#sorry eddie all that time in the lab i doubt he got laid or even know how to do it lmao

[harringroveera]

Eddie: What’s your body count?

Henry: Twenty nine

Eddie: You slept with 29 people?

Henry: Oh, that body count. Then I’d like to change my answer

Eddie: …into?

Henry: One

Eddie: You only slept with one people?

Henry: Yes, you

Eddie: Oh!

[name-me-regret]

If The World Was Ending 14/?

If The World Was Ending Chapter Fourteen: A Lethal Side

Read on AO3.

- ~ - ~ - ~ - ~

“Some things I just cannot change Are you waiting for me to show you the way out? This love has a lethal side I would take the bullet, ah

You feel just like you're wasting a lifetime on me Just give into the feeling we got something real, yeah 'Cause every love song needs somebody to sing

So let me show you I'm what you need before you run away...

Can't hear what those people say Telling you that you're crazy believing in me now And if we march on the front line I would take the bullet...”

~ Runaway - James Carter

- ~ - ~ - ~ - ~

‘Because you’re exhausting!’

The words had been playing on repeat in his mind for the past hour, and it didn’t look like it would stop any time soon. Buck felt, not for the first time, that he had made a mistake for filing that lawsuit. That was especially true since it had solved nothing. His friends, his family, had pulled away further. That was none more true than Eddie, who had started to pull away from him even before the lawsuit. Now, he was sure he had completely lost him.

Buck cleared his throat, wiping hastily at his eyes. He decided that he needed to clear his mind, and that it was time to fall back on his usual coping method. So, he stopped briefly at his loft to get changed into his hiking gear. He’d added to the collection in the last two years that he had been with the 118, especially since he was trained in rescue and knew what was needed in case of an emergency.

He’d been part of a lot of hikes, so he knew that things that might seem like overkill, were essential. That meant his headlamp since it was almost sunset, and made sure he checked the batteries on it and brought extra ones just in case. He also made sure he had his LifeStraw Water Filter that he’d recently purchased, since he’d taken to hiking a lot during his recent shifts as the Fire Marshal.

The man sent a text to Maddie telling her he was going for a hike at Griffith Park, which would be open until 9pm, so he had plenty of time for a few hours to go on the hiking trail. When he arrived at the park almost 40 minutes later the sun was almost completely setting, he grabbed his backpack with his supplies but first slipped on his hydration backpack, which was small enough to fit on his front, against his chest. He had enough water for at least a two to three hour hike.

He was twenty minutes into his hike, not having seen anyone on the dark trail this whole time, when his playlist cut off as his phone started to beep furiously. “JARVIS?” Buck asked as he detached his phone from the strap of his backpack.

‘Sir will be with you shortly, Mr. Buckley,’ JARVIS told him. Buck knew that J was an AI, but he had always been pretty expressive. However, he wasn’t sure he’d ever heard him sound as strained as he did now.

“What? Why? What’s going on, J?”

The AI was silent before he started to speak again. ‘Sir was attacked two hours ago by an assailant that I’ve been able to identify as the Winter Soldier.’

This alarmed Buck and he lifted his head, looking for the armor but the dark sky was empty thus far. “Is Tony hurt? Why are you bringing him here?”

‘Sir didn’t have a combat ready armor with him at the time and though he managed to evade capture, he suffered a head injury that’s rendered him unconscious.’

“Why didn’t you take him to the hospital?” Buck demanded. “He could have a concussion!”

‘My protocols are to bring him to the closest person he trusts, and since his healthcare proxy is currently in D.C., you were the closest person to his location.’

Buck ran a hand through his hair, his cap getting knocked off in the process, but not that he noticed in that moment. “Alright… alright,” he muttered. He turned back and started to run back the way he had come, and was glad he hadn’t gone too far down the trail. He reached his Jeep in less than ten minutes, glad that he had kept to his training regiment after he’d started his light duty. After all, lying around doing nothing was more detrimental to his health.

He heard the repulsors then and he lifted his head to see the armor coming in from the west. That meant he had been in Malibu when he’d been attacked. The armor touched down more gently than he would have thought, but then again, JARVIS was the one flying it. It also appeared to be an incomplete armor, so that’s likely why he’d been mostly unprotected from the attack.

“Alright, open her up J,” he told the AI. When he did, Buck was ready to catch Tony as the unconscious man tumbled out. He’d opened his passenger side door ahead of time and easily lifted him and put him inside. “Tony, hey,” he said as he rubbed his sternum and patted his cheek to get him to wake up.

Tony moaned weakly and his eyelashes fluttered but didn’t open. The was blood caked on the side of his head from where he’d been hit and Buck didn’t have time to wonder what exactly it had been. Tony whimpered when he shifted him up further in the seat, making Buck wince.

“Sorry, sorry, but I need you to wake up.” Finally, his eyes opened and Buck couldn’t help grin at him. “There you are.”

“Ev?”

“Yeah, it’s me.” He took his headlamp off as an idea occurred to him, and used that to shine in his eyes. He flinched at the light and that wasn’t a good sign, especially since his pupils were dilated. When the man suddenly leaned out the open door and threw up, narrowly missing Buck’s hiking boots, he knew that he had a concussion, and needed to get him to the hospital to make sure it wasn’t anything worse.

That’s when he noticed the blood at his side and when he lifted his shirt, Buck saw that he’d torn his stitches. “Shit,” he hissed. He reached under his seat for his first aid kit, being thankful for his sister’s paranoia after the truck bombing. He quickly patched the wound, since he didn’t have the supplies to restitch it there and then he buckled him in and ran around to the driver’s side. Buck was relieved when he pulled up his maps amp and saw that there was a medical center less than ten minutes away. As he drove, he had JARVIS call the hospital.

“Tony? Are you awake?” The man groaned. “Do you know where you are?”

“M’in y’r Je’p?” Tony slurred. That didn’t sound good.

“Can you remember what happened?” Buck pressed, needing to see how bad the concussion was.

“Dunno… g’t hit?”

“Do you remember what hit you?”

Tony was silent for too long that Buck reached over and shook him, and sighed in relief when the man flinched. “No… no,” he said, shaking his head but moaned in pain at the movement. “Hurts.”

“I know, but I got you, Tony,” he reassured him. He looked behind him when he saw the blue lights and a cop car, which then pulled along side and then he motioned for Buck to follow him. It seemed JARVIS had also contacted the police department for an escort. Buck gave a thumbs up and followed the black and white cruiser.

As soon as they pulled into the ER, a few nurses and a doctor rushed out with a gurney. Buck told them about the head injury and the torn stitches as they loaded Tony onto the gurney. The cop told him that he’d be guarding Tony as per the instructions of someone named JARVIS. Then he was left alone, not knowing what to do except look at the hospital doors for a few moments before the siren of an arriving ambulance snapped him out of it. He closed the passenger side door of his Jeep and then got back in to find a parking space.

He was lucky to find one, even if it was further away than he would have liked. However, before he could leave the Jeep, JARVIS spoke up again. ‘Mr. Buckley, sir is being tracked.’

“What? By who?”

‘The Winter Soldier.’

