#au where Len asked Eobard for more than what we saw

[pheuthe]

Barry and Len, 41

(Thanks for the prompt :)) here it is, 41. “What are you doing in my house?”)

Len canfeel something’s wrong as soon as he opens the front door. It’s a sort of asixth, or maybe seventh sense that comes from growing up hyper-aware of someone’sfootsteps, dissecting expressions for the extra credit of relative personalsafety. Len’s fingers wrap around the keys, silencing the tell-tale jingle ashe pushes the door open barely enough for him to slip inside.

There’snothing immediately alarming in the hallway, but the hairs on the back of Len’sneck rise nonetheless. He forces a deep breath into his lungs, shutting downhis overactive imagination. Keys in one hand, he reaches for his gun – not thecold one, just an ordinary Glock, but the weight of it against his palm givesLen some much-needed balance. He rounds the corner, thumb resting against thesafety of the gun, and freezes at the sight that greets him as soon as he stepsinto the living room.

“Ah,”Thawne smiles, all pleasantries and polite detachment. He shows the exact sameexpression to the public, most of the time, but Len knows the man well enoughby now not to be fooled. “Welcome back, I suppose.”

“What areyou doing in my home?” Len hisses and removes his hand from the gun: notbecause he would feel safe near Eobard Thawne, but because he knows that anordinary bullet won’t do the man any harm. He tried to project confidence, unawareof anything he could’ve done to piss off the crazy speedster, but seeing Thawnesprawled on this sofa, in this apartment, makes Len feel unsteady on his feet.

That’s whenthe familiar sound of cabinets being opened and closed in the kitchen registersin Len’s brain, and his eyes wander towards the doorway. It’s just a splitsecond, a nervous glance that he’s failed to prevent, but he knows that he’snot fast enough to fool Thawne in the slightest.

“You meanthe home I gracefully provided,” Thawne’s smile chills Len to the bone, but hecan’t do anything, definitely not here. Not if he doesn’t want to endanger-

“Lenny! Hi,I didn’t hear you come in,” Barry’s smile is so damn innocent, brightening upthe whole room as he walks out of the kitchen, an apron tied around his waistand his hoodie already damp at the bottom. He never learned how to do thedishes without getting all wet… Len’s heart skips a beat at the thought ofThawne using the boy against him.

“Hey,” hesays, schooling his face into a carefully neutral expression, and allows Barryto kiss his cheek.

“Mr. Thawnestopped by the lab today,” Barry smiles, at both of them. Len’s stomach clenches.“He saw that project proposal we put together with Cisco, and he wants to talkabout it, would you believe that? I’m hoping to bribe him with lasagna,” helaughs and wraps an arm around Len’s waist. Everything in Len screams to pullaway, the easy show of affection making him feel like he’s a small animalshowing his vulnerable underbelly to a predator.

But Thawneknows, doesn’t he? He has allowed Len the luxury of pretense up until now, butThawne’s not wrong: it was he who created this whole apartment with the Spear,who made it possible for Len to come back to someone each night. Len still can’tbelieve his luck – but seeing Thawne smirking at him from his own sofa makesLen wonder if he hasn’t just set a trap for himself with this. He always knewthat the promise of creating a world to his liking with the Spear would comewith a price: he just never expected that the highest price to pay would be thefear of losing it all.

Barry’stalking now, but Len has trouble focusing on the words, too busy watchingThawne watch him. Them. It’s a subtle threat, but Len’s always been good atpicking up on those, and it’s making his skin itch that he can’t very well askThawne outright what the fuck it is that he wants now. Len’s been good, realgood, answering to Thawne in a way he hasn’t answered to anyone in a long, longwhile, allowing himself to be summoned like a common goon, used for all thedirty work in the warped empire of a madman. And now, Thawne is taking away theonly illusion of freedom Len’s got left. He doesn’t like where this is going –it makes Thawne look worried, perhaps even desperate, and it means trouble isbrewing where no one can see just yet.

It makesLen anxious to get rid of Thawne, to enjoy the last bit of peace he’ll beallowed; Len does not have any illusions about his future if thismegalomaniacal house of cards collapses around them.  

“…you didnot say you knew Mr. Thawne!”

Lenrefocuses on Barry, who is poking him in the ribs with an accusing finger,smiling.

“What?”

“Earth toLen,” the boy laughs. He’s so beautiful that it almost hurts to look at him,but Len’s used to that kind of heartache by now. He doesn’t want it to go away,ever. “I said you never mentioned you knew Mr. Thawne. I would’ve wheedled forthe tour of STAR Labs long ago.”

That’sexactly why Len never speaks about Thawne – the guy has practically madehimself a god in this world, as much of one as a modern man can be. The world’sforemost authority on global warming prevention and sustainable energy, thesavior of the starving… there has never been any doubt in Len’s mind that if heso much as hinted, Barry would not stop until he made Len introduce him toThawne.

And thosetwo paths were never supposed to cross, not in an ideal world.

Which, ofcourse, this isn’t, considering the world has been Thawne’s sandbox for months.

“We’veworked together,” he says vaguely when the silence stretches for too long.Thawne’s still smirking, like he’s waiting for Len to be the one to destroythis pocket of peace. He’s always been good at that, kicking his own feet fromunder himself whenever a sliver of happiness was within his reach, sabotagingwhat he could, with Lisa, with a few others, but Barry’s odd, implicit trust inLen over the past few weeks has made him believe that maybe, he could do betterthis time.

Dinner is atense affair – at least for Len, who can’t stop staring at Thawne, waiting forthe other shoe to drop. Barry is chatting excitedly about the renewable energyproject he’s been working on with Cisco Ramon, and Thawne listens attentively,making a remark here or there about a possible improvement. Barry floats on ascientific cloud nine all through the dessert, which is a slightly charredhomemade pie that Thawne praises as if he’s never tasted anything better. Barrypositively beams, and Len forces himself not to grind his teeth too much.

