Mick had been partners with Len for years now. They had known each other since juvie, and had been inseparable ever since...mostly inseparable. Honestly, there had been multiple times when either Mick or Len had gotten so fed up with the other that they had just left. They avoided each other for a few weeks, both of them brooding and sulking while waiting for the other to make the first move. Eventually though they always ended up back together again, usually thanks to Lisa's interference.
The point was, Mick knew Len pretty well at this point. He knew about all of his habits and obsessions, and all of those little quirks that might drive anybody else insane. He knew about the scars and secrets that Len hid from everybody, including Lisa. Mick knew about it all. A lot of that stuff was what he liked about Len and why he stuck around after all these years. The not so good stuff, yeah, sometimes it drove Mick crazy, but after being around somebody for so long one learns to ignore the annoying little parts about them.
Or they learn to adjust and make a few annoying habits of their own.
Mick didn't really think of what he did as a habit, more like things he did in retaliation for Len's more annoying, and sometimes more dangerous, habits. Lisa called what Mick did his 'traditions', and he just shrugged and let her, because it wasn't like he had a better name for them.
One of Mick's favorite 'traditions' was one that he did after most every single heist he and Len pulled together. Len had his fair share of habits, patterns, obsessions and schedules that he used whenever they did a job together, and probably whenever he did a job on his own as well. He would spend weeks going over plans, thinking of every possibility and outcome. Len didn't want to take any chances, so he planned.
Mick always hated those weeks just before a big heist. Len always insisted that they lay low and not do anything that might cause suspicion, so basically he didn't allow Mick to do anything fun during those weeks. Len didn't even let Mick go to a freakin' bar because there was the possibility that Mick might get drunk and start a fight, or not get drunk and start a fight anyways. And since fighting was one of the easiest ways to draw attention to oneself, Len didn't allow it. What a buzzkill.
But Mick's boredom wasn't the only reason he didn't like Len's weeks of planning, he also didn't like them because, well, because of Len's planning. If he was just looking over blueprints and thinking of ideas then Mick wouldn't mind it so much, but Len did that and took it to the extreme. He took it beyond the extreme.
Len would sit for hours at a time pouring over those stupid blueprints while he muttered quietly to himself. Mick never knew what was going on in that head of his, because Len never bothered to tell him. Len was completely oblivious to the world when he got like this. All that existed was the stupid blueprints and his overly complicated scheme.
During those weeks Len barely did anything but plot. He practically had to be forced to eat, and he only slept when he became so exhausted and it was impossible to stay conscious anymore. Len would just conk out in the middle of what he was doing, sleep for three or four hours, and then start it all over again. It was a pain in the ass to deal with, simply because there was nothing either Mick or Lisa, or anybody, really, could do about it, because this was a part of who Len was. An idiotic self-destructive part, but still a part of him.
Mick had long since learned that he couldn't get Len to stop pushing himself so hard. It just wasn't going to happen. The best he could do was make sure he took care of himself enough in the weeks leading up to and the hours immediately after a heist.
This was where one of Mick's 'traditions' came in. It corresponded with a tradition of sorts of Len's. Any time they finished a big heist they would quickly book it out of town. They had multiple safe houses around Central City, but Len believed that for them to effectively lie low they should be far away from the city.
So after every heist the two of them would get into Mick's car and just drove. They went somewhere different each time, but it was always between ten and twenty hours away from Central City. The two of them (Sometimes three, depending on whether Len let Lisa join in on their heist) would stay in this random location for a few months while the heat died down, then they would return to Central City, find something else that caught their eye, and the whole process would start over again.
Mick was usually the one who did all the driving on these trips, though sometimes he would split the driving time with Lisa. Len though never drove the car, not during their escapes, and not any other time. Len didn't do cars. He barely tolerated being a passenger in one but he couldn't be the one driving it.
Mick knew that it had something to do with Len's father, but he didn't know exactly what, because Len refused to tell him. Mick guessed that either their father never taught him how to drive in the first place, which certainly seemed like something Lewis Snart might do. Mick knew that their dad hadn't taught Lisa how to drive, because he had been the one to show her the ropes on driving.
