Work Text:
Captain Cold glanced up from his perfectly maintained flower bed that bordered his immaculately manicured lawn as he trimmed his variegated hybrid tea rose bush, and scowled at the moving van next door. He hoped his new neighbor would be an improvement over the last, but he didn’t have high hopes. He continued scowling as said neighbor appeared, struggling with an oversized moving box. Unfortunately, the neighbor was cute. Impressive yet svelte physique, short brown hair that was long enough to be artfully disheveled, full lips, and gorgeous wide eyes.
Captain Cold instantly lowered his eyes. Maybe the neighbor would be the silent work-a-holic type. He could only hope. Or maybe he would take a hint, and leave his cold neighbor with the prickly flower bushes alone. Maybe he would be extremely annoying and later on seem less attractive. Cold watched his neighbor again with a sour expression.
Unfortunately, the cute neighbor chose that moment to glance over, drop his box and start marching over, goofy grin on his face. “Hi, I’m Barry Allen, and I just moved in next door,” Barry said, with a goofy yet earnest smile.
Captain Cold looked over and swallowed, why did his new neighbor have to be endearingly cute? Damn it. “Leonard Snart,” he said, nodding at Barry. “Thank you for staying off the lawn, it’s barely recovered from my previous neighbors.”
Barry laughed. “Don’t worry! I know how big an issue soil compaction can be on plant growth.”
Captain Cold felt the icicles in his heart melt just a little more. His neighbor was smart too? He didn’t stand a chance.
“Wow, those are some awesome roses, I don’t think I’ve seen that cultivar before, you must take good care of them.”
“I find gardening helps with stress management,” Leonard said, and then nearly facepalmed at his own line. Why couldn’t he think of anything clever to say?
Barry just laughed again. “Yeah, I’ve heard it can be a relaxing hobby. Your whole yard is pretty amazing.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “Maybe sometime you could give me advice on improving my yard. If you have time.”
Leonard stared. Maybe his cute neighbor liked him too? “Uh, sure,” he stammered. “I can make a few recommendations.”
“Well, I should probably go unpack. Feel free to stop by anytime.” Barry jogged off down the sidewalk, very carefully avoiding the lawn and flower beds. He turned and grinned and waved as he reached his own driveway.
Leonard waved back. He had it bad. He gathered up the cuttings he had trimmed from his rose bush, considering. It really wouldn’t be much of an effort to root them, and he imagined the look on Barry’s face when presented with rose bushes as a gift. Leonard almost mentally facepalmed again, then reassured himself that he wasn’t going soft, he was just trying to make the neighborhood look a little nicer. (And okay, maybe he was trying to impress his cute neighbor just a little).
-
Leonard waited two weeks after their initial meeting to allow Barry time to move in and get settled. (and so he could see how many of the rose bush cuttings were rooting.) Then, he bought a box of assorted donuts, and walked over to knock on Barry’s front door.
Barry threw the door open on the second knock. “Hey! Leonard! You came over to visit, great,” he said enthusiastically.
Leonard nodded awkwardly. He was hoping his crush might have dissipated after two weeks, but if anything, it came back stronger, hitting him full force, as Barry gave him a sunny smile. “Here,” Leonard said, and shoved the box of donuts into Barry’s arms.
“Aw, you got me a housewarming gift, how sweet,” Barry said while eagerly opening the box. “Ooh, you got the expensive fancy donuts, yummy.” He picked one up and shoved it into his mouth.
Leonard felt his face heating up. “I’m glad you like them. That’s not your house-warming gift though. I have something else, for your yard.”
“Mhm, huh? Even more gifts?” Barry said through a mouthful of donut. Then he seemed to redden and handed the box back to Leonard. “Oh, my bad, it’s rude to eat in front of guests. Here, have one.”
Leonard selected one cinnamon donut and passed the box back to Barry. “It’s not much, I just decided to root a few cuttings from the rose bush you were enamored with. They should be ready to plant by next week.”
