26. The Middle Child

A/N: It's been a long time coming, so I hope you understand. With season 3 well underway, and having more and more nice moments going into the show, I have to constantly remind myself that this story is based around events that happened in Season 1 and early on in Season 2. Plus, writing two drama fics had starved me of making any fluff, so that's why I decided to ignite a story I was putting on hold until one of these two were finished.

But, I thank you guys who have been patient enough for the boy with a crazed fear to finally see a shrink about his problems. By no means will it be the last time Lincoln sees Dr. Lopez, as something like this can't be solved in one visit alone. It will break the ice though. Also, I've been deleting guest reviews begging me to update. Don't make my decision to outright block them easier...

Disclaimer: I own NOTHING from the Loud House.

Lincoln stared out the window of the van as Lynn Sr. drove them to Dr. Lopez's office. The parents already took the liberty of informing his teachers that Lincoln would be absent today due to a 'necessary doctor appointment'. Rita wished she could go with them, but Dr. Feinstein had some major dental appointments lined up today, and the Loud matriarch was gonna be needed to help administer some root canal procedures and help replace teeth. Speaking of teeth, Rita also made a note to have her boss take a look at Lincoln to make sure her son's teeth won't come in crooked due to their forced removal.

Lynn glanced at his son, noting his posture and the look of uncertainty he gave at the passing scenery. "Nervous sport?"

"Just a little..."

"Oh don't worry. Dr. Lopez is a nice lady, and it's not like she's gonna hurt you."

Lincoln shook his head. "It's not that I'm worried about Dr. Lopez." He turned to his dad. "Clyde talks about her enough that I know she sounds cool, but...I'm not sure if I can trust whatever she might say since she had talks with..." He bit his lip. "Them..."

Lynn sighed inwardly. Of course Lincoln would have issues trusting the word of another if they interacted with his sisters. As far as he knew, Lincoln only trusted his parents, closest friends, and Lily. "Well...have you thought about giving her an open book? I mean, she is a professional after all."

The boy stared at the floor. "...That's what she said I should do, even though it's hard..." Lincoln glanced back out the window. "...I honestly don't know what to think right now...I just freeze up whenever I see any of them besides Lily, yet Luan actually helped me the other day..."

That was news to the patriarch. "What'd she do?"

"She saved me from getting my back crushed in a stampede. When I realized who she was...I thought...I thought she'd do something, anything, to hurt me. But she just stood there and did nothing..." Lincoln put a hand to his head. "Was I just imagining things? Or is there something I'm just not getting?..."

Lynn wanted to tell his son that he was overthinking it a bit, that his fear towards his sisters was just something in his mind that wasn't real. But, the realm of the human mind wasn't something he understood. Even if he gave his opinion, would Lincoln actually take that advice to heart? After all, it was just now that Lincoln was beginning to question his own fears, after a forced interaction no less. The parents told the girls to keep themselves scarce from him, but this might have only heightened the boy's anxiety given how he had a nightmare in the middle of school and broke down when Lola revealed Lincoln might've heard her.

"Well...that's why your seeing a therapist son. I honestly don't know what I could tell you, cause even I'm not sure if our solutions are the right way. You've talked with her on the phone before, so speaking in person shouldn't be that hard. Just tell her what's on your mind, and she'll offer you some kind of advice."

The white-haired child nodded, leaning against the door. As many times as Clyde visited Dr. Lopez, he sincerely hoped she gave some really good advice.

Miranda sipped on her coffee as she stared out her open office window. It was a nice day outside (a warm 75 degrees) and since it wasn't exactly cold in the building, she didn't wear her scarf or coat. Today, she was anticipating the arrival of the Loud child whose fears were the center of concern for the family. The doctor looked over her notes she took on the other Louds a few times prior to build a picture of what Lincoln might be like. As with most kids, he'll probably be nervous, a little timid, and hesitant to recall the incident that brought him here in the first place. Not to mention, given their little phone session, his insecurities about his position in the family.

"Well, today is gonna be fun." Miranda half joked to herself. Clyde often spoke about how Lincoln was like the brother he never had, but that could mean a number of things. Either they had a lot of similarities, or were literal mirror images of each other. The Hispanic woman sincerely hoped it was the former; one Clyde was annoying enough...

A knock at the door half-startled her. Miranda swiveled her head just as a white-haired boy peeked inside. The doctor blinked in surprise; the Louds weren't kidding about Lincoln's hair color.

"Uh, hi. I'm guessing you're Dr. Lopez?"

"That I am." She fully turned around. "You must be Lincoln. Your family said a lot about you during their talks."

"Yeah..." Lincoln let himself in and shut the door. "I guess they did." He studied the doctor for a moment. "Wow. Clyde was nearly spot on when he mimicked your appearance weeks ago. "

Miranda raised an eyebrow. "How so?"

