Loud House: New World Crisis

by Lord-Zer0

AU to 'Not a Loud', 9 years into the future, Lincoln and Lucy try to find their way back home to their family after the world changing events of an advanced scientific terrorist organization 'HD' separates the two Louds. – Rated M for adult content (First fic to be posted, PM for honest critique)

10. Chapter 9

[Disclaimer: I don't own the Loud House or anything really, and that's sad]

Posted 7/4/2020

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-Chapter 9-

Lincoln stares up to the ceiling. He's currently alone, Lucy's out with Kara again, leaving him to think.

It's been about 10 days since first arriving in Smallville.

Lincoln's had an… eventful week. The day after his dinner date with the Kents, the people of Smallville either stare at him or avoid him.

He hears whispers among Slade's men and when he meets their eyes, they turn away.

Everyone seems to treat Lucy alright, but a lot of people look concerned with him. Lincoln was indifferent, nothing bad happened since the other night but some of the business owners had treated him nicer. Some deals, a bit of courtesy and even got a temp job at the local bar.

Curfew had been lifted and people seemed a little more at ease that's when things got a little weird for him. As it turns out, Karen is a regular at Smallville's only bar and now that known drifter 'Lincoln Park' was tending, she aimed to test his knowledge on cocktails and the limits of his patients.

~XxX Flashback XxX~

Word had gotten around that Lincoln was a merc and was asked to be a bouncer at first but when the tender at the time (a 20 year old boy) was asked by, and you guessed it, Karen, to make a Sea Breeze, the kid seemed stunned, like he was asked to perform a coronary artery bypass graft by Lisa.

The kid didn't look like he knew what he was doing and Karen looked so pleased with herself, Lincoln just had to him out.

"Start with a highball glass, ice, 8 parts cranberry juice, 3 parts vodka, 2 parts OJ and serve with a lime, kid." Lincoln called out to him while leaning against a doorframe, in his black shirt and shades… at night.

The kid flashed a grateful smile and got to it.

As soon as Karen is served her drink, she turns to Lincoln and winks.

"Nice save, shades. So what's a good looking bar like you doing in a guy like this?" She giggles at her own joke as Lincoln throws in a pity chuckle.

"Well, word gets around and apparently I've been hired as a bouncer."

"So you decided to look the part or do you normally dress like what you assume tough guys looked like in the 80's."

"Ooh, burn." He pauses as he looks at the kid serving beer on tap. "So uh, the kid's awfully young to be manning the counter like that."

"Says the guy who knows what goes into a Sea Breeze, speak for yourself, kid." Karen comments, narrowing her eyes in fake suspicion.

"I'll have you know, I've worked at this kind of establishment for some time." Lincoln says with a hint of pride.

"I thought you were just a merc."

"I moonlight as a bartender." He sees her give a 'really' look, "What? I can do other things, who says I can't?"

Karen shrugs before she spoke again, "So, not that you asked but we used to have a few of these places in town but after the you-know-what came up, everything went out of business, until we got this system; what doesn't come through the walls we make ourselves, it's too dangerous to go back and forth to other places and trade.

Now we got all the booze set up in one place and all the old owners are dead or something." She finishes as Lincoln spoke up.

"That simple huh?"

"It was pretty bad at first, mead was easy, but it sucked, no one knew what they were doing for like the first year after supplies ran dry."

Lincoln quickly spoke up, "Hey don't sleep on mead, y'know Vikings drank mead. I also used that argument to make drinking honey and fruity meads less of a question on my sexuality and more of a 'how badass am I'." He said with smug confidence.

"Tch, okay 'badass', so anyway, after people got it together and started using science and shit, it started tasting… less crappy but now it's okay."

"Either that or you've gotten used to 'bad' and now it's okay." To that Karen rolled her eyes, "So how would you know the good stuff from bad, weren't you like a teen or something before the walls came up?"

"Or something," She muttered that but Lincoln heard, "I snuck a few nips back when I was a growing up, don't judge, but yeah, I've got a taste for it and it's fun messing with newbies who don't anything."

"I'll give you that-" And as he tied talking, a fight broke out between some of Slade's men, it didn't take much effort to restrain them and after getting them outside, everything went back to normal.

He'd see Karen order a lot of summer drinks, things you'd drink in the day time and other brightly colored drinks, he'd also seen her put away nearly a gallon of beer as she stumbled and drag two guys with her on her way out.

He was about to approach her until the kid manning the bar told him, it was a regular thing with her.

~X~

The next day, the same kid who Karen was teasing wasn't doing so hot and really needed to go. Lincoln didn't know what his problem was but after 10 minutes, no one was manning the bar and people were getting testy.

Lincoln took it upon himself to start serving.

He was impressed, there were clear labels for everything and even prices, he was paid in either cash or credits. It was evident that the town was self-sustaining, they made their own products even with only a little provided from outside the walls.

Lincoln had fun. Mixing drinks, listening to people complain or just ramble and then Karen walked in.

"Well, well, well. What do we have here, from bouncer to bartender? Aren't you moving up the corporate ladder, but for real, you're in charge tonight?"

"Apparently! So what'll it be?" He asked.

"Hmm, how about you surprise me." Lincoln shrugged and started throwing things together.

He presented a tall glass with a brightly colored drink, "I give you, a tequila sunrise." The bottom was bright red and went to a bright orange as it got to the top, filled with ice and garnished with a cherry: a dark, non-maraschino cherry, and a slice of orange on the edge.

Karen's eyes lit up, literally.

"Ooh," She's in awe as she flutters her eyes and looks to Lincoln with a wicked smirk. "It looks pretty good and such a pretty drink would definitely be on the house for a pretty girl, wouldn't you agree." She said pushing her chest out more, accentuating her sizable bust.

"Couldn't agree more, do you know any?" He gets a laugh out of her as she hands over a few bucks.

Lincoln continues to serve drinks, occasionally mixing something else for Karen, who tries to stump him, with no success but she did see a wide assortment of cocktails.

At her request, Lincoln had brought out screwdrivers, martinis, gin and tonic, daiquiri, rum and coke (hold the coke), weirdly enough she asked for a pimm's cup but was confused when it was served in a tall glass.

"I thought it was supposed to come in like, a chalice or something." Karen says not sure what to expect.

"That's a pimp cup." Lincoln says deadpanned as the excitement of bartending had lost its charm.

"Oh, do you think you could…"

"Put your pimm's cup in a pimp cup." He finishes.

"Would you mind?" She rhetorically asks.

"There isn't one here." He flatly states as she looked down, he sighs deeply and looks around, no one's looking.

Under the counter, his hands gain a misty aura, ice starts to form and rapidly grow. It shapes itself into a cup, a chalice.

As he places it on the table, he pours the pimm's cup glass into the ice-carved chalice and slides it over to Karen as she looks at it wide-eyed.

The thing was beautiful with a capital B. It had carved ridges that looked like jewels, the 'glass' part was clear but thick and sturdy, the handle was slim and frosted, the bottom was a deep blue.

"It's almost too beautiful to drink." Karen says in awe of what Lincoln made for her.

"So, are you refusing?" He asks, probably knowing the answer.

"HA! Ain't that beautiful." She then picks up the icy cold glass and guzzles down her drink and as she slams the ice-chalice on the table, maybe testing the durability, she politely asks for another as Lincoln now notices a blush on her face.

'Is she just NOW getting shit-faced?' He says in his head after seeing how much she's put away already.

He goes back to tending the other patrons as he looks back to Karen every so often, he notices she removed her jacket and every so often, very un-discretely tugs at her tank top while smirking at Lincoln, even winking at him and licking her lips.

Some time had passed until a guy showed up, pissed and stopped to see Lincoln, he calmed down real quick and just took a seat at the bar, ordered a few rounds and just kept to himself. Lincoln didn't pay it any mind but then Karen got his attention again.

Her eyes were glossed over, either she was loaded or her powers were lighting up her eyes again, he was betting on the former.

She was leaning on the table, head down when she called over to him, "H-hey, hey funny-man, tell me a joke." She slurred a little but he just shrugged.

'Luan, don't fail me now.' "Alright, I got one. My friends overseas tell me they don't like American beer, can you believe that." Karen just shakes her head 'no'. "So I ask them why, they tell me it's like sex in a canoe," Karen perks up, "I ask them, what do you mean and you know what they tell me?" He ask as she shakes her head 'no', "They said it's fucking close to water."

As he made that punchline, Karen snickered, it turned into a chuckle and that turned into a roaring laughter.

It had her going for a while and left him alone as the guy from earlier made his way to Lincoln. As it turns out, he was the guy that was called to fill in for the kid who left and wouldn't be coming back, ever.

He was impressed with Lincoln, so he just let him keep working, nobody had any problems but was going to have to send Lincoln home, they were closing up early for… reasons, that was all he gave the merc.

Lincoln gave the heads up for Last Call and after getting to everyone else, Karen called him over for one last request.

"Do you know what I'd like Linky?" He flinched at that nick-name.

"N-no, what?" He stutters.

"I… would LOVE… a blowjob, how about you?" She ended with a wink. If he had a drink, he'd spit it out as she giggled, like that playful kind of giggle he heard the girls at school do.

"Uh… that's not-"

"Y'know, the drink *"Oh"* but I like mine extra special." She smirked as she walked him through the instructions. It was red on the bottom from grenadine, dark on top from coffee liqueur.

The last ingredient called for whipped cream but there was none, until she told him about a can under the counter next to the baseball bat.

And found it he did, "You've worked here before haven't you?"

"Guilty." She said so plainly.

"And why would they let you go, you must've been popular?"

"Oh like you wouldn't believe, but I got caught taking one too many freebies and was labeled things like unprofessional and had poor impulse control, eh, no skin off my nose."

"… Well anyway, here you go, a Strawberry Blowjob." As he slid Karen her shot glass but was confused as to why she didn't just down it already.

She sat back and stuffed the shot glass in the gap of her thighs. He paused, 'The fuck?'

"Well, what are you waiting for?"

"The fuck is this?"

"Well Linky, what does it look like, I'm giving you a blowjob." She said holding in her laughter.

"Yeaaah… I don't do… that."

"What, have fun?"

"Drink, I don't drink, anymore." He muttered that last part.

"What, got a drinking problem or something?" She sassed.

"Sort of… can't get drunk." He just blurted.

"Well yeah, it's just one, I need like 20 of these before I feel something, got a bit of tolerance thanks to my, you-know-what."

"I just can't. No matter how much I have," He gives her time to process as her eyes widen, "It's been like that for over a year now."

She listens to this like she just heard all his friends died.

"Wow, I mean… shit, *"yeah"* but then again," She hummed, "What's the harm in having one before bed then, no harm no foul, right?"

He deadpans at her, but she just smirks and doesn't budge, he really needs to go and let the guy clean up so what the hell right.

He sighs as he walks around the counter and gets on his knees, Karen leans back, pushes her hips outward and she's just smirking.

By the skin of his teeth, Lincoln snatches the shot glass from Karen's thighs and downs it lightning fast.

Waiting for him to swallow, Karen lets out a hearty moan, "Mmmhhhhaa," as Lincoln looks back at her like she's crazy.

"Was it as good for you as it was for me?" She flashes him a toothy grin as he rolls his eyes.

"Sure." He says with all the enthusiasm of a stone-mason.

~X~

Lincoln walks away from the bar with Karen holding onto his arm for support, she was stumbling and as he offered to take her home she latched onto him, no hesitation.

"I was wondering, maybe we could just take this back to your place for the night, I can get you an even better BJ, I promise." She slurred, "My secret, there's no drink." She whispered and giggled.

"Aaaand we just found The Line, look Karen, I'm with Lucy, *"Doesn't bother me"* also, you're drunk, *"You're sexy"* true, but that doesn't change the fact that you can't even walk straight." He says with a glare leveled at her.

