A/N: And were back to another continuation of the story. I still have some things I need to build up on, which may or may not be covered in this chapter; but we'll see where it goes. Also, as a guest once asked, I occasionally consider suggestions given out; but it depends of whether it'll make sense with the story (and trust me, I've been given plenty that would've derailed it faster than that one passenger train that crashed last year). However, something like Lana being an intern for as a mechanic for Bobbie Flecher wouldn't work cause she's not at that age to qualify as an intern. Skills she does have, but she'd still have a wait a few more years.

Disclaimer: I own NOTHING from the Loud House.

Crickets chirped their nightly song as the moon stood tall in the dark sky. Franklin Avenue was almost deathly silent save for the occasional police car that idly cruised down the road on its usual patrol. Inside the house of Loud, the silence was pierced by the numerous snores emitting from the 5 bedrooms in the house; at times, a fart may cut in thanks to the resident mechanic working off tonight's dinner. At one end of the hall however, an uneasy groan clawed its way from under the door to meet the snoring, only to be drowned under the unsettling nasal sounds. Inside the closet-turned-bedroom, Lincoln had his eyes shut tighter than normal as he shifted his position on the mattress; beads of sweat were forming on his forehead as he bit his lip slightly.

Dressed in nothing but his undies and a night shirt, you'd think the pre-summer heat was the source of his discomfort. However, the entire house interior was coated with a calm 70 degrees thanks to the A/C unit; not to mention, Lincoln took his comic reading habit to his bed attire, finding much more comfortable to have his legs exposed to the open air while under the covers. With that said, you might think the neverending sounds of his family's slumber would disturb him; he long grew accustomed to this however, and it has been evidenced by Lisa's cameras that the middle child was also prone to it on occasion. Plus, his door blocked out much of the noise anyways.

See, it's not what's going on externally, as Lincoln hitched a breath while muttering one word. "Lynn..."

Inside Lincoln's head, the peaceful environment around him was far from anything synonymous with those words. The Loud boy found himself in a place that he was unfortunately very familiar with: the side of a street by the park with the crumpled and bloody form of his sporty sister. The boy himself had been strung up by his shirt on the metal fence, numerous bruises marring his exposed stomach and sides after two certain brutes were done with him. He could hardly see out of one eye and his jaw felt numb. They were long gone by now, leaving the two broken Louds to fend for themselves as their mocking chuckles faded into the distance.

To Lincoln, the world around him didn't matter as he stared at his fallen sibling. The two had been on a leisurely jog when Hank and Hawk ambushed them, wanting revenge for being stuck in prison for the past year. The two put up as best of a fight they could; sadly, size won over smarts, and the Louds were no match for the two heavyweights that were the Hazeltuckey bullies. Lincoln felt he got off lucky; half his ribs were very much broken, and his trademark chip-tooth lie on the ground just feet away, but he could still feel his limbs screaming for help.

As for Lynn, Lincoln couldn't make heads or tails on the severity of her condition; just seeing her unconscious was bad enough.

However, the middle child drew in a gasp upon seeing the faintest of movement coming from her; a twitch of the fingers, but it was enough for Lincoln to know she was somewhat awake. Turning his head around, Lincoln reached behind him and started to undo the knot on the back end of his shirt from the top of the fence post. Unfortunately, his blood-soaked fingers found it hard to get a good grip. Giving a shaky, yet heated groan, Lincoln pulled at the fabric until he felt the threads start to tear.

RIIIIIIIIIP!

THUD!

Ignoring the pain the flared in his side, Lincoln scrambled to his feet and hobbled over to Lynn. He panted heavily as his adrenaline started to run dry, soon dropping to his knees when he was just feet away from his sister. Adding a few more scrapes to his hands and knees, the boy reached over to Lynn and turned her over onto her back. He was nearly repulsed by the state her face was in: one of her eyes was swollen with blood pouring out of the hole where her pupil would be (the other being in no better shape but looked like a typical black-eye), her nose was scrunched up in a position that Lincoln thought was impossible, one of Lynn's ears was slightly torn at the outer edge, pieces of hair were ripped from her scalp, and there was nothing short of horrific at the state her mouth was in. On top of that, Lincoln could tell 3 of her limbs were broken by the odd angles that didn't look right for a normal person.

