Archive of Our Own ^beta

Barry can't even try to suppress a groan when his phone goes off, using the unique sound they'd chosen for the Flash’s alert. It's been great, of course, to get the police to cooperate so much with the team because it means they don't have to have someone in the labs at all times - the thing is, however, that he's just out with the team, to celebrate the stopping of their latest metahuman (it's been an easy one but still worth a party, they've all done great) when the alarm starts bawling.

“You need backup?”, Cisco wants to know, already leaning forward and setting the bowl of popcorn aside.

Barry shakes his head, looking down on the screen. He untangles himself from Iris and gets up. “Nah, it's just a B&E.”

His phone vibrates again, this time with a text message, but he swipes it away. There's more important things at hand than somebody texting him close to midnight. They'll probably spam him if it was important.

“Be right back,” he promises with a grin and then he races away.

It doesn't even bother him that he has to make a detour back to STAR to get his suit even though the bank he has been called to is a few streets down. It only takes him a second more to get it on and then he's there before whoever set off the alarm can even think of fleeing. You'd think that people would learn they can't run from him.

He's been through every room in the bank before the first police car even arrives. Surprisingly, everything is empty.

He takes another lap to check if he's missed any hiding places and stops short in one of the safe rooms when he notices the door to one isn't closed properly. It's clever, he thinks, but not clever enough. They've probably gone through with opening it even after the alarm went off and figured it'd be a good hiding place. But they couldn't close the door entirely, of course, or else they'd be stuck in there.

Barry's inside of it within the blink of an eye, only to find it empty as well. He even runs up to the vents to check if they climbed up there, but it's empty as well.

It can't be a meta able to go invisible, he'd have run into them with how close he rounded every centimetre of the place. Shawna's powers wouldn't work either, considering how dark it is. He goes through a list of all the different powers he can think of until the first policeman finds him in the safe.

“The whole place is empty,” Barry tells him, hanging his head down.

For a moment he thinks the man might tell him that he's been too slow, expects it even. He should've noticed the open safe first - he's a CSI, after all. Things like that should catch his eye instantly. The cop just presses his lips together, though, and nods curtly.

“Can I take a look at the surveillance?”, Barry wants to know. He'll have looked through it in ten seconds max, meaning he still has a chance of catching the thief.

“Uh, I'll ask.”, the man says, lifting a hand to his radio. The way he does it, slowly and with a tremble, keeping his eyes on the Flash - he's a rookie, Barry notices now. He wishes he wouldn't have to deal with him, for a short moment, before feeling annoyed by himself. Ever since he got his powers, he's lost his patience; one of the worse side-effects of them.

He lifts his eyes off the man as he mumbles into the device, looking if there was any possible way for the thief to get out of here without him noticing. The only camera in the room is in the far corner, but it's directed exactly at the safe's door. Even if they left in a ridiculously smooth way, the camera should have captured them. It would be easy for Cisco to ID them and then he could catch them…

“Uh, Mr Flash? … Sir?”, the rookie snaps him out of his thoughts. “There's-- whoever's done this has turned off the cameras before they came in.”

Barry startles, looking at him. He feels a vibration go through him, and judging by the rookie’s look, he must have bustled some electricity as well. It happens sometimes, when he moves without thinking, suddenly switching his stance. The amount of times he's made any of his team jump away is almost endless.

“All of them.”, the rookie adds, looking unsure.

Barry frowns. It doesn't make sense . If they already had a hand on the security, why did they set off the alarm anyway? Why only turn off the cameras, not the alarm? They didn't want to be caught, otherwise they'd be here. It-- “It's a trap.”, he realizes.

He's swept the guy off his feet and sped him out before the other could even react. He puts him down and races off again, getting the next and the next and the next until all the policemen are outside and they can't do anything more but wait for something to happen. Barry figured it must be a bomb: it'd make sense to lure them here then.

It feels like ages until the tension falls off the first man - they've all realized, without Barry having to say a word, what he's been thinking. They've all held their breath as well, waiting for anything to go off, to hurt them, to burn the building down but - there's nothing.

“We should alert the firefighters to keep an eye on it.”, someone says. Barry doesn't know her personally since she works for another precinct, but they've crossed paths before. She's always seemed quite capable, so he nods.

“Good idea.”, he says.

“I guess there's not much more for you to do, Flash.”, she says, stepping closer to him. Barry guesses if he was in civil clothing, she'd even put a hand on his shoulder despite their height difference. She doesn't seem much older than him, but she's definitely got authority on her side. “For any of us.”

In return, Barry gives her a long look before nodding finally. She's right, it wouldn't do any of them good to just keep standing there in anticipation.

He does circle the block before going back to the lab, though. Just to make sure.

His phone goes off again as soon as he's changed into his normal clothing, indicating several missed texts from the others. Joe's sent one, too, asking if everything's clear. He scrolls through them quickly, typing out a short answer to Iris that's meant for Cisco and Caitlin, too. At the bottom of the unread texts he finds one from an unknown number, stamped with the time he's run off.

Right. He'd forgotten about that.

He opens it to reveal a picture and he groans as soon as he realizes what - who - it is. He recognizes the room he's been in only moments ago instantly, the safe wide open behind a way too familiar shaved head. He's wearing a smirk, a small glimmer in his eyes and Barry can practically hear him drawl, ‘Too slow, Flash .’

It hadn't been a trap. It had been a joke, something to poke fun at him. Snart wouldn't even need to run - the arrangement they have would have made Barry let him get away with it, no matter what. But still, he'd turned off the cameras.

There's no doubt he's set off the alarm on purpose then, probably only while leaving, just to mess with him. To make Barry appear and show him that Snart could be one step ahead even without the deal they've struck.

Frustrated, Barry locks the screen again and shoves the phone into his pocket. He can't hide a scowl as he thinks that he's missed the new episode of Doctor Who for Snart .

-

Flash business, Barry thinks, really doesn’t know what it wants. It’s like on some days nothing is happening, and then on others, everything goes down all at once. Of course, he’s better equipped to deal with it than the CCPD, considering he only needs a few seconds to run through every block in the city, but still. Even he can’t really be in two places at the same time.

He’s panting a little when he arrives back in the laboratories - not because of exhaustion but tension. The fire he’d been called to had turned out to be wilder and bigger than anticipated and he’s had to save five panicking men out of the office building. They hadn’t even been close to the fire, but the alarm alone and the fact they couldn’t use the stairs to escape by themselves set them off. The greatest effort had gone into keeping them from punching one another in panic.

He’s just pushing off his cowl and brushes back his hair when Caitlin calls for his attention again. She doesn’t look too stressed about whatever’s just come in, so he walks over to the desk slowly and leans onto it.

“There’s been a robbery over at Hampton Street.”, she tells him seriously. “They’re already gone, though.”

Barry just wants to ask if there’s any clue about who they’ve been, if the witnesses have seen their faces or if it’s going to be part of his day job tomorrow, when his phone buzzes over where he’s shed his clothes. It could be that Singh will want to have him there now, anyways, so it can’t hurt to check it.

He rushes over and opens the message. Upon what he sees, he can’t even suppress a groan.

“What is it?”, Caitlin wants to know. She gets up and steps over to him, actually looking worried.

In response, Barry turns his phone and shows her the picture he’s received. The focus of it should be the coffee table full of money - bills and coins, glittering in the camera’s flash - but behind it, on the couch, is the long figure of Snart. He’s lying on his side, head propped on one arm while the other gestures to the table, and he’s smirking again .

“Well, that solves that mystery.”, Caitlin nods. “So, Captain Cold is documenting his crimes for you now?”

“ I don’t know ,” Barry admits and shoves the phone back into his jeans pocket. It wouldn’t make sense to change already, considering the night’s still young. “I don’t even know how he got my number .”