Lisa had only bothered learning how to drive because she wanted to be involved with her brother's life, but Len refused to let her join in the heists for the longest time. Len didn't want Lisa to be in danger. It took weeks of asking for Len to finally give in and say that if Lisa could learn how to drive she could be their getaway, and maybe, maybe given time she could do more.
Lisa and groaned and whined about Len treating her like a little kid, but she did end up getting Mick to teach her. At this point Lisa was well beyond the status of getaway driver, and yet she still did it sometimes. Mick guessed that Lisa liked driving, which kind of surprised him, considering Len's insistence at never getting behind the wheel of a car.
Len having never learned how to drive was a possibility, sure, but Mick didn't believe that was the reason that he refused to drive. No, Mick believed that Len had been taught how to drive by his old man, and it had been a terrible experience. So bad that it still stuck with him to this day.
Whatever the reason behind Len not driving, it didn't really matter, because Mick was usually there to do any driving that needed to happen. And if he wasn't around, which did happen, well, Len still had his motorcycle.
Basically though, Mick was their main driver. He got them to their heists, and took them away from them. It was part of his job. Mick didn't mind the driving, even for ten plus hours at a time. Yeah, the longer drives got boring real quickly, but he had a way to make it more tolerable.
Whenever he and Len were skipping town like this Mick would drive for a few hours while Len would chat endlessly about whatever the heck came to his head. Mick always found it kinda funny that Len was a real chatterbox when he was hyped up on adrenalin. After some time though, usually between two and three hours, Len would begin to quiet down and would take to looking behind them every two minutes to see if they were being followed. It was at this point that Mick began his little 'tradition'.
Mick pulled into a gas station, just like he always did, because it was all a part of his plan. Mick turned off the ignition, and Len flinched at the sound of the engine turning off (seriously, that guy was way too fidgety once his adrenalin rush had died down).
"Mick, what are you doing?" Len glared harshly at Mick, who wasn't fazed at all.
"Gettin' gas." Mick muttered as he got out of the car. The door still open he turned to look at Len. "Snacks too. If I'm gonna be driving for the next ten hours I need something to keep me awake."
"Mick, we can't stop." Len snapped. Mick just rolled his eyes.
"Why not?" He asked. "Nobody's following us. We can afford to take a break for a few minutes." Len didn't look convinced, he never did, but fortunately he didn't start a fight. Len just huffed and crossed his arms, making his displeasure known.
"You gonna sit in here and sulk or are you gonna come in and pick up something for yourself?" Mick asked. Len glared coldly at him, but did indeed unbuckle and get out of the car. Mick smirked and celebrated his little victory. He had successfully finished phase one of his little plan. None of the rest of this would work at all if Len didn't get out of the car at this point.
Not that Len knew that he had just played into Mick's hand. No, he was completely oblivious to what Mick was doing, even though he had been doing it after every single heist for the past ten years. Hell, even Lisa knew about this so called 'tradition' of Mick's. She was even in the habit of teasing Mick about it, but he never took it seriously. He knew she liked his plan, or else why would she help him out with it whenever she went on this little road trip with them?
Len went inside the little gas station shop while Mick filled up the tank. He made sure to pay with cash, because seriously, he wasn't an idiot. They just barely committed a heist, and using cards to pay for anything was one of the quickest ways to get caught like a bunch of amateurs. When he was done filling the tank Mick followed Len inside.
He could see his partner walking around the isles, glaring at almost everything he saw. He hadn't even chosen anything yet. Mick snorted. He found it funny how picky Len was being right now. Honestly, junk food was junk food. There was seriously no point to being picky about it.
"Come on, Boss, you're overthinking things." Mick picked up a pack of peanut M&M's and toss them to Len who caught it easily and glared at him. Mick smirked right back and raised his eyebrows. Len rolled his eyes and went back to browsing.
Mick quickly grabbed anything that caught his eye. Candies, cheap fake pastries, sodas, whatever. He just grabbed a bunch of sugar, because seriously, if he's driving for a couple of hours he's gonna have practically nothing but junk to much on, because that's what makes drives worthwhile.
He wasn't just feeling munchy though, he was feeling hungry. As much as Mick liked sugar and junk food, he knew that it wasn't very filling, and he knew that he would be needing some real food long before they arrived at wherever they were going this time. It had been hours since Mick had eaten anything, and he knew it must've been even longer for Len. So even though Mick was just in the mood for eating junk, he decided to get something at least a bit more substantial.