"He wore everything you have on right now, including a scarf and jacket." The boy then gave a frown as he gazed at the floor. "Now I wish I just stayed at his house that whole weekend..."

"Not sure if I should be surprised or aghast..." The therapist thought to herself. "Alright Lincoln, take a seat there," She pointed at the lounge chair, "And we'll get you started."

The boy nodded before heading to his spot to lie down. Miranda stole a glance at his cast, feeling a little bit of pity for the young man. He didn't know how long this talk of theirs would take, or if it would even do him any good. His parents and even Clyde played up the good doctor as if she was some miracle worker. Miranda sure didn't seem to fit the part; just that of a regular middle aged person with a job telling people what certain thoughts mean and giving advice. There was also the fact Clyde's frequent visits, and that Lincoln was still uncertain about Miranda talking to his sisters, made him have his doubts.

Lincoln took a deep breath before exhaling. "Keep an open mind Lincoln, like dad said..."

Miranda set her coffee on the desk before fishing her notebook out of her desk drawer. She made her way over to her own chair, sitting cross-legged across from Lincoln. "So Lincoln, how have you been since you got out of the hospital?"

Lincoln pursed his lips. "If you want an honest answer...not so great..."

"I suppose it has to do with your nightmares?"

The boy nodded. "I thought that maybe after I got out the hospital, they would go away." He glanced at his left arm. "Guess it wasn't as simple as that..."

Miranda hummed as she wrote something down. "Do you feel they've gotten worse, or felt around the same?"

"...In some ways worse...though my dream last night was kinda weird."

"Care to explain?"

Lincoln stared at the ceiling. "So, a couple days ago, I had a horrible nightmare in which my sisters were sharks, and..." A chill went down his spine. "They ate me...and then I had another that wasn't as bad, but..." The words started to die in his throat. "J-Just give me a sec..." The Loud took a few deep breaths. "I h-had another in school where I was alone and they dragged me into the shadows...then last night, I had a dream where I was Ace Savvy and my sisters were all superheroes."

"Hmm, that does sound rather odd from the pattern you described. Do you know anything that might've inspired that change?"

Lincoln's cheeks reddened a little. "...I fell asleep reading Ace Savvy."

"Ah. So, what happened in this dream?"

"Myself and Lily were looking around for any crimes in the city, while my other sisters were following a lead on a villain named Card Shark. I know Lily is a baby, but in my dream she was about 7 years old. Then, we got a distress call from my sisters. They said they needed help despite the fact they were kinda upset at me on how we failed to bring justice to a couple villains." Lincoln gave a sad, half-lidded stare at the floor. "Turns out it was a trap and the girls beat me into the ground...it felt like a worse version of what happened to me a few weeks ago..."

"I see..." The doctor noted. "Did it end the same as your other dreams?"

The boy shook his head. "Surprisingly, it didn't. I passed out, and before it could go any further, Clyde woke me up." He scratched the area where his cowlick was. "I think it might be due to this weird debate I'm having in my head."

Miranda had a feeling on what it was about, but she had to be sure. Hopefully, it wasn't anything negative. "Was there some kind of reaction that sparked this conflict within yourself?"

The 11 year old glanced out the window. "...Luan helped me after I almost had my back crushed by a group of students. I don't get why though...I thought none of them would really care and prefer to see me hurt...maybe it's just Luan or it's something else, I'm just not sure."

"So he isn't too far gone then. Guess this won't be as difficult as I imagined." Miranda wrote as a thought before shifting her position a little. "Now Lincoln, I'm gonna ask you a couple things about your personal life. Some of which I already know of during our phone sessions, but I just want to be sure if anything changed since then. Now, everything we talk about in here can be just kept between us, or if you feel the need to, you can make use of this information however you see fit. I haven't told your family about what your nightmares entail by the way."

"Ok, I guess?" Lincoln replied as he sat up, his legs hanging over the side of the seat.

"Now, before all of this happened, how would you describe your home life? You can talk about your hobbies, your family, any activities you tend to do. I'm just trying to build a picture here."

Lincoln gave a low sigh as he searched his memories of how home was before the whole Sister Fight Protocol scenario came up. Contrary to what most may think, despite being heavily traumatized by the beating he received, some happy memories still resided in his brain; buried under a large pile of past nightmares and his ever growing anxiety. It took Lincoln a few minutes to dig them up, as such memories were becoming a bit scarce.

"Before all of this happened, I guess I could say that being at home was, normal? Normal as it could be for a large family, that is. Most days I would go to school, hang out with Clyde or my other friends, read Ace Savvy or play videogames if I was at home." Lincoln paused. "And spend a lot of time helping my sisters..."

"Did you have any sort of passion or hobby that you usually did?"

