Archive of Our Own

It starts years before, not long after his dad gets out of prison. Leo realizes that he’s going to need a few years to be able to make it on his own, so he starts planning. He starts hoarding money, hiding it from his dad. He goes through a few places, paranoid his dad will find it until he finds a gap in the window frame in his bedroom. He sets up a few false stashes of coins and candy to throw his dad off. When Lisa comes along, Len (Leo is his dad’s nickname for him and he doesn’t think of himself as Leo anymore) foolishly thinks things will get a little better, but within a couple of months it becomes clear that it won’t. Lisa is the one really good thing in his miserable life, but now he doesn’t just have himself to look out for. So, though it complicates things enormously, he includes her in his plans.

When his dad starts talking about bringing Len in on a possible heist, Len knows it’s time to go. His dad and crew are terrible planners. They can get away with simple stuff if they’re fast enough, but anything more complex is going to end up with someone caught or dead or both. Len is trying to decide the best day to go. He has access to a car, Mrs. Kincaid’s. She doesn’t drive anymore and her son is supposed to come take it (and her) out every week, but he comes maybe once a month. And Len’s piling on the crimes, so if he gets caught, it will be a disaster. It makes Len feel a little better that Mrs. Kincaid doesn’t really care about the car and only keeps it because it annoys her son and that she might approve of Len getting away.

As soon as his dad sets up a drinking night with his friends a few days before the planned heist, Len realizes then will be his best chance. His dad might come home early, but it’s unlikely. He’ll probably stay wherever he’s drinking and not get home until mid-morning and assume Lisa is with the neighbor and Len is in school and not get suspicious until later in the afternoon, by which time, Len hopes to be several states away.

After his dad leaves for the night, Len packs. He doesn’t take too much stuff, either his or Lisa’s. He doesn’t want it to look like he ran away and took her with him. He packs the money he’s squirreled away, those pickpocket lessons his dad forced on him useful in ways his dad hadn’t intended. He’s able to get Mrs. Kincaid’s car over to their place without much difficulty. Getting the stupid car seat, that their dad never puts in their car unless he has to, in it is another thing. Somehow he gets everything packed and Lisa in the car and he leaves. He drives carefully, but not too fast and not too slow, trying to remember everything his dad and his cop buddies had said about why they pulled people over. He has a state issued license and birth certificate saying that he’s Ben Chard, age eighteen, and a birth certificate for Lisa, that says she’s Elise Chard and a couple of weeks younger than she actually is. Breaking into the largest hospital, its records system, and one of the Drivers Licensing Divisions of Keystone wasn’t that hard. So all the forms are authentic, just not the information on them. He’s tense, thinking someone might stop them. The papers will all hold, he’s sure of that, but until they get far enough away, there’s a possibility that someone could recognize them or make the connections. Lisa is awake but not upset, she likes being in cars. She babbles, not words, just noises, sometimes random, sometimes sounding like she’s speaking some other language Len just doesn’t understand, and it helps to put Len at ease a little.

~~~

It takes several days, two other stolen cars, and a bus ride (just in case someone gets on their trail). But finally, they’re in Gotham. It’s just as bad as Len had heard, which is good. Gotham is a place people tend to run from, not to, so it’s doubtful they’ll be looked for here. Also, given the rampant mayhem, Len’s small grifts, thefts, and pickpocketing should get less notice and hopefully zero pursuit, even if there is a freaking guy that dresses up like a bat and fights crime.

He gets them settled. It’s a crappy place, but it’s theirs. He finds a neighbor with kids that are well taken care of, Ms. Johnson, to watch Lisa while he’s out. Ms. Johnson doesn’t seem concerned with how he gets the money he pays her and, more importantly, Lisa likes her.

It’s not the best existence, but they have food and no one is hurting them, so even with the amount of violent (and sort of bizarre) crime in the city, Len counts it as a win. Len needs to up his game, not just to get a better life for Lisa, but because if this is what he does, if this who he is, he should be great at it. Len has learned that anyone in a service or staff uniform often goes unnoticed. Len does some research and finds out that for the really big, ritzy parties, none of the catering companies have enough full-time staff to do the parties, so they tend to either partner with or subcontract each other. Either way, it means that no one knows everybody staffed for the parties. So Len just needs uniforms, which are easy enough to get.

~~~

Wayne Manor is… something. There is a lot of surveillance – some of very obvious, some of it much less so, some of it almost undetectable. It makes Len very wary, but he doesn’t leave. His damnable curiosity has got the better of him. This much security means either paranoia or something more than just the typical trappings of wealth on display. Len carefully takes note of all the surveillance he can find, hopefully without giving away that he’s noticed it. He’d been scanning for something easily taken, but now he’s adjusted that to both easily taken and worth the high risk. The uniform has worked like a charm, most people not really acknowledging his existence, even when they take something from the tray he’s holding. There have been a few things that have caught his eye, but there’s a small bauble, set with black opals, that he really wants. It’s on a shelf, slightly behind some other, flashier items. If he can get away with it, it will be worth it. Len hesitates, but then goes for it.

Three minutes later, there’s a hand on his shoulder. He keeps his face blank, but inside, he’s yelling at himself. He must have missed a camera. He ends up in a den. Bruce Wayne is studying him and he gets the impression that he sees a lot, which is weird because, in the press, Wayne seems to be the ultimate playboy, mostly unconcerned with anything except having a good time. But the place is his and so then is the surveillance, so maybe, like the manor, the man also has hidden depths. Len thinks about trying to bluff his way out, but decides not to. Len puts the bauble on the desk and says truthfully that he doesn’t have much and that he thought he could get some money from it. He lets his fear show, not really for himself, but for what might happen to Lisa. Wayne smiles genially and benevolently and Len is immediately on his guard. Wayne says Len can take it, he obviously needs it more. Len has no idea what is going on, but he wants no part of it. He takes the bauble back when Wayne hands it over and leaves quickly when Wayne dismisses him.

