Say in Family of Rogues, Barry watches Len ice Lewis, sees him kneel down beside his father, handing over his cold gun with no fuss. The sirens blare in the distance, and Snart calmly reminds him that he has 72 seconds before the cops show.
"You should go." Len sits next to his father's body, face closed off in a way that gives Barry chills. "I won't fight them."
Barry uses two of those seconds to deliberate internally before he flashes away-- Cold Gun and Snart both in tow. Len barely gets a second to get his bearings after they stop in STAR labs before his arms are full of his sister. He gives her his full attention, tilting her head to the side so he can inspect the dressing Caitlin has already applied to the wound left by the bomb extraction, holding her at arms length so he can assess the rest of her for any harm. Lisa lets him, takes the opportunity to look him over as well.
He lets her go, takes a step back. Takes a breath. Looks at Barry. "Our deal applies to her, now." He holds out his wrists. "... thanks for letting me see her."
Lisa wants to know what he's talking about, why is he acting like he's about to be arrested, but Len doesn't answer her. He just looks at Barry. Caitlin and Cisco do too. Barry bites his lip, shakes his head.
"I'm not taking you in, Snart." He says at last. Len startles.
"But I killed him. I killed him." Snart seems almost angry. Lisa stops breathing. She looks between her brother and his nemesis. He barely spares her a glance, only tells her quietly "It's over now."
"Our deal was no innocents." Barry says, and he seems more confident now. "Lewis Snart wasn't innocent."
"But I killed him. I didn't have to." Snart's fists clench at his sides. Barry shrugs, scratching his neck through the cowl.
"Circumstances were, you know, extenuating. This time." His eyes are soft. "I'm not throwing you in jail for loving your sister, Snart. Not today."
Len seems ready to argue more, but Lisa steps forward, an arm thrown around his shoulders.
"Thank you. We owe you big, don't we, Lenny?" She shakes him a little, he doesn't say anything. He keeps looking at Barry, some unidentifiable but clearly powerful emotion raging across his face. His breath is shallow. Lisa squeezes her arm tighter around him until he looks at her and gives a sharp nod. The Snart siblings make their way out of the labs. Barry wonders if Snart even realizes that he's left the cold gun behind.
2 weeks later finds Lisa at the labs again. She says she's checking if she can help out, if there's any way she and Len can repay Team Flash. After all, they don't like owing people. Cisco is patient and charming and sweet, and eventually Lisa sits down and tells him over a pack of red vines that she's desperately worried about her brother.
"Lenny gets this way sometimes, and dear old Dad always makes it worse... but he hasn't gotten out of bed for anything but the bathroom in days. I don't think he's actually sleeping. Or eating. He's definitely not speaking, except for "I'm fine, Lise" and "Go away, Lise" and if something doesn't change soon Mick might set the house on fire just to get him out of it." Lisa looks at Cisco pleadingly. "He didn't even want to hear about the new art exhibit coming to the museum. He LOVES planning art heists!"
Cisco looks unimpressed with this, and Lisa changes tack.
"Anyway, I figure if Team Flash comes up with something... He's always ready to go for the Scarlet Speedster. He loves the challenge, and he knows we owe you. That might shake him out of it, you know?"
Cisco is torn briefly between preferring Captain Cold to be out of commission and wanting to help the beautiful woman who is eating his candy. He finally says he'll ask the Flash and get back to her. Anyway, how about some coffee?
Whatever Lisa is expecting to come of that conversation, it isn't the Flash appearing in their safehouse with Big Belly Burger and the Cold gun. He cheerfully greets Lisa and Mick, who only just stops himself from pointing the heat gun at him.
"I need your brother's brain, if that's okay?"
Lisa grins and eventually Mick does too. Mick insists on being the one to get Len, and Barry and Lisa allow themselves to chuckle as Mick's threats to forcibly throw Snart into the shower because "Sparky ain't gonna want shit to do with you stinking like that, buddy." What follows are several somewhat alarming bangs, and then the sound of the shower going as Mick returns, looking smug despite the new bruise appearing on his chin.
The Leonard Snart that eventually emerges seems... smaller than the one that Barry remembers. There are bags under his eyes, and he keeps his arms folded protectively around himself. But as Barry explains the threat of Zoom, the existence of Earth-2, the new metahumans appearing, Lisa can see her brother's blank gaze sharpening with interest. She rolls her eyes as Len and Mick both posture like they aren't about to promise their help, but doesn't interrupt them- she's too happy to see her brother putting effort into something. She's too happy to hear his voice. She knows Mick is too, knows that any other time Mick would be ferociously arguing against helping the Flash at all.
The Rogues team up with the Flash "just this once" and Lisa watches her brother come back alive. She pretends not to see the way he softens around the Flash, the way he slowly begins to not only allow but return the soft touches and gentle teasing. She definitely pretends not to notice her brother's panic when Zoom breaks the Flash's back, instead hopping on her bike beside him to ride to the rescue.
