Cracks lined the plaster on the unpainted walls, and a single light hung from the flaking ceiling.
‘I checked in last week like I’m meant to,’ said Doja as he slumped into the dirty kitchenette opposite the toilet. ‘Not due again for a fortnight.’
Half the cabinets lacked doors, with one hanging above a cooker that looked like it hadn’t been cleaned for as long as Mako had been alive.
‘I’m not here to check you’re sticking to your probation,’ Mako said.
Doja pulled a chair out from under the table. It creaked as he sat down.
Mako eyed the chair opposite. Splintered, and the varnish long-since peeled off. He feared it might shatter if he sat on it.
He looked down on Doja, then gently pulled out the chair and sat down without putting any weight on its back.
‘At 2 pm yesterday, there was an explosion at Twenty One Oh Two, Lower Platinum Street.’
Doja’s response was non-committal.
‘And,’ Mako went on, stopping himself from saying this was him. ‘A witness says they saw a combustionbender fleeing the scene down a nearby alley.’
Doja interlocked his fingers on the table and looked at Mako as if he wanted more.
He could have asked why Doja was there, but that would have given away that he was the only combustionbender in the city. Did Doja know that? Mako decided not to put down all his Pai Sho tiles. Leaning forward, but making sure no part of him touched the table, he asked, ‘Do you know anything about that explosion?’
Doja sighed. ‘Oh.’ He slumped and shook his head. ‘I was hoping I could put that behind me without any drama.’
Mako blinked, surprised by the apparent honesty. No need to tell Doja that he knew he was the city’s lone combustionbender.
‘So,’ Mako said. ‘You were there. Why?’
‘Money ain’t plentiful right now,’ said Doja. Gesturing at the room, he added, ‘In case you didn’t notice.’ His tone dipped with his head.
‘Did you know who you were going there to see?’
‘Not until I stepped into the basement,’ said Doja, still staring at the table. ‘Someone told me I could earn some extra yuans and help me get back on my feet.’
‘And the triads didn’t offer you enough?’ Mako asked. ‘That why you blew the place up?’
‘Are you kidding?’ said Doja, looking away. ‘I just served ten years. Do you think I’d wanna work with a bunch of dumb kids playing gangs? No thanks. I already work with far more dangerous characters.’
‘Someone else got to you first?’ Mako pressed. ‘Creeping Crystals? Agni Kais? Red Monsoon? Azulon’s Ashes?’
‘Those wannabes?’ Doja said, as if it were an insult. ‘Why would I waste my time with any of them?’
Doja leaned in. He smelled as bad as the apartment, and Mako fought the urge to gip and recoil as the tattered man whispered, ‘the badgermoles.’
‘Badgermoles?’
‘Yeah. If you wanna speak to them, you can find them here.’
Doja reached into his pocket and handed Mako a card.
Looking at it. A pair of giant badgermoles stared back at him. Beneath them were the words: Come and say ‘Hi!’ at Republic City Zoo!
Mako felt his lip curl and his face heat up as Doja let out a smug chuckle. ‘Not many places will take…well, someone like me.’
‘What do you—?’
‘Cleaning out the cages,’ said Doja. ‘It ain’t fancy, but it’s peaceful and it pays. A few years and some frugal habits, and I’ll be out of this dump.’
‘Forget years,’ said Mako, rising to his feet. He pulled out a pair of handcuffs.
‘Oh no,’ Doja said in a voice full of weary lament.
‘You’ve just admitted to blowing up a building,’ said Mako. ‘Did you really think you’d get off with that?’
Priming himself for a struggle, Mako found Doja presenting his hands.
Still, Mako prepared for a struggle as he put the cuffs on Doja. ‘Stay here,’ he said as he finished. ‘I’ll get my car.’
‘Detective,’ Doja said as Mako made for the door. ‘Please, can’t you take me out the back?’
