#leonard snart is a stubborn bastard

[zemkzone]

... It is the care with which you touched me, the desire in your eyes when you looked at me, the name you whispered against my neck. I do not want last night to be our last.

Barry (Fitz)Allen to Leonard Snart, from Chapter 3 of Perspective: A ColdFlash Regency AU

[agentmarymargaretskitz]

Fic writer asks 18!

18. What is a line/scene you’re really proud of? Give us the DVD commentary for that scene.

You get two.

1- The line: "Firestorm, bitch." from Becoming a Legend.

I wanted badass. Pure and simple. I was inspired by "Leonard Snart, Robber of ATMs" and "Science, biach" admittedly. Lily and Jax were back together and facing someone who knew their future and somehow I thought 'hey, I should have some snazzy line in here'. And then like a lightning bolt- "Firestorm, bitch" came to me. So I tried to write the scene around that to make it happen. And people seemed to like it.

2-The scene: The Bad Batch fleeing Kamino in The World We Once Knew, Gone It Is (aka the Bad Batch role reversal where Hunter turns)

I rewatched the Batch fleeing Kamino about two times when working on this fic. Copious notes were taken- I may actually need to get a new notebook for notes alone. The challenge was how much would I need to flip this with Hunter attacking his brothers instead of Crosshair. And being the angst queen I am, I wanted to go HARD.

Hunter's a smart character- he thinks on his feet quick, he's good with strategy, he's developed battle plans with them. Not to mention he's been their, which makes it more daunting to the Batch to lose not just a brother, but the one who is in charge and usually calls the shots. I took that into account, as well as the benefits Crosshair brings to the table being with his brothers this time.

Also, I didn't realize Tech was in the ship the whole time, so it's basically 3 against 1. So I filed Tech away for major guilt (and other angst) to deal with later.

I figure, people are shooting at them and Hunter is one of those trying to take them down so the flight instinct is going to be raging. Also having a small child comes into play there too. But Wrecker and Crosshair working together made sense to me- the Bad Batch arc and the time before Crosshair went to the dark side made me infer they are the tightest.

Wrecker getting shot happens in canon. I figure- bring some more into it because Hunter is not the crack shot Crosshair is. So shoot Crosshair, Wrecker gets worried and tries to go to his aid and boom, he's down too. It's a strategy move from Hunter's twisted mind. With that, he's got half the batch down and Tech's on the ship.

They still have to get Wrecker on the ship. Originally, Crosshair was going to give Omega his blaster, but I scrapped that because they've barely gotten to know each other and that walking toothpick takes all his trust and feelings and shit and holds them tight until he's sure he can trust someone with them. He's also stubborn and cares about Wrecker, so he goes and helps Echo. That leaves Omega, and I had to watch the scene a few times to figure out that she can get a blaster from one of the crates they're trying to get on board. And then boom- lucky shot at Hunter.

Now Hunter is pissed. He's best at close combat- which is one reason why he and Crosshair are such great opposites of each other. Plus- not thinking clearly beyond the orders he'd been given. So he starts after Omega with a knife. There's an absolute shit-your-pants feeling seeing a trained commando running at you with a knife methinks.

The entire Omega running away from Hunter and jumping to get hauled up by Echo and the stubborn bastard man was very influenced by Black Widow's opening with the plane. Figured I'd add a little drama in there. And then the relief of 'we got out and we're not dead'. The rest of the mourning and drama falls into place right after the adrenaline wears off.

Actually, I listened to The Pursuit from the Black Widow OST multiple times to get that energy for the entire scene. If you're going to read that scene, slap that track on and read it to that.

(That got really long, thank you for the Ask)

[stillthewordgirl]

LOT/CC fic: A Million Miles Away

One moment Leonard Snart has accepted death at the Oculus...and the next, he's back on the Waverider, disoriented and alive after all. But a lot of time has passed for everyone but him, and a lot of things have changed. Prequel to "Me vs. You."

After I wrote "Me vs. You," I couldn't get that version of the characters out of my head. So I wrote a prequel. (OK, two prequels. I'll post the other one in a few days.) Thanks to LarielRomeniel for the beta!

Can be read here at AO3.

Sara had been right.

It is lonely.

Oh, maybe he’s not dead yet, but his hands are numb and the rest of him is starting to follow. Leonard stares into the surging blue energy of the Oculus Wellspring, trying to keep his mind empty of anything that might make him regret this decision more than he already is. If those energy waves are hazardous—and knowing the Time Bastards, they probably are—he’s already gotten a good dose of them, and it’d probably be too late even if he wasn’t determined to stay here and blow this damned thing up.

He can still feel Sara’s kiss on his lips, though. It’s stupid and sentimental, but he hopes the explosion happens quickly enough that he can still feel it when he...

There’s a noise in the echoing wellspring chamber, and he jerks his head around, relieved when it’s just a new batch of the Time Bastards’ soldiers and one, he thinks, of the No. 1 Time Bastards themselves. Not Mick, not Sara, not anyone he cares about keeping from this train wreck he’s dedicated himself to causing.

Train wreck. Lisa, I’m sorry.

“Shut it down!” the No. 1 Time Bastard yells. All the soldiers have their weapons trained on Leonard, but no one’s shooting. Maybe a shot would set things off? He tries to make his hand grip the failsafe a little tighter, just in case. The energy is surging, blue waves clouding his vision.

It is, he thinks, nearly time.

What’s it like? Dying?

What’d you feel?

Leonard turns his head, grimacing, toward the Time Bastard. And for some reason, the only right last words he can think of, the only thing that pops into his head, is from that movie Lisa liked so much when she was little, when she still hoped a Blue Fairy might come into their lives and save them.

Leonard Snart smiles grimly. He grips the failsafe a little harder. And he stares right at the No. 1 Time Bastard.

I guess lonely.

“There are,” he tells Druce, “no strings on me.”

And Leonard gets his wish. He can still feel Sara’s kiss on his lips when the Oculus wellspring explodes, blue light surging around him, energy buffeting him and ripping him away.

Like everybody I loved...

He falls into the wellspring, barely conscious, or is he conscious at all? Because the blue light is all he can see. He can’t feel anything. Not pain nor fear, not anger nor regret.

...was a million miles...

Well, maybe regret.

Away.

Something tugs on his arm.

Leonard frowns, turning his head. Blue light flickers through his eyelids, and he squints against it. What...

Tug. Tug.

His hands are still numb, but he tries to jerk his arm away, disoriented and a little annoyed. He’d been falling, he thinks, but he’s not now, and...

Thud!

He lands on something hard and cold, his shoulder smarting from the impact, his cheekbone glancing painfully off something metal. He growls in irritation, ripping his arm away from whoever’s yanked on it, struggling to sit up and get his bearings as the glare of blue light fades slowly from his vision and he becomes aware of a buzz of voices.

Panic surges, and he lurches away. Have the Time Bastards found a way to rip him away before the explosion after all? He thought the explosion had already happened...but then he’d be dead, dying alone, not whole and relatively unhurt, blinking up at a group of people he doesn’t recognize as his vision returns.

They don’t look like Time Bastards.

“Here, mate.” The blond in the trench coat and red tie offers him a hand. “You’ve been through it, haven’t you?”

