Sins in Twisters Chapter 7: The Strongest Can Be the Weakest, a loud house fanfic

Sins in Twisters

Chapter 7: The Strongest Can Be the Weakest

On May 20th, 2013, at 2:56 pm Central Daylight Time, a storm formed and reached down from the sky and, for 39 minutes and 17 miles, carved a path of destruction through the city of Moore, Oklahoma. Leaving 24 dead, billions in damage, and leaving a legacy that to this day has remained as the last EF5 tornado recorded in history.

If there was one superpower that Ronnie Anne Santiago wished she had at this very second, it was the ability to disappear and not be found unless she deemed it worth being found. She woke up today still a bit out of mind from being home for only a few days, helped Bobby work the store for a little bit till he closed up early, and spent the day just trying to relax. She just wanted to stay in her bedroom, feel the AC around her, listen to music, and cancel out the world around her.

She didn't expect to wake up this morning to suddenly see her brother's ex and every single one of Lincoln's sisters practically standing on her front doorstep.

"Bobby…" she gazed down at her brother with scorn as clear as sunlight, making the man feel some of the color drain from his face.

He might have been older, wiser (to a limit), and mature, but little sister or not, Ronnie was still a force of nature. "Yes, Ronnie?" He asked, wishing for a moment that he didn't make direct eye contact with what looked like both life and death staring right back at him.

"Is there something you forgot to tell me about you having unexpected company over?" While she didn't make any direct motion toward them, the sisters felt as though she was gesturing to them as her worst enemy had just shown up.

"Sis, I know this might look bad-"

"And it does. Did you tell them?"

"Ronnie-"

"Did you tell them-"

"Clyde did," Lynn spoke up in Bobby's defense. Stepping up the stairs to be between the two, "I ran into him Wednesday, and he said that he brought you home. We…. had some hope you could help us."

It took a bit of willpower on Lynn's part not to show any reaction when Ronnie focused on her. Every voice in her mind told her not to just mindlessly stare at her eye, with the one voice in the back demanding all the others not to be listened to.

Staring the athlete down, despite being only higher by two steps, they almost resembled how they were built. She might have been slightly taller, but the athlete beat her in the muscle department. She remembered the one time the two of them came to blows when they were younger, and even with a messed up eye, she still felt she could kick Lynn's ass. But even if she was still recovering, both parties knew who would really win in round two.

Locked like two cats just waiting for the other to blink first, Ronnie made the first move looking back to her brother to see worry across his face if the two were really about to come to blows. Lori looked ready to jump in and grab her sister, and the others all stood back, wishing not to be pulled in. But Ronnie could see it; they all spoke the same truth from Lynn's to Lily's and Bobby's eyes.

"Goddammit, Clyde…" She muttered, pinching her nose bridge as she felt any future relaxation was lost, "Fine. You wanna know? Alright. But I'm not going PG-13 on details." She spun around and headed back inside. Her stomps echoed as she headed up the stairs to the apartments and disappeared from sight.

Feeling like he had dodged a bullet and made sure that Gracia hadn't been disturbed by the exchange, he headed back inside, "I'm so sorry about Ronnie. She hasn't been herself as of late." He apologized to the sisters.

"She's sure is just like how I remember…." Lynn muttered as she walked past him. Frustration was still burning in her eyes as Lori followed behind, giving Bobby an apologetic look as she followed behind.

Steadily the Loud clan filed into the air-conditioned hallway and up the steps to an old place that they hadn't visited in years. Once Luan was the last to enter, Bobby closed the door and followed behind. He made a quick check to ensure he had his keys on hand in case Ronnie decided to lock the door and Lynn decided to make her own entrance.

On the second floor, arriving at the door to apartment 2A, Lori felt a wave of nostalgia wash over her as she gazed around the residents she had visited a couple of times when tending university. The place didn't look too much different than all the times she was last here. The old-school TV was upgraded to a giant flatscreen on the wall, and the little window that divided the grand room and kitchen was gone in favor of a more open area. The walls were a softer white with the lack of a green outline, and the hardwood floor was completely covered with a gray carpet.

Aside from just a view of things like the old red couch between the windows, the entertainment center being a darker stained color, and some different pictures on the walls, the apartment almost looked brand new. A complete modern upgrade that made their house look like it really was stuck in the 90s.

Though there were some details Lori picked up almost instantly, and it was what was in the photos. Unlike the massive variety she remembered the Santiago and Casagrande families having everywhere on the walls, the selection present was barely a third of the size, with many of the latter family's photos missing. There was a slew of photos of the Santiagos, but photos involving Bobby and his friends and Ronnie and her friends with photos mixed in between. Some recent photos showed Bobby holding a newborn Gracia at the hospital and one of him laying on the floor with his daughter curled up on his chest like a little bean sleeping with him, visibly passed out.

More photos of birthdays, and family gatherings, all taken from the old and now new apartment, but the number of family members is slowly decreasing. A few moments of some other family popping in, but what looked like new old photos had some of the images of the ones they saw online of Ronnie with the team. Her sitting in a group hug on the stairs of a house, making a dramatic pose, Bobby sitting behind them in the tank, her with-

Without thinking, Lori pulled the picture off the wall. Feeling like her eyes were playing tricks on her, she said, "Bobby… When was this taken?"