“Who is that?” Buck asked a bit hysterically. He didn’t know what was going on. All he knew was that someone had hurt Tony and now they were likely coming to finish the job.

’He is an assassin that’s been sent by HYDRA.’

“Hydra? What is Hydra?”

‘HYDRA is an authoritarian paramilitary subversive terrorist organization bent on world domination. It was very active during World War 2 but with the efforts of Captain America and the Howling Commandos, they were able to destroy it.’

“I’m sensing a but,” Buck groaned where he’d laid his head against the steering wheel. This was spiraling into very dangerous territory, and Buck felt that he was barely keeping his head above water.

‘It seems to have survived and infiltrated SHIELD. Sir discovered this several days ago, as well as a plan to use an algorithm created by a HYDRA scientist to identify people that posed a threat to them and thus be able to eliminate them.’

“He stopped them and then they came after him?” Buck hazarded a guess. He took in several shaky breaths, trying not to have a panic attack right that moment. He was a first responder, a fire fighter that was used to running into a burning building, but this was more Athena’s area. Only, he couldn’t call her, couldn’t call anyone for help.

It was in that moment that Buck truly felt alone. He was alone in this.

‘Yes, that is correct.’

Buck contemplated on what he should do now, wondering if he should go inside, or call the police to warn them. It was just, would they believe him at all? Buck seriously doubted it. He was worried, because right now Tony was unprotected. “What do I do, J? I’m just a firefighter... or rather, I was.” He sighed and ran a hand through his blonde hair. “I can’t help him.”

‘There is a way, Mr. Buckley.’

The man’s head lifted in surprise. “What? How? What do I have to do?” He’d already lost his family at the 118 and didn’t want to also lose Tony. If there was something that he could do, then he would.

‘The Rescue Protocol.’

Buck frowned. “What’s that?”

‘Sir designed armor to your measurements and called it the Rescue armor.’

“What?!”

Before he could ask more, he heard the sound of repulsors once again and rolled down his window as he stuck his head out of it. He saw the suit coming from the east, which he found was weird. “Where is it coming from, J?”

‘Sir designed it and had it built at his lab in New York, because that lab had the equipment for it. He activated the protocol almost three hours ago, but since it was on the other side of the country, it is only now arriving.’

Buck stumbled out of the Jeep and saw not one armor, but two of them. “Wait, that’s two armors.”

‘It is War Machine, Mr. Buckley.’

“Holy shit,” Buck gasped, not believing that he was about to see Rhodes after all these years.

The two armors touched down and the face plate lifted on the War Machine armor. “Evan Buckley, is that you?” the man asked incredulously. The War Machine armor gave Rhodes about four inches, so they were about the same height.

“Rhodes, hey man,” Buck greeted him weakly. As he turned to what JARVIS had dubbed the Rescue armor, he saw that it would likely give him four inches as well. That explained why the Rescue armor looked taller. It was also colored the same blue as his LAFD uniform.

Rhodes pointed at the other armor. “Is it safe to assume this is for you to use?”

Buck ran a hand down his face as he nodded. “I don’t- I don’t know the first thing about how to use it. I kinda just found out literally a minute before you got here.”

“Lucky for you, FRIDAY informed me about the situation going on with Tony, so you might not have to use it.”

“Who’s-?”

‘Colonel Rhodes, incoming from the west,’ JARVIS interrupts them suddenly, voice urgent.

The Rescue armor is opening and Buck yelps as it lunges at him and incases him. He staggers back as the HUD turns on, breathing heavily and an alarm is suddenly beeping. Buck is stunned as his Jeep suddenly explodes in a ball of fire as it is flung to the side and into another car. The instincts he learned from his time in the SEALs kick in as he jumps away, rolling with the momentum, and is shocked at how easy the armor moves around him.

“Evan!” Buck hears Rhodes panicked voice and his vision is suddenly filled with a man with long hair wielding a grenade launcher, which is aimed right at him. He jerks to the side to avoid the grenade, which sails dangerously close to his face and it hits another vehicle that also explodes.

‘Mr. Buckley, may I suggest leaving the area before the hospital takes damage,’ JARVIS tells him.

“How do I do that?!” He yelps as the repulsors at his feet suddenly turn on and he waves his arms around wildly as he starts to lift off the ground, which makes the take off shaky and almost flies into another car.

‘Keep your hands at your side, Mr. Buckley,’ the AI instructs.

Buck quickly does that and the armor shoots into the sky, and it’s only because he’s jumped from a helo into the ocean during the BUD/S training that he doesn’t scream. Of course, he hadn’t made it much longer after passing Hell Week, because he hadn’t been able to turn off his emotions. So, he was very terrified in that moment. Especially when he saw a motorcycle following them with the long haired man on it, and did he have a fucking metal arm?!

“Evan, this way,” he hears Rhodes call. He follows JARVIS’s instructions as he angles his body to follow the man and almost whoops when he’s able to do it without veering too much off course. “We need to get away from the city before we engage.” They’re heading toward the Hollywood Hills, more than likely where there are very little houses.

Buck is totally onboard with that, since the last thing he wants is for someone to get hurt. He tries not to think too closely about what engage actually means, and that he was going to actively attack someone. And shit, he’s thinking about it now.

Then an alarm starts to blare through the speakers and with J’s warning, Buck twists in midair to avoid being hit as their pursuer shoots at them, which sends him into a sudden barrel roll that has him giving a choked off scream. He some how manages to regain control of the —his?— armor and gasps when he sees that the grenade had missed him, but managed to hit a building. Buck becomes alarmed when he sees that it was a house on the edge of where the hills start.

“Shit!” Buck exclaims as he turns, forgetting his fear and even that he’s way out of his element. There are people in danger and he can’t just do nothing. “JARVIS, is there some kind of fire suppressant system in the suit?” He sees as the AI selects the systems but curses when he sees its aimed for it to be used in case the suit is on fire or sparks. “I need something to stop the fire!”

‘There is a water gun on the shoulder,’ JARVIS tells him. Of course he had seen it, which resembled the one that Rhodes had on the War Machine armor, but he had assumed it was a weapon. ‘If you land in the pool beside the house, there are compartments that will open to suck into the suit and that will be directed to the water gun.’

Buck grinned despite himself, because he hadn’t been expecting that. “Wow, I thought it was a gun!”

‘That’s why Sir called it the Rescue armor. He designed it especially for you.’

And Buck could see that now. He hadn’t designed it like a weapon the way he had for Rhodes’s War Machine armor, but like a tool used to rescue people for Buck. Because that is what Buck did, he was a firefighter and he rescued people, and now the name Rescue for the armor made sense. “Alright then, J. Let’s see what this thing can do.” He had the AI connect him to Rhodes and told him that he needed to keep the assassin off his back while he went to put out the fire and see if there had been anyone inside the house.

“Roger,” Rhodes tells him. The War Machine turns and heads toward where the motorcycles is still following them. It also appears as if there are two police cars and one police motorcycle following the man. Whether they were alerted because he was breaking laws to catch up to them or because someone saw him shooting the grenade launcher is unclear, but that doesn’t matter at the moment.