Though he had no reason to comply with Doja’s request, Mako parked in the narrow, trash-strewn alley behind the tenements and snuck Doja into the backseat.
Hitting the rush hour traffic, it was a long, silent hour before Mako handed Doja over to the custody officers.
They saw each other again within the hour, across the vault-like interrogation room, and its single light illuminating the black, metal table between them.
As Mako prepared the folder of evidence, he noticed a constant, looping movement on the table. Something twinged in his chest. Then he noticed it was Doja’s thumbs rubbing over his interlocked fingers.
Doja stared at the motion, paying Mako no attention.
‘So,’ Mako began. ‘You admit to blowing up the triad’s basement.’
‘Glad you were paying attention to what matters,’ said Doja, looking up at Mako as if he were an annoying child.
‘Well,’ Mako continued, setting his forearms on the table. ‘Why?’
‘Someone put a flyer up on my apartment’s noticeboard a couple of weeks back,’ said Doja. ‘Said they were an odd-jobs company looking for specialised benders. Well, as much as I love chilling with those badgermoles, if I want to live where the hot water doesn’t shut off after half a minute, I’m gonna need some extra cash.’
‘And that ad didn’t strike you as odd?’
‘Your life might be all cushy with your city-funded salary, kid,’ said Doja, looking away. ‘But those of us on the bottom ain’t got the luxury to be choosy.’
Mako let his head tilt into a small, conceited bow. ‘All right. So what did they say when you got there?’
‘Wasn’t long before they blew their cover,’ said Doja. ‘I could tell they were no good the second I entered that basement. They told me they really wanted me to join their ranks. Idiots. Thought I’d be swayed by the glamour. Should have kept it a secret longer. I said I wanted no part of it and that I was leaving. One of the younger guys thought he’d show the older ones how tough he was and took a swing at me.’
Doja chortled and raised each arm individually, emphasising his faded, but still sizeable biceps. ‘Well, points for eagerness. More of them joined in, and then,’ the smile faded, ‘instinct took over.’ He spread his fingers in a burst and breathed out.
‘You’re saying it was an accident?’ Mako pressed.
‘I knew you wouldn’t believe me if I just said that.’
‘You just mentioned instinct,’ Mako said. ‘What instinct?’ He pointed at Doja’s tattered bandana. ‘Does that thing encourage you to blow stuff up?’
‘Just when I feel like I’m in trouble.’
In a moment of weakness, Mako blinked and sat up straight.
‘Don’t worry,’ said Doja, shaking his head. ‘I’m not gonna blow this place up again. Not since you’re still redecorating.’
Mako pulled the photographs from the folder: the smoke-stained exteriors and the gutted insides of The Southern Water Tribe Cultural Center, the restaurant downtown, the storage building by the pro-bending stadium, the Satomobile showroom, Republic City Hall, and the portside warehouse.
‘Do you recognise any of these places?’
Doja stared at each photograph. ‘Work takes up most of my time,’ he said afterwards. ‘I don’t really get out much.’
‘Even after doing ten years?’
‘Have you been asleep since we got here? You saw what can happen if my temper gets frayed. Why should innocent people get hurt because of me?’ Pain flashed in his eyes.
Amongst his impatience at Doja not giving him anything solid enough on which he could build a case, Mako felt the smallest hint of pity.
‘As I was saying,’ said Mako, moving the pictures back into the centre of the table. ‘Do you know what these places had in common?’
‘Please tell me.’
‘They were all under renovation when these fires broke out.’
‘If I were them, I’d get new contractors.’
Mako could almost sense Chief Beifong’s arms folding tighter behind the mirror.
‘Speaking of contractors,’ said Mako, ‘would you know who the current one is?’
‘I’m guessing Future Industries?’
‘Yeah.’
‘First thing I noticed when I got here. Their logo’s everywhere.’ He scowled as he spoke.
‘Do you have a problem with that?’ Mako asked.
