AUTHOR'S NOTE: This story was initially inspired by Franz Drameh's short twitter promo for the season finale. The idea that his mom thought he was dead for five months got the wheels spinning in my head. Many many many thanks to JaelK/stillwordgirl for helping me through some serious writer's block on this. After taking a look at my first few pages, she sent me a very thoughtful note that helped me find the direction for the rest of the story.
Of course, these characters are the property of DC Entertainment, which may well decide to stomp on the tiny pieces of our hearts that they ripped out one week ago.
The Circle Opens
"I had to bring you back to May 2016, not January 2016," Rip told them. He could barely meet their eyes as he made that admission.
In disgust, Jax responded, "So what you're saying is for the past five months my mom probably thinks that I'm dead."
Rip jerked his head in a nod. "I'm sorry."
"But, after all we've done, after all we've lost, why are you bringing us here?" Stein asked.
"Each of you needs to decide your own destiny, just as much as Mr. Snart decided his," Rip told them. "Spend some time with your families. With the people you love. And then, decide what you are willing to sacrifice to save the world. If you are willing to continue, then meet me here again in 36 hours."
Mick
Mick had already lost half of the only family he had, back at the Oculus Wellspring. One of only two people he'd ever loved, to tell a truth he and Lenny had never been able to admit to each other.
He knew he had to contact Lisa, to tell her what had happened to her brother. But she wasn't in Central City, and her usual phone was disconnected. In the end, he went old school and wrote her a letter, telling her that her brother was gone, but went out a hero. He brought it to Saints and Sinners, to leave with the manager. Lisa would eventually turn up at the old hangout, and he could trust the old man to deliver the message.
He just wished he had time to deliver it himself.
As long as he was there, he might as well have a beer. He slid onto a stool and motioned at the bartender.
"Aren't you going to join your friend?" the barkeep asked, sliding Mick's usual over. "You and him on the outs again?"
Mick's head jerked up. "What are you talking about?" There was only one male friend Mick had ever come into this place with, and he was scattered atoms.
"He's back in his favorite booth, having a burger."
Mick studied the barkeep. There was nothing on his face or in his eyes to tip Mick off to a lie or a joke. He took a swig of his beer and slid off the stool. "Didn't know he was here," he said, struggling to keep his voice level. "Thanks."
Mick knew the booth the barkeep was talking about. Lenny liked it for its view of the door, so he'd always know who was coming in.
When Mick reached the table, there was no one sitting there. Just a plate with a half-eaten burger and fries doused with ketchup. And a salt shaker laying on its side.
The waitress sidled up to him. "Your friend disappeared pretty quick. You gonna take care of the check?"
Jax
He felt almost nervous walking up to the door. His mom was going to freak out. And then when she finished freaking out, she'd probably yell at him for a solid hour for never sending her even one word.
In his defense, Stein had essentially kidnapped him for this trip he'd never intended to go on. But then again, he could have pulled a Doc Brown and sent a telegram from the past, say from 1975, to be delivered in January 2016. Don't worry Mom, I'm OK. Just off saving the world.
Yeah, right. And that probably would have given her a heart attack. In any case, it wasn't like he'd had a chance to stop by Western Union while helping Snart with his little heist and subsequent trip down memory lane back in '75.
Thinking of Snart made Jax shake his head at his own fear. The man had sacrificed his hand once for the team. And then he'd sacrificed his life. Jax didn't know if he could be that brave, but Snart had saved all of them, and he owed it to the man to try his damnedest.
Jax already knew what his answer to Rip would be, just as he knew what Stein would say even without their link. So, if he was brave enough to face down an immortal killer, he could certainly face whatever his mom said to him now.
He reached out and rang the doorbell. No point in scaring her by using the key hidden up on the lintel.
It only took a minute for his mother to answer the door. To his surprise, she didn't look at all shocked to see him standing there. Instead, she pulled him into her arms for a long, warm hug.
"What took you so long, son? I've been expecting you!"
Jax pulled back and looked at her. "Expecting me? How were you expecting me, Mom?"
"Your friend told me you'd be coming today. You know, the handsome one with the blue eyes."
Stein
Stein could feel Jefferson's confusion through their link, though he couldn't figure out the source of it. Possibly because he was feeling too apprehensive himself.
This was the second time he'd disappeared for months on Clarissa. Granted, the first time he had been running around town as the Burning Man, fighting his convergence with Ronald… Ronnie Raymond. But this time…
Rip had sworn he wouldn't let Martin sacrifice his marriage to save his own family. But Rip had trouble keeping his promises.
And it didn't help that Stein himself had been less than honest with Clarissa. Heaven only knew what she was thinking about him right now.
Did she bother to do "Missing" posters for him this time?