“J, is there like some kind of autopilot on this thing? I don’t think I can land softly enough not to damage the pool.” Buck asked as they fly toward the house. He grins when the AI takes control of the suit and they land. JARVIS relinquishes control almost immediately after and he grins when he sees that the water can also come out of the hands by three individual tubes that can open up at the palms. It’s a good thing the pool is fairly large, and the gallons in it are likely enough to extinguish the flames. If not, there is another pool next door he can use.

“Aright, let her rip, J,” he tells the AI. He braces for the pressure to hit, use to doing it when he handles the hose as a firefighter, but it seems that he doesn’t need to as the suit is immovable. The water leaves the gun and the palms of the armor, and he aims at the worse of the flames. He cuts off the flow when the flames frizzle out, but makes sure there is enough left inside the suit in case there is more fire inside. There is a hole on one side of the house, and he rushes in like he usually does. “LAFD! Is anyone in here?” Buck shouts, forgetting that he isn’t a firefighter with the department anymore.

There is smoke and ash from the destroyed wall in the air and he kicks a few chucks away as he goes further inside. “Hello! Is someone in here?” His voice sounds mechanical and almost resembles what Tony’s does whenever he speaks while in the suit.

That’s when the suit’s HUD displays a scan of the house and it detects three heat signatures. Even then, he keeps calling and soon he hears a voice calling for help. The first person is a man in his early fifties which is the owner, judging by the information that JARVIS is displaying, and that he lives there with his younger wife and fifteen-year-old son. He brings the man out even as he protests. “I’m going to get them out,” he tells him with certainty.

He finds the wife next in a bathroom, a woman in her early forties who is unconscious from a hit to the head. Buck needs to secure her neck and substitutes a towel gently but tightly around her neck, making sure its not enough to strangle her. He then sees a bathrobe and uses the tie of it to secure the towel in place. Now that the neck is secure in case she has a spinal or neck injury, he carries her out.

“Evan, are you clear?” Rhodes calls over the coms, hearing the strain in his voice.

“Almost, Rhodes. I got one more victim inside the house. Give me ten minutes.”

“You got five,” he gasped. Buck jerks his head up as he hears an explosion, but sighs in relief when he sees War Machine still in the air.

“Copy!” Buck yells as he runs back into the house. JARVIS had pulled up the information, so he knows the name of the young man. “Jake! Jake, are you there?” He hears the house groan and knows the explosion caused the whole structure to be unstable, but he doesn’t want to leave until he has the teenager. Buck heads to where the heat signature is coming from, glad there isn’t any more fire, but there are sparks and if the gas line was damaged it could get really dangerous really fast. So he hurries. “Jake!”

He comes upon a room for a teenage girl and decides that he obviously isn’t there. Then he sees movement and turns. “Jake?” he calls as he rushes in. He finds a teenage girl huddled in the corner, confused by her presence there and wondering if he’ll have enough time to find Jake, but knows he can’t leave her there.

“It’s Jenny,” she whimpers as the house shudders.

Buck is confused. “What?”

“That... that’s not my name. It’s Jenny.” She cries out as the house shakes again. “J-Ja... that’s not my name!”

He realizes what she means almost immediately and nods as he kneels. “Alright, Jenny,” he soothes. He holds out his armored hand. “Take my hand, sweetheart. I’ll get you out, alright?”

Her eyes, bluer than even his own, dart up to his face. Then she nods and takes it. Buck lifts her up and carries her out. He deposits her into her father’s waiting’s arms who sobs a thanks for getting his daughter out, and Buck takes a moment to smile.

“Evan!”

“Shit!” he curses when he sees another grenade coming their way and instinctively lifts his hands and lets the water go with all the pressure the suit has, from the water gun as well. It must be more like a water cannon, because it knocks the grenade out of its course, and it hits the house. Buck turns and shields the family from the debris as it seems to hit another support beam and the whole structure comes down.

When he makes sure the family of three is okay, he goes a few steps away and his second take off is more smooth than the first one. He sees the lights of the emergency crews as he goes, and now that he knows the family is safe, he decides to concentrate on the fight that’s coming. Buck had never been a violent person, had never seen combat during his SEAL training, but he also knows that he can’t stand by while this assassin wrecks havoc and harms more people.

- ~ - ~ - ~ - ~

Athena had gotten a call from one the police officers in East Hollywood. While she wasn’t able to put any kind of official alert on her family or the 118’s vehicles or homes, they each knew the names of the people closest to them. When one of them was involved is an accident or any kind of incident. Mostly it was her kids, Michael and Bobby. Oh, and Buck, of course. It was because that kid was always getting into trouble, and because despite what Bobby said, Buck was his son. He was his son even while he was suing Bobby and the man was mad at him.

So, when the East Hollywood police were contacted by Iron Man’s associate to be an escort and given the license plate of Buck’s Jeep (which he’d just gotten back from the body shop), Athena had found out about it twenty minutes later. Naturally, she told Bobby, who was off shift and both of them raced over toward Kaiser Permanente regardless that they couldn’t contact Buck due to the lawsuit.

They were horrified when they found that area around the hospital parking lot cordoned off by police. Athena got off to try to find out something, telling Bobby to circle around and she’d call him when she knew something. She was able to pass through the police line easily enough, and even if she wanted to go immediately to the hospital and find out about Buck, something drew her to the scene.

There were several vehicles that had been on fire, which meant the another fire station, mainly station 6, were on the scene. There was a lot of destruction, like a bomb had gone off, and as she walked closer to the scene to try and see what was happening, she stepped on something.

The woman frowned and bent down to pick it up, seeing it was a California license plate, covered in soot and half burned. She wiped at the numbers, the curiosity getting the better of her. The moment she did, the sob felt like it was punched out of her.

It was Buck’s license plate.-

- ~ - ~ - ~ - ~

[robininthelabyrinth]

Fic: An Internal Affair - Chapter 20 (Ao3 link)

Fandom: The Flash Pairing: Leonard Snart/Barry Allen

Summary: Leonard Snart, the CCPD Captain of Internal Affairs, is known as Captain Cold for a very good reason: He hates corrupt cops with a merciless vengeance, and once you’re on his list, you’re in serious trouble.

His next target?

A CCPD lab tech named Barry Allen who’s developed a suspicious habit of disappearing at random intervals.

—————————————————————————————————

Ever since Barry became a speedster, he's found that he's able to keep up with things. Events. People.

Real life plot twists?

Except five seconds ago he was dropping Mick and Eddie back at the hospital (just in case), two seconds ago he was running back into STAR Labs desperate to save Len (who loves him?!) but knowing he'd be too late -

And now he and Wells (Eobard Thawne) are standing in the base of the Accelerator, both of them empty-handed and covered in glass shards, staring blankly at each other.

"Did - did you know that she could fly?" Barry asks hesitantly. He doesn't think so - he doesn't think Wells has ever even met Kara - but Wells has been three steps ahead of him this whole time, so...

Wells just shakes his head, still looking blank.

Barry kinda agrees. Like - what? What just happened?

Kara also moved, like, really fast. Like. Speedster fast. She's a speedster? Except she can also fly - and that was definitely flying, not jumping, Kara was totally, like, horizontal there - and, just -

Hold up.

