An expansion of the scene in which the Oculus Wellspring is destroyed. Here I attempt to show the explosion entirely from Len's viewpoint.

I intend to recreate this exact scene (with any modification as needed for context) two or three, all effectively alternate realities of one another—one, as yet unnamed, in which the explosion is the force that kicks off the event and begins the story, another, Majummed, in which it is the latest in a series of events that cause the story to be, and the third, in which it is Len's final reaction to the things he learns in Alternate Universe. For this entry, however, I'm just focusing on Lens' final moments.

I don't have the DVD at this time and my DVR'd copy is long gone (trying to clear space for the new seasons, especially as my work schedule has started making me fall desperately behind on these shows), so I had to look up transcripts to make sure I had the dialogue right.

Leonard Snart and the "Time Bastards" copyright DC, CW, etc.


"No, shut it down," Druce commanded. The Time Bastards turned their weapons on Snart. "Shut it down!"

Leonard glared at the Time Bastards. "There are no strings on me," he growled.

Druce rushed towards the device, a murderous rage in the man's eyes.

Leonard waited until what he calculated to be the last possible second, when the failsafe must fail, before he dared budge. Useless to run, he knew; even Barry would have had a hard time outrunning the explosion from so near. Almost certainly impossible with the Time Bastards surrounding him. But if there was even a chance they could stop him… keeping Druce from the device was more crucial.

But there was a chance. He wasn't getting that feeling, that sixth sense. There had to be a chance.

He felt the machine click under his hands, and he released the failsafe to roll away… right into the path of one of the blasters.

No more chances. He could dodge the blaster or the explosion, but not both.

He ducked around the device, to shield himself under the walkway where the Time Bastards would have to come closer to reach him. The nova rippled strangely under his feet, like a pool of water. The device was already exploding.

Her face came, unbidden, to his mind. He tried to say her name. Tried, illogically, to pray that his death had bought her life, that he would not die for nothing.

The explosion denied him even this small comfort. It threw him over the walkway he'd hidden behind and into the Wellspring below. The unexpected icy shock against his burned skin robbed him of all sense, and he sank into oblivion even as the liquid began to roil and froth around him.


The "illogical prayer" is not illogical because it's a prayer (I haven't read the comics, only watched the shows, and I have no idea what Snart's religious leanings or lack-thereof are… nor do I particularly care—"pray" is just as often used in this context by the non-religious as a synonym for "wish" or "hope" so it fits the scene regardless of personal belief systems).
Rather, it is illogical because of
what he's praying for, because of whose safety he's praying his death will buy.
Who might that be? Well, that rather depends on whose face he imagined. ;) Which point depends, also, on which story you read next. And which, by extension, depends somewhat on which one I start uploading next. If you read Alternate Universe, the face he imagines is his sister Lisa. If you go on to Majummed or the sequel League of MacGuffins, then he imagines Sara. And if you read an as-yet-unnamed fic, then he is imagining a character of my own creation.

Also, I keep wanting to imagine that there's a pool of water directly below the device.
Not sure why, except maybe that the energy surrounding it visually reminds me of such real-world bodies of water as the Emerald Springs in my (current) home-state of Michigan. Anyway, like I said above, no DVD yet and no more DVR'd copy, so I had to look it up to remind myself what was really in the Oculus Wellspring. Despite this, I cannot seem to find the reference to a nova that I'm absolutely certain I'd seen earlier today, weird...
I wanted very much to hold on to that watery impression in the scene, though. ;) And I did find a use for it in one of my other fics, so...