“It’s beena real pleasure,” Thawne finally declares, a few minutes past nine. Len’s insidesare a tight knot of anxiety by now, and he would be hard-pressed to describeanything he’s eaten; the food sits like lead in his stomach and he cannot waitfor Thawne to piss off.

“I’ll seeyou out,” Len offers and rises from his chair, not giving a fuck if it makeshim seem overeager. Barry shoots him a curious look, but Thawne, that stupid,pleased smile still on his face, nods.

“Ah, pleasedo. I have some business to discuss with you as well, Mr. Snart.”

It’s a realwonder Len’s jaw has not cracked by now, from the sheer force with which he’sclenching it. But Barry, thankfully, doesn’t ask; Len knows he’ll have toexplain later, but he’s been lying to people for decades, he’ll come up withsomething plausible once Thawne is no longer an immediate threat.

They walkout of the apartment, and Len resists the urge to lock up behind himself. Itwouldn’t stop a speedster who can vibrate through walls, anyway; Len stilldoesn’t know if he’ll ever get used to the idea of Thawne being able to dothat.

“Ready toshare what that was about? Or did you just miss me?” Len smirks, subconsciouslyslipping into his usual drawl. It’s easier to fake confidence and fearlessnesswhen he doesn’t have to worry about Thawne reaching over the dinner table topull Barry’s heart right out of his chest.

Thawnegives him a look that could be amusement, exasperation, or a warning. Hard totell, with a guy who can smile just like this while ripping another personapart with his bare hands.

“Just agentle reminder. Mr. Rory has been sniffing around the janitors’ office lately…you know what they say, idle hands are the devil’s workshop. I think you shouldkeep him busy. Prevent some… unfortunate accidents.”

Len’s notsure whether Thawne is threatening Barry or that scientist-turned-janitor whoMick seems to be fond of, but the message is clear anyway. He nods, never oneto waste words where they’re not needed, and watches the air crackle with redlightning as Thawne speeds away. Even before the breeze dies down, Len’sstomach unknots and he lets out a shaky breath.

Anotherheist it is, then. Mick has been less and less satisfied with those, though,and the way he’s gravitating towards his silly teammates makes Len wonder justhow soon this thing will crumble around them.

He walksback to his apartment and pushes all thoughts of the imminent doom aside whenhe slides his arms around Barry’s waist and presses a kiss to the ticklish spoton the boy’s neck, making him laugh out loud. If all this is going to end soon,Len’s determined to enjoy it while it lasts.

((I might actually continue this, I have another part written but it’s threatening to become too long and I like this part as a ficlet on its own so here it is, for now XD))

[niennavalier]

Okay friends, here we go: Coldflash North & South AU

(If any of you are unfamiliar, I HIGHLY recommend watching this. Especially the 2004 version with Richard Armitage, which is the one I’ve seen. Good stuff.)

Mid 1800′s, Victorian England. Barry Allen is living a perfectly tranquil life in the south of England. It’s the most idyllic type of lifestyle. His best friend, Iris, has just gotten married to the love of her life, Eddie Thawne, and Barry couldn’t be happier for them. He, himself, isn’t married, and he had pined after Iris for some time, but he’s glad to see her happy, and he’s started to move on.

But then his father decides to uproot them from their happy life and move north.

Henry is a doctor, but he’s become disenchanted with the field, with some of the new outlooks on morality that some of his younger companions have begun to adopt. On principle, he decided to leave, taking his family to the industrial town of Milton, where he can continue his practice on his own terms, and he can tutor privately, teaching about culture and literature that he learned while studying at Oxford.

Barry hates Milton immediately. The perpetually cloudy skies, the ever-present chill in the air, the way everything about the town looks so run-down and grey. He misses the South - the warmth in the air, the way the sun made everything glow golden like a dream. But he doesn’t want to upset his father, so he helps look for a place for them to live with help from one of his father’s friends from school, Harrison Wells.

Wells is an old family friend who happens to know this town and the people in it, insisting that Barry and his family meet with a friend of his - the owner of the cotton mill, a man named Leonard Snart. Barry agrees, if only because his father asked him to. He’s told to wait in an office, but Barry had never been good with patience, and he wanders into the mill. There, he sees puffs of cotton floating through the sky like snowflakes, as if he’d suddenly set foot in a winter wonderland, if not for the roaring sound of machinery. He can’t help but be captivated by it all, just a little bit, when he hears shouting, sees people running, and he follows. 

He sees one man beat another to the ground, then he cries out for them to stop. He’s met with blue eyes cold as ice, and is promptly told - in a voice too calm and controlled - to get out of the mill.

The next day comes and Barry is called down to greet their guest, this Leonard Snart that he keeps hearing so much about but never got to meet.

Except that he did meet the man. The day before, at the mill. Beating another man clearly not his equal.

The two butt heads from the start, their ideologies just don’t mix. But there is something there, without a doubt. For all his stubbornness, Len likes Barry’s willingness to speak his mind, regardless of whether the person listening likes what he has to say; he likes how light Barry is, how kind. And Barry reluctantly comes to admit that Len is an honorable man, but he’s not willing to let that show.

He tells all of this to Iris - the good, the bad, the friends he’d made in Cisco and Caitlin, both workers in the factories but with dreams of much bigger things - through their letters back and forth.  It’s how he finds out that some relative of Eddie’s - Eobard - had done something to ruin the family name, something that cast suspicion on all of them, and they were all on the run, hiding out in Spain until things blew over.

Everything comes to a head when the strike happens, and the riots start. Barry is at the mill when it starts, is there when Len walks out himself, in front of the workers - half-starved and angry without their jobs and incomes - to put on some show of defiance. Barry doesn’t even think when he runs out, acting on instinct because Len is putting himself in danger that he shouldn’t be. Things pass in a blur, one Barry can’t fully remember after waking up to find Len’s sister, Lisa, looking after him. He insists on leaving before his parents can worry for his safety.

