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“I can’t believe that just happened.” Jax sat down on a chair as they all gathered in Nate’s basement. “I mean, Amaya can’t be dead.”
“Well, believe it and Snart did it.” Sara said, anger in her voice as she remembered how callously their former teammate froze and shattered her.
“It wasn’t Snart.” Mick said, kicking at the errant chair leg he’d just broke.
“It was. He killed her like it was nothing.” Nate said, voice monotone.
Mick shook his head. “It wasn’t him. I mean, he did, but it wasn’t him. I know Snart, all right and he wasn’t himself here.”
“So, you’re saying it was out of character for him to kill someone who was standing in the way of what he wants.” Sara asked, voice dubious.
“Not really, but in this case…” Mick ran his hand over his head. “Look, I’ve known him for as long as you’ve been alive, blondie. I know when something ain’t right with my partner.”
“So, what… You think the Legion messed with his head like they did Rip’s.” Ray asked.
“I’m sure they did.” Mick urged.
“How?” Sara crossed her arms in front of her. “I’m going to need more proof than a gut feeling here, Mick.”
“You heard what he said to me at S.T.A.R. Labs. Not once in our 30 year partnership has he ever said anything like that.” Mick’s voice dropped a bit as he said, “And during our whole time together, not once did he try to kiss me.”
Even though he said that last part quiet, it had the whole team looking at Mick with varying degrees of shock.
“What?” Ray asked, being the first to break the confused silence.
Mick stared at a fixed spot on the wall, avoiding everyone’s eyes. “Snart and I were partners in all senses of the word, but this Snart didn’t seem to know or care that we were married.”
“Married?” Jax squeaked, causing Mick to glance over the faces of the team.
Mick swallowed at scrutiny but knew he had to tell them to get his partner back. “Would’ve been 12 years this March.”
“You were married this whole time? Why didn’t you tell us?” Sara asked.
“Wasn’t any of your business, especially when you kept trying to pit us against one another.” Mick said, a bit of anger seeping into his tone.
Nate seemed to have broken out of his reverie. “So, when we asked you to give the Spear to us, we were really asking you to side against your husband.” Nate opened his mouth then closed it. “You know, this is all beginning to make sense.”
“Don’t flatter yourself. Snart wasn’t the only reason. You’ve all been assholes to me as of late. It wasn’t a hard choice at the time.”
“And do you regret it now?” Jax asked.
“I did when I realized that Snart wasn’t right. It’s like the Legion took his most well-known traits and forgot the rest.”
Sara rubbed her forehead. “But now what do we do? Try to save Snart too? He killed Amaya.”
“I know.” Mick said, clenching his hands into tight fists. “I know… But how is this different from when the Legion got to Hunter? He killed you and you still tried to save him. I can’t just let Thawne toy with my husband for eternity.”
“I’m in.” Ray stood up and walked over to Mick. “If my finance was in this situation, I’d do anything to save her.”
“Thanks, Haircut.” Mick said and Ray gave him a small smile at that.
Sara sighed. “The problem with that is we don’t have the Spear or know where the Waverider is. If we can’t get save anyone, including ourselves.”
“Well, then we just need to get the Waverider back. If we do that, we can go back to 1916 before this all happened and save everyone in one fell swoop.” Nate hypothesized.
“No, but that’s breaking one of the rules of time travel.” Jax pointed out. “We aren’t supposed to go back to time periods we interacted in.”
“The alternate is living in this hell world. I say we give it a shot.” Sara said. “If we succeed, we’ll be able to save Amaya and Stein by preventing the Legion from getting the Spear.”
“And Snart?” Ray asked.
“If we can find a way to intercept him before he leaves with the Spear, then get him to the Waverider. But what happens if it turns out the Legion did nothing to him?”
Mick growled, turning towards Sara. “They did, I’m sure of it. I’m not stupid when it comes to my partner.”
Sara raised her arms up in appeasement. “I didn’t say you were, I just want to be ready for all possible outcomes. I didn’t know pre-mission Leonard.”
“Well, I did and I’m going to say it one last time so listen up. This. Ain’t. Him. And if is… I’ll handle it.” Mick said shortly.
Jax, Ray and Sara all bristled at the eerily familiar phrasing, reminding them of a time when they had condemned their teammate without even blinking.
Sara broke the silence first, looking everything except Mick as she spoke. “We still need to get to the Waverider and we don’t know if Rip is still alive.”
“Only way to tell is to make a time anomaly, large enough that if Rip is alive, he won’t be able to ignore it.” Nate said.
