A/N: Heyo! I'm back with Chapter 20!
Anywho, enough of my waffle, you don't wanna hear it anyway.
So, I'll see you…AT THE BOTTOM!
Lee and the guys took cover inside the bus as they all stuck the tip of the suppressors out of the broken windows and aimed at the two tangos. Barney and Gunner had the perfect shot, while Yang was the closest to them. So, he would be able to drag the bodies away without the other guards noticing. It was a stretch, but they took chances all the time.
They took the shots and Yang burst out the bus and dragged the bodies behind a wall in an abandoned store. Then the others moved up on more tangos where they had been smoking and talking in Ukrainian. Barney and Lee took them out and Yang did his job again. All the guys were told to aim for their heads, so they didn't have to worry about them bleeding out or suffering.
After ten minutes, they had wiped out about 30 men on one block and were closing in on the power plant, but they needed to wipe out all the tangos that were around the whole building. "We need to split up, so we can cover more ground. Yang, take Gunner. Caesar, you're with Toll Road. I'll go with Barney. You two Russians, can you cover us?" Lee asked as the Russians understood what they needed to do. The group split up and then heard something over the radio.
"Guys, I hacked into the security feed for the plant and you're not gonna believe what Yakiv is doing. He's mixing all the diseases and poisons together as we speak, so you guys better get the pedal to the metal, if you guys want the US to be poison and disease free." Lincoln said over the radio.
"Shite, double time it guys!" Lee yelled as they knew what to do.
Everyone split to their own ways and began taking out tangos left, right and center. It was a lot of work, but they got it done and began to make their way towards the power plant. As soon as they reached the fence, Barney motioned for them to stop.
"Alright, we're here. Now, we gotta put on the hazmat suits that Bonaparte said that you Russians were carrying." Barney announced as the two Russians pulled out the suits from the duffel bags, that they were carrying with them. Everyone got changed into the yellow hazmat suits but kept the body armor on underneath. They cut off the lock to the gate, entered the compound and headed towards the entrance.
Lee smashed the window and opened the door while everyone covered him. The Expendables and the two Russians moved into the building slowly but quickly and made their way towards the center of the building.
"Hold it!" Barney said as he examined a tripwire in front of him. He motioned for the guys to be careful and step over it. They all avoided all boobytraps that were in their way and eventually made it to the center of the power plant.
Just as they were coming up to a corner, they saw lots of light reflecting off the wall that they were facing, as Barney motioned for the guys to stop and wait. Barney peeked around the corner and his eyes went wide; he saw Yakiv Ponomarenko fixing the wires for his huge bomb that was 6 feet tall. He looked to be in his late 50's to early 60's, he wore a white lab coat, grey button up shirt, black pants and black smart shoes. Barney looked back to the guys and motioned for two of them to go to the other side of the hall where the scientist couldn't see them. Caesar and Gunner did so and waited for the signal. They moved in and Lee took point. He jammed the gun at the back of the man's head and spoke in Ukranian. "Drop it and get on your knees." He spoke as the man did so and turned around to see all the hazmat suits.
"What is this? I thought I was protected!" Yakiv hollered as Barney motioned for Gunner to move in and restrain the man. As he did, Yakiv bumped into the table and knocked over the detonator that would start the bomb.
All the men's eyes were on it as Yang jump forward to catch the device. It was now or never to try and catch the device before all hell broke loose! Yang dove for the detonator and barely caught it with his 3 fingers. Everybody took a breath of relief as Gunner took his knife and waited for Barney's instruction. The leader gave the go for the Swede to slice the man's neck open.
The blood and flesh stuck to the large knife as he cleaned it off with a rag that he kept with him. They looked at all the poisons, diseases and plagues that the crazy man had in tubes. Bubonic Plague was in one tube, Ricin was in another and all other types of sicknesses were in others.
"This guy was completely and utterly insane." Lee said as he heard the radio crackle. "Yeah, why do you think we had to stop him before it would turn into another 'Great Plague of London' except it's with the states and with other diseases too, Lee." Lincoln said as the other guys made a 'oh' or said, 'you got burned'. Lee just shook his head slowly while they let Barney get a hold of Bonaparte.
After a while, Barney came back with a soft grin on his face. "Well, Bonaparte sent a professional hazmat cleaning crew to expose of these diseases and some soldiers to take care of the bomb, so now we can leave." After the team made it back to the vehicle, they heard some rumbling coming around the corner.
"WE GOT COMPANY!" Caesar hollered as the guys got ready for another gun fight. There were about 7 trucks coming with tons of soldiers holding guns.
"Shite!" Lee screamed as he then threw a grenade towards the first open cabbed truck; it landed next to their feet and they couldn't reach it in time. The whole truck then blew up and burst into flames.
Hale Caesar got his LMG that he kept in the truck with him and used it on a couple of the cars. He let it loose and emptied almost the whole magazine into the trucks, causing them to catch fire as well. As soon as the cars were on fire and the bodies in them burned, the Expendables stopped shooting and observed the scene. The bodies were bloody with bullets in them, a huge mess of metal and the smell of burnt rubber was in the air.
"Let's get out of here guys." Barney said as they made their way back to Lincoln and Sergei. On the drive back, one of the Russians was sitting next to Toll Road fell over and was coughing blood. "Jesus Christ! Man down!" Toll shouted as the van came to a screeching halt.
"Who's been hit?!" Barney yelled as they laid the man flat down on the van floor and kept pressure on the wound that was on his stomach. "Goddamn Russian!" Caesar said as he helped them with the wounded man. "Hold him like that until we get back, we're almost there." Lee said as he got on the horn with Lincoln and Sergei.
"Lincoln! Tell Sergei one of his men got hit!" Lee said on the radio as he sped the van up as fast as it would go. "Got it." Lincoln said as Lee then pulled up next to the plane in the field.
"What the fuck happened to Dimitri?!" Sergei yelled as they pulled him out of the van, with him still groaning from the pain. "He was probably hit from when we encountered those 7 trucks." Yang said as he wiped the blood off his face.
The older Russian nodded and got his injured comrade into their jeep while thanking Barney once again. "I appreciate working with you again, Barney. I'll see you some other time." Sergei said as he shook the leader's hand and got in with his Russian comrades. The Expendables put all their gear back on the plane and waited for Barney to finish his cigar. Lincoln was wearing his black clothing when he saw the leader leaning against the plane. "We're ready to go, we're just waiting on you." Lincoln said as Barney looked down at him and nodded.
"Can I ask you something, kid?" Barney asked as he stomped out his cigar. "Yeah, what's up?" Lincoln said as the leader scratched his ear. "Do you plan on rolling with us still when you turn 21, or do you feel like going back to Royal Woods to be with your family?" Barney asked as Lincoln was quiet for the next few minutes. He didn't know if he still wanted to be an Expendable after he turned 21, but he promised his family he'd be back after 10 years, then again…the money was too good to turn down.
"It depends on what my mood will be by then, Barney." Lincoln replied as the leader nodded and motioned for him to follow him back onto the plane.
The plane made its way back towards the USA in the dark sky. While Barney flew the plane, Lincoln and everyone else was sleeping, leaving the veteran to think in his private thoughts. I wonder if he'll choose to stay as an Expendable, Barney thought as he flew the plane in the dark sky.
9am (New Orleans)
It was bright and early Thursday morning as the plane touched down on the Expendables runway. The plane was returned to its hangar and everyone else went to do their own thing for the day until Bonaparte brought them their money. "I'll bring you guys your money from the last op later on and I'll call you all when Bonaparte brings the cash from this op." Barney said as the guys left and headed back to their respectful homes.
Later at lunch, Toll Road and Lincoln were eating lunch that consisted of Chicken Tortilla Soup and lemonade. "So, what did Barney ask you back in Chernobyl?" Toll asked as Lincoln wiped his face that had soup on it. "He asked if I wanted to stay as an Expendable or go home immediately after I turn 21." Lincoln said as he took a sip of lemonade.