Right now, he suspects that either Snart got in contact with some hacker or that Lisa must have snooped Cisco’s phone last they saw each other. It wouldn’t make sense, though, even if Snart asked her to get his number. His civilian name doesn’t mean anything to her, so it would probably raise her suspicions if her brother asked her to steal a random guy’s number.

“Hm, at least we know who started that fire then.”, Caitlin muses while she walks back behind the desk. It’s still a little weird to see her there on her own, but she’s come around on how to work the computers by now. And Cisco’s really deserved a day off, especially since his powers barely do anything but give him headaches at the moment.

She’s right, of course. The timing of the fire and Snart’s robbery was too good for it to be a coincidence. No, it’s been his plan to have Heat Wave burn a building, to distract Barry so that he’s got a free pitch. Barry may have deleted his file, and he said he wouldn’t arrest him for his crimes, but he never said he wouldn’t try to stop him. So Snart has decided to keep him away from his playgrounds.

And then, because that’s his humour, tease him with it.

Barry grimaces. He shouldn’t pay too much attention to that, actually. Snart’s even kept his word of not killing anyone - there’s no way that Rory would actually have paid attention to starting a fire somewhere where it wouldn’t hurt anyone, so he must’ve placed it there on Snart’s orders. And, as established, he can’t pursue Snart now anyways.

“Anything else happening?”, he asks instead, glancing back at Caitlin.

-

The next time Barry gets a message from Snart is while he's at work. While he's being called to the store Snart broke in to. In civilian.

How should he keep his deal without losing his credibility as a CSI?

The picture he got just now is probably the most ridiculous just yet. Apparently Snart is really enjoying the idea of riling him up, judging by the mischief visible in his eyes even on the rather small screen. His smirk is in place, making him look like he's feeling superior to everyone who would look at him.

The worst, though, the worst is how he's squatting in front of the vault, his palms pressing together underneath himself as he crouches down. He's actually using a meme.

Captain Cold is using a meme.

Cisco will have a field day.

He should forward the message to him, not just for a laugh but maybe he'd come up with a solution on how to deal with this. Not that Cisco is any better with excuses than he is, but sometimes he has the craziest ideas that make sense.

He stops short, though, when he looks at the picture again. Of course . Snart's not just any thief, but a mastermind. He's not just wearing gloves, he's probably used devices that didn't leave any sign of anything.

And if he can't find anything, he won't have to find any excuses.

-

It happens a few times after that. Barry receives a message just in time for an alarm to go off, showing yet another of Snart's trademark smirks. And even when his phone doesn't go off, he picks up his phone when the Flash alert starts, just to be sure.

Damn, Snart's conditioned him in Pavlovian fashion.

More often than not it's not even theft or robbery he's called in for and yet he expects Snart to send him a picture. The thing is: he's not even doing it alone. It would be weird but okay if he'd just snapped selfies, but most of the time it's pictures from afar. He'd have to persuade someone else to take them. He's actually dedicated .

Barry couldn't help but grin when he realized that. Trust Snart to make a big deal out of something like this. He lives for drama.

The next time the alarm goes off at STAR labs the team had been sitting together, wasting their time with a game of charades while the city was quiet. They've taken it upon themselves to spend a few hours there just to keep watch. It wouldn't make that much of a difference for Barry whether he's called while he's at home or not - he'd be wearing his suit within a few moments then. When they're all there, though, Cisco's ready to go, too, so that's something.

It's easy to forget what kind of situation they're in, as they're laughing while Caitlin tries to act out some movie about orange juice. They're snapped out of it when the alarm starts blaring.

Barry doesn't even try to hide his groan as he pulls out his phone. There's no message yet, and his patience is as bad as ever, so he types out a message before anyone notices.

Did you just steal something?

He keeps his phone in his hand as Cisco rushes to the computers to check what's happening. It's actually stupid that he's texted Snart when the alert involves a description of the crime anyway. He'd originally meant to ignore the selfies as a whole, to show Snart that he's not even remotely interested in the game he's playing.

“Someone just kidnapped the mayor.”, Cisco says. He sounds almost relieved as he says, “Think that's a better job for the Flash, if nobody knows a certain location.”

“True,” Caitlin agrees. She's gotten up with Cisco, standing in front of the computers now and looking at Barry. “Suit up, Flash.”

In response, Barry shoots a small grimace at her, but then he pockets his phone and rushes to change. He knows that Snart and his crew - the Rogues, Barry has learnt from Cisco (and God knows whether he's heard that from Lisa or Hartley) - are not above kidnapping, but somehow it still doesn't seem like his style. From what he's seen, Snart goes for small people, for those who wouldn't raise attention, but would serve a greater purpose anyway. It's happened with Cisco and it's happened with Caitlin. If Snart hadn't known already that he's the Flash, he'd probably have kidnapped Barry, too, someday. The mayor, though? That would be too obvious.

He won't get a selfie today.

-

Sometimes he wonders where Snart learnt to disable seemingly every alarm system there is. Did his father teach him during his childhood? Was it one of the few things that Lewis would get proud about, Leonard working his small hands through cables? Or is it a skill he only learnt during his own career? It would seem fitting, that Snart would crouch over plans and manuals for hours before he goes on a heist.

It's a fact that he plans them down to the dot, Barry knows that from own experience with him. So lately, he's even included taking pictures into those plans.

It's incredible.

And he must have plans for which pictures to take, as well. They're so creative, some even with extra props, that he must have put a lot of thought into them. Some of them almost make Barry smile, when he thinks about the lengths Snart must have gone through to make them happen.

Today, however, when he receives a picture before his Flash alert even starts, he almost yells out. He's just sat down in the full bathtub, planning on enjoying a relaxing bath after a stressful day (Iris had been going on about a deadline, Singh was really pissed today and he can't help but think something's off with Caitlin) when his phone had started vibrating.

It’s a pretty simple one, just Snart holding a sack of something up next to him and smirking into the camera. He looks as arrogant as ever, as if he knew he’s ruining a relaxing evening.

Without thinking, Barry turns on his front camera and snaps a picture, looking into it with a serious expression. He sends it off with a single word: No.

His phone starts vibrating again before he's even set it down, so he guesses it must be the alert coming in. To his surprise, it's Snart again.

Jesus, Flash, warn a guy.

Barry frowns and scrolls up to his photo again. The foam is high enough that even his chin is his behind it, meaning there's no reason for a reaction like this.

But, of course, Snart's mind has its own way of working.

Good to know you're thinking of me when naked.

Barry groans and fights the urge to throw the phone away immediately. It wouldn't be of use to do it, because then Snart would assume he's right. And, knowing him, that wouldn't be the end of the whole thing. He'd keep throwing teases like that at him.

I feel like you're taking advantage of me having to check my phone at all times.

He doesn't even lean back anymore, seeing how it would be his luck to drop his phone if he did. Once he finished this conversation he'd put it away and get to relax .

I was just saving you trips into the city. You're welcome, Barry.

Barry snorts at that. He doubts that that had really been his motivation, plus he's had to check out the sights anyway. It would have looked weird if the Flash had just ignored certain alarms. Those thefts had harmed people - though he must note that Snart didn't seem to take as much when he stole from small retail shops - and he couldn't just let them down. The Flash wasn't just there to solve crimes, but also to show the citizens of Central that someone was on their side. It would feel like betrayal if he ignored them.

Speaking of - did Snart keep the alarm from getting off because he got an answer? There's still no indication of anything really having happened.

If he's actually kept the alarm system turned off for now, it means that the owners will only see what happened tomorrow morning. Barry might just have a night off.

Thanks, Snart.