“Cool! I’ve seen it done before, but not with roses, and I’ve never had the chance to try it myself, can I come over and see?” Barry had finished his donut, and started on a second one (or was it third?), and was practically dancing with excitement.
“Yes,” Leonard said, feeling a small surge of pride at having done something ‘impressive’. Not that he needed external validation, still, it was nice.
-
Over the next few weeks, Leonard learned a few things about his neighbor. 1) Barry was always in an unflappable good mood. 2) Barry was an endearing nerd, with a seemingly endless supply of scientific knowledge. 3) Barry worked as a CSI (which honestly had Leonard just a little worried, he just hoped they never had to cross paths while on the job, that would be awkward.) 4) Barry was generous and helpful, and 5) Barry actually was a pretty good gardener, and after spending a few backbreaking afternoons redoing old flower beds and laying mulch, his neighbor’s yard looked…nice. And the five baby rose bushes were growing nicely, much to Barry’s continued delight at having ‘clones’ of Leonard’s rose bush.
“I never really had the opportunity to get an education,” Leonard admitted one night, while Barry was showing him all the cool things he could see with his personal telescope on the back patio.
“Aw, that’s a shame,” Barry said, while adjusting the telescope. “You don’t need an official education to be a life-long learner though.”
“True,” Leonard agreed.
“And you seem like a life long learner,” Barry said, leaning over to nudge Leonard with his elbow, and look up into his eyes.
It seemed almost like an opportunity to kiss him, but Leonard wasn’t good with these kind of things, and froze up. “Thank you,” he said, instead.
Barry looked marginally disappointed, then returned to adjusting the telescope. “Ooh, look!” he squealed in excitement. “I found a comet!”
-
Since Barry worked in law enforcement, he would probably be horrified to know that he inspired Captain Cold to look up some research papers and make a few modifications on his cold gun. They worked extremely well, slowing movement at a molecular level that would be sure to affect even the Flash.
Leonard frowned. Would Barry approve of beating the Flash? Probably not, but since Captain Cold was doing it to get access to top secret cryogenic research at a local lab, maybe he’d give him a pass this once. He was doing it to learn after all. And it wasn’t like the Flash was technically on the right side of the law either.
-
Captain Cold laughed evilly as the Flash struggled in the grips of his newly improved cold ray. “You can’t win this one, Flash,” he said, adjusting the setting, enjoying himself immensely as his long-time nemesis faltered to a halt. He shoved the Flash down the stairs, relishing every knock and bounce he made on the way down, every grunt of pain. Then he lifted his cold gun again, and froze the Flash into a block of ice.
Cold hummed to himself as he leisurely searched for the remaining cryogenic research. No one would be stopping him today.
-
Leonard was on top of the world. He had just defeated the Flash (and epically too, thanks to the improvements he’d made on his cold gun). The top-secret cryogenic data was absolutely amazing (from what he’d managed to read through it so far), and he decided that to top off his amazing day, he would finally get up enough nerve to ask his cute neighbor out on a date. If everything else had gone so seamlessly, surely asking his neighbor out would be a breeze.
Leonard bought a box of donuts, and headed over to knock on Barry’s door. This time it took almost ten knocks before he heard fumbling at the door, and Leonard frowned in concern. Barry had always been energetic and enthusiastic, he hoped he was okay.
Then the door slowly opened. “Hey, I brought you-“ Leonard began, then trailed off as he saw Barry’s face. One of his eyes was puffy and swollen, and his lip was cut.
“Hey, thanks,” Barry croaked out as he accepted the box of donuts. “Sorry, I’m not feeling well, but you can come in if you want.”
“What happened?” Leonard sputtered, as he followed Barry into the house, noticing the man walked with a slight limp. “Did someone do this to you?”
“It’s not a big deal,” Barry said as he plopped onto the sofa and shoved a donut into his mouth. “Jus’ in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
“But who is responsible?” Leonard pressed, sitting down next to Barry. “Can’t your CSI bosses pull some strings? Did you file a police report?”