His hand trembled a little on the doorknob. Then he was through the door and in a moment, to his surprise and joy, he was in Clarissa's arms.
He held her for a long moment before looking her in the eyes. "Clarissa, I am so sorry to have caused you any worry or pain."
She laid a hand on his cheek. "Martin, I was never worried. I knew where you had gone, when you'd gone. And I know you're not done yet. Your friend explained it all to me, months ago."
Ray
Ray never had any doubts about what he would do. He'd signed on to be a hero, and he was damned if he was going to do any less than Leonard Snart had.
He checked in with Oliver and Felicity, to learn the shocking news that Laurel was dead. Poor Sara. First Snart, now this.
There wasn't much else he really wanted to do in the time Rip had given them. His family thought he was dead, and he still wasn't ready to come back from that. Eventually he wandered to the cemetery. The presumed dead keeping company with the truly dead. He could visit Anna's grave, at any rate. She had been the inspiration for him to become a hero, after all.
He told her everything, standing there under the spring sunshine. How he'd gone off to try to save the world, fallen in love, gotten his heart broken again.
How he missed her.
How he was going to try to make her proud.
He scrubbed his hands over his face and turned away from Anna's grave, looking across the neatly kept grounds. There weren't too many people about on a Thursday afternoon, but he thought he could see a familiar flash of blonde hair in the distance, heading toward the cemetery gate.
Then he realized he wasn't the only one watching that flash of blonde. There was a man in black standing near a large, winged monument, where he could watch Sara and the people she was with, without being seen himself.
There was something about that tall figure, which had started , Ray moved across the grass. The man disappeared behind the monument. Ray began to run. He reached the monument, cornered around it…
And found nothing. He looked around in confusion. There was no place the man could have gone, but he was gone.
Vanished.
Like a ghost.
Sara
Visiting home hadn't done much to soothe Sara's troubled spirit. Instead, the news about Laurel multiplied the grief she'd already been feeling over Snart. Leonard. And what might have been.
Her father had really tried to help. Well, he did help a bit. He helped her to decide that she couldn't be any less of a hero than Laurel had been. Than Leonard had been.
Not with the world at stake.
And if the cost was her life, she was willing to give it. At least it would be a death that meant something.
Sleep evaded her that night. Her old bed didn't feel right any more. It was part of a life she no longer led. Quietly, she donned her leathers and slipped out into the darkness. Onto the rooftops.
It wasn't long before she found trouble. A woman's scream drew her to a spot over an alleyway. Her lip curled in disgust as she looked down. One small woman, three big men. No, make that three gorillas, with more than simple robbery on their minds.
No woman should ever suffer at the hands of a man.
With that thought, she vaulted from the roof to the fire escape. Three quick leaps brought her down to the ground. "Hey! Pick on someone your own size!"
One of the gorillas turned toward her and smiled broadly. "Hey, sweetie, wanna party?"
A quick snap, and her batons were at the ready. "Dance with me," she jeered, feeling the bloodlust rising and, for once, welcoming it.
Gorillas Two and Three released the other woman, who fled down the alley, into the night.
Oh, yes. Sara knew this type. Assaulting a woman who couldn't fight was a minor thrill, but overcoming one who could fight was their idea of real fun. Nice.
The first gorilla came at her swinging, his movements clumsy from too much liquor. Putting him down was simple enough. A double hit to the skull from her batons and he was out.
Two and Three watched their partner crash to the ground, looked at each other, and spread out for their own attack. They rushed her from both sides.
Exactly as she'd expected.
Sara countered with a whirling defense, her batons a blur. Down went Gorilla Two. Three made a break for the fire escape.
"Oh, no you don't!" Sara growled. The bloodlust urged her to follow him up the metal stairs, and right now, she wasn't going to argue with it. She took the steps two at a time. She reached the top and followed the gorilla across one roof and then another, faster and faster, flying over the gaps. Just like a Canary.
He was getting further away from her, but the bloodlust pushed her on. No woman should ever suffer at the hands of a man.
He vanished around a corner. She ran faster, rounding the corner, straight into a hit from a metal pipe that caught her in the gut and sent her stumbling backwards, the wind knocked out of her.
"How do you like that, bitch?" Three taunted. "I got something else you'll like, too. Come on. Dance with me."
With a hiss, Sara launched herself at the gorilla, but he was ready for her, blocking her batons and shoving her backwards.
"You dance pretty good, bitch. I like that in a woman." The gorilla fought better than she'd expected from the way he'd run away.
Stupid, Sara, he wanted you to think that. He ran to run you down, get you tired. And dammit, it worked.
