Chapter Text
Leonard Snart stood just inside the entrance to the cavernous warehouse, a quiet alertness thrumming through his veins. The cold gun was in his hand, his finger on the trigger. The hum of its machinery sounded loud in his ears in comparison to the stillness of the warehouse. The only other noise was the quiet shuffle of Mick in his heavy boots and the clack of Lisa’s heels as they busied themselves behind him, moving heavy gold bars from the industrial safe into duffle bags as he stood guard. His eyes flicked from the doors down to his watch.
One hundred and twenty-seven seconds.
“Lenny, we’re almost ready to move these out. Get over here and help!”
No sign of him. No trail of lightning moving through the city and over the airfields in their direction. Len’s eyes darted to his sister before returning to the watch. “Not yet.”
“Snart.” This time it was Mick’s gruff voice insisting.
“I said, not yet.”
“I know what you’re waiting for, Lenny, but he’s obviously not coming.” Lisa zipped up the last duffel bag and began walking towards him. “We have to get going before the cops figure out anything’s up.”
“He’ll be here, sis.” He turned to his partners in crime with a smirk. “Have a little faith.”
Lisa and Mick, obviously not impressed but also used to Len’s peculiarities, just looked back at him with resigned annoyance in their eyes.
Only a week ago Len had caught wind of rumours about a shipment of gold bullion being discretely housed overnight in Central City’s airport district on its way elsewhere. The short time frame meant he couldn’t plan the heist as meticulously as he would have liked but bribes had given him the exact location of the warehouse - one of many that flanked Central City’s airport - and the Rogues’ specialised guns had quickly overpowered the guards assigned to the bullion’s protection.
Said guards were now tied up in a small office in the warehouse, barely any worse for wear despite their run in with the Rogues. That was due in part to Captain Cold’s deal with the Flash. A year ago the trio may have tried to avoid unnecessary heat, but they wouldn’t have hesitated to kill whoever got in the way of them getting what they wanted. The Flash’s arrival in Central City had been a revelation. Now there were rules that Len had to work around to get what he wanted. He found the new arrangement to be a stimulating change of pace.
“Why do you even want to be here when he shows up?” Lisa asked him. “Forget the score, half the time you’re lucky to not end up in gaol when the Flash gets involved. Can you imagine how good we’d have it if he wasn’t around?”
“But where’s the fun in making easy money from easy jobs?” Len questioned in turn. “I’ve been doing this a long time, longer than you little sister, and I am very good at it. I have money. What I want is a challenge. The thrill of the game. Since he appeared, we’ve had to plan better. We’ve had to be better. He makes the whole thing more enjoyable. You can’t deny it’s more fun when the Flash, and his colleagues” – here he aimed a pointed glance at Lisa – “are involved.”
“You might have a point there,” she said with a secretive smirk, ducking her head slightly. A coy habit she’d only picked up later in life, after their father had finally been exposed and imprisoned. The expression didn’t last long though, and soon she was frowning at him again. “But Lenny, it’s been like five minutes. Face it, he’s not coming.”
“It’s been two hundred and eighty four seconds, and he is,” Len insisted.
“Your sister’s right, Snart. It’s time for us to go,” Mick backed her up with a distracted glance in their direction.
“He’s coming.”
“And besides, how would he even know we were here?” Lisa continued. “Your plan went off without a hitch, like they always do.” He mock bowed and Lisa just rolled her eyes at his theatrics. “The guards didn’t have time to-” She paused in thought for a second and then she exploded. “You let them get a signal out! You sabotaged us! That’s why you’re so sure he’s coming!”
Mick’s attention had been wandering around the warehouse as Len and Lisa bickered but he rounded on his partner in crime then, fuming. “You what!?” When Len made no immediate attempt to deny Lisa’s accusation, one of his meaty fists grabbed hold of Len’s parka and the other drew back, ready to send a punch straight at his face.
Fear settled like extra gravity in Len’s gut as he braced himself for the impact. Admittedly this wasn’t the first time the two had come to physical blows. Mick was single-minded when he became enraged and Len was just grateful that most of the time he managed to avoid being on the receiving end of that fury. He could count the times he hadn’t been that lucky on his fingers, and was man enough to admit that he deserved about half of them. This was probably one of those times.
But before Mick’s fist could start its forward momentum, Lisa’s hand shot out and grabbed his elbow.
