AN: Ding ding. Epilogue 1 of 2 is done. That went a lot faster than I thought it would.
Obligatory reminder that this is not an M rated story, and its never going to be an M rated story for the one reason that people keep requesting I change it to M. Other enterprising writers are free to fill in the gaps, so to speak, if they'd like to, but here in Siege Land, we fade to black.
Now that we've gotten that out of the way, I hope you enjoy what I have written.
dogbertcarroll: The market still needs time to adjust to the consumer's needs.
guest: The story is about Lincoln reuniting with his sisters. So when he gets them all back, the story is probably over at that point. That's a ways off though, I need to lay foundation for those arcs first. And also, sometimes I just want to do fun stuff with the setting, so this story still has legs for the foreseeable future.
Skully13: I don't really have an opinion on Dana. She's cute, but she doesn't have an established personality or characteristics beyond her design. To the point where one of the official comics reused her design for a background character and made her black (this is an actual thing and its very funny). But if I used her in anything, it'd probably be Gigant, because the story is so inherently silly that I can kinda just do whatever I want. So we'll see how things go.
Tornado man: I'm just saying words. Some of them have meaning.
Guest99: I didn't give Sam a muscle-mommy alter ego just to hang her up after one arc. Ragna-Rock is still going to be around, and I've already got an idea for how she and Sam and Lincoln could potentially smooth out their situation.
Lord Anathar: Good, because that's sort of a trend in my stories :)
KumaNoIkari: I'm choosing to believe this is true, because I want it to be.
Strlo: Lori's powerset would have matched up a lot better against Ragna-Rock, for sure. That's one of the many reasons I had to get rid of her. Her being around would have made things too easy, and I needed to give Lynn a chance to properly struggle against something. But Lori will be back once the arc is concluded. If for no other reason than I need to indulge in Loricoln on a regular basis or I'll literally die.
UnderratedHero: I'LL NEVER JOIN YOU! But thanks man, it means a lot for you to say that. The complimentary stuff, I mean, not the part where you were trying to convert me to your evil, drama ways. We're all about fluff and laughs here at Siege Inc. And Loudcest. Lots and lots of Loudcest.
The aftermath of Lincoln's attempted kidnapping had been mercifully uneventful. Partly because three members of their group had come out of the fight either unconscious, or so fatigued that they might as well have been, and partly because the standard operating procedure when an unsanctioned fight between metahumans broke out was for everyone in the area who didn't want to get involved to get the hell out of dodge. In a rare show of compliance, borne more from Lynn not wanting to stack any more unwanted complications on their already very full plates than from any actual respect for procedure, Lynn had called the right people and reported that the unidentified meta who was responsible for the whole incident had disappeared as mysteriously as she'd arrived. Since it was going to take a while still before the DOMA gave the all clear, the end result was that the three Louds and the attaches essentially had the apartment building, as well as the surrounding city blocks to themselves.
Not that they were in much of a position to take advantage of that bit of freedom. After dragging the delinquent duo and Stella back to what remained of Lincoln's apartment, the next few hours had primarily been about tending to everyone's wounds, which were mostly limited to just bumps and bruises, thanks to her own relative invulnerability, Stella's healing factor, and...whatever Sam's deal was. After that, Lincoln had salvaged what he could from his kitchen to provide some much-needed sustenance for the group. But now that the five of them were fed and not in danger of expiring, that left the question as to what their next move was. As the highest-ranking hero in the room, and the eldest Loud sister who hadn't engaged in the profoundly stupid behavior responsible for their current situation (an admittedly odd position for Lynn to be in), she'd felt like it had fallen upon her to make that particular call, and to that end she'd decided to inspect the premises.
It wasn't anywhere near as bad as it could have been. The damage caused by Luna's escape had been limited to only one side of the apartment, and the battle had drifted far enough away to minimize any additional damage to the building exterior. And while some errant damage had resulted from Luna and Stella's short scuffle inside the apartment, it was still contained within the apartment itself. The end result was that Lincoln's apartment was mostly intact, save for the gaping hole that had replaced one entire side of the living area. It was certainly fixable, but Lynn had her doubts as to whether they should bother. She and Lori had pretty deep pockets, but Lincoln's landlord grew a little more unhinged every time they dropped by to pay off the totally unavoidable damage from their latest escapade.
"It might be time for you to seriously consider moving somewhere else, little bro," Lynn remarked, as she rejoined her siblings. Her brother and sister were sitting upon the couch(good on Lori for insisting on one of the reasonably indestructible ones), the latter doing her best to burrow into the side of the former, much to Lynn's annoyance, with Sam in turn clinging to Luna's remaining side. Stella hovered over the trio, nervously flitting from side to side like a hummingbird, but apparently not having the courage to lay claim to Lincoln's free side.