-

Sometimes Barry has to practically force himself to do things slowly. Sometimes he'd buy a book he's been eyeing for a while, looking forward to for weeks, and then he'd be through it within mere minutes. Of course, he'd still feel the same as he'd do while reading it more slowly, but it feels like he's not appreciating it enough.

It's the same with TV shows, really. He can watch them while winding forward and not miss a single thing. Bingewatching Netflix? People would complain about being spoiled when they're not through with a show in two days. Barry has no problem with that; he's been through Daredevil within half an hour.

But the thing is, once again, his lack of patience. It drains him to pay attention to things in normal speed when he could rush through them, so more often than not he's bored .

A bored speedster is horrible, according to Iris.

Even worse is a bored speedster who can count his close friends on one hand. They're all busy, and running over to Star would seem a bit too much just because he doesn't know what to do with his time.

No stealing this week? , he types out before he can stop himself. It's not that Snart has had a rhythm before, his messages would come at a seemingly random schedule, but right now Barry almost wishes he'd gotten one today. So he presses send.

It takes a while longer now for an answer, but he does get one after a few minutes.

Missing me?

Despite himself, Barry feels a soft tug on the corner of his mouth. He can pretty much picture the way Snart would lift his brows while saying so, and the smirk he'd wear is the one he's worn in his selfies so often. He's glad he doesn't see it in real life, because then he wouldn't have the time to think of a reply that would only embarrass him further.

He settles for a simple one.

I'm bored.

When the answer comes pretty much right away, he wonders if Snart had somehow gotten superspeed, too.

Well, if that's the case I'll go and rob a bank just for you.

The thing is: with Snart he doesn't know if it's meant seriously or not.

Without planning it for five hours?

Barry bites his lip as he sends it, somehow feeling almost giddy as he waits for a reply. He sits up a bit straighter, pulling his legs closer to himself. It would feel weird to text Captain Cold while lying in his bed.

Please. You should know that I'm always prepared, no matter what for.

He rolls his eyes at that. Trust Snart to make it sound like an innuendo. Wait. He didn't mean it as an innuendo, did he?

Barry feels a flush creep up his neck anyways. He takes a bit longer to think about how to respond.

So you spend your time with nothing but planning?

Snart's better with words, apparently.

Do you spend all your time trying to save the world?

Barry presses his lips together.

Touché.

Oh, he knows big words.

This time Barry does groan. He's had his fair share of being ridiculed because of his age (and apparently even younger-seeming appearance) and somehow he feels like that comment belonged in the same category. Right away, he can't think of a reply that wouldn't earn him another of those, so he just snaps a picture of his annoyed face.

He’s almost regretting it when Snart doesn’t reply right away any more. He probably doesn’t even want to see his face, otherwise he wouldn’t have started teasing Barry with selfies but would have shown up in person. It’s already a miracle that he’s replying to his texts and helping him with his boredom. And now he’s blown it.

Except there’s a message coming in after a few minutes.

Is that a Star Trek poster? Flash, you are a nerd.

Barry turns a bit, looking back at the Seven of Nine poster on his wall. He hadn’t even thought it would be visible in the dim light, and especially not with his face in the focus of the picture.

Says the one who recognizes a lesser known character.

Now Snart’s faster again.

I beg your pardon? She might just be one of the best characters in the whole franchise.

If there’s one thing Barry hadn’t expected to ever happen in his life, it would be discussing a sci-fi show with Captain Cold. He starts biting his cheek to repress the laughter forming in his chest at that and types out an answer. At least he knows how to spend his evening now.

-

Barry sighs as he leans against the wall, throwing his head back. He doesn’t know when the time vault became his room in the laboratories, but as long as it gives him the option of being alone for a moment, he doesn’t mind. Cisco has his little tinker chamber and Caitlin still spends most of her time in the medical bay, so it’s only fair that he doesn’t have to be in an open space the whole day either.

Especially not after a mess like the past mission.

He zooms into the main room quickly and out again before any device could even notice he’d changed his location, retrieving his phone out of his jeans. They should probably think of a way that he could have it on him even in the suit. Of course, the suit has its own alert system, so it isn’t really necessary, but it would save him from having to run to his civilian clothes all the time.

He snaps a selfie quickly and sends it off, saying, This is the face of someone who had a police officer scream at him. Please no thefts today.

Truth be told, he doesn’t even know why he feels the need to tell Snart about it. It’s not like they’re suddenly friends just because they’ve spent hours texting back and forth about tv shows, discussing and rating the different series of the Star Trek universe. It’s been weird how casual it’d felt and how he’d quickly forgotten whom he’d even been talking to.

The thing is, though, he really could go without being called out again for the rest of the day. The cop he’d been talking to had been rather pissed at him for showing up, yelling about how he ruined an undercover gig for roughly ten minutes. How was he even supposed to know that alarm about human trafficking was on purpose?

Do I have to ice someone? Here I thought I was the only one responsible for pissing you off.

The statement lures a chuckle out of Barry. He sits down on the armchair that’s found its way in here in the past months, placing his elbows on his thighs while he sighs again.

Also, may I just say: Quite a look you’ve got going there.

Barry frowns and opens the picture again, taking in his own appearance. He looks exactly as awful as he feels. He hasn’t consumed all of his required calories yet, since he’s been called away so often (either for work or Flash business), and he didn’t get much sleep last night either. There’s circles under his eyes, dark enough to look as if they’d been painted on.

What, you like people looking half dead?

He frowns at the screen but can’t stop himself from grinning either. Of course, Snart would have a questionable aesthetic to prefer. The guy wears a parka in every weather just because it fits his theme.

Don’t be daft.

I like pretty boys looking half dead.

Barry rubs a hand over his neck, feeling blood rush into his cheeks. It isn’t the first time one of his villains talked to him like that, usually to make fun of him, but somehow he feels like Snart means it. As if Snart’s flirting with him.

Is Snart flirting with him? It’s not that he’d assumed Snart was straight - he’s learnt early enough not to do that - but it’s Captain Cold . They’re enemies .

Should he reply? What should he reply? He doubts that he’d know what to do if it were anyone else he’s talking to. If there’s one thing Barry knows about himself, it’s that he has no game. At all. He’d start babbling and rambling whenever someone attractive actually pays attention to him, so usually he just rushes off.

Hey, with Snart he could even do that literally without blowing his cover.

Instead of attempting anything and only embarrassing himself, he locks his phone again and puts it away. It’s time for him to go eat something proper anyway.

-

Working with your best friend is always great. And if it's someone like Cisco, you can be sure that your usual stress will be relieved by jokes soon.

They don't work together all the time, naturally, since not every crime scene requires the Metahuman Task Force. Plus, Cisco has to develop new tech more often than not, so he's not even at the station that often.

They try to meet for coffee, though, whenever both of them have a break. Today it just so happens to be before work, and Barry's mind is still floating from the last conversation he's had the night before and he really needs Cisco's input.

“Do you think Palpatine was Anakin’s father?”

Cisco blinks and sets down his mug, staring at Barry as if he's gone crazy. “Dude, where does that come from? Anakin's, like, evil Jesus.”

Barry's done his best to keep his texting with Snart a secret. The others would blame him for his naivety again, if they found out he's quite enjoying talking nonsense with one of his villains. Caitlin knows that Snart has his number, but nothing more. He guesses she hasn't even told any of the others about it, or else they'd have told him to change his number. So now he just shrugs, “Read it somewhere.”

He'd almost expected that Snart wouldn't even text him any more, not after he'd abandoned the conversation after being complimented , but the Rogue is always good for a surprise. It's taken a few days until Barry received the next selfie (this time one in the museum so he has had to go there) but he'd been embarrassingly delighted when it happened. It didn't stop him from telling Snart later that he's kept him from watching Episode II. And then it turned out Snart was even more of a Star Wars nerd than he'd thought.