"O-Oh God..." Lincoln uttered quietly as he felt his eyes wetting. "Lynn?" He shook her, not getting any sort of response. "Lynn, p-please..." The boy shook her more vigorously.

Lynn let out a gurgling groan, moving her arm up to grab her brother's hand in a weak hold. The brunette let out a few harsh coughs, making Lincoln recoil a little as she inadvertently spat blood in his face. Lincoln hoisted her up slightly, trying to be sure he didn't injure her more than she already was. Lynn continued to cough, giving a pained noise Lincoln could've related to a dying animal given all the nature shows he watched with Lana.

"D-Don't worry Lynn...y-you'll be ok..." The middle child spoke with a shaky breath before immediately looking about their surroundings. "HELLO?! PLEASE, SOMEONE HELP MY SISTER! HEEELP!" The boy yelled out, hearing his voice carry into the horizon. He sincerely hoped someone, anyone, would come to their aid.

A moment passed before Lincoln gave another cry for help, but no one appeared to hear him. Lynn let her head falter to the side slightly as her grip on Lincoln's hand began to slacken. She gripped it as best she could, getting her brother's attention. "Lin...coln..." Was the only word she could say before Lynn's grip faded completely, letting her hand fall to her side. Her head nodded more towards the earth as it looked like she passed out again.

"Lynn?..." Lincoln muttered, gently taking her hand into his own. His sense of urgency reached new heights when he didn't feel her return his grasp, shaking his head as if he was trying to deny what was happening. "Lynn?!" Lincoln put two fingers against her neck, his eyes letting tears fall freely as he pressed firmly against her blood-soaked skin.

Nothing...

The boy's breath hitched as he pressed an ear to Lynn's chest, his fears increasing as he didn't hear a heartbeat. Using what he knew from health class, Lincoln situated his palms on Lynn's sternum and began to rhythmically press on it.

"No Lynn! Please! You can't die! Please come back!" Lincoln cried out as he sped up his compressions.

Unfortunately, a few seconds later, he was met with the sight of blood squirting out of Lynn's mouth every time he pressed on her chest. Lincoln winced as he gently opened his sister's mouth, soon reeling back in horror as he covered his lips with both hands; not only was it to muffle the scream he suddenly let loose, but it was just in case he vomited. The poor girl's mouth was a pool filled with blood, causing some of her teeth to float about in the gory cauldron.

Lincoln gave light sniffles that slowly grew to become louder and more drawn out, the realization of his situation hitting him in force; Lynn was too far gone to be saved. On its own, her head rolled a bit to the left, allowing the pooled blood to leak out like water from a cracked dam. Slowly, Lincoln's hands raised themselves from his mouth towards his eyes, letting his cries become enriched with his surname as they shouted into a world that couldn't help him bring back one of his closest siblings. As his hands fell to his sides, Lincoln just sat there, hunched over his deceased sibling. He should've been angry at this situation, that Hank and Hawk took something very valuable from him; he should've been pissed enough to want to avenge his sibling. And yet, the teen was blaming himself for his inability to help Lynn when she really needed it. He heard the brunette cry for help before the beating started to get serious, but no one came to her aid. Lincoln didn't have that same rush of adrenaline like that time Lana was being bullied by a few in his peers; these were different circumstances, and the Loud had been frozen in fear to do much of anything.

As Lincoln continued to mourn over Lynn's corpse, he failed to notice two predators approaching from behind.

"Guess the little bitch didn't make it huh?" An older, burly voice mocked that chilled Lincoln to the core.

"Served her right for thinkin' she could handle these guns!" Another laughed, and Lincoln could tell he was probably flexing his muscles if he dared to look.

"Aw, poor Stinkoln misses his sister already."

