A/N: This is an au that kinda has the style of His Dark Materials. So, basically, a person's soul takes the form of an animal companion. In this story though, the animals can't talk. And, they can reside within in a person's body. Don't ask how, they're animal spirits, they can do what they want. Also, people can touch another person's Animal.
And, as you would probably guess, this is a soulmate story, but not in the usual way. Here, a soulmate is the person that somebody most belongs with, whether their relationship is romantic or not. So, I'll leave the state of Mick and Len's relationship up to your interpretation.
In his life, Mick Rory had been hurt more times than he could count. He had grown familiar with the feeling of pain, both the physical kind, and the kind that was even worse. No matter what type of pain it was, or how familiar Mick was with the feeling, he absolutely hated it. To him, getting hurt or feeling pain of any kind just meant weakness.
Mick hated feeling weak.
That's why he began to turn to anger as a reaction to pain. Anger was power, strength, and not weakness. Whenever anybody hurt him, in any way, Mick's initial reaction was anger. He would feel the need to exact revenge on them, burn them, hurt them and make them feel like the weak one.
For a while, things hadn't been any different after leaving The Vanishing Point. At first, he had been in shock about what had happened. He couldn't believe what had happened. He didn't want to believe it. The shock remained for a few minutes, but vanished in an instant as a burning rage came over Mick.
Somebody was going to pay for what had happened. Mick was personally going to see to it that somebody suffered and died for this, he didn't even care who it was, just as long as they were in some way responsible for what had happened, And, in Mick's eyes, a lot of people were responsible for this. Him included.
Eventually though, Mick found that his anger was fading. He still felt like he needed to kill somebody, but he didn't feel so furious anymore. He felt numb, almost cold, and it felt so, so wrong. Mick was not a fan of the cold, never had been, but after being around Len, who absolutely loved the cold, for so many years, Mick had learned to tolerate the lower temperatures. He had come to associate any chill or feeling of cold to being with Len.
Now though, he felt a chill run through his body, and he couldn't associate it to Len being near him, because Len wasn't here...and he never would be again.
Len was gone.
And Mick felt empty.
He and Len had been partners practically their whole lives. From the moment they had met in juvie, when Mick had saved Len's sorry ass, the two of them had become, for the most part, inseparable. Sure, they always had their fights and moments when they felt like killing each other, but that was just the way their relationship worked. No matter how angry they were with each other though, they always ended up together again.
It made Mick think of that one phase, about how opposites attract. In his and Len's case, it was most definitely true, because the two of them couldn't be more different. Mick was hotheaded and violent, while Len was calm and collected. Mick had his fire, and Len had his ice. Despite their differences, the two of them had always made a great team.
And now, that team was finished. Mick's partner was gone for good, and he wasn't coming back this time. Mick was alone.
He hated this feeling of loneliness. Mick wasn't usually the sort to look for comfort, but right now, he needed some company. However, he didn't want to be anywhere near the rest of his crewmates, not now. Those bastards all acted like they were sad, but really, most of them were probably glad that it had been Len who had been killed rather than the golden boy, Ray.
Strangely, Ray himself was one of the only other two crew members who seemed genuinely upset about what had happened to Len. So far, Ray had been the only one who had been able to say something that had made Mick feel even remotely better. While everybody else was going on and on about how Len had made a noble sacrifice, and had died a hero, Ray had reminded Mick that Vandal Savage was still out there.
Ray had given Mick an option on who he could take his anger out on.
All in all, Ray was probably the one person on the crew that Mick would actually even tolerate as company at the moment. However, that didn't mean that Mick wanted to be around Ray, at least, not then. Maybe later.
Since he didn't want to be around, or even see, any of the other crew members, Mick went to find someplace on the ship where nobody would bug him. His first thought was to go to the gym. At least then he would be able to punch something. Mick quickly decided against it, for a couple of reasons. First off, he wasn't really in the mood for punching anything, which was a first. Even if he did feel like beating the crap out of something, it was much more fun to do so against a person than it is with a punching bag.
The third and biggest reason that Mick didn't want to go to the gym was that he had a fairly good idea that Sara was already in there, venting her frustrations. Despite her being the only other person on the crew besides Mick and Ray who actually seemed upset about Len, she was the absolute last person that Mick wanted to see right then.
Deep down, Mick knew that what had happened wasn't her fault. Given time, Mick was sure the anger that he had towards her would simmer down. At the moment though, he was still absolutely furious at her for dragging him out of the Vanishing Point, and leaving Len behind to die.
