Warnings and Tags: fluff, first dates, spying, protective friends, getting together, an attempt at humor, no oculus explosion, Len lived, prompt fic, background ships,
Summary: Barry had made a deal with himself after hearing about Leonard's close brush with death. He had wanted to say something after he'd last seen him, but he'd never gotten the chance. He wasn't going to make that mistake again.
Author Note: Written for the @fanficocean's April Coffee Shop Challenge and the prompts: Spying on someone's First Date + First Dates Happy Reading!
Read a snipping from, Coffee and a Crisis, Rated Teen, below or in full on my Ao3.
*note, this story (and all of my others) on Ao3 is locked for registered Ao3 users.
Coffee and a Crisis
Barry had made a deal with himself after hearing about Leonard's close brush with death. He had wanted to say something after he'd last seen him, but he'd never gotten the chance. He wasn't going to make that mistake again. Barry waited until a moment of reprieve before tracking him down.
"Hey," the Speedster started as he came upon the table Leonard was meandering about.
"Hi."
"Uh." Barry fumbled, nerves filling him at Snart's sideways glance. "How are you?"
"You mean, other than the current alien invasion?"
"Yeah," Barry chuckled, pulling his cowl back as he came to stand next to the large table. "Besides that."
Snart's lips shifted, shoulders shrugging slightly. "Peachy," he replied, blue eyes roving over the brunette and narrowing. "Is this where you give me the ‘I knew you could’ speech, because I've heard it."
"I did though." Barry's smile turned smug, leaning over one of the high back chairs. "I knew you were more than a thief and a killer."
Snart's eyes rolled away from the younger man's smile. "Still a thief," he defended. "You should see my room."
Barry couldn't help his stilted laughter. "Buy me dinner first," he muttered, his eyes looking towards the open hanger door.
Leonard's body swiveled back to him at that, gaze evaluating. "How about a coffee?" He suggested after a moment, a sly smile tugging at the corner of his lips. "After all this is done," he added with a lazy twirl of his cold gun.
"Yeah?" Barry looked back to him, standing straight, wondering if he was serious. "I'd love to hear about the Wave Rider. How it's been... I saw Lisa not too long ago."
"You or The Flash?" Len asked, wondering how much trouble his sister had gotten into without him or Mick around.
"Flash." The brunette winced, gloved hand running through his brown locks.
"That's my sister," pride shinning through his clipped words.
The two looked back at each other. Barry still wanting to say his piece about the changes he could see within the older man. After a beat, the Speedster went to open his mouth to break the comfortable quiet between them, but Felicity beat him to it.
"Supergirl found some… thing," her voice petered out as brown eyes swept the room, looking between the two that had been leaning toward each other from opposite sides of the table. Her brows raised. "Sorry, is this a bad time?"
"Never a bad time when the world's ending," Len replied, turning to walk out towards the others. "Coffee, Scarlet," he called over his shoulder.
"It's a date," Barry confirmed watching Len leave before looking to Felicity and her parted lips. "Not a word. First aliens."
"Fine, first aliens," she agreed, teaming with questions. "But after…"
Barry nodded sighing. "Come on," he said, motioning towards where Len had gone.
It took them longer than after aliens to get coffee. The Legends hadn't stayed long, Len rushing off with barely a nod and a promise of next time.
After a few months, Barry hadn't forgotten their plans, and neither had any of his friends. Within hours, everyone had heard about their almost date, and everyone had already said something to Barry about it. After a while of no word from him, Barry brushed off their interest, sure that by the next time they saw each other Len would forget.
When they finally saw each other again it was when the Legends needed help with a time traveling entity, and throughout it neither had said more than two bantering words to each other.
By the end of it, when the battle was over and won, Barry had thought the Legends would peel off again, but Sara and her crew had surprised him.
"So, ah, we'll be hanging around for a while," Sara had said after Oliver and Supergirl had made their exits.
"Really?" Barry didn't think he sounded as smooth as he wanted to.
"Some of us have hot dates," Mick said with a wide grin as he walked past them towards the Wave Rider.
"Or people to see, catch up with." Sara glared at the back of his head as Mick continued to walk back to the ship.