"Maybe, but don't let that stop you, it never stopped me before, besides, I have been told that I'm even better when I've h-had a few in me before I get a few in me, ha."

Lincoln's glare didn't go away, "Look I'm serious about Lucy, sh-."

"And she can watch, hell, she can get in on it too. I wanna know what you're pack-" She blacks out before she could finish. Lincoln lifted his fingers from her forehead as she slumped over.

"Dammit, dammit, dammit, now I gotta carry this lush back to her place!" He quietly screams to himself as he lifted her over his shoulder and sped to the Kent – Danvers house and called it a night.

~XxX Flashback End XxX~

He told Lucy who looked mixed on the subject, well more like she looked unchanged but Lincoln could feel her shifting inside, was she expecting something to happen, did she want something to happen, did she want in, what? She just wouldn't tell him what was on her mind.

The next time the two saw Karen, she acted nonchalant about the whole thing, completely unapologetic and even openly flirted with both Lincoln and Lucy.

When they told Kara about it, she seemed a little bitter, maybe a sore subject and as it turns out, Karen is just like that, she mostly keeps it under control but every now and again she just drinks herself under the table and wakes up with someone new in bed, sometimes two or more at a time, guys and girls alike, even some of Kara's former classmates.

Moving on, the day after was the job for Slade.

The morning after he returned Karen to her home, Lincoln hoped the fence and at top speed, ran all the way back to the place he hid his bike, the Loud Hog#7. Not too worse for wear.

It was a custom build in the style of a v-rod. The base was black, the trim was amethyst and some orange highlights. Lincoln and Lucy went through phases in between bikes, different styles, experimenting with color schemes, Lucy really loved the midnight-blue chopper, like really loved it.

Loud Hog#7 is unlike 1-6, they've been totaled, wrecked, stolen and outright destroyed. #7 has stayed around the longest by 11 months, so many monsters have gone after their bike, Lincoln thinks they're cursed, never to enjoy a good ride without an incident.

~XxX Flashback XxX~

Lincoln carried his baby into town within the next hour. The first person to notice him was Conner, Lincoln winked and just walked past him.

He saw Lucy and Kara just hanging out and as Lucy turned, Lincoln swore she cracked the biggest smile in… ever. That made his day by far.

Kara was mesmerized, she really hadn't seen a motorcycle at least not one so close and a new best-friend who'd maybe let her ride it, possibly.

He met Karen on the way, a bit of back and forth with her whispering, "Maybe you can give me a ride sometime, big boy." She left with a wink as Lincoln kept going without looking back.

As soon as he got to the sheriff's department, he left the bike with the quartermaster, when Lincoln came back, he'd have the tools and parts as requested.

He also spotted 'the kid', he was being escorted by two of Slade's men, 'Hmm, looks like someone's in trouble, maybe playing ball by the streets again.' He thought as he moved on.

-XxX-

Lincoln was lined up with three other guys, each dressed in identical uniforms. One he recognized, Francis, now that he got a good look at him, Francis had dark brown hair, fair skin tone and grey eyes, nothing remarkable to Lincoln.

Another was a tall bastard, bald, light-skinned and on the heavy side. The last guy was kind of short and skinny, had a helmet and everything.

Each one armed to the teeth, while Lincoln just had the clothes on his back.

Slade started, "Alright, as you four know, this is a simple search and destroy. Too many B.O.W's close by and scouts report them being hostile. We have reason to believe someone's herding them together.

As you can see, Mr. Park will be joining us, some of us can vouch that he will not hesitate to act in our best interest and I have verified him to be an asset.

Your destination has been explained earlier and you know your objective, questions." Slade ended.

Francis stepped forward because of course, why not. He looked to Lincoln and the latter saw bruises over his face that he knows he's not given him.

"I know… he's coming with us but just us five?"

Slade responds, "I believe he's all we'll need, you got extra ammo, food, gear, what else do you need?"

"How about him taking this seriously, look at him, I'm carrying guns, 3 you can see, he's got nothing, just rolled in empty handed."

Lincoln spoke up, "Didn't need any last night, Frankie." He quipped as Slade smirked.

"He's got you there, Frankie." Francis gritted his teeth.

"Last night was a practice ambush, with the bare minimum, I'm decked out with my best gear for what we're after, what's he gonna do when too many are on him?"

The question was asked to Slade but was aimed at Lincoln and thus he responded, "I'll just grab whatever you got, worked just fine for me when there were more of you."

"And how'll you get it?"

"I'll just take it from you, wouldn't be hard." He states bluntly.

Francis looked to Slade as he nods and Francis gains a look of vindication.

Francis pulls a standard chrome 1911 on Lincoln, "What are you gonna do about tha-"

He didn't get to finish, Lincoln swiped it, ejected the clip, popped the one in the chamber and struck the butt of his gun at Francis' throat, making him fall over, coughing and hacking.

"Oh that's real nice, I almost felt your neck cave in. What else you got?" Lincoln said as he went over to Francis and started pulling gun after gun from his holsters.

"Ooh, a magnum, that's a big boy's gun, why do you have it?" He reaches over and pulls off the rest, a tiny one from the back pocket, two full automatics from his thigh holsters, "I bet you're the douchebag that has an ankle strap," He checked both pant legs and wouldn't you know it, there was one, "Yep, there we are. So when you're done messing around, let's get this over with."

Lincoln looked to the other two just staring in worry, "You two wanna try your luck?" He asked as they shake their heads 'no', "Good." He turns to Slade, "Satisfied?"

Slade only nods, "You could've picked up a few things when offered, why turn them down?"

Lincoln shrugs, "I'm going in with what I need, everyone else brought extras, I'll make do."

"Like the attitude, but let's keep it practical, want to make sure you come out alive."

"And rob you the chance to see what else I'm hiding. Pretty sure, word about me got around, maybe you're hoping you'll see something more?" Lincoln asks as Slade raised an eyebrow, "I'll have you know, I'm efficient and quick about my business, there won't be much to find out."

"Well, so long as it gets done. I brought enough spares for everyone. Now, on your feet Frankie, we're moving out!"

-XxX-

Slade, Francis, their two extra's and Lincoln ride in an armored vehicle.

Outside the window, there were corpses. Remains from presumably what the five were after.

Francis got his guns back. The big, quiet guy was just minding his own business, skinny was driving and Slade was talking to Lincoln.

"So, my scouts told me we're after groups of animals but they all seem off."

Lincoln questions, "How off?"

"Some look like our typical B.O.W's, bigger, weirder and they got some kind of growth attached to them." Lincoln leaned in for more details, "No sure what he meant, the moment his team got close, they got hostile, but when they picked them apart from a distance, they didn't seem to care."

"You said it was extermination?"

"Yeah, they're getting too close to other towns and their hostile, what's weirder isn't the number but the make-up." Lincoln looked confused, "It's not just one kind of thing, there's lots of different things. Local wild life and exotic animals, I suspect from abandoned zoo's, my men reported a gorilla and a few tigers in their ranks."

Lincoln nods before skinny speaks up.

"Alright, we're here!"

Lincoln and the rest stepped out of the armored vehicle, Lincoln had a radio and a sniper rifle.

~X~

It was easy. After a 2 hour ride, they left the vehicle and a 10 minute trek later, the boys found what they were looking for.

They found a nest? A heard? A big fucking group of animals at the bottom of a small valley.

Lots of them looked way bigger than typical animals you could've found in the wild or zoo. They must've been radiated, maybe even mutants or to Slade and his men, B.O.W's.

There were stags, bears, deer, rabbits, foxes, moose etc. Most of them were bigger than their 'normal' looking counterparts, some had patches of fur missing and torn skin exposing the muscles underneath.

Come to think of it, there weren't many animals in Smallville that weren't birds or squirrels. Did nobody have a pet? Where were the cats and… dogs?

Lincoln spied a big white wolf, staring out and walking around.

The other four needed binoculars, Lincoln had no such thing but he spoke up first.

"You see the things around their necks?" Lincoln pointed out, the rest looked on.

Around the necks of each of the creatures were some kind of collar, if they could be called that. It was fleshy, seemed to be oozing and had two long… eyes(?) protruding from the backside, looking all over the place. To be honest they looked like snail eyes.

Another look into the actual creature's eyes shown they were all blank and unresponsive.

Francis spoke up, "So whoever's moving them, slapped collars on them, maybe a mutant, Lieutenant?"

"Maybe but we have a job to do. Put them down and we'll flush out the one controlling them."

This startled Lincoln but then again, until or unless he could find the one responsible, they needed to be put down so no one else gets hurt.

~X~

They were split into teams of two. Slade, his two unnamed extra's and Lincoln and Francis. Both teams on opposite sides of the nest, they were using rifles to get the bigger ones and when they were hiding, the five would purse at a closer distance.

Lincoln must've hit a dozen or so, all headshots, they went down. Francis hit a good chunk but then they started hiding.

Lincoln and Francis heard their radios go.

[Alright, it's go time!] They heard Slade's voice.

~X~

Lincoln and Francis met the rest of the squad and shot just about every one of the creatures they found.

The four military personnel used their guns, Lincoln formed ice spike in his hands and shot them out, aiming for the head.

They were sure that they had only gotten about a third but something was up.

Where were the more exotic ones that Slade had been warned about an-

There was a rumbling underground. Lincoln closed his eyes and they snapped open in a panic.

"Move NOW!" He yelled but the ground burst and out flew dozens of… rats, moles and sub-terrain animals. Each gigantic in stature and each looked deadly "Dammit!" Lincoln seethed as he pointed a hand at the split earth and out flew ice that covered most of the open entrance.

The ice grew and crept until it covered the openings, keeping more from coming through.

Francis raised a gun in Lincoln's direction and fired off a round *BANG*

The bullet missed Lincoln's head and made its way into the chest of a bear that Lincoln was sure had been dead.

The bear stumbled back and roared, just as the other downed B.O.W's had all risen, each with open headshots but still going on.

Lincoln in a moment of comic book logic had shot at the 'collar'. Nothing, nothing happened, the 'collar' had been pierced and broken, only for it to regrow like nothing happened.

The other four kept unloading hot lead onto the 'downed' but walking creatures.

Lincoln knew it was not ideal and saw that Slade was thinking the same.

"Fall back, regroup!" Slade called out.

Lincoln took it upon himself to act as the distraction, freezing limbs in ice after finding he couldn't shut them down with his magic touch.

Lincoln led the creatures away and lost them but quickly found the big white wolf stalking him. Lincoln noticed but it didn't matter, so long as it didn't draw the others, Lincoln needed to act fast.

He could've just obliterated the damned thing but something in him just wouldn't have it. He stopped in his tracks as he waited.

A moment went by before the wolf pounced at Lincoln and with a skillful dodge, the beast missed Lincoln.

Getting a closer look, Lincoln was astounded by the physique of the wolf. Pristine white fur, even if some of the skin was torn and muscles exposed, it was downright beautiful. The only thing that was out of place was the steel blue eye that looked lifeless.

Everything about the wolf seemed animated but what really got Lincoln's attention was that weird collar and that's what he went for.

Lincoln's arms gained a metallic coating and let the wolf get a hold of his arm with its teeth.

The creature chomped down but could break the skin. Lincoln took the opportunity to rip the collar off the wolf. The creature reeled back, thrashing but eventually the collar regrew and had hold of the wolf again.

"Damn it, really thought that'd work." Lincoln said as the beast was over him again.

Lincoln was getting fed up and froze the wolf's legs to the ground and ceased its movements. Just to see if it would work, Lincoln pressed his fingers to the wolf's head but nothing happened.

Lincoln sighed and saw the fleshy collar twitch as the 'eyes' looked at him, the thing was really unnerving but he got an idea.

