Without Sin: All Star Edition

by Catspeaker

Lincoln Loud struggles to make ends meet as a comic book artist. His sisters have all gone on to better things, all except Lisa, just released from Prison. An experiment designed to get her back into the limelight sends him to a dimension where he has children with his sisters. These unthinkable circumstances are his new reality. Inspired by Red Herald's story.

7. Chapter 7

Cat's Corner: Hoo boy, it's been a month since the last update, but this chapter was a challenge to write. I stopped and started again several times and rewrote lots of sections to get everything the way I wanted it. You'll also notice it's about the size of two+ chapters put together. I had a lot of ground I wanted to cover with SinLinc so that's length given over to him. My hope is to make SinLinc's adventure compelling in it's own right as he explores the Safe Universe.

Anyway, on to some other comments and critiques!

Thank you again for the reviews, many of you are going above and beyond and giving me so much to think about when it comes to writing this. They're a joy to read. Even the simple little "I like this!" comments are nice and make me feel good to know I'm creating something others are enjoying.

I went back and re-wrote Chapter 1, using some of the suggestions that were put forth, there wasn't any ultra major changes, but some grammar clean up and extra sentence or two here and there for clarification and the removal of real world stuff where I could (Stargate now being called a Galaxy Gate) I may go back and do similar with the other chapters.

On the critique of my chapters being "Too long."

Well, that's somewhat the nature of how chapter posting works here. I don't post chapters so much as entire "Story blocs" in a sense. This chapter right here could probably be two separate chapters, and in a regular book, they might be. But I wanted to cover all of Sin Linc before getting back to Safe Linc, so I wrote until I was satisfied with his journey for now.

If my chapters are too long and it feels like a chore to read that comes down to one of two issues.

I'm writing filler, In which case I apologize and I do try NOT to write filler, but I have a writing style where I feel I have to cover every little detail I can.

Or two… Well, you don't have to read it all in one sitting! I put little breaks here and there where a scene ends, you can always stop and come back later!

In either case, while I'm always trying to make my writing more concise, it's the nature of the way I write that I'm always going to be a little more verbose. I will keep trying to trim the fat where I can though. Thank you for the comment.

Finally, I've contracted artist Lioxd to create a cover for the story! I hope to have it up soon, enjoy!

SAFEVERSE

Lincoln Loud was familiar with the phrase 'Hell is other people.'

But right now, he really wished he could find the person who coined that particular phrase and punch them in the mouth.

It wasn't that Lincoln didn't like having time alone. You grow up in a house with 13 people, you begin to value those rare moments of privacy when you could get them. But for an extrovert like Lincoln Loud, real Hell wasn't other people, it was a Lack of people.

Even the most insular introverted hermit needed time with other people.

Real Hell was complete isolation.

Lincoln wasn't so selfish as to think he was suffering worse than anybody else in his position might be. Take anyone away from their loved ones, throw them into a strange and foreign environment with no friendly face in sight and they'll be miserable. Nobody was going to do well ripped from the arms of those they loved.

But for Lincoln Loud, the lack of connection, of being involved with others was misery incarnate. Lincoln thrived around others. He thrived being with his children, his sisters, his employees and residents of the community.

Now he lacked all of that. He wasn't able to see the faces of his friends and loved ones. He'd been pulled from them and put into an environment where he wasn't even given the option of doing so, and he was smart enough to understand it was already doing a number on him. Humans, being the social animals that they are, needed those connections in order to be at their best. Even the hardest introverts needed to feel like they were part of something bigger than they were. Complete isolation eroded your mental health.

Lincoln knew this from experience with his daughter Loan. When she was younger, he'd been forced to leave her and all his family. She'd taken it the worst as his first born. Loan was a daddy's girl through and through, she loved her mom, but as far as Loan was concerned, the sun and moon set on her father. Lincoln suddenly being yanked from her life at such a vulnerable age had done a number on her feelings of safety and security in the world.

It'd taken her years to get back to a semblance of normalcy. Now all Lincoln could think about was how his absence would affect her all over again.

That was what worried Lincoln the most, his children. Even as isolated and as lonely as Lincoln felt, all he could really focus on was his babies. He worried about all the little things he did for his children as their father. He worried about who would get them up and ready for school. He worried about who would cook them breakfast every morning. He worried about who would help them with their homework. He worried about who would take them on their trips and everywhere they needed to go.

Worry consumed him.

He knew his sisters were reliable, they wouldn't let the kids suffer, but he fretted still about the hardships they would face without him being present. He agonized about them getting by without his gentle and guiding hand there to run things.

He knew his family wasn't technically without a Lincoln Loud…but after being in this world for a few days, he wasn't sure if that particular Lincoln was up to the task. He wasn't exactly sure how he felt about the Lincoln Loud who originally resided here. He didn't know what to think of all the Louds that resided here.

To come from an environment where his family was closer than most and be thrown into a world where those bonds were frayed to the breaking point was something he was still trying to come to terms with.

He'd woken up in a nightmare world where his children didn't exist, and his sister-wives barely talked to one another. He'd woken up in a house that was supposed to be full of so many memories of love and belonging, with more being made all the time, practically abandoned. A house that had been filled with the laughter and energy of his family but was now little more than an empty husk.

The only residents being a former childhood friend who looked at him with revulsion and a version of his sister who looked at him with both pity and fear.

He recalled what happened on the first day.

That first day he arrived had been the hardest of course. Lincoln would have found it strangely ironic he had almost the same reaction as his doppelganger arriving in his dimension.

It started with the interrogation.

Strapped to a table, Lisa asked him strange questions about his life, their other sisters, and the circumstances they were all in. At first Lincoln thought she was just playing some strange new erotic game with him.

When it was clear this wasn't some sexual roleplay they were engaging in together, he thought maybe he'd been exposed to something from her lab by accident. Surely that was why she was running all these tests on him and asking these questions.

He had purposefully ignored the dawning look of horror that grew across her features as he described their family life back home. He ignored the difference in her appearance, he ignored the difference in the way her lab looked. Her name was Lisa Loud, she was his sister, that's all that mattered, wasn't it?

He didn't want to believe it all when she hit him with the truth. Dimensional portal experiments gone wrong, his life here as a comic book artist (that part had impressed him), and the sad reality of his bachelor life with no children.

Lisa explained his life in this world to him. 'You have no children. You are not in an incestuous relationship with your sisters. You are a single, alcoholic, chain smoking, depressive artist estranged from most of his family.'

Lincoln's defenses kicked in. That was not at all what he had wanted to hear.

There was denial at first, the refusal to accept the situation he was in. He had chalked it up to some prank by Luan, or maybe his daughter Lupa playing a particularly cruel joke on him. He thought he was still dreaming, maybe in a coma. He wanted it to be anything else than what she was saying. He told Lisa to stop it, stop saying these cruel lies. He struggled against the bonds she had him in, told her to release him so he could see their family.

But the more he looked at her sad expression, the more he looked at her and saw the differences in her appearance from what he was used to, how different her lab looked, the more reality set in. He kept asking her for confirmation, kept telling her to swear she was telling the truth.

She never once flinched. This was the reality. This was the truth. He really had been transported to another world.

She released him from his bonds then.

Anger came next, perhaps even a righteous anger. He was angry at her, he was angry at his double, at how careless the two of them had been. He had yelled at Lisa, yelled at his non-present double, called them both monsters for yanking a father away from his children, a husband away from his wives. He had paced around and even kicked over one of her tables (that had hurt his foot). He had pulled at his hair as he yelled at her, called her horrible for doing this to him.

Lisa had accepted his anger with stoic silence. He demanded she send him back right away, that she fix this situation now.

Lisa had simply replied she couldn't.

That brought on the next stage, bargaining. He fell to his knees in front of her. He begged Lisa to send him back, he pleaded with her that his children needed him, his sisters needed him, his employees needed him, the community needed him. There were too many people that relied on him, he had too many responsibilities. He cried as he begged Lisa, begged God to send him back, any powers that would listen. He asked if there was any way she could please, please send him back home to his family.

But Lisa had told him as circumstances were now, she wouldn't be able to send him back anytime soon.

He didn't want to believe that either, but when she showed him the broken, burnt and busted pieces of the original portal she had created, a sinking feeling started in the pit of his stomach.

When she told him it would take her months to fix the portal he had promptly thrown up.

Lisa promised him she would do everything in her power to send him home. She promised him he could stay here where he would be safe, while she worked on a solution. She wanted her own brother back she assured him, and in the meantime, he'd just need to be patient.

He could tell she looked at him with a measure of both pity and disgust, but also curiosity. He could tell she wanted to ask more, learn more about the family where he was from, but the hesitation on her lips showed she was afraid to ask those questions. Lincoln was in no mood to volunteer any of that information on his own right now either.

Already he was falling into a deep depression.

After his rude awakening, interrogation, and explanation, he was passed off to Clyde, while Lisa explained she didn't want to waste any time getting right to work.

Seeing Clyde here had been one of the first shocks he had to come to terms with. Clyde was living with him in this world?! Clyde was the closest companion he had here?!

That led to a series of strange feelings for Lincoln to deal with. A morass of cognitive dissonance as the first real uncomfortable regret brought on by this other reality filled him. Reflections on what he had done in his own world, with a sudden realization of one thing the other Lincoln had over him, because of those different choices.

The Lincoln of this world still had a best friend.

This Clyde had barely interacted with him once remanded to his care by Lisa. The first thing he did was merely showed him where Lincoln could sleep, told him where things were in the fridge and bathroom, then shuffled off to 'help Lisa out', leaving Lincoln to his own devices.

Not that Lincoln cared at the time.

Lincoln had made a lot of sacrifices for the sake of his family, and the very first one he ever made was his friends. It didn't happen right away. It wasn't something that just happened over night after Loan was born. But slowly over time, his new family became more and more important than his friends and even his life at school.

The largest sacrifice being his friendship with Clyde.

Clyde had been Lincoln's closest childhood friend. Clyde was the closest thing Lincoln ever had to a brother in his younger years. Clyde and he had done so much together as kids, had so much fun. Clyde had been his constant companion from the time he was 5… but responsibility had eventually caused the two to separate in middle school.

It wasn't the first child, or even the second child that completely changed Lincoln's life. But it had been after Lyra was born that Lincoln had quit public school all together. He wanted to be closer to his children, and closer to his sisters.

His parents were still unaware of what was going on between Lincoln and his sisters then, but already he'd been spending less and less time with his circle of friends. He'd dropped the Journalism club entirely by 7th grade and spent most of his time helping care for his daughters.

He'd been the one to approach his mother first about staying home to help take care of them. Rita already had experience with home schooling thanks to helping Lola during the pageant season, but it did take some convincing on Lincoln's part all the same. He'd even had to break out his presentation suit when he explained to Mom and Dad how much better served they would be with him at home, helping to take care of his sisters babies.

