Life Without Love Is No Life Worth Living
Chapter 14: Arrow vs Legends
During the following weeks, it was difficult for the Legends Team to get any footing back in their lives. They hadn't had anything really going for them before Rip recruited them, and now that they were back, they were starting to realize that they still didn't have anything going for them. It didn't take them too long to realize that Rip had been right. They had little to no effect on the timeline, and they were suddenly at a loss of what to do. Kendra and Carter were trying to figure out what to do in this time since Savage had already been killed; Ray and Felicity were trying to get him back into being the CEO of his company despite Felicity's success at the job in his absence; Professor Stein and Jax were mostly in Central City, helping out Team Flash when they could, but still trying to figure out what to do other than that; then there was Sara and Leonard. The two on the team that had the worse luck to begin with.
To most of the people in Star City, Sara was known to be dead. Having been killed back in 2007, and having no record of her coming back, it would be like people were seeing a ghost wherever she went. Leonard was less known in Star City, but the knowledge that he was a thief and a crook was there, and no one outside of the team trusted him. Of course, there was the offer that Ray had given, of seeing if there were any job openings at Palmer Tech that would suit them, but they hadn't heard anything on that since their friend had first mentioned it. Sara wasn't even sure if Ray remembered having even offered it in the first place. Not that she cared. A tech company job was not exactly a place where Sara saw a job for her. Leonard would at least consider doing something in the lines of security, but he would eventually turn it down. That's why they found themselves alone in the team's home base, alone, with nothing to do.
"I'm bored." Sara said as she rolled over in their bed to stare at Leonard.
"There are things that we could do to alleviate that boredom." Leonard offered with a smirk.
"Neither of us are healed to the point where there is no need to worry about reopening our stab wounds." Sara pointed out.
"We don't have to do anything like that, but we could still have some fun." Leonard said as he draped an arm around Sara's shoulders and pulled her on top of him.
"And what exactly did you have in mind Crook?" Sara asked with a raised eyebrow as she started to run her fingers over some of the scars that littered Leonard's chest.
"We could make out like two horny teenagers, or we could go train. I know that you have been itching to get your hands back on your staff." Leonard suggested.
"I'm not sure if Caitlin would be okay with us training. Besides, we have no clear idea of what we would be training for. Barry and Team Flash have everything that we would be training for handled in Central City, and Team Arrow have everything handled here in Star City. Our team agreed to stay in 2016 because we didn't want to go through Rip putting our lives at risk again, but we've been here for a few weeks now, and we have had no action. I mean, what are we supposed to do? Take over for Oliver and his team?" Sara asked.
"The Arrow and his team fight crime at night. We can fight during the day. Crime can happen at any time of the day." Leonard said.
"They won't be happy." Sara commented.
"So what? We need to find something that benefits our skills. What if we talk to the others and look into starting some kind of gym that teaches kids different kinds of fighting skills? Between all of us, I'm sure the team could come up with something. Because I honestly don't think that you, me, Kendra, Carter, Jax or Stein would really fit in at Palmer Tech. Plus, Raymond hasn't said a word about his offer since he originally brought it up." Leonard said.
"You want our team to start a fight club?" Sara asked.
"Fight club has such a negative ring to it." Leonard commented.
"This coming from a former crook." Sara said as she leaned down and pressed a kiss to his cheek.
"Would you like to call Ray and see what he says about positions at Palmer Tech? Or would you rather call Caitlin and see if she has cleared us for physical activity?" Leonard asked.
"I don't want to do either one..." Sara trailed off with pout.
"Then what do you want to do?" Leonard asked with a sigh.
"I don't know. I know what I don't want to do, but I don't know what I want to do." Sara said with a sigh of her own as she rolled off Leonard and stared up at the ceiling.
"Then I don't know what to tell you Sara." Leonard said before sitting up in bed and pushing the covers away.
"Where are you going?" Sara asked as she sat up herself.
"I'm going to go get something to eat." Leonard replied.
"Oh, okay." Sara said as she settled back under the covers.
"Would you like to come with me? I don't think anyone else is here right now, so we could raid the kitchen." Leonard offered.
Before Sara could reply, the sound of the doorbell being hit and the alarm going off silenced any response she was going to make. Jumping into action, the couple hurried out of their room, both grabbing their respective weapons of choice, and towards the front door, only to be met half way by Oliver and Laurel. Leonard barely had enough time to catch Sara around the waist before she lunged at her sister and her ex-boyfriend. Of course, Sara was not going to stop trying to get to them until Leonard let her go, but Leonard wasn't going to let her go until she calmed down.
