Chapter Text
Felicity Queen and Quentin Lance sat in the Arrow Bunker while the team hit the streets against their latest enemy aiming to destroy and/or take over the city. Honestly, Felicity quit paying attention to the goals at this point. They all tended to blend together. She was hacking away at their enemies’ servers, trying to shut them down and to find where their leader was currently holed up.
Suddenly, the room’s temperature began to decrease to the point of goosebumps rising over the girl’s arms. The two looked up to see a bright blue light originating from the sparing area that was growing in intensity. They stood up, quickly shielding their eyes against the blinding glare of the light. Quentin slammed his hand down on a silent alarm they’d had installed by Cisco. It was a way to alert Oliver and the rest of the team when the Bunker was compromised.
Just as quickly as it came, the light dissipated. In its place, on the cushioned mats, was a body. The man pulled out his handgun and, after making sure the younger woman would stay behind him, he slowly walked towards the form. The closer he got, the more he could hear the popping of ice. He got to the edge of the mats before he could really see the man lying there in enough detail to recognize him. From the gasp behind him, it was obvious that Felicity recognized the man as well.
“Leonard Snart,” the woman murmured, almost reverently.
Quentin turned to look back at her, “That thief that went off with Sara? I thought the Flash said he died two years ago.”
Felicity slowly nodded, “He did. He died giving us back free will. He was a Legend.”
The older man shook his head, “Is it the same guy?”
The blonde bit her lip, glancing to the table at the side of the room. “I can check.” She rushed over to the table and grabbed the scanner laying there before running back over to where the man stood.
Quentin quickly grabbed the scanner before the woman could use it herself, “I’m not about to let you go over to someone we don’t know, especially since multiple universes are a thing now. Donna and Oliver would have my damn head if he’s only playing opossum.”
She huffed, watching him walk over to the other man and point the scanner at him. Crossing her arms over her chest, Felicity watched him struggle for a few moments before rolling her eyes and sighing, “Need help?”
He sent her a glare before deflating, “Fine.” He held the scanner out to her.
A smug smile lit up her face as she took it, “My pleasure.”
He snorted even as he stepped out of the way for her to slip past him. He watched as she pressed a button and a light beam shot out, moving over the man’s form. After a moment, a small noise came from the machine. He heard her gasp and watched her hand slip over her mouth as she slowly turned to him, “It’s him, Quentin. It’s our earth’s Leonard Snart.” She looked back down at the thief with a certain amount of awe. “Sara and Mick are going to be so happy he’s back.”
The man walked towards the prone form, “Is he breathing?” He was watching the man’s chest closely as he knelt beside him. He reached out to touch him before shivering, “He’s cold, too cold.”
Felicity snorted just as the Bunker doors slammed open to reveal Oliver with his bow raised and an arrow notched while Diggle slipped in right behind him, gun out and aimed. When the two found no one attacking their hideout, they stopped, very confused as to what the problem was.
Oliver cleared his throat, “Who hit the panic button?”
Quentin stood, “That was me. We have a bit of a situation over here.” He met the younger man half way. “We were working on the hacking,” he was interrupted by Felicity clearing her throat, to which he gave her a withering look only to receive a sweet and innocent smile, “Felicity was working on the hacking, while I held down the fort when it suddenly got real cold in the room and then came a blinding light. Next thing we know, it’s gone but we got the guy laying there.”
Felicity glanced around in excitement for a moment until she started to wonder about the chill lingering in the air. Oliver stepped over to his wife, brushing his fingers lightly over her forehead, “You both are alright?”
She nodded, “We are.” She smiled gently at him for a moment before turning her attention back to Quentin. “Is he alive, Quentin?”
The man slowly nodded, “Yeah, but he won’t be if we don’t get him warmed up. He literally has ice falling off his skin.”
Diggle and Oliver frowned while Felicity rushed off to find blankets and anything that could be used to warm the man up. The archer turned his attention to the gadgets table to retrieve the other scanner. He walked over to the prone man and quickly scanned him, causing the machine to sound off a special tone.
Quentin looked up at him, “What does that mean?”
The blonde-haired man stared at the machine in his hand, “Are you sure he’s from this earth?”
“That’s what Cisco’s scanner said. Why?” Felicity glanced at her husband for a moment before laying the blankets she found over Leonard’s body.
The archer pinched the bridge of his nose, “Leonard Snart wasn’t a Meta, was he?”
The woman shook her head negatively, causing him to sigh.
Diggle stepped closer to the group, “So, why don’t we just call Barry and let him deal with all of this? He’s his supervillain, right?”
The blonde-haired woman frowned up at her friend, “He’s really more of an anti-hero at this point. He’s a Legend, Diggs.” Suddenly, her eyes widened, “We have to call Sara. Her and Mick are going to be so happy to have him back. They were both devastated when he died, even if it was for free will.”
John nodded his agreement while Quentin eyed her. Oliver nodded, contemplating the scanner in his hand. With a deep sigh, he turned to Felicity, “Which one do you want to call: Barry or Sara?”
The woman shrugged, “Do you know how to work the communication set up to call Sara on the Waverider?”
He glared at a spot over her shoulder for a moment before huffing and pulling out his cell phone to call Barry. Felicity smirked before hopping over to her computer setup and pulling up the frequency to contact the Waverider. While Oliver watched his phone for a moment, Felicity sent her call through. It was answered quickly, “Hey, Felicity. Is this an emergency?” Sara’s voice sounded hurried and stressed.
“Well, no. But there’s someone here that I know you’d really like to see.”