But Rita and Lynn Sr, as wary about it as they were, eventually caved in. Hell, they were even glad for it when his other sisters started falling pregnant one by one. Rita was getting older as it was, she had less energy to deal with so many children.

This caused Lincoln to hang out with his friends less and less, making more and more excuses as to why he couldn't spend time with them. He was always so busy having to babysit or spending time with his 'nieces' that he kept cancelling plans with his old friends.

Clyde's calls became less frequent as Lincoln dodged him and Liam, Zach, Rusty, and Stella more and more.

Lincoln knew things were completely over when he didn't receive an invitation to Clyde's 16th birthday party.

But that was okay.

It hurt a little to lose his friends, especially his best friend, but the sacrifice had been necessary for his family. Any sacrifice was worth it for his family. Nothing was more important than the love he had for his family.

Lincoln knew he had to stop hanging out with his friends to keep his family's secret.

It was all to protect his children and his sisters from being split up in the end.

Clyde could accept a lot of the Loud family's eccentricities, but Lincoln doubted he would accept the decision all the Loud children had made to be one another's lovers and partners. As much as Lincoln loved and trusted Clyde, he doubted his former best friend would have accepted the Loud sibling's peculiar new family. It had been necessary to cut him off. That's what Lincoln had told himself, even as he became aware of a deep depression Clyde had fallen into during that time.

But Lincoln was certain it had all worked out for the best in the end!

Liam had come back into Lincoln's life, as had Rusty, Stella, and even Clyde (Zach and his family had vanished years ago. The only clue a strange group text Lincoln had been included in saying something about Zach and his family being close to exposing the Illuminati.)!

Their adult lives had somehow made one another fall into each other's orbit once again. All through Lincoln's children, and his friends weren't even aware! Sure, he kept them at arm's length for the moment, but Lincoln was considering talking about them all hanging out again, just like old times. Lincoln wanted it, even with the potential dangers involved. Even though it made him feel guilty, he was hoping they could rekindle things once more.

Though he hated to admit just how much he had missed his friends, it felt like betraying his family. He had been so close to messaging Clyde about coming over for dinner sometime…so close, any day now…and being ripped away to this world had ruined that!

And seeing the state of this Clyde here only made Lincoln more convinced he had made the right choice. Back home, Lincoln's own Clyde was a married man with two children. One of those children, Calliope, was even best friends with Lincoln's daughter Leia.

But here, Clyde was living with Lincoln's double, taking care of him like he was some kind of invalid.

It was more evidence to Lincoln he'd landed in what he was starting to think of as 'The bad ending' world. A universe where he had made all the wrong choices, where he had destroyed the most important bonds in his life, and now existed in a sorry state where his childhood friend took care of him out of some guilt complex.

That first day and night Lincoln didn't bother taking in any other differences between his world and this one. He had crawled into the other Lincoln's smaller, lonelier bed, and cried himself to sleep wishing for his family, praying he would wake up back home.

…

On the second day, Lincoln awoke early, as he usually did. He had fallen asleep curled into a fetal position with the blankets wrapped around him. He refused to stretch out his form and feel the dimensions of the bed, he refused to open his eyes. He didn't want to awake to the horrible reality he knew was true. If he kept his eyes closed, if he kept curled up, maybe, just maybe he'd find out it really all was a bad dream and he'd be back home.

He'd hear Lynn complain about him hogging the covers and asking to cuddle after their fight, the first sounds of his children getting up, maybe Lizy and Leia playing together on the stairs. He should smell breakfast wafting from the kitchen, or Liena knocking on the door asking if he'd help her cook.

He should hear, or smell, or feel any of these things which would tell him he wasn't by himself, that he wasn't alone, he wasn't stranded in some universe where his sisters and he never confessed their true feelings for one another. He wasn't in a universe they never created their wonderful family.

He kept himself bound up tight. He kept his eyes shut for what felt like over an hour…but nothing came.

There was no sound of footsteps on the stairs.

There was no scent of breakfast from the kitchen.

There was no feeling of his beloved sister Lynn wrapping her arms around him and saying she didn't want to fight anymore.

There was nothing but the absolute quiet of a home that was never meant to be quiet.

It was supposed to be a Loud House.

Eventually, Lincoln had to face facts. He was in a tomb, not his home.

He allowed himself to open his eyes, and stretch his form out which had begun to slowly cramp up from the position he had kept it in. He sat up as he stretched out and swept his gaze over the room he occupied.

Still bad ending world.

All the same, it was now after that first horrible day he could finally start to drink in the differences between the universes. It was finally time he could take stock of his situation, starting with his double's room.

Which as he looked it over, was, not as different from his own as he thought it would be. Strange really in the similarities it shared with his own. He had expected it to be truly alien in bad ending world. After all, his life and the other Lincoln's were so very different. But lo and behold their rooms were oddly similar. So much so, the differences were what made it more unsettling.

The bed was in the same position it occupied in his own room. Squarely in the middle, where his parents' bed had once been growing up. The other Lincoln even used the same grey colored comforter, sheets, and pillowcases he did. The firmness and softness of the mattress was the same, even the brand was the same. The only real difference between their beds was the size.

At home, Lincoln had a king size. It was something the sisters had splurged on together as a gift. It wasn't just for him of course, but for them as well. While most of the time it meant there was more than enough room for himself and whichever sister was staying over for the week, it also meant there was plenty of room for others beyond them too.

It had to be for the typical threesomes that happened in the bed, such as Lisa wanting to join him, and whichever sister was there that week. Usually Lily in her case. Then there was also Lola and Lana when it was one of the twin's turns to spend the night, followed by Luan and Luna when it was one of their turns. Leni would miss Lori, or Lori would want to check in on Leni and end up spending the night too. And of course, the most often being Lynn and Lucy, the two sisters Lincoln was closest with.

Lucy and Lynn often spent half the week over together with Lincoln, sometimes it felt like both were staying the week with him when it was their turn. Even more so than Lola and Lana. The other sisters often playfully teased the two about it, but Lynn would often just reply it was only natural the three spend so much time together, since Lincoln and Lucy had both been her roommates the longest.

Of course, there were more than just threesomes in that bed, there were foursomes, fivesomes and more.

All eleven of them had piled on top of one another in that bed on more than one occasion, just to cuddle and sleep together, if only briefly, and bask in the closeness they shared. Lincoln knew they called it Skinship in parts of Asia, even if they didn't call it anything themselves. It was just something the siblings wanted and needed from one another. The siblings needed that large sturdy bed for those times they wanted to bask in one another's love and warmth, feel surrounded by their bond with each other, get lost in the tangle of limbs and bodies and hearts all beating as one.

But that large bed was for more than just sexual and romantic closeness, it was also for their children.

When bad dreams were too much to bear for the littlest ones, they could cuddle in close knowing Dad, Mom and their aunts would never let any harm come to them. Sometimes it wasn't even the little ones. It was any of the kids if they had been particularly missing their mother or father and just wanted to sleep easy feeling the parental bond they needed at the time.

Lemy and Lyra had piled into bed with Lincoln and Luna more than once since she'd gotten clean years ago. The two had dealt with being held away from both their mother and their father, and Luna could never say no to her babies. She had so much guilt for her terrible years and had told her children more than once she'd never turn them away from cuddles no matter how old they got. It was only recently that Lemy had started to seem uncomfortable with it and state he didn't need to sleep with his parents and big sis anymore. Only Lyra could coax him when she expressed missing cuddling with her little brother. It seemed no matter how 'independent' Lemy got, he'd fold like Laundry over any request from his big sister. Groaning and complaining and rolling his eyes the whole time, but still doing it.

Loan was often the same. The eldest Loud child felt no embarrassment in how often she loved to watch movies and shows with her father and fall asleep against him and her mother. She was so often trying to assert her independence now, like she felt she had something to prove, but Lori had told her Mom and Dad would always be there for her, and Loan sometimes slept best when she was between her mother and father. Even at 17.

Leni was the opposite, in the sense that her kids didn't need her so much as she needed them. She was often the one who said she missed her babies and wanted them to join her and Dad in bed. As smart mouthed and 'mature' as Lyle tried to be, he never said no to giving his mother affection. It was one of the areas Lincoln was proud of him in. The boy was never cross with his mother, and readily humored any request she made of him, happily so. Liena of course was just as sweet as her mother, and happy to have a family night with the other three anytime her Mom wanted.

On and on it went. The twins with their daughters, Lupa and Lacy with their mothers, even Lisa occasionally just with him and Lulu. To the point Lincoln could barely remember ever sleeping alone in the last few years.

But his double's bed wasn't big enough for any of that. It was barely big enough to fit two people side by side.

It felt so sad.

He stopped getting lost in memories once more and continued his appraisal of his surroundings.

Across from the bed he saw the same dresser he had in his home. The same dark wood color, and 8 drawers split into two groups of 4 side by side. He was certain he'd probably fine the same clothes in the drawers as his own at home. Though he doubted the bottom drawers would contain the 'toys' and 'accessories' his sisters and he liked to use together. The same flat screen TV rested atop the dresser, not overly huge, but not tiny either. Perfect for watching movies in bed.

He had the same night table by his bed, with the same green lamp and same phone charging station.

More was the same phone model as his own resting atop it.

There were even the same Ace Savvy memorabilia on the walls too, and it was then he noticed where the differences started.

The Lincoln of the bad end universe had more.

In his own home, Lincoln had a large Ace Savvy poster framed tastefully on his far wall, a recreation of the very first issue. Back home he also had a large wood and glass collector's cabinet in the corner of the room, with action figures, a lunch box, watch, and other comic memorabilia on display.

Lincoln was proud of his collection at home, but he kept it understated for the sake of his sisters he shared his room with (often when his sisters visited, they'd do some minor redecoration to add their personal touch, Lucy would hang up a dream catcher, Lynn a Pennant flag, and things like that) .

Here though, this Lincoln had it everywhere. There were rare issues in collector graded protection cases hanging on the wall. Original art from classic Ace Savvy artists hanging up as well. The collection case in the corner had more of everything, more figures, more memorabilia.

Not only did he have the same poster, but he also had three others.

As Lincoln really began to look over the extra memorabilia, he began to notice there were issues of Ace Savvy and posters he had never seen before in his own world.

This confused him at first, wondering if this universe just had stories of Ace Savvy that had never been told before, until he had the dawning realization these were posters and issues drawn by him!

Well not him, him, bad ending Lincoln.

That got good ending Lincoln (As he started to think of himself) out of bed, got him to walk across the room and approach the first poster and really look it over.

Ace and Jack together, looking Heroic, jumping into action with fists raised, the city skyline behind them…They Looked…

Awesome.

For a brief few minutes Lincoln forgot about his depressing circumstances and got caught up in the wonder of seeing bad ending Lincoln's work on display. In a strange sense it was his work too, and it almost felt like a spiritual or religious experience seeing it.

