AN: I'm starting to think that Hero only starts taking commissions when he's jonesing for another one of these stories. Anyway, he did another picture, so I did another one of these. Enjoy. Oh, and since I can't use specific covers for individual chapters, I've decided that I'm going to be changing the cover art to whatever the latest picture is. If you'd like to see the previous ones going forward, I embed the relevant pictures in their corresponding chapters in the AO3 version of the story. You can also find them wherever Hero posts his stuff, like the booru and whatnot.

Lincoln darted forward, pumping his legs as hard as he could. As he did so, he frantically glanced around, taking in his surroundings, desperately looking for something he could use for shelter. Finally, he spied something that might do the trick. A large, nondescript, white panel van. The vehicle itself was immaterial, what was important was that it was relatively sturdy, and the body of the vehicle was suspended just high enough that a lanky pale-haired boy might be able to squeeze underneath. The fact that it'd be incredibly difficult for an owner to identify such a vehicle if something unfortunate were to happen to it was a happy bonus ("Well officer, it has zero distinguishing features other than being incredibly van-like. Wait, where are you going? Come back!"). His destination set, Lincoln changed course and charged onward. Just as he was beginning to think he might actually make it, a familiar tingling washed over his body, causing his arm hairs to stand straight up. Throwing caution to the wind, he dove for it. Lincoln winced as he hit the ground, landing on his stomach, but still being carried by his momentum. Boy flesh barely protected by his thin polo shirt met unreasonably prickly grass, which quickly turned to sidewalk, and finally rough, jagged pavement as he slid home into the cool shade of the van's underbelly. He'd made it—

"Shazam!" Multiple female voices cried out, nearly in unison. The ground beneath him began to tremble, soon joined by the van above him as a powerful shockwave rocked the vehicle. Much to his relief, however, it stayed standing. Lincoln finally let out the breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. He was safe. For now.

It would be unfair to downplay the girls' accomplishments thus far. Lynn, Lucy, and Sam, in spite of the responsibilities that had been thrust upon them, had risen to the occasion. Despite their youth and inexperienced, each of them had accepted their new commitment to protect Royal Woods from the myriad of strange and fantastical threats that threatened the city on a regular basis. And as individuals, they were doing quite well, given the circumstances. As a team, on the other hand...well, they still had a ways to go. Which is why they had agreed (albeit reluctantly) to participate in some team training exercises. And everything had been going great...until it hadn't.

Things had started promisingly enough. He'd laid out the schedule that Lynn had helped him prepare and given the girls an inspiring pep talk about the importance of family, blood or otherwise, which was supposed to help them let down their guards and begin to work as a team. Theeeeeen it got a little harder to recall exactly what had happened. Somebody put their hand on him, perhaps a bit too intimately, someone else had started yelling, and before he knew it—

Lincoln clung to his impromptu shelter to steady himself as the ground began to violently shake again.

—that. That happened. When it rains, it pours. And then the lightning comes out. This, unfortunately, was not an uncommon occurrence, but the girls had gotten much better at limiting the damage to each other, rather than the much less invulnerable public and private property that was always so...present, when these scuffles occurred. He was reasonably confident that they'd get it out of their systems soon enough, and then he'd be able to—

CREEEEK

"What the—" Was all Lincoln had time to formulate in his mind before the protective mass of steel situated above him abruptly vanished. Lincoln blinked as sunlight suddenly replaced the cool darkness he'd surrounded himself with.

"Found you, big brother." Lucy Marvel cooed as she peered down at him, effortless holding the van aloft in one deceptively delicate-looking hand.

"Lucy!" Lincoln greeted his not so little sister, trying to keep his voice level. "How—"

FWOOSH

He winced as the raven-haired girl sent the vehicle soaring off into the distance with a flick of her hand.

Lincoln cleared his throat. "H-how's training going?"

Before she could reply, a distressingly large tree came hurtling down from the sky, straight at their location. Lucy pivoted slightly and swung one arm out, colliding with the trunk of the tree just as it came within range, and causing it to shatter into tiny, splintered fragments.

"Does that answer your question?" She asked, turning back to him.

He nodded. "Looks like it's going...well. Maybe you should get back over there and—EEP" He abruptly cut himself off as Lucy was suddenly directly in front of him, crouching so as to put herself close to his level, a ghost of a smile on her face.

"Actually," She purred, inching closer to him. "I think I would benefit from more...private, instruction. I think we should find some place a bit more secluded, and maybe we can go over that incantation I was having trouble with."

"Oh no you don't!"

Trusting his instinct, Lincoln flung himself backward, wincing as his butt hit the pavement. It was absolutely the right move to make, however, as immediately after doing so a crimson streak crashed into the younger girl, smashing her into the ground and causing a small crater to form beneath them. Lincoln briefly caught a glimpse of Lynn standing over the now dazed Lucy before a cyan streak joined the fray, smashing into the pair in a similar fashion and causing the trio to be enveloped by a Loud Family Fight Cloud, which was a commonplace phenomenon that occurred when enough sisters got into a tussle with one another. It was strangely heartwarming to know that whatever force governed that particular phenomenon now seemed to consider Sam family enough partake. Nevertheless, this was a pretty good sign that he should remove himsef from the area. And so, not trusting his footing this close to the brawling supergirls, Lincoln proceeded to crawl away.