“Careful!” the man next to him cautions, a worried look on his face. “I told you what he did to Amaya...” The woman next to him throws him a doubtful glance, while the other woman frowns.

“Who the hell’s Amaya?” Leonard snarls at him, but then his attention’s caught by motion to his other side, and he recoils a little at the sight of two figures, one in what almost seems to be a spacesuit.

The other is…in the ATOM suit?

The one on the left gets its helmet off first, and Leonard feels the bottom dropping out of his stomach as he freezes, staring.

Mick Rory gapes back at him for a moment before barking. “Gideon? Is this real Snart?”

Leonard barely hears him, or the response. He’s on the ship. And Mick’s here, Mick’s alive, thank god, so he’d made it out of the explosion zone, but there was one more person there when Leonard took the Oculus and...

“Where’s Sara?” he says, surging to his feet and stumbling. His feet and legs are numb.

“On the bridge.” Another familiar voice. The second suited igure is holding its helmet now--and it’s Raymond, of course. But who the hell are who the rest of these people? Leonard gives them a wary look, abruptly cognizant that he’s on the floor just inside the Waverider’s main hatch.

Which means the bridge is...

Stumbling again, he turns and heads down the corridor, heading for the bridge. He thinks.

“Mr. Snart!” Gideon’s voice rises over the chorus of other voices that seem to be telling him to stop. “You should get to medbay. I’m not certain what the effects of long-term exposure to the timestream...”

He ignores her, grimly, barely hearing the words, or at least not fully registering them. “Gideon? Am I going in the right direction?”

“Yes, but...”

Then someone’s in front of him, and Leonard blinks up at Mick, who’s still wearing part of his spacesuit and staring at his partner. The look on Mick’s face is...

And as weird and disorienting as this whole thing has been, that’s Leonard’s first clear sign that it’s even odder than he thinks.

“It’s really you.” Mick stares, then shakes his head. “It’s you. Not a...a hallucination. Not old you. Not Leo. You.”

Leonard frowns at him. “Leo? What...”

But Mick’s done something really weird now. He’s stepped forward and enveloped his oldest friend in a bear hug, squeezing enough that Leonard feels his breath wheezing out of his lungs. Mick smells like smoke and sweat and beer, just like normal, but his action is so unexpected and out of character that Leonard just stands there in stunned silence until his friend releases him and takes a step back, a thoroughly un-Mick-like smile on his face.

“What the hell?” he asks, conversationally, turning his head as the Boy Scout runs up beside them. Raymond looks like he wants a hug too, but Leonard holds up a hand, and he stops.

The other two men exchange a glance.

“Snart,” Raymond says quietly. “How long did you think it was? That you were gone?”

The words don’t make sense. Leonard frowns at him, then at Mick, whose smile is laced with (also un-Mick-like) consideration now.

“The goddamned Oculus just exploded,” he says, waving a hand back toward the hatch. “How did you get me out of there? Is S...is everyone else all right?”

He takes a step toward the bridge again. Raymond steps in front of him and reaches out to rest his hands on Leonard’s shoulders. But before Leonard can slug him and remove the offending appendages from his person, he speaks again.

“Snart,” he says gently. “It’s been three years since the Oculus exploded.”

Leonard stares at him. “What?”

“He’s right,” Mick says in a low voice, looking down. There’s pain in his voice, and now Leonard hears it. “Been a long time, Snart.”

The idea doesn’t compute. “Three years.”

“Yeah.” Raymond gives him a rueful little smile. “We all thought you were dead.” He glances at Mick. “Until the Time Bureau got a reading showing very dramatic temporal fluctuations in this region and asked us to check it out. And we found you just...floating...there. Mick and I went out to pull you onboard.”

“That’s not possible.”

“It is.” Raymond looks sympathetic, but stubborn. “But if you won’t listen to us...” He raises his voice. “Gideon?”

“Mr. Snart, they are correct.” If Leonard didn’t know better, he’d think the AI’s voice had its own share of pain layered underneath the computerized tones. “You were presumed dead in the Oculus explosion. Which was very nearly three years ago as of today.”

Three years.

It’s too much to process. Leonard holds very still, staring down the hallway toward the bridge.

“Savage?” he asks after a moment.

Mick makes a noise of satisfaction. “Dead,” he says. “Real dead.” He frowns at Leonard glances at him. “Didn’t save Hunter’s family, though. And he’s dead too.”

“Sara’s the captain now,” Raymond cuts in as Leonard digests the blunt words. “She’s a good one.”

“Of course she is,” Leonard murmurs. Three years. And he’d never stolen a kiss. He doesn’t want to think about that—but there are some familiar faces he’s neither seen nor heard mentioned. “The professor? The kid? Kendra?”

Raymond and Mick exchange glances. “Stein died,” Raymond says quietly. “In...well. We’ve got a lot to tell you. Jax is OK. He went back to Central City. And Kendra left with Carter. He, uh, got his memory back.”

“Sorry to hear that. About the professor.” And he is. He takes another step, still heading for the bridge, Mick and Raymond falling in on either side of him. “Anything else I should know about?”

They exchange another glance over his head. Leonard’s not sure how he feels about that. “Well, you blew up the Time Bastards,” Mick rumbles. “But now there’s the Time Bureau. They’re the good guys. That’s what they tell us, anyway.”

“Bureau. Sounds…annoying.”

“You have no idea,” Raymond tells him fervently. “But we’ve got a sort of…détente. We work together. And…ah…”

“Blondie was playin’ house with their director.” Mick’s words are harsh, blunt, with the air of ripping off a bandage. Leonard stops in his tracks, looking at his friend, who regards him steadily. “Real serious, like.”

He hadn’t thought Mick knew about his…his feelings for Sara. He’s not even sure what sort of name to put to them, really. But he does know, as he stares at Mick, that there’s a pit of sorts somewhere in the vicinity of his stomach, and a hope he hadn’t even know was stirring again is starting to fold up and die.

“Don’t know what happened there. They ain’t living together anymore, but I don’t know that they’re done, either.” Mick pauses. “Uh. Don’t know that you and her…the director lady…”

“Ava Sharpe,” Raymond interjects helpfully. “Yeah, Snart, I don’t think you’ll be a fan.” He continues obliviously. “She wasn’t a big fan of the Legends until she hooked up with Sara. Don’t really know if she really is now. She’s really big on rules.”

Leonard gives Mick a look he’s pretty sure is equal parts aghast and disbelieving. Maybe with a slight side order of…

Hurt? Heartbreak? He shies away from those terms, already packing the old ice in around his heart. If he even wants to admit he has one….

And then that ice shatters.

“Leonard?”

It’s like some stupid movie cliché, like one of those ridiculous rom-coms Lisa likes. He looks up and there’s Sara, at the end of the hall, staring back at him like she can’t believe her eyes.

She looks amazing. Not so different, really…maybe there’s something different with her hair, maybe there’s now a line or two around her eyes. But there’s something indefinable there, too, like she’s easier in her skin, like she’s made her peace with her past, and it’s just a part of her now.

The lost assassin is found. Or it’s just that she’s found her place, there in the captain’s chair of the Waverider.

Leonard takes a step toward her; he can’t help it. Then another. And…

“Sara!”