"Well, he won't miss her if he's WITH her..." This was followed by a sinister laugh.

Lincoln's pupils shrank to their smallest diameter as he whipped his head back. Standing before him were Hank and Hawk, appearing as muscular as ever after having been in prison. Their hair styles had hardly changed, but they now sported several tattoos on their arms that appeared to be aligned with dealing pain towards others, and their knuckles were still freshly painted red from the blood they spilled from the Louds. The greatest oddity however, was the fact they were practically fifty feet tall, leaving Lincoln to appear as nothing but an ant. The Loud cowered under their piercing, villainous stares as they chuckled haughtily at his tiny form. The poor little boy could only put his hands out in a feeble defense as he screamed in terror; the giant fists coming forth to crush him into nothingness.

Lincoln gave a sharp gasp as he bolted upright in his bed, the longest parts of his hair whipping back from the sudden movement and stuck to his sweat-riddled face. The teen panted several times as he removed the white follicles from his view, a sense of relief filling his chest upon recognizing the dark environment of his room. As his breaths slowed, Lincoln lowered a hand to his eyes as a depressed and frustrated sigh left him.

"That dream again..."

As Lynn hinted earlier, Lincoln had been dealing with what Lisa called a minor form of PTSD. The white-haired teen felt that was a bit too strong of a word, but no one else had an idea to describe the extent of Lincoln's mental trauma. At least once a month, occasionally more, he'd experience a nightmare that always centered around Lynn being killed; and every single time, Lincoln was powerless to stop it. Sometimes the nightmares involved Hank and Hawk being the culprits, under the assumption that the brutes would be looking for revenge after being rightfully thrown into prison. Other times it'd involve a random accident, though interestingly, one nightmare involved Lincoln being forced to watch Lynn getting tortured to death by a group of people who discovered the family's secret about the Luck fiasco.

And just like Lynn, the parents considered having their son make weekly visits to a psychiatrist; Lincoln refused as he felt doing so might lead to him opening up about what occurred two years ago, and ultimately ruin the family due to unwanted outside "help". It was a secret Lincoln very much wanted to take to his grave after spending so much time rebuilding his familial bond. Thankfully, Lisa boiled it down to her brother just having an errant fear of meeting the two people that gave them so much grief; and that's on top of the never-ending shock from seeing one of his sisters in such a horrid state. The worst thing about it? Lincoln didn't even have a clue as to how he could've helped Lynn when she was getting her ass handed to her.

Anyone could tell there was some underlying guilt the middle child developed from the fact he just hung there like a piñata while watching Lynn take on the bullies, especially when she needed help. Naturally, Lisa assured him that he wasn't in a position to offer any sort of aid due to his own injuries; the prodigy even stated that it might've been worse to leave Lynn by herself if he tried to run off to find help. Lincoln felt the opposite, but chose not to argue.

The teen shifted his legs a bit, quickly becoming uncomfortable at how the sheets tangled around his limbs. Putting a hand on his forearm, Lincoln frowned upon noting how sticky he felt.

"Great..." He mumbled, throwing the sheets aside and swinging his legs out over the edge of the mattress. "Now I gotta wash all this sweat off..." Lincoln groaned as he pushed himself off the bed. Glancing at his clock, he knew his sisters ought to be dead asleep by now; a perfect time to run some hot water.

Cracking the door open, Lincoln was met with a dark hallway filled with the muffled sounds of his sleeping siblings. Giving a tired yawn, the middle child dragged his feet along the carpet as he idly checked each door. There was barely a sound coming from the littlest Louds' room, not unusual since Lisa and Lily don't snore. In comparison, the twins' room sounded like there was a tractor trailer revving its engine in there; Lincoln bit his cheek upon hearing another fart cut in through the noise. In all honesty, he forgot which one of the twins does that during their sleep; nor did he care to find out.

