40. Complications

A/N: Lincoln is currently sailing aloft on his new high from the previous chapter, getting ready to try and smooth things over with Leni. Unfortunately, it may not go the way anyone hoped.

Disclaimer: I own NOTHING from the Loud House.

Shortly after dropping Ronnie Anne at her house, Lincoln made his way towards his own home. Still hung on the optimism over their little chat, his smile hadn't faltered since.

"Whether I like it or not, my sisters were right that Ronnie Anne does like me." His smile dropped a little. "Even though I didn't get the best advice," The corners of his mouth swung upwards again. "At least I know she wasn't weirded out by it."

Heck, he might as well forgive his friends for being so secretive around him. Being in a state where trust was quite low, they didn't want to end up on the 'avoid all contact for as long as possible' list as well. Course, he already knew that, but affirmation from Ronnie Anne helped cement that thought. He might even thank his sisters later for their part in the mess.

If he ever gets comfortable being with them that is.

Turning onto his street, Lincoln could already see his house on the other end of the row. As the distance between himself and his home drew narrower, he couldn't see the familiar shape of the God-knows-how-old family van in the driveway.

"I didn't get home that early, did I?"

Coasting along until he made a right onto the concrete path, the Loud didn't hear the telltale sounds of human movement through the walls. Lincoln pursed his lips before directing his attention to the garage. Upon stopping, he knelt down and pulled up on the handle near the ground; the small building vibrated as the heavy door moved along its track.

It went without saying that the inside of the garage would've made you think you were stepping into a hoarder's home. Boxes were haphazardly stacked in various spots, filled with holiday decorations or some old junk that couldn't fit in the attic, and there was one spot along the wall where the kids kept their own modes of un-motorized transportation. However, like this morning, Lincoln couldn't help but notice it felt more spacious than usual in here.

"Didn't Luna keep like...20 speakers in here? I mean, this was the only other place she could put them, right?"

Deciding to leave those thoughts alone, Lincoln parked the bike next to Lynn's and left his helmet on the handle bars. He made sure to lower the door completely behind him, as it had a tendency to get stuck and spring back up without warning.

Going back around to the front of the house, the Loud was a little surprised to find the door unlocked. "Hello?" He called out as he walked in.

Nothing but silence greeted him. "Is anybody here?" Lincoln called out again.

A metallic ringing accompanied by rapid, small footfalls came from the kitchen and dining room. Looking towards the source, Lincoln looked down with a smile as Charles barked happily while the little terrier ran to him. He started to chuckle as the pup clawed on his pants leg whilst hopping on the spot.

Kneeling down, "Don't worry boy, I'm not going anywhere." Lincoln petted Charles, seemingly calming the pup for the moment. "Have you see anyone else here?"

Charles shook his head before scratching an itch behind his ear with his hind leg.

"Guess no one made it yet." Looking back at the front door, "Though that doesn't explain why the door wasn't locked..." Lincoln stood up straight as he shut the door, making sure to turn the little tumbler on the knob. "One of these days, Mom or Dad is gonna have a fit about this."

Leaving bad door habits aside, Lincoln took a moment to relish the rare silence of the house. It reminded him of Clyde's place, and on any other day, the only time 1216 Franklin Ave. wasn't living up to its namesake was when no one was home. But even so, Lincoln couldn't enjoy the silence in a way he would've liked.

And he knew it was only a matter of time before one of his siblings arrived. And more importantly, he had to figure out a way he could speak with Leni in solitude. Given her personality, there was a strong possibility that she'd come to him, but she also may not want to risk invading his privacy.

"Ugh..." Lincoln sighed, dragging his feet as he walked to the kitchen. "This is why I told Lynn I don't like having to plan around them all the time. It's just so tiring..." He felt his temple throb a little as he spoke.

Charles made curious yips as he followed his owner, only to be shooed away by a hand wave.

Opening the fridge, Lincoln grabbed some ginger ale, hoping it'd ease his growing head cramps. "Maybe I should try something to take my mind off it for a while." He popped the cap and took a sip. "Though I don't really feel like playing any of my video games right now..." He frowned. "Or reading my comics..." Walking out the kitchen, "I haven't even started on the ones Lynn gave me yesterday..."

On the subject of those Ace Savvy comics, Lincoln started to recall the little 'episodes' that had played out in his dreams. Reaching into his bag, he fished out one of his folders and pulled out a couple sheets of paper. Back at Clyde's, he drew a couple panels of himself getting an outfit as a disguise, but hadn't worked any further on it. Looking them over, Lincoln wondered if he could make a short issue comprised of these sketches.

Remembering Ronnie's compliments during class, the Loud hummed. "I guess I could try my hand at it again." He started going upstairs. "Better than sitting and doing nothing I guess."

Well, he did have a little bit of homework to do; like any young kid though, no one likes doing homework on a Monday.

Once he got to his room, the Loud wiggled his bag off his shoulders before catching it in hand and tossed it next to his chair and sat the paper on the empty space. Falling into his chair, the Loud massaged his temples while studying the pictures that lie before him.

"So, my Ace Savvy persona disguised himself and made his way back to the hideout...I don't remember if Lisa's persona gave him more of those insta-heal shots." He stuck his tongue out as he looked at the ceiling. Shaking his head, "Nah. She only had enough for any of us in the hospital."