It hardly takes a minute after Barry steps out the door before Lisa turns to her brother. She sees the way he looks at Barry, knew from the start what it was. And she wants nothing more than for her brother to be happy, especially after everything they’d been through. Their father - a failed business man turned convict who would turn his anger on his family before being jailed, forcing Len to grow up too soon. Finding work and setting aside money every week, denying himself so that his little sister and her mother could live easily. Lisa knows that Len still lives by the same rules, even long after her mother had passed, all three of them more than well-off. She tells all of this to Len, because he, of all people, deserves to finally be happy, and Barry would be lucky to have him. Len denies it, of course, arguing that Barry would never have him - he’s hated him from the day they met, and probably wouldn’t love another man, besides. But Lisa knows what she saw, Barry risking his life to try and protect her brother’s - that’s not something you do for a person you hate. And she’s seen how his eyes linger on Len when her brother isn’t looking. Nevermind what the town might say about it; her brother deserves to finally find some happiness of his own. After some forcing, Len agrees to visit the day after.

Meanwhile, Barry returns home during a lull in the violence to find his mother missing and his father distressed. By the end of the day, they learn that she had been killed in the chaos in the streets. Barry doesn’t know what to do with his grief and hates this place even more.

So it’s the wrong time for Len to arrive the next day, not knowing what happened, and open his heart to Barry, something he never does. Still grieving, Barry lashes out and rejects Len because it just feels like his life is just slowly falling apart.

Lisa can tell what happened without having to ask. She swears to hate Barry, because she knows her brother will never be fully able to, despite the cold and calculated front he’s able to put on.

All the while, Barry and his father continue to grieve, both of them over Nora, but Barry also regrets some of the things he said to Len. He’s still scared of the possibility he might be falling in love, so on some level, maybe the rejection was warranted, but he shouldn’t have put it the way he had. There were so many things at play; it wasn’t Len’s fault. But now Barry’s pretty sure he’s burned that bridge entirely. Iris is the only one he ends up telling everything to, including all that happened with Len. Unbeknownst to him, Iris makes the choice to risk a trip to Milton, because her friend clearly needs her.

Barry is so relieved to see his best friend when she arrives; he really did need someone he knew he could rely on, and he ultimately comes to admit that he’s no longer in love with her. They’re both different now, even if they’ll never stop being important in each others’ lives. They keep her visit a secret, but word begins to travel through town about the woman staying with the Allens, and they both know that it won’t take long for someone to start putting things together. Iris sneaks onto a train in the dead of night, and they embrace on last time at the station; their plan is almost perfect, but the only person who happens to see them there - together - is Len. 

The next time they see each other is tense, and Barry wants to apologize for everything, but he can’t explain to Len what happened that night at the train station, and because of that, Len doesn’t care to hear anything else Barry has to say. He just fixes him with a glare and walks away.

It leaves them both miserable, but with Henry away to visit some old friends in the south, Lisa is the only one who notices. Barry has to bear her wrath, and while he can’t justify what happened at the station without endangering Iris, he does desperately blurt out that no, he doesn’t hate Len. He was hurting over what happened to his mother, and he shouldn’t have said the things he did that night. So then Lisa asks what his answer would be if Len asked now. To which Barry has to answer that he still isn’t sure; he knows he feels something, but he’s not sure what, and he doesn’t know if it’s right, what with everything that’s happened and-

The answer doesn’t exactly endear him to Lisa, who storms off, because she can’t believe this man is just going to keep breaking her brother’s heart. After cooling off for a bit, she does tell Len what Barry had told her, following it in short order with a rant about how much she doesn’t like the man and whatever he seems to be hiding. Len tells his sister to just leave it alone, but hates himself for feeling some hope grow in his chest.

If not for the reminder that he’d seen Barry at the train station with that woman in his arms. Of course he stood no chance.

As for Barry, bad only turns to worse. His father dies unexpectedly while away - of a broken heart, the doctors from the South had reported, and Barry is too tired of it all to be upset about how fake a diagnosis like that really is. It ends up being months before he finds out what actually happened.

Without a family, Wells takes him in, arranges for Barry to leave Milton, but Barry, even wallowing in grief, insists on seeing his friends to say goodbye. Seeing Len and Lisa before he leaves, because he owes them both a sincere apology, even if he’s certain their lives would’ve been better had he never been around.

He has no idea how much it hurts Len to see Barry so broken, how much it hurts him to see Barry just leave.

Months pass, and Barry is living back in the South, with Iris and Eddie and their family, now that Eobard had been caught and the scandal was in the past. He wants to be happy, being back home and surrounded by everyone he cares about, but he can’t quite manage it. All of his losses cut a little too deep, and the South isn’t quite the same for him anymore; it’s not the idyllic paradise he remembered, and he finds part of himself missing the hustle and bustle of the North. Through a somewhat strange turn of events, he ends up with a rather large inheritance from Wells, and soon learns that he had made money off of some of Wells’ investments. In the same conversation, he ends up learning that Len had lost out due to that same venture, not willing to put the livelihoods of his workers at risk. The future of the mill is bleak, to put it lightly, and that’s the moment when Barry realizes that he does love Len, doesn’t want to see everything the man had worked for disappear like a puff of smoke, all because he wasn’t about to put other people at risk over speculation. Because he cared more than he’d ever admit. Barry can’t let things just end like that, not now that he has the means to fix them. So he plans to travel back north.

As for Len, the financial problems had all started with the strike; his reluctance to speculate while in an already precarious position is just the last things that finally made all of it fall apart. When it all seems bleak, he can’t help but think about Barry, and he wishes he could have some of Barry’s light back in his life now, even if Barry would only reject him time and time again. A number of months after Barry had left, Len ends up meeting Cisco, and somehow, the two of them manage to get along. It’s from Cisco that Len learns what he’d seen at the station. Between Cisco and Caitlin, the two had been able to figure out that Iris was Barry’s childhood friend, happily married and living her own life. Someone Barry loved as something closer to a sister. 