There’s another blond woman in the hallway suddenly, appearing behind Sara but moving to her side, giving her an odd glance before looking toward Leonard, Mick and Raymond. She’s wearing a blue suit, and her hair is pulled back, and every instinct Leonard has tells him this is not someone to cross. The air of competence and badassery is really rather like Sara’s—but something else about her (a certain sense of rigidity, of official authority) is rather definitely not.

Sara blinks, looking at the other woman…who’s set a hand on her arm. A rather proprietary hand, if Leonard’s any judge. He starts to bristle, stuffs it down. He has no right. He never did.

Sara seems to sense Leonard’s abortive movement, looking back at him.

“Ava,” she says, looking a little sheepish. “We found the cause of your temporal fluctuations.” She nods toward Leonard, who thinks he’s feeling even more disoriented now than he felt before.  “This is Leonard…”

“…Snart.” The other woman—Ava—finishes, staring. The disbelief on her face has started to morph into something else, and Leonard has started to feel like maybe he should get out of here. “The thief. The villain. The man who murdered the Time Masters.”

Sara whirls. “What? No…”

But Ava is advancing toward him. “Leonard Snart,” she says grimly, “I’m taking you into custody. For questioning about the destruction of the Vanishing Point.”

Leonard stares at her. “Ex-cuse me?” he manages.

Raymond and Mick both start talking at once, and Sara, shaking her head in disbelief, moves in front of the other woman, holding out her hands.

“Leonard is a hero,” she says firmly, and Leonard both winces at the word and feels gratified at the support. “He freed time. Didn’t Rip tell you what the Time Masters did? We had to undo their crap to defeat Savage, for free will.”

Ava stops, looking at Sara, and Leonard supposes he should be grateful that there’s enough trust there, at least, that she listens. She glances back at Leonard, and he can see the conflict in her eyes.

“Director Hunter just told us to keep an eye open for him, about what he did,” she tells Sara. “He told us the Vanishing Point exploded, because of him,” she jerks her head at Leonard, “and we were the heirs to the Time Masters, because someone had to protect time.”

Mick snorts. “Good ol’ Rip,” he says, “always leavin’ shit out.”

Ava bristles at him, but Raymond steps forward, between her and Leonard, and damn it, he’s grateful for the Boy Scout now, because Raymond’s posture is both determined and protective.

“We were all part of that too,” he tells the Time Bureau director staunchly. “Mick, me, Sara.” He points at Leonard. “He’s just the one who held down the failsafe and, we thought, lost his life because of it.” He looked thoughtful. “I mean, hell, I was holding it first. Then Mick knocked me out. Then Leonard knocked him out. Sara didn’t knock anyone out. This time.”

Ava Sharpe looks like Raymond’s giving her a headache. Leonard feels some satisfaction—along with an unwilling rush of sympathy. But Raymond’s continuing, glancing at Mick, who’s nodding in agreement.

“Anyway, if you’re going to blame someone, going to arrest someone, you’ll have to arrest us all,” he says. “We were all part of it.”

“He’s right,” Sara jumps in quietly. “And Rip apparently didn’t tell you that it was his plan. To blow up the Oculus.” She nods as the other woman looks at her. “The Time Masters were as corrupt as hell. It had to be done. Or Vandal Savage would still be on course to take over the world and we’d all be dead.”

“Or worse,” mutters Mick, but only Leonard and Raymond hear him.

“Rip probably wanted you to keep your eyes out for him for another reason,” Sara continues, looking at Leonard, then away. “Probably…he suspected Leonard wasn’t…dead.”

“If he did, can we bring ‘im back and kill ‘im again?” Mick asks, but Raymond hushes him.

Whatever there is between them, this Ava trusts Sara enough that she believes her. Leonard can almost see the instant her ire turns from Leonard himself to the absent and presumed deceased Rip.

“Damn it,” she says under her breath, then turns her gaze back on Leonard. He never learns what she would have said, though, because at that point, Sara reaches out and touches her elbow, and her attention wavers back to the captain.

“Come on,” Sara says, her own attention now thoroughly off Leonard. “I’ll tell you the whole…” The pause is so tiny that Leonard thinks that only he hears it, or maybe it’s just his imagination.  “… the story.” She glances back at them. “Listen to Gideon,” she says quietly. “Medbay’s probably a good idea.”

And then she’s gone, heading back to the bridge side by side with Ava, and Leonard can’t help feeling like she’s walking right back out of his life again, any furtive chance he had gone before it could be realized, or maybe it never existed at all. And he’s not the sort to hold that against someone, he really isn’t, but he…he has whiplash.

It was only an hour or so ago she’d challenged him to steal a kiss.

And only minutes ago that she’d kissed him.

He can’t feel that kiss anymore.

“You OK, boss?” Mick asks quietly, and even Raymond’s just watching quietly, seeming to understand that there are more things going on here than he realizes.

Leonard Snart drags in a breath.  He lets it out slowly. He’s alive. Ten minutes ago, he’d known he was going to die. He has a second chance at life.

Three years.

And he has no idea what to do with it.

“Peachy.”

[a-redharlequin]

Disclaimer: I own nor have made any of the images used in this board.

FlashWeather/ColdFlash AU

One of Barry’s worst nightmares has come true. Yet another nemesis, and one of the worst possible people, has learned of his secret identity; Mark Mardon.

However, Mark has no interest in selling the Flash down the river, or even using it to seek revenge. No, he’s found something much better to use this newfound information for; leverage, or, more specifically, extortion.

During his ‘research’ of Barry Allen and the Flash, he found out something that was worth more to him than retribution; that the Flash can time travel, that it was possible to save Clyde. That he could have his brother back.

Now if he can just convince Barry to go along with it, everything would be perfect.

But Barry has learned his lesson (again) and he’s not about to mess with the timeline (again) for anything less than a catastrophe (…again). No matter how guilty he felt about not being fast enough, good enough, to prevent Clyde’s death.

But Mark’s not taking no for an answer and is pulling out all the stops to get on Barry’s good side, to show that he can change, that he could keep Clyde on, well, not so much the straight and narrow, but at least obedient to the Rogue’s Rules. Something Lisa Snart had made a point of enforcing if anyone wanted to stay in her city.

(Even if Leonard Snart had mysteriously disappeared, it didn’t mean the city’s underworld no longer had a ruler. Honestly, the queen of gold was even more terrifying than the king of cold.)

Barry can’t go anywhere anymore without a certain weather meta dogging his steps, as it seems the rogue has made it his personal mission to make sure the reckless red speedster doesn’t get himself killed before he can save Mark’s brother.

In spite of themselves, their prolonged exposure to one another mixed with Barry’s stubbornness and Mark’s persistence, the two get closer and things between them become more electrically charged than their respective abilities that seem to be trying to draw them together like magnets. As if it weren’t enough that Mark insisted on sticking to him like a burr, but that their powers, when not pitted against one another, seem to feed off of one another like some sort of twisted and orgasmic form of symbiosis that Team Flash are all too eager to study.

But Mark can’t be sure if he really wants Barry, or if his feelings are just desperation mixed with addiction after being alone for so long. Barry feeling much the same, as well as unable to trust Mark’s intentions regarding ‘them’.

Barry’s reservations and denials are breaking down; now he just can’t decide if he’s refusing out of responsibility, or fear of Mark abandoning him once he has what he wants.

