A/N: Howdy partner! Now I know I left you all with a cliffhanger, but it was for the best because I needed to end the story off with something exciting.
Now, here is the continuation of Lincoln and Arthur's second confrontation, but it might get a bit bloody here, I mean the whole Expendables franchise is nothing but blood, but there were no amounts of blood in the Loud House.
So yep, here you go, now remember, I don't own The Loud House or The Expendables because they all belong to their rightful owners. There will songs mentioned too, but not written…at least not for a while, ;D
With that all being said, I shall see you guys AT THE BOTTOM!
As Arthur charged at Lincoln, the white-haired 11-year-old dodged the punch just in time for Arthur to make contact with the doorframe. Hissing from the pain, Arthur didn't notice Lincoln was behind him to wrap his arms around Arthur's waist, pick him up and slam him down to the concrete path and grass. Lincoln was now in a fit of rage, he now wanted to straight up beat the living hell out of Arthur for following him back to Toll Road's house, threatening him, and now bringing a weapon to show he had massive balls, when in the real world it was showing how much of a coward, he was for not fighting like a man in a old fashioned fist fight.
"How dare you follow me to my house, threaten me and try to assault me with a weapon!" Lincoln bellowed as Arthur got lucky with a cheap shot to the face, with his brass knuckles on. Lincoln cried from the strike, Arthur got his nose and he felt warm streaks of blood pour down the lower part of his face. He delivered a few lucky strikes to Arthur's face, causing him to lower his guard where Lincoln would be able to disarm him of his weapon.
"Screw you! I loved Bonnie, and you just had to come here and do the old 'mister steal your girl' bullshit!" Arthur bellowed as there were louder screams, but from older males that came out of nowhere.
"Lincoln! Come on, get off him!" An asian accent ordered as Yang pulled Lincoln off of the brown-haired 11-year-old.
Soon, every Expendable was outside, Barney, Lee, Yang, Gunner, Caesar and Toll Road. Gunner and Yang focused on trying to calm Lincoln down and while the others were busy figuring out who the brown-haired 5th grader was. Then it hit Toll Road, he remembered Jack and Lindsey talking about Arthur's appearance when they were over the day before.
"You're Arthur Taggart, aren't you?" Toll spat with such venom in his tone as he towered over the 5th grader. Arthur nodded slowly and just stared in shock by the man's scary face and height. Caesar, Lee and Barney were behind him making sure that he wouldn't do something he will regret.
Lee took a knee beside Arthur, who was still trying to figure out who the men were and swiped the weapon from him. "You're using the ol' classics are you mate?" Lee said in his sharp English tone, which Arthur nodded to.
"Well kid, you messed up now." Barney stated as he took a puff of his cigar, blowing out some smoke afterwards.
"Put him in my truck, Christmas. Toll Road, come with me so we can deal with this." Barney commanded as the men did as instructed while Caesar & Christmas retreated inside to help Gunner and Yang control Lincoln.
Barney got in his truck while Toll shoved Arthur in the back and got in himself. "Tell us where you live at, kid, before I look up your info." Toll growled as Barney gave him the 'calm the fuck down' glare.
Arthur wasted no time in telling them where he lived, in fact, he lived by the school he was named after, Arthur Ashe Charter School. Barney drove the truck towards Filmore Parc Apartments, Arthur was in deep shit at that exact moment. He knew his dad was going to beat the living shit out of him for taking his brass knuckles, but he'd rather have Lincoln give him a good look licking instead of his old man.
The 2008 Ford truck drove through the streets, the engine roaring with each turn and the gear shifting. As Ross pulled the truck into a parking space at the apartments, Arthur was sweating bullets because he didn't know what punishment he would face once he was beyond his apartment door.
They made it to Arthur's home and as the 11-year-old was about to say something, Ross knocked on the door as Toll was behind Arthur, making sure he didn't try to bolt. After waiting a moment or so from knocking, the door swung open to Arthur's father, Tyler.
As Tyler saw who was at in front of him, he was suspicious. "Can I help you gentleman?" He asked as Toll pushed Arthur forward in plain view of his father. Tyler's eyes changed from surprised to extremely angry, he thought he would never have to deal with parents coming to the house.
"What did you do now, Arthur Murdoch Taggart?" Tyler asked in a stern voice that Arthur was afraid of him using.
"Well first of all, he followed my kid back to our house and second of all: assaulted him with these brass knuckles." Toll explained while pulling out the brass knuckles that he placed in a Ziploc bag. Once Tyler eyed the weapon, he grabbed Arthur by the arm, yanked him inside and pointed to his room, which Arthur obeyed as he hung his head down low.
"Now, I won't press charges because he's just an 11-year-old or on you either. Just keep him away from my kid...or I'll be dealing you personally." Toll stated as he gave the father his brass knuckles back. After the father shut the door, Barney and Toll headed back to the truck so they could see how Lincoln was holding up back at the house.
Barney pulled his cell phone out and dialed Gunner, hopefully to get an update. After a couple rings, Gunner picked up and sounded like he was holding something against his nose.
"Hey Barney, Lincoln went crazy after Yang and I restrained him and brought him inside. I tried to put him in a hold, but it didn't go according to plan because he threw his head back and hit me square in the nose. Now Lee has him in an arm hold and is trying to calm him down while Caesar is holding his feet down as well. You guys need to double time it back before the cops are called." Gunner explained as Barney hung up and stepped on the gas.