They're both just standing around being shocked. Neither of them is moving, which means whoever starts moving first will have a (brief) advantage over the other.

Barry was definitely losing earlier, and he's pretty sure even with whatever advantage he can get from an early start, he's going to keep losing.

Time for a strategic retreat.

Barry makes a break for it.

Wells only notices, tearing his bemused attention away from the shattered ceiling, when Barry's nearly at the door, and then he gives chase - because of course he gives chase, he's obsessed, he's not going to give up, he's never going to give up - right up until Barry hits the street outside and a pair of arms catches him right under the armpits and up they go.

"This is awesome," Barry says to the greatness of Central City, laid out before him, as he's carted off into the air, legs dangling below him and Wells left behind stewing angrily at STAR Labs.

There's a sigh behind him.

"You know," Kara says into his ear, "I really feel like I expected people to be a little more shocked by this revelation. Possibly more negative. I don’t know. Something."

"I don't think Len actually has any negative feelings about you," Barry says honestly, since that's probably what she was actually worried about. He thinks Kara's awesome, and he's pretty sure the feeling's mutual, but at this stage of their budding friendship they still both worry over Len way more than they think of each other. "And I was shocked! I was totally shocked. There were full minutes of shock. But, y'know, what with me being a speedster -"

"Yeah, yeah, you processed it already. And the boss doesn’t do shock in public, I know. But still!" she says petulantly, and then dives down to a rooftop where Len's already sitting, leaning against the edge, to drop Barry off and hover above them. "Barry, can you stay here and keep the boss company while I go get either his braces or his spare crutches? I feel like the ones he dropped in STAR Labs are probably a total loss."

"I told her to go back to STAR Labs and pick up what I'd left behind," Len says, very solemnly. "And yet for some reason she grabbed you -"

Barry sniggers.

Kara does, too, then punches Len lightly in the arm. "Stop goofing around. I'll be back in five minutes - most of which will be spent digging around that mess you call an apartment."

And then she's gone.

Barry looks at Len, whose legs are splayed out in front of him in a way that suggests that his leg is hurting him and whose face is overly controlled in a way that suggests his side isn't doing him any favors either.

"So," Barry says.

"Yeah," Len says.

"Did you...?"

"Nope. Didn't have a clue."

"Fair," Barry says, because he hadn't either. Of course, he isn't as close to her as Len is, but also he hadn't noticed the Wells thing for ages, so he has no place to talk about noticing things. "You do hate mysteries."

"I also hate applying normal person logic to a situation and ending up with time-travel and superheroes," Len says dryly. "I guess I'll live. Anyway, like I told her, it doesn't really matter, since it doesn't seem to impact her efficiency as a secretary any."

Barry's almost expecting Kara to reappear and yell 'Admin assistant!' at them, but she doesn't. That's probably the point - Len's paranoid (and justly so) enough to want to make sure she's not spying on them.

And, well, Barry agrees. Just because Kara has superpowers doesn't mean that he intends to start treating her any differently. Although –

"Okay, so, one thing," he says. "I feel, like, 90% certain that most of your stories about how you met Kara hinged on her not being in Central during the Accelerator explosion."

"She wasn't," Len says. "She's not a meta, she's an alien."

Barry pauses.

He opens his mouth to say something, realizes he has nothing constructive to say, and closes his mouth again.

He considers the issue for another moment.

And then -

"She's a what?!"

"An alien," Len says, with a wry expression that suggests that he took this little revelation with much more grace externally and approximately the same degree of taken-abacked-ness internally. "Born on a planet called ‘Krypton’, apparently; she and her cousin were schlepped off to Earth because it has a comparable ecosystem to their homeworld, which was in the process of exploding at the time."

"Exploding."

"Apparently."

"I see."

"Yeah."

"And, because she's an alien, she can - fly? And move at speedster speeds?"

"And punch hard enough to move a car," Len says, rubbing his arm. "I'm extrapolating, but it seems reasonable."

Barry considers this.

"...that’s so cool," he finally says.

"Agreed," Len says, unable to keep from grinning.

"So," Barry says, and he doesn't really want to say what he has to say next, but he doesn't feel like he really has a choice. "I guess that means you don't need me, huh?"

Len blinks owlishly at him. "I - don't follow."

"Well, you came to me because you need a speedster to fight Wells - Thawne - whatever, right? And now that you have Kara -"

"You idiot," Len says, but fondly. "I came to you because I wanted an excuse to see you again, not because you were our last hope, Obi-Wan Kenobi."

Of course Len goes there. He wouldn’t be Len if he didn’t think in movie quotes and talk in puns.

"Listen," Len says, his face going serious. "I'm not - I don't - listen, I was right, what you were doing was wrong, and that's definitely not going to magically go away anytime soon. There have to be consequences. But - I should have listened to you.”

Barry stares at him.

Len meets Barry’s eyes. “I should have taken time to understand your perspective and accounted for all the issues surrounding what happened - including the fact that Wells is a master manipulator who deliberately positioned himself to gain your trust as an unquestionable father-figure, and the fact that he used your actual present father-figure to reinforce what he was doing.”

He shakes his head.

“It's not that I don't know how corruption creeps in, tainting everything around it, or even that the CCPD's been drowning in it for so long that it infects the best of us,” he continues, making a face. “I should've thought about that, and I didn't. I didn’t, because I was hurt, and I was hurting, and it felt like you did it at me, when that wasn't the case at all. And that was wrong, too.”

Len reaches out and puts a hand on Barry’s arm. “I should have given you the benefit of the doubt,” he says. “And while I'm not apologizing for the fact that I'm very likely going to have to put you in jail for what you've done, I'm at least sorry for that."

Barry swallows, hard. His heart feels like it's going a million miles an hour, and with his powers, that's actually possible.

He's going to react to Len's explanation in a mature manner befitting the seriousness of the subject, to accept his apology, to thank him for his faith in Barry, to –

"Did you really tell Mick that you were in love with me?" he blurts out instead. "In - in the hospital, I mean, like Wells said."

...damnit.

He's been thinking of little else - yes, he knows, inappropriate in a life-or-death situation but the possibility of Len loving him – the thought of Len dying without ever knowing that Barry loves him back -

Barry ran faster than he ever has before.

But Len didn't die. He's alive, he's here, and Barry has to know the truth.

Len pauses for a long moment.

"Please, Len," Barry says. "It's important."

Len's throat works. "Yes," he says. "I did. I - still do."

Barry -

Barry needs to sit down.

The space right next to Len is wide open, so he sits there. It’s a perfect fit.

He somehow thought it would be.

"I understand if it's - unwanted," Len is saying, because Kara is right; he is an idiot. Barry's in love with a total idiot, and he couldn't be happier about it. "Setting the cops on your family, your friends, in quite such a manner -"

"Len," Barry interrupts. "I love you, too."

And then he kisses him.

It takes a second for what Barry said to sink in, but then Len's kissing him back and his hands are in Barry's hair and Barry's hands are on Len's shoulders and –

Kara clears her throat.