Len proceeds back to where he was and slips the bauble back in the same general area, but now in a more prominent position, caught by at least two cameras that he knows of. Len then jostles the shelf and exclaims how glad he is that he didn’t knock anything over, catching the notice of a few guests nearby and easily fixing their attention on that particular bauble with a few words and hand motions. As soon as a little group forms and starts talking about it and the other items on the shelf, he pulls back. He retreats through the crowd. As Len slides through the throng, he takes a very nice bracelet, his actions hidden from any view by the mass of people, so at least his night isn’t a total bust. He leaves the grounds, but feels like there are eyes on him. He doesn’t go directly home, but detours and does all his tricks for shaking someone following him. He still feels like he’s being watched almost two hours later, but chalks it up to being jumpy from getting caught earlier and finally actually heads to his and Lisa’s apartment. He hides the bracelet away and goes to fetch Lisa.

~~~

Len wakes suddenly, sure that something is not right. He checks on Lisa in her bassinette, but she’s sleeping soundly. He gets the feeling that they aren’t alone in the apartment and grabs the knife he has under his pillow. He silently creeps out to the living room and flicks on the light. He nearly drops the knife when he realizes Catwoman is standing there. He’s not really sure what to do. Then Lisa starts to cry. He can’t stop himself from glancing back at the bedroom door and when he looks back Catwoman is across the apartment by the window.

Catwoman gives at him a smirk and raises her eyebrows. “You keep surprising me. I like it. Call me,” she purrs.

Len frowns, trying to figure out what she means and between the distraction of that and of Lisa still crying, Catwoman vanishes. Len huffs in frustration and goes to get Lisa. He gets her changed and walks around with her a bit, probably just as soothing for him as for her. It’s not until she’s settled back to sleep that he thinks to check his stashes. He blames it on being unsettled by everything. His money is all where it’s supposed to be, but the bracelet is gone, an envelope in its place. There’s money, a slip a paper with a phone number, and a note. The note reads:

Saw your performance at the party. Big fan. You were right not to take that item, it had a tracker – bait for yours truly. You’re good, but you can be better. If you’d like to find out how, call.

P.S. This is more than you could fence the bracelet for.

C

Len counts the money and it is less than the bracelet was worth, but she’s right, it’s more than he could get from any of the fences he knows.

~~~

It takes him five days to call her. She wants to meet with him, somewhere he would be comfortable talking. He picks the place after she specifies that some privacy will be needed. They negotiate a day and time. After he hangs up, he wonders if he’s made a mistake. But it isn’t like she doesn’t know where he lives.

She shows up on time. She slinks around the space, it’s kind of awesome. “I love what I do and I’m very good at it. But I can’t do it forever. I’ve been looking for someone, someone I could teach what I know. I think you have potential.”

Len is surprised, this is not at all what he was expecting. “Um, thanks, but I-”

“Oh, no, no, no, hear me out first. I know people who can provide you and your…” she pauses, clearly waiting for him to identify his relationship with the baby she had heard.

He hesitates. Len doesn’t think she will turn them into the authorities, given what she does, but people, even criminals, get a little weird about children, especially very young ones. He’s not sure if he and Lisa are less likely to be separated if he says she’s his daughter or his sister. Catwoman hadn’t lied about the money and there’s no reason that he can think of for setting this up if she was just going to call the cops. He takes a deep breath and goes with the truth. “Sister.”

Catwoman nods. “…sister with IDs and deep backgrounds with enough of a paper trail that almost no one could prove them false.”

Len frowns.

“Your ID isn’t bad, but there’s no school record, no immunization, none of the details that make up a whole life if someone goes digging.”

She’s right. He hadn’t thought about that. And she obviously went digging, so it’s not just a scare tactic. “You want to… train me? In exchange?” Len asks slowly.

“You will be my student… my apprentice. You and your sister will live with me, but you will still be responsible for most major life decisions for the both of you unless I deem something necessary for your training. I may offer suggestions on other things, but they will be for you to accept or reject as you will.”

“My sister doesn’t get any training.” Len blinks, a little surprised that he’s even thinking about it, much less negotiating over it. But it would be really nice not to have worry about so many things all the time.

“Not unless she asks and you approve or she asks and has reached an age where she can make the choice for herself.”

Len thinks about that and nods.

“And that age would be?”

Len grimaces. He’s been neatly trapped into giving his real age. Because he has no doubt that she can find out more about him and will. So if he gives an age that is older than he is now, he is essentially saying that he can’t make choices for himself or Lisa right now. “Fourteen.”

She is silent for a moment. Whatever she thinks of it isn’t in her voice as she says evenly, “Fourteen, then.” She holds out her hand to him.

He takes it and they shake on it.

~~~

Somehow it works. The accommodations are much better and Len and Lisa’s new identities, Nolen and Elisabeth Sharpe, seem to be airtight. Len studies and trains. Catwoman, now their ‘cousin’ Selina, treats them with fondness often laced with amusement, but is mostly hands-off, leaving him to make many of the day-to-day decisions for himself, and for Lisa, too.

Selina takes him to places outside of Gotham to sharpen his skills, from lockpicking and reading blueprints, to making exit strategies and disabling alarms. All the places are within a day’s round trip of Gotham, Len wanting to be able to return home to spend time with Lisa, even though she has a really good nanny now.

Soon, Len’s ready to make his debut in Gotham as Selina’s apprentice. He hasn’t decided on a name yet. They’ve kicked around a few names, but nothing felt right. He had been under the impression that the press had mostly named heroes and villains alike. Selina says that can be nudged by costumes or actions and it can be superseded by making a few strategic announcements of a name. It can also occur due to happenstance, which is how Len gets his name.

Len gets his moniker while bantering with Robin, actually. They pull a couple of jobs without interference. Len thinks Selina is probably just easing him into the Gotham scene by not being as showy as she would be. On the third job, though, Batman and Robin land right in front of Len and Catwoman as they are making their getaway.

“You’re pretty unruffled,” Robin says when Len doesn’t much react.

Len gives a slight shrug and drawls, “I’m one cool cat.” The second it’s out, he knows it’s going to stick. And it does. Len is Cool Cat. It could have been worse.

~~~

Selina keeps to her deal and Lisa doesn’t get to choose until she’s fourteen. Lisa asks before then, but Len won’t budge on this. Lisa’s often more like his kid than his sister, and though he tries to balance being a parent and being a brother, on this he won’t give way. But at fourteen, she asks and Len may not like it, but fair is fair, even if he knows she didn’t grow up anywhere near as fast as he did (and he’s so, so grateful to Selina for helping make that happen, though he has hard time saying it and she has a hard time hearing it). So Lisa joins the Cat-family. She is soon dubbed the Gilded Cat, which Len is sure is pretty close to what she wanted, as she showed up head-to-toe in gold for her Gotham debut. If Len had been less distracted he would have so tried to get it to be Kitty of Gold.

The Bat-family cycles through Robins as time goes on. Len misses Dick. He goes out to see him (and steal) in Bludhaven, but he doesn’t stay long because it’s Bludhaven. One of the Robins really sets him on edge and he drops a word in Batman’s ear. He’s not sure Batman will do anything, after all the entire Bat-family could use so much therapy, but Len thinks anti-psychotics might actually be a viable option for this Robin.