Upon reaching Lucy and Lynn's room, Lincoln stared at the door out of habit. The first few times he had his nightmares, he bolted into their room to make sure Lynn was ok. Aside from being annoyed at getting woken up so early, Lynn always greeted the sobbing child with open arms; this often meant Lucy would wake up to find the two cuddling each other in their sleep. As cute as it was, the goth lover would have to pry them apart when she felt Lincoln wasn't distressed anymore. However, they soon came to learn Lincoln's nightmares weren't a one time deal, and Lynn always left the door open just a tad so he could bunk with them if he wished. Even now, the door was open ever so slightly from what he could see in the dark hallway.

Lincoln shuffled quietly to the door, using a finger to crack it open a few more inches. From the moonlight shown through the bedroom's window, Lincoln saw his gothic sister resting peacefully under her bedsheets.

"Guess she isn't much of an all-nighter huh?" The young teen bemused to himself.

Looking up, the ceiling remained clear of the bat colony Lucy used to keep, though there were some claw marks that had yet to be painted over. Lincoln frowned a little; while he wasn't much of a fan of Fangs and his family, they were certainly like a second family to Lucy. However, like all siblings, they eventually grow up enough to live on their own; as was the case with all the bats as of summer of last year. Plus, it was starting to become a bit unhealthy keeping them around with all the bat guano accumulating on the ceiling. It even forced Lynn to sleep in the basement for a whole month lest she risk some of that gunk falling on her face.

Speaking of which, Lincoln panned over to the former athlete's bed, only to grow confused upon seeing an empty spread with the sheets hanging off the side of the matress. The teen jolted as a loud noise rang out from behind him, making Lincoln look back as it diminished to a faint whisper. Down the stairs, he could see a vibrant bluish glow painting the walls and the floor; it didn't take a genius to figure out that someone was watching TV. Seeing that the rest of the doors were closed, Lincoln knew only one person could be up at this hour.

"Shit shit shit!" Lynn screamed internally as she repeatedly thumbed the 'down' arrow of the volume button on the remote.

The 15 year old held a breath as she clenched the remote in her hand. Watching an old movie she considered decent, Lynn forgot some of the explosive scenes could be particularly loud. The second one explosion started to echo in the room, the former athlete had fumbled with the remote for a second before frantically turning down the volume, hoping no one was awoken by the noise; especially her parents since their room was directly behind her. Lynn already managed to get away with making something of a commotion while making a bag of popcorn, being that the kitchen was distant enough from the other rooms. After a moment, Lynn finally let herself relax as she dug a hand into the bowl of popped kernel situated in front of her.

"Lynn?" A voice whispered, followed by a creaking of the steps.

Lynn's breathing hitched as she stopped mid-chewing, whipping her head fast enough for her long locks to smack her in the face. Seeing it was just her brother, she dispelled a tense breath through her nose.

"Hey..." She spoke with a mouthful before swallowing, turning her attention back to the TV.

"What are you doing up this late?" Lincoln asked as he went around the back of the couch.

"I could ask you the same thing." The older teen replied, resting her head on one hand as she didn't take her eyes off the tube.

Lincoln sent a half-lidded stare towards his older sister. "Lynn..."

The brunette growled a little. "Alright, fine." She sat up straight. "I was having a nice dream...well, I think it was a memory..." Lynn shook her head. "Anyway, it was around the time I first started getting into sports. It was a child soccer game; you were there, mom and dad were too, and most of our sisters." She scratched her head. "I don't think Lisa and Lily were there since they weren't born yet."

Lincoln squinted his eyes a little to see if he could recall such an event. Unfortunately, given the number of games Lynn had during her career, it was probably buried under a pile of memories where he had been in attendance. He halfheartedly swore to himself at how Lynn had been unable to settle for one type of sport.

"So, I was celebrating with my team on our first ever victory," Lynn's face contorted into a hard glare, "Then she showed up and tried to 'correct me' by saying that I was soaking up all the glory like a sponge and rubbing it in the other team's faces." The girl folded her arms. "Next thing I knew, I was watching myself doing the shuffle while kissing a gold trophy like it meant the world to me."

