#also i Get Mick i too would have been pissed if someone took the ability to bring my OCs to life from me

[joanthangroff]

listen it’s one thing to call a whole group of people „family“ and another to say it into the face of a single person and the fact that sara lance did that to mick rory, the guy who watched his blood family burn and who is constantly painted as a traitor, in front of her girlfriend to make them get along just warms my heart

[ladyshilya]

Arrow: Crisis on Infinite Earths Part 4 & Legends of Tomorrow: Crisis on Infinite Earths Part 5

Ok lets see how this ends, how they gets the Earth’s back and how they deal with the new Paragon. 

Look the Monitor’s planet and he had a wife, so this is going to go bad. This is all the Monitor’s fault. That is why you don’t go to see the dawn of time.

Lex you have been volunteered hope you trust your work.

What is with that deep voice, Oliver sounds like the Monitor. He might want to lose that voice because he sounds like a demon. Yea, if I was them I would have freaked out if I saw Oliver because he sounds like a demon and kinda looks like one.

Wow, all it takes to unlock someone's potential a boop on the head.

Basically they have to change history. Well that usually turns out bad for Barry but sure let try it, maybe it won’t go wrong.

They lost Lex and Barry is in some weird place in the speed force. Oliver’s voice sounds normal. Great, Barry you lost people in the speed force. It shouldn’t be to hard to find them just use your brain.

OMG DC movies Flash. That was kinda awesome and that is exactly how the DC movie Barry would have acted. The cameo’s keep coming.

Really Lex, you have powers now. Why did anyone let him near that book? Also Jon Cryer is an amazing Lex Luther.

It’s just Up, Up and Away. Also they are really lucky that planet is similar to earth with gravity and oxygen.

I love Lois, “Barry did you go shopping for a new costume while you were suppose to the saving the world.”

Basically this episode is going to be Barry running around the speed force into random moments from Arrow. While Kara and Ryan try to stop Lex from being Lex.

Listen to Ryan because we don’t need this whole Crisis to happen. Great so there will always be a Monitor who will travel to the dawn of time and cause the Crisis. Well there goes that plan, some how I knew it wouldn’t work. What have we always been told on Flash don’t change time because bad things happen when you do and somethings are inevitable.

I like that, if I knew I would tell you but I don’t know. I trust you will know when the time is right. They are going to let Oliver do whatever it is that he needs to do. Also it’s probably good Lex got powers for this moment.

Looks like Oliver might have gotten some powers too. “You have failed this Universe”.

Are they going to Care Bear Stare? Seriously they basically did a stare down and that is all they had to do? Am I the only one who feels like that was anticlimactic.

Was Barry telling Oliver that him dying is a cop-out? That is what I got from its worse for those of us who live because we have to keep going and be the hero’s. I am pretty sure there was no avoiding Oliver dying there. I bet that is not what they were trying to imply but that’s what I got from the moment. Really took away from what should have been a sad moment. Also did Oliver just die again?  

Wait everything is back? I feel like there has to be more in the last episode. Otherwise there wouldn’t be a need for a 5th episode to the crossover.

What did you do Lex? We all know you are not the good guy, Unless him being the hero really got to his head. If Lena and Lex advocate for Supergirl does that mean no more crazy Lena? While I wanted crazy Lena to stop it feels like a cop-out and way too easy. Also what was the point of the beginning on the season if that got erased. I really need the next episode of Supergirl for answers.

Is there 1 Earth? Either this gets fixed or there is just one Earth. You know that wouldn’t be the worst thing. Really what is having infinite Earth’s giving us? The ability to “bring people back from the dead”. It’s really was just a way for us to tie in all the shows and movies in.

Looks like Nash is back to normal. I guess that means that Lyla is back to normal. J’onn really enjoyed giving Nash those memories. Also should we put all the blame on Nash. Yes, he should’ve have let the Antimonitor out but The Monitor shouldn’t have started it all in the first place by going to the dawn of time. How about we be pissed off at both of them. Is anyone upset that J’onn is giving them all the memories.

OMG Beebo. Omg Mick is doing book signings. Really Ray a selfie? Mick is pissed this interrupted his signings. Also I am a going to miss Snart AI. Apparently Beebo is sacred.

I get it that everyone is really upset about Oliver dying. Somehow when they all happened that memory or knowledge was taken away. It is something Team Arrow had been preparing for the fact that Oliver was not suppose to survive the Crisis. Some of them where there when he died the first time. I understand that people thought that he would be alive when everything got fixed. The Monitor was very always said that Oliver was going to die very specific about that. Even with Barry he said The Flash, so it could be a different one. He always said Oliver had to die.

There is still antimatter in the city? Ok, so what are they going to do about it. I had been wondering about Ryan because no one mentioned him. Once they realized that Paragons remembered everything I feel like they should have checked on him. I am sure he is trying to figure what is going on as well. Wow, Ryan and Ray were nerding out hard core.

Hello Black Lighting, I guess you would be on this Earth as well. Also love the Mick and Frost banter. I would be so here to see that more often. Can Frost do a cameo on Legends?

“We will not fail this world,” nice reference to Oliver’s phrase. Barry does have fast hands. Did anyone really think that Barry was going to press the button. He is not that dumb. Doesn’t he have a multiple degrees?

Oh no, angry Kara. Throw it like a girl, not sure how I feel about that phrase. I know they didn't mean in the bad way but I kinda feel like they didn’t have to say it.

Wait did Diggle get his daughter back? The one that turned into JJ when Barry changed time. Wait Superman has more than one son? Did this merge things from multiples Earths? How does Clark remember having only one child but Lois does’t? Is it because of the him being given all the memories? Wouldn't those have merged when J’onn did the memory thing? I have some questions about this moment.

There still is a multiverses out there just all the CW shows now exist on one Earth. Hello Titans (which I have now seen), Green Lantern, Swamp Thing, Brandon Routh Superman, Doom Patrol, and Star Girl and the Justice Society.

Black Lighting you have no idea Is that like a Justice League table? Was that the Hall of Justice?

Stargirl is getting her own show? I guess that is why we had so see her team on Earth-2. CW is about to become the DC superhero network. Also just learned about the green light for Lois and Clark’s show. Which I am going to so watch because I love her as Lois. I like her better as Lois then her character on Grimm.  Also Gleek as in Gleek who hung out with the Wonder Twins? Does that mean the Wonder Twins are going to come in at some point.   

Well I am here for Earth-Prime it will make the crossovers so much easier. Can we have more cameos like they do on Chicago PD, Fire and Med? I would like to see slight cameos from people once in awhile.

I have to say this was the best crossover. I had thought that about last years. Yes, were there some issues with this crossover of course. I could have done without the whole having to find people on the speed force and had more with battling the Antimonitor. The whole Care Bear stare was just dumb. Some of the cameos were just done as fan service and had not point. If none of those people were going to Paragons then it was like why did you even bother with them? At the same time I loved them so I can’t complain too bad. Yes, if they took somethings out it would have been a shorter show. There was quite a bit of filler bit it was enjoyable fillers. It would have been nice to see more characters in the 5th episode. Where was Mia, William, Connor, Ralph, Cisco, Brainy, and others? With all that being said it was really ambious to do and they did a good job with it. It was an enjoyable crossover.