She was Barry’s friend. Not a lover, nowhere close to that. Just his friend.

After the last day of work, Len travels south to Barry’s hometown. He doesn’t tell Lisa of his plans; he just wants to experience where Barry is from, wants to feel close to him again, even if they never see each other again.

Barry arrives in Milton while Len is gone, though he doesn’t know that initially. He only finds Lisa there and finally admits his feelings for Len, wanting to see him. He expects Lisa to still be angry about the way everything went; she’s still bitter about it, still does resent Barry for it all, but she’s too worried having not seen her brother to be able to act on that bitterness. Barry ultimately parts with Lisa on good terms, explaining that he does have an idea, and he’ll send a letter with all of the details after he’s returned south. He’d made the trip to see Len in person, because he wants to clear up so much more than business plans but...

He takes a train heading south, and by chance the train stops at a station for a bit, Barry stepping outside the cabin for a breath of fresh air. Another train headed north stops at the same time...and of all people, Len steps out. Barry is shocked and his mind freezes as Len walks toward him, shirt collar loose and unbuttoned. At a complete loss for words, Barry splutters out that he has a business proposition because that seems easier than dealing with his feelings at the moment, and Len gestures for them to sit at a nearby bench. Fumblingly, Barry manages to make it through his idea about investing in the mill because really it’s just a better deal for both of them, nothing Len should need to thank him for, nothing particularly noteworthy either -

When asked later, Barry wouldn’t be sure which of them first moved to kiss the other. But either way, their lips are locked on each others’ in such a sweet and gentle gesture. 

Finally.

They separate as the announcement is made that the southbound train is about to leave the station, and Barry moves wordlessly back toward his cabin to steady his head. Not that he really needed to, his decision already made. He grabs his bag and turns back around.

The look of surprise on Len’s face that fades into a softer smirk is the most beautiful thing to Barry, and he asks if he can join Len in his train heading back north. 

“It’s about time, isn’t it?”

Barry just laughed in response, settling in next to Len. “Better late than never.”

“Suppose I should’ve expected you, of all people, to be late.”

Barry leaned forward to silence Len with a kiss, a better happy ending than either of them could’ve asked for.

[robininthelabyrinth]

Fic: The Swiftest Course (Ao3) (Chapter 3/8)

Fandom: Flash, DC’s Legends Pairing: Barry Allen/Leonard Snart/Mick Rory, Eddie Thawne/Iris West Summary:

Barry of Allen is on his way to the capital of Tortall for the final part of his knight training, hiding a secret that could threaten his career there. He’s determined to keep his head down and not get into trouble.

He isn’t expecting to meet Len, Corus’ Rogue, or his right-hand man, Mick. Or meet Princess Iris and his new friends, Cisco and Caitlin.

He certainly wasn’t expecting to be roped into adventure.

(It’s the Gods’ fault, really.)

A/N: For joyous-lee, who purchased one of my stories for the FandomTrumpsHate event. She requested a Tortall AU, with Barry as Alanna. Thank you so much for your patience, and I hope you enjoy it!

——————————————————————————————–

"So you put the bastard in his place?" Len asks.

"Yeah! It was great," Barry replies, trying to flip Len over his hip.

It's cute that he thinks that'll work.

Len swipes Barry's legs out from under him and pins him. "Congrats. That must've been satisfying."

"You have no idea," Barry says effusively even as he struggles to escape. "Seeing Tony Woodward slink away after kicking his ass three times in a row - brilliant. He avoids us now. Which is good, since the trip's coming up next week."

He gives up and taps out. Len rolls off of him with a smirk and offers him a hand up, which Barry accepts.

"One more for me," Len tells Mick, who's keeping score in a little red book.

"I don't know why you guys keep count," Barry complains. "I'm never going to beat you."

"Hope is important," Len says. "Also, I'm teaching you all about the noble art of rubbing someone's face in it."

Barry snickers.

"What trip?" Mick asks.

"We're going to the rainforest," Barry says, unable to keep a rueful smile off his face.

"Ah, yes, the rainforest," Len says gleefully. "Old Queen Tallesin's folly."

"It true that she was trying to fix things?" Mick asks. He doesn't always know Tortall legends, being as he is from the middle of nowhere.

"Yep," Barry says. "She was trying to create a new stable ecology for the region or something like that, I think she was saying, but at any rate, she meant to do it by abusing the Dominion Jewel which, uh, didn't work. Legend has it that the Jewel went nuts, created the rainforest and the new southern ridge of mountains, and then leapt by itself into the Mouth of the Salamander."

"Which hadn't even existed before then," Len puts in. "She gave us our first active volcano, like losing the Dominion Jewel wasn't enough."

"And you're going there?" Mick asks Barry. He's got a strange look on his face.

"Yeah, it's the annual trip. We were going to go to the desert, but there's murmurs of unrest, so we're going to the rainforest instead. They're using all the hostels in the desert to host real knights, you see, and mages, too."

"Unrest?"

"Someone swears they've found the remnants of the crystal sword."

"The one that got, uh, eaten when some mage tried a spell to pull it out of the Corus Gate some hundred years ago? That's absurd,” Len scoffs. “Why in the world would it be in the desert?"

"Well, you know, the crystal sword was originally found in the desert.”

“Yeah, but the Lioness' Lightning was found in Olau, according to the legend, and you don’t get much further from the desert than Olau.”

“Well, yeah. But someone said something and then people started fighting - you know how people are about legends."

"True," Len concedes. "Sounds like a fun trip. Have fun."

"We're going," Mick says.

"We're what?" Len yelps. He knows Mick's serious tone. "No, we're not."

"Yes, we are." Mick's voice is pleasant, level, and utterly final.

"I'm the Rogue - I can't just leave Corus at the drop of a hat -"

"Barry's not leaving till next week," Mick points out. "It'll be a good test for your lieutenants. A much needed one. Hartley, Mardon and Shawna all need some independence to see how they'll do."