Barry yelps and scrambles off of Len's lap. He isn't sure when he got on Len's lap, actually, and now that he thinks about it, it probably wasn't doing any good for Len's leg and side –

Kara's standing right behind them, laughing and holding Len's crutches in one hand and his leg and back braces in the other. They're pretty unwieldy, but she holds them as if they weigh nothing - seems Len was probably right about the super-strength.

She grins at both of them. "Sorry, am I interrupting something?"

"You support this," Len tells Kara crossly. "I know you do. Why're you interfering now?"

"No, no, don't get me wrong, I'm delighted," she says. "It's about time! You two are so good together!"

"Then go fly around the block for another few minutes!"

Kara giggles. "Oh, trust me. I would. But..."

Her smile fades, replaced with a serious look.

"But?" Len prompts.

"The riots have started."

"Crap," Len says, all levity gone. "Iris West doesn't leave dust in her tracks when she puts her mind to it. The news must've gone out."

"Oh yeah," Kara says. "Whatever wasn't on the evening news - all the evening news, local editions, newspapers, television, radio, the lot - has gone around the more informal channels. The cardboard brigade's actually affirmatively telling people, do you know that? They never do that."

"No one in Central likes the Families," Barry mutters. "God, people are going to go crazy."

"People are going crazy," Kara corrects. "All the set-up we've done is helping keep it somewhat contained, but - yeah. The Families are going to have a hell of a time sewing up their deal with this mess in the streets. No way our people get it cleaned up by Election Day."

"Not our people, no," Len says. "But the Feds are coming in tomorrow - and by now, cover story or no, the Families will know about it. There's going to be war tomorrow - now that they know secrecy isn't an option, the Families are going to tug on every string they've ever had, call in every debt, and they're going to try to force this deal down all our throats whether we know about it or not."

"The riots will get national attention," Barry says. "That should help get us more back-up, right? National Guard or something. But whether they'll be in time, I don't know - especially since we've lost so many cops to corruption already, and are probably only going to lose more. There's a chance we'll be overwhelmed. Besides, we still haven't solved the problem of what to do about Wells, who's probably capable of taking down an army or two on his own. What do we do now?"

Len doesn't say anything.

Barry glances at him and sees that he's staring out across the city.

Their city - their beautiful, corrupt, misled Central City, which has the potential to be so much more than it is.

Not unlike all of them, really.

"Len?" he prompts.

"I think the boss has an idea," Kara says. "That's his 'I have an idea' face. I hate the 'I have an idea' face."

"Because it's usually a bad idea?"

"Oh, no, it usually works out. It's just going to be absolutely nuts."

"You're not wrong," Len says, still looking out at the city. "Davners, Barry – I know you’ve been using your powers, but where we’re going, I don’t want you to use them, no matter what the incentive. It's too risky, especially with rotten military scientists in the area.”

“Where we’re going?” Barry echoes.

“Yeah,” Len says. “Kara, can we make our way to the governor's mansion from here on foot?"

"Through the riots?" Kara says doubtfully. "I mean, we could, if we don't mind being shoved around a bit, and with Barry and me making sure no one trips your crutches up, yeah. But why the governor's mansion?"

"That's where the ‘absolutely nuts’ idea comes into play," Len says dryly. "Barry, call Singh, tell him where we're going and our likely route; we need him to meet us there. Now enough talking - let's go."

Going through a crowd of angry rioters without using his powers is basically every bit as bad as Barry would have imagined it to be, which is to say, not unlike Central City mall during the worst ravages of Christmas shopping, only with more chanting and more anger and a lot more people holding sticks to hit things with out of sheer irrepressible rage.

They’re all talking about the Families.

Oh, yes, everyone’s always known about the Families, but no one knew how deep it went. No one knew that everything they trusted to hold back the dark was actually aiding and abetting it.

“The governor’s mansion?!” Singh exclaims into the phone when Barry calls him. “That’ll be a job and a half. Tell Snart he’d better have a damn good plan – the only reason most of my men are at work right now is because I haven’t let them leave. And when they go, a bunch of them aren’t coming back, and it won’t be because they’re cowards.”

Singh doesn’t need to actually say that it’ll be because they’re on the opposite side.

“We’re bleeding morale like crazy,” Singh continues. “At a minimum, Snart’s riots are doing a good job making sure no one leaves Central – we have barricades on all the major highways, but they’ve been reinforced by all the abandoned cars left behind by pissed-off people – but it’s a complete mess.”

“Len has an idea,” Barry repeats, since he can’t give out any details of a plan he doesn’t know the details of. Possibly that’s intentional on Len’s part. “And we have a few, uh, surprises up our sleeve.”

“You remember that I already know about your so-called ‘running hobby’, right?” Singh asks skeptically.

“Yeah, I know, I meant in addition to that.”

“Christ. You know what, don’t tell me, I don’t want to know. Tell Snart I’ll be there.”

Barry hangs up and ducks as someone waves a stick – no, an umbrella – over his head.

“Seriously, dude?” he demands.

“Sorry,” the guy says, looking sheepish. “It was the first thing I could find. Hey, a bunch of us are going to go down to trash the restaurant down on Camillo Street, the one everyone knows is a Family front, you wanna come with?”

“He can’t,” Len interjects. “We’ve got other plans. But remember that the cooks are probably victims too – keep your aim to the blood-bonded Family assholes.”

“Good point,” the guy says agreeably, then raises his umbrella to charge onwards down a side street, accompanied by a small mob of people.

Barry hopes the guy really does keep it in mind.

He shares worried glances with Kara and then they both realize that Len's managed to get ahead of them again and rush (at regular speed) to catch up.

Len might not be a speedster, but he has a way of eeling his way through the smallest possible gaps in a crowd - even with his crutches! - that lets him keep moving at an accelerated forward pace that Barry and Kara have trouble keeping up with.

Especially with the way people tend to cut right in front of them and then slow down. It's enough to drive a man to consider punching people.

Seriously, Barry's been trying not to use his powers for less than fifteen minutes and he already misses it. He can tell from Kara's expression that she, too, would love nothing more than to just leap into the sky right now.

Damnit, Len just darted through another gap and now there's a whole parade between them. How is he doing that?!

This time, though, when Barry and Kara catch up, Len's actually stopped, even though they're less than two blocks away from their destination. Barry can even see Singh in the distance, directing his cops to help funnel the people onto the side streets so as to thin the crowds a bit.

But no, Len's stopped to talk to some guy - an older man, shorter than Len, given to fat and with a nasty expression. He's not marked as a blood-bound Family guy, no tattoos that Barry can see, but Barry's willing to bet he's no good.

One of Len's underworld contacts, maybe?

Barry gets close just in time to hear the stranger saying, "- major opportunity here. With your help, I can -"

"Are you fucking kidding me," Len says flatly.

"Don't you use that tone on me, son," the man warns, scowling. "I know I taught you better -"

"My city is literally on fire," Len snarls. "The Families are going to destroy everything. And all you care about is lining your pockets - no," he adds when the guy steps forward, a threatening look in his eyes. "No, no, no, no. I don't have fucking time for this. No fucking time, no fucking bandwidth, just no." Then he raises his voice. "Officer!"