I am curious to see what they do for next years crossover because it will have to be huge. Someone might have to die 3 times. I am curious to see what these changes are going to do for the upcoming seasons. Somethings will not be how we left them. Also can someone tell me where Felicity went at the end of Arrow with the Monitor? Oliver died twice so where did she go to see him?

[robininthelabyrinth]

Fic: An Internal Affair - Chapter 8 (Ao3 link)

Fandom: The Flash Pairing: Leonard Snart/Barry Allen

Summary: Leonard Snart, the CCPD Captain of Internal Affairs, is known as Captain Cold for a very good reason: He hates corrupt cops with a merciless vengeance, and once you’re on his list, you’re in serious trouble.

His next target?

A CCPD lab tech named Barry Allen who’s developed a suspicious habit of disappearing at random intervals.

—————————————————————————————————

Barry's got hearts in his eyes, a song on his lips, and he feels like he could fly.

Not literally, which is a good thing - he can run up sheer building faces if he builds up enough speed, apparently, but flying is still out of the question at the moment, though Cisco, while musing, said something mildly terrifying about the possibility of creating lift using Barry's legs to make a cyclone - but just, you know, metaphorically.

Okay, yes, his life still sucks in basically every way: Captain Cold is still at large and gunning for both of Barry's personas, Iris is still on the new task force (officially, it's supposed to be an investigative and analytical unit dealing in unusual phenomena in Central, but given its new precinct nickname as the Anti-Flash Task Force, Barry's got his doubts), the Man in Yellow is still out there and Barry's no closer to either catching him or proving his dad's innocence, Barry's still having a crisis of conscience over whether what he's doing as the Flash is the right thing to do or not...

But!

His date with Len was - amazing.

Barry's never connected so easily with someone. They talked about - everything. His dad, Iris - Len was so understanding about what Barry was going through, and he opened up, too, about his best friend and his complicated relationship with his sister...

They even root for the same sports teams!

(Okay, Central City only has the ones, but whatever, it's nice to commiserate with someone who understands the sheer euphoric misery of rooting for the worst team in the league...)

Seriously, that might have been the best date of Barry's life, and he's still not sure if Len wants to be more-than-friends or just keep it platonic.

Barry knows which one he'd prefer.

God, he's still not over how absolutely it was. Barry actually had the chance to talk about Iris, really talked about her instead of lying about the depth of his feelings about her, and instead of being repelled, Len understood.

"She's your anchor," Len told him, a small, fond smirk curling his lips. "Someone fundamental. Someone necessary for you to be you. I get that."

For Len, his first anchor had been his sister. He'd practically raised her; she'd been the center of his world for a long time. Only after she grew up did he make a conscious effort to distance himself - for her own benefit, he said wistfully, to make sure she had the room to spread her wings and fly - but Barry can tell that Len still cares for her deeply.

Just like he cares for his best friend, Mick. That's the one in the hospital, following the incident that Len didn't want to talk about – if Barry's theories about Len's history were right, probably the criminal job gone wrong that ultimately inspired Len to get out of the business and go straight, though of course it could be anything. Len made it very clear that while they were purely platonic, he considered his relationship with Mick to be as important as any other relationship in his life, and that he wouldn't sacrifice it for anything, not even while Mick stayed in the coma.

Barry gets that. He totally gets it, really - it's the same way with him and Iris. Sure, he's also in love with her, but he knows by now that barring something horrific happening that he would never wish on anyone, much less his best friend, he's probably not going to be with her, and, well, he's learning to be okay with that. But even accepting that, in no universe can he imagine a life without Iris, a world where she isn't his best friend and a part of his life.

Maybe that's why Barry empathizes with Len so strongly over his situation.

God, it's just occurring to him that Iris was in Len's exact situation - Barry in a coma for nine months, with no idea if he'd ever wake up...

No wonder her bond with Eddie is so strong. He was there for her when she really needed someone.

Yeah, Barry's - no, saying he's okay with it is a lie, but he thinks he's starting to really see a path forward.

That path doesn't lead to the house he'd always dreamed he'd live in, with Iris and their kids calling him Dad and complaining about their day as they settle down to dinner, no, but maybe to something near that: an apartment down the street from Iris' house, swinging by in the afternoon to cries of "Uncle Barry!", Eddie and Iris beckoning him into the living room for homemade smoothies and neighborhood gossip, Eddie looking at Iris with pride and love in his eyes when he thinks she's not looking and Barry watching them both, his heart full, not of jealousy, but of pride and joy that they're letting him be involved...

A pair of hands falling onto his shoulders from behind, a charming smile and a habitually insincere apology about running late after getting caught up at work as Len leans down and presses his lips to Barry's cheek -

Whoa, there, Barry tells himself firmly. Definitely getting ahead of myself there.

Pretty nice to daydream about, though...

"I bet we get another postponement," Detective Lloyd groans in Barry's ear. "What a waste!"

Barry twitches, knocked out of his cheerful musings.

Right.

He's technically at work.

Only technically, though - he's at court to testify about one of the crime scenes he examined and the results of the tests he conducted, including the one that led to the defendant's arrest on numerous charges. It isn't Barry's favorite part of his job - far from it - but it's necessary, and he doesn't mind it.

Besides, if he's finished all of his currently ongoing projects by the time court starts, he gets whatever remains of the day after the court hearing off of work without using up any of his (rapidly dwindling) vacation time.

"I think there's a chance we'll be heard today," Barry says encouragingly to the man. He’s not exactly thrilled to be stuck here with Detective Walter Lloyd, the investigating detective assigned to the same case, but it could be worse. They've been on the same case team a few times, Barry and Detective Lloyd - he'd made it clear that they weren't close enough for Barry to get to use 'Walter', but other than that, Barry thought they worked pretty decently together. Lloyd never questioned Barry's results and even sometimes took Barry's suggestions.

Of course, he has a bad habit of always asking Barry to get him his coffee...

"Yeah, maybe," Detective Lloyd says skeptically. "I bet the perp's lawyers are doing this on purpose, getting us called in and then making a whole bunch of motions so we're just stuck out here, waiting..."

"I'm sure that's not it."

"Shows what you know. Hey, were you planning on getting something from the canteen?"

"I wasn't, actually," Barry says, but he's already resigned.

"Great! Could you get me a coffee? Two sugars, no milk. You're a real pal; I'm dying here."

Barry really wants to tell him to go to hell, but he is getting a bit restless. Might as well go to the canteen.

Maybe Iris' occasional accusation that Barry's a bit of a pushover has a tiny little bit of merit...

Barry's already gone down the stairs and is halfway down the hall when he hears it.

Someone's talking about the Streak in one of the courtrooms!

It must be a hearing related to one of the people Barry caught during one of his earlier exploits, he guesses. He can't resist slipping in through the door to listen, wondering what they're saying about him.

Maybe this will help Barry with his moral crisis regarding what to do about the Anti-Flash Task Force, which has only gotten worse.

