Chapter 243

(The Loud House.)

Lincoln wakes up and sees the room is no longer dark, he slowly sits up and sees something was wrong. 'What the? Where are Luna and Jordan?' He then looks to the time. '8 am? They let me sleep in? What the heck?'

Lincoln gets out of bed and sees his left side is still sore, which explains why there were some pillows that were holding him so he would remain sleeping on his right side. 'I better go and see what the heck is going on.'

Lincoln leave the bed room and he enters the halls and sees his 5th oldest sister Lynn Jr. "Hey Lynn."

Lynn stops and sees Lincoln, and she's wearing some hockey gear. "Hey bro, I'd hug you for waking up and being back home, but I gotta get going. I was able to get 4 tickets to my all-time favorite hockey game and dad is coming with me, along with Paula and we are going to see the Royal Woods Jellyfish go face-to-face with the New Jersey Gaba-Ghouls!"

"Oh, well at least you're not doing you're weird superstition things anymore" said Lincoln in relief.

"Yeah, all I know is that I just gotta have that team winning spirit and that our team wins it with their skills and confidence!" said Lynn Jr. "Later Lincoln." She then comes back to him. "Also, it snowed overnight, okay bye."

Lincoln is confused. "What?" Lincoln looks out the window and he sees the backyard is covered in snow. "Huh, will you look at that, it is snowing." He also sees the tree house and Patriot and Valkyrie's watch tower covered by some curtains to keep the nest warm.

"Oh, you're awake." Lincoln turns around and sees Luna and Jordan coming into the room with some breakfast. "We got you something to eat, also we let you sleep in because you needed the rest, how's your left side?" asked Jordan.

Lincoln moves a little bit. "A little bit sore, but I think it'll heal in time." Luna then goes over to her brother and hugs him. Lincoln smiles and hugs her back. "I'm fine Luna, no need to get too worried with me, we're home now and no one is gonna come after us."

"I know, I'm just so glad you're still here with us my little dude. You, me and Jordan back home." Luna then breaks the hug. "Now come on, you gotta get some food in ya, then get to changing out of your night clothes."

Lincoln then eats his food in his lower bunk while Luna and Jordan give him some privacy, but then Lori comes in. "Hey Lincoln, are you feeling okay?" She sits next to him.

"Like I told Luna and Jordan, I'm a little bit sore, but I'll manage" said Lincoln. Then Lori hugs him, but not too tight and not at his still injured left side. Lincoln puts his plate away and returns the hug. "This is gonna be a thing for the next few days isn't it?"

"You know we love you Linky and after what happened we're all worried about you, you gave us all a scare when we heard you got shot from that maniac!" said Lori, she then calms down and continues to hug her little brother. "We're so glad your back on your feet and still with us, I love you so much bro."

"I love you too Lori." They then break the hug. "So, what are you planning today sis?"

"Well, Lola said she needed some help and a ride to her next photo shoot, Luan is going to a gig for someone's birthday, I think you already know what Lynn is up to and with dad as well, Lana said she's gonna be helping Lisa check on the eagle chicks for the whole day, Lucy is with her friend Haiku before she heads off to her cruise soon, Mom and Leni are at work and Lily has no one to watch over so I'm taking the privilege of doing it" said Lori. "I just hope Lola's okay with Lily also tagging along."

Lincoln chuckles. "Lola will be fine with Lily coming with her, we're all changing and so is Lily."

"Lori! We gotta get going now!" Lola comes in and sees them. "Oh, hi Linky. Are you feeling okay big brother?" She goes over to hug him.

Lincoln returns the hug. "I will be soon, and good luck at you're photo shoot today and remember the words I coached you through."

They break the hug. "I always keep them in mind Lincoln, don't you worry because this pageant queen has the experience and the knowledge from the best coach/big brother ever!"

Lincoln smiles and kisses her forehead. "Get out there and knock em dead Lols, but not literally."