So, yeah, seeing Sara would probably not go very well. It would probably end with him taking his anger out on her rather than a punching bag, and Mick knew that Len wouldn't have wanted that. For whatever reason, Len had grown kind of fond of Sara. Which meant that beating her up was a no.
Since the gym was out and Mick didn't want to risk running into anybody else, he retreated to his room...Alright, actually, Mick didn't go to his room, he went to Len's room. He told himself it was just because his own room would be the first place somebody would look if they were looking for him. In all honesty though, Mick went to Len's room because it was familiar, and even though the frigid temperature of the room was almost torturous for Mick, it reminded him of Len. The whole room reminded him of Len.
Once he was in the room Mick locked the door, and commanded Gideon to not let anybody else in. Mick really didn't want to be interrupted from what he was about to do. Especially not when he hadn't done it for such a long time, not since before they had gone to Star City, 2046.
Mick closed his eyes and called out to his Animal. A minute later, after some effort on his part, Mick felt his Animal's presence, no longer within him, but beside him. For a moment, Mick didn't open his eyes, because he was worried that his animal wouldn't actually be there. After all, it had been so long since he had last called him out, and what if he wasn't capable of doing it anymore?
A low growl snapped Mick out of his hesitation. He opened his eyes and gave a small smile when he saw the grizzly bear standing in front of him. The bear's appearance was more haggard than he remembered it being, but it was still reassuring.
"Hey, Ursa." Mick put his hand on the bear's head. "Long time no see, buddy." It really had been much too long. Mick had never really been in the habit of having Ursa take his physical form. He liked having Ursa out, but Mick never felt comfortable letting him out for the world to see. Usually, Mick only ever brought Ursa out if it was either a real emergency, or if there was nobody else around.
Ursa hadn't taken his physical form since before they had visited Star City, 2046. After that, Mick just hadn't been motivated to bring his Animal out, and then the whole Kronos thing happened…
While he was Kronos, Mick couldn't even feel Ursa inside of him. Mick had begun to believe that his Animal, his soul, was gone forever, and wouldn't be coming back. It wasn't unheard of for people to lose their Animals. Uncommon, for sure, but it did happen. Strangely, at the time, he hadn't really cared.
While Mick had always had a strong connection with his Animal, as most people did, Kronos did not. Kronos had certainly noticed when he could no longer feel Ursa's presence. However, he really couldn't have cared less. In fact, he had been glad that the spirit was gone, as Kronos had believed that it had just been holding him back, keeping him from carrying out the vengeance that he so wanted to take.
Kronos had been a being whose only thought was on getting revenge against the people who had wronged him, and he knew that Ursa would only try to prevent him from doing so. For as threatening as Ursa seemed, and as violent as he was when he became agitated, he was actually quite gentle and compassionate for a bear, and always had been.
It had actually been Ursa and his sympathy that had driven Mick to save Len's punk ass that day in juvie. The day that they had met. For some reason, Ursa, who had seen, and caused, his own fair share of violence, had felt compelled to help the scrawny fourteen year old boy, and thus, Mick had felt compelled to help.
Even back then, Ursa had had a soft spot for Len. And that soft spot and fondness only grew after they had actually gotten to know Len. Ursa was fiercely protective of Len, and fought against anybody who tried to hurt him, including Mick.
This had been an annoying hindrance for Kronos, who wanted nothing more than to make Len suffer. This was why Kronos had been glad when he couldn't feel Ursa's presence inside of him anymore. No more would he have to fight against the stubborn bear. The Animal was gone. Kronos was aware that Ursa had been a part of himself, but that didn't matter to him. It was a part that he was better off without.
What Kronos hadn't been aware of was that Ursa hadn't disappeared entirely, he had just been buried deep within in him. Ursa had only reawakened when Kronos had been about to kill Len.
Really, the whole fight had been Len's own fault. The bastard had come to him, challenged him to a fight. Len had said that if he could kill him, he could go free, leave all this stuff behind him. That was all that Kronos had wanted. So, of course, he had taken Len up on his offer.
It really had been stupid of Len to make that deal with him. They both knew who was the better fighter, and who would come out on top. It would barely be a contest at all, and it hadn't been. Kronos had been able to knock Len to the floor all too easily. He had brought back his fist to deliver the final blow to end it all, but something had stopped him.
A familiar feeling and presence came over Kronos, though it had taken him a moment to recognize it for what it was. It had just felt like so long since he had felt his Animal within him. Ursa, somehow, had come back from wherever he had gone to, and he was just as protective of Len as ever.