“You should stay away from Reddit, man.”, Cisco says and shakes his head with a grin. “They ignore the facts. Shmi literally said there wasn't a father. Giving him one would ruin the whole Chosen One run. And also, her and Palpatine? Yikes.”

“Yeah, no. He-- I mean, the OP guessed that he'd still been conceived due to the Force.”, Barry reasons, quoting Snart's texts. “But that, like, Palpatine manipulated it to do so.”

Cisco frowns, obviously thinking about it. “Wouldn't put it above him, actually.”, he says slowly.

Barry nods. He'd agreed with Snart on that, too, almost immediately even.

“But,” Cisco continues, “look, I'm all for 'history repeats itself’ but that would be more than just having parallels between the movies, right? Having one character be the epitome of daddy issues is enough.”

“Yeah, I figured that, too.”, Barry tells him. He doesn't mention how Snart has swayed that away by explaining how it's never been stated . According to him, it has been a subtle parallel that's been laid there to make the audience figure it out themselves. That way it wouldn't seem like LucasFilm is just repeating the same thing over and over. “But I thought I'd rather get an expert's opinion.”

Did he add that just to spite Snart? Probably not, because Cisco's beaming at that makes him chuckle happily. His best friend is the one to go to with problems like this, after all.

Besides, it's not like Snart is even here.

-

Have you finally hoarded enough money or how come you didn't break in anywhere for a month?

It's become quite a normal for either Barry or Snart to start a conversation on a random note. Usually they just text back and forth about something they've come to think of, discussing fandoms and the city's general state of criminal activity - to his surprise, Snart has said that he's quite happy with the Flash roaming around. Then he'd added that it means the media's attention is on bigger things than thefts. But such little jabs don't mean that he's dropped the teasing and - Barry's still quite hesitant to really call it that - flirting entirely.

It's a healthy mixture of actual things that matter and fun.

My team's not really been compliant lately., Snart answers after a few moments.

Here I thought you could also pull off heists on your own.

Barry grins when the answer comes in almost immediately. He can imagine how Snart must've been eager to reply that of course he could, and that Barry shouldn't doubt him.

Not as much fun. Unless there's the guarantee of someone dressed in red leather waiting for me?

Barry snorts and takes a picture of how he's comfortably lying on top of his bed and sends it off with the message, Sorry, got my evening planned.

My, one could easily jump to conclusions here.

The answer’s taken a few moments again, longer than their casual chatter on some days. Barry frowns at the words.

What?

He shifts a bit as he waits for Snart to reply, pulling his legs closer. Does elaborating his thoughts always take this long?

Well, there's only so many things someone does while half-naked.

He may be shirtless but he's still wearing sweatpants , for God's sake. In which world does that count as half-naked? And then it dawns on him what Snart was implying.

You think texting with you leads up to me jerking off?

It's been known to happen.

Barry rolls his eyes. That's not how he's been expecting this conversation to go. Or any situation with Captain Cold, really.

In your dreams.

Yeah, that too.

At that, Barry feels a twist somewhere inside of him, and warmth creep up his neck once again. So Snart is dreaming of him - no, of somebody jerking off, presumably to messages that he's sent? That's… quite a lot of information.

That would count as wet dreams, right? So Snart would probably touch himself after waking up-- Barry runs a hand over his face, trying to make the flush - and those thoughts - go away.

Time to sleep then, Snart.

-

The Green Arrow might show up on your doorstep soon.

He doesn’t even think that Oliver would actually go and seek out Snart. He may be extra dramatic, and the way he called Barry out for making a deal with him was quite hurtful - Barry’s still fuming himself - but he knows better than to step over any lines. They’d come to the agreement of letting the other do in his city whatever he wants pretty early, so even if Oliver is mad at his actions, he won’t try to fix them himself. Hopefully.

Barry can’t help but be a little mad at Caitlin, too. She’s the only one who knows that Snart’s been teasing him with his photos, and Barry hadn’t told her anything to make her assume it continued, but he supposes she must have mentioned it to Felicity. And then she told Oliver.

And Oliver wondered how it could be that he chats with someone who should be behind bars, so Barry had to tell him about their agreement. He has no doubt that Oliver's being an asshole, because there's no way he hasn't made any similar ones in his time as a vigilante.

I don’t think Oliver Queen would find where I live.

Barry isn’t even surprised that Snart knows who the Green Arrow is. Not only is he of a brilliant mind, but that identity isn’t even that difficult to figure out. Since the news had covered both the reappearance of Oliver Queen and the appearance of the Arrow at the same time, it didn’t take that much to find a connection there. Not for the first time in his life, Barry’s glad that he’s a nobody - if nobody knows Barry Allen, nobody can figure out that he’s the Flash.

He’s got a hacker girlfriend.

You didn’t give away your phone to show off our saucy conversations, did you?

In response, Barry huffs. Their conversations haven’t even done so much as brushed flirting , which was 99% of the time coming from Snart, so they’re hardly saucy. And even those very platonic discussions they have going on - he’d feel weird going off to show them Cisco, for example. Sometimes he almost finds himself forgetting that Snart, that Captain Cold , is a bad guy. He may have abstained from even hurting people, but he’s still stealing things. Barry should remember that.

The phone’s security is high as ever, of course, so it wouldn’t work anyways. I’m just wondering why the hero of Star City would be after me all of sudden.

He’s right, Barry supposes. How would Felicity even be able to find Snart if there’s nothing tracing back to him? He should have thought of that before.

Yeah, he’s actually jealous I spend so much time texting you.

Finding his own sarcasm while texting Snart is something he’s soon come back to. While at first the idea of even exchanging messages with him threw him off that, and then when he just didn’t know what to respond to some of Snart’s texts, he’s started talking almost normally again. It’s good, especially since it’s how he’s behaved to him whenever they met in person before anyway.

Hm, I love casting the wrath of billionaires upon myself.

He’s not even a billionaire any more.

It’s been sent off before Barry can even wonder if this is proper. Should he have said he had no idea what Snart was talking about, that Oliver is not the Green Arrow? Did he just break some superhero code?

Let me correct myself then: I love casting the wrath of vigilantes upon myself.

Barry lets out a laughter at that. Snart doesn’t take back anything he’s said, he just twists it so that it fits his situation better. He’s learnt that by now.

And here I thought I was special.

Snart doesn’t have gigs going on in other cities, does he? Shouldn’t Barry have noticed? He does live in Central after all, so if anybody could keep an eye on him, it should be the Flash. Captain Cold is his villain, someone no other vigilante should have to take care of.

Don’t worry. You’re the only one I text, Barry Allen.

-

What hurts more: tripping while you run up a building or losing your pride while you’re doing so? For Barry it’s definitely the latter. He feels embarrassed at the way Cisco can’t stop chuckling, the soft talking Caitlin’s done while fixing his bones, and the sad and yet amused look Iris has thrown at him when she came in earlier.

He’s watched his fall on TV, where the reaction ranged from seriously worried to bluntly laughing at him. How had he even been supposed to know that one of the windows had been freshly cleaned when he ran up there? It’s not like he can check everyone’s schedules - including window cleaners’ - before running after a meta.

He’s dreading picking up his phone when it starts vibrating. It could be his dad asking if everything is okay, Oliver scolding him for not thinking before acting (which really would be ironic) or maybe Joe being angry and concerned at the same time. He’s a master at that. But he also knows that avoiding it will only make it worse, in the end, so he reaches out for it.

He accepts the call without checking the ID and lifts the phone to his ear. “Don’t worry, I’m fine and it won’t happen again.”