The 11 year old pursed his lips again. "If I had to be honest, I think helping my sisters was my passion. They always came to me for advice or help if they needed something. Well, my younger sisters usually, but sometimes the older ones did too." Lincoln began counting on his fingers. "Lori on the off chance wants my opinion on something, or at least wants me to do a favor for her. Leni wants me to model for her, Luan always wants to test her jokes on me, Lisa always needs an assistant for her weird experiments, I'd sometimes jam with Luna when she makes a new song too." He took a short pause. "Then there's Lynn who wants me as her sports partner, or training dummy in some cases...and Lola and Lana want me for either tea parties or to watch her pets. Lucy always comes to me for poem advice, and lastly, Lily either wants to be changed or play around."

Miranda looked at a list she compiled when she asked the girls about what Lincoln usually helped them with, noting how they matched up. "For someone with 10 sisters, I'm surprised you manage to find time to help them all."

"Well, it's more complicated than that. Sometimes I do try to be there for them, while other times they just drag me into their stuff without asking me first..."

"Has this often interfered with something you wanted to do?"

The 11 year old nodded. "More than once. I even tried ignoring them one day when I just wanted some peace and quiet." He gave a small frown. "Let's just say it's something I'll never do again..."

"Interesting." The doctor stated. "But, in general, was your relationship with your siblings positive?"

Part of Lincoln wanted to say he did, while the other half was saying the opposite. He did have some fun memories with his sisters, but he also had some bad moments that were almost as equal as the good ones. Recent events also seemed to make those pleasant memories carry less weight than they normally would have. A few times, he had opened his mouth as if he was about to speak, only for the words to dissolve into nothing but hot air.

Seeing him hesitating, Miranda continued. "Lincoln, given what we've talked about during our last chat, how do you view yourself in regards to your family?"

Lincoln gripped the side of the chair as he felt another wave of depression hit him. "...I feel like I was probably some mistake..."

"And what brings out this feeling in you?"

"All of my sisters have some special talent that makes them stand out, while I just sit in the back to cheer them on..." He blinked, letting a stray tear run free. "All of them, and yes even Lily, have won some award in one way or another; any time I've tried it hasn't worked. The one time I was close to getting one, I had to give it up because I had embarrassed my sisters to get to it. Sure, they gave me a cardboard trophy for 'Most Improved Brother', but did I actually get better after that?..." Lincoln took a deep breath through his nose. "Can't say I did..."

Miranda tapped her pen against the paper of her notebook. "And it seems Luna was dead on with her assumption." She circled that old statement. "But, just a minute ago, you said that your hobby was helping your sisters. Did you feel as if you were losing something important to you?"

Lincoln nodded. "To me...it felt like the girls had finally gotten to the point they didn't need me anymore. I don't solve all of their fights, but I believed it was probably the one thing I was good at; just being there for my sisters." Lincoln pulled his legs up to sit cross legged on the chair. "That's part of the reason why I wanted to get involved. They kept telling me I wouldn't understand, and that it was a," He quoted on his fingers, "sister thing, but I don't see what was so hard about solving a little issue around a dress."

"Similar case to Lori's issue." The psychologist wrote down.

Lincoln folded his arms, gripping his shoulder as that fateful Sunday came to the front of his mind. "But if I knew what was gonna happen when I did get involved...I wouldn't have done anything..."

Flipping over a couple pages, Miranda found the notes she made when Lincoln talked with her a week ago. She skimmed to the part where he talked about his nightmares. She glanced back up at Lincoln, who was rocking back and forth on his seat. "Do you still believe your sisters are out to get you? Or has your viewpoint on this changed?"

"I...I still do think they are trying to get me...but...I'm just unsure of why they haven't done anything yet..."

"Ok." Miranda closed her book. "Now, this is gonna be treading some rough territory, so please bear with me on this Lincoln. During the scuffle with your sisters, did something happen during the fight that made you believe that your siblings were trying to kill you?"

Lincoln's eyes began to fill with tears, his lip quivering as sobs built up in his throat. His breaths were a little uneven, each sniffle he took reaching every corner of the room. The boy shut his eyes as he silently cried to himself, his hand moving up to grab a wad of white hair. Every time he thought about the fight, nothing but dread and anguish filled every part of his being. The 11 year old couldn't recall anything important that happened during the brawl; he could hardly see with all the arms, hands, and feet flying everywhere. Even if he opened his eyes for one second, the only thing he'd ever see was a fist filled with hate mere inches from it. Probably the only saving grace from the fight was that the girls were too busy kicking his ass to berate him even further.

"All I knew...was pain..." Lincoln's voice was a low whisper. "J-Just...pain..."

Miranda glanced off to the side before setting her book on a nearby table and getting out of her seat. Just like she did with Lisa, the doctor sat next to the sniveling boy and put a comforting arm around him. Lincoln flinched from the sudden contact, but instinctively leaned into her, as if Dr. Lopez was his own mother.

