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Traveling through time always felt disconcerting. After the whole mess with Eobard Thawne and his mother he had sworn to never do it again, but then James Jesse built that bomb and leveled half of Central City before the Flash had a chance to stop him and suddenly Barry didn't have a choice in the matter anymore. Joe and Iris weren't even gone for an hour before he was trying to stop the whole thing from happening in the first place.
He must have been more out of it then he realized at the time or maybe he got hit worse then he thought by a flying piece of concrete and let his mind drift too much, but he when he finally arrived he was in the middle of the woods and it was just getting light outside. Not weird yet, but definitely unexpected. Since the attack didn't happen until sunset that just meant he had enough time to find the Trickster before he could plant the whole thing and maybe stop the catastrophe before anyone was any the wiser. Deciding to check in with Star Labs first he- speeded over there only to stop dead in his tracks the second the complex appeared before him. The place was buzzing with life. People coming and going, lights on, vehicles everywhere.
Starting to worry just slightly Barry decided to do some additional research which consisted mainly of snatching up a newspaper somewhere to make sure he had the right date. Back in the woods where he first appeared Barry had to sit down due to shock. This wasn't hours before the attack, he missed his mark by more than decade. Hell, he was years before his mum would die. Taking a moment to come to terms with what happened he realized that he needed a plan.
Okay, first he had to find some civilian clothes and something to eat. With the way things had turned out, maybe Barry figured he should give himself some time to recover fully before traveling back (or forward) to where he needed to be. He felt slightly bad for what he was about to do, but the suit didn't come with pockets so that meant no money for him. Speeding through a few gardens procured the desired items.
Stashing his Flash outfit in a backpack, he made his way through town trying to pass the time by visiting places he remembered going to when he was still a child. It was still early so most people where either at home getting ready for the day or maybe still asleep, so he was pretty surprised when he made his way through the playground in the park to see a little boy on the swing set gently swaying back and forth. He didn't look that old, maybe about eight or nine and kept dragging his feet through the sand, not looking up as Barry started to make his way over there.
Taking a seat next to him the speedster started to mimic his movement, deciding to stay quiet for now. "My daddy is a cop" came a small whisper next to him after several minutes. "So you can just go away" Judging by the way his voice cracked the kid was obviously close to crying.
"Don't worry, I'm a cop myself" which was not really a lie and hey, if the boy felt safer than all the better. Another few minutes of silence followed before Barry decided to continue. "Everything alright? What are you doing out here all by yourself?"
He turned to the side so he could look better at the little kid, but the boy steadily kept his head down refusing to let Barry see him better. "You're not from Central City, are you?" That question actually surprised the other, not having anticipated it. "No, I' m just here on vacation. What gave me away?" The boy stopped in his movements "Usually people around here don't talk to us, cause they all know my daddy. But that's okay, you don't know any better yet. I won't tell anyone, if you don't." The boy sounded pleading by the end of his little speech and now Barry was actually getting slightly worried. What was going on here exactly?.
Slowly he reached out to grab the chain of the other swing not missing the way the kid flinched. "Hey listen, I'm not scared of anyone and I'm not gonna say anything if you don't want me too, but if there's something wrong you can tell me and I'll try to help." The boy actually laughed at that. "Thanks, but that's okay" he said in the same small voice he had used for their entire conversation so far "you just got here, next week you'll change your mind and you'll know that everything I said was just a lie. I'm always lying." This time Barry could see a tear dripping down. He softened his voice even more. "Hey, it's okay. I promise I'll believe you and I'm not even here all that long. I'm only staying a day or two but if you tell me what's the problem I'll try to help you in that time." He could see the kid clenching his hands, before jumping down from the spring and turning around to face Barry for the first time. Shock kept him from doing anything as the kid screamed in his face. "You can't help us. Nobody can. You're just lying like everyone else, but I'll not say anything. You can't make me say anything just so you can tell my daddy that I was lying again. "and with those words he ran off. Barry was still sitting in the swing, feeling sick and still unable to move as he slowly realized what he had just witnessed. He knew that face, had seen it in a file once at the precinct. Just a few seconds ago in a now empty park he had looked into the face of eight year old Leonard Snart, the blue and black and bleeding face of eight year old Leonard Snart.