"Relax Canary. It's okay. They aren't here to hurt anyone. We aren't in any danger." Leonard whispered into Sara's ear.
"What the hell is wrong with you two? Ringing the doorbell and then barging into our house? We could have seriously hurt you both. Not that the thought hasn't already crossed my mind over the last few weeks." Sara snarled.
"Barry called us. He said that there is someone on their way to Star City that might cause a huge disturbance, and he thinks that the guy might be coming here because of your team." Oliver said.
"YOU BROKE IN AND ENTERED OUR HOUSE OLIVER!" Sara yelled.
"We didn't break in..." Laurel started.
"Then why did our alarm system go off right after you rang the doorbell?" Leonard questioned.
"Is it still going off? It was a glitch. We rang the doorbell and Kendra let us in." Laurel replied with a look of disdain.
"Kendra isn't home! She and Carter are off dealing with selling their apartment in St. Roch." Sara said with a roll of her eyes.
"No, she's not. She was the one who opened the front door for us." Oliver said.
"Kendra, do you copy?" Leonard asked into the speaker on the wall.
"Kendra and Carter are out of the house Len." Ray's voice said in reply.
"Did you let Laurel and Oliver into the house?" Sara asked.
"No, I just got back from the office." Ray replied as he came around the corner.
"Is anyone else here?" Sara asked worriedly.
"Not that I know of. I know Stein and Jax are currently consulting on a Meta in Central City, but Felicity is at work, and Kendra and Carter should still be in St. Roch selling their apartment." Ray said.
"Then they did break and enter." Sara said as she rounded on her sister and Oliver.
"We wouldn't do that!" Laurel snapped.
"I wouldn't past you two, given what you've done to Felicity." Sara said with a shrug.
"Would you give that a rest already? Felicity's forgiven us and we have all moved past that, why can't you?" Oliver asked.
"You really think that Felicity has forgiven you two? Wow, Oliver, I thought you were smarter than that." Ray said with a shake of his head.
"What's that supposed to mean Ray?" Oliver asked.
"She hasn't forgiven you. The only reason that she helped you guys out the other night was because she was there talking to Dig and Thea, asking them what they think she should do about quitting and then all hell broke loose in the city. Don't confuse bad timing and helpfulness as forgiveness." Ray said.
"Why wouldn't she talk to us about quitting?" Laurel asked.
"Are you being serious? You were engaged to her ex-fiancé 2 months after she had called off her engagement to him. And then you sprang the engagement on her under the guise of wanting to hear Leonard and I out about our relationship." Sara said.
"Going back to the real issue at hand here, Kendra isn't here, so she didn't let you two in. So until we can check the security cameras, we are going with the fact that you two are breaking and entering. But what are you doing here?" Ray asked.
"Barry called and said that there is a threat heading from Central City to Star City, and that he has reason to believe that this threat is after your team." Oliver said.
"What kind of threat?" Leonard asked.
"Some Meta I think." Laurel said with a shrug.
"What kind of Meta?" Sara asked.
"A guy with fire powers." Oliver commented.
"That wouldn't be a Meta. Our team only knows of 3 people that have anything to do with fire. And those are Stein, Jax and Mick." Leonard said with a sigh.
"But I thought Felicity said that you left Stein behind?" Oliver asked.
"Not really behind, per se, more of ahead, but just because he didn't come back to 2016 with us doesn't mean that he wouldn't be able to come back. Rip wasn't exactly thrilled when he found all of us packing up our stuff on the Waverider." Sara commented with a smirk as Leonard and Ray both snorted.
"What is so funny?" Laurel asked.
"Watching your enemies burn."
5 heads whipped around at Mick's voice. While Oliver and Laurel got defensive, Leonard, Sara and Ray simply stared Mick down. Oliver eyed the heat gun that Mick had a firm grasp on while Laurel scoured the surrounding area for vantage points to get to in the event of a fight breaking out. Leonard made eye contact with Ray before his eyes darted to Sara and then back to Ray, silently telling Ray to keep Sara safe, in which Ray nodded. Sara saw the exchange and was about to protest before Leonard pressed a kiss to her lips before turning to face his former partner.
"Mick." Leonard said simply.
"So you remember my name, do you?" Mick replied.
"I never forgot your name Mick." Leonard said.
"You forgot about our partnership; leads one to believe that you would have forgotten my name too." Mick said.
