Atonement: Lincoln Clay

Episode 3: Lost children


[Review dude: Thanks man, although I do think I remember Blake mentioning that the white fang had tried some of those peaceful tactics in the past. Lincoln could try but he was usually Laveau's (AKA the Voice) muscle for certain less peaceful matters in helping with the civil rights movement. Not saying no, it's just that turning the other cheek is something Lincoln has a hard time doing. I definitely appreciate the the suggestions though, and I'll see what I can do.]

[Wombag1786: Yeah I know, shame on me. But I can't think of a better person to stand up to at that point in time. Thanks for your support Wombag!]

[Ronmr: I do see the need to have him get back into the game, but for more just reasons than vengeance and greed, you're actually about to find out one of them now. That's not a bad idea actually, having him recruit Junior and Roman. Of course, both of them might need more than subtle persuasion. I'll try to have him walk the line between hero and criminal, and see where it goes. Maybe he'll do some good that way more than makes up for the blood from his past.]


-MISTRAL JUNGLE-ON THE ROAD-

Lincoln and Emerald had been enjoying their road trip together with the car being fast enough to either outrun or run over most threats the jungle would throw at them. It felt good for Lincoln to have some company on his adventure. He didn't know why but when he looked at Emerald, he felt like he made a huge change of some kind. It was just another thing that didn't quite make sense to him though. But he supposed that it didn't really matter, he just had to focus on the here and now until he could set down roots. The nightcrawler's engine screamed as it tore through the jungle's dirt roads just like back in the bayou. Grimm would occasionally try to attack the speeding pickup but Lincoln would manage to evade them or run them over when possible. It was turning out to be pretty fun for the odd pair if they were being honest. Some of the more tenacious Grimm would try to keep up with the high-speed pickup, only to be outrun by the truck's supercharged dust motor. He was lucky to have found a mixtape of songs from his home in the glove compartment Roxy had made for him. Emerald seemed to have a mixed opinion on the music from Lincoln's home but she didn't hate any of it.

The truck pulled up to a crossroad and Lincoln looked closely at the sign. The letters on the on the other direction were worn away while the other was looking slightly more maintained. He remembered what the mechanic had told about him passing through a place called Kuroyuri. Without a second thought on the matter, Lincoln deciding to follow the sign, threw the truck in gear and drove off in the direction of the village. With a mighty howl of raw horsepower, the nightcrawler blasted down the road towards its destination. Lincoln yet again couldn't help but feel like something terrible was close by and whatever it was, this thing was in some way worse than the other day's bandit leader. He decided not to tell Emerald in order to avoid scaring her, like he was protecting her. As they closed in on the town, Lincoln spotted large pillars of smoke rising from the direction he was driving, Kuroyuri. He screeched to a halt at the edge of the village to see the town burning and inside of it was a huge gathering of dark creatures. They all looked so similar to that same monster he'd encountered back a few days ago. The entire place appeared to be in absolute chaos.

At the very sight of this Lincoln's mind briefly flashed back to his experience from the war, the death, the madness, the blood. "What the fuck is going on over there?"

"The Grimm, a lot of them." Emerald replied in a solemn tone.

"You mean those things are the Grimm you mentioned?! I fought one on my way to where I met you." He turned his gaze to Emerald and she also looked at the hellish view before her.

"This is what they do, to everyone they can, everywhere they can. Nobody knows why." After a short moment of thought, the child put on a brave face and nodded to her protector. Some naive part of him deep down knew there was just something he had to do, he couldn't just watch it burn. Lincoln's instincts screamed at him to stay away but he knew he had to do something about this, he couldn't just leave any innocent people to die. Being a criminal is one thing, but being a heartless bastard is another thing entirely, the latter being something Lincoln knew he wasn't.

"Then let's do something about it." With a scowl on his face and fire in his eyes, Lincoln threw the truck in gear and slammed on the gas pedal. The nightcrawler screamed in agreement as they rocketed toward the burning village. Lincoln tore down the main boulevard with all possible haste. The beasts heard the cry of the nightcrawler as it blasted through them. Lincoln plowed over four wolf beasts in a row, splattering black blood on the hood. He turned on the windshield wipers and began raising all kinds of hell.

