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Chapter Text

Barry comes down the stairs in another outfit and Len throws an apple at his head. The speedster catches it, tosses it back, and it lands back in the fruit bowl.
"If you come back down in another outfit, I'll shoot you," Joe remarks, eyes on his work. "And if either of you throw another piece of fruit, I'll lock you out of the house."
"After today, that threat won't do you any good on me," Len remarks as he smiles at his foster father.
"Oh?" the detective looks away from his papers to the young man. "What does that mean?"
"I'm getting my own place," Len tells him proudly. "Lisa's things keep 'magically' appearing in my room and I think you deserve a little extra piece and quiet around here."
"That's great," Barry congratulates his foster brother. "Then we can hang at yours during our off hours."
"Wait a minute," Joe uncrosses his legs as he levels a glare at his older boy. "Where is this new place?"
"No where special," Len shrugs, picking the apple back up to take a bite from it.
"Len," the detective groans as he drops the papers on the coffee table. He rubs a hand over his face as he says, "Please tell me that you are not renting a place near Eddie and Iris so you can keep an eye on them?"
"No," Barry turns large eyes to his foster brother. "You wouldn't!"
"I'll see you two at work," Len ignores them as he tries to walk out of the house, but Barry blocks him and Joe stands as well to do the same.
"You are not allowed to move into the same apartment complex as your sister and her boyfriend," Joe states seriously. "I appreciate you wanting to look out for Iris, but Len, that is taking it way too many steps too far."
"What if he's doing things to her behind closed doors?" Len asks quietly, staring intently at the bitten fruit in his hands.
"Uh," Barry blushes. "I don't think you want to know what they do, Len."
"THAT is not what I meant," Len glares at the younger man.
Joe sighs as he realizes what Len is getting at. He steps over to his boy and puts a hand on his shoulder.
"Eddie would never lay a hand on Iris," he tells him confidently. "And Iris wouldn't let him if he did try. You have to have faith in your sister too, Len."
"Some times it's hard for the victim to speak up," Len adds, stepping away from the other two men. Barry and Joe don't stop him as he walks to the door.
Len turns back with a small smirk, "I'll find somewhere else."
With that, Len leaves. Barry looks to Joe who takes a deep breath.
"Should I go after him?" the speedster asks.
"Nah," the detective shakes his head. "He'll be fine. You have a date."

- -

The siblings meet at Jitters to celebrate Len getting his own place and Barry's successful date. They go to the upper room where there aren't any other customers so they can talk easier.

"I just wish that the city could go without any tragedies while I'm with Linda," Barry comments as he raises his cup to take a drink.
"Ha!" Lisa pushes at her foster brother's shoulder, making his lips miss the mug. "With your special 'abilities' and 'responsibilities' I doubt that will ever happen." she giggles. "You'll probably have to stop a raging forest fire during your own wedding!"
Len grumbles something unpleasant into his mug as he takes a drink.
Cisco grins at the man, "Got something to say, Captain Grumpy?"
"Nothing you're old enough to hear, Sicko," Len grins at him unpleasantly.
"Another thing," the training detective adds before anyone else can speak. "Don't even think about coming over to the house to see Lisa alone now that I'm moving out. I'll know. And I'll kill you."
"Lenny!" Lisa nudges her other brother. "Stop it! I am a big girl!"
"Yeah, Len," Barry agrees. "You can't think that Cisco would even have those kinds of intentions while Joe and I are there either."
"Are you saying I'd have ungentlemanly intentions without someone being around, Barry?" Cisco remarks, offended. "Because I didn't have to kiss on a first date in order to get a second one."
"What?" Len snaps, his cup thudding on the table loud enough for the people on the first floor to hear.
"I'm just saying," Barry's voice strains as he tries to diffuse the situation. "You are a good guy and Len doesn't have to worry."
"You kissed Linda?" Len glares at his brother. "On the first date? You got a time table you're working with there, Barry? Do I need to have 'the talk' with you?"
"Ew! Lenny!" Lisa resorts to hitting her brother in the arm with a fist, Iris joining in on the other side. "We are all mature adults! Stop being a big baby about this!"
"Me?" Len points to himself indignantly. "You're all sitting around talking about things you know I don't want to hear, and expect me to be okay with it?"
"I think we're subconsciously trying to get you used to us being romantically involved with other people," Iris muses.
"Len does have a point," Caitlin says quietly.
"Yes, thank you!" Len throws his hands in the air. "Tell them, Caitlin."
"Well," the scientist clears her throat. "Not to damped your hopes, Len, but what I have to say has more to do with Barry and his...Speedster side affects concerning...You know..."
Cisco's phone goes off and he grabs at it desperately as the entire group stress at each other in awkward silence.
"I gotta go," Cisco states, running from the situation.
"That's it," Len downs his coffee, then grabs up his coat. "I'm leaving for work. No physical intercourse before a year of dating, Barry, I'm serious."
"Lenny!" Lisa hisses at her brother as he heads for the stairs.
The eldest sibling turns back to the group and points a finger at Lisa, "None with Sicko at all, unless I die and you two get married. You," he turns to Iris, his stern expression falters for a moment but he holds the glare firmly. "I can't stop you, but you better be keeping that boyfriend of yours in check."
With his threats handed out, Len hurries down the stairs and out of Jitters.