Toll heard everything since the phone was on speaker, he and Barney needed to calm Lincoln down before they can even begin to explain what they wanted him back at the house for in the first place.
As Barney slammed on the brakes, him and Toll rushed inside the house to see Gunner cleaning his face from the blood that gushed on his shirt and smeared everywhere. "They're inside his room, be careful." Gunner stated as Yang brought more paper towels for his nose.
Barney and Toll made their way towards Lincoln's room and slowly opened the door, to see the white-haired hacker in a restraint by Lee while Caesar was holding his feet down to prevent him from kicking. The plastic dresser that had his clothes in was turned over as well as some boxers and socks that came out from the struggle.
Lee was whispering calm words into Lincoln's ear, while he motioned for Caesar to get up slowly. "You good now? I don't wanna have to take you down again." Lee asked as Lincoln kept his bloody face down towards his feet.
Lee slowly let Lincoln go while Caesar went to grab paper towels and a bowl of water so Lee and him could clean his face up.
"What happened while we were gone?" Barney asked Lee as he began to explain what happened. "As soon as Yang and Gunner brought Lincoln inside, he head-butted Gunner and Yang couldn't hold him for long, so he yelled for me when you left and that's when Caesar and I stepped in." Lee explained while Barney was still questioning how Lincoln could overpower a Chinese special forces soldier and strike a Swedish chemical engineer.
"Let's just get him cleaned up, then I'll discuss his punishment." Toll said as he saw Lincoln wiping the blood and tears from his face. "Lee and Caesar, go check on Gunner and Yin. Toll Road and I are gonna talk with Lincoln." Barney instructed as Lee nodded slowly and went to check on the others.
"I-I'm sorry guys." Lincoln finally spoke after a while; he didn't expect to be put in a hold at all. Lincoln knew the choices he made would come with consequences indeed, but he didn't know if the Expendables were hardcore with punishments when it came to him being with them.
Barney took a seat in the computer chair while Toll popped a squat on the bed next to Lincoln. The Vietnam veteran and demolitions expert had stern but disappointing looks on their faces, they were mostly worried about why he snapped or went toe to toe with Arthur in the first place.
"Lincoln, what happened with Arthur in the front yard?" Toll asked as Lincoln just shrugged his shoulders, not wanting to explain his love for Bonnie and defending her from Arthur.
"Kid, we just want to know why you did it, it doesn't matter how silly or weird it is. We all have been through that or something way more messed up." Barney explained as Lincoln looked up at him and Toll with red in his eyes, took a deep breath in and told the guys his secret/explanation.
"The reason why I went crazy on Arthur was because he kept telling me how she belongs to him and wants me to stay away from her when everything is backwards. The other reason why is…" Lincoln felt another stream of tears rolling down his face as he told the mercs the big cheese.
"...I love Bonnie, and I wasn't gonna sit there and have Arthur start talking smack about her like she's some sort of pimp's girl on the street corner." Lincoln finished with his voice cracking, while Toll Road and Barney's eyes went wide. They understood it was young love and Lincoln wanted to show how much he cared for Bonnie, but it was no excuse to strike at Gunner or act crazy in the first place.
"Lincoln, we understand it's the whole young love phase, but we can't have you striking any of us. Do you understand?" Barney asked as Lincoln nodded while the veteran cleared his throat and patted him on the shoulder, showing comfort. "When you're done, come wait out in the living room, there is still a matter of business to discuss." Barney finished as he went to grab a beer from the fridge.
"Now you will be punished because of it. No games until Tuesday after school, you will come home and workout with Caesar, Lee and I. Plus you and I are gonna clean the kitchen. You can keep your computer and phone. Do you understand?" Toll instructed with a stern tone that scared Lincoln a bit as he nodded.
Toll got up and looked back at him, motioning for him to follow, to which he did. They went to the kitchen while the others were drinking a beer, waiting for Barney to give the news. "Now Lincoln, we have Bonaparte coming to actually meet you in person from the great work you did on the operation last night." Barney explained as Lincoln felt a bit better from hearing a least bit of good news.
As soon as Barney finished explaining the news, they heard the doorbell ring. Barney had a cocky smile on his face, knowing it was such a coincidence that Bonaparte would show up right at that moment after explaining. Barney opened the door to reveal a man who had a mustache and goatee starting to go grey, he smiled and stuck out his hand, to which Barney accepted and smiled.
"So, where is he?" Bonaparte finally spoke as Barney pointed with his thumb towards Lincoln, who was waiting to be introduced. Barney led Bonaparte to the couch and as Bonaparte laid eyes on Lincoln, he didn't know if he should believe Barney or not. "So, you're the hacker that was able to pull off the job for our contact in Aldan?" Bonaparte asked as Lincoln nodded slowly.
The man rubbed his chin, then with a friendly smile he stuck out his hand for Lincoln to shake. Lincoln sighed with relief and happily shook the man's hand; he was happy that more and more government personnel were liking Lincoln's skills. "Barney, I want you to keep this kid for more and more jobs you get. Because of how good this kid was, the Russians never expected anything except a big middle finger saying, 'fuck you'." Bonaparte stated as Barney smiled from the comment, he planned on keeping Lincoln because he was one of them and now family to every single one of the guys, especially Toll Road.
"What's your name kid?" Bonaparte asked as Lincoln had a small smile on his face. "I'm Lincoln Loud, sir." He said as Bonaparte had a confused look on his face due to the 11-year-old's last name.