Once Joe stopped being ridiculous and trying to forbid Iris from getting involved with the task force at all without explaining why (a futile attempt that only served to piss her off more), he announced that they needed to get Eddie to start feeding Team Flash information from the Force so they could start throwing them off the scent at once. Wells agreed, pointing out that this Force could represent a real threat to Barry's ability to protect the city as the Flash.

Barry expressed his concern - that this was the good intentioned path to corruption - but both Joe and Wells thought he was being unreasonable.

Barry doesn't trust Joe's opinion when he's on a West family warpath, though, and he's still conflicted. Some solid evidence of the good that he's doing would be a great way to reaffirm that he's doing the right thing...

"- in fact, your Honor, not a single policeman can testify to having seen my client committing any crime whatsoever," the lawyer standing before the bar is saying.

The judge is frowning at him. "Are you actually saying that the case against the defendant should be dismissed for lack of, what, eyewitness evidence?"

Yeah, that's totally not going to work - Barry doesn't need to be a lawyer to know that. Most cases these days get proven by circumstantial evidence, not direct eyewitness testimony.

"No, your Honor, not at all," the lawyer says politely. "This is a question of evidence, and whether the State has sufficient grounds to even bring these charges. This case isn't just circumstantial - it's a fabrication! My client and his associates were not arrested in the midst of committing a crime, as the prosecution suggests; on the contrary, every policeman here will testify that the first time they saw my client and his associates was when they appeared, sitting on the ground, in the front hall of the police station."

Oh, Barry remembers this one: they'd been trying to rob a jewelry store when he'd nabbed them.

"And what of the suggestion by the prosecution that your client was brought to the police station specifically to prevent him from committing the crime in question?" the judge asks.

"As I stated earlier, your Honor, the only facts that are accepted are that my client appeared in the police station as the victim of an assault by this so-called Streak," the lawyer says.

What?!

"It was only because he appeared at the station that the police even began investigating my client's activity. There is more than mere reasonable doubt as to what they supposedly 'found' here," the lawyer continues. "This is nothing more than the police sweeping their own incompetence under the rug -"

What?!

"I don't think we need to go that far," the judge says. "On what grounds are you making your motion to dismiss?"

"An illicit search and a violation of the chain of custody for any relevant evidence," the lawyer replies promptly. "Any evidence obtained against my client was unlawfully obtained - the police only began their investigations once my client was in custody. It's all fruit of the poisoned tree."

No, seriously, what the fuck?! Is this lawyer actually trying to get those robbers off the hook by saying that Barry's involvement, what, separated the criminals from the evidence of their crimes so that no one could be sure they were actually committing the crime?!

"I see," the judge says. "An interesting point. What's the prosecution's response?"

Holy crap, is it working?

The prosecutor gets up. "Your Honor, my esteemed colleague has gotten the law of this state exactly backwards," she says. "While it is true that the investigation began after Mr. Daughtry appeared at the police station, that does not render the later-discovered evidence, including the videotapes from the jewelry store showing Mr. Daughtry breaking the lock on the door, videotapes that were obtained pursuant to a lawful warrant, into fruit of the poisoned tree. In fact, as this Court held in Martinez v. State ex rel Gonzalez -"

Barry ducks back out of the courtroom, his good mood well and truly ruined.

He literally caught those guys mid-heist, and they're blaming him for stopping them? Would they have preferred that he wait for them to finish robbing the place first? What a stupid argument!

Ugh.

Lawyers.

Maybe he should look into getting a lawyer's advice as to what would be the best way to keep the chain of custody intact so as not to ruin the evidence for the prosecution of the people he stops...without revealing himself as the Flash. Somehow.

Being a superhero is a lot trickier than Barry originally thought. Justice doesn't end when you've defeated the bad guy, after all.

Ugh, this doesn't help Barry's crisis at all. He'll have to be more careful going forward, obviously, and think more about what he's doing, but that doesn't necessarily mean he should stop or anything. After all, those guys were robbing that store, and the prosecution has video evidence to prove it. Barry's pretty confident the lawyer's argument, however clever, isn't going to fly.

But interfering with an active investigation the way Joe and Professor Wells are suggesting...?

If anyone found out they were doing that, wouldn't that just undermine any future arrests Barry contributes to as the Flash? But, on the other hand, if he gets caught, there won't be anyone to stop the metas, so surely keeping himself free should be the top priority – between saving people from real imminent danger vs. getting the bad guys put away for good, the former is vastly more important.

Clearly Barry needs to keep going.

And yet - where does he draw the line between doing good as the Flash and doing bad things in support of that? Where does it stop being the right thing to do?

What if this is where it starts? A justified, justifiable little thing. And where it ends is - well.

Ralph Dibny.

Barry needs to figure this out. And fast.

And for that, unfortunately, he's going to need help – help straight from the source.

"Where'd you go to get the coffee?" Lloyd complains when he sees Barry coming back. "South America?"

"Uh," Barry says. He'd totally forgotten to get the coffee. "They were - out."

"Typical," Lloyd sighs. "Anyway, one of the jurors got sick, and we got postponed. I told you it'd happen."

"You said it'd be the defense -"

"Whatever. I'm going back to the office; you want a lift?"

"Uh, no, I'm taking the rest of the day off -"

"Right, testifying perk for staff. Doing anything fun?"

"No," Barry says grimly. "Not really."

Barry hasn't exactly kept track of Dibny's whereabouts or anything, but a simple Google search is enough to find a - well, pretty awful and horrifically tacky website advertising the services of Ralph Dibny, Private Investigator, and on the website there's the address of a sketchy downtown office building.

Barry can't believe he's doing this.

Before he can talk himself out of it, though, he zips over to the right address, goes upstairs and knocks at the door with Dibny’s name on it.

"Come in!"

Barry goes in.

It's a ratty little office with Dibny sitting in a chair turned away from the entranceway, facing the window instead of the door.

Weird.

"Welcome to my humble office," Dibny announces in a grandiose manner. "Don't let its appearance mislead you, for I - I am the solution to all of your hopes and dreams and -"

He starts to spin his chair around slowly.

"...oh. It's you." Dibny scowls, dropping the act and spinning the rest of the way around at normal speed. "Barry Allen. What the hell are you of all people doing here?"

Barry's shoulders go straight up to his ears. God, he hates Dibny so much. "What was with that - spin thing, anyway?" he asks instead, because that was weird.

"It's impressive! For the ladies." Dibny's scowl deepens. "I was hoping you were a hot chick."

"Get a lot of those here?" Barry snipes, unable to help himself.

"Don't get a lot of backstabbing cop wannabes, either," Dibny sneers.

"Backstabbing?!"

"Oh, please tell me you've come crawling for my help," Dibny continues. "Because man, turning you down would make my month -"

"What the hell are you on, backstabbing?" Barry demands. He doesn't even care about the 'wannabe' part of it, cops always imagine that everyone not on the beat longs to be, but backstabbing? "What are you talking about? You broke the law! You! That's all on you!"

"You were the one who turned me in!"

"Yeah, I did, because you broke the law. You tried to frame someone!"