"What has gotten into him?" Iris shakes her head sadly as she looks to Barry and Lisa for their insight.
"Maybe he's starting to feel left out?" Lisa bites her lower lip. "We never did find him a romantic partner. Maybe we should set him up for blind dates?"
"No," Barry shakes his head. It doesn't take much imagination for him to realize what a BAD idea that would turn out to be. He looks to Iris. "He, uh, he seemed a little worried about you and Eddie the other day."
"Worried?" Iris repeats. "How do you mean?"
The speedster swallows nervously. "Like Eddie might be hurting you."
"That's ridiculous!" Iris huffs indignantly. "Eddie loves me! And I love him, he'd never hurt me!"
"I know! I know!" Barry motions for his foster sister to lower her voice.
"Lewis loved our mom once too."
Barry and Iris turn to Lisa who was leaning back with her arms crossed over her chest as she stares at Len's abandoned cup.
The youngest foster sibling switches arms uneasily as she continues with a quiet voice, "I never got to see it, but Lenny said she loved him. At one point. Then he messed everything up with a heist and everything changed."
"Oh, honey," Iris wraps her arms around her foster sister. "I'm sorry if this brought up bad memories for you."
Lisa shakes her head, then rests it against her sister's shoulder.
"Not me...Lenny."
"I guess it's up to us to show Len that relationships don't always end in disaster," Barry decides.
"Are you sure we can?" Lisa mumbles.
Iris rubs her sister on the back.
"Of course we can," the older sister says confidently. "Just you wait and see."
"Absolutely," Barry grins. "Hey, if they can survive Len threatening them, then they've got to be 'the one', am I right?"
His sisters laugh and Lisa lifts her head off of Iris's shoulder.

- -

Len walks into the CCPD and only finds Eddie there.
"Hey," the training detective says the blonde. "Where's Joe?"
"He's, uhm, working a case," Eddie edges around Len to leave, but the other man steps to block him.
"What kind of case? Why didn't he tell me about it?"
"It's a...a new case," the detective shrugs. "He just got a call and left. He should be back soon."
Once again Eddie tries to escape and once again Len blocks him.
"Where is the crime scene? I'll meet him there."
"The, uh, the crime scene?" Eddie starts to walk backwards now, but Len follows him in that direction too. "You know, I think you should really wait until you can talk to Je about this. It isn't my place."
Len reaches forward and grabs the detective by his collar.
"Wrong answer."

Len drags Eddie into the janitor's closet and shoves him towards the wall so he can close the door behind them.
"Len, now wait a minute," the blonde lifts his hands as the other man approaches him. "I haven't done anything wrong here, you'll get Iris upset if you beat me up for no reason."
"I can deal with that," Len decides as he removes his coat. As he starts to roll up his sleeves, Eddie caves.
"Joe's been investigating Wells to see if he has anything to do with Nora Allen's murder," the detective says in one breath.
Len pauses his actions to glare at the other man.
"You...and Joe...investigating Wells behind Barry's back?"
"You weren't supposed to find out," Eddie quickly adds. "Iris and Lisa don't know either. Cisco is with him at Barry old house to see what they can turn up there."
"Great," Len growls as he angrily puts on his jacket. "let's separate the family with secret pow-wows against a man who deserves it."
"I can't tell who you're angry at anymore. Do you think you can explain it to me?"
Len glares at him and Eddie swallows.
"Right. You're always mad at me. What was I thinking?"
"If you..." Len steps closer to the man. "Ever hurt my sister..." Eddie's back hits the wall. "I will drop you off a building..." Len looms over the other man. "And make sure no one catches you..."
Eddie nods furiously, mind trying to decide if drawing his weapon for protection would go over well with his girlfriend later.
"Good," Len turns with a click and marches out of the room, leaving the door wide open in his wake as Eddie tries to collect himself.

- -

At the old Allen home, Cisco is about to use his machine when the doorbell rings.
"I thought you sent her to the movies?" the genius asks the detective.
"I did," Joe answers, confused, as he goes to the door. When he opens it, he finds a very angry Len on the other side. "Len? What are you doing here?"
"I would ask you the same thing, but I already know the answer," Len counters as he pushes his way inside. He narrows his eyes at Cisco before turning back to his foster father.
"Listen, I can explain-"
"I'm not angry that you're looking into Wells, Joe," his foster son cuts him off. "I'm disappointed that you wouldn't invite me into your merry little investigative side team. You've got Cisco, so why not me?"
"What's that supposed to mean?" the genius asks, insulted. "And since when are we looking into Wells? I thought we were trying to figure out who murdered Barry's mom?"
"I needed Cisco's help to search for evidence with technology we both don't understand," Joe explains, ignoring the other man in the room. "I knew you already hated the guy and I didn't want to add to that by pulling you into something prematurely."
"Joe," Len huffs the name with a cocky smirk. "You're the greatest detective in Central City. If you think there's something off about Harrison Wells, then there definitely is. Keeping me out of this won't change my mind about that man."
"Thanks for the compliment," the detective's heart swells as he smiles at his kid. "I'm sorry about not pulling you in, but how did you find out?"
"Eddie told me."
"Is Eddie still alive?"
"For now."
"Okay!" Cisco claps his hands. "Are you two done bonding? Because I'd really like to see what this mirror is waiting to tell us. That way I can prove, once and for all, that Dr. Wells is not the bad guy."
"I always knew you were deranged," Len comments as he approaches the genius with his foster father. "Now you're talking to mirrors?"

As Cisco, Joe, and Len see stills of Nora Allen's murder and Joe finds the traces of blood, the rest of Team Flash run into The Flaming Man.

- -

The next day, Len opts out of running evidence with Joe and Cisco in order to go with Barry and Caitlin to track down Ronnie-Stein. They use Clarissa Stein to talk to him and it works. The Flaming Man comes back to STAR Labs without a second fight.

Cisco storms into the lab in time for Wells to explain that Ronnie could go nuclear. "Unless the host body were no longer functioning."
"So that's it?" Len bites out. "We just kill Ronnie because you refuse to try and do anything about it?"
"I do not 'want' to kill Ronnie," Wells counters evenly.
"In this scenario the 'host body' is Ronnie," Len corrects. "So, actually, yes. You DO want to kill him!"
"If you kill Ronnie, you kill Stein, that's two people!" Cisco adds, stepping towards the older scientist.
"I don't know how else to stop it," Wells says in almost a whisper. His voice gains strength as he adds. "And I'm guessing both Stein and Ronnie would make the same decision if they knew." He looks over the other people in the room, one by one. "It's two lives...For millions."
Caitlin turns to her head to Len, Cisco, and Barry.
"Can you give us a minute?" she asks softly.
Len looks to her with concern, "You sure?"
The female scientist nods, and the trio of younger men leave the room.

They don't walk too far away to hear the woman say, "I've already lost Ronnie once. I'm not going to lose him again. You said we had a couple of hours. Use them."
"Thatta girl," Len grins proudly.