Sam's guitar lay on the far end of the apartment, where Lynn had unceremoniously tossed it upon returning to the apartment. Thankfully, the blonde seemed to be unconcerned with retrieving it, and if Lynn had her way, that's how things would stay.
"The...uh, the bedroom seems to be okay," Lincoln said, drawing Lynn's from her thoughts.
"Yeah, but if you haven't noticed, you've got a giant friggin hole in your apartment, bro!" Lynn exclaimed, gesturing, completely unnecessary, at the exposed space just a few feet away from where he sat. "I'm not gonna let you sleep here tonight when anyone could just waltz…"
Lynn trailed off as she noticed Luna trail her fingers up Lincoln's leg, giving his thigh a suggestive squeeze.
"Are...you...kidding me?" Lynn shouted. "Her? Now? After the day we had?"
"It's urge, dude," Luna replied, snuggling even deeper into Lincoln's side. "If little bro doesn't lock me down now, I could probably turn evil again at any second."
"Is that how it works?" Stella exclaimed, eyes widening with alarm. "Also...what are we talking about? Exactly?"
"And you!" Lynn jabbed one finger at Sam. "You're her girlfriend! Don't you have something to say about this?"
"...Luna made me an offer, and I accepted," Sam replied, smiling benignly as she reached past Luna and placed her hand atop Lincoln's leg, right next to Luna's.
Lynn stared at the trio, slowly opening, and closing her mouth in sequence, which simply turned into gnashing her teeth after a few cycles. Finally, she took a deep breath, then exhaled hard enough to lightly muss the hair of everyone else in the room.
"...Sidebar, Linc?" She said, her tone indicating that the request was a mere formality. Clearly picking up on this, Lincoln extracted himself from Sam and Luna's grips and hurried to meet her.
"Lynn—!" He began, only to halt as Lynn placed one finger upon his lips.
"Not here," She said, jerking her head further down the hall. She gingerly stepped backward, retreating further and further down the hallway until she was completely out of sight of Lincoln's other three guests, and her brother dutifully followed.
"Good enough," She said in a low voice, deeming that they were sufficiently obscured. "And now…"
With practiced ease, Lynn scooped her brother off the ground, cradled him in her arms, and hurriedly pressed her lips to his. There was only a brief moment of delay before Lincoln responded in kind, and by the next both siblings were eagerly expressing their mutual affection for each other, the pain and fatigue that Lynn had built up over the course of the day quickly fading, only to be replaced by the purist bliss.
Under normal circumstances, this would be the point where Lynn would kick Lincoln's bedroom door off its hinges, and proceed to indulge in her favorite work-out. But there was a purpose to this exercise beyond mere indulgence, so she remained steadfast, determined to keep things at a level she could control.
...Which worked better than she'd expected, at first. But around the point where Lincoln placed both his hands upon her abdomen and began working his fingers up to her chest, she realized she needed to pull the plug on things.
"Hoooookay," Lynn wheezed, abruptly breaking her lip lock with Lincoln just as her little bro had begun tracing his fingertips along the underside of her breasts. "Gonna have to stop you there."
"O-oh," Lincoln said, his face red and his eyes glazed over. A quick shake of his head, and he looked more or less in control of himself again. And so...characteristically chastened, that it didn't tug, so much as yank on her heartstrings. "Did...did I misread that?"
"No, you dummy," Lynn replied, snorting in bemusement as she gave him another brief kiss, and then held him against her chest. "You got it right. Too right, actually.
"Then...why…?"
"Because…" Lynn purred, running her fingers through his hair. "If I didn't stop you there, I wouldn't be able to throw you back."
"Oh, good," Lincoln chuckled, sighing in relief as he threw his arms around as much of Lynn as he could manage, and hugged her as tightly as he could. Only to freeze up an instant later. "Wait, what?"
"I thought I was entitled to a little...something something after today," Lynn admitted. "And now that I've had a bite...I'm going to let this happen. On two conditions."
"Anything you want, Lynn."
The brunette needed a moment to master herself, as the very utterance of her name from those lips caused a swarm of butterflies to erupt In her stomach. But she was, eventually, able to reluctantly lower Lincoln to the ground, and gently place him on his feet.
"First off," She said, taking a knee so she could put herself roughly at eye level with her brother. "Is that tomorrow, I get you all...to...myself!" She punctuated each of her words by firmly but gently poking her finger into Lincoln's chest.
"Done," Lincoln said, taking Lynn's hand in both of his and threading his fingers through her's. "And the other one?"