Kronos still wanted to hurt Len, to kill him. He wanted to do it so badly, but found that he couldn't. For all of his fury and desire for revenge, when he was given his chance to take everything he had worked for, he hesitated. It didn't make any sense. This was what he had wanted!
Except…
Kronos...no, Mick wasn't so sure that this was what he wanted anymore. Not like this. He couldn't just kill Lenny. And had Ursa most certainly agreed.
Damn emotions, always getting in the way of everything.
Things didn't just fix themselves up right away after that. Things were rough between them for a while. Mick had still been furious with Len, though not so much now that he wanted to kill him. And Len, on his part, was suddenly full of distrust towards Mick. Thankfully, it didn't take too long for things between them to get back to normal...well, as normal as was possible for the two of them.
Things had still been tense, and they certainly hadn't been perfect, but they were partners again, and that was all that mattered.
Of course, just when things were starting to look up again, it just had to all go down to hell. Len was gone now, and this time, there was no getting him back. Mick was well and truly alone.
Ursa huffed at him.
...Alright, Mick was mostly alone.
"Heh, sorry buddy. Got distracted there for a minute" Mick pet Ursa a bit to make it up to him, but not too much. Like most Animals, Ursa enjoyed physical contact with his person. However, he wasn't exactly a huge fan of being pet, even by Mick. A little bit of petting was fine, even from people that he didn't know very well, but never a lot. Len was the only person Ursa would constantly tolerate touching him.
Len's Animal, on the other hand, had always been the exactly opposite. The arctic wolf loved being pet and stroked more than anything, but only by people that she knew very well and trusted. If she didn't trust somebody, she wouldn't even let them anywhere near her.
Looking back, Mick realized that it was nothing short of a miracle that he had gotten the wolf and, consequently, Len, to trust him so quickly. They had only known each other for a few weeks when Len and Mick and decided to introduce each other to their spirit animals. For Mick, who didn't like showing Ursa to anybody, this was a big deal, and he knew that it was for Len as well.
Mick had sighed and hesitantly brought Ursa out, though, at the time, that hadn't been his name. Back then, Mick had never bothered giving his spirit bear a name. If he really needed to call him something, he had just called him Bear. It had worked for him, and he didn't see anything wrong with it.
Len didn't agree. He had known that there were some people who prefered to not name their Animals, but Len also knew that Mick wasn't one of those people. He just hadn't bothered to think up a decent name for his bear.
The way Len had seen it, if Mick was going to be calling his bear anything, it should at least be an actual name. Not just Bear. Len had warned Mick that if he didn't name his bear, than Len would come up with a name for him. Mick had shrugged and told Len to knock himself out. He really couldn't care one way or another.
Len had looked at Mick's spirit bear thoughtfully for a moment, before declaring that its name was Ursa. The name had sounded alright to Mick, so he had agreed to it. It wasn't until a few hours later did Mick learn exactly why Len had chosen that name, and he had not been amused.
The brat had named his spirit animal after a freaking connect the dots pattern in the sky! The pattern of a mother bear, no less. Irritated, Mick had told the younger boy that if he had named his bear, it was only fair that he should be able to name Len's wolf.
Len had looked shocked at Mick's demand, but agreed to it with a smirk. For all his talk about giving their spirit animals proper names, Len hadn't named his yet either. The closest thing to a name that the wolf had was when Len's baby sister, Lisa, fondly referred to it as 'doggy'.
Len wasn't any more against his Animal having a name than Mick was. In fact, Mick suspected that the reason for the wolf going nameless for so many years had something to do with Len's father. Back then, everything that Len did, every decision he had made, had, in one way or another, been because of his father.
Young Mick, feeling very satisfied that Len was letting him do this, had sat in front of the arctic wolf as he tried to come up with a fitting name for her. Mick thought on it for longer than Len had, but Mick wanted to pick a good choice. He couldn't just choose any boring name for Len's Animal. It had to be a name that worked well. Even though Len had named Ursa quickly, he had chosen a decent, unique name that fit both Mick and his bear. Mick only wanted to return the favor.
After staring intently at Len's wolf for nearly five minutes, going over name ideas in his head, trying to think of the right one. Finally, Mick had come up with the perfect name.
Snowflake.
The name suited the wolf because her fur was white, like snow was. Also, Snowflake just happened to be one of Len's many nicknames that had been given him by the other convicts in juvie. Snowflake was actually Mick's personal favorite nickname of Len's. He never called Len that, but he did secretly enjoy when other people used it.