Mick grabbed a couple of pre-packaged sandwiches that were also sold. They didn't look like the most appetizing thing in the world, but he wasn't expecting them to be. All these sandwiches were for was keeping them satisfied until they got to their destination and could afford some real food.
It didn't take long for Len to join Mick with a small collection of snacks of his own. He didn't have a lot, but Mick was still satisfied with what Len had chosen because at least it meant he was going to be eating something. Len hated wasting good food, so if he bought something with the intention of eating it he was going to end up eating it. Either that or he would give it to the first sorry looking kid he passed on the street.
Mick payed for their things (again, with cash), and went outside. He briefly mourned the waste of money, because this junk would be easy enough to sneak past the single sleepy employee, but rules were rules. No crime until after they had settled into their temporary residence. Once they arrived at their new home away from home the two of them could pickpocket, burglarize, and rob from ATM's to their heart's content. Until then though, they were just normal, law-abiding citizens. How boring.
With bag in hand Mick led the way back to their car. He got there before Len did, opened the passenger side door and put their bag of bought goods in the seat. Len glowered at him.
"What are you doing?" Len asked irritably.
"What's the point of having food if none of it is on hand when I want it?" Mick asked in return. "And you hate having stuff sitting at your feet."
"So you're demoting me to the back?" Len scowled. Mick shut the passenger door and opened the one behind it. Mick shrugged off his old firemen jacket and tossed it onto the back seat. Mick held the door open and raised an eyebrow at Len, challenging him to fight him on this, even though he knew he wouldn't. Len hated wasting time, so when it came to working with Mick he tried to pick his battles. Where he sat in the car was not something worth fighting about, and Len knew it. Especially not when he was worried that cops might be on their tail.
Swearing at Mick under his breath Len got into the backseat and slammed the door shut. Mick smirked and got into the car himself. He turned on the ignition and, once again, they were off. The first half hour was tense and quiet, with Len giving Mick the silent treatment and Mick being too busy eating his sandwich to care.
Every once and awhile Mick would look in the rearview mirror to check on Len who had taken to boredly staring out the window. Every few minutes or so Len would anxiously look out the back window to see if they were being followed, but other than that occasional paranoia it seemed like he was just tired and bored.
Once when Mick glanced back it was to find Len leaning his head against the window. He had taken off his own coat and was using it as a cover. His eyes were blank and tired and he seemed to be fighting to stay awake. For a moment Len was oblivious to Mick watching him but he did eventually catch. The moment that he did Len scowled, pushed the parka to the floor of the car and sat up straight. Mick snorted and returned his eyes back to the road before him.
Mick focused on the road for the next while, because now that Len had caught him staring at him he would be watching for it now. No need to get Len all pissed off for absolutely no reason. Even when he heard Len moving around a bit back there Mick still didn't turn around. It wasn't until another half hour had passed did Mick finally risk looking back again. The sight that he was met with was one that actually made him smile...not that he would ever admit it.
Len was sprawled across the backseat, fast asleep. He had used his parka as a makeshift blanket and Mick's jacket as a pillow. It didn't look very comfortable. In fact, Len looked seriously cramped, but Mick was happy to see that his plan had worked again. He had successfully gotten Len to fall asleep.
That had been what Mick's goal this whole drive had been. To get Len to get some sleep and maybe eat something, and based off the half eaten sandwich that had fallen to the floor in the back (Len was going to throw a fit when he saw that. He hated it when food went to waste) it looked like Mick had succeeded at both of his goals.
Any outsider might think that Mick's plot to force Len into the back so he would have more room and feel less self-conscious about falling asleep was overly complicated, but that outsider would be wrong. Len was a complicated guy, so any plotting behind his back had to be done in an overly complicated way or else he would figure out what was going on and ruin things. Len hated it when people plotted against him, even if that plotting was for his own good.
Len always worked himself too hard when he was preparing for a heist. He didn't sleep and barely ate. Mick considered it his job as Len's partner to watch over him, to make sure he didn't work himself to death while he planned his schemes. And as soon as the heist was over Mick did what he could to get Len to rest and eat like a normal person, and since there wasn't much else to do during such a long car drive, why not make Len sleep then?