"Oh, so what?" Dibny snaps. "We all knew he was guilty -"

"That doesn't give you the right to fake evidence -"

"I was pursuing justice for that poor murdered woman -"

"Oh, bullshit! You didn't care about her. You don’t even remember her name! You just wanted everyone fawning over you for getting the collar -"

"So? That's a reasonable thing to want. There's nothing to say that I can't have them both, is there?"

"Ugh, I can't believe I ever came here," Barry says, scowling. "I must have lost my mind."

He turns to go.

"No, wait!"

Barry pauses and glances back at Dibny, who eels out of his chair and around to the front his desk.

"You came all this way," Dibny says. "You might as well sit down and talk a bit."

He gestures at the empty chair near Barry.

Barry's pretty sure Dibny just wants an excuse to rub this whole thing in Barry's face.

But he does want those answers...

Reluctantly, he steps back away from the door and towards the chair.

"Great!" Dibny says, popping himself onto the desk. He uses the opportunity to shove a folder on his desk underneath his computer, like Barry would even care what sort of stupid cases he’s working on. "No harm in a bit of talking, am I right?"

"I can think of plenty of harm," Barry shoots back. "Mostly to my ears."

"Hey, remember, you're the one who came to me," Dibny points out.

Sadly, he's got a point.

"And speaking of which, what does bring an upstanding member of the CCPD down to my oh-so-humble abode? Got a job you need little old me for?"

"As if," Barry scoffs. Literally never going to happen.

Dibny grits his teeth. “Okay, fine, not a job – you here about the mayor or something?”

“What? No. What does the mayor have to do with anything?”

“He doesn’t,” Dibny says, like that makes any sense. “So it’s information you want, then. You want me to mine my contacts for information -"

"You have contacts? You?" Barry asks. He knows he should stop being a dick, but Dibny makes it so very difficult. "What do you pay them with, birdseed?"

"Hey, I have plenty of contacts," Dibny protests. "And I'll have you know, some of them pay me. A lot, too! I've got all sorts of valuable intel from my time on the force, all the old office gossip, the secret stuff most people don't know - not that you'd know anything about that, you being an antisocial weirdo and all."

"I am not an antisocial weirdo!"

"Are too!"

"Are not!"

"Are too!"

"Are not - you know what, this is stupid."

Dibny coughs. "Maybe a bit, yeah. Seriously, though, what do you want? You didn't exactly leave me in a position where I can turn down work." He sounds bitter. "But it damn well better be paying work, Allen, or are you wasting my time?"

"I just want to ask you a few questions," Barry protests.

"I charge by the hour."

"Ugh, fine, whatever. Answer my questions and I'll pay for, like, the fifteen minutes of your time it's going to take."

"For you, Allen? You pay two hours, whether or not we use them."

"No way. Half-hour, max."

"Hour and a half."

"One hour."

"Fine."

"Deal. And you'd better not try to inflate your prices," Barry warns. "I know what you charge; it's on your website."

"Fine, whatever. Cash first."

Barry pulls out some money and tosses it on the desk.

It disappears.

"Okay, fine," Dibny says. "What do you want to know?"

Barry hesitates.

"Listen, ask or don't ask," Dibny says. "I don't care, I've gotten paid either way."

He's such a jackass.

"Why'd you do it?" Barry asks. Then, as Dibny frowns in confuses, adds, "The thing with the knife. Planting evidence."

Dibny looks surprised. "What, that? You already know, don't you? You said it yourself earlier on - I was trying to solve the case."

"I know that much," Barry says impatiently. "But - you couldn't have just woken up one day and decided that was the way to do it, right? You know the rules as well as I do -"

"Maybe not quite as well as you do," Dibny mutters. "Brownnoser."

"- and you knew what you were doing was wrong. So why'd you do it?"

"Because there was no other way to get the guy," Dibny says, like it's obvious. "We exhausted everything else."

"It was still wrong," Barry says. "You broke the law."

"It was getting a criminal off the streets -" Dibny says.

"By becoming one yourself!"

"Oh, grow up, Allen. It's not like fudging a bit of evidence is the same as murdering someone. Besides, I'm a cop - I was a cop. Are you really saying that a cop and an asshole that probably murdered his wife are the same?"

"I'm saying that it's a small step down the same road," Barry says. "If you're cutting corners to get someone off the streets, who's to say you might not decide to shoot someone instead of going to the trouble of arresting them?"

Dibny shrugs, callous as ever. "Maybe for some people that’s how it goes, but not me. I was a cop! A good cop! And I knew this guy was guilty!"

"Just because you believe something doesn't make you right! What if you were wrong, huh? What if he was innocent, and you planting the evidence sent him to prison for a crime he didn't commit? You're not infallible, and you don't get to ignore the laws just because you're a cop. If anything, you're supposed to hold yourself to a higher standard - and you didn't."

"Damnit, Allen, you make it sound like I was actively committing felonies while on the payroll or something. It's not like I was a cop on the Family payroll or anything; we all know who those assholes are and they're freaking untouchable."

Ugh, Dibny sounds almost wistful.

"The department likes to know who the Family leaks are," Barry says, rolling his eyes. He doesn't like it, no one does, but there's no real way to avoid it. "It's not the same thing; no one ever lets them onto anything actually secretive. Besides, it's not like you weren't friends with some of those guys!"

"They were coworkers! It made sense to be friendly with everyone in the department - still does, since it’s the cops I was friendly with who are the only ones with enough compassion to toss me cases when they're available. They know what it's like to need help when money runs tight."

Of course. Barry should've known; it all comes down to money for Dibny.

Or at least, it does now. It hadn't back then.

"It wasn't about money, though, the knife," Barry says, getting back to his point. "You made a decision."

"I made a mistake," Dibny says. "And you took every inch of it out of my ass. Why are you so obsessed about this, anyway?" He grins, wide and malicious. "Thinking about doing some planting yourself?"

"No!" Barry exclaims.

"Oooh, that was quick on the draw - is that guilt I hear? Is pure, perfect Barry Allen - no, you wouldn't. Not you. But maybe someone else - someone you're thinking of covering for...?"

Dibny's eyes glitter like beetles.

"You're disgusting," Barry tells him, scowling. "I have no idea why I thought you might have ever had a sense of morality or that you struggled with the decision or anything -"

"Hey, that's not fair," Dibny protests. "I struggled. I thought about it. But there wasn't any other way, that's all."

"But planting evidence isn't an acceptable way," Barry says, frustrated. "It was better to let him go than to get him the wrong way – they did an informal double check of all your cases, you know, because of that, and the only reason they didn’t officially reopen the whole lot of them was because you quit."

"Because of you."

"Because of you - what you did..." Barry trails off, realizing. "You really just don't get it, do you? You got so good at convincing yourself that it was the right thing to do that you can't bring yourself to admit that you were wrong."

Dibny crosses his arms, glaring. "Oh, whatever, Allen. No one asked for your little pop psychology. Anyway, you haven't told why you want to know."

"Trying to get insight into a case," Barry lies. "That's all."

"A corruption case?" Dibny asks, suddenly looking somewhat concerned. His fingers start playing with the edge of the file he shoved under his desk. "What type? Like - another cop, like me? Or we talking more like blackmailing, bribery, that sort of thing? With whom? Some public official in particular?"