"What the hell are you doing?" the man hisses.

"What I oughta've done years ago," Len says. "You're under arrest."

"I'm what?"

"Under arrest," Len says. "For criminal conspiracy to commit a robbery and for attempting to solicit a policeman to join -"

"A policeman?!"

"Didn't I mention? Oh, good, Officer Gonzales -" This is one of Singh's guys who heard Len's shout and came running over. "- do me a favor and Miranda this asshole before sticking him down some sort of hole? I can't deal with him right now. Just get him outta my way."

Officer Gonzales blinks, then shrugs. He's a big guy, taller than Len and twice the width, built like a linebacker; Barry's always ascribed the man's easy-going nature to the fact that he’s probably never met anything that could effectively stop him. "Sure, boss."

"You can't do this!" the other guy shouts at Len.

"Just did," Len says, and off he goes again, straight into the crowd.

Kara and Barry exchange exasperated looks and run after him.

"Hey, who was that guy, anyway?" Barry asks, deciding a light jog is the only way he's going to keep up with the amazing forward momentum machine that is Leonard Snart on crutches.

"My dad," Len says shortly.

"Your dad?!" Kara yelps.

"Yep."

"Hold up," Barry says, alarmed. "The one who -"

"Yep."

"Including that time with the bomb in Lisa’s head?" Kara demands.

"That's the guy."

Kara and Barry don't even need to glance at each other to coordinate; they just both spin around immediately to start stalking back towards the man now revealed to be Lewis Fucking Snart, as Barry privately calls him in his head. After some of the stories that Len's told, not to mention this apparent 'bomb in Lisa’s head' business that Barry is totally going to get Kara to explain later, there is no way they are going to let this guy get away with –

"Get back here!" Len yells. "Morons! Both of you! We're almost there!"

Barry groans. Kara does, too.

But they go back.

Protecting Len from current danger takes precedence over getting revenge for past injuries, no matter how grievous.

...barely.

They manage to get into the governor's mansion on account of Len and Singh both flashing their badges and shouting; apparently the governor's security is convinced that no one would have the balls to fake two police captain IDs.

(Also, their not-so-quiet comments of "Is that Captain Cold?!" suggest that Len's nickname is, as Wells predicted, about to become both permanent and widespread.)

Once they get upstairs, it turns out Mick and Iris and Eddie are already there. Even Cisco and Caitlin are there.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Len demands, his eyes fixed on Mick and Eddie. "You were just kidnapped -"

"I sent them ahead," Singh tells him. "They were mostly just dehydrated. Even your, uh -"

"Partner," Mick says, with a testy tone that suggests this isn't the first time he's said it.

Barry doesn't really care, though, because Mick saying that has caused the biggest grin Barry's ever seen on Len's face, and he'd be willing to fight someone to keep it there.

"Well, boss?" Mick says. "Captain Oinks here said something about you having a plan."

Now it's Singh's turn to look testy.

"Glad you're making friends," Len tells Mick, still grinning. "Where's the governor?"

"Through the doors," Iris says. "Along with the Police Commissioner."

"The Commissioner?" Barry asks, alarmed. "Is he..?"

"Currently claiming ignorance," Eddie says dryly. "We're currently pretending to believe him."

"Innocent until proven guilty," Len says, like the world's biggest hypocrite ever, and then he's off again, heading towards the doors. "Besides, we might need him."

That sounds more like Len.

The governor is pacing a hole in her rug, and the Commissioner looks like he's bitten into something unpleasant.

"Governor Kinsley," Len says. "Nice to make your acquaintance."

"You're Snart?" the governor demands. "The one who uncovered this mess?"

"That'd be me."

"Good for you," she says. "Now how do we get out of it? I've lost a quarter of my security staff - and good riddance!"

"They tried to kidnap her," Commissioner Goddard says. He's got some dried blood on his suit, suggesting he might’ve helped stop that attempt personally. "Mayor Bellows's orders - he's gone all the way over."

"Over some adultery?!" Barry exclaims. "Seriously?"

"I think it’s more that he puts the odds on the Families winning," Governor Kinsley says. "And to be perfectly honest I don't blame him."

"I've already called in the Feds," Len says. "They'll be porting in every available hand they have available tomorrow, and they won't have as many corrupt in their ranks."

"I've called the National Guard in as well," the governor agrees. "But it won't help us in the short term - General Eiling scattered them all earlier this week. Training exercises." She sneers. "Because he's in on it too, of course."

"Glad you're taking this personally," Len says. "Because you really ain't gonna like my next suggestion."

"And this is where he goes off the rails, with the rest of us behind him," Kara mutters.

Mick nudges her in the side and offers his hand for a fist-bump, which she returns.

"I'm willing to listen to any suggestion at this point," Governor Kinsley says, scowling. "The Families have been building this for months; we've had under twenty-four hours to react. They're not going to stop with the kidnapping attempts, either, and I have kids."

"The rest of the country has no idea what's going on here," Goddard agrees. "Nor will they care how it gets pacified - whether it's because the Families win or lose."

"Agreed," Len says. "And that's why we need an amnesty."

"A what?!"

Barry can't blame her. Where did that idea come from?!

"Amnesty," Len says. "Forgiveness for crimes caused by the Families in the lead up to this event - not all crimes, obviously, just stuff they can show they were manipulated into in the set up for this. No, don't look at me like that, I hate the idea too, but it's necessary. The Families' biggest weapon is people's fear of the law - an amnesty'll cut off the ones who ain't really corrupt, just dumb and used to taking shortcuts and now getting pushed around by the Families because of it."

"The ones who feel they have no choice," Barry says, understanding. "The ones who are being blackmailed - the regular people, the police, everyone - they think their choice is between the Families and prison, if they stay on our side. If we change what's on our side -"

"We eliminate the effect of the blackmail," Iris breathes. "And then they can come back - or refuse to go over."

"We'd probably stop bleeding police," Singh observes neutrally. "They were hardest hit, on purpose. I'm barely keeping my precinct together, and I don't know how the others are faring."

"Fine," Governor Kinsley snaps, her mouth twisted angrily. "You're right, I don't like it, but I see your point. But you -" And here she jabs her finger at Commissioner Goddard, the man who had prior to all of this been helping the mayor in the primary against her tomorrow in exchange for getting the mayor’s help with his own run. "- are going to sign on whole-heartedly, you hear me? I'm going to be doing this on your express recommendation that this is the only way to stop the ongoing threat."

Goddard scowls, but they've got him on the spot: he hasn't suggested that he can keep his police in line any other way, and to do anything other than his utmost to help stop the ongoing disaster could be read as suggesting a certain corruptibility that it is now in very bad fashion.

Len is smirking.

Of course he is.

"Fine," Goddard finally barks. "I'll sign. But only crimes deliberately orchestrated by the Families, y'hear? We're not granting amnesty to every two-bit pickpocket that stole something in the last year."

"Of course," Len says soothingly, or as soothingly as he can while also gloating. "Just the stuff from the last few months, yeah? When they were building up to this. Only the stuff that happened because of the Families, not in spite of."