Lincoln grabbed the collar but didn't rip it off, he froze it and as ice formed over it, he could hear some kind of screeching coming from the collar. He saw the wolf go limp and took the opportunity to pull the thing off.

What Lincoln didn't expect was to pull out a long slimy plant thing from the wolf's body as blood poured from the now open wounds.

The weird plant was red and it pulsated before going limp and withering away.

Lincoln unfroze the wolf's legs as he tried to check its- his (he saw what was there) vitals as best as he could but then he found a pulse and the body twitched.

The wolf sprang up and jumped away from Lincoln. Lincoln wasn't the empath, he couldn't calm it down but saw the confusion and panic of its now lit eyes.

Lincoln held up his hands and carefully approached the creature. The wolf hadn't lost its stature or physique, it really was a B.O.W from the start.

The wolf looked at Lincoln a short time as it calmed down while gazing into Lincoln's powerful, glowing, golden-amber eyes, eyes that held authority.

The two hadn't 'said' anything as they each turned and walked off.

It's not as if they could talk to each other, but Lincoln saw resolve, the wolf was free and Lincoln knew what needed to be done.

Unfortunately he hadn't seen some… thing far away from the two, too far for Lincoln to 'feel' or sense but it was watching Lincoln.

-XxX-

Lincoln had regrouped with Slade and his men but soon found himself in an argument with Francis.

"If you could have killed it, why didn't you?" Francis demanded.

"I didn't need to! They're being controlled and he didn't attack, I think that's a good reason why!" Lincoln shouted back.

Slade spoke up, "Enough, both of you."

"I thought he wouldn't hesitate, Slade. What good is he when he can't even pull the trigger?"

Francis walked off to their camp.

Lincoln stood back with Slade, they shared a look and Slade nodded in understanding or so Lincoln hoped.

Lincoln was in deep thought, he knows if he had to, he'd kill without a second thought, that's just how it went.

He's had years to think it over, question himself and judge his past actions.

He came to the conclusion that the past is the past and if he was going to distance himself from it, he had to make better choices and be better than he was.

When Lincoln came back from the dead, he didn't change his ways right then and there.

There was a transitional period, he had time to think clearly on the decisions he made that brought him to that moment.

He always told himself in the moment of the kill, that he was doing for his and Lucy's survival but if he was going to continue that line of thought (for Lucy), he really needed to think about how Lucy saw him and act in the way that would deem him fit to be her brother or at this point her lover.

Youth and naiveté can only excuse so much in the beginning, but as a grown ass man, Lincoln knows he made his own choices and has to own up to them by taking responsibility for his actions.

If you want to be a better person, you have to make better choices.

With that, Lincoln HAD no regrets in letting the wolf go.

-XxX-

Lincoln had volunteered for first watch but as he would learn, Slade would never let anyone do anything he wouldn't do first.

After was Francis, no trust between them. Currently was the big quiet guy, he still never heard a name for him.

Lincoln had not fallen asleep at any point. He didn't need much of it and sometimes it was hard just to fall asleep, especially when he has plenty of energy.

*Shuck* *Thud*

Lincoln sprang up.

*Shuck* *Thud* *Shuck* *Thud*

He heard it two more times. It was dark, not pitch dark but dark enough for a decent ambush, on anyone but Lincoln.

Lincoln saw Francis stir awake and he saw something shoot towards Francis.

In that moment Lincoln jumped over Francis and took the hit for him.

Something struck Lincoln's back as it pinched and dug into his skin. Something had crawled into him, it was painful but through that pain he got up and dragged the now conscious Francis away for cover behind the armored vehicle.

Lincoln heard Francis breathing hard but he also heard something on his back screech in pain. He pulled at the thing on his back and felt it tug on his spine as he slowly pulled it out of him.

The wound closed and he saw the plant wither and shriveled until it was just scraps.

Francis didn't know what to make of it.

"Fucking parasites." Lincoln muttered, he hates these kinds of things.

The two look around the vehicle to see their three downed men get back up but they look unresponsive as those fleshy collars constrict their necks.

Lincoln was about to make his way to them, knowing how to deal with this when he felt a large group approach.

He was alerted to a loud thumping and looked over to see a giant gorilla an on its shoulder was a humanoid figure. It was draped in vines and had an eye on the center of its face.

Out stretched limbs made of vegetation pointed to the three men as they stood at attention.

Lincoln suggested a retreat until day time and Francis was about to argue but then Lincoln shushed him and a noise grabbed their attention.

A large group of controlled creatures had approached from behind. They were surrounded, Lincoln could probably get out easy but making it with Francis would not be easy.

With his 'usual', partner away, Lincoln had to consider the safety of his non-mutant companion.

Lincoln saw Francis pull out his pistol and aim it straight at the nearest creature.

"Wait, don't." Lincoln told him.

"What, we need to take care of this now."

"You're only wasting ammo, they won't go down, they're just husks for those parasites and I think their boss is here now."

"Whatever, we still need to get aw-" He's cutoff to a noise.

*BAM*

The armored vehicle was punched away by the gorilla. The big ape knelt as the plant monster, thing dropped down.

*Khhyssh* It was inaudible but Lincoln got the feeling it wasn't friendly as it saw it real its head back and… for lack of a better word, spit out a dart of some kind at Lincoln, only for him to dodge.

Lincoln could anticipate it, no problem.

The plant monster understood it could not hit its target and hissed. The prone creatures stood and advanced on the two as the plant-monster continued spitting darts at Lincoln.

With no choice the two started shooting back.

Lincoln aimed for the monster with a flurry of condensed balls of fire, firebolts, to kill the thing quickly.

'If Pokémon taught me anything, this should be super effective!' The plant thing was hit by the bolts of fireballs and wailed in agony, the controlled creatures writhed in pain along.

This gave the two the chance to escape. As they fled, they were being pursued by the pack, plant darts still being launched by the monster. One made its way to Francis as Lincoln caught it and within his hands it ignited as Lincoln chucked it back, missing but he didn't care.

In an open clearing, they felt safe, until Lincoln felt a mass rush to them. The gorilla had flown overhead crashing near the two, it raised its arms and brought them down at Francis in an attempt to crush him but Lincoln caught the arms.

At that moment he felt one, two, three darts enter his back. The pain was deep but like earlier, they screeched out in pain before dying.

The controlled gorilla relented and let Lincoln fall to his knees to pull the things out his back but felt himself being pulled and thrown by Francis.

He saw it in slow motion, Francis was struck by the gorilla.

Francis took the hit for him and was smashed into a tree, a loud crunch was heard.

Lincoln quickly pulled the plant darts from his back and blasted the gorilla's legs with ice, pinning it to the ground but it was smashing away at the ice.

Lincoln made it to Francis, he was conscious and in agonizing pain.

"Just Leave… help the Lieutenant… FINISH THE JOB!" Francis shouted.

Lincoln had a choice to make and his options were shrinking by the moment, the rest were closing in, if he took Francis and moved at full speed, they could make it out but Francis might not be able to handle the force of his movement and they may lose the rest of their group.

He could always just leave him and the others but that wasn't the right thing to do and if he were to make his stand here, he'd have to kill everything else, regardless if they were being controlled.

He had to make a choice and each one had their own cost to it.

The silverette relented, in one hand, there was a glow as light condensed and grew into a long and narrow shaft, the edges sharpened and the thing glowed white with a faint glittering yellow.

He was holding a long, thin sword made of light, he was ready for action.

Lincoln was ready to choo-

*BAWOOO* There was this force, a sound that blew away a large chunk of the pack and even kicked up the dirt around Lincoln and Francis.

From the shadows came the big white wolf. It stood guard in front of Lincoln and the downed Francis.

Lincoln and the wolf looked at one another as the man nodded and the animal looked forward to their adversaries.

Lincoln, dispelled his energy-sword and made two clones, burning through a lot of stamina, he felt a little winded and wanted to take a breather but no, he needed to end this quick.

The wolf, Lincoln and clone 1 were lined up ready to fight.

Clone 2 was tending to Francis, removing his top clothing to show a large bruise, felt his chest and 'knew' two ribs were broken and one punctured something.

"He's hurt bad, he needs help now!" Clone 2 shouted as Lincoln and clone 1 nodded.

Soon the pack came back in full.

Lincoln saw the wolf's snout split apart into four sections to reveal its throat muscles, it was gross but fascinating all the same to Lincoln.

The first wave ran forward as the wolf unleashed a devastating sonic howl.

*BAWOOO* The first wave was blown away just as the two Lincolns shot forward and restrained every creature, encasing them in ice or having the ground swallow limbs, holding them in place.

The process repeated for the second wave but the third wave consisted of Tigers and the gorilla.

Clone 1 shot bolts of electricity at the tigers while Lincoln coated his arms in armor and had a go at the ape.

Used to taking on bigger opponents, Lincoln made use of his smaller, quicker frame, weaving and dodging swipes and struck back putting the enlarged ape on its knees, then freezing it in place.

Lincoln, ready to go after the plant thing ducked under a bullet. It was shot by Slade, who was under the monsters control.

"Dammit!" Now he has to worry about this, "Alright take them down, soft." He told his clone who nodded.

Lincoln drew their attention as his clone approached from behind, he was ready to strike when he was hit by a flurry of darts, as he looked back to the monster who aimed behind itself, *BANG* one gunshot to the chest had him blur from existence.

"Fuck, I'm not getting that back." He was a little winded from splitting himself three ways, he did not want to lose them so soon.

As the three turned their attention to Lincoln, he was getting ready to dodge but then *BAWOOO* another howl from the wolf blew the three back and Lincoln could see the plant thing stumble back.

This was his chance, crouching slightly, Lincoln took off at top speed, maybe even faster than before. In the blink of an eye, Lincoln's hand had the monster's head in a vice and as it tried to squirm out of his grip it was lit on fire.

*GYYAAAAH* It screeched as it was immolated, Lincoln refused to let go, letting his arm glow red as the thing fried. Finally when it stopped moving, Lincoln let go and returned to his other clone, tending to Francis.

Clone 2 explained the situation to Lincoln and then they began. Getting a first-aid kit from the vehicle, Lincoln made a scalpel from ice, it was sharp and precise, like he's done this before.

With practiced skill, Lincoln and his clone made the tools and cuts necessary to operate on Francis. They pulled and reset the broken ribs, Lincoln formed a ball of water in his hands and pressed it into Francis' punctured lung and as he pulled the ball of water back out, he pulled out the excess blood that filled the lungs.

Lincoln then created a thin, hollow tube of ice and inserted it into the lung, then froze over the incision not suturing it, Francis needed real help at town and Lincoln would help keep him alive and out of danger until then.

Just as Lincoln finished up on Francis, his eyes snapped wide open as a figure jumped out to him.

The charred, not dead remains of the plant creature lunged at Lincoln but- *BAWOOO* the sonic howl of the wolf blew the thing into pieces, pieces that Lincoln set on fire and made sure it was burned into nothing.

Afterwards, he heard a symphony of screeching and looked to the controlled animals/creatures/B.O.W's

-XxX-

After pulling the last of the parasitic plants from each creature and person, the two of Slade's men looked to him asking what to do next. Lincoln was worried he'd tell them their job wasn't done yet.

"It seems we're done here, boys. Lincoln's taken care of the pests and with that… thing gone, we'll have to call in some assistance about these strays, luckily, they don't seem hostile." Slade says as the majority of the creatures just wander off in peace.

Slade continues, "I'll radio the next base over and tell them to be on the lookout, what they do is their choice, agreed?" He asks as everyone nods, Lincoln figured the animals may or may not be safe but at least it was something.

Unfortunately, most of the creatures, the men put down earlier were dead, just empty vessels for the plant thing's parasites to inhabit, that still didn't sit right with Lincoln, they were all victims but he helped kill them in the first place.

