A/N: I know that Len actually does drink because there are several times that you see him with some kind of drink in Legends and Flash, but I just feel that he wouldn't. He's so protective of his sister that he wouldn't want to hurt her like their father did. I think that Len, even though he hated his father, was still affected by his death. Also, I don't actually remember if Lisa ever found out Barry's secret, but we're going to pretend that she knows for the sake of the story. We are also going to pretend that Team Flash and the Rouges have a pretty good relationship at this point. I hope you enjoy the story.
"Lenny? What are you doing?" Lisa asked, standing a few feet away from her older brother. Len took his lips off the bottle and set it on the table in front of him.
"Nothing, Lisa. Go to bed. It's late," he replied evenly. Lisa simply shook her head and walked toward her brother. Upon reaching him, she crawled onto the couch next to him and laid her head in his lap.
"You're drinking," she mumbled. "Just like Dad." Len felt the small girl start to tremble in his lap and sighed.
"Please don't cry, Lisa. It was just one drink," he said quietly. "I swear."
"If you drink, you'll be just like him, Lenny," Lisa whimpered.
Len pulled Lisa further into his lap so that he could hug her.
"You'll be mad, and you'll hurt people," she said through hiccups and sniffles.
Len only held her tighter and whispered, "I won't ever hurt you. I promise."
Lisa pushed back from their embrace to look her brother in the eyes. Her tear-stained face was enough to make Len wish he'd never opened the bottle of beer. "You won't?" she asked.
"Never. I won't drink ever again if that'll make you feel better," Len replied softly.
Lisa instantly looked happier. "Okay," she chirped. "I'm going to tell Mick you said that so that he makes sure you keep your word."
"No, don't do that. I'll tell him myself, alright? Now you need to go to bed. It's late," Len said with a smile.
"Okay," Lisa said again as she climbed off of Len's lap and made her way to her bedroom.
Once she closed her door, Len started trying to think of an excuse to tell Mick about why he wouldn't drink anymore because he was planning on keeping his promise to not hurt Lisa, and if that meant not drinking, then so be it.
Barry entered Saints and Sinners, searching for Len. After checking the pool tables and booths, Barry headed for the bar. He prayed that he wouldn't find Len at this point because he knew that he didn't drink. Unfortunately, that's exactly where he was. Len was sitting directly in the middle of the bar with several shot glasses, four glasses in front of him, and one in his hand. Barry sighed and sat down next to the older man.
"Why did you come here, Len?" he asked slowly.
"I killed my father, Barry," Len replied, his words slurring only slightly. This surprised Barry because, for a man who hadn't had a drink in years, Len was pretty coherent.
"I know, Len, but this," Barry said, gesturing towards the glasses. "This isn't right. Lisa told Cisco who told me why you haven't had a drink since you were eighteen. She's scared, you know? Not that you'll hurt her, but that you'll hurt yourself."
Len sighed and slowly said, "That wasn't her secret to tell."
"I know it wasn't, but still. Len, come on. Not one drink in twenty-six years, and now you're going to drown yourself in booze for a man you said hated as he died?" Barry knew what he sounded like, but he needed to get Len out of the bar. If he continued drinking like he had been for the past hour or so, Len wouldn't even be able to tell anyone he needed a ride home. He'd probably end up passed out at the bar, leaving himself open and vulnerable. Barry couldn't have that. Not with Lisa waiting to hear from Len.
To Barry's frustration, Len only fixed him with a hard glare. He held the glare for a solid minute before Len finally looked away and set his glass down.
"Fine, Barry, but I can't see Lisa. Not right now," he said quietly. Barry nodded and stood to pull Len away from the bar.
"Where do you want to go, Len?" Barry asked as the two men stepped outside.
"I don't know," Len replied as he stumbled slightly. Barry quickly caught him before he hit the ground and hoisted the man up until he could wrap an arm around his waist for more stability.
"Why don't we go to S.T.A.R. Labs? Cisco took Lisa to one of your safe houses just after I left to look for you," Barry suggested. Len simply nodded and tried to pull away from the speedster. Barry, however, only held onto him tighter and started walking towards S.T.A.R. Labs. When Len tried to pull away again, Barry sighed heavily and said, "Len, look, I realize you don't want to be seen being helped by me, but right now, you don't really have a choice because you aren't getting anywhere without a little help. We can't take a taxi for obvious reasons, and I can't speed us there because I don't really want you to throw up all over me. Suck it up and let me help you. It won't take too long to get there anyway."