"I-If one of them m-managed to reach my neck...t-they could've killed me and not realize it..." Lincoln rubbed his nose, taking a moment to glance at his snot before wiping it on his shirt. "...Those few minutes, hours, I don't know...but it reminded me of how much of a screw-up I was for the family..." He moved his hand down to the seat, noticing he had pulled a few strands of hair off. "My first nightmare involved being back at the house, and my sisters were all demons about to finish what they started...and over that first week alone, it just kept getting worse..."

"In retrospect...what's the worst nightmare you've had?"

Lincoln stared at the floor. "...I would say it was...it was the one I had the same day we talked. I-It was about the time I humiliated my sisters to try and win a video contest, except they all tried to kill me for embarrassing them. I managed to evade them for a while...but in the end, Lisa turned one of my t-toys into a killer robot and it ate me..." He stayed silent for a moment. "That one alone was bad, but the worst one happened a couple days into my stay at the hospital..."

Miranda raised an eyebrow as she grabbed a tissue box. She took a few out and held it to Lincoln's nose. The boy blew into it, clearing out his agitated sinuses. The doctor balled the wad of tissue and threw it into her waste bin.

"One night I had been wondering, what if I was more like my sisters?...Maybe then we wouldn't have had that fight i-if I was a girl. At least, that's what I originally thought..." A cold sensation flowed through Lincoln's body as he vividly recalled his terrible dream. "Lisa had heard that I wanted to be turned into a girl, and our sisters agreed to help her. I thought she had some weird ray gun or something that could easily change me. But what she had in mind was much, much worse..." The boy paused to gather his thoughts. "S-She strapped me to a table and...she and the girls operated on me. T-They cut off my wiener and those round things under it...then they forcibly cut a large hole where my wiener used to be and stuck something inside it..." Lincoln bit his lip, blinking away some small tears. "The worst part of it was that I could feel everything they did to me. By the end of it, Lisa claimed her 'operation' was successful, even though I was dead from losing too much blood...I was lucky to still have a tube attached, because I think I would've wet myself otherwise..."

To say Miranda was visibly shocked would be an understatement. Her mind was still debating on whether what she heard was true, as well as wondering what other sick nightmares had Lincoln experienced since he first came to fear his siblings. Realizing she was staring off into space, the doctor brought herself back to reality. "Do you get nightmares like that every night?..."

Lincoln shook his head. "It's not every night...probably a couple days go by before I get another one..."

"In these dreams of yours," Miranda temporarily removed her glasses to clean them, "Do you think your siblings are actually capable of doing such things?"

"...I believe they are in some cases. I mean, I guess it is kinda crazy that Lisa would turn my sisters into sharks or even mess with Bun Bun without my parents permission. But that hasn't stopped her from doing crazy experiments before..." Lincoln grabbed another tissue to clean his nose. A sloppy wet sound was produced as he emptied more snot into the cotton cloth. He had long since stopped crying, his eyes being red and puffy. "I'm very nervous at school cause five of my sisters go there, but they haven't done anything even though I had a nightmare where they caught me by myself..."

"So, are you beginning to see the difference between reality and a dreamscape?"

"..." In all honesty, Lincoln still believed that what happened in his dream could become a real thing if he wasn't careful. Yet, there's been a few times in the past where he let his imagination get the best of him and made him miss out on some fun times; in this case, it's taking a toll on his sleep schedule.

Miranda shifted a bit so there was a small space between them. "You see Lincoln...what you're experiencing in your dreams, and what you see in real life, are two different aspects. The sisters you see in your dreams are based around your fears of being near them, as they remind you of what they can do if you upset them. And from what I can gather as to why you think they want to end you, part of it stems from your own insecurities about your place in the family. You feel as though they might be better off without you, yet you want to prove you can be of some use. You telling me that you felt you were losing your place in the family as 'the mediator' was a good example of that. As for the other part...do you think your sisters are a tad overly aggressive?"

"Sometimes..." Lincoln looked towards his therapist. "Lola, Lynn, and even Luna on a few occasions can prove that. I wouldn't say it takes a lot to upset them, I just think I ended up pushing the wrong buttons..."

"I see. Now, let me ask you another question Lincoln: do you know what it means to be blinded by emotion?"

The Loud boy pursed his lips as he scratched an itch behind his ear. "I believe I know it has something to do with not seeing clearly."

"Well, you're very close." Miranda leaned back on the chair. "When one is blinded by their emotions, it can cause them to act irrationally and see things a certain way that may or may not be true. I'm not saying your fear towards your sisters is irrational, but it's essentially creating a tunnel in which you can only see one point of view and stick with it."

"So, you're saying that I can't see the whole picture?"

"Yes."

Considering how little he's seen his sisters, and Luan's reaction when they met in the hallway, there was definitely something going on that Lincoln wasn't seeing. Thinking all the way back to when he smacked Lynn with his food tray, she ran out the room crying instead of attacking him. And just before he passed out after seeing all of his sisters together in his hospital room, he could've sworn he heard the familiar sounds of his sisters crying.

