"Any trace of her?" Joe asked Barry, once the detective had joined him in Astrid's office.
"No, not a sign of her. She left her phone on her desk and I charged it up. Her last phone call was to Oliver. I haven't called him yet. I don't want to worry him if she is fine." Barry replied.
"I would rather us leave that man out of Central City's business." Joe told him, adamantly.
"I get the impression that you don't like Oliver Queen very much, do you Joe?" Barry asked.
"He is a killer, Barry! I would prefer it if he stayed away from my kid."
"Duly noted!" Barry said, trying to drop the subject. He flicked through the security images on the computer screen. The time was currently 3am and he knew that Joe was feeling tired.
"You can go home if you like. Get some sleep." Barry told him.
"…and leave you here by yourself?" Joe tried to refuse.
"Just go home. I'm fine." Barry told him. "I'll contact Cisco in a few hours and get his help to find her."
Joe nodded and left the office, while Barry replayed the images of the night. He saw the fire starting up, but he couldn't find out who had started it.
Then he saw it. He saw Astrid approach a man who picked her up and left the facility quickly. Unfortunately, he could not see the man's face. And he could not hear their conversation. As far as he knew, this man could have been a security guard saving his friend.
Whatever the situation was, this man would have the answers of where she had gone next. He went through Astrid's employee folders, on her computer, reading up on every individual profile, looking for some similarities between the unidentified man and the staff. It only took a few seconds, but nothing came up. He felt as if he had seen this man before, but he knew that it was not Leonard Snart. He would need to keep searching.
"Remind me again, what we are doing at Mercury Labs?" Astrid questioned Snart as they approached the Mercury Labs entrance. "You are simply playing your part. And unless you want you want any harm to come to your boyfriend, I suggest that you do it quickly. I will play the part as your assistant while you will lead us to their artifact research department."
"Why would they just let me in? it's 3am and I run Sutherland Labs… Not Mercury Labs. And for the record, Cisco is not my boyfriend!" she shot back at him.
Leonard, who was wearing leather gloves, rang the doorbell. "It is up to you to figure out a back story. If you fail, he dies. It doesn't matter what he is to you, right now he is the perfect leverage."
The security guard approached the other side of the glass door, so Astrid stood in front of it, so that he could see who it was. He opened the door and looked at them both.
"Hi," Astrid said casually, "I know it's late but I just got off the phone to Dr McGee and he granted me permission to come up and collect some projects that my father collaborated on when… you know… he was alive…" Astrid deliberately let her voice trail off to receive the pitying effect. But the security guard wasn't buying it. She probed into the man's mind and she knew she would need to improvise all the more.
"Oh my god!" she sighed. "This whole carrying on my father's business thing is seriously hard. I never thought I would have to come here in the middle of the night, just to gather the last things he ever worked on…" she allowed her voice to trail off into a whimper and began to cry.
The security guard was clearly uncomfortable by this display. "Look, Miss Sutherland. I know who you are and I know that you would have no reason to break the law here. Just go up there, but your friend needs to stay down here."
"As much as I would prefer him to stay down here, he is actually my… ahem… assistant. I need his help to carry some of the things. They are a little heavy for me." She said, keeping her act up.
The security guard stared intently at Snart, who stared right back at him. "You're both free to go through." The security guard told them. "I hope you can both find your way."
"Thank you." Astrid said sweetly and she lead the way to the elevator.
"Judging by your performance, that is not the first lie that you have ever told. You weren't half bad." Snart complimented.
"Being the daughter of a celebrity, I had to be able to tell a lie or two in my youth. And like you said… You have leverage. The sooner this job is done, you let Cisco and me go free. That's it! And we will not tell anyone. I promise." Astrid pleaded.
"You clearly didn't hear what I said earlier, did you? You and Cisco are to come with us." Leonard replied.
"We're not going anywhere with you." She snarled at him.
"Oh, but you are. Remember, if you refuse…"
"Fine… if you are going to use the leverage card. I will go. But Cisco remains here, safe!" Astrid told him.
