Disclaimer: I do not own 'The Loud House' or any other property in this work that I did not make myself.

Broken Mirror

Chapter six: Not Alone

Lincoln, the boy without a family, couldn't believe it; Ronnie Anne Santiago, someone close to him back in his old life back in Royal Woods, was somehow in the city that he had run away to. Furthermore, he saw her enter an apartment building that the bodega store owned by that nice older man Hector Casagrande is a part of. Why would Ronnie Anne…wait a minute, when he first shopped at the bodega store, Lincoln remember that nice Hector man saying that he had a granddaughter with similar taste in snacks as Lincoln; Ronnie Anne likes the same kind of Root Beer as the white-haired boy, s'mores flavored toaster treats are her favorite, and the Hispanic girl, like Lincoln, had a thing for cinnamon rolls. Might Ronnie Anne be the granddaughter that Hector was talking about?

To further compound on the thoughts swimming around in Lincoln's head, he saw that Vanzilla, the family vehicle used by his ex-family, was parked outside of the apartment building/bodega store. Why would Vanzilla be parked outside of…hang on, if Ronnie Anne was indeed Hector's granddaughter, and she was visiting him, then there was a good chance that Ronnie Anne's family, would include her seventeen-year-old brother Bobby, was also here visiting the older Hispanic man. From that, Lincoln had fair reason to suspect that Lori, the oldest of his ex-sisters, had driven here, just to be with her Boo-Boo Bear. If that was the case, then Lincoln wasn't even going to bother to try and see what Ronnie Anne was up to. No doubt Lincoln's ex-sister told the Santiagos how he was 'bad luck', and now they would want nothing to do with him either.

Turning around, Lincoln began to walk away, tired from his long day of looking around for members of the violent youth gang, tired from the few odd jobs he did before his looking around so he could earn his living, just…tired. However, as the boy without a family proceeded to walk away, he heard a familiar female voice call out, "Hey, you're that kid from before!" Turning around, Lincoln saw that Carlota girl from the high school fundraiser come running up to him. "Yeah, yeah you're totally that kid from before!" Carlota said to Lincoln in a cheerful and friendly tone, "How have you been?"

Sighing in a resigned, tired tone, Lincoln said, "I'm…fine. Really tired, but otherwise fine." Trying to make conversation with Carlota so as to not seem rude, Lincoln asked, "Did…did your school ever try again with the fundraiser after what happened with all of those kids coming in and wrecking the place?"

"Yeah, we tried again on Friday of the following week," Carlota replied. With an amused smirk, the older Hispanic girl continued, "You know, my friends and I could have used your help again. It was really sweet of you when you tried to help clean up the mess that those punks made."

"I…" Lincoln said, trailing off because he wasn't sure what to say. Shaking his head gently a bit, Lincoln said, "I'm sorry."

"Oh, don't worry about it," Carlota said in a reassuring tone. Ruffling Lincoln's hair, Carlota said, "I bet you were scared that those punks would have shown up again." Shaking her head gently in an understanding manner, Carlota continued, "I can't really blame you for that." Removing her hand from the top of Lincoln's head, Carlota said as she jerked a thumb over her shoulder, "You said you were tired, right? My grandfather's place is across the street, so if you want, you can stop by for a bit." Looking behind Carlota, the boy without a family saw she was pointing out the apartment building/bodega store that he saw Ronnie Anne go into earlier. This surprised Lincoln; was Carlota related to Ronnie Anne as well? What other family does she have in this city?

Shaking his head gently, Lincoln said, "No thanks. I'll be fine."

With a look of mild concern on her face, Carlota asked, "Are you sure?"

Nodding weakly in the affirmative, Lincoln replied tiredly, "I'm…I'm sure. I just need to get going." Turning around, the boy without a family walked away. However, Lincoln didn't walk all that far; about ten to twelve feet away, Lincoln stumbled, fell against a wall and, with all of his exhaustion from the day finally catching up to him, slumped over onto the ground, where he laid there. Seeing Lincoln fall over, Carlota ran over to him to see if he was okay. The last thing Lincoln heard before he passed out was Carlota shouting as she ran over to someplace that was nearby, most likely the apartment building/bodega store across the street.