Lincoln glanced at his arm. Most of his injuries had healed except that one (understandably, it's a large limb and was literally broken), but Lynn claimed responsibility and apologized for it. "How...how can I see what's really going on with my sisters?"

"Simplest advice I can give is to keep an open mind. Fear can be both rational and irrational. You'd be afraid of a rattlesnake or black widow because their venom can cause harm to you. You'd even be afraid of someone if they were holding a knife to you; well, unless you're Chuck Norris, Jason Statham, Jackie Chan, Bruce Lee, or Dwayne Johnson." Lincoln gave a confused look at Miranda, making her cheeks flush red. "S-Sorry, I was getting off topic. But at the same time, you might be afraid of a different snake even though it's completely harmless. Same can apply to a human being who you know has a tough exterior, but is usually nice; all of which is possibly based on a past experience. However, that is still up for you to decide."

Lincoln blinked before shifting his gaze to the wall opposite of them. "I guess it is...dad told me to keep an open mind when it came to speaking with you, and he was right. I didn't really take your advice earlier," He looked back towards Miranda, "But I will now."

The Hispanic woman got off the chair, heading to her desk. "This probably isn't my place to tell you, but your sisters do care about you Lincoln. They want nothing more than for you to return to your normal self, and they are even trying to fix problems they didn't know they had, or were aware of but didn't know how."

"If that's true...how am I supposed to talk with them if I keep freezing up whenever I hear or see them?"

The doctor gave a short laugh. "We're in the 21st century Lincoln. There are many ways to reach out to someone."

"True..." Lincoln got out of the chair. "Guess I really have a lot to think about. But thank you very much Ms. Lopez. I can see why Clyde visits you frequently."

"In my opinion, I think you're a much better patient than Clyde (no offense to him). But do let me know if you wish to talk again."

Lincoln nodded before walking out of her office. Many thoughts ran threw his mind like a bullet train. That talk was a lot more insightful than he initially let on, and the Loud felt it probably wouldn't be the last time he spoke to Dr. Lopez. His sisters, his fears, his own insecurities...it was a lot to take in, and was starting to form into a small migraine. As soon as he reached the lobby, Lynn Sr. nearly jumped out of his seat. The father noticed Lincoln's eyes looked a bit red, no doubt from shedding a couple tears.

"So sport...how'd it go?"

"It was, interesting."

Lincoln's eyes were closed as he dosed off in the car. He figured it might be a good idea to sleep on these thoughts he had piled up. Plus, he was already feeling drowsy. As he breathed steadily, he started to feel as if something was pressed against his chest. That feeling got tighter to the point he started coughing. Opening his eyes, Lincoln found himself staring at the ceiling of what appeared to be a large cave. Great. He couldn't even tell what time it was. He tried to sit up, but immediately thought against that idea as it hurt to move. Glancing down at his body, the white-headed boy saw bandages wrapped around his chest along with a full cast on his left arm. To his right, there was a bag of blood that was suspended on a utility pole. Blood flowed from the bag and into his side.

Lincoln wondered what on earth happened that left him in such a bad state, and that's when he saw it; his Ace Savvy uniform was folded up in a chair not too far away. Next to the chair sat a four-tubed rocket launcher with a purple camouflaged hat and combat boots lying next to it. The events of the last few hours came at him like a train going through a semi: his teammates lured him into a trap and beat him to near death, then Deuce came and saved him. But where was she? And how did she manage to get him help?

A farting sound cut through the room. Lincoln looked past his arm cast to see what he assumed was a bathroom. Small, feminine and childish grunts came from behind the door. Another loud fart sounded, though it also sounded like something came out with it.

"Ahh...poo poo..." Came a voice Lincoln recognized all too well. The toilet flushed and soon, Lily pushed the door open. She quickly shut it to prevent the smell from getting out. "Don't go in there for a while." She giggled to herself. Her sight focused on Lincoln, and to her surprise, their gazes met.

"Lincoln!" Lily gasped before quickly running to her brother's bedside. "Are you ok? Does anything hurt? How many fingers am I holding up?"

"Lily-"

"What's your temperature? Does your arm hurt? Need me to fluff your pillow?"

The older Loud did his best to avoid rolling his eyes. Whenever someone on the team was injured in a fight, Leni and Lily would play nurse until the person in question returned back to their normal health. Sometimes though, they could go a tad overboard.

"Lily..." Lincoln spoke with a frown.

"Oh, those good for nothing girls! If I wasn't outnumbered 4 to 1, I'd shove a gas grenade so far up their-"

"Lily!" Lincoln spoke louder with slight irritation.

The blonde recoiled a bit at the yell, backing up a little at realizing she irritated him. "Sorry..." She gazed at the floor.