"Fine… Your friend will stay here. And if anyone asks you are going of your own free will… Now, can we step inside the elevator or are you just trying to procrastinate?" Astrid glanced at the open elevator doors and stepped inside to avoid further communication with the criminal.
"Naww Cisco. Are you really that mad at me?" Lisa cooed at him, who at this point was beyond tired and getting quite frustrated at his current predicament.
Mick, who was studying his weapon at this point, was also becoming irritated by Lisa Snart's performance. "How 'bout you get the boy a coffee before he falls asleep. Give me some peace!" he growled at her.
Lisa took her leave, leaving he and Cisco alone. "Thank you!" Cisco said.
"No, thanks necessary. But you are going to upgrade my weapon!"
"I'm what?"
"You are going to…"
"I heard what you said. I am not going to…" Cisco protested.
"You will, if you want to remain alive. Or if you want all your friends and family to stay alive… I have killed more people for less and made it look like an accident." Mick interrupted.
"What do you want me to do with it?" Cisco asked defeated.
"I want it to be more powerful than before. And don't try to do anything stupid. I will make you test it out first." He replied.
Cisco nodded. "I will have to have a look at it first, so I will need to have my arms untied."
Mick placed the weapon on the table before them and stood behind the chair. Just as Cisco had seen dozens of times in the movies, the minute his hands were free, he flung his elbow back, smacking Mick in the face.
Unfortunately, it did not affect Mick in the slightest as he restrained Cisco's arm and pressed a blade to Cisco's neck. "I don't need a gun to do my job. I just choose to use one." He said softly.
Once he knew that Cisco had submitted, he released his restrain on him and removed the blade, cautiously. "Ok. I'll get to work." Cisco said, beginning to study the weapon, with Mick's threatening stare on the back of him. He rubbed his neck where the blade had been pressed, thankfully there was only a scratch.
"I work better when I feel comfortable and not like I'm being threatened." Cisco shot at the man.
"I don't care. You have a job to do, and you are going to do it!" Mick shot back.
Arguing was pointless, he needed to get to work. He was focusing on the weapon, then all of a sudden a thought. No, not a thought, a memory? But it couldn't have been. A flash of something popped through his head.
He saw Astrid at Mercury Labs, accompanied by Snart. They walked right past a security guard, unhassled, and into a laboratory of artifacts. Ancient artifacts. Leonard happily went over a wall of treasures, looking for one in particular.
Astrid noticed a small ancient dagger sitting on a shelf. She placed it inside her jacket pocket, unnoticed. She crept up towards Leonard, softly and as he turned to her, she swiftly brought the dagger to his stomach. But at the same time he had brought out his gun and was holding it against her head.
"You don't have the guts to kill someone, girlie." Leonard told her. An expression fell across Astrid's face that surprised Leonard, a feeling of guilt, that had led Astrid to drop the dagger to the floor, despite the gun that had been placed against her head.
"I know that look. The look that tells me that you do have the guts. You have killed someone, quite recently, in fact, and they were quite close to you." He lowered his weapon and smiled, an amused smile.
It was as if something had reminded Astrid of all the martial arts that she had learnt over the years, including her training with Oliver. As a reaction, she picked the dagger up off the ground and knocked Leonard back. He almost toppled over. But he too was quick on the reaction, he went to hit her. She was able to duck in time. But then a piercing sensation through her left arm startled her. She remembered the pain in the left arm where the ice gun had hit her earlier.
She ignored it and kicked Leonard back. He almost toppled over again, but then he pulled out his weapon and aimed it at her. With her arm still hurting she knew that she was no match.
Cisco was baffled. Did he just imagine seeing all of that? and then realized that Mick had asked him a question. "Are you even listening to me?" Mick was holding the blade to Cisco's neck again. "I'm sorry. I was listening. I was just concentrating." Cisco lied. Mick removed the blade, the lie had bought him more time.