Lisa enjoys stealing, but it’s more of side thing rather than a lifestyle like it is for Len or Selina. Len is more than okay with that. She may have a gray set of morals, but it’s a much lighter gray than it could have been and it’s lighter than Len’s. As she had grown up, Len had debated how much to tell her about their father. When she was very young, he had kept it simple and told her that their father was a bad man and they were better off away from him. But later, she had wanted to know more. He hadn’t wanted to lie to her and had thought she really should know, but it was hard to talk about, hard to see her take it in, so he got out as much as he could and then gave her copies of Len’s early medical records, the couple of police reports that had gotten filed before “mysteriously” getting buried, and a trial record from a few years before that Len had gotten hold of once he’d known it existed (he’d maybe celebrated a little when he found out the sentence was life in prison), where the prosecution had thrown the book at Lewis and had excoriated his character.

After reading through everything, Lisa had ended up hugging him for nearly twenty minutes. Len had hugged her back, glad that he’d been able to keep from passing on his guardedness to her. He’d had to train himself from flinching back when people had reached out to him, not willing to show them weakness. He’d mostly succeeded, but sometimes if someone moved too fast or too unexpectedly, he hadn’t been able to help himself. Lisa has been the only one he’s never felt wary about touching him. And, even though it hadn’t come easily, he’d tried to make sure she had all the physical affection she should have from him.

In time, Harley Quinzel somehow comes into their lives. Len doesn’t really mean to bring her into the fold, but it just sort of happens, mostly because she seems lonely and unhappy and reminds him a bit of himself, plus she has an obsessive personality that could lead her to really bad places, especially since she’s thinking about working at Arkham after she finishes her PhD. Len’s not really thrilled about the whole psychologist thing, but once she helps him profile a mark, he comes around a little. She eventually comes along on a job and Len’s love of wordplay means she ends up with the name Catastrophe. She’s delighted by it.

~~~

Len’s been thinking about heading for Central for the last few months, since they found out Lewis Snart had died in prison. Selina’s semi-retired, but Harley, with some assists from Lisa, can represent the Cat-family for awhile. Harley and Lisa alternately treat each other like rivals or best friends, which seems to work for them. Len sort of wants to see how they fare without him right there. He and Lisa have been in each other’s back pockets for so long, they maybe need some distance now that she’s almost twenty-two. And Harley’s made some other friends, like Pamela and Victor. Len feels a real affinity for Victor and Victor seems to have taken a shine to Len, designing some cool (ha!) freeze gadgets exclusively for Len.

Selina doesn’t seem surprised when Len tells her, she just wishes him luck. Lisa is varyingly excited and sulky about it. Harley is a little nervous, but okay with it. Victor seems to get that it’s not just Len giving Lisa space, but Len looking to lay some ghosts to rest, too, ghosts Lisa doesn’t have. Pamela sends him off with a vial of toxin and a promise to look out for Harley and Lisa.

~~~

Len spends a lot of time learning the ins and outs of Central City. He learns traffic patterns, mob territories, police response times, other criminals, buildings, etc. He steals things, but quietly, nothing to tie them to Cool Cat. Making it seem effortless takes a lot of effort and he wants to know as much as he can, be as ready as he can before publicly debuting Cool Cat in Central. He takes his time. He does want to keep his reputation up and growing, though, so he makes a few trips to do jobs he has had in the works for months - big, spectacular feats that get a lot of press and gain him a little spending money (well, maybe more than a little).

Lisa comes to visit and he shows her Central City, the good and the bad. He’s missed her, a lot, even though he’d stopped by Gotham to see her and Selina on his way to both Reykjavik and Montreal. She tells him what’s been going on in Gotham, as if he hasn’t been talking to her on the phone each week (he maybe also talks with Harley, Selina, Victor, and Pam with some regularity to check in with them and make sure Lisa actually is doing well). So, there isn’t much that is news, except that Nightwing has been around more. But something is bothering Lisa. He waits her out.

The night before Lisa’s supposed to leave they’re talking about heist films (none of them are really all that accurate, but some capture the spirit better than others), when Lisa blurts out, “Do you think you would have been better off without me? If you never had to take care of me? If I never existed?”

Len doesn’t even have to think about it. “No.”

“But Lenny, you were fourteen and I was a baby, you can’t tell me it wouldn’t have been easier to just take care of yourself.”

Len doesn’t really want to talk about this, but it’s something Lisa needs to hear. “Listen to me Lisa, if for some reason you hadn’t been born, I would probably be dead. I was already so worn-out by the time you came along and you gave me a reason to hold on. I’m not sure I would have found the courage to leave if not for you, but if I had, Gotham would’ve probably swallowed me whole – I would have been reckless without you to take care of, I could easily have ended up in Arkham. And if I hadn’t left, Dad would’ve killed me, one way or another - with his fists, on a risky job, or getting me sent to prison. You saved me Lisa, as much as I tried to save you.”

Lisa flings herself at Len, hugging him tightly. Len hugs her back, holding on just as tightly.

When Lisa leaves, she seems happier and lighter. Len is maybe a little happier and lighter, too. He thinks the separation was probably a good idea. Lisa needed to do a little growing up away from him. Len needed to do a little letting go. It’s still hurts, not being around her as much, but it feels cleaner now.

Len gets back to his plans. Len audits a few criminality classes at the college, just to keep up on any techniques he might have to circumvent. It’s one of Len’s better ideas since he’s very entertained by an enthusiastic kid, who is perpetually late to class and so, often sits in the back near Len. The kid even snickers at the puns Len makes under his breath. Len also perfects his performance with Victor’s gadgets - he debates putting them on gauntlets, but gloves suit him better. The icing bolts (discarded names: freeze rays, cold snaps, and cool beams) are amazing and soon he will be ready.

There is one thing that nags at him, though. It has to do with STAR Labs, which Len has broken into a couple of times. There’s some differences between the filed blueprints and the actual physical STAR Labs, which is not actually all that unusual, but that, added to the fact that the construction of the particle accelerator seems to be rushed, just makes Len wonder. Having looked into it further, Len thinks it may be something about Harrison Wells, the founder. The man sets off all kinds of alarms, but Len has no idea why. Len is sure he’s much more dangerous than he seems. Wells has apparently changed some since a car accident that killed his wife. It means something, Len thinks, but he doesn’t have enough pieces to put it together. Len also thinks that Wells may have noticed his break-ins, which is odd, because Len didn’t take anything and he’s been keeping his jobs in Central very neat. Something is definitely up with that man.

~~~

Len is playing around with gloves, wondering where they would show to the best effect. He thinks an outdoor venue, but most things of value are indoors, under lock and key and there’s no superhero here to catch him after he’s taken something so Len can show them off. Maybe he can lure someone to Central. Apparently Nightwing is still being a little bothersome. That’s an idea. There’s a sudden rumble of thunder and then a second or two later, a lightning flash. The lights flicker a bit. Then there’s a very loud noise and the windows break and something seems to sweep over Len and everything goes dark.