Digging into his bag, he pulled out some blank papers and a pencil. "Now that I think about it, what would the rest have been doing? I think Ronnie Anne would've faked having her leg and hand messed up until she could sneak away." He frowned. "But not without letting her mom know first." Tapping the pencil on his head, "Lori would've recovered from her wounds easily since hers were straight forward, Leni would have woken up from her coma, and probably have trouble remembering what happened. And Lynn..." Lincoln hummed as the pencil went limp in his hand.

Honestly, writing Lynn's state would be awkward from now on. Beating his persona to near death was one thing, even preparing to finish the job. Ace didn't expect Strong Suit to finally listen to reason, much less saving him at the cost of nearly ending her own life. In fact, Lincoln never went into depth about her condition other than the generic ICU/coma plot that typically happens when a writer wants to not deal with a character for a while.

Then again, he couldn't be certain what she would've looked like after having a roof collapse on her. His body shook as a chill ran through his nerves. Some things were best left undiscovered, especially as his more gruesome nightmares came to mind...

"Would she even remember what happened? She shielded my other persona from the falling roof, and I think that would've nearly killed her on top of the burns she got..." The pencil tapped the paper, making a small mark at the point before Lincoln's hand started to move in a set of motions. "And when I told Lynn about it at therapy, she cried..." He frowned at that. "So I figure Strong Suit would feel the same way. But that still doesn't solve the question of what caused the girls to act like that in the first place..." He paused in his drawing. "And for that matter, why did I try my luck with Lynn at all?"

He told himself before that he viewed her strength as a deterrent for his other siblings, and tactically went about trying to get her on his side. But that argument didn't hold much weight as he would've thought at this point.

"Maybe I really want to be close to her again..." Lincoln surmised, his hand absently using the pencil to sketch on the paper. "She said we had a good relationship when we were younger, and she was the ONLY sister besides Lily that visited me on her own; even though I now think it was just a coincidence." The 11 year old let his head rest on his propped up free hand. "Maybe all those times she talked to me alone made me start to warm up to Lynn." He frowned. "But I don't know if that'll work with the others..."

As he kept drawing, his imagination kicked into high gear with full pictures beginning to paint a new scene. Lincoln imagined how Lily and his other friends (who got lighter injuries) would react to him being awake and fully fit; he smiled a little seeing Lily bursting into tears and squeezing the life out of him as if he'd disappear upon letting go. After explaining how Lisa helped him, the others would be unsure of whether they could trust her; Lily even suggested Lincoln use an x-ray on himself in case the little 'brat' put another tracker in him.

The Ace persona kept the thought in mind but wondered what the others had been up while he was incapacitated. Lily had to be talked out of enacting revenge on the sisters that weren't hospitalized more than once; in fact, she was about to sneak out and do so when Lincoln showed up at the entrance. Her resentment grew for every day Lincoln had been gone, and the only thing he could do was hold his sister as she broke down as soon she saw him.

The group keeping themselves hidden wasn't a surprise, but the reason for it irked him: With Ace being a fugitive, Jack and Deuce were considered likely suspects.

His 3 redheaded friends were still unknowns in the grand scheme of it all, and surprisingly, the demolition of the lumber factory was blamed on Wild Card Willy due to the salvageable footage showing him and his goons on the scene; not to mention the bodies of said goons found in the rubble. Still, Ace knew the cops will be searching for him given his disappearance. But if what Lisa said is true about the Full House being brainwashed-

Lincoln shook his head. No, the girls certainly knew what they were doing; Lynn was quite clear on that. But, it was definitely some form of manipulation (or suggestion) that goaded them into using extreme measures. Either way, it was definitely something he had to look into. But what villain from Ace's rogue's gallery could have that sort of capability? He could already root out Willy and Card Shark since both had fought the Full House with grim results. It couldn't be Old Maid either since this just wasn't her style; she preferred doing petty thefts or getting revenge on those who slighted her at some point.

Lincoln glanced over to the stack of comics Lynn had given him the day before. One of the new issues had a picture of Ace, Jack, and this new villain who apparently was some black cat. Seriously, an actual cat; not someone dressed like one. Squinting his eyes as his tongue poked out of his mouth, "A cat might do things a cat would like, though I haven't thought about the gang robbing pet stores for cat food or..." He shrugged. "Yarn balls maybe?" Glancing upwards, "Does Cliff even like those? I know he has that old mouse chew toy, but he doesn't bother with it much..." His pencil tapped the paper as he sat in silence. "Eh...I'll just leave it alone until I know about this 'Kitty'." He started drawing a few more lines. "But that does leave one other villain who would definitely use those mind tricks."

KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!

The sudden sound made Lincoln flinch, causing him to apply a little too much pressure on the point of the pencil until it broke. The boy tilted the pencil up until he got a good look at the now dull lead. " Dang it..." He muttered.

He ought to feel a little frustrated at his thoughts being interrupted; a quick glance at his clock caught him off guard though.

"It's after 5 already?" Lincoln muttered to himself. He took a glance at his work before getting out of the chair. "Guess times flys when you're zoned in."