"If you're wondering why his last name is Loud, we don't have time to explain it, kind of a long story with his family." Barney stated in a not so rude way, while Bonaparte pulled a folder out of his briefcase for a couple jobs, he needed taken care of. Barney took the folder and began reviewing it, and before he knew it, his eyes went wide due to one of the locations he would need to recon.
"Anyway, I gotta get going. Call me when you finish reading that and we'll discuss the info." Bonaparte said as he hit the old dusty trail out of Toll's house, leaving everyone looking at Barney with confusion.
"Will you quit being a silent scrub and tell us the job, Barney!" Lee yelled as Barney showed him the location of their next job.
"Looks like we're going to Romania, boys. I'll look over the info and continue the conversation with Bonaparte later." Barney said as the guys nodded and went to do their own things at their houses.
"Lincoln, don't leave just yet, I still need to talk to you alone." Barney stated as Lincoln just stayed where he was.
"What's next, if I may ask?" Lincoln asked with curiosity as Barney tossed a duffel bag onto his lap.
"What's next; is you open that up, take your share and lock it up. Then you and I are gonna go for a drive while we discuss this." Barney said as he went to look at the papers at the table while Lincoln just stared at the bag with anticipation. He opened it up, and there were wads of one-hundred-dollar bills in stacks.
"That right there is your four hundred-thousand-dollar share. Now go lock that up so we can go for that drive." Barney instructed as Lincoln closed the bag up and went to put the money away.
As he walked into his room, or should he say: Former Battlefield, he began to feel way sorrier towards the guys. Especially Gunner, since he didn't really know the tall blonde, but he was hoping to bury the hatchet between him and the Swede.
Lincoln found a place under his bed to put the money, for now, and made his way out to Barney's temporary truck, since his got busted up by Gunner when he was trying to get back at the veteran to kicking him off the team before the Vilena mission due to being on Methamphetamine. As Barney started the truck and drove away from the house, Lincoln didn't say anything at all, he didn't want to anger the leader any further than he already did.
"Now Lincoln, here's the job. We need to take out this small group of mercenaries, that apparently got too big for their britches and are now held up in a camp near Hunedoara, Romania. They seem to be terrorizing small villages near the area and we need to show these suckers how we do business." Barney explained as Lincoln began to wonder that the job sounded a bit easy and... off as well.
"That sounds a bit simple, doesn't it Barney?" Lincoln asked as the leader shrugged his shoulders to the question.
Barney turned on the radio where music had started to play, at first it just sounded like regular old music; until Nickelback started playing.
Lincoln took the chance in processing what the song was meaning to him, it was no matter how big the absence was, it makes the heart grow fonder. That's probably what his family was going through as well as him, he missed them a lot. He wanted to be hugged and loved by them, but just because he couldn't physically love them at the moment, didn't mean he couldn't by video chat.
Tears rolled down Lincoln's cheeks, he had never knew how much meaning this song had. Barney even noticed the hacker crying, he understood the meaning of the song as well and knew Lincoln missed his family, but he had to work for the next 10 years and couldn't go home until it was up. At least he was able video chat them, so he didn't feel so lonely.
As the song ended, Barney stopped the truck at a McDonalds and handed Lincoln a box of tissues he kept in the glove compartment. Lincoln noticed and took the box to begin cleaning his face, the song had such a good vibe that it was hard not to cry from it.
"You good now?" Barney asked with a gentle tone as Lincoln nodded.
"I'm fine, that song really got to me." Lincoln replied as Barney patted his shoulder and motioned him to follow. Lincoln didn't really know the song had a deep meaning, but it was a true meaning to life and he was happy that he found it out.
Lincoln hadn't noticed that Barney lead him into the McDonalds until they were at the counter. He was glad the veteran wanted to do something nice for him, by getting an ice cream cone.
It had been a while since Barney had been to McDonalds, so it was a treat for him since he had been tasting sweat, blood and tears all his mercenary life.
The two got simple cones and went to eating them. All was quiet in the dining area with little chatter and other people came and went. It was incredibly quiet; perhaps a bit too quiet, Barney just shrugged it off and went back to eating his cone. He remembered going to McDonalds as a child back when they still had hot girls on skates coming to your cars, and now it was a bit better.
"So anyway, this is also part of your punishment, but you're coming with me and Lee to Romania so we can scout these dickheads out." Barney whispered to Lincoln as he was about to finish chewing his cone.
Lincoln had already been to Russia, so him going to Romania was another recon mission opportunity just sitting there waiting for his decision.
"Ok, I hope I don't stick out like a sore thumb while I'm there, because of my hair." Lincoln said, pointing to his hair. Suddenly, two masked gunman brandishing small revolvers came bursting in through the doors. Cries of the smaller children and women were heard as Barney got Lincoln down to the ground with him.
"None of you motherfuckers move! If you do what we say, you will live, if not then it's bye bye time!" The first gunman bellowed as he motioned for partner to watch over the hostages, the worst part was, they didn't see Barney or Lincoln.
They got some money from the registers while Barney was watching from afar, carefully trying not to alert the gunman. "I know this is bad but think about your training with us. Even though it wasn't much, it will save your life in a scenario like this." Barney stated as he thought of a plan to take these bastards down.
"When I take down the first guy, you strike the second in the femur with a powerful kick. As he goes down, you put him in choke hold while putting as much pressure as you can under his nose, lift with two of your fingers and push in, like you're making the pig nose gesture. The reason why is it will drop a grown man to the ground and make them cry like a little girl." Barney finished as Lincoln understood fully to the instructions.