Lincoln bit his cheek. He didn't want to say it out loud for risk of getting punched, but it kinda sounded a lot like Lynn back in the day.

"She made me look like a total bitch! I argued back and forth with her, saying that's totally not what happened while the scene kept changing in the background like some kind of weird movie, and before I could wreck her face Lucy woke me up." Lynn's glare softened to a low simmer. "She said I was talking in my sleep again, so I just lied there in my bed doing nothing so I could at least try and get some shut eye." She rubbed one of her eyes. "Wasn't working, so I just got up and hoped I could find something boring on TV to help me sleep." Giving a side glance to her brother, "What about you?"

Lynn had something of a knowing look in her eyes. Lincoln didn't get up for much if anything else other than to use the can; a quick look past her brother to the clock on the wall told her that much. Lincoln always got up to use the bathroom around midnight; thankfully, he long moved past being worried about being predictable.

"Oh, um..." Lincoln started, biting his lower lip a little. "I...had to shower?" He gave a sheepish grin.

Lynn shook her head as she directed her full attention to him. "No you didn't. Your butt's been squeaky clean since you took one before bed." She sniffed the air a little. "And, I don't even smell shower water."

Lincoln dropped his faux smile and sank his shoulders, staring depressingly at the couch cushions as Lynn spoke for him. "You had that dream again, didn't you?..." She spoke in a soft voice.

The middle child nodded. "They were there...w-we tried to put up a fight..." A sniffle escaped him as Lincoln felt his eyes getting wetter. "But it was no good...t-they killed you, and I was next..."

"And 2 weeks ago, Link said they took their time breaking all his bones..." Lynn sighed inwardly. As much as she didn't like discussing Lincoln's extreme nightmares, she put a smile on her face in hopes it would stop his incoming waterworks. "Lincoln, we both know I'm not going anywhere. I told you this before, way back when my leg was dead weight, and I'll say it again: I could've taken those assholes if I didn't have to deal with six chumps first. Sure, I got my ass kicked," She placed a hand on his shoulder, "But it was worth keeping you safe." Lynn frowned a little as she recalled the bruises and blood the two bullies caused. "Mostly..."

"Lynn..." Lincoln started, wiping a tear away. "You nearly flatlined on the way to the hospital...you were lying there like you were struggling to breathe, and one of the guys in the ambulance told me there were signs of blood filling one of your lungs..." His fingers curled into fists on his lap as his face started to harden into a glare. "He had to stab you with a needle, or whatever it was, to draw the blood out. I could've lost you forever because I didn't move to do something, anything, to make them stop hurting you." Lynn removed her hand from him once he directed his heated gaze at her. "How can you even sound happy at something like that?!…" The boy nearly yelled, but managed to keep his volume to a harsh whisper.

Lynn's eye twitched, her brows furrowing as she fought the urge to slap him. "I'm sorry, would you prefer that I sit here and mope about what could've happened, like you? I got enough baggage on my plate just dealing with the bitch inside my head, and we both know she's around because of how much of an asshole I was as a sister years back..." Lincoln's glare softened as he started to regret his words. "I don't need to feel even worse at the fact I don't even know what those guys could've done to you when I was out cold. If anything, if I got taken out, I hoped to at least tire them enough so they'd leave." Her nose flared a little as she looked away from Lincoln, developing a slouched posture as she gazed at the floor. "You know the older sibling is supposed to protect the younger ones, right?"

Lincoln pursed his lips, his hardened gaze becoming lost as he gave a heavy sigh. "Yeah..."

"I didn't do my job properly back then by making you feel like you weren't my brother at first, so I wanted to do the right thing by being there to protect you when you really needed it." Lynn looked up at the screen. "If you were the one that needed to get put in the ER, I'd be in jail right now for murdering every last one of them..." Lincoln sent a surprised look at Lynn as she turned to him. "Point is, I didn't care what happened to me so long as you stayed safe. You know Mom, Dad, and our older sisters would do the same to us; and you'd do the same to our younger ones." She smirked a little. "Isn't that why you beat the shit out of Chandler and his posse?"