Gaining his and her sisters' attention, the group crowded around to see what had gotten Lori's interest.

It was like any other photo taken from inside the tank. Taken from Ronnie holding the camera by the edge of the steering wheel with a full smile and sunglasses blocking her eyes. Her hair looked more cleaned up and let loose than her usual ponytail, with a large headset covering her left ear, sticking a microphone out in front. Lincoln was sitting in the passenger seat, somewhat formally dressed, with a matching pair of glasses and headphones. Ever so casually leaning back in his seat with a laptop in front of him with the door cracked open.

And then there was Bobby, leaning out from between the seats wearing an impact helmet and safety goggles with the biggest grin on his face like a kid in a candy store. His face was devoid of the hair monster that now occupied his chin, and looking actually less stressed than he was now.

Coming up around after shutting the front door, peering down at the photo she tilted for him to get a better look, Bobby felt himself smile at the photo, "That was taken last year when our family was celebrating our cousin's wedding down in New Mexico. Ronnie invited Lincoln as a guest, and they thought it would be fun driving their tornado vehicle to the party. And I got to ride with them! That thing really is a beast on wheels."

His smile only grew as he thought back to that day in the sun. Remembering his surprise when Ronnie pulled into the lot, blasting the horn and scaring the life out of his mother. Her little demonstration of the claws going through the parking lot and the establishment manager not being happy with the new holes and them taking up two spots. The photo itself was from the day after when she offered him a joyride around the area before they went their separate ways.

"It still annoys me how many of our cousins honestly thought Lincoln was my marido." Ronnie said with annoyance. Walking out from the hall carrying a large box in her hands.

"Ah, come on, sis. You and little bro looked perfect together." Bobby came over, pulling another image off the wall.

Coming up to her side as Ronnie glanced down to see it was another photo of her and Lincoln, both dressed in traditional attire, standing alone in the middle of the floor with him holding her by her waist and back. If it was anything like a movie, it was the moment the world would have zoned with the two staring into each other's eyes and slowly closing the gap between their lips.

But she didn't let the memory go that route. Snatching the picture from his hand and placing it face down on the table, "Maybe for the camera. But it got Carl to stop bugging me about my taste in people." Without asking, she snaked her arms around Gracia and pulled her out from Bobby's grasp, "I'm going let her lie down. She doesn't need to hear anything that I'm about to say."

Holding the girl close to her shoulder, Ronnie started down the hall before pausing. Looking back over her unoccupied shoulder to the sisters, "You wanna know what storm chasing is like? Take a look in there, and you'll get an answer." She pointed at the box as she continued on her mission. Disappearing through what was her bedroom door with a soft thunk of the handle.

Though it warmed his heart to see her practically act like a mother, his focus on the box on the dining table made that warmth slowly fizzle away at the memory of what it contained. He had seen what was in that box, and from what scars she came home with, it did not help him sleep at night, knowing that a messed up eye was the worse thing she had gotten. Looking back to the Louds, he felt a lump in his throat threatens to keep him silent. As far as either of them was in the know, aside from the obvious, only he knew what happened down in Kansas that day. It wasn't his position to speak of it, given the promise he had made to both parties, and as much as he didn't want his Nini having to speak of it again, he knew what she was doing.

Buttering them up, giving them a small taste of what is to be expected should they really want to know. What that box contained was a reminder of just what kind of horrors wind can and will do to people. Between her bringing out the mysterious box and Bobby's sudden change in demeanor, Lisa was the first to realize this. Taking a slow step forward towards the table, the others slowly moved to gather around as Bobby moved off to the side to give them space.

The thoughts about what was in the back rang through their minds; was it a gift? Was it some trinkets from his travels? Was it the head of his thousand year long enemy? No one really knew for sure (except Leni hoping it was a gift), and while some hoped they were right or wrong, Lisa reached out to grab the lid and reveal to them what the truth was. Pushing away the packaging paper to reveal a black dome, she carefully reached in along the sides and slowly lifted the object out.

It was a black impact helmet, the kind she had seen Lincoln's group wore dozens of times when they were actively getting close to the storm. The black polished paint had long faded and cracked for wear and tear, with the SkyKnights logo starting to flack away on the back. But the massive crack on the left side just above the temple made them all stare at the protection equipment. A chunk of the helmet itself was literally gone, with tiny dents and odd numbers scattered about only one side. Running her finger over it, Lisa stopped her action when she felt the sharp pings from the material embedded into the material, making her see it wasn't deformed plastic but fragmented metal and glass.

But that wasn't the only thing in the box.

Holding the helmet up in her left hand, she reached down to pull out the last item; a pair of safety goggles. They used the same kind of safety goggles for eye protection in case they got hit by flying debris. But the one-piece lens was cracked, bent inward, with two much larger shards of metal, from what she couldn't even begin to guess, embedded so far that they went past the point where someone's face would have been had they have been actively wearing them.