It might have been one of his parents, seeing as his sisters rarely knocked and would rather break the door off its hinges to invade his privacy. That's why, when he opened the door, he faltered a bit upon coming face to face with Lynn.

"Uh, hey..." Lincoln greeted in an uneasy tone.

"Hey." Lynn shifted her weight a little. "Just wanted to see if you were in your room."

"Well...I am." Lincoln replied curtly. "When'd you guys get here?"

"About an hour ago." Lynn shrugged. "Dad's making dinner, so it'll be done in like, a half hour I guess?"

"Ok." The Loud boy answered.

Not having much else to say, both kids stood in silence, with only the faint activity going on upstairs filling the void.

Lynn bit her cheek. "Well, I'll...see ya at dinner; if you wanna eat." She started to turn.

"Wait..." Lincoln started as Lynn halted. "Is...is Leni doing anything right now?"

"Not that I know of." The athlete pointed a thumb behind her. "She's in her room."

Lincoln nodded. "Great," He started closing his door. "Thanks." He uttered politely before shutting it completely.

He waited until he heard Lynn moving away from the door before focusing on his desk. A few steps forward allowed him to get a clear picture of what he accomplished before Lynn interrupted: roughly a few pages worth of his imagination, up to the point where Ace was mulling over the culprit responsible. He had an idea of who it could've been, but Lincoln didn't immediately jump back into his work.

Looking at the door, he wondered if now was a good time to put his plan in motion. "I could wait til after dinner," He looked back at his drawing, a frown drawing on his face. "But then she might be too busy getting ready for bed. And knowing Leni, she takes just as long getting ready for that as she does for school in the morning..."

The Loud tapped his foot. "And Lori might be around, which would be a big problem because I want to talk to Leni without anyone else around." Yes, he knew there was a chance the others would eavesdrop on their conversation, what with the thin walls and all. But the whole point was to be the only two in the room; and Lincoln wasn't comfortable with having their chat in his room.

A sigh left him. "Guess now's a better time than any..."

Turning back to the barrier that separates his room from the hallway, Lincoln pulled the door back just enough to get a subtle peek. It was bare, save for Walt sitting on a small table that had a vase on it; the canary appeared busy arranging the feathers on his left wing. He paused in his task when he heard Lincoln open his door, staring at the white-haired child for a second before going back to his labor.

Eyeing each bedroom door individually, Lincoln stepped out of his comfort zone and closed the door behind him. Taking a breath, he shuffled his feet across the floor until he was in front of the room belonging to his oldest sisters, attempting to ignore the sounds of the occupants in the other rooms. "Ok...here g-goes..." He muttered, raising a hesitant fist.

He lightly rapped his knuckles on the wood, hoping the sister he needed to speak with answered and not the oldest; she always got an attitude for even wanting to come into their room.

The universe seemed to be in agreement with the boy as the innocent, curious face of the fashionista appeared after the door was pulled back.

Leni blinked in surprise. "Lincoln?" While she heard that Lincoln was planning a chat with her, she imagined it would be days before that became reality.

"H-Hi..." Lincoln started, trying his best to avoid stuttering. "Are you b-busy with anything?"

"Well, I was stuck on math homework; precalculus is totes a pain. Like, I get linear inequalities, but trying to find domain and range is totes hard..." The blonde muttered, scratching the itch that started to form on her head just thinking about those problems. One quick glance at Lincoln made her drop her musings so as to not appear as if she were dismissing him. "But it can wait. Need help with something?"

Lincoln blinked in surprise. Firstly, Leni and any sort of math above 3rd grade (or second grade) level was about the same as adding oil into water; the two never mixed well together. Heck, trying to pronounce 'trigonometry' would be equivalent to opening a pickle jar for her. Not that he solve math problems that high level, but seeing Leni being able to articulate it in a way that meant she at least understood it was...unnerving...

"And this is my sister who tried to 'free' the cooked chickens at the store? Did Lisa have something to do with this or-"

"Lincoln?" The boy blinked, focusing back on his sister. "You ok?" She asked with great concern, her head being tilted to the side slightly in confusion.

"S-Sorry..." Lincoln started to twist the front of his shirt to try and steel himself. "C-Can we talk for a minute?"

"Sure! Totes!" Leni cheered, probably a little too much for his taste.

She backed up so he could step in. Like before, the room felt more spacious without all the constant clothes and dresses lying about when Leni did her usual hobby. On the desk he spotted a thick math book with a few sheets of paper and a pencil sitting on it. Fortunately, Lori wasn't in the room; nor was her phone or charger for that matter.

"Soooo," Leni dragged out as she closed the door, only leaving a small crack open. "What's up?"

"Um, w-well..." Lincoln started as Leni moved over to her bed. When she sat down, she patted a spot next to her. He began to feel a little uncomfortable about the uncertainty of being next to her. She might have a sweet smile, but for all Lincoln knew, it could've been a facade to get him to lower his guard. Sadly, the boy's legs started to betray him with how tense his muscles were, sending minor pain singles up his spine so he could give them a break.

Gingerly, Lincoln took a seat, though kept himself just out of arms reach.

"F-First off...are you ok?" Lincoln began.

Leni raised a brow. "What do you mean?"

