It was the next day and Nick had already arrive at the facility. "Hope you don't mind I came a little early." He said to Walter as he came in.
"Not at all. Lincoln is in the training room right now." Walter replied.
"Well I'm not going to start my trial until a few hours. I just wanted to talk to you about."
"Me being Lincoln's father?" Walter asked.
"Yeah." Nick replied.
"To be honest it's a lot to take in. I suppose I should just go one day at a time. We're going to at least try to get to know each other."
"That's good. I was shocked when Lynn told us you were Lincoln's father. I had my suspicions as did Samson but Jerry figured it out from the beginning."
"Figures Jerry knew. Anyway how is it going at the shop?"
"It's going okay. The girls came by with Clyde when I was leaving. Alistair said it was okay if Clyde knew the truth but I noticed that Lori wasn't with them."
Walter just gave a small chuckle. "Figures. She's probably off telling her Boo Boo Bear right now." He said.
"That makes sense." Nick replied.
MEANWHILE WITH LORI
Lori was currently on her way to diner outside Royal Woods where Bobby and Ronnie Anne were waiting for her at. She had asked if they would meet her there so she could tell them what she found out about Lincoln. When she got there she saw Bobby waiting along with his sister. "Hi there Boo Boo Bear." She said as she hugged him.
Ronnie Anne just groaned and immediately broke it up. "Can you please just tell us about Lincoln!" She shouted.
"It might be best if we sat down for this." Lori said.
They then went to a booth to sit down. Before anything could be said they heard someone talking to them. "Do you mind if I join you?" It asked.
"No buddy. Now get your own table." Ronnie Anne said as she looked at the person to see it was a man wearing glasses.
Lori looked at him and asked "Why are you here Alistair?"
"I know you don't keep secrets from Bobby so I thought it would be best if I came along and helped explain some stuff." He said.
"Babe who is this?" Bobby asked.
"This is Alistair. He is the one who brought Lincoln to our home when he was just a baby so we could adopt him. He also knows Lincoln's birth mother and father." Lori replied earning gasps from Bobby and Ronnie Anne.
"It's a long story so why don't I pull up a chair so I can explain." Alistair said as he pulled up a chair to the table and sat in it. He then pulled out a photo. "This is a picture of Lincoln's birth parents when they graduated high school." He said as he began to explain the history between Walter and Emily involving everything that happened to them. He even told them although he tried to say it in simple terms about how Lincoln was conceived.
Ronnie Anne could just tell how much he was uncomfortable going in to this and decided to cut him off. "You can stop our mom's a nurse so you can save yourself the trouble explaining." She said.
"Oh thank you!" Alistair shouted with relief.
"So Lincoln is with is real dad right now?" Bobby asked.
"Yes he is. Right now Walter is helping Lincoln get in shape so we can draw out Grant." Alistair replied only to see the worry on their faces. "You don't have to worry Lincoln is in capable hands and I feel I should let you know that I have agents keeping an eye on you and your family just in case so you don't have to worry." He told them causing them to nod in an understanding way. "Now if you excuse me I promise Leni when I told her that I was coming with you that I stop by the local animal shelter and take photos of the dogs there so she can look at them later. She's still trying to find the right shade of fur to go with Lincoln's wolf boy costume she's making."
"Wolf boy costume?" Ronnie Anne asked.
Alistair just gave a sigh. "Yes, unfortunately one of my men, Jerry, gave her the idea to make a wolf boy costume for Lincoln. It came to him when he went to a tourist trap last year and saw a young boy wearing pants with fur on them and fake wolf ears and teeth. The poor boy didn't even have a shirt on. Anyway he also gave Lincoln's sisters the idea to take photos of Lincoln in his wolf boy costume when it was done and sell them to girls. That way they can figure out which girl likes Lincoln the most." He said.
Ronnie Anne just blushed at the thought of Lincoln wearing a wolf boy costume but then thought of other girls having photos of him snapped her out of it. "You shouldn't have to do that for Leni." She said.
Alistair just gave another sigh. "I know that but she put me in a position where I can't refuse." He said.
"What did she do?" Lori asked.
"She gave me the puppy dog eyes look." Alistair replied.
"What?! That's why you're doing that!" Ronnie Anne shouted.