Barry felt like throwing up. He had read the files on both Snart siblings, had listened to Joe telling him that they had come from an abusive home, but it was one thing to read or hear about something that had happened in the past and another to see it for himself. To stand right in front of it. Slowly he got up and left the playground trying to figure out what he should do now. Should he just ignore the whole incident and carry on with his original plan? He had been warned multiple times by now about the ramifications of messing with the past, but could he really do this? Could he ignore what was happening? What's the worst that could happen from a little investigation, maybe tipping of the right people.....if he could find them.
The younger Snarts little speech made it seem like everyone who potentially knew of the problem just ignored it by looking the other way or making it even worse. Coming to a decision Barry mad his way to the next telephone booth determined to at least find what exactly was happening in his home town. Finding the address of one Lewis Snart was easy, finding the house proved to be a little harder. Barry had never been in this neighborhood as a kid and the street had apparently been renamed in the following years, but if there was anything he had in abundance right now it was time, so he spent his morning asking his way around until he was finally standing in front of a white house in what Joe would describe as a 'don't ask, don't tell' neighborhood.
Deciding the direct approach would probably not work in his favor he started jogging around the block trying to look inconspicuous and waiting for someone to leave the house, preferably the older Snart. He had to wait for another hour for something to happen. It seemed that he caught the cop on his free day, since the first person he watched stumbling down the steps in a hurry and leaving in the direction of the city were the little lost boy from the playground carrying a bag in one hand, the other clutching an even smaller one, belonging to the little girl that would probably one day turn into Golden Glider. He stepped back behind the corner as Leonard and Lisa made their way past him, the older child to caught him in making sure his sister didn't fall to notice him. He followed them at a distance as they made their way past the park and straight into the woods that the speedster first arrived in, before stopping in a clearing.
Trying to figure out how to best deal with the situation, Barry was startled at hearing a little voice saying "You can come out now, I know you're there. " the kid sounded really tired and defeated and the speedster had to wince. Apparently Captain Colds perception of details already started at quiet a young age. When he thought about it, it probably made sense. Kids like that had to be able to sense every mood change or notice any difference in behavior if they wanted to survive.
Stepping out of his hiding place he made his way over to the two children sitting in the grass a few feet away not wanting them to find him imposing. He watched as Leonard put his jacket down on the ground for his sister to sit on and pulled a few snack out of the bag putting them on the ground with a small bottle of water. He kept sneaking small fearful glances at Barry and the other was suddenly reminded of their talk at the playground.
"Listen, I'm sorry. You don't have to tell me anything and I promise not to talk to anyone about you." The kid didn't look like he believed him and kept looking at him with distrust. Sighing Barry wondered what it would take to get them to trust him when Lisa suddenly presented him with a solution. While Barry had tried to apologized the little girl had started to look through the various energy bars that her brother had brought and used the silence to declare that she "Lenny, wan' chodlad?" Grimacing, Len looked at her. "We don't have any chocolate, Lis. You had the last piece yesterday." Barry could start to see her lower lip jug out and beginning to wobble. Her brother was starting to look pained and desperate. picking up one of the snacks he tried to smile at her. "How about a granola bar? Look it has bananas in it. You like Bananas." Obviously displeased by this development, she took it out of his hands and threw it on the ground. "No 'nanas. Wan' chodlad."
Looking at the scene before him: Len, desperate, frustrated and probably still in pain and Lisa, frustrated and close to tears, Barry knew what he had to do. Standing up he caught the attention of both siblings. "I'll be right back, okay? Just a second." He left the clearing under the distrustful eyes of Len and the curious one of his sister. As soon as he was behind the trees he sped away this time not feeling as guilty for stealing a few chocolate bars, a bottle of juice and some first aid stuff. Getting back to the woods he stuffed the things in his backpack and made his way over to the two kids. Kneeling down next to Lisa who was still staring at them he took one of the sweets from the bag and held it out to her.