“Mick! Calm down! This isn’t the time or place. If the Flash knows we’re here then we really do have to make a quick getaway.” She stroked his arm comfortingly as he slowly lowered it to his side, the scowl never leaving his face, and her voice took on the even, calming tones people tended to use with cornered animals. “This is our first heist since Ferris Air.” She glanced pointedly in Len’s direction. “You might think that means he still owes you for saving him, Lenny, but I can guarantee you if he catches all three of us, he’s going to whisk us straight to prison. And then there’s no guarantee one of the metas we freed will come and repay their debt. We can’t risk all of us being caught at once just yet.”
Mick released Len from his hold, pushing him away as he did and throwing his own arms up in the air in a show of frustration. Len did his best to hide his sigh of relief, adrenaline still coursing through his system despite being free from the immediate threat of violence. His heartbeat pounded in his ears. Mick took a few measured steps away before turning back to glare at him, only slightly calmer. “When we started this, the plan was to put the Flash down. Something’s gone wrong with you, Snart. You accused me of being obsessed! Ha! This isn’t what I signed on for.” A thick finger stabbed in his direction. “The score comes first, always. Pull yourself together or I’m out. For good.”
“We can talk about that when we’re far away from here.” Lisa reasoned, putting herself physically between the two of them. In the midst of all the other emotions surging though him right in that moment, Len felt a surge of pride for his brave sister. Their father had tried to break her but no “lesson” he could dish out would temper her spirit, make her cowardly.
Mick stood staring him down for several more tense moments before eventually turning away with a noise of disgust. With the situation defused, Lisa turned her full attention back to reasoning with Len. “Lenny. We have to get this gold into the van. Now.”
Len looked dejectedly at the door. If the Flash was in town - and Len knew he was, he kept tabs on the boy - then he should have been here by now. All the pleasure he usually got from a job done well immediately dissipated. They may have been on the verge of getting what they came for but in Len’s estimation, this had been a complete failure. A decision was easy to come to. “Leave it.”
“What? Lenny?” Lisa looked from Len to the duffel bags full of bullion on the floor and back again. “There’s millions just sitting there, ready for us to take!”
“I’m not in the mood anymore,” he said as he walked away.
***
Later that night Len sat at the bar at Saints and Sinners, nursing a beer. Mick had come through on his earlier threat once they’d reunited at their shared safe house, and an ugly purple bruise was blooming high on his cheek. He’d escaped to the bar to get away from the anger bubbling off both Lisa and Mick. The gold could have lasted them a while, kept them entertained for longer than their regular scores, but without Len’s help and the impending threat of police and Flash interference Lisa and Mick had made the safer decision of clearing out of the warehouse in a hurry with only a few bars stuffed into their jacket pockets.
While Lisa usually dealt well with Len’s idiosyncrasies, the selfishness of this particular act - its blatant disregard for both his sister and the closest thing he had to a best friend - had obviously hit a little too close to home, and brought up memories of their younger years. It wasn’t the first time he’d walked out on her and if Len was being completely honest with himself, it probably wouldn’t be the last. He had a history of making the worst possible choices for the best reasons when it came to his sister. His obsessive and meticulous nature, which had been such a boon to the profession he’d landed in, often backfired on him, making him lose sight of what his first priority should be until it was too late.
Mick and Lisa would calm down eventually, and they’d do it quicker without him around. He had other places he could stay in the meantime. If not at one of their many other safe houses, then at the apartment he kept for himself when he wanted to be alone. His sister would smooth things over with Mick once she’d vented her own frustration; she had a special way with him when he got in a mood and would be able to talk him around. The three of them may have fought and argued terribly over the years, but they always gravitated back to one another sooner or later.
Len took another pull of his beer and turned around, taking in the occupants of the bar. Except for the bartender who’d come to take his order, they all kept their distance. He was well known here; he wasn’t even the only person in the room who the police would love to have behind bars. Saints and Sinners was a crime bar. It had a reputation as a no go zone as far as cops were concerned, and so all types gathered here.
His cheek stung. His pride as well, to a lesser extent, though there was a fair amount of guilt roiling around in his stomach that he was having trouble quelling. He took a generous pull of his beer to try to drown the feeling and considered upgrading to something a little stronger when it seemed to make no difference.
As he was internally debating the merits of vodka versus gin, the door opened behind him, and a hush fell over the room. Someone new then. He heard tentative footsteps approach the bar – not hard to make out in the silence that still lingered following the stranger’s entrance - stopping after only a few paces as though the new patron had immediately regretted his decision to enter this particular bar once he saw inside it.