Sara made a face. “It’s the only chance we have, unless Ray can create another honing beacon to signal the Waverider.”
“Sure, I can, but the closest place with all the equipment is S.T.A.R. Labs and I don’t see us sneaking past Thawne again.” Ray said.
“I have an easier way. We burn down the city.” Mick said simply.
“Whoa. Hang on a minute-“ Nate started.
“You got a better idea? I burn down a city block and you can bet your ass Hunter will take notice. It’s my M.O. to a T.” Mick said.
“The Legion knows your M.O. too.” Jax argued.
“Again, you have a quicker idea to get English’s attention? None of you have any powers or fancy tech. But I do.” Mick raised his heat gun, a low mechanical buzz emitting from it as he powered it on. “With my heat gun and few well placed time delay incendiary devices and I can have this city up in flames in three hours, tops.”
Jax blew out a breath. “Screw it, I’m in. Anything to try and save Grey and Amaya.”
Nate lifted his forearm in the air. “Me too.”
Sara clapped her hands together and turned towards Mick. “If burning down the city is our best bet at getting a hold of the Spear and out of ‘Doom World’ then I say, let’s commit some arson.”
Mick hummed and gave Sara a smirk. “Now, we’re talking.”
Mick quickly mapped out the locations where they needed to set the fires and after a brief stop for some cigarettes, matches, paper and rubber bands, they were set. Mick had given each person one of the time delay devices he’d made from their stop at the gas station and then they were off.
With only five of them left, they couldn’t completely pair up. Though Mick laid out the plans, Sara picked the teams. Nate had volunteered to go off alone, leaving Ray to pair up with Jax since Sara was going with Mick. She flat out said she wanted to keep an eye on him during this mission. Mick didn’t mind though. She had pulled him out of his thoughts of Snart at the Oculus and wouldn’t doubt she’d pull him back if watching the fire got too much for him.
Mick began starting his fire with his heat gun, letting the flames lick at the abandoned ware house. He was in charge of setting the first fire, creating a red herring for the fire department. Once they caught wind of it, they would be heading to the west side of town, while everyone else was planting incendiary devices clear across the city near the lumbermill. With everyone preoccupied by his blaze, they would be caught ill-prepared as more popped up across town and quickly caught alight do to the highly flammable location.
Mick and Sara didn’t have to wait more than fifteen minutes after he’d started the blaze that they heard the sirens. Mick gave Sara a sharp nod for her to issue the command for the next part of the plan, because while he may have planned it, he wasn’t in charge.
“Everyone, lite your devices, now.” Sara said into the walkie talkie, signaling to the other team members. The devices had about a ten minute delay when lit, which would be more than enough time get a blaze going before the firemen got the call about more fires.
Mick and Sara got into the getaway car, Mick taking the driver’s seat. They peeled out of the parking lot as the air filled with smoke and the sound of sirens.
“This is glorious.” Mick smiled, watching the blaze in the rear-view mirror.
“Just drive, Mick.” Sara said, looking straight ahead. “If this works, Rip will be here soon.”
Mick stepped on the gas as they made their way to the rendezvous point, which was none other the empty concrete block Rip always seemed to pick them up from. If Rip got their message, he would show up here. No doubt about it.
Nate showed up with Ray and Jax in tow about ten minutes later. Now they had nothing to do but wait and plan their strategy for 1916.
Just as they finished hashing out the kinks in their plan, they heard the Waverider blip into the atmosphere.
Once it landed and a heartfelt greeting on Rip’s part, they all boarded the Waverider and got to work. It honestly didn’t take much convincing to get Rip onboard with their plan and they were off to 1916.
The team’s mission was to make sure they intercepted the Spear before it ended up in the Legion’s hands. To prevent any ill side-effects of their past selves seeing themselves, Sara put Ray, Rip and Jax in charge of delaying their past selves entrance onto the battlefield. Sara, Nate, and Mick were going to meet the Legion their instead with a decoy spear that Gideon had crafted.
“Well, well, well. What do we have here?” Darhk said with a smirk, stepping over the hill and into view of Mick, Nate and Sara.
Mick looked over at Len who was at Darhk’s side. He watched his cold smile and wanted nothing more than to steal him away from the Legion forever. He tightened his grip on the Spear as he heard Sara speak.
“You’ll never get your hands on the Spear.” Sara vowed at the Legion.
“Is that so?” Len said, finally breaking his silence. “What do you say Mick? You gonna side with these losers over me?”
Mick played his part well, looking at Sara before looking back at Len. “I don’t know.”