“If it’s not an emergency, we’re going to have to wait. We have a situation here that’s more important than popping in for a visit, whoever it is that you may think we want to meet. I’m sorry. We’ll be there as soon as we can, but we can’t make any guarantees.”
Felicity opened her mouth, but the line cut off after what sounded like an explosion. She sighed, “Hope you have better luck with Barry, Oliver. The Waverider can’t come in right now.”
Oliver sighed, “We’ll see, I guess.” He finally pressed the call button beside Barry’s name and waited for a couple of rings before it was answered by a breathless Speedster.
“What’s up, Oliver?”
The archer gave a small sigh, “While the rest of the team was on patrol, Felicity and Quentin hit the panic button because someone appeared in the Bunker.” He was cut off by the feeling of the air shifting around him instantly and the sight of Diggle jumping.
Barry stood in the middle of the room, looking around as if trying to find the intruder, and ignoring Diggle’s murmur of “Never getting used to that.”
The Speedster turned fully to Oliver, “Where are they?”
The archer motioned to where Quentin still stood beside the covered form. “I’m sure you’ll recognize him.”
Barry sent his friend a confused look before walking over to the ex-police captain. When he saw who was on the mats, he froze, eyes widening. “Snart?” He murmured.
Oliver walked over, placing a hand on the younger man’s shoulder, “According to Felicity and Quentin, he suddenly appeared in a bright flash of blue light. The frequency scanner from Cisco says he’s from our earth, but the Meta-scanner says he’s a Metahuman.”
“But Snart wasn’t a Metahuman when he left for the Waverider. I mean, it’s possible that he had the gene, and it hadn’t awoken before he left.” He stepped closer and knelt beside the other man’s form. “I can’t believe he’s back.” He ran a hand over the thief’s closely shorn hair, “It’s like he never even left. I wonder if he’s been frozen in time.” He shook the pain from the cold out of his hand. “I mean, it’s been, what, two years? It looks like he was actually frozen.”
“Two guesses as to what his abilities going to be,” Felicity snorted.
Barry and Oliver sent her unimpressed looks to which she simply shrugged with an innocent smile. Both men shook their heads as Diggle chuckled quietly. Oliver turned his attention back to Barry, “What are we going to do? The Waverider can’t make it because of a mission they are on, and this isn’t really an emergency they need to deal with.”
The Speedster nodded, “Sadly, it isn’t. His heart beat and rate are within normal limits and the beat is strong. He’ll probably have to deal with some hypothermia, but if his abilities are ice based, then it shouldn’t cause any lasting damage.” After a moment of watching the thief breathe, he continued, “I’ll call Cisco and Caitlyn, get them both here to assess him. Cisco’s updated the scanner. Now it can tell Metahuman abilities.” He glanced up at the others, “At least, it’s supposed to, but I’m not completely sold on it yet. He’s only tested it on people we already have in the database.” He stood and wandered over to one of the corners of the Bunker to call his team.
Felicity turned to her husband, “So should we be getting things ready for Snart’s transport?”
Quentin cleared his throat, “I don’t like the idea of moving him right now.” He cut Felicity off before she could protest, “I’m not talking about his past as a thief. I’m talking about his health. You said something about him meaning something to Sara, so I don’t want to put him at risk any more than he already is.”
They nodded in understanding. Felicity realized that it was possible that even though the man was breathing fine and had a good heart rate, it didn’t mean that it would stay that way. They’d seen it happen too many times, and that thought suddenly worried her.
Moments later a breach portal opened up and the other two members of Team Flash stepped through. Cisco stepped over to Barry while Caitlyn immediately got to work on checking Leonard.
The engineer stood in front of Barry, “So are we sure this is the Snart we know?” He paused, “Ok, I’m not even sure the one that went on the Waverider was the Snart we know.”
Barry rolled his eyes, “Just because you can’t see the good in Snart doesn’t mean it isn’t there. And yes, it’s him. Your frequency scanner says it is. Your other scanner also says he’s a Metahuman.”
Cisco put his hands up, “No, that wasn’t a thing before all the time travel.”
The Speedster eyed his friend, “So you’re telling me that your machine isn’t working correctly?”
“Blasphemy,” Cisco scoffed. After a moment of staring the other man down, he finally sighed heavily, “Fine, I’ll go and Vibe him, see what I can find out, and make sure my tech isn’t malfunctioning in some way.”
Caitlyn looked up from where she’d taken her third vial of blood. Cisco stepped up beside her, running his hand through his hair. He slipped on his gloves and goggles before taking a breath and placing his hand on the thief’s shoulder. Once he went still, the woman turned to the rest of the room, “You have an ultrasound here, right?” She brandished a syringe and needle. “I need to get a urine sample.”
Barry groaned, “What is it with you and urine samples? At least you waited until I was awake to try and get a sample from me.” He paused, “You did, didn’t you?”
Caitlyn shifted her eyes away from him and onto Felicity, ignoring her friend, “Ultrasound?”
They exchanged looks before Oliver cleared his throat, “Is that necessary right now?”
“Do you have a medical background?” The woman countered.
The archer conceded that point. Barry stepped in, “How about we wait until he’s conscious?”
She huffed slightly but nodded and put her supplies away. Before she could say anything further, Cisco gasped. They all turned to him as he stared at the man before him in awe. He blinked himself out of his stupor. He glanced around him before taking his goggles off and pinching the bridge of his nose. “Did anyone else know that Snart and Sara were a thing?”
Felicity groaned, “That’s what you came back with, from all of what you had to have seen, that’s what you took away from it?”