Barney silently made his way towards the first gunman, waiting for the opportunity to strike when the gunman wasn't looking. Lincoln stayed near the second gunman, waiting for Barney to strike. Then, the leader turned his back for a split second and that's when Barney put him in a chokehold with his massive biceps wrapping his neck.
"Drop it, you son of a bitch!" Barney hissed in his ear, which he obeyed by dropping his revolver. "Yo, what's going on-Hey let my buddy go!" The second gunman heard the commotion from the other side of the dining area as he tried to get to Barney, but Lincoln was ready to strike. He threw a powerful kick to the second gunman's femur, which he went down instantly. Lincoln wrapped his arm around the man's neck and went to putting pressure under his nose, he felt it alright and dropped his gun to try and hit Lincoln, which Barney noticed.
"Do anything to him, and I will break your buddy's neck!" Barney scowled as the gunman listened and stayed where he was. Barney then looked to the lady behind the counter, who was shocked to see an old man and an 11-year-old taking down some gunmen.
"You gonna call the cops or you gonna just stand there?" Barney asked plainly as the lady nodded and went to phone the police. Some of the other customers were astounded of how an 11-year-old could pull of a stunt this crazy with an old man, but those were questions that the police could handle.
1 Hour Later
Police arrived, arrested the gunmen and got statements from the witnesses. Even the news van arrived, but as soon as they wanted to get the statements from Barney and Lincoln, they asked not to be filmed at all, but to be mentioned as a brave caretaker and his kid taking justice into their hands.
As soon as the news got what they wanted, they were true to their word and made sure to hide Barney and Lincoln's identities while making sure the witnesses didn't spill the beans as well.
The police let Lincoln and Barney leave the scene for now while they finished up at the crime scene. Barney drove back to Toll's house as he looked at the afternoon sun., it was gonna be hard to explain to Toll Road about what happened.
The drive was quiet, Lincoln didn't say anything at all. Barney was just lucky he was at the right place at the right time. The veteran pulled the truck into the driveway and Lincoln made his way inside to relax from his whole day of adventure.
Barney went inside as well to find Toll Road waiting for him, wondering why it took so long just to go for a simple drive. "I never knew going for a drive could take an hour and a half." Toll said, obviously pissed.
"Look let me explain." Barney replied. "I took him to McDonald's just to explain that Lee and I are taking him with us to Romania for recon. Then these two gunmen came in and started to rob the place, so me and Lincoln took them down and waited for the police to arrive, but the news crew wanted to get our statements, so I told them I didn't want mine or Lincoln's identities revealed whatsoever, and even the witnesses made sure not to describe our appearances."
Toll just stood there, amazed. He didn't expect this type of attention at all from the media, but they had to respect Barney and Lincoln's privacy of not being mentioned at all.
"Let's just get a beer, I need to get my mind off this." Toll commented as Barney followed him to the kitchen.
Lincoln was in his room, getting his jumpsuit on so he could call one of his sisters to check in on them. He hoped they wouldn't question the bruise on his face from the scuffle he had earlier with Arthur, he just wanted to have a conversation with them.
The black curtain was pulled back and Skype was opened, he just had to click 'call' and he would be talking to his sisters.
Lincoln was ready, he clicked 'call' and waited for Lori to pick up on Skype. He heard a click, and as soon as Lori saw her brother's face, she flipped!
"Lincoln! What happened to you!?" Lori screamed as fresh tears started to escape from her eyes, the scream caused the other sisters to barge in her room.
They all saw the bruise on their brother's face and began to tear up as well. Lincoln waited patiently for them to quit crying so he could talk, until they heard their parents walk in due to the noise.
"What's with all the noise?" Lynn Sr asked before he saw Lincoln. His eyes widened to the bruises he saw on his sons face.
"Can I speak for a second without your uproar, sheesh." Lincoln stated, obviously pissed because he couldn't speak for a second without being cut off.
"I got into a little fight and got to spend the night in the shoe yesterday." Lincoln lied as Leni, as always, looked confused.
"How can you sleep in a shoe? Aren't shoes, like, too small for you to fit your whole body in?" Leni asked as the rest of her siblings groaned due to her small IQ.
"Leni, what our male sibling is referring to is that he was sent to administrative segregation for his violent or disruptive behavior as punishment that contains a single bed, a very small window for him to look out into the outside world and no communication with the other inmates." Lisa explained as the 16-year-old blonde now understood.
"Well why did you get into a fight?" Luna asked as Lincoln raised his eyebrows, due to it being obvious.
"Do you not get it? I'm 'fresh meat' here, and this one inmate came up and tried to have his way with me. I didn't want him touching me, so I tried to get away, but he grabbed me, and I punched him in the face. That's what happened to me, Luna." Lincoln explained as he saw everyone on the other end, even Rita was trying to control herself.
"Lincoln, I know how hard it is, but this is not the kind of behavior I expect from you." Lynn Sr. stated as Lincoln's face shot up and began to fill with anger.
"Well, you know what dad, this is prison, I'll do what I gotta do to survive! How about you try being in my shoes right now, what about the sister fight protocol incident? What have you and mom done to help?! NOTHING!" Lincoln screamed as everyone flinched from his outburst, even Toll Road was outside the door listening in on what was going on.