When he regained consciousness, Lincoln didn't open his eyes right away; he was still a little tired, after all. However, he could tell that not only was he laying on something a lot softer than the sidewalk that he collapsed on, but that someone was also holding him as he was laying partly in that person's lap. The boy without a family could also hear what was going on, with the main thing he was hearing being the soft, gentle crying of whoever was holding him. Lincoln could also hear people talking nearby.

"What's Lame-o doing here?" Lincoln could hear Ronnie Anne's voice ask in a surprised and mildly worried tone, "How did he even get here?"

"We can ask the bro when he wakes up," the familiar voice of Bobby said, "You need to relax, Nie-Nie."

"I thought I asked you to stop calling me that, Bobby!" Ronnie Anne's voice nearly exclaimed in a clearly embarrassed tone.

"Not until I can think of a cuter nickname for you," Bobby's voice replied. With a hint of teasing in his tone, Bobby's voice added, "You're my adorable little sister, after all."

"ARUGH!" Ronnie Anne's voice shouted in a frustrated tone.

"Oh, come on, Nie-nie," Bobby's voice continued in a casual tone, "Try as you might, you're always going to be my adorable little sister. Why, I still have that picture of you back when you were five and still liked dressing up as a princess who-"

"RONNIE ANNE USED TO LIKE DRESSING UP AS A PRINCESS?!" Lincoln exclaimed in shock as he jolted awake, the force of him jolting into an upright sitting position yanking him from the arms of the person that was holding him. Seeing the white-haired boy jolt awake, not to mention hearing him shout, the Santiago siblings turned to look at him.

"…Great," Ronnie Anne remarked sarcastically as her expression turned into a scowl, "You just had to say that out loud, didn't you, Bobby? Now Lame-o knows the darkest secret of my past."

"…I can show him the picture," Bobby offered.

"DON'T YOU DARE!" Ronnie Anne nearly shrieked.

"Would you two please try to keep it down?" a familiar voice, one that Lincoln never really felt like hearing ever again, said from next to the white-haired boy, "You're literally being way too loud." Turning around so he could face the person who sat next to him, Lincoln came face to face with the oldest of his ex-sisters.

"What are you doing here, Lori?" Lincoln asked, his tone surprisingly cool and devoid of any emotion; if Lori didn't know any better, she could have sworn that Lucy had somehow magically turned into a boy.

"I should be asking you that, Lincoln," Lori replied, "What…" The oldest Loud sibling had to stop short so she could collect her nerves. Continuing, Lori asked as she choked back some crying, "…What happened to you?"

"…I believe I asked you a question first," Lincoln said, his tone making it all too clear that he was still very much upset with what had happened.

"She came here because of us, dude," Bobby said, getting Lincoln and his ex-sister to turn and face him. "Me and Ronnie Anne's mom…" Bobby began, "…Is considering moving the three of us to this city, to live with Grandpa Hector and the rest of our family here. Mom wants to do this because she said she doesn't like how her working at the hospital over at Royal Woods often leaves Ronnie Anne and I alone. She thinks we'd benefit from having our family as company."

"You guys are moving here?" Lincoln asked, a bare hint of surprise sneaking into his tone, "And Lori is here because…"

"I came here with some literally half-baked hope that I could convince Bobby and his folks not to move," Lori explained to her younger brother as she choking back some more crying, "I know this sounds selfish, but I couldn't stand the idea of Bobby being out of cuddle distance from me." Lincoln didn't say anything; figures that Lori would go to lengths like that for Bobby. Lincoln himself might as well be what his ex-dog Charles left in the backyard back at the place that he used to call home.