It was certainly better than some of the other nicknames the juvie kids had come up with for Len. He had been given a number of different titles, the tamer ones included Fish, Pretty Boy, Smart Guy, and, of course, Snowflake. Len had also been called a couple of other more, uh, colorful names.
In Mick's opinion, the worst name that Len had ever been called was Jailbait. He had only ever been called it once, but that was one time too many. Mick had made the kid who had dared think that about Len suffer, horribly. Mick had beaten him up so badly that by the time he was finished, the punk had had to be sent out to the nearest hospital for treatment rather than be taken to the infirmary.
Mick had been put into the SHU for two weeks thanks to that incident, but it had been worth it. After he was let out of solitary, Mick was pleased to noticed that nobody else dared call Len Jailbait. They didn't even imply it. Many kids became afraid of even looking at Len the wrong way, lest Mick jump at their throats for it.
Even back then, Mick always had Len's back...okay, not always, but most of the time. Mick had had Len's back, and Len had watched his back in return. They were partners, it was what they did. They watched out for each other. They had both known that one of these days, something would happen to one or both of them that they wouldn't be able to bounce back from.
But neither of them had thought that that day would come so soon.
And Mick certainly never thought that Len would be the first one to go. It shouldn't have been him. Len was the smart one. The careful one. The one who never did anything without a plan. Mick was the careless one. The one who always stormed headfirst into danger without thinking about it. The one with an unhealthy obsession with fire If either of them was to die in a fiery explosion, one would think it be Mick.
It should have been Mick.
If Len hadn't knocked him out, it would have been him.
"God, Len, you stupid idiot." Mick muttered. The one time he actually wanted Len to leave him behind, and Len decided to give his life to save him...to save all of them. The selfish jerk.
Mick reached into his pocket and took out the small metal ring that Len had slipped him at the last minute. He couldn't help but scoff a bit as he held it. Mick had always hated this ring. Len had kept it since their first heist together, as a reminder. Ever since then, whenever things went wrong with their plans, which happened way more often than one would think, Len would just sit down and mess around with the ring until he either figured out a way to overcome a sudden obstacle that had come up, or until he got over their heist completely falling to pieces.
Either way, it always lasted for a few hours. Hours of Len sulking while he constantly tapped that stupid ring of his. It had been annoying, and slightly concerning. Sometimes, Len would get entirely caught up in his thoughts and just space out. He would become entirely unaware of everything going on around him, because he was so focused on trying to solve some stupid problem.
Mick hated when that happened. And he hated the ring. He knew that it had been important to Len, but that hadn't made Mick like it any more.
Even now, Mick still hated the stupid ring, because, like it had for Len, it reminded him of just how badly even the most thought out plans could turn out. For Len, it had been a good thing. Something that helped him to accept that he couldn't control every little thing that happened. For Mick, the ring would just be a constant reminder of just how badly things could go, and what he had lost.
Of course, Mick would still keep the ring. It had been important to Len, and he had given it to him, and Mick wasn't about to toss aside something like that. So, the ring stayed.
And so did the cold gun.
Maybe someday Mick would find somebody else worthy to wield the weapon. Not that Mick wanted to replace his partner, because he didn't, but Mick knew that Len wouldn't want his precious gun to sit on a shelf and collect dust, basically just go to waste. The cold gun had been made to be used, which meant that Mick would have to find a new owner to use it, because he most certainly wasn't going to.
That could wait until a later day though. For now, the cold gun would stay in Mick's possession, and, until he found somebody worthy to use it, nobody else would lay a god-damned hand on it.
Ursa made a low moaning sound and nudged at him. Mick sighed and, once again, began petting his Animal. It was unusual how much petting Ursa was, not only allowing, but wanting. Mick guessed that part of the reason Ursa was longing so much for physical touch was because of how long it had been since he had had any. Plus, Ursa was probably missing Len like crazy, just like Mick was, and needed some kind of physical contact to, somehow, make him feel better.
Maybe Ursa was pretending that Len was the one that was petting him. Just like how Mick pretended that it was Snowflake's fur that he was stroking.
"What are we going to do without them?" Mick asked. Ursa moaned longingly and sunk to the ground till he was laying down. Mick crouched and continued stroking his bear's fur. It wasn't really their style, but Mick knew that Snowflake used to always relax when he had pet her. And Mick remembered multiple times when Len had calmed down an over-excited Ursa by stroking his fur slowly. Even though this wasn't the same, maybe Ursa would still find the petting to be soothing.
