A/N: Alright guys, a bit of news, I'll be cancelling this story and rework it. I'm sure that by now, you all know that this story just wasn't going anywhere. So, I'll be taking the first 6 months of this year to redo everything and upload them as an entirely separate story.
Chapter 29.
"Alright, you guys take care now!" Zed bade farewell to Lincoln and his family upon exiting the Hospital.
"We will!" Lincoln said back to his teacher.
"Thank you for taking care of them! Hope they weren't too much of a handful." Rita laughed as she waved Zed and his friends goodbye.
"Trust me, if they had been, we'd all be crying tears of joy right now." Oswald responded, prompting a round of laughter from the Loud.
With all said and done, the Loud family too began making their way back to their humble abode. Which, may contain surprises for the parents since they haven't been there for quite a while by now. Of course, they had brought along the family vehicle, Vanzilla, which Lori offered to drive so as to let their parents rest while they travel back home.
Once they had arrived back at the neighborhood, Lori parked the car in the driveway and announced the end of their journey.
"Alright, are you guys ready for this?" Lori walked to the door and placed her hand on the knob, getting only nods from her parents, "Here. We. Go!"
Lori quickly pushed the door open and ran inside along with her siblings and raised their arms to point towards the large banner strung across the living room with the words, "Welcome back!" written on it.
Needless to say, the parents felt their welcome to be all too heartwarming and touching. They responded with very heartfelt, "Aww"s, letting their kids know that truly, they have really begun to miss them during their time at the Hospital.
On the couch, were several presents. All of which were undoubtedly the Loud kids', apparently from back at the Mall, aside from their wants, they have also thought of getting something for their parents for when they come back to them.
"Here you go mom and dad! Your presents!" Lincoln pointed the two joyous adults to their gifts, which also included his own.
"Well, we didn't really get them ourselv-" A nudge from Lori stopped Lynn from saying something. Well, they were told to keep quiet about their outside helper during this time. Lynn, getting the message, changed the topic, "Uh-Oh, yeah! Why don't you just start digging through?"
"Well, honey, I don't see why not." Lynn Sr. agreed to Jr.'s suggestion.
"Yes, I think it would be a great idea." Rita concurred as well.
And so, the Loud parents began with Lily's present first after their kids recommended that they follow the youngest to oldest order. Following that, they gradually reached all the way up to Lori's. The gifts presented to them varied from person to person. They ranged from simple clothing that they thought might look good on them, to an addition on their father's collection of ties, and some other things that the Loud kids can think of to buy for them.
Once the presents were done with, the kids all helped in cleaning up the remains of their presents' wrappings.
Then, the boxes the gifts were placed on the floor in front of the couch in the respective order they were opened, with the Loud parents sitting on the couch with their kids all smiling widely as they stood in front of them.
"There you go!" Lori said.
"Sorry that we didn't get you anything amazing." Luna sheepishly apologized.
"Yeah, to be honest, they were actually more of an afterthought." Lincoln shrugged with a nervous smile.
"Nonsense!" Rita said, exchanging looks with her husband before continuing," If anything, just being able to be here with you kids is enough for us."
"Yep! Doesn't matter what you get for us, just having you guys in our lives make every single day worth going through." Lynn Sr. added.
Those words clearly meant a lot to the kids as they boosted his children's mood further and the two of them soon found themselves in the middle of a deadly family bear hug.
Soon after, they all decided then that it was best that everyone would be off, continuing on with their daily duties.
However, Lisa had asked Lincoln to follow her… Into the boy's room, where she had told him that she will be discussing about some of the things that have happened so far. Naturally, Lincoln, wanting to get the weight off his chest, agreed to talk about the things that have been bothering him lately.
"Right, so what do you want to talk about Lisa?" Lincoln began as he closed the door, letting his younger sister start first.
"You should know by now Lincoln." Lisa simply stated, adjusting her glasses before looking back to her brother.
"…Oh, where do you wanna start?" Lincoln asked, rubbing the back of his neck.
