Archive of Our Own ^beta

The last thing Barry Allen was expecting that day was to come back home after an exhausting day and find Captain Cold all sprawled on his couch. The first second he had thought it was Leo, but the differences between those two were too noticeable to mistake one for another.

Leo was a softie and he was less tense all the time. The Leonard of his Earth was more aware of everything and it seemed like he didn’t know how to fully relax. Even on the sofa with his legs slung over the back, he looked at the speedster as soon as he set foot in his house and observed his every movement.

However, what surprised him wasn’t seeing the thief in his house, it wouldn’t be the first time something like that happened. What made all that weird it was the fact that the man was supposed to be dead. Like blowing-up-in-the-Oculus dead.

“I’m not even going to pretend this surprises me.” Barry said taking off his jacket and dropping it on a chair. “I just want to know if it’s my fault.”

“It isn’t.” The criminal snorted, amused. “When the Oculus blew up one second I was there and the next second I was in Central City without any injury. That happened like half a year ago.”

“Why the Legends didn’t tell me anything?”

The brunette frowned while walking towards the kitchen. He was very hungry and he wasn’t going to delay his alimentary needs just because Leonard was alive and, for some reason, in his apartment after half a year of coming back.

After how affected he was because of the thief’s death, the hero would have expected his friends to tell him the good news or something like that. He knew they were busy, but a phone call didn’t take that much.

“Because they don’t know I’m alive.” Leonard shrugged. “I tried to tell Mick the last time they were here, but he glared at me like I was a ghost and walked away.”

“I can tell him if you want?” The speedster offered, but the criminal shook his head. The arsonist was happy in that ship, even if he liked to pretend he was always angry. “Okay, then why are you here?”

“You owe me one, so you’ll do a favor for me.”

“Excuse me?” Barry raised an eyebrow and pointed at him with a fork. “Which favor do I owe you?”

“I warned you about Mardon and Jesse.” Leonard narrowed his eyes, he wasn’t backing off. “And I still know your name and can tell the rest of the world who is under that mask.”

“You wouldn’t do that.” The speedster rolled his eyes thinking the other was bluffing. “And you warned me because I saved your sister. Even if I didn’t do it for you to owe me anything.”

“I blew up the Oculus thinking I was going to die.” The thief crossed his arms. “I didn’t only save my team but freed the rest of the world.”

“Snart, stop it.” The brunette finished preparing some of his dinner and looked at the other man tiredly. “Ask for the favor, I’m going to do it anyway if it doesn’t involve stealing something.”

“Fine, you can’t take that back, though.” Leonard smirked, now more relaxed and stared at him like a cat playing with a little mouse. “I need you to go with me to Lisa’s wedding as my… partner.”

Barry just bit into the first sandwich when the thief talked and he choked on his food. His face became red, but it had nothing to do with not being able to breathe. He must have heard wrong, right?

“What?” The hero squeaked and then cleared his throat. “I mean, why?”

“I don’t like the boys Lisa chooses for me and I want to have a good time at her wedding.” The man frowned, clearly uncomfortable having that conversation with Barry. “I would ask Mick, but he’s not available right now, so the closest to a suitable partner is you, and my dear sister won’t suspect anything. I know you’re married with that lovely wife of yours, but don’t worry, you’ll only need to look pretty and grab my arm.”

“You can’t be serious!” Barry exclaimed while blushing heavily. “And what do you mean with that thing about Lisa not suspecting?”

"Seriously, Barry? You're going to make me say it?" The thief sighed dramatically, he was desperate enough to beg. He did hate the boys his sister chose, they all were touching him non-stop because Lisa thought he needed a good lay. "You're cute, hot and young. And the best of all is that you'll keep your hands to yourself because you're straight and married."

"Actually I'm bi and not as married as you think." Barry blurted out and bit his lip.

It still stung a little the way Iris had changed her mind, but it had been already a couple of years ago. The boy had gotten over it, even though he hadn't dated ever since.

"Really?" Leonard asked slightly worried and well, interested. "I thought both of you were pretty sure when you asked for my help to steal from ARGUS."