"It's kinda funny..." Ronnie's voice sounded again, causing everyone to jump when she walked back in, "Sure, it didn't stop me from getting cut, but it did its job of stopping it from killing me." She walked over to the opposite side of Lisa, stepping between Luan and Lily as she reached over, grabbing the goggles from her hands. And for a brief moment, Lisa felt her eyes widen when Ronnie held the goggles up at the right angle; she saw the metal make the scars on her face briefly align.

"I… I don't think that's something that would be funny…at all…." Luan said as she stared at the goggles with a dreaded feeling. Not helped by the fact that the metal on the broken side of the lens had a distant reddish-brown color stained on it.

"Eh," She dropped the goggles back into the box with little care, "As I said, they served their purpose." Pushing herself away from the table, Ronnie circled around the group, strolling over to the couch. Tossing aside one of the throw pillows and plopping down on the left side.

A bit disturbed by how almost unconcerned Ronnie was at the fact that a piece of plastic was the deciding factor of her living or not. And glancing towards her goth sibling, Lisa asked a wordless question to Lucy. Both were stoic as before; as she slowly put the helmet back into the box, the emotion in their eyes spoke of a growing fear of what could have happened that day. With only the aftermath of the truck and now Ronnie to go off of, if she got the better end of the stick, Lucy wondered if she really wanted to know her brother's fate. Filtering back into the living room, Bobby moved around to sit in the green recliner to Ronnie's left while the sisters went to either take what seat they could take or, in Lynn's case, the one remaining chair to Bobby's right, but opted to remain standing mainly.

With the crowd gathered around and all focused on her, Ronnie sighed, feeling it probably was time for them to get the show on the road. "So, what exactly did you want to ask?" She asked, going from her almost carefree to a serious mood in a second.

Before anyone of them could say or ask why there were really here and what for, Lisa was the first to bluntly ask, "Where is Lincoln." Not asking it as a question but almost like order as she stepped away from the front of the group towards the woman.

Ronnie frowned, already not liking the situation more than she already did and not liking how a 12 year old was talking to her, "... you know it's considered rude to many cultures to demand something from one of your hosts."

Seeing the game she was going to play, Lisa adjusted her glasses. Putting her own serious mode up a notch, "Alright, then, can you tell us what happened on the 19th of June in Kansas?"

Ronnie let out a quiet and short gasp. Quickly losing the snarkiness she had with surprise and fear taking its place just as fast. She felt the nails of her hand dig into the aged fabric of the armrest, and the other tightly grip her shorts.

Seeing her become so frightened, Bobby tried to calm her down, "Sis-" he reached for a handout. Intended to either place it on her arm or shoulder.

"NO." She shouted. The Santiago sibling jerked his hand away as if he was on the verge of touching fire.

The sisters all jumped back from the power Ronnie put into that one word with the mix of raw anger and the quiet undertone of almost a plea. Lisa was a bit taken aback by the sudden change. She could see signs of what looked like an impending breakdown, similar to the ones that Luna and Lola had suffered some time ago. She couldn't get a definitive on Clyde except for Lynn's description of his breakdown within seconds of her mentioning Lincoln; she questioned how someone with Ronnie Anne's mentality could compare to what Clyde experienced.

But even in the face of crumbling before her brother and former boyfriend's sisters, she sucked in a deep breath and held it. Letting her thoughts clear the floor for her to tap into her mental strength. "...What did Clyde tell you?" She asked, leaning back on the couch, not opening her eyes.

The sisters didn't answer right away, instead looking to the athlete for her to explain her encounter, "Well… to be honest, not much."

"As expected from him…"

"He told me that you went down there two years ago and became their driver. He navigated, and Lincoln rode in the back."

She chuckled, slowly opening her eyes, "Yeah… before I showed up, Link was bouncing back and forth behind the wheel and his camera. He was even tempted to have his seat be able to fold back so he could slide in and out faster. Came down for a visit, stayed for the thrills." She laughed a bit more. A smile slowly emerged as she thought back to the days she found Lincoln's extreme hobby.

Lynn actually let out a soft smile at that. "Yeah… we saw that video Clyde took of you guys racing down a field and getting stuck in the mud. Took one of those giant tractors to pull you out. That farmer wasn't all too happy with you guys."

"Hey! His farm barely got hit!" She pointed out in her defense, "and it wasn't our fault he decided to put a field in the middle of where a road was supposed to be." Everyone laughed a bit more. The mood in the living room became more lively as they recalled the humorous moments that day created. The fact Lincoln managed to get so much mud in his hair to briefly look like Goku and have a serious talk with the landowner was a screenshot-worthy moment to remember.

Feeling herself loosen up, Ronnie laughed along at the fond memories they had, "He built a beast. Honestly, everything we went through, that thing could shrug off anything like the Terminator taking a punch… anything…."

The warm joy in her voice rapidly ran cold. Like an icy mist had just been exhaled in the winter as her eyes slowly fell. Staring down at the carpet, becoming lost in color. Like her spirit, the light in the room began to darken again when the look of unease returned.

Lisa stepped closer, slowly standing in front of the girl with a solemn face but seriousness in her eyes. Right now, she was face to face with the very person that held the key to critical information that everywhere else didn't hold. "Ronnie. What happened out there?" She felt enough to know Lincoln was alive. If Clyde's words and her reaction were anything to go by, they would both experience far greater negative emotions.