Lily started to cry due to her brother's rant, even Rita couldn't calm the youngest child down. "Lincoln please, we try our best around the house. It's not easy raising ten kids in this house, plus dealing with the animals and doing our own activities as well." Rita replied shakily as Lincoln looked more and more angrier.
"Yeah, those activities were 'hiding in your room like a couple of cowards' and forcing me to sleep outside like a dog!" Lincoln bellowed as he felt hot tears streaming down his face.
"You were supposed to be my mother and father, not a couple of eighteenth-century slave drivers, who apparently value their daughters' interests more than me! Then you always take their sides when I literally didn't do anything wrong, such as clogging the toilet when I was covering up for Lucy about the whole Princess Pony incident just so the girls wouldn't make fun of her! And to add insult to injury, you don't even notice when the girls always use me as their own personal step and fetch brother and always blaming me for things I didn't do, because you always think we are having fun when in reality, I'm in HELL!" Lynn Sr. was getting more angrier while the girls were shocked to hear Lincoln swearing like a sailor while he continued his rant.
Toll Road kept listening in by the door as the big swede came back with a bag of paper towels, when he heard Lincoln's cries and saw Toll leaning on the hacker's doorframe.
"What's going on?" Gunner whispered as Toll motioned for him not to talk whatsoever but telling him to listen in as well.
"I'm so done with all of you treating me like a squirrel turd on a hot summer's day you just kick like it's nothing. You know what, don't call or text me...EVER AGAIN! Goodbye!" Lincoln screamed as he ended the call abruptly. He logged off and closed the laptop as he heard his door open, he pulled the curtain back to see Toll coming in looking more worried than ever. Hearing about past problems in Lincoln's family upset the man more, but he was his primary caretaker, and he was there for Lincoln no matter what.
"Toll…" Lincoln started to say as said man got on one knee and allowed him to embrace for a hug, which the 11-year-old couldn't resist and ran into the man's arms. Lincoln let his eyes flow of tears, not caring if he wet his caretaker's shirt at all.
"Kid, I had no idea you went through all of that back home. Especially with your parents not even thinking of you as family but using you as a scapegoat...that is over the line." Toll's voice was starting to crack as he cried along with Lincoln. The two cried for what it seemed hours, but neither of them cared as it helped to have their emotions run free.
Toll stroked Lincoln's hair softly as he comforted him, letting him know that he was there for him no matter what without saying anything. "I p-promise I won't let anything bad h-happen to y-you, do you understand?" Toll said with tears still in his eyes as he felt Lincoln nod against him.
Gunner just stood outside the door, waiting for the demolitions expert to get a grip. In his nine years of working for Barney, the tall swede had never seen Toll Road shed one tear. He also felt bad that Lincoln had gone through hell and back with his family, he was angry but sad that such a nice kid had to go do so many things for his sisters and be thrown under the bus when his parents didn't believe him.
The two finally were at ease now and got tissues to clean themselves up of their damp faces. Lincoln stripped out of his jumpsuit that was over his clothes and took off his shoes that had been on him the whole day, Toll took a seat in the chair while Lincoln was on the bed.
They didn't speak for a whole fifteen minutes, until both of their stomachs started to growl. Toll didn't feel like cooking at all tonight, so he decided to order pizza for him and Lincoln; it was the least he could do.
"You want pizza for dinner? Because I don't feel like cooking at all tonight." Toll asked as Lincoln looked up, with a tiny bit of happiness on his face, and nodded.
"Okay, I'll go order a pepperoni pizza for both of us to split." Toll stated as he got up to head into the living room, where the chemical engineer was waiting on the couch. The demolitions expert sat down next to him and turned on the boob tube.
"Is Lincoln okay? I heard crying in there." Gunner asked with a concerned look as his comrade just nodded, not even looking towards him. "I'll talk to him and see what else happened before he came to us." Toll explained as Gunner drank in the information with ease.
Just then, the chemical engineers phone went off and he went to answer it. It was a text from his brother, Noah, who needed him back at his house. "I gotta go, my brother needs help with some stuff." Gunner said as he began to head for the door, not before whispering to Toll.
"I'll get a pizza or a finger food related recipe out of my cookbook drawer for Lincoln's party." The chemical engineer finished as he smiled at the demolition's expert, who nodded and smiled back. As Gunner walked out the door, Toll got on the phone with Pizza Hut and ordered his and Lincoln's dinner.
Speaking of said 11-year-old, Lincoln decided to give Bonnie a call and let her know what happened after he left earlier. He got out his phone and was ready to dial her number, he was nervous about asking her about the kissing attempt, but he was nervous about telling her about what happened between him and Arthur. Lincoln was in love with Bonnie, and he wanted to kiss her so badly, but he wanted to get to know her more without jumping the gun too early.
He called her on Skype and waited for her to pick up, hoping that he could at least talk to her about what happened with both events. Lincoln waited and waited for Bonnie to pick up and when he was going to call it quits, the line picked up on the other end.
"Hey Linc-Oh my god, what happened to you?!" Bonnie yelled on her end of Skype as she saw Lincoln's bruises while he waited patiently to speak.
"Two words: Arthur happened." Lincoln explained simply as Bonnie was gob smacked.