Lisa did not give any response, but instead, simply stared back at Lincoln with her usual non-expressive face. The boy saw this and glanced around for a bit, taking a deep breath, before exhaling as he closed his eyes.
"Alright," Lincoln said, walking over to his bed and leaned back on the headboard, "It's really bothering me… You know what."
"Yes Lincoln, I do know. But, would you care to be more specific about it?" Lisa struggled to get up on the bed with Lincoln until she was helped up.
"Of course…" Lincoln closed his eyes and tried to think of what exactly was bothering him throughout his journey. Only to fall silent when a familiar voice began talking to him once more after having kept quiet all this time.
"You're worried about your family's safety, aren't you?" The voice said to him.
"Yes."
"And you're also worried about your own life."
Lincoln didn't want to reply to that, but since the belt's consciousness is pretty much connected to his, he may not even need to say anything at all.
"But you also know, that no matter what-Lincoln-, you're going to protect your family-Lincoln-, even if the odds are stacked against you."
"I know."
"Don't be reckless-Lincoln.-, kid."
"Lincoln!" Lisa's call dragged the boy back to reality.
"Wha-What?" The sole Loud boy looked around and focused back on Lisa, "Oh."
"What do you mean 'Oh'?" Lisa asked her brother, looking visibly agitated, "You just went quiet!"
"I'm sorry Lisa," He apologized, looking away as he added, "I think, I'm just too worried. About things as they are now. We can't really tell when those guys will attack again. Or heck, why exactly those guys attacked us for."
"Listen, Lincoln, just because I'm me, it does not mean that I lack any emotions whatsoever," Lisa bluntly stated, "Especially back at that time when that thing had your friend, and us, at his mercy."
Lincoln narrowed his eyes as he listened to Lisa talk, before they widened in realization on what she meant. What she was truly hinting at.
"Truth is, I too, am very terrified when we were, figuratively speaking, backed into a corner."
The young scientist then began burying her face in her small hands, letting out a small sigh afterwards. She was trying to regain composure after thinking about what else could have happened to her. To them. She slowly turned to Lincoln, her face molded into a sad expression. Or rather, fear.
"Lincoln, are… Are you afraid of dying?"
Naturally, Lincoln was very much surprised when he heard her ask him that. Of course he is. Though, knowing that there may be more that she wanted to say, he could only let out, "What?"
"Have you ever felt so helpless? To not be able to do anything while you watch as the terror goes on?"
Lincoln searched his mind to look for an answer that should be able to ease off her worries, all while sounding like he knows what exactly Lisa felt. He does. While he was busy thinking, the Belt had looked deep into his memory vault and projected the memories of a certain time.
Yes, a certain time from when he too had been down. His family were far too injured to feel anything or be able to assess their surroundings at the time. However, he wasn't spared from the horrors of his situation. Death, all around as the Hexons continued to slaughter the people in the scene, the resisting officers. He felt nothing but terror at the sight of those. Making things worse, he couldn't do anything at that time. But something interfered him from a date with Death.
Indeed, this interloper was his belt. It had called out to him, beckoning Lincoln to save his life, and in turn, his family's.
Only then, did Lincoln find the right answer. Hopefully.
Lisa, who waited still for answer, began tearing up when her fears began to grow at the back of her mind. She was just about to silently leave the room until Lincoln finally spoke up, saying only, "Yes!"
His answer prompted Lisa to stop and turn around to look back at the boy, tears trickling down her face.
"I… Do understand how you feel," Lincoln answered to her question with a smile, "I am afraid of dying. I have felt helpless before. That's why I put on this belt."
Lincoln got up and changed the Belt to its' usual form, and looked back at Lisa.
The child prodigy didn't quite get it. So, she asked, "What do you mean?"
"I'm not sure if it's right but, when I found myself on the ground at that time when the Hexons first attacked, I felt everything you've asked me about. Honestly, it was terrifying, and I was just about to give up. That is until, my little buddy here told me to keep going."
Lisa, now having a better understanding of Lincoln's message, wiped her tears. Though, her mind was still restless, and thought one of his points was rather null.