"Well, I guess..."

"Wait, are you guys serious?" Barry asks, brightening. "That's fantastic!"

He leaps straight at Len, enveloping him in an utterly unexpected hug, making Len topple backwards with a yelp.

"I'm counting that one as one of Barry's," Mick says, smirking.

Len makes a rude gesture in his direction.

Barry does him one better, though, scrambling up from where he's pinning Len to leap at Mick.

"I'm the score-keeper," Mick yelps. "No fair attacking the score-keeper!"

"It's affection, you dumbasses, not attacks!"

"Help, Len! He's got his paws all over me!" Mick wails melodramatically even as he wraps his arms back around Barry for a great bear hug. "Assault! Assault! Summon the Lord Provost! Rogue, I petition you! Help!"

Len is laughing way too hard to say anything snarky.

"I'm the one being assaulted!" Barry laughs. "Mithros, but you're strong."

"You should see me with fire," Mick says, putting Barry back down. "Now get you back to the court adjacent; Len and I need to pack and figure out travel plans."

"Sad but true," Len says, shaking his head as if it can clear the grin on his face. "We'll meet you there. You lot are staying in Castle Perilous, right?"

"It's so badly named," Barry replies, nodding. "That's a way to make someone feel safe, isn't it? Castle Perilous."

"I heard," Mick says solemnly, "that it got that name because it was built on a swamp."

"It was?"

"Oh, yes," Mick says. "See, the first version sank into the swamp. But that didn't stop them - they built a second, stronger one. Which also sank into the swamp. The third one burned down. Fourth one also sank. But the fifth one stayed up!"

Barry gapes at him. "That's awful!"

Mick starts laughing.

"Is any of that true?!" Barry exclaims.

"Given that we heard it in a comedic minstrel performance last week," Len says, biting his lip, "I'm going to say that I doubt it."

"You guys are assholes," Barry tells them, still smiling. "I'll go tell the others; they'll be delighted to hear. See you - huh, I guess if the trip's next week and you're coming, I guess I'll see you there."

"Guess you will," Len says.

----

He waits until Barry's gone and down the street to turn to Mick. "Well?"

"What?"

"Why are we really going? You don't ask for pleasure trips, not like that."

Mick frowns. "You won't believe me."

That, in turn, makes Len frown. "Mick. You're my partner. Of course I believe you."

"I saw an image of a city hidden in the rainforest," Mick says. "In the fire."

"What fire? Mithros' fires, by his temple? One of the other gods?" Len hadn't known Mick even went to those. By and large, Mick is remarkably disdainful of the gods, even though by all accounts he'd grown up in the general religion. He doesn't even have Len's excuse of being born and raised a follower of Mother Flame, She and She Alone, a group that acknowledges the existence of the gods but maintains that they are mere children of the Mother and therefore to worship them is idolatrous. Not that they have anything against the gods – they’d certainly say hello if they met them in the street or something – but they wouldn’t worship them.

Though Len concedes he hasn't always been the best adherent. That restriction against pork - not to mention stealing...

There's a reason Len considers it worthwhile to swing by to greet the Trickster in his sacred spaces, even though he makes certain not to actually pray or anything. Friendly hello to an equal-born child of Mother Flame, albeit one that has the power to destroy Len in a heartbeat.

"No," Mick says, reluctant. "Just - that fire. Last week."

Len searches his memory for any religious fires, tinted with vervain for foresight, but come up empty. And then it hits him. "Wait," he says. "The gambling den arson? The one you ended up in a fit over?"

"Yeah," Mick says guiltily. "Still sorry about that."

"I'm telling you, it's fine," Len says, not for the first time. "I know you've got a case of the firebug fits; s'why I always make sure you got company when you go debt-collecting with torches and why I make sure you always got something to burn. But - you saw something?"

"I saw a city," Mick says. "In the rainforest. We need to be there, or else something bad'll happen."

"That ever happen before?"

"Twice," Mick says. He'd never mentioned that before. "Once before I came to Corus - it's why I came. I saw a new home here. S'why I walked all that way."

"And the second time? What'd you see then?"

"Faithful," Mick says, nodding at his rat, curled up happily in the little pen Len had built for him. "I knew just where to go to find him."

"Well," Len says after a long minute.

"They could be hallucinations," Mick adds hastily. "I know that that's a symptom of firebug fits sometimes, and I've got them before -"

"Only when you were very sick or depressed," Len points out. "Neither of which you are now. No, if you say you saw something, I guess you saw something. Guess we're going to the rainforest."

-----------------------------------

It’s official.

Barry of Allen is the only person in all of Tortall that does not like Thawne Eobard.

No matter how many times Eobard smiles – greasily, in Barry’s opinion – or how everyone swears up and down that he’s really nice, Barry does not like him.

This puzzles the living daylights out of all of his friends.

Being forced to ride in formation, stuck right next to Eobard’s horse, all the way down to the rainforest only made it worse.

Especially since Eobard spends the entire time talking with Iris about some sort of “hidden city” legend in the rainforest, talking about how exciting the concept is - how dangerous - how Good King Jonathan took on the Black City when he was far younger –

(Which he wasn’t, being very nearly a full knight and all, but everyone ignored it when Barry pointed it out. Also, is it just Barry, or is it weird to refer to Good King Jonathan in the singular? It’s always Good-King-Jonathan-and-Queen-Thayet. They ignore Barry about that, too.)

"Unfortunately," Eobard drawls in his nasal voice, far more jarring to Barry's ears than Len's more musical one. "It does seem that heroism of that sort is a thing of the past."

Barry sees Iris' eyes shining in excitement. "Maybe not," she says, sounding far too thoughtful.

"Maybe that's because individualistic heroism has been replaced with individuals committed to upholding institutional justice," Barry says, only slightly sourly.