"I thought that, too." The brunette stared at his food. "But Iris took the Nazis ruining our wedding as a sign."

"Sorry to hear that." The criminal placed a little card onto the table. "The wedding is next weekend. I'll be here this Friday afternoon to go shopping with you. You need a nice suit but don't worry, I'll pay for it."

“What the Hell, Snart? I own nice clothes!”

“Sure you do, but I don’t care.” Leonard turned and walked towards the door. “I’ll be here at three o’clock, don’t make any other plans or I’ll ruin them. This is important.”

Barry stared at the point where the thief had been standing and growled before going back to pay attention to his food.  Of course he was going to go to Lisa’s wedding as Captain Cold’s date. He wasn’t telling his team anything about it either.

He wasn’t going to back off. He knew that Snart wouldn’t reveal his secret identity, but he also knew this was important to him and he would feel guilty if he ignored the man. After all it was only a wedding and he could pretended to be Leonard’s boyfriend for a day, it couldn’t be that hard.

Barry would have to think about their story, though, or they wouldn’t give Lisa the same answers. And he had a lot of questions too. Was he supposed to know about Leonard’s criminal career? Was he supposed to act like ‘Sam’ or like himself? He needed to have a long talk with the thief.

Every day until Friday he wished that Snart had forgotten about him or had found another, better partner, but when he saw the man at his apartment again, he only sighed. At least he had the evening free of work and Flash stuff.

When his friends asked about the reason for him to want to go home early he only told them that he wanted a short break. He also told them that he was tired and felt like watching some TV shows while eating junk food on his couch.  It was something that they believed without a second thought.

“Let me take a shower and then we can go.”

Snart nodded absently, still very comfortable in the sofa and waited patiently. He was very tempted to going into the brunette’s bedroom, open his closet and see what kind of clothes he had and choose something for now, but he didn’t. The boy wouldn’t appreciate not having any privacy or intimacy at his own home.

“What have you told Lisa about me?” Barry asked a few minutes later, already dressed up and ready to go. “I mean, how long have been together? How did we meet? How much I know about you?”

“I ran into you not much after I came back and I bought you a coffee, but we’ve known about each other before that.” The thief explained calmly, standing up and smoothing out his clothes. “You’re a CSI and you’ve seen me in the precinct some times, but since my records are gone you accepted to go out with me some more times.”

“Wait, you are still a wanted man for breaking out of prison!”

“A good thing about the present is that the police now do everything with computers.” Leonard purred mischievously. “I might have asked Gideon, an AI, to erase my records again before all the Oculus thing happened.”

“I’ll take the responsibility for that too.” The brunette shook his head with a soft smile. “Anyways, so I’m charmed by your warm personality, anything else that I should know?”

“Just be yourself and don’t try to pretend you’re a bad boy or anything like that, okay?” The thief smirked. It was both amusing and hot remembering Barry trying to behave like a criminal and ending looking like a cute nerd. “Why would you take the responsibility for something an AI did?”

“Because I’ll create Gideon, or at least that’s what she says.” The brunette nodded toward the door. “Let’s go, I want to be back home as soon as possible.”

They went straight to a shop Leonard insisted was one of the best of the city and looked for some suits. Barry felt bad because the prices were very high but then he remembered that Snart was a well-known thief. He surely had a lot of money saved with all those heist he had made since he was young.

The criminal also wanted a suit for himself, so he chose one he liked and tried it on. It fit almost perfectly; it would only need some small retouches, but it wasn’t anything he couldn’t afford.

After that, Leonard helped Barry to choose a suit both of them liked and he smiled with satisfaction when he saw it fit very well. It wasn’t habitual for a suit to fit that way if it wasn’t tailored.

When Leonard finally paid for everything they bought (because Snart wouldn’t leave without buying some accessories too) the brunette was too eager to go back home. He was tired and he wished he could forget about that mess until the day after the wedding.

“Don’t burn it.” The thief said out of habit when they were already at Barry’s flat and Leonard was about to go. “Or lose it, or whatever.”