"Miss Santiago you must understand while I may have resistance to most things the puppy dog eyes look is not one of them. I can assure you when a girl gives a boy the puppy dog eyes look we break. In fact it is every man's weakness. I even remember a time when Emily want Walter to a attend a banquet dinner with her and he said no. Next thing you know he's going with her because she gave him the puppy dog eye look. I mean surely you have used it before?"
"Actually I haven't. I don't know how." Ronnie Anne replied.
"I can show you." Lori said causing Ronnie Anne to say yes to her offer.
Alistair then said good bye to them as he then left the diner.
MEANWHILE WITH LINCOLN
Lincoln was currently in the training room getting himself for Nick's trial when he heard a knock at the door. He turn around to see Walter. "Lincoln, Nick's here and he's ready to give you his trial if you're ready." He said.
Lincoln just nodded and said "I'm ready."
"Good. Nick's waiting by his building so come on." Walter said as he lead Lincoln to Nick.
As they got to Nick's building they saw Nick waiting by the entrance. "So you're Nick." Lincoln said.
"Yes I am Lincoln." Nick said as he then asked "Are you ready for my trial?"
"Yes I am." Lincoln replied.
"Good then follow me." Nick said as he walked into his building and into an elevator with Lincoln following him. Nick just pressed the bottom button taking them to the last floor. When they reached it Nick immediately stepped out. "We're here come on out." He said.
Lincoln stepped out of the elevator to see the room. It was basically a large wide room nothing was in it except the floor and ceiling lights. "What's the trial?" Lincoln asked.
Nick just gave a small smile. "The trial is a simple game of tag." He said.
"A game of tag?" Lincoln asked.
"Yes tag. It's simple really all you have to do is hit me in order to pass and you have one hour to do so if you fail then you have to wait two days before you can take it again." Nick replied as he then asked "Are you ready?"
"Yes I am." Lincoln replied.
"Then let's start. Try and hit me." Nick said as he stood there in the middle of the room.
Lincoln ran right towards him with his fist ready getting ready to hit him only to see he wasn't there when he got near him and that Nick was standing across room behind him. "This isn't going to be easy is it?" Lincoln asked.
Nick just gave a smirk. "What are you talking about Lincoln? I am making this easy for seeing how I'm still wearing my weights." He said showing the weights on his wrists and ankles.
Lincoln just thought to himself. 'Okay attacking him straight on is a no go so what can I do?' An idea then came to his head. Lincoln then looked straight at Nick forming a fist and ran towards Nick however he stopped a little bit in front of him swinging his fist backwards nearly hitting Nick who was running to the other side.
Nick who was surprised when Lincoln almost hit him barely managed to dodge it. Not wanting to stay in that place for along he quickly managed to get to the other side. "I have to admit I did not see that coming but you have to be more quicker than that to hit me." He said.
Lincoln just gave a smirk and replied "Believe me when I say this Nick you won't see me coming."
Nick just laughed. Lincoln began running again only to stop midway and jumped making his way to Nick. Nick's eyes just grew wide as he saw Lincoln coming towards him and dodge it to the left while Lincoln landed to the right. He quickly ran to the other side while Lincoln quickly turned around and jumped again this time landing in front of Nick just inches away from him. Now Nick was panicking he quickly ran back and Lincoln made another jump. When Nick made it to the other side he quickly backstepped and ran the other way then stopped to turn around he didn't see Lincoln. Nick was looking around the room but could see Lincoln anywhere in the room. "Okay this isn't funny! Where are you kid?!" He screamed.
MEANWHILE WITH WALTER
Walter was watching the trial with Emily. "Where did Lincoln go?" Emily asked.
Walter just thought to himself and then said "Emily play the footage to when Lincoln jumped the first time." Emily proceed to show him the footage as Walter just watched it. "Now play it back to when he jumped the second time." As Walter watched it he began to laugh and then turned to Emily. "Emily do you have cameras everywhere in that room?" He asked.
"Yes I do Walter." Emily replied.
"Even around the ceiling?" Walter asked causing Emily to smirk and nod.
BACK WITH NICK
Nick was looking around the room trying to find Lincoln when he noticed the lights shaking back and forth. He looked up to see Lincoln jumping from light to light. "What the?! How did you get up there?" He shouted as he then thought for a moment and realized the answer. "You jumped up there?!" Nick shouted as he watch Lincoln go from light to light.