Ronnie snapped her gaze to the scientist. Thoughts in a blender of how she could try to avoid it or of how much to tell. She and Clyde both vowed to help their friend, but as he told her before, sometimes you can't predict what's coming next.

Looking away for a moment, she gathered her thoughts and voice, "It… started out like any other day but felt so much… different. It was going to be a really big day. Bigger than Nebraska, bigger than Mayridge…. A week before the whole team was out, Clyde was having fun with the new radar finally working, waiting to see how we were gonna celebrate Lincoln's birthday. A storm in the middle of nowhere, it was a perfect day… Then the 19th came after a little r and r period, and the NSSLs were calling for a big day. Something they felt was only even possible to compare with back in 1999. We still had another month's worth of chasing, but Lincoln said that he felt this was gonna be the big one that would cement this season in history for decades ..."

"Kingman," Lisa stated.

"On that day, everyone knew something big was coming... What it could be was what made us all excited. But as the day went on, we all felt a little… queasy. Like something was wrong… we were coming out of Hutchinson when I guess that gut feeling came true. The truck's driveshaft was about to give out. We could barely go 10 miles per hour flooring it. So Lincoln divided the team up; everyone went for the storm, and we stayed behind to fix the truck. Two hours later, it went tornado warned. An hour after we got back on the road, everyone on the radio was reporting it was on the ground. Almost an hour of driving through the hail core did we actually start seeing it, and Clyde found us a route to intercept."

"You guys got inside?" Luna asked.

Ronnie quickly shook her head, "No. No, we didn't. I mean, we were preparing to. We locked down by a little house and farm on North Berry Avenue; Lincoln had the truck spun around so that we were directly facing it. He climbed in the back while I ran the deployment. Everyone else around us started racing back south to get out of the path. Spikes went down, and we… waited. We just… waited… for it to come to us. I had my camera on the dashboard, talking to him while he got in the turret. He sounded more excited than when we last intercepted… but started sounding nervous…."

Lisa reached down into her pocket. Pressing down on the outer fabric to ensure the recording device got all this. "This was when it began transitioning from the funnel to its wedge state, correct?"

Ronnie slowly nodded, "That thing went from a bunch of little fingers on the dirt to a freaking mile-wide monster not even like that." She snapped her fingers to emphasize her point, "It got so dark so fast…. It was like the whole storm sucked away all the light. And the roar… It had to be two miles away, and we could hear it like it was on top of us. Even through the truck, we could feel it… Lincoln yelled out that the rotation above us was moving a lot faster and saw trees back up the road collapsing. Rain was starting to circle around ahead and behind us. I… I was getting nervous. Sure, we've gone into twisters at night with less, but this didn't feel right at all. Then… We heard Clyde yell on the radio. The winds were getting stronger… The wind field on the outside was getting bigger, and we were about to be right in the middle of it!"

"And that's when he told you to abort the intercept? The wind speeds had exceeded the upper limits of what Storm Shrieker was physically designed to survive." Again Ronnie nodded.

Though she narrowed her eyes at the little scientist, "You looked into a lot of this, didn't you?"

It was Lisa's turn to nod, "While the weather isn't my forte in the fields of science, its reach affects many aspects of others. And having followed what I could of our brother's adventures from home, I was able to listen in to the radio transmissions to get the main idea of the situation at large."

"So you know what happened next, then." Lisa didn't verbally answer the Latino. Only a small, sad nod was all the answer Ronnie needed. "And do you know what happened after that?" A shake answered back.

"What the heck are you guys talking about?" Lola suddenly piped in.

Lisa sighed, more like huffed, knowing that now might as well be the time for it. "During the end of their chase, when they were caught in the storm, their vehicle's GPS and spotter beacon went offline just after…."

"After what, Lisa?" Lori asked her little sister with growing unease in her voice.

Instead of answering, Lisa looked to Ronnie for her words to fill in the blanks that even she had. She took a deep breath and continued, "When Clyde's call came through, I asked what we should do. He didn't answer me until a power line up the road exploded, and Clyde yelled to get out of there. He jumped out of the turret and got back in his seat, yelling to undeploy. We started lifting the shields up when we started to really get hit by the wind. With just the spikes out, we were rocking; the wind gauge said we were already getting 130 plus and rapidly growing. We got the spikes out and retracted halfway before Lincoln put the truck in reverse and floored it."

"The chaser becomes the chased…." Lynn quipped.

"More like lion taunting mouse... He had me turn the turret around so he could see where he was going. Had the freaking pedal through the floor, and at best, we were going only 40. We got down the road enough before a satellite came and leveled that house… 11 seconds; between us moving and that entire house 30 feet away from us being erased… whatever the vortex had within it would have made us go airborne. And that was just the start…"

"I followed the beacon and transmissions. From what I gathered and theorized, Lincoln reversed course so that you could utilize the vehicle's higher forward speed but could not due to the wind force. Chasers yelled to go East out of the path and were already experiencing tornado-force winds two-plus miles away from the funnel itself. Effectively inside the tornado."