"Fine," Goddard says through gritted teeth, glaring at Len. "Singh, I'm putting you in charge -" He says that like he thinks he's putting one over on Len, who pretends to look annoyed about it when Barry knows quite well that he didn't ever want to be in charge. Singh mostly looks long-suffering about it. "- and I want us coordinating with the FBI and anyone else who can help. Let's squash this little Family gambit like a bug."

He stomps off to where Governor Kinsley is already waiting with a swarm of lawyers, ready to retreat to her office to process (create) the necessary paperwork.

"All right," Singh says the second they're gone. "The second that amnesty's signed, we're going to publicize the living daylights out of it and get as many people reassurance as possible - not to mention heavily implying that the Families only got so far into the government and police through their blackmail schemes -"

"That's not really true, though," Iris objects. "Not at the top -"

"I don't care if it is true, it's going to have to become true," Singh says. "The riots need to be stopped. It's already going to be cop-versus-cop warfare out there; we need the regular people to believe something made this an aberration, or else they're just going to destroy everything in an absolute frenzy of terror and rage. We'll never be able to rebuild their trust in the system if this isn't an exception to the rule. You hear me?"

"I hear you," she grumbles, then brightens. "Wait, does that mean my dad's being let out of the holding cells?"

"Yes," Singh says. "We need all the good men we can get."

Wait - Joe's being released? Because they need people, sure, but -

"Given the existence of the amnesty, I'm willing to drop the charges against him," Len says. "Don't get me wrong, he still needs a million hours of remedial ethics - probably everyone does - but what he and his lot did seems to fall under 'manipulated by the Families'."

Manipulated by Wells.

And if Joe's free under the amnesty, then that means - Cisco, and Caitlin, and -

And Barry.

He's going to be able to keep his job.

And not through some corrupt deal that's going to hang over his head the rest of his life, no, but through a (mostly) legitimate amnesty, signed by the governor herself.

(Boy, is Barry glad he never did anything to try to take any of the metas over state lines - that'd make it a federal crime, which is most certainly not going to be covered by a state amnesty.)

Barry is seriously considering kissing Len right now, even though he knows Len would've never done it if it were just for him.

"There's one more thing," Eddie says.

Everyone looks at him.

"Eobard's still out there," he says.

Everyone continues looking at him, a little blankly.

"Wells," Mick clarifies. "Evil speedster. Real name Eobard, remember?"

"Oh, right," Barry says.

"Oh, yes, him," Kara says, pinking up a little. Probably because she forgot about him for a second there.

"The Reverse Flash," Cisco says.

"But I - er, that is, I don't think the Flash can stop him," Barry says, painfully aware that they're not alone. "He's not fast enough."

"Then we'll just have to stop him some other way," Eddie says. "Listen, there's an option -"

"We are not Back to the Future-ing him and that's final, Thawne," Singh says. "Do I need to put you on suicide watch? I will, just watch me. I've split off a portion of my forces just to protect Iron Heights and the courthouse cells; I won't hesitate to split some off for you."

"Yeah, that's a terrible idea," Barry says, alarmed by the very thought. He likes Eddie! Iris likes Eddie! Besides, yes, Wells-Eobard said that he needed Eddie to stay alive, but - "Besides, he totally could've been lying. Like 90% of what he said doesn't make any sense in a time paradox sort of way anyway, so who's to say that this would work? And even if it does, who knows how long it'd take to kick in?"

"Yeah, bad plan," Len agrees. "Scrap it. Now, I don't have my cold gun -"

"You don't?"

"It's still in STAR Labs where I dropped it while being thrown across the room," Len says dryly. "And that's assuming Wells - yeah, I'm going with Wells, Eobard's a dumb name anyway - assuming Wells didn't break it into bits the second after we escaped, that is."

"I still have my present," Mick volunteers, tapping a black-and-red gun strapped onto his thigh. "That'll help."

"We still don't know where to find him," Iris points out. "He's probably not just sitting around in STAR Labs while the city's on fire - he's associated with the Families, isn't he?"

"Sort of," Eddie says. "As far as we can tell, he worked for them as an assassin in exchange for getting all sorts of illegal parts for STAR Labs when he was building it, to make construction happen faster; that's how he said it started when I asked him...don't look at me like that! I was trapped with him for hours and he likes to boast. That's how it started. He'd also been working with Eiling on something - Project Grodd or something, I don't know - around the same time, so he got the idea of putting them together."

"But why?" Iris asks. "Just to get STAR Labs built that little bit faster?"

"That," Mick says, "and 'cause he thinks of himself as a very important sorta guy. He likes being a mover and a shaker, likes being descended from movers and shakers, and he figured a nice little investment in Family power now would pay dividends for generations of Thawnes. No offense."

"None taken," Eddie says wryly. "If I ever have kids, I'm encouraging them to take up anything but politics. Maybe art. Or figure skating."

"My sister's a figure skater," Len remarks. "Bloodthirsty sport. Like hockey, just more spins."

"...maybe not figure skating, then."

"You could also just take my name," Iris says, hiding a smile. "No more 'Thawnes' then."

Eddie beams at her.

"Getting back to the actual subject at hand," Singh cuts in. "I don't have the manpower to deal with the riots and fight this guy as well. Snart, can you and your task force at least try to handle him?"

"We've got it," Len assures him.

"We don't even know where he is!" Kara exclaims.

"That," Len says, "ain't gonna be a problem."

-----------------------

A/N: I'm not saying I won't write the AU where Barry gets stuck in house arrest that you all seem to want, but maybe another time :)

[sole-lily]