Lincoln stayed silent. He didn't mean to yell, but he needed Lily to calm down. "Come here..." He reached out with his good arm the best he could. Lily walked up to the boy and hugged him, making sure to avoid his sensitive areas. The both released each other after a minute. "What happened after I passed out?"

"Well..." Lily's cheeks became a faint red. "I started to panic cause I thought you d-died...but then Clyde showed up and I told him what happened. So, he led us here and I had been waiting for you to wake up since last night." The little girl gave a small yawn. "I didn't really sleep much..."

To be fair, Lincoln did die for a few minutes, but Lily didn't need to know that. "Wait, Clyde?! Where is he?"

Lily shrugged. "He said he'd be right back, but that was 3 hours ago."

The Louds suddenly heard a set of footsteps from just beyond the door. With Lincoln in no condition to fight, Lily was the only person that stood between him and anyone who intended to do him harm; she wasn't about to let someone else do her brother in like her sisters nearly did. The blonde went for her launcher and aimed it at the door. Tense seconds passed before the tumbler of the knob turned and the door was pushed open; Lily's finger poised on the trigger if it was a hostile. Fortunately, it was a friend. With his One-Eyed Jack costume on, Clyde pushed the door fully open.

"Hey Lily, I'm back and-" Clyde started as he took out a small bag. He paused upon noticing Lincoln. "Oh hey buddy! Glad you made it back to us. You were passed out for the entire day. How do you feel?"

"Like I got my butt kicked by nine girls. .." Lincoln shifted in the bed as he tried to sit up. "How did you find us?"

Lily looked at her brother and noticed the way he was straining his neck to look at Clyde. "Hang on." She reached under the frame and grabbed a switch that was wired to the bed. The back half moved up, greatly helping Lincoln's field of view.

"Huh, didn't think it was that kind of bed."

"Well, I didn't know you two built a secret man-cave." Lily replied, putting her launcher on the floor.

"Anyway," Clyde got their attention. "Your card dropped, so I figured you might've been in trouble. I was heading to the shipyard when I saw you guys in an alley. You looked about ready to keel over, and I came down right as you passed out. At first, I didn't believe what Lily told me for a minute, but then she threatened to gas me."

"And again, why would this be something I'd lie about?!" The 7 year old asked heatedly.

"Well sorry! It's not every day your long time friends suddenly turn on you, you know." The nerdy kid retorted.

"So what's in the bag?" Lincoln asked.

"Just something I had to pick up." Clyde bent down and fished through it, taking out a syringe with a strange, red-colored liquid in it. "I snuck to our base, well...former base technically, and managed to nab a few things. It wasn't easy getting in, cause I think your sisters changed the security codes. Anyway, I went into Card Counter's lab since I remember her saying she was working on some healing medication that should get rid of any serious injuries within seconds! So, I poked around and found this." He shook the syringe in his hand.

Lincoln didn't look as convinced. "Are you sure you grabbed the right one? Cause I know CC has a lot of stuff in her lab."

"Yeah. How do we know it's not poison?" Lily asked, scanning Clyde like a hawk.

Clyde looked at the syringe. "Well, she at least remembered to label it."

Lily walked over to Clyde and snatched it from him. Rotating it in her hand, she spotted the label the older boy mentioned. Instead of the childish writing she might have expected, the label looked like it was printed straight from a computer. The 7 year old squeezed a little out of the tube and onto her digit, bringing it to her mouth for a taste test. The blonde cringed almost immediately, her tongue sticking out in disgust. "Yuck! It tastes bitter."

"Well, it's supposed to go in someone's arm, not their mouth..." Clyde stated in a deadpanned tone.

Lily started to wipe her tongue with her finger. "How do we know if it'll work? Card Counter probably hasn't tested it yet."

The African American folded his arms, his brows furrowing in irritation. "It was hard enough getting that without getting caught, so I'm definitely not going back to ask her." His look softened a bit. "Not only that...I heard bits and pieces of your sisters talking. They aren't too happy with how you guys got away, and a few are calling you a traitor Lily."

The 7 year old's gaze darkened as she stared at the floor. "As far as I'm concerned..." She tossed the syringe back to Clyde. "The only family I have right now, is Lincoln..." She brushed past Clyde and out the door, which appeared to have led into a hallway.

Clyde blinked in astonishment. "Ooookaaay..." He slowly turned to Lincoln. "Pardon me asking, but why is Lily so...not Lily? I've never seen her this angry before." The boy walked over to Lincoln's right side, putting on a latex glove.

"She just witnessed her sisters attack me Clyde." Lincoln replied, looking at the open door. "I don't blame her though. If she was in my position, I'd be the same as her, if not worse..."

"I can understand that." Clyde flicked the needle, a small amount of the mysterious liquid flying out. "Sadly, I don't have any siblings. So I'll never know that feeling..."

"Clyde..." The white-haired child put a hand on his friend's shoulder. "You're like the brother I've always wanted. As far as I know, you're pretty much family." He smiled warmly.