Honestly though, Mick's plan to get Len to sleep worked much better when Lisa was with them for these drives. She absolutely refused to let Mick or Len sit up front with her. She said that driving for hours on end was stressful enough without having her older brother critique her every move, so Len wasn't allowed upfront. Even in the back though Len was a bit of a backseat driver for Lisa, so she made Mick join him in the back with the hope that he would distract her brother enough to let her concentrate.
Mick wasn't very good at distracting Len, but apparently he was good at getting him to relax. Whenever Lisa drove and Mick sat in the back Len ended up falling asleep nearly two hours sooner than he would with Mick driving. Maybe it was because Lisa was only willing to listen to her brother prattle on about nonsense that she didn't care about for so long before snapping.
Once Lisa would get mad at Len for talking, he would go ahead and shut up. Len would sulk for a few minutes before he would scoot over closer to Mick and lean against him. Len had a lot of extra energy after they committed a heist, and he either got rid of it by talking or just by physical contact. Mick never got it. Sure, he understood getting rid of excess energy through some types of physical contact, like the more passionate kind, but Len seemed to calm down at just the smallest contact. Especially from Mick or Lisa.
Mick didn't understand it very much and he had once asked Lisa about is. She shared what she believed about it, that it wasn't the contact that made Len calm down but the security. Len was a cautious person, and his adrenalin after a heist likely came from the fact that he didn't feel safe. He was able to calm down after physical contact with either Lisa or Mick because he felt safe with them. At least, that was what Lisa believed.
Honestly, Mick had no idea, and he didn't really care that much. He understood what Len did, and it didn't really matter why he did it. Mick just accepted it as a part of who Len was. No need to analyze it to death. It was just Len being Len.
Mick watched his friend sleep for a bit before he forced his eyes back on the road. Mick knew that it was extremely weird that he liked to watch Len sleep, and Lisa teased him endlessly about it, but Mick couldn't help himself. Len was just always so paranoid and tense. The only time he seemed to be truly relaxed was when he was fast asleep. Mick just liked seeing this calm side of Len every once and awhile, no big deal.
Now, if Mick could just figure out how to get Lisa to stop blackmailing him with this information, or threatening to tell Len, then things would be good.
Mick reached for his bag of snacks and grabbed the first thing he could get his hands on. While he was doing so he glanced at the clock to take note of the time. It was nearly 4:00 in the morning. He had already been driving for a few hours, and still had a good amount of time ahead of him. Mick counted himself lucky that he wasn't the sort to get bored or tired while driving, even when he was by himself.
Well, mostly by himself. Mick quickly glanced in the rearview mirror to see Len still sleeping. He would probably sleep for at least the next two hours, with any luck though he would get more than that. Len had been freakin' exhausted these past few days, and he deserved his rest. Sure, the drive wouldn't be nearly as enjoyable on his own, but Mick would rather have Len be asleep than keep him company.
Mick knew how to keep himself awake, alert, and entertained as he drove. He would get them to their temporary safe house in one piece. That was his job in this, to keep them safe. Len considered his job in the partnership to be the ideas guy, but now that the heist was over and they could relax for a bit, Mick thought that Len's job was to loosen up and take things easy. Len needed to recover from all of the sleepless nights and skipped meals.
But since Mick knew that Len still wouldn't bother to take care of himself, he decided that it was just another one of his own jobs. Mick would keep an eye on Len. He would make sure that Len didn't get too tense. It was a bit of a hassle sometimes, and a major pain in the butt more often than not, but Mick was glad to do it because they were partners, which meant that they watched each other's backs.
Besides, Mick secretly liked how Len would probably work himself to death without him around. It was nice to feel needed sometimes.
A/N: I'm not completely happy with the title, but other than that I'm kinda pleased with this thing. It's just something that just poofed into my head when my family went on a long car drive to visit family a few weeks ago. We seriously do nothing but sleep and eat snacks during long trips like that, so I figured, 'hey, let's write a story about Mick and Len with that idea'. I'm not entirely sure how it turned out, I'm the one who wrote this, so I'm kinda biased about it, but I for one am pleased with it. I hope you enjoy reading it too.