‘Not a fan of monopolies,’ Doja said with a shrug. ‘But I guess they’re helping the city, and if they want to make my stinkhole of a street less of a dump, that’s fine by me.’
Still not enough for a charge to stick. Reaching back into the folder, Mako pulled out the incident reports. ‘Says in your record they used to call you The Beacon of Zaofu.’
Doja sighed, and his face fell.
‘Not a fan?’
‘Not a name I chose,’ said Doja.
‘I’ve read the incident file accounting what led to your arrest,’ said Mako. It didn’t contain much beyond the charges, and that you hurt a lot of people.’
A silence hung as Doja stared at the floor between his feet. Finally, he looked into Mako’s eyes and spoke. ‘What if I don’t want to tell you?’
‘Then it might hurt your case if you’re asked later,’ said Mako.
Doja’s gaze fell to the table.
‘After the Metal Clan saved me from that separatist camp, they locked me up. That matriarch woman, Suyin, must have taken pity on me, because next thing I know, they’re putting me to work in the city’s construction department,’ said Doja.
‘They wanted the monorail extended. Our managers gave them an overly eager finishing date. Things fell behind schedule, like always, but they didn’t want to let the Beifongs know, so they had us working crunch to finish on time.’ He looked off to the table’s side as he spoke, as if reading off a shopping list. ‘Long days, night shifts, six days a week.’
His eyes met Mako’s. ‘We were all tired. Some guys even skipped lunch breaks. It wasn’t safe. Some of us got together, went to the project manager and tried to put him in the picture.’ A dark look fell across his face. ‘Might as well have talked to a wall. He told us to get back to work, or he’d fire us and send me back to prison.’
As Doja talked, Mako heard a tapping sound echo around the room.
Doja looked back at the table, oblivious to the new noise as he continued his story. ‘Couple of days later, my buddy passed out driving one of the trucks, nearly crashed into a support structure.’
The tapping’s frequency increased as Doja talked. ‘Could have brought the whole track down.’
‘How did that make you feel?’ Mako asked as Doja paused for a breath.
‘How do you think?’ said Doja, as if he’d stand up and shout if he wasn’t in handcuffs.
‘So what happened next?’
Doja’s features tensed. ‘You’re thinking I went and blew the manager to bits.’
‘There’s no count of murder or manslaughter on your record,’ said Mako.
The tapping had stopped, but Doja’s hands locked together again.
‘We can take a break if you—’
‘I’m fine, detective,’ said Doja through a stiffened jaw. ‘I told the manager he should have listened, but I got the same old script. I got angry, and next thing I know…,’ Doja hung his head. ‘Boom.’
The room fell silent. After a while, Mako asked, ‘Was that your intent?’
‘No,’ said Doja, his jaw still tensed. In a calmer voice, he continued. ‘It was everything all at once. All that deprivation and anger. It just took over me. With the site office destroyed, I knew the security forces would come for me, so I ran.’
‘Where did you run to?’
‘Wherever there was a path.’
Mako pointed to his own forehead. ‘And this wasn’t —?’
‘I couldn’t,’ Doja hissed, closing his eyes. ‘I tried to keep my head down, but I had to look up to see where I was going. I saw a flash of the houses, tried to look away, but it was too late.’ His hands went white, emphasising their boniness. ‘I watched them explode, and kept running.’
Mako waited. He had more questions, but Doja spoke before he could.
‘I read the news a few days later. Four security officers were hurt, and it said I destroyed three houses. One of those had two kids sleeping right above where…where the…explosion went off.’ He pointed at his bandana. ‘Their injuries. Well, they were…terrible. Their pictures were all over the papers for weeks. Everyone was asking how anyone could do such a thing to such beautiful children. No one who does that deserves any sympathy. Beifongs didn’t want to incriminate themselves, so they didn’t tell my side of the story and threw me back in prison.’