"Yeah," Ray said, landing behind Sara. "So it might be a good time if you, you know, had plans."
Barry's head turned, looking behind himself, where Ray's eyes kept darting to. A smile tugging at his lips as Len and Cisco shared glaring farewells. His brows furrowed, wondering if Len had told them.
Sara hit Ray in the chest despite his suit and mumbled criticism about subtly
"He told you?" Barry's brows lifted behind his cowl, turning back to them.
Sara's head swung back to him, jaw sliding from side to side before smiling. "Sure, we'll go with he told us." She pushed on Ray’s shoulder. "Come on. Have a great time! Don't do anything I wouldn't do," she added with a wink and a click of her tongue.
Barry watched her go, reply dying on his tongue at her look back and behind him. His head turned, finding Leonard glaring at his captain.
"Coffee?" Barry asked without turning fully to him.
[Crack fic 101: always write at 3am and edit the next morning.]
Introducing Cas to the circle game had been… not his greatest idea. After a few moments to absorb the information Cas had nodded solemnly, pat him on the shoulder and then...
Well then he'd won.
Just moved his hand down to touch Dean’s arm with his thumb and forefinger making a little ring. Much swearing had then occurred, with Dean trying to get Cas back for fifteen solid minutes until giving up, refusing to play and leaving.
He'd returned with a win of his own a few hours later after brining Cas coffee. Cas had laughed and Dean thought that might be it.
Until Sam had to go and get involved and it had turned into all out war.
He kept waiting for the novelty to wear off. Or for Sam to give up. Or for either one of them to tire but they were fucking relentless.
Stubborn assholes the both of them, and he should have seen it coming considering they were both the most patient people he knew, utterly refusing to stop, surrender, or call it a draw.
He was in the kitchen making a black coffee, wondering if he should be making something stronger when Cas announced his presence and waited for confirmation.
“He's not in here.”
“Are you sure?”
“Positive. Partly because if he were here I wouldn't be,” Dean sighed to his distorted reflection in the coffee pot as he waited for the machine to make its miracle liquid.
Cas entered the room keeping his back squarely to the door. “He's not won again yet.”
“Hurray. I'll alert the press.”
“Of course neither have I and with the last draw still under dispute-”
“It's not up for dispute, you didn't get one!” comes a jovial yell from the corridor as footsteps draw closer and then retreat again.
“As I was saying-”
“Yes, you're at a stalemate. I know. This isn't new. Do I look like I care?” he wondered if Cas was even listening or too busy planning his next move.
Three days. They had been trying to avoid looking at each other for three freaking days. It made living with them unbearable, he was currier, message giver, and neutral zone central. They both spent anytime they were in the same room looking at the ceiling to avoid being caught out. He'd even caught Sam trying to do calculations on where would be best to rig a hidden mirror on the ceiling of the library.
And the week before that which had involved increasingly loud - and apparently hilarious - disagreements and encounters had been exhausting in itself.
“If you helped me win we could move on.”
“If I helped you win I'd then be stuck with Sam wanting to get one over on you. There is no winning here.”
Dean poured his coffee and breathed in the heady aroma. Coffee was his new best friend. Coffee was his family. Just him and coffee from now until eternity. Well, maybe a few thousand brief flings with the whisky bottle on the side.
“I do believe you owe me,” Cas said.
He looked up with a start to find Cas's fingers making a perfect little "O" on the kitchen table, held out below Cas's hip.
“Gotcha.”
“I'm not playing!”
“Well, you're not winning.”
“Can't this be over? When will my suffering end?”
If he joined Cas's side it would at least end this little interaction. He walked close enough for Cas to give a perfunctory punch to his shoulder.
“Hold out your hand.” he pulled his cell phone from his pocket and drew up his conversation with Sam.
One picture. One “Cas says hi.” later.
He waited.
“Dammit Dean, not fair!” came the shout and footsteps running through the hall. Cas slipped out in the opposite direction wearing an ungodly smirk with a spring in his step.
Dean would never find peace. He shook the bag of powdered coffee grounds and weighed his options. He was going to need a lot more caffeine.