"Well, what did you say?" Toll Road asked after that.
"I told him it would depend on my mood by then." Lincoln replied as the man took one last bite of his soup before cleaning his bowl in the sink. "Well yeah, by then, all of us will have you turned into a hardcore killing mercenary, with a built body and lots of military knowledge." Toll said as he then sat back down with Lincoln.
"Also, Bonnie, Dakota and I are having another match at Eagle Airsoft and I was wondering if I can go?" Lincoln asked as Toll thought for a second before nodding.
"Sure, but I want you to work on some more exercises before you go this Saturday." Toll said as Lincoln finished his food and cleaned his bowl in the sink.
As the day went on, Lincoln worked on his chest exercises by Bench Presses, Incline Fly's and Incline Bench Presses. It was a hard workout, but Lincoln knew it was gonna come in handy when he would use his muscles and martial arts in the field.
The next day, Toll and Lincoln were on their way to Tool's shop since Barney had an announcement to make. Once they arrived, Tool and Lincoln saw a young lady with them, who looked around 22. She was wearing slim black jeans, a maroon crop top that almost showed her melons and she also had black and green hair in a pixie cut.
"Everyone, this is Piper, and she is our new weapons distributor." Barney introduced the lady as she waved to every single Expendable, but when she saw Lincoln, she raised an eyebrow.
"Who's the kid?" She asked in a skeptical tone as Lincoln waved at her. "That's our hacker, Lincoln. Long story short, he took a deal to work for the government instead of going to prison. So, he's gonna be working for us for the next 9 years." Barney explained as Linda understood.
"Now, we don't have any more work for a good long while, so until then, enjoy yourselves." Barney said as he then gave everyone their money. "That there is five hundred grand from the Turkey op and another five from the recent op." Barney said as everyone took their cut and left.
Saturday came along, and the morning sun shined along the city. Toll was cooking breakfast when he saw Lincoln coming towards the table dressed in a navy blue henley, black jeans and black converse.
"Morning. Want some breakfast?" Toll said as Lincoln had already gotten a plate. The man piled scrambled eggs, bacon and hash browns on it and got some OJ for him too. The two had gotten closer as a father and son figure, so they practically knew if something was wrong with each other, they'd tell one another.
They told each other embarrassing scenarios that had happened in the past. One time, Toll was sleeping in college when his friend had drawn dicks all over his face and a shaving cream shaped dick on his chest. Lincoln almost laughed when Toll told him that, but he knew it was better to get it out and have a laugh than to keep it in. Lincoln then told Toll all the embarrassing thing he had done, when he posted the video of himself to get his sisters back on his good side. Toll didn't even laugh, he kept a straight face, hugged Lincoln, and told him he did the right thing.
Later around 11, Lincoln's phone rang in his pocket. He saw it was Bonnie and answered it immediately. "Hey Bonnie." Lincoln said as he heard the wind on the other side of the phone. "Hey, we're coming to pick you up right now. Dakota gave me his skype before I left the school at the graduation and let me know he'd be there after us. So, I'm bringing 2 of my best gas pistols, my holster and some ammo." Bonnie said on the other end as Lincoln looked at Toll, who was grinning from ear to ear. Lincoln ignored the man and went to get his GRY AR15 and his pistol holster from his room.
"Okay, I'm ready to go, I'm just waiting for you." Lincoln replied as he got his gun ready for transport. He hung up the phone and waited for Bonnie and Brooke.
After five minutes, Lincoln heard a car horn and headed outside. He also took some money with him just in case. He saw the Duncan's car and got in. Lincoln saw Bonnie dressed in a dark blue and black button-down flannel, blue jeans and black converse. "Hey." Lincoln said as he entangled his fingers with Bonnie's as they both smiled. "Hey you." Bonnie replied as they both kissed. Brooke watched in the rear-view mirror and recorded the whole thing on her phone, while she had an evil grin on her face.
As they drove back to the Duncan residence, everyone was silent as Lincoln laid his head down on Bonnie's lap while she stroked his hair softly. His hair is so soft, Bonnie thought as her cheeks turned a bright pink.
When they reached the house, Bonnie brought Lincoln to the backyard where some empty soda cans and cups of water were set up for practice. "Now, I set these up for targets, so we can practice a bit before we leave in a while." Bonnie said as they practiced shooting the cans and cups.
A while later, Brooke came to the backyard and smiled at them. "You two ready to go?" Brooke asked as the two got their equipment ready before getting in the car. Lincoln helped Bonnie carry their stuff to the car; they had their knee and elbow pads, face protection, 2 EMG M&P 9's with extra mags and extra ammo too. Lincoln and Bonnie put their rifles in the trunk as well, got in the car and drove off.
The 2-mile drive to Eagle Airsoft was nice; the sky was all blue and not a cloud in it either. Just then, Bonnie's phone chimed, and she checked to see who it was.
"Who was that?" Lincoln asked as Bonnie smiled. "That was Dakota; he's there waiting for us." Bonnie said as Brooke heard and went a bit faster.
They arrived at Eagle Airsoft where Lincoln and Bonnie saw their Cherokee friend waiting for them on the bench outside the door with his rifle and pistol in his bag. "Hey guys! Ready for Capture the Flag?" Dakota said as he helped Bonnie and Lincoln with their equipment. "Yeah, I'm so ready to win this game." Bonnie replied as she brought her rifle and pistol inside the building alongside Lincoln and Dakota.
As they got their stuff ready, Dakota then saw one black 8th grader coming at him. He had short dreads that had dark purple and grey beads in them while wearing a camo pants, shirt, boots and even body armor on to match. "Oh, look who it is, the one and only No-Shot Marcel. Come to lose again?" Dakota provoked as the black 14-year-old came at the Cherokee but was stopped by Lincoln. "Hey! We do this…on…the…field." Lincoln gritted his teeth as he gripped the black teen's shirt but let go immediately. "See you on the field, Jones." Marcel said as he sulked away to his friend on the other side of the building.
"What was that about?" Bonnie asked as she stood by Lincoln while Dakota drew some breath in and out. "That was Marcel Schroeder; his dad runs one of the big Airsoft manufacturers in the state. I think it's called Schroeder Airsoft Incorporation. It was first built in 1979, by Jermaine Schroeder, grandfather of Marcel on his dad's side. Since he's the grandson of the incorporation, he thinks he's special or something. And ever since I started practicing in the back yard, that's how I got better and beat him a couple times since last year." Dakota explained as his two friends knew that Marcel was out for him now.
"Well, we should put our gear on and get ready; the game starts in 10 minutes." Bonnie said as she handed Lincoln his pistol, elbow pads and knee pads. Dakota already had his loadout ready; blacked out clothing that looked like the SAS wore. He had his P90 and X-Cap Spyder pistol, locked, loaded and ready to go. He even had the black beanie with goggles to match his loadout. Bonnie had her chest rig with her while giving to Lincoln as well. All of them were loaded up and ready to go. "I'm gonna go get a bottle of extra BB's, so we have plenty for the 3 games." Bonnie said as she went to the front counter to purchase the BB's.
It was Lincoln and Dakota alone, so the Cherokee decided to let Lincoln know a little secret. "Be careful on the field when you come across Marcel. He is such a cheater when he gets the chance. He's always known for going full auto with his Glock 17, even when the referees tell everyone you can't. So, be extremely careful." Dakota said as Lincoln nodded.
Bonnie came back with the BB's and all 3 loaded their weapons with them and got ready for the match to start. "So, Dakota, I never asked you, but what type of music do you like?" Lincoln asked as he cocked his rifle. "Well, I'm normally a rock guy, but I love country music so much! Especially old traditional, country pop and country rock." Dakota said as he showed Lincoln the music on his phone, and he had all types of artists; Jason Aldean, Luke Bryan, Josh Turner, Trace Adkins, Kenny Chesney, Tracy Lawrence, Tim McGraw, Brantley Gilbert and even Keith Urban. He saw all the songs he had and was shocked.
