Chapter Text
Leonard Snart hadn’t been in prison for two days when one of the guards did something out of the routine. The last time Leonard Snart had been here with Mick Rory, the security guards would post new notices on the bulletin without much fanfare, and the notices were generally ignored.
This was different.
A security guard pinned a bright purple sign-up sheet to the board and an expectant hush fell over the mess hall. What was going on? The guard looked awkwardly around the room. “Dr. DeNoel will be returning tomorrow, feel free to sign up for a session with her. Group sessions will be posted later. Our three new arrivals have already been assigned sessions. Thank you.”
As soon as the guard finished, men filed over to the sheet, actually eager to sign up. Len didn’t move. As a new arrival, he was already guaranteed a ‘session’. But with who? Why?
He leaned over to the inmate next to him. “What’s the big deal with the sessions?”
The man, McKinson, was serving a life sentence and had been in Iron Heights the last time Snart had been there. He knew every in and out of the place. McKinson grinned a yellow smile. “We got a knew psychiatrist, Cold, and man is she brilliant. Popular, obviously.”
Len raised an eyebrow. Sessions with the resident psychiatrist had never been 'popular' in any way. Normally, the inmates scared the poor doctor off before six months was up. “How long she been around?”
“About eight months,” McKinson informed him. Then his stare turned dangerous. “And if you try an’ pull any shit with her, Snart... I will personally fuck you up.”
Len’s eyebrows were officially reaching uncharted territory, and he wasn’t sure if they were ever going to come down. Since when did inmates protect their god damned shrink? He supposed he was glad he had an automatic session. He wanted to see what this woman was made of.
Len woke up at exactly 7:00, according to his inner chronometer. His session was at eight, so he decided to make as good an impression as possible. He showered, checked out some books from the prison library, and showed up ten minutes early. There were two chairs outside of the office, so he sat and tried to listen to what was going on inside.
But he didn’t hear anything until the last minute of the session. An exuberant laugh was just about the last thing he had expected, and for a moment, he wondered if his ears were playing tricks on him. Then the door swung open, and one of the other new arrivals, Hardy, exited the room, a smile on his face.
“See you in a week, Hardy!” called the voice Len had heard laughing.
“Will do, ma’am.” Hardy replied, before turning to Len. “Go on in, man.”
Len sighed and stretched before pushing the door open. His jaw nearly hit the floor. The woman behind the desk could have been a model - high, sharp cheekbones, mile long legs, a narrow figure, and perfectly styled, caramel hair. Len’s first thought was that Lisa would have liked this woman. His second though was, what the hell is she doing here? She could probably get a job anywhere else.
The Doctor looked up and gave him a soft smile. “Not what you expected, am I?” She picked up a manila folder and stuck a pen behind her ear, then came came around the desk. “Good to meet you, Mr. Snart.”
“Don’t call me that.” The words were out before he could stop them. It was a knee-jerk reaction, something he would have said to any other inmate. “Mr. Snart was my father.” He explained cooly.
“Of course,” she replied, shaking her head. “I should’ve known.” She held out a hand. “What can I call you, then?”
Len used the handshake to buy time, but he was impressed by how firm her grip was. He could ask to be called Cold, but he was powerless here. He could tell her Leonard, but the only person to call him that was his father, usually just before another 'lesson'. He could say Lenny, but only Lisa called him that. Finally, he settled on a name. “You can call me Len.”
“Perfect. Would you like to take a seat, Len?”
Len sat.
“Do you want to speak about your father?”
“No.”
“Alright.” She sat in the chair next to him instead of going around the desk, and set a blank sheet of paper in between them.
Len eyed the paper dubiously.
“I’d like to make you a deal.” She said.
Len raised an eyebrow. “A deal?”
“A way for us to be honest with one another.”
Good luck, Len thought. “And how do you propose we do that, Doctor?”
She rolled her eyes. “You can start by calling me Harmony.”
Len tried not to look surprised. He’d never been on a first-name-basis with his psychiatrist before. “Is that supposed to be a sign of faith?”
“No, but I prefer to be an equal to whomever walks into my office, and that begins with a name. I’m not going to sit on a high horse, Len. We all know how that ends.” She handed him a pen. “What I want, is to figure out a way to be honest with one another, at least in this room. What do you need from me in order to do that?”
Len thought for a second. “What if I don’t feel like answering your questions?”
She shrugged. “You can pass, I suppose. But I will write the question down, and I might ask you again later. Is that alright?”
Len nodded, and wrote ‘Pass questions moved to later date’ on the blank paper.
“What else?” Harmony asked.
He gave her a hard stare. “I need you to promise that you will be honest to me at all times.”
“Done. If I can’t tell you something or if I'm not allowed to, I’ll let you know. I will be as open as I can. I promise to always tell the truth.” She paused, and locked eyes. It was as if she was pointing a laser at his very soul. “However, you must also be perfectly honest with me.”
Len agreed, and wrote down the term. Then he met her gaze again. “I want an equal share.”
“Sorry, what?”
“For every question I ask, I want to ask you a question.”
Harmony tilted her head to the side, considering. “Fine. Is that all?”
“No. I want updates on my sister, Mick Rory, The Flash, and any crime that goes on in this city.” Len added. Maybe he was pushing his luck.
Harmony nodded. “I’ll do my best.”
Len added the term with a sense of triumph, and signed the paper before handing her the pen, wondering if she knew just how much she had agreed to give him. She signed, and that was that. An informal contract that Len would do his best to keep.
They spent the next thirty minutes playing games of Two Truths and a Lie. Harmony never guessed wrong. It was rather impressive, really. Then her computer dinged, and she went around to check it.
She gave the monitor a surprised look before turning to face him. “It appears you have a visitor signed up for noon today.”
Len scrunched his brows in confusion. Lisa and Mick weren’t stupid enough to drop by, so who else would care? Then it hit him. Barry Allen. Barry Allen was going to come check on him and gloat. It was a real pisser, their deal. Technically, Len had already broken it, but still... he would have no leverage left if he outed the kid now. And what good would that do, in prison? Len scowled. “Barry Allen?”
Harmony allowed herself a wry smile. “I wouldn’t have thought he knew you, Len. How did you two meet?”
Len sat back in his chair, exuding confidence. “He’s CCPD. What do you think?”
“I asked the question, Len. Now are you going to pass, or are you going to answer?”
Len sighed. “I met him when I was brought into the precinct nearly a year ago. He’s convinced that I could change.”
She looked at him with interest. “Change?”
“Become a hero.”
“Will you?”
“No.”
“Could you?”
“...Pass.”