Chapter Text

Bolin

Asami pulled her car into the Tower’s garage. She quickly accessed the safe house’s security system from the vehicle’s onboard suite to make sure nobody had followed them. Satisfied that they were alone, she got out of the car and went around to the passenger’s side to open the door and help Bolin out.

“Ow, ow,” Bolin moaned.

“Oh, stop being such a baby,” Asami said playfully.

“Oh, I’m sorry, do you have a gunshot wound on your arm!?” Bolin yelled, gesturing at his injured shoulder.

“Not at the moment, but I have been shot several times. We don’t all have the benefit of being able to put up a wall of rock when the bullets start flying. Which reminds me, why didn’t you do that, exactly?” Asami asked, as they stepped into the elevator and began their descent.

Bolin gave a one-shoulder shrug. “After that guy hit me, my bending kind of… stopped working.” He gave Asami a panicked look. “You don’t think it’s permanent, do you?”

“I don’t know. Once we get down to the infirmary and get that shoulder looked at, I’ll bring you an earth disk from the gym, alright?”

“Okay. Thanks, Asami.”

The elevator finally stopped and the two made their way through the hallway and went into a stark white room. Bolin took a seat on the infirmary’s bed while Asami went around gathering the supplies needed to treat him. With clippers, gauze and rubbing alcohol in hand, she made her way towards Bolin and sat next to him, quickly ripping off her mask and tossing it on the bed. She gingerly cut the sleeve off of Bolin’s suit, and removed it. Once the area was clear, Asami was able to clearly see a wound on the back of Bolin’s shoulder as well. She sighed with relief.

“There’s an exit wound, so that means the bullet’s not lodged in there. And since you’re still conscious, I think it’s a fair bet to say it didn’t hit anything important.” She grabbed the rubbing alcohol, and moistened some gauze with it. “I have to sterilize the area. Fair warning, it’s gonna sting like a bitch.”

Bolin nodded and gritted his teeth. “Go ahead,” he said. He winced as the gauze made contact with the exposed flesh, but managed to bear it for the time it took for Asami to finish. Once the area was clean, Asami took some fresh gauze and held it against Bolin’s shoulder, then wrapped a bandage around it to hold it in place.

“That’s that, then. It should be enough, at least until I come back with Wen. Are you gonna be okay here on your own?” Asami asked.

“Yeah, I’ll be fine,” Bolin replied. “But before you go… could I get that earth disk?”

“Oh, right.” Asami made her way to the gym while Bolin tried not to panic. He really hoped that whatever happened to his bending hadn’t been permanent. It wasn’t just the bending itself that worried him, it was the fact that without it, he probably wouldn’t be part of the team anymore. No more adventuring with Mako and Asami. No more stopping bad guys. And, most tragically of all, no more fan girls. Sure, Bolin wasn’t into the superhero business for the fame--none of them were--but still, some of the perks were nice.

He was shaken out of his train of thought when Asami arrived, carrying one of the heavy earth disks Bolin usually used during practice. “Now don’t try to do anything fancy,” Asami warned. “Just move it around a little. You don’t want to overexert yourself.” She placed the disk on the floor.

Bolin stood in a fighting stance, and raised his good arm in a swift motion. The disk rose a couple of inches before crashing back down. Bolin groaned as a jolt of pain shot through his injured shoulder, and he fell down heavily back onto the bed.

“Well, at least now we know it’s temporary,” Asami soothed. She reached into one of the nearby cabinets and pulled out a small bottle, which she placed on the nightstand next to the bed. “I’ll leave you some painkillers in case your shoulder gets too uncomfortable while I’m gone. They’re narcotic and pretty strong, so don’t take more than a couple, alright?”

Bolin nodded. “Alright.”

“I’ll be back soon.” Asami assured him, and headed out.

Bolin wasted no time in grabbing the bottle at his bedside. Getting it open proved a bit tricky with just one arm, but he managed it after a bit. He took out and swallowed two pills then he laid back on the bed and attempted to relax, occasionally stealing glances at the clock on the wall. Ten minutes passed. Then fifteen. And still his shoulder hurt as much as it did before he took the pills. Getting shot, he decided, was officially on his ‘not fun’ list. He looked at the small bottle again.

One more can’t hurt, right? He knocked back another pill, and after another five minutes, he finally felt the pain start to recede. Soon it was little more than a dull ache. In fact, compared to how how he felt even a couple of minutes ago, Bolin was feeling pretty good. Really good, actually. And really, why shouldn’t he? His bending was back, Wen would be back in no time to heal him, and he had just survived his first gunshot wound. His only complaint (apart from the bullet wound on his shoulder, obviously) was that the bed was kind of uncomfortable. Every time he shifted his body he could feel something dig into his lower back. But aside from that, Bolin couldn’t remember feeling better.

He was shaken out of his state of bliss by knock on the door. “Hey bro, it’s me. You got your mask on?” Mako asked through the door.