Lincoln didn't answer him as he kept jumping from light to light making sure the light shined into Nick's eye blinding him. Lincoln then jumped down towards him forming a fist while screaming "Hey Nick! Tag you're it!" Lincoln then punched him right in the face knocking him out.
Walter's voice could be heard from the intercom. "Great work Lincoln! You passed the second trial! Just one more to go." He said.
"That's great Walter but is Nick okay?" Lincoln asked only to hear Nick start groaning. Lincoln went straight to him and began to help him up. "I'm sorry for hitting you so hard Nick." He said.
"That's okay Lincoln. I told you that you needed to hit me to pass and you did. So you passed." Nick said but then asked. "But I'm curious Lincoln how did you come up with that plan?"
Lincoln just gave a small smile and said "Well I knew if I kept charging right towards you that you would just dodge it quickly and run to the other side so I knew I would need a different plan. Then I remember that Emily helped design the building and wondered if there was at least something I could use."
"The ceiling lights." Nick said.
"Yeah I knew I couldn't jump straight up there without giving it away so I needed to distract you. I knew if I got you off your guard you wouldn't expect me attacking from above."
Nick just laughed and asked "I'm curious how did you learn to jump so high?"
"I live in a house with ten sisters. Do you know how many times I have to jump over the fights that break out? Sometimes I make it and sometimes I don't."
"Well I'm just surprised you could jump so high with the weights on."
"Well it wasn't easy but I managed." Lincoln said.
Nick just chuckled and went to a small scanner next to the elevator and placed his hand on it. After the scanner was done scanning his hand he then said "I, Agent Nick Williams, acknowledge that Lincoln has passed my test." A small compartment opened next to the scanner. Nick reached in and pulled out a key. He then turned to Lincoln and said "Okay let's go and give this key to Walter and get those weights off you once and for all."
"I can finally get these weights off?" Lincoln asked as he stepped into the elevator with Nick.
"Of course. You passed my trial so you don't need to wear them anymore." Nick replied as he pressed the button to go up.
As soon as they got to the control room Lincoln handed the key to Walter who then inserted it into a second keyhole that was in a panel. "Just one more to go Lincoln." He said as he turned to face him. "Now let's get those weights off."
As Walter began taking the weights off Lincoln who was wondering what last building was going to be like asked "So what are the challenges in the next building?"
"Well the thing about Samson's building is there are no challenges just his trial." Walter replied as he got the last weight off.
"So I can take his trial tomorrow?" Lincoln asked.
"Let me explain. Samson decided not to add any challenges and just go straight to the challenge but you're going have to wait three days to take. That would give you enough time to train for what he may throw at you. Now I updated the training schedule as well." Walter replied.
"Too bad I don't know what his building is like." Lincoln said.
Emily then said "Samson asked me to design his trial room into something so it's exactly like Nick's trial room."
"Well I'm going to take off. I'll tell everyone what happened." Nick said as he looked at Lincoln. "Lincoln you better prepare yourself because Samson is not going to hold back. He's going to come at you with everything he's got so you better give it your all."
"I intend to." Lincoln said with a determined look.
TWO DAYS LATER
It had been two days since Nick had left and Lincoln has been training like crazy for what Samson might do. His sparring sessions with Walter had even grown intense as Walter started getting serious in their spars but luckily Lincoln has increased his speed and reflexes since getting the weights off. While Lincoln was training in the training room Walter was out in the hall with Emily talking about something very important. "Now's the time to tell him Emily." Walter said.
"I don't think it's the right time. I mean he might lose his focus on Samson tomorrow if we tell him now." She said.
"Stop making excuses. Now either you tell him or I will." He said.
"Okay fine I'll tell him but only one condition."
"What's that?" He asked.
"That you will be there right next to me when I tell him." She said.
Walter just gave a smile. "Emily I'm not going anywhere and there's nothing that's going to stop me from being there with you when you tell him." He said. With that said they made their way into the training room. To get Lincoln's attention Walter said to him "Lincoln there's something Emily and me need to tell you so you may want to sit down."