He shrugged, “I’m trying to not think about the burning pain from the explosion.” He turned to Caitlyn, “Have you checked his arm? There’s probably some heavy burns there.” His attention then shifted to Barry, “I saw his eyes glowing blue, a different blue than what was coming from the Oculus thing. I felt this burning pain, and then I felt everything become very cold. I think the explosion awakened his Meta-abilities.”
Caitlyn raised the sleeve to reveal lacerations and burns, causing the woman to gasp and get to work. She began to clean the wounds, treat, and wrap them.
Felicity turned to Cisco, “There’s a reason I called Sara so quickly. Her and Mick really cared about Snart. I mean, she told me about the entire Dominator dream from her point of view.” She turned to Quentin, “The Dominators showed her a world where she had both Laurel and Snart, alive, and with her. Leonard and Sara were together in their world, engaged even. She didn’t want to give that up but knew she had to because that world was fake.”
Oliver shuddered, “I almost didn’t come back. Not because I was marrying Laurel, but because I had her and my parents back. Tommy was alive, and Malcolm wasn’t the psychopath he’d become. The Island never happened. We were all happy for once in our adult lives, all of us. I didn’t want to lose that.”
John nodded, “It had to have been extremely hard for Sara to leave that. I know Thea wanted to stay since your parents were still alive and all of their indiscretions were erased.” He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, “I still dream about what they showed me, what they gave me through their hallucinations.”
Cisco sighed, waving a hand towards the prone man, “I guess this is going to be a good surprise then. That kiss I saw may have been a goodbye kiss, but there was a promise there. One hell of a promise.”
Barry nodded, “There’s someone else that’s going to love this surprise.” He turned his attention to his best friend. “Cisco, I need you to contact Lisa. Her brother is alive, and she needs to know. You were the one that told her he’d died; you should be the one that gets to tell her he’s alive.”
The engineer nodded, “I’ll try and get a hold of her. She’s gone quiet again lately.”
Caitlyn cleared her throat, “You should at least try. He would really benefit from having her near him. Especially since it’s going to be a while before Sara and Mick can get here.”
Slowly, Cisco nodded, stepping away from the group to make that call. The phone rang a couple of times, enough times he was sure Lisa wasn’t going to answer. Finally, she answered with a suspicious voice, “Who is this?”
The engineer pulled the phone from his ear to stare at the phone for a moment before putting it back to his ear, “Lisa? It’s Cisco. Are you ok? I haven’t heard from you in a while.”
“Yeah. I’m alright, I guess,” came her soft voice.
Cisco bit his lip, “Lisa, I need you to trust me. There’s someone here in Star City that you need to see. You won’t believe me unless you see for yourself. I’m going to come and get you if you let me know where you are.”
She was quiet for a moment, and Cisco began to worry that she’d hung up on him, until she rattled off an address. They finished the conversation moments later. “Hey, I’m going to go get Lisa from Coast City. I may be a little bit; she doesn’t sound like she’s in a good place at the moment.”
Barry pinched the bridge of his nose, “She lost her brother then exiled herself. She can’t be in a good place mentally.”
Caitlyn looked down at the older man lying beside her. “Him coming back is going to do a lot for her as well.”
Felicity awed, “They’ll heal each other, and then they’ll help Mick and Sara heal as well.”
Cisco slipped on his goggles, preparing to open a breach to the young woman in question, but Caitlyn stopped him, “I need a quick trip back to STAR Labs to start on this blood work and to get a few more things for his injuries and for the pain that he will be in when he wakes up.”
The engineer nodded and breached her to their lab. After she was gone, he turned to his friends, “I’m going to head over to Coast City and see if I can convince her to come back with me to see Leonard.”
They nodded and waved him off. He vibed onward to Coast City and the address she gave him. The remaining group took to watching Leonard Snart for signs of him waking up.
*******
Sara shook her head as she hung up the line with Felicity. Mick grunted at her, and she simply sighed. Nate snorted, “Must be the yearly crossover. Gonna have to pass on this one too since we have time pirates from the future out to kill Sara for whatever reason.”
“I still wonder what Felicity meant by there being something there we would want to see,” Sara murmured.
Rip checked something on his calendar. After a moment he shook his head, “Let’s keep our eyes on the current problem, and worry about other things in our time period later.” He wasn’t sure which life event was occurring back home, but he knew it was important for them to finish their current problem in case they were to bring things home with them and screw up the timeline. He knew, if that happened, they would all hate themselves and the timeline would crumble.
They all agreed. Keeping their own teammate alive was more important than what they knew their friends could take care of. As they went on to discuss strategy, they never noticed the two young adults from the future smiling at each other, light in their eyes.
*****
Cisco appeared outside of a small warehouse that he knew Lisa had turned into a safehouse. He took a breath before stepping forward and knocking on the door. It was opened a few moments later by a slightly disheveled Lisa Snart. She took a moment to study him, and Cisco did the same to her. Soon, she stepped aside and let him in.
“So,” her voice was soft and rough, “what is it that you had to tell me, Cisco?”
He took a breath, “Can we sit?” He took the seat she motioned to, “Ok, first I need to tell you about a woman I know named Sara. She was good friends with your brother, like very close. Anyway, um, she was the Canary at one point, but this evil archer guy drugged one of her friends, his daughter actually, and forced her to shoot Sara with arrows. She was hit in the chest area and forced off a building’s rooftop. She was dead on impact. A year later, Sara was alive again. In fact, she’s the White Canary now.”
Lisa sighed, “Cisco, why are you telling me this?” She sounded so tired, and Cisco’s heart broke for her.