But the steps eventually continued so the man must have plucked up his courage. He came right up to the bar and sat on the stool beside Len and motioned to the bartender for a drink. Len caught the gesture in his periphery vision.
When he glanced fully to the side he wasn’t entirely surprised to see the Flash next to him, dressed casually in skinny jeans and a sweater over a button down shirt. The kid stood out like a sore thumb.
Without taking his eyes away from the bottles of liquor lined up at the back of the bar, Barry started talking. “You know, the strangest thing happened tonight. This warehouse out at the airport got broken into, guards tied up. Should have been a cakewalk for the thieves, but for some reason the gold – and there was a lot of it, all bagged up – was left there. You wouldn’t happen to know anything about that, would you?”
There was a playfulness to his tone that Len wasn’t in the mood to indulge.
“What do you want, Barry?” There was no trace of his Captain Cold persona in the words.
Barry looked at him, obviously surprised he wasn’t playing along. “Well... I just thought it was strange. I mean, the guards said it was you, but you didn’t really take anything, so…” He let the sentence hang in the air.
Len rounded on him. “Where were you?”
“Whoa!” Barry held up his hands in a faux sign of defence. “Why are you angry? I thought you’d be happy to have me off your back for once.”
Len turned back to his beer, his knuckles paling around the glass.
“We had a deal, Barry. You keep the game interesting and I don’t kill anyone. If you’re not going to play by the rules, then why should I?” Len let that sink in for a second. “Whatever’s going on with you, snap out of it before I have to hurt someone,” he finished with a snarl.
For several minutes both men remained sitting, no word passing between them. The bartender came to give Barry his beer but didn’t stick around, quickly putting distance between Len and Barry and himself. Len would raise his glass to drink at regular intervals while Barry stared down at his own hands cradling his bottle. He started to pick at the label.
“I thought the deal was you wouldn’t kill anyone if I left you alone completely?”
Len ignored the question but when he spoke next there was no fight left in his voice. “What are you even doing here, Barry?”
A crack appeared in the small, friendly smile that had been on Barry’s face since the beginning of the conversation. “I was just feeling a bit lonely and thought maybe you’d like to chat.” His tone was all practised jest but there was something of the truth in his words.
That piqued Len’s interest. He turned around fully to look Barry in the eyes. “What about all your little friends at STAR Labs?”
A cavalcade of emotions flashed across Barry’s face before his expression hardened. “That’s none of your business.”
“It is if it affects our… professional dealings.”
Barry slumped back as much as he could on the bar stool, rubbing the balls of his palms into his eyes with a sigh. It was like his façade shattered all at once and Len watched as he fumbled to pick the pieces up and put them back together again. Real feeling still seeped through the cracks as Barry finally began to speak. “I must be crazy to even be considering this… but I haven’t had an actual conversation in months.” He turned to look at Len sideways, his hands going back to worrying at the beer label. “Were you in Central when the black hole opened up?”
“I was. Gave me quite the shock. I hear the mayor wants to give you a shiny key for closing it. I wonder how much you could get for that at the local pawn shop. Probably not even enough to cover that beer. I don’t imagine super heroics pay terribly well. I’d ask for something a bit more financially rewarding if I was you.” A hint of his usual smirk graced Len’s face, and Barry huffed out a laugh.
“Well if I was you, I’d buy me some buffalo wings.”
“Don’t push your luck, kid. So, back to this black hole…”
“Oh yeah. You probably saw stuff about it on the news, but they don’t know anything. They keep saying I’m a hero and that I saved the city, but I didn’t. It’s my fault that it happened in the first place. I was so stupid… If I’d just gone through with it, maybe things would’ve been better. At the very least, no one would remember what I’d done.” Barry seemed to fold in on himself again, hands over his face. “But now… They all blame me. I just know it. And they have every right to. I blame me too. It’s all my fault.”
“Kid, I have no idea what you’re talking about. Back up a bit.”
“Okay, okay. Um, so…” And then Barry began to talk. A torrent of words, beginning with his mother’s murder and ending with the singularity over Central City, and his hands in motion the entire time, nervously reaching for and toying with something that wasn’t there and then retreating back to his chest. Len listened intently, storing all the information away; he was sure some of it would come in useful in the future. It was a fantastical story, hard to believe, but Len had seen a man race lightning, seen another grow a storm in his palm and a woman who could instantly transport herself to anywhere within her sight. The world had gotten a lot stranger in the span of a year, and he was nothing if not adaptable.