"Let's get Francis back to base, they'll look after him. You saved his life Mr. Park, you have my thanks." Slade finished as Lincoln nods to him.

They packed up, carrying Francis back to the vehicle and as Lincoln was about to enter, he looked back and saw the wolf with a good number of the other animals with him.

"I suppose you're going to look after them now?" Lincoln asks, knowing he can't get an answer but even still, he feels like the wolf knows.

Lincoln peers into the steel blue eyes of his… friend (?) who came back to help, maybe to repay a debt or maybe something more.

"Thank you." Lincoln nods solemnly as the wolf seems to bow and walk off.

Lincoln smiled and called it a day.

While in the Vehicle, the big guy tends to Francis as Slade drives, skinny was preparing meds, to keep Francis under. Lincoln informed them the ice tube he made won't melt for some time, especially more so now that he was close. One thing was on Lincoln's mind, 'This wasn't unusual, he didn't need me for this. What's your angle, Slade?' Lincoln thinks as he sits, waiting to come back to Lucy.

~XxX Flashback End XxX~

After that, Lincoln had gotten a bit of a reputation among the soldiers, especially Slade's men. Lincoln had been informed, he's fought with them and save their own, that makes him one of them. That made him smile.

After a trip to the visiting room of a vastly understaffed hospital, Lincoln visited Francis, he'd be out of commission for a while but he actually got a Thank You out of it.

Then he started taking grunt assignments with some of the special-forces, like the other day when he went to an observatory with Beth. Things got a little weird between them.

~XxX Flashback XxX~

Lincoln was on the outskirts of Smallville with Beth, on top of a tall building when she leans over to him, "Hey!"

"Yeah?"

"You ever wonder why we're here?"

Lincoln responds, "It's one of life's great mysteries isn't it? Why are we here? I mean, are we the product of some cosmic coincidence, or is there really a God watching everything? You know, with a plan for us and stuff. I don't know but it keeps me up at night." He ends as Beth stares at him in silence.

"I meant, why are we up here, sweatin' under the sun, when we could be down there in the shade."

Lincoln's eye open when he realized what he actually said, "Oh, uh yeah."

Beth looks at him, "What's was all that stuff about God?"

"Nothing, forget it." He shuts her down and the two just stood in silence, until.

"You wanna talk about it?"

"Not really."

They left it at that. There was an awkward silence between the two for a long time until his shift was over. Ever since then, whenever the two met, they'd look away before engaging in casual conversation, trying to pretend nothing happened.

For Beth, it wasn't so much about what was said but rather Lincoln opening up out of nowhere and presumably had his feelings disregarded and when she tried to show interest, he pulled away.

For Lincoln, he sort of slipped up with the whole 'self-looking inward' thing and failed at playing it off, now he thinks she thinks he was trying to be profound and just came off as weird.

~XxX Flashback End XxX~

Nothing like the 'extermination' job came back but it wasn't a bad thing. In between his bartending gig and random jobs from Slade, Lincoln really didn't have much to do in town.

He'd taken to do his physical routine past the gate and get his workout in but it still wasn't enough. He fixed up his baby but that didn't take up too much time.

Lincoln had taken Lucy out at night for a few dates, see the sights and find out what people get up to after hours. On one of them, she pushed an idea to Lincoln that is rather tempting but they agreed to leave it on hold for a while.

One day, Lincoln decided to take up the librarian's offer but after the first day he and Lucy were just done with it. Everyone was out of their age group, all the boys kept staring at Lucy, the girls were nervous around Lincoln and Conner's class was hosting him for the day.

Even though Lincoln hadn't gone back, Lucy did meet up with some of the other girls along with Kara, after class.

Lincoln had gotten bored again, until Karen came by the bar one night.

~XxX Flashback XxX~

While tending the bar, Karen slammed open the door. She was in a foul mood, she didn't even order any of the colorful or fruity drinks and instead she just had what was on tap.

After her fifth glass, Lincoln finally asked, "So, what's eating you tonight?"

Karen perked up, "Obviously not you." She chuckled and lightened up, "It's Conner *"Uh huh"* ugh he's getting on my last fucking nerve, y'know he really tried picking a fight with Kara over nothing *"Uh huh"* FUCK!

He had a bad day at school or whatever and all she did was ask, 'how was your day' he flies off the handle. Ugh he's just such an asshole *"Uh huh"* *Sigh* you get me right, Linky *"Uh huh"* that's why I came to you."

"Oh really, and here I thought you just spent all your nights here, I guess I am pretty great." He said with all the sarcasm he could muster.

"You're damn right, Linky. Now then, you're still a merc, right?"

"Last time I checked, yeah." He gave a dry response.

"Then I got a job for you."

"I'm not a hitman, you gotta deal with your cousin a different way." He smirked at her.

Karen laughs, "No, no… well, I mean, you are gonna hit some people." Lincoln looks at her surprised, "Don't worry, you big baby. You're just gonna fight a few people… and Conner may or may not be at the end of that line."

Lincoln looks at Karen incredulously, "I'm sorry, what is this, bodyguard work?"

"Nope! I'm entering you in the ring." She ends with a grin but Lincoln just deadpans.

"Yeah, I'm gonna need you to explain, like now!"

-XxX-

Lincoln was given the rundown. After hours, downstairs at the bar is an underground fight club. Light betting, stress release for everyone looking for a little more action in their life ect, whatever the reason.

Recently, Conner been getting mixed into it, he's already been a bit of a jackass to everyone and now he's been lording this over people he's fought.

Some of the special ops, Slade brought in get into it.

Conner's getting a bit too big for his boots and is in need of a lesson that Karen and Clark won't give him on principal, mostly they don't want Ma and Pa on their case, that and Clark is too nice to just hit Conner.

Lincoln's job is simple. Beat everyone and humble/humiliate Conner, let him know he's not the biggest fish in the pond.

To some extent, Lincoln saw nothing wrong with it, he didn't really like the kid even if he didn't wish any harm on Conner, disrespecting Lincoln is one thing, he's learned to ignore assholes wanting to give him a hard time.

Disrespecting his family out of some false bravado gained from excess testosterone was all Lincoln needed to take the job. That and beating up teenagers was just gravy, payment would be discussed later.

Right now, he was with Lucy, entering the backdoor to the bar.

Lucy knew what was up, "Are you really going to another fight club?"

Lincoln looked shocked, "How did you know what was h- no, dumb question, how long have you known what was here?"

"Since the first night we spent here." Her answer was blunt.

"And you didn't say anything. Why?"

"I'd rather you didn't enter another one of these, we have more than enough money, you're only feeding that fire inside of you. The ones that compel you to fight without restraint, I'd hate for anyone to hold it against you for the duration of our stay here."

"You can relax, I'm here on a job *"From Karen"* How did you know that part?" He questioned.

"Kara told me her sister got a dead ringer to tear apart the… sigh, king of the ring."

"It's a one-time thing, Luce. Gonna learn him some manners, get paid and stay away from the pits, easy as pie."

"And what is the pay exactly?" Lucy asked as Lincoln paused.

"Right, I guess we glossed over that, I may have been distracted with the promise of beating up a teenager with no repercussions from his family." Lincoln laughs to himself while Lucy stares at him.

"… sigh, Lincoln you know what we talked about, right?"

"Yes." He responded, "And it's not gonna come to THAT, *"But if it did"* it's not and not with her."

"I think, I'd be okay with it."

"But not me. Why would I go out for burgers when I have steak at home?" Lincoln finishes and could have sworn he heard a laugh but when he looked at Lucy, her face was neutral.

As they approach the stairs leading to a hall full of yelling.

Under the bar is an even bigger space, with its own bar, a crowd blocked off by a fence that leads to a big cage holding two fighters.

Currently, the overweight butcher and one of the teachers from school the two visited before were going at it.

Among the crowd, the two saw Clark, Karen and Kara. Only Karen seemed to be cheering them on.

The two approached the Kent – Danvers trio, wondering where Conner was and then Kara spoke up.

"Lucy, Lincoln! What are you guys doing here?" Her sister answered for them.

"Lincoln's here on a job and he brought Lucy to cheer him on." To this, Kara's jaw dropped just now realizing who Karen signed up.

Lincoln spoke, "Lucy's here to keep an eye on ME, doesn't want her favorite person coming home bloodied and bruised." He joked.

"You wish you were the favorite." She spoke in a dry tone.

Clark spoke out loud to Karen, "You brought HIM. Are you crazy- don't answer that, what made you think THIS was a good idea?"

"Well the booze may have played a part." She joked as they all heard Clark sigh deeply, "Besides, you were the one who said, 'someone has to beat him on his own turf', I'm just following your lead."

Clark was pinching the space between his eyebrows as Karen spoke to Lincoln, "Now, Mr. future-champion, I already signed you up, hope you don't mind but you got like two other guys before you get the 'champ', it was light tonight and I got good money on you."

As she finished, Lincoln could see the bar owner holding money and pocketing it, clearly, he was the bookie for tonight.

Lincoln and Lucy exchanged looks as she nods.

Clark walks up to Lincoln, "Just leave him in one piece, please." Lincoln nodded and turned back to Lucy.

Lincoln removes his shirt and hands it to her. He walks to the bookie, missing the older Danvers girl checking him out and the deep crimson blush on Kara's face.

~X~

The first two fights weren't worth mentioning, a couple of kids, older than Conner, each with powers.

One coated himself with fire and the other was a bit of a speedster.

Lincoln let the first tire himself out and took him down with a karate chop to the face, winning the crowd over.

He let the speedster get a few hits in and found them to be pretty weak not to mention he was predictable. The kid was fairly slow compared to the speeders Lincoln's met before. The kid tried to go in for a 'back of the head punch' but found himself on the ground when Lincoln back-fisted him.

The fights are usually divided between humans and mutants. For the sake of fairness and safety, no mixing, with only a few exceptions.

There were rules, nothing Lincoln was unfamiliar with, only two he needed to keep in mind, No Killing and when it's over, IT'S OVER! You stop.

~X~

Lincoln stood in the ring facing Conner.

Both were shirtless. Everyone could see the difference between the two.

Conner may have been toned but he had nothing on Lincoln, who stood nearly a head and shoulders above the boy.

The Kent boy was just seething, 'Of course they would go running to him. They really wanna push me, fine, I'll tear this asshole down a few pegs in front of everyone, show them what real power is.' He amps himself.

Lincoln was calm and disinterested on the outside but he was ginning on the inside, he was thinking of ways to push Conner's buttons.

"Oh, what's this? Better hold on to your wallets folks, there's a conman coming through." He earned a few chuckles as he saw Conner visibly tense up. "~Connie, conman, con-artist~, good to see you, say aren't you a little on the young side to be doing this, I mean, not my place to judge but kids like you should be in bed right about now."

With that, the crowd started throwing 'OOOOh's' and full on drunken laughter, but Conner was getting red and huffing.

Lincoln just goads him further, "Yes, I can feel your anger. It gives you focus, makes you stronger-" Lincoln bursts out laughing, "No, no it doesn't, really, you need to chill out and channel that anger kid, it's only gonna work against you." Lincoln said before he heard a bell and Conner charged forward.

Conner reeled back a fist, determined to hit that smug bastard in his stupid face.

But he was tripped and fell flat on his face. Lincoln tripped him with very little effort.

"Alright, what did you learn?" Lincoln said in a mocking tone.

Conner quickly scrambled to his feet and got into a poor boxer stance. He threw fist after fist but nothing connected.

Lincoln dodged, bobbed and weaved, not even looking at the boy. At one point even yawning, infuriating the angry teen even more.

"Ahhh! Conner yelled at the top of his lungs before jumping to deliver a flying punch at Lincoln's head only to catch the air.

"Seriously kid, who taught you how to fight? Telegraphing way too much, I can see and hear you coming a mile away.