Caitlin leaves the room and Len follows after her while Barry heads towards Ronnie-Stein. Cisco starts to chase after Dr. Wells, but the man stops the young genius in his tracks as he drives off in his wheel chair.

"You okay?" Len asks once the woman stops walking.
"Yeah," Caitlin nods, then shakes her head. "No."
"It's going to be okay, Caitlin," Len assures her. "With all the smarts in this place, one of you will find the answer you need."
"Maybe, but in time?" the scientist shakes her head as she stares at the floor. "I'm not too sure."
"Then I'll be sure for you," the training detective wraps one arm around the woman. "I might not like Wells, but if there's one thing he can do, it's manipulate problems."
"Why does that sound like it has a double meaning?"
"Probably because it does," Len grins, tightening his hold briefly before letting go. "Listen, I'm going to watch over Ronnie so you can focus on fixing him."
As the man leave, Caitlin calls after him, "Thanks, Len."
"Anytime."

Len sees Barry leave the Cortex and finds Ronnie-Stein leaning against the computer desk inside.
"You send him off to do something, Professor?" he asks conversationally.
"I merely gave him some advice," the other man shrugs. "I don't think we've been formally introduced, although you were there when I was brought here and you voiced your concerns over Ronald quite strongly."
"I'm Len," the training detective offers the other man his hand. "Older brother to Barry, friend of Caitlin's, among other things."
"Brother?" Ronnie-Stein sounds intrigued as his hand curls back under his jacket. "I don't see the resemblance."
"Probably because we don't have the same parents," Len shrugs. "He's still kin, though. How about you? Any siblings?"
"No. No family, other than my wife, Clarissa."
"Do you want to call her?" Len offers, pulling out his cell. "Get anything off your chest?"
"Are you planning on taking me out the back way and killing me, Mr. Len?"
"Just Len, Stein, and no. That's not how we do things here." Len looks around briefly before adding. "I'm actually going to make sure you get to live to the very second before you're supposed to...you know."
"My very own bodyguard. Tell me," Ronnie-Stein starts to walk out of the Cortex and Len follows. "Do you possess Meta-Human abilities like your brother?"
"No, but I have my side arm."
"Do you know how to use it?"
"I was in the military before coming to Central City to train to be a detective, Professor," Len drawls. "Guns aren't anything new to me."
Ronnie-Stein comes to a stop at the end of the hall and steps in front of the other man.
"May I see your weapon?"
"I know where this is going, Professor," Len tells the man. "I'm not going to let you kill yourself either. Just let the geniuses figure this out, okay?"
"There might not be enough time for that."
"We can't know that and, like I said before, I'm going to keep you alive until the last possible second."
Ronnie-Stein huffs a tired breath. "I want you to know, I regret this, Len."
"Regret what-?"
The fused man toses his coat over Len's head, blinding him so he can take his gun. As Len rips the coat off his head, Ronnie-Stein hits him over the head with the butt of it, knocking him out.
"I do so loath violence," the man remarks as he quickly grabs up his coat and runs for the exit.

- -

Wells gets an idea about how to save Ronnie, so Cisco goes in search of the fused man. He hears a moan of pain and follows it until he finds Len sitting up against a wall, a hand to his head.
"What happened to you?" Cisco asks as he rushes over to the man's side. Len's hand falls away from his head and the genius sees blood trickling down the side of his face. "That's not good. Who did this to you?"
"Stein," Len grunts, sliding up the wall as he gets to his feet. He winces as the world spins and sways as he tries to keep his balance.
Cisco tries to grab hold of Len's arms to help steady him, but the other man pushes him away.
"Hey, I'm trying to help," the genius scolds him.
"My gun," Len tries to stop the spinning with will power as he reaches for his holster to check for the weapon. It's gone and he lets out a few curses.
"Gun? What about your gun? Listen, Seargent Silence, you better start talking!"
"Keep it down, will you?" Len grimaces as starts to head in the direction of the Cortex, using the wall for support. "Is anyone else here?"
"Caitlin and Dr. Wells," Cisco answers, staying near the other man's side in case he should fall. "Barry should be back soon. Wells thinks he's figured out a way to save Ronnie and Stein."
"Good," Len nods slightly, then pauses to catch his breath when that makes his head spin. "I'll need them alive to shout at them."
"You know what? Forget this-" Cisco grabs hold of Len's arm and forces it over his shoulder to support the other man.
Len freezes, his voice hard as he asks, "What are you doing?"
"I'm helping you get your idiotic self to Caitlin so she can have a look at you. I'd bring you to a hospital, but I don't have time."
"I'm fine, Sicko. Let me go."
"You might loath me, but I can't have Lisa's brother falling over if I can help it."
"This won't change anything between us."
"I didn't expect it to."

As they near the Cortex, Barry's voice is saying, "I'll go get Stein."
"Too late! He's already gone!" Cisco announces as he pulls Len into the room and eases him into a chair.
"Len?" Barry looks at his foster brother in concern. "What happened? You're bleeding!"
"Very astute, Barry," Len drawls as he closes his eyes to prevent more spinning. "Stein took my gun and knocked me out. You better find him before he does something stupid."
"Ramon, we better work quickly on the splicer," Wells says, moving his chair towards the work table.
"I'll help Len, then find Stein," Caitlin says, rushing to the man's side.

- -

Wells and Cisco finish the device with twelve minutes to go. Caitlin refuses to be left behind and Barry takes her to where Stein is.

Thanks to some pain killers from Caitlin, Len's head has stopped throbbing and spinning. Standing beside Wells and Cisco, he waits on edge for what will happen next.

Something goes wrong. Barry runs away with Caitlin. The Burning Man explodes.

---

Chapter Text

"Barry? Barry, what happened out there?"
"Are you guys okay?"
"Barry, if you got yourself killed, I'm going to kill you!" Len growls.
"We're okay!" Barry assures them, finally. "At least, I think so."