"Yeah… We got stuck behind a group of cars that were sitting closer to town. When that satellite formed and went through town, we went East. The satellite died out, but all that debris… whole chunks of houses flying in the hair all around us… one car somewhere in the line got taken out by a flying mailbox. By that point, we got off the pavement and onto the mud, debris was smashing our right side, and the storm was still getting stronger… something hit us. I have no idea what, but it got us where it took out the rear wheels. Lincoln lost control, and we were fishtailing into a ditch. We weren't going anywhere…"

"We are unable to escape. We are locking back down and bracing for impact." Lisa quoted. Making her sisters look down wide-eyed at her with mouths dropped in alarm at that info. Flying through everything she had told them the past few days and not bothering to tell them any of this.

Ronnie felt herself shiver. Closing her eyes tightly for a moment to keep herself together when those haunting words were spoken once again. "We reran the deployment cycle again. But because of the damage, we were lopsided; the shields didn't completely seal the underside. We dropped the spikes where they were and waited…."

She drifted off again, but the look in her eyes changed significantly darker. The hold on her brother's arm and the pillow tightened, feeling her nails dig into his skin Bobby winced but fought to prevent showing the pain.

"Something big hit us… it-it practically tore Lincoln's door off. The windshield exploded, and… all I could feel was glass flying into my eyes…." As she spoke, tears slowly began to form. She tried wiping them away with a finger but more quickly came, "He-he said for me to stay down. How I could even hear him in all that, I don't know… All I remember seeing is his body over mine. Feeling his arms trying to cover me and the wind breaking through my side. Hearing him just yelling for me to stay down… and his screams."

Her breathing hitched, chest becoming tighter as she felt herself locking up. Pulling her legs against the couch and Bobby's arm closer to her side, "Sweet Jesus his screams… I… I only thought things like movies could do that… and that roar. That never-ending roar… just didn't stop. Just… nonstop 260 miles per hour sandblasting and all you could do is… pray. Pray that it's over soon. Pray that you'll still be there. Pray you'll still be there…" Her breathing was quickly rising faster, almost hyperventilating as her eyes flickered back and forth from random spots in the space in front of her.

But as quick as it seemed they were ready to jump in to help try to calm her down, she sucked in her breath and froze up. Almost like she became stone for a moment with her eyes closed and breathing being more steady through her partially parted lips.

"…I blacked out a little after the first minute when we got hit by another sub-vortice. It moved the truck so hard I was sure we were going to fly… but Lincoln built her tough. Despite what happened, she stayed locked. I don't know exactly how long it took for the storm to pass… Everything was to our east when I finally came to and actually saw what happened. Lincoln… was quiet. I started to freak out, trying to get out, until I noticed he was still breathing. He was still alive. We were still alive… we made it through…."

A sad, relieved smile slowly grew in place of the fear as her puffy red eyes opened, tears flowing freely but slowly easing, "Our cameraman in the back called 911; I was able to reach Clyde for a moment before services went completely dead. It took them two hours to get to our location because of the roads being out and all the damage. Between then, I got out and around to try and help Lincoln… but there was just… too much. I didn't know what to do. I practically ripped my favorite jacket apart, just trying to stop some of the worst bleeding. When they did arrive, Clyde had me taken to a triage center over in Wichita. Lincoln… needed more help. I remember at least four cars worth of people trying to get him out of his seat before I was taken away. I… didn't remember much from the next three days after that. Only waking up in a hospital and Clyde coming to pick me up and take me back to base."

Reaching behind him to grab a tissue box off the table, Bobby brought over the box to his little sister. She ripped out several pieces with her free hand to wipe the snot leaking from her nose, sniffling twice as she cared for her growing mess.

"We visited what was left of Kingman that day. What was left of downtown… We got a tow truck and recovered Shrieker…. Lincoln was released three days after that… both of us got him back home while the rest of the team and camera crew were waiting. When he got there, he announced the season was over and that things from forward on would be different. The camera crew and others went home; it was just the three of us again. With the fourth of July coming up, Lincoln thought it would be best for us to head home. Get some distance from that place and the storms while he stayed there to rest and try and get work done…."

Part of that was a lie. Of everything she said, it was like the spirits were staring down at her with judging eyes that what she said wasn't what they ultimately needed. But after everything so had been through and seen, they could take a step back and let her keep her promise.

"Ronnie… Do you know where Lincoln is?" Lisa stressed out her question. That was all she needed. Anything: area code, mailbox, coordinates, last known weather pattern, an actual town name, and she could put a plan in motion.

"... right now? The last time I heard, he was still in Oklahoma City. I haven't talked to him since last week."

"What about the farm? The one you used for home base?" She shook her head. Making sure to clear her thoughts enough that anything she said won't compromise Lincoln.

"It's just a meeting place and for equipment storage. Maybe to spend the night, but everyone was scattered across the city. Hell, it took Rex an hour to drive all the way from Del City."