~~~

It stays dark, but after some time there are voices and all kinds of background noises. It takes him much longer that he would admit before he realizes that he’s in a hospital and not some bizarre dream. He can’t respond, can’t move, can’t really feel that much, but he can listen. Sometimes the voices are indistinct and far-away sounding and sometimes they are perfectly clear.

Lisa visits a lot, but so do Selina, Harley, Victor, and Pam. Then at some point, Dick starts to come by. Batman even stops by a time or too, though he doesn’t say that much. Then also, every once in a while, there’s a voice that isn’t that familiar to him, but is pretty young, Len thinks it’s a Robin of some sort. There are only a couple of regular nurses and doctors and not that much extraneous sound, so he figures a private hospital somewhere. He’s kept pretty much up to date with the major happenings in the outside world. It does take quite a while before anyone elaborates on what happened to land him here, he’s guessing that he wasn’t aware for a number of weeks afterward, when they would have been talking about it. It only gets brought up because there’s a new superhero in Central City and they think it’s connected to the explosion of the particle accelerator that caused Len’s coma (Len’s not entirely sure it is a coma, but that’s apparently what it looks like from the outside). Len really wants to wake up now.

Len learns a lot about his friends and the Bat-family (he’s really not sure how to categorize their relationship to Len). Len also gets to learn about meta-humans, created by the explosion. Later when Len’s alone again, he wonders if he’ll have powers. The moment he thinks it, he can feel a sensation in his hands and the room goes cold. Well, that could be useful. If he’s ever able to move again. But it kick starts something. He starts to feel more.

The doctors and nurses are concerned with his fluctuating temperature. Len’s not. He’s practicing, though there’s only so much he can do that without being able to move. Also, it’s kind of annoying to get abruptly kicked out of his focus on it by someone suddenly throwing a blanket over him, which he can now feel.

~~~

“Dick misses you,” comes a voice from close by.

If Len could move he would have startled like a cat. He hadn’t known Batman was even in the room, which begs the question of whether he’s been here more than Len thought. How can a hero be so Goddamn creepy? Anyway, what about Dick?

“You left.”

Yes, Len had left, but he’d said goodbye and everything, even stolen a couple of Nightwing’s gadgets and an awful shirt that Dick liked to wear. But Dick had never come by Central to get them back like Len had expected him to, so Len had assumed Dick didn’t really care that much.

“He didn’t realize you were going away for more than a vacation or a heist.”

Well, Dick had been really distracted by something when Len had broken in to say goodbye, so Len maybe understands that. But Dick still never came to Central.

“He didn’t know where you were.”

If Len could scoff, he totally would. As if Batman and Nightwing didn’t have the resources to find Len if they wanted.

“Selina is very good at covering tracks when she wants to.”

Len cannot disagree with that.

“And your sister and friends weren’t helping either.”

Len wonders if Batman or Nightwing actually asked or if they just skulked around trying to pick up clues.

“And you were keeping a very low profile in Central City. You would pop up somewhere for a heist and before Dick could get there, you would go to ground again.”

Len wishes he could laugh. He’d inadvertently led Dick on a cat-and-mouse game, or rather a bat-and-cat game.

“Once the particle accelerator exploded, we found out where you’d been. And now you’re someplace else Dick can’t get to. And this time, neither can Lisa or Selina.”

Wow, way to bring the room down Batman, Len thinks. Wait, it just now occurs to Len that Batman is using their actual names and not the monikers they’ve taken on, which he’s never done in Len’s presence before. He thinks maybe Batman, no, maybe Bruce, might be worried about Len. Which maybe Len should have caught just by Bruce’s willingness to say any of this, or really, anything at all, even if he’s not sure it’s getting through to Len. Len doesn’t know what to do with that.

“Of course, I looked into some things once I’d found out where you had been and Selina was distracted by getting you settled here.”

Bruce is such a bastard.

“I won’t apologize because I’m not sorry I know. But I won’t tell Dick or anyone else.”

Len doesn’t really understand the lines Bruce draws for himself, but then he never has.

“I think you did the right thing, getting yourself and your sister away, even with the thievery and coming to Gotham, of all places. Though, I’m told, my perspective is a little skewed,” Bruce says, dark humor in his tone.

It shouldn’t make Len feel good, but it does. Well, that’s probably on a checklist somewhere, craving approval from male authority figures. Len should check with Harley.

“Dick misses you. Lisa misses you. Selina misses you. I think you can hear me. You need to wake up.”

Len has been trying. There is something, though, that Len can do. His hands aren’t in the best position, but he can try. If anyone can figure this out, it will be Bruce. Len concentrates. He can feel the cold emanating from his hands and he tries to push it in the direction that Bruce’s voice was coming from, tries to reach with it.

“Is that you? That cold?” Bruce demands.

Len reaches a little more.

“Okay. Okay, you can stop.”

Len stops, pulls it back.

“I’ll be back. Rest.”

That may be the only thing that Len can do, he’s exhausted. He feels a gloved hand brush over his right hand. He’s pretty sure Bruce is gone. Len hears the sounds of someone entering the room urgently and then there is a blanket being thrown over him, again.

~~~

Bruce retrieves Victor and has Len do his thing for Victor. They end up basically kidnapping Len from the hospital and taking him to Victor’s lab. Bruce and Victor move cautiously around each other. Though they sometimes have truces, they don’t often work together. Len, finally, fully wakes up when Victor puts him in an ice bath. They get him out and warm him up gradually because while Victor thinks it’s both the cold and the shock that made it work and not that Len needs to remain at a cold temperature to be stable and awake, Victor’s not completely sure and has a cryosuit standing by. But Victor is right, Len’s awake and aware and at a slightly lower body temperature than most, but not a hypothermic one. And he’s also in very good health for someone just out of a supposed coma, fully aware, able to speak, no cognitive issues, no muscle atrophy, no tiredness or fatigue. Victor hypothesizes some regenerative abilities linked to his cold powers. Victor fetches some clothes for Len. After he gets them on, Bruce nods at Victor, who nods back, and then Bruce takes Len to Lisa.

~~~

“Thanks,” Len says as they drive.

Bruce nods.

Len wants to leave it that, but can’t, he owes Bruce. He sighs. “You are not a terrible person.”

Bruce frowns at him.

“You have done some terrible things. And sometimes you are not a good person, but I don’t believe you’ve ever really been a bad one, whatever you tell yourself. Not everything is your fault. You’re a smart guy, but there’s only so much you can do.”

Bruce doesn’t reply.

“I have known terrible people. You aren’t one.”

“Thank you, Len.”

“You don’t believe me.”

“You live with something long enough, it doesn’t really matter whether it’s the truth or not, it becomes what you know. I’m not sure I could be who I am without it.”

“Maybe you should be somebody else.”

Bruce doesn’t say anything to that, but he does look the slightest bit thoughtful.