"I don't want to sound mean, but...just..." Lincoln paused to collect his thoughts. "Did Lisa do something weird to help you become..." He wanted to pick the next word carefully as to not insult her lack of intelligence. "Smarter?"

Leni went wide-eyed as her mouth fell open. She didn't know whether to feel hurt, offended, or think the question was an insult. "Calm down girl. He doesn't know yet...he doesn't know yet..." She told herself repeatedly to mitigate the irritation behind her eyes as they slowly became wetter; even if it was genuine, Lincoln asking such a thing still stung.

Thinking he may have struck a nerve, Lincoln spoke first. "I'm sorry!" He pleaded. "I-I didn't mean it like that."

"It's ok..." Leni started, averting her case. "Truth is Lincoln, I've always been about as smart as Lori." She paused. "Well, not AS smart as Lori, but I'm not that stupid. See, I have this disability that makes me have gaps in judgement and makes it hard to focus..."

Lincoln remained silent as he felt Leni had more to say.

"Mom and Dad already have me take these pills to fix it; but I forget to take them sometimes..."

"So..." Lincoln started after having absorbed this new information. "That's why you had a hard time learning how to drive, but know how to pick locks and design clothes." He meant it as a statement, but the confusion in his tone made it sound more like a question.

"It depends on the subject." Leni clarified. "Like, no matter what state I'm in, I'll totally get what you're saying from a fashion perspective. But outside of that..." She trailed off as her cheeks became a little red out of embarrassment. "The worst part is, I remember how dumb I was being once I'm back on my meds..."

Beads of sweat began to form on Lincoln's forehead whilst his chest felt like a weight was pressing on it. All those times himself and his other siblings feared Leni being in charge of anything and berating her for acting like a 4 year old, only to find out it wasn't because she was really dense but due to a disorder she couldn't really control? He had a feeling she might've had something like that at one point; same went for Lisa because no 4 year old ought to have concrete knowledge of handling nuclear fusion. But the middle child never really took time to solve that mystery.

It seemed no one else did either from what Leni was implying.

"And that time I had to cover for you and everyone else..." Lincoln thought aloud. His stomach squirmed as he considered that Leni really had tunnel vision at the time due to her limited thought process, and her revealing she was covering for everyone else at the last moment was in actuality a last minute reminder on her end.

"I didn't mean to drop that on you Lincoln." Leni stated, clasping her hands together. "I don't have any real excuse for how it went down, but I could've tried harder to remember that my hands were full..."

Lincoln sighed. "You weren't on your medication at the time, so I don't blame you...at least, anymore than I already did..." He added as he gripped his sleeves. "...I feel like a big jerk for ignoring you as long as I did..."

"That's why I said, you didn't know. And-"

"I may not have known." Lincoln interrupted. "But did anyone else?" He looked directly at her eyes. "Did any of our family know about this and just use you while you were in 'dunce mode'? Or anyone outside our family?..."

Seeing the fearful look in his eye, Leni felt her heart skip a beat; yet it was feeling warmer than usual. While he didn't say it, the fashionista understood how her little brother was reacting. In spite of being distant, the fact he still feared for her wellbeing revealed there was a side of him that still cared for her as a sister.

"Mom and Dad knew for a long time." Leni sat up straight. "They even tried putting my medication in my food when I'd forget, but I still noticed whenever something tasted funny." Lincoln seemed to relax, but his posture remained tense. "But for everyone else," She shook her head. "Not even Lori knew about it until after all of us had therapy." She started to sulk. "But I'd be lying if I said I didn't feel used because I couldn't think straight at the time." Leni squinted an eye as she took a moment to reflect. "Well, straighter..."

The fashionista thought about how her (former) friends treated her. Generally, Becky and Mandee weren't bad company; they've known each other since elementary school, though she couldn't remember what grade. Heck, they were even willing to put up with Leni's airheadedness long past the point anyone else would have ignored her.

"But even they thought I was just a dummy head and could make any lame excuse to not be around me..." Leni breathed through her nose, which was produced a subtle noise as her sinuses became agitated. "I can't even remember if they did that more than once before all of this..."

The older girl glanced at her brother, who seemed to be mulling in his own thoughts. Given how his brows were slowly tightening together, it must've been negative enough to make him irate. Last thing Leni wanted was for Lincoln to be angry at her for anything, and was about to opt on remaining silent until he spoke. But after what she discovered today, she needed to know if her brother felt the same.

"Lincoln..." Leni began, grabbing his attention. "...Do you think I'm crazy?..."

"Um..." He hesitated. "What made you ask that?"

"My friends stopped hanging out with me after I told them what..." The blonde choked back a couple tears. "What I did to you months ago. They told me we couldn't be friends anymore because of that, but one of them thought I was only pretending to be dumb and sweet like those scary people in scary movies..."

Lincoln hummed for a moment. "You mean like psychos?"

Leni nodded, looking towards the floor. "Becky and Mandee said they aren't ready to be friends with me again." Her frown deepened. "And I don't think they ever will...they probably think I have enough issues to belong in a nut house..."

"...They're wrong..."

Leni raised a brow, giving a side glance to the younger loud.

"Leni, you might be dumb at times, but you always kept your heart on your sleeve." Lincoln stated with certainty. "And I doubt that's gonna change any time soon."