If Ronnie had noticed, she would have seen a kind of spark briefly ignite in Lisa's eyes. Realizing that a little piece of the puzzle had just been presented to her and made the ungodly machine that was her advanced mind rapidly run calculations and cycle through memory and data on everything she had. She knew Ronnie wasn't saying everything she knew; for 12 years, she had lived with a diverse cast of emotions and personalities from each end of the spectrum. While she couldn't catch every single lie that wasn't in play, when it was displayed was a different story.

Ronnie was hiding the location. It was clear to her as the sky and sunlight. But the emotional trigger that she gradually lost control of, though slowly getting it back, told her that pressing the issue would lead to negative results. This was like investigating a crime with a key witness still too shocked at the memory of what happened to speak fully. If pressed, she could lash out or shut down more, and that could possibly lead to Bobby stepping in and more problems.

But to say some of her bigger concerns and curiosity was filled would be saying it wasn't completely gone either. Simply trading one set for another. She felt herself let out a held breath when Ronnie said that Lincoln was still alive and moving. But just seeing her scarred figure and hearing how she got it made her paint a worse picture that she had to be honest to herself; think of it in too much detail, and you won't sleep at night. She had plenty of those in her time for the past year and mentally compared Ronnie's situation to theirs; Lola was the closest to the scope that consisted of full bodily injury that wasn't a direct issue like Lori or Lucy, or Lynn's.

But the story made her concern double up. From what photos she saw of the tank, her story matched the fact that something massive hit the vehicle. But the fact it was previously struck and lost mobility wasn't shown. She said that got stuck in a ditch and that Lincoln's door was caught in the wind after impact. From those facts, she had to think they were more on the right side of the tornado, despite its direction of travel, and didn't experience the full brunt of the winds. It took minutes for it to pass them; if they were on the opposite side, that was taking longer to pass; with a compromised vehicle and Lincoln shielding her with his own body, he had practically gotten the full force of the wind hitting him.

And that wording she used; sandblasting. She heard that term used for some of the worst storms in recorded history. Often used to explain, debris is destroyed so much it's more like small particles than full-size objects. Traveling at high speeds, a twister could erode whatever it touched, and the perfect example she could think of before Kingman was Jarrell 1997.

What that storm did to people… To that town… Kingman easily outdid it all.

The hope that her brother survived and was released from medical care six days after the event would have said that he got something comparable, maybe slightly worse than the one he protected. If it took a dozen rescue personnel to get him out of the truck and Ronnie speaking of so much bleeding, she feared something worse wasn't being shown.

Starting everyone from how fast she got back on her feet, "I believe it would be best if we go now. Thank you for your time and apologies for causing any discomfort." Deactivating the recorder, and before anyone could ask, Lisa was already heading out the door, and the sound of her footsteps descending the stairs.

Everyone left in the living room stared at the doorway in mixed levels of shock. Some at best looked back and forth confused, Lori looking like the most embarrassing fact of her adult life had just been revealed to her ex, and Ronnie, though feeling herself still recovering, felt herself go from post-breakdown to suspicious looking from where the scientist went.

Something in her said she had overdone it or said too much. Part of her saying it would have been best to say nothing, maybe at all. But part of her knew that out of everyone Lincoln warned her about, Lisa would be the one to eventually figure things out from the slightest bit of info you give her. He said that once the show went live, maybe it'll be the final piece, but he reassured her that by October, he'd have the situation figured out and could plan his next move.

Though with her actions seconds ago, she felt it could play in her favor. No offense to the Louds, but she really didn't want to talk to any of them, especially this soon, about what happened.

And it seemed that the atmosphere in the apartment agreed, feeling an awkwardness beginning to form between them; the fact that it was Lisa's idea for them to all come here and her abruptly walking out having gotten what she wanted to leave the others in a pickle.

"I… I need... I need to go check up on her." Luna stuttered out as she hastily got up and went towards the door.

Luan quickly followed her sister's lead, feeling the room becoming colder, "Ye-yeah! And make sure she doesn't cross without looking both ways!"

"Wait! I want something store!" Leni called out, chasing after them with a confused Lily in tow and the twins following behind without saying a word, and the three that remained started feeling the effects of the atmosphere growing more uncomfortable by the minute.

Ronnie sighed, a bit thankful that the mood was playing into her favor, but those present did make her a bit on edge. The sportswoman and queen of the dark both remained where they stood, one looking at her with skepticism, the other… she didn't know. Eighteen years old and as tall as her sister, even from the view on the couch, supernatural darkness could have prevented her from seeing her eyes.

Feeling herself starting to burn from the embarrassment, Lori approached Bobby apologizing, "I'm so sorry about Lisa. She's been a bit-"

"It's fine." Ronnie cut her off, "I get it. I know enough about you guys that she doesn't mean to be rude. And that I did come off a bit… rough, to say the least, with me just sitting here bawling my eyes out with a sob story."

"Hey, it's fine, dude. We didn't mean to cause any trouble. We've all been through a lot recently." Lynn approached her side, patting her arm like a teammate reassuring a fellow in doubt. Feeling herself flex her muscles to feel where the brace connected. "It's just… things back home haven't been the greatest without our brother there. We just found out what he's been doing, and Lisa said he went quiet for the past few weeks…."