“Caitlin just left without a word and went off to Mercury Labs, Cisco’s at the CCPD but I don’t really see him. By which I mean I make sure I don’t see him. I basically live out of STAR labs because, well, it’s mine now apparently.
“And Iris is my best friend in the world but I can’t bear to face her. It’s my fault Eddie’s dead, and there’s this horrible little part of me that’s pleased – ugh, that’s such a horrible way to say it – about it. Because now Gideon’s newspaper will be true. And I think, maybe I could go back somehow and change it, bring him back, bring Ronnie back too, but then wouldn’t that change the future? And Dr W-“ He took a shuddering breath. “Reverse Flash said changing the past only makes ever worse things happen? And the last time I tried, it kind of did.
“And I know it’s so selfish of me. That’s not how I’m supposed to think. I’m supposed to be the hero. I should try to do it. Ollie would. Ronnie and Eddie did. But I can’t. And I hate myself for it.” He lapsed into silence for a moment, seemingly lost in his own thoughts. Finally he heaved a weary sigh and finished, “So I’ve just stayed away from them all. But it’s pretty lonely.”
Len still felt as though he was missing a lot of the pieces that completed this puzzle (Gideon’s newspaper? Make things worse?) but he understood enough. The guilt Barry felt was more than obvious. And that guilt had led him to cut ties with his friends and family completely.
He remembered back to when he’d first learnt the Flash’s identity. After their brief discussion in the woods, he’d spent weeks covertly tailing the boy, finding out all he could about him. Know your enemy, and all that. Barry was barely ever alone. At the CCPD he always seemed to have a friend or family member stopping by to see him. Len was surprised he got any work done at all. At STAR Labs he was surrounded by Cisco, the Snow woman and a man in a wheelchair, and when he went home it was to his adoptive father’s house. Len thought of his own life. In the weeks he’d been watching Barry he probably hadn’t spoken more than a few words, and those only to strangers in the service industry. It wasn’t unusual for him to go months without hearing from his sister, and Mick seemed to drift in and out of his life at random. What different lives they led.
Of course, Len had been taught from an early age to be cold, to close himself off to other people and harden his heart. Emotions had earnt him beatings and so he’d learnt to suppress them. Barry’s openness had genuinely surprised him. It wasn’t something he saw often among the people he kept company with. Barry felt too strongly, wore his heart on his sleeve and was constantly reaching out for physical affirmation.
Len may not have understood everything that was going on in the kid’s life right now, but a picture was rapidly forming from the pieces of the puzzle he did have. The kid was starved for interaction, even affection maybe. The black hole in the sky was three months back, and Barry said he’d been isolating himself ever since.
Len decided to return to the real question that had been gnawing at him since the job. “Even if you are going it alone now, that doesn’t explain why you weren’t there tonight. I know the guards set off the silent alarm, and I know it should have taken you less than a minute and a half to get to the warehouse, no matter where you were in the city when you got the call. So why weren’t you there?”
“Because I knew I could trust you not to hurt anyone. And I… I just… I couldn’t stand going out.” The darkness under the kid’s eyes seemed to intensify and his hands skittered about – his feet were in constant movement too, a quick glance down confirmed - restless like a junkie going through withdrawals. “It’s so lonely without someone in my ear all the time. I didn’t realise how much I’d miss it. I know what I’m doing’s for the best; I’m keeping everyone safe and out of harm’s way.” He huffed out a grim laugh. “Or as out of harm’s way as they can be living in a city full of super powered villains. But some nights it’s so hard to be doing this alone. I mean, you understand, right? Even you have Heatwave and Golden Glider to watch your back.”
“Not always.” He gestured to his bruising cheek, turning it into the light for Barry to see better.
“Oh geez.” He said, wincing. “At least you’re gonna look badass for a few days. What happened?”
Len considered Barry for a moment as he fidgeted in front of him, tracing the whorls in the bar. “You, I suppose.”
The kid stilled and his face ran the gamut of emotions, from surprise to confusion to embarrassment. He was so fun to rile up. Barry picked up his beer again and took a sip to hide his face, so Len continued. “Lisa and Mick weren’t too happy I ditched the heist halfway through. Mick is a little more… demonstrative with his displeasure, though I’m sure Lisa will find her own way of making me suffer. But don’t worry yourself too much; we’ll be back together and making your life hell again before you know it.”
“Does this happen often? You guys fighting?”
“It’s not uncommon.”
“So then, what do you do when you get lonely?”
“Hookers.”
