The Loud House - Wild Card

Chapter 17 - New Life

The months following Lincoln's return were difficult, but happy ones. Everyone was thrilled to have their little brother back home, but it posed an interesting problem: they couldn't keep him locked up in the house forever. Lisa, however, already had a plan in place for him, and had so since she first envisioned his rescue. Lisa's technical ability was unmatched, and was utilized by both Wild Card and Lynn to hack into Bianchi's accounts and files to gather incriminating evidence on him. Likewise, after helping Lynn, she was able to hack into several government databases and create a new identity for Lincoln, including a new birth certificate, social security number, and even hospital records.

He was now Lincoln Loud II, the new youngest member of the Loud family.

It was a strange feeling for Lincoln, assuming a new identity. He was given a backstory to stick to in case people tried to question him on his sudden appearance in the family: because of what happened to his "older brother" Lincoln the first, his parents homeschooled him and isolated him from other people, but are now willing to let him branch out and experience more things in the world. Only a few people outside his family knew of who he really was: Clyde, Haiku, Bobby, and Ronnie Anne.

Clyde and Haiku were the first to find out. Lynn, Lisa and Lucy had brought him over a few days after he had settled in. True to form, Clyde took one look at him and fainted. After he came to, Lisa explained everything. It may be the fact that he has been a lifelong nerd, and Haiku was a staunch believer in the supernatural, but they accepted their explanation without question. In truth, Clyde didn't much care how he came back, he was just happy his best friend was back.

Upon hearing about all that Lincoln had gone through, Clyde was understandably upset, but his years of training as a trauma therapist paid off, as he was able to keep his composure for Lincoln's sake. He immediately agreed to the family's request to act as his informal therapist. He knew the trauma that he must have experienced would destroy even the strongest of minds if left untreated. He would go over there three days a week for therapy sessions. After which, they would simply spend time together, playing video games, reading comic books, and catching up. The age gap didn't matter to them, they were still the best of friends.

Ronnie Anne and Bobby were a little trickier. Even after living in Great Lakes City for ten years, they still harbored a deep resentment towards the Louds for Lincoln's disappearance. Additionally, they were hesitant at how much to reveal to them regarding Lincoln's rescue. After discussing it, the family agreed that they should never reveal Lincoln's actions as Wild Card. They didn't want to cast a shadow over their reunion. Instead, they only told them what they needed to know: they went back in time, found and rescued Lincoln, and brought him to the future to preserve the timeline.

Bobby and Ronnie Anne were understandably shocked to see the return of the sole Loud boy, but their happiness outweighed their shock. They agreed to keep his secret, even from their family. The less people who knew the truth, the better. After learning all they did to rescue their brother, Bobby and Lori began to reconcile. He hadn't been able to move on since Lori either. He had grown distrustful of people around him, and had refused to date anyone for fear of getting hurt again. Instead, he threw himself into his work, which is why he was able to build such a successful chain of Mercados.

Ronnie Anne was a harder nut to crack. She was overjoyed that her friend had returned, but was not ready to forgive his siblings as quickly as Bobby was. She could tell that Lincoln was deeply scarred by the situation, and she still resented them for this. However, she was at least willing to abstain from violence when she was around them while visiting Lincoln, although she did glare daggers at his sisters whenever she saw them. The only one that she seemed to get along with, ironically, was Lynn. The sisters were confused by this, as Lynn seemed to be the one she should be angry at the most. But Lisa surmised it was because of all Lynn did to correct her mistake, risking her life to save her brothers, that she was able to somewhat forgive the sporty sister.