And he did. It took a few minutes, but Ursa did eventually begin to relax. Mick continued petting his Animal for a few minutes more. Finally, it seemed like Ursa had fallen asleep. Mick snorted and began to stand up again. Ursa was relaxed and asleep. His work was done. Before Mick could get up though, Ursa, who apparently wasn't quite asleep yet, grabbed at Mick with his paw and dragged him closer.
"Ursa, what are you doing?" The bear, of course, didn't answer. Ursa just pulled Mick against him and held him there. Mick quickly figured out what Ursa wanted, and it was freaking ridiculous.
"Ursa, we're not cuddling. Got it?" Mick growled. Ursa grunted at him and still didn't let go. Mick rolled his eyes. Ursa really was such a touchy-feely bear. Mick swore that Ursa must've gotten it from Len. For the most part, Len had not been a fan of physical contact. He would avoid it at all costs and tense when somebody else made contact with him. Sometimes though, Len would act like he was practically touch starved, and would desperately look for some gentle contact from somebody that he trusted entirely.
Even though Mick and Len had been partners, more times than not, Mick refused to help Len out when he came to him looking for some physical contact. Mick was not a touchy-feely guy, ever, but he couldn't exactly let his partner down either. So, oftentimes when Len was in that kind of mood, Mick would bring Ursa out to his physical form and let the two of them cuddle as much as they wanted to.
Sometimes though, Len needed more than just a cuddle with a bear. He needed human contact. When times like that came, Mick allowed himself to be Len's cuddle partner, but only for as long as Len needed it. No more.
They didn't always end up cuddling though. It all depended on Len's mood. Sometimes, Len was just fine with just sitting close to Mick. The cuddling came when he needed a bit more contact, but not too much. Sometimes though, Len just got it so moody and needy about it that cuddling just wouldn't quite cut it.
These moments always came up at night, when Mick least expected it. Mick would be tired, in bed, and already half asleep when Len would come into his room uninvited. Mick would groan and grumble about it, but he would then scoot over, making enough room on the bed for Len to join him. Nothing was ever said between the two of them when this happened. They just slept.
Neither of them had ever told anybody about their cuddling and occasional bed sharing, because they knew that other people would just come to the wrong conclusion. Mick didn't get why though. So they sometimes slept in the same bed. So what? It wasn't that big of a deal.
So sometimes Mick would let himself be Len's source of cuddling. However, that only happened occasionally, and only with Len. And, since Ursa wasn't Len, they weren't freaking going to cuddle.
"Ursa, get off." Mick shoved himself away from Ursa. The bear moaned sadly. Mick crossed his arms. He had forgotten how dramatic his Animal could be sometimes. Then again, Mick knew that Ursa was mourning the loss of his favorite cuddle buddy. And, while Mick was certainly in no mood to cuddle with his bear, he was willing to compromise.
Mick sighed and sat himself down on the ground next to Ursa, with his back toward the bear. Mick leaned back against Ursa's side. The bear shifted slightly at the added pressure, but didn't complain against it.
"I ain't cuddlin' with you." Mick insisted. "But I'm willing to sit here by you." Ursa grunted in agreement. Ursa fell asleep not long after that, for real this time. Feeling Ursa gently sleeping beneath him made Mick realize just how tired he felt too. Soon, Mick began to find himself dozing off. He tried to resist sleep, because he knew that if he fell asleep while in this position, he wouldn't be very comfortable when he woke up. But there was no harm in closing his eyes for just a minute…
Mick had nearly fallen asleep when he felt something with soft fur nudge against him. At first, Mick thought nothing of it. After all, he was sleeping right up against his bear, who had fur. Mick just thought that Ursa was trying to cuddle with him again, and he was honestly too tired to care.
The nudging continued, waking Mick up a little bit. His eyes were still closed, but he became more aware of things. Such as whoever was nudging him had extremely soft, long fur, and Mick knew that Ursa didn't feel like that. Ursa's fur was short and rough, so whoever was nudging Mick couldn't have been his bear. Somebody else was in here.
Feeling suddenly wide awake and alert, Mick snapped his eyes open to find himself face to face with the last Animal he had been expecting. An arctic wolf.
Snowflake
But...but that was impossible. This couldn't be Snowflake. Len was gone. Dead. Which meant that Snowflake should be gone too. And yet, here she was. This snowy white wolf was definitely Snowflake, Mick was sure of it. Even if she did look different now.
For as long as Mick had known her, Snowflake had always had scars and wounds everywhere on her body. Just like Len did. Len had always been ashamed of the scars, on both him and Ursa. He had seen them as just proof of how weak he was.