There's no radiation, so the speedster returns with Caitlin to the point of the explosion. Both Ronnie and Stein are there, their clothes damaged but they are themselves. They are two people once again.
"We're coming home," Barry smiles as he watches Caitlin kiss her fiancé again. "All of us."

The group enters STAR Labs, Caitlin leaning on Ronnie while Barry and Stein trail behind. Wells, Cisco, and Len meet them at the entrance. The old coworkers exchange warm greetings and Caitlin offers Wells her most sincere thanks.
"Are we all going to sing Kumbaya next?" Stein remarks, earning the group's attention.
"I like this professor," Len grins. "He thinks a lot like I do."
"Heaven forbid," Cisco grumbles under his breath.
"Len, I," Stein clears his throat as he stares at the bandage on the young man's head. "I apologize for what I did to your head. I was just trying to look out for the greater good."
"Can't say I wouldn't do the same thing in your shoes," Len shrugs. "I've been known to knock guys out to get my way in my troubled youth. I won't hold it over you."

The group disperses, but Len holds Barry back.
"I'm going to let you guys greet the newly separated men on your own," Len tells his foster brother. "I'm supposed to meet Lisa for lunch today."
"Len, you shouldn't be driving with a head wound," the speedster remarks with worry.
"This little thing?" his older brother points to the bandage. "It's barely a scratch. I've had worse playing pirates with you and Iris."
"Still...I don't think-"
Len pats Barry on the shoulder and the speedster stops talking.
"No double vision, no nausea, or even throbbing from the wound. Caitlin said I'm fine, so stop taking my job and join your friends, okay?"
"Fine," Barry sighs. "But if you think for one second that you need help..."
"I know just the man!" Len tosses over his shoulder as he walks out the door. "Send the couple my love, will you?"

- -

After dropping Stein off at home, Barry returns to his lab in the CCPD. Joe is waiting for him there and the speedster instantly thinks his foster father knows about Len's injury.
"Len's fine," the brunette assure the older man. "It's just a bump really. Caitlin even said it was okay for him to drive."
"Len? What happened to Len?" Joe frowns at hearing the new information. "Does it have something to do with the crater in the badlands? Len's last text said everything was fine, when did he get hurt?"
"He didn't tell you," Barry surmises, inwardly scolding himself for spitting the info out.
"Didn't tell me what?"
"Stein, sort of, hit him and took his gun."
Joe's frown deepens. "Did he get it back?"
"Yeah, I put it in his car before he left. I thought you knew since you were waiting here for me."
"Your brother doesn't like to talk about what's wrong with himself too often," the detective sighs. "I'm actually here for another reason. Come with me."

- -

As Joe takes Barry back to his childhood home and tells him about what he found there, Len meets up with Lisa and Iris in a restaurant not far from the youngest sibling's job.

"What happened to you?" the girls chorus as Len takes his seat.
"Amazing," he grins at them. "Did you two practice that while you waited for me? And not that I'm complaining, but why has Iris joined the party?"
"I was out interviewing people for a story when I bumped into Lisa," Iris explains.
"And she was telling me how Barry showed up at the newspaper to impress Linda by eating a ghost pepper. Raw."
"That could've killed him," Len frowns, angry his brother would be so stupid. "Why did he do that? Is he dating a psychopath?"
"It was all Barry and he did it because he had to run out on their second date," Iris winks at Lisa who stifles a giggle into her glass of water.
"So Barry runs off and the only way he thinks he can get her back is to try burning his mouth out with toxic vegetables?" Len clarifies with growing alarm. "That settles it. I can't move out. Barry's too little to live alone."
"Excuse me, third daddy, Joe and I are still living there," Lisa points out. "And don't think you can get out of explaining what happened to your head, either.
"Just a little disagreement with a new friend," their brother brushes off their concern. "I'm more hungry than injured, anything good here?"
The siblings decide to move on to other topics while they eat together.

- -

When Iris returns to the paper, Mason Bridge approaches her with a Danish.
"You know the people who work at STAR Labs, correct?" he asks.
"Yeah," Iris puts a hand on her hip as she turns to the man. "And you've got a Danish. Anything else we already know about each other we should say?"
"Do you know Caitlin Snow?"
"Yes."
"Has she said anything to you about what goes on there after the explosion happened?"
"Nothing goes on there, the place is abandoned and unsafe," Iris's suspicion rises as she glances over to Mason's desk and sees blueprints spread out on it. "Are you planning on breaking the law to have a look for yourself?"
"No. Though I have often thought about it, I'm not interested in risking my life by walking into the place that turned half the city into Meta-Humans."
"So, what more is there with the STAR Labs story? Wells admittance of a possible disaster is the only new evidence we have."
"Yeah...Why do you think he did that?"
Iris gets the same feeling she has whenever Len talks about Wells: Uneasy.
"Because he's a good...person?" she tries to guess where the man's going.
"Is he?" Mason asks before she fully finishes.
"Yes!" Iris replies back. "He saved my foster brother's life. Dr. Wells and his team kept him alive after he was struck by lightning."
"So?" the other reporter challenges. "Wells zapped him in the first place. Without him, there wouldn't have been a need to save him."
"It was an accident."
"Was it?"
Iris's uneasy feeling gets worse.
"You think Harrison Wells wanted the particle accelerator to explode." Inside her head, Iris is thinking, 'Better not let this guy around Len.' She verbally adds, "Why would he do that?"
"I don't know what goes on inside that building...But I think you know some people who do," Mason puts the Danish right in Iris's face in what, she assumes, is a tempting gesture.
"You think I'll snoop around for you because you got me a Danish? One that probably came free with this morning's coffee?"
"Hey, there were three other women who had their eyes on it, but I saved it for you," Mason says with a mock serious tone. More seriously, he adds. "You really want to know what goes on inside that building. So I think you'll do it, no matter what I offer you."
He walks away with that, leaving Iris with the Danish.
'Too bad for you, I already know what's going on,' she thinks with a small smile as she goes to her desk.
Iris makes a mental note to keep an eye on Mason. She has to make sure the man doesn't expose her family's secret to the public.

