Work Text:
2019
It doesn't felt right to him to steal something.
Not even when it was his own invention, but if it would help them to save Rip Hunter, he would do it anyway.
They hadn’t thought that it was necessary for him to be suited up in his excosuit.
It was his office after all, or more the office of his future self, but still he carried the ATOM suit in one of his pockets of the jacket.
You could never know who would come around, couldn't you?
According to Jax and Amaya informations, Ray's future self was still stuck in some boring meeting at the other side of the town so they weren't too afraid of getting caught.
If an employee of his came into his office this late, Ray could still pretend that he was just working.
His lie would blow up, when he was already long gone with the plans for his newest invention.
Ray frowned a little bit as he stared down at the screen.
Of course he had saved his plans with a password, but what was bothering him was, that none of his usual passwords were accepted.
Frantically he thought about the possible passwords he could have used, when the door to his office got cracked open a bit.
Ray hadn't had the time to hide, not after his eyes landed on the person who sneaked into the office.
It felt like his heart burst into thousands of pieces once again.
This was impossible.
This couldn't be.
The sly smile on the man's face in the door fell, when his eyes caught a sign of Ray.
A soft 'Oh' escaped his full lips.
'S..Snart?!' was all Ray could say.
He looked the other man over again and again.
How was this possible?
Len had sacrificed himself for them.
He had died!
Ray had revenged his death.
He had mourned it.
God when he was stuck in the jurassic period, Len was the only one he had thought about.
This was 2019, wasn't it?
'Palmer?' Len said back, lifting one eyebrow in question, but he stalked into the room, crossing his arms over his chest.
His hair got a little bit greyer, his features just slightly older.
He was wearing black pants, a black sweater and of course his beloved blue parker.
His cold gun was attached to his side, goggles were hanging around his neck.
'W..what are you doing here?' Ray asked confused, finally finding his voice.
'I could ask you the same. Aren't you supposed to be in a meeting?' Len said, coming closer.
Len sat down on the table, crossing his legs and fixed the other man with an icy glare.
'You weren't lying to me again Raymond, were you? So you could sneak out to work some more?' Len asked with his usual drawl, but there was concern hiding in his eyes.
This felt so unreal to Ray and it took him everything not to touch the other man, who was leaning closer and closer to him.
The icy blue eyes never leaving his brown ones.
With a jerk, Ray pushed the office chair away from the table and stood up.
Walking backwards until his back touched the window.
He needed some space between them.
Len looked confused.
'What's your fucking problem Boy Scout? Are you still mad at me for borrowing you suit?' Len hissed, getting up from the table.
'I told you that I was sorry I broke it.' he said, coming closer to Ray again.
Ray swallowed.
What was happening here?
Len was standing in front of him now, with a soft expression on his face.
Slowly he put his hands on Ray's hips, stroking carefully over his sides up and down.
'Don't be mad at me Ray' Len purred, planting soft kisses on the other man's throat.
He opened the first few buttons of Ray's shirt, exposing the skin to lick and nibble on the soft flesh, but then his actions came to a halt.
Ray was faster down on his knees then he could look, the Cold Gun was pressed against his temple.
'Who are you' Len growled angrily.
'I..I'm Ray' the other man said, swallowing nervously.
'This can't be, so who are you and where is Raymond' Len hissed, pressing his gun a little bit more forceful against the man on the floor.
'I AM RAYMOND PALMER I SWEAR' Ray pleaded.
'This can't be. Raymond has a scar on his collarbone and...' Len started, but he got interrupted when a thought crossed his mind.
'You are from another time period' he said.
Ray nodded slowly.
The other man lowered his gun, but wasn't putting it away.
'I'm from 2016' Ray said quietly.
Len took a deep breath and backed away from Ray.
He turned to the window and stroked a hand over his face.
'I'm dead to you ain't I' he said, looking to Ray over his shoulder.
The taller man stood up slowly and nodded again.
Len snorted defenseless.
'I suppose this must be weird for you then.' he said, his voice unusually soft.
'Yeah...Len...Len how is this possible. You are...were dead!' Ray said coming closer to Len again.
'I don't know...you told me that you found pieces of me in a time storm, created by the explosion of the Oculus, but you never told me how you pulled me out of it. I supposed you couldn't explain it yourself' Len said with a shrug and walked back to the desk.
With a huff he let himself plop down on the chair.
'So 2016 Ray, why are you here?' Len asked and turned the chair back to the computer.
'I need the cube I'll invent this year' Ray said, coming closer to Len again.
Len lifted an eyebrow.
'So?...for what?' he asked, looking in Rays direction with a blank expression on his face.
'It could help us to save Rip Hunter' Ray explained.
'Or with something else' Len mumbled.
There was a flicker in his eyes.
'What do you mean?' Ray asked.
'Nothing...so you wanted to steal the plans of the cube, right?' Len asked.
Ray nodded.
'But I can't figure out the password.' he said quietly and blushed a little.
Len chuckled lightly.
'I could help you with that' he said with a smirk and turned the chair around.
He spread his legs and pulled Ray towards him by his belt.
'W...what are you doing?' Ray asked confused, cheeks flushing a light pink.
'Pushing your buttons, come down a little, would you?' he said and Ray obeyed.
'What?' he asked, embarrassed.