"Actually babe," Bobby began, "I was going to convince my mom that moving here may not be the best idea in the world." Hearing the Santiago boy say this got Lori, Ronnie Anne and Lincoln to turn to look at him. Shaking his head gently, Bobby explained, "Even before Mom, Ronnie Anne and I first came out here, I heard from Grandpa Hector over the phone about some violent gang in the city that's been causing all sorts of chaos, up to and including killing innocent kids."

"Oh yeah, I literally heard of them as well from the news," Lori remarked, "Aren't the gang members kids themselves?"

Nodding once in the affirmative, Bobby said to Lori while pointing to Ronnie Anne, "Not only that Babe, but Ronnie Anne came back saying something about how two of the gang members dragged her into an abandoned warehouse somewhere and were trying to force her to join under threat of getting beaten. She would have told me more, but that's around the time that me and Ronnie Anne's cousin Carlota came running in saying something about a kid collapsing on the sidewalk outside. You should know what happened from there."

As if acting on defensive instinct, Lori threw her arms around Lincoln and drew him into a hug. The boy did not know what to make of his ex-sister hugging him like this. "Ronnie Anne," Lori said in an unsure tone, "What…what were you going to say before your cousin…" Choking back more crying, Lori continued, "Before your cousin found Lincoln?" Ronnie Anne sparred no details about what happened next, from the hooded kid saving her and how the hooded kid did so, to that punk British girl that showed up, to Ronnie Anne making her way as quickly as she possibly out of that abandoned factory and running all the way back to the apartment.

"…After Bobby ran outside to check out what was going on with Carlota, he came back inside carrying Lincoln," Ronnie Anne said, "That's it." Her gaze shifting to Lincoln, Ronnie Anne continued, "Speaking of which, Lame-o. What were you doing collapsed outside? How did you even get here, considering that you clearly didn't come here with your sister?" The white-haired boy had to hold back a laugh when Ronnie Anne referred to Lori as his sister. That was a really good joke that Ronnie Anne just-

Lincoln's thought process was cut off midway through when he heard Lori sniffling as she cried, softly and gently, while still holding him in her arms. Was Lori afraid of what he was going to say? If the white-haired boy told the truth, then there was a fair chance that Bobby would not only dump Lori for her hand in driving Lincoln away, but might even take back what he said about convincing his mom not to move the family to this city, despite the concerns for Ronnie Anne's safety. Lincoln knew that, back during the early days of his new life in this city, if such an opportunity were presented to him, he'd take it without hesitation, just to enjoy the show that would be his ex-sister Lori's suffering.

…But now, he wouldn't even consider doing so. Don't get Lincoln wrong, he still harbors a deep resentment towards his ex-sister Lori. He harbors a deep resentment towards the entirety of his ex-family (pets included), especially towards his sporty ex-sister who was the reason why they all decried him as 'bad luck' in the first place. No, the reason why Lincoln wouldn't bother ruining Lori's relationship with her Boo-Boo Bear is because, at this point, he just doesn't care enough to do so. And…and maybe he felt a slight bit of hope? A bit of hope that he could, one day, learn to overcome his resentment, overcome his apathy, and re-acknowledge his ex-family as his family once again? A bit of hope that, to Lincoln's surprise, was inspired by how his ex-sister Lori cried over him as she held him in her arms? …There was only one real way to check to see if he really did have that bit of hope, however little it may be.

"I…" Lincoln began slowly, "…I ran away from home." Hearing this shocked Bobby and Ronnie Anne, not to mention making Lori sniffle some more out of sadness, knowing full well that she had a role in that mess.

"You ran away from home, bro?" Bobby asked in a shocked and concerned tone, not believing what he was hearing, "Why would you do that?"

"I ran away from home because…" Lincoln began, but stop short when he heard another soft cry from Lori, one that he could tell sounded with regret. Hoping that the cry was genuine, Lincoln said, "…Because I was being mistreated by some of my sisters."

"YOUR SISTERS MISTREATED YOU?!" Ronnie Anne shouted, clearly sounding upset in a way that she's looking to go out for blood.