Center yourself, arms up, keep your elbows in and actually put your weight behind it." Lincoln advised.

Conner… did not take the free advice and instead just threw another sloppy hook.

Lincoln just put his hands behind his back when he saw the punch coming, what shocked everyone, was him head-butting Conner's fist and even more shocking, Conner pulling back his arm, holding his hand in agony.

"Ughh!" Conner grunted, his knuckles bruised, maybe sprained. He looked to the silverette, grinning in satisfaction after seeing Conner back away.

-Outside the Cage-

Lucy along with the Kent – Danvers trio watched as Lincoln danced around Conner from the beginning of the match.

They even heard Lincoln give free advice to which Conner ignored and just pressed onward.

Kara gasped when she saw Lincoln block a punch with his forehead, Karen was cheering the match on as Lucy and Clark sighed at this.

Clark Looks to Lucy, "I got a pretty good idea how this is gonna end, but tell me, how bad do you think it'll go for my brother?" He asked hoping Lincoln wouldn't leave his teenage brother lying beaten in a pool of his own blood.

"Sigh, knowing Lincoln, he wants to make it a show before knocking him out, Conner should get out of it relatively unharmed, unless he does something stupid to sour Lincoln's mood, like hitting his genitals or spitting on him."

Clark thought for millisecond before paling, 'Oh no,' "What would happen if he did?" He asked, now worried for his reckless and un-sportsman like brother.

"He takes it… personal, but your brother will live, probably." She whispers that last part but Clark looks at her knowing she said something.

Kara spoke up, "Does Lincoln do this sort of thing often, cage fighting, I mean?"

"Yes." Lucy answered bluntly, "He makes quite the living in fight pits, he revels in it. He's had prior training and the invaluable experience he earned in the pits has capitalized on it."

Kara doubled back it Lincoln, who was now slapping Conner around and laughing in his face, almost feeling bad for her cousin, a shred of catharsis on her part and maybe a little pity.

Karen shout out to her family, "Oh I wish, I knew he could do this the day you guys showed up, I would've made a killing on him!"

Clark looking to see his brother in bad shape, thinks how he might've done against Lincoln.

-Back in the Cage-

Lincoln looks at Conner, still holding his hand, "You uh, need a break, wanna take five, maybe put some ice on that?" He asks, half serious, half joking but Conner doesn't look amused.

Conner rushes in throwing a flurry of punches.

Lincoln blocked and countered with a slap across the face for each, at first doing nothing but gradually adding more and more strength behind each strike.

At first Conner felt nothing when Lincoln started slapping him, 'Is he serious-'

He didn't get to finish that thought as his face tilted from the next hit, his cheeks starting to get sore and turning a blistering red color.

Conner looked at Lincoln, who hasn't even broken a sweat, not even after fighting already.

Conner himself was drenched.

He didn't even think about his next move as he tackled Lincoln to a caged wall and was rewarded with a flurry of slaps to the face, neck and lastly the ear, bet that one hurt.

"Stop It!" Conner shouts as backs away.

"~Good, good. Let the hate flow through you~." Lincoln uses a decent Palpatine voice.

Conner growled then he throws another jab at Lincoln, only for said man to catch Conner's fist with his own punch.

Conner felt his knuckles pop but ignores it as he swings a left hook.

Lincoln bats it away with one arm and with the same hand, backhands Conner and he goes down for the first time.

Conner was being humiliated, in his own ring, he owned the cage matches, he owned everyone else, and now this jackass comes along and just whoops him back and forth like it's nothing.

'What the fuck is this guy?' Conner yells in his own head.

Conner sees something drip onto the floor.

Blood?

His blood, Conner was leaking blood from his mouth. Just how hard did Lincoln slap him to do this?

He's taken a bullet to the face and that didn't even leave a bruise, he's taken punches before but he never went down, no this was a first, Conner's being slapped around silly and Lincoln's just goofing on him.

Conner starts to see red and notices Lincoln pausing, staring out into the stands, now was his chance.

Lincoln had taken a look at Conner, the feeble thing was like a puppy being knocked around, if the boy wasn't such a punk when they first met, he'd feel sorry for him… but he doesn't.

Face all bruised up, eyes moistened with unshed tears, blood dribbling from the mouth, yeah, Lincoln's job was done, all that was left was to end it.

He decided to give Conner a moment to get up before knocking him out.

Lincoln looks out to the cheering crowd he was putting on a show for, lifting his arms as if telling everyone, 'More', their cheers got louder and Lincoln was enjoying this.

But then his breathing hitched when he heard something. A giggle, one he's heard before, many, many times in the darker corners of his mind.

Selene.

She was here.

Out of the corner of his eyes he sees the wannabe dominatrix walking by Lucy and as Lincoln was about to do something, she disappears.

His eyes flick back and forth from left to right, trying to find her until his eyes caught something.

A lighter tanned complexion, long white hair, a slender almost feminine face and glowing golden-amber eyes looking back at him intensely. The figure was coated in blood, Lincoln knew what he was looking at.

It was him, the 16 year old version of himself, the thing Lincoln became years ago. Why was he here now, why is he seeing this, why-

*POW*

Lincoln was sent back to a caged wall and fell to a knee. He looked back and it was Conner who sent him on his knee.

The shock snapped Lincoln from his trance as he looked back to where 16y him was, only to see he was gone.

Lincoln panicked, an urge rose from deep within, he was familiar with this sensation, he really needed to tear something apart. He had to get out of here, now.

'Forget the job, Karen can take care of her family problems herself-'

"Yeah, not so high and mighty now are you, you smug dick!" Conner shouted, "Come on get up, I'm not done with you!"

Lincoln was about to retaliate when he felt a sensation come over him.

CALM – RELAX

'Lucy?'

Yeah, Lucy, she's got his back, keeps him from making these bad choices.

He takes a deep breath and stands up, 'I really should thank her.' He thought, and he knows just how, he smirked.

"Alright, you win kid, I'm calling it. Good job." Lincoln says as he turns his back on Conner and looks to the bookie/bar owner, and as he was about to say something, Conner calls out.

"Coward! Is that all you got, get back here. I. AM. NOT. DONE. WITH. YOU." He shouts as Lincoln shrugs.

"But I'm done with you." Lincoln faces the bookie to tell him to end it but then-

*PTOOEY*

Lincoln felt something wet collide with the back of his head.

He heard the crowd go 'OOOOH' and touched the back of his head and saw a loogey on his fingers.

-Outside the Cage-

Lucy saw what happened as if one big car crash in slow motion.

Lincoln froze up and panicked, she felt his surprise, worry, fear and desperation.

She wasn't sure what he may have seen but she knew what was coming next, The Anger.

Conner really didn't know when to stop and sucker punched Lincoln, then proceeded to antagonize her love even further, under normal circumstances, she'd do nothing, seeing as Lincoln had it coming, but this was seriously not the time for some super-roided out teen to throw a tantrum.

As Lincoln's anger was spiking, she sent out a pulse, trying to relax her white-haired lover before he did something he may regret and it worked… until Conner did the one thing he shouldn't and hocked a loogey at Lincoln, who was feeling the urge.

"Oh no." She flatly let out.

Clark looked to her and before he said anything, Lincoln struck without compassion or mercy.

-Back in the Cage-

Lincoln's back was still turned to Conner, who was still talking trash to Lincoln, thinking he finally got the edge.

The poor dumb bastard.

The bookie called out to Lincoln, "Are you finished or wha- *"I suggest you end it now"* AHHH!" He turns to the creepy goth chick beside him, "Where did you come from?" He asked as he saw Lincoln unleash his wrath upon the Kent boy.

In Lincoln's mind, his anger was voicing itself.

'That worthless little shit! I can kill him 20 different ways without powers and 100 more without getting creative! I'm ending him NOW!' His angry side roared before his calmer and Logical side took over.

'No, remember Lincoln, you've been through this before, think back to master Lao Shi. Calm yourself, and take him down gently.'

'And how do I do that,' His anger spoke out.

'Half the battle is fought within the mind, think your moves ahead, the boy is obviously unskilled, it'll be over in the blink of an eye.'

'Alright Lincoln, you've tempered your strikes to see how much force to apply, this should be easy enough.'

Lincoln spots Lucy, worried, for a good reason.

'This mustn't register on an emotional level.' His inner calmer voice reasoned.

Lincoln turned back to Conner with dull eyes and fetched something from his back pocket. It was a handkerchief.

It's not against the rules, besides, with two supers, who's going to care about a piece of cloth.

Or in Lincoln's case, a weapon.

Lincoln wiped the back of his head and glared at Conner who raised his arms ready to pounce.

And so, Lincoln began.

'First, distract target.' With that Lincoln tossed the piece of cloth over to Conner's face, blinding him.

Conner, without seeing Lincoln throws a punch.

'Then block his blind jab.' Lincoln deflects it with one arm.

'Counter with cross to left cheek.' Lincoln lightly punches Conner with his free arm, throwing him off balance.

'Discombobulate!' Lincoln smashes both hands onto each of Conner's ears.

Conner, disoriented and in obvious pain, reels his right arm back.

'Dazed, he'll attempt wild haymaker, employ elbow block.' Lincoln raises an arm and blocks Conner's strike.

'And body shot!' Lincoln punches Conner's upper abs, he felt rib-bones crack.

Conner staggers back but then he wildly swings his left arm, not even thinking anymore, if ever.

'Block feral left.' Lincoln effortlessly deflects Conner's attack and prepares to strike with his left elbow.

'Weaken right jaw.' Lincoln makes contact, making Conner shout in aching pain, but Lincoln's not done.

'Now fracture!' Lincoln pulls back his left arm and throws a punch on the same spot of Conner's jaw.

'Break cracked ribs!' Lincoln shoves a fist into Conner's abs and pulls back before Conner has time to step backward.

'Traumatize solar plexus.' Lincoln punches the gap between Conner's sternum and bellybutton.

Conner shouts but still stands.

'Dislocate jaw entirely.' Lincoln punches Conner in the face again, feeling something shift and pulls back, raising a leg.

'Heel-kick to diaphragm!' Lincoln kicks Conner's chest sending him flying back to the other side of the gate, breaking through his exit door.

Lincoln's thoughts form rapidly as Conner slowly goes down.

'End summary, ears ringing, jaw fractured, three ribs cracked, four broken, diaphragm hemorrhaging. For a normal human, physical recovery: six weeks, full physiological recovery: six months. Capacity to spit at back of head, neutralized.'

Suddenly, all the cheering stopped. Everyone was quiet and look back and forth from Lincoln to the fallen Conner.

"Where did that come from?" Some drunk shouts from the crowds.

Lincoln walks out of his exit and gets his shirt from Lucy. Without talking, the two made their way upstairs and leaves.

-Karen-

When all was said and done, no one said anything.

When Karen looked to Conner, she saw he was still breathing, she sighed in relief.

'Shit!' She thought to herself. Karen looked over and saw Clark, Kara and a few other people rush over to Conner's downed form.

Yeah, he isn't getting back up anytime soon.

After making her way to her family, Clark looked at her with a fixed glare.

"What the hell was that about?" Before she could answer, "Was THAT 'all part of the plan too?"

*Sigh* "Honestly, he kinda had this coming." Clark glares at her, "I mean, c'mon. Linc was ready to leave, you saw what happened after that, tell me he didn't have it coming." Karen told her cousin.

Clark sighs and looks back at his brother. It doesn't look that bad, maybe he'll be alright.

"Alright, I'll get him to the hospital. You two just get home and if they ask, tell mom and dad where we are." Clark says.

"Cool but first…" Karen leaves it on a lull as she struts her way to the bookie, reaches into his coat pocket and politely takes a handful of cash. She makes her way to the makeshift bar, lays a bill down, grabs a bottle of who knows what, uncorks it with her mouth and leaves.