He watched her for a moment before leaning back in his seat, “Because, I need you to know that what I’m going to tell you is possible. I know someone personally that it’s happened to, and she’s been in the news if you want to have Hartley look her up. Mick knows her really well too.” She slowly nodded, still not sure where he was going with it all. Cisco sighed, “Lisa, we were called into Star City today by the Arrow. Someone he knew meant something to the Flash, showed up in his bunker in front of his wife and the White Canary’s father.” He swallowed, “It was Leonard Snart, Lisa. Your brother. I vibed him,” he had to quickly interrupt her, “I know it’s your brother. I could see his past, I read his frequency. He’s our earth’s Leonard Snart. He was lost in the time stream, I guess, I don’t really know. All I know, without a doubt is that your brother is alive, unconscious, but alive, and he’s going to need you when he wakes up. He’s going to be weak after what he’s been through, and he’s going to be in pain, especially the arm that was in the Oculus. It was pretty badly burned. When the Waverider gets here, we’ll see about their AI healing it. Of course, Caitlyn may jump on the chance to work on something to fix it up quicker.” He caught her eye, “Lisa? What are you thinking?”
She sighed after a moment, “I don’t really know. I mean, I want to believe that he’s alive. I know you wouldn’t lie, especially not after what happened with your brother, but I don’t know if I can let myself believe he’s back.”
Cisco smiled gently, “I get that, Lisa, I really do.” He bit his lip, “How about I take you to Star City to see him for yourself? You can decide what’s real and what’s not for yourself.”
After a few moments of debate, she nodded, “Ok.”
He stood and held out his hand to her. It took her a minute, but she finally stood and took it. “Ready?”
She shrugged, “Sure.”
He opened a portal and gently tugged her through. He smiled at the amazement on her face. It was nice to see a look in her eyes beyond the sadness or emptiness. They came out on the other side to enter the Arrow Bunker.
The group turned at the sound of the portal opening, watching Cisco lead Lisa out of it. Barry met the two as they stepped out. “Hey, Lisa. Snart’s right over here.”
The brunette had lost a lot of her well-known bravado, and her grace was missing. Cisco and Barry guided her over to the prone man. When her eyes landed on him, she stumbled forward, nearly falling as she scrambled towards him. Barry darted forward to help steady her and then helped her over to her brother.
Lisa slowly reached out to the man, almost afraid to touch him, afraid of hurting him. Felicity and Quentin knelt on either side of her. The blonde rested her hand on the other woman’s shoulder, gently rubbing circles there, “Caitlyn’s already looked him over, Lisa. She said he’s going to be ok. He’s going to need some recovery time, some physical therapy.”
The brunette looked over at her, eyes wet with unshed tears, “It’s really him?” Felicity nodded with a gentle smile, “And my brother’s going to be ok?” Again, both her and Quentin took turns reassuring the woman as many times as she needed.
Barry watched sadly before glancing over to his best friend to see an almost pained look in his eyes. He tapped the engineer on the shoulder before motioning him away from the sparing area of the Bunker. Slowly, Oliver and Diggle followed. The blonde didn’t necessarily like the fact that he had a career criminal in his base that was allowed to roam free. But he would make an exception with Lisa Snart in this moment, especially with how the remaining members of Team Flash were reacting to her, the way Felicity and Quentin were reacting to her.
Barry placed a hand on Cisco’s shoulder, “Are you ok, Cisco?”
The other man sighed, “Yeah, more or less. I mean, I just hate seeing Lisa, of all people, so broken. It’s just so strange.”
The Speedster nodded, “Both of them have always seemed so strong and larger than life, right along with Rory. They’ve always seemed almost invincible, even though they were always just humans. They led the Rogues, kept a bunch of Metahumans in line and from killing anyone during their sprees. If they didn’t fall in line, they tended to end up at the precinct.”
Oliver cleared his throat, “I’m glad to know that they had a code, but what are we going to do with him? This isn’t the best place to keep a thief turned Legend. There will be questions from the rest of my team, and some of them can be a little trigger happy.”
Cisco eyed him, “Them or you?”
The archer eyed the younger man right back, “What’s that supposed to mean?”
Diggle snorted, “You really have to ask that? Literally the only thing stopping you from startle shooting nowadays is William and the threat of Felicity’s wrath.”
Oliver glared at his friend while Barry snorted, bringing the blonde’s attention to him. He shrugged, “What? It’s not like Diggs is wrong.” He turned back to Cisco, “Do you think Caitlyn would be finished with her tests? Would she have the results back? I’m usually asleep while she’s running them.”
Cisco raised an eyebrow at his best friend, “And by asleep, I’m guessing you’re acknowledging all the times you’ve been knocked unconscious?”
Barry scowled at him for a moment, “Are you going to answer my question or continue to insult me?”
The engineer smirked at him, “I’ll go and ask. Keep an eye on Lisa, and let her know I’ve gone to check on her brother’s test results if she asks about me.”
The Speedster nodded, “Of course.”
Moments later Cisco opened a portal and walked over to STAR Labs. Oliver stepped closer to Barry, “Do you trust Snart and his sister?”
Barry gave the question the thought it deserved before nodding, “I do. Snart changed while he was on the Waverider. He was changing long before that. Jax, Professor Stein, and Ray could only talk about how much he changed and what kind of hero he’d become. He saved every one of their lives, including ours. He saved Sara’s spirit Ray told me. She’d been ordered to kill Professor Stein in Russia if they weren’t able to get him away from Savage’s men. Snart called her down when she was going to shoot him. Snart was the only reason she didn’t do it and go back to being that killer we know she doesn’t want to be.”
