( Author's Note )

This fiction was pretty well received. I did not think that it would get much attention, as I am new to the fandom. And still learning the characters. I don't entirely know what's on going to happen along the way, but I do know where it is going. Though, what happens along the way, well... we'll find out together.

( Lincoln )

Not many things had made him feel embarrassed. After explaining what had happened, and how they had managed to get to where they were now. He had done jobs that no one would ever do without feeling shame for it. Lincoln did what he had to do for him and his sister. He never regretted it. He'd never felt embarrassed. Sure. He had felt like he didn't provide enough. That he hadn't held up his promise as well as he should have. Sometimes he thought that she would be better off still in the system. Maybe it was due to him being selfish that he did what he had to, to try to keep her with him. Truth be told, he was sure he needed her, more than she needed him.

However now, with Lana having inspected his and Lucy's home, he felt embarrassed. With Lucy it could be hard to tell, though he knew that she wasn't phased by this. That's one of the things that Lincoln loved about his sister, she never really cared about what others thought about her.

"It's got to be great living here without parents. No rules. Can do what you want!" Lana seemed a lot more excited than he would think.

"It's not as great as you think." Lucy said, which Lincoln was grateful. He actually didn't know what should be said. Their biggest secret was out. Actually, their only secret. "But, others would not understand."

"Whatdya mean?" Lana asked, and she seemed confused.

"Well..." He at least knew what to say here. "If people find out, we could be sent back to an orphanage. We could get separated. Might never see each other again. So, you can't tell anyone."

"That's not good!" Lana stood up, pacing a bit. "I couldn't imagine being separated from my sister. I won't tell anyone... I promise."

"Thank you, Lana." Lincoln stood up, and got the bag that held Lucy's dinner. "But first, Lucy, time for you to eat something. There wasn't as much after breakfast as I thought."

Lincoln pulled out the container that held her dinner. It wasn't much, a smaller personal pan pizza, and some bread sticks. He put it on the table, and called his sister over. Lucy was a big fan of pizza, and he hoped she wasn't too disappointed in it being a small one. He had to afford the other things. After today they were going to have to go back to canned food. He didn't mind. He wanted more for Lucy.

He wondered if he was hurting Lucy by being selfish. He looked down to the ground. He really was trying everything that he could to care for her. Though he didn't know what else he was supposed to do, aside from water and power. He barely made enough to feed them, he couldn't afford a place with electricity and running water. Lucy had lost weight since last winter, could she make it through this winter?

"Do you guys have a heater? It's starting to get a bit cold." Lana asked as she rubbed her arms.

"Here." Lincoln handed her a blanket, it was a bit ratty but it should work fine. "We don't have a heater."

"No electricity." Lucy said between bites.

"Yeah, no power for a heater." Lincoln felt sheepish. He was sure he looked it too.

"But doesn't it get cold?" Lana asked, and Lincoln really didn't want to answer more questions. Lana was still Lucy's age, and didn't have the same lifestyle as they had. So, she was a bit more innocent than him and Lucy. Lana had taken out her cell phone. "I can't let that happen."

"Wait." Lincoln called, but it was too late. Lana had put her phone back into her pocket. "What did you...?"

"I messaged my sister, Lisa." Lana looked up at him from the chair.

He was looking for what he should pack first. Lana might not know, but he was sure someone would be called. People would come to separate him and Lucy. This last year had only delayed the inevitable. Unless he and Lucy made a run for it. But winter was starting, and finding somewhere to survive would be slim. He wouldn't be able to protect Lucy. He had lucked out finding the bus. He had over heard someone talking about the junkyard, and how they had old vehicles. Granted, the conversation was about how the big vehicles wouldn't run. Though, it had lead to them finding a home.

"Don't worry. Lisa is super smart. She builds all kinds of things." Lana pulled out her phone again, her nimble fingers moving across the screen. "I don't think she'd tell anyone. I think that..." Lana's Cellphone rang. "Oh, Hey, Lisa. What? No. Why not? Oh. Yeah, I understand. It can wait until tomorrow I think."