"He followed me to my house and was talking smack about you, but this is the tip of the iceberg, he wanted me to stay away from you and even brought brass knuckles to back it up and show he had the guts to threaten me. We threw hands when he decided to swing first, but he didn't exactly hit me until I slammed him to the ground. That's when he actually struck me with the brass knuckles, I'm glad my other caretaker, Yang, pulled me off when he did, because we would've gone round 2 if he didn't step in." Lincoln explained as Bonnie just sat there on her bed, absolutely shocked to hear the information that she had just heard.
"Anyway, I wanted to ask you about earlier when we were at your house. When we almost kissed, do you think we kinda rushed it?" Lincoln asked truthfully as Bonnie's cheeks turned a slight pink.
"Well...I do think we kinda jumped the gun...just a bit. Why do you ask?" Bonnie asked as Lincoln scratched the back of his head, nervously but anxiously.
"I was wondering if you wanted to go out with me...officially." Lincoln asked as there was a very bright blush on his face from the statement he made. At least he didn't have to worry about his sisters meddling in on his love life anymore.
Bonnie was speechless, she was being asked out by her crush...her cute, white haired crush. How could she say no, she may never get this opportunity again ever.
"S-Sure, I'd love to go out with you, Lincoln. Where would we be going on our date?" Bonnie asked as she couldn't hold in a giggle at the end.
"Well, if there's a nice frozen yogurt shop nearby, I'll buy for you and I, how does that sound?" Lincoln asked with a truthful grin on his face. "Okay, I'll see if we can go out on Tuesday after school. Plus, I gotta see if I can find something nice to wear." Bonnie replied as Lincoln smiled towards the southern girl.
"Also, I'm gonna be going to Europe this Friday night. So, we need to see if we can set this up for Tuesday or Wednesday after school. Most likely it'll have to Wednesday just in case, because I'm grounded until Tuesday." Lincoln explained as Bonnie was shocked to hear the last part.
"What'd you get grounded for?" Bonnie asked curiously.
"For striking one of my caretakers." Lincoln explained as he winced slightly from what he did earlier. "Besides that, I'm only gonna be stuck in my room until Tuesday, and after that, I'm free."
Before Bonnie could reply, there was a sudden knock at Lincoln's door. It opened to reveal Toll Road leaning on the frame waiting for Lincoln to finish. The 11-year-old saw Toll standing there with a small grin on his face, Lincoln was obviously caught in the act of talking to Bonnie some more, which Toll enjoyed to the fullest.
"Anyway, I gotta go. I'll call you after school on Tuesday." Lincoln noted as Bonnie waved 'bye' while smiling. As he shut down his computer, Toll motioned for Lincoln to follow him into the living room, which had the big TV going.
"What's this about, Toll?" Lincoln asked with curiosity as they both sat on the nice piece of furniture. "Well, Barney made sure to text me about you, him and Lee going to recon the target in Romania. So, when you get there, listen to both Barney and Lee, do what they tell you and if there is any conflict; you will stick to them no matter what." Toll explained as the doorbell rang.
"Pizza's here. I got us a pepperoni pizza we can split and some BBQ wings, plus I have drinks here, so I didn't have to order a two-liter bottle of soda." Toll noted as he grabbed his wallet and went to the door to collect their dinner.
As he opened the door, there was a nerdy teen who was at least nineteen years old, and soon as he saw Toll's face...he was shocked to see his ear and his facial damages.
"One P-Pepperoni Pizza with BBQ wings." The nerdy teen stated as he started to shake at the serious man, who just handed the money to him and signed for the pizza. "Have a good day, kid." Toll said as the teen ran to his car before the man could shut the door.
"So, like I said from earlier about your punishment, as soon as you get home: get changed, work on those exercises like you did yesterday and then you, Caesar and I will lift weights the rest of the exercise." Toll explained as Lincoln nodded slowly to his punishment.
Throughout the rest of dinner, Lincoln explained all the other escapades that happened to him back home, such as him and the girls trying to sabotage their dad's cooking and get pizza, the room shuffle and every other misadventure or troublesome act he was involved in back home, that he didn't mention in the Skype call with his family.
It took them almost eating all of their dinner, two trips to the bathroom and a couple sips of their drinks for Lincoln to explain everything that happened to be bad or leading up to the bad experiences. Toll Road couldn't believe what he was hearing, he understood Lincoln made mistakes in the past, including the one where he embarrassed his sisters just to win a contest, but it didn't cut it when his sisters took it out on him.
"Jesus Christ, Lincoln, that's a lot of shit you've been through. I mean, when I was helping my mother raise my little brother back then, it was a big struggle, but we managed to get by. But being through all of that, especially if you're trying to do simple things and your sisters intervene." Toll stated as Lincoln nodded while taking a drink of his juice.
After a while, the two were finished with dinner, cleaned up their mess and went to do their own things as the night wound down. Lincoln decided to inform Ronnie Anne of his first op in Russia, where hopefully she would take news in a good term.
Lincoln got his scenario set up, once again after what happened earlier with his family, so he might as well mention that he told them off, finally.
Skype was opened and he messaged Ronnie Anne, and he waited. He just waited for a good fifteen minutes before hearing the notification on the laptop.
Lincoln, is that you? It's Bobby, your big bro! -Bobby
Lincoln couldn't believe what he saw, Bobby was on Ronnie Anne's skype and was saying 'Hi'. It was nice having Bobby's company, but right now was no exception.
Hey Bobby...whatcha doing on Ronnie Anne's skype? -Lincoln typed as he waited for a response.