Lola smiles and leaves the room, Lori then follows after but she does look back to her brother. "Get well soon bro, and have fun spending the day with Luna and Jordan, and no they won't keep babying you."

Lincoln chuckles. "I know Lori, they just care about my well-being." Lori then heads out of the room and she closes the door. Lincoln then goes back to eating his breakfast while reading one of his comics. He then looks out the window. "I wonder if Luna and Jordan will even let me play outside, I could use some snow time."

(Hours later.)

Lincoln is in his clothes and is going down the stairs, he then sees Lisa headed upstairs with some peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. "Hey Lisa, did Luna make those for you?"

"No, Jordan did. It appears she has learned some things that you do around here that are a casual thing for all of us" replied Lisa. "Also, would you like me to run some scans on your current body conditions and see if there are any more traces of damage within you're systems?"

Lincoln ruffles his little sister's hair. "I'm gonna have to go with a no on that one Lisa, I'll just let my body heal normally and wait for myself to be back in tip top shape."

Lisa nods. "Very well then, also I should tell you that the eagle chicks Harrier, Artemis and Freya seem to be getting restless as of lately ever since you had left with Luna, Jordan, Tabby, Sully, Mazzy and Chunk on the Mick Swagger Tour, and they're still being restless."

Lincoln is confused by this and also concerned. "Restless how?"

"They seem to be showing signs of some mature eagle feathers somewhere underneath their small hatchling feathers and they tend to try and jump out of the nest, but they are not due to learning to fly until August. Luckily Patriot and Valkyrie have been keeping an eye on them to ensure they do not attempt another dive to their demise, and as an extra precaution, when it is night time or when Patriot and Valkyrie aren't around, Lulu will patrol the backyard and the tree house and will be ready to catch the chicks who try to jump out of the nest, Patriot and Valkyrie have agreed to that one."

Lincoln did not like the sound of that. "Does Jordan know about this?"

"Yes, yes she does. I told her about this when we all woke up and went in line for the bathroom, she said that soon she wishes to see how the little ones are doing and help with whatever problems our eagle companions might be having" replied Lisa. "Now if you'll excuse me, Lana and I must continue keeping a close eye on our avian allies and also add some modifications to Lulu." Lisa heads upstairs with the plate of sandwiches.

Lincoln then heads into the kitchen and he sees Luna cleaning the dishes and Jordan wiping the table, Jordan notices her boyfriend. "Hey Linc, everything alright?"

"Yeah, Lisa told me about the eagle chicks and I was hoping to help out as well" replied Lincoln.

Jordan and Luna felt worried about this. "As cool as it is to have you go out there and check on the little dudes, my little dude. I can't let you do that bro."

"And why not?" asked Lincoln.

"Linc, you're still sore from the aftermath of what happened to you at Delaware and we don't want you to strain yourself in doing some hard work, it might make the pain come back and we don't wanna see you have to go through some kind of mental breakdown" replied Jordan.

Lincoln sighs. "Guys, we have been through a lot and yes that moment at Delaware was possibly the worst one ever. But I'm not going through any bad emotions, the only situation I had was almost losing Luna to that shot and that she donated a pint of her to me. I wanna help out guys, let me do this."

Luna felt concerned and goes over and hugs her baby brother. "I know you wanna do some things around here, but that's still a no go bro. I'm not letting you out of my sight and sure as heck I'm not letting you do something that could hurt you."

Luna then breaks the hug with Lincoln and she kneels down to him. "Please Lincoln, don't go outside yet. I'll know when you can go out when I see how you feel. You may think you seem fine, but I can tell from every expression you make that you're feeling uncomfortable and I know where it's all coming from."

Lincoln knows that Luna is not wrong, ever since their bond has been rekindled from meeting with Jordan, she has grown this skill to see how he feels when he's happy, sad, angry, lonely or hurt, or worse about to break down into a wallowing mess.

Lincoln looks down. "Okay, okay. I'll stay inside."

