So, I'm pretty sure this is going to be 14 chapters instead of 12. But the good news is, the original chapter 10 was so long I split it into chapters 10 and 11 - and chapter 11 will be posted in the next day or two. :)

Both chapters take place during the Flash episode "The Runaway Dinosaur." Many thanks to LarielRomeniel for the beta.

Also, so many thanks to those who voted for this story as Best WIP in the Captain Canary Awards! I'm so honored, and I really appreciate it! (And seriously, if you haven't read the other two nominees, go do it ... they're amazing!)

...

Mick, Sara thinks, watching the door to the safe house from where she's perched on her bike outside, is not at all amused by the changes in his partner.

"What the hell?" he'd barked as she'd gone to change and Leonard had grabbed his cold gun and parka. "The Flash is gone and yer… what? Goin' to help? The fuck …"

"Not now, Mick." Leonard's voice had been terse as she'd closed the door. And just as terse when she'd opened it a few minutes later. "… not much good if there's no city left!"

He'd caught her eye and glanced toward the door. She'd given him a look that promised backup if needed… and Mick a look that was more threat than anything, although he'd just grinned at her… but gone, getting their bikes ready and then waiting.

When Leonard emerges a minute later, his mouth's a straight line and there are lines of tension around his eyes, although he smiles a little when he sees her.

"You two all right?"

"Peachy."

By the time they arrive, it's been a decent span of hours since Barry vanished, but the group at S.T.A.R. Labs still looks shell-shocked, stunned. Sara takes off immediately to wrap her arms around a distraught-looking Iris for a big hug; Leonard sidles around the edges of the room, uncomfortable and out of place.

The past few months can't change the fact that he's tried to do this himself, to erase Barry Allen from the picture, and even though things have … changed … the past remains.

It always does.

He studies the room: Sara, Iris, Ramon, Joe West… and another older man, gray-haired and with the sort of tension about his jawline that speaks of repressed emotion, talking to West.

He looks vaguely familiar, in more than one way. A mystery.

But one that will wait. Sara's looking around now, fire in her eyes. "And where the hell did Wells go?" she asks, clearly irritated. "This whole damned thing was his idea."

But West holds up a hand and shakes his head at her. "His daughter," the man says simply. "She's … her and Wally, they were caught in the explosion."

Sara sucks in a breath. "They're..."

"Wally is fine." West can't keep the relief from his face. "Jessie... she seems OK, but she won't wake up. Wells is with her."

There's no good way to respond to that. Sara meets Leonard's eyes, then shakes her head. "So, Barry..."

"He's alive. Too." Cisco chimes in now, glancing at them. "Um. I 'vibed' him. We think he's in the Speed Force."

"Well, how the hell do you get him out?" Leonard can hear the irritation in his own voice, and curses the impulse as everyone turns to look at him. He's never done well with dithering.

"We're working on that," West tells him mildly. "Or...we're going to be." He puts a hand on the shoulder of the oddly familiar man, who takes another look at Leonard before they both turn and leave the room. Leonard frowns, watching them go.

Sara crosses back to his side and he's about to ask her about the stranger when Cisco speaks up.

"Given all the crap that's been going on, we probably shouldn't have asked you guys to come out of hiding," he says a little apologetically. "And Harry probably would have squawked about us asking if he hadn't been so, uh, distracted. But... well, I mean, did you see the broadcast?"

Sara snickers as Leonard joins her by the other two, and the crook rolls his eyes.

"We haven't been... watching TV, Ramon," he says drily. "What's going on?"

"That what have you been doing for two days... oh, shit, I don't want to ask that, do I?" Cisco Ramon looks like a man with many life regrets at that moment. "Forget it. Forget I said anything." He pauses as Iris buries her head in her hands, shoulders shaking as Sara openly smirks and Leonard ignores them both. "And now I need brain bleach. Anyway..."

He hits a few buttons and a nearby screen flickers to life. Everyone sobers as the masked face of Zoom, energy crackling over it, appears, seemingly part of a newscast.

"There is no more hope," he intones as the camera rolls, a scene of carnage behind him. "There is no more Flash. There is no one left to protect you from me."

Cisco pauses the video, and they all stare at the screen for a long moment before Cisco speaks again.

"He's coming. And it was bad enough when Barry had no powers, but now he's gone and..." He lets out a sigh. "I mean, we're gonna get him back." He throws Iris a determined look. "We are. But Harry seems to think Zoom will be coming with all the metas, and I know you don't have any powers, but…"

"But we're here," Leonard says into the silence. "We get it."

Cisco gives him a quick look. "Well… yeah. We've called in a few more people, but it might take them a while to get here, I don't really know..."

"Wait, who?" Sara's voice is curious. "Guys, I'm sorry, but from what Laurel and my dad have said, Star City has its own problems right now."

"Well..."

But just then a voice interrupts them, a man's voice Leonard would swear he'd never heard before.

"Cisco? Iris? I was wondering if you and your... friends... could join me here for a moment."