Barry laughed, then winced. “It wouldn’t do any good,” he said.
“Tell me who it was,” Leonard growled, leaning in closer, hoping for a name, so he would know whose ass he needed to kick. Anyone who hurt Barry deserved an epic beatdown from Captain Cold. “I have…some powerful friends. They could make whoever did this to you pay.”
“Aww, that’s sweet, Leonard,” Barry said, picking up another donut. “But I really doubt you know anyone who could take on Captain Cold.”
“What?” Leonard asked as his stomach dropped. “Captain Cold?” Are you sure?” he asked, trying to remember all the innocent bystanders he had accidentally injured today. He had tried to keep it to a minimum, but there had been some injuries. He didn’t remember seeing Barry, but he supposed with his focus so single-mindedly on the Flash, he could have over-looked him.
“Yup,” Barry said, munching his donut. “I mean, your powerful friend would have to be the Flash or something to make Cold pay. Do you really think you’re friends with the Flash?”
“No, I’m not,” Leonard mumbled collapsing back into the couch as Barry made a weird snorting sound. Far from it, the Flash was his nemesis. “I’ll try and figure something out though.”
“Be careful,” Barry told him with an earnest look that only made Leonard feel even more miserable. “I wouldn’t want you to get hurt either.”
Leonard just made an unhappy noise, wondering how he could beat himself up (more than he already was anyway). He didn’t deserve Barry as a friend or as a neighbor. Maybe he should pack up and move to another state. No, that was too easy and would leave poor Barry wondering what had happened. Maybe he should out himself to Barry. Seeing the horror in his friend’s eye as he realized what a monster Leonard was would surely be enough of a punishment. Maybe Barry’s boss would arrest him. And he would deserve it. Should he bring this up now though, with Barry so injured? Selfishly, Leonard decided against it. He needed more time to plan his atonement, and plus, he didn’t want to heap all his baggage onto Barry right after he’d been injured.
“I should be going so you can rest. I hope you feel better,” Leonard said as he stood up to let himself out.
“See you later,” Barry said, wincing out a smile through his battered face. “I’m lucky to have you for a neighbor.”
Leonard swallowed, wondering if it was possible to feel any worse. “Let me know if you need anything,” he managed.
-
The next day, Leonard brought a plate of brownies over to Barry’s house. (maybe even if he couldn’t get up the nerve to completely out himself, he could try to slowly make amends by bringing over baked goods for the next year. And he was good at baking, it simply required attention to detail and following directions. It wasn’t his favorite activity, but for Barry, it was the least he could do.)
Barry answered the door on the seventh knock this time, and seemed to have improved considerably.
“You seem better,” Leonard said cautiously as he handed the plate of brownies over.
“Yeah,” Barry enthused brightly. “I guess it wasn’t as bad as it looked yesterday.” Then he snagged a brownie off the plate. Ooh, homemade brownies, for me? I should get beat up by supervillains more often.”
“I wanted to talk to you about that,” Leonard said.
Barry made a face. “I’d rather not. Cold’s a jerk, I got hurt, now I’m getting better.” He bit into the brownie, then let out a small moan of pleasure. “Plus, I’d rather talk about why you’ve been hiding these baking skills from me all this time,” he teased.
Leonard eyed Barry fondly. At least baking sweets was a start at atonement. “I haven’t been hiding any baking skills,” he said, handing Barry another brownie. “You just never asked. It’s not hard anyway, all you have to do is follow the recipe.”
“Yeah, but I always end up with half burnt, half raw misshapen oven monsters any time I try to bake,” Barry complained through a mouthful of brownie. “It’s harder than it looks.”
Leonard let out a small laugh. “Maybe I can help you follow a recipe some time.”
Barry beamed. “I’d like that.”
“Speaking of Captain Cold again,” Leonard said as he attempted to change the subject before Barry’s cuteness ate him alive with guilt.