Barry rolls his eyes. Dibny’s probably worried that one of his private investigator cases might get preempted by a real investigation. "You know I can't discuss active cases -"

"With anyone outside the precinct, I know, I know. I used to be a cop, I know the deal. But that's why you can trust me - I'm not about to squeal!"

"Yeah, right," Barry says. "You literally just told me that you exchange information as a business."

"Not about active cases," Dibny says. "Only old stuff, you know, old cases that never got solved or cops that used to be on payroll or stupid shit like that."

"Dibny, even if I was the sort of person who’d tell you stuff about an active case, you also hate me personally and would take any opportunity to throw me under the bus," Barry points out.

"...yeah, fair point." Dibny shrugs. “Is that it, then?”

Barry snorts. "Yeah, that’s it," he says. "Anyway, thanks."

Dibny shrugs a second time, looking somewhat bemused. "Any time, I guess."

Barry goes to the door and opens it.

Then he immediately closes it again.

"What?" Dibny asks.

"Shhhh!" Barry hisses. "There are two Family thugs in your corridor!"

They're immediately recognizable - the dark suits, the swagger, the prison tattoos on their wrists and the Family mark on their necks.

God, Barry hates the Families.

"This isn't exactly a great part of town," Dibny sniffs. "I'm not exactly able to be picky about my neighbors." Still, he hesitates. "Uh, what Family?"

"What? Isn’t there a set territory –”

“I don’t know whose territory this is, Allen! What do they look like?”

“Santinis, I think. Blood sworn."

"Shit," Dibny says. "Probably here for protection stuff, then - oh, not me, Allen, don't look so horrified; I'm much too small fry for them to bother with me."

"Then who? We should -"

"Do nothing," Dibny says firmly. "No one will thank you for it and you know it."

Damnit, but Barry does know it.

As the Flash, sure, he could do something, but - what? It might technically be a crime to belong to a racketeering organization like the Families, but only if you can prove that they've done something. There's no point in dropping these thugs off in the CCPD HQ; they'd be back on the street within the hour, and the Flash would have to tackle mob problems for the rest of his life.

Not ideal.

Barry's definitely not prepared to fight the Families.

"I'll report it to Organized Crime," he decides.

"Like that'll do anything," Dibny snorts. "Oh, hey, say hi to Garry and Willy for me if you do, though."

Barry rolls his eyes. "Sightings are still important to report," he says. "You never know when it might be helpful. And you say hi to them yourself if you want; I'm not going to."

"You're no use to anyone at all, are you, Allen?" Dibny says, rolling his eyes back in an exaggerated fashion. "All high and mighty and self-righteous, and not a shred of sympathy for those you leave in the dust."

"Oh, I've got plenty of sympathy," Barry says, glancing around the dirty little office. Dibny had been a pretty good cop; he deserves better than this. But his own choices have brought him here. Besides, it isn't as though he was convicted or anything, merely fired and informally blackballed; there's nothing stopping him from getting a security job or even switching to another career entirely instead of spending over two years building up a stupid private investigator practice. "But not enough for you to manipulate me with, which I think is your real complaint."

He glances out the door. The Family guys are gone.

"Right," Barry says. "That's all I have. Thanks for the answers."

"Thanks for the easy cash," Dibny replies. "I'd say it was nice to see you again, but, well, it really wasn't."

"Ditto," Barry says, and leaves.

He manages to wait until he's in a secluded alleyway outside before he puts on his speed, even though he's itching to get out of this place.

Still, even at high speed, Barry has a moment or two to reflect.

Talking with Dibny felt utterly pointless, but maybe it wasn't, not really. He'd gone there to find out how Dibny ended up doing what he did, and, well, he's gotten his answer: Dibny convinced himself it was the right and only thing to do, that there was no other way, that it had to be done.

He just couldn't conceive of allowing what he considered to be a miscarriage of justice, and that had been enough to cause him to commit one himself.

He saw himself as above the law.

He wasn't.

And neither is Barry.

Oh, he isn't going to stop being the Flash - the city needs him. Unlike Dibny, he’s actually in a unique situation, with unique powers that make his illicit actions necessary to save people’s lives. He's going to keeping doing what he can to help people and, in the meantime, do what he can to make sure he doesn't get stopped.

But he's not going to let Joe or Eddie compromise their integrity, and the integrity of their work, in the process.

"Hey, Barry!" Cisco exclaims happily when Barry arrives. "Good to see you, man; we missed you yesterday."

"How did court go?" Caitlin asks.

"It didn't," Barry tells her with a shrug. "We got a postponement. But I still get the second half of the day off!"

"I'm glad to hear that, Mr. Allen," Wells says from behind Barry, causing him to jump a little. "Does that mean you'll be working with us on your speed for the rest of the afternoon?"

"That's right," Barry says, already mentally girding himself. "I need to get faster. A lot faster. There's no other way to defeat the Man in Yellow. That's the top priority right now."

"That's right," Wells says. "After all, we must make sure to prioritize what's really important. Isn't that right, Mr. Allen?"

"Absolutely," Barry says, thinking of his decision to stay on the right side of the law as much as possible and feeling good about it. He made the right choice; he's sure of it. "That's totally right."

"I'm glad we agree," Wells says, and smiles.

[areyouscarletcold]

‘i’m not going to hurt you.’ aka Len is somehow afraid of Barry Pretty please? xo

This is so so so so late for the ‘I love you’ prompts (just got back from my work trip ahh and I’ve done very little writing) but I hope you like it! This got far more angsty than I intended - and maybe out of character so…enjoy?

He really should’ve known better. Should’ve learned his lesson after the first run-in with Bivolo because really, this guy didn’t know when to quit, Rogue or not.

Barry needed to have that chat with Len again about their extracurricular activities, because this was getting out of hand. You’d think someone as smart as Len would be able to keep Bivolo in line.

Though, it might’ve had to do with Mardon as of late, who Len had hinted at being a loose cannon in that “I’m not helping you because I like you but because he’s a pain in both of our asses” sort of manner.

Which was utter bullshit and they both knew it, but hey. Barry was fine playing along if it soothed Len’s ego - and certainly nonexistent heroic streak.

Anyway.

He really should’ve guessed that Mardon and Bivolo were up to something when Cisco rang him about the alert while he was out having coffee with Joe. He’d even assured Joe he had things under control - Cisco, Iris, and Caitlin were already at the ready, they’d been working up a new pair of goggles to combat Bivolo’s powers and it wasn’t as if they hadn’t dealt with the rogue Rogues’ (and wasn’t that a mouthful) shenanigans before.

Barry hadn’t counted on his maybe-not-quite-boyfriend showing up with his sister in tow after Barry’s ass got lit up like a Christmas tree (thank goodness for superspeed healing but fuck, that was going to hurt for a while).

He also didn’t count on Len getting whammied by a flicker of baby blue amidst the streams of cold and taunts thrown on both sides, nor was he prepared for the harsh gasp torn from Len like a punch to the gut as he collapsed and curled in on himself.