“They don’t care about you, Mick. They don’t trust you and they never will.” Len said.
“That’s not true. Mick, give me the spear.” Sara demanded.
Mick took a step away from her and her face became betrayed. Mick didn’t know if she was just as good as an actor or was remembering the last time this happened.
Mick shook his head. “I’m sorry.” And then he began walking toward Len.
“I knew you’d pick the right side.” Len praised Mick with a smirk, reaching out a hand to him.
Mick kept moving. Just a few more steps…
When he was right in front of Len, he reared the Spear backwards and struck him across the face, causing the man to drop to the ground, out cold before he even realized what had happened.
Darhk threw his arms up as Mick turned to him, but Mick wasn’t aiming for his face. He jabbed the Spear into Darhk’s gut causing him to stumble back a few steps, face looking like he was trying very hard not to retch.
He heard Sara and Nate running up the hill behind him. He dropped the Spear and bent down to pick up Len. He hoisted him up into a fireman’s carry, just as Darhk lunged for Mick’s discarded weapon.
He grabbed ahold of the Spear, victoriously, dancing out of reach of Sara and Nate’s grasps as they attempted to steal it back from him.
“Thank you so much for handing over the Spear.” Darhk gloated. “See you never, Legends.”
Thawne, who was waiting nearby finally zipped into view, grabbing Darhk in a blur of yellow and leaving the rest of them on the field.
Nate moved the box the other Legends would soon be looking for into plain view. “How long until they figure out the Spear is a fake.”
Sara reached down to grab Len’s cold gun. “Hopefully, just long enough. Let’s move.” Sara commanded.
The three of them made it back to the Waverider successfully. They hoped that the others had succeeded in directing the rest of the team to the blood so they could destroy the Spear on the spot. But with their part of the mission over, the only thing they could do is wait now.
While Sara and Nate waited on the main deck, Mick locked Len up in the brig. Len was still out cold from Len’s hit but Mick wasn’t letting Len escape him this time, not when he was so close to getting him back.
Mick wanted begin the cognitive intrusion right away so he could get his Len back, but couldn’t. He had to wait until the Spear was destroyed and the Legion was far away from them. He couldn’t fight them from taking Len if he was trapped in said man’s mind.
Mick took one last look at Len through the glass of the makeshift prison before joining Sara and Nate on the Bridge. It wasn’t long before Rip, Jax and Ray entered the Waverider looking pleased with themselves.
“We did it.” Rip beamed. “It’s destroyed. For good.”
The team erupted into cheers and smiles.
“What’s all the fuss about.” Stein asked, walking onto the bridge like he was never gone.
“Grey!” Jax exclaimed before running to hug him.
The rest of the team descended on the professor as well, relieved to see him back where he belonged.
“While, I’m happy to see Martin back,” Ray said, “if we really succeeded in destroying the Spear, where’s Amaya?”
Gideon took that as her cue to respond. “After the Spear was destroyed, Miss Jiwe had a change of heart and decided to return back to 1942 to keep the timeline intact. You all shared a very touching goodbye.”
A somber mood fell over the team. They were happy to hear their efforts to save Amaya’s life had worked but wished they could see her one more time. In this timeline, they hadn’t had a chance to say a goodbye they’d actually remember.
“Not that I want to interrupt our victory, but can we get out of 1916? I’d feel a lot better knowing the Legion is far away.” Nate asked.
“Indeed.” Rip agreed.
They took their seats on the bridge with Sara at the helm. She easily time jumped, the time periods all blurring together until they reached the familiar blackness of the temporal zone.
Mick turned to Rip as everyone began taking off their seatbelts. “I need your help with Snart.”
Rip nodded, standing up so he could follow Mick to the brig. “Of course, Mr. Rory.”
Thankfully, Len was still out cold. Mick didn’t have it in him to talk to Len when he was like this, echoes of Len’s last words before killing Amaya fresh in his head.
Rip was just finishing setting up the equipment for the cognitive intrusion when Sara and Jax walked in. Sara folded her arms across her chest as she watched Mick with careful eyes.
“Do you want me to come with you?” Sara asked. “I’ve been in Rip’s head and know what it’s like and it’s not pretty.”
Mick shook his head. “There’s some things even you don’t want to see and if you thought Rip’s head was bad, you definitely don’t want to see Lenny’s.”
Sara nodded before reaching a hand out to squeeze his shoulder. “Good luck, Mick.”
“Thanks, Sara.” Mick said, giving her a half smile.
“Are you ready Mr. Rory?” Rip asked, fingers hovering over the controls.