There’s a soft chuckle on the other end of the line. “Good to know.”

“Ouch,” Barry makes as he sits up, straining his injuries a little. They’ll be gone soon enough, but right now they hurt and any movements make it worse. He can’t help, though, he’s too surprised. “Snart?”

“Quite a stunt you did there.” Snart sounds like his lips are curling up as he says it, as if he’s about to laugh at him.

“Yeah, I’d decided to break my bones and it was the most graceful way I could think of.”, Barry says dryly.

“Hang on, you’re really injured?”, Snarts wants to know. If Barry didn’t know any better, he’d almost say he sounds legitimately concerned.

“I heal fast.”, Barry offers. “I’ll be back to new in a few hours.”

Snart did not actually just call to check up on him, did he? He’s probably been more interested in knowing whether the Flash is out of the game for a longer time period. He would probably have a field day if Barry was unable to come running after him for a whole week or something.

“Jesus,” Snart breathes. “Poor person who tries to give you a hickey, then.”

Barry flushes at that, running his free hand through his hair. “Does every conversation with you go this way?”

“With the right partner.”, Snart agrees dryly. “Proving yourself worthy, Flash.”

“Thanks,” Barry snorts. “It’s always been my big goal in life to earn innuendoes from Captain Cold.”

“Always there to please a fan.”, Snart agrees. Something changes in his voice then when he asks, “So you’re seriously alright? That fall seemed pretty dangerous, Red.”

Barry rolls his eyes at that. He’s already started healing - when he’d arrived at the laboratories, his right wrist has still been broken. Now it’s as if it had never been injured in the first place. Of course, Snart wouldn’t know just how fast he heals, so he just says, “I was able to speed away, you know?”

“Adrenaline.”, Snart reasons. It’s like he’s searching for a reason why Barry could be seriously hurt without noticing. But then he adds, “But if you say you’re fine…”

“I-- thanks for worrying?”

Snart stays silent for a moment and Barry can’t help but be pleased that apparently he has to choose his words, too, for once. “Just don’t kill yourself.”

“I thought you had a death kink.”

Snart lets out a small laughter and Barry can’t help but grin along. Has he ever even heard that before? “So you’re trying to fulfill my dreams? There’re easier ways to do that.”

“Low standards? I didn’t-- oh, I gotta hang up.”, Barry says quickly when he hears the sound of footsteps approaching. They’re heavy but quick nonetheless, indicating that it’s Joe coming to take a look at him and Barry doesn’t even want to imagine what he’d do if he found him on the phone with Leonard Snart.

He ignores the other’s dramatics along the lines of ‘ keeping me a secret ’ in favour of saying goodbye and locking his phone. He’s just managed to lie down again, as if he’d done nothing but that the whole time, when Joe turns around the corner, rushing to his side.

-

Barry really enjoys the time he and Iris get to spend together without anyone around. It's not like they don't ever see each other, what with her being involved in Flash business and them practically sharing her father, but ever since she moved out to live with Eddie it feels like they're worlds apart, somehow. Maybe he's been just too used to having her around at all times.

So he finds himself beaming the whole time as he sits across from her in a booth at Belly Burger's, five packages of fries already devoured and another one lying on the table between them. It feels good to be stealing some from her for once. If she tries to call him out for it, he'll just say he needs to eat a lot and it would raise suspicions if he ordered even more.

They've had a pleasant evening so far, trading details about their respective days. As aggravated as Iris can be when something does not go her way, Barry has always enjoyed listening to her be excited in a particular way. The way her eyes seem to shine as she gestures makes him share the sentiment, as if he'd been by her side.

There's only so many things they can discuss when they barely go a day without talking at all , but it's usually a comfortable silence they fall into. Now, however, Iris is leaning forward onto her elbows and watching him with great interest.

“So, when will we stop beating around the bush?” At Barry's apparent confusion, she adds, “Snart.”

It only causes him to be a bit anxious, too. Did Snart do anything big that he's overlooked simply because he's had some pleasant conversation with him. Maybe it's been a tactic all along; to make Barry trust him again and pull off something bigger.

But could it actually be that he hadn't heard about it? It's not like the Flash is the only one keeping an eye on criminals. The rest of the team would have been alerted anyway and Iris, working at an actual newspaper, would have been the first to talk about it.

“Relax,” she continues, “I'm talking to Barry right now, not the Flash.”

Barry shushes her out of reflex. There's already enough people who have figured out his identity, there's no need for her to add some waiters to the list.

He's met with a roll of her eyes. She does grin, though. “So?”, she prompts.

“I don't know what you mean.”, he blinks.

“Come on,” she groans. “You've practically been glued to your phone lately, and it seems fitting that Caitlin told me someone got ahold of your number.”

Barry wants to suppress a curse at Caitlin but it comes out anyways. He can understand that maybe she was really assuming Snart was actually bothering him, but he didn't look pissed while texting, did he? Or scared? It would be weird if he had because he was… he's enjoying it. He's learnt that certain kinds of comments make Snart think his words through several times. Of course he's started using them more than enough.

He's also learnt to appreciate the answers he gets on selfies, even though most of them are barely PG-13. He supposes it's really been too long that he's found someone be really interested in him.

“You're not even denying it.”, Iris notes. “You're texting with Captain Cold ?”

Barry can't help but blush at the way she looks at him with big eyes. It seems like she's not sure whether to be horrified or amused. He can follow that line of thought, seeing how she doesn't even know what they could talk about. Snart's a bad person, in her eyes at least, while Barry fights for the good.

“He's a nerd.”, he shrugs. It seems like a good explanation.

“Please tell me you didn't start discussing Dragonball with Leonard Snart .”

“Star Trek.”, Barry says and crosses his arms in front of his chest in defense. “And he started.”

“Snart woke up one day and decided 'hey, let's chat up Barry Allen about a TV show, the guy probably spends his days watching TV’?”, Iris demands to know. She's actually leaning forward to lure him out of his distance.

“Of course not .”, Barry insists. And then he realizes he'll have to tell her the whole story now. She wouldn't back down until he did. Damn.

So he does. He just wishes he could speedtalk through it to go through the embarrassment more quickly, but then she wouldn't catch a word. He actually has to suffer through every syllable.

She even demands to see the texts, for some reason. Barry suspects it might be more to tease him than anything else, so he tells her he's deleted them. He does show her the early selfies he's gotten, just to show her what he's had to deal with an that it's been inevitable to answer at last.

“Oh my God.”, she laughs at one of the most ridiculous ones. “I can't believe Snart crushes like a five-year-old.”

Barry freezes. “ Crushes ?”, he repeats.

Iris looks at him in her best Are-You-Kidding-Me fashion. “Barry, the guy's had the hots for you since you first met.”

“What? No.”

Iris shakes her head, as if he was the unreasonable one. Snart doesn't have a crush on him. He just likes riling him up - but that's something he does with everyone, right? Sure, when they'd kidnapped Cisco it's been Lisa's part to sweet-talk him, and with Caitlin Rory has found her rather interesting but… okay, he doesn't have anything more on how Snart behaves to his enemies. And maybe some comments he's thrown Barry's way came close to flirting. But that doesn't mean he actually likes him, does it?

“He's posed for pictures just to send them to you.”, Iris points out.

“Because he thinks he's funny.”

“That's elementary school niveau.”, she insists. “He's tried to get your attention. And he got it. And you like him .”

“I don't like him.”

He doesn't like him. Even if Snart did have feelings for him, Barry doesn't. He's just come to enjoy talking to him about random things and to see what he's up to, even if it's not even about any crimes. Reciprocating the teasing had just been bound to happen, given their natures. He might have sunk down on Snart's level.