"Some of them, yes," Lincoln replied, emphasizing the word 'some', "It wasn't an effort by the entire team, although the ones responsible managed to convince the others that it was just some sort of innocent game."

Bobby, with a suspicious look on his face, crossed his arms over his chest and asked, "What happened, exactly?"

"I was made to sleep in the backyard," Lincoln said, "And was even kicked out of the house entirely at one point." Hearing that drew shocked gasps from the Santiago siblings. His expression and tone taking on a bitter hint, Lincoln said, "Yeah. Lynn forced me to attend one of her games, even though I didn't want to, and when her team lost, she said that I was bad luck. That's how it all started."

With a mildly confused look on his face, Bobby said, "Umm, refresh my memory, bro, but Lynn is your thirteen-year-old sister who has multiples of those red-and-white jerseys for her roller derby team, right?"

Lincoln nodded once in the affirmative. "Okay, good," Bobby said with some seriousness returning to his tone, "Now you said that some of your sisters were involved. Who else besides Lynn had a hand in making your life a living hell?" The white-haired boy didn't blame Bobby for expecting him to name some names, but Lincoln was, to his surprise, finding himself to regret having said 'some of his sisters' in an attempt to keep from throwing Lori to the wolves. Was that bit of hope that he felt earlier really that strong? Might he really be able to eventually refer to his ex-family as his actual family at some point down the road?

Sighing, Lincoln decided to roll with it, using the first of his ex-sisters who came to mind for him. "Yeah," Lincoln said in a resigned tone, "Lynn got Lola, Luan and, surprisingly enough, Lisa in on it as well. That's it, though."

As Bobby and Ronnie Anne both hissed in frustration, Lori was unable to believe what was going on; ever since Lincoln ran away, the rest of the family, having come to realize everything that they had done, was beyond guilty for having driven Lincoln away. They even tried contacting the police, even though doing so would be putting themselves at serious risk because, when the police investigated, they would have found out why the sole Loud boy ran away, and then the Loud family would be in a heap of trouble. The police, whether if it was unfortunate or fortunate for the Loud family considering what might have happened, failed to locate Lincoln.

And yet here Lori's little brother was; randomly popping up in the city the Santiagos were considering moving to, and was not only not giving the entire truth (Lori and the rest of the family had more or less just as much involvement with how Lincoln was treated prior to him running away), but he was withholding information that might have made Lori look unfavorable in her Boo-Boo Bear's eyes. Was…was Lincoln showing regret for having run away? No, there's no way that Lincoln should be regretting having done that, not after how he was treated; he was in the right as far as Lori was concerned. Maybe…maybe Lincoln might be trying to actually forgive her and the rest of their family? Did they really deserve for Lincoln to forgive them, after decrying him as 'bad luck' and treating him the way that they did?

Daring to speak up, Lori said in a concerned tone, "Lincoln, I-"

"Don't beat yourself up, Lori," Lincoln interrupted her, his tone sounding with a mix of tiredness, resigned and calm. Shaking his head gently, Lincoln continued, "You were fooled just like the rest of our family."

"I'm kind of surprised that Lori actually fell for what your sisters pulled, though," Ronnie Anne said, getting Lincoln's attention, "I mean, isn't she in the same grade as Bobby?"

"Keep in mind that Lisa has a PhD and regularly gives lectures at the local college," Lincoln pointed out dryly, "It shouldn't be too difficult for a super-genius to fool anyone not at his or her level of intelligence." Ronnie Anne, as well as Bobby, nodded in understanding, having accepted Lincoln's explanation.

"There's just one last thing I'm wondering, though," Ronnie Anne continued, "What were you doing outside across the street from the apartment building?" Figuring that he might have been asked something along those lines, Lincoln had already come up with what he believed would be a reasonable excuse.

"I was getting back from working an odd job," Lincoln explained, "I had to do a number of odd jobs to earn money, as I was expecting to be living as a runaway for some time. But anyway, on my way back from the odd job, I was being chased by these two boys who looked roughly to be my age. They were dressed sort of like how I heard people describe the kids who belong to the local gang that has been causing trouble for everyone." Taking a breath, Lincoln added with a mild hint of fear in his tone, "They were saying how they were going to put me six feet under."