When Barry gives in and finds a way to save Clyde and preserve the past and future, things look complicated but promising.

Then Leonard Snart sweeps in like a blizzard, returned from the dead and now a meta on equal footing with the most powerful on top of his already legendary skill set. The only thing seemingly stopping him from an attempt at world domination is his newly chosen career as an (anti-)hero (trust Leonard Snart to figure out how to make super-heroism pay).

Safe to say, Cold is back, and he’s looking for more than a chance at working things out with Team Flash.

Mark had gotten his brother back and just settled into this strange new world order, and had finally been ready to work on proving his seriousness about their relationship to Barry, prove to him they could make things work. The last thing he needed was a rival who already had one foot in the door to Barry’s life and his heart; as if the cold bastard didn’t have enough going for him, he had to make a move for Flash too?!

Now Barry is more confused than ever and his heart is being torn in two when he’s faced with two paths to choose from with yet another crisis on the horizon. Will he go left, or will he go right?

But maybe the right path for them all is more straightforward than he thinks.

Central City collectively holds its breath to see how the Flash’s personal life choices will once again change the course of its future.

[captainwhogotthecanary]

For the prompt thing Captain Canary + Star City + fluff + cards

Okay, so this is a multi-purpose ficlet. I set out to write adrabble for @ficcingcaptaincanary, and it ended up also being a (very verylate, but they will all get finished) prompt fill, as well as loosely inspiredby a drawing by @pintosketches. Set at some vague point in time that I won’tstop hoping will eventually exist.

She doesn't mean to keep him. Sara isn't really a cat person, andthe bedraggled kitten who wandered aboard the Waverider is a scrappy littlething, hissing and swiping at anyone who tries to touch him.

Except for Sara. When Sara is nominated to remove the cat (she'sgot the best chance at avoiding claws, and besides, she's the captain), thetiny creature gives a lonely little meow and then purrs much more loudly thanseems possible, pressing itself firmly into Sara's touch. She ignores thesnickers from the crew as she starts cooing to it and brings it to the med bay.

Gideon is able to clean up the stray without any trauma, revealinga gorgeous shade of gray under all the dirt. “The stowaway is male, approximately8 weeks old, a breed known as Russian Blue.” There's a pause as Sara continuespetting the happily rumbling feline. “While I don't officially recommend weadopt him, ship’s cats are known to be good luck, and this one seems entirelyunbothered by the stresses of time travel.”

Sara still doesn't mean to keep him. She figures at least one ofthe crew will object and be an annoyance, or maybe someone will be allergic,but everyone seems to find the kitten adorable (when he’s around her, anyway;they give him a wide berth when he's on his own), and Gideon is easily able tocounteract the allergens. She's not planning to keep him, though, she's reallynot.

But then she finds him curled around a deck of cards, the ones sheused with Leonard, the ones tucked away in a drawer in her room. She finds himthere anytime he sneaks off for a nap, and it results in a name: Ace.

And, well, she's named the cat and he obviously likes her (and herdeck of cards), so she can't very well evict him. He becomes something of amascot, greeting the crew every time they board, saving his affection for thecaptain. When others board, he treats them with regal disdain as long as theydon't try to pet him.

(There's a chorus of helpful don’ts from the crew the firsttime Felicity reaches for him, but it's too late. Luckily, he rewards her witha warning swat and doesn't draw blood.)

And then they stop in Star City for a break instead of a mission,and her father asks her to work anyway. He's got this person, see, who hearrested. Doesn't come up in the system, but Quentin knows he's seen the guybefore, and he found some old paperwork that supports his hunch.

“Guy's name is Leonard Snart,” he explains, and Sara comes to astop in the hallway leading to the holding cell. Quentin turns to look at her,concern and curiosity on his face. “Heard of him?” When she nods but doesn'telaborate, Quentin starts walking again. “Must be a big deal if you've heard ofhim on that ship of yours.”

Her throat is too tight to speak, so she just follows. It's beenso long, and he's dead. It can't really be him, can it? It's animposter, or a case of mistaken identity, or…

The cell comes into sight, its occupant sprawled out on the benchlike he owns the place. Any notion of his being anyone but who he appears to beflies out of Sara’s mind as his eyes meet hers, flashing with recognition andrelief before he adopts a casual smirk.

“Sara,” he says, and shit, he says it just like he used to, andshe sees her dad glance at her, trying to put together the pieces. Leonardstands, watching her, and Sara crosses her arms, looking him over in asdetached a way as she can.

He’s wearing the same thing he was at the Oculus, and he looksgood. Healthy and decidedly not dead.

“How are you here?” Sara asks, proud of the fact that her voiceremains steady.

“Well,” Leonard drawls, nodding at Quentin without breaking eyecontact, “Detective Lance here was kind enough to offer me a place to stay forthe night. I thought it would be impolite to refuse.”

Her dad huffs, and Sara turns to look at him. “He tried to rob abank,” he explains, clearly exasperated. “My bank. While I was there.”

“Weapon wasn’t even loaded,” Leonard says, voice dripping withmock sincerity. When Sara meets his eyes again, a bit of his armor drops. “Ihad to get your attention somehow.”

“Why didn’t you go to Team Flash?” she asks. “They know how to getahold of the Waverider.”

“I didn’t know what they knew,” he says. “Besides, there’s toomuch baggage there.”

His look reveals that he’s aware of the irony of his statement;there’s not exactly a lack of baggage between him and Sara, not at the moment.She watches him silently for a minute, and he quietly returns her look. With asigh, Sara breaks eye contact and looks at her father.

“Can you release him?” Sara asks. “He’s one of my crew.” She canalmost feel the interest radiating from Leonard at the casual statement. Itmatches the interest from her father at the entire interaction. For a fewseconds, she’s worried Quentin will decline until he’s heard the whole story(maybe even after he’s heard the whole story), and she’s so used to pushingaway the memories that she’s not entirely sure she’d manage it.

Instead, tension drains from her when he sighs and reaches for hiskeys.

Sara and Leonard are silent on the walk back to the Waverider. Sheneeds some answers, both as captain and as herself, but she wants to do it in theprivacy of the ship. Everyone else is gone, visiting family or friends. As sheand Leonard board, they’re greeted by a dignified mew, the little kittenpatiently awaiting her return. Sara bends to pet him automatically, thenstraightens. Leonard is watching her again.

“New crew member?”

“Captain’s cat,” she explains, which does nothing to diminish hiscuriosity. “His name is Ace.”

“Hmm.” Leonard crouches, and Sara’s customary warnings catch inher throat as she watches Leonard reach out, fingers curled back, posturenon-threatening, stopping an inch or so from making contact. Ace sniffsdelicately, then leans into Leonard’s hand. Leonard’s lips twitch as hecommences petting and scratching as the kitten demands.

Sara can’t even muster up any surprise. Leonard appears to be backfrom the dead; why shouldn’t her kitten who hates everybody like him?

Leonard winces as the cat climbs his arm, perching on hisshoulders and looking at him as if to ask why he isn’t getting on with it.Leonard chuckles softly (and no, Sara isn’t going to pay attention to howappealing that sound is) and stands, careful not to dislodge his passenger, wholooks perfectly at ease. Sara shakes her head, giving in to a smile, then leadsthe way.