Mick couldn't disagree more. To him, any scar was a sign of strength. Scars showed that you've faced challenges, and then overcome them. Whenever Mick saw Len's or Snowflakes scars, he just marvelled at how much they had been through. Sometimes the two of them looked like they had been through hell and back, and yet they always came out on top. If that wasn't strength, Mick didn't know what was.
Mick had been used to Snowflake's roughed up appearance. Now though, she looked different. All of her scars and old injuries were gone, almost as if they had never been there in the first place. Snowflake's fur was even whiter than it usually was, and her eyes were a more golden color than their usual yellow. Even with all the physical differences, Mick could tell that she was still the same old snowflake.
But the question was, what was she doing here? Even if Len was alive, (which was beyond impossible) Snowflake still shouldn't have been able to be here. Animal's can never be more than fifty feet away from their person. It just couldn't happen. So, there was no way that Snowflake could physically be here.
Unless, of course, Mick was just dreaming...
Or…
It was impossible, but an old legend came to Mick's mind. It was a well-known myth, practically everybody became familiar with it when they were small children. Legend goes that after a person dies, their spirit animal visits their soulmate. Just for a few hours, to offer comfort, closure, whatever.
It was a nice story, and everybody would have liked for it to be true, but rarely anybody actually believed it. There were occasional stories that went around, claiming that the legend was true and descriptions of different experiences with it, but nobody believed these claims. There was just no evidence to support it. So it was generally accepted that the legend was just that, a legend. A made up story, and nothing more.
And even if the legend was true, why would Snowflake have come to him? Mick highly doubted that he was Len's soulmate. In fact, Mick's first guess as to who Len's soulmate would be was Lisa. She was, after all, Len's precious baby sister. Len would, and did, do anything for her.
And while Mick knew that Len did care about him (if Len didn't care about him, he wouldn't have dealt with him for all these years) he hadn't thought that their relationship would end up on a soulmate level. Sure, they had been partners for years, and good friends since they'd been kids, and Mick certainly thought of Len as the most important person in his life. He just never would have guessed that the feeling would have been mutual.
Mick decided right then that this whole soulmate business was way too complicated and vague for his liking. How a person felt was the only indication they got about who their soulmate was. There were no marks, no clues, just stupid emotions. To make things even worse, it was actually very uncommon for two people to see each other as soulmates. What usually happened was Person A would see Person B as their soulmate, but Person B would see Person C as their soulmate. It was all very confusing, frustrating, and usually not worth the trouble to think able.
So, Mick didn't think about it. This whole soulmate nonsense didn't really matter to Mick anyway. But, it was because of the soulmate crap that Snowflake was here, so Mick didn't complain. Anything that let him see Len's wolf had to be a good thing.
"Hey, beautiful." There were only two things in the world that Mick actually thought of as 'beautiful'. The first was fire and destruction. The more chaotic the flames were, the more beautiful Mick thought it was. The only other thing that Mick ever called beautiful was Snowflake, because that's what she was.
Mick began petting Snowflake's soft fur. The wolf whined and tilted her head, making it easier for Mick to scratch at her neck, which she loved. Mick pet and stroked Snowflake in all the ways that he knew she liked, because he knew that she deserved this type of affection.
As he pet her, Snowflake whined appreciatively and leaned into his touch. She really seemed to be enjoying the attention, and, if he was being honest with himself, Mick liked it too. He actually found himself genuinely smiling, which was something that he rarely ever did.
And he wasn't the only one that was happy about this reunion. To his astonishment, Mick saw that Snowflake actually seemed happy and completely relaxed, which, in all the time he had known her, was something that Mick had never seen before. Sure, Snowflake enjoyed things, and wasn't necessarily sad all the time, but Mick never thought that she was completely happy either. At best, she only ever seemed content.
And even when there was nobody else around and nothing to worry about, Snowflake never allowed herself to completely relax. It always seemed like she was just waiting for something bad to happen.
Len had been the same way. The fact that Snowflake could let herself be happy and relaxed meant that she didn't feel the need to guard or protect herself. She, and Len, were safe. Nothing was going to try to hurt them anymore.
This was strangely reassuring to Mick, in a bittersweet kind of way. Even better than knowing that Snowflake was safe was that she seemed happy, and if she was happy, that could only mean one thing:
She and Len had found freedom, at last.
Mick had always found it ironic that the one thing that Len had wanted most in the world was the one thing that he never seemed to be able to get. Freedom. The chance to be his own person, and not just who other people thought he should be.
All his life, Len had been used, manipulated and controlled. The first offender had, of course, been Len's father. The bastard did everything that he could to control Len's life. Whenever Len tried to defy him, his father would hurt him. If Len still tried to defy him, his father would threaten to hurt Lisa.