"How's that?" Caitlin asks, blinking. She's been strangely dazed during much of the trip, as had Cisco; Barry guesses they're not used to traveling like this.

"Individual heroism as in the days of Good King Jonathan and Queen Thayet – and the Lioness, of course - was all well and good if your goal was making a name for yourself and yourself alone," Barry points out. "But permitting justice to be dispensed by individuals and effectively only permitting training for the higher end nobility and nomads, since no one else could afford to lose a child's help in the days prior to the institution of mandatory childhood education, essentially created a system in which entire communities were at the mercy of their local knight's biases and whims. Which is why Good King Jonathan and Queen Thayet worked so hard to develop the current system where any goodman’s child can enter their local training for knighthood, with their families subsidized for the loss of their labor if they’re not landowners. That’s why we call them the ‘Good’ King and Queen, after all."

Iris is nodding eagerly, since this is one of her pet peeves. "Not to mention the utter failure of that system to encourage investigation into issues of structural inequality," she says. "We had knights; now we have enforcers of the law which are themselves subject to the law they enforce."

Thawne Eobard looks annoyed, albeit subtly. "I suppose so," he says. "But there is still a lack of great deeds now, wouldn't you say?"

He aims that question at Iris, who falters.

"Not to mention," he adds smoothly, "you can't overlook the great deeds they did accomplish individually - Jonathan and the Banishment of the Black City, for instance, could not have happened with an army -"

"I personally think that Judge Samor in the 7th District counts as an individual hero," Barry chimes in, noticing with disgust how Iris, Caitlin and Cisco all turn to listen to Eobard adoringly whenever he speaks. He’s not that impressive. "She's been working for the rights of bastard children for fifty years. She fought her way up from nothing to become one of the most respected judges in all of Tortall, which is nearly as helpful in getting rid of the stigma that bastards are useless as her active efforts. And look at how she led the way in equalizing the inheritance laws!"

"I thought her recent ideas about funding unwed mothers were a bit much," Caitlin objects. "Doesn't that undercut the institution of marriage at all?"

"That depends on the benefit of the institution," Cisco points out. "If we really wanted to strengthen marriage above all else, we'd eliminate divorce and trap people in them, but we don't do that because it's not our highest value -"

"Feeding children is more important," Iris adds, nodding.

"I may just be contrary here, but it seems to me that it's not just -" Caitlin starts.

The debate kicks into high gear after that.

Barry's pretty sure he's the only one noticing Eobard's lips twisting in annoyance.

He still manages to bring up the stupid Black City legend three more times, despite Barry's best efforts to derail him.

There’s a lovely welcome feast by Julian Albert, the master of Castle Perilous, in which Albert talks at length about the local legends of gorillas in the rainforest, rumors of them having formed some sort of enclave, and the dangers of going in alone given their territoriality, but Barry goes to bed that evening still feeling unaccountably annoyed. He's not sure why he's so annoyed, he just knows that he is.

He takes a deep breath and lets it out.

"Okay," he mutters into his pillow. "Let's talk it out like Mom and Dad are always saying. Why does it bug me that he's talking about it all the time? So he likes legends; it's not a crime."

Still, doesn't Eobard realize how impulsive Iris can be? If he keeps goading her on like this, she'll do something -

Barry sits bolt upright in bed.

"Stupid," he hisses, and flashes into his clothing and down the stairs.

Even with the aid of the magic he'd sworn never to use, he barely makes it to the gate before Iris.

"Are you nuts?" he asks her.

Iris tosses the hood of her waterproof cloak back, scowling at him. "How'd you know I'd be here?" she asks.

"After Eobard practically dared you to go to into the rainforest looking for a hidden city by comparing you to Good King Jonathan and Queen Thayet? Seemed obvious," Barry says, then amends it to, "Mostly obvious. I just figured it out."

"He didn't dare me," Iris says, rolling her eyes. "But he's not wrong - there's a great deed here, just waiting to happen!"

"No one has ever found a hidden city in the rainforest, Iris. It’s not like the Black City, which was actually visible.”

“I know!” she says, beaming. “But I’ve figured it out.”

Barry pauses. “You’ve figured out…what?”

“It’s the gorillas! Everyone has been everywhere in the rainforest except where it’s marked out as gorilla territory, because they’re so violent against intruders. That must be where the hidden city is!”

Barry gapes at her. “So your idea is to go straight to the place with the violent territorial gorillas? Really?”

Iris crosses her arms. “You can come with me or not, Barry, but I’m going.”

Barry bits his lip. Iris seems dead-set on the idea, and he knows her well enough by now to know that nothing he says will change her mind. She’s going to go into that rainforest, with him or without him, and she won’t let him go back and get anyone from the Castle –

Huh. That’s an idea.

“Okay,” he says. “I’m coming. But can we make a detour?”

She scowls at him, suspecting a trick.

“No, no,” Barry says. “We’re definitely going into the rainforest. It’s just – we have to pass through the city proper before we get to the gates, right?”

“Yeah, so?”

“I promised I’d meet Len and Mick –” Tomorrow or the day after, technically, but they did tell him where they’d be staying. “– so we should swing by in case they get annoyed about me ditching them after they came all this way to hang out with us here.”

Iris frowns. “Fine,” she says. “But if you try to get them to stop me, I’ll never forgive you.”

Damnit.

They steal into the city proper and head down to the Monkey’s Paw, which is a disreputable-looking tavern in the poorer part of town, and which is surrounded by plenty of big, angry-looking people eying Barry and Iris’ expensive cloaks.

“Uh,” Barry says. “I’m here to see the Rogue?”

The thugs exchange glances, but finally one of them gets up and gestures for Barry and Iris to follow.

Len and Mick are seated in the middle of a positive sea of shining criminal faces, Len weaving one of his ridiculous-yet-true stories about heists he’s run with Mick interjecting additional details, some of which might even be true.

“Rogue,” the thug grunts. “Guests.”

Len looks up. “Barry,” he says warmly. “And you brought your friend, too. Do you have news for me?”

