ColdFlash- Soulmates

Chapter 16: Luckiest Man Alive

    Len was sat at his favorite table at Saints and Sinners, idly pushing chips around his plate. Just thinking. He and Barry had sometime come and sat at that table in the past, it was situated so that Len had a good view of the door, bar and the majority of the room. Even though he was surrounded with his own kind so as to say, he could never be curtain when he would need a quick get away; criminals after all weren't always the most trustworthy people. It was for the same reason that he hadn't brought his boyfriend... ex-boyfriend often for fear of conflict in occupation, even if Barry had previously forgiven him for his life choices. Somehow Len didn't think that the room full of men and women, all of whom had committed at least a few crimes, would take kindly to finding a CSI working for the CCPD in their midst even if Barry didn't  mind.

     No, this place was somewhere that he came mostly with Lisa and Mick. He came for business or to stave off some stress at the end of a week planning or executing heists, or in the case of that year with Barry, security work. He had to give it to him, the kid had tried to straighten him out but in the end the job with security had just improved his already vast knowledge on the inner works of secured areas. Often he would lie awake at night thinking of how he had failed his ex, how the man had seen the good in him, had tried to bring it out and how Len had pushed it away. More than anything he hated to think that it was because he was afraid of what that light meant that he pushed it away. It was the unknown and Len didn't  like the unknown.

     He decided to try and think about other things at that moment. Like bar fights. The other reason that Saints and Sinners was his favorite bar in Central. Leonard loved a good brawl at the bar and, let's face it, those weren't a rarity in places such as these. Criminals were fine with screwing people over but if people screwed them over you'd know about it. He liked a good bar fight enough that if he was in the mood Len would start a fight, if not Mick was always raring for a bit of violence and Len might just join in with the... scuffles that his partner started.

   All of the memories that that bar held made it impossible for Captain Cold to hold back the small smile that curled his lips. They were good, there was a few bad- but those were mostly business transactions that fell through and nothing that affected his personal life. The smile that had graced his face was also there partly, well more than that, in anticipation of the man that he was meeting up with.

   Naturally Len had arrived bang on time and, equally as predictably, the other sat himself down opposite half and hour late. Len looked up at the younger man across from him and let the corner of his mouth twitch up. He couldn't quite believe this was actually happening.

   "Remember our first date Barry?" Len asked.

   "At Big Belly Burger, yes. Impossible to forget," Barry said, smiling openly. It was something that Len had missed intensely in the years since they had last parted so he drunk it up, letting a smile of his own form before continuing the conversation.

   Len hummed in reply and his smile turned into a smirk," the first and last time that you were early."

   Barry laughed as a slight blush crept up his neck at the same time," if I remember correctly I did warn you. You still chose to stay."

   "Yes I suppose you did," Len smirked again. It was like nothing had ever happened between them in that warehouse. The thief leaned across the table slightly and ran a long finger over the skin on the other's neck that protruded from his shirt, where the blush had turned it red.

  "I think that I will be able to call you Scarlet in and out of that suit."

   "I'm not sure how to reply to that," Barry chuckled, the blush deepening. Len let out a small breath, touching Barry had been a move fraught with risks- even after the events of the other day- but Barry had accepted the contact, Len could have sworn the other man even leaned into it slightly. He could have been imagining things though. He just hoped not.

   Len popped a chip into his mouth as the conversation died down a bit, offering some to Barry and the two sat in silence for a moment. Barry was watching him intently, green eyes scanning his face even as he picked up chips and ate them. Len found himself reveling in the gaze, something that was so familiar, the examination something that Barry used to do as they sat alone together as if he couldn't quite believe his eyes even then.

   "Why did you want to meet Len?" Barry said eventually.

   "Because you were right," was the thief's reply," we need to talk things through."

   The speedster nodded and that smile shone brightly again. Len felt ecstatic, he had always loved it when Barry smiled and there it was again. A genuine thing shown by the way those eyes lit up and crows feet appeared at the edges. He had another shot with the younger man, a man who, if he was honest with himself, had been the only one to ever really steal his heart. It made Len wonder which one of them at that table was the master thief.

   "Let's go for a walk, so we can talk away from this," Barry suggested gesturing at the noise and rumpus around them.

   "Sounds like a plan," Len agreed.

***

   The night air was cool and crisp, reminding Len of their very first date. Barry had sped them off to the shoreline, his speed making Len once more feel as if he had left his innards behind. The thin stretch of sand was empty at that time, the waves lapping sleepily at the land. The city lit up behind them. 

   Barry was walking close to his side, maybe because of the cold and perhaps because he wanted to be close, the thief hoped it was the latter. All he knew was that their shoulders and arms were almost touching, it was almost awkward so Len took another leap of faith and entwined his fingers with Barry's. The younger man looked down at their hands briefly and gave Len's a light squeeze. That small gesture made the Snart hesitate, still unsure if what was happening was real or not.

   "I don't know how this will work with you as the Flash and me a now known and very famous, or infamous, criminal," Len admitted, hating the words and hating the way they broke that peaceful quiet.

   "I don't know either, my friends- Cisco in particular- aren't to pleased with our past relationship. Though my cop dad seemed okay, he was more concerned about were I got my scar," Barry said glancing briefly at Len.

   "Scar? Is that the one from the warehouse?" Len asked with an empty feeling in his gut.

   He watched as Barry nodded, looking down at the sand and pebbles rather than him. Len could remember it clearly, the blood, how he had carried Barry to the van, how he had stitched up his unconscious form. How Barry had finally seen who, what, he was. And yet here he was. He hadn't really comprehended the fact that the wound would have scared for some reason, thought that maybe it would just fade to become part of the mess that that night at the warehouse was. Had hoped that had been the case.

   "We'll work it out though, I know we can. I didn't stop being with you because of what others thought last time. If that was the case then I would never have dated a man let alone a male criminal. But I dated someone who cared, who just wanted to do right by those he loved- just went about it through the wrong ways," Barry said, still not looking at him but rather seeming to find the sand and stones interesting.

   Len stopped walking then and Barry did too, pulled back by their still linked hands, turning to look at him in nervous confusion. Len untangled his hand from Barry's and used it to hold Barry's chin so that he could only look at Len while the other stoked the speedster's cheek. There was only honesty in those eyes, something that hadn't changed since the day that Leonard had first seen them, something that he hadn't ruined. Something that had resided stubbornly despite everything Barry had lived through. He then looked down at those lips, remembered the feel of them, the taste of them, both from years ago and just the other day. He wanted to taste them again though so he pressed his mouth against them, a quick peck before diving into a deeper, more passionate kiss which Barry returned with as much feeling, his arms coming up to wrap themselves around Len's neck. In that moment Len considered himself the luckiest man alive.