Barry only rolled his eyes, nodded and prepared something to eat. The criminal went to his own home and the hero just went to sleep after feeding himself. Now he only needed to think something to tell his friends so they wouldn’t bother him the day of the wedding.

“What do you mean you have a date and won’t be available the whole day?” Cisco asked with a frown. “That’s a lot of time for a single date.”

“It’s complicated.”  Barry scratched the back of his neck. “I met this person not so long ago and he asked me to go with him to their sister’s wedding.” He lied.

It made him uncomfortable lying to his friends like that, so easily, but he needed to do it. How was he supposed to explain them that Leonard was alive and had asked for him to go to Lisa’s wedding so he wouldn’t have to deal with some touchy boy? They would think it was a real date or something like that and he didn’t want them to think that.

“You didn’t say anything about this person because it’s a man?” Caitlin asked carefully and Barry looked at her like he was a dog and his owner just caught him biting something important. “It’s okay, Barry, we already knew you’re bi, but you’d have said ‘girl’ or ‘woman’ instead of ‘person’ if it wasn’t a man.”

“You’re right, but I didn’t say anything because it’s very new, really.” He assured trying to look convincing. “I would have told you sooner or later if it was something serious.”

“Hey, don’t worry, man.” Cisco patted his back with a kind smile. “We support you. Talk to us about him whenever you’re ready.”

“Thanks, guys, you’re the best!”

The hero felt slightly more relaxed after that conversation, but also a bit guiltier because he didn’t like lying to them. Some days he felt like he didn’t deserved his friends, but he really couldn’t just tell them the truth. Barry was sure they would get the wrong conclusion.

The brunette told himself that he would talk to his friends after the wedding and would tell them the truth. Then he wouldn’t see Leonard anymore, so they wouldn’t talk about it.

When the day of Lisa’s wedding finally arrived, Barry felt a bit nervous. He thought he would end up saying something that would lead the woman to find out he was The Flash or at least to think he was an idiot and find out he was The Flash. Why would someone like Leonard date an idiot? Lisa would know for sure!

"It's good to know you can do that, but I would calm down when we're there or everybody will know you're The Flash." Barry looked at his hands and realized he was vibrating. "My sister’s the one getting married, not you, Scarlet. Relax."

Leonard knew it was the wrong thing to say the second the hero stilled completely, but didn't apologize. It wouldn't take it back.

Barry felt bad remembering everything, but at least it didn't sting as much as it did at the beginning. It was an awful memory and he hated that Iris had given them up, but he got over it. He couldn't change the past, even if he could.

"Yeah, sorry, you're right." The brunette took a deep breath. "I just know both of you are insanely smart and I don't want Lisa realize I'm The Flash because I can't shut up."

"Would you calm down if I told you Lisa already knows?" Barry stared at him like he had been betrayed again. "That's right, Scarlet, she's known since I killed Lewis."

"Then why plan a fake story?" The speedster complained. He didn't want to believe it. "Why think about all those details?"

"That was mostly for your benefit." The thief shrugged. "You were happier thinking she didn't know, but you were going to let all the guests find out you're The Flash, so it's for the best that you don't worry about Lisa. I'm the one who's going to suffer her teasing for months."

"So what did you tell her, then?

"Mostly what I told you but instead of a CSI I only told her you work with the police." Leonard explained nonchalantly. "I also told her that I told you that she doesn't know all the our story. She would have understood that I meant she knowing about you being the Flash the second she saw you."

"So are you telling Lisa about this conversation?"

"No way, I'm not crazy." He rolled his eyes and shook his head. "I don't want Lisa laughing at me openly. This way she'll have to be careful at least."

The brunette nodded and left his flat with the criminal. At least he wasn't so nervous anymore. However, he only got to be calm until they finally met the bride.

She smiled knowingly after hugging his brother and glared at the speedster.

"So this is why you didn't tell me anything about him."

Barry tensed. He didn't know why, he just did. He only hoped that Lisa wouldn't say anything out loud.

"I don't know what you mean."

"Well, look at him." She purred with amusement. "He's half your age at least."