The blonde let out a dry huff as she looked away. "They said that too before they left me alone..."

"That's because they didn't know the real you." Lincoln added. "R-Remember what happened just after we got busted on Chore Day?"

"Yeah..." The fashionista shifted back a little on her spot. "You pretended I didn't exist for a whole week..."

Lincoln nodded slowly. "Yeah..." His voice held an edge of guilt, if Leni assumed correctly. "But I also didn't talk with Clyde at all for the same amount of time." Twiddling his thumbs, "Me and Clyde have been friends since Kindergarten, but I felt like I wanted to stop speaking to him completely after the whole class saw me dressed like Lily. I didn't think he'd do something that crazy, so in a way...I, guess that's kinda like how you've fallen out with your friends?"

Leni pursed her lips in thought. "Probably." She shrugged.

"But, as the week went on, I started to calm down. I figured it was just a bad call on Clyde's part because he really thought our class was into ARGGH!" Lincoln gave an uncomfortable glance to the side. "Annnd he was slipping into a serious sad streak after a few days, but the point is," He raised a finger. "I knew Clyde enough so I couldn't hold his mistake against him." Putting his hand down, "So, maybe they just need time to adjust and they'll look past what happened." His shoulders fell. "At least I hope so. I...don't think I'm good at giving advice these days..."

Leni let the words sink in. Becky did say they may forgive her if Lincoln did first, or they eventually realized what Leni did was a mistake that affected her greatly since; as Lincoln put it at least. So he was closer on the nose than he believed. Looking towards him, Leni began to wonder if Lincoln would take his own words to heart. It still felt a ways off that the sisters would be forgiven as a whole, but by now he should (and seemed to) know that all of it was a mistake that unfortunately had serious repercussions.

"Actually," Leni started. In a daring move, she shifted closer and wrapped an arm around his shoulder. Lincoln flinched from the contact, but made no attempts to squirm out of it. "It might come true. Isn't that the reason you forgave me after Chore Day?"

"Technically, you apologized first." Lincoln chuckled a little. "But, yeah."

"But what about now? I mean, I'm not asking for it because I want it. Like..." Leni paused to gather her thoughts. "I want to be the older sister you can count on again Lincoln," She removed her hand. "But I doubt you'd want to be around someone who you think might be pulling a nice face as a trick..."

"I never said you were crazy Leni." Lincoln clarified, placing his hands in his lap while shifting his body slightly so he could face her better. "I've heard enough from Lynn to know that what everyone did was..." His fingers curled inward. "An accident...if it can be called that...but I've also figured that even nice people can be mean sometimes. I'm not gonna lie when I say I was horrified when everyone, including the sisters I'm normally on good sides with, beat me up..." The boy's nose flared a little. "I-It's just very complicated..."

"How so?" Leni asked in a concerned tone.

"As much as I'd want things to go back to the way they were...it just feels impossible." Lincoln folded his arms. "Like, I feel I could learn to trust Lynn a little more even though she broke one of my arms, and even you." He gestured to the blonde. "Since you're always so nice, it's really hard to stay mad at you. But if I were to talk to Lori or maybe Luan..." He bit his cheek. "I feel like I might explode on them in a bad way. It's not just because of me going to the hospital, but I can't help but think of past moments where they used me for something and I ended up getting the short stick because of it..." He pulled an arm up to rest his chin on his palm. "I nearly blew up at Lynn for those same reasons, and I thought she'd pummel me again..."

"But she didn't..." Leni pointed out.

"She didn't..." Lincoln repeated. "Which surprised me because at the time, I couldn't remember the last time she acted like..." He trailed off whilst thinking of a proper comparison.

Leni raised a brow. "Like what?"

"Well...like you." The boy answered. "Lynn started acting like something of an older brother since she got into sports, so it felt really odd that she tried being the 'comfort' person. I appreciate her helping me figure out a plan to approach you guys, but I still don't feel like I really know my sisters like I thought I did..."

Leni nodded. "We didn't know each other good enough either..."

Lincoln's head dipped slightly. "Lynn said you guys didn't know me that much too."

"I meant the other girls Lincoln." The boy raised a brow at Leni's words. "See, we end up fighting a lot because..." She scratched her head. "How did Ms. Lopez say it?" Shaking her head, "Anyway, we end up fighting due to not taking a moment to walk in the other person's shoes, if that makes sense." Putting a finger on her cheek, "Though I can't imagine ever wearing Lynn's cleats or Lana's shoes; they're totes gross..."

Lincoln eyed her questioningly. "Uh...Leni?"

Realizing she was going off base, "Right, my bad. Basically, all of us have issues we probably wouldn't have brought up if it weren't for therapy."

Lincoln hummed in understanding, though it brought up more questions as far as the mental stability of his family in general. "I'll figure that out later..." He decided. "During the times you remember being used when you weren't thinking straight, how did you feel about it?"

Leni tapped her lap with a finger, her gaze shifting around as she formulated an answer. Lincoln began to wonder if he may have asked the wrong question. Given how he had been forced to comply in certain situations because he wasn't strong enough to defend himself, the middle child felt Leni was the best person to help him carve a path on dealing with future outbursts, seeing as her situation wasn't so different.