~~~

Lisa won’t let go of him. She’d hugged him until others had started showing up and then took hold of his arm like he was the snow leopard stuffed animal he’d gotten her when she was three. She’d carried around the toy, which she’d named Slipper, with her everywhere until she had started kindergarten. Len knew she still kept Slipper in the her bedroom closet. He gets it, he actually doesn’t want her let go yet either.

Everyone else just has to hug him with her right there, holding onto him. And everyone else does hug him. Harley’s a given, but though Selina’s not really a hugger, and Pam has to be very careful, he gets hugs from both. Then Dick shows up and Len gets a hug from him, even though they’ve never done anything like that for all their banter and friendly rivalry that at some point had become more friendly than rivalry. Victor also gives Len a quick hug when he stops by, much more relaxed now that Bruce isn’t around (he’d dropped off Len, gone and retrieved Selina, and then made himself scarce).

There’s a lot of touching throughout the night, Len allows it, even though it strains him a little bit. After some time though, Selina plants herself near Len and subtly acts as a barrier. Len is grateful. He’s grateful for all of this, family and friends who care, who didn’t give up even though he was in his ‘coma’ for over a year and a half. Everyone stays until late, reluctant to go, but eventually they leave.

Len can’t fall asleep, he knows that it’s just sleep, but part of him is afraid of not being able to wake up. Lisa checks on him about ten times in the first hour. He finally gives up and gets up, Lisa immediately coming to see what’s happening. They end up in the kitchen, talking the rest of the night away over hot chocolate with mini marshmallows.

~~~

Len stays with Lisa for a few weeks until her need to have him close has faded and them being in each others’ space has started to irritate the both of them. Then he stays with Selina for a bit. She’s happy to have him there, but there’s something going on with her and Bruce, which he’s fine with, but doesn’t want to be that close to. Dick offers Len the guest room in the apartment in Gotham that Dick stays when he’s not in Bludhaven or staying at Wayne Manor. Len takes him up on it. Len steals some old circus memorabilia from a crime boss and leaves it for Dick as thanks (it makes Dick both smile and scowl, which is actually Len’s preferred outcome).

Len spends some time, with Victor and alone, honing his powers. He told everyone about them, but hasn’t shown them off. And he won’t until he’s sure he won’t hurt any of them. It takes longer than he likes, but he does get the precision of control he’s aiming for, though high emotion can throw him off.

~~~

“You should go back to Central City,” Dick says.

Len doesn’t let himself start even though he was alone in the apartment just a minute ago. “Why would I do that?”

“It’s itching at you. You had a plan and it got interrupted. You hate unfinished plans.”

“I do.” But he also doesn’t want Lisa to worry.

“And you want to play with The Flash, don’t deny it.”

“It would be fun, but I thought you missed me when I was there.”

“I didn’t know where you were. Now, I will. I can visit.”

“Ah.”

“You’re my best friend, you know?”

Leonard stares at him.

“I didn’t realize it before you left. I mean, I knew you were my best enemy, and our lives are so messed up that I can say that. I didn’t realize how much it mattered to have someone around who got me, until you weren’t. I wasn’t paying enough attention.”

“I won’t stop stealing from you,” Len says unapologetically.

“Yeah, I wouldn’t expect that.”

“I won’t steal the important things, though.” It’s a promise and not one that Len’s made to a lot of people.

Dick smiles. “I know.”

Dick gets Len, too, at least a little.

“You should go, Lisa will understand,” Dick says.

Maybe Dick gets Len more than a little. “Maybe.”

~~~

Lisa does understand and soon he’s back in Central (with a lot of checking in from various people in Gotham). He takes a few weeks to study The Flash and get back up to speed (heh) with Central (even with the meta-humans coming out of the woodwork, most places haven’t done anything to beef up their security). There’s something very familiar about The Flash, which is strange. Len may have familiarized himself with the city and some of its notable citizens, but he hadn’t really interacted with many individuals here, at least not enough to recognize them in a mask. Except, there had been that boy in college that he’d noticed and exchanged pithy remarks with, and according to Dick, that means they were well on their way to BFFs. Barry. Barry Allen. It doesn’t take long to find out about Barry Allen’s ‘coma’ or how The Flash had first appeared not long after he had awoken. It’s not concrete, but it’s close enough for Len.

~~~

Len takes his time with his first public theft. He also makes it splashy. A museum, a big gala, and it’s pretty easy to get evacuated, a little ice show and people move fast. He’s already got the artifact in hand when The Flash shows up. It’s pretty clear The Flash doesn’t recognize Len’s costume.

The Flash smiles at him and says, “Wow, you dressed up and everything. I almost feel bad, so much effort for so little reward.”

Len was right, it’s Barry. His voice is disguised somehow and he appears to have put on some muscle, but that’s his smile. “Oh, I got what I came for.” Len smirks and holds up the Kahndaq Dynasty Shiruta Amulet. He’d been annoyed by how easy it was going to be to get the Kahndaq Dynasty Diamond the museum is supposed to display in a few months, so he decided to make sure they made it a challenge while he was confirming his theories about The Flash, two birds, one stone. Barry looks like he’s going to rush Len. So Len uses his free hand to direct his powers to ice Barry’s feet in place. “At the risk of being cliché, freeze.”

Barry tries to move and can’t. He looks up at Len, stunned. “What did you do?”

“Well, you know how cold is the enemy of fast, how it can slow down molecules? Of course you do, you always were a good student.”

Barry frowns at him, looking a little disturbed. “Who are you? Do I know you?”

“Aw, I know I haven’t been very active in the past few years, but I still thought my reputation and likeness would have preceded me. I am stretching my wings, or rather claws, here in Central, but I wouldn’t like to think that only Gotham is aware of my prowess.”

Barry looks Len up and down and then his eyes widen. “You’re Cool Cat.”

Len gives a little mocking bow. “At your service,” he says, mispronouncing the second syllable for the pun

Barry wrinkles his nose, then tilts his head a little, likely listening to someone on a communicator.