But if Snart were crushing on him… Would the level imply doing the same?

“You're blushing terribly.”

Why is she always the worst when it comes to things like this? Come to think of it, she'd figured out Barry's first crush on a guy even before he had told anyone he was bi.

And she hadn't been wrong, actually.

Shit.

“He's a villain.”, Barry tells her. It's a weak attempt of deflecting the direction of this conversation, even if only slightly.

Iris grins now and takes another fry. She leans back as she claims, “Wanting to be on your good side did make him do better, though. He might become nice soon enough.”

“Sure, let me tell a guy 'to date me, you'll have to change sixty percent of your personality’.”

Iris raises an eyebrow, still grinning. “So you would date him.”

“Stop that.” Barry glares at her.

She blows him a kiss in response. “Nah, that's my job.”

-

So: Barry Allen might have a crush on Leonard Snart. That sounds borderline problematic, but it could be fine. What's worse is: The Flash might have a crush on Captain Cold. And suddenly it's not just problematic, but impossible .

Besides, he doesn't even know if Snart really does feel an actual attraction to him. He guesses he could test him (he knows he should ask him, but in some ways Barry is a coward), but he doesn't know how.

The worst is that he's actually started dreaming about Snart. Usually just bits and pieces of the conversations they've had - either those in real life or via text - or maybe random details of him. He notices then that he hasn't even actually seen him in months.

And then, of course, to top everything, there might have been some not so pure thoughts and dreams at times. He tried to shake them off and sometimes it works fine, and other times… let's say an active libido is something that comes with the speedforce.

He can't believe that texting Snart really did lead up to him jerking off. The other would be so pleased to get to know that.

God , it's weird, isn't it? How would he even get to know it? It's not like Barry would just go around and tell him.

Instead, he just keeps texting him and pretends that nothing’s up. It doesn't count as lying if you try to keep your dignity intact, does it?

-

There hasn't been a theft with your signature in quite a while.

Barry's tired . He's tired of amateurs and people who try to kill him on a daily basis. The whole superhero thing had been more fun when the villains had crazy powers. Or when they didn't plan a personal vendetta against him.

I don't have a personal signature. I'm too clean for that.

Barry frowns. He hadn't even expected an answer tonight. He knows that Snart could hardly keep up a normal daily schedule, given his lifestyle, but it is close to 3am on a Tuesday night.

Had a long night?

Somewhat. What are you doing up?

It takes a few moments for Snart to answer, a sure sign that he's deleted his first message and typed out a new one. Barry wonders what he might have almost said.

There's so many things a man could do at this time.

Barry rolls his eyes. Expect a vague answer from Snart.

Why do I get the feeling you want me to assume you just had sex?

Who's speaking of the past?

Would Snart actually text him during sex? Somehow Barry thinks that yes, he would. He's shameless like that. And for some reason, what throws him off even more is how he thinks it's thrilling .

He runs a hand through his hair as another message comes in, containing a picture. He hesitates to open it, afraid of just what situation Snart could have snapped. But even so, Barry's a grown man and it's not like he's never caught anyone having sex. And if it's a picture taken on purpose it must be pretty much on one level with porn.

What he's met with, though, is a photo of someone lying on a bed, wearing tight jeans. It reminds him of the picture he'd sent Snart a few weeks ago only that his hand hadn't even been close to his crotch. Snart’s is inside his pants.

Barry can't even tell if it's touching anything, if Snart is hard but he feels a wave of something going through his body and heading south.

“Shit,” he breathes to himself. So Snart is jerking off while texting him? That means Barry doesn't interrupt his thoughts, he must be encouraging them. So he's the reason for it.

He's dialled Snart's number before his paranoia caught up on him, zipping out of his suit in the process. It's crazy that he's even doing this but if he could hear Snart for real, he'll take it over what his fantasy could come up with later.

“I take you enjoyed my photo, Flash.”, Snart drawls when he picks up. His voice sounds casual as ever, making Barry wonder if he'd even started before. Maybe he'd just placed his hand there just for the picture, to tease Barry.

It doesn't matter. He supposes that Snart's preferred answer must be along the lines of this .

“Maybe.”, Barry admits.

“You should join me.”

-

It takes two days until he gets the next message. Two days that Barry spends mostly trying to forget what happened. He figures that it could have been an elaborate dream - they’ve been acting up lately anyway, so it wouldn’t be a surprise that they’d go there . Who would have thought phone sex was a kink of his?

He chooses to ignore that his last calls show that he has spent more than half an hour talking to Snart.

His dream-self (because it has to have been a dream) had even called him Len, practically screaming the name when… It has really happened, hasn’t it?

He hasn’t dared texting Snart like he’d usually have done while watching TV or when he was bored. He’s tried his best to keep himself from it - assuming Snart had formed an attraction to Barry, he’d now have gotten what he wanted, right? And Barry would seem clingy.

And it would be weird. ‘ Hey, we heard each other come, so what do you think of Amy Pond? ’ certainly isn’t something he could just type up.

But it’s Snart who texts first. Barry flushes terribly when he sees it’s another picture, and since he is at STAR Labs he keeps it closed and focuses on waiting for something real to happen.

Thankfully the alarm goes off a little later, the sound blaring through the whole building. Cisco comes rushing in from his room, looking like he’s only just woken up. Barry supposes that he must’ve spent most of last night awake again; he’d mentioned headaches at the precinct already.

“There’s been a B&E in the museum.”, Caitlin announces from her seat behind the computers. She shoots a pitiful look into Cisco’s direction before adding, “According to present security the thief’s already gone.”

Cisco sighs, looking both relieved and slightly pissed at the fact he’s been woken up. He’d have gone there if the person had still been present, but when they’re gone already it’s easier for Barry to roam after them. “Any more info?”

“Hang on,” she says and scrolls through the message. “It’s been a painting of some Nathaniel Hooke by, uh, Dandridge? That’s the artist. The cameras have been turned off twenty minutes ago but the alarm only was activated about five minutes ago.”

Barry closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. Actually, he’d like to laugh out loud - it’s exactly the same routine Snart uses every time . He tells them as much.

“Oh, so there’s a new picture?”, Caitlin wants to know. She’s wearing a grin.

Cisco shares her sentiment. “So I finally get to see one of those, too? Gotta say, man, it’s really rude of you not to tell me--”

He cuts himself off when Barry throws a glare at Caitlin, thanking her very much for apparently having told everyone . “I didn’t get one.”, Barry says and crosses his arms in front of his chest.

It’s a lie, technically, but he wouldn’t want to show them the picture without knowing just what exactly it is. Snart wouldn’t do weird things with the things he stole, would he?

“So we're not sure yet if it's been him.”, Cisco notes.

“True.”, Caitlin agrees. “But if the thief is already gone and there's no indication for a meta…”

“Looks like I won't have a boring day at work tomorrow.”, Barry sighs. He's already looking forward to Singh being pissed at him for not finding anything.

“If that’s the case,” Cisco yawns, “I'll go back to nap a bit.”

He looks as if he could actually use a full night of sleep, with how red his eyes are and how pale his cheeks look, but Barry knows better than to suggest he could go home. Where Cisco used to be just excited about actually superhuman abilities being real, he's now feeling responsible to take care of them. With his own abilities, only the reason for spending nights on alert has changed. Barry watches as he stalks away and sinks back into his chair.

“Do you think there's any way of helping him?”, Caitlin wants to know. Her eyes are fixed on the doorway, looking quite sad.

“If anyone can do it, it's us.”, Barry says slowly. “We should watch the circumstances in which the pain occurs.”

Caitlin nods. “This might sound crazy but we could use the algorithm of a menstruation tracker for him to use. It has basically the same function, right?”