Habit, she thinks, is what takes her to the bottom of the storagebay’s stairs. She doesn’t have their cards with her, but they’ve got Ace. WhenSara and Leonard sit, facing each other, Ace jumps down, trotting happily backand forth beside their legs before settling down, a little ball of gray fluffproviding warmth where he’s curled up against her calf, nestled happily betweenher and Leonard’s left legs.

Once the kitten is asleep, no longer actively providing adistraction, Sara looks up at Leonard, who’s already watching her.

“You died,” she says, not sure where else to start.

“So did you,” he says easily enough. “Some people are a little toostubborn to stay that way.”

“You know I need more than that, right?”

Leonard’s jaw works before he speaks. “I know. Don’t have muchmore than that, though. I remember being at the Oculus. I remember that kiss.”How the hell does he get so much heat into what should be a simple gaze? Saracan’t help the phantom sensations of her lips pressed desperately against his.“I remember seeing those Time Bastards realize they were done for. Then I wokeup in Star City. When I realized how much time had passed, I figured I shouldtry to track you down. Wasn’t sure who else might be safe.”

“So you went through my dad.” It feels like she should saysomething else, but what is there?

He nods, still watching her. Long seconds pass. “So, you’recaptain now?”

Oh, she could probably explain that. “Rip left. I took over.��Simplified some, sure, but she’s not ready to rehash everything in detail, andLeonard seems to accept that.

“And the cat?”

Sara smiles fondly at her pet, leaning forward to scratch underAce’s ear, and she’s rewarded with a loud purr, even though he doesn’t botheropening his eyes. “I didn’t mean to keep him, but he came on board and I didn’thave the heart to tell him to leave.” She swallows, feeling Leonard’s eyesstill on her.

“And what about me?” he asks. “Do I need to leave?” She looks athim, and he pulls up his virtual shield, eyes losing some of their intensity ashe shrugs. “I’m sure Barry would have me, either as teammate or annoyance. Notsure which I’d prefer.”

“You can stay, too,” she says, and there’s that intensity again,and she looks back down at the cat. He’s much safer to look at. “Ace approves,”she adds, “and he doesn’t approve of anybody. He’d probably never forgive me ifI kicked you out.”

They sit in comfortable silence until the crew starts returning,their peace disturbed by exclamations of surprise.

It’s a toss-up whether they’re more surprised at Leonard’s returnor at Ace’s adoration of him.

Only Mick stays silent, staring hard at Leonard before pulling himinto a tight hug, which Leonard returns. Ace objects, hissing at Rory, and Sarauses her amusement at the feisty little animal to ignore the stinging in hereyes.

Things on the ship settle into a new normal. Sara and Leonard goback to how they were before the Oculus, challenging and supporting each other,depending on what’s needed at the time. They don’t address the kiss, but theheat that’s always been between them remains.

Ace goes from “the captain’s cat” to “the captains’ cat” after Raypoints out that he follows Captain Lance and Captain Cold everywhere he can.The kitten alternates nights, looking put out when they separate to retire toindividual quarters, then stalking behind whomever belongs to him that night.Sara assumes that he curls up on top of Leonard’s feet every other night, justlike he does hers.

And then a mission goes south, almost irrevocably so, and shebarely makes it to the privacy of her quarters before she crashes her lips toLeonard’s. It’s desperate, just like the first time, full of the same need toconvey what she can’t with words.

Unlike the first time, Leonard’s hands are free, and he isn’tabout to die. He responds instantly, pulling her close, deepening the kiss andbacking them toward her bed.

Ace is pretty damned satisfied that night, but not as satisfied asSara.

Anyway, Sara doesn’t mean to keep him, not in her life oron her ship or in her bed, but she keeps him anyway. And as they fall asleepeach night, Ace purring happily atop their intertwined legs (because CaptainCold, it turns out, is a cuddler once he lets his walls down), she thinks thatadopting a stray is probably the best thing she’s ever done.

[ao3feed-coldflash]

Comforting Mick

read it on the AO3 at http://ift.tt/2hFMD7G

by kylith_dynixan

Leonard Snart is on the edge, between rumors that the Rogues are really run by the Flash and his Earth 47 counterpart, the famous superhero Commander Cold, is getting a bit too close to his Scarlet. He decides to bring on Mirror Master to the Rogues, which Axel Walker thinks is a poor idea. Axel Walker is promptly booted from the Rogues and may or may not have just broken up with his long-time partner, Mick. Axel decides to temporarily join Team Flash to keep an eye of Mirror Master, and just as he suspected, the bastard betrayed the Rogues and almost killed the Flash. When the dust settles, Axel needs to comfort Mick by breaking down his emotional dams and helping to put him back together.

Words: 10060, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Fandoms: The Flash (TV 2014)

Rating: Explicit

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: M/M

Characters: Axel Walker, Barry Allen, Leonard Snart, Mick Rory, Commander Cold (Earth-47), Mark Mardon, Roy Bivolo, Lashawn "Shawna" Baez, Cisco Ramon, Lisa Snart, Wally West, Iris West, Joe West, Sam Scudder

Relationships: Barry Allen/Leonard Snart, Mick Rory/Axel Walker

Additional Tags: Jealous Len, Critically Injured Barry, Prideful Len, Stubborn Len, Cussing, Dry Orgasm, Break Up, Make up sex, Love, Romance, Established Couple(s), Mechanical Sex Toys, Daddy Kink, safe word, Cock Milking Machine, Top Axel, Bottom Mick, Pet Names, assplay, Prostate Massage, Cumplay, Praise Kink, Emotionally Constipated Mick, Emotionally Constipated Len

read it on the AO3 at http://ift.tt/2hFMD7G

[lady-divine-writes]

Coldflash one-shot - “The Talk” (Rated T)

One day, while spending some time with his eight-year-old daughter, Lisa Snart asks her father a question that stops him in his tracks, and as much as Len would prefer Barry field this one, he realizes that the only responsible thing to do is give her an honest answer. (2388 words)

Written for the @coldflashweek2016 prompt 'Domestic Life'.

Read on AO3.

“Oh, oh, oh. Hey, Bug. Let me help you up,” Len says, rushing across the frozen lake to collect his daughter from the ice.

“Thanks, Dad,” Lisa says, accepting his help but struggling to get back up on her skates before her dad reaches her.

Len grins. That stubborn streak. That willingness to accept help as long as she can still do most of the work by herself - that’s the Barry Allen in her.

That’s what Len sees most when he looks at her.

Since she pretty much has herself handled by the time he gets to her, he moves on to step two on the overprotective father’s checklist and starts looking her over for cuts and bruises.

“What happened out there, Bug?”

Lisa watches her dad brush snow off her clothes, a condescending smirk on her rosy lips. “I fell.”

Len rolls his eyes. Only eight-years-old and she’s already such a smart ass. “I know you fell. But did someone push you? Trip you?” Len glares at a cluster of boys around Lisa’s age who he’s been keeping an occasional eye on. He notices that they’re joined at the hip, convening over something while shooting suspicious looks at the two of them. He thinks he sees them laughing … the little bastards. “Is there someone I gotta ice?”

“No,” Lisa says through a burst of laughter. “No, I just fell. All on my own. With no help from anyone.”