'When you were in the jurassic period, what was the thing you desired the most?' Len whispered into his ear.
He smirked, when Ray instantly typed a word into the computer and the password got accepted.
'Thank you' Ray said, smiling down at Len.
They stayed like this for a moment, just starring into each others eyes.
Without thinking Ray touched Len's cheek with his fingertips.
The other man let him.
'I...I...' Ray started, but he couldn't find the right words.
'I know' Len said, taking Ray's hand away from his cheek.
'So..so you and me?' Ray asked.
Len just smiled at him, placing a soft kiss on Ray's hand.
'You should hurry now' he said, pulling himself away.
Ray nodded and started to print out the plans.
When Ray was ready to leave he turned back to Len, who had watched him the whole time quietly.
'Thank you for helping me' Ray said.
Len smiled kindly at him, his eyes soft.
'You are welcome' he said quietly, before he turned away from Ray again.
He could see Ray's confused expression in the reflection of the window glass, before the younger self, of the man he loved, slipped through the door.
----------------
Len sighed and let himself lean back in the chair, running his hands over the armrests absentmindly.
He could remember how it was, when he had opened his eyes again.
When he came back to life.
Ray leaning over him, a hand on his cheek, tears and wonder in those big brown eyes and a shaky smile on his lips.
Len had bitten him.
Not knowing who or what he was, scared off the being above him.
Hard enough to draw blood, forever marking Ray with a scar on his collarbone.
Ray had helped him to remember, making him fall for the man all over again.
But this time Len hadn't been afraid of his feelings.
He had accepted them.
The door to Ray's office was opened once more and Len turned around.
'Leonard?' Ray said surprised, closing the door behind him.
There was a fond smile on his face.
'How was the meeting?' Len asked, as Ray came over to him.
The other man sighed, pulling off his tie and opened the first button of his shirt.
'Boring...I missed you' he answered, bending down to plant a soft kiss on Len's lips.
Wrapping his arms around Ray's waist Len pulled him into his lap.
Ray chuckled, but got happily comfortable in Len's embrace.
'Which year do we have Raymond?' Len asked, happy to find a fine scar on Ray's collarbone.
Ray looked confused at him.
'We have 2019. Why do you ask?' he said.
Len shrugged.
'No reason' he said, with a small smile, rubbing his nose against Rays cheek.
'Are you alright?' Ray asked with light concern in his voice.
'Yes why?' Len said, nibbling on Ray's throat.
'Not that I’m complaining, but you are asking weird questions AND you are definitely cuddlier then usual' Ray said, pulling away.
'Oh please don't tell me you broke the ATOM suit again'
Len chuckled because of that.
'No I didn't.' he said, pulling Ray back to him.
'But when it makes you so suspicious I should do it more often'.
'I would like that' Ray chuckled leaning in for a soft kiss.
'It was the cube right?' Len asked after he pulled away.
He could feel how the other man tensed up in his arms.
'What are you talking about?' Ray said, trying desperately to sound innocent.
'The time cube, this is how you pulled me out of the time storm right?' Len said.
Ray tried to get up, but Len wouldn't let him.
'Answer me Raymond' he said.
Ray sighed loudly.
'Look we tried to save Rip. Gideon told us, that an invention of me from 2019 could help us with that. So Sara made me steel my own plans. I met you, but you couldn't tell me how you came back to life so I went back to the Waverider, I build the cube, half driven with madness, because I met you. I missed you and wanted to touch you again and the cube showed me. You.
You in billion of pieces and possibilities. It showed me my future with you...Len I know I was supposed to save Rip, but I couldn't. I didn't think about the consequences. All I could think about was that I could have you back, when I pushed that button.' Ray explained.
'And you never told me that because?' Len asked.
'I thought it would reduce the chance to get you back' Ray said, biting on his bottom lip.
'and I didn't want you to think bad of me' he whispered a little bit embarrassed.
'For choosing me over the team again?' Len asked.
Ray nodded
'You are mad at me right?' he asked, but when Len wasn't answering him, he looked away ashamed.
It was silent for a moment and Ray was lost in his thoughts so he wasn't really prepared, when Len placed a really wet and sloppy kiss on the side of his neck.
He yelped and tried to squirm out of Len's arms, but the other man was holding him in place, snickering lightly.
'Urgh Len!' Ray said, wiping Len's salvia away with the sleeve of his shirt.
'What was that for?'
Mischief danced in Len's eyes.
'I just wanted to show you that I'm not that mad at you' he answered.
'Look maybe it wasn't right what you did and this is coming from a man, who did a lot of mistakes in his life, but I'm glad that you did it. Not to sound too cheesy, but it was the best thing that happened to me. I've got a second chance and I've got you' Len said, pressing a kiss to Ray's lips.
It was soft and warm and a promise for a lifetime.
Ray chuckled against Len's lips and pulled away slowly.
'Gideon was right about one thing' he said. Eyes warm and full of affection.
'And that was?' Len asked, trying not to get lost in those dark orbs.
'The cube helped to save Rip after all. He brought you back and you helped us to save Rip. So the cube was the key element' he said and beamed at Len, who just shook his head.
'You are an idiot Ray' he said.
'Yes but you love this idiot very much' Ray said, snuggling closer to Len.
'True' was all Len said, before he captured the other man's lips into a not so G-rated kiss.