"C'mon you bastards, come get some!" Lincoln shouted out of the side of his window. His act of sheer bravery was attracting many monsters including one massive beast that towered over the others. This monster had the appearance of a mutated demonic black horse and nightmarish rider. The beast screeched at the roaring car and its determined passengers. Lincoln hit the brakes and revved the engine as if he himself was roaring at the beast to charge him. The tires of the pickup truck screeched on the ground with smoke rising from their place. A song named 'Hold on I'm coming' started playing on the tape deck and Lincoln rocked his head to the beat.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?!" Emerald shouted to Lincoln over the song.

"To be honest, for once I didn't think this through!" Lincoln said as he punched the gas, charged for the monster's legs and caused it to stumble. He threw a grenade out the side of the truck and actually hurt the beast.

"What?!" The minty haired girl gawked at Lincoln's lack of planning ahead.

"Relax, we'll get through this, I've been in way tougher spots before!" Lincoln tried to reassure his tiny partner.

Nearby, two scared children were watching the battle between machine and Grimm from their hiding place, listening to the truck's supped up engine howl at the monster in front of it. They were hearing the reassuring words of the song playing so loudly throughout the entire area. It filled them with a new sense of hope, like help had finally arrived to save them. They looked out from their hiding spot, avoiding the monster's gaze and seeing the bright lights of the truck glaring like fierce eyes at the terrifying beast. The monster launched its arms forward like they were giant tentacles of some kind. Lincoln reacted quickly, threw the truck in gear and stomped on the gas, barely avoiding the massive reach of the demon in front of him. It appeared his time spent stock car racing on the side actually helped out for more than just car chases in New Bordeaux and Sinclair Parish. The beast screeched to the heavens in apparent anger at the difficulty it was having in pinning down the nimble truck.

"I think we're just making it mad!" Emerald shouted to Lincoln.

"What matters is that we're hurting it!" Lincoln replied while keeping a cool head.

"Lincoln Look!" Emerald pointed to the two survivors. Lincoln got a good a view and they were only kids, about as young as his little associate in the passenger seat. One of them wore a green jacket with a pink stripe in his hair, while the other was clearly a little ginger girl in rags.

"I see 'em!" Lincoln said as he tried to maneuver the truck closer to the two children. The beast seemed to be catching on to Lincoln's rescue attempt and swung it arms at the spot where it predicted the truck would stop. Lincoln swerved out of the way and refocused on distracting the monster. "Damn it, this thing isn't stupid!" Lincoln cursed angrily. It seemed at least that his opponent hadn't spotted the children, but it couldn't stay that way forever.

"I've heard that the smarter Grimm are the older ones so that means this one's been around for a while! I don't think we can beat it like this Lincoln! We have to run!" Emerald chimed in with a fearful tone.

"We aren't just gonna leave them here." The former soldier growled in determination. He then had idea, if emerald could use her semblance they might be able to pull it off. Lincoln stomped on the gas again and swerved around the massive creature as it tried in vain to attack the vehicle with it's whip like arms. "Emerald, can you cast an illusion on that thing? Can you cast a smokescreen or make it see copies of them that'll turn its attention away long enough so we can pick them up! Anything would be good right now!" Lincoln barely swerved around another strike from the beast.

"I don't know if I can do that! Helping you with those thugs was one thing, but this is a Grimm, an old and smart one at that!" Emerald shouted incredulously.

"You have to try it, because I don't know what else to do short of hopping out and grabbing a machine gun! I don't even think with the rest of the guns I have that I can go head to head with that thing!" Lincoln told his minty haired partner about the seriousness of the situation. He may be a one-man army, but that thing was out of his league right now.

"That's it! You don't have to, I just have to make it look like you did!" Emerald snapped her fingers as a spark of brilliance struck her.

"Alright, that's what I like to hear! When I give the signal, I want you do it!" Lincoln praised her and told her what to do.

"Got it!" Emerald gave a cute little salute. Lincoln pulled around again, appearing to be giving the beast another face-off. The abomination that stood before them seemed to be biding its time, waiting for the duo in their truck to make another pass. Lincoln revved the engine and the tires spun against the pavement, creating a smoke screen around the car. Then a figure charged away from the car and out of the smoke. The Grimm beast immediately went after the running figure and away from the car. Lincoln let go of the brakes and pulled up next to the two children.