At that moment, the door to the apartment that Lincoln, Lori, Bobby and Ronnie Anne were in opened. "Kids, I'm back," an older female voice called out. It was clear that it was a voice that the Santiago siblings were familiar with, because both of them ran over to the front door while calling out for their mother.

Lincoln and Lori watch as Bobby and Ronnie Anne told their mother about everything that happened concerning Ronnie Anne being threatened into joining the local gang and how Lincoln, who had run away, turned up in the city as he was being chased by two of the gang members who said they were going to kill him. As the two Santiago siblings struggled to be heard over each other, Lincoln turned to regard his ex-sister. Noticing that he was looking at her, Lori turned to regard Lincoln in return. The oldest Loud sibling could see the tired look on her little brother's face; the tired, almost sad look of someone who was resigned to deal with the life that had been forced upon him because of the lack of competence or care of the people who were supposed to be his family.

Lori also saw Lincoln's eyelids slowly close. After they did, he fell against her as he gently drifted off to sleep. Lori cried again, a mix of regret and relief, as she held her little brother in her arms. And that's it; Lori just sat there and cried.

She cried for the little brother she nearly lost.

When he woke up, Lincoln found himself sitting in the front passenger seat of Vanzilla as it was driving, with Lori at the driver's seat. Looking out the window, Lincoln saw that it was getting late. Turning his head to the side, Lincoln said in a tired and quiet tone, "What happened?"

"Oh, you're awake," Lori said, her tone clearly indicating that she was happy that Lincoln was okay, "Yeah, Bobby and Ronnie Anne literally told their mother about how Ronnie Anne was almost beaten until she agreed to join some gang, and about how you were nearly…" Stopping short to choke back some crying, Lori continued, "…How you were nearly killed by two of the gang members yourself. Combined with what their grandfather said about what the gang has been doing in the city along with how the police are doing nothing about it, Mrs. Santiago decided not to move her, Bobby and Ronnie Anne to the city after all, thinking that it's far too dangerous a place for Ronnie Anne to grow up in."

"So, they'll be staying in Royal Woods?" Lincoln asked. After Lori nodded a few times in the affirmative, Lincoln said, "…Good. That's…good." Gently shaking his head, Lincoln said, "It'd be bad if they moved, especially since Bobby is one of the best things to ever happen to you."

"That's…something I've been meaning to ask about," Lori said in a concerned tone, never taking her eyes off of the road, "When Bobby was asking you why you ran away, why did you say that only some of us made your life miserable, when all of us had a hand in it to some extent?"

"You got a point," Lincoln remarked, "About how you and the rest of your family had just as much of a hand in making me suffer before I ran away. There was a time, while I was living on my own, how I probably would have told Bobby every last bit of the truth if he had asked me, and then let him deal with you as he saw fit." Sighing in a resigned tone, Lincoln continued, "But at this point, I just don't care enough to do anything along those lines to either you or any of your sisters." Lori was upset by what Lincoln had said, but not because he admitted that he would have contemplated prompting Bobby to break up with her; as far as Lori was concerned, she would have had that coming. What made Lori upset was that Lincoln had referred to their sisters and family as her sisters and her family. Not theirs, hers. Lincoln didn't consider them as his family anymore.

Just the thought of that made Lori's heart break.

"Then why…" Lori said quietly, her voice barely above a whisper as she struggled not to cry, "…Why would you go through all that trouble for me?" As far as Lori could tell, her own little brother saw her as nothing more than a complete stranger. Why would he go through such lengths for her?

Sighing, Lincoln said, "When I slowly came to in the apartment where Ronnie Anne's family was living, I noticed that, before I even opened my eyes, that someone was holding me. Crying over me. I could tell from the tone of that person that they were regretful, that they were genuinely upset with what happened to me." As he was looking out the window, Lincoln turned his head so he could face Lori again. "…Am I right to think that?" Lincoln asked, a hint of somberness in his very tired tone, "Is that person regretful? Were they genuinely upset with what happened to me?"