Len had put up with this abuse for years, and had only been able to escape from it once he had turned eighteen and actually been able to move out. Even then, Len still had to deal with his father's influence in his life.
As he grew older, Len began to make a name for himself. Soon, he was known as 'Leonard Snart', not just 'Lewis Snart's kid'. Unfortunately, by the time he was known just for his own actions and not for his father's, he had caught the attention of The Families. If there was one thing Len would never do as a criminal, it was work under one of The Families.
The whole reason Len chose to be a criminal in the first place was so that he wouldn't have to deal with people trying to tell him what to do. The heroes and do-gooders, or even just normal citizens, were restricted by rules and laws that they were expected to follow.
That was why Len was so against being a hero. Because heroes had to play by the rules that other people set up for them, and Len refused to do that. It was the same reason why he didn't do work for The Families. No matter how much power and influence doing Family work could get you, Len had never thought that it had been worth it.
It took a few years, but The Families finally got the message that he wasn't interested in working for any of them. Instead of trying to recruit him, they then moved on to trying to get rid of him. Len caused trouble, didn't play by their rules, which meant that he had to go. Fortunately, Len was a big boy and knew how to take care of himself. None of The Families could get rid of him.
Len had thought that joining Rip's little time traveling team would be his chance to finally get the freedom that he had always wanted. Rip had told them that they were legends, which was what Len had wanted. After all, legends didn't tend to be puppets. Legends were their own people.
But, Rip had lied to them, the bastard.
Still, Len decided to stay on the team. If Len's father had never been able to convince him that he was a nobody, then Rip certainly wouldn't be able to. Besides, Len was always ready for a challenge, and killing an immortal guy was certainly going to be a challenge.
If Mick had known that this whole adventure would end with the biggest slap in the face ever, he would have taken a page from Len's book and knocked him out until the others left on the timeship. Then they never would have had to go on this stupid quest in the first place, and they never would have learned that they had been played like chess pieces.
That had been one of the worst parts of this adventure. To learn that the Time Masters had been manipulating their every decision throughout this whole journey. And possibly throughout their entire lives.
This had not sit well with Len. He had worked hard to be his own person, to not be under someone else's control. And then to learn that he had been strung like a puppet this whole time? That was beyond cruel.
That was why Len had been so willing to sacrifice his life to destroy The Oculus. Because he would rather die than let himself be under somebody else's influence again.
As much as it sucked that Len was gone, Mick knew that there was probably no other way that he would have liked to go out. Destroying The Oculus had been Len's way of giving The Time Bastards, and destiny, one final 'screw you'.
Leonard Snart made his own destiny, and if he had to die to do so, so be it.
Mick had understood this about Len. He had hated it, and thought it kind of stupid, but he understood where Len was coming from. He just wished that it didn't have to come to that.
Ursa, who had woken up by this point, had grown jealous that he wasn't getting any attention. He snorted at Mick and Snowflake to remind them that he was still there. Snowflake shot Ursa an annoyed look, she did not like having her petting be interrupted, but she didn't stay irritated for long. Snowflake stepped closer to Ursa and gave the bear a quick nuzzle. Ursa hesitantly returned the gesture.
After saying hello to Ursa, Snowflake turned back to Mick. This time, she wasn't looking to be petted. Snowflake gently bit at Mick's pant leg and pulled at it. Not enough to rip the pants, but enough that Mick got the message that she wanted him to follow her.
"Alright, alright, I'm goin'." Mick got to his feet and followed Snowflake's lead, because he knew that if he didn't follow her, she would go from biting his clothes to biting his skin. Snowflake hopped onto Len's bed, and looked at Mick impatiently, as if she was waiting for him to follow her still. Mick rolled his eyes. He knew exactly what Snowflake wanted.
"What is with you two and wanting me to sleep with you?" Mick asked the two Animals. Snowflake growled, warning Mick that if he didn't get in the bed right then, she would not hesitate to use force.
"Just as needy as ever, aren't you?" Mick sat down on the bed and stroked at Snowflake's fur again. Instantly she stopped looking angry with him. Snowflake nudged at Mick a bit, making him scoot over, and laid down with her head on his lap. She successfully had him trapped.
Mick grinned fondly and scratched at Snowflake's ears. She always knew exactly how to get just what she wanted. Ursa, who didn't like feeling left out, got up from where he had been laying on the floor and repositioned himself so he could be part of their little group. Ursa was too large to fit on the bed, so instead he sat next to it and laid his head near where Mick was sitting.