- -

At Jitters, Ronnie and Caitlin are out on a date and talking when the scientist sees red laser lights on her fiance and the waiter. She shouts at Ronnie to get down as she drags him below the table and shots come through the glass. The military continue to fire on them as Ronnie gets Caitlin to escape and he makes his way out the alley entrance moments later.

"Hands in the air!" a soldier shouts as he and several others cock their weapons and point them at the young man.
Ronnie comes to a complete stop, lifting his hands as he turns back towards the soldier who spoke.
"Ronald Raymond. Burning Man himself," an older man dressed in a matching uniform says as he steps closer to the young man. He looks Ronnie over. "Half of him anyway."
"Who are you?" Ronnie asks.
"General Wade Eiling, United States Army." Len calls out for the man in uniform, stepping into the alley with his weapon drawn. A few of the soldiers turn to point their weapons at the newcomer.
"Snart," Eiling says the name like it's a joke. "I heard you left the Air Force. Not enough action for you? You had to retire to a Meta-Human infested city?"
"What do you want Eiling?" Len drawls, stepping closer even as the soldiers remain in his way to get to the general.
"F.I.R.E.S.T.O.R.M." Eiling answers.
"Well, that's too bad," Len remarks. "Because it doesn't exist."
The Flash arrives, taking out all the soldiers, but he leaves the general standing as he comes to a stop beside Ronnie.
Eiling throws something square in the air. It beeps before exploding, sending metal needles into the air that go straight for Barry.
Len shoots the general in the same arm that threw the box.
"I'll have you thrown into a military prison!" Eiling shouts out as he holds tight to his bleeding wound.
"Give me one good reason not to end you right now," Len seethes as he hears his brother's groans of pain. "Random acts of violence happen every day in dark alleys. Who's to say differently when you happen across your own demise?"
A white van dives down the alley and screeches to its side. Ronnie throws in his own punch to the general, blocking Len from shooting the man a second time, then the van's doors open and Caitlin is there.
"Get in!" she orders them.
Len keeps his weapon on the military men as they start to rise as Ronnie helps Barry into the van. The doors close and Caitlin drives off. Len's jaw clenches tighter and tighter as he watches his brother writhe in pain on the metal floor.

- -

Back at STAR Labs, Caitlin tries to take the fragments as quickly and painlessly as she can. It's not really working and Len keeps pacing at the foot of the bed.

"You can't give him anything to help with the pain, because his super healing makes it run too quickly through his system?" Len repeats the question again as Barry shouts out from another fragment being removed.
"Correct," Wells nods. "As I've already told you, Major Snart. Repeating the same question won't change the answer."
"I'll be fine, Len," Barry tries to assure his brother, even as he holds back another shout of pain.
"I should have shot Eiling in the head." Len curses colorfully as he steps away from his brother.
"I'm assuming you know the General from your time in the service, Major Snart?" Wells says more than asks.
Len nods. "Ran into him once or twice. Even though we worked for separate branches of the military it still happens. The man is as corrupt as they come."
"Why were you there, Captain Conspicuous?" Cisco asks, trying to get his mind off his friend's pain. "Pretty convenient for you to be around for the shooting."
"I was just walking by, Sicko," Len glares at him. "It's a free country."
"We need to get to Stein. Make sure that..." Barry groans through another spike bring removed. "Make sure that he's safe from Eiling."
"Stein's fine," Ronnie says.
"How do you know that?" Cisco asks him.
"He's right there."
Everyone turns to the scientist as he enters the room.

- -

Both Ronnie's and Stein's brain waves are in sync.
Barry promises the scientist that he'll help protect his wife, so the man agree to stay at STAR Labs for his own safety.

Barry invites Ronnie & Caitlin to stay at his place and they accept.

"I'm still in the process of moving out," Len says as he opens the door. "But you can have my room and I'll sleep on the couch."
Joe walks into the living room at the same time his kids and the couple do.
"Visitors," the detective smiles at them. "This must be Ronnie. The..."
"The dead fiancé," Ronnie offers as he shakes the older man's hand.
"Before Len could get to him?" Joe tries to joke, but it falls flat. He hands over the unopened drink in his hand. "Beer?"
"Thanks," Ronnie takes it with a smile.

Iris arrives with Lisa before the beer is opened. Both women's arms are filled with bags of groceries.
"Hi there!" Lisa greets Ronnie with a bright smile. "Welcome back from not being dead!"
"Lisa-" Len sighs the rest of his scolding as he heads upstairs to get the room ready.
"I brought supplies for making dinner!" Iris announces. "Anyone want to lend a hand?"
"Lenny!" Lisa calls up the stairs. "You need to come back down here and help Iris before she burns down the house!"
"Hey!" Iris tries to kick at her sister. "I took cooking lessons, you know! And I never set any fires that weren't on the stove top or in a campfire!"
"Ahuh," Lisa rolls her eyes as she follows her older sister to the kitchen. "Then how about the time you and I were out back and Joe was picking Barry up from-"
"LISA!" Iris shouts, then successfully kicks the woman. "Stop it, will you?"
"Maybe we should get a hotel instead?" Ronnie offers, trying not to stare after the two women who went into the kitchen.
"Nonsense!" Joe waves his hand at the young man. "Mi casa el su casa. And the girls are only excited for Caitlin. They'll settle down into mature ladies again soon."
Len barks out a loud laugh from upstairs which makes Barry snort.

- -

After dinner, Len packs up leftovers and heads for the door.
"And where are YOU going?" Lisa asks him as he puts the container down to put on his coat.
"I'm going to talk to Hartley," her brother answers as he finishes with his coat and reaches for the container.
Lisa smiles as Len opens the door. "Should I be worried about the two of you?"
"I can't get through to him if I neglect him," Len points out. "He should be over his little pouting phase by now. I'm hoping homemade food will help get him talking again."
"And what are you going to do if you can't "change" Hartley into a good guy?"
Len grins, "I'll try harder."