After a while, Kara follows suit.

-XxX-

Lincoln and Lucy are walking a darkly lit street in silence.

Lincoln looked like he wanted to say something, he really did. Right now, he's want to choose his words carefully, he wants Lucy to know he didn't lose control or try to kill the boy.

Just as Lincoln was about to say something, Lucy opens her mouth, "I think you handled that rather well, Lincoln."

Lincoln had to do a double take, "Say what now?"

Lucy goes on, "Yes, I felt your gnawing urge spike and just as it reached its boiling point, you centered yourself." Lincoln felt his confidence restored, "Perhaps you could have been gentler with Conner, I'm dreading our apology to mister and missus Kent, they may not appreciate what you did, even for a job."

The silverette pauses.

*Sigh* "I really did it this time, huh Luce?" He asked but then-

"Hey!"

The two turned around and saw Karen running towards them.

When the busty Danvers girl caught up, she took a swig of whatever drink she had and spoke, "Sup guys. So, Linc… that was some show you gave huh."

"…yeah." Was Lincoln's response, "Look, he's gonna be oaky, he won't be walking around much when he wakes up but he'll be fine."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah! Don't worry, it's not the first time it's happened." Karen casually waves it off.

"Really?" Both Lincoln and Lucy asked, stunned.

"Oh yeah. You'll never catch him talking back to Slade, ever."

Lincoln thought back to the first time he met Slade, 'huh, what do you know?'

"What happened?" Lucy asked.

Karen then regales the two of Conner's encounter with the Lieutenant. Slade didn't pay much attention to Conner, he was just doing his job but after the fence came up a few months ago, Slade got tired of Conner shit and just let him 'try' to prove himself.

Of course Conner got wrecked, in front of special-forces. That's when his attitude around town became so unbearable, he's always got something to prove and he actually wins, feeding his fragile ego.

And here we are at this point, where a member of Conner's own family has to hire someone to beat his ass red in front of everyone.

"So yeah, that's it. Conner's been getting uppity and needed someone to set him straight. Ma and Pa wouldn't let me hear the end of it if I did it myself and Clark is…" She leaves it open.

"Too nice to do it to his little brother?" Lucy tried to finish.

"I was gonna say kind of a pussy but that works too, I guess." She chuckles at her own joke as they move on but where called out to by Kara.

The four made their way into town with light conversation and before they split up, Karen told Lincoln and Lucy she'll handle the folks back home.

Lincoln thinks as he and Lucy walk back to their place.

'Did I really need to go that far, I mean he was a dick but… fuck. Did I have to fuck him up THAT bad? And I liked his family too, what's gonna happen there?'

"Lincoln." Lucy says, breaking his trance, he looks at her, "If you're feeling conflicted over Conner, then you should apologize to his family, preferably tomorrow." She reasons.

Lincoln nods, "Yeah… thanks Luce."

~X~

The next day, Lincoln and Lucy visited a flower shop while ignoring the stares and whispers that Lincoln could hear. Each about the beat down Lincoln gave Conner or what he did to Slade and his men.

The florist and her husband were calm on the outside but from their body language and with Lucy's empath, each could tell the two were afraid of Lincoln.

They did their business and left, no trouble.

Lincoln held a card and a bouquet of sunflowers and various other brightly colored flowers that Lincoln could not name. Lucy knew a fair bit about flowers but it was the brighter kinds like Lincoln was carrying that made her want to vomit.

Lucy prefers the colors red, black and purple, she was so disappointed to learn roses don't actually come in black but that is something for Lincoln to worry about later.

~X~

In the hospital, Lincoln stopped by Francis' room and left a few flowers for him. He was looking better.

On the same floor, Lincoln and Lucy saw Mr. and Mrs. Kent leave a room, presumably belonging to their son.

The moment the four came into contact, there was a brief pause before the Kent patriarch spoke first.

"We heard Karen put you up to this, we also heard he didn't stand much of a chance against you." He didn't speak with distain but he clearly wasn't happy either.

Lincoln was uncomfortable, he normally doesn't do… this. Apologize for beating someone up, maybe it's because he likes this family, maybe they remind him of the one he's missing? Either way he needs to do this right.

Lincoln pauses, "Mr. and Mrs. Kent, I am so sorry about your son. All I was supposed to do was beat him and I took it too far. I know it doesn't fix anything but if there is anything I can do to make this right, please tell me."

Jonathan and Martha were surprised.

Honestly, they were beginning to think this was normal for Lincoln, beating on teenagers and leaving them broken.

He was in the heart of the dead-zone for a long time, so he might not be all there, but here he was proving that wrong.

Lincoln was apologizing, even going so far as to bring flowers (assuming they are for Conner), he and their boy shouldn't have been in the ring together in the first place but Conner was going down there anyway.

Of course they were livid at Karen for setting this up, somewhere inside they each knew this thing between Conner and Lincoln was going to happen but having their boy put in the hospital was too much.

The Kents looked to each other and then Martha spoke first.

"Thank you, Lincoln but that's alright. Conner will be just fine, a few weeks in bed, nothing too serious."

Lincoln voices, "But still-" The Kent patriarch interjects.

"But nothing, frankly we're more relieved than angry with you, besides, with Conner on bed rest, we're gonna be shorthanded, Clark's gonna be busy this month but without Conner, it'll be harder on him."

Lincoln perks up, 'They're either the chilliest parents I've met or there's more to it.' He blurts out, "A- I could help with that, y'know, since I'm the reason you'll be shorthanded, it's the least I could do."

Everyone stops and stares at him as his cheeks redden a little.

Martha smiles at her husband and he returns it, Lincoln has no idea what that means.

"You sure you'll be able to-" Jonathan is interrupted by Lincoln.

"Yes, I can handle it, I've worked on a few farms before, including one time for a buddy of mine when I was a kid." Lincoln says, determined to lend a hand.

The couple look at each other and then to Lincoln.

Jonathan extends a hand, "If you're sure about this."

Lincoln grabs his hand and shakes, "I'm sure."

Smiles were exchanged as the group of four stood in silence before Lucy speaks up.

"Sigh, as nice as this must be for you Lincoln, you came here for another reason, did you not?"

Lincoln's eyes widen, "Right, uh, if it wouldn't be too much trouble, may I see him?" He asked.

The Kents shared a look before Jonathan asked, "There won't be any trouble will there?"

"You have my word." Lincoln spoke, "Pink promise!" He says as he makes his way to Conner's room.

-Conner-

'Well this is a fine mess. Get your ass beat so hard you're still fading in and out. At least it tuned out the lecture.' Conner thought to himself.

The Kent boy was in bed, wearing a patient gown and his head wrapped in binding for his jaw, fortunately it's not worse than a fracture. As long as he didn't talk much he'd be out of here in no time.

'At least it can't get worse.' Conner thinks.

"Guess who?" Conner turns his head to, you guessed it, Lincoln.

'And shit!' Conner notices Lincoln had something behind his back.

"So… uh, crazy night, right?" Lincoln awkwardly tries to make small talk.

"What're you doin here?" Conner mumbles, he knows he shouldn't talk but whatever.

"I just came here to… well…" He can't finish it.

"Came here to gloat? Really?"

"No, no… I came by to drop something off." Lincoln walks by the nightstand beside Conner's bed and lays the bouquet of flowers in a vase and stands a card next to it. "Here you go," Lincoln walks to the door, "See ya Conner."

Lincoln silently exits and leaves the boy to think.

Conner faces away from the 'gifts' but his head slowly turns toward them and he eases.

The flowers were nice, not that he'd know if they were bad or not.

He read the card and it was in cursive, nice penmanship with a small mess up at the end.

Get well soon, Conner
- Lincoln L Park

'Can't believe he messed up his own name. What a dork.' He thinks with a smirk.

There was a letter... an L maybe that seemed to be crossed out, what was that about he thought, 'He didn't have to apologize… he could've taken me apart any time. I already saw him beat Slade, why did I think I had a chance-' *"Hello"* "AHHH!" Conner holds his mouth and clutched it in pain, "OW!"

Conner turned to see Lucy.

"Where did you come from?" He asked while his jaw was clenched, remembering to let it set and heal.

"Through the door, sigh." She stated as he turned to see the door open, "But that's irrelevant. I came to apologize on behalf of Lincoln, I know he didn't actually say it. I hope you can forgive him for… this and won't hold it against him in the future."

Conner pauses for a moment, he didn't look at her but instead was looking back at his 'gifts'.

"Were those… your idea?"

"No, Lincoln wishes to make amends, he's trying to be a better person, he knows when he's gone too far and when he needs to apologize, he's not some savage, he's human, like you or me."

Conner thinks, "Don't worry about it." He mumbled, not even looking at her.

"Sigh, thank you, Conner."

Conner looks back and asks, "So why does-" He stops when he sees no one, she's gone, the doors even closed.

He'd ask out loud where she went if he wasn't so spooked.

~XxX Flashback End XxX~

Lincoln spent the next day working on his baby, The Loud Hog #7. The same evening, he and Lucy went out for a romantic stroll through the cemetery.

For 11 year old Lincoln, the entire thing would have been off putting, now, it was just a place, never minding the tombstones to the dead and buried or the gloomy and depressing scenery.

So long as Lucy was enjoying herself, it was fine. While on the subject of Lucy and ignoring her obsession with the macabre, lately, she's been more hands on.

Trying to push for physical intimacy.

It never goes too far, with both fear and respect for Lucy. After taking up the job at the bar and Lincoln's initial encounter with Karen, Lucy has been pushing the idea of a pseudo-polyamorous relationship.

Being together but occasionally adding another person to the mix.

Lincoln, being the guy with a loosened moral grip that has lived off of debauchery and was even shared between multiple lovers from time to time, would have said yes in a heartbeat.

It was nothing new for him but, considering their problems regarding their late-night activities, he knew (somewhere inside) this wasn't the time to be selfish and look for an easy way out of their difficulties.

While in the midst of their private conversation, they were interrupted by someone.

They were approached by an officer, apparently Slade wanted to speak with Lincoln tomorrow, which is now today

Lincoln and Lucy decided to leave their talk on pause.

And so, now Lincoln is lying on his bed, alone, contemplating his week so far.

He knows he should go see Slade as soon as possible, and thus he goes to the bathroom to rinse off.

Lincoln notices stubbles on his face, "Nope! Not today." It's rare that he finds any hair growing on his face but he still prefers to keep it clean and smooth.

He has a good number of ways to take care of it.

Make a razor, burn it off, shave with metallic claws, etc. take your pick.

~X~

After wiping off his face, Lincoln takes a breath, "Ah, ok, I'm rea-"

He paused when his met the ones in the mirror. For fuck sake, it's the deranged edge-lord… again.

Lincoln just can't catch a break.

In the mirror is the upper body of 16 year old Lincoln. Feminine face, long hair and a crazed look in his eyes as he's just covered in blood, some of it even leaking from his fang-baring mouth.

*Sigh* "Just go away," He says to himself, getting annoyed by this hallucination.

He exits the bathroom in low spirits. Lincoln thinks back to what he told Lucy before.

YOU ARE NOT DAMAGED GOODS-YOU'RE HEAILING BUT IT TAKES TIME-I THINK TRAUMA IS SUPPOSED TO HELP US BECOME MORE OF WHO WE ARE MEANT TO BE BY TAKING A LITTLE MORE OF WHO WE WERE

"Yeah right. Who are you kidding Linc?" He mumbles to himself, 'She has a future out there, do you? Do you think you even deserve a second chance, how many lives have you taken, and yet when yours was snuffed out, you got to come back, how is that fair?'

It's a regular thing for him to berate himself in his own head. When will these visions leave him be?

Lincoln sighs, puts on a clean shirt and goes to see Slade, he sports a dull glow within his golden-amber eyes.