He moved from poster to poster, issue to issue, marveling at the quality he saw. He drank in every detail, every stroke of the pencil, every point of shading, every complex perspective trick his double made look effortless.

He felt a strange, reflected pride in these moments, a sensation that almost caused him to tear up. This was his work on display, this was one of his ultimate dreams come true. This Lincoln had done something he'd never thought he could do himself, illustrate for Timely. He could see the rudiments of his own work in Bad ending Lincoln's product. He could see where his double had taken that original talent and increased it ten times over.

He had it in him. He had always had it in him. Bad ending Lincoln was proof.

He brought his hand up over one of the issues. A giant size collection cross-over between Crimson Chin and Savvy. His fingers went down the names of the writer, inker and illustrator.

Tim Turner
Sam Manson
Lincoln Loud

He recognized Turner and Manson. They had been the fresh new talent when Lincoln was still a kid. Just breaking into the industry. Now they were seasoned vets in their 40s with super successful independent titles of their own, Fairy World and Ghost Boy respectively.

Which meant this must have been one of the earliest issues his other self had worked on.

Lincoln felt that reflected pride again. He worked with other legends of the industry. He'd gotten to put his name among those hollowed names. His double had achieved something so…just so very very amazing in his own eyes.

It made him briefly reflect on his job as a manager at Burpin Burger.

It felt so…mundane by comparison. So boring and inadequate.

Guilt suddenly came crashing over him.

Guilt and the reminder of where he was.

As impressive as it all was, it really wasn't anything in the face of the family he had. His children, his sisters, they were all worth more than any prestige working in comics, and it was selfish of him to get so caught up with that.

It brought him to looking back at the rest of the room and trying to figure out more of the other Lincoln's life and more of those differences between them.

There was no sister nightstand on the other side of the bed. No place where they would keep some of their things. No evidence of sharing space and love with someone else.

Just empty space where a stack of graphic novels and a pizza box lay on the floor.

What else did bad ending Lincoln have?

There was a black wood computer desk in the room like he had back home, but it was…grander, bigger, almost double the size of the one he had.

More than that, the triple screens that sat on it were far more than the simple 1 screen he had at home. Looking again he noticed one of the screens was actually a large drawing tablet, one of the newer designs, with a dust glove next to it. It was the kind that could interface with another computer but was also a separate computer unto itself.

Lincoln had bought Lupa her own modest drawing tablet for Christmas last year, and even he'd play with it now and then, but this set up blew it away. There were more graphic novels stacked near the computer desk, as well as books on anatomy, fashion magazines, and classical art. Reference material.

Lincoln had to reflect again. His double really did take his art career seriously. Much as he found himself angry at the man for letting his relationship with his sisters fall apart, he couldn't say anything about the man's work ethic.

More alarming though was the stack of beer cans against the far well. They weren't strewn about the room haphazardly. Lincoln could see his double preferred a neat environment much like himself. But it was still alarming to see the pyramid his double had built.

As was the carton of cigarettes on the desk too.

Lisa had told him his double was an alcoholic and a chain smoker. It felt strange to see the evidence of it. It was a version of him that seemed to fit the tortured artist motif, estranged from friends and family, abusing substances, suffering from mental illness.

He pitied his double in some ways, but in others hated him for letting his life come to this.

In the middle of all this reflecting Lincoln felt his stomach growl. He'd been here for over a day and not gotten anything to eat. He needed to do something about that.

As he stepped out of the room, clad in the shorts and t-shirt Lisa had provided for him yesterday he ran across a slightly familiar yet still surreal sight.

Clyde was in the living room, wearing a pair of business slacks and a button up shirt, fixing his tie. He turned towards Lincoln and looked straight at him with a rather unsure expression.

Lincoln looked right back and gave a slightly sheepish smile, followed by a small wave. It was so strange seeing his old best friend like this. A guy who he had memories of, but who was more or less something of almost a stranger to him here.

But the way Clyde looked at him was different from how his own Clyde did. His Clyde looked at him like an acquaintance. Someone he was familiar with, but not particularly close to. This Clyde looked at him with the gaze of someone who knew him, and cared about him… Someone who felt worry and concern about him.

It made Lincoln's heart hurt and gave him a strange feeling of guilt he couldn't figure out.

"Uh…Hey Lincoln…" Clyde said.

Lincoln smiled awkwardly, nodded, "Hey Clyde…what's up?"

Clyde looked around for a moment as he finished fixing his tie, "Oh ya know, just getting ready for work. Monday Morning Grind and all that."

Lincoln nodded again, "Oh yeah…I'd be doing that too right now if I were back home." Lincoln sighed, looking down, frowning, before he looked back towards Clyde and smiled, "So what is it you do in this universe?"

Clyde seemed a little surprised by the question, but answered all the same, "Oh! Well, I work downtown at the Royal Bank and Trust. I'm one of the head accountants there."

Lincoln's eyes lit up slightly in recognition as he smiled and gave a gentle laugh, "You do the same thing in the world I'm from."

Clyde looked a little surprised once more, a small smile on his lips, "Wait, really? I do the same thing there?" He looked more curious, "So… are you and I, are we buddies where you're from? You seem like you know me, but… I've watched more than enough Sci Fi and Superhero stories to know you can't count on everything being the same in other universes…" Suddenly Clyde gasped, "Oh no! We're not worst enemies there or something are we?! Tell me that's not the truth Lincoln! Tell me I don't have a beard!"

Lincoln gave another soft laugh as he looked at Clyde. Some old warm nostalgic feelings coming over him as he brought his hand up, memories of how his own Clyde had made him laugh so many times with his typical behavior of jumping to the worst conclusions. Seems some things never changed.

It made him realize just how much he missed Clyde.

"No, No, nothing like that Clyde!" He gave a soft sigh as he saw Clyde give out one of his own… Lincoln went on, a slightly sad smile on his lips.

"We're just…We were friends when we were kids, but we drifted apart in our teenage years. I was…" Lincoln paused as he frowned…

"Busy…" Lincoln looked away, for some reason another feeling of guilt coming over him.

Clyde looked towards him, his brow furrowed, a small frown on his lips. Lincoln couldn't tell what Clyde was frowning about, but he saw Clyde nod his head, "Because of your family right?"

Lincoln slowly nodded, as he looked down at his feet, there was another small silence between them before Lincoln looked back at Clyde and spoke up again.

"Yeah. I had to make certain choices. I couldn't have it all if I wanted the family I have now."

Clyde folded his arms, another frown on his face as if he seemed like he was turning something over in his mind.

"You know, there was a time I'd never doubt Lincoln Loud would choose his sisters over everyone else in his life. Even me. They were always so important to him. The love he had for his family was palpable."

Lincoln listened to Clyde, a small amount of hope filling him for reasons he didn't understand once again, before Clyde looked directly into his eyes and continued.

"But things change. People change."

Lincoln felt that hope begin to die out a little as Clyde continued to look right at him and continue.

"The only thing that hasn't, is Linc and I's friendship. We've been best friends for over two decades now. One thing I can be absolutely certain about, it's that we choose who are real family is in the end, and blood has very little to do with it."

Lincoln winced, as he realized what Clyde was getting at. Clyde was adopted, his family didn't have a genetic bond, but he knew the love Clyde's parents had for him, was strong, possibly even stronger than the one his parents had once had for him and his sisters.

"Lincoln is my brother. I decided that. He decided that. We've always had each other's backs, and there isn't a hell I wouldn't crawl through for the man who stuck by me in the most awkward and uncomfortable parts of my life. The guy who always made sure I never felt bad, or weird, or like I didn't belong anywhere I was."

Clyde looked away again, before he added, "I'm sad to hear you and I drifted apart where you're from."

Lincoln felt a little shame come over him. He knew what Clyde was saying, even without saying it. Lincoln thought back again to the deep depression he remembered hearing Clyde had fallen into during his mid-teens.

Lincoln spoke up sheepishly, "It's not so bad. Our daughters are best friends. It's kind of cute really. When Leia introduced me to the girl and I heard her last name, I had to make sure it was you, and well…It has us talking a little again."

Clyde took on a shocked expression as he opened his mouth, firing back, "Wait, daughter?!"

Lincoln nodded and smiled, "Yeah, Calliope McBride. She's a fun kid, real brave, kind of intense. Her and my Leia are scouts together." Lincoln looked curious again at Clyde, before he gave a soft wince, "Oh…you don't, you're not married and don't have any kids here, do you?"

Clyde still looked curious before he shook his head, "No, no, I just recently became single too. I…"

Lincoln looked even more concerned, features softening, "Was it Penelope?"

Clyde's mouth fell slightly open as he looked back at the man who wore the face of his best friend, "It was…why do you—" and then he frowned and shook his head, "I don't know what's going on with you Lincoln. I really don't. I have to admit, you kind of freak me out a little. Just a little." Clyde paused as if he was trying to figure out what to say next, before he just added "Listen, I gotta go to work."

Lincoln took on that sad smile once again, as he nodded, "I… understand. But maybe we could, hang out or something when you get back?"

He saw Clyde take on another uncomfortable expression as he headed towards the door, the man looking as if he was turning a few things over in his head, "Yeah…Maybe. I'm going to tell you the truth, it's something I have to think about Lincoln. Uh, I gotta go now. So, maybe I'll see you later."

Lincoln felt his heart fall a little as he saw the look of unease and discomfort in Clyde's face and body language. He just gave a soft nod in reply, "Yeah…Later Clyde."

It was a lie.

He could see it plain as day, Clyde was uncomfortable with him. More than that. Maybe Clyde was even disgusted by him.

When Clyde was out the door, Lincoln only felt lower. He doubted this Clyde really wanted anything to do with him. He was just like everyone else, those who misunderstood the love his family had for one another.

He went to the kitchen to see what he was working with.

…

10 minutes later, Lincoln had done a thorough assessment of the other Loud's kitchen. It was dirtier than his own, but only a little. As he'd already noted, his other self didn't like messes either and his memories of Clyde spoke to him being a neat freak too. It was also well organized even if it had far less utensils, plates and bowls than his own. Lincoln couldn't abide chaos, and neither could his double it seemed.

It wasn't any surprise for Lincoln to find out the fridge wasn't as well stocked as the one at his own home either, but he could see at least there was enough here to make some basic, decent meals. Once again, he had a feeling Clyde was responsible for their being more than just hot pockets and sauerkraut in the fridge.

If he was going to be here awhile, he felt like he'd need to help with the shopping and help his two roommates eat better. That was before he remembered he didn't know how much money bad ending Lincoln had and if he could even afford to do it. That was going to be a sticking point. Regardless, the least he could do to carry his weight was to take care of the cooking and maybe some of the other chores for the time being. Lincoln had never been a freeloader.

