The door being left unlocked is what unnerved Lincoln the most as he got to his apartment. He thought back to that morning, clearly remembering that he had locked it before he left. He inspected the door, rattling the knob a bit -it didn't seem like there had been any forced entry. Shaking his head, confused and concerned, Lincoln pushed his way into the apartment. He stood in the doorway, making a general assessment of his possessions; everything seemed to be right where he had left them. He inched in a bit more.
"Michael? Michael, are you here?" He called out into the too-still flat. He better be.
"Kitchen." Lincoln heard a small voice respond. Immediately, Lincoln shut the door, bolted it, and made his way to the kitchen quickly. He stopped just inside of it, shocked at the sight before him. He shook off his surprise as fast as he could and practically ran over to his little brother, crouched in the corner by the counter.
"Michael! Michael, what's wrong? What happened?" He lifted his brother's chin, trying to look at his face. The teenager refused to meet his eyes. "Michael, are you hurt? What are you doing?"
"I'm not hurt, Linc." Michael's soft voice wavered slightly as he curled in on himself further. He didn't offer any more explanations, which infuriated his older brother. Lincoln grabbed Michael and roughly hauled him off the floor to a standing position.
"I am only going to ask you one more time… What the hell happened? Why are you acting like this?"
Michael sniffled quietly and stared at the floor. "I'm sorry." He whispered dejectedly. Lincoln's anger began fading and worry took its place once more.
"What are you sorry for, Michael?"
Michael gestured weakly towards the living room. "Door. I left the door unlocked when I left."
Lincoln gave his brother a hard look, disappointed to hear that. No wonder, he thought. Michael must have gone out after me.
"How could you have left the door open if you were home today, Michael?" Lincoln inquired pointedly, though he wondered if his brother would even sense the sarcasm. The kid looked downright miserable enough as it was.
"I went out a little bit after you left and I forgot to lock the door. I know I wasn't supposed to do it -either one -but…" Michael shrugged.
"You're right, kid. You weren't supposed to go out, and you know better than to leave the door unlocked when you do," Lincoln began, "and I'm disappointed in you for that."
"Are you gonna punish me?" Michael interrupted his brother, finally turning his big doe eyes on him. Lincoln hesitated.
"Yes, I am." He noticed Michael's slight pout and hunch of his shoulders, but he didn't falter. "However. First, I need to ask you a very important question and I need you to answer me honestly. Okay?" He waited for the boy to nod before he continued. "Did something happen here while I was gone? Or, you know, while you were gone?"
The longer Michael took to respond, the more Lincoln dreaded the answer. After a long time of silence, Lincoln prompted his brother. "Mike?"
Michael took a shuddering breath. "When I got back, Lisa was here. Like, in here. Inside the apartment. She had LJ with her, but she was cursing so much she'd put a sailor to shame." He let out a mirthless chuckle at that. "She was upset. She thought you were the one who'd left the apartment unlocked. Then, when she saw me without you, she got even more upset."
Lincoln swallowed hard and blindly reached behind him and grabbed one of the chairs from the table. He sat down heavily in it, looking up at his brother after a moment. "What did she, uh, what did she say?"
"First, she asked me where you were. I told her you were working, but I'm not sure if she believed me. She kept asking me why I was out alone and if you knew where I was." Michael looked up guiltily. "Um, I wasn't the most polite when I replied to that, but the final answer was that you didn't know where I was, so she just ignored everything I'd said before that. She ran out before I could explain anything else, mumbling about how unfit you were to be a parent and that there was no way she was trusting you with LJ alone…"
A long, tense moment passed before either brother spoke again. Lincoln had his head buried in his hands as Michael guiltily looked on. The sixteen-year-old ran a hand through his hair nervously, as he waited for his brother to say something, anything; but to no avail. Lincoln didn't say a word.
After waiting for another few minutes, Michael spoke up again. "If you call her, and talk things out with her, then I'm sure she'll change her mind…"
"No, Michael!" Lincoln snapped suddenly, rising from his seat and making the boy flinch. "She won't change her mind. She was just looking for a reason to keep me away from my son and it looks like she fucking found one! Good job, Michael; honestly, you did great today." He spat, ignoring the wounded look on his brother's face.
"Lincoln, I'm so sorry… Please, I know we can fix this -"
"No, no, no. Stop right there. You've done enough, Michael." Lincoln cut his brother off. "I'll fix this myself. After I deal with you." He added menacingly as an afterthought.
Michael gulped, backing away quickly until his back hit the fridge. "Just take it easy, Linc… Please, I'm really sorry -"
"Come here!" Lincoln bellowed, not trying to contain himself. The kid was visibly trembling, but Lincoln couldn't care less this time. Good, let him be scared. "I am not going to say it again, Michael. Get. Over. Here."
Very slowly, and with tears streaming freely down his cheeks, Michael made his way back to where his brother was standing.
"Right here." Lincoln pointed at a spot in front of him and waited for his younger brother to get to it. "Look at me, Michael." The boy shook his head vehemently, avoiding his brother's hard gaze at all costs. Lincoln closed his eyes and counted to ten in his head, attempting to calm himself down before he said -or did -something he would regret. "Mike."
"I'm sorry…" Michael muttered again. He tensed when Lincoln touched his arm, relieved when that's all that happened for a moment. Next, he felt his chin being tipped up until his hazel eyes met his older brother's identical ones. "Linc…"
"Listen to me, Michael." Lincoln started, pausing a moment to collect his thoughts and carefully work out what he was going to say. "I'm not happy with you right now. Not at all. I'm very disappointed that you disobeyed me when I told you to stay home, and I'm not pleased that you left the door unlocked when you left either.
