A/N: Sorry for taking so long! Although seriously, it was your reviews that kept me from just abandoning this. You guys are the sweetest!

Exceeding Expectations

Part II

Lin Beifong regretted her decision no less than five minutes after she stepped into the police headquarters.

Perhaps not all rules had to be adhered too. Nothing would go that terribly wrong if she just...left the boy somewhere, would it? Lose him in a busy street, or in the park, or maybe she could even toss him into a bush somewhere; she'd heard that some hobos had been making due with the foliage.

He'd survived this long, so truly, how hard would the rest of his entire life really be in the grand scheme of things? She should at least be allowed to order a gag for his incessant cries—really, who exactly were the boy's parents? Rabid wolf-bats?

All this, and much, much darker ran through Chief Lin Beifong's head as she tried to quiet his screaming.

"Shush, oh, shush already!" she snapped at the red faced child, who appeared to be too busy bawling his eyes out to respond. That or even he couldn't hear her through his yowls.

Lin's eyes started shining with a wild, mad desperation. "What do you want? Money? Power? Toys? I can give it all to you, if you would only cease your infernal crying."

His mouth stretched into another wail. She winced in preparation.

"I-I wah-want Mah-Mah-Mako!"

Lin groaned. This again. She was seized with the urge to bark back that his brother was dead by now, that no one survived the Welding Waste this long—but she'd already learned her lesson on that particular line of questioning.

The only thing worse than his screaming were his pathetic attempts at escape. That last rock had actually left a scrape on her temple, one that her pride still refused to let her have seen to.

A collective chuckle at her obviously wasted efforts ran around the room. Lin's head snapped up, and she shot a glare at her subordinates.

Coolly, she asked, "Does anybody find this funny? Please, do speak up."

There was an alarming rush of productivity as all the officers bent their heads down to their desks, suddenly finding their paperwork very interesting.

Lin sighed. Now that all those eyes were finally off her, maybe she could finally deal with this problem. The boy sat curled up into a ball, his small frame enveloped by the large chair he was sitting in, one that was usually reserved for captured suspects. Eh. It would do for this particular charge.

She stared at the child, just a tad distraught at the idea of keeping him here any longer. Perhaps she should just let him go; it might even all turn out for the best-

Scowling, Lin pushed those thoughts aside. Protocol was protocol.

Snapping her fingers, she addressed an officer who was attempting to sneak past her. "You, go round up all the heads of the major orphanages. I want to know exactly who I'm handing the boy off to."

He froze guiltily. The officers positions around the Chief started mouthing pleads at him, begging him not to just cut his losses and run before they all found themselves suddenly dead, or worse, unemployed. He seemed about to listen to them for a moment, but then his hand ran over one of the shockingly pink bracelets on his wrist.

Straightening, he coughed out, "I have…um…other duties to attend to, Chief Beifong."

Lin turned slowly and the atmosphere turned suddenly frigid. "Pardon?"

He sucked in a breath and tried not to flinch as he answered quickly, "My daughters have a recital today and I know I didn't fill out the paperwork for a day off, but it was very last minute and they really want to see their dad cheering them on!"

She narrowed her eyes, finally recognizing him as Officer Shang, who had decorated his office with numerous pictures of his wide eyed, beaming daughters and one noticeably sulking son. There was a small impulse in the back of her mind to acquiesce, but her sense of duty overrode it in an instant.

Folding her arms, Lin declared, "Your girls should have told you to fill out the paperwork beforehand, Officer Shang. And even then, it is not their orders you listen to, but mine. And I order you—"

A sudden scream cut her off, and her eyes flickered down to see that the child had regressed back into a temper tantrum. Groaning, she was about to just ignore him and go on when she caught Shang's pitying gaze directed towards the boy.

Mind working fast, she amended, "And I order you to calm the boy."

Officer Shang broke his gaze with the small figure; she noted with some irritation that he seemed to have been making faces at the child. He stammered, "W-what?"

Coolly examining her nails, Lin avoided any eye contact as she repeated, "Calm the boy down and you will be allowed your day off with your daughters."

Shang's face started to shine with hope. Appreciative, he said, "Thank you, Lady Beifong—I mean Chief! Chief Beifong!"

Her eyes rolled back at his carelessness and she sighed. The things she did for some peace and quiet. Just a bit put at unease by his obvious delight, Lin added peevishly, "You get the leave the moment he stops wailing. Not a minute more or less. Get to it!"

Trying to hide his grin, Officer Shang knelt down slowly to address the boy, who was sniffling in preparation for another scream. Once he saw the older man approaching him, the boy's face started to scrunch up tighter. Shang noted Lin's sudden snort with a wince. This was going to be a little harder than he thought.