Both Animal's fell asleep a few minutes later. Mick was tired too, but he forced himself to stay awake. It had been too long since he had been able to enjoy the company of Animals. Besides, he liked having Snowflake at his side again and, if legends were true, she would be gone again in a few hours. Mick wanted to enjoy what time he had left with her.
At some point in the night, Mick must have fallen asleep, because when he woke up the first thing that he noticed was that the pressure that had been on his lap the night before was gone. Snowflake had disappeared.
Mick sighed and ran a hand over his head. Of course Snowflake was gone. She couldn't have very well stayed with him forever. She was Len's spirit Animal, and she had to return back to him...wherever he was now.
But Snowflake hadn't left without leaving behind something for Mick to remember her by.
There, laying on the spot where Snowflake had been the night before was the pelt of an arctic wolf. Gently Mick touched the fur and stroked it a bit to confirm that, just as he had thought, this was Snowflake's fur, or, at least, had been. Mick grinned as he picked up the wolf hide and admired it. It was beautiful, and Mick knew exactly what to do with it.
There was a tradition amongst criminals that after somebody died, their close friends and family would make and wear clothing or accessories from the deceased person's spirit animal. It was their way of remembering the person they had lost. Long ago most everybody followed the tradition. Nowadays, it was a practice that was frowned upon because the world had decided that it was too grotesque.
Heh, shows what they know.
Regardless of what the rest of society would think about it, Mick knew that this was the reason that Snowflake had left behind her fur. There were many things that Mick could do with it, but immediately he knew that he would use the fur to line the inside of his coat. Not only would the fur keep him warmer in the cold, which was always nice, but it would also serve to remind him of Snowflake...of Len.
Lining his coat would probably take the whole pelt to accomplish, leaving nothing left over. Mick was fine with that. Snowflake had left him the fur to do with as he pleased, and he wanted to keep it all to himself.
Mick knew that Lisa, the only other person that probably deserved something like this to remember Len by, would appreciate something. Fortunately, Len had already thought of that, so Mick didn't have to share his fur.
Years ago, after a particularly close call during one of their heists, Len had been reminded of the reality that someday, he may not make it out of a heist alive. Len, being the kind of guy who always thought ahead, had pulled Mick aside and handed him a golden necklace with a wolf claw on it. Mick knew instantly that the claw had been Snowflake's, but he had never bothered to ask why it wasn't attached to her paw anymore.
Len had ordered Mick that if anything were to ever happen to him, that Mick was to give the necklace to Lisa. Mick hadn't thought much of the request. He had thought that Len was just being paranoid. However, Mick had agreed to do as Len had asked, because it was much easier to do than fighting with him about it.
Even after all this time, Mick still had the golden necklace...somewhere. He couldn't remember exactly where he had put it, but Mick was sure that he would eventually be able to find it.
Mick stood up and stretched. His body was slightly sore from sleeping in a sitting position, and his legs were asleep after Snowflake had used them as a pillow all night, but Mick ignored these discomforts. He had dealt with much worse before, and he knew that they would go away within a few minutes.
Ursa, having just woken up, looked at Mick sleepily. Mick put his hand on Ursa's head and brushed the fur a bit.
"Hey, bud." Mick said. "You ready to deal with the other's now?" Ursa moaned and closed his eyes. Mick could feel Ursa becoming less solid as he transformed from his corporeal form to his spirit form. After sharing one last look with each other, Ursa returned to his usual place within Mick. Once again, they were one and the same.
"Yeah, me neither." Mick said in answer to his own question. He took a deep breath, steeled himself, double checked that he had Snowflake's pelt, Len's ring, and the cold gun, and left the room. He didn't much feel like it, but Mick knew that he had to face the rest of the world eventually. As he walked down the hallway Mick sent one last mental message to Len, wherever he was.
"Goodbye, old friend."
A/N: Well, that was certainly interesting to write. I've never done something like this before, but it was fun. Please forgive me though for keeping Len dead, but I had to do it. Leonard Snart gave his life to save Mick and the others, and while that's sad, his sacrifice wouldn't mean nearly as much if he ended up coming back to life.
On a less depressing note, me and my sister have come up with spirit animals for the rest of the legends team, and I will share them with you now.
Rip - Lion
Sara - Black Mamba Snake
Ray - Australian Shepherd
Kendra - Egyptian Mau Cat
Carter - Black-backed Jackal
Stein - Owl
Jax - Weasel
Mick - Grizzly Bear
Len - Arctic Wolf