"Well, I was using Nie Nie's laptop to write a quick two-page essay, then her skype went off and I saw it was you. I do miss you dude; I hope the inmates aren't causing any trouble for you. -Bobby replied as Lincoln felt the need to show him via face chat.
He clicked face chat and waited for the Latino to answer, it took a few minutes for Bobby to answer, and when he did: he would see Lincoln's injuries from 'prison'.
As soon as Bobby answered, his face was stuck in a shocked position. "Little bro, what happened to you?" Bobby asked as Lincoln pinched the bridge of his nose, not really wanting to explain the lie to his sister's boyfriend, but it was for the best.
"Long story short; I'm fresh meat here, an inmate tried to grope me, I tried to get away and then we fought. When we were fighting, he gave me a shiner, so I got thrown into solitary confinement for the night." Lincoln explained as Bobby couldn't make a different expression due to the info he just heard from Lincoln. He had never thought his little bro would ever get into trouble with the prison faculty nor get into trouble with the law.
"Not to be rude, but is Ronnie Anne there? I wanted to talk to her a little before I have to get back to my cell for the night." Lincoln explained as he then heard a familiar voice in the background. "Is that Lincoln on the call, Bobby?" Ronnie Anne appeared behind her brother as he knew to give her privacy.
"Hey Lin-what happened to you?!" Ronnie Anne screamed as Bobby slipped out of the room to give her some privacy. "I'm gonna go comfort Lori for a couple hours. Be careful Lincoln." Bobby noted as he shut the door before Lincoln could reply.
Ronnie Anne waited for Bobby to leave the house in their mother's station wagon before she and Lincoln could talk about his 'real' situation. As soon as she saw the car disappear, she knew it was safe to talk about Lincoln's second life.
"So...how are things?" Ronnie Anne asked, trying to look on the bright side.
"Not much, I went on my first op last night to hack into the enemy's building mainframe and recover a hostage for our contact." Lincoln explained as Ronnie Anne was surprised to hear such information.
"W-Where was this at?" Ronnie asked Lincoln had a blank stare for a quick second, but then it changed to a smile.
"Aldan, Russia." Lincoln said as he got out of his jumpsuit.
Ronnie Anne never expected Lincoln to leave the states at all in this line of work. But she knew he chose this option instead of having 'Cyber Hacking' on his rap sheet when he would go to a job interview. "R-Really? How was it?" The tomboy asked as Lincoln began to tell her how it started off smoothly, but he then told her how he had to protect himself when one of the tango's tried to kill him, so he retaliated with self-defense.
As Lincoln finished explaining the previous op, Ronnie Anne wasn't sure if she was going to hurl or faint, but one thing was for sure...she was happy that Lincoln held his own and was even still here today.
"Wow...that was pretty cool. How are you holding up after that kill?" Ronnie Anne asked as Lincoln ran a hand through his white locks. "I'm doing fine. But nothing like a nice four hundred-thousand-dollar payday to cheer me up." Lincoln replied while Ronnie Anne whistled slowly, they both shared a chuckle and began to talk to for a half hour.
"Oh, I almost forgot to tell you...my Pop-Pop now knows the truth." Lincoln noted as Ronnie Anne just stared at her friend as if he was a crazy murderer.
"Are you planning to tell all of your family members?" Ronnie Anne asked sarcastically as Lincoln shook his head slowly.
"No, I don't. Plus, I kinda looked like I killed a whole city when I woke up this morning because of the look in my eyes. I called him on Skype earlier this morning and my boss talked to him, so he now knows. But he's upset that I got into trouble with the government in the first place, but he's happy that I'm not in prison at all." Lincoln explained as he then heard a bit of shuffling behind the curtain in his room.
"I know you're there, Toll Road, come on out." Lincoln commanded sharply as the man pulled the curtain open with force, sporting a smile on his face and already wearing his sleep wear. "I really gotta work on my stealth. Anyway, you got a couple more minutes before bed." The man said as Lincoln nodded in response.
Toll made his way back to his room and left Lincoln to finish his conversation Ronnie Anne. "I gotta get off for the night anyway, Lame-O. But try to message me right after school tomorrow." Ronnie Anne noted as Lincoln put both thumbs up.
The two logged off Skype to prepare for school in the morning, while Lincoln began to wonder how his date would go with Bonnie. He would probably have to wait and see when Tuesday came. As he put his phone on the charger and got under the covers, Lincoln was determined to make it up to the guys that he wouldn't screw up again, no matter what the costs were. He kept telling himself that until he fell asleep to the peaceful silent sounds of New Orleans outside his window.
2 Days Later
After two days of coming home from school, working out with some of the guys and showing perseverance, Toll felt the punishment was enough and decided to take Lincoln off it. He, Caesar, and Lee had Lincoln going through all types of upper body exercises that would put muscle on him, mostly abs. They had him work on Swiss Ball Crunches, Flutter Kicks, Pike to Superman's, Side Planks as well as some Judo, Aikido, and Hapkido training thrown into it. Yang was the one to show him the basics of Judo, which were Hip Throws, Knee Wheels, Scoop Throws and Spring Hip Throws. He remembered Lynn even promising to teach him more advanced martial arts techniques back home before this whole mess started, but he now knows this was the price he had to pay (which wasn't that bad at all). But one thing was for sure, the guys took it easy on Lincoln when it came to him either failing an exercise or sparing technique, they just told him 'don't worry, stuff happens' and kept proceeding.