"Chodlad" came the delighted cry of the toddler shortly before her brother snatched it right out of his hand. "We don't take things from strangers. Stop giving my sister stuff. I don't even know you." Smiling he slowly sat down again. "I'm Barry and you're probably right, you shouldn't take anything a stranger gives you, but your sister looks really hungry and I'll even take a bite first if it makes you feel better." When the chocolate was thrust into his face, he took it from the boys hand before doing just that. Apparently satisfied the older Snart didn't stop him this time when he gave the treat back to the younger girl who has been about to cry again.
A few seconds of silence followed as they both watched the little girl trying to stuff as much of the chocolate as possible into her mouth. "I'm Len and this is Lisa." Barry looked at the boy in surprise. He smiled wider, glad to finally be getting somewhere. He should have guessed that the way to earn Leonard Snarts trust would be through his sister. "Well, it's nice to meet you." Taking the bottle of juice out he put it on the ground with the rest of the food, waiting for the girl to finish before asking her how old she was. "Imma dis old" she told him proudly while holding up the required number of fingers. "And Lenny" She looked down at her hands for a second before holding out eight fingers, looking as proud as her brother at her knowledge of the numbers. "Wow. Are you a math genius?" He should have known that someone as obsessed with counting as Captain Cold would have taught his sister how to count as soon as she was able to understand him. Lisa just giggled.
Now that the younger Snart was distracted by juice and chocolate, Barry took the opportunity to take the first-aid equipment out of his bag. He immediately had the attention of Len. "What are you doing?" Barry knew he had to be careful if he didn't want to scare the boy off again, so he held his hands up in front of him as he gently said: "There's blood on your face. I just thought I could look at it and maybe clean it off a little. Just you know, so your sister doesn't have to see it." He knew he had Len the second he mentioned Lisa, what he hadn't expected was for the little girl to grab his arm and point at her brother's arm. Confused he waited as she pulled herself up, using him as leverage before whispering quiet loudly "Dis wed too" in his ear.
He took a moment to understand what she meant before looking back at the boy. For a few seconds it seemed as if the older of the siblings would yell at his sister for spilling his secret, before he deflated and looked down at the forest floor. "Look, I know you don't trust me and you have no reason too, but I really just want to help and if you're still bleeding or in pain, then please let me take a look at it." Maybe it was the way his own voice cracked or the way his sister nodded enthusiastically, already picking up a pack of band-aids, but the kid just nodded. "Hey Lis, you wanna go grab some flowers for later?"
As soon as the little girl was distracted Leonard rolled up his shirt, holding his arm out to Barry who had to hold back a gasp. He suddenly felt sick again as he gently took it and got a better view at what appeared to be a large handprint. Where the nails had been was the start of five bloody streaks as if someone had grabbed the boy and when losing the grip had scratched upward.
Carefully bandaging the wound and cleaning the blood of his face, Barry had to hold back tears. Nobody deserved to be treated like that, to live in constant fear, especially not when they were too small to stand any chance. In this moment he didn't care what the boy in front of him would become, didn't care for all the ways he would one day hurt him, he just wanted to help. Finishing he sat back again not saying anything as the kid slowly relaxed.
As Lisa ran around them, trying to collect as many flowers as her little hands would allow, her brother looked up at Barry "Why are you doing this? Why aren't you leaving us alone?" He sounded so desperate and confused that Barry just reached forward and gathered the kid in his arms. After an initial struggle and a long time of being tense and stiff like a board Len finally relaxed and suddenly it was as if a wire had snapped. He clung to Barry, crying and shaking . The speedster didn't let go not matter how uncomfortable the position until the small boy had finally calmed down enough to drink some juice and get some sugar into him.
After that he finally seemed to accept Barry's presence and include him.