Clyde smiled back. "Thanks bro. Now," He prepped the syringe in his fingers. "Are you sure you wanna take this? Cause I don't wanna be the one who accidentally poisons you or something..."

Lincoln bit his lip. "Only way to find out."

Both boys crossed their fingers as Clyde injected Lincoln with the liquid. At first, Lincoln didn't feel much; aside from something shooting into his right arm. Then, a wave of warmth suddenly washed over his body, like he was chilling outside on a spring day with a cool breeze hitting his face. Some popping sounds were heard as Lincoln felt his bones correcting themselves, most notably in his left arm and chest. Clyde bit his lower lip, thinking Lincoln might explode. However, upon seeing Lincoln move his arm a bit without any pain, he let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. Lincoln sat up on his own and took his arm cast off. Both boys were surprised that his arm looked like it was good as new; upon removing the bandages on his chest, no bruising or evidence of injury were noticeable.

"So...h-how do you feel?" Clyde asked, sweat dripping down his forehead.

"My arm feels a little sore, but other than that, I feel good as new!" Lincoln smiled, removing the blood connector from his side.

"You sure? You don't feel like you're growing an extra limb or anything weird?" Jack persisted.

Lincoln sat silently for a moment. He swung his legs out a bit, waiting for something to happen. "Hmmm...nope. Nothing. Guess CC finally made something without any side effects."

"Phew..." Clyde wiped his forehead. "So, what do we do now? It's not like you can just go back home, and I'm fairly certain the girls would force me to reveal where you guys are..."

Lincoln gave a heavy sigh. "Honestly Clyde...I don't know. I'm still trying to get over the whole betrayal myself, and it made me think that..." He paused, rubbing his left arm. "Maybe the girls were right...they managed to do something that was taking me weeks to do, and they beat me to the punch, literally. I really am a terrible leader..."

Clyde stared at Lincoln for a few seconds before slapping. The white-haired child sat in shock before rubbing his cheek. "What was that for?!"

"Sorry, that was to try and get you back to your old self. Also, that sounded completely ridiculous. The Ace Savvy I know wouldn't just give up like that. I mean...sure it's hard to deal with the fact there's just the 3 of us. And we can't go back to our old home and probably have to live in our secret cave. And we'll probably have to wear disguises out in public..."

"Thanks for pointing that out..." Lincoln responded dryly.

Clyde twiddled his fingers. "Sorry...but point is," He walked over to a nearby table, grabbing a couple cards off it. "We still have each other." The African American passed the cards to Lincoln. Looking down, the Loud boy saw that they were the only 3 cards Lily managed to snag after Eight of Spades destroyed his belt. Aside from having Deuce and One-Eyed Jack in the mix, there was also one other person in there as well. However, this person rarely came on missions due to being busy with her own work.

"We're in this together Lincoln. And unlike your sisters, we'd never abandon you. You're not gonna really stop fighting crime, are you?"

Lincoln looked between Clyde and his cards. He gripped them hard as a look of determination formed on his face. "Never..."

"Then who are you?" The boy asked with a smug grin.

"Ace Savvy..."

"Sorry, I couldn't hear you." Clyde put a hand to his ear. "What was that?"

Lincoln bit his lip as he furrowed his brows. "I'm Ace Savvy!..."

"Still couldn't hear you~" The nerdy child spoke in a sing-song tone.

The white-haired child stood up on the bed. "I'm Ace Savvy! The savviest crime fighter ever, and nothing is gonna bring me down as long as I have my friends by my side!" He proclaimed to the ceiling.

Clyde folded his arms. "That's more like it. So, what's the plan?"

Lincoln got off the bed, folding his arms behind his back as he began to pace around the room. "First thing we need to do is put together an entirely different team. Not sure if my sisters will still be in the crime fighting game (they could be villains for all we know), but they still outnumber us nearly 3 to one. But, I know someone who may be willing to help."

"Who?"

Lincoln took out one of the cards and showed it to Clyde. The boy's eyes nearly bugged out of his glasses. "Her?! Lincoln, you know she's a bit of a loose cannon. And she kills people. Why her?"

"Desperate times call for desperate measures. Plus, when she does find out what happened, I'm gonna have to keep a leash on her." Lincoln breathed deep through his nose. "She'd kill me if she heard me say that..."

"Ok...but how do you know her that well?" Clyde gave an incredulous look at his friend.

"You'll find out soon. But first, I gotta call her." Lincoln patted his sides, only realizing he had been in his underwear the entire time. The boy's cheeks flushed red. "A-After I put some clothes on." He smiled sheepishly, causing Clyde to laugh.

From the door, Lily had been silently watching the two ever since she heard Lincoln yelling. She gave a sad sigh. "I hope mom and dad are watching from above..."