His fingers ran over the pink bracelets on his wrist again and Shang reminded himself who this was for. Holding his hands out in order to placate the child, Officer Shang said calmly, "I'm not here to hurt you, it's alright. Now, what's wrong?"

The boy seemed beyond reasoning, his hours of crying making him capable of no more than a few hiccups of emotion. "M-mah-mako!"

"I could have told you that," mumbled Lin, who was observing their interactions out of the corner of her eye, as was the rest of the room. The general consensus was that they best be preparing for retirement soon.

She didn't know what could even be done at this point; the boy seemed beyond hope honestly. All he did was cry and cry from the moment she'd picked him up to the moment she'd entered the police headquarters.

There'd been a brief moment of peace when they had been using the flier wires—apparently soaring above the city on a thin metal string didn't completely terrify the child, in fact he seemed to enjoy it if his soft giggles were anything to go by—but it had stopped the moment they'd landed. From that point on, it had been tears and wails and tiny fists pounding on her steel uniform. There was no reason it should stop now.

Cringing a little, Shang continued, "Well, I'm sorry, but I can't do anything about that."

He looked about to cry again, and Officer Shang winced and quickly said, "But I'm sure it's going to be okay! Mako, uh, he's your brother right? And he's smart?"

The boy shook his head rapidly, looking like one of the komodo chickens in the market. "Uh huh. He's smart, really smart! He even took out my tee'f, see!"

He opened his mouth wide, exposing the wet gums of his two front teeth. Lin shrank back a little at the sight, but Shang just chuckled. "That looks good. Your brother must be very smart. Smart enough to know we'll be taking you to the orphanage, right?"

As the child sitting in front of him started to slump visibly, mouth wobbling in a terrifying way, Officer Shang added casually, "Smart enough to know that's where to look for you, right?"

His face lit up suddenly and he began to nod in agreement, but then his eyes flickered over to Lin and he froze. Shang caught it and, thinking fast, he leaned in close to whisper conspiratorially, "Don't worry about her; she's not as much of a dragon as she seems. You just have to know how to talk to her."

"I am not a dragon!" Lin roared, the impropriety of the conversation catching up to her. Implied 'rescue', broad joking winks, and now this? There was only so much an officer of the law could take.

As the boy started to cry again, his voice reaching unheard of volumes, Lin suddenly felt that a little leeway in this aspect would be agreeable. His brother was likely already dead by now; there was no 'rescue' coming anytime soon.

There was nothing improper about giving the boy a little hope and protocol had nothing detailing actions to take in these kinds of situations, not that she would listen to them at this point—she was almost sure her eardrums were bleeding. Hell, she would commit high treason if it would mean the child's silence. Pressing her hands against her ears, she hissed, "Fine! I'm a dragon!"

The sudden silence that fell after her words made her rethink just how intelligent human beings under the age of ten could be.

Officer Shang tried to keep himself from smiling, but failed just about as miserably as a person possibly could. This was one memory he hoped would last him until long into old age and senility. The boy grinned along and Shang raised a hand to ruffle his mess of hair, making the child start giggling. He made sure to broadcast his actions beforehand—no need to scare the boy even more with sudden movements.

"Now that you seem to be all nice and calm, I think my work here's done. Wouldn't you say the same, Chief Beifong?" Shang remarked, his grey eyes wide with innocence.

Sighing, Lin admitted, "The boy is quiet. You may take your leave of us, Officer Shang."

The thought of seeing his daughters' recital made his smile stretch further, and Shang nodded his thanks. He started to rise, but was stopped by a sudden hand clenching his bracelets. A small, dirty face stared back up at him, bottom lip trembling tellingly. "You're…going?"

With a sigh, Shang said, "Yes, I have to."

He expected tears, cries, or another tantrum at this news, but the child just breathed, "Oh."

Wondering in the back of his mind just how many people left the boy just like this, Shang sighed. Reaching down, he pulled off his bracelets with a snap and gingerly placed them on the noticeably smaller wrist. "You're not a bad kid, you know. I think my son, Ming, would've even liked you. And he doesn't like anyone!"

He winced as he remembered the events of this morning. "He keeps hanging out with these punks that call themselves the Wolfbats and oh, they're absolutely horrible, especially that kid who keeps stealing my hair gel—"

Taking in the boy's confused stare, Shang amended, "Look, I'm just trying to say you're not as unloved as you think you are. Things are going to get worse before they get better, that's just how life is. But don't worry, you're going to do great things, trust me. I can tell."

Lin Beifong watched the exchange thoughtfully, a small part of her sadly noting the child's blank look. Had no one ever told him this before? In the entire history of his existence, had no one thought to tell him he was worth something? A strange weight pressed down against her chest at the thought. That was just…horrible.