- -

"I hate mashed potatoes," Hartley grimaces as he looks the contents of the container over.
"What about the milk?" Len smirks. "Do you hate milk too? I would've brought you a beer, but I didn't think you deserved it."
"Ha!" the evil genius mock laughs. "Deserve. Can you even comprehend what the word means?"
"I have a phone with a dictionary app," Len lifts his device to show the other man. "So...Yeah, I've got the whole 'comprehending' thing down."
Hartley takes a bite of something else in the container and tilts his head in as he chews it slowly.
"The carrots are pretty good. Are they caramelized in something?"
"A honey and Cajun spice blend of my own creation," Len says with a touch of pride. "Though, I must confess, the art of blending spicy with sweet was taught to me by a Hindu woman."
"A man of many travels," Hartley smirks. "And yet still so young."
"I take vitamins."

- -

With his visit complete, Len heads down the halls towards the exit. He's just passing the Cortex when he hears a crash coming from inside. He rushes into the room and finds Stein passed out on the floor, a glass cup shattered nearby.
Len rushes to the professor's side. "Stein?"
Getting no response, the young man glares at up Wells. "What happened?"
Military soldier comes barging in, saving a surprised Wells from answering as General Eiling steps out from behind his troops.
"How did you get in here?" Len moves to stand, but Eiling grabs hold of one of his men's rifles and knocks him out with a vicious blow to the head.
"That's for shooting me," the General sneers as he hands the weapon back. He looks over to Wells as his men drag Stein from the room. "See Harrison? We do work well together."

Wells cleans up the evidence of what he's done, then waits for the military to be long gone before he calls the team in.

Len is still unconscious on the floor when Barry, Caitlin, Cisco and Ronnie arrive at STAR Labs.
"Len!" Barry slides onto the floor next to his brother and gently shakes him. "Len, can you hear me?"
"Barry, let me see," Caitlin moves the speedster out of the way to check Len over.
Barry looks over to Wells, "How about you, Dr. Wells? Are you okay? They didn't hurt you?"
"They only hurt my pride," Wells remarks, eyes on the unconscious man. "I didn't even know Major Snart was in the lab. I'm also concerned that the security protocols that I thought the lab possessed are in fact useless against the intruders they are supposed to detect."
"None of this is your fault," Cisco assures the older scientist. "You couldn't have known that Eiling would come here, that he'd even know to look here."
"What's important now is saving Stein from whatever Eiling has in store for him," Barry states.
"Easy there," Wells turns his focus to the speedster. "We already know that Eiling has the means to disable The Flash, or worse."
"We can't let him turn Stein into a weapon," Caitlin comments as she keeps her hold on Len's wrist to monitor his pulse.
"How do we find him?" Ronnie asks. The team look to him. "What?"

"How is he?" Barry asks Caitlin as she puts down Len's wrist to rest against his chest.
"He needs a CT scan," the scientist explains as she looks to the speedster. "This is his second blow to the head and he's still unconscious. I need to make sure there's no swelling or damage to the brain."
"I'll take him to the hospital," Barry says. "He doesn't have any Meta-Human powers we have to worry about, so they can take care of him while we get Stein back."
"That's a good idea," Caitlin agrees. "But you can't bring him using your powers. It could worsen the injury if there is one. Better to call an ambulance and have him taken that way."
Barry heaves a heavy breath as he nods. "Okay."
The speedster reaches out a hand and places it on his brother's chest.
"Len, if you don't get better, I'm going to kill you," Barry says softly, then forces to pull himself away to call the ambulance.

Cisco helps Barry carry Len outside to wait for the ambulance while Caitlin hooks up Ronnie to a few machines to map out his brain waves and, hopefully, help him reach out to Stein through their connection.

- -

Barry texts Joe as the ambulance drives off with his foster brother. He doesn't want Len to be alone when he wakes up.

The speedster then forces himself to ignore his phone as he helps Ronnie reach out to Stein and figure out where he is.
Through a painful process of cutting himself, Ronnie does.
...Facility 27...

- -

After rescuing Stein, Barry is hit with an a chemical he has to outrun in order to stop it from burning him alive. As he's distracted with that, Ronnie & Stein successfully merge and become Firestorm once more. But this time, with more control.

General Eiling personally comes out to fight, throwing an Ion grenade to stun the merged men and try to kill them.
Barry stops him with several punches to the face.
"That was for Snart." the speedster says breathlessly as he's forced to stop from lack of energy. He looks over to his friend. "Ronnie...Home?"
Ronnie spares the bleeding general a glance before nodding to Barry.
"Yeah."

Back at STAR Labs, Ronnie and Stein discover they are now a merge-able and unmerge-able Firestorm superhero...

- -

Joe stares at Len as his boy lies unconscious in the hospital bed. There's a white bandage wrapped around his head, but otherwise he looks fine. He looks like he should open his eyes, sit up, and complain about where he was.
But instead, Len remains asleep.

The detective had used his police siren to get to the hospital as soon as the ambulance did. Then he strong-armed his way into the room when a doctor and four nurses tried to prevent it. He tried texting Barry to figure out what happened, but his superhero son wasn't answering so he gave up altogether.

"You should really wake up before your siblings get here," Joe mumbles through the hand partially covering his face. "Especially your sisters. They won't let you out of their sight if you keep on sleeping like this, Len."
The heart monitor is the only thing that replies to the detective's words and the man sighs as he leans forwards to rub both hands over his constantly balding head.

A soft knock on the door has Joe raising his head. Eddie tries to smile as he steps into the room.
"How is he?" the blonde asks, motioning with his head to Len.
"He needed two stitches and the doctors did a scan of his brain. They said there was some swelling but nothing to worry about. But," Joe looks to his boy. "He still hasn't woken up."
"Maybe if I talk about how much I love Iris, he'll get so angry he will?" Eddie offers, moving to stand next to his partner.
"Did you hear that, Len?" Joe chuckles. "Eddie here is going to get all mushy about your sister. You gonna let that happen?"
The room falls silent save for the monitor's constant beeps.

Lisa rushes into the room with Iris next. They pause at the door to gape at their brother before slowly stepping over to his side.
"Lenny?" Lisa says softly as she takes her brother's limp hand. "Why are you sleeping?"
"What did the doctors say?" Iris asks her father as she stands beside her sister.
"There's nothing in his scans showing bleeding or brain damage," Joe assures the girls. "He needed two stitches and there's some minor swelling, but they don't know why he won't wake up."
"It's because he's hiding from my wrath," Lisa jokes wetly. "He knows I was going to tease him about Hartley when he got home tonight. The big coward."
Iris wraps am arm around her sister as tears start to well in their eyes.