Lincoln just turned around and saw that his birth parents had something big to tell him. Thinking nothing else could shock him after everything he's seen and been through so far he said "Look there's nothing you two can say that will shock me after all I have seen and heard."
Emily just stepped forward and said "Lincoln I'm not really an A.I. program. I'm actually your real birth mother, well her spirit actually.
Lincoln just stood there. "Yeah I need to sit down for this." He said as he went to a chair and sat down. "Start from the beginning."
Emily just sighed and started to talk. "You see when I died I knew that you were going to go to a loving family but I really wanted to see you grow up. So when I realized I was a ghost I knew I could keep a watch over you and Walter. Everything was going great I saw the family you had and the friends you made but then Lucy was born and that started to complicate things."
"Because she can see ghosts." Lincoln said.
"Exactly. I didn't want the truth about you to be expose so early to you so I had to be careful but luckily I had some help from her Great Grandma Harriet. She told me that she was going to teach Lucy about the supernatural and also told me that when Lucy saw me to just disappear quickly. Then the incident with Lynn happened and I knew Plan B was about to kick in soon. I told Harriet all about my plan and she told me that since I put my conscious in my program that I could merge myself with it. She knew how much I wanted to talk to you and spend some time with you so I did it with no hesitation." She explained.
Lincoln just took everything in and turned to Walter. "I take it you knew since you're here with us?" He asked.
"Yeah. I knew from the beginning since I saw her and Alistair made that comment. I've been around her so much that I would be a moron not to see the real her." Walter replied.
"Are you mad at me?" Emily asked.
"No I'm not mad. I'm just upset you didn't tell me earlier. I would of understood." Lincoln replied. Tears of joy just start to come down Emily's face when she heard him say that. Lincoln just walked up to her and said "I need to finish training so how about we talk later tonight?"
"I would love that." Emily said with a smile while Walter just gave a smirk.
THE NEXT DAY
After a night of talking with Emily Lincoln was currently eating his breakfast with Walter when Emily appeared. "Walter, Samson is here." She said.
"Let him in Emily." Walter said. He then got up and went to the hall and shouted "In here Samson!"
A few seconds later Samson came into the room. "Hello Walter. Lincoln. Emily." He said to them as he approached Lincoln to ask. "Are you ready for my trial?"
Before Lincoln could answer Walter decided to butt in. "Samson I know you want to see how far he came along with his training but I'm curious. How's the shop and everyone doing?" He asked.
Samson just looked away and groaned. "The shop is fine but there was a situation two days ago." He said.
"What kind of situation?" Walter asked with a serious look.
"Well it involves Jerry and Leni." Samson said getting Lincoln's attention the second Leni's name was mention.
"Is Leni okay?" Lincoln asked.
Walter just gave a groan and asked "What did Jerry do?"
"Leni is fine it's the other guy that's not." Samson replied.
"You still haven't answered my question! What did Jerry do?!" Walter shouted.
Samson just gave a sigh. "It's sort of complicated so I'll start at the beginning. Two days ago Lincoln's sisters were at the shop and Leni happened to be complaining how Lori hasn't let her drive the van for practice so Jerry volunteered to teach Leni to drive." The mouths of Walter and Lincoln were wide open when they heard that. "Anyway things were going fine until Jerry spotted someone in the car right next to them. It was a criminal wanted by the F.B.I. Jerry then pulled out a siren he keeps on him when ever we go out and slapped it on top of the car. He then told Leni that the guy in the car right next to them is a criminal wanted for blowing a dress store. That he was on a mission to destroy all top clothing so people would be force to wear rags for the rest of their lives and never look fabulous again."
Walter just rolled his eyes and asked "Leni can't be that dumb to fall-"
Before Walter could Lincoln cut him off. "Don't finish that question Walter." He said and then asked "What happened next?"
"Well Leni took charge of the car and began ramming the guy forcing him off the road and into a pond. After that was done Jerry called the cops while Leni pulled the guy out of his car and began slapping him and throttling him. It took five officers to pull her off him." Samson said.
"Yes and because of Leni's actions the man is in a full body cast." A voice that came into the room said. Everyone took a look to see it was Alistair.
"Alistair what are you doing here?" Walter asked.
"I came to see Lincoln take Samson's trial." He replied. "Anyway back to Leni. I have informed Jerry to never try to teach her how to drive again."