"I didn't forget about that either." Leonard said with a sigh.
"Then why knock me out and force me to leave Star City 2046?" Mick challenged.
"You're his best friend Mick. He wanted you by his side." Sara spoke up causing both Mick and Leonard to turn towards her.
"Stay out of this Sara. This is between me and Snart." Mick said.
"Not if you think he chose me over you." Sara replied. "Which, he didn't by the way." She added.
"Sara..." Ray and Leonard warned as she broke away from Ray's light hold on her shoulder.
"If Snart didn't chose you over me, then why did he want to continue on that stupid ass mission?" Mick argued.
"It was never about the mission, or you, or me." Sara explained as she moved to stand in front of Leonard.
"Then what was it about?" Mick snarled.
"It was about trying to make the world a better place for Lisa. Len didn't choose you or me. He chose Lisa. He will always choose Lisa. And the reason he did what he did in 2046 was because he wanted you with him when he did try to make the world a better place for Lisa. Despite how you feel about Len, or even about me or the rest of the team, can't you see why he did what he did? He wanted his best friend by his side to make the world a better place for his sister. You can't honestly tell me that you don't want what's best for Lisa, can you?" Sara asked.
"Is that true Snart? Or do you have her spinning tales for you now?" Mick asked after staring at Sara for a long couple of minutes.
"It's true. You've been my best friend and my partner since I was 14 Mick, I couldn't see myself being able to do what I saw needed to be done without you being there." Leonard replied.
At that, Mick narrowed his eyes at Leonard and Sara before slowly raising his heat gun and aiming it at Sara. It was a split second before Leonard had pushed Sara behind him and had his cold gun pointing at Mick. This wasn't the first time the two former partners had faced off like this, they both knew it, but this was the first time that Leonard was going against Mick to protect someone he loved, and not just because of something that Mick had said or done to piss Leonard off.
"Lower your gun Mick." Leonard challenged.
"You don't have it in you to ice me Snart." Mick shot back.
"You put my girlfriend in the line of fire, with you at the firing end, and you will be surprised what I'm capable of doing." Leonard replied.
"You don't do relationships Snart. You're too scared of what will happen if things get to be too serious. You're too scared of turning into your father to have a lasting relationship." Mick sneered.
"That was who I thought I was. A man who didn't deserve to be happy and in love. I was wrong." Leonard said through clenched teeth.
"Love? You can't be bloody serious Snart. You don't love her. You have no idea how to love someone that isn't in your family." Mick said.
"You don't know the man that I've become. The man that I've tried so hard to not be, but have always been deep down." Leonard said.
"You're right, I don't know you anymore. Which means that I have no reason to spare any of you." Mick said as he fired his gun at Leonard right as Leonard shot his own gun at Mick.
As fire and ice met in the space between the two former friends, Leonard could only think of one thing: Mick Rory was dead to him. He no longer had a best friend. He no longer had a partner. He no longer had a brother. Then he thought about Sara. He had a girlfriend in her. He had a partner in her. He had a future with her. She was going to be the mother of his children. She was his Canary. She was his Assassin. And he was her Criminal. By the time that the frozen beam of fire shattered to the ground, Mick was gone, and Sara was in his arms, both of them holding the other tightly.
"Where the hell is he?" Oliver asked causing the couple to break away from each other.
"Don't know. Don't care." Leonard replied before pressing a kiss to the top of Sara's head.
"How can you not care?" Laurel asked with a scowl.
"Mick is dead to me. He has aimed his gun at the woman I love 2 too many times." Leonard replied with a roll of his eyes.
"Oh please." Laurel said with an eye roll of her own.
"Our job is to protect this city. And if he's going to be terrorizing this city, then we will be putting an end to that." Oliver said.
"No you're not Oliver." Ray replied.
"Ray, you're a smart guy, and you're a great guy. But things have changed since you and Sara went gallivanting off with some time traveler from the future." Oliver said with a deep breath.
"You're right Oliver, things have changed. But our team knows Mick. And just because he's dead to Leonard doesn't mean that Mick isn't still a member of our team. If anyone is going to put a stop to him terrorizing the city, it's going to be the Legends, not Team Arrow." Ray argued.
"We've been at this longer than your little ragtag team has been together, we'll handle this Ray." Laurel replied.
"No you won't Laurel. Mick isn't a bad guy. He's hurting. He needs to see that we can help him. No one on our team is going to allow Team Arrow to capture Mick and send him to Lian Yu." Sara said.