The brunette had to admit that the woman knew how to disguise her intentions. It would be even funny if he wasn't the focus of her mischief. Hopefully she would be too focused on her wedding to make them suffer too much.

“Very funny, Lisa.” The criminal growled. “Don’t you have to get married or something like that?”

The woman laughed and hugged her brother again before grabbing his arm. Leonard nodded softly at the brunette and walked Lisa next to the groom. Then, he smiled proudly to Lisa and stepped aside.

The rest of the day went alarming well. There wasn’t a single problem and it seemed like the woman was having an absolute perfect day. Barry found himself smiling because of her happiness. She and Leonard really deserved good things after all they had to live through because of Lewis and their careers.

When Mark Mardon recognized him as the son of the Detective West (because it was obvious that Mark freaking Mardon was going to be at Lisa’s wedding) and tried to harm him, both Snart siblings threatened him. The meta looked at him with a frown but went away with a growl.

After a while, when they were at the party after the wedding and all the guests were enjoying themselves, Barry decided he could relax. Lisa was very busy dancing with her husband, so he talked calmly with Leonard. Strangely, he was more comfortable than he had thought he could be there.

It was when the thief decided to go for some drinks that the brunette chose that moment to go to the bathroom. It had been a bad idea. Lisa caught him off guard and dragged him to a lonely corner.

“I know I shouldn’t know this, but I do and I hope you know I’ll use your identity as a weapon if you hurt Lenny.” The woman claimed without thinking about it twice. “He has never introduced me to any of his boyfriends, so you must be special if he took you here.” She glanced at him fiercely but softly at the same time. “He’s always been a bit obsessed with The Flash and I can see how he looks at you, but I won’t hesitate on telling everybody who you are if you ever think about using my brother or trying to make him something he isn’t. That said, I hope you’re having a good time, and please, don’t tell Lenny I threatened you, okay, dear?”

Barry blinked while Lisa went back to his husband’s arms and kept looking at her until he was able to react. He scratched his head and sighed because he was in a mess once again. Something like that could only happen to him.

When he went to the bathroom he thought about Lisa’s words. It wasn’t a surprise that Leonard was obsessed with him, not after all the work he did to learn his identity and try to beat him. But Barry wasn’t sure about what all the ‘how he looks at you’ meant.

That’s why when he met Leonard again he tried to pay more attention to the man. The thief kept looking at him whenever he thought Barry wouldn’t realize but that wasn’t all of it. Snart looked at him with some kind of adoration and that was something the hero wasn’t expecting. That must be what Lisa meant.

By the time the party finished, Barry had thought about what to do a lot. He had been distracted more than he was comfortable with, but in the end everything was okay, so he didn’t think a lot about it. It isn’t like Mardon (or anybody, really) was going to try anything after being threatened by both Snarts.

Leonard took Barry to his flat and thanked him for playing along. The hero could see that the other man wanted to say something else, but he didn’t and was going to go who knew where.

Then, the brunette decided that it was time to pick up his love life after so long. Snart was smart, strong and hot. He had a code and Barry had to admit that he had fun in the wedding even though he only knew him. It was a good start and if it didn’t go well, they could at least try to be allies.

“Wait, Leonard.” The brunette stopped the criminal when he was about to leave. “I... um… Would you like to have a coffee sometime? Or go for a walk, you know, whatever is okay to you.”

“Why so interested in hanging out with me so suddenly?” The thief smirked. “Do you want to keep track of what I’m doing now that you know I’m alive?”

“Well, yes. That and because Lisa could try to spy me or something only a Snart would do.” Barry scratched the back of his neck. “Besides, it’s been fun being with you and I thought we could see each other a bit more, see… see where all this leads us.”

“Oh.” Leonard realized what was happening. “So what you’re actually asking for is a date.”

The brunette blushed. “Yes.”

“Okay then.” The thief smiled smugly. “Then I’ll pick you up next Saturday at four, I like your idea of having a coffee.”

When Leonard left Barry alone, the hero smiled softly and changed his clothes for more comfortable ones. He had a hunch and, for the first time in a long, long time, it was a good one. Everything was going to be okay.