“Okay then.” Len stands to his full height and glares at the boys again to make sure he gets his unspoken point across. The boys, each one turning sheet white, disperse, speeding as far across the lake as they can and away from the hard-eyed man with the icy stare. “So, whaddya wanna do now? Hmm? You wanna head for the homestead?”

“Maybe in a bit.” Lisa thoughtfully chews her chapped lower lip. “But first, would you take a lap with me?” She holds out her gloved hand for him to take.

Len raises an eyebrow – not at the request, but at the shy, unsure way she asks. She sounds like she has something heavy on her head. Actually, she’s been like that, way too caught up in her own thoughts, since she came back from her weekend in Star City.

“Sure I will,” he says, taking her hand and pulling her slowly around the ice.

The conversation seems to end there and they walk in silence, the shhhing … shhhing of Lisa’s blades cutting across the surface of the lake the only sound around them, and Len starts to wonder if she’s changed her mind. What does he do about that? Does he ask her what’s up? Or does he give her space and wait? Barry’s the one who usually fields the difficult life questions – where do babies come from; why do boys have a penis and girls have a vagina; what happens after we die; all of those, with a little help from the folks down at S.T.A.R. Labs. Len should consider it a blessing if she decides to defer to the one parent who’s been able to make life seem less scary for her.

Though, he does have to admit that it sucks feeling like she can’t come to him with her problems. Or maybe she just hasn’t come up with a problem that she feels he’s qualified to handle.

In which case, whatever’s on her mind should slightly terrify him.

It’s when they reach a third of the way around that she finally says, “Daddy? Can I ask you a question?”

“You can ask me anything.”

That seems to give her the courage to ask what she needs to ask, because she goes from chewing her lip to blurting out, “Daddy, did you used to be a villain?”

Except that, Len thinks. But he takes a breath in and sighs instead of saying it. “What makes you ask that?”

“Something I heard Mom say.”

“Really. And what did Felicity say?”

“Well, she was talking to Uncle Ollie about how this will be the sixth anniversary of taking Leonard Snart off their most wanted list.”

“I see,” Len says, not thrilled that this was the topic of conversation during one of Lisa’s weekend visits with her mother. “Your mom and her (he hard swallows, stopping himself before he can say the word rat) husband were just talking about that in the living room or the kitchen where you could hear?”

“Uh … not exactly,” Lisa admits, returning to nervously chewing her lip. “They were … kind of … in some secret lair in the basement,” she speeds out at the end.

“So, you were spying?” Len admonishes, while inside he thinks That’s my girl.

“Maybe.”

“Did you ask your father about this?”

“A-ha.”

“And what did he say?”

She takes a deep breath in preparation, and Len knows that whatever her father told her, it’s most likely poetic and long-winded. “He said that you were an intelligent, cunning, creative man with a difficult path to walk, and that you did a lot of things, both good and bad, with great passion. But that the more he got to know you, the more he saw good in you.” Len chews his cheek, trying to keep from laughing. That sounds like the vague but complimentary b.s. that Barry Allen would spin. Plus, he’s gotten a lot of mileage out of that seeing good in him comment. Not only did it get Len into bed (not that Barry had to try too hard), but it opened the door to Len gaining acceptance from the rest of The League of Super Geeks that Barry is a part of. “Other than that, he told me to ask you. He said it wasn’t his story to tell.”

Len’s mouth pulls into a thin, unamused line. Barry passed the ball. That’s so unlike him. At least he didn’t go the route of spilling the gorier details. Not that he would. That’s not his style. He left the dirty work to Len. But, then again, Len deserves it.

Len thinks for a moment, trying to decide what he should tell. Where does he begin? He had wanted to leave his past in the past for as long as he could, especially where his daughter was concerned.

But that’s the thing about running from the past. When you least expect it, it catches up with you.

“Lisa, you are an intelligent, cunning, creative little girl …”

Lisa grins. “Just like you, Daddy?”

“Yup. Just like me.” And he means it – from her stunning blue eyes to her sharp wit, she is every inch Leonard Snart’s daughter. She has Barry’s aptitude for science, and her mother’s exceptional math skills, but those can be taught. She also has Len’s dry sense of humor, his quick thinking in survival situations, and his eye for an easy mark – something the two of them hone in secret, playing around with hypotheticals just for fun. “Except that you are much luckier than I ever was. You have a mom who loves you, two dads who love you, and a ton of aunts and uncles who love you …”

“One of who’s an alien!”

“Shhh, yes.” Len drops his voice to a significant whisper and sweeps his eyes around, checking to see who might be listening. The gang of boys is nowhere to be seen, and no one else has arrived. They have the lake entirely to themselves. “One of who’s an alien. But I’m going to tell you some truth about me because I think you can handle it.”

Lisa swallows and squeezes his hand, suddenly afraid. “O-okay.”

“I didn’t have all of that, Lees.” Len squeezes her hand back, finding he’s doing it more for his comfort than for hers. “I had a mom who loved me, but she died early, and your grandpa …” He halts, deciding that Lewis Snart doesn’t deserve the honor of having his granddaughter know a blessed thing about him. “I try to forget that he even existed. I spent most of my life raising your Aunt Lisa, and I’d like to say I was good at it ...”

“She says you were.”

“She does, huh?” Len doesn’t know if he’s questioning, scoffing, or agreeing. “Well, whether I was or not, it’s hard to escape your upbringing. I wasn’t raised to be a good man. I was raised to be a criminal. And that’s what I became. So, yes. I was what you might call a villain. In fact, your father, your mother, your aunts and uncles, and I all met because I was trying to …”

“Do bad things to them?” Lisa circumvents, replacing whatever her dad was about to say with words she’s willing to accept.

“Yeah. I was trying to do bad things to them. Your father even put me in prison, but I busted out. After that, a bunch of stuff changed.”

“You went on the Waverider.”

“Yup.”

“You became a good guy.”

“In a manner of speaking.”

“And then … you died.” Lisa sniffs, as if she isn’t talking to her dad in the flesh, the man holding her hand, very much alive.

“In a way.” Len looks into Lisa’s solemn face, pulling the goofiest grin he can to get her to laugh. She smiles, but only half way. “I shifted out of existence to a different timeline.”

“But Father found you and brought you back.”

“A-ha. That’s when we decided to get married and have you. It was hard finding someone willing to carry you, all things considered …” (which is Len’s polite way of saying that most women didn’t want to carry the child of a reformed criminal, especially one with a rep like Len’s, for any amount of money) “… so after a long and exhaustive search, your mom offered to carry you for us.”

“But then you went back to being bad.” Lisa’s voice takes on a surprising tone, a reproachful tone, and it breaks his heart.

“I left,” he admits, “for about two years. I didn’t think that I could be good for you. I thought the best thing I could do for you was leave. I went back to being a criminal because it was the only thing I really knew how to do.”

Lisa stops skating. Her head drops, but she doesn’t take her hand from Len’s grasp, and that gives Len hope. It means that, regardless of how much hearing that her dad left her to be a villain again hurts, she doesn’t hate him for it. Len gets down on one knee in the snow, bending low to catch his daughter’s eyes. “But I came back. So if you haven’t guessed by now, you’re the reason I stopped.”

“Why?” Lisa asks with a tiny shrug.