"Well, you may be who you are right now, but we don't have any powers to defend ourselves with," Lisa somberly responded, "So we're not exactly being pushed further by anything or anyone."
Things went quiet again after Lisa presented her opinion on Lincoln's resolve and will to continue living.
"Well, you have Oswald?" Lincoln said without much certainty.
Lisa felt offended when she heard what Lincoln said.
"Lincoln, I'd rather if you don't mention his name here," Lisa walked up to her brother and looked up to him, "He may be one of your partners in battles, but I don't like him. More than I don't like Zed still."
Just as she said that, they both heard what sounded like a bang as a result from someone punching hard on something. Knowing that their family's always like that, something getting broke every now and then, they ignored it.
"I know you don't like him, but I think maybe, just maybe, that he and the others are hiding something from us. Something they'd rather not share?"
"I see nothing in that man that makes him one."
Then another one, sounding louder than before.
"Listen, Lisa, maybe you shouldn't be judging someone just because they don't strike to you as someone tolerable."
Lisa looked on the floor, sighing, "I know, Lincoln. I'm sorry. I just couldn't help but think that maybe one day, something is going to go wrong with him."
"That's what you said with Zed, but has he ever done anything to hurt any of us?"
Seeing Lincoln's point, and his persistence, Lisa dropped their current topic and simply apologized to Lincoln, "You're right. I have been wrong once, and there's always the possibility of me being wrong again."
"Good, now why don't we talk about this some other day? We are supposed to relax today." Lincoln suggested, ruffling his sister's hair.
"Very well. Have a good day." Lisa tried to smack away Lincoln's hand, which only made her look adorable in her brother's eyes.
"Alright now." Lincoln said, putting his hands on his hip.
"Of course," Lisa simply said before putting on a smile, "I may not have gotten my problem resolved, but at least I got to get something off my chest. Thank you, Lincoln."
With a nod, the two ended their conversation there with Lisa exiting the room. Lincoln walked out soon after his Belt put on its' disguise, only to spot the twins behind the door. Which Lisa also noticed.
"Greetings, my twin sisters." She spoke to them while she walked into her and Lily's room.
"Lola? Lana? What are you doing here?"
"We were-"
"Nothing, Lincoln! Come now Lana!" Lola shut her twin's mouth before dragging her off, which she responded to by smacking her hand away.
"Hey!" Lana pushed Lola's hand away before spitting in disgust, "So yeah, we were listening to you guys talk and I didn't like how Lisa was talking bad about Oswald."
"Why do you even care about him?" The young diva next to her asked, visibly frustrated at her sister.
"Well duh, because he's saved us? Twice. Maybe three times."
"So?"
"So, he's a good guy!"
"Heh," Lincoln chuckled listening to his sisters' petty arguments, "That he is, Lana, that he is."
"See? Lincoln agrees?" Lana fold her arms, looking at Lola with one eyebrow raised.
Having nobody else to back her up on this, Lola growled and stomped back to her room. Lana followed shortly after.
"I wish days like these can come again soon."
Then, Lincoln's phone rang. He picked it up and found that Clyde is on the other end.
"Oh, hi buddy!" Lincoln cheerfully greeted him. Before nodding with his answer, "Uh-huh."
Their talk went on for a bit longer until Lincoln reached the bottom of the stairs where put away his phone back in his pocket.
"Hey mom, dad!" He called out to his parents, who were both sitting on the couch still, "I'm going out with Clyde, I won't be long!"
"Alright, Lincoln, you go and have fun!" Rita said to her son.
Lincoln then proceed to lead himself out of the house and walk down the steps, taking a deep breath and exhaling once he got to the pavement. With a nod, he ran off to where Clyde had last informed him of his location. With at least a few more hours to spare, he plans to make the best of the day.
Hopefully, without much trouble.
Chapter Ends.
Alright, that's chapter 29.
Sorry I dragged it out guys, I just wanted Chapter 30 to have a slight change of pace.
Anyway, Chapter 30 will come soon enough.