“Right.”, Barry says, despite frowning. He supposes he should have an actual idea of what a period tracker is exactly, seeing how he grew up with a girl in the house.

Caitlin didn't wait for his actual opinion, thankfully, but started typing away on the keyboard. He doesn't know if she could even rewrite a code, that's usually Cisco's area, but he'll leave her be.

Instead, he pulls out his phone at last to check what Snart has stolen. Caitlin’s concentrating on the screen so intently that she doesn't even notice - if she did, there's no way she would not be curious.

To his surprise, the painting Snart has stolen is barely visible in the photo. Instead, he hides it with most of his body, turned to the side. It must be an old painting, Barry'd estimate judging by the style, even though he only has a vague knowledge.

Snart doesn't smirk in the picture, he notices, but looks like he's almost laughing . It’s a rare and good sight, he has to admit, even though he can’t tell what it’s directed at. The finger guns that Snart makes could be pointing at the placate announces the painting’s name, but even so Barry can’t read it even when he zooms in.

Deeming it safe, he announces, “Yeah, it was Snart.”

“Really?”, Caitlin perks up.

Barry nods and steps over, showing her the picture.

“He’s ridiculous.”, is all Caitlin says about that, rolling her eyes.

As assumed, Barry spends his next morning at Central City’s art museum. Singh’s sent him here almost immediately after he arrived at work, not even chiding him for being late. Maybe his exhaustion has been visible - there might have been no actual alert for the Flash, but Barry’s still spent half his night at the laboratories. And the rest he’s spent in a daze, wondering if and what he should reply to Snart.

In the end, he’s settled on finding out whether he’s actually pointed at something significant. Then he could come up with a proper answer.

Snart’s always very careful with his work and this time is no exception. If Barry didn’t know already, he would have no clue who is behind this burglary. The cameras had been off, just like Caitlin has said, and there’s no fingerprints, no dirt from any shoes, nothing to even indicate that somebody had been here.

Still, he looks closer at the badge even though he knows there won’t be anything there either. It’s a normal one, with nothing changed, as it seems. Except… really ?

Trust Snart to make fun of him by stealing a painting of someone wearing the same first name as Barry.

-

If there’s one thing that Barry hates, it’s Joe coming into his lab. It’s not that he can’t work when anybody’s around, or that Joe’s presence makes him unhappy - it’s just that they usually leave each other be unless they’re called to a case together. Joe seeking him out never brings anything good.

And the fact that he looks worried doesn't help the anxious feeling in Barry's chest. Barry keeps sitting but leans forward a little to show Joe that he's attentive.

In turn, Joe sits down on one end of his table, looking down at him sternly.

“What's up?”, Barry asks hesitantly. It can't be any emergency, he'd have gotten an alert if it were so. But the only thing his phone went off with was a message from Le-- Snart. He'd left it unopened and threw his phone far away, onto the window sill.

Joe frowns as he watches him play with the hem of his sweater. He does realize that his staring only makes the fidgeting worse, doesn't he? “What's up with you ?”

Barry raises his brows. “I’m waiting for the chemicals to get off.”, he tells him. Boring Joe with details of the test wouldn't do anything, he only has a small knowledge of what's what. “Can't do superspeed there.”

Joe nods slowly. “And, uh, privately?”

Barry's mouth falls open a little at that. Of course, Joe can read him as good as Iris, maybe even better - he has been paying attention to how Barry reacts to anything ever since he took him in. Back then, Iris had been too excited to have him around to be tentative. But had he really been that obvious? He's tried his best to keep everything hidden.

As if Joe could read his mind, he points out just what he's noticed. “Bar, only, like, a week ago you were practically glued to your phone. And now you act like it's gonna attack you whenever it goes off?”

Maybe he should've kept his phone on him at all times. Then nobody would have even known there were texts that he's avoided. But he has the habit of placing it on any surface he comes across - meaning everyone around hears it vibrate. And then everyone sees him pick it up, check the ID and put it down with a grimace. Come to think of it, he wasn't subtle at all.

But still, Joe wouldn’t know whom it’s about, right? Except…

“You didn’t get this from Caitlin, did you?”, he asks carefully.

Joe raises his brows. “Caitlin? No, why would I ask her-- this isn’t about her, is it?”

Barry suppresses a laugh. It’s ironic, almost, that Caitlin would tell everyone that Snart kept texting him but not mention it to his foster father. Maybe she is aware that Joe wouldn’t care about the deal that they have made but storm into whatever warehouse Snart’s currently staying in, threatening him with a gun just for bothering Barry.

He almost wishes it were that easy.

“No, it’s--”, Barry starts. “It’s nothing.”

Joe doesn’t look convinced. “I’m just saying, you looked quite happier when you were staring into the screen all the time. And coming from me, that’s something.”

Barry presses his lips together. Of course, he hasn’t had the happiest time lately, with stressing over what to do about Snart . He halfway expects the other to just await him in his flat one day, simply because Barry kept ignoring him. He’s even dreading going home because of that.

What makes it worse is the feeling of disappointment he has every time he enters his apartment only to find it empty.

“If you ask me, you should try to fix whatever that was. Like, it couldn’t even have been too serious yet, right? Would’ve told me already otherwise.”, Joe argues, wearing a small smile. “So it can’t be ruined yet.”

Barry blushes at that. So even Joe knows it’s not entirely platonic? The only explanation for him to react like this is that he doesn’t know whom it is about. “It’s… not possible.”

“If there’s anyone who taught me that impossible doesn’t exist, it’s you, Bar.”

“What if you are supposed to be a reason that person wasn’t around?”, Barry asks. It’s as close to actually describing his dilemma as he can. “It’s-- he’s not exactly a good guy.”

For a moment, Joe goes quiet at that. He’s not surprised at it being a man; not any more. Barry’s been out for quite a while, but the first time he’d dated a guy Joe had still been quite wary. He’s gotten better with it and that alone makes Barry smile right now.

“I don’t know, son,” Joe says after a bit, “But in my opinion nobody who charms you can be too bad.”

Barry swallows in return. He’s aware, naturally, that he has a good moral compass - otherwise he wouldn’t even have his problem. But hearing it is good.

And yet, he feels like he’d betray his own duty - his double duty, even - if he went for a chance with Snart. Even if Captain Cold weren’t the Flash’s nemesis, Snart’s still a thief. And he works for the police. How could he date him without feeling like a traitor?

Joe leans forward, placing a hand on his shoulder. “Bar, it’s okay to be selfish every once in a while.”

The way he looks at him shows that he means it. Would he still mean it if he knew ? Joe’s been around for his entire story with Snart (well, most of it anyway), he knows the games the other likes to play and just what he’s willing to do to get what he wants.

But he’s said it himself: Would Barry even be interested in Snart if he was truly awful? If it was still any more than bad boy vibes that he gives off? He hasn’t even hurt anyone since finding out the Flash’s identity - since Barry asked him not to kill any more. But he did kill people before.

But not because he wanted to, did he? Looking back at it, it must have been times where it seemed to be necessarily. Can you justify murder? Forget about it?

A whistle coming from his instruments saves him from answering any of that.

Joe looks up and sighs. “Put yourself first, son.”, he offers before getting up. “And don’t forget dinner tonight.”

-

Barry could keep texting Len - he's started calling him Len , God - like before. Apparently, that's what he's going for, judging by the nonchalant tone he uses in his words. But whenever Barry types out an answer, he thinks of the way Len’s breath hitches and how his name rolls off his lips as if it was made just for that.

It drives him crazy.

He should ignore it as a whole, probably. It would have been a great ending for the saga of him and Leonard Snart texting, after all. There's not even any need not to just delete his number; it's not like they're friends or even colleagues. They're two individuals who can go their ways without crossing each other again.