He managed to whip up a decent sandwich for himself and made another one for Lisa while he was at it, it wasn't breakfast food, but he had an idea she was hungry. If she was anything like his own Lisa (and he had a feeling she was) he knew she was neglecting her own meals. Least he could do was bring her something to eat while she worked on getting him home.

He kept coming back to that, 'The least I can do' in his head. He didn't know these people, not really, even if they wore familiar faces, but he was already making plans to take care of both while he was here. Even if they didn't like him. He was hopeless really.

Plate in hand carrying a sandwich, side of potato chips and a glass of milk, he made his way into the basement and the domain of his second youngest sister. All the while familiar feelings like he was right back at home filling him. The sight that greeted him wasn't any kind of surprise either.

There Lisa was, slumped over her work bench, fast asleep. There was a series of electronics and circuit boards spread out in front of her, and several tools. She must have been working all night, until she collapsed from exhaustion.

His own Lisa used to do the same until he started really getting on her about it. The children also seemed to influence her, Lulu the most of course, and she'd begun to take better care of herself so she could better care for others.

But this Lisa still had those bad habits.

Lincoln also now really noticed the definite differences in appearance this Lisa had compared to his own. He had a feeling this one hadn't experimented on herself, so her body was more…natural by comparison to his Lisa's.

The path her body would have taken had she not enhanced it.

Lincoln loved the comic book superheroine physique of his Lisa, her high firm butt, large breasts, flat stomach. It was always fun to get his hands on her. She never failed to turn him on but seeing the way her body would have looked without her own genetic intervention, he knew she would still have been able to do the same, even without them.

There was something particularly enticing about this Lisa's softer appearance. Her breasts were at least a size or two larger, even if they weren't as perky, and looked so, so soft. Like they would make the perfect pillow. Her hips were wider, with a bigger, jigglier looking butt crammed into tight pants. She didn't have a labcoat on and he could see the way they slipped down a little, revealing an enticing pale crack he wanted to follow down further. She had a little bit of pudge around her belly, just a little, those good genetics from Mom and Dad allowed her to be so sedentary with the consequences being minor compared to most, but it also spoke to her just being a thicker, softer girl than his own Lisa.

He took a moment, just enjoying the sight of her, wondering how she would feel in his arms, how heavy her breasts would feel in his hands, how those thick thighs would feel wrapped around his face, before he reminded himself, she wasn't his Lisa. He didn't have that kind of relationship with her and needed to act accordingly.

But it did make him think what a fool bad ending Lincoln had to be. So many beautiful sisters and he'd let them slip through his fingertips. The other Lincoln could have made them all happy, just like he made his sisters happy. The other Lincoln stopped himself from becoming the happiest man alive, with the happiest wives. He'd denied them the pleasure and love of their brother, as he denied himself their pleasure and love in return.

No one knew them the way their brother did. No one knew their likes and dislikes as he did. Nobody knew how to make them smile, and laugh, or feel special like he did. How could he not know that after having taken care of them for so long. He assumed the other Lincoln had to have taken care of his sisters at some point. How could he be such a fool?

So very stupid. Such a loss.

He stopped his musings on the other Lincolns failings to look over Lisa again. He didn't want to wake her up, she looked like she needed her sleep. He just wished she was in her clearly rarely used bed he saw off in the corner.

He placed the plate and drink down on another table near the stairs (noting it was the exact same table he did the exact same thing on in his own universe) and quietly made his way over towards her.

He watched the gentle rise and fall of her back as she was slumped over, using her arm as a pillow, a little bit of drool coming from her lips. She'd taken her glasses off, Lincoln figured she must have rubbed her eyes and put her head down for a moment, only to end up passing out.

It was cute. Cute in the way his own Lisa used to, and occasionally, still did.

She wasn't his Lisa, but she was still Lisa. She was still his little sister in some capacity. That meant he was supposed to take care of her.

He made his decision.

Lincoln leaned down, and with practiced ease, slipped one arm under her legs behind the knee, and the other around her back. He lifted and scooped her into his arms like he was carrying a child (or a bride) and began to carry her towards her bed.

Lisa stirred slightly in his arms, twisting a little as she spoke in a sleepy voice, "Elder brother, I'm more than capable of ambulating over towards my own bed. You don't have to keep carrying me like this…" Before she turned and almost seemed to…snuggle into his chest with a sense of familiarity.

That caused Lincoln to smile gently as warmth filled him, his own Lisa said the same thing every time he carried her to bed, "Oh, your Lincoln carries you to bed too? Maybe him and I are more alike than I thought."

Lisa's narrow brown eyes suddenly snapped open just as they reached the bed. She looked right at Lincoln with sudden panic, and began to thrash and squirm in his grasp, "Don't touch me!"

Lincoln's arms went up, and he dropped her in his own panic. Thankfully Lisa landed on the bed, and then quickly scampered back to the wall it was against, breathing heavy and looking at him with fear in her eyes. She struck an accusatory finger at him, eyes narrowed, "Explain yourself!"

Lincoln felt the previous warmth filling him begin to die out, as a cold sense of annoyance took its place.

He frowned and folded his arms as he glared right back, "Putting you to bed."

Lisa looked around as if she was trying to find some way she could get around him if she needed to. Her eyes glanced at the dart gun she'd left over on the table, "Just putting me to bed? That's it? How do I know you weren't trying to capitalize on my unconscious form to try and live out some perverse desire with me!"

Lincoln only continued to stare back at her with an indignant expression, giving a tired and annoyed sigh, "Because I'd never do that to you or to anyone. Honestly, I'm appalled you would even suggest that sort of thing Lisa. You might not be my sister, but you look, sound, and act enough like her the idea of hurting you is unthinkable to me."

Lisa had a small look of almost…shame come across her? One she quickly pushed down as she regarded him. There was still some disbelief in her, and she calmed herself down, trying to approach the subject matter a little more diplomatically, "Lincoln, how can you say that, given the circumstances you described to me?"

Lincoln raised his eyebrow, arms still folded, facing her with a judgmental look. One that said she was the bad guy here, no matter how much she thought it was the other way around. He replied with an annoyed, and offended tone, "Oh? And what circumstances would those be Lisa?"

Lisa felt her throat go dry, why did she feel like she was the one out of line? He was the one with the inappropriate relationship with his sisters! He was the one who should be feeling guilty or some sort of shame from her line of questioning! But looking at him, she couldn't help but feel he had been telling the truth. He really did mean nothing more than to put her to bed…and glancing over at the table by the stairs, she even saw he'd brought her food.

She still tried, "Lincoln, the age you and your siblings engaged in your activities…there had to be some sort of impropriety, you engaged in illegal acts the least of which that-"

Lincoln cut her off

"Like the illegal acts you've engaged in throughout your life in pursuit of science?"

Lisa's cheeks inflamed red once more, she looked down, still on the back foot, this wasn't at all how this conversation was supposed to go, "Elder brother, that's different, that-"

Again, Lincoln cut her off.

"Yes, you're right it is different. My family's acts didn't result in anyone getting hurt, unlike your own."

Lisa continued to get frustrated as her not-brother seemed to stamp down any attempt she made to suggest what his family had done was wrong, immoral or indecent in anyway. She looked up, trying one last thing…

"Lincoln, maybe it's not your fault. Maybe one of our elder sisters did these, things to you, and it only made you carry it on, in the belief that it was necessary, that what you were doing wasn't wrong that-"

And then Lincoln's expression turned from annoyed and offended, to outright furious. She had rarely seen this level of anger on her brother's face, but when it did happen it scared her and was typically a sign she had overstepped her bounds.

"Stop! Stop right now!" Lincoln interrupted her, before he responded in increasing disgust, "How dare you! How dare you Lisa Loud! Do you think so lowly of your own brother and his family, that we…we what, abused each other? Do you think I raped you where I came from is that what you think Lisa?! Do you think I raped any of my sisters for that matter?!"

Lisa flinched again, shirking back as she took in the look of sheer contempt Lincoln was giving her. An expression that held little affection for her in this moment. She told herself this wasn't really her brother, but for some reason, seeing that expression on him directed at her, hurt.

She tried to offer something of a retort, "Well no, but Lincoln you must-"

"I must nothing Lisa!"

Lincoln cut her off again. That anger and contempt still in his eyes.

"I don't owe you anything! You're the one that ripped me from my home! You're the one who lost your own brother due to your negligence! You're the one that has caused 11 children to currently be fatherless, and now you even have the nerve to infer my sisters and I are some kind of sexual predators!?"

Lisa's cheeks flushed as now intense shame over her actions began to flood her. In this moment her rational mind couldn't even come up with any kind of valid defense. Her brother, even if he wasn't her brother, was right to some degree. Even as much as she might disapprove of the other Loud's lifestyle, she was the one who created this mess and took him from his family.

Her voice came even softer as she couldn't even lift her gaze to meet his own anymore.

"Lincoln…I…"

"What Lisa?! What?!" Her brother snapped back.

Before the anger seemed to slowly drain out of him and he just looked at her with…disappointment. That seemed to hurt her more than even the anger he had been showing previously. Lincoln's tired sounding voice continued.

"I don't want to hear it right now Lisa. I just…" He sighed heavily, "I just want to go home. I want to be back with my family. I don't like it here where you Louds stopped being one."

Lisa winced inwardly after those words.

There was another pause as he looked away in silence for several moments. Lisa dared not speak, she just watched him, sitting on the bed, noting the sadness filling him.

He looked back at her once more and spoke in a softer tone, "I made you a sandwich. You should eat it and then take a nap…preferably in your bed. You're going to hurt your back sleeping at your bench like that. Lisa, you need to take better care of yourself. You're no good to anyone running on fumes. Please take breaks and let yourself rest."

Lisa couldn't believe what she was hearing. This Lincoln had just gone from chewing her out, to speaking with a tone of caring about her wellbeing, all in the span of a minute. It reminded her of…well it reminded her of her brother of course. The way he used to be.

She slowly nodded her head and was brave enough to flick her eyes upward and look to him once more.

Lincoln was still looking at her with that combination of sadness and disappointment.

She continued to feel a deep shame for reasons she couldn't fathom.

He turned from her and began to head up the stairs, "I'll make dinner later tonight. I'll bring it to you afterwards. We're going to have to talk more about the situation here. What I need to do to fill in for your Lincoln. But not now. You need to sleep and, I need some time to myself again."

Lisa slowly nodded her head once more, feeling like a small child that had been disciplined by a kind and caring parent, "A-a-alright elder brother."

Those words had slipped out unconsciously on her part, but she saw Lincoln smile slightly in response, before he headed up the stairs.

The sandwich was a peanut butter and jelly with the crusts cut off…Her favorite, made exactly the way she loved it. The way she always loved it, the way her big brother Lincoln used to make it for her.

She teared up as she ate it and couldn't figure out why.

…

Lincoln did make dinner for both Clyde and Lisa, even if he didn't share it with either of them. Clyde simply came back to find a nice home cooked meal waiting for him with a sticky note telling him to serve himself. Lisa awoke simply to find her plate had been taken away and replaced with another containing her dinner.