The archer sighed. He’d heard that too. Ray was more than happy to tell everyone that would listen about how much of a hero he’d watched the internationally wanted thief become, especially after he’d asked his friend what had happened on the Waverider to cause Sara to be so upset with Barry for wanting to change the past to save his family. For a group that literally broke time and changed it so many times themselves, it seemed hypocritical. That was when he’d gotten the story of a crook and assassin that got closer than he ever thought was possible.
“Besides,” Barry continued, “I did invite his partner to my wedding.”
Oliver had to give him that. Rory had been invited, and he’d given them a lot of gifts, obviously sure the man would need the money from the gifts’ returns or the gifts themselves. It still made his stomach roll at the thought of how unfair he and Felicity had been to Barry and Iris at their wedding after everything that happened already to ruin their day.
Diggle cleared his throat, “I still agree with Quentin that we shouldn’t move him yet anyway. We’ll have to wait on Caitlyn on that go ahead. I’m going to get one of the medic cots ready just in case he can be moved, but Meta-movement could be too much.”
Oliver and Barry watched him walk away to another portion of the bunker before returning their attention to the three knelt over the one man only Barry and Lisa ever saw the good in.
******
Cisco hopped out of his portal with a slight shake. It was unnerving to have seen Lisa like that. Caitlyn looked up from the test results she was reading. She frowned at the sight of him, “Did Lisa not believe you?”
The engineer glanced up at his friend blankly before blinking back to attention, “No, she believed me, kinda. She wanted to believe me, but she was scared. She followed me through my breach to see for herself.” He paused, pinching the bridge of his nose, “She nearly broke, Caitlyn. She was scared to touch him. I’ve never seen a hesitant Lisa, but that was exactly what was happening today. She’s not herself.”
The doctor slowly nodded, “Of course she’s not herself, Cisco. Her brother died. She’s still trying to work through that since it was so long afterward that she found out and now suddenly he’s alive again with no explanation. That’s a lot to take in, and it’s going to be even harder for her to take it in with him unconscious at the moment.”
Cisco ran a hand through his hair, “I know. Rationally, I understand that, but it's still hard to see.”
Caitlyn watched him for a moment before nodding knowingly with a small smile on her face. She shook her head at the questioning look the engineer sent her. “Oh, no, my girl, what’s that look for?”
She shrugged as she went back to looking through her microscope at Leonard’s blood. “I just think you’re obvious. That’s all.”
“Obvious?” Caitlyn snorted at the disbelieving tone in his voice. “What am I obvious about?”
The doctor simply shook her head with a chuckle. After a moment, realizing she wasn’t going to answer him, he sighed heavily and rolled his eyes. He looked around the room before walking over to her desk and leaned against it, watching her.
It took a few minutes, but she eventually leaned back from the microscope and blinked slowly, trying to clear out her vision. “Well, this will be some good news for Lisa. With the amount of ice and the levels of hypothermia involved, his cells should be dying or at the very least degenerating, but they aren’t. In fact, they’re reacting to damage a lot like Barry’s do. It seems that on top of his ice abilities, and whatever he was possibly given by the Oculus, Leonard also has enhanced healing.”
Cisco didn’t know if he wanted to groan at that or not, but he had to admit that it would help Lisa. “At least we can let Lisa know that Snart’s going to be healing up well.”
Caitlyn nodded as she walked over to the print outs, “His blood work is all coming back as incredible as well. There are some increases in the chemistry values for muscle damage, but that’s understandable with the ice and hypothermia. Hopefully, he’s going to be waking up soon.” She motioned back to the microscope, “His healing ability could also decrease the need of the Waverider’s presence very soon. In fact, if he continues to heal at the rate his cells are presently showing, we won’t need the Waverider. He’ll heal perfectly fine on his own and soon. Leonard’s healing factor isn’t quite as fast as Barry’s, but it’s close.”
Cisco swallowed thickly, “Good. That’s good. The same can be said about his arm? The one that was badly burned from the explosion?”
The doctor nodded, “It will. It may take longer than the rest of him due to the extensive nature of the injury, but it should heal up soon, completely.”
The engineer gave a deep sigh of relief, “I’m going to head back and give Lisa the good news. I’m sure she’ll want to be the one to let him know as soon as he wakes up.” His eyes widened slightly, “Oh, that reminds me, about moving him?”
She nodded, “He can be moved, but I don’t want him moved by Meta. We don’t know how Barry’s speed or your breach will react with his Oculus energy let alone whatever abilities it may have given him. It would also be best to wait to move him completely until after he’s awake. I don’t want him having a reaction during transport because we can’t be sure what kind of reaction he could have. It could be his usual, fairly controlled reaction, or, since he’s been wherever he’s been the past couple of years, he could react violently.”
The man sighed, “And that wouldn’t end well on the road. Too many possible bystanders to get in the accidental crossfire.” He lifted his hand, creating a breach, “Send me a text when you’re ready to head back. I’m sure Lisa would like to hear how her brother’s doing from you, officially.”
Caitlyn nodded as she went back to work. Cisco shook his head, acknowledging the dismissal for what it was, and stepped through his breach to the Arrow Bunker.
He stepped out to see Quentin still knelt beside Lisa, an arm around her shoulders as she leaned against him. The engineer was slightly taken aback by the sight, but he felt it also showed the kind of father Quentin was. Yeah, the man had made some mistakes over the years, but he always did everything he could to let his daughters know he supported them. Now he was giving that support to a young woman he’d never met before, that was a known criminal. Yes, she hadn’t pulled any heists since her father was killed, even some time before that, but she was still known as the Golden Glider. She still ran the Rogues for her brother, still made sure they followed the rules, but she hadn’t been out as the Golden Glider in a couple of years. But, he supposed, she wasn’t the Golden Glider at the moment. She was Lisa Snart. A young woman that had lost everything in her life, had only known of heartache and pain in the placement of parental love, and suddenly, she had her one family member, the one that gave her the majority of her support, back in her life. She was broken and confused and it was so much for her to take in. Cisco got that. He wasn’t sure what he would feel if suddenly his brother was back, but he thought it may be like what she seemed to be feeling.
