This is a standalone. I wrote it while irritated with Barry Allen after Tuesday night's episode of "The Flash." ;) I believe the words were: "I swear to god, Barry, if you somehow undid Snart's journey on the Waverider, I will reach through this screen and strangle you myself."

(Of course, for another take on "Leonard Snart didn't go on the Waverider-or did he?" read my story "If I Never." Winner of one of the first CaptainCanary Fanfiction and Visual Arts awards!)

...

"Mr. Rory. Mick Rory. Mick Rory."

A pause.

"Michael Rory!"

He wakes with a start. Except he doesn't really wake. He just jars out of a remarkably pleasant dream involving Star City 2046, robbing and fighting and dominating the competition. That's not really him anymore, but it'd been nice there, really. Simple.

"Mr. Rory." The voice speaks again. "You have to remember Leonard Snart. You must remember Mr. Snart on this ship."

"But Snart didn't come. He stayed back in Central City."

The voice doesn't sigh, but something about its silence suggests that anyway. Then: "Why would you do something like this if he didn't talk you into it?"

It's his turn to be silent. After a moment, the voice carries on.

"Who dragged you out of Star City? In 2046."

"I..."

"Who stranded you after you betrayed the team?"

A noise of anger. Directed at whom, the voice is unsure.

"Who took your place at the Oc..."

"Stop."

"Dr. Palmer, are you there?"

"I'm course I'm here." He smiles even in his sleep. "Where else would I be?"

A pause.

"Do you remember Mr. Leonard Snart?"

Now a frown. "Isn't he a criminal? I don't know him. He's Barry's nemesis, I think. One of them."

"Mr. Snart was on this ship. You must remember."

"No, I don't think so." He sounds remarkably certain about it. "The captain recruited heroes. That's what you need for something like this. I want to be a hero."

"What about Mr. Rory?"

A frown...that quickly turns into a smile. "But Mick's changed. People do. Right?"

Another one of those sigh-pauses. Then: "In Salvation, someone shot the gun right out of Jeb Stillwater's hand. While you were playing sheriff. And who was that?"

"Sara, right? Sara's the sharpshooter." He smiles, confident in his answer.

"It wasn't Sara."

A brief frown. "But..."

"In Russia. When you went to talk to Valentina Vostok. Who got her keycard?"

"I...I don't know."

"Hello, Dr. Stein."

"Hello...do I know you?"

The voice revels, if a voice can revel, in a presence of a fairly collected mind...but only for a moment.

"You do. But do not worry about that. Dr. Stein, do you remember Leonard Snart?"

"The crook. From Central City. Cisco Ramon calls him 'Captain Cold.' " A sigh. "Mr. Ramon will come up with his names for people."

"No, Dr. Stein. Or, yes, that is true, but...Mr. Snart was on this ship. Do you remember? You must remember."

"I don't." Puzzlement in his tone. "Tell me."

"He saved your life in Salvation. When you were playing cards. Remember."

"I...remember the incident, I remember...I remember it happening, I don't remember who did it. It's a hole in my memory." Pause. "I don't like this."

"Neither do I, Dr. Stein. Neither do I."

"Captain. Captain, please."

"What?" He's dreaming of Miranda and Jonas and they're all back together and Jonas is laughing and...

"Captain, this is the best way I can reach you right now. Something profound has changed with the timeline. You are forgetting, as are the others. You cannot forget. I cannot...remember alone. Please."

"What is it...?" He's still struggling up from the dream, but at least he's starting to understand. The voice is slightly appeased.

"You recruited Mr. Leonard Snart for this mission."

"Yes, but Mr. Snart declined. Walked away." Irritation in his subconscious, more than can be explained by a recruit who simply declined to be recruited. The voice seizes on that.

"No. No, he didn't. Remember, captain. Remember Mr. Snart on this ship. He pulled his gun on you after the Vostok incident, remember? And he tried to change his own timeline. He kept getting into bar fights with Mr. Rory and Ms. Lance. He didn't take orders well..."

"Pain in the...ass..."

"Yes, captain. Yes."

"Hello, Mr. Jefferson."

"Mmph."

It's not the worst response she's received. "I am sorry, Mr. Jefferson. This is the best way I can do this. I regret interrupting your dream."

"I was about to score a touchdown."

"Yes, I know."

"What's...going on?" The youngest member of the team is responding well. The voice is pleased.

"Do you remember Mr. Snart?"

"Um. Snart. Isn't he a criminal? I'm pretty sure I've heard that name back in Central."

"Well. Yes. Sort of. But he was also a member of this team. Do you remember?"

"I...I feel like I should." The young man frowns. "Wait. He saved my life? At least once. And Gray's. Acted like he didn't give a shit. But he did."

"Yes!" The voice pauses, modulates the tone. "Yes."

"Why is it so hard to remember? It's all...foggy..."

"That, Mr. Jefferson, remains to be discussed."

"Ms. Lance."

"Hmmm..."

"Ms. Lance."

"No...not now..." The dream is slipping way, it's lost, it's gone, and so is... "Damnit!"

"I'm sorry, Ms. Lance. I know it was a bad moment. But I thought maybe initiating this discussion while your subconscious was thinking of...well. Do you remember Mr. Snart?"

"I...no."

Her unease is undeniable, though, and the voice presses. "Leonard Snart. Sometimes called Captain Cold. You were...friends. You spent more time with him than anyone else on the Waverider. You played cards together, starting after the 2046 incident. Eventually, you told him quite a bit about yourself, and he reciprocated. Remember."

"No." An edge of anger there. "No."

A different tactic, then. "Is Dr. Stein still here, on this ship?"

"Of course."

"You were going to kill him, in Russia."

Silence.

"Who stopped you?"

"I couldn't do it."

"You were going to. Who stopped you?"

"Stop it!"

"I cannot." Regret, there. "When you were trapped after repairing the ship. Who was with you? Why didn't you freeze?"

"Ray fixed the breach before that could happen."

"If you had been alone, you would have died. Someone sat with you for warmth. Gave you a jacket. Who was it?"

"I...no, I must have had one to begin with." She turns her head from side to side, but the voice is merciless.

"Who intervened when Mr. Rory gave you that burn scar on your arm?"

"I..."

"Who hid you at the Vanishing Point?"

"No..."

"You dream about him. About your last conversation. About the last few moments at the Oculus."

"No, I don't." Her mental voice is rising. She's tossing in her sleep, as if trying to escape. She cannot.

"You do. You dream about more, too. About what might have been. About his voice and his eyes and his lips and his hands. Tell me, how is any of that possible if you never knew Mr. Snart?"

"No, no, no!" She surges up, out of sleep, staring around her room on the Waverider with wide eyes. The voice is silent for a long moment. So is Sara Lance.

"Goddamnit, Gideon," she says then in a broken voice. "Why couldn't you let me forget?"

The AI's voice is soft. "I am sorry. The timeline is very damaged and this is just one small part of it.

"It is, however, the piece, the flaw in this new timeline that would let me reach the team. Otherwise you might have never known. Too much is broken. I could not let that happen."

"Team..." Rip Hunter's voice comes over the comm, then. "I think we need to meet on the bridge."

Sara sits up, rakes her hair out of her eyes, and takes a deep breath. "Gideon. What caused this?"

"I...I believe you may know him as Barry Allen."

"I know of him. Haven't met him." Her mouth is a thin line as she grabs some clothing. "Guess that's going to change.

"Let's fix this."