"Thank you for that." Lincoln said.
"Oh yeah I forgot to tell you that Leni used some of the fabric and cloth we had and made a dress. We were wondering if it was okay to sell it." Samson said as he pulled out his phone and showed a picture of the dress.
Walter took a look at it. "I have to admit it's not bad but we need a woman's opinion." He said as he grabbed the phone and showed the picture to Emily.
Emily just looked at it. "It looks great! You should definitely sell it." She said.
Walter just gave a small smile and said "There you have it. Sell it."
"I'll go ahead and call the shop to tell them." Alistair said. "Samson you go get ready for your trial it looks like Lincoln is ready to take it."
"Yeah I am but I need some time to get ready." Lincoln said.
"Fine but don't take to long. I'll be by my building when you're ready." Samson said as he left the room.
TEN MINUTES LATER
Lincoln met Samson who outside his building waiting. "Are you ready?" Samson asked.
"Yeah I am." Lincoln said.
"Good then follow me." Samson said as he walked into his building with Lincoln following him.
Lincoln walked in to see the building was just a huge single room that was exactly like Nick's trial room. "So what's the trial?" Lincoln asked.
Samson just gave a smirk and said "The trial is simple just knock me down on to the ground but know that I will fight back. I'm only going to be using one percent of my strength. You have an hour to complete it but you should also know that if I knock you down you fail and will have to wait three days to take it again. Are you ready?"
"Bring it!" Lincoln shouted.
Samson gave a smirk and yelled back "Good answer!" As he then stomped his foot to the ground causing the ground to vibrate. Lincoln seeing Samson about slam his foot down immediately jumped up and towards Samson intending to jump kick down on him. Samson seeing this coming instantly blocked it with his arms causing Lincoln to jump back landing on his feet. Samson just stood there while Lincoln rushed him just when he was getting close Samson stuck his arm out and swung it towards Lincoln. Seeing this in time Lincoln backstepped a few times just barely missing it. He felt the force of that punch and knew he had to come up with a different approach. Thinking quickly Lincoln ran towards Samson again and quickly jumped over Samson landing a few feet behind. Samson quickly turned around only to see Lincoln jump again getting an idea of want Lincoln was trying to pull and gave a smirk as he turned around to see Lincoln standing behind him only to quickly jump. Samson noticed the lights shaking back and forth and looked up. "It's cute that you think you can take me out like Nick but you should know it won't work!" He shouted.
MEANWHILE WITH WALTER AND ALISTAIR
Walter and Alistair were watching the trial with Emily and noticed what was happening. "It's over Lincoln passed." Walter said.
"This is something you would pull." Alistair said and then asked "Did you happen to tell him about some of your mission?"
"I didn't tell him anything. He came up with this on his own." Walter said with a smirk.
BACK WITH SAMSON
Samson was just looking up at the ceiling trying to find Lincoln keeping his guard up while he was at it but then saw something for a brief second: A wire. Suddenly thoughts started through his mind. Jerry saying that Lincoln managed to learn his wire trick and used against him. Then Nick saying how fast Lincoln was even with the weights on and can only imagine just how fast he would be without them. But the most important thing he thought of was Lincoln was Walter's son. "Crap I got played." He muttered as he quickly looked down to see Lincoln crouching in front of him.
"I wasn't trying to take you out like Nick. I just wanted to make you think I was." Lincoln said as he quickly rushed Samson jabbed his elbow into his gut causing Samson to lower his guard completely. Lincoln then screamed "And this checkmate!" as he then formed an uppercut hitting Samson in the jaw causing him to fly off the ground and crash quickly into the ground.
Walter's voice could be heard coming from the intercom. "Great work Lincoln! You passed the final trial! Help Samson up so we can get the final key and unlock the second stage of the nanites." He said.
Lincoln went over to Samson who was starting to get up. Samson just looked at him and smirked. "That was one hell of a punch not to mention a brilliant plan on distracting me. "You are definitely Walter's son." He said.
"What do you mean?" Lincoln asked.