Both were still unsure about the Lincoln in their home. Lisa went back to work on fixing things, and Clyde went to his room, unsure of how to approach a Lincoln who was so very different, and yet so very the same, as the one he knew.

As for Lincoln, interacting with both had been enough for the moment. They'd have to talk again, but he wasn't ready to deal with their misunderstanding or disapproval of his family situation. He wanted to spend a little more time in their Lincoln's room, trying to understand him and how that Lincoln's family situation had devolved into…whatever nightmare this was.

He broke into his double's phone easy enough. They had the same password, 1962, first year of Ace Savvy's appearance. Even had the same lock screen and phone case. It struck Lincoln as somewhat funny. He was really starting to think he and this Lincoln really were alike, outside of this one having somehow destroyed his relationship with his sisters. Instead of making them the happiest women in the world, and keeping the family together, he'd let them all flit off for what…fame and fortune?

Okay, maybe that wasn't so bad. His sisters struggled sometimes to make ends meet, but surely the family they had was better than anything these other Louds had.

He really wondered what kind of asshole the other Lincoln had to be that he lived in such a sorry state. He pitied bad ending Lincoln.

But in other ways he could still see how much they shared. The picture he was slowly beginning to make of the other Lincoln really seemed a whole lot like himself, just one that had made every bad decision making everything completely wrong.

Exploring the phone was where those differences and similarities between them seemed most prevalent. The Lincoln of this universe organized his phone apps in the same manner and had all the same phone apps to boot.

On a whim, he opened the Streaming Service App MaxFlix and decided to poke around and see how similar their watch lists were.

Lincoln was stunned to find they were almost exactly the same. The same superhero movies, the same sci-fi and fantasy shows, the same cartoons. Their watch history was damn near identical. Lincoln was gob smacked to find out bad ending Lincoln was on the very same episode of Dragon Dynasty as he was.

That made Lincoln feel both a sense of nostalgia and sadness. His son Lyle wanted to watch Dragon Dynasty so bad, but both he and Leni had said the boy was too young for all the sex and gratuitous violence in it. Lyle's arguments he was more mature than most kids his age and could handle it notwithstanding.

He had a feeling Loan, or Lemy probably helped him watch it on pirate sites anyway, but the important thing was He and Leni at least laid down the law as parents and did what they could. He wasn't arrogant enough to think his kids didn't get away with things now and then just like he and his sisters had when they were younger. But he hoped it only lent itself to secretly watching things he wasn't supposed to as opposed to something like, grand theft auto or drug dealing on the side.

So officially, Lyle wasn't allowed to watch Dragon Dynasty yet. Even if the romance between the brother and sister in the show felt so wholesome to Lincoln.

Lincoln had frowned as another realization hit him. Next week a movie Lyle had been extra excited about was coming out, 'The Elf Queen'. Lincoln was excited about it too. It was based off a series of fantasy YA novels Lyle adored. Lincoln had read them right alongside the boy to share the experience with his youngest son. Just one of the special unique things they had. Lincoln made sure to have at least one or two unique things to share with all his children. The two were supposed to go see the movie together. Now he wouldn't be able to take him. That brought another wave of sadness over Lincoln.

He tried to distract himself by checking out his double's photo gallery next. Lincoln himself took so many pictures of his kids and his wives, he had to back them up often. It was like he wanted to practically document every moment with his family. They were his entire world after all, he loved them so much. It had gotten to the point where he was almost as good as Lori when it came to using his phone camera. So, he was a little surprised to find bad ending Lincoln's own photo gallery was far more barren compared to his own.

Guess that was another difference between them.

But the other Lincoln still had some interesting pictures all the same.

There were photos from conventions. More than a few, the other Lincoln sitting at a table signing autographs with other members of the industry. Lincoln standing with the large, buff and buck toothed Tim Turner, biggest Crimson Chin fan and best writer in the industry. He'd created the unstoppable anti-hero Cleft Prime, as his own critique against some of the poorer storylines of the past. Lincoln and his daughter Loan had read the biggest Cleft Prime story, 'Crisis of the Infinite Secret' countless times. Loan and he had countless debates on just how the Ace family could take down Cleft Prime if they went all out. Loan more than happily told her father Cleft Prime would crumble up the special High Roller Armor Crimson Chin and Ace had made together for just such an emergency.

Lincoln pulled himself out of his comic book musings and memories of his eldest daughter to look back at the picture of his double and Turner. Turner left Timely a couple years ago for his own creator led series that'd exploded in popularity and revenue. Lincoln and he were standing next to one another, with the woman whose name he'd read earlier as part of their team, Sam Manson. Manson was a beautiful goth girl, older than all of his sisters. She dressed a little more outgoing and trendier goth than his sister Lucy did, but he knew the two would probably get along well. Manson had a reputation as being a very harsh critic, and stern mentor and task master. The fact she was smiling and looked as if she genuinely liked her double spoke volumes of his talent. She'd also left Timely for her own series that had taken off.

The three were smiling in the picture, laughing, arms around each other. They were his friends. Lincoln was friends with these legends. And not just them, there were more people from the industry the other Lincoln had photos with. More names here and there he knew that it seemed his double was at least, on a friendly basis with. Pictures of even a few good-looking girls in cosplay that wanted to pose with him.

He noted his double hover handed all of them.

Lincoln couldn't blame his double there, so many scandals in the industry, he was probably being smart and a genuine good guy by not trying to sleep with the fans.

Outside of that, the pictures were fewer and farer between, but they stood out to Lincoln as he looked at his double's life. The ones that involved family.

There was a picture from a recent Christmas, it was the Lincoln from this universe and several children in front of the Christmas tree. It took him a moment, but he figured out these were the children of his sisters in this universe.

A strange feeling of Jealousy and then guilt came over him. Jealousy at his sisters being with other people and not him and each other. Guilt because he felt that in the first place. He had to remind himself, these weren't his sisters, they were the other Lincoln's sisters. Yet he still felt it. He still felt that jealousy.

Pushing those uncomfortable feelings away he took his time to look over the children in the photo. There were a pair of young twin boys, maybe around Leia's age. The freckles and brunette hair, along with the musical motifs in their clothes had him easily surmise they had to be Luna's kids. They didn't seem hard to tell apart despite being twins either. It seemed another night and day situation like Lana and Lola had been. One was so properly put together, with a little purple bowtie and his short hair parted neatly down the middle. The other's hair was long and slightly unkempt. He had a morose expression of indifference about the world, which seemed funny on a boy so young, and wore a beaten-up purple flannel shirt and grey t-shirt with an unhappy face on it.

The one kid he couldn't place right away was the boy whose skin was a shade browner than the others, and who had dark hair and freckles. Despite the skin color difference, Lincoln could see the Loud traits present in him. The boy even had the same nose, freckles, and ears he did. But the skin tone, hair, and eyes were clearly from someone else.

He looked about 11 in the picture, older than the twins.

The other Lincoln had his arms around the three boys, the twins on one side, the mystery boy on the other. All were smiling, but the mystery boy seemed to be smiling the most.

Which of his sisters did this boy belong to?

This sent Lincoln on a hunt. He needed to know more about his family in this universe. He had told himself he didn't, but the mystery boy and his inability to figure out which of his sisters had to have birthed him, gnawed at him.

He flipped through the phone's gallery trying to seek more information. The dates between the pictures growing larger and larger. There was a picture from Easter the year before, now there was a baby girl with light brown hair, and Lynn's brown eyes, in Lincoln's arms. The mystery boy was also there. Lynn had a daughter, Luna had twins. But who was the mother of the mystery boy?

Eventually Lincoln abandoned the phone, and went right to the computer, firing it up and deciding to log into his double's social media accounts. He could stalk the family from there, see more pictures he was tagged in, try and put the puzzle pieces together. Maybe also get some clues as to why everything was so horribly wrong here.

He barely acknowledged that his double had the same wallpaper, same Drip game account name (ManWithPlan), used the same browser and other similarities, jumping right to his LifeInvader account and straight to the gallery for tagged pictures of him.

It was eerie to see how the gallery of tagged pictures involving his double was so…sparse compared to his own back home. But then, his sisters were always taking pictures of him with the children and one another and would post them in their own galleries. This Lincoln had no children and seemed as if he barely interacted with his family, it stood to reason he wouldn't have other people taking too many pictures of him.

Combing through the pictures though, he found the Christmas one, it had been taken by Lori. The boy wasn't tagged, but there was a caption, 'Uncle Lincoln with his nephews, Sam, Mick and Bobby.'

Sam and Mick were no doubt the twins, which mean the kid's name was Bobby.

He leapt over to Lori's page.

Lori Loud-Santiago
Pro Golfer
Widowed
Tallahassee Florida

Her banner was a picture of her, with her arms wrapped around the Bobby Kid. Both smiling together, cheeks pressed to one another.

Santiago, there it was.

He remembered.

Santiago, Lori's old High School boyfriend, Santiago, his old elementary school girlfriend. It'd been a long time since he'd thought about either of the Santiagos. Which meant… wait, had Lori actually married, what was his name… Oh yeah, Bobby!

Lincoln dove into Lori's gallery, going back years as he stalked her profile. Trying to put it all together, Santiago, Widowed, Bobby Jr. Eventually he was able to complete the whole tragic tale. Bobby and Lori had been married, a couple years later they had Bobby Jr. Bobby Sr had gotten killed in a robbery at his family's store. Lori took their son and moved away to Florida. His double had spent some time with her in this period, which is why there were so many pictures of the two together on her profile.

Idly, he wondered what ever happened to…Bobby's sister… Ronnie Anne. Right, he hadn't thought about Ronnie Anne in so long, it took him a moment to remember her.

Ronnie Anne, his first quasi girlfriend. He lost track of her and the whole extended Casagrandes in general after his sisters and he had genuinely committed to one another…But bad end Lincoln seemed to have kept closer longer.

He opened a new tab, and checked his double's gallery again, going back further, ten years plus or so.

Yup, there she was.

Lincoln leaned back for a moment and just…looked at the pictures of a relationship that never was.

He really hadn't thought about Ronnie Anne in a long time, but now he was thinking about her, thinking about how once she had been close to him. It seemed like, her and bad end Lincoln had remained close for a while, years really.

At the same time, he was keenly aware the relationship had failed. His double wasn't with Ronnie Anne. It seemed what ever there was there, just hadn't been strong enough to go the distance. It made Lincoln even feel a little smug by comparison. Clearly, he'd made the right decision sticking with his sisters, his other self wasn't even capable of keeping it together with the child hood friend. Heh, blood was thicker than water after all.

Lincoln decided to stop this little exploration down memory lane and closed the tab, turning his attention back to Lori's gallery. He wanted to know more about Lori and her son Bobby.