"So, what was that about?" Lucy asked after taking another bite from her pizza. How she continued to remain so neutral looking, was beyond him.

"Lisa said she couldn't come until tomorrow. But she did say, 'This is definitely something that could be done. There should be more than enough materials at her disposal.' She's a bit boring. But she is caring."

"Well, It's going to get dark soon," Lincoln put his hand on Lana's shoulder. He didn't know if she had unknowingly sicced child services on them or not. But he didn't want her to have to walk back in the dark.

"Yeah I should get back home. I'll see you tomorrow." Lana smiled, and he walked her to the fence. So he could close it up.

…

Lincoln was sitting outside Gus' Game and Grub. Lincoln was taking a break, he had finished vacuuming out the arcade machines. It wasn't a very tiring chore, though it was time consuming. His back was sore from being hunched over cleaning out the dust. He had gotten himself a small thing of french fries. It wasn't much, though it was more than he had eaten since the left over chicken the morning before. His stomach had been growling enough the workers in the arcade had complained about hearing something. While the worker didn't know it's origin, Lincoln had.

He yawned and stretched, eating a couple more fries. Savoring the taste of the salty potato snack.

Lincoln got up after finishing his fries, he tossed the empty container into the trashcan, on the way inside. He didn't have much left to do. They wanted him to clean down all the screens. Then he would return back to the bus. He had considered using some of the metal in the junkyard to scrap for extra cash. He needed more blankets, More clothes for Lucy. Had to keep her warm.

He had wanted to build some kind of a fireplace, and a chimney. While metal was plenty, bricks were not. He had thought about using metal to create a wood stove, though he had no clue how to manipulate the metal to make a stove and flu. Also, he was sure the smoke would attract people to their living there. He planned take a trip to the library, and look up more about solar panels, or a windmill... something... anything.

"Yo, Lil Dude." One of the workers called out. "You've been cleaning that last screen for a while."

"Huh?" He looked over to the older teen employee, he then looked at the clock. He had been cleaning for an hour. He had been lost in thought over what they were going to do during the winter, that he hadn't realized that he had already finished. "Sorry. I zoned out."

Lincoln put away the vacuum that he was using, along with the cleaning supplies that belonged to the store. It seemed that the day was actually going to go alright. He had thought that Lana's sister was going to show up, make a huge scene, and turn them into child protective services. He went to the managers office to collect his payment.

"Lincoln, come in." He was called into the office. "Literally, close the door behind you."

"Alright," He thought it was strange, as he walked into the office and close the door behind him. He looked over to the manager of Gus' Game and Grub. Shoulder length blond hair, blue eyes, almost flawless complexion. From what he could see, she wore a light blue button up, with a name tag attached to it. "Is there something wrong, Mrs. Lori?"

"First, here is your payment. I want to thank you. Literally, no one wanted to clean the games out. So, I added a little extra." She handed him an envelope, which he didn't open. He thought that it might seem rude to check the money in front of her. "Second, I think this is yours."

He reached out and took a card that she was holding out to him. It was nothing more than a standard gift card for Lynn's Kitchen, a restaurant not far from there. The food was supposed to be really good, not that he had been able to afford it. What he didn't know, was what he was supposed to do with it.

"Mrs. Lori, what am I supposed to do with it?" Lincoln asked. It couldn't have been as simple as just returning it to someone. She could have called that person in, instead of calling him. Maybe this was a trick. He knew that it wasn't his. "It isn't mine."

"I am sure it is yours, Lincoln." She crossed her arms around her chest, "I checked it. It's a full two hundred dollar gift card. It can be used at Lynn's Kitchen."

"You know about me and my sister?" Lincoln was worried. First it was Lana, now this manager lady knew. This wasn't good, it wasn't good at all.

"You're sister?" Okay, so Lucy was safe. Though, if he was taken to a foster home, Lucy wouldn't be alright without him. So, this was still bad. "I didn't know, there might be another gift card you may have dropped. I'm sure we'll find it before that card runs out." He didn't know what this lady was going to do with that information.