Len spends more time at the labs after that, Lisa recognizing the protective glint in his eye as the same one that he gets if he thinks she or Mick is in danger. Lisa takes advantage of the situation, scoring more dates with Cisco. Mick grumbles, but flirts shamelessly with Dr. Snow, who seems flustered but not necessarily disinterested.
The final battle with Zoom is close and terrifying, but everyone involved seems to find the way he shatters after Len ices him to be immensely satisfying. When the Flash sweeps her brother into a kiss worthy of the big screen, Lisa pretends not to be surprised.
You don’t know how cold the lake-water is until you’re already choking on the frost crawling up your throat and flooding your sinuses. The thirst cracks your lips into the ground of your mother’s village and you can’t imagine a single plant would think to grow in this waterless place.
You need a sun to grow the forest but cannot commit yourself to the sacrifice of hard work: the self as the tree that grows too bent, falls off the edge of the forest. Hunger growls into your empty caverns and the sound rattles in as though it were taking place of your soul. Lonely, alone. You learn the difference, peel apart your skin, and watch yourself pour out like the juice of the oranges your grandmother would peel in warm summer afternoons. Eyesight replaced by TV static, ears humming with heat and the buzz of drowsy flies. Below your mortality lies a layer of ichor-veins thrumming at a frequency too high for you to hear. A trap. A cage. A body.
You would rather be impaled by the monsters you thought lived in your closets than be them yourself, and ascend into a form you would not despise. Flat. Sharp. A straight line, which you let rust and rot–break down your body into dust and a dotted dash. Hope. Love. The skies have been clearer lately, but your shoulders are getting tired; you wish to drop it all.
Above everything else, there is one higher-flying truth embedded in every tear, every seam; every tear, every scream; in the trees and the mountains and every dipped valley: you want.
You can call me Val or Aiden or Lira or Rudy! Sam is not fine unless you’re a mutual or a friend, please use the others. Names are slowly being added to my hoard. If you send in name checks and/or recs I’ll love you forever.
Any pronouns work, but my favourite pronouns are he/it/xe, ae/aer, zy/zys, and kni/knights. Current super-favourite pronouns are he/him, zy/zys & it/its! Thaenk you to @neopronounsmybelovaed for the magnificent pronoun ideas. More are always welcome, same for name recs. Please use she/her minimally.
My regular posts tag is “he speaks”, writing is “he writes”, art is “he draws”.
I’m a queer disaster. Aspec sapphic genderqueer mess.
I will post about various things, usually related to fandoms I’m in. Currently there’s a lot about kotlc in here, just so you know. I also post about random facts I know (such as, “ganja” [cannabis/drugs] is a valid scrabble word. also “tits”. <- life lesson)
The view when the Earth is in sight is always stunning, no matter how many times the man would stare at it, except for right now. The window in the Captain’s quarters was a large one, edging right onto the ceiling and taking up one entire wall. The window was made of a reenforced clear titanium fibreglass that he knew would still kill him if it was pierced.
At this point, he would almost welcome being killed and sucked into space to float for eternity. Anything beat the pain in his muscles and skin, the vomit that had been more blood than water or other fluids at this point, the fire that seemed to be alight all over his body. His skin had begun to split, blood coming at a trickle out of the open wounds, but he refused to allow anyone into the room, content to die on his own, without getting anyone else sick. His crew was small, but it would survive without him. They knew the protocol, they all knew what they had to do.
He coughed again, blood spraying onto his pillow. It had been white before his sickness had started, now it’s crusted rust red, turning more and more brown with each passing hour. The colour change was both startling and comforting. The more the colour changed, the longer he lived.
He had expected to die, but the hours continued to tick by, the Earth, Sun and Moon rising overhead of the ship and he continued to live, continued to vomit and cough. His body refused to let him sleep, no matter how much his eyes protested. His eyelids hurt, but he was beginning to suspect that it was from how tired he was, how strong the light from the three celestial bodies were, but still his eyes refused to close. If they closed, surely his life would end.
The hours wore on and soon, ever so slowly, the fire in his blood began to abate and cool. His coughing slowed and the blood cleared from his lungs and throat and stomach. Only the open wounds continued to bleed, but he would accept that. He would accept that because it would mean he would be the first to do what he was about to do.
He would live through this disease and he would figure out the mystery of how he managed to live.
Additional Tags: Fantasy AU, prince AU, Fluff, Mutual Pining, mostly bakugou pining LOL, Trans Male Character, Trans Kirishima Eijirou, Bakugou Katsuki Swears A Lot, Kirishima Eijirou Is A Literal Ray Of Sunshine, Arranged Marriage, homophobia mentions
Summary:
Is it wrong to pick up gays in a dungeon? Eijirou Kirishima thinks the answer is no. Katsuki Bakugou seems to agree.
Kirishima is a prince. Bakugou is a delinquent. Sometimes, apparently, a dungeon is the best place to meet the man of your dreams. Or something like that.