"Yes," Lori replied, instantly and without hesitation.

Sighing, Lincoln said as he turned back to look out the passenger side window, "…Yeah. I don't really know what I was thinking, but I…I thought that you and the rest of your family might be worth giving a chance. A chance for you to prove to me that you all are my family as well." Turning his head back around to face Lori once again, the white-haired boy added with a slight chuckle, "I mean, I was pretty tired when I decided to give you and the rest of your family that chance, so I hope that I wasn't acting out of delirium."

"No, no you weren't," Lori said as she reassured her little brother; she may not know about the rest of the Loud family, but she'd damn herself if she didn't do anything to try and make it up to Lincoln for her part in how he was treated prior to running away. As she was reassuring Lincoln, Lori had another question concerning what Lincoln had said back at the Casagrande family's apartment. "Lincoln," Lori began with a mild hint of nervousness, "When Bobby asked about why you ran away, you said that only Lynn, Lola, Luan and Lisa were responsible. Why them?"

"Like I said earlier, I didn't care enough to risk your relationship with Bobby," Lincoln began to explain in a tired, resigned tone, "But from what Bobby was asking me, he was expecting me to name some names. Those girls were literally the first ones who came to mind for me at the time." Sighing, Lincoln remarked, "I feel guilty about having to throw Lola, Luan and Lisa under the bus like that." There it was again, Lincoln realized to his surprise; regret for putting some of his ex-sisters in an unfavorable position like that. His hope (dare he even feel any hope at all?) that he one day may be able to call them his family once again was growing, if only barely just.

With a mildly confused look on her face, Lori asked, "What about Lynn?"

"What about Lynn?" Lincoln replied, any emotion in his tone being replaced entirely with bitterness. Sighing in a resigned tone, the white-haired boy continued, "Lisa has that video surveillance system in the house, right? And it goes back at least to the day that all of that bad luck nonsense started, right?"

"Right on both counts," Lori replied, "In fact, it goes back to just shortly after Lisa turned two."

Giving a grunt of acknowledgement in response, Lincoln said, "…Yeah. If you want a more detailed explanation about how I feel about Lynn, ask Lisa to review her footage from the morning of that softball game where Lynn started saying I was bad luck."

"Alright," Lori replied, having a feeling that she was not going to enjoy what she would be seeing in the recording from that morning. With a mild hint of trepidation in her tone, Lori said, "Is there anything else?"

"…I'm kind of hungry," Lincoln replied.

Letting out a chuckle, Lori said, "Yeah, I'm kind of peckish myself, now that you mention it." With a quick look around as she drove down the road back to Royal Woods, Lori spotted a place to eat at in a fairly small shopping square. "There's a taco place over there," Lori remarked to her little brother, "And we're literally not going to get back within a reasonable time for dinner, so do you wanna stop over there and get something to eat? My treat."

"…Sure," Lincoln replied, surprised to find himself smiling, as small of a smile as it may have been. As Lori proceeded to head towards the taco place she spotted, Lincoln wondered what would happen from here on out, seeing as how he was returning to a place that he thought that he wouldn't be returning to ever again, to live with people that he thought wouldn't be his family ever again.

…Or maybe they will.

END, BROKEN MIRROR

Author's notes:

As I was working on this story, I realized that I was never even considering adding an important part to the overall storyline; Lincoln reconciling with his family. I realized this when I checked out the reviews that this story got, with those reviews wondering if Lincoln would reconcile with his family. With that in mind, an idea for a follow up story sparked in my mind; as I worked out more and more of this story, more and more of the idea for the follow up story continued to develop. That being said, I'm going to be working on the story that will serve as the follow up to 'Broken Mirror'; I even have a few chapters written out, and all they need is some fine tuning. But yeah, thanks for all of the support everyone.

I'll be seeing you all next time.