“Because when you live your life for yourself for so long, you answer to nobody. Your successes, your failures, they’re all your own. And that’s good for a while. But when someone depends on you, looks up to you, you answer to them. I know what your Aunt Lisa told you, but I kinda failed at that with her. I tried to be the best big brother I could be and take care of her, but I was a young man, and kinda selfish.” Len brings his forehead to rest against Lisa’s, forcing her to look him in the eyes. “But I’m not that man anymore. And if I am still selfish, it’s because I want what’s best for you. And what’s best for you was hanging up my cold gun for good.”

“Do you mean it?” Lisa asks, tears rolling down her cheeks. Len raises a hand and clears them away quickly before they can freeze. Len has a thing for not letting ice touch Lisa’s skin, which is one of the reasons he’s so quick on the draw whenever she falls on the lake.

“Yeah, I mean it,” Len says, pinching her sides until she starts giggling. And when she does, she throws her arms around his neck and hugs him tight.

“I love you, Daddy.”

Len holds her in his arms and sighs. “I love you, too, Bug.” And it’s at times like this when he realizes just how much. She’s a mixture of everything in the world that he loves, the most precious thing that’s ever been his. No diamond in the universe could compare. He’d give up his life to protect her, loves her just a hair more than he loves her father. Having someone like that in his life is frightening, but only because he doesn’t want to let her down. “So, whaddya say we head on home and make dinner for your father? I don’t have eight layers of clothes on like you. I’m freezing my ass off out here.”

“Daddy! Language!” Lisa scolds, lifting her feet obediently while Len affixes guards to her blades so she can walk the short distance to their house. Len shakes his head in minor disbelief when he gets the last one on, her tiny skate in his hands nailing some big facts home. A beautiful house by a lake in a quiet suburb in Missouri, with a husband and, of all things, a kid. It seems like a dream, one that was never Len’s. But here he is … and he can’t picture himself being anywhere else.

“Now that sounds like your father,” Len kids, picking Lisa up anyway, preferring to walk home with her in his arms.

“Well, I’m both your daughters, so it only makes sense.”

“True, true,” he agrees. “So” – Len clears his throat – “you got to see Oliver Queen’s secret lair, huh?”

“Yeah,” Lisa says in a hushed and excited voice. “Do you wanna know what it looks like?”

“No,” Len answers without thought, his gut telling him that he’s not a criminal anymore, so by no means is he interested in the secret base of operations of the one and only Green Arrow … except, he is interested. He’s hella interested. “Well, you know, since we’ve got a ways to walk, why don’t you just fill me in on the basics.”

“Like what?”

“You know – size, location, ease of access, armament … just … anything you think I should know … hypothetically speaking, of course.”

[ao3feed-mickster]

Comforting Mick

read it on the AO3 at http://ift.tt/2hFMD7G

by kylith_dynixan

Leonard Snart is on the edge, between rumors that the Rogues are really run by the Flash and his Earth 47 counterpart, the famous superhero Commander Cold, is getting a bit too close to his Scarlet. He decides to bring on Mirror Master to the Rogues, which Axel Walker thinks is a poor idea. Axel Walker is promptly booted from the Rogues and may or may not have just broken up with his long-time partner, Mick. Axel decides to temporarily join Team Flash to keep an eye of Mirror Master, and just as he suspected, the bastard betrayed the Rogues and almost killed the Flash. When the dust settles, Axel needs to comfort Mick by breaking down his emotional dams and helping to put him back together.

Words: 10060, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Fandoms: The Flash (TV 2014)

Rating: Explicit

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: M/M

Characters: Axel Walker, Barry Allen, Leonard Snart, Mick Rory, Commander Cold (Earth-47), Mark Mardon, Roy Bivolo, Lashawn "Shawna" Baez, Cisco Ramon, Lisa Snart, Wally West, Iris West, Joe West, Sam Scudder

Relationships: Barry Allen/Leonard Snart, Mick Rory/Axel Walker

Additional Tags: Jealous Len, Critically Injured Barry, Prideful Len, Stubborn Len, Cussing, Dry Orgasm, Break Up, Make up sex, Love, Romance, Established Couple(s), Mechanical Sex Toys, Daddy Kink, safe word, Cock Milking Machine, Top Axel, Bottom Mick, Pet Names, assplay, Prostate Massage, Cumplay, Praise Kink, Emotionally Constipated Mick, Emotionally Constipated Len

read it on the AO3 at http://ift.tt/2hFMD7G

[agentmarymargaretskitz]

Prompt - Mick x Amaya - Mick and Amaya are together and accidentally appear on the waverider during season 1 of LOT

Happy birthday, @thoughtsandlife23!!! I’ve loved getting to know you over the past year with the Legends Crew. You are a fellow shipper in so many ships, and I hope you have a stellar birthday! (I think when I post this, it’ll technically be your birthday?)

(Past stuff set between 1x09 and 1x10 of S1)

AO3

Separating (again) had been the only option Rip had felt would draw the Legion attack away from the Waverider. Since the Legion of Doom had found a timeship (along with an alive, brainwashed Leonard Snart who now worked for them), they had gained level ground for time travel with the Legends. Attacking them in deep space had been a smart tactical move on their part, especially since the Waverider currently was holding the Spear of Destiny. If they wanted to throw the Legion’s attack away from the Waverider, the only hope was getting at least some of the team out with the artifact. 

Amaya had been hit with a blast from Leonard’s cold gun (which the Legion seemed to have rebuilt somehow) before Mick had knocked him out in the struggle. The rest of the Legion wouldn’t be far behind, so they had to act fast. Her leg looked frostbitten, but she was still holding onto the artifact the Legion was so desperately after. Mick had been stabbed during his struggle with Leonard (tricky bastard had a knife and had made use of it), but he was making sure that Amaya was okay first. As Mick placed a hand on her shoulder to ease her upright, a bright flash of light engulfed the both of them.

When it faded, Mick was still on the bridge with Amaya and the artifact. However, things were different. He recognized the set up around him as the way it had been while they were still chasing after Savage. It didn’t take much longer before he realized that they weren’t alone. When he turned around, he saw the original team, aside from himself and Chicken Wings, staring at them with a mix of astonishment and anger. Rip had his gun out, although he wasn’t aiming it at Mick…not yet, at least.

“Mr. Rory?” he asked cautiously, with a slight hint of hostility. “What on earth?”

Amaya groaned beside Mick. “Please tell me the med bay’s still here?”

“And who’s she?” Kendra asked, raising an eyebrow.

Mick picked Amaya up, prepared to take her to the med bay. There were shouts of protests and more questions from the others, but Mick ignored them. Amaya was hurt, and she needed Gideon fast to prevent her from receiving further damage as her frostbitten leg rewarmed. When they arrived there, he set her on the bed and attached one of the blue cuffs to her wrists. Blue light started to scan her body before moving up and down her leg. Amaya watched it before looking over at Mick.

“How are we here?” she murmured. “We’re still on the Waverider, but it’s not like I remember.”

“High burst of temporal energy,” Mick explained. “Rip used it to separate everyone once when Darhk was attacking. Now he’s done it again so we can get away. Somehow, we got sent to the past Waverider with the spear.”

Amaya tried to sit up and get off. “Where is it?” 