Barry blinks, not sure what Len means, but Iris steps up right away, saying, “News from the Castle, Rogue, and the special information you wanted.”

“You’re planning to job old Perilous?” one of the local thieves asks, sounding impressed.

Len shrugs. “I ain’t committing to nothing till I got all the intel I need,” he says archly. “Sorry, boys; gonna have to continue this story later. Need to talk to my, ah, friends from the Castle.”

There are murmurs of agreement and approval, and the crowd splits to let Len and Mick walk through to Barry and Iris, catching them easily by the arm and leading them to another room.

“Mick?” Len says.

Mick holds up a secret-sphere, activating it with a click. “It’ll muffle the sound, but not for long,” he warns.

“Being a Rogue spy in the Castle is a dream come true,” Iris says.

Barry sighs. “Was that necessary?” He does think it’s pretty cool, though, so he’s maybe not managing "put upon" as well as he could.

“This ain't Corus,” Len replies dryly. “Been a while since these people have seen - or had to respect- the Rogue. Enough of that, though. What’s up? You’re early.”

“Iris wants to go hunting for the hidden city in the rainforest,” Barry says. “Tonight. Alone.”

Len and Mick exchange a look. “City in the forest, huh?” Len says. “Okay, we’re in.”

“What?!” Barry yelps.

“Yes!” Iris cheers.

“Do you know where it is?” Len asks.

“I have my suspicions,” Iris says, and grins. “And a map.”

“You have a map?” Barry asks. She didn’t mention a map.

“Yep,” she says. “Got it from Julian Albert myself. He’s really into the whole gorilla thing.”

“So we’re really going,” Barry says.

“We’re really going,” Iris says.

“At least we’ve made a decision,” Len says dryly.

------------------------------------------

"It's official," Barry mutters. "I hate the jungle."

"Rainforest, Barry," Len replies, though he seems equally displeased by trudging through miles and miles of identical forest in the dark, their way lit only by the mage-light of their lanterns.

"What's the difference?"

"Rainforest has a thick canopy of trees, blocks the light," Mick grunts. "Jungle's thick on ground vegetation."

"I didn't know that," Iris observes. "Where'd you pick it up?"

"Mick knows everything," Len drawls, but he sounds pleased. Barry knows Len well enough to know that it's from Iris not having expressed surprise at Mick having brains as well as brawn. "He's - what's that word again? Starts with an o, means know-it-all?"

Iris blinks, baffled, and exchanges glances with Barry.

O word, o word, know-it-all, all-knowing...

"Wait," Barry says. "Omniscient?"

"That's the one," Len says cheerfully. "He's a bit slow to get to it sometimes, but ask him a question and he knows the answer."

"You have great faith in your friend," Iris says. The smile is evident in her voice. "To which I owe the life of my own friend, so I suppose I must believe you."

Len chuckles. "And how has Eddie been treating you?"

"He hasn't been 'treating' me anyhow; we're just friends -"

"Friends don't make out in Sweetheart Lane," Len shoots back with a smirk.

"Iris!" Barry exclaims, delighted.

"Gimme a break!" Iris shoots back, grinning shamelessly. “He's adorable!”

"Yes, adorable - and new to the city, too, which means you took him to Sweetheart Lane," Barry says, smirking. “For shame, Iris. Corrupting nice young men like that.”

"I remind you, Barry, that I am also your princess."

"Not in the rainforest you're not," Mick says. “Nobody to enforce your rules.”

"I'll tease you later," Barry tells Iris, earning a laugh. "All the time. Endlessly. You'll beg me to stop."

"I'll live," she replies. "Now, Len, tell us what you mean by Mick being omniscient. You mean he's terribly clever and people don't realize it, right?"

Mick snorts and Len laughs. "If I meant that," he says, "I would say it."

"Then what do you mean? You can't mean that he actually knows everything."

"Well, no. But he can answer any question he puts his mind to," Len explains, no trace of doubt in his voice. "It just takes time, that's all. I asked him a question once and he answered me near on two years later; he's lucky I even remembered what he was talking about."

"So he can answer anything, but slow? What if I asked about the meaning of life?" Iris teases.

"I could tell you," Mick says, and he sounds amused. "But sadly by the time I got the answer, you'd already be dead - and have your answer."

Iris laughs. "Well, that’s convenient. Wouldn't you say, Barry?"

"A little," Barry says, smiling. "Hardly the strangest thing I've ever heard of. Is it always slow?"

"Nah, sometimes it's quick as a wink," Len says. "Not often, though; I prefer the slow approach, myself."

"Of course you do." Barry rolls his eyes.

"Try him!"

"And if he doesn't answer, wait a few years?"

"Well, don't ask him anything too complex, then."

"But that's all the fun," Iris says, shaking her head.

"Oh, I've got one," Barry says. "Mick."

Mick raises his eyebrows.

"Where should I go to find what I'm looking for?"

Barry's quite pleased with his question; it's abstract enough for a good answer, but it sounds to him, at least, like an excellent request for directions to the hidden city, which they could then trace on the map that Iris has been consulting regularly but hasn't shown around. They can use that as a test.

Mick blinks. "Oh, that," he says dismissively. "That's easy."

"It is?" Barry replies, blinking a little.

"It's in the base of that big tree down that hill," Mick says. “It'll put you on the right path to what you’re looking for."

Len squints down the hill, enhancing his mage-light. "I don't think I see a tree, Mick," he says. "The hill cuts off in a cliff-face or something like -" He abruptly goes silent.

"Len?" Barry asks.

"That’s a tree," Len says.

Barry steps forward and looks. "Oh, wow," he says. The tree is gigantic, old and gnarled, with its branches twining up into the canopy, but its base is frankly massive. You could fit a house inside that trunk.

Barry steps forward again, eager to get a better look, and that's when the ground gives way beneath him and suddenly he's sliding down the hill.