"Wow, that's a lot of music to listen to. I just got an electric guitar a couple weeks back, maybe we can practice some country rock one of these days?" Lincoln said as Dakota's face lit up and went to show him a picture of his Fender Standard Stratocaster HSS guitar.
"That is my baby right there. I've had that since I was 8 and I've also been learning since I got it too." Dakota said as they heard the announcer talk on the intercom.
"Attention Airsofters, we will begin in 1 minute. Head outside, so we can begin Capture the Flag." The announcer said as Dakota, Lincoln and Bonnie headed outside. They all saw kids that were around 12 and up to high schoolers outside in either regular clothing, cool camo clothing or a mix.
They split into two teams; Dakota, Lincoln and Bonnie were on the red team with a couple high schoolers while the blue team had some other high schoolers and some middle schoolers.
"Ready, set, go!" The announcer said as both teams went at it while Lincoln, Bonnie and Dakota stayed close and covered other. Lincoln saw and shot some blue team members with his AR-15.
The action was intense; dirt being kicked up from players skidding and trying to find cover, yelling of either getting support or antagonizing. It was fun for all the players.
Bonnie saw 3 blue team members and shot them quickly with her M&P 9. The BB's hit them all in the chest and they called their hits. Dakota moved quickly around the corners and towards the enemies' flag. But just as he was about to approach it, he felt himself being shot in the back. "Hit!" Dakota said as he held both his hands up and went back to his spawn.
The two first games went by rather quick, because of both teams not being able to get each other's flag to score. But Lincoln had a plan to grab the blue team's flag and score the final game. They all had a ten-minute break before the final game started. Lincoln, Dakota and Bonnie were sitting at one of the benches out front of the shop eating from the afternoon food truck, Taylor Made Wings on the Geaux.
"Jeez, those first two games were fun! But can you believe no one was able to get the enemies flag on either team. I just kept ducking, dodging and shooting." Dakota said as Lincoln sat down with his wings and fries. "I know right. I actually have a plan to get the flag this round coming up." Lincoln replied as Bonnie and Dakota looked at him with such expression in their eyes.
"Well, don't just sit there…tell us!" Bonnie pleaded as Lincoln got the rest of the team members' attention. As soon as their whole team was next to Lincoln, he told them his plan. "I'm gonna try and blend in with the shade, while you guys draw the fire away from my direction and make sure they focus on you guys." Lincoln explained as the whole red team nodded and agreed with the plan.
As soon as they finished eating and got ready, they went over their plan one more time before they heard the announcer. "Final game, whoever captures the flag, wins. Ready, set, go!" The announcer said as all teams went all out.
Lincoln went on the sidelines and blended in wonderfully with the shade, while his team took all the damage. He saw two blue team members coming towards him and he ducked around a cart that was on the field, which the 2 didn't see him. He drew a sigh of relief and moved forward while staying low as well. As he made it out of the shadows, he saw that he was on the blue team's side and went for the flag, but just as he was home free, somebody tackled him…very hard.
They rolled to the ground and Lincoln saw who was on top of him, it was Marcel. The black 8th grader pulled his fist back and tried to punch Lincoln, but he caught it and the two went at it in the dirt. Lincoln maneuvered and got Marcel into an arm bar that Toll and Yang taught him. He pulled Marcel's arm back all the way until he got out of it, punched Lincoln across the face a couple of times and clocked him in the nose.
"HEY! Stop fighting!" One male staff member yelled as Lincoln's whole team ran over to his aid. One of the male staff members yanked Marcel off Lincoln, who was out cold with blood dripping down from his nose. A high school team member on Lincoln's team picked him up and carried him to the table to try and get him to come to.
"What the hell was that?! Fighting is banned from Eagle Airsoft!" The staff member said as he pulled Marcel inside and inside to the owner's office. Meanwhile, the medical staff had smelling salts, so they could bring Lincoln from being out cold. As soon as he waved it in front of his bloody nose, he shook his head a bit and got up, sneezing a bit too, luckily away from everyone. "Hey, you okay?" The medical staff said as Lincoln hung his head down low and started to cry.
"Yes. I wanna go home now." Lincoln said as he took a tissue from the medical staff. Bonnie got Lincoln's phone and called Toll Road. Lincoln suffered a black eye, a busted lip and a bloody nose; so, Toll Road wasn't gonna be happy.
After a while, Toll Road showed up and was taken to Lincoln, he wasn't happy indeed to see Lincoln all messed up. Lincoln looked up and saw Toll Road standing there, so he automatically knew what he was gonna say and do. "Hey…who did this to you?" Toll Road asked softly as he took a knee in front of Lincoln, who cleaned himself up from the blood on his face. "They have him inside, but you don't need to deal with him. They already are taking care of it." Lincoln said as he wiped his face with a wet wipe.
Then, Caesar, Tool and Gunnar showed up and saw Lincoln all beat up and immediately wanted to know who did it as well. "What the hell happened to you, kid?" Caesar asked as they heard yelling from the office. "I don't care! You fought on the field and some kid that was younger than you, so you're banned!" The owner yelled as Toll immediately saw the black 8th grader and was filled with rage.
"DID YOU DO THIS?! I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU!" Toll screamed as Caesar and Gunnar held their comrade back with all their might. They had to pin his arms behind his back and drag his ass out to the front so there wasn't any more commotion. Tool stayed with Lincoln and made sure that he was okay.
"You wanna head home now, Lincoln?" The old Expendable asked softly as Lincoln nodded. They both got Lincoln's gear ready while Bonnie hugged him softly. He gave her the M&P 9, the elbow and knee pads and the chest rig back as he got ready to go.
As they made it out front, Toll Road was calmed down enough to check on Lincoln again. "Lincoln, what in the hell happened?" Toll asked as Lincoln explained in the final round when he was about to capture the enemy flag, and how Marcel tackled him and beaten him up. The 3 other Expendables were just as angry, but then they heard a black mother's voice.
"You did what?!" It was Marcel's mother, Kalisa, and boy was she pissed. So, Tool thought it'd be right for Marcel to apologize…and mean it.
Tool made it over to the black mother who was scolding Marcel on the bench outside with the owner next to her. "Excuse me, ma'am. You're this kid's mother, correct?" He asked as the mother fixed her hair by her eye and nodded. Kalisa was a beautiful woman who had a light brown tone to her skin; she stood 5'11 and wore a red blouse with blue jeans and boots.
"Yes, I'm Kalisa Schroeder. What can I do for you?" Kalisa asked as Tool told her what Marcel had done to Lincoln and wanted only for Marcel to apologize to Lincoln.
"Well, I appreciate that, but Marcel is gonna get an ass whooping when I take him home, so there's no need for that. You see, I'm a strict mother, and I tend to live by that." Kalisa said as she grabbed Marcel's ear and forced him in the car.
"No problem. I understand the rules of being a strict parent." Tool said with a smirk as Kalisa looked at Lincoln's bruises and put on a sad but curious face. "Is that sweet baby gonna be okay?" She asked as Tool reassured her.
"Yeah, he's a tough kid. He took brass knuckles to the face one time." Tool said as the mother gasped at the details that were stated. "Besides, my buddies and I are all ex-military, so we're teaching Lincoln all the military hand to hand combat training that we went through and martial arts skills as well. So, that we can toughen him up." Tool said as the woman now knew that Lincoln was okay and being taken care of by ex-military soldiers.
"Well, take care of that little cutie. Have a good one." Kalisa said as she got in her Ford Focus and drove away. Tool made his way back over to Toll's Toyota Camry and saw Lincoln laying his head against the door inside the car.