So intent was he on getting away—

"Oof!"

—that he completely failed to notice the very solid object that was standing between him, and relative freedom. Blinking away the sharp, stabbing pain that was now throbbing in his nose, Lincoln notice that the subject of his head-on collision was a very distinctive pair of long, purple boots. Craning his neck upward, Lincoln was met with a warm smile and an outstretched palm.

"Need a hand, lil bro?" Queried Luna Loud.

"Luna!" Lincoln exclaimed, exhaling in relief. He took her hand and used it to help himself off the ground. "Listen, I've—"

"Gotta get away?" Luna interjected, dryly, her lips quirking into a small smile. Luna pointed with her free hand, and following along with his eyes, Lincoln saw that the fight cloud had dispersed. In its place now sat the far less impressive sight of three superheroines, each possessed of inhuman strength, speed, and stamina, now ineffectually grappling with one another and pulling each other's hair.

"Yeeeeah." Lincoln drawled, turning back to his sister. "Any chance you could give me a lift?"

"I can see why you might not want to be in the middle of that." Luna opined, stroking her chin thoughtfully. Her smile grew ever so slightly more devilish. "Or maybe you do..."

"Luna!"

"Just messing with you bro." Luna chuckled, pulling Lincoln into a quick side hug. "Alright, gimme a second..."

As Luna sucked in a deep lungful of air, Lincoln took a few steps back—

"Shazam!"

—Hoping to avoid the torrent of debris that tended to accompany these moments. It didn't do him much good, and as he stood there, spitting out a mouthful of dust, Lincoln, not for the first time found himself wondering if there wasn't a more practical way to call on the power of the living lightning. Still, he found himself smiling as the smoke cleared, revealing the form of his newest champion.

"Come on, little bro." Said Luna Marvel as she reached out and offered him her hand once more. "Let's fly away."

"Woah!" Luna cried out, as she began to tilt to the side, wobbling unsteadily. Like many things that took skill, flying certainly looked easy enough from the outside, but it turned out that there were a lot of little nuances to keep in mind to avoid spiraling out of control. Which wouldn't have been so bad, had she been flying solo, but on this occasion, she was carrying precious cargo. Letting out a very unladylike grunt of exertion, Luna pulled upward with all her might, finally righting herself at last. She sighed in relief, finally allowing herself to relax, just a bit.

"Sorry, Linc." Luna said, chuckling sheepishly. "Still trying to get the hang of this."

"Mrfph mrkrk".

Whoops. Her cheeks reddening ever so slightly, Luna loosened her hold on Lincoln, forcing herself to hold her arms out just a little farther.

"And, uh, sorry again." She added, fighting down the urge to scratch her head in embarrassment, she didn't trust herself enough to do this with only one hand, just yet. "I'm not used to having quite so much padding up here." It then occurred to her that she might be able to save face, just a bit.

"Then again," She continued, giving Lincoln a wink. "Maybe you don't mind being so close to me."

"Maybe I don't," Lincoln replied. Much to her surprise, Lincoln stared right back at her, not the least bit daunted. There was something about that gaze of his. Her cute little brother had apparently done a lot of growing up lately, and it...stirred things inside her. Primal things. Things good sisters shouldn't be thinking about their siblings. And yet, here they were.

"Dang it," Luna grumbled, averting her eyes, hoping Lincoln didn't notice the heat blossoming in her cheeks. "I dunno if I should slap Sam or kiss her for forcing us to get together."

"You did both." Said Lincoln, lips quirking upward into a gentle smile. "A couple of times, from what I remember."

"And she deserved it." Feeling impulsive, Luna leaned down and gave Lincoln a quick, chaste kiss on the lips. "All of it."

"I can't argue with that." Lincoln reached out and gave her shoulder a squeeze. "Thanks for helping me out back there."

"Any time. But what happened back there?"

"Training."

"Ah." Luna rolled her eyes. "Yeah, you should have seen that coming. Sam and Lynn don't gel all that well."

"Well, they have to," Lincoln replied, stubbornly. "They're a team. At least, they're supposed to be."

His expression grew contemplative. "Actually, I think there might be more to it than that. The girls are...fine, mostly, when they're apart. They even get along well enough when we're together and they don't transform. But once the magic comes out..."

He shrugged helplessly. "Well, you saw back there."

Luna nodded. "Sam actually said something about that the other day."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. I'm still pretty new at this, but I think I know what she's talking about. When the magic's in you, it heightens everything, you know?"

