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It took longer than Bolin would have liked, but eventually, the polar bear dog flung him onto its back. Immediately Mako reached a hand out and grasped his shoulder, his eyes searching for some threat periodically but never looking at Bolin directly.
Oh, he was so in for it when they got home.
At some point, Korra had the polar bear dog stop at the arena’s back entrance. Mako slid off silently, and Bolin followed suit. He looked at the Avatar, smiling at her. “Thanks for getting me out of there, Korra. Seriously.”
“What?” Korra asked, seeming startled. She looked like she was lost in her own world. “Oh, yeah, it was nothing, Bolin. Are you...okay?”
He shrugged. Honestly, he had more than a few bruises and burns from the stupid chi blockers and his wrists were raw and even bleeding in some places from being bound for so long, but he’d had worse. Even if he wasn’t okay, he wouldn’t say it out loud for his brother’s sake. He knew that in spite of Mako’s cold (haha, irony) exterior, he had a tendency to worry. Bolin remembered the first time he had really been injured in pro-bending, when his opponent bent a disc a little too hard at him and gave him a minor wrist sprain. He had sincerely apologized afterwards, but Bolin was pretty sure his big brother had threatened him anyway. Mako had practically glued himself to Bolin’s side for a week after.
As relieved as he was to be back with Mako after that nightmare, he didn’t want him to hover like that.
Korra sighed. “I should probably get back to Air Temple Island. Tenzin is going to send out the White Lotus for me soon, if he hasn’t already.”
“Korra, wait.”
Bolin looked at Mako, surprised that he had actually spoken up. He walked towards Korra and whispered something to her. She smiled, nodding before riding away.
Finally, Mako turned to him. “We’re going in. Now.”
Bolin sighed. “You don’t have to tell me twice.”
---
Mako had an equal balance of relief and rage at the moment. On one hand, after he had been absolutely terrified for his brother’s life since he’d been abducted, Bolin was finally back safe with him and hadn’t lost his bending. On the other hand, the Equalists had dared to touch his little brother, who went with Shady Shin despite Mako repeatedly telling him that their days of associating with him were over. Why couldn’t he ever just...listen? Was it really that hard?
Once they were in the apartment, Mako couldn’t take it any more. Pabu scurried away from the brothers like he could sense how badly this conversation was going to go.
“Bolin, stop right there.” He snapped as his brother turned to follow the fire ferret.
Bolin obeyed, turning around reluctantly. He was biting his lower lip nervously. “I know, I know, I shouldn’t have-”
“Gone with Shady Shin? Yeah, that’s right. Do you have any idea what could have happened?”
“I know what could have happened, Mako! I basically had a front row seat to that whole thing!”
“Don’t try to joke around like that! Losing your bending would have been horrible, but you know what would have outdone that tenfold? You dying. The Equalists-Shady Shin-Amon-they could have killed you! As much as I would hate you losing your bending, I would much rather have that happen than losing you all together! Do you understand me?”
Bolin said nothing, looking at his feet. He took a step back, and Mako’s fury only grew. “No, you do not get to-”
He reached out and grabbed Bolin’s wrist. The latter hissed in pain suddenly, clenching his eyes shut.
Instantly, the rest of the fight drained from Mako. He released his brother’s wrist, bits of blood now doting his palm. He now noticed that Bolin’s wrist was raw and cut, and upon examination, he saw the other wrist was just as injured.
“What in the-” Mako said, incredulous. “Bo, why didn’t you say anything?”
“I…” Bolin paused, his cheeks flushing. “I didn’t want you to freak out. I’m fine, really.”
Mako sighed. “Come on. Let’s fix this up before it gets infected.”
“Mako-”
“No. Listen, I’m done with the yelling for the night, okay? Let’s just figure this out before you get worse and I really do freak out.”
Bolin relented, allowing Mako to lead him to the sink. Mako held his brother’s shoulder as he winced in pain from the cold water, guilt seeping into his veins. He hadn’t even checked to make sure Bolin was alright before he had started screaming at him. That was always what was most important. And he’d ignored it so he could make him feel even worse than he already did. What kind of person did that? What kind of brother did that?
A few minutes later, Bolin’s wrists were clean and bandaged, and he smiled at Mako gratefully. “Thanks, bro. And you were right, by the way. Going with Shady Shin was...not my smartest decision.”
Mako chuckled a little. “You could not be more correct.”
The two of them stood there awkwardly for a moment. Mako’s eyes scanned Bolin up and down, looking for any injuries his brother might be hiding from him. “Did they hurt you? Besides from your wrists, I mean?”
Bolin grimaced. “Nothing worse than a regular match. I’m fine now, really. Please don’t freak out and act like that time I sprained my wrist.”
“Are you kidding?” Mako smirked. “I’m not leaving your side for the rest of your life if I can help it.”
“Oh, joy.”
Even though he was relieved that Bolin’s personality hadn’t been touched while he had been a captive, Mako knew he couldn’t just sweep the events of the last twenty-four hours under the rug. But yelling at Bolin clearly wasn’t effective, and it only made Mako feel like the worst brother in the world. So instead, he reached out and gently put both of his hands on his little brother’s shoulders. “Bo, listen.”
Bolin flinched, his smile fading. Mako sighed. “I’m not going to yell at you again, okay? But we can’t just forget what happened tonight.”
Or what could have happened tonight, he thought.
“Okay.” Bolin said. “Go ahead.”
“What Amon did tonight...aside from the Avatar, that’s something no one’s ever been able to do. Do you have any idea how terrified I was when I saw you in that car? On that stage? Bolin, you almost ended up like every other bender there.”
“I know. I mean-yeah, you could not imagine how happy I was when you showed up.”
Mako nodded. “But it wasn’t just that. Bo, since Mom and Dad died, it’s been my job to make sure that nothing happens to you. Tonight…”
The words got caught in his throat for a second, but he swallowed the fear down. “I can’t lose you. Do you understand that? I honestly thought I might lose you tonight, and that cannot happen. Okay?”
Bolin said nothing, looking down at his feet and fidgeting with his bandaged wrists. In any normal circumstance, Mako would tell his brother to stop because it would only make the pain worse, but he was too focused on making sure that Bolin knew how close he had come to making Mako’s worst nightmare come true. Because he needed him to know that so it would never happen again.
Finally, Bolin nodded ever so slightly, but Mako knew him well enough to know that he understood. Granted, he was still mad that Bolin had chosen to go with Shady Shin, and he was downright furious that the Equalists had kidnapped and harmed his brother, but for now, he forgot about that in favor of pulling Bolin into a tight hug. Bolin immediately reciprocated, though he wasn’t hugging hard so as to not make his wrists hurt even more.
The two of them stood there for a while, not caring about anything else but each other. Mako held Bolin in a vice, like Amon was about to appear like a ghost in the apartment and snatch his little brother away from him. Bolin rested his head against Mako’s shoulder, obviously exhausted from the day’s events and in desperate need of the comfort he was providing. Mako debated on whether or not he should ever let Bolin go, but he decided that simply keeping an eye on him at all times was good enough.
Tonight could have ended worse. So much worse. It could have been everything that Mako had worked for the last decade to prevent. Just the thought made him grip Bolin tighter. The latter seemed to understand and didn’t even flinch.
As bad as things were, as bad as they could have been, Mako allowed himself to forget about the Triple Threats, Equalists, Amon, anything or anyone that had tried to do the two of them harm, in favor of just being there for and with his little brother.
And little did he know...the worst of their enemies were yet to pass.