Barry placed his hand on his best friend’s shoulder, squeezing slightly to get his attention, “What did Caitlyn say?”
“No physical movement beyond getting him to a bed. No Meta-transport. At least not until he’s awake and has gained some of his coordination back. She’s looked at his cells, and she thinks he has healing on par with you, Barry.” Cisco’s eyes never left the form of Lisa.
The Speedster sent his friend a knowing look before shaking his head, “That’s good then. You need to go on over and let Lisa know. I’m sure she’s waiting for that update you told her you were going to get.”
The engineer nodded before slowly stepping away, missing the wide smile Barry sent the others or the one Felicity sent him in return, even the heavy eye roll from Oliver. Cisco was on a mission. He had to face Lisa once again. He had to tell her that her brother was going to be ok according to Caitlyn, that it was only a matter of time before he awoke.
When he reached the three of them, he knelt at their sides and began to speak, “Caitlyn had an update, Lisa. He should be waking up soon since he now has enhanced healing as well. It’s actually helping him with the damage that his ice powers should be causing. As soon as all of that is healed, I bet he’ll wake up and snark at us all.”
Lisa gave a watery laugh, “That’s his signature, that’s for sure.”
Quentin ran a hand up and down her back in comfort and encouragement, “See. That brother of yours is strong and just keeps getting stronger.”
She turned to look at the older man with a somewhat shy smile and a nod. “He’s always been the strongest person I know. He’s always been my protector, even when I didn’t think I needed one.” Lisa turned her attention back to Leonard, “When Cisco told me he’d died protecting his team of time traveling superheroes and giving free will back to the world, I didn’t really know how to feel about it all. Lenny had always been my hero, even though he’d always claimed to never be one. Then he went and died like a hero, and left me.”
The ex-cop nodded slowly, “He did, and now he’s alive again. You got your brother back, and you two can be a family again.”
Lisa had to admit that sounded wonderful, but she wasn’t sure either of them knew how to be a real family. Their only example had come in the form of pain and abandonment or loss. She knew what she longed for, but she wasn’t so sure she’d ever get it.
Cisco gently placed a hand on her shoulder. She looked at him in slight surprise, eyes watering. He tugged her close, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. She relented and curled into his side. Her eyelashes fluttered against his neck as she closed her eyes. A shuddering breath drifted across his throat. It suddenly hit him just how deep he was, and he wasn’t sure he was going to get himself out of it. He was also pretty sure he understood what Caitlyn’s comment meant. Oh well, at least she was teasing him and didn’t seem to have a problem with the idea of him being with Lisa, eventually. Now was not the time to pursue anything beyond being part of her support system. She’d been through too much too quickly to add his developing feelings for her into the mix.
Lisa tucked herself into the young man offering her comfort. She’d always liked Cisco, but she’d never felt like he’d take her seriously if she were to try anything romantic, and of course now, when it was possible he’d be interested, she wasn’t mentally in a place to take anything emotional anywhere. She hated timing.
Felicity awed at the sight before her, nudging Barry, “That won’t be a problem will it?”
He shook his head, “No. Nothing’s going to happen right now anyway, mostly because Cisco isn’t going to be willing to take Lisa away from Snart.”
The blonde hacker snorted, “And he’s terrified of Snart.”
The Speedster hummed his agreement. She wasn’t wrong, that was for sure.
Oliver shook his head before walking over to the small group. John had just stepped out of the temporary bedroom. They were in for the long haul. Whatever Sara had said to her already had Felicity attached to the man that once tried to kill their friend. He slipped over to Leonard’s other side and knelt beside him.
Quentin looked up from watching the engineer and thief to give a questioning look to the archer. Oliver’s silent look of reassurance let the ex-cop know he wasn’t about to enter his ‘Green Arrow’ mode.
The blonde archer softly cleared his throat, “We have a space we can move him to that’ll be more comfortable for him and you, Lisa.” He turned his attention to the engineer, “Help me pick him up and move him?”
Cisco nodded, not completely sure he would be able to hold up the man’s weight, especially with wet clothes covering his body.
Barry jogged forward, “Do you have any clean clothes that would fit Snart, Oliver? I doubt leaving him in wet clothes from the melted ice will help his body temperature and healing.”
Oliver motioned to one of the lockers, and Barry quickly walked over to it and retrieved the sweats there. They were large, looking to have been able to fit Diggle and not Oliver due to length. He stood in the small room moments later, not really knowing how to move forward with the actual changing of Snart’s clothes.
Lisa stuck out her hand, “I can help with that. He’s my brother, and I can tell you aren’t comfortable with changing him.”
Barry shrugged, “If need be, I can. Yeah, it’s a little uncomfortable to think about changing him, but I’m more worried about Snart not being comfortable with being changed.” He handed the clothes over to the woman.
Quentin took them instead, “You shouldn’t have to worry about maneuvering your brother around to change his clothes. When they get him situated in the other room, I’ll take care of it.”
She smiled weakly at him, almost shyly, “Are you sure?” At his nod, she returned it slightly, “Ok. Just,” she paused for a moment, glancing over at her brother before glancing back at the older man, “Lenny doesn’t like people seeing him without a shirt.” She bit her lip, “There’s a reason he’s always wearing layers.”