"Whenever we were on missions Walter would circle around our enemies confusing them making them think he was coming at them from a certain direction only to come from another. He would toy with them but most importantly he would scare them with his battle roar. When they hear it they would think a lion is in the area looking for prey." Samson replied as he walked to a scanner in the wall and put his hand on it. After it was done scanning he said "I, Agent Jack Samson acknowledge that Lincoln has passed my test." A small compartment then opened an Samson reached inside to grab the key. He then turned to Lincoln and said "Let's go unlock the second stage."
When they got to the control room Lincoln handed Walter the final key. Walter asked "Are you ready?"
"Yes I am." Lincoln replied but then noticed someone was missing and asked. "Where's Emily?"
"She said there were some things she needed to check on." Walter replied as he took the key and placed it in the last keyhole.
With all three keys in they notices that something was coming on to the main monitor. What they saw were a bunch of digital balloons falling with words popping up. "Congratulations on passing all three trials Lincoln! Unfortunately there is so second stage to the nanites so bye!" It said before it disappeared. Everyone just stood there not knowing what was going on. Walter was just rubbing his head trying to figure what Emily just pulled. Alistair and Samson were just stunned as their mouth just hung open. While Lincoln decided to break the ice by screaming "What just happened?!"
"That's exactly what I would like to know Walter. You grew up with her so you must know what she was planning." Alistair said as he looked at him.
"Figures Emily would just bail leaving me to explain." Walter muttered as he turned to face everyone. "I think I know what Emily's main goal was. Now it was obvious that she wanted Lincoln to have a normal life even if she had activated the first it would still give him somewhat of a normal life but she knew Grant would come into the picture and he probably figured Emily would put some kind of precaution on Lincoln so he could get what he wanted. That's where the second stage comes in as it would unlock everything but here's the main thing: there is no second stage."
Lincoln and Samson's eyes just grew wide as Alistair adjusted his glasses. "If there was no second stage what was the point in all of this?" Alistair asked.
"Simple. To give Lincoln Elite training." Walter replied stunning everyone in the room.
"Explain." Alistair said.
"Think about it. Since Lincoln got here he has been training nonstop going through challenges and passing trials. Each trial had to do with my team members who are the best in their fields which he manage to pass. He even had special training from me. All of this was to prepare Lincoln for Grant." Walter explained as he then looked at Alistair. "But before I get to the most important thing let me ask you a question Alistair. Has there been any recent activity from Grant?"
"No. Not since you took out Keller." Alistair replied.
"And there's the main answer. The reason there hasn't been any activity from him is because he wanted us to unlock whatever safety Emily made namely the second stage. But there is no second stage and he doesn't know that. At most the nanites were designed to look like they had two stages when they actually had one." Walter said.
Alistair just gave a smirk. "Emily certainly had us all fooled but in the end she knew what she was doing." He said.
"So what next?" Samson asked.
"We head back to the shop while Walter stays here with Lincoln until we contact them with a plan. Grant is bound to start acting up so we need to be prepared." Alistair replied as he turned to face Walter. "We'll contact you when we come up with something. Just continue to train Lincoln and tell Emily I'm not mad."
"Yes Alistair." Walter replied as Alistair and Samson left. He then turned to Lincoln and asked "So what do you want to do now?"
Lincoln just gave sigh and said "Let's get back to training."
BACK AT THE LION'S DEN
Back at the shop Nick and Jerry were currently working while the girls were there as well. When Alistair and Samson walked in. Seeing them Nick decided to ask "Did Lincoln pass?"
"He did." Alistair replied.
"So did you unlock the second stage?" Nick asked.
"There was no second stage." Samson replied.
The girls and Nick just gave out a loud gasp while Jerry said. "I could of told you that."
Everyone then turned their attention to Jerry as Samson asked "You knew there wasn't a second stage?"
"Yeah. I mean Emily went through a lot of trouble just to give Lincoln a normal life if she was going to give him anything it would at least be the first stage. As for the second stage it was quite obvious it was just for show for Grant while her main goal was for us to give Lincoln Elite training." Jerry replied stunning everyone with his answer.
"If you knew why didn't you say anything?!" Samson shouted.
"Because I knew Emily would kill me even if it was beyond the grave." Jerry replied causing the men to nod in agreement.
"So what now?" Lori asked.
"For now you go home. We need to discuss what our next action will be." Alistair said.
The girls just nodded and knew it would be best for them to head home for now so they left.
TO BE CONTINUED