'You have no idea…'

"But, at least we know he's still out there kicking and keeping the family motto alive. He's always been tougher than he looks no matter what comes his way" Ronnie snorted, amused at how right Lynn was that she was proven wrong many times, thinking how strong Lincoln was just to go that little bit further.

But now, she felt relieved. The odd feeling in the air had disappeared, and she felt herself fall back onto the couch, closing her eyes as her exhaustion washed over her. She felt Lynn's hand leave her arm, heard her stepping away, and Lori said she thought it'd be best if they did start heading home before dinner. Lynn agreed as they shuffled out the door and into the hallway. She opened her eyes when it was dead silent, expecting to see a now desolate room. She hadn't expected to see Lucy still standing in the same spot she was the moment she entered the room.

Ten years, and no matter the changes, the little Goth of the family still freaked her out.

"What?" Ronnie asked, confused by the new statue the apartment had suddenly acquired.

Lucy said nothing, and Ronnie still couldn't tell in what direction she was looking, and the blank frown on her face made it harder to read anything. Instead, clicking her heels together, she spun around and moved out the door. Leaving Santiago to be slightly confused but to sigh and shake her head. Leaning back into the couch and letting the tension in her body try to relax.

Downstairs, Lisa had already pulled the door open and powered towards the van with her thoughts stuck in their own storm. The others followed closely down the stairs as Leni realized they were close to a store wanting to go shopping. Stopped only by her two younger sisters dashing back and dragging her out by the arms. Lynn came flying down the steps, wincing when upon her landing, the sound of the back edges of the brace hitting the hard floor like it just shattered tiles. Moving a little away to thankfully not see any damage and not wanting to cause any, she quickly made her way out.

The oldest came down to stand just off to the side, neither they nor Lucy paying attention to the other as she went by, "I'm sorry for us causing some… unwanted memories to be dug up so early…." Lori glanced back up the stairs.

Feeling a hand on her arm, Lori turned back to her ex, who gave her a sad but reassuring smile, "I know. You guys are worried about your brother; she was the closest one you hoped to get some answers to. I feel it was a bit good to help her get that out of her system, but I feel it'll take time to heal the spirit." Pulling an arm around, Santiago brought his former girlfriend in for a hug. Not as an act of old love but as an act of reassurance. One that two long friends would give, knowing that despite being far away, there was still a bond.

Feeling a bit surprised by the gesture that they hadn't shared in years, Lori felt herself relax in the old familiar warmth. Feeling its effects worm their way in and give her mind some sense of peace, she closed her eyes for a moment and sighed before slowly pulling away.

"Have a safe drive back home."

"Thanks. And… take good care of that little girl. I'm sure she'll come to see real fast just how much her dad will do for her."

"I will." He smiled, feeling his chest swell with a little growing pride that he knew more than anything in his heart that he would do everything in his power for his little girl. Some part of him still loathed the idea that this was a life he had hoped would have been built by the two of them together. That was no longer possible; his path had been chosen, and he decided what the world had given him. They had their time, but that has come and gone with his new purpose in life.

He knew Lori was still trying to get her life back on track. He knew once everything with Lincoln was situated that, she could rest and start making up for a lost time. Once she got past the doorway's threshold, the door slowly swung closed till it thumped softly in place with the little bell ringing; Bobby turned around and started his way back upstairs. Coming back up to apartment 2A, just stepping through the doorway, Bobby paused to see his sister off the couch by the window, looking out to the street. Only briefly glancing his way to acknowledge his presence before focusing back, the man slowly came to the opposite side to see what had interested her.

The Louds were apparently dealing with something wrong with their vehicle. Lana was under the front trying to fix something, and Lori was trying to help Lola out of a collapsed seat. Lynn and Luan walked into view, holding what looked like old pieces of wood from somewhere and placing them over the back row with the others standing by the wayside.

Even after 15 years, Bobby still found the Loud Family antics such a bizarre yet entertaining event to witness. Once Lola was freed and a board placed over her row of seats, the family started piling back in. Rocking the chassis to let a small puff of rust fall as the engine sputtered to life and rolled forward.

As the two watched the Fungi van roll down the street and away from the apartment, Ronnie was first to move away from the window and plop herself face-first into the couch. She sighs at feeling her body suddenly lose control and lets herself sink into the cushions. Moving around to the chair closest to her head, Bobby slowly leaned over the armrest with his chin resting on his fist.

"You feeling alright?" A muffled 'yeah' vibrated through the cushions, "Any reasons you didn't tell them he is in El Reno?" She muffled a response, but with the couch in the way, he just rolled his eyes, "I can't hear you when you're eating the fabric."

Her head jerked to the side to face him, "I said because he made us promise." She gritted out. But like with a headache washing over her, she groaned and planted her head back down. "All of them have been through enough crap in the past year. Hell, you saw what happened to him when he heard about what happened to Lucy and what he did when Lynn's thing happened, and he's suffering because of that. Them suddenly going down there to bother him now would probably make him yank his hair out. Besides, everyone will find out when that stupid TV show comes out…."

"That is why I'm surprised you are up here. I know it was the holiday, but by now, I expected you to be packing back up and going back down there. I mean, you saw how surprised we were when we saw all your stuff on that truck with Clyde."