“Back in the bridge,” Mick replied, stopping her mid-action. “Wanted to make sure you got help first.”

She smiled at that. “Thanks.”

“I’m gonna get the spear, then I’ll be back.”

As he turned around to complete the task, another bright flash blinded him.

“How did he even get here?” Amaya heard Sara’s voice question as she started to wake up. “I thought he was still secure in the brig.”

“He is, Ms. Lance. The person before you is a future version of Mr. Rory, and the woman he is with is Ms. Amaya Jiwe. It appears that a high burst of temporal energy has displaced them from their current location to appear here.”

“That’s impossible.” Rip Hunter sputtered. “She’s not even from the same era as him.”

“So how are she even here?”

“Maybe he kidnapped her?” the professor’s voice came next.

At that, Amaya blinked her eyes open. Turning to the side, she saw a group of people, most of whom she knew, and scowled. “He didn’t kidnap me.”

“She’s awake,” a woman Amaya didn’t recognize said. She was standing very close to Ray Palmer, close enough to make Amaya wonder if she and Mick weren’t the first romance that had happened within the team.

Amaya sat up, ready to pull the cuff off before remembering her leg. She had no idea if it was fully healed yet, but she could see Leonard Snart among the past versions of people she knew. He wasn’t wearing goggles like the last time she encountered him, and his attention seemed to be focused behind her. Turning around, she saw Mick in the other bed, a similar cuff on his wrist.

“Your leg finished healing about ten minutes ago,” Rip explained. “Quite the case of frostbite you encountered, and in only one area of your body.”

He was glaring at Snart, who was now staring down at his cold gun. Amaya didn’t say anything, instead focusing on detaching the cuff from her wrist. Standing up, she made her way over to Mick. He seemed fine, and his vitals on the screen beside the bed seemed to be fine. She made a move to remove the cuff from his wrist when Rip Hunter pulled her away.

“Get off me,” she snapped as he dragged her over to the rest of the team.

“Not until you answer some questions, Ms. Jiwe,” he told her. “We need to know what you and Mr. Rory are doing here, and how you obtained the Spear of Destiny.”

“And also what it is,” Jax added.

“The less you know about it, the better off everything will be,” Amaya told him. She’d traveled long enough to understand that the timeline was something you had to be careful with. The presence of Mick and herself on the past Waverider was already problematic, and the spear would further complicate matters.

“So what are you and Mick doing here then?” Sara asked.

Amaya sighed and turned to Rip. “You sent us here. High burst of temporal energy-”

“-that scattered you through time,” Rip finished. “And you and Mr. Rory ended up in the same moment.”

“Probably because he was checking to see if I was okay after I got hurt fighting someone,” Amaya explained. “We were touching when it happened. He was trying to help me.”

“We did see him carry you here,” Ray said. “And he looked pretty concerned about you. I’m guessing you’re pretty close with future Mick?”

Amaya smiled a little. There wasn’t a lot she could reveal about the future to the people in front of her, but Ray wasn’t far off. “You could say that.”

“So what do we do now?” Stein asked Rip. “We can’t just run around after Vandal Savage with two Mr. Rorys on board.”

“The future versions of you on the Waverider will be looking for us,” Amaya explained. “Just drop us off somewhere with the spear, and they’ll be able to find a way to pick us up.”

Rip nodded. “Fair enough. As soon as Mr. Rory awakens, we will let the two of you leave the ship. Until then, you’re welcome to stay with him, although I’d like a word with you at some point.”

When Mick opened his eyes, he thought he was dead. That was the only thing that made sense, given that Leonard was seated beside him. He would have remarked on it, but then he remembered what had happened. Along with Amaya, he had been beamed back to a past version of the Waverider where the team was still after Vandal Savage. Someone must have used Rip’s handy little knockout light on him after he got her to the med bay.

“Nice to see you awake,” his friend smirked, standing up. “And not trying to kill me.”

Mick realized he was still in the med bay, but now on one of the beds. The knife wound that future Leonard had dealt him no longer hurt, probably thanks to Gideon. He pulled the cuff of his hand and got to his feet. Leonard was watching him carefully. It was unnerving, seeing him alive and not as a hallucination or trying to kill him.

“Something wrong?” Leonard frowned, tilting his head slightly. “You’re looking at me funny.”

“I’m fine,” Mick muttered, shaking his head. “So where is the me you know right now?”

“Sitting in the brig being a stubborn ass. I still can’t believe it was you under that Chronos helmet.”

“You were pretty slow on that,” Mick shrugged.

“So I’m guessing by what happens, you do come back to the team?” Leonard asked.

“Eventually,” he nodded. “Takes a while for us to get back on good terms, but we do before…you’ll see.”

He couldn’t help but think about the Oculus. The Leonard before him was running out of time before he sacrificed himself only to be rescued and then brainwashed into working for the Legion. Mick found himself wondering about Amaya suddenly, and where she had gone. How had she taken seeing Leonard, the man who had nearly frozen her leg off?

“Where’s Amaya?”

Leonard raised an eyebrow and grinned knowingly. “Future you is a lot different from the one that’s sulking in the brig right now.”

“People change,” Mick told him, echoing the words he’d been told ages ago.

“Would it have something to do with that woman that you were with when you appeared on the bridge?”

Mick couldn’t help but smile a bit. “Maybe. Finally understand how you’ve been acting around Sara now though.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Idiot was still in denial. Mick snorted and shook his head. 

“Sinceyou’re from the future, I’ve got a question for you,” Leonard said. “In the end, does everything with the mission to stop Savage work out?”

Mick shook his head. “I can’t answer that. Can’t know too much about your own future.”

“Rip’s making all of us take these amnesia pills to forget what’s happened here,” Leonard told him. “I’m not sure why, but it’s probably something to do with the timeline and there being two of you on the ship. So even if you don’t tell me, then I’m going to forget talking to you no matter what.”

Mick sighed. He knew this was a bad move to try and mess with the timeline like this. But this was his best friend. Besides, none of the team had recognized Amaya when they first met her, so Leonard must have been right about the team having their memories of the incident erased.

“Savage gets defeated in the end,” Mick told him. “Not everything goes according to plan though.”

“Does Sara-”

“No,” he knew where Leonard was going with it. “No, Blondie’s fine.”

Before anything else could be said between them, Amaya appeared in the entrance to the med bay. She looked better than she had earlier when Rip had sent them all back. However, she was eyeing Snart warily. 

“Gideon told us that you were up,” she explained. “Rip’s dropping us off in 1993, and he wants everyone on the bridge to take something that’s going to erase their memories of our time here.”

“We’ll be there,” Mick nodded.

When he and Leonard arrived on the bridge a few minutes later and the Waverider landed, Mick and Amaya left with the Spear of Destiny. Leonard had remarked how he would look forward to meeting Amaya again, which had made her pause before telling him that it would be interesting. Then the pair stepped off the ship next to a cornfield, watching the ship take off.

“So that was the Leonard Snart you knew?” Amaya asked as the Waverider disappeared.

Mick nodded. “He was being a bit more heroic than normal, but yeah.”

“I think I like that version better than the one who was trying to kill me,” she quipped, looking down at the spear. “But back to serious matters, how are we going to flag down the Waverider?”

One intriguing crop circle later, the Waverider landed to pick them up and continue onto the next adventure.