The gorilla wasn't giving her enough time to connect the batons into a bo staff, which would have given her more distance. This fight was close-up, a dance that was both dangerous and horribly intimate in the way the gorilla kept leering at her and pressing closer, close enough for her to see into his wild green eyes, feel his breath, as they moved closer to the edge of the roof.
A familiar whine split the night, distracting the gorilla enough that Sara was able to shove him back, away from her. The gorilla slid backwards, and with a yelp of shock, went over the side.
Sara whirled in the direction of the whine, and blinked when a service light exploded, blinding her with a sudden glare. But imprinted in her memory was a tall figure in a blue hooded parka, white-framed goggles over his face. When her vision cleared, the figure was gone.
She turned back to where the gorilla had gone over the side, looking carefully at the asphalt on the roof. Just steps away from the edge, she could see something shiny. She knelt to touch it.
Ice. On a warm May night.
Convergence
Sara returned to the Waverider to find the others on board already, engaged in a low, animated conversation.
"He told my mom I was alive," Jax said.
"And Clarissa as well," Stein added.
"I know I saw something at that graveyard," Ray insisted, "and I know it wasn't a ghost."
Mick shifted to make room for Sara as she approached the holo table. "Blondie, something has happened," he said in an uncertain tone. "We think… maybe…"
"Leonard's alive," Sara said in a voice without hesitation. She looked around at the others. "He saved my life last night. I'm sure of it."
"Why?" Jax asked.
"I saw him," she said. "Only for a second, but I know. I know it was him. And he left behind a patch of ice, in the middle of May. It had to be him." She looked at Rip, who was stroking his beard thoughtfully. At last, he shook his head and spread his hands.
"I don't know, Sara," he said. "Everything since the Oculus is beyond my experience. The past, the present, the future… there could have been ripples throughout all of them." He approached her and put his hands on her shoulders. "You've already had your heart broken twice in the past couple of days…"
Something in those words, in his tone, made Sara snap, made the bloodlust rise again. The bastard knew. She shoved Rip against one of the supports, her knife drawn and at his throat. "You knew that Laurel was gonna die," she said angrily. Rip looked away for just a moment. "And now you're gonna take me back, and I'm gonna save my sister."
"I'm afraid that I…"
"You should be afraid," Sara said. "We're saving Laurel. And we're finding Leonard."
"Sara," Rip said in a soft voice, "we can't do anything unless we stop Savage first."
She stood there, trembling, not releasing him.
"Blondie," Mick said quietly, "cut his throat and you're not gonna get either of them back." He came up behind her slowly to lay a hand on her shoulder and draw her away. "This isn't the way, Sara."
She returned the knife to its sheath. "Then what is?" she demanded.
Rip took a deep breath and pushed off from the support where she'd pinned him, walking to the holo table. "Gideon has received some new data that might have the answer for us," he said. "I have to tell you, neither of us know where this information came from, but it seems to hold the key."
They gathered around the holo table once more.
Victory
The wave of temporal energy released by Savage's death reversed, flowing into the strange metal device on the ground. Its caretaker threw a switch, and a blue light appeared on the top of the device.
The team's flyers touched down, unsteady after being buffeted by the energy wave. Kendra tore off her mask to reveal an expression that looked as shocked and as hopeful as Sara felt as they approached the man who had just saved Central City.
Rip was the first to find his voice. "Mr. Snart, I presume?"
The man in the hooded blue parka stood slowly and turned to face the group. Sara took in a breath as he pulled back his hood. His gloved hands tugged the white-framed goggles down around his neck.
It was Leonard. But not the Leonard they'd left behind at the Oculus. This man was older, with fine lines around his eyes and mouth, a bit more silver in his hair. He smiled slightly, and Sara realized those lines were laugh lines.
"I only have a couple of minutes," he said. "And I can't tell you much."
"You're from the future," Ray stated, getting a nod in reply.
"And you're the one who put the data into Gideon," Stein added.
"And you told our families not to worry about us!" Jax exclaimed.
Three declarations, three confirmations. Sara stepped closer to him, studying the minute changes to his face. "You saved me up on that rooftop."
He nodded silently again. She reached out to him. "Can I… touch you?"
For answer, he drew her into his arms and just held her. She laid her head against his chest and heard the steady beating of his heart. Then she felt herself wrapped in another strong set of arms: Mick, holding both of them.
"Mick," Leonard said softly. "Sara. It's not going to be easy for you, but it will be all right."
"How can you tell them that?" Rip demanded. "The timeline…"
"Required this visit," Leonard answered sharply. He withdrew from Sara and Mick and went nose to nose with the Time Master. "Rip, I know this, right now, is what happens because it did happen. Each one of you told me this story, from your own points of view." He paused and shook his head. "Time travel needs its own language, I swear. You will tell me about it, all of you, when you find me again. The younger me."