A faint blush crossed his cheeks as Lincoln rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah...I kinda lost it after hearing Lana scream."

"Kinda? You went ballistic." Lynn pointed out, ruffling his messy hairdo. "You're definitely your sister's protector, more than you know."

Lincoln chuckled a little as he removed Lynn's hand from his head. "Ok ok. Still..." He frowned with a serious look in his eye. "What if we do run into them again? They should've been out by now, and I don't know if those other guys you beat up-"

Lynn put a hand on her brother's mouth to quiet him. "Dude...all of those guys are from Hazeltuckey. Even if Hank and Hawk served their sentence, I doubt we'd run into them; especially since it's been two years. You're thinkin' that prison makes people tough like you see in the movies," The brunette formed a smug grin. "But there's a thing called 'prison bitches' for a reason. I'm willing to bet they didn't feel so tough after being in there for a year. Plus, most of the time, I think the guards are much more scary than the prisoners." She let go of his mouth. "Not only that, I think everyone in town knows about 'em; even if they did try something, the cops would be on them like an eagle on a fish."

Lincoln pursed his lips. "I guess...I haven't seen Chandler since 5th grade." He squinted his eyes in thought. "Actually, I don't even think he was in our school after that summer. My friends think he just moved, so I guess that might be true."

"See?" Lynn shifted her position so her legs were folded beneath her. "Now, you think you'll stop focusing on what could happen and worry about the now?"

Lincoln hummed in thought. "I guess...but they didn't have a problem wrecking our street for treats-" The teen became wide-eyed, his mouth agape as a loud gasp escaped him. "What if they know our address?!" Lincoln shouted, grabbing clumps of his head hair in fear.

Lynn quickly clamped a hand over his mouth. "SHHHHHHH! Geez, you trying to wake up the whole house?!"

"Sorry..." Came the boy's muffled response.

Letting him go and wiping her hand on the seat, "If they were that bent on revenge for scaring them shitless, don't you think they would've paid a visit well before any of this started?"

Lincoln opened his mouth, but Lynn cut him off. "Annnd they would've jumped you near the school?"

The Loud boy clamped his mouth shut, unable to come up with any other rebuttals to her claim.

"Just relax bro." Lynn stated as she sank in her seat, placing her hands behind her head as she looked back at the TV. "Last thing we all need is you worrying yourself to death. And if you keep getting nightmares," She sent a side glance his way with a grin on her face. "Just think of what you and Ronnie Anne can do...alone."

Lincoln's hair stood on end as his cheeks became as red as a tomato. "Buh..." He fidgeted awkwardly. "We aren't ready for...that kind of stuff..." He paused before quietly uttering, "Yet..."

Lynn raised a brow. "Do you guys at least use tongue when you make out?"

Lincoln, rather embarrassingly, shook his head.

The brunette gave a quick chortle. "Weeeeeeeak!" She declared whilst giving a thumbs down.

Lincoln puffed his cheeks as his brows furrowed a bit. "Oh shut up. You don't even have a boyfriend."

Lynn shrugged. "I could if I made the effort. Not that I'm interested in getting one right now."

Now it was Lincoln's turn to hold a grin. "Need a big, strong guy to compliment how short you are?"

Unfortunately, Lynn was quick to turn the tide, as a toothy smirk was etched on her face. "Need a manly girl to match your feminine side? Oh wait, you already do."

Then, Lincoln countered with, "At least I don't pretend I don't have a feminine side." He grinned at her.

Lynn then responded by plucking one of the couch pillows and throwing it at him. "You dork." She laughed, "I'm just not into wearing skinny jeans or tight clothes. At least I didn't moan about not having boobs like Luna did."

"True." The middle child gave a yawn, eyeing the clock on the wall. "Yeesh, it's almost two..."

Lynn raised a brow. "Heading back up?"

"Yeah." Lincoln scratched at his side. "You should too before you end up oversleeping, again."