There were a lot of pictures of Bobby and the Other Lincoln. Lori seemed to like taking pictures of the two together. There were more pictures of his double with Bobby Jr than any of his other nieces or nephews. It seemed Lori out of all his sisters, was the most dedicated to returning home. It looked like she tried to come home for every major holiday, and his double was present every time she did so. Going back further, he saw this trend continued even when Bobby Sr was alive. The two were present for every Christmas gathering his parents threw, and several other holidays over the years. They always seemed to take lots of pictures of Lincoln with their son.

Before he knew it, it was late in the evening. Lincoln didn't know why he'd dedicated hours to stalking Lori's profile all to figure out the story behind this boy, but when it was all said and done there were parts that just felt…missing to him. Something about it all still felt slightly off, though he couldn't figure out why. Maybe it was because there were no pictures of his double over at Lori and Bobby's place in Great Lakes City. Maybe it was the way Lori's gallery seemed to just jump from her early Pro Golf career, to a year later her having a child, with almost no pictures in between.

It also seemed strange Lori seemed to be the only sister who made it a point to keep coming back to Royal Woods compared to his brief examination of the rest. Well, except for Lily who looked as if she still lived with their parents. But then he also reminded himself his Lori was the primary one who kept tabs on everyone else. Maybe it was just an eldest child thing.

It all made him wonder if he should really bother trying to figure out the other Louds. They had problems, even a cursory examination showed that. But he wasn't about to start trying to take care of them or fix them. He really shouldn't. It wasn't his place. He just wanted to get home to his own family after all.

But that just wasn't in his nature. Lincoln was a helper, he cared about people. He just couldn't leave someone in need if he could do something about it. Especially if it was family.

And despite what he wanted to think otherwise, these were Louds.

Then again, was he sure they had problems and it wasn't just Bad end Lincoln that was the fuck up? Maybe they really were all fine the way they were, living their own separate lives from one another. Maybe they were all happy and he was just making assumptions? Was he so desperate to think his sisters had to be miserable because they weren't with him? Was he that selfish and self-centered?

It made some uncomfortable feelings start to boil up inside of him. The Lori of this universe was far richer and better off than the one in his own. Yes, she lost her husband, but she did have a child, one that seemed to be a sweet boy she adored and got to live with.

Unlike his Lori.

He didn't want to keep going down that uncomfortable road of questioning so he put it off for now. It was really late.

He didn't have it in him to start a deep dive of all of his sisters in this universe just yet, but he did briefly visit all of their profiles, just to get a quick look into their lives. Most of his sister's accounts weren't very active, and Lincoln was able to figure out why pretty quickly. All of them were famous in their own ways. Which meant they didn't want to be bothered and stalked, which meant the only 'friends' they had on their accounts were their actual friends and family. He found out most of their accounts were also private, which meant they couldn't be found by regular search engines.

Lisa of course had no account (She didn't in his universe either. Decrying she wouldn't let social media track her movements and life), and Lily's seemed the most normal, the most like the ones his sisters and he had back in his own universe. With more friends than anyone else's in the family (which stood to reason, Lily was still in college and apparently wasn't famous like the rest of her family…yet)

But then there was the bombshell that shocked him.

Bad end Linc wasn't friends with Lucy.

He could reach her account, because he was friends with the rest of the family, who were all friends with her…But when he clicked on it, he didn't see anything except her banner and profile pic, and the words 'You are not friends with this person' on it.

That…really bothered him.

Lucy, she was so special to him back home. He loved all his sisters, truly loved them and desired them, but it always came back to Lucy and Lynn. His birth order between the two of them, the room sharing they all experienced as kids, it just meant it defaulted to them as having the most in common together.

He loved his sensitive little poet so much. He loved his little librarian in her long dark dresses, the big black sweaters she wore in winter, the dark hair that obscured her eyes, windows to such a beautiful and wonderful soul. He felt so protective of her, like it was his job to shield her sensitive soul from such an uncaring world. He adored her touch, the feeling of her in his arms, the taste of her lips, the scent of her body, the poetry she would write about them.

The idea that he would ever abandon his deepest, and most sensitive sister. The one who looked at him with such adoration, it was completely unthinkable.

How could his double be at a state where he wasn't even friends with her on social media?!

He knew he would have to figure that one out, but now wasn't the time. He was getting tired.

He stopped briefly at Lola's account since it had a link to another social media site, Pictogram, a popular site centered all around sharing photographs.

What he saw there he wasn't prepared for.

Lola exuded sexual energy in his own universe, she could turn him on with just a look (really any of his sisters could, but Lola took it to another level), and here it was just the same. He knew she was a model, but while her LifeInvader profile was private, her Pictogram was public and she had millions of followers. Millions.

And he could see why.

What he was flooded with, was the most teasing and sensual pictures of his sexiest little sister he'd ever seen. Nothing but pictures of her in bikinis, miniskirts, yoga pants, workout clothes, towels, sometimes completely naked but hiding her naughty bits! Biting her lip for the camera, giving off bedroom eyes, teasing looks of her flesh, but never full nudity. Always making the viewer wonder what the treasures were underneath, always making them want to know more. To see more.

Lincoln knew exactly what those treasures were. He knew how Lola's tongue tasted in his mouth, he knew how soft her skin was, he knew what it was like to be buried to the hilt inside of her tightest spots, while she whispered 'Cum inside of me Lincy…' right in his ear.

Lincoln was jerking off before he even realized it. The pictures of the Lola of this universe were just too much.

First there was one of her completely naked, fresh out of the shower, taking a picture of herself in the mirror. She was using her finger to block her nipples from being visible in the reflection, and the mirror height ended just above where her vulva would be. But he could see she was smooth and shaved, just like his own.

He used his free hand and opened up some pictures of his other sisters from this universe.

One of Lori at the beach, it looked recent. God she was 35 years old and still looked amazing in her blue bikini, laughing with a sun hat over her thick beautiful blonde hair.

Then he pulled one up of Luna on Stage. She was jamming on her guitar, her shirt so loose you could clearly see the side of her tit and light pink nipple through the sleeve.

Lynn's own Pictogram account was next for him. His sporty sister, the next one closest in his heart. The one who made everything a challenge, who always playfully teased him. She was even more fit in this universe. A pic of her showing off her sweaty body in workout clothes, the grey and red's practically clinging to her like a second skin, he could tell she didn't have a bra on…

God they were all so hot, they were all so fucking beautiful, all so sexy. Here in this universe just as they were in his own universe…He missed his own so much, he wanted them, needed them.

He'd cum before he knew it, looking at a picture of Lola in a pink sling bikini that was wedged up her plump ass cheeks. Lincoln knew what a PAWG was, and Lola was the definition. Those bubbly cheeks looked like they bounced with every step, swallowing up the pink fabric of the bikini. The picture had the caption, 'suns out, buns out!' under it, Lola's gapped tooth smirk visible, tongue sticking out, peeking from over her shoulder.

Fuck…his sisters in this dimension were just as hot as they were back home.

He crawled into bed and fell asleep, dreaming of his sisters. This universe or the others, he wasn't sure.

…

Lincoln was exploring his double's videogame collection in his Drip account. It was only right now he'd settled in and calmed down enough he decided to take a break and try and distract himself from everything else he had going on.

He'd already made breakfast for Lisa and Clyde, showered, really showered long and scrubbed himself down and had settled in to one of the many projects he was beginning to increasingly add to a list of things that needed to get done. A list that was going to keep him busy while he was stuck in this universe.

So far that list included finding out everything about his sisters here, finding out why the family seemed so distant from one another, find out why Clyde wasn't with Penelope, find some way to make money and contribute to the house hold, fix up the home, and most recently…fix and get the bathroom in the master bedroom up and running.

Lincoln had no doubt that list would expand, or at least get more complex as he learned about each of the situations and how to handle them in turn, but he needed projects to stop himself from going crazy. He couldn't just wait around doing nothing while Lisa worked on getting him back home. He knew his own Lisa was already doing the same, everything she could to get him home.

Most of the first half of the day had been spent working on getting his Parents old bathroom in the master bedroom up and running. Lincoln wasn't the handiest in the family, but he'd picked up enough basic repair skills from Lana over the years he could small projects around the home.

Though this was, one of the more complex projects he'd ever tackled before. However, you really could find instructions on how to do anything on the internet, and he'd managed to borrow some tools from Lisa and had gone to work.

He was surprised he wasn't going to have to go out and really buy any parts for it. His parents had left it all there. He never understood why they turned off the water and stopped using their own private bathroom. They'd had one for a few months, but inexplicably disconnected and stopped using it, preferring to share the one bathroom in the home. Lana in his world had gotten it back up and running within hours when they moved back in and outside of installing a third bathroom in the basement, it turned into a godsend in a house with so many people.

Not that they needed an extra bathroom here, not with just three people living together. One bathroom was more than enough, but Lincoln just wanted it. To make it feel more like his own home again, and maybe because he thought he could show it off to Clyde and Lisa and help them see he was useful to have around. He didn't like knowing that last thing was part of his motivation, but there it was.

Mostly it had been about cleaning the unused bathroom up. The other Lincoln had been using it for extra storage it seemed. Storage he had plenty enough between the garage and the attic. Just an extra closet he was keeping things he didn't want to move elsewhere.

So first it was about moving those things, elsewhere. He moved out all the boxes of traditional art supplies, comic book boxes, and other odds and ends to those different parts of the House, mostly the attic. Then he went to work cleaning and scrubbing everything down. Making the tile shine. That was ironically the part that had taken the longest. After all of that was finished, turning on the water and connecting the pipes had been kind of easy.

Unsure of what to do with himself afterwards, he decided to do a little bit more exploring, which had led him to Bad end's computer and his drip account.

Drip was the most popular storefront and game launcher used by PC gamers, created by a well known and beloved game development company called Pipe. There were others that had come along over the years, he knew his daughter Loan used the others besides Drip, Legendary and GaG respectively, but Lincoln had always stuck to the original. Now he was pouring over his double's games.

The collection between the two was another area of differences between them.

Not out of taste, definitely not out of taste at all. It was just Bad end Linc had more videogames, and they were all games that Linc himself would have been interested in getting. Back in his own universe his kids played more video games than he did, as he didn't have nearly the time anymore to devote to it. So most of the games he played were ones they liked, and that he'd bought for them.

But he still had his drip account, still would spend some time playing old favorites of his like classic Muscle Fish, and Total Trash Take down, every once in awhile he'd buy a new iteration of them when he caught a sale. But Bad end Linc's collection on Drip was a site to behold. It had every new version of Muscle Fish, every Trash take down spin off. More was the collection of…eroges…

Lincoln had a very small number of eroges back home. About five in total he'd picked up over the years for the novelty more than anything else. He wasn't lacking for sexual partners and really, he just didn't have a lot of time. When he sat down to play, he wanted to play, not jerk off.