Barry frowned. “I’d really rather not.”
“It’s just that, I have…connections who know him.”
“Really?” Barry’s eyes widened in surprise. “How’d you manage that? Ooh! Is that who you were planning on having beat up my attacker?”
“Yes,” Leonard said. “If it means anything to you, Captain Cold felt terrible when he learned he beat up my neighbor. He tries to avoid unnecessary damage to civilians.”
Barry snorted and rolled his eyes. “But he still continues being evil. I doubt that makes him sorry.”
“Is there anything he can do to make it up to you? I can make sure he gets a message if you want to send him one.”
Barry gave him a thoughtful look. “That’s nice of you to offer, but really, I think you should stay away from him or anyone connected to him. I wouldn’t want him to drag someone as nice as you into a life of crime. Although,” Barry said, taking another bite of brownie and eyeing Leonard with a sly grin, “if you did get dragged into a life of crime, it might be hot to see you in a pair of handcuffs.”
Leonard nearly choked on his own brownie. Of all the times for Barry to get blatant, it had to be now, when he didn’t deserve him.
“Did I misread the situation?” Barry asked concerned, thumping Leonard on the upper back as he choked and gasped for breath.
“No, I uh, just, you took me by surprise. And well…”
“Oh,” Barry looked down at the plate of brownies. “You still feel guilty by association.”
Leonard nodded. That was close enough to the truth, for now.
“You shouldn’t feel guilty, you didn’t do anything!” Barry said forcefully. “But, if it would make you feel better, you can tell him to stop being a villain, turn himself in,” Barry said with a shrug. “If you insist on contacting him again.”
“I will,” Leonard whispered. “I hope you enjoy the brownies.” Then he guiltily trudged back to his house, wondering what to do.
-
Barry squeezed himself into his Flash uniform, glad he had a supermetabolism. His neighbor had continued to bring over desserts every single day. And Barry wasn’t complaining, far from it. The endless parade of brownies, cakes and cookies was everything he ever dreamed of having. But lately Leonard seemed…distant, guilty. Barry rolled his eyes. It figured that the one guy he’d find would be consumed with guilt by a mere association with Captain Cold. Leonard was a sweet guy, Barry hoped he’d get over the whole guilt thing soon.
And speaking of Captain Cold…
There had been a Captain Cold sighting at the cryogenic lab again, and Barry was anxious for a rematch. He had studied Cold’s improvements, and was ready to compensate for them. Then he zipped off into the night.
-
When the Flash arrived at the cryogenic lab building, Captain Cold was at the top, appearing to be sitting on a ledge. Flash frowned, then shrugged and sped up the side of the building. He slowed down when he reached the top, approaching Cold warily.
“I returned the research notes I stole,” Captain Cold said, staring over the side of the building. “Everything is back where it was.”
“Thanks, I guess,” Flash said, frowning in confusion. What brought this on? Captain Cold seemed morose, almost repentant. “It’d have been better if you hadn’t stolen in the first place, but I’m glad you changed your mind.”
Captain Cold frowned. “It’s just that, I accidentally hurt someone close to me. Someone I care about. I just wanted to take the research to learn from it, now I don’t know how to make things up to the person I hurt.”
Suddenly, a light-bulb went off in Barry’s head. Was Cold talking about Leonard? Maybe they were close friends. Maybe they were more than friends. He felt a pang of jealousy. Cold didn’t deserve someone as kind, interesting and hot as Leonard.
“Maybe it would be better for your friend if you stayed away from them,” Flash said, thinking of how best to protect Leonard. Was it right though, if he manipulated the situation to get potential competition away from Leonard? Barry almost groaned. He might have to reveal his own identity to Leonard soon. That was a conversation he wasn’t looking forward to.
“I should,” Captain Cold said, sounding miserable, “but would it be fair to leave them always wondering why I’d left?”