"Sometimes..." Leni began. A small fire was lit behind her eyes upon feeling a little peeved. "Sometimes I wish I could've said something to change the argument; or at least stop going along with whatever the solution was. I think that's how many of the fights I had with Lori ended." She glanced at the door. "And maybe with the rest of our family. But it feels it would've been too late anyhow."

This brought another question to mind. "We're you mad at Lori's suggestion on how you two should've split the dress? Cause all the days of the week-"

"End with 'Y'. I know." Leni spoke a little hotly. "But she didn't suggest it Lincoln; that was me..." She sighed heavily. "It might have been better to just drop the dress altogether. If I had been on my pills at the time, I would've pointed out that I already had the dress a while before Lori came home. I was even wearing it by the time she came through the door, so she couldn't tell me to take it back..." She raised her arms temporarily to put emphasis on that statement.

Lincoln's mouth went agape as this new information resonated in his head. "Wait wait wait..." He replied, stopping Leni before she continued any further. "So, from what I remember (or was told at least) you both had the same dress around the same time, right?"

Leni tilted her head. "Well, yeah. But not really."

Feeling he needed to clarify, Lincoln asked, "Were you two at the mall around the same time?"

Leni shook her head. "I took the bus to start my shopping early that day, and Lori wasn't ready to go when I wanted to." She replied, continuing to search her memories of that Saturday. "I don't think I ran into her at the mall that day either."

Lincoln had his eyes narrowed with his hands clasped together near his mouth. "So if you took the bus, then Lori drove to the mall later that day...and if you had it on by the time Lori got back..." His eyes widened a bit before pointing at the blonde. "Then you had the dress at least an hour before Lori got home. And if she asked you to take your dress back..." His finger went limp for a second, only to join the rest as they tensed into a fist.

One of his eyes twitched as his expression morphed from surprise to anger. Leni was already feeling unsettled by this transformation, and she scooted away a few inches as steam started to come out of Lincoln's ears like a hot tea pot. "Then this is just like the time I taught you how to drive! BUT WORSE!"

Leni was inclined to agree, but she couldn't say everything lied at Lori's feet. "Lincoln. I know you're mad, but it's not all her-"

"Leni," He whipped his head to her, the locked rage in his eyes making her clam up. "How would you feel if all the work you did suddenly went to waste because someone didn't like the idea of having another driver in the house?"

Leni made a nervous humming noise. "I'd...be mad about it. And I was when she told us about it after I failed. But Lori apologized for it!" The fashionista pointed out. "She even taught me how to drive not long after." She rubbed her arm. "Even though we ended up in a neighbor's pool; Dad was super totes not happy about that..."

"But it doesn't change the fact she made you fail on purpose! You're lucky the same driver instructor would even let you take the test again."

Leni sulked at the reminder. She might be able to do a retest, but after failing 13 times, the family was getting charged extra fees for the damages wrought to the test car, and the driver instructor. If it weren't Michigan law that allowed Leni to retest as many times as needed, she was certain she would be barred from stepping within 100ft of a DMV.

"I swear, Lori's ego has to be bigger than Lynn AND Lola's combined..." Lincoln muttered, tapping his foot against the bed leg in a rapid manner. No longer feeling comfortable sitting down, he jumped off the bed and started walking around. "And it's obvious she didn't learn anything from that. But why should I be surprised? It's not the first time she only cared about herself and her dumb social status. Why else would she puke on me? Then, instead of apologizing, takes a picture and sends it to Bobby? Or that time she couldn't just DRIVE US ALL TO SCHOOL INSTEAD OF CRYING ABOUT HER BOYFRIEND NOT WEARING A STUPID DRESS?! And for that matter, I can't even spend a couple days with the ONE person I see as an older brother before she starts getting jealous!"

Leni was perplexed at how her brother was acting, and she wasn't certain if she could do anything to calm him down. As he paced around in circles berating his oldest sister, the fashionista wondered if it would've been better keeping that information to herself. Much like how Lincoln inadvertently revealed the insults the girls said behind each other's backs, she may have very well made it near impossible for her roommate to reconcile with their brother.

"If the Sister Protocol thingy wasn't out of style, we might need it to keep Lincoln and Lori away from each other..." The 16 year old thought bitterly. "Lincoln..."

"Cause heaven forbid we be our actual selves." Lincoln spat in a poor imitation of Lori, not even registering Leni's call. "I guess it must be SOOO hard to stand still for 10 seconds! And I didn't blow it! The timer was set a little longer than I thought!" His hands flew into the air. "How is that a crime?!"

Leni pursed her lips together. "Lincoln..."

"At least now I know why I end up having to come up with ideas whenever we're together: we can't even depend on our oldest sister to be a real leader..."

Normally, Leni had a lot of patience. In a family like this, one needed to if you ever wanted to work things out. The outside viewer might say otherwise given the constant spats here and there. In her case though, it was because she was just oblivious to the main source of contention until it smacked her in the face. But ever since she started taking her medication at the required intervals, Leni was quicker at noticing problems and preferred taking care of them long before it became a bigger issue.

And what would she normally do upon seeing a sibling upset?