Lynn rolled her eyes. Truth to be told, she was feeling exhaustion creeping in, just the feeling she was waiting for. She couldn't think if she was dead tired, which meant less arguing inside her head. Lincoln put out a fist, which the brunette returned as the two fist bumped. However, when he got up and walked past, Lynn felt a lingering smell flood her nostrils.

She scrunched up her face a bit before looking at her brother. "Hey." Lynn started, getting Lincoln to gaze at her whilst planting a foot on the steps. "Make sure you hit the showers first Stinkoln."

"Yeah yeah..." Lincoln waved dismissively before continuing his climb.

Lynn grabbed the half-empty bowl of popcorn, giving a shrug to herself as she settled on throwing it away; no one likes reheated popcorn anyways. Picking it up, Lynn stretched a bit as she stood, soon making her way to the kitchen. Once she was directly in front of the door however, the knob started to jiggle a bit. Stopping in her tracks, the brunette eyed the door curiously before seeing the knob slowly turn. Alarms immediately went off in her head; as far as she knew, everyone else in the house (sans Lincoln) was in bed counting sheep.

"Like hell I'm gonna let us get robbed blind..." Lynn growled internally, gripping the bowl tight as she marched up to the door. "Told Dad we needed a new lock on the front door..." Raising it above her head, she forcibly pulled the door open and was about to give the intruder a face full of kernel and glass; until a familiar shriek caught her attention.

"Gah! Chill sis! Chill!" Luna shouted, her arms raised above her head in defense.

"Luna?" Lynn spoke in confusion. Eyeing the musician as she lowered her 'weapon', Lynn immediately caught sight of the rocker's precious axe. Her eyes formed a bored undertone as she tucked the bowl under her arm. "Late gig again?"

"Yeah, yeah." Luna replied, a brief flash of anger appearing on her face. "At least warn a gal next time before you decide to knock some heads."

"You didn't tell any of us that you were going out." Lynn countered.

Both girls heard shuffling in their parents' room, which Luna took her cue to leave. "You didn't see me!" She whispered before making her way up the stairs as quietly as possible.

The door opened to reveal a sleep-deprived Rita, who let out a somewhat irate groan as her tired eyes scanned the living room. She squinted a little from the glow of the TV, before soon settling on her fifth oldest daughter. "Lynn? What are you doing up so late?"

"Umm..." Junior started, debating as to whether she should lie or come clean. Sighing internally, she decided to wing it. "I couldn't sleep, so I thought a movie would help." Not a complete lie, but she left out the reason behind it all.

She didn't need to say it though, as Rita had been through this song and dance before. The best she could say was that Lynn had long moved on from that phase where she needed to physically unleash her stress. They didn't have enough money lying around to keep giving her sand bags. "Sweetie, I know you've been having trouble falling asleep, but don't you think there's a better way to handle this than watching old movies and eating junk food?" The matriarch inquired, placing a hand on her hip.

"Well, I'm not gonna get fat or anything from it. Me and Link still have a weekly schedule to go by."

"Yes, but it's not exactly..." Rita paused, her tired brain trying to find the right word. Unfortunately, nothing came to bear, so she just tossed that train out of her head; especially after seeing Lynn give a yawn while stretching. The mother sighed a little. "Just forget what I said and make sure you go to bed soon."

Lynn gave a curt nod, which satisfied her mother as she returned to her room. The brunette looked down at all the popcorn that littered the floor, being thankful it was too dark for her mom to see it.

The teen scowled a little as she bent down to clean her mess. "You so owe me one, Luna. She was probably out there shagging her girlfriend too..."

A/N: So I originally thought this would be more than a simple sibling talk during the night, but I feel this is enough; especially since I'll have more planned for the next chapter. While Lincoln is experiencing night terrors, it's not to the level of Syn as he just regards them as annoyances; but he still has a right to be concerned. Not exactly sure what I'll do with Chandler though; even the show has barely used him and I don't have much of a reason to. Anyways, next time we'll get a bit more focus on the other siblings, especially Lily and her very talkative nature.