And that’s Len’s cue to leave. “Be seeing you around, Scarlet.” He tosses the amulet at Barry and saunters off. He does actually want the diamond to come to the museum, besides, he’ll get a pretty penny off the jewelry he lifted from some of the fleeing patrons. He’s off around the corner as he hears the first police car pull up to the museum.

~~~

Len is standing in front of a safe. He’s has what he wants of the contents (something the owner will never report) out and stashed and he’s closed the safe again. Now, he’s waiting. And, oh, there’s The Flash, now. He’s standing a ways back and looking at Len a bit warily.

Len watches, a smirk playing on his mouth, wondering what Barry will do.

Barry’s eyes narrow. “Here kitty, kitty.”

“Bold move, Flash, taunting the supervillain.”

“Supervillain?” Barry asks skeptically. “You didn’t get anything from the museum and you haven’t taken anything from here yet.” He eyes the safe. “Or have you?”

“You are welcome to frisk me,” Len says holding up his arms.

There’s a sudden wind and then Barry’s in a different place in the room, frowning down at the little piece of electronic equipment that had been in Len’s pocket.

“Didn’t even feel that.” Len puts his arms back down.

Barry shrugs.

“You know, Scarlet, being very fast and not making an impression can be very big drawbacks in certain situations.”

“Hey!” Barry exclaims, affronted. He turns over the box and asks, “Is this a jammer?”

“Yes.”

“What’s it for?”

Len steps over and hits the switch on it. “Your equipment.”

Barry blinks at him and goes to switch it off.

“You should be careful around Harrison Wells,” Len says quickly.

Barry’s finger hovers over the switch, but then he takes it away. “What are you talking about?”

“There’s something off about that man. Think the particle accelerator explosion may have been deliberate. You should look into him and the STAR Labs construction.”

“I don’t- Why would somebody do that?”

Len shrugs. “Don’t know. Be a good idea to find out.” He flicks the switch back on.

Barry winces and says, “I’m okay,” to whoever is monitoring him.

“I think I’m done here,” Len says.

“Wait. No. You’re breaking and entering. And trespassing.”

Len holds up a badge. “I have access to the building, voice print verified. Though, I may not be in the right suite – all the doors on this floor look alike.” He does actually have access, though a lot of information is missing from the electronic paperwork he’d filled out (money can smooth over a lot). He has a feeling the access requirements will get more stringent after this.

“Where was that? I searched you.”

“You can do it again if you like.”

Barry looks like he’s not sure what to do with that.

“Oh, and I’ll let Batman know you don’t consider me a supervillain, even though I’ve bested him quite a few times.”

“Uh…”

“Anyway, be seeing you,” Len says and surreptitiously lays down an almost invisible layer of ice on the floor as he walks away. He smiles as he hears the sound of Barry sliding and then hitting a desk behind him. Len is out of the office suite and hidden by an access panel before Barry makes it to the hall. Len is out of costume and in a restaurant down the block by the time Barry comes out of the building, looking around. Len wonders how many times Barry searched the building before giving up.

~~~

Len starts in surprise as Barry appears out of nowhere and crashes into some ducting on the rooftop. He’s not going fast enough to tear right through it, but it makes an awful noise. Len slips over to where Barry is lying on the rooftop, groaning. “Well, hello, Scarlet. Fancy meeting you here. Where did you come from?”

“I ran up,” Barry says, sitting up.

“The side of the building? Okay.”

“What are you doing here? Did you steal something from this place?”

“Yes. I thought I’d steal the switches.”

Barry looks at him in bafflement as he stands up.

“They’re doing a complete renovation, took everything down to the studs, I don’t think they have most of the sheetrock up yet.”

“Oh. So, then are you coming from or going to a heist?”

“Who said anything about a heist?”

“You are in costume, but maybe you just like to hang out on rooftops, dressed like a cat.”

“Maybe I do,” Len actually does like to maintain a presence, even when not stealing something or planning to steal something. It helps with the mystique of the whole thing. Rumors get spread, reputations grow, authorities follow the wrong tracks. “I bet you could investigate that, follow the evidence, see where it leads.”

Barry stares at him. “You know who I am, don’t you? You know me.”

Len shrugs a little.

Barry looks at him closely. “You do. Not just my name, either. I should know who you are. You seemed familiar, but then I thought it was the Cool Cat thing, but it wasn’t, was it? I know you somehow.”

“Do you? I’d like to think I would be memorable enough for someone to recognize if they knew me.”

“But you’ve only been here since- Wait, your powers, what you said about W-, what you said last time, you were here when the particle accelerator exploded, weren’t you?”

Len doesn’t say anything.

Barry’s eyes go wide. “Oh my God, you were in some of my classes. My criminality classes. Hey!”

“I find it behooves me to keep up on the latest methods.”

“I liked you! You were smart and charming and ho- You were smart and charming and I thought you were a good person.”

“I’m still smart and charming and I can’t help what you thought.”

Barry scowls at him. He’s about to say something when he stops and tilts his head. “I have to go.”

“Off you go then, to save the world from wicked people like me.”

Barry rolls his eyes.

“Tell you a secret, though,” Len says and he gets up close to Barry and whispers, “I can be very, very good.”