Lisa caught the motion at the same moment Barry sped over, something awful churning in his chest that he didn’t want to name, and thankfully didn’t object, gilding Bivolo’s legs to the ground without a backward glance. He made a mental note to give her Cisco’s number later as thanks.

Iris informed him said engineer was on his way, maybe with some frosty back-up to handle Mardon’s not-so-fun flight abilities, and Barry must’ve replied with something because the next thing he knew his comms were off and he was being shoved away by a downright terrified Captain Cold, eyes wider than he’d ever seen them.

It was such an uncharacteristically off expression that the realization hit Barry like a freight train, a comparison he was far too familiar with at this point.

Fuck. They hadn’t even thought about Bivolo being able to manipulate anything aside from anger. Sure, it’d been years so he’d obviously have time for practice but anger was easier to use, so of course he would resort to making people fight each other first.

But anger wouldn’t work when Len was already pissed with Bivolo and Mardon, not when his version of rage was cold, for lack of a better term, and less impulsive than someone like Barry.

Blue, wasn’t it? So, that had to be -

There was that uncomfortable twist in his chest again, more angry than scared this time.

Yeah, he was going to have to give Lisa a hearty thanks later for gilding Bivolo to the road, where he was still shouting at Mardon for a helping hand, or Barry might’ve done worse to the meta himself.

If they weren’t sitting in the middle of the road in front of a gas station - and he could see some civilians pulling out their phones already, which really wasn’t going to help in the end-run - Barry would’ve been tempted to throw back his cowl and try and ease Len with a familiar face. Though, that might not have helped either, given how skittish the man looked, ready to bolt at the first twitch from Barry, good or bad.

Fear. 

Captain Cold, who always had a plan, always kept his composure even when things didn’t go his way, even when the Flash and his crew surprised him… Cold was scared.

Len was scared of him.

Barry swallowed hard, held eye contact with the trembling - Len never trembled, it was all so wrong - man on his ass before him, cold gun at Barry’s feet forgotten by both parties. Len had even lost his usual goggles, probably the only reason he was affected at all, maybe had decided they weren’t worth the trouble for a fight with his own Rogues.

He saw Cisco say something to Lisa out of the corner of his eye, the latter of whom was standing ramrod straight and hadn’t looked away from her brother since he’d been whammied. Mardon was now shouting, the suspicious sound of ice colliding with a few lightposts ringing out over the street.

There were too many people around for this. Len wouldn’t want to be this out in the open, on display with utter terror dancing in his eyes as he shrank back, breathing going shallow.

He caught Lisa’s eye, the unusual uncertainty blazing back at him, and Barry nodded toward Len in askance.

There must’ve been something desperate in his expression, enough for Lisa’s concern to soften ever-so-slightly and nod back, masking her feelings with that sly smirk as she pulled Cisco away to slap some goggles over Bivolo’s eyes.

Barry hated the way Len tensed in his grasp, no matter how gently he grabbed Len’s shoulders and tried to murmur assurances of “Just need to get out of here, it’ll be okay, trust me” under his breath. He could feel the fear radiating off of Len as he ran from the scene, headed straight for the Labs with electricity surging around them.

Iris was used to the mild breeze kicked up by Barry’s heels at this point - had to be, even with the plethora of paperweights Joe and Cecile had gotten them as a joke - and wasted no more than a moment once she spotted Len in Barry’s arms, hurrying for their emergency supplies. One good thing about having to deal with certain Rogues meant having back-ups on hand to reverse or counteract their powers.

Len, however, didn’t appreciate this much and Barry didn’t fight too hard as he pushed out of Barry’s grasp, stumbling against the wall when Barry unthinkingly moved to calm him. There were definitely tears in Len’s eyes now and the very sight made Barry sick.

“Is the flashlight in the infirmary?” Iris called, already halfway there.

“Should be.” Len flinched at the noise and Barry took a deep breath, lowering his hands so he didn’t scare Len further.

He did yank back his cowl now, meeting Len head-on, and he couldn’t help but think this was a sick perversion of their first face-to-face meeting in the woods years prior.

“I’m not going to hurt you,” Barry whispered, his chest aching. “Iris is going to get that flashlight and take away the fear, okay? Everything is going to be okay.”

Len shook his head, still shaking. “N - No,” his voice came out like a half-sob, “can’t… Need to get away. Not safe.”

“Len, I won’t hurt you. I’d never hurt you, not like this,” Barry promised. Still, it hurt knowing the fear was real, felt real to Len, and he’d never once contemplated the idea of Captain Cold being this terrified of him. Bivolo’s power only amplified emotions and…gosh, if this was what Len felt every time they were together… “Iris will be back in a minute and everything will - ”

“No!” Len wedged himself against the wall further though Barry hadn’t budged an inch, his eyes growing wider, an impossible blue that seemed to glow alongside Bivolo’s influence. “No, y - you have to stay away.” He looked like he was ready to start rocking himself, hands clawing at his own parka to find something, anything to hold onto. “I can’t - I can’t… Barry, I can’t - ”

“Hey,” Barry tried to raise his hand, a lump caught in his throat around the apology he wanted to give, but Len just gave him this stare of such horror that he let it fall. “I’m not - whatever you’re feeling right now, it’s - ”

“I can’t hurt you, I can’t.”

Barry froze before he realized what he’d done, heard Iris’s rummaging through drawers halt.

Len sobbed, ragged and so unlike the cool mask he used around the world that it gave Barry whiplash. He pressed one of his knuckles against his mouth, as if trying to muffle his cries.

“One day I’ll - I’ll just…” Len gave a quiet whine and shook his head. “There’s too many chances, I’m not… I’m like him, I’ll fuck it up. If I h - hurt you…”

God, he hadn’t even thought - how could Len think - ?

Even after the whole debacle with Lewis, even after the brief stint in time with the Legends before he’d settled back in Central City, wrecking havoc but controlled havoc, like a child toying with its favorite playthings for a short while…

After those first nights Barry spent checking in on Len after Mick stayed with the Legends, the teasing banter and late nights and accidental flirting - though how accidental could it be with Captain Cold - that led to falling into bed and…

Well, Barry had hoped something more. Not that they’d discussed it or implied anything as such.

But Len’s sobbed declaration, the sincerity and bluntness of his words as if he knew better and maybe wanted -

Oh.

The ache in his chest dislodged itself, loosened only a little, and Barry stepped forward hesitantly. When Len didn’t react, he used the opportunity to edge closer until he was inches away from Len, within reaching distance, though he kept his hands to himself. No matter how badly he wanted to wipe away those tears, pull Len close like he’d never been able to.

“You’re not going to hurt me.” Len made to protest and Barry shook his head, moving his head down so he could catch Len’s face even as he attempted to hide in the fur of his hood. “I mean it. You won’t do that. I know you, you know yourself well enough to know it’s true. Len, you’re better than that.”

“I’m not - ”

Iris’s footsteps slowed behind them and Barry gave a silent thank you for her patience and caution. “You are. You always have been. Isn’t that why you agreed to the deal? Because it’s your city? Because you’re the best at what you do?”

Len’s breathing started to even out, but Bivolo’s influence was no easy thing to shake - Barry knew that all too well - and the man still looked petrified. Barry inched his hand forward, pushing the hood back from Len’s face and felt a rush of relief when Len didn’t recoil.