It's strange, being back in the medical room. As he leans against the wall, Leonard watches the mystery man talk to Iris and Cisco and carefully rotates his ankle, checking for pain and range of motion. It's largely better, although he's taken pains to avoid being in situations in which he needs to run, and though he suspects his wrist (and ribs) will always ache from time to time, those are fine, too.

No way around it. He owes Team Flash.

There's a young woman in one of the medical beds now, pale and still and hooked up to all the equipment. Wells' daughter, he's told. He can't help imagining Lisa in her place and the thought is an uncomfortable one. All he needs is more reason to…

"Snart..."

He's been lost in thought so much that he actually starts, just a little, at the musing comment. The man, the gray-haired fellow who looks so frustratingly familiar, is now watching him, an odd expression on his face.

"Henry Allen," the man says finally, extending a hand. "You don't remember me...or do you?"

He looks at the offered hand for a moment, then back up at the man.

Barry's father.

"Iron Heights," Allen says, nodding, seemingly unfazed that Leonard hasn't acknowledged the hand. "Our … stays … coincided a time or two, but you and I, we didn't really cross paths." He pauses. "But they told me early on, two Snarts. Stay away from the older, no matter what.

"But, they said, the younger... if someone's … well … on your case for no good reason, you could do worse than to make sure you're in his vicinity. He doesn't hold with crap like that. And for once, they were right." Allen nods again. "So, you may not have met me before, Mr. Snart, but I'm pleased to finally, officially meet you."

He moves his hand forward a little more, meeting the younger man's eyes with a determined look. And until then, Leonard Snart hadn't really seen a resemblance between this particular father and son pair.

But he sees it now. The jaw. Steel in the eyes.

And, somewhat bemused, he shakes Henry Allen's hand.

The man gives a satisfied nod. "I don't know what they're doing to get my boy back, but I'm not so sure the likes of you or I can help with that part." He lifts an eyebrow. "But there are things need doing that he'd be tending to, and I hear you've been helping with those."

"We have." Sara's appeared next to them, a question in her eyes... and, he realizes, a warning as she gazes at Allen. She reaches out and threads her fingers through Leonard's, openly, possessively, and Allen's eyebrows rise abruptly.

Then he smiles.

"Good," he says. "Thank you."

With that, Henry Allen turns back to the still girl on the bed, checking monitors, reading equipment. Sara and Leonard share a glance, before his eyes go to their joined hands.

The gesture, she thinks, watching him closely, had been an impulsive one, a way to show that she trusts him, that she considers them a team. But she can't pretend that the form it took doesn't betoken, well, more. They may have spent the past 48 hours or so in bed together, but is what they have truly a relationship? Of the sort that includes such small, semi-romantic gestures as hand-holding?

From the look on Leonard's face, even he doesn't know for sure.

She can wait. She gives his fingers another squeeze, then gently reclaims her hand, turning to Allen just as he turns back to them. "Where'd Iris and Cisco go?"

"They're getting Wells' … Thawne's... oh, well, I'm told it's complicated… the original records of Barry's initial treatment. After the lightning strike." Allen frowns, eyes turned inward, then shrugs. "They're apparently in a storage room in the morgue."

"They have a morgue in here?" Leonard's voice is a strange combination of snark and something just a trifle uneasy, and Sara can't help but bite back a smile.

"There are times I really, really don't want to know about everything that goes on in this place." Joe West has rejoined them now and, for once, his expression shows he and Leonard are in perfect agreement. The two men share a nod, then look appalled as they realize it.

Allen chuckles and starts to speak again, but the moment is broken as a ruckus disturbs the relative quiet of the labs, commotion resolving into Cisco Ramon, who clatters into the room with Iris a few steps behind him.

"We're got a new problem," he says breathlessly. "Our accelerator experiment seems to have reanimated one of the dead metas in our morgue."

Joe gives him a disbelieving look. "Reanimated," he repeats. "Like, brought back to life."

"Life-ish." Cisco takes a deep breath. "You ever seen 'The Walking Dead'? It's 'The Walking Dead,' but without higher brain function and with major rage issues." He glances at Iris, frowning. "I'm still not sure if our brains are on the menu, though."

"Zombies?!" Sara says, in disbelief. Leonard just curses. Joe stares. "Which one?

"Tony Woodward," Iris informs him.

"The bully from school who turned into the metal man? That's not good, Cisco!"

The conversation continues, but Sara looks at Leonard and sees him watching her in return, hand on his cold gun, spark in his eyes. And whatever strange thing they might be becoming, this … this is real.

They're one damned good team.

"We got this," Sara tells the others, turning away, Leonard falling in by her side. "We got this."

"Big Belly Burger? Seriously?"

"Maybe Ramon can quit worrying about brains," Leonard shakes his head as he climbs off his motorcycle, watching the large... is it fair to call him a man, now? … lumber toward the restaurant. "Fast food addictions apparently transcend death."

"I can vouch for that." Sara steps to his side, wrapping her fingers briefly around his wrist with a brief caress before pulling her bo out of its belt loop and extending it. "Game plan?"