"When?" Mick asked, in a gruff voice that was nearer to tears than Sara would have believed possible.
Leonard turned back to Mick with a sad expression. "I can't tell you that, brother." He hugged Mick and kissed his forehead. "I wish I could."
Sara stared at Leonard. "You're different," she said. "The Leonard I know would never have…"
"The Leonard you knew missed a lot of opportunities," Leonard said, releasing Mick and standing before her again. "And when you find him again, he's going to want to make up for all of them. All the things he didn't say because he was too stupid and too scared of being hurt to say them." He moved closer to her, pulling off his right glove. He laid his bare hand on her cheek, and his next words came out in a low tone that sent a shiver down her spine. "All the kisses he wanted to steal but didn't." With his left arm, he pulled her back against his body. "This will have to do for a down payment."
He dipped his head and kissed her. Softly at first, his thumb gently caressing her cheek. Then he changed the angle, moving his hand to cradle her head as he deepened the kiss, his left arm tightening around her as his tongue gently swept into her mouth.
Her senses were exploding as he went from twining his tongue with hers, to nibbling her lower lip, to just brushing his mouth against hers before increasing the pressure once again. The contact was making her weak in the knees, but she felt like she could do this forever. She clung to him for support, circling his waist with one arm and running one hand up to the nape of his neck, brushing at the soft stubble there.
When he slowly broke the kiss, she could see a little regret in his blue eyes. She felt flushed and breathless, but managed to stammer out, "If you'd kissed me like that before, I'd never have let you go."
He smiled slightly. "It took a lot of practice to get to that point, pretty bird," he said. "Consider it something to look forward to." He leaned in to give her a light kiss, and then sighed as the device on the ground began beeping at him. "That's my warning. Not much time left." He took her hands and pressed his forehead against hers. "Don't give up on me, Sara. Don't give up on him. Find him, and you'll find someone who loves you as much as I do."
One more brief kiss. Then he released her, turning quickly to the device and picking it up. He glanced around at their friends, his eyes looking very bright, before focusing on Rip. "One more thing I can tell you, Rip. Stuttgart, August 25, 1940." He tucked the device under his arm and pulled up his sleeve to uncover what looked like a watch on his left wrist. He met Sara's eyes one more time. "I love you."
He touched the face of the "watch" and vanished.
The Circle Closes
Leonard stepped off the Time Pad in the STAR Labs basement and held the device out to Cisco. "Worked like a charm," he announced. "One canister of Time Force."
Cisco grinned as he took the unit and inspected it. "You were expecting anything less?"
"There's always a risk when you're playing with time," Barry chided from his computer station. "But since Sara is still here, it looks like everything did turn out right."
Sara was there, smiling brightly as she wrapped him in a hug. He gave her a brief kiss and then pulled back to study her face, comparing it to her younger self. She had laugh lines, traced more lightly than his own, but no silver running through her golden hair yet.
She gave him a wicked smile then, and pulled his head down for a kiss that was every bit as mind-blowing as the one he'd given her back in 2016. When they parted, he took in a deep breath and chuckled. "You've been waiting years to do that to me, haven't you?"
She smiled and nodded. "I've been practicing a lot for just this moment," she said teasingly. "Wanted to make sure there weren't any thoughts about trading me in for the younger model." She reached up to kiss him again.
"Hey, yo, get a room, you two!" Cisco scolded.
Leonard took his time kissing Sara before giving Cisco a sour look. "I don't complain about you kissing your wife."
Cisco laughed. "That's because Lisa knows all the best ways to get back at you if you do complain." He put the Time Force canister away in a cabinet and locked the door. "You guys stopping by for movie night tonight? We're going old school. Independence Day: Resurgence. Time to kick some alien ass!"
Sara shook her head. "We've got plans already, Cisco. But thanks. G'night, Barry!"
Leonard could hear his brother-in-law cajoling Barry to bring Iris over as he and Sara left the basement. He removed his parka and pulled off his remaining glove, uncovering a white gold wedding band, twin to the one on Sara's hand. "So what plans do we have already?" he asked her.
"Just me… and you," Sara answered with a mischievous smile.
He raised an eyebrow. "Just me and you? And what about…?"
"They're with Uncle Mick tonight. All night. And if we want, all weekend."
He stopped and faced her. "What are you thinking about, pretty bird?" he asked her in a low, seductive voice.
Her own voice turned sultry. "Well," she said, stepping into his arms and wrapping her own around him, "I was thinking… go for three?"
He stared at her for just a minute. Then he smiled and laughed a little as he nodded before bending to kiss her again, still making up for all those kisses he hadn't given her the first time around, still catching up on all the time they'd lost. But everything they'd lost before was more than made up for by what they had now.
It was definitely worth the wait.