“Yeah.” Mick leaned back in the chair, hands gripping the arm rests. “Let’s go.”
Mick never did say much about what happened in Len’s head to the rest of the team, but whatever it was had him and Len jolting forward and coming to with a synchronized gasp.
Mick was bolting up immediately, throwing the head gear off him and rushing over to Len’s chair as he opened his eyes, knowing Len would be disorientated having never been on the Waverider in this new timeline.
“I got you, Len. I got you. You’re okay” Mick said, voice softer than any of the teammates ever knew he was capable of.
“Mick.” Len breathed, eyes taking him in with relief. “You’re really here.”
“I am.” Mick reassured.
Len smiled out him before he began to look around. Mick busied himself in disconnecting Len from all the equipment. In doing so, he deliberately tried to use his body to try to block Len’s view. It didn’t work as Mick could see the whites of Len eyes as began taking in the setting and faces of all the people staring at him.
“Where am I?” Len asked.
“You’re on a time ship called the Waverider.” Mick explained, tone even and calm. “Do you remember what happened?”
Len thought for a moment and took a breath. Mick knew he was slowly righting what had happened in his mind. Using cognitive intrusion was necessary to get Len back, but Mick had been on the receiving end of it too. He knew just how messed up and lost it made you at first, which was why he was staying close to Len.
Len finally nodded after a minute. “Yes. I remember, but I-“ Len licked his lips trying to figure out the words to describe how he felt. “I remember doing and saying those things but I-“
“You felt like you were just watching it all happen?” Rip supplied.
Len flicked his eyes over to Rip over Mick’s shoulder. “That’s one way to put it, yes. And who are you again?”
“I’m Captain… Well, not Captain anymore, but I’m Rip Hunter. We met previously during the different timeline the Legion told you about.”
“I see.” Len said, obviously a bit out of sorts because of the situation.
“Do you mind giving us a minute.” Mick said, knowing the awkward hovering of the team was causing Len more anxiety.
They cleared out without a word of protest, allowing them to have their space. When the last person left, Mick turned his attention back to Len, who was now standing up and looking around.
“Are you okay?” Mick asked.
“Yeah, yeah. I’m fine. This is just… bizarre.” Len explained, picking up a piece of tech to examine. “A week ago, I had just derailed a train to challenge the Flash and gave you the heat gun but now… I really died for all those people?”
“You-“ Mick rubbed the back of his neck. “You took my place.”
Len set down the piece he was looking at. “What do you mean?”
“Someone had to stay behind to destroy a device called the Oculus and I volunteered myself to get back at the Time Bastards-“ Mick cut himself off to avoid explaining what had happened with them, but he could tell by the narrowing of Len’s eyes that he caught his near slip. “Anyways, you followed in after me and knocked me out. You took my place leaving me your gun and this.”
Mick pulled out the ring he kept in his jacket pocket, the one Len kept from their first major heist together. The ring was too big to fit to fit even on his small fingers but he still liked to keep it close. Len looked at the small piece for a moment before reaching into his own pocket and pulling out a matching one.
Mick hadn’t known Len had kept it on him back in 2014, though if Len kept it through all these years, he shouldn’t have been too surprised. Still he stared in awe as Len held the rings side by side.
“How can they both exist at the same time?” Len asked him.
“It’s a paradox due to changing the timeline. It’s like how I have memories battling the Flash with the heat gun, though you were stolen from that timeline before any of that happened and dumped a few years in the future.”
Len tilted his head at Mick. “Do I need to go back to 2014 to right the timeline? If I disappear after teaming up with past you, is that going to make current you disappear?”
Mick really thought about that. “Not necessarily. Time doesn’t like paradoxes but they can be incorporated into the timeline. One of these guys had a full grown daughter just appear into existence. Even though it wasn’t a part of the normal timeline, time righted itself and began to have memories of raising her and not having her at all.”
Len bit his lip, debating his options. “So, if you drop me off in 2014, how do you know the timeline won’t go back to the way it was and end in my death?”
Mick shrugged before answering. “I honestly don’t know. That’s a question more suited for the Flash then me.”
Len hummed thoughtfully. “And if I stay here in the future with…” Len tapped his fingers on the table before coming to a decision. “Well at least dying will be behind me, for the most part.”
“I won’t let you die.” Mick promised.
Len’s lip twitched up before he shook his head. “Look, I joined the Legion before they whammied me. The reason was, I didn’t like what I heard. I don’t want to work with a bunch of would-be heroes and ultimately die because of them. Maybe things were different in that timeline, but I’m not the same as your Leonard.”