Quentin placed a hand on her shoulder, “I understand. When I heard that Sara was going on the same ship as him and Rory, I did some digging. Barry here may have erased his crimes and all evidence of it, he didn’t get all of his prison records. There was an extensive write up on his many wounds, new and old. I’m sure there are a lot of new ones, but I know about the more extensive ones.”
Lisa nodded, still not completely ok with her brother’s scars still being on display, but she couldn’t bring herself to not at least partially trust the man that was showing her so much parental affection. Barry slipped in with Oliver, taking over Cisco’s spot at helping the archer get the male thief to the bed. Quentin followed right behind with the clothes in his hand.
Lisa stayed behind, not really sure what to do with herself, a feeling she wasn’t used to. There were so many things coming at her, suddenly, that she felt off kilter. She’d been planning a major heist for the Rogues, one that she wasn’t going to be a part of because she wasn’t ready for that kind of role, hadn’t been since she’d learned about her brother’s death. Her thoughts were interrupted by a hand gently laying on her shoulder, getting her attention.
Felicity rested her hand on the young woman’s shoulder, “Let’s come sit down over here by the computers until they’re done. Then we’ll just have a long wait until your brother wakes up.”
Lisa allowed herself to be led to the center stage area with the seats and computers. The thief glanced around, making sure to keep her hands in her lap. She really didn’t want to incur the rage of the archer known for having killed the majority of his enemies when he started out. She cleared her throat, “Um, is this really ok? My brother and me staying here without supervision?”
The hacker and the soldier blinked in surprise. The man slipped his feet from the table, “You aren’t really in a place where you can do much damage. We have cameras up, and besides, you wouldn’t do anything to put your brother in danger.”
She nodded because that was true enough. She still didn’t really know what to do with herself though, and again, that was a feeling she wasn’t used to. Felicity, seeming to read her discomfort, stood and offered her hand to the other woman again, “It may not look like it, but this place has an epic shower and an incredible soaker tub. I’ll show you so you can use it. You need some de-stressing while you wait for your brother to wake up from his nap.”
Lisa gave a tired chuckle as she followed the blonde’s lead, “Thanks. I feel like I haven’t been a human in a very long time.”
The hacker nodded her understanding, “I felt like that for years after my college boyfriend killed himself in federal prison. It was worse when we lost Oliver to the League or Roy to exile.” They came to a stop in front of the door to the bathroom. Felicity hesitated for a moment before looking up at the brunette. “I will never say I know how you feel. Honestly, the closest I’ve come to what you’re feeling is when Sara died for a year. Laurel knew what you are feeling the best, and now Sara does since Laurel died. Every one of us has lost people we knew and loved. I want you to know, Lisa, you aren’t alone.”
With teary eyes, Lisa nodded, giving another wet chuckle before scoffing, “God, I’m becoming so damn weak. It’s all Lenny’s fault.”
The blonde laughed, “Go clean up and try to relax. I’ll bring you some of Laurel’s old workout clothes.”
The female thief nodded and slipped into the room, closing the door. The hacker quickly rushed off to grab the clothes. She frowned at the fact that she could only find sports bras. “Don’t the Lance sisters know what work out shirts are?” She mumbled out angrily.
She grabbed pants, a sports bra, and one of Oliver’s hoodies. With a sigh, Felicity headed back to the bathroom, knocked on the door, and opened it before she got an answer. “So, Laurel had no idea what work out shirts were and mine won’t fit you, but I got one of Oliver’s hoodies. Not one of his special hoodies, but one of his everyday ones. He’s got way more than a rich-boy should…” She cut herself off after she finally looked up from where she was placing the clothes. “Wow, that looks like that hurt.” Her eyes widened as she clamped her hands over her mouth, “I’m so sorry! I shouldn’t have barged in like that, and of course I have no filter most of the time, so whatever comes out of my mouth doesn’t always process properly. I’m sorry. Sara never really minds, and I didn’t think.”
Lisa put her hand up to stop the other woman’s further comments, “It’s fine. No harm done.” She motioned to the scar on her shoulder, “Like I told Team Flash, I got this for being a daughter. Dad was always teaching Lenny and me lessons.” She covered the scar with her hand and wrapped her other arm around her waist. “We were apparently slow learners since the lessons never stopped. Lenny took as many as he could for me, but he wasn’t always there. He couldn’t be. Dad got him sent off to juvie. That was when this happened. Lenny never forgave himself for it. He was able to bring Mick into the family, and he helped keep us safe, but Lenny still felt like he was responsible for me getting hurt.”
Felicity was quiet for a moment. She didn’t really know how to respond. She was fairly sure Lisa wouldn’t appreciate a hug, especially in her state of undress. The blonde deflated slightly, “He is a good brother,” she kept her voice soft but made sure there was no pity in it at all. There was no reason for pity now. Leonard was home.
The brunette nodded before motioning towards the bath, “Thanks for this and the clothes.”
The blonde quickly nodded in return, “Of course,” she rushed out, “I’ll head out and let you get that nice and relaxing bath.”
The hacker slipped from the room and gave a small breath of relief. Another part of her was sick from what she saw. To know that such a wound came from a child’s father made her stomach turn. That man was supposed to protect his children. She didn’t miss the way Lisa hesitated at the idea of Quentin changing her brother’s clothes. She was obviously worried about the older man seeing her elder brother’s scars. She also knew the way so many people tended to judge others because of such marks. She walked back out to her computers and simply stared at the screens still running the algorithm she’d started against their current enemy. It was strange to think that less than two hours ago, they were working to save their city from the most recent psychopath, but now their attention was focused on the ex-criminal that had captured a special place in the hearts of two of their closest friends.