Luna kisses his forehead. "Thanks Lincoln." She then hugs him. "We're doing this because we love you and we wanna keep you from losing your cool and I don't wanna see my little bro hurt."

Jordan also joins in on the hug. "And I don't wanna see my boyfriend looking like a shambling mess. Like Luna I too am feeling kinda upset after all that has happened and nightmares are the least of my issues."

Lincoln hugs them both, he knows they do this because they care and he's okay with that.

(Later in the day.)

Lincoln is on the couch after watching some TV which had nothing good on. Lincoln sighs and looks up to the ceiling. 'Well, at least I'm back home. Some part of me does miss some of that great food from other states, I wonder if dad has seen the pics of the food we ate?'

Just then Lincoln feels his head being moved up from its resting spot and then lowered back down but elevated. Lincoln then notices that his head is laying on Luna's lap and Luna is looking down to him with a warm smile. "Feeling bored bro?"

Lincoln sighs. "Yeah, I guess. There's pretty much nothing else to watch on TV and I'm not in the comic book reading mood either."

Luna strokes his white hair. "Have you called any of your friends if they wanna chill here with ya?"

Lincoln sighs, not because he's bored but he also likes the feeling of his sister doing this to his hair. "I called Liam and Tabby, but they're at Liam's farm trying to clear out some of the snow from doing any damage to the produce and fauna."

"Stella said she's gonna be hanging out with Jenny watching some new horror movie at the Royal Woods Theater and Simon said he's gonna be having some big sis and little bro bonding for the day, and that's just about it."

Luna can tell he seems bored and wants to have some fun. "You could just play some games if you wanna fight the boredom."

"Yeah, not in the gaming mood today, just feeling kinda restless" said Lincoln, then he realizes that this sounds familiar. "And now I'm just like our little eagle buddies." Lincoln chuckles at that one.

Luna also chuckles. "Well, we could hang out. We can do some things around here just to pass the time. What about it bro?"

Lincoln thinks about it. "Sure, we can hang out and I think I know what we can do."

"And what's that?" asked Luna.

Lincoln gets back up. "Can we check the attic? I wanna see if there are some things I may have misplaced up there."

Luna felt worried about this, the attic. "Are you sure Linc? I mean you gotta scale the ladder and chances you could trip and fall and hurt yourself or something."

Lincoln then goes over and hugs her. "Luna, I can go up and down the stairs, use the bathroom on my own and pretty much wake up with little to know issues except for the pillows supporting me, I can manage."

Luna feels overwhelmed by this and hugs him tight, she then calms down and they break the hug. "Okay Lincoln, okay. Let's go and see what we can find in the old attic."

They then head upstairs but Luna holds his hand, Lincoln knows she is concerned and she's going to be keeping an eye on him for the whole thing. They do pass by Lisa's bedroom and they hear some clanging sounds. They look inside and they see Lisa and Lana attaching some new upgrades onto their resident little AI car Lulu, and they seem to be having fun.

Lincoln and Luna then head to the attic door. Luna backs Lincoln up and she pulls on the door rope and the ladder comes down. "Let's go bro." Luna heads up first and then Lincoln, Luna even offers her hand and helps her brother up the place.

Luna then turns on the light and they look around. They are shocked at what they see. "Wow! Is it me, or has this place gotten even full lately dude?"

Lincoln sees his old toy drum. "Looks like some of the things up here may have fallen out of their boxes lately." He then sees his old little orange shirts. "Wow I was so small back then."

Luna chuckles and hugs him as she shows him a picture. "You were small, adorable and always looking for some company to be with and always such a curious little dude." They look to the picture of Luna teaching her 4 year old brother how to read.

Lincoln smiles seeing this. "Good times, good times." They then break the hug and Luna looks to the picture.

"I think I'll bring this back down with me, no shame in letting some good quality memories go down to waste." Luna then sees her puppet of Mick Swagger. "Been a long time since I have seen you dude." She then puts it on her hand. "And you still fit."