"What happened with Lisa… is not entirely your fault. Of course, if you would have been here, there wouldn't have been much of a problem; but you couldn't have known that she was going to drop by. I'll resolve that issue, don't worry. She'll never be able to take LJ away, you got it? Don't worry about that.
"However, I thought that I could trust you, Mike. I really did. But today just proves that maybe Lisa is right about leaving you on your own while I go to work."
"Lincoln, I know I messed up but -" Michael began frantically, only to be shushed.
"Don't interrupt me. I don't want to hear any excuses. Now, you'll be coming with me everywhere -including work -until school starts or you prove yourself to be trustworthy once more; whichever comes first. Understood?" Michael nodded sadly, hating the declaration but knowing that it was fair. Lincoln sighed. "I'm afraid that's not where your punishment stops, kiddo.
"Leaving the apartment without letting me know was incredibly wrong of you to do. There I was at work, safe in the knowledge that you were at home and out of harm's way, when in reality you were God-knows-where, and the apartment was unlocked and available to whoever wanted some free stuff. We're both incredibly lucky that nothing like that happened.
"I know you're not gonna like what I say next, but it has to be done, Mike. You're gonna get a spanking -"
"Lincoln, no!"
" -in addition to five licks of the belt."
Michael's expression shifted into a horrified one at his brother's proclamation, though several different emotions were passing through him at that moment. Anger, hurt, indignation, guilt -they were all bombarding him at once, and he wasn't sure which one to act upon. Unconsciously, he chose indignation.
"Lincoln, you can't do that -I'm too old!" Michael protested, but Lincoln merely shook his head.
"Don't try playing that card on me, boy. I'll tell you when you're too old."
"But, Lincoln…" Michael drew out the name, turning to whining this time. Before he could get much out, though, Lincoln put a hand over his mouth.
"This is not up for discussion, young man. You've earned the punishment, and you're gonna take it whether you like it or not. Come here, let's get this over with."
Michael's eyes widened so much they looked like they were going to pop right out of his head. "Now?!"
"Yes, now." Michael shook his head and Lincoln hardened his gaze. "Don't you dare say no to me. This is happening right now, so better just accept it and get it over with. Now, come on." Lincoln took a seat on the chair he'd vacated earlier, perching himself on the edge of it. He made sure it was far enough from the table that Michael couldn't hurt himself, and then he patted his lap, looking at his brother expectantly. "I'm waiting."
After another moment of hemming and hawing, Michael finally submitted himself to his fate. With a frustrated noise, he started lowering himself down onto Lincoln's lap when he was stopped.
"Nuh uh, Michael. You know better than that. Pants down."
Michael groaned. "Linc, please. Just this once…" Lincoln merely shook his head at the request, sending Michael into a frenzy. The boy suddenly decided the best course of action to take, was to run.
However, before he could get farther than five steps, Lincoln grabbed Michael around the waist and yanked him back to his side. "That just bought you some extra smacks." was all he said before using one hand to hold onto Michael, the other hand deftly unbuttoning and unzipping his brother's jeans. In a single movement, Lincoln had the boy's pants down around his ankles and was reaching to pull down his boxers, when a hand shot out and grabbed his wrist.
"Please don't, Linc. Not yet, at least. Please." Michael begged, wanting to protect as much of his dignity as he possibly could in such an embarrassing situation. Lincoln watched him for a minute, contemplating, before giving in to the request. He pulled his hand free from Michael's grasp and loosened the tight hold he had on him.
"Bend over." He commanded gruffly, relieved when his little brother obeyed him and bent over his lap. As soon as Michael was settled, Lincoln pulled down the his boxers, making the lad duck his head further from humiliation.
Lincoln wrapped an arm tightly around Michael's waist and pushed the boy's shirt up a little to get a better look at his target, not wanting to accidently bruise the kid. He took a deep breath, trying to make sure his voice didn't waver when he next spoke.
"Do you understand why I'm going to spank you, Michael?" When they boy simply nodded and made a small sound of confirmation, Lincoln continued. "Tell me then."
Michael hated this part of the spanking more than the actual spanking -or so he always thought, until the smacking actually started. He apparently took too long to answer because he felt Lincoln shake him a little. "I left the apartment when I wasn't supposed to and left it unlocked, which caused problems for you and Lisa -"
"Wrong." Lincoln interrupted. "Try again, without that last part."
"But I -"
"Boy, I will give you a pre-spanking if you keep on."
"But, Lincoln, it's true. I did cause the problem. You pretty much said so yourself a few minutes ago." Michael whined, feeling entirely culpable for the situation. It would be his fault if Lisa never let Lincoln see LJ again.
"Michael." Lincoln sighed, rubbing the boy's back soothingly, trying to get him to relax. "First of all, I owe you an apology. I shouldn't have implied that it was your fault in the first place, although I do recall telling you afterwards that it wasn't. Second of all, let it be clear to you that I'm punishing you for sneaking out of the apartment and lying -"
"I never lied to you!"
"Not telling me something is considered lying to me, Mike. And let's be honest, if the whole thing with Lisa hadn't come up, you wouldn't have told me that you left the apartment. Am I right?" Michael bit his lip and reluctantly nodded. "Exactly. That's what this is for. The five from the belt are going to cover being irresponsible and leaving the door unlocked. Clear?"
"Crystal, sir." Michael murmured, knowing he sounded sarcastic but not really meaning to. If Lincoln noticed his little brother's response, he chose to ignore it because he continued right on through.
"Brace yourself, kiddo. We're getting started." Lincoln warned, raising his hand high.