But Bad end Linc had something like 20.

It wasn't like they were the most expensive games, but it was clear bad end liked them enough to purchase a couple every year. That made Lincoln more curious as he went through and started to see what kind of eroge's they were, if anything jumped out at him.

A cursory glance through them, there was nothing out of the ordinary except for one in particular.

A collection of Monster Girl fucking, Seduce everyone in your neighborhood, Fantasy harem RPGs, sex platformers and dirty puzzle games. Nothing that was too weird, until he caught one that stood out in particular.

Oni-Chan paradise.

Lincoln couldn't help himself, he needed to check it out. He jumped to its page in the collection, and checked out the details.

'You are Yuuta, the only son of a family of 7 and Mom and Dad have gone on a summer trip together leaving you home alone with your 6 beautiful sisters! Now's your chance to get closer to your Nii-sans and Imoutos than ever! What forbidden feelings will you explore with your sisters, will you choose just one, or become the sister king to own all their hearts!'

The last time it had been played was two months ago for about 45 minutes. Bad end Linc had the game for around two years now. In that time, he'd logged a total of 15 hours. It looked like his double had a pattern of installing it, playing it for an hour at most, and then uninstalling it, leaving it fallow for a month or two, before he'd reinstall and play again.

That made Lincoln chuckle a little.

Bad end Linc had some serious hang ups over a simple eroge. A lot of guilt and shame centered around It. Lincoln knew this wasn't some kind of smoking gun. It wasn't like a sudden revelation of his double having some deep-seated hidden desire for his sisters.

But the pattern of uninstalling and resinstalling it did point to him feeling ashamed for playing something like this.

Which was a shame, but not for the reasons his double probably thought. Just a shame bad end would feel any kind of shame at all for potentially loving his sisters that much. Just a shame the other man had to result to a video game rather than having the real thing.

Lincoln sighed sadly to himself and shook his head as he went about setting the game to install and checking over some of its other features. Apparently, you could go in and change the names of all the characters, as well as hair and eye colors in the CGs?! Oh, Lincoln knew he needed to play this now!

He was practically wetting his lips in anticipation when suddenly the vibrating sound of his phone going off startled him completely. He turned his head, looking towards the phone laying next to him on the desk, the caller ID stopping him cold.

'Mom'.

An explosion of emotion struck Lincoln all at once, an unstoppable train of feeling slamming into his heart.

His throat went dry, his heart pounded in his chest, and a sudden deep and terrible combination of sadness and yearning filled him.

'Mom'.

The phone continued to vibrate and flash the name on screen. Lincoln stared at it, uncertain of what he should do.

Should he pick it up? Should he let it go to voicemail? Could he even pick it up? The last time he talked to his mother and father things didn't go as well as he wanted, there were plenty of things that had been said in the heat of the moment, and there were plenty of things left unsaid…

But despite everything, Lincoln never hated his parents.

Even if Mom and Dad never understood their children, Lincoln never hated them, no matter how heated things got when everything came out. No matter how painful things were, he forgave his parents for all of it.

He never got to say goodbye, and he thought he'd made his peace with that. He thought he'd been okay with knowing his mother died, thinking potentially the worst of him when all he wanted to do was tell her he still loved her…

Seeing that name across the phone, he didn't even notice that tears were falling down his cheeks.

The phone clicked over to voice mail a few moments later, as Lincoln watched unsure of what to do. He saw the 'new voice mail' message pop up afterwards while he collected himself, and before he knew it he'd picked up the phone and dialed right into the voice mail.

A moment later after hearing he had '1 new voice message' a voice he hadn't heard in years filled his ears.

"Hey Sweetie! It's your Mom, as you probably already know! Now listen here long lost son of mine, it would be nice if you could occasionally answer the phone when your mother called you! I know your busy, but it would be nice to hear my son's voice once in awhile!" He heard a soft laugh, his mother's laugh. It filled his heart, as she continued, "Anyway honey, I'm just calling to check on you and make sure you, Clyde, and Lisa are all doing all right together. I wanted to talk to you about Mother's day. I know it's next month, but I really had a big favor I needed to ask of you for it Lincoln. Call me back soon mister, I mean it! Okay, I love you sweetie, tell Clyde and Lisa I love them too, byee!"

Lincoln played the message 3 more times. Just to hear his mother's voice. Just to hear the love he could clearly hear in it, the caring she held for her son. Just to hear his mother use his name again, and tell him she loved him.

He had finally discovered one thing Bad end Linc had over him.

His mother was alive and still loved him.

Lincoln loved his sisters and children, but even he had to admit, that was almost worth just as much.

…

Lisa pushed her welding goggles back up on her face, turned the welding torch off, set it down on her brown work bench, and collapsed back into her chair with an annoyed sigh as she pinched the bridge of her nose.

This really was going to take months.

She was working primarily on trying to recover and repair every element of the original 'Galaxy gate' that she could. Any item that wasn't fried beyond use, anything she could pull apart and still make work again. It was slow, dull, tedious, but necessary work. With the parts she'd saved, she'd Frankenstein them back into the working items for the reconstruction. After that she was going to have to try and find new parts to replace the ones she couldn't fix, and that was going to be the hardest thing of all.

Until then, this new Lincoln was going to be stuck with them, and her Lincoln was going to be stuck in that other universe. She just really, really hoped he was safe.

There was going to be the matter of money, Clyde had already brought that up to her. He was willing to help keep the bills paid for a month, maybe month and a half, but he couldn't do it forever. Lincoln, this Lincoln was going to have to work, and yet neither Clyde or Lisa had any idea how the comic industry ran, or if this Lincoln would even be capable of performing on a level their Lincoln would.

It was all a mess, a stupid, foolish mess she had nobody but herself to blame for.

There was an old phrase she was aware of, 'How do you eat an Elephant? One bite at a time.'

Well, she was taking those bites now. One at a time.

More though, she was aware of a niggling curiosity that had been building in her in the days since the new Lincoln arrived. She couldn't help it, she was a scientist, curiosity was built into her very nature. She wanted to know, needed to know things.

But she was also aware of the eponymous phrase bandied about by the Horror writer H.P. Lovecraft, 'Some things man was not meant to know.'

But it was there all the same. She wanted to know about the other universe. She wanted to know about her sisters there, she wanted to know about her brother there, she wanted to know more about herself.

It was just…she was afraid to ask right now. She was afraid of learning about all the details.

Their initial 'discussions' on the matter hadn't been the most productive, ending with her horrified or Lincoln incensed, which meant talking about it again, she'd have to approach it in a more civil and delicate manner. One where she would have to be willing to listen, and allow Lincoln to tell things his way, without her judgement, no matter how horrified she might be at what he was saying.

Rather, she also knew, there was a part of her that was afraid she might like what she heard.

Not because of the sex with her siblings of course, but because of the closeness they shared. Because Lincoln was clearly involved with his sisters in a manner that hadn't changed much from their childhood beyond the intensity of that involvement. A world where the Loud siblings had carried on the closeness they had once all shared rather than drifted apart.

In this world, Lisa only knew a strange almost indifference or willful ignorance of one another's circumstances had settled on the family. It wasn't just Lincoln, but things like Lola and Lana not even being actively involved in one another's life.

The only sisters that seemed to try to a small degree were Lori and Lily. But Lori was a single mother raising her son, and Lily was trying her best, but both Lisa and Lincoln were avoiding her, much to Lisa's own shame.

Lily was the opposite of Lisa in so many ways, extroverted, warm, sunny, artistic, emotional. She was a lot like Lisa's old best friend Darcy (Someone else Lisa hadn't talked to since she'd gotten out of Prison, out of a sense of Shame). Lily was Lisa's old roommate, and maybe it was just because of birth order and that closeness the two loved one another seemingly so much. But it was there all the same. Lily had been the sister Lisa was closest to.

Lily had come over a couple of times since Lisa had returned from Prison, and had been nothing but sweet, understanding, and a ray of sunshine. But Lisa felt the same shame around her she knew Lincoln did.

That on some levels, they were both failures, or rather felt like failures, and being the older siblings, it felt even worse being that way in the eyes of the youngest. Even if a part of her was aware Lily didn't look at them in that manner.

Lily loved her big sister so much it hurt Lisa when she thought about it, thought about how much she failed the girl. And, the baby of the family practically worshipped Lincoln.

Lisa had seen that the first time Lily stopped by. She was in a fine arts program herself, and she looked at her older brother as if he was the Guru she needed to study and learn at the foot of. She bought every issue of any comic Lincoln worked on, and she begged him to take a look at her own stuff. Lily was more of a painter than an illustrator, but she wanted Lincoln's input all the same on everything she did.

Lisa also had the idea it was probably because of how close Lily and Lincoln had been when both were younger. Lincoln had been one of Lily's primary caregivers through most of her life. They'd done so much together, even fighting a dragon in Scotland! They were close up until Lincoln moved out and went to art school.

All the sisters still at home were unhappy about it, but Lily took it the hardest.

They were all unhappy their big brother was moving so far away. But he kept reassuring them it was all going to be alright, he was just following in the footsteps of Lori, of Leni, of Luna, of Luan, of Lynn…

And of her…

Sometimes Lisa wondered if she was the one who had started it all, since she was the first one to leave the house and 'establish' herself. Set an example of what a Loud was supposed to be. She had returned for High school, but by then had the damage already been done? Had her dismissing her family, achieving fame and fortune at such a young age been the catalyst that pushed everyone else to attempt and follow her example? All because she was too proud to admit how much she had missed them over those years? Because when she cried herself to sleep every night, saying how much she wanted her Mommy and Daddy, saying how much she wanted her sisters, saying how much she wanted her Big brother, she never built up enough courage to call home and tell them she wanted to come back.

She was a genius, the smartest person on the planet, even back then. But she had also been a little girl. A little girl who hadn't realized just how important her family was to her, and yet every morning after crying herself to sleep, she went right to work. And every time she talked to her family, she never hinted at all about the distress she was feeling, and she never told them the truth. She never said she missed them, and didn't care about her career and just wanted to come home and give them all hugs, and be hugged by them in return. No, she had been too proud and had stayed, and lied, and said she was happy where she was.

That was the real truth she was afraid of finding out.

Was she the reason her family had broken up?

She didn't know if talking to the other Lincoln would reveal that, but she had a feeling their Lisa had decided to take a very different course in life.

She was interrupted from her self reflection by the arrival of that very same Lincoln, hearing him heading down the stairs to her lab!

Lisa turned in her chair to watch him as he approached, "Lincoln, I wasn't expecting you for another hour or so for the customary lunch you've been bringing me. Is there, something I can assist you with?"

Lincoln had a slightly trepidatious look on his features, as if he didn't know how to approach the subject he wanted to ask her. Lisa did her best to give a calm and receptive look in return, hoping he'd find it easier to open up with whatever questions he had.

"Lis…uh, I, got a phone call, and I really don't know what I should do about it?"