-Lucy-

Lucy was having a pretty good week so far.

How could she not, Smallville was peaceful, most people left her alone, which is always a plus but she had a small pocket of new friends.

What's more is that she been trying to get more physical with Lincoln and even though she freezes at the part she wants, oh so badly, her partner has been nothing short of supportive.

She and Lincoln have been on a few dates. Nothing too extravagant but the outings have been a much needed comfort as of late.

After his fist night as a bouncer, she was appalled by the way the busty Danvers girl tried to throw herself at Lincoln. Then she had a moment to think on it.

Could that be the solution, no, letting Lincoln fuck whoever he wanted wouldn't fix what was happening between them, it may only relive Lincoln of his tension but it wouldn't bridge the gap separating them.

Lucy would need to sleep on it.

The day Lincoln left for the job with Slade, she was reading her book. An erotic literature (smut) about two people who couldn't be more different and yet fell for one another. Later installments would expand and explore the adult world, introducing the couple to various explicit acts and developing them as people.

Back on topic, Lucy found inspiration from the book, having a trusted friend or loved one involved could open some doors. In other words, having a paramour or mistress wouldn't be so much FOR Lincoln as much as it would be for them both.

Another person to bridge that gap and bring them together. Lucy still wasn't sure on it so she went to the only person she could talk to, Kara.

Kara responded the way Lucy had predicted; nothing. Kara, bless her heart, has had to listen to Karen's tales of womanhood… her womanhood being pounded, as she moves from partner to partner.

To hear her new friend having trouble with her love-life and looking to spice things up made her uneasy.

At first Kara had assumed Lucy was inviting her to their little ménage à trois, to which Lucy had corrected her with the idea of having one, strangely enough, Lucy didn't hear a refusal when Kara thought she was being asked to join.

She would take a mental note for later.

The day after, Lucy told Lincoln what was on her mind.

~XxX Flashback XxX~

Lincoln said nothing.

Lucy was staring back nervous, "D-did you not hear me Lin-"

"Yeah, yeah I heard, but… are you serious, Luce." He asked with obvious concern, she was basically giving him the oaky to sleep around.

Lucy looked away for a second, "Yes, are you not okay with it, I thought most boys would find this arrangement appealing, in fact I thought you'd go for it without hesitation."

"It's no- I mean, look, I'm sure any guy would love to have his awesome girlfriend and have another on the side but are YOU sure you want this?"

"I do, though… there WILL be conditions…" She leaves it on a lull as Lincoln speaks up.

"Of course, yeah, uh…"

"I'm going to be part of it, from start to finish. Keep in mind, this is just as much for me as it is for you." She smirks as Lincoln stares off, thinking on it, Lucy, with another woman, while he watches… then joins.

'Huh, that's something' *Snap Snap*

Lincoln shook his head as Lucy called out to him.

"Imagining our new nightly escapades are we?" She says in a teasing tone.

"Hehe, so, not that I'm saying yes *"But you aren't saying no"* who did you have in mind?"

Lucy was quiet, "Honestly, I'm not too sure, I'm not even sure if we'll find anyone here now… but there was this one thing."

Lincoln nods, "Uh huh, anyone in particular."

"Well… do you remember your night as a bouncer?"

"Kinda hard to forget with Kare- no…"

Lucy nods, "It was just a thought, maybe, she already seems alright with the idea of accompanying the two of us, so I figured, maybe we'd try with her to see where this goes."

Lincoln looks away for a second.

"You don't have to say yes, and certainly not now, but just keep it in mind, please."

"Alright." Their conversation ended there.

~XxX Flashback End XxX~

They hadn't talked about after that until later in the week.

Moving on, at school, Lucy actually found herself wanting to die even faster when she had to sit through all of class as the boys practically drooled over her and the girls doing the same for her Lincoln.

Lucy was very grateful to have Lincoln as her tutor, she was nearly caught up with that class, which just so happened to have Conner.

She mostly ignored his presence but found something odd.

A red-headed girl sneaking glances not at Lincoln but Conner. Was someone interested in him, surprising considering how much of a prick he was in the beginning, but to be fair he has a young, underdeveloped charm, one that's being smothered by his scowl.

After class, Lucy had followed/found the girl alone and approached.

Ignoring the initial shock, Lucy had meet Megan Morse.

Intrigued by the dark, mysterious and alluring woman known simply as Lucy, Megan the innocent and friendly neighborhood schoolgirl befriended her in an instant. If out of genuine kindness or slight fear of the new girl in town, remains unknown.

It was only out of happenstance that Kara would run into the two and now the three would make it a routine to meet.

It was apparent that Megan may have a romantic interest in Conner but that doesn't concern Lucy.

Just having new friends did wonders for Lucy's self-esteem, she was becoming more daring with Lincoln.

After coming back from his job with Beth, Lucy made a bold move to comfort him from his embarrassment.

She's really becoming more hands-on.

Lincoln's becoming more energetic and Lucy is loving it.

Though her purchase of protection had apparently been wasted, seeing as they hadn't gone that far sine the last time, not that either seemed to mind, for now.

Right now, Lucy is sitting on a bench, talking to Kara and Megan.

Kara was complaining about her sister when something caught Lucy's eyes.

Lucy turned to see Lincoln, looking fine, but feeling dejected, she frowned.

Lincoln was mindlessly walking his way to Slade when something latched onto his arm, he didn't have to look to see who.

"Hello, my love. What troubles you so?" Lucy asked in soft tones.

Lincoln brightened up, "Hey, beautiful." He leaned and kissed her cheek as they reddened, "Just have to meet with the lieutenant for something."

The couple stopped as Lincoln turned to notice Kara who lightly blushed when their eyes met and she turned away. Beside her was a girl he vaguely remembered from the school he visited, were they friends, is she a friend to Lucy, were Lincoln's thoughts as he looked to Lucy.

"Need some company?" She said while giving a faint smile.

Lincoln returned the grin as he shook his head no, "It's probably just a job, I'll meet you on the way back." He ended with a peck on her lips.

They part ways. When Lucy walks back to her friends, she notices Kara's gaze lingering on Lincoln.

"Hmmm." Lucy hums to herself as she thinks.

When she approached, she looked right at Kara, "May I have a word with you, Kara."

-Lincoln-

After being guided to Slade's office, Lincoln noticed a few things.

There were quite a few files and dockets spread over his desk as the lieutenant was rifling through a few of them.

There were some drawing mixed in with a few, ones made by a kid.

Lastly, a chess set.

"Ah, Mr. Park. I was expecting you later but this is fine." Slade welcomed Lincoln.

"So, uh… is this a bad time, *"not at all"* right, what did you need to see me for?"

"Just some personal business," Slade says as he cleans off his desk of everything but a few files and the chest set that was presented between the two as Slade motioned Lincoln to take a seat.

Lincoln looks to the chess board, his side was white and Slade's was black.

"You play?" Slade asks as Lincoln nods.

"A little, me and Lucy do from time to time." Lincoln explained, usually they played with makeshift or constructed pieces, made with what they could find or make.

"Then by all means, you have the first move." Slade gestures to the board.

"Is this all you called me for?"

"It's mostly for me, helps pass the time while I get to know you a little better." Slade says.

Lincoln shrugs and moves a piece.

~X~

A few minutes into the game that Lincoln mindlessly plays through and Lincoln's lost a fourth of his set while yet to take any from the Lieutenant.

Slade notices that Lincoln is bored.

"So, I heard you were at ground-zero when it all went to shit." He says to Lincoln who visibly perks.

"Yeah, uh… how-"

"Conner and his family told me, well, mostly Conner." He smirks.

'Of course, Conner. Whatever, it's not like you were hiding it from them, so what.' Lincoln thinks.

"Forgive a man for doubting you but… how did the two of you make it out?" Slade asks.

"Sometimes I'm not even sure. We drove out as fast and as far as we could, got stopped by a road block and took cover behind a building.

Thinking back, there was no reasonable way we should have survived but we did. If you don't believe me, that's fine, no skin off my back." Lincoln ends while moving another piece with no sense of purpose.

While Lincoln looks away, Slade frowned a bit and just moves a piece to capture the one Lincoln moved.

"So, Michigan eh, not exactly walking distance to Washington."

"How much do you know?"

"About as much as you told them." Slade explains, "Heard you were an orphan and you're real close to your girl's family."

"Yeah…" Lincoln nods.

"That's nice, really, she an only child?"

"… Nope! Bunch of sisters." He answers.

"Bet it's never quiet with her family?"

"You have no idea…" Lincoln grins.

"Oh, there he is, there's that smile you've been hiding." He says as Lincoln turns but couldn't hold his face. "But it's better that way, big family, I mean."

Lincoln looks back at him as he moves a piece with a little more enthusiasm and finally captures one of Slade's pieces.

"I mean it, nothing sadder than an empty house." Slade says with a small sigh.

"Speaking from experience?" Lincoln asks.

"Yep, but enough about me, I bet you have a lot of stories about Lucy's family, seeing as you're so close with them, if they took you to Seattle."

Lincoln paused for a moment, then a small smile makes itself known.

There was never a dull moment in the Loud house.

Non-stop adventure, wholesome family fun and so much learning and growing.

Seattle, was supposed to be a family get-together in honor of Lisa's achievement, but it turned into a nightmare that's lasted for six straight years with Lincoln and Lucy. They never got to spend the next Christmas and New Year's back home, they must've missed out on a lot.

Lincoln doesn't want to think about that, his mind drifts back to the last family get-together before Seattle.

ARK

The beach. The last day of summer, a great memory to fall back on.

He and Lily were playing together and occasionally checking up on the rest of the family.

Lori was texting Bobby as per usual. Even after going to college, she was still the same old Lori.

Leni was judging a Sandcastle contest between the twins and Lynn. The super competitive sister won and rubbed it in Lola's face. Despite not having the best skill set, when Lynn puts her mind to it, she can come out on top.

Luna was texting her girlfriend, Sam almost the whole time, occasionally striking up Lincoln for conversation while trying to get her mind off of stuff.

Luan was pranking everyone, from the parents to her sisters, until Lincoln foiled her attempts on him, she got him back later.

Lucy had Lana and Lola bury her in a sand coffin and that was her idea of a fun time.

Lisa was documenting something, barely acknowledging anything.

Lincoln missed those days.

PARK… MOVE

It also goes without saying that this was the time of Lincoln's awakening to the female form.

His older sisters were beauties, no one needed to tell him that. He wonders if he would have made a move on any of them if he had never left. His answer would have been no, or so he tells himself, but here he was dating Lucy. What would they think of him *"PARK"* would they accept it, would they throw him away *"PARK"* what about Lucy.

"Mr. Loud, it's your move." Said the Lieutenant.

Lincoln snaps out of his thoughts, "Right, sorry abo-"

Lincoln froze.

'What did he say?' He asks himself as he felt his stomach drop and his heart sped.

"What was that?" He asked in a whisper.

Slade smirked, "I've been calling you for some time, Mr. Loud, or would you still prefer Mr. Park?"

That's what he thought, "H-how… when…" He could even form a question.

"If it makes you feel any better, I really didn't think it was you until now.

After crashing your dinner-date with the Kents and hearing your story from Conner, I got a hunch and did some digging.

My boss had me do some bodyguard work for some big-wig prodigy scientist once, from good ol' Michigan."

"Lisa." Lincoln quietly concludes.

"Yep, I skimmed her file the first time. Comes from a big family," Lincoln pays attention to his words and starts remembering the questions earlier, he felt so stupid for giving out information like that so easily. "But she lost a brother and sister back at ground-zero.

The day after you beat me and my men, I sent word to have Lisa's file retrieved.

The difference between a professional and an amateur is that you always know who you're working with, don't forget that.

As for the WHEN, a few days ago I received it and trust me, I didn't think it was you until now."