"Barry!" he hears his friend shout as he bumps and rolls his way down the hill, instinctively throwing his arms up to protect his face and focusing on letting his body be limp and soft, falling the way you're supposed to fall.

Thank the Goddess for knight lessons, he supposes.

It's probably due to that that he makes it to the bottom of the hill without anything more than a few bruises and scrapes.

The bottom of the hill –

The tree is just as massive as Barry thought, but it's only up close that he sees the intricate carvings on it.

"Oh, wow," he breathes again, ignoring the sound of his friends edging down the hill in his direction.

He'd thought you could fit a house in here, and it looks like someone had had the same thought, decorating the place all over.

And more importantly, these aren't just carvings.

"It's a door!" Barry calls, and presses his palm against what looked like the door handle. "Guys, it's a -"

The wall creaks open, pulling back with an ancient groan and taking Barry, who'd been unwisely leaning forward, toppling inside.

The floor is some distance further down than he would've thought it'd be. It's definitely lower than the ground outside, at any rate.

"Barry!" he hears Len shouting.

"Ouch," Barry says, sitting. He turns on his mage-light – which had turned off in his tumble, since he was no longer holding the activation rune against his skin - and sees...

Treasure.

Not treasure as one would regularly think it, but gorgeous carvings of all sorts, pictures, sculptures. Violent figures everywhere, holding up their swords and shields and spears as if in defense.

Barry would have thought it a place of worship, but there's no altar, no religious imagery, no signs of dedication to any god. Just warriors, ready to fight.

Also, Barry is sitting on something that's poking him in the ass.

He fishes it out from under him, only to blink stupidly at it.

It’s a sword. He can’t quite make out the details of it – mage-light is dim, better for seeing distances than details - but it is definitely a sword. And a scabbard and sword belt, for that matter, which is good because if Barry fell straight on a sword he'd be a lot less curious and a lot more bloody.

Why is there a sword lying in the middle of this place?

"Hey, Barry," he hears Len drawl. "You feel you need more time in there, or you ready to come out?"

Barry looks up sheepishly. "I found a sword," he calls.

"A sword," Len says flatly. "How nice. I'm sure when I recover from the heart attack you gave me, I might even care."

"Oh, hush," Iris says, though Barry can tell from her voice that she's also relieved. "You know, Alanna the Lioness found her first sword on a quest like this."

"She found it amongst ruins," Len shoots back, unimpressed. “In Olau. Hardly the middle of a rainforest.”

"These look like ruins! Or, well, they're ancient-looking, anyway..."

Mick appears behind the bickering duo with a length of vine, likely from a nearby tree. He tosses it down to Barry, who shoves the sword under his arm and climbs out.

"Thanks, Mick," he says when he gets up to the ground again, "for as usual being the only practical one of the whole lot of us."

Mick grunts in amusement as both Len and Iris immediately protest that they were going to get rope, really, in just a moment.

"So you found a sword," Iris finally says when she realizes it's hopeless. "Like Lady Alanna's Lightning! Oh, this is even more like the Quest of the Black City than I'd hoped!"

"I can't believe we're on a quest," Len grumbles, but his eyes are shining. He might not admit it, but the Rogue of Corus is as much of a storytelling fiend as Iris is; no wonder he agreed to this trip so easily.

Barry shrugs and buckles the sword on. It feels right. "Well, I am going to be a knight," he points out. "So a sword obtained on a quest is definitely a step in the right direction. Thanks for the directions, Mick."

"I still don't believe it," Iris announces. "Pure coincidence, I say."

"You don't have to believe it," Len retorts.

"Which way, Iris?" Barry interrupts before they start arguing again.

Iris checks her map. "Oh, this way. Follow me. So, Barry, what are you naming it?"

“The sword?”

"You should name it ‘Pours’," Len says immediately.

"What?"

"You know - when it rains-forest, it pours."

"That was awful,” Iris declares.

Mick nods, but he's quietly snickering. Barry is only snickering quietly because he has his hand over his mouth. "What?" he says when Iris gives him a long-suffering look. "It's funny!"

"Don't encourage him. Draw the sword, Barry; let’s see what it looks like.”

Barry does so. It’s lightweight and easy to hold, with a different metal of some sort running up the middle. “I like it,” he says.

“I think you should call it Lightning,” Iris declares.

"Like Lady Alanna?"

"Exactly!"

"I don't know. Seems like a name with a lot of weight..."

"Call it whatever you like," Len says. "It's only a pointy stick in the end."

That, of course, sets Iris off on a rant on the importance of swords and sword-bonding in the history of heroes, Len needling her every time she shows signs of flagging.

Mick nudges Barry a little. Barry looks at him. "Name it whatever you like," Mick says. "Don't worry about the weight of history; it's not as heavy as you might think."

This, Barry thinks to himself, unable to keep from smiling, from a man who named his pet rat Faithful.

Well, he supposes Mick knows best, then.

"Lightning it is," Barry decides, sheathing it once more. He feels a bit better with a proper sword, since he had only been able to bring knives out with him on this trip - as trainee knights, they travelled armed, but put the swords away when visiting at a castle.

Mick nods in approval. Barry feels warm inside.

"So, another question," Barry says to Mick, grinning to show he was joking. "You think we'll find the hidden city?"

"Sooner than we'd like," Mick says, but he's not looking at Barry.

Barry turns his head to look, and -

"Is that a giant statue of a gorilla?" he asks, amazed.

"It is!" Iris exclaims. "But what can it mean?"

"It means," a deep voice - inhumanly deep - says from behind them, "that you are trespassing."

They all spin around.

From the darkness outside the circle of their magelight, an enormous figure, larger and broader than any man, steps forward.

It's a gorilla.

No, not just a gorilla. It's a gorilla, standing like a man, its yellow eyes bright with intelligence, and it’s wearing armor. Filigreed silver armor, of a make and style Barry has never seen before.

It bares its fangs.

"Welcome," it says, "to Gorilla City."