“They’ll probably just figure it has something to do with your life of crime,” the Flash said shrugging. “Besides, turning yourself in would give you a perfect excuse to stay away from them.”
“They told me to turn myself in, and maybe I should,” Cold whispered. “But they still don’t know who I am. I should tell them first, shouldn’t I?”
“Whoa, whoa, wait a minute,” Flash said. “This person doesn’t know that you are Captain Cold?” Captain Cold’s friend couldn’t be Leonard then. Maybe…oh. Flash’s eyes widened as suddenly everything made a lot more sense.
Captain Cold shook his head.
“That’s kind of a big omission. How’d you manage that?” Flash asked and plunked himself down on the ledge next to Captain Cold.
“He was just a friend I made when I was doing other things, is that so hard for you to imagine, Flash?” Cold bit out angrily, giving Flash a quick glare.
“Aww, it warms my heart that you spend your free time making friends,” Flash teased. “What did you do, make ice-rinks and snow scuptures? Snowcones?”
“Very funny, Flash,” Captain Cold stood up and rolled his eyes.
Flash stood up and bowed sarcastically. “I aim to please.”
“Are you going to arrest me, or are you going to make unfunny jokes for the rest of the night?” Captain Cold asked icily.
“Hmmm,” Flash said, tapping the side of his face with one finger. “Let’s see. On the one hand you’re guilty, but on the other hand, you were sorry enough to return the things you stole, and you seem to feel miserable about what you did.” He shrugged. “I’d say I’m going to let you go with a warning this time. Go apologize to your friend, and I’ll keep making funny jokes.” Barry held up a finger for emphasis. “Remember, even though I’m all for second chances, if you break the law again, I’ll definitely make sure you get arrested.”
Captain Cold nodded and started walking slowly away, his shoulders sagged.
“Oh, and for the record, I still think you’d look hot in a pair of handcuffs!” Flash shouted after him.
Captain Cold turned around, startled. “How did you-?” he asked, blushing. Then his expression hardened. “Very funny, Flash, how long did you know?”
“I just figured out your identity right now, relax, and I realized you’d probably figure mine out as soon as you had more time to think about it.” Flash paused in thought. “It’s an alias of course, so you can’t use it against me. I can still arrest you if you want,” he said with a wink.
“I liked you a lot better when we were neighbors,” Captain Cold said bitterly.
“Hey, I’m pretty much the same lovable guy in and out of the mask,” Flash said. “You’re the one with a secret soft side. Oh, by the way, I think you should totally give up supervillainy and start a bakery/garden center. I’m definitely a bigger fan of your brownies than your cold gun.”
Captain Cold blushed a deeper shade of red. “Not a chance, Flash.”
Flash sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Damn. This is like a full-on tragedy; I’m going to be thinking about your rose bushes and baking every time I arrest you, aren’t I?”
Captain Cold scoffed. “That’s your problem, not mine. And you’d have to catch me instead of get beat up and defeated if you think you’ll ever arrest me.”
“Touché,” Flash said with a wince, then his expression brightened. “Aww, are you embarrassed because I saw you had feelings of remorse? Don’t be, it might keep you out of trouble in the future. By the way, are you still going to teach me how to bake?”
Captain Cold folded his arms in front of himself, and tried to look imposing. It was kind of adorable, now that Barry knew how much of a softie he was really. “I’ll think about it.”
“I can do something for you in trade maybe?” Flash suggested. “Hey, I know, I can water your roses next time I have to arrest you, how about that?”
Captain Cold looked confused. “Is that…innuendo?”
“No, I just meant taking care of your plants as a neighbor,” Barry said, mouth widening slightly, “but oh my god, now that I think about it, that does sound kind of suggestive, huh?” Flash bent over laughing.
Captain Cold made a grumbling noise, then stalked over and grabbed Flash by both sides of his head. “I hate you so much,” he said, pressing his lips to Barry’s.
“Glad to hear it’s mutual,” Barry quipped as he leaned into the kiss.