Lynn took a deep breath, and averted her gaze, genuinely fearful, as always, that when Lincoln looked at her like that, with so much love and sincerity in his eyes, she might lose herself in them.
"The second…" She said, gently pulling her hand back, and slowly walking her fingers down his chest. "Is that I want you to make...her...earn it!"
To give no illusions as to her meaning, she slid her hand down...and cupped his groin in one hand.
"O-oh!" Lincoln said, blinking in surprise.
"When I come back tomorrow, both of them better be paralyzed from the waist down," Lynn said, drawing herself up to her full height. She took a moment to admire the view, specifically the cute little "o" that her brother's mouth was locked into, then reached down...and placed one hand atop his shoulder, releasing him from his enchantment.
"Get inside," She said, jerking her thumb. "I'll send the girls over. You walk out there with that thing…"
She pointed down, smirking at the adorable shade of red that suddenly enveloped Lincoln's face.
"And Stella's likely to pass out."
"Oh…" Embarrassment gave way to concern, as Lincoln seemingly regained the use of his other brain. "Stella. Maybe I should—"
"I'll take care of her," Lynn interjected, waving one hand dismissively. "Fact is, I think it's time she and I talked. That should keep us out of your hair for a while."
"...Should I be worried?"
"What do you think? Lynn asked, crossing her arms under her breasts.
"I think...I probably should," Lincoln said, nodding slowly. Then, to her surprise, he threw his arms around her, pressing his face into her torso.
"But...I also trust you. Because I love you, Lynn."
"Love you too, Linc," Lynn replied huskily, ignoring the moisture brimming at the edges of her eyes as she indulged in one last embrace with her beloved little bro. "Now go and defeat that vile villainess. And her annoying sidekick."
"Should we...really leave them alone?" Stella asked hesitantly, as she and Lynn stepped into the hallway outside Lincoln's apartment.
"It's fine," Lynn replied, as she closed and locked the door behind her. Somewhat unnecessarily, given that there was still a gaping hole in the apartment, but at least locking the door meant that people who couldn't ignore gravity would be kept out. And that still made up a decent-sized part of the population. "Linc's got a handle on things."
"...Why do I feel like I'm missing some...context, here?" Stella asked.
"Probably because...you are," Lynn admitted. "But, I think it's about time we did something about that. You hungry? I know a place not too far away, should be outside the alert area."
"I could eat," Stella began nodding, only to stop, and glance downward.
"I should...probably change back into my civvies though," She added, her cheeks slightly darkening as she ran her finger along a noticeable tear in her costume, one which gave a tantalizing view of her trim tummy.
"Actually, where we're going, it'd probably be better for you to be in costume," Lynn corrected her. "Especially if you're hanging with me."
"...Fine," Stella said, with a little sigh. She rummaged around a bit in her belt and produced a small capsule that was about the size of her fingertip. "I guess I'll just change into my spare then."
The location Lynn had in mind was a literal hole in a wall. Dark, nondescript, and for her specifically, frustratingly small. Still, she leaned low and duck walked through it, motioning for Stella to follow her. The other girl's face plainly broadcast her skepticism, but she complied, following Lynn as the pair squeezed through the entryway—
—and emerged into a spacious vestibule.
"Woah," Stella exclaimed, as the rustic exterior gave way to red velvet, lacquered wood, and tasteful mood lighting. "Has this always been here?"
"If you know where to look, yeah," Said Lynn, straightening up and letting out a pleased sigh as her spine snapped, crackled, and popped. The Mysterio Bisterio's mere existence was privileged information. Actually qualifying to enter the restaurant was another matter entirely, and a right that was highly prized by those in the know for the access to quality food, information, and networking opportunities it provided. In Lynn's case, she mainly valued the privacy the venue afforded, but the high ceilings we also an extremely underrated perk.
Opening the door on the far end of the room, Lynn strode confidently into the restaurant, acknowledging the waiting hostess with a small wave of her hand, but not stopping to be helped, already knowing full well where she was going. She guided her friend through winding paths flanked on either side by veiled booths, the only indication that any were actually occupied being the occasional flickering of candlelight emanating from within, until finally they reached a second door. A twist of the knob and the pair were admitted into a large room, completely devoid of any sort of occupancy, save for a mid-sized table and two chairs.
"...Wow," Said Stella, following Lynn into the room. As they entered, the door silently slid shut behind them, then faded into the wall. "This place is just...wow."
"The food's not bad," Lynn remarked, taking a seat in a plush chair that seemed specifically designed for her exact dimensions, and motioning for Stella to do the same with the remaining chair. "But the biggest plus here is the head and leg room. As a fellow big gal, I thought you'd appreciate that."