"Can we go home now, please?" Lincoln asked quietly as he got in the front, while Toll nodded slowly and drove away.
Back at Toll's house, the two Expendables walked in when Toll's phone started ringing and he saw it was the local PD calling him. "Hello?" He answered as there was a familiar voice on the other end. "Hello, Mr. Kendrick, this is Detective Culler. I just wanted to call and let you know that we found out who assaulted Lincoln from the DNA sample underneath his fingernail. And the name that came up was Damien Barnett…do you or Lincoln know that name?" Toll did remember that name alright. He remembered when Lincoln brought up the name when that rock was left on the front porch.
"Yes, it does. What'll happen to him, if it's okay with me asking?" Toll Road asked the detective as he heard paperwork shuffling. "Well, we'll bring him in for questioning, and try to get the truth out of him. We also got footage of him following Lincoln into the bathroom and him coming out while Lincoln was still in the bathroom." Detective Culler said as Toll had a sigh of relief.
"Alright, I'll let Lincoln know. If you need anything else, don't hesitate to call me back." Toll said as he hung up the phone and saw Lincoln going into the bathroom to clean his nose out.
"Hey Lincoln. We got good news." The man said as he followed Lincoln to the bathroom and waited outside while Lincoln cleaned up. "What's up?" Lincoln said as he came out of the bathroom.
"Well, they caught who drugged you and rendered you unconscious at school." Toll said as Lincoln went wide eyed to what the man said.
"Who did it?" Lincoln stuttered a bit as Toll took a second before finally spilling the beans. "Damien Barnett. Do you recognize that name?" Toll asked as Lincoln nodded with his eyes closed.
"Yes, he was the one I fought in the hallway due to him calling Bonnie a redneck. So, maybe he wanted to get back at me for what I did to him." Lincoln said as Toll Road understood why.
"Anyway, I want you to work on the barbell with 15 pounds, then you can work your way up. After that, you can do some Zottman Curls and finally do 75 pushups for the next 2 hours. Because tomorrow we'll do the same thing, except after that we're moving onto working on your thighs." Toll said as he went to start dinner while Lincoln got his workout clothes on and worked out for the next 2 hours.
After a while, Lincoln was dripping with sweat and his muscles burned like they were on fire. He kept going until he couldn't do anymore and sat down with his hair dripping sweat onto the big blue mat. He had bench lifted 25 pounds for 10 minutes, did tons of Zottman Curls and finished his 75 pushups (barely). Toll Road came in and saw the hacker sweaty and breathing heavy, he had an apron on and Lincoln almost started to chuckle but caught himself with a cough.
"You ready for some Roasted Pork Tenderloin with Veggies?" The demolition expert asked as Lincoln nodded slightly and went to his room to get a shower and to change his clothes. He set aside his compression shorts and compression shirt on his bed while he was only in his tank top and boxers as he took his phone and towel with him to the bathroom. As he locked the door to the bathroom, Lincoln removed his tank top and admired his toned stomach once more. He put two fingers down on his abs and felt how stiff they were. But as soon as he removed his boxers, his eyes widened as he saw he was an impressive size, but nothing crazy. He took himself in his hand and felt how firm his member was.
Wow, I didn't realize I was this big…must've been all the working out I've been doing, Lincoln thought as he got in the shower with the nice hot water shooting down on him. He also noticed his arms changing too. Lincoln flexed his biceps and noticed they were toned as well.
After his shower, Lincoln got his compression wear on and felt how the clothing was a bit tight on him; it wasn't the type of tight that was uncomfortable to make you get new clothes, it was the type that your muscles were firm and getting used to the clothing.
He made his way to the kitchen as he saw Toll preparing their plates of some delicious pork tenderloins. Lincoln and Toll ate their dinner with laughter and jokes being told as well. The two had lots of fun until they were done with their food, when Lincoln heard his skype going off on his computer. He ran to his room and saw it was George calling him. He answered it and saw George sitting there smiling.
"Hey George, you ready for that talk?" Lincoln said as he fixed his hair by ear.
"Yeah, I…really appreciate you helping me with this situation." George said as he almost blushed. Lincoln didn't wanna be rude, but he wasn't gay, so he decided to help his acquaintance.
"Well, it's kinda like if you wanna get to know a girl. You gotta get to know Damien more and more; find out what he likes and hates. Make sure he understands the conversations and maybe get him to open up a bit about his sexuality. Ask him if he wants to go and get something to eat or maybe get a coffee. But take baby steps if you want him to open up to you or if you let him know what's going on. It may be one of those situations where you both confess to each other after a certain turn of events, but it may be something different." Lincoln explained as George took notes on the advice.
"So, all I gotta do is get to know him more and maybe ask him if he wants to get something to eat or get a coffee…as friends?" George asked as Lincoln nodded.
"So, I heard that you, Dakota and Bonnie went to play Airsoft earlier, how did it go?" George asked as Lincoln wasn't sure if he wanted to explain what happened at the field. "I'll tell you, but on one condition. I want us to bury the hatchet between us, so we can now be buddies. Sound fair to you?" Lincoln asked as George was surprised to hear what he said.
"Sure, I really appreciate it." George said as Lincoln then explained the fun that he had at the Airsoft field, until it let to Marcel tackling him and assaulting him. It shocked George, but he knew that some players could get violent.
Lincoln and George talked the rest of the night until Lincoln got tired and decided to call it a night around midnight.
3 Weeks Later
It was the 26th of Thursday in June when every Expendable was at Tool's place, having pizza and wings while throwing knives at the good ol' board. Just then, the shop door opened to Becky smiling and walking in. "Hey little lady, we're closed for the night." Tool said as Lincoln got up and introduced her to the guys.
"Tool, this is one of my friends from back home. Now, Toll Road and Caesar already told me that I'm not supposed to tell anyone else what's going on, so no need to get mad at me." Lincoln explained to the other Expendables as Tool dropped his guard and made his way towards Becky.
"Well, my mistake. What can I do for you, pretty lady?" Tool asked as he kissed her hand as Becky giggled. "I need you to ink me. I got a design all drawn up in Photoshop earlier; it's a heart being wrapped in barbed wire while blood is dripping around it." Becky said as she gave the paper to Tool, who was astounded by her artwork.
"Alright, well we can work with this. Where would like this done at?" Tool asked as Becky pointed to her left forearm.
"Right here on my forearm will do." Becky replied as Tool showed her to the stationary bike. "Also, Tool, I'm paying for her tattoo." Lincoln said as the redhead looked at him with surprise. "Okay, well let's get this started." The wild haired man said as he started inking her.
While Tool was doing that, Lee decided to ask the redhead some questions. "Hey, it's Becky...right?" Lee asked as she turned to face the Englishman. "That's right. And who are you?" Becky asked as Lee introduced himself without making Becky lift any of her body weight. "The name is Lee Jackson, but my mates call me Christmas." Lee said with a smile that for once didn't show his gums or teeth.
The rest of the conversation led up to what her favorite things were as Tool inked her forearm. "But there is one thing I need to say to all of you that you might find super fucked up." Becky said as everyone in the shop listened to what she had to say.
"Lori, Lincoln's older sister, said she wished he got beat up in jail. But I jumped on her ass about it and ended our friendship immediately because of that." Becky said as Lincoln was almost in tears of what Becky said.
"His sister said what!" Caesar hollered as Becky flinched a bit.
"Caesar, chill the fuck out. There's no need to yell. I'm upset as much as you are." Barney said as he smoked his cigar.
Lincoln was upset that Lori wished he would get beat up in jail, when he wasn't really in jail.
"I mean, I was so close to knocking her ass out because I know Lincoln is such a sweetie. Like that one time he entertained everyone at the little party Lori had in the basement. I consider Lincoln like a sweet little brother to me, so that's why I like Lincoln and all." Becky said as both Lincoln and her blushed, while none of the guys noticed.