"Clearly your team doesn't know how to help him. Capturing him and sending him to Lian Yu is the only option that we have to protect this city." Laurel said.
"What's going on here?" Jax asked as he came into the hallway, followed by Stein, Carter and Kendra.
"Mick was here. Oliver and Laurel want to apprehend him and send him off to the island that Oliver and I were shipwrecked on." Sara replied as she folded her arms across her chest and stared her sister down.
"I thought Mick was in 2166." Carter said.
"He was; Rip must have brought him back here." Leonard said with a sigh.
"What are we going to do?" Kendra asked. "We need to help him." She added.
"That's what I said. But they think it would be more beneficial to Star City if they stop him instead of us." Sara explained.
"That's not happening. Mick is a member of our team, if anyone is going to get him to see reason, it's going to be us." Jax said.
"Have you all actually done something as a team that hasn't ended in some kind of destruction?" Oliver asked.
"Yes." Ray said.
"When?" Leonard asked.
"There wasn't any destruction leading up to Professor Stein, Mick and I being captured by Savage's men in Russia. It wasn't until after we were captured and you lot came to save us that the destruction happened. And even then, the destruction wasn't even our fault." Ray said.
"Right, Russia. Where you and Mick were tortured. And I was forced to merge with a madwoman in an attempt create a Soviet Firestorm." Stein said with a nod.
"When the hell were you all in Russia?" Laurel asked.
"That's none of your business." Sara snapped.
"If you want us to leave capturing Mick up to your team, then we need to know how well your team works together." Oliver said.
"Mick might not see it now, but we're his team. We are going to get him to see reason, and then your precious city will be free from his form of destruction." Leonard said.
"There is no way that we are entrusting his capture to you criminal." Laurel spat.
"ENOUGH!" Sara yelled causing Laurel and Oliver to give her a surprised look. "I get that you don't like Leonard because of his past transgressions, but if you ever want a chance to be in your future nieces and nephews' lives when Leonard and I eventually have kids, then you need to get your head out of your ass Laurel. I love him and he loves me. If you still can't see that after he literally just stepped in front of a heat gun to protect me, then you are the problem here, not him. So either get over yourself and try to get to know him, or lose out on ever being considered a part of my family's future." She said as she stepped in between Laurel and Leonard.
"You're pregnant?" Laurel asked.
"No, I'm not pregnant. I said when Leonard and I eventually have kids. We have talked about having kids one day, but if you can't accept him being my boyfriend now, then there is no way you are going to be able to accept him as the father of my future children." Sara said with a roll of her eyes.
"If you cut me out of your life, then know that you are cutting Oliver, Thea, Roy, John and Lyla out of your life as well. And when Oliver and I have our children, they will be cut out of your life too." Laurel said, having the decency to let a few tears fall.
"I have no problem cutting Oliver out of my life. But you have no control over the others. Not to mention the fact that Thea, Roy, John and Lyla haven't betrayed me or Felicity like you two have." Sara replied.
"How long do you think our father will stand by you when he finds out that you've turned your back on me?" Laurel asked.
"You might have a lot in common with dad, but that does not me he favors you over me." Sara said as she clenched her bow staff.
"Can we get back to the issue at hand here? We have a deranged pyromaniac running loose in Star City. We need to find him and apprehend him. If it makes you feel any better Sara, we won't send him to Lian Yu. We can put him in the pipeline at STAR Labs." Oliver suggested.
"No way are you putting Mick with Metahumans. He doesn't do well with them." Leonard said.
"May I remind you that Jefferson and I are a Metahuman?" Stein asked.
"My point exactly. Mick never really liked either of you." Leonard replied.
"Look, Oliver, Laurel, our team knows Mick. We know how to handle him. You fight the threats to the city at night, let us fight them during the day. Can we all agree on that?" Ray asked.
"Fine. Agreed." Oliver said in defeat. "Let's go Laurel. We do have that doctor's appointment." He added.
"Doctor's appointment? Wait, are you pregnant?" Sara asked.
"That's none of your business." Laurel snipped.
"Yet it's your business to know if I am? You are such a hypocrite." Sara said before grasping Leonard's hand in hers and pushing past Laurel and Oliver.
"You know, sooner or later, he's just going to turn back to his old ways and I won't be there when you need someone to talk to." Laurel called over her shoulder.
"Right back at you sis." Sara said before pulling Leonard into a searing kiss, knowing full well that her sister was narrowing her eyes at them.