Elsewhere in Royal Woods, a man could be seen running through the dark streets. He kept frantically looking behind him as if he was being pursued. A small, shadowy figure was hopping across rooftops, their eyes locked onto their prey like an owl to a mouse. The man turned a corner into a dark alley and had his back pressed to the wall. He took several deep breaths to calm his rapidly beating heart, stilling his breathing as a shadow appeared at the entrance of the alley. The person stayed at the entrance for a few seconds before continuing on; the man gave a sigh of relief when he appeared to be in the clear. However, right as he was about to walk out of the alley, a shot rang out into the night; the man tumbled over and screamed in agony as a bullet buried itself in the back of his knee.

"Did you think I'd give up that easily?" A taunting voice spoke from the dark corners of the alley. It was young and sounded feminine.

"Look, please! I didn't want to kill that family! I swear!" The man pleaded.

"And Lady Ace-sassin doesn't want to miss a target." Came the harsh reply.

The person stepped out into what little moonlight there was, a glock-19 held firmly in it's hand. The shooter in question was a girl who looked to be the age of 11. She was tan-skinned with black hair that was tied in a ponytail; her hair reaching down the middle of her back. Her attire was card themed, looking almost similar to the outfit Ace Savvy himself wore. She was adorned with a red shirt that had a black heart symbol on the front along with similar colored boots with the same symbol. On the back of the shirt, the initials L. A. were inscribed in bold black lettering. She also wore blue shorts with matching forearm shields, and her mask was a plastic see-through upside down heart that covered her eyes and much of her forehead.

"Sure you didn't. It's not like you purposely didn't mean to kill them in their sleep, including the babies..." The girl spoke sarcastically, venom lacing her words at the last part.

Seeing his façade didn't work, the man gritted his teeth. "Now listen here you little brat! I have contacts that are way bigger than you'd think! Once they find out I'm dead, they'll be coming for you!"

The girl snorted under her breath. She shot the other man's knee, making him howl with pain. She took aim at his forehead. "That threat gonna come from beyond the grave?"

The man didn't give a reply as he stared at the barrel of the gun. Right as the girl was about to pull the trigger, her pocket buzzed. Looking down, she reached into it and pulled out a phone. The girl knitted her brows as she recognized the number. She put a finger up. "Give me a sec." The 11 year old put the phone to her ear. "This better be good, Lame-O..."

"Sorry to call you Ace-sassin, but this is kinda important."

"Well, what is it? I'm kinda busy with something right now." Lady Ace turned away from her target, who was still withering on the ground in pain.

"...Me and my team had a serious falling out, and they pretty much tried to force me out of the crime fighting business..." Lincoln spoke in a somber tone.

Lady Ace's look softened a bit. "What happened?..."

"Let's just say..." Lincoln paused, unsure of how to word it. "All of them besides Deuce and Jack nearly beat me to death over a dispute, and now we're in hiding." He smiled nervously.

"WHAT?!" Lady Ace shouted into her phone, nearly making Lincoln drop his in the process. "Where are they?! I'm gonna put a bullet in each and every one of their skulls!"

"L-Look Ace-sassin, please don't go after them by yourself! It's too dangerous!"

Lady Ace gritted her teeth as her phone shook with the tense rage built up inside her. Seeing her distracted, the man tried to crawl away, only for Ace-sassin to plant a bullet in his skull without even looking.

"What was that?..." Lincoln asked in concern.

"That, was target practice for when I hunt the Full House down..."

"Lady Ace, please! Don't go after them! Not like this. Look, we'll deal with them later, but just come to these coordinates. Pleease?..." Lincoln begged.

Lady Ace breathed deeply for a few minutes. She looked at the freshly-made corpse and glanced down at her gun. She shut her eyes tight before expelling a heavy sigh. "Fine..." The girl put her gun away. "But only because your my boyfriend..." The assassin hung up the phone. She dug into her pocket and left a little calling card before disappearing into the darkness.

Lincoln breathed a sigh of relief. "I thought she wouldn't agree. I know she can handle herself, but against the entire Full House?..."

Clyde blinked in surprise. "Uh...did she just say you were-?"

"It's a long story..." Lincoln let out a nervous laugh as he scratched his head.

A/N: The construction materials for rebuilding the bridge between relations has been ordered, but time will tell if they will make it to their destination to be built. Now, Lincoln has a better understanding on his fears and is just about willing to try to look past the wall he's set around himself. But, it's still the question of whose going to make the first move.

There are plenty of drawings about a Full House version of Ronnie Anne, but the version of Lady Ace I'm using belongs to DaveDwantaraC on Deviant Art. I thank the fact he started a comic called A Pair of Aces (which I hope he gets back to at some point). In his version, Ronnie Anne is more of an anti-hero and uses firearms, making her one of those characters whose willing to put someone down permanently than just putting them in the jail house. Dave didn't mind me using her, and she has an interesting dynamic with Ace. Still, Ace is definitely gonna have to find some new allies if he wants to be able to take on the Full House.