Leni sighed as she stood up, walking over to Lincoln while his back faced her. Upon getting into arm's distance, she knelt down so her head was level with his, and wrapped her arms around him in a big, comforting hug.

This time however, Lincoln didn't appreciate the contact. Although he stopped with whatever swear he was about to utter concerning Lori, he started squirming violently in his sister's grip, grabbed her arms to pry them off. "Let go of me Leni!"

"Shhhhh." Leni countered with a calm voice. "It's ok Lincoln. I'm here for you."

Lincoln gripped her forearms tighter. "Lynn already hugged me once today..." He pulled as hard as he could. "I don't! Need! Another!" He tugged hard with each word, only for his fingers to slip after one last tug.

Leni grimaced a little as his nails dug into her skin; not enough to draw blood, but she knew he would leave marks. Lincoln grunted as he tried all his might to push Leni away; with each tug, she just hugged him tighter, trying to keep a balance between keeping him in place and making sure he wasn't being crushed. Leni noticed how the boy's head dipped down a couple times, likely testing to see if he could bite her. She confirmed it to be the case upon feeling Lincoln's hot breath on her skin. Fortunately, she thought of it beforehand and kept her arms just past the point where he could sink his teeth in. The young Loud even tried to crouch low to escape her grasp, but Leni stood up when he did and lifted his feet off the floor a few inches before setting him back down; she might as well have been a totem pole with how determined she was to not let him escape this hug. No matter how hard Lincoln pushed and pulled against her, the teen remained firmly in place as his strength started to wane.

Finally, after a minute of nonstop struggling, the younger Loud huffed repeatedly as his stamina was completely depleted.

"Either Leni is stronger than I thought...or I'm just weak..." He thought to himself as his arms hung limp at his sides. "Like always..."

Leni poked her head around his shoulder. "Feeling better?"

Lincoln made a tired groan. "A little..."

Hugs make everything better, as they say. "Perfect!" Leni beamed before raising her arms to Lincoln's shoulders, spinning him around until he faced her. "Now Lincoln, I know you're mad at Lori, but she's already aware of how this falls on her shoulders. She already thinks you'll hate her since she knows she started the first argument, but all the things she did wasn't because she didn't care."

Lincoln's eyelids dropped halfway. "I haven't been convinced otherwise..."

Leni took a moment to figure out a better way to state her point. "It's better if she tells you, since I don't think I can. But, all I can say is that having to look after all of us for a long time has really drained her..." She let go of him. "I'm not saying what she did was ok, but...try not to be too mad at her? Please?"

Lincoln held his tongue to avoid giving an immediate retort as he thought things over. He huffed before giving his answer. "It was already stupid that you guys fought over buying the same dress to begin with..." Folding his arms, "The fact Lori started it when she should've just kept her mouth shut instead of pulling a Lola and think she's the only one who deserved to have it just tells me how easily everything that happened could've been avoided. And it's hard to forget she made us do favors for her in exchange for driving us places instead of just doing it because she cares about us." He eyed a nearby trashcan for a brief moment. "I really wish I kept a copy of that note..."

Leni raised a brow. "What note?"

Lincoln waved his hand. "It's something else..."

While he had been talking, Lincoln avoided looking directly at Leni due to the puppy-like stare she was giving him. He didn't want to cave while he still felt a high amount of indignation for his oldest sister. "But even now, I only have Leni's side of the story. No one else had told me much about how it happened aside from saying 'they bought the same dress and are fighting about it'. And if Lori knows how much of it is her fault, then I can use Leni's statement to tell if she'll lie about it later. But what did Leni mean when she said looking after us drained Lori? I mean, I know we're not angels, and the one time we did break her babysitting routine, I at least know why she does it." He hummed a little. "Does that mean she had to bust out that routine for much longer than she would've liked?"

Memories of the babysitter rebellion floated about. Lori was definitely gloating about her position of power, even seemingly taking satisfaction when he admitted she was right and things were quickly going south. She didn't appear to hold that act of disrespect against him though.

"Or did she?...Now would've been a perfect time to get back at me for taking the lead from her..." Lincoln shook his head. "No, that couldn't be right...I walked into that stuff from talking about those secrets..." The young Loud made a quick glance at Leni before diverting his attention again. "But when did Lori start going drill sergeant on us? It couldn't have been recently from what Leni suggested. For that matter, was she always bossy and mean?..."

Lincoln could admit that Lori was cool at times, but her self-centered attitude and possessive nature made him forget she even had a kinder side. But she always remembered his favorite type of ice cream, she would sometimes check on him just to see how he was doing (even if she gave the impression she wanted something), and in some rare moments, she'd play a game with him.

"But that doesn't explain what happened to her. And some of the good times I remember when I was younger..." Lincoln's eyes narrowed a little. "Didn't she always play with me on the swings too?..." As he kept trying to figure out what made Lori who she is now, the middle child grew more and more frustrated. "Just when I think I have something figured out, there's another mystery to solve. Much like the time I had to plan for the sweet spot..." The Loud huffed in dry amusement. "Guess I'm starting to see how Ace Savvy handles stuff in real life."

"Linky?" Lincoln finally decided to look directly into Leni's eyes. "You've been really quiet for five minutes."