Lincoln pales. He couldn't even make eye contact with the Lieutenant.

"So… you and your sister *"adopted"* Noted, less creepy and much better that way." Slade smirks and chuckles.

Under the table, out of Slade's view, his fists tightened and glowed faintly, he may have to do… something.

"Come now, I'm not judging, not really, I'm sure after everything you've been through, she kept you sane, grounded. Who else would you be with other than the woman who keeps you from drifting away."

'You have no idea.' Lincoln's face was neutral but his insides were churning.

"Now again, Mr. Loud, it's your move."

Lincoln's brows furrowed as his hands slowly went to the board, Slade noticing it calls out.

"Let's make it interesting, if you win; I'll let you take a look at Lisa's file and we'll keep this to ourselves, what do you say?"

And like that, Lincoln's face made a serious expression as his eyes looked back and forth as if contemplating.

Lincoln eyes stopped and he nods. He picks up a piece and moves.

~X~

The two were quickly moving piece after piece and capturing one after another.

Lincoln was down to six pieces while Slade had ten left.

Slade saw it, Lincoln was slipping, he was losing his grip over what he was told. Slade had an idea and opened his mouth.

"You know, when I saw Lisa's file I just couldn't believe it. Two survivors from ground-zero made their way onto my base after fighting tooth and nail to keep each other safe.

It's a little disappointing to see you falter over a game or do you just not care enough to see what I have on your family." Slade ends.

The lieutenant saw it happen, the warmth and hope in Lincoln's eyes died and his glowing eyes turned dull, just like what he saw when he was pinned by the beast of a man nearly a week ago.

Lincoln moved his pieces, barely acknowledging anything else.

Slade lost a few pieces but took another three of Lincoln's, but then-

"Mate!" Lincoln let out in a rough voice.

Slade looked at the board, his king was trapped, he had a good seven pieces left and Lincoln still won. He looked up into the dull eyes of Lincoln who was slowly calming down.

Slade topples his king piece and with that, he's beaten.

"Congratulations, Mr. Loud. It seems you have a gifted mind, one built for strategy, not many can think quickly under pressure and not a lot of people can say they've beaten me, especially after losing a quarter of their set."

Lincoln said nothing as he watched Slade.

"I can tell you're thinking about taking these files from me the moment I told you about them, even if you had to go through me, is that right?"

Lincoln said nothing but Slade hummed as if he was answered.

"We're a lot alike, Lincoln, you and me. We're two of a kind, so long as it's over the people we care for, we'll plunge ourselves as far into hell as we can go, until we lose everything.

I see it in your eyes, that killer instinct, it just needs a bit of fine tuning and I bet you could purge every evil, every threat to your family. As long as you can keep them safe, nothing else matters, you'll do anything for your family."

As Slade made his case, light returned to Lincolns eyes and you could see his breathing evened out as he looked less threatening.

"You want to live a normal life back out of the walls but you'll know when you get there, there's nothing for you out there, for Lucy, maybe, but you've seen it, haven't you, how far people can sink, when they become monsters, we need warriors with the body, mind and power to take them on, who better than someone like you."

Lincoln speaks up, "I'm not sure what you're trying to sell me but I'm not interested in joining your militia group." He says with a solid voice.

"No, not that. It's more about what I do out of these walls, what I'm expect to return to. Believe me when I say I had to get any intel on you through your sister's file on pretense about the walls.

If anyone found out why I asked for them, my boss, let me repeat, MY BOSS, would be all over you. She's a cold-blooded bitch who will use whoever and whatever means she has to, to get the job done."

Lincoln looked a little shaken by this and then Slade slid Lisa's dossier over to him.

"A deals a deal, take your time."

*KNOCK* *KNCOCK*

Both men look at the door that opened and in comes a child, the same boy Lincoln met over a week ago.

"Are you done?" The boy asked.

"Joey, what have I told you about coming in when I have a meeting?"

"Sorry dad!" The boy left right after that.

*Sigh* "Kids, am I right?" Slade looked to Lincoln who was just floored.

"Yeah that's joey, my special boy."

Lincoln just left it at that and read Lisa's file. Not too much he understands right now, bits and pieces that he already knew.

Then he spots something new and somewhat recent.

Current head scientist for the R&D facility of a pharmaceutical company called Umbrella.

A few listed achievements noteworthy accomplishments, credited with the discovery of hard-light technology and listed as the lead engineer for constructing the Hard-light shield that divides the US.

Most things Lincoln was sure of, there was plenty on Lisa but there was a lot he couldn't understand, considering they're not in-depth, mostly just facts about her.

What's important is that she is listed as alive. On the next page, Lincoln sees her immediate family, he let out a breath of relief, his parents and all of his sisters were alive.

His eyes listed off one sister after another until he got to himself and Lucy. They were declared dead at 2018.

'Well, obviously they'd think we're dead.'

And that was all that was important or relevant to Lincoln. His family is alive and that's all he needs to know.

Lincoln looks to Slade, "Is that it? That's all you had on me?" Lincoln asks almost irritated that he got found out with just this bit of information.

Slade responds, "Like I said, I had a hunch, you confirmed it." He said with a smug undertone.

Lincoln grumbled, only having himself to blame.

"So, Lincoln Loud, where did Park come from, not that I don't appreciate the clever word play, why?"

"When the walls came up, there was a rumor… that turned out to be true, that Lisa Loud made it, we figured if people made the connection it might not be good for us, from then on, me and Luce started using aliases. Nothing complicated, just went without using our family name."

Slade nodded, then something caught his attention, the door cracked open and he saw his boy peeking into the room, "Joey, enough!" Slade called out to him as Lincoln looked back.

It was definitely the same kid, but taking a closer look, his dark hair might be dirty blond and as the door closed Lincoln had a thought.

"How long have you been here, you and your men, I mean?"

"About two years now."

"… Cute kid *"thank you"* he couldn't have been born here, he's what 8, 9?" Lincoln asked.

"10 actually." Slade replies.

"So you brought your kid with you, behind the wall?"

"It's not like I could leave him with a sitter."

"No other family to leave him with?"

"Nope, I'm all he's got and he's all I have left." The lieutenant left it at that as Lincoln decided not to pry any further.

Hoping to change the subject, Lincoln opened his mouth again, "So, since you clearly came from the outside, what'd I miss? I hear a bunch of little things but other than hearsay I got nothing, I'm hoping you could set a few things straight, Lieutenant."

"Alright, where to begin… you know about the cloud right?" Slade asks.

"I know about it, what it's done and that it's keeping anything from flying in and out of here, but what is the cloud exactly?"

"The cloud is an anomaly that appeared in the week after the Seattle incident, bio-organic in nature and it emits an electro-magnetic force that blocks most forms of communication.

It's strong enough to jam the electronic signals and machines and precise enough to scramble your brains if you got close. I'm sure that's keeping you flyers trapped inside."

Lincoln adds on, "Yeah that sounds about right, a couple of days after the explosion, helicopters and planes fell out of the sky and after the walls came up I started seeing people drop from the air too."

Slade continues, "Logically speaking if the cloud wasn't there, there'd be nothing keeping the like of you and Lucy from lifting yourselves out of here-" He's interrupted by Lincoln.

"Well I wouldn't say nothing, there is that giant ass airship hovering around, the kind that shot down a few… things orbiting over us.

Never would've known it was there if it didn't drop its cloaking shield. What was that?"

"What you saw was the helicarrier, *"The what now"* S.H.I.E.L.D.'s flying command center, *"Who's shield"* the department of Strategic Hazard Intervention Espionage Logistics Directive, or S.H.I.E.L.D."

Lincoln was confused, "And who are they?" He's never heard of them before, "Are they new or something?"

Slade's mouth flattened, "No, they're what you might call an off-the-books kind of organization sanctioned by the US government, *"So a spy organization"* kind of, they've been re-branded as a counter-terrorist, intelligence agency and special law enforcement."

"Is the special, code for mutant?" Lincoln asked as Slade made a grim face.

"No… there was a… different group for that and they're gone… for now."

Lincoln stopped, "W-walk me through this, what actually happened while I was… here?" Lincoln asked hesitantly.

"It's a good thing you're sitting, it's gonna be a long one."

And so the two talked.

-XxX-

Lincoln was trudging his way back to his place, it's been hours since he met with Slade.

Right now, he wants to take his mind off of what he learned, two years ago that would have meant downing in as much booze as he could find just for a few hours of relief, but that doesn't work now.

Right now he's mindlessly making his way while thinking on all the big things that happened.

HD struck five more times in the US before moving on.

New mutants were made outside the wall and tensions were high over the sub-species HD created.

They continued their attacks for a total of six months before going dark for 5 more, afterward a joint effort of multiple counter-terrorist agencies at the behest of the U.N. went into action, HD's base was discovered and they were nuked, the circumstances, Slade wasn't clear on and the way he talked about it implies he was personally there before it all went to shit.

The following month after the world could breathe a little easier, a plague emerged in every region of the world, nearly over three-hundred million dead and then it just stopped, there was no cure, nothing, it just stopped infecting people, no one even knows where it came from but it didn't infect mutants, leading people to blame them.

Along with propaganda spearheaded by the presidential-wing in the US, mass killings ensued, Laws were passed that revoked the civil rights and freedom of mutants under the guise that they weren't human.

That started the DUP, headed by Brooke Augustine, Lincoln didn't need to be reminded of her, she and her forces moved throughout the dead-zone and eventually converged in Washington where it all started, using Seattle as their main headquarters.

All mutants that were found and left alive, were exported to a holding facility in Seattle Washington, Curdun Cay.

Mass riots by both mutants and humans raged throughout most of the world for months, lot of more people died, more than the plague that came before.

International incidents and worldwide martial law answered the riots with more violence, more deaths

S.H.I.E.L.D., being one of the underground, secret intelligence agencies, was brought to the light to restore order in the US, partially to make up for the loss of the FBI headquarters (that was in Washington) and the CIA's resources being stretched thin over the state of the world.

The president who pushed for action against mutants got the support to be re-elected, but was indicted and impeached. People already didn't care much for him, then he used the threat of mutants to fuel his re-election campaign, he pushed for abolishing the basic human rights for mutant-kind and his final proposition which would legalized mass genocide.

Along with alleged conspiracy of working with foreign powers in self-interests, the former president was given the boot and the majority of his co-conspirators within his cabinet were removed from power.

Most of this was within the first few years.

Slade told Lincoln so much more, but most of it, not important, the body count from the last few years set back the population by quite a lot.

A little over a billion lives lost and Lincoln really regrets having been told that.

'Maybe it was better for us to be HERE." He thinks to himself.

Lincoln needs a distraction, something to take his mind off things.

He arrives at his place and opens the door to see Lucy with a bottle of what smells like alcohol, a half-naked Kara, sporting a glazed look, a blush and covering her top with her arms at the sight of Lincoln.

The girls see Lincoln and gave a greeting, "HI LINCOLN!" They each slurred.

"…Huh… a distraction to be sure, but a welcomed one." Lincoln mumbled.

END

---

[Whew, another big one, even after removing a good chunk of what I planned... again. So as some of you can tell, I recently re-watched Sherlock Holmes, starring Robert Downey JR, great movie by the way.

So next chapter is where I'll end it for Lincoln and Lucy for now, it's been kind of a bore for me and really slow for everyone else, but I think I know why, this part, Smallville is like pallet town after conquering the elite four, there's nothing here to showcase what Lincoln can do and man it's going to be a while before he and Lucy really show what they're capable of.

Moving on, some of you can guess who Slade's boss might be. Got some more relationship fluff between Lincoln and Lucy, I wonder what'll happen next.

Some more world building and seeing more of Slade, a lot of characters are going to get back story and development in the future.

Happy 4th of July to everyone who celebrates and I hope you're all safe and indoors. Until next time!]