“If you wanted to hurt me - if you were going to hurt me,” Barry corrected himself when Len winced, “you would have done it long before now. And I think we trust each other enough to know that won’t happen.”

The soft buzz of the shoddy last-minute Anti-Raider flashlight - “The name’s a work in progress,” Cisco had snapped - cut through the air and Len tensed, eyes flitting between Iris and Barry. The vulnerableness of the motion somehow set Barry’s nerves at ease.

Not the situation itself, nor seeing the other so shaken by everything and anyone around him, no. No one should have to experience what Len was in tenfold right now.

It was just them. He just had to keep Len calm.

“Len.” The man glanced at him again, fright still evident in his expression. Barry’s hands brushed the back of Len’s and he hoped the contact was more soothing than terrifying. Given that Len didn’t bolt, it must’ve been the latter.

Though, in retrospect, it did seem like he was caging Len in. 

“We’re going to make the fear go away, alright? We won’t do anything you don’t want.”

It took a long moment, silent and taut with how clear the conflict was tearing Len apart, but neither Iris nor Barry moved, or dared speak. The shake of Len’s hand against his own was far from comforting.

Still, Barry nearly breathed a sigh of relief when Len nodded, a jerky movement that held none of his usual fluidity.

He stepped to the side as Iris let the counter-light flash rapidly, disorienting Len as he leaned back into the wall, but part of him was grateful for the hand still clutching his like a lifeline and couldn’t help but hope.

[coldtomyflash]

Just finished reading Tumbling Together again. I love that crazy fic so much! I was wondering. What is your head canon for after Barry finished his PhD program? Has Len been pardoned by then? Is he working with the flash with the big enemies? Does Barry not go back to the CCPD? Have they broken up because life got in the way? I'm always curios about what happens after he graduated and the big problems in their relationship pop back up. Sorry for the questions. Thanks for giving us such a fun fic

One of the reasons I give fics that sort of “open” ending is in part so I don’t have to think too hard about these sorts of questions hahaha. Because the answer is that multiple answers are simultaneously true, in my head? Every answer is true, depending on circumstance, on what happens next, on what they want. And that’s the joy of endings - that’s when the reader (or viewer) gets to take over the story for themselves and transform it.

But let’s see…

I like to think the most likely case that after the end of Tumbling Together, Barry would have eventually returned to the CCPD after getting his PhD, now specializing in metahuman chemistry or biochemistry. It makes the most sense to me that’s where he’d end up returning to, and he’d be welcomed back with all that new and specialized knowledge.

I don’t think Len and Barry would ever break up once getting together in that fic. They weather a lot of hijinx together but also some real (and genuinely heavy) stuff, and have the full support of their loved ones by the end of the story. They’re not about to fall out of love, so they’d make everything else work.

But those “big problems” would exist not just when Barry returns to the CCPD but the whole time, y’know? Len’s still leading the Rogues and dating The Flash, who doesn’t have to worry about his day job for the years he’s in school, but still…

There’d be a lot to navigate with the Rogues side of things, I think? Lisa and Mick know Barry is The Flash, but the rest of the Rogues don’t, even though they know and like Barry. There would be some serious need for Len to keep Rogues stuff strongly to the side. 

But The Rogues in the CW and also that fic aren’t really an ‘organized’ group or anything, either? It’s not like Len is in charge of a group of dangerous criminals who all consider him like their fearless leader and boss and feel a strong sense of loyalty to him. It’s more like… he plans jobs/heists and amasses favors and befriends powerful people in his own way, but he chooses who he wants to work with and what he does. People defer to him out of respect and fear and he has a lot of cash to throw around when needed, but there’s no real sense of… him owing them honesty, or vice versa. It’s a more transactional thing.

So he can keep it relatively separate, I think. He’s still stealing, but doing it on his own terms and making sure no one gets hurt. Mick’s trying to go relatively clean anyway because of Aiden, Lisa’s never been a concern in that regard (and less so now that she’s with Cisco) even though she drives getaway for him, and even Shawna’s in school. So the ones who are close and he cares about? Aren’t a concern. And Len’s still working alongside dangerous people like Sam and Rosa and Mark sometimes, when he’s in the mood to be showy, but it’s all business with them and closeness isn’t an issue? 

So…. most of the actively criminal people in Len’s orbit (outside Mick and Lisa) know he’s dating Barry but only in a sort of tangential way that doesn’t seem important to them, like Barry doesn’t come and deliberately inject himself in Len’s criminal world except for the odd date night or when something’s awry, so there’s no real concern about anyone else discovering that Barry is The Flash. 

And if one of those more dangerous metas found out, or someone like Axel or James or any of the other non-meta criminals in Len’s life, Len would… well, protecting Barry’s identity would be pretty pivotal to him, honestly. It would depend on the circumstance, but it wouldn’t be a question of them being like “how could you betray us like this, Len?” because that’s not the relationship he has with these folks, it’d be much more of a “you think this information can be used as blackmail against me and Barry but the truth is that if you even think about threatening us, I will find a way to make it look like an accident well enough that even Barry and his topnotch forensic skills won’t be able to tell I took you out.”

But then… on Barry’s side, when he does go back to work… hmm. He’s been dating a criminal for long enough that even Singh can’t cover for him or hide it, really. Like they’re definitely living together and it’s definitely known to enough detectives in the precinct that Barry is with Captain Cold (which has got to boggle their minds, seriously). So welcoming him back, how that would go down…

First, Len hasn’t been arrested for anything since before they started dating and his records were still erased and all that (since the fic ignores season 2 so Len never got sent to Iron Heights after that erasure), so he sort of doesn’t exist on paper still. The CCPD has to know he’s not innocent - he’s Captain freaking Cold, still - but they have zero evidence or ability to convict him of that?

Or maybe… okay maybe, yeah sure he’s Captain Cold and still a thief and everyone sort of knows that, but maybe, while Barry was busy getting his PhD, something like, idk, an alien attack from The Dominators still happened, and/or one or two other world-ending level crises, and Captain Cold, Heatwave, and Golden Glider all end up getting pardoned for their assistance to the heroes’ side throughout the crisis. 

So Len can just walk right into the CCPD like a smug bastard because until/unless they can catch him at the scene of a crime or until he leaves new evidence behind or gets caught on camera or something - there aren’t even any warrants on him - then there’s no way they can arrest him. He’s a thief and a Rogue and literally everyone knows it, but until they can catch him in something, he’s free as a bird.

In that case, Joe would glower every time he walks in, honestly. He’s long-since given Barry and Len his blessing but that doesn’t mean he likes it when Len’s a dick for the sake of being a dick. Singh would want to bang his head against the wall because of this whole thing but hey, at least it means he got to re-hire Barry, even if HR and Internal Affairs both raised their eyebrows at it. 

And Barry would pretend to be oblivious to the tone of voice his coworkers use when they say “Barry, your boyfriend is here” because the fact that Len can just walk into the precinct pisses off at least 5 separate detectives who’ve worked on various cases relating to him. Eddie might genuinely be oblivious to how much his coworkers hate Len, or his own optimism might just outshine them all, but he always gets up to greet him and say hello when Len drops in, and he’s never shy to remind people about that time Len helped save the world.