As Lee and Lincoln were in the backyard, practicing how to block kicks with their shins, Lincoln wasn't sure if he could ask Lee for advice on his date. Sure, he had gone out with Ronnie Anne in the past, but here in New Orleans, it was way different. Lee had thrown a practice kick to Lincoln, which he blocked with his shin and felt the force of the Englishman's leg coming at him.
They had been practicing for two hours, so they decided to call it a day. But before Lee was about to depart, Lincoln stopped him before he could walk out to his bike. "Lee, do you have a minute?" The hacker asked as Lee nodded, put his bag down and grabbed water bottles from the fridge for Lincoln and him to drink.
"What's going on, mate?" Lee asked as he took a big gulp of water. Lincoln was looking for the right words to ask just in case he put it the wrong way.
"Is there any fun things to do here, Lee?" Lincoln asked while taking a drink of his water. The bald man's eyebrows raised in confusion: There was a lot to do in New Orleans that kept you going to do a lot more.
"Yeah, there's a lot to do over 'ere in New Orleans. Why do you ask?" Lee asked as Lincoln began to blush like a tomato.
"I h-have a date with my friend, Bonnie...we're j-just going as friends!" Lincoln said quickly as Lee started cackling and he pulled the 11-year-old to his side for a hug. "Well, take my advice...don't rush the kiss, no arse staring and-" Lee started to explain in a joking term until he was interrupted by Lincoln, whose face was red with embarrassment.
"Okay, I get it! I've been on a date before; I know what kind of to do especially know what not to do...sheesh." Lincoln replied, obviously a bit upset.
"But yeah, there's a shit ton of stuff to do 'ere. Where are you taking her today?" Lee asked with concern as Lincoln stretched his arms out. "Just to get some frozen yogurt down the road, nothing special."
"I bet that'll be nice. I might take Lacy there when I can." Lee noted as Lincoln gave him a confused 'Who's Lacy' look.
Lee noticed and explained the details. "Lacy's this gorgeous woman I've been dating for about a year, so she cheats on me with another guy...then it turns out he hit her across the face while I was gone a couple days ago before the actual Vilena Op took place. So, I went to go straighten him and his boys out before threatening to deflate his balls when I popped his basketball with my knife on his chest." Lee explained as he took out the exact same knife, he used on Paul the day he taught him a lesson.
Just then, the back door opened to Toll Road, who was happy to see him finish his workout. "Lincoln, I need you inside when you're done, okay." The demolitions expert stated as Lee gave him the okay to cease training for the day. Lincoln went inside, got clean clothes ready and jumped in the shower.
Two days of training and working out really did do a number on the 11-year-old's body. All those exercises that Caesar, Lee and Toll did with him felt like his muscles were about to peel away, but he kept telling himself that this was his consequence for what he did to Gunner.
As soon as he shut off the water, he dried off and went to put his clean clothes on. He slipped on a white tank top and black compression shorts when he heard knocking at his bedroom door. "You can come in." Lincoln asked as Toll walked in and took a seat in his computer chair. "It's been two days, so...your punishment is now lifted." Toll stated firmly as Lincoln smiled in relief.
"I also wanted to ask you something before I forget." Lincoln said as the man stayed in his seat, waiting for the hacker to proceed with what he was going to say.
"Bonnie and I are going out today, as friends, and I was wondering if you could take us to the frozen yogurt place by the house." Lincoln stated as he started to blush while rubbing the back of his head.
Toll just snickered lightly and nodded. "Alright, I'll take you. Finish getting dressed, call Bonnie and I'll talk to her parents." Toll said as Lincoln smiled and got out his jeans and a t-shirt to wear.
He dialed Bonnie's number and waited for her to answer. While he waited for Bonnie to pick up on the other side, said girl was trying to find something nice to wear.
The Duncan Residence
Bonnie was anxiously looking through her closet to find an outfit to wear for her date. Then her phone started to ring, and she went to see who it was...Lincoln was calling her! She was slightly hyperventilating a bit and blushing too, she hadn't even chosen what she was going to wear. She answered it.
"Hey Lincoln." She said in a fake happy tone, she still had not chosen her outfit to wear.
"Hey Bonnie, my caretaker said he could drop us off and pick us up after we're done. You almost ready to go?" Lincoln asked from the other side of the phone. Bonnie was running out of options in her wardrobe, either she could have her sister, Brooke or her mother help her. Before she could answer, Brooke opened the door and was wondering what she was doing on the phone.
"Um yeah, I'll call you back in a bit, okay?" Bonnie said as she hung up the phone up and pleaded for her sister's help.
"Brooke, I need help. I'm going out with Lincoln and I need to see which outfit looks good on me." Bonnie pleaded as Brooke had a sad smile on her face. Her little baby sister was growing up, she loved teasing her sister about her love life all the time, but this was where she had to step in.
"My little baby sister is going on a date; I can't believe it." Brooke said with a teasing tone as Bonnie started to get a bit annoyed from her older sister's teasing.
"Okay, I'll help you." Brooke finished as Bonnie could not help herself and crashed into her sister hugging her tightly. "Thank you, Brooke! I promise I'll make it up to you." Bonnie commented as Brooke just kissed her forehead and the two began to look through the closet.
A/N: Wow, let me tell you...this story is getting to me sometimes, but it's fine along the way.
Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this redone chapter, and give a shoutout to crazymancody895 for helping me proofreading this.
Anywho, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter once again, and I will see you all in the next one...ADIOS AMIGOS!