"I was just thinking it over..." The young loud sighed. "I'll try to not yell at her, but I can't say I won't..."

"You'll try to hear her out though, right?"

Lincoln gave a begrudging, "Yes..."

Leni gave a sweet smile. "That's all I wanted to ask." She brought him in for another hug. Lincoln let himself be brought into her embrace, though he didn't return it.

Feeling there wasn't more that needed to be said, the younger Loud took his leave. He opened the door into the relatively empty hallway, only it now occurring to him that he didn't bother managing the volume of his voice during his ranting. While he had been speaking with Leni, he had a nagging feeling that his other sisters might spy on their conversation; or at least he'd end up spotting them right after coming out of her room, being the little snoops they were. However, such feelings were abandoned upon learning the reason behind Leni being dense. Make no mistake, he didn't forgive Leni for her part in all of it, but (barring how truthful her statement was) she wasn't the main instigator.

But if Leni had a learning disability, what other problems would he learn about with his siblings? He sort of had an idea on how Lori became Ms. Bossy Mean. Did Lisa have one that worked the opposite way? Did Lana have something wrong in her head that made her think gross things were nice? Or was it a way for her to be different from Lola?

Lincoln stopped his train of thought upon hearing the top steps of the stairs creaking under weight. As he passed the wall, he couldn't help the annoyed frown on his face as his oldest sister spotted him.

"Hi Linc-"

"Hey..." Lincoln abruptly cut her off before continuing on to his room.

Lori raised a brow at the rude gesture, noting the restrained anger in the boy's tone that matched his expression. She reached the top step just in time to see Lincoln shut his door. "What's wrong with him now?" She muttered to herself, turning left and entering her shared room.

Leni looked towards the door as she got back in her chair. "Oh, hey Lori." She smiled, only to lose it a moment later after noting the short amount of time that passed between Lincoln's exit and her entry. "Did you run into Lincoln out there?"

"Yeah? He looked pretty peeved about something."

"Oh..." Leni twisted the pencil in her hands. "I'm sorry. I tried to make it easier for you, but I don't know if he'll keep himself from blowing up..."

Lori squinted an eye in confusion, though her stomach quivered a little as she had an idea on what Leni was going on about. "What happened?"

"He knows how it started...a-and he's blaming you for it..."

The oldest sibling sunk her shoulders. "Great..." She shuffled over to her bed and let her body drop onto the mattress. "I thought it'd be better if I break it to him, but if he's gonna be like this all the time, I doubt I'll have a chance to make things right..."

"It might not be that bad." Leni shifted in her chair until she was facing her sister. "I told him you had been in a lot of stress from looking after us all the time, so he's thinking on it. And, by the time you guys talk, he might not be too mad about it."

"That's wishful thinking Leni," Lori turned her head to her left. "But this is me we're talking about when it comes to Lincoln."

"Yeaaaah." Leni dragged out. "But I calmed him down enough to think about it." She added a smile in hopes of cheering her sister.

Lori glanced away from her before burying her face in the sheets. "Thanks..."

A moment of silence passed. Leni glanced down at the floor upon hearing movement on the ground floor, likely Rita coming out of the master bedroom. Deciding to change the subject to something a bit less depressing, "Soooo, what were you up to? You weren't on the bus."

"...I was getting some advice from a friend..." Was Lori's muffled answer.

A/N: Lincoln is just starting to grasp the straws of ongoing personal problems with his sisters, though he still has a right to be upset at Lori for her part in making the protocol happen. However, he won't be speaking to her for a while, and he'll decide on what to do next on his own. In the mean time, we'll also find out who Lori's been speaking to as of late.

Also, in response to a guest review: criminal charges are only brought about after a warrant has been issued. You could argue the doctor should've called the police, but Lynn and Rita were already set on correcting their daughters, so it wouldn't be necessary. Also, it isn't attempted murder because their was no killing intent on part of the sisters. Manslaughter, you could say that, but it was more domestic assault than anything else. It would be defined as murder if Lincoln actually died; but he didn't.

Another point to consider: would putting them in juvie really solve anything? All it would do is extend the core problem for months, and it would sidetrack from what the story is about. Lincoln would've been keeping his fears for much longer than expected, with little help in understanding why exactly his sisters did what they did; and as this chapter shows, learning more about them than he knew. Plus, getting law enforcement involved when it isn't necessary will make things even more complicated than they need to be.

This is also why I didn't want police interference in my other story. Just simply locking someone up doesn't solve a problem all the time; it just pushes what will eventually happen later down the road when it could be solved sooner.

And in the case of Lisa and Lucy: Lisa may lack a refined moral compass (as stated in her private therapy session), but said 4 year old is also capable of surgically removing your organs. She has the knowledge to do many things, but hasn't yet understood whether she should actually do it. And because she has this vast amount of knowledge, she can't use age as a defensive measure in much the same way Lori uses hers as an excuse to get what she wants.

For Lucy, people who suffer depression have different ways of coping. Not all of them are gonna suddenly turn suicidal, and while Lucy has given shades of it, she hasn't reached that point yet; but it's possible.

And I'm not gonna do a 'redux' version because that's not needed. I will go back and add more descriptions and fix missed grammar errors at some point though.