Barry’s eyes do a quick slide up and down Len’s body, then he closes them and shakes his head. “I have to go,” he says again and Len doesn’t think it’s his imagination that Barry sounds reluctant. And he disappears in a trail of light.

~~~

“Um, hey, Cool Cat.”

“Hey, Flash. You have my attention,” Len says, waving to the fifteen foot tall cat carved out of snow that he had heard about on the news. There had been no doubt in his mind that it had been a bid to get him here to the park, especially with the tag on the collar reading, ‘Cool’. “Then again maybe you make giant snow sculptures for all the non-supervillains you meet.” Len looks around casually, he doesn’t think it’s a trap, but it still could be.

“No, just you.”

“I feel so special. And after you didn’t try to foil my last job.”

Barry takes out the jammer Len had left him with and flips it on. “Yeah, Wells didn’t seem to want me to go and I didn’t because I wanted to figure out why.”

“Ah.”

“What about him made you suspicious?”

Len debates with himself for a moment, then shrugs. He’s already gone this far. “The car accident, the rushed schedule, the secret room, the paranoia. Too many things about him don’t quite add up. He seems like he’s pretending to be much less dangerous than he really is.”

“I think you’re right. I think he’s hiding something.”

“Okay. And this is what? A thank you for the warning?”

“Have you heard about the Reverse Flash?”

Len nods. “Yes, another speedster.”

“I think that may be Wells. And cold is the enemy of fast.”

“You want my help?” Len asks, taken aback.

“I thought since you warned me, you might be willing.”

Len studies Barry.

“The Reverse Flash, he killed my mother,” Barry says abruptly.

“The ‘Man in Yellow’.”

Barry frowns.

“I’m very thorough with my research.”

“Even if it’s not Wells, I’m still asking.”

Len sighs. “Do you have a plan?”

“Not really. Is that a yes?”

“Come up with a plan that will work and isn’t likely to get me killed and we’ll see.”

Barry smiles wide and bright. “Thank you.”

“I’m curious to know why you even thought to ask.”

“I’ve had some visitors.”

“Visitors?”

“Nightwing and Gilded Cat.”

Len scowls. They didn’t stop by and see Len while they were in town. “What did they say?”

“Um, a lot of things. But the point is that they both care about you a lot. And I guess I assume that someone that can inspire that kind of devotion has got to have some good qualities, thief or not.”

“That is a terrible assumption to make. I’ve known some horrible people with passionate devotees.”

“Maybe. But I don’t think I’m wrong about you.”

Leonard shakes his head. “Optimists.”

Barry grins. “So, what’s your real name?”

“You can call me Len.”

“Okay, Len.”

“Okay, Barry.”

“I need a way to get in touch with you when we come up with a plan.”

“I’ve always wanted a ‘Cat-signal’.”

Barry laughs. “I was thinking a phone number.”

“How unimaginative.”

“Well, the next time after this, I will see if I can get the cats of Central to set up a Twilight Meow for you.”

“That’s more like it.” Len takes out a burner phone and gestures to the jammer.

Barry turns the jammer off and Len hands the phone over to Barry who takes out his own and puts the number in his phone and sends a message to Len’s phone to confirm. Barry hands the burner phone back to Len. “I’ll call.”

“Yeah, we should do this again some time,” Len says wryly.

Barry snorts and lifts a hand in goodbye and then flashes off.

~~~

Len stumbles back, hits the wall, and slides down it. The whole room is frozen from the his burst of power. As he watches, the frozen solid form of Eobard Thawne starts to crack and fall to pieces. Len feels pretty numb. Of course, the room is freezing and he’s bleeding pretty heavily. He should probably do something about that.

Len pulls out his phone and calls Barry.

“Hello,” Barry says.

“Apparently, we don’t need a plan.”

“What?”

“So, an evil speedster enemy of yours from the future who was trying to kill you, but got your mother instead and somehow got trapped here and needed you to have your powers, disguised himself as Wells so he could engineer the explosion to happen much sooner than it originally did.”

“What are you talking about? How do you know this?”

“Eobard Thawne, your future nemesis, and actually, your past and present one too, likes to, liked to monologue.”

“Len, where are you? What happened?”

“I’m in that secret room in STAR Labs.”

“You are? Hold on.”

“Yeah.” Len puts his head back and closes his eyes.

“Oh my God,” says Barry.

Len opens his eyes and finds Barry in the room looking panicked. “Hey, Scarlet,” Len says, and his voice sounds pretty weak to his own ears.

Barry kneels down and puts pressure on Len’s wound. “What happened?”

“Thawne can vibrate fast enough to put his hand through matter, including people. Think he was trying for my heart, but I deflected and it got messy.”

“Where is he?”

Len points. “See those pieces? Didn’t actually know I could do that. My powers seem to have an atomic option for defense.”

Barry looks and cringes. “Let’s get you out of here.” Barry flashes out and flashes back with some things. He cuts Len out of his costume, gets him on a blanket, and starts carefully wrapping Len’s wound.

“You know I was born here in Central?”

“You were?”

“My father actually did kill my mother, though that’s not what he went to prison for.”

Barry looks horrified. “That’s awful.”

“He liked to hit me. I had a plan, though. I was going to get away. Then my sister was born and I had to get her out too. So I did. Went to Gotham, knew he wouldn’t look for us there.” Len probably should stop talking, but it feels important that someone knows.

“Wow. You, you have a sister?”

“Yeah, raised her, with a lot of help from Catwoman.”

“How old were you?”

“Fourteen.” Oh, Len shouldn’t have told him that.

“God, I can’t even imagine. I am so sorry that you went through that.” Barry finishes wrapping up Len’s wound. “Okay, I’m going to move you now. It will probably hurt, but I’ll get you to the hospital.” Barry picks him up and the pain is bad, but then Len just passes out.

~~~

Len wakes up feeling overheated. There’s heat blanket over him. He tries to bat it away, but he feels really weak. At least he can move. Someone catches his hand. He lets his eyes open a bit. It’s Barry and not in costume as The Flash.

“Hey,” Barry says quietly.

Len tries to speak, but his mouth is very, very dry. Barry helps him get a few sips of water. “Get this blanket off.”

Barry frowns. “You lost a lot of blood and your body temperature got really low.”

Len looks around, he’s in a generic hospital room, a private room, unlikely to be bugged. “And I can shoot ice out of my hands,” Len says pointedly.

“Oh, so your core temperature is usually low?”

“A little. More so when I’m healing. Cold seems to help then.”

“Should I not have moved you?” Barry asks, alarmed.

“No. I was bleeding out. I have some boosted regenerative abilities, but they wouldn’t have worked fast enough, even if I hadn’t just used a lot of energy to freeze everything.”

“Oh, okay.”

“But I am going to have to get out of here before they take too much note of all my medical anomalies.”

“Right. How fast can you heal?”

“This will probably take a few days to fully heal, longer if they keep me under this blanket the whole time.”

“Okay, give me a couple of hours and I’ll see what I can set up. STAR Labs is off-limits right now.”

“I guess I should be expecting the police to be on the lookout for Cool Cat.”

“Probably not too hard,” a voice comes from outside the window and then Nightwing somersaults in.

Barry starts.

“No?” Len asks.

“There were a lot of cameras and microphones set up all over the labs. The whole incident was captured on video with audio. Except that just after Eobard Thawne went to pieces, the cameras and mics stopped working, the cold must have gotten to them. And somehow the whole thing got released to the press and the DA formally announced that no charges would be pressed against Cool Cat,” Nightwing states.

“Huh,” Len says.

“And I’m pretty sure the blood evidence recovered at the scene was unusable,” Nightwing says.

“Huh,” Barry says, frowning. “What about the costume?”

Nightwing shrugs. “It got very brittle in the cold and pretty much disintegrated. Unlikely that they’ll get any DNA off of it.”

“Well, isn’t that convenient?” Len drawls.

“And apparently this hospital has had a computer glitch that may have affected the security cameras and erased a recent patient’s records. I think it would be a good time for you to move somewhere more comfortable,” Nightwing says.

“I, I can help with that,” Barry says.

Nightwing looks at Len. Len nods.

“Be back in a second,” Barry says. And he is, and he’s back in costume. “Where am I taking him?”

Nightwing rattles off an address and then heads back out the window.

“Ready?” Barry asks Len.

“Well, not wild about being in a hospital gown.”

“Wait,” Barry says and flashes out and back. He holds up a pair of sweatpants.

Len throws off the heat blanket and Barry helps Len shimmy into the sweatpants. Len undoes the gown ties, pulls his IV, and then quickly pulls all the sensors off. The monitors start screeching as he pulls off the gown and tosses it on the bed. Barry takes a hold of him and before anyone can make it to the room, they’re gone.