"It's...definitely nice," Stella admitted, taking her own seat. "When I first got my powers and started figuring out what I could do with them, one of the first things I did was use them to make myself a little shorter. People used to stare at me, and I thought looking a little more normal would make them stop."
"Did it?"
"For a bit," She admitted, her cheeks taking on a rosy tint. "But changing my body requires concentration, and being able to maintain that kind of concentration while doing other stuff is a skill you develop over time. Early on, just sneezing was enough to make me lose it. And when that happens when you're wearing clothes that are a couple of sizes smaller than your actual size…"
"Yikes," Lynn replied, wincing sympathetically.
The sound of someone politely clearing their throat drew Lynn's attention to her side, where a chipper-looking waitress now awaited, pad and pen in hand.
"Lovely to see you again, Ms. Loud," She said, sparing Stella only the briefest of glances before focusing back on Lynn. "Can I get you started with something?"
"Six tomahawks, a couple of rib-eyes, and put all that on a layer of t-bones," Said Lynn.
"So your usual appetizer," The waitress replied, scribbling down the order. "And to drink?"
"I'll have a Quantum Flippee."
"We actually only have Quantum Lite at the moment," The waitress said, apologetically. "Will that suffice?"
"...Good enough," Lynn grunted, rolling her eyes. She then motioned to Stella. "I'm footing the bill, so give her whatever she wants."
"That...Flippee sounds...good?" Stella said, hesitantly. "And I guess I'll have a...salad?"
"Steak salad," Lynn said to the waitress. "Girl needs her protein."
"Right away, Miss." Her task complete, the waitress spun on her heel and exited via a door that had not existed moments earlier.
"...Cool," Stella said, blinking uncertainly. "So, not that I don't appreciate this, Lynn, but...why are we here?"
"Well, there's a couple of reasons," Lynn admitted. "For one, you really don't want to be at Linc's apartment right now."
"O...kay?"
"The second is...sort of related. I…" Lynn sighed and shook her head. "Sorry, this isn't really my thing. Linc's the one who's good at talking."
"It's fine, Lynn," Stella reassured her, the raven-haired girl's eyes crinkling as she smiled. "Just say what you mean."
"Right, Right," Lynn muttered, giving her head another shake, before she folded her hands in front of her, and composed herself.
"What you did today, Stella," She began, "Was really cool. Actually, that's understating it. My little brother is really important to me, and even though you didn't have to, you stepped up and tried to help him. And me, for that matter. And I don't think things would have turned out half as well as they did if you weren't there."
"Well...thanks, Lynn," Stella replied, flushing in embarrassment. "I mean, I am a hero...or, trying to be one anyway. So it's not like I could have just left you guys in the lurch."
"You could have, but you didn't," Lynn corrected her. "Which means a lot to me. And I know it means a lot to Lincoln too."
Lynn allowed herself a small smile as the younger girl's flush deepened, but at the same time, she sat a little straighter.
"I'm...gonna be honest with you, Stel," Lynn said, "I wasn't too keen on you hanging out with my little bro at first."
"...Oh," Came the polymorph's reply. "How come?"
"...You're pretty," Lynn admitted. "I don't like it when my bro hangs out with pretty girls."
"That sounds...normal?"
"But you've proven yourself to be a good friend. And you clearly care about Linc a whole lot—"
"W-WHAT?" Stella exclaimed, laughing nervously as sweat visibly beaded on her forehead. "I mean, o-of course! Lincoln's my friend! The friendliest friend! We're such friendly friends! Who are friends!"
Lynn pursed her lips as she waited for the other girl's hysterics to die down.
"...Right," She said, as Stella ceased her shouting, and simply began to just giggle nervously. "We're going to just...circle back to that in a bit. Anyway, because you're a good person, and you clearly have our family's best interests in mind, I think it's time to...uh, bring you into our...confidence."
Nervousness was replaced by confusion.
"Meaning...what, exactly?" Stella asked, tilting her head to the side.
"Well, you said earlier that you felt like you were...missing something. And yeah, you are. Our family dynamic is...complicated. But given your...circumstances, I think you deserve to know what's been going on. Assuming you want to, obviously."
A moment passed, and Stella nodded for Lynn to continue.
"...Okay," The brunette murmured, clearing her throat. "Never talked to anyone outside my family about this, but...here we go. Before we had our...falling out, our family had always been...close. Probably closer on average than most families. But I think I was about six years old when I realized that my little brother was the most important person in the whole wide world to me. And...that...I never wanted to be apart from him..."