Lisa only nodded her head with a soft sigh, "This was going to happen sooner or later, even as reclusive as my brother is these days, there are those who still inquire as to his whereabouts and activities. Was it his editor demanding pages?"

Lincoln shook his head back and forth, "No, no Lis, nothing like that. It was um, it was Mom. I didn't know what to do, so I let it go to voicemail."

Lisa's eyes went slightly wide in response to that info, as she took off her goggles completely and placed her glasses back on, "Oh! Well, I should have prepared you for this. It's customary for mother to call Lincoln or even myself once a week to inquire as to our well being. Lincoln typically doesn't answer, so you did the right thing."

Lincoln looked a little bothered by that, a frown on his lips, "Why doesn't he answer, do you know what I'd give to talk to Mom and Dad again where I'm from? Almost anything."

Lisa tilted her head as she looked back to her not brother, "Lincoln, what do you mean by that exactly?" Lisa couldn't be sure what Lincoln was implying with his last statement, it could easily be either because their parents refused to talk to them for their sins in the other universe, or it could be they were deceased. In either case she could see the pain evident still on the other Lincoln's face as he brought it up.

He looked right back at her, "Because they're dead Lis. Mom and Dad were in a car accident some years back. It's how we got the House and everything. We sold the Restaurant to Kotaro… We needed the money at the time."

Lisa gave a long sigh as she turned her swivel chair to face Lincoln completely. Lincoln meanwhile took a seat on the stairs, holding the phone in his hands.

"My brother's relationship with our parents is…complicated as it is with many other members of the family. But we're not talking about the others. The short answer is, Father offered Lincoln a position to come work with him as a manager at the Restaurant a couple years ago. Offering him more money than he currently makes illustrating his comic books. Lincoln took it as a personal insult."

Lisa frowned as she looked away, and added, "Lincoln takes any offer of help or assistance as a personal slight against his abilities to take care of himself."

When she looked back at the Lincoln on the stairs, she saw him slowly nodding his head, a distant expression as if he was thinking something over, before he looked back to her, "I have the same problem. It's difficult to ask for help when you're the one used to helping others."

Lisa gave a small smile in return as she went on, "As for Mother, she's always been the one that nurtured Lincoln the most. I believe my brother sees himself as a failure in her eyes, and avoids speaking with her."

Lincoln frowned heavily as he listened, brow furrowing before he shook his head and looked back, "That's ridiculous. Both of you need to realize how lucky you are to still have your parents in your life. They're not perfect Lis, they're human. I'm a parent, and my kids look at me like I'm perfect…" he trailed off and gave a slight chuckle, "Well, not really but all the same, kids expect their parents to have all the answers, and I don't. You're all old enough to realize your parents never had all the answers, still don't and are just trying their best."

Lisa gave a rather dour look at Lincoln, "And…how did our parents react to finding out the nature of our relationships in your world. Were they imperfect there?"

Lincoln's expression turned grim as he looked back at Lisa, and then he took on an almost callous smile, "They were horrified Lis. Absolutely horrified. They thought there was something completely and utterly wrong with their children."

Lisa looked a little shocked at the blatant way Lincoln opened up to her. He kept that callous smile as he continued.

"What, did you expect anything else? We're not stupid Lisa, none of us are. Not even Lynn. We knew Mom and Dad would think that, but we didn't hate them for it. We ended up…" Lincoln trailed off before he shook his head.

"Look, it doesn't matter. What am I supposed to do if family calls?"

Lisa frowned, clearly curious to hear more but not sure if she was willing to engage with this Lincoln further at the moment. She could tell he'd be in a more hostile mood on the subject of his own family right now.

"For the time being Lincoln it's best you don't answer the phone when they call. If it's anything important you can tell me what was said and we'll figure out where to go from there. We need to limit any exposure you have to the rest of the family so they don't believe anything is a miss."

Lincoln stood up on the stairs, narrowing his eyes in a frustrated expression, "So I'm just supposed to ignore the rest of our family while I'm here? Pretend they don't exist?"

Lisa returned her dimensional brother's frustrated look with one of her own, "Yes Lincoln, that's exactly what I'm telling you to do. We have no idea how the rest of our family would react to knowing the truth of the matter and the more people who find out you're not the real Lincoln the more likely it can get out in the open and back to my Parole agent. And if my Parole agent finds out I've been engaging in un-approved acts of Super Science I could end up back in Prison and then any chance of getting you back to your world and my brother back to here vanishes!"

Lincoln glared angrily at her, "I'm not a Prisoner Lisa! I refuse to be locked up!"

Lisa rolled her eyes as she huffed, "I've been to Prison Lincoln. This house and its amenities are better than any housing unit you'd find in the Department of Corrections."

Lisa turned away from Lincoln, swiveling her chair back to the work bench in front of her as she took her glasses off once more and pulled down her welding goggles, "No, you're not a prisoner. Lincoln, I can only apologize to you so much for all of this. I know this isn't the ideal situation, but we need to minimize any and all further risk. At least until I figure out how we handle any inquiries into you."

Lisa picked up the welding torch again, and fired it up, the blue white flame crackling to life. Lincoln watched her from the stairs, slowly nodding his head as he stared at her back, his shoulders slumping.

"You're right Lisa…I guess you're right. I'll come by later with your lunch."

Lisa gave a soft sigh, her own shoulders falling a little, clearly not happy with the decision herself, but believing she did what was best, "Thank you dear brother."

Lincoln marched back up the stairs.

…

Lincoln was in a serious pickle.

He sat back in his double's chair as he stared at the monitor in front of him, wracking his brain as he tried to figure out a solution to the issue, but nothing was coming at the moment. Even the Man with the Plan had limits to his problem-solving ability, and those limits were now being tested.

The problem?

Oni-Chan Paradise only had six sisters, but Lincoln had ten! If he was going to change the name and the appearances of the girls in the game, four of his beloved sisters would have to be left out! But asking him to choose which six would make the final cut was impossible! You might as well ask him which of his limbs he could do without!

He could of went with the obvious, and chose the sisters that most reminded him of the girls' bios in the game, but not all of them matched up perfectly. The eldest sister in Oni-chan was a motherly, stay at home, sweet type, and the next after her was a work-a-holic executive. That just threw everything off, Lori was the eldest and while Leni was super sweet, her home-making skills left more than a little to be desired!

One of them was also the president of the Kenjutsu Club, but she was also the solemn serious one, nothing like his Lynn!

Argh, this was frustrating!

Lincoln sat back in the computer chair and folded his arms. Maybe there was a solution, one he wasn't keen on, but would be the best he could do. He could try to…combine his sisters.

The serious, solemn Kenjustsu club president with the hidden soft side that loved flower arrangement and tea ceremony, maybe that could be Lynn and Lucy put together? But what would he name her, and whose hair color would she have?

Lincoln was interrupted from his super serious thoughts by the sound of his phone vibrating, letting him know someone was calling.

He looked over as the caller ID screen lit up.

The picture caused his heart to almost stop, and his breath to catch in his throat.

It was him, 12 years old wearing one of his orange polo shirts, smiling happily. In his arms was his youngest sister, Lily at 2, smiling just as happily and hugging her big brother.

The name "Lily" flashed across the top of the screen, lilac flowers on both sides of her name.

It was the same exact picture he used for Lily on his phone back home. A picture taken a few months before everything in the family changed for him and his own sisters. It was strange to see Bad End Linc had the same image saved to his phone, and used it for his Lily too.

Lisa's warnings flashed through his head again, minimizing risk, not letting anyone else know what was up.

Lincoln didn't even hesitate as he ignored all of them, picked up the phone and slid his thumb over the answer button.

He responded with a smile in his voice, "Hey baby sis, what's up?"

There was a pause for a moment, before the soft joyful sounding voice on the other end sounded surprised as she responded, "Lincy? Oh, hey big bro! Hey! I didn't expect you to pick up!" She laughed softly as she spoke.

She sounded exactly like his Lily, spoke like her too. God, he missed her so much. He responded, "I was feeling generous" He chuckled, "So, what do I owe the honor of getting a call from my favorite baby sister?"

Lily laughed again. Her laugh was so beautiful, it seemed to contain all the joy she held for life deep within it, "Favorite baby sister huh? Well, someone's in a good mood! Did they finally let you get your own title at Timely? I'm ready for the Loud era of Ace Savvy! Maybe they'll finally let you fix the full deck, and if they are, I've got a tiny request big bro, can we please age the deuce up a little?"

Lincoln could just listen to her talk for hours right now. Just hearing her voice, hearing how happy she was to speak to him. It was like being thrown a life preserver in a vast ocean. He just wanted more of her light, more of her kindness.

He spoke softly, "No, no, nothing like that sadly. I'm just…I'm just really happy to hear from you Lily. That's all."

Lincoln swore he could hear Lily blushing on the other end of the phone, "Well, you know you can call me anytime you want Lincy. Really. I love hearing from you…" He heard a soft hesitation in her voice, before she added, "I miss you."

Lincoln felt his chest grow tight, his heart squeezing as he heard those words. He was holding back his tears in this moment, his desire to just feel his Lily hug him and kiss his forehead and tell him everything was alright.

It took him a moment to gather himself, to make sure his voice didn't crack as he responded, "I…I miss you too Lils. More than you know."

There was more hesitation on Lily's end. It was clear she wasn't used to this kind of response from her brother, but Lincoln was certain, she liked this kind of response. He heard her voice soft, carrying a tinge of hope in it, "M-maybe…we should do something about that Lincy? Maybe…I could come over soon and we could hang out? I could see you and Lisa, and Clyde. It could be fun."

Lincoln smiled, as he turned to the screen, chose one of the sisters in On-Chan paradise and changed her hair color to blonde, while typing in a new name 'Lily', into the database. He responded with no regrets at all.

"Yeah Lily, I really think you should. I miss you. This house is always open to my baby sister, always."

Lily responded with more joy in her voice, "You really mean that? Always open huh?"

Lincoln chuckled again, "Why wouldn't it be? You used to live here. You'll always be welcome in your own home Lils."

There was another pause, he was certain Lily was biting her bottom lip. He knew her so well. She responded with almost a squeal of delight, "Then It's a date big bro! I'll come by after I get out of classes tomorrow. Tell Lisa her old roommate is excited to see her too! This, this really makes me so happy Lincy. I'm gonna let you go so I can get back to work, but I love you so much!"

Lincoln smiled as he hit the save button, nodding his head, "I love you too Lily. I love you too."

Cat's Corner: I have some friends asking me to do a stand alone smutty chapter covering the video involving SinLisa and SinLinc that Safe Linc stumbled across. I'm tempted to. You might see a chapter about SinLisa's 'Homecoming' eventually that will reveal what her and Lincoln did together while creating that video.

For the next regular chapter we'll have Lola begin her week with Safe Linc! See you then!