~~~

Len is almost completely healed. This is very good since most of the Gotham denizens he knows have decided to stick around Central until he does. And not just the city but the same floor or apartment that was set up for him (Bruce apparently acquired an apartment building in Central City at some point that no one else, save a caretaker, is actually living in – it’s being ‘renovated’). It’s good to know people are concerned, but so many people so close and always checking up on him is driving him up the wall. At least no one has said anything about him leaving Central (it’s not like he wouldn’t understand it, he’s ended up with some fairly major trauma every time he’s lived here).

Victor had helped him test how cold affected the wound healing. It turns out that ice water speeds his healing some, but a few minutes in a walk-in freezer works better, though, any longer than twenty minutes and his powers tend to want to come out to play, taking energy away from healing.

Barry’s around more than Len would have thought, since Barry now has STAR Labs and his father has been exonerated. Barry always politely announces when he’s coming over so that everyone can be sure to have their disguises on, if they so choose. In return, the Gotham villains politely don’t rob or damage Central City. Much. And Batman and Nightwing help Barry out a few times. On the plus side, they are more respectful of The Flash after dealing with King Shark and Grodd. On the minus side, they’re both more wary of Len remaining in Central. Len knows this because Bat-gadgets keep appearing for him to find. Len is relatively sure that the Bat-spray is actually just pepper spray in a bat-shaped canister. How did Len not realize before how much of a dork Bruce is? It’s like a kid who wants dinosaur-themed sheets and clothes and toys.

Lisa watches Barry silently with narrowed eyes when he stops by, but eventually thaws and seems to decide he’s actually exactly what he appears to be, which is when she turns incredulous eyes on Len. Len gives a half-smile and a shrug. Lisa considers and then nods. Len bows his head a little in acknowledgement of Lisa’s full blessing. Pam, Harley, and Victor take that as permission to let Barry into their circle. Barry doesn’t quite seem to know what to do with that at first, but then just accepts it for what it is.

Barry’s most tentative around Selina. She’s softer with him than Len would have expected, but he’s pretty sure she’s done her homework and knows exactly what a mother figure might mean to Barry. Barry gets all sorts of stories about Len from her.

Selina catches Len just after Barry leaves one night and Len thinks she going to try to give him a warning about what he’s doing. Instead she says, “He’s a good man. Don’t lose yourself for him or let him lose himself for you. Finding middle ground isn’t always going to be easy, but it can be done.”

“Okay,” Len says and brushes a light kiss against her cheek.

Selina looks a little surprised at the gesture, but pleased.

~~~

Barry is pacing around while Len sits on the couch and builds tiny ice crystal statues on the coffee table. Barry obviously has something he wants to say, stopping every minute or so, looking at Len and opening his mouth before closing it again and then going back to pacing.

“Cat got your tongue?” Len asks dryly.

Barry stops and stares at him, trying not to smile and failing miserably. “How long have you been waiting to use that?”

Len shrugs.

Barry takes a deep breath. “I- You- I feel like I should tell you to go back to Gotham.”

Len raises his eyebrows inquiringly.

“I mean, you seem to have really bad things happen to you here in Central. Really bad things.”

And that sounds to Len like Barry has found more out. “You know then?”

“I looked into it. It wasn’t hard to find information on a fourteen-year-old boy and his infant sister who went missing,” Barry says, giving him an apologetic smile.

“Yeah.”

“So, uh, Len is actually…?”

“My identification says Nolen Sharpe.”

“Alright.”

“You said you should tell me to go back?”

“I should. But I want you to stay. I’m not asking, because that seems selfish, but I can’t tell you to go. I’m just telling you that I want you to stay.”

“I might stick around,” Len says casually, not wanting to let on how he hadn’t even really considered leaving.

Barry smiles brightly. “Yeah?”

“Well, this place does desperately need to chill.”

Barry snorts out a laugh.

~~~

Len walks into the bank in costume.

A little girl with a cat-ear headband turns and yanks on the coat of the woman she’s standing next to and says, “Mom, Mom, it’s Cool Cat.” Before her mother can say anything, the girl turns to Len and stage-whispers, “Are you here to rob the bank?”

“Not today, but maybe you and your mom should go,” Len says and then adds, “I like the ears,”

The little girl curtseys to Len as her mother ushers her out.

Less than a minute later, four men in black with clown masks run into the bank. The one in front waves a gun and yells, “Everybody down, this is a stick-up!”

“I don’t think so,” Len says. Then he ices their guns and the floor underneath them and down they go.

The Flash shows up a few seconds after that. He binds the would-be bank robbers up in an instant. He looks at Len in perplexity and asks, “Decided it was cooler on the light side after all?”

Barry had been trying to get Len to join him in thwarting crime. Len has helped out a time or two, but he’s no hero. He has been sticking mostly to scores that won’t get reported, lately, but he’s not going to become a white hat. This was about professional pride. “I heard them planning, and it was a terrible plan, an affront to thieves everywhere.”

“Ah,” Barry says, hiding a grin.

“See you later, Scarlet,” Len purrs.

“Seven,” Barry says under his breath.

Len smirks and leaves. It’s been three weeks since everyone else from Gotham cleared out and they’ve only had one uninterrupted date. Len would be less than happy about that, except Barry makes up for the interrupted ones so nicely afterwards. Barry Allen is a hell of a kisser and is always aware of Len’s boundaries. Len can’t wait to find out what else he can do nicely with that mouth. Len thinks he’ll hop in the cryo-chamber Victor gifted him with. It’s a disguised as a deep freezer (though, theoretically, it could work as a deep freezer) so that it can be readily moved without attracting attention. It’s mostly intended to help Len heal faster when he needs it. But a few minutes in it can make him feel quite refreshed and energetic. And some extra energy for tonight wouldn’t go amiss. Len slinks into the shadows with Cheshire grin.

The End