Barry is the last of the family to enter the room. He jogs breathlessly through the door and can't hide his surprise at seeing Eddie standing beside his foster father.
The speedster lets his surprise go as he moves to the bottom of the hospital bed.
"Joe says the doctors scanned Len's brain and there doesn't appear to be any serious damage, just some minor swelling," Eddie informs the brunette for his partner.
Barry nods as he takes in the information, his eyes on the bandage wrapped around his brother's head. He wishes he could feel residual pain from punching Eiling to help ease some of his anger.

Eddie's phone rings and he excuses himself to take the call in the hallway.
The second the blonde is out of the room, Lisa turns to Barry.
"Did you get the guy who did this to Len?" she asks, wiping the tears off her face.
"I hit him a few times, but there's nothing I can legally do to a general of the US army," Barry tells her, wishing the man was a Meta he could lock up instead.
"Government-" Lisa starts cursing as she looks back to her brother. Her words turn into every quieting mumbles until she falls silent.
Eddie comes back into the room and offers the group a forced smile.
"I've got to go," the detective says apologetically. "There's a robbery downtown."
"Do you need me to come with?" Joe offers, half-heartedly.
"No, I've got it," Eddie assures him. He steps over to Iris and kisses her on the cheek before heading back out of the room with a small wave.

"Lenny," Lisa tries to smile as she squeezes her brother's hand. "Eddie just kissed Iris right in front of you. How could you let that happen?"
Len remains motionless as his monitor continues it's steady beep.

The hospital staff inform the family that there can only be two people in the room at a time during night hours. They go so far as to bring in security to make sure the rule is abided by.
"Barry and I will stay," Iris says, rubbing at Lisa's arm. "You've got work in the morning and Dad, you look like you're about to fall over."
"I'll take a sick day," Lisa shakes her head. "I won't be able to focus anyway. Not with Len like this."
"Okay," Iris agrees softly.
"Iris, I'd still like to stay," Barry speaks up nervously. "If that's alright with you?"
"Sure," his foster sister nods her head. She quickly hugs Lisa, then moves over to do the same to Barry. As she hugs the speedster, she whispers, "You let us know once he wakes up, okay?"
"Absolutely," Barry nods as he's released from the hug.
Joe wraps an arm around Iris as they walk out of the room, the both of them sparing one last glance to the man still asleep on the bed.

- -

Three hours later, Len is still asleep as a blonde, female nurse comes into the room.
Lisa is lightly dozing in her chair, one hand still holding onto her brother's, but she startles awake when the other woman starts to check over the patient.
"Are you his sister?" the nurse ask as she does her job.
"How could you tell?" Lisa asks, eyeing the woman warily.
The blonde shrugs, "You look alike."
Barry smiles pleasantly when the nurse turns to glance back at him.
"You the boyfriend?"
Lisa snorts as Barry's face goes red.
"No, I'm-I'm his brother," the speedster quickly corrects the woman.
"Oh," the nurse nods as she finishes. She heads for the door, but stops halfway to turns back to the two, "Leonard seems to be a pretty strong man to me. With the support of his family, I'm sure he'll pull through."
"Thanks," Barry smiles at the nurse. She smiles back to him, then leaves.

- -

Two hours later, a doctor comes in. He's an elderly man in a too-tight white coat and he ignores the siblings as he checks his patient's chart.
"Ahuh," the doctor hums to himself as he drops the chart back into the holder at the end of the bed and moves on to check Len's pupils. "Ahuh," he hums again as he then checks his patient's pulse and watches the machines.
At his third "Ahuh" Lisa snaps.
"Do you know what's wrong with my brother or not?" she gets out of her chair in her anger, dropping her brother's hand onto the bed.
"Mr. Snart appears to be unresponsive," the doctor says in a droll tone. "He's most likely slipped into a coma. It's hard to tell."
"A coma?" Lisa's hands ball into shaking fists. "Well, wake him out of it!"
"I can't, miss," the doctor blinks at the woman's anger. "There's no cure for comas. We can try to use drugs to stimulate him, but that could do more harm than good. Mr. Snart could just be suffering from exhaustion. Add that to the blow to his head and he might just be sleeping like a regular person."
"So, what you're telling me is, you're just useless?" Lisa accuses the man.
The doctor appears unaffected by the woman as he walks out the room without a reply.
"He's just doing his job, Lisa," Barry tells his sister.
"I hate doctors," Lisa grumbles, getting back into her chair and taking her brother's hand back. "They were useless when I was a kid and they aren't any better now that I'm as big as they are."
Barry sighs as he runs his hands through his hair. Some times he forgot all the things his foster siblings went through before they came to live with him and Joe.
The speedster gets up slowly and walks over to Lisa to put his hands on her shoulders.
"He's going to come back to us. He's just being lazy."
Lisa laughs, her free hand lifting to cover her mouth as she tries to keep it quiet.

- -

A brown-haired, female nurse comes next to check on Len. She doesn't even spare the siblings a glance as she quickly does her job and leaves.
"She wasn't as nice as the blonde one." Lisa yawns at the end.
Barry nods his agreement as he struggles to keep his eyes open.

- -

Joe and Iris arrive early in the morning to 'switch shifts' with Barry and Lisa.
The speedster has to physically pull his sister away from their brother in order to get her to leave.

After dropping Lisa off at home, and tucking her into bed, Barry goes to Stein's house to see him and Ronnie off.

"Barry," Caitlin smiles as the speedster stops outside the house where the Firestorm duo was just stepping out of. "You made it. How's Len?"
"Still unconscious, but he should be waking up any minute now," Barry tries to assure his friend.
"I wish that we could stay until young Snart was awake but," Stein looks nervously over to his wife. "The risk...Would be too great."
"No, you guys need to go," Barry nods his head. "Take care of yourselves."
The two men merge into their Meta-Human self.
"We love you," the merged men say to the women they love, then blast off into the sky.