"Simple one: distract him, I'll freeze him." He stops mid-step. "Wait."

Sara watches Woodward … what used to be Woodward... put a fist through the window of a bright yellow Hummer and rip the door clean off, then raises an eyebrow at him.

Leonard shrugs. "I hate those things." He pulls his gun from its holster. "And... OK... now!"

Sara runs toward the zombie meta, skirting around to the left as Leonard moves to the right, carefully, trying to get close enough for the gun's maximum effectiveness while remaining out of... what the hell did Ramon call him? It? Girder?... Girder's reach.

"Hey! Big guy!" Sara finally stops right in front of the zombie, spinning her bo to better attract its attention. "Right here!"

Girder turns with a grunt, Sara steps back... and Leonard steps forward and fires, starting at the monster's feet, then sweeping the cold gun's icy blast upward. The zombie tries to turn, but it's too late, and with a strange howl, its features disappear behind an overlay of ice.

Leonard makes a noise of satisfaction, lowering the gun after a moment as Sara joins him.

"Well," she says cheerfully, going up on her toes to kiss him, "that was easy."

He sighs, giving himself just a moment to lean into the kiss before pulling away. "Don't say that..."

Crack.

"Shit." They both turn to look at the iced-over figure besides them.

Crack. And another. Another. A growl emits from the casing, and the small flakes of ice falling away are joined by larger shards.

Leonard takes a step back. "That's not good," he mutters, lifting his gun. "I don't have a ton of charge left, either."

"The metal must make him resistant." Sara frowns, readying her bo. "Well. Plan B."

"What's Plan B?" He's cursing himself for not having one going in.

"Improvise!"

With a roar, Girder breaks free from the thick shell of ice, stepping out of the remains as Leonard raises his gun again and Sara moves to circle around. The meta zombie grunts, then turns toward her … only to be hit by a blast of fire from behind as another figure emerges from the alley near Big Belly Burger.

"Mick?!"

It is, indeed, Mick, who grins broadly as he fires his heat gun at Girder. While the meta doesn't seem to be overly fazed by the blast, it/he doesn't like it, either,

"The fuck is this?" Mick yells at Leonard over the crackle of flames. "Is that a zombie? Awesome!"

"I told you to stay back at the safe house!"

"Damn good thing for you I didn't!" He chortles as the zombie meta turns toward him. "So, does it eat brains? Zombies are supposed t'eat brains."

Leonard ignores that. "OK, Plan B," he yells, moving back. "Mick, keep your gun on him as long as you can. Then I'll hit him with ice. Sara..."

He's not sure what it is. A bit of Hummer debris, a chunk of concrete, even, ironically, a piece of ice. But whatever it is, his right foot lands on it. And his ankle, only newly getting up to snuff, rolls.

He goes down hard, on his back, cold gun flying from his grip to land a few feet away, a huff leaving his lungs with the force of the impact. With some sort of animal instinct, the zombie turns back toward him, partly glowing the reddish hue of superheated metal, partly still shedding the remaining vestiges of the ice shell.

"Len!" Sara shouts, but he can't see her, can't see anything other than the nightmare figure looming over and reaching for him. With a grunt, he shoves himself up on his elbows, mind racing, preparing to lash out in any way, no matter how futile...

Rescue comes from an unexpected source: above, as what appear to be energy bolts smash into the meta zombie, knocking it back, then clear off its feet.

As soon as it's clear Girder's not rising immediately, Sara's at Leonard's side, frowning in concern as she extends a hand to pull him into a sitting position. He accepts it with a grunt, but shakes his head at the look on her face.

"I'm OK," he tells her. "I don't think I even really sprained it again. But..."

Mick's staring at the figure, encased in red and blue armor, that's landed nearby and is walking toward them.

"Who," he says, raising his gun, "the hell are you?"

Sara glances up, too, then rises, holding a hand out to deter Mick as she stares at the newcomer.

"Ray?" She says in disbelief. "Ray Palmer? What are you doing here?"

"Sara! Sara Lance? Wow, it's good to see you again." The armored figure takes its helmet off, revealing the grinning face of a dark-haired man. "Cisco said they had a White Canary, but he didn't use your name, and..." He stops at the look on her face. "Oh. I was sort of visiting my cousin in National City… thought I'd let at least one person in my family know I was alive... and Cisco called me and asked if I could help out a bit. Sorry it took me so long to get here. But I even brought help!"

And, then, the sound of wings.

Leonard has to check himself as a woman with... yes, wings, large, feathered wings... lands near him, giving him a quick glance before turning to Ray, Sara, and the still skeptical-looking Mick.

"This is Kendra," the man in the odd suit says happily. "We were both sort of patrolling in National City, and she sort of, err, nearly took my head off before we realized we were both on the same side. She used to live in Central City and she knows Cisco, so when he called..."

"Ray. You do realize," the newcomer says drily as she takes off the sort of helmet/mask she'd been wearing, shaking out curling brown hair, "that while you've been talking, the … zombie... took off again."

Ray looks around, then back at them.

"Oh," he says in a small voice. "Crap."