Doja’s eyes rose from the table as he drew back into his seat. ‘So there you go, detective. That’s why I’m called The Beacon of Zaofu.’
‘I see,’ said Mako. As a human, he felt sympathy for Doja. He still had a job to do, though, and couldn’t risk letting his heartstrings be tugged into clouding his judgment. ‘Did they try to help you inside?’
‘Just kept me away from the others and made sure there was no way I could blow my way out.’
‘And now?’
‘I go to the hospital every fortnight.’
Knowing who else was there, Mako’s stomach clenched, but he hadn’t time to ask for more before Doja spoke again.
‘I have appointments.’ His finger hovered between his eyes. ‘Some specialised healers are trying to find a way to neutralise it.’ He made a sound halfway between a scoff and a laugh. ‘They gotta take me out to the old asylum every time I try a new treatment. If anyone asks, they say it’s an angry spirit or a thunderstorm.’
‘Have they tried chi blocking?’ Mako asked.
Doja’s lip pursed as he shook his head. ‘They’ve tried everything. I nearly killed the chi blockers the first time they tried it. I keep telling them,’ he said, bitterness washing across his face. ‘There is a way to get rid of it, but nobody wants to go through all the effort.’
‘Yeah?’
Doja leaned in as if he knew others were listening and didn’t want them to overhear. ‘The Avatar.’
Mako thought he knew what method Doja was referring to. ‘Ain’t that a little drastic?’
‘I don’t need it. I didn’t want it. It’s never done anyone any good. Just take it away and let me live as a non-bender.’ A sourness entered his eyes as he went on. ‘But I guess she’s too busy travelling the world, schmoozing with royalty, and vacationing to care about someone like me.’
Mako suppressed his retort and tried to think objectively again. He picked up the incident report on the first explosion. ‘Monday the eighth,’ he began. ‘Two twenty-five P.M.. Where were you?’
‘Working,’ Doja answered. ‘Don’t believe me? Ask the zoo.’
He gave the same answer for all the other fires, apart from the one in the portside warehouse. ‘Hospital.’
Mako felt agitated as he filed the reports away. Nothing pointed towards Doja being anything more than he was at first glance. Yet, what Muhging had said about dangerous firebenders still nagged at him. Reminding himself not to get swept up in workplace hearsay, he chose the last unexplored line of inquiry. ‘Has a group called Azulon’s Ashes ever tried to contact you?’
‘Never spoken to them,’ Doja answered, a sharp impatience now in his voice.
‘So they don’t know you exist?’ Mako pressed.
‘I imagine not.’
‘Don’t you think they might have some use for you? Some work? Not many people can do what you can. None of their promises were tempting?’
‘Guess your memory’s not as good as I thought,’ said Doja. ‘I said they’re wasting their time.’
With no further questions of his own, Mako handed Doja back to the custody officers. After returning what he’d taken from the records department, he let out a massive yawn and headed for Chief Beifong’s office.
Her expression was hard to read as she sat with her arms folded.
‘So,’ she began. ‘You ignored my advice. Again.’
‘Yeah,’ said Mako, looking at his feet. He rubbed his eyes. ‘Chief, I want this over fast. Stop the explosions, and we can all take a breath.’
‘Don’t wait until then before you do,’ said Beifong. ‘You looked in a mirror lately?’
‘No.’
Beifong pointed at the one above a filing cabinet. A ragged version of Mako stared back at him. His skin had paled. Hints of stubble peppered his jawline. The whites of his sunken eyes had turned pink, and shadows lingered beneath them.
‘You heard what Doja went through,’ said Beifong. ‘Don’t force yourself into that same corner, or before you know it, I’ll be pulling you out of a car wreck hanging off Silk Road Bridge.’
Mako blinked as if it would return his image to normal, and took a seat. ‘What did you think of him?’ Glancing at the name tag on the desk, he added, ‘Anything happen when you introduced yourself?’