“You’re always going to be my Leonard, Lenny.” Mick said fondly.
Len raised an eyebrow. “Even if I don’t want to play hero?”
Mick laughed though his eyes and throat were a bit wet when he finally said, “Especially if you don’t want to be a hero.”
Len studied Mick’s face before reaching up and stroking his cheek. “Mick, are you sure you’re all right?”
“Yeah,” Mick said, roughly. “I just missed you.”
Instead of pressing the issue, Len pressed forward instead, giving Mick a gentle kiss. Mick wrapped his arms around Len, pulling him closer, finally feeling his partner’s lips on his after everything that kept them apart. When they parted, Mick leaned his forehead against one Len. Len kept his eyes open watching Mick as the older man closed his eyes.
“What do you want to do, Mick?” Len intoned.
Mick kept his arms around Len but moved so he could meet his eyes. “What do you mean?”
“If I do this… If I stay in this timeline, what do you want out of it?”
“I just want you as my partner again.” Mick said.
“Even if it means leaving your new found team?” Len posed the question innocently enough, but Mick had trained himself to hear Len’s inflections over the years and heard the slight edge to his tone.
“Look, you weren’t wrong about what you said on the battlefield. These guys haven’t exactly been friendly to me as of late. I’d be okay leaving them.”
Len narrowed his eyes at the causal admittance of mistreatment at his expense. “What exactly did do?” Len asked, sharply.
Mick shrugged off Len’s (slightly murderous) concern. “It doesn’t matter.”
Len’s nostrils flared. “It does matter. Especially if you worked with them for as long as you the Legion said you did.”
Mick sighed. “It’s all right, Lenny. I just want to go home and put this all behind me.”
Len knew it most definitely was not ‘all right’. His quip about getting back at the ‘Time Bastards’ for something and him saying the team wasn’t ‘friendly’ to him had Len wondering just what the hell they had all done to rob Mick of the fire behind his eyes.
Len grabbed Mick’s hand and held him in a firm gaze. “Then let’s go. We’ll be the baddest sonofabitches Central has ever seen. We’ll give the cops and the Flash a run for their money. The city will be ours.” Len said, leaving no room for Mick to doubt his words.
Mick smiled at Len’s ferocity and a bit of the life came back into Mick’s eyes. “I like the sound of that.”
Len smiled back, the smile he only reserved for his partner and it was in that moment that Mick knew all of the Legion’s brainwashing had been resolved. His Lenny was back.
Mick grabbed the back of Len’s neck, pulling him in for a heated kiss. Len clutched back as they reacquainted themselves with each other’s mouths.
When they finally came up for air, they went to inform the team of their decision. The rest of the team didn’t put up much of a fuss when Mick said they were leaving the team for good. Mick figured it was long time coming anyway. He had had some great times with the team but he was truly never really a part of it. He had never had a place there. Rip had told him that much up front.
But there was only one place he did belong…
“You ready?” Len asked as the Waverider disappeared out of sight, having dropped them off in 2017 without a backwards glance.
Mick tilted his head to look at Len, who was standing by his side. “Born ready, boss.”
Len smirked and it spoke of danger and theft and it sent Mick’s blood racing. “Now, let’s pick up where future me left of shall we? I’m sure Lisa will be happy to have someone to help lead… what did you call them again?”
“The Rogues Gallery.”
“The Rogues. It sounds cute, really. Like a boy band.” Len commented.
Mick snorted. “Yeah, if boy bands committed grand larceny and aggravated assaults in their spare time.”
“You never know, Mick. I hear you singing in the shower. You could do both for all I know. Singing by day and thieving by night.” Len teased.
Len started cackling as soon as he took in Mick’s annoyed face.
“You’re such an ass.” Mick complained, though he knew he was cracking a smile too.
Len slung an arm over Mick’s shoulders. “All right, fine, while singing might not be your forte, you can certainly start treble like nobody’s business.”
Mick groaned. “Give it a rest, Snart.”
Len laughed for another moment before sobering. He clapped Mick on the shoulder. “C’mon, we have a lot of work to do.”
Mick hoisted the rest of his stuff over his good shoulder as they began walking toward their closest Safehouse. With the familiar sounds of the city and Len babbling a mile a minute about future heists and plans, Mick smiled.
Mick thought back to something brainwashed Len had said to him after robbing that bank. Mick hadn’t echoed the sentiment in Doom World but with the Waverider behind him and Lenny at his side, he did.
And boy, it did feel good to be king.