Sole Survivor Fanfiction #4 - Return to the Vault

It had been what felt like nearly a lifetime since Lily stepped out of Vault 111. So much had changed since then... Lily had hardened, had played a hero, began fixing everyone's problems... And all the while, she still worked to get into the Institute. She still worked to rescue her child. Something she had yet to accomplish, but she was well on her way. Her determination hadn't failed her, yet. Sanctuary had become a very stable and lively community. Everyone had secure concrete houses, protected by turretts. They slept in comfortable beds, under solid roofing that didn't threaten to allow rain to slip in. They were able to obtain luxaries and pre-war artifacts that helped make everything feel a little more human, a little more like home. Everyone had electricity for light, music, and televisions. Lily's holotape collection became a benefit, as there were a fair few salvagable cartoons to be found in the Commonwealth. And if anyone was to get their hands on them, it would of course be her. Occasionally, when there wasn't much work to be done around the settlement, everyone gathered in the main house when it got dark, and put on some cartoons. That, with some Nuka Cola and Sugar Bombs or Fancy Lad Snack Cakes, became a regular way to difuse amidst the tensions. This particular night, however, while everyone was gathered and enjoying sugar and cartoonic misadventures, Lily had locked herself in her room and fell into a quiet contemplation. Her armor hung on the mannequin in the corner of the room, amidst her Silver Shroud posters. Purely for comfort, she donned a Grognac the Barbarian t-shirt she had snagged from Hubris Comics, and some baggy camoflauge pants. She sat on her bed, with several burned (but still useable) journals spread in front of her. A pen that had nearly run out of ink was clutched in her hand. Writing helped her think, helped her piece things together and organize the mess in her mind. Nick sat in a chair near her, a cigarette between his lips and a file in his hands. The only sound to be heard was the buzzing of turretts and generators, and occasionally, faint boisterous laughter from the house next door. Long after the laughter had stopped, presumably because everyone had gone to bed, Lily let out an annoyed sigh. It disturbed the peaceful hum that had filled the room for so long, making it seem a much louder gesture than it really was. "What? What is it?" Nick asked, as he looked up from the file he had been working on. "Pen's almost out of ink, and it's my last one. Gonna have to go scavenge to find another... Unless..." Her words drifted off, as a dazed look overcame her tired features. "Unless what?" "Well... all those scientists in the vault... there were boxes of pens and papers that are in perfect condition. It'd be easy to get them..." Her bottom lip was caught between her teeth. "Ah... I see..." Murmured Nick, who was starting to understand the conundrum. "Have you not... gone back, since...?" "No." Lily answered, rather abruptly. "But... I should." She decided. She swung her legs over her bed and moved to her weapon stash which sat next to her armor. From it, she plucked her 10mm. The weapon she had escaped the vault with. "It's just a short walk up the hill. Wouldn't take more than ten minutes." She explained. Nick nodded his head. He closed his file, put out his cigarette, and stood up to follow her. Dogmeat, sensing that they were going somewhere, got to his feet, too. - One downfall to the concrete houses was that there was no windows, and without a working clock, you'd have to go outside to tell what time it was. So, when the trio stepped out of Lily's room, they found that hints of the sun were showing in a purple night sky, which was becoming more pale with each second that passed They had worked through nearly the entire night. It had to be around five in the morning. Of course Nick hadn't noticed, seeing as he didn't need sleep, and Lily's lacking desire for sleep was likely to blame for her own lapse in judgement of time. The air was cool, and oddly dewy, and the stars glittered behind a bleary sky. Lily stopped only to grab a can of water from their stock, and sipped on it as they walked between the houses. Her other hand held her 10mm with a loose grip. She felt oddly at ease. Dogmeat trotted at her heel, constantly vigilant, and Nick walked at her side with a relaxed stride. They climbed the hill, passing skeletons dressed in the rags of pre-war clothing along the way. Some in what were once dresses and suits, next to burnt up shells of suitcases. Others were dressed in military fatigues, alongside empty ammo cartitiges. Metal scrappings were scattered along the path. By the time they had crossed through the gate, Lily had finished off her water and tossed the can to the side. She then approached the control panel with far more certainty than she thought she would have, and firmly pressed the red button. A light began to spin on the vault door. The alarm went off, echoing loudly from where they stood, though Lily had doubt that the sound would reach the sleeping settlers down below. Then, with a confidence that she thought could only be false, she stood in the circle as she once had over two-hundred years ago. "Wow, you can really see all of Sanctuary from up here..." Nick mused, as he stood at her side. And it was a true statement. Lily could clearly see even the furthest house's turrets, from where she was. She remained silent, however. Something completely uncharactaristic. It unnerved Nick. The plate they stood upon gave a lurch, and with the sound of metal scraping on metal, they were lowered into the depths of Vault 111. Once they plate lowered all the way, and the gate lifted, Lily and Nick climbed the stairs. Immediately, they were greeted by skeletons donned in lab coats, and the carcasses of radroaches Lily had killed when she escaped. "Oh, look, there's some pens - and a box of paper right there. What's say we just grab these, and... Lily?" Nick asked, as he saw her form move for an open door that lead even further into the vault. It was almost as if he wasn't there, and Lily was pulled through those halls as though she were tethered to an anchor in the depths. Her movements were automatic, and robotic, as though she had only one goal in mind. Which, she did. Everything else about her surroundings simply didn't exist. The further they moved into the vault, the more they could hear the sound of dripping water, and feel the chill that radiated from the cryogenic pods. It wasn't long before they came to a row of them. A row with only one pod open - the very pod that Lily had been 'stored' in. Her pale, grey eyes were glassy. "Oh... god... There are people still in there..." Nick breathed, as he walked behind her. Behind each glass was a perfectly preserved, pre-war body. Lily's movements became determined, now. "Are they... still alive?" Nick asked. He didn't know yet, that every single one of them had aesphixiated from Kellogg's termination of the life support system. Lily didn't know, either. She had been too pre-occupied with escaping to check the terminals. Nick, having spotted one, moved to boot it up and read the logs. Lily hardly noticed Nick's snooping. She moved down the rows of frozen pods until she came to the one that called to her. Behind the glass, Nate's body sat, slumped forward. The bullet wound that had gone right through his heart looked clean, thanks to the frozen atmosphere he was stored in. She pulled on the lever to open the door, which attracted the attention of the detective. The door lifted, until Lily was gazing up at the full form of her dead husband's body. When everything had happened, when she had watched him die... Both her survival and her maternal instincts had kicked in at that time. She was driven by rage, and the desire to find her child. Bar her breakdown at the Red Rocket Truck Stop, she hadn't stopped to allow herself to properly grieve, to process the shock of seeing Nate killed before her very eyes. Her face was oddly expressionless. Nick saw this, when he moved to return to her. "Now that's not... Oh... Oh, I'm so sorry." He whispered, his voice breathless and empathetic. Lily knew that he understood her sorrow. She had learned that, on their hunt for Eddie Winter. Lily didn't break from her emotionless haze until these words hit her ears. Then, it seemed as though the reality of it all hit her at once. Her large, owlish eyes became bloodshot, and flooded with tears. The stoney, statuesque look she had been wearing shattered, and her chin quivered. She had entered this vault with the look of a hardened shoulder, but now appeared to be little more than a child. Without a word, she spun on her heel, and into Nick, her arms wrapping around his neck. He was shocked at the notion, but wordlessly wrapped his arms around her. For a long while they stood there, surrounded by the corpses of the past, as Lily sobbed into his trenchcoat. - By the time they exited the vault to return to Sanctuary, arms full of boxes of writing supplies and a few other pre-war goodies, the sun was cresting over the torn city in the distance. The stars were barely visible. Lily had cried until her throat was sore and her face red. At one point, she had expressed guilt over having gotten her tears and possibly snot on Nick's trenchcoat, but he brushed this to the side with, "It's had a lot worse done to it." The trio walked back to Lily's room. Exhaustion hit her with full force, when she sat upon her bed. She laid back, and rested her arms on her stomach. Nick sat on the edge of the bed, near her, and looked down at her. "You gonna be okay, doll?" He asked. Aside from Lily's admission of guilt, she hadn't said much else when they left the vault. Now that they were free from the heaviness of being deep in the underground, however, Lily felt the tension that squeezed at her heart, loosen. "Yeah, I'll be okay." She responded earnestly, her voice rough. A moment of silence passed between the two of them before she spoke again. "I thought of properly burying him, you know? Giving him a grave..." "So why don't you?" "It seems... better to leave him where he can remain untouched by the irradiated world. He isn't lost in time, like I am. He's right where he's supposed to be." Silence fell once more. Nick was unsure of how to respond to this. He knew it was a heavy burden to carry. "Hey Nick?" "Yeah?" "Thank you..." "Anytime."