‘Nothing,’ Beifong answered. ‘I didn’t announce my family name. Seriously, kid, you think I’d broadcast that after what happened to the guy in Zaofu?’ She switched from indignant to pensive. ‘Still not sure if I fooled him. He looked at me like I’d metalbent his apartment into a tiny cube.’
Her face fell into a look of morose contempt. ‘I’ll have to speak to Su when she visits. She can run her city how she likes, but if it threatens my city and my officers, we have a problem.’ With a blink, she was back in business mode. ‘But I won’t keep you waiting any longer. I don’t think a case against Doja’s gonna hold up.’
‘Not even for the basement explosion?’
‘I’m with you, kid,’ said Beifong. ‘But his stories all check out. I called the zoo and the hospital. Both confirm he was there at the times of the other explosions.’
‘But he still—’
‘Nobody got seriously hurt and nobody died,’ said Beifong. ‘He claims it was an accident, and it sounds like he was provoked. On top of that, no one’s come forward with any rebutting evidence.’
‘The triads aren’t pressing charges?’
‘Did you expect them to?’
‘Well,’ Mako began. ‘No.’
‘We’ve got nothing to link him to the other explosions.’ Beifong pulled a sheet of paper from one of the files to her left — a photo of the pattern from the warehouse fire. ‘When I showed him this, he said he had no idea what it was.’
‘But then why did he admit to being at the triad’s hideout? We didn’t see his face, and how would he know he’s the only combustionbender in town?’
‘Maybe he’s got a guilty conscience?’ Beifong said. ‘Or if he has nothing to hide and lied anyway, wouldn’t make him look that great to us, would it?’
‘What about what he said about Future Industries?’ Mako asked.
‘People are allowed to dislike companies and organisations, kid,’ said Beifong, putting the photo back in its folder. ‘This ain’t Ba Sing Se.’
She opened another folder. ‘We have given him a warning,’ she said. ‘If he does it again, we’ll arrest him. We’ve increased the frequency of his hospital appointments and upped restrictions on his community monitoring order. He’ll have to report to his local police station every other day from now on. I’ve spoken to the hospital about placing him in a secure ward, but as much as I yelled at them, they say it’ll take time to action anything.’
Mako wanted to argue further.
‘I’m sorry, detective,’ Beifong said as if she was disappointed too. ‘I don’t think he’s our firebug.’
Mako felt his shoulders drop as he slumped into his chair. He couldn’t fault Beifong’s logic, but feeling like he’d been onto something only for it to be disproven left him feeling he’d wasted time.
He’d half wanted it to be Doja, but at the same time, he couldn’t deny feeling empathy for the combustionbender. He cursed the triads for still ruining the lives of the most vulnerable.
‘Anyway,’ said Beifong. ‘Don’t you have to be somewhere?’
Mako looked at the office’s wall-mounted clock. ‘It’s a night shift, chief. They don’t start until six.’
‘You’ve forgotten something else,’ said Beifong as a knowing smirk formed. ‘That something you called me about yesterday? The thing that set all this in motion?’
‘Oh, yeah,’ Mako said, his heart sinking into his already heavy stomach as he thought of Urika.
‘For your own sake, kid,’ said Beifong, ‘take one bit of my advice. Say sorry before she gets on shift.’
‘What difference does that make?’ Mako asked. ‘She’s gonna be mad at me either way.’
‘Yeah,’ said Beifong, with a sideways nod. ‘But get her mad off the clock, and she’ll just be mad at you as a woman. Do it on the clock, and she’ll be mad at you as your captain. Trust me, if that happens, your next five shifts’ll make you wish you were still babysitting Prince Wu.’
Mako pulled Urika aside as she arrived at Station Seven. Leaving the police headquarters, he’d dashed home to change clothes and pack his night bag and arrived at the station two hours early.
The firefighters already there had mocked what they thought was poor timekeeping for turning up so early, but Mako took it on the chin. The extra time had given him time to smarten himself up before cornering Urika on her way to her office and giving her the bad news.