"I don't understand." Lincoln said looking down at the card.

"I think I know what's going on, and I should literally tell the police." Alright, here it goes. He knew this was going to come. "But... I'm not. There's a reason, isn't there?"

Lincoln nodded, not wanting to explain why.

"Can I...?" He asked.

"Oh, Yes. Of course." He watched as Mrs. Lori got up from her desk. "I had the kitchen make something for you, though... If you don't mind waiting a bit, I can have them make something for your sister."

"You don't have to... Whatever they made, I'm sure will be enough." He didn't want to tell her that he was used to eating very little food, so that his sister could eat more. If she was being truthful, she was already doing a lot more than he had imagined anyone really would. And he didn't want her pity. People feeling sorry for him and his sister was not something that he wanted.

"I insist." She put her hand on his shoulder, walking him out of her office, and towards the kitchen. "I insist. I've seen you around the town. You work so hard. And literally get so little in return. I thought you were fighting just to survive... Now I know that you're taking care of your sister. I can understand that. I'm the eldest, I'd do anything for my siblings if they needed it." Once they made it to the kitchen, "Hey, double that order I asked you for. Add some of that cake dad brought over."

"Mrs. Lori... Could you, you know, not tell anyone. I... don't want to lose Lucy." He heard his voice cracking.

"Lincoln. Are you and your sister being abused?" She asked, and he shook his head. "Have a dry place to sleep, and live?" He nodded. "Is it warm enough?" He hesitated a it.

"We have a lot of blankets. But we have... someplace indoors no one knows about we stay in."

"So, it's only you two?" He nodded again, as one of the workers brought out styrofoam containers. "Alright, go on back to your sister. Enjoy your food."

"Mrs Lori, I can never repay you."

"Using that gift card will make us even."

…

He made it back to the junkyard and realized that the wire they used to hold the fence closed was a lot lower than usual. He assumed Lana had returned, maybe she had decided to come visit Lucy. That was good. His sister wasn't like other people, so anyone that got along with her was welcome to him. He worried about his sister being all alone.

Yes, he knew that she liked being alone. But she also enjoyed reading to him, and talking with him. Maybe she would enjoy some company.

He rounded the corner and stopped in his tracks. Lucy and Lana were out side. He knew that Lucy couldn't stay in the bus all the time. While it wasn't warm, it was less cold than usual. So, at first he thought that they might be out enjoying being outside before it got too cold for Lucy to be out. At least, that's what he had thought before he saw the brunette girl in glasses, that was even shorter than Lana. She was up on the top of the bus.

"Yeth, thith will work nithely, the battery thhould be at macthimium power." the brunette called down as she was climbing down the back of the bus. "Luthy, if you would do the honorth, and turn on the thwittth."

He stood there and watched as his sister flipped the switch, and saw nothing happening. No sounds... nothing. Maybe it didn't work. He watched the three girls go into the bus. And not come back out. After a few minutes curiosity got the better of him, and he made his way to the bus and walked inside.

Inside he was met with more light than usual, and he heard the soft hum of something. He looked around and had three sets of eyes staring at him. He gazed around, and saw the lamp that was on, there was some kind of box under the table. Finally, his eyes stopped on the heater near the sofa. He was amazed there was power inside of the bus.

"How?" He looked around the bus.

"It ith thimple, there were all the netheththary rethourtheth here in the dthunkyard. I only athymbled it to be utheful." the girl in glasses looked at him, as she adjusted her glasses. She had messy brown hair, a long sleved green sweater and baggy red pants, along with her, already noticed, glasses "You mutht be Lincoln, I am Litha."

"Yeah, Linc. This is my sister Lisa. I told you, she's super smart." Lana said pointing to the heater that was working.

"Thank you, Lana, for your praithe." Lisa stood up from the couch "However, it ith time for uth to go. Endthoy your meal, we will return tomorrow, to ttheck on the thtatuth of the tholar panelth. Come along, Lana."

"Alright, See you guys later!" Lana smiled big at them as they made their way towards the door. And with that, they left past him out of the bus