"Well yeah. The Wisdom of Solomon, the Strength of Hercules, the—"

"No, no." Luna shook her head. "I mean, yeah, there's that stuff too, but it also heightens the way you...feel about stuff."

"I...don't think I follow."

"When you're charged up on all that magic, everything you feel gets more intense. When you get mad at something, you want to hit it really hard. When you're soaring through the sky, you get really happy. And, when you happen to be around someone you really, really like, well..." She trailed off, hoping Lincoln would get the hint.

"Yeah?" Well, so much for that.

"Dang it, Linc," Luna muttered, shaking her head in annoyance. "You like them more, ya get it?"

"Oh." His mouth formed into a cute little 'O'. "So that's why Lynn—"

"Yep."

"And why Lucy's always—"

"Double yep."

"And Sam—"

"Actually, I'm pretty sure that's just Sam." She allowed herself a giggle at her girlfriend's expense. "But yeah, it can make things...a little intense, in the right situation."

"Wow, I had no idea."

"Sam calls it 'Thunderlust'."

The way Lincoln's expression collapsed at that tidbit of information was glorious.

"Please tell me she doesn't actually call it that." He deadpanned.

"I'd like to, but it's also the name of our new song. We're gonna be playing it at our next gig."

"Fantastic," Lincoln grumbled. A moment later, his eyes widened, and he began to look her over. "Hey, Luna? Are you...uh..."

"Nope!" Luna wrenched her eyes away from a portion of Lincoln's polo shirt that had managed to catch her attention. One which had found itself plastered to his surprisingly toned stomach. "T-totally cool here, bro."

"That's a relief." He said, allowing himself to relax, and for once Luna felt grateful for her brother's legendary density for matters involving women. "Not that I'd...mind, you know"

"That's exactly what a girl likes to hear." Luna snarked, giving Lincoln another peck on the lips. "I love you too, bro."

"I do! Really!" He protested. "I"m just...really wiped right now. Honest."

"Just a joke, bro. I getcha. That's why I brought you here." Spying her destination, Luna began to make her descent towards an empty rooftop. She lowered herself just enough to allow Lincoln to safely dismount.

Lincoln looked around, puzzled. "Where is here?"

"Here," Luna gestured grandly. "Is an empty rooftop."

There was a beat of silence.

"So, should I applaud now? Or..."

"Nah, nah, little bro." Luna laughed, waving one hand to ward off his snark. "Listen, that's the whole point. Sam and I come here sometimes when we really need to cut loose and our usual soundproofing isn't cutting it."

"For music?"

"That too," Luna replied quickly. "The building's abandoned, so we don't have to worry about anyone bothering us. It's just you and me."

"And..." Lincoln's eyes began to dart back and forth. "What are we going to do exactly."

"Well, let's leave room for discussion if you're feeling better in a bit."

Luna reached behind herself. "Right now, you're gonna sit there and rest your head. And I..."

With a dramatic flourish of her cape, Luna withdrew her guitar from its hiding spot. "Am gonna play a little show for my favorite fan."

She gave her instrument an expert twirl, allowing it to come to rest, ready to play in her arms.

"How's that sound?"

She was expecting Lincoln to be at least a little excited. She'd had to put this together on zero notice, after all. Instead, he just looked puzzled.

"Where..." He fumbled his words, seemingly having difficulty articulating his thought. "Where were you keeping that."

Luna's smile hardened, just a bit. "A magician never reveals her tricks, bro."

"Luna, I'm literally a wizard, and I still can't even fathom how you managed to—"

"Do you want me to play or not!" Luna growled. Trust Lincoln to ruin things with his stupid logic. It's called showmanship, dammit!

Mercifully, Lincoln seemed to get the hint. He held up his hands apologetically.

"Sorry, Luna. Really. I think my head's just in a weird place right now. Yes, I would love to hear you play."

"Well...alright then." Luna drifted back to her little brother and gave him a quick squeeze. "You're a lucky guy, you know that?" She tried to let go, but before she could Lincoln threw his arms around her and hugged her tight.

"I'm the luckiest guy." Said Lincoln, looking her in the eye. "And I love you, Luna."

"G-glad you recognize that," Luna muttered, frustrated that once again, her little brother had managed to fluster her so. Unwilling to simply take it this time, she cupped his face with one hand and pressed her lips to his. This time, the kiss was not chaste in any way, shape, or form. Once she'd finally had her fill, she released him, and as she pulled back, she allowed herself a satisfied smile. The dazed expression on the boy's face spoke volumes.

"Wow." Said Lincoln.

"Attaboy." Luna chuckled, taking her instrument in hand once more. "Now, are you ready to rock?"

"Y-yeah." Lincoln nodded emphatically, his eyes still a little glazed over. "Let's do this."

"Alright!" Luna shouted, pumping one fist in the air. "Now, this is a little number I like to call..."

She looked Lincoln right in the eyes, and ran her tongue over her lips, a move that she'd practice many times over for a moment just like this.

"Thunderlust..."