Her lip curled as Mako explained, in as matter-of-fact a way as he could, why Chief Beifong forbade him from sharing anything.
Tensing as he prepared for the oncoming tirade, Mako said, ‘We have questioned a suspect.’ No specifics, but enough to assure Urika he had been working, ‘but we didn’t find anything conclusive.’
Urika’s teeth showed as she breathed.
‘Right. So,’ she was holding back. ‘I, a frontline first responder with a high chance of running into this pyro, don’t deserve to know anything?’
‘I’m sorry, captain,’ said Mako, not meeting her eyes. ‘I promise, I’ll make it up to you.’
‘Oh really?’ Urika said, unconvinced.
‘Yeah. I don’t know how, but I will.’
Urika paused, her eyebrows raising as if an idea was brewing. ‘Okay. You owe me a drink.’
‘Sure, I,’ Mako paused. ‘What?’
‘You,’ Urika said, pointing between Mako and herself, ‘owe me,’ she gestured, tipping a cup into her mouth, ‘a drink. In fact, make that the entire station—every cup of tea for this next shift. And,’ she added, ‘when we go to Narook’s for breakfast tomorrow. And just so you know, I don’t believe it’s ever too early to start drinking.’
Mako felt his face contort.
‘Just think of it as another part of being our probie. You’re not past that stage yet,’ said Urika.
‘Aren’t you mad?’
‘Furious,’ said Urika, and a hint of it flashed in her eyes. ‘I’ve got enough red tape around my neck without this. But,’ she moved close, ‘I’ve got a team who could do without this stress. Most of them don’t even know what I asked of you, and if I take my frustrations out on you on shift for something you technically did in your time off, I’d look unprofessional. Take this, kid. Unless you want to do five timed fitness tests and then do as many mops of the station?’
‘No, captain.’
‘Good,’ she picked up her night bag and strode down the hall. ‘Also,’ she added, stopping before the door to her office. ‘Tell Lin to join us tomorrow morning. She’s not getting off easy for this.’
Urika announced Mako’s official punishment at the briefing. His face burned as the other firefighters jeered. Of course, Aniki used the opportunity to announce he’d like a nice hot drink, with the others only too happy to agree.
‘I take it your chief didn’t play ball?’ asked Adriel, leaning on the counter as Mako dispensed leaves into each cup. He shook his head, then glanced towards the others sat mid-banter in the living space. Adriel folded his arms, and his shirt strained. ‘Can’t say I’m surprised.’
‘She had her reasons,’ said Mako, sighing as he dropped too many leaves into the last cup. ‘She wasn’t making things harder on purpose.’
‘I’m sure she did,’ said Adriel.
Mako ignored him and took the tea to the table. Before anyone had taken a sip, it was back in the kitchen.
‘Doesn’t look right at all,’ said Aniki, but wouldn’t specify why.
As Mako set the tray back down on the counter, his eyes wandered to a painting framed above it. The picture looked down on an old town street lined with wooden buildings. A blaze raged in the building to the right — not as interesting as what was happening in front of it. A brawl raged between men in different coloured jackets. Red, blue, and brown, interspersed with police in gunmetal grey uniforms.
Looking closer, Mako noticed vehicles behind the brawling crowd. Red, cart-like wheels sat below shining, silver boilers and funnels. He looked back at the multicoloured brawlers. Most of them wore familiar long-brimmed helmets, while those who’d had theirs knocked off had them strewn at their feet. Water bent into various attacking and defensive forms, none directed at the burning building.
‘You like that?’ said Adriel, nodding at the picture. ‘Some things never change.’
‘What am I looking at?’ Mako asked.
‘Our humble beginnings,’ Adriel said, gesturing around the kitchen. ‘Your guys had the first metalbender to get themselves off the ground. Us? Well, we came out because nobody else would do it. No one had the capital or reach to cover the whole city, so fire companies sprang up across different districts.’