(The criminals Len works with find it bemusing that one day he can fight alongside The Flash and the next he’s planning the most elaborate schemes to trap, undermine, or otherwise discombobulate him without any apparent sympathy beyond “we don’t kill him” and Mick always just snorts like “if only they knew”).

[the-moody-angel]

CaptainCanary One-Shots: One Hell Of An Actor

By TheMoodyAngel 

Link to Ao3 

Inspired by a post from Just Vera

Sara stood silently, looking all the while like she was listening intently. But inside her chest was a flaming mass of emotions. Rage. Sadness. Horror. Longing. Pain. All of her friends were teaming up once more to fight an evil threat, and Barry- sorry-I-screwed-up-the-timeline-again-Allen had just introduced a new addition to the group; the Earth 54 version of Leonard Snart, who was so much like the one that her team had lost a year and a half ago that it was bringing up too many memories for her to handle. But she was an assassin and a Captain, so she held her emotions back and put up the calm, cool, and collected front that everyone expected.

“He may be from Earth 54, but since Cisco’s Vibe abilities aren’t working, we currently have no way to return him. So he has offered his help until we can get him back home.” Barry finished explaining. Snart smirked and glanced around at the group.

“I may not be from this dimension, but I can promise that no matter where I go, I’m still one hell of a thief.” His eyes settled on Sara and she just barley managed to prevent herself from showing any reaction. Under her skin however, her insides had turned to ice.

After everyone split up to get ready for battle, Ray and Jax tried to get her attention. She quickly avoided them and moved to grab Oliver’s arm.

“What’s wrong?” he asked seriously as he caught sight of her expression.

Sara glanced around and made sure Snart was busy. Good, Cisco was talking his ear off.

“I need to talk to you,” as she spoke, Sara noticed Mick watching them. The arsonist followed as Sara pulled Oliver behind one of the many Star Labs vans. Oliver looked confused as the burly man joined them, but since Sara didn’t seem to care he ignored the arsonist.

“What is going on? Why do you look like you’ve seen a ghost? And why is he here?” Oliver glanced at Mick before turning back to the woman in front of him. Sara took a deep breath before speaking.

“That man is not from Earth 54.”

“What?” Oliver looked at her incredulously. “Barry and Cisco tracked his origin. They’re positive the portal he came from originated from Earth 54.”

“Well they’re wrong!” she snapped.

“Those nerds are smart,” Mick growled, “why would they be wrong?”

“Because!” She retorted, “Right before the Occulus mission, Leonard and I had a talk. He wanted something from me and I told him that if he wanted to steal it, he had better be one hell of a thief.” The two men stared at her. Oliver looked skeptical. Mick was as unreadable as usual.

“Sara,” Oliver spoke softly, “I know you want to believe that your teammate is still alive, but not everyone can come back like you can. I’m sorry, but – “

“You kissed him.” Oliver and Sara turned their heads to look at Mick so fast, he was shocked they didn’t get whiplash.

“What the – “

“How do you know that?” Sara cut Oliver off and he turned to stare at blonde as she glared at Mick.

“You two flirted more than Lisa did with that Cisco nerd. I think I noticed it before you two did.”

Silence followed. Oliver opened his mouth but before he could even form a thought, a low drawl came from behind them.

“Well darn it, I was hoping to keep my little charade going a bit longer. I was curious to see how much had changed while I was stuck in another dimension.”

The three spun around to see Snart leaning casually against the tailgate of the van, arms and ankles crossed. He smirked.

“Not only am I one hell of a thief, turns out I’m also one hell of an actor.” Barry stood behind the crook with his mouth hanging open. As the other three glared at him he put up his hands in defense.

“Hey, look, I had no idea.” Everyone stayed still, not sure what to do at that moment. Well, everyone except Sara that is. The blonde assassin strode up to the crook and before he could even straighten up, her palm hit his face with all the force she could muster.

No one moved as the sound of her slap echoed into silence, which was only broken by Cisco yelling that they had a problem. Barry used his convenient super powers to make a hasty getaway, which Oliver quickly followed. Sara continued to stare at the shocked crook for a moment before speaking.

“We will talk about this later you jerk.” She snarled. With that, she stalked past him, leaving only Mick behind. The arsonist stared at the man who had been his best friend with an unreadable expression as the crook raised a hand to his flushed cheek.

“Ow.” He muttered. “Since when did she care so much?”

“Since you died.” Mick replied. Leonard frowned.

“That was rhetorical.” Mick shrugged.

“Come on, we got bigger problems than that bruise you’re gonna have tomorrow.”

“Right.” The crook muttered as he followed Mick back towards the main group. He ignored the stares he got as people noticed the handprint emblazoned on his face. Mick was wrong. Making it up to the fiery assassin was definitely going to be a bigger problem than whatever threat they would face today.

A few days later, Leonard Snart was back on the Waverider. He had come clean that he was the real Snart and that the Occulus explosion hadn’t killed him – just blasted him to another earth and that it had taken him over a year to find a way back. And now he was on the team again; but it wasn’t the team he had left. Things were different.

Kendra and Carter had left. So had Rip. There was a new guy on the team, and two new women, one from the past and one from the future. Ray seemed a little darker, and Jax seemed older. Stein was gone for good, and the team was still trying to cope. So was Leonard. He had liked the old man. Then there was Mick. He was different, more human. Leonard had noticed it during the team-up. Mick had risked his life for the people he had once despised; and he had called Sara boss.

Sara. She was the Captain, his Captain. And Leonard had pissed her off. He walked down the hall and prepared himself to face her wrath. As he reached her door and knocked, the crook felt nervous for the first time in forever.

“Come in.” she called.

The door opened and when Sara saw who it was her face hardened. After a moment she crossed her arms and leaned back against the bed, fixing him with the stare of a hardened killer.

“You said we would talk. So, I’m here to talk.” He finally said when it was clear she wouldn’t speak first.

Silence. Ok, now he was mad. He understood why she’d be pissed at him for pretending to be someone else at first, but that was no reason for the silent treatment.

“You know, we could talk about why you’re mad and as they say, kiss and make up,” he drawled, “but standing here in silence is so much more appealing so let’s just do that instead.”

She just huffed and looked at the floor. He was flabbergasted.

“Sara Lance, two-time graduate of the League of Assassins and Captain of the Waverider, acting like a spoiled child.” He shook his head in mock disappointment. “Never thought I’d see the day when – Oof!”

The crook was cut off by Sara throwing herself at him and hugging for all she was worth. That’s when he realized she was crying. She hadn’t been looking at the floor out of anger, but to hide her tears. He gently wrapped his arms around her small figure.

“You jerk,” she mumbled, “you made me care and then you went and died.”

“I promise I’ll try not to do that again.” He smirked. “Did you weep for my assassin?” he grunted as her fist jabbed him in the gut.

“Alright, alright, I’ll shut up.” He mumbled.

“Good.” It was barley a whisper, but he heard it. And the crook smiled as he rested his chin on the assassin’s head.