"That's because we rocked it when we rolled it back then Luna, and we always will." Luna goes wide eyed and she removes the puppet from her hand and she tosses it into a box. "Okay, and I thought Mr. Coconuts was alive."

Lincoln then sees some other old things he sued to have and then he sees his baby book, still empty. Lincoln sighs and picks it up. 'What the heck am I supposed to do with this thing?'

Luna sees Lincoln put the book away and then walk off to some other boxes. Luna looks to the baby book of Lincoln and then she recalls that Lincoln doesn't have anything in it, due to some stupid secret their parents have to keep. Luna then takes the book and puts it into an empty box with the picture she's also going to bring down. 'Time to make some good things from the old memories.'

(Minutes later.)

Throughout the whole day they spend looking through the attic for anything that they can bring down. Lincoln sees his old tricycle and his other baby stuff, like a hat and bib that says "Number one Baby Boy." Lincoln chuckles and recalls he always wore it around the house.

Luna finds a box containing all of her hand-me-down clothes back when she was 12 and they were Rock n' Roll style. 'This could fit Linc, but I don't know if he wants to wear them.' She then puts the box away and goes through another one.

Lincoln sees his old Ace Savvy blankets and his old costume back when he was just a little kid, around 8. 'Yup the same one I wore when I first met Clyde and also went around the house solving some crimes and problems.' He then sees some other old Ace Savvy stuff. 'I should donate these to some kids who might like them.'

Luna then opens another box and what she finds melts her heart. She pulls out some toy instruments, the ones she played when she was a little kid and when Lincoln was a baby. She recalls playing some music with Lincoln when he was two and three years old. Luna then sees a picture of her and Lincoln playing with each instrument and having a fun time. 'Where did those days go? What happened to us?'

Lun then sees something near the box that she does not like to see and her eyes go wide in fear. 'No!'

Lincoln is going through a box and sees some of the old clothes Lori had. "Wow. Lori had one odd taste in fashion." Then he recalled something. "Right, her awkward stage. That was one stage I was so confused about, when did she get her braces removed again?"

Then Luna goes over to him. "Okay bro, you got everything?" She sounds urgent.

"Yeah, I got a few pics and that's about it. You find anything to bring down?" asked Lincoln. He can see the concern and slight fear in Luna's eyes. "Luna, you okay?"

"I'm fine. Let's go, now!" Luna grabs his hand and drags him through some boxes. "We gotta get out of here."

"Luna, what the heck are you doing?! What is going on?" asked Lincoln, this was not good and he knows it.

"No time. We're leaving the attic now" said Luna sternly. "This was a bad idea to go here, we should've stayed in the living room." Luna then accidently knocks over some boxes, but they topple onto some other boxes which reveals what she saw earlier.

Lincoln stops and sees it. "Huh, Lynn's old toy shot …. Gun." He then looks to Luna who stops dragging him. Lincoln now knows why.

Luna turns around with her eyes closed and hugs her brother. "Don't look at it bro, don't look at it. Just look away and don't let the bad vibes get to you, please look away from it!"

Lincoln is confused at first, but then he figures it out. "Luna, I'm okay. It's just a toy, it's not real. Luna, I'm fine." Lincoln returns the hug.

Luna then sheds some tears and cries. "Lincoln, don't look at it. Please! Just don't leave me bro, don't go away, don't ever do that stunt again! I don't know what I'd do without you in my life!"

Lincoln sees this, Luna thinks he'll break down seeing the toy double barrel shotgun. But in truth, it's Luna who is breaking down, not him. "Luna, let's go." Luna keeps her eyes closed as she breaks from the hug, but then she opens her eyes and accidently looks to the toy gun and she let's go of Lincoln and starts to tremble.

Lincoln goes to her. "Luna? Luna calm down, please calm down it's just a toy."

Luna drops to her knees and starts to sob while holding onto her sides. "Lincoln, Lincoln don't leave me please! I'll do everything I can to save you, take my life to save yours. Just please don't go!" She breaks down into a mental crying mess onto the floor.