Barry spent the whole day in the clearing with the Snart sibling, playing catch and hide-and-seek and fighting invisible enemies. As it got darker and the colder outside they all lay on the ground, Lisa on top of Barry and Len leaning against his side, smiling for the first time since he met him. It was in that moment, looking at the bruised face in front of him, smiling bright and open at him that he knew what he had to do. Consequences and timelines be damned, he couldn't let them go back to this destructive life, couldn't let them get destroyed that way. Putting an arm around the little toddler he slowly sat up. He looked at Len seriously "Listen, if I've got a way to bring you and your sister somewhere safe and make sure your dad would never get near you again, would you want me to do it?" Looking at the ground the kid started to tense again. "Don't say things like that. You can't help us. Nobody can, my daddy will always find us." He put an arm around Len and pulled him closer. "And if I promise that I'm speaking the truth?" Skepticism was all that greeted him. "You aren't the first to say that and you probably won't be the last. Why would you be different?" Well that was a start, something Barry could work with "Because I'm a superhero" Laughter was his answer "Superheroes don't exist. They're just imagination." Setting Lisa to the side he slowly stood up. Smiling at Len he suddenly sped away to the other end of the clearing, before returning with the flowers that Lisa had left there earlier. When he finally came to a stop again he was immediately tackled "Please help us, please don't bring us back there." Putting his arm around the little boy he whispered gently "Don't worry, everything will be alright, I promise." He knelt down so he could look him in the eyes. "I need you to stay here with your sister until I get back. You think you can do that?" He waited for the boy to nod before he took a step back. "See you in a Flash."
Putting the fear of god into Lewis Snart was actually really easy. All it took was the Flash suit, some well placed threats and a little bit evidence he obtained thanks to his knowledge of the man's file. Okay, maybe there were a few hits involved but, hey, nobody could judge him for that, the man just had it coming. He marched the older Snart to the police station himself where he waited around a corner till he turned himself in. Just to be safe he decided to come back later so the guy wouldn't try to weasel his way out if this.
Now came the hard part. He already had a place in mind for the Snart kids, but making sure they could actually stay there forced Barry to make a decision concerning his identity as the Flash and his story that he hoped he wouldn't regret in the future.
By the time he got back to the clearing, both kids were fast asleep, physically and emotionally drained from the day they had. Gathering them up he brought them to the promised meeting place. Shaking Len gently he waited for the boy to open his eyes "Hey, listen, I need to go, but I promise you'll be safe now. Nothing is going to happen here. " He smiled at the small hands trying to hold onto him " Making a decision he slowly took of the Flash symbol that Cisco had taken so long to create, before placing it in his hands. "I'll always be watching over you." With that he hugged both kids one last time, before he left them with their new family.
Feeling the stress of everything that happened finally catching up, Barry wanted nothing more than to return to his own family, deciding to make the trip now, not wanting to wait any longer. When he finally made it into the time stream the speedster started to regret his decision, feeling nauseous all of the sudden. With one final push he burst out immediately stumbling before rolling to stop. The night sky was the last thing he saw before losing consciousness.
Waking up took a long time and involved a voice repeatedly calling his name while poking him in the face. Finally fed up he opened his eyes and came face to face with Lisa Snart. The women smiled at him and in the second it took her to turn away a whole set of new memories suddenly assaulted him.
Him and Lisa hiding together under the sheets just after his mother died, the two of them throwing popcorn at each other while Star Wars was running in the background, Lisa presenting him with his first science set for Christmas, Barry braiding her and Iris' hair, the two of them sitting together at Jitters complaining about college.
As fast as it started it was gone again and he lay there trying to process what he just saw. Still feeling totally out of it he let Caitlin check him over and run her tests, let Cisco ramble on and on about the trickster attack being successfully stopped by Joe and the police while iris hugged him, before finally sitting up. Looking at the entrance he suddenly saw a face which was eight and blue and black the last time he's seen it. Leonard was smiling at him and there it was again
Len telling him he believed him, when Barry told him about the lightning he saw, Barry going with him to Iron Heights to visit his dad, Len beating up the kids that bullied Barry at school, the two of them going skating, cheering at Lisa's first ice skating competition, Len giving him the Flash symbol when he had felt all alone in the world, kissing Len at the night of his graduation.
Blinking a few times he couldn't help smiling. Whatever he did it obviously worked. Lying back again and looking at the people he called his family he knew he made the right decision. And it was with that thought in mind that Barry drifted off to sleep.