‘So, each of these was from a different department?’ Mako asked, pointing between two firefighters in red and blue.
‘Yeah,’ said Adriel. ‘Although calling them “departments” is generous.’
‘Who did what to start this?’ Mako asked. The firefighters in the picture brawled with everyone not wearing the same coloured coat. Some grappled in headlocks,
‘Green Meadows Fire Company got cocky,’ Aniki said. He leaned back in his chair and folded his arms. ‘Started crossing the avenue into Yue Bay Fire Brigade’s turf.’ He stood up and pointed at the picture. ‘The ones in blue.’
‘You make them sound like triads,’ said Mako.
‘Not a million miles off,’ said Aniki. ‘They might still be have had a finger or toe in that pie. But they got driven out because of scenes like this.’
‘The brigades kept to their own turf to start,’ said Adriel. ‘But just like a triad truce, it didn’t last. They used to race each other to fires. If one company arrived before the other had got a hose on it, well,’ he gestured at the picture.
‘Cops hated it,’ said Aniki. ‘They’d try and break us up, but they’d always get dragged in.’
‘I don’t remember this,’ Mako began. ‘When did—?’
‘Decades ago,’ said Adriel. ‘Long before either of us was born.’
‘Li remembered,’ said another voice. Lorren stood at the door. Though she had her hands behind her back, it was the most relaxed Mako had ever seen her.
‘Li?’
‘Used to tell me stories when I was in your boots.’
‘Seriously?’
Lorren’s lip curled.
‘Don’t believe her?’ said Aniki. ‘Look for yourself.’ He pointed at a red-coated firefighter.
Mako squinted. The man had the same amber eyes as Li, but with a head full of brown hair and a contrastingly straight nose.
‘He always said that was him,’ said Adriel. ‘Which I’ve no reason to doubt,’ he added at Lorren’s raised eyebrow.
Mako’s confusion must have shown.
‘He was just a probie back then,’ said Aniki. ‘It happened on this fire. One of the cops who was there was Chief Toph Beifong. She caught him with one of her officers in a headlock, and she threw a rock at them. Hit him in the face. A few nights in hospital later, and he’s Slanty-Nosed Li.’
‘How long did he work with you all?’
‘As long as we’ve been here,’ said Aniki, pointing between him and Adriel.
‘Since I joined the department,’ said Lorren.
Mako looked between them. They all held Li in high regard, and he half expected them to gang up and escort him out of the station for filling his boots. Yet he felt a warmth and high spiritedness from the three. Not wanting to relax, he cast his eyes back to the picture and multicoloured firefighters brawling across the street. ‘Guess things don’t change too much.’
‘No,’ said Adriel. ‘It’ll stay long after we’ve gone, so don’t break your back in trying to change it.’
Mako would have rebuffed Adriel. There wasn’t a reason why he couldn’t try to improve relations, even if on such a small scale.
He never got the chance. With an ear-splitting CLANG, the gong sounded.
The firefighters charged from the kitchen before the bell could start ringing, leaving Mako to trail them.
He ran past the pole and charged down the stairs, arriving in the engine house as Lorren jumped into the truck’s driver’s seat.
Adriel emerged from the watchroom as the firefighters threw on their boots and leggings.
‘Lieu?’ Urika prompted, pulling on her coat. ‘Tell me what we got!’
Adriel stared at the scrap of paper in his hands and announced, ‘Fire and explosion. Reports of people trapped.’
There was a shakiness in his voice that prompted Mako to look up from grabbing his helmet. Adriel’s face had drained of warmth, and an unfamiliar look beset his eyes as their gazes met.
‘Lieu?’ Urika prompted. ‘Where is it?’
Adriel blinked and, without breaking eye contact with Mako, answered in a tremulous voice. ‘The police’s headquarters.’