Len stopped struggling then and let Barry half carry him to S.T.A.R. Labs. He hadn't realized it while he was in the bar—probably because he was sitting the whole time—but Len couldn't focus well enough to walk on his own. He could form coherent sentences, but he definitely couldn't walk straight.
Once the two men entered S.T.A.R Labs, Barry led Len to one beds in the small infirmary inside where Len sat down with a sigh and put his head in his hands.
"She's going to hate me, Barry," he mumbled. His statement surprised Barry enough that he could only stare at Len for a few moments. Eventually, he got his bearings and said, "No she won't. She's worried about you, Len. She's not angry."
"I broke my word," Len whispered. "I've never broken my word to her."
Barry wasn't quite sure what to say, so he just squeezed Len's shoulder for reassurance.
"Do you want some water?" he asked a couple of minutes later. Len nodded, so Barry went to grab him a bottle of water from another room. When he returned, he found that Len had laid down and fallen asleep in the few minutes he had been out of the room. Barry smiled because he had never seen Len look so peaceful. Every time Barry saw the older man, Len looked rather troubled behind his confident smirk. So that he didn't wake him, Barry slowly walked over to the bedside and set the water bottle on the medical table next to it.
He started to leave, deciding to sleep in the next room so that he would know when Len woke, but as he reached the door, he heard a very quiet, "I'm sorry, Barry."
Barry turned around and saw Len's half-lidded eyes looking straight at him, making him smile sympathetically.
"Go back to sleep, Len," he said. He watched Len's eyes slide closed before he exited the room.
Len's eyes cracked open, and he began surveying his surroundings. When he realized where he was, memories from the previous night flooded his mind. He slowly sat up, expecting to be hit with an excruciating headache like he was when he was younger, but he felt fine. He decided that he should find Barry and thank him for his help, and was thankful that he didn't have to do any actual looking because the speedster was in his line of sight. He stood and headed for the door, stopping at the threshold.
"Barry," he said loudly, making the younger man jump awake.
"How are you feeling?" Barry asked once he was fully awake.
"Fine," Len replied. "Thank you, Barry." Barry looked confused at the thank, so he continued. "Thank you for last night. If you hadn't come and gotten me, I probably would've passed out at Saints and Sinners."
Barry smiled and said, "You're welcome. You should go talk to your sister, Len. She's really worried about you." Len's gaze dropped to the floor at his sister's name. He stared quietly at the floor for a couple of minutes before he finally met Barry's gaze again.
"I'm sorry, Barry. Lewis shot you, and I didn't say anything to him about it," he said.
"Don't worry about. I caught the bullet, so I'm fine," Barry said, frowning slightly at the memory.
"I'm still sorry," Len said as he started to walk out of the room. When he reached the door, he turned and said, "Thanks again. I owe you one." With that, he left.
"Lisa?" Len asked as he entered safe house number two.
"Len?" Lisa called from another room. "Is that you?"
"Yeah," he replied. Lisa exited the room at the end of the hall and looked her older brother in the eyes. After she stared at him for a little while, she quickly closed the space between them and embraced her brother.
"I was so worried," she said, tears beginning to fill her eyes.
Len chuckled softly, wrapping his arms around his sister's small frame. "Yeah, that's what Barry said. I'm really sorry, Lisa," he said.
Lisa shook her head furiously and said, "Don't be."
"But I broke my wo-" he started.
"I don't care," Lisa interrupted. "I'm just glad you're okay. When you dissipated last night, I thought you were going to get into some serious trouble. When Barry told Cisco that he found you at Saints and Sinners, I was surprised but so relieved."
Len hugged Lisa tighter and said, "I won't do it again. I promise." When Lisa laughed at that, Len pulled back from the embrace and gave her a questioning look.
"You know, when you told me that you wouldn't drink anymore when I was eight, I didn't expect you to hold to it," she said.
"How could I not? My kid sister comes to my crying because she thinks that I'm going to end up like our terrible father. I couldn't let that happen," Len said, hugging his sister once more before sitting down on the couch. Lisa joined him and leaned her head on his shoulder.
"You know Barry was worried about you, too, right? He called me once he got you back to S.T.A.R. Labs last night," she said. "He said you had drank so much that he thought you'd be sick all day. He told me that you were pretty upset about what happened. He also said that you thought I would hat you," she finished slowly, causing Len to stiffen.
"I don't, you know," she whispered. "I don't hate you."
Len relaxed, but he stared ahead on him instead of looking at him sister. Lisa wrapped her arms around him once again and said even quieter, "I couldn't."
"Thanks sis," Len said quietly. "And I mean it. I won't drink again."
A/N: I know the ending was a little weird, but I couldn't figure out how to make it better. Please let me know what you think.