Certainly, there had been a lot of pressure and weight put on her own shoulders to live up to her mother's name, but at least they had expected something out of her. To have everyone thinking you incapable of even the smallest achievement, to have your entire life mapped up by where the dirty back-shop alley ended…that was the true horror.

For the first time in her life, Lin felt guilty. And what little the boy had left, his only family in the world, his own brother…she had ripped them apart.

"Okay?"

The boy still looked confused, but he nodded. Shang gave his hair one last ruffle before finally standing. Lin waved him off as he left, her eyes still resting on the sniffling child sitting before her. Somehow she could tell that his sadness laid more in the departure of Officer Shang than the loss of his brother, and she wondered how that could be. Who could possibly get that attached to someone in so little time?

Emotions warred for dominance behind her cool façade. It was simply idiotic to be so open, he was only going to get himself hurt.

People betrayed each other all the time, so you had to cut them off before they did it to you, because if you never let them inside in the first place, then it wouldn't matter. Didn't the boy know this?

Another dull spark burst forward from the forgotten corner of her mind, offering an alternate answer to the problem. Maybe he didn't care.

Hesitant for some reason, Lin wavered before she asked, "Is there anything else you want? Other than to return to your brother?"

The sudden grumble the boy's stomach made seemed to answer that question. Looking sheepish, he started to fidget in place, still not meeting her gaze. Lin felt a little insulted; he would cry when Officer Shang left, but he couldn't even look in her in the eyes. Did he truly think her so monstrous?

Normally such a thought wouldn't bother her in the slightest—fear and respect came hand in hand, after all. Yet somehow, having this small child look terrified just to be in her general vicinity stung viciously; some long buried part of her mind told her this was only to be expected. She'd hardly been welcoming, and she had approached his removal from the side of his brother with uncalled for distain. She didn't begrudge the boy his hatred.

Shaking the dark cobwebs from her mind, Lin reminded herself that the child in question needed to be fed, and soon. Looking around, she spotted Officer Somu hunched over his desk, smoking meat buns visible on the table. Stepping neatly, she relieved him of them.

"Hey, that's my lunch!"

Lin shot the man a dark look, asking him to quickly rethink his priorities concerning his superior officers. Somu gulped nervously and got up to get himself another lunch. A couple of dumplings weren't worth his job—or his life. Slinking away nervously, he barely registered to Lin as she turned her full attention to the boy, who had finally looked up at the mention of lunch.

Taking in the string of drool hanging by the corner of his mouth, Lin drawled, "I'm guessing you like dumplings?"

"Yep!" he chirped excitedly, and then clapped his hands over his mouth. He peeked up at her under his flop of hair covering his eyes, looking scared as to what she'd do about his outburst.

Lips twitching in a subdued sort of amusement, Lin pretended not to have noticed, simply handing over the bag. His hands shot out fast, snatching the bag before she could even blink. Well…at the very least, she knew he had good reflexes, better than most of their new recruits, in fact.

Lin had a remarkably lower appreciation for the way he started to shove the contents of the bag into his mouth in great greedy gulps. It dipped into the negatives when a piece of meat flew out of his mouth and landed neatly on her cheek. She wiped it away with a grimace, reminded quite well that however interesting this boy was, he was still a street child.

An orphanage would much to discipline and train him, and something told her that was exactly what he needed. Specifically, the sauce stains that covered half his face were what truly enlightened her. He was an absolute mess. Quite frankly, it was sickening.

Shivering in disgust, Lin was reminded very well that she had yet to send for the heads of the orphanages. Her gaze fell at Officer Somu, who was still grumbling as he walked away. Catching on rather well as to the subject of his mumbled complaints, Lin coughed.

His head shot up guiltily, just in time to hear her say, "Officer Somu, I believe you should have the honor of calling any and all officials that should have a say where this boy goes. The owners of the orphanages and the like. You are able to handle such a task, aren't you?"

He opened his mouth to object, but Lin simply smiled chillingly. "Wonderful. I'll expect them within the hour."

Officer Somu turned a spectacular shade of purple in his attempts to think of a way to refuse without insulting her, and even the boy laughed loudly. Lin arched a careful eyebrow as the child giggled, "He looks like a catgator!"

She hummed her agreement; with that ridiculous moustache, Somu looked the spitting image. The kid laughed louder when he realized she wasn't going to berate him for his words.

Realizing that he was both outnumbered and outclassed, Officer Somu sighed and took his leave to retrieve any and all orphanage officials he could find at this time in Republic City. During a heat wave. On an empty stomach. Spirits, take him now.

Lin barely watched him go, her attention completely focused on the still laughing boy. Begrudgingly, she admitted that he looked rather cute with his face lit up in amusement. But he was still a mess; stains covered his clothes—what was left of the tattered things—and his brown mop of hair fell in clumps over his dirty face.