Except not.

He can just imagine that, if he were to suddenly ignore Len, he'd either cause havoc in the streets or break into Barry's apartment just because he's pissed. Iris would claim again that it's attention-seeking, but Barry would know better.

It's the reason why he finds himself in Saints & Sinners less than a handful of days later. He needs to know where they stand after their shared adventure and it seems like a conversation you best have face-to-face. The only problem is, though, that he didn't even dare texting Len to come to the bar. It would seem like too much to demand for him to appear, either because Len wouldn't appreciate being ordered around or because he'd expect something different to happen here. Barry's decided to have them run into each other.

He’s always understood why Len would like it here. You are around people, but still have the opportunity to sit in your own corner. It's a bar like any other, even with the billiard table, but somehow it has more charme. It feels like people aren't coming here to get smashed, but to pass their time in a pleasant matter.

He tenses when he sees a figure approaching him from the corner of his eye, and even though he's close already, Barry can take him in thanks to his superspeed. It's like he's wearing a different pair of glasses as he watches Len now, looking him up and down.

Len's switched his trademark parka for a short jacket, wearing it openly above his black sweater. Barry's known that he likes to wear rather tight jeans, of course, but only know does he notice that one is able to see defined muscles under the fabric.

He shouldn't concentrate on that. Instead, Barry dives back into the potato wedges before him and acts like he doesn't even notice Len until he sinks down across from him.

“Not a place for a good guy like you.”, Len says in a way of greeting.

Barry keeps his head down but he's sure Len's able to spot his raised brows anyway. “Didn't know you were tracing my phone now.”

Len snorts softly. “ Please . This is my hangout, not yours.”

Barry can't deny that, naturally, so he just shrugs. “How'd you know I'm here then?”

His eyes scoot up at that and he can see Len's lips curl into a smirk. “Certain people figured it's best to call me. Probably to protect your virtue.”

“You're doing a great job at that.”, Barry blurts out before he can stop himself. He should wonder who would connect them with one another but with Len being here, it's like his brain is fried. Now he does lift his head and looks over at Len with wide eyes, blushing a bit.

It could be that he's imagining it but Len's smile seems to widen even more. There's something in his eyes and if Barry didn't know any better he'd think it resembles hunger .

Barry leans back now, openly looking at Len. It means that he'll be able to see how embarrassed he is, but it might come in his own favour.

He didn't consider how Len would like it, though.

“I didn't say 'call my number to have a good time’, did I?”, he offers. Barry watches as he licks his lips quickly.

“Might as well have.”, he replies. He doesn't think there's many other replies one could give to such a picture.

Len considers it thoughtfully and takes a wedge off Barry's plate, lifting it to his mouth slowly. “What do you want, Red?”

Barry hesitates. What does he want? If Len was open to talk about it, what would his stance even be? He's still not sure if dating Leonard Snart would be possible, even if Len agreed. And it's not just the whole thing with them being enemies, but what's Len done in the past, too. There's no way that his friends would react positively if he were to go out with their kidnapper.

But he has changed, hasn't he? Iris had pointed it out, and she's not so quick to let go of grudges.

“I'm not sure…”, Barry admits. “How to-- how to go with any of this.”

Len raises an eyebrow. “We could have fun. Just say the word and we can get out of here.”

Barry starts kneading his hands beneath the table, but he doesn't avert his eyes. He's a superhero, he can do a simple conversation. “What if I don't-- I don't do one-night-stands.”

“Could be a regular thing.”, Len muses. He looks serious now and for some reason Barry's heart skips a beat.

“How regular?”

Len leans forward, propping his chin on his hands. “Barry, what do you want from me?”

Barry opens his mouth and closes it again. Somehow Joe’s words from days ago ring in his ears, saying that it's okay to be selfish sometimes.

He stumbles over his words, but he does manage to get them out. “A date. Maybe? I mean-- would you like to go out with me?”

For a moment he thinks Len might say no. It would seem fitting, that a man like him doesn't do relationships, not even something that's only close to it. Barry could accept it, even if it did hurt his pride a little bit.

What Len says, however, is, “In my book sharing dinner in a shady bar does count as a date.”

It takes a moment for Barry to understand the words, but then he gasps a little. That was more than an agreement.

He can't let Len have his way this easily. For all he knows, he's just twisting his words to get into his pants. So he adds, “In my book, there's a movie involved, too.”

Len narrows his eyes but gives him a smile. “I know from a reliable source that one of us owns all the Star Trek movies on blu-ray. And a rather comfortable bed, if pictures don't lie.”

Barry notices what he implies, of course, but the way he does it is almost… charming . How he remembers those details, as if he'd really care about them. As if he was actually interested in Barry .

“That does sound like a date.”, he agrees and reaches for the plate himself.

Len looks rather pleased with himself.

-

Teal’c or Ronan?

Barry frowns at his phone and shoots a look at the clock on the wall. He still has two hours to go at work, and normally Len doesn't text before his shift's close to over. It's proven to be a better idea than to have any tension build up while he should be paying attention to chemicals.

I grew up with Atlantis, so I may be a bit biased here but Jason Momoa is the most beautiful man I have ever seen.

He grins a little as he types out the answer, fully aware that Len might roll his eyes at the teasing but wouldn't say anything else about it.

We're talking about the characters, Red, not the actors.

What brought this on?

It's not like he's even surprised at Len's outburst of opinions by now - even by those about shows or movies - but usually they're prompted. He knows that Len doesn't even read up on his fandoms online, in contrast to Barry. Instead, he comes up with the most elaborate theories and opinions on his own; it's really fascinating. And impressive.

Cisco.

Barry snorts at that. Cisco’s taken their relationship better than the others, probably mostly because of his own casual attraction to their villains (and especially Len's very own sister), but once he learnt how they even started bonding, he was sold. Cisco was as surprised to learn that Captain Cold is quite a nerd and decided to test him on it. The first evening that happened it's ended in quite a discourse about the Star Wars prequels.

As far as Barry is aware, though, they'd never even seen one another without him around.

You're hanging out with Cisco?

He should've expected getting a chiding in response, come to think of it.

He came around to borrow your boxset. Say, Barry, how many people have a key to this apartment?

Barry knows that they've learnt to live with different levels of secretiveness, so he guesses Len's actually curious. Barry doesn't mind having the people he likes being around when they feel like it, especially since apart from his one big secret there isn't much more to discover. Truth be told, he'd have given Len a key after their second date, but he's proven to do just fine without one, too.

Just so I know how high the chances are to be caught full commando.

Please tell me Cisco did not stumble upon you lying on my couch naked.

He can only imagine how horrified Cisco must have been then, and how he would have basically run from the apartment. Len must be joking, because otherwise, how did they strike up a conversation about Stargate of all things then?

I'm pretty sure you're radiating heat and yet your heater is turned on all the time. I was melting, Barry.

Barry snorts.

You aren't a literal ice figure, Len.

Who knows? Maybe the accelerator did affect me after all and now I'm sensitive to warm temperatures.

That's quite a lame power.

He can tell that Len's just bored, probably because Cisco's left by now. One would think he has enough to do, plans to plot and Rogues to keep in charge, but apparently he prefers bothering Barry at work. It's usually a sign that he already did pull off his latest heist, but then he would've gotten an alert, right? Plus the obligatory selfie that Len still didn't abandon.

That's how the universe works: Giving me lame powers, keeping my boyfriend away from me…

Barry chuckles. He should have figured before that Len's flair for the dramatics would also mean that he's good at whining, but usually it's quite amusing. He's learnt how to deal with it by now, when it's fine to be teasing him about it and when to take it seriously.

Today's the former.

You're a nerd, Snart.