Ronnie let out a long slow sigh, rolling onto her side so her back was up against the couch, "It wouldn't have done any good. For either of us… I… get why he was doing it. He's the only guy I know stupid enough and brave enough even to keep going. But… it-"

"It's okay." He placed a hand on her shoulder, "I get it. Sometimes things happen, and the bond just isn't there anymore. Look what happened with me and Lori."

"Of the two, I'd say you got the better end of that stick."

Roberto sighed but nodded. Looking up towards the hallway, knowing just behind the walls with the room with the open door, was his pride and joy that if anything happened, he was ready to go to war over it. Over a year in the making to bring home the one part of any man's life that they would strive to have done. He wouldn't deny it. In some dust-filled part of his mind, some little Mini-Bob was sweeping a dusty store room and knocked over a box of old dreams he didn't see as he worked. But to Bobby, he could see what he had thought of before and during his time years ago.

How he imagined life after getting out of high school, going to college, and getting a big job that could help his family as he grew his own. He had almost always imagined Lori being the second half of that puzzle to complete the image. Years went on side by side, and it was like destiny was meant to be… but not for them. The world itself seemed to be the force to tell them both it wasn't meant to be forever. Despite everything they did, life was pulling in two directions that the other couldn't follow. There was some hope that soon it would all be fixed. But as time went and times got harder for everyone, eventually, their focus drifted away.

He wouldn't deny that those years were some of the happiest times he had in his younger years. He had imagined what life could have been like if they had reconnected before that bridge rotted away. So many things could have been different. Yet with the situation now, he wouldn't trade it for the world. But for his little Nini, she didn't have the same problems, yet had chosen the path. When she first went down there, he was all the more ready to come with. But she was an adult then and had the right to her own adventure; it wasn't in his place anymore.

Yet every time she came back or video called, she told her tales about traveling across the plains, what they saw, and how the team was doing. Every time a topic involving Lincoln directly came up, he could see that spark in her eyes that years before had been heavily damped. Now, there was no flame. If there was, then at best, it was like a pilot light instead of that inferno he remembered. He still felt conflicted about forgiving the little bro for endangering his sister like that. But after knowing him for years and what praise Lori once gave, all that he has done to support those around him, he knew that if it wasn't for him, he wouldn't have a sister to be able to come back home or the chance even to have a daughter to call his own.

Going to speak up, but his words were killed before the air in his lung could materialize them as both Santiagos heard one of their phones going off. Ronnie shifted in her position, reaching an arm down the backside of the couch to fish out her trapped phone. Mentally preparing to tell whoever was calling to sod off, she was a bit happy and angry to see it was Clyde calling.

Swiping the screen to accept, she brought the piece up to her ear, "Clyde, what's happened-"

"Lincoln is in surgery again."

(Note: These AN notes are written before, during, and after hand to convey my thinking. Not based on what's changed, reviews, etc., and is borderline me ranting out loud my way of thinking.)

So the story broke 6k views this morning (Eastern Time, it's about 5:10 am when I'm typing this sentence), and with how much attention this is getting, I can say with some pride that this has been my most successful story so far since I started writing on this site in 2014 in how fast its growing in some fronts.

Part of me isn't completely happy with this chapter, mainly during Ronnie explaining Kingman. So there is a possibility I'll go back and rewrite that part later down the line.

On another note: often people have Ronnie or Bobby speak in Spanish; a reason I did not do any of such minus what has been done was mainly down to I didn't wish to botch having Google Translate try to convey what I'm writing. That and with them being the only two really present at the moment, there wouldn't have been such a need without the other family members to have a reason to. But aside from building up more background and getting the sisters' thinking, part of this focused more on depicting Kingman as a survivor's account of what happened on that day two weeks ago (to them) and what fate has done to drive Lincoln and everyone to this point.

One debate that I am stuck in right now is on just what I should do for the presentation with the TV show. Part of me wants the family to react scene by scene; another was to do it in blocks so that the flow would make better, and another was to completely write out the first episode as its own chapter with the focus being on Lincoln, Ronnie, Clyde, and their team like it was months ago and then have the family react afterward.

At the time of this sentence being typed, I've yet to decide. Should I go with the formers, the next chapter would be called 'Lightning Loud'; if not, then Chapter 9 will take up that title, and we'll go from there. It really all depends on how big I write that chapter by the time I reach the point.

This AN note sentence is being written as an update to what is to come: The next four chapters are planned to be released at once (in two/three-day increments) instead of my original hope of May 31st having something. This change is mainly down to the planning of Chapter 8 is expected to break the 15k word count, with both Chapters 9 and 10 possibly following close behind. Because of how these three are connected, Chapter 11 is already complete, and Chapter 12 was just started on the 29th; I'll be bouncing back and forth from all of them. The estimated time frame for all of them is possibly mid-June, but really it's based on my creative drive, given how long it took me to write out the first set of chapters when I published them at once. Once ten is done, I shall post after I get Chapters 12 and 13 really rolling.

(Note: These AN notes are written before, during, and after hand to convey my thinking. Not based on what's changed, reviews, etc., and is borderline me ranting out loud my way of thinking.)