- -

Barry takes a power nap, then rides with Lisa back to the hospital. Joe had to leave to work on a case with Eddie, but Iris greets her siblings with a small wave.
"Any change?" Barry asks as Lisa goes straight for her brother's hand.
"I think I saw his hand twitch," Iris tells them with forced hope. "The nurse who keeps coming in here has an attitude problem though. I couldn't get her to talk to me."
"What about the blonde one?" Lisa asks idly, eyes on her brother.
"I haven't seen a blonde one, just the brunette."
"Must be a shift change," Barry shrugs, leaning against the wall since the only two chairs were taken.

Caitlin and Cisco arrive with a pizza lunch and sodas and the group uses the small windowsill as a table.
As the food diminishes, Cisco starts a new conversation.
"Hey, theoretically speaking, what would happen if Joe started dating?" the scientist thinks back to Sherry's obvious advances on the detective.
All the siblings look over to Len to see if he would react. Nothing happens.
"You don't think he would?"
"Would he?"
"This is Len we're talking about...Of course he would."
They all physically shake the thought from their minds.
"I don't want to see that."
"Ditto."
"I third the motion. If Dad starts dating, we'll keep it from Len at all costs."
"Keep what from me?"
The siblings shout as they scurry away from the bed in surprise. Len slowly blink at them with a frown.
"What's wrong?" he says with a groggy voice.
Lisa starts crying as she runs back to her brother and wraps her arms around his neck.
"Lenny! Thank heaven! Don't you dare scare me like that ever again!"
"Strangling," Len gasps as his arms weakly move at his sides.
Lisa pulls back with wet, pink cheeks.
"Sorry," she mumbles, smiling from ear to ear.
Len looks to his other siblings and the two Flash team members.
"What happened?" he asks, voice still weak and strange.
"I'll get a doctor," Iris says, wiping at her eyes as she heads for the door.
"Eiling hit you over the head and knocked you out so he could take Stein," Barry explains. "Don't worry though!" he quickly adds. "We got him back and now he and Ronnie are gone from the city to figure out their powers. But they're safe."
Len relaxes into the cushions as he lifts a hand to his bandaged head.
"And Eiling?"
"Back at his military base," the speedster shrugs.

Iris returns with the doctor who checks Len over while Barry texts Joe the update on Len. As their foster father sends back a relieved reply, the doctor turns to the group.
"Mr. Snart will need to remain in the hospital for twenty-four hours to make sure he hasn't suffered any additional traumas, but he appears to be fine."
The doctor leaves as the group offer him their thanks. Once he's gone, Len turns to his sister.
"He can't be serious about twenty-four hours."
"Give them till nightfall, then I'll get you back home to your bed," Lisa promises him.
"Deal."
"Hey, you two!" Iris steps over to them, hands on her hips. "No making plans of escape. Len needs to be someplace where there's a doctor in case there are unforeseen...after affects, or something."
"Caitlin's a doctor," Len points out, nodding to the woman. "If something happens, Barry can get her."
"Gee, thanks for volunteering me," the scientist says with a heavy dose of sarcasm.
"I can't believe it," Cisco shakes his head. "Awake for ten minutes and he's already bossing people around and scheming."
"Shall I threaten you to cover all my bases?" Len asks with a smirk.
"Joe says he's on his way over to see Len," Barry reads from his phone.
"Good," Iris says in relief. "Maybe he can talk some sense into these two."
Cisco huffs a laugh but doesn't remark.

Joe arrives a half an hour later and instantly brightens when he sees Len sitting up in bed.
"Morning, sunshine!" the detective greets his boy as he pulls him into a hug. "What took you so long?"
"You know how stressful our household is," Len quips. "Just trying to catch up with my sleep is all."
"Lazy is what he is," Lisa says as she winks at Barry.
The brunette nurse comes into the room.
"There are too many people in here," she states. "You're permanently restricted to two at a time now, until the patient is ready to be discharged."
Message sent, the nurse turns and walks out of the room.
"Not much of a personality on that one, is there?" Joe shakes his head in pity.
"Lisa," Cisco grins as he walks over to his girlfriend and takes her hand. "Why don't you and I take this oportunity to go for a walk? There's a craft fair in the park. I'll buy you a bracelet."
"Aw, you're so sweet," Lisa coos, pulling the genius close as they walk out of the room.
"Sleep with one eye open, Sicko," Len drawls after them.
"I better head out too," Iris says as she hugs her brother. "I've got to finish a story before my deadline."
"Threaten Eddie for me, will you?" Len asks with a smirk as he watches his foster sister leave.
"Eddie was actually here for a little while," Joe tells his boy. "I think, even after all your threats, he likes you."
"That just goes to prove what kind of idiot he is," Len counters. He looks to Caitlin. "I'm sorry Ronnie had to leave again so soon."
"Oh, well," Caitlin shrugs. "Getting and losing Ronnie seems to be my relationship theme."
"Hopefully one that ends with you keeping him," the training detective winks at the scientist, making her blush as she nods her agreement before leaving with a quiet goodbye.

Joe and Barry sit on either side of Len.
"So..." Len looks between the two. "My memories a little foggy. What ever happened to Joe's investigation at Barry's house?"
"Thankfully for you, I already told Barry about what I was doing," Joe half-scolds the young man.
"Joe found traces of my blood at the scene, but not mine from when I was eleven, it was from when I was older. This age."
"So," Len draws the word out as he thinks about the information. "I'm assuming this means, on top of everything else he can do, Barry will also learn how to time travel?"
"Yeah, and that I failed at saving my mom," the speedster frowns. "But I won't let that happen. Knowing I'm supposed to fail will help drive me to succeed."
"Of course you will, Barry," Len smiles at his brother. "You can do anything you put your mind to."
"Including getting you to stop threatening the people we date?"
"Okay, so maybe not 'anything'."
Joe chuckles as he watches his two boys mock fight with each other. He watches Len's light up with mischief and is just happy that they are open, that his boy is fine. Both of his boys. What more could a father ask for?

---