"Get in now, both you!" Lincoln commanded to them. The ginger was in first, followed closely by the boy in the green jacket. Lincoln reached over and slammed the door shut with a loud bang. Over with the beast, it swung its arms at the illusion, causing it to dissipate. The nightmarish creature of darkness turned its attention over to the car and screeched in anger as the vehicle escaped into the jungle. The two children watched their home disappear into the distance as the pickup truck sped further down the road away from the dead village. After a long period of silence from the new arrivals, the boy decided to speak to his and Nora's saviors.

"Thank you for saving us." The boy in the green jacket pleasantly thanked the people who'd saved him and his friend.

"YEAH THANK YOU!" The ginger girl shouted happily at the top of her lungs with some tears in her eyes. She almost tackled the big man in the driver's seat with a bear hug, causing the nightcrawler to swerve a bit.

"Woah, I get that you're happy to be alive, but I'm trying to drive!" The former soldier said as he regained control of the vehicle and struggled to try prying the abnormally strong little girl from his torso.

"Ooops sorry!" She giggled and backed off, with Lincoln nodding in appreciation. "So, are you a huntsman?" She asked curiously, which threw Lincoln off again since he still had so much to learn about this strange new world.

"Yes, I would also like to know as well." The boy joined his friend in their little investigation into the identity of the man at the wheel of the vehicle.

"For your information, I'm Emerald and the big guy driving this rig is my buddy Lincoln Clay!" The minty haired girl stepped up and answered their questions herself.

"Thank you for that ringing endorsement Em. Okay kids listen up, whatever a huntsman is, I'm not one of 'em. I'm… just some guy with no place to go except forward." Lincoln remarked sarcastically and coolly explained his current lack of an occupation or employment of any kind.

"Is he your dad?" The bubbly ginger asked the minty haired girl.

"What? No! Well kind of, but not really." Emerald huffed and puffed up her cheeks.

"How did you meet?" The quiet boy asked inquisitively.

"I tried to steal his wallet and he gave me some food after teaching me how to steal stuff better." The minty haired girl said proudly. The other two children looked at each other and then at the self-admitted little thief.

"To answer your question, she ain't mine, but I did take her in since she had nobody else to turn to. I'm guessing you're both alone now too, aren't you?" Lincoln chuckled at first but his tone changed to a sorrowful one.

"Yes, we are. My friend was alone long before today, and that thing you fought, it killed my parents." The boy in the green jacket replied solemnly as a small tear ran down his cheek.

"I've been there before, you're not alone in losing people. I'd know that better than anyone else you've met." Lincoln replied in an attempt to console the boy, remembering the night Sal and Giorgi betrayed him, Sammy, Ellis, and Danny. The two ruthless mobsters had lit Sammy's bar on fire with molotovs He was lucky father James had saved his life that night by pulling him out of the fire. That was how his whole quest for revenge started in the first place. Now here he was, doing the same thing that father James and Sammy did for him for these innocent children. After a few minutes of silence for the young boy's loss, Lincoln spoke again to help ease the feeling of sadness. "Anyway, I figure now y'all need a place to stay, and someone to look out for you. So, you two can stick with me and Emerald for a while. That's if you want to though, it's all really up to you to decide."

"Yes, thank you so much." The little boy said with tears of joy in his eyes at the kindness of the heroic stranger.

"Your welcome. It's the least I can do for a few kids with no place left to go or stay." Lincoln said with a smile as he adjusted the rearview mirror and listened to some tunes.

"Yay, we're all one big happy family! I'm Nora Valkyrie, and this is my best friend Renny!" The hyper little ginger girl shouted with glee.

"It's Lie Ren, Nora." The boy shook his head with a smile on his face.

'Dear god, what've I gotten myself into?' Lincoln thought to himself as the three children began chattering amongst themselves. Now it was three mouths to feed and a whole mess of new problems for the former soldier from New Bordeaux, his aunt Lily had wanted him to have some kids someday. Although it probably wouldn't be how she expected. Shaking old memories out of his head, he turned up the music and drove off into the night with the three children in tow.

-END CHAPTER-