Bolin pondered this for a moment. Did he have his mask on? Doesn’t everyone wear masks everyday, hiding their true thoughts and feelings… their true selves from the the people around them. Whoa. Bolin had no idea his brother could be this deep. He attempted to rub his eyes, but was met with resistance when his fingers met the clear plastic of his goggles. Oh! Mako probably meant this mask. “Yeah, it’s on,” he called.

The door opened and in walked Mako followed closely by the Avatar. So that’s why he had asked. “Hey Ma--” Shit, stranger in the room, can’t use real names, “....mah man!” Nice save, Bo!

“Um… are you alright?” Mako asked.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m great! As--Tempest patched me up and gave some painkillers, s’all good.”

Mako walked over to the bedside table and picked up the pill bottle examining it. “How many of these did you take?”

“Just one or two… or three.”

The Avatar, who had been standing at the doorway silently, suddenly burst out laughing. “Oh my god, you’re stoned off your ass, aren’t you?”

Bolin stared at her, but it wasn’t too long before he started laughing as well, and even Mako had to crack a smile.

“I guess I am,” Bolin managed to say, after a minute. “So how’d the ass-kicking go?”

“We managed to restrain three of them, but the rest got away,” Mako said. “The ones we got are in police custody by now.”

“You find out what they were after?”

“The building they were in was packed full of drugs,” the Avatar chimed in. “We drove them off before they got their hands on any.”

“We made a pretty good team, you know,” Mako told her. “Although I noticed your firebending forms are a little rough. If you want, I could teach you a few moves sometime.”

Bolin rolled his eyes. This was typical of his brother. He’d think Mako would’ve learned his lesson after what happened with Asami but noooo…

He shifted around to look at him, and which caused the stupid, uncomfortable bed to dig into his back again. “Are you seriously hitting on her right now, bro? You barely met her like an hour ago!”

Mako turned so red he matched his face matched his outfit. The Avatar, meanwhile stood there awkwardly rubbing the back of her neck. “Hey listen, Wildfire. I’m flattered, and you seem like a nice guy and all, but you’re not really… my type.”

Mako’s expression shifted from embarrased to slightly offended. “What’s that supposed to mean?” he asked, crossing his arms.

The Avatar held her hands up. “It’s nothing personal, you just don’t have the right, um… equipment.”

Bolin rolled his eyes again. Judging by Mako’s bemused look he still wasn’t getting it. How can one guy be so smart and so dense at the same time? “She means she’s gay, bro.” He quickly shifted his gaze to the Avatar. “Right?”

“As a tsungi horn.”

“Oh… sorry,” Mako said.

The Avatar shrugged. “It’s fine, you didn’t know.”

Mako buried his face in his hands. “If you don’t mind, I’m gonna go punch something.” He headed out and (hopefully) towards the gym, slamming the door shut behind him.

“Welp… that was awkward,” the Avatar said.

“No kidding,” Bolin replied. “Hey, um, sorry about outing you like that.”

“Nah, it’s cool, it’s not like I’m in the closet or anything. I’ve just never had to be so… blunt about it.”

“Believe it or not, Wildfire’s supposed to be the detective of the team.”

The Avatar chuckled. “Hey, speaking of the team, where’s Tempest? I was kind of hoping to properly meet her.”

“Oh, she should be back soon. She just went to get our healer to help with my shoulder.”

The Avatar smacked her forehead with her palm. “Shit, I’m such an idiot. Here you are in pain, probably and I’m not doing anything.” She rushed over to Bolin and tentatively put a hand on the bandages covering his injured shoulder. “You mind if I…”

Bolin gave her a nod, and the superheroine started unwrapping his shoulder. “So you can heal, too?” he asked.

“Of course I can,” she replied with a cocky smirk. “I’m the Avatar, master of all four elements.” She peeled off the last layer of bandages. Once the wound was exposed, she summoned a stream of water from the infirmary’s sink faucet and pressed it against Bolin’s shoulder, where it started to glow. After a few minutes she removed the water and guided it back towards the sink.

“Now this was just waterbending healing, not magic. I got rid of the worst of the damage and you won’t feel a lot of pain even when your happy pills wear off, but take it easy on that shoulder for a while, alright?”

“Don’t worry, I know the drill,” Bolin said, rolling his shoulder experimentally. “Thanks!”

“No problem.”

Just then a faint ding from the elevator was heard from the hallway. “That must be Tempest,” Bolin said. As he shifted his body in the direction of the door, he once again felt the bed’s assault on his back. Deciding enough was enough, he stuck his good arm under his body to try and dig out whatever it was that was bothering him. He managed grab ahold of it just as he heard footsteps coming to a halt outside the infirmary door. He dug it out and took a look recognizing it just when the door’s knob was being turned.

It was a mask.

It was Asami’s mask

Oh, shit...