Lincoln goes over and cradles his sister as best he could. 'This … This was a bad idea. Looks like it's my turn to keep my special sibling from losing her cool.'

Lincoln continues to hug his sister and he hums the same tune she would hum when he was a mess. Then he rocks her back and forth. Luna continues to cry but she soon calms down and soon enough she stops, but continues to hug her brother.

Lincoln then looks to the whole attic and the toy shot gun. 'We have to clean this place up, some things weren't meant to be seen or better yet, aren't meant to stay here.'

(Hours later.)

Jordan comes back into the house with a tablet. "Problem solved." She then heads through the kitchen and the dining room and then she sees Lynn Jr and Lynn Sr coming into the house. "Hey guys, so how was the game?"

"The jellyfishes came, they saw and then they conquered and showed those New Jersey Ghouls who's the boss!" said Lynn Jr.

"And she got a selfie and autograph from her GOAT of the game" said Lynn Sr. "Did I say that right?"

Then the door opens and coming in is Lori, Lola and Lily. Lola is carrying Lily. "Well, looks like someone is gunning to be as good as I am, I know I should be upset with Lily trying to chum up everything but I am impressed with you baby sister."

Lily giggles. "Wowa, Wiwy! Fun!"

Lola smiles and kisses her cheek. "And I had fun too baby sister."

Lori takes a picture of this and so does Lynn Sr. "This is so adorable!"

Lucy also comes in. "Hello everyone." they all get startled by her. "Sorry, I just got back from hanging out with Haiku and the rest of the Young Morticians Club at the cemetery, feels a lot better when the snow has fallen onto the landscape. So white and tragic looking."

Luan also comes in, wearing her winter clothes over her clown suit. "Hey guys, made some kid's birthday a winter extravaganza of a fun time and made some extra cash from the gig and balloon animals, I guess I wasn't all cold with the cheer I was spreading, I ain't no Saint Nick, but sure as heck I'm bringing the cheer!"

They all kinda groaned at what she just said. "So, how are the eagle chicks and their …. Restless behavior?" asked Lori to Jordan.

"Well, turns out they snuck a tablet under the nest and they have been watching some footage from the whole eagle flying contest." Jordan shows them the tablet. "I guess watching their parents be the best in show motivated them to wanna fly out of the nest early."

Lynn Sr sheds some tears hearing that. "Like Lori, she'll …. she'll be headed to …. to college soon."

"Dad, calm down. I'm not going to college until school for these guys begin, so please stop crying." Lori does her best to calm down her dad and he does calm down.

"So, what's Lincoln been up to?" asked Lynn Jr. "Was he bored being in the house for the whole day?"

Jordan looks around. "Huh, I don't know. Where the heck is he and where the heck is Luna?"

They all look around and don't see then anywhere. They then head upstairs and head to the bedroom where Lincoln and Luna share, and what they see shocks them.

They see Lincoln on the bed and hugging him tightly is Luna, who is quietly crying. Something happened, but they don't know what. They all wanna go in and see what's going on, but then Lincoln signals them not to.

He then sends a paper airplane towards them, Jordan catches it and she closes the door and they read what's written on the note.

Lincoln then calms down and continues to hug and try to calm down his sister, Lincoln is kinda over the whole shotgun death issue, but it seems Luna is not over it yet. This is a problem, a problem he has seen when they had some issues.

'Don't worry Luna, I'm not going anywhere and sure as heck you're not going to lose me, and I don't wanna lose you sis. I may be healing with ease, but I'll make sure you get healed up. I'm not gonna let you go, not now, not ever'

A/N: This is the second aftermath and it looks like Luna needs to calm down and find some peace within her and Lincoln will be there to help. You guys may have also noticed that there are signs from the three new episode in here. On Thin Ice, Room and Hoard and A Star is Scorned. Leave a review and tell me what you all think.

Date made: 6/13/20.