Barry spit out the mouthful of beer he’d just taken. He looked frantically, guiltily towards the bartender who was still very obviously making a point of ignoring their presence entirely. Seeing that he wasn’t going to be in any trouble, Barry reached over for some napkins and started wiping at the mess he’d made. Len allowed himself a chuckle at the kid’s reaction.
“But isn’t that… I mean… Well…”
Len decided to take pity and rescue him from his misplaced embarrassment. “It’s just better to keep those sorts of things uncomplicated when you’re in my line of work. I don’t need distractions. I get what I need, and the woman’s suitably compensated. It’s a win-win situation.”
“Oh. I just… I’ve never met someone who uses… well, you know.”
“Your innocence is astounding, kid. Surely you’ve seen your fair share of prostitutes at the CCPD?”
“Not really. I mean, I don’t usually get called in for those sorts of cases, and I spend most of my time when I’m at the precinct in my lab.” Barry fell silently into thought for a moment and then leant into Len’s space. “Does it help?” Len could extrapolate the real question he was asking: would this help me to not be alone and lonely?
Len considered the young man in front of him. Barry was searching for something to replace the void left behind where his friends and allies had been. He needed companionship, warmth, not the business-like touch of a stranger. No, recommending the kid go out and trawl street corners for a friend was not a solution to this problem. But something needed to be done. Len knew he’d quickly grow restless with his work if the Flash wasn’t there to challenge him. Now he knew what was possible, going back to the inelegant hit and run jobs from his past just wasn’t an option. If Barry’s current predicament meant he wasn’t fulfilling his Flash duties properly then something had to be done about it.
How to fix Barry Allen though? Affect a reconciliation between him and his friends? Even if he could convince Barry to try to sort things out, the rest of them trusted him as far as they could throw him. If they found out about Len’s involvement once they were back together they’d convince Barry to lock him up in no time.
Barry continued his train of thought in the absence of Len’s reply, hand running through and messing up his hair. “Because I don’t think I could ever… you know. That’d be too weird. What I need right now is like a hooker, but more of a paid friend? Just someone to be around, you know? To talk to, hug, that kind of stuff. Is that a thing?” He looked up at Len as though he was the expert on the subject. As though what he’d just asked wasn’t ridiculous.
Len held his gaze as thoughts ticked over in his head. An idea sparked in the recesses of his mind, not a perfect or even an elegant one. No, far from it. But if it worked, Len might get what he wanted.
A test then.
“I think paying for a friend is a little too pathetic, even for you.” And as he said it he reached out and grasped Barry’s upper arm, a sign of affection Len had often seen Detective West make towards his adopted son during his surveillance. Barry tensed under his touch for a microsecond but then his whole body leant into it. Len gave himself a mental pat on the back.
While Barry sat thinking and entranced by Len’s touch, his hands remained motionless on the bar top for once. Len wasn’t about to miss his chance. Slowly he let go of his hold and laid the palm of his hand flat on the bar’s surface and began inching it towards Barry’s hand. As the space between them narrowed, the bar seemed to quieten. How Barry hadn’t noticed anything going on yet mystified Len. Finally, with only centimetres separating them, Len reached out only his pinkie to entwine with Barry’s.
The spell was broken and Barry jerked his hand back immediately like he’d been burnt. “What are you doing?”
“I’m fixing this.”
“By what? Seducing me? I’m not interested.”
“And neither am I. But you obviously need human contact and I need a competent opponent who’ll show up on time with his head in the game. If a little bit of hand holding will get me that, I’m willing to take one for the team.”
“You’re crazy.” Disbelief tainted Barry’s voice.
“And you’re touch starved and depressed. We’re a match made in heaven.”
Barry huffed out a laugh, but Len noticed he didn’t say anything to deny the diagnosis.
“It sounds to me like you miss your friends. And being the paragon of righteousness that you are, you’re not going to fix whatever’s happened any time soon because you think you’re doing the “right thing”. Even though they’re all probably as miserable as you. Now correct me if I’m wrong, but I think we get along well enough for two people on opposite sides of the game. Like I said, you need company and I need someone to keep me on my toes. What do you say?”
The moment stretched out between them. Len would be nervous if he wasn’t such a good judge of character. He knew how this would play out, he just had to wait for Barry to reach the same conclusions. Finally the boy spoke.
“I’m not going to hold your hand in a seedy bar. That’s just too weird.”
Len considered him for a moment. “The Keys, apartment building on the corner of Campbell and 24th Street. Top floor, apartment 512. Be there tomorrow evening after 7.”
With that, he placed a few notes on the bar top and left.