Her hand involuntarily reached out to touch his hair as Officer Shang had, if only to feel the texture. He froze suddenly at her touch, leaving her confused and just a bit insulted. As realization dawned, Lin felt another sharp pang of sadness in her chest.

Shang had made sure to show his hands before touching the child; she had not. She wondered what exactly had happened to him to make him so wary of sudden advances, but felt she knew enough to guess. Living on the streets was far from the safest place for a child as young as himself.

Sighing, Lin removed her hand and stepped further into his line of vision. The bright sheen of his now wet eyes told her that this was preferable. Something in her melted at the sight of his shaky smile.

Sucking in a breath to stabilize herself—spirits, what was wrong with her?—Lin began, "Well, I supposed we will have to wait until he returns. Would you rather stay here or in my personal office…?"

Lin trailed off embarrassingly as she realized something.

She didn't even know his name.

She had ripped him away from the only family he'd ever known, made him cry for the better part of the morning, and accomplished the sickening feat of getting him absolutely terrified of her very presence—and she didn't have the basic decency to know his name.

Shame pooled thick and heavy in the pit of her stomach, and Lin furrowed her eyebrows as another sharp pang ran through her chest, nearly cleaving her in twain. She could feel eyes on her, but didn't care about any of them except the eyes of the little nameless, forgotten child sitting right in front of her, who was biting his lip in confusion as he watched her collapse into herself.

In the midst of her self-loathing and disgrace, a single word rang through her ears. "Chief?"

Eyes snapping open, Lin found that it had come from the boy. He was staring up at her with…concern. She almost laughed. He had to be the most—the most honest, well meaning, thoughtful child she had ever met.

Still in a strange sort of shock, Lin coughed, "Yes. I'm the Chief. And…you are?"

Pouting, he waited a few seconds, gazing at her with a contemplative look beyond his years before he answered, "Bo. Bolin!"

"Bolin," she breathed thankfully, a weight off her chest. "Well, Bolin, would you like to stay here, or go wait in my office?"

His eyes narrowed as he thought. "Are there toys in your office?"

"No," Lin said slowly.

Bolin hummed his displeasure—or rather, pouted. He looked to be mulling the matter over quite deeply. A shiver ran down her spine at the mischievous look that passed over his face. Sniffing, he declared, "Then you'll play with me!"

She scoffed and opened her mouth to nip that little idea in the bud, but stopped when she saw the open, vulnerable look in his eyes. Had anyone ever really played with him before, other than his brother? Her chest aching threateningly, she supposed she could put aside a few minutes or so to entertain the boy.

Perhaps she could even slip in some questions about the extent of his bending ability; she'd never seen anyone capable of bending more than a pebble at that young an age, much less the good sized rock he'd sent hurling at her head an hour previous—all without touching the ground.

It was interesting enough to say the least. Rolling her eyes, Lin acquiesced, "Fine."

There was a clatter behind her as one of the officers fell out of his chair in pure, unadulterated shock. He would have been made the laughingstock of the building for the look on his face alone if not for the fact that none of his fellow officers seemed to be faring much better—one appeared to be choking on some fire flakes he'd been munching on as he watched the 'show'.

As someone ran to deliver emergency aid to several of Republic City's Finest, Bolin looked as if he would need some soon himself. Gaping openly, he asked, "Really?"

Loathe to repeat herself, Lin merely nodded, noting with a displeased air that her officers were far too slow in delivering first aid. She'd make them run drills tomorrow until they could manage it within three minutes or less.

Perhaps she'd even made the boy join them, and see if his reflexes regarding food translated well into other walks of life. It would certainly make her day to show her esteemed subordinates how much better a mere child could do. A kick in the pants was exactly what some of them needed.

In her musings, it completely escaped her mind that the boy in question would be long gone by that time.

Bolin fidgeted in place for a few seconds, shooting quizzical looks up at her as he bit down on the heel of his palm. Squeezing his eyes shut, he sucked in a breath as he made an impulsive decision. She was so preoccupied in her distain that she barely noticed when a small hand slipped into hers, clutching it tightly. Wide eyes peered up at her for any angry reaction, but found only a calm, thoughtful silence.

Lin kept herself carefully distant from his actions, only making sure to etch into her mind the sight of the small smile that bloomed on his face as she squeezed his hand back.

A/N: Ming is actually the name of the earthbender on the team with Tahno. So take two guesses who's stealing Shang's hair gel. Also, I based Shang off that metalbending cop that got equalized by Amon, mainly cause he looked like a nice guy. But hmmm, judging on how this AU is progressing, that may not even happen. Or will it? I will eventually go forward in time to show how Lin meeting Bolin changes a lot of things. A loooot of things.

Warning you guys right now-it's also going to get a lot sadder in a few chapters.

Let's just say Mako would absolutely anything for his brother.