As Tool did Becky's ink, the shop was full of light jokes and laughter. Becky even got to know Gunner, Yang, Toll Road, Hale Caesar, Barney, Lee and even Tool. "So, if it's okay with me asking…do you do this work to help the government?" Becky asked as everyone went super quiet; you could've heard a penny drop in the shop.
"Uh…what're you talking about?" Barney started to sweat while he chuckled, obviously trying to avoid the question. "Mr. Ross, don't play dumb…no offense. I know you guys are working for the government and are mercs." Becky said with a straight face as the mercs faces were with wide eyes. "But, I'm no snitch. I'm not like those people that are snitches and tell the police. Trust me." Becky said as Barney cleared his throat.
"Kid, you know why we do this business?" Barney asked with a stern voice as Becky nodded while Tool finished the final touches on the tattoo. "Yeah, you take out the targets that are a threat to the USA in different countries." Becky replied as the guys nodded slightly to her now understanding the concept of them doing their jobs.
After a while, Tool finished Becky's forearm tattoo and cleaned up the remaining ink on her arm. Just then, Barney's phone started ringing; he looked at who was calling him, it was Bonaparte. "Maybe we have a job coming in." Yang suggested as Barney answered the phone.
"Yeah?" Barney asked as he heard his friend on the other side, but it sounded like he was breathing hard. "B-Barney, p-please…l-l-listen c-carefu-AH!" He was cut off due to what sounded like a punch. Then, Barney put it on speaker for everyone to hear, but then Lincoln walked over and plugged the phone, silently, into his computer to get the location.
"Is this Mr. Ross?" A voice asked as it had a Yorkshire accent.
"Yeah, who the fuck is this?" Barney snapped back as Becky listened carefully into the conversation.
"Let's keep this simple, I have your friend, Bonaparte, and this is an easy job that I need you to do for me. Sound good?" The man said on the other side as the Expendables were sitting there listening.
"Alright, you got my attention. But I need to know who I'm dealing with. What do I call you?" Barney asked as the voice thought for a second.
"Call me Mr. Fox. And my request for you and your team is to bring me the remains of Robin Hood of Loxley in Brighouse, West Yorkshire at the Cistercian nunnery of Kirklees Priory to Barnes Hospital, Barnes Village, in Cheadle. Then I will let you take your buddy and go." Mr. Fox explained as the guys were dumbfounded. This guy thought the legendary Robin Hoods' remains were real and there at the nunnery in the UK. For all they thought, the grave could be filled with ants and pests.
"Okay fine. Give us until tomorrow to fly over and I'll call you back once I get the remains." Barney said as Lee gave a 'what the fuck are you thinking' look to the older man. "Splendid. I appreciate doing business with you…Barney." Mr. Fox said in a cold tone as he hung the phone up.
Everyone in the shop had shivers going down their spines due to the information. "Barney, I got the location where he is at and keeping Bonaparte. He is at the Barnes Hospital in Cheadle, UK." Lincoln said as he showed everyone else in the shop. "Should I go?" Becky said out of the blue.
"You probably should go, Becky. It's gonna get serious now." Lincoln said as he walked her out of the shop. While the two were outside, Barney and the guys were checking their options. "Is that 'Mr. Fox' guy fucking playing a practical joke on us?! How can we trust this scenario?!" Caesar yelled as Barney threw a paper ball at him to shut him up.
"Guys, this is more serious than Vlad the Impaler situation. We gotta actually dig up history and bring it to that stuck up wanker, just to save Bonaparte." Lee said as he looked like he was holding something back as well. Barney noticed and got his attention.
"Are you holding back on info, Christmas?" Barney asked as Lee kept his head down. This was the first time he had ever done that in front of the guys.
But then, he did something he had never done in front of the guys, hell, it was a long time since he had done it…he started to tear up. The guys were taken back by the action and shifted uncomfortably in their seats.
"The reason why I'm like this is, when I was 14, I found out in my family blood that…Robin Hood is my ancestor." Lee said as the guys weren't buying it one bit.
"If you don't believe me then I'll show you!" Lee's voice almost cracked a bit as he dug into his wallet and pulled out a folded-up paper from the lab showing the ancestor tree on it. All the guys were astounded by the paper that showed Lee's blood line in it from the early ages until today.
Lincoln then came back in and saw the guys were shocked. "Hey guys, what's up?" Lincoln said as he took a seat once more. "Well, Robin of Loxley is apparently the ancestor of Lee here." Caesar said as Lincoln looked like a deer caught in the headlights. "Uh, Caesar…I wasn't sure if I heard you correctly but, you just said that Lee's ancestor is Robin Hood…the legendary Robin Hood of Loxley. Right?" Lincoln asked as Caesar nodded and Lincoln mouthed 'wow' under his breath.
"So, what's our next move?" Lincoln asked as Barney got up and put his cigar out. "Simple; we fly to England, go to Kirklees Priory and find the remains, so we can give it to this 'Mr. Fox' guy and get Bonaparte out of there." Barney explained as he texted Piper about needing fresh weapons and equipment.
"We'll fly out of here tomorrow morning around 5 am or so." Barney added as the rest of the guys got their shit ready to go for the flight in the morning.
Early Next Morning
It was around 6am when the plane left the hanger the next morning. Piper had delivered the weapons to Barney at the warehouse early around 3am before they departed.
As soon as everyone was locked, loaded and ready for blood shedding, the guys slept while Barney flew the plane. "Lincoln, come here for a second." Barney said as the 12-year-old went up to the leader flying the plane. "What's up?" Lincoln asked as Barney let him know it was gonna be 11pm by the time they would get into Stockport, England.
It was a long flight, but Lee took over the rest of the way and let Barney catch a nap. They landed in Manchester Airport at a reserved hangar as it was at the end of the runway, away from civilians. As they were getting ready to leave to head over to the nunnery, 3 black SUV's came up and the driver of one of them stepped out. It turned out to be…Ines, one of Bonaparte's Interpol friends, and she brought her agent friends, (if you could call agents dressed in all black tactical gear, 'friends').
"Greetings Mr. Ross. I know that my friend Bonaparte has been kidnapped, so we'll be letting you use our SUV's to get to your location. Just put the location in the navigation system while we watch Lincoln here." Ines said as the Expendable got their stuff ready. The Expendables got their gear loaded up in the SUV's and hit the road toward Brighouse to collect the remains and save their comrade.
It was going to be a 55-minute drive until they would be able to collect the remains, so the guys who weren't driving took a quick nap while Barney drove. They made it to the nunnery in one piece and found the monument near a river and a tree. Lee got a shovel and dug up what bones were in the ground. Everybody stared at the bones that Lee held in his hands; it was Robin Hood of Loxley's bones that they were gonna transport…they had dug up history and were gonna trade it for their comrade, but no other man could give better work than Bonaparte.
"I thought the guy's bow and arrow were gonna be here too." Gunner said as the guys didn't pay attention to him whatsoever.
"Let's just get this 50-minute trip over with to the Haunted Hospital, so I can get back to the States." Barney said as the guys got back in the SUV's and headed towards the hospital.
On the drive, it was quiet because this was a mission dedicated to Lee's ancestor. The guys didn't really believe that Robin Hood was his great ancestor at first, but they were there for each other and didn't judge whatsoever.
Just then, Barney's phone started to ring, and he saw it was Lincoln calling him.
"Hey what's up kid?" Barney asked as he heard Ines on the other side. "Hey, it's Ines, we'll be heading towards your location soon as backup to cleanup quickly, so we don't attract attention Manchester Police." Ines said as the guys agreed to that one; having police poking their noses in their business was bad.
"I appreciate it, Ines. We'll be arriving for the exchange soon." Barney said as he hung up and kept driving. Once they reached the hospital, they got out and approached the large building with looks on their faces that something would fly outta there like in the fucking movies!
They entered with suppressed weapons and saw a man in a suit with his hands in the air. "The boss is this way. Follow me please." The man said in a deep Cockney accent. The Expendables followed the man to the roof where they saw Bonaparte on his knees with his hair a mess, a busted lip, a black eye, his clothes scuffed up a bit and some blood dripping from his nose.
"Let him go. We have what you want." Lee said as the man in a brown overcoat stepped forward, who they presumed to be Mr. Fox, had a cigar in his hand, which the Expendables could smell the strong tobacco. "Now, let's see you throw the bag over 'ere and we'll let your mate go. Sound good?" Mr. Fox said in a deep tone that made the Expendables' spines quiver.
"Fine. Lee, throw the bag…now." Barney said as Lee tossed the bag with a tear in his eye; but he didn't let it affect his performance. "Good, now your friend can go…as promised." Mr. Fox said, but at that moment, a spotlight shown on him and a bunch of Interpol agents surrounded everyone.
The situation got chaotic, but it was sorted out immediately; so, Bonaparte and The Expendables were able to leave and head back to the hanger. Everyone made it back to the hanger in one piece and put their equipment back in the plane. The mission was kinda boring to some of the guys; there wasn't any shooting or violence at all. But they were glad Bonaparte was safe and sound.
It was around 1am when they were airborne back to the US. So, they'd be back around 1pm to Barney's personal hanger.
New Orleans (1pm)
Toll and Lincoln arrived back at the house with food from 'The Joint'. "Man, that mission had to be done at a late time. That's bullshit." Toll said as he got the food out from the bag and set it out on the table for him and Lincoln to eat. They had ordered a 3-meat combo with 2 sides of Mac and Cheese and Baked Beans too. Lincoln had beef brisket, 2 ribs, chicken, sausage links and brisket burnt ends while Toll Road had the same thing.
"Hope you're hungry, because that should fill us up for the rest of the night." Toll said with a hearty chuckle as Lincoln nodded while having a smudge of BBQ sauce on his cheek. The two ate their big lunch and waited a while before working out again.
2 weeks passed by and Lincoln had a good 4th of July with Becky and the Expendables. Lee almost set his shirt on fire with some firecrackers when he got a bit too drunk on whiskey and Tool got with yet another hot brunette just to take her back to his place and get his blood boiling sexually.
It was all good for Lincoln while he was on summer vacation. As Lincoln was playing on his Xbox on a nice Sunday on the 8th of July, he got a call from Dakota and wondered what the Cherokee wanted.
"Hello?" Lincoln answered as he heard the Cherokee panting on the other side. "Hey Lincoln, I was wondering if you want to come over to my house and practice a song with me and some buddies of mine." Dakota asked as Lincoln looked at his beautiful maple guitar and thought for a moment.
"Sure. Are you able to pick me up?" Lincoln asked as he heard Dakota say 'yes' over the phone.
"Sweet, my dad and I can come pick you up in a bit. And don't worry about an amp, I got one you can use. Make sure to text me the address of your house too." Dakota said as Lincoln perked up with excitement. He turned off his Xbox and went to see Toll Road, who was sweeping the floor in the kitchen.
"Hey Toll, is it okay for me to go to my friend's house and practice with my guitar?" Lincoln asked as Toll looked at him and nodded. He then got his guitar ready in the case and waited out front.
After waiting for a bit, a red 2010 Toyota Tacoma parked up against the curb as the passenger window rolled down and Lincoln saw Dakota wearing a grey henley and was hanging his head out the window.
"Hey Lincoln, let's go!" Dakota said in a cheerful mood. Lincoln got his guitar and headed towards the truck to head towards the Cherokee's house.
Lincoln noticed Dakota's dad and his jaw dropped; there in the driver seat sat Max Jones, who was toned, had long black hair tied in a ponytail and wore a black button up shirt with a blue dragon design with blue jeans. "Dad, this is Lincoln from school and from parkour practice." Dakota said as his dad looked in the rearview mirror, formed a small smile and nodded as if he said, 'how are you?'.
Max drove back to their house in the Lakeshore-Lake Vista neighborhood. It was a nice two-story house with a pool in the backyard with a nice white exterior on the house. As they pulled up, Lincoln looked at the house with amazement.
"Nice house you got. This is nothing like mine." Lincoln said as Dakota and his dad led Lincoln inside of their house.
"Follow me so I can get my guitar, and we can start practicing in the garage. I got a couple buddies coming over in a bit to help out." Dakota said as he led Lincoln up the stairs to his room. As he opened the door, Lincoln saw that he had a full-size bed like his, with a computer desk that had a nice custom-built gaming PC on it and had a nice flat screen with Xbox as well.
"Nice room that you have." Lincoln said as Dakota got his guitar out and let Lincoln hold it. He felt how nice it was and strummed a couple cords.
"It's nice isn't it." Dakota said as he and Lincoln dragged the amp down the stairs and into the garage. Then, the horn of a yellow SUV alerted Dakota and he saw his 2 friends coming towards him.
"Hey guys! Lincoln, this is Malcolm and James. Guys, this is Lincoln, the one I told you about from Capoeira, Parkour and Freerunning practice." Dakota said as the two shook hands each with Lincoln.
Malcolm was an 11-year-old Irish American; about to turn 12 soon with black hair, blue eyes, and wearing a red and grey buffalo, black jeans and brown converse. While James was a 12-year-old Italian American with blonde hair, green eyes and was wearing a blue henley, black jeans and white converse. They had brought their instruments; Malcolm brought a white banjo while James brought a blacked out killer electric guitar. "Are we still waiting for Sebastian?" James asked as he went to set up his guitar. Dakota nodded and cleaned up the drum kit that was in the garage.
"Yeah, he needs to hurry up and get here so he can play the drums and give us the note sheets." Dakota said as Lincoln set up his guitar and cleaned the base of his guitar, but he was wondering what song they were practicing.
"What song are we gonna sing?" Lincoln asked as he then heard another car horn and saw a Toyota Corolla pulling up. "That must be Sebastian." Dakota said as he saw his friend coming towards them with his custom drum sticks in his hand.
"Sup boys!" Sebastian said as he hugged his friends. "Sebastian, this is Lincoln. He's the newbie in our parkour class." Dakota said as Sebastian shook Lincoln's hand. Sebastian was a 12-year-old Finnish American that had some Finnish on his dad's side and his mother was American. He had black hair, grey eyes and was wearing a short sleeve yellow and black flannel with black jeans and red converse.
"So, do you have the notes?" Dakota asked as Sebastian pulled them out of his backpack that he was carrying with him. "The song we're singing, by the way, is 'Better Life' by Keith Urban." Dakota said as he looked over the note sheet.
"Okay, good. I think we better tune our instruments to the appropriate setting for this." Malcolm suggested as all the 5 did so, tuning their instruments to the right setting for the song they would be practicing.
After a couple minutes of tuning, they were all done. "Welp, that's done. Now need to give it a dry run before actually performing." Lincoln said as the others agreed. Everyone did their part as they followed along on the sheet; some trial and errors along the way, but as soon as they went through it a couple times, they got the hang of it. It may not have sounded 100% like the original version, but hell, it was a cover for gods sakes!
20 minutes past as the 5 preteens all played their part of the song. What they didn't know was Dakota's mother, Kathy Jones, was standing in the doorway leading into the house with arms crossed and smiling wide at her sons. She cleared her throat and her son turn to her, in shock.
"So, I heard you're doing a cover for one of my favorite songs by Keith Urban, am I correct?" Kathy asked as Dakota hung his head down, blushing. Lincoln rubbed his back and went up to introduce himself. "I don't thing we met, I'm Lincoln Loud." Lincoln said as he shook Kathy's hand and she smiled back.
"Hi Lincoln. I think I saw you on stage at the graduation. To be honest, I think you have the cutest hair, it looks like snow, in my opinion." Kathy said as it was Lincoln's turn to blush.
"Mom, can we please get back to practice? Dakota said as his fingernails were pressing into his flesh, almost making him bleed.
"Okay, have fun boys." She said giggling as she went back inside. "Man, can she be annoying. Anyway, Lincoln, the guys and I are planning on spending the night at the Muscle Gym on Monday the 9th at night. We were wondering if you want to as well. The mats there are comfortable to sleep on and Fabien said it was cool since he's gonna be there with us as well, plus, we get to have movie night and eat pizza and stuff." Dakota said as the others nodded.
"I'll have to ask my caretaker about that." Lincoln asked as he got out his phone and called Toll Road. He waited for a second before he heard his voice on the other side. "Hey Lincoln, what's up?" Toll asked as Lincoln began to explain the situation. "Well, Dakota told me that our Freerunning teacher is having a little sleepover at the gym down by Tool's place." Lincoln said as he heard Toll Road make a sound that he was thinking. "If I take you there, I have to talk to him and make sure you can bring your stuff to Tool's the next day as soon as you're ready to leave." Toll said as Lincoln put on a 'he said yes' smile to Dakota and the others.
The rest of the day was just play for them as they thought of some other country songs to sing as a cover.
Royal Woods
It was as usual in the Loud House; lunch time was a quick one since everyone takes their food into their rooms and continue their antics. Lynn Jr. was out back playing soccer by herself and decided to try and bounce it off her feet a couple times before she remembered what Lincoln had said to her the last time on the video call.
She gritted her teeth and kicked the ball as hard as she could, and it landed at the back of Mr. Grouse's head.
"OW! Goddamnit Loud!" Mr. Grouse yelled as he stomped out of his backyard with the soccer ball in his hand. Lynn ran inside and hid behind the couch, hoping her mom wouldn't catch her.
Then, there was a knock at the door, Rita went to answer it and saw a very pissed off Mr. Grouse. "Keep your damn sports balls off my yard Loud. Your damn kid almost broke my friggin neck!" He yelled as he handed the ball to the matriarch and stomped away.
"Lynn Jr, come out from behind the couch, right now." Rita commanded as the sporty daughter stepped out and smiled nervously.
"H-Hi mom." She said as Rita pointed upstairs. "Grounded. Move, now." She firmly said as Lynn had her head down and moved slowly up the stairs.
While that happened, Lori and Leni were in their room trying to think of ways to cheer themselves up from being yelled at by Mrs. Santiago and the police giving them a warning from their brief visit weeks ago. Bobby automatically broke up with Lori when he knew the way she treated Lincoln and what she said about him at school. So, she was heartbroken.
"Hey Lori, why don't we, like, call Lincoln and say we're sorry about what we did. Maybe that'll cheer us up and get the weights off our necks." Leni said as Lori sighed a bit. She loved Leni dearly, but her ditzy analogy and vocabular really got to her sometimes and made her mentally smack her forehead most of the time.
"I guess we could try that later, but Leni, it's 'get the weight off our shoulders, not necks'." Lori corrected as she slouched on her bed a bit.
As the two oldest sisters were in their room trying to think of ways to be happy again, Luna was in her room strumming her guitar a bit. She was still thinking about what Sam had said at the park. "Man, I guess I should really call the little dude and really apologize for what I did in the past. But I wonder if he'll forgive me." Luna said with a tear traveling down her face.
Meanwhile at the library, Luan was getting a book on jokes when she ran into Maggie. "Oh, hey Maggie. Whatcha doing here?" Luan asked softly as Maggie turned to her and…was there a soft smile on her face?
"I was looking for you, Luan." Maggie said in her usual tone, with a slight blush on her face.
"Well, whatcha doing here? I didn't expect to see you here at the library." Luan said as they both went outside and sat on the library steps in the warm breeze. "I…was looking for you. I wanted to ask if," Maggie bit her lip and blushed a bit.
"…I was asking if you wanted to go out on a date." Maggie said as she looked right in Luan's eyes. The jokester looked surprised to the request but nodded and smiled. "Sure, how about we go out tomorrow. Sound good?" Luan asked as Maggie nodded and put her hand on top of Luan's.
"We can go get ice cream as a start, then we can see a movie, if you're okay with that." Luan said as Maggie nodded and hugged Luan. It was an unexpected move, but Luan accepted the hug and hugged her back.
Back at the house, Lola and Lana were doing their usual activities as always. "You know Lola, even though Lincoln made us mad about spilling the beans, I still miss him. I wonder what he's going through." Lana said as Lola snorted a bit. "Pfft, I don't. I'm glad he's in jail, he deserves it. Maybe he'll be touched in places he doesn't wanna be touched." Lola said as Lana gasped and started to get angry.
"HOW DARE YOU SAY THAT! He's our brother, and you want him to get violated?!" Lana screamed as she walked out of the room to find the matriarch. "MOM! You won't believe what Lola just said!" Lana yelled as she went downstairs to her mother, who was in the kitchen eating a sandwich.
"What's wrong, honey?" Rita said as Lana told her what Lola had said. "SHE SAID WHAT!" Rita screamed as her face told the whole story. She marched up the stairs and went right into Lola and Lana's room where she saw the blonde princess not fazed whatsoever.
"Young lady, you better explain to me why you said you wished Lincoln would get touched inappropriately!" Rita hollered as loud as she could as Lola was still not fazed. "He spilled our secrets, made us look bad and told past incidences! What should I have said?! He deserves what's coming to him!" Lola said as Rita smacked her across the face, leaving a red handprint.
Rita and Pop Pop were the only ones knowing Lincoln's actual location and job, so they had to keep it secret or the girls would go ape. "Lola Marie Loud, you are grounded for the next 2 months! No pageants for the next 3 weeks either, do you understand?!" Rita yelled so loud her face went red and her voice almost cracked.
The matriarch stomped out of the room and went back to her own to calm down. Pop Pop pulled in the driveway with Lucy and Lisa, carrying groceries with them as well.
"Alright girls, let's take inside and put the stuff away while I check in on your mother." Pop Pop said as they all got the groceries inside.
Then, Pop Pop went into Rita's bedroom and saw her with her head in her hands and sighing. "Hey buttercup, what's wrong?" Pop Pop said as Rita then told her father what Lola had said. Pop Pop was mad at Lola but was shocked to hear she would say something like that.
He sat down with Rita and rubbed her back softly.
"It'll be alright. I promise." Pop Pop said as he then went to check on the rest of the kids.
Back in New Orleans
Lincoln was taken back home since Dakota had to do chores before he could go to the sleepover tomorrow. He was glad he met Malcolm, James and Sebastian; they were good friends, knew martial arts, freerunning, parkour, capoeira and even knew how to play instruments. They were the right friends for him of course. By the time Lincoln walked in the door at home, Toll Road was making Grilled Fajita's for dinner and it smelled fucking good! "So, what time should I take you to the Muscle Park tomorrow for that little sleepover?" Toll asked as he got glasses out for Lincoln and him to drink.
"Dakota said that we can head over there around 1pm to 1:30." Lincoln said as he helped Toll get the tortilla's ready.
After dinner, Lincoln lifted weights and worked on his abs more. It was painful as always, but the burn meant it was a process. Then he took a shower and changed into his long sleeve black compression shirt and black compression tights too. His legs were toned as well too, since he had been doing Inner Thigh Lifts, Seated Leg Squats and Seated Pillow Squeezes for the past month and a half. He had been also eating super healthy and going on jogs with Toll Road as well whenever they got the chance to keep their metabolism up.
The next morning, Lincoln got up around 5 am and went to weigh himself in the bathroom before the day started. He got on the scale and saw he weighed 95 pounds. He smiled and stepped off before getting his shower stuff ready again. He then saw Toll Road leaning on the door frame in his blue pajama's, smiling.
"How much do you weigh?" He asked before Lincoln could turn the shower on and get ready.
"I weigh 115 pounds. All that work is paying off while being toned and eating right." Lincoln said as Toll Road went to the kitchen and had a cup of coffee. As Lincoln took his shower, he wondered when Lee was gonna take him to London to meet his family like he promised. He thought of calling him later so he could ask.
After the shower, he put on his grey henley, blue jeans and black jeans, so he could get breakfast. He saw Toll making a breakfast casserole; there was bacon, ham and cheese. "Hey, want some breakfast? I'm making an Apple-Cheddar Ham and Egg Casserole." Toll said as he finished cooking the bacon and ham in the pan before adding everything in the casserole dish.
Lincoln sat at the kitchen table until his phone started ringing. He smiled as he saw who it was; it was Bonnie.
"Morning my beautiful princess. How'd you sleep?" Lincoln said as he got a chuckle out of Toll Road while he shook his head. "I'm doing good. I slept for about 8 hours, because I took some melatonin and it knocked me right out." Bonnie said as Toll Road put the casserole in the oven for 15 minutes.
Lincoln spent the whole 15 minutes talking to Bonnie before she had to go for the day and practice martial arts. After breakfast, Lincoln went ahead and called Lee to see when they were gonna leave for London. He dialed Lee's number and waited for him to answer. "Hello?" Lee answered as Lincoln perked up and smiles. "Hey Lee, remember when you said you would take me to see your family in London?" Lincoln asked as Lee groaned a bit.
"Yeah, I'm still gonna take you, just not until this Wednesday, okay." Lee explained as Lincoln smiled even wider. "Okay, I'll let Toll Road know. Bye." Lincoln said as he hung the phone up and went to explain it to Toll.
After he explained it to Toll Road, he thought it was a good idea for Lee to take Lincoln to London meet his family. Later, Lincoln lifted weights and did Bent Over Reverse Flies, Field Goal Posts and Overhead Tricep Extension's with heavier weights; he felt exhausted.
It was now 1pm and Toll Road got ready to take Lincoln over to Nola Muscle Gym for the hangout.
They got in the car and headed towards that way. It was a nice afternoon out, and Lincoln was excited to hang out and sleepover with Dakota, Malcolm, James and Sebastian. They pulled into the parking lot and Toll Road walked Lincoln in to see Fabien sitting at his desk.
"Hey Lincoln, who's this?" Fabien asked as Lincoln went to see his friends doing flips and such in the gym. "Sup guys!" Lincoln said as he held a bag of his pajama's in them while Dakota and the others were excited to see their friend. "We are now complete!" Malcolm exclaimed as everyone laughed and started doing parkour exercises.
The rest of the day was all fun and exercises until it was dinner time. Fabien ordered 2 whole meat lovers pizzas with sodas for everyone to enjoy. He was lucky he had a little kitchen to put the food in and eat while he could set up the movies, they were gonna watch later.
"What movie are we gonna watch, Fabien?" James asked as the man pulled out a couple movies that showed Batman Begins, Fantastic Four and Green Street Hooligans. Every preteen was excited to watch the movies, even Fabien was excited.
The night was all fun until it was time for bed. Everyone took a spot on the big, padded mat and went straight to sleep.
The next morning came super quick as Lincoln woke up to the others practicing freerunning and capoeira. "Mmm, morning guys." Lincoln said as a yawn found its way out his mouth. "Hey Lincoln, get dressed, let's practice capoeira." Dakota said as Lincoln got up and got dressed before lining up with his friends and doing the 'ginga' move. It was basic, but the boys needed to learn more.
8am rolled around and the boys had been practicing capoeira movements for 2 hours. Lincoln and the others were just about to go to McDonalds when Fabien came up to Lincoln. "Hey little man, there's a dude in a suit in the office wanting to talk to you." Fabien said as Lincoln immediately knew who it was.
Lincoln went to the small office and saw Church sitting in a chair waiting for him. "Hey kid, how's your summer?" Church asked as Lincoln shrugged his shoulders and got some water from the plastic water dispenser.
"It's been good. I'm learning how to play guitar more, learning more martial arts, graduated 5th grade and gonna go to see Lee's family in the UK." Lincoln said as he rolled his shoulders to ease his aching pain.
"That's good. I hear you also had a little scuffle at Eagle Airsoft. Also, that you and the apes had to rescue your mission director in England." Church said as Lincoln's eyes widened to the info. "Yeah, those two things happened. Luckily, Bonaparte is alright. And yeah, some kid got the best of me when we were at Eagle Airsoft." Lincoln said as Church passed him a big yellow envelope.
"What's this?" Lincoln asked as Church made a gesture to open it. Lincoln did so and saw a picture of a man who had a mustache, looked to be in his late 30's, wearing a white suit with a black tie and had blonde hair with blue eyes. "That is Santiago Esteban; a millionaire who we believe to be a drug trafficker that lives in the Garden District, I need you to take some pictures of him while in cover and hopefully of his stash. The address is on that paper with the pictures too. I'll pay you a million dollars; half now and the other half when it's finished. When you get the pictures on your camera, head back to your house and call me." Church instructed as Lincoln nodded and took the money and picture of the guy with him to his back and hid them under his pajama's, so his friends wouldn't find any suspicion. Church then left to get back to the CIA headquarters back in Virginia.
Fabien arrived back with breakfast sandwiches and burritos from McDonalds, so everyone can eat breakfast. "Hey guys, we got breakfast!" Fabien said as everyone sat in a circle on the mat and ate their breakfast peacefully. As the preteens ate their food, Dakota wondered about their bodies.
"Won't this make us gain weight?" Dakota asked as Lincoln stepped in to explain their bodies and metabolism. "It won't make us gain much weight, maybe a pound or two, but it's good for us to have some fat with the muscle." Lincoln said as the other 4 preteens understood now.
Later, Toll Road picked up Lincoln and the hacker explained to Toll Road that Church assigned him a job at the Garden District. Toll Road wasn't sure about the job, but hey, more money for Lincoln.
They went home and worked on doing sit-ups, diamond pushups and squats for the next hour until Lincoln got his stuff ready for the job he was assigned. He put on a long black sleeve black shirt, black cargo pants and black converse. Lincoln then got his nice DSLR camera, put the strap around him and got ready. "I'm ready to roll, Toll." Lincoln said as he and Toll got in the car and headed towards the Garden District.
As soon as they reached the district, Lincoln saw a good-sized tree in the cemetery to hide in and take the pictures of the target from. "I'm gonna be up in that tree and take some pictures of the target, then I'll call you once I got what I need." Lincoln said as Toll nodded and let Lincoln out. "I'll be at the Fresh Market, so meet me there once you're done." Toll said as Lincoln nodded. The hacker then made his way in the cemetery to the tree and climbed up to get to a good perch point.
Once settled, he saw a good vantage point and the target sitting on the balcony with a brick of some sort. He then snapped a shot of him, and then waited for him to do something else.
Then, he saw the bedroom door open and a big burly man who looked Latino, walked in and with a big bundle of cash. Then, the target had a knife with him, cut a line of the brick and some white powder was on it. That's probably drugs, Lincoln thought as he snapped a couple more shots of the two during their transaction.
Then, he heard someone at the bottom of the tree. "Hey kid! Whatcha doing up there?!" A man shouted as Lincoln almost fell but caught himself. Then, Santiago and the burly man saw what was going on and scattered to get out of the room.
"Get that kid!" He said in a Cajun accent as he saw 3 guys in suits climb into a Cadillac and was after Lincoln. The hacker climbed down the tree and made a break for it out of the cemetery. He ran as fast as he could towards the market where Toll Road was at.
I gotta warn Toll Road, Lincoln thought as he raced in the store and hid in the bathroom.
A/N: Welp, gonna end it here.
Now, I gotta go, but leave me a review and I'll see you all later…ADIOS AMIGOS!