Diggle watched the emotions crossing over his friend’s face. He cleared his throat, “So, Snart and Sara?”
Felicity blinked back into awareness at the man’s voice. When it registered what he’d said, she chuckled, “According to Sara, yeah, there was something there. They never got the chance to explore it because of the explosion happening so soon after whatever they had was acknowledged.”
The man shook his head, leaning back in his chair, “I wonder how things are going to work out now with Sara seeing Ava.”
The hacker huffed, “I don’t know, but hopefully Sara will choose the better of the two. I mean, at least Snart treated her like a partner and equal.”
John smirked, “Ray regrets ever venting to you after that whole werewolf thing.”
The woman shrugged sharply, “Sara’s been used like that enough, just on the Amazo. She doesn’t need it from someone that’s supposed to love her.” She motioned back towards the bathroom with one hand and where they’d taken Leonard with the other, “We see two examples of that not happening right here. They didn’t ask for the crap that was piled on them, and Snart was actually working on trying to break that cycle.”
Diggle ran a hand over his head roughly with a harsh sigh, “What is our lives that a career criminal is a better match for our friend than her no-nonsense strait-laced rule maker girlfriend?”
Felicity eyed him, “A world where that friend is a master assassin and the captain of a time ship traveling all over time saving it.”
The man simply gave a heavy sigh. What the hell had his life become? He blamed Oliver for this, all of it. Silence reigned in the Bunker as the two waited for the others. Cisco was the first to emerge, followed by Barry. The Speedster looked profoundly angry. The engineer was more uncomfortable than anything. His eyes darted around, concern taking center stage.
Felicity spoke softly, “She’s getting a bath.” She watched Cisco’s head turn towards her as she continued, “She needed a way to relax after all of this.” She glanced at Barry, “What’s wrong with him?”
Cisco sighed, running his hand through his hair, “I think hearing about scars and seeing some of them are two very different things.”
The other two glanced at each other before the room went quiet once again.
********
Quentin and Cisco followed Barry and Oliver as the latter two men carried Leonard Snart to the bed area Diggle set up. The engineer noted the water trailing them. They sat the older man in a chair, and Quentin quickly rushed over to start the process of changing and drying him.
Cisco turned his back to the scene. Lisa wasn’t comfortable with Quentin seeing the scars their father put all over her brother. He doubted she’d be ok with all of them seeing. He heard Barry gasp and give an angry growl. That was when he knew it was time for him to go. The sounds of Oliver and Quentin kicking Barry out just strengthened his decision. He, followed shortly by Barry, entered the quiet of the rest of the Bunker. He only heard his best friend utter, “If only that jackass wasn’t dead, he’d have a hand through his heart instead of an icicle.”
Yeah, Cisco was glad he’d looked away when he did.
********
Oliver shook his head as he watched the younger men leave. He turned his attention back to Quentin, “So, you volunteered for this, how do you want to do this?”
The older man rolled his eyes, “Just keep him stabilized. I’ll take care of everything else.”
The archer huffed but did as he was told. It wasn’t long, and only slightly complicated of a time, that the two men had Leonard dried and dressed in his new clothes. They then moved him to the bed and settled him under the covers.
Once they were satisfied with everything, and that the other man was still sleeping soundly, they headed back out to the main area. It was only a few minutes later that Lisa appeared, nearly swimming in Oliver’s hoodie. Quentin walked over to her and gently guided her to where her brother was. He didn’t speak until they were both settled at his side, “Now we wait until he wakes up.” He placed his hand gently on her shoulder. “He’s resting just fine right now, and Snow’ll be back soon to look him over again.”
Lisa nodded, staying quiet for a moment. She could feel the comforting motion of the man’s thumb gently rubbing on her shoulder. Finally, she turned to the older man, “Why are you doing all of this?”
He shifted his attention to her, “What?”
She sighed, “Being nice and comforting to me. I know you know who my brother and I are. You mentioned it yourself. Why?”
Slowly, he nodded, “Yeah, I know exactly who you and your brother are, but I also know that you both have good hearts. My baby girl wouldn’t have grieved for your brother otherwise. Allen is the same way. As for you, Allen and that Ramon kid obviously have soft spots for you. I’ve heard about your scars just like I heard about your brother’s. Looking at your brother’s when I was getting him in those dry clothes made me sick at the idea that a father could do anything like that to his children. My girls and I butted heads, I ain’t gonna say we didn’t, but I never felt the need to hurt them. Not those days when being a cop became its hardest, and not when Sara was at her wildest.” He squeezed her shoulder, “You and your brother didn’t ask for any of this. Leonard did the best he could with you and himself to watch out for.”
She was quiet for a moment before deflating, “I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that you are a little more flexible since your daughters both became vigilantes and one was an assassin.” She gave a watery chuckle, “Of course my brother would fall for an assassin.”
Quentin chuckled, “And of course my baby girl would fall for a thief.”
Lisa smiled at the older man, “So this Sara did fall for my brother?”
He nodded, “There was someone Sara was mourning when she came home and found out about her sister, Laurel. She told me he was someone she could see a future with, which coming from her meant a lot. She's the one I figured would never settle down. She’s with some strait-laced cop type that I don’t think is good enough for her.”
Lisa giggled, “You’re her loving father. Of course, this person isn’t good enough. That’s apparently how good fathers are supposed to be.” She gave him a smile, shrugging the shoulder his hand wasn’t on, and curled more into the hoodie, “Mine threatened to sell me for booze money if I didn’t make myself useful. Or if Lenny didn’t do what